Wings of Fire: Nighthawk

Chapter 13: Home

The five of them rushed into town, following the two guards. None of them had any clue who had attacked Lobster's sister, but Nighthawk was ready for anything.

"Where is she!?" Lobster called to the soldiers. "Who has her!?" He yelled and kept flapping.

"Some gang of seawings and some of Blisters sandwings! They want treasure." The first one called back. After a few minutes, they saw what looked like signs of struggle that led up the hill into the trees. There was a little bit of blood scattered around well

"No-" Lobster started.

"She's probably fine. Come on." Tempest huffed and landed with a thud before running up the hill where the trail led. The others followed, staying close enough to not get crushed by her as she trampled through the forest. Nighthawk could hear the thumps as she stomped towards the hill, which made him shudder in fear a tiny bit. He still wasn't used to such large dragons.

"Here we are- Bloody hell!" Nighthawk stopped beside the large seawing and stared at the scene. There was a seawing laying unconscious on the ground, looking a little worse for wear. The two sandwings in the area were tied up against trees with their snouts tied shut.

"Sulu- what the hell happened?"

"I was attacked and I handled it. Don't worry big brother, I can take care of myself."

"But what if they hurt you?" Lobster frowned and glanced at her scales. He saw a gash on the side of her neck by her gills.

"I've had worse."

"Well I guess ya shouldn't underestimate this one!" Tempest thumped her talon on the ground with a small laugh.

"Guess not. Quite impressive." Nighthawk walked over and looked at one of the sandwings. "Arms and legs tied up against the trees so they couldn't cut the vines. Tails as well.. you know what you're doing."

"Of course I do." Sulu said proudly. "Impressed?"

"Clearly." Nighthawk grinned as he poked at the sandwing. Lobster let out a sigh of relief as he proceeded over to her. He then hugged her gently.

"Don't scare me like that please."

"Oh stop. I'm fine Lobster. You worry too much! You're gonna get one of those worry lines in your face." She teased and traced a claw from one side of his forehead to the other.

"What did they want anyway?" Nighthawk chimed in and crossed his arms.

"Treasure. They think because I live with my brother and his wife that I always have loads of gold on me. I don't. I'm smarter than that. And much more trained than they are."

"But they still could've killed you!"

"The only thing they get from that, is a visit from her." She pointed to Tempest who gave a large toothy grin at the attackers. "I know I wouldn't want to make her mad."

"Neither do I. Never. Not once."

"Good. I get very stompy."

"Yeah-" Lobster huffed a little before glancing his wife. He climbed onto her back and led down, drooping his tail over her back a little. "Can we go home now?"

"Yes yes. Fine." Sulu shrugged and spread her wings before taking off. The commander dismissed the soldiers and took her husband and new friend back to their island. Once they landed, Sulu went to wash up the mess on her scales.

Nighthawk stayed outside by himself, watching the sunset. It was almost down. He heard someone approaching behind him and he turned, only to see Lobster's sister. "Oh. Ello."

"Hey, you want to come inside for dinner? It's getting cold out." Sulu sat next to him with a small sweet smile. "I made something special."

"Course. Soon. Wanna watch this." Nighthawk let out a small sigh as he watched the sun go down. He scooted away from her a little, not wanting to be that close to anyone yet. "Hm." He huffed.

"Something wrong?"

"No. Just relaxing out here." He glanced at the open sea before them. "So beautiful."

"It really is. Thank you for coming to help, even though I didn't need it."

"It's no problem. I don't got nothin else going on. And besides, wanted to test this out." He banged on the chest portion of his cloak with a talon. There was a metal clanging sound. "Try it."

"Oh, sure then." She smiled and knocked on his cloak. "That's pretty clever! Did you make this?" She gently touched the cloak and felt around. He could see her talons brush across the metal plates he embedded in the material.

"I did. Earlier. Took most of the day but it worked. Very effective, unless they try to burn me."

"That's a good point. Maybe there's something you can do to fix that." She smiled and pat his shoulder. The sun was finally down, and it was night. "Now come on. Let's go inside. I can't wait for you to try what I made." She smiled and started to head over. 

Nighthawk followed her. He slowly walked up the stone path to the house beside her. "It's a beautiful night out. Your scales really shine in the light." He complimented. Not trying to be flirty or anything, for he wasn't ready yet.

"Oh, thank you. Glad you think so. I wish you'd show us your scales. You don't need to hide under that cloak all the time."

"Yes I do. I don't like the air on my scales, feels cold.."

"It's not so bad. There's got to be another reason."

"There isn't." Nighthawk said sternly.

"Right, we'll see if that changes." She winked and walked through the door. The smell of her cooking filled the house, and it was lovely. He followed her to the dining area and sat between her and Lobster. Once he looked down at the meal, his eyes went wide. It was an octopus with several other fish and shellfish, cooked and seasoned.

"Huh.."

"Trust me. It's so good. You'll love it." Lobster smiled and cut some of the octopus meat off for him. "Here." He pushed it to nighthawk's plate with a fork.

"Hm." Nighthawk sniffed it before stabbing it with his own fork. Then he took a bite and started chewing. The texture was a tad rubbery, but it was nice and crispy around the edges. He ate the rest of it quickly. "Wow-"

"Yeah. Told ya she could cook." Lobster grinned.

"You weren't kidding. Haha, damn."

"And there's plenty more where that came from, as long as you stay here with us. You will, won't you?" Sulu asked. The other two seemed eager for him to stay as well.

Nighthawk thought for a bit. Knowing they wanted him living there, he nodded and sat up. "I will."