Revenge
Chapter 6: Unexpected
"Is there something wrong?" Marion asked.
"No." David said coldly.
Zippo sighed. Something was wrong but what?
"I'm going to see Freefall," David said shoving past Karl as he entered the room.
"What is with him?" Karl wanted to know.
"I don't know," Marion said defeated, "I asked him but he got angry."
26 honked.
"26 says he seems angry at us two for some reason," Karl frowned, "Why?"
Lily who was sitting at a table sighed.
"I think it's got something with Marion's… um…" Lily thought for a while, "Situation." She added delicately.
Karl's gaze turned to Marion.
"Situation?"
Marion coloured and mumbled something.
"What?"
Zippo caught Marion's pleading look and jumped up from his chair.
"Karl can you help me with…" the duck-billed dinosaur searched for a lie, "Oh yes! I want to ask you about learning to understand 26."
Karl nodded but his gaze was still fixed on Marion.
"If there is a problem, you have to tell me," he demanded, scowling as he left with Zippo.
Marion's shoulders slumped as Karl left.
"This is getting complicated," Lily noted.
"It is going to get harder before it gets easier, right?"
Lily didn't answer her friend but the answer was obvious. The situation just got worse.
~*~*~
'CHERRY!'
Cherry dimly heard Sharpbeak yell her name but she couldn't move. That skybax must have got her pretty bad. She was falling. She saw Sharpbeak diving for her and wondered drowsily if he was going to catch her. She was so tired. She could feel blood staining her shirt. Wouldn't it be simple to just fall asleep?
'CHERRY!'
~*~*~
Sharpbeak dived pumping his wings powerfully trying to reach her. He could see she had lost a good deal of blood. With a fierce screech it rounded on the skybax driving it away. It cost him precious seconds. He sped downward using every single drop of energy he had.
GOT HER! His beak closed around her ripped shirt with the sleeping Cherry in his beak he struggled to stay in the air. Struggling he winged through the air as the skybaxes took chase.
~*~*~
Freefall nudged his friend's shoulder. David knew his albino friend was wondering what was wrong with him.
"It's nothing," he muttered stroking his friend's beak.
Freefall squawked and looked at him. David rubbed his eyes with his hands and sighed.
"I can't understand it! WHY WOULD MARION CHOOSE KARL OVER ME!?!" he yelled.
Freefall watched his friend's pain and rubbed his beak against his arm.
"THIS SUCKS!" David snarled, "Why? Why? GOD DAMN IT! WHY?"
David could feel his anger subside. He sighed. What was the use? Just forget about them and move on. He wished it was just that simple.
"Why him?" he murmured into his friend's ear, "Why Karl?"
~*~*~
Karl scowled.
"You know Zippo? You can't lie very well."
Zippo remained silent and shuffled his feet nervously.
"What is wrong with Marion?" Karl demanded.
"I simply don't know."
"What's wrong with David?"
"I have no answers for you."
Karl scowled even harder.
"What is it with everybody?"
26 honked.
"I know this is getting weird," Karl replied still staring at Zippo.
Zippo refused to meet his gaze. The dinosaur sighed and sat down dejectedly.
"I wish I knew as well."
Dinosaur and human sat brooding over everybody's strange behaviour.
~*~*~
David stood up determinedly. He would get some straight answers. If not from Karl or Marion he will ask that girl, Lily. He had to get to the bottom of this. Why did Marion choose Karl?
~*~*~
Sharpbeak sighed wearily. Do those humans ever give up? His wings were tired and it didn't help he had to carry Cherry in his beak. Who knew a small human would weigh so much?
Cherry stirred but fell back to sleep.
Sharpbeak almost gagged as the stench of Cherry's blood filled his mouth and nostrils. Determinedly he gripped Cherry harder and ignored the pain racking his body. He had to get rid of those skybaxes but how?
~*~*~
Marion walked down the hall. She had spent a restless night worrying about David's behaviour. She spotted Lily who looked like she had got even less sleep than her. She hurried to join her friend but someone stepped from around the corner and blocked her.
"Umm… good morning David," Marion murmured nervously.
"Why did you choose him?" David demanded glaring at her with bloodshot eyes.
"What?"
"Give a straight answer," David growled, "Why did you choose him?"
"I… I..." Marion stammered.
