Chapter 3: A familiar face at a Caucus Race

Gordon remembered that one time Thomas wanted to fly. Well, Gordon could clearly state that he hated his experience of flying, and flying in general.

"I have no idea how Harold can get used to this. I'd rather be stuck on rails than this horrid flying."

The cloud was getting bigger and turning into a dark grey tone. The tiny blue engine - Gordon would prefer big instead of tiny but it didn't seem appropriate in this situation - felt a drop of rain on his face. In fact, his body felt like he was soaked in water.

"If the steam is water that is evaporated, it'll be light enough to form a cloud. If the cloud becomes heavy so will the steam and soon, it'll turn back into water. Which will mean it will rain soon… and I'll fall along with the rain!"

As he deduced, Gordon began to drop down.

Unlike the hole, Gordon could tell that it wouldn't be such a long fall... but a much harder landing.

Instead of cold, hard earth that would shatter Gordon into pieces - do note that Gordon's imagination had got the better of him - he landed on fluffy pile of feathers. The pile was actually a bird, however Gordon wasn't even sure what species it was.

The bird squawked in surprise, causing Gordon to fall onto the ground. Luckily, he landed perfectly on his wheels but Gordon couldn't say that he'd felt any pain. The bird wasn't as lucky. Distracted, it crashed - not very gracefully - on to the ground. Having realised that he didn't rely on tracks at the moment, Gordon chuffed up to the animal. His friends barely see Gordon's sympathetic side, but those feelings did exist in Gordon.

"Are you alright?" he asked, hoping for any sign of life. He would feel very guilty if there were none, but it wasn't entirely his fault.

"I was, until you crashed into me!" snapped the bird as it struggled to retain its posture. It appeared to be an eagle with navy and indigo feathers but the voice - particularly his accent - made it very easy for Gordon to identify.

"Vinnie?!" gasped Gordon. The eagle was indeed some version of the North-American engine from the Great Railway Show. He wasn't too familiar with Vinnie, but he had heard enough from the other engines. Specifically Thomas and Phillip, who weren't too fond of the bully.

The rude bird only responded with a wary eye, staring at Gordon.

"What are you?" demanded Vinnie. If he had asked 'Who are you?' instead of 'What are you?', Gordon wouldn't be so offended. "What am I? Pardon me, but would you like it if I asked the same question in that tone? I would've said that you're a brainless buffalo with those manners!"

"How dare you call me a brainless buffalo, you insect!" growled Vinnie - though Gordon wasn't sure how birds could growl. The eagle's shadow surrounded the tiny engine as Vinnie prepared to attack. "You'll pay for that."

Before Gordon could move, Vinnie was suddenly smacked away to the side, causing another embarrassing fall.

"Vinnie! How many times do I have to tell you to be nice?"

The creature that saved Gordon was an magenta elephant with floral decorations, which reminded him of another engine from the Great Railway Show.

"Ashima?"

The elephant smiled gently at Gordon, as if to calm down a frightened and shy animal. Gordon was more confused than frightened.

"Well, what's your name little one?" Ashima asked politely. However, Gordon didn't like being labeled 'little'.

"My name is Gordon. And if you wish to know what I am, I'm a steam engine." Gordon explained, so that there was no misunderstanding.

"A steam engine?" asked Vinnie, who was recovering from a hard fall, "You looked like a funny caterpillar to me. Why are you so small? And how did you hit me in the sky?"

Vinnie was going to make a further remark, but he saw Ashima raised her trunk as if she warning the bird to choose his words carefully, and he was wise enough to not say anymore.

"I'm actually very big in my real size," explained Gordon, "Apparently, I shrink or grow depending on how much water I have in my boiler. And right now, my boiler is empty."

"Ah, then I can help." Ashima placed her trunk in a nearby lake to suck up the water. She then withdrew it and sprayed Gordon with water, being careful not to make the tiny engine fly away with too much force.

Gordon did not appreciate how his boiler had been filled, but grateful for the kind action; he remained silent.

Gordon's boiler wasn't very full, but he grew until he was half of Ashima's height. He decided that his current size would have to do for now, but was glad that he was bigger than Vinnie. At least he could have some dignity. The eagle was not intimidated whatsoever.

"Well, we better hurry to the meeting." said Ashima. "We're not bringing him along, are we?" grumpily asked Vinnie. Gordon did not like that he was referred in such a grim tone.

