Chapter 24: Desire of a Flyer

"Well," Littlefoot told Cera. "I guess we should head back to our cave now."

"Come on," Cera teased. "Last one there is a rotten egg!"

Littlefoot and Cera laughed as they ran outside and back to the cave. They didn't even care that it was storming outside, for their hearts felt very light now that they had convinced Bron to support their love. However, the wind was still howling, and just as Littlefoot and Cera were about to reach their cave, they saw that two blurs were zooming past them. Abruptly, the two blurs crashed into the cave wall with a big thud and fell onto the ground.

Littlefoot and Cera looked down, and they noticed that two flyers were lying on the ground, unconscious. Littlefoot and Cera bent down closer, and gasped when they saw who it was.

"It's Petrie!" Cera gasped. "And Pterano!"

"Come on, let's get them in," Littlefoot hurriedly suggested, and Littlefoot and Cera gently picked up the two flyers and carried them into the cave passageway, where they saw that a rainbow face was standing on guard.

"This must be Petrie," the rainbow face said. Then he looked at Pterano and asked, "But who is this? He would not attack our eggs, I presume?"

"Don't worry, he's safe," Littlefoot promised. "This is Petrie's uncle Pterano. You can trust him just like you can us."

The rainbow face did not ask any more questions, and so Littlefoot and Cera walked in, carrying Petrie and Pterano's unconscious bodies. "I'm still not sure about Pterano…" Cera muttered to Littlefoot. "I know Petrie trusts him, but he's always believed in his uncle no matter what."

As they walked in, Ducky ran over to them. "Petrie!" she gasped. "You are here…but, oh no! Petrie…is he…"

"Don't worry Ducky, Petrie will be fine, he's just knocked out," Littlefoot told her comfortingly.

"Ah, okay, that is a relief," Ducky sighed. Littlefoot, Cera and Ducky sat down next to Chomper, Ruby and Spike and formed a circle, and then Littlefoot and Cera laid Petrie and Pterano gently down on the floor in the middle. Ducky then propped Petrie up and hugged him tightly.

"Looks to me like you two are finally together!" Ruby exclaimed happily.

"Oh yes yes yes!" Ducky exclaimed. "And so are Littlefoot and Cera, they are!"

Ruby smiled, first at Ducky and Petrie and then at Littlefoot and Cera. "That's great!" she exclaimed.

Chomper giggled and happily said, "I always knew you guys were meant for each other!"

Just then, Ducky, who was still hugging Petrie, leaned forward and kissed his cheek. Immediately, Petrie woke up, and said, "Me no know where me am."

"Hi Petrie," Ducky told him cheerfully.

"Ducky!" Petrie cheered, hugging her back. "Me no think me ever see you again!"

Then Petrie turned, and gasped with delight. "Chomper! Ruby! You okay!"

"Yes, we are," Ruby told him warmly, and then she and Chomper briefly told Petrie about their past few days.

"Looks like you found Pterano," Littlefoot told Petrie brightly when Chomper and Ruby finished, looking at Pterano's unconscious figure. "How is he?"

"Me not really sure," Petrie explained. "He agree to come, but nasty swirling wind make flying very hard. We focus on finding you guys, but me no remember how we got here."

"Littlefoot and I found you and Pterano and brought you here," Cera explained.

Then Petrie turned and saw Pterano lying unconscious. "Oh, Uncle Pterano!" Petrie gasped.

"Do not worry Petrie," Ducky told him. "Pterano is only unconscious just like you were. He will wake up soon, he will."

Petrie was reassured, and after a couple of minutes, Pterano began to stir. His eyes flickered open, before saying, "Oh my…here I am."

Then he looked up and upon seeing Chomper, he gasped, scooted back and screamed, "Sharptooth!"

"Pterano, me already tell you. Chomper our friend," Petrie explained soothingly, rubbing Pterano's shivering back.

"Don't worry Pterano, I won't eat you, I promise," Chomper smiled at him.

Pterano breathed in deeply and calmed down, muttering, "Oh yeah that's right…" and then he looked over at Littlefoot, Cera, and Spike. "I remember you three," Pterano said. "It's great that you're still friends with Petrie. And you must be Ruby, right?" he asked Ruby. Ruby nodded, and Pterano smiled. "Petrie told me all about all of you," he said. Then, Pterano looked at Ducky, and his eyes softened as he looked gently at her. "And you… you must be Ducky," he told her gently.

