Chapter 10

It felt better outside. The air blowing in from the bay felt cool and smelled of salt and seaweed. Tristan took a deep breath, trying to gather his thoughts, but as he looked about him he discovered that the back deck also seemed to be a popular gathering place for a gaggle of compsognathus. They all ceased their chatter for a moment and eyed him as if he were intruding on some private conversation.

He waved a hand at them briefly, ducking his head respectfully, and passed them, walking over to an unoccupied corner of the deck. It seemed like no matter where he went he was out of place. The small lizard-like creatures observed him for a moment, then went on chattering to one another in their squeaky tones.

A half moon peeked through wispy clouds, casting down a soft, silvery sheen onto the wooden deck railing. Tristan rested his elbows on the railing and leaned forward, clutching the cup of fruit juice tightly between his hands. He bowed his head for a moment, closing his eyes, trying to get his spinning mind to calm down.

He realized that he'd messed up, but didn't know how to fix things either. He had to figure out what to do now that Fira had shown up and was apparently a friend of Poppy's. Fira could easily tell Poppy that she was well acquainted with him and that they had trained together at Canyon City. Poppy would be so confused and wonder why he had never owned up to being a Skybax Rider. Even worse, she would be wondering about that mysterious egg she'd seen in his possession. In her mind it was at the Saurian Nursery, or already shipped off to its 'rightful' place in a Hatchery now.

It seemed that what was causing the most trouble was the fact that all his actions were driven by fear—fear of people not understanding him, fear that they would label him a Drifter, fear that they would take the egg away from him, fear that Dark Wing would completely reject him in the end, and fear that he would never become a Rider.

If only he would've just told Poppy from the beginning about everything, but then again, the part about the egg would've been risky. It seemed like every angle he looked at it, there just wasn't a clear answer on how to handle things. He wanted to leave the party now, but then wouldn't that make things even worse? Leaving without an explanation? Running away? Again? At this rate would he spend the rest of his life running?

He groaned slightly and rubbed his forehead in agitation. He needed to get out of Sauropolis and do some serious thinking in solitude. Maybe then he could find the answers he needed. But then again if he thought about things too much, his thoughts would bring him back to Twilight and so far every time his thoughts went back to her, emotional pains plagued him. And when this happened, his reaction had always been to shut out the memories as much as possible in an effort to keep from hurting.

Also, if he left the city now, his family would be upset. In fact, no matter what move he made at the moment, someone would be upset. It seemed there was no good solution no matter which angle he looked at things. One thing was certain though. He needed to get Poppy off by herself and talk to her alone. Maybe if no one else was around she would focus on what he had to say and maybe understand his story and maybe forgive him for leading her on in more ways than one.

The back door swung open and Brutus Harper stepped outside. "Hello there, Tristan." The man boomed.

Tristan lifted his head quickly. Things already seemed bad enough. Now, seeing Poppy's father striding toward him caused his stomach to twist with even more apprehension.

"Evening, sir." He managed to say.

The man dealt a friendly slap to the young man's shoulder. Tristan grimaced and looked down to see his juice sloshing over the rim of his glass and onto the cuff of his shirt sleeve.

Brutus didn't seem to notice though. "I'm glad you made it here tonight." The man went on. "My Poppy seems to think highly of you."

"Well, that's nice, seeing as I hardly know her, sir." Tristan replied.

"Ah, but you will get to know her better in time. She's a bubbly girl full of life and energy, but she's also sensible and has a good eye for choosing remarkable friends."

Tristan swallowed hard, thinking that Poppy's 'good eye' might've made a mistake for once when choosing him. "If you're implying that I'm remarkable or of any worth, I can assure you that I'm not everything Poppy might talk me up to be."

"Such a modest answer." Brutus said in an appreciative tone. "I never did take to folks who talked themselves up." He smiled. "You're a good lad." Then he dropped his voice to a confiding tone, which was still a little too loud in Tristan's opinion. "My Poppy just turned eighteen and according to the Harper family tradition, she is now old enough for courtship." His smile was gone now, replaced with a serious expression.

Tristan shifted uncomfortably, uneasy about the direction this conversation was going. For the moment though, he couldn't think of anything to say in return to steer the conversation in a different direction.

"Anyway," Brutus went on, "I thought it would be good for you to know that we take courtship seriously. If you haven't figured it out already, my Poppy seems to have her eye on you."

Tristan swallowed nervously and tugged at his neck tie which suddenly seemed too tight. "Are you, uh…certain of that?" He asked.

