Chapter 4: Arguments, meetings and the book
It wasn't long before they arrived at Zippo's home, and Tabitha had to admit that it was one of the fanciest homes she had ever been to. Tabitha and her half-brothers were all sitting at the table as they ate the supper that Zippo had prepared for them. The food was delicious, despite it being all vegetables. Shorty was enjoying his meal on the floor as he ate his supper out of a small fancy bowl that Zippo had prepared for him. All in all, Zippo was a gracious host to the half-siblings. An old style graphophone played in the back ground, while the half-siblings ate. Zippo returned to give Karl a fork before he sat down in one of the chairs that suited his structure.
"Delicious," said Karl as he dug into his food.
"Zippo, you have got to be one of the best cooks that we've met in Dinotopia so far," commented Tabitha.
"Yes, it's very kind of you put us up Zippo," said David in agreement.
"Oh no, not at all," said Zippo from his seat. "I find you all very interesting species. I just love how you jump about, very quick reactions and the way you eat with your little knife and fork, cutting up the food first, I mean it's so funny."
'He must really love to study us humans,' thought Tabitha to herself.
She glanced down at Shorty, who was eating his food on the floor. Shorty sensed Tabitha's gaze as he turned his head to glance up at her for a second, before letting out a small burp. Tabitha chuckled as Shorty dove back into his food.
"So, do you have a human partner?" asked David out of curiosity.
Zippo's face saddened as he turned to look at a painting of a woman, who looked to be in her twenties, which stood across from the dining room. Tabitha had to admit that the woman was very beautiful.
"I was partnered to Sylvia of the hatchery," answered Zippo sadly. "But I'd never sought another after my soulmate's death."
"I'm sorry," said Tabitha gently in sympathy and understanding.
"Wow," spoke Karl as he stared at the painting with a smirk. "How'd you score a babe like that?"
"God," said David.
Zippo turned to look at Karl in confusion at the slang he just used, while Tabitha gave Karl a sharp kick underneath the table. Karl winched as he turned to look at Tabitha in confusion, while she and David glared at him.
"What?"
"Babe," said Zippo as he tried out the word himself, not sure what to make of it. "Very colorful language. It's a spiritual union I don't think you quite understand yet." Zippo then turned to look fondly back at the painting of his partner again. "No, I'll never meet another like her…babe."
Tabitha rolled her eyes in amusement before she went back to eating her supper in silence, along with her half-brothers. After supper, Zippo showed the half-siblings to their room, where they would sleep after their exciting journey through Dinotopia. The three half-siblings were given a room to share as Zippo hadn't prepared a room for Tabitha yet. Tabitha was a little miffed at sharing a room with Karl, but decided to be courteous and not give Zippo too much trouble about it. Night had already descended upon Dinotopia when the half-siblings entered their new room. The room held some fancy furniture and a one legged table with a chessboard, which stood in the middle between two leather chairs. Tabitha and David were impressed, while Karl wasn't too thrilled at having to stay in a home where a dinosaur lived.
"This place is grand." Tabitha said as she looked around the room for a moment before walking over to one of the beds.
Shorty, who had been sitting on Tabitha's shoulders, suddenly opened his wings and flew to the bed that Tabitha had chosen. Shorty landed with a soft thump before walking around in a circle like a cat or dog. Then plopped himself down, while letting out a sigh of content in the process.
"Well…at least we know what those wings of his are for." Tabitha stated with a chuckle as she sat down on the bed.
David also chuckled before he continued to look around the room. Suddenly, Karl spoke up to knock down his half-siblings' joyful mood.
"We really are in the nuthouse." He said with a frown on his face.
"Yeah, I know but what a place," said David as he walked over to one of the chairs that stood near the chessboard and sat down. "I mean it's just incredible and all that talk about partners."
"Despite Marion saying that having a ceremony is like being married to a different species. Yeah, it sounds like it could be worth a shot." Tabitha added with a playful smile on her face.
"Don't you two find that a little creepy?" questioned Karl with a disgusted look upon his features. "I mean, we're talking about giant lizards here."
"Here we go," muttered Tabitha.
