Part Three: The Web Untangled
Chapter 17
"This plan's crazy!" Hunter said. They huddled around Ocho listening to her plan of what they got to do to hopefully end the war.
"You got a better idea prince?" Flint said, smiling.
"I'M NOT A PRINCE!" Hunter argued.
"Calm down you two," Ocho said. "Now, yes I know how crazy this plan sounds. And I see how it may blow up in our face but it is the only thing that we haven't tried, mostly because we didn't have a way to get the information without being found out but with Hunter, now we do."
"Why do I have to be the pawn for everything?"
"Well Hunter it is either you do it, who hasn't been exposed yet and therefore, has a higher chance of succeeding, or one of us does it who has already been exposed, and then most likely gets captured and the plan falls to ruins," Prancer said.
"HMPH!" Hunter said.
"He's going to do it," Flint observed.
"WHAT? I didn't even say that!" Hunter protested.
"I can see it in your stance," Flint noted, "you're scared but willing to do anything if it means an end to the bloodshed."
"Wow… you really are good at reading dragons," Tulsi said.
"Yeah, just so happens to be one of my things," Flint said.
"Anyway," Ocho said. "Hunter will go talk to his mom, or Queen of the Webwings and convince her to follow him because he found a pathway to the artifact. Meanwhile Flint will figure out a way to get Obsidian, the Cavewing Queen to follow her saying she has found a way to the artifact. The point is that since the war had started, none of the queens throughout the years have ever decided to talk with the other queen for peace. The hope is that if we finally get the two queens alone, then they will see that this war is pointless for them to fight in."
"Good thought," Flint said, "but how are we sure that they will talk with one another and not try to go for each other's throats?"
"That's where my little brother comes in," Ocho said.
Prancer looked up at her.
"Me? How do I stop them from fighting? What is special about me?"
"Everything Prancer. You are a gift being a hybrid. Your existence shows that there can be peace between the tribes. It shows that empathy can be achieved, if we are to put down our weapons. You see Prancer, you are the only one who could have a chance to stop this war."
While Prancer was having this string go through his head, there was a commotion outside. It sounded like two dragons arguing.
"Hey you know the rules, you aren't allowed to go see the leader, her orders!" The voice sounded like Tarantula.
"I know that but I heard there were new dragons with her, please is one of them a Webwing?" said the strange voice, which almost sounded like he was pleading. It seemed awfully familiar to Prancer but he couldn't piece it together.
"Yes, well two Webwings! One is undercover for us so I can't say who it is but the other one seems to be just a normal Webwing but has this stance like he's ready to attack anything that jumps at him."
"Yes that him!" the voice said, and Prancer really felt that he heard this voice somewhere before. "That's my son!"
It then clicked to him. Hopper, his father, was here.
"Dad!" Prancer yelled, running out of the web and into his father's wings.
"Prancer!" Hopper yelled delightedly and it looked like tears were rolling down his eyes. "You're alive! I… I thought I'd lost you."
"I told you I could take care of myself," Prancer said. "How are you here?"
"Oh silly, I am a part of this group, that's how."
"Wait, but didn't you have a job at the mines?" Prancer asked.
"Oh that? It was a lie to hide where I truly was," Hopper said.
"Oh… so did you…"
"Yes I knew how dangerous it was raising you," Hopper said. "So I thought, well I already am taking a risk so might as well double down on the risk and join The Tuff to try to end the war."
"So is that why you joined this group?" Prancer asked.
"No," Hopper said. "You see, I really joined because I wanted to find a way to end the war so that you would be safe. Until that happens I knew you would be hunted down until you were killed because of what you are."
"That really doesn't seem fair," Prancer said.
"Yeah, well war isn't fair and neither is life. Anyway, what are you doing here?"
"Well it is a long story, so it may take some time to explain it to you," Prancer said.
"I've got time to hear it all out, you can't imagine how panicked I was when I heard that you were found out."
"About that. How was I found out?" Prancer asked.
"Well you see, every Webwing pair has to sign in this book when they want to have eggs. The book is to keep track of how many Webwings there are in the tribe to keep the population in check. Well me and Frisky obviously never signed in the book so they finally looked in and saw that and then they forced the answer out of Frisky. Believe me, she didn't want to but they threatened to take you away if she didn't answer so she did it for you. By the way, do you know where she is? I have not been able to find her since that night."
