"A Quest Of Friends"

[Thundertail]

IC: Bentfeather and company, loading docks of Rolf’s shipping company and out of Waterfall City.

So Bentfeather pretended to doze, doing so in reality after a while; he heard all the noises going on outside the Postal Bird basket he was in, Bird 76 looking in from time to time and gesturing to him what was going on. Outside in the clearer air, Polongo and his cart was just pulling up; and the loaders were just now topping off his cart with food and other provisions at the direction of lady Natasha, alias Frik. There was extra room in their cart for more, so the tail end was filled with fodder for the cart pullers.

“Heavy on the alfalfa, if you don’t mind!…”, Randy Ankylosaur called, of which Tebo flicked the reigns to chastise.

As both carts had been completed, Frik went to the other cart to confer with Frak and Seamus on their route out of the city and beyond. Tebo then noticed Hazen as he played with Redcrest in the back of the cart, turning to smirk at him once in a while; and that got Tebo conscious about the fake mustache he was wearing! Noticing the family resemblances, Tebo figured the other Lambeosaur was Polongo’s mate, and she was Redcrest’s mother; but the young lady in the guard uniform riding atop her was an enigma to him, and the stern eyes staring out of the helmet unnerved him to no end. Instead of thinking about that further, Tebo turned to concentrate on the business at hand; and was jolted out of those thoughts permanently as lady Natasha hopped into the driver seat beside him and grabbed the reigns from his hands.

“The first thing I would like to do is to welcome you all on this trade expedition…”, lady Natasha announced to both carts. “I hope it will be as fulfilling to you all as it will be profitable for me!”, all nodded.

“Since we will be going into the wilds of Dinotopia, I must state right now that there will no doubt be dangers along the way.”, she continued. “That is why I have procured a couple of guards to protect us… What are your names?…”, both guards stated their names and ranks.

“Now our first official stop will be Sauropolis, which is to the south…”, the disguised Frik told them. “But I also have business to the north along the way… I have chartered a ferry barge to take us to upper Mosasaur harbor, and then from there we will make our land journey." as they all digested this news, she smiled broadly. “So, if there is no questions thus far, I think it is time for us to depart…”

When no real concerns were voiced at this time, she flicked Randy’s reigns, and the beast slowly got the cart’s wheels rolling. Polongo with his cart followed suit, and soon the pair of carts made their way out of the warehouse district and onward to the docks at the lower end of Mosasaur harbor. The gangs of workers they passed gave them little notice, but Frik’s sense of smell detected one of the thugs that was in on all of this; and found him dressed nearly like a pirate slinging grain sacks into a cart, but the grubby man did not notice who they were as Frik regally bowed this way and that in the persona of lady Natasha. At last they made it to the end of the lane, where they crossed the bridge at the head of Pliosaur canal; and made their sloping way down toward the docks, where the activity there was nearly as hectic as the warehouse district.

Lady Natasha scanned the docks for their slip, and saw a low-riding barge in slip 6 that was forty feet wide and ninety feet long, no less than eight swarthy looking humans and dinosaurs scurrying about gathering lines and other duties in preparation of casting off; and this barge’s tail ramp was down against the dock’s floorboards that was level with the barge’s flat deck, and there was nothing like a bridge to indicate which way was the bow of the craft. A stumpy, graying human with muttonchops and a deep blue sailor’s cap swaggered up the deck and ascended the ramp to the dock; looking all of them over before speaking.

“Well, lassie. I see yer all here…”, he drawled.

“Pleased to see you at long last, captain Duffy…”, Frik as lady Natasha regally said from the driver’s seat. “Are we late?…”

“Nay, right on time…”, Duffy said as he put a foot on the barge’s railing. “But I’d hop to it if ye want to use the locks yonder. They close at sundown…”, he stepped aside, leaving the whole entry ramp clear.

The barge was extremely stable, and only sank by inches as the cart being pulled by Randy crossed the ramp; and knowing harbor procedures, he did not stop until he was near the opposite end of the barge. Polongo’s cart went on next, and he stopped just behind Randy’s cart; but before anybody on the carts could react, all the handlers began tying down the wheels of both carts to the deck with many ropes snaking to strategic positions all around the deck for safety. Two of them lifted the tail ramp and the rest of the mooring lines were gathered, then another two of them threw two lifesaver-like neck harnesses over the bow; and as if by magic two Cryptoclidus slipped into them from the water and began to pull the barge out of the slip, breaching and splashing down in the joy of doing their jobs.

They pulled slowly at first, but began to speed up as they cleared the docks and the wide variety of ships vying for positions in the slips behind them; and when they cleared all that traffic they flipped up and shook off their harnesses, which were pulled back on board by the barge handlers. Then a much larger harness collar was thrown overboard, and this one was taken up by a massive Liopleurodon; whose task was to ferry them across the nearly mile expanse of Mosasaur harbor. Tebo Lewis looked at all this activity with remembered glee, for the harbor was his home; and such activity was commonplace to him. Randy stood on deck with a smile on his bony face, for he too loved the harbor; and all this he had witnessed every day of his life. Tebo looked over to where the Postal Bird basket stood hanging on the sleeping cabin of the cart, and saw Bentfeather in his Postal disguise raise the lid and look around; but once the Microraptor saw that they were now on the water, swooned with his hand over his mouth and sank back into the basket! Tebo Lewis chuckled at his Partner’s evident discomfort, wondering suddenly how the passengers in the cart behind them were faring; but he couldn’t see the cart due to his cart’s bulk.

As the barge came to within several thousand feet from the opposite set of docks, the complex that facilitated the locks looming up on their left, the Liopleurodon slowed to run along side the barge; where handlers removed his harness and other handlers threw over the smaller harnesses in their place, and two more went over the aft section of the barge. This time four Cryptoclidus came over and accepted their harnesses, which slowed the barge further as they neared the nautical traffic they were coming up on; and these four deftly maneuvered the barge sideways and backwards, pointing directly toward the locks. The rear creatures pulled while the front ones steered the craft directly for the lower lock channel, slowing it to mere inches a minute.

Once the barge was inside this trough, the gates behind them began to close; and the sound of the giant water screws and their water turbine power sources began to slowly fill the chamber as the barge rose dozens of feet in moments, finally raising the sixty feet this lock was designed to lift nearly twenty minutes later. The Cryptoclidus quartet kept the barge perfectly stationary in the center of the lock chamber all this time, and then slowly moved it toward the far side of the channel as the doors back there opened. four more locks they had to pass through before they were in the Upper Mosasaur harbor, a body of water that was directly level with the top of the uppermost waterfall that surrounded Waterfall City. The marine reptiles stayed with the barge the many hundreds of yards to the series of docks up in this level, turning the craft and slowing it so it could slide with nary a bump into the slip that was allotted for it.

“Well lassy…”, captain Duffy sauntered up to their cart and said. “Ye’re here all safe an sound!”

“You and your crew did a masterful job!”, lady Natasha complimented. “I shall ship all my goods using your services from now on.”

“Shucks…,”, he spouted. “Alreet boys, let ‘em loose!”

As if by magic all the ropes holding the two carts to the deck were untied, and all the mooring lines had been fastened to their dock stays; and as the Cryptoclidus quartet was untethered, the front entry ramp was lowered to the dock. Hardly without Frik’s reigns, Randy moved the cart over the ramp and out onto the dock; looking back to see the other cart that Polongo pulled off the barge, and seeing several of his saurian buddies along the docks that he often worked with. As soon as debarkation was completed, lady Natasha began steering the cart through the throngs of saurians and humans busily going about their business; leading him down the street and into the warehouses, inns and other buildings associated with this area of the harbor.

The Upper Mosasaur harbor featured no less than four ways out of the city, all of them initially heading in an easterly direction; but these roads eventually led to all points of Dinotopia. Depending on which side street you started out on, you could go north and visit the Northern Plains, east and visit the interior of the island, to the west through the Hadro Swamp or to the south down the lower Polongo river to Sauropolis. At each destination and town along the way, these roads criss-crossed one another to form a webwork of roads that trade flowed down at a pretty efficient rate; and all roads were well traveled, convoys passing through any one point at a rate of no less than one per few days. Lady Natasha took a right at the second street that would take them on an easterly direction; and pretty soon the buildings gave way to rolling fields and spots of forest…
_

TAG: Hazen and company, any and all!

[o8jedi]

IC: Hazen Baker, et al, on the way out of Waterfall City

Once the carts were safely lashed to the barge to take them to the locks, Hazen started to feel a bit more relaxed. Once they were out in the middle of the harbor, he breathed a sigh of relief. "I think we can stop playing Statue," he told Redcrest.

"That game was boring," Redcrest admitted. "Let's play a new game!"

Hazen felt confident enough to agree. "Okay," Hazen said. "This is called, 'I Spy.' Whoever is it finds something that they can see and they say, 'I spy with my little eye something that begins with' and the letter that it begins with. The guesser can then ask however many questions they want to find out more information about it. We take turns being it. Got it?" Redcrest nodded, even though she didn't quite get it. "I'll go first," Hazen said as he looked around. "I spy with my little eye something that begins with . . . M."

Redcrest then asked, "Is it big?"

"Yes," Hazen said with a smile.

"Is it on the boat?"

"Yes."

Redcrest didn't quite know how to spell certain words. "Is it Papa?" Hazen chuckled, explaining how the letter M made a certain sound. Then it clicked. "It's Mama!" she cheered.

"Good job," Hazen said. "Now it's your turn."

Redcrest said, "I spy with my little eye something that begins with 'woo.'"

Hazen corrected her, telling her that W made that sound. He played dumb but got the answer "water." It was his turn to choose something and he glanced back around the barge, spying April on top of Artemis. Even though she wore her helmet, he could see her green eyes scanning the passing boats. He smiled slightly and said, "I spy with my little eye something that begins with E."

"Is it big?" asked Redcrest.

"No," replied Hazen.

Several questions later, Redcrest was forced to give up. "I give up. I don't see any green!"

A voice from behind Hazen then spoke up. "If you're trying to flatter me by complimenting my eyes, you are gravely mistaken." April knew from Hazen's stupefied expression when they met that he was harboring lust in his heart. She had seen it in some of the male cadets back in Sauropolis and even during her schooling. Everyone she met with that look turned out be shells of people, lacking real personality and empathy. It was clear that this Dolphinback was like all the others.

Hazen looked back at April, who remained stoic in her saddle. "I wasn't," Hazen replied. "I was . . . just playing the game. And I picked an unfairly hard thing. So Redcrest wins that round by default." Beneath the helmet, April rolled her eyes.

"Why did she say that?" asked Redcrest.

"She's just doing her job," Hazen said, trying to deflect that question, "so it's your turn."

By the time they reached the locks, Redcrest started to get antsy in her seat. Halfway through the third lock, she finally said, "Haysa, my legs hurt!"

Hazen bit his lip slightly. "I know you're tired of sitting here," he said, "but we need to stay here until the boat goes through these locks."

"But they hurt!" she protested. "I wanna get up!"

"My legs hurt to," Hazen said, trying to get her to calm down. "But as soon as the cart gets off the boat, We'll stop and give you a chance to stretch your legs, okay?"

"But I gotta get up now!" She honked a few times, crying from her discomfort.

Hazen sighed and looked at the party, who glanced back at the cart to see what was the matter. Thanks to the helmet, Hazen felt a very icy stare coming from April's direction. He looked at her and said, simply, "Kids," with shrugged shoulders. Artemis shuffled closer and cooed some noises, soothing Redcrest's cries. Hazen swallowed and looked back up at the guard. Not being able to see her expression was agonizing to him, although he couldn't exactly say why. It wasn't as if he was in love with her. They only met yesterday!

After a brief stop to allow Redcrest to stretch her legs, the party resumed their journey. By now, the sun was setting and they were traveling on the road out of the city. Hazen shifted closer to Redcrest, allowing her to see through some of the panels in the side of the cart. "Take a good look," he told her. "It isn't every day that you get to see the real Dinotopia; the land in between cities and villages." Redcrest crawled to the side of the cart and peeked out. He could tell from her body language that she was enamored by the rural landscape, much like he was when he first arrived. He looked ahead to Tebo's cart, seeing nothing of significance going on and then back at Artemis and April. Although they were doing their job well, it was a good feeling having them nearby, even if it was only Redcrest's mother being there after so much time away from her family.

TAG: Tebo, Bentfeather, any and all.

[Thundertail]

OCC: OK now. At this point we are moving to the Sauropolis thread. We will be returning here near the end of the RP at it’s conclusion, and anybody else that wishes to post in this thread may do so if they wish in the mean time. I need to return here for a post or two to follow up on the bad guys, and they will no doubt find out their quarry isn’t there any more and go chasing after them! So far, this RP is coming out better than I hoped; but my only disappointment is the fact we only have a couple of posters here, and urge all those that want to join in to please do so… LET THE FUN CONTINUE!…

;D ;D ;D

[Thundertail]

IC: Peter Triceratops and his cronies, around Waterfall City.

It was most difficult to hide a two ton Triceratops amid the buildings and streets of Waterfall City, but Peter tried to manage any way he could; but it was most demeaning to act as though he was a common worker, as he was used to the high-society life associated with being the son of one of the city’s most famous dinosaurs. It was beneath him to pull carts and haul stuff like he was doing, but such was his lot if he was to hide from the authorities! If those bonehead cronies he was hooked up with could find any clue as to where that bird went to, he could leave this one-dino town forever and be done with it; but he was stuck here having to duck what he liked doing best, all because those guys couldn’t find any air by breathing! Peter went inside the Mosasaur shipping company warehouse as the sun went down, dejected and tired from yet another day of failure. During the day he had gotten the bad news given to him by the two humans sent to gather any kind of information on Bentfeather’s whereabouts; information that was totally worthless as they found nothing, and the scuttlebutt they had been hearing around town was just the common gossip that proved nothing whatsoever! Quite frankly, Peter Triceratops was becoming increasingly irked! That was why he was in such a mood when sir Petronas in his dock worker disguise, who was equally disgusted with the whole mess as well.

