Scoutmaster Kratti

Kratti hummed to himself as he trekked through the rugged jungle paths towards the main court clearing. There were a few patches of cleared foliage in the jungle of Atlantis that allowed safe habitation, but this one was the largest and where the vast majority of the citizens lived. His mission today was one he had completed several times before, take a group of juveniles out for a survival crash course in the jungle. For the first time, he wasn't in charge of a troupe of Iguanodons, instead he had one of each species under his tutelage. The older stuffier heads in the court weren't pleased about this development, but not only was the Iguanodon hatchling adamant about sticking with her friends, the newly crowned Queen Rhys was also insistent on reducing the divide between the species. Kratti himself didn't mind, the more capable bodies around the better as far as he was concerned. Most of the elders considered themselves too good for ‘boots on the ground’ type work and he was keen to see more of the youngsters taking an interest in how to tame the jungle.

The group was just as odd as Kratti had pictured them in his head; a painted Iggy, a crested pink-headed Euoplo and a soft shaded Oviraptor with the faintest lines of a yellow dimorph showing through on his crest.

"Good afternoon, kiddos," Kratti greeted loudly, making the smaller two jump with the booming tenor of his voice, "Are you ready to face the dangers of the jungle?" The Ovi stood up to his full, unimpressive height.

"Yes, sir! We're ready to learn!" he said enthusiastically, his hands clenched with excitement. Kratti was impressed already.

"Alright then, no need for any equipment, we won't be going in too far today, follow me," he said cheerfully, doping an about face and marching off into the trees. The juveniles followed closely, keeping tight to his side without getting under his feet. He wasn't sure who had prepped them for this boot camp but they seemed to get the main message of 'stay close to your instructor' down pretty well. 

It wasn't long before they encountered the focus of the day's lesson and Kratti held up his right forelimb to signal them to stop.

"The plant," the Iguanodon said flatly before he could begin to speak.

"Uh, yes, correct, you're going to learn about the dangerous plants of Atlantis today," Kratti stumbled over his intro.

"This one is easy to see," the Euoplo piped up, "Are we going to see the more camouflaged ones too?"

"Absolutely, this one being a bit obvious makes it a good one to start with," Kratti explained gently, "So, will we get a little bit closer?" The juveniles didn't respond for a moment, hesitating.

"Should we get any closer?" the Ovi asked cautiously. Kratti barked out a laugh and patted the small biped.

"Don't worry, we won't be getting that close," he reassured them, "Now, shall we?"

The plant that sat before the dinosaurs was a large plant whose leaves opened like a gaping maw up to the light above the canopy. Inside of the leaves, large shining globules sat like gleaming pearls on the end of hairs that lined every inch of the leaf. Kratti walked the kids around until they were at a height advantage and could peer into the mouth of the plant.

"What do the drips do?" The Iggy asked, pulling away from the strong smell that wafted from the dark centre of the leaf arrangement.

"Those are incredibly sticky, like sap or glue," Kratti said, "They stick to you and keep you held in place while the leaves close over and the plant begins to soak you in its digestive juices." The Oviraptor looked queasy at the thought. "Anything with similar looking glue spots should be avoided, and, just as a general rule, if a plant is shaped like a mouth you should keep your distance. Once you're fully grown this should only be a threat to uh- what's your name, son?"

"Argos," the Ovi replied quietly, his eyes still on the plant.

"Argos. You two should be fine and can break through the leaves, but you need to be careful kiddo."

"I will be, trust me," Argos said fervently. 

"It would be hard to end up in something like this right? You'd have to fall into it," the Euoplo said, trying to alleviate her friend's worry.

"But not impossible," Kratti warned, "You need to be ready for anything, that's why we're out here." She looked chastised and he felt bad, not wanting to quell youthful curiosity and desire to learn so thoroughly.

"Is the smell from the digestive juice?" the Iggy juvenile asked suddenly, nearly making Kratti jump. He had almost forgotten she was there, having been watching in silence instead of engaging like her friends.

"Yes, actually, there's the last thing I wanted to teach you from this sundew, take a deep whiff of that smell, learning to recognise it might save your life." As instructed, the three juveniles inhaled before their faces twisted in disgust at the stench. "Ha!" Kratti barked, "these plants don't do much to make our lives easier but the smell is one of the best warning signs you could ask for."

"Can we leave now?" the Euoplo asked, looking greener in the face than she had been before, "I don't think I'm going to forget that smell easily."

"That's what I like to hear- uh, what's your name?"

"Lego."

"Lego! That's exactly why we're here, to learn the signs firsthand so you don't end up plant food!" he beamed at her. While it was on his mind, he turned to the final member of his scout troop. "I should get your name too, while I'm at it."

"Wollemia," the quiet little Iggy said stoically. 

"Right, Argos, Lego and Wollemia, let's move on to our next lesson!"

The next plant was a far stealthier bastard and Kratti had to throw his arm out in front of the kids to stop them from stepping on it. A long dark black vine lay across the pathway, and it certainly hadn't been there the day before.

"Now, here's a tricky one," he said lowly, leaning down to the ground and gesturing for the kids to follow his eye, "We call this trip vines for a reason, the second you set foot on one of these they retract and dig into your legs like a snare. If you're lucky you'll only get one leg caught, if not, you're at the mercy of wherever it drags you."

"Wherever it drags you?" Argos asked, clearly surprised, "It brings you somewhere? Where?" Kratti shifted uncomfortably, not willing to meet the youngster's eyes.

"We've tried to follow the vines but we've never reached the end of them," he admitted, "we usually cut a trapped soldier free and continue on, any expeditions to find the source have either hit a dead end or they just... never came back." He finally lifted his head to see three sets of petrified eyes staring at him. !Which... is why we learn about these things!" he tried desperately to redirect the mood, "Once you know what to look for you'll never fall for them!"

"What makes them different from normal vines?" Wollemia asked, the first to have her voice return.

"Great question! Look at the colour for these ones, they're never green, always a dark brown or black. They're also thin, like hair, and if you get right up close to them you can see that they're actually composed of a bunch of dark threads." To make his point, Kratti took his machete from its sheath and brought it down, cleaving the vine mimic in two. The left side shrank away into the bushes like a fleeing viper but the other half stayed limp, letting him cut it again. With it dismantled, he began to pull the threads apart. Each one was stronger than steel, like a spider's thread, but he was able to unwind them from their tight coil around each other. 

"Fascinating," Argos said softly under his breath. Kratti smiled at him again.

"It is! This beautiful home of ours is so dangerous but also incredibly fascinating, there isn't a day that goes by where I don't feel incredibly grateful to live here," he said cheerfully. The thought of the crack they had discovered in the glass of the dome rose intrusively to the fore of his mind. "Now, let's keep going, we have a lot more to see!"