Week two of this and I already found a continuity error... Burns tower is not the observatory mentioned in other books... it was torn down. Fixed that one, but I still might make more. Again, I don't have direct access to the text. I need to work on that.

Anyway, to this.

Prairie whined as he watched his sister pack scrolls into a small bag. "Why do you get to go to Pantala? I've always wanted to go…"

"Hmpf!" Savanna stuck her snout up as she clasped her bag. "Because I am the future queen of the Sandwings, and you're just a prince."

"Like you said, I'm a prince. I need to know stuff too."

"Or do you just want to get over there and explore a new continent?"

Prairie gave his sister a look. "You're doing that too. Luna Bay, Jewel Hive," he snarled, "Homeroot. You'll almost be in the Poison Jungle!"

Savanna stared at Prairie with wide eyes. "You sound like that's a good thing. Don't you listen to dad? That place is a death trap."

"Not to the Leafwings. We survived in there for decades! I want to see it."

"Dad might take you when you're older." Savanna shook her head. She walked to Prairie's side and brushed a wing against his. "Don't worry. You'll make it over there someday."

Prairie rolled his eyes. Easy for her to say. She was going to the other continent to learn how to be a better queen while he was going to be stuck in the Rainforest Kingdom with Uncle Starflight and Auntie Fatespeaker, someplace he'd been a thousand times and a place where he knew most dragons.

"Hey, cheer up." Savanna laid down beside Prairie. "You're going to be with our cousins close by, and I'm going to have to fly across the ocean with mom and a stick in the sand bodyguard." She grimaced. "I'm not looking forward to that flight."

"Consider that your punishment for going to Pantala without me." Prairie stood and stretched out his wings. "I'm going to the Prey Center. I'd like to get a lizard or something before Auntie Fatespeaker gets here."

Savanna scoffed. "I just laid down." She stood up and batted Prairie's right wing. "You could be a little more considerate."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever, princess." Prairie walked out of his family's cave.

"Watch your tone!" Savanna trotted up beside Prairie. "I could have your head with a few words."

"Then who would you get into trouble with?" Prairie smiled at his sister.

"I'd find someone." Savanna cocked her head. "Sandshifter and Cactus are getting to be old enough. Maybe Blizzard, but he's too serious. Gentletalon's too professional now."

"You haven't seen her in a while, have you?"

"When could I? Mom and Clay keep me busy here." Savanna shook her head as the two of them stepped out into the tunnel. Jade Mountain Academy was on term break, and it felt so weird having so few dragons around. There were still a few teachers around, so it wasn't completely empty. Still, Prairie swore he could hear dragons coughing on the other side of the school.

"Doing what?" Prairie made a point of looking around the empty tunnels. "We're not in school until after the break. There's nothing to do here, especially since no one is around!" He yelled his last words. The surrounding rock and Flamesilk lanterns echoed his voice back at him. He half expected to hear his mom or another of the teachers yell back for quiet.

"Read a scroll. The library's full of cool adventure stories."

"Reading? Blech!" Prairie fake gagged to the side. "What has reading ever gotten us?"

Savanna blinked at Prairie. "You realize you're going to be spending a few weeks with the biggest scrollwyrm on Pyrrhia, right?"

"Well, yeah, and-"

"You also like Turtle's stories, all of which are written down or would be written down."

"That's different. He's-"

Savanna raised an eye ridge. "Chronicles of Summit?"

Prairie stopped mid step. "Okay, you've got a point."

"I know I do." Savanna's walk turned into a prance as she continued down the tunnel.

"It's still not the real thing." Prairie trotted forward to keep up with his sister. "I want to be the one out there finding things. I want to be out there saving dragons."

"You're barely four."

"So? Mom was trying to stop the war when she was four. So were a lot of our aunts and uncles."

Savanna looked at Prairie like he had a tail growing out of his nose. "You realize that they were eggnapped right? I wouldn't say that the way we've grown up is anything like theirs."

