"Disclaimer: I do not own Dinotopia or any of the characters from Dinotopia. I only own my OCs.

(Note) This is the sequel to The Shadow Rider. I know it has been a long time since I last posted anything, but I was trying to do better with the second book and write the whole thing before posting any chapters. However, after all this time, I still haven't finished the book yet so I decided that the best way for me to get it written is to start posting chapters as I write them and maybe this will motivate me to finish the book quicker. This will result in some needs for editing, so the readers will have to bear with me on that. In other words, chapters may get posted, taken down, edited, and re-posted. And any of you who read some of my previously posted chapters on the book called "Eclipse" (which I took down after writing The Shadow Rider) will find similarities with the first few chapters of this new story since this is somewhat of a remake of the "Eclipse" story. I am terrible at titles, so the title of this one is a bit lame, but maybe a better one will come to me in time. If so, I will change the title. All comments, critiques, and reviews are welcome.

Chapter 1

Keeping the egg a secret from the public was the plan, but as soon as Tristan arrived in the capitol city of Dinotopia, he ran straight into trouble.

Or maybe it was trouble running into him.

As he passed through the huge gateway, he tipped his head back, viewing the familiar tall buildings featuring beautifully sculptured pillars, marble steps, and massive arched windows and doors, many of which were constructed to accommodate the largest of the dinosaurs.

His dark eyebrows tilted back in an anxious expression. It felt as if the city were a giant carnivore, swallowing him whole, much like the canyons had felt when he'd first arrived there for Skybax Rider training over eight months ago. He dropped his gaze down to the cobblestone street and kicked at a pebble. Arriving home shouldn't feel so ominous.

As Tristan walked down the familiar streets, the city sounded even noisier than he remembered. Carts and wagons squeaked and rattled, people shouted, dinosaurs called to one another in mixed tones of hoots, screeching, and growling, and music played somewhere in the distance, mainly the throb of the drums penetrating through the rest of the city's din.

The late afternoon air felt extra warm and sweat trickled down his neck. He instinctively glanced up at the sky, taking note of the light gray stratus clouds stretching across the space above. They were low lying clouds, not likely to cause any rain showers, but judging by the high humidity in the air, a squall could easily be forming somewhere in the distance, probably out at sea. But from where he stood in the street, he could not see the horizon. He would have to find higher ground, but here in the city a higher level such as a rooftop, or a tower would have to do since he no longer had the option of predicting weather with the help of a skybax companion.

A high pitched blast coming from a whistle broke Tristan's concentration on the sky, causing him to jump at the shrill tone. His hands instinctively flew to his ears while he found himself staring stupidly into the angry face of a traffic guard.

"Get out o' th' way! You'll git run over ifn ya stand around gawkin' like that." The hefty man barked. He grabbed Tristan by the collar and yanked him aside, travel pack and all, as if he were no lighter than a young school boy.

Tristan felt the all too familiar heat of anger rising to his face. He was no school boy. He was a young man, almost nineteen years old and he didn't appreciate being yanked around like a child. He was about to slap the man's meaty hands away from his collar when a huge bicycle taxi powered by a young lambeosaurus sped past them, narrowly missing them both. The wheels hit a puddle in the street, spattering dirty water all over Tristan. Through the splash of muddy droplets showering against him, he caught a glimpse of two laughing faces of the passengers riding at the back of the taxi.

"Well, maybe that'll teach ya t' watch where yore a goin' next time." The man said, finally letting go of the teenager. He of course hadn't received any of the splatter from the puddle since he'd held Tristan securely in front of him like a shield.

Tristan did not trust himself to speak at the moment so he kept his mouth clamped tight as he rubbed at his dripping dark bangs which often stubbornly escaped the blue bandanna he usually wore tied around his head. It was an ornament he'd started wearing back at Canyon City, originally to hide a cut on his forehead that he didn't want anyone noticing. Once the cut healed he went on wearing it, liking the roguish appearance it gave him. His excuse for wearing it had been that it kept the wind from blowing his bangs into his eyes, but he'd been informed by his instructor that a hair cut would be a simpler solution.

The traffic guard gave his bright uniform a quick pat, checking for mud splatter. After finding nothing, he gave a satisfied grunt and without even glancing in Tristan's direction any longer, he merely turned away to focus on his duties once again, blasting his whistle at someone else this time.

