[Trade] Mesa x Eclipse

Mesa, resting on all four of her legs, chewed the grass thoughtfully. The sweet taste of the juicy blades of grass made it abundantly clear that the archipelago had bid farewell to winter for good. Now, an early, pleasant spring reigned supreme, patting her encouragingly on the back with its warm rays of sunshine. As temperatures rose, the entire islands came to life. Many animals, which had spent the previous long weeks in hibernation, could now finally return to life. It seemed this also applied to flying creatures – they did not hibernate, of course, but for some reason it was only now that the sky was swarming with dark silhouettes against the sun. Earlier, when temperatures had dropped below freezing and the bone-chilling wind had taken its toll, one would have searched in vain for those silhouettes overhead.

It wasn’t just about the birds. Every now and then, small pterosaurs of a truly extravagant appearance would fly over Mesa’s head. The female didn’t even have to look up to know it was them again – their cries were distinctive enough.

The female grew sad, thinking of these unusual reptiles. What would it be like to be able to fly wherever one pleased? To be completely free, and on top of that, to have absolutely every place in the archipelago within one’s reach? Mesa sighed heavily. The latter would certainly have come in handy for her now.

Every fibre of her being yearned for contact with a member of her own species. She felt almost depressingly lonely. It was true that she occasionally came into contact with other herbivores (she greatly valued such encounters!), but it was not often that she happened to come across another parasaurolophus. The whole situation was made even worse by the fact that the arrival of spring also marked the start of the courtship season. Although Mesa hadn’t witnessed it first-hand, she knew that all across the islands her fellow creatures were currently pairing up.

“You still have a chance. We can help you, after all,” a rather cool, resonant voice came from behind her. Sage.

The male sat on one of the lower branches, taking a brief break to preen his sparse, scruffy feathers. He was not alone. Above the canopy of the tree Sage had chosen for his rest, a slightly younger and clearly smaller female—Appy—was flying. Mesa had met them a few days ago, quite by chance, when the thirsty pterosaurs had landed near her whilst the parasaurolophus was drinking from the communal forest watering hole. Since then, they had met another four times, which always ended in a pleasant time together.

Mesa contemplated on his words. In fact, he was right.

Mesa broke away from her monotonous chewing of grass, moving closer to her future saviour. She didn’t even need to say a word for Sage to realise she was agreeing to the proposal. What’s more, she wanted to set off immediately.

The male, slightly irritated by the rush, rolled his eyes and ostentatiously stopped preening his feathers. With a short whistle, he called to Appy, signalling that they were setting off. The other tapejara was more optimistic about this unexpected journey.

Appy, exceptionally agile and swift, even for a tapejara, led the way. With remarkable skill, she glided through the sky, just above the tops of the few trees in the area. With keen eyes, she scanned the terrain below, searching for any sign of a parasaurolophus other than Mesa.

Sage, much more lazily, flew behind her. He wasn’t particularly bothered with keeping watch – he preferred to occupy himself with aerial acrobatics known only to himself.

Mesa struggled to keep up with the flyers’ pace, but she was exceptionally determined. She knew she had a good few miles’ journey ahead of her, but she had no intention of giving up easily or running out of strength.

Soon enough, the female’s fears were confirmed. Just as she’d thought, there was not a single member of her species in the immediate vicinity. No wonder, then, that she’d practically never come across one during her solitary wanderings. Had it not been for the tapejaras’ help, she would surely have spent the entire courtship season alone.

After a good hour’s walk, the open landscape, dotted here and there with a few trees, began to change – the grass grew darker and greener, and the surrounding vegetation, though it was hard to say exactly when, became much more lush. Spotting the herbivores became much more difficult, so Sage had to join in the search. At Appa’s request, he did so without much grumbling.

Finally, when the terrain was completely overgrown with trees, which had thoroughly exhausted all three travellers, the tapejaras finally spotted something that demanded investigation – a moving, black dot, with barely visible golden markings on its back. Looking down at that intriguing speck from above, there could be no doubt that it was indeed a dinosaur.

The tapejaras, deftly navigating the dense vegetation, landed at Mesa’s feet, delivering the joyful news. The female, exhausted by this gruelling expedition, immediately beamed with joy. She would no longer need the flyers’ help – now it was her turn to prove herself. Leaving her flying companions behind, with a calm, measured step (she didn’t want to startle the unfamiliar parasaurolophus, after all!), she set off in the direction indicated by Appy. Fortunately, she was already close – she had only a few dozen metres left to cover. She just had to squeeze through another layer of the forest.

Despite her tiredness, she managed it with surprising ease. After just a moment, amongst the branches covered in young leaves, she spotted that fascinating stranger – a female covered in black feathers that shimmered blue in the sunlight. Mesa was struck by her impressive appearance. There was something about the stranger that immediately caught the eye and held her attention.

One wrong step caused the sound of a snapping twig to alarm the black female. Eclipse raised her head sharply, searching for the threat. Almost instinctively, she lunged to flee, but at the last moment she saw a familiar silhouette – it was just another parasaurolophus. Though her unease had not entirely left her, the female was too intrigued by this unexpected visitor to flee. She approached a little closer, still remaining on her guard.

A closer look proved fruitful. The other female, so utterly different from her, took a liking to Eclipse.

Mesa roared loudly, in a joyful, inviting voice. She knew her loneliness was over, at least for a while. Eclipse responded, and then, leaving her new companion dumbfounded, she spun round abruptly and plunged into the denser forest. Mesa, not quite sure what had actually happened, stood still, completely bewildered. The black female’s intentions soon became clear – after a short while she returned, proudly carrying a sizeable, curved twig in her mouth.

A symbolic start to their shared adventure and the first material from which a nest would soon be built.

1161 words