Beach Party

Leyte felt a shiver of excitement run through her body, making it hard for her to concentrate on anything. For several days, the entire archipelago had been practically awash with the positive emotions of its inhabitants – the dinosaurs were passing on the news that a date of great significance to the islands was fast approaching. Leyte wasn’t actually sure exactly what it was all about. What’s more, she had the distinct impression that most of the excited dinosaurs weren’t sure either. The only ones who could fully understand what event was being celebrated were likely the first dinosaurs – those hatched in laboratory incubators rather than in the wild. There weren’t many of them, however.

Rumours circulated that this mysterious event marked the anniversary of the collapse of one of the first laboratories and the sudden disappearance of the strange, bipedal creatures who ran it – humans. It was then that the first dinosaurs gained their freedom and, at last, as wild animals, were able to roam the archipelago instead of being confined to human underground facilities. Leyte should know something about this. She was no longer young, and what’s more, the few, simple markings on her body and the muted colours of her scales clearly indicated that she, too, might have hatched in one of Morpheus’s countless laboratories, at a time when the technology for bringing extinct species back to life was still in its infancy. Her memories of that time, however, were exceptionally hazy. The female rarely thought about it – it depressed her. The realisation that she essentially had no idea where she came from was quite painful. The fact that her youth had been almost completely erased from her fragmented memory meant that Leyte really had no idea whether she was a creation of Morpheus or had come into the world after The Awakening.

Leyte pushed these thoughts to the very edge of her mind, trying to focus all her attention on the joy that came from celebrating this anniversary. She couldn’t let herself get into a bad mood.

According to the rumours that constantly circulated throughout the archipelago, the centre of the festivities this time was the coast. A temporary truce reigned on the vast, sandy beach – everyone who came there to enjoy this magnificent event was on friendly terms. Carnivores celebrated side by side with herbivores; the enormous, multi-tonne dinosaurs posed absolutely no threat to their tiny kin scurrying about beneath their feet. Leyte, however, was not particularly optimistic about such large gatherings. She much preferred to celebrate in a much smaller, intimate circle of dinosaurs she befriended during her multiple adventures. She knew who to invite.

Her first choice naturally fell on one of the tapejaras she knew – not only because she actually harboured quite positive feelings towards the flying reptiles, but also for practical reasons. Their ability to fly, coupled with their impressive speed and agility, made members of this species ideal messengers. Leyte turned to Sage – a mysterious, withdrawn male, a nomad who constantly roamed the islands. Sage, though he now spent most of his time with the female he was exceptionally fond of, Appy, would sometimes return to his solitary roots. At such times, he could be found somewhere in rather uninviting-looking places – usually in the ruins of one of the larger cities on Isla Kela. This was perfect for Leyte. Her group, consisting of several cryolophosaurus, also spent most of their time in these areas.

She was in luck, for she found the enigmatic male almost immediately after beginning her search. Sage, not particularly optimistic about such events, would likely not have been too keen to help had it not been for Appy. He knew the younger female wouldn’t be able to contain her excitement at the thought of a grand event, so he had to agree to cooperate with Leyte. According to the plan, he was to gather a few guests and ask each of them to bring along a delicacy that could form part of their shared feast. A trivial task for such a seasoned flyer.

Cryolophosaurus knew that the male wouldn’t need much time to do his part – the whole group was due to meet on the coast that very day. So she had to act quickly. Although she had been the one to come up with the idea, that didn’t relieve her of the duty to secure food for the gathering. It didn’t seem to be much of a problem. The female was a skilled hunter, although it must be said that she usually hunted in a group. This time, however, she had to manage on her own – the leader of their pack did not consider the anniversary an event important enough to celebrate in this way. The coast was too exposed, too different from their territory to be considered a safe place – even in the face of the supposed truce that had been unanimously agreed upon by various species of dinosaurs. He therefore did not consider going there a commendable idea. The group obeyed his orders without the slightest hesitation; only Leyte, as was usually the case, had a different opinion. Had anyone else defied the leader in this way, it would surely have ended in a bloody fight, but she was able to operate on slightly different terms. She was too strong and experienced a member of the pack to be lost in this way – the leader was prepared to allow her to do as she pleased in this matter. So Leyte, without the support of her group, but also without a categorical prohibition, had to organise her journey towards the crowded coast on her own.

~*~

Sage set off immediately. Naturally, his first objective was to reach Appy. The young female had remained in the lower reaches of the mountains, living there with a carnotaurus they both knew, Costel. Although Sage would have preferred the female to be constantly by his side, he knew he could not make that happen – Appy was too energetic, sociable and full of life to be persuaded to stay in a desolate, gloomy city. Fortunately, the grey tapejara trusted this adolescent carnivore; moreover, he knew that Costel lived in a relatively safe area, so he was able to accept the friendship between the two young creatures.

When he arrived at the place, surrounded by countless hills covered in green vegetation, he was greeted cheerfully. He didn’t have to explain his arrival at length – it was enough for him to mention the beach party in just a few words, and his two companions immediately agreed to everything that came with it. Even finding food was no problem – that morning, Costel had hunted a rather medium sized, still-young wild boar, whilst Appy had found a stocky plant in the mountains, its branches densely covered with round, red, a bit tangy fruits. With the help of her much larger, carnivorous companion, she was able to take a dozen or so of the most fruit-laden branches of this small tree with her. They set off in high spirits, Appy sitting on Costel’s back, as they often did.

