Revenge
Chapter 9: Visitors
"What do you want?" David snapped as he began to walk away.
Marion grabbed his arm.
"David, please listen to me!" she pleaded.
David glared at her.
"What do you have to say?" he snapped crossing his arms.
Marion took a deep breath.
"David," she began, "I know you think I chose Karl over you..."
David stopped scowling and looked at her in amazement.
"Well, I didn't! You must have overhead me and Lily talking about you and Karl," Marion stopped, "I'm still confused... I don't know what to do anymore." She concluded helplessly.
David stood stunned Marion hadn't chosen Karl? His anger left him rapidly as he realised the fool he had been. Suddenly he realised something.
"How did you know I thought you chose Karl?" he asked.
Marion stared at him, blinking in surprise.
"I didn't know," she said, "Karl told me."
They stared at each for a moment.
Karl? How did Karl know what he had been thinking? A lucky guess maybe? He hadn't told anybody he had thought Marion chose Karl... he sucked in his breath. He had told Freefall. Even if Freefall did tell Karl, how could Karl understand Freefall's saurian speech?
He had to talk to his brother... soon.
~*~
Marion waited patiently as her mother turned around gracefully.
"Marion," her mother acknowledged, "I want you to help the new dolphinback become accustomed to our daily life."
Marion nodded and turned to leave.
"You will find this dolphinback different to all the others on this island," Rosemary saw Marion's confusion and took a deep breath, "With time you'll understand what I'm talking about."
~*~
Cherry growled under her breath and reined in her urge to snap at the nurse, who continued to fuss over her.
"Are you sure you are completely healthy and fit?"
"Yes, I am! Can I go now?" Cherry snapped finally out of patience.
The nurse sniffed and answered huffily.
"You'll find your guide outside."
Cherry resisted the urge to groan. Great. Now she was going to be babysitted by another person. Just great. She stalked to the door and swung it open. She opened her mouth to tell her 'guide' to leave her alone when she caught sight of two familiar faces.
Three humans and hang on... what the...
Cherry choked and blinked confused.
She must be going hallucinating or something...
"How did you find out that I thought Marion chose you?" David asked his brother, confused, "I only told Freefall that!"
Karl smirked at his brother and opened his mouth to say something but a brunette-haired girl standing with the two brothers noticed Cherry was standing at the door and coughed loudly. David stopped talking to his brother and turned to stare at her.
"You're that girl..."
"Her name is Cherry," Karl told his brother smugly at his half-brother.
Cherry took no notice of either of them. Instead her attention was fixed on the strange creature standing next to the girl. It appeared to a reptile of some sort. It was green in colour with a bill-like mouth. It smiled at her as its eyes studied her with intelligence.
"Hello Cherry, my name is Marion," the brunette haired girl said politely, "I hope you are well?"
Cherry knew that she must be Marion after suffering through Karl's vivid description of the girl. Cherry nodded dumbly still staring at the creature, her mind working furiously trying to figure out what she was seeing.
"As you already know these two are David and Karl," the girl's voice was soft but refined, "I will help you become accustomed to the Dinotopian way of life."
Listening to her calm voice and looking at the warm smile on her face, Cherry managed to switch her attention away from the creature.
She was sure of it. It was a dinosaur, but how? Didn't dinosaurs died millions of years ago? How could one be standing right there staring at her with a small smile of its scaly face?
=Says the girl who is friends with a pterandon= she thought ironically.
But that didn't help her cope with her shock.
"Oh, don't worry Zippo is harmless," Marion told Cherry with a warm smile, "Do you want to tour the farm today? Or would you rather rest?"
'Better do it now so the boys can get back to fighting over Marion,' a strangely familiar voice commented.
"Nobody asked you!" Karl snapped
The dinosaur sulked as Cherry stared down at her.
"Yo.. you.. you were in my room the other day..." she stammered.
'I sure was,' the small dinosaur said smugly sounding strangely like Karl.
"Bu... but... that's impossible... this is impossible.."
"That dinosaurs are alive?" David asked with a small smile, "Don't worry you'll get use to it."
'If she doesn't get eaten by something,' 26 added evilly.
Cherry shivered thinking of her close encounter with Longwing.
"Let's hope, I don't."
Zippo stared at the dolphinback for a while until his scaly face lit up.
"You can understand saurian speech!" he suddenly exclaimed.
Cherry stared at him in shock.
"He... he... ca... can speak English?" Cherry stammered.
"Zippo is one of few dinosaurs that can speak English," Marion informed her.
"I can't believe you can under... this is incredible!" Zippo spluttered excitedly.
Cherry took a step back half-afraid of this crazy dinosaur.
"Zippo, please I don't think this is the best time for it," Marion smiled at Cherry.
Zippo nodded.
"Oh, I'm so sorry. I wasn't thinking. I'll go research this... this is quite extraordinary..."
With that Zippo left leaving behind a slightly unnerved teenaged girl.
"Perhaps we should start from the beginning..." Marion told her warmly.
