[Trade] Trial by Thorn

In Atlantis, every citizen had certain expectations put upon them in order to be a part of their grand society. The noble iguanodons ruled unchallenged, their large size and superior wit making them natural rulers. The spiky Euoplocephalus made perfect warriors, able to battle both the ever hungry foliage and fend off intruders. The small oviraptors, the most common of the species, were regulated to all other tasks. This usually meant acting as a servant, charged with tasks that the other two species either had no will to or no ability to complete with their lack of grasping claws. However, ever since the doorway had opened up, a new job had become open for oviraptors- scouts to explore the surface, to spread the seedlings of Atlantis far and wide for when the time came to invade. More and more oviraptors were being assigned to the task- their window of time was short, and they had to make it count.

Oviraptors young and old alike were clambering for the job- no one knew what the surface was like yet, aside from a few rumors being flown around. Already several adults had been approved for the mission- but all hope was not lost to the younglings. 

Young oviraptors gathered in waves amongst the crowd anxiously waiting in front of a raised platform. Most were adolescents, but the occasional overeager juvenile could be spotted in the crowd. Three in particular were close to the center- Snowshoe, Larry, and Latte. They watched with eager eyes as a horn trumpeted, and heavy footsteps sounded out. And then she herself emerged, Queen Rhys, looking as noble as ever. “Welcome, my loyal subjects!” Her sweet voice silenced the crowd, the authority beneath the tone calling to mind the power of the crown. “I thank all of you who have volunteered for this task- especially the younger ones. You show a great dedication to this kingdom, and to be.” Her gaze landed temporarily on the three juveniles, causing Latte to almost shake in excitement. “However, we still need many of you down here. Should you wish to become a scout and travel to the surface, there is a test you must pass first. Should you succeed, you will gain the training you need. Should you fail, you will get another chance in some time.” Queen Rhys nodded to a nearby grey oviraptor. “Please listen to the elder.” 

The elderly oviraptor hobbled forward, clearing her throat before speaking. “Thank you, my queen.” She turned to the crowd gathered. “Should you wish to be trained to reach the surface, you must pass this trial.” She held up a wizened old claw, pointing at a nearby cart. Piles of leaf bags sat on top of it, innocent bundles hiding their cargo. “You shall group in trios. Each group will be assigned a specific plant to find, gather the seeds of, and plant here in the compound. In a week's time, we shall see whose plants are thriving. If they are healthy, you pass the exam.” The elder bowed her head. 

Queen Rhys clapped her forelegs together. “Go ahead and take your package from the cart- oh, and feel free to work in groups of three or less. Now, good luck, my subjects!” The queen turned around and quickly exited, the ancient elder hobbling after her. 

The second the queen vanished from sight chaos erupted like water from behind cracked glass- the swarm of young oviraptors charged towards the cart, grabbing any package they could greedily. Latte and Larry were swept up in the crowd, their cries unable to be heard over the clambering of the other oviraptors. Finally, the crowd thinned enough for Larry to grab Latte and pull his friend free from the madness, the two of them gasping for air as they caught their breath. “Where Snowshoe?” Larry wheezed, coughing up a feather. Latte didn't respond, staring out into the quickly emptying crowd in fear. Snowshoe was nowhere to be seen… and there were no packets left on the cart. The two slumped- were they out of the trial before it even began?

“Looking for this?” The two juveniles yelped, looking over their shoulders to see Snowshoe standing there smugly, a packet dangling from her claws. The brown and white oviraptor was a bit rumpled in places, but relatively unharmed. “No crowd can beat me!” She boasted. 

“You got it!” Larry reached out for the package, and Snowshoe passed it over without a word. Over the months they had been learning together the three had managed to form an unbreakable bond of friendship and comradery. Larry was the best of all of them at identifying certain plants and what conditions they needed- he almost had a perfect memory when it came to them. Latte was transporting said plants- he was able to keep extremely stable even when running, and Snowshoe swore she had never seen him spill even a single seedling. Snowshoe was, well, good at finding things. And she was fast- perfect for a scout. Both of her parents had become scouts as soon as the option had opened up- they were up on the surface now. Her dream was to join them- prove her worth to them, to the queen, to Atlantis.

