The Continuing Saga

[Allicloud]

As the farwalker herd neared the outer mountains of the Great Valley, one of their number raised his head above the crowd to get a better view. His limp had forced him to the back of the herd with the slower dinosaurs. The teenage flyer saw the entrance to the Valley, and got a small glimpse at the inhabitants as well.

The flyer glanced around himself before breaking off from the column, flapping off towards a nearby forest.

He was an odd flyer at the best of times. A dark brown colour, with bright green eyes, as well as a strange sort of blackened grass tied and hung all over his body; tied to his crest, draped over his arms. he walked with a limp, because of a twisted and mutilated leg, from a battle long ago.

He flew low, so as not to arouse attention from the wandering herds, and landed near the edge of the forest. he glanced furtively about, then knocked loudly on a nearby tree.

Out of the dense foliage, there came a real monster. Red-skinned, with a massive yellow sail atop his back, the sharptooth stood out like a sore claw among the green trees. He waved to the flyer with a claw, which was covered in the same black grass as the flyer, only moreso.

"Hey Tero. So, what's the word?" He asked.

The flyer pointed towards the farwalker herds as they entered the Valley, then to the sun in the sky. The sharptooth nodded and grinned a toothy grin.

"Awesome. I smell our ticket outta this wasteland! So all the farwalkers will be in the Valley before it gets dark. Now listen, here's what I want you to do."

He pulled the silent flyer in close to him and muttered in a raspy whisper "You go back and join the farwalker herd. Once you're in the Valley, make sure the entrance is still clear by nightfall. Then wait for me there and you can help me sneak in."

Tero nodded, but looked furtively towards the herd. Redback understood and retorted "Forget it, friend. How would I sneak myself into a herd of flatteeth?  I stick out like a sore claw. I mean, you're conspicuous enough. I doubt those blackweeds of yours blended in that well."

With that, Tero flew back and joined the back of the farwalkers herd, while the sharptooth waited in the forest. Making sure none of them were looking in his direction, he trotted briskly to a nearby copse of rocks, a little closer to the Valley entrance.

"Heeheehee, not long now." he giggled as he watched Tero blend in with the farwalkers.

[LBTDiclonius]

The Fast Biter sniffed the air once more as she walked and smelled something.

"What? Far walkers?" she wondered in her mind as she turned her head and finally spotted them.

It was a huge herd of many Leaf Eaters, of all kinds as well as they walked along the grounds of the Mysterious Beyond. If she didn't know any better, she would say that they were going to the infamous Great Valley, a safe haven for Leaf Eaters of all kinds, of so she'd heard.

"Hey, maybe...wait, what?" A new scent caught her nose as she looked at the herd. It wasn't a Leaf Eater, but a Sharptooth. What could a Sharptooth be doing among Leaf Eaters? That is, only, unless he wasn't.

She smiled a toothy grin as she walked in the direction of the scent. "Things are about to get interesting."

[Mama's Girl]

(Well thankyou for the compliment on Cera that is, Pterano. I don't mean for all my posts to be this long either, by the way...)

As more and more of the farwalkers entered, Ridge continued ot just watch from off a small hill. He couldn't see Pterano straight off, and just scanned the herd for any flyer really, but as both were being secrative he didn't catch sight of what he was looking for. Harper landed on her friend's back, watching as well both the new comers and the failing light.

"We should probably head back soon" Harper pointed out, "it's getting late". For Ridge that just meant his timing on finding out any of this was getting shorter. He walked down closer.

"Ridge..." Harper started to fly up.

"Shh, if we're quiet no one will mind us" Ridge said

Harper sighed, just as long as they didn't get in anybody's way. "Why do you care if it was a flyer anyway?" she went on.

Ridge glanced down a bit as he walked, "I just thought...well, it was to help you really. You and your brother and the others". Harper suddenly caught what her friend meant.

"You thought..." she smiled, "Ridge, that's nice of you but...he'd have been here before now...if he...could come" Harper frowned, not really wanting to think on the many reasons Pterano could be late.

