Sunny time, woooo

Glory felt the Sandwing's heat leave her and stared at Sunny who hugged Starflight. The Nightwing looked as if he was in a dream and only looked at Sunny with a longing gaze. Glory squashed the pink and yellow from her scales. "I told him you'd be ok."

Sunny turned to face her and hopped over happily to stand in front of her. "Oh really? You didn't think I needed to be rescued or that I was lost? You thought I was super capable of keeping myself safe?" The Sandwing looked to challenge her older Rainwing friend.

The older dragon smirked. She flicked her claw in mock agreement. "Of course."

"Oh really?" Starflight asked, walking up by Sunny. "Wasn't it you who said we needed to sneak into Burns camp and find Sunny? I'm pretty sure I remember distracting Burn while you snuck in and found not Sunny inside." He stared smugly at Glory while Sunny let out a light squeak of protest.

"You entered Burns CAMP?! Why in the moons would you DO that?!" The two informed her of the previous few days, though leaving out a certain Skywing. Sunny's eyes went wide as Glory described the tower and her amazing rescue of Starflight who seemed rather annoyed at her description of 'cowering in the corner as Glory took down a Skywing'. "I'm glad you didn't hurt him." Sunny said and nudged Starflight with her wing. "Always the diplomat, right? I'd rather talk than fight any day!"

The Nightwing gave her a nervous laugh in response but he stood a little higher at her praise. Then he let out a yelp and jumped forward. "Ack!" He turned and Glory could see the same scavenger as before. "Sunny! There's a SCAVENGER in here!" he looked down at the creature as if it was a really dangerous bug.

Sunny giggled and laid her tail down and what he did next amazed and startled Glory. He CLIMBED her tail and crawled up her back to reach her head and sat down, holding onto her scales. "I know. I named him friend. He was the scavenger that unlocked the birdcage I was in." Now that Glory got a better look at him, he wasn't that old. If anything, he might have been their age but in scavenger years. "He wanted me to grab two others like him but then had me drop them off at a cave."

Starflight looked at the scavenger like he was a specimen in a jar. "Did you train him to climb up like that? How did he unlock the cage? Why did he stay with you when the other two didn't? How did he signal for you to drop them off? Can you understand a bit of what he says?"

"Why did you name him 'Friend'? That's not very creative." Glory said with her tail slumping to her side.

Sunny blinked twice before looking between the two dragons. "First, he just started doing it when I dropped my tail like this." She had her tail drop then lifted it back up. "Second, he had some kind of metal pipe that he hooked into it and then unlocked it; he did it after squeaking a bit and pointing outside of the room. Third, the two waved for him to follow but he ran back to me and waved at them so I took off. Fourth, he just tapped on me then pointed down at a cave and I flew down to it. Five, no. He just points and makes weird hand motions. Finally, I was super tired and JUST escaped, ok?!"

Glory flashed her fangs at the scavenger who yelped and hid his head behind Sunny. He squeaked something and the Sandwing groaned in response. "Don't scare him like that! He had enough of that in the Sky kingdom!" She said and her face scrunched up like it always did when Tsunami called her adorable.

Starflight tilted his neck to try and look at the scavenger again. "Does he do anything to help you? I mean, why keep it if not? Well, he is rather adorable…"

"Starflight, please don't go all scavenger lover. I don't need two of those right now." Glory was glad to see how annoyed this made Sunny. Once the two stopped trying to say how scavengers where actually super interesting, Glory gave a sad look to Starflight who bit his lip and tilted his head down; he folded his wings to look like a statue. "Sunny, what do you know, about the arena fights I mean."

Glory couldn't stop the lump in her throat from stopping her question for a second. However Sunny didn't look curious or worried. Her heart might as well have been smashed by a rock from how she looked. Her wings fell and her scales could have been mistaken for a Rainwing based on how her yellow colors seemed to turn darker than normal. "I-I know he-I was t-told-" She stopped and took a deep breath. "I know he's gone." She mumbled and Friend peeked up, patting her head with his tiny hands. It seemed to calm her down.