"Oh yes yes yes!" Ducky exclaimed.

"You have really grown since we last met," Pterano told her admiringly, smiling at her. "Petrie has told me all about how wonderful you are. And I hope… you and Petrie will be happy together."

Petrie and Ducky both blushed upon hearing Pterano's words, before Ducky excitedly gasped, "You mean… you are okay with us being in love?"

Pterano nodded firmly. "Why should I choose to believe in that species barrier that the narrow-minded have put up? I believe that love can be between anyone so long as they truly care about each other. Petrie, Ducky, I am thrilled that you have fallen in love with each other, and you two you should follow your hearts and make sure that no one will ever split you apart!"

Ducky and Petrie nodded and hugged each other happily, and Cera smiled at Pterano, giving him a look of surprised admiration. "Don't listen to anything that those naysayers might say," Pterano continued, "Because most of those who would complain about your love are those who aren't willing to change their ways under any circumstance."

Littlefoot then suddenly remembered something. "Pterano, you know that your punishment is over, right?"

"You right, Littlefoot!" Petrie continued excitedly. "You exiled five cold times but five cold times already over!"

Pterano nodded slowly, but his expression sagged. "I know that my exile is technically over," he explained slowly and sadly. "But I can't go back to the Great Valley because…the others will still treat me like an outcast…and I myself do not deserve to be in their company… because I made many big mistakes when I lived with them."

He looked at Cera, and said, "Your father especially…"

"Oh, dad won't listen to anyone!" Cera told Pterano impatiently.

"He has more reason to dislike me than you might think," Pterano admitted to Cera. Then he sadly sighed, "In fact, he is right in treating me like an outcast. You see… it all began when the combined herds were going to the Great Valley. One night when everyone else was asleep, I noticed that a sharptooth was heading our way. I was confident in my own abilities and I was eager to prove how great I was by defeating the sharptooth all by myself. So without letting anyone know, I tried battling the sharptooth myself to prove my leadership abilities. But the sharptooth was too quick for me, and it bit my wing. I could no longer fight and fell to the ground, and crawled away, desperate to avoid the sharptooth's sight. But out of fear and panic, I made my mistake by not letting the others know about the sharptooth. When the others finally woke up, nobody was prepared to fight, and the sharptooth…caught one of your sisters," Pterano gulped sadly, crying as he continued to speak.

He looked at Cera's sad face before he softly continued, "Your mother hurled herself at the sharptooth to try and save your sister…she did, but the sharptooth…got her. The herd managed to wake up and escape, but without the guidance of your mother, your brothers and sisters got lost and nobody ever saw them again..." Pterano gulped, before saying, "Nobody knew exactly what happened, but I could tell by the look on your father's face that he figured out the big picture."

Pterano gulped again, before saying, "I'm really sorry Cera, it was all my fault, I was just a careless, cocky and cowardly wingbrain too convinced of my own importance. If you feel like killing me right now, I don't blame you. Just go ahead and stab me in the back…I deserve it."

Cera sighed and looked down sadly. She had barely known her mother and siblings, and she had always suspected that Pterano had something to do with their disappearance, but she never asked her father because she knew it would break his heart to talk about it. Part of her wanted to scream at Pterano, but he looked so pitiful and remorseful that she didn't have the heart to yell at him.

"But you have changed, Pterano," Ducky reminded him. "You put yourself in danger to save my life! You saved me from those mean flyers and saved me from that big fall!"

"That's true," Pterano sighed. "But… I can't erase the past. I made a terrible decision…many terrible decisions actually...that will haunt me for the rest of my life."

"No," Petrie replied. "But you can make future better!"

"What do you mean?" Pterano asked.

"Well, this is why we want to talk to you," Littlefoot explained.

Ducky then handed Pterano the pink leaf that they were carrying, and Pterano stared at it.

"So…this must be the special sweet bubble-dyed leaf. Yes, Petrie managed to go over the whole story on our way here," Pterano said.

"Well then," Littlefoot told him, "We need you to go find the other grownups who are out looking for Chomper and tell them to go back to the Great Valley."

"But they'll never believe me," Pterano said sadly.

