Good Times

Good Times

Spring is afoot on the Isla Kera. The dinosaurs can feel it in the air. A warm breeze floats across the island. The days are becoming longer and the nights are becoming shorter. Youngsters are beginning to hatch and dinosaurs approaching adulthood are looking for love. The chaotic events over the winter have settled down and life has mostly returned to normal. Though young Cyneseige is certainly still feeling some of those winter blues. He managed to stay with his family here through the winter, but has now found himself longing. Longing for a herd of his own, as most young bulls do. 

Despite the usual food shortage over winter, Cyn filled out very nicely. He wasn't very tall for a bull, about average height, but he was still very strong. His strong build, bright white face, and gold typed Horns already were seeming to spark interest in many of the cow Styracosaurus’. Adorable he had garnered enough interest, that it caused the alpha bull of his herd to keep an especially close eye on him. It was stifling. Soon, it would be time to leave the family herd and start his own. What better way to do that, than to meet some new friends by hosting a party?

Cyn quickly began planning and spreading the word of his Midnight Spring Extravaganza, herbivores only! He didn't tell anyone it was his party per say, just that he had heard about this party that would occur in just a few days. Word spread quickly about this midnight extravaganza, not only to fellow stys, but also to other nearby herbivore species. Cyn figured the more, the merrier as long as no carnivores showed up.

The next few days leading up to the celebrations were uneventful. Though Cnr couldn't help but to be proud. It seemed like all the nearby herds buzzed with excitement for the upcoming party, his party. Of course, it went straight to his head and he strutted among the herds with a new found confidence, holding his head high.

The day of the party was beautiful. The weather was perfect. A gentle breeze blew across Cyn’s skin and the birds were chirping overhead. He spent most of that day gathering flowers and various shiny trinkets, bobbles, and rocks to decorate the dedicated party space. Some of his fellow herd members watched him with fascination, others could care less. He made a large, oval-shaped area that was framed with flowers, mostly as a signal to show where the party would be. He also was able to garner help from some other herd members and herbivores nearby to help gather a variety of tasty plants including various trees, bushes, berries, and fruits. Excitement grew in the area and the setting came together with all the delicious items they had found. 

As dusk fell, Cyn began to see the silhouette of many herbivores approaching his herd. Those that were already there were already chattering excitedly about all that Spring would be. While Cyn had organized the party, he avoided introducing himself as the host to most of the arrivals. He really didn’t want his alpha bull to find out that it was him specifically, but only really wanted some of the ladies to know. At least the ones he was trying to impress. 

To his surprise though, one of the first dinosaurs to greet him was a very large, purple styracosaurus bull. The bull was taller than Cyn with dark striping on his crest and large spikes above his eyes. He also appeared to be quite a bit heavier built than Cyn and approached him directly. “So, rumor has it that you are our gracious host,” the stranger said.

Cyn pondered for a moment, debating on lying to the larger bull, but ultimately deciding that some of the truth would be better. “That’s correct. I figured with Spring starting and the edges of winter settling, it would be a good time for a gathering. I can’t recall there being one in recent times.”

“No, it certainly has been a long time, though you look far too young to have any memory of gatherings, other than stories you may have heard as a calf. Though I do have to applaud you for the effort…?”

“Cynesige.”

“Right, Cinesiege. My name is Oculus. Do make sure you behave yourself, young one. I know all too well the thoughts and ambitions of a young bull.” With that, the dark purple styracosaurus wandered off towards the provided food.

Cyn rolled his eyes and just shrugged off the older bull’s warning. They were always trying to ruin his fun. He wandered around the party goers until he found a small group that were having an interesting conversation about the new herbivores, Dacentrosaurus, that have been recently seen on the islands. Among them were two more Styracosaurus', one was light purple/gray with a darker purple top line and the other was light green with dark green markings. From the sounds of their voices, it seemed like most of them were female, all the better for him.

“Are you all enjoying the party tonight?” Cyn asked, interjecting himself in the group. 

“We are, thank you. What did you say your name was?” the green one spoke up in a very sweet tone.

“My apologies, my name is Cynesiege, but you can call me Cyn, and I am your host for the evening,” he said, grinning and lowering his head to the ladies. 

The green sty giggled and smiled at him. “Pleasure to meet you Cyn. My name is Citron and my friend here is Aeld.”

“Such a wonderful night for the end of time.” The one identified as Aeld spoke as she stared off into the distance.

“Ah don't mind the odd outbursts. She's harmless,” the green sty giggled again. Probably because a mixture of concern and slight horror was now written across Cyn’s face at the oddball’s words.

Shaking the weird feeling off, he said, “oh good. It would be a shame for things to end when we were just getting to know each other.” He smirked at her, earning yet another giggle from her. Of course, Cyn took that as his opportunity to sidle in closer to Citron.

Unfortunately, Oculus happened to wander by right at that time and just had to interrupt. “Good evening all. I hope young Cyn here isn't causing you any trouble,” the older bull started Cyn down. Irritated Cyn shot the older bull a challenging look. He didn't appreciate the comment and of course wanted to look though in front of the ladies.

“Oh he's no problem at all. I think he's quite sweet.” Citron giggled again and gave Cyn a little nuzzle, almost as if she was enjoying the now palpable tension between the two bulls.

“Tonight, on the eve of the blood moon, chaos will erupt and it all will be over.” Everyone stopped talking and looked now at Aeld. The purple sty said nothing more and just stared up at the full moon in the sky, which was very clearly not red.

“Erm, anyways,” Cyn continued after a rather long, uncomfortable silence, “I don’t like what you're trying to insinuate Oculus.”

