BREAKING BARRIERS: Exploring Dinotopia!

[Thundertail]

IC: Bentfeather and Tebo Lewis, Holding down the fort at the library.


It had been many days since the meetings ended at the Waterfall City council chambers, and it couldn’t have ended too soon for young Tebo Lewis; for with all that pomp and circumstance, the newest and youngest Chief Curator of the Waterfall City library was quite frazzled with it all - let alone trying to handle all the new responsibility his new position held! It was a good thing he had his friend and new Partner around to help organize things for him, his little feathered friend sir Bentfeather; whom he trusted and loved, more so now than ever before due to their recent adventures across the vastness of Dinotopia. Tebo realized that he would have to handle all his administrative duties on his own sooner or later, but he was just a kid no more than fifteen now; and how was he supposed to cope otherwise, his childlike side still nagged him. He wrestled with the expense report before him, trying to make the books balance but finding that things just did not add up; but smilingly thought that this was a library and a charitable organization, and the only way the books would balance was if all the books stayed in place and nobody owed the institution any fees! Tebo Lewis smiled as he put his signature at the bottom of the scroll, rolled it up and sealed it; then blew a whistle for a Postal Bird and waited for one to arrive.

As if in answer to the summons, a greenish form with a carmine tuft of head plumage flapped in from the library proper. “I have just given the librarians their instructions, Chief Curator…”, sir Bentfeather squawked as he skidded in for a landing on the desk. “Tebo Lewis!… Is there anything I can do?… You’re looking mighty blue…”

“No, nothing I guess…”, Tebo rubbed his temple. “I just didn’t think being Chief Librarian was going to be so hard!”

“You’ll get used to it soon enough…”, Bentfeather came over and stroked the other hand that was still holding the stylus. “When Nicolai Sanders had the job, at first he thought it mighty rough!…”

“What are you doing?”, Tebo looked at his Partner and smiled.

“What, sir?…”, asked Bentfeather.

“Well, it’s the first time I noticed since we’ve been back; but you’re rhyming again…”, Tebo looked quizzically.

“Does it bother you?…”, Bentfeather looked embarrassed. “If you do not like it, I can stop on cue…”

“No,… Not really.”, Tebo said. “But out on the road, you stopped; and everyone on the expedition could understand you better.”

Bentfeather shuffled. “You see, I just do that to demonstrate my intelligence.”, Bentfeather told him as he looked up. “A true sign of intelligence for my kind is if one can choose rhyming words in their speech. It makes us sound eloquent!…”

“Well, around me it’s not necessary.”, Tebo smiled. “I know you’re plenty smart!”

“Awk!… Bad grammar!”, Bentfeather complained. “I should have a word with you about that one day…”, then an afterthought. “But I shall only speak to you about it in private!”, he flew to his shoulder as the boy rose.

“Now, that expense report…”, Tebo Lewis paced to the window, wondering when the Postal Bird he summoned was! “I believe that we waste too many supplies, and that’s why the books do not balance…”

“A good point, but the major factor is we have been lax in the collection of the late fees.”, Bentfeather told him. “We should send clerks to collect them…”

“But that would be another expense!…”, Tebo shook his head. “Look, I don’t want to have to let anybody go; but if worse goes to worst…”

“Now boy, things will get better…”, then Bentfeather smiled. “You know, you look like a young mister Sanders right now… All worried and businesslike… No wonder he went a little coo-coo!…”, he pointed for the lad to sit back down. “Why don’t you take a rest…”

Sir Bentfeather hopped to the desk as Tebo Lewis sat in the chair, the Microraptor hopping to the paperwork and worried over the figures a moment. Just as Tebo began closing his eyes, a blue streak flapped across his face, skidded on the desk and bowled sir Bentfeather over! “Erk!… Sorry…”, she said.

“Lass, it looks like you better work on your landings!”, Tebo laughed as sir Bentfeather and the Postal Bird helped each other up.

“Postal Bird 1011 reporting.”, the bird ruffled. “I have been sent…”, was all she got.

