The Tragic Cycle

[DiddyKT2]

At long last, after two years, I am finally starting work on my first non-prompt LBT story (despite the fact that this opening chapter would be the perfect candidate for February's prompt ). I know I've already written several depressing Petrie stories in the past, but after bad dreams finally triggered me, I intend to go all the way with it. Just what led our favorite prehistoric Flyer to become the not-so-courageous, timid, stuttering, grammar-challenged Flyer we've come to know him to be? What turned him into the flightless coward we saw in the original movie?

The story you are about to read is an extraordinarily depressing tale of a young boy who ended up having to grow up an outcast through no fault of his own. A series of unfortunate events would await from the very beginning as he struggled through his unhappy childhood. Misfit and completely friendless, and having the love of only two individuals.

I don't necessarily mean to do justice for the cold reception he received from audiences who watched the first movie, but merely to shed new light on why and how he came to be this way.

I wish to give special thanks in advance to OwlsCantRead and Sovereign, who gave me the courage and persuasion into writing this story, and I hope you find this one very interesting as it further develops.

THE TRAGIC CYCLE

PROLOGUE

THE DAY IT ALL BEGAN

It was a day they knew were coming. It was a day they were waiting for, but also one they were dreading. Ever since that fateful day some Night Circle cycles ago when Cerusa laid those eggs, she had to embrace the fact that it was a night that would change her life forever, for the good or the bad.

The much-feared Sharptooth had been stalking land-dwelling herds of twofooters and fourfooters alike, and Sharpteeth Flyers terrorized the open skies. Choosing the nest location had thus been critical once it came time to start a family to keep the family bloodline alive for at least another generation.

For Cerusa and her beloved mate, Rantyl, this large tree seemed to be the only safe place for miles for a nest. There was plenty of room for seclusion from intruders, the top branches provided a perfect cover from any who dared to try attacking from directly above, and some of the branches had green carpeting them like grass. It was the best tree they had seen after many days of flying once Cerusa realized she was going to have eggs.

A third Flyer stood beside them, his eyes firmly on the eggs. For a few, it may have been odd to have a third Flyer witnessing what could be that special moment, but Cerusa had asked her brother Pterano to help look after the eggs when either she or Rantyl had to fetch more sticks or twigs for their nest, and would surely have to do so again once they hatched in order to find food for their new children. A feeling of responsibility and dread hung over all three of them as they sensed just how hard it would be to look after not one, or two, … but five children …

Five eggs. That was how much Cerusa had laid that night, and now it appeared today would be the day she and Rantyl would become new parents to five children.

In the last few days, two of the eggs had began to make small jittery movements, but today all five of them seemed to be shaking and jittering. Judging from these movements, the adults felt sure that today was the day.

“I don’t believe it,” whispered Cerusa to her mate, breathing uneasily, “I … can’t believe we’re about to be parents.”

“I know it’s not going to be easy, … but I’m sure this will be a proud moment for us,” replied Rantyl.

Cerusa turned to look at her mate and held his hand tightly.

“Are you sure we won’t have to live here for long?” she asked him, “I know this isn’t the best place for a nest, but are you certain you know of a better place?”

Rantyl sighed and did everything he could to give her a sense of reassurance. Ever since he had overheard a Longneck speak of “a better place that would be the perfect home,” he yearned for nothing more than to seek out this … special place, even if others had begun to seek out the legendary so-called Great Valley. The one burden that had stopped him, though, was the fact that he was about to become a father, and that meant having to be around for his kids and to help them get to know the world around him; … the kind of world he felt wasn’t the safest or even a good one for Flyer children.

“My dear, I know the Great Valley is being sought after by many herds around these parts, but I’m sure somewhere out there on the horizon is a perfect place where we will live in peace,” he said with an assuring grin, “Just wait and see, Cerusa. Our children will love it.”

“You do realize, though, that our children will need to learn how to fly,” Cerusa pointed out, “With three of us and five hatchlings, that could slow us down unless we waited.”

“I intend to stay until I get to see our new children, and on the break of dawn tomorrow I hope to begin my journey and return to you as soon as possible with news of a safer home. I promise,” said Rantyl, gently holding his mate by the shoulders.

“Don’t ever leave me alone in this world,” pleaded Cerusa.

“I never could,” smiled Rantyl, and the two kissed passionately before a faint sound from their nest managed to get their attention.

One of the eggs had started rolling around the nest, a clear sign that it was going to hatch any moment now.

“It’s happening,” whispered Pterano.

“It’s really happening,” gasped Cerusa, her chest pounding with hope as she eyed the one egg rolling around.

Suddenly, the shell cracked, and a tiny beak poked its way out. Smiles grew on the adults’ beaks as they watched tensely. The egg seemed to bounce up and down a couple of times before the shell finally gave way, and out emerged a blackish-dark gray Flyer with a dark yellow beak. The lack of eyelashes confirmed it to be a male.

“Oh, look,” gasped Rantyl, “It’s a boy.”

“Aww, look at him,” quivered Cerusa as joyful tears threatened to come down, realizing she was now a mother, a defining achievement in her life.

Rantyl picked up the newborn and gently rubbed him.

“Now, what should we name you, little guy?” he said playfully.

“Might wanna be quick,” said Pterano, “Another one is cracking.”

“Indeed,” chuckled Cerusa, “It’d be bad luck to not name them before we lose track of who’s who.”

The others giggled at the statement as the baby tried climbing his way up his father’s arm.

“I think Donnie has a very nice tone to it,” said Rantyl thoughtfully.

Cerusa smiled in approval just as they heard the shell of the second egg break apart. The baby within appeared to be bluish in appearance. In fact, it appeared to be the same shade of blue as the mother. Furthermore, eyelashes gave her away as a female.

“Oh, my goodness,” gasped Rantyl, “This one’s the spitting image of your younger self.”

“You don’t say,” replied Cerusa sarcastically, “I think I know just the name for this one … Terra, I think.”

“Perfect name for her. She’ll probably grow up to look and be just like you, and they won’t even be able to tell you apart anymore,” chuckled Rantyl.

Pterano managed to hold back a laugh as his sister playfully pressed her hand against Rantyl’s cheek and pushed him away some.

“You really are such an ass, aren’t ya?” she snickered.

“I don’t deny it,” said Rantyl, smiling mischievously.

“One of our kids is bound to inherit something from you,” joked Cerusa.

Rantyl shrugged it off and saw the third eye breaking apart.

“Ah, here comes the third one,” he said, bringing the others’ attention back to their nest.

The third hatchling was a male and had a shade of blue that seemed just as blue as the sky.

“He’ll be quite a stealthy one once he gets to fly,” commented Pterano.

“Hmm, … Skybeak?” pondered Cerusa, “Certainly seems right.”

“I couldn’t agree more,” responded Rantyl.

Terra and Skybeak both toddled towards their mother and wrapped their arms around her ankles. Cerusa smiled at the adorable sight.

“Aww, you kids,” she said sweetly, and she gently caressed them, “Just wait ‘til the day you take to the skies.”

Donnie slid down his father’s arm and curiously approached the remaining two eggs, one of which was beginning to shake even more than the other. For the parents, it was a sign that particular one was set to come out any moment.

“Three down, two to go,” commented Rantyl.

“And here comes the fourth one, … I think,” said Cerusa hopefully.

Within a moment, with all eyes on it, the fourth egg’s shell began to crack. Out poked a pair of legs, followed by a pair of wings stretching all the way out, and soon the top of the shell snapped off to reveal the head … of another female, … purplish in appearance.

“Another girl,” smiled Cerusa.

“Oh, my. Look at her beautiful colors,” gasped Rantyl, “Such a gorgeous color, I can only consider one name for this little girl.”

“What would that be?” his mate asked.

“Pearlwing,” he answered proudly as the rest of the shell disintegrated and the newborn girl began to wander curiously around the nest, fascinated by what she was seeing around her.

“She’s such a curious one,” said Pterano.

Before long, everyone’s eyes, including the newborns, had turned to the last remaining egg, sitting almost completely still in the center of the nest. It seemed to be shaking as if it was freezing cold. It was a sight that nearly broke their hearts, as they knew that it was a sign that there was very little chance that baby would ever hatch from its egg.

“Hmm, … I think this one will need a bit more … time, perhaps?” said Rantyl with uneasy breaths.

“Oh, I hope nothing happened to this one,” gulped Cerusa as she began to fear the worst.

“I suppose Rantyl is right,” said Pterano, “We never know. It could hatch any minute for all we know.”

“You can’t be too sure,” sighed Cerusa.

Pearlwing made a cautious approach to the shivering egg, and she gave it a playful poke. What happened next surprised everyone, including the children …

The egg seemed to … react to the poke. It jumped as if it had been frightened, and once the bottom of the shell touched back down, it shattered to pieces. They were able to make out two grayish-brown legs that almost immediately slithered back inside the egg. The family seemed amused by what had just happened.

“Oh, my,” said Rantyl, and he gently tapped his daughter’s back, “Pearlwing, you might wanna be careful. You’ve frightened the poor thing.”

The broken egg began rolling towards the edge of the nest, but Pterano stopped it in its tracks and gently rolled it towards his sister.

“Now, now. You don’t want to stray too far,” he whispered.

As Cerusa approached the egg, she heard whimpering within the shell. It seemed to her that this last child was not going to come out that easily. It definitely seemed terrified of the unfamiliar world outside its tiny prison of a home and wasn’t ready to leave its comfort zone.

“Hello, … little one?” she said gently to the last baby.

As she peeked inside, she noticed the lack of eyelashes and realized it was a boy. Its head and back were reddish-brown in color, while its front was grayish-brown.

As the boy noticed the eyes of its mother peeking inside, he screamed and turned his head back, shielding it with his wings. It broke Cerusa’s heart to see her new son like this. It was going to take a lot of gentle persuasion to bring this little one out of its cocoon and lure him out into the open.

“Aww, there, there. It’s okay,” she whispered as gently as she could, “I’m not going to hurt you. Come on out, little one.”
Even if her voice was as gentle and sweetening as she could make it, the hatchling still seemed to react with hesitation, shivering as if he was chilled to the bone.

“Is it alright?” asked Rantyl.

“Oh, the poor little one’s scared to death,” quivered Cerusa.

Seeing that this situation wasn’t getting any better, Rantyl wrapped an arm around his mate’s back and looked inside to see the boy for himself, and he was quite stunned to see just how terrified their youngest child was.

“Aww, don’t be frightened, little one,” he said gently, “Come on out and meet your mommy and daddy.”

The baby unshielded his eyes to get a glimpse at his mother and suddenly noticed another pair of eyes looking down at him. He brought himself into the fetal position within his eggshell and began shuddering in fear.

Seeing only one other option to persuade the frightened child into poking its way out, Cerusa sat down and held the egg on her lap. The baby seemed to moan and whimper in response to the way his egg moved around, and she kept her eyes fixed on him.

“There, dear. It’s safe to come out,” she said, one hand slowly approaching the opening where the shell had broken, “Come on out. It’s okay.”

The hatchling cowered as he noticed his mother’s hand, but after a few tense moments with her remaining completely still, he hesitantly began to creep his way out. Cerusa did her best to remain still until the newborn reached out to take her hand. He looked up to see that she was smiling warmly at him, but it did little to convince him that she wasn’t a menace. Cerusa sighed sadly, knowing that it was going to take quite a lot to get her youngest son to accept her and that being forceful was not going to get her anywhere.

Before long, the hatchling finally emerged and crawled into his mother’s hand. Cerusa cautiously set the egg remains back in the nest and began to caress her new son, making sure to be as gentle as possible …

Suddenly, the four other children let out happy squeals, apparently excited to see their little brother. The boy was so startled by this that he almost fell out of his mother’s hands, but Cerusa managed to keep him in her hold and hugged him tightly, just about crushing him against her chest.

“Ssh!” hissed Rantyl, “Not so loud.”

It was then that the boy looked around and finally realized just how many others were gathered around him and his mother, and once he saw that he was no longer in his egg, he whimpered loudly and shielded his face with his wings again.

“Oh, dear,” sighed Cerusa, “The poor child.”

“Ssh. It’s alright,” said Rantyl soothingly, “None of us are going to hurt you.”

The two parents looked down thoughtfully at their youngest child as he slowly unhid his face and looked up at them, noticing their gentle smiles. It finally seemed enough for him to calm down and put on what looked like a quivering smile. They knew he was still frightened, but it seemed he was beginning to accept them as his loving parents.

“What do you suppose we should name him, dear?” asked Cerusa.

Rantyl stared at the hatchling and gently stroked his crest just to see if it would invoke any sort of reaction. The boy whimpered a little at first but relaxed once he saw that the gesture meant no harm.

“Cerusa, my dear, … I think … we should name this one … Petrie.”

“Petrie?” said Cerusa curiously.

“I’m sure one day he’ll grow up to be very brave,” said Rantyl, smiling proudly at his youngest child, “It may take time, but I think he has potential.”

“Are you sure?” asked Cerusa, doubtful about how long it would take for this little one to muster any form of bravery.

“I’m sure,” assured Rantyl, “It takes time for everyone. Our little Petrie will be no exception.”

Cerusa had her doubts, but she didn’t press it further. Right now, it was time to celebrate this milestone achievement. Here they were: parents of five beautiful children, undoubtedly the proudest moment of their lives yet.

Pterano cautiously approached his sister and patted her on the back as a congratulatory gesture. Donnie, Terra, Skybeak and Pearlwing all gathered around their parents and uncle and looked curiously at Petrie, who still looked rather shaky but was at least calming himself down. At the end of it all, a new chapter was set to begin in the lives of this Flyer family. The three adults knew it was going to be a long journey ahead, and that they would not have much time to cherish this important day.

With a new family now came great responsibility. With a new family came great hopes for the future …

With a new family … could come great burdens …

[Sovereign]

This is a premise that truly holds a lot of potential. The idea of exploring Petrie’s early childhood is one I’ve been interested in myself for a long time but you are one author who might be able to execute it even better as you truly understand many aspects of Petrie’s character. There is a lot of different things to go through in a fic like this and I’m sure you will not disappoint us.

However, this first chapter felt more than familiar to me but it is true that it’d be difficult to it in a completely different way than I did. Even then, it was good to see this introduction to your own canon concerning our favorite flyer’s life and family and it was established very effectively that the main players will be very familiar from your former stories. There’s not that much else to say from this prologue except that I’ll be very excited to see just how much amazing stuff you’ll create between this chapter and the Great Earthshake.

[Anagnos]

You've peaked my interest with this one, Diddy. The story of Petrie's early life hasn't been fleshed out from the core before, much less the origin of his rather timid first impression in the original film. The reason for the rather ''cold reception'' voiced by the fans may have originated from this very component. However, a simple, yet practical approach to his tale establishes the groundwork for this character - and the best part is that we're going to see how it all could've played out had the decision to include his backstory to the concept been concluded. Furthermore, the fate of Petrie's father in the canon is a smorgasbord topic of quandaries and theories. There have been other authors who have shed light on this matter, but it will be intriguing to see what your version will look like once we step into the extreme edges of the story. This will all be the prelude for things yet to come, but the once tranquil family life the flyers have savored up to now, will not last as their very lives are hanging on a weak thread.

[OwlsCantRead]

It is certainly an interesting choice to reminiscence and take a look at Petrie's past and hatch scene, because as others have pointed out he distinctly lacks one in the original LBT. From what we know it is not that much of a far stretch to infer that it was a particularly joyous one. It is interesting that the nature of hatchlings make his siblings impartial to Petrie despite his differences at first, until they are molded into their own roughened personalities by age and fate.

It would seem from his hatching that Petrie is intrinsically someone whose nature predisposes him to be timorous. This reminds me most of the birth scene in 101 Dalmatians where the youngest puppy almost does not make it, and gave me similar vibes. It really begs the question, is it purely nature which Petrie to undergo his tumultuous childhood, or is his father right and could he be nurtured into someone braver. Either way this prologue does open up many questions as to how he becomes like this, and I am interested to see this character study and the ensuing events unfold.

[DiddyKT2]

CHAPTER 1

THE DAY EVERYTHING CHANGED

The Bright Circle rose into the sky to signal the start of a new day. In just a short while, the kids would get to see the world around them for the very first time, and soon after …

Cerusa’s mind had been haunted by … those thoughts … as she struggled to get any sleep during the night. Just what was Rantyl thinking when he said he was going to head out to some unknown place so soon after their hatchlings were born? What could have driven him to seek out this place in such a hurry while the rest of the herd were seeking out the Great Valley? Who knew where this place was? Was it closer than the valley was? What if no such place existed and it would be all for nothing? What if it would all be such an unnecessary waste? What if …

The blue Flyer had to refrain from thinking of all the “what ifs” if she was to have any hope her beloved mate knew just what he was doing. It was an incredibly dangerous world for a Flyer, and yet this tree they had so recently settled in was not much better. Every night she woke up fearing Sharptooth Flyers would try to dive in and scoop up their eggs, but now those fears had increased ten-fold with five newborn children in the nest. Even with three grownups looking after them, she wondered if they were truly safe out here in this Bright Circle-forsaken place. Surely, Rantyl must have had their children in mind when he came up with his plan.

A yawn interrupted her train of thought for just a moment, and she noticed her beloved Rantyl sitting up and stretching his wings out. She glanced uneasily at him as he stood up and approached her with his ever-so-happy morning smile she loved seeing from him.

“Good morning, my dear,” he said in a soft whisper so as not to wake up the children.

Cerusa didn’t respond the way she normally would. She knew this day was one she was not looking forward to, and she wished it could wait just a little while longer.

Rantyl’s smile faded as he noticed her droopy beak, and he placed a gentle hand on it, rubbing it tenderly.

“I know what you’re thinking, my sweet,” he spoke solemnly, “I know you don’t want me to do this, but it’s for the good of the family, … for our children.”

“You promised me you would never leave me alone in this world,” said Cerusa bitterly.

“Like I said, Cerusa. I could never leave you alone. Never forever,” reassured Rantyl.

“Can’t this whole thing wait, Rantyl? Can’t the children get to know their father? You know they could wait until they come of age and learn to fly.”

“We can’t take any chances in this dangerous place, Cerusa. You know that,” said Rantyl.

“The world our children need is a world with a father to grow up with,” insisted Cerusa.

“And it will be,” replied Rantyl, holding her by the shoulders, “I promise you, once I find this place, everything will be perfect … just like you want it. You and I both know what’s right for our little ones.”

A single tear escaped from Cerusa’s eye as she tried in vain to make another counterargument. It seemed that nothing would prevent her mate from taking this daring quest just to give their children a perfect, safe world where they could live peacefully. Why couldn’t it wait? Why did it have to be now? What would happen to the children if he failed? They would have let down their kids. They would have blown all the chances they had of a family future, … and quite possibly their only chance at parenthood. The other Flyers of their herd would surely consider them the worst parents imaginable.

As the two embraced each other, Cerusa cast a glance at their five new hatchlings, and she saw Donnie and Pearlwing opening their eyes and yawning cutely. It was such an adorable sight to watch newborn babies wake up to the start of a new day. It was a sight that just about choked her up.

“Aww. Look at the little ones, my dear,” she sniffled.

Rantyl turned to see the kids for himself, and he, too, was choked up by the heartwarming sight of the awakening hatchlings.

“Aww. Why, look at you, younglings,” he spoke playfully, “Good morning, our sweet ones.”

Donnie and Pearlwing’s yawning managed to awaken Terra and Skybeak, and soon Pterano stirred a little before sluggishly getting himself up to his feet, groaning a little as he stretched himself.

“Good morning,” he said.

“Good morning, Pterano,” replied Cerusa, letting out a humorous chuckle, “You’re just in time to see the new ones start their day.”

Pterano gazed down at the excited children, only to find that Petrie was still fast asleep.

“Hmm, I think I may have woken up early for one of them,” he commented.

Cerusa and Rantyl noticed their youngest son still sleeping seemingly comfortably. They could tell from the grin on his beak that he was perfectly content the way he was. However, they also noticed a tiny wet spot on the leaves he was sleeping on, and they knew just what that meant.

“Looks like he wet the nest in his sleep,” sighed Cerusa.

“That’ll happen from time to time. All babies do that,” replied Rantyl.

Cerusa shrugged as she found herself having to agree with her mate. She knew that one of the many challenges of parenthood would be having to deal with their children wetting the nest and having to dispose of wet leaves and twigs and replacing them with new ones.

“I’ll wake him up, dear,” she insisted, and she wiggled her fingers against Petrie’s side in a playful manner.

The little Flyer let out a chuckle and began to giggle while trying to stay asleep.

“Time to get up, little Petrie,” chuckled Cerusa, trying her best not to laugh at her son’s reaction to the tickling.

Petrie laughed and laughed until he couldn’t stay asleep any longer, and he rolled onto his back and opened his eyes. Once he saw his mother kneeling right in front of him, he immediately stopped laughing and let out a nervous gulp.