"That's why you'll need this," Cera told him. "Take this leaf to our parents in the Great Valley, and then take it to the search party. They should notice that the leaf smells like Mia and has traces of sweet bubble dye. That'll get them to see that Mia faked her injury, and then they should finally listen to us."

"I don't know if that alone will convince them," Pterano said doubtfully.

"Well, that's all we've got," Cera told him.

"No, no no, we have something else on our side!" Ducky exclaimed. The others looked blankly at her before she explained, "The babies! Everyone thought Chomper ate the baby eggs, right? If we show that the clubtails' babies are still alive, everyone will know Chomper is innocent!"

"Maybe," Pterano sighed. "But everyone will think I'm just manipulating with the evidence. Nobody trusts me…"

But then, Petrie gave Pterano a hug. "Uncle, you don't know who believe you if you don't try. If you don't go, it means you give up on yourself and you be outcast that live on past mistakes forever. But if you show grownups, they might believe you and you make everything right again! You could help save Great Valley and be real hero!"

Pterano stared at Petrie, and then gave him a hug back. "Thanks Petrie…you are right. I shouldn't be dwelling over the past when there is something I can do to improve the future. I will try my hardest to make sure everyone gets the message…and I'm going to do this for you, your friends, and the entire Great Valley!"

Everyone smiled at Pterano. "You make right choice Pterano!" Petrie told him happily.

"My mom would want you to do this," Cera told Pterano encouragingly. "Go tell 'em like you were her!"

"You won't regret this, Pterano," Littlefoot promised, smiling at him. "Go out there and be a hero again!"

Pterano nodded determinedly. But just then, Shorty stuck his head through the entrance. "The storm is dying down, so we should get going."

Everyone nodded, before looking at each other determinedly.

"Let's go save everyone back home!" Petrie declared excitedly.

"And show those eggstealers they can't hurt anyone!" Cera exclaimed.

"And bring the little clubtails back to their mommies and daddies!" Ducky added.

"And protect the Great Valley for the future!" Littlefoot finished.

And with that, everyone cheered. Then they turned to the rainbow faces, who had been standing together for a while, murmuring to each other. Then a rainbow face walked out and said, "Well, now that the storm has gone and none of our eggs are about to hatch, we will be departing this planet…but we would like to express our greatest appreciation, Chomper, for everything you did."

"Oh…it was nothing!" Chomper told them with a big grin. "I was happy to help! Call me if you need my help again!"

The rainbow face smiled, before saying, "We wish you all the best of luck for your fight to save your homeland. It was a pleasure to meet all of you, and we will hope to see you again if we come back."

Everyone said thanks and waved goodbye to the rainbow faces, and then the rainbow faces stood still, held their eggs tightly, and with a blinding flash of light, they all vanished. Turning, Littlefoot, Cera, Ducky, Petrie, Spike, Chomper, Ruby and Pterano walked out of the cave, and when they walked outside, they saw indeed that the sun was just emerging from behind the clouds. Shorty, Bron, and the baby clubtails were standing outside, waiting for them.

"Ready, everyone?" Bron asked. Everyone nodded, and looked at each other.

Ducky then told Pterano, "Pterano, go ahead and pick one of the clubtail babies. You will need one of them to show their mommies and daddies, you will. But promise me you will take good care of your baby, right?"

Pterano nodded, and said, "Of course Ducky."

Ducky smiled at Pterano, and then she turned to face the group of clubtails. "Who wants to see mommy and daddy first?" Ducky asked happily.

The clubtails murmured excitedly, and they quickly began to coo and look at Pterano in anticipation. "Well, they all seem to want to be picked, so you can pick any of them, Pterano," Ducky told him.

"I'll take this one," Pterano responded, picking up a baby clubtail and gently hugging it.

"Be careful with her, and make sure she gets enough food to eat!" Ducky called out.

"I will, Ducky, I promise," Pterano told her. He gently scooped up the baby clubtail, saying, "Come on little one…we're going for a ride." Then he put the leaf in his mouth, and soared off into the distance.

"Bye Uncle Pterano," Petrie told him, while the others smiled at Pterano as he took a last look back.

"Have a nice ride!" Ducky called out to the baby clubtail, who waved back and giggled at Ducky, who giggled back.

"Well, let's get going!" Littlefoot exclaimed, and everyone nodded eagerly, preparing to head off to the Great Valley together.