"We might as well Vinnie. Flying Dodo might want to meet Gordon." reasoned Ashima.

"Who?"

"Some flightless bird who's somehow in charge of our meetings," explained Vinnie, "If they had to pick a leader they should've chose me."

'I can see why they didn't.' thought Gordon. "If he can't fly, why is he called 'Flying Dodo'?"

"He's actually very fast, surprisingly. He believes that he flies because of the wind rushing through his feathers, thus, he won't respond to any other name except 'Flying Dodo'." Ashima answered.

When the three arrived to the supposed meeting, there were a number of animals who resembled competitors from the Great Railway Show.

Axel of Belgium was a lion with black fur and a red mane with yellow streaks.

Carlos of Mexico was a silver and black hawk.

Etienne appeared to be a blue rooster with a white and red crest.

Frieda, like Vinnie, was an eagle except that she had blue feathers that have a yellow tip at the ends.

Beside Frieda was a small green wolf, Gordon assumed that the wolf was Gina.

A huge, bulky bear with red and blue fur with white stripes seemed similar to the Russian engine, Ivan.

A peacock with blue feathers and white, orange and green tail was wearing a crown identical to Rajiv's.

Raul of Brazil seemed to be another big cat - probably a Jaguar - with yellow, green and blue fur. The fur colour made it hard for Gordon to tell what exactly Raul was.

The Australian engine, Shane, was a gold and green emu - though Gordon expected him to be a kangaroo.

Yong Bao clearly stood out the most, he was a Chinese dragon with scales matching the colours of his paintwork.

A silver kestrel - who Gordon recognised as his cousin, Spencer - glared at him.

"Ashima, Vinnie, what have you brought here?" Spencer questioned with distaste. Gordon was not happy being referred as 'what' rather than 'who' again.

"I'm-" "I do not recall asking you to speak!" interrupted Spencer. He was as rude and pompous as Vinnie! Gordon wondered if the other engines saw Gordon as the screechy silver bird.

"Ignore Spencer, he always acts as if he's in charge without Flying Dodo around," pardoned Ashima, "He is a steam engine named Gordon. He changes size depending on how much water he has consumed. Vinnie and I found him while we were on our way here."

"Though I suggested we abandoned him first." muttered Vinnie. This did not escape Ashima's ears.

"After I stopped you from attacking poor Gordon! He ran out of water and you tried to attack him whilst he was so small!"

This caused a commotion amongst the herd.

"Silence! What is all the fuss about?"

They all went silent as a new creature joins them. Gordon knew that voice immediately. "It can't be him."

The creature is revealed to be a vermillion dodo who strode in with such confidence that even Spencer and Vinnie had shut their beaks.

"Flying Scotsman?!" exclaimed Gordon. The dodo chuckled at Gordon's shocked expression. "Flying 'Dodo', dear lad. A pleasure to meet you, little Gordon."

Gordon was aware that the water in his boiler diminished by quite a lot, to the point he had shrunk down to be three quarters of Flying Dodo's height. It had either been a long journey, or the water evaporated faster than usual.

"Excuse me, but I do not take being called 'little' very kindly." "My apologies! And what's this about Vinnie trying to attack our innocent friend?"

Vinnie straightened up. "He fell from the sky and the vile little thing crashed into me!"

"It was by accident! If I had control of my landing, I wouldn't have crashed into you at all." rebutted Gordon.

"He's anything but innocent! He called me 'bird-brain'! He's guilty!" Vinnie claimed.

The members who had wings gasped at the word, 'bird-brain'. Gordon was very certain he said 'brainless buffalo' instead.

"If anyone's guilty, it's you for attacking another animal," scoffed Flying Dodo, Gordon decided to let the fact that he was not an animal to slide, "I made this very clear every meeting. 'All animals are equal. All animals are our friends and allies. No animal should harm another on purpose.'"

"But let's not forget that 'Bird-brain' is a very awful insult to those who have wings." reminded Frieda. "Almost like a crime." said Shane. "It is crime!" cried Rajiv. "A crime indeed!" added Carlos. "Hear, hear!" agreed Etienne.

'The nerve of him!' thought Gordon as he saw a hidden smile on Vinnie. 'He's trying to frame me for a crime I didn't commit!'

"Is this true, Gordon?" queried the dodo, "If it is, I'm afraid we will have to punish those who commit crimes."

