Dinosaur Train: Dust
#2 of Dinosaur Train: Catastrophe
A week after the events of Starstruck; as life forces changes on the pteranodon family, and Gilbert goes through surgery, stress and emotion get the better of everyone.
Chapter 2 of the Dinosaur train story.
Dinosaur Train: Dust
Mrs. Pteranodon few over the familiar pathway she would take from the train station back to her home at Pteranodon Terrace that lay overlooking an ocean. She traveled the pathway many times, but this time, she was alone. The view was bleak as the trees that weren't smashed looked burned and covered in soot, pathways were nearly non existent and the sky had a perpetual hazy look, making it seem like the world was caught between night and day. Eventually her eyes recognized the shape of the terrace, though it was in shambles; most everything being smashed or burned.
However, one thing was constructed, at least partially, the nest. It had a basic outline and floor, but looked unfinished and made of many burned branches. Mrs. P flapped her wings and landed on the ground and walked closer to it. With every step she took, she could start to make out a figure sitting in the nest. It was hard to make out, but they looked fairly small, the lack of light and the soot covering the figure obscured them from her eyes.
But she recognized the shape. Any mother would recognize their child.
She ran forward and vaulted over the side of the nest, but the little figure spoke.
"Stop." it said, the tone sounding young, yet firm, and without thinking, she froze. "Don't come closer."
"Buddy? It's me! Your mom!" she said, wanting so badly to just take those two more steps, to hold him in her arms again, to know he was alive and well.
"Mom?" the small figure echoed before it was silent for a moment. "I don't have a mom." it said firmly.
"Yes you do, I'm right here!" Mrs. P's heart stung fiercely at his words and every terror she had was flooding back to her.
"No! You were gone! You said this would never happen, but it did! You said you'd keep me safe, but you weren't here!" he shrieked, still keeping his back to her.
"B-but I'm here now..." she said, trying so hard to breathe steady as he echoed every fear in her heart. "and I've come to take you to your new home, to keep you safe." she said as she started to calm down and took a step closer.
"No you're not, because you're not my mom." he said flatly. Mrs. P instead turned angry and grabbed his shoulders to spin him around and scold him.
But then she saw his eyes.
She froze as her anger drained and a harsh chill ran through her body, a terror she had only felt once or twice in her life. She could only stare at him as she let go and took a step back, her eyes welling with tears as she looked into what he had for eyes. Suddenly, she tripped over the edge of the nest and fell backwards, tumbling through time and space before slamming into her body.
Mrs. P awoke with a sharp screech, sitting up and holding her chest, breathing hard as she woke from the nightmare. Mr. C sat up soon afterwards, looking at her, then up at the ridge, then the horizon; it was still night and would be a few hours until dawn. She jumped when she felt his hand rubbing her back and looked down at his kind face looking back at her, worried.
"Had the dream again?" he said ,though he knew the answer. She nodded and swallowed, catching her breath.
"Yeah... same as every time..." she said in a defeated tone, trying to will her body to settle down. Mr. C sat up and ran his hand over his head feathers.
"Will you tell me what's in his eyes, this time?" he asked. She'd confided in him the multiple times she had the horrifying dream, but when it came to the details of what was in his eyes, she wouldn't say. "I've been having broken sleep for several weeks... I kinda feel this detail I should know."
"Not yet..." she said, between deep breaths, closing her eyes and taking a single deep breath before letting it out slowly. "I need to..." she trailed off, the image so vivid in her mind's eye. Mr. C knew he wasn't getting an answer, again, but simply gave her a kind hug, one she took a moment to return before she followed his tugging to lay back down on the ground level nest she and Mr. C shared.
Two Weeks Earlier
Shiny had spent the majority of her time with Gilbert as he slowly recovered. He regained a lot of energy and had a healthy appetite after the transfusion set in. Shiny was more that willing to help him to his feet, his small frame using crutches, that is ,when Shiny wasn't holding him up herself, as not only was the healing leg an issue, but the lack of tail made his balance awkward. The main problem was that the stump of his tail was still an open wound and they needed to close it off before an infection could set in.
One day as the two were laying together and chatting, Mr. C came in for his daily checkin.
"Well hello you two." he said in a cheerful tone. "So, I got some good news and some bad news." he said. The two young sets of eyes looked back at him.
"What's the good news?" Shiny spoke up as Gilbert waited for an answer.
