Lost Into the Past Chapter 8
#8 of Lost Into The Past || A Dinosaur Train Fanfiction
And chapter 8 is here! Hope you guys like it!
Chapter 8: An extended vacation
Nathan didn't know where he was, or where he was walking to, but it didn't matter. He was just getting away from the train... He never thought that he'd ever think like this again... _I shouldn't have ever stayed here... I'm nothing but a burden on others... Even prehistoric creatures think I'm a burden... _He thought to himself. He could feel tears rolling down his face, but he kept on going, as much as he wanted to cry, he couldn't. He had to keep moving, no matter what.
Mr. Conductor ran as fast as he could, his eyes darting around as he looked for any signs of Nathan. Anything to tell him where he went. "Come on Nathan... Where are ya?" He muttered.
Several minutes had passed and Nathan had finally calmed down enough to continue. He started to take note of his surroundings. Realizing he was in a forest of sorts, he figured now that he was alone, he had to start scavenging for food... He saw a lizard scurry by and felt his predatorial instinct take over.
_I bet that lizard would taste pretty good... _He thought. However he immediately stopped himself.
"No...! I won't eat anything living!" He yelled to himself. If dinosaurs are THIS sentient in the mesozoic, then he could potentially be eating a creature that has freewill, and his conscience would never forgive him if he did that. He instead went to a bush and attempted to gather some berries, however he stopped himself again, thinking the berries might be poisonous... He never wanted to resort to it but... He grabbed a leaf from a bush and started munching on that...
It didn't taste bad, but it certainly wasn't his favorite... He ate about half of it before slowly putting the leaf down, he groaned in annoyance. _What does a troodon have to do to get some food around here...? _He thought to himself. Sighing and plopping down onto his bottom. "I always was well fed when i was on the train..." He muttered. He did kind of miss the train... Mr. Conductor always made sure he was comfortable...
Nathan shook his head and sighed again. No, Mr. Conductor was stressed BECAUSE of him, he was nothing but a burden! That's why he left!
But... Nathan missed him, badly... He wanted a place to call home, and the dinosaur train was his home in a way... Mr. Conductor was kind of like his father...
His father... Why would Nathan ever think like that? He already had parents...
_But... Did my parents ever love me...? Did they really think of me as their beloved son? Or... Did they think of me as nothing more than a burden on them as well...? _Nathan's head was swirling with these thoughts. Memories started flashing in his mind about how miserable he was before... True, he always tried to find some joy in his life, and he did when he discovered his love for paleontology, but that didn't change much...
He felt like he was about to remember something important, but something in his gut told him to stop, he didn't know why, but he felt like he didn't like what he was about to remember, he tried harder to remember, ignoring the feeling he had, but as he got closer and closer to remembering, his emotions became more wild and out of control by the second. His eyes snapped open and he felt his breathing speeding up, he was on the verge of a panic attack already... He gripped his chest and tried to keep himself calm.
"S...Stay...C...C...Calm..." He said shakily, trying to take deep breaths. He tried to scream, but nothing came out, instead he started feeling really light-headed, he felt like he was gonna faint.
_Stay awake, Nathan... _He thought to himself, trying his hardest to calm down. But unfortunately he couldn't calm down. Everything went black as Nathan fell unconscious.
Mr. Conductor hadn't been keeping an eye on where he was going, he knew he was pretty far from the train though, he found himself in a forest, he had a feeling Nathan was close.
Normally he didn't listen to his gut. But he had no other options, he was desperate. His suspicions were confirmed when he saw a half eaten leaf laying on the ground, he wouldn't have thought much of it, had it not been for the teeth marks on the leaf, which didn't seem to match up with any herbivores he knew about. It was indeed made by something with sharper teeth, since a carnivore munching a lead is highly unlikely, he didn't have many options left, it was at this point he saw tracks left in the ground, Nathan must've been getting tired as the tracks looked like feet were dragged in the dirt.
"I must be close..." He muttered as he followed the tracks. He began to worry as he walked, his mind thinking of the worst possible outcomes to finding Nathan. Sure, finding him as a half-eaten carcass would be horrifying, but... His worst fear is probably Nathan never forgiving him, and hating him forever, he truly cared for the young one, and it would devastate Mr. Conductor if Nathan hated him.