"Of course I'm certain." Brutus scoffed. "I'm her father." He put a hand on Tristan's shoulder and pushed him toward the door which had a glass window in it. "You see my girl in there?" Brutus pointed.

Tristan nodded.

"According to her, you've done the honorable job of bringing an orphaned egg to the Sauropolis Saurian Nursery where it can be looked after properly and then transferred to the nearest Hatchery. That, my boy, is a noble deed."

Tristan was just swallowing a sip of the juice in his glass, but with this piece of information thrown at him, he somehow swallowed wrong and choked.

So that was it. That's why Brutus seemed ok with him getting to know his daughter. He thought Tristan had done something wonderful, but the man had no idea how wrong this information was.

Brutus pounded the young man on the back and the rest of Tristan's juice spilled out of the glass. "Choked a bit, eh?" Brutus said with a laugh.

Tristan merely nodded. He had to get away before Brutus would ask him more details about the orphaned egg. According to this man, that orphaned egg was the very reason that he allowing him near his daughter and it was because of that same egg that Tristan felt the need to avoid the whole situation. At this point he didn't know the Harper family well enough yet and there was no telling what they'd do if he told them the truth. He knew one thing for sure though, Brutus wouldn't be thinking too highly of him anymore. A Skybax Rider failure and drop out and harboring an orphaned egg to boot. Things were getting sour really fast.

"Um, I—uh, sir, I—" Tristan stammered.

Brutus ceased the pounding and stepped back to let the young man speak.

"I uh, you know, I'm definitely not a hero or anything." Tristan finally managed.

"There you are being all modest again." Brutus said with a grin. "Why don't you go back inside and enjoy yourself? The music's started again and folks are dancing. I saw how well you danced with Poppy's friend. I can see you've been trained well. Maybe you could teach my daughter a thing or two about dancing. She likes it and all, but she could stand to learn a few more things about it."

Tristan looked up at the man to see if he was really serious.

Brutus had a huge smile on his face and winked.

Tristan gulped. No. This was not going to work. No way. However, he didn't know what else to say other than mumbling an obedient, "Yes sir," before stepping back inside.

He shut the door quickly behind him, hoping Brutus would not immediately follow. He didn't, but Tristan could feel the man's eyes watching him through the window. Clamping his teeth together, Tristan strode across the room, grudgingly searching for Poppy. The musicians were playing a catchy tune, but it only sounded annoying in Tristan's ears.

He made his way over to the drinks table and deposited his empty cup into the bin reserved for dirty dishes.

"Hey there, that grim look seems a little out of place here."

Tristan immediately recognized Tiana's voice from behind him.

He turned around to see both Tiana and Poppy approaching. Celesta was no where to be seen and he figured she'd found some place to hide for a while. Lucky for her. Fira too seemed to have disappeared for the moment.

"Is something wrong?" Tiana said, giving her brother a searching look. Tristan faked a smile. "Wrong?" He said. "No, not at all. I just came in from outside, you know how I like to get a little fresh air every now and then."

Poppy looked at him closely. "Well you certainly don't look refreshed. If anything you looked drained. Are you sure you're alright?"

"Yes." Tristan replied. He stole a glance toward the window of the door to the deck and could just make out the huge form of Brutus still standing there, still watching him, probably to see if he would do what he'd asked. Tristan shifted his gaze back to Poppy. "In fact," he said, doing his best to fake a jolly tone, "I'm ready to dance again. "How about it, Poppy?" He held out an arm to her.

Tiana rolled her eyes and grinned.

Tristan knew he wouldn't hear the end of her teasing after this.

Poppy looked surprised, and then delighted. "Alright." She said.

Tristan threw a glare at Tiana as he whisked Poppy onto the dance floor.

In a matter of moments, he soon discovered that Fira must not have had a chance to discuss more about him with Poppy since the girl's friendly comportment hadn't changed toward him in any way. She seemed to be enjoying herself and when she made mistakes, which happened to be most of the time, she simply laughed about it.

Tristan had only planned to do one dance with her to make her father happy, but when the song ended and he looked at the back deck window again, he could see Brutus still standing there and this time Tristan was close enough to see the smile stretched across the man's face.

Tristan bit his lip and turned to Poppy again. "How about another one?"

"Oh, I was hoping you would ask. It was so fun and I need more practice." Poppy bubbled.

