Part V:

The frigid air chilled its way over Cera's thick skin as the tree tops skirted below her at a break neck pace. The two wingtails who kidnapped her held on tight with their foot talons, so tight that her wrists felt like they were blistering. Despite this she had no choice but to hope they hung onto her, for the alternative was a steep drop towards the ground and a sudden, painful stop.

Of course when the two of them picked her up she had kicked and screamed with all her might, and tried to bite them a few times. There was one time she succeeded in nipping the left one's ankle, only to have her other captor almost immediately claw her in the face in retaliation. The two wingtails were obviously twins, as they not only completed each other's sentences but they also seemed to share the same interests too… not that she cared. It was spiteful how they kept pointing things out while they flew, like how "beautiful the spring was this time of year," and how "cloudless and wonderful" the day was. They seemed to behave like they weren't committing an offence against nature by kidnapping her, and it was just a normal day. Wingtails, at least the ones she had met so far, never failed to get on her nerves.

"Flying is always more pleasant when the wind is at your back, wouldn't you agree?" remarked the darker of the two twins on her right.

The two twins were so sickeningly alike that they even flapped their wings in unison, and the dull throbbing sound was annoying in the extreme.

"Aye, but I always preferred flying into the wind… it means solid lift and easy gliding, but of course you're correct as well due to the lack of need for wing beating," replied the lighter one on Cera's left.

"Touché," conceded the darker one. Cera had had enough of this.

"Will you two knock it off? You two disgust me!" the threehorn shouted.

The two wingtails turned and gave her glowering looks of displeasure. She retorted by sticking out her tongue at them.

"You're being awfully impolite, considering the situation in which you currently reside," replied the darker wingtail in a wise-ass tone.

"Oh yeah? Well if you were gonna drop me you would have done it already," stated Cera smartly.

Both twins looked at each other without responding to Cera's bait, and after a moment seemed to come to a silent agreement between the two of them. It was a common occurrence.

"Tell me, are you a good swimmer little threehorn?" asked the darker of the two wingtails.

"Hah! You bet I am," replied Cera confidently, "I'm the best in the whole valley."

"Oh really…" commented the lighter wingtail, rolling his eyes. His darker twin snickered in amusement.

"Hey, what's so funny?" pushed Cera.

"Nothing… it's just your ignorance," added the darker wingtail with a smirk.

Cera fumed at the indignity.

Nobody in the Great Valley had ever insulted her like this before… they all seemed to understand her need to feel better then everyone else. Who did these bird-brained idiots think they were laughing at her? Once they let her down she would give them a taste of her mind.

"I'm sorry I just can't help but point out the irony of the moment," smiled the lighter wingtail, "because not only do you claim to be the best swimmer in your valley, but you get to prove it for us."

The two flyers with Cera in their bottom talons skirted a rocky ridge and flew out over a massive lake she had never seen before. The Abyss Lake was indescribably beautiful from this high, with light blue water so clear she could see all the way to the bottom in some places. She hadn't wondered about what it was like to be a flyer, but at this moment she almost wished she was one so she could see the world like this anytime she wanted. At the center of the lake the water grew very deep and dark, and strangely enough it appeared to be 'circling' around a white misty cloud in the centre. A thunderous roar reached her ears.

"W-what's that?" asked Cera nervously as she gazed at the Whirlpool. Even the two wingtails who had lived here all their lives were unnerved by it. More wingtails had drowned in the Whirlpool then from Jungle Runner attacks and sickness combined. It was a forbidden place for their kind to venture.

"Why, it's your chance to prove to us how great of a swimmer you are," taunted the lighter wingtail, "goodbye."

Cera screamed as they let her go over the water.

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Ruby and Chomper made their way through the Feral Forest, pushing aside branches and treading carefully through a maze of broken sticks and plants on the forest floor. Thudd was in the lead, but many times he would sprint on ahead temporarily leaving them behind. It was his way of expressing his annoyance at their low progress. To pass the time and to practise speaking sharptooth Ruby and Chomper were playing a game of 'I See Around Me' exclusively in that language.

"I see around me something that green," said Ruby carefully in sharptooth. She knew most of the words now, but grammar was still an issue.

