Chapter 13


Whelp, this day just went from bad to worse, Prancer thought as he searched through another book Tulsi had brought to them.

Tulsi had led the group to the area where the Drillwings were staying and there wasn't really a welcoming party. After Digger was able to break everyone up, he said that Tulsi was the only one allowed inside and that they had to wait outside until Tulsi brought them what they needed.

No problem, Prancer had originally thought. Tulsi will bring us the information of the lost artifact and then we will have an idea of where to go to find it.

Turns out the Drillwings don't really have much information on the lost artifact, in fact, they don't have a lot of information in general of what's gone on in the caves for the last several decades. All of their books were way outdated and the information in them didn't paint the true story of what was going on in the war at that moment. The only thing that was semi-good in information was a book that talked about the original Webwings and Cavewings that found the artifact but it didn't say where they found it or anything, just said that in the cave was the artifact. It didn't even explain what the artifact was or looked like so the group was still in the dark about where to explore.

"Wow the Drillwings really don't have any clue of what's going on in the caves," Hunter said. "Like in the queen's library, all the scrolls and books there tell the exact information of what is happening day to day."

"Hunter," Flint said. "Do you think you can go and steal some of those books from the library, preferably ones that may have information on the lost artifact?"

"Oh… well I… I don't think I can."

"WHAT? You are literally the queen's son! No one would suspect you!"

"No, it's not like that at all, Flint," Hunter said. "You see…, only the royal family is allowed to go into that library and after Queen Aurora question's my brothers and sisters and sees that I'm missing, well… it isn't hard to put two and two together. You see Flint, no one knows I'm helping you guys and I want to keep it that way."

"Hmph, well you're a lot of help," Flint said.

"Don't be like that Flint!" Tulsi jumped in. "Think about it, if you were undercover, would you want your cover to be blown over a mission that may not even give us the answers we need? Hunter may be able to come in for us later on when we need him."

"Fine," Flint said. "But now what do we do? We keep hitting dead end after dead end, you know we only have three more days to find a lead for Digger."

"I know Flint," Prancer said. "But let's not panic right now or else we won't get anywhere. Is there anything else we haven't tried yet?"

"Actually they may be something that we could try," Hunter said.

Everyone looked over at Hunter and Prancer wondered what Hunter knew that could help them out.

"What is it?" Flint asked.

"Well, I just remember that I overheard a conversation between two Webwings when I was three. I am pretty sure it was supposed to be a conversation between them but I was walking by and heard what they said. From what I remember, I think they were talking about a group called The Tuff that they were in."

"That's weird that a group of Webwings would name their group after a type of rock," Flint noted. "You'd think they name it after themselves because of how superior they think of themselves."

"I know," Hunter said, looking a bit hurt by that comment. "That's what caught my attention, their name, so I may have snuck behind them and listened to their conversation more. From what I could gather, they are a group that despises the war that the Webwings are in."

"Oh!" Tulsi said. "So they want the war to end as well?" She sounded very excited.

"Well, I'm not sure," Hunter said. "They went into a room and shut the door behind them so I couldn't hear any more of their conversation. I totally forgot about it until now with all this talk about ending the war."

"Well that does sound like an interesting place to start," Prancer said. "So Hunter, do you have any idea on where to find this group called the Tuff?"

"No, not really. I never bothered to look into it and I convinced myself when I got older that I just hallucinated what I thought I heard."

"Well that puts a damper into that plan," Flint called out. "So any other genius plans that will help us out?"

"Han on a minute Flint," Prancer said. "Just because Hunter doesn't know how to find this group, doesn't mean that we can't retrace his steps."

"What are you talking about Prancer? Did you get hit on the head with a rock?" Flint asked.

"Well, all we have to do is go back to the same place that Hunter saw the Webwings enter and maybe then we will be able to find out another clue on how to contact the group."

"That's a very great idea Prancer!" Tulsi remarked.

"Yeah it is," Flint said, "but there is just one small problem."

"Which is?" Prancer asked.

"The fact that Tulsi and I aren't Webwings. I wouldn't be able to go anywhere with you two because the second I'm spotted with you guys, that's game over with not only trying to end the war, but also Hunter's undercover identity being discovered. And if Tulsi goes, you would be attracting a lot of attention since you would have a DRILLWING walking around the caves, after everyone thought they didn't exist. Not to mention that you Prancer are also still being looked for, so the only person who could wander around freely would be Hunter."