“I called you ten minutes ago!”, said Tebo. “I have a very important message to send to the Mayor of waterfall City!…”

“That so?… Well, I’m here on behalf of a Mr. Christopher of the Explorer’s guild…”, 1011 told him. “His message reads as follows:”, she flourished. “Dear Tebo Lewis and sir Bentfeather… I am happy to inform you that my cadets check out, and will be perfect candidates for the Explorer’s guild… I will rally them today, and prepare them for arrival at the Saurian Guard training facility in Sauropolis by tomorrow… I will keep you as well as the Council appraised of their progress via Postal Bird in monthly messages or as needed… All my thanks at finding them… Mr. Christopher…”, the bird caught her breath.

“Thank you, 1011...”, Bentfeather told her.

“Oh, there is more…”, the bird panted, then continued after a moment. “Postscript: I may need your fact-finding skills at the library, for there may be things in the older archives that sir Mondor said was included in the Archaeological texts left to me… I would ask the favor of handling any research me and my cadets might need as we uncover what ever we may find… A reply is appreciated, but not required… Once again, thanks…”

“What do you make of that, lad?”, Bentfeather asked his cohort.

“It looks to me…”, Tebo said in a long way. “That we will be part of the Explorer’s guild after all!”

“And we’ll do it - as Hazen Baker would say - by remote control…!”, Bentfeather added. “What is ‘Remote Control’?…”, he asked no one.

“Do you have a reply to this message?”, postal Bird 1011 inquired.

“Um, well… I guess that since he has everything under control…”, Tebo told her. “I guess that no reply is necessary.”

“Very well, sir.” 1011 bowed. “I will summon another Postal Bird who will deliver your own message…”

The bird flapped out the window, mumbling that she needed a vacation; but this went unheard by them as they pondered over what she had told them. A half an hour later, another postal Bird showed up; but Tebo Lewis had by them forgotten what he wanted to say to the Mayor!…
_____

IC: Mr. Christopher with his cadets. Elsewhere in Waterfall City.

It was a good thing that all of his cadets made it to the place Mr. Christopher said on time or there would be cain to pay, so he thought as he scanned the human and saurian faces before him; some of which took to sitting on the ground while others leaned against some stone pillars near the meeting spot, and those that could not simply stood where they were. He smirked at their confused faces, for it was not an ordinary thing to be in the Warehouse district of Waterfall City this early in the morning; and by the looks on their bleary faces, it seemed they were not all used to getting up this early, either! Well, they would get used to that soon enough, he thought; and switched feet to place the left one on the barrel the right had been resting on.

“Well, well…!”, Mr. Christopher announced at last. “I see you’re all out of your warm little beds and here at last!…”, he quit his relaxed stance to amble around amid them as he spoke further. “I bet you have no idea why you are here. Well, I’m not going to tell you!… Let’s just assume that you would never know where you’d end up in the Explorer’s guild!”

“Aw, I didn’t even get breakfast…”, Peter Triceratops mumbled very quietly from behind their instructor.

Their instructor pivoted and snapped: “You don’t need it, chubby!”, he turned to the rest. “In fact, we ALL will be seeing a reduction in our daily calorie intake… Explorers are lean and mean, and are trained to be strong.”, he smiled. “That is why we will also be undergoing a physical training regimen as well!”

As he walked among them he counted, and saw there were only five; thanks to mister Lewis opting the greater profession of chief curator, but he had a way to keep him in the loop. That was why he sent that message to him and sir Bentfeather, for he knew the Microraptor would be curious enough to keep his protégée active in their cause; but now he had this current dilemma, for he was going to pair them up and was missing someone!

Then he told them. “All right now. I’m going to be splitting you into pairs.”, he said, looking at who should be with which. He saw Hazen Baker sitting there, and little Redcrest there hanging around his knee; and sweet Asrial and brilliant Tarion there leaning against the stone surface; but saw the hulking Peter standing there dumbly and drew his decision.

“Ok, Tarion. Asrial. You two will work as a team for now.”, he looked at the only human there besides himself. “Hazen Baker. Miss Redcrest. You two will work together too…”

“Um, what about me?…”, Peter asked, seeing that there was nobody for him.

"Well, laddie…”, Mr. Christopher considered. “Looks like we’ll need more recruits, eh?…”, their instructor went to him. “But in the mean time, it looks like you’re with me!…”, and grabbed his nose horn. “But don’t ever think it’s because I want to be friendly!…”

“No, sir!…”, Peter Triceratops nearly shouted as he was let go.

