|
Post by thundertail on Apr 3, 2008 4:54:23 GMT -5
FIFTY-THREE: "Fitting in." (Continued.)
"I know this is a big place, and it will take a while to show you everything - let alone to have you know your way around yourself!", I said. "So, whenever you want to go from one place to another, I suggest you find a clan member to guide you or ask directions from him or her.", I looked at Thundertail. "Sir, we have been on the road for two days. Is it possible to give them food and drink?"
"Of course...", he rumbled, and looked into the crowd. Many left the area to prepare said meal.
"Excellent!... Now, where was I?...", I looked at the scroll and recited the rest of the contents.
It dealt mostly with the hierarchy of the clan, that each tribe of saurian and human had a leader, and most problems one was not able to solve with other parties would go through them first; and then taken to king Thundertail's court if the problem warranted it. It told of the many divisions of labor around camp; from cleanup and Copro removal to farming and hunting and gathering, from guard duty to entertainment to teaching and weaving, from trading and negotiations to the study and preservation of Archaeological objects and sites to the Rainy Basin Rangers and what other wild dangers that still abound in the Rainy Basin. It told of the basic rules of ediquate and the demeanor of certain individuals both within the clan and without. It went to describing the various things discovered in the World Beneath as well as the things found above ground. The conclusion stated that clan Thundertail was overjoyed and happy to have them as an addition to thier clan, and that clan initiations would commence after tonight's feast. I looked up from the scroll as these words finished and saw the newcomers with looks of digestion on thier faces, taking in all that I read to them; so I made a big smile and walked out among them to shake thier hands, saurian as well as human, young or old!
"Ok! Lets get things put away!", Mayday announced.
"Got everything all set!", Harold Kirky stepped up and said, eyeing the many of his kind. "Allright everyone!... You heard her!..."
"You crazy?", "Do we have to?", I'm tired!", "Forget it!", that and many more such responses met his earslits, so he turned around and glared at them.
"I SAID MOVE IT!!!", Harold stomped up to them. "Go on!...", he swatted. "Get that stuff!...", he shoved. "Hut!, Two!, Three!, Four!,... HEYAWWW!!!", he chased them over to the carts, and they scrambled to thier duties. He turned to the bewildered newcomers and smiled. "It'll be done in a jiffy!...", Harold piped, moved away and joined his kind at the task.
"Don't mind them!", I smiled. "They mean well..."
"Now, I'll need a few volunteers to be your temporary guides,", Thundertail announced. "And then we'll begin getting you used to the place.", he looked around at his clan.
Many stepped up and volunteered, approaching the persons of thier choice almost as tenatively as thier charges were retreating. At my friendly gestures to the rest of the clan, the newcomers gradually calmed down enough to be personally introduced to these frightening looking creatures. I Introduced Lanis Albian to Wen the Kirky, and Bentfeather looked like he would get along with her just fine - they were just about the same size, after all! George meyer was a bit taken aback by the rather grotesque features of Selma Ovaraptor, but gradually let that pass at her sweet gestures. Shawna Mallone thought the twin colored crests of Leeter Dilophosaur were fantastic, but Nikkoli's instinctive fear of carnivores made him stammer in her presence. Peter Simmonson and his family found Grond quite formidable, but his wife Doris thought him charming; and his son and daughter, Mike and Keesha thought it fun to ride on his feet as he walked! Paleman, Pilzee, Setas and Arcee,thier Partners thought the whole sight as absurd, but it was all they talked about for the next two days!
Many of the other newcomers were met by the clan in much the same way, families were led all over camp in groups while others were escorted around singly. By nightfall the great welcoming feast was ready, and all were beckoned into the main feeding area; where a grand spread indeed was swiftly forming in and around the area. As the newcomers to our group collected around the various bonfires created in leiu of the already set sun, Frank Waters came from the direction of the pyramid of Teeklan, chatting away with Flit and MacDougal like they knew each other all thier lives! They all congregated around the bonfire Mayday, I and many others were at; Thundertail let out a huge roar to get everyones' attention.
"My friends, Today marks a great day in our clan; for not only are all members are here right now, we are this day graced with yet more fine members!", as he paused, nearly all the clan members roared, cheered or did what came naturally in adulation.
"The elder members know this well, but the new members-to-be have no knowledge of our ways.", Thundertail continued after the noise died down sufficiently. "To be a full member of this clan, one must be officially intitated into the clan!", he turned to the bewildered newcomers. "To be a full clan members, you all must identify yourselves to me. I want you to come up to me one at a time and allow me to know you by your scent."
Of course this was not the usual way to become full clan members, but Thundertail figured it was the least offensive initiation he could come up with. The old way of initiation was in regulated combat, and the newer way was to endure a regulated series of trials; and he knew not many of them were fit enough to endure even those, so he wanted to make it easy on them! He watched intently as the small group of humans and thier Partners nervousely decided in which order they were to be received by thier new king; and moreover, who was brave enough to be first.
A moment later Lanis Albian stepped up to this creature that was many times bigger than him, protesting Microraptor on his shoulder; and stopped a mere few paces from him, shoulders posed bravely. Thundertail snickered growlingly before leaning down to snuffle just above Lanis's hair; Bentfeather looking like he wanted to flitter away, but just cowered there until he retreated his head. With a slient wink, Thundertail told Lanis and Bentfeather they could retake thier places; and another stepped up for thier initiation. The one that came shuffling up to his new leader was Frank Waters; and even though he had a smile on his face, he walked up to his new leader bowingly and with a sense of humbleness. Thundertail looked upon this and smiled inwardly as well; then he gave the man a sniffing nuzzle on his hair and bid him on his way.
King Thundertail performed the same procedure with the rest of the former castaways, as well as the Partners of the ones that had them; for they were to be clan members as well, and would undergo no less of an initiation. Some of these new members were appalled at such closeness to such a large creature, like some of the adults; or were happy, overjoyed and actually returned the gesture like some of the children. The Partners of some of them cowered in fear for the most part, victims of thier instinct or upbringing; but the only one of those that actually didn't seem to mind was Nikkoli the Chasmosaur, who smiled sheepishly at such close proximity and bowed regally. As thier king completed this made up ritual, we all cheered wildly and grabbed the newcomer closest to us in a comeraderly embrace; and Arcee Stenoychosaur was quite shocked when I grasped her little form in a hug!
Once the revelry subsided somewhat, king Thundertail rumbled chucklingly. "And now, my new clan brothers and sisters!... It is time for you to really experience what it's like being in my clan!...", he bellowed and huffed, and many that were currently absent returned with platters of food, containing mostly meat. "Now let the feast begin!..."
Unsure at first, some of the new clan members sampled the food as they sat next to some of us; but became less so as the evening wore on. The Kirky Circus took it on themselves to put on a show of tumblers and jugglers, dancers and music from thier tiny band. The Ovaraptors danced the dance of welcome in the sand, and many more of the clan got up and improvised thier own acts - tutored over the past few months by Harold Kirky and company - and thusly the newcomers began to feel right at home! Some were so comforted around us that they began talking of thier past lives and what they personally discovered ever since they found themselves here. In knots they talked to human and saurian alike; and the children soon were making friends with our own children.
As the night wore on, the excitement of thier first evening with us began to show on all thier faces; but thier actions told us that they wanted to stay up and continue getting acquainted. Pretty soon many of us who had early duties excused themselves and went off to bed, preceeded only by our children and the children of the newcomers The ones that wished to stay up the whole night was Waters, Albian and a handful of other heartier souls among them, and many of us felt obliged to stay up as well. We all talked long into the night, and the excited jabbering never seemed to stop; but soon I began to yawn, even though I was interested in Frank Waters animatedly telling Flit about his plans for the future.
"...So the way I see it.", Waters was saying. "We need to take all motors and engines out of the ship, rig them so they use those Sunstone gizmos - or even alchohol - and set them up all along the proposed waterway course."
"I would need to see the schematics of those devices to design compatable machinery that would make them work with Sunstones.", Flit told him. "And they would need to be positioned along the upslopes of the waterway to get the water over the hills.", his eyes flickered. "But of course, it you wish to fuel these machines with alchohol; It should not be to hard to adjust them to do so."
"Pumpin's Ok.", MacDougal cut in. "But d'ya knoo the labor involved?! It'd take an army of workers decades to finish!"
"Yes, and with the reconstruction of Chandara needing to be done like Stinger indicates,", Flit replied. "The labor force will be thin indeed. We would only receive half the laborers that could be spared on the island for the job."
"And what about those other gizmos around?", Waters cut in, changing the subject. "I'd like to see what makes them tick!... Maybe by studying them, I'd find a way to make outsider machinery compatable with Dinotopian!"
"All that can be for later, my pupil!", Flit said. "For now, this is only your first day - and my optics say that it is at an end. Humans require sufficient sleep, and I suggest you go and do so..."
"Aye, lad!", MacDougal said. "Tomorrer's anoother day!... I'll take ya' to yer place...", he began leading the other man to Kinan Van.
We all took that advice not too long after, and pretty soon the bonfires extinguished themselves with nobody tending. I met up with Mayday better than half way to our apartment in the city; her with a sleeping Hamilton in her arms. It was a good thing she still wore Zandra, for Hamilton was getting extremely heavy of late; and perhaps a bit too old to be carried like that - he had just turned five. I kissed her and she nuzzled back as we walked, and our son stirred in her arms as she transferred him to me. We arrived at home, put Hamilton to bed and went to our bedroom near the back of the apartment block. Out of our armor we reguarded our forms and smiled. It was a long time since we shared the same bedroom - and our own as well - but the days apart were weary ones, and all we did was sleep in each others' arms.
In the morning we woke to life going about it's normal way in Kinan Van, with its' bustling people and dinosaurs traveling to and from thier destination and newly renovated shops opening up for the first time in centuries. There were so many in the clan now that I barely remembered many of thier names, yet I greeted them cordially just the same; and Mayday at my side alternately greeting them and trying to keep little Hamilton in check, for he did not wish to attend the formal school we created several blocks away. There were some newcomers among the crowds around us, and we failed to spot them unless they actually came up to greet us or ask us questions.
One of the many questions some of them asked was when were they going to get partners, and I had to explain to them that it would be a personal agreement you make between a saurian you may meet and yourself; and there was no real advice we could give other than meeting one would be like when you meet a new friend. Others concerned asking directions to certain parts of the clan area and here; and for this we asked where they wished to go, then give directions as accurately as we could. We made it the last few feet to the underground building we had established the school in, ushered the still struggling and complaining Hamilton in to one of the Kirky teachers and bid our leave of the whole class.
Laughing at our son as we exited the building, we gradually made our way out of Kinan Van; taking the way that led to the pyramid of Teeklan instead of the recently excavated main entrance, which emerged several miles away from the main campsite and not within its' midst like this way. As we ascended the spiral stairway that led into the chamber of Zandra in the roots of the pyramid, much activity was apparent as Kirkys, humans and other saurians scurried off to thier assigned places; and thier torch and Sunstone lamplight bobbed and receeded as they went. We made room for them as they passed, and proceeded on our way; only to be nearly bowled over by two elderly gentilemen and one armored creature. MacDougal and Waters wished to continue on thier way, but Flit stopped them and scolded them into apologising!
"Sorry, Stinger sir.", Frank Waters said for the trio. "We were just getting to Flit's workshop upstairs."
"He say he found a way ta' mate his technology with ourn'!", drawled MacDougal.
"He poses some interesting theories.", Flit added. "However, I fail to see the correlations he speaks of without tangible proof."
"Well, if you don't believe me, I'll have to show you!", Waters said, this time he led the way; and all the rest of us followed. "You have writing implements in your workshop?"
"Affirmative.", the artificial life construct replied.
Mayday and I followed the trio up into the pyramid proper, past several rooms no given over to restored scrolls and books. Our library was really taking shape! At the pinnacle room, where the beam of the giant amber Sunstone shone its' ray downward through the pyramid, reflected in variouss ways and used to power Kinan Van and other realms below; we came out onto Flit's temporary workshop. Many of the artifacts and machinery taken from the World Beneath were still there, on workbenches, taken apart for study and expanded plans for them on scrolls on another rack. Frank Waters went to the workbench where one of the two mechanical Sunstone generators that was not taken apart and one of the three electrical Sunstone generators sat ready for some sort of demonstration; and he went to the mechanical one first.
"As you can see, the spinning pin here can have gears or pullys attatched to them.", he placed a tiny gear that would fit on the pin, then inserted a small teardrop Sunstone in the recepticle and activated it. "All we have to do is make a bigger Sunstone generator, and this could drive a gear system. Just like the transmission gears in a combustion engine. This would act like the diesel fuel the ship's engines used to run on."
"All we have to do is expand the dimensions of the blueprint!", Flit said.
"Be a bugger to build.", MacDougal commented.
"The same thing with the electric one.", Waters went over to it. "This device generates direct current in an unstable frequency. We'd need to make an A.C. rectifyer and some kind of capacitor to stabilise the current. From there I can rig simple wiring, and it could run any kind of electric motor on the ship. Of course, to make it powerful enough to use on the aqueduct project, it would also have to be designed in large scale."
"We also have battery driven devices salvaged from the ship.", I suggested. "Is there any way we can fabricate a battery charger?"
"Sure!", he replied. "Once we work out the bugs, I suppose any kind of electric device could be invented."
"But that can be a project for later.", Flit said. "The first thing we should do is to complete the aqueduct project first."
"You're right.", Frank Waters said. "I got the rest of my life to do that stuff!"
Mayday and I left just then to go about our routines for the day, leaving those three there to discuss thier plans concerning the aqueduct project and any other thing they wanted to talk about. A month later thier plans were finished and construction could begin. A lot of other things besides this happened during this time, far too many to tell; but let's just say there is never a dull moment on Dinotopia! The high council of Waterfall City had sent a delegation to vie for a treaty with Chandara, and to offer assistence on rebuilding thier city and thier realm. Thier king, Randolpho welcomed them with open arms, and gladly accepted thier help for trade. Workers soon arrived to reconstruct bridges and rebuild any extensive damage the ravages of time and neglect had caused; but it was discovered that only the local artisans knew the true structural culture of the realm, and insisted to work alone from there. It was agreed that only Chandarans would know what Chandara once was, and left them with only a skeleton crew of workers to assist them after a period of three years.
In the mean time an army of workers of human and saurians converged on the proposed route of the Halcyon Aqueduct, as the name of it was coined. This workforce was headed by the Bodu family, traditional builders of many public works projects all over Dinotopia for many generations. These were a proud people, and took no orders or quarrel from anyone; let alone a batch of supposedly civilized sawteeth fresh out of the Rainy Basin! They insisted to do the project thier way, reguardless of how the plans told them. They listened to the wisdom of the Freshwater Partners, though; and would not let the plans vary from thier edicts. As the project grew south from Deep lake, it also grew north, from the foothills of the Forbidden Mountains near the stronghold of Halcyon; both teams intending to converge somewhere in the middle of the sixty mile long waterworks project.
While all this was going on, another workforce had gone to the wreck of the Millennium Queen, using saw and torch and any other thing that would get them through the steel hull and at the machinery inside. Months passed as they worked the metal and removed plates and unbolted anything that was in thier way. The bilge pumps were first, being fitted with Sunstone generators; and would be used in strategic spots throughout the routes. A waterscrew system was designed for them, and placement of each would be some of the shallower upslopes of the run. As the first main engine was skidded into its' spot by the shores of Deep Lake and the siphon pipe was laid out into the water, the Sunstone generator was tested and found it could pump many hundreds of gallons a minute for nearly six miles through the twelve inch piping. The second main engine was set at the first of the steepest slopes of the eastern tip of the Backbone Mountains. Many other, smaller electric pumps would be used to help these massive pumps at strategic spots.
The Bodus got to work on the main aqueduct that was going to go over Rocky Pass, which was designed with travelers through the region in mind. At several points along the aqueduct, piping would go down through the pilons, ending in gravity-fed valves and a pool where travelers would get a drink; and we all knew that outposts and way-stations would surely spring up at the bases of these pilons as a result. The ways over the mountainous features would include gravity driven concrete flumes, and would also serve going over the rougher jungles in between. After seven years of toil and delays and nearly every other holdup and problem in the book, both labor parties met deep in the jungles, just east of Crevice Aerie, Strafewing's territory; and the commotion the revelry of the event caused made the whole flock almost attack them!
It took a month to test the whole run, and then another to doublecheck all the machinery that would make it work; and finally came the day to turn on everything, communication being dispatched via Postal Bird. The primary pumping engine engaged, sending the water up the line and to the first set of rises; and after several days of waiting the first trickles of water flowed into the subterranean cisterns that fed Halcyon. The next few days it took to fill them were spent preparing for the celebration deep inside Halcyon, the celebration of its' rebirth. Flit deemed the cisterns were full enough, and switched on the ancient pumping machines deep below the city. For the longest time nothing seemed to happen, but as small amounts of water trickled into the fountain in the central square; then gush in and finally spew out the top like fountains usually do, cheers rose up and celebration once again rang throughout the city! Even though it is not nearly like what it was before, Halcyon can now be a viable city once again! Word spread throught king Thundertail's range, and reached the ears of every person on Dinotopia; and the project was such a success that plans are made to move the bulk of the carnivores into the city.
But I think I am getting way ahead of myself here! All during and after construction, many more events took place around the island, and quite a lot of them I was privy to...
_____
|
|
|
Post by thundertail on Apr 10, 2008 6:51:11 GMT -5
FIFTY-FIVE: "Enough is enough!"
Less than a week went by since the new members of clan Thundertail had arrived, and it looked like they would fit in around here just fine. All had gotten used to being here, around carnivores and did very well with thier assigned tasks. We went about our own business, tending our lives, trading among our other clients and the like; and things seemed to go no smoother. This soon changed when we found out that during the week, two of our caravans had been attacked! No one on those caravans knew who did it, they came in at night and raided while they were unprepared; and the second one was in Chimeerney when a band of unknown persons stole everything in a warehouse - including our cargo - and burned said warehouse to the ground!
Rumors had spread that LaSage had gotten new thugs, and they were responsable for egging the others on to perform more sinister deeds than mere robbery and threats. We took it upon ourselves to post armed escorts with our caravans all along thier routes, and made a great effort to patrol areas other than the Rainy Basin. These methods proved little good as these pirates would slink away at the first sign of trouble; but the strangest thing of all was what one of our guard teams found near clan Thundertail more than a week later. Bross and Leeter came back from thier patrol of the perimeter of camp early for some reason, and we went over to investigate. The human female they half dragged was bruised and bloodied, and looked like she had walked for miles and stayed unsheltered for many days; and when she looked up forlornly at us, I knew who she was in an instant!
