WoF:The heroes of Destiny

by Slinkkangaroo

"When war has lasted 20 years, with land scorched through blood and tears, five heroes will rise to save the land, one found in the land of mud and swamp, one of islands in a far away castle. One born in sky and brought by night and found buried in sand. A choice that will change the world forever, to raise Pyrrhia higher, then will they have the Wings of Fire." #I suck at this

8. Chapter-6 The birthday party (1)

Hope you enjoy! My greatest regret will be allowing a shiny Mienfoo to use high jump kick on a ghost type…

"Clay! Get up! It's starting!" Oh right, Peril was in here.

I woke up and rubbed my eyes to see a small crowd of Skywings walking into the stands and taking seats. They seemed much more official, then the other guests before. The ones closer to Queen Scarlet had much shinier looking clothes, probably the higher ups. The guards seemed even more alert than usual, probably because a mistake would mean some form of punishment from the Queen. Speaking of, she looked very different from her usual self. Instead of having a gleeful look, she seemed frustrated with a mix of satisfaction.

Peril gave me a questioning look. "Umm, you're not too warm, are you?"

I shook my head.

Peril smiled. "Oh, ok! Well, I'll sit here and listen, try to take up as much space as possible please, though that should be pretty easy...wait I didn't mean it like that!" She started apologising and I just smiled then rolled my eyes. She sighed in relief and we turned to watch the trial, this was going to be tough.

"Alright, let's go over the case before we bring in the speakers." The announcer said.

Peril bit her lip. "Vermillion. He's a snake if there ever was one! He tells the Queen EVERYTHING he sees. She doesn't care for him too much though, not like he can challenge him for the throne so she keeps him as a record keeper of sorts. I don't know why so many people think he looks so good. He's a six at best." Peril muttered as I tried to keep her covered.

"Ok." I whispered.

Scarlet yawned. "Ugh. Why can't I just have her executed again?"

Her son kept a fake smile, I didn't notice how his expressions seemed to be fake when around her. "Because as much as we all hate her, Kestrel WAS one of your best guards. By law, she gets a trial, no matter how weighted we make it."

The Queen made an annoyed face then rolled her hand, signaling that the trial should continue. Vermillion nodded then took out a brown leather book. He carefully opened it and started reading.

"Ten days before the night of the three moons, Kestrel took two eggs away from the nursery against the Queens wis-"
"The Queen?" Queen Scarlet hissed.

Vermillion gulped. "I mean Queen Scarlet's wishes! After doing so, she was pursued and fled to join the Talons of Peace."

Queen Scarlet gave a look to Glory. "Alright, bring the others in. I want to get this over with before Burn arrives."

The guards near the gates opened them for four Skywing guards pulling a cage with Kestrel inside into the center of the arena. Kestrel had gold chains around her arms, similar to the cuffs that I had on.

I whispered to Peril, "Why doesn't Kestrel just break the chains with her magic?"

She was tapping on the ground. "The chains prevent magic. They're really expensive so only rich people have them. I think I heard that bounty hunters might have them for their work."

That explained why no one was able to escape. Why didn't I try to escape with that?! Tsunami and Starflight DEFINITELY tried…

Vermillion stood up. "All rise for the trial of Kestrel vs Queen Scarlet!"

While the crowd stood, Kestrel groaned. She looked so, different. Her hair was raggy and her prison garbs were stained with blood. Nevertheless, she stood as proud and defiant as always.

"Was she really one of the Queens guards?" I asked Peril who nodded.

"From what I heard, she was one of the best and loyal in the kingdom. She was a bodyguard at one point. The highest honor." Peril sneaked a peak at Kestrel then gasped. "She looks like me! See her hair? It's just as orange but without the fire!"

I couldn't really see it. Wait, would Sunny get mad at me for thinking that? Oh, Vermillions speaking again.

"Kestrel, you stand guilty of treason, you defied the Que-Queen Scarlet's orders and then joined the Talons of Peace, do you deny it?"

Kestrel looked the Queen dead in the eye and spoke with venom in her voice. "Yes, I do deny it."
A murmur went through the crowd and Vermillion tried to regain their focus. "You deny defying Queen Scarlet's orders?"

