Part III: All in the Snout

"Looking great today, lil sis," Jambu said cheerfully. He set down his basket of bananas beside her cot. "I mean, uh, Your Majesty."

Glory groaned and rolled over, grumbling something about snapping his wings off. She brightened up once Jambu brought her pet sloth, Silver, over. "Thanks," she croaked, letting Silver snuggle up to her side. Jambu noticed her talons were oddly shaky. Her scales recovered a bit of their usual color as she raised her head.

Jambu almost went in for a hug, then remembered Glory's constant grumbling about personal space. Though that was still a foreign concept to him, he did his best to respect it now. Anything to help Glory through this attack.

It made Jambu's heart ache to see his sister so weak and faded. Her once-bright wings were now tinged with gray, and the fierce light in her eyes had dwindled down to a faint, sickly flicker. Still, he always tried to look on the bright side. Glory's the toughest RainWing in this jungle, he reminded himself. She'll be up and sassing us around again in no time!

The upper story of Glory's royal quarters had been converted into an impromptu infirmary. RainWing healers hurried around, their usual flowery garlands replaced with practical necklaces of herbs. There were now twice as many guards as usual, and Jambu noticed that all the chatty ones were missing. They all stepped outside when Glory asked for some privacy. Nobody tried the usual trick of hanging around with camouflaged scales - things had finally gotten too serious for RainWing pranks.

Meanwhile, Deathbringer went through Jambu's fruit basket, sniffing around for anything suspicious. The NightWing's dark eyes were sunken with exhaustion, his usual confident, mysterious aura replaced with something much more frantic and dangerous.

"Deathbringer," sighed Glory, exasperated. "It's Jambu."

"Just a precaution," Deathbringer growled gruffly. "We don't know how that poison got in here."

Jambu felt his scales shift to an alarmed shade of green. "So you're sure -"

"Yes," Deathbringer cut in sharply. "Without the help of those healers..." He shook his head, his talons clenched. "We don't know what it was yet. Fruit Bat hasn't seen anything like it, and she knows every poisonous leaf in this whole thrice-cursed jungle."

Deathbringer knew his poisons as well, but that went without saying.

"Well," said Jambu, brushing the leafy curtains aside so that Glory could get some sun on her scales, "you'll get a lot stronger once you head out into the sun! Us RainWings need that sun-time, Glory. It's in our blood."

"That does feel nice," Glory admitted. She set Silver down and craned her neck toward the light. Then, her scales dulling even more, she shook her head. "But the tribe can't see me like this. Not now." Her voice grew weaker, and Jambu had to return to her side just to hear her. "You don't understand," she went on. "I can't let them pity me. I need to be strong."

"Another attack, right under our snouts," Deathbringer muttered. "I let my guard down, and at the worst time."

Jambu frowned. He'd had his own little freakout when he first found out Glory was hurt, but she was recovering now, and she'd certainly been through worse. As the ultimate power couple of two combined kingdoms, Glory and Deathbringer were always facing down deadly threats. It was practically part of their job description. So why, wondered Jambu, is Deathbringer suddenly jumpier than a marmoset?

"What's going on?" he asked Glory. "Is something else wrong?"

"No." Glory paused. "Well..." She cast Deathbringer a loaded glance, then looked back to Jambu. "Deathbringer and I..." She sighed. "We were planning on having eggs."

For a moment, Jambu sat there, jaw slack with shock. Then his joy slammed into him with the force of a falling tree. "Three moons!" he cried, flapping his wings. "I'm gonna be an uncle!"

"SHHHH!" Deathbringer and Glory both glared and shushed him.

"Sorry!" He held back another whoop of excitement. "It's just so... oh, this is gonna be AMAZING!" Jambu's face lit up, both with a grin and with a rainbow of happy colors, as he imagined a whole brood of starry-winged nieces and nephews. "I can teach them to fly and shot darts and... sweet suns, what if they have NightWing powers? Could they have NightWing powers?!"

"Well, we're clearly not starting a family now," Glory croaked bitterly. "Not with an assassin on the loose." She glanced at Deathbringer. "No offense to my assassin."

Deathbringer snorted, his snout twitching with the first hint of a smile that Jambu had seen in a while.

"We wanted a real ceremony too," Glory went on. "Having eggs is a big deal for the NightWings; there's all sorts of old traditions." Her glassy eyes grew sharp again. "I swear to the stars, Jambu, if you go and blab about this -"

"Got it." Jambu's wings flashed contrite indigo. "No blabbing." He might have gossiped about her bad taste in decor, but he knew this was much more serious. His tail coiled restlessly as he looked to Deathbringer. "Speaking of secret stuff, any leads in that investigation? I'm always here to help."