"No, this is obviously some sort of utopia where everyone lives in harmony," said David with a smile.
"Yeah, well there's no way I'm going to be walking around with a lizard girlfriend," said Karl in a firm voice.
"I don't think they meant it like that, Karl" said Tabitha with a raised eyebrow before a smirk came over her face. "But if they did, then I hope your dinosaur girlfriend will keep you on a tight leash so that you won't go around chasing other helpless girls, who would fall head over heels for you."
"You're not helping," growled Karl as he glared at Tabitha angrily.
"Why do you always turn against everything before you even start it?" asked David.
"Well, what's the point, we're going home anyways." Karl said with a determined look etched upon his features.
"Oh and how are we going to do that?" questioned David with a raised eyebrow. "I mean, you saw what the razor reef did to our plane, right?"
Karl's face turned dark as his anger began to boil up inside of him. "You know, the more I listen to you the more I think you want to stay here."
"Of course I want to go home," said David in a calm voice. "But we don't know how to right now, so all I'm saying is that we should try to make the best of it."
"He's right Karl," spoke Tabitha from her place on the bed. "If we jump head first into the water without a plan then we'll wind up losing our lives in the process. We need to think before we act and maybe staying here will give us time to know the lay of the land so…"
"You guys don't really wanna leave, do you?" questioned Karl as he angrily glared at his half-siblings, believing that they were against him.
"Think about it Karl," argued David. "Can't you see that something absolutely amazing has happened to us?"
"No, I think watching dad die kind of ruined it for me," said Karl nastily.
Tabitha glared at the mention of their father once again. She was beginning to grow tired of Karl bringing Frank up all the time. Karl always looked up to their father like he was some kind of superhero. He never once thought about how Frank had abandoned their mothers when they needed him most.
"You know I didn't mean that," said David as he tried to calm his brother down as he stood up from the chair. "But I think I know what dad would say. He would say that this is a great adventure, and we should be seeing things that no one else has seen before. Maybe we should stay, just for a little while, see what life is like here."
Karl, stubborn and set on what he wanted, was done talking and decided to hit David and Tabitha with a low blow.
"Yeah, well maybe because you and Tabby don't have a life back home," said Karl fiercely as he glared at David and Tabitha. "But I do and I want it back."
Tabitha, finally having enough of Karl's attitude, quickly stood up from the bed. She walked quickly over to Karl before raising her right hand up. A loud slap resounded around the room, which startled Shorty to wake up from his nap. Karl stood stunned at what had just happened before he turned to look at Tabitha in shock and disbelief. David was also shocked at what had just happened and stood where he was, unmoving. Tabitha glared fiercely at Karl in anger and disgust before saying the words that she had so long kept from forming out of her mouth.
"I should have known that you would become like Frank," said Tabitha angrily. "All you ever think about is yourself. You don't even think or care about what happens to the people that you hurt in the process."
With that said, Tabitha turned and began to walk out of the room, but not before Shorty flew up from the bed and landed on her shoulders. Tabitha opened the door of their room and marched out into the hallway, while not bothering to close the door behind her. Karl watched her leave as he lifted up his right hand to the cheek that Tabitha had slapped.
"Now you've done it," said David in a cold voice.
Karl gave David a quick glare before he raced out of the room to go after Tabitha in hopes of apologizing to her. Tabitha was already far ahead of Karl as she walked briskly through the still crowded streets of Waterfall City, while trying to hold back the tears that threatened to spill out from her eyes. Tabitha didn't pick where she was going for she only thought about getting as far away from Karl as possible. Tabitha turned down each corner of the street to keep her brother from being able to catch up to her, but that also got her lost within the process. After a while of walking briskly through the city, Tabitha finally found herself at a bridge that over looked a canal, where there weren't any people walking about. She stopped to catch her breath and to finally let out the tears that were burning at her eyes. Tabitha leaned against the stone wall of the bridge as Shorty jumped off her shoulders to sit by her head. He watching helplessly as Tabitha began to cry softly within the crook of her arms. All of her anger and frustration had finally spilled out of her as she freely cried out her sorrows, while Shorty gently nuzzled his head against Tabitha's to comfort her. Tabitha didn't know how long she cried, but once she was done her eyes were slightly red, yet she didn't care about how she looked right now. Tabitha gave out one last sniffle before wiping off the remaining tears from her face with her right hand. Shorty let out a small chirp in his way of asking if Tabitha was alright. Tabitha looked down at her small companion before giving Shorty a small smile, while lifting her hand up to stroke his head.
