Do you play any video games?

Yes I do in fact. I currently own uh... let's see. A PS3, PS2, Dreamcast, three N64s (one belongs to a friend of mine that left it at my place), a DS, and a Gamecube. I also like PC games as well. As for genres... I really like a wide mix. RPGs are a big for me, but I enjoy almost anything really.

Hahah, yes, he is! Always happy to meet fellow Pterano fans!

I know! I noticed there were over 400 members here, and I was like... no way this is gonna work. But when I clicked submit, and saw that my registration was successful, I was like wow! Well what do you know? Thanks for the welcome!

Malte279: Yes... we probably should move to the Fridge soon. XD In fact, I was thinking of starting a thread which tracks my following of the War of the First Coalition as I'm going through it, covering major battles and events.

Good point, good point. I'll leave it as is then.

Thank you Kor! It's good to be here.

Nick22: Ahh an anarchist. Well it certainly gave them a convenient excuse to shrug aside democracy. I always find it interesting how various groups or people are able to bend the rules. I'm currently studying the height of Robespierre's power myself, in comparison.
Ah yeah, that was basically the tail end of the war in that case. Soviets really got involved late, though I guess it did ultimately help to push another nail in the coffin.

((So this is an older idea I had, but never wrote. I'm redoing a good chunk of it, and well, hopefully I have enough inspiration to see it through. I've got the beginning and some of the middle and a general idea for the end worked out, so we'll have to see how it goes. Any feedback is of course appreciated))

Prologue: Sleepy Night in the Dale

Five cold times had passed. They had come and gone after what seemed to the young flyer to be an eternity. Although he had been on countless adventures with his friends, Petrie had never lost count. Not once. Each cold time he had secretly been keeping track of.

Now it was getting warmer. The flowers were beginning to bud. Spring was arriving, bringing her bounty with her, and all the richness that went along with the changing season.

Petrie was older now, having aged a few years, though he hardly felt it. He wasn't much bigger than he had been back then... back when his uncle had arrived.

The youthful flyer sucked in a breath through his nostrils, looking up at the starry expanse that stretched infinitely above him. The stars glittered like crystals, a thousand, no, millions of them. His eyes swept the darkness... looking for a sign... anything that might show that the stars were being obstructed.

A passing herd who were stopping for a brief sojourn in the valley had sent word to his mother. In exactly ten days' time from their arrival, Petrie's uncle would return. He would return when the bright silver disc was highest in the sky. Five years had gone by since their adventure to find the Stone of Cold Fire... and now, it was time at last. The fifth Spring.

Petrie's eyes roved back and forth, trying to search for some dark shape in the sky. His uncle had said he'd arrive in this spot, in a dale near the big rock. That last bit had been kept secret from his mother. One of the wandering herd had instead informed him, and Petrie, desiring to see his uncle before anyone else, had come out here past his bedtime. No one else knew, save for a few sleepy dinos he had passed flying out here who had seemed more interested in sleeping than they had been in the lone flyer.

He gazed to his left, down the path that twisted like a ribbon in the darkness, and then turned abrutly to the right, hooking in on itself and traveling up a hill and out of the dale. The hill was directly ahead of him, not more than fifty feet off.

He wrapped his wings about himself, not because he was cold, but because he was a tad scared of being out here by himself. The moon was just about at its highest... so where was his uncle?

The sound of crunching ahead of him caused his head to snap, his beak pointing straight forward as he struggled to see what was making that noise. A dark form was heading down the path, moving slowly and deliberatly. For an instant, he thought he saw two glints in the blackness... eyes watching him? He shuddered, watching the shape move from right to left in his field of vision, getting lower and lower as it descended the path.

It appeared to stop right at the hook, off to his left. It just... sat there, melting into the darkness that surrounded it. "Pterano?" Petrie called out, though very softly, his voice not traveling very far. The shape did not move. Did not reply. Petrie wasn't even sure if it had existed in the first place. Maybe his mind was simply playing tricks on him.

But then, as if to confirm that it had in fact been very real, the shape started to move, crossing the hook and beginning to walk in his direction. The first thing the flyer could see materializing from the inky dark was a green set of legs, silvery claws catching the moonlight and flashing a bit. The green legs were followed by a body, which was in turn accompanied by arms, and finally, the head emerged.

Petrie immediately sighed in relief when he caught sight of the rainbow splotch of skin on the hypsilophodon's neck. "Oh... Mr. Brightneck... me didn't know it was you." He said, relaxing visibly and giving the hypsilophodon an assuaged look.

Mr. Brightneck smiled, being very familiar to the brown flyer. He was a local chaperone for the younger ones, taking them to and from places if their parents or guardians were too busy to do so. The gang usually didn't make use of his services, but sometimes, if a parent requested it, he would safely see a young one to wherever they were going.

He was older, having come to the Great Valley after the Great Earthshake. No one quite knew with what group he had arrived with, only that he had shown up with one of them. "Petrie." he said, his voice warm, friendly, like a mid-Summer night's eve. "I wasn't sure that was you. What are you doing out so late?" he asked, concern flooding his features.

"Me..." Petrie hesitated. "Can you... keep a secret?" he asked, to which the chaperone nodded solemnly. "Well... me here to see Uncle Pterano. He's coming tonight... but nobody knows that!" he said, angst evident in his voice. "Momma thinks that he's coming tomorrow... but me wanted to see him first."