"Oh I'm sure it's nothing like that" Ridge was quick to reassure, "probably got held up by currents, and anyway I guess beyond that, solving the mystery of what I saw is part of it too" Ridge admitted as he still just walked the outside, not to close, seeming like any other random curious youngster inspecting the newcomers as they traveled in, which he sort of was.

"Well I hate to tell you, but they look pretty ordinary" Harper made sure to keep her voice down on this part, "I don't think you saw anything...interesting". Ridge kept scanning.

~~~~

Ducky giggled again at what Littlefoot said on Cera being the best hider and seeker, since it was true, but otherwise listened for what this new flyer's answer to Littlefoot's question would be. He seemed nice enough.

[Pterano]

As it turned out, Redback wasn't the only sharptooth that Cira might have picked up. There was a certain flyer sporting a long tail that ended in a spade like vein. He was chubbier as well, being possessed of a rounder belly. A "beer gut" in more modern terms. His skin was pink, but took on a darker hue after the sun went down.

He had been keeping his head down and away from Pterano. He knew full well that his former "leader" was with this herd, and the moment he'd found out, he had attached himself to the farwalkers, wishing to see just what it was Pterano was up to, as well as who this blue flyer was that he was with. Oddly enough, Pterano's traveling companion looked a lot like Sierra, and Rinkus, the pink flyer, had wondered at this development.

It had been pure luck that he'd run into Pterano like this. He tended to not stray too close to the Great Valley, but when he'd picked out the flyer in the traveling herd, he simply had to move in for a closer look.

Rinkus had also noticed the younger flyer, the one with the odd strands of vegetation dangling off him at random intervals. Now this fellow looked like Pterano's breed, and Rinkus had taken note of the much younger age of this flyer... that and the grotesque state of his leg. This fellow had been in a scrap, if not multiple scraps. It intrigued him, and he determined to sound him out and find out who he was and where he had come from. He might prove useful after all.

Keeping his eyes on the flyer as he took off for a set of woods that was off in the distance, Rinkus waited patiently, flapping his own wings to take to the air after walking most of the day. As he saw Tero returning, Rinkus smirked to himself, and adjusted his flight path so that he would come down next to the mysterious black-weed clad flyer.

"Well, hello there." he said, coming to a smooth landing as he beat his wings to slow himself before touching down. "Don't see many flyers in these farwalker herds. You destined for the Great Valley, too?" he asked, making sure to stay on the side of Tero that was away from Pterano, as Rinkus could easily see the other flyer, much further up ahead, standing off to the side and letting the other farwalkers go by. At least Tero had picked the middle of the herd to land in, and for that, Rinkus was rather grateful.

[vonboy]

When Devon appeared, Chomper tried to stay on the sidelines so he wouldn't be noticed. Ruby noticed this, and went over to talk to the secluded sharptooth.

"Hey Chomper, is something wrong? Your usually very talkative."

"Well, it just...you know how it is between people I haven't met before."

"Oh, I know."

Ruby remembered many times where Chomper scared away newcomers. Naturally, no one trusted him at first. It was especially dangerous around adults, who sometimes decided to try to drive Chomper out of the Great Valley.

"You should just come out and try to be friendly, Chomper. You can't just hide all the time when newcomers come."

"Oh...okay, I will."

The little sharptooth walked up to Devon, and tried introducing himself. He extended his claw out in a handshake.

"Hello, my name is Chomper."

[Allicloud]

[Just an FYI, Tero isn't actually a sharptooth. He's a pteranodon, and still mostly a leafeater, but he's learnt to eat meat from living with Redback]

Tero turned to face the strange pink flyer who had landed right next to him. He wasn't in the mood for making friends, and anyway, he had lost his voice a long time ago, about the same time he lost the use of his leg. So, silently, he simply glared at the pink flyer and walked on.
As the farwalker herd entered the Valley, he gazed in wonder at the sheer size of the place, as well as the sheer variety of creatures all living side by side in here. Redback would like it alot.


Speaking of which, Redback followed at a distance behind the herd hiding a short distance from the entrance behind a rock. Glancing up he grew apprehensive as he saw Tero being spoken to by another flyer, but was relieved when Tero simply walked on, his cover unblown.
He then felt a chill of fear as he saw in the distance, a fast-biter, not following the farwalker herd, but heading right for him.

[trulyfantasticme]

