And so, we come to the next chapter, at long last. Well took me a few days, but here it is! And yes, thanks to everyone who reviewed! Had some good comments, and now we'll reveal who that voice is... as I'm sure everyone has their guesses.
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Chapter 5: A ChallengePterano turned slowly, not recognizing the voice. Much to his surprise, the voice was revealed to belong to the albino flyer that he and his nephew had glimpsed earlier. "You!" Pterano exclaimed, otherwise lost for words.
"Heheh, hello there Pterano."
"How do you know my name?" Pterano demanded.
"Doesn't matter. I know where your nephew's been taken..."
"I swear, if you've harmed him, then I'll..."
"Yes, yes, I'm sure you'll get very upset. But if you bring harm upon me, you'll never see little Petrie again. Well... you might see him dead, but most certainly not alive. You see... turns out that I'm just the messenger, and doing something to me will make my uh... boss pretty upset."
"Boss?" Pterano asked, raising a brow. "What sort of monster would kidnap a child?"
"Someone like... oh I dunno, you maybe?" the albino asked, fixing Pterano with a stare, to which the flyer merely gulped. "Come on, you can't throw insults at me or my boss. It doesn't work that way. He knows everything about you... and hence I know everything about you."
"Then... whatever he's promised you, I'll... try and... double it. Triple even!" Pterano stammered.
"Not interested. You can't give me anything that would fascinate me. See... I'm much more fascinated by the results YOU'LL be achieving... or perhaps failing to do so, depending on your actions. That's what interests me."
"Why have you done this? Where is my nephew?" Pterano asked, looking around him, but noting that most of the adults had already gone off in their search parties, and the children were safely behind him out of earshot. Best not to involve them, the way he saw it.
"You'll find out... IF you do exactly as I say. If you don't... then" here he paused to chuckle wickedly, baring his fangs as he laughed. "Now then. I'll cut right to the point. My boss thinks you're nothing but a lowly coward, a cheat, and a scoundrel. He thinks you haven't changed your ways, and he's willing to go to some lengths to prove it. He's got... ohhhh let's see... a few tasks for you to complete."
"Tasks?" Pterano snapped. "What is this? A game? What sort of twisted..."
"Shut up!" the albino yelled. "Quiet... I'm talking. Now then... as I was saying, you have a set number of tasks. You have... certain ways you need to complete each one. You are allowed to fail a certain amount as well, though that will remain secret on just how many you can safely forfeit, so to speak."
"So what is this? An attempt to what? Discredit me?" Pterano wasn't liking the sound of this. He had finally lived out his exile, and yet it seemed that old grudges still had not been buried. Who was the one behind this? "Can you at least tell me your boss's name?"
"Hahahah!" the albino guffawed, as if Pterano had just cracked the best joke this side of the Great Valley. "Errrr no. That would more than somewhat defeat the purpose, now wouldn't it?"
"Then... how do I know that Petrie will come to no harm? What assurances do I have?"
The albino frowned, as he considered this a moment. "I guess you don't have any... but what choice do you really have? You either agree to this, and MAYBE see your nephew again, which I assure you, you will, or you don't do this and NEVER see your nephew again. Pretty simple if you ask me."
"You despicable little..."
"Uh uh... as I said, insults will get you nowhere." the white skinned flyer reminded him. "I can't give you any assurances... except that you WILL see Petrie again if you pass. My boss wants to make sure of that. It all relies on you and your actions though, Pterano. You and your actions will decide your nephew's fate. To what extreme are you willing to go to save him? I suppose we'll find out, won't we? You strike me as a rather considerable egotist after all, one who's rather in love with himself. Guess we'll see just how much you're willing to risk. Now... come along then. Your first little... quest awaits."
The albino turned to go, but Pterano called out to him. "Wait! What do I call you?"
"Sorry, but my parents weren't very original. Name's Redeye, and I saw no reason to change it. Now, you coming, or what?" he asked, looking behind him over his shoulder.
