Of toxic plants and mimic bugs

Splish, splash!

The humid marshes are oddly perfect to run and jump around for a certain pachy. With muddied feather coat Lyra runs through cattails and long grasses, wades through puddles and knee-deep stagnant waters. She does not fear these swamps, and she sees no reason why she should!

She doesn’t quite get why dinos rather avoid this place. Is it because it’s dirty? Because it doesn’t smell like meadow flowers? Ah well, Lyra isn’t really bothered by any of these things and feels content venturing through these wetlands.

Wading through some deeper waters playing with the rotting wood floating about and watching the plenty tadpoles swimming under the murky surface, she sees movement at the corner of her vision. Oh, someone is waving her over to them!

At first she thought it was some particularly colourful ostrich or a sort of massive crane, but no, it’s the local shopkeeper! Oviraptors really aren’t that common of a sight- she’s pretty sure the shopkeeper is the only oviraptor she knows of.

“Heya! What brings you to the swamps?” The pachy greets him with a sing-song tune in her voice.

“Greetings!” The oviraptor has found himself on perhaps the only dry patch of vegetation, not so eager to get as messy as the feathered pachy. “You are quite deep- I mean, invested in these marshlands! Say, are you familiar with this place?” Before Lyra could even think of an answer, the oviraptor continued. “Sorry to be a bit of a bother to you, but I need to ask you for a little help. I bet you know of my shop, certainly you do. It looks like all sorts of materials have gotten strewn around the place and I would love to gather them and add them to my wares. Ah, it just so happens my feathers aren’t exactly water- or… mud-proof.”

“I can gather things for you!” The pachy chirped near immediately. She’s more than happy to help. ”There are a lot of newts and mushrooms here, maybe even bones and, uh, snails. And frogs. Cattails too!”

The dear shopkeep couldn’t hold back a beaky smile. “Splendid, that’s just what would do well in my shop! You likely know where to find me. Just bring anything you find to my setup. Of course you will get something in return for your services. Don’t let the crocs get you!”

Before Lyra could explain that she doesn’t need any sort of reward, the shopkeep already skipped away, likely to safer dryer lands. Well, now she has a little bit of a quest to follow and she’d do her very best to gather all sorts of things to stock up the oviraptors' storages! If he has any storages that is- or does he just keep everything in those strange metal cages of his?

Shaking the thought out of her mind, she got right to work!

Stretching her legs beneath the surface to stride fast and steady in these deeper parts, she held her eyes out for all the critters she liked to chase. Newts, salamanders, frogs and others. Maybe she’d go and pick up a few trinkets too! The shopkeeper did mention materials moreso than animals after all.

While the wetlands are often seen as deadly terrain, maybe not unjustified so, Lyra always saw this place with a certain wonder in her eyes. Of course there are toxic plants and critters around these parts, but with a certain care in one's steps and a little less fear, this place truly isn’t too bad. Knowledge is key and with that one can wander these parts as unbothered as she does.

Speaking of toxic plants, the pachy caught a glimpse of certain clustered white blooms. Hemlock. She knows these plants are bad to touch- at worst even deadly if eaten dependent on the species- but she couldn’t pass up gathering those too. If she remembers correctly these are even sold at the shop! A bit of an odd choice for merch in her mind, but she doesn’t judge at all.

Now, she isn’t reckless enough to pick it with her mouth. What might seem like a slip-up to any outside onlooker, Lyra plunges her front into the muddy waters she stood in, straining her in dirt and some dead foliage from the neck down. With that little trick she now had makeshift mud gloves, a little layer between her skin and the poisonous plants. Her limbs protected and the hemlock ready to be picked, she practically plucked the whole shrub from its place.

One plentiful morsel to bring to the shopkeep acquired so far. Too bad she can’t exactly go catch frogs or newts as they are eager to skip into the stagnant waters- now she wouldn’t like to wash away her protective armour, not while she still held onto these perilous white flowers.

But her mouth was still free as can be, just as her powerful legs. While the aquatic critters are off-limits for this instance, there are still plenty of bugs to catch! The swamps practically teemed with flies, the biting kind and the buzzing kind, dragonflies as well as damselflies, moths and- Butterflies! She definitely saw some kind of butterfly in the shop, the shopkeeper would probably be more than thankful if she brought him some more!

She hasn’t done this since she was small and far more bouncy, but she is convinced she still can catch lazy butterflies in her mouth! What else would these cheeks be used for but to store plenty of bugs? This must’ve been a sight to behold. In the depths of the marshlands, in submerged sections covered in shrubbery, herbs and and networks of roots, a fully grown pachy bounces and splashes about, catching otherwise camouflaged butterflies with her face. Holding plants in her front limbs nonetheless and with each splash getting more and more covered in layers of mud.

Lyra would’ve kept gathering plants and bugs, but her mouth capacity was limited, not to mention that not only she, but her loot too has now a few layers of armour. The added weight was no issue for her, but she decided she might as well make multiple trips. She wanted to catch some amphibians too after all!

A mouthful of butterflies and a more than unreasonable amount of hemlock from the marshes! The shopkeeper must be impressed with the mere amount alone, for the first of her trips after all. She was buzzing with excitement and swiftly made her return to meet up with the oviraptor.

-

The oviraptor as promised has set up shop nearby and was eagerly awaiting for the materials and trinkets the fluffy plumaged pachy would delivery. What he was met by though was a pile of mud vaguely shaped like a pachy quickly racing right towards him!

What he didn’t consider was the sheer amount of dirt and mud, sticks and dead leaves, that covered Lyra from head to tail tip as she happily stampeded toward his shop. Far too much hemlock grasped with her limbs and a mouthful of bugs! The poor shopkeep could only speechlessly watch in horror as the unbothered pachy happily dropped and spat the loot on the ground before him- and shook the wet soil out of her feathers like a wet dog, right in front of him.

(1220 words according to Google Docs)