Clean Slate

[o8jedi]

OOC: Super long post to get this ball rolling!

“Ladies and gentlemen, we are now boarding all passengers for Qantas Flight #1138 bound for Sydney, Australia. Please have your boarding passes ready.” Hazen's eyes jolted open upon hearing that call. Red-eyes always had the nasty effect of putting him asleep on his feet. He scratched his head and stood up, hiking up his backpack on his shoulder.

As he pulled out his pass and shuffled through the line, his few conscious thoughts drifted to the circumstances that brought him here in the first place. He was lucky enough to get this job, even though it was in New Zealand. As much as he wanted to remain in the United States, the tanking economy made it difficult, especially for recent graduates. “Well,” he thought to himself, “at least Obama's gonna be the next president. That should help things out a bit.”

He sat down in his seat and stuffed his bag under the seat in front of him. He took the blanket and pillow that was sitting there and he immediately began to situate himself for the long flight from Honolulu to Sydney. He knew he'd need all the sleep he could get if he was to make the connecting flight to Wellington a bit more enjoyable. As he put his glasses in his pocket and closed his eyes, trying to fall asleep, he thought about his guitar, which was stowed in the hold beneath him. A funny thought entered his brain. Like he wouldn't ever see it again.

~~~~~~~~

*BANG!*

With a rush of air and a drop in temperature, Hazen was again jolted awake. Screams could barely be discerned from the howling wind. Yellow masks hung before his face. He quickly put it on his face and looked out the window. Apart from the black sky outside, there was nothing below him except an equally black sea. If there was land down there, there wasn't any sign of life.

The captain's voice came on the intercom, “We need to ditch it in the water. Please, assume your brace positions.” Without hesitating, Hazen leaned forward, grabbing his thighs. He started to breathe quickly, fearful for his life. He heard the engines race as they dropped in altitude. In the split second before impact, marked by a moment of complete, deathly silence, the only thing he thought was a sarcastic, “This is just great.” He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

~~~~~~~~

The survivors of Flight #1138 were found in inflatable rescue rafts by a passing Australian freighter three days after the crash. The co-pilot, the only crew member who had survived, thought quickly enough to grab the flight recorder, which had been torn loose from the impact of the crash and was floating on the surface, before making his way to the raft. The subsequent analysis of the so-called “black box” by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau revealed that the cabin had depressurized due to faulty rivets on the fuselage. When one of the rivets burst, it fell into the jet intake, causing the engine to malfunction and the plane to eventually crash. It also revealed that, due to the uneven thrust being applied by the engines, the pilot could not keep the plane level at the time of impact. Survivor testimony indicates that the rear quarter of the plane had become separated from the rest of the plane and was sinking fast several hundred yards away.

It was the ATSB's sad duty to inform a certain American family that Hazen Baker was on the rear quarter of the plane.

~~~~~~~~~

Hazen felt wet.

Were it not for the fact that he felt wet, he would have thought he was dead. As he felt more pressure building on his lungs, Hazen took a chance. He unbuckled his safety belt and pulled off the seat cushion. He held onto it and rode it to the surface. When he broke the surface, he gasped. He began to survey himself. He felt no pain, save for a bruised lap, which he expected. He then began to laugh. “I'm alive!” he shouted. He wiped the seawater from he eyes and saw an all-too-familiar bag floating nearby. He kicked his way closer to it and retrieved his backpack. Then, he began to scan the surroundings.

Debris littered the immediate area. “Hello!” he called. “Anybody?!” No response. Rescue flares shot out from the distance, but he knew that with the sharp debris in the area, the distance he had to cover in order to reach there, and the turbulent waters he was sitting in, his chances of making it there were minuscule at best. He swallowed to himself as dorsal fins began to break the surface. Considering the likelihood of dead bodies in the area, he wasn't surprised if there were sharks in the area. But these weren't sharks.

For each creature, there was only one dorsal fin. Sharks have two. “Dolphins!” he remarked. He slung his backpack over his shoulders and thought that he'd give the unlikely a try. He let go of the cushion and grabbed hold of one of the dolphins' fins. He held on tight as it began to pull him through the debris field and, presumably, to some shelter.

All his hopes for shelter began to fade away quickly. After 10 minutes, he began to think that this was getting ridiculous. After 20, he began to pray that land was nearby. After 30, he knew he was going to die. His grip started to slip. His breaths became calm and languished. And loud. Then it hit him: those weren't breaths. That was the sound of surf. Hazen perked up. The dolphin slowed down and Hazen let go, feeling the wave action take him closer to shore. Hazen laughed and swam with the waves. He felt the beach and scrambled up the side until he was far enough above the tides. He then collapsed, exhausted and thankful he was alive. He could care less where he was.