(Reminder to Flyers of the Mysterious Beyond members: If you're not a member of that rp, just ignore this message. I know I've said this in the discussion thread but please do not forget about Flyers of the Mysterious Beyond. Like I said before, I do not want that awesome rp to become dorment. And niether would Jared.)

"Well I'd love to little one. What color is she?" Devon asked before gazing at the sunset. "But I don't have much time, Pte-my friend wouldn't want me out too late."

[Pterano]

((Ah yes, of course he is. That's what I get for posting shortly after I woke up. I made the necessary edits, Allicloud. Whew, long post, but big event! And I can't really post in the Flyers RP at the moment, TFM. You sort of removed my characters in a way. Rinkus is sleeping, and Sierra is heading back to the cave to do the same. ))

It seemed the flyer was not in a talkative mood, as he merely glared at Rinkus before moving on ahead of him. Rinkus snorted, and quickly moved to the other side of an adult longneck in order to avoid Pterano.

Pterano was still watching the herd move in, except now they were all nearly inside of the Great Valley. He failed to catch Rinkus, the slippery rhamphorhynchus having eluded him for the moment.

Rinkus muttered to himself. "Well, well, it seems not all of these farwalkers are friendly. A good thing to keep in mind, I suppose." he narrowed his eyes as he watched Tero move ahead. Possibly someone to keep an eye out for, but for the moment, he had bigger fish to catch.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As Littlefoot was walking ahead, he could start to feel the ground shaking, and though he initially thought earthshake, the sound of many approaching dinos filled his mind with recognition. "Farwalkers!" he breathed, and started off at a run towards the highest of the hills in the area. Fortunately for him, they were quite close to the main entrance of the Great Valley, and the longneck was eager to see who was arriving.

There were three reasons why the arrival of farwalkers excited him, and all had to do with certain others. The first and most prominent reason in his mind would be the return of a certain female longneck he'd met a few years back. Just the simple thought of her caused his heart to race, though he of course would never admit that to his friends.

The second but still almost just as important reason was that his father, Bron, may at last be visiting the Great Valley. It had been a secret wish of Littlefoot's ever since he'd parted ways with his father, and as of yet it had not come to pass.

The third, more distant reason was the return of Petrie's uncle, Pterano. That flyer was now overdue from his exile, and though Littlefoot didn't view the infamous old flyer in the same light as he viewed his father or Ali, he could still remember how heartbroken Petrie had been at his uncle's departure, and a good part of him wanted Pterano to return.

As he crested the hill, the longneck gasped at the sight before him. "Wow..." he whispered, always finding himself in awe whenever a farwalker herd arrived. "Hey guys!" he called behind him. "Guys! Come over here! Farwalkers are arriving!" he knew that Chomper had been about to introduce himself to Devon, and he only hoped that that had gone well. He didn't like to interrupt, but this was important, at least in his eyes, and he just couldn't help himself.

As he was watching the herd, however, a great hissing noise suddenly sounded from up in the now almost black sky. Looking up, Littlefoot's breath caught in his throat as he could see a burning blue light streaking right toward him. It looked almost exactly like the "Stone of Cold Fire" from before, and it whizzed overhead, burning brightly and throwing its eerie and unnatural light over the group of farwalkers, following them in an almost perfect line.

As it streaked by, much closer to Earth than the "Stone of Cold Fire" had been, the longneck nearly toppled off his feet as he struggled to follow it with his eyes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Down below, Pterano suddenly saw his body turn blue, and heard a great rushing noise filling his ears. He too turned his eyes skyward, and he couldn't help but let out a small gasp. Again? Another one was landing here? But why?

It tore through the night sky, passing over the Great Valley itself before vanishing from sight on the other side of the mountains. A dull rumble could be heard off in the distance, followed by what looked like lightning as the stone struck the Earth, and then silence followed.

Pterano stood stock still, straining to listen as murmurs swirled around him. The herd had mostly stopped, and while some were continuing (it was only a flying rock, right?), others were discussing it amongst themselves. He hopped forward, trying to judge if it had landed in the valley, or beyond it.