"Well the good news is that you're going to learn a new medical procedure, and Gilbert here is going to get a treatment so he can stop wearing bandages on his tail." both kids chimed in with a "Hurray!"
"But the bad news..." Mr. C grew serious and the two paused. "is that it's going to hurt a lot, Gilbert." he said.
"But, don't we have medicine to make it so we don't feel the pain?" he asked as Shiny grew worried.
"Indeed we do, but the problem is that you're still kinda small and while you're feeling better, you're still injured and if we give this stuff to you, you might fall asleep and never wake up." he said, rubbing his arm and sighing. "So it will hurt a lot, but you will be able to heal up and get back to living when it's done." he said, smiling again, though it was a bit of a forced one.
Gilbert looked at Shiny and smiled, giving her beak a small stroke with his hand.
"All right... as long as Shiny is helping... I can do it." he said, which made her gleam a bit brighter as she flushed.
Mr. C cleared the area of the bed, pulling the sheets down and laying out a special cloth, before he left for a moment and came back with a tray with several items on it that made Shiny nervous; sharp things, thread, and a few items she'd never seen before. Mr. C pulled up a stool and sat at the edge of the bed while he brought Shiny close, her small frame sitting on the bed right next to him. Using scissors, Mr. C cut away the bandages from around Gilbert's tail, placing the stained ribbons on the tray as the exposed tail stump lay on the cloth he had lay down earlier. Shiny had seen the injury several times before when the bandages were changed; the tail ending abruptly where it would have been the middle, the wound slightly jagged. Mostly there was skin and muscle tissue, a tailbone having been torn out when the injury had happened and leaving it mostly flesh that was prone to bleeding if it was squeezed.
"Well it looks good and red and pink, so you're not infected, which is good and means we can start the next part." Mr. C said as he opened a bottle of rather strong smelling fluid. He grabbed a cloth from the tray and poured some of the liquid on it before he turned to Shiny. "Show me your hands." he said, which she did, opening her little palms to him. Again it struck him odd how a few generations ago, pteranodons had little more than a few fingers at the top of their wings, now they had whole three digit palms with a thumb. With his musings aside, he took the strong smelling cloth and wiped it along her hands, rubbing her palms and claws before she spoke up.
"This stuff stinks and burns my nose..." she said as she turned her head away.
"Sorry about that, but this stuff gets rid of the tiny germs that can make you sick, but too much of it can hurt you, so it smells bad to prevent you from wanting to drink it, which could make you very sick." he said, choosing to keep the definition of alcohol simple for her. She begrudgingly let him finish wiping her hands down before he dabbled more liquid onto the rag. "This is going to hurt, Gilbert. Hold on, little buddy..." he said as Gilbert clutched the pillow he was laying against before Mr. C started dabbling the cloth on the exposed tail stub.
Shiny thought she was going to have a heart attack, as a few seconds after Mr. C started dabbing the cloth, Gilbert started shivering, clutching the pillow as tight as he could before he began screaming.
"IT BURNS! IT BURNS! MAKE IT STOP! PLEASE!" he shrieked as his body shivered from the urge to try and escape the fire on his injury, his eyes blurring. Thankfully Mr. C had a grip on Gilbert's hip with his free hand and managed to finish dabbing the wound. Gilbert was still experiencing the fire and was crying rather loudly, something that broke Mr. C's heart and something that instantly made Shiny start crying as she leapt across the bed and hugged his tear stained head to her chest.
"It'll be okay, I'm here for you!" she said over his sobs. His trembling was quite bad for the next few moments, but eventually the burning sensation faded and was replaced with a slightly numb feeling. When that sensation settled in, he sighed softly and his sobs died down as he finally hugged her back.
"I'm sorry that hurt so bad, Gilbert... but there is more to come." Mr. C said and Gilbert broke the hug to look back at him with unbelieving eyes, to which his uncle nodded slowly with a sad expression. Shiny broke her hug as well and scurried over to Mr. C.
"But that hurt him so bad! You can't do more!" she pleaded, tears in her eyes. Mr. C sighed.