"LaSage!...", my sneer turned into a look of concern. "What happened?"
"Go ahead,... laugh...", she sneered back through her injuries. "You'll gat a chuckle anyway..."
"What's going on here?!...", Thundertail came in for a look. "Bross! Leeter! You captured Torres LaSage! Good work."
"We found her wandering near camp.", Leeter said.
"She had a hard time walking, so we dragged her here.", Bross added.
"She injured!", Mayday said from the back. "Get Ursula!", one in the back of the growing crowd did.
"So, LaSage...", I came close to her crouched form. "Care to tell us why you decided to visit?"
"It was unintentional, I assure you!", she spat blood. "See, I decided to take a walk, and my feet took me here."
"Now Lasage!", I grinned a little. "What's the REAL reason?"
"Oh, all right!", she managed to roll to a sitting position, her tattered clothes hadn't been cleaned in at least a week. "A few weeks ago, we got some new guys. They were big, and looked strong - and had that nice killer instinct. I like that!...", she wiped blood from her nose. "Anyway, they caused a lot of trouble with the rest. You know: fighting, disobeying orders, laziness, a lot more."
"Sounds like your kind of crowd.", I said. "What else?"
"Well, instead of taking orders, they started GIVING them!", LaSage sneered. "That's MY job!... Anyway, I sent Quint and a few others to straighten them out. They killed two of 'em, and beat the copro out of the rest!... That Quint! He switched sides and started following them!"
"What happened then?", I asked.
"They took over.", she said, bowing in defeat. "They grabbed me after I tried to set up another raid, and threw me in the dungeon!... I knew a way out of there, and crawled out several miles away from the castle.", Lasage saw Ursula's rickshaw coming near, but couldn't know its' purpose. "I been living in the forest for a week now because no other town would have me. I finally found a road, and made my way here..."
"And you came here looking for help?", I really wanted to scoff, but made it sound concerned; then made it sound scornful anyway. "Well, you came to the wrong place!... You lost your castle, you live with it!"
"I ain't looking for a handout, you know!", she burned her eyes at me. "I had no other place to go!"
"I'm heartbroken...", I glared back.
"Ok, sonny! Step aside!", Ursula cackled, doctor bag in hand. "Can't treat her wounds with you trapsing about!", I scooted over.
"Oh, no you don't!", LaSage backed away. "I ain't having no sawed-off scaly treating MY wounds!"
"You'll let me treat you, or you'll relly see what a sawed-off scaly can really do!", Ursula screeched in her face. "Get your tail over here!..."
"If I may make a suggestion...", Melissa Krieger stepped over me. "If she is so antsy around dinosaurs, maybe you'd better let ME have a look at her.", she looked at LaSage. "I'm only an apprentice doctor, but I can sure treat any of your cuts..."
"Well,... OK...", LaSage wasn't in the mood to argue any more.
"We'll, lets you get cleaned up, and then we'll talk some more.", I rose.
King Thundertail and I shooed many of the clan members that gathered away as Melissa looked at LaSage's wounds. There was only cuts, bruises and abraisions apparent; but that didn't stop the pirate leader to wince and curse at every medicated touch. As the majority of the wounds were tended and wrapped, Melissa helped her up and led her to one of the near by shacks; where LaSage spent the rest of her stay with us. Guards were posted just in case, and we went about our former business. LaSage's constant complaining about the food, the acomodations and anything and everyone else was annoying to say the least; but at least she made no further trouble than that. By early evening we saw the usual Postal Birds come onto the area to roost at our Post Office; but one of them bore news that was extremely important to us.
"By the authority of the high council of Waterfall City, the following persons from the Rainy Basin are hereby summoned.", the bird announced when we were all there. "Mayor Stinger or king Thundertail, prince Rex, chief engineer Frank Waters or others.", we asked why, and he replied. "There has been a score of violent raids on various cities and outposts all across Dinotopia. Many included murders and violent destruction. It is our asessment that the pirates of Torres LaSage are committing these henious acts. We of the court ask your presence and help in these matters, and beg expediency in your arrival... Signed, mayor Waldo Seville."
"Can we send a reply?", I asked.
"Of course.", the bird said.
"Hey!...", LaSage stormed up and wanted to know. Her clothing had been mended and cleaned; and her looks were much better after her rest. "What's going on here?"
"AWWWK!... Torres LaSage!...", the Postal; bird yelped and began hopping away. "Help!... Help!..."
"Wait, wait!... She won't hurt you!", I tried to calm him.
"Want to bet?", LaSage said under her breath. "We found her in the forest. She was badly beaten up.", I tried to explain. "I think she wasn't responsable for those raids. I think she's telling the truth..."
"That's right, birdie.", LaSage told him. "I was framed!"
"My message is as follows:", I continued. "We have evidence on these matters that will be helpful in settling this problem. We will depart for Waterfall City in the morning. Along with myself, I will bring prince Rex and another Tyranosaur; plus a witness that will shed more light on the cause of these terrible crimes.... Signed, mayor Stinger.", I blinked. "Got all that?"
"Yes, human.", the Postal bird said. "May I go now? She frightens me!"
"By all means.", I said, and the bird didn't need permission twice to flutter off as quickly as he came.
"Hold it a minute!", LaSage cut in. "Do you really expect me to go there?!"
"Sure.", I said. "You're a witness, aren't you?"
"Yeah, but they're out to get me!", she said. "I got to keep a low profile."
"Maybe so for the things you done in the past,", I said. "But this time you're innocent.", I turned to her. "And this time you can prove it!"
"What if I decide not to help?", she scowled.
"Look!", I said. "You can either go there as a witness, or you can go there as a prisoner. Your choice!", I turned away. "You'll probably not be received there very well in any case..."
"Ok, I'll be your witness...", LaSage said after several moments. "I want justice myself, you know!... I want my castle back!... I want all my men flogged!... I'm going to kill Quint!... And I want those newcomers' heads!!!..."
"Hey, you are going to be your own witness.", I told her. "And as far as the rest, that's YOUR problem!", I said the following more or less to myself. "My problem is finding someone that will carry you there...", I walked away.
As I walked away from the Rainy Basin Central Post Office, the ones guarding LaSage took her back to the shack she was assigned, under heavy guard so she wouldn't cause any undue trouble; even though she didn't seem up to any hyjinx at the moment. I asked around for most of the day, but nobody in the clan really wanted the most notorious criminal on Dinotopia on thier backs; and for that I really couldn't blame them! The only true volunteering was the ones that wanted to guard her during the trip. There was no shortage of volunteers there! The only affirmative comment of the assignment was Pincushion saying he might carry her if nobody else wanted to; and after asking the whole clan, I returned to him and gave him the awful news. He groaned, but took the assignment anyway; and then told me what he would do if she got out of line! At Eveningmeal I made the announcement and assigned who was going with us.
"So, the ones volunteering to guard LaSage to Waterfall City are Snapper, Mosqioto, Ripper and Pondscum.", I said before the entrees were served. "And LaSage will ride on Pincushion..."
"And if she tries any tricks, I'll eat her!...", Pincushion snapped in her direction; and with the look on her face, she didn't need any translation!
"Don't do that! You'll get a belly ache!", I told him, and many of the clan laughed. "We will leave in the morning, and return when we can. We should be prepared to storm the castle just in case..."
"I will have the Rainy Basin Rangers prepared at your word.", Thundertail said. "I will call up all the wearers of the armor of Othgar as well."
"That is a wise decision, my king.", I said. "I will also requisition a garrison of saurian guards to help out too. Better to have too much help than too little!", all nodded as the meal began to be served.
In the morning everyone began to get ready for thier assigned tasks for the day - no less us. LaSage was roused as Rex and Pincushion were being saddled and fed; and she was escorted to the paddocks by all four guards assigned to us as I came into the area. LaSage seemed nonplussed at the saurian activity all around her, but her eyes betrayed the fact that she didn't like them one bit; and the way the saurians behaved around her as they worked showed me that the feeling was mutual! Rex came out all saddled in his best princly saddle, and Pincushion emerged moments later with his Rainy Basin Ranger attire, minus any of the riders' weapons. Ripper, Snapper Mosquito and Pondscum got into flanking positions around both Tyranosaurs as I mounted Rex. LaSage was fighting with herself about how to approach Pincushion and mount his saddle when he rumbled something to me.
"She better get up there quick!", he said to me. "Before I change my mind!...", I translated.
"Smelly old scaly!...", Lasage mumbled, using the affront to grab the rope harnesses and pull herself the eighteen foot height into the saddle. "Probably have to bathe for a week to get the stench out!..."
"Me too...", Pincushion rumbled.
"You know, LaSage...", I said offhandedly. "These Tyranosaurs understand English. I think it's best if you don't insult them!..."
"Oh!... Sorry, fella.", she said worriedly, then turned to me. "Let's get this show on the road!"
"Sit up straight!...", Pincushion groused. "Stop poking your feet!... And stop squirming!..."
"You settled into the saddle, LaSage?", I asked, she nodded and Pincushion eventually settled down. "Ok then, let's go!"
We presently left the clearing that was the center of clan Thundertail, Ripper and Snapper taking the lead while Pondscum and Mosquito flanked us. Atop Pincushion, Lasage bounced and swayed uncontrolably until she got into the right gait; her reluctant steed trying to make it more difficult for her, and she proving to him she was adept at riding saurians. The first few miles of the trip to Waterfall City went by with no ill events, and no real conversation happened between either of us until the first hour or so passed us by. With the exception of the Tyranosaurs occasionally grunting with the effort, everyone else was in a state of purposeful silence.
"How you holding out?", I asked LaSage to break the silence.
"I'll do.", she said, concentrating on her balance.
"You know, I hope you're apreciating what we're doing for you.", I said after a sigh. "We could have left you out there to rot, you know."
"Don't hold your breath for my gratitude.", she said. "I could have done all right!"
"What baffles me the most is why you didn't!", I shot back. "Nobody really cares about you or your goons! Dinotopia would be a much better place if you people never were."
"Face it. You're stuck with me!", she smiled. "Without me and my goons, you'd be out of a job!"
"Don't hold your breath waiting for our gratitude...", I said, but paused at what Rex was doing. "Slow down, buddy!..."
"Hey! What's this overgrown lizard doing?!", LaSage shrieked as Pincushion sped up as well.
The pair of carnivores kept on increasing thier paces, from a walk to a fast walk to a trot. They kept on pacing each other, trying to get ahead of one another, and still they sped up! Thier trot down the road became a full saurian run as they grunted and whooped in thier little contest, and all us humans could do was to hang on for dear life!
"Better hold on, LaSage!", I yelled, exhilleration framing my words. "These two want to race!..."
"Tell them to stop...!", LaSage grabbed the reigns in a deathgrip. "Sting-g-ger!...! Stin-nger...!... S-TIN-GER...!", her voice bounced with every stride!
"It's...best...to...let...them...do..what...they...want...!", I yelled through the bouncing pace and over the air rushing by. "Stay...low to...the saddle...! Avoid...the low...branches...!..."
Ripper, Snapper, Pondscum and Mosquito saw the two Tyranosaurs take off, and were hard-pressed to keep up. Even though thier feet could move much faster than thier larger brothers, thier shorter strides forced them to sprint after the two-legged juggernauts. They knew that they were after no prey, and they were probably just having fun; but the four Veloceraptors just kept the pace and never let them get too far ahead. They ran out into a fairly large field, tilled with no crop yet planted; and both Tyranosaurs came to a halt many dozens of yards within the cleared area, panting and grumbling about who won. I looked down into the eye of Rex and scowled.
"You knuckleheads!", I said. "You went and got yourselves all worn out!"
"Is it over?...", LaSage asked as she lifted her head from the near fetal position she found herself in atop the saddle. "Is it safe?..."
"What do you think?", Pincushion rumbled as he turned.
"Be nice, you!", I scolded him, then looked at Rex again. "So, what was the big idea?"
"We had to do something to stop you two from arguing!", Rex said. "You know: 'Breathe deep, seek peace'...?"
"I see what you mean...", I nodded. "Sorry, everyone!"
"Well, I'm not!...", LaSage put in, and Pincushion snapped in her direction!
"Well, I think this whole to-do would go more smoothly if we all be nice.", I said. "Agreed?", everyone nodded except LaSage.
"What the heck!", she said after many moments. "Let's just get this over with... Giddy up, Pinhead."
"That's PINCUSHION!!!", he roared.
"Seek peace, buddy!...", I shushed.
Our guards laughed hissingly at this as they formed up around us, and we all prepared to continue on our way. The field we were in was only partially fenced off, and the homestead it was owned by soon came into view. The owners of the homestead gulpingly told us that they were part of the community of Mollusk Town, and pointed the way down the road to that town. The citizens of Mollusk Town knew me and my team, but knew LaSage as well; and made mistrusting, sidelong glances at her, wondering why she would ride with us. Many other towns we passed through cheered us on, thinking that we had at last captured LaSage, and were taking her to where she would receive sentance. Many could not accept the fact that she had something to offer concerning the overly violent raids her pirates were committing, much less the fact that they were no longer her pirates; and some other, more notorious thugs had taken over!
We passed into the Outpost at the outskirts of Waterfall City, and word had spread of our arrival; for everyone came out to greet us, rather testilly as was the case for LaSage! The only one that had an encouraging word for her was Frank Scott, and he could only tell her with his eyes as the crowd was jeering her so loudly. When at last we made it to the bridge that spanned the waterfall system and protected Waterfall City, giving the city its' name; a small squad of saurian guards joined us and flanked our own guards. If we thought the booing we got through the towns we passed was bad enough, the ones we got courtesy of LaSage's reputation here made those look like well wishing! Dinotopians are civilized enough not to throw anything at her, but I saw the bad wishes she was getting stung her somewhat; even though she hid it well under a blanket of laughing indifference.
The saurian guards led us down the streets that would eventually take us to the council chambers, us feeling like the main attractions at a hostility parade! I knew they weren't booing at me and my group, that was for sure! We get cheered on more often than not; and we really couldn't blame them for doing the opposite now, considering the company we were currently keeping. At long last our precession stopped at the stone steps in front of the council chamber building, and the saurian guards went to direct the growing crowd to disperse. Looking around nervousely, LaSage began to dismount Pincushion once he settled down enough to allow her to do so. I hopped down as soon as she landed on the cobbles, and the four Veloceraptors surrounded her from a distance. As we all directed our gaze to the council chamber steps, mayor Waldo Seville, Rosemary and several human and saurian delegates came down them to greet us.
_____
(Continued in the next post.)
|
|
|
Post by thundertail on Apr 10, 2008 6:53:58 GMT -5
FIFTY-FIVE: "Enough is enough!..." (Continued)
"Well, well, mayor Stinger!...", Waldo came up to shake my hand. "I see you have captured Torres Lasage!...", he turned to the saurian guards. "Arrest her...!"
"What's going on here!...", LaSage balked as they grabbed her wrists. "Stinger...! Tell them!"
"Wait, your honor!...", I pulled my hand away from his shake. "She is not a prisoner! She's a witness!..."
"What are you talking about?", Rosemary asked, coming near her nemesis. "What are you trying to pull?"
"The violent raids occuring all over Dinotopia is NOT of her doing.", I said. "Some newcomers from the Millennium Queen have taken over the pirates, and are making them do these things."
"Are you sure, Stinger?", Waldo asked.
"When LaSage came into our camp a couple of days ago, she was beaten up and exhausted.", I explained. "She came telling us that she had been beaten, imprisoned and banished from king Adolpho's castle by a couple of thugs new to her."
"So, you lost your command...?", Rosemary smirked.
"What of it?", LaSage glared at her.
"Very well, Stinger.", Waldo said. "We'll hear what she has to say, and figure out what to do after that... Guards, release her!", they did so, but didn't really want to. "We will decide everything inside...", he turned and motioned everyone to follow him.
Ripper and Snapper followed LaSage and I, who followed mayor Waldo Seville, Rosemary and the delegates inside. Pincushion and Pondscum followed Rex and Pincushion; and the saurian guards followed us all up the steps and into the council chamber building. Pincushion, Mosqioto and Pondscum had never been there before, and Rex led them all up to the saurian galleries above through the stairway to the left; and Ripper and Snapper followed us into the council chamber proper, standing at attention next to the court guards like they did the many times they had been there.
I stopped at the viewing table along side LaSage and fidjited as we all waited for the mayor and everyone else to take thier positions. LaSage, aparently uneffected by the situation she was in, turned, pulled up a chair from behind her and sat at the viewing table like she was at a restaraunt waiting for the waitress! Presently Rosemary took her seat, and all the rest of the delegates took thiers as well; and mayor Waldo Seville was seen before his ship's bow podium, tapping his gavel to begin this meeting.
"Ladies and gentilebeings, we are all aware of the terrible crimes being committed around Dinotopia.", he said without preamble. "Acts like this have never been seen here in all the islands' history! A few days ago we had received word from the Rainy Basin, concerning news of the reason for these outbursts.", he looked at me. "And now I think mayor Stinger can shed more light on this situation than I... If you would, sir...?"
"Certainly, your honor.", I said as I rose, turning to the rest. "Friends, two days ago our territory was visited by someone.", I began the story. I told them of how we found LaSage, and in what condition we found her in. I stated the fact that we had little doubt her story was true considering her condition and the fact that many of the castaways were missing, and it was plausable that one or more of them might have joined LaSage's forces. I stressed that, in the outside world, crimes of this magnitude was not uncommon; and that it was possible that persons of that caliber may be who we would be dealing with.
"Your accounts and opinions seem sound to me.", Rosemary said. "But how do you know LaSage is telling the truth?"
"Based on the evidence she presented, I feel it unlikely that she is lying about this.", I said.
"It's the truth! All of it!", LaSage shouted. "Look. Of all the times I've lied to folks, this time I am not! Ok?"
"Very well. We will take your word for it... THIS time!", Waldo said. "But as another service; could you describe these new pirates?"
"I suppose I could...", Lasage considered. "For a price!"
"What?!", Waldo shouted.
"How about this offer:", I turned to her. "You tell us what we want to know, or you'll spend more time with us. And I guarantee your second stay will be far less pleasant than your first!"
"All right already!... Sheesh!", she chuckled. " I was just kidding!... Here goes:..."