The only thing he could see was a plume of smoke, beginning to rise above the mountains, and from what he could tell, it did indeed appear as if it had cleared the Great Valley before landing. Looking about him, the pteranodon figured it was worth the risk, and flapped his wings to get airborne in order to get a better look.

[vonboy]

"Farwalkers are coming?" Chomper asked. "That's always exciting! But..."

"Oh, I already know, Chomper!" Ruby spoke up. "I knw your always uneasy around new people, so maybe we should just sit back and wait for a good time to introduce ourselves."

Just then, the same bright light that Littlefoot saw streaked across the sky.

"What's that?" Chomper asked. He and Ruby weren't around when the stone of cold fire flew down from the sky, so they didn't know what to think of the strange sight.

[Pterano]

"That's... I can't be certain but... it looks like the flying rock we saw... back when Petrie's uncle was staying here." Littlefoot murmured, almost breathless at the sight. "We called it... the Stone of Cold Fire at the time... but it wasn't really a stone of cold fire... just a flying rock. It was so different though, just like this one! It burned with a blue light... and... yeah!" Littlefoot was finding himself at a loss for words as the smoke started to rise in the distance.

He looked back over at the farwalkers, but a sight in the sky caused him to pause. "Huh?" he asked. "Hey... that flyer..." he squinted, but in the gathering darkness it was hard to tell from this range.

"Hey, Petrie!" he called out, hoping the flyer would come out of hiding... or wherever he had been. "Petrie! Come over here! Is that... your uncle?" the longneck asked, squinting once more to try and see. It certainly had a crest very similar, and though it was hard to tell, the coloration seemed right as well.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Pterano gained the altitude he wished to be at, and studied the growing darkness. That rock... it looked almost the same as the last one. And though it hadn't landed near the Smoking Mountains, it had made the same exact noise and burned with the same light. Pterano had not seen the last flying rock that looked like this; he only had overheard Littlefoot recount it to the other adults. But if he was to be believed, it was the exact same as before.

Of course, it wasn't anything to get too riled up about. The previous stone had had nothing in terms of magical powers to it. Even so, it was hard not to feel... unsettled by one of those. Memories of the previous time came flooding back to him, and he closed his eyes for a moment, trying to clear his head. Shaking it, he reopened his eyes, and started to descend back to the ground.

[LBTDiclonius]

Spike stopped and looked at the Flying Rock that just whizzed by. He wondered what was up with it. Why had it flown so low? Maybe it was like that Stone of Cold Fire thingie that happened when Petrie's Uncle came to the Valley. Spike then frowned. He didn't like remembering that time because it was when his sister was kidnapped. Still, he put it in the back of his mind. For now, he focused his eyes on the Flyer Littlefoot had spotted.

[trulyfantasticme]

(I keep forgetting that I'm the one who controls Petrie.   )

Petrie squinted, suddenly realizing this flyer was crested and looked...just like his uncle. Sudden happiness filled inside him as he began to smile and gasp. "Uncle Pterano?" he whispered silently as no one could hear him. "UNCLE PTERANO!!!!!!!"

With that being shouted in Littlefoot's ear, the little flyer shot himself into the air and flew at top speed towards his uncle.

------------------------------------------------

Devon soared through the sky, trying his best to spot that threehorn Littlefoot had mentioned. He looked here and there, but he couldn't see any threehorn. He landed next to a tree, leaning against it and taking a treestar. "Dang," he stuffed the treestar into his mouth. "He wasn't joking about that threehorn being a good hider..."

Just then, he gasped as a blue light filled the area around him, which caused him to turn his gaze to the sky. His eyes widened to see a blue meteor shooting through the sky. It looked almost like Pterano had described it, but lower to the ground. "Wow..." was all he could mutter before the blue meteor disappeared behind the mountains. "I've got to tell Pterano about this." With that, he shot himself into the skies.

(Mama's Girl, would you mind having Cera overhearing what Devon said about Pterano? Please? I think it would make the story even more interesting.)

[Pterano]

((I like that idea Trulyfantasticme. We should do that. ))

"Petrie!" Littlefoot called, seeing the flyer break from cover and start flying as fast as he could toward Pterano. It looked as if Devon was heading off as well, and Littlefoot did the best he could to catch up, charging forward as fast as his four legs could carry him. "Is it really him?"

But Petrie was already way ahead of him, and it was all Littlefoot could do to keep sight of him.