"Shiny, Gilbert, it HAS to be done, otherwise we might lose you..." he said, looking at Gilbert and giving his hip a little rub before he looked at Shiny. "But this part will be done by Shiny." he said, the little pteranodon looking a little worried, but he smiled. "Relax, it won't be too hard and I'll help you." he said as he pulled out the liquid and a rag again, running it along her hands and his own before reaching for a needle, which he wiped down before grabbing a special thread, threading the needle and getting it set before he had Shiny sit in front of him. "Okay, so what we're going to do is sew the end of his tail closed, since he won't grow a new one and we don't want dirt or anything to get in it." he said as he placed the needle in her grasp and his hand over her hand, guiding her to touch the needle to one side of his tail, just under the ragged edge of the wound. He had her press in, the needle piercing Gilbert's skin and into the muscle tissue, at which point Gilbert shrieked again and Shiny froze as he started to thrash at the more sharp pain. Mr. C instantly let go of Shiny and grabbed Gilbert, one hand on his chest, the other at his tail base to keep him still. "He's going to be in pain, so push the needle all the way through his tail!" he said, speaking up to be over Gilbert's cries.
"O-okay..." she said as she fought every nerve of her body telling her to go leap over and hug and comfort Gilbert, and instead pressed the needle through the muscle tissue and seeing it poke out the other side. Mr. C briefly let go of Gilbert's chest to assist Shiny in pulling it through the rest of the way before aiming it back at his tail.
"Just like that, do it all the way down the opening." Mr. C said. Shiny was obedient, despite how every stab made Gilbert shriek out and flail, his head slamming into the pillow several times and biting at it to alleviate the stress of the situation. Shiny's work was, unfortunately, slowing down. While she was doing things right, her eyes were welling with tears at hurting Gilbert so much and she was starting to have difficulty seeing what she was doing. Mr. C saw her welling eyes and that she had finished about five bars of the stitching and was close to having it finished. He gently took the needle from her hand. "I'll finish this." he said. "I think Gilbert needs some comfort." Shiny let him take the needle and thread and crawled up him, hugging him tightly as she sniffled.
"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" she shuddered as she cried and held onto him, his own form still shivering and sniffling.
"I-It's okay..." he said as Mr. C sat back on the stool to continue the work. "You... AHHH!" he yelped out again as the needle passed through his tail again, Mr. C working faster than Shiny. "Y-you're here with me..." he muttered out as his throat became hoarse from his crying and screaming.
It was several more screeches before Mr. C stopped, clipping the thread and tying it off before he got out a roll of fresh bandages and began to wrap up the neatly sewn up extremity.
With Gilbert bandaged back up, Mr. C leaned over the two youngsters and gave them a hug.
"You both did fantastic. I'm sorry it hurt so much, Gilbert, but you did it." he said, stroking his head as he gave a smile in return to his uncle before Mr. C turned to Shiny. "And so did you, Nurse Shiny." he said, smiling a bit as the youngsters shook off the tears and smiled at the situation being over. Mr. C looked at his watch before he stepped to a window, seeing the sky slightly orange and the sun setting. "Well you two, it's time I get going, it's getting late." he said as he turned to look at the two, finding them snuggled up tightly and dozing already.
He couldn't get over how cute they looked together and smiled before pulling the curtain before he left the station.
Mr. C had spent the first seven days after the catastrophe living with the Pteranodon family, making daily trips to the train station to visit Gilbert and Shiny and assist with his recovery before returning to the Pteranodon family area. Don and Tiny were happy to have someone who'd play with them and help teach them and Mrs. P was glad to have someone helping her with her kids while she did much needed work around the area, such as refining the nest or catching fish.
Mr. C. mused all this over, wondering what little adventure or story the siblings were going to be interested in today, though when he broke the brush line that lead to the lake, he was greeted by Mrs. P, Tiny, and Don all standing and looking at him before they jumped aside, revealing that they were hiding something behind them.
"SURPRISE!" they yelled in unison as they revealed a second nest, this one ground level near the lake, and rather nicely crafted. Mr. C jumped, hardly believing his eyes.
"Well bless my scales and feathers!" he exclaimed. "Did you all make this nest for me?" he asked, though he was pretty sure he knew the answer as he stepped closer.
"We certainly did." Mrs. P said as she smiled.
"It took us all day!" Tiny said, making it sound like it was the most arduous task she'd ever done.
"Yeah, but I think he would have liked a big hole, more." Don said. Tiny huffed at him while Mrs. P and Mr. C chuckled, Mr. C rubbing Don's head.