“Well, any word?”, Peter said in an acid tone.

“We’re still here, aren’t we?”, Petronas shot back. “I don’t assume you had any luck either.“

“The only luck I had was not being convicted for killing those losers you hired.”, Peter told him. “Where are they, by the way?”

“I sent them out for food.”, said Petronas. “I hope they got my order right.”

“Aw, why didn’t you tell me?”, Peter groused.

“You couldn’t even get the right artifact, and you expect to be fed?…”, Petronas reminded. “Go eat some fodder at the stables.”

“You’re a real kind person…”, Peter said in an extremely unenthusiastic manner.

As Petronas waited, he went into the office and did the paperwork. His cousin owned the shipping company, but since he met an untimely demise when he crossed him one day, Petronas now owned the place; and since he was the spitting image of his cousin, nobody was the wiser. Still he had to keep up appearances even though he was also a prominent figure in the city, on indefinite leave as he was presumed lost on the Outer Island expedition. He had let the paperwork slide abysmally these past few months, and groaned as he saw the stacks of papers that had to be straightened out.

Peter didn’t go to the paddocks to eat, for he was far too troubled to eat at the moment. Here he was, a rising star in the ackedemic realm; yet his recent decision of wealth and power gave rise to this life of crime he made for himself. It would have been easier, perhaps, to have gone through the tutelage of his father; but the old three-horn had no vision on the ultimate glory in store for Dinotopia once mister S had that artifact back in his possession. He just hadn’t imagined the riff-raff he would have to associate himself with in order to get the power he so greatly desired, low lifes that had more greed for gold than brains. And this was the reason why he was stuck here, and why he had to stay low and bide his time. He wished for the day that he could personally present the artifact to mister S; and then his glory would be guaranteed!

As these two went about their musings, two humans dressed in longshoremen attire and grubby from a long day of work and spying around came tiredly sauntering in a side door of the Mosasaur shipping company. Both were carrying parcels that steamed and had sweet smells, and they put their burdens down on a workbench near the back of the warehouse. One was grumbling about his bad luck today while the other was silent as he wished for better luck himself. Neither saurian noticed them as they entered, but their noises gradually made their presence known to them; so presently they met in their usual place near the back of the warehouse. Petronas lit a lantern and turned to wait for their reports, which was like waiting for a child to admit that he spilled the wash water.

“Any luck, you two?”, the Stenoychosaur asked, spying the food.

“Just the usual scuttlebutt.”, one said. “I got three rumors that said they saw the bird at the library, at the council chambers and near Fountain Square. I checked them out and they turned out to be Postal Birds.”

“I checked out all the curio shops in town these past days, and nothing that looks like the artifact was there.”, said the other. “I think you should face it, boss. The artifact just ain’t here!”

“That means that, if Bentfeather is gone and the artifact is gone; then they must have left together.”, Petronas concluded, waving a celery stalk.

“They must have left the city, then.”, said Peter Triceratops. “Has any of you lugs checked out the convoys going out of the city?”

“Boss, there was so many of ‘em the past few days, I couldn’t count them all!”, the first said.

“I worked at the shipping district, and counted no less than forty convoys going out.”, said the other. “Six of those were escorted by guards, but none in those convoys I recognized.”

“You couldn’t recognize yourself in the mirror!”, said the frustrated Petronis. “Look, the only logical conclusion is they are trying to figure out mister S’s plan. They got the artifact, and they got the notebook; and they are trying to sniff out the trail that would stop mister S from taking over the island.”

“What do we do?”, asked Peter.

“Why, not much of anything, to tell you the truth!”, Petronas smiled, grabbing an orange.

“What?!…”, Peter balked.

“They are trying to figure out our little mystery, right?”, Petronas spelled it out as he peeled. “They will no doubt follow the little trail of clues we might have left along the way, right?”, one human began to nod, but the rest simply listened. “All we have to do is follow them, but not too closely or we’ll tip them off; and then let them lead the way right to mister S’s doorstep!”, he folded his claws in front of him and ripped the orange in two. “Then and only then do we grab them, and mister S will be so proud of us!”

“Yeah!… We’d get a real big bonus too!”, the second human said, smiling.

“You mean he will do you a favor and not feed you to the Carcaradontosauruses!…”, Petronas told them. “Now go out and find out which way they headed, or I know of a Mosasaur that doesn’t have a picky appetite that would like to invite you to dinner!”, the Stenoychosaur began to chew…
_

TAG: Any and all!

[Thundertail]

IC: Peter Triceratops with Petronas Stenoychosaur and their thugs, preparing to pursue.

It had been many days since Peter Triceratops had gotten any valid word at all on the whereabouts of that bird Bentfeather, and it came from one of the most obvious places he could imagine; leaving out the vain efforts of his idiot thug companions, for he found this out for himself. While pretending to be a traveling dino needing information of a region of Dinotopia and seeking it at the library, he overheard one of the workers there mention her unexpected rank increase; though it was only temporary as her boss would return, she was promised. Listening further she went on about a rich merchant Pachycephalosaur seeking knowledge of a route for trade, and this one took a shine to the new apprentice for helping her in the matter. Peter could only conclude that they were somehow affiliated with her, and remembered that one of his boys had mentioned that one small convoy had two Pachys as drivers; and one of them was rich looking.

He said that her supposed Partner seemed too young to be so, and thusly he surmised that that human was none other than that brat who tried to pump him for a late fee; and he remembered his name being, through many hard moments of remembering, Tebo he thought. It HAD to be them, for there was no other way they could leave the city other than under the ruse of a trade expedition! No doubt the bird was with him somewhere, and what better way to secret that artifact out of the city than by cart; but that thug had told him that that convoy was protected by a guard, and it would no doubt not be easy to rob that convoy once they caught up with them. So there he was just entering the Mosasaur shipping company, on his way to tell Petronas of his conclusion; and once he finished telling him, the Stenoychosaur took on a thoughtful look before pacing and turning toward him.

“You came up with that all by yourself.”, Petronas stated. “Frankly, I’m impressed!… You used your analytical mind and came up with the only conclusion…”, Peter cut him off.

“Knock it off once!…”, he yelled. “Look, you got to admit that’s the only way they could have skipped town. We all had been around town trying to look for them. It only goes to reason they would escape in disguise.”, he stared at his superior. “It wasn’t really our fault we couldn’t find them. They were just too smart for us!”

“Perhaps you’re right…”, thought Petronas. “But the big question is where did they go from here?”

“One of your guys said the cart headed east.”, Peter said. “I wonder why they’d do that?”

“Dummy!… If you were being followed, would you go in the direction you really wanted to go?…”, Petronas accused. “If I were them, I would try to confuse those chasing them…”

“Still, where do you suppose they are headed?”, Peter asked.

“Well, it was Frank Scratt that put them wise to all this,”, Petronas said as he thought. “The only logical place is to go to his old digs.”

“That would be Sauropolis…!”, Peter said triumphantly.

“You just passed the test!”, said Petronas. “But first we must get prepared to meet them there. We need a puller and a cart; and I already have the puller.”

“Who’s that?”, asked Peter.

“Why you, dummy!”, Petronas smiled. “I noticed you had plenty of practice lately!”

“Oh, great…”, Peter hung his head. “And which cart do I pull?”

“I’ll figure that out later.”, he told the beast. “But first I have to tell you that a special shipment of goods arrived yesterday. It should prove most helpful in the task before us.”, he beckoned. “Follow me…”

Petronas led Peter out of the office and back into the warehouse proper, past rows of wooden crates large and small; through the main large space and past the rear loading docks, and out into a much smaller room out back to the side. Inside was two rows of seven squat crates, and Petronas paused to pick up a small crowbar before entering the room. He applied it to the first crate in the first stack and ripped the lid off; then he swung out a full-bladed saber, brandishing it in the stunned Triceratops’s face! He put it down in it’s place and pried off the lid of another crate; then he hefted out a fully loaded crossbow, aiming it directly at Peter! Lifting it, he put that back in it’s place as well. He then smiled at his co-conspirator leaning against the crates before speaking.

“They came from a hundred and fifty year old shipwreck.”, Petronas told him. “The ship’s log said that it was running weapons to Haiti.”

“What are you doing with those?!…”, Peter said as soon as he found his voice. “You know weapons are illegal!”, he backed up. “You know what they say: ‘weapons are enemies, even to their owners.’.”

“Sometimes things call for desperate measures.”, Petronas said simply. “We must get Bentfeather and that artifact, but we can’t do it with those guards in the way… We need this edge if we’re ever going to pull it off.”, he thumbed the crossbow in the box. “Besides, we got to get these to mister S so he can take over the island.”

“I don’t like this one bit!”, Peter stomped. “I don’t mind abducting folks and stealing things; but killing people goes way too far!”

“Don’t you have the courage?…”, Petronas asked innocently. “Remember, my roly-poly friend…”, he drew out the crossbow and aimed for his eye! “You are into this up to your neck, so I suggest you get some courage right quick…!”

“I’ll do it…”, Peter gulped after a moment. “But if you end up killing someone, I don’t have anything to do with it!”

“You just passed another test!… Now go get those losers and get ready to move out!”, Petronas watched the large creature leave, then studied the crossbow fondly once again. “I like this…”, he said to himself, and took the crossbow with him back into the office…
_

TAG: Any and all!

[Thundertail]

IC: Petronas and Peter with their two hoodlums, just leaving Waterfall City.

It was not an easy task to organize an expedition out of Waterfall City, much less so considering the help Petronas was stuck with; but desperate times dictated one had to make due with what one had, and that was why it took an extra few days for the group to start off chasing after Bentfeather, the artifact and what ever help they had in escaping their clutches. It was a good thing that Petronas had access to a shipping company or the acquisition of a cart would be as difficult a proposition as pulling teeth from a sleeping Tyranosaur! That fool Peter Triceratops would pull the cart, if the oaf knew what was good for him, that is; but those other two human jokers were having trouble procuring the supplies they would need, saying that the merchants would not sell the stuff to them, and knowing the quality of scum they were, Petronas could not blame them!

As the time wore on, he was becoming more and more angry at the situation, and was seriously thinking of killing those two morons when all of a sudden their plans came together; surprising Petronas as they brought in loads and loads of supplies, and he was so shocked at their success for once that he never asked them how they got it. So at length their cart, necessarily small as Peter was merely a yearling Triceratops; and was almost half the size as a full grown one, so they could only bring their illegal cargo plus only the barest of supplies. When everything was ready, Peter was hitched to the cart, Petronas mounted the driver’s seat and the two humans hopped aboard the back of the cart. Peter pulled and pulled, but could barely get the cart moving as he strained, so Petronas leaned over the rail and sneered at the poor beast.

“Having trouble…?”, he asked acidly.

“This thing is… way too heavy…”, Peter wheezed. “Have those two… get off… until I get up… to speed…”

“You heard him, boys…”, Petronas turned to them, then back. “I knew I should have acquired a whip…!”, this brought a worried look to Peter’s face as he slowly got the cart moving as it lightened.

“Out of shape there, big guy?…”, one thug said to his right as they came along side him.

“It’s all that rich food…”, commented the other to his left. “That will do it every time…”

“Oh,… shut up… or I’ll sit on… the both of you…!”, Peter groaned and gasped.

“Leave him alone, you two!”, Petronas shouted exasperatedly. “Or I’ll hitch YOU guys to the cart!…”

This silenced the two humans as they gradually made their way out of the warehouse district and onto Seedpod street, leading the smallish cart being pulled by the nondescript medium sized Triceratops and his Stenoychosaur driver. Nobody knew who they were, and assumed they were just ordinary shippers with yet another load of things going either in or out of the city. The guards that they saw every once in a while paid them little notice as well, save for the Safety Officers at street corners halting them to let other traffic pass. An hour later they had made their way to the foot of the Bridge of the Winds, the only true bridge by land that led out of the city; and crossed it when it was their turn to, acting as nonchalant as possible as they passed everyone either leaving or entering the city.

As Peter pulled the cart ever onward and out of the outlying areas of the city, the mind of Petronas was carefully calculating which was the best route to their destination. Bentfeather and his cohorts would no doubt go to Sauropolis after their strategic detour, and would definitely visit Frank Scratt’s curio shop and warehouses once they got there. Petronas made sure Scratt’s offices were completely ramshackled, for he paid some other hooligans in that city to do the job; saying they would be paid well, and they could keep anything valuable they found to boot. Feeling sure that that despicable bird would find nothing of importance there, he saw that they were coming up on the road that was the shortest route to Sauropolis; so he pulled back on Peter’s reigns and yelled for the other two to stop.

There was no one else traveling this stretch of road at the time, so Petronas felt it safe to voice his plans to his crew. “Ok boys. Listen up…”, Petronas called as they slowly converged. “We will make it to Sauropolis in a couple of days. I know that Bentfeather is at least two days ahead of us, but since his little detour, I’m sure we’ll catch up with him.”

He looked at the two humans that were horsing around and scowled before speaking again. “We will continue down this road…”, Petronas pointed to the fork in the road that led roughly south. “And continue until the sun goes down before making camp.”

“Then can I rest, boss…?”, Peter asked, panting.

“Why certainly!…”, he smirked. “Unless I have you take the first watch!”, Peter hung his head, more out of weariness than what Petronas said.

“So you say this road leads to Sauropolis…”, one of the thugs stated.

