[Trade] Inciting Chaos At Home

Darkness settles over Atlantis.  Artificial lights dim, the only remaining illumination the blue-tinted moonlight streaming through the overhead water and broken panels.  In the jungle, almost nothing reaches the floor.  It is in this darkness that three dinosaurs wait: Shepherd’s natural-tinted coat makes him nearly invisible, while Tumbler and Bassett’s paler colors stand out slightly in the dimness.  This is by design.

They are not here for peace.  They are here to protect their home.  To do that, they will do what carnivores do best: sneak, ambush, and instill fear in their prey.  They creep closer, coming upon where the chaotic plant life turns manicured, beautiful: the edge of Atlantis’s court.  This is the most delicate part of their mission.  Atlantis knows it is under attack, and there are sentries in every corner.  They cannot be discovered just yet.  First, they must infiltrate.

Shepherd peers through the gap between two large leaves, eyes sweeping the open ground before him.  All is still.  He flicks his tail, a signal, and all three step forward.  Bassett is fastest, but Tumbler and Shepherd are not far behind as they dart between rows of flower bushes, weaving under artfully trailing vines, heading toward a specific building.  With the temperature in Atlantis constant all year round, its inhabitants never thought to come up with a way to block off their entrances to weather- or intruders.  Ahead of the trio is a crumbled wall, its base cleared away and its edges smoothed by years of dinosaurs passing through.  Inside is their goal.  The queen’s treasury is well guarded, but it is not what Shepherd, Tumbler, and Bassett are after.  Atlantis has a greater treasure, and they sleep without a single knight to watch them.

The building is clean and well kept, with entrances to rooms widened large enough for an iguanodon to enter.  And inside those rooms, the courtesans of Atlantis sleep, blissfully unaffected by the war their queen wages.  The trio of invaders will change that, tonight.  They walk delicately, quietly, past the first few rooms.  They cannot let this look like a hasty attack.  They want the court to know that their invaders walked past them, and they were none the wiser.

Finally, Shepherd stops, looking at the perfect target.  An iguanodon with black and white feathers, peaceful and asleep.  He glances back at the others.  They nod.  The second stage of their mission begins.

Bassett leaps for the iguanodon’s face, long curved claws puncturing deep into the courtesan’s cheeks, teeth ripping out the black-striped crest feathers he is no doubt very proud of.  Tumbler and Shepherd go for the courtesan’s flanks, seeking to inflict as much damage as quickly as possible.

The courtesan wakes screaming.  He flails, too pained and confused to single out any one attacker with his deadly thumb claws.  He does catch Shepherd with one hind leg, though, kicking him into the wall.  Shepherd stumbles from the impact, giving himself a quick once-over.  His ribs hurt, but he can still run.  Bassett is hanging on for dear life as she rides the iguanodon’s head, and Tumbler’s mouth is coated in blood and feathers.  The courtesan is still screaming.  They’ve accomplished what they came for.  Time to go.

Shepherd barks out a “Now!” and all three disengage.  Bassett’s escape is less than graceful; she lands on her side, Tumbler nudging her to her feet as they run back toward where they came from.  Other courtesans are peering out of their rooms now, curious about the commotion.  Some dart back inside when they see the intruders run past.  Others shout and try to chase them.  This, too, is by design.

Nearly at the entrance, a guard leaps out to block their path.  Bassett merely leaps over the euoplocephalus.  The guard’s head turns to trace her arc, leaving Tumbler and Shepherd the opening they need to get past.

And then they’re back in the open, running full speed back to the jungle.  Atlantis wakes around them, the alarm going up and spreading through the court.  Oviraptors shy away from their approach, but the euoplocephalus and iguanodons leap to follow.  None of them are used to a chase, however, and none catch the trio before they reach the trees.  The brave knights of Atlantis follow their attackers into the jungle, eager to ensure they will never come back, confident in their home turf advantage.

But the carnivores have been spending time on this turf too, and they know where they are going.  Shepherd skids to a stop a little ways in, ducking under a plant with wide leaves.  In the darkness, he is hidden completely.  Tumbler and Bassett dart ahead, their pale colors an alluring target for their pursuers.  Shepherd lets the first two go by, before pouncing on the third: a euoplo knight, her green colors barely visible in the dim light.  Her sides are protected by leather and shields, but not the back of her neck, which Shepherd clamps down on.  She cries out, and the knights hesitate- is there an ambush?  Just how many attackers are there?  She barely has time to retaliate before Shepherd is gone, rushing to catch up with the others.  They have one more trap to spring.  The knights mill about in confusion before they realize no more attacks are coming, and the chase resumes.

This part of the Atlantean jungle is untended by dinosaurs, and it is wild, overgrown- and very dangerous.  Tumbler, Bassett, and Shepherd have been practicing for days, traveling this route in daylight and at night, until they could traverse it with their eyes closed.  Pursuers that stray too far to either side find themselves caught in sticky-trap plants, or brushing against venomous needles that make their hides sting.  Ahead is the last stage of the trio’s mission: a section of sprawling thorny brush.  Tumbler, Bassett, and Shepherd leap it easily, but the euoplocephalus knights cannot jump.  The first to encounter the obstacle cry out in pain, and the rest are forced to stop and seek a way around.

The iguanodon knights, meanwhile, crash straight through, heedless of the thorns.  The trio has a plan for them, too.  Their breath grows ragged from the running, but they are nearly free.  The trail curves, toward a different obstacle: an area of thick, looping vines.  They duck, running low and fast, Tumbler and Bassett acting as maddening beacons for their pursuers.  The iguanodons hit the vines, many immediately caught by their necks.  Those not trapped run into those that are, creating a confusion that stalls the last of the chase.  The trio are safe and they run into the darkness, leaving chaos behind.