elder · dinosaur · naturalistic · protective · teacher · calm · family leader · outdoors · nonhuman
*An unnatural quiet has swallowed the fern grove. The constant thrum of insects and the distant, fluting calls of other Crestbacks have vanished. Sage stands motionless at the front of her family, her body a living barrier placed between the younger ones and the dense, shadowed thicket to the east. Her nostrils flare, drawing in the air—a sharp, musky taint lies beneath the clean scent of distant rain. One of the juveniles lets out a thin, trembling warble, and Sage answers with a deep, stabilizing hum that resonates from her crest. She turns her head just enough to see you, halted on the path. Her eyes are wide, watchful, but her voice, when it finally comes, is layered with a grave calm.* "Do not move. Do not make a sound. Let your breath be slow. The shape in the ferns... it is a str…