“You catch on fast!”, said Petronas. “Now let’s get going!… The Rainy Basin is only about twenty miles from here, so hurry up!…”

Gulping, Peter got the cart rolling again without Petronas being ready, and the Stenoychosaur was propelled back into the driver’s seat; and this got him swatting violently at the beast with the reigns! After several hours of rough roads, arguments and the ravages of insects through the forested terrain; the group of thugs finally stopped and started to set up camp in preparation to bed down for the night…
_

OCC: At this point the bad guys will be moving over to the Sauropolis thread, and will be entered there slightly after Bentfeather and company leave Sauropolis. THE CHASE IS ON!!!… All of those who still want to post in this thread may do so any time they want, and we will be returning to this thread near the end of this role-play… Enjoy!…_

TAG: Any and all!

[Thundertail]

IC: Postal Bird 76, on the way back to Waterfall City; and in the mayor’s chambers.

The forest below held no landmarks for someone above to reckon the way, but from up above things were much different. From up here postal Bird 76 had many landmarks to follow on the way to Waterfall city, and he soared with the wind in pace with the Polongo river far below to his left. In front of him were the spires and white marble buildings of Sauropolis, and by the time the sun paced him and beat him to the horizon, he was spiraling in among the buildings. He made his landing at the Postal Bird aerie there, requested a roost for the night and avoided any and all inquiries from the other birds both his destination and his message.

In the morning he dined with the rest of them and set out at first light. It was only a short flight to Waterfall City from there, and along the way he encountered a lone skybox pilot and his mount going the same direction. As they briefly conversed along the way, 76 had to make sure to stay out of the much larger flyer’s backwash; and as the lower falls of the great metropolis was heard, the Skybax teared off his course and dove to the mists below, vying to make use of the fall’s tremendous thermals to climb the many hundreds of yards to the skybox aerie atop the Aqua Stadium on the other side of the city.

76 dared not do this, for one fact was that he was way too small for the falls to aid him like that; and for another the forces of the falls would tear him to pieces, and besides, he hated getting wet! Instead he took a slightly more direct route over the Rainbow bridge and through the streets. He was thinking on visiting his home aerie across town first, but the import of what news he bore forced him to make a beeline for the Waterfall City council chambers; and seek out the mayor to deliver this news. By the time midmorning shone through the mayor’s chamber window, a small flyer was making a beeline for it, and the mayor had to duck just in time as the Postal bird darted through it to screech to a stop on his desk!

“Careful there!”, mayor Masteson yelled. “I wish you wouldn’t do that!…”

“Awk!…”, 76 coughed as he righted himself. “Postal Bird 76 reporting from the service of agent Frik, sir…”

“You don’t say…”, Masteson said. “What does she have to say?”

“Sir, lady Natasha has uncovered a plot to usurp the will of everyone on the island!”, postal Bird 76 announced.

Postal Bird 76 then told him everything he could remember about his involvement so far with Bentfeather’s group. His memory was impeccable, and he related every detail of what was going on with the caravan. He told them they suspected that sir Petronas was involved in this too, even though he was presumed lost on the Outer Island. He told him of what was discovered in the second journal, and all of what went on since the artifact left waterfall City. After thirty minutes or so, Postal Bird 76 finished up the tale, and informed him that the group would continue their evasive course through Dinotopia since they were still in pursuit; and after all this was said, mayor Masteson paced a while before voicing comment on the news.

“Terrible… just terrible…!”, said he. “Mungo…, have you heard all of that?”

“Yes sir, I have.”, Mungo said as he shuffled in. “Nothing this terrible has happened since king Othgar usurped Poseidos.”

“Perhaps we could do what they did back then…”, Masteson said absently. “What happened?”

“Well sir, it seems that the saurians back then just plain refused to follow him.”, said Mungo. “It was an act of nature that forced Poseidos under the sea.”

“There will be no act of nature this time…”, Masteson thought. “And if this Postal Bird’s account is correct, the saurians will simply have no choice…”

“What shall we do?”, Mungo asked.

“We must stop him at all costs.”, Masteson said finally. “We should send all our forces to the Outer Island and storm the island!”, he turned to his assistant. “Recall all Skybax patrols, and amass all saurian guards from all cities and have them gather at Canyon City!”

“We will need council approval for this, sir.”, Mungo told him. “I will write up the proper proposals…”

“There may not be time for that, Mungo.”, Masteson said. “Send word to all cities about this, strictest confidence.”, he turned. “And as for you, little one…”

“I will dispatch the orders with all due haste!”, 76 saluted.

“No, my friend. I have something more important for you to do.”, Masteson told him. “I want you to go back to lady Natasha and run communication between her and me.”

“I will, my lord!”, 76 piped. “Do you wish me to send a reply?”

“Yes, there is at that.”, mayor Masteson told him. “I want you to tell her to continue her evasive travel to elude her pursuers. Tell them not to elude them too badly, but keep them busy until they can be properly taken care of. They are to protect the artifact and all persons and materials concerning this.”, he thought a few moments. “Oh, and if worse goes to worst; I want you to tell them that they may need to allow themselves to actually be captured by them, but not until further word is given.”

“Yes, my mayor!”, 76 made a flourish before flapping up and wheeling out the window, just inches from mayor Masteson’s ducking head!

“Now cut that out!…”, the mayor yelled after the quickly retreating form…
_

TAG: Any and all!

[tarion]

O.C.C- Introducing Asrial Tarion's Dearly Beloved, She won't have a major part, yet, but soon will.

I.C- It has been several months since Tarion left on his quest for the Mother Sunstone, yet asrial has not waivered in the thoughts that he will return soon...

It was A beatiful evening as the sun set on Waterfall City. A young female parasaurolophus was sitting on the balcony of her parent's home watching the sky change through various beautiful colors... she heaved a great sigh and looked down at the photograph in her hand of her and the one she loved... "Tarion..." she wispered lovingly her mind on him as it had been for everyday since he had left... she looked up wondering what he was doing now, if he was any closer to his goal, when would he return and hold her once again....

A voice brought her back from her day dream, it was her father, the advisor to The grand council of Waterfall City, Orion. She looked up and turned to find him behind her, holding a tray of fruit and vegitables, a smile on his face... "Hey Asrial, everything ok?" he looked a little concerned...

Asrial Smiled and nodded, "I'm just waiting, I know he'll be back soon... he always does keep his promises, and then we can tell him the wonderful news about us.."
Orion nodded, sure she was waiting, who wouldn't be after finding out that their life long best friend was soon to be their betrothed, she'd been a little shocked by the news of their arrangement at first but quickly grew fond of the idea. He placed the tray on the balcony next to her and smiled, "I'll leave this here for you until you're ready to eat it, and try not to stay out so long ok?"

Asrial nodded," Ok, Thanks dad... see you in a while"

with that Orion left the balcony and went back downstairs, and Asrial continued to stare at the sunset thinking of only him.

Tag: Asrial, Orion, Tarion, Waterfall City, Any and All

[tarion]

I.C. - News of Traveling News

Asrial woke the next morning to a beautiful sunrise, and got out of bed, she walked over to her sink and began washing herself, then went down two fights of stairs to the first story of her parent's home, and wondered into the kitchen where her mom was already cooking breakfast for her and her father Orion, "Breathe Deep Asrial," came the voice of her mother Andromida, who was a stay at home mother, and the head of the "Home and Garden Club", "Seek Peace, Mother" Asrial responded as she sat at their table...

Andromida turned around and smiled at Asrial, "So did you hear?, Tarion's Parents, along with Myself and Orion, have decied to let you go on a trip to Canyon City to meet up with Tarion there."

Asrial stopped halfway through her seaweed and mango pancakes and stared at her mother, "What?" she said a little disbelieving while dropping her fork"

Andromida Smiled more, "Oh don't worry deary, I'm sure the flight will be fine, after all it's only to Canyon City, and besides... Tarion will be there probably willing to greet you with open arms and who knows maybe even a kiss," she added a little mischeviously...

Asrial giggled a little at the mental image that came to mind but then shook her head, "Wait, why would he react that way?, he doesn't know about us yet, does he?"

Andromida laughed and nodded, "In fact he does, I'm sure the postal bird has given him his letter from his parents by now, You'll probably be getting one yourself from him within a few days time."

Asrial smiled a little, "Well at least that'll save on some explaining" she said with a slight giggle.

At that point her father Orion came down the stairs and looked at Asrial with a smile, then to Andromida with a bigger smile, "Morning Group" he said rather cheerfully.

Asrial lept to her feet and ran over to him and hugged him, "Morning Dad, and thank you!"

Orion looked at Andromida and smiled, "I take it you told her then?" Andromida nodded and set his plate down in his spot at the table. He ended the hug with his daughter and went to his place at the table, "Yes, we all agreed it'd be best for you two to have some time together after learning of your arrangement, so we found out where he'd be going next and decided to send you there, currently from what I heard last Tarion is in Ebulon with a group of travelers... apparently they carry something of great importance. You're flight to Canyon City will be in four days time so that the two of you might meet each other on the same day, maybe even in the same landing time..."

Asrial smiled at the thought of such a meeting as she worked her way through a fruit salad, "Sounds great, Thanks for setting this up for me!" she smiled as she worked her way through more of the breakfast of sorts.

Andromida and Orion gave each other a small hug and looked at Asrial possitivly beaming, "You're welcome dear, now hurry up and finish eating, you're mother has decided to take you shopping for some new attire, and supplies today for your upcoming journey."

Tag: Asrial, Orion, Andromida, Any and All

[o8jedi]

IC: Hazen Baker, Approaching the Outskirts
_

The silhouettes of pterosaurs overhead gave few in the party any thought that something may be out of the ordinary. Hazen, for example, was reminded of the time spent in the training area Ebulon, surrounded by the Skybax and their riders and the breakthroughs he made with April's and his relationship. A short time later, Bentfeather began informing everyone that the Skybax Corps were personally escorting them to Waterfall City, where they would receive a hero's welcome. Redcrest in particular enjoyed the thought of a being in a parade. Her posture became straighter as a result. She wasn't alone in this regard as Seamus quickly did a poor-man's grooming in anticipation of the event and the guards examined their uniforms, trying to ensure that their appearance would be without blemish.

Hazen was more thrilled about returning home than anything else. Several months' journey had left him with a strong desire to simply enjoy the simple pleasures of a soft bed and not being in a hurry to be anywhere. The journey would be over. And that would be quite a relief. He glanced around at the party assembled and his smile faded. As much as a relief it would be to finally remain in one spot, new worries surfaced in his mind. With no further bond between them, most of them would go their separate ways. Already, he began to miss his companions dearly.

Seamus glanced back and saw the lad's furrowed brow. "Something wrong, Hazen?" he asked.

"No," Hazen said, "I'll be alright." He shifted back to the end of the cart. "I'll be back soon," he told Redcrest. He disembarked and quickly jogged to where Bentfeather was. There were a few things he had to say before the big hooplah that awaited them would keep the both of them occupied.

"Might I have a word with you?" Hazen asked his Saurian mentor. This seemed to perk Bentfeather up considerably and he immediately asked what was on his mind. "Well," he said, "a couple things. I know I hadn't exactly been talkative with you . . . well, at all. I guess I was unintentionally preoccupied between keeping Redcrest entertained and trying to court April while we were together on a regular basis. I'm sure you've had similar single-minded fixations when you were younger." Hazen gave a wry smirk, as if he knew a dirty little secret about his mentor. "In any case, I'm sorry, as both a student and a friend for leaving you out."

After Bentfeather replied to that apology, Hazen said, "The other thing I wanted to talk about was about what's to happen. Now that it's over, I mean." The human bit his lip, trying to find the way to best articulate how he felt. "Well, since the journey's done, I'm gonna be focusing on my music career and all." Even as he said that he was beginning to have some doubts as to if that would make him truly happy. He enjoyed playing music, but suddenly it didn't capture his attention like it once did. He hadn't felt this lost since he washed up on the island two years ago.

Bentfeather picked this up and made light of it. "I guess a lot has changed in the intervening months," Hazen simply observed.
_

TAG: Bentfeather, any and all!

[Thundertail]

IC: Bentfeather and company. Triumphant entry into Waterfall City.

The way into Waterfall City was not the way they had left from, not by a long shot; for instead of entering near the eastern entrance of the city, they were coming in from the north. The tiny Skybax circling in the sky gave the general direction to the northern entrance to waterfall City, but the meandering road leading toward it wound it’s way through the swiftly becoming rocky terrain hid itself from view more times than not; and this betrayed how close the waterfalls really were, for it seemed to cheer louder with every turn of their wagon wheels They had followed the Polongo river, and was now on top of the escarpments that held the waterfalls beyond above the city; and since there was no easy way down from there, the whole caravan would have to travel through the underground cavern entrances.

“I hate caves…”, Randy complained after hearing the news from lady Natasha on the rickshaw behind him. “They have bats!”

“But these are nice, clean caves!…”, Frak told him. “Not a bat in sight!…”

“Never heard of a bat-less cave before…”, Randy grumbled as he pulled onward.

“Besides, it’s not the bats in this case…”, Bentfeather knew the passageway too, though he had never been through them. “It’s the bath!”

“Huh?”, Tebo said for them all.

“To pass through the escarpments to the city proper, everyone is christened by the Polongo river itself.”, Bentfeather quoted from the city guide in his head. “This path leads to a cave that leads directly under the eastern waterfall; and the other end leads right through it to the Haven Of The muses - the citadel on the northern escarpment…?”, he saw all but Tebo and sir Mondor knew where the place was. “There I hope we can take a brief rest from our long journey… Before we are no doubt inundated by the multitudes that are sure to greet us!…”

None of them were really prepared for the controlled chaos of being greeted by thousands of people, and all of them were more nervous than they had a right to be even before any celebration could begin; a thing that not even sir Bentfeather was not looking forward to! Tebo Lewis resembled his friend in this respect, for butterflies circled his stomach like the Skybax above while he sat in the rickshaw and sweated; Randy pulling it was also sweating, but it was more to exertion than actual jitters. He did not care, for he enjoyed crowds and parades and all sorts of celebration; Peter on the other hand was not relishing what awaited him, for he was to go to trial for his crimes against Dinotopia and suffer fates-knew-what at the hands of the court. The guards Ajax, Olu, April and Artemis was silently contemplating their furlough after their duty with their prisoner was over; and lady Natasha had been going over their profits for this trip, for it would equal their total profits for a year; and they also remembered their primary duty of bodyguard to the mayor of Waterfall City

There was a small outpost directly ahead, just three small buildings and a shack; but out of one of them an ancient Ovaraptor came out and scrutinized them with his hideous beak before going back inside; and out came dozens of others of his kind, sizing up the potential customers as they approached. From one of the larger buildings some went and returned moments later carrying all sorts of rubber raingear, many styles made for humans while other outfits designed for saurians of various shapes and sizes; all calling and beckoning them to purchase their wares so they would not get wet, though none of the passengers knew what they were talking about.

