Lost Into the Past Chapter 6
#6 of Lost Into The Past || A Dinosaur Train Fanfiction
Here's chapter 6! A lot happens in this one in particular. So I hope you guys enjoy it.
On with the story!
Chapter 6: A day to relax
Nathan was the first to wake up, his eyes fluttering open as he saw sunlight pouring in from a nearby window. He rubbed his eyes and gave a yawn, though it didn't take long for him to realize that he couldn't move very well. He looked up and saw that Mr. Conductor was currently holding him rather protectively.
"Mr. Conductor?" He called out. But got no response. "Hmm..." Nathan suddenly had an idea. He looked down at his feet, the feathers on his head touching Mr. Conductor's stomach. Then he started wriggling his head around, using his feathers to tickle the sleeping troodon awake. It didn't take long for him to start snickering as his eyes opened, he looked down to see the young troodon still wiggling his head around. Letting out a chuckle, he slowly sat up and stretched.
"Alright, I'm up." He said, ruffling the young troodon's feathers. "Good morning Nathan." He greeted
"Good morning Mr. Conductor!" Nathan exclaimed, giggling slightly. "How'd you sleep?"
"I slept well, thank you for asking... Did you sleep well, Nathan?"
"Mhm! I did!" Nathan replied energetically. "So what can we do today?!"
"Well, we still got some time before the train comes to pick us up, so how about some breakfast first and foremost?" Mr. Conductor suggested as he got out of bed. Nathan nodded excitedly and got out of bed as well, as they both got ready to leave.
Interestingly enough, Troodon Town had a restaurant, which was quite the sight. It was like any other restaurant, except prehistoric. Nathan and Mr. Conductor both sat at a table together, the sound of other creatures mingling filled the air as they waited.
"So, Nathan, what do ya think of Troodon Town?" Mr. Conductor asked.
"It's pretty great honestly!" Nathan replied, smiling brightly.
"That's good to hear..." Mr. Conductor trailed off a little, seemingly deep in thought about something. Nathan took note and tilted his head a little.
"Mr. Conductor? Is everything alright?" He asked. This snapped Mr. Conductor out of his thoughts. He shook his head slightly
"Everything's fine, I'm just thinking about something."
"Whatcha thinking about?" Nathan asked.
"Don't worry about it, Nathan. It's nothing you should concern yourself with..."
"Okay... Um, Mr. Conductor?"
"Hm? What is it Nathan?"
"Can...Can we come back to Troodon Town again sometime? I'd love to see more of it!" Nathan exclaimed. Mr. Conductor rubbed his chin a little.
"Hmm... Tell ya what, if I happen to get some more time off, we can come to Troodon Town again. Sound good?" He replied. Nathan's expression lit up like the Northern Lights and he nodded excitedly.
"Yeah!" He exclaimed. Mr. Conductor chuckled a little at the young ones enthusiasm.
After they finished. Mr. Conductor walked Nathan around Troodon Town, telling him what each place was. Nathan felt like a toddler exploring a new place for the first time... Well, he technically was, but that's besides the point.
Out of nowhere, Nathan suddenly had a rather strange urge. He wanted to be held by someone, anyone really. Nathan guessed that this urge was due to his toddler side acting up. And at first, he didn't wanna listen. But the urge just grew. Instinctively, he stopped and looked at Mr. Conductor. Causing the older troodon to look down at the young one. "What is it Nathan?"
Nathan blushed and hesitated a small bit. But he mustered up enough courage to look at Mr. Conductor in the eyes. He held his hands up towards him and made a grabbing motion. "U-Up...?" He asked hesitantly. All the while, his face was as red as a tomato. Mr. Conductor laughed a little and complied. He lifted the young troodon off the ground and held him.
"You don't have to be so embarrassed by that, Nathan..." He said. Nathan nodded a little in response, he held onto Mr. Conductor as he continued to walk, pointing to various places and explaining them to the young one. They were about to continue, but the Dinosaur Train whistle caught their attention. "Well, sounds like the train's here!" Mr. Conductor said as he began to walk to the station with Nathan.