"Of course not. I deny joining the Talons of Peace afterwards. I was a Talon months before." Queen Scarlet held her mouth open before noticing and closing it. The crowd gasped while some looked worried.
Queen Scarlet glared at Kestrel. "So, you betrayed my Kingdom BEFORE betraying my orders?"

Kestrel shrugged. "Seems like it."

The crowd was dead silent as the Queen glared at Scarlet in return. Peril gave a gasp. "No one speaks like that to the Queen!" Clay guessed that based on his small experiences with her that she wasn't used to being talked back to.

Queen Scarlet grinned and continued speaking. "I see. So tell me, what made you want to switch sides and betray your Queen?"
Kestrel kept her annoyed expression. "I met someone. Things changed." She clearly wasn't going to elaborate, but I was extremely curious! Who could convince KESTREL of all people? That was someone that I needed to meet!

Scarlet rubbed her forehead in frustration. "Well, maybe you'll care more to tell me about your orders from the Talons? Keep in mind that you're on an execution trial.

Our guardian gave a quick glance at me then Tsunami and Starflight. Did she have a twinge of sadness in her eyes?

"I was ordered to watch over the Heroes of Destiny."

Kestrel peered down at the taller Skywing. "Ahh, but we already guessed that. What was your main order?"

Kestrel actually looked confused, did she not get the question? I didn't, but I also wasn't on trial.

"Elaborate." She wasn't asking.

Kestrel snapped her fingers and a guard in the back of the stadium walked in with what I guessed was a Skywing egg. It was smashed. "On the night that the 'prophecy' stated, we found an Icewing trying to steal an egg. So we guessed that other Talons were sent to collect the other four eggs. They seemed to have succeeded as we have four here, so which one did you go after?" Why did this matter exactly?

Our Guardian looked at me. Wait, was I the one she took?! "The Mudwing. Asha made the sale and I was supposed to take it to our hideout."

Peril shook my shoulder then clenched her fist and pulled back. "That's you, right? Did you know? What was it like? Wait, you were an egg."

I shook my head. "I didn't. She never told us who took our eggs other than Glory."

Queen Scarlet grinned. "Well, you'll be happy to know that the one you took has already one a round in the arena! It was pretty enjoyable. You should have seen how scared he looked." Kestrel didn't seem to care. She kept staring at the Queen with annoyance. "Hmpf, his battle training made me think he'd fall to a Rainwing."
"Clay, you ok?" Peril asked, I uncleanched my fist. When did I close them?

The crowd laughed a bit but Queen Scarlet raised her hand and everyone fell silent. It was pretty eerie how quickly they responded to her actions. Even when Kestrel was fuming we never responded like that. "In fact, he used some kind of poison on our fellow combatant. Sprayed it right on her face and it started melting. Anything you'd like to add?"

"That it's called venom, not poison?"

I heard a small cough that sounded like a laugh from someone in the stands. The Queen did not look happy.

Vermillion was fidgeting and took his speaker, horn thing. "I think we should move on, we have a few questions to ask the defendant. Kestrel, did you disobey the Queen's order? Keep in mind, lying will mean an even more painful death."

"What's the point in a question if you already know the answer?"
Vermillion groaned then moved on. "Fine, When did you meet this mysterious person, and who were they?"

Kestrel gripped her fist. "Two years before the incident. A Skywing that never lived in our kingdom. Good luck finding him, if you're going to try and find him that is."

This sparked the crowd's interest.

Queen Scarlet sneered at the Skywing. "So, the general was able to find love after all."

Kestrel actually smiled! "Yeah, and he didn't leave first chance he got."

The Queen broke her glass.

"Next question! Kestrel, if you didn't have a Skywing egg, then how did you expect to fulfill the prophecy?" Vermillion asked really quickly. Peril seemed to listen intently at this part.

"Not my job to know. I was just supposed to keep them alive." I didn't know if she was lying or not, how WERE we supposed to complete the prophecy?

Peril rocked behind me. "What was your plan to complete the prophecy without a Skywing?"

I shook my head. "We don't need one. Glory's our fifth and always will be." Why did Peril roll her eyes?

Vermillion stood up. "Well, I think we have proved that Kestrel disobeyed Queen Scarlet and does not deny it! She concipered with someone outside of our kingdom and helped the Talons of Peace! What other option do we have oth-"

"Blah blah blah, this might take awhile." Peril muttered.