Torres LaSage set about describing the two thugs that had taken over her castle and her men. Walker was a heavyset man, yet so strong that he didn't seem to have an ounce of fat on his several hundred pound form. His hatchet face sported a goateee, and not much more in the name of hair; but his several tattoos, beginning from the odd design around his neck and ending with a half dozen of various designs on his forearms. This one was the most aggressive, the most beligerant and the one that got under her skin the most! Christopho was just as big in build, but somewhat slimmer, and his favorite weapon was the knife he kept in his boot. This one never really talked much, but strange things always seemed to happen in his presence; like some of her men showing up dead, and things that were stolen not being accounted for.
"So, those two slugs grabbed me and threw me out!", LaSage concluded.
"Those two sound familiar.", captain Applebee said from the crowd after asking to speak. "The first one, Walker, was assigned to the engine room, and always was making trouble. Threatening the crew and all...", he paused. "That other one was a military convict, being transported to Cuba for questioning. Christopho was being guarded by a federal marshal, but he was killed in the shipwreck."
"Thank you, captain.", Waldo said.
"I want my castle back!", LaSage said suddenly. "I want all those idiots hanged!"
"What you want is irrelevant at present!", Waldo said sternly. "You're lucky we don't lock you up right now!"
"Uh,...your highness.", I interrupted. "Can I have a word with you in private?...", I motioned him to a corner of the room where we couldn't be overheard, and I beckoned Rosemary there too.
"What do you have in mind, Stinger?", Rosemary asked quietly.
"How would you rate the pirates under LaSage's command, and how would you rate it now?", I asked.
"Both regimens are terrible!", Waldo said. "Such dispickable behaviour!..."
"Now there is bloodshed, but then it was not so violent...", Rosemary said, then her eyes widened. "You ask us to choose the least of two evils!..."
"Yes! The pirates under LaSage are much more tame than under these guys.", I said. "If we can get rid of them and put LaSage back there, things will get back down to normal!"
"But it's the principal of the thing!...", Waldo said.
"Don't worry!" I smiled. "I can handle her!", I turned back to my place; and both shrugged and went back to thiers.
"Torres LaSage.", the mayor said. "In the light of some further advice, you are pardoned from any wrong doing in this case.", he looked at her. "Furthermore, charges against you for past affronts are also suspended for the time being."
"You mean I'm free?!", LaSage asked. "Excellent!..."
"You are to go to king Adolpho's castle with mayor Stinger and company to thwart these new upstarts.", Rosemary told her, then turned to me. "Mayor Stinger. I charge you and your clan members to go there and quell this uprising, if you would be so kind..."
"It would be an honor, my matriarch.", I said. "I also request a batallion of saurian guards to assist in this matter."
"Granted.", mayor Waldo Seville said. "Bailiff. Make it so."
The mayor tapped his gavel and bid leave of all the delegates and guests. My group gathered outside near the front steps. I asked Waldo to summon a Postal Bird, and told her to send a message to the Rainy Basin; and had king Thundertail and his contingent to converge on king Adolpho's castle, to group near by and wait for us. By this time the batallion of saurian guards had arrived, sixty in all; and the mayor told them thier assignment, that they would assist us. Pretty soon we all formed up and got ready to depart.
"Ready to let me up, Pinny?", LaSage asked as she got near.
"I prefer her calling me Pinhead...", Pincushion mumbled to me as he let her get on.
"Ok folks! Everybody move out!", I announced as the guards formed a codon behind Pondscum, Ripper, Snapper and Mosquito. "Onward to victory!..."
"Stinger!... No violence!", Rosemary warned as she trotted beside Rex.
"Not unless it's necesary.", I said as the group marched faster, leaving her behind.
The group marched down the Grand Promenade and down to the bridge leading out of Waterfall City; and as we crossed it the whole city seemed to let out a somber cheer. As the days wore on, we headed up the Polongo River, skirting it for many miles, then headed northwest, toward the crackshell coast and eventually making it to just south of king Adolpho's castle. There we met up with king Thundertail and all the defenders he chose to take with him. Nearly all the Veloceraptor guards were there, as well as the thirty Rainy Basin Rangers and thier steeds we had not patrolling with the caravans. I stood atop Rex and shouted to all in the clearing thier directions, and presently all turned to listen.
"Ok, this attack will be a coercive one!", I began. "Saurian guards will form a perimeter and capture all sentinals you find. Veloceraptors will stalk up and spy any activity near the castle, then they will capture by stealth any pirates you find there. After this both groups will join and form a perimeter, a deatil of them will guard any prisoners captured, holding them here until further notice. The Rainy Basin Rangers will feign an attack from the front, led by the armors of Othgar. All others will present themselves near the front gate, but not attack unless needed."
"What will I do?", Lasage asked. "I want a stake in this too, you know!"
"Why, my dear!... You will be with me, of course!...", I told her, then continued. "Mayday, Diego and Flit. I want you all to gather so I can tell you the rest..."
The trio in the armors Zandra, Triphus and Proboke huddled around me, LaSage getting close so she could be in on it too; and I began to tell them of my plan. I was to knock on the front door and say something that these new thugs would recognise. mayday and Flit would go to the side door and remove any pirates that would come from there; and if no one came to open the main door, Diego and I would break the door down. We all would then enter and meet any problem these thugs would give us. LaSage giggled joyousely at the sneakiness of my plan, and when we were done with our planning, went to our steeds.
LaSage mounted Pincushion, who didn't balk this time at her sitting on him. Mayday took Grond, Diego climbed aboard Deathflower, Flit was allowed to mount Thundertail and I climbed aboard Rex. We led the way down the path that would eventually lead to king Adolpho's castle, the rest of the Rainy Basin Rangers following us; and within an hour we came within sight of the crumbling stone edifice perched on the edge of the cliff and surrounded by a scraggly clearing. Talon, far above with Whitetail on her back, screeched and wheeled on the coastal thermals, both looking this way and that for stray pirates.The Rangers fell back, taking strategic places all around the clearing while the rest of us trotted right up to the castle walls. All five of us dismounted as the Tyranosaurs stood back, and we all took our preplanned positions and waited for the right moment to begin.
Triphus and I shoved the barrels, posts and other debris from the main gate and I knocked on the doors with the huge brass Triceratops knocker several times before yelling: "PIZZA DELIVERY!"
I knocked again. "IS THIS THE LASAGE RESIDENCE?"
At the side entrance, a pirate, followed by two more emerged from the side entrance to see who it was, to be whisked away by Zandra's firm grip and unstopable shove. Proboke chopped them in their necks, and Veloceraptors dragged them out of sight. In the mean time, having no success at the main gate, Triphus and I both pushed on the door. The wooden beam used as a baracade on the other side cracked and splintered; and that's when we heard men beyond yelling, trying to bolster the door and prevent our access. The beam finally let go, and we both shoved together with both our armors' strengths; and the twin doors flew inward, cracking against the stone ballasters within and shattering askew on thier hinges. We stood there looking at a large band of men in various states of ragged garb, running about yelling and strengthening defenses, grabbing thier weapons, getting ready to attack these intruders they found themselves suddenly in thier midst.
Mayday and Flit joined us as we scanned the interior with our masked eyes; then we unfurled our various weapons leaving them to suddenly rest in our hands. Mayday's energy lance shone in the sun as she whirled it, Triphus's twin battle axes clanged together as he raised them, Proboke's hand tridents whirled in his fists as my twin broadswords clattered off one another. The score of pirates saw that they were faced with extremely experienced and well armed fighters and froze in thier tracks, yelling for thier new bosses! Within a moment two extremely large men came from the keep, sauntering down the steps and halting on the landing above us; and Quint appeared shadowing them, dwarfed by thier size.
"Ok...! What's all this crud about?!", yelled the first goateed man.
"What's this about a pizza?!", the other one sneered.
"By the power vested in me by the high council of waterfall City,", I announced through Klamath's mask and amplification apperatus. "You are hereby ordered to cease and desist all activities, and stand down from this castle."
"Oh really?", the goateed one said. "And who the heck are you?"
"He needs armor to be brave!", the other chuckled, which got him a cuff.
"That is Stinger, a very formidable foe.", Quint said, and he got a shove.
"Well, mister Stinger...", the goateed one said. "I think you better scram, or else you won't be formidable any more!"
"There is a garrison of saurian guards out front, along with the Rainy Basin Rangers.", I told him. "This castle is completely surrounded, and there is no chance to escape.", I unfurled the mask. "I suggest you surrender and be taken peacefully, or I can not guarantee your survival..."
"That so?", he considered a moment. "Know what I think?... I think you look better with yer helmet on!"
"Let's crush him!", suggested his pigfaced sidekick quietly.
"You heard Christopho!", he turned to the pirates. "Get 'em!!!..."
At first the others didn't move, but Quint rushed down the rest of the way and cuffed many of them into action. The bunch tried in vain to corner us, but Mayday, Diego and Flit took defensive positions, swinging thier weapons and kept some distance between us and them. In the mean time Walker and Christopho slunk down and grabbed me! Thier combined strength shoved me against a near by wall and they began to pummel the suit with hamhock sized fists. Klamath's mask came around my face, and he reached for thier shirt collars. Klamath shoved with all his might and threw them to the cobbles, where they lay dazed, but for only a second.
As Quint turned with a swiped sword toward Mayday, who fended off his blows with her energy lance. Diego took to swinging his battle axes in arcs that kept many of the pirates at bay. Flit forsook his hand tridents for hand to hand combat, wrenching weapons from his adversaries with robotic speed and chopping away like some Kung Fu movie star. Many moments later, as the battle raged on; I was soon becoming overwhelmed with this pairs' strategies: as one would engage me, the other would attack from behind.
Flit took this moment to completely forsake Proboke, leaping out of the armor through the neck and landing with a clatter right in the middle of the rest of the pirates; and this was when he used all of his robotic speed and agility! He jerked and dodged, using all six of his appendages for weapons; slashing with tenticles, grabbing and throwing with pincers and kicking and tripping with feet. The pirates could not begin to fathom what was unleashed in thier midst as they fell by the score, thier weapons flew away broken and scattered, and themselves in much the same condition. Pretty soon not many of them were standing; and those that were began turning and trying to flee!
Still Flit battled on, shrieking and hooting just like Bruce Lee; twirling to locate his next foe; but his optic sensors found no such person. Walker and Christopho were alternately pummeling me and holding me as the other began beating on me; but the armor took it all, transferring little of the impacts to me. I finally broke thier holds and regained my feet, turning so I could use my stunner when suddenly Christopho was tied with metallic bands and tenticles. The face of Flit twinkled beside his shocked face; the tenticle around his throat tightening until he decided to stop struggling. I used this confusion to fire at Walker, and he turned in defense and defiance before the blast took effect, collapsing the man at my feet a few seconds later.
"Nice going, Flit!", I said. "Smooth moves!"
"I mimicked self defense techniques on that outsider video I saw.", Flit replied, tossing Christopho with a spin into Mayday and Diego.
"He no save any for us!", Mayday replied as she caught him.
"How selfish!", Diego replied as he grabbed his other arm.
"Flit, haven't you heard of the saying 'others first, self last'?", I laughingly said as I pulled the still passed out Walker to his feet. I looked around and saw LaSage just entering the castle through the ruined doors. "HEY!... LASAGE!..."
"I see you guys cleaned house with them!", she said, walking over and scowling at Walker. "Way to go!"
"Think you can take over from here?", I asked.
"No problem!", she replied and began to walk sternly to her men.
Just then Quint slowly began to get up, grabbing a sword as he rose He quietly tried to make a beeline for the nearest of us, and Mayday was right in his line of sight! I turned to see this, but was too far away to stop him. A screech was heard from high above, and we all looked to see Talon swooping down; and all of a sudden Quint was knocked to his hands and knees by a wet mass of offal! Talon screamed as she pulled up out of her dive, chortling in her own way at what she did; and Whitetail raised her clawed hand in victory on her back! I looked back at Quint and saw him still on the ground, gasping in defeat and utter disgust amid a pile of Pteranodon copro!
"Nice shot, Talon!", I laughed.
"I guess when you got to go, you got to go...", LaSage stated as she suddenly scowled at her second in command, cursing that he should get up and clean himself off. The other pirates that saw this were laughing and pointing.
"Let's go.", I said to the others.
Mayday and Diego led the still struggling Christopho by the arms, out through the broken down doors of the castle; and Flit and I did the same with ther semi-concious Walker. We took them out and back into the clearing we were using as a staging area, where the other captured pirates were being untied and led back to the castle. Within an hour all of us regrouped there, including saurian guards; and soon we began discussing what was to become of Walker and Christopho. The leader of the saurian gurds stepped over and saluted.
"Once again, thank you for your part in this group operation.", I returned the salute.
"Let us hope that this is the last time, for sake of peace!", the guard said. "What is to become of these humans?"
"These humans are too dangerous to be left in any of your prisons. They would surely escape and cause more trouble!", I told him. "I think it's best if you let us hold them pending thier trial. Maybe we can teach them some manners!"
"A sound decision.", he said. "I will tell the council.", he turned after saluting again, and went to rally his troops.
I gathered the Rainy Basin Rangers around me, and the Veloceraptor guards joined us after thouroughly securing our two prisoners; who were struggling and yelling at us, making themselves absolute boors! I looked at them all and smiled, Talon and Whitetail landing beside us; and we all let out a whooping cheer! I scratched under Talon's beaked chin, scowling at her impishly for her aerial stunt, her chuckling both for the contact and her act; then I spent several moments trying to quiet the crowd. We eventually packed everything up and headed back to clan Thundertail...
_____
|
|
|
Post by thundertail on Apr 27, 2008 18:07:53 GMT -5
FIFTY-SIX: "Incarceration."
The trip back to clan Thundertail seemed like the most difficult one of all, especially when we had two of the most dangerous criminals on Dinotopia to escort there. Since no one wished to carry them there, they were told to walk; hands tied as well as legs so they couldn't run away, but not so tight to prevent them from walking. They complained every step of the way, and tried to veer off course, lag behind and otherwise resist us with every trick that was in thier power - which wasn't a lot as we made sure of that!
We soon proved to them that resisting us was hopeless, for every other time they tried to pull a fast one, one Tyranosaur or another would ride up to them and head butt them to the ground; and after several such instances, they slowly became complacent enough to march along as fast as thier ropes would allow. After over a dozen rest stops to keep them as well as could be expected, we at last made it to the boomerang shaped clearing that was the center of clan Thundertail.
We had sent word back via Talon of our arrival, and who our new captives were; and the rest of the clan had set aside acomodations for them, which were made extra secure and would include double guards and sentinels to assure they wouldn't escape. When Walker and Christopho saw the skills and organization the clan employed in making thier stay with us a matter of our decision and not thiers, they trudged into thier jails and made no untoward move until thier first meals with us were served them. All during this time we planned what we were going to do with them, and how long they might have to stay with us. I went to the Post Office and sent a message to Waterfall City, telling them that the prisoners were now at clan Thundertail, and we were awaiting thier decision as to the next move with them.
"Well folks, these are to be the most dangerous prisoners we ever had to keep.", I said as we waited for Waterfall Citys' reply. "If they were placed anywhere in Waterfall City, they would no doubt escape."
"They don't seem like they want to escape now, do they?", Rex said.
"They don't dare resist us!", Grond stated. "I don't think they have the courage to do so!"
"These are REAL criminals, from the outside world;", I told them. "And if you think LaSage's men are bad, these two are about ten times worse!"
"But Stinger. Aren't all humans posessing at least a shred of human decency?", Rex asked. "Are they not capable of reason?"
"Some humans are beyond rehabilitation, my friend.", I said forlornly. "Some spend a life of crime, and can't change back to being a normal human being. They are like wild animals - rogues - and can not lead a normal life among society."
"What of thier punishment?", Thundertail asked. "Certainly it will be a monumental one!"
"That will be for the court at Waterfall City to decide.", I said. "As for now, we will be holding them until that decision is made."
"I say we give them the Path Of Shame!", Grond rumbled.
"I agree!", I said, and went to check on our prisoners.
The walk to the pair of adobe shacks that we were using for thier prisons allowed me time to think about what I wanted to say to them. Pincushion joined me, and he eyed me worriedly, making him look so concerned that I rubbed his muzzle; then we walked the rest of the way side by side. I knew these two thugs would no doubt not listen to a word I would say, but I resolved to read them the riot act never the less! I waved to the guards, and Bross and Leeter let me get near; then I saw Christopho reach out and grab through the doors' grated window, of which I backed away quickly and Pincushioned snapped at him!
"Steady, fella!", I drawled. "You'll get yours!...", I turned to Walker's cell.
"You really thought you had it made, did you?", I barked. "Take over and live off the fat of the land..."
"These guys are wusses!", Walker shouted. "I could have gotten the whole island!"
"Yeah, but you didn't!", I said to him. "And it looks like you're going on trial!"
"What kinds of punishment do they usually give?", Walker asked.
"Well, mostly it's extensive rehabilitation.", I told him. "You would be trained in the ways of Dinotopia, and escorted around twenty-four/seven until you gradually become an honest person.", I turned to him. "It's a good thing it's not a few hundred years ago! Then they would amputate a limb!", it was unclear in the records if this was true or not, but it made him gulp never the less! "Then, of course, there is the Path Of Shame..."
"What is this Path Of Shame?", Christopho asked.
"If you are a member of our clan,", Pincushion told him. "Your rights as a clan member is taken away. You must then do what everyone in the clan tells you to do for the length of your Path."
"Basically, you become a slave to the clan.", I added. "It's only temporary, lasting as long as is decided; like a few weeks to a few years."
"And you mean we got to put up with any of that?!", Walker scoffed. "You're nuts!"
"Your acclimation to Dinotopia can be as long or short as you make it.", I said. "And it can be as easy or hard as you make it on yourself.", I glared at them both.
"Look, all we did was simple crimes.", Christopho said meekly. "You think they'll go easy? Do you think they know what I did before I got here?"
"Why? What did you do?", I asked. "I heard you were a prisoner, and a marshall was taking you to Cuba."
"Espianage.", he said. "I was in on a plot in the Middle east.", he smiled. "But that's all I'm saying!"
"Well, what ever it was, it doesn't matter here.", I said. "You had a chance to start your life over; but you chose to do the things that made you a criminal anyway. And as for you...!", I looked at Walker. "You don't have to be a bully and a jerk to get along! I suppose that's what got you into trouble in the outside world; but it goes doubly wrong around here!"
"And who are you to tell us how to be?!", Walker yelled.
"Well, besides being the mayor around here, I got every carniverous creature here just hoping you'd make a mistake so they have an excuse to eat you!", I told him. "On the other hand, before I got here over five years ago, I was a colonel in the United States Air Force!"