Tristan had been dismissed as indifferently as an insect being brushed from a sleeve and as a result, Tristan glared at him, tempted to wipe his muddy sleeve over the back of the man's neatly pressed shirt. But as hard as it was to let the matter go, he forced himself to walk away, grinding his teeth as he went.

Continuing his trek through the city, Tristan made sure from that point on to watch his step. He didn't want to be jerked around anymore by traffic guards whether they were attempting to save his life or not.

He eyed one of the taxi's, knowing that catching a ride on one could get him to his destination faster, but as he watched them speeding through the streets, he decided against it, not wanting to be jostled around any more than he'd already been.

He shifted his heavy backpack, concerned for the fragile cargo within. He realized now that a boisterous city was not the ideal place to raise an egg, especially in secret, but after the devastating results of his failed graduation day, he'd felt that he needed to spend some time at home. The egg happened to be an unexpected surprise passenger right before he left anyway. It would be good to reach his family's apartment before anything else could go amiss. But just as soon as the thought crossed his mind, he felt something bump into him from behind, thumping against his backpack.

Tristan's patience, which had worn thin already, snapped. "Hey, watch it!" He snarled as he whirled around.

There, staring back at him seemingly frozen with her mouth open stood a teenage girl.

Tristan passed a hand over his face. Girls. He was beginning to think that they were nothing but trouble, seeing as how a friendship with one back in Canyon City had ended in disaster. He felt tired and irritable, not only from traveling on foot the past several days and carrying the weight of his backpack with both the egg and his possessions and travel supplies, but also because of the emotional burdens which weighed heavy on his mind. As a result, the last thing he felt like doing at the moment was trying to muster a sincere sounding apology and to come up with some sort of logical sounding explanation for his frustration.

The girl remained still, clutching a colorful crocheted bag tightly in her slender hands. She licked her lips and swallowed before finally speaking. "I—I'm really sorry for bumping into you. I…uh…I should've paid closer attention to where I was going.

"Yes." Tristan agreed, his tone still gruff. "You should've." Then, dismissing her as unceremoniously as the traffic guard had done to him, he stepped away from the main hubbub of the street.

He reached to his back, pulling out his hiking staff from where he'd threaded it through the loops on his backpack straps, and laid it down on the seat of an empty sidewalk bench. Then he slid his backpack off of his shoulders and carefully set it down on the bench in front of the hiking staff. After loosening the drawstring, he dipped his hand into the backpack, gently pushing away the insulated blanket he'd wrapped securely around the egg for warmth and added protection. As he rubbed the leathery surface of the egg and felt the familiar warmth and life radiating from it, relief washed over him. It was still safe and unharmed.

Glancing up again, he discovered that the girl had not taken his cue of dismissal and was still watching him with a frightened look on her face. What was wrong with her? There was no reason for her to be afraid of him.

But Tristan didn't realize how rough his appearance looked and his harsh reaction toward her didn't help the matter. He'd been traveling on foot for several days. His clothes were grimy, there were holes in both the knees of his pants, revealing scabs on both knees, a roguish looking carnivore tooth necklace adorned his throat, and a faded blue bandanna was tied around his head. And now he had mud splattered on his clothes from his incident with the traffic guard. He would've removed his jacket which had received the worst of the muddy water, but he was utilizing it to cover up the fact that one sleeve of his shirt was torn off nearly to the shoulder. The backpack and staff he carried announced the fact that he was a traveler. His scowl gave him a mean look and the purple shadows beneath his eyes revealed that he'd traveled hard and not slept well for days.

It seemed as if Tristan could read the accusation printed across the girl's eyes; Dolphin Bay Drifter. It was only a matter of moments before she would regain her composure enough to flag down a street guard, probably a gruff saurian, which would then bring him to the city officials. Then they would discover the egg and the truth would only sound like a fiction to them and he'd be permanently labeled a Dolphin Bay Drifter who'd stolen an egg. And what would happen after that? Punishment? Banishment?

Suddenly Tristan felt bad for being so gruff toward the girl—not bad for her sake, but for his. As hard as it was to do, he managed to force a smile onto his face, hoping it would do for a gesture of forgiveness. His dark brown eyes gazed with intensity and his smile looked bright against his wind chapped and slightly sunburned face. He watched as the worry in the girl's blue eyes melted away. Her cheeks grew pink as she clasped her hands beneath her chin and dropped her gaze demurely.