As soon as they arrived at the station, the train arrived as well. Mrs. Conductor came off the train and smiled at the two. "Hello you two! I trust you had a good stay?" She asked.
"Yes mother, we did." Mr. Conductor replied, chuckling a little and ruffling Nathan's feather.
"And look at you Sonny Boy! You really do look like the young ones father!" Mrs. Conductor commented, laughing all the while.
"Oh mother...!" Mr. Conductor replied, laughing awkwardly as they boarded the train.
Nathan seemed a little flustered at the comment Mrs. Conductor made. His face was flushing red ever so slightly. Mr. Conductor took notice and chuckled. "You made Nathan all flustered, mom." He said, giving Nathan's head a small pat. "I'll admit though, I think this day off was exactly what I needed... I feel energized and ready to conduct again!"
"That's good to hear, Sonny Boy!" Mrs. Conductor exclaimed before turning her attention to Nathan. "So, what did ya think of Troodon Town, Nathan?" She asked the young troodon. Causing him to snap out of his flustered state.
"I loved it! It's such a big place! I'd love to go back sometime!" He exclaimed excitedly.
"That's good to hear!" She quickly turned her attention back to Mr. Conductor. "Sonny boy, you mind if I speak to you for a minute?" She asked. Her expression turning somewhat serious. Mr. Conductor nodded a little and set Nathan down.
"Why don't you go see Laura, Nathan? I'll be done before ya know it." He said.
"Promise...?" Nathan asked. Mr. Conductor nodded in response.
"I promise." With that, Nathan rushed off to the observation-car. Mr. Conductor then turned his attention back to his mother. "So, what is it?"
Mrs. Conductor started to lead Mr. Conductor to the caboose so they can talk privately
"Nathan has really taken a liking to ya, huh?" She asked.
"I mean... I suppose so..." He said, rubbing the back of his neck a little. "I'm kinda reluctant to let him go, but he needs a proper family..."
"That family might be closer than ya think, y'know." She said.
"What are you saying, mom...?"
"I'm saying that you could adopt him."
"M-Me?! Adopt Nathan?! That's... I-I can't do that...!" Mr. Conductor was taken aback. Why would his mother suggest something like that?! He was NOT father material!
"What do ya mean, Sonny boy? You treat him well, and he really enjoys your company." Mrs. Conductor said, smiling softly.
"B-But I'd have to start spending more time with him... And well, it's hard to do that when I'm conducting..."
"He stays with ya on the train a lot. It's not like you'll be neglecting him. And you can always spend more time with him once you have free time, right?"
"I...I suppose, but... Why me? I have no experience in parenting..." Mr. Conductor said. Sure he was good with children, but he never really committed to Parenthood at all.
"I think you'll be just fine..." Mrs. Conductor reassured him, putting a hand on his shoulder and giving him a smile. "At least think about it, alright?" Mr. Conductor just stayed silent. "Anywho, i don't think you wanna keep Nathan waiting." With that, Mr. Conductor said goodbye, then turned around and went to the observation-car.
Laura was showing Nathan all the drawings she did, which Nathan thought was very impressive. Not just the drawings, but the fact that she could draw so well with such small arms and hands. Nathan even tried drawing a picture for Laura simply because he wanted to. It looked like a bunch of random scribbles, which Nathan insisted was a drawing of a T-Rex. Laura would just laugh and say it was a good drawing.
It didn't take long for Mr. Conductor to walk in. "You two seem to be having fun." He commented, smiling at the young troodon.
Laura gave a nod. "Oh yes! Nathan is just such a sweetheart! He even drew something for you!"
"Something for me? Ya didn't have to do that Nathan." He said. Nathan showed Mr. Conductor the drawing. It was a rather poor drawing of the Dinosaur Train, with Mr. Conductor standing outside of it, he couldn't help but smile at the young troodon's drawing. "It's really good Nathan!" He exclaimed, rubbing the young troodon's head.