“There, there, Petrie. It’s just me. Don’t be afraid, dear,” Cerusa reassured her son.

Petrie’s beak shook much like one’s mouth would with clattering teeth, and he cautiously sat up and started to calm down. By now, he had begun warming up to his mother, but he still seemed to have a hard time getting acquainted with the rest of the family.

“Hmm,” pondered Cerusa, “Petrie seems to be quite a nervous one. He’s nothing like the rest of them.”

“It’s a bit … strange,” said Rantyl, scratching his head, “The others seem ready to see the world right away.”

“Do you suppose it could be something?” suggested Pterano.

“Why would I know? It’s too early to even think about it,” answered Cerusa.

“I suppose we’d better get rid of that leaf he was sleeping on and find some new ones,” said Rantyl.

“Right,” agreed Cerusa, “I’ll dispose of this one.”

She carefully picked up the soaked leaf, making Petrie flinch a little, and she soared her way down to the forest ground below. There weren’t too many ground star plants around since it wasn’t quite the brightest area of the forest. Add to that, desperate land dwellers were constantly picking off the few plants they could find as they passed by every now and then.

Cerusa soon managed to find one single plant on the ground. She looked around to make sure nobody else was in her surroundings. There was no sign of life anywhere. Assured that the coast was clear and that no one would catch her in the act, she pulled several leaves off the plant with her talons and flew back up towards her nest before anyone could notice her.

She let out a sigh of relief as she landed on the branch her nest was on, and she set the dry leaves on the spot Petrie had slept.

“Good as new,” she said.

“Well, kids, would you like to go for a ride with Daddy?” Rantyl playfully asked the hatchlings.

Although the babies had no idea what he was saying, they smiled and cheered as if they knew what was coming. All three adults chuckled at the hilarious reaction.

“I think they do,” commented Rantyl humorously.

Cerusa had to stop herself from tearing up as she remembered that her mate was due to start his trip later that very day. She began to wonder if this was the only time the kids would get to know their father … for at least a long time.

“Climb aboard,” said Rantyl, bending down to the nest, and one-by-one the four excited children climbed onto their father’s back with two each getting a grip on his arms, “Alright, kids. Hang on tight!”

Carefully, the male walked to the end of the branch and flapped his wings up and down several times before he made his leap and began to soar through the sky. The kids were cheering loudly with joy and excitement at the thrill of their first trip in the air.

“I think those children will have exciting lives ahead,” commented Pterano as he watched them.

“Hmm, … I wonder how Petrie would like it?” his sister pondered, glancing at her youngest child sitting in the middle of the nest.

“Give it a try, sister,” whispered Pterano.

Cerusa nodded and steadily approached her son.

“Petrie?”

Upon hearing the name, the boy glanced up at his mother nervously but with a shaky grin. For Cerusa, this meant one good sign …

“Well, he knows his name now,” she chuckled, “That’s a smart little one.”

“Indeed,” her brother agreed, smiling at his nephew.

“Petrie,” Cerusa spoke gently, “Would you like to ride on my back and find some breakfast with me?”

Petrie, being just a day old, couldn’t understand what she was saying, but he managed to respond … by frowning as if he wasn’t sure he wanted to try it.

“I promise I’ll be careful, my little one,” his mother assured him, “No harm will come to you as long as I’m around, … I promise.”

She opened out her hand and set it in front of him, and her son cautiously accepted the gesture. This allowed her to set him on her back, and she wrapped his arms around her neck.

“Hold on tight now, okay?” she spoke soothingly, “You don’t want to fall off.”

Petrie gulped as his mother took a few slow steps, and before long she made a run for it and jumped out of the nest with her son whimpering as he clung tightly to her neck. She spread her wings out and began flapping them to stop their fall, and she slowly made her way deep into the dry forest. All the while, Petrie quietly moaned and whimpered, shutting his eyes and refusing to open them. It became clear to Cerusa that he was not enjoying this in the slightest. She sighed in dismay as she pondered her options: either take him back to the nest where he felt he was safe or keep him aboard so he could get to know their small world around them. It was crucial that their children learned of what was around them in case danger should ever come. They would have to know where to hide from stalking predators or if there was ever a terrible sky fire storm.

“It’s okay, Petrie,” she tried reassuring him, “Everything’s fine.”

It was no use. Petrie kept quivering and shivering as he clung tightly to his mother’s neck. He wanted this flight to be over.

Cerusa sighed sadly and made a split-second decision she was sure would be regrettable …

She turned around and made her way back up to their nest, and she gently touched back down and pulled Petrie off her neck and into her arms. Her heart ached at the sight of his quivering beak, fearful tears streaming down his cheeks. A choked sigh escaped from her beak as she nuzzled him gently.

“There, there, Petrie. I’m sorry,” she whispered, her voice nearly broken.

“Is he alright?”

Cerusa nearly jumped, seeming to have forgotten for just a moment that her brother was still there.

“He didn’t take it very well, I’m afraid,” said Cerusa despondently.

Pterano was shocked. Was Petrie really that afraid of just about … everything? This was something beyond what he had seen in a newborn hatchling. Many children were ready to face the world the moment they were born, but Petrie seemed to be a completely different case.

“I have a feeling …” he started before he noticed Rantyl returning to the nest with the other children, several tree stars in his talons.

“Alright, kids. Breakfast is all yours!” he announced, and he dropped the tree stars into the nest before touching down.

The kids slid down his back and gathered around the tree stars to enjoy their first ever meal. Cerusa and Pterano smiled at the joyous sight, but once Rantyl noticed how shaky Petrie appeared to be, his good mood died down almost immediately.

“Is Petrie okay?” he asked worryingly.

“I tried to take him for a ride, but he freaked out so I brought him back before we could go searching for food,” Cerusa explained solemnly.

Rantyl sighed sadly and cautiously approached his frightened son.

“Aww, Petrie. Are you alright?” he asked gently.

The only response he got was a frown forming on his shaking beak with wet, shiny eyes. It broke Rantyl’s heart to see the little one like this.

Cerusa opened her beak, but before she could say a word, her mate picked up one of the tree stars he had collected and held it out in front of Petrie.

“Are you hungry, little one?” he said, trying to sound playful in an effort to brighten Petrie’s mood, “I have food. It’s delicious. I think you might like it.”

Petrie just stared at it like he didn’t know what to make of it. He couldn’t tell whether it was food or some sort of green menace out to get him.

Seeing how hesitant he was, Cerusa slowly opened Petrie’s beak, and Rantyl tore off a piece of the tree star and carefully brought it up to his mouth. Once they were sure it was in, Cerusa got him to close his beak again, and Petrie realized he had something in his mouth. It didn’t take him long to realize just what it was, and he didn’t know what to do.

Soon, though, his tongue felt rather ticklish from having the food gently brushing against it, and he let out a few giggles. His parents brightened at this. It seemed to give him a strange sense of enjoyment, but they knew they had done their job in getting him interested in their preferred green food.

“He likes it,” chuckled Rantyl.

“He certainly does,” agreed Cerusa.

“Aww, that’s a good boy!” giggled Rantyl.

Petrie laughed for a good couple of seconds before he began to sense the taste of the tree star. It was a taste to seem to soothe him. It was so delicious that he calmed down and sighed contently.

“Aww,” said Cerusa, kissing her son’s head, “Looks like green food will be the trick whenever we have to calm him down.”

“I still wonder … why he seems so afraid compared to the rest of them,” said Rantyl cluelessly.

“I’m not sure,” replied Cerusa, “It’s difficult to say.”

“Maybe we should give him some time, and perhaps he’ll be able to brave the world around him,” suggested Rantyl.

Cerusa gave her mate an unsure look, but she wasn’t willing to push this conversation any further, so she nodded without a word.

Once she saw the uncertain expression on Rantyl’s beak, Cerusa was immediately reminded of … that dreadful moment that was sure to come …

“I know, dear,” said Rantyl, seemingly able to read her thoughts, “Like I said, I must do this for the sake of our kids.”

“Didn’t you say you were going to leave at the break of dawn?” asked Pterano.

“Well, I couldn’t leave without saying goodbye to the little ones, now could I?” responded Rantyl, looking fondly at the hatchlings eating their food.

Cerusa frowned deeply as she set Petrie back down. Hearing … that word … seemed to trigger negative thoughts in her mind. Just the idea of Rantyl saying goodbye for who knew how long was just unbearable. She could only imagine herself longing for him to come back … or another Flyer bringing news of his demise. As much as she didn’t want to think about it, it was clear that this was a dangerous gamble he was taking just to ensure a better family future.

Donnie, Terra, Skybeak and Pearlwing all gathered around their father, smiling and appearing to be excited about something. Perhaps they were anticipating another ride on his back. It seemed that those four had had such a wonderful time, unlike their younger brother.

“Now, now, kids,” chuckled Rantyl, “Settle down a little. Daddy has to go. I’ll be back soon, okay?”

He gently hugged all his children, and he even gave Petrie a very gentle hug.

“You be a brave boy, Petrie … for me,” he said, “I love you, little buddy.”

To their surprise, Petrie didn’t flinch as his father gave him a tender kiss on the crown of his head.

“I think he’s starting to warm up to things around here.”

This brought a smile to Cerusa’s face before her mate placed his hands on her shoulders. The couple looked longingly at each other’s eyes, Cerusa’s shining as new tears formed and waited to come down.

“I promise, dear, … I’ll be back soon,” said Rantyl, “Soon we’ll have a happy future together. Soon our family will be in the safest place imaginable. Soon our children will have a lovely childhood.”

“What if …,” Cerusa began, but Rantyl kissed her tenderly before she was able to finish.

“Try not to think about that, darling,” he whispered, “Think about our little ones. Spend time with them. Five children will surely keep it out of your mind.”

Cerusa couldn’t think of a counterargument. He had made up his mind, and that was that. He was either going to bring them a happy future or let them all down. Nothing was going to stop him. He was extra-determined to succeed in this near-impossible goal.

“Remember, … I will never leave you alone in this world.”

“Please … be careful, dear,” Cerusa whispered weakly.

“I will,” answered Rantyl, and they hugged each other tightly, one of them wondering if this would be the last time they would get to do this … in a long time … or ever.

They kissed each other’s beaks and slowly pulled away, Cerusa in tears by the time they made eye contact again.

“I love you, Cerusa,” said Rantyl.

“I love you, too, Rantyl,” Cerusa replied in a broken voice.

Rantyl stepped away from his mate and approached Pterano, who was trying his best to maintain his composure after watching the emotional parting.

“Pterano, … I want you to take special care of our children for as long as I’m gone,” said Rantyl, “Help my dearly beloved be the best mother she can be.”

Pterano heaved out a big sigh as his chest nearly collapsed. Having such big responsibility that could last for who knew how long felt like a heavy burden weighing down on his shoulders. He loved the children just as much as their parents did, but could he keep them safe? Could he ensure they would be happy until their father returned … if he ever did? He, like his sister, didn’t want to think about the possibility of Rantyl never coming back. He was determined to give the children high spirits and give them the impression that everything was going to be alright.

“Promise me,” Rantyl added after a long silence had gone by, and Pterano nearly flinched as he realized he had been caught overthinking about the possibilities.

Shaken, he spoke in a meek voice …

“I swear … on my life … no harm will come to your children. I promise to be as much a fatherly figure I can be until your return.”

“Thank you,” said Rantyl, letting out a sigh of relief, “It means a lot to me. I know you’ll do well.”

Pterano gulped doubtfully, but he was not about to bring Rantyl’s spirits down, so he said nothing.

Rantyl stepped out of the nest and walked down a branch that stretched out towards the western horizon. Cerusa frantically followed him while Pterano huddled the children to keep them from leaving the safety of the nest.

The male seemed to notice his mate wanting to make one final attempt at persuading him to stay, as he turned around and gently held her by the shoulders, looking into her wet, pleading eyes.

“This is not goodbye, my dear,” he said kindly, “It’s just the beginning of the next step in life.”

Cerusa found no words to say as her mate kissed him one last time.

“Keep an eye on the horizon,” he finished with a smile … before he turned his back on her and jumped off the branch, flapping his wings to stay aloft and get into a higher position in the sky. His beloved mate could only watch and brush her eyes as he disappeared into the early morning horizon. She kept her eyes locked on him as he gradually turned into merely a small dot in the sky until he had completely vanished.

With Rantyl gone, Cerusa reluctantly turned away and rejoined her brother and children in the nest, her heart sunk as she prayed for his safe return. She eyed the five children and saw confused looks on their faces. Her heart melted. It was like they knew something didn’t seem right. Why would their father just … leave like that?

“It’s alright, children,” she spoke in a gentle voice, “Your father will be back soon.”

She was barely able to contain herself as all five hatchlings gathered around her with … curious or pleading … eyes.

Cerusa sighed and sat down, and she scooped all five of them onto her lap and cuddled each of them. If there was one thing she knew would put a smile on her face as long as her mate was gone, it was her beloved children. His blood lived in them just as much as hers did, and she would do her best to give them the care and love they needed. It was the one piece of him that was still around … for now.

“I love you, little ones,” she whispered, trying to sound happy for them, “You’re all so beautiful, aren’t you?”

The baby Flyers smiled and snuggled into her, even Petrie. Their mother smiled and brushed the last few tears from her eyes. Despite the absence of their father, it felt so happy to watch her kids giving lots of love to her. Suddenly, she knew just what she had to do to make the moment even happier …

She began to playfully wiggle her fingers and tickle each of them, and laughs escaped all five little beaks. She laughed along with them and kissed each of them from time to time. The last time she felt this happy was the day she and Rantyl became mates, and she knew this was an important moment, as it meant she was well on her way to becoming a much-loved mother. If Rantyl wanted to come back to see everyone happy, she would see to that and give the children as much happiness as she could give until they would not have to live in this Bright Circle-forsaken forest any longer …


Hours had passed since Rantyl made his departure. In that short space of time that had passed, Cerusa had been almost completely restless, slipping further into a period of endless yearning, praying for her mate’s safe return. She would try to spend as much time with her children as she could, but it wasn’t enough for it to escape her mind. She kept asking herself why it had to be now. It just wasn’t fair that he didn’t have the patience to wait until the children came of flying age. Maybe she could have convinced him to wait and they would all travel to the supposed Great Valley together just as all the families were waiting to do once their kids were able to fly. Rantyl just had to be making a foolish mistake. There was no way some “other place” could be out there. He was wasting time with this mission. It was just all wrong …

A sudden gentle pull on the tip of her wing just about startled her, and she frantically turned around to see if her brother was trying to get her attention, only to find him asleep with … four … children …

“Wait! There are supposed to be five …” she thought …

She looked down, … and she spotted Petrie … looking up at her with an expression appearing to be worrying as if he could tell just how she was feeling despite being a newborn.

“Petrie, … why aren’t you asleep?” asked Cerusa, but of course, Petrie couldn’t answer.

A heavy sigh escaped from Cerusa’s beak as she gently picked up her son and cuddled him.

“Aw, little Petrie,” she sighed.

The boy let out a tiny moan as if to let out his feelings of despair … about …

Cerusa’s heart fell at this, and she hugged her son tightly. How was someone who was just one day old able to understand another’s feelings? There just had to be something about Petrie that made him … different from the rest. First, he had displayed signs of anxiety that none of his siblings had, and now here he was picking up the sense that his mother was upset about something. Perhaps, Rantyl was right in saying that this little one had quite a lot of potential …

Rantyl …

Just the mere thought of him nearly drove Cerusa to tears. Somehow and someway, this remarkable little child seemed to remind her of the one she loved so much, … and yet Petrie appeared to have little resemblance to his father. He had the same shade of brown as Rantyl, but still he seemed to more closely resemble his mother in other areas. The silver lining was that he at least had Rantyl’s blood within him. Him and his siblings were like tiny pieces of him that she would get to keep. Once she remembered that, she thought of how she hoped she would get to keep them around for as long as possible. Yes, kids would grow up … eventually, … if they made it that far. There was no guarantee that any hatchling would make it to adulthood with predators stalking around. No wonder everyone wanted to seek out the Great Valley after hearing of its supposed legend. They all wanted more than ever to ensure their children would grow up in a peaceful world …

… just as Rantyl wanted …

It didn’t seem to matter just how much Cerusa tried to think of anything else. Everything led back to him. Rantyl sure seemed to be a dedicated father if he wanted nothing but the best for his beloved children, and it almost seemed as if her son could see that in her thoughts, even if he was too young to understand … just about anything.

“Oh, Petrie. I know, dear,” she sniffled, trying to keep her composure as she nuzzled her child, “I miss your Daddy, too.”

She gave him a gentle kiss on the head and nuzzled him with her beak to give him lots of love.

“Daddy will be back soon, Petrie,” she whispered, “Please don’t worry, my sweet little one.”

Petrie felt soothed by his mother’s lulling voice, and he settled down as he heard the calm sound of her breathing. Before long, he yawned and closed his eyes, falling asleep before his mother even realized it.

It didn’t take long for Cerusa to realize her son had fallen asleep, and she smiled and kissed the little Flyer lovingly.

“Goodnight, Petrie,” she whispered, “I love you, little one.”

Feeling a lot calmer than she had a moment ago, Cerusa lied down and held her youngest son tenderly in her wings, finally finding reason to settle down to sleep. Knowing she had children to look after was the one and only thing that could stop her from losing her composure nearly every hour of the day, … or worse, … her sanity. Her children were her new purpose in life. She knew now that motherhood was set to be her top priority for many Cold Times to come, … but was she ready to take up such a heavy task? Could she raise all five of her babies to become well-respected, high-functioning members of Flyer society? Could one even become a herd leader one day if her efforts paid off in the end? So much was at stake, and she knew she would have to spend probably the rest of her life making sure all the stakes of parenthood would play in her favor.

With exhaustion finally consuming her, Cerusa fell into a deep sleep with Petrie snuggling comfortably in her hold. She prayed that Rantyl would succeed in his mission and that not all would be in vain …


It was the morning after Rantyl had taken off on his mission. The skies seemed much grayer today than they had been the previous day when Petrie last saw his father. He remained confused as to why he … wasn’t there. Shouldn’t both a Mommy and a Daddy be around? Sure, Uncle Pterano was much like a “Daddy” to Petrie, but it just wasn’t the same.

Even after two days of “braving” those around him, he still didn’t have the courage to fly on anyone’s back. His siblings, on the other hand, loved having rides on their uncle’s back whenever he offered them. Soaring through the skies still felt very uncomfortable to Petrie. Something about not being on the ground seemed to frighten him. This caused concern for Cerusa and Pterano. They took it as a sign that Petrie could later become afraid to … learn how to …

No! It was impossible! Why would a Flyer be afraid to fly!? For their kind, such a thought was devastating. If any Flyer was afraid to do what they were known for, the long-term consequences would be disastrous for everyone. If Petrie never learned how to fly, it could potentially disgrace the entire family. Being able to fly was an important factor in social standing within a Flyer herd. Those who were unable to fly would face severe social rejection, or worse, even be left to die out in the open as disgraceful wastes of space.

No. Cerusa would not let such a tragic fate like that befall her youngest child if it ever came to be that way. She loved all her children, and she would make sure they all grew up to become high-functioning individuals. She was determined to help Petrie grow up to become the bravest of their family. Once her children came of age and the time came, she knew she would have to take Petrie’s future flying lectures very seriously lest he fail miserably and become a disgraced outcast. Rantyl would surely not want that to happen …

Petrie was slowly eating his breakfast, enjoying the taste of the tree stars his mother had picked out for him and his siblings. Although many Flyers preferred to eat fish, Cerusa’s family was one of the few who actually liked green food and fruits like sweet bubbles. As far as Cerusa was concerned, this habit went as far back as at least her grandparents’ generation.

“Cerusa?”

The little Flyer noticed a shadow looming over the corner of the nest, and he looked up and squirmed at the sight of two other Flyers he had never seen before. Just what were they doing here if they were no part of his family?

Petrie immediately stood up, abandoned what was left of his tree star and ran into a small pile of grass to hide himself from these … “menacing strangers.” He covered his head with his wings and whimpered silently.

“Is he okay?”

“I don’t think he’s ready for strangers just yet,” said the second voice whom Petrie recognized as his mother’s.

From the calm tone of her voice, Petrie sensed that his mother was perfectly alright being around these “unknown creatures.” He peeked his eyes through a tiny hole in the grass pile, keeping himself out of everyone’s sight.

“We have some news for you,” said one of the strangers, a male who was green in color, “I suppose, perhaps, that …”

He gestured to the other children, and Cerusa turned to her brother.

“Pterano, … take the kids … somewhere for a little while.”

“Yes, sister,” Pterano replied, and he motioned to the four hatchlings gathered around them, “Come along, children.”

