After a full night journey, Pterano was tired and Taylen wasn't much better. The little Egg-Stealer's gait became slower each step and his pale eyes looked a little duller, but he plodded on, nonetheless. Pterano had to admire the young one's persistence. He hadn't said a word of complaint since they started this adventure, just merely voiced questions or concerns like: why were you banished? The flyer frowned. That explanation alone had cost them half the night.
But now the Bright Circle had welcomed the world with its light, and the lack of sleep caught up to both dinosaur relatively quickly. "Sir?" Taylen spoke up hesitantly.
Pterano looked down at his companion. "Yes?"
"Um, how long until we stop?" Taylen turned a rather desperate eye towards the flyer, indicating he wanted to stop that minute, but was too timid to say it.
Pterano sighed. "We can… stop now, I suppose," he suggested, figuring it best for the both of them. He banked sharply, dropped to the ground and took note of their surroundings. They had made some progress traveling through the dry plains. Pterano recognized the green haze in the distance as the grasslands the far walkers had traveled through the day before. They would be back at the Valley before too long, at least two or three days of solid travel, provided he or Taylen could keep up this pace.
But there was a problem. Their resting place was completely exposed. There was no cover around for at least another two miles. Pterano nervously sucked in his breath as he tried not to think of the predators that roamed these parts. He hadn't seen any so far with the far walkers, but a giant band of dinosaurs was quite different than an aging flyer and a pint-sized Egg-Stealer on their own. He turned to look at his little companion.
But Taylen had obviously not taken any note of their present situation as he had simply curled himself up into a tight little ball at the flyer's feet and seemed to have fallen asleep on the spot. Pterano sighed and reluctantly bent to wake the youngster. "Ahem, Taylen?" He whispered gently, poking the little dinosaur's dappled beige back.
Taylen stirred, mumbled something. Pterano tried again, giving him a slight push. Taylen's pale yellow eyes opened with some effort. "Wha isit?" He murmured. "I thought you said we could stop," the dinosaur sounded upset.
Pterano hastily defended himself. "We - we can, but not here. See?" he waved a talon at their surroundings. "We're completely unsafe right now. A fast biter could come right along now and decide to have a bit of breakfast while we'd be snoozing away." He tried to keep his voice level, but the panic was all too real.
Taylen frowned, disappointed. "But I'm so tired," he protested softly. Pterano was tired too, but since age and experience were on his side, flying straight through the night didn't bother him as much. His system could adapt rather quickly; but as for Taylen, the youngster was still in the stages of maturing and he would most likely need several breaks from time to time to rest and refuel.
Pterano frowned. They wouldn't make any progress with continued pit stops. Realizing what that meant he had to do, the flyer sighed and asked. "Taylen? How heavy are you?"
The Egg-Stealer jerked to a stop after getting to his shaky feet and flashed the big flyer a doubtful frown. "Um, I dunno, not very heavy I think."
"Can you give me an estimate?"
Taylen's snout scrunched up with confusion. "Wha's that mean?"
Pterano rolled his eyes. "An estimate; tell me something that's about as heavy as you are!" He didn't mean to sound so impatient, but it was vital that they got to cover and fast and since Taylen was just about drained – the poor lad could barely stand straight – Pterano realized he was going to have to carry him.
Taylen got the gist and focused his tired mind on the flyer's query. "Um, well, I'd say I'm much lighter than, say..." he looked around. "That rock there," he pointed. A massive boulder met Pterano's eyes.
The flyer sighed. Of course you are, he thought grumpily. But shaking his head he bent in front of the little Egg-Stealer and gestured that he mount.
Taylen stepped back, a little surprised. "You-you're gonna carry me?" He breathed.
Pterano frowned. "Well, what's wrong? Didn't you jump on my back last night as I was about to fly off? What are you scared of? Hop on!"
Taylen ducked his head meekly and gave a nimble leap to settle on Pterano's back. The flyer grunted as he spread his wings and flapped into the air. Taylen was about as heavy as a nest full of eggs – really, the flyer was surprised at how light he was.
The Egg-Stealer yelped as he saw them rise up off the ground and quickly wrapped both of his scrawny arms around the flyer's neck. "G-great nest-egg!" He croaked. "We-we're, up! In the sky!" He risked a glance downwards and yelped again, seizing an even tighter hold around Pterano's collar and planting his feet against the flyer's back.
Pterano let out a rather strangled cry of protest as he struggled to remain in the air. He shook his head, trying to loose the panicked little dinosaur's arms from his neck but Taylen only held on tighter. "Erk!" Pterano gasped, bucking his head. "Taylen! You're choking me! Just grab my shoulders, you're fine!"
Taylen slowly released his death-grip on the flyer's neck and then clamped his claws around the flyer's scapulars, cringing with terror. Pterano softened up a bit, realizing just how scared the youngster was. "Hey," he called back. "Taylen, look below!" The Egg-Stealer peeked with one eye over the tip of Pterano's wing. "See that green in the distance? Those are grasslands. We're almost out of the dry plains, lad!" The flyer called back cheerfully. Taylen relaxed then, looking down at the baked yellows and browns of the dry plains, broken up here and there with dead vegetation, and up ahead, the cool, green sliver of the incoming grasslands.
More at ease now, Taylen got to enjoy the ride and remembered that he was in fact dead tired. He snuggled against the flyer's shoulder blades and fell asleep. Pterano, sensing this, steadied his wingbeats down to a gentle rustle and flew on, small tender grin playing across his beak.
Aww... nothing like a little terrifying joyride to put one to sleep :3
Taylen is my OC, Pterano is copyright to Universal Studios
