Bloom and DOOM

The carnivores raised inside the alpha labs had suffered many things throughout their usually short lives. Trapped in a dark, cold building with nothing but the frozen creatures stored in the cryochamber and the ones already freed, it was hard to survive. Many never even got to see the outside world, killed before the doors ever creaked open and released them out into the world.

However, those that managed to survive faced an all new challenge once the ice and snow melted. The cold, icy environment was something they could understand, it was what they had lived all their lives- just bigger now. When the snow melted and the seasons changed, thats where the real differences started to reveal themselves.

Shadestealer huffed suspiciously, shaking his head as he peered out of the fairly large cave his small, temporary pack had claimed for themselves. Something was wrong with the outside world. 

“Why is it so… green?” The world were uttered by a confused Iodine, the small cryolophosaurus peeking out from underneath Shadestealers tail. A suspicious frown was on her face. Usually green light from the glowing mutation scattered across her body gave her face a sickly glow, but in the warm lighting of the spring sun she looked oddly normal.

Shadestealer shrugged in response, letting out a soft huff. “I dont know.” He grumbled lowly, dragging his head across the floor in a grumpy manner. “I dont like it.” Green was new. Green was confusing! And it wasn’t just green- there was all kinds of bursts of color across the island. Colors Shadestealer couldn't even name, and a scent that was faint but had him wrinkle his nose. 

“Well, I do.” Velvet pushed her head against Shadestealers body, causing him to fall over with a surprised sound as the older acrocanthosaurus shoved him out of the way so she could exit the cave den. “It’s nice! We should go check it out.” The tone in her voice left no debate as she nipped at Shadestealers crest and nudged at Iodine, pushing the shy cryolohposaurus fully into the sun. “Maybe we can find something to eat as well.” 

The mention of food motivated Shadestealer enough to haul himself onto his feet with a groan, and Iodine quickly followed, not wanting to be left alone in the den. The years left abandoned in the labs had left scars on all of them, visible or not. Shadestealer was always food motivated, driven by the years of eating nothing but the scraps older dinosaurs left behind. Iodine was terrified of being alone, sticking close to someone whenever she could. And Velvet was the most normal out of the trio, although she certainly had her own oddities. 

As the trio tracked through the grassy field, the amount of color kept dragging their attention from one thing to another. In the field long, colorful yellow flowers rose into the air, a bitter scent coming from them. Curiously Iodine nosed at one, only to yelp as it burst apart at her touch into a spray of white seeds. Sneezing, Iodine backed up and scratched at her muzzle in aggravation. While harmless, the small seeds aggravated her nose and caused her to quickly turn away. However, the motion of them drifting away in the wind caught her attention, causing her to blink curiously up at them. Slowly, carefully, she raised a taloned claw to bat at another one of the flowers. This time she was prepared for the burst of seeds. A childlike thrill she had never felt before filled her- this valley was filled with these flowers. Quickly she took off at a run, stomping on as many of the yellow and white flowers as she could find. A trail of seeds filled the air behind her, causing her to let out a happy trill. This was great!

Velvet had quickly become enamoured with a strange grove of pink trees. They had settled down at a place nearby an abandoned human building, likely some kind of plant cultivation plant. And it seemed over the many years, several seeds had escaped into the wilds and managed to cultivate and grow- becoming a part of the natural environment.

Velvet was tall enough to reach the branches of the tree, allowing her to brush her large back through the pink flower. Letting out a pleased grumble, she shook her head, letting the pink flowers flutter and land against her back and tangle into her feathers. The sweet flowery scent they gave off was pleasing to her, and she made a note to take some back with her sometime- they brought her joy like very few things had before. Living in the labs, there had been very little color, much less anything that matched her color. The only thing she had to compare herself to beforehand was dried blood stains- and these were much more pleasing.

Shadestealer, on the other hand, was having a much rougher time than his cousin. Sneezing loudly, he hissed and angrily bit at the tree in front of him. Something had been irritating his nose and making him cough, and he had finally found the source- a tree of evil smelling white flowers.  

Snarling, it took little effort for Shadestealer to grab a branch in his mouth and rip it off, quickly shaking it from side to side like one would shake prey. Only one problem- he was putting the flowers he already was having a reaction to into his mouth.

By the time he realized his mistake, it was too late. WIth a wheezy roar Shadestealer dropped the branch, shaking his head rapidly. His mouth felt terrible- drool leaked out of his mouth as he coughed and wheeze, attempting to shake out the terrible taste. With one last enraged (although muffled) roar he stomped off, quickly running in the direction of the watering pool that tended to use. He really needed to wash his mouth out- hopefully there weren't more of those flowers in the pond.