Glory and Deathbringer shared a pointed look. Then, turning back to Jambu, Deathbringer shook his head. "No, not really. I've got it under control. You can just, uh, keep watching that IceWing, okay?"

"Oh." Jambu nodded. "Okay." If only there were something, anything he could do to help protect Glory. Especially now. His talons twitched. Maybe it's time a start some secret snooping of my own. But the Rainforest Kingdom was vast and crowded. Where do I even begin?

Jambu looked out the crack in the curtains, and watched a pair of shimmering NightWings chase a parrot through the sky. Some RainWing dragonets flitted around them, tossing fresh mangos from talon to talon. Jambu paused. The mangoes! He had invited Hailstorm to go mango-picking with him today. Judging by the place of the sun in the sky, it was high time for them to get out there.

"I've gotta go now," Jambu said. Then, before he could stop himself, "I have a date!"

Glory laughed weakly. "Really?"

"That's great," Deathbringer said, no doubt just glad to have Jambu out of the way for a day. "Uh, good luck with that."

Glory looked like she wanted to hear more, but Deathbringer clearly didn't. Plus, Jambu really was looking forward to seeing that sparkly dragon again. And mangoes. Jambu could always go for a good mango. So he smiled, hugged his great and powerful little sister good-bye, and flew off to grab some flowers for his fancy new date.

"Remember, Jambu," Glory called after him. "Personal space."

Even through the dense foliage of the Rainforest, Jambu could spot Hailstorm from a mile away. That dragon sparkled like the Great Crystal Falls. The IceWing sat, his spiked tail wrapped primly around his talons, trapped by a swarm of Kinkajou's and Fatespeaker's friends.

Apparently Hailstorm still hadn't figured out how to perch in the trees, as he wobbled precariously when he tried to stand up and greet Jambu. It was kind of amusing, watching a noble exiled prince scrabble at the branches and vines. Jambu easily slid onto another branch, wrapping his prehensile tail around the tree, and tried not to laugh. He offered his talons, to help Hailstorm balance.

The IceWing seemed to think the gesture was some sort of strange greeting, and stuck his own talons as well, which only made him even more unbalanced. This time Jambu did laugh, stripes of yellow shimmering across his scales.

"Ah, Jambu," Hailstorm said, gracefully bowing his head.

"Hailstorm!" Jambu spread his wings for a big, bright, RainWing embrace. Then, recalling Glory's advice, he patted Hailstorm's shoulder instead. The IceWing stared back at him cryptically.

Kinkajou's pal Plum burst into laughter. "Ooh, that's your new date, Hailstorm? Watch out for the quicksand!"

"And the howler monkeys!" a chipper NightWing named Charity giggled.

Jambu blushed violet and flared his crest at them. That infamous RainWing gossip had spread his previous romantic disasters far and wide. Now even the NightWings were laughing about his awful date with Liana. How was I supposed to know that she's scared of monkeys? Jambu thought, frustrated. And every RainWing gets stuck in quicksand now and then.

Frowning, Hailstorm nodded to Plum and Charity. "I will. Thank you."

"Come on, guys!" Jambu shooed the whole gaggle off with a flap of his wings. "No snooping on canoodling!"

One of those unwritten rules of the Rainforest: it was fair game to blowdart anyone who tried to spy on your date. And since everyone knew how good Jambu was with his dart-gun, they were quick to leave him to his mangoes-picking and handsome-foreign-princing. A few did stick their tongues out before they left, though.

While Hailstorm's stern expression remained unblemished, Jambu caught a flash of relief in the IceWing's eyes.

"Thank you," Hailstorm grumbled once all the other RainWings had fluttered off. "They are all very kind, but rather... overwhelming."

"Oh yeah. You should see them at the RainWing games. Brighter than a flock of parakeets!" Jambu took off one of his garlands of flowers. Bright blue lilies and orchids, perfect for the cool hues that shined in Hailstorm's scales. "Here," he said, "these'll match your eyes."

Hailstorm seemed rather taken aback by the flowers, but he put them on and smiled stiffly.

Jambu remembered how Glory, too, had been startled by all the rainbows of blossoms in rainforest. Was the Ice Kingdom as bleak as that cave she'd gown up in? "My lil sist-" Jambu stopped and cleared his throat. Glory wanted to be respected and strong now. "Uhhh, Queen Glory always calls flowers the jewels of the Rainforest." He smirked. "As for me, I think the mangoes are our treasure!"

