The next few days of traveling kept Brooklyn very busy, though sometimes he needed to be careful of hurting his still healing stomach. He had been in the wilderness area of Montana for a time but could tell he was nearing the border.
Brooklyn was grateful to leave the state he was kidnapped in, hoping he could make it home before Goliath decided to replace him. His supplies were still doing alright, but he knew he would have to restock soon. That meant going into a city or a town which he didn't want to do so much, afraid of Anthony finding him in a place with other humans.
At one point, he wanted to rest though, spotting another empty cave. Brooklyn ventured in there, before eventually deciding that he couldn't sleep so much despite having bags under his eyes.
No, can't rest today, Brook decided, even when he yawned. He took one of his last sandwiches out, seeing only two left in there. Being without his stone sleep increased his hunger more, too.
Brooklyn ate up one of the sandwiches, savoring every bit of it before heading outside again.
While gliding into dawn he suddenly saw something like a town; the town of Bismarck. Brooklyn halted in his gliding then, eyes dilated a little at the town showing on the horizon and quickly changed his direction another way. He panted shakily from nearly going there. Sure, he was fine with Mark and Nora, but kids were different from adults who scared him more. His stomach had hurt too then from the fright he had as well.
The red male after a bit took to the air again away from the town, seeing a small river near it and decided to follow that instead of going into Bismarck. He knew he ought to feel ashamed from being timid about going to town but he couldn't help what he was feeling, tears coming out of his eyes while gliding.
I wish I had a travel companion, Brook thought miserably, loneliness growing like a tidal wave, everywhere around him feeling so big.
Hours later, near evening, Brooklyn kept up his pace, unaware of the clouds beginning to form. It got darker all around, making him notice, glancing up. It wasn't even 6:00 yet. He flinched from the sight of those clouds. Not now! He thought, as thunder suddenly rumbled in the sky, not wanting to get caught in a storm. It was too late though when the rain began to come, small drops falling on his head and causing Brook to cringe from it. He hated storms.
Brooklyn tried to ignore it. Weather won't stop him. He wouldn't stop no matter what, rain or no rain, flapping his wings as hard as he could to glide faster. But then his nerves got to him when lightning flashed up, and thunder boomed in his ears.
"No, no!" Brooklyn panted in fear, the rain pelting harder down on him now, soaking him all over and his bag. He hoped the last of the supplies wouldn't get too wet. Another thunderous boom rang in his head, making him cover his ears, feeling really scared, as a harsh wind struck him in his back, knocking him off balance.
"Ah!" He screamed, the wind continuing to beat on him as well as the rain soaking his hair, getting into his face, and blinding his vision.
That was it, he had to find some shelter and wait out this storm. It just wasn't safe to glide in this horrific storm. His belly was also cramping up from the stress of the struggle in the high wind. With the wind also making the rain come down so hard, the visibility to see was also hard.
Brooklyn had flown in this kind of weather many a time, but those times he was in more familiar surroundings. Now he was on his own and in unfamiliar turf.
He had to squint a lot to try to see even just in front of him. Rain soaked his hair and pack, plus his loincloth. Droplets fell off his body like crazy. It was a cold rain too. Brooklyn hoped he wouldn't get sick. It was late fall and getting cooler out. But it was still warm enough for this severe storm to strike.
Soon, the rain calmed just enough for the red gargoyle to spot a clearing among some trees and there was a building there. It looked run down but it was too good to pass up to get out of this storm.
Brooklyn instantly made beeline for the ground. When he landed, it was a great relief. His wings were feeling tired anyway. He instantly made a dash for the building he saw, hoping there were no humans around.
When he got a closer look, it was an old barn that had holes in the roof and the sides. But it would do. He tried to find a way inside it. He looked around for a hole big enough to enter, or a door. He soon found one on the south side of it, loose. He instantly pulled it open, and he went inside the barn. The door then fell off its hinges.
Brooklyn wasn't too surprised that it did. He couldn't help but chuckle at it. Then he turned his vision back to the barn. There were some drips inside it and some rain coming in from the outside, but there were dry areas too. He sighed. This would have to do until the storm passed.