Donnie, Terra, Skybeak and Pearlwing all followed their uncle out of the nest and climbed onto his back before he leaped off one of the branches and soared away. Petrie was worried about what would happen now that his mother was left all alone with two complete strangers whom he didn’t know. He only hoped they wouldn’t do anything … bad … to her.

“What is this news about?” asked Cerusa, somehow unaware of her son still hiding in the grass and eavesdropping on her.

“Word came from one of our messengers,” answered the green stranger, and he turned to his associate, a purple female, who hesitantly spoke up …

“Well, … last night, before the Bright Circle was down, … your mate, Rantyl … was … unsuspectedly attacked … by a Sailback Sharptooth.”

Cerusa gasped, and Petrie flinched at this, wondering why she was behaving like this despite nothing happening around them.

“What happened!? Is he okay!? Please tell me he wasn’t seriously harmed!” she shouted, unknowingly frightening her little boy.

Neither of the strangers spoke and looked … sadly … at her.

“He put up a good fight, … but unfortunately … once several others finally arrived to help him, … it was too late.”

Petrie watched as his mother’s beak grew wide open, and her eyes went wide as if she was surprised.

“Cerusa, … we’re so sorry … Rantyl has left for the Great Beyond.”

After a tense moment of silence, Cerusa let out an agonizing scream and collapsed to her knees, wailing like a lost hatchling.

Petrie gasped and covered his beak with his wings as he watched his mother’s sudden outburst. He cringed deeply as tears began to fall from his own eyes. Why was she behaving like this? What could cause someone like her to cry like that? He didn’t know her to be like this. He had gotten used to her being such a gentle, loving figure, and yet suddenly she was behaving completely different in a way that scared him tremendously. Something just had to be wrong.

Gulping with fear, the little baby emerged from his hiding spot and slowly approached his crying mother. He didn’t even make eye contact with the strangers. He wanted nothing more than to … give his mother a sense that he was here to help her feel better, his still young and developing mind completely oblivious to what had really just transpired …

…

“Cerusa, … we’re so sorry … Rantyl has left for the Great Beyond.”

Her heart just about stopped. She felt ready to have a heart attack right then and there. This could not be true. She had to be in a night terror that with others telling her lies to destroy her morale. There was no way in the Great Beyond that Rantyl was dead! He was a formidable Flyer. No Sharptooth could have possibly dragged him out of the sky just like that. This all had to be a lie!

Cerusa eyed each of the two deputies and saw those tearful expressions that ultimately consumed her mind into confirming that they were telling nothing but the truth …

… the truth …

… the truth that Rantyl was gone. Her mate whom had wanted nothing but the best for their children, the one she loved so much and whom loved her dearly in return, her one and only true love and the only one she could count on, … was gone. Gone forever. Her worst fears had come true. His devotion to the happiest family life possible had ultimately become his downfall. His much-determined mission to achieve a secure future for his family out of the love he had for her and their children … had been in vain. All he wanted was for the family to have a happy, peaceful place, but he would never get to see that happen. He would never see another day with his beloved mate or the beautiful children. The poor children would spend their entire lives with no father … and only her to care for and love them …

Cerusa could no longer contain her emotions, and she screamed loudly and fell to her knees in utter despair. Streams of tears poured from her eyes like waterfalls. She had descended into a living nightmare; a world without Rantyl, a world without love, a world with five children left wondering just what would become of them without their father being around to guide them through life. She felt she was entering a completely different world from the one she had been in up until that fateful morning when he left the nest for the final time, never to be seen again …

She looked up at the gray puffy-filled skies and lost all control of herself.

“Oh, Bright Circle!” she yelled in grief, “Oh, Bright Circle, why could you do this to me!? Why him!? Why Rantyl!? WHY!?”

Seeing no signs of the Bright Circle’s light trying to break through the sky puffies, she couldn’t stand to look at the heartless skies any longer. She turned away and suddenly saw Petrie standing right below her, and when she shook her head, brushed her eyes and got a good look at him, her heart sank deeply …

Petrie was just staring worryingly with wet, shiny eyes, tears streaming down his face. It was like he sensed something was wrong with her but didn’t know what to do to make her feel better. It was a sight that crushed his mother’s spirit, knowing he had no idea why she was truly feeling this way.

Suddenly, … she realized …

“Oh, Bright Circle!” she gasped loudly, making her son flinch, “What am I gonna tell my brother? What am I gonna tell my kids? When am I gonna tell my kids?”

Surely, at some point her children would be bound to find out that their father would be “missing” their whole lives, and they would grow up asking endless questions about what happened to him and why he was not there when he should have been.

It was at that moment that Cerusa suddenly realized that parenthood had just become a lot more difficult for her than it should have been. What would become of her family now? What awaited her children’s futures? Could they survive with just her and her brother around to care for them? Would they be able to understand … once the time was right?

“Oh, Petrie,” she sniffled, gently picking up her frightened son and hugging him lovingly, “I’m so sorry, my little one.”

Eventually, Petrie tearfully looked up at her with an expression that was so innocently asking her, “What’s wrong, Mama?” Cerusa frowned and nuzzled him. The least she could do was give love to her precious child even in a moment of such heavy grief and sorrow that she would more than likely never recover from. She could already feel the impact it was about to leave on her for the rest of her life and potentially affect her ability to care for her young.

“We’re very sorry to bring you this news, Cerusa,” said one of the deputies, “We’ll pray for the best for your family.”

Cerusa didn’t reply, keeping her eyes on her precious little boy. She didn’t even notice the deputies leaving until the silence became just a bit overwhelming. All she could think about now … was how this horrible, unneeded tragedy would change her hatchlings’ childhoods for the worse …

[Sovereign]

It is very easy to imagine that this truly is the day that changed so much for Petrie. It’s very sad to see Rantyl leave the scene so very early but at least we saw him get to know his children a bit better before going to the Great Beyond. Seeing him and his mate share their happiness about their children, only for one of them to die soon afterwards is heartbreaking to see indeed, especially considering just how much Petrie would suffer because of his father’s foolish mistake.

And indeed, hearing the news was beyond sickening and I couldn’t help but feel the full array of feelings that flashed through Cerusa’s heart in that moment. And indeed, Petrie’s silent understanding of the situation didn’t make it any easier and that entire sequence was as soul-wrenching as we can expect from you and as such, this chapter succeeded in every part it was supposed to succeed.

We talked about it before but I’d still like to reassert that Rantyl died too quickly in my view. Petrie’s father could have contributed a lot more to the story and I would have loved to see the family being whole a tiny bit longer. Yes, I know your reasons and I trust that you have great plans for this story but I was still left with a bit of an empty feeling in that regard.

[rhombus]

The prologue:

Now this truly is a wonderful beginning to the story that holds a lot of possibilities for what is to come.  Here we get to see the expectant parents, with the uncle-to-be assisting with watching the precious clutch.  Little by little we get to see the hatching of the little ones, and the first true exposure of their personalities.  Which leaves off with the protagonist for this story... a flyer literally scared of the world but that is forced to confront it, a perfect beginning for Petrie... and for this story.  I look forward to seeing where this goes from here.

Btw, should I add this to the Egg prompt? I know that technically you did not write this for the prompt, but this prologue actually does fit in with the requirements so it can be added to the masterlist if you wish.

Chapter 1:

Though expected (considering what we know about Petrie's family) the loss of his father at such a young age is a terribly blow, both for mother and son.  One small consolation for this sad fate is that he at least got to see his children before his fateful flight.  I can only see this tremendous loss having a huge impact on Petrie, as he is already afraid of the unknown world around him.  Using Cerusa’s perspective during this gut-wrenching scene was a good idea as it allows us to see the full extent of her grief and her fears for her children.  Sadly, it is all up to her at this point.  One now wonders if Petrie's fears of the outside world is more relatable for Cerusa, as she will need to be vigilant against all potential threats to her children.

[Anagnos]

As much as I would’ve liked to see Rantyl’s storyline continue, it was of paramount importance to seal off this part of the narrative with a quick but expected twist. At the very least, he felt the happiness of parenthood before his imminent fate. While we witnessed Petrie and his mother’s reaction to his demise, I’ll be rather curious to see how the rest will handle it. I suspect that Pterano already knows to some extent as to what happened, but the same can’t be said for the rest of the brood. Even for the brief duration, you still made me get attached to a character that was doomed from the start and it is rather sad to see him go. I wish you would have kept him in the story a while longer, but this was the best we got of the unfortunate flyer.

I couldn’t help but notice the little snippets in the chapter: the diminutive detail that their diet doesn’t solely consist of green food, but also fish. I wonder, did you mean to make this as an excerpt from Rhombus’ short story, Hidden Needs or was it completely random? There were pedantic resemblances between the flyer hatchlings and human offspring among the narrative; both can express their emotion by mere body language, and as a result, you can see them acting quite alike once Rantyl left the nest. I mentioned that I wish you would’ve had Rantyl play a bigger role in the story, but I was slightly left unsatisfied by his ultimate doom. Death by sharpteeth is not exactly a new way to off a character from a story, therefore it left the impression of being a little underwhelming.

But then again, who knows? There may yet be more into it than meets the eye. If so, it could be something to get enthusiastic about. For now, I will remain optimistic for future developments. We’re off to a rather good start. In light of this tragedy, the next chapter will no doubt be rather melancholy, not to mention the characters being in low spirits.

[OwlsCantRead]

I suppose dread is a feeling I felt for this chapter since pretty much from the start I knew that Rantyl would exit the story. Like the others I do feel like he had a hasty end, even though I knew he was doomed by canon since the sailbacks who got him were the antagonistic force in Secret Love, I didn't expect his reason for dying to be a reverse Bron situation. I still feel like he was finished off too quickly, as a single day is not enough to make an impact in the lives of his children in my view... though his absence certainly will.

I do feel sorry for Cerusa throughout this chapter, however. Her worry for Petrie and faux reassurance that her mate will be fine before the devastating news crushes her worldview was very palpable. Now she's in a position where no parent wants to find themselves in, and the conclusion and hanging ending highly hints that things will only get worse. The sense of uncertainty and despair leaves her and her children (especially Petrie) in peril.

[DiddyKT2]

CHAPTER 2

A PLACE IN THIS WORLD?

Two years had gone by since the children’s births … and Rantyl’s untimely demise. For two years, life for the family had been anything but happy. For two years, there was somehow a sense of emptiness for everyone, even the children. It was as if everyone knew what had happened, although that was clearly not the case.

No one had been hit harder, however, than Cerusa. For two years, she had been raising her children with an empty place in her heart left by the horrific murder of her beloved mate. It took her everything not to let her bitterness towards the cruelty of the world get the better of her as she raised her young with now just her brother to help her. Ever since that horrible tragedy, everything just felt … wrong …

For two years, the children were left clueless as to why Daddy was not around. Just what could have happened so soon after they hatched? They seemed to know that something didn’t seem right.

Even now, Cerusa wondered how she would ever tell her children what really happened. How could they live with the harsh reality that they had had no father pretty much throughout their entire lives? It didn’t seem fair to her that those adorable little ones would one day spend the rest of their lives having to sink in this awful reality. It had already stung her bad enough, but how would it affect her kids if she one day told them?

The poor children …

… the one and only thing that stopped Cerusa from wanting to just leave this cruel world behind her forever. Rantyl had wanted his children to grow up to become strong Flyers. Cerusa’s will to ensure that would happen was the only thing that left her with any determination left in this world. She knew she had to carry out her mate’s dying wish and see to it that the children all grew up to become well-respected members of Flyer society, … even Petrie …
Petrie had become the most worrying of the five. He still showed signs of timidity that none of the others possessed, and only rarely did he have the courage to ride on his mother’s back or Pterano’s. His fear of the sky had dwindled in the two years that had passed, but apparently not quite enough if he were to ever learn how to fly. This was what worried Cerusa more than anything. Even with all the love she could give him, Petrie was still behaving like a coward in comparison to his siblings. Every Flyer should be able to fly, but if Petrie was still afraid once the time finally came …

No. Cerusa would not think about that just yet. She knew it was still at least a few more cold times before the children would be able to start trying to fly. For now, all she could do was keep giving them lots of love to get one step closer to fulfilling her late mate’s desires.

“Mommy?” said Pearlwing one morning as Cerusa sat alone by the nest.

Cerusa smiled a little at her youngest daughter and patted her head.

“What is it, dear?” she asked.

“Um, … w-where is Daddy?” the girl asked innocently.

Cerusa’s chest fell and her smile instantly vanished. Nearly every day, most of her kids would come asking where their father was and when or if he would ever be coming back. Cerusa didn’t have the heart to completely destroy their spirits. It was too soon for them to know the truth. No matter how many times they asked, she thought it was best to feign hope by giving them a believable lie …

She hated lying, especially to her children. Even worse, she was lying to children that were only two cold times old. Kids that young didn’t deserve that, but they also didn’t deserve to bear the reality of a dead father at such a young age.

“Your father will be back … someday, I hope,” she said after a long silence had passed, hugging her daughter.

“I hope he comes back soon,” said Pearlwing.

“Me, too, dear,” replied Cerusa with a sad sigh before she decided to quickly change the subject, “Where are the others, Pearlwing?”

“I think they are playing with Orcrest’s kids,” the girl answered.

“Why don’t you run along and play with them for a while?” chuckled Cerusa, “I think they could sure use some more company.”

“Well, I was wondering if … Petrie would like to play?”

She turned over to her little brother, whom was sitting in the nest, staring off into space, seemingly thinking of nothing to do than just daydream.

Cerusa frowned as she eyed her youngest child. This was all Petrie seemed to do whenever he wasn’t eating. Unlike the other kids, Petrie had still not yet learned to talk, and he never played with anyone. Instead, he only preferred to stay in the nest with either his mother or uncle, remaining completely silent and shying away from anyone other than his own family.

“I’m not sure if Petrie would like to play right now,” sighed Cerusa.

“But he never plays with us!” complained Pearlwing, “Doesn’t he get bored?”

“I’m sure he does, … but he’s just too shy,” her mother replied, “Just give him a little more time, and I’m sure he’ll talk and play just like you and the other children.”

Pearlwing eyed her mother doubtfully.

“I guess,” she said, unable to think of anything else to say.

“Trust me, dear. Your brother will be alright,” assured Cerusa, “Run along now. The other kids must be waiting for you.”

“Okay, Mommy,” said a defeated Pearlwing, and she stared worryingly at her little brother one more time before climbing her way down the tree.

Petrie didn’t even turn to watch his sister leave. Instead, he kept staring off blankly. For two years now, he never seemed to find anything fun. All he ever wondered was where his Daddy was and why he seemed … “different” … from the rest of his family. Just the idea of speaking a single word felt so difficult. He felt he had no courage to speak, or maybe he was cursed to learn later than the rest of the kids. For a while now, he had wanted to ask his mother what had happened to his father but didn’t know how. His mother never seemed like a happy Flyer, and Uncle Pterano was always too busy looking after the others, even though he always made sure to give attention to Petrie as well. All the time, he just felt … empty and wondering if he had a place in this world or if it was too soon for him to know. Why did everything have to be so scary? Why did doing the simplest things have to be so hard? Why did Daddy have to … disappear? Every day, he mentally asked himself the same questions over and over again, and he felt like a poor, helpless child waiting for a day he could finally find a place in life.

Cerusa approached Petrie and sat down next to her lonely son, gently rubbing his back to get his attention. The little Flyer tensed and looked up into his mother’s loving eyes, and he gave her a sad frown.

“Petrie, … why are you always sitting here all alone? Don’t you ever get bored or feel left out?”

Petrie gulped and shrugged his shoulders. His mother sighed despondently. Although her little boy was by now understanding emotions and feelings, being shy and unable to talk seemed overwhelming. It was like he wished he could speak out his true feelings but learning to talk had been a nightmare.

“C’mere,” Cerusa said soothingly, gesturing for Petrie to come and sit on her lap, and Petrie obliged and allowed her to lovingly hug and nuzzle him.

Despite this, though, the boy didn’t smile. In fact, he rarely ever smiled. He just seemed to be a sad little one all the time. He seemed to understand that he had something wrong with him and wished he knew what it was. Cerusa sympathized and nuzzled her beloved son, giving him a kiss on his head crest, but even that couldn’t make him smile.

“Petrie, … what is the problem, my little one?” she asked him.

“Hmmmmm?” was all Petrie could say, too afraid to open his beak. Speaking just seemed impossible a task for him to muster the courage for.

“Oh, Petrie,” sighed Cerusa, “You know you will have to talk sooner or later. It’s one of the easiest things anyone could do.”

Petrie sunk his head, crestfallen as a single tear escape his eye.

“Now, now, Petrie. It’s okay to be shy now and then, but you must be brave … just like Daddy once told you,” said Cerusa, sniffling as she mentioned her lost love.

Petrie glanced at the skies to the west. Somehow, he could remember seeing his Daddy take off in that direction that day … and was never seen again.

“Mmmm, … uhhhh?” the boy muttered.

Cerusa had to stop herself from breaking down completely as her son hopelessly tried to mutter just how he felt about his father being gone his whole life.

“I know, Petrie,” she said in a broken voice, “I miss your Daddy, too.”

The two looked into each other’s shiny eyes. For one, it was a general feeling of helplessness and loneliness as he wondered if he had any sort of future in this world. For the other, it was all just emptiness and bitterness at the world her children were forced to live in.

Even if the odds were against them, Cerusa knew she had to do whatever it took to give Petrie as much of a happy life as he could have, no matter the costs. Even if he was timid and perhaps developmentally delayed, she was sure one day he could be a much happier Flyer.

“Is there anything you’d like to do, Petrie? I don’t want to see you sitting around and feeling bored. Being a kid is all about having fun,” said Cerusa.

To her heartbreak, Petrie sunk and shook his head.

“Would you like to spend some time alone with me?” she offered.

Petrie perked up at this suggestion, and after a moment of hesitation, he shyly nodded. This earned a smile from his mother, and she happily placed him on her back. She heard a whimper from him upon doing that. It seemed he was anticipating another “frightening” ride through the sky, which he still hated with a passion.

“Don’t worry, little one. I’m not gonna go flying. We’re gonna head down into the forest and walk around. You can’t stay in the nest forever, you know,” chuckled Cerusa.

Petrie gulped and closed his eyes while Cerusa walked to the edge of the nest and began to climb her way down the tree. It wasn’t until they were halfway down that Petrie stopped whimpering in fear and realized what she was really doing. This wasn’t flying; it was just going to be some harmless nature walk or something.

Once they were all the way down, Cerusa pulled Petrie off her back and placed him sitting on her left shoulder. She thought he would be better off this way so that he could get a better view at everything around them.

“Now then, little one,” chuckled Cerusa, “This won’t be scary or anything like that. Just hold on and you’ll be just fine.”

Petrie did as he was told and placed a wing behind his mother’s head while she made her way into the forest. He nervously looked around and soon found himself gazing with wonder at what little fruits and green food surrounded them. Even for a forest that had little food, it was still a sight to behold for anyone his age.

Cerusa was surprised to see that wondrous expression on her son’s face. She hadn’t seen anything like this from him since … that day. She giggled and playfully tickled his chest to get a laugh or two to escape from his beak. It was the one and only thing he seemed to enjoy when they were alone in the nest, and until now the only thing Cerusa knew could bring a smile to Petrie’s face.

“You’re surprised, I see,” she smiled, “I told you this world is filled with wonders!”

Petrie just laughed and nuzzled his mother’s cheek, and she laughed along with him and continued deeper into the forest where food wasn’t as scarce.

Before long, Cerusa walked next to a plant containing sweet bubbles, and Petrie’s eyes immediately grew wide in surprise, his mouth wide open with wonder. His mother noticed this and saw the purple fruits for herself, and she noticed her son seemed to have a curious interest in them.

“Hmm, sweet bubbles, huh?” pondered Cerusa, “Well, I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to try one.”

She looked around to see that no one was near, and once she felt assured that the coast was clear, she approached the plant and picked off a single sweet bubble.

“Here you go, dear,” she said, handing it to Petrie.

The little Flyer gazed with wonder at his surprise food and cautiously took a bite from it. His tongue immediately felt soothed by the wondrous taste. A smile crept its way onto his beak, the kind of smile Cerusa had not seen on his face in a long time. It was a smile that told her that he apparently had a new favorite food.

“I see you like it,” she chuckled, and Petrie nodded and nuzzled her cheek with his own.

“Well, Cerusa, what brings you to my sweet bubble plant?” said a voice, and Petrie immediately flinched and shivered nervously.

Cerusa noticed a purple Flyer whom she recognized as Veron. The two had always been on good terms, although he wasn’t afraid to chase off any who disturbed his precious sweet bubble plants.

“My apologies, Veron,” she greeted him, “My son was curious and wanted to try one for himself.”

“Well now, … one of your little ones, eh?” said Veron, curiously glancing at Petrie.

“Apparently, he likes them,” chuckled Cerusa.