"Thanks! I'm glad you like it!" Nathan exclaimed back, giving a great big smile.
"Now, come along, I'm sure you'd like to walk around the train with me, hm?" Mr. Conductor said, offering his hand to Nathan. The young troodon took it and waved to Laura before walking off with Mr. Conductor with his drawing in hand. First they went to the car Nathan would sleep in. "Just put your drawing on your bed for now, Nathan." Mr. Conductor said. Nathan gave a nod and put the drawing on the bed before rushing back and taking Mr. Conductor's hand.
"So what can we do first?!" He asked excitedly.
"Hmm..." Mr. Conductor rubbed his chin a little. "Say, why don't I teach ya about the alphabet? More specifically the Dinosaur A to Z!" He suggested. Nathan tilted his head in confusion.
"Dinosaur A to Z? What's that?" He asked. Mr. Conductor's eyes seemed to light up a small bit. He cleared his throat and began to explain.
"Well, it's every dinosaur that starts with every letter from the alphabet! For example, A is for Apotosaurus, and B is Brachiosaurus!" This was definitely interesting for Nathan. Who knew they had an alphabet specifically for dinosaurs... It's pretty neat. "Heck, we even got all of the dinosaurs from the song together at one point, even had a picnic."
"Wait, it's a song too?" Nathan asked. Mr. Conductor just gave a nod.
"Indeed! Maybe I'll teach the song to ya sometime! But for now, you need to learn the alphabet on it's own. There are a lot of tricky names to learn _and _memorize too. Think you're up for it?" He asked. Nathan nodded excitedly.
"You bet I am!"
Mr. Conductor gave a bright smile. "Alright then! Let's get started! I'll just give you the first three letters for you to learn, A, B, and C."
"A was Uh...uhh..." Nathan tried to think back, but for some reason, he couldn't remember what A was, which was weird for him because usually his memory would be better than this. He didn't really wanna ask for help, but... "W-What was it again?" He asked hesitantly. Blushing slightly.
"A-pot-o-saurus." Mr. Conductor said it slowly for Nathan.
"Apotosaurus..." Nathan repeated, receiving a thumbs up from Mr. Conductor. Why couldn't I remember...? I should know this, I'm gonna be a pa...pa... What was the word again? _He thought to himself. His eyes widening slightly, was his toddler mind affecting his memories too? He couldn't wrap his head around this. _Hopefully it'll all come back to me...
"Nathan?" Mr. Conductor called out. Causing Nathan to snap out of his thoughts.
"H-Hm? What is it?"
"You okay? You seem kind of distracted." Mr. Conductor commented.
"I'm fine..." Nathan said, his eyes drifting off into another direction.
"Anyways... Do you remember what the letter B was?"
"Brachiosaurus!" Nathan instinctively answered, shocking him slightly. Why does he suddenly remember again? He was really confused now at this point. Mr. Conductor chuckled and gave another thumbs up.
"That's right Nathan! I'm surprised you remembered that, I'm impressed!" He exclaimed.
"Heh heh, well, it wasn't that amazing..." Nathan giggled a little and blushed, he felt kind of weird being praised like that. He was never really praised for anything in his life... And the praise he did get never felt that genuine.
"I'm serious Nathan! You really are smart for your age!" Mr. Conductor exclaimed.
"Well, troodons are the smartest dinosaurs, right?" Nathan asked, giggling again. Mr. Conductor nodded in agreement.
"True, but even then, a troodon at your age wouldn't be as smart as you are. You have a natural talent, you know that? I mean, with enough time-" He was suddenly interrupted by his pocket watch going off. "O-Oh! Speaking of time, I better call the next time tunnel!" He exclaimed as he checked the watch. He looked back at Nathan. "Wanna call it out with me?" He asked, smiling softly at the young troodon. Nathan's eyes lit up and he nodded excitedly without a care in the world. Mr. Conductor led Nathan to the passenger car and looked at him. "On the count of three, we say it together. Alright?" He asked. After receiving another nod from Nathan, he counted. "One, two, three...!" On cue, they both started shouting.
