Hey I was watching The Rescuers Down Under and my fav part is the beginning where Marahute takes Cody flying. So I thought about what happens to them when he's older.
Disclaimer: I don't own The Rescuers, Cody or Marahute…or the scenery. But I did create the new names and the character Rose.
"The Last Flight"
Chapter 1
(New Arrivals)
"Cody, where are we going?" said the woman of 17 with long red hair in a pony tail. Her red hair had gotten her the name, Rose. She was dressed in khaki shorts and a light blue tank that contrasted her hair. Her look was completed with black and brown hiking boots.
She looked over the edge of the canyon to her, blonde headed, 18 yr old, boyfriend repelling down the face of the cliff. He was dressed in a red tee with denim short and hiking boots.
"Isn't this a little dangerous without ropes?" she asked. She wasn't afraid of heights or slipping. She and Cody were expert rock climbers but still. They had recently come back from Sydney where they both attended Sydney Institute of Technology for summer break. Cody had invited her to his childhood home for 3 weeks. Some of the things that Cody told her were a little unbelievable.
flashback
"Cody, what are you talking about?" she had asked him while he talked about his adventures in the Outback.
"Yeah, he really tried to feed me to the crocodiles!" Cody said while walking thru campus toward their next class.
Rose moved her mouth to the side in disbelief. She thought he was just trying to impress her. "I'm sorry Cody; I have a hard time believing you were captured by a poacher for a rare giant bird and he was going to kill you off, and at the last moment this giant eagle saved you."
Cody's face fell in disappointment then it brightened. "Alright." He said. "I admit that the story is a bit far a fetched. So how bout I prove it to you. This summer come with me to our cabin out in the outback. I'll show you." He said with his arms crossed in front of him.
Rose smiled "Alright, your on, I'll go."
end of flashback
'So now I'm here' she thought. She sighed before starting down the face of the cliff. "You'd better not look up!" she yelled down to him.
"Sorry." Came the reply.
She rolled her eyes and continued down ward. She heard a thump and looked down to see that Cody had landed on a small ledge before he disappeared into the face of the cliff. She blinked and continued until she fell into the ledge as well. She looked around to see that part of the cliff had been scooped out to provide a hole of sorts. She followed Cody thru the leaves, sticks and feathers, till he stopped in the center and kneeled down as a small lump of grass. She bent over behind him propping her hands on her knees. "What is it?" she asked.
He moved the dirt to reveal 4 huge ostrich sized eggs. Cody smiled then slowly frowned.
"These must be her last eggs." He said sadly.
"Whose eggs?" Rose asked.
Suddenly a shadow fell across the two. They both whipped around to face the opening of the nest. Cody smiled and stood up while Rose's eyes widened and she took a few steps back. A great golden eagle took up the entrance of the nest. Cody trotted toward the entrance of the ledge while Rose stared at the great golden eagle before her. Cody went up and hugged the great bird while the eagle ran her beak, carefully, thru his hair.
Rose's mouth opened and closed. "Cody…what are you doing?" she asked. 'That animal could murder us both.' She thought.
Cody smiled. "Rose, this is Marahute. She's the one I've told you about." He turned back to Marahute. Rose saw two tears escape Cody's eyes as he whispered to his childhood friend. "It's been so long girl, how are you? Where are Lightning, Arana and Kiah?" he asked still rubbing his face in the soft white feathers.
Rose stood there with her mouth open. "It's true." She said, still not believing it herself. Marahute turned her red eyes toward Rose, turned her head sideways in confusion then looked toward Cody. Cody walked toward Rose and took her hand. He dragged her toward Marahute and placed her hand on her neck, helping her stroke her. He let her go before going to stand on the other side of Marahute.
"Don't worry girl, she's a friend. She won't hurt you or your eggs."
The great eagle bobbed her head in understanding.
Rose's eyes widened. "She can understand you?" she asked still petting the soft feathers.
Cody nodded his head. "Yeah, she and I used to go flying all the time. But now I'm a bit heavier, and she can't carry me like she used to. We'll have to wait till Lightning or Arana gets here."
Marahute waddled over to the nest and settled herself over the eggs.
Cody smiled in peace. He saw Marahute look past him outside the nest. Cody looked behind him and Rose followed the motion. They saw a darker shade of gold flash across the gorge. Cody smiled again as the shape came closer to land on the landing. Rose gaped at the creature. This eagle was even bigger than Marahute; he looked at Cody and Rose before striding forward to settle beside his mate.
Rose crossed her arms. "This must be Goliath." She said matter-of-factly.
Cody nodded. After he was rescued from the crocodiles, by Bianca and Bernard, he flew over to McLeash's lair with Marahute to free all the animals. He found Goliath trapped in the back store room, trapped as Marahute had been trapped when Cody had first met her. He released him and watched the two reunite.