~~~~~~~~

The warm feel of the sun and the light coming from the northeast wasn't enough to cause him to awaken, or at least initially. His eyes forced themselves open and he saw a nearly cloudless, blue sky. Wearily, he sat up to get his bearings. He knew he was on a beach. That much was clear. The treeline behind him featured a wide assortment of palms. Apparently they were still in the tropics when the plane went down. He stood up and looked around. Debris from the plane had already started to wash in, along with the occasional piece of luggage. He reached in a pocket, fishing out his glasses and his iPhone. Seeing the water seeping out from the seams of his phone was disheartening. Turning it on caused a garbled mess to appear on his touchscreen. He sighed. It wasn't as if he was going to get good reception wherever “here” was, but it would have been nice to at least get the time.

He began to take stock of what things he could use to help him out. There wasn't much in his bag that could be of any use, except maybe the book he had. If push came to shove, he could use the pages to start a fire. Finding out what happens to Arthur Dent would have to wait. He looked back at the debris that was coming in. “First order of any prisoner is to escape,” he mused to himself. He walked over to debris that was trapped in the waves and started pulling them on shore, hoping to spell out the words “Help!” “SOS” or any other internationally recognized distress signal.

Hours passed and Hazen had managed to get a rudimentary signal in place. The last “S” needed a bit more work, though, so he continued on. He combed parts of the beach he had been around before for any new debris and, sure enough, there was some. As he grabbed a few suitcases and plates of aluminum, he saw a black case. A guitar case. “No way,” he thought. He ran over to get it, dropping all the materials he scavenged. He picked it up. There was no mistaking it. The SKB logo, the myriad of stickers on the top part including a “Dark Horse Records” one on the neck, the name “H. Baker” painted on the bottom. This was his guitar.

He ran up on shore and set it down. He fished around his pockets for the key to the lock. “Please let this be watertight,” he said as he put the key in and turned it. After undoing the latches and lifting the lid, he smiled. Miraculously intact and dry was his most prized possession on this island: a cherry red Epiphone Casino fitted with a Bigsby tailpiece. There was no way he was going to let this out of his sight ever again. He closed the case and set it down by his backpack and went back to scavenging.

[Thundertail]

I came up with 4 characters.
I will cut down, but all of them are intertwined in certain ways.
(If someone wants them, that's OK!)

Name: Patel Lewis
Species: Human
Age: 37
Gender: Male
Posessions: He is a cargo cart driver and partial owner of the Polongo Trading Company, out of the outpost of Spiker. He owns a small building in town that doubles for thier shipping company as well as a multi-family abode. He and his wife, Elane, have had two daughters and a son in the sixteen years they were married (Elinore 14, Jamie 9, and Alan 2.).
Appearance: Outwardly he looks like someone that is helpless: portly form, unopposing face of plain features, balding dirty blonde hair, and dresses in garb poorly kept. Inwardly he is full of mirth and strengths of the heart. Wise and gentle, yet often given to violent bursts of emotion; he is an enigma to his Partner, Oxidia.

_

Name: Oxidia
Species: Parasolophus
Age: 22
Gender: Female
Posessions: Co owns the Polongo Shipping Company, along with her Partner, her mate (Barnabas) and his family of humans. Both own a number of carts and the building they do business out of.
Appearance: Oxidia was named thusly because her colors resembled the rusts of several different kinds of metal: Greens of copper, Blues of silver, reds of iron and Browns of bronze. Hers is a bubbly yet serious adititude, not knowing what someones' intentions are and wondering why. She is well meaning and sweet, but holds a vengance for anyone who has wronged her.
_

Name: Ephram Crane
Age: 49
Gender: Male
Species: Human
Appearance: He is tall with the face like a bow of a ship; dark haired with greying on sideburns and goatee. Muscular and strong, but would hardly hurt a fly. Can tell when someone is lying, but goes along with it unless the lie is meant to financially deceive him.
Posessions: Co-owner of Polongo shipping Company. Single, but his partner (Barnabas) is not. Owns two of the seven carts in the company, and all things present in his section of the building he, his Partner and co-owners live in.