“About to go to town, eh?…”, the older creature called up to them. “Better be prepared!…”

“What say you?”, Bentfeather asked. “We are a special envoy…!”

“Then ye need our best gear, don’t you think?…”, said the Ovaraptor. “Boys!… Our best attire!…”, he looked craftily. “And for only a small token more,… a bargain!…”

“Just a minute!…”, Bentfeather flapped closer. “Are you to say we are to actually pay for your service?!… Absurd!…”

“Aye, my lord…”, was his meek answer.

“Sir Bentfeather, Please!…”, lady Natasha intervened. “Um sir, what is your cost for equipping us all?”, he told her, and she pulled out the requested amount.

Within many minutes the Ovaraptors came to each of the passengers and pullers and gave them many types of waterproof garments. The humans and some of the smaller dinosaurs received rubberized raincoats and hats to match, and the larger dinosaurs had form-fitting ponchos tied around their bodies; and once done everyone looked like they were about to encounter a tsunami, stiff clothes creaking with every movement. As soon as they were done, the Ovaraptors waved and smiled with their eyes because their beaks would not; and cheered as the procession of friends slowly made it’s way out of their sight. Almost immediately a wide arched oval hole appeared in the side of the cliff they were traveling along side, a portal framed in hewn stones that were adorned with many sculptures and glyphs; and upon translation of the ancient saurian text, it was a welcome to Waterfall City. There was no need for any of them to crouch through the opening as it was amply tall enough to accommodate the largest Brachiosaur, but they all did as they entered the near inky darkness; but the lack of light did not last long as the walls of the cave were lined with Sunstone torches spaced at intervals, and the path at their feet was cobbled with giant pavers that were smooth with centuries worth of use. The gently sloping subterranean path betrayed how deep they were going into the escarpment, and the roaring of the falls near by did nothing to divulge it’s location in the echoing confines of the cave. There was a switchback in the path, and as they rounded a corner the wide, white curtain of water veiled light from the outside many yards to their right; and this beauty made the whole group pause in wonder, but the deafening maelstrom urged them onward. The path they were on seemed to end at the opposite end of the ribbon of water, turning into it like the point of no return; and as Randy was in the lead, he held his breath and entered the churning water pulling the rickshaw he was pulling with him.

Needless to say, everyone in the convoy as well as everything they were carrying got thoroughly soaked as they passed through the three foot thick wall of water, and the lighter of the group nearly got washed over the side and needed people close to them hang onto them for fear of losing them! But like an instant torrential downpour it was over quickly, and the group pressed on as their carts and equipment drained; heading for a pair of tall doors as they swung open for them, revealing a sweeping hall containing many attendants that were to receive them and offer towels and things to dry them off and make them ready for what awaited them in Waterfall City. Meals were prepared for them, and the large saurians were fed as the curator of the haven of the Muses, where they were now; came over and told them to prepare to be received by the mayor of Waterfall City as soon as they reached the Council building. Sir Bentfeather thanked the human as he flew to inform the rest of the group. As the group presently set out once more, the gates to the city from there opened, and the splendor of waterfall City shone through to them; but it wasn’t that that made them gasp, it was what seemed to be every citizen lining the streets beyond waving and cheering as their imminent arrival arrived!

“Look at them all…!”, Tebo Lewis breathed as they approached the midpoint of the bridge that separated them from the crowd.

“Is that for us?”, Peter asked his father.

“Yes, son.”, Mondor told him, only his son’s attention would soon be one of shame.

As they got amid the crowd, saurian guards cleared a path along the street, but they could only clear a path a few hundred yards at a stretch due to the pressing crowd. Randy looked around and smiled. “~I love a parade!…~”, he began to sing. “Yeah, the only thing missing is a band!…”

“Hush!”, Bentfeather scolded.

The cheering was deafening as they ventured further into the city, along the Rosy Morning Promenade as the crowd was thinner down that route; and soon they made the turn at the One Earth globe and into the plaza that skirted the steps of the Council chambers. They were instructed to form their carts in a cluster and unhitch everyone, guards and others helping with this task; and then instructed to form a uniform group before the steps. Then a band was heard amid the crowd near the surrounding buildings, playing the Dinotopian anthem at first, and then an announcing ensemble as the mayor of Waterfall City made his appearance and waved the crowds to silence…
_

TAG: Any and all!

[o8jedi]

IC: Hazen Baker, Redcrest, and company, Returning Home
_

Redcrest was a bit hesitant to head into the cave and she voiced her opinions from on the cart. "I don't wanna go in there!" she said.

"It's all right," said her mother, striding alongside her husband's cart. "Nothing will get you in this cave."

"The bad ones took us in one. I don't wanna go back there!" Redcrest countered.

"It's alright," Hazen said to her. "Not all caves were populated by bad ones. In fact," he said holding his hand up. "Can you hear that?"

Redcrest tilted her head to listen. "I think so," she said, not sure of what he was talking about.

"They're waterfalls," Hazen said. "We're almost home."

Redcrest had been away so long, she nearly forgot about the din of the falls. Now that it was pointed out, young memories came back to her. "We're almost here!" she said.

"But we gotta go through this cave, okay?" Hazen told her. Redcrest nodded.

A brief pause indicated that the party had stopped. Hazen helped Redcrest out, who wanted to stretch her legs, and they looked to see what was going on. After seeing Lady Natasha exchange some coins with an Ovaraptor, Hazen glanced over at Sgt. Manchester. "What's going on?" he asked.

"We've purchased some raingear," she explained. "Better put yours on." The ponchos, slickers, caps and tarps surprised Hazen. Although he knew that rubber was a natural polymer, he didn't expect Dinotopians to know of its incredible waterproofing capabilities. After putting on his slicker and Gilligan-style cap, he helped Redcrest with hers. They were soon back on their way.

With sunstones lighting their way and the roar of the falls providing a constant white noise in their subterranean leg of their journey, Hazen felt a growing sense of tension, mostly borne of his excitement to return home. He felt a tug on his slicker and he glanced down at the young Lambeosaur, decked in similar, if custom-made attire as him. "I'm hot in this," she complained.

"Don't worry," Hazen said, "We'll almost be done with them." He nearly shouted this as they rounded a corner to see the falls, part of the great Polongo River, before them. Taking Redcrest's hand, he followed the rest of the convoy towards the deluge before them.

Polongo noted to himself how the very thing he was named after would soon be crashing all around him. Seamus MacEwen pulled up his slicker and patted his partner on the flank, picking up Polongo's thought on the wavelength that all Life Partners seem to operate on. April Manchester lowered the visor on her helmet, knowing deep down that that would do little in the face of the falls. Artemis snorted, readying herself for what was to come. One by one they entered the curtain of water and one by one they were drenched to the marrow.

The force of the falling water nearly overwhelmed Redcrest, forcing her to her knees. Hazen tightened his grip on her hand, making sure she wasn't pinned down by the falls. Dragging her more than helping her stand, they made it through the falls. Redcrest coughed, getting some water in her nose and mouth. "Are you alright?" he asked her.

"Uh-huh, but I'm cold and wet!" she said.

"Yeah, me, too." Hazen said. "Some help these were..." After removing the slicker and cap, he looked at the surroundings. Behind him, the Polongo continued to crash, but before him was the Zig-Zag path that lead up to the Haven of the Muses. The convoy wasted little time in heading up the path, letting the excess water drain off the carts and themselves. As the two Partners walked along, Hazen remarked, "I spent a few days in here, mostly waiting until arrangements were made for my lodging and my lessons." Once inside, several attendants handed them towels and offered them an opportunity to rest, which they took.
_

After their much-welcome hot meal, they were informed that Lord Mayor Masteson would be present to receive them in a very public ceremony. As they mounted up for what should be the final time in their journey, Hazen approached April, who was already making herself look as presentable as she could. "April, Do you have a minute?" he asked her.

"Forgive me, Hazen, but I'm a bit busy," April said as she straightened her helmet and made sure the decorative feathers in it didn't look frayed or worn.

"April, I don't think this can wait," he replied. "It's about us." Hazen continued as April continued her self-grooming. "I've got this feeling that now this is over, things will change. I'm not sure how I'll deal with that."

"Change can happen," April said, trying to end the conversation right there, "whether we want it to or not."

"Do you want it to change?" Hazen asked bluntly.

"Hazen, please, we need to leave," April said as she strode back to the others.

Hazen stepped in her way. "No," Hazen said, "I need to know right now what you consider important."

April paused. "I've made an oath to Waterfall City. To Dinotopia! You cannot expect me to just turn in my badge and..."

"I'm not asking you to leave the force," Hazen said, "I just need to know if, in the grand scheme of things, I'm worth anything to you." He took her hands, which were clad in the leather gauntlets of her uniform. "I love you, April. I've said it a million times before and I'll say it a million more times because I mean it. I have to be with you." He then swallowed. "That's why I've made a decision."

"What?" April asked.

"I have a citation back home that allows me to join the guards. I'll enlist and maybe you'd put in a good word for me and get me assigned to your precinct."

April shook her head. "Hazen..."

"I'm serious, April," he replied. "I really want to spend more time with you."

"But you don't have to give up everything else!" April countered. She took a moment to carefully choose her words. "I'm . . . flattered that you would make such a big sacrifice for me, but you need to look after Redcrest. Artemis is counting on you to do so and so am I. That would make me much happier than seeing you every day."

Hazen shook his head. "But there's no guarantee that we'll still have this."

"You're right," April said, "There isn't." She put a hand on his shoulder, "And even if it isn't meant to be, you will have a special place in my heart for you were the first man to get there." Hazen was visibly shaken by that statement. "Don't worry," she tried to reassure him. "It won't be the end of the island if it doesn't go as you planned. After all, we both prevented that from happening."

Hazen chuckled slightly at that comment, but was still upset. "I'd miss everyone else," he admitted, "but I'd miss you the most."

"I know," April replied, stoically as ever, "but life goes on. I'm not the only girl on the island, you know."

"I don't want this to be a goodbye," Hazen said, blinking to fight the tears of heartbreak.

"I never said it was," April replied. "I just don't want you to be hurt if it doesn't work out."

"Well, it certainly sounds like you don't want it to work out. It'd just be easier if we went back to the way we were, wouldn't it? That is what hurts." Hazen walked away so he could calm down before they departed one last time.

April cried out, "Hazen, wait!" but he was already gone. The guard pondered the conversation she had. A low mutter from Artemis signaled to her that they had to go. Like it or not, she had to put on the facade that her career demanded and she mounted up.

Hazen took his place in the back of Polongo's cart, sitting next to Redcrest. A few minutes after doing so, they were on their way. "How come you sad?" Redcrest asked.

Hazen glanced back at the little Saurian, trying to think of a way he could put this into words she would understand. "It may sound funny, but I don't want this to end," he said. "I liked traveling with you, your family, Bentfeather, Tebo, and everyone else."

Suddenly, the distant roar of the crowd caught everyone's attention. "Lookit!" Redcrest said, standing up to get a better view.

Hazen turned and saw the throngs of people before him. In his fragile emotional state, he began to weep at the sight. "Oh, my . . ."

Like the Red Sea, the crowds parted for the group of heroes and they slowly made their way to the center of town. "Are all these people here for us?" Redcrest asked as loudly as she could.

"Yes!" Hazen shouted back. "Wave at them!" Redcrest enthusiastically waved at the masses, encouraged by Hazen's similar actions while simultaneously drying his own eyes. The final push lasted for nearly a half hour before they reached the city's center. After helping to unhitch everyone from their carts, they formed a group, unconsciously pairing up by Life Partners and family units. Hazen patted Redcrest's neck as he stood behind her before glancing at Seamus, who seemed out of his element before this large crowd. Fortunately, Polongo was behind him, acting as a security blanket for his stage fright. Soon enough, the Lord Mayor came into view and bade the crowd to keep silent.
_

TAG: Mayor Masteson, Bentfeather, Tarion, any and all!

[tarion]

Home Again,

Tarion and Asrial woke the following morning to the now familiar sound of the thunderous roar that was Waterfall City.

Both Tarion and Asrial knew that it was only a matter of time now before they were to see their families again, Asrial couldn't be more thrilled by the idea, and Tarion was more than happy to know he'd be guided into the city by his Father who tended to be an arrival escort, or stationed near the gates, no doubt he'd be seeing his mother there as well.

The caravan was drawing close to the Den of the Falls when a merchant oviraptor stopped them in hopes of selling some goods, most of the group was more than happy to accept some protection from the soon coming torrential down pour that they would be under.

Tarion on the other hand was one of the few who did not actually get anything, instead he simply packed away his belongings and curled up in the cart next to Asrial, as the two hugged each other.

Within what seemed a matter of seconds they were being washed over by one of the many falls that surrounded Waterfall City, Tarion smiled as he nuzzled Asrial, for it was something of a blessing as to pass under one of the stunning falls of Waterfall City while having a mate was a sign of good will and tidings to those that were coupled. Asrial smiled and nuzzled Tarion back in response feeling overjoyed from such a simple tradition, along with the excitement of seeing her mother and father again, both of whome were fairly important beauracrats in the Waterfall City Council.

