Chapter 13

New adventures are on the way!

Given that the edge of the ocean that led to the Kingdom of the Sea was not too far from the Mud Kingdom, Windracer and his friends had gotten there in little to no time at all. They were all standing on a beach, Lagoon's eyes transfixed on the horizon where the ocean met the sky.

Windracer subconsciously tucked himself under his mother's wing, his eyes scanning the skies above them. "Shouldn't we stay under the trees? What if a NightWing spots us? I mean -" He stopped and took a deep breath. "We must stay under the trees. All right. Yes. Everyone back into the trees right now."

The others ignored him, although Auburn and Arid gave him pitying glances.

The SkyWing-NightWing hybrid looked back into the forest he'd suggested they hide in. How long had it been since Auburn had retrieved them from their guardians? It was hard to remember exactly how long they'd been in the kingdom of the SkyWings.

But there was one thing Windracer would always remember clearly: the sight of the IceWing princess Sleet dying after she had saved his life.

He poked a hole in the sand with his claw. Sleet died for me. Queen Scarlet wanted me dead, and Sleet saved me. I should have done something, cast a spell to heal her, anything to save her. But I was too afraid, too...useless.

The same devastating thoughts kept circling in his head like lame-winged dragons. Prince Frost had only spared his life because of his affiliation with Sleet. So, in a way, the IceWing princess had saved his life twice.

"You know what I love?" Bog said mournfully. "Fish. Lots of fish. Big fish I can eat, not these little wriggle-scraps."

The MudWing sat down on the sand beside Lagoon. His stomach growled loud enough for all of them to hear.

Storm rolled her eyes. "It's only been a day since Oco and I caught those enormous pigs for all of us."

"Weren't enormous," Bog said. He sighed, his wings drooping. "They were the smallest pigs in the whole world."

"You should have eaten our carrots." Arid padded forward and peered out at the ocean. The sun was just rising in a peach-pale sky, casting broken paths of light across the water. Two of the moons, barely slivers like thin claws, were vanishing behind the mountains.

"I'm serious, everybody," Windracer said. "It's not safe out on the beach, not with Morrowseer and all the other NightWings in on the plot looking for us." Auburn shook the sand off her talons before gripping her son's assuringly.

"But we've already wasted a day flying from the stupid delta!" whined Mango.

"You're always so worried about who's gonna find us," Marmoset added. "Pulling a good prank might get you back on your claws."

Windracer was used to hearing the RainWing twins complain. Yes, the NightWings were after them. Yes, they were probably mad about the dragonets' escape from under the mountain. And they were pretty definitely mad about the part where Windracer revealed that the prophecy was fake and that he was the only dragon with NightWing powers.

But Lagoon and the twins didn't want to keep running. They wanted to find their families, like Windracer, Arid and Bog had. But most of all, they wanted Windracer to stop worrying so much.

"Why are you so worried?" Lagoon asked him. "If they do capture you, won't you be able to use your NightWing and animus powers to escape?"

Windracer fluttered his wings indignantly. "I'm not worried for me," he said. "I'm trying to keep all of us safe." He glanced at Arid and ducked his head.

"We've been keeping you safe just fine!" Storm protested.

"Hey," Ocotillo said, nudging Storm's wing with his own. "It's all right for Windracer to worry. We can't say for sure where Morrowseer and the NightWings are. But," he added quickly to the dragonets, "I know you want to find the SeaWings as fast as possible. So let's find them instead of fighting about it, and then we can get to safety sooner."

Windracer gave the older SandWing a grateful look.

Arid settled into the sand of the beach. "So now what? Should we shout 'Hey, SeaWings, we've got your missing princess!' and wait for dragons to bound joyfully out of the ocean?"

"With a feast!" Bog cried, startling a seagull into the air. "There was a feast at the end of the story! When the missing SeaWing princess got home, her parents were so happy they made a feast. I remember the feast. They ate a whole whale. That was a good feast. I bet I could eat a whale. Do you think we'll get a feast?"

"The Missing Princess was just a story in a scroll," Windracer reminded them. "We have no idea what we'll actually find in the Kingdom of the Sea."

"True," Lagoon muttered to herself as she stared out at the welcoming waters of the sea. "I could just dive in and look for the SeaWing palace," she suggested.

"What about us?" Bog's big brown wings flapped. "Lagoon, we can't go with you to the SeaWing palace. We can't breathe down there! How can we stick together if you're underwater?" He clawed at the water, leaving deep gouges in the wet sand. "What are we going to do?"

