[Trade] Sneaky Escape

Slug gazed longingly towards the distant (at least in the mind of a young oviraptor hatchling), vast jungle—so immense, in fact, that it seemed almost infinite. The soaring trees, beginning to grow almost at the very edge of the forest, stretched upwards persistently, reaching almost to the very top of the dome. Their leaves, which anywhere else in the world would have been so small as to merge into a single, shapeless, green mass, were here of astonishing size – even from where she stood, Slug could make out the outlines of individual leaves. This did not mean, however, that the jungle was dense only at the level of the treetops – quite the opposite. The plants grew so close together there that it was hard to believe any of them had access to sufficient sunlight. One would search in vain for any gaps in the dense wall composed of many shades.

Something drew the young female to this intriguing world, full of colour and energy. Of course, Slug had never been in the jungle – the adult oviraptors had stubbornly, ad nauseam, listed all the dangers that might lie in wait there for a lone chick; so she didn’t know what it was actually like in there. A quiet yet excited voice deep within her soul suggested, however, that she really ought to be there, amidst the dense, wild vegetation, rather than in the utterly boring heart of Atlantis.

For reasons unknown to anyone, the female was deeply troubled by how monotonous her life was. She spent most of her time, along with her siblings, sleeping in one of the dilapidated buildings that were a dime a dozen in the area. The second most common activity on her schedule was eating – one of her carers always ensured that the whole brood had constant access to young, succulent leaves and soft, exceptionally sweet, slightly overripe fruit. Only occasionally did she manage to stretch her legs when the hatchlings were led out into the courtyard to get some fresh air. All of this seemed perfectly typical for a chick so young that most of its life so far had been spent inside an egg, rather than outside it after hatching. Despite this, Slug was not happy with the turn of events.

In the mind of this not-yet-very-wise (and decidedly inexperienced) hatchling, only one solution presented itself, one that would supposedly resolve this problem once and for all without too much difficulty – escape. Slug, of course, wasn’t the least bit concerned about how she would survive on her own at such a young age, in the middle of the jungle. After all, since she’d always had plenty of food and a sense of security up to that point, surely it couldn’t be that hard to find? The adventure-hungry oviraptor made up her mind – running away was the only option.

The opportunity to carry out her plan presented itself quickly. The very next day, fortune smiled on the optimistic Slug – dusk was falling, and the chicks were still left to their own devices. This was likely because the start of spring meant an increased workload to keep the Atlantean Gardens in good condition, so the parents of Slug and her siblings had plenty on their minds. Slug herself, however, did not dwell on such technicalities – far more important to her was the fact that sleep had already overcome all her brothers and sisters, so no one could thwart her escape plans. The female, brimming with excitement, quietly slipped out of the building.

Caution was highly advisable. Despite the day drawing to a close, the area was by no means devoid of Atlantis residents absorbed in their own affairs. Fortunately, most of them belonged to one of two groups – the oviraptors, completely absorbed in their gardening work, and the iguanodons, who paid little heed to such trivial details as Slug darting from one place to another. The cunning hatchling therefore encountered no major difficulties.

Relieved, Slug had now left the largest cluster of buildings behind her, which made her feel much safer – so she allowed herself a moment’s relaxation. It was not, however, the wisest decision. Flattered by her recent success, the female turned towards her former home to proudly assess how far she had managed to travel. In that moment of self-congratulation, the female paid no attention whatsoever to what was happening in front of her. Until she crashed headlong into what appeared to be a stone wall that had suddenly risen from the ground.

“What are you doing here!?” A shrill voice rang out, placing exaggerated emphasis on the third word of that accusatory sentence.

Slug looked ahead, and a moment later, when she realised she could see nothing but a grey boulder-like object, she looked up. Her path was blocked by a strange-looking, spiked iguanodon, which was leaning dangerously towards her. At first, Slug felt a cold shiver run through her body – the royal guards had discovered her! The female began to consider a sudden escape. One of the strangers anticipated her next move, blocking her path with his long tail. Slug was trapped.

Knowing that she could no longer dream of another escape, the frightened female smoothly moved on to plan B. It was time to look for the weak points of her unexpected opponents. She began to study them closely.

