CHAPTER THREE: MIKA
Meanwhile, earlier that day, while Aladar and Neera had left to begin their search for Ayala, Zini had started touring the lair of Raj and her lemurs. All of Aldar's children had taken a nap and he had decided to take a well-deserved break. "Nice place you've got here." he remarked.
"We made it so that we could get around the Nesting Grounds without being seen." Raj replied.
"We have been here long before the dinosaurs. They make a lot of noise and so we needed someplace quiet to go." said a female lemur.
"Do you get many visitors in the Nesting Grounds?" Zini asked.
"Mostly dinosaurs. You and your family are the first lemurs we've seen in a while. My name is Mika by the way."
"Hello Mika. My name is Zini."
"Glad to meet you."
"I'm single by the way."
"Me too." she replied. "Where are you from, Zini?"
"Lemur Island. It was destroyed by the space rocks. My family and Aladar were the only ones that survived. Aladar saved us."
"I'm sorry to hear that."
"Well, I like my new home here in the Nesting Grounds."
"Glad you're here with us."
"Yep, I'm glad to be here too. And being here is a nice break from watching Aladar and Neera's little brats, I mean, lovely little children."
"Follow me. I'll show you around."
"Lead the way."
An hour later, Zini remarked "This place is quite extensive."
"Yes. It goes all around the Nesting Grounds."
"Where do you live?"
"Let me show you."
After traveling for ten minutes, they stopped at a section of the tunnel that had a small running stream of water in it. "Nice place."
"Thanks, but it's actually behind here," Mika said, taking him behind what he had thought was just a normal waterfall.
"Oh my word!" Zini gasped, taking in his surroundings. The walls were encased with gems. Furthermore, the pools of water reflected the gems, making the place appear even more dazzling. "Even Lemur Island wasn't like this. I'd love to live here."
"I'm afraid I'm not that keen on living here with a boy, being single and all."
"Well, maybe we could change that," Zini said hopefully, grinning.
"Let's not get carried away."
"Right," Zini said, feeling embarrassed. He should have known better than to say something silly like that, having just met her.
"Want to see the rest of the place?"
"Sure, why not." Zini had been hoping to stay here a while longer, but he figured he could come back later.
However, the tour ended up taking longer than Zini had planned. "Wow, I didn't know this place went so deep," Zini said.
"Yes, we eventually reached really hard rock and couldn't tunnel anymore. So we went up instead."
"Up?"
"Yes. We found some old abandoned tunnels, made before we got here, that go up to the top of the mountains."
Half an hour later, they had taken the passages that Mika had spoken of till they were on top of the mountains overlooking the Nesting Grounds. "Wow, you guys sure have a lot of tunnels to stretch from all the way up here to below the Nesting Grounds!" Zini remarked in awe.
"Yes, we've been here for decades. And some of it was here even before we got here."
"Well, it's quite a view from up here." Zini scanned the horizon. "The sun is starting to go down. I've been away from the kids too long. Aladar and Neera are going to kill me!"
"I guess you should get back."
"I'm not trying to be rude, having just me you. I'd really like to stay and hang around for a bit, but I have to go check on the kids."
"Well, come back when you can."
"I will."
Zini returned to the children. Most of them were still napping though one of them had awoken. "Where did you go Uncle Zini?" the child asked.
"Touring the home of some friends."
"Can I go there?"
'Not right now."
"Why not?"
"Because I haven't asked if you can go there yet. That's why."
"How come you didn't ask yet?"
Before Zini could think up a response, he heard someone say "Hello Zini!" He jumped into the air, startled. "Who's there?" he cried.
"Oh sorry, didn't mean to startle you. It's just me, Mika."
"Who's she?"
"Just a friend of mine."
"Is she your girlfriend?"
"No."
"Zini has a girlfriend! Zini has a girlfriend! Ha ha ha ha ha ha!"
"Cut it out!"
"Zini has a girlfriend! Zini has a girlfriend!"
"Knock it off!"
"Hello little one."
"Hello Mika."
The other children began to awaken. "Aladar and Neera had all of these this spring?" Mika gasped.
"Most of them. Two of them were adopted. The oldest two." Zini replied.
"Sounds like they'd be a handful."
"They have both of my hands and both of my feet full." Mika laughed at his remark.
"Sounds like a lot to deal with."
"Yes, but I can handle it. They wouldn't have trusted them with just anyone after all." the lemur bragged.
"So, was Aladar's mother killed on Lemur Island when the rocks fell from the sky?"
"His mother?"
"Surely his egg didn't come out of nowhere."
"Actually, it did fall from the air."
"Are you trying to be smart with me?"
"No, his egg was dropped by a pterodactyl. We just found it. There were no other dinosaurs on the island."
"Where do you think he came from?"
"No idea."
"Uncle Zini!" one of the children asked.
"What?"
"When are mom and dad going to get back?"
"I have no idea."
"A pity that Aladar never got to meet his mother," Mika said, getting back on the subject.
"Yeah, it is. Though I didn't get too long with mine. She fell ill when I was little. Most of what I know about her came from stories from Pilo."
"Sorry to hear about that."
"Well, that wasn't the worst of it. Everyone I knew, minus my family and Aladar, died the night of the meteors."
At that moment, Aladar and Neera returned. "Did you find Ayala?" Zini asked.
"No, we didn't. But we do have something very important to report." Aladar said.
"What?"
"The Phantom is back." Neera replied.