"I'm alright, Shorty." Tabitha said gently as she reassured her friend. "I was just letting out all my pent up emotions that I've kept in for too long. It wasn't easy to keep them in check when I had to live with Frank and Karl."
Shorty let out a sad purr of sympathy as Tabitha continued to stroke his head, while Tabitha looked down at the water that flowed underneath the bridge. Tabitha stood on the bridge for what seemed like hours, but had only been ten minutes, before she straightened up.
"Well…I guess we should head back to Zippo's house," said Tabitha with a small smile on her face. "I've got school tomorrow and I should probably get to bed early."
Shorty let out a chirp of agreement before he jumped up onto Tabitha's shoulder as she began to walk back in the direction where she thought she came from. But after an hour of walking, Tabitha found that she was lost as she stood within the darker streets of Waterfall City.
"Well…this is just great," muttered Tabitha angrily as she scratched the back of her head thoughtfully. "I guess I was so upset with what Karl had said that I wasn't paying attention to where we were going."
Shorty grumbled and huffed in agreement to what Tabitha had said with a flat look showing on his face. Tabitha noticed this and frowned at the little creature on her shoulder.
"Well you would get upset too if one of your half-siblings spoke harsh words in front of your face." Tabitha said as she crossed her arms over her chest as she gave Shorty a flat look of her own.
Shorty let out a huff to show his distaste at Tabitha's words before he suddenly went stiff on her shoulder.
"Shorty, what's wrong?" asked Tabitha in concern when she noticed her little friend's stiffness.
Shorty turned his gaze towards one of the alleyways as he let out a threatening hiss. Tabitha turned to look at the alleyway that they were standing in front of, and saw a large man walking out of it from the shadows. The man that walked out of the alleyway was a half-a-foot tall and wore rugged clothing. Tabitha grew tense as she felt something was off about this man. Tabitha then heard two sets of feet walking down the street that she and Shorty had come down a few moments ago. She quickly turned around to glare at who was coming up behind her. Two men, one tall and another skinny, walked towards Tabitha. Like the first man, they were also wearing rugged clothing. Their steps were uneven as they swayed back and forth, while bumping into each other. Tabitha frowned at their movements as a thought went through her head.
'They must be drunk or something,' thought Tabitha as she tensed her body.
The three men closed in around Tabitha, while Shorty let out a growl as he kept a watchful eye on the three men that were circling them.
"Well, well *hick* what have we *hick* here?" questioned one of the men with a sloppy smirk on his face.
"Looks like one of those new comers," spoked a second man as he nearly tripped over his feet. "And she looks interesting enough to play with."
Tabitha sneered at what the man had said as she began to grow agitated to what was transpiring around her. But she tried to remain calm as she began to speak to the three men to see if she could buy some time, while figuring out how to get out of this situation.
"I don't think you guys want to try your hand with me." Tabitha said as she looked around at the men that were closing in on her. "I'm not really your type and to be honest with you guys, you're not my type either."
"Aw…don't be like that," said the third man as he and his friends moved closer towards Tabitha. "Why not give us a chance before you condemn us."
"I don't think so." Tabitha muttered before she decided to take a chance and tried to bolt between the two men.
But her plan backfired when the two men that Tabitha tried to bolt between grabbed both of her arms. Shorty let out a hiss as he jumped from Tabitha's shoulder and tried to lash out at one of the men that grabbed his friend. But the third man quickly grabbed the small dragon and held it tightly within his hands.
"Where do you think you're going?" questioned one of the men mockingly.
Tabitha began to thrash around as she tried to make things difficult for the men, along with Shorty as he squirmed and wriggled within the grip of the man that was holding him.