I turned to speak with her again. "Well, is this going how you expected?"

She shrugged. "Not really, I was expecting begging or something."

I laughed, trying to imagine Kestrel begging for ANYTHING. "So, now what?"

Peril looked at the ceiling with interest. "I think Kestrels defense is supposed to speak now."

An old man stood up on the other side of the coliseum. He had a long gray beard and long twirly, orange hat. His yellow and gray robes went just above his shoes.
Peril smiled. "That's Osprey! Is he defending Kestrel? Probably not willingly."

Osprey coughed then grabbed a scroll which looked relatively new. Was he supposed to defend her or was this just for show?

"As has been said, Kestrel supposedly disobeyed Queen Scarlet on the night that her two eggs were laid. This however is not true!" He coughed some more. Kestrel seemed to know what to expect from Osprey and sat in for a long rant. Kinda like how we felt when Webs started speaking. "You see, Kestrel had two eggs a year before the prophecy began. She had one that was bright orange and one that was white. As we all know, this could only mea-"

Vermilion stood up. "I suggest that Osprey remember what happens to the one defending the defendant if they prove them innocent in front of Queen Scarlet."

Osprey nodded then continued. "I assure you that this will not change anything." What was this court system?! "Anyway, one egg would have too much fire magic and the other too little." Peril perked up with intrigue.
I glanced at her. "How often are those 'too hot eggs' laid again?"

"Not often. Like once in a generation kinda not often." She muttered as she watched. "But I don't have a sibling." She didn't seem so sure.

Osprey kept talking as the crowd seemed interested, they didn't seem to know that Kestrel had kids. "After learning of this, Queen Scarlet ordered her to kill them, for one with too much fire is too dangerous and one with too little is worthless." Peril's face lost most of its color.

"He's lying. She would NEVER say that." I wasn't quite so sure.

"Kestrel ran with her two eggs as they were going to hatch that same day. She ended up being caught by the mountain watch and was confronted by Queen Scarlet herself. Queen Scarlet ordered that one egg be destroyed and the other would live away from Kestrel. She obliged, and dropped one egg. It fell off the mountain side too which we assume it broke, though no one bothered to check. After this, Kestrel took her chance and turned to run with the other egg, but as it hatched, it's flame was too much for her. As she dropped the child, she fought four watchmen before a glowing orb took her away, judging by reports about her reaction, she was not the one who planned on it." Kestrel clenched her fist in regret.

Vermilion looked to his mother then back to Osprey. "What was the point of that?"

Osprey set his scroll down. "Kestrel was simply trying to protect her children. Something that most of us here would have done."

Queen Scarlet finally spoke again. "Yes yes, we already know the story, but I fail to see how this matters. She still disobeyed me. I wanted both eggs destroyed but she was too weak to do it and decided it was better to take one. I planned on killing the other anyway."

Kestrel had a venomous look and a hint of sadness?

Osprey grinned. "Ahh, but you didn't kill the other child. In fact, she is in your palace right now. In fact, it was YOU who disobeyed your own order. The child born with too much fire remains your champion to this day."

Peril ran past me and left, singing the cell's lock as the left and she stood in front of Kestrel and against Queen Scarlet. "You said my mother abandoned me! You said she didn't want or care about me! You said she left me for DEAD!" I ran up to the cell wall and watched with horror as Peril confronted the Queen. Kestrel looked like she was just smacked in the face by Tsunami's.

Queen Scarlet groaned with immense frustration. "Great, now I have this to deal with. Peril dear, go to your room and we'll discuss this after the execution."

Peril stood strong in her anger. "No! All my life I thought that you were the only person who cared about me, but you were the one who ordered me dead! What else have you been lying about?!" Her body shook as smoke erupted from her shoulders. She looked like her whole world was shattering in on itself. It felt like a dark mirror of how I felt when I first left the cave. Instead of wonder, she was horrified. Instead of the great possibilities of the future, she was trying to see what parts of her past were just patches made by a manipulative guardian.

Queen Scarlet rubbed her forehead like she had a headache. "I told you trials were stupid. Well Peril, I planned on having this execution before our guest from the Sand Kingdom got here so I'll hear out your troubles afterwards. Guards, take her o-"

Peril unleashed a flame blast towards the Queen, it didn't reach the stands but the message was clear. "Then I invoke the champions shield!"