As he looked around for a place to rest, he realized how tired he was. The rain had made him tired just trying to stay in the air. Now he was safely on the ground. With how run down this barn was, there was no way humans came here often, hopefully, at least not until after he left. And there were no animals in there either, aside from maybe small ones.
There was an old broken-down tractor in there and there were some straw bales in there for whatever reason. All barns at one point must have been used for animals. Brooklyn was just grateful to have a roof over his head right now.
There were constant booms outside from the thunder and flashes of lightning. They didn't echo in here at least.
With nowhere else but dirt to sit on, Brooklyn went to sit on the straw bales. These would have to do for a bed until after the storm passed. He then took off his soaked pack. He hoped his food was alright. He opened it up to check on the food. They were all in baggies anyway, but they were a little wet. Great. His photo got a bit wet too but he was able to shake it dry. Thankfully Brooklyn could still see his little friends in it, smiling slightly before putting it away.
The red male took out a sandwich, an apple, and a pudding with a plastic spoon to savor the little boredom and hunger he was starting to feel. He ate his sandwich first, then the apple, saving the chocolate pudding for last.
He threw the apple core out then started to open the pudding. Then, there was a sound on the roof of the barn. It made Brook perk up. What was that?
Then it came more and more. It came constantly. "Great. Hail." Brooklyn muttered. "Glad I'm not out in it." He knew that hail could hurt.
The hail was small at first but soon, it turned into bigger pebbles. They were annoying on the barn roof. Brook just ate his pudding, watching warily. He had his wings crossed over his shoulders to try to get warm now that his body was just trying to dry itself.
It hailed for a little bit. Brooklyn finished his pudding and threw it away. He kept the spoon. The hail soon stopped and it was just the heavy downpour outside again.
Listening to the rain outside made Brooklyn long even more for home. It still also reminded him of when he had collided with the other barn at his kidnapper's facility and that made him get his memory back.
"I'm still sorry for taking off like I did, Goliath," Brooklyn said. He couldn't help it that some tears came to his eyes. He was very lonely, and he clutched his arms to each other, bringing his legs up too. He shivered a bit from feeling a little cold. His hair and loincloth were still wet.
He wondered how his family were doing without him. Had they given up looking for him? He had felt so unwanted before he ran away. Everyone had had someone else in the clan but him it seemed before he left. He had been lonely for too long.
Had Goliath replaced him in his title with one of his brothers or Angela? Brooklyn really also longed to hear Hudson's wisdom again. At times, the elder gargoyle had been a better teacher than Goliath. Hudson didn't lose his temper as easily as Goliath did.
Brooklyn had looked to both Goliath and Hudson as father role models. Most of what he knew he had learned from them to be a great leader, and he also had his own ideas too. But would he get his chance to even prove he could be a leader when he got home? He wanted to get home soon.
Even with the storm still going heavily outside, all this thinking and his eyes bothering him from feeling tired and when he got rain in his eyes in the rain, it was making him tired. There wasn't much to do here in this rundown old barn.
Brooklyn pushed his bag aside but keeping it close, he laid down on the straw bales, using his wings like a blanket to try to keep warm. He would be nice and dry hopefully by the time he woke up. He also hoped the storm would be past. Sometimes weather could be persistent and drag on longer than expected. It wasn't like he had a tv on him to know the weather report.
Sleeping was just the best next thing and conserve his energy for his next attempts at gliding home. He had to build up his strength. He was exhausted from gliding longer than he should have today. Now was a good time to get some rest. He listened to the rain and thunder a little more and his eyes finally drifted closed.
…
In another county in Montana, Anthony and his men had been looking for sightings of anything weird in the skies or around the local communities. He would get his Diablo back if it was the last thing he did!
One man came forward. "Boss, how will we find our gargoyle if his tracker is gone?"
Anthony gave a little smirk. "We'll find a way. My little pet won't run away from me forever. And I will ensure he never goes home. But if he does, I have plans, plans to get him away from his precious family of freaks." He said evilly.