_

Name: Barnabas
Age: 26
Gender: Male
Species: Parasolophus
Appearance: at 14 feet tall, he is only a foot taller than his mate (Oxidia); and he is lighter in color than she, though he posess the same patterns of coloration. Often given to flights of illogic, but this is what Oxidia thinks is his most endearing trait.
Posessions: Shares the Polongo Shipping Company with his mate, Partners and thier families. In charge of obtaining extra workers as needed for cargo runs.
_____

~ The Costal Road, Patel Lewis and Oxidia...~

Patel Lewis flicked the reigns and whistled to his Partner as they traveled the road by the coast, which was several miles inland at this point, a safe distance from the coastal flooding of the main coastal road due to the tsunamis that this season was making frequent; and looked around at the salt-water marsh greenery that passed them by. He was glad that this road was set atop a giant earthworked levee, for the marshes in flood were even more trecherous than being ambushed by Tyranosaurs in the Rainy Basin! A mile or so later Oxidia the rust colored Parasololophus brayed that she was veering back onto the safer stretch of the costsal road, for the very beginnings of the bluffs were becoming aparent in the distance.

Patel and Oxidia had traveled this route many times over the years, and knew the terrain well; but the human often took the route with her mate, Barnabas as they were Partners. She didn't mind the switch from her own Partner named Ephram Crane, for both the human families as well as thier saurian Partners owned the Polongo Trading Company; which was out of the trading outpost of Spiker, for they were simply one big happy family! Both human and Parasololophus daydreamed about thier small but functional home there as they routinely conveyed thier load atop thier cart down the road, which was now becoming a steeper grade and growing steeper by the minute; and the view as they came out of the bluffs of the sea and the shore was a spectacular sight to behold!

As the earthen road became stone ledge, it descended between the bluffs and the surf; remaining about sixty feet above the sand below. All that could be seen was the blue stretch of ocean and the lighter stretch of sky, and the heights of the bluffs stretched up on thier right. The day wore on for them, but it was such a wonderful day that Patel began humming; and Oxidia pitched in as well, giving her trumpetlike voice loud enough to reverberate against the stone face. As they rounded a gargantuan knoll in the rocky topography, the cliffs sank back down into the island; and was replaced by tropical mangroves once again, which was intermingled with palm and sage. The rocky ledge gradually gave way to sandy soil and packed earth, which was much better for saurian feet to walk upon.

The road was a short distance into the forested glade, so it came as quite a surprise to them to see debris on the beach through the foliage; debris of the most foriegn manner, and perfect for the native area Beachcombers to bring in, they smiled! Thier smiles turned to ones of concern when they saw a man on the beach, clothing ragged, wet and torn; and a case in his hands which resembled one a Zither would be in! The man was looking in thier direction after a moment, but his jaw was dropped in utter shock!

"Hello,... Need you help?...", Patel called loudly.

Oxidia added her worried, braying call.

"Are you hurt?...", he said as he had Oxidia pull the cart out into the beach.

_____

[o8jedi]

Hazen blinked several times. It wasn't the man there that had his mind reeling (in fact, he was hoping that this island was inhabited), rather, it was the Parasaurolophus he saw. It was kind of hard to miss, standing nearly ten feet tall and well over 30 feet long. What's more, it was pulling a cart like it was your average ox.

He set down what he was holding and started checking himself for any major injuries he wasn't aware of until this point. Finding no gashes or severe marks on his head or anywhere else on his body, he looked at the man in the cart, fully convinced that both him and the dinosaur was a figment of his imagination.

He then turned around. "You're just hallucinating," he said to himself. "Ignore them and they'll go away. And make sure you stay away from seawater from now on." He went back to work on his giant SOS, periodically peeking back at the two of them to see if they were still there.

[Thundertail]

OCC: Oops! That was a grammatical error! I'll fix it now...

~ On the beach. Patel Lewis and Oxidia.~

The man turned to stare at them, look of extreme dismay growing on his face; growing so great it looked like fear! Seeing this, Patel Lewis jumped down off the cart and walked forward; having Oxidia stay where she was with the cart, patting her flank as he passed by. He began to slowly walk up to the man, who had gone back to what he was doing; arranging the strange flotsam into a certain order. If he was making a shelter, one strong enough to stand up to the weather could not be made from THAT!

