Hello again my faithful readers! 'Ouroboros' doesn't want to flow so well, so I started working on another fluffy AerrowXPiper Aerrow torture fic. My mind still seems to be in 'A Matter of Will' mode, and that's making it hard to write my other stories. :P

So in the meantime, please enjoy this fic.

Once in a Blue Moon

"It won't happen again for another thousand years!" Weaverbird said excitedly. Aerrow rubbed the back of his neck. Finn looked up from the latest edition of 'Cruiser and Sky Pilot Magazine'.

"What won't happen again for a thousand years?" the sharpshooter asked dully. Weaverbird rolled her eyes at him and sighed impatiently.

"The Blue Moon Festival," Weaverbird explained again, kneading the steel floor with her front paws, "A blue moon occurs only once every thousand years or so. It's a sacred time for my people, and a festival is always held in secret on an uncharted terra. It's a once in a lifetime experience; not many Dragons get to live to attend more than one festival." Weaverbird turned back to Aerrow, her sapphire eyes pleading. Aerrow sighed; Weaverbird rarely asked for anything. He supposed they could go to the festival. They owed her that much.

"Asides from the rarity of a blue moon, what makes it sacred to Dragons?" Piper asked, her interest piqued. Weaverbird faced Piper, her eyes sparkling.

"The full moon is the patron heavenly body of Dragons." Weaverbird replied. Aerrow, Finn, Junko and Stork gave the Dragoness a look that plainly said 'huh?' Piper pulled out one of her books and flipped through it to the section on astrology.

"She means," Piper elaborated, training her amber gaze on her teammates, "that the full moon is a good luck symbol for Dragons. Just like the closest planet to the sun is for humans, the sun is for phoenixes, the fifth planet from the sun is for Wallops and so on." Piper scanned the page again, "Having two full moons in one month is an incredible omen of luck and prosperity, whereas a lunar eclipse is an omen of bad luck." Aerrow nodded; that made sense.

"It's more than that," Weaverbird began in a hushed tone, "Among my people, it is said that a blue moon can bridge the rift between life and death; that it opens a portal to the world beyond." Aerrow felt shivers run down his spine at the thought. He looked around at his teammates; they were as wide eyed as children listening to a ghost story.

"Alright, we'll go." Aerrow gave in; he wanted to learn more about this, "You'll have to tell Piper exactly where this terra is, though, so she can set a course." Weaverbird nodded ecstatically, practically bounding off after Piper to her lab. Aerrow grinned and shook his head after them. Then he suddenly became serious, thinking.

'What if what Weaverbird said is true?' Aerrow wondered, staring out the Condor's window, 'What if the blue moon really does open a door to the afterlife?' He shook his head, clearing his thoughts. It was just some old Dragon lore; a story from Weaverbird's kithood. A part of him wished unbearably hard that it were true; if he could see his parents, he could ask them everything he wanted to know about them. Aerrow frowned, his eyebrows knitted together in a hurt expression. He knew he shouldn't blame his parents; it wasn't their fault that they had died. But it was simply too easy to ask himself why they had to die. Aerrow shook his head, forcing the lump in his throat to melt away.

Casting his green gaze around the bridge, Aerrow saw equally subdued expressions on the faces of his squadron. Even Finn was more solemn than usual; he brooded silently over his magazine. Had Weaverbird's story affected them all like this? Aerrow headed off to Piper's lab, deciding to see if they needed any help.

A spirit bided his time in the darker corners of the ether, waiting to exact his revenge.

'Soon,' he told himself, 'Soon the pathways will open, and that blue Dragoness will pay dearly for her deeds.' He imagined his nemesis squirming at his paws, pain and terror written across her dainty muzzle. The spirit licked his non-existent lips.

Soon

Stork landed the Condor as inconspicuously as possible behind a large rock formation. The festival terra hadn't been far from their location, and the celebration would start after sundown. It was dusk when they landed.

"Just in time." Weaverbird purred, fanning out her wings as she disembarked the carrier ship. Aerrow grinned up at her; the other Storm Hawks would be tolerated at the festivities as long as Weaverbird accounted for them. The only other living Dragons he had seen were Weaverbirds kits, Swiftsilver and Brightpearl, and Icetalon, Weaverbird's sister. Aerrow wondered vaguely if they would see Weaverbird's family at the festival.

Weaverbird's gold and silver harp was strung around her neck and an intricate silver band adorned her left foreleg. Her only other decoration was the collar that held her Dragon crystal, but that hardly counted as the Dragoness wore it all the time. Aerrow savoured the evening breeze on his face and turned towards the entrance, waiting for the others to emerge. Junko, Finn and Stork filed outside soon after, the latter looking rather edgy at the thought of walking among so many strange Dragons. Aerrow stepped aside for them to pass and continued waiting for Piper.

He didn't have to wait long. Piper emerged from the Condor soon after. She wore a simple black V-neck top and a black skirt that reached below her knees. Piper's hair was tied back in a long elegant ponytail. A rose wrought from gold was gently tucked into her hair near her ear, and her crystal necklace glimmered at her throat. Aerrow found himself stunned at the sight of Piper in the fading light. Piper smiled at him and gently fingered the rose.

"Family heirloom," Piper said by way of explanation, "It used to be my mother's." There was a hint of sadness in her voice as she said this and Aerrow knew she was thinking the same thing he was. Would they really get to see his family again tonight?

"This is actually the first part of the festival," Weaverbird said, sensing the sky knight's disquiet, "It's the first full moon tonight. There are closing festivities at sunrise on the second full moon. The old stories say that the portal remains open for the entire time between the two full moons." Aerrow nodded; that meant they had plenty of time. Almost four weeks to be exact.

Weaverbird fluttered her wings impatiently. "Come on, let's go!" the Dragoness bounded away in a manner that hardly befitted her five hundred and sixty four years. Piper and Aerrow exchange excited grins and followed after. Stork was the only one who showed no enthusiasm.

"Oh yeah," Stork muttered under his breath, "walking into the midst of maybe a hundred Dragons we don't know that could attack at any time with no weapons and only one Dragon for backup. I might as well start writing my will now." Stork shivered in the night air, "maybe I should stay on the Condor."

"Come on, Stork!" the Merb heard Aerrow call from far ahead, "We're going to be late!" Stork shuddered again and grudgingly followed the others.

Haha! Poor Stork! But he doesn't need to worry. About himself anyway. Please Review!