Consider the first part as a prologue. This is where the story truly begins.
Glory entered the cave, half expecting to hear Starflight and Tsunami arguing about who knows what. Instead, she saw Starflight arguing with Clay? That was not something you'd see everyday. Tsunami and Sunny seemed to be entertaining the argument and the small Sandwing happily bounced towards Glory, attempting to twine her tail with hers before Glory held hers back and out of reach. Sunny ignored this and kept smiling.
"Welcome back! How did battle training go?"
A rather stupid question but being mean to Sunny was harder then trying not to think about killing Kesterel. "As good as it could go. What are those two bickering about? And how did Starflight manage to get on Clay's nerves?"
Sunny giggled. "It isn't serious. Starflight was just saying that fruits are disgusting and Clay asked him how he could possibly think that. What do you think about it?"
Glory couldn't think of any food better than fruit. Meat was weird to eat and if it was too thick it hurt her teeth. Fruit was juicy and easy to bite into as well as having hundreds of different flavors. "Of course it's food. What else would Clay get annoyed about? Well, I like fruit so I'm with him."
Tsunami stuck her tongue out at Glory which the Rainwing gratefully returned. "Yuck. That's all I got to say." Said Tsunami, the very insightful Seawing.
If she wasn't so sore she might consider starting her own argument with Tsunami but right now, she was just so tired. It was Clay that noticed first. He ended the argument by turning to Glory and helping her into a more comfortable position. She thanked him silently and stretched, feeling her aching bones. Starflight stopped talking and went to his little corner while Sunny sat next to Tsunami who seemed to sort of enjoy the warmth. Clay kept his distance but stayed close to Glory, something she appreciated.
With a yawn, the Rainwing took a look around the cave. Everyone was getting ready to sleep and once again, the thought of leaving the terrible cave ran across her mind. She had already discussed it with Tsunami and Starflight but she was never able to quite let it settle. She wanted to leave more than anyone else. It was horrible being trapped with the guardians and the limited food alongside the horrible battle training.
Her gaze fell to Clay who was snoring peacefully beside her. If it weren't for him, this cave would be even worse. Sunny always brightened Glory's day even if she was a little too excited to hug. Starflight was a bookworm and really annoying but he was also smart and the only person that liked reading the stories about the rainforest. Then there was Tsunami. She was the biggest pain out of all of them…but Glory wouldn't give her up for anything. No matter how often they bickered about petty problems, she knew Tsunami would fight tooth and claw to defend her and anyone else in the group. Prophecy dragonet or not.
A final yawn signaled that the Rainwings eyes were ready to rest and she accepted, her tail curling up before her eyes closed.
"Glory? Glory!" A familiar voice squeaked next to her. She grumbled and kept her eyes shut, hoping the voice would go away. "Glory! Wake up! It's me, Starflight!"
Starflight? It couldn't be. Glory opened her eyes and looked up, seeing the small Nightwing with his nervous expression looking down at her. He seemed to be breathing heavily and without notice, he was forced into a tight hug to which Starflight happily returned. They stuck to each other for a long while, just letting the silence remain as they reunited. Starflight was safe. That was all Glory needed right now. She was no longer alone. She had her friend back. "I hate that I missed your annoying voice so much." She muttered, nuzzling his shoulder before finally breaking apart. He didn't look hurt in any way, just afraid.
"Yeah? Well I missed you telling me how annoying I was so I guess we're even." He smirked before returning to his worried expression. "Where's Clay and Sunny? I didn't see you flying with them and Peril won't say a thing. It's been pretty awkward." He grumbled.
Glory noticed he was very intentionally avoiding saying someone's name. Hearing the name of the Mudwing stung like a stalactite. Starflight wasn't there, was he? He didn't see it or know. Glory's claws gripped the rocky ground hard to stay calm. "C-Clay didn't make it. He lost his fight." The words were sour in her mouth.
Starflight didn't respond at first. He simply stared as if she made a sick joke. When she didn't deter, his eyes shined with tears. Glory wished he didn't try to act tough as it didn't suit him. He didn't want to look scared but it was obvious. "S-S-Sunny? Is she…"
The Rainwing was happy to change subjects. "Burn has her but it will take a few days to reach her kingdom. We can get to Sunny before it's too late if we are quick enough." She said while forcing her own sadness down like before.
Starflight took this in and turned to face the outside of the cave. He pointed to the terrible storm and grimaced. "We can't leave with that going on. Besides, Burn won't be leaving like that either." Glory groaned but nodded. It was pretty obvious that no dragon would be flying anytime soon. "But how did you end up with her?"
Glory looked, almost forgetting Peril was there, and bit her tongue. Peril seemed nervous and shook in her stance. "She helped me escape and wants to help us free Sunny. She wasn't happy about Clay either." Peril gasped and tilted her head down, letting her wings cover her face.
