Chapter 11

At first, Tristan thought that Mathias had been given an assignment that involved hunting him down and trying to get him to return to Canyon City like Taddeo had, but judging by the young Skybax Rider's acidic expression, he wondered if the guy was hunting him down on his own, seeking revenge. Mathias had never fully approved of Tristan's dealings with the rogue skybaxes, but Tristan suspected that his motivation on tracking him down was because of something more. They'd had a misunderstanding over a girl—Fira, to be exact—which had ended up in a full fledged brawl which Mathias had started. Tristan had won the fight with Mathias, then he'd left Fira and Mathias to settle their differences on their own while he'd walked away from it all and didn't look back.

Mathias spoke up again. "My cousin's birthday party was the last place I expected to see you." He said, the expression on his face giving away his acrimonious feelings. "What are you doing here?"

"I was fixing to ask you the same thing." Tristan replied, eyeing the other guy warily. Mathias's arms were cross and his head held high, conveying the message that he was ready for battle at any given moment and the faint scars which were still visible on one side of his face added to his intimidating appearance.

"What? You mean you two know each other?" Poppy asked, her eyes wide with surprise.

"Know each other? Hah!" Mathias laughed bitterly. "Unfortunately, yes. What boggles me though, is finding a guy like Tristan in your company."

"What do you mean?" Poppy replied. "You act as if he were no better than a Drifter."

Tristan quickly intervened. "What he means is that we know each other, but we don't exactly get along." His mind was reeling, wondering how he was going to get away from Mathias and avoid impending disaster. As a result he subconsciously started backing away. It seemed ironic that two of the people he trained with back at Canyon City had a connection with Poppy.

"But how do you know each other?" Poppy said, utterly confused. "Mathias is all the way from Prosperine. Besides, he's been gone for ages, training over in Canyon City." She looked at her cousin. "You just flew in today for the party, right? Just like my friend, Fira."

Tristan held his breath, wondering what Mathias would say in answer to Poppy's question.

Mathias's eyebrows shot upward and he seemed to overlook the question. "Fira? She's your friend? And she's here?" His eyes suddenly darted around the room, searching for the girl.

Tristan blew out his breath and leaned against the wall, looking upward for a moment. He needed to get out of here, but how to go about it without appearing suspicious seemed to be a great hurdle to get around.

"Well, yes." Poppy replied. "Although I don't know where she is at the moment." The girl suddenly slapped a hand to her forehead. "Oh! Why didn't I make the connection earlier! Mathias! You and Fira probably trained together. How wonderful! Now I have two Rider friends." Her amiable smile returned again.

"Yes. It is nice." Mathias replied flatly. I happen to know Fira quite well."

"Oh, you should've seen Tristan and Fira earlier." Poppy bubbled. "They met and danced for the first time." She giggled. "They looked good together, too."

Tristan winced at the girl's comment. It looked like Poppy was unknowingly opening the dreaded can of worms for him. The girl really needed to learn how to fetter that tongue.

"Did they now?" Mathias threw a sideways glance in Tristan's direction even though he was clearly talking to Poppy. "You haven't known this guy for very long, have you?"

Poppy set her glass down on the table. "Well no, not exactly." She said slowly while her eyes darted back and forth between the two guys. "What are you getting at, Mathias?" She was appalled at the sudden tension in the air.

Just then Tiana appeared with Sekani right behind her and Celesta trailing along behind both of them.

Tristan wasn't sure whether their appearance was good or bad news. At least Fira seemed to be nowhere in sight.

"Hey, there you two are." Tiana said brightly. "I was wondering where you disappeared to. Don't tell me you're tired of dancing already?" The girl happily twirled around and waltzed over to the table of drinks.

"We were just taking a break." Poppy said, relieved for the distraction from the awkward moment between her cousin and her friend.

Tiana sipped her drink and scanned her surroundings, suddenly realizing how quiet everyone seemed. She also noticed the young Skybax Rider in uniform standing in front of Poppy as if they'd been talking just before she arrived. "Did I interrupt something?" Tiana said.