"And just... where are we going?" Pterano inquired, still not leaving the ground.
"Hmph. Outside. To the Smoking Mountains." was the reply.
"W-wait a minute!" Pterano protested, raising a hand. "I can't leave the Great Valley! You must have heard the others! If I leave I'll risk their trust in me! What's out there that's so important?" he asked, turning skeptical.
"You'll find OUT when we GET there." Redeye was clearly growing annoyed at this recalcitrance. "I'm not going to spoil it ahead of time. Where's the fun in that? I'll SHOW you what you have to do, and you can either do it or back out. I don't care. For the last time... you coming or not?" he fixed his eerie red gaze upon Pterano.
Pterano looked away, down at the ground. Could he really do this? Could he break his word and leave the Great Valley?
"Oh boohoo, I'll have you back before the Great Circle even sinks! No one will know you were ever gone... and I guess if they find out... then it isn't exactly my problem either. One chance Pterano. One chance or I fly outta here, and good look getting me to talk. I've endured pain worse than I'm sure you'd be capable of delivering... and besides... torture just... isn't your style." Redeye declared with a knowing tone of voice. "So... you coming? Staying? Which is it? If you choose to stay... then good luck finding anything further. You'll never see me or Petrie again. So hurry up! Make up your mind!" he barked.
Pterano raised his eyes, anger and determination set within them. "Fine... but if you go back on your word... well there's a first time for everything, isn't there?" he asked rhetorically.
"Ooooh scary. I'm shivering and quaking, believe me." Redeye replied sarcastically. "Now let's go! Wasting time!" The albino took off into the air, and Pterano followed suit. The flyer glanced behind him down at the Great Valley, hoping no one was watching his movements. He would have to do this quickly, if at all possible. He needed to be back in the Great Valley by the time the Great Circle sank, because if he wasn't, it could spell trouble.
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Littlefoot was walking with his remaining friends, minus Petrie of course. They had wandered considerably farther off from Pterano that by the time he took off with Redeye, they were mostly out of sight. "So what's your plan, Littlefoot? I really don't see how we're going to find Petrie. My dad could be right after all. He might have been taken out into the Mysterious Beyond. If that's the case it's hopeless." Cera said, as much as she hated to admit that.
"Well... I figure that rather than focus on finding Petrie... because you're right, we don't even know where to start looking... maybe we should focus instead on finding whoever took Petrie. I could be dead wrong, but maybe we should be trying to find out who would want to hurt either Petrie or, more importantly, who would want to hurt Pterano." Littlefoot suggested.
"Maybe the two flyers he was with before?" Ducky offered. "Rinkus and Sierra?"
"I dunno. Maybe. But if they're back here, they've certainly done a good job of hiding themselves. We haven't seen any indication that they've returned. But right now, they're the only ones I can think of off the top of my head." the longneck confessed. "I really don't have any other ideas."
Up ahead, they could see a very familiar dinosaur, and one that was not so familiar. "Hey! I think that's Hyp! And um... is that his well... what do you call someone you're courting?" he asked. The two ahead of them were a purple looking hypsilophodon, which was Hyp, and one that was far more indigo in coloration, being of a very deep blue. The two noticed the approaching gang almost right off, and Hyp appeared to be nervously figuring out what to say as they drew closer.
"Hey Hyp!" Littlefoot called out as they came up to the pair.
"Hey hatchlings!" Hyp responded, until the female standing next to him elbowed him in the ribs. "Owww!"
"Hyp! That's not very nice."
"Er... I mean, hey guys!" he tried again. "Er... hey... friends?" he was getting clumsier as he went on. The female rolled her eyes, shaking her head.
"You must be the young ones that Hyp used to bully all the time growing up. It's sort of amusing, but I heard it all from Hyp's father, and he also told me that Hyp learned a few things from all of you that he never forgot."
