@Mr. Wonk: Heh, interesting. I'm giving the song a listen to, and it kinda fits^^
Lol that part was a lot of fun to write. Since I'm afraid of heights myself, I pictured myself in Taylen's place (riding Pterano *swoon*) screaming my head off, and probably choking him, too
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Part Four Just a quick shout out to all those who've read this/reviewed this: thanks and I really appreciate your time spent on reading this and thinking my fanfic was worth the time
~Strut
Taylen slept like a literal rock – he didn’t even snore. Pterano thought sympathetically, Poor lad, he’s obviously not used to all this traveling. I’ll probably end up carrying him most of the way. With a sigh, the flyer shook his head in order to stay awake. He was feeling quite tempted to just close his eyes for a few moments, but he couldn’t allow himself to do that. A few moments could easily become a few hours and they would end up losing valuable daylight as a means of further travel.
But Pterano really didn’t know what else to do as he waited for Taylen to wake up, which, judging by the slow, peaceful rising and falling of the little one’s ribs as he breathed, and that complacent smile on his snout, would not be anytime soon.
Best to let the lad sleep a little longer, the flyer eventually decided. He was starting to get rather jittery from staying in the same place for so long just to watch a little dinosaur snooze. Pterano stood up, anxious for something else to do, and flexed his talons and wings. He noted with some chagrin that his shoulders were particularly achy from last night. Humph, he objected. I don’t care what they think – I’m still in my prime! Certainly not that old!
The flyer spread his wings and let them catch the wind. The membrane rustled in the breeze, whipping out behind the flyer as he faced the breath of air. Shutting his eyes, Pterano drew in his feet and was simply carried up by the draft; his wings acting as an anchor to hold him steady. Once he felt he was of considerable height, the flyer leveled out in a soar. Only then did he open his eyes. He had anticipated the mount perfectly, he realized with a self-satisfied smirk as he looked downwards.
He angled the slope of his wings to forty-five degrees as he spun in barrel rolls through the air. The flying conditions in this area were perfect. Pterano let out a euphoric whoop as he swooped upwards, towards the gray sky, wings outstretched to their full length. His eyes rolled back as he inhaled deeply, nearly drunk with the sensation of flight. At the pinnacle of his ascent, Pterano swung himself upside down and rocketed towards the ground, banking at the last possible moment. He grinned smugly as his talons caught the ground, braking precisely so. He had performed that trick hundreds – if not thousands – of times and the right moments to soar and stop had become rather instinctive to him so he really didn’t need to keep his eyes open at all. Pterano may have been a liar, a schemer, and an irresponsible freeloader, but there was no denying the fact that he was quite a magnificent flyer, and he knew it himself.
A gasp of amazement caused his crested head to snap in the direction of Taylen, still a little droopy eyed, half-sitting and half-lying on the ground, elbows propping himself. He must have just woken up.
“That… that was amazing, sir,” the little one stood, not as wobbly as before and hopped up to the big flyer who suddenly felt quite bashful as he turned his head away slightly, without much idea why.
Taylen continued. “I-I’m serious, that was… emphatic!” He seemed quite proud of himself for using this bold and descriptive word. Pterano could feel a small blush starting as he chuckled.
Oh, come off it! He snapped to himself. What’s the matter with you? You’ve done this plenty of times with an audience, correct? Get a grip, Pterano! Inwardly, the flyer cringed at that phrase, almost expecting a pair of talons to clasp onto his wrists and drag him along through the air.
“Well, um…” he stammered, trying to find the right words. “My thanks, lad. I’m… glad you enjoyed it.” He ruffled his wings and then folded his arms, attention now fully directed on the little one. “Did you sleep well?”
Taylen yawned and stretched in reply. Pterano grinned wryly.
“I’ll take that as a ëyes’, then,” he murmured. “On a different subject, are you hungry?”
The little Egg-Stealer paused and frowned. “Uh, yeah, I guess so.” He shrugged. “Haven't really thought about food, but now that you mention it...” he looked around. “Is... is there anything to eat?”
“I suppose we'd better go and find out,” Pterano suggested quietly. Taylen perked up and nodded, sleepiness obviously forgotten as his face brightened with a delighted smile.
“Okay!” He assented.