"Hmm, is it that leaf?" asked Chomper as he pointed upwards into the trees.

"No it not," responded Ruby in amusement. The chain of growls sounded so weird coming out of the pink fastrunner's mouth, but at least now Chomper could tell she had almost got the basics down.

"How about this one?" suggested Chomper eagerly.

"No," sighed Ruby.

"This one?"

"No."

"What about this one?"

This was really getting on Thudd's nerves. Not only did he have to endure the little runner's piercing accent and horrible grammar, but he also had to listen through their ridiculous game. He turned and in a sudden rush he snapped his jaws right next to Ruby's face. She cried out and slipped backwards into the mud.

"My eyes when I'm tearing you and your friend to bits?" snarled Thudd.

"Umm… your eyes blue," said Ruby after a bit of thought to get the right words. Considering his face was closer to hers then it had ever been, it was a fairly obvious observation.

Thudd's eyes widened in surprise. He jerked his head to glance at Chomper, who was nodding at him.

"Ruby's right Thudd, your eyes are blue."

Thudd snorted in annoyance. What did it matter… as long as these two hatchlings stopped pestering him with their stupid game. Still, it was surprising that he had never known what colour his eyes were up until this point. It couldn't be that he was colour-blind could it? He wouldn't know even if he was.

…

After another hour of wandering through the woods, Thudd stopped in front of an imposingly large cliff near where the water of the Abyss Lake met the shore. The fast-biter turned to them and addressed them with distain.

"This is where they took the screaming whelp, up there."

Without hesitation Ruby filed past and started to ascend the rocks. She jumped from rock to rock, and was making good progress thanks to her physical dexterity. Chomper stopped as he passed Thudd and the two sharpteeth met eyes.

"What do you want… little biter?" growled Thudd.

"You know we can still be friends any time you wanna be," said Chomper as he smiled.

Thudd made an expression that Chomper had never seen him make before. It was not a smile, but it certainly was close. The little sharptooth didn't know what it meant, but it only lasted for a second before being replaced by Thudd's usual aggressive demeanour.

"We'll see," replied Thudd as he looked away.

Chomper waved at him goodbye, and followed Ruby up the cliff.

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Cera screamed for help as she pulled herself out from under the water. The current was moving fast and it was dragging her towards the Whirlpool at an alarming rate – there was no way she could fight it.

"Help me, help me please!" the threehorn begged as she was pulled under the water again.

The two wingtails looked on from above, laughing at her. When Cera finally pushed her way to the surface they were circling around just out of her reach. She struggled to stay afloat amidst the turbulent water.

"Having fun aren't we? I thought you were the best swimmer in your valley," taunted the darker one.

The thunderous roar of the Whirlpool was getting closer and closer, and Cera was fighting for her life. It was pulling her in, and if she didn't fight it the current would drag her down to her doom.

"Help, help!" Cera choked above the overwhelming sound of the water. She could hate them later right now her life was on the line and they were her only hope.

"Oh fine, shall we?" suggested the lighter wingtail to his brother.

"I was willing to keep her in longer, but I suppose it's for the best."

With a fluid and thoroughly practised motion, the two wingtails scooped Cera up from the water with their talons, and pulled her free of the rampaging current. Another minute and she would have been swallowed whole by the maw of death itself.

"I trust we won't have to suffer anymore unwanted outbursts?" the lighter wingtail teased with a mocking grin on his face. Cera just glared at him, and muttered something under her breath.

Her kidnappers took the threehorn to the banks of the Abyss Lake, to an imposing set of cliffs on the far east side. Here the waves smashed relentlessly against the rocks and carved out a set of caverns that pocketed the rocky wall staining its perfection. The two wingtails rose up higher, and then dropped her roughly on an outcropping that hung over the water. Cera rolled for a while, before coming to a stop against a hard stone. The wingtails landed behind her.

"You know, you should thank us for giving you such a nice ride little threehorn. Not many of your kind would get such a privilege," the lighter wingtail pointed out.

"Hah, do you honestly think I'm going to thank you for all that," Cera said as she snorted and scraped up some of the hard ground with her front left foot, "I'm gonna turn you into dead meat!"