The girl's adorable reaction caught Tristan off guard and his fake smile morphed into a true one. Apparently she took his expression as a friendly invitation, because she bounded over to him, golden ringlets bouncing against her rosy cheeks. Tristan stepped back a little, but she didn't seem to notice. She smiled up at him in a happy, childish way.

"Oh I'm so glad that you're not angry anymore." She said. "I'll try my best to pay closer attention to where I'm going next time." She hesitated, eyes sweeping over him again. "Just for the record, you're not really a Dolphin Bay Drifter, are you?"

Tristan stared at her, surprised at her sudden switch of moods.

"Well?" She took a tentative step backward as if getting ready to run if she should need to.

Tristan finally shook his head. "No. Sauropolis is my home."

The girl breathed a sigh of relief. "Good. I'm always worried I might come across one. I've heard they can be really mean sometimes."

Tristan wondered if he should tell the girl that she was too trusting. Lucky for her he wasn't really a Dolphin Bay Drifter, because he could just as easily be lying to her.

"Do you want to know why I was so distracted when I accidentally bumped into you?" The girl piped up.

Tristan continued to stare at her, a little taken back by her sudden friendliness and quick conversation, especially after she'd seemed so afraid only a few minutes before.

Even though he hadn't responded, the girl just giggled and went on talking anyway. "Well, to be honest I was watching that brachiosaurus over there, trying to decide if it would be more thrilling to view the city from way up there on a saddle just behind its head, or if a ride on the back of a skybax would be better. A brachiosaurus would move slowly enough for me to see all the sights, that's for sure, but a skybax could let me see everything at any angle I wanted." She wrinkled her lightly freckled nose. "But then again, I don't know. A skybax would probably go too fast for me to take everything in." What do you think? Would it be better to ride a brach or a skybax?"

Tristan scratched his head awkwardly. She was looking up at him again apparently expecting an answer. Then he relaxed a little as he realized that her bubbly personality and fast changing moods reminded him a little of his sister, Tiana. Oh, how he missed his family! It had been a very long eight months. "I would choose the skybax." He finally said.

The girl groaned slightly. "Oh, it's such a hard decision." Then, after a moment's reflection, another laugh bubbled forth again. "Of course, I guess it doesn't really matter anyway, because I'll never get to ride a skybax, and I'd have to come up with some expensive trading material to get to ride one of those prestigious city brachs."

Tristan listened to the girl's chatter, wondering if he was going to be able to get a word in to say goodbye. He was tempted to simply walk away, but that would be rude and he didn't want to hurt her feelings again, much less risk the chance of her going back to thinking he really was some kind of rogue.

"So why are you still standing there with one arm inside your backpack? It looks funny, kind of like you were going to take something out, but forgot about it." The girl paused, blinking up at him expectantly.

This was the pause in the girl's seemingly endless flow of words that Tristan had been waiting for; his chance to quickly bid farewell and leave, but he hadn't expected yet another question to be hurtled at him so bluntly and it caught him off guard. "I uh…"

Before he could finish, the girl leaned forward, eyes sparking with interest as she peered into the backpack. It all happened so fast that Tristan hardly had time to think.

"Oh!" She gasped, "An egg! So that's why you were so upset when I bumped into you. I'm terribly sorry. I hope it didn't harm it." She looked up at Tristan, a quizzical expression on her face. "But…wait…what are you doing with an…egg?"

Tristan hoped his face didn't show how nervous he felt. All this time he'd been so careful—through the whole trip in fact—without anything significant happening, and now that he was within a half mile of home, the worst thing he could think of had happened. A stranger had caught him with the egg and was asking questions about it.

"You're a Drifter after all, aren't you?" The girl said, a sudden frown creasing her pale brow. "And you've done something terrible. You've stolen an egg!" She took a step backward.

Yes, Tristan wanted her to leave, but not like this. He quickly shook his head. "No, no no no. It's not what you think. You see, it's an orphan. I'm merely…uh…transporting it…you know…to a safe place." He was sweating now as he struggled to find words to explain his way out of this dilemma.

The girl narrowed her eyes at him and he could tell that she seemed to be thinking hard. Tristan quickly tightened the drawstring, secured the top flap, and pulled the backpack over his shoulders, threading his hiking staff through the back straps again.

