The Sparkle In Your Eye

“Let’s go - we’re going to miss it!” Tar teased his moms. Well. He teased Callahan, he still was not sure how much Petrichor actually liked him versus simply tolerated him because she loved Callahan. She was warming up to him though. Slowly.

Petrichor snorted. “The sun has hardly gone down past the horizon and the stars never fall until well into the evening. We’re not going to miss anything.”

Tar shook his head, his unkempt feathers ruffling even more as he did. “Not just the stars, the whole thing! The… “ What was it the travellers had called it?

“Festival,” Callahan supplied with a light tone. She was looking forward to a night of curiosities and oddities. It would help keep her mind off of other things. And maybe… just maybe, she would finally catch up with her brother. Petrichor had convinced her to come to the unburnt island to see if he had somehow made his way here, though Callahan still thought it was just as likely that he was wandering Pera somewhere and their paths just had not yet crossed. She refused to believe the grim alternative. When there was word of a festival…

Her eyes squinted contentedly as she gazed up at her monstrously sized son. He was getting bigger, and stronger, every day, and was more and more curious about the world. This would be good for him. “It’s a gathering of some kind. The travellers said there would be food and games.”

And many, many faces. Callahan would not hold her breath, but she still hoped.

Petrichor hoped they would find Dullahan for her mate’s sake as well, even if it did mean they would be subjected to uncouth strangers and rowdy rabble-rousers and who knew what else. That was one good thing about Tar, at least. The larger he got, the more other dinosaurs tended to leave them alone, and that suited Petrichor just fine.

The glittering gift that Callahan had gotten her, which was wrapped around her wrist, glinted in the silver moonlight as she gestured ahead of them. “Look, we’re not even that late. There’s already a crowd.”

And what a crowd it was. Even outside the grand complex of buildings, there were dinosaurs spread across the grounds far and wide. Sounds of merriment and wonder already drifted through the air, cheers and trumpets and bellows as dinosaurs from across the archipelago came to see what the fuss was about.

There was, indeed, food available. The three of them could catch distinct scents of meat and blood in the air, which might have been alarming and suggest an attack if they were anywhere else. There was another curious, mouthwatering aroma in the air as well - something like heat and char, smoke but savoury. The festival had brought with it the Atlantean’s secret to prepared food. Tar was intrigued and immediately wanted to find some to try it.

He had to bend his head down slightly to nudge Callahan’s back gently with his snout, encouraging her with a warm light in his black eyes. Callahan chirped in response and encouraged him to run ahead, they would catch up. When he was smaller, she would have worried more that another carnivore might go after him. He was getting big enough to defend himself now, though, and the travellers had assured them that this would be a safe event for all those who visited.

Tar straightened up and gave her a look - a slight tilt of his head, studying her as though to make sure that she was okay - before he turned and headed off to investigate the tempting scents that wafted through the cold, early winter night air.

Callahan watched him go silently, not realising that her expression had fallen slightly as soon as he left. Petrichor had noticed. She always noticed.

She nuzzled her nose into Callahan’s feathers, searching for warmth as well as wordlessly comforting her smaller mate. Callahan would speak up about what was on her mind, in time. It was never hard to read Callahan - she always made it clear to everyone what she was feeling, though she tried sometimes to hide it. Mostly from Tar.

“Do you think he knows that he’s filling a hole in my heart?” Callahan asked with a quiet sigh as she leaned more into Petrichor’s touch.

Petrichor turned her pale gaze towards where their gangly son had wandered off to.

“Yes,” she replied, not bothering to lie. Lying would not help make things better, and Callahan always deserved the truth. She deserved the world, but that was harder to deliver.

She nibbled gently at Callahan’s feathers. Over time, she had gotten much better at preening than she had been, though she still occasionally accidentally pulled one a little too hard. This was, fortunately, not one of those times. “But I think he also knows that you’re doing your best, and that you love him.” For whatever reason, which Petrichor still could not fathom. She would admit, only privately, that it was sometimes entertaining to have the young acro around. Not that life had been boring without him, he just made it… a little better, sometimes.