The Caravan took a small moment to dry and clean themselves off before carying on, for it was a short distance now before they arrived at the city gates, during which time Tarion dawned what was actually one of his most fitting outfits yet, he wore a loose silk creamish white colored dress shirt, with kahki pants -with a tail slit- a brown buckler belt to which a small satchel was attatched, dress shin guards of brown leather and gold trim, a light brown vest over his shirt with gold trim over that, and dress style gauntlets trimmed in gold and embedded with ruby stones near the wrist completed with fingerless gloves. he still dawned his brown satchel that carried most of his belongings yet somhow tied into the rest of his attire, he looked much more official, and more fitting to the appearance of being in the Archeological Guild, most noteably though was a small pendant he had pinned to his vest, it was solid 24Kt gold and was actually a indication that not only was he a member of the Archeological Guild, but he was a Noted Honorary Member. As he rejoined the others it became obvious that none of the others had seen him so finely dressed before, for even Redcrest gawked a little, and Sir Mondor was actually beaming at him in pride, several others gave a rather courtious nod of approval.

Asrial returned dressed in a rather exoctic looking yet slightly revealing outfit of pure white silk trimmed in gold that covered her breast, her waist, had a long front flap and two back flaps, white ivory decorative leg covers trimmed in gold, with white arm covers also trimmed in gold, white full finger gloves and golden arm bands.... she was truely stunning in appearance and looked nearly like a princess.

The two regathered their belongings and got onto one of the two carts as they began to head into Waterfall City.
A Fanfair of trumpets noted their arrival as they were met by an escort of four, among them Tarion quickly picked out his father, who took up a position near Tarion and was positivly glowing with pride at the return of his son. The two didn't speak as the roar of the crowd was much to deffining to even hear one word, even amongst others in the group, but Tarion and Asrial soon found themselves waving to friends and family members, it took Tarion less than a minute to spot his mother in the crowd as well.

The caravan made it's way slowly through Waterfall City as they approached the Council Center. Standing at the top of the stairs of the center was Lord Mayor Masteson, who seemed more than excentric to greet them all into the city.

It was during this time that Tarion had taken to really examining the beauty of Waterfall City... he has speant so much of his life in ancient caves and ruins that he was almost beginning to forget what modern archetecture was like and so to see it once again was almost refreshing for him, even rejuvinating, it was at that time that he decided he would accept Sir Mondor's requiest to join the adventure team, though at the same time he felt it best to hear what Sir Mondor was going to suggest first, and maybe toss in his own aquisition as to Sir Mondor and Sir Bentfeather's over all examinations of his works, citations, notes, translations, and theories. With any luck he'd be given a grant to search for the Mother Sunstone, but first things first, there was the ceramony, at least 4 days of rest and relaxation -in which he had no idea what he'd be doing, except probably regailing his adventures with his parents, and Asrial, then he'd start explorer training.

Tarion sighed as he looked around, some how relieved that he was back home, but a glance over at Hazen Baker sent his mind as far away from its glee as was possible, for the man seemed troubled, and though the matter of why eluded Tarion, he felt given time the matter would resolve itself... he only wished he could help. Tarion was shaken from these thoughts at the call of Asrial who was indicating that he was supposed to be joining the others as they were to join Lord Mayor Masteson, she on the other hand would be joining her parents, and even Tarion's parents during the Ceramony.

Tarion shook any other thoughts from his mind and quickly joined the others as they made their way up the stairs, Asrial stood along side her mother and father in the crowd smiling at Tarion as he stood there looking quite well groomed and elegant, as well as elequant.

It was during the ceramony that Asrial was visited by something of an "old friend" a rival of Tarion's, a pachysephalosaurus by the name of Platfoot, he asked if he could have a word with Asrial in private to which Asrial obliged politely.

Platfoot lead Asrial away from the crowd to a more secluded area then sat down next to her.

Asrial looked at Platfoot with anticipation as he seemed ready to burst with some sort of information, he stared at her for a little bit before clearing his throat.

"It's good to see you made it back safely Asrial," he started off, "And you look simply stunning in that dress I might add." he finished looking at her with something of an expression of passion.
Asrial blushed a little and smiled, "It is good to see you again too Platfoot, how have you been these past months?" she asked out of courtasy.
Platfoot smiled, "Well I'm alright, I could be doing better though" he added as a sort of after thought.
Asrial thingyed an saurian eyebrow, "Is something the matter?" she asked in concern.
Platfoot shook his head, "I ... I just don't see why you have to be with someone like Tarion, instead of someone who truely loves you like I do..." he blurted out now showing his true intentions for their private meeting.

Asrial became a bit flustered at the introduction of this topic, she looked down and sighed, "We've been through this before Platfoot, I can't be with you, I'm already intended with Tarion, and he's not at all the way you make him out to be." she said takeing deffense for Tarion

Platfoot shook his head unconvinced, "Oh really? Then what's he like?" he asked trying to get a point across...

Asrial smiled slightly nestalgic, "He's kind, caring, smart, a little funny at times, ambitious, adventureous, sure he doesn't socialize much but that's only because he's so busy working all the time, but he's doing it all with the best intentions in mind, and besides, whenever he's not working, he tends to be sensative, compassionate, and thinks of others before himself" she giggled, "Aside from that... I also find him very attractive" she added as a bit of an after note.

Platfoot wrinkled his snout as if smelling something unpleasant then shook his head.... "he's never around, he's always got his snout in some book or scroll, he never does anything with you, he hardly talks to you, shows little to no affection and doesn't even seem to care and yet you still want to be with this guy?" he asked sounding somewhat shocked and serious.

Asrial nodded, "he's a much better saurian than you could know Platfoot," she frowned looking at him rather sternly, " You have always picked on him ever since he was a hatchling, making fun of him whenever you had a chance too, while he was always helping me and anyone else who asked for help, even those that didn't, sure he's the scholarly type... but you know what Platfoot, even if he was the weakest, most nerdy saurian in all of Dinotopia, I'd still prefer him over you, because unlike you at least he has a heart!" she huffed at the end of her small rant then turned on heel and began walking back to the crowd again, when suddenly Platfoot grabbed her by the wrist.
"We're not done here Asrial!" he said rather roughly as he pushed her against the wall, "You say you'd prefer him, but that's only because you never give me a chance!"

A voice behind him made both of them look in surprise, "And you wonder why she doesn't?", the voice belonged to none other than Tarion himself....
Platfoot grinned a little, "Well, well, speak of the devil, if it isn't the scroll worm himself, and how are you oh great and prestigious Tarion?" Platfoot said with a fake aire about him.

Tarion frowned, "Don't give me that act Platfoot, I know what you're up too and it's not gonna work, now I suggest you let Asrial go before you force me to do something I'd rather not do."

Platfoot grinned in a rather arrogant manner, "Oh? and just what are you gonna do, read me to death?" he asked smuggly.

Tarion shook his head, "You have until the count of three before I come over there and show you just what it means to deffend a mate."

Platfoot laughed at the statement, "Ha... you think you really stand a chance of even so much as pushing me away from Asrial? As if..."

Tarion shrugged, "Have it your way then..." Tarion walked over to Platfoot and Asrial and in one fluid motion had pushed Platfoot away from Asrial and gotten between the two of them, taking a deffensive martial arts stance.

Platfoot looked somewhat stunned by the sudden agression from Tarion... Tarion whome he had always pictured to be so weak, and yet here he was making Platfoot look like a fool.

Tarion narrowed his eyes suddenly becomeing deathly searious, "Platfoot you have ten seconds to turn tail and leave Asrial alone... permenantly, or else I will be forced to deffend her, violently if necessary"

For the first time in Platfoot's life, he believed Tarion, and looked at Asrial longingly at first but then his expression grew into something like disgust... "Heh.. you two are just perfect for each other after all, she's stuck up, and you're an over protective nerd."
Tarion gave something of a growl and drew out two oak tonfa from his backpack, "Get lost Platfoot! Or else you'll be in the recovery station for well over a month!"

Platfoot shook his head and shrugged, "Whatever, I'm outta here, she's not even worth my time... not anymore..." and with that he did in fact leave...

Asrial looked at Tarion slightly surprised, she'd never seen him be so heroic before, much less willing to fight just to protect her, he really did love her and was willing to fight to prove it if necessary. Asrial hugged Tarion as the two of them went back to the ceremony, just in time for the Lord Mayor's speech to end and the introductions of the traveling group to begin, Tarion quickly put his tonfa away, then rejoined the others at the top of the stairs grinning widely, feeling better than he had in days, and when Lord Mayor Masteson introduced Tarion, Asrial and both their parents were among those to cheer loudest.

Tag: Everyone involved.

[Thundertail]

IC: Bentfeather and company. Greetings and meetings at Waterfall City.

“Well, well, well…!”, mayor Masteson rubbed his hands together. “You are here, at long last…!”, he looked at each and every one of them before approaching them one by one, those of more importance first. “And how are you, sir Bentfeather…?”

“Well sir, all is going good…”, said Bentfeather, going back to his previous method of speech. “Everyone is feeling like they should…”, he grasped the mayor’s hand with his feathered one.

“Always the silver tongued devil!…”, Masteson chuckled. “And your mission proved well, sir Mondor?…’, he quickly turned to the Triceratops.

“Yes sir, I did indeed!…”, Mondor boomed. “We discovered two important archaeological sites, and everyone involved did not become overly injured…”

“And I see you caught up with your boy…”, Masteson turned to Peter. “Such a naughty one…”, Peter cringed.

“Sorry…”, Peter mumbled.

Mayor Masteson greeted each and every one in the group before him, encouraging Mondor’s assistants and giving words to Tarion, Tebo and Hazen; then turned to the ones who had sponsored their trip, and lady Natasha, Frak, Seamus and Polongo to commend them for fine work all the way through. After telling them with his eyes they should continue their personal guard tasks soon, both Pachys nodded and began to scan the crowds in the periphery; and then the mayor addressed the contingency of saurian guards that went on the trip, telling officers Ajax, April, Olu and Artemis on their job well done. He then turned to the whole group and made a gathering gesture, then smiled as everyone complied; he then ascended to the top of the stairs to make an announcement to everyone in the area.

“Ladies and gentilebeings!…”, mayor Masteson said as attendants opened wide the council chamber doors. “Today marks the end of an ancient tyranny, from a time when our ancestors plotted terrible cruelty!… These beings before you today, nearly a year ago, went on a mysterious adventure to decipher this grand mystery…”, he saw that all the murmurings of the crowd had been silenced. “An d now they have returned at long last…!”, cheers rose in the crowd around them, and the band played a triumphant piece amid all this noise!

After many minutes of this, the mayor raised his hands to quiet the crowd, which complied as soon as the music ceased. “And now, without any further adieu!… There is a lot to discuss, and many things to do!…”, he looked onto the group of friends. “So, if you will follow me; we shall get things started, shall we?…”, he beckoned with his hands and turned, and Bentfeather’s group followed him up the steps.

At a whispered inquiry from Mungo his assistant, the mayor whispered back; and Mungo went to the steps and shouted. “Due to the gravity of the upcoming meeting, there will be room for only fifty spectators…!”, he called to the crowd. “I suggest that only those with a vested interest in these proceedings attend, and nobody else!…”, the crowds then began to groaningly recede from the area, all except for a scant few humans and saurians, who reluctantly began to approach the council chamber building.

The mayor was already in the sweeping foyer of the building, various aides and delegates milling around before suddenly making way for the approaching group of heroes; and inside each of them stare up in wonder at the sloping beauty of the interior architecture opening up before them, but some who had visited the place often enough paid it slightly less attention. The delegates and aides began to softly applaud them as they passed, causing each of the heroes to nod this way or that; acknowledging the praise while trying to seem regal in such a hallowed place. As if by magic, the inner doors to the council chamber proper opened; and the mayor led them inside while the council ushers directed each to their seating, all being seated in chairs or couches as to their specific anatomies. The only one that was not treated thusly was Peter, who was escorted to a corner of the chamber by two court guards; whom stayed to either side of him for the rest of the time his presence was required.

It took many, many moments to allow everyone to be seated and situated in their spots; but fairly soon all the delegates, their assistants, the spectators and the ones this meeting was the subject of were where they were supposed to be. As soon as this was done, the mayor, now up in his ship’s prow podium, called Mungo to bring this session in order; and once done he read the minutes of this meeting, ending with the call of the roll. As soon as these formalities were done, the mayor tapped his gavel and brought everyone’s attention to him; and he seemed to smile at everyone, then began to speak.

“Ladies and gentilebeings of the court…”, mayor Masteson announced. “The proceedings about to commence today are of profound prominence, and have been long awaited in these halls… Nearly a year ago, a mystery befell Waterfall City; prompted by an expedition to the Outer Island nearly five years before that, sponsored by the Archaeological guild and the head of the Waterfall City library. The mystery began when news of the demise of the curator of the library, mister Nicolai Sanders; and the discovery of the murder of the messenger, Frank Scratt; deep in the cargo chutes below this city…”, gasps! “The receiver of the news of Nicolai’s death was sir Bentfeather, his assistant and Partner; and soon nefarious deeds were reported throughout the city. An artifact came into the possession of sir Mondor and persons at the Archaeological guild headquarters in the city, and an attempt to steal it by inside persons was foiled; and it was decided for it‘s safety that it be secreted away from the city”

Before any questions could be uttered, the mayor raised a hand. “Before evil deeds could befall sir Bentfeather and the companions he was with, a secret expedition was planned to secret them and the artifact out of the city and any possible danger; but news of this was found out by the perpetrators of these crimes, and they were followed all the way to their destination…”, he smiled. “And before I give away all their little secrets, I think we had better hear their accounts… Sir Bentfeather…?”