However, as he was walking, he was snapped out of his thoughts by something catching his eye, he saw a small figure laying in the dirt, he broke into a sprint as he ran over, realizing that it was Nathan. He kneeled down and saw the young troodon was sleeping, though, even though he was asleep, he looked miserable... He wasn't having a good rest, he was thinking of so much...
Without wasting any more time, he scooped Nathan up and began to sprint his way out of the forest, once he was out he'd be able to discern where the train was.
Mrs. Conductor waited outside the train for several minutes, making sure that it didn't leave without Mr. Conductor and Nathan, she knew they were behind schedule, but she didn't wanna leave without knowing that the two were safe and on the train.
Eventually, they did come back, she immediately stepped out of the way and Mr. Conductor ran into the train, she closed the door and shouted "All aboard!" And at last, they were off.
Mr. Conductor rushed Nathan to his bed and laid him in it, then he checked for injuries. Thankfully, Nathan was just fine. He turned his head to see his mother walking over towards him. She smiled and put a hand on his shoulder. "I can handle the train Sonny boy, you keep watch over Nathan." She said. Mr. Conductor simply nodded and watched the young troodon carefully.
Nathan woke up with a start, his eyes darting around in a panic as he quickly scanned his surroundings... To his surprise, he was back on the dinosaur train...
_Am I just dreaming...? _He thought to himself, he noticed that Mr. Conductor was sitting in a chair next to Nathan's bed, but it seems he had fallen asleep. _Wait, what time is it? _He looked again and saw just how dark it was. He almost didn't notice... Nathan looked at the sleeping troodon again... He didn't understand, Mr. Conductor was so stressed because of Nathan, yet here he is, staying with him for who knows how long.
Nathan climbed out of his bed and walked over to Mr. Conductor and climbed onto his lap, then he hugged him. This stirred Mr. Conductor awake. But Nathan didn't notice. The older troodon looked down briefly and saw the younger troodon snuggling into his chest, he couldn't help but smile. He wanted to immediately pull Nathan into a hug and tell him how much he really did care, how much he was sorry. However, he figured that doing that could potentially startle the little one.
Instead, Mr. Conductor was calmer. He rubbed the young troodon's head calmly and spoke up. "Nathan?" He said softly. Nathan looked up slowly. "You okay?"
Nathan was gonna say he was fine... But that would've been a lie. He slowly shook his head. "Not really..." He said.
"You wanna talk about it...?"
"I..." Nathan hesitated a little. "Do you think I'm a burden...?" He asked. Mr. Conductor shook his head.
"Of course not..."
"But... You seemed so stressed before..."
"That's because i have a lot on my mind... And all the extra responsibilities i have are really starting to weigh down on me... But just because I got frustrated with you doesn't mean I don't care..." He said. "The only reason I didn't say anything was because... Well, I guess I felt obligated to stay on the train, to keep things orderly... Ever since I started conducting, I haven't been away from the train that often... Being a conductor is a very important job, there's a lot i need to do as one..." Mr. Conductor sighed a little. "Even now, I'm hesitant to take another break..."
Nathan thought about what he could do to convince Mr. Conductor. After a minute, he had an idea to maybe explain the importance of the break. He turned his head to the older troodon and cleared his throat.
"Just think of your body as your own personal ecosystem." He said. Mr. Conductor scratched his head in confusion.
"What do you mean by that?" He asked.
"Well, a normal ecosystem needs a nice balance of everything so that things don't go out of whack. It's much like your body... You need to balance out personal time with work... Because too much of one thing..."
"Throws an ecosystem out of balance..." Mr. Conductor finished Nathan's sentence. "That's right Nathan, but stress on an individual is much more complicated than a thriving ecosystem... Though I am impressed with your analogy..." He said, rubbing the young troodon's head.
"So..." Nathan trailed off. "What now?"
"Well, mother is gonna drop us off at Troodon Town in the morning, from there, we'll be..." Mr. Conductor hesitated. "O-Off the train..." He said. It looked like he was really struggling to keep a smile on though.
"Mr. Conductor... You really love this train, don't you?"
"I do... More than you could ever know."
"That doesn't mean you're gonna leave the train... You can always ride it as a passenger, yeah?" Have you ever done that?" Nathan asked. Mr. Conductor gave a quick nod.
"I've ridden it plenty of times, my mother was the conductor before me..." He said.