Mr. Christopher let everyone get used to their new pairing for several moments, letting them talk things over between them; or to sort out who would be the leader of each grouping, a tactic to see which was the stronger character. He looked at Peter and both knew the Triceratops wouldn’t be the leader of the pair; but the human walked over so he would hear his whisper. “I like you, don’t get me wrong. It’s just that your father wanted me to keep an eye on you…”

“Is that why you chose me?”, asked peter softly.

“Aye, lad.”, said he.

“Then why are you so mean to me?!”…”, Peter nearly raised his voice!

“Hush lad!…”, Mr. Christopher merely placed a hand on his nose horn. “I’m just doing that to show the rest whose boss…”, he looked the beast in the eye. “Surely you’re not tough enough to take it?…”

“Oh!… I can take it, honest!…”, Peter told him. “It’s just that I thought you hated me… But if it’s only for that, keep on doing it!… Heh, heh!”

“There’s a good lad!”, Mr. Christopher chuckled as he rose to address the rest.

“All right, kiddies!… Gather ‘round…”, the Explorer’s guild leader called, and waited for all of them to get near. “Stand at attention along that line…”, he indicated a seam in the concrete floor below them. “Now, I will be training you in Sauropolis; where the Commander of the Saurian Guard training barracks gave me permission to use their facilities, and where we will begin our physical training.”, he saw their confusion.

“Now, the Explorer’s guild travels by their wits, and what ever they can procure along the way.”, Mr. Christopher began to pace before them. “Your first task is to get all supplies and transportation sufficient to get all of us to Sauropolis… I have talked with several provisioners around waterfall City, and they will provide for us all we will need.”, he smiled. “The catch is, you must find which place I have talked to; and gather what they have to give… Those persons will give you the supplies for free if you mention my name; but the ones I have not talked to will ask to be paid for the supplies.”, he scanned all their faces. “Does everybody understand their assignment?”, asked he to the whole group, and got many nods and yes answers.

“Um, sir?…”, Peter stammered. “Are we going to go by land or sea?”

“What do YOU think?”, Mr. Christopher scowled.

“Well, Sauropolis is right down the Polongo River from Waterfall City.”, Peter told everyone. “We could get a boat or something and go that way.”, a moment of further thought. “But going by land might be safer for the rapids on the river… If we go by land, we’ll need a cart…”

“And who will pull the cart, lad?”, hw asked.

“Me, I guess…”, was Peter’s dejected reply.

“Sounds like a capitol idea!”, Mr. Christopher stated. “Then lad, that means OUR assignment is to find a cart while the others get supplies… Now the rest of you!… Off you go, and the best of luck to you…!”

The paired Explorer cadets rushed off through the Warehouse District, and into the streets of waterfall City proper; each team knew not what they were about to procure for their journey, but knew it would not bode well if they failed!…
_

TAG: Any and all!

[tarion]

-A Mission! ... to prepare-

Tarion and Asrial could hardly stand their excitement once told that the two of them would be working together, something that Tarion personally hoped would continue for the time being. Upon observation it seemed that Mr. Christopher and Peter seemed at odds with each other, although that might be a good thing, since it seemed that Mr. Christopher was able to keep Peter under his thumb and well under control.

The Leader of the Explorer's guild made it plain that he had spoken to several shops for supplies needed for the expedition, and that The group was to search Waterfall city for the shops he had spoken with, mention his name and gather the supplies free of charge.

Tarion grimaced, that in itself was a problem, Waterfall City was the second largest trade city in the whole of Dinotopia, next to Sauropolis, which ironically enough was where they were headed. Asrial on the other hand seemed to nod, as if knowing something the others didn't... once the meeting had been adjouned she quickly took Tarion by the hand and began rushing towards the market district, where upon she lead him to Corryander's Shop for Pioneering Purposes...

Tarion smiled, it was a nifty little shop to be sure, and it had plenty of great supplies... but it was some what pricy...

Asrial insisted that the two of them check it out, reguardless of price, after all, maybe the more expensive it was the better quiality it'd be.

Upon walking in the atmosphere felt slightly changed, the store itself held something of a natural feel to it, and smelt of antiquities.

