Sudden Change of Species 2.0

vonboy · **Reply #40 on:** January 20, 2020, 01:50:20 PM

Everything was hitting Chomper at once. He didn't even have time to think about all the things that were different with him. His eyesight changing, his diminished smell, The foreign appendages, or his now unruly neck. It all got blocked out by a pink threehorn barging into his face.

"Ch-Chomper?" the threehorn blurted out.

The poor longneck noticed the threehorn looked more... confused than anything now. Thinking about that phrase in his dream again, and what had seemingly just happened to himself, all he could think to mumble out was "...Ruby?" Before he could get a reply, he added in. "Could you get that... 'thing' out of my face, please?"

He was referring to the other dinosaur's horn, which was shoved right up in his face at that moment.

rhombus · **Reply #41 on:** January 20, 2020, 07:43:52 PM

The pink threehorn blinked at the purple longneck's request. Maybe it was the shock of her sudden transformation, or perhaps it was her new instincts, but the fact that she had confronted the intruder head on seemed like the most natural thing possible. If this longneck had a problem with her then he could just try to make her day!

But that was when Ruby's thoughts overrode her threehorn instincts. Oh...

Ruby backed away with an apologetic expression as she put one of her stubby forelegs to her offending horn. "What... what happened to us? Fastrunners do not turn into threehorns and sharpteeth do not turn into longnecks!" She paused for a moment as she realized that her previous exclamation came out as an enraged protest. "I need to calm down! I am not Cera and I shouldn't act like Cera!"

Her eyes went wide. What about Cera? What about the others? If this had happened to both of them, then what about their not-so-friendly friends?

Ruby looked at the longneck with a curious expression. "Do you think the others are also being affected... by whatever is affecting us?"

Anagnos · **Reply #42 on:** February 26, 2020, 04:47:31 AM

Littlefoot had seen his fair share of mysteries of unknown origin. He had seen things that he couldn’t possibly explain in words to himself, let alone to curious grownups. He understood there were major differences between each species that inhabited the valley and the need for their existence in this world.

But what he couldn’t comprehend was how he could’ve suddenly turned into an entirely different species. There was no way it was possible for one to change their entire complexion into something that it was not supposed to be. They didn’t possess the intellect to understand how this world worked. There always was a faint sign of ignorance in the air above them, envenoming their very actions.

No matter how much he tried to explain it, Littlefoot couldn’t find a solution to the problem he now faced. Something like this just didn’t happen without an explanation. There was a faint conception that this was all still part of the dream he’d been forced out of.

Unfortunately, it was real as it could be. He had really been turned into a sharptooth.

And the worst part was that Littlefoot had no idea how it could’ve happened in the first place. He had been immersed in the most wonderful dream imaginable. Until it had been ripped apart the next minute when that ominous yet soothing voice echoed all around him in the black haze. Now only if he could recall what it had actually said, it could prove to be fundamental in going forward.

It was then that the macabre sensation returned, when Littlefoot realized what he had done mere minutes ago.

His grandparents were still asleep next to him, oblivious to the flagrant cry he’d accidentally emitted. They stirred and shifted their posture presumably into a more comfortable position. It was only when Littlefoot heard a faint snore from both of them did he slowly start to move away from them. He couldn’t let them see him like this.

As silently as he could, he started across the patch of grass, vanishing into the darkness that now had become his sanctuary. He would need to find a safe place to mull things over and figure out a plan how to proceed from here, all the while desperation and dread clung to him like a sticky substance.

Sadly, time was not his ally.

DarkWolf91 · **Reply #43 on:** February 28, 2020, 11:15:44 PM

Cera winced as feathers came loose in her strange clawed grasp. She let them go, the soft and delicate things drifting slowly to the ground. A sleep-story. It had to be. She had woken up into another sleep-story. Numb, she shuffled on shaking legs back to her nest, stumbling at the unfamiliar bipedal gait. There was her dad, and Tria, and Tricia. They looked... enormous. Even Tricia's sleeping form seemed to tower over her. Visions of large feet bearing down on her tiny body flashed through her mind- she squeaked involuntarily, throwing her winged arms over her head as she fled from the giants, every step an agonizing challenge.

