Wings of Fire: Nighthawk

Chapter 39: The Rainforest

After flying for the rest of the night, the trio arrived at the dense jungle of southern Pyrrhia. Morning was on the horizon and there were no signs of them being followed. The air was muggy and humid, but they were in the clear for now. Nighthawk landed at a nearby stream before setting Mojave down. All the new smells and sounds were hitting him like a tidal wave.

"Seastars.." Lobster panted, partially crash landing in the mud. Nighthawk helped him up before looking at his cloak, which was now muddy and dirty with several tears in the fabric. He sighed deeply and started to remove it, despite hating the feeling of the air on his scales. "About time you took that damn thing off. You should really clean up as well, you're filthy." Lobster huffed. "I'm gonna lie in this river for a while.. maybe find some fish hopefully."

"Fruit's just as good, you need vitamins. But you go do that. Gonna check on our friend." Nighthawk walked over to Mojave, shaking him a little. "Ey, mate. Wake up. We're not being chased." He said to him. The poor sandwing looked almost dead. He groaned in pain as he tried to stand. "Just get some water, clean your back a little. This place is probably festering with insects, gonna see if I can find some leaves or something to cover your wound. Gonna find some fruit too, you need energy."

"Please.. anything.." Mojave grumbled. Nighthawk helped him to the water, where Lobster took over and held him up right. Thankfully the seawing was recovering his strength due to the water.

"It's gonna be alright, we're almost safe. Once we get to the sea kingdom we're he in the clear." Nighthawk said calmly as he looked through his cloak to see if any of his personal items were in. After some digging, he found nothing. "Hm. Bastards looted the lot." He snorted and tucked his cloak on his back while wrapping the tying the sleeves around his neck.

"Yeah- that was Sandstorm, the general. He saw your capture as a prize. Took most of your things but I got to keep your knife and crossbow."

"At least they were in good talons." Nighthawk shrugged. Now it was time to forage. He did have some knowledge about medicinal plants thanks to Aloe. However it was hard to determine what was safe and what wasn't since he'd never been to the rainforest. As of right now all he knew that was safe were some clean vibrant green leaves. Now sniffing the air, he could smell something sappy so he went towards it. When he found the tree which was leaking the sticky substance, he cut the vark with his knife and scraped off the sap. Combining the sap with the lead made a perfect bandaged for the wound.

"Mojave, come here. Got a makeshift bandage for your back." Nighthawk said. As Mojave walked over, he blew some hot air on the leaf to sterilize it without burning it. Lobster helped bring the seawing over, and Nighthawk began to apply the bandage to the wound on his back. It would protect his scales for the time being until he could get some better treatment.

"Thank you." Mojave mumbled. "I wish there was something for the pain, but it would probably knock me out- gotta stay awake."

"No problem. Absolutely right. Let's get moving." Nighthawk stood up and lifted Mojave's wing onto his back. He and Lobster walked him through the muddy forest. It was getting hotter and muggier as the day dragged on. His plan was to get to the south side of the forest so they had a safer route to the sea kingdom. Lobster had agreed to this plan.

"What do you think we should do if we find Rainwings?" Lobster asked, breaking the long silence that had been going on for almost an hour.

"Ignore em, we're busy, got places to be." Nighthawk said with a huff.

"They could be helpful or hostile, we don't know." Mojave shrugged. The three kept walking, Nighthawk just wanted to get home, but with a dragon who couldn't fly it was going to take weeks to get back.

"How's your tail?" Nighthawk asked.

"Can't feel a thing. Can't even move my barb.." Mojave sighed. "That Viper, what a horrible dragon. And his sons, moons. The big one is an idiot who does whatever his father says, and the younger one is just.. creepy. He's sinister, weirdly protective of his brother."

"Hm.." Nighthawk sighed. "We'll have to take care of them some other time. As of right now, we gotta get to the sea kingdom, then we're free and safe."

"Agreed." Lobster mumbled and kept walking. Overhead there was a thud that could only be made from a dragon. The Nightwing looked up and paused, staring at the log that made the noise. Several small leaves fell off the tree as the branch shook. It took him a second but he realized what it was.

"Get down!" He yelled, diving into a bush and pulling Mojave with him. Lobster rolled behind a fallen tree, then three tiny thwip sounds could be heard. "Poison darts, fuckin hell." He growled. Nighthawk aimed his crossbow at where the noise came from, and the spot produce a low laughing sound. He growled. "Reveal yourself!"

Soon, a bright purple dragon dotted with red and blue spots all over appeared. "Hello there. That's a funny looking blowgun." It said with a small giggle. Five more Rainwings appeared as well, all a variety of colors.

"It's not a blowgun, why did you shoot at us? Answer or I'll impale you." Nighthawk growled.

"It's just a game we play. Target practice. And those darts aren't poisonous, by the way. They just make you fall asleep for a few hours." The rainwing said. She was female, very slender and elegant. He huffed and crossed his arms. "We try to knock the other dragon out, whoever hits their opponent first wins a pot of fruit."

"That is silly.." Nighthawk grumbled. "Great. Who are you?"

"My name is Plum. Never seen one of you before, or the other two. That red dragon is a very pretty color!"

"Plum. Great. Okay." Nighthawk paced around slowly, making sure the other two were alright. Once he saw they were, and that the rainwings weren't hostile he knew he could ask for help. "We are lost."

"Clearly. Would you like to come to our village then, mystery dragons? Is that a leaf on your friend's back there?"

"Yes, it's a long story. He needs help, I'll explain at the village.." Nighthawk had a good feeling about this. Plum began to lead them to the village. Three Rainwings flew down and lifted Mojave up carefully. These Rainwings could help them get home and better. Things were finally starting to turn around for him and his friends.