"You were?", Walker feigned interest. "I was on the Hornet in the tail end of the Viet Nam war."
"Were you an Airman?", I asked.
"Nope. Engine room.", he said.
"I was on the Enterprise going to the Middle east.", I said. "I was stationed on the base in Greece until I flew here. Jet crashed...", I looked sad.
"Boo hoo! But I guess all that is past...", he said, amazingly empathic.
"So is both you guys' pasts.", I told them. "That's what I'm getting at! You can start life over, reguardless what you did before. You can go out and do what you like - so long as it's reasonable!"
"But NOT before you pay for what you did!", Pincushion rumbled.
"What amazes me is how these guys can speak English.", Christopho stated.
"We have a standard education system here.", I told them. "Everyone here is required to learn both saurian and carnivore languages, along with many other skills useful to the community."
"That so?", Walker said. "I got all the learning I want, and know how to do what I do!"
"Things change!", I laughed. "Think of me. I was nothing but an Air Force pilot. I had to learn how to survive here before I found out about Dinotopia in general. I had to learn how to organise these creatures, and relate to thier natures. I had to learn how to cultivate crop, build things from scratch and many more things useful to my living here. I had to adapt. I had to change my ways and how I thought to even make it here at all!", I spoke to Christopho. "I had to find out for myself that the life I once knew before I got here doesn't matter now."
"So, if I was a criminal before, I'm not one now.", Christopho considered.
"Only for what you did since you got here.", I said. "And the punishment would be lenient considering the punishment in the outside world would be anything from permanent imprisonment to excecution."
"What if we do not become reformed?", Walker asked.
"Then all this will happen all over again.", I said. "And it will keep on happening until you do!"
We talked like that for nearly half an hour, and then it was time for thier next meal. I left them to it, beckoning Leeter to join me at dinner; and proving to them that we would trust them to enough to behave themselves with only Bross guarding them, until she finished and replaced her mate for the remainder of thier guard duty. A day passed, followed by two more before we got word from Waterfall City the fate of our two prisoners. When word of news finally arrived, it came on the wings of a lone Skybax. The wings of Freefall folded as David Scott jumped down pulling a sack of scrolls from his saddle, only one meant for us; and waited as we all gathered around him and waited for him to speak. Christopho and Walker were brought over as well, for thier fate would be decided at the recitation of the scroll now in David Scott's hands.
"A decree, from the high council at Waterfall City.", David read to us all. "It has been decided that a mister Walker and mister Christopho be held by clan Thundertail until further notice. We of the court, upon extensive discussion on the general demeanor of said persons, surmise that the general nature of citizens of your realm would be most apt to incarcerate these two criminals; and your understanding is most apreciated.", Thundertail nodded. "They are to be imprisoned for a period of no less than a year, and thier punishment, if any, will be under clan disgression for said term."
"We hear and understand this decree.", Thundertail rumbled. "We will incarcerate Walker and Christopho for said term, and educate them in the ways of Dinotopia and the clan.", he looked at Grond. "Thier punishment will be the Path Of Shame, and all clan members will take part in this punishment."
"Excuse me. The Path Of Shame?", David asked. I came near and explained it to him.
"You may tell the court of this when you return to them.", king Thundertail told him. "But in the mean time, you are welcome to linger and join in a meal or rest!", his smile did nothing to reverse David's fear!
"Thank you, your honor; but my schedule is tight enough as it is!", David smiled back. "I have one more order of business before I go... Is Lanis Albian here?", he prepared another scroll.
"He was around somewhere...", Thundertail said, nodding for one of us to summon him. Shortly Lanis arrived, atop his Tyranosaur steed, recruited from a southern clan, and clumsilly dismounted. "Ah! There he is."
"To lanis Albian, from the recruiting office in Canyon City...", David read the scroll before him. "Your application to join the Skybax corps has been approved. You are to report to the cadet training facility in Canyon City in one weeks' time. Failure to report within two weeks' time will forfiet your application, and you may never again apply for Skybax training."
"But I hardly begun my Ranger training...", Lanis stammered.
"You may return and continue your training.", I suggested. "We taught you the basics, at any rate."
"You are to be the liason between the Rangers and the Skybax, Lanis.", Thundertail rumbled. "It is prudent that you train for both at the same time. You may depart on the next cargo run to Canyon City...", he inquired about it quietly to Miles Krieger beside him. "The caravan leaves in three days."
"Then I guess I got to go there...", Lanis said.
"Alrighty then!...", I added.
"Very well...", David said, handing the scroll to him. "And with your leave, mighty Thundertail, I must be off.", he turned and went to Freefall, who was silently conversing with Talon a short distance away. "All set, fella?", Freefall squawked and turned so he could mount her; then the great Skybax took to the wing and shrank out of sight.
"I suppose I'll have to go there with you.", Bentfeather the Microraptor said as he found a perch on Lanis's shoulder.
"I hear that Canyon City is a bit more civilized than here.", Lanis said.
"But there is not much for one like me to eat there.", Bentfeather was one partial to insects. "At least here the forest is full of food!"
As we all dispersed to our duties, Walker and Christopho had been taken back to thier prisons; and decisions were made concerning thier punishments. The first thing they were made to do was to work in the gardens tilling the new field all by themselves. A harness was rigged for humans, and each took turns pulling it through the virgin plot of land, under strict observations by several of us. By the time they were done with that field, Lanis Albian and Bentfeather's transportation to Canyon City was readied, and they departed that very same day.
A week later it was my turn to direct our prisoners on thier next task, so I had them in Kinan Van on a cleanup detail; Manning a pushcart and picking up any loose debris they found, and sporting cleaning utensils to wash away anything unwanted and scrubbing up anything else with mops and other cleaning apperatus. Several days later on this task, and having covered nearly three quarters of the city, I stopped them at an area where a series of old warehouses and storage buildings were located a block from the portal intersection near the rear of the Kinan Van, then I told them to park thier pushcart and escorted them inside one of these buildings. I had something that was recently acquired from thier ship, and wanted to show them; and after questioning looks as I led them into a rear series of rooms, I stopped thier talk by explaining myself.
"As you can see, we salvaged literally everything from the ship.", I told them once they saw storeroom after storeroom of fixtures, sinks, bedframes, lamps, dressers, wires, speakers from the walls and many other items that were ripped from the guts of the ship. "The trouble is nobody really sees a need for these things."
"Looks like you stripped it clean!", Walker said. "But you could redo things around here with the stuff..."
"What has all this got to do with us?", Christopho asked.
"Well, you see, not much of this stuff can be used in this society.", I said. "Least of all what I want to show you now.", I said and unlocked a smaller chamber I was next to.
The room was dim, and lined with several small crates. I opened a small chest on a bench and let them examine the contents, and they gasped at what they saw! Inside lay neatly counted and wrapped stacks of American twenty dollar bills, loose American paper money of all denomonations and a smattering of other foeiegn bills; like Brittish pounds, French Franks and money from every other country that earmarked the ethnicity of the passengers. There was a small fortune there, and I opened another small case and revealed coinage, both wrapped and loose, of similar countries; of which most of it was American.
"See, money has no real value here.", I said as they oogled. "I counted it up, and there's a minimum of forty thousand dollars American there. At last estimate, there's nearly half that value there in other money too."
"We're rich!", Walker stated, smiling. "Oh, you can have it if you wish; but you can have it after your Path Of Shame.", I told them.
"We can?", Christopho asked.
"It's worthless here of course, but you might be able to trade the bills for food, saying it's works of art or something.", I told them.
"But we can have it...", Walker considered.
"The coins can be melted down for thier metals, and useful items be made out of them." I picked up a stack of twentys and fanned them out. "A small fortune in the outside world...", I tossed it back in. "And barely worth the ink it's printed with here...", I closed the lid and led them out of the building.
I let them continue thier chores for the day, then had guards take them back to thier prisons. As the days passed, many were in charge of them; and they got to know most of the clan, saurian and human alike, along with thier myriad of personalities. We could not tell whether or not they were growing accustomed to being around here, or were simply biding thier time and waiting for a chance to escape; but they gave little indication that they were actually looking for ways to escape us, or looking for weaknesses among the clan to exploit. Either way we all kept a close eye on these two at all times, and they never really tried anything against us except relating thier still uncouth comments; and for that we considered ourselves lucky!
Many days later it was once again my turn to escort them around, and it was also thier final day of being escorted so; for they would be assigned semi-permanent jobs today for the duration of thier Paths Of Shame. I was to lead them deep into the World Beneath, way down into the Chamber of the Strutters; and direcrly to engineer Waters, mister MacDougal's and Flit's domain. There I was to relinquish charge of them as they would be working down there from now on. I led them down through the labrynthine passageways, and watched thier jaws drop at the sight of all the rebuilt and semi repaired Strutters!
"These machines are called Strutters.", I said. "They were built for war eons ago, but were interred here for posterity. We took it upon ourselves to rebuild them, and use them for more peaceful purposes."
"Lookit the size of the place!...", Christopho gasped as he looked up toward the Sunstone lighting the vast chamber high above.
"These things are worth a fortune!", Walker said, looking around at the various array of machines.
"We removed all the weapons, and now all they are good for is heavy work.", I said. "There is one drawback. They run on crystals called Sunstones, like the one that shines overhead. The trouble is the ones big enough to run them are rare."
"Stinger!... Is that you?...", called a metallic voice from across the chamber, out of sight but with the volume turned high.
"It's me!...", I called, just as loud. "And I brought your two new helpers!..."
"Who the heck is that?", Walker asked, but Christopho's eyes went wide in recognition!
"Well, bring therm over!...", Flit said. "We haevn't got all day!..."
I led them through the maze of machinery, Walker getting startled by one of the Tyranosaur Strutters whose mouth was wide with metallic teeth. When we got near the chamber that Kiawa, the Skybax Strutter was found in, and was being used as a planning room at the moment; we saw several forms crowdwd around many drafting tables and surrounded by several racks of charts and drawings, and a few of them were some saurians I never met before.
Flit was there, indicating a detail on the open scroll before them all, and MacDougal standing proudly with anothwer scroll in his hand while Waters was pouring over another scroll with an important looking Ankylosayur. The other three humans, all men, were listening close by, hande on hips or chins clasped in attentive thought; and the equally important looking Parasolophus standing behind them craning neck to observe what was going on. All of them looked up at us as we got near, and the only one who showed signs of recognition was waters.
"Walker! There you are!", he exclaimed, scroll snapping closed as he let go. "I was wondering when you'd show up!"
"What are YOU doing here, you old slime?", Walker asked with a sneer.
"I'm kind of in charge here.", Waters told him smugly. "As for you, I should have keel-hauled you on the ship!"
"Now mister Waters!", Flit scolded. "If you haven't anything nice to say, as the saying goes!"
"You're right, Flit. Sorry.", then Waters turned to Walker. "It would seem that you're working with me now, just like old times!"
"Oh yeah? Well, who are these other jokers?", Waters replied.
"Right again!", Waters said, then began. "I think you know Flit.", the artificial life construct waved a tenticle. "This is my friend, MacDougal..."
"How dee folks!", he responded.
"This is mister Bondu, head of the Dinotopian construction guild.", Waters said, and the gruff looking hulk of a man grunted. "This is mister Sanders and his Partner, Scrit. They are the Dinotopian Freshwater Partners.", both Parasolophus and blonde haired human nodded. "And these are mister Trevor and his Partner, Lealla. They are the Goodearth Partners.", both dark skinned human and female Ankylosaur nodded.
"We are discussing plans to make an aqueduct system from Deep Lake to the city of Halcyon.", Flit explained.
"What's that got to do with us?", Walker asked.
"You are to be our assistants, like I said.", Waters told him. "Now, where were we?..."
"You were showing us the smoothest way through the mountains.", the Ankylosaur told him. "But you fail to realise all the wildlife you'll be displacing! Those creatures need those cliffs to raise thier young!"
"But they can always find sufficient roosts.", waters told her. "They could roost in the Amu canyon, only a few miles away..."
"Look, if the habitat Partners say no, then I'm not sending my boys to build it!", mister Bondu told them. "I follow the rules!"
"But caint there a' be a compreemise?", MacDougal asked. "We can give the Pterannydons compensation..."
"What do you have to give?", the Parasolophus asked hootingly. "They need no money or supplies. They have had those aeries for generations!"
"Maybe we could relocate them to the eastern side of the Deep Pass.", mister Sanders suggested. "At least there the water is better for them..."
"But you fail to consider a dinosaur's maternal instinct!", Lealla's club tail came down with a thud. "They must give birth in the place they were hatched!"
"Many a dinosaur has been born in the hatcheries.", her partner, mister Trevor consoled. "They can adapt, trust me!"
"You better be right!", she rumbled.
"Just so long as the aqueduct can be made as planned...", Waters replied.
"Well, I ain't building where they don't say so!", mister Bondu said. "Please! People!", Flit cut in. "I'm sure we could reach a compromise..."
"Say! What about us?", Walker shouted.
"Stay calm, laddy!", MacDougal warned.
"As for you, mister Walker,", Flit turned to inform. "You will work down here, in the Chamber of the Strutters. You will assist in all matters concerning the Strutters, the World Beneath, and support any task conncerning the aqueduct system."
"That means I'm your boss, just like old times!", Waters commented.
"And as for you, mister Christopho.", Flit glared his eyes at him and he cringed. "You will also assist in these matters."
"But there is another task after that, right?", I said.
"Yes, there is.", Flit said. "We are aware of your previous profession in the outside world, and feel that this could be an asset to the Dinotopian culture. After your Path Of Shame punishment is completed, we wish you to be an 'Information Gatherer'; which means you are to go about and collect information for persons you are employed to, and report that information back to them. Your profession would also entail the gathering of certain rare things and delivering them to your employers. There is an option to freelance in this profession, but that would come after you have establisherd a satisfactory reputation."
"And you know what that means?", I asked and he shrugged. "That means that you are to learn everything that can be known about Dinotopia. Its' culture and legends, the ways of every town, city and outpost; and you'll be required to know the location of everything you are assigned to gather", I smiled. "This means that your education must be most extensive, and the best place to start is here with Flit. He has lived for ten thousand years, and is full of knowledge of Dinotopian history. Also, these ruins and passages contain reliefs depicting all sorts of Dinotopian practices. You may begin your learning while you assist these people."
"I think we got a bum deal...", Walker retorted as MacDougal came to collect him.
"Aw, stop whining!", Christopho told him. "At least they're giving us a chance!", he went to join them as MacDougal began struggling to get them up to speed on the project.
The others in the chamber, seeing that all was going well with the newcomers; and that macdougal was shopwing them maps of the project and explaining what was going on quietly in the corner, went about what they were doing. They discussed the particulars of the project, and voiced the dangers and hazards to the workers and the indiginous residents of the areas in question; and many minor arguments welled and subsided on certain points of discussion or another. I saw that all was well too, and turned to go.
I spent most of the rest of the time topside, overseeing this or that minor clan task, and helping to solve one minor problem or another until it was time to begin real work on the Halcyon Aqueduct project. I, for one, had very little to do with the beginnings of this project; and since the high council of Waterfall City hadn't summoned me for many weeks more, my life around clan Thundertail once again became lulled into a state of normalcy...
_____
|
|
|
Post by thundertail on May 10, 2008 4:47:29 GMT -5
FIFTY-SEVEN: "Agriculture..."
The weeks that passed turned into a month, and many strangers showed up wanting work on the aqueduct. Many of the clan sat at stations helping these people and saurians apply for this grand project, and ended up resruiting workers by the hundreds. Bracheosaurs and Ceratopsians were in high demand, for they would be the ones to do most of the heavy construction; but many could not as they were needed vitally for harvest and other work on the farms, and we understood this and didn't let the lack of such workers get us down. Mister Bondu was a merciless taskmaster when it came to building this aqueduct, and frowned most animatedly at any delay; for his family was traditionally the chief builders on the island, and his familys' reputation was on the line. As the project progressed, we of the clan went about our duties, and tried to work around the controlled mayhem that this project spurred. One of our duties was our obligation to our neighbors, especially out contract with Torres LaSage and her men; we supply them every month and they do not set foot in the Rainy Basin, an agreement that neither side wished to break. This time it was once again my turn to deliver the cartload of goods, and I had a little idea concerning them since they were more or less behaving themselves lately. It was probably due to the fact that we ousted Walker and Christopho, and I guess it was LaSage's way of showing her gratitude; but thier raids on other towns and caravans were few at best, as rumors had it; and thier methods now included asking for the booty before taking it anyway!
We presently set out to king Adolpho's castle, cart being pulled by Bross and Leeter, and a dozen Kirkys helping to both drive the cart and helped to load the cart and to offload it once we got there. We chose the usual contingent of Veloceraptor guards, and set out down the well worn path to the crackshell Coast. I had been spreading posters offering people in every town recruitment into the Rainy Basin Rangers, and this time I took along many such posters; for I was hoping to entice some of the pirates of lesser reputation into a better life, no matter what LaSage thought! I hummed a tune as Rex carried me down the road, and the Kirkys, who had brought along some of thier musical instruments, began absently playing to the tune as we went along.
"Hey Stinger.", Rex rumbled at last, for he had noticed the big satchel I carried along. "What's in the bag?"
"Recruitment posters and aplications.", I replied.
"What did you bring them for?", he asked.
"I'm going to do a little recruiting.", I told him.
"There?!", he exclaimed. "Those humans are nothing but trouble!"
"I figure it can't hurt to try.", I said. "Everyone deserves an equal chance to become a Ranger. They're Dinotopians, no matter how they conduct themselves."
"Knowing them, they won't do it...", Rex looked at his footing as the ground became rougher.
"Well, maybe I'll do it just to get under LaSage's skin!", I quipped, and Rex chuckled throatilly.
We continued on down the road, and soon came to the semi cleared area that was near the outskirts of LaSage's domain. The Veloceraptor guards fanned out and took to cover just like every time they escorted a shipment here, And Bross and Leeter pulled the cart the rest of the way through the bushy clearing toward the castle proper.
Like all the other times there, she had her men pile all sorts of flotsam up against the main doors for protection from big carnivores, and Rex and I nosed all the debris aside easily. I had Rex knock on the huge double doors at the main gate with his snout while I slinked around to the smaller side door and went in that way instead. I then grabbed the first pirate I saw from my spot in the shadows and told him with evil eyes to summon his boss; and upon letting him go, he went and told nearly every pirate in the place!
The whole castle seemed to erupt with men, climbing the wooden embattlements and bolstering the doors; the yelling and clamor was tremendous as I stood there watching the disorganized entertainment! As I became surrounded with sword carrying thugs, Quint showed up and pushed his way through the half scared men. He took a sneering look at me and threatened the other men to give me way; and as I stepped from the alcove I was in, he halted me with a palm.