Sage’s task didn’t end there, however. He still had to invite someone else – after all, what sort of party would it be with just four guests? Appy gave him a good idea of who he could go to next. Tapejara reminded him of a time when the three of them were exploring the mountains where Costel and Appy had decided to stay, and they’d come across a solitary, exceptionally friendly, though somewhat shy, utahraptor. Silvercloud, as the female was called, didn’t inhabit any specific area either. The raptor roamed wherever she pleased, never staying anywhere for long. Sage was in luck, however – he knew where Silver had last stopped.

Although the journey to that spot was by no means short, Sage covered it surprisingly quickly – he had considerable experience in covering long distances. Silver recognised his silhouette in the sky immediately, greeting his arrival with a joyful, inviting chirp. The male landed on a branch near where he found the tabby female. She, too, had heard about what was happening on the coast. The event seemed intriguing to her, but she was afraid to go there alone – she was too shy and nervous for that. The prospect of having the support of dinosaurs she knew, however, was encouraging enough for Silvercloud to agree to the tapejara’s proposal. She had one condition, though.

The shy female had recently met two other tapejaras who, thanks to their courage and skills, had rescued her from a fire. When Silvercloud was trapped in a forest engulfed in red flames, the two flying reptiles came to her aid, leading the defenceless raptor to safety. So Silver wanted to repay them, and having no better idea of how to do so, she decided that inviting the pair to the beach party was also a way of showing her gratitude. Sage had no objection – if he was already forced to be part of a larger group, two more tapejaras made little difference to him.

~*~

As might be expected, Leyte was the first to arrive on the coast. The female had anticipated this, so she hadn’t bothered hunting beforehand – she knew she would have plenty of time to deal with the task before the others arrived. She rarely hunted in these parts, so she wanted to choose a prey that was a real delicacy for her. Her choice fell on a seal – one of the hundreds that inhabited the nearby beaches. The hunt was surprisingly easy. The marine mammals were not accustomed to having to flee from large predators; moreover, the warm, sunny days that had arrived in the archipelago with the onset of spring had made them even more lethargic. It took Leyte but a moment to catch one of the careless animals.

As she returned to the agreed meeting place, she spotted two familiar figures above her – Appy and Sage. Behind them, as was often the case, Costel, an adolescent carnotaurus, was striding along at a brisk pace. The latter was dragging along some dark, not particularly large carcass. Strangely, some enigmatic twigs were also sticking out of his mouth – Appy had clearly persuaded him to carry her luggage for her. Sage hadn’t brought anything with him. The male had made the same assumption as Leyte – he too had reckoned he’d still manage to hunt something down, right there on the beach. Covering the entire distance with his potential prey would be too exhausting, so he had no real choice. As soon as he had escorted his companions towards the brown cryolophosaurus, he headed towards the sea, keen to show off his impressive fishing skills.

Less than half an hour had passed when another small, grey figure appeared at the edge of the forest separating the coast from the island’s deeper parts. Above it, just as they had been above Costel a moment ago, two dark shapes were flying. Leyte didn’t know who she was looking at, but when the three strangers drew within a mere few dozen metres, she realised she recognised their scent – though they had never met directly, they must have been somewhere near each other at some point. Judging by the reaction of the other partygoers, however, Leyte knew she had nothing to fear. The three females, who were the last to arrive on the beach, were greeted joyfully by Appy and Costel.

The largest of the three arriving females, Silvercloud, was carrying a strange, reddish-black shape in her mouth, its fur slightly dripping with blood. Raptor currently lived mainly on the edge of the jungle, so it could be assumed that this was some kind of tropical mammal. On closer inspection, it was clear that Silver was also holding something in her right hand. Hanging from her curved, dark claws was a brownish animal, similar to a rat but much larger. Given that Skipper was flying without any luggage, one could assume that she, just like Appy, had used someone else to carry her gift. It was hard to tell whether the unusual rat was actually her catch – the size difference between the prey and the supposed hunter was suspiciously small. Nova looked far more honest – her beak was full of round, purple, downy fruits. She was also clutching the same fruits in her claws, carrying such a heavy load that she could barely stay aloft.

It took them a little while longer before each of the guests had found a spot on the beach. Once they had gathered all their gifts, it turned out that a truly interesting feast awaited them – perhaps not particularly plentiful in volume, but certainly varied enough to be hard to resist.

The dinosaurs sat in a circle so that no one felt left out. Time passed pleasantly as they ate and chatted. After a while, when they realised they’d said everything they possibly could, they found another form of entertainment – mock fights. All seven of them laughed loudly as they watched the tapejaras clumsily wrestle with one another on the sand, sending clouds of dust into the air every now and then, all the while letting out almost bird-like, threatening chirps. Then it was Leyte and Costel’s turn; with far greater skill, they ran around each other, trying to knock their opponent to the ground. Silvercloud added an extra dimension to the fun, constantly switching sides, jumping first at Leyte and then at Costel, trying to throw one of them off balance.

The celebrating dinosaurs didn’t even notice that, whilst they were playing, the sky had darkened and the spring sun had disappeared behind the horizon, casting an orange glow over the beach. It was already too late for any of them to leave the coast and return to their territory. Well, it looked as though the party would have to go on until morning!

All seven huddled close together again, finishing off the remains of the food left over from their afternoon feast.

2335 words