Pterano rolled his eyes. Taylen's energy level continued to amaze him. One minute the youngster could be just about dead with fatigue and the next he could be bouncing about like an overexcited hopper. He motioned with a claw towards the small grove. “Let's check back there. I'm assuming you eat green food?”
Taylen bobbed his head. “Yeah! I do, but my brother Ozzy doesn't approve of that. He thinks we should only eat eggs!” His face fell. “But I don't want to eat eggs all the time; neither does Strut. We both like water greens, tree fuzz and ground stars, but most of all sweet bubbles!” he looked around expectantly. “D'you think there are any sweet bubbles around here?”
Pterano found himself once more at a loss for words as he listened to this statement. He snapped out of his momentary lapse in thought with a shake of his head. He was going to have to be quicker mentally to keep up with Taylen's... verbosity. He looked back towards the grove.
“We could... check, I suppose.” He glanced upwards and frowned. The sky puffies seemed rather dark. “But we shouldn't dawdle,” he continued rather crisply. “It looks like sky water, and I don't fly well when it's wet.”
“You could walk,” Taylen's unfailing cheerfulness earned him a weak grin from the flyer.
“Yes...” Pterano admitted. “I... could,” he sighed, smiling. Taylen was growing rather fast on him. “Let's find you something to eat, then.”
“What about you?” Taylen queried, cocking his head curiously to the side. Pterano opened his beak to reply, but made no noise other than a hesitant “um” sound.
The flyer shook his head. “I'm... not that hungry.”
Taylen stopped then and fixed Pterano with such an intense, searching frown the crested flyer jerked to an immediate halt in his stride, looking back at those disturbingly pale yellow eyes. He shivered slightly.
The Egg-Stealer shook his head slowly. “Pardon me, sir, but that's a load of rubbish. You haven't had anything to eat yet all day. You may be bigger and older than me, but you still need to eat.” The sight was adorably comical: Taylen tapped one foot against the grassy ground while his twiggy claws were planted firmly on his hips, the absolute picture of authority. Pterano hid a humorous snicker at his would-be scolder.
Taylen relaxed enough to nod his head towards the grove. “Now, how about we both find something to eat and then be off, 'kay?”
After you, lad, Pterano thought, stepping aside to let Taylen go first. He followed after the little dinosaur into the darker grove. Taylen chirped excitedly as he found some tree fuzz resting inconspicuously on the trunk of a rather bent and rotting tree. Pterano grimaced, not much one for consuming lichen, and instead turned to look for food that resembled something edible. He was rewarded by a sad-looking sapling tree further back full of rich, green tree stars. He grinned as he flapped up, plucking a few choice leaves from the branches before retreating back to the ground to enjoy his meal.
Taylen, tree fuzz bits sticking to the edge of his snout and around the corners of his mouth, spoke up hesitantly. “So... how long until we reach the Great Valley?”
The question hit Pterano like a punch in the gut. He swallowed his mouthful carefully before he could choke and replied, “Well, the far walkers and I were a good four days' worth of travel away, but thanks to our little night flight,” he chuckled humorlessly. “I'd say we have a couple days left to go before we reach the walls...” he drifted off, popping another tree star into his beak before Taylen could ask another question. But the Egg-Stealer persisted.
“Do you think we'll get there soon?”
Pterano answered quickly through his mouthful, “Perhaps, perhaps, depends on how much ground we cover, but I'm certain,” here he paused to swallow. “That we'll make substantial progress before the next few days are out. Just got to keep moving.”
Taylen left it at that, pretending not the notice how agitated the flyer had become at his simple inquiry. Based on what Pterano had told him last night about his banishment due to that long ago fatalistic mistake in leadership, and then nearly getting his nephew and his friends killed by going after a rumored Stone of Cold Fire, Taylen could well surmise that the flyer was considered to be a bit of an outlaw in the valley and was certainly not at all comfortable with the idea of going back before his sentence was up. But the Egg-Stealer was still glad Pterano had made this sacrifice in order to keep him safe. He made a little vow then and there to keep an eye out for Pterano as well, and not let the old flyer get in trouble with the valley's elders for breaking their rules.
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Heh, this chapter was fun to write. We're making progress, steadily, steadily...