Starflight gestured outside, wanting to talk with Glory alone and out of earshot. She begrudgingly agreed but prepared to hate the following conversation as getting wet was one of her least favorite things in the world. Glory signaled for Peril to stay put but she doubted the Skywing noticed or cared. If anything, she was going to remain inside anyway.
The Rain still felt awful on her scales but the nearby plants that lined the mountain helped keep them relatively covered from the pouring. Once far away, Starflight turned to face his friend once again and he seemed even more nervous than before. "Are you really trusting her? She has killed who knows how many dragons without remorse!" He griped.
Glory rolled her eyes. "You weren't there, Morrowseer made sure of that. She liked Clay and was willing to help me after his match."
He didn't seem moved by this. "Oh? And how close were they? It seems more clingy than friendly."
"What difference does it make? She is unbeatable and we are about to steal Burn's, the most dangerous Sandwing princess, precious present! We need her help."
"You saw how she was in the arena! One slip up and I doubt she would hesitate to get rid of us!"
"You are making a big deal out of nothing." She growled. "Look at her! She's torn up over Clay and you don't want her to have some form of closure?"
Starflight matched her growl with his own. "That's not what this is about and you know it. She knew Clay for maybe three days. This isn't vengeance for a friend. She didn't know him at all!"
"We just need her to free Sunny! Unless you want to face Burn and her guards with just us two."
"Do you even hear yourself?! She isn't an object for fighting! She's a dragon! She has thoughts and feelings for herself! Have you even asked her what she wants? Or did you just assume she would go along with whatever scheme you concocted?"
The air seemed to get thinner as lightning struck nearby. "All she's ever known is battle! She wants to do what Clay would want and he would want us to save Sunny!"
"He wouldn't want us to use Peril for our own gain! Clay wasn't like that! H-"
"How would you know what he would have wanted? You two never hung out!" She hissed, her tall lashing.
Starflight's tears were easily hidden behind the rain pouring down his face. "We never hung out around you three because you and Tsunami made fun of us! Or did you forget about that?" His voice got more angry with every word spoken. "You weren't the only one that needed him while stuck in that stupid cave." He muttered, his body trembling.
Glory hadn't realized how hard she was clinging to the dirt beneath her. She calmed her tail and turned her scales from bright red to her normal green. Her breathing had grown intense and it took a few seconds of silence before the two calmed down. What would Clay have truly wanted? "To save Sunny. That's what he would have done at all cost." She looked to Starflight and dropped her anger. "Clay would want us to free Sunny…He may not have wanted Peril to help, but she wanted to and she made that choice when she freed me." She turned back to the cave. "We don't have to use her for fighting. Burn knows who she is and she won't fight. We can get Sunny back that way. Force Burn to give her up with the threat of peril th-"
"How did he die?"
"What?"
Starflight was still staring at the ground, watching a beetle struggle to get through the mud and water. "How did Clay die? Who fought him? He was so strong…no one could have beat him."
She remained silent. "I'm sorry…you can't know…not yet." He wasn't ready. That was why she couldn't tell him. "I-I can't talk about it…not yet, I'm sorry." She muttered, taking a step closer to the cave.
Starflight shook his head, following her. "Tsunami…Clay…Dune…This wasn't supposed to happen…why…"
"It will all be ok. We'll have Sunny back and when we do, we can…do something. I don't know."
"The prophecy? We can't complete it. We failed, didn't we?" He asked miserably.
She didn't even consider that. Truthfully, Clay and Tsunami were the only two she thought could possibly make the prophecy come true to begin with. "Maybe it wasn't us that were meant to solve it. Or Maybe we still can…Sunny will know. She cared more about it than anyone."
"Morrowseer said he had an alternate solution of some kind. Maybe we can find him?"
"No." She said it so bluntly that Starflight knew the topic was done before it even got started. She didn't want to see that vile lizard anytime soon. "What did he do while he had you?"
Starflight shrugged behind her, getting stuck in some mud for a second. "Nothing much. We just waited in a mountain and after he didn't see you guys, he was going to take me to the island…I left while the Nightwings were asleep."
"You chose us over seeing your home?" She asked, rather impressed and surprised.
"Yeah…" He said but he sounded more sad than before. "Figured hanging out with you guys would be better."
Glory realized something and turned her neck to look at him curiously. "You said you saw Peril and me flying? Were you following us?"
He nodded as they trudged through the mountain. "Yep. I saw you fall and flew to catch you…it didn't go too well. I mostly just slowed you down as we both tumbled to the front of the cave where I took you in. Peril followed and just stayed quiet."
