Author's Note: For The Dream Writer (sorry it took me so long) and Annah. Thank you for enjoying my story!

This chapter is mostly filler, but the journey to Waterfall City begins in the next - which is nearly finished.

~Star

Jill woke up in the middle of the night, and this time she knew exactly where she was. I was overwhelmingly relieved and refused to let her leave her bed until the doctor could come. She grumbled, but didn't fight - I think she knew how much she'd scared me and I think she'd scared herself too. I stayed with her, talking through what I'd learned from Rystrom as we spent hours pouring over the map of Dinotopia that Magdelena gave ux. For me, there was something unexpectedly disturbing about a map of a place that according to the rest of the world doesn't exist, one that looked like it only should in a story, and knowing that it was real. Jill didn't seem to have this problem, and jumped right into studying it without the overwhelm I'd felt in Rystrom's office.
"One in a dozen, huh?"
"Yep."
"So we'll definitely be attacked."
"That's what I said too."
She traced her finger over the map. "Forbidden Mountains," she grunted, "of course we would go through those. Why couldn't they be called something less threatening - like the Welcoming Mountains?"
"Maybe they're ironically named - like Iceland and Greenland."
After a moment, she pushed away from the map and lay back against the pillows. "I wonder who the last Dolphinbacks were, where they came from."
"We'll see, I guess. He said it was half-a-century back - just think how different the world that they remember is from how it is now."
Closing her eyes as if the very thought made her sick, Jill grunted again, and I rubbed her shoulder. Silence fell for a while as I continued to study the map.
"Look, there's a town called Burbleville."
Jill snorted half-heartedly as I chuckled, but her eyes stayed shut. I continued tracing my finger along the western coast, "Dinglecreek, Shortstump, Barbundine, Furble, Spindrift - oh, Temple of the Demisaurians, that sounds interesting - like demigods - ew," I wrinkled my nose as a thought hit me, "you don't think that means half-dinosaurs, half-humans, do you?"
"I really hope not. That does sound interesting though." Almost grudgingly, Jill sat up, squinting at the southern tip of the island. "Maybe we can travel a bit before we leave."
Humming in agreement, I kept following the coastline, snorting when I reached the Eastern side. "It would be our luck to hit land on the only dessert on the island. Look, almost anywhere else and we would have been fine. Or if we'd just travelled down the coast - in either direction."
"I thought dolphins were supposed to be intelligent."
"Maybe - maybe they didn't know. Or maybe there were cliffs or the towns were too far away."
"Maybe."
"Well we made it anyway."
"Yeah, I guess."
At her disheartened tone, I glanced at her out of the corner of my eye. "All right," I rolled the map up and tucked it under the bed, "enough of that. Let's talk about something else"
"Like what?"
"Um…" I tried to come up with something inspired that would get both of our minds off of everything, even for just a short time, "what if - what if - oh, hang on!"
I was so excited that I leapt off the bed, only to remember halfway into the air that my knee wasn't going to hold up very well to a hard landing. Executing an awkward midair twist didn't help much, and I slammed hard into the side of the bed. Jill snorted with laughter but tried to conceal it behind a sympathetic expression. "Are you okay?"
"Fine," I gasped, the breath knocked out of me, and pushed myself up again, "just my pride."
Retrieving my cane, I carefully trudged out of the room. When I found Magdelena in the kitchen and explained my request, her face lit up and she called for the two older children. Jill opened her eyes when all four of us traipsed in and I congratulated myself as her face lit up at the sight of the instruments. They weren't exactly like the violin and cello that we played, but they were close. Magdelena helped me back onto the bed, and then left us alone with Marlee and Iandor, neither of whom spoke English but understood the language of music perfectly. And we lost ourselves for a few hours, first in listening and then in learning how to play - which wasn't easy. When their mother poked her head into the room, bringing us food and calling them to supper and bed, we realized that the sun had set. We thanked the children, who left with their instruments, and then ate our own dinner, too tired for conversation. When we finished, I slid off the bed. "Guess I'll see you in the morning then."
Shouldering the bag with our dishes, I returned Jill's smile as she snuggled under her covers. "Sleep well."
Bringing the dishes back to the kitchen, I filled the basin with warm water, as I'd started doing after all of our meals. I had always enjoyed washing dishes - it was task that took just enough concentration to keep my mind free from other thoughts. As I scrubbed, the door opened and the children's mother entered, smiling gratefully as I held out my hands for the dishes she was holding. Suddenly, it occurred to me that I had never asked her name, and I embarrassedly did so, and learned that it was Maria. Three more trips, and I had enough washing to keep me busy for the next hour. By the time I finished, the rest of the house was quiet, and I enjoyed the peace as I wandered back to my room, bathed, and crawled into bed.