Callahan sighed deeply and relaxed under her mate’s ministrations. They could wait here a while. She was not too worried about Tar, and she did not quite share her son’s enthusiasm for being amongst others. She, at least, was more likely to be stepped on than him if someone wasn’t paying attention.

“We should catch up,” she sighed again after a few moments. Before Tar got too far ahead of himself, and not at all because she was feeling the first stirrings of separation anxiety. Petrichor gave Callahan’s shoulder a nudge with her muzzle.

“Then let’s get going. I’m waiting on you,” she teased lightly. Callahan shot her a firm look - all play and no bite to anyone in the know, and much more familiar to Petrichor. It was a relief to see some of Callahan’s normal self.

Tar was fascinated by what he saw as he started to explore. This was the most dinosaurs that he had ever seen in one place - at least since the exodus of the Alph lab, though that was a distant and fuzzy memory at the very far edge of his mind. Carnivores, herbivores, those in between who could eat meat or plants. Some of them wore wary looks as they approached the building, apprehensive of one another, but still curious about the “Lunar Light Festival” all the same.

There were a few dinosaurs near the entrance that were offering samples of food to those interested - and he was very interested. Curious, yet hesitant. He started to step up to one of the oviraptors handing out food, only to hear someone clear their throat and give his hip a gentle poke with their claws.

“We’re supposed to wait in a line,” offered a chipper-sounding voice. Tar turned to see a slender, long-tailed crested cryo decorated heavily with vibrant blue spots and dark bands which striped down her body. Flycatcher squinted her eyes pleasantly as Tar apologised and stepped in “line” behind her and the heavier, rich strawberry coloured crested cryo that was standing beside her and the tiny golden-coloured crested cryo beside her. He was not unfamiliar with taking turns, but this… “line” thing was a bit of an oddity to him.

Fortunately the line moved quickly enough as the vendors handed out food - snacks, really, especially given that he was already a bit larger than many of the island dinosaurs - and he did not have to wait long to try whatever was making the delicious scents. It was meat, but it was darkly charred on one of the contained fires that they had made (purposefully, apparently). The warmth of it and the smokey scent was fascinating and tantalising, but he managed to not scarf it down in one bite and instead waited for his moms to join him so he could share his discovery with them.

Callahan was not sure that it would taste much different than normal meat, just smokier. Petrichor looked exceptionally skeptical and almost did not want to try it at all, but rolled her eyes faintly and agreed when Callahan asked her overly sweetly. No she most certainly did not like it - but it really wasn’t as bad as she had expected it to be.

Tar and Callahan’s laughter joined the other merry voices drifting out into the night as they approached the entryway to the museum. Petrichor’s flat glare made her look entirely unamused, but she put up with the teasing. It was always nice to hear Callahan laugh.

There were even more dinosaurs inside, spreading out amongst the curiously decorated and spacious hallways and rooms which made the complex into a sprawling labyrinth. There were games, party tricks, displays, performances - everywhere they looked, there was something new and interesting to investigate. Callahan opted to let Tar lead them around, since they were really here for him to get the experience, and it was a task that Tar eagerly accepted.

Maybe a little too eagerly. He got ahead of Callahan and Petrichor a couple times, and once he only realised after he had crashed into an absolutely towering suchomimus. He hurried to apologise, and apologised even more when the thin, ruddy sucho turned his muzzle towards Tar and the young acro realised Fade was half-blind and littered with scars. The much sucho near him, similarly gargantuan (larger even, he realised, and much more muscular), was completely blinded by the scars that covered her face.

Fade grunted quietly, a low sort of rumble. Inspirational dipped her head as well, the fishing lures stuck in her scarf glittering and clinking together as she moved. There was no harm done.

After that, Tar waited for Callahan and Petrichor to catch up to him, and he stuck a little closer to them.

They wandered up and down the halls investigating what the festival had to offer, at one point narrowly avoiding being stepped on by a massive, pale quilled acro (were all these dinosaurs so large?) and her ruddy companion. They were not so quick to forgive, but it helped that they hardly seemed to notice Tar and his moms in the first place.