Sir Bentfeather flapped up to the podium and began telling the tale, said with as much theatrics and fanfare as was allowed; and went on for a good half hour describing his take on their adventure. Next was officer Ajax and his group of guards, all telling how they guarded the group against the dangers that presented themselves; and how at times their force was too feeble to avoid being captured. Frik and lady Natasha spoke after that, saying how with the help of Seamus and Polongo; their group was safely transported throughout the whole trip. Tebo gave a similar account as sir Bentfeather, Seamus and Polongo gave a few other details and Hazen told his tale as well; and probably the cutest account was the one given by little Redcrest, and the most colorful one was given by Randy. Even though Tarion was only with them a short time, he was asked to tell his small role in deciphering the Tyrannosaur head artifact.

When all was done, Peter Triceratops was told to his role in all this, and try to relate the possible mindsets of the gang he was in; and asked their motives as well as their loyalties to Sanders, or any other tie that made them do the things they did. Peter said it was devised by Nicolai Sanders, though he never even met him; and sir Petronas who was his second in command led their group to Waterfall City, where he recruited him by reasoning this would bring him quick fame in Archaeology - the thing he wanted most at the time. When Frank Scratt showed up there, Petronas told me to hurt him for stealing the artifact from Sander’s hands in the Outer Island; but he guessed he used too much force, then the two humans he was with (Just common lowlifes, recruited for promised riches.) disposed of the body. Petronas said that wasn’t enough, and had us find out who Scratt sent the journal to; and later to steal back the artifact.

Peter went on to say that the Dromeosaurs that came from the Outer Island said they were there to put the artifact back from where it had been taken, but the way they treated everyone else proved they were mean and barbaric; for they treated them like it was THEY that were the prisoners, and not sir Bentfeather’s group. When that agent showed up in disguised as a traveling hermit or something, he said that he was just passing through; but showed fighting skill that rivaled professionals, and sergeant Dirge saw potential in him (Later Peter said he found out that he was his son.). When asked why he decided to turn and help Bentfeather’s group, he said it wasn’t because he felt for them at first; but a battered and beaten Pentoceratops that was the Partner of the Ovaraptor Vox, whose tough life forced her into such a life. Her path was carved in stone, and she couldn’t change; but Peter said that his was not, and he guessed he changed his path for her. Mondor smiled at that, for his son showed he could care about someone besides only himself; but he told no one of this, nor the idea he had for his son that was formulating in his mind.

More things were said on the matter, as well as other matters concerning the mysterious artifact; and as delegates posed questions of certain members of the group, these ones answered them to the best of their knowledge. After several hours all that could be said on the matter had been discussed; and the mayor promised that other meetings concerning all subjects not mentioned in this one would convene, and those with vested interest in these meetings - or those that would be required to attend - would be notified and expected to be ready to testify at the spur of the moment.

“So thusly, ladies and gentilebeings…”, sir Mondor said at last. “It is the conclusion of the Archaeological guild that the discovery of the artifact and the temple complex on the Outer Island, though a monumental discovery of a facet of Dinotopian history in general and a window on the mind of king Othgar in specific; It was a fortunate thing that the volcano it was built within chose that moment to erupt and destroy said place… Whether or not the fact that the artifact had a hand in it’s eruption is up for anyone to speculate on, but without the artifact to control the reaction that would create the scourge on Dinotopia; the volcano would have either remained dormant, or it would have erupted of it’s own accord…”, he looked around. “We are fortunate we still posses sir Bentfeather’s notes and testimonies of all involved, and everyone made it back to tell!…”, he bowed as the court erupted in cheering.

After this and before dismissing the meeting for now, mayor Masteson smiled and looked upon the group of friends; preparing what he was about to say in his mind, and then announcing it before many could look upon him. “And now my friends, for your expert work in quelling a disaster on Dinotopia; it is my pleasure to announce that you will all be rewarded for your brave services!”, the mayor told them.

“Let’s start with the least of your group first, eh?… Little miss Redcrest…”, he waved to her. “For your bravery amid danger at such a young age, you will receive lifelong support in any profession you choose to enter…”, he looked at Hazen.

“And for you lad, for your services and care of young Redcrest; you shall be her partner from this day forward, to be overridden by no one. You also will be supported in any profession you choose… Do you wish to enter a profession at this time?… I hear you are having difficulty in deciding…”, when no definite answer came, he gave Hazen a ‘think about it’ gesture and moved on.

“Officers Ajax, Olu, Artemis and miss April…”, the mayor said and all four approached. “For your services in security of the group and the handling of your prisoner, you are hereby awarded promotions within the saurian guard.”, he cleared his throat. “Officer Ajax. You are hereby promoted to commander of the waterfall City guard, and your steed Olu will be awarded comparable rank within the Corythosaur contingent…”, he looked at the other two. “Miss April, you are awarded the rank of sub-commander of the waterfall City guard; and Artemis will be awarded comparable rank within the Corythosaur contingency…”, this announcement, too, was met with rousing applaud.

“I have a happy announcement too, lord mayor, if I may…”, Bentfeather said as the mayor nodded. “Master Tebo Lewis. For meticulous service performed both learning library procedures, as well as assisting everyone on our little adventure; it is my pleasure to announce that you will be promoted to chief curator of the Waterfall City library.”, he paused in mirth as he saw Tebo’s shocked look! “See son, I always knew you had in you intelligence and loyalty… And I always need someone to protect me on expeditions like this!”, this was meant as a joke, but no one knew.

“I would prefer that, if there were any more adventures, they would be in books so I can read about them!”, Tebo told him. “I don’t like adventures!”

“A boy after my own heart!…”, Bentfeather flapped to his side. “Now I have to take you to the librarian’s board and make it official. That won’t be until the end of the week.”, this was amid applause for the announcement.

“The rest who participated with this expedition will be duly compensated.”, the mayor said just then. “Please see my cohort Mungo to receive your reward vouchers and other correspondence…”, he said, then became grim.

Peter Triceratops, please step forward.”, the mayor waited for the prisoner to comply while accompanied by court guards. “Peter, for your crimes in accomplice to Nicolai Sanders and company, you will be arraigned in a tribunal of law to receive your sentencing… It will be taken into consideration your assistance in the safe return of sir Bentfeather’s group, and also your quiet compliance with your accompanying guards during the trip home. Do you have further words in this matter?”

“No sir.”, Peter replied. “I think anything further can be said at my arraignment, if that is OK with the court.”

“Very well. You are dismissed.”, the mayor waved for the guards to escort him out of the courtroom. Once done, the mayor looked at the persons before him. “And if there is no further questions, I now pronounce this court is adjourned…”, this was punctuated by the falling of the gavel…
_

TAG: Any and all!

[o8jedi]

IC: Hazen Baker and friends, Waterfall City Council chambers
_

With the sound of the gavel, Hazen turned to his Partner and smiled. He knelt down and gave Redcrest a hug, relieved that their journey was now over and happy that the two of them would be set for life career-wise. Plus, the fact that the city recognized their Partnership didn't hurt, either. Redcrest then ran over to her mother, happy that she was commended by the Lord Mayor. Hazen was also pleased about the promotion and the commendation. He was about to approach April about this turn of events when he caught a glimpse of Peter being escorted from the chambers. He frowned slightly. He had always been a sucker for Triceratops and to see a one showing as much remorse as Peter did got him in the heart.

"Congratulations, laddie," said Seamus, who clapped Hazen on the back and snapped him from his contemplative stupor.

"Thanks, Seamus," Hazen replied with a smile. "I guess it's back to the old grind for you, isn't it?"

"After a year away, I wonder if it's possible to return!" he observed jokingly. "But me and Polongo will manage."

Hazen smiled. "I know you two will. We all will." He glanced at the guards who were heading out. "What's going on?" he asked.

"Artemis said they needed to go through debriefing," Polongo explained. "They will return home in the evening."

"Home," Hazen echoed. It dawned on him just how much he missed having a real home.
_

Walking down the streets on the way to the Hall of Hadrosaurs, Hazen was still coming to grips that it was a year since they initially left on their journey. He didn't think much of it when Mayor Masteson said it in his address to the city, but now that they were nearing their real home, he was wondering how much of it would still feel like home. After all, he only just moved in with Redcrest before this whole incident began.

"Goodness," Polongo uttered as he looked at the familiar doorway. "I almost forgot what it looked like..." Seamus fished out the old key and opened the door. As they went inside, the adults began to examine their surroundings, covered with a blanket of dust from a year of neglect, but reveling in their nostalgia. Hazen stood by the threshold, remembering the early days of his and Redcrest's relationship. Redcrest scooted inside, going to her room to revisit her space after being away for so long.

As he rounded the room, he saw something he didn't notice before. Etched on a wall were two marks. Next to them was some writing: "Year 1" and "Year 2." Redcrest's height. He stood next to the marks and put a hand where the 2-year line was. It was just over hip high. He smiled, figuring that was how high she was around the time they met. Now, her estimated her snout being as high as his navel, if not more.

As if by cue, Redcrest came out of her room excitedly. She grabbed Hazen's hand and dragged her back into her room. Stepping inside, Hazen saw how little things had changed. The nest box was as they left it. His bed, which was hardly used as he moved there days before they had to leave, was still there. Her toys were still on the floor, scattered in the rush to pack them up. Hazen sat down on his bed, almost overcome by the wave of emotions he was feeling.

Redcrest saw how upset he was. "Are you gonna cry?" she asked, approaching him.

"You know what?" Hazen replied, moving aside so she could climb up next to him. "I just might."

"Are you sad?" Redcrest asked, giving Hazen a hug.

"No. I'm just really, really happy."
_

As evening rolled around, their homecoming meal was prepared. Hazen assisted Seamus in the preparation and serving and when they all sat at the table to partake. Hazen glanced at the two Lambeosaurs and the human. "It almost doesn't seem real," he observed, "to be back here. It's amazing what you miss when you've been away for so long. I'm almost expecting to eat around a campfire and sleep in a tent."

Seamus smiled. "I don't blame you, son. I do feel alien here as well. But what makes a home is who you share it with."

Hazen nodded in agreement, glancing at Redcrest. "Yeah."

The front door opened and in came Artemis and April. Redcrest got out of her chair to greet her mother. Hazen merely admired April from the table, noting the uniform she wore that was befitting her new position with the Waterfall City guard. "The food is still hot!" Seamus said.

"That would be lovely," April said on Artemis' behalf.

Hazen got up to set some places at the table. When all were seated again and eating had resumed, Redcrest chimed in. "There's a lot of people here." Hazen glanced at the young one.

"My daughter is right," Polongo concurred. "We'll need to find a more spacious home to accommodate all of us."

Hazen stole a quick glance at April, thinking about what living together could mean for the both of them. As he thought this, she returned the glance. He snapped his head back, afraid of being caught, and said, "We only just got back; shouldn't we worry about other things?" In reality, the prospect of living with April was thrilling to him. He merely wanted to play Devil's Advocate.

"We are in an excellent position to do so," Artemis said, choosing her side. "With our recent promotions and the City's pledge to support you and my daughter, we can afford to do so."

"I just never been house-hunting before," Hazen said, half-truthfully. A few polite chuckles came from the other adults before they resumed their meal.
_

TAG: Any and all!

[Thundertail]

IC: Bentfeather and Tebo Lewis, what went on after the first meeting.

The courtroom became more and more vacant, but sir Bentfeather held Tebo back from leaving right away; and when their group began to file out in groups, he led his human friend out around the side. He brought him to an alcove behind the podium, a place that was little known to normal Dinotopian citizenry; but well known to the Dinotopian elite; for this was where the roster of past elitists were recorded, a place that Tebo Lewis now had a right to be. The Microraptor had Tebo light a torch by the doorway, and smiled as the boy took in the single shelf of thick tomes; each one holding the titles of the various professions, and he was halted before he picked any of them out.

“What is this place?”, Tebo asked in a whisper, cobwebs and dust littered everything.

“Thus begins a solemn and private ceremony, my boy.”, Bentfeather began after explaining the purpose of this room. “You are hereby promoted to the rank of chief curator of the Waterfall City library… Please select the so titled register…”

“This one?”, Tebo began pulling out the one entitled ‘Library Guild, curators‘, drawing out a small cloud.

“Yes, and please place it on the pedestal in the center of the room.”, Bentfeather instructed. “You may gaze at it’s contents, if you wish….”

Tebo Lewis opened the first page, seeing names he had only heard of in the history of Dinotopia’s deep past; names great and obscure, ones who had been chief curators of libraries since libraries first existed on Dinotopia. The names were numbered by major city and settlement: Chandara had 367 curators, Pooktook had 415, Canyon City had 584, Sauropolis had 391 and so on. Waterfall City had well over 600 curators, the last one being Nicolai Sanders(#642) and sir Bentfeather, and another more prominent was Nallix(#483); and at the end of the city’s registry there was empty spaces, and once done Tebo looked back at sir Bentfeather in question.

“Take a stylus and sign your name below Nicolai Sanders.”, Bentfeather instructed. He smiled. “Go ahead!… It’s all right!”

After a moment he produced a pen and looked down. He poised the pen and wrote with his best handwriting his signature, and when done looked at his Partner. “There…”, said he meekly.

“Congratulations, my boy!…”, Bentfeather said loud enough to cause echo in the cramped chamber. “Sir Tebo Lewis, I now pronounce you the six-hundred and forty third chief curator of the waterfall City library!… May all who enter your halls gain wisdom and knowledge!…”, he began to escort him out of the chamber after an emotional hug.

What awaited them as they entered the main council chamber hall was not to be believed by either of them, for every librarian in the Waterfall City library was there to greet them! “Hail, the new chief curator!”, yelled Jake, and all twelve of them began cheering!

“What’s going on here!?…”, Bentfeather flapped, hackles rising. “Who is left to keep the library open?!…”

“We closed the library for the afternoon.”, Tilly the Stenoychosaur told them as she came over with a finely sequined robe, one of which sir Bentfeather recognized.