Asrial immediatly went to the clerk's desk and got his attention.

Mr. Corryander as it were, was a Corythosaurus, a similar hadrosaurian kin to the Parasaurolophus walkeri that Tarion and Asrial belonged too...

Upon inquiring about the supplies and mentioning Mr. Christopher however, Mr. Corryander laughed, calling Mr. Christopher a washed up explorer who didn't know a real deal when it slapped him in the face!....

This lead Tarion and Asrial to believe that, this shop was most certainly not the one they were seeking...

A little disheartened the two walked back outside as Asrial looked slightly confused... surely that store had to be the one...that was until Tarion spoke up...

"Actually, there is another store I've been useing to get my archeological supplies from, it's a bit cheaper, but still gets the job done..." he said with small smile...

Asrial seemed curious to find out what exactly Tarion was talking about, and so Tarion lead her a ways near the end of the market, back in the older district of town to a worn down shop called Flaversham's Every Necessity Emporium.

This shop certainly seemed Mr. Christopher's type, it was oldish, worn down, but held alot of valuable stuff at discount prices and was readily able to be gotten...

Tarion walked into the shop and began speaking to an Ankylosaurus, who not only knew Mr. Christopher, but was great friends with him!, Tarion asked if this was the store in which they were supposed to be gathering their supplies, at which end the ankylosaur Mr. Flaversham nodded and began pointing out all the items required via a specific list, as his assistant gathered the items for Tarion.. nearly 10 minutes later, Tarion and Asrial both walked away ladened down with enough supplies to benefit every member of the team so far for at least two good weeks of travel.

However due to the ammount that They were both carrying, it took Tarion and Asrial nearly a half hour just to get back to the central meeting court as was required, upon doing so, they found they were the last to return, as peter already had the cart ready to go. Hazen and Redcrest had gathered the food, and so Tarion and Asrial had gathered the necessary exploring equipment for the journey.

Tag: Everyone Involved!

[o8jedi]

IC: Hazen Baker and Redcrest, Waterfall City, An hour before dawn
_

"Hazen. Hazen, wake up!" said a soft Saurian voice. Hazen's eyelids parted. Greeting him in the dim sunlight bleeding through the curtains was the greenish-brown hide and excited stare of the young Lambeosaur known as Redcrest. Drowsily, Hazen blinked.

"You're up early," he said.

"It's morning," she said, "and we gotta get to the meeting place." She moved to the door, indicating what she intended for him.

Hazen reached for his pockethingych, which he left on the nightstand, as he sat up. "What time is it?" he muttered.

"I dunno," said the young female, "I didn't sleep."

"You should have slept," Hazen told her as he climbed out of bed. "You'll be tired all day today."

"But I'm so happy we're going," Redcrest countered. "I was eksy-- eksy-..."

"'Excited'?" Hazen offered.

"Yeah!" she said, nearly shouting. She caught herself and covered her mouth, remembering that others were asleep.

"Well," Hazen said, "I'll meet you in the kitchen. After breakfast, we'll go, okay?"

"Okay," said the young one as she left the room. Hazen smiled at the young dinosaur and stretched, doing his best to wake up at this early hour.

He went over to the wardrobe and pulled out an outfit for the day. As he got dressed, he thought to himself how Redcrest ever convinced him to take up Mr. Christopher's offer that he join the Explorer's Guild. Her request was so innocuous at the time, all, "I wanna go camping all the time!" and "I had fun with you!" His reply was a bit of a patronizing half-promise: "If that's what you want to do, then I'll be there to."

The alternative, though, was not unpleasant. Sir Ludwig had an offer standing for him to study music under his tutelage and Hazen would have been perfectly happy in that field. Really, though, it would allow him to remain close to Sub-Commander April Manchester, whose partner was Redcrest's mother. He had been smitten by her since their participation in the Journey last year and he was fully intent on allowing their relationship to continue to blossom. The thought of marriage even crept into his mind. For now, though, the piper had to be paid.
_

Later, Hazen and Redcrest stepped out of the warehouse where the restored guild were meeting. They now had their assignments and Redcrest was all too eager to carry them out. Hazen, on the other hand, wasn't thrilled. It wasn't the errand that got him down, but rather the fact that he would be leaving for Sauropolis for training. Given April's and Artemis' duties here in Waterfall City, it would most likely seem that they would be heading out alone and that made his heart sink. Being an explorer can be a romantic life, he had to admit, but he envisioned himself as becoming a family man eventually. Being away from home would not be conducive to raising children.

