Parrothead in Paradise

by PastCat

Chapter 15

The three of us walked back to Base Camp in silence. I was feeling a mixture of annoyance and amazement. Annoyance, with some jealousy, that Slickwing had been tutoring Adam all this time, but had not done so for me. Amazement that Adam had known about this but had been able to keep it a secret from the rest of us for the last few months. All the while he had been acting the skeptic, while leaving the rest of us in the dark.

After a bit of discussion as we came upon the main path back to Base Camp, we decided to tell the others about the dreams and Slickwing’s cache. There was nothing else we could do tonight, but I suspected that the morning would bring the six of us on a treasure hunt to retrieve the remains of the thestral and his burdens. Sure enough, when the story came out around the campfire that night, the other three’s eyes glowed with enthusiasm. Emmy agreed straight out that our first priority once we found the stuff should be to get the Artifact off the island. Seeing as she was the most knowledgeable about this magic stuff, neither Doc not Nic doubted her. We decided to head out early the next morning.

That night, Slickwing appeared in my dream again. This time, he had a sort of puppet accompanying him that was shaped like a griffon. He then proceeded to use the puppet to show me the differences in how a griffon’s wings and body reacted to flight as compared to a pony. He helpfully included instructions on how to land properly on all fours. There was a mischievous glint in his eyes at that one, which told me the source of why I was getting that particular lesson. In the end, he reiterated the importance of getting the Artifact to the volcano before it attracted the attention and greed of the Invaders. I woke up the next morning feeling invigorated, but with sore wings as though I had actually been flying.

We all met up for breakfast as usual, but conversation buzzed with excitement. All six of us were looking forward to our little expedition. It would take us a few hours of walking to get to the place that Trish and Nic had found. While the others packed our lunches and whatever other supplies they thought we would need, Adam pulled me aside.

“Did he go to you last night?” Adam asked. I nodded. “Good. In that case, let’s try flying there. When the others get to your perch from yesterday, we should take off.” He continued.

I looked at him as though he had grown a second head. “You’re kidding me, right? You know I have yet to stay airborne for less than a minute without a strong wind and that my landings are more likely to hit someone or something else other than the ground.”

“Trust me. When I asked Slickwing to help you out, he said he would do his best to get you into flying shape. After all, it’s in his best interest to get both of us ready for the flight to Hawai’i. From what he told me, it will take both of us to make it.” Adam said.

I sighed. “And I thought I was supposed to be the optimistic one.” Adam just grinned and led me back towards the others.

I refused to do what Adam suggested unless we told the others what we would be up to. It was not that I didn’t want to try flying again; I did, but I figured the others should know just in case the lessons from last night didn’t work and I was forced to use someone else as a landing pad. Trish was skeptical, as was Doc, but Emmy encouraged us to try and Nic nodded along as he focused on making sure his saddlebags were cinched tight. No help there.

I sighed and followed Adam as he led the way to the perch I had found yesterday. I couldn’t tell how he was going to get up there; I had climbed. I doubted all the practice the bat pony had given him in his sleep would have included climbing lessons too. Imagine my surprise when he crouched, flapped his wings a bit, and took off from the ground. Seriously? Well, I was not about to let him show off without trying myself. I crouched in the position that the shadow puppet griffon had used, then attempted takeoff. It was aborted with a mouthful of leaf litter. I could hear Adam laughing above me. Douchebag.

Instead of giving him the satisfaction of hearing me cuss him out, I went inside and climbed up the tree again. I paused to admire the view and noticed that the others had paused in their trek to watch. An audience; won-der-frickin’-ful. “For the record,” I yelled at Adam, who was flapping just out of reach of the roof, “I blame you for this.” I jumped. Unlike yesterday, there was a bit of an updraft, or maybe it had been a different part of the roof, I don’t know. Either way, I did not start a death spiral with a conclusion on the ground. It was like my wings knew what they were doing this time, as though the shadow puppet lesson had instilled what I needed to know before I woke up this morning.