"I didn't bully them!" Hyp quickly cut in.
"What? Hah! That's a laugh!" Cera said, walking right up to him. "You didn't bully US? You want to rethink that a little?" she snorted.
"Er... well OK, I guess I did a little bit. But that's all in the past! We're friends now, honest!" Hyp said defensively.
"And who are you? Sorry, but I don't think we've met yet." Littlefoot broke in, looking over at the smiling female.
"Ah! Of course! Hyp never introduces me to anyone he knows, save of course for those rather goofy friends of his, Mutt and Nod. I'm Selene." she placed a hand on her front, bowing her head. "A pleasure to meet all of you. I've heard a little here and there, once again mostly from Hyp's father."
And are you the one that he's... courting?" Littlefoot inquired.
"Why yes, that would be me. Hyp here is quite the softy, so I'm surprised he hasn't mentioned you more." she playfully punched his arm.
"Selene!" he whined. "Stop... just... um, what brings you all here?" he asked, trying to change the subject.
"Well, we're trying to figure out who might want to harm Pterano in this valley. We're coming up a little empty though, sadly." Littlefoot said, frowning a bit.
"Oh yeah... Selene and I watched that this morning. It was... well I don't know much about that guy after all. He seems OK, but what do I know? Never met him face to face." Hyp explained.
"Ah! Trying to find your alternative answer, are you?" Selene asked, eyes shining. "You know, I rather liked your theory this morning. All that bravado and courage to stand up for your beliefs! Hyp here should learn to assert himself more, shouldn't you Hyp?" she asked, in a more cooing tone of voice.
"Oh come on! I assert myself just fine!"
"You do not! Well you do I suppose, but you could be better at it. Anyway, I seem to have gotten distracted... where was I? Oh yes! That's right! Well I think your theory holds water. Why wouldn't it after all? What you were saying made sense, even if you don't have any solid ideas yet. Mysteries always have a way of keeping themselves obscure at first, otherwise they wouldn't very well be mysteries, now would they?" she asked. "Perhaps we could help?" she suggested, looking down at the group, who blinked in surprise.
"Us? Help?" Hyp asked. "But Selene... I was never any good at mystery games. They always made my head hurt. And Nod ALWAYS figured it out before I ever could. It wasn't fair. I kept thinking he was cheating, but I couldn't determine how."
"I doubt that." Selene responded. "How can you cheat at a mystery game, unless you know the answer ahead of time? I think he was probably just better at them than you were, no offense dear." she said, pecking him on the cheek.
"Ahhh jeez! Selene!" Hyp protested.
"Hm-hm, well, if we hear or see anything, we'll be sure to let you know." Selene continued, ignoring Hyp's protests.
"Well gee... thanks." Littlefoot said, unsure how to respond to this, though somehow, he had to admit it was good seeing such a... dominant female in Hyp's life. He wasn't sure, but she seemed rather like the perfect type for him, for some reason. "We were thinking about looking around the area where Petrie disappeared. We know it, from how Pterano described it. We're probably going to go and look around there."
Selene nodded, and waved as they began to head off. "Well good luck! Now come on Hyp!" she tugged on his arm. "You promised me some lunch. So let's get going!"
"Uh... right! Coming!" he said, being dragged along until he could finally draw even with her and begin to walk off in the opposite direction from the gang. "Do you really think they'll find anything?"
"I don't know, but I figured it would be good to encourage them. Such an awful thing that's happened after all. I'm sure someone somewhere must have heard or seen something. The truth is impossible to fully cover up after all, since the truth actually took place, and exists. It's not some fabrication, and we know for a fact that that flyer really did go missing... so something had to have happened."
"I... guess that makes sense." Hyp said, scratching his head with his free hand.
"Well I hope they do find something. I don't like this one bit. I think Littlefoot may have been on to something this morning. We'll discuss it further over lunch." she insisted, pulling him along.