"So, what you here for?", he said, looking this way and that.
"I brought your supplies, like we do every month.", I said, grinning at the bungling order the other pirates were trying to get into. "Why else would I come to this rotten place?"
"I thought it was because you missed my pretty face!", Quint shot back, then turned to the men tending the gate. "OPEN THE GATE!...!", he yelled.
Rex had stopped pounding on the doors when he heard Quint yell, but I had no idea why; and didn't know he had a little scheme cooking within his saurian brain! The score of pirates went to the main gate and undid the oaken beams that barred it, they removed the hasps and began to pull open the great doors. That was when Rex shoved the doors aside as hard as he could, slamming them against the stone casings; and he stepped inside, roaring and carrying on! All the pirates scampered out of his path, taking defensive stances as they retreated; and needless to say that the mayhem created was tremendous!
"HELLO,... HUMANS!!...", Rex roared expressively in English, watching mirthfully at thier extreme dismay!
I shrugged at Quint helplessly and walked up to my Tyranosaur Partner. "REX!... What the heck you doing, you nut!", I rubbed his offered muzzle. "You want to give everyone a heart attack?!"
"Sorry...", he rumbled in his own language. "I couldn't resist!"
"Rex, could you move so we can get by?", Bross rumbled from the cart behind the larger saurian.
"Yeah! Move it or lose it!", squeaked Larry Kirky, who was driving the cart.
"Oh, yeah...", Rex said as he moved forward and turned to view the cart entering the castle.
Bross and Leeter pulled inside the courtyard of king Adolpho's castle, leary of the pirates now slowly regaining composure and slowly getting near the cart. They were still a little nervous of Rex, who eyed them one by one where he stood, and I stood by his side as Quint finally got enough courage to get within twenty feet of the hulking carnivore beside me. It was at that moment that a woman emerged from an upper portal overlooking the courtyard below. LaSage scanned the commotion for a moment, then sauntered around and down the stone steps once her eyes met mine.
"Ok, you slugs!... What's going on here?!...", she said as she reached the cobbled courtyard floor. "Well, well! The supplies are here!", LaSage glared at her men. "Why aren't you taking it?!..."
"There's a T-Rex!...", Quint told her.
"Shut up...!", LaSage turned to me. "So, what brings you here?... How's it going, Rexy?...", she bent to look around me at him.
"Just delivering your supplies...", I said as Rex winked at her.
"Let's see what we got..", she moved to the cart, and I trailed her.
"Hiya, babe!", squeaked the Kirky holding the reigns, Larry flicked the reigns and frowned.
"Wen? Is that you?", LaSage squinted.
"Not me, but Wen's my mate this year...", Larry turned.
"Well, tell her when you see her that if I ever see her again, I'll peel her, parboil her and serve her on a platter on a bed of wild rice!", LaSage barked.
"Mmmmmm!... Sounds delish!", Larry smacked his lips. "I'll give her the recepie!", Larry leapt onto the yoke, crawled up Leeter's back and untangled the bridle; which had gotten tangled around her head frill for some reason.
"Little creep...", LaSage whispered, then turned to me. "So, what's in the bag?", she indicated the one strapped around my shoulder.
"Oh!... Well, I thought I'd make your boys an offer...", I said, glad she reminded me. "See, we...", but she cut me off.
"I think we'd better discuss this someplace private. Follow me.", she walked back to the stone steps, and indicated I follow.
Rex eyed me in concern as Quint slapped the other pirates into the action of unloading the cart, the Kirkys helping by manhandling the supplies to them. I went with LaSage up the stairs, around into the portal she emerged from, through a couple of chambers and into an office of sorts. It was not really an office, but a dining hall of sorts, huge table dominating its' center and a huge fireplace dominating one wall. Columned archways lined each side with doorways that led to other parts of the castle, and the remainder of the walls were decorated with paintings and tapestries stained with the remnants of many wild parties. I looked around while she took the thronelike seat in front of the fireplace, indicating that I sit in one of the chairs to her right.
"So, what's that offer you were saying?...", LaSage said as she sprawled.
"In case you didn't know, we are always looking for people to help out in the Rainy Basin Rangers.", I began. "We hand out flyers to every town we deliver goods to.", I looked at her. "Frankly, we covered every town on the island."
"And you think my boys would be interested?", she half stated.
"Well, yours is the only place we haven't tried.", I said meekly, then more strongly. "Besides, your men might be just what we're looking for..."
"Those idiots?!", she chuckled. "You must be pretty hard up!"
"Just thought I'd ask, is all.", I said. "Could I at least try?"
"Sure. What do you got to lose?...", LaSage took off a stylish boot, wiggling toes. "You'll probably be laughed right out of the castle!"
"Thanks for the permission.", I said as humbly as she deserved. "You're acting nice all of a sudden. What do you have up your sleeve this time?", this I demanded!
"What makes you think that?", she looked offended. "Besides, you helped me out when those outsiders took over around here. The least I could do was be a little more friendly... What's so wrong with that?", the other boot hit the floor.
"Nothing, I guess...", I considered. "But you must know you have this reputation..."
"Who doesn't?", she stood and went to a side table. "Drink?"
She held up a bottle of Tyranosaur Breath, "You know stinger, I've always been a little jealous of you...", I shrugged as she poured two portions.
"How so?", I asked noncommittally.
"Well, being a newcomer here aside, I was amazed at how you organised those scalys to do what you wanted.", she came over, sat and placed the goblet in front of me. "Now you got a great little empire there; but the thing is, I never could understand why you hadn't taken over the island...", she sipped.
"I tried to fit in, to get along with them.", I said, eyeing the goblet. "I never tried to make them do anything that they didn't want to do in the first place.", I sipped as well. "They wanted freedom and respect, and I showed them how to get it. I had to work with them so they would respect the others on the island, and now they are in pretty good rapport with them."
"Of course you might know that I want what you have...", she said, but I cut her off.
"We have proven to you many times that that's quite impossible.", I stated.
"I know, but I been thinking...", she took another sip. "Why don't I do what you did?... I mean minus the scalys.", she looked at me. "What you did for me proves I'm losing my touch as a pirate. Besides, I'm getting too old to be galavanting about the countryside raiding and pillaging all the time..."
"You want to change your ways?!", I couldn't help the chuckle. "Come on, LaSage!... I'm as gullible as the next man, but nobody would believe THAT!"
"I'm VERY serious!", she said. "I'm beginning to lose respect of my men. Any Tom, Dick or Harry can come in and do all sorts of mayhem around here; as was evident with Christopho and Walker. Quint feels that he's more in charge than I am...", her defensive look turned to one of concern. "And what bothers me the most is he may very well be right!"
"So, I guess you're asking me how to change your ways.", I ran my finger around the rim of my goblet as I conjectured. "You see how I've done it, yet you still don't see..."
"Look! I didn't ask for the life I had!", she blurted. "I mean, I had it tough. Surviving all by myself in the wilderness, avoiding scaly carnivores and such. Then I met up with Quattrone and his band of outsiders, and life has been one adventure after another!", she winced at the memory. "But now it looks like it's all but over..."
"I'm not supposed to tell you this, but Rosemary told me her version of the story.", I said. "From what I gathered, you had a choice on which path to choose. You chose to have that kind of life, and nobody else!"
"She left me there!", LaSage looked truely agitated. "I was all alone, and all those scalys!...", she pursed her lips. "I hated her after that - and everything she stands for!... If someone did that to you, wouldn't you feel the same?"
"She said she had a choice too.", I told her. "She could have stayed with you and hoped help would arrive, or go out and find help. She chose to go find help; but when she returned with it, you were nowhere to be found. They found your belongings strewn about with blood on it and feared the worst.", I looked at her. "They thought you were dead!" "They could have expanded the search.", she returned. "They shouldn't have given up that easily."
"They did all they could.", I told her. "If I were in the same situation I would have done the same thing. There's no reason to hold a grudge, you know! Time marches on, and things change."
"Anyway!...", LaSage shrugged it off. "Got any ideas about what I said?"
"Well,...", I thought a little. "You need to make this place into a community, one able to support all these men. You'll need things like food, shelter and clothing for starters. The shelter is the castle, so that's no problem except for its' upkeep. Clothing you could buy at the other towns with the treasure you stole. Food would have to be grown, and that means starting a farm. All your men would need to be taught how to farm, and do all the things necesary to keep this community running.", I looked at her. "That's all I got for now!"
"You think I need to make this place like all the rest?", she bridged her fingers and placed her chin on it. "What makes you think I want to do that?"
"Oh, I figured that, since you wanted to be like me,", I told her. "You might have wanted to start out like I started out."
"Of course you can realise that they would never go along with it.", she got up and went for the bottle again. "Most of those lugs are here because they're trying to get away from that!"
"Well, then what would you do?", I asked.
"I don't know...", she poured. "You just don't go from piracy to planting overnight...", she walked over. "I could have an all-out mutiny on my hands!", she sat.
"Why don't you NOT do it overnight?", I suggested. "Do it gradually, a little at a time. Have a few of them do small chores, like repair roofs, request they plant a certain favorite vegetable or something like that. Ask one of them to go to a nearby town and get some article of clothing, but ask them to buy it instead.", I smiled. "You're smart and shifty, you can pull it off!"
"Hey, you're right!", LaSage's spirits lifted. "I can do it real sneaky!...", she looked at me sternly. "But we have no farming implements."
"We might have some spares.", I offered. "I could have them included in the next supply run."
"But you guys will find out.", she countered. "I don't want nobody knowing!"
"Don't worry about us!", I said. "We know how to keep secrets."
"And don't tell those slugs out there!", she drank deeply. "I'll never live it down as it is!", she got up and went to the door leading outside, and I got up and followed her.
We made it through the passageways, faintly hearing music which increased in volume as we walked. We finally made it out on the veranda looking out over the courtyard. We both saw the same thing at the same time, and couldn't believe our eyes! The dozen or so Kirkys that came with us were alternately playing thier instruments, singing and dancing on the cart; Bross and Leeter bobbing thier crested heads in tune with the rithym, and Rex dancing in place as well. The flabberghasted pirates were either watching in silence, swaying to the beat or clapping in tune; and Quint just stood there, leaning against a wall, arms across his chest smirking. LaSage's look showed she was quite dismayed at the spectacle, and I just laughed as I led the way down to them.
"What's all this?", LaSage stormed to Quint and punched his arm. "I didn't say you could throw a party!"
"Yeah, what are you boneheads doing?", I chuckled. "Us Kirkys are entertainers, not fighters!", Larry replied.
"They were getting ugly, and this seemed to calm them.", Bross told me.
"Music has charms!", another Kirky stated and continued playing.
"Whatever...", LaSage said. "Anyway, Stinger has something to say to you. Gather 'round, you mugs!"
Ever so slowly, the various pirates collected in a loose knot on the leeward side of the cart, kind of in between Rex and I and thier leader and her sidekick. They grumbled and whispered to each other, not having a clue as to what I wanted them for. As Quint whistled to get thier attention, I pulled the satchel I had around my waist to the front and got out the papers and scrolls I had in there. I smiled at thier sneering with all my might and unrolled the scroll, then began a preamble before reading the scroll.
"Hey, guys! I bet you don't know why I wanted to speak to you.", I began. "You see, the thing here is I have an offer to make to you.", I heard thier questioning rumbles. "Now, before you say anything, please hear me out."
"You heard him!", Quint said. "What do you have in mind?"
"I'm sure all of you know about the Rainy Basin Rangers, and all we do to insure safe passage on the roads.", I began, and saw they were both aprehensive and curious. "Now, we have been sending out recruitment posters in every town and outpost, looking for new recruits and things. There are two bad things about this. One is everyone that wants to has already signed up. The second thing is we're not getting the right caliber recruits these days."
"What's this got to do with us?", shouted someone from the back.
"You see, my offer is you can join the Rainy Basin Rangers and start a new life in our ranks.", I said. "You get free room and board, respect and the good feeling you get from helping others."
"You want us to work with scalys?", came another shout.
"The only one I like helping is myself!", came another, and the chuckles that followed.
"I like this life!", someone else said.
"I eat good...", another shout.
"My respect comes from fightin'!", rumbled another.
"Shut up, you losers!", Quint said, then turned to me. "So, you're saying that if we can't beat you, join you?"
"Well, if that's the way you want to put it...", I said. "But at least consider the benefits!", I took out the papers and began passing them around to those who grabbed them. "Here... Read this over and you can take your time with your decision."
"Stinger! Are you trying to steal my men away from me?!", LaSage accused.
"No. But the decision should be thier own.", I told her.
"None of you are getting away from me that easily!", LaSage warned, then reconsidered. "On the other hand, there are a few of you that ain't cutting the mustard! I guess you can go, but the rest stays!", the ones in question looked meekly at her.
Those that held the flyers squinted at the words there, grumbling in frustration or disappointment; evidentally not understanding some of the wording. Many of the others couldn't read it at all, and showed thier neighbors the papers, who either couldn't read either or wouldn't read it to them out of meanness! I let them study the papers for a while, then looked at my group, who was looking around at these unruly men; then I looked at LaSage.
"So, those guys you're letting go.", I said. "Could they go with us today, or do you still have plans for them?"
"Well, I sure would like to flog them; but I'll leave that to Quint.", LaSage grabbed the pirate in question by the collar and shoved him forward. "What are you waiting for? Give them the heave-ho!", she kicked at him.
Quint staggered to the group of surly men, looking them over like Rex would at the evening feast; and grabbed a rotund man with a face like cottage cheese, shoving him out in the open. He pushed aside two pirates and reached in between four more to pull out a skinny lad, no more than eighteen, I'd guess; and threw him to the ground next to the other, who pulled him to his feet. Another man huddled in place as he was grabbed, gasping and begging for mercy with his hands as he was slapped into line beside the other two. Quint emerged from the midst of the pirates, wiping his hands as he resumed his place beside Lasage.
"That's all we can spare so far...", he commented. "What you gonna do with them?"
"Train them for the Rainy Basin Rangers. What else?", I said. "Provided they survive...", these men gulped!
"Ok, the rest of you! Listen up!", LaSage said after giving me a sidelong glance. "Your performance lately has been really terrible!... It's getting so a person can't get a decent meal around here!", she had her hands on her hips, bootless toes wriggling. "We are missing the basic foods around here, and this has got to end!"
"Want us to plan another raid?", Quint suggested. "We haven't gotten Baz in a long while..."
"No, you oaf!", she glared at him. "I want something fresher than that!", she turned back to the pirates. "I want you to all get started on a little garden...", groans. "I'm just dying for a fresh salad!..."
"We don't farm.", Quint said.
"We don't have any tools...", came a reply.
"Expect us to plough with our teeth?!", came another response.
"That's what I came here to get away from!...", said someone else.
"Dummy up!", she yelled after many moments of like replies. "We're going to do this or I'll use every last one of you for fertilizer!"
"Damon is right.", Quint whispered in LaSage's ear, but I was close enough to hear. "We don't have the tools."
"Not to worry!", I spoke up. "I think we have some spare shovels and things. We might even have a spare plough!", I thought a moment. "Say, if none of you knows how to farm, I know someone that can help. Flatbottom is an expert in farming. Also anything to do with the ground!"
"I don't think I know the human...", Quint said.
"Flatbottom is a Triceratops.", I informed him. "He is a professional excavator, and knows how to build foundations besides farming."
"A scaly!", LaSage scoffed. "I ain't havin one o' those around!..."
"You want a garden, or what?", I shot back. "Besides, he knows everything you might ever need to know about gardening. He might even help you plough the field, you never know!..."
"Let me think about it.", LaSage said. "We'll take the tools, at any rate.", she turned and waved with her fingers.
LaSage pushed Quint ahead of her as she headed for the steps leading to her chambers. The rest of her pirates just stood there dumbly, alternately studying the papers, shoving each other and guffawing at the ones LaSage rejected. We just stood there as the Kirkys prepared the cart for travel, dogging down any loose things in back and stowing thier instruments. Suddenly LaSage turned at the base of the steps and glared at her men.
"Back to your posts!", she screamed. "Lord! What louts!"
She stomped up the steps as Quiint turned and rushed to the men, slapping them into motion. We took that as our cue to turn around and leave. Shrugging, I indicated the three pirates left to join us with my hand; and they shuffled in behind us as we left king Adolpho's castle. I told them that they could ride in the back with the Kirkys, but they shook thier heads no.
"Aw, c'mon!", offered one Kirky.
"We don't bite!", offered another.
"Not unless you make us angry or we're hungry!", Larry Kirky added as he flicked Bross and Leeter's reigns.
"You're not helping!", I said atop Rex, then turned to them. "So what's your names?"
Being pirates, I would have thought that they would be very boisterous; but they were a tight-lipped trio, that's for sure! After about an hour or so of marching, they haltingly gave thier names. The skinny kid was named Sullivan, the first portly one with more hair than the other one was named McVeigh and the nearly bald fat one was called Jake. Thier names we got through hours of attempted friendly chat by all of us until they loosened up enough to talk.
Sullivan looked to be the preverbial ninty-pound weakling, for it looked like one of the Kirkys could easily take him! McVeigh had ratlike facial features, and looked like the type to betray his own mother for profit. Jake's shaven head of stubble had many scars and disfigurations, one that had evidentally seen many fights; either with swords and knives or with the carniverous dinosaurs. His permanent sneer was more from one of those fights than an actual expression, but the way he eventually carried on told me he lied a lot! We would have to watch these men very closely from now on, because they looked like they could start a lot of trouble!
Near the end of the journey to clan Thundertail, the three former pirates relented and took spots on the back of the cart. They were to be our guests until we could decide what we wanted to do with them, and the Kirkys tried to make them feel a little more at home; but thier trepidation against 'scalys' and thier general dislike of anybody in particular made them most apprehensive of having the Kirkys in such close proximity! At long last the boomerang shaped clearing came into view, and the multitude of clan members going about thier business were soon seen; but the activity in camp was not like it usually was from the way nearly everyone trudged to thier duties. I hopped off Rex and stopped the first that passed by.
"What's going on?", I asked Skipper the Parasolophus.
"Ooh! It's just terrible!", Skipper said. "This morning Ursula didn't come to breakfast...", she sniffed. "Oh Stinger!... She's dead...!", she went off, crying.
I bowed as I turned to my group. "Guys, I got some bad news.", I walked up to the cart to look at the Kirkys. "I'm afraid Ursula passed on this morning..."
