How did your Finals go? Do you think you did well?

Hablas espaÒol o cualquier otro idioma?

Do you speak spanish or other language?

No hablo espaÒol, mais, je peux parler franÁais. J'ai ÈtudiÈ la langue dans l'universitÈ pendant quatre annÈes, et ai eu encore quatre ans dans le lycÈe.

I think that last bit was right... high school is lycÈe? Anyways yeah. I cannot speak Spanish, but I can speak French. Had about eight years of it, plus I studied abroad in Quebec for a Summer to help improve my conversational skills. I only know bits and pieces of other languages. I know some Dutch, as I did a host stay in Brussels (and I have a good number of relatives living in Flanders, as part of my family on my dad's side is Belgian), last Summer, but I really don't know beyond very basic sentences. So I couldn't really hold a good conversation in Dutch unfortunately.

As promised, here's the review! I really can't say enough about the scenes between Devon and Pterano. You really did a fantastic job with the emotions, and you really remind me of the stuff I like to read. This IS basically what I like to read. XD

This has been a heartwarming, glowing story, yet filled at the same time with lots of good suspense and action. I mean I'll say it again... you remind me a lot of some of my favorite authors.  

Well I guess I'm gonna have to live in suspense now until we find out who that flyer with the stick is.

Thanks, vonboy!

Yes, that struck me as I was writing the chapter, the Hyp thing I mean. I was like... what if he's growing up to the point where he's in this sort of very beginning relationship type thing? And yeah, I'm going to try and keep it as balanced as I can, though obviously it'll favor Pterano at certain points. XD

Oh Topsy? He snorted, but he didn't say any of the stuff after that, that was still Littlefoot's grandfather. The only two things he really said were the thing about the smugness, and not understanding Pterano's comeback. XD Thanks for pointing that out, it isn't entirely clear, so I made an edit there to ensure it is.

Yes, the prologue was very heavy on it. There was a small bit in this one, but right, not as much.

Thanks! I plan to. I'm still letting it sink in. It's like... is this really happening? Enjoy the start of your Summer break too.

((Here we learn more of Brightneck's past, as well as see Pterano's return. Thanks for the reviews! Glad you're all liking it so far!))

Chapter 1: The Return

Brightneck walked softly up to Petrie's mother's nest. The entire family was snoozing soundly, all curled up around their mother, who had a content smile upon her features.

"Well, here we are." Brightneck whispered. "Oh." he said, as if remembering something last minute. "Your uncle is coming tomorrow. It's hardly small news after all. Petrie, I just wanted to tell you something before I head on home." Petrie looked up at Brightneck, curiosity flooding his features. "I think you should be careful around your uncle. He may have saved you guys back then... but don't forget, he was the reason you ended up in that mess in the first place. Don't ever forget... he's responsible for the deaths of many. I don't know if he's one you should be flying to so quickly."

Petrie once more looked shaken by these words. "Me know... me know." he said, nodding and trying to hold back a few tears. "But he still my uncle... and he still family."

"Family can still do bad things. I'm sorry. I'm just trying to make sure that you're safe." Brightneck said, placing him in his nest next to his mother. "Now you get some sleep... and be careful tomorrow."

"Hey Mr. Brightneck?" Petrie tried to keep his voice low, so as not to disturb the others.

"Yes?" Brightneck said, pausing to turn around, as he had been in the process of walking off. "What is it?" his voice never rose above a whisper, out of respect for the sleeping flyers.

"Me never ask you this before... but where did you get that scar?" he asked, pointing now at a rather conspicuous mark running down Brightneck's flank. It was a mottled area of hard, callused skin, a circle that streaked downward in a jagged slash to his left hip and leg.

"Oh this? Heh... Littlefoot asked me the same thing a few days ago. It was a Sharptooth. Attacked me a long time ago... before I came here to the Great Valley." Petrie thought he discerned some sadness sweeping over Brightneck's face, but the chaperone quickly smiled, and gave the flyer a nod. "Now head to sleep you. It's way past your bed time." Petrie nodded, and watched the departing hypsilophodon as he started walking off on his own.

Lowering his head, Petrie curled up and blinked a few times before finally closing his eyes. "Night-night... uncle." he murmured, slowly starting to wheeze as he fell into a dreamless sleep.

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

Dawn brought a gathering of most of the adults. They were all assembling in order to "greet" Pterano. The flyer's arrival was expected at any minute, and everyone was out to see the return of the infamous flyer. He had most certainly garnered his share of controversy over the years. He was trusted by practically no one in that circle, save for perhaps a select few.

Mutterings were rife over whether or not it was truly wise to allow the flyer back into the Great Valley. Some pointed out that he had lived out his exile fairly, and had not broken it once. Others pointed out that he was responsible for the lives that were taken years ago, and still others were quick to chime in that he still rescued the "gang" (they weren't of course referred to as that) five years ago.