"Actually, he didn't," interrupted Ashima, "Mind you that I have very good hearing and Gordon did not insult Vinnie with that horrid slur. But I did hear him say a 'brainless bull'."

"I think we could let that slide," said Ivan. "Bulls aren't very bright so that statement is true."

"And by the looks of this, said statement was used as a line of defence." spoke Axle.

"Which justifies the statement." included Yong Bao.

"But Vinnie's charges shouldn't be dismissed." uttered Raul.

"Time to announce the verdict, Flying Dodo." responded Gina.

"Well then, by this testimony of Ashima the elephant, I announce Gordon the steam engine innocent and our new comrade. Vinnie the bald eagle, however, is found guilty of attacking another creature on purpose." concluded Flying Dodo.

Spencer swooped in front of Flying Dodo and landed on Gordon's funnel, much to his disdain.

"If I may Flying Dodo," spoke the kestrel, "I'm afraid that Vinnie has some anger issues, thus he wasn't in his right mind. The proper solution is to help him control his temper and in order to do that, you need to pardon him first."

"It seems that you're right," agreed Flying Dodo, "By this testimony of Spencer the kestrel, Vinnie the bald eagle is pardoned."

The rest rolled their eyes and sighed as if this had happened frequently. Gordon could see that Vinnie and Spencer were partners in crime, easily fooling the dodo who wasn't a smart creature.

"Well, that's settled. Back to the agenda-" Gordon blew his whistle, frightening Spencer as he cried in shock and fluttered off Gordon's funnel. "Whoops! Forgot you were sitting there, Spencer." Everyone but Vinnie and Spencer laughed at the embarrassed silver kestrel who haughtily walked on the ground. "Forgotten, my tail feathers." Spencer mumbled angrily.

"Anyways, time to make a note of those who aren't present today," said Flying Dodo,

"Shankar the tiger." "He sends his apologies but he has to help take care of the cubs with Noor Jehan." replied Rajiv.

"Tamika the Koala." "She's had a rough day so I decided to let her sleep in. She's nocturnal after all." spoke Shane. "Aubrey and Aiden the wallabies and Isla the cockatoo couldn't make either."

"Hong Mei the Ibis." "Hong Mei, Lei the crane, An An and Yin-Long the pandas were slowed down by a recent storm. They send their regards." reported Yong Bao.

"And I of course have come in the place of Beau the Bison." said Vinnie.

"The last animal who isn't present is Hiro the pheasant." "We haven't heard anything from him," answered Ashima.

"He's probably hanging around with that old barn owl in the forest," muttered Spencer, "This owl himself prefers to not come at all. Vinnie and I barely got his name because of his silly mind games and riddles, only Hiro was able to coax him out. Though we almost never see him outside of the forest."

"Very well," continued the dodo, "This weather has been very odd lately, it has rained longer than usual and we're all still dripping with water."

Gordon knew that the 'odd weather' was from his own doing but remained quiet.

"We'll have to come up with something to dry ourselves. And no Rajiv, you won't be reciting that long poem about the crown on your head for us to hear until we're dry. We all know how you found it."

The peacock slumped sadly.

"How did he find that crown?" Gordon whispered to Ashima. "He got caught by some thieves but escaped with the crown and he calls that poem 'The Grand and Wide Tale' which was named after his own tail."

"I've got it!" announced Flying Dodo, "We'll have a caucus race! This will definitely help us dry ourselves. And there will be a prize for the winner!"

The interests of the herd had perked up, especially Gordon. In no time at all, everyone was waiting behind the line until the caucus race started. Though, Gordon had no idea what the dodo meant by a 'caucus' race. Gordon heard the word once when he overheard a conversation about politics once but what did it have to do with races, he wondered.

Thankfully, Ashima filled more water into his boiler so that he was big enough to race, slightly smaller than his original height but it would have to do. Racing was a part of Gordon's interests, he did admit that he liked to show off once in a while. Obviously, Spencer and Vinnie would be trying to beat Gordon at his own game, as he could tell from the glares they shot him.

"Ready, set, go!" cried Flying Dodo. On cue, Gordon chuffed as fast as he can, building up on speed. He was half-way to the finish line and didn't see any other racers come past him.

"This is such an easy race!" Gordon muttered under his breath. But then he saw the progress of the others.