"No...", one said.
"A shame...", said another.
"I was her rickshaw driver!...", Larry said as he jumped off the cart. "I got to go...", he ran.
"Look, all of you can go pay your respects.", I said as the rest slid off as well. "We'll take care of the cart and be by later.", I looked at the three pirates.
"It looks like you got your first job. Two of the guards will show you where you can unhitch Bross and Leeter, then they will show you where you'll stay.", I nodded at one of the Veloceraptor guards, and he nodded, gathering one of his kin. "I'll be back later, ok?", humans and Veloceraptors nodded as they were shown what to do; and I ran off in the direction of Ursula's Gypsey wagon.
When I got there a crowd of several hundred Kirkys were congregated, many of the larger saurians and humans skirting the area where the tiny wagons were parked. I made my way to Ursula's wagon and found Selma the Ovaraptor huddled by Ursula, who was on the ground by the steps to her cart. Selma finished her eaxamination and removed the stethoscope, ticking to herself and rising. Harold stood near by, Mildred by his side, the latter crying and the former about to; and the many tiny sobs of Ursula's kin was heard all about. Wen emerged from the Gypsey wagon with a few slips of paper in her tiny hands, and tears streming down her eyes as well.
"Seems she knew it was soon...", Wen said. "These notes say she left some of her things to us..."
I bent a knee and gently touched her muzzle. "Off to the hunting grounds, my princess...", I whispered, closing her glassy eye. I did not even hear Wen.
"The Kirky Circus has lost a valuable member today.", Harold said. "I make an understatement when I say she'll be missed...", he bowed.
"Stinger. She left you this...", Wen handed me Ursula's crystal ball and ring that made it glow.
"Weren't you going to be the fortune teller?...", I choked, really forcing the smile. "You'll need it for the act..."
"You're right...", she said as I handed it back, receiving a tearful hug in the process.
"I think it's time...", Mildred sniffed. "Boys?..."
From out of the crowd of Kirkys, Ursula's rickshaw was brought out; the top had been removed, and a platform had been attatched where the seat would have been. Two Kirkys lifted Ursula's body and placed it on the platform, and Larry came out and took his spot in front. He began to pedal out of the area slowly, careful not to jostle the rickshaw too roughly on Ursula's last ride in it. He traveled out of the area, throngs of Kirkys following behind in a somber precession; and the rest of us followed them. It was Kirky tradition, I found out later, to take the deceased as far as they could to the hunting grounds; and this meant a secluded area of forest on the other side of the clearing, where they all would share a piece of her as was carnivore tradition.
We followed to the edge of the other side of the clearing and watched them depart. Walker and Christopho were unloading a cartload of automotive parts near where the Kirkys were traveling, and stopped to stare. Christopho seemed to know what was going on, so he nudged walker to stand straight. Christopho made the Sign of the Cross over his chest and bowed his head, but Walker just lowered his head, grunting in disgust...
_____
|
|
|
Post by thundertail on Jun 16, 2008 17:49:38 GMT -5
FIFTY-EIGHT: "The Tinkerer..."
Word soon spread around the island concerning the demise of Ursula Kirky, our healer; and hundreds of messages of condolence arrived for us by Postal bird and Skybax messenger. Not a lot was asked of us from other communities, evidentally in consideration of out grievence of our loss; however, it was not really necesary as carnivores recover from death somewhat faster than most. Never the less, we apreciated the sense of solitude they gave us; even though life went on, and so did our duties around Dinotopia.
At a meeting of the clan in the ampetheatre in the underground city of Halcyon, an issue came up concerning the official names we were going to give our citys and towns. Halcyon and Kinan Van were the traditional names of the original two citys in the area, so these would not be changed. These were to be the official main citys to our empire; but there were areas in the Rainy Basin that were equally important to the clan. At the pyramid of Teeklan we would store all our documents, books and scrolls, and would be a library of sorts and a center for learning; so we decided to name the area 'The Teeklan Ackademy' after the pyramid.
The area we set aside for agriculture, now boasting nearly forty acres so far and sporting many dozens of plots; now a seperate farming community complete with barns, sheds and living quarters, was essential to our lives now and equally important to us. After many suggestions on the name of the area, it was decided that the name of this area was to be 'Greengrowth'. The area where the Retirement Homes were located lay in and around the Temple of Orous, and was soon becoming a spa of sorts; where the old and young alike would stop for mudbaths or general pampering, a place to relax and spend the day in pleasant surroundings. The name we decided to call the place was 'Orous' Retreat'. The boomerang shaped clearing where clan Thundertail originally claimed as thier home since as far back as anybody alive could remember was a very important historical landmark to them; for many generations of Tyranosaur were born and raised there, and a special name was voted upon by all Tyranosaur clan members. It was to be called 'Clanhome'.
Of course, all the clans around the Rainy Basin who allied themselves to us wished to officially name thier original territories too; so we let them vote among themselves, and they came up with some wonderful names as well. The Pteranodons living in Crevice Aerie wished thier roost named 'Strafewing Canyon'. The clan of Tyranosaurs that lived north of us and led by Snaptail wanted thier domain to be named 'Sharptooth Meadow'. Of course, the Mosasaurs that lived in the Polongo River and the neighboring marshes wished to have thier territory named too; and through Soo, thier matriarch, they wished thier place to be called 'Murkwater'. There were three clans of Allosaurs allied with us in the south, and they wished thier collective clan areas to be called 'The Realm Of Silent Footfalls'. Of the many smalller territories, they all wished to have thier homes named after thier current leaders; and thier wish was unanimousely granted.
Since these citys and towns were currently so far apart, nearly all of them insisted to have Postal and courier service provided for thier towns. Since so many wished this service, it would no doubt put a strain on the Postal Guild personell; this being what thier representitive told us, even though we offered to construct Post Offices for every town that wished the service. Instead, they insisted for only the Rainy Basin Central Post Office, with the addition of the Halcyon Post Office; and all other towns would receive service in the event of emergencies. The Skybax couriers present told us that they would provide thier services as needed, provided the location was along thier intended routes at the time they were needed. We were forced to agree with these decrees; but we decided to institute regular message runs between all towns along with our supply runs to those towns as well as any other outside assistence we would receive.
More weeks passed, and work on the aqueduct system progressed greatly. The Bondu construction family and the multitude of workers they employed worked dillegently, carving out trails that would lead to the construction sites through jungles and mountains; setting up camps supplied with everything they would need, preparing the worksites to thier needs and beginning to mold the landscape for the aqueduct that would eventually pass through the landscape.
A work team had gone to the Millennium Queen, erecting platforms all around the ship to work from and then demolition work could begin on the ship. There were many problems on this phase of the operation, for the solid steel the ship was made of proved nearly impenetrable to the methods Dinotopians have on hand to work the metal; cutting it was nearly impossible as thier saws had to be redesigned to hack into it, and torches of thier technology could not produce enough heat to intitate cutting.
It was deemed prudent to invent devices similar to Oxy-acetelene torches to do the job; and Flit had invented an electrical cutting device not unlike a plasma cutter made from technology devised in the World Beneath. With these projects going on, and the test of improvised technology on the part of Dinotopian injenuity; the aqueduct slowly began to take shape. And as the project got further under way, many more Dinotopians grew interested enough to help out. I am sure that I speak for all creatures of the Rainy Basin that thier participation would not go unapreciated!
Another ongoing task for a person of my caliber is the overseeing of trade agreements between all the other cities and towns we do business with, and to make sure that the promised cargo gets to where it is supposed to go. The two months I spent on the road completing this task went by pretty smoothly in many towns, but there were a few places where improvements could definitely be made.
At the town of Widdershins, just west of Azonthas, they grew rice; and wished to trade for Rainy Basin fruits and herbs. Thier complaint was the opinion that they should get more for thier crop, an equal weight for an equal weight; and I had to prove to them that fruit as exotic as we gather was worth a lot more than an equal amount of rice, and they were getting a bargain already. Not being put off, and fearing they were being swindled, they insisted that the high council at Waterfall City officiate the case. I had not much choice but to agree, and sent a Postal Bird from there to arrange it; but the reply came back that they would hear the case in six months' time.
Another problem arose in the small village of Camaraton, in the foothills that fed the headwaters of Stillwater Creek, and west and slightly south of Azonthas; who grew rye, raised Apeycamelus herds and mined copper. They wished to obtain flint for thier copper forges, dyes for thier Apeycamelus wool and Mammoth milk; but our skills at obtaining these items for them were growing lax. The Mammoths at Tentpole of the Sky can produce only so much milk, and thier currently growing population deemed that they export less of it. The flint, mostly mined from Backwood Flats, was growing harder to get ahold of due to the draw on manpower and dino power that our aqueduct project was placing on the general population. Fine dyes, usually obtained from the palatial city of Tutak Abad, was partially off limits because they were ancient enemys of Chandara; and they opposed any culture that would help them rebuild thier empire. All this we found out for them, and promised we would find other sources for the goods they needed; and this seemed to placate them, for these were reasonable people.
Another problem arose in the mountainous town of Amberclime, on the eastern side of the Polongo river, upstream of the Time Towers and downstream of the Edax Feeding Grounds. Thiers was a mining community, reaping amber, rubys, emerald and other precious gems from thier mines. Thier main imports were salt, fruits from the Outer Island, and they traded many other comodities for Drachs. The procurement of salt was not much trouble, nor was money too hard to come by; but fruits originating from the Outer Island was most difficult to obtain, requiring crossing the Great Desert or other trecherous routes, and having a small sea voyage to go on just to import the fruit to the various ports of Dinotopia. Since many of the routes were deemed too dangerous by the high council of Waterfall City, many traders would not even attempt the journey, and we told them that. But even so, they insisted we try harder to get the goods they seemed to so desperately need; so all I could do was to promise them this, and have our caravans redouble thier efforts in this matter.
In keeping with my verbal promise to Torres LaSage, I had sent volunteers to her castle in order to allow her to borrow farming implements and be instructed on how to use them. The ones I sent left a week or so before I got back from my trade journey, and the tales that Flatbottom the Triceratops and Mark Sereno told of thier time there was most disturbing indeed; though I secretly thought thier experience was typical of what the type of characters there at the castle were capable of administrating! I came to them in the middle of thier arrival as they were ranting to the others in the group.
"...It was just awful!", Flatbottom was saying, his body a roadmap of dirt and minor abrasions. "...They treated me in ways not befitting a civilized being!..."
"...Those persons were idiots!...", Mark added, panting with a black eye and reddened jaw.
"Now wait!...", I said, working my way through the crowd. "Why don't you two slow down and tell me just what happened from the beginning."
"Well, it all started after we loaded the cart.", began Flatbottom. "We went to the castle, knocked for the longest time before anybody went to the door..."
"They party a lot.", I replied. "Go on."
"As soon as they saw it was us, they immediately surrounded the cart.", Flatbottom continued. "They started throwing insults at us and poking at me with swords... and two of them spat on me!"
"I read them that note I was told to read.", Mark added. "They wouldn't even listen to me... All they did was laugh!"
"I mean, we tried to act according to the Code of Dinotopia,", Flatbottom said. "But those ruffians could even try the patience of a saint!"
"I know they're bad, Flatbottom.", I said. "Tell me more."
"Ok, anyway...", Flatbottom continued. "After hearing the note, they completely raided the cart!... They took everything and pushed mister Sereno out of the cart. They alternately hit him and me until Torres came out; and she told them to behave themselves... What was the way she did it?"
"I believe the correct term was 'Pipe down and drop the goods!'.", replied Mark. "She then had me repeat what I read previousely. We thought everything was going to be all right after that; but we were grossly mistaken!"
"Quint made mister Sereno unhitch me, and they dragged the cart inside.", Flatbottom shuddered. "When I tried to follow them, they closed the doors in my face!"
"I protested, so they socked me again.", Mark told me. "They knocked me out and dragged me inside."
"I stayed outside all night, and it was cold!", said Flatbottom, shivering. "Good thing the Veloceraptor guards were there... That forest is spooky!"
"We make fire. We protect Flatbottom.", Dragonfly added. "Could do nothing for human..."
"I woke up a while later in thier dungeon.", Mark Sereno told us. "I was roused a while later and dragged to thier dining area. A party was going on, and a feast; and those thugs were fighting about who insulted who...", he touched his eye. "There was no sense of order there whatsoever!"
"That's LaSage's goons for you!", I said.
"LaSage showed up about then, and had me sit next to her.", Mark said. "She had all the scrolls I brought with us, and was looking them over. She asked me about many points contained in the scrolls, offering many dishes to eat. I only ate small amounts, and answered as many of her questions as I could."
"What did she want to know?", I asked.
"Well,... Mostly about my intentions and such...", Mark looked worried. "But she did it in a most suggestive way.", He looked around and found his wife, Sarah. "She made... advances toward me!... She grasped me in ways I can't speak out loud...!"
"She was like that with me, too.", I tried to soothe. "Of course you resisted..."
"Yes!... It was most difficult to tell her what we were going to do for her and her men...", Mark looked somberly at his wife. "Oh, Sarah!... I'm so sorry!..."
"It wasn't your fault.", Sarah commented, coming near to grasp his hand. "The witch!"
"It was about this time that some of those idiots started throwing food for some reason!", Mark said. "I hid behind my chair, then one of the thugs grabbed me and dragged me back to the dungeon..."
"In the morning the doors swung open, and the pirates came looking for me.", Flatbottom continued. "They prodded me with poles and made me go inside the castle.", he looked furious! "The humiliation didn't stop there, oh no!... They tossed water on me, saying I stunk... They should talk!... They started kicking me and pulling my tail, the big one grabbed my horn and began leading me around with it, and most of the rest pushed from behind!..."
"I was led out of the dungeon, saw what they were doing and tried to stop them.", Mark said. "That's when they slugged me again!"
"He went down, and I broke free and went to defend him.", Flatbottom continued. "I knocked four of them out in the bargain!... Hee, hee, hee!..."
"When I could see clearly again, LaSage was there.", Mark continued. "She was yelling at them and cuffing them around. Quint was shoving them into line, and the suplies we brought were breing pulled out."
"She, in no uncertain terms, was telling them to treat us with some respect.", Flatbottom continued. "She told them that we were going to teach them how to farm; and they were going to learn whether they liked it or not!", he turned to me. "At that point I didn't care if we taught them or not. I just wanted to go home!"
"They began loading the plough we brought into the cart.", Mark Sereno told us. "They had me hitch Flatbottom to it, and they prodded both of us out of the castle and to a scraggly plot of ground. LaSage wanted me to tell them exactly how to plough, and wanted us to show them."
"They made us plough the whole field, rocks and all!", Flatbottom said. "It took us all day, and those buffoons were no help!... Ohhhh! My aching feet!..."
"You must remember that they finally let us stop to eat.", Mark told him. "They let you forage near the forest, and they gave me food too."
"Yeah, I remember...", Flatbottom said. "All I had was dried weeds, and they gave you dry bread and water!"
"They're not much for hospitality...", I commented. "You were gone for how long?"
"About a week, not including travel time.", Mark said. "My accomodations never changed, but Flatbottom fared better."
"We saw, we wanted to help.", Dragonfly said. "We do nothing but wait. We afraid for both lives!"
"That night they shoved me inside, and forced me into a chamber off the courtyard.", Flatbottom said. "It must have been a paddock of sorts, but it stank of unwashed human. No dinosaur lived there for a long time!...They didn't even provide fodder, or hay to lay on - just cold stone... ", his face clouded with a memory. "About midnight LaSage and Quint showed up, Quint carrying a rather large chest and LaSage carrying a riding crop. Quint left the chest, kicking me in the ribs as he went to wait by the paddock gate. LaSage went on about how she hated scalys - especially my kind; and she used language not fit to be repeated!... She went on about how she had to take care of one of my kind, and that he didn't like her either; and that since that one wasn't around, that I would do...", His eyes widened. "I thought she was going to use the riding crop on me, but instead she went to the chest; and I couldn't see what she was doing, but then when she came over I knew just what was going to happen!"
"What did she do?", I was concerned now!
"Oh!... It was just awful, Stinger!... Such humiliation!...", wailed Flatbottom. "She had in her hands many golden chains and jewelery... I protested, but she began placing them all over my head and frill like a female!... I tried to back away and shake the stuff off, but she clubbed me on the earslit or across the eye if I moved!... Quint had a pole, and he would poke me with it to stop me from moving... I had never felt so degraded in my entire life!...", he sniffed amid both shocked gasps and muted chuckling. "Stinger, how could a human be so twisted?"
"Well, from what I heard, she had a terrible life, so she says.", I told him, trying to calm him with muzzle strokes. "But you have to know that there are people a lot meaner in the outside world..."
"It seemed that it lasted for hours; but after she had her 'fun', they left me alone.", said Flatbottom. "I couldn't sleep a wink all night!"
"I heard your brays and protests, but could do nothing!", Mark Sereno said. "Oh Flatbottom, I was locked up!"
"We heard screams too.", Mosquito said. "We try to find way in, but guards were on duty."
"The rest of our stay there was no better, let me tell you!", Flatbottom said. "I had alternate rounds of being ridden, wrestled, yelled at, poked, spat at, food thrown at, punched, kicked and defacated on; and this was over and above having to plough the plot of ground again.", he shook his head. "I'd much rather have LaSage humiliate me again!..."
"The men there had no grasp of what I was trying to teach them.", Mark said. "All they'd do is swat me if they didn't understand something; and that was at nearly every other point!", it was Mark's turn to shake his head. "The only ones trying to take it seriousely was LaSage and Quint!..."
"LaSage wants to try and change herself and her men.", I said. "Quint just wants to go along with her."
"Some changing!...", Flatbottom said.
"They're not used to being nice...", I told him. "That's probably the nicest they have EVER treated folks!"
"Anyway..., leaving the rest of the cruelty aside,", Mark Sereno continued. "We got the crop planted. We gave them corn, squash, carrots and peas. We also told them how to water, weed and take care of the garden until the crop comes in. LaSage said she would get word to us in case anything goes wrong, and they might need help at harvest time."
"We'll watch for it.", I said. "And if you like, I'll have a word with her about how you two were treated. I realise you two were put under undue hardship at thier hands, and wanted to say it was the bravest thing any of you could do."
"I guess for the sake of the clan, I'd do anything.", Flatbottom commented. "So long as I don't have to go there again!"
"I, for one, felt honored to help those people to act like regular Dinotopians.", Mark said. "But I'm with Flatbottom: so long as I don't go back there again!"