"Maybe we could disguise you two to make you look like Webwings and I could just keep my head down," Prancer suggested.

"Uh, problem with that Prancer," Tulsi said. "Flint and I have two wings and Webwings have four. Even if we were to make fake wings, I don't think they would last long and we need to be entirely stealthy throughout the mission.

Great, that option isn't going to work. So what can we do to find this Tuff group?

"So what are we going to do?" Tulsi asked.

"I've got an idea of what you all can do," came a new voice above them.

Prancer looked up and almost lifted himself out into the sky in excitement. His mom, Amethyst landed beside them and he ran into her open wings.

"Mom!" Prancer exclaimed. "You're here!" He enjoyed the comfort of being surrounded by her wings.

"Of course I am sweetie," Amethyst said. "Digger sent me a message that you all are going to try to stop the war and I wanted to see you all again. It seems since the last time I saw you, Prancer, you have made new friends."

"Oh yes!" Prancer said. "Mom, the Drillwing is Tulsi," he said pointing with his wing to her.

"Hello!" Tulsi replied.

"And mom, the other Webwing over there is…," Prancer looked over to where Hunter was standing but didn't see him there. Instead he saw him down at the lake away from everyone.

"Is he alright?" Amethyst asked.

"One second," Prancer said. "I'll go talk to him."

Prancer walked down to the lake where Hunter was and sat down beside him. Hunter had stayed quiet facing away from him.

"Hunter? Are you alright?"

Hunter looked over at him with disbelief in his eyes.

"First you make friends with a Cavewing and then your mom is a Cavewing as well?! Do I even recognize who you are anymore?"

"What is going on with you Hunter, it's me Prancer."

"Are you sure that it is?" Hunter said. "After everything we learned of how the Cavewings started the war and wanted to destroy us for the power of the artifact, you just allow a Cavewing to be in the group that is going to find the lost artifact. Are you sure that she won't betray us?"

Prancer felt his insides boiling up and he wanted to lash out at Hunter but he kept his cool and said, "Listen Hunter, it doesn't matter that their tribe started the war. These Cavewings don't want war, CAN YOU GET THAT INTO YOUR BRAIN! Also so what if my mom is a Cavewing? My dad is still a Webwing so it just means I'm a hybrid, is there something wrong with that? Shouldn't we be allowed to live our own lives?"

"Yes but weren't you the one who wanted to destroy Cavewings? Now you're helping them?"

"I'M NOT HELPING ALL THE CAVEWINGS, I'M JUST HELPING FLINT! WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM WITH THAT?"

"I-I guess I just don't trust them. You're lucky that your life was perfect."

"How is my life perfect Hunter, you are the queen's son."

"Just because I am the queen's son Prancer, doesn't mean that my life was perfect. You see… my brothers and sisters would pick on me all the time, especially my older sister, Lily. She is the next in line to become queen, you know so she would boss us around all the time with her makeshift authority that all my other siblings follow but I didn't want to. For that I was tossed out of the web for a whole month until I forgave her."

"That's horrible." Prancer said.

"That's not even the worst part," Hunter said. "While I was out there I ran into a Cavewing that said he wouldn't hurt me but betrayed me and only used me for my information. My mom was able to kill him before he got away but that showed me Prancer that Cavewings are liars and will do anything for power."

"I'm sorry to hear that Hunter," Prancer said. "But Flint or Amethyst aren't like that and if you want to help end this war then you will have to deal with them helping us out, I'm sorry."

Hunter took a deep breath and let it out. "Ok, but I'm still keeping an eye on them, just in case."

"That's fine Hunter, now come on, let's get back to the group. Amethyst says she has a plan for us."

They both walked back to the group where Amethyst was explaining the plan on how they could find this group called The Tuff.

This plan better work, Prancer thought as he listened to the plan. A royal Webwing, a shy Drillwing, an emotional Cavewing, and a hunted Webwing are going to try to stop a war that has lasted for centuries between two tribes. Because if this plan doesn't work… the dark thoughts rose up in his mind… then you will have failed and this war will last… forever.