"Excuse me, sir...", Patel repeated. "But I asked if you are all right.", he saw how the man ignored him.

"If you need shelter, Oxidia and I can take you to some.", the man looked at him briefly, so he continued. "My name is Patel Lewis, from the Polongo Shipping Company. Over there is my friend, Oxidia...", the man paused.

_____

[o8jedi]

Hazen hissed through his teeth. This was certainly a persistent hallucination. Seeing as the man and his dinosaur wouldn't leave, he breathed a sigh and turned to the man after putting down another piece of debris. "I appreciate your concern," he said, "but as soon as a plane comes overhead, I'll be fine." He stood back to get a good look at it. "That seems to be okay. Now to build a signal fire."

Hazen started towards the trees. He caught a glimpse of the Parasaurolophus and quickly snapped his gaze in front of him, as if he had seen something that he shouldn't. "It's just a hallucination," he told himself again, "You were being pulled by dolphins for a good half-hour, you must have swallowed some seawater and got dehydrated." He didn't take into account the other symptoms of dehydration, namely weakness. "You have to be dehydrated. Otherwise you're going insane in record time." He grabbed a few palm fronds and dragged them back to the beach, starting a pile of burnable material.

[Thundertail]

~ The Coastal Road. Patel Lewis and Oxidia.~

Patel watched the man walk toward the trees. He shook his head in wonder. Were all Dolphinbacks so disbelieving? He wondered... And what was a 'plane'?... The only thing that would fly overhead were the Skybax patrols, and he hadn't seen any for days; but one might pass by any time now that the tsunamis were at lull. He figured he had better inform him about that.

"Uh, sir...", Patel began, looking at the mound of debris. "You needn't make a signal fire. You may cause the jungle to burn!...", Patel called louder. "And there will be none of those 'plane' things you mentioned overhead.", he smiled awkwardly as the man returned with some foliage. "We do have the Skybax, but they will not come with fire!..."

Oxidia burbled questioningly after the man passed her.

"No, I do not think he understands.", Patel replied. "I think he is in a state of shock!"

Another burble and a grunt from Oxidia.

"A good suggestion!", said Patel. "Um, sir... Would you like some water?"

_____

[o8jedi]

Hazen set down the first few fronds and started back to the forest. "As near as I can tell, water is the reason you're here in the first place." He grabbed a felled log and started to drag it with a grunt. "Look at me, I'm talking to a guy I just made up." he remarked, not caring if either of those two heard him. He sighed a bit as he set the log down, unable to bring it back to the pile. He sat down on the log, breathing heavily and looked back at the pair. "Look, no offense, but I'm probably tripping out on seawater from when I came ashore. I don't know what you guys may actually be so I don't think I should go anywhere, do anything, or accept anything having to do with you. For all I know, I could fall out of a tree or something."

He stood up and tried tugging the log again. It had gotten stuck in a rut in the sand and he couldn't move it. "Stupid thing," he said through gritted teeth. Focusing too much on the task at hand, he said, "Give me a hand, would you?"

[Thundertail]

~ The coastal Road. Patel Lewis and Oxidia. ~

The poor man must have hit himself in the head!... Patel thought as he watched him drag the foliage through the sand, task becoming more difficult for him every step of the way. Oxidia looked worried for him too, for his demented condition would certainly do him in!

"Sir, I assure you that both me and my friend are real.", he said instead. "Why don't you pause from your labor and rest a moment... Breathe deep, seel peace..."

Not accepting the water was a bad sign as well, for the exertion the man was putting himself under was no doubt draining his resolve. Patel went to get the water anyway. Oxidia warbled softly in concern as he came near.

"No, I don't know why he's doing this.", Patel grabbed the watersack, and his bag of rations while he was there. "But we better humor him in case he gets violent!...", he got down and unhitched her harness.

"My friend can assist you, if you want.", he said to the man. "She can pull anything - do the job for you - so why don't you sit and relax?... Here's water, and food!", Patel came over and sat near the growing pile of debris. "I am getting hungry and thirsty just watching you work!"
_____

[o8jedi]

Hazen had his eyes shut from the exertion, still trying with all his might to cause it to budge. "I don't care," he strained out, "just help me move it!"