Now that things were back on the ground, it was time for Cera to exact some revenge on her kidnappers. With a growling roar she charged. The wind whistled past her as she sliced through the air towards her taunting adversaries. Just as she reached them the cowards slid out of the way, causing Cera to charge right past. Unfortunately 'right past' lead directly off the cliff, and just as she thought she was going to shoot off the edge one of her kidnappers grabbed her tail and yanked her back, throwing the helpless threehorn onto her back in the dirt. She could hear their cruel, mocking laughter.

"Good try, but before you attempt something like that you might want to be a bit bigger, or perhaps faster," chided the lighter wingtail.

His darker blue companion picked up Cera by the scruff of her neck, and held her to his eye level. Unlike his brother he looked mad.

"We have had just about enough from you hatchling… now enjoy your new home."

As Cera struggled and snapped at him with her teeth - to very little success - the wingtail walked up to a cave on the outcropping that she hadn't noticed before. She had gone for vengeance before even looking around to see where she was. Mercilessly, he tossed her inside, which it turned out was a hole that went deeper into the ground. Rolling off the rocky walls, her tough skin kept her safe until she came to a stop at the deep, dark bottom of the hole. The ordeal was finally over.

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Sky knew where they were, and how close his homeland was. Some nights the fresh breeze would bring in the sent of the lily trees, or a faint whiff of the lake. It had been nearly a week since the gang and he had arrived at the Forgotten Forest, and now for sure he could say the children had found a place where they belonged. There were plenty of longnecks in the valley, and even some swimmers and spiketails too… so there was much fun to be had amongst the younger generation for the younglings under his care. The fact that Littlefoot had found his father and was spending an increasing amount of time with Ali, whom he clearly had a love interest in, was heartening and lifted a great weight off his wings.

It would be easier for them to accept it when he left.

Although he felt slightly bad for doing so, Sky knew it was the best for them to stay here. He had a job to do and it would be done a lot quicker without the burden of the younger dinosaurs on his back. It was not only that, but he was also worried about this 'Prince Tyrus' who was now out to get him. The blue wingtail knew that Tyron was unlikely to push this far to the east, but territorial boundaries wouldn't stop a sharptooth as hell-bent on his demise like Tyrus from tracking him down – provided the fiend survived the geyser blast to the face. Maybe Sky was lucky, and the sharptooth died from infection.

There was a sharp crack in the bush underneath his branch perch, and Sky rotated around to peer down at the cause. A pair of deadly yellow eyes looked up at him, scanning his frame for the plump and delicious meat it craved. The fast-biter was way too far down to be a threat to him, but even then it did not matter. Sky could tell by the mark on it's forehead that it was one of Tyron's elite spies, the Stalkers. Another fast-biter peered up at him too, before kicking his companion harshly for his lapse in duty. They weren't here to chase after birds; they had more important things to do. The two sharpteeth turned away from Sky and prowled back into the woods. Sky looked away, and pretended the incident never happened. The ground walkers were no longer his responsibility anymore… their fate was their own.

…

The great circle was dipping low in the sky as Sky sat on a cliff facing the west and watched it go down, like he did every night. The sight of its beautiful glowing red colour reminded him of Star, and of the past life that he had lost. There was a time when he knew he loved her, but so many things had changed since then it was like he couldn't even remember anymore. It was like the imagines and feelings in his brain had faded, to be replaced with a lingering guilt over all the bad things he had done. Even if he could see Star again, he doubted she would forgive him for what he did.

"Sky."

It was only a single word, but it overturned his world in an instant. Sky turned on his feet to come face to face with the exactly wingtail he had wanted to see. Star. He couldn't believe his eyes.

"I knew you would be here," Star said as her eyes met Sky's. She had landed on the cliff right behind him, and he hadn't noticed.

"Star, how did you… why did you… how did you find me?" Sky stammered in his shock.

"Eybron's wingtails said you were here, before they left with Glide to kill you." Star responded sadly. A small tear pooled in her eye, and she looked like she was about to cry. Sky stepped forward and took her hand. He hated to see her this way.