Her path was erratic, with no clear destination in mind as long as it took her far away. She would keep running blindly into the night until she woke up, and left this terrible nightmare in the land of dreams where it belonged. Lifting her head out of a daze she noticed familiar landmarks passing by, and she realized with a chill of horror where she was headed: Littlefoot's nest. Some kind of return to habit had set her feet back on a path she must have taken on a hundred night-time jaunts, back when things had been simpler. Revulsion twisted her stomach. No, Littlefoot absolutely couldn't see her like this. She'd rather die. And the possibility was not too far off, she soon discovered. As she turned to change course, a hulking figure eclipsed her field of vision, its silhouette familiar in a way that sent a jolt of adrenaline coursing through her.

"Sh... Shuh..." Her beak was trembling, the word stuck in her throat. "Sharptooth!" It finally came out as little more than a pathetic squeak. She whirled around, scampering to put as much distance between herself and the beast as possible.

rhombus · **Reply #44 on:** March 23, 2020, 10:42:15 PM

Mama Flyer could only sigh at the mixture of exasperation and despair that she had heard from the swimmer. In an odd way this helped to remove much of the remaining doubts in her mind concerning his identity. Because, if this was not Petrie, then who could it be? Where else could this swimmer come from? But an even more pressing question was: what could have done this?

But she knew that she could not let her growing unease distract her from her mission. If this insane situation was real and not simply a nightmare then she had to find the other children.

She allowed her slow low-altitude flight to go into a soar. Then, waiting for the brown swimmer to catch up to her on the ground, she allowed her gaze to follow the illumination of the Night Circle. Though as she gazed in the direction of Mama Swimmer's nest she caught sight of something else some distance away.

Two red gleaming eyes in the darkness and a shadowy silhouette like an elongated log beside the darkened stream.

A bellydragger...? But no bellydragger can survive the Roaring Falls so how could one have... That was when the pieces began to come together: Petrie changed into a swimmer supposedly... a bellydragger in the valley where none should be... what if one of the kids had changed into...

It was an absurd idea. An idea so absurd that if she mouthed it out to the other flyers they would assume she had the head sickness and talk about her in hushed tones. But it was the best idea that she had in this absurd, incomprehensible night. If this bellydragger was one of the others... well that would confirm things. And if not... the valley would need to be alerted and the bellydragger destroyed. Either way, the necessary action was clear. She had to investigate.

She looked down.

"Petrie, Guido, stay here!" She did not wait for an acknowledgement of her order as she swerved into a headlong flight in the direction of the supposed predator.

Sovereign · **Reply #45 on:** March 24, 2020, 05:39:57 PM

His mother’s words came to Petrie as a complete shock and the fact that she left without even giving him a chance where she was going didn’t help him at all. Before he could even say one word, the flyer was but a faint figure in the sky which was something that made something snap within him. The female had been the only one to give him some shadow of courage this monstrous night and he simply didn’t want her to leave like this even for a moment. Again, he acted without any thinking and yelled in a loud voice as he leaped into the air.

“Momma, where you going? Please, me want you to sta…” He started but before he could finish, he felt himself plunging towards the ground, his nonexistent wings not able to support him. A sharp pain radiated from the poor boy’s head as he hit the rocky ground. Petrie brought his hand instinctually to his cheek, noticing that it was bleeding rather profoundly and that fact made him sob inconsolably. Again, he had been reminded of his lost gift and it seemed like his mother hadn’t even heard his call. It wasn’t long until he saw his friend running towards him with a worried expression but Petrie didn’t even him to speak before falling to his knees before him, his tears falling towards the ground more heavily by the second.