Pterano heard something as he was landing... something that caused him to flap his wings and gain altitude. It was... his name... being called... but... was it Devon? He swiveled his eyes to look off to his right, from where he could hear the voice... and gasped.

He nearly choked upon seeing the small form heading right for him. "Petrie?" he asked, softly and in complete disbelief. "Petrie?" he blinked a few times to make sure it was really his nephew.

But it was. It was Petrie. His fears melted, and he no longer felt like running... and he no longer felt like hiding either. At first, his throat was so tight that he couldn't speak the words. He coughed a little, trying to open it up. "P... Petrie!" he managed, calling out to him now. "Petrie!" and just like that, he was flying right toward him, heading out into the open and making a beeline straight at his nephew.

[trulyfantasticme]

Petrie flew faster than he ever did before and attacked his uncle's neck, throwing his arms as tightly as he could around it and sobbing happily. "Oh uncle! It is you! It's really you!!!"

[Pterano]

"Ooof!" Pterano gasped out, exhaling as Petrie clung tightly to his neck. Deciding it would be easier on the ground, Pterano swiftly landed, gliding to a stop and hugging his nephew tightly, now that he could safely do so. "Yes Petrie... it is me." Pterano said calmly, giving his nephew a squeeze. "I'm back... I'm finally... back. I'm sorry I didn't return during the last cold time... but I'm here now." he said, struggling to hold his own tears back.

He didn't usually get teary eyed, but there were some things, such as the cascade of relief he was now feeling, that could get to him, and he felt the mist building, and he shuddered a little as his breaths became erratic. "It's so good to see you... and to be back here, again."

[trulyfantasticme]

( I can see Pterano struggling to breathe like Littlefoot did when Petrie squeezed his neck so tight. )

"Its so good to see you, Uncle..." Petrie replied as he blushed happily, burrying his face into the older flyer's neck, never, ever wanting this moment to end, nor did he want to let go. He was too happy.

Devon landed next to the uncle and nephew and smiled. "Aww, Pterano...is this your nephew you keep telling me about?" he asked.

[Pterano]

((Gaah... I guess I'm out tonight. That kind of sucks, but at least I should be around for most of the weekend starting tomorrow. I can get few more posts in I think. I yes, I could picture the same thing. XD))

Pterano coughed a little again, but didn't mind it. It wasn't complete constriction, and he smiled at Devon as the flyer landed nearby. He gave him a nod. "Indeed, it is. This is Petrie, the nephew I've talked the world over about." he said, chuckling now as best he could.

He gave Petrie a few pats on the back, and pulled his neck up a bit to get some air flowing. "It's very good to see you too. I hope... I can stay. I'm just very worried about what the others might say or think." he confessed softly.

Littlefoot was off a good ways, but getting closer. Huffing and puffing, he could see it was in fact Pterano, and he started to smile at this revelation.

[trulyfantasticme]

Petrie gazed up at his uncle in the greatest admiration. "You...you told the world about me?" he asked.

Devon chuckled. "He sure did, kid. I couldn't even get him to shut up about you. Apparently you are his favorite nephew." Petrie blushed at the thought. He loved his uncle dearly and he was so glad to find out that Pterano loved him just as much. "I'm Devon, I've been travelling around with him in the last few years."

"Me Petrie," the little flyer replied, perching himself on Pterano's shoulder.

[Mama's Girl]

"Well, she..." Ducky had begun to describe Cera to the new flyer, when Littlefoot suddenly took of at a run. Turning she noticed why. "Ooh, we are getting more farwalkers again, we are!" she smiled. She rushed over to the hill Littlefoot was on top of to watch as well.

Suddenly, though, as the noise roared through the sky, Ducky dove down closer to the ground as well as she now saw what a stone that was cold and on fire might look like when it flew through the sky.

She stayed down for a while before slowly lifting up and turning to Littlefoot as he spoke. She'd been thinking the same, about it being perhaps another Stone of Cold Fire, or flying rock though to be, if it was like last time. She wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not, but looked off where Littlefoot pointed, trying to see the shape of the flyer he now pointed out herself. She couldn't tell if it was Pterano or not.

Petrie's reaction seemed to say yes though, as he darted off. Ducky winced at her friend's level of volume, he was about to out beat his siblings for being loud yellers, the swimmer smiled to herself as she remembered saying this, especially since it made it odd now whenever she did see Harper when she and Ridge came around, knowing she'd said this once. She was also smiling at Petrie's enthusiasm as he darted over, though.