Some were jogging, a few were simply prancing about while chatting and the rest hadn't even crossed the line yet! They were all going at whatever pace and went whenever they fancied, as if they didn't care much about getting first place. Flying Dodo was riding upon Ashima's back and she didn't even mind. "The wind is flowing through my feathers," he spoke to Ashima, "I'm flying!" "Yes you are, I can easily see that." agreed Ashima, who was too kind to point out the truth.

"What on earth…" Gordon was stunned at the sight and slowed down due to the lack of competition in this race. "Maybe this is what he meant by a 'caucus' race." The engine mumbled.

Taking Gordon by surprise, a blur of blue and silver rushed passed him. "See you at the finish line, insect." mocked Vinnie while Spencer chortled like an entitled, wealthy snob. Gordon had seen many 'snobs' in his younger years, ignoring the fact that he used to act like one when he was much younger.

Vinnie's insult brought Gordon's attention to his own size, he was shrinking so much. "I must have used a lot of water! I can't let them win but refilling my boiler will take too much time. When my water runs out, I'll be too slow!" Coincidentally, Ashima and Flying Dodo were by Gordon's side, aware of his dilemma. "You can always catch a ride with us." suggested Ashima. "A wonderful idea! Climb aboard Gordon! You can fly with me!" added Flying Dodo.

Gordon had concocted a plan to beat the two birds at their own game.

"Fly… Ashima, grab me with your trunk and throw me towards the finish line as far and as hard as you can."

The pink elephant was puzzled but complied. "Are you sure about this? You might get hurt." "I can take it. I have my safety valve on." Gordon reassured, knowing that neither of them knew what a safety valve was really for.

"If he has a safety thingy, I'll allow it." announced the dodo.

Ashima swung her trunk back and forth to create momentum. With an underarm, or rather undertrunk throw, Gordon was launched high up in the air but not too high. As he zoomed past Spencer and Vinnie, they both lost their coordination for a bit from shock. "Flying steam-engine, coming through!" he shouted with a smile. The two birds flew faster with determination to defeat the engine at the race. "I'm not losing to you a second time, insect." grumbled Vinnie.

Gordon lost his smug grin as he forgot one part of the plan, the landing. As his body was directed towards the finish line and the ground, Gordon began to regretted his decision and closed his eyes for certain impact. He would for sure shatter in shards like he thought before, or even dig into the earth and be stuck there for the rest of his life! Again, the engine in peril exaggerated his thoughts of his demise.

Spencer flew closer to the ground in hopes of crossing the line first. "I'll show that shrinking engine-thing who's better." he vowed.

"I, Gordon the not-so-big-at-the-moment engine, will leave my express to-" Gordon's rushed will was interrupted by another familiar landing on feathers. He bounced off and made it across the line safely. The bird that he landed on this time was Spencer, who had unfortunately tumbled the rest of the way after Gordon, followed by Vinnie and the rest of the animals.

They were all waiting for Flying Dodo to announce the winner and the promised prize, especially Gordon who had won first place despite Spencer was moaning how he crossed it first until Gordon made him face-plant.

"I now declare that the winner is…" Flying Dodo made a dramatic pause to the surprise of no one.

"Everyone!"

"What?!" exclaimed Gordon and Spencer in sync. "Everyone's a winner in their own way." explained the dodo. The rest aside from Vinnie and Spencer agreed with smiles and congratulating each other. Gordon joined in reluctantly.

"So I literally threw myself to cross the line first for nothing." "Technically Ashima threw you but it wasn't for nothing," Flying Dodo grinned as if he had another position to give, "Since you came first, you can give out the prizes!"

Spencer smirked at Gordon's nervous expression. "Good luck with that."

After a minute of mumbling and thinking, Gordon finally spoke.

"As the one who has no gifts or trinkets to give away, I have something better for your rewards. I will grant each of you a title to your name."

"What good are those titles? What's wrong with our names?" rudely asked a disappointed Vinnie.

"Having a little object would probably rot or rust away, a title lasts forever." answered Gordon, satisfied as the rest of the animals agreed with him.

"Ashima, I grant thee the title of 'Ashima the Kind and Helpful'."

"Axel, I grant thee the title of 'Axel the Calmly-Collected'."

"Carlos, I grant thee the title of 'Carlos the Happy-Hearted'."

"Etienne, I grant thee the title of 'Etienne the Polite and Mature'."

"Frieda, I grant thee the title of 'Frieda the Confidently-Strong'."

