DISCLAIMER: I don't own Dinotopia and I don't want to. I have not and will not make any money off this story. Basically what I'm trying to do is reconcile some of the conflicts between the books and the miniseries. The M rating is for material to appear in later chapters.
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When Soneera carried me into Pooktook a couple of hours later, the sight simply took my breath away. A cobblestone street threaded its way past myriad grand, colorful buildings. Saurians of every shape and size milled about, talking to humans, looking at the wares of street vendors, and just hanging out. There were many humans too, doing all the things you would expect people to do in a city – except the bad stuff, that is.
"Wow. This is the most amazing city I have ever seen!" I breathed, clinging to Soneera's neck.
She laughed. "This is nothing! Wait until you see Waterfall City. If you think Pooktook is amazing, Waterfall City will really knock your scales off."
I looked around, eyes wide. Waterfall City was even more amazing? I couldn't believe that there could ever be a place cooler than Pooktook, even on Dinotopia. The people's clothes, the saurians, the buildings, the items the street vendors were selling – all joined together in a riot of color.
In front of a nearby building, a young man and a young woman sat on the steps, holding each other and kissing. It wasn't what they were doing that captured my attention; it was just that the man's clothes would have been considered a fashion felony back home in America. He wore a lavender shirt, navy blue pants, and a pink and red vest. His girlfriend wore a strange outfit, too, but it was nowhere near as outrageous as his.
"Whoa," I said softly to Soneera, "you guys sure have a unique sense of style here. If anyone dressed that way where I come from, they'd be laughed right off the planet."
Soneera turned her head to look at me. "You can dress any way you want here. The more color, the better. How do your people dress at home?"
I shrugged. "Like me, I guess." I gestured toward my gray midriff shirt that said "Cutie" on the front and my blue jeans. "People who wear bright colors are considered weird."
"Getting dressed must be boring for you," Soneera said. "Look at what some of the saurians are wearing."
I looked. Saurians everywhere wore all manner of jewelry, scarves and decorations. Big guys who had bony plates sticking out of their backs wore everything from gold caps to pieces of flowered fabric attached to their plates. A long-necked guy who was as big as a house wore some kind of sleeve around his neck that had streamers and even bells hanging from it. I even saw a small dinosaur wearing a shimmering cloak that changed colors depending on how the sun hit it.
I pointed these saurians out to Soneera and asked what they were. She told me that the plate-backs were stegosaurs, the long-neck was a brachiosaur, and the little guy was a Compsognathus.
Suddenly, a long, low saurian who had a lot of spikes and things sticking out of his back and had a tail that looked like a lethal weapon came up and started squawking and honking at Soneera. I thought the new guy was a little scary-looking, so I was glad I was still perched safely on Soneera's back.
The two of them began squawking back and forth, and I began to realize they were talking to each other. I listened a little more closely and realized that the squawks were actually words, though I couldn't understand them.
They were simply speaking what was, to me, a foreign language.
After a moment Soneera remembered to translate. "This is Moktau," she said. "She's a Euplocephalus – a good friend of mine. We went to school together. She wishes you welcome to Dinotopia, and she's glad to meet you."
I looked from Soneera to Moktau and back again. "Um, hi," I said awkwardly to the Euplocephalus. "I'm sorry; I don't speak your language."
"That's okay," Moktau said, through Soneera. "You'll learn it gradually. You're a dolphinback, I assume?"
"Um, I guess so." I hadn't been here long enough to know whether or not the term "dolphinback" was insulting.
Soneera saw the look on my face and explained. "Anyone who comes to us by ship or plane wreck is called a dolphinback. It's not an insult – it's just a way of saying where you came from, like saying someone is English."
"Oh. Okay." I relaxed instantly, relieved that this wasn't just another racial slur like the many that had been routinely flung at me back home.
While I was mulling this over, Soneera and Moktau began to walk. I went along for the ride, since I was still on Soneera's back. The two of them were talking in Saurian, so I just looked around, gawking at the towers and domes on the buildings. The architecture here seemed to be a mix of all the styles of the outside world with a few native designs thrown in, all jumbled together. The result was a city of astonishing beauty, the likes of which I had never seen before.
The other thing about Pooktook that took my breath away was the sheer size of everything. All the buildings were built with doors high enough for the most enormous dinosaurs to walk through without ducking. The streets were at least twice as wide as those in my hometown.