There didn't seem to be any prevalent voice amongst the adults, though Petrie thought he heard more "nays" than "yeas" in terms of his uncle's return being looking upon as favorable. Either way, as the exile was up, it had to be tolerated, regardless of what others thought.

"Hey Petrie! Sleep well? So today's the day huh?" Littlefoot asked, glancing up at the skies.

"Yep... today... is the day." Petrie said, very slow and even. "Hey Littlefoot?" Petrie asked after a moment's thought.

"Yes?"

"Do you... like uncle Pterano?"

"Well," Littlefoot seemed to be pondering that question. "I believe that everyone deserves a second chance Petrie. Or even a third chance in your uncle's case. I mean look at our journey to the Great Valley. Cera would've been long gone if I didn't believe in that."

"What do you mean Littlefoot?" the question came from Cera, who was only a few feet away. "Oh... sorry." Littlefoot said, scuffing the ground a bit with his claws. "Didn't realize. Anyways, my point is, I think your uncle has enough potential to at least show how he's changed, and should be given the chance to prove himself."

This caused Petrie to perk up a tad. He gave the longneck a small smile. Good old Littlefoot... he was always coming through with words of strength and encouragement. Petrie's cogitation was interrupted however by a swooping noise, and shouts of "He's here!" Petrie snapped his head up, and sure enough, his uncle could be seen wheeling and zooming overhead.

The brown flyer twisted, rolled, and flapped his wings to slow himself down as he came to land on a nearby rock, smack dab in the center of the assemblage. "Friends and former comrades... I have returned!" he exclaimed, doing his best to put on a proud, pleased face. He didn't shoot his wings out or make any other sort of bombastic gesture however, and simply left it at that.

"I see that smugness has as well." Mr. Threehorn said, narrowing his eyes as he stared daggers at the flyer.

"Ahem... It's nice to hear that a certain curtness has not been lost." Pterano said, giving the threehorn a look out of the corner of his eye, but refusing to face him head on.

"Uh... what did he say?" Mr. Threehorn asked in a low voice to no one in particular.

The ground shook a little as Littlefoot's grandfather, wizened and showing his years, strode forward. "Pterano. You have served your sentence. As five cold times have now passed, you are permitted back into this valley. First of all, from all of us" as he said this, Mr. Threehorn snorted before Grandpa Longneck continued, "welcome back. However, we have been discussing your return, and have decided to at least keep a watch over your activities. Now this doesn't mean you'll be followed every waking moment, but do realize that your integration into our community is important to us, as we have never fully done something like this before. We are a welcoming and open community however, and do wish you as nice a stay as we can here in the Great Valley."

Pterano had been facing Grandpa Longneck, bowing his head in deference, almost like an accused might face a judge, and he would occasionally nod here and there, as if agreeing with certain points. Petrie's eyes never left his uncle, as he tried to determine the amount of sincerity within the flyer, though it was often times hard, as Pterano's back was mostly to him during this time.

"Thank you er, Mr. Longneck." Pterano stated at the conclusion. He had called him Mr. Longneck back then, but wasn't sure if the elderly fellow had a more proper title or not by now. "And let me just say!" Pterano whirled around, raising a claw as if to emphasize a point. This gesture was met with some eyes rolling and groans, but otherwise, the assembled dinos remained silent to hear him out. "I cannot thank you enough for letting me return." his eyes moved around the gathered group, looking from first one to the other. "I promise you now, that I will devote myself to becoming a productive member of this community, and that I will strive to ensure a better future for our Great Valley, alongside all of you of course, for not only our sakes..." and here his eyes came to rest on his nephew. "But for our future generations as well. Posterity is the most precious, unenviable and worthwhile thing we have, and for that reason, I vow here and now to bestow upon my own future lineage my time and efforts, as they deserve it now... more so than ever before."

Not once did his eyes leave his nephew's, and Petrie felt a shudder run up through his spine, though not one of fear. It was one of awe and inspiration, and it was as if his uncle was looking into his very soul, past his own flesh.

Some of the gathered crowd murmured their approvals, and nodded their heads, while others stood their ground, and merely scoffed at this, the flyer that had been responsible for the erasure of so many lives back then. It seemed though that the majority of the crowd had been swayed, and several came forward to speak to him, and Petrie swiftly found himself cut off from his uncle.

"Well I guess that's that. How do you feel Petrie?" Littlefoot asked, looking down at his friend.

"Me feel... good." Petrie said, breaking out into a smile. "Me really think he changed."