"Oh no." Poppy replied quickly. "I was just catching up with my cousin, that's all. He hasn't visited for some time so I am glad that he was finally able to make it over to the party."

Tiana stepped back a little. "Don't let me interrupt then. Carry on. I'll go back to dancing again. I'll catch up with you later."

Poppy caught the girl's sleeve before she could escape again. "No really, stay for a while. You haven't met him yet anyway."

Tiana looked longingly out to the dance floor, but then turned her focus on her new friend. "Alright then, I'll hang out for a few minutes. Really I just wondered where you and Tristan had gone, that's all, then I was going to go dance some more."

Poppy motioned toward Mathias. "Tiana, meet my cousin, Mathias. He's a freshly graduated Apprentice Rider from Canyon City."

Tiana smiled cordially. "I can see that by the uniform. Pleased to meet you."

Mathias returned the smile graciously. "And I'm pleased to meet you."

Sekani suddenly nosed his way into the circle, not about to be left out. Mathias took a step back, a little surprised by the creature's sudden appearance. Tiana laughed. "This is my deinonychus buddy, Sekani."

Celesta remained behind the dinosaur, clearly trying to hide. Mathias noticed her though. He briefly greeted the dinosaur before asking, "And who is this lovely girl?"

Tiana glanced behind her and spotted her younger sister. "Oh. That's my sister. Celesta, stop being so shy and come forward and meet this guy."

Celesta hesitated.

Mathias grinned. "Awe. No need to be so shy. I won't bite. I mean, this deinonychus here would be more likely to do that before me."

Tristan rolled his eyes. Mathias always did have a way with girls.

Celesta smiled half heartedly, but did not step forward. Mathias simply moved forward and offered the formal Dinotopian greeting. Sekani watched the young man closely as if trying to figure out whether he should ward him off or not.

Tristan caught Sekani glancing back at him so he shook his head and made a face, letting the deinonychus know what he thought of Mathias. Sekani immediately understood and turned his attention back to the young man.

Celesta refused to step away from the dinosaur, so after the greeting was over she backed up, hiding completely behind the dinosaur. Sekani used that opportunity to give the young man a low warning growl.

Mathias sent the deinonychus a startled look, then stepped back. He looked as if he were going to say something, but instead he merely shrugged and turned his attention back to Poppy and Tiana. "Well, I just arrived at your party. Sorry I'm a little late. Did I miss out on much?" He spoke in a casual tone, but he kept the dinosaur within his peripheral vision.

"Dancing." Poppy and Tiana said almost in unison. "And it'll be over before you know it." Poppy went on. Tiana looked longingly over at the dance floor again where a colorful assortment of people and dinosaurs were still dancing to the music. "I think I've taken a long enough break. I'm going back out there." She turned to Poppy. "You coming too?" She looked beyond Sekani to see Tristan leaning against the wall. "Come on, Tristan. I see that party pooper face. Come back out here and have some fun."

Tristan shook his head and avoided Mathias's penetrating gaze.

Mathias turned his attention back to Tiana. "What do you know about that guy anyway? He's nothing but a load of trouble. I wouldn't keep company with him if I were you."

Tiana stepped away from Mathias and frowned. "Wait a minute. How do you know him? What makes you talk so negatively about him?"

Tristan heard her reply and decided that things were definitely going from bad to worse. Tiana had a quick temper and usually wasn't afraid to vocalize her opinion. He shot a desperate look at Sekani.

The dinosaur could see that Tristan was distressed, but was still trying to figure out a way to give the young Skybax Rider the message to skedaddle without appearing unreasonably vicious. He shifted back and forth on his feet as he analyzed the situation.

Mathias raised his eyebrows and looked from Tiana to Poppy. "Both of you seem to be clearly defensive about this guy. It's surprising. Do either of you know who he really is?"

Tiana set her cup down on the table a little too hard.

Bonk!

"He's my brother and I don't know what you have against him, but I'd appreciate it if you would at least show some respect toward him." She said loudly as her face took on a stormy expression.

Mathias looked totally surprised. "Your brother? Well, I can honestly say that I didn't see that coming."

"Why?" Tiana challenged. "It appears you have something against him."