Even the prisoners seemed into this. The gaze of the crowd shifted to see how the Queen would respond. She turned to Osprey. "Let me guess, Osprey told you about that?"

Peril did not respond to that.. "As champion, I can fight for one prisoner's freedom against a challenger of your choice. I'm fighting for my mom." Kestrel seemed to say something only Peril could hear, but she ignored her.

"My stupid ancestors and they're traditions. Well, at least we'll have another interesting fight for tomorrow. In the meantime, Osprey, since my prisoner will not be killed today, you succeeded in your case! Guards? Give him his reward." She snapped her fingers. The sound seemed to echo around the arena.

Peril let out a sharp cry as a spear was driven through the old Skywing and his body fell to the floor of the arena.

Kestrel stood up. "Let this be a warning to anyone who decided to tell my little champion things she doesn't need to know. Well this wasn't as exciting as I was hoping for it to be." The crowd started to disperse swiftly as they didn't want to stay with the dead body and crying champion. Seeing as the doors to my cell were open, I ran towards Peril and put an arm around her shoulder as I knelt down to her level. She blew her nose in her shirt and I stroked her hair the way I used to when Tsunami and I were little and she would get yelled at by the guardians. She never let them see her cry, luckily, I wasn't a guardian.

I smiled at her when she looked at me. "You were braver than I would have been." I muttered and she started to stand up.
Kestrel looked at her daughter with a proud look. "I'm sorry, how things turned out. Thanks."

Peril wiped one of her eyes but didn't show any happiness at seeing her mother. "I'm doing this for me, not you." She shrugged me off then walked out of the arena, the guards stepping back as she walked past them.
"Your arms burning." Kestrel said. I checked and it was red but it seemed to clear up pretty fast.
I looked at my guardian with slight annoyance. "So, what do you think of your kid?"

She shrugged. "She's alot like me. If Scarlet wasn't the one who raised her, she would have turned out spectacularly."

I raised an eyebrow. "Like you?"

"Like her father." She sighed. "We fell apart but he wasn't awful. He would have been a better parent than I would have been. But you already know that."

We stood in silence. The guards seemed more focused on taking out the dead body than our conversation.

I clenched my fist. "So, is the prophecy done? Starflight, Tsunami and I are going to die here, Glory will never be allowed to leave and Sunny will be sent to Burn?"

Kestrel looked over at Tsunami. "Who knows. You four might be saved in the end or not. I did my part."

"Five of us." I stated.
She looked at the sleeping Rainwing. "Sure." The guards started heading our way and I took my chance to get back into my cell. They had to reinstall a cell door and roll Kestrel out of the arena. I layed in my bed, dreading what tomorrow would bring. I heard crickets chirping, I might just be going crazy, but it sounded like music to a song. I started humming to match it. I didn't know how long I had been doing it, but I heard someone else hum in a cell next to me. Then someone on the other side. Soon, I could hear a lot of people humming, then someone started singing. I couldn't quite make it out, but I thought it was "Destiny will prevail". I tried to hear what they were singing then matched it.

"Five heroes to save the day"

"To come and end the war"

I heard more people start singing with us.

"To find a Queen for Sandwings to cheer"

"And end all kingdoms fear"

"Five heroes to save the day"

"To fight for what they kn-"

"SHUT UP!" A guard shouted.

A prisoner in the cell next to me laughed and I started to fall asleep.

I was grabbed by a Sandwing, waking up. "HEY!" I growled but froze when I saw a Sandwing with a large scar across the right side of her face. It stretched from the top of her hair to the bottom of her chin. She had pale, yellow hair and a couple of scars across her arms. Her piercing amber eyes sent a shiver down my spine.
"Get up. Now." Her voice was cold and she spoke as if I was an object, not a person. I waited a second too late and forced me up then tossed me out of the cage. I saw Tsunami and Starflight being released as well by two Sandwings. (Nicer than the Sandwing that took me, I might add).

Starflight's body shook when he saw the Sandwing with me and Tsunami peered at her then did the same. Pretty understandable, Queen Burn was a lot more terrifying than I thought she would be.

"To the castle, I want to speak with Scarlet." Burn hissed.