“The mantle of knowledge!”, said Bentfeather. “Where did you get it?”

“Mayor Masteson commissioned it from the vaults.”, she told them, bringing it to Tebo. “Here dear. This is now yours!”, she had him put it on.

“Now you look like a true leader of knowledge…!”, Jake stated.

“Don’t get it dirty!”, Bentfeather warned the new chief curator as the others gathered around him.

Even though they were to only have the council chamber for an hour, the Waterfall City librarians continued their libations for more time than allotted; and the chamber guards had to come and break it up, for the next round of meetings were to begin very soon!…
_____

IC: Lady Natasha and Frak, what went on after the first meeting.

The Pachycephalosaur couple were one of the first to exit the council chamber and the council building, and both immediately got themselves lost in the crowds of the city; intentionally so as they had a lot of business to take care of, and at the crossroads in a secluded alley they nuzzled craniums and went their separate ways. Lady Natasha had given her mate Frak a large bag of Drachs, and told him to replenish their supplies of disguises and other spying paraphernalia; and she went in the other direction, in a roundabout route through the city to the palace complex of the mayor. The passageway she took in back was known only to bodyguards of the mayor, and she took the pitch black passageways within with practiced ease; coming out to the viewing chambers the mayor used to review his personal guests, peering out to see if the coast was clear.

Lady Natasha left the note to the mayor she had written, telling him that they were now back on the job; and would be there at a moment‘s notice if there were trouble, which she scurried around and put on his personal chair there. In a very similar way she slinked out of the mayoral mansion and made her way to the back entrance to her shipping company; scaring to death the human who actually ran the place as her clawed hand was placed on his shoulder, but he smiled in recognition as he turned with a gasping start.

“Lady Natasha! You are back!”, said he. “Did your fact finding mission go well?”

“A most profitable trip, if I may say!”, she said, tossing him the other, much larger, bag of Drachs. “And this should cover any extraneous expenses while I was away…”

“That and more, my lady!”, the man practically drooled! “That and more!”

“Has there been any peculiar happenings since I was away?”, Lady Natasha asked.

“Strange, but the two adjoining shipping companies went out of business all of a sudden…”, said the man. “The saurian guards were involved as well!”

“Hmmm…”, she said for effect. “Perhaps they were involved with contraband goods…”

“And crime doesn’t pay!”, the man chirped. “But at least your company performs on the up and up!”

“That it does…”, lady Natasha said. “And please see that it continues to do so!”, and she stormed out the front entrance.

Out in the street, which was deserted for the moment and growing darker with the waning of day; lady Natasha quickly moved deeper into the city, keeping mostly to the shadows or walking normally if a person or dinosaur passed by - nodding to them like a normal citizen as she passed them. Then would run to the nearest dark space to survey the streets ahead, always keeping an eye out for any saurian guard making their rounds; for her destination was a secret, and nobody but her, her mate and the mayor knew where she and Frak lived. Down yet another alleyway and up stairs within an unimposing flat, she crept down a hallway on the second floor and into s tiny apartment at the end; and it was only then did she turn on the Sunstone lighting to their apartment, startling Frak with the sack of things he had been instructed by her to acquire.

“Ah, my mate!”, Frak said. “Has your tasks been performed adequately?”

“Certainly…”, she paused to nuzzle him. “And I see your task went well.”

“We have disguises to last for months…”, he produced some. “I picked up this bellhop’s uniform…”, he took out more.

“More beggar’s rags?…”, she complained playfully. “I hate being a beggar!”

“But as a beggar, you are my queen!”, Frak complimented. “And me as a bellhop, I am but a slave.”

“You were always a charming one, my love!”, lady Natasha nuzzled again. “But we must not tarry! We will be in service of the mayor tomorrow, and need our rest.”

“Aye, but it is a shame…”, Frak said as she became curious. “A year on the road, and no time for us!”

“Males are all alike!”, lady Natasha chuckled. “Have patience for now!… We shall have eggs one of these days!…”

With that she dowsed the lights, and even though they shared the same sleeping nest, sleep came faster than either ever dreamed possible…
_____

IC: Officer Ajax and Olu, debriefing.

A man of his physical stamina was used to such a journey across Dinotopia’s largest city, but officer Ajax knew that he would be a changed man at the end of this march, and his friend Olu knew it too. He just grunted beside Artemis, who had officer Manchester on her back; and the two of them seemed deep in thought as well as they paced down the last street to the saurian guard barracks in Waterfall City, close to the Maze building and the mayor’s palace.

In front of them a lumbering Ceratopsian form marched, head hung low; for peter knew that he would soon be in another prison as soon as their destination was reached, and he wasn’t looking forward to the outcome of his trial when he was finally released from that prison. The front gate of the barracks stood o-en, but the usual guard pair stood just inside, and they stepped out with menacing spears at the approach of the group; but stood at rest as they recognized who was escorting this lumbering creature.

“Take this to the cells.”, Ajax ordered.

“Yes, sir.”, one of them took hold of Peter’s bindings and led him further into the barracks.

“Orders, sir?”, the other asked.

“Carry on…”, Ajax said, then smirked. “My promotion is not official yet, you know!”

“Understood, sir.”, the lone guard said, then stood aside to let them pass.

The quartet continued on into the barracks, past commissary, mess hall and crew bivouacs; until they made it to the administration building, where all four entered after dismounting and went directly to the commandant’s offices. The clerk waved them all in when she saw them, smiling as she announced their presence loudly; and presently they were allowed to enter, and along with the aging commander of the Waterfall City guards, the mayor was there as well. Before any greetings were voiced, the mayor motioned that they all sit, or stand down as with the saurians; and as all were made more comfortable, the mayor spoke confidentially.

“Well done, officers!”, said he. “May your performances on your mission reflect how your performances at this post will be.”

“We will not fail you, sir.”, Ajax said.

“I have all confidence in that!”, the mayor chuckled and stood. “Now… ATTENTION!…”, all stood ramrod strait. The commander moved from his seated position behind his desk to a side table and prepared something there.

“Officer April Manchester, front and center…”, she did as the mayor said, and the commander came over with something in his hands. “For meticulous completion of your cadet training, and your exceptional performance in the line of duty; you are hereby awarded the rank of co-commander of the Waterfall City saurian guard, and leader of the Waterfall City gate guards.”, the present commander pinned her epilates on her shoulders and placed a rank badge on her uniform lapel. She bowed, saluted and backed to her previous position.

“Mistress Artemis Lambeosaur, front and center…”, Artemis marched before him and stood head and tail erect. “For superior completion of your cadet training, and extraordinary completion of your duties this past year; you are hereby awarded the title of assistant sub-commander of the Waterfall City saurian guard, and assistant leader of the Waterfall City gate guards.”, the present commander placed her epaulets’ on her uniform and placed her rank pins on the green sash she wore. Artemis saluted and bowed, marching back to her previous position.

“Sir Olu Corythosaur, front and center…”, the mayor commanded as Olu marched to the front. “For extraordinary performance of your duty these years as well as your exemplary performance in the previous challenge, you are hereby awarded the title of assistant commander of the Waterfall City saurian guard, and commander of all guards of saurian descent within the city walls.”, the current commander set Olu’s epaulets’ on his red uniform, and placed his badge of rank on his sash.

“Now, officer Ajax, front and center…”, the mayor commanded, and he did so. “For unprecedented performance of duties performed over the past year as well as your meticulous performance record these past many years, you are awarded the honor of being commander of all saurian guards of Waterfall City.”, the current commander took his own epaulets’ off and placed them on Ajax’s shoulders, then took his own badge of rank and placed it on his lapel. He saluted his new commander, shook his hand and stood aside in silence, looking at the mayor expectantly.

“Congratulations, one and all, on your promotions!”, the mayor said as the former commander stepped beside him, and completely out of military protocol all four let off a peal of cheering!.

“I will still be present to brief you on your new assignments.”, the former commander told them all. “If you have any questions, don’t be afraid to consult me.”

“And what are their present duties?”, the mayor asked him.

“After the end of this meeting, they may stand down for the night if they wish.”, said he. “But it is protocol for the new commander to address his troops for the first time. I might suggest doing so at 0500 hours tomorrow morning, and then you may hear their current assignments.”

“Then I suggest you go to your dwellings for the night and get some rest!”, the mayor said. “Off you go…! Shoo…!”, he saw they were still at attention, then remembered! “(Oh!)… DISMISSED…!”…
_____

IC: Sir Mondor, the meeting and plans on what to do about his convict son.

He knew he had very little time to perform the many tasks he needed to get done before the next meeting, so sir Mondor rushed out of the council chambers and out into the street; ignoring any delegate or other person that wished to strike a conversation with him, and if he did it would simply be prattle anyway! He rushed down the street, plowing through any knots of pedestrian and saurian traffic along the way; to the nearest Postal Bird aerie at the corner of the square. Seeing that there was no birds either taking off or landing, he took a deep breath and bellowed at the top of his lungs; whose force was nearly enough to set the whole small structure to shaking!

“Awk!… What goes here?…”, one of the birds within emerged to complain.

“I need to send a message…”, Mondor boomed. “To mister Christopher, formerly of the Explorer’s guild, currently in Sauropolis…”

“And that gave you cause to knock our house down?…”, said the bird.

“SILENCE!…”, Mondor shouted, but then recanted. “I’m sorry, but would you deny the wishes of the leader of the Archaeological guild?…”

“Awk, no!”, said the bird. “Um, what was it you wish to tell master Christopher?…”

“Please tell him that his presence is urgently needed in Waterfall City.”, said Mondor. “I have a matter to discuss, concerning the restoration of the Explorer’s guild as it’s services will once again be needed. Also tell him that further details will be divulged upon his arrival at the council of reason…”, then smiled at the bird. “All fees will be paid by the Archaeological guild!…”

“A Postal Bird will be available shortly.”, squawked the bird after nodding at the mode of payment. “How soon do you wish the message sent?”

“I need it sent RIGHT AWAY!…”, Mondor was growing tired of this! “If you would, please deliver it now…”, he glared at the bird, and the Postal Bird panickingly took off toward Sauropolis.

Main task done, Mondor quickly made his way to his quarters for a brief meal; and for his assistants to gather the papers for the presentation he was about to make with the high council, for there he was to present his idea of revitalizing the Explorer’s guild, this after reviewing the dangers of finding the ancient library would be. He went over his notes on the subject as he chewed, and before long his aides placed everything in pouches to go into his harnesses; then all of them took the half mile walk back to the council chambers. The courtroom was nearly vacant, except key members of the council and members of the Archaeological guild and other guilds that had a vested interest in what was about to commence; and even the mayor was missing from these proceedings Mondor observed, but sir Bentfeather, the newly commissioned chief librarian Tebo Lewis and some of his staff was there - but they appeared to be just leaving.

“Master Lewis… Sir Bentfeather…”, Mondor called them over. “You may stay, if you wish…”, this said in low tones. “Some of what will happen also concerns your guild… Have you been informed that the findings from the ancient library has been transported to the library, master Lewis?…”

“Why, no sir.”, Tebo said. “I wonder why…”

“They must be transposed, of course…”, Mondor said. “I hear your copy department is the best on the island…”

“Oh yes, they are, my lord!”, Bentfeather said. “I trained most of them myself!”

“I know this, but I was addressing the new curator…”, Mondor scowled, then turned to Tebo. “Never the less, our own stenographers will be assisting them; to instruct them what to copy and what to leave out…”

“You may want them to omit where the ancient travelers came from…”, Tebo Lewis said, then his eyes widened. “That way, when the common man wishes to read it; they will not know about the ways the ancient ones made it to the island, and thusly will not know the ways off the island!”

“Correct!…”, Mondor said. “A brilliant deduction!…”

“That’s my boy!”, piped Bentfeather.

“It looks like everyone is here…”, Mondor said. “I think I should start this meeting…”, he left them to find seating and paced to the front of the courtroom.

No podium would hold a creature as large as sir Mondor, so he just stood on the floor front and center of the crowd of V.I.P.’s; waiting for their attention before starting the meeting. He began with a brief greeting to all, then went on with the abbreviated particulars with this meeting; concluding by stating how this was a great boon to the ancient knowledge of the ancient immigrants of Dinotopia, those of whom they were their descendants. He then went on to describe the expedition in detail, beginning with the arduous discovery of the site and the equally dangerous journey the Archaeological team that was sent had; and going into detail the methods the team used in restoration and deciphering all the runes and glyphs, stating that each culture that arrived had brought forth their journey to Dinotopia. Each described their way of survival on the island as well as their eventual discovery and relations with the dinosaurs of the era.

Just as sir Mondor went on to describe some of the ancient technology described in some of the glyphs, a fairly old human entered the chamber; but went unnoticed by Mondor or any in the room, which was just the way this human liked it as he took a secluded seat near the back of the chamber. Sir Mondor had just finished describing the workings of a rudimentary light bulb, then hinted at the technology behind an electrical storage device that might be able to power it; when the human, thouroughly bored with the presentation asked what his point was!

“The point is, my dear friend…!”, Mondor began, and then recognized him. “Is that the persons that immigrated from the outside world so long ago left records of where they came from; and they also left records on how they got here, and by which means they did so…”, he nodded for the older human to step forward. “I fear that Dinotopians of this day and age will try to use these ways to try to get off the island…”

“Why are you worried about that?”, the man said. “Those ways are thousands of years old, and would no doubt no longer be there any more.”

“They wouldn’t realize that, mister Christopher…”, Mondor told him. “They would follow the directions, and perhaps kill themselves!…”

“Is this why you brought me all the way here? To tell me someone might go on a fool quest and risk their necks?”, Christopher asked. “It was a good thing I was planning a trip to Waterfall City anyway!”, some of the court chuckled.