"Oh I do hope so. I do, I do." Ducky chimed in from beside him, wanting to believe in Petrie's uncle as well. The crowd was starting to close in, and Littlefoot and the gang started to beat a hasty retreat, as they would be able to talk to Pterano later, they were sure of that. It was simply too suffocating at the moment, and Littlefoot for one needed the air.

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

It was sometime much later in the day. Littlefoot and Petrie were both lying on their backs in the grass, looking up at the drifting clouds that floated by. The gang was going to be meeting up soon, but only Littlefoot and Petrie had managed to get away first. Littlefoot's legs were splayed outward, and he was letting his underbelly soak up the sun. "So it must be good to have your uncle back, huh?" the longneck asked his flyer friend.

"Yeah. Me no speak to him all day though. He fly off with momma to talk, and me no see him since."

"That's too bad. But I'm sure he'll turn up. He always thought of you as his favorite nephew... at least I saw it like that." Littlefoot said, inhaling and letting his underside rise.

"Hey hatchlings!" Littlefoot and Petrie's eyes widened at the voice, as they both recognized the gravely, hoarse tone.

"Hey Hyp." Littlefoot took the cue, and responded. A shadow passed over them, and Hyp stood there, panting and looking as if he'd just run a mile, which he had. He gasped, and collapsed on the ground next to them, spreading his arms out like Littlefoot had done.

"What's up with you guys?" Hyp asked, closing his eyes and starting to gradually slow his breathing down.

"We're waiting for the rest of our friends. We're going to go play in a little bit. Want to join in?" the apatosaurus asked.

"Nah... that's OK. I'm beat. Just got done with my run."

"Oh yeah... you're running now. How's your courtship going?" Littlefoot asked in a slightly sly tone. Hyp had been undertaking lots of physical activities recently to stay in top shape, as his father was urging him into a courtship, he being of roughly courting age now as the years had gone by.

"Ahhhh it's going well. Lot of work." Hyp said with a sigh.

"Do you like her at least?"

"Yeah I like her." Hyp pushed himself up so that he was leaning on an elbow now, looking down at Littlefoot. "Pfft, but I think you'd rather talk about Petrie's uncle. My dad said he's actually willing to give him a chance, surprisingly. My dad seems to say a lot of things that don't make a lot of sense, at least to me."

"And what do you think?" Littlefoot queried.

"I dunno. Never met the guy." Hyp swirled some blades of grass around in his claw, acting bored. "I saw him this morning. I wasn't paying as close attention as I could've been, cause Mutt kept punchin' my shoulder and asking me about my courting, and if it wasn't him, Nod would be whacking my ankle with his tail and asking the same thing. Boneheads." he said, rolling his eyes. "They can't be serious about anything."

"Heheh, reminds me a lot of how you used to be."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Hyp growled, clenching his fist, but only giving Littlefoot a mock serious expression before he melted that away into a smile. "Yeah... anyways, I gotta get back before..." but he was cut off by another shadow that passed over them, this time coming from the sky. A thud sounded, grass flew about in brilliant verdant hues, and standing before them was Pterano.

"Petrie!" he exclaimed, throwing his wings open wide.

"Uncle!" Petrie said, pushing himself up to sitting, though he didn't fly right into his uncle's wings either.

"Hello children and uh... sir." he addressed Hyp, unsure if he was a full fledged adult yet or not. They all greeted him, and he looked down at Petrie once the pleasantries were out of the way. "Petrie... I'm deeply sorry for not being at our meeting place last night. I got there late you see, and I know I must have disappointed you. The wind was very strong, and I wasn't able to reach you quite on time. I would very much like to make it up to you however. I haven't had a chance to speak to you all day as it were!" Pterano apologized, giving his nephew a distraught look.

"Please forgive me, and well... I thought that in making it up to you... we could perhaps... go for a flight together? Just you and me? I would very much like to talk to you while we fly, and um..." bond with my nephew, he didn't finish. "Well anyways, would you like that? I promise to have you home by sundown, cross my heart." He said, drawing an X over his chest.

Petrie looked over at Littlefoot, who merely chuckled. "Come on Petrie! I know you want to go, and we can play tonight or tomorrow. Go on!" the longneck urged, to which Petrie beamed at his friend's understanding.

"OK! Me go with uncle Pterano then!" he said, hopping out of the grass and flexing his wings a little.

"Grand! Then let's be off! Thank you Littlefoot. If you wish, I could have him back even earlier." Pterano tried, to which Littlefoot merely shook his head.

"It's fine, sir. I think you two need this time together. Go have fun. We'll see Petrie tonight."

Pterano nodded, and began flapping his wings, his nephew doing the same as they both launched themselves into the air, quickly gaining altitude as Littlefoot watched them go, the two flyers circling each other and looping around, causing the longneck to break out into a smile.

"See you tonight then, buddy."

