Step Right Up - Blitz

Blitz was down on his luck, to say the least. Not that his luck had ever run good, but it had somehow gotten worse as of late. That was about to change though, he could feel it. That feeling might have just been his stomach though. He’d heard rumors of a carnival going on, some kind of party with food and games. He was interested in the food. Between the winter and the war, food had started getting a little dicey. Especially for old lone bulls like him. He’d gotten by for a little while scavenging the remains of those who had died in the fighting, but that was running out now. What hadn’t rotted away had been consumed by others like himself. This carnival might at least fill his belly long enough to get him to spring.

His stomach growled as he passed through the dead shells of what had once been part of human settlements. Most were intact, but some were sagging. The smaller ones, mostly. The big towers appeared fine. Crowds were filtering towards one of the largest buildings on the island, one filled stone bones and ratty pelts clinging to disgusting fake carcasses. Outside the humans had left their fake birds, the husks long silent and giving in to the elements. He watched a pair of Carnotaurus with human hats perched atop their heads step inside. The way they watched everyone said they meant business. Especially the one hanging back. He looked like a bodyguard to the other one. Blitz followed at a distance. Other Carnotaurus were a gamble, but they were usually friendly enough. Those two had the look of young bulls that ate well. Best case scenario, he could travel with them for a little while. Worst case, they were in a crowded area with other Carnotaurus around that might amiable.

Blitz ignored his grumbling stomach in an attempt to keep his attention on the pair that had caught his eye. The smell of food here wasn’t helping. The pair had stopped to watch an Oviraptor—Rimgmaster Cheron, he called himself—strut and preen for a cheering crowd. He wasn’t like the other Oviraptors Blitz had seen. Oh sure, he had all the basics, including that weird beaked face that reminded Blitz of a Tapejara but his crests looked like someone had stuck a moth’s wings on his face. It was odd, if you asked him, but he supposed Cheron couldn’t help how he’d been born. 

The pair he was following was moving on with unimpressed expressions. Blitz guessed the performance was a bit over the top, but so was everything here. Like that stack of raptors over there, balancing spinning discs on sticks while they themselves balanced upon each other. Frankly, it was an impressive feat, though Blitz found he couldn’t enjoy it properly with as hungry as he was. He followed them to a booth with two Acros, big males with sharp eyes and sharper teeth. They flanked a raptor with a sleazy look about him, and apparently he wasn’t the only one that had that notion. The obvious leader of the pair had asked what the catch was, to which the sleazy-looking raptor had assured him that there was no catch. Blitz didn’t trust it but as the pair left, he stepped up for his own tokens. Catch or not, they were his ticket to food. 

Unfortunately, while he was stuck talking to the raptor to get his tokens the other pair disappeared into the crowd. His rotten luck had struck again. At least he had some tokens, now he just had to find which both have it the most food. Sure there were vendors selling it, but he never thought to keep the bones they asked for. He’d only ever heard of that one merchant Oviraptor asking for them prior to this, and well, nothing there had ever appealed to him. Of course, he regretted that now. He could see a deer haunch from here, and his mouth watered at the idea. As he turned to walk away, an Oviraptor strode past with the garish look of a carnival employee. An apparently important one, if the way she shrieked the raptor’s name was any judge. She immediately launched into an admonishment about the raptor telling people that tokens cost anything other than their own breath to ask for more, and the raptor simpering an apology.

He would have to remember that, if nothing else was, the games were free. He could continue to play until he earned food. His bag of tokens clinked as he walked, reminding him that looking down the rows of booths for anything that caught his eye. He finally settled on a game that advertised relic bone prizes and seemed simple enough. It was a wheel, with different marks to indicate addition or multiplication. It seemed impossible to lose. If he won enough bones, he could buy himself food.

“Hello my fine purple friend!” The Therizinosaurus manning the wheel called, waving claws capped in golden, glittering tips that made them dull but caught the light in ways that almost seemed to make them blur. “Step right up! No need to be shy! Spin the wheel and win a prize!”

Blitz looked down. He thought that she was going to be the one to spin, not him. “Won’t my teeth damage it?”

She shook her head, gesturing to a padded section he had missed on first inspection. “Not at all! Just grab here,” she grabbed it and tilted it up then slammed her arm down, “And spin!” She released the wheel, sending it spinning with a rapid staccato clicking. It spun several times before slowing to a steady ‘clack, clack, clack’ and then stopped. The result was four additional bones. “Each token you hand me is a bone. Spin the wheel and see how many you get!”Blitz’s eyes lit up as he presented the bag. “I’d like to use five.”She dumped the bag, collecting five tokens before pinching the others between her claws back into the bag. “Five tokens, five bones. Go ahead and spin, my friend.” Blitz grabbed the pad, stretching up onto his tiptoes and then swinging his head down and releasing. His teeth caught on the pad a bit but the wheel still spun. Round and round it went, clattering away until finally, it stopped on the marker that doubled his earnings. He perked up as she counted bones into another bag. Then his stomach growled. He’d almost forgotten in his excitement.She giggled behind a fan of golden claws, “There you are, friend. Go feed that rumbling stomach.”

“Thanks, I will.”