Tom's Treat

When Tom arrived at the dense forests surrounding the mountains of Isla Kela, he immediately forgot why he was there. While normally a diligent young Iguanodon, pleased to serve Queen Rhys in whatever way she demanded, something had caught his attention and refused to let go. As he tipped his head back to sniff the air, the smell came stronger on a lazy breeze that wove between the trees. Something sweet was waiting for him in the forest, and he would not ignore its siren song. His large body easily muscled past the native flora, trampling them underfoot and allowing him quick passage through the woods, getting closer and closer to the smell with every step. He had to stop every so often to sniff again, readjust his path and continue along the correct track. While he spared no thought for his return now, he would most certainly not be able to re-trace his steps after blinding following the sweet scent completely off the beaten path. He was treading through parts of the woods that seemed undisturbed for years, which made it doubly frightening when something yelped as he stood on it.

Stepping back in a hurry, Tom was snapped out of his daze and searched the forest floor for whatever he had trod on. Released from under his hoof was a dark purple Utahraptor with a bright white face, and equally bright white teeth that were snarling up at him.

"Oh dear, I'm awfully sorry, is anything broken?" Tom asked anxiously, leaning down to the short raptor. The raptor backed away from his looming face and growled at him, making the Iguanodon take a step back too. When it was clear that Tom wasn't going to leave, the raptor checked his arms and legs, squeezing his chest and wincing slightly.

"Nothing broken, I think," he grumbled, "By some miracle. You gotta weigh like five cars, man." Tom tilted his head at him.

"What's a five cars?" he asked curiously, eager to learn more about the surface. The raptor looked at him blankly for a moment.

"Uh, it's a car. Five of them," he clarified, "they're things that humans left behind and they're heavy. Some folk lay their eggs in them I think." Tom nodded, picturing a large nest made of metal twigs and leaves.

"I see. Well, again, I'm terribly sorry for standing on you, I was quite distracted by this most delicious smell." The raptor tipped his head back and sniffed the air, pondering for a moment before giving Tom a once-over.

"It's a good thing I interrupted your little trek then," he said gravely, "You're walking right into a bee hive."

"And what is a bee hive?" Tom asked, crouching until he lay on the ground next to the raptor like an excited hatchling waiting for a bedtime story.

"It's a hive of bees, bees make honey and they also sting you, if a hive of bees stings you then you could die," he warned.

"And... is honey sweet?" Tom ventured. The raptor rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, imagine nectar, if you have that down there, but even sweeter. It's the sweetest thing I know of in the world. But again- death, bees," he stressed when he saw the Iguanodon's eyes sparkle.

"I could ask for a little smackerel of honey," Tom debated, "Just a little bit and be on my way, they shouldn't mind that." He was up and walking before the raptor could stop him, though he made a valiant effort to try.

"Hey! You can't talk to bees, they're bugs! They don't talk like we do! Are you even listening?"

Kaiwi's protests fell on deaf ears all the way until the two of them stood at the foot of a broad, tall tree that stretched its canopy of branches out like a skyscape. On its side like a festering boil, a hive bulged from the bark. A constantly moving cloud of bees buzzed back and forth around its surface, occasionally crawling inside only to be immediately replaced by another. Aside from the smell, the hum of the hive had come into earshot a few minutes ago, even through the dense forest. Tom stepped out into the clearing and Kaiwi gritted his teeth as he got uncomfortable close to the hive. If he stood up on his hind legs he would be tall enough to reach it easily. 

"How do I get honey out of this?" the Iggy asked.

"I'm not telling you! Kaiwi exclaimed, "I'm not encouraging this behaviour!" He watched in horror as the Iggy shrugged and pushed his thumb spike into the papery exterior, slitting it open like he was disembowelling it. As honey seeped out so did the bees, righteously furious and swarming in protection of the hive. They covered Tom's arm entirely and he had to blow on it before taking a taste of the honey that had spilled onto his hand. He turned to Kaiwi, his face rapidly swelling and breaking out into bumps from the stings.

"Ah, what a wonderful little morsel." The raptor could only watch in stunned awe.