Moonwatcher's Sister (Qibli x OC)

Chapter Fourteen: The Lake

Starseeker's POV:

'You know,' I thought to Moon quietly as we followed behind Turtle. 'Sometimes following random people into secluded parts of cave systems doesn't seem like the smartest idea.'

'Yeah, I figured that out about two turns ago.' She responded with a snarky tone. She sighed out loud, causing Turtle to look back at us.

"What was that?" He asked, his voice echoing slightly in the small pathway. "Wait—can you two talk to each other telepathically? Oh, that's so cool!"

"Uh, yeah we can. I guess it comes with the reading minds ability." Moon answered awkwardly, shifting her weight from side to side.

It was quiet after that, Turtle must have sensed that Moon didn't seem like talking, and I took this moment to really focus on Turtle's thoughts. As always, they weren't there. Instead, there was a silently beautiful hum which instantly relaxed me, oddly enough. I switched my attention to the ground as we walked because the feeling of purposely invading his privacy messed with me mentally. Since Turtle was using his glow-scales as a light for us to see where we were going, I could see slime trails on the ground from giant snails.

After a bit of walking, the tunnel opened up suddenly and showed off a giant underground lake. There were glow worms on the rocks above us, and the water reflected the stars beautifully. Above the lake was a hole large enough for an average-sized dragon to fly through.

Next to me, I saw Moon look around for Pike and Tamarin. Although the smell of burnt scales and smoke was still present, it had faded quiet a bit. Their caretakers must have just submerged them and left to take care of their other wounds.

Turtles suddenly nodded at the lake, making me look at him. "You two should wash up in the lake. I'd take you two to the infirmary, but I image Clay is pretty busy already."

I nodded as Moon checked out her shoulder. My back was burning with pain, but I ignored it and slowly stepped into the lake. The water was cold, but streams in the rainforest were colder. When I finally submerged by back, I yelped in pain and instinctively flapped my wings as a failed attempt to fly out of the water. Once I relaxed and got used to the increased burning, I folded my wings back up and dipped my head down sheepishly.

'Sorry, I didn't expect it to hurt.' I thought to Moon and Turtle.

I saw Turtles eyes widen before he relaxed his face and nodded at me. I smiled at him gently and he returned it.

I watched at Turtle came into the water and swam towards Moon. They talked a bit before Turtle reached into Moon's wound and pulled out something. I winced when Moon yelped, but otherwise stayed calm.

Since my wounds were on my back, I couldn't properly clean them or get the thorns out. I paused before calling out for Turtle. 'Hey Turtle? I can't reach my back, can you come help me?'

I saw him turn in my direction and nod with a smile. He quietly finished his conversation with Moon and swam over, popping out of the water next to me with a splash.

He glanced over the wounds before nodding to himself. "Can you turn around? And I'm sorry, this may hurt—a lot."

I chuckled silently at his wording before nodding, shifting my back towards him and bracing myself for the pain. I felt him gently rub water around the wounds to get rid of any dried blood before gently grabbing onto one of the thorn clots. I inhaled sharply as he yanked it out, and breathed out shakily to calm myself down.

Before I had any time to brace myself again, Turtle had already ripped out another thorn clot. I yelped loudly and squirmed away from him instinctively. He mumbled a quick "sorry" before quickly taking out the last clot.

I could feel my back bleeding heavily as he applied pressure to the wounds. I winced but kept still as he began to stop the bleeding. After a minute or so, Turtle pulled his talons away and stepped back. "There you go, good as new!"

I smiled at him. 'Thanks, Turtle.' He nodded and nodded towards Moon so we could walk towards her.

"How's your shoulder?" Turtle asked Moon as we swam up next to her. "Can you fly?"

"Probably." Moon answered for both of us as I moved my wings around, testing their durability.

"Go ahead and try," Turtle suggested, motioning with his wings to the opening in the ceiling which lead to the open sky. I hesitated before crouching slightly, angling my wings so I would have a better take off. I flapped my wings twice before I was officially in the air. I swooped around a few times, testing what hurt and what didn't hurt, as I watched Turtle swim below me. I heard Moon's wings flap behind me as I hovered in place.

'We could run away,' I thought quietly. 'We could run away and never have to deal with Winter, or Kinkajou, or... Qibli...'

'We couldn't do that,' Moon thought with a frown. 'Then they'd definitely think that we caused the fire, and we'd be outlawed everywhere in two seconds flat.'

I sighed and nodded to myself, angling my wings so I would fall into a dive into the water. When I landed, a giant splash sound echoed against the cave walls as I popped my head out of the water. I shook my head, trying to get the water out of my ears.

Moon sailed down to the ledge next to us gracefully. I glanced at Turtle before diving under the water and tilting my wings so they wouldn't get in the way as I swam. When I walked onto the land again, Turtle stepped next to me.

"How'd you learn to tilt your wings while swimming? I thought only SeaWings knew how to do that." He asked as he tilted his head.

'When I was younger I would swim in the nearby streams and rivers because I was small enough to fit. I haven't swam in a while though.' I answered nonchalantly.

He nodded before climbing up the ledge to where Moon was at. I followed behind him slowly, trying to relax my aching back. When I get back to my cave, the only thing I'm doing is sleeping. I paused, stopping mid-step as I remembered how Carnelian was gone. My wings drooped and I felt tears fill my eyes. I tried to blink them away, but some spilled over and onto my cheeks.

I took a deep breath and reached up to wipe the tears away. I stepped back a few paces and cupped my talons in the water. I splashed it over my face and wiped away and remains of the salty tears. I took another deep breath and sighed, trying to block away the pain. I walked up the ledge and listened as they spoke.

"...If it were that easy, I should have them planning it." Moon said as I started to listen in. "I should have heard something from someone." She suddenly stopped, her eyes wide in shock and slight fear. She suddenly stood upright and jumped off of the ledge and landed next to me. "I have to get to my sleeping cave."

"Oh," Turtle replied quietly. "Uh, sure. Did you figure something out?"

"I hope so," my twin said in a held-back tone. "Can you lead me back?"

Turtle nodded in response as they quickly turned and walked away. Me still standing there in confusion as to what Moon had found out, and why it was so important.

After a moment of thinking, I shrugged and followed after them. No point in getting lost and winding up even more confused later, right?