"But... Have you ever officially been a passenger? I know that ever since I've been here, I haven't needed a ticket since I'm always with you..."
Mr. Conductor thought about it for a few minutes, but he couldn't recall a time where he needed a ticket to ride the train. "I...Guess I haven't officially been a passenger before... Ever."
"Well, we'll be able to ride the train together, without having to worry about your conducting duties." Nathan said.
"That doesn't sound too bad, actually..." Mr. Conductor said, smiling softly as he thought about it. "For now, it's probably best that you head back to bed. Okay?"
"Okay, Mr. Conductor..." With that, Mr. Conductor stood up and tucked Nathan back in, he waited till the young one fell asleep before he went back to sleep.
Morning eventually came as Nathan was the first to wake, he looked over to see Mr. Conductor still asleep, though he was actually sleep conducting to his surprise. He muttered stuff like 'All aboard, time tunnel approaching...!' and 'tickets please...!' it was pretty entertaining.
Nathan got out of his bed and went over to Mr. Conductor, he tried waking him up, but he got no response, Nathan kept trying for a few more minutes and almost gave up, but instead he decided to resort to one last thing. He scurried off briefly, then came back with Mrs. Conductor. Nathan pointed at Mr. Conductor and she nodded, snickering just a little. Without missing a beat, she took a deep breath and shouted. "BLOOOOH! Rise and shine Sonny boy!"
Mr. Conductor jolted awake, he looked like he almost had a heart attack. "GREAT GALLIMIMUS!" He shouted in surprise, catching his breath from what had just happened. Mrs. Conductor couldn't help but laugh at the scene.
"Sorry! Nathan asked me to wake ya up, so i did!" She exclaimed. Mr. Conductor laughed it off after calming down enough. "Anyways, we're almost at Troodon Town, you two!"
"Alright mother..." He said as he slowly stood up and stretched. "Come along Nathan." He took the young troodon's hand and started walking to the passenger-car with him, they both sat in a seat and waited for their stop.
It didn't take long as Mrs. Conductor started calling out for the time tunnel. Nathan excitedly looked out the window and watched as they entered. Mr. Conductor smiled at how excited the young one seemed whenever they'd go through a time tunnel. Pretty soon, they emerged.
"Next stop, Troodon Town!" Mrs. Conductor exclaimed, once the train came to a full stop, Mr. Conductor stood up with Nathan and they walked off. "Alright Sonny boy, this time take as long as you need for your time off the train. And don't stress out too much!" She said. Mr. Conductor just nodded in response.
"I won't mother, I promise."
"And Nathan..." She kneeled down to the young troodon. "Next time Sonny boy seems like he doesn't wanna talk about something, be respectful and don't keep pestering him about it, okay? He'll talk about it when he's ready to..." She said calmly. Nathan nodded a little.
"Okay Mrs. Conductor... I promise."
"Good." She said before standing up and walking back on the train as she shouted. "All abooooard!" The train soon started to chug away, leaving Mr. Conductor and Nathan to themselves.
"Come on... Let's head to my house then..." Mr. Conductor said. He took the young troodon's hand as they started to walk, making their way to his house.
After they had arrived, Mr. Conductor had taken his conductor's hat and vest off. Since he wasn't working on the train for the time being, he figured he didn't need them, he did however put on a different, more casual looking vest, this one, obviously wasn't as official as his conductor vest, it was a light brown vest, it did look kind of old, but also in pretty good condition. Much like his conductor's vest, it also had pockets, it didn't seem to have been given much use either. He took his pocket watch and put it in one of the pockets as he smiled. For the first time in quite awhile, he was able to dress casually.
"Wow, you look so... Normal, Mr. Conductor..." Nathan said in surprise. Mr. Conductor waved a hand.
"Oh Nathan, no need to call me Mr. Conductor now, I'm technically not the conductor right now."
"What DO I call you then... Sonny boy?" Nathan asked. The older troodon laughed awkwardly and rubbed the back of his neck.
"J-Just stick to Mr. Conductor then... Eheheh..."
"I wonder if other creatures will even recognize you..." Nathan said, rubbing his chin a little.
"Of course they will, I'm still the same troodon! It's not like dressing this way makes me someone completely different!" He exclaimed, he fixed his feathers up slightly and made himself more presentable. "To tell ya the truth, I've always wanted to dress casually more often, however as a conductor, I couldn't exactly take the uniform off that much..."