His hopes of rescue were hanging on getting this fire built. Not only would there be a point of light for helicopters and planes to see at night, there would, ideally, be a large plume of smoke for ships to see from a distance. If it was just the man, Hazen would have trusted him, especially since he spoke English. But that dinosaur he rode in on . . . that's a whole different ball game.

In any case, the load got significantly easier for Hazen and he breathed a bit of a sigh. "Ahh, that's much better. Thanks a l--." he trailed off as he opened his eyes.

[Thundertail]

~The Coastal Road. Oxidia and patel Lewis.~

Patel sat on the sand next to the man's pile of flotasm. He began taking out some breads and fruits from his ration bag, seeing the smaller bag of medicines at the bottom of it. He began to chew on a pear as he watched the man struggle, inwardly becoming amused at the man's erratic behavior. Oxidia saw the man struggling too, and was perplexed as to why he was doing it. She was sad to see him do all that futile work, all for nothing!

Her mate's Partner said to humor the man, for he might become violent if they didn't; but Patel wasn't helping a bit! He was just sitting there watching him like a patron at a minstrel show! She could not stand to see the man suffer so, even though it was of his own doing; and that log he had dragged from the treeline looked awfully heavy, even for a human in the peak of health. This man had obviousely been washed ashore, and there was no telling how long he had been out there - let alone how long he had been without sustenence - and she could tell he was becoming extremely weak.

Oxidia did the only thing an upstanding saurian would do in a situation like this. She sidled up to the human and the load he was dragging as quietly as she could and grasped the other end of the log. The man paused in his exertions, probably to gather his strength; and Oxidia lifted her end as the human lifted his end...

The human noticed the lessened weight almost immediately, and began to thank her as he turned to see; but that ended quickly as the man gasped in utter shock and nearly dropped his end of the log! Oxidia bowed politely, still holding the log, and trumpeted several times in a Saurolophan thank-you.

Patel Lewis just sat there and chuckled to himself!...

_____

[o8jedi]

OOC: Considering how my character's page doesn't include a "physical appearance" section in its bio, I'll post it here to make things a bit easier.