"Let me go!" yelled Tabitha fiercely as she fought with all her might against the two men who were holding her.
"You'd better calm down, Sweetheart, or else you'll hurt yourself!" exclaimed one of the men as his grip on Tabitha's right arm tightened, thus causing Tabitha to let out a yelp of pain.
"Hey, I believe that she already told you guys' that you aren't her type," spoke a voice from out of the shadows.
Tabitha stopped in her struggling when she heard the voice, along with the three men. They all turned their attention in front of them and saw a familiar cloaked figure slowly walking towards them. Tabitha was surprised to see the cloaked figure again, while the three men only stared at the stranger for a moment before they began to laugh. From a far distance away, the figure looked smaller to them.
"I think you should just continue on your way, stranger," spoke one of the men holding Tabitha. "We're having a little fun here and it's got nothing to do with you."
The man tightened his grip on Tabitha's right upper arm again, which made her flinch in pain as she bit down on her bottom lip to keep from crying out. Her movement didn't go unnoticed though. In a blur, the hooded figure suddenly appeared in front of Tabitha and the two men. Then, In one quick movement, the cloaked figure grabbed the man that had tightly gripped Tabitha's arm by the front of his shirt. The man lost his grip on Tabitha's arm as he was hefted up four feet off from the ground. The other man that had been holding Tabitha's other arm quickly let go as he and his other partner stared up at the figure in fear. Tabitha also stared up at the figure in shocked surprise before her eyes turned to look at the cloaked figure's arm. Her eyes slowly widened at what they saw. The cloak figure's arm that was holding up the struggling man was covered completely in black fur. The man that was holding Shorty loosened his grip on the little creature as he and his partner began to take on looks of fear. When the man's grip loosened, Shorty found himself dropping to the ground, while landing on his feet in the process. The man, to whom the figure was holding up from the ground, stared down at the hooded figure in terror as the hood began to fall off the figure's head. When the hood fell it revealed not the face of a man, but a leopard with piercing gold eyes.
"A-a-a Beast Man!" screamed the first man as he and his partner, who dropped Shorty to the ground, began to make a mad dash out of the alley.
The leopard continued to hold the man for a few moments as his golden eyes glared into the frightened man's eyes before the leopard spoke with a snarl.
"If I catch you and your friends messing with innocent women again, well…you don't want to find out what I can do," warned the leopard before he released his grip.
The man let out a shriek as he fell down to the ground with a hard thud before he quickly scrambled to his feet, and ran in the same direction his friends went. Tabitha watched the man run away for a few moments before turning her gaze back onto the humanoid leopard as Shorty quickly jumped back onto her shoulder. The leopard gazed down at Tabitha for a moment before he slowly turned and began to walk away.
"W-wait!" shouted Tabitha as she reached out with her right hand.
The leopard stopped in his tracks as he turned to glance over his shoulder with a serious expression upon his face.
"If you want to find your way back to the librarian's home, then follow me." The leopard said before he continued to walk forward again.
Tabitha blinked in surprise for a moment but quickly ran after the humanoid leopard until she was walking beside him. Shorty sat stiffly on Tabitha's shoulders as Tabitha walked alongside the humanoid leopard. There was an uncomfortable silence between Tabitha and the leopard as they walked down a few dark alleys that started to grow brighter. They soon arrived at a brightly lit street that led to the center of Waterfall City. Tabitha couldn't help herself as she slowly turned her gaze upwards to look at the leopard's face.
The fur on the leopard's body was a glossy black that shone under the fire light of the city. Tabitha also noticed a small scar on the leopard's face. The scar ran down the left side of his cheek before stopping near the edge. It looked like a slash mark and she could only guess that the leopard had gotten into a fight with someone…or something.