"Gina, I grant thee the title of 'Gina the Sweetly-Swift'."

"Ivan, I grant thee the title of 'Ivan the Comedic and Friendly'."

"Rajiv, I grant thee the title of 'Rajiv the Beautifully-Caring'."

"Raul, I grant thee the title of 'Raul the Spiritedly-Eager'."

"Shane, I grant thee the title of 'Shane the Devoted and Carefree'."

"Yong Bao, I grant thee the title of "Yong Bao the Faithfully-Inspiring'."

Honestly, Gordon mimicked how the Queen would give someone knighthood, thus he used 'thee' instead of 'you'. He also created the titles based on what he knew about them from the Great Railway Show. He hesitated at giving Spencer and Vinnie's title, unsure what to give them without offending them in any way.

"Spencer… I grant thee the title of 'Spencer the Proudly-Egotistic'. Egotistic is a special word for very confident." Spencer didn't seem to be offended at all and accepted it. Thankfully for Gordon, Spencer bought into his definition of 'egotistic'.

"And Vinnie… I grant thee the title of 'Vinnie the Competitively-Speedy'."

Vinnie had also accepted his title, but Gordon glimpsed a small smile on his face. Evidently, Vinnie would not have fallen for such a trick.

"What title should I have?" asked Flying Dodo. "I do like my title now."

"What about we just add something to it?" suggested Gordon, "How about…"

Gordon thought about his own brother, " 'Flying Dodo the Grandly-Optimistic Leader'?"

"I like that title very much!" agreed the dodo.

"Flying Dodo, I grant thee the title of 'Flying Dodo the Grandly-Optimistic Leader'."

"What title should Gordon have?" Ashima (the Kind and Helpful) wondered. "We'll give him his title." Shane (the Devoted and Carefree) proposed.

All the animals, excluding Spencer (the Proudly-Egotistic) and Vinnie (the Competitively-Speedy) who both just remained silent, cheered in agreement.

They all huddled up to discuss the title for Gordon. When they dispersed, Flying Dodo (the Grandly-Optimistic Leader) puffed his feathers with pride.

"Gordon, we, the animals of this meeting grant thee the title, 'Gordon the Greatly-Wonderful Steam-Engine'!"

After hearing his title, Gordon felt a spark of a rare emotion. He didn't recall the emotion's name, but he liked it. He felt thankful. He felt like his fictional heart - fictional because engines don't have physical hearts - had warmed up.

"My, thank you." Gordon was basically speechless.

"You're welcome." Frieda (the Confidently-Strong) replied.

"I think I can declare this meeting dismissed." Flying Dodo (the Grandly-Optimistic Leader) announced.

Gordon then remembered why he was caught in this mess.

"Excuse me, Ashima. Do you know Per- I mean, a rabbit?" Gordon stopped himself from saying 'Percy' in case that wasn't his name in this world, or the name of someone else Ashima knows.

"A rabbit? I know a lot of rabbits, but none of them come to the meetings. Could you be more specific."

"Well, he's not completely a rabbit. He's an engine like me but a bit shorter and he lacks a tender. He's green but was more gold and red the last I saw him and had ears and a tail of a rabbit. He moves quite quickly."

"Strange… I did see a green creature rushing towards that way when I went to the meeting. Perhaps that's the 'rabbit' you seek." Ashima answered, pointing her trunk to a path that disappeared into a forest.

Before Gordon left, Ashima filled his boiler until he was about his normal size, slightly bigger to be exact.

"Thank you Ashima. Goodbye!" "Farewell Gordon! Good luck!" Ashima called after Gordon chuffed his way into the forest, following the dirt path beneath him.

Author's Note:

I honestly couldn't let go of the idea of a race where anyone could go whenever and at whatever speed they liked, even if it wasn't featured much in the film. Feel free to drop some criticism.

Nice to meet you, Sydney T. Boyle. Thanks for the story offer. I used to be obsessed with Winnie the Pooh when I was little, and I'm no stranger to the series. Though it would be fun for Gordon to be a kangaroo and possibly panicking about it, I don't believe I have the capacity to write the story. Firstly, as much as I like the idea, I don't really have much motivation to write for it. Even if I did write it, it wouldn't have good quality. Secondly, it's your idea and I believe that you could do a better quality story for the prompt. You're more passionate about it and I can see some potential in you. You never really know if you never try.

Morally Draconequus.