Sand Coated Swamp Creature

Appy, comfortably perched on a rather large rock, carefully cleaned her grey feathers. She took her time – keeping her feathers in good condition was a very important task, especially in winter, when the female's wings constantly had to contend with snow, low temperatures and strong gusts of icy wind.

The young tapejara's thoughts kept returning to her last encounter with Flambé, and every memory of that name sent a pleasant thrill of excitement through her. Appy had not only proven her worth (after all she managed to do something that was not easy - she had found a whole bag of juicy, delicious fruit in the middle of winter!), but she also had an interesting day. In addition, Flambé, as a token of her gratitude, treated the flying female to her delicacies. Appy had to admit that Flambé's title of outstanding cook did not come out of nowhere!

However, the young female could not stop there - her success was evident and commendable, but life went on. Appy had taken part in several more carnival games since then (she even managed to prove herself to The Ringmaster!), but what had initially brought her so much joy eventually began to bore her. After all, how long could one live on the same infantile games?

However, her boredom was not to last long – fate smiled on her once again. She belonged to an inconspicuous, flying species of reptile and that came with many advantages. She never attracted attention when she didn't want to, and her small size allowed her to go almost anywhere. It was thanks to these qualities that she once again managed to hear some extremely intriguing rumours. If these rumours were to be believed, Flambé was not the only newcomer to the archipelago – there was also a certain utahraptor.

The unknown raptor (rumoured to be named Sugarsweet) had been visiting Isla Kela for several days, discovering everything the island had to offer. Under normal circumstances, he would certainly have enjoyed the vast forests, intricate mountain ranges and idyllic beaches surrounding the island, but he had a problem – his name was much more literal than one might think. Appy had heard that Sugar attracted hordes of insects and even some small animals, such as rodents, lizards and birds, like a magnet. No wonder – according to the description she had heard, the raptor had blue and pink feathers that, even from a distance, resembled cotton candy. Apparently, even worse, these feathers gave off an unusual, sweet smell (probably the result of some strange genetic mutation), which only increased Sugarsweet's attractiveness in the eyes of glucose-craving creatures.

Appy, from the moment she heard these rumours, made it her goal to rescue the unknown male from this unusual predicament. The challenge itself seemed interesting, and in addition, it could end up like the one with Flambé - with a well-deserved reward. So the tapejara decided to set out the next day in search of the utahraptor.

~*~

The search turned out to be much easier than one might think. Appy had two significant clues at her disposal – rumours spreading at the speed of light among the dinosaurs she encountered and the hordes of insects she passed on her way. As it turned out, Sugarsweet was temporarily residing on the edge of the rainforest (not a very wise choice), due to the winter that was already in full swing in many other parts of the island. Appy, however, had a completely different idea for where he should live.

Just like with Flambé, she didn't even have to introduce herself - she couldn't have been the first to arrive here with the same intention, because Sugarsweet ran up to her immediately after she landed. The male looked at her imploringly, waving his sparsely feathered arms, desperately shooing away all his ‘parasites’ - he didn't need to say anything either.

Appy theatrically scratched her beak with her tiny claws, as if thinking intensely about something. In reality, it was just a show - her plan had been thought out long ago.

The female suddenly took flight, and the utahraptor immediately followed her. There were wetlands near the rainforest, and that was where she was headed.

Appy was aware that most of the dinosaurs that wanted to help Sugarsweet had probably opted for much less complicated solutions – they simply combined helping a stranger with their own meal and tried to eat or chase away all the insect (and other) intruders. For her, however, this was not possible – after all, she was just a small tapiejara with an even smaller stomach. So she had to be more creative than that.

There was only one purpose for the trip to the wetlands – mud. Although Appy had never witnessed it first hand, thanks to the fact that the carnival was also held at the natural history museum, she learned that hippos bathe in mud to get rid of insects attacking them. If the museum wasn't lying, this plan could work.

When they finally reached the edge of the marsh, Appy waved her wing towards the mud, encouraging the male to do what needed to be done. Sugarsweet, with a disgusted look on his face, carefully stepped into the middle of the mud, sinking ankle-deep into it. It was easy to see that the utahraptor was not thrilled at the thought of getting his pristine, bright feathers dirty, but he didn't protest for too long.

However, that was not the end of it – Sugar could not return to the forest, as the high humidity and constant heat contributed to the number of insects circling around him. The raptor undoubtedly needed to be relocated to a place where he could easily survive the winter months (his sparse feathers clearly indicated that he was not very resistant to the cold), but one with a slightly colder climate. The young tapejara immediately came up with an idea – the beach!

The climate on the beaches surrounding Isla Kela was extremely mild, and luckily for them, there was a small beach quite close by. Already basking in her success, Appy led the insect-plagued raptor there. She set such a fast pace that Sugarsweet found himself on the shore of the ocean before the mud on his feathers had time to dry. The tapejara landed on one of the nearby rocks and then flapped her wing, timidly signalling to the male what he should do next.

Sugarsweet rolled his eyes and let out a short, pitiful whimper, but he did as he was told - he lay down on the sand and began to roll around in it until his entire body was covered in a dubious coating.

Appy lifted the corners of her mouth in a smile, proud of herself and her idea (she had to admit that all the insects that had been trailing Sugarsweet just a moment ago had now disappeared). Her joy subsided somewhat when she took a closer look at the raptor standing in front of her - Sugar looked like a ball of misery. From a beautiful dinosaur with an extraordinary appearance that attracted attention, he had become an indefinable object, resembling something between a pile of dirty stones and some unidentified swamp creature.

Well, it couldn't have been denied that Appy had helped him solve his problem — none of the rumours mentioned that she was supposed to do so without affecting his appearance...