"Glad you tried at least." She said, trying to make him smile. It didn't work. They made it back to the cave and Peril seemed slightly more herself after being given some time to think. Starflight still stared at her with worry but he didn't say anything which Glory was happy about. Though Peril didn't make her gut feel better after giving Glory a 'Are you going to tell him that I killed the dragon he really cared for or no?' and Glory wished Peril would look back at the ground. "Peril, over here." She said and the Rainwing slouched down and dragged her talons along the ground, sitting near Glory and Starflight took a step behind Glory. "Ok, now we need to think about how to save Sunny."
"Burn's camp is behind the trees over there…I saw it while he was taking you into the cave." Hearing Peril's voice was somewhat comforting for some reason.
"Thank you, Peril. Alright, so early tomorrow morning we can tail them and stay on their trail until they stop. When they do, I'll camouflage and get near Sunny. Starflight, you and Peril and will confront her guards and threaten to kill all of them if they don't give us Sunny."
"What?! I am not threatening that! Besides, Sunny will hate it!" Starflight said quickly while Peril's eyes lit with fire.
"I can take them. I'm in." She growled and Starflight gave Glory another worried look as if saying 'I told you so!'
Glory groaned up at the ceiling. "We aren't ACTUALLY going to attack them. You two are just going to try and distract them while I free Sunny. I'll use my venom on i-"
"You have venom?" The Nightwing asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Right, he wasn't there, was he?" She nodded. "Yes, It's how I hurt Scarlet." She ignored his now widened eyes. "I'll use my venom and free her. Once I do, you two can begin to back off before flying away. I'll strike Burn with my venom but not in a place that will kill her and use that to make our escape. We'll meet back up nearby and talk there. Ok?"
Peril looked disappointed. "I want to fight them! They took Clay's friend!" She said angrily. Glory secretly agreed as Burn's death would help end the war faster but Starflight was right.
"We can't do that. Sunny hates fighting and if we actually do that, she won't be happy. We have to free her peacefully. At least as peacefully as we can." Glory said and Starflight seemed happy with that while Peril snorted but didn't protest. "Ok, let's get some quick rest before we head out. Sound good?"
Peril shrugged, turning her head and curling up right where she was. Starflight looked back to the water outside. "I need a second. Just have to…you know…" He didn't need to finish and Glory nodded, giving him as warm of a smile as she could muster. It was probably a lot for him and once he left, she felt her stomach turn.
"You didn't tell him?" Peril let out in a small whimper.
Glory shook her head before curling up herself. Peril's warmth was different from Sunny's. The little Sandwing felt like a warm fire that heated up your scales but also felt like you could reach your claws in and not get burned. It was calm and inviting like the Sandwing herself. Peril's was ferocious and felt like it could lash out at any second. Her flames weren't meant to be near a dragon without causing harm but it was the best Glory had for warmth. "No. he doesn't need to know. Not yet at least."
Peril let out another snort. "He'd hate me? Wouldn't he?"
If she was being truthful, the Rainwing would respond with a clear yes but that wasn't what the flamescales needed right now. "I don't know, but I don't want to risk it. Once he gets to know you better, I can tell him and then we won't have to worry."
"...Do you hate me?" Her eyes turned to look at Glory and all the Rainwing could see was the same eyes that took the big, dumb Mudwing from her. Yet there was something else there. Her eyes also seemed like a lost little dragonet with no one that cared for them. Glory did hate what she did, but did she hate Peril?
"No." She said simply but her voice didn't seem to mean it. "Scarlet forced you to do it." Was she saying that for Peril or to ease her mind on using Peril to save Sunny? "What happened to Kestrel? I figured you two would have run away together?"
The Skywing grunted. "I don't want to see her right now. She seemed upset about the other two though…I think she mentioned a dragon in some giant mountain? That's how you could talk with her. If any of you survived."
"Alright. I figured there would be more…Get some sleep." She said before looking at the ceiling.
Peril sniffled before bowing her head once more and Glory could hear small snoring coming from her.
"We save Sunny. Then…then we do what?" Ugh, this wasn't how anything was supposed to go. Tsunami, for how much she hated her trying to take charge, led the group and made decisions. It was the thing Tsunami was best at. Being bossy. Sunny would go on about trying to make the prophecy come true but was that what Glory wanted as well? She needed a goal…"Free Sunny. That's all I need to do. Then I can focus on something else. Something bigger. The three of us…" Four. There would be four of them. Peril may not have been with them from the beginning but she was a dragon that was worth keeping around. Sunny and Starflight could find out later. They didn't need to know anything except that Peril wanted to help. "I'll tell them later. I'm not ready to talk about it…"
It didn't take long for Starflight to come back. His wet claws entering the cave snapped Glory out of her trance and she watched him curl up behind her. "H-hey…I'm sorry about earlier…" He muttered, his face reminded her of a cute lizard. "You know I'm happy to see you, right?"
She gave him one more forced smile before laying her head down. "I know. Besides, I got mad too. Just sleep."
He fell soon after, snoring right alongside Peril and Glory was left alone before she too fell into the dark void of slumber.