Glory felt a little better that she wouldn't have to tell Sunny the bad news. Her eyes began filling with tears but she wiped it away. "Sunny?" The Rainwing asked and took a step forward. "If you want to talk about it, we ca-"

"No!" Sunny griped. "I've had time to think it over. I've had time to cry and I've had time to talk to Friend. I can't waste any more time on it." Each word was followed by a low growl but whether it was from grief or anger was unknown to Glory. "Clay was the most wonderful dragon I knew," Starflight didn't look hurt by this. In fact, he seemed to be following each word like it was a scroll. "He wouldn't want us to waste more time than I already have. He died to this war and it's our job to end it, once and for all. So no one else loses their Clay."

Glory hated the mention of the stupid prophecy. Clay died to THAT not the war. It was the prophecy that made his egg get taken. It was the prophecy that got Scarlet to capture them and hold them as prisoners. But Sunny wouldn't think that, would she? Her whole life was ruled by the prophecy. "Sunny, we can't end it without him, right?"

The Sandwing gave her the usual hopeful look she wore whenever the prophecy was brought up. "Clay did help us end it!" She said with a renewed sense of vigor. "Think of how many dragons have someone close to them like that? How many of them are at risk of losing that dragon? If we don't stop this war, we won't be the only ones that lost someone." Starflight didn't look so sure and Glory couldn't help but see Sunny as the hopeful but naive little sister she lived with. "Don't give me that look! I know we can do this. Thousands of dragons are waiting for us to end the war. How can we disappoint them?"

Starflight clawed at his feet. "Where are we even going to start?" Glory noticed he wasn't willing to disagree with her outright. "How can we even stop it?"

Sunny smiled at him. "First, we find Tsunami. Then, we save the world." She said as if this was the most realistic goal in the world. "I heard a Skywing say that she gave them a rather eventful execution and then flew off, escaping their patrols." Glory took pride in the fact that the Skywings didn't have an easy time finishing off Tsunami as they thought they would. Though…

"Wait, so Tsunami IS alive?!" Starflight said in alarm and joy. "So Scarlet wasn't lying! But then, how has she survived this long? Where would she be?" He walked back and forth muttering a hundred questions. "The sea! What if she went to the sea? No, we can't get to her there…what do we do?"

The Sandwing let the scavenger drop down from her head and run to the table. He grabbed some vegetables in the basket on the table. "We can go to the beach and find her. I'm sure we can find a Seawing and ask. Knowing her, she definitely has made herself known."

Starflight smiled at Glory. "I like that plan. It means way less getting attacked by Skywings and sleeping in the rain."

Glory wished she had the same thought. She desperately wanted to see Tsunami again but if she really was hidden away in the ocean, then having a 'talk' with the Talons of peace sounded good to her. She could even get some information out of them. "Actually, I have a better idea."

She explained what Scarlet had told her about the dragon from the Talons. If Scarlet hadn't lied about Tsunami and Sunny, then could she have been telling the truth about the Talons member? Sunny however didn't look so sure though it wasn't about what Glory thought. "How will Tsunami find us? We need to group up and if we can find her, then we can go talk to the Talons!"

Starflight took a step away from the approaching scavenger. "Well, don't the Talons have members in the sea kingdom?" He asked with a small voice like the scavenger. "I mean, they had Webs so if we find a Seawing they can carry a message to her. Right?"

Sunny still didn't look satisfied. Glory wasn't sure if the Sandwing would ever be fine with the idea but then something clicked in her mind. "The Talons want peace more than any dragon. They also might know how to end this war. Besides, if we start ending the war then Tsunami will notice and come out to find us. It will also be way safer than hiding on a beach out in the open."

She could see Sunny's thought process in real time. Her eyes darted from the scavenger poking Starflight to Glory who was keeping her scales their normal color. "Fine, but can we eat on it first? I need to think about it." After Glory gave her the go ahead, the small Sandwing led them over to the dining cave where they would eat food after a long day of studying and battle training. It was the same as it had always been though the dust and extra rubble was gone. "We have vegetables which have somehow survived this long without going rotten. Want some?"