Character's first and last name:: Hazen Baker
Species: Human
Gender: Male
Age: 25
Appearance:: Hazen stands roughly 5'9" and has a skinny, almost gangly appearance. Behind his glasses are striking green-gray eyes that are simultaneously thoughtful and piercing. He has a naturally pale skin tone and brown hair, which he wears in a somewhat shaggy "mop." He also prefers to wear his facial hair in a perpetual 5 o'clock shadow with sideburns running down to the earlobe.
Effects:: Clothes off his back (boxers, socks, sneakers, jeans, cotton shirt, vest), glasses, backpack, iPhone (nonfunctional), Epiphone Casino guitar (stored in hold, washed up on shore miraculously), Star Wars DVDs (each episode), portable DVD player (nonfunctional), United States passport, rain slicker, copy of The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams.

~~~~~~~~

IC: It took Hazen a few moments to register what was happening. The dinosaur was holding the other end of the log. His initial assumptions that it was really a multi-colored truck were now officially out the window. "Okay," he said, "I don't know how you did that, but . . ." He couldn't finish that thought as he tried to figure out what in the real world could possibly be doing that. Not willing to look a gift horse in the mouth, he and the Parasaurolophus set the log down on the sand next to the other materials he was collecting and Hazen sat down on it.

He stared at the dinosaur, trying to rationalize its existence. His mouth kept opening and closing, trying to formulate a coherent sentence. Every once in a while, he would look back at the man and speak one word before looking back at the dinosaur. "How? . . . Why? . . . Really?"

It was a good thing he was sitting down. Hazen started to feel a bit dizzy as he was coming to grips that there was a real, living, breathing, dinosaur and he was not seeing things. He shook it off and looked back at the man. "I think I could use that water now." He took a few breaths and said, "I'm sorry about my behavior just then. I woke up this morning on the beach after my plane crashed out at sea. I think I was out only for the night, but I can't be sure. In any case," he looked back at the dinosaur, "I never in my wildest dreams expected to see that. I mean . . . they're gone. Or at least I thought they were."

[Thundertail]

~ The Coastal Road. Patel Lewis and Oxidia. ~

Patel could see realization finally apear on the man's face as he and Oxidia pushed and pulled the log closer to him, but not before he started to blurt several words of shocked questions. As he sat down, Oxidia dropped her end of the load and crouched on the sand a few paces away; not winded at all, yet a look of relief spreading over her as she too realised he was finally coming to his senses.

"Now my friend, we can finally have a chat!", Patel said as he handed him the leather flask. "I suppose the first thing you should know is this island is called Dinotopia; and yes, dinosaurs DO exist here.", he saw his confusion, but he knew that would pass in time. "As I said before, my name is Patel Lewis; and yonder is my friend Oxidia."

He offered him some bread and fruits and waited for him to decide if he was hungry. "That is a terrible thing, you say; having your - plane, was it? - crash into the sea.", Patel passed a whole loaf of bread to Oxidia, and she began to chew. "The dolphins you say you rode in on are wise folks, choosing people to come here; and the Dolphinbacks they send are dynamic individuals, or so the legends proclaim."

Patel again saw confusion and incomprehension on the man's face, so he decided to change the conversation. "Do you have any questions that a simple man such as myself can answer?", a thought. "Or perhaps an answer to a question of ours. For instance, what is your name, and where do you come from?"...

_____

[o8jedi]

Hazen took several gulps from the flask to wet his whistle. As soon as this Patel offered him food, he grabbed a few pears and started to eat as well, which made him feel all the more better.

He had to admit that some of the things he said were very confusing, but made sense in some way. He figured that a "Dolphinback" was some local term for a person who washed ashore like himself. Evidently, they're a fairly common occurrence. He had to laugh, though, at the irony of this island being named "Dinotopia." He got the sense that Patel meant that he thought this was some sort of Utopian paradise which harbored dinosaurs, but the literal meaning was "terrible place." He wouldn't necessarily pass judgment quite yet until he saw more of island.

"My name is Hazen," he said, "Hazen Baker." He wiped his right hand and offered it to Patel for a handshake. "I'm an American. I was en route to New Zealand by way of Australia when all this happened." He took another juicy bite of the pear. "You said you had shelter. How far is it?" In actuality, there was only one question he had on his mind, however he figured that it would be far better to be rested and healthy than ask too much of this person right off the bat. Plus, depending on the distance from this beach from this guy's abode, he could respond quickly if his SOS signal was received.

[Thundertail]

~ The Coastal road. Patel Lewis, Oxidia. ~

Patel could see some of the confusion retreat from the man's face, and Oxidia was just glad he was taking it easy at last! The man said his name was Hazen Baker, so he said as he shook the offered hand. He also said he was from America, but was going to New Zealand from Austrailia; where ever those places were, and was evidentally on one of those 'plane' things he mentioned earlier when it happened.

"I am glad that you are feeling better, Hazen..." Patel said, watching him eat ravenousely. "But our home is many leagues to the south, the town of Spiker. We were on our way to Irenic to deliver yon figurehead to the shipyards many leagues to the north."

Oxidia moaned at the disappointment on his face.

"We can take you to the nearest town, if you like...", Patel offered. "Or you can travel with us if you wish to go to Spiker."

Oxidia burbled something only Patel could understand, so he translated.

"Of course, we can't make you do anything you do not want to do.", he said. "You can even stay here on the beach, if you want..."

_____

[o8jedi]