One of the guards nodded and we were marched up to the castle. The guards had their faces covered with cloth. According to Starflight, it was something Burn made her personal guards wear so no one knew who they were. I was behind the Princess while the two guards were behind us. I wanted to speak to Starflight and Tsunami but I figured it would be a bad idea.

As we approached the crimson palace, the doors opened for us to enter and Queen Scarlet was on her throne. "Ahh, Burn! You're early!"

The Princess glared at the Queen and grabbed Starflight, shoving him forward. I reached out to stop her but was shoved back by one of her guards. "Who, might I ask, are these three?"

Queen Scarlet tilted her head then smiled. "Oh, my prisoners? Two of them have been really great in the arena!"

Burn let go of Starflight and he stepped back to Tsunami and myself. I glared at Burn, thinking of different ways for her to fall off the mountain. "You called them the Heroes of Destiny? Why are they still alive?"

Queen Scarlet sighed. "Let's discuss this privately. Your guards can go to sleep in the tower."
Burn motioned for her guards to leave and it was us and the two royals. We went up some stairs and down a long hallway, entering a dark red room with Peril in it!

"What?" She growled at the Queen.

Queen Scarlet pointed at the door. "Go to the arena and burn anyone who starts singing."

The two gave each other death glares and Scarlet won. Peril left, bumping into my shoulder pretty hard. "Is she mad at me? What did I do?" The two royals stepped out of her way and she shut the door on her way out. We were ordered to sit near her bed while the two talked.

I looked around the room, most of its furniture and other objects had massive scratches and was also a small pool, I'm guessing it was for when Peril needed to cool down. The room was probably really beautiful before today. It also had stone walls and floors painted red. It was a little difficult to look at with how intense it was. Burn seemed very upset that we were still alive.

"I said you were to kill them if you found them!" Burn hissed.

Queen Scarlet rolled her eyes. "Last I checked, I was the Queen and you were the Princess."

Burn looked about ready to slam her head into the wall, Scarlet seemed very difficult to talk to, even from her ally's.

"If the prophecy succeeds, then I may not be Queen." She said with a very condescending tone. At least she was trying to explain it, and we weren't being killed yet.

Queen Scarlet laughed. "I thought you didn't believe in the prophecy, especially after 'that' incident."

Burn clenched her fist then took a deep breath. "You found four kids in a cave, all from different kingdoms. I feel ok to be a little suspicious."

The Queen shrugged. "Yeah, but they don't have a Skywing, so you should be fine. Prophecy failed!"
Burn did NOT look fine with that answer. "What if they win your arena?"

"Doesn't matter. I make the rules." The Skywing said, continuing to not care.

Tsunami coughed, very loudly, but was ignored.

"Yet your following that stupid 'Champion shield' thing."

Queen Scarlet wore a sinister smile. "That's because I have a very special match planned. Don't think I haven't thought this through."

Burn seemed surprised at this and closed her mouth, not responding. Queen Scarlet looked at us then. "Well, after my party, you can have the Sandwing and I'll send you the Nightwings corps. You can add him to your collection."

Tsunami interrupted them. "Can you two talk about your evil plans when we're NOT in the room? It's really annoying listening to you two blabber about nothing."

The two Queens looked ready to kill Tsunami but she stood her ground. I stood next to her and glared at the two as well. Starflight peaked out from behind my shoulder. Queen Scarlet took out some rocks from a sack near the door and tossed them around us, then lit them with a flick from her finger. "Fine, just making sure you don't interrupt my party. Your stupid singing disturbed my nap."

The two royals left and I turned to check on the other two when I was met with a massive hug from Tsunami. "You moron!" She said as she tightened her grip. "You held her champion in your cell? You could have been killed!"

"I missed you too." I chuckled and we forced Starflight into our group hug. He jumped at first, then softened up and embraced us. It felt great to see them again. After we separated, I looked at the flames that kept us trapped. "We need a way out. First we get Sunny, then Glory and we leave."

"First, first, you are getting in that pool and washing up." Tsunami said. I was about to protest but was forced into the small pool. I tried to give her an angry look but all I could feel was relief.

Starflight turned to Tsunami with an impressed look. "How did you start that song? Considering your awful singing voice, I thought your music skills were also lacking."

He received a light punch in the arm. "My voice is amazing! And I didn't start that, I thought you did."