“P… Petrie cannot take this anymore! Guido, please make this stop! Promise me that Petrie will be alright! Do anything that makes all of this go away! ME NOT WANT TO BE LIKE THIS FOR ONE MORE SECOND!” He cried from the top of his lungs, hitting his head into the ground again and again and opening another wound on his forehead, the horrifying pressure in his chest only growing more suffocating by the second.

jassy · **Reply #46 on:** March 24, 2020, 07:31:55 PM

A part of Guido was still convinced that none of this was real. Honestly though, how could it be? A flyer turning into a swimmer? That didn’t seem even remotely possible. But even then, there was still a slither of possibility... there was so much about the universe that was still unknown to them. It wasn’t totally impossible—

“Huh?” He blinked, coming back to reality only to see Petrie’s mother fly off into the night. “This can’t be real, this can’t be real...” Or could it? Only one way to find out. He held a flap of skin in between his two fingers and closed his eyes, pinching the skin. “Yow!” He exclaimed, opening his eyes a mere second later. When he did, his best friend was still a swimmer... and falling towards the ground.

“P-Petrie!” Flapping his wings, Guido rushed to his aid. His heart sunk when he spotted the red wound on Petrie’s cheek, but he tried not to let his panic show. For his friend’s sake. He opened his mouth to speak, but all that came out was air. He didn’t know what to say, or what to do. He’d never had to deal with this kind of thing before. “Are you okay—“

Things went from bad to worse. At Petrie’s outburst, Guido’s immediate reflex was to take a step back. After taking a moment, the glider drew in a quivering breath and approached the other. “P-Petrie, listen,” he said, awkwardly placing a hand on his shoulder in what was intended to be a comforting gesture. ”Everything’s gonna be alright, okay? I don’t know what’s gonna happen now, but I promise I’m gonna stick by you.” He hated how unconfident he sounded. He was supposed to be comforting, supportive, but he couldn’t even do that right. He’d never felt more useless.

OwlsCantRead · **Reply #47 on:** March 25, 2020, 01:23:14 PM

After the scream from the distance died down, Spike finally focused back on the shuddering flyer that was in front of him. As he was someone who communicated mainly in grunts he prided himself on his observational skills.

Well, the flyer’s reaction was telling. The girl looked downright terrified of him, and it was then that it dawned on Spike that he did not have the appearance of a lumbering spiketail anymore. Spike felt his eyes contemplatively drifting upwards in thought. Perhaps being a predator who looked like he could swallow a small flyer whole in one gulp was not an ideal situation to be in.

But now that he was seen, he had a big problem to deal with. Putting aside her unusual shade, his first priority was figuring out how he was going to ensure the flyer’s silence. Spike has seen the grown-ups dealing with unwanted sharpteeth in the valley before and he didn’t want to be on the receiving end of it. But without being able to explain the phenomenon and his situation, how was he going to get the panicking flyer to not see him as a threat?

In the end, Spike closed his eyes and whistled a tune to try and show that he didn’t mean any harm. He simply hoped that his gamble would work.

Sovereign · **Reply #48 on:** March 25, 2020, 05:42:38 PM

The stinging pain in his forehead grew progressively worse as he hit the ground again and again, the bloody stain in the ground growing larger by the second. That of course only deepened his anguish at everything but even then, there was some slight ray of light that seemed to penetrate the hopelessness in his mind. And that ray of light was Guido’s voice rather than his words.

This glider had been there to cheer him up in one of his most vulnerable moments when his siblings had made his life one long flight of misery. Guido had never said one discouraging word to him and few dinosaurs knew the former flyer just like his friend and that knowledge was worth more to Petrie than he could have even foreseen only a few moments ago. Even after everything that happened… Guido was still here, ready to help him move forward as he had always done.

Weakly, Petrie rose to his knees again and looked at Guido’s shocked eyes. The swimmer could feel his blood flowing down his cheeks but he cared nothing about that right now. With slow and forced movements, the boy dragged himself towards Guido and grabbed his hands pleadingly. Petrie turned to look at Guido’s eyes, tears almost completely blinding his sight. His voice was barely intelligible as he spoke to his closest friend.