Adam looked so smug, fluttering there. I wanted to wipe that grin off his face so bad, but he didn’t stay still for long enough. He took off in the direction of the cache; seeing as Trish had mentioned that they had found it on the grounds of the Bishop Museum, I figured that as long as we landed in that area, we would meet up with the group again. With a couple powerful wing beats, I started to pursue. Behind and below me I could hear laughter and cheering, but that was soon lost in the sounds of the wind rushing past. There, right in front of me, was Adam, his neon pink rear-end and gold tail streaming in the wind teasing me. Something about that view excited the predatory instincts that must have come with the lion half, because I knew in a way I had never known that I was made for this. I felt the thrill of the hunt and the chase. It was exhilarating.

Adam weaved between clouds that I plowed right through. It appeared that while we were both made for flight, he was more agile and probably faster. No matter; unless his speed and agility came with endurance, he would tire before I would. My wings were bigger, made for gliding and conserving energy for a burst of speed at the moment it was needed. That moment neared as I recognized the crumbling structure dead ahead. We landed on what had been the front lawn, now partially overgrown, next to a Moai head like the ones found on Easter Island. Adam was laughing because he won. I didn’t care.

“I still don’t like you.” I said. “But thanks for the flying idea. I needed that. Just one question: why didn’t you hint to Slickwing that I was having trouble with takeoffs too? After all, this is the first time I’ve managed a proper four point landing.”

“I did. Two reasons: one is that your landings have been more dangerous to the rest of us up until now. The other is that Slickwing is kind of a dick. Unfortunately for us, he’s one of those guys whose sense of humor leans toward pranks and mischief. I can’t count the number of times he goaded me into doing something stupid during our training sessions just to see me reap what I sowed. Luckily every one of those things lent itself to a lesson of sorts, even if it was ‘do not fly into a mountain’. That one hurt.” Adam said. He rubbed his head as though it had been a physical event instead of a mental one.

“Oh.” I said. “If you see him tonight, can you trick him into giving me takeoff lessons then? That was impressive when you took off from ground level.”

“Um, yeah.” Adam said. He looked slightly uncomfortable. “To tell you the truth, that’s the first time I actually tried that. All my other attempts have been from altitude either back at Diamond Head or in my dreams. I’m just glad it worked. Don’t you dare tell the others or I will never send Slickwing back again.”

I chuckled. No one else was here yet, so I asked, “Besides flying, what have you been doing with Doc? He’s been kind of secretive about that lately.”

“Me? Not much to be honest. Doc, though, has been excavating. Specifically he has been digging a sort of shelter at Diamond Head that would be big enough for all of us, but is up higher on the slope than the Cave of Names so if there is a storm it should stay dry. It’s pretty impressive; he added a solid door and the tailings form a sort of ramp so that the ground pounders can get up there.” His eyes got distant for a moment and he shuddered. “We will need it sooner than he thinks.” Adam mumbled.

“You feel it too?” I asked.

“Feel what, that? Just nerves I guess. I have been getting these feelings about the weather. I know Doc jokes about me being a weather pony, but I have noticed that I can more or less predict what is coming. It is pretty subtle, things like changes in air pressure and moisture, but it is pretty accurate.”

“I’ve been getting it a little too, but not that strong. What’s it telling you?” I asked, a hint of impatience in my voice.

“I’m not completely sure. It feels like there is a storm on the way, but it feels heavier that the usual squalls here. There is a deep low pressure center to the west that I don’t like the feel of, but it’s too far offshore to do much of anything yet. What worries me is if it doesn’t stay there and makes a turn in our direction. If it does...”

“It could hit us, and something with a pressure center that low could potentially be as strong as an Atlantic hurricane. Odds that our shelter at Base Camp would survive winds from something like that are low.” Now I shuddered. I disliked the omen. “Do you think it will happen?”

“I hope not, but if this Artifact is as magical as you and Slickwing said,” he rolled his eyes, “then some monster that was chasing the toy could use the storm as a way to keep us on the island and prevent the return of the Artifact to Hawai’i. That could leave us as trapped as those poor guys at Pearl Harbor. A storm would give cover from the sun to anything that came lurching out of the sea too.”

