Sophie settled quietly into her seat on the converted jumbo jet that had been set aside for the Dinotopians and for any of Animalia's other megafauna. She found that the seats were actually rather oversized on her, which made some sense, since Pterodactylus was a rather small sized Pterosaur. Though she did find that the seats had a setting that kept the back of the seat apart from the cushion that she was seated on, which opened up a clear space where her wings could fit while sitting. And this was something that was rather critical for all flying Animalians, and Pterosaurs.
It was something that greatly differed from the old "Gargoyles" cartoon from the 90s. The series often saw the gargoyles cape their wings in a way that they hung like cloaks or capes around their bodies and backs. However, real wings didn't operate that way. The membranes on the wings on Sophie's back might be flexible in that regard, but the bones that made up the wings were not. In this, while she could fold her wings so that she took up less space, the bones in her wings still presented their own potential weaknesses. And the fact that the special Dinotopian plane took that into account was a good thing.
"So... ready for another great adventure?" came Roland's voice from beside her.
Sophie looked to him and couldn't help but pull the lips at the back of her beak, the only spot where she could actually claim to have lips, into a small smile. Roland was dressed relatively well in a smart looking polo that was comfortable and gave plenty of room for his wings, but there was also the fact that it did hug him just tightly enough that she could see the outline of his pectoral muscle underneath it. He wasn't super bulked up the way Samson was, but that really wasn't Sophie was looking for. Roland didn't need to be a body builder in order to be desirable. In some ways it might help, but she was quite happy with him the way he was. He was trim, well toned, and looked quite athletic. It was something that often got certain parts of Sophie's mind wandering when thoughts of her bond-mate came up or when they were together.
And sometimes she knew that Roland had similar thoughts. After all, she was stronger than she was before and at the same time a bit curvier as well. Her wings made it impossible to wear a traditional bra, but the types that had been developed for the bird and bat Animalians worked well with Pterosaurs as well and she'd found that after her conversion she fit a C cup nicely. And some of Horizon's data gave an indication that as she neared 17 years of age, she had at least one full year of maturing and growing left to do. As she'd tested some things in private and found that she wasn't lactating yet, which was something that was well known for all adult Animalian females regardless of whether or not they were pregnant. And some of Horizon's studies had also come with other victims of either the initial outbreak or had converted later, and while many had double dosed, not all of them had. And from tests conducted with some that did single dose and had been older than the members of Animalia Ambassadoria it was noted that with them, many of the increased hormone levels that were associated with puberty carried on until an Animalian was close to eighteen years of age, at which point those levels went down to the standard levels for adult Animalians. With that in mind, Sophie was fairly certain that she and Roland would continue to develop through the course of their coming Junior Year in High School and their Senior Year beyond.
"I'm not sure if it's a grand adventure," Sophie smiled, "We've covered Skull Island before and covered a fair amount of its layout. This is just to cover the official transfer of the deed over to Dinotopia Aquatica and thus the official establishment of the colony. From there, we need to get back so that we don't miss the first day of school."
Roland slowly nodded. School was coming, and for WSA it would big a big thing in that the coming year would have the Lyre/Animalia school districts reintegrated and having everyone together. However, the fact that various criminal groups had put so much development into Skull Island over the years trying to find the lost Spanish Gold there, that had meant while there had been plenty of renovations that would need to be made to give the larger aquatic Dinotopians, like Nessa, some degree of comfort the colony was actually far closer to being ready to go earlier in the summer than planed colony in Texas. And since Sophie and Roland were Animalia Ambassadoria's main Dinotopian members, they'd been picked to cover the official opening of Dinotopia Aquatica. In pure theory there should be time to fly to Skull Island and come back before school started, but they had arranged for potential excused absences in case there were any weather delays or the like that would keep them away from Lyre/Animalia for long.
"It will be a bit neat to see what they did to spruce up the underground mansion," Roland commented, "make it more comfortable and all that."
"Comfortable?" came a deep male voice from beside them, making them look up to their right and seeing Andrew and Jen sitting to their right and looking down on them, "this place isn't super small, is it?"