Glory nodded. She loved fruit but vegetables still tasted better than meat even if they were stale and lacked flavor. Sunny grabbed some orange ones with green stuff sprouting out of the top and handed them to Glory. When she offered some to Starflight, he said that he would just catch a mouse or something. The Rainwing looked back at the dining hall and dragged a talon along the ground. "Did you develop a new hobby of cleaning? This place is way nicer then it was a few days ago."

The scavenger emerged from the basket of food and grabbed a red beat. Sunny giggled softly at the small creature. "Nope. Friend is just a big fan of stuff not looking dirty. He made this super cool stick cleaning thing. He used feathers from a bird I killed and some moss." She munched on the carrot with enthusiasm.

Starflight looked at the scavenger with renewed interest. "Really? He can make stuff? That's…that's so cool! What else can he do? Can he start a fire? Can he-"

"I don't know what he can do. Sorry Starflight, but I DO know that he's way smarter than I thought." Sunny nudged him forward and the scavenger waved at Starflight though his face was a little nervous since Starflight was staring at him like a three legged lizard. "I think he's been trying to write me notes and messages but I don't understand him at all. They're just scribbles on the wall and floor."

The scavenger held up a piece of the vegetable to Starflight who politely objected. "Have you tried getting him to draw pictures?"

Sunny opened her mouth to respond but she closed it quickly then looked down at Friend. She then stared back at Starflight. "I…didn't think about that. Hmm…" She tapped Friend and began outlining the orange carrot on the wall and tapped it. Friend ran over and grabbed it then held it up for her to see. "Huh, maybe after a few hours he'll start doing that for me as well. Thanks, Starflight!"

After Starflight gave Sunny a nervous smile and a 'oh, um, thank you! I mean-' Glory stepped in and gave Sunny a more worried look. "Could you go into more detail about how you escaped? Wouldn't they have been guarding you heavily?"

Sunny shook her head. "Actually, no. Something happened in the arena and a guard ran in saying that Scarlet was dying. Chaos erupted and every Skywing guard ran to see what was going on while the none guards flew out in a panic. Friend was running by and when he looked up at me, I tried to look super sad and scared, not that I was, and he yelled something to another scavenger who looked angry. He then climbed up and opened the cage. I grabbed him then the other scavenger and started flying off. Friend hit my claw and pointed to another scavenger and I looped back around, letting Friend climb onto my back, and took off. He then pointed to a cave and I dropped the two scavengers who seemed to want Friend to go with them but he refused and stayed with me. I came back here to wait until someone else showed up. He's been with me since."

Glory nodded and finished off the food. "Sounds fun. Though I think you would have enjoyed the tower." She joked and Friend seemed very interested in their conversation despite not being able to understand any of it. "So, are you two ready to head out?"

Starflight nodded but Sunny let her tail droop. "I guess. Can we really not wait at the beach for a little bit? Tsunami will really help with almost anything we'd be doing."

"Anything except talking." Starflights joke somehow got Sunny laughing.

Glory watched as Friend climbed onto Sunny. "I don't doubt that the Talons move often to avoid being found. If that's true, then we need to get to them fast."

Sunny nodded and began walking with them before stopping right next to Glory and turning her head to look at Starflight. She looked the Nightwing up and down. "How DID you keep Burn from killing you?" She asked curiously. "Doesn't she just kill before asking questions?"

Glory took a deep breath and gave Sunny a noticing look. "Because Peril distracted her." The Sandwing let out a yelp of alarm that Glory thought was entirely unwarranted. "Burn seemed interested in her so the two were able to keep her busy for me."

Sunny's breath had quickened. Her wings shuttered and the small scavenger slowly slid off of her back since the anger that was about to erupt from Sunny was noticeable for miles. "Peril?! Sh-You couldn't-Glory! Wh-"

The Rainwing could feel the oncoming storm that she had started by mentioning the Skywing though she couldn't think of why. Sunny was trapped in the cage outside of the arena. How could she have possibly seen Peril? "Peril was the only reason I escaped. She said that she wanted to help find you since its what Clay would have wanted."