It was two days until the doctor gave approval for Jill to venture outside of her room again. During that time, Reatha, perhaps sensing Jill's growing restlessness, began bringing in books and projects, sending Jill's room into a disorganized chaos that was anything but boring. The two spent hours working on various things, and I was only too happy to leave them to their fun, spending my time exchanging language lessons with Dinsoth, who had attached himself to me in much the same way. I wondered whether they had plotted this to give us a break from entertaining each other, and perhaps they knew better than we did, because I at least was refreshed by the time Jill was released to the rest of the house. As Rystrom couldn't meet with us until the next day, we busied ourselves thinking of anything we might need for our journey, figuring out how we could possibly acquire them, and speculating on what we might see on the way or once we reached Waterfall City. Jill grew progressively more agitated all day, and by the afternoon I'd given up trying to calm her down and just let her pace around the common room and ramble.
"I don't know how you're going to ride that far with your leg."
I grunted from where I was assembling a puzzle on the floor with Dinsoth "I'll manage. You need something to keep the sun off your face."
"We both do. We also should -"
Reatha, who'd been alternating setting up a game and watching Jill, suddenly jumped up and grabbed her hand. For a moment, Jill protested, but at the look on the little girl's face, she sighed and let herself be pulled toward the game. Dinsoth butted my hand to reclaim my attention, and so the rest of the night was passed in our new routine of games and conversation in our little pairs, and by bedtime, Jill was far more relaxed.

"We'll be crossing the mountains here, then continue through the southern half of the Rainy Basin until we reach Waterfall City." Rystrom traced the route on his map again, and Jill and I nodded as we followed his finger. "The journey is very direct, as you can see, and you will avoid the most treacherous areas of the Basin. There is always the risk of attack, but it is unlikely for such a small party to attract much attention. Do you have any questions about the journey itself?"
We both shook our heads mutely. It wasn't exactly true - we had a lot of questions - but didn't know enough to be able to formulate them. Rystrom nodded, and as he started in on a more detailed breakdown of our trip, my eyes met Captain Destos' across the table. Like before, we openly studied one another, but this time his expression was less closed off and I was feeling less defensive, and when he gave me a slight smile I returned it before turning back to the conversation. From the details of our journey, Rystrom turned to what we should expect of our arrival.
"Captain Destos was sent to Waterfall City after you were found to tell the Council. They are already making preparations for you."
I frown. "Preparations? What for?"
"We don't have many newcomers to Dinotopia... whenever someone new arrives there are quite a lot of festivities. The last dolphinbacks are still alive so they shall be there as well to meet you; they will do the best of explaining our land to you."
"Still alive... you aren't kidding about not getting many newcomers. What kind of - festivities, exactly?"
"A parade, I believe, parties and celebrations, sessions with the Council to update records and tell them what has happened in the outer world since our last Dolphinbacks arrived. But I must admit that I do not know anything more - the traditions surrounding newcomers were never something that interested me greatly."
Jill and I exchanged an uneasy glance; neither of us were terribly fond of being the centre of attention or of crowds. Rystrom chuckled. "Worry not, mostly it will be singing, eating, dancing, and the like, all pleasurable and very little demand on you aside from simply your presence."
Well, said the look Jill gave me, still sounds like a lot of people.
I smirked, then looked back at the two men. "When do we leave?"
"The doctor recommends another week before any travel."
I met the captain's eyes again. "Do you or any of your men have medical training in case something were to go wrong?"
"We all have some level, yes. One of my Riders has more advanced training, and she will be accompanying us on the ground."
Nodding in satisfaction, I glanced at Jill before turning back to Rystrom.
"Very well, I believe that is all the information." Rystrom nodded, "We will see you in one week's time."