“I noticed,” agreed Veron, “Say, little one, what’s your name?”

Petrie gulped and refused to make eye contact with him.

“He’s still not talking yet, and if I may, he’s kind of a nervous one,” said Cerusa, caressing her son, “His name’s Petrie, by the way.”

“Ah, Petrie. Good name,” said Veron thoughtfully.

“Sorry to disturb you like that, Veron,” said Cerusa, “I had to get this little guy out of the nest one way or another.”

“Don’t mind me, Cerusa. Carry on and make sure he has a good time,” said Veron, “Bring him back here again some time.”

“I will,” smiled Cerusa, and she turned away, “See you later, Veron.”

“Same to you,” replied Veron.

As Cerusa walked off, Petrie stopped whimpering but still frantically looked around to see if anymore “strangers” were near.

“Don’t worry, Petrie,” said Cerusa, “Veron’s a very good Flyer. All he does is look after his sweet bubbles.”

Petrie looked as if he didn’t feel so sure, but being mute, he couldn’t find a way to argue with that.

“Come on, dear. Hmm, I wonder …” she pondered as she heard what sounded like … children playing around.

Petrie let out one faint whimper upon hearing that sound, and Cerusa gently nuzzled him.

“Aw, Petrie, you don’t have to be afraid of everyone,” she chuckled humorously.

Petrie glanced at his mother with a confused expression, and she laughed at what he was apparently trying to say.

“You silly little one,” she laughed, “Let’s see if anyone’s around.”

Petrie frantically shook his head, but Cerusa was determined to see to it that her little one wouldn’t be alone forever. He needed a friend sooner or later.

She brushed a large leaf aside and noticed a beautiful, small open space with several children playing. She managed to recognize all four of her other children, Pterano and Orcrest, a neighbor of their family with three children of his own whom all got along well with her kids.

Petrie immediately wrapped his arms around his mother’s neck and softly whimpered as his mother rubbed his back.

“There, there, Petrie,” she whispered, “They’re not gonna hurt you. They’re little just like you.”

The boy shook his head as his way of replying, “I don’t believe you!”

Instead of turning away as he would have wished, Cerusa sat down and placed Petrie on her lap, hugging him lovingly.

“Let’s at least watch what they’re up to,” she suggested.

Petrie shook his head, but his nonverbal gesture fell on blind eyes as his mother watched her other children playing what appeared to be a game of “Toss the Seed.”

“That looks like a lot of fun. I wonder why I never bothered to watch them before?” Cerusa pondered to herself.

Petrie stopped squirming only after he realized that they seemed to have their attention completely on something other than him, and he watched with curiosity as his siblings and the other kids seemed to be tossing a pointy seed around the place over and over again. He had never seen anything like it, and it seemed to look like fun judging from how happy and excited everyone looked.

Eventually, Pterano noticed them and gave a small smile. His sister smiled back while Petrie just sighed and kept watching their little game. He simply felt it was best to just stay where he was rather than get involved himself.

While Orcrest kept the kids’ attention away from them, Pterano approached his sister and nephew.

“What brings you here, little one?” he asked Petrie.

“I just needed to get him out of the nest one way or another,” answered Cerusa.

“Is he doing okay?” asked Pterano.

“Well, I found out he has a soft spot for sweet bubbles,” his sister chuckled.

Pterano looked down in surprise at his nephew, who simply blushed nervously.

“Sweet bubbles? That’s … really not very common for Flyers to eat those.”

“We bumped into Veron and he didn’t mind sharing one with him,” said Cerusa, leaving her brother quite stunned, “So, how are the other kids?”

“They’re having a good time,” replied Pterano, and he eyed his nephew, “Someday I think you ought to try the game yourself.”

Petrie gulped upon hearing that, and his mother swiftly replied, “Maybe when he’s brave enough.”

The two siblings giggled at the younger Flyer, and Pterano patted his nephew’s head.

“Be brave, little one,” he said with a wink, and he went back to watching the children.

As Petrie’s eyes turned away from Pterano, he shifted back over to the kids and noticed that Pearlwing was suddenly looking at him, and he gulped with dread, fearing he was about to get noticed.

Sure enough, his sister excitedly approached them with an eager smile on her beak, and he knew that any moment now he was going to get dragged into something against his own will.

“Hi, Petrie!” said Pearlwing, “Did you finally decide to play with us!?”

This got the others’ attention, and Petrie cringed, shut his eyes and turned his head away.

“Now, now, Pearlwing, I only wanted to get him out of the nest for just a few minutes. I was actually starting to enjoy watching what you were playing,” chuckled Cerusa.

“Besides, Pearlwing, Petrie can’t talk, so surely that worthless baby doesn’t know how to play,” said Donnie coldly.

“Now, Donnie, be nice to your brother,” said Pterano sternly.

Donnie didn’t speak another word and pulled his sister away from their mother and little brother. Pearlwing frowned at Petrie with a sorrowful expression before she turned away.

Cerusa looked down and noticed how hurt Petrie appeared to look from his brother’s rude remark. Even though he hated the idea of doing anything with anyone, being looked at like he was just some worthless nobody seemed to hurt him. It broke Cerusa’s heart knowing that her son was so afraid of learning how to talk and yet felt humiliated because of such consequences of learning late. It was like he had no control of it and was paying the price for it.

“I guess I should take you back to the nest, Petrie,” said Cerusa as she noticed Petrie’s eyes beginning to look shiny, an indication that he was about to break into tears.

Wasting no time, the older Flyer stood up and carried her heartbroken son on her shoulder again. He began to quietly sob as they left the area and went back into the deeper part of the forest. She didn’t stop anywhere to enjoy any of the sights she thought he might like, and instead just kept walking until they were back at the tree where their nest was situated.

She brushed a single tear away from her own eye before she placed Petrie on her back and climbed her way back up. It crushed her heart seeing that even the simplest nature walk ended up crushing Petrie’s spirits about himself … and about … anything. If even that couldn’t make him happy, then it seemed nothing ever would. Cerusa didn’t want Petrie to be sad forever, but no matter how hard she tried, nothing could ever bring any happiness to her youngest child.

Once they were back in their nest, Cerusa gently brought Petrie back down, and he immediately ran to the other side of the nest, lied down on a tree star and covered his head with it, weeping dreadfully and soaking the only thing he could find as a coping mechanism to hide his sorrow.

Cerusa sat down and caressed her son. He tried to resist but eventually gave in and allowed her to pick him up and hug him tightly, kissing him all over to give him as much love as possible.

“Please don’t cry, my little Petrie,” she sniffled as she tried her best to not break down herself, “Mommy’s right here. Nobody’s going to tease you as long as I’m here.”

Petrie grabbed one of the pointy ends of his tree star and rubbed his soaked beak with it and a vain effort to dry his face, and he looked up at his mother with tears streaming like waterfalls. The sight of it made her heart sink with guilt. Somehow, she felt responsible for how their quiet little walk ended so badly. If only she had decided not to watch that game the other kids were playing …

“Mmmmm … mmmm … mmm … Mom-my?” cried Petrie.

Cerusa gasped once she heard that. It couldn’t be true. Did she really just see what she thought she saw? Did she hear what she thought she heard?

“D-did you … really just say something, Petrie?” she gasped.

At that moment, Petrie realized what had just happened, and his eyes went wide with shock as he saw his mother’s surprised expression. Had he … finally spoken his first word? After all this time, had he somehow gained the courage to speak even a single word at all? How could it be? How could pain give him encouragement? To him, it made no sense. It was like the pain from that insult seemed to empower him just to do that one simple thing.

“I’m … so ecstatic, Petrie,” Cerusa cried happily, “My little boy finally spoke his first word.”

Petrie blushed in embarrassment upon hearing this, but he had no time to react before his mother just about crushed him in a tight hug.

“Oh, Petrie, … I’m so proud of you, dear,” Cerusa whispered into her son’s ear, and as she eased her hug a little so she could look at his face again, she saw something she never thought she would see again …

A tearful smile.

Petrie was sobbing just as heavily as before, but now it was happiness that had consumed him instead of pain and sadness. Even if it embarrassed him that he had actually spoken even a single word, even he had to admit it in his mind that he was quite happy for himself, too, … and for his mother. Making her proud was something that brightened him, and he was overjoyed to have finally done something so simple that made such a positive impact on her.

What Petrie did next greatly surprised his mother …

He joyously climbed up to her shoulder and kissed her on the cheek. Cerusa laughed at this behavior and let a few happy tears escape her eyes.

“Aww, Petrie!” she giggled, “You are such an adorable one!”

Petrie blushed sheepishly, and his mother playfully grabbed him and placed him on her lap before she began tickling him all over, making him laugh uncontrollably. After a minute, she stopped to let him catch his breath, and she kissed him on the crown of his head.

“I love you, my little Petrie,” she said soothingly.

Petrie smiled in response, and he placed his tear-soaked tree star on his head, squirmed out of his mother’s hold and began running around the nest, cheekily laughing all the way. His mother playfully followed him around and caught him in just a few moments since it was just about impossible for a two-year old to run very fast.

Just as Cerusa pulled Petrie back onto her lap and began tickling him again, she heard a faint hissing sound, and soon the laughing stopped. She knew just what was happening …

She looked down and was shocked to find several leaves suddenly soaked with a bad stench hanging in the air.

Petrie blushed profusely and gulped nervously, apparently fearing his mother’s reaction even if it was normal for kids his age to wet the nest even while awake in broad daylight.

“Oh, dear. I think we got a little carried away with our fun,” said Cerusa humorously, and she quickly picked up the ruined leaves, “I’ll be right back, okay? Stay right here.”

Petrie nervously nodded, and his mother made her way down. Suddenly, he realized he was all alone in the nest, … something that had never happened before. The mere thought of it paralyzed him. It was one thing for things to be quiet and peaceful, but for there to be no living thing around other than himself, it creeped him out.

The tense silence didn’t last long, though. The sight of his mother returning to the nest forced a sigh of relief from Petrie, knowing that his loving, protecting mother was back to keep him company. He smiled as her feet touched back down and she placed new leaves where the old, wet ones used to be.

“Good as new,” she said, and she gently picked up Petrie and lovingly pulled him in, “Now then, try taking it easy when we play the tickling game, little Petrie.”

Petrie blushed profusely, and Cerusa laughed at his reaction.

“Oh, you silly little Petrie!” she giggled, “Come here, ya!”

Before Petrie had time to think of a response, he found himself trapped in a tight hug while his feet became the victim of tickling once again. The little Flyer laughed helplessly, wishing the playful torture would stop, but it seemed speaking his first word had made his mother so happy that she didn’t want to stop playing with him. He knew, though, that she was just trying to be the most loving mother around.

“Cerusa?”

Cerusa turned and saw her brother at the other end of the nest, seemingly appearing from out of nowhere.

“Oh, … Pterano,” she greeted him awkwardly, “I didn’t hear you arrive.”

“I just came to see if Petrie’s alright,” replied Pterano, “He seemed … glum when you left.”

“Well, he’s doing okay now,” chuckled Cerusa, playfully tickling her little boy, “How are the rest of the kids?”

“They’re in Orcrest’s capable wings,” answered Pterano.

Cerusa nodded in acceptance, and she quickly remembered …

“Oh, I’ve got some news.”

Pterano eagerly approached his sister when he heard those words.

“What news?”

Cerusa gave her brother a beaming smile.

“Petrie spoke his first word.”

Pterano gasped in shock, “What?”

“My little boy finally said his first word!” said Cerusa excitedly, “The sweet little guy!”

Pterano was utterly speechless. He had been sure Petrie was going to talk at some point but not anytime soon, so to hear that he had spoken his first word this soon was quite surprising.

“What did he say?”

“He said, ‘Mommy’,” answered Cerusa with a smile.

A smile crept its way onto Pterano’s beak as he sat next to his sister and looked at his giggling nephew.

“So, I see you know who Mummy is, Petrie,” he said, “Do you know who I am?”

Cerusa smirked at her brother, obviously not expecting any answer from Petrie …

“Un-u-uncle Pt-Pterano,” stuttered Petrie sheepishly.

Huge gasps escaped Cerusa and Pterano’s beaks. They stared at the little Flyer with amazement, and in response he blushed and grinned nervously as if he knew what kind of reaction he was about to receive.

“Petrie, I’m heart warmed!” beamed Pterano, “Come here, you smart, little one.”

Cerusa used her beak to gently push Petrie towards his uncle, and the young boy waddled his way over and climbed onto his lap with a cute smile on his little beak.

“Aw, Petrie,” Pterano spoke warmly to his nephew, “You’ll grow one day to be a very smart Flyer.”

Petrie nervously grinned at those words and blushed while Cerusa had to stop herself from tearing up again.

“Your mother and I will be there every step of the way. We promise,” Pterano added, and he turned to his sister, “Won’t we, dear sister?”

“We will,” nodded Cerusa hesitantly, feeling unsure if her brother would be right about his predictions. Petrie may have been smart, especially at his age, but something about him still worried her, and it wasn’t just about his potential fear of the skies …

She watched as Petrie climbed up to his uncle’s shoulders and tried nuzzling him, and Pterano hugged the boy and tickled him lightly, earning a few laughs from the little one.

“Ah, beloved nephew,” smiled Pterano.

Watching the two play together brought a big smile to Cerusa’s beak. Pterano had tried his best to give equal attention to all five children, but for Petrie it had always been easier said than done. The two didn’t seem to be as close as it looked from afar, but after watching this moment, Cerusa could confirm that Pterano had a very soft spot for his youngest nephew just as soft as hers was. He seemed just like a Daddy to Petrie …

Just like the Daddy he never got to have …

In Cerusa’s heart, Pterano could never replace Rantyl as their father, and he had been very ill-prepared to look after the children when everything happened all at once, but it seemed the lessons she had taught her were paying off, and perhaps the children could still experience having a father figure in their lives, … until they would eventually have to learn the truth …

Cerusa shrugged off her negative thoughts and playfully poked Petrie just like Pterano was doing. Receiving playful tickles from both mother and uncle brought very happy laughs from Petrie. For the first time in his life, he seemed to be enjoying something that involved playing with family. It was just him and his two most beloved figures by his side. The moment was perfect. Nothing could be better than this. There could be nothing happier than a moment like this …

They only hoped they would be able to do more to keep Petrie as happy as he could be …

This chapter was a consistent nightmare to write since it was perhaps the trickiest portion of the story line for me to establish. Everything after this, however, I have mentally planned out better, so hopefully we won't have any more delays nearly as long as this one was. I apologize for taking over a month to write this chapter even after everything our community went through in the last few weeks.

This chapter was merely meant to show Petrie's early struggles and establish his loving relationship with his mother and uncle. Everything after this, I'm sorry to say, will not be filled with so much happiness. The series of unfortunate events has only just begun, and not everything will work out in the end.

[rhombus]

This was quite the lovely addition to this growing story.  In this chapter we get to see that the timidity that Petrie has had from his hatching days is persisting into his second year.  Whether due to timidity or due to something else, he has noticeably remained functionally mute even while his sibling have begun to speak.  It was quite heartening to see how Mama Flyer and Pterano do their best to raise the partially-orphaned family.  Despite her own despair at the loss of her mate and a lingering thought to simply leave her life behind... the children keep her grounded in her duties.  Likewise, as her patience with Petrie shows clearly, she is clearly a mother with a heart of gold.

Now that Petrie has begun to speak, no doubt the push for him to learn how to fly will become even more pressing.  I do look forward to seeing how Petrie and the family adapts as the time approaches for the cataclysm that left Petrie alone in the first film.

[Anagnos]

For a short chapter this was undeniably one of my favorite ones thus far. While the sense of distress has carried over to the subsequent part, you can clearly see that despite the hardship of raising your children in a dangerous environment without your significant other, Cerusa is doing the best she can for her children in these difficult times. Especially for her youngest child. Even if the growing uncertainty of Petrie’s chances in life seem low, the special mother-son quality time end up being an important factor in shaping up Petrie’s future and even timid Petrie can’t help but crack a smile on the way.

Despite his status as the runt of the litter, he is starting to slowly become the flyer we know by finally having learned to let some of his fear go by speaking the very first words to two people he loves the most and the loving sensation is returned by Cerusa and Pterano. It’s sad to think that Pterano’s promise to always be there for his nephew will have to be broken in the near-future. It doesn’t take a lot to figure out the reason for Petrie’s almost fanatical fixation to be loved and cared for by the two that he’s most attached to, while being on an on-off relationship with his siblings.

It was quite heartwarming and sad to see Cerusa starting to consider Pterano as a substitute father figure for Petrie and the rest. You can see that she’s not entirely content with the idea, but is glad to see that Petrie has someone to look up to. While it is true that no one can truly replace Rantyl in the family, Pterano has more or less taken over the place as the young ones father. It will be interesting to see how the children react to Rantyl’s untimely demise and I expect their reactions to be quite divergent. They did not know their father for long and likely feel more attachment to Pterano as a result.

[OwlsCantRead]

Rantyl's disappearance clearly still looms over the family, with it most apparent by Cerusa struggling to cope in the aftermath with her hatchlings, and here I find myself relating to Pearlwing and the lie by omission that she has been told. Cerusa is indirectly still struggling to accept it, and with her children left none the wiser she can continue to live that lie she spun for herself.

Anyway, I really like how mute Petrie conveys his feelings through his body language and facial expressions. It really sells his anxiety and jitteryness, and only makes his first words to Cerusa and Pterano after Donnie lambasts him for his silence all the more sweeter. Nevertheless, I do feel that the mood has been very uplifting compared to the last chapter, but I'm prepared for another mood swerve soon…

[DiddyKT2]

CHAPTER 3

CURSED CHILD?

Life for the family was still rather sour even after things "seemed" to improve in the year that followed after Petrie finally spoke. Things still seemed far from happy and many factors were still troubling.

Cerusa was still the sad, broken-hearted Flyer she had been since Rantyl was taken from the world so coldly. Pterano was starting to behave a little … oddly in recent Night Circle cycles whenever the children were not around. He seemed to have strange thoughts that his sister could not comprehend or simply thought were utterly ridiculous. Nevertheless, he remained a good father figure to the children.

The now three-year old children were having mixed lives between them. Donnie was beginning to pick on Petrie from time to time, and Terra joined in almost whenever she could, while Skybeak and Pearlwing just tried their best to live normal childhoods.

Petrie, however, was having the worst childhood …

After he had spoken his first word, he seldom spoke, sometimes not even once a day, but he was brave enough to speak to his mother and uncle whenever his brothers and sisters were not present, albeit only with a few words and not with complete sentences. He began to feel a little braver about riding on his mother and uncle's backs, but it was quite clear that he was still showing signs of being afraid of flying himself once the time would eventually come for his much-dreaded flying lessons. He was also wetting the nest very frequently; just about every night, much to the chagrin of his siblings. Cerusa and Pterano simply thought it was normal considering he was only three, but this theory fizzled out when it became clear that none of the other children EVER wet the nest. Thus, it seemed to be another sign of something that … wasn't right … about the poor little Flyer.

Worst of all, some bad blood had apparently been boiling between Petrie and all his siblings, and it was for all the wrong reasons, … for something Petrie seemed to have no control over …

It all started one morning while the whole family of seven were having breakfast in their nest, and it was during that very breakfast that marked the beginning of a period of nothing but misery, pain and suffering from bullying, humiliation, injustice and perhaps a horrible future, not just for Petrie, but for the entire family …

"I suppose you kids plan to spend the day with Orcrest's kids," said Cerusa to her four older children as they ate their breakfast.

"Yes," they answered.

"Well, I hope you all have fun today," their mother smiled, although her smile, as it always did, didn't seem to be the happiest.

"Aren't you going to come with us, Mommy?" asked Skybeak.

Cerusa sighed sadly as she eyed her middle son.

"I'm sorry, Skybeak, but I have to stay here and look after Petrie. Besides, your brother never seems to want to get out of the nest for even a little while."

"But why does Petrie never come out?" asked Pearlwing.

Cerusa sighed and turned to her youngest child, who appeared to be quivering a little from embarrassment after he had become the subject of a conversation he thought was turning dreadful.

"Kids, I think you should let Petrie be," she said sadly, "He's just very shy, and I don't think he wants to be bothered by a question he doesn't want to answer."

She exchanged a sympathetic look with Petrie, and he quivered slightly before he unexpectedly answered her while shaking his head …

"Me no know."

The sounds of the family nibbling on their tree stars immediately stopped. Everyone was completely silent and still, their eyes all locked on Petrie, their beaks open as if they were frightened by what there were looking at. Petrie noticed the looks on everyone's faces and blushed profusely, wondering why everyone was giving him these looks of horror as if he had just terrified them just by speaking a few words.

"W-w-what?" he stuttered nervously, his cheeks turning redder with each second that passed and the silence only making it feel tenser.

"What did he just say?" gasped Donnie.

"No one ever says it that way," said Terra.