"How DARE she even-she couldn't possi-" Starflight shifted uneasily in his spot. Friend ran over to him and hid behind his tail which Starflight did not oppose.

Glory kept her scales their normal color to keep her worries out. "She helped me save Starflight from the tower. She scared off any threat we faced. Without her, we wouldn't have made it." For some reason this made Sunny even more mad.

The Sandwing flailed her tail wildly. "You can't trust her! Do you even know what she did? She's the reason C-"

"Yes, I know! But she's different!" Glory said back while Starflight turned his head to look between the two dragons. "Peril has done nothing but help us." "It doesn't matter what happened. She wants to help m-us, she wants to help us."

Sunny grit her teeth and curled her wings forward. "You knew and you still let her near Starflight?!" She said in outrage. "How-what reason-You couldn't possibly-" said Nightwing turned back to Glory with anxious curiosity.

Glory tried to keep her tail from lashing out like Sunny's. She had to stop the Sandwing from saying something that neither of them could take back. "He's fine, isn't he?" Glory challenged. "He's alright because of her! Doesn't that show that Peril can be trusted?" How could Sunny not see that? Why was her mind so clouded?!

The small dragon looked to Starflight and narrowed her eyes then turned back to Glory. "He doesn't know, does he? Of course not. I heard he got captured by Nightwings before it happened and of course you wouldn't tell him!" Sunny looked more hurt for Starflight than anything else. "Not if you wanted him to trust Peril or be anywhere near her."

Ripples of scarlet red flashed on Glory's knees. The Nightwing tilted his head down as Glory glared at Sunny. "He knows what's important."

Sunny gave Starflight a sad look. "Starflight, what do you know? About Clay's fight? How did he die? What HAS she told you?" Glory really wanted to snap Sunny's snout shut.

The Nightwing shifted his wings. Friend was softly rubbing his hand along Starflights back. "S-she said that he fought…someone…I'm not sure who…I figured it was a-a Sandwing or something…" He took a small look at Glory hoping for more information. "She didn't want to talk about it. But I see why…I didn't see it but if I did, I wouldn-"

"She doesn't want to talk about it because you wouldn't go near that killer." Sunny said with a semi-deep snake-like hiss. "Are you finally going to tell him or will I have to?"

It took more effort then Glory thought to stop her scales from shifting to dark red. Sunny was making it really hard to not bite her tail in frustration. "There's no point in telling him. We're going to the Talons of peace anyway. I'll bet he can figure it out there. No doubt their spies will know."

Sunny noticed the switch in the conversation topic but she chose not to address it. Either way Starflight would find out. More likely he was already putting the pieces together, or already had. "And why do you want to see the Talons so much? I thought you hated them and the 'stupid' prophecy. Don't tell me you've been secretly loving the idea of saving the world and just kept that hidden."

Glory shook her wings to try and stop herself from baring her fangs. "Obviously I wouldn't tell you anything." She shot at Sunny. "How could I trust you to keep a secret? Maybe I DID want to save the world?"

"And going to the Talons will help us?" Sunny asked. "Those 'useless slugs' you loved to mock? Or maybe you want to see kestrel, except you hated her more than anyone. I don't buy it."

The Rainwing glared sharp thorns at Sunny. "Oh really? You usually buy anything we tell you. Not like tricking you is that hard." Yeah, it was rude but Sunny was really getting on her nerves. Why was she making this so difficult? All she wanted was to see those stupid talons get a Scarlet dose of her special spray.

The Sandwing took a dangerous step towards Glory. "Or maybe you want to learn more about your family? No, you'd just go to the rainforest." Glory realized Sunny was trying to figure it out herself. Reading every bit of Glory's body movement to find even a scrap of information on her true intentions. "Too bad I'm good at hiding it."

The Rainwing took a step towards her as well. "If you want to help me end this stupid war then you'll go with me to the Talons of peace. I have some things I need to discuss with them." Her teeth were showing but she didn't care at this point. Either Sunny was with her or she was against her. "Unless you want to sulk around on a beach for a Seawing who up and abandoned us."