“H… how can everything be alright? Nothing alright and nothing can be as long as me… as me look like this! Me not know what Petrie can even do. It all over… Me life over if me cannot be a flyer again…” He said as his voice died down even if his eyes was still locked with those of Guido’s.

Anagnos · **Reply #49 on:** March 26, 2020, 04:17:54 AM

For all the sharptooth knew he could have been walking in circles for the last hour and not even notice anything out of the ordinary. Littlefoot had been counting down the seconds in his head, but his volatile thoughts still reminded him of their presence. Fortunately for him, he had been able to minimize the threats to his life. The thought didn’t fill him with confidence.

He nearly bumped into something. His first reaction was to simply ignore it and move on, conjuring it to be a mere rock or tree he had not seen. Until that something let out a quiet squeak of terror. It was a runty glider that blocked his path. But what drew his attention was that he could not recall if he had ever seen this particular glider in the valley before. As far as he was concerned, Guido was the only one of his kind residing in the valley.

The female glider scampered away from him, like there was a fire under her tail feathers. Littlefoot considered the flyer, then it clicked in his head. The voice was very familiar to him. It had been associated with numerous games over the many years.

Littlefoot cleared his throat and asked with a dry and harsh voice, ’’Cera? Is that you?’’

The entire world seemed to stop.

DarkWolf91 · **Reply #50 on:** March 29, 2020, 04:19:15 PM

She scrambled away as quickly as her awkward limbs would take her, but when she looked back over her shoulder it was like she hadn't moved at all- the sharptooth still loomed as large as ever. A quiet whimper escaped her beak. She had a feeling that she would find out whether or not this was really a dream the moment its horrible teeth closed down on her. She redoubled her effort, flailing wildly as she tore across the ground, still too slow.

She glanced back again, and... she had seen its mouth move, but instead of the guttural sharptooth roar she had been expecting, she understood its words as well as any other flattooth. And, even more chilling, she realized that she recognized its voice. The distraction made balancing in her new form even more difficult, and she tumbled to the ground as one of her ungainly feet snagged on a rock. Dazed by a solid knock to the face, it took her a minute to sit up, and turn to face the sharptooth. It was staring back at her.

She blinked up at it in confusion. "Littlefoot?" Her voice still felt so small, and so weak. This just had to be a dream.

vonboy · **Reply #51 on:** April 07, 2020, 09:34:19 AM

"Do you think the others are also being affected... by whatever is affecting us?"

Ruby's question hit Chomper as he was just beginning to calm down. If what had happened to him also happened to his caregiver, Ruby, then what was to say it didn't also happen to their other friends?

"It could be, Ruby." he reasoned to her.

What the hell was going on? Was it some curse? A wish to a falling rock that went horribly wrong? The poor longneck's mind was going off. If he was now doomed to be a leaf eater, what did that mean? He could live in the valley, but he might not ever get to see his parents again! If he did, could they even realize their son was now a longneck? Would they try to... hunt him? He didn't want to even think about that, so he thought of his friends again. That's when a frightening new thought crossed his mind.

"So, if we turned into leaf eaters, do you think the others turned into... Oh no! We have to find them!"

The newly turned longneck turned to rush out of the cave, but tripped over himself several times, not yet knowing how to walk with 4 legs.

ImpracticalDino · **Reply #52 on:** April 07, 2020, 06:09:18 PM

Ducky flinched momentarily from Petrie's sudden outburst in the distance. In normal circumstances, everyone, especially her would not hesitate to respond to a friend's call of distress. But as of now, what reason would she even have? As far as Ducky is concerned, their friendship was as good as finished, and they have all probably diverged to live their own separate lives at this point.