"Thank you all. Guess I'm a part of the pteranodon team now." he said in a peppy tone that made Tiny and Don perk up and cheer before they decided they wanted to play some games with Mr. C. Taking his hat off, he was happy to do so as Mrs. P took off to catch some fish.
That night, after dinner that Mrs. P had expertly caught, Mr. C climbed into his nest, the simple structure being rather comfy and spacious. He used his vest as a sort of cushion, the ticking of his pocket watch having become a sort of comfort to listen to.
Up on the ridge, Mrs. P had tucked Tiny into the nest, as well as Don, though just about as soon as she turned her back, Don had crawled out and into a hole he'd been sleeping in every night. She rolled her eyes at his actions. He was a young male, it only made sense that he'd want to start pulling away from "mom's nest". Mrs. P stroked Tiny's head and gave her a kiss before she tried to lay down and rest.
"Mom?" Mrs. P heard the small voice chirp up. She sat up, looking at Tiny, standing next to her, clutching her tiny doll. "Can I talk to you? It's, umm... private..." she said. Mrs. P had no idea what it could be, but happily made room for her.
"Of course you can. And I'll keep it a secret too." she said, not sure what the subject was, but wanting to re assure her offspring as she sat in her lap. Tiny was quiet for a little while before she held up the tiny doll.
"You made a really good tiny doll, mommy... I remember when I lost my first tiny doll... the one dad made..." Mrs. P remembered it clearly, she hadn't seen Tiny so sad in such a long time. "Then I remember that Dad tried really hard to make a new one... and it was cute too, but it wasn't the same..." she said, sniffling and hugging her little stick and leaves doll close. "And this one is cute... but not the same..." Mrs. P lowered her head slightly, knowing she couldn't remake the one she lost. "They are gone... just like Dad..."
Mrs. P's heart thumped hard. She didn't know if she wanted to cry or be angry at what her daughter said and was quiet a moment.
"And worst of all..." she said, sniffling, starting to sob, at which Mrs. P kept slowly stroking her head. Her sobbing slowed and soon she took a deep breath... and began to make a rhyme.
"You made me a new tiny doll, yes you made another, but what I miss most of all, is my missing brother..." she said as a shiver ran through her frame as Mrs. P decided on starting to cry along with her daughter.
"Oh Tiny... I miss him so much too..." she said, sniffling. "I miss his big green eyes... his big toothy smile... the way he'd run or gobble down his food..." she chuckled. "or how he'd sniff out anything or spot fish from so far away.
"How he'd snuggle up close in the nest, so nice and warm..." Tiny said, though Mrs. P could swear she heard some sort of change of tone in her voice. "the smell of his carrion breath was bad, but I miss it now... I miss how he'd lick my neck in his sleep." Tiny giggled. "It tickled so much and made me feel really good." she said, looking up at the stars.
"I... I see..." Mrs. P now knew why this was private. She knew Buddy and Tiny were basically inseparable, only venturing apart for short periods of time, but she didn't know that Tiny felt THAT way about her adopted brother. Still, Mrs. P smiled. "We'll find him again one day. Then you can play and snuggle and lick all you want." she said. "Though I may have to explain a bit to you about-"
"Mating?" Tiny interrupted and Mrs. P froze. "I know about it... You and Dad weren't always quiet at night." she said, a bit flatly. "I know you do it with someone you really love... and I know Buddy isn't a pteranodon... but, neither is Gilbert." Mrs. P was struck speechless by her daughter's logic. She certainly had learned a lot. Mrs. P took a soft breath as Tiny slowly relaxed, finally feeling sleep hitting her.
"Just remember how much you love him... and look up at that sky and think about how you'll meet him again." she said as Tiny fell farther asleep, Mrs. P laying her down to properly lay in the nest.
Mrs. P herself sat back, looking into the stars, hugging herself. She didn't know herself if she'd ever find her husband or Buddy, but the longer she looked up at the sky, the colder and more alone she felt. Looking down off the ridge, she saw Mr. C laying in his nest. He looked so cozy, so much more at rest than she felt. She thought it was a little selfish to leave Tiny and Don up here, but she needed some selfish time, or so she reasoned. With a quiet flap, she flew down to Mr. C's nest and slowly climbed into it. He was snoozing quietly and she started to get closer to him when his eyes suddenly snapped open and focused on her, his pupils large, making his eyes appear near jet black and abnormal. He didn't move as he looked up at her face, and for a moment, she was terrified that she was being stared at by a predator who wanted to eat her.