"The SeaWings have an above-water palace, too," Windracer said in his 'I know something helpful' voice. "So they can receive guests, like their SandWing ex-ally Blister. It's on an island somewhere in the Bay of a Thousand Scales."

Arid looked at her boyfriend over her shoulder. "So, we go there, right?"

"Not easily," Windracer said. "Both SeaWing palaces — underwater and on land — are well hidden. That's how they've lasted so long in this war, even though they don't have fire like some of the other tribes. Nobody can find them to attack their homes."

"Sounds like the NightWings," Mango sniped.

"It's nothing like the NightWings!" Lagoon cried defensively. "SeaWings aren't trying to act all mysterious and pretentious. They're just being sensible about guarding their home." She glanced at Windracer apologetically. "No offense."

Windracer held up a talon. "No, I'm with you on that." He then pointed out towards the ocean. "There are over a thousand islands to search, but it's still probably -" Windracer stopped midsentence and glanced at the forest again. "Does anyone else hear that?"

"Hear what?" Arid asked, her head tilted slightly in confusion.

Windracer padded away from Auburn, his eyes focused on the spaces between the trees of the forest. From where they were, the woods led to the kingdom of the RainWings, and the hybrid could hear someone saying something to themselves in their mind over and over.

Stay secret, stay hidden, stay safe.

Had they been speaking out loud, Windracer would have had an easier time figuring out what dragon was saying that. Were they a dragonet? An adult? Male? Female? And where were they? Where could he find them?

Who are you?

No sooner after he had that thought, the mantra in Windracer's head stopped suddenly. The hybrid's eyes went wide at this occurrence. Could the other dragon hear his thoughts like he could hear theirs? Deciding to roll the dice, Windracer thought again, Who are you?

The response he got was one simple, little word that left him with more questions than answers.

Moon.

Dumbfounded, Windracer sat down in the sand. What could that mean? Were they from one of the moons? Windracer didn't think so. But perhaps they did have something associated with a moon. Another NightWing with powers? That would explain why he was able to communicate with them through thoughts. Or maybe "Moon" was the dragon's name.

Yes, it had to be their name.

But what about the rest? Windracer didn't know a whole lot about NightWings, but he did know that most of their names were compound words. There had to be more to this dragon's name than just "Moon." But what could it be?

He decided there was only one way to find out. Moon? Is that your name? Mine is Windracer.

First, silence. Then...

It's Moonwatcher. But I like Moon better.

Now Windracer understood. "Moon" was a nickname. He could work with that. You can call me "Wind," if you want to. Where are you? Can you come out? He paused before adding, Are you a NightWing? It might have been a stupid thing to ask, since NightWings were the only dragons he knew that had mind-reading powers, but he had to know for sure.

Wherever Moon was, he or she hesitated. Yes. Then they added, Wind, are you the one who sent the message? I remember a dragon named Windracer saying he had NightWing powers. Is that you?

Windracer didn't even hesitate to answer their question. Yes. That's me. Please, come out. I won't hurt you. I just want to help you.

No, was Moon's response. I can't come out. Mother told me to stay hidden. Please, don't tell anyone. I'm not supposed to be here.

Ever the considerate one, Windracer tried to reassure the other NightWing. My friends and I will protect you. Now, please, come on out. I can't help you if I can't see you.

These powers are a curse, Moon "said," You said you were an animus, right? Can you take my curse away?

Windracer hesitated. He'd never thought of it before, but he certainly didn't like the idea of using his animus powers to remove a dragon's abilities. No, I can't. But I can help you learn to live with your powers. I've only just learned how to myself, but I know I can help you.

Moon's reply was not what he'd hoped. No one can help me. No one can know I exist. I need to stay secret. Stay hidden. Stay safe.

They went right back to repeating that mantra over and over again. Moon's thoughts gradually trailed off until Windracer could no longer hear them. Hoping that Moon could still hear him, wherever they might be, Windracer thought to the other NightWing as hard as he could, Don't worry. You're not alone. I'll help you, somehow.

"Wait!"

Startled at the sudden shout, Windracer finally took his eyes off of the forest and found Lagoon landing on the beach, a male SeaWing following her in the air. Their scales were wet, which meant they'd been underwater. The other SeaWing's snout had been slashed, and Windracer had to guess that was Lagoon's doing. Forgetting all about Moon, the hybrid rushed forward to stand beside his friend. "What happened?"

