Propery Damage

Each jewel glinted like a miniature star spilling from a midnight sky made real, even the chest itself was glorious with its shimmering gold lining and richly colored wood. F-23 turned her head to watch the entrance as Velvet traced the spillage of gold around the room with his azalea colored eyes.

“Here- She had these here all this time-” A laugh, bitter and manic spilled from the seasoned iguanodon’s beaked snout as his front limb sunk into a heap of gold causing metallic bits and pieces fell in an avalanche of clatter. F-23 shifted her gaze from the entrance back to him, now fully focusing on him. Any urge to scold the iguanodon for making so much noise died in her throat when their eyes met. There was a madness there, not from a loss of sanity, but instead a madness brought by disbelief and rage. The unbridled rage of a bull who just had his world turned upside in a matter of minutes.

Despite the hours of planning it had taken, it had only taken moments to actually make entry into the queen’s hidden vault. It was so much easier when the court of the exiled had their carefully placed seeds of dissent and betrayal. F-23 remembered when she had seen the most loyal of the dissenters, an oviraptor who walked with regality and confidence. He and Velvet had talked for hours that night, and she later learned that his name was Kudzu. Fitting. An invasive and consuming plant to eat the court alive from the inside out. The other had been more surprising, a lovely plum colored iguanodon who looked at Velvet with nothing more than pity. Kudzu and Datura, the iguanodon, had worked together to distract the guards and clear a path for F-23 and Velvet. However it would only buy them a few precious minutes that they could not afford to waste-

A crash brought F-23 out of her memories and back to the present. Velvet stood in a sea of gold and jewels, his chest heaving and eyes ablaze with fury.

“How dare she? HOW DARE SHE?” The dark colored male rose up onto his hindlegs and smashed his forelegs down into another chest, shattering and splinting the wood as if it had been nothing more than a rotting branch in his path. “She drove me away from my home-” His wild gaze turned to F-23.
“Did-Did you know what Kudzu told me last night? I… I have a daughter. One of my mates laid and egg and it hatched- SHE TOOK ME AWAY FROM MY HOME. MY COURT. AND MY CHILD-”
Glass shattered as his muscled tail swung into some jewel filled vase.

“WHAT HAS OUR LOYALTY EARNED US? EXILE? LOSS?” F-23 stepped back to avoid the mad destruction as Velvet collided with a nearby wall in his eagerness to reach every precious storage container held captive within this vault. No doubt this outburst would be heard by any nearby guards who would surely rush to the defense of their precious queen’s treasure.
Yet, she did not stop him. No. This rage was deserved. Velvet had been used by the queen for his loyalty, just to be thrown to the wolves the minute he made a single mistake. How was he expected to keep track of every single movement Queen Rhys made? Especially when she had the intent to lose his tail. Oh she would pay, F-23 was sure of that. She deserved no such ranking or authority.

After all, what was a queen who threw her authority around like a weapon to be used? Who ripped innocents away from loved ones, left children without parents? Who dealt with those who questioned her authority with physical punishment? F-23 remembered seeing Haze, her smallest daughter, sprawled beneath Queen Rhys’ towering form.
She was no queen who deserved loyalty or followers. Not when she abused that authority to impose suffering upon others.

F-23 lashed her head back and forth, snapping her jaws closed around a nearby curtain. The beautifully tended fabric stood no chance beneath her powerful jaws and knife like teeth, it ripped like mere paper.

Furious gold met wild azalea, a silent agreement.
This treasury would be destroyed beyond repair.

Glass shattered beneath heavy bodies and glittered in the golden sunlight between the threads of shredded curtains. Each thumping step brought forth the splintering of chests of scraping of jewels against the concrete floor, scratching and scuffing the jewels into ugly messes. There would be no more beautiful gems to stud ornate armor or to decorate the den of the already prospering monarch. She deserved no such prizes.

Their riot only came to halt when the sound of claws of concrete drew their attention to the entrance of the treasury, a small abandoned warehouse-like building, and to the small creature shrouded in shadow. However Kudzu’s vibrant pink marking gave him away easily. He stood with sunlight at his back, haloing him in a soft gold. Olive eyes were wide in surprise as he took in the various shards of glass and smashed bits of wood.
Perhaps F-23 and Velvet had gone slightly overboard… Though every piece of destruction was deserved.

“You must leave,” F-23 could tell these words were primarily focused on Velvet, the old friends staring at each other as the iguanodon slowly lumbered forward. “your racket attracted the attention of the guards. A whole fleet.” Kudzu hissed, voice tight and eyes narrowed as he glared up at Velvet who opened his mouth to respond.

“Don’t- Just. Leave.” Dark feathers flared as the oviraptor tossed his head dismissively. “I will keep watch of Dione and come to the jungle should any updates be needed-” He paused to look at Velvet from the corner of his eye. “Your job is to stay alive so she can meet you.”

Velvet stared for several moments before the thunder of steps seemed to bring him back. Grounding him. Behind Kudzu F-23 could see Datura in flashes of violet admist the trees attempting to keep the attention of the warriors upon herself.

“F-23. Let's go.” The order came easily, much to F-23’s annoyance. She snorted and growled quietly, but followed. Not before pausing to kick a barrel over, spilling its contents upon the cold ground in a sea of now dirtied gold.

The Queen’s Court had no idea of the danger which lurked in their jungle… And within their own ranks.