"Something wrong, Mrs. P?" he asked in a rather normal, yet hushed tone. She calmed down slightly, rather shook up. He noticed her spooked expression before he realized her focus was on his eyes and he remembered what it could be. "Oh, my eyes." he said, rubbing them as he sat up. "Troodon are normally nocturnal, our large eyes are able to catch a lot of light and see pretty clearly at night. We just started being up around daytime more due to getting more passengers on the train." he said, chuckling a little. Mrs. P took a breath and nodded.
"You did give me quite a start." she said as she calmed down. "But I wanted to know if I could... spend some time in your company down here." Mr. C smiled and made more room for her.
"Of course. You've been normally sleeping near me the past week anyway." he said in a cheerful tone.
"Yes, but... you weren't in a nest..." she said. There was a slight pause from both of them at the implication; that she was sharing a nest with someone other than her husband or family. It was Mr. C who finally spoke up.
"Mrs. P, I'm thankful for you making this nest for me, but if you're going to grow distant because we happen to share it at times, I'd rather sleep on the ground." he said. His statement seemed a little odd to Mrs. P, but she understood that he wanted her company over anything else.
"Oh, I didn't... I wasn't trying to..." she really wasn't sure what to say before Mr. C wrapped an arm around her and hugged her to silence her. She returned it as he guided them to lay together and soon, Mrs. P was relaxing in his arms.
They were quiet for a while, shifting positions a bit before finally settling on her back being pressed to his chest, his arms wrapped around her. Mrs. P's eyes started to close, but then she felt him take a breath in and start talking softly.
"You're such a good mother." he said. "I just hope my mother is all right." Mrs. P woke up a bit more as she realized that they hadn't seen her since the cataclysm. She'd been so focused on her own family that she completely voided the fact that the one who'd been comforting her all this time was possibly suffering just as badly, if not worse.
"She often jumps from station to station, doesn't she?" Mrs. P asked.
"Sorta. It's hard to say, I never know when she's going to pop up next. She keeps saying she trusts me with my job, but when I least expect it, there she is, hooting loudly and correcting me or insisting we do something." he said, hugging Mrs. P a little more tightly. "I miss it now..."
"I know what you mean..." Mrs. P agreed, pressing herself a little more snugly into his grasp. "I miss the feeling of my husband holding me in the nest... Feeling him breathing and his heartbeat..." she trailed for a moment before she giggled. "Then he'd say some terribly corny line like "This coach would love to score a goal in you." before I'd feel him pressing his-" she stopped what she was saying as she realized who she was saying it to, as well as WHAT she was saying. "I'm so sorry I..." she paused as her eyes widened as she felt Mr. C's hand gently stroking her rounded belly before one slipped a long digit down between her short legs. "M-Mr. C??" she stammered as she felt him edging closer to her loins.
"I just want to comfort you and make you feel more relaxed..." he said softly. "I'm sorry if I'm... invading your personal space." he said as he slid his hand back up to her belly.
"Don't..." she said and he sighed, nodding into her collar.
"I won't, I'm sorry. It was stupid of me to do something so brazen." he said, before he felt one of her hands grip his wrist.
"No... Don't... Don't stop..." she said, but she wouldn't look over her shoulder. What did she say? Did she really just tell the conductor of the train to grope her? A week from her husband and she was already seeking company of another male? She felt terrible, awful.
Then she felt his hand return down there and she remembered why she told him.
Her loins felt like they practically lit up, feeling so sensitive to his touch. Now that she thought about it, it had been a while since she and Mr. P had been intimate, even before all this happened. But that didn't explain why his single digit, slowly sliding around her loins, was making her insides light up.
"Stress is a terrible thing." Mr. C said as he slowly stroked the insides of her legs, pressing where her loins met her legs before placing his second finger and thumb on either side and spreading her lips open, exposing her to the air with a wet sound. She shivered, but only lifted a leg to give him more room as her mind raced and her heart thumped. "Stress of being apart, stress of loss and work... it can tear you apart..." he said as he pressed his soft lips into her neck, not kissing her, but pressing to her before he spoke. "I just want to make sure you don't tear yourself apart..." Then he dipped his index finger between her wet folds.
