Head full of shrubs

The dry and dusty landscapes definitely weren’t Rixx’s favourite terrain.

Reliable sources of water are near non-existent and the only food of interest to him are either dead, dry, far too bitter shrubs or spiny, thorned succulents- neither being to his taste. Rather not even mention the hardy and headstrong predators that seem to feel more than comfortable in these jagged and dry climates. Even if he insists he isn’t made for this terrain, the dusty brown styraco blends into this biome near perfectly without trying to.

Rixx finds himself in these unfavourable scrublands to the shopkeeper's request. The suave oviraptor convinced him to gather materials and all sorts of things to bring back to him. “Of course you’ll be rewarded plentiful for your work,” the shopkeeper promised him, but Rixx is convinced he simply doesn’t want to run about and gather all these things himself. He doesn’t blame him for it, if he was as twig-y and lanky as that birdy dino he’d likely ask a bigger, stronger species for help too.

Stomping, kicking up sand and dirt, the stocky styraco moved along the edge of a large crevice that runs into the horizon as if a giant claw sliced through the landscape itself. He hasn’t found a safe way to move down at all just yet, no shallow ledges, stairs or natural bridges. He likes to believe a plentiful number of branches, stones and perhaps more valuable treasure and trinkets end up down at the bottom of these cliffs. Be it they are blown down by stormy winds or rare rain or thrown down deliberately.

Either way, he wouldn’t want to join the loot at the bottom by falling. Some of these rocky ledges are unsteady and brittle enough, he much prefers to not misstep and keep his distance. He’d much rather take it easy and slow, especially since he isn’t too eager to run and climb with a dry mouth and burning nostrils. The air really isn’t to his taste and he yearns to return to more lush biomes to lay in softer grass.

Moving along Rixx gets less enthusiastic about this gathering quest by the minute. Taking just a brief break he made the questionable decision to look over the edge of the cliff. He knows his weight and how unreliable these rocks actually are. Practically crouching, inching towards the edge in nothing but mere curiosity, he peered into the deep end. It goes so far down, the bottom is far too blurry from dust and the unbearable heat of the sun to make up any details. Maybe there aren’t any better treasures or trinkets down there after all. With a deep grunt of a sigh he comes to the conclusion that it’s probably smarter to just skim the rim of the ravines than to make an effort to climb down.

Let’s see- dead shrubs and gnarled trees, various cacti of all kind, sand, gravel and a bunch of jagged rocks and boulders. While it doesn’t seem much of note, there should be no reason not to pick up one or the other thing here. The oviraptor didn’t exactly specify what materials to gather, just the location and the fact that there are things to be grabbed here.

Shrubs were an easy task to unearth. All it took was a bite at the low stem and a real good tug. Carrying things would probably come easier to a bipedal, but Rixx easily compensated with his front horn. Getting the bundles of twigs that form most of the plant life here tangled up on his long curved horn was almost too easy to brag about. For good measure he decided he might as well pick a few cacti apart and pierce its pieces on the spire on his face too.

The styraco continued this walk with the same rhythm of skimming the edge of perilous cliffs just to pick at brambled shrubbery and unfortunate succulents to the safer side slightly away from the cliff, till his view had gotten too obscured by his loot to walk fully straight. Still he could push this further and he wasn’t opposed to doing so. While his horn has become one with the vegetation, forming one dust ball of an amalgamation of dry plants and cacti, his forehead and back offered much more space for larger pieces and the styraco loved to gamble on his balance and strength.

Rixx remembers passing by old bones and larger branches he didn’t think of picking up then, but now that he successfully prevented himself from looking ahead, it might be time to turn around and walk back the way he came anyway. At this rate he might slip and fall at an unexpected curve of the ravines. While he hasn’t fully memorized the flow of the ravine, he’d much rather walk back the way he came than venture further half-blind.

While practically launching curved bones upwards with a horn full of plants isn’t exactly a skill he thought he'd have, he actually managed to make a few rib bones of a big deceased animal land onto his back and stay there. The weight was nothing to him, but as gnarled branches got added to the load, maybe this wasn’t that smart of an idea. Some particularly curved bones and branches even snagged on the shrubs on his horn as he tried to pick them up, landing on his face rather than his back, obscuring his view even more now.

His stride has gone from heavy stomping to a more cautious crouch as he followed his own footsteps back the way he came, ever so slowly feeling the ground for the edge of the cliff he’s moving next to. He’d charge a dangerous animal head on any day of the week, getting hurt (or killed) in a battle was never not worth it- but falling down a ravine because your face happened to be full of twigs and stuff? That’s not a way to go and he’d much rather be careful now than to face the consequences of being reckless.

“Oh my! You know you could’ve taken multiple trips, right?”

Rixx couldn’t help but get startled by the sudden chirping voice and straighten his posture. The shopkeeper! Did he take too long and that’s why he came looking for him? Is there danger? Or was he walking the wrong way back?

“At first I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me, I could’ve sworn you were a walking bush!” The oviraptor squawked in unsuppressed amusement, although he did his best to hold back his cackling. “Do you need help? You look like you got all loaded up with merchandise.”

“Ah.” Rixx slumped a little. Oh, well, this is quite embarrassing, but at this point he wouldn't really know how else this interaction would’ve gone. “Yeah, it seems like I covered my eyes up a little bit. Just. You know. Can you guide me back to your shop or where I am supposed to bring all of this?”

“No issue, yes! Just follow my voice, my shop isn’t too awfully far now.” The oviraptor chirped. It is always a good idea to ask the strong to haul things. Twigs, branches, bones and cacti galore!

Maybe this wasn’t that bad of a task after all, as the oviraptor fawned over the gathered loot, giving Rixx more than enough noise to follow. They made an oddly fitting team.

(1241 according to Google Docs)