"Isn't it supposed to be 'I don't know'?" asked Pearlwing.

"Uh, duh. That's how everyone else says it," answered Skybeak.

Cerusa just stared at Petrie, extremely perplexed by what she had just heard. He couldn't have just misspoken a sentence. This could not be happening.

Petrie looked up at his mother, clueless as to why everyone had reacted the way they did.

"W-what?" he complained, "M-me no can help it."

Cerusa looked at him, appearing more horrified by the second, and she glanced at her brother, who looked equally as shocked.

Donnie and Terra, however, had started laughing at Petrie's terrible speech pattern.

"What are you, some kind of baby?" sneered Donnie.

"I wonder if something's gotten into his head," snickered Terra, "First, he wets the nest every day and now he's talking like a baby. How ridiculous!"

"I can't wait to see how the others will react to this!" laughed Donnie.

Petrie felt his chest aching as he listened to those heartless remarks, and he felt his eyes welling up. It made no sense that he was being looked at as some kind of disgusting freak just because of his … "awful speech pattern." Somehow, he felt as if he couldn't help it, and here he was being laughed at AGAIN for something he AGAIN had no control over. Now he was really beginning to feel like a cursed Flyer.

"Ahem!" Cerusa suddenly shouted, and that instantly silenced the children, "Okay, kids. That's enough laughing at your brother. I want you to finish your breakfast and run along, and don't even think about mentioning this to anyone. Do I make myself clear?"

"Y-yes, Mommy," Pearlwing answered hesitantly.

"Good," said Cerusa, and she turned to her brother, "Meet me back here later before the Bright Circle is down, Pterano."

"I will," Pterano promptly nodded, and the kids soon finished their breakfast.

"Run along now, kids. I'm going to talk to Petrie alone, and remember, absolutely no mention of this whatsoever, or you will be punished," said Cerusa as the kids climbed onto Pterano's back.

The kids said nothing as their uncle jumped and swooped his way down and into the forest, and Cerusa sat down and pulled Petrie onto her lap. The little Flyer flinched at this. He was sure she had something rather severe to say about what he had just done.

"Petrie?" he heard her say in a rather … calm, gentle voice.

Petrie looked up to find, to his surprise, a genuinely concerned expression on his mother's face.

"Why are you talking like that?" she asked him, "That's not the way the rest of us talk."

Petrie shook his head, having no clue how to answer.

"What is the problem, my little one?" asked Cerusa.

"Me no know, Momma," said Petrie.

"Petrie?" said Cerusa with a small gasp, shocked that he was still speaking very awkwardly.

"Me so sorry!" he cried as tears began to fall from his eyes, "Me no can help it! Why everyone think it wrong?"

"Because it is wrong, Petrie," replied Cerusa.

Petrie stared at her; his heart crushed after hearing that reply, the tears suddenly falling in torrents. Cerusa knew immediately that she had hurt his feelings. It seemed he was being completely honest; it was something he couldn't help for some reason.

"B-b-b-bu-but!?"

"Oh, Petrie. I'm sorry," Cerusa apologized, hugging her son, "I didn't mean to hurt your feelings like that."

"Why it wrong, Mama? Why me brothers and sisters think me such a baby?"

"Aww, Petrie," sniffled Cerusa sympathetically, "I know this can be a problem for some children, but I'm sure that soon you'll start speaking correctly."

"How?" moaned a completely downcast Petrie.

"I'll help you," Cerusa answered.

"But what if me no can get it right?" lamented Petrie.

"We'll keep practicing together until you do," said Cerusa, winking at him and kissing him on the head, "I promise … I'll do everything I can to help you become a better Flyer."

Petrie was still completely doubtful, but he said nothing more. He didn't want to upset his mother even if he thought nothing could be done to help him.

"Why don't you and I practice right now?" offered Cerusa.

Petrie gulped with dread but shyly nodded, "Um, … okay."

Cerusa gently smiled at her little boy, hopeful that her lessons could improve his speech at the very least …


The lessons were a complete disaster …

Despite Cerusa's best efforts, Petrie repeatedly got all their sentences wrong and kept mixing up words so badly that it sounded like he was making no sense …

Sometimes, he would seem to start off well by starting sentences with "I" or "My," only to then forget the correct word and accidentally replace it with "Me" after trying to repeat them as a memory test, something that crushed his mother's heart. He continuously kept forgetting certain words in just about all his sentences, resulting in terribly scrambled speech.

He continuously got frustrated with himself, and at one point tried to harm himself with a small stick from the nest but was stopped by his mother. After numerous attempts with no success whatsoever, he buried himself with big tree stars and broke down in tears.

Cerusa's heart sank as she watched her youngest son fall into hopeless despair. She felt a chill run up her spine as memories came back to her …

… bad ones …

She couldn't help but cringe at the thought of her little boy suffering from … this. It seemed unbearable. Just how could this have befallen Petrie? To her, it made no sense …

Setting her thoughts aside, Cerusa slowly picked up the tree stars and set them aside so she could lift Petrie onto her lap. The little Flyer tried in vain to squirm his way out as she trapped him in a hug against his will.

"Petrie never get it right, Mama!" he cried, "Me stuck this way forever!"

"Ssh," whispered Cerusa, "Settle down, Petrie. This just needs a little more time."

"I no can do it, Mama!" sobbed Petrie, "Time not enough for me!"

"It will if you practice a little more," assured Cerusa.

"No!" lamented Petrie, "Me can't!"

Cerusa sighed and rubbed his head, but it did little to calm him down in the slightest.

"I'll tell you what. Why don't you and I go for a little walk to refresh your thoughts, okay?" she offered.

Petrie frantically shook his head. He didn't want anyone to see him … speaking like this. He knew it would embarrass him and that no one would ever let him hear the end of it.

Cerusa immediately deduced the reason for her son's refusal, but rather than giving in, she was determined to get him out of the nest one way or the other.

"No one has to see you the way you are, Petrie," she assured him, "If you don't want to speak to anyone, that's okay with me."

"B-b-bu-but!?" Petrie began to protest, but his mother placed him on her back before he could finish, and she climbed her way down the tree.

"Just be the quiet kid you were before you spoke your first word," chuckled Cerusa, earning a nervous gulp from her son.

"W-why me have to l-leave nest?" stammered Petrie.

"Well, because you need to see the outside world!" giggled Cerusa humorously, "You can't stay in the nest forever, ya silly goof!"

"Mom!" complained Petrie, giving her a glare.

"Besides, in a few cold times, we'll all have a journey to make, and you'll need to be ready for that," said Cerusa.

Petrie gulped in shock, "W-where?"

"Wait and see, little one," replied Cerusa with a wink.

A journey … in a few cold times?

To Petrie, this was news he hadn't expected. For all he knew, he was sure their nest would be their forever home, but the idea of some adventure to some faraway place was quite exciting yet dreadful at the same time. He still didn't feel comfortable about the skies and he certainly didn't want to be around strangers who would probably laugh at him for his speech problems.

Just a short distance down the path west of their nest, Cerusa spotted a gorgeous red flower and sat down next to it. She lifted Petrie off her back and onto her lap so he could see the flower for himself. He was instantly stunned by its beauty. The dim sunlight that shone right down on it seemed to make its appearance more sparkly. It was the most beautiful thing Petrie had seen for as long as he could remember.

"Wow," he gasped softly, "It … beautiful."

"Sometimes, I like to relax here and look at this flower," sighed Cerusa, "It helps take my mind off things. Helps me think of what's ahead rather than the past."

"You come here every day, Mama?" asked Petrie curiously.

Cerusa sighed heavily and caressed her son gently and lovingly.

"Nearly every day since your father left to go on his journey, little Petrie."

This brought a frown to Petrie's beak, just as his mother predicted it would.

"W-where … D-Daddy … want to go?" he asked nervously, hoping the question wouldn't provoke her.

To his surprise, he received a warm hug and kiss from her.

"I'll tell you one day when I'm ready to share with you," she said, her voice nearly broken as she tried to keep her emotions in.

Petrie sunk his head in defeat and slumped against her chest. Every day he had wanted to learn about his father, but his mother would never share anything with him regardless of how many times he asked her.

"Let me tell you something," he heard another voice that sounded rather far away, and he flinched and looked around to see if any strangers were lurking about.

"Don't be scared, Petrie," assured Cerusa, "It's probably just a few neighbors."

"One day soon we'll all be on our way to the Great Valley, and things will be much better for everyone," that same voice spoke.

"For everyone? Even those flat-headed Longnecks who think they know everything?" said another.

Cerusa immediately placed her hands on the sides of Petrie's head so he didn't have to hear any more of their words.

"Those foul-mouthed beaks," hissed Cerusa, and she waited until she could no longer hear them before she took her hands off her son's head, "I sure hope we don't have to listen to them once we find our new home."

"New home?" said a confused Petrie, "W-what wrong with home we have now?"

"Well, Petrie," sighed Cerusa, "This forest we live in … is not the safest place in the world."

"It … i-it n-not!?" gasped Petrie in horror.

"I suppose you're wondering why I told you we're going on our own journey soon," said Cerusa, "It's because some parts of this forest are crawling with terrible dangers, such as tar pits and other things, but most importantly, … Sharpteeth."

"S-Sh-Shar-Sharpteeth?" shivered Petrie.

"You have very good reason to believe they're frightening, Petrie. They're such vicious monsters who have been hunting us Flyers and many other kinds of dinosaurs for a very long time," said Cerusa. She made sure not to make any mention of Sharpbeaks and Sharptooth Flyers, knowing that would only worsen Petrie's fear of the sky.

Petrie felt his beak shaking with fear as a chill ran down his spine. He was happy to have never seen such a monster for himself, and he hoped he never had to.

"So now I suppose you're wondering just where we're going in a few cold times, Petrie," his mother continued, "Seeing as those other Flyers just mentioned it, have you ever heard of the stories of a place called the Great Valley?"

Petrie cluelessly shook his head.

"Well, legend has it that the Great Valley is one of the last and most peaceful places left in the world where there is food and water for everyone and with no Sharpteeth. Just imagine, Petrie. The safest home anyone could dream of, no shortage of food or water, and in such a beautiful valley. I know it must sound like a sleep story come true."

Petrie had his beak open in amazement. He could never have dreamed that such a place existed. It sounded like a living Great Beyond for him. It sounded like a fantasy that was so fascinating he wished everyone knew where it was so they could travel there … when he felt brave enough …

"Food … for … everyone?" he murmured.

Cerusa smiled warmly, "Everyone."

"Even, … others?" said Petrie nervously.

"Of course, little one," answered Cerusa.

"Why other Flyers think others … bad?" asked Petrie, curiosity getting the best of him after overhearing that strange conversation.

"Well, …" Cerusa began with a long sigh, "… there are many kinds of dinosaurs in the world, … but everyone always keeps to their own kind. The Longnecks, the Threehorns, the Swimmers, the Spiketails. We never do anything together."

Petrie was stunned. Just how could it be that no two kinds ever did anything together? From what he had seen in his short life, there appeared to be so many different kinds of plant-eating land-dwellers, … and yet no two kinds … ever interacted?

"Why?" he gasped.

"Well, … simply put, because we're different," Cerusa sighed sadly.

"What wrong with being different?" asked a clueless Petrie, "Why everyone hate each other for being different?"

"That's something I find very hard to answer, dear," replied Cerusa, "Everyone thinks they're superior and want to prove the other kinds wrong. It's the one thing wrong about this world we can't seem to fix. We can't put our differences aside and join together. No one would let that happen."

She paused as she noticed her son's beak quivering. Something about this conversation had obviously made him uncomfortable.

"What is it, Petrie?"

"If … m-me different because me no can speak right, … then … w-will everyone hate me?" he stuttered.

Cerusa wrapped her wings around Petrie and kissed him lovingly.

"The other Flyers won't hate you, Petrie," she assured him, "Once you've grown up to be a good Flyer, you'll have some good friends around."

"But what if everyone laugh at me and me want to be friends with someone different instead?" asked Petrie, "Maybe that no be wrong?"

"No one would take kindly to that, my dear," said Cerusa remorsefully, "I'm sorry."

"Then … no one be friends with Petrie?" sniffled a heartbroken Petrie.

"Petrie, … there are many children out there waiting to learn how to fly just like you, … and who knows? Maybe one of them could be just like you," suggested Cerusa in an attempt to bring a glimmer of hope to him.

Petrie didn't feel better after hearing that. As much as he wished his mother's words were true, he honestly doubted he'd be able to make any friends, especially if his … horrible secret … ever came to light, even if there was a chance there was another Flyer just like him who had the same problems. Surely, all the other kids would laugh and berate him, and he'd rather give up on trying to find a friend. Who would want to be friends with a frightened Flyer who couldn't speak correctly?

Seeing how this conversation wasn't making Petrie feel any better, Cerusa thought of only one thing that would take Petrie's mind off his pessimistic anguish. She picked him up and placed him on her back. Immediately, he sensed what she was about to do.

"Mm-mm-do we have t-to?" he stammered with fright.

"Well, we are Flyers, Petrie, and you'll have to get warmed up to the sky sooner or later," said Cerusa, and she gently lifted herself off the ground as Petrie frantically wrapped his arms around her neck to keep from falling off.

Once Cerusa was almost as high as the canopy, Petrie gulped with dread and wanted to close his eyes, but she had told him to keep his eyes open to get used to flight so that he'd be ready in the future to try for himself.

"Now, now, Petrie," said Cerusa, noticing her son's shivering, "A nice, gentle ride shouldn't be so bad."

Petrie gulped and simply stayed silent as he endured what always seemed to be like a fright to him. No matter how many rides he took, he just never seemed to get warmed up to being off the ground. It was just as bad as never warming up to strangers or anyone who wasn't within his own family. Inside, he wondered if that would ever change or if he would forever be a shy, cowardly Flyer who would always be afraid of everything.

He shakily looked around from time to time and didn't really take the time to admire the view of the forest from high above.

"I wish I knew why you're afraid of the sky, Petrie. There's nothing to be upset about," said Cerusa as she made a gentle turn to the right and began a smooth straight line towards their nest.

"M-me just … no like … be-being so high," stuttered Petrie.

"That will have to change soon, you know," said Cerusa, "We're not called 'Flyers' for nothing."

"Why me have to fly soon?" whimpered Petrie.

"Well, I did tell you our herd will be on their way once you're all old enough to fly. You'll need to warm up to it soon, dear," Cerusa reminded him.

Petrie gulped with dread. He didn't want to think about that right now since it was still a few cold times away, but the fact that it would inevitably happen lingered in his mind, and he just didn't feel ready for such a thing to happen.

"Have you heard?" they heard what sounded like a child down below, and the two looked down to find two young Flyers, both boys, having a conversation.

"About what?"

"About some boy who can't speak correctly?"

"Oh, I heard about that," the second child sneered, "What kind of stupid kid talks like that?"

"Babies as much as I know!" laughed the first child.

Petrie whimpered as he realized immediately that the conversation was about him. Cerusa groaned and glared at the two kids down below, who took no notice of her. She knew exactly what had happened …

One or more of her kids had disobeyed her. Someone had obviously spilled the secret of Petrie's bad speech and now some or maybe even everyone in their herd must have found out about it.

"Alright then," hissed Cerusa as she hovered above her nest and gently touched down, "Whoever spoke of it, I'll see do it that he or she be punished."

Petrie slid off his mother's back and grabbed a nearby tree star as he felt more tears ready to come down. His worst fear had already come true. All the other kids had already found out about his terrible secret and were laughing at him behind his back. He knew now that any chance of finding a friend was probably zero.

"Ssh. Don't cry, Petrie," he heard his mother's soothing voice whisper to him, and her wings enveloped him in another embrace, "I'll make sure the others stop laughing at you."

"What if it no work?" cried Petrie.

"I'll make sure it works," replied Cerusa, "I would never give up on any of my children … because I love you, dear."

Petrie didn't reply. He had run out of words to say, and all he could do was cry his heart out until they heard the arrival of their other family members … much earlier than usual.

Pterano and the other kids were immediately met with the sight of a crying Petrie and a furious glare on Cerusa's face, aimed directly at her children.

"Alright, kids! You have a lot of explaining to do!"

Judging from the severe tone of her voice, everyone immediately knew how this conversation was going to turn out …


It was to the surprise of no one that Cerusa deduced Donnie to be the culprit and Terra as his accomplice. Skybeak and Pearlwing had not spoken a single word about it, but their mother still held them responsible for not doing anything to stop their older siblings from spreading the word when they easily could have done so. In her eyes, all four kids were equally guilty of turning their youngest brother into the laughing matter amongst all the children of the Flyer herd.

It was also no surprise that all four kids were punished; for the next Night Circle cycle, Donnie and Terra were banned from leaving the nest, while Skybeak and Pearlwing were not allowed to play with the neighbors.

In the hours that followed, rather than take their anger out on their mother, Donnie and Terra instead decided to blame Petrie for their punishment just out of pure hatred for their youngest brother. Skybeak and Pearlwing simply refused to speak to Petrie despite receiving lighter punishments.

Unfortunately for Petrie, Donnie and Terra lashed out at him all through the evening until dinnertime, and even though Cerusa threatened to extend their punishment if they didn't shut their beaks, there was worse to come that very night at dinner …


Cerusa had gone to fetch some tree stars, and Pterano was continuously having to argue with Donnie and Terra in an effort to get them to quiet down about Petrie, such as reminding them of their mother's threat to extend their punishment. It did little to quiet down the two oldest children.

Skybeak and Pearlwing simply remained silent, not wanting any part of this dreadful conversation.

Petrie was staring off into space, watching the Bright Circle setting, trying to ignore Donnie and Terra's harsh words about him. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't drown them out but didn't have the courage to tell them to shut up, fearing they'd yell at him in return.

A sudden screech suddenly silenced everything as Cerusa returned with five tree stars, one for each of her children.

"That's enough, everyone!" she shouted sternly, "Let's all have dinner, and then everyone's going to sleep early! No arguments!"

Petrie, Skybeak and Pearlwing approached cautiously as their mother set the tree stars down, and as the youngest took his, he nervously watched Cerusa sigh and look away to calm herself down.

Suddenly, an instant later …

He felt something, or rather two things, grab each of his arms, and he was violently turned upside down as he dropped his tree star.

"HEY!" he screamed in horror, and he watched as two young Flyer arms grabbed his tree star from either end and ripped it in half.

He frantically looked around and made out Donnie and Terra as the ones holding him upside down … and stealing his dinner! Just what kind of kids could do such a heartless thing!? Why would someone want to turn him upside down, rob him of his dinner and force him to starve!?

They released their hold on his arms and suddenly grabbed his legs, and he could only watch in disbelief as they began eating his meal. Tears of desperation streamed from his eyes as he wailed loudly.

Even while upside down, he noticed his mother turning back to face him, and she gasped loudly.

"PUT PETRIE DOWN THIS INSTANT!" Pterano screamed on top of his lungs.

"Okay!" sneered Donnie, and he and Terra simply released their hold on their little brother.

Petrie landed headfirst against the pile of sticks, and pain shot through his head. His upside-down body turned and slammed frontside against the nest with a painful "THUD!"

"OW!" he screamed as he writhed in anguish and found it near impossible to get back up, … and felt a bad sensation in his chest and heard hissing …

Before long, he looked down and saw that he was uncontrollably wetting the spot he was lying on. He heard the sounds of Donnie and Terra laughing heartlessly at him, and he turned his head back and saw that even Skybeak and Pearlwing were trying not to laugh.

"Well, well, he's more of a baby than I ever thought he was!" mocked Terra.

"Are you kidding me!?" yelled Cerusa before screaming with rage, "ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?"

"We expected much better behavior than this!" seethed Pterano, "Are you completely mad!?"

"See if I care!" said Donnie rudely, "Babies are certainly not deserving of these tree stars anyway!"

"I wouldn't care if he starved to death!" added Terra.

It was only then that Cerusa and Pterano looked around their nest and saw that Petrie's dinner had vanished, and that Donnie and Terra's tree stars were only partially eaten. They glared at the two culprits with bloodshot eyes and blood red faces, their shaking beaks showing their teeth, their hands closed into fists.

Before any of the kids could register another thought, Cerusa punched Donnie in the face so hard that it knocked him down and bruised his beak, and Pterano did the same to Terra, leaving her with a bruise of her own. Pearlwing let out a scream of fright and Skybeak had to calm her down.

Petrie was especially terrified to watch this happen. He never thought his mother and uncle would actually get physical with his siblings even if they got this angry. To witness something like this felt like a living nightmare, even though they were defending him. The fright was so bad that he wet himself again and buried himself in a large tree star, not wanting to be visible to his raging family. He kept his face buried in his wings, not even bearing to watch what would happen next.

"You make your brother wet himself and you eat his dinner!?" growled Pterano.

"And you have no decency to even say you're sorry to him!?" added Cerusa in an equally furious tone.