She thought the stars in the sky doubled for a moment at that warm touch. How did she get so wet? Was she really in such need of this? The warm, thick digit pulling away, a string of her fragrant fluids still attached to it, left her with a deep want... no... NEED of his attention. She closed her eyes and pressed back against him.
"Do it.." she hissed out, and as soon as she did, she felt the pressing warmth against her sensitive, spread folds, slowly sliding along her lips. She groaned, the sensation being familiar yet different, Mr. P having been her only partner until now. That thought tried to bring up pangs of regret, but every sliding stroke of that quickly moistening digit as it rubbed in slow circles eroded her resolve, replacing it with the deliciously simple primal need. She could feel his warm chest against her back, his heart pounding around as hard as her own threatened to jump out of her chest. His finger continued the slow circles, gently sliding down, pressing the soft skin of the finger pad against her drooling opening, giving her a tease of stretching for her heated insides, before he drew his moist finger up, brushing that stone hard nub. She quickly clasped her hands over her beak as she muffled a loud squawk as that sensation sent a bolt up her spine, making her body tingle. She glanced down, seeing his free hand holding her round belly, slowly rubbing it while his other continued to tease her loins. A deep shiver passed through her as his breathing had picked up the pace, feeling his heated breath on her neck as she assumed he was also getting into the heat of the moment. She could feel that tight fire building in her belly; that glorious, delicious release just about to burst free. She just needed a little more... just a little more... "I-Inside..." she hissed out. She didn't even notice she said it until his slow circling shifted and he gently trailed his claw along her folds, the sharp sensation making her eyes widen and her toes flex before he carefully slid it to her moist opening and began easing it inside. She was as worried he'd cut her as she was eager for pleasure as she felt it glide gently into her before the warm flesh of his finger pressed against her before popping in. It was a simple movement, far from intense in action, yet her body locked up as soon as she felt that first knuckle sink in, her body shuddering as her stomach rippled, her toes clenching hard as her insides did the same, everything locking up before she tossed her head back, ready to scream out her release, which was thankfully muffled by Mr. C using his free hand to hold her beak shut while his other remained at her loins, riding out the sensations of her insides flowing more fluids out as she clenched and squeezed his length.
Warm, pleasing euphoria flowed through her body, feeling the warm sensation in her loins, the warmth grasping her body and breathing into her neck. For the first time since this mess began, she felt relaxed, at peace. She twitched when she felt him slide the little amount of his digit free of her, letting her lips close as he held her belly with both hands now. She relaxed her leg, but as the initial passing of pleasure left her mind, she started to feel guilt. Wracking, horrible guilt. She was in a nest that belonged to another male, one they both KNEW, and he'd freely groped her... and she let him. No... she asked him to. Nearly begged him to.
"Mister Conductor..." she said softly. She didn't know what she was going to say, but she felt his grip on her loosen and his body slightly pull back. She felt the cool air return and was quickly reminded of the coldness of solitude she had been feeling.
"I'm sorry." he said softly, his voice barely above a whisper. "I know it's... not normal for these things to happen between friends, but I couldn't stand to see you so sad... so alone." She couldn't see his face, but she could tell he was on the verge of tears. She slowly shifted and pressed her back to his chest, an act which made him quickly tighten his grip on her belly. "I won't do it again, you have my word."
She felt she should reply, say something, but nothing came to her beyond the idea that he was doing the right thing, and that she was very tired.
Yes... that would be the only time that would happen.
Mr. C's heart was racing as Mrs. P dozed off in his arms. He wanted to cry, he wanted to hurt himself, he couldn't believe he did what he did. It was Mrs. P! A friend of his, mother to 4 charming youngsters, and wife to another friend for many years. Why did he do that? Why?
Was he acting on predatory instincts to take advantage of a weakened "prey"? No, he would have done much more to her if that was the case. His loins ached as it was, but he didn't even let himself get exposed while he was pleasing her. Pleasing her... yes, that's what he was doing. He did nothing to please himself beyond making her happy, even if for a moment.
But what was the price? How would this change things between them? Would she no longer seek his comfort, feeling he was trying to take advantage of her? He couldn't stand to think of that. Most of his people were locked on the other side of the time tunnel... Well, those that might have survived. He didn't even know where his mother was, and Gilbert was nearly killed. He had no one to turn to, no one to lay his fears on or seek comfort in beyond Mrs. P.