Sunny's eyes might as well have had fire in them for how furious she looked at the insinuation. "Tsunami would never leave us. She cares and is probably trying to save us. That's why we need to find her, not the Talons."

Glory flicked her tail to the left at a nearby mouse. "Fine. Come on Starflight, we're going to another mountain with hopefully more cooperative dragons. Starflight?"

The Nightwing was shivering in the corner where he had retreated too. He didn't seem to be focusing on the discussion at hand and was simply staring at Friend as if he was a scroll that held all the answers he needed. He tilted his head up at Glory. HIs face held no tears but an empty expression of the deepest betrayal. "Peril killed him. Scarlet made Clay fight Peril, didn't she?"

It was phrased like a question but he already knew the answer. The twitching in his wings and the shuddering of his tail told Glory that. "It doesn't matter. She's on our side and that's all that matters." She growled. "Now come on."

"No.." Starflight mumbled as Friend was holding his tail gently. "I-I need to think-I mean…I need some time to..t-"

"To what?" Glory hissed at the cowering dragon. "Sunny already said we had time to mourn him and now is the time to act!" "You can't turn on me either." She stared at the Nightwing who hid behind his wings in response. "You know Peril isn't dangerous! She didn't want to kill him! You know that! You're smart enough to know she really wants to help us!"

Starflight kept his face hidden and his voice was muffled. "I-I know…but It's not her I don't trust."

"What was that?" Glory questioned, threateningly walking towards him before Sunny stepped in her way.

The Nightwing was comforted by Friend who stood close to him, seeming to sense the dragon's fear. "You didn't trust me enough to tell me. You don't trust Peril enough to tell her about Scarlet…so how can I trust you to tell me the truth?"

"Because I looked for you. Because I saved you. Because I am the ONLY dragon in the whole world that cares about Clay." She looked at the two dragons with anger in her eyes, not even holding back her scales to let them know. If they were going to abandon her and Clay, then she didn't need them. "Fine. I don't need a stunted Sandwing and a cowardly Nightwing to hold me back." She fumed. "When I end this stupid war, you'll learn how much you should have trusted me."

Sunny didn't look at Glory with her sweet, kind hearted eyes. She stared at her like she was a scavenger wearing her friend's skin as her own. Trying to deceive her and keep her in danger. "Clay wouldn't want this!" Sunny shouted. "He wouldn't want you to avenge him, he wasn't that kind of dragon!"

"How do you know what kind of dragon he was?" Glory roared back. "I'm the only dragon that seems to care about him! You two are fine with letting his memory remain dead but I'm going to do something about it! The Talons are the reason he's dead and I'm going to let them Know that!" She spat her venom at the mouse and turned, flying out of the cave to the sound of Sunny's shouting and Starflights rushing to hold the Sandwing back.

"Useless, both of them." She thought bitterly. She looped down the mountain as the sun was setting. She found Peril resting on the perch and landed near her so she could feel the heat. "Up. We're leaving." She growled and the Skywing nervously stood up then tilted her head. She was about to speak up but Glory stopped her. "They're not coming."

Peril hung her head low. "Oh…but she was there? Is she safe?"

Glory really wanted the Skywing to stop talking and just follow her. "Yes. Clay would be happy. Now we're going to end this war like he wanted us to do." She looked into the orange sky. The sun was setting along with her thoughts of the other three helping her. They were gone. Sunny was held back by her anger, Starflight by his weakness and Tsunami by her selfishness. But not her. Glory wasn't held back at all. She could end this war and get her friends back…"That's it."

Peril muttered something about wanting to say goodbye to Starflight and meeting Sunny but Glory ignored her. She couldn't lose her only remaining ally.

"They'll listen to me. Both of them. Maybe even Tsunami. She would have sided with me. She would have wanted Clay's death to not be in vain…the four of us sitting together in the Sandwing castle, sharing lizards and fruit when the war is over. That's the future I want." She took flight with Peril following behind her as the two headed off to the mountain. "And I'm going to make it happen. By any means necessary."