Momquest

((March 3rd. If this thread messes with anything, tell me. Open to all AVs, but hopefully Nelleke will pop in.))

Well, Wheek had just made the worst decision of his life.

As per usual, the tiny red dino had been out searching for his mother, as she had abandoned him without reason. What was the best solution in his mind? Go digging for her, of course! But the fates didn't seem to like him, as everywhere he looked he came up empty-clawed.

But today would be the day! Today he would be able to run around her legs again, able to be a kid again. Not be a hopeless wanderer for once.

As he stepped into the Outlands, a strong wave of stench hit his nose. It smelled of dirt, rotting flesh, and some other smell he could not place. He looked around warily, seeing not really anyone. 

"This sucks..." he whined, scoping the area once more. Wait what was that sound? He could hear the sound of someone walking, he swore he did! Looking around again, he spotted a shadow move quickly. 

Wheek took a step back, frightened. Was he in a nightmare? Or was this just formal greeting methods of the Outlanders? Either way, the young dino felt like the world wanted him dead. And the world may get its wish, as Wheek turned to see a creature approaching him.

"What in absolute tarnation is that thing?"

Dixie stopped dead in her tracks, her pups bumping into her back legs. They grunted, falling back as they all looked at the creature. Dixie raised an eyebrow. Was it a croc? A lizard? Whatever it was, Dixie's pups were ready to jump at the creature to find out what it was. All three pups surrounded him and smiled, heads sniffing and snorting in the scent.

"What is it Mama?" Sasha asked.

"Sure is funny lookin'," Umeme snorted, poking the creature's scales.

"What's yer name kid?" Enzo barked.

"KIDS. STOP SCARIN' HIM. Get away!"

"But MAMA!"

"AH SAID GIT." The pups scrambled away, running behind Dixie, still staring. Dixie turned towards the critter. "Now, whasyername, little critter? You lost?"

Nelleke was resting peacefully on the other side of a massive termite mound. The spot where her eye had been was healing nicely, albeit slowly, despite being in such harsh conditions. The soldiers here had little to no medical training and with Valishu having gone missing, she had little choice but to let the wound heal on its own. After all, it was up to mother nature herself to choose whether she would live or die. The dinosaur lifted her head as she heard voices. It was Dixie and her little brood of pups. Getting to her feet, Nelleke lumbered towards them to see who they were talking to.

"Now, whasyername, little critter? You lost?"

To her surprise, Nelleke found herself staring down at a tiny little meat-eating dinosaur like herself. Why, he was just a hatching! But what was he doing all the way out here? Nelleke looked around her remaining eye scanning the emptiness that was the Outlands in search of the hatchling's parents but saw nothing. Nelleke decided she would wait for the child to answer Dixie before introducing herself to him.

"Oh, he he..."

Wheek flinched a bit as the pups surrounded him. He had never seen anything like Dixie or her children before. They were furry, and golden-colored. The only other creatures he had seen like them were Terk, and he stood on two legs like the humans did. 

"Well, I-um..."

Wheek stopped mumbling as soon as Dixie called her pups away from him. She seemed nice enough...whatever she was.

"I'm Wheek. I'm not really...lost, ya see. I'm lookin' for my mom. I don't see her around, though."

When Wheek saw Nelleke, he froze. His mother had always told him to beware of any dinosaurs that were not her. A bolt of fear went straight through his body. She was HUGE! Nelleke could eat him in one bite!

"Excuse me while I go...anywhere that isn't near the giant dino." He said, backing up slowly, still a little fear-stricken. 

"S'alright, lil'darlin'," Dixie said with a motherly smile, "They may be loud but they don't mean no harm." The pups smiled brightly towards Wheek, tails bopping back and forth. "Nice ta meetcha, Wheek. Ah'm Miss Dixie. This is Enzo, Sasha and Umeme." But before she could continue the ground shook. The female turned upwards to spot Nelleke. She rolled her eyes and scoffed. Dinosaur was bigger'na house.

She turned but the little one was backing away. Her pups had seen the female before so she was fine leaping to Wheek's side, placing a slender golden paw around his shoulder.

"S'alright darlin'," she said, "You just stick close to Miss Dixie, yah hear?" She looked up at Nelleke then at Wheek. Weren't they the same thing? "Maybe Miss Nelleke knows where yer Mama is, huh?" She cooed.

"Excuse me while I go...anywhere that isn't near the giant dino."

Nelleke lowered her great scaly bulk to the ground, tiny little hands resting neatly on the ground.

"Hush now, little one," she rumbled softly, a noise akin to a mother crocodile calling her young escaping her. One that said, 'it's ok you,'re going to be safe her with me'. She turned her head to get a good look at him through her only working eye.

"Maybe Miss Nelleke knows where yer Mama is, huh?"

