AN: This takes place immediately after the events of "Points of Contention"

Elise squinted as the boat moved through the thick fog, trying to search for any signs of danger. Sharks could be obscured by the fog, as could whales or debris. The last was a particular danger -sufficiently large pieces of seaweed could easily tangle up the propeller and leave the boat dead in the water. Nearby, Mikhail was looking over the sonar, trying to see if anything creatures were going to move in and harass the ship.

Elise groaned when the fog appeared to get thicker. "Is this something I'm going to have to deal with every time I leave the park?"

"You say something?"

Elise quirked an eyebrow at Mikhail, surprised he had heard her. "Nothing, just complaining about how this isn't the first time my vision has been obscured while traveling to the park."

"Really? How so."

"Eh, me and my brother flew through a storm cloud when we first arrived here. Weather report mentioned some rough whether, but it was supposed to have passed by the time that we were supposed to pass through the area. Guess the winds didn't want to favor us that day."

"You've only entered and/or exited the park three times in total. Yes, we had to go through fog both times on the boat, but that's hardly enough to suggest that you just weren't lucky."

"Yeah, but according to my siblings, all of them also passed through storms to get here, along with all of the other staff I've asked. One group even passed through a storm when it was supposed to be clear skies!"

Mikhail backed up awkwardly at that statement, momentarily unable to respond. "...Okay, you might have a point."

"I might. Though how there is a natural version of Dinotopia eludes me."

"...Huh?"

Elise quirked an eyebrow again in surprise. "You've never heard of that series?"

"Not interested in art-books, even if they are about dinosaurs."

"Oh. Well, supposedly, Dinotopia is protected by reefs and storms, which prevents anyone from ever leaving the island."

"So that's why it never appears on maps."

"Yeah, though if it still exists in the modern age, satellites would probably have found it."

Any further attempts at conversation were cut off by the sound of the sonar going off. The crew did not need to look far to find the source of the disturbance - a group of Shonisaurus were surfacing, taking in a breath of air before continuing their search for food. Soon, they would submerge again, leaving the humans alone on the surface.

By then, though, the humans would be long gone - they had other duties to attend to.

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AN: Short scene, I know, but this is kinda important for the next chapter of hte main story. Anyway, Read and Review! This is Flameal15k, signing off!