"What was it that he has that I don't have?" David's voice rose slightly.
Several humans and dinosaurs who were walking past stared at them. David lowered his voice and glared at her.
"Why did you choose him?" he whispered almost sadly.
Marion stared at him confused. David growled in frustration and stormed away.
What was that?
~*~*~
Cherry woke up and opened her eyes.
"WAHHHH!!!" she closed her eyes tightly.
'Are you awake?'
"No, I'm sleep talking," Cherry muttered sarcastically, "Where are we?"
'Flying away from those skybaxes.'
Cherry groaned.
"They're still there?" Cherry winced as her whole back throbbed painfully, "Oww…"
Sharpbeak was worried.
'You lost a good deal of blood.'
"I know," Cherry groaned, "I feel… drained."
'Try to sleep. I'll get rid of them.'
Cherry nodded but didn't answer. She closed her eyes and willed herself to sleep.
~*~*~
Marion stared at her breakfast. Her mouth was dry and she felt exhausted. She yawned and glanced over the table at Karl and Zippo. Both looked worried and sleepy.
"Breathe deep," Lily said softly as she slid into the chair beside Marion.
Karl grunted but didn't look up as he bit into his bread. Marion yawned again.
"Aren't we all wonderfully cheerful," Lily continued wryly.
Zippo coughed dryly and sipped his tea.
"Are you feeling well?" Lily asked Marion, worriedly.
Marion sighed.
"Umm… Lily... Can I speak to you?"
"I suppose..."
"Alone?"
Lily looked around nervously.
"Why?"
Marion nudged her friend. Lily's face brightened and then a frown appeared. She nodded slowly and the two women left.
"We should follow them," Zippo commented.
"Too tired," Karl muttered stifling a yawn.
"Where is David?"
~*~*~
"Are you happy now?" David asked bitterly..
"I have no idea what you are going on about!" Karl snapped angrily.
What was wrong with David? He was furious at him… what had he done?
"Don't act innocent. Is that how you won Marion? By pretending?"
Karl roughly grabbed his brother's shoulder and shook him.
"I have no idea what you're going on about," Karl repeated his voice rising angrily.
David angrily shook off his brother's hands.
"Don't you dare touch me."
~*~*~
Sharpbeak screeched in pain as the skybax drove its beak into his shoulder.
"SHARPBEAK!"
'Sorry…'
Sharpbeak's beak loosened as he began lost consciousness. Cherry felt herself fall and could see the ground rushing up at her. She managed to scream one last time.
"SHARPBEAK!"
~*~*~
David glared at Karl.
"Go away," he said coldly.
Karl opened his mouth to yell at him but was stopped when a scream echoed through the area.
"SHARPBEAK!"
David and Karl immediately looked up. David sucked in his breath as he realised that the flying dinosaur was a badly injured pterandon. Karl immediately spotted the girl and gasped in surprise.
"DAVID!" Karl yelled already sprinting away.
David immediately stuck his fingers in his mouth and whistled. Nearby resting in a skybax roost, Freefall perked up. With a powerful pump of his wings the dinosaur took flight. It too saw the injured pterandon and voiced a screech of surprise.
"FREEFALL! HUMAN!" David bellowed.
Karl who was running to the Farm smiled grimly as he heard his brother yell for Freefall. He just made it inside when he heard a familiar voice.
'Thank god,' he thought, panting slightly.
"One should not rush, Karl," Rosemary said serenely as she walked past.
"Matriarch! There is a pterandon outside!"
Rosemary's face turned to that of surprise as she dashed outside with amazing speed. She looked up at the sky as the skybaxes continued to harass the pterandon. She saw Freefall grab the falling girl and gasped.
"What is going on?" she whispered, "DAVID!"
She saw David's head turned around and sighed with relief.
"TELL THE SKYBAXES TO LEAVE THE PTERANDON ALONE!"
David yelled as loud as he could as Freefall landed beside him and dropped the girl onto the ground. The skybax pilots seem to hear and backed off a little. With a final weary croak the pterandon fell out of the sky. Rosemary had already raced to the fallen girl.
"Oh my poor girl," she murmured as she saw the girl's many scratches, peck marks and bleeding wounds, "We have to get her inside now!"
"We have to get her inside now!"
Cherry heard the words dimly before she succumbed to unconsciousness.