~~~

(Obliging and making it worse maybe...)

Ok, Littlefoot was going from bad at this game to so bad it was becoming majorly boring for Cera! Seriously...she thought to herself, he had to have found somebody by now! and that somebody had to be better than him and helping him with...

The threehorn was brought out of her thoughts as a flyer landed. Well both as a flyer landed and the sky erupted! Cera froze as the blue light came and faded. No...it was impossible...

The flyer was speaking and at first, Cera didn't pay it any mind, but then she heard the words muttered. Or one most important word...Pterano. The threehorn stood up now, forgetting about her hiding spot, and watched as the flyer took off. Her first thought was to go tell the others but then...another thought hit. Tell...the grown-ups, her father...

Cera hunched in almost as that thought hit her. It was be like treason to Petrie and her friend might never forgive her but...well shouldn't they be warned just in case. As she thought, the threehorn came up with a truce that was still bad. She walked off towards where Littlefoot's sleeping spot was.

She soon found the one she was looking for, "Excuse me...um, Mr. Longneck...", the kids were allowed to call him "Grandpa" too, but Cera was a bit too literal with adults for that.

"I..." she glanced over her shoulder, "I don't want to be a tattle tale, but...I think you should...know something".

~~~~

Being closer to the farwalkers, Ridge and Harper had sort of got a better view as well of the flying rock. Harper dove straight onto Ridge's back and between his plates as the spiketail himself hit the ground.

"What...was that?" Harper had never seen anything like it, missing both the first time and the story from Littlefoot. The story third hand from her mother and Petrie was all she got.

"F-flying rock" Ridge tried to take the logic most of the others were as some of the farwalkers moved off. Harper caught the form that darted up after the rock better than Littlefoot and the others had though and froze.

"Ridge...".

"Yeah?" her friend asked.

"I'm sorry and I owe you a big pile of treesweets for being right one hundred percent...." the hatchling pointed and Ridge followed her point to where Pterano had both flown off and now landed, having a collision sort of reunion with Petrie.

The spiketail smiled, "Told ya" he glanced up to take in Harper's reaction. She went from looking stunned to a small smile coming to her face and then frowning a bit. Ridge was able to read all of it.

"Come on, you're family too aren't you?" he asked, "let's go let you say hi too".

"Ridge no! not now, not during Petrie's moment, oh he'd never forgive me if I took away Uncle Pterano's focus and....". Harper stopped talking as they reached both Pterano and Petrie.

They did so at the really worst time too, right as Pterano was praising up Petrie to Devon. Ok the slight favortism was not a new thing, but, it just felt odd hearing it. Harper wasn't jealous or anything, but she did glance down, not sure what to do now.

Still, she glanced up with a small smile as Pterano said he wasn't sure what the others would think. He didn’t mean them so much as other not related ones, but still.

"Some of the others of us are glad too" Harper said with a small smile, waving shyly at Pterano, "Uh...hi Uncle Pterano" she wasn't sure what to say and also wasn't sure why she wasn't sure, but her smile was glad.

"Oh, uh, this is Ridge" she realized her friend needed a small introduction.

"How do you do sir" Ridge nodded, smiling in amusement at so much about this reunion.