"Oh, I agree," Hailstorm replied, cold and reverent. "How is Her Majesty?"

"Glory's doing better," Jambu said with an optimistic flutter. "She's still a bit weak in the wings, but she's recovering. In fact, I was just talking to her this morning." Hailstorm fixed him with a look of piercing interest, and Jambu could barely keep from blurting out, Glory was poisoned and Deathbringer's gone all grouchy again and I'M GONNA BE AN UNCLE! His scales flashed a bit brighter as he added, as coolly as possible, "About... RainWing stuff. Secret RainWing stuff."

Hailstorm nodded politely. "I suppose secrecy is essential."

"Speaking of secrets," Jambu said with a grin. "I know the best mango grove. hidden out past the falls. Just promise you won't tell Dazzling. She'll eat up every tree!"

Hailstorm nodded again, and swore so solemnly that Jambu didn't have the heart to tell him it was a joke.

As they flew through the trees, Hailstorm's unease with the busy canopy became apparent. It was oddly charming to see his cold facade break whenever a bright bird, shrieking monkey, or giggling dragonet whizzed by. Jambu had to steer him away from a few deadly treefrogs and poisonous flowers. "Don't touch those!" he called back, flashing red across his wings. "Ooh, and watch out for that snake! Right there!"

Still, the IceWing seemed to like the Rainforest, judging by those glittering blue glances he kept flashing Jambu's way.

The mangoes were as perfectly juicy as Jambu had hoped. He piled them high in a basket, tossing the best ones over to Hailstorm. "Ha ha!" crowed Jambu, triumphantly munching down on his lunch. "Best mangoes in the kingdom, all for us!"

These trees bore beautiful golden fruit, with a different color and taste than the red ones that grew near Jambu's village. Dazzling, ever the fruit connoisseur, was always going on about the different kinds of mangoes - apparently there were rare types in every corner of the rainforest! - but that stuff flew right over Jambu's head. All he knew was that these delicious, sunshine colored ones were his favorite.

"Whoa, careful!" he called down to Hailstorm, who had started digging in with gusto. "There are pits in the middle."

"Oh. Yes." Hailstorm set down his basket, managing, somehow, to stay dignified even with mango juice splattered all over his snout. "I'm quite grateful not to be allergic to these," he said solemnly. Jambu laughed and tossed down another.

Afterwards, they flopped down for some sun-time, though Hailstorm ended up pulling a banana leaf over himself for shade.

"This is a date, right?" the IceWing asked, saying the word like some kind of strange foreign food.

"Yeah," Jambu laughed, "or at least, I hope it is!"

Hailstorm nodded stiffly. As terribly handsome as he was, it was also terribly hard to tell whether he was happy or bored or anything beneath that ever-calm expression of his.

"Sooooo," Jambu started, flashing a few bright patterns across his sun-warmed wings. He kind of liked the way Hailstorm's dignified blue eyes grew wide at the sight of shifting scales. "Is this your first time flying with another dragon?"

Hailstorm paused. Maybe he didn't understand the slang. "Yes," he said, nodding slowly, "I suppose so."

Fatespeaker had warned Jambu about the cold, cruel ways of the Ice Kingdom, and how Hailstorm's family in particular had flown through the rough winds of revolution. Jambu couldn't imagine what it would have been like to grow up in a world without sunshine, freedom, and fresh mangoes.

"My parents once intended to marry me to a First Circle princess," Hailstorm explained. "She perished in the Battle of the Broken-Wing Isles."

Jambu winced, toning his colors down in sympathy. "I'm so sorry."

"I never met her," Hailstorm clarified coldly. "In truth, I am glad not to have married. It would have tied me to the corrupt provincial system."

Leaping lemurs, these IceWings are messed up. For once in his life, Jambu was tongue-tied. "Oh."

They sat and snacked from their mango sack for a white, Hailstorm primly picking at one piece while Jambu went through a whole pile. Jambu couldn't help it; his days of treetop racing, parrot chasing, and camouflage tag had really built up his appetite! Then, as he watched a flock of young RainWings and NightWings soar by, targets and blow-darts in their talons, a new idea burst into Jambu's head.

Dart-shooting was one of the Rainforest Kingdom's oldest traditions. Fun and deadly. Playfully practical, like most of RainWing culture.

It was also Jambu's greatest talent, and he really wanted to impress this sparkly dragon.

"Okay," he said, "see the targets there?" He pointed his tail toward the brightly painted circles, each one hung on a different branch of a tall narra tree. Little yellow flowers twinkled with dew, falling in bursts of sunny petals whenever a stray blowdart struck.

