I'M NOT DEAD!!!
Ooo this chappie be especially good for upcoming Halloween *laughs evilly*
=Part Twenty-FivePterano found himself leaning with his shoulder against a rock and his injuries slathered with a sort of green pulp that had stung horribly while applied. He had no idea what the green stuff was, only that that small pink runner had returned with it after popping out for a moment, saying, “I will be right back very soon”.
The flyer doubted he would get used to this curious speech – but then he reminded himself that he was quite used to Petrie’s speech; after all, he’d been the same way when he was young.
He sighed, wincing at the slight throbbing sensation that accompanied it. This also would take some getting used to. What had happened, anyway? The events just past all seemed hopelessly jumbled together in a giant mess. Fastclaws, running, chasm, Littlefoot…
Guh, the flyer lowered his lids in defeat.
And now here was he, injured and exhausted.
Fancy not helping out Taylen, after all. He thought, almost bitterly. Well no, that wasn’t entirely true, now that he thought about it. The lad had found his brothers, so there was that, but – here Pterano frowned – his nephew and his friends weren’t supposed to be out here, mucking up the situation.
No, no, not their fault. Only doing what was best, I’m sure. Actually, what were the children doing out here? They’d sort of skipped that part of the introductions. It had been quite a shock, come to think about it. Finding leafeaters traversing the Beyond didn’t seem like such a normal pastime, at least not to Pterano.
The Gang and Taylen were towards the back of the cave, quietly chatting. Strut and Ozzy had disappeared just then for whatever reason. Strut had mentioned something about ëfood’, so that was probably why. The flyer just now realized how hungry he really was.
A familiar presence on his shoulder snapped him out of his reverie, and Pterano glanced sideways to see Petrie. The little flyer’s face was heavy with concern. “You gonna be okay, Uncle?” It was supposed to have been a definite ëyou will be okay’, but thanks to Petrie’s obvious misgivings, it came out as a question instead.
Pterano smiled tenderly at his little nephew. “Oh, absolutely, Petrie. It’d take a lot more than two fastbiters to bring me down,” he winked.
Petrie perked up. “You really fight more than two fastbiters, Uncle?”
Pterano was about to answer when he considered. After that Stone fiasco, he had no doubt changed in the eyes of his nephews and nieces – particularly Petrie. He bit the edge of his beak before clearing his throat. “Well, no… but there was this one time when I met a whole pack of them.”
Petrie’s black eyes widened. But instead of praise, his face took on this almost adult-like suspicion. “You telling truth, Uncle?”
Pterano gave him a knowing smirk. “As truthfully as ever.”
Petrie relaxed then. “Tell Petrie,” he demanded, settling down.
“Tell Petrie what?” Chomper appeared, seemingly out of nowhere – even though he’d only been sitting a few feet away. Ducky was close by and asked much the same thing. Soon, Pterano had an audience, and the little boost to his pride didn’t hurt.
The flyer slowly and carefully turned himself to face the circle of faces, and inhaled. “Well, the tale I’m about to tell has not been heard by anyone before…” he paused and glanced at Petrie. “Well, maybe by one of you,”
Cera snorted as she flopped down on the cave floor, expecting the biggest blatant lie ever. And she would call the flyer out on it, like he deserved. She didn’t feel sorry for him – well, just barely – because, after all, what he did to the herds back then was unforgivable. She was firm and unmoving on that subject, just like her father.
Littlefoot on the other paw, settled down quietly, not really knowing what to expect. Pterano was… a curious one. But the longneck gave the flyer his attention as Pterano began.
“It all began one night,” Pterano’s voice was low and perhaps even a bit foreboding. “I was only a lad, not much older than Petrie here,” he shrugged his shoulder and Petrie grinned, enraptured. “I had never seen a night so dark, it was absolutely black as pitch, like the darkest hole where neither the Bright Circle, nor her sister can penetrate.”
“Sister?” Now this was news to Taylen. The little dappled head shot up in confusion. “What’s all this about a sister?”
“I have sisters, I do, I do,” Ducky commented.
