Title: Dreams and Nightmares

Author: GoddessEryn

Rating: M

Summary: A new dolphinback arrives on Dinotopia. Karl learns something about her he never wanted to know about anyone. A story about a dream I had after watching the miniseries. My very first story.

Disclaimer: Only Aeryn, Marty, Joey, and the tribe of meateaters are mine. Everything and everybody belongs to someone else. Not sure who, but not me.


Chapter 2: The Newest Dolphinback

Darkclaws walked beside his mate as they made their way to the hatchery at Earth Farm. This was going to be their first egg and both were very excited. They broke through the last of the brush on the edge of the forest and could see Earth Farm in the distance. Longfrill noticed a tiny inlet to their left. "My love, could I get my feet wet?" she honked. Darkclaws honked his agreement.

The two Triceratops made their way down the narrow trail to the tiny beach. Longfrill frolicked in the water for a momentbefore noticing something bright blue caught on a rock at the far end of the beach. Curious, she peered around the rocks. There, wedged tightly between two large rocks, was an unconscious human that was obviously seriously hurt. "My love! There is a human caught in the rocks! I think it's a Dolphinback!" she called. Darkclaws hurried over to her. He peered at the human. "There's nothing we can do for it right now. Let's hurry to the hatchery and send someone back for it." he honked. They quickly got back to the road and rushed toward Earth Farm.

Upon reaching the Farm, the soon-to-be-new-parents were greeted by two workers. "You're late. You said you would be here before the noon meal and it just ended. We were worried." the young man said as the woman nodded her agreement. Darkclaws broke in, "I'm terribly sorry to interrupt, but I must speak with the Matriarch right away. Will you be alright, my love?" Longfrill rubbed her head against his and nodded. The young woman started to lead Longfrill to a different part of the Farm as the young man quickly led Darkclaws to Rosemary.

The Matriarch was in one of the smaller barns giving a lesson to some of the workers children. The young man veered away as Darkclaws cautiously entered the doorway to the barn and waited for a pause in Rosemary's lecture. When she realized that the children were no longer looking at her, but rather at something beyond her, Rosemary turned to look at the door. After apologizing for interrupting, Darkclaws launched into his story. Though her face showed no surprise when she heard of the Dolphinback, Rosemary politely waited for him to finish before she thanked him and sent him to be with his lifemate.

Rosemary gathered a small group of workers that had just exited the Great Hall after having their noon meal and explained to them what had happened and what she was asking them to do. Once they knew what she wanted them to do, they were eager to get started. When they reached the tiny beach they didn't see the Dolphinback right away. After a moment of searching and thinking the Dolphinback had been swept back out to sea, one young woman saw the bright blue cloth floating in the water between two rocks. Calling the others over, she waded into the water. Two of the young men, with the help of the young woman, managed topull the girl free from the rocks and carried her to the waiting stretcher. They carried her to back to the Farm. Once there, they took her to the room Rosemary had prepared and left the girl in her capable hands.