Chapter 4
The sun rose to begin another day on the island of Dinotopia and Brock was the first one up. He proceeded to awake his family and was preparing a vegetable stew for breakfast. Mira helped him out by juicing mangos and some sort of citrus fruit while at the same time baking the bread, while Kaala raced to the shed to wake up Nobby. When she opened the door, she was amazed to see Croco sleeping with her too.
"Croco!" she said, surprised, "What are you doing in here with Nobby?" Croco rolled off the leg he was sleeping on and rubbed his eyes, obviously still tired.
"I couldn't sleep last night," he told her, "I kept hearing strange noises in the middle of the night and Nobby just happened to be in the house when I woke up." Kaala understood, as she too woke up sometimes. 'At least she has Riojay for company,' he thought. Then she led Croco into the house where Mira, and also their breakfast, was waiting for them. She offered him some fruit as he took a piece of the bread while Kaala scooped some of the soup out of the pot into a bowl and gave it to Croco. He was more than happy to eat it, smiling and chatting away with Mira and Kaala. But he was still getting used to the Dinotopian cuisine, so he made an occasional face.
"What you people eat is kinda weird to me," Croco said. Then he realized that there were others in the room. "But then again...you'd think the food I ate in the outside world would be weird." Kaala looked up briefly, then continued eating while Mira made a motion for a cup to the left side of Croco's plate.
"Try the tea...it's absolutely delightful," she told him. Croco took a sip and nodded his head, signaling that he liked it.
"This tea is delicious!" he said, smiling and still slightly nodding, "I could drink this for the rest of my life!" Mira smiled.
"Really?" she said, somewhat shocked. "Most dolphinbacks complain that it's real bitter, but knowing that I added a touch of honey...it's my secret recipe." Croco continued to sip away as they were joined by Brock. He had a concerned look on his face.
"Croco's only 19 summers old," he told her, "One can't drink that until they've reached the age of 24." Mira turned red with embarrassment but Brock let Croco finish the tea. He wondered aloud what the problem was with him drinking it was. Brock told him about an herb that was found only on Dinotopia...he didn't mention the name of it but told him how it prolongs life in humans. The four of them continued eating merrily while Nobby grazed in a pasture near the house. When Croco had his fill and stood up, he got shoved to the floor. He looked up to see Riojay standing over him like a lion guarding its kill.
"Oh, hey Riojay," Croco said. He playfully stuck his snout into Croco's chest. Croco responded by swatting at it and he hopped off of him and bounded out towards the shed. This routine continued on for a few weeks, as Croco was adjusting to life without the modern conveniences he took for granted. But one day after breakfast, there was a knock on the door and Brock went to answer it. When he opened it, a man dressed in a red uniform was standing there. He smiled knowing that it was his friend Sulley Samson, the skybax rider.
"Hey there Sulley!" he said to him. Then he turned his head, looking for Croco. He saw him and yelled for him to come to the door and Croco raced to Brock's side. There, he was ready to show him.
"And who's this young man you've got here?" Sulley asked him with a slight Irish accent, "Never seen him before."
"That's cause Kaala found him washed up on the beach only a few weeks ago." Brock put a hand on Croco's shoulder. "This is Joey Hallaway, better known as Croco...Croco, this is my friend Sulley. He's a skybax rider." Sulley led him out to meet his skybax Dragonheart. When he first caught a glimpse of the great winged reptile, Croco was in a state of awe, as words alone couldn't describe the feeling he had being in the presence of a skybax. Watching Dragonheart preen and look about at him, Croco tried to approach him when he started screeching and fluttering his wings. Sulley told him that only person that can approach a skybax is its rider and he quickly retreated. He also told him that he was "five mothers Irish," a term that Croco was confused about at first, but quickly figured out that he meant that five generations have been on the island and that his ancestors came from Ireland...much like how his grandfather came to America.
Sulley had something for Brock, which turned out to be a letter from someone in the capital city of Sauropolis. He didn't say who it was from or what it was about, but the way he read it looked like it was of importance. After reading it, he tucked it away in his pocket and had a few more words with Sulley, they parted ways and Croco was still standing there when Sulley came to him.
"After you've completed your studies and training, would you like to be a rider like me?" he asked him. The response from Croco was an emphatic "yes." Sulley laughed and told him a little about Canyon City, where the Skybax training facility was located. But before Croco could ask him more about Canyon City, Sulley was already aboard Dragonheart and was airborne.
"Breathe deep, seek peace Croco!" he shouted as he took off. Croco was confused about what that meant. Fortunately Mira came out and explained to him that it was the main greeting of Dinotopia and its origins from the dolphins that patrol the waters that surround the island. They went back into the house where Brock had an announcement to make.
"We are going to start towards Sauropolis tomorrow. The Senate wants to hear about how the waters surrounding Dinotopia are doing. Then after that, we're going to take Croco to Waterfall City so he can become a citizen of this great land. We'd better begin making our preparations now!" With that, everyone including Croco scrambled to get the wagon ready for Nobby to pull and take along their clothes and other things that they needed. After two days of nonstop preparations, they were ready to begin their journey to the Dinotopian capital. But for Croco, the journey would last much longer than the several weeks it was going to take Brock, Mira and Kaala. He smiled as he went to bed out in the shed like he did every night before, which he called "Nobby's house" for the final time.