I nodded as they turned and went to get cleaned up, unhitched and back to thier regular duties. I took Skipper to LaSage the next time they called for assistence with thier new garden. They were having difficulty as thier plants weren't coming up they way they wanted. It was a combination of a lack of weeding, irregular watering and total lack of interest in the men. Of course I told them why thier garden was doing so badly, but they didn't dare treat me or Skipper the same way they treated Flatbottom and Sereno!
I took the opportunity to comment on how they had been treated, and suggested rather strongly not to treat any of my people that way again. I scolded them, saying we were only trying to help them, and to show a little respect for once. As her men jeered me, she said in her usual roundabout way that she would think about it. I left king Adolpho's castle with the same mood as I usually do: disgusted as all get-out!
At long last, the Kirkys were finished cataloging the ruins in Kinan Van and Halcyon; and the library at the pyramid of Teeklan was brimming with completed volumes. Now exploration could begin deeper in the World Beneath; especially the chamber of the Strutters; for there were reliefs down there that were even older than the ones in the realms above. As we cleared the rubble from certain passageways beneath Kinan Van, more chambers were revealed; and the passages led deeper into the World Beneath, and soon we were exploring the same passages that Will Dennison's father explored almost two hunmdred years ago. Carl Scott told us that they also explored those caves when Sirus Crabb trapped them there when on one of that scoundrel's schemes. Time passed quickly as I took my turn exploring down there, and pretty soon it was time to go to Waterfall City so I could defend the traders in the clan about that shortage dispute with Widdershins. Rex went with me, along with Ripper and Snapper, Flit took time off the aqueduct project and went along, and Skipper Parasolophus pulled the cart that carried all our supplies. We entered Waterfall City with evidence of our case and high hopes that this matter could be settled as civilly as possible, and got a regal welcome as we crossed the bridge that led to the city proper.
After a preliminary hearing, and the case was heard by both us and the ones representing Widdershins, a recess was called so the delegates could weigh all the evidence presented; plus the new evidence of the recent aquisitions we made for Widdershins, and we all were given a small tour of the city while we waited. All our friends here greeted us on the street as we toured: Ruby Mattock and Elinore greeted Flit with hugs and excited conversation, mister Woolright greeted me as we passed the hall of Hadrosaurs and Ceratopsians, Skipper visited her cousins as we strolled the courtyard in front of the library; and we all met persons like Zippeau, Rosemary, 26, who was being babysat by Marion, mister Rhudolph, Almasaur Ankylosaur and many others. It turned out that the day was both suprising and pleasant, and before Eveningmeal we were summoned back to the council chambers.
"By decree of the high council of Waterfall City...", mayor Waldo Seville announced after the minutes were read. "The case between the city of Widdershins and the Rainy Basin is hereby annulled."
"But your honor!", Widdershins's representitive balked. "They clearly broke thier contract!... It is not our wrong-doing that breached the contract!"
"You're out of order!", Waldo boomed.
"Your honor. If I may?", I held up a hand, standing. "Now even though the contract called for Mammoth milk be included in the shipment, the Mammoths of Tentpole of the Sky needed it more as thier newborns were not yet weaned.", I turned to Widdershins's representitive. "Now I know we did not come through with that part of the bargain, but we DID take ways to make ammends. We scoured the countryside to see if a suitable replacement could be had. The Apeycamalus herds of the Great Desert were the only ones to produce milk of such quantity - and we came through on arrangements to provide twice the amount requested. I know that Apey milk is somewhat lesser in quality than Mammoth, but it should have been an acceptable replacement."
"Replacements were not in the contract clauses...", the representitive said.
"Neither was the opposite!", I shot back.
"Enough of this!", Waldo tapped his gavel. "It is true that Stinger's group did not come through according to contract; but this court has already deemed that the replacement goods were of adequate type and quantity to justify a fulfilled contract.", the mayor looked down at the both of us. "There is no need to cry over spilt mikl!... Case dismissed.", another tap of the gavel among chuckles.
Several more cases were heard and judged upon, and then mayor Waldo Seville called for a recess for Eveningmeal. We congregated in the foyer of the council chambers, greeting this or that diplomat; starting brief conversations and basically hobknobing with them, my group acting like they were getting along with the party from Widdershins. As the mayor made his rounds throughout the room, he slowly made his way to the area we were in; and after a brief conversation with the Widdershins delegate and he taking his leave, Waldo turned and shook my hand so briskly I knew something else was on his mind.
"Ah, stinger my boy!", he smiled as he stopped. "I congratulate you in your success in your case... Hello, Rex old son!", he looked at my partner, and the Tyranosaur nodded.
"It was all a matter of appeasement on our part.", I said, taking back my hand. "However, I did not know they would be so unreasonable in the first place."
"Despite your new reputation, I suppose there are some who do not really trust carnivores...", Waldo said with sympathy. "But all turned out for the best after all!", then his face turned thoughtful.
"You seem to have more on your mind...", I said offhandedly.
"Yes, I do...", Waldo said. "Ah, Stinger... Could you and prince Rex join me in my chambers for Eveningmeal?... I wish to ask a favor..."
"We would be most delighted...", I said and Rex nodded. "May I ask what it is all about?"
"I wish to discuss this in private...", the mayor said, and was distracted by metallic noise coming from the entry doors.
"Oh sir!... There you are!...", Flit said as he walked in, Skipper, Ripper and Snapper weaving thier way toward us in his wake. "I wish to inform you that we have found accomodations for the evening...", his optics recognised the mayor. "Oh!... Pardon me, your honor!..."
"Ah, Flit old boy!", Waldo shook his armored metallic hand. "Nice to meet you once again!"
"It is pleasant to observe you with my optic sensors as well.", Flit said as Ruby and Elinore came from behind, Elinore finding her way to Flit's shoulder. "I was just saying that we have found places to stay for the night."
"Very good.", Waldo said. "I have asked Stinger and prince Rex to dinner."
"I do not require sustenence, but I would like to attend.", said Flit.
"I would be delighted!", Waldo said.
"I guess we'll meet you later, Flit dear!", Elinore said softly and leapt to Ruby's shoulder.
As the majority of delegates began to disperse out the doors of the council chambers, so did the rest of my party. Skipper was to stay at her cousins, Ripper and Snapper was to stay at the hall of Hadrosaurs and Cerastopaians along with Rex and Flit was to stay at Ruby Mattock's apartment; and I was to stay at mister Woolright's historic home, and Rex, Flit and I would be there after our meal with the mayor. Mayor waldo Seville questioned Elinore's affection with his eyes and I shrugged as we made our way to the mayor's dining chambers.
We were seated, and the mayor's fare began to emerge from hidden passageways around the dining chamber. I sat to Waldo's left and Flit sat at Waldo's right, and Rex squatted at the table that sported Almasaur Ankylosaur; who had been seated and waiting for the meal to commence. Our meal was a medely of fruits and vegetables, and Rex's sported a fine amount of smoked fish along with potatoes of greens. about half way through the meal, Waldo wiped his mouth and paused.
"I have a little problem...", he said without preamble. "And I wanted to ask your help."
"What is it, your honor?", I asked as the rest paused thier eating to listen.
"There has been an uprising.", he seemed to not know where to begin. "It was on the Outer Island... Culebra has been taken over by bands of Dromeosaurs, saying they are worshipers of the snake god at the Serpentine cathedral in the southern part of the island.... They consider any tresspassers as enemies, and have taken over every major outpost on the island."
"That is terrible!", I said.
"My father would certainly crush them!", Rex roared, scaring Almasaur to death!
"It does no good to think thoughts like that, Rex.", Waldo said. "I must go there to negotiate another treaty. Our production of Outer Island fruit depends on it!"
"What do you want me to do?", I asked. "I can have the Rainy Basin Rangers go there and straighten things out. Is there sufficient transportation there?"
"No, please! Nothing like that.", Waldo halted. "I must go there alone, with a contingency of guards, of course. They would doubt the credibility of anyone else!"
"Then what is it you wish me to do?", I asked.
"While I am away I wish you to become mayor in my stead.", Waldo said. "I ask in private like this because I wish no subtrifuge from the other delegates. Elections are coming up, and if I left waterfall City without proper leadership, it could spell disaster for me!"
"I see, but it would be too dangerous for you to go like that.", I said. "I insist that king Thundetrtail be notifyed of the problem on the Outer Island, and that a small group of Rainy Basin Rasngers be sent with you - for your own protection.", I thought a moment. "A better idea is to send the remaining armors of Othgar and thier Tyranosaur mounts. Mayday and Diego should be protection enough..."
"Goodness stinger!", Flit said. "What of us?"
"When I accept the mayors proposal, I will need advisors.", I said. "You and Rex could stay here with me and help out."
"Minch will handle all the details...", Waldo said.
"I will help too.", Almasaur said.
We continued our discussion as we continued our meal. I was to send word to king Thundertail via Postal Bird; and he would send Mayday wearing Zandra and Grond being her mount and Diego wearing Triphus and Deathflower being his mount. I cautioned the bird not to divulge this with anyone along the way, and to please hurry. In the morning, the mayor collected his caravan and his guards; provisioning them enough to make it to the seaport of Kuskonak in Warmwater Bay right across from Culebra, the Outer Island's major city. I had instructed my group to take Rocky Pass and travel to Prosperine, where they would head south down the coast roads and meet the mayor's team at Kuskonak. There they would procure a series of cargo barges to the gulf of Turbi, where the city of Culebra was nestled in the midst of.
That morning the council meeting was to take on a new twist, for never in the history of the Waterfall City council did a mayor relinquish his position, however temporary it may be, for a situation such as this! A hush fell on the delegates as they first saw thier mayor above them behind the ship's prow podium, then seeing me up there looking down on them. Mayor Waldo Seville looked out onto his people and tapped his gavel, sending a hush through the crowd.
"Ladies and gentilebeings of the court of Waterfall City.", he began. "A situation has arisen on the Outer Island, requiring my personal attention. I will be gone from this court for an indefinite period of time; and I know that this will leave a gargantuan hole in the chain of leadership until my return. I have made arrangements to fill this hole, and allow the court to proceed as smoothly as if I never left.", the crowd was about to voice thier multitude of questions, and he stayed them with a hand. "Therefore, it is with great confidence that I award mayor Stinger, of the Rainy Basin, as temporary mayor of Waterfall City!", he turned to me amid both cheers and gasps!
I rose and faced mayor Waldo Seville, look of both helplessness and fright on my face, but that was for the delegates' benefit only. The mayor took a heavy golden chain that was emblazoned with medallions and other fobs from around his neck and placed it over my shoulders. I bowed as Waldo backed from the podium, bowing back and taking a seat behind us. I looked out over the crowd from this commanding height, wanting to make some kind of speech but finding none coming! I looked out at them for a long time, and was spurred into action by Waldo's hissing behind me!
"Friends of the court of waterfall City.", I said, not exactly knowing what I was about to say until it was out of my mouth. "When your glorious mayor divulged to me that he wished me to be your leader for a time, I was quite shocked; and for one as lowly as I to be given such an honor, I am flabberghasted!", some chuckles. "Why is he leaving?", shouted a saurian delegate.
Why did he choose you, of all people?", asked a human.
"Now, mayor Waldo Seville has his reasons for departing like this, and he wishes not to make them known to you at this time;", I answered. "As for why he chose me, I have no idea!"
"Because I trust you, dear boy!", Waldo said from where he sat. "Let it be known that it is for a most noble purpose that I must depart, and I will return to you shortly."
"Will you decree any changes here, mayor Stinger?", asked another saurian delegate.
"In my tenure here I will not stray from these courts' proceedings, and try my best to maintain the status quo.", I said. "I will not make any earth shattering edicts, nor will I endeavor to change anything around here. I will hear cases and make sound judgements, and I will uphold all credos currently present in Dinotopian laws."
"Very well then!", mayor Waldo Seville said as he stood. "And with that, I must depart...", he got up and shook my hand. "May I have the honors once again?..."
Mayor Waldo Seville grasped the gavel and gave it a tap, then he proceeded down to the courtroom floor; where groups of human and saurian delegates came out to receive him with handshakes and words of farewells and encouragement. The court guards allowed him through the doors, and other guards were beyond to receive him. As the doors closed behind him, the whole room became silent as all turned toward the podium to look upon me; and I just looked back at them dumbly, doing the only thing I could think of, which was to tap the gavel and look important.
"Are there any issues that can be presented?", I asked rather loudly, then I deflated and became candid. "Who'd've guessed that I would be in a position as this!"
Amid some chuckling, the court gradually got down to business; and I began hearing the first of the few cases scheduled for that day. Many of the cases I presided over for the next several days were relatively simple ones, dealing mostly with minor civil cases like what Dinotopians call dishonest business practices among vendors and thier customers and such; but a few required a more logical and moral approach to thier solution rather than restitution. I observed that the court delegates found my decisions fair and nearly completely according to Dinotopian law, even though I added my own spin to the solution of quite a few of the cases.
I was there for nearly a month and a half, tending court and performing other duties that would have been Waldo's alone. Rex as well as Skipper gave me a few pointers, and learned the ins and outs of court proceedings; of which both thought would be helpful in our own court proceedings back in the rainy Basin. Minch, Rosemary, Almasaur and many others more experienced in Waterfall City's mayoral duties coached me through many of these things until I got my feet; and by the end of my time there, I knew mayor Seville's job almost as well as he knew it himself. When the mayor and his group arrived in Waterfall City, they all looked disheveled and trailworn; but the smirk of satisfaction on Waldo's face told me his mission was a successful one. His triumphant march through the ciity amid throngs of citizens was one of memory, and it was a miracle they made it through the excitement; for all of them looked like they were near collapse! Once he was allowed to freshen up and rest a bit, mayor Waldo Seville insisted to call a meeting to tell the rest of us why he left, and the story of the now resolved situation on the Outer Island.
"Ladies and gentilebeings of the court.", mayor Waldo Seville said as soon as the delegates settled down a bit. "As you all know, I have been away on a mission on the Outer Island. The mission involved squelching an uprising by the Dromeosaurs on the island, who claimed complete ownership of the island; and had been led by one of thier kind that believed in an old snake cult predominant on the island thousands of years ago. Our saurian guards, assisted by support from representitives of the Rainy Basin and local saurian rebels; were able to first control the uprising, and at last reach an agreement with the cult leader...."
Amid rousing cheers, I spoke up. "And how did my people act?", I got up to return the medallions of power around Waldo's shoulders amid more applause.
"Charming!... A real band of diplomats!...", mayor Waldo Seville said as he appreciated the weight of the chains once again. I bowed and regained my seat behind him; and he turned to peer out over the crowd of delegates below. "And now, my friends; here is exactly how it happened..."
The room fell silent as mayor Waldo Seville began to tell his tale. Mayday and Diego met the mayor's party at Kushnok, and king Thundertail was with them; accompanied by a half dozen of our Veloceraptor guards. The ferry barge crews assigned to the mission nearly refused passage because of the carnivores present, but the mayor's insistence and slight threat of impoundment expedited thier departure. For food, provisions were stowed aboard; and the crew threw nets over, fishing to accomodate the carnivores' diets. Poor Grond got seasick halfway over, and spent the rest of the trip close to the rail. A day later they made it to the outer island, and docked at the port near Culebra. When they got there, they found the port strangely quiet; and soon found that most of the inhabitants were in hiding. They made enquirys from the ones they found, and when they at last found the leader, hidden in a water cistern two miles from the town proper; they soon coaxed Arianna Hopkins to tell them exactly what happened.
Culebra had been taken over by bands of Dromeosaurs, saying they are worshipers of the snake god at the Serpentine cathedral in the southern part of the island. They consider any tresspassers on the Outer Island as enemies, and have raided every major outpost on the island; and they killed many saurians and humans in the process. Most of the inhabitants fled into the jungles only to be hunted down. Those lucky enough to survive were the ones that hid in places inaccessable to the Dromeosaurs. Presently the Dromeosaurs have gone back to the temple, offering thier victims to thier god; so Thundertail suggested they go there and issue another treaty, saying that the saurian guards they brought with them help protect the surviving people. Arianna said that would be a good idea since there was no teling how many of them were still around; and she joined them as they made thier way throught the dense jungles of the Outer Island to the stronghold of the Dromeosaurs and thier Snake god.
Waldo said that he and Arianna rode Thundertail all the way there, flanked by Grond and Deathflower, and escorted by the Veloceraptor guards; anhd when they neared the place, eerie, keening wailing was heard for miles around. They aproached in the middle of a ceremony of sorts, participants moaning and growling around a grotesque statue of a snakelike deity that had characteristics of both saurian, human and the aforementioned reptile; and all seemed to be in a trance, doused in blood and moving to the beat of hollowed out log drums. As soon as some of them saw the group, many gave off an alarm and most of the festivities ceased. Thier leader, a larger specimen who was old and decked out with a helmet made up entirely of bones; and he raised his snakelike staff as he came near. He growled something loudly that sounded like a threat; but the carnivores in the mayor's group could barely understand him, but since Veloceraptor language was marginally closer to Dromeosaur than any other carnivore language, Mosquito took the job as translator.
The leader's name is Makarios, and thier snake god is Bala. Ancient texts predicted a great confluence with the inhabitants of the Outer Island, one that can only be stopped by the devout followers of Bala. Thier holy task is to propigate the racial purity of the carnivores on the island. Already the few Baryonyx tribes on the island have been wiped out, making the Dromeosaur the only hunters on the island; but the texts say that ALL non-Dromeosaur species must also be eradicated, or at least expelled from the island. They are compelled to do this as the ancient texts have professed, and no treaty created by others is going to stop them. When the mayor hears this, he is adamant at thier fate; but Thundertail thinks he has the answer.
He tells the Dromeosaurs that the Tyranosaurs were also once like this, striving for racial purity and shunning any contact with other species. He told of thier exploits of conquest and murder of other carnivores; mostly for food, but generally for the protection of thier territories. Then he related the time that, through the kindness for his son, a human was finally allowed into the clan. This human was useful in many ways, protecting thier young and territory; and of the many excellent ideas he has for improving life among the clan. As Waldo related this part of the story, I knew that Thundertail was referring to me! Thundertail told of this humans' diplomacy when other carnivores wished to stay, and of thier seperate skills that proved useful to the clan. As the years passed, even non-carnivores were allowed membership in the clan; and now the clan is the most powerful and prosporous clan in the Rainy Basin.