Jambu picked up his trusty dart-gun. "It's just like shooting venom," he explained. Then, glancing at Hailstorm's frigid scales, added, "or ice, I guess." He loaded a dart into the weapon, checking to make sure it was one of the non-poisonous practice ones. After a very awkward incident with Deathbringer, he had started color coding them. "See," he said, showing Hailstorm. "Just plop one in there, take and deep breath, and -"

In a blink of an eye, his dart hit a target. THWAP!

"Ice and snow," muttered Hailstorm.

"All in the snout!" Jambu grinned. "Glory says I'm the best shot around," he boasted, "though she hasn't seen how Fruit Bat shoots when she catches someone in her gardens."

Hailstorm studied the weapon, his blue eyes cool and wary. Jambu studied him.

"Do you put venom on these?" Hailstorm asked, lifting a dart to inspect it closely.

"Yeah. Sometimes." Jambu nodded. "Or sometimes poison from those frogs - the ones I said not to ever, ever eat." He tapped his chin. "Honestly, just stick to the mangoes for now. There are a lot of poisonous animals hanging around." Jambu loved the Rainforest more than anything else in the world, but even he had to admit it was ridiculously easy to die here.

Still holding the dart-gun, Hailstorm tilted his head. "Your venom is already deadly. With these weapons and your camouflage..." He looked out at all the cheerful RainWings. "Why hasn't your tribe turned to conquest? Or expelled those NightWing invaders?"

Jambu shrugged. He'd never thought about it that way. Dart-blowing was just for fun, self-defense, and an occasional parrot hunt. And he'd never consider someone like Fatespeaker or Deathbringer an invader. "Why would we? We've got everything we need right here. And besides..." Jambu laughed. "We've got enough drama already!"

Hailstorm's brow furrowed, as if he hadn't even known peace was a possibility.

"Here, try it." Jambu helped Hailstorm aim the weapon, secretly pleased to see how the IceWing was staring at his muscular, multi-colored wings. Whatever secrets they taught in the Ice Kingdom, it seemed like subtlety wasn't one of them.

Hailstorm heaved a great puff, but the dart didn't fly. Instead, a few sad snowflakes fluttered out. He frowned down at the dart-gun. Frost crept over the wood. "I think I froze it."

Jambu took a look at it. Sweet suns! It was frozen. Took me forever to whittle that, too, he thought.

"Bah," he said, passing it back to Hailstorm. "I needed a new one anyway." Flashing Hailstorm another grin, he stretched out his neck, wiggled his wings, then opened wide and shot a blast of venom right into the bright center of the target. The quick splash sizzled as it melted a bit of his dart. "Bull's eye!" Jambu crowed.

Hailstorm's eyes widened, impressed.

"Thank the moons no one was in the way this time!" laughed Jambu. When Hailstorm's eyes widened even further, he added, "Kidding, kidding!"

Hailstorm smiled. A slight, dignified smile, but a smile nonetheless.

"By the way," Jambu said as they headed back, their talons overflowing with fruit, "I've been working on that mystery, too." He wiggled his brows and dropped his voice to a whisper. "Investigating that assassin!"

Hailstorm nodded. "Ah, has Her Majesty put you to work as an investigator?" he asked.

"Nope, I've just been snooping around," Jambu clarified. Hailstorm looked rather alarmed by this. "I overheard Deathbringer talking to Liana and Fruit Bat earlier," Jambu went on. "They mentioned a NightWing named Fierceteeth."

Hailstorm paused. "Isn't this a secret investigation?"

"Oh yeah." Jambu shrugged. "But I trust you. You'll keep it a secret, right?" He smiled. "Fatespeaker did say you were 'super secretive'."

"She did?" Hailstorm frowned.

"In a nice way," Jambu assured him. "Anyway, I thought I might pop by and try the good old 'Jambu charm' on her. You know how mean Deathbringer can be. I'd never confess my crimes to him!"

Hailstorm blinked. "I... I suppose I wouldn't, either."

Eager to test out his aforementioned charm, Jambu flashed Hailstorm a big, mango-sweet grin. "Don't you worry," he said, "I'll clear your name faster than I can dart a parakeet." He flared his frills. "And you know I can shoot like a pro."

He was glad to see Hailstorm crack another small smile. The IceWing's wings also tinged faint blue. Not quite the same dramatic shift as a RainWing's colorful blush, but Jambu got the message loud and clear. Still got it, Jambu, he thought, his scales swirling with smug shades of purple.