The sun rose to begin another day on the island of Dinotopia and Brock was the first one up. He proceeded to awake his family and was preparing a vegetable stew for breakfast. Mira helped him out by juicing mangos and some sort of citrus fruit while at the same time baking the bread, while Kaala raced to the shed to wake up Nobby. When she opened the door, she was amazed to see Croco sleeping with her too.
"Croco!" she said, surprised, "What are you doing in here with Nobby?" Croco rolled off the leg he was sleeping on and rubbed his eyes, obviously still tired.
"I couldn't sleep last night," he told her, "I kept hearing strange noises in the middle of the night and Nobby just happened to be in the house when I woke up." Kaala understood, as she too woke up sometimes. 'At least she has Riojay for company,' he thought. Then she led Croco into the house where Mira, and also their breakfast, was waiting for them. She offered him some fruit as he took a piece of the bread while Kaala scooped some of the soup out of the pot into a bowl and gave it to Croco. He was more than happy to eat it, smiling and chatting away with Mira and Kaala. But he was still getting used to the Dinotopian cuisine, so he made an occasional face.
"What you people eat is kinda weird to me," Croco said. Then he realized that there were others in the room. "But then again...you'd think the food I ate in the outside world would be weird." Kaala looked up briefly, then continued eating while Mira made a motion for a cup to the left side of Croco's plate.
"Try the tea...it's absolutely delightful," she told him. Croco took a sip and nodded his head, signaling that he liked it.
"This tea is delicious!" he said, smiling and still slightly nodding, "I could drink this for the rest of my life!" Mira smiled.
"Really?" she said, somewhat shocked. "Most dolphinbacks complain that it's real bitter, but knowing that I added a touch of honey...it's my secret recipe." Croco continued to sip away as they were joined by Brock. He had a concerned look on his face.
"Croco's only 19 summers old," he told her, "One can't drink that until they've reached the age of 24." Mira turned red with embarrassment but Brock let Croco finish the tea. He wondered aloud what the problem was with him drinking it was. Brock told him about an herb that was found only on Dinotopia...he didn't mention the name of it but told him how it prolongs life in humans. The four of them continued eating merrily while Nobby grazed in a pasture near the house. When Croco had his fill and stood up, he got shoved to the floor. He looked up to see Riojay standing over him like a lion guarding its kill.
"Oh, hey Riojay," Croco said. He playfully stuck his snout into Croco's chest. Croco responded by swatting at it and he hopped off of him and bounded out towards the shed. This routine continued on for a few weeks, as Croco was adjusting to life without the modern conveniences he took for granted. But one day after breakfast, there was a knock on the door and Brock went to answer it. When he opened it, a man dressed in a red uniform was standing there. He smiled knowing that it was his friend Sulley Samson, the skybax rider.
"Hey there Sulley!" he said to him. Then he turned his head, looking for Croco. He saw him and yelled for him to come to the door and Croco raced to Brock's side. There, he was ready to show him.
"And who's this young man you've got here?" Sulley asked him with a slight Irish accent, "Never seen him before."
"That's cause Kaala found him washed up on the beach only a few weeks ago." Brock put a hand on Croco's shoulder. "This is Joey Hallaway, better known as Croco...Croco, this is my friend Sulley. He's a skybax rider." Sulley led him out to meet his skybax Dragonheart. When he first caught a glimpse of the great winged reptile, Croco was in a state of awe, as words alone couldn't describe the feeling he had being in the presence of a skybax. Watching Dragonheart preen and look about at him, Croco tried to approach him when he started screeching and fluttering his wings. Sulley told him that only person that can approach a skybax is its rider and he quickly retreated. He also told him that he was "five mothers Irish," a term that Croco was confused about at first, but quickly figured out that he meant that five generations have been on the island and that his ancestors came from Ireland...much like how his grandfather came to America.
Sulley had something for Brock, which turned out to be a letter from someone in the capital city of Sauropolis. He didn't say who it was from or what it was about, but the way he read it looked like it was of importance. After reading it, he tucked it away in his pocket and had a few more words with Sulley, they parted ways and Croco was still standing there when Sulley came to him.
"After you've completed your studies and training, would you like to be a rider like me?" he asked him. The response from Croco was an emphatic "yes." Sulley laughed and told him a little about Canyon City, where the Skybax training facility was located. But before Croco could ask him more about Canyon City, Sulley was already aboard Dragonheart and was airborne.
"Breathe deep, seek peace Croco!" he shouted as he took off. Croco was confused about what that meant. Fortunately Mira came out and explained to him that it was the main greeting of Dinotopia and its origins from the dolphins that patrol the waters that surround the island. They went back into the house where Brock had an announcement to make.
"We are going to start towards Sauropolis tomorrow. The Senate wants to hear about how the waters surrounding Dinotopia are doing. Then after that, we're going to take Croco to Waterfall City so he can become a citizen of this great land. We'd better begin making our preparations now!" With that, everyone including Croco scrambled to get the wagon ready for Nobby to pull and take along their clothes and other things that they needed. After two days of nonstop preparations, they were ready to begin their journey to the Dinotopian capital. But for Croco, the journey would last much longer than the several weeks it was going to take Brock, Mira and Kaala. He smiled as he went to bed out in the shed like he did every night before, which he called "Nobby's house" for the final time.