"Well for one thing you don't seem too concerned about what kind of reputation he has back at Canyon City." Mathias replied. "How well do you know your brother anyway? I have a suspicion he's been hiding some things about himself from you. Either that, or you're in league with his him since you're kin."

Tiana's eyes narrowed at the Skybax Rider.

Poppy's jaw dropped.

Sekani snarled at Mathias.

Celesta covered her mouth with both hands, her gray eyes looking horrified.

Mathias eased away from the deinonychus, but maintained his cool.

Tristan felt his own temper rising. He pushed away from the wall and marched up to the young Rider. "You leave my sister out of this, Mathias."

Mathias rolled his eyes. "Why? Because she doesn't know what a troublemaker you are?" He spread his arms out wide. "So this is where you ended up." He added. "You stirred up trouble with the canyon skybaxes, failed Rider training, ran away, and thought you could hide in Sauropolis since its one of Dinotopia's largest cities."

Tristan cringed at the other guy's words. Mathias had left out the part about their last fight before he'd left Canyon City. It appeared the guy was still upset with him over that event, otherwise he wouldn't be verbally pounding him like this.

As if he'd read Tristan's thoughts, a sudden frown creased Mathias's brow.

"And I can't believe you still had the gall to go and dance with Fira after everything that happened back at Canyon City before you left. You know, there was a time I started to believe that you weren't so bad. I even trusted you once, letting you know how I felt toward her, which I deeply regret now since you went and double crossed me. And it appears that you're still at it."

Tristan struggled to keep his anger under control. He glanced around the room briefly before answering, but still didn't see Fira anywhere. Where had she disappeared to at the moment anyway? Had she been upset and left the party early?

He shifted his attention back to Mathias. "Look. Sauropolis is my home. My life and what I do with it is none of your business. Now stay out of it." He tried to push past the guy, but Mathias caught his arm.

"It's my business when you mess with my girl."

"Is she really your girl? Because when we danced, she never indicated that she was."

Mathias looked as if he were about to take a swing at Tristan, but he held back and used another verbal missile instead. "Hey. I don't know what you're doing here at my cousin's party, but I'll be sure and tell her who and what you truly are because I'm sure you haven't told her." He threw a glance over at Poppy who was standing still with her blue eyes wide, taking in every word of the conversation with a look of dismay on her face.

Tristan looked the young man up and down with contempt. Mathias wore a spotless Apprentice Rider's uniform. Of course. Mathias always was one to show off. If he was coming to a party, he was apparently off duty and in no need of wearing the uniform. Obviously he only wanted to show off his success.

As if he were able to read Tristan's thoughts, Mathias's stormy expression shifted into a wicked grin. "Wish you had one, don't you?" He taunted. "But you never deserved it."

Tristan's temper blazed. Forgetting about his sisters, Sekani, and Poppy watching, he grabbed the other guy by the front of his uniform and shoved him up against the wall. "You're the one who doesn't deserve it, Mathias." He spat into the Rider's face. "You have the arrogance of a tyrannosaurus rex."

"Well you have the ferocity of one." Mathias shot back. "Now let me go."

Tristan glared at the other guy, but released his tight grip.

Mathias adjusted his rumpled uniform. "Look. I know you're jealous, but it isn't going to change anything. Apparently I do deserve it, because I have a skybax companion waiting for me at the Sauropolis Rookery. She knows she can trust me. After you dabbled in places you shouldn't have, its no wonder that you ran into so much conflict with the skybaxes. You really shouldn't have fraternized with that rogue group. The canyon skybaxes are still on edge and fights are breaking out more frequently among them. And it's all your fault." Mathias said emphatically, pointing at Tristan. "You said once that you were trying to establish peace, but your efforts seem to have had the opposite effect, which makes me question what you're intentions really were to begin with. It looks to me like you've turned into a Drifter. And you know what? If you would've done as you were told in the beginning and left things alone, nothing would've happened to Twilight."

It was only a verbal blow, but it left Tristan feeling almost breathless.

Mathias's eyes sparked dangerously as if he were baiting Tristan to another fight.

Tristan took the bait.