“You better watch that tone of voice young one.” 

“Just because you’re older, doesn’t mean you are better than me. I could take you on any day, old man.” Cyn straightened his posture and snorted, directly challenging the older bull. He hadn’t realized that others were beginning to gather around them to see what the commotion was about. 

“Are you sure you want to do this lad? At your own party?” Oculus stood tall, but did not react to Cyn’s challenge. At least, not yet.

“That depends. Are you going to apologize and walk away? Nothing was going on here and you felt a need to interject yourself.” Cyn responded calmly, though there was certainly an undertone of irritation.

“I'll not apologize for checking in on an... Arrogant young bull who still has a lot of learning to do,” Oculus huffed. At this point a circle had formed around the two styracosaurus bulls with a majority of the party goers waiting to see what would happen.

Cyn moved away from Citron so he was directly in front of Oculus, sizing the older bull up. He was certainly larger due to age, but Cyn figured he had youth and strength on his side. “I figured an old man would have better manners when talking to his host.”

Oculus rolled his eyes. Clearly, Cyn was ready to charge him and there would be no changing his mind. Oculus pawed at the ground to help dig his feet down and stood poised to charge. “Go for it then, boy.”

Glaring at the purple bull, Cyn pawed at the ground terrace before going into a full charge. He angled his head downward so his horns and shield directly faced Oculus. I'm only a few sorry students, he rammed into the other bull, smashing into him head on. Oculus grunted at the impact, but firmly stood his ground. Cyn threw his full weight and strength against him and was somewhat surprised when Oculus was forced to take a step back. This however, just renewed Oculus’ determination, causing him to put more of his strength into the brawl. The dinosaurs around them cheered and watched with excitement. Surprisingly though, it seemed the pair were rather evenly matched. One would manage to force the other to take a step or two back and the other would eventually regain that footing and force the other back. Unfortunately for Cyn, he was beginning to tire and Oculus hardly seemed to be sweating. Continuing head on would be the end of this match for him. He gathered his remaining strength to make a last push towards Oculus. However, this time when Oculus pushed back, Cynesiege deftly jumped off to the side, causing the purple sty to lunge forward and be thrown off balance. In that same moment, Cyn took his chance and charged towards Oculus’ side, managing to just shove the older sty off his feet with a heavy thud. 

Much to Cyn’s dismay, Oculus quickly regained his food and the two stood there panting and staring at each other. The heat of the moment was wearing off. “Are you…done…old man?” Cyn jived.

“You did well, that was a smart move on your part. Might want to work on your endurance though lad. Truce?” Oculus actually let out a hearty laugh and only seemed slightly out of breath. 

“Hmph. I would've had you–”

Cyn was interrupted by heavy, thudding footsteps that shook the ground. “Oh! Am I interrupting something?” a surprised voice asks.

A large, gray head with a white stripe looked between them, stopping the two bulls in their tracks. Looking up, they realized that the thudding footsteps were from a very large shunosaurus who had decided to join the party. At least it wasn't an albertosaurus.

“Oh dear, is everything okay? I seem to have stumbled into quite the tense situation. There is a party happening here tonight right? I would like to make sure I'm at the right place. Apologies, my name is Tauri,” she finished looking around awkwardly at the crowd. 

“Oh uh, yes, yea. The party is here, we were just having a friendly brawl is all.” The tension in the area settled and the dinosaurs started to pull away from the group. Cyn and Oculus nodded at each other in a show of respect and understanding and all seemed to be well. 

“The time is now! The end is neigh! Feast your eyes on the blood moon, the beginning of the end!” The familiar, but still strange ramblings of Aeld rang out through the group. Most ignored her, though Cyn looked up to see a shadow beginning to cross over the full moon. Some of the other party goers noticed as well and they stopped to gape up at the moon. 

“Oh, I’ve heard of these. When the moon darkens, it is called an eclipse. We will be fine everyone, they happen every once in a while, much like the seasons come and go. I was always told the red moon was an especially good time for reflection and renewal, to prepare for what lies ahead,” Tauri spoke slowly and calmly. It seemed to have a calming effect on the party, who had now gathered around to watch the moon darken. 

Cyn was now looking between the giant shunosaurus and the purple sty, trying to figure out which one was crazier. Citron interrupted his thoughts when she came up to him. She was close enough that he could feel her flank just barely touching him, which was all it took to fully distract him from everything else. “Want to watch this eclipse with me?” she asked sweetly. Cyn was momentarily distracted by just how green her eyes were. They were the color of fresh spring grass and quite lovely.

“Oh uh, yes, I would love that.” He finally managed to respond. She giggled and plopped down on the grass next to him as he followed suit. Cyn wasn't used to such attention from ladies, but he sure didn't mind.

The remainder of the evening passed without incident as everyone settled in to watch the eclipse. No earth-shattering, world-ending events occurred. Just a quiet peacefulness that settled over the crowd into the night.

Characters:

Cyn: https://www.primevalarpg.com/import/2960/profile

Oculus - Sty, older bull who tends to like a good fight and doesn't have any issue putting a much younger lad in his place all in good fun! https://www.primevalarpg.com/import/1138/profile 

Aeld - Sty with a head in clouds. She is mysterious because she doesn't talk much and when she does it tends to be about something weird and kind of spooky. She is nice, just kind of weird.  https://www.primevalarpg.com/import/4762 

Citron - have sweet ol Citron who's definitely more of a follower, and pretty weak when it comes to cute boys https://www.primevalarpg.com/import/3922 

Tauri - I also have Tauri, who's sweet but forgets her size sometimes https://www.primevalarpg.com/import/4563