"Time tunnel! Time tunnel approaching!" Nathan gave another giggle once they stopped shouting. Pretty soon they went through the time tunnel, causing Nathan to start staring out a window, once again mesmerized by the tunnel.
"Next stop! Geyser Gulch station, In the Cretaceous time period!" Mr. Conductor announced as they left the time tunnel.
"Geyser Gulch?" Nathan asked.
"Yep! Geyser Gulch, home of the geyser that everyone calls, 'Old Reliable'!" Mr. Conductor explained. "There are also some rather nice hot springs there too! I'm not gonna lie, I've been there myself..."
Nathan gasped a little "Mr. Conductor?! Can we go see the geyser?!" He asked excitedly.
"Well, I'd love to Nathan, but you know I have a schedule to keep. Besides, I just got back to conducting, I can't just leave again. At least not now..."
"Oh... Okay..." Nathan said in disappointment, looking down a little.
"B-But!" Mr. Conductor quickly began "I-I'm sure you'll be able to see the geyser erupt from here! It goes pretty high after all!" He said, slightly guilty from seeing Nathan so disappointed.
"But it's not the same..." Nathan replied. Mr. Conductor gave a sigh.
"I-I know, but there's nothing else I can do... I'm sorry..." Mr. Conductor looked down. "I just simply can't take you at the moment... Maybe next time..."
"Well maybe I can take him, Sonny boy!" Suddenly out of nowhere, Mrs. Conductor popped out from behind Mr. Conductor, scaring him quite a bit. He quickly regained his composure and looked to her.
"Mom, are ya sure? I'd hate to ask ya to do this for me."
"Don't you worry, I'd be more than happy to do this for ya! Besides, I'd like to get to know Nathan a little!" She exclaimed before looking down at Nathan. "What do you think Nathan?"
"Uhhh... Um... Well I don't mind... If you really wanna take me, then sure. We can go." Nathan said, twiddling his thumbs a little.
"Hmm..." Mr. Conductor thought for a bit. "Well, I say it's fine! Besides, it might be a good learning experience!" He exclaimed.
"It's settled then! I'll take Nathan with me to see the Geyser while you stay on the train!" Mrs. Conductor exclaimed, giving a big smile. "Come along Nathan! We have a Geyser to see!" She took Nathan's hand and started walking off the train with him.
"Have a good time at the geyser! Oh! And remember to behave, Nathan!" Mr. Conductor exclaimed as they left.
"I will, I promise!" Nathan exclaimed back, before waving. "Byeeee!"
"All aboard!" Mr. Conductor exclaimed as he door to the train, pretty soon the train drove off.
"The geyser is this way!" Mrs. Conductor said as she began walking in the direction of it. "You excited?" She asked.
"Yeah! I am! I've never seen a geyser up close before! It'll be cool!" Nathan replied excitedly.
"Glad to see ya so enthusiastic!" She exclaimed, laughed a little. "Geysers really are a sight to behold. I think you'll enjoy it very much!"
Nathan just giggled excitedly, though his rational mind was going bonkers.
_Uggghhhh, why do I have to act so infantile?! I'm supposed to be twenty! Why is this happening to ME of all people?! More importantly, I have family back home! I need to get back as soon as possible! Gosh... I hope my mom hasn't filed a missing person report, the last thing I want to run into when I get home is the police... I doubt they'll believe my story anyways, heck, I'll probably be checked into a mental institute if I try to explain myself... _Nathan was so lost in thought, he didn't even notice that they had arrived at the geyser.
Mrs. Conductor looked down at the young troodon to see that he was thinking rather intensely. Though what he was thinking of, she couldn't say. "Nathan? We're here."
"H-Huh?! O-Oh! The geyser! Right!" Nathan shook his head a little and looked at the geyser.
Mrs. Conductor looked a little concerned. But smiled nonetheless. "Best part about the geyser, is ya don't know when it's gonna blow! It could catch ya by surprise!" She explained, laughing a little. "Sometimes it even surprises me if I'm not paying attention."