'Now their second set of eggs was almost ready to hatch.' Cody thought. He had been flying off to find food for his mate. He gave her the other half of rabbit he had captured before curling up and going to sleep. Rose smiled as Cody gave one last pet to Marahute and stood back up. Marahute gave one last head rub against Cody's leg. "You send Goliath to come get me when the eggs are about to hatch." He told her. She bowed her head as if to say 'of course'. He walked toward the lip of the crevice and put his fingers to his lips. He gave three piercing whistles. He turned to Rose with a shine in his eyes. "This is where the fun begins."
Rose smiled nervously as 3 golden flashed crossed the side of her vision. Suddenly Cody took a flying leap off the cliff edge and started to fall he flipped and spun in the air. Rose screamed until she saw one of the eagles fly toward him and just before he crashed into the ground the eagle came under him and caught him, taking him back up to the crevice where Rose was. "Come on Rose try it! It's exhilarating! Oh I almost forgot this is Lightning." he pointed at his ride while they did lazy circles in the air.
Rose gave him a fake smile. "I don't think so."
Cody gave her a sad, pleading face.
Rose sighed and looked into his eyes. She trusted Cody with her life, but this? "You promise they won't let me crash?" she asked.
Cody nodded. "I promise, they won't let you crash, they love this game. I'll make sure Arana catches you. She's an expert, almost as good as her mom."
Realization dawned on Rose's face. "Ah, so these are Marahute's kids."
Cody nodded. "Yep, I grew up with them; they're like siblings to me." He stroked the long feathers on Lightning's back as he flew in circles. "Lightning here is the closest to me, probably cause he's the only boy with 2 sisters."
Rose sighed again and walked to the side of the cliff. She bit her lip before going back into the cave. She looked back out, brought her hands up in fists and ran out to jump out into the canyon air in a Pocahontas pose. As beautiful and the bottom of the canyon looked she knew, that's not what was taking her breath away. As gravity started to take her she spread out her legs and arms and watched the gold streak start to fly under her. Just like Cody said, at the last second the soft yet hard body came under and she carefully gripped some feathers as Arana took her back to the top of the canyon.
She thought she would be taken back to the nest but instead Arana decided to take her over the canyon towards the forest. She caught a glimpse of Cody on Lightning and Kiah on both sides of her. She looked ahead of her and grinned at the sight of the forest and river under great hills of clouds as Arana took her up into the air. Cody came up beside her.
"Isn't this great?" he shouted over the wind whipping past them. In the fall Rose's hair tie had come off and now her hair was flying free.
She grinned back, tears of joy in her eyes. "This is amazing Cody! How could you tear yourself away from it?" she asked
Cody looked around "When I'm up here, I ask myself the same question."
Suddenly, simultaneously, both Lightning and Arana flipped them into the air and caught them by the arms. Rose screamed but at the same time in the back of her head knew that Arana would catch her. Cody laughed. Rose glared at him, before he looked down then back at Rose. "I've taught them a special course. The best part is yet to come."
As they took them down toward the river Cody's and Rose's feet dragged thru the water, Arana and Lightning let them go before pushing behind them toward what Rose saw was a waterfall. She looked to Cody and saw him spread his arms straight out. Rose did the same. Rose felt as if her grin and tears couldn't express the happiness she felt as the wind stroked her hair and the land flashed underneath them as they both leaped of the cliff in sheer joy and exuberance and landed on the eagle's backs. Rose was still lying down but she looked over to see Cody standing on Lighting's back like he was surfing. Rose smiled. She could almost see the small kid she had seen in all the pictures smiling back at her.
They decided to call it a day and told the eagles to take them home. On the way to Cody's cabin Rose crawled forward to look into Arana's eyes. Instead of Marahute's red eyes, she was looking into large emerald green eyes. She smiled and said "Arana." out loud. The name felt good on her lips. She rubbed her face against the golden feathers. And as they touched down and Rose slid off her back, a golden feather fell to the ground. Arana picked it up in her beak an offered it to her. Rose smiled and accepted the gift hugging Arana's neck in thank you.
Cody watched the whole thing while leaning against Lightning, smiling. He was glad that his….'girl who is a friend' he thought, was happy and had bonded to one of the rarest creatures on Earth. As they watched the three eagles take off Cody put his arm around Rose's shoulders. "So, what do you think?" he asked her, resting his head against hers.
She smiled up at him. "I don't think words could describe it. It's like all I feel is happiness, glorious happiness."
Cody sighed. "That sounds about right." They both walked back into the cabin, exhausted. The sun was just starting to set, that made it around 5 o'clock. Yet they both knew that it didn't matter. They were in the middle of nowhere, and they didn't have to go by any rules.
Hey, hope you enjoy. There will be more; I have a whole story planned out. Don't forget to R&R.
SailorKMoonie