"An orphan, you say?" The girl finally said. "Well if that's so, you're heading in the wrong direction. The Sauropolis Hatchling Nursery is back that way." She pointed down the wide street veering off to the left.

Tristan rubbed his forehead, a habitual motion he made when irritated or worried. In this case, it was a mixture of both. "I—I know. I grew up in this city."

"Did you now?" The girl looked him up and down incredulously. "Well you sure don't look like it."

Tristan tightened his lips in annoyance. It was true though. He knew that his travel worn simple tunic and pants looked drab compared to the grand attire of all the folks milling about the city. Back at Canyon City (a small town despite its name) such frills and frippery would likely make everyone laugh. During his training though, Tristan had quickly grown accustomed to wearing simple clothes more suited for the warm and dusty canyon environment. His clothes looked extra bad at the moment because he'd torn them up during a rough landing during a flight with a skybax and because he'd left Canyon City in a hurry, he hadn't taken the time to change.

"I may not look like it, but I did. I've just been away for awhile." He replied, hoping the girl wouldn't ask any more personal questions. In his opinion she was a little too friendly—to the point of being nosy—and seemed to have no perception of personal space. He shifted the pack on his shoulders and looked up at the sky. "Hey, you know what? I've really got to be going." He patted one of the backpack straps. "Important delivery to make, if you know what I mean." He managed to paste on another smile and was relieved to see that it seemed to have the desired effect.

The girl relaxed again and returned the smile, though it was a much more reserved one than before. "Right, I'd better not delay you any longer. I've probably overwhelmed you already with my chatter." She sighed. "It seems like I'm always getting in trouble for talking too much."

Tristan resisted the urge to verbally agree. Instead, he concentrated on trying to look as innocent as possible.

The girl held out a hand in the universal Dinotopian greeting. "I'll let you be on your way now. Sorry again about all the trouble. My name is Poppy, by the way, Poppy Harper."

Tristan touched the girl's hand briefly, returning the greeting. "I'm Tristan Starr. Nice to meet you." He said, through a forced smile and gritted teeth. The last thing he wanted to do was to give out his name, but it would be rude if he didn't and he sure didn't want to confirm her suspicions of him being a Drifter involved in kidnapping an egg and withholding it from its rightful place in a hatchery. That kind of information let loose in the city could bring him loads of trouble.

"Goodbye!" The girl said with a wave of her hand; seemingly back to her sunny self again. "Oh, and don't lose your way. Remember, the Hatchling Nursery is that way." She gestured again in the same direction she'd pointed out before.

Tristan had already started forward in the direction toward home, but the girl's words stopped him as he realized that she wouldn't understand why he was still going the wrong direction. "Um…right." He mumbled, turning around slowly. Not wanting her to ask any more questions, he headed in the direction she'd pointed, hoping that she'd go a different way so that she wouldn't notice when he'd sneak back and head on down Grand Avenue, toward home.

After taking a few steps he glanced behind him to see where Poppy was going. He sighed in relief to see her heading in the opposite direction. Late evening sunlight filtered through the smoke of a street side grill, illuminating the girl's golden hair which spilled over her shoulders in ringlets. She carried a colorful crocheted bag over an arm and held a wide brimmed hat in one hand.

Then, the girl suddenly turned, catching sight of him watching her. She smiled broadly and waved her hat. "Breathe Deep!"

Tristan was rattled. He hadn't expected her to turn around too. "Fly High." He returned, out of habit, along with the snappy skybax riders salute that all the cadets of the beginners' class were trained to use. After having to use it for so long, it came as a natural reaction.

Poppy stopped and gazed back at him with a puzzled look on her face.

Tristan stood frozen for a moment, watching her reaction. Then, much to his delight, a young triceratops passing by absentmindedly swinging its tail back and forth, accidentally bumped the girl with its tail, nearly swiping her off her feet. It took all of the girl's concentration to regain her footing.

Tristan immediately recognized this moment of opportunity. He spun around and hurried away as fast as he dared, hoping the girl wouldn't catch sight of him again and suddenly decide to follow him in order to ask more questions. However, in his haste, he forgot to go in the direction of the Sauropolis Hatchling Nursery and headed on down Grand Avenue toward the apartment where his family lived. He did not look behind him again.