Pterano held up his talons, surprised and slightly miffed at how quickly the attention had shifted. “That’s just a bit of prose, my lad.” He explained to Taylen. “I meant the Night Circle,”
“Ahh,” Taylen grinned and settled back again.
Pterano raised an eyebrow, but continued nonetheless. “Anyway, a night so black as I had never seen before, and I was stuck right smack dab in the middle of it.” Here, though he knew it would most likely result in a backache, the flyer decided this tale needed some pizzazz, so with a leathery
whoosh, he unfurled his wings and it was all Petrie could do to stay on-shoulder, through his shock.
The trick worked. The majority of the children gasped and moved back a step.
Pterano grinned devilishly. “I was lost,
oh, such a perfect night to be lost on. I was caught on a summer updraft, this night, and found myself encircling sharpteeth territory. Well, being the young rot I was,”
...And still somewhat am, he mused to himself, “I decided it’d be something of a lark to drop down and explore.”
Petrie squeaked. “You fly down to sharpteeth grounds?!”
“All by yourself?” Chomper echoed. Taylen’s jaw just dropped. Littlefoot’s neck had stiffened, but he made no comment. Cera rolled her eyes.
The great, crested head dipped once, twice, in agreement. “That I was, lad,” he remarked to Chomper. “All alone, and in one of the most dangerous places a youngster can be in. I caught myself pondering whether or not anyone was out in this pitch darkness, and indeed, wouldn’t it be fun to bump into them?” His blue eyes searched the faces of the group – anticipation was high. “I crept forward,” the flyer’s voice had slowed. “Every, footfall, silent, as the night.” He flexed his talons in time with the punctuation.
“So, what did you do?” Taylen blurted, almost going out of his mind with suspense.
Pterano just grinned, mysteriously. “I continued with my silent traipse; the darkness seemed to swallow everything in sight,
yes!” His sudden exclamation caused Chomper, who had been leaning so anxiously forward, to flop forward on the ground with surprise. The Gang paused to laugh, but were silenced by Pterano flapping his wings.
“
Shh! Must be silent!” He hissed, theatrics at full throttle. He narrowed his eyes, wings held stiffly outward. “For certain, it seemed that I too, was swallowed up by this blackness, so that I was like to have passed out of this world entirely!” He made a sweeping motion with one wing. “And as I continued, there was this
feeling,” the flyer’s voice had gone as cold as ice. “I felt it in my very
bones,”
Normally, the word ëbones’ would not have elicited much reaction, but it was the way Pternao had said it – cold and hushed, as dismal a voice as one could have – that caused the Gang to shift uncomfortably, even Cera.
“And as I crept – silent, mind you – along those bleak, dark passages, I became increasingly aware of
eyes,” again, a simple word – ëeyes’ – was once again turned into a veritable verbal weapon. “Eyes that followed my every move, eyes that pierced my very core, eyes,” he paused and grinned ever so slowly. “Eyes belonging to shapeless beings, wandering the Beyond, keeping track of my every breath,” Pterano’s voice was no more than a reedy whisper at this point. He was building it up for the climax. He waved his talons as he continued.
“My progress became more and more wary, and soon I was standing as still as a tree, frozen to the spot with absolute fear, and when I finally had the courage to look around – as hopeless as it was at first to notice anything in this black void – I saw –”
It was at this moment, just when the Gang was being reeled in, and Pterano was already settling into his element, that a voice at the front of the cave – with no prior understanding of what caused such a reaction, interrupted with a loud, “Food’s here!”, unsettling the delicate balance the remained between enraptured fear and startling realization.
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"Uh-huh... y'say there're two of 'em? Uh-huh... and they just walked in? Now, hold on, were they armed? No? Okay, did they threaten you in any way?... Uhh... what exactly happened? They scared ya?.... Uhh..."
Excerpt of Cera's 911 call after this incident
Also HELLO THERE! I'm not dead, just very, very absent
I have pressing matters elsewhere, unfortunately, but rest assured I'm alive and kicking.
And writing
And drawing... and eating... and laughing