Furthermore, something in the back of Hazen's mind gave him the impression that Redcrest hadn't quite grasped the idea that she would be away from her parents. He'd hate to be around her when she figures it out. Still, she seemed plenty excited right now. "Come on!" she called to him, "We gots to get food!"

"Slow down!" Hazen said to her, "The markets will be waiting for us."

Redcrest slowed down long enough for him to catch up before skipping along again. Before too long, they rounded a corner into Commerce Square, the economic hub of the city. The din of commerce and the bustling activity reminded him of when he walked a beat here along with Ajax and Olu when they were still working cops. Now, they had cushy, important jobs. Part of him wondered if they missed working on the streets. The pair made their way along stand after stand of fruits and dried goods. Redcrest saw one vendor's goods and walked over to it, grabbing fruit and putting them in her new knapsack. "Why, hello, little one," said the merchant, a large man of North African descent. "Hungry are we?"

"They're for later," Redcrest explained. "We're going on a trip."

"Really, now?" replied the merchant.

"Uh-huh. We're explorers."

"You are?" The merchant's tone was pleasant and amicable, playing up the young one's excitement.

Hazen smiled and approached the stand. "We're going to Sauropolis," he clarified, "and we need some provisions for the trip."

"Not a very long journey," the merchant noted, "You should be fine with three days food, which I'd be more than happy to provide for a modest fee."

"What about Mr. Christopher?" asked Redcrest.

"Who?" said the merchant.

"One of our companions," Hazen elaborated, "and our benefactor."

"I'm sure that he can cover the expenses if you can direct me to him."

Hazen smiled to himself. Obviously, this one wasn't the person they were looking for. "We're collecting quotes at the moment," he said to the merchant, "but we'd be happy to know your price for provisions for six people: two humans, three hadrosaurs, and one ceratopsian." Details were given and Hazen thanked him for that. "We may be back later," Hazen said, "but we will take two of these pears right now." Hazen returned all but two of the pears Redcrest loaded her sack up with and paid the man and they continued walking down the square.

As the young hadrosaur snacked, she asked, "He seemed nice. How come we didn't get food there?"

"Because Mr. Christopher made arrangements with one of these vendors to provide us with food at no expense. The trick is we've got to find him or her." He took a bite out of the pear and wiped some of the juices away from his mouth. "Mmm, that is a good pear."

"How will we find them?" asked Redcrest.

"That's the idea behind this challenge. Now, based on what we know about Mr. Christopher, we should be able to narrow it down." Hazen scanned the vendors and tried to think of the obvious clues. Mr. Christopher was an older gentleman, so he'd most likely to have connections with more established purveyors. Unfortunately for Hazen, those running the stands seemed to be of middle age or younger and the myriad of banners standing above each kiosk made it difficult for him to determine which ones have been well-established. "Very clever, Chris..." Hazen muttered to himself.

Several stops at the larger stands yielded more confused looks and asks for payment and, like the first stand, Hazen politely asked for quotes before proceeding. After the eight such occurrence, Hazen shuffled off with Redcrest. "Maybe we're going about this all wrong," he observed.

"Maybe Mr. Christopher said something else that we forgot," Redcrest offered.

"He said that we'd be finding a merchant who'd give us free supplies at the drop of a name. Pretty straightforward, if you ask me."

Redcrest frowned slightly at being talked down to like that. She glanced around the stands and saw a small, nondescript stand with an older gentleman sitting next to it. The man had a hat drawn across his eyes and appeared to be taking a nap. Despite this, no one seemed to bother him. While Hazen kept looking around for another stand, trying to drudge up some other clue from the recesses of his mind, Redcrest made her way over to the stand. "Mister?" she began, "Can you help us get food?"

A hand reached around and pushed his hat higher up on his head. "What's a little one like you doing in Commerce Square alone?"

"I'm not alone," Redcrest countered, "my Partner is over there," pointing at Hazen.