Prairie let his tail fall to the floor. "You just have to make fun of all my fun, don't you?"

"When it's that kind of crazy, yes."

Prairie sighed. "I guess you're right."

"Don't worry." Savanna brushed a wing against her brother's. "I'll bring back something for you, maybe pay a Silkwing to make a custom tapestry for you. Something to hang up in our cave."

"That would be nice." Prairie slowed as he heard something down one of the other tunnels. He flung a wing in front of Savanna. "Shh! You hear that?" The twins cocked their heads as one. It took another few seconds to hear it again. It was a quiet clang followed by a constant hum. Something about the sound gave Prairie an idea. "Come on."

The prince crouched until his belly was less than a talon width above the ground. He slunk toward the sound, only his toes and pads of his paws touching the ground. Nothing as much as a scale clack came from his sneaking, something he perfected over the years… well, almost. Caiman was still better, but not by much. Savanna also knew how to step quietly, but her tail dragged and some unnecessary scales hit the ground. At least there weren't any sticks around. She could never be quiet in the rainforest.

The sound chimed twice more before Prairie tracked it down to the music classroom. He motioned for Savanna to stay back as he took a peek inside. Peak, the Skywing music teacher, stood behind her desk. A string instrument lay in front of her while she held a tuning fork. As Prairie watched, Peak flicked the fork with one of her talons. It made the same clang and hum as heard in the tunnels. Still holding the fork, she turned something on the instrument, then plucked one of the strings. To Prairie, the two notes sounded the same, but Peak grimaced and started twisting again.

Prairie's idea took its final shape in his head. He pulled back and gave Savanna his 'I have a bad idea' face. Savanna narrowed her eyes a bit and mimicked his mischievous smile. She backed down the hall with Prairie sneaking after her. "What do you have in mind?" Savanna whispered when they backed around another corner.

"I'm going to borrow that tuning fork without asking." Prairie always borrowed things. He never stole. Stealing meant that he never meant to give something back. He just liked to borrow things without asking and when nobody was looking. Things always appeared back in the place he took them from by the end of the day… usually. There were times when the place was occupied by someone or another. He didn't want to get in trouble. Still, the effect was dragons thinking that they simply missed whatever it was they were looking for and made them feel dumb. He and Savanna got a kick out of older dragons searching for random things that they knew the exact location of.

Savanna nodded. "I'll ask her to help with my singing."

Prairie nodded. "That'll do it. I'll swing in, steal the fork, get out, and get it back in before Auntie Fatespeaker takes me to the Rainforest."

"Let's do this." Savanna stood as tall as she normally did and walked toward the music classroom, no longer trying to be quiet. She poked her head through the doorway. "Mrs. Peak? Can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Of course," the teacher's high-pitched voice came from the classroom. "Come in, come in."

As Savanna entered, Prairie crept closer to the doorway. The two made a little small talk, as always, and his sister eventually asked Peak to help with a specific song, maybe a certain part. Prairie couldn't understand musical terms. He peeked inside the classroom. Savanna had lured Peak away from her desk and to the tiered floor on the other side, facing away from the entry. She played her part to perfection.

Mrs. Peak raised a talon and gestured at Savanna. As she began to sing, Prairie slunk into the cave. He stepped toward the desk, silent as a snake. Mrs. Peak made another gesture and Savanna stopped. Prairie stopped as well. That wasn't part of the plan. The music teacher said something about posture and Savanna straightened. How little miss princess didn't have perfect posture already, Prairie didn't know. Savanna started up again, this time making it to the teacher's desk. He grabbed the tuning fork and tucked it under a wing before Savanna stopped again. After a few seconds and more instruction, Savanna continued.

His borrowed treasure secured, Prairie crept out of the classroom. This time, he made it out without any interruptions. Instead of sneaking down the hall, he stayed by the entryway. He couldn't help but smile at his sister's singing. Savanna was probably the best singer he knew, besides Prince Cliff anyway. Someday, Princess Savanna of the Sandwings would be known for her voice as well as her place in the Sandwings… but Prairie would never admit that, of course.

