“What did you do that for?!” Guido squawked in astonishment. Pangaea hadn’t even tried to avoid hitting the tree.
Pangaea shrugged as much as his outstretched wings would allow him to. “Didn’t know how to steer,” he replied matter-of-factly. “You should know that better than anyone,” he added, referencing his earlier airborne collision with Guido. “I kinda know how to make it less painful when I crash into things, usually. Presenting more surface area to whatever you hit dissipates the impact. If I’d hit that thing head-on, I’d probably be dead.” He glanced down at Screech, who appeared to be cursing in Sharptooth for having not been able to grab Pangaea in time when he had struck the tree trunk.
“Besides,” he added, “I can’t maintain my glide forever. Even with the wind holding me aloft, I’m losing a bit of height every minute. Wait too long and I’ll be low enough for Screech to grab me.”
“Wow,” Guido murmured, “You were wrong;
you know more about flying than
I do!”
“Well, I know about how it works,” Pangaea replied modestly, “but I haven’t had a chance to put my knowledge to any use till now. I don’t really know how to handle myself in the air.”
At that moment, Screech made another attempt to snatch Pangaea out of the sky. Jumping atop a large boulder to add a little extra height to his jump, the fast biter sprang into the air, his fang-filled jaws clicking together inches from the wind-whipped plumes on the glider’s tail.
“Yiiieee!” Pangaea yelped, “See what I mean? I almost lost some tail feathers on that one!”
“Wait a minute...feathers?” Guido asked, glancing sideways at his wings, “Is that what these tickly...stickly...prickly things are called?”
“Uh...yeah!” Pangaea replied, “I never told you, did I? That’s what they’re called. They’re really just scales, basically: elongated, vaned, barbed scales. They’re not that weird, really. Sharpbeaks have ëem. So do those squawky yellow flyers you see around here sometimes. And where I come from, there’s over 9,000 species of–”
A sudden clashing of teeth inches below them reminded them that Screech had not given up the chase.
“Perhaps we should save the discussions for later,” Pangaea suggested.
“Y–Y–Yeah...” Guido agreed shakily, “If there
is a later!”
“You don’t have to worry,” Pangaea assured him, “Screech isn’t interested in you. He wants
me. Usually I try my best to avoid making enemies, but this time...well...it seems I failed miserably. Didn’t have much choice, I s’pose. It was either gain an enemy or lose a friend. I’ll settle for the first anytime, thank you.”
“Yeah, but did you have to make him so MAD? He’s trying to kill you now!”
“I dunno if there’s
ever a time Screech isn’t trying to kill somebody,” Pangaea replied, “It was either me or Amy, and I figured I was the one in the better position to escape. Besides, what was I supposed to do, hit him with my tail? Might as well use a featherduster as a war club.”
“Y-Yeah,” Guido agreed, looking down at the raging fast biter, “It’s not exactly a fair fight, is it?”
“That’s why we need to keep gliding. We’ve gotta find somebody who
can take on this guy. As long as Screech doesn’t find a way to jump any higher, and I can keep on using trees to stay as high up as possible, we should be okay.”
Famous last words, he thought soberly.
"Wait a minute!" Guido yelled, "The wind's changing!"
Pangaea thought fast. If the wind shifted in the other direction, than he and Guido would be flying INTO it instead of with it, and would descend to within Screech's grasp much more rapidly. "Quick!" he shouted, motioning with his head to a tree ahead of them, "Land on that treeóthe way you saw me doóand jump back off in the direction of the wind!"
Alighting on the tree (only somewhat less awkwardly than Pangaea had before), Pangaea and Guido used its branches like springboards to propel themselves back into the wind. They had now reversed direction completely, and were gliding back the way they came, Screech still following close behind.
(OOC: Chronicler: I'd think that breaking the one-post-per-day rule is exactly what you SHOULD do if you're falling behind; if I'm not mistaken, the major reason Rat Lady instituted the rule was so that slower and/or less frequent posters could keep up. Also, I'm on my way to meet up with you now; in my next post I'll have my characters show up at the site of your battle with Thud, and then Screech will be all yours.
)