Halfway into the next dance after Poppy grew a little more comfortable with the steps she piped up again. "I can't believe how good you are at this." she said. "Do you dance for shows or something?"

"No way." Tristan replied with a slight laugh. "I'm not the show type. My mother just had all of us children take lessons since we were small. I think she hoped that at least one of us would take an interest in it and go far with it. I wasn't the one though."

"Why not? You're so good!" Poppy pulled away for a moment and stepped back. "Do something freestyle. I want to see what you come up with."

Tristan was about to decline, but the girl somehow made her pretty blue eyes look bigger and they sparkled in the light of the many lanterns hanging from the rafters. She clasped her hands beneath her chin and gazed up at him.

"Please?" She said.

He hesitated and another dancer nearly bumped into him so he immediately set to dancing again. As he glanced toward the back deck window, he was irritated to see Brutus still watching. Would that man ever leave him alone? Didn't he have something better to do? The song was not extremely fast, but it had enough pep to it to throw in some of the fun steps he'd learned over the years and a few of the more complicated moves. He tore his attention away from the window and found Poppy still watching him too. Maybe after this he would seek out a magician that could teach him the disappearing act. It was times like these that it would come in really handy. When the song ended, it was all he could do to keep from running from the dance floor.

Poppy met him and clapped her hands in glee. "That was amazing. Why don't you go into performance?"

Tristan frowned slightly. "Never really wanted to, I guess. Remember, I'm not a performer."

"What else do you do with yourself then?" Poppy asked while they both headed for the table laden with glasses and the huge bowl of fruit juice. Tiana had disappeared, probably somewhere surrounded by her friends.

"Well, I work in the restaurant." Tristan said.

"No, I'm not talking about typical work. What else do you find enough interest in that you won't pursue dancing and entertainment?"

Tristan took a moment to sip the juice, trying to figure out how to answer without telling her about Rider training. Now was probably not the best time to open up that can of worms. Maybe he could meet with the girl alone sometime and just explain everything. She seemed to be enjoying herself so much at the moment and he didn't want to put any kind of damper on her special birthday.

Poppy waved a hand in front of his face. "Hey there. You're suddenly miles away."

"Sorry." Tristan said quickly. "I—uh—I love sports. I competed a lot in games and sports when I was younger."

"But not anymore?"

Tristan dropped his gaze to the floor. "Not recently." Before Poppy could delve any deeper, he quickly asked the next question steering the attention away from himself. "So what about you? What do you do with yourself?"

Poppy tucked a curl behind her ear. "Well, I like to go to parties and I like to watch shows and performers. I like interacting with babies, hatchlings and children, and as you know already, I love to crochet, making things out of colorful yarn."

"Do you have any other jobs you do?" Tristan asked. "I mean, other than the teaching at the school?"

"Well, I make things with the yarn and have them shipped to different stores. When I'm not doing that, I'm usually helping with chores around the house or helping look after my younger siblings. Also, when Mother isn't too busy, she teaches me how to cook which I find challenging, but fun too."

Tristan's lips finally twitched into a slight smile. "I've grown up working in my parent's restaurant so you would think I could cook, but I can't. I've tried and I ruin everything I touch. After several horrible attempts, one of the cooks finally begged my parents to keep me out of the kitchen unless it was to wash dishes and scrub floors and counters."

Poppy laughed. "Maybe you just need someone to personally instruct you."

Tristan shook his head. "Both Mother and some of the other cooks tried, but I guess I'm just not cut out to be a chef."

"Maybe that's because you're supposed to be doing something else." Poppy suggested. She looked as if she were thinking hard for a moment, then her eyes brightened. "Hey I know. I remember you doing that Skybax Rider's salute. You said you were just messing around, trying it out to see what it felt like, but you did it so naturally. Maybe you should be a Skybax Rider."

Tristan winced at the girl's comment.

Poppy immediately noticed his discomfort and apologized. "I'm sorry. Not a good idea, I guess. Being a Skybax Rider isn't for just anyone, I hear."

"You got that right." Someone said loudly from behind them.

Both Tristan and Poppy spun around to see who had jumped into their conversation.

Tristan stared in total surprise at the lanky lad picking up a glass of fruit juice from the table. After draining the contents from the glass, the guy leaned against the table in a casual manner, setting the empty cup back down and crossing his arms.

Tristan's first look of surprise quickly transitioned to contempt. It was his old rival from back in Canyon City: Mathias. The last time they had parted ways, it was not on friendly terms.