Donnie and Terra had no response to give. Their rightfully-earned beatings had stunned them into silence, and they fearfully backed away into the corner, not wanting to get punched again or even knocked out.

"I'll deal with you two later!" yelled Cerusa, "I can't even look at you right now!"

She turned away and eyed Skybeak and Pearlwing, making them both flinch and cower with fear.

"Everyone is going to bed immediately!" she spoke with a stern glare, "I have absolutely no patience right now!"

"Y-y-ye-yes, Mommy!" Pearlwing stammered tearfully, nodding her head in fear.

Cerusa finally couldn't hold her emotions in, and she took some steps away and let out a scream of fury before she collapsed to her knees … and suddenly burst into tears. It was only now she had realized what she had done and that she and her brother had likely terrified all the children into forceful submission. This was not the kind of mother she wanted to be. This was never the way she wanted to treat any of her kids, even if several of them were discriminating another just for something he had no control over. Rantyl would never have allowed this to happen, … if he were still alive …

It was only after hearing the sound of sobbing that Petrie finally uncovered his eyes, lifted his tree star ever so slightly and saw that his mother was crying and his uncle Pterano was embracing her.

"Now, now, Cerusa," he soothed his sister, "We'll put them in their place soon enough."

"I can't believe they had the audacity to do that! I can't believe what I just did!" wailed Cerusa, "What kind of mother am I!? Rantyl would never have wanted this!"

Before Pterano could respond, his eyes locked onto Petrie's. The little Flyer promptly flinched at this.

"Cerusa, … I think we've frightened poor Petrie," said Pterano.

Cerusa tensely got up and slowly lifted the tree star that had been shielding the little Flyer from the chaos that had just ensued …

He was shaking as if he was freezing cold, tears had stained his cheeks, and urine was all over the spot he had been lying on.

"Oh, Petrie," gasped Cerusa in shock.

"Mm-mm-mmm-y-y-you s-s-sca-scare m-me!" cried Petrie.

"Aw, you little one," Pterano spoke calmly, "We're so sorry, Petrie. We didn't mean to frighten you."

"We're very sorry you had to see that, dear," whispered Cerusa, "We were, … well, … we were angry."

Petrie just stayed put where he was, shaking and crying as he struggled to compose himself.

This sight broke Cerusa's heart. It reminded her of the day the children hatched and Petrie acted just like this when he first saw the world outside his egg. It pained her to imagine that he would be scared of her all over again just because of something his siblings had done.

"Please come here, Petrie," she said softly, trying not to break down, "It's okay. We're not going to hurt you."

"It's all over, Petrie," assured Pterano, "We mean no harm to you."

After a few more moments of hesitation, Petrie slowly crawled his way to his mother's feet and climbed his way up until he was enveloped in her wings.

"Ssh," Cerusa whispered soothingly, "It's okay, Petrie. Mommy's here. I'm so sorry."

Petrie brushed his tears away and saw a sincere smile on his mother's beak, and only now did he find the courage to smile back, seeing how remorseful she was.

"M-me love you, Mama," he spoke weakly.

"I love you, too, Petrie," replied a relieved Cerusa, and she gently kissed him on the beak.

"Should I head down and grab another tree star for him?" asked Pterano.

Cerusa nodded, and her brother immediately left the nest and swooped his way down, returning a moment later with a single tree star in his beak.

Petrie felt his heart leaping with joy as his uncle pulled the tree star out of his beak and gently handed it to him.

"Thank you, Uncle!" he cried happily at the prospect of finally eating his dinner.

"You're welcome, nephew," replied Pterano with a smile of his own, "I love you, little one."

Petrie quivered and smiled at him, "Me love you, too, Uncle Pterano."

Cerusa and Pterano embraced each other and smiled as Petrie at last got to enjoy a delicious tree star. A sudden burst of excitement put a big smile on his face with each bite he took, earning laughs from his mother and uncle.

"That's my little one," chuckled Cerusa, tickling her son.

"Heehee! Hehehe! Mohommeeheeheeheeheehee!" laughed Petrie.

"Are you okay now, Petrie?" asked Pterano.

Petrie nodded his head once the tickling stopped and finished eating his tree star.

"Okay, little one. It's time to go to sleep," said Cerusa.

Petrie frowned upon hearing that. He looked off to the western horizon and saw that the Bright Circle was still clearly in the sky. Surely, this seemed way too early even for a 3-year-old to go to sleep.

"But, Mama, … Bright Circle still up," he complained.

"You need some rest, dear. You've had quite a troubling day. You should get some sleep and put today behind," his mother suggested.

Petrie sighed in defeat, his head crest sinking in resignation.

"Besides, your uncle and I need to have a word alone," added Cerusa, "It's … a private matter."

"Okay," groaned Petrie.

Pterano gently picked his nephew up and set him down in a soft pile of tree stars and sticks before covering him with a few more tree stars to keep him warm.

"Try to have some sweet sleep stories, okay?"

Petrie rested his head against some sticks and let out a tired yawn, "Okay, uncle."

"Goodnight, Petrie," smiled Cerusa, kissing her son one more time.

"Goodnight, Mama," replied Petrie weakly before slowly closing his eyes as he saw the smiles of his mother and uncle, the sight making him think as if he was smiling at his mother and … father …

With no energy left, the little Flyer fell into a deep sleep under the watchful eyes of his mother and uncle, and once they were sure he was fast asleep, the two exchanged worried looks.

Without a sound, Cerusa led her brother away from Petrie, and the two sat down on a corner of their nest, glancing at all the children, and saw that all five had fallen asleep.

The moment she locked eyes with her brother, … those … memories instantly came back to her …

… memories of their own past …

… even before Rantyl had come into the picture …

… long, long ago.

Like his sister, Pterano seemed to mentally flash back to those … terrible memories …

It was obvious … something about Petrie had brought back those memories.

"Do you … think what I'm thinking?" Cerusa hesitantly asked her brother.

Pterano slapped his own face with his hand in a clear show of despair.

"I was afraid this was what the problem might be," he groaned as it became clear that a terrible truth had been realized …

"This can't be true," panted Cerusa, "He has … th-that … condition."

This was just what they had feared when Petrie's bad speech came out of the blue. This also explained his shy behavior, his unwillingness to try anything, the likelihood that he might not be ready to fly when the time came, and why he spoke his first word much later than his siblings. This was something they had unfortunately experienced before …

"This is exactly what happened to our sister … and our cousins," said Pterano, "Oh, how I hoped I'd never have to deal with something like this again."

"I know how Liran annoyed you to no end, but at least she eventually got over all those problems," said Cerusa with a half-glare.

"Only after … like … ten cold times or something," Pterano pointed out.

"Pterano, don't force me into thinking it will take this long for Petrie to overcome this," warned Cerusa, "Our flight to the Great Valley is only two cold times away and Petrie needs to be able to fly by then."

Pterano paused and sat frozen for what seemed like ages before he dropped his pessimistic view on … this unfortunate condition that had obviously befallen his nephew. His sister was right. Everyone else in the family who suffered this condition had to wait many cold times before being able to fly, and even then, a few of their cousins never got to fly because they were affected far worse. However, this was an even more serious case; the herd would be on the move in a few cold times, and the stakes were high. For Petrie to have been born with this condition at a time like this would very likely be disastrous. Now there was a very serious risk of Petrie becoming an outcast … or worse …

Pterano didn't dare want to imagine how his sister's mate would have thought if he had lived to discover the terrible truth of his youngest child. Rantyl could surely have been very disappointed and wanted nothing to do with him, or he might have been as supportive as Cerusa was willing to be.

Even then, something else about this situation perplexed him …

"I don't understand, though," he said, "Our cousins from our father's family had it, our sister had it, neither of us had it, and only one of your children has it while the others don't. How does it skip you and the others like that?"

"I guess it must have been unfortunate coincidence," sighed Cerusa, "Random chance."

"What are we going to do?" asked Pterano cluelessly.

Cerusa cast a determined look at her brother and held him by the shoulders, giving him a brief jolt of shock.

"Let me tell you what we're going to do, Pterano," she began, never taking her eyes off him for even a second, "We're going to defy the odds of Petrie's condition and get him into the sky before we get our journey underway. I don't care what it takes to mentally prepare him, but we are going to do it. Yes, this will put a lot of pressure on him, but we don't have time to wait until his condition goes away once his Time of Great Growing begins. For the Bright Circle's sake, who knows if we even have less time than that if Sharpteeth decide to bring their jaws in and attack our herd before we're ready!?"

"Ssh! Not so loud," Pterano panted frantically.

"Not so-," Cerusa began to argue before her brother clamped her beak shut.

"You'll wake the children!" Pterano whispered in her ear, and he swung her head around to force her to look at the sleeping children.

Only then did she realize her near-mistake and took a deep breath to calm herself down, prompting Pterano to let go of her beak.

She then spent what felt like an eternity gazing down at her youngest son, nearly quivering as the terrible reality sank in. Now she knew why he was such a frightened little Flyer who was still friendless and appeared to have a grim future ahead of him. The thought of it so nearly made her tear up as she wondered how this would affect her ability to carry out Rantyl's dying wish, but she barely managed to keep it in.

"Cerusa?"

Pterano's whisper jolted his sister out of her thoughts, and she panted and looked at him.

"How many times must you do that?" she hissed.

"My apologies," responded Pterano.

"I just … can't believe this has happened to my son," said Cerusa after recomposing herself.

"Like you said, Cerusa, … we'll do what we can to get Petrie ready in time, … by any means necessary," said Pterano.

"Whatever you do, don't go spreading your ridiculous fantasies to my children," said Cerusa with a warning glare, "That's the last thing Petrie needs to hear."

Pterano froze in place for a while before he replied with obvious reluctance, "I shall remain silent as the grave."

"You'd better," his sister sneered with a mischievous expression that was not lost on him. He knew she made it plainly obvious that she didn't exactly have complete trust in him.

"So, … uh, … when do … we start, … you know, … training them?" he asked hesitantly, desperate to change the subject.

"After their next hatch day," answered Cerusa, "Most Flyers start flying around the age of four, and even then, some kids take a little longer than that. We'll begin our journey immediately after all the children have mastered the basics."

"Right," nodded Pterano.

"Until then, we'll do everything we can to help Petrie and keep the rest of the kids in line," added Cerusa, "I will not let sibling feuds plague my family."

"So, … we see to it that the children are disciplined if necessary?" proposed Pterano.

"Obviously," sighed Cerusa in annoyance.

"I … I'm sorry. I, uh, probably sound like a …"

"I think I've heard enough for one night. I'm going to take a chill flight and regather myself," Cerusa spoke abruptly and stood up, grabbing the urine-soaked leaves, "Goodnight, Pterano."

Pterano could only watch as his sister took off into the orange sky and disappeared. He turned to look at his nephew and could only think of the terrible reality that had plagued him and the fact that poor Petrie had no idea what was wrong with him. He wished he could tell him what was making his life so miserable, but there were two problems …

Firstly, Petrie was only three cold times old, so he would obviously be too young to understand. Secondly, Cerusa would likely not allow her son to know the truth this soon, if ever. If Petrie knew now, it probably would destroy his mentality and crush his already-fragile heart. That would surely mean he'd give up on everything and not bother wanting to learn how to fly. It would completely destroy his life forever. Now was the worst time to tell him the truth.

"Maybe when he's ready," Pterano whispered to himself, "Perhaps after we've completed our flight to the valley."

He knew that the only thing to do for now … was try to at least make Petrie's life happier … before it was too late …

And chapter 3 is finally in! I do apologize for the long delay in between chapters. Procrastination got the best of me for weeks and I had no motivation to write, but I hope to avoid that in future chapters.

Like I said after the previous chapter, I was not going to guarantee any happy moments, and chances are that from this point on, there won't be anymore of those. From here on out, two more years of misery await our favorite Flyer for all the wrong reasons. Slowly but surely, we will see an unfortunate transformation into the Petrie that inhibited that cringe-worthy behavior that all the reviewers of the first movie absolutely loathed. We may not have seen too much progress yet, but don't fret. More OCs will come into the picture soon enough, and we'll gain a clearer picture of Flyer herd life.

I know that the chaotic scene may come as a shock to you, and I somehow feel it might have been the slightest bit out of place for me to include this, but with such unacceptable behavior, family tensions are high, and will only get higher as the time for flight training approaches.

And I had to delve into the all-so-familiar territory the first 20 minutes of the first movie gave us. It pretty much sets the tone as a pre-Earth Shake story.

I would like to give a shout out to Keijo6 for the input he gave me as I struggled my way through this chapter. I couldn't have gotten this done without you, so special thanks to you!

And yes, Harry Potter fans can hate me for all I care because I decided to poke fun at that questionable piece of media by choosing that chapter title! XD

Until the next chapter, see you all later. Take care of yourself, wash your hands and stay safe!

[Anagnos]

Happy moments truly are few and far between for not only Petrie in this chapter, but for the entire family. Now that his disability has been revealed to the rest, it will make his life even more difficult. Petrie's most recent accidents have not raised his prestige in the eyes of his siblings, leading to the most cruel bullying possible. For some, his speech pattern has come off as a huge shock, while Donnie and Terra seem determined to break his sanity.

Cerusa's declaration, on the other hand, is something else. Her words to her own son here would be considered far too cruel to say to child and she's definitely in the wrong here. It is true that her mental state is not the best right now, but this kind of behavior from a mother is very questionable. She doesn't seem to understand that her words carry a lot of weight and have consequences we may see in the future.

It was no surprise that Donnie and Terra would ultimately disobey their mother in the most vile way possible. Such an act is not only despicable, but shows they have no idea how much it has hurt Petrie, if they were capable to care about that. Honestly, it felt good to see them get what they deserved and the kind of punishment Cerusa and Pterano used is not unheard of. All of this made me wonder whether Donnie and Terra are the ones suffering from a mental disorder as their behavior would suggest.

I had two things to point out in this chapter, one of them needing a bit of clarification. First one is that having Cerusa say the exact same words about the Great Valley that Littlefoot's mother used wasn't the wisest decision. I would have liked to see how the flyers would explain the valley to their children with their own words, as every species must have different ideas about the place. And the second one is more of a question than a critique. It's about the use of Starday in their vocabulary. I thought it was a fastrunner thing and not generally used by other herds, as I believe Ruby had to even explain it to her friends in the TV series at one point.

Petrie's road of misfortunes has merely begun and there will be many more issues to face in the future. He has already been hurt enough, but more of that will likely follow once things kick off. We have only this to ask: can Petrie find the strength to move on or is he doomed to live out the rest of his days in misery?

[rhombus]

Poor Petrie.  Though a year has gone by since the fateful events of the previous chapter, he is still having a rough time of his childhood.  Now his lack of speech has given way to his idiocentric speech pattern, which, unfortunately, has given his siblings something new to use as a justification for seeing Petrie as "the other" in their little community.  The antics of Donnie and Terra was especially egregious, especially for flyers who are so young. 

Though I must admit that some of these antics make me wonder about flyer parenting, as behavior such as this should have been terminated by more effective and supervised parenting.  This, combined with Cerusa's questionable word choices towards her son earlier in the chapter, does seem a bit out of character from the mother we see in canon.  Though this could be explained in part due to her being in a difficult place with the loss of her mate.  In any event, it creates a difficult dynamic for Petrie during his developmental years and sheds light on several of his insecurities.

Pterano does impress me in this chapter as he has really stepped up (flew up?) to the plate after the loss of Petrie's father.  Though this does make his inevitable fall from grace later on all the more tragic.  I am very interested to see how you depict that and the emergency flight of the rest of Petrie's family in the coming chapter.  I sense that Petrie is about to have a rather rough time...

[OwlsCantRead]

Not to rag on Cerusa, but I personally feel as though the way she handled the situation would up sealing Petrie's fate despite her best intentions. By letting her emotions take hold of her and suppressing the knowledge of Petrie's broken speech through her children, kids being kids, she effectively made it so that they will continue to do so, especially after they rebel out of frustration of being punished, which is shown by Skybeak and Pearlwing's turning hostile and blaming Petrie after being indirectly implicated for their older siblings' demeanor.

I also personally think that when Petrie wasn't reciprocating her speech lessons, she should not have told him to remain mute in a futile effort to mitigate his shame, as it shows non-verbally that she personally doesn't believe Petrie would recover from such an impediment. This really doesn't bode well for Petrie, and by the end of the chapter I think Cerusa herself knows the odds are stacked against her family as she takes a flight to clear her mind.

The final part about Cerusa swearing that she would discipline her children to curb their behavior can also lead to simmering anger from the middle siblings as they feel their younger brother is being protected, starting a cascading loop of reinforced resentment. In other words, I think her getting overly protective of Petrie to try and shield him is ironically going to catalyze her son's descent into despair. We already saw what his siblings did to him when they were three, but as this carries on, how bad will it get, I wonder?

[DiddyKT2]

CHAPTER 4

UNANSWERED QUESTIONS

Night Circle cycles passed, and things changed very little since that dinner incident.

After Petrie's siblings had served their punishment, none of them, not even Pearlwing, spoke to their brother whenever their mother or uncle were present, but when no adults were around, they bullied and belittled him endlessly, particularly Donnie and Terra. The two oldest siblings took sheer delight in ruining Petrie's day every possibility they got, and whenever other Flyer children were around, everyone laughed at him on any day he left the nest, whether it would be helping his mother or uncle collect food or spend quality time with them while exploring their forest.

By now, the knowledge of Petrie's bad speech had spread like wildfire across the herd, and nearly all the children began to view him as a worthless, nest-wetting baby. The adults, on the other hand, didn't take too kindly to all the negativity he was receiving, on the basis that he was just three cold times old and still needed time to mature, and were sure to silence their children whenever they stepped out of line.

Cerusa was still having a miserable time trying to teach Petrie proper speech. She trained him every single morning, each time ending with the same result; Petrie would fumble around with his words and fail all his memory tests, and when he finally couldn't take all the torture anymore, he would beg his mother to stop, to which she reluctantly complied. With each day, Cerusa got more frustrated on the inside that her son seemed to perceive the daily speech lessons as mental torture, … but she couldn't take it out on poor Petrie. She knew why he was unable to take all this and why this seemed like mental torture …

He had a hereditary condition, just like his late aunt Liran and her cousins. From the outside, one wouldn't be able to tell. He had the appearance of a perfectly normal child, so one would assume he was just a shy little boy still trying to learn basic social skills, but inside was a completely different story in comparison to his siblings and other children of the herd.

It was obvious that Petrie wouldn't be able to attempt normal speech until he reached his Time of Great Growing …

… but time was running out fast.

Only after several Night Circle cycles did Cerusa realize she was pushing her youngest son too far, but her promise to Rantyl still lingered over her. She wanted ALL her children to grow up to become respected members of Flyer society, just as her mate wanted, … but what if Petrie wasn't ready for that? When would he be ready for that? Why did that fateful wish have to be so much of a burden on her? Perhaps certain factors were much more important than others …

…

"Flying?"

It was a subject that brought dread to her, knowing how Petrie would react, but it was still at least another cold time away. However, Cerusa contemplated that Petrie's poor social skills would surely affect his mentality and in turn hinder his early flying skills due to his complete lack of self-esteem. His fear of the sky alone was only one of several factors she believed would come to haunt them once it became that dreadful time to begin teaching her children the most important lesson in all of Flyer society.

Cerusa hated herself for pushing her son too hard, but she knew he had to be mentally prepared before that dreadful day came when he would have to begin his flying lessons.

If only Rantyl were here … ?

If only the herd could wait just a little while longer before considering their trip … ?

Another thing that brought her down tremendously was the fact that her other children were being no help at all. She constantly had to struggle to keep her children in line whenever Petrie became the subject of any conversation. While they were well-behaved, for the most part, they constantly tormented Petrie behind her back and made life very difficult for the family in general.

Pterano was only being minimal help to his sister. While he maintained a good image for Cerusa's children, he was starting to get carried away with his frequent nighttime storytelling, which greatly annoyed his sister. She didn't want to let her kids have such ridiculous stories stuck into their heads at night. It was the last thing they all needed, especially Petrie.

One cloudy morning, Cerusa even questioned herself if she was even fit to be a mother at all. Her children's lives generally brought misery with their mixed behaviors and feuds between them, and she wondered how Rantyl would have reacted to seeing how poorly Petrie was being treated by his own siblings. She suddenly found herself losing her own self-esteem just like her youngest son was, and she wished she could turn back time just to stop her mate from taking his final journey. Without him, she felt so helpless to raise her kids, and she longed for these painful days in this Bright Circle-forsaken forest to be over soon.

"Perhaps, the Great Valley will be a much happier place," she sighed to herself before remembering just how much food the Flyers would reluctantly have to share, "Hopefully, those despicable Pointy-faces won't get in my face."

