Wings of Fire: The Prequels

5.6

Morning came all too fast, sunrise blazing into the room with the fury equal to that of a familiar SandWing. Opening his eyes didn't ease the experience, worsening it tenfold when he saw Ibis patiently watching him. He was so tempted to throw a wing over his head and pretend the world wasn't there.

Time to face the flames. Wait, no, it's time to face the music, hope it doesn't go down in flames. I'm out of it.

Huffing at his own stupidity, Rust carefully stood up. Glancing around, he didn't think about how it would look to Ibis before stabbing a claw into a scrap of fur. Miraculously, it didn't burst into flames.

Makes sense, I guess. I don't feel the fire in my scales anymore. Does Peril feel that twenty-four-seven or only when she's angry? How intensely in either instance?

Filing that away for later, Rust barely gave Ibis a muttered 'good morning' before he was walking out of the room. At some point, Rust shook off the test scrap of fur while he listened to Ibis hurrying after him. Rust barely glanced at him while they walked together to the dining room.

The rest of the MudWing royals were already there, their conversation quieting as Rust came into view. Paying no mind to them, he sat down in his spot from last night and left Ibis to go back to his. The hole in the table was still there but the rest of the space was relatively cleaned up from his sudden flare-up.

"How are you, Rust?" Ibis said, speaking to Rust first to no one's surprise.

"Better," Rust said, keeping his eyes on the food rather than the MudWings. Picking a relatively small cooked... thing (maybe he could find what it was in the library), he didn't miss when Ibis nudged Goose with a small glare.

"Sorry for last night," Goose said, his voice much quieter than last time.

"It was my temper that exploded, not yours," Rust said, looking Goose directly in the eye. Cold steel met cloudy confusion and brittle hope. "That doesn't I mean I forgive ya, just learn how to hold your tongue before ya lose it."

To Rust's surprise, Goose laughed at that (after a few moments of awkward chuckling from Ibis and Gull.) "And who's going to take it? You?" Goose challenged playfully.

"Don't tempt me," Rust said with a playful smirk, going along with Goose's change in attitude.

"Boys," Heron suddenly joined in, her tone strict despite the mirth in her eyes. "Let's not have to replace more cushions, alright?"

"Fine," Goose and Rust said, pausing to look at each other after they synchronized. That lasted for about one second before they were both laughing.

Gull snorted at the sudden silliness while Ibis belly laughed at the new dynamic. Heron snickered and Moorhen allowed herself a chuckle. That was most indefinitely the moment that prevented Rust from having a similar relation to the royal sibling as Burn.

It took a while for everyone to calm down and it took even longer for them to move away from the table and food. They engaged in a full-on conversation for once with Goose and Rust playfully going after each other, Heron 'getting after them', Ibis laughing his head off, Gull throwing in a wisecrack or two that sent everyone into peels of laughter, and Moorhen watching from the sidelines unless one of her siblings teased her. Even after that when they moved to where they were supposed to be having serious conversations about tactics, jokes and teasing were thrown around like they had all known each other for years.

Awkwardness would occasionally linger but it was still rare and Gull had a way of getting the atmosphere back to normal. Nonetheless, it was better and more fun than Rust could've predicted. Over time, Rust was finally able to go to the library alone to lurk amongst the dusty shelves in peace.