[Pterano]

"Ah yes! That's right!" Pterano said, smacking his head in a forgetful manner. "Petrie, this is Devon. Devon, Petrie. Devon is... well he's... a friend of mine." Pterano stated, not revealing the deeper feelings he had for the cearadactylus, nor the fact that Devon was Sierra's biological son. That would be revealed in good time. No use bringing it up now. "I'm hoping to find a good home with him here. I... guess I'm long overdue back, aren't I?" he asked.

"Hey, Pterano." Littlefoot greeted as he slowed from his jog to a tired walk. He was nearly out of breath trying to keep up with Petrie, but he had still managed, albeit arriving a few moments after the young flyer.

Pterano looked down at newcomer longneck, and gave him a nod of remembrance. "Hello, young Littlefoot. It is good to see you again."

"Well gee... thanks... it's good to see you too." Littlefoot was caught a little off guard by Pterano's statement, as he hadn't been expecting that, but enjoyed hearing it all the same. He opened his mouth, about to ask about that flying rock they had all just seen, but was interrupted by the approach of Harper and Ridge.

He closed his mouth and simply smiled, letting them extend their salutations to the flyer.

Pterano looked down and to his right at his niece and the spiketail. He struggled at first to recall her name, but it came to him after a moment's thought. "Ahhh yes. Harper. There you are. I'm... very happy to hear that you are glad to have me back. It's good to see you as well." he nodded at her solemnly, and felt a warmth spreading within him. A warmth he seldom felt these days, those was gradually returning to, thanks to his time with Devon. Giving her a smile, he realized that even though his cover had been blown, he couldn't have asked for a better reunion with family and friends than this. Plus it was with the young ones... and he was perfectly fine with that.

He looked over at the spiketail, waving his hand a little in greeting. "Well hello, Ridge. I am fine, thank you for asking. And you don't have to call me sir." He stated with a chuckle. "It is good to show respect to your elders though, and I'm sure you'll get many a thank you from the other adults." he informed him with a smile. "It's very good to see everyone, again." he sighed, mostly in relief and contentment. "I must admit, I wasn't expecting such a large... reunion, but I'm glad it occurred all the same."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Grandpa Longneck was not yet asleep, as he was waiting for Littlefoot to return. He had of course seen the blazing rock shoot across the sky, and it had filled him with both awe and a sense of foreboding. If he had doubted his grandson before, he most certainly didn't now.

But what did it mean? A sign? An omen? The farwalkers were arriving tonight... that much he knew. It was the height of the wandering season, and he had been expecting them for days... but why had their arrival been heralded by this burning blue sky rock?

He looked down as he heard Cera approaching, tentatively asking him if she could relate something to him. He nodded, and looked down at her. "Well of course, Cera. I'm a bit surprised though. You don't usually come to me for anything." He said, giving her a wizened smile. "Not that I see that as a bad thing... I think it's good, and there's no such thing as a tattletale if you're doing it to protect someone." Spiting someone was another story entirely, but he doubted she was doing it for such a purpose. "Go ahead... what is it?" he asked.