But she couldn't dawdle at that fact any longer as she was steadily reminded of the monstrosity that stands before her. She rigidly stood there, shaking with intense trepidation at the bellydragger that was staring daggers at her with its blood red eyes. Ducky wanted to desperately fly away from the predator, but in her current form and mental state, she simply couldn't. And besides, she knew she didn't know how to fly. And furthermore, the added weight to her delicate wing membranes caused by the dip in the river earlier made any sort of mobility impossible. To make things worse, this particular one had an eerie similarity to the bellydragger that had relentlessly tormented her and her former friends during their quest to find the Night Flower in the Land of Mists. But worst of all, she remembered falling in midair, right into Dil's gaping mouth of sharp teeth. It was a miracle that she even awoken from her unconscious state and saved herself in time. While Ducky wanted nothing more than to suppress these memories, there was also a glimmer of happiness within them. It made her heart swell up with joy to hear Spike talk for the first time. And not just any word, it was her own name. Ducky! That was the distressed call that saved her from an untimely demise. And for that, she'd always be grateful at her little Spiketail brother.

That is why in this exact moment, Ducky made it her goal to reconcile with Spike, no matter the costs. She regretted walking away and exploding at him with rage just mere moments ago. The poor Spiketail didn't deserve that, oh no, no, no, she thought.

Unfortunately, she realized her goal would never come to fruition.

...Or would it?

Something seemed strangely off about this bellydragger. It seemed to gaze intently upon her with curiosity and interest, rather than any malice or attempt to eat her whole. Perhaps it meant no harm? No, that couldn't be it! There must be something more to it. But then again, with everything that has transpired in the past day, anything is possible at this point.

*Whistling*

...

Ducky literally felt her heart stop at this point. Not only was this bellydragger whistling, of all things it could do to her, it was whistling to the melody of "Good Times, Good Friends." A tsunami wave of nostalgia struck her at this moment. There's no way this could be one of her transformed friends, nope, nope, nope! But then, the obvious connection hit her like a ton of treesweets. Those tiny purple irises. The exact same color that her brother Spike possessed. Ducky was still shaking intensely at this point, but rather than pure fear, there's now a big surge of excitement to accompany it.

"...Sp-Sp-Spike? Is that...you?"

And at last, the long anticipated question was asked. He did it. Spike's gamble actually paid off. Ducky most likely recognized who he actually was. But before anything else could happen between both of them, the sounds of wings flapping could be heard closing in on them. Mama Flyer has spotted the presence of a bellydragger in the Great Valley, and she has decided to swoop down to investigate this potential intruder. While Ducky has a strong feeling that this exact predator standing in front of her truly is Spike, she was worried that Petrie's mother may not see eye to eye. So Ducky stood there, waiting anxiously for her arrival so that she could explain everything to her.

rhombus · **Reply #53 on:** April 08, 2020, 02:09:33 AM

Ruby watched in mute fascination as the purple longneck proceeded to trip over his feet so many times that it almost looked like his longneck were a fifth leg. It was then that she stared at her own trunk-like legs and realized that she would soon have the same difficulty. But, at the same time, there was a voice in her head that seemed to reassure her.

You can do this Ruby! A threehorn can do this, and you are a threehorn!

She suppressed her a muted feeling of trepidation for once as she allowed her instinctual drive override her concern. Yes, she did have to get a move on! Her friends needed them!

"Wait up, Chomper!" She exclaimed before nearly face-planting herself. She then moved into an awkward trot, "We need to be careful to not wake up the grownups! That would be just as bad as our friends waking up the grown ups!"

And with that the pink threehorn joined Chomper in leaving the cave. Each of them not knowing exactly what they were looking for.

rhombus · **Reply #54 on:** April 08, 2020, 02:18:21 AM

Volant landed lightly upon the branch of a nearby tree as she fixed the bellydragger with an intense glare. Then, with a pang of concern, she shifted her focus to a young flyer who was sitting upon the ground directly in front of the predator.

Green bellydragger... light green flyer? It was too big of a coincidence. Not only were flyers of her kind not green, but this flyer was not taking flight despite the bellydragger being within striking distance. And speaking of the bellydragger... he did not appear very keen on devouring this flyer. It all pointed in one direction.

Volant let out a heavy sigh as if knowing the answer before she even asked it. "Ducky? Spike?"

