[Trade] Found Family.

When Izara hatched into the world she was frail and nearly blind. For a long while, it was silent and cold, Izara only had the nest she’d been left in to warm and comfort her. One evening, however, her echoing calls had finally been met with a bellow in response. Stomping footsteps grew closer to her nest, and in her hazy vision, Izara could make out a figure. Much larger than her and dark brown in color, the unfamiliar dinosaur grew closer and inspected her curiously.

“Hello, little one.” A raspy voice cooed, a cold beak nudging her small body. Despite the brief chill, it filled Izara with a sense of hope and warmth. “Where are your parents? You are far too small to be on your own.”

Izara chirped in agreement, struggling to find her voice in the moment of surprise. “Alone. N-not know where.” She spoke brokenly, blinking up at the fuzzy figure that stood before her. Izara pushed herself to her feet, her long legs wobbly and weak beneath her weight. She’d yet to learn to walk properly, only managing a couple of stumbling steps here and there. Squinting her eyes, she tried to make out the dinosaur's face at the very least. “You? Who?”

“Ah, that’s unfortunate.” The stranger spoke, her tone sympathetic. She sighed, seeming to glance around the nesting site. Within the nest was Izara’s cracked egg, alongside three others that had hatched long before Izara. “My name is Kavik. Why don’t you come along with me, hm? We’ll get you fed and comfortable.” Kavik cooed, nudging Izara until she stood against her leg, helping the little para balance herself and stay upright.

“Food? Kay.” Izara answered quickly, a small honk of excitement leaving her mouth. She walked alongside Kavik, using the styraco to support herself as she got used to the movements of her legs beneath her. Eventually, it got easier, though she still struggled with getting past overgrown roots and plants. The land beneath them was changing, Izara could faintly make out dirt and dead leaves turning into lush grass through the haze of her poor vision.

“Come on, not much farther,” Kavik reassured Izara, picking up the pace ever so slightly. “The others will like you, they are much like you.” She said with a soft chuckle, glancing down at Izara with a smile.

“Other? Name? Who?” Izara inquired almost excitedly, craning her neck to look up at Kavik—although she wasn’t sure she was actually meeting the styraco’s gaze, she couldn’t really tell.

“Well, there's Moondancer… She's a beautiful little sucho with the sweetest personality. I think you two will get along. And then we have Fakhr and Sheepstealer.” Kavik started to explain, taking great care in describing the young dinosaurs for Izara. “Moondancer is quite green, she has the most intriguing markings, you’ll see. Fakhr is green like Moondancer, though not quite as saturated. He has dark greenish-blue markings, he’s a bit troublesome but he means well.”

“What Fakhr…?” Izara asked, tilting her head and nearly tripping over a rock. She huffed and turned her gaze back to the ground, squinting as she took more care in watching where she stepped.

“Fakhr is an Acrocanthosaurus. He’ll be very big when he’s all grown up.” Kavik answered, a tinge of pride lacing her voice. “Sheepstealer, he’s a Suchomimus like Moondancer. He’s brown much like I am, except he’s a bit lighter and he has these interesting banding markings all over his body. He has some green-blue colors on his tail like Fakhr, but they’re much more saturated and colorful. He’s a bit… standoffish, but he’ll warm up to you, I’m sure of it.”

Izara only nodded in acknowledgment as she tried to keep pace with Kavik. The others sounded interesting, were they around her age, or bigger? Would they like her? Izara found herself lost in her thoughts, only broken out of her little trance when Kavik nudged her in a different direction.

“We’re here, little one,” Kavik said, using her nose horn to guide Izara the correct way before she tripped on some roots. “Come on, I’m sure they’ll all be excited to meet you.”

Izara was then led into a cave, it was a bit cold but she could hear chatter further within the tunnels—excitement began to fill her chest, but as much as she wanted to rush toward the voices she had to stay near Kavik. She didn’t know these tunnels as well as the styraco did, she’d be lost without a guide.

Kavik soon brought her into a ‘room’ within the cave, Izara could feel leaves and other plant debris beneath her feet, like a makeshift nest except... all over the floor? Izara wasn’t quite sure what to make of it.

“Sheepstealer, Moondancer, Fakhr— come meet Izara,” Kavik called out as she sat down, making herself comfortable without a care in the world. Kavik seemed quite relaxed and used to this sort of situation like she’d done this same thing a great many times.

Soon enough, there were chirps of confusion and the pitter-patter of several tiny feet rushing over to them.

“Kav, Kav, you’re back! Did you bring us something cool? Did you bring us food?” Sheepstealer squeaked, his voice high-pitched and his words insistent. Kavik had been right, Sheepstealer was a similar brown to her with an accent of green-blues and cream.

Moondancer—or at least, that was who Izara assumed it was—had approached Izara first, her steps slow and cautious. “Hello, your stripes are pretty.” She complimented, circling Izara a few times. To Izara, Moondancer looked like a blur of color- though quite pretty colors. Dark greens, a bit of minty light greens, some grey-blue, Izara imagined she looked rather pretty.

“Stripe?” Izara honked in confusion, looking down at herself curiously. Tilting her head, she supposed she could see some faint stripes along her side. “Thank!” She chirped, moving forward to bump her head against Moondancer affectionately- though admittedly maybe a little too roughly, as it had caused the other hatchling to stumble. Moondancer just laughed it off.

“She looks weird. Why’s she got that thing on the back of her head?” Someone else spoke—Fakhr. The acro inspected her curiously, nudging at her with the tip of his snout.

“Be nice, Fakhr. She’s a parasaurolophus, they’re supposed to look like that.” Kavik corrected him gently, resting her head on her front legs with a brief snort of amusement. Ah, children… so blunt.

The three hatchlings took turns introducing themselves to Izara properly, who tried her best to engage in the conversation in return. They spent a lot of their time attempting to teach Izara how to speak properly, though she’d only really learned how to string basic sentences together, at least it was some form of progress.

Moondancer and Fakhr were the nicest to her, despite Fakhr’s initial comments. The two had quickly invited Izara to join their games, excitedly explaining every rule and goal to whichever game they had chosen for the hour. Sheepstealer was a bit cold, as Kavik had expected and he mostly stuck to the styraco’s side with a firm glare stuck on Izara.

Hours passed and exhaustion had begun to sink its talons into Izara, with the combination of walking all the way to the cave and the evening spent playing games with Moondancer and Fakhr, she was worn out. The small para yawned, stumbling over to Kavik and settling beside her with a soft honk of greeting. She curled up beside the styraco, basking in the warmth provided by the larger dino as she began to drift off. It didn’t take long for Fakhr to join them, and then Moondancer, then Sheepstealer—albeit Sheepstealer had been fairly reluctant to sleep next to Izara for whatever reason.

Warm and happy. This was how Izara always wanted to be.