I emerged from the pool and shook off the water. "I did that, I was just humming then somebody started singing."

We laughed at this then Starflight gave me a questioning look. "Why DID you have Peril in your cell?"

"We've been talking, she wanted to see the trial and, well, you've seen how that turned out." I tried looking for a way out and realized that there were no windows for us to escape from. "Or Peril." I thought. Tsunami tried tossing a pillow at the flames and it erupted with fury as it was engulfed in the fire.

"Well, any ideas Starflight?"

He tried to get a good view of the rocks and pulled away after a second. He rubbed his forehead and spoke. "There Finj stones! How did she get these? I thought they were super rare…"

Tsunami put her head back and groaned. Starflight continued. "There rocks that enhance magic cast on them! They're super cool and used by the greatest of mages!" To stop his nerdout, Tsunami crouched down next to him and nudged his shoulder.

"Ok, so how does this help us?"

Starflight dropped his excitement. "It doesn't. It actually means we aren't able to get out. Even IF you and Tsunami knew how to cast earth and water spells, they wouldn't be strong enough."

Tsunami stood up and tossed a broken rock-chair thing at the fire. It melted. "So that's it? We have to wait to fight for our lives again?"

"Maybe I can help?" We were so focused on the flames that we didn't notice a certain Orange haired girl walk in. Peril had her arms crossed and she had a neutral expression. "She's trying to avoid looking at me." I thought with a sad look.

Tsunami glared at the Skywing who returned it. Starflight, on the other hand, seemed worried about whether Peril would burn the room down or just him. "Right, Scarlet's champion helping her famous prisoners."

Peril looked ready to break something else. "Yes! I want to help you!" She bit her lip and looked at the stones. "I just, don't know how."

"Real helpful. Starflight?" The boy rubbed his chin, kinda like when he knew the answer on a test that none of us did. "He could have slipped me the answers."

Starflight looked at Peril curiously. "Actually, she COULD help us." Tsunami groaned and Peril perked up. "How?" She asked.

Starflight pointed to the Finji stones. "You're immune to heat, right?"

Peril nodded. "It tickles a little."

"Alright, you should just be able to move the stones."

I raised an eyebrow at Starflight. "That easy?"

"Yep." "Really thought this was going to be more complicated." I thought to myself as Peril cautiously moved the rocks around the room, letting us leave. Peril looked at Tsunami with a smug look. "See, I can help."
"Let's just go." She muttered and Peril led us out.

"Come on, there's a cave I can hide you three in. we'll have to leave through the back of the cast-"

"Five, we need to get Sunny and Glory before we leave." Peril scowled. "I'll get them after we hide you three." She said as she placed the rocks back like they were before. "Now they won't know how you escaped."

I trusted Peril with my safety, but I wasn't sure if I trusted her with the others. I figured now wasn't the time to say that as we passed two guards. The one to our left nervously approached Peril. "What are you doing with the Queen's prisoners?"

Peril looked at me then Starflight. "Umm, she wants them back in their cells."

The guard narrowed her eyes at me. "Why did she send you?"

Peril bit her lip but Tsunami growled at the guards. "After Clay's magic trick, you think you guards have a chance against us?" The guards looked at each other and returned to their position.

We walked down the hall, still with the cuffs on. I checked to see if there was anyone nearby as we entered a dark room with a window in the back. "Would you be able to get rid of these?" I asked as I showed her the cuffs. She considered it then turned back at the window. "Not right now, let's get you three out of here first." Tsunami lifted Starflight out and I lifted her out. I jumped and grabbed the edge, pulling myself out into the beautiful landscape outside of the castle. Peril followed but almost tripped. I reached out and helped lift her back up. Starflight and Tsunami stared at me, surprised. "Alright, follow me." Peril muttered, with steam coming out from her shoulders.

She led us through a singed path of grass that led to a waterfall. I watched her climb down and get behind the waterfall. I copied her and helped Starflight and Tsunami get down with me. While they rubbed some dirt off, I grabbed Peril's shoulder before she could leave. "What was up with that up there?"

She pretended to not understand. "What do you mean?"

"Did I do something wrong?" I was trying to think of why she would be mad at me. Did I say the wrong thing yesterday?