Tabitha's eyes lowered as she took in the rest of the leopard's body. The cloak that had covered the leopard's entire body now revealed what his form really looked like underneath. The leopard's frame was slightly muscular, but held a leanness that showed he didn't just hold power in his body. It also held speed as well. The leopard's arms were muscular and the fur seemed to ripple whenever they moved. The leopard was wearing brown fingerless leather gloves with metal knuckle guards on top. A brown vest was the only thing that he was wearing. Its front was opened to show off his muscular chest, which had a slash mark on the front. Tabitha blushed when she realized that she was staring too long at the muscular chest and quickly cast her eyes downwards to see the rest of the leopard's clothing. The leopard was wearing baggy green pants that were held up by a leather brown belt. The leopard's feet were bare of any footwear and around near the end of the leopard's tail was a red leather band. Hanging on the left side of the tiger's belt was a brown leather pouch that either held food or medical supplies.
Tabitha turned her gaze up towards the leopard's face again and saw his eyes staring down at her with small frown on his face, but it wasn't a frown of annoyance for his eyes held a hit of curiosity within them. Tabitha blushed once again when the leopard caught her staring at him and quickly looked down at the ground in embarrassment.
"S-sorry," stammered Tabitha.
The leopard continued to stare down at Tabitha for a moment before turning his head forward again.
"You shouldn't be wandering around these streets by yourself," spoke the leopard in his slightly deep voice. "Even though Waterfall City is a peaceful place to be in, it can still hold a few people who aren't afraid to go to the darker parts of the city to get themselves drunk, while try to find a helpless young girl to play with."
"I'm not really helpless, you know," said Tabitha as she turned her gaze up from the ground to look at the leopard. "I could have handled that situation myself back there."
"Of course you could have," muttered the leopard sarcastically. "I'm sure you were doing just fine in letting those men have their way with you before I came around."
Tabitha growled as she made a pouty face before turning her head away from the leopard in anger.
"I was out numbered, okay!" exclaimed Tabitha in a stubborn voice. "If it were at least one of them I would have kicked him where the sun didn't shine."
The leopard merely rolled his eyes at what Tabitha had said as he continued walking forward, but he was suddenly taken by surprise when Tabitha once again spoke.
"But…I guess I should say thanks," muttered Tabitha in embarrassment as she gazed down at the ground again. "If you hadn't have come by when you did, then things would have turned out really bad for me and Shorty back there."
Shorty let out a squeak of agreement from Tabitha's shoulders as the leopard looked down at Tabitha in surprise. A small smile appeared on his muzzle as he turned his attention forward again. It wasn't long until they came to the city square, where the people of Waterfall City were walking about. Some of the people were either talking to each other or just giving a friendly greeting when they passed by another person. The leopard stopped at the entrance of the alley with Tabitha stopping beside him.
"You should be able to find your way back to the Librarian's home from here," said the leopard as he looked down at Tabitha and Shorty.
Tabitha looked up at the leopard curiously. "What are you going to be doing?"
The leopard looked down at Tabitha with his intense eyes golden eyes. Tabitha stared right back at him, while showing no fear upon her features. After a moment, the leopard spoke as he turned to look at the palace that was the Mayor's and Marion's home.
"I came to talk with the Mayor of Waterfall City to discuss some…important matters with him." The leopard replied as he crossed his arms over his chest.
"And I'm guessing it doesn't concern me, huh?" questioned Tabitha with a raised eyebrow.
"That's right, kid," replied the leopard flatly. "So be careful in not sticking your nose into somebody else's business."
"Whatever you say." Tabitha said with a shrug before she started to walk out of the alley, but stopped as she turned to look at the leopard again. "By the way, I never got your name."
The leopard's face changed into a look of surprise as he stared at Tabitha in confusion before thinking over her question for a few seconds. The leopard then looked at Tabitha with a stoic gaze upon his features.
"Why would you be interested in knowing my name?" questioned the leopard suspiciously.
Tabitha only smiled as she once again shrugged her shoulders at the leopard in front of her. "It's only fair that I know the guy who helped me."
The leopard frowned as he thought about this for a moment before letting out a sigh. He then looked back at Tabitha with a neutral expression upon his features.
"My name is Chui," said the leopard.
"Chui, huh?" voiced Tabitha as she let the name roll over her tongue before smiling. "My name's Tabitha Winters." She then gestured to her little companion on her shoulder. "And this is Shorty."