"Ah... your uncle. Pterano." Brightneck stated, his voice peculiarly flat. He had a distant look in his eyes, as if he were studying something far beyond Petrie. "Do you like him?" he asked suddenly. "Your uncle's done some... bad things after all... hasn't he?"

"Well... Me guess." Petrie said, looking a bit crestfallen as he hung his head. "But he's still a good flyer... he saved Ducky..." the flyer trailed off.

"Hmph... so he did. Er... ahem, yes, of course he did. What time are you expecting him?" Brightneck asked.

"Well... now... but... me no... see him." Petrie said, raising his eyes in an abashed manner, clearly disappointed that his uncle was not here.

"Oh... my dear lad... I'm very sorry. But I don't think you should be out like this. Why you know how late it is? Your mother would be worried sick if she woke up and found out. Your home is... sort of on the way to where I was going. Why don't you let me walk you there? I could even carry you if you want. I don't think you should be outside like this." Brightneck said.

"Well... but Pterano... he's supposed to come..."

"I'm sure he will... but Petrie... don't get too upset at this... your uncle just doesn't seem like... the best flyer to be placing your faith in. He knows where you live. He can always show up. He might not even be coming tonight. I mean it's very late after all." Brightneck persisted. "Now come on... why don't you let me walk you home?"

Petrie took another look up into the sky, but saw no sign of anything flying up there. "Well... alright." he said, giving another sigh, this one of defeat.

"It will be OK. I'm sure you'll see him... in the morning. Come along now." Brightneck gently urged, holding his hand down for Petrie. Petrie practically crawled into the outstretched hand, so reluctant was he to leave the spot. Brightneck smiled, looking up at the sky briefly before he began to walk off with the flyer, exiting the shaft of moonlight he'd been in, and reentering the darkness as he headed for the hill.

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

Perhaps around ten minutes later, a great shadow passed over the spot where Petrie had been, and landed with a thump in the rays of the moon. The great brown flyer stretched his wings, yawning a little and looking about him. "Petrie?" the voice belonged to Pterano, the long lost uncle of the young flyer who was nowhere in sight. "Petrie?" he called again, still searching about him. Glancing up at the sky, Pterano's heart sank in his chest.

He was late... the moon was already beginning to descend. But surely... surely his nephew would wait... wouldn't he? He walked a few paces, unsure if he had the right spot... but he remembered this place. He remembered it, and he was certain he told Petrie to meet him here.

There was not sight nor sound of the flyer, and Pterano's wings slumped to the ground. Some entrance he had made... he couldn't even arrive on time. But the wind currents had been bad... they'd held him up unnecessarily. Should he attempt to fly to his nephew's nest?

No... that wouldn't do. Closing his eyes, the flyer frowned, running things through his head. Best to just show up tomorrow... when he told everyone else he would. Flapping his wings, he ascended to a nearby tree branch, settling upon it to get some shuteye. His heart ached. It felt as if it were stabbed by minute rocks with razor edges. He should have been there. But it seemed he still wasn't able to do things right.

Closing his eyes again, the flyer drifted off into an uneasy sleep, the sounds of the night closing in around him, unaware of the plight he or his nephew would be facing over the next few days...

Hey, I actually like the Depression era too! Though I tend to focus on law enforcement and how it was changing in that time. It was such a... different world back then.

And thank you, it's good to be here.

Nice sig too. I love Disney World. I'm going in a month for my Birthday in fact.

Good stuff. In terms of the Second World War, I'm more into the Japanese-American conflict, though I still find the German side fascinating. I guess I'm more into the Pacific stuff because there were more naval aspects to it, but I still find it interesting how a small, almost fringe group like the Nazis could grow so powerful, though World War I and the resulting treaty helped them out a lot.

Thank you, LBTDiclonius. I've been a Pterano fan ever since I saw the seventh film, eleven years ago. Nice to meet you.

Malte279: Well I've never been to the USS Constitution, but I have actually worked aboard the USS Constellation this past winter, and that was pretty fun. I got to spend the night aboard her in one of the hammocks. It was the US Navy's last all sail warship.

Ahh yeah, the park service is notoriously hard to gain access to, and that work visa situation sounds incredibly annoying. My college was right near the grounds of a Civil War battlefield, about five minutes drive.

Thank you Salvatore!

@Malte279: I'm rather jealous that you got to see HMS Victory! It's one of my future stops (or so I hope) at some point, and amazing that you may get to see Jena-Auerstadt! I've been following The French Revolution/Napoleonic Era day-by-day, and am currently in 1794; just studied the smaller Battle of Courtrai yesterday in fact (and am very much looking forward to the upcoming anniversary of the Glorious First of June, the first of the major naval battles of that era). I previously did day-by-day of the American Civil War, as you mentioned that. I tried to time it for the four years I'd be in college, but sadly, I took an extra year, so it didn't quite work out timing wise, but oh well. XD So what I'm doing now, for the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, is tracking my ancestor's progress through it, via a new book that just came out on his particular regiment.

So yes, I'm a pretty big nerd when it comes to history, as you can probably tell. XD

And thank you for the welcome Mumbling! I like your avatar. I guess the cake really isn't a lie. XD