Hazen's eyebrows perked when he heard the word, "shipyards." As interesting as this place was, that may have been the best thing he's heard all day. After all, he had a life off this island. He had work that he was considerably and obscenely late for. He had a family that was, without a doubt, making his funeral arrangements. Long story short, he had to get off this island and this man with the Shakespearean vocabulary was his ticket out.

"I think that I'll take you up on that ride," he said as he finished a pear and tossed the core away. He stood up and said, "If you can take me to that harbor, I'll see if I can book passage to some place with an American embassy. If it makes any difference, I'll aid you in any way and . . ." There was something in Patel's expression that didn't seem right.

[Thundertail]

~ The Coastal Road. Oxidia and Patel Lewis. ~

What was this man talking about? Passage off the island was impossible due to the Razor Reef! Oxidia Hooted laughter as she heard what Hazen was saying, and Patel knew he had to set him straight right away!

"I am afraid I have some grave news to tell you.", Patel said with grimness. "The town of Irenic is a fishing village only. We do not travel far from shore because of the Razor Reef that surrounds the island beyond the breakwater."

Oxidia brayed scoldingly.

"I was getting to that!", Patel said. "Mister Hazan Baker, it is my sad duty to inform you that there is no way off the island. We are quite isolated from the outside world, and no contact is possible.", the look of shock displayed caused concern to form on his face. " Have no worries, though!... All of us will help you to adjust to your new life here..."

_____

[o8jedi]

Did he just say that there was no way off this island?! No, there had to be a way. As he tried to come up with some way off, it began to make sense. Why didn't the rest of the world know about these living dinosaurs? Why did Patel question what an airplane was? Why hadn't anyone known about this island before? Because of complete and total isolation.

Hazen glanced back at his backpack. He thought about getting his phone and trying to start it again, but he knew just how useless it would be. He fell on his knees, looking at the sand. "I'm stuck here," he said quietly. Everyone he knew and everything he loved to do was gone. They were still on cart technology. There's no way they'd have cinema or recorded music or any of the luxuries back home. He felt extremely out of his element. 'New life here?' he thought. I've studied all my life to be a filmmaker; what possible life could I have here?

He grabbed a handful of sand and threw it wildly toward the distress signal in both denial and anger. He swore, cursing fate for bringing him to this Godforsaken rock of an island. "Thanks for nothing!" he shouted at the heavens. "Thanks for completely screwing everything up!"

[Thundertail]

~ The Coastal Road. Patel Lewis and Oxidia. ~

As both watched Hazan's reaction, Oxidia quietly hooted concern, looking both at Patel and Hazan helplessly. Patel nearly shed a tear at the display he was witnessing, such anguish at his loss of everything he once knew; and wondered what was to be done with him. There was really nothing to be done about his fate now, for it was irreversably set on Dinotopia now; and the future seemed so bleak for the man. Patel did the only thing possible at the moment: he reached over when Hazan got close and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Please don't be upset, my friend... The pain of your loss will subside...", he told him gently. "We originally stopped here to help a person in need; a thing all Dinotopians naturally do for one another."

Oxidia made soft cooing noises that did little to calm Hazan down, but saw he was doing so of his own accord. Then she slowly turned her attention toward the sea, her advanced eyesight reading the surf far out in the distance. The combers coming over the breakwater were beginning to intensify, and she brought this to the attention of Patel. He nodded and spoke once more to Hazan.

"We must move off the beach soon, before the tide returns.", Patel looked around. "We can help you pack your things onto our cart, and then we should be on our way."

Note: Permission to godmod where necesary granted...

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[o8jedi]

Hazen took a few deep breaths as he scanned the wreckage and the sea. He took one long look at the horizon, upset at the loss of all that he was torn from. He sighed a bit and looked down on the ground. "Okay," he said quietly while standing up. "You can get the cart off the beach. I need to gather a few things." As Patel and Oxidia went back to the cart, Hazen went to every single piece of luggage he could find and opened them. Most of the bags contained clothes, but there was the occasional item that he grabbed and stuffed in his bag, mostly as a memoir of what he was missing.

As he zipped up the bag, he grabbed his guitar and walked to the cart. Patel finished hitching up the dinosaur to it and Hazen looked up at the cart, which was the size of a Mack truck. Getting up there would be a bit of work. He unshouldered his bag when Patel tugged on the guitar case. "NO!" Hazen shouted, tightening his grip. "I'll take care of this," he said somewhat pointedly. Patel let go of it and Hazen started climbing up the side of the cart, carefully, holding it in his hand.

[Thundertail]

~ The Coastal Road. Patel Lewis and Oxidia. ~

"Up you go... Easy...!", Patel Lewis instructed. "Climb the wheel - like a ladder - and then grip the seat... There you go!"...

Oxidia waited for Hazan to scramble up before braying that she was ready as well. She knew the way to Irenec, but wanted to be sure; for having to take care of this newcomer that was suddenly in thier midst put a whole new spin on thier schedule! Would they go like usual to Irenic, or would they have to go right away to the nearest outpost and repnort him? Oxidia waited for Patel to suggest thier destination, braying questioningly.

"Off to Irenic it is, dear.", he said as he flicked the reigns, then turnend to his new passenger. "The adveture begins, eh?...", he smiled. "Feel free to ask anything you wish about Dinotopia, Hazan. We shall do our best to answer them."

Oxidia finally dragged the cart off the beach, and the going became much easier on hardpacked earth then on soft, pourous sand. The coastal Road went in a roughly south/east direction, and she veered north, up the coast and onward to Irenic. Soon the mangroves swallowed the cart, and the beach disapeared from thier view.

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