Storm Rising

Chapter Seven- Rainforest Home

Suddenly two dragons seemingly melted out of the trees, their scales shifting colors like living rainbows. The two dragons stared at the newcomers with curiosity before asking where they had come from.
"Ventus." Said Thunder, looking at the new dragons in wonder.
The other dragons stared at them with awed expressions on their faces to, none of them able to quite believe the other existed.
"What are you called?" Asked one of the rainbow dragons, looking at Pineneedle, Thunder and the other River and StromWings gathered on the beach.
"We are StormWings." Said Thunder.
"I'm a ForestWing." Said Pineneedle.
"And we are RiverWings." Said one of the blue dragons.
"What are you?" Asked Thunder to the new dragons.
"We are RainWings." Said one of the dragons.
"We live here in the forest."
"Come. We'll show you around." Said one of the RainWings.
Thunder nodded wearily and stood, tucking the wing she had burned close. She hadn't flown as far as they had flown to get to this continent since her wing had been injured and it ached.
"Do you need rest and food?" Asked one of them, seeing all of their tired expressions.
Thunder nodded.
"We traveled a long distance." She said.
The two RainWings nodded and beckoned them to follow them into the forest.
Thunder had never seen anything like it before. Towering trees draped in vines spread their leafy arms to cover the sky, many brightly colored birds flew around and perched on the branches and the calls of mysterious insects and animals could be heard echoing through the forest.
Thunder could smell the wet leaves below them and the scent of rain on the air, distinct and clear through all of the other new smells bombarding her senses.
As they walked farther into the jungle she saw the RiverWing's heads snap up as they heard the sound of water. Only a few minutes later did they come across the bank of a river. They RiverWings immediately flew to the water's edge and waded into the cool water, reveling in the feel of the water on their scales.
"Shall we leave them here?" Asked the RainWing leading the group, watching them swim happily in the water.
"Yeah. We'll come back for them." Said Thunder.
"May I ask your names?" The RainWing next to Thunder asked.
"I'm Thunder, this is my mother Nimbus and my father Thunderhead." Said Thunder, gesturing with her good wing.
"Rainstorm is next to me and this is my friend Pineneedle." She said, pointing to them.
The other StormWings and ForestWing introduces themselves and then the RainWings did.
"I'm Tigerlily, and this is Python." Said the female RainWing.
"Nice to meet you Tigerlily, Python." Said Thunder, nodding her head.
"You have beautiful scales." Said Tigerlily, looking at Thunder's black and gold pattern.
"Thank you. You have beautiful scales to." She said, watching as Tigerlily's scales turned pink and red as she blushed.
"Here we are." Said Python, motioning with his wing to a village.
There were several houses but mostly large platforms and hammocks strung between trees with many multicolored dragons sleeping in them. It seemed so... peaceful. It was very different from the war-torn continent of Ventus, where StormWings have to live in caves or relocate every time the village they were living was destroyed.
Thunder wished that Ventus were like this, where everyone could just be happy.
As they got closer Thunder spotted another new kind of dragon, dragons with pitch black scales and glittering scales like stars on the undersides of their wings.
"What are the black dragons called?" Asked Thunder, looking at the many black and multicolored dragons flying and walking around.
"Those ones are called NightWings." Said Python.
"They can be a little hostile, so be careful." He said, giving all of them a firm look.
"Tigerlily!" Said a voice.
Then a blue and yellow dragon came into view and stopped when she saw the new dragons.
"And who are these newcomers?" She asked, looking at them all.
"Dragons from another continent." Said the Python.
"They're friendly, but I don't know why they came here." She said, flying up to the platform the other dragon was standing on.
"We can take them to Queen Glory." Said the new RainWing.
"They can tell us why they're here and we can help them." She said.
Maybe. Thought Thunder as they spread their wings and followed the two RainWings deeper into the forest.
Eventually they made it to a clearing where more NightWings were gathered and a beautiful dragon was talking with one of the NightWings.
Python cleared his throat and the dragon looked up.
"We found these dragons on the beach. They say that they came from a continent called Ventus." He said.
Queen Glory looked at them all for a moment longer before saying "Why are you here?"
Thunder took a deep breath before telling them what had happened, what the prophecy said, what they needed to do and what was coming.
Glory nodded her head.
"The tallest peak in Pyrriah is Jade Mountain." She said.
"It's a little ways from here, and the next night where it will storm isn't until two days from now, give or take." Said Glory.
"You'll have to stay here for now, and I'll get my friends to help." She said.
"I love to learn more about these dragons you described." She said, her voice excited.
Thunder nodded tiredly.
"Tigerlily, you can show them where they can stay." Said Glory.
"I have some... unfinished business to attend to." She said, sighing.
Tigerlily nodded and beckoned them to follow her. They did and eventually arrived at a set of treehouses. Tigerlily said that Thunder and her family could stay in one, the RiverWings in one by the river and Pineneedle and the other ForestWing could stay in one surrounded by trees.
The StormWings' treehouse was the closest to the sky, which Thunder liked. She felt more at home up close to the sky.
The rest of the day they spent exploring the rainforest and meeting new dragons. When evening came around everyone went to sleep, but Thunder stayed up, her tail wrapped around the thick branch that she was lying on, her head on her talons and wings tucked close.
She looked at the stars, admiring how they twinkled and shone in the darkness.
Suddenly she heard someone or something rustling below her.
"Thunder." Whispered a voice.
Thunder looked down at the branch below her to see a NightWing with silver teardrop scales at the corner of her eyes looking up at her.
"I have to tell you something." She said.
"About your powers."