Fire and Ash

Chapter 4

When Sky finally pulled himself away from Peril, he shivered as the cold air of the cavern once again hit his scales. 

"Okay, um," Ermine said, taking a step backwards. "Is this... just... something that happens a lot?" 

"Normally it's a tad more exciting. More explosions and magic and heroic quests," Kinkajou replied, "but yeah, pretty much." 

"I thought you were dead," Peril said, pressing her wings against her sides. "I-I thought Kestrel had killed you." 

"I never even knew you had been alive in the first place," Sky replied as Wren scrambled back up his tail and balanced on the ridge of his back until she was positioned comfortably back on his shoulders. 

"Whoa, Peril, that's amazing!" Clay broke the silence, beaming. Peril smiled back, bright as the sun, and something clicked into place. 

Oh, that's what Moon meant about Clay being happy. Happy for Peril, because they love each other. That was probably a very blunt way of putting it, but Sky was a dragon who wasn't really into swerving around questions with confusing riddles or cryptic answers, so it was the best way of putting it he had. 

"Come on, then," Moon said, flicking her tail at the siblings. "Now that you two have met, we can show you around!" 

"And I can make you some applesauce!" Peril grinned. 

"...I'm still not one hundred percent about this, but alright," Ermine said, following the rest of the group out of the cavern and up the tunnel. 

The first relatively normal day Sky had ever spent with other dragons was possibly one of the best ones of his life, surpassed only by when he and Wren met Leaf, Daffodil, and Ivy. For the first time, he and Wren didn't have to be hiding from other humans or ducking for cover whenever a dragon flew overhead. For the first time, Sky felt like he belonged somewhere. 

"We should pick up the others," Sky whispered to Wren that night as the snoring shapes of Ermine, Qibli, Turtle, and a MudWing named Egret dozed peacefully around him. "Ivy will do a flip to find out about this place, and Leaf will be happy with whatever she's happy with."

Wren let out a laugh that sounded just a little nervous. "Yeah. He'll be happy." Even in the dark, Sky could see that the girl's cheeks were bright cherry red. 

"Ooohhh," Sky teased, bopping her on the nose with his claw, "you? No way!" Wren pushed his talon away. 

"I don't know what you're going- talking about," she stuttered. 

"Hah!" Sky laid his head down next to her. He snorted out a breath of air in her face and she laughed. 

"Go to bed, Sky," she sighed, jumping on his back and laying down on the curve of his spine. 

"Wren and Ivy, sitting in a tree-" Sky began, quietly. 

"Shut up," Wren hissed. "I-it's not like that."

"Uh-huh," Sky rolled over, causing her to fall off with a yelp. "Good-night, Wren." 

"Good-night, Sky." 

A/N: Haahahaaa I couldn't help myself I'm sorryyyy I'm just not a huge Livy fan
Also - applesauce! And the rest of the squad are coming to Jade Mountain? Hmm, exciting :3
Anyways, I'll see ya'll in the next chapter, and have a great week!