Nathan just giggled and looked back at the geyser hole. Normally he wouldn't care about geysers, as all they do is burst water and that's it. But for some reason, he wanted to this time. He didn't know why. As he watched, the geyser still didn't blow. Nathan just stared on, waiting.
After about a few minutes, the geyser finally blew, causing Nathan to look in awe. He heard other creatures cheering, and he couldn't help but join in on it. "That was cool!" He exclaimed.
"Glad ya liked it! Now, what say we go take a look at the hot springs next?"
"Ooo! Hot springs!" He nodded excitedly, eager to check them out. Maybe this was what Nathan needed, a bit of relaxation in some hot springs. "Yeah! Let's go!"
Mrs. Conductor chuckled and led Nathan to a new section in Geyser Gulch. There were many steaming pools around them, and Nathan wanted to jump head first into the first one he saw. And Mrs. Conductor knew that the young troodon would want to do that, so she cleared her throat to get his attention and began to speak "Now I know you're excited, but you should let me check the temperatures before we hop into one, don't wanna hurt yourself, now do we?" Nathan nodded a little as she began to stick one of her toes into each pool, either declaring them as too hot, or too cold. She eventually stopped on one, she kept her toe in there for a few moments before nodding in satisfaction. "Yep! This is the one!" She exclaimed. "Hop on in Nathan!" Mrs. Conductor slid into the hot spring pool, sighing as she felt the warm water all over her body.
Nathan followed as well, sliding in and almost instantly relaxing, he felt his entire body loosen as he submerged his body into the water. Yes, this was exactly what he needed. "Oh man..." He said, sighing. "That feels nice..."
Mrs. Conductor looked a little surprised. "Huh, normally kids your age would start splashing around and would generally be energetic." She commented.
Nathan looked at her and tilted his head. "Do you want me to do that?" He asked, genuinely curious by it. Mrs. Conductor responded with a hearty laugh.
"While I wasn't expecting this behavior, I'm definitely not opposed to it! It just means that we can both relax in peace and quiet!" She exclaimed, before laying her head back and sighing again. "It's always nice to come here every once in a while and soak in pools..."
"This really is nice... I wish Mr. Conductor was here though..." Nathan said. Mrs. Conductor looked at him and smiled.
"Well, maybe one of these days he can take ya back here himself." She said. This made Nathan a bit more excited.
"Yeah, that'd be great..." He slowly laid his head back, letting out a yawn, perhaps a nap would make him feel even better. He yawned one more time before passing out. Mrs. Conductor saw this and quickly took Nathan and held onto him to make sure he didn't end up drowning. She let him sit on her lap, facing her as he slept. Nathan began to snuggle into her, yawning again in his sleep.
Mrs. Conductor smiled and rubbed his head. "Guess all this excitement tuckered ya out." She said. "Don't worry, I'll let ya rest..."
The sound of the train whistle woke Nathan up from his slumber, rubbing his eyes, it didn't take long to see that they were already at the station, Mrs. Conductor was currently holding Nathan. She looked down to see the young troodon awake. "Good morning Nathan, how'd ya sleep?" She asked.
Nathan yawned and stretched, blinking a few times as he scanned his surroundings. "I slept well..." He said, looking at the Dinosaur Train, and as if on cue, Mr. Conductor walked out. He smiled brightly when he saw Nathan.
"Hello Nathan! How was your time at Geyser Gulch?" He asked.
"It was fun! I'm so glad I got to come here!"
"Well it sounds like ya really enjoyed your time here! And you can tell me all about it on the train!" He exclaimed. Mrs. Conductor took Nathan into the train with her as Mr. Conductor cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled out "All aboard!" As the train began to chug off.
"And then the Geyser went 'Bshooooooooom' and shot REALLY high into the air! It was so cool!" Nathan exclaimed as he told Mr. Conductor about the Geyser. "Then Mrs. Conductor took me to the hot springs afterwards! They were really nice too!"