Well... there was Erma... but they barely knew each other... and she lived in the Triassic... Wait a moment.
It took all of his energy not to jump out of the nest as he remembered something important; there were two primary towns, one at the end of the line at troodon town, the other at the beginning of the line. The train had been immobile for the full week as the staff around it were tending to the passengers, as well as the on hands to see who was still fit for work. He knew Laura was still alive and mostly fit, but he'd have to see if she'd be up for coming along after having lost an eye.
He'd need to see who was going to be able to assist in making whatever repairs were needed to the train, and who'd be willing to go with him to the beginning of the line. If he was lucky, there would be enough troodon there who could help with excavating the time tunnels and re-establish a link with whatever was on that timeline.
His mind was buzzing with the idea that he could kickstart opening the pathways back to the time where Buddy, Mr. P, and all the others were that, at first, he didn't notice that Mrs. P was wriggling and flinching in her sleep.
He looked at her as she twitched and smiled, thinking she was probably enjoying a good dream.
That is, until she shot bolt upright out of his arms, her eyes wide as she screamed.
Mr. C jumped a foot at her reaction, seeing Mrs. P wide eyed and clutching her chest, looking around, as if she'd just lost something. "Mrs. P?!"
"MOM!" came a dual yell from the ridge as Tiny and Don flew down, both having been woken by her scream of panic. The two landed in the nest as Mr. C gently grasped Mrs. P's shoulders.
"Mrs. P, it's all right, it was just a dream." he said as she struggled to catch her breath, her eyes blinking as she focused on Tiny and Don, which she scooped up in a hug.
"oh Tiny... Don..." she said, on the verge of tears. "I'm sorry for waking you. It's all right, I just had a bad dream." she spoke, as Tiny and Don clutched at her.
"What kind of dream was it?" Don asked as Tiny looked at her, hoping she'd tell.
"Umm..." she was silent a moment before she spoke. "It... was scary and I don't want to tell you. I wouldn't want to scare you." she said. Don accepted her explanation while Tiny was a bit more puzzled, not as easily believing it, though her mother spoke up. "C'mon kids, let me tuck you back in." she said as she took to the air with her kids in tow. Mr. C just watched her put Don and Tiny back to bed before she returned to the nest on the ground. She gave Mr. C a look that she wanted to talk, but said nothing before she lay down, turning her back to him. "Good night, Mr. C." she said simply. She was greeted with a warm hand on her shoulder and knew he wasn't going to leave it be.
"I'm not letting you go back to sleep to have the same dream again." he said. She sat up, her back still to him.
"I really don't want to talk about it. Especially not after what we did." she said, almost spitting out the words. She didn't see Mr. C close his eyes, as if he'd been punched, but she knew that was what her words basically were like and instantly regretted saying that to the only person who'd given her support since the situation grew so badly.
"You don't have to forgive me for what we did, but I do know that if you don't vent some of it out, it will eat at you." he said. "Please, tell me at least what it was about." he said, laying a hand on her shoulder again.
She turned to face him, her expression forlorn as she looked him in the eyes, her beak trembling as she remembered the dream in vivid detail before she hugged herself tightly to his chest, but what she said wasn't reflecting the dream.
"I'm so sorry... You've done so much for us... for me... you're not to blame for just trying to help..." she said as she choked back a wave of tears and sadness. Mr. C slowly wrapped his arms around her, holding her firmly, and she soon found herself listening to his heartbeat again. Soothing, calming... She slowly let her tears dry up. "The dream..." she started, choking softly. "it... was about Buddy..." Mr. C placed a hand on her head, coaxing her to press it against his chest as he gently shushed her.
"Shhhhhh... that's all you need to say right now... We'll talk about the rest later." he said as he stroked her head. "Starting tomorrow, I'm going to set things in motion to try and get the tunnels open again. I need you to stay strong while I do it; the tunnels won't be open in a day and it will still be some time before we can go looking, but... I'm not going back on my promise."
He gently lay down with her in his arms as she slowly breathed, listening to his chest, and soon, she had returned to sleep. He looked up at the stars in the sky and nodded. He could do this. He WOULD do this. For Gilbert. For Shiny. For Don. For Tiny. And most of all... for the one in his arms. He held her tighter, feeling a deep warmth in his chest and a comfort. He wanted to help her, protect her.
And he would.
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End Chapter 2