Listen, And The Stars Shall Speak

Spies And A Search

Kelp stood on the sand of a small island in the middle of the Bay of a Thousand scales, waiting. A slight splash was heard as another dragon approached.

"Kelp," he said with a nod.

"Geyser," Kelp replied. "Have you found anything?"

"Yes and no. There is talk of a surprise attack on the Rainforest through Moorhen's kingdom, but many of the Seawings are against it. They don't trust Moorhen to keep quiet."

"Nor should they. Moorhen may have declared her tribe neutral, but it's clear to see what side she stands on."

"In other news, I have moved up a rank. That means I should be receiving more specific information."

"Queen Glory will be pleased." There was a pause as the two dragons glanced at each other for the first time in the whole conversation. "How is she?" Kelp asked.

"Worried. She really doesn't like this plan at all, but she deals with it." Geyser replied. Kelp sighed.

"I know." He remembered when this situation first began- when Geyser had agreed to become a spy. Seashell had rioted against it, insisting that they would both end up dead. Kelp's mind flashed back to the very day they had told her.

"If he dies Kelp, I swear-"

"He's going to be fine. Geyser is smart, he won't get caught. I'll protect him, Seashell, you know that." She had stared at him for a moment before shifting her gaze to the floor.

"You make sure he comes back to me, alright?"

"He will. I promise." Kelp swore.

Kelp shook himself back to the present and looked at Geyser. 

"Is that all?" 

"Yes."

"Then I won't risk being found out any longer than I have too."

"Same time?"

"Yes."

"Then I shall see you then." The two dragons turned away from each other.

"Oh," Kelp added, remembering. "And do tell Stream that Shore and the girls say hello." 

"Of course." Geyser insisted. With that, they took off and Kelp headed back to the rainforest.

Joy breathed a sigh of relief at the sight of him. Kelp wasn't sure why she worried so much about the meetings. Sure, there was always the chance that someone would catch them, but Joy had bigger things to worry about, and so did Kelp. Joy herself had been sent to the front of the war multiple times already, seeing as there were other heirs for the throne should something happen to her. She always came back fine, with the blood of other dragons on her scales, but it was still stressful. 

Glory and Joy both refused to let Kelp anywhere near the actual fighting. They were afraid that one of the rainwings might kill him by accident. It was a reasonable worry.

So Kelp helped where he could, and that included meeting with Geyser to find out information on the Seawings and Icewings. 

Before Kelp could even say a word to Joy, a loud bird call echoed through the Rainwing village. It was repeated by several dragons, and some instantly turned camouflage and flew off to spread the word to the Nightwing village. The bird call was their alarm, the warning that Icewings were here. They came at random moments and searched everywhere for hybrids. The law was a truly unrighteous one. If a hybrid was found, Glory had no choice but to let them be taken away, whether they were royalty or not. Joy's scales immediately turned black, letting her appear to be a pure-blooded Nightwing. Kelp glanced at her and she looked back with a worried expression.

"Where are they?" Kelp asked.

"I'm not sure, they went out to play with their friends. I think Shore said something about going to the Nightwing village to see Stardust?" Joy said unsurely. Stardust was Moon's son. Nobody really knew who his father was, except maybe Moon of course. Ander insisted that she knew, but she refused to say. 

Kelp and Joy grew more anxious as the minuted ticked by. All the other dragons had run inside to hide, whether they were hybrids or not. Eventually though, they had to hide themselves, and hope that their dragonets knew well enough to hide somewhere safe. 

Apple sat frozen at the table. She hated these searches. It was awful the way the Icewings would stare at you. It was as if they knew she was lying and that she was part Nightwing. Her mother's talon rested on Apple's shoulder, causing her to jump slightly. It was a comforting signal that she should act normally, to make it clear that they weren't hiding anything. The Icewings searched every house, and they would interrogate anyone they considered suspicious. Glory may not have been able to stop them from taking hybrids away, but she could stop them from harming anyone without reason. 

Apple stared down at the scroll in front of her as someone pounded on the door. Pear walked over silently and opened it. A strong looking Icewing barged in instantly and looked around. Apple glanced up at him in fear. His eyes settled momentarily on Pear, but then disregarded, noting her as an ordinary Rainwing. His gaze, like all of the Icewings, rested longer on Apple. 

"Why do you look afraid?" he demanded. Apple whimpered purposefully. She had discovered that Icewing's hated mindless chatter that Rainwings were known for. A few quick sentences usually made them leave.

"I don't know, but you're scary and big and I thought Icewings were supposed to be sparkly like glitter paint and funny but you look mean and big and your scales ain't shiny and it's scary and you look mean and I don't really think I like Icewings all that much any more and you pounded on the door and I don't know why you're here and-"

"Shut up." he growled. She obliged and let her scales turn green. He turned to Pear. "Where's her father?" he questioned, nodding at Apple.

"He's away, fighting in the war." Pear explained. It was the excuse they used every time. It was a safe response. 

"Name?"

"Toucan." Every Rainwing and Nightwing general had a list of dragons memorized, just for this occasion. Icewings would question if a certain dragon, in this case, Toucan, existed, and they could easily confirm it. It was a foolproof plan that all the Icewings fell for. He left soon after and Pear shut the door quietly, sighing with relief as it clicked shut. Appleglanced down and noticed that her talons were shaking, although she wasn't sure why.

Elsewhere in the forest...

Meander whimpered slightly, and Shore quickly clamped a talon over her mouth, just in case. He and the girls were hiding in the tunnel to the Nightwing Island, the tunnel the Icewings didn't know about. They were curled up against the cool stone wall, and Shore had wrapped his wings respectively around his sisters. Rin's talons squeezed tighter against his own. Both of the girls were terrified, that Shore knew. They were supposed to be hoe right now, hiding safely with their parents close. But here, they were alone and they couldn't help but feel a lot more vulnerable without something as comforting as their Dad's wings or their Mother's soothing voice. Ander especially hated the tunnel. She hated animus magic. She had touched a dreamvisitor once and had screamed for the next ten minutes. To her it was a tragic curse that was never meant to be used. If Shore knew she wouldn't freak out, he'd introduce her to Turtle, the only other Seawing besides his dad that lived in the Rainforest. A screeching bird call shot through the still air and Shore breathed a sigh of relief. That was the safe signal, announcing that the Icewings had left. It chirped twice at the end, signalling that no one had been taken. Ander bolted from the tunnel, and Shore and Rin quickly followed her.

The search was over, various dragons thought to themselves. Everything was back to normal.