"It was built for more human sized residents when we first visited," Sophie answered, "but I that Horizon or Countess Irena was able to hire some engineers that were able to improve things so that taller Animalians wouldn't be completely cramped... though, that may be more to fit the large marine reptiles... like Nessa as an Elasmosaurus, which could still be smaller... or at least shorter than you an Jen."
"Well... it's a good thing that this is just a visit for us," Jen said to Andrew while leaning her head over to nuzzle his head, "along with the official ceremony."
"Yeah..." Andrew said slowly.
"Do you know why that the idea was made that the deed is to be handed over to you?" Sophie asked curiously, "as... I'd thought that you'd had more interest in the Texas colony when it's established."
"I do," Andrew nodded, "maybe just to troll some Texans on what they'll tolerate for "fun" and all that... but... also the fact that Jen and I are a bit TOO buoyant. We can make a big splash jumping into the water, but we bob like corks."
Sophie and Roland nodded, knowing that Andrew and Roland normally worked at the Meat Market and on the general differences between Humans and Animalians when it came to things like libido and all that would likely give some of the people in the region where the Texas colony was to be established was known putting out opinions that were often heavily influenced by religion. It'd be something that would likely at times voice its fair share of displeasure at how Animalia operated, though they often backed down because Animalia wasn't in Texas and wasn't doing them any harm. That'd likely face its own challenges when the Texas colony took form. But for the moment, the present journey was more with Dinotopia Aquatica and aside from Sophie, Roland, Jen, and Andrew, all the members of the expected colony were present for its opening.
Nessa and Molly sat in one set of seats discussing some of Molly's ideas for working with regard to open ocean racing that would be something any marine Animalian, Dinotopian or modern, could engage in for a measure of providing sport. There was also some element of working with the local fishing industry as well. Darla and Maya were in another row of seats talking with Danielle as the group compared some of the differences between them as well as the similarities in the sense that some of Darla and Maya's coelacanth DNA was used to help stabilize and complete the Dunkleosteus strain that Danielle had taken. There was some amusement at that there were coelacanth fossils that dated back to roughly the same time as the armored placoderms like Dunkleosteus ruled the seas, though much of Danielle's excitement was seeing the Orgullo de Fernando, which was supposed to be part of a display on the history on Spain's use of the island during its age of exploration and colonial period. At one point Sophie thought she heard the word "pirate" mentioned, but she ignored that. After all it'd be awhile before they could even leave the plane.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The flight from Lyre to Florida went calmly and had no difficulty, other than maybe looking at the time zone difference, but given how brief she and Roland would be there, that wasn't too much of an issue. They also met Countess Irena who had flown in from Spain to take part in the official handing over of the deed to the island for the new colony along the way. It then lead to a modest procession from the airport terminals to waiting vehicles that Horizon provided to help move those that were simply visiting the island and those who had voiced the willingness to actually move to the island.
Given their smaller size, Sophie and Roland were able to ride in a black SUV with Horizon's company logo painted on the side with Countess Irena. Roland sat in the very back looking after the camera equipment they had to record the official handing over of the island to Animalia while Sophie managed to get a seat next to the countess in the middle row. While Roland worked to make sure things were ready for ceremony, Sophie decided to ask the question that had been on her mind since hearing about the ceremony and had been discussed with Jen and Andrew on the flight.
"Countess... would you mind if I asked a question, off of the record?" Sophie wondered, "it isn't anything personal."
"I do not see why not, it would be something to pass the time while waiting to get to the island," Countess Irena commented, knowing that while Skull Island was not exactly tiny, it wasn't exactly set up for a lot of modern transportation amenities, and thus why everyone had to fly to Florida and then drive to the ferry port closest to the island.
"Well... I was wondering on why the ceremony involves handing the deed over to Andrew," Sophie stated, "I mean... sure Horizon will have some staff there for medical work and Horizon's standard business in monitoring the distribution of the Animalia Virus... but Andrew isn't exactly a marine reptile... Brachiosaurus was very much a land creature and that he and Jen are likely to move to the new colony in Texas when it's established."
"And you're curious as to why a Sauropod Dinotopian will officially take the deed?" Countess Irena gave a small chuckle.