"Well, what do we do now?" Nathan asked.
"Well, we can take a walk together!" Mr. Conductor exclaimed, offering a hand to the young troodon. He took it and they made their way out.
Walking around Troodon Town was pretty nice, though also kinda surreal for Mr. Conductor. Why was it surreal? Well, for a lot of the walk, no one approached him, or spoke to him about train business, or conducting. It was pretty odd for him. And any creatures that did approach him, didn't recognize him at first, despite what Mr. Conductor said before. He couldn't say he hated it though. It gave him less to worry about. He could spend more time with Nathan.
_I still haven't decided whether i wanna adopt him or not... _He thought to himself. The decision was already hard enough as is, when he added his own normal responsibilities, he hardly had time to really think about it. But now, he has more than enough time for... Anything really. "So, Nathan..." He started talking, trying to start conversation. "Do you have any interests?" He asked.
Nathan nodded, "Yeah! One day i wanna be a paleontologist when I grow up!" He exclaimed excitedly, his eyes lighting up in excitement.
Mr. Conductor smiled and rubbed Nathan's head. "That sounds like a good plan, Nathan! Y'know, I'm a bit of a paleontologist myself." Nathan's eyes lit up in excitement.
"You are?! That's so cool!" He exclaimed.
"Oh, it's nothing special, I'm only an amateur... Besides, being a conductor is my real passion! Paleontology is more of a hobby for me..."
"Mr. Conductor? Do you think I'd be able to become a paleontologist?"
"Of course! If you give it your all, then you'll surely be able to do it!" Nathan smiled brightly at what Mr. Conductor said. "Now, I know where else we can go to spend time together." He said.
"You took me to the roundhouse? But I've already been here..." Nathan said as they stood in front of Troodon Town's Roundhouse.
"Well, yes, but have you seen all the different train cars that we have in there?" Mr. Conductor replied, giving Nathan a soft smile. The young troodon simply shook his head in response. "Well, come on! I'll show ya!" He took Nathan's hand again and led him in to show him around. Nathan got to look at the other train cars they have, such as an aviary car for birds, a nursery car for eggs, a booster engine for if the train needs extra help with moving. And even a few extra passenger and observation cars. It was very cool to see!
"Mr. Conductor? Is there anywhere else we can go?" Nathan asked. The older troodon rubbed his chin and hummed to himself in thought. It didn't take long for him to have an idea.
"Nathan, why don't we go visit the Pteranadon family? I'm sure their kids would love to play with you." He said.
_And maybe Mr and Mrs. P can give me some advice on taking care of a kid... _He thought, he didn't think he'd ever need to get advice involving parenting, but he needed it now more than ever.
Nathan nodded excitedly. "Yeah! Let's go!" He exclaimed as he started to eagerly run to the station, attempting to drag Mr. Conductor along, he chuckled and walked with the young one, still holding his hand.
As they approached the station, Mr. Conductor grew more and more nervous as they walked closer, he never really rode as a passenger with a ticket and everything, he didn't wanna screw something up.
He slowly approached the booth at the station, the troodon there looked at Mr. Conductor, though he didn't recognize him without the uniform. "Can I help you?" He asked.
Mr. Conductor nervously cleared his throat and tried to talk, "w-well..." He spoke very nervously, the troodon at the booth looked a little concerned.
"Two tickets to Pteranadon Terrace please!" Nathan exclaimed, the troodon at the booth chuckled at Nathan's enthusiasm and handed the tickets over.
W-What in the world happened...? Usually I don't stumble like that... _Mr. Conductor thought. _Maybe it's because I've never been treated like this...? It IS a bit... Erm, surreal.
Mr. Conductor and Nathan simply waited for the train to arrive, the older troodon watched as the younger one pranced around excitedly while they waited. Eager to see his friends again.
Pretty soon they heard the train whistle, Mr. Conductor looked ahead of the tracks to see the train rolling in, he felt kind of excited too, seeing the train again after what felt like forever...
Mrs. Conductor stepped out and started shouting. "Okay! Everybody off the train! We're turning it around!" As everyone got off. Mrs. Conductor turned her attention to Mr. Conductor and smiled. "Hello so-" She was cut off as Mr. Conductor shushed her.
