CHAPTER ONE: SYDO AND AGATHA

CHAPTER ONE: SYDO AND AGATHA

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The two continued to meet. Sydo hadn't told his friends about their meeting yet, as he wasn't sure what to make of her. She had finally learned enough Leaf Eater to talk to him properly. "Hello, back from leading your pack of Sharp Beaks? It must be tough being a Queen." he said.

"It is. I have no heir and everyone expects me to have one." she replied.

"What took you so long? You’ve been gone a while and I’ve waited and waited for you." he asked.

"Hunting. That little Swimmer didn't know what hit her." replied Agatha.

Sydo wanted to take off upon hearing this. "The poor dear!" said Sydo automatically.
"You don't think I should eat?" inquired Agatha, her eyebrows raised.

"I….er…." said Sydo. He thought it over. While he'd never had to take a life, he admitted that Agatha wouldn't have had that luxury as a Sharp Beak. "I'd prefer that you not eat children. Give them a chance at life." said Sydo.

"It's much harder to get an adult Swimmer by yourself than a kid. I'd need the whole pack to get an adult." said Agatha.

As sad as it sounded, he admitted that she might have a point. Adult Swimmers were quite big. He decided to change the subject. "Well, I think you are pretty and fly really well." said Sydo.

"Thank you dear." said Agatha. He talked with her for a long while and finally went home.

"Sydo, where were you?" his friends asked him.

"With her." said Sydo.

"You actually went to see her?" asked a friend of his.

"And she didn't eat you?" asked another.

"Nope. She seems to like me." said Sydo.

"I'm sure she would. Sydo sish-ka-bob is probably what she has in mind." said one of his Flyer friends.

"You're wrong. I've been with her many times." said Sydo.

"And you never told us?" asked another friend of his.

"I was under the impression that I'd come through the Time of Great Growing and am now able to make my own decisions." Sydo replied wryly.

Sydo returned to Agatha the next night. He decided to go at night again as usual. He hoped that most of her Sharp Beak friends would be asleep then, as they might not be as nice as she. He came with a present for her. She smiled at him. He was more used to those pointy teeth this time.

"Oh Sydo, thank you." she said. It was a fish. She hungrily ate it. He turned away, for this carnivorous behavior unnerved him still. He heard flapping. He realized with horror that her pack was there. He almost turned to take off, but soon realized that they weren't coming after him. "Yes, they follow my orders. You are safe here my friend." said Agatha.

As time went on, Sydo and Agatha continued to meet more and more. She made good on her promise that he would be safe with her too. One night, two Sharp Beaks had come after him and he had tried to flee. They would have gotten him and he expected to die, but then they yelped in pain. Agatha had grabbed them both and pulled them away from him.
Do not touch Sydo! Do you hear me? If you harm him, you will have to answer to me! said Agatha. They backed off, frightened. A grateful Sydo had thanked her for saving his life.

He felt in love with her and she seemed to be awfully fond of him. His friends were wary of being around him anymore as he spent so much time with a Sharp Beak. "Sydo, this isn't right! You know what she is!" said a friend of his.

"I know that she fancies me." said Sydo.

"As the main course!" said his friend loudly in exasperation.

"No, she'd never do that!" countered Sydo.

"You must have hit your head really hard that time when you fell when first learning to fly. Women are dangerous enough without having sharp fangs!" said his friend in annoyance.

Eventually, he decided that he was going to hedge all bets and propose to her. He got many fish for her. He ate Tree Stars himself, but he knew that Agatha couldn't stand them, for he had offered them to her once before.

As he approached her nest, doubts began to nag him. He was going to marry a Sharptooth. He was a Leaf Eater. He could only eat plants and she only meat. Was there a Flyer of his own kind out there for him that he hadn't bothered to look for?

Agatha was with her pack on a hunting mission. She had spotted a Tickly Fuzzy below. Sydo saw the creature too.

Agatha smirked, a look of triumph on her face. She swooped downward, gathering speed. He admired her abilities of flying, which, he thought, rivaled, if not surpassed, his own. He turned away as he saw her talons sink at the creature. The creature let out a death yell. Sydo trembled, but, resolved, continued forward toward Agatha.

"Agatha, it is me." said Sydo. Agatha stood over the dead creature. She was sharpening her talons on a rock next to her.

"Hello my dear." she said. "I brought you these." he said, giving her the fish.

"Oh dessert, thank you Sydo." she said, smiling at him kindly.

Sydo proposed to her. She accepted. He had watched as she ate the poor creature. It was alarming, yet, this was his mate now. He'd have to get used to it.

Sydo returned to his friends and told them that he had proposed to Agatha. What came next broke his heart. “Get lost Sydo! We’re kicking you out of the herd for marrying a Sharptooth!” cried one of them in anger.

“Wh—what? ” sobbed Sydo.

“You’ve chosen our enemies! Go be with them!” snapped another. And Sydo was shown the door, so to speak, and could never go back.

He returned to his mate, very sad and told her what had happened. “Sydo, they are jerks. If you like, I can deal with them.” she said.

The idea was tempting, upset as he was. “No, let them be. I have you and that is enough.” he replied. She smiled and nodded, putting her wings around him to comfort him. She at least cared for him. If this was how Leaf Eaters would treat him for being in love with someone different, then he’d take Sharpteeth.

The two had a union ceremony the next morning. The Sharp Beaks of her pack were all there. They looked at him with the utmost respect. "To long life together." said Agatha, kissing her new mate.

"Yes, I love you dear." he said. The two got along well. He even went with her hunting pack, but, of course, he didn't partake in the hunt. He always felt guilty when the Leaf Eaters looked at him, expecting him to help them, but he only just stayed there, for he knew that Sharp Beaks needed to eat too.

After some time, Agatha became pregnant. "Sydo, you're going to be a father." she said, beaming. Sydo felt elated. He wondered what the children would be like. Would they be like her or him? He would accept them either way, as he had accepted Agatha.

Agatha had a single egg, a speckled silver one. Sydo and Agatha thought that the egg was beautiful. They both took turns warming it. Eventually, the egg hatched.The shell broke around the lower half first, and talons came out. Sydo saw that they were sharper than his. Next, the middle broke. The creature tried to flap its wing and fell over. The top half of the egg shattered. The child was a boy. He looked kind of like Sydo, but he had red eyes like that of his wife. He had an orange body and black wings. He had long talons though not quite as long as Agatha's. He had Sharp Beak abilities but would pass for a Pteranodon to anyone who didn't know him. He smiled at the two innocently. He had both sharp and flat teeth. His fangs were further back in his mouth.

"What shall we call him?" his mate asked him.

"Ptero." said Sydo. They both admired Ptero. Ptero was their pride and joy.

Meanwhile, further out in the Mysterious Beyond, a young Flyer couple watched their eggs hatch. They had a couple of kids. One by one the group hatched. The last to break out of his green egg was a black eyed, brown crested, gold necked, orange bodied one. “What shall we call him?” Phyra asked her mate Don. “Petrie.” replied Don.

“Looks just like you Don.” said Don’s brother-in-law Pterano. They were so proud of Petrie. The two very different Flyer families never guessed that their children would someday meet.