All the wandering eventually made Tar’s feet hurt. This was not the soft, springy covering that pine needles provided, or the firm but gentle touch of earth. The ground they walked on here was hard and unforgiving, and occasionally sprinkled with sharp debris. He was ready to stop and rest for a while, and - 

“The stars!” he exclaimed, worried that they might have been exploring for so long that they would have missed the fabled “star shower” that the travellers had spoken of.

Callahan nudged Tar gently, soothing him. “We haven’t missed them,” she assured.

Petrichor glanced towards a hole in the roof, just catching a glimpse of the star-filled sky. “It’s late enough now that it’s actually likely that it’s just about to begin.” Callahan shot Petrichor a thankful look. She knew Petrichor was not entirely fond of Tar, but she was thankful for her help in assuaging Tar’s worries, all the same. It was a tiny way of showing that she cared.

Relief flooded Tar’s body and he shook out his scruffy, disheveled feathers. “Then we need to find a good spot to watch!”

“If you’re lookin’ to watch the meteor shower,” a stone-coloured tropeo clacked her beak as she strode along the ground beside them. Her slightly hitched gait was indicative of later age, or perhaps an old injury.

Matriarch turned her pale, grey gaze up to Tar, her toothy beak almost giving her the appearance of wearing a grin. “There is a gathering in a big room not far from here, just down this hallway. Best seat in the house!” she cackled.

Polaris sighed quietly and shook her head. She was curious about the “meteor shower” as well, but she would be thankful to be away from this massive crowd. She missed the solitude and isolation of the shipwreck.

“Thanks!” Tar replied, brightly. Matriarch clacked her beak again as she waddled on down the hallway. Tar turned his head towards Callahan and Petrichor, tilting his head slightly to suggest they follow the odd old bird. She had to know what she was doing, right?

Callahan mrred quietly in agreement. If that was where Tar wanted to go, they would go. She and Petrichor followed behind him as he lead them down the hallway and into a massive room which had a domed ceiling. Had a domed ceiling - much of it was broken away now, fallen into the room in piles of rubble that were occupied by a number of dinosaurs that had already settled down around the room with their gazes set towards the sky to watch.

The three of them picked through the crowd, Tar murmuring quiet apologies if they stepped too close to someone, until they found themselves at a respectable spot with a good view of the sky. Tar settled down on the stone, then Callahan beside him with his tail wrapped around her, and Petrichor nestled up beside Callahan.

Callahan sighed, comfortably surrounded by her small family. She just wished she had seen Dullahan. She thought… she thought maybe she had caught a glimpse of him, in the crowd, but she had lost him just as soon as she thought she had seen him. Or maybe he was just a figment of her imagination, yet again.

“Look!” Tar whispered, excitedly. They hadn’t even been waiting for long before the first star “fell,” streaking across the sky before it burned up in a bright spark of light. Tar’s eyes glittered, fascinated and excited to be witnessing such a spectacle. He stretched his head up, like if he sat up straight enough he could catch one of the stars right out of the sky.

It was just the first of many. They had to wait a little longer to see the next one fall, but it was well worth the wait - and there would only be more to follow. Tar was almost buzzing with excitement to see so many stars falling out of the sky, sometimes multiple at once, and disappearing from the midnight sky just as quickly as they appeared. It was magical to witness, and he could barely contain his joy.

Callahan’s heart warmed, hearing him chirp and hum, knowing the hardship that he had come from and the life he narrowly escaped. She wanted to give him everything that she could to make sure he never knew heartache, and if that meant coming to a strange island and putting up with being surrounded by an uncomfortable number of strange dinosaurs… She sighed and got comfortable in her feathers, her head tilting to rest against Petrichor’s. She could weather any storm for her son’s happiness. It was even better that Petrichor had agreed to come here with her.

Petrichor hummed quietly to herself. As though she would let Callahan come here alone. She was just content that she had this time that she could spend with Callahan. And Tar.