Hazen was on the verge of conceding defeat. "I think we should just go to that one over there . . ." He looked back at where Redcrest was and saw she wasn't there. He immediately scanned the area. A few minutes of panicked scanning and he saw her, pointing at him. He strode over and said, "Redcrest, I thought I told you not to run off!"

"But I think this man will help us!" Redcrest said, slighted by the tone. "He looks nice. Also the big places aren't helping us."

Hazen looked the man's stand over. "I don't see how he'd be able to supply us for our trip."

"Now, hold on, young feller!" said the man. "I know my wares may not be as numerous as some of the others, but you gotta know how to use these!" He picked up a root of some sort. "Take this tuber. Now alone, it's not that appetizing, but if you find some wild fruits and ferns. Why, you've got a stew so tasty you'd swear your mama made it for ya!" The man reached for another item. "Or how about this..."

As the man rambled on defending his operation, a bit of recognition hit Hazen. Mr. Christopher did mention that they had to be resourceful as well as able to move quickly across the wilderness. It never occurred to him that they'd have to procure some of their food along the way and improvise meals. "Excuse me," said Hazen, "I don't know if the name 'Christopher' means anything to you."

A grizzled smile came to the old man's face as he looked the pair over. "I didn't expect you two to be part of his new outfit." Hazen smiled, happy that their search was over. The man continued, "I've got everything prepared in these two sacks." He reached down and grabbed them. "Don't strain yourself, now!" he warned.

Hazen hefted them both up, slinging them over his shoulders. "These are fine," he said. "Thank you. And breathe deep."

"Seek peace, my good gentlebeings!" said the man as the pair started back to their rendezvous point.
_

TAG: Any and all!

[Thundertail]

IC: Mr. Christopher and Peter. The procurement of the cart.

Both human and Triceratops watched as the rest of the Explorer cadets rushed off to perform their first assignment, and just as the sun began to show itself over the low-slung buildings of the Warehouse district; Peter looked at Mr. Christopher and smiled, but at the human’s scowl, it turned into a worried line. Instead of saying anything, Mr. Christopher began walking in the direction of the Poet’s Pub; which was right on the way to a place he knew; and Peter followed along expectantly, for perhaps this was the direction the cart he had just mentioned lie.

“How much does a cart cost these days?“, Peter inquired as he trotted loudly just to keep up. ”I hope you have enough Drachs…”

“Explorers work with as little money as they can…”, Mr. Christopher told him. “Besides, what money I got is none of your business!…”

“Oh,… Well then…”, Peter mumbled. “With sir Petronas, he’d just have one of his goons swipe one in the middle of the night…”

“Petronas was a greedy old toad!”, the human said. “He’d trade all the treasures of Dinotopia for a price!… Now, never mind him; for it’s time to show you how to do things on the up-and-up!…”

“All right…”, Peter said many levels less than enthusiastically.

The pair wove their way through the usual Waterfall City traffic, dodging carts of every description and humans dressed in every form of garb; and dinosaurs of every size and shape and model. Mr. Christopher knew the way, and he led his Triceratops ward through more alleyways than streets in his travel; until quite frankly, Peter was becoming lost though this was his home town! They came out between two stone buildings to a court of sorts, paddocks and tack areas lined this space; and off to one side was an array of ten empty carts of various models and states of disrepair, and an Ovaraptor bespectacled and bevested skulked over to greet them, eyeing both Peter and his human escort in a jerky way.

“Can’t say I know you, boy…”, he said. “But Old Chris is like family!…”, he strained an inquiry. “But I can’t say why you be here…”

“Ah, Cornwallis! Great to see you after all these years!”, Mr. Christopher greeted. “And how’s shipping?…”

“Nay too good, I’m afraid…”, Cornwallis told him. “Had to sell more of the stock just to keep above board, you know…”

“Too bad, it is…”, said the human. “And for your question, I had a mind to procure a cart from ye…”

“And you plan on tradin’ the three-horn for it?…” Cornwallis inspected Peter like he was considering it. “He looks like he wouldn’t be enough for a wheelbarrow!…”

“Hey!…”, Peter balked. “I’m worth more than that!…”

“Enough!… The both of you!…”, Mr. Christopher shouted, then talked normally. “You don’t understand. This is one of my new pupils, Peter Triceratops; and I came to buy one of your carts… Cash money…”

“That so?… Waaaal, I got a few beauties over there…”, Cornwallis told him, pointing. “But from what I know about your ‘durability tests’, I figure you’re looking for something that nobody cares what it is… If I’m not mistaken…”

“You know me too well!”, Mr. Christopher said, chuckling.