Lagoon looked up at Windracer, wild-eyed. "That SeaWing attacked me!"

"I certainly did not!" the male protested. He landed in the sand not far from them, but a good deal away from the other dragons. Perhaps he'd yet to notice them. "I thought you...that's the normal..." He seemed to be getting more and more flustered. "You said you liked me!" he finally blurted out.

Lagoon gave him a look that was a mix of anger and bewilderment. "You are a delusional squid-brain."

"Okay, everyone calm down," Windracer said, placing himself between the two SeaWings in case one of them tried to do something drastic. He pointed to the male. "Tell me exactly what happened."

The SeaWing sighed. "I asked her 'What are you doing all the way out here?' and then she said..." He paused, rubbing his front talons against his head. "She said, 'Hey, sparkling teeth, I totally love three of your claws but not the others, and I wish your nose was a herring so I could eat it, and also your wings sound like sharks snoring.'"

A snicker escaped Windracer's throat, prompting him to cover his snout with this talons. Ignoring the roaring laughter of the RainWing twins, Windracer composed himself before stating, "I'm guessing the two of you were underwater when this happened." When the male SeaWing nodded, he then asked, "How are you able to talk down there?"

"I'm not answering any more questions until you tell me who you are," the SeaWing said, his eyes gazing over the other dragons. Mango and Marmoset's laughter must have made him finally realize they were all there.

"That's fair," Windracer decided. He gestured to himself and Lagoon. "I'm Windracer, and this is my friend, Lagoon."

The SeaWing's eyes shifted back to the two of them, wide with disbelief. "The Windracer? The dragon who sent that message?"

Windracer wasn't expecting that kind of reaction, but he gave a curt nod in confirmation.

At that point, the SeaWing's demeanor changed rather quickly. "I'm so sorry, I hope I didn't scare anyone too much. Any friend of Windracer is a friend of mine, I swore that to myself as soon as I heard that message."

"Now will you tell us how you were talking underwater?" Lagoon asked, hoping to change the conversation.

"It's called Aquatic," said the SeaWing. "An underwater language we use that consists of talon gestures and glowing stripes. I'm surprised you don't know it. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were another dragon disguised as a SeaWing. Then again, it would be pretty hard to fake those." He nodded at the webs between her talons.

Windracer felt something brush against his wing and found that Arid had joined them. "We were all raised under a mountain," she said. "The SeaWing who raised us never bothered to teach Lagoon how to speak your language. Just another way the Talons of Peace ruined our lives."

"Talons of Peace," the SeaWing repeated to himself. "So, then, that must mean you're the dragonets of destiny."

"That's us," Windracer said with a smile. Though it quickly faded when he spotted the RainWing twins trying to turn themselves blue like SeaWings, but only managing to get just about every color but that. "More or less." He turned back to the SeaWing. "Would you like us to introduce ourselves? It would be easier for you to make friends if you knew all our names."

"I already know yours," the SeaWing said, pointing at Windracer and Lagoon. "I'm guessing that's Auburn." He pointed to the SkyWing behind Windracer, who gave him a warm smile. "Where's Killer? He's your father, right?"

"He's not with us," Windracer said, a hint of sadness in his voice. He gestured to his girlfriend. "This is Arid." He then pointed to the two older dragons behind them. "The IceWing and SandWing are her parents, Storm and Ocotillo." Then he gestured to the MudWing. "That's Bog." He sighed as he pointed to the twins. "And the RainWings are Marmoset and Mango."

The SeaWing smiled at each of them before he placed his talons on his chest. "And my name," he said, "Is Riptide."

I know some of you guys were practically begging me to have Windracer meet Moon, but I want to time it right, so I thought I'd have their first encounter be a telepathic conversation, since they can both read minds. I don't think it's ever mentioned if mind-reading NightWings can hear the thoughts of distant dragons, but we do know that those that hatch under three full moons have their powers strengthened.

Also, that Aquatic exchange was too funny to leave out. The only downside is that because this story focuses on Windracer, we don't actually see it happen.

Auburn - Valka
Windracer - Hiccup
Arid - Astrid
Lagoon - Heather
Bog - Fishlegs
Marmoset and Mango - Tuffnut and Ruffnut
Killer - Stoick
Inferno - Snotlout
Scorch - Spitelout
Frost - Dagur