CounterPart

17 | It's Happened Again, Hasn't It...

Every wingbeat towards the LeafSilk Kingdom was filled with unrequited tension; silence and worry. Sunny didn't know why the excitement had been smothered - no-one did - but she was as silent as the rest.

The only thing keeping her sane was the occasional grumble from Squid, who was flying by her side, slightly behind. He was unusually... submissive. She didn't know if she liked him to be this quiet.

She had tried to teach him to make a snowdragon, but even with their collaborated efforts, they could only make something that closely resembled a snow slug. A smile tugged at her snout as she remembered for once, a single time where Squid hadn't complained nearly as much.

He was almost pleasant to be around, and yet... Too quiet. Too obedient. It didn't feel right.

Suddenly, she was aware of nearly crashing into Starflight, who had come to an abrupt halt in front of her. In fact, all the dragons had stopped.

"What's going on? Sequoia? We're not here yet, are we?" She called. Sunny weaved inbetween to the dragons to talk to the LeafWing Queen, and then she spotted it.

The lack of it.

All of it.

Trees uprooted, smoking ruins, and dragons flying haywire in every direction. Some shrieked and pointed up to Sequoia and the returning dragons, others were frantically calling names into the rubble. It seemed like the debris had crashed on more debris, swirling into a dust storm that hid all and struck to kill.

Sunny dove towards an empty patch of land where Hazel was being restricted in Mandrake's wings, and the smoke drifted tauntingly around the trees' corpses.

"LET ME GO, MANDRAKE! I NEED TO GO AFTER THEM! THEY'RE MY SUBJECTS!"

"And you're our Heir! I will not let you get hurt." He growled back, laced with concern.

"Mandrake! Who is she talking about? Who's in danger - What happened?!" She cried.

Mandrake's head flicked up, startled for the briefest of seconds to see her, and then his jaw hardened. "No. Not you too. It's too late, there was another earthquake."

"Where?" Came a regal and demanding voice from a little behind her. Queen Sequoia looked panic stricken, and her eyes were flashing with urgency.

"M-my Queen." Mandrake muttered. "Over the left sleeping cave wing. Right there." He extended a talon to what looked like half of the LeafSilk Hall that had been crushed by it's own weight.

"Oh my Moons." Squid whispered. Sunny had barely noticed his arrival. "That's where - that's where my - I -"

"Another Earthquake... Only Clearsight can save us now." Sequoia said gravely.

"We're going to check who's still there and try to help." Sunny declared.

"We are?" Squid whimpered.

Without another word, she took off towards the LeafSilk Hall. It wasn't a pretty flight; desperate dragons were looking to the sky and waving frantically, and the earth was torn in huge fractures. And the smoke... The smoke was still there, ever looming.

Squid was following her, and when they both landed, their path was immediately smothered in broken logs and silk remnants. Old hammocks clung to her scales as her voice penetrated the dusty veil.

"Hello! Is anyone there? We've come to help!"

She heard tiny squeak - and Sunny's stomach filled with dread.

A Dragonet!

Filled with a new burst of fiery determination, Sunny hauled aside the logs and slipped under them, emerging in a sealed pocket of air.