Anagnos · **Reply #55 on:** April 10, 2020, 08:14:17 AM

This was not how Littlefoot imagined the night would progress, but there was no need to delay the inevitable. For some reason beyond his comprehension, one of his former friends now stood before him, quivering in fear. The sight would have been entertaining for the sharpooth had the situation been different.

Littlefoot’s gaze was locked on the glider, as if she had just become a target for him to feast on. That primal thought made his mouth water just from the mental image alone. Yet he controlled his primordial desire to maim the hapless creature.

The sharptooth could no longer stand the silence, and with a barely controlled growl broke the immersion. ''What are you doing here?''

OwlsCantRead · **Reply #56 on:** April 13, 2020, 11:17:52 AM

“…Sp-Sp-Spike? Is that…you?”

The shock of someone recognizing his identity despite the vastly different form the former spiketail now took snapped Spike out of his joyful whistling. His eyes shot open and his face lit up in glee… to as much of an extent as the face of a ferocious bellydragger could, anyway.

But still, he had only intended to show that he didn't mean any harm through the gesture. How had the flyer been able to piece things together solely from his melodic humming alone?

Unless…

The realization hit Spike like a pile of rotten treestars—which he would still gladly munch on given the opportunity—and just like that, his newfound hope was rapidly supplanted by a feeling of pure despair.

Spike squinted his eyes as he looked at the pleading face of the vibrantly colored flyer in front of him. Alas, the more he looked at her, the more the cloudy doubts in his mind began to clear up.

That voice. That inflection. That slight hesitation. That precise shade of pristine blue eyes. It was so obvious in hindsight that he almost wanted to slap himself in the face with his differently shaped tail. Hadn’t he thought it himself? That if anyone were to recognize him in such a state, it would be his adoptive swimmer sister Ducky… or to be more exact, his flyer sister Ducky.

With a lamenting sigh and a sinking feeling in his differently-shaped stomach, Spike realized that the phenomenon that had affected him and turned him into a predator wasn’t just a one-time deal. And if all of this wasn’t just localized to him, then chances were that—

The distinct sound of a landing flyer interrupted his thoughts, with Spike tilting his head over to the side to see a familiar midnight-blue flyer perching on a tree, her perturbed expression illuminated by the Night Circle as Petrie’s mother exhaled a question that almost seemed like it was a laughably rhetorical observation, but all it did was confirm the narrative that the newly transformed bellydragger had been conjuring in his head.

“Ducky? Spike?”

The brief respite that Spike felt when the adult flyer recognized him—which brought the gruesome possibility of being skewered by Cera’s dad down by a factor of five—was almost immediately replaced by a sense of dread as he returned his gaze to Ducky. This was no bad sleep story. As the true scope of things began to sink in, he couldn’t help but fear for how his sister was coping with the current events. Her emotions were as overt and obvious as ever even now, and the flyer's apprehensive body language made Spike fret for the possibility that Ducky might be on the precipice of another breakdown after her previous outburst earlier with their former friends.

All he could do was hope that that would not be the case. If Ducky broke down, Spike knew his own tumultuous feelings and the hopelessness of everything that was happening on this nightmarish night would otherwise consume him too.

ImpracticalDino · **Reply #57 on:** April 20, 2020, 08:49:29 PM

If Ducky could, she would've performed a diving somersault in the air to show just how excited she was to see the sudden euphoria in the bellydragger's eyes. But alas, this was no time for celebration.

My brother is a bellydragger...a bellydragger!? No matter how many times she repeated this in her mind, it didn't make it any easier to grasp. This day couldn't possibly get even worse, could it? It was not only this fact that plagued the flyer's mind, but it is also the dawning realization that they could inevitably remain in their transformed bodies forever. What about Littlefoot? Cera?

...Petrie?

If this stroke of bad luck occurred to her and Spike, what would become of their friends? The mere thought of this was too much to bare for the flyer's mental cage. Ducky weeped silently as streams of tears flowed gently from her dimmed crystal blue eyes, carpeting the already saturated ground that resulted from the earlier rainstorm.

"Ducky? Spike?"

