Nothing To Lose But Your Seeds

Rebellion suited Cassidy, she thought to herself. The exhilaration of causing ruckus for the sake of protecting others had yet to be matched by anything in her criminal past. She didn't want to let it slip to the others, but she felt like this was her true calling, guerilla warfare in the jungles of Atlantis and beating back the threats to the islands. It was entirely out of selfish reasons, she wanted to keep her home intact, she wanted her gang member back, she wanted to cede no land in the outlook ridge to any invaders. But still, she found herself on the nebulous side of 'good' by fighting against Atlantis. As she dove from the branches, landing on a pale brown Oviraptor and seizing its neck in her teeth, she felt the thrill of satisfaction that usually came with knowing she was about to rob someone blind. Now, as she held the Ovi firmly, she knew the only treasure to be found was information.

"There's a black and white Tapejara in a prison somewhere, where is she?" a voice growled from the dense jungle. The Oviraptor squealed in fear, hearing multiple footsteps circling him and the raptor holding him captive.

"I- I don't know," he whimpered, "the Euoplos and the Iguanodons are the only ones involved with prisoners. They wouldn't even tell me if I asked!" He felt the hot breath of the raptor holding him give a huff of dissatisfaction before he was dropped entirely. He tried to fix himself up and only succeeded in smudging the leafy green paint on his crest, meaning he was wiping it across both hands as he anxiously wrung them together.

"How useless," another voice came from the trees. A brown raptor landed almost silently on the ground next to them. Even in the dark, his amber eyes gleamed brightly as he sized up the Ovi. "Are you low ranking or something? They won't even tell you where the prisoners are?"

"It's just the n-nature of things," Varpunen stammered, "Oviraptors aren't allowed to handle matters that are important, we're just scouts and planters." The leaves rustled again and he pressed the urge to yelp in fear as a similar looking raptor emerged, the one who had tried to interrogate him earlier.

"So you're the cannon fodder, the bottom of the ladder, the lowest ranking members of the court?" she elaborated until she hit a term he understood.

"We technically aren't born into the court," Varpunen clarified, "we only earn our places through service. We earn our war paint at the same time," he gestured to the smudged pattern on his crest, "Only the Iguanodons are born into the court." The three raptors exchanged glances, the expression unreadable to the nervous Ovi.

"Why do you settle for that? For being treated like you're inferior?" the pink one asked, her ivory-coloured teeth still stained with his blood.

"It's- it's just the way things are," he reasoned lamely, making the female brown raptor scoff.

"Not anymore it isn't," she crowed, "Y'know, most of us don't mind you Oviraptors, you're quiet, polite, don't take up much room. I'd reckon the Atlantis migration would go a lot smoother if only you guys were coming along." Varpunen blinked owlishly at her, unsure of how to take the statement.

"True," the male raptor nodded, "the Ovis were fine, it's these stuck up Iggys that are causing the problems. If we could sink them with this whole dome and just bring you guys and the Euoplos up top, well I think that'd work out a lot better." The Ovi's mind raced, the cracks in the dome immediately coming to mind.

"What if the dome was already sinking?" he whispered, before immediately covering his mouth in horror. What was he doing? Betraying the court was a death sentence- but would he even have to worry about that when the court could be disposed of at the bottom of the ocean?

"What do you mean?" the pink raptor snapped, "Keep talking, is this structure unsound?" Against his better judgement, the Ovi nodded and leaned in towards the raptors.

"That's why the Queen is so insistent on taking over the islands," he said in a hushed voice, like the plants themselves would run back with news of his betrayal, "This dome will not last without serious repairs, repairs we aren't capable of performing." The female brown raptor looked intently at the pink one, like she was waiting for her judgement on this information.

"If you can tell us everything you know about the dome's weaknesses, we can give you and any Ovi who'd like to join you a safe place to hide on the surface," the pink one said eventually.

"Are you asking me to assist in your rebellion?" Varpunen squeaked.

"You're either with us or against us," the male brown raptor said plainly, "And we'd hate to kick someone who's already down."

"We can't promise an easy life on the surface," the blue-eyed female added, "but we can promise you'll be treated the same as anyone else is." The thought was intoxicatingly tempting, but Varpunen had fought for his place in the court, working his way up through years of hard work, rising above his fellow Oviraptors until being blessed with his war paint by the Queen herself. Working with these raptors to overthrow the court would undo all of those years, but might it be worth it to break out of the court system entirely? Not only for him, but for legions of Oviraptors that had no chance of rising above their current station? He took a deep, steadying breath and turned to the pink one, ascertaining that she was the leader of this pack.
"I'll help however I can, but please be aware I'll be no use to you if I break cover." The pink one nodded.

"Of course, you'll be invaluable if they think you're still serving them," she said understandingly, "As far as we're concerned, if we run into you in the presence of other Atlanteans you'll be an enemy." The blue-eyed raptor made to interrupt but she was silenced with a glare from her leader. "We'll do our best to not attack Oviraptors down here if you keep up your end."

"I'll do my very best," Varpunen nodded, "Now, was it a Tapejara you were looking for?" The brown raptors perked up.

"Yes, she's small, kind of vicious for her species and she's got black patterns and white with a kind of yellow-ish tinge," the male rattled off.

"Her name is Cathedral," the female interjected, "We call her Cath or Cathy but she'll answer faster to Cathedral."

"I'll keep my eye out," Varpunen promised, "And if I find her, you'll bring me and the other Oviraptors to the surface?" The twins looked up to the pink one, leaving the final say with her.

"We will," she promised, extending a clawed hand to grip his own, "Welcome to the rebellion, friend, you've picked the right side." As they disappeared into the jungle, the sick feeling in Varpunen's stomach made him question if he had.