New Sitters! Wait what?

The jungle was far from quiet, like Alpine had originally expected… Instead of the soft chirps of birds and swaying of leaves like she had grown accustomed to in the forest above, the jungle was alive. All around her birds sang their songs as if they would never be heard again, as if their lungs never ran out of air. Over the singing birds she could hear the ear splitting shrieks of monkeys and the creaking of towering trees. It all lacked the quiet peace she was accustomed to, in fact it all felt far too loud. Every noise scratched at her eardrums and the flashes of vibrant colors that danced around the foliage had her squinting her pale eyes.
“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Purred a soft voice next to her, a stark contrast to the loud and violent noises which surrounded them. Alpine sighed softly and pushed her head into Ibis’s silken off white, almost pink, feathers. The soft texture brought her comfort and assurance, grounding her despite the unfamiliar environment.

A claw clicked over wood nearby, and Alpine snapped her head over to look- Rose stood amongst the lush green brush. A few stray vines wrapped around her ankle as she anxiously tugged herself free. On quick nimble feet the thorned utahraptor skittered over to Alpine and Ibis, chittering quietly as Alpine scraped her teeth gently through her feathers.
“It's okay. You’re okay.” She soothed softly. Rose was always the anxious type, almost constantly on edge… Which certainly was not helped by the dangerous environment that was the dense jungle of Atlantis. 

“No, no- Alpine,” Rose exhaled shakily, chest heaving with each shuddering breath that she drew in and pushed back out. “I-I found something-” she finally wheezed out, eyes wide and feathers ruffled in distress. Alpine was going to ask what Rose had discovered, perhaps some new carnivorous plant they had yet to see. However it wasn’t too long before she saw it, a splash of tan and white against the lush greens and vibrant reds of the jungle. Large pale blue eyes swathed in a white mask pattern peered through the wide leafed ferns… A iguanodon calf.

“A chick?-” Hissed Ibis, though the anger wasn’t directed towards the small calf; no, Alpine knew it was directed towards those who had dared leave a calf unattended in the wild jungle… Especially a hatchling- All it would take would be one misstep and the little iguanodon could be swallowed whole by one of the various plants that ruled over the humid jungle. The piebald utahraptor shook out her feathers, sending the horrible images out of her mind while sending dirt flying from her silken pelt. Alpine forced her feathers flat as she brushed her head against Ibis’s pink tinted side then crouched low, slowly edging towards the small hatchling hiding in the brush as Rose nervously observed from nearby.

“Hello,” Alpine crooned sweetly, pausing when the hatchling ducked further into the brush. “I’m Alpine… Back there is Rose and Ibis,” Her tail flicked towards her two companions as she spoke. Slowly, that little tan body crept from the brush.  Now she could see that the little one was absolutely covered in mud and scratches, her hide obviously not thick enough yet to protect her from the various snagging plants that lingered in the low brush.
“Where are you parents?” A shake of the petite ducked head answered Alpine’s question, either the calf didn’t know… Or worst case scenario, she was an orphan.

“How about we take you back to your court? How about that?” She suggested as she crept close enough to drape a wing over the calf’s little body, ushering the small form into the warmth of her own soft feathers. For just a moment the calf startled and Alpine could feel her small body jolt, she glanced up to see what had caused such a reaction-

And there stood Ibis. 

“Are you hungry?” He asked, voice uncharacteristically sweet. No. He was always sweet, but there was something softer in his voice. Warmer. His eyes shimmered as he stared at Alpine and the calf. In response the little calf nodded against Alpine’s feathers, peering up at Ibis nervously. However, it was Ibis the food came from. Instead it was Rose who stepped forward with some kind of fruit held in her mouth. The thorned utahraptor placed the spined fruit down into the grass, close enough that the small iguanodon could reach it without getting too close to herself and Ibis. Alpine let out a soft breath, of course would know how to handle a scared orphan as that was exactly what she had once been. 

The calf scooped the fruit up in her beaked mouth, seemingly trying to use her beak to crack it. When that failed she tilted it back to her teeth, trying to use those to crack it. However she simply wasn’t strong enough…
“May I try?” Ibis spoke, shattering the silence with his voice of silk and honey. The white splashed calf stared at them in anxious confusion, however the growl of her stomach caused her to let the slobbery fruit drop from her mouth and back onto the leafy earth. Initially Ibis made a face of disgust but quickly corrected himself when Rose gave him a quick nip to the cheek. Ibis’s face schooled into a smile as he searched for a few moments before stumbling across what he was looking for, a rock. With the rock he lifted it in his jaws and brought it down sharply upon the shelled fruit which cracked under the impact!

The calf stared in awe as it split apart and he pried it open, pushing the now shellless fruit over to the young iguanodon. She wasted no time and began to dig in, her little baby teeth making quick work of the soft and vulnerable fruit. As she ate, Rose settled next to the calf and, under Alpine’s careful supervision, began to talk. It seemed as if her anxiety had melted away in the presence of the lost child.
“Whats your name?” She started the questions off simply enough.
“D-Dione,” grunted the hatchling as she paused in her eating, licking sticky pulp from the front of her beak.
“Do you know the way home?”
The only response was incomprehensible grumbling which Alpine believed to be a negative. That was fine. Very fine. Alpine assured herself.

Once Dione had finished her little meal, Alpine lifted the rather startled calf by the scruff of her neck and deposited her upon the soft feathers of Ibis’s back. After several moments of adjusting she curled up and… Fell asleep. Apparently a full belly had made the small calf sleepy.
Cute.The trio set off, continuing to pick their way through the jungle in silence. Each of them was unwilling to break the silence which had befallen them. Around them, Alpine couldn’t help but twitch at every creaking branch and shrieking monkey. Each was a potential threat to not just her companions… But also the hatchling they were now responsible for. The journey felt like hours, but was certainly now more than one hour, however they eventually broke the treeline and reached the clearing. In the distance she could see an adult iguanodon, a rather frazzled looking cow whom she recognized as Arabella. It took mere moments for the cow to see them and rush over, frantic eyes landing on the passed out Dione.

“How did you get her to fall asleep?...”
“She just passed out after eating.”
“...Can you do it again next week?”