"Well it sounds like ya had a good time, Nathan. I'm glad to hear it." Mr. Conductor said, smiling at patting the young troodon's head. "Now, is there anything you'd like to do?"
Nathan shook his head. "Not in particular, I just wanna be with you!" He exclaimed.
Mr. Conductor was a little taken aback by that response. "You just wanna be with me...?" He asked in confusion.
"Yeah! You're just so fun to be around!"
"O-Oh, well, i wouldn't say THAT..." He said, rubbing his neck and chuckling.
"I'm serious! You're amazing! You're basically a walking encyclopedia, a train conductor, AND a fun troodon to be with!" Nathan exclaimed, causing Mr. Conductor to sputter slightly in surprise.
"O-Oh stop it Nathan, I'm just a troodon who loves his job is all." He said.
"You're more than that though!" Nathan insisted, he had a determined look on his face as he folded his arms. It was clear to the older troodon that Nathan wasn't gonna let up.
"Nathan, I'm really no one special, ya don't have to keep treating me like I am... If anything, you're the special one here."
Nathan couldn't help but get a sense of Deja Vu from this... He sifted through his memories to see just what exactly this reminded him of. And at first, he couldn't figure it out. But then it slowly dawned on him.
In a way, it actually reminded Nathan of... Well, himself. Nathan always lacked self-confidence, he never really thought of himself as someone special, and while he'd always put on a smile and pretend everything was fine, in reality, it wasn't. Nathan liked what he was doing, but... He never liked himself.
_I wonder... Does Mr. Conductor like himself? _He thought, rubbing his chin as he closed his eyes briefly to think on this.
"Nathan? You okay?" Mr. Conductor asked.
Nathan looked up at him, and suddenly, out of nowhere. He asked. "Do you like yourself, Mr. Conductor?" He asked, causing the older troodon's eyes to widen in shock.
_T-That's NOT a question I'd expect from a troodon of his age! _Mr. Conductor thought. He cleared his throat before speaking up. "Um, why do you ask?"
"Well... You said you weren't special... But that's not possible, because everyone is special, regardless of who they are... Does that mean you don't like yourself? Or maybe you don't like an aspect of who you are?"
Mr. Conductor sputtered a little. "Y-You're just full of deep questions, huh Nathan? W-Well, of course i like myself, why wouldn't I?" He answered, though there was a noticeable bit of hesitation in his voice, which Nathan noticed, but chose not to press further. "Now, why don't you go off for a bit, I... need to do something."
Nathan frowned a tiny bit, but nodded before walking off to the observation-car. Mr. Conductor soon found himself in the dining-car, it wasn't very full, which meant he could think in peace. He sat in one of the booths and slumped over, sighing.
"What's wrong with me...? I usually feel so fulfilled when working on the train, so why do I feel so... Empty?" He muttered. "'I'm no one special' huh... That just slipped out in the moment, but... Why would I say such a thing?" The more he thought about it... Yes, he DID enjoy being on the train today, but it just didn't feel as... Fulfilling as it normally does. Heck, the only times he's ever really felt happy and fulfilled is when...
Mr. Conductor's eyes widened a small bit. He never really considered it, but...
"Taking care of Nathan... That really is fulfilling to do..." He said to himself. "Seeing his eyes light up whenever we'd talk about dinosaurs, his bright smile whenever he's happy... It'll be quite a shame when he inevitably gets taken in by another family..."
Right... Nathan needs to get adopted still, Mr. Conductor can't keep taking care of him... Unless he...
"I... Am I... Seriously considering this...?" He muttered, shaking his head in disbelief. No, he wasn't ready for such a commitment... Then again... "...Mother did tell me to think about it..." He said. Such a decision would take a lot of thinking, it would truly be his hardest choice yet... This decision wasn't just important... It would truly put his own responsibility to the test... The only question that remained was...
"Am I REALLY ready for this...?"
And it's done! Wooo!
Not a lot I can really say except I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter.
I'll see you guys in the next one!
This is Robert! Signing off!~