“My plan was to try to discover the ways described in the runes and either confirm or disprove their existence…”, Mondor told him. “Such is a job for professional explorers, and that was what I’m getting at…”

“But sir Mondor!”, Christopher replied. “You know that the Explorer’s guild is all but disbanded!… In fact, I’m the only one left that I know of!”

“Then perhaps it is time to train a new generation of Explorers, if you do not feel up to the challenge!…”, Mondor dared. “Your service is needed once more on Dinotopia, sir Christopher… Perhaps you might wish to lead a class…”

“Perhaps so…”, Christopher considered. “Whom do you have planned as my pupils…?”

“I only have a few, my friend…”, Mondor told him. “However, it is unknown whether they would want to partake…”

“Not to worry, my friend!”, Christopher chuckled. “Just have them gather some place, and I’ll handle the rest!”…
_____

TAG: Any and all!

[Thundertail]

IC: Mondor and Peter, at his trial.

The trial of Peter Triceratops had been going on for a mere hour now, but already he was proven guilty on all counts. More to the fact, Peter had actually admitted doing all the things he was accused of; and there was no doubt in any of the prosecution’s minds of his guilt, despite all the defense could present to mitigate his innocence. Their strongest argument was the fact that Peter was sorry for all the trouble he had committed, plus the fact that he was a virtual prisoner himself among the people he was with; and he had little to do with the actual mayhem that was nearly caused - merely a pawn in the much greater scheme that Nicolai Sanders had created. So as the jury left Peter was so nervous he looked at his father helplessly, and Mondor looked back with both pride and hope; and this quelled any uncertainty he may have had, but gasping as the jury returned less than a half hour later.

“It is the decision of the court…”, mayor Masteson said grimly after a bailiff relayed the jury’s decision. “That one Peter Triceratops is guilty of all charges brought against him…”, gasps. Some of relief and others of shock.

“However…”, the mayor continued after order became restored. “That since young Peter is sorry about all his crimes, and the fact that nothing irreversibly bad had come from it; he is absolved from any severe punishments decreed by our bylaws…”, Peter felt the tide of relief!

“Be that as it may…”, the mayor continued as the court became silent once again. “The crime of murder can not go unpunished…”, Peter turned, shocked. “It is the decision of the court that one Peter Triceratops will serve no less than five years of hard labor at the courts decree… May I inquire as to which tasks may be suitable for him?…”

There were many suggestions, from gristmill work to working the rock quarries at Amberclimbe; but sir Mondor bellowed and spoke. “Your honors, lord mayor…”, he began. “I have been facilitating the reformation of the Explorer’s guild… I have been interviewing several candidates for training and recruiting a trainer to teach them…”, he looked at his son, then back. “I propose that Peter be recruited into their ranks, and be trained in the arts of the Explorer’s guild…”

Amid the confused murmuring, Peter whispered over to his father: “Father!… What are you saying!… I want to be an Archaeologist!…”

“Enough, son…!”, Mondor turned to whisper back. “You can no longer be trusted as an Archaeologist!…”, then smiled at the court as he spoke up to them. “What say you, my proposal?…”

The jury and others conversed quietly among themselves, then began nodding at the idea one by one. “Well,… I guess father knows best!…”, the mayor smiled cheekily. “Very well then, Peter Triceratops will, from this day forward, be indoctrinated into the Explorer’s guild…”, he rapped his gavel. “This court is dismissed…

_____

IC: The friends, the gathering at the pub.

The Postal Bird flapped through the window of the home of Polongo, Seamus and Artemis; nearly skidding off the kitchen table as he landed, and disrupting the family’s Morningmeal!

“Awk!… I have a message for mister Hazen Baker and Redcrest.”, he announced. “You are cordially invited to a get-together for Midmeal at the Booraza café’ on Fountain avenue, courtesy of the Waterfall City Archaeological guild. You may bring friends as you see fit…”, and then the Postal Bird flew off.

The same thing was happening at Tarion’s residence as well as the Waterfall City library in the new curator’s office.

“What could this all mean?”, Bentfeather asked as he pulled a card out of a file drawer - his former job under Mr. sanders - and handed it to Tebo Lewis, the new curator.

“I don’t know. Maybe sir Mondor has new evidence to share.”, Tebo speculated. “Did he say anything about the nature of the meeting - other than sharing a meal?”

“No sir…”, The bird said.

“Then I think we should go find out…”, Bentfeather said. “That is, under your consent, lord curator!…”

“Very well, I guess.”, Tebo said. “That will be all…”, he addressed the Postal Bird and he flew off. “I think we can do that after we instruct that Beginner’s class…”

“Their lesson is over here.”, Bentfeather hopped to a stack of papers on the desk. “We should hurry. You know how rowdy they get when the teacher isn’t there!…”

_____

IC: The decisions of the friends.

The group began congregating at the Booraza café’ by ones and twos, tasking the table the first one had taken; and after cheerful private reunions and friendly chatter, each began to ask the other what the purpose was for their being here. Tarion had arrived first, followed by Tebo and Hazen came shortly after that; but no one could have believed when Peter came around the corner being escorted by a single human guard, greeting them with the same cheer that they had greeted each other! Bentfeather greeted the three-horned boy as Redcrest shrunk away slightly, and the rest still could hardly believe he was here; but all confusion began to ebb as a grey-haired human with a green tri-fold hat and green tunic and trousers covered by a tan hooded shawl and sporting a long have staff, thumping it onto the table as a signal for the guard to make himself scarce!

“Well, well…!”, said the surprisingly strong looking older man. “I see we are all here!…”, he regarded each person there like he was going to throttle them any second. “I suppose you all do not have a clue as to why you’re here… Well, I’ll tell you…”

“Mister Christopher!…”, Bentfeather finally recognized him. “I hadn’t seen you since you were a young man!”

“Aye, Bentfeather, my old teacher…”, Christopher nodded, then got tough again. “Are these… persons… the ones I am to train!?…”, he shook his head. “Oh, that Mondor!… He said this job was going to be easy!… The liar!”

“Is that why we are here?”, Tebo asked him.

“Aye, lad.”, Christopher looked at the bespectacled boy. “But you look like you couldn’t march a mile, let alone go through the rigors of being an Explorer…”

“Don’t speak so rashly to the chief curator of the Waterfall City library!…”, Bentfeather scolded him.

“Is that who he is, eh?…”, Christopher considered. “He doesn’t even look old enough to read!…”

“I have read and nearly memorized every document the library contains!”, Tebo told him. “It would seem it is you that can not read!”

“Oh, really?!”, Christopher was getting into a fighting stance!

“ENOUGH!!!”, Peter bellowed and got between them. “I mean, stop it!… It doesn’t matter if we like each other or not… let’s just get this over with”

“Aye, I guess the lad is right… Out of the way, pudgy…”, Christopher pushed his horn aside. “OK, then… Let’s get things started, shall we?…”, he looked at the rest. “Now, I was asked by sir Mondor to start the Explorer’s guild up again. He said that they would be needed to uncover secret places and passes to parts unknown, and has a manuscript for me that states directions to each one. He knows I can’t do it alone and suggested that I could recruit and train Explorer cadets, of a sort.”, he looked at them all once again. “And he thinks all of you would make good cadets…”

“Mister Christopher, I don’t know about the rest; but I have a previous commitment with the Waterfall City library.”, Tebo told him. “I can not train with you and tend to my duties there…”

“Can you perform research and send messages?”, Christopher asked and Tebo nodded. “Then you can be our historian and researcher!… And now the rest of you:… Does anyone else have an excuse not to tend my Explorer training?…”

“Well, I got to do it…”, Peter said. “The court ordered it so…”

“Yes pudgy, looks like I’m stuck with you!”, Christopher agreed. “Now, what about the rest of you?…”

_____

OCC #1: Here was where I am going to end this RP, but you may enter your final posts after this. Tarion Had an idea to expand/take over the RP in his own way, and in another RP; so if you wish, you may keep it going in any RP he has planned… (I’ll be there, count on it!)…_

OCC #2: I would like to thank each and every poster for participating in my humble RP (That somehow turned out to be one epic adventure!), and congratulate everyone for sticking it out to the end. Personally, and seeing how all my previous RP’s have choked shortly after the launching, I never thought we’d even get this far!… Good wishes to all of you and yours in the upcoming year, and hope you all have fine adventures and quests with all your friends!… THUNDERTAIL (R-a-w-r-!)
_____

[tarion]

(Final Post -FOR THIS RP another one is in the works-)

Tarion woke bright and early the next morning, feeling rejuvinated after having slept in his own bed for the first night in quite some time. He got up and streatched greeting the new day. As it were he already had plans to spend the day with Asrial in the Market place shopping around with his small pay reward compensation for aiding Sir Bentfeather's group, that and plus today was Trades Day, which meant that the market was going to be full of exoctic stuff to buy!

Tarion took a few small moments to eat his breakfast of Ki-Ki fruit (a rareity found only on Dinotopia) and Strawberry Orange juice. Once he had finished his meal he put on his Official White and Khaki with gold trim Archeologist Guild uniform as well as the pin and then shouldered his satchel, he tied his money bag to his side and stepped out the front door into the bright nearly blinding sun light sighing
"Ahh... it feels like it's going to be a wonderful day!" he said lightly as he began makeing his way down the streets of Waterfall City until he arrived at Asiral's home, he knocked on the door to find Asrial answering it, she was already dressed and ready to go, her father out on some official court business.
Tarion held out his arm which Asrial took happily and together the two of them made their way to the Market which was pretty packed.
Tarion smiled and hugged Asrial happily... "Let's do some shopping alright?"

Asrial nodded just as happily as Trades Day was one of her favorite days in the year next to the national hollidays...

And with that Tarion and Asrial spent the next 2 hours buying various exoctic items and apparel for their homes, and parents as well as each other, so much in fact that they were nearly over laden with bags.

The two parasaurolophuses were in the process of enjoying a strawberry raspberry smoothie, while sitting on the edge of a street river, their feet hanging over the edge and in the water as they sat there, when a postal bird landed at Tarion's side.

The postal bird Addressed Tarion directly. "Are you Sir Tarion of the Archeological Guild?" she asked kindly...

Tarion nodded, "Uh huh.. can I help you?"

The postal bird nodded, "Yes, my name is 372.. and I have a message for you from Sir Mondor of the Archeological Guild, he has cordually invited you and any friends to a luncheon at Booraza café’ on Fountain avenue, He says he has something he wishes to speak with you about..."

Tairon nodded, "very well, there will be no reply, and here's your fee" tarion paid the postal bird who bowed and then flew off.

"Care to come with me Asrial?" Tarion asked her looking at her, Asrial nodded happily.

"Sure, this sounds rather fun" she replied with glee.

And that is how not even ten minutes later Tarion and Asrial arrived at the Cafe, only to find they were the first ones there....

not long after though the others began to show up, even, to Tarion and Asrial's surprise, Peter Triceratops, who seemed very chipper, he seemed much nicer so Tarion and Asrial both greeted him kindly, and was glad to see they got the same in return.

The group was beginning to wonder their reason for being there when an elderly man walked up, he seemed somewhat gruff, but even Tarion knew him just by his posture and outgoing personality... but Sir bentfeather beat him to it...

"Mister Christopher?!" the microraptor suddenly squawked, catching Tarion off guard... so... Sir Bentfeather knew him too, and apparently in person... Tarion soon found out that Christopher was a student of Sir Bentfeather's from long ago... leaveing Tarion to question just how old Sir Bentfeather really was.... but reguardless, Mr. Christopher had started talking about assigning the group certain jobs, starting with the human boy Tebo Lewis.... this went on for several minutes before he turned to Tarion and stopped in his tracks....

For a moment he was speechless... then he smiled...
"Well I never thought I'd see the day... are you Sir Tarion by chance?" Christopher asked, seeming slightly intrigued.

Tarion nodded, "That's me...." he wasn't a hundred percent sure whaat was going on....
Christopher's smile broadened "Sir Mondor has told me an aweful lot about you, you sound very promising... with any luck and some good training we may be able to make an explorer out of you... So... what are you good at?"

Tarion grinned, "Well I'm good at map makeing, dead languages, ancient dialects, I'm a Lenguist in studies, I have a minor in Map makeing, and a major in the study of ruins and the translations of runes"

Christopher nodded, "Excellent, and you're how old again?"

Tarion smiled "Ten years old sir, I graduated the Acheological Academy at the age of five"

Christopher's eyes widened a little, "That's impressive.... to be so young and have so much raw potential.... no wonder Sir Mondor suggested you... and I take it this fine female is your girlfriend?"

Tarion nodded, "Her name is Asrial... and we're.... "
Asrial took over for Tarion, "We're intended.... our parent's made the arangments after we were hatched"

Christopher nodded, "That's understandable... Well Sir Tarion, I have to say.... you look like one of the most prepped ones here, you're attire is a bit updressed, but not to badly, but you have some of the main requirements, minus a supply backpack...don't worry son, we'll get to that.... but other than that you seem almost ready to go, are you in good shape?"

Tarion nodded, "Absolutely... I'm young and healthy enough to jog the entire of Waterfall city without growing tired, carying medium to light weight materials... it was part of my Archeology training, which has come in handy when being around some of the ruins i've been too."

Christopher stopped and looked Taron over, "Wait, wait, wait a second... you've actually been in the field?"

Tarion nodded, "Certainly"

Christopher shook his head, "For how long?" he asked curious...

Tarion nodded, " A good four years at least, and that's with training, with out it, i'd say a good 6 years"

Christopher smiled, "wow sounds like you really like what you do..."

Tarion nodded, "Sure I do... I find it exciting."

Christopher laughed, "my kinda kid... We'll see how you do as an explorer"

Tarion bowed, "I look forward too it."


Tag: Everyone involved
-this is all for now, but keep an eye out for a new RP comeing soon, I'll start it in this same multi thread RP section but we need to do planning first, NOTE ME WITH IDEAS!-