A few minutes later, Soneera and Moktau stopped in front of a building that looked like a house. The saurians said a few more words to each other, and Moktau squawked at me. Then she turned and disappeared down the street.
"This is my house," Soneera said. "You can get down now." I slid to the ground and flexed my legs, which were stiff from riding. Soneera stretched too, and I got the impression that I had started to get a bit heavy, even though she was so much bigger than I was.
Soneera opened the door and led me into the house. She squawked something, and four struthies of various sizes hurried into the room. They all had pink and turquoise markings similar to Soneera's, so I figured that they were her family.
I stood off to the side and watched as they embraced and entwined necks with each other. When they had finished greeting each other, Soneera took my hand and pulled me to her side. She said something in Saurian. Then, in my language, she said, "These are my family. My mother is Amara, and my father is Halroon. This one is my brother, Marsavo, and the little one is my sister, Keelkaru."
Amara stepped forward and said something, which Soneera translated as, "Breathe deep, seek peace. Welcome to Dinotopia and our home. We're glad to have you, and I'm sure the children will enjoy showing you around."
"Thank you." And to Soneera, I hissed, "When can I start learning Saurian?"
She laughed. "Just listen for now. You'll probably pick up a few words. I'll start teaching you tomorrow."
At that moment Keelkaru grabbed both my hands, bouncing up and down. "Want to play?" I understood her because she attempted to speak human, though she was nowhere near as good as Soneera.
"Sure. Wait – you speak my language?" I blurted.
"She's learning," Soneera said. "She wants to be an historical scholar when she grows up, like me. I work in the library at Waterfall City, studying and translating ancient texts of many languages into both Saurian and human. I think Keelkaru's going to be more into archaelogy, so she'll probably go into paleo-linguistics even more than I have."
"When I grow up, I try to find Poseidos," Keelkaru piped up. "I learn languages so I talk to ghosts."
I laughed, and Soneera rolled her eyes. "Keelkaru thinks she's going to find the ghost of King Ogthar in Poseidos," she said. "I don't think the place is haunted, and besides, Poseidos is under water, so she'll have a scale-curdling time getting there."
"What's Poseidos?" I asked, trying desperately not to get lost in this conversation. "And why is it under water?"
"Poseidos was one of the earliest civilizations in Dinotopia. Actually, it was an island. King Ogthar was their last leader. The old scrolls don't agree on what role he played in history. Some say he was the great leader of the World Beneath and brought the saurians through the Dark Time, but others say he was an evil jerk who tried to replace the natural world with machines. But anyway, the island sank hundreds of years ago, and the story has been the source of many legends."
"Oh." Before I had a chance to ask more questions, Keelkaru called, "Come on. We go outside." She grabbed my hand and dragged me toward the back of the house. Soneera and the rest of her family followed.
Keelkaru led me into a spacious backyard filled with fruit trees and other tropical vegetation. She took me on a whirlwind tour of the yard, squawking the Saurian names of the plants as we passed. When we came to a tree heavy with large orange fruit, Keelkaru leaped in the air and picked one. She handed it to me and said, "Eat."
I tried to bite into it, but couldn't, so I handed it to Soneera. She used her claws to peel it and then handed it back. I took a bite and a fresh, sweet taste filled my mouth. Juice dripped down my chin.
"Mmmm, this is good," I said, wiping my face. "What is it?"
Soneera replied with some unpronounceable Saurian name, so I shrugged and ate the rest of it. Now that I was finally eating, I realized how hungry I was. When Soneera peeled another one and gave it to me, I ate that one too.
Amara had me sample several other things that grew in her garden, and they were all very good. The result of this introduction to Dinotopian cuisine was that by the time the sun was setting, and Amara called us in for dinner, my hunger was satiated enough that I didn't eat like a ravenous pig at the table. I did eat much more than I usually do at a meal, but my portion was still no bigger than Keelkaru's, since she was the only one who was as small as I was.
When dinner was finished and bedtime came, Soneera took me upstairs to her room. It had one large nest-like bed in it, so I wondered where I was going to sleep. I found out when Soneera motioned for me to climb in. I did, thinking I would be cold without any covers. But this turned out to be a groundless worry, because Soneera climbed in beside me, and her weight caused me to slide down the side of the nest so that I rested comfortably against her. I could tell instantly that Soneera's body heat was enough for both of us. I fell asleep, knowing that I wouldn't be cold at all.
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