CHAPTER 9
DESERT AND TERRACE
They made a brief stop at Velociraptor Valley so Kark can meet some real velociraptors face to face.
Since it was the middle of summer there now, the desert area was quite hot; and Kark, being a red coloured dragon, was more susceptible to the heat. They soon found Velma Velociraptor and her daughter Valerie. Kark was amazed at seeing the brightly coloured feathers they both sported. Kark had always believed that velociraptors looked pretty much like Mr. Conductor, but he was proven wrong upon seeing these two female dinos.
Valerie didn't lose any of her vanity since last time the Pteranodons met her, and she wasn't afraid to show off her beautiful feathers to Kark. Kark even commented at how beautiful and colourful they were. The narcissistic Valerie bowed and thanked Kark for his nice comment. Kark noticed that one of Valerie's feathers fell to the desert sand. He picked it up and asked Valerie if he could keep it as a souvenir. "Of course you can!" Valerie said. "I wouldn't want you to forget a gorgeous looking dinosaur like ME!"
"Oh, please!" Tiny muttered as she rolled her eyes.
Kark smiled. "Well, for sure I wouldn't! This is turning out to be quite an amazing trip!"
After noticing that the sun and the heat was starting to get to Kark, everybody moved to the shade of the Dinosaur Train station where they chatted some more until the Dinosaur Train came back to pick them up. Their next destination being their home on Pteranodon Terrace where Kark could meet the rest of the Pteranodon family.
While they were on the train, they met up with their old friend Ned the Brachiosaurus. Kark was amazed at seeing how big this young quadruped was! The Pteranodon children even commented at how much he'd grown since they last saw him! He was now almost as long as one of the passenger cars, and it was getting very hard for him to walk down the aisle! He had to give up his job as a Junior Conductor, as he had grown so big that he can't walk freely around the Dinosaur Train like Mr. Conductor because of his size. He wasn't discouraged, though! His father told him he'd soon find a job more suited for a big brachiosaurus like him.
A short time later, everybody arrived at Pterandon Terrace, and Kark was introduced to Mr. Pteranodon and their other daughter Shiny. Kark could see right away why she was called "Shiny". He even had to look away a few times, as the sun was reflecting off of her bright blue skin.
Since it was getting late in the day, the Pteranodons invited Kark to dinner. He realized that he had not eaten anything since this morning, and he was used to having regular meals. He couldn't refuse the opportunity of sampling some of the local cuisine.
Since the main part of their diet was fish, and Kark actually LOVED fish, that would be what's on the menu. They took him down to Pteranodon Lake where they'd show him how they caught their favourite food.
Mr. Pteranodon demonstrated how they caught the fish by hovering in mid air over the lake and then diving into the water once they spotted their prey. Mr. Pteranodon caught a few such fish under the cheers of his watching children. Buddy wanted to know if Kark could catch fish like his adoptive father could. Kark said he wouldn't hover over the lake like Mr. Pteranodon did, but said he'd try it from shore.
He waded into the water on the shoreline, then stood perfectly still. When he saw a few fish swim up close to him, he slowly lowered his head closer to the water, then jabbed at the nearest fish with his jaws. The children cheered at the good sized fish Kark caught. It frantically fought to get loose from Kark's jaws and eventually slipped out back into the water.
"AWW..." everyone cried as the fish got away.
Kark spat out the scales of the fish that were still in his mouth. "I don't like that method of fishing, anyway..." he said. "Let me show you how the native peoples of my country do it."
He found a long narrow branch lying nearby and used one of his claws to make the tip more pointy until he eventually fashioned himself a makeshift spear. Armed with this new weapon, he waded back into the water and used it to harpoon a few large fish for his own meal.
Afterwards, they learned something really unexpected about him: While they liked to eat their fish raw, Kark preferred to have them cooked in some way. Raw food, even sushi, turned his stomach.
"But how would you... cook... those fishes, Kark?" Buddy asked.
He eyed the volcano off in the distance, smiled to his friends. "I have an idea..."
A short time later, Kark was standing over a narrow crevasse where a lava flow was generating a constant heat. He had constructed a fire spit out of several branches, and was using the heat from the lava flow to cook the fish he had caught. The Pteranodon family, curious about the way Kark would cook the fish he caught, came with him to see this method for themselves. Buddy concluded that Kark was "a pretty ingenious dragon" for setting up something like this.
Kark simply smiled and said. "Well, I AM half human... Maybe that's where my ingenuity comes from..."
Satisfied that the fish were properly cooked, Kark gathered them up and went back to the nest where the family would all have their fish dinner.