"I'm afraid I can't help you there, I'm sorry" Nelleke murmured. "I heard rumors of raptors roaming about the Outlands, but never anything bigger then a dinosaur like myself. I would know for sure," she chuckled softly, and a warm smile spread across her face.

"Like Dixie said, my name is Nelleke. Who might you be, child?" Nelleke's kettle drum-sized heart ached ever so slightly at the sight of the babe. She had longed for one of her own ever since the great meteor had wiped out her nest.

Wheek smiled at Dixie, blinking his eyes a bit at her. She had a warm presence about her, which made him feel somewhat safer. "I-I wasn't scared! Just a bit surprised..."

"She probably wouldn't know where my mother was. They would most likely fight each other, 'cause they're different species."

Wheek backed up when Nelleke lowered her head and turned her head. She only had one eye! That freaked Wheek out. She wasn't trying to eat him. That was a good thing.

"S-she's not here?" Wheek looked at Nelleke. He felt like crying, if he could. "I told this to Miss Dixie already, but I'm Wheek." The Wheek part came out a little cracked.

Nelleke may have been having trouble with Wheek but she's have a few flea sized pups to tumble off of her. In a moment, while their mother was occupied with the little lizard thing, Enzo, Sasha and Umeme had taken advantage of Nelleke's position and bounding over her head. Enzo perched himself between her horns, Umeme on her nose and Sasha between her shoulder blade. All three pups smiled down at the creature beneath them/

Dixie, however, was preoccupied with the little monster who was huddled beneath her. She frowned. He sounded so defeated, poor thing. She looked up at Nelleke then back down to Wheek.

"Oh you poor critter," she whistled, "S'alright now. S'alright. We'll find yer Mama. But fer now let's just keep that frown off yer face, hm?" She winked at him, offering a motherly smile, her paw still draped over his scaly shoulder.

Odd ears gave a twitch and Crystallene looked on at what was happening before her. She had seen Nelleke around before, and tended to avoid the larger creature out of fear of being stepped on, but Dixie seemed nice enough. Her pups, too, seemed nice... Even if they were a bit rambunctious and curious. The curiosity of the day, though, was Wheek. Crystallene had never seen him around before, and she had no idea what to expect from him, but he was small... Maybe that meant that he wouldn't try to do anything to her if she accidentally stepped out of line. Crystallene had to hope that was the case, anyway. The wannabe animal villain had no idea of what he was capable of, but he seemed to be just a child. That had to count for something. So, Crystallene started to inch a bit closer and looked around at the gathered animal villains.

"Um... H-Hi," Crystallene said, waving a paw in greeting as she did. "It okay... You safe here. Naga know where mother is, but... But we can help. Sort of." That was a bit awkward, and Crystallene was well aware of that fact. She looked away for a moment and tried to collect her thoughts again. Now what would she say? Everyone was probably expecting her to introduce herself now, right?

"M-Meega Crystallene. It nice to meet you," Crystallene said. Maybe that would earn her some points. She hoped so, anyway. It wasn't as though she had any reason to think otherwise.

Wheek blinked at Dixie. 

"I'll find her...but not right now, I guess." He smiled a bit, the fog of sadness that had covered his mind fading a bit. Another voice came to his nerve canals, and he looked over to see...whatever the fuzzy pink thing was. 

"W-What are you? You don't look like Miss Dixie or me, so..." He slipped out of Dixie's grip, and approached Crystallene. He leaned his head towards her stomach, and sniffed. She smelled like everything else here, so why did she look so different? "Oh, I'm Wheek, by the way, if you didn't catch it." He looked up at her face, and let out a little snort.

The nimble medic was startled as she came upon the scene, mostly due to the size of the great reptile looking creature, but also the two small creatures as well as the canine and pups. Her bright blue eyes scanned the ones in front of her, ears twitching and moving back and forth nervously.
From what she could gather from the tail end of their conversation, the small reptile creature was looking for it's mother. She would be lying if she said she hadn't thought the large and small reptile's were related at first, but that apparently wasn't the case.

Dyani took a few small steps forward, unsure of whether to join in the little group, or just turn around and walk away, pretending she was never here. Though there was a good chance someone already noticed her presence, so leaving now might be rude. She wasn't sure, so instead of moving, she decided to wait and see if anyone acknowledged her presence, if not then she'd just turn tail and leave them be.

Marie was still a bit confused to know that there were creatures that were as big as the ones in front of her. They were called dinosaurs right? The white cat looked at the smaller of the two, its mother was gone. That was too bad, and it was bad enough to lose it during war.

A dreadful thing. She would have offered her advice or maybe sympathy, but it didn't seem like the right place. She took a stand next to the deer beside her. Waiting for the right time to approach