Out of all the … "others" … that Cerusa had seen her fair share of over the years, she had a very particular distaste for Threehorns. She considered them the worst of them all. Just about every time she ran into one, something bad was going to happen. After her many run-ins with them, she thought them to be the second-most vile kind of them all, behind only the vicious Sharpteeth that terrorized everyone. It was at least a relief there would supposedly be no Sharpteeth in this … Great Valley.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a sniffle, and she turned to find Petrie sitting on the other end of the nest, staring off into space and apparently trying not to break into another episode of emotional despair.

Judging from this, Cerusa deduced that Petrie was questioning his own worth in the world. Every day, he seemed to wonder if he had any purpose other than just … existing. His mind was always full of negative thoughts about himself, and his heart was extremely frail and so easy to break.

The blue Flyer sighed and took a slow approach toward her son. She felt guilty over the fact that she was now keeping not one, but two secrets from him, but she wondered if he was ready to learn the truth …

… the truth about his Daddy …

… the truth about … himself …

She knew now wasn't the time to tell him. Pterano had suggested waiting until they got to the Great Valley before telling the little Flyer why it had to be this way, … but how would he react? Would he hate them forever for keeping such dark secrets from him his whole life? Would he be terrified and believe he would spend his life as a friendless Flyer and possibly never find the strength to move on in life?

Cerusa shook her head. She didn't want to think about such an outcome right now. It was way too soon to even consider the possibilities.

Right now, … the most important thing … was getting her son ready for the most important years of his childhood still to come. She knew Petrie's path would be a difficult one, but despite his early struggles, she was determined to put things right, learn from her early mistakes of parenthood and give him hope for the future. She would lift him into the skies no matter what it took. She would cast aside the seeds of doubt and be just the mother that someone like Petrie needed.

She slowly got into a sitting position right behind her son and tapped him on the shoulder four times to get his attention. It was only the gentleness of the taps that stopped Petrie from flinching. He knew right away who it was.

"Petrie?" she spoke in a soothing voice.

"Hey, Mom."

It was the most depressing voice Cerusa had ever heard. Petrie sounded so down, it seemed as though everything had come crashing down on him.

It was the voice of someone whom had lost all hope.

Cerusa's stomach lurched. This was not the kind of greeting she had expected. It was no secret to her now that her son was completely downcast. She knew the reason for it, and she heaved as guilt consumed her.

Taking a deep breath, she recomposed herself.

"Petrie, I …"

"Please, not that today?" Petrie suddenly begged.

Cerusa sat frozen for a moment and took a deep sigh as she knew what Petrie was saying. He couldn't take any more of those Bright Circle-forsaken speech lessons. He had all but given up on those and had resigned to his future as the kid whom everyone would laugh at. Her heart nearly skipped a beat as the guilt sank in. Although she knew she wasn't entirely to blame for this, granted it was doomed from the start, she still couldn't help but blame herself for her son's misgivings.

"No, Petrie," she sighed after a long silence, "I was not going to do that."

She paused for a moment as she considered what her next words would be …

"I was going to ask wha-,"

"You promise to make me better Flyer," said Petrie flatly, "Y-you … say you make me better Flyer, … but you do nothing to make me better Flyer."

Cerusa flinched and barely managed to hold back a gasp of shock as her son's accusatory remark struck her like a boulder.

"P-Petrie?" she stammered.

Petrie then turned to face her, and for the first time, Cerusa saw a glare on his face … directed at her. Never before had she seen this from him. She felt this would be a moment that would turn her world upside down.

"W-why, Mama!?" shouted Petrie, his voice nearly broken on the verge of tears as he could only reflect on all the misery that had come crashing down on him throughout his young life, "M-me thought … you w-would make it easy for Petrie, … but … instead you make everything hard for me! E-ev-everybody … think me … s-so stupid … because of you and me brothers and sisters! Why you do this to me, Mama!? Petrie thought you love me! Me thought you care about me!"

Cerusa's heart exploded, and she clenched her chest.

"Petrie!?" she gasped loudly as his harsh words stung her. Her agape beak quivered from the accusations as she watched Petrie's eyes moisturizing. She blinked a few times as she felt the tears filling in her own eyes. She knew he had a point. She deserved this kind of accusation from her son. She had only succeeding in making life much more difficult for Petrie in her desperate attempts to make life better. All her efforts had backfired, and here she was, paying the price and taking all the heat from it.

Finally, with a sigh of defeat, Cerusa spoke to her son in a sorrowful voice …

"You're right, Petrie, … I've been … such a terrible parent," she said before she could finally hold it in no longer.

Petrie's face softened as he watched his mother break down. It was then that he realized he had hurt her feelings, and yet she had just claimed that she deserved it because she was … a "terrible parent."

A terrible parent?

As much as he didn't want to say his mother was such, a part of him still felt mad at her for putting him through so much torment in trying to "make him a better Flyer." Why was she putting up such high expectations? It wasn't as though they were in such a big hurry to get ready for the importance of Flyer life …

"Well, I did tell you our herd will be on their way once you're all old enough to fly. You'll need to warm up to it soon, dear."

That was when it hit him. Could it be that the herd was in such a big hurry to get out of this forest as soon as possible? Why did it have to be this way? Why couldn't they just wait a little longer …?

"I feel that I've hurt you more than anyone, Petrie," Cerusa spoke weakly through sniffles, "I only want what's best for all my children, … but I've only made things worse for everyone."

Petrie just stared at his mother and watched her struggle. It never felt right to see her in tears, but even he knew he had his reason for criticizing her.

"M-Mama?" he said, but that was all he could think of saying at that moment.

"Yes, Petrie?" said Cerusa, something Petrie did not expect.

He noticed her looking right at him with tears streaming down her face with an expression that looked like she was begging for forgiveness for her sins.

"W-why nothing help me be better Flyer? Why me brothers and sisters hate me? Why life have to be like this? W-why?" asked Petrie.

"Petrie?"

Petrie gulped as his mother gently picked him up and set him on her lap, gently stroking his back with her wing.

"You have nothing to be ashamed of, Petrie," sniffled Cerusa, her voice broken with guilt, "It's my fault things have turned out like this. I wanted to see all five of my children …"

She couldn't bring herself to finish her sentence. No matter which words she would have chosen next, they would have made Petrie feel even more uncomfortable, and he would have had reason to blame her entirely.

"It's just that I miss your father so much," said Cerusa as she finally broke down, "I thought … that if I did what I thought he wanted me to do …"

Petrie was shocked by his mother's words. She was never one to open up about his father like this. There were still so many questions he wanted to ask her, but it was obvious something about him … "just leaving the family like that" … still pained her to this day.

Suddenly, another terrible thought entered Petrie's mind as he considered Cerusa's last sentence …

"I thought … that if I did what I thought he wanted me to do …"

"I promise … I'll do everything I can to help you become a better Flyer."

Finally, it all came together …

Was this why she was pushing him so hard? Had his father put such high, unreachable expectations on the family? Could he have been pressured by the herd to make these expectations for when it would be time for him to come back and they would go to …

But then, it dawned on him …

Whenever the subject of Rantyl was brought up, there was never any mention of the Great Valley. What did that mean? Did he have other plans? Where did he want to bring his family? Had he possibly considered leaving the herd?

All these unanswered questions placed such a burden on Petrie. If only his mother ever told him something, anything about what he wanted …

Nothing. It was all just a blur; a mystery, something he couldn't comprehend.

"I'm so sorry, Petrie."

Petrie shook his head as his mother's voice snapped him out of his thought train. His mother appeared to be inconsolable. She was a complete wreck now. She was sobbing just as heavily as … that terrible day …

It was a sight Petrie had never forgotten; the day when his mother had been told that something … horrible … had happened, and to this day, he still had no clue what they had said that day. All he could remember was his mother weeping like a lost child. The memory had haunted him ever since.

"I've pushed you way too hard, Petrie," Cerusa sobbed, "I thought that trying so hard to get you to learn proper speech so that you'd have some friends would be the best way to get you ready for what's ahead, … but I've only succeeded in doing the complete opposite. I've let my whole family down, and I've made life much more difficult for you than it needs to be. I'm the one who should be ashamed."

"B-but then, … w-what you going to do n-now?" asked Petrie, "Everyone going to laugh at me forever."

"Petrie, … could you please listen to me for just a moment?" begged Cerusa through sobs, and Petrie flinched and hesitantly nodded his head, indicating she had his full attention.

Cerusa steadily calmed herself down and looked into her son's eyes sorrowfully.

"If there's anything I ever said about proper speech being a way to earn friends, … I … I take it back."

"W-w-what?" gasped Petrie in surprise.

"I was completely wrong to put you through all this. I realize now that speech is not the most important thing right now. There are so many other things we should be worried about beside that," said Cerusa.

"B-but … what if everyone keep picking on Petrie?" lamented Petrie, at which point his mother suddenly pulled him in and hugged him so tightly, it nearly choked him.

"Petrie?" she spoke loudly, making her son recoil, and she immediately softened and settled down with an apologetic look, "I will see to it that the other children will stop bullying you, and once I do, don't worry about your speech problems. Kids should not have to care about other's problems. Please do not feel ashamed because you cannot speak correctly. It's okay if you're different, because everybody is different, and no one gets to judge others this way. If you really think it's what you really know how to do, … then be yourself. Be what you are. Don't be a silent one, and don't try in vain to correct yourself all the time. Just be you."

Petrie was taken aback by this. As far as he was concerned, bad speech had been what made everyone bully him, but to imagine that one could still have bad speech and not be judged by it was beyond him. Could it really be possible that one didn't have to be cast out just because he couldn't talk correctly? Was it okay being who he was? If his mother was willing to let him be this way …

"Please, Petrie, … find it in your heart to accept who you are, … and please … find it in your heart to forgive me," sniffled Cerusa, "I'm so sorry I put you through so much pain. I'm sorry for letting you down. I'm sorry for being a terrible mother to you. I do love you, Petrie, and I do care about you. You are more than just my child. You are my special child, and nothing will ever change that."

Upon hearing the word 'special,' Petrie's beak quivered, and his cheeks turned red. He had never felt special. He always viewed himself as the lowest and weakest scaredy-egg of the family. Whatever made him special?

"S-special?" he gasped in between sniffles.

"Everyone is special, Petrie, each in their own ways, and I think you and I have both found out what makes you special," chuckled Cerusa.

"Y-you mean … me talking?" Petrie stammered in surprise.

Cerusa grinned and nuzzled her son's beak with her own.

"That's right, my little one," she answered.

"But why everyone else think it no be special?" said Petrie in a sad voice.

"Don't worry about what others say about that, dear," replied Cerusa, "Just remember that you are you."

"Me … be … like me?" Petrie said to himself thoughtfully.

"Just be like yourself. You are Petrie, so just be Petrie," giggled Cerusa playfully.

Petrie couldn't help but let out a small chuckle from his mother's playful words.

"Listen, Petrie, … I'm so sorry for the way I've been pushing you, and I promise that from now on I will go easy on you. I just want you to promise me that one day you will be brave when the time comes," said Cerusa.

"For me to … f-fly?" gulped Petrie, still uncomfortable about the prospect of flying.

"I'm making a promise for you, my little one. Will you make this promise for me in return?" asked Cerusa.

Petrie shivered for a moment before he nervously reached for his mother's hand.

"M-me promise, Mama," he spoke meekly, "And m-me sorry me … g-get mad at you."

"Can you forgive me, Petrie?"

For the first time in what seemed like ages, Cerusa saw a smile creep its way onto Petrie's beak. It was a sight she had missed so much that it warmed her heart.

"Me forgive you, Mama," he spoke in such a happy voice, "Me love you."

"Aw, Petrie," smiled Cerusa, "I love you, too. Come here, ya sweet, little one!"

Petrie let out a soft laugh as he climbed up his mother's chest and embraced her. She wrapped one wing around his back and used her other hand to gently rub his head.

The rare cheerful look on her son's face confirmed to her that their bond was mended and that it was time to put the past behind them and start anew. From this moment on, there would be no more torturous speech lessons. It was all about getting her children ready for growing up, and she would make sure that all five kids would get the love and equal treatment she should have given them from the start. As much as giving Petrie special treatment would be tempting given his condition, Cerusa knew it was a terrible idea as it would only cause further animosity between him and his siblings. That very day, Cerusa learned the hard way perhaps the most important lesson of being a mother: to not rush her children through their early stages of life, even if one of them had a hereditary condition that hindered his learning abilities and had become the laughing matter of all the herd's children. She would take everything one step at a time, and hopefully life for the family could become easier …


Lunchtime went by rather quietly. Neither Flyer seemed to be able to get a conversation going. Petrie could never find the courage to start a conversation, even with his mother. Cerusa could see that Petrie was still thinking about their small argument and reconciliation that morning. Both knew that their relationship may have been strained, but deep down they still loved each other and always would because of their blood relationship. Instead of talking, they simply smiled and nuzzled each other. No words were needed in a moment like this.

Their silence was interrupted by the sudden presence of a third Flyer …

"Hello, Cerusa. Hello, Petrie."

The sound of Pterano's unmistakable voice brought their attention, and they grinned at him in acknowledgement.

"Hi, Uncle," said Petrie.

"Are you feeling okay today, nephew?" asked Pterano.

"Uh-huh," nodded Petrie.

"That's good," said Pterano with a warm smile as he stroked his nephew's head.

"So, are we switching duties for now?" Cerusa asked her brother.

"I think now is a good time, yes," answered Pterano, "You don't mind looking after the others while I keep Petrie company?"

"I don't mind, Pterano," said Cerusa, "Just make sure he has a good time."

"I will, sis," promised Pterano.

Petrie perked up at this.

"You mean, … m-me get to be with Uncle Pterano for a while?" he asked with a sudden rush of excitement.

His mother and uncle nodded at him, and Petrie whistled in happiness and wrapped his wings around Pterano's leg. It wasn't very often that the uncle and nephew spent quality time together, but whenever they did, Pterano always made sure to make it fun and entertaining. Times like these seemed to bring lots of happiness and hope for the little Flyer, and he hoped today would be no different.

"Petrie, you be a good little boy, okay?" Cerusa spoke to her son, "Don't leave your uncle's sight."

"Me promise, Mama," nodded Petrie eagerly, although to Cerusa it almost seemed to appear as if he was too excited to listen, and this prompted her to give him a little tickle just to make sure he meant it. The boy giggled a little and nodded his head to confirm he was honest.

"Just making sure, little one," chuckled Cerusa, and she turned to her brother, "I'll leave him in your capable wings, Pterano."

"He and I will have a good time, I assure you," replied Pterano.

"Okay, you two. I'll be seeing you later," Cerusa smiled, and she took off into the forest below.

Petrie barely had time to register another thought before his uncle picked him up and placed him on his back.

"Come along now, nephew."

Petrie flinched once he realized his uncle was about to jump and glide off the nest rather than climb down the tree, but unlike Cerusa, Pterano was not fazed in the least, and he jumped and spread his wings out to steady their fall without any hesitation. The little Flyer calmed down only a little once he knew they were venturing down into the forest rather than the skies above.

"I know the idea of flying is still not in your favor, Petrie, but just like your mother said, you will have to brave it soon," said Pterano, and it was only now that Petrie realized his uncle had, in fact, noticed him whimpering. He blushed in embarrassment.

"W-what if me never feel ready for…"

"Now, now, dear nephew, let's not think about the 'what ifs' right now," Pterano cut in before Petrie could finish his … broken sentence, "You and I need to have a little chat."

Petrie gulped nervously. He hoped this chat wouldn't be about … all his many troubles.

Pterano glided his way down and touched down some distance south of their nest. Once his feet were on the ground, he allowed his nephew to slide his way down, and he turned to face him.

"Come here, Petrie," he spoke gently as he sat down, and Petrie nervously crawled onto his uncle's lap and allowed him to slowly stroke him, "I've heard you've had … quite a trying time, to say the least."

Petrie sighed sadly, "Like nothing ever get better for Petrie."

"Petrie, don't look down on yourself," said Pterano, gently turning his nephew's beak upwards so that he could make eye contact with him, "You may have fallen out of grace with many of the herd's children, but that doesn't mean it will stay that way for the rest of your life. Change takes time."

"How long?" asked Petrie despondently, unable to imagine anything changing for the better. Misery was all he ever seemed to have known, and it felt like a curse to him, knowing it was all because of something he couldn't grasp.

"You must be patient, little fellow," answered Pterano, "With time comes patience; with patience comes change."

Petrie snorted defiantly.

"Me no think so. Nothing ever change."

"Alright, Petrie, it seems to me you're not thinking clearly."

Petrie was taken aback by his uncle's stern words, and he recoiled before Pterano's big wings trapped him in an embrace.

"You're obviously thinking too much about the negative side of things," Pterano stated before his voice softened, "The problem is that you've only seen the negative side of life because you're struggling with growing up. Have you ever taken just a moment to think about the positive side? Don't you ever think of how glorious a Flyer's life is meant to be, soaring freely unlike any other kind of dinosaur?"

Petrie gulped and shivered nervously, especially at the thought of "soaring freely." He knew exactly what his uncle meant with those words. As much as flying still scared him, he couldn't help but wonder why everyone else in his family and the rest of the herd thought so fondly of it. All the other Flyers seemed to take it in their stride, and whenever Petrie saw other kids (without them noticing him), they would talk about how they couldn't wait to fly. There wasn't a single Flyer he knew that was terrified of such an idea. His mother had pointed out time and time again that they weren't called "Flyers" for nothing, but only now Petrie began to wonder if he even deserved to be called a "Flyer" if he didn't have the bravery that everyone else apparently possessed.

"M-me still … sca-scared to …" Petrie began, but his uncle gently closed his beak with one hand before he could finish.

"Shh, shh, shh," Pterano soothed his nephew, "Trying to fly might be frightening at first, but once you give it time and patience, you'll learn. Don't worry if others try to put such heavy expectations on you. Just be yourself and make your own expectations. All we ask of them is that one day you'll be able to fly and embrace the sky with joy. You are a Flyer, Petrie, and all we ask of you one day is … be a Flyer."

Petrie fidgeted nervously as he tried to think if there were any positives when it came to being what a Flyer was meant to be. Only now did his uncle's words hit him. It dawned on him that not being able to fly when the time came would be a major embarrassment, maybe even a death sentence for their kind. As much as he wanted to think about the positive side of life, the negative thoughts continued to pummel him, and now he knew that as long as he remained afraid of lifting his feet off the ground, everyone would most certainly sham him.

So much for simple expectations.

"For now, I ask that you not dwell on that, Petrie. You still have time to grow before you're ready to try," said Pterano kindly, "Right now, it's all about being a kid and learning of the world around you."

"And how me do that when me no have any friends?" sighed Petrie sadly.

Pterano sighed and stared down at his nephew. It seemed that no matter what he did to try cheering up Petrie, nothing could bring a smile to his little beak. It was obvious that his nephew was scarred by all the negativity he had already experienced and only expecting more of it for as long as he remained the poor, frightened little boy he was.

"Whatever happened to the cheerful mood I used to see from you?" Pterano questioned his nephew.

"Me no know," answered Petrie, turning away and folding his arms.

"Come now, Petrie, let's turn that frown upside down," Pterano insisted.

Petrie refused to answer.

"Hmm," said Pterano, having seen enough of his nephew's sour mood, "I think we'll have to do this the hard way."

Just as Petrie was about to open his beak, he noticed his uncle's hand slowly closing in on him, its fingers making wiggly movements. Immediately, the little Flyer realized what was about to happen, and he frantically squirmed his way out of Pterano's hold and made a run for it.

"Come on back here, Petrie!" his uncle shouted playfully and immediately gave chase.

It didn't take long before Petrie's disadvantage of being only three cold times old became apparent. No one that age could run very fast compared to their older relatives, let alone a Flyer who hadn't started that blasted training yet.

Just as he sensed his uncle approaching, Petrie made a quick right-hand turn and didn't have time to see what was ahead before it was too late …

Veron's sweet bubble plants.

"Petrie! Look out!" Pterano shouted in vain.

Petrie barely had enough time to shut his eyes before he felt himself colliding with the many fruits that promptly went flying all over the place. He fell and landed on his side and felt himself getting pounced numerous times by what just had to be sweet bubbles. He even felt sticky juice streaming all over him. He waited until he was sure no more sweet bubbles would fall on him before he opened his eyes and sat up.

"Someone wasn't looking where he was going, I see," said a voice, and Petrie knew that one had to belong to Veron, the only Flyer outside his family he ever seemed to have gotten on good terms with.

The little Flyer gulped and blushed just as he saw his uncle brushing some bushes out of the way to check on him.

"Looks like it's time for my nephew to take a little bath," commented Pterano.

"You're lucky I'm taking it easy on you, silly little one," chuckled Veron, "Thanks to you, though, I'm gonna have to grow more of them so I can feed the other kids."

Petrie blushed and quivered in shame and embarrassment as he realized the magnitude of what he had just done. Surely now, the other kids had more reason to pick on him because he had destroyed quite a large portion of the sweet bubble plants.