"Uh…, well…, I…," Prancer didn't know how to break the news to Hopper. He wasn't sure how he would respond.
"From what I heard, she's dead."
"WHAT? HOW?"
"I… don't know," Prancer said, not able to bring himself to talk about the gruesome death that he saw.
Hopper was crying even more now. "Why? I promised her that I would keep her safe after she lost her daughter. I'm sorry Prancer that I couldn't keep anyone safe."
"It's not your fault and you didn't fail like you think you did," Ocho said, stepping out from the web where she was probably overhearing the conversation Prancer was having with his dad.
Prancer saw his dad's face light up and be in disbelief at the same time. "Ocho?" Hopper said, then fainted in front of them.
"Great, I probably should have broken the news to him slower," Ocho said. "You two," she said pointing to two Webwings there, "take him to a place where he can stay until he wakes up, I'll be there soon."
"Wait, so my dad never knew you were here and alive?" Prancer asked.
"No, why would I? I mean you already saw what happened after I broke the news to him, imagine what would happen if he knew beforehand, it would be impossible for him to keep that secret from you and my mom. So I had forbidden him from seeing me so he would never know. It was a tough choice but when you are a leader you have to make those choices for the benefit of your group."
She was looking at Prancer for the whole time while she was saying this and she didn't continue so the silence lasted for too long.
"What is it?" Prancer asked.
"You Prancer," she said, "are the leader of your group. You are the dragon that is keeping them together. They all told me how brave and heroic you were during your time up on the surface and even though there were rough points, you were able to bring them back together. That is what being a leader means, to be able to lead your friends through the most dangerous missions and to be with them every step of the way."
"Are you sure that's me?" Prancer asked. "I just want to make sure they don't get hurt."
"All leaders rally their members differently. You have learned a lot but you still have a long way to go to become the best leader you can be. I will help you with that journey but that is for another time. Now you'll have to get ready with my plan and let's hope that it works."
"Yeah, let's hope," Prancer said.
This plan will never work. The voice was back in his head.
Stop being negative, Brain, this plan will work, my sister made it.
Are you sure? Because you and I both know more than anyone else that this plan will fail. It is only natural for dragons to fight for power, what other purpose is there?
SHUT UP RIGHT NOW!
Why, I am just trying to help you. If you abandon this plan right now, you can save your friends and yourself from unspeakable horrors.
LIKE WHAT?
You wouldn't want to know.
Sounds like you don't know, Brain.
Oh, I do, but if I told you, you would try to track them down and die in the process. That would be unfortunate for everyone.
I AM NOT GOING TO LISTEN TO ANYMORE OF THIS! And Prancer launched himself out of his mind.
Prancer opened his eyes and he was in his sister's arms on the floor.
How did I get here? Wasn't I just walking fine a minute ago?
"Prancer… Prancer!" Ocho was repeating his name over and over.
"Ugh, what happened?" Prancer said as he got up off the floor.
"Oh my," Ocho said and hugged him. "Never scare me like that again!"
"What did I do?"
Ocho looked at him in disbelief. "What do you mean? You fainted right in front of me. You were walking fine one second and then on the ground shaking horribly the next second. Are you cold? Is that why you were shaking?"
"No, I'm fine," Prancer said and from what he could tell, he felt like himself. Nothing felt wrong with him.
"That looked like what happened to him on the surface," came Tulsi's voice.
"Wait this happened before?" Ocho said.
"Yeah," Tulsi said, walking over to them. "When we were flying off to fly Flint, Prancer was flying fine for one moment, then fell out of the sky the next. I caught him and brought him down but he was shaking heavily like he just was now."
"Why do you know something about this, Ocho?" Prancer asked.
She thought for a moment before answering them. "No, but just keep an eye on him if it happens again. We don't need Prancer to be unresponsive during this mission."
"Ok, I'll keep an eye on him," Tulsi said.
"Good, now you two better be off, Hunter and Flint have already gone to inform their queens."
"Ok," Prancer said and he and Tulsi started walking away.
"Wait," Ocho said.
"What is it?" Prancer asked.
She brought him into her wings and hugged him. "Please promise that you will be careful. I can't bear the thought of losing you again."
"Don't worry I can take care of myself."
"You better," Ocho said and sent them off.
"Don't worry," Tulsi said to him as they were walking away. "We will be able to end this war, I believe in us."
"Yeah," Prancer said. "I just hope it's enough."