~*~
"Master Oonu, thank you for coming at such short notice," Rosemary said softly.
Oonu bowed.
"This special matter needs my personal attention," Oonu straightened, "I have also brought Cadet Romana along with me."
Romana bowed, her blonde hair reflecting the fire burning in the hearth. Rosemary nodded.
"David would be please to see you," she commented as Romana flushed, "But I'm afraid this matter must be kept secret at all cost."
Both Romana and Oonu nodded.
"What is so urgent?" Oonu asked getting straight to the point.
Rosemary took a breath and repeated what Cherry had told her.
"Cherry believes that Longwing is mad and will do anything to destroy Waterfall City and kill its inhabitants," Rosemary's gaze was calm as she stared at the skybax riders, "As abhorrent as it may seem perhaps war with the pterandons is not that far off."
"Where is this girl?" Oonu asked.
Rosemary stopped for a moment.
"I believe my daughter is with her," Rosemary gave a small smile, "They are probably at the skybax roosts."
Oonu nodded his thanks. Rosemary stared at the retreating backs and sighed. Dinotopia was plunged back into danger and perhaps this time it won't pull through...
~*~
"So, you mean that somehow the dinosaurs managed to survive through the great extinction and have managed to create a utopia right here?" Cherry asked.
Marion nodded, waiting for Cherry to start protesting or questioning her sanity. She wasn't disappointed.
"But that's impossible..."
Marion smiled.
"Look around you. What do you see?"
Cherry looked around and stared in astonishment seeing dinosaurs and humans work together. A triceratops honked loudly as its human partner loaded a bale of hay onto a cart, which was harnessed to the dinosaur. The powerful dinosaur lumbered forwards dragging the cart forward. Cherry whirled back to Marion.
"But how?"
"It is quite amazing really... you see according to the Outside world dinosaurs aren't very intelligent however this is quite untrue..."
"CREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!"
Karl and Marion winced as a loud screech filled the air. 26 honked in distress and attempted to block her 'ears'. David continued walking, he was used to pterandon's screeches by now, Cherry forgot all about Marion and the history of Dinotopia as she dashed forwards recognising the voice.
"Hey, Sharpbeak!" she called cheerfully as she caught sight of her saurian friend. Sharpbeak rubbed his beak against her cheek in greeting as Freefall appeared from the shadows.
"Thanks for helping me solving David's problem," she murmured softly to the albino pterandon.
'I wanted to help my friend,' Freefall said, its voice almost... Cherry blinked. Friendly?!? 'Thank you for helping him.'
"No problem," she nodded.
'His been acting like that ever since you went off to talk with Karl about David's behaviour,' Sharpbeak said with a faint saurian smile on his face.
Cherry nodded still a bit stunned. The other times she had come in contact with Freefall, he had been bitter, cold and suspicious. Well, it was a big improvement from his previous behaviour, it was still a bit unnerving.
She heard David's soft breathing behind her but didn't bother to turn around. She stroked Sharpbeak's beak as the pterandon closed his eyes and almost purred with pleasure. She could hear Freefall greeting David.
"Breathe deep, David," an unfamiliar voice came from behind her.
Cherry whirled around and stared at the blonde girl standing at the door of the roost. She wore the same uniform as David and Cherry had the distinct feeling that this girl was not one to mess with.
"Fly high, Romana," David replied softly.
Freefall was staring intently at the stranger as Sharpbeak gave a questioning squawk. Romana turned to Cherry.
"Hello, I believe you are the girl who was kept captive by the pterandons," she said softly, "I'm guessing it wasn't the best way to be introduced to Dinotopia?"
Cherry shrugged self-conscious as everybody looked at her curious.
"It could have been worse," she muttered stroking Sharpbeak's beak, which was resting on her shoulder.
"And is that the pterandon who helped you escape?"
'I am,' Sharpbeak answered for himself.
Romana barely blinked as she continued her questions.
"I've been informed that there is... unrest amongst the pterandons. Is that true?"
Cherry glanced up at Sharpbeak. Their gazes met as they spoke as one.
"Longwing."
Freefall tensed.
'Longwing,' he spat as though the word itself left a bitter taste in his mouth.
"Who?" Romana and David asked curious.
The trio muttered the word ominously and with a measure of fear.
"Longwing."
"Sir, they seem to have mentioned something or someone called Longwing," Romana reported.
Rosemary remained silent as Oonu frowned.
"Sounds like a pterandon name to me," he noticed the Matriarch's silence, "Matriarch?"
"Cherry told me something in confidence," Rosemary began, "I'm reluctant to reveal such information but I will answer your question. Yes, Longwing is a pterandon. A leader of a flock in fact however that is all I'm willing to say."
Oonu nodded his head as Romana bit her lip.
It wasn't very hard to come to a conclusion. This Longwing was dangerous. He was a threat.
She shivered remembering the sight of thousands of pterandons descending on a helpless Waterfall City. One did not forget things like this. If there was to be a repeat of last years event...
=May the Saurian gods help us=