"M-me sorry," he sniffled, "Me no know. Me was trying to run from me uncle and me no see where me go."

Pterano lowered himself and patted his nephew's head.

"Now, now, Petrie, don't blame yourself for this," said Pterano gently and he stood back up and eyed Veron, "I accept full responsibility for this little accident."

Petrie was stunned. His uncle blaming himself for something he had done? For as much as he wanted to blame himself, he couldn't help but find it awkward that his uncle was willingly taking the heat instead because he was the one whom had caused Petrie to run into the sweet bubble plants.

"In any case, just be careful next time," nodded Veron.

"Indeed, we will," replied Pterano, and he turned to his nephew and offered his hand, "Come along, Petrie. Let's get you cleaned up."

Petrie shakily nodded and accepted the gesture, and his uncle pulled him up and back onto his feet. He didn't turn to say goodbye to Veron, but instead just sunk his head and stared at the ground as he saw the purple mess he was in.

Pterano led Petrie deeper into the forest where a tiny stream was nearby. Neither of them said a word until they got there. All the way, Pterano noticed that Petrie was desperately trying to hold back tears. He was obviously embarrassed by what had happened and was hoping that none of the other kids would start going after him for what happened to the sweet bubbles.

The two stopped on the bank of the stream and sat down side-by-side. Pterano dipped a finger into the water and started rubbing it against Petrie's head to rinse the sweet bubble juice off.

"Now, now, Petrie," he whispered, "I'm very sorry."

Petrie just sighed and didn't take his eyes off the water. He just sat there looking at his gloomy reflection as the water melted the juice off.

"Petrie?"

"What?" moaned Petrie weakly.

"Is that the only look I'll ever see on your face from now on?" asked Pterano sarcastically.

"Something bad always happen to me, even now just because you want to tickle me!" said Petrie.

"Well, how else was I going to try getting that frown off your beak?" asked Pterano.

"Anything but tickling," pouted Petrie, "And now, me ruin everyone's sweet bubbles."

"Petrie, I tried to tell you, you need to stop being so hard on yourself for everything that happens to you," said Pterano, and he soaked Petrie's wings with water, "Accidents happen to everyone."

Petrie simply sighed and let his uncle finish rinsing him until all the juice had come off.

"I just want to see you smile because I never see you smile anymore," said Pterano as he turned Petrie and gently stroked his beak to get him to make eye contact, "Petrie, what is the problem? I don't want my nephew to be moping forever."

"Petrie never find happiness anywhere," he lamented.

"That's just not true, Petrie," replied Pterano, "Childhood can be troubling, but you can overcome those troubles if you give it some effort. Your mother and I have tried hard to help you, but you know that won't be enough. You'll have to make your own decisions, too."

Petrie was still full of doubt, but he thought of no words that could counter his uncle's, so he said nothing and looked away.

Pterano sighed in frustration. It seemed that no words could bring a smile to his nephew's beak, and it became clear that nothing could ever cheer him up. He clearly seemed to have "lost his smile."

Or had he?

Grinning to himself in determination, Pterano tightly hugged Petrie with one arm, grasping him as tightly as possible to ensure that this time he would not be able to escape and inadvertently run into more trouble.

"Uncle!" Petrie complained, "You squeezing me!"

Then, he noticed his uncle's hand and its fingers making wiggly movements again, and he tried to break free, only to find out that there was a reason his uncle was holding him this tightly. He swung his legs back and forth in desperation, but he could only whimper hopelessly as his uncle's wiggling fingers drew closer to his chest.

"N-no!" begged Petrie, "Please! No! Stop!"

"Sorry, nephew, but I can't stand seeing that unhappy frown," replied Pterano, "Let's see if we're really capable of turning it upside down."

He chuckled and gave his nephew a mischievous look, and Petrie shut his eyes and turned his beak away, knowing there was no escape. He barely had time to register his next thought before he felt some poking sensations on his chest. He knew what those were, and he tried desperately not to laugh, but he couldn't keep a few giggles from escaping his beak.

"Hehe. Hehehe. Uncle! Please! Hehehe! Stop!" pleaded Petrie through his small giggling fit.

"Hmm. Maybe once I've seen your smile again, little one," teased Pterano, and he began to tickle his nephew a little harder.

The sensations had an instant effect …

Petrie suddenly burst into a fit of laughter, and a smile finally formed on his beak.

"Eek! Oof! Eekeeheeheeheeheehehehehehehahahahaha!" laughed Petrie, "Uncle Pterano, stahahahahahahop!"

Pterano just chuckled and kept on tickling his nephew, feeling quite proud of himself for finally bringing that much-needed smile onto his beak.

"Pleeheeheeheeheehease!" chortled Petrie, his legs swinging back and forth as his uncle's tight grip prevented him from thrashing around, "No more! Nohohohohoho!"

"Do you promise to give me a smile once I stop?" asked Pterano teasingly as he poked his nephew's shoulders, his most sensitive spot of all.

"EEK! AHH! YEHEHEHEHEHEHES!" Petrie screamed through laughter, "PLEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEASE! HEEHEEHEEHEEHEHEHEHEHAHAHAHAAAA!"

Finally assured that Petrie had had enough, Pterano promptly stopped the tickling and waited for a moment while his nephew frantically tried to catch his breath. Once he looked up at his uncle, he still had a few leftover bubbly laughs ready to escape from his beak, and Pterano playfully rubbed the sides of Petrie's beak, right where the ends of his mouth were, just for good measure. This brought those last few laughs out, along with an adorable smile, just the one his uncle wanted to see.

"Ah, that's more like it," said Pterano playfully, poking the top of his beak.

"Eek!" squeaked Petrie, "Uncle! Stahahahop!"

"Had to be done, you silly, little nephew of mine!" teased Pterano.

"Uncle!" blushed Petrie sheepishly.

The two shared some laughs, and Pterano tightly hugged his nephew and stroked his head before loosening his grip on him and allowing him to move his arms and wings again.

"Now then, perhaps a little story will keep that smile on your face," suggested Pterano.

"But … Mama no like your stories, Uncle," Petrie pointed out.

"Don't worry about that, nephew. Only you and I will know about this one. I promise to tell no one else," reassured Pterano.

"Um, … okay," replied Petrie unsurely.

Pterano kept a wing wrapped around Petrie's back and stroked him affectionately as he cleared his throat to prepare himself …

"A long, long time ago, when those tiny lights in the big darkness were much shinier, when the Great Night Circle was much smoother, and the whole world was very different, there were no Threehorns, no Longnecks, in fact, not even a Sharptooth."

"R-really?" gasped Petrie wondrously.

"Oh, no, Petrie. Only one kind filled the skies with a mighty screech and the big flaps of their wings. They were the smartest, bravest, most handsome creatures to ever rule the world."

Petrie's mind was filled with wonder as his uncle paused dramatically.

"They were called … the Flyers!"

"Wow!" gasped Petrie.

"Yes," smiled Pterano, "Our ancestors were the rulers of our world. They were specially gifted with great power, and with power, nobody could match them. The noble Flyers who ruled the world so long ago were blessed with pride."

"What Flyers like?" asked Petrie.

"They were much like you and me, little one, only with so much power," answered Pterano.

"Where they find that power?" Petrie pondered curiously.

Pterano simply smiled at his nephew, "Well, Petrie, the Flyers of our time don't really believe in this, but legend has it that long ago there was a magical stone that fell from the sky and landed in a mountain near the herds of the rulers. The rulers found the Stone, they all touched it and made a wish, and in return the Stone gave them unimaginable power to rule the world."

"Wow!" gasped Petrie excitedly, "What stone called!? Stone still around somewhere!?"

"Now, now," chuckled Pterano, "It's not really something to be excited about now, because no one has really seen another stone like it since. That's why few Flyers believe in it today."

Petrie moaned sadly at those words.

"And as for your first question, many call it the Stone of Cold Fire, but like I was going to say, I can't confirm this to be true. After all, it's only a legend."

"But, … w-what if, um, … S-Stone of Cold Fire … real?" pondered Petrie.

"That remains to be seen, little one," replied Pterano, "Depends on whom you ask. Few believe it is real."

"Um, … y-you believe in … Stone of Cold Fire, Uncle Pterano?" asked Petrie.

"Ah, now that would be telling, wouldn't it?" teased Pterano.

"Uncle!" sighed Petrie.

"Maybe one day, one might fall from the sky and land anywhere," suggested Pterano.

"Me wish me could have power like that so no one bully me anymore," said Petrie.

Pterano laughed at his nephew's words and tickled him briefly to turn that brief frown back into a smile accompanied by some laughs.

"Uncle!" squeaked Petrie in a bubbly voice.

"I must say you're quite a curious little one," said Pterano, earning a sheepish chuckle from his nephew, "Perhaps when you grow up, you'll become an adventurous Flyer."

Petrie didn't feel so sure about that, but he didn't want to press it any further.

"I think now would be a good time to play that one game you've always been good at," suggested Pterano, eager to brighten the mood.

Petrie perked up at this and nodded with a smile. If there was one game he was "always good at," it was hide and seek. Being the small Flyer he was, it was easy for him to hide in various places, and most of the time his uncle would have a really hard time finding him.

"Alright, then!" chuckled Pterano once he noticed his nephew's brightened face, "You go find a good place to hide while I count down."

"Okay, uncle!" squeaked Petrie, and he jumped off his uncle's lap and ran right through some bushes just as his uncle turned his head away.

He turned to his left and quickly found a bush that looked excellent for hiding, and he promptly dived his way in and closed any gaps between leaves to conceal himself.

"Ready or not, here I come!" he heard Pterano's voice echoing in the distance.

Petrie tried to hold back a giggle as he anticipated his uncle having a hard time finding him, but as he heard his footsteps getting a little louder each second, he knew those hopes would be dashed sooner than he had wished.

Usually, it would have taken a lot longer than this for Pterano to find his nephew, but today it seemed luck was on his side, and once he eyed a particular bush, he spotted just a tiny dot of a shade of brown he recognized easily.

"Well, well, it seems I've found you already," he snickered with a mischievous grin.

Petrie heard his uncle's voice and gulped nervously, and without thinking twice he popped out of the bush and began to scurry away just as Pterano's hand just about reached him. His eyes were fixed on Pterano's hand, and he didn't take a moment to see where he was going …

"THUD!"

"Oof!" Petrie yelped as pain shot through him and he fell backwards, landing hard on his back as he was overcome by dizziness.

"Whoa, whoa! Little one! Watch where you're going!"

Petrie shook his head and once he regained his senses and looked up, he noticed another grownup Flyer standing right over him …

… one he had never seen before …

The Flyer was a tan male with wings that looked as transparent as Pterano's, with a brown neck and a dark gray neck ring.

"Where are you off to in such a hurry?"

Petrie gasped in unimaginable horror and immediately stumbled back to his feet and rushed to his uncle, hiding behind his legs. He was sure he had just made a terrible mistake he knew he would regret, and he gave his uncle an expression of horror and desperation that seemed to be telling him, "Save me! Protect me!"

"Is … he alright?" the stranger asked, Petrie noting he appeared to be … confused … by his behavior.

"Hello there, Dactyl," Pterano greeted the stranger, "My deepest apologies for the little excursion."

"Ah, Pterano," said Dactyl, "How does today fare for you, my humble deputy?"

"As good as it could be," answered Pterano with a reluctant sigh.

"Is … that little boy alright? He looked quite terrified of me," Dactyl pointed out.

"Ah, yes," said Pterano, looking down at Petrie and stroking him comfortably, "We were playing hide and seek and he decided to make a break for it, although I believe he got scared because he doesn't feel comfortable around strangers."

"Is he yours?" asked Dactyl curiously.

"Yes. He's my nephew," said Pterano.

"What's his name?"

Pterano held back a sigh as he answered, "Petrie."

Dactyl immediately glanced down at Petrie as if the name had hit him like a ton of boulders. Pterano could easily guess why.

"Your sister's little one?"

"Yes," Pterano confirmed awkwardly.

"So, … he's the one everyone has been …"

Before Dactyl could finish his sentence, Pterano grabbed his beak and clamped it shut. The last thing he wanted was for Petrie to hear more about how the other children all despised him.

"Don't mention that in front of him!" he hissed in a whisper.

Dactyl didn't say another word once Pterano released his hold on his beak.

"My apologies, Dactyl. He's extremely emotional," said Pterano.

"I … see," said Dactyl hesitantly.

Pterano affectionately rubbed Petrie's head to get him to calm down.

"There, there, Petrie," he spoke gently to his nephew, "This Flyer is not going to hurt you."

Petrie merely gulped in fright.

"Take it easy, little one. I mean no harm," Dactyl spoke as gently as he could in an effort to gain the slightest bit of his trust.

"Y-you … kn-know him?" Petrie stuttered to his uncle.

"In fact, I do, Petrie," answered Pterano, "This is Dactyl, the leader of our herd."

Petrie squirmed a little as his uncle's words sunk in. So, this was the herd leader? This Flyer happened to be the leader of all Flyers? Now he thought he looked like a complete fool the way he had carelessly bumped into him like a silly idiot.

"He … l-leader of all Flyers?"

"Well, at least all the Flyers around these parts," replied Dactyl.

"And … w-why he call you … d-deputy?" Petrie nervously asked his uncle.

"Because that's what I am," chuckled Pterano, "I'm one of the herd deputies."

"Y-you never t-tell me that before," stammered a surprised Petrie.

Pterano simply grinned at him before turning back to Dactyl.

"So, what brings you down here?"

"Business with a few other deputies helping to get the children ready for the big journey that's only a few seasons away," replied Dactyl.

"Oh, I see. Well, I hope the children in that group are well-behaved," sighed Pterano.

"They have, for the most part," said Dactyl, "Speaking of which, Cerusa has been very hesitant to let any of her kids join that group. Given how your nephew's been treated lately, I'd gladly recommend it."

"Dactyl, I'm not sure if Petrie's fit for a group like that," said Pterano.

Petrie gulped with dread upon hearing that, and he wrapped the end of Pterano's wing around himself. He couldn't bear the thought of being in a group with a bunch of children who all hated him just for what he was.

"Nonsense. It'll be perfect for him once you give him some time," insisted Dactyl, "Shielding himself in the nest forever isn't going to work, you know."

"I'll have to consult my sister on that," said Pterano, "I may be your deputy, but I'm not doing this without Cerusa's approval. Might I point out that they are her children, not mine."

"Do what you have to do. I'm sure she'll agree to it," said Dactyl, "It's for the best for everyone. Now then, I'd best be off. Good day."

"Good day to you, too, Dactyl," replied Pterano as the leader got a running start and flew off.

A shaky sensation on his wing brought Pterano's attention back to his shivering nephew. He seemed so frightened, and perhaps there was good reason for it.

There was no way Petrie would possibly be able to fit in such a group setting like that. He would surely become the target of bullying for the other children almost immediately. The last thing Pterano wanted was to put Petrie into such a position, and he was certain that Cerusa would not approve of Dactyl's idea. She would protest it to no end and do whatever it took to make sure Petrie would not be mercilessly picked on so frequently just because of what he was.

"M-me no want to b-be in t-th-that," stuttered Petrie.

"There, there, Petrie," soothed Pterano, picking up and hugging his nephew, "I'll speak to your mother about it and see what she thinks about it. To be honest, I'm sure she'd feel better if she and I were teaching you rather than somebody else."

Petrie couldn't think of any way to respond to that. He just shivered in fright like he was seeking protection from some hideous monster.

"Why don't you and I find some lunch for the others?" suggested Pterano, hoping to brighten his mood for at least a little while.

Petrie perked up and nodded his head with a worried look. Pterano knew this was going to linger on him for as long as he had reason to fear ending up in such a situation, but he wanted to take his mind off of it by any means necessary in order to keep the negative thoughts away.

With a wink and a smile, Pterano set Petrie back down and wrapped a wing around his back as they ventured around the forest to find some tree stars.


Just as lunchtime came, the two Flyers made their way back to the nest. Cerusa was already there, as were the other children, who all sneered at Petrie, causing him to wince and look away.

"Ahem," coughed Cerusa, turning the kids away from their brother, and she turned to her brother, "How were things?"

"Things went okay," said Pterano, "Petrie is doing fine."

Cerusa took one look at each of them and could tell that Pterano wasn't exactly being truthful. He seemed to be hiding something he was hesitant to tell her, and it could only be something about Petrie that just might be dreadful.

"You sure your morning was fine?" she said suspiciously.

Pterano sighed and walked up to her sister, "I need to talk to you for a moment."

"That would be possible if we could trust the kids," moaned Cerusa.

"We might have to. It's important and I can't delay this subject," insisted Pterano.

Cerusa let out a deep breath of despair, and she looked down at her children.

"I want you all to stay right here and eat your lunch. Your uncle and I have something important to discuss," she told them.

"Okay," the children replied, although Cerusa wasn't sure if they really meant it.

Pterano set down the tree stars he and Petrie had collected, and all five kids each took one, leaving plenty left over for a later dinner.

Petrie sat as far away from his siblings as possible while he nervously watched his mother and uncle step onto a branch sticking out from their nest.

"Alright, Pterano. Tell me what this is all about," said Cerusa impatiently.

Petrie simply watched as Pterano briefly glanced at him worryingly and brought his beak against Cerusa's head to whisper something to him. The two went on whispering to each other, and with each second that passed, Petrie couldn't help but notice his mother becoming more frantic. He knew right then what this private conversation was about.

"WHAT!?" Cerusa suddenly shrieked loudly, making all five kids jump from shock.

"What's Mom so upset about now?" whispered Pearlwing.

"How am I supposed to know?" hissed Donnie, "She's always upset."

Petrie took no notice and just stared at his mother. She was hyperventilating as if she had just fled from a Sharptooth. She appeared to be so frightened of whatever her brother had just told her.

The little Flyer imagined that at that moment, things were only about to go from bad to worse …

Yeeeah, it has not been an easy time for our favorite Flyer pal, and now that he may end up being forced into a Mr. Thicknose-esque group setting filled with other children that will more than likely torture him to no end, how will Petrie be able to cope with such a situation? Will Cerusa manage to talk them out of forcing Petrie in, or is it an unavoidable scenario? This chapter may not have provided much in terms of pace, but I've at least established who the herd leader is, and we've got some spotlight on Petrie and Pterano's uncle/nephew relationship. For those of you who've seen LBT VII, I'm sure you all know how tragic this foreshadowing will be.

I deeply apologize for how long you've had to wait for this chapter. So many broken promises. Firstly, I was so distracted by other things happening in life, most notably a health scare in October that landed me in the hospital (and no, it wasn't you-know-what). Also, this story was entered for the 2020 Fanfiction Awards despite not being finished, and I didn't want to update it in the midst of the voting period because I thought it wouldn't be fair. However, Windows Update failures have occasionally left my laptop in periods of limbo, and it's quite clear I'll have to back everything up and reinstall Windows, so I wanted to go ahead and publish this chapter while I still had a chance.

With that being said, this will obviously be my last chapter of 2020, but the story will continue in early 2021. So until then, have a good holiday season, but more importantly, wash your hands, stay safe and shop safely. Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

[rhombus]

Well, Petrie now seems to be on the cusp of a new experience - that of group education.  For some people such an environment can be beneficial for socialization and their education, but it also has some obvious drawbacks for those who are socially awkward.  Considering Petrie's current situation, however, I think that we can see where this is going...

As for the remainder of the chapter it is nice to see Petrie's mother considering his self-esteem as it relates to his speech issues, though in light of the group learning process it seems that his self-esteem might nonetheless take a hit anyway.  I am curious if Pterano and Cerusa will now have a frank discussion on their two different teaching strategies.

And, of course, throughout this all the coming struggle seen in the first film looms in the distance.  I look forward to seeing how these events come together to shape Petrie's perspective.

[Anagnos]

Well... things are certainly going from bad to worse as the story progresses. Not only is Cerusa starting to question her abilities as a suitable parent to her children, now that the topic of learning to fly came up, Petrie is in a very grievous disadvantage, unlike his peers. Immediately after the thought was brought up by the herd leader, I already suspected that Cerusa would not take it well. She is aware of the problems that could arise from it, and because of that is very hesitant to even consider it.

Petrie's popularity among the herd continues to plummet at a steady pace, none of which is his own fault. The only thing that is likely keeping him sane right now is that he at least has his mother and uncle there for him. But that will not last. It was interesting to see that Pterano already seems to have a very unhealthy obsession with the Stone of Cold Fire. His obsession likely became something else after he was banished from the herd following the events of the Great Earthshake.

There certainly was a fair amount of foreshadowing in this chapter. Yes, I saw what you did with the famous quote of the rainbowfaces. However, I think it fits very well here. I'm a bit anxious to see what will happen next time, but we'll have to wait patiently until that time comes. All in good time.