"Shh! I'm sorry, but ever since i took my uniform off, no one's recognized me, and honestly I'd like to keep it that way for now." He whispered to his mother. She gave a nod in understanding.
"We'll talk more once the train gets turned." She said.
It didn't take too long for the train to be turned around as everyone boarded, including Nathan and Mr. Conductor. Once they found their seat, the train started chugging.
"Tickets! Tickets please!" Mrs. Conductor exclaimed as she walked down the aisle. Nathan excitedly showed their tickets as Mrs. Conductor took them and punched them with her toe claw, she took a quick look before handing them back. "Heading to Pteranadon Terrace I see?" She asked.
"Yeah! We're gonna go see the Pteranadon family!" Nathan exclaimed.
"Well I'm sure they'll be happy to see you." She said before turning her attention to Mr. Conductor. "So, Sonny boy, how's your time as a normal troodon?" She asked.
"Well, it's something I wasn't expecting... Though I don't dislike it. I can stroll around without drawing any attention to me." Mr. Conductor said.
"Well I hope you have a good time at Pteranadon Terrace!" She exclaimed as her watch began to go off. "Oh speaking of time! It's that _time _again, isn't it?!" She said, putting a lot of emphasis on the word time as a bit of a joke. Nathan giggled a little before she started announcing. "Time tunnel! Time tunnel approaching!" She yelled enthusiastically, even more so than Mr. Conductor. Guess she missed the job. The train entered the time tunnel as Nathan looked out the window excitedly.
"This never gets old...!" He said, smiling brightly.
Once they emerged from the time tunnel, Mr. Conductor gestured Nathan to follow him as they both got off the train, they waved goodbye to Mrs. Conductor as they made their way to the Pteranadon family's nest.
The Pteranadon kids were currently running around, playing and generally having fun, and their parents were at the nest.
What they didn't expect though was the sound of someone's voice, a very familiar sounding voice at that.
"Hello Mr and Mrs. P!" They both turned to see Mr. Conductor and Nathan walking over to the nest. Mrs. Pteranadon rawked happily.
"Oh, Mr. Conductor! Nathan! What a pleasant surprise!" She exclaimed.
The kids only needed to hear 'Mr. Conductor' before they started running over in excitement.
"What brings you to Pteranadon Terrace?" Mr. Pteranadon asked.
"Well, if you couldn't already tell from my attire, I'm taking an extended break from the train, so I figured, why not visit?" Mr. Conductor explained, smiling softly as he looked down at Nathan. "Why don't ya play with the kids, alright?" He said.
"Alright!" Nathan exclaimed happily as he ran to the others.
"Come on Nathan! Let me show you all the holes I've dug!" Don exclaimed as he led Nathan away. The other kids followed after them, leaving Mr. Conductor with Mr and Mrs. Pteranadon.
"So, umm..." Mr. Conductor rubbed his arm awkwardly. "I...I do have another reason for coming." He said.
"You do? What is it?" Mrs. Pteranadon asked, seemingly concerned for the troodon, he seemed a bit nervous.
"Well... I actually need advice..." He laughed a bit and blushed, rubbing the back of his head. Mr and Mrs. Pteranadon gave a look of surprise, and slight confusion in response. "I-I can tell you're confused, but let me explain... I may know many facts, mainly about dinosaurs. But there is one thing, one subject that I'm... Lacking in..." Mr. Conductor didn't think he'd ever have to ask for advice on this, however... He really needed it. "I need... P-Parenting advice." He seemed kind of embarrassed about this. "I know, I can ask my mother, but she's busy on the train, and i figured I'd kill two birds with one stone. Nathan would have some kids to play with, and i could get some advice..." He explained.
Mrs. Pteranadon nodded "I understand... Since you're Nathan's caregiver, you need to know how to take care of someone his age..." She said. "Well, there isn't really much we can say in terms of taking care of a troodon kid, but we can certainly give you normal parenting advice."
Mr. Conductor smiled and sighed a little in relief. "Thank you, I...I really appreciate it."
Meanwhile, Don had just finished showing Nathan his holes and collection.
"Wow Don, maybe you'll be a paleontologist some day..." Nathan commented. "You'll be able to discover fossils and of course, there'd be a lot of hole digging." He said, smiling a little.
Don gasped when he heard the word "hole". He smiled brightly and said. "Holes?! That sounds great! Where do I sign up?!"
