𝗪𝗜𝗡𝗚𝗦 𝗢𝗙 𝗙𝗜𝗥𝗘: 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗘𝗚𝗚 𝗢𝗙 𝗙𝗥𝗢𝗭𝗘𝗡 𝗙𝗔𝗧𝗘

Chapter Ten

It was silent on the fly to where Glory had taken Sunny to hide. All of the dragons were too stunned at the whole situation to even speak. Eventually they arrived at the waterfall, since Sunny was easy to spot with her bright gold scales. 

"You're alright!" Sunny greeted, throwing her wings around everyone for a hug (besides Peril of course). Wolverine couldn't help but smile, holding Sunny's front talons in his. "I'm glad that you're alright too, Sun!"

"Do you think the Skywings will be looking for us?" Tsunami asked, worry in her voice. Nobody really answered her, Sunny turning her attention to Kestrel. "Kestrel! I'm happy you're alright too!"

"No thanks to any of you.." The Skywing hissed in reply, pale smoke writhing from her nostrils. "You all wanted so badly to be free, now do you see why we kept you in the cave?" 

"Well you're welcome. We could've easily left you there." Tsunami growled. Wolverine gave the Seawing a sharp glare, making her stop. 

"Oh, we did do everything wrong. Feel free to blame us," Kestrel responded, wings flexing slightly. "We were just doing what the Talons of Peace asked us to do. Speaking of them, Glory, aren't you going to come along?"

The Rainwing gave her a glare, shaking her head. "I'm going to stay with the dragonets and help them fulfill the prophecy their way." 

Kestrel snorted, rolling her eyes. "Your loss. You're nothing without that 'Talons of Peace' title over your head, Rainwing." Kestrel hissed. Glory's scales changed a shade of orange and red out of irritation and anger. 

"They aren't going to the Talons of Peace, Kestrel. They'll just find a new cave to hide them in." Glory hissed, frills shaking slightly. Sunny turned her head over to Glory, a look of surprise on her face. "We're not?" 

"Oh really?" Kestrel snorted, tail lashing against the ground. "What's your grand plan then?"

"We're going back to our homes and find our parents. We're going to see this war with our own eyes and figure out our own way to end it." Tsunami hissed in response. 

Kestrel rolled her eyes, smoke still writhing out of her nostrils. "Fine then, you're on your own now. Good riddance," Her eyes flickered to Peril, who'd been standing quietly. "Peril? Aren't you coming?"

Peril seemed to snap out of a trance, a look of surprise on her face. Her eyes flickered from Clay to Kestrel. "I- Uh-" 

"I thought you were coming with us." Clay commented, looking up from the river after drinking from it. "Hah! Over my dead, charred body!" Tsunami snorted. 

"Give her a chance, Tsunami!" Clay hissed. 

Peril simply shook her head, looking down. "I can't go with either of you. After all, how would I get my black rocks?"

"What do you mean by these 'black rocks'?" Kestrel questioned. 

"I have to eat them every day! Otherwise, I'll die!" Peril responded, looking bewildered at Kestrel's response. Wolverine glanced over at the others, slightly confused. 

"Another one of Scarlet's lies." Kestrel hissed. 

"What do you mean lies? Once I didn't eat them and I almost die-" Peril tried to answer but was interrupted by the crimson Skywing. 

"Poison. One of Scarlet's favorite tricks. Nothing Scarlet told you was true." Kestrel responded, looking at her daughter. Wolverine couldn't help but feel bad for the poor firescales, who'd had her entire world torn apart. 

"Before you leave, could you tell us about our origins?" Tsunami asked, a confident tone in her voice as she stood a little taller. "It's the least you could do." 

"Very well. No surprises with you. Webs stole you from the royal hatchery." Kestrel replied. Tsunami's face visibly brightened. "You are a princess, Tsunami!" 

