Wings of Fire: The Secret of Silverstripe

~Ch.12: Deep as the Sea~

About four days later, Silverstripe was strolling on a beach with Emerald before they set out to collect pearls. The sun was still pulling itself out from the horizon, casting gold, pink, and orange light upon the waves and illuminating the sky. A soft breeze ruffled Silverstripe's fins as she walked along the beach, Emerald drowsily leaning against Silverstripe's right wing as they padded.

It was quiet in the early morning at the beach. A sort of peace encompassed the area, affecting the place from the calm waves that lapped at the shore to the drowsy Emerald leaning against Silverstripe's wing.

In these moments, Silverstripe just liked to relax and simply be. The calm breeze soothed her, as did the sound of the waves as they rolled across the sea.

Of course peace never lasts, though. It is then replaced with something else -- excitement.

Silverstripe did not receive the disturbance with irritation as a sudden splash sounded in the distance. Instead, Silverstripe looked at the horizon curiously, waiting for a bird to rise out of the sea with a fish. What came out was not a bird, however.

Silverstripe's heart leaped as Turquoise appeared from the greenish-blue. He glided over the waves, letting his tail drag in the water until he landed on the sand in front of Silverstripe.

Silverstripe flared her wings with excitement, unknowingly pushing Emerald off balance as the dragonet exclaimed, "Yipe!"

Silverstripe turned around and helped the fallen dragonet to her feet, saying "So sorry! You okay?"

"Yeah, yeah," Emerald replied. "Oh, hey, Turquoise. That about expla--"

"Hey, Turquoise!" Silverstripe said brightly, cutting off Emerald. "How was your trip?"

"Hey, Abyss!" Turquoise said. "It was good. It went well; our troops secured a base, in fact."

"A SeaWing base?" Silverstripe asked, tilting her head to the side.

"It was on the same grounds as a SkyWing base," Turquoise explained. "Our troops destroyed the SkyWing base, and built one of our own using some of the supplies."

"Wow," Silverstripe said.

"Yeah," Turquoise said. "Commander Tempest managed to take it in no time at all."

"Did you fight in the battle to take it?" Silverstripe asked curiously.

"No, I just watched and ran messages across the battlefield," Turquoise replied. "I did have to grapple with a SkyWing soldier at one point, though. She singed my tail while I was running a message."

Silverstripe looked at his tail as it curled around his front talons and hissed in sympathy. There was a clearly defined black mark in the scales, which Silverstripe hoped would heal over time.

"One of my friends threw her off of me, though," Turquoise added. "I made sure to thank him."

"It's good that you got away," Silverstripe said. "Not many dragons can say the same..."

"Yeah," Turquoise said. "I missed you," he added, leaning forward and wrapping his wings around Silverstripe. From behind Turquoise's back, Emerald exchanged an ominous glance with Silverstripe.

Silverstripe smiled at the dragonet nervously.

"Tell him, tell him," Emerald mouthed urgently.

Silverstripe pulled away from the embrace, saying, "I missed you too."

Emerald facepalmed, mouthing, "That's not what I meant."

Silverstripe smiled apologetically at the green dragonet.