After another stop, Prairie backed away from the doorway and toward where he and Savanna originally planned this borrowing. He rounded a corner and came snout to chest with a wall of golden scales. Prairie yelped and jumped back. He looked up and up until he met his mom's eyes. "Prairie! I thought I heard you over here."

"Hi mom," Prairie said, while 'why mom?' shot through his head. He tightened his grip on the fork with his wing. Having it fall now wouldn't be good. "You were looking for me?"

"Yep. Your Auntie Fatespeaker is almost here. I came to make sure you were ready." Sunny poked her head around the corner as well. "Listening in on your sister."

Prairie snorted. "That's Savanna? I thought an eagle was dying."

"Don't be rude." Sunny smiled down at her son, then looked at the bulge under Prairie's wing. "What's under your wing?"

Why did she have to see… "Nothing."

His mom's smile disappeared. "Prairie," her voice dropped to her 'what are you hiding' tone, "I can see you're holding something."

"Mom!" Savanna called as she stepped out of the classroom. She bounced toward her family and slid to a stop at Prairie's side, bumping into him in the process. He felt the turning fork slip and stiffened. "Did you hear my song?" Savana asked, acting like everything was normal.

"I did, salamander." Sunny brushed her daughter with a wing. "You're sounding great."

"She is one of the best students I've ever had," Peak said as she walked out of the classroom. "She's not even my student yet." Savanna's eyes almost lit up the tunnel.

"Everything okay?" Sunny asked. "You sound distracted."

Mrs. Peak shook her head. "It's the strangest thing. I was tuning one of the lutes, I turned around to work with Savanna, and when I turned back, poof! The tuning fork was gone. The rest are still in the case."

Of course, the tuning fork chose that moment to fall out of Prairie's wing. It clanged against the floor a few times before settling. The note rang for a few seconds before falling silent. Prairie stared up at the adults with wide eyes. He shrunk to the ground and wished that his scales could change like a Rainwing's. Mrs. Peak's jaw hung open in surprise. His mom… just a disappointed stare. That was worse than seeing Auntie Tsunami angry.

"I believe I just found your missing tool, Peak," Sunny said as if she just found an interesting rock.

"Yes." Mrs. Peak yanked the fork off the ground and tapped it against Prairie's snout. Prairie yelped and jumped back. "There will be none of this stealing nonsense when you officially become my student." She glared at Savanna too. The princess also lowered herself to the ground as she stared up at the teacher. "And you. You had a perfect view of my desk. You saw this didn't you? You knew what your brother was doing."

Savanna lowered her head. "Yes, Mrs. Peak…"

Mrs. Peak looked between the two dragonets. "I expected more out of royalty. I hope you will do better when you're enrolled here."

"We're sorry, Mrs. Peak…" the siblings said together.

"Apology accepted." Mrs. Peak glanced at Sunny before skulking back to her classroom.

Prairie looked up at his mom. "Sorry, mom."

Sunny shook her head. "You should know by now, only play your pranks on those who can take it." She turned around and waved her dragonets forward. "Come on, you two. We need to make sure you're ready for your trips." She walked off toward the family's cave.

Prairie and Savanna exchanged nervous glances before following their mom. Despite what his mom just said, he did think Mrs. Peak would just laugh it off. Prairie had seen her with the other teachers. She told jokes and laughed with all other adults. Normally that meant dragons would appreciate his pranks. Why was this one different?

The three made it to their cave and split to their own areas. Prairie's travel bag was mostly packed. Compared to Savanna, he packed light. Just his three blankets, a rock shaped like a human fist, and a map of the rainforest. Savanna had all kinds of scrolls with her that would slow her down and might not survive the flight over the ocean.

Heavy steps walked up beside Prairie. A warm, golden wing draped over his back. "Have you decided what gifts you're going to give your aunts and uncles?" his mom whispered.