"Dune found Sunny's egg hidden in the desert, near the Scorpion den. Morrowseer brought us Starflight's egg," Kestrel continued. "Asha, a Mudwing who was in the Talons of Peace brought Clay's egg. She got caught in a battle while bringing it, and ended up dying because of her injuries after she got it to the mountain."

"What about me?" Wolverine asked, stepping forward. 

"Hvitur brought your egg after we lost the Skywing. You were the best option we had after losing it, but you definitely came from the most surprising place," Kestrel responded, looking over at the Icewing. "Hvitur stole you from the Icewing Queen's hatchery."

Wolverine froze, shocked. "I-I'm royalty?!" Wolverine choked out. Kestrel nodded. "Hvitur was a high ranking Icewing, so he managed to live in the palace before he joined the Talons."

"No offense Wolverine, but you're kinda the last dragon that I'd think would be royalty out of all of us." Tsunami remarked. Wolverine chuckled slightly, still surprised at the situation. He remembered that the Ice Kingdom was across a small portion of ocean near the Sky Kingdom. 

My home, my family aren't far from here.

"Thank you, Kestrel." Wolverine finally said, dipping his head at the older Skywing. The Skywing merely hrrphed in response, smoke still writhing from her nostrils. 

"I never imagined you this way." Peril admitted, eyes flickering up at Kestrel. The Skywing sighed before she shook her head. "That's how life made me." She hissed in reply.

"She's not exactly the kindest dragon, but she did try to save you." Wolverine said, pointing his tail at Kestrel. The Skywing closed her eyes, most likely imagining that day. 

"So," Kestrel said finally after a period of silence. "Are you coming?" 

"No, I don't think so. Maybe someday, but just not now." Peril replied, looking down to the ground once more. 

"Fine by me, I'm used to being alone. If you ever really, really need me, send a message through the dragon at Jade Mountain. Not that I'll come in a couple of centuries," Kestrel grunted, unfurling her wings as she prepared to leave. "Oh, and Mudwing, if you actually want to protect the others, you can't do that without killing. Let that sink in." 

A small flash of hurt was seen in Clay's eyes as the Skywing flew off, eventually disappearing. "It's okay Clay, she didn't mean it." Sunny comforted. 

"No, she does." Clay responded. 

Even after Clay tried to convince Peril to travel with them, she still decided to stay in the Sky Kingdom until it was truly safe for her to venture outside of the Kingdom. "So, where are we going?" Wolverine questioned as they started to walk along the riverbank. 

"We're going to follow the river down to the delta and find Clay's family." Tsunami answered. Wolverine's spikes visibly fell with disappointment. More humid and hot weather, fun.

Eventually they made it to the Mud Kingdom, which was just like the scrolls described it. A humid, swampy marsh full of mud and bugs. Perfect. 

Clay and Glory ended up going into the actual village, since none of the other dragonets could. Time seemed to be going slower than ever as the dragonets waited for Glory and Clay. But while they were waiting, an unexpected visitor arrived.

Starflight, who'd just been dropped out of the sky by Morrowseer had shown up. Wolverine almost immediately threw his wings around the Nightwing in a hug. "Starflight! Oh, thank the moons, I was so worried about you!"

Starflight hugged him back, seeming to snap out of the daze he was in. A bit after that, Glory and Clay returned. "Starflight!" The Mudwing cried happily, hugging him. 

"Were you able to meet your mother, Clay?" Tsunami asked. Glory and Clay looked at each other, Clay visibly faltering. Glory eventually spoke for him. "The important thing is that he found family that would honestly be better than parents. He has six siblings and was supposed to be their bigwings." 

"But it turns out that I'm you guy's bigwings," Clay added, his face brightening. "Which means we'll all stick together, no matter what." 

Together the dragonets joined into a group hug, Glory even joining in. Wolverine couldn't help but close his icey blue eyes warmly. It didn't matter that much that he was a prince, since these dragonets that he had were one of the best families he could ask for.