She twirled a curl in her hair. "Oh yeah, no I just didn't want the Queen to know we're friends." She gave me a hopeful look signed gratefully.

"Ok, I was just worried about yesterday."

She shook her head. "I'm going to go try and get you three out."

"Five, don't forget Sunny and Glory! Sunny's in the armory and Glor-"

"Yeah, right, sorry I forgot." Why did she still seem mad?

Starflight muttered thanks as she climbed back out and Tsunami stayed silent. After some time had gone by, Tsunami reached her hand out to have her hand drenched in the waterfall. "Clay, you really need to let one of us bring up the other two."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

Tsunami laughed, which really confused me. "You don't notice?"

I turned to Starflight, who gave me a nervous smile. "What?"

He asked Tsunami, "Should we tell him?"

"What?!" I asked.

Tsunami sat down. "Cuz your new friend is going to get jealous if there are more girls you care about."

"Why would she get jealous?" Was I actually missing something?

Starflight walked over and put a hand on my shoulder. "You'll get it eventually. Until then, how do you know Sunny is in the armory?"

Tsunami perked up, I realized she would have seen Sunny too. "That's where I went to prepare for my match. Sunny was in there, locked up. Waiting to be sent with Burn." Starflight's eyes lit up when I mentioned seeing her and he seemed to stop listening after that.

"You saw her? How is she? Is she safe? Are they feeding her enough?" He started rambling and I waited for him to finish. Tsunami didn't though.

"She's hopeful that we'll escape, yes she's being fed and if you didn't hear him, she's going with Burn after tonight, so no. Sunny is not safe." She tossed a rock with anger.

Starflight looked between the both of us. "We have to save her! We can't let Burn take her! She does, awful, stuff to her prisoners. Did Sunny tell you two anything?" He jumped from fear to hope, back to fear and now confusion. He seemed like he was trying to figure out how to rescue Sunny but couldn't find one.

"She's worried about us." I said. "But she knows the prophecy will come true, so we have to make it out."
Starflight sighed. "Ok, at least I know Glory's safe, but how is Peril going to save her?" We all stared at the waterfall. It was definitely a difficult task. "Maybe no ones in the arena yet?" I said. It would make sense if it's still being used. Tsunami shrugged. "Maybe she'll claim that Scarlet wanted her moved?" I stood up to mess around with the small cave we were in. It felt awfully familiar. There was a lot of green stuff on the rocks. It felt really slimy. "Starflight, what's this stuff again?"

He sighed. "Moss."

"Can we touch it?"

"Have you already touched it?" He asked, not turning around. After I didn't say anything, he responded. "It's not dangerous."

As I moved my hand across the wall, I noticed a gap, large enough for someone to walk through. "Hey! There's a way out through here!"

I looked and saw Tsunami trying to wash her hair. "Ok? Aren't we waiting for Flame brat to get back?"

"She's not "Flame brat" Tsunami." I said. "Besides, why didn't Peril have us go through here?" I looked deeper into the exit and noticed that it seemed to lead outside, atleast, I thought that was sunlight I saw.

Starflight walked over to see it. "That's weird."

I didn't notice Tsunami walking up behind us. "You hear that?" She muttered.

I didn't at first, then I heard footsteps. Coming near us. Before I knew it, a spear was pointing at us and I heard The Queen's voice.

"Well, you guys sure are more elusive than I thought. Today is going to be an AMAZING Birthday!"

Being walked back to the arena was not fun. Tsunami being forced gagged after a loud shouting match between her and Queen Scarlet was pretty funny, since it wasn't the Queen that ordered it. (She got REALLY mad when Tsunami asked her about her husband). Starflight stayed as silent a a mouse and made no attempt to fight back, neither did I. "How did you find us?" I asked.

Queen Scarlet was speaking to Vermillion as we were put into a room that overlooked the arena. It looked like a dinning hall. It was recently used, with scraps of food all over the place and some drinks that smelled weird. "Someone tipped me off. Find ten guards that aren't dancing to that stupid music and station them here. These three are NOT ruining this day." Her son nodded and headed out then she turned to us. "Guess I should have been careful, trapping a Mudwing born from a red egg in fire. Whatever. If any of you do ANYthing to escape, your Rainwing friend is going to get it." And she left.

We heard some grumbling, I guessed that they were the guards, outside the door. "Well, back to square one."