Prairie nodded. Only a talonful of dragons knew he was an Animus. The only ones who knew outside those he lived with were his Grandma Thorn, Auntie Glory, Moonwatcher, and Turtle. Prairie and Turtle thought the best way to break the news to his aunts and uncles was to give them gifts, a modified idea of what the Icewings did. "Yep. I think I have an idea for all of them." Prairie looked up at his mom. "Are you sure Uncle Starflight doesn't want his eyes back?"

His mom shook her head. "He'd probably thank you for the offer. The Animus dragons we had before asked him the same thing. He turned them down too."

"Oh…" Prairie shook his head. He had something else in mind for him anyway. "I have the wording for all the spells written down. I just need to confirm they're working with Turtle." He hadn't enchanted many things in his life, he was taking most of them with him to the rainforest. One blanket kept whoever was under it at their ideal temperature, another let them fall asleep quickly (something he used to have trouble with), the third… just extra weight, no enchantment. The cool rock was enchanted to keep away bugs. He wasn't ready to make spells on his own yet. His first ever enchantment accidentally turned his grandma's favorite statue into a pile of some of the best lizard meat he'd ever eaten. As good as it was, it wasn't worth his grandma's lecture.

"Do you have that scroll packed? Turtle's going to be in the rainforest in a couple days."

"Really?" Prairie almost bounced off the floor. "That's great! Should I bring the bands too?" Uncle Clay, Uncle Starflight, and Auntie Tsunami would all get golden bands, courtesy of Grandma Thorn. Since Auntie Glory didn't wear much jewelry, and likely wouldn't want an Animus gift for herself, she'd get something different. What that was, Prairie wasn't sure yet.

"Maybe that's a bit too much to bring at once. Besides, you never wear jewelry." His mom crouched lower. "Some of the dragons you're giving to might get suspicious."

Prairie shook his head. He didn't want that. "I'll leave them here then."

"Good choice." His mom squeezed him with her wing before standing. "Go get your scroll. I need to make sure your sister is ready to go." She walked over to where Savanna was going through her jewelry. Prairie shook his head as he grabbed the scroll with the enchantment wording. He never understood the fascination with sparkly things. When properly cared for, scales were sparkly enough, especially on Savanna. Battle scars though, were a different matter. Those made Auntie Tsunami one of the coolest dragons alive. Her and General Six Claws. His dad... he was a different kind of cool.

Talons rapped against stone behind Prairie. "Helloooooo!" a familiar voice chimed. Prairie turned around. Auntie Fatespeaker stood in the entryway. "I'm here to take the green one away."

Sunny smiled at the Nightwing. "Fatespeaker. Right on time."

Auntie Fatespeaker brought a paw forward, three lizards and a large fox dangling by their tails in her talons. "I brought dinner!"

Prairie almost leaped for joy, but what his aunt's arrival meant stopped him. It was almost time to leave Savanna. He glanced across the cave at his sister. Savanna stared back with the same sad gaze.

"What, no ambush?" Fatespeaker entered the cave and set the food on the table. "I could have sworn I saw that coming."

Both dragonets smirked at each other. It was bait Auntie Fatespeaker laid all the time, and they always fell for it. As one, Prairie and Savanna turned toward their aunt and pounced. They pinned both of Fatespeaker's wings and laid their teeth on her neck. She probably didn't even feel the 'attack.'

"Is that the best you two can do?" Auntie Fatespeaker raised her wings and the dragonets dropped off her. She then draped a wing across both and pulled them into a hug. "I missed you two, too."

Prairie leaned into his aunt then looked at the food on the table. "I call the big one!" He pounced out of his aunt's hug and to the table's side. Target in sight, he shot his neck forward and snatched his dinner out of the small pile. Savanna appeared beside him and chose her own food. The two ate their food with their wings touching.

"How was the flight in?" Sunny asked as she took the last lizard.

