Rating: PG mild violence

Disclaimer: Dinotopia is owned by James Gurney. The characters are made- up by me.

Author's Note: My first fanfic! I haven't written in awhile so it might not be as good as it could. Hope you like it! Also, this is based on both the books and the movie, not just one or the other.

Summary: The story follows a teenaged Dinotopian girl through her many adventures as she finds out just how big a difference one small human girl can make in the world of dinosaurs and just how important friends can be.

The young girl raced through the endless trees which surrounded her backyard, droplets of tears streaming down her face. Her heavy sobs echoed through the forest as the bright afternoon sun seemed to be mocking her by shining brighter than ever and lighting up even the dullest areas. She had been running for about five minutes now as was starting to get out of breath. The mysterious girl finally stopped, her tears already drying on her face with the cool spring breeze blowing by. She sat up against a tree and buried her face in her hands. Her short blonde hair blew gracefully in the delicate wind and her bright blue eyes sparkled with starry tears. She was thin and looked to be around fourteen or fifteen with fair skin and an attractive face.

Suddenly, she could hear footsteps nearing her. She stopped her crying, wiping away her tears hastily, and peered around the tree. Everything in the forest seemed to be still. Her eyes searched the lush green forest for any movement. Had someone been following her? And then a figure came into view.

It was a Parasaurolophus, one of the many dinosaurs which inhabited the island of Dinotopia. She knew right away that it was her friend, Krainog. He came waddling up to her, his tail swaying.

"Kara? Kara, is that you?" came his low and slow voice. He wasn't the greatest at speaking English, but was learning. He could write it perfectly though, but it was hard for him to form some of the vowels with his mouth though. "Please don't run off again. I - I mean all of us - were very worried, Rena!"

The girl from behind the tree grunted and turned back around. Her name was Karena but, as she often reminded everybody, she preferred to be called either Kara or Rena, or both.

"Krainog I. It's just," she started, trying to find her words, feeling as if she would cry again at any moment. "I'm sorry. I just couldn't take it, you know? I knew mom was sick, but I didn't think it was that serious, did you?"

The dinosaur shook his head, rounding the tree and appearing in front of her. "No one did, Kara."

Kara's mother had just been diagnosed with having a rare disease which was spreading throughout Dinotopia called slinus. No one knew how it was acquired or even how to cure it, but the doctors said they were working on it.