Saft: Yes, I like character driven stories. I like dissecting people and getting into their heads (not in the literal sense!). If a character is well written, it makes me a happy reader. As for mangas... I don't as much. I'm more of a graphic novel kind of person I guess. The Watchmen and Ghost in the Shell being some of my top favorites. But yea, as I think about it, haven't really read much manga. I tried to get into it, but could just never keep up I suppose.

Trulyfantasticme:   That's a rather hilarious question. I guess I sort of do? Like maybe sing a few of the lyrics here and there, but I don't think I really sing the full song anymore. I just watched it today in fact on youtube, as I haven't seen the movie in years. I guess I probably used to, years ago. XD

Oh yes, some really good aspect of greek mythology there.  Although the Odyssey is an epic.
Can you imagine having to recite it to a live audience as it was once done?  All from memory too...

What books do you enjoy reading?

Yeah I know, that would have been... amazing. XD

Hmm books. All kinds. XD History books especially, but I do like fiction as well. I'll admit I'm a sucker for romances, but not the easy kind of romance. I like strife and hardship and not initially entering into the romance, but having to watch the main character really work for it, and have a lot of trip ups in the middle. My favorite all time book is Great Expectations, as it's amazing how Dickens managed to tie ALL the characters together, and everyone basically got what they deserved at the end of it. I really like Yukio Mishima as well (controversial though he is), as he's an amazing author, and Spring Snow was a great book. The climax of that story just literally blew my mind.

I really like Willa Cather too, as her short story, Paul's Case, quite captured the mentality of a depressed and hopeless individual, and I thought she had such a good insight into that type of mentality.

James Baldwin is pretty good too, as his imagery is really top notch.

Uhhh yeah, I'd say those are some of my favorites.

Saft: I think I like Greek mythology the best. I used to be really in to Norse and Egyptian, but became more Greek centric in college. I'd say my favorite stories would be... well Heracles and the Twelve Labors. In fact, our board game was based heavily around the completion of the Twelve Labors. I think my favorite story though overall from that era is definitely the Odyssey. I love all the things that Odysseus ran into on his travels, and I also love how the Theban "arc" melds into the Trojan "arc" pretty seamlessly. Cause you had Oedipus, who had Eteocles and Polynices, who in turn had Thersander and Laodamus. Thersander kills Laodamus, becomes King of Thebes, and later is present in the Greek force that sets sails for Troy, though sadly, Thersander does not make it as he's killed en route, and thus Thebes has no forces at Troy. But yes, I really like what happens to Odysseus afterward, as it's so epic and larger than life.  

Vonboy: Some of my favorite video games would be the Uncharted series on PS3, the Final Fantasy series on various Playstation consoles, Xenogears on PS1 (one of my all time favorites), Suikoden 1 and 2 on PS1, the Ace Attorney series on the DS, Myst and Riven for PC (one of the first games I owned in fact was Myst), L4D 1 and 2 on PC, Skies of Arcadia on the Dreamcast, Metal Gear Solid series on the Playstation consoles, and my favorite game of last year would definitely be Heavy Rain for PS3. I'm looking forward to the release of LA Noire in a few days for this year.

TV Shows: I'm really into House, but not as much as I used to be. I really like Castle as well, and I think that's probably my favorite show on TV at present. I was into The Event, but they're canceling it, so I'm kind of not bothering anymore, though it was good while it lasted. I also like Fringe, and sometimes watch stuff on SyFy. For animated shows, I love Rocko's Modern Life, Gargoyles, TaleSpin, Beast Wars, and Batman, the Animated Series. I also thought Animalia, that Australian show, was OK, but it's off syndication now, so I can't really watch it anymore, though I did see the show's finale. I like some anime too, namely Fullmetal Alchemist (both shows), Mushishi, and... I think those are probably my big two in terms of anime.

Movies: Hmmmm... I like a lot of movies XD My friend and I go the theater like once a week to see a film. I love Pixar's films, as I think they're amazing, and my favorite one is probably Ratatouille. I grew up with the Disney Renaissance films as well, and I like those too. Uh... let's see. My favorite all time movie is probably the Shawshank Redemption. My favorite movie of last year was Shutter Island, and my favorite movie so far this year was I Saw the Devil, a South Korean film (which technically came out last year but I saw it this year when it had its limited release in the US). I've also liked Rango and Rio this year, and I also saw Fast Five, which was my first Fast and Furious movie. It was OK. Kinda silly, but at least it was entertaining.

I am actually, yes. For a board game we had to design this last semester of mine, my group chose to come up with a board game based on Greek mythology. So yes, I am into it

Checking out that forum sounds like a good idea then Thanks for the tip Still navigating this place after all.

Heheh, I like some ancient periods as well.   Thanks!