"Still a bit choppy from the storm yesterday, but not bad. It shouldn't be a problem flying back." Auntie Fatespeaker sat across from Sunny as she pulled in her own food. Prairie focused on his own food as the adults talked. He always ate the head first, unlike his heathen sister who ate tail up. As both continued, they slowed down and leaned into each other. They spent so much of their lives together. For the longest time, they slept on top of each other, sometimes literally. As far as Prairie was concerned, the more time he could spend with Savanna, the better.

Savanna shifted next to him. "Yeah?" Prairie blinked and looked up. Both grown dragons faced his sister.

"I asked what you're most looking forward to in Pantala."

"Oh…" Savanna dipped her head. "The Silkwing Assembly. It's just… different from the rest." She took another bite of her dinner without another word. Normally, she would have gone on and on about it. Prairie pulled up a wing and laid it across his sister's back.

Auntie Fatespeaker blinked at Savanna then faced Prairie. "Is your father still planning to pick you up in a week?"

Prairie nodded. "Yes." His dad was in the Mud Kingdom with a bunch of doctors from all Pyrrhian tribes, though he was the only one from Pantala. Comparing notes on diseases and injuries or something like that. Prairie wasn't sure if his dad being away made things better or worse."

The grown dragons exchanged looks. Prairie's mom shrugged. "Are you still stopping at the stronghold?"

"Yep. Savanna and I fly out later. I just have a few more things to go over with Winter."

"Why can't we fly out together?" Prairie asked before the adults could go on. His mom and Auntie Fatespeaker stared at him and he felt Savanna's eyes as well. "The tunnel to the desert isn't that far away from the village, and it's about the same distance."

Auntie Fatespeaker opened her mouth and closed it right away. She blinked and stared at Sunny. "You want to take this?"

Sunny sighed. "I wish it could be that way. It originally was supposed to be like that, but a night isn't enough for my mother to explain everything she wants us to do. She's having Smolder and our guide meet us on the Sand Kingdom border." She shrugged. "She is the queen, and she's right."

Prairie hung his head. "Okay…" He and Savanna continued on their lizards, not saying a word through the rest of dinner.

When Sunny finished her own lizard, she walked out of the cave to find and talk to Winter. Auntie Fatespeaker tried to speak to the two but neither said anything. Prairie and Savanna just stood side by side, their wings at their sides and interlocked.

After a while, their mom came back into the cave. "Savanna, Prairie, it's time."

The twins finally looked at each other. They wrapped their necks around the other's and wrapped their wings around their sibling's back. "Fly safe, okay?" Prairie whispered. "It's a long flight. I'm not sure I could make it."

"Find something cool in the rainforest," Savanna whispered back. "Preferably something that will make Uncle Deathbringer chase you. Make him fly into a cliff again."

"I love you. Say hi to grandma for me."

"I will. I love you, too."

They pulled apart and Prairie hugged his mom. "Come back soon."

Sunny wrapped a leg around Prairie. "We'll be back before you know it." That didn't make Prairie feel any better. Whenever dragons said that, they were gone for a lot longer than expected. Sunny kissed the top of Prairie's snout, which did make him feel better. "I love you."

"I love you too." Prairie pressed his head into his mom's chest, then backed out of her hug. He walked to Auntie Fatespeaker's side. Savanna hugged their aunt quickly before backing back up.

"There you are." Auntie Fatespeaker wrapped a wing around Prairie. "Ready to head to the village?"

"As I'll ever be." Prairie leaned into his aunt. He looked over his shoulder at his mom and sister. "I'll see you two in a month." He walked out of the cave without another word.

Auntie Fatespeaker followed behind him. "Awe, cheer up, little shrub." Auntie Fatespeaker brushed a wing against Prairie. "They'll have fun and so will you. Your cousins are so glad you're going to be in the village."

"Yeah. They're fun." That got Prairie to smile a little. He had so much fun with his cousins. Different fun too. What kind of things would they think of this time?

Well, that's all I've written so far. If you want to see more, be sure to follow, favorite, and review.