[Trade] New Places (And Faces!)

When Thor had hatched into the world, it’d been warm and safe, hidden in the thicket. Tucked away in a nest made of twigs, foliage, and feathers was where Thor had hatched under the golden light of the setting sun. At first, things had been perfect for the hatchling—but as the sun disappeared beneath the horizon and the breeze turned cold and biting, Thor was still alone. Hunger began to strike, clawing at his stomach as his chirped cries filled the night sky. Thor, too small and far too weak to leave his birthplace, remained in the nest for days. Hunger had stolen most of his energy, his mornings and afternoons were spent with sleep and calls for a family that never came.

It was only a week after his hatching that Thor gathered the strength and courage to leave his nest, crawling over the edge and slipping into the grass surrounding his home. Learning the way of the world was a struggle, but each day came with a new lesson. Thor had learned how to scavenge from watching a larger carnivore pick at an old corpse, he’d learned to fish from watching some long-snouted carnivore wade in the waters—although he wasn’t very good at it. Nonetheless, Thor had been able to secure food for himself, whether it be scraps, fish, or small critters scampering about. He was rather self-sufficient, in his humble opinion.

After a month of living on his own, Thor had come to understand many things. Sometimes other dinosaurs could be nice, but other times they were not. More than once a larger dino had tried to eat him and he’d learned quickly how to flee and hide, tucking himself into the smallest spaces possible to escape the maw of sharp teeth awaiting him.

But all that was in the past now—he’d recently found himself in the midst of a city, a man-made place full of tall concrete towers and shops almost everywhere you looked. Thor couldn’t help but imagine just how busy the city must have been back when the humans were around. Cars sat abandoned at every turn, cobwebs strewn over them and moss or grass reclaiming several patches over the vehicles. The roads beneath his feet were no better, cracked and overgrown, pushed upward by the roots beneath the soil.

Thor’s curiosity had brought him to a junkyard, where hundreds of miscellaneous trash had been piled high into the sky, the fences around the yard had long since fallen or been torn down by other dinosaurs. Thor knew better than to charge in carelessly however and he kept walking slowly, peeking around corners before rounding them completely. During one of these turns, he was abruptly met with the face of another Acrocanthosaurus, not much bigger than himself. Startled, Thor yelped and stumbled backward, tripping over his own toes and landing on his side.

A huff left the other acro’s mouth as she tilted her head and looked down at Thor in an almost disappointed manner. She watched as he scrambled to his feet, her eyes narrowing with a look of distrust. “You’re in my home.” She spoke flatly, taking a step forward as her tail swung behind her.

“I— I’m sorry, I didn’t realize. I didn’t think anyone lived here.” Thor replied sheepishly, trying to avoid sparking an argument with the unfamiliar acro.

“You’re small, what business do you have here?” She inquired, slowly beginning to circle Thor with careful and calculated steps. She was feathered, much like Thor, except she sported a soft brown coat in comparison to Thor’s golden feathers. Where Thor had dark golden-brown stripes across his body like the ripples in the water, the larger female had unique reddish-brown stripes strewn across her body like cobwebs. She reminded Thor of some little rocks he’d seen on display in one of the city stores but he didn’t comment on it.

“Er— I was just curious?” Thor said, confusion lacing his tone as if he questioned his own words.

“Curiosity may get you killed.” She scoffed, a low growl trailing her voice. She inspected him meticulously, pausing to lift her head and glare down at him as if looking to intimidate him on purpose. “What is your name?”

“You first.” Thor tried to sound confident, imitating her posture with an additional puff of his chest and swish of his tail.

“Veikur.” She answered without hesitation. Veikur didn’t look too impressed with Thor’s imitation of her display, shaking her head with a heavy sigh. “And you?”

Pleased with Veikur’s response, Thor gave his own. “Thor. It’s… uh, nice to meet you. I think.” He said, turning to face Veikur as she circled him once more.

“I have seen you in the city before,” Veikur said as she turned away from Thor and trotted off, likely expecting him to follow after her—which he did. “I am surprised it took you this long to investigate the junkyard, but now that you have, would you care to join me for a meal?”

Thor stopped in his tracks, surprise overtaking his expression. In comparison, Veikur didn’t stop for a moment, continuing on until she rounded a corner and Thor was forced to quickly catch up. “A meal? You— are you offering me food?” He asked, admittedly a little suspicious of the females offering. She had just been seemingly upset with him for intruding on her home, and now she was offering him food? It seemed a bit too good to be true.

“Yes, I am.” Veikur murmured, glancing over her shoulder to the younger hatchling. She brought him into a clearing, where in the center there lay a few large squirrels and a couple rabbits. Veikur was quick to pluck a squirrel from her makeshift stash of snacks, dragging it aside and settling down on the dirt comfortably. “Make yourself at home, choose whichever one you want.”

Thor nodded slowly, letting his eyes trail over a few different squirrels and rabbits before he picked out one that seemed the ‘best’ for himself. He then settled beside Veikur, albeit a bit awkwardly, and took a few greedy bites of his chosen rabbit. “So,” he started, swallowing down a bite. “You seem like you know your way around here. How long have you lived in the city— or… in the junkyard?”

Veikur paused, her expression shifting into one of deep thought. “…I hatched here, I believe, I do not remember ever living anywhere else.” Curling her tail to her side, she turned her gaze onto Thor. “And you? You only arrived recently, yes?”

“Ah— yeah, how’d you know?” Thor tilted his head with a look of confusion.

“I’ve been watching you.” Veikur answered plainly.

“Sorry, what?” Thor stared at Veikur, a sense of unease overtaking him.

“Anywho,” Veikur moved on without hesitation, calmly digging into the squirrel laid out in front of her. 

For the next several minutes, Thor tried to squeeze an explanation out of Veikur but he was unable to get an answer before she swiftly changed the topic once more. In the end, Thor had given up on getting an explanation and instead focused on finishing the rabbit he’d been eating. When he did, he bid his goodbyes to the other acro and left the junkyard—though not without a mouthful of trinkets that Veikur had called souvenirs.

Jeez, what a strange dino.