Snowshoe was pulled out of her musing as Larry pulled the plant out of the package carefully. It was a small fragment of a leaf, and a pungent odor of death instantly made Latte gag in disgust. “Ugh.” He groaned, waving his claws. “Could have given us something better smelling.”

Larry smiled, seemingly ignoring the disgusting scent. “It makes it easy to identify what plant is is, at least!” He chirped. The other two gave him confused looks. “Its a corpse flower.” At their blank stares, Larry sighed. “You know. The big, red, stinky ones?”

“Oh yeah!” Latte chirped, before making a disgusted face. “Ugh. That means we need to get close to it to gather them.” 

“Wait…” Snowshoe came to a sudden realization. The other two juveniles craned their heads to look at her curiously. “Do you think everyone got the corpse flower as their plant?” Latte and Larry froze, before the three shared a panicked look. If everyone got the corpse flower, that meant… without another word, they turned and booked it into the forest. They had to get there before it was too late!

The race through the jungle was a chaotic rush of feathers and leaves. While traversing through the jungle would be dangerous to most, the Atlantean oviraptors were made for it. The trio had been trained from birth to identify and avoid dangerous plants- a single twitch of Latte’s tail alerted the other two to a nearby carnivorous point, which they expertly dodged. There was no sign of other footprints, Snowshoe noted- maybe they were the first ones to go this way?

The trio continued to head deeper into the jungle, smoothly navigating the terrain. There was a simple way to locate this plant compared to others, at least- the horrid stench. Larry was first to notice it, quickly followed by disgusted gagging from Snowshoe and Latte. “This way.” Soon the large, yawning plant came into view- large purple and red leaves, with a large stem raising into the air that spewed the noxious scent. At the very top of the stem laid their prize- large red berries, ripe with seeds. 

“How are we going to do this?” Latte circled the plant, flexing his claws eagerly. There was no sign of other oviraptors- but they had no move fast before that could change. “It’s a bit too tall for us to reach… and aren’t these berries toxic?”

“Yes.” Snowshoe gagged, before looking at her feathers. “I can steady the plant- but I cant be the one to gather the berries. If anything got over my feathers, it would be almost impossible to get out.” The juvenile shook in disgust at the very thought. 

“I can be the one to harvest them.” Latte offered quickly. “Im a great climber! But even I can’t carry the berries back unharmed…” Latte winced. Even one squeeze too hard and the berries would burst, splashing toxic juice everywhere.

“Dont worry about that.” Larry grinned, before brandishing the small leaf bag that had held their sample earlier. “I came prepared.”

“Great!” Snowshoe cheered eagerly. “Smart thinkin! Now, lets go!” The feathered oviraptor was quick to grab onto the stem with her claws, stabilizing it as Latte began to clamber up the plant itself. It was a tough climb- the higher he went, the closer the cream oviraptor got to the fumes. Holding his breath, Larry pushed on- even as his eyes water and stung. Quickly he managed to snag onto part of the plant, hooking his claws in and tearing out a few berries. Larry moved in with practiced speed- opening the bag, he allowed Latte to quickly shake them off into the package before they both stepped back.  Snowshoe was quick to release the stem, shaking her claws out in disgust. “Got it?”

Latte coughed a few times, but a large grin was on his beak. Larry smiled. “Yep! Got them.” He held up the bag in front of them, closed tightly to keep any of the cargo from falling out. Snowshoe let out a whoop, charging forward to hug them. “Watch it!” Larry had to make an awkward lunging movement to dodge, almost dropping the bag on the group. Snowshow mumbled an apology, but even that couldn’t kill her good mood.

“Lets head back!” Latte shook himself off. Snowshoe went to hug him, only to freeze and cough awkwardly.

“Maybe… maybe we stop to clean off first.” She offered sheepishly. None of them had quite managed to escape the stink let off from the plant.

“Yes. Lets.” Larry shuddered. “We have to make the best first impression, after all!” The three set off at a much more measured pace- hard part completed, it should be smooth sailing from here… right?