“Well then, I have what you need over there…”, Cornwallis led the way to the row of more disheveled vehicles. “This number was pulled out of Hadro Swamp and reconditioned only a month ago… Works like new, too!”, the human passed it by. “This one needs a little work, but it worked fine before the barn collapse…”, the totally taken apart cart was passed by too.

“What about this one?…”, Mr. Christopher pointed at a low slung Buckboard-type cart with a pivoting front section and tailgate, the length was 35 feet long not including the puller yokes. “How much is it?”

“That one stinks!”, Peter said. “No kidding!… When was the last time it was washed?…”

“Ah! My prize piece!”, Cornwallis shook the wheel and it hardly wobbled. “I got it from the Copro Guild a month ago… And it was thoroughly cleaned less than a week ago, for your information!…”

“It still stinks!”, Peter said.

“Gathering Copro is a noble profession, lad!”, the human told him. “Without Copro, the plants wouldn’t grow, and you would starve!…”, he turned to the Ovaraptor. “We’ll take it!…”

A price was arranged after much haggling, and amid Peter’s groaning complaints; he was hitched to the cart, and presently they made their way back to the meeting place to wait for the other trainees. Along the way the floor of the contraption was lined with hay, and a load of this material was added for extra fodder for the puller; and soon they stopped in wait for the others, but not for long as Tarion and Asrial came into view laden with bundles a mere handful of moments later. Mr. Christopher knew with their combined intelligences this pair would no doubt finish their assignment first, and he figured that the other two might fail after all; but he was proven wrong as he spied them coming into the area less than an hour later…

_____

TAG: Any and all!

[Thundertail]

IC: Peter and the rest of the Explorers. Planning the route.

“I see you all made it…”, commented Mr. Christopher as he chuckled. “I see my first assignment was pretty easy for you all…”, he paced between them. “Well, I can assure you it won’t happen again!… Now my children, it is time to plan our route… Now, we’ve already ruled out travel by water; so that leaves traveling by land - as we have already established.”

All of them looked tired from their searches through the city. “Now we must plan the route we’re going to take.”, he stared at them one at a time. “Any suggestions?…”

“Um, sir…”, Peter Triceratops spoke up. “Why don’t we take the easiest way… The Sauropolan road…”, Peter looked at the rest. “That’s the main trade route from Waterfall City to Sauropolis… It’s well traveled, and well guarded… We shouldn’t run into any trouble going that way…”

“What say all of you?”, Mr. Christopher asked them all, and when none of them could make any other suggestions, he smiled. “Then the Sauropolan road it is!…”, then he scowled. “Why hasn’t the cart been loaded yet?!… Don’t just stand there!… Get to it!…”, the Explorer trainees scrambled to do what was told.

After many moments, and the task done at last; the Explorer instructor turned to them once more, and looked at them more of concern then disdain - though none of them could tell! “Now, a well rested Explorer is an alert explorer.”, he told them. “Now I want you to all go home and get some rest… Do not stay up late, and tell those you’re leaving behind farewell… I want you all here two hours before sunrise tomorrow - and don’t be late or you’ll be left behind!!… Now scoot!…”, they nearly fell over each other trying to comply with his last command!

All but Peter, for the human went along with him to his domicile; and Peter asked why. “Sir, don’t you have a place to stay?…”, Peter asked.

“Aye lad, I do.”, the older man told him. “But we’re going to see a lot of each other from now on; and I wanted to make sure you get used to it.”

“But sir, if we are; then what’s the point?…”. Peter countered. “I can get used to it while we’re on the road…”

“Don’t argue, Chubby!…”, Mr. Christopher nearly yelled, then softened. “You know, that was good thinking back there, choosing the route… It shows good decision-making skills… Maybe your papa sees that in you for him to let you do this…”

Peter’s eyes smiled because his beaked snout would not. “Really!?…”

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OCC: Now I’m ready to move on to the Sauropolis thread!
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TAG: Any and all!