Shorty let out a chirp of greeting to the leopard, Chui, with Tabitha chuckling. Chui couldn't help himself as a small smile appeared on his muzzle, while shaking his head at Shorty in amusement.
"Well…it was interesting to meet you, Tabitha," said Chui as he curled his right hand into a fist, placed it against the left side of his chest and bowed.
Tabitha repeated the gesture as she bowed back to Chui. The two then straightened back up before Tabitha turned and began to walk in the direction of where Zippo's home was. Chui watched her leave for a moment before he turned his attention on the palace again. His face hardened as he glared up at the palace in front of him.
'That damn Mayor of Waterfall City,' thought Chui in disgust. 'He's is growing too ignorant to what is happening around this island. I don't see why I was chosen to go talk to him in the first place. *sigh* but orders are orders. I need to tell the Mayor that the sunstones are failing all around Dinotopia. I just hope he listens, otherwise we're all doomed.'
Chui pulled his hood back up before hanging his arms down to his side as he let his cloak cover his body again. He then walked out into the crowd as he blended in among them. He decided to see if he could talk with the Mayor in the morning, while the Mayor's daughter was at the Waterfall City Academy teaching the students.
Back with Tabitha, she was walking around the square among the people with a small smile appearing on her face. Shorty noticed her smile and let out a curious chirp to get her attention. Tabitha blinked in surprise as she glanced at Shorty and when she saw his curious look, she smiled.
"Sorry, Shorty, I was just thinking," said Tabitha in a soft voice as she walked in the direction of Zippo's home. "I'm just kind of surprised that someone like Chui lives on Dinotopia. But I guess there are a lot of things that I don't know about this place, huh?"
Shorty let out a chirp of agreement before nuzzling against Tabitha's cheek. Tabitha giggled as she petted her little companion. It didn't take long for Tabitha to find Zippo's home again. Tabitha knocked on the door before Zippo quickly opened it. When he saw Tabitha standing there, a relieved look formed on his face.
"Thank goodness," voiced Zippo as he let Tabitha enter the house before closing the door behind her. "I'm so glad that you've returned Tabitha. I heard from David that you and Karl had a…quarrel with each other after you barged out of the house. Are you alright?"
"Yeah, I'm alright," said Tabitha with a smile of reassurance. "I just needed to clear my head for a while that's all. Sorry to make you worry Zippo."
"Well, at least you found your way back alright," said Zippo with a smile. "Now you best get to sleep. You have a long day of school tomorrow."
Tabitha let it a yawn. "You won't get any argument from me, Zippo."
Shorty let out a chirp of agreement before he suddenly sat up straight on Tabitha's shoulder. Tabitha looked at her little friend curiously when she saw this action.
"Shorty, what is it?" asked Tabitha with a raised eyebrow.
Shorty then surprised Tabitha by opening his wings and flying over to one of Zippo's tables. The little lizard landed on the table and that was when Tabitha saw what had caught Shorty's attention. Sitting on the surface of the table was a book. Tabitha walked over to the table as Shorty sniffed at the book curiously. When Tabitha got closer she was able to get a better look at the book. The book's front and back cover were made of a light brown leather, but it was the image that was imprinted upon the cover of the book that caught Tabitha's interest. Stamped into the surface of the book were the designs of Celtic knots. One Celtic knot formed a circle over an image that had Tabitha blinking in surprise. In the Celtic knot circle was a picture of a serpent twirled in a spiral, but upon closer inspection she saw that it wasn't a serpent at all…but a dragon.
"What's this?" asked Tabitha as she picked up the book.
Zippos came over to Tabitha's side to see the book that she was now holding in her hands. A frown appeared on his face before he answered Tabitha's question.
"I'm not really sure myself," he replied as he look up at the girl beside him. "All I can tell you is that it is some kind of book that had been discovered a few years back by one of scholars of Dinotopia. They found it in the Forbidden Mountains between some boulders. It was brought back to Waterfall City to be studied. The librarians tried to see what kind of information it has in its pages…but there was a problem."
"What kind of problem?" asked Tabitha curiously as she looked at Zippo with a raised eyebrow.