It turned out that the one who had blocked her path actually had scales of a muted green colour, not grey – she had previously been deceived by the shadow cast across the male’s chest. His eyes, however, were green, with pupils narrowed almost like a snake’s, piercing right through her. Darker, chaotic swirls were visible on his flanks and neck, and every time Slug looked the stranger straight in the face, his blue nostrils, flared in anger, glared menacingly at her.

Standing beside and slightly behind the green attacker was an even stranger iguanodon. The lower half of his body was quite light, somewhat cream-coloured, whilst the upper half was brown. Furthermore, bristling, dark quills, pointing towards the tail, grew from the male’s back. The back of this unusual specimen was covered in irregular, white, blurred markings, looking as though snow had fallen on it.

At first, Slug thought she had been stopped by adult iguanodons belonging to the royal guard, as the difference in size between her and the strangers was enormous (the female’s head was roughly level with the lower part of the male’s chest who had stopped her). Upon closer inspection, she changed her mind. The males were still disproportionate, with spines not yet fully developed and a fairly thick layer of fat surrounding their bodies – the typical appearance of young individuals. The longer she watched them, the more it seemed to her that she was essentially dealing with ordinary chicks. From their behaviour and movements, however, it was clear that they were older than her – Slug still remembered the moment she hatched as if it were yesterday, whereas these two were already on the cusp of becoming juveniles.

“I was… just passing by. I wanted to visit the jungle,” the female finally managed to say, after an uncomfortably long silence. “I’m Slug.”

“You’re too young for that, child!” snorted the two-coloured iguanodon, apparently forgetting that he himself was still just a mere hatchling. “I’m Gaol and this is Marble.”

Slug took note of this information, but did not grace the two males with a single word – she was wondering what to do next. Gaol and Marble, however, did not seem to be fans of silence, for after a moment the air was once again pierced by the latter’s voice: “All you can do is be a gardener, but we’re going to grow up to be the royal guards!” Both males, in a surprisingly synchronised manner, proudly puffed out their chests, standing as if someone were about to present them with some sort of award. So Slug’s hunch had been at least partly correct – she might not be dealing with actual guards, but the two youngsters certainly enjoyed playing sheriffs.

Slug’s fear had already begun to melt away, replaced by a strange mixture of amusement and pity. She’d heard some oviraptors say that iguanodons often had inflated egos, but she hadn’t thought it was quite so obvious. To tell the truth, when she saw the males’ proud bearing, as if they had personally saved the queen from an assassination attempt just moments before, she felt a bit like laughing – but showing her amusement in front of two strangers considerably larger than herself was hardly the wisest course of action. So she stifled that laughter.

One of the males, this time Gaol, had already taken a deep breath to deliver another speech, no doubt about yet another of his successes, when he was suddenly interrupted by the sound of footsteps rapidly approaching them. All three turned their heads in that direction.

“Hatchlings can’t be here! How did you three even get so far away from your homes!?” a deep, thunderous voice tore through the air.

The older and more experienced Gaol and Marble immediately made a run for it (after all, this wasn’t their first time). Gaol swiftly grabbed Slug with his snout, lifting her up with surprising strength. They heard the threatening thud of a broad club striking the ground behind them – the warrior who had encountered them, a brown male euoplocephalus, was in no mood for a chase. He didn’t want to waste time and energy chasing after three carefree hatchlings – after all, he still had the whole night’s watch ahead of him. At most, the youngsters would get themselves into some trouble and learn the consequences of their disobedience the hard way. The warrior didn’t particularly care.

The two iguanodons only came to a halt a few dozen metres further on, taking shelter behind a somewhat dilapidated wall. Gaol released the bewildered Slug from his jaws; she fell onto the grass with a soft thud. The males were breathing heavily, staggering on their feet – a crazy, tiring chase wasn’t the best activity for chicks.

“Woah, that was close…” Marble managed to say, between heavy, ragged breaths. “We need to be more careful next time, if we want to see the jungle ever again!” Gaol nodded in agreement.

Slug, having recovered from her clumsy fall, began to look at the two older males again. Perhaps, despite her initial assumption, they weren’t as unfriendly as she’d thought?

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