She heard the distant call of their names from Petrie's mother, but Ducky was too anguished at the moment to care right now. Why...oh why, why, why did we grew so apart over the cold times, Ducky pondered. Despite the increasingly frequent amount of quarreling that started to occur since the start of the Time of Great Growing, deep within her aching heart she yearned for the old times to return once again. The gang that used to sing together, play together. But most of all, she loved all the great adventures that she accompanied her friends with in the Mysterious Beyond, much to their parent's worry and frustration. They've faced every adversity possible and conquered them despite the stacked odds. In an ironic twist of fate however, the biggest challenge they have yet to face lies just within. The others may have not realized it yet, but Ducky knew since the beginning.

"The broken band has been broken by pride, now it shall be united by being broken. Go forth to this broken land…and protect the land you love."

She couldn't quite comprehend what that last part meant, but in any case, she has a gut feeling that this will be the biggest adventure of a lifetime.

Ugh...I'm not sure if I'm ready for this. Am I ready? I know I want to be. The question is...will the others be willing? And more specifically, what about Littlefoot and Cera? No, no, no, she thought grimly. She hung her head low at that last thought.

rhombus · **Reply #58 on:** May 20, 2020, 03:23:04 AM

Volant could only look upon the scene in silent contemplation. Though she had received no verbal response to her call, the immediate reaction of the bellydragger and the flyer to the mention of the names spoke volumes.

At least three of the children had been changed. By the Bright Circle! What have any of us done to deserve this?

Volant closed her eyes for a moment as she sucked in a deep breath to calm herself. This was something that the valley as a whole would have to deal with. Deep down she knew this. But she also realized the more disastrous possibilities that could invite for not only her son, but the others. If the valley panicked then they could be exiled or worse. A spooked herd was a dangerous herd. Multiple spooked herds? Well, that was a catastrophe.

Okay, Volant, one thing at a time. Let's get the children someplace safe... and then we can confront what this means.

"Children, come with me now. We can't risk some of the adults seeing you... like this."

And with that, she took off once more. Making a slow and steady circling in the sky as if to prompt both of them to follow her.

jassy · **Reply #59 on:** May 20, 2020, 02:28:01 PM

Guido peered into his friend’s desperate eyes with the utmost sadness and a slight twinge in fear from the red stain embedded into the ground, but there was no point in bringing it up now. There was something else that he was worrying about. He had never been very good with words, but for the sake of his closest friend, he had to try. “I... I don’t know, Petrie. B-But even though you’re not a flyer, you’re still Petrie to me! You’re still my best friend, flyer or not a flyer.” He wrapped his wing around the swimmer’s shoulder, offering his best reassuring smile. “I don’t know how we’re going to get to the bottom of this or i-if we ever will, but I’m not gonna leave your side. We’re stuck with each other.” One of Guido’s signature awkward chuckles rolled off of his tongue, but rather than the even more awkward sideways glance that accompanied his chuckles, what followed was a hopeful grin as well as him squeezing the former flyer’s hands.

Despite Guido’s multiple reassurances, Petrie couldn’t see any hope in this situation. Being a flyer wasn’t just what kind of dinosaur he was— it was part of his identity. If he wasn’t a flyer... then who even was he? The stress of it all made his head hurt, although the throbbing pain in his pain might have been from repeatedly bashing his head into the ground. He winced in pain for a moment before opening his eyes and meeting the hopeful ones of his best friend. Even if Petrie did feel lost beyond belief right now, he was glad that Guido was here to keep him grounded. He was the one thing that was still familiar to him.

After what felt like an eternity of silence, Petrie sighed. “You really think so? You no... think of Petrie differently?” When he saw the glider shake his head, Petrie felt a slight weight lift off his chest. After a slight hesitation, he spoke up again. “Okay, Guido... if you say so, then Petrie will try to find way to live... like this.” He cringed at the thought, but he had no choice now. Even if he hated being this, it wasn’t as if he could change back with a snap of his finger. Besides, Guido was with him. He had that much, at least.