"Well…the words in the book are of a language that I'm unfamiliar with," answered Zippo as Tabitha opened the book to see what the librarian meant. "As you can see the words and writing are something that I can't seem to translate. It is in a language that the people of Dinotopia are unfamiliar with."
Tabitha looked at the words that were written on the first page of the book. She looked at them carefully before realization came over her.
"Zippo…these aren't just words," said Tabitha as an excited look came over her features. "These are old Norse runes!"
"W-what?" asked Zippo in a confused voice.
Tabitha realized that Dinotopia must not have known about Vikings and their language so she decided to tell Zippo a little bit about it.
"Norse is a language that is used by the Scandinavians that live in the Northern regions of the outside world." Tabitha explained as she pointed out the runes that were written on the page. "These runes were used by Vikings a long time ago. The runes in this book look pretty old, but they aren't that hard to read."
"Oh, you mean…you can understand the 'runes' that are written within this book?" asked Zippo with an excited look upon his face.
"A little bit," answered Tabitha honestly with a shrug. "My mother taught me old Norse when I was seven years old. It's been a long time so I might be a little rusty at it."
"Well, can you make out the words that are on the first page at least?" asked Zippo curiously.
Tabitha turned her attention back onto the first page that she had opened the book on. She stared down at the old runes as she carefully read what they said. Tabitha raised an eyebrow when she was able to make out what the words say.
"The Book of Dragons?" voiced Tabitha in confused voice.
Zippo also held a look of confusion when he heard what Tabitha had just read from the page.
"Dragons?" echoed Zippo curiously.
"Big, large, mythical creatures that the people from the outside world created in fantasy stories," explained Tabitha as she looked at Zippo. "They're kind of like dinosaurs, but they have large bat like wings that help them fly in the sky and they breathe fire."
"Oh dear," voiced Zippo with a hint of fear on his face.
"Don't worry, dragons don't exist," said Tabitha with a reassuring smile upon her face.
Shorty, who had been sitting quietly on the table, let out an indignant squawk. Tabitha and Zippo looked at the little creature in surprise as Tabitha raised an eyebrow at her companion.
"What's up with you?" asked Tabitha curiously.
Shorty suddenly surprised Tabitha by jumping onto her shoulder. He then began to poke the tip of his tail at the book.
"You…want me to flip to the next page?" asked Tabitha as she guest what Shorty wanted her to do.
Shorty chirred as if saying 'yes' to Tabitha's question. Tabitha and Zippo looked at each other before Tabitha shrugged her shoulders and did what Shorty asked her to do. She flipped the page and came to the next one where it had different symbols next to the Norse runes. Tabitha frowned as Zippo inspected the page with her.
"What in the…" voiced Tabitha before she began to read the words quietly to herself.
Zippo became a little edgy when Tabitha wasn't reading out loud to him. He soon spoke up as he asked Tabitha what the runes say. Tabitha stopped her silent reading as she looked at the librarian with wide eyes.
"Zippo…these runes talk about the different classes of each dragon that is written in this book." Tabitha said as she pointed to the symbols that were on the page, each one looking like a dragon. "But that doesn't make any sense. Dragon's aren't…"
Tabitha trailed off when Shorty suddenly nudged his head against her cheek. Tabitha glanced at her little friend curiously before Shorty tapped his tail on the book again impatiently.
'Impatient little winged lizard,' thought Tabitha in her head while rolling her eyes in the process.
Tabitha flipped to the next page and what she saw on it made her eyes grow wide in shock and disbelief. Tabitha quickly turned her head to look at Shorty for a second before turning back to the page that she was on. Zippo's eyes also widened when he saw what was on the page as well. Tabitha once again looked at Shorty, who sat on her shoulder with a smug look that said 'you were saying?' and Tabitha only gave the little lizard a frown.
"Don't look so smug you Terrible Terror." Tabitha muttered under her breath.
Shorty only let out a chuckle, which had Tabitha letting out a sigh as she looked down at the page. On the page was a drawing of a little dragon that looked exactly like Shorty. That was when Tabitha started to second guess about the existence of dragons.
To be continued