"I'm so sorry Star, I didn't mean it to happen this way," Sky said to her in a half whisper. Star rubbed away the tear with her other hand, and sniffed.

"But why Sky, why did you not come back?" she asked desperately, "you left when the elders gave you your quest… but…but… you never came back. Why didn't you come back, I was waiting."

Sky shushed her to stop Star from crying.

"Has somebody hurt you?" he asked. They were still holding hands.

"Glide betrayed me," replied Star with weeping still in her voice, "he tried to make me love someone else for his mistakes, after all the seasons he protected and d-defended me."

Star started bawling again, and Sky pulled her in close. He felt bad for her, and he knew she needed him. Even after all this time, he still remembered the warmth of her feathers and the sweet sound of her voice. He rubbed the back of her rock lightly, and rocked a bit on his legs. After a moment or two she pulled back again, covered in tears and looking ashamed at how intrusive she had been. She sniffed again, and wiped her face in a bid to hide the water that covered it.

"I'm the one who's sorry Sky," Star said with a bit more toughness in her voice, "sorry for not seeing who I really belonged with, and not stopping Glide from hurting you."

"It's alright… really… I'm glad you came to find me," Sky whispered with an encouraging smile, "I missed seeing you."

Star sniffed again, and rubbed her eyes once more. When they opened, she turned towards him and said what she had really meant to say.

"Why did you leave and not come back Sky, why did you abandon me?" she asked with more fortitude.

"It's… complicated," responded Sky. He didn't want to give the secret up.

"I don't care how it complicated it is," Star asserted, "I love you and if you love me you will tell me why you didn't come back for me when I needed you."

Sky looked into her eyes, and saw the depth of anguish she had experienced over him. It was far deeper then the current happenings with Glide, but now that the newness of their sudden meeting had passed he knew she wanted answers. If there was anyone in the world that deserved to know, it was her. Sky sighed.

"I didn't come back because… I completed my quest, because I found the Eye of the World."

"You found it?" asked Star excitedly, "but that's excellent you can come home! If you return the Occular the elders will drop this… foolishness!"

The look on Sky's face told Star that he couldn't do it, that there was a deeper reason why he didn't come home.

"But when I found the Eye of the World, it was… I can't describe it. It was too horrible to put words to. Benzon abandoned it as soon as he created it hundreds of seasons ago, and when I found the reason he did, I knew I couldn't come home. The elders demanded that I return with its location or not at all, and I couldn't let something so terrible be revealed for everyone else to see."

Star didn't like Sky's answer, and she expressed it.

"But what about us?" she shouted, "what about me, and you, and the love we shared, you were willing to throw that all away for some stupid quest?"

"Forgive me Star, but I did would I had to do. I didn't want things to happen this way," Sky begged, "I have thought of you everyday since they tore us apart, since the elders told us to never see each other again. I thought that maybe, after all the time I was gone, you had forgotten me."

Star raised her hand to Sky's head. For a moment he thought she was going to slap him, but it turned out she just wanted to feel the side of his face. She rubbed the side of his cheek under his eye, just where he liked it.

"I could never forget you Sky," the red wingtail whispered to him.

The darkness had just begun to settle on the landscape as the great circle had nearly passed beneath the horizon. For once Sky was not watching it, but focusing intently on the beautiful creature in front of him, the love of his life. He was sure at this moment that he and Star were soul mates. The lust in her eyes shone like two blazing suns and his very world seemed to mould into a conscience view of her, because nothing else mattered.

It was impossible to say why, but at that moment Sky felt himself spring forward to meet her, and the two of them touched beaks. For what felt like an eternity, he felt the heat of her body pressed against his and the warmth of her breath on his face. The experience was so intense, it seemed like too much for the world of the living to bear. After a while they did separate, but Sky wasn't done yet. His desire was too strong to hold back.

"Did you want to pick up where we left off… you know at the lake?" he asked her lustfully. She knew what it meant.

"I would love that."

The two wingtails embraced once more, and it was so close that Sky didn't notice her reaching into his wing and removing the Occular from its place of keeping. If Sky wasn't going to return it, then she would do it for him and clear his name. Then they could be together… forever.

As the dusk's last light faded over the horizon, they mated.

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