Starflight looked outside, curiously. "How long did you know you were immune to fire?" I tried to respond but couldn't. "When you were comforting Peril, you didn't seem to notice your skin burning, and even before that, Kestrel's flames never seemed to hurt you as much."

I rubbed a small mark on my shoulder. "It still hurt. Besides, what does being born from a red egg matter?"

Tsunami scratched her head. "Wasn't there something about that in one of Web's speeches?"

Starflight shook his head. "No, Dune told us when we were really little. He said it was rare and those born from it had something in their skin that made you heat resistant."

I turned the palms of my hands to face me. Was I really resistant to heat? That would explain how I was able to be with Peril in the cell for that long. "Well, how rare is it? It can't be like Peril's once in a generation thing, right?"

Tsunami tried to groom her hair. "Isn't it more rare?"

He tried to remember what Dune had said. "I think so. Sunny guessed that's why it was in the prophecy. Like her egg being stranded in the desert and Tsunami's being deep blue."

Tsunami perked up. "Do I have some cool ability?"

Starflight gave her a sad look. "No, it just means your hair is darker than most Seawings." She humphed and continued with her hair.

"Do you guys think Peril's ok? Did they catch her too?" I asked and got a frustrated look from Tsunami.

"No, cuz she ratted on us."

"What? She wouldn't have done that!" I said in her defense. "Why would she?"

The Seawing gave a tired response. "She wants you to stay. She's probably afraid you'd leave and never come back."

I had my mouth agawp. Why would she want me to stay in this place? It was awful! Because you're the only person not to treat her like a monster." I realized. "How do you even know she did it?" She was right, even if I didn't want to believe it.

Tsunami glared at the Skywing that took a seat next to Queen Scarlet. Her orange hair tied up in a ponytail, ready for combat. "Gee, I wonder how Peril's secret hideout was discovered on this SPECIFIC day! Who knows!"

Starflight pulled her over and they tried to make sure I couldn't hear them, but they were really bad at being quiet. "Can you chill?"

"We were so close to getting out of here and you want me to CHILL?"

"At least wait until Clay's out of the room to go berserk!" the younger kid hissed.

Tsunami growled through her teeth. "Why? It's his girlfriend that betrayed us!"

"Because it's bothering him!"

"I'm fine, Starflight." I felt so tired. Tsunami giving me her rare, "Oh, I actually messed up" look did not help. Tsunami sat next to me and Starflight joined us. We sat for a while. "Why did I not get this cool fire resistance years ago? During Kestrels training I mean."

Starflight thought for a minute. "Maybe you have to be in your natural environment? Like, a swamp?"

Tsunami lit up. "Wait, so I might have a cool ability! I just need to get to the ocean! That's where we need to go next! Umm, after we find a way to get out of this mess." She muttered.

"So, Starflight, do you need to sleep under the stars or something?" I asked. "Maybe this is your key to Nightwing powers!"

He gave a small smile. "Doubt it. I haven't been under the mountain for a few days and still, nothing. I think you're just born with it." I put my arm around his shoulder. "Well, you're special with or without special powers."

Tsunami grunted in annoyance. "Says the guy with powers."

A match seemed to be going on in the arena but I didn't care. Even if it wasn't all of them, I was with two of my friends. It felt good, even in the cold, soulless room. I could hear Tsunami snoring on my right and Starflight fell asleep on my left shoulder. I don't know how they sleep, today of all days, but I wasn't going to wake them up. I looked out the window, not at the fight, but at the Queen's champion. She sat there watching the match, smiling. Like nothing was wrong. Like she didn't drive a steel dagger into my back. Ugh, what's worse? I kinda still feel bad for her. She really didn't have anyone else, did she? After Osprey at least. "Sunny's going to be sent to Burn. Peril was meant to save us, and she didn't. She was supposed to save my friends." I thought angrily to myself. I knew one thing, I was going to get my friends out of this. No matter what. "Even if Peril stands in my way." and the back doors opened. Two angry looking guards walked in. "Mudwing, stay here. Other two, follow me."

Well that sure was an endeavor. Not this, trying to finish the Dangerous gift. It was good, but pretty slow. Not going to spoil it but yeah, solid 7 out of 10. Hopefully the next chapter won't take too long. Don't get your hopes up though.