Nathan just giggled in response. He soon saw Buddy, Tiny, and Shiny walk over.
"Hey guys! We're gonna go play Dinosaur Train! Wanna join us?" Buddy asked. Nathan's eyes lit up at the sound of that.
"Ooo! That sounds fun! How does it work?" He asked in excitement.
"Come on! We'll show you!" Tiny exclaimed as they all ran off. Nathan and Don both followed. Eventually they stopped at a few of rocks lined up. Tiny soon began to explain. "How it works is one of us is the conductor, and everyone else is a passenger! Here! Allow me to demonstrate!" She exclaimed. Buddy, Shiny, and Don all sat on their own rock as Tiny put on a conductor's hat made out of leaves as she walked forward, announcing. "Tickets! Tickets please!" Buddy handed Tiny a leaf in response. She grabbed the "ticket" and punched a hole in it before giving it back. Then she turned her attention to Nathan. "See? Just like that!"
"That looks fun!" Nathan exclaimed, smiling brightly.
Tiny took the hat off of her head and handed it to Nathan. "Why don't you give it a try?" She offered.
Nathan looked at the hat in curiosity and thought about it for a moment.
"So, be patient and gentle, but also remember to add discipline where it needs to be?" Mr. Conductor asked, rubbing his chin in thought.
"That's right." Mrs. Pteranadon said, nodding a bit. "And even if a kid is very well behaved, they still might not follow rules sometimes, that's why you have to set boundaries, tell them what they can and can't do."
"But I'm not sure what to do if Nathan DOES misbehave..."
Mr. Pteranadon thought for a moment. "Well, it's usually different from parent to parent, I'm sure you'll figure something out." He said, reassuring Mr. Conductor a little.
"If you say so... I never really saw myself as caregiver material, so I'm a little nervous I guess..." He said, rubbing the back of his neck.
"Just relax Mr. Conductor, you'll do fine..." Mrs. Pteranadon reassured him.
"A-Alright, if you insist..." He said, nodding a little. He soon decided to check and see how Nathan was doing. He went off to where he saw Nathan run and looked to see what they were doing.
"Tickets! Tickets please!" He heard Nathan exclaim. Curious, he followed the voice and saw that him and the other kids were playing pretend, and based on what Nathan was doing, it was pretend dinosaur train. Mr. Conductor smiled at the scene as he saw Nathan punching the pretend tickets with his toe claw.
"You're getting pretty good at being conductor, Nathan!" Buddy exclaimed. "Maybe one day you could be the conductor!"
Nathan giggled at Buddy's suggestion. "As nice as that'd be, I think I'll stick to paleontology. It's what i like best." It didn't take long for Nathan to see Mr. Conductor watching in the distance. "Oh, Hi Mr. Conductor!" He exclaimed, waving excitedly. The other kids looked over to where Nathan was looking.
"Hello kids, looks like you all are havin' fun!" He exclaimed, smiling softly.
"Mhm! Lots!" Nathan smiled brightly. "Wanna join us, Mr. Conductor?!" He asked excitedly.
"That's quite alright, I just came to check on ya." Mr. Conductor said. "Although I will say, you make an excellent conductor, Nathan!"
"Thanks..."
"Y'know, with enough time and practice, you may very well become a conductor!"
"I guess, but paleontology is what I wanna get into the most."
Mr. Conductor chuckled and rubbed Nathan's head. "I know, and I'm sure you'll grow to be a fine paleontologist. But it's always good to have a backup plan. Incase your original plan fails."
"Oh... I guess it wouldn't hurt then..." I said, nodding a little in agreement. Mr. Conductor looked up at the sky and he gasped a little.
"Bless my scales and feathers! The train's gonna be here soon! We should probably be getting back to the station!" Mr. Conductor exclaimed.
"Awwww..." All the kids said in unison, looking disappointed.
"Can we come back again soon, Mr. Conductor? Pleeeeeaaaase?" Nathan begged, looking up at the older troodon pleadingly.
Mr. Conductor chuckled. "I don't know about soon, but we'll visit again, i promise." He said.
"Good enough for me!" Nathan exclaimed happily as he took off the fake conductors hat he had on and gave it to Tiny, then he ran over to Mr. Conductor and took his hand.
After saying their goodbyes, they eventually made their way back to the station.