"Yeah... I mean Nessa, Molly, Danielle, Darla and Maya have all committed to moving to the colony," Sophie commented, "and from what Roland and I... and the others on Animalia Ambassadoria have been able to cover... they all seem to be pretty smart and could lead the colony."
"I'm sure they could," Countess Irena nodded, "but so far... while we've had people commit to moving there to establish the colony... we haven't yet had any of them state any wish to run for the mayor and council posts yet... In this, there really isn't any official leadership with the colony. Now, while Horizon may run a lot of the day to day functions until that happens, it's not like that sort of leadership is there now. Which of course then leaves me as to who hand the deed over to."
"So... Andrew just seemed like a good idea at the time?" Roland wondered from behind them.
"In a way," Countess Irena looked down her own furry muzzle, that of the Pyrenean Ibex an animal from her home country that she was willing to bring back as a new start, "though some of it may also be some fandom with the Jurassic Park franchise."
"You liked that series?" Sophie gasped with some surprise, thinking the Spanish noblewoman at her age before becoming a Pyrenean Ibex Animalian wouldn't have had much interest in things like Jurassic Park.
"I've always liked Mr. Williams' music," Countess Irena smiled, "and when I learned that he'd written he score for the first movie, I got curious. And many things America produces do find their way onto the market. Now, I might not have bought a movie that otherwise deals with dinosaurs running amok and eating people... but from a more neutral position, it isn't necessarily a bad movie. And the Brachiosaurus just seemed to stick out as something rather awe inspiring. And duplicating that sort of awe is what I'm actually hoping for."
"Which works, I suppose, since we don't have a Mosasaurus Dinotopian, yet," Roland commented, earning a few chuckles.
Sophie then nodded and hoped all went well as they continued on their way.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Skull Island had had a lot of clear work done, and Sophie and Roland were both pleased with the unveiling. The old buildings on the top of the island had been clearly cleaned and refurbished and fixed up to serve as a sort of museum for Spain's colonial rule in Florida and particularly with regard to Skull Island as well. It looked rather quaint, but would probably work quite well with regard to tourism in the future. It was reinforced by a large reinforced metal garage that protected the Orgullo de Fernando that had also been brought up onto the island to serve as part of the museum.
Countess Irena spoke quite well on her support for Animalia and how Dinotopia Aquatica would provide America with great potential if they were willing to truly allow those that were different to contribute to society in a way that wouldn't demand they change who they were fundamentally. She also added personal support Animalia in general and wished them well and offered the Orgullo de Fernando as a means to help show the connections between Spain and the US with regard to the history of Florida as a state in relation. The countess also provided the details on what had been shared with her by the construction staff that would protect both the museum, the official entrance into the underground, and the ship from hurricane damage... or at least from major damage.
Sophie and Roland were able to get a front row seat to film and cover the announcement with many of the press corps that had gathered there for the announcement. She managed to provide some small commentary on the optimism for the new Dinotopian Colony as it was displayed, and was grateful that the other members of the press weren't outright shouting questions or things of that nature. Many often repeated what Sophie said. Eventually Countess Irena came to the final parts of the opening of the Dinotopia Aquatica colony and handing deed to Andrew.
That had over went reasonably well, but it also presented its own moment of amusement as it happened. This was largely due to the size differences between Andrew and Countess Irena. The massive Brachiosaurus Dinotopian towered over everyone there, with only Luke and Marjorie, the Diplodocus Dinotopians rivaling him in size. The countess, being a Pyrenean Ibex Animalian was much smaller. The result was that when she handed the deed, protected by a plastic shield, to him, she had to look up to him with a sharp crane of her neck. At the same time, Andrew's massive hands practically covered up the deed and he had to be especially careful as he took it. But the hand off worked both Andrew and Countess Irena could smile as the cameras clicked to snap the photos of the event.
"We'll probably need to be on the ball if we're to get this out quickly," Roland commented to Sophie softly.
"True... but things have gone well and we haven't had any trouble," Sophie answered, "I'd think we can make it back and get this uploaded before school starts. There is no bad weather coming, right?"
"Not according to what the weather app on my phone says," Roland answered.