“That makes sense.” I said.

Neither of us spoke for a little while. We both started randomly wandering around the grounds of the museum’s ruins. The exhibit halls were mostly gone, but the facade of the entrance building was largely intact. The name at the peak of the roof was readable, though obscured somewhat by the growth of plant life. The courtyard was as overgrown as the lawns of the homes in Honolulu and the grounds of the University around Base Camp. It was rather chaotic, but exploring kept our minds off the impending challenge of flying some magical trinket to another island until the rest of our companions arrived.

Trish and Nic led the way to the blocked cave. When we got there, Adam and I searched through the undergrowth until we found the remnants of Slickwing. We reverently wrapped what we could identify in what was left of the windbreaker Adam had been wearing when we all Returned. The bones looked pitifully small piled as they were, but we had promised to bury him at Diamond Head and felt that his help in getting Adam and me airborne was worth the effort.

Doc cleared away the debris blocking the entrance and we entered one by one, aided by one of our precious flashlights and Emmy’s light spell. It was not too big; once upon a time it must have been part of the museum’s maintenance building or something like that. Luckily it was large enough to accommodate four ponies, a griffon, and a diamond dog. We divided the room in half, with Emmy leading the way with Nic and Adam while I carried the flashlight with Trish and Doc. The light from outside barely lit any of the space, so the flashlight was welcome. We swept from the entrance back and forth deeper into the artificial cave. There was no sounds in here besides the sound of hooves and paws on stone and six creatures breathing. Not even dripping water could be heard as we searched. Back and forth, back and forth. The floor showed nothing of interest, so we repeated our sweep against the walls.

It was steady and methodical work, but the methodology was not much different than what we had learned at Doc’s field school. We looked for details, for the little things that were out of the ordinary among the dirt and the remains of whatever had once been in here before. After an hour and a half of painstaking searching, we found it. Near the back of the place, a loose stone gave way when Nic brushed against it with a hoof. Behind it was a cavity just large enough to contain a pair of saddlebags. They were much better made than our cobbled-together versions, and had a faint feel of magic that suggested that they had been preserved via magic. We opened one pocket to find it full of intact parchment and paper. We closed it again before checking the other side. There was a faint reddish glow visible between the folds. Hesitantly, Emmy opened the pouch with her magic to reveal a single item: a ruby the size of a human skull with golden adornments. It felt strangely hot to the touch, even in the dank dark room. I shivered and Emmy quickly refastened the pouch.

“I don’t know about you guys, but I want that thing kept as far away from me as possible.” Nic said, his voice shaky.

“Agreed.” We all said without hesitation.

Doc took hold of the saddlebags and carried them out of the cave, the rest of us trailing behind him. None of us wanted to be left alone with that rock. As soon as we emerged, there was a sudden feeling of dread. It felt like that moment when you are on a free-fall ride and your stomach suddenly makes a beeline for your chest as the mechanism lets go.

“We need to get out of here.” Doc said in a voice that would have fit the inhabitants of a graveyard. None of us disagreed. We all started walking back towards Base Camp. Adam and I didn’t feel like flying any more. The trek was quieter than it had been going out. None of us said anything; I kept thinking I was seeing the oozing shadows from my dream peering out from the undergrowth. It did nothing to ease my anxiety.

“I don’t want to take that thing into Camp.” Nic said all of a sudden. “There is no way I am ever going to sleep near it.” We stopped to decide what to do. After some debate, we decided to leave it for the night in one of the buildings we were not using that were still mostly intact. We could then retrieve it tomorrow. I suggested the music building; Trish agreed and the two of us took the saddlebags there. We left it among the remnants of human made music and locked it in one of the metal cages used to store instruments.

Dinner that night was uneasy. None of us wanted to say anything about the day’s exploring. Slickwing’s remains bore a silent witness to the way we ate in nervous silence and went to bed early.