At this point Waldo spoke to Makarios, saying that perhaps this was the great change that thier texts was referring to, and that it was a good thing instead of being something to prevent. He said that they too were once reluctant of change, and tried every political tactic at thier command to prevent them; but it had recently been made clear that things inevitably does change, and it is best to embrace them than shun them. Makarios thought this over for a long time, conferring with his Dromweosaur bretheren; and after a day or two came up with his conclusion. He said that no real harm came about when they let non-Dromeosaurs travel the island, for all they did was picck the foliage and fruit and explore the island. He toyed with the idea that perhaps the ancient carvings had been misinterpeted somehow, and it was not a warning after all, but a herald of change; a change that could benefit all on the island.
Makarios decreed that all Dromeosaurs would now allow others on the island, and that no other sanctions would be placed upon them; but this drew dissent with the others for a time, saying that this went against the religon of Bala. They argued among themselves while Waldo and company stood aside to let them sort this out among themselves; whispering that it was a very barbaric way to settle this disagreement. Soon they ceased, and the will of Makarios prevailed; and it was at this time that waldo presented to them a new treaty for them to consider. It entailed employment of thier kind to guide gatherers on expeditions through the jungles, and other help which would be gratiousely compensated for. With the guilt of what they had done, as well as the extinction of the Baryonyx tribes on the island, they soon accepted the proposal with few alterations.
After a time of celebration at thier near by clansite, Waldo's delegation was led back to Culebra; where news of the negotiation spread rapidly, and so did the jubilation of the surviving citizens. They all got a heroes' feast in honor of the new treaty, and many of the dromeosaurs that guided them there joined in as well. Makarios announced that this was the beginning of a new era on the Outer island; this he announced as he sat beside Arianna Hopkins as they feasted. soon the celebrations were over, and in the morning it was time for the mayor to depart. The Dromeosaurs promised to help rebuild Culebra and all the outposts on the island; and promised further help as time went on. The trip back across Warmwater bay was uneventful, save for grond getting seasick again; and they reached port at Kushnok, Waldo and his guards parting company with Thundertail and our group. The four day trek across dinotopia was uneventful; and waldo announced that I would receive word from king Thundertail as soon as they made it back to the Rainy Basin.
So with that news and about a thousand questions asked by all the delegates, mayor Waldo Seville continued his duties in court that day; and at the end of that session, I made preparations to leave Waterfall City. In the midst of gathering Rex, Ripper, Snapper, Skipper Parasolophus and Flit, a Postal bird arrived saying that Thundertail had made it back safely to the Rainy Basin, and they are awaiting my arrival back there. When I got back, they welcomed me with open arms, kidding me about being king of Dinotopia and all; and with little time at all to speak of, we all got back down to our lives...
|
|
|
Post by thundertail on Jun 21, 2008 14:01:14 GMT -5
FIFTY-NINE: "Selections, decisions and discoveries."
As time went on in the Rainy Basin, so did the routine workings everyone was so used to by now. Crops were planted for another year and the workers there tended thier charges. Even though we stressed that the allotted jobs be meted out evenly, the people and saurians became specialised in thier jobs; and soon seperate sects of workers began forming. As with farming, the workers specialised in construction, teaching, maid services, laundry and textiles, hunting, guarding, fishing the river, diplomacy and the remainder of basic tasks pvailant in any society. Things seemed to work well with this setup, so we created an edict on this matter and made the sects permanent.
One of the tasks that became specialised was the trade of cargo transportation and relations with our allies; and on a visit from Tentpole Of The Sky, Buttercup the Mammoth matriarch came with her entourage to settle a few grievances she indicated they were having. She came with thier allottment of supplies, and brought some other guests as well; but after greetings with king Thundertail and the formal voicing of her complaints, things got less cordial and more relaxed. The young of her herd toured the place as we spoke, so we did not notice what they were doing.
"Don't get me wrong, my king...", Buttercup was saying as she grasped his muzzle with her trunk. "The agreement is satisfactory as far as we are concerned. It's just that my herd is expanding.", she turned to look him in the eye. "The demand for our milk is putting a strain on our future."
"I know, my friend.", Thundertail rumbled. "But demand for it has risen to unprecidented proportions. We have even taken the employ of the Apeycamalus herds to meet the demand.", he chuckled. "It is no ones' fault that thier milk is not of the same quality!"
"My king!", I said as I stepped up to them. "The supplies are all here...", then I turned to Buttercup. "Ah!... My matriarch! I hope your trip was uneventful...", I bowed.
"Stinger, my dear!", she grasped me around the middle. "It was a most pleasant journey!..."
"We were just discussing the milk problem...", Thundertail reminded.
"Oh yes, I heard.", I said as she let me down. "Well, as far as I can see, there is no easy way around that one. If you need the milk for your children, you need it. Pure and simple!", I placed a hand on her furry trunk. "We'll find a solution. Don't you worry!"
Just about then a smaller Mammoth walked up to us, body poised so it hid the small human boy walking beside him. When they got into our midst, I recognised the pre-adult creature was Buorrow; and when he turned I noticed the boy was my son Hamilton. Buorrow was growing into a fine young male. Already the size of an Indian elephant, yet only half the size of his Matriarch; and he sported a pair of two foot long tusks, only a tenth of the size they would eventually grow to be. His pelt looked freshly clipped for his wool, and the hair on his underbelly was brushed smooth and free of mats; and I smiled at him as he gradually lost his fear. Hamilton was growing into a fine adolescent in his own right, almost eight now and full of spunk and skill for his age. They both had a sheepish look about them, and I knew they had something to ask; so we all waited for them to speak.
"Uh, dad?", Hamilton began. "I got something to ask..."
"What is it, son?", I asked nicely.
"Well, remember you were always saying that I should choose a Partner from the clan soon?", he stammered and I nodded. "Well, would you be mad if I don't choose from the clan?"
"I think that the Partner you want should be the one you choose.", I told him. "When I said that, I meant that there are plenty of good candidates for Partners right here."
"What he's saying is...", Buorrow stammered. "That is...", he gulped. "I mean, we been talking these past few visits and stuff..."
"We have decided, and me and Buorrow want to be Partners...", Hamilton blurted all at once. "Is that OK?"
"Are you sure?", I asked them both. "It's a big committment, you know.", they both nodded vigorousely.
"We'll be good to each other...", Buorrow said. "Honest!..."
"I wanted to be his Partner the first time I saw him!...", added Hamilton, hugging his friend.
"Well,...", I said, pretending to think. I waited long enough to see them squirm a bit, then smiled at them both and continued. "Who am I to break up a friendship like this? Of course you two can be Partners!", they wanted to whoop, but were shocked to silence. "That is, of course, with the Matriarch's permission..."
"Well, I think that's a marvelous idea!", Buttercup said at last. "This could further cement relations with our two realms, and both of them can learn first hand what it's like living in our respective lands."
"I have no problems with that.", added king Thundertail.
"Then it's settled!", I said as both boys deflated with relief. "We'll perform the Ceremony tonight, and there will be a feast in your honor.", I looked around, pretending to think. "There's so much to prepare for!..."
"Dad!...", Hamilton scolded.
We all chuckled a moment, then dispersed and went about our previous tasks; and Hamilton and Buorrow went off together feeling happier than they had ever been, giggling and whispering things together like children often do. I went off with Buttercup as she grasped my hand and Thundertail went over to address the Rainy Basin Rangers. We viewed the activities around camp a bit before she began to speak once again.
"You know, with Buorrow and Hamilton as Partners, we'll be closer than ever, you and I...", she said. "You know, his mother is my stepsister."
"I think that's just swell!", I hugged her trunk, then we continued our walk. "Did I ever tell you how I united the Tyranosaurs and Veloceraptors?...", she shook her head no.
I began the tale of my ceremonial marrage with Whitetail so long ago that cemented the bonds of the two clans as we walked around camp; me giving her a tour as many of the clan ran up to offer us some refreshments, many of the offers were gratiousely refused. The day ended with a celebration, and Hamilton took his vows with Buorrow; topping the whole feast off with many comical acts from the Kirky Circus.
At the end of several days, the denizens of Tentpole Of The Sky packed up and said thier goodbyes; decisions being made that Hamilton was to go with them the next time they came so he could learn thier ways in thier frigid home, and the pair of new Partners saying thier tearful farewells even in the midst of thier departure. Fairly soon after that the clan got back down to business, and it was my duty to see how the new arrivals taken from LaSage's pirates were getting along. The ones that volunteered were indeed trying, but it was evident that thier old ways still waxed prevailant in thier line of thinking; for they would steal, even though there was no such thing here; and they would insult and speak thier own uneducated opinions about certain things. Overall, I felt that these former pirates would eventually get the hang of living like Dinotopians sooner or later; and left thier further training to thier assigned mentors.
The newer prisoners taken from the pirates, namely Walker and Christopho, were another matter indeed. Thier demeanor, derived from criminal stock from the outside world, made thier cases one for special precaution. Both of them were aloof and tended to keep thier opinions to themselves, hardly talking with anyone at all in most cases; and they kept their activities a secret in whatever free time we allowed them, which wasn't a whole lot as we made sure to keep them busy most of the time. This policy, however, did not discourage them from doing things on thier own; but it was fortunate that thier extraciricular activities turned out to be more or less constructive to the clan. Walker, in his spare time, took to creating some vehicles out of the spare parts taken from the Millennium Queen. One vehicle, Chassis and engine made from old automotive parts taken from the holds of the ship with the body and drive train made from parts scrounged from the World Beneath, looked like a cross between a forklift and an insect. He scrounged other parts elsewhere as well, wheels from old carts with seats taken from Strutter parts; and the vehicle ran on a combination of alchohol and Sunstones. The other one he was working on resembled a wheeled camel, and was said to be partially amphibious. After much convincing and threats, he grudgingly donated these two contraptions to the clan.
Christopho was gradually getting used to living with us somewhat, dinosaurs and all. He worked on finding out all about Dinotopia, and he got to know his way around the Rainy Basin. He seemed continually intrigued with the artifacts, and grew to allocate many of the major pieces found in the World Beneath so far, squirreling them away in places only he knew about. He had been told all about Sunstones, thier powers and thier uses; and learned of our want for the colored Sunstones, for they power the Strutters. He is intrigued with the Strutters we currently use, and has a good rapport with both Tunneau and Kiawa.
Both prisoners have been working in Halcyon, tunneling out the subterranean ductwork that would channel water to the cisterns below the city; making it ready for when the aqueduct system is up and running, but the ancient ducts Have been filled with debris from centurys' worth of quakes, slides and other tectonic activity, and the going is slow at best. Of course, they are but two of a whole team of workers doing that monumental task, as there are miles of such tunnels that used to connect the city to its' former water source.
Excavations like that have been going on continually in the World Beneath, digging out collapsed tunnels and rediscovering certain areas prevailant to the history of Dinotopia. A passage from the journal of Arthur Dennison stated that the tunnels go on for hundreds of miles, and seemed to span the length and breadth of Dinotopia; and from what we could fathom of the extensiveness of the caves we had unearthed so far, mister Dennison was absolutely correct! So far we had opened up many areas down there in an effort to discover as much of the history of the World Beneath as we could, but lately I hadn't been following the progress the explorers had been achieving; and that was why it came as a complete surprise to me when Harold Kirky scampered up to me, the first one in authority he encountered since he emerged from the World Beneath that day.
"Boss!... Boss!", Harold said, tapping on my armored shinguard. "You will never guess what we found in the World Beneath...!"
"What is it?", I asked, turning and crouching to speak more eye to eye with him. "Calm down!"
"See, we been digging and digging. we opened up a new passage, and had to drain the water out...", Harold told me. "We came out on a cave as big as Teeklan, and that was waist deep with water...", for scale, that would have been only slightly above ankle deep for me.
"What did you find?", I asked.
"There was this big statue there. A human with a dinosaur face.", Harold drew breath. "It was that legendary statue of Othgar! Carl Scott went down and confirmed it..."
"That's fantastic!", I said. "It confirms his and David's account of thier journey in the World Beneath!"
"That ain't all we found!", Harold said, turning. "We found something else even better!"
"What?", I was getting impatient!
"It's kinda hard to describe...", Harold said, turning to see a pushcart covered with a tarp and being pushed and pulled by many of his kin coming toward us, all wearing tinted goggles around thier necks. Turning back, he said. "I guess it's best we show you..."
As the Kirkys and the pushcart got closer they paused, and each placed thier goggles over thier faces. One of them handed a pair to Harold and he quickly put it on as well. With a flourish Harold indicated they should take the tarp off the object in the cart; and when they did, Klamath's mask snapped in place over my face as a blinding luminescence filled the entire area! It was a Sunstone, blinding white and pure; and it filled the pushcart with it's massive shape. It was nearly six feet long, four feet in circumference and was studded with hundreds of crystalline protrubences. No wonder it took all those Kirkys to push the cart, for this giant Sunstone must have weighed many hundreds of pounds!
"By Pathos!... It's beautiful!", I breathed. "Where did you get it?"
"We discovered the Sunstone Cavern!", Harold smiled behind his goggles. "We dug out the entrance so you can get inside; and this was the largest hunk we found so far."
"This Sunstone is even bigger than the Prime Sunstone itself!", I said. "Properly polished, it could produce a stone to rival it..."
"So far, we got two cartloads this size ready and waiting to be brought out; but the stones are really small.", Harold said. "Some are from the size of my fist to the size of grains of sand.", he thought. "But I bet there are larger ones in there too..."
"Do you know what this means?...", I asked, looking into the air.
"We're rich?", offered Harold.
"Not only that; but Dinotopia now has enough Sunstones to last forever!", I told them all, and they cheered. "We MUST tell king Thundertail! This will put us in good with the rest of Dinotopia for sure!"
"Ok, boys...", Harold said. "Wrap it up again and we'll get it to the council ampetheatre in Halcyon..."
"No way!", "We're tired!", "Do it yourself!", came some of the more printable replies.
"BOYS!!!...", Harold yelled, and the rest hopped to thier task.
I laughed and left them to tell some of the others on what was found. Rex thought it was the greatest thing in the world while Grond insisted that we tell Waterfall City immediately. All the others had mixed opinions about what to do with this discovery, but they all agreed that it definitely a good thing that the Sunstone Cavern was found. In the meeting the Kirkys were commended for thier efforts, and even though all of us contributed our labor in the exploration of the World beneath; they were the ones that actually excavated the passageway leading to the intensely glowing chamber, and mined the first gems to ever come out of it since the Scotts explored it so many years ago. I suggested, after many other comments on the subject during the meeting, that we dispatch a Postal bird and notify the high council at Waterfall City; and through many agreements from most of the other clan members, one flew off west the very next day.
We expected a near immediate reply; one of congratulations, or at least acknowledgement. We waited for a day, then two and finally a week; but no such message came from the wings of a Postal Bird, save for our routine messages. In fact, no communication whatsoever came from Waterfall City for many weeks; and we had feared that something awful had happened to the capitol city of Dinotopia. We decided to make a special trip to Waterfall City, bringing along the giant sunstone the Kirkys found as a gift; and find out for sure what was going on. When we got there, we found out what was going on all right; but that is a story better saved for another chapter!
While all this was going on, others were still performing thier duties among the clan. It was decided that mining the Sunstones would continue nearly immediately, and would be stockpiled in the chambers inside the Chamber of the Strutters for distribution once word was received from Waterfall City. Deliveries were made to our clients all over the island and all our other duties were performed just like usual. Mayday and a party was assigned to deliver the supplies to LaSage and her pirates as per our agreement made with them so long ago, and the report she brought back was most promising indeed; but the motive those pirates had for what Mayday saw was still a matter for suspicion.
"We go there, we deliver goods.", Mayday said, Grond at her side. "We no believe what we saw!"
"What was it?", I asked as some of the others gathered around the cart; and some began unhitching Maisey Chasmosaur from it. "What did they do to you?"
"Nothing, but that was not strangest part.", Mayday said. "First, they no live only in castle any more. They have build houses and stores along road near castle. They have whole town there now!"
"You mean they have a community now?", I asked, Thundertail becoming interested and stepping beside me.
"It seem so, but they look different now.", Mayday looked at Grond. "They dress in civilized clothes. All are clean and shaved, but still act bad sometimes. They have tavern, hotel, trading post and other shops for trade.", she smiled. "Quint look real handsome all dressed up like that!... He cut hair, and no use that bandanna any more."
"What about LaSage?", I asked.
"She still leader, like mayor.", Mayday told us. "She now wear simple gowns, not flashy clothes like last time. She seemed really pleased to see us, and treated us like visiting diplomat, not abuse us."
"Well! It seems like LaSage is starting to change!", Thundertail said. "She is finally learning to live like a true Dinotopian!"
"Now wait guys!", I said. "We're talking about LaSage here.", I huddled close. "You know what she's capable of! This could be a ploy to set everyone off thier guard. You know: 'Make them think we've changed our ways, then WHAM! The old switcheroo!'..."
"Stinger, don't you think you're too hard on them?", Thundertail scolded. "Maybe they truely HAVE changed thier ways. We've really been keeping the pressure on them, and the other towns have been resisting them too. Maybe they figure: 'If you can't beat them, join them.'... Ever think of that?"
"I know that could be true too.", I admitted. "But she's been pulling stunts like this since she ran away from Earthfarm. Rosemary told me that she cooks up plot after plot to hurt Dinotopia all the time.", I looked sheepish. "Maybe this could be another one of them, that's all I'm saying..."
"Maybe it would be good if we wait and see.", Rex suggested. "We should still keep an eye on them, I'm sure; but we should do nothing to them while they're like this.", he looked at me. "The moment they should pull anything, THEN we can cream them!"
"A sound course of action, my son!", Thundertailed rumbled laughter.
"Say, what about that garden I planted?", Flatbottom wanted to know, nuzzling Maisey. "They didn't wreck it, did they?"
"I saw four gardens.", Mayday said. "They have people tending them all the time now. They grow half the vegetables they need, farmers say. They still no use dinosaurs, but the gardens thrive anyway."
"That means that we might not need to ship them supplies anymore!", Pincushion blurted.
"Remember our contract!", Grond said. "Because of our shipment, they do not hunt in the Rainy Basin."
"Yeah, we shouldn't alter our agreement just because they can almost take care of themselves now.", I said. "If we do that, they could start more problems."
"But they might not considering they are turning over a new leaf.", Thundertail said.
"No need to push them, that's all...", I said. "They're doing this; but there is no need to disturb the status quo."
"Spoken like a true diplomat, Stinger!", Thundertail said. "Let's leave them to thier devices and see what happens."
With that, we left the discussion to rest for now. It finally came to my realization that we had to leave for Waterfall City to tell them the news of the Sunstones. I secretly thought that this little bit of news would interest them as well!...
_____
|
|