After getting back on the train, Nathan had decided to close his eyes for a nap. Even though it probably wouldn't be for too long, Mr. Conductor decided to take this moment to think and really process what was going on. He was on the dinosaur train, not as it's conductor, but as a passenger. He also looked like any other troodon out there, making it so he could go to places without interruptions. And to top it all off, he's considering adopting a young troodon...
_Bless my scales and feathers, a lot's happened... _He thought to himself. Sure he always enjoyed interacting with kids whenever he had the chance. And every now and then he'd watch his nephew Gilbert. But having an actual son was... Different. It was new territory for him...
He let out a sigh and shook his head. Why was he struggling so much with making a decision? He's never really had trouble with making tough choices before, so why now? He was quite flabbergasted by this. It made no sense to him! To top it all off, he thought that choosing whether or not to adopt Nathan would be an easy choice, there was NO way he was father material... Right?
Before he could ponder this question further he suddenly snapped out of his thoughts, realizing that the train was already at Troodon Town. He was so deep in thought that he didn't even keep track of time... He carefully lifted Nathan up and carried him off the train, the young one was clearly more tired than the older troodon initially thought. He expected him to be up by now... Regardless, he smiled at the sleeping troodon as he made his way home. From the looks of it, Nathan was having a good dream, based on the smile that the young one had.
"I wonder what he's dreamin' about..." He muttered.
Nathan was in his old home, in his original form. He felt confused, was everything he experienced just a dream? Did he seriously return to his old life so soon? He groaned begrudgingly, now that he was back, he had to deal with all his responsibilities again... Sighing, he collapsed onto his recliner and looked at the ceiling. Just as he was about to consider getting up to go on a walk, a knock on his door caught his attention. Slowly he stood up and walked over to the door, opening it.
What he saw next was something quite... Shocking.
He saw Mr. Conductor in his usual conducting attire... And the scenery behind him was the passenger cart of the Dinosaur Train... Nathan was dumbfounded to say the least.
"Mr. Conductor...?" Nathan said in disbelief. The troodon smiled and turned back into the train, shutting the door behind him. "W-Wait!" Nathan shouted as the door closed. He frantically opened it up, but it was just his front porch... Was he seeing things...? Slowly, he shut the door and turned around, quickly noticing he was somewhere else. Instead of his home, he was in Troodon Town at Mr. Conductor's house. Nathan rubbed his head in confusion, but he decided to explore. So he just walked around, hoping to find something that could help explain what's happening.
He eventually found himself in the bedroom, Mr. Conductor was sitting on the bed in his casual attire. He patted a spot beside him, ushering Nathan to sit down. Naturally, he complied, sitting on the bed with the troodon.
"So, what's on your mind?" Mr. Conductor asked. Startling Nathan slightly.
"I-I...I dunno, I'm just... Conflicted."
"Havin' trouble deciding where you belong, eh?" He said.
"How did you know...?"
"Nathan, I'm part of your subconscious, I know these things." Mr. Conductor stated. "Don't think about it too much, alright?"
"So basically, in actuality I'm... Talking to myself?"
"Mmm... Pretty much."
"Wait, does that mean I'm asleep?"
"You just now realized that?" The troodon asked in disbelief, stifling a laugh. It may have the appearance and voice of Mr. Conductor, but there are definitely times where it sure didn't act like him... "Yes, you're asleep... Now, why don't ya tell me what your problems are?"
"But don't you already know them?"
"Technically yes, but it's good to talk about your problems sometimes."
"Well... I don't belong in the mesazoic... Yet, I feel at home there. Someone actually cares about me... But I have family in my own time... If I stay, I'll be abandoning that... I don't know what to do." Nathan explained, looking down in sadness.
"Deep down, you know what the right choice is, Nathan."
"You're not gonna tell me the choice though, are you?" Nathan asked, looking up at the troodon.
"That's correct. Where would be the fun in knowing the answer? Besides, If you aren't sure about what the choice is, I can't answer. Since, as I said, I'm nothing but a part of your subconscious."
"Ugh, the brain is a weird organ..."
"That it is! Anywho, I think it's about time you woke up." The troodon said.
Pretty soon, Nathan's surrounding started to fade as he started to wake up.
And that was Chapter 8! I hope you guys enjoyed it!
Not much else I can say really, it was definitely a chapter enjoyed writing.
Anyways, I'll see you guys in the next chapter?
This is Robert! Signing off!~