A wave roared onto the beach and crashed around Tsunami's talons. Her webbed claws sank into the wet sand. Her blue wings billowed in the wind.
She lifted her head, breathing in the wild sea air.
This was where she was supposed to be. This was her ocean.
"Let me guess," Willow said calmly behind her. "You guys, that's the smell of freedom."
"Freedom smells a lot like fish," Stargazer observed. "Witch, to be clear, is kind of nose-curlingly awful."
"I love it," Tsunami said. This was what the Talons of Peace had stolen from her. They'd kept her trapped in the stale, dreary air under the mountain her whole life, when she was meant to be out here, flying and swimming and living like a real SeaWing .
Stargazer glanced up at the sky and edged back toward the dark foliage that lined the beach. "Shouldn't we stay under the trees? What if the NightWings come looking for us? I mean-" She stopped and took a deep breath. We must stay under the trees. All right. Yes. Everyone back into the trees right now."
The others ignored her, although Kindle gave her a pitying glance.
Tsunami bent her head to study the waves washing over her talons. Small shapes, silver and green and yellow, darted through the shallows. The ocean smelled much more alive than the cave river.
Tha NightWing looked back into the forest she'd suggested they hide in. How long had it been since they'd escaped from their underground cave? It was hard to remember exactly how long they'd been trapped in the SkyWing prison.
"But what if a patrol comes looking for us?" Stargazer spluttered frantically, but yet again, no one listened to her ideas that would keep them all safe.
Mink rolled her dark blue eyes at Stargazer as she walked over to join Tsunami near the shoreline. "Stop worrying so much will you? Nothing is going to attack us, I mean come on Stargazer, we're the only ones out here." The IceWing replied cooly.
"Since when do you get along with Tsunami?" Willow said in a joking tone as she looked over to where Mink, Tsunami, and Kindle were watching the waves crash over there talons.
"Oh hush Willow," Came the cool voice of Mink, as she blew a raspberry at Willow in response to the RainWing's remark.
"But what will we do if the NightWings come looking for us?" Stargazer fretted nervously as she looked up at the sky before retreating back into the shadows of the trees that lined the beach. 'I'm serious, everyone," Stargazer said. "It's not safe out here on the beach, not with the NightWings out looking for us." The NightWing was standing well out of reach of the waves, trying to shake sand off her talons.
"Ugh! Three Moons Stargazer! Just stop fretting about every little thing." Tsunami snapped at her. "I don't want to keep running from my problems. I'm not a cowered Stargazer, I just want to find a safe place for us to stay."
But there was one thing Tsunami remembered clearly: the sound of screaming dragons as they wer killed by the ones who they were forced to face in battle.
Tsunami poked a hole in the sand with her claw. She knew that the only way to escape from the SkyWing prison was to fight, but what kept racing through Tsunami's mind was why was that poor SeaWing denied of water in the first place?
The same thoughts kept circling in her head like lame-winged dragons. She shook her head and flared her wings. This was ridiculous, she knew that she had had no choice in killing that SeaWing, it was him or her.
Besides, Willow had done worse with her deadly venom, and she didn't seem bothered at all.
Yes, they were probably mad about the dragonets' escape from SkyWing prison. And they were pretty definitely mad about the part where Glory maybe killed their queen on the way out.
But Tsunami didn't want to keep running. She wanted to find her family. Once they knew who she was, she was sure the SeaWings would protect her and her friends.
Most of all, she really wanted Stargazer to stop fretting, complaining, and bossing. It made the others nervous and harder to organize. She almost wished the NightWings hadn't given her back.
"Why are you so worried?" Tsunami asked her. "If they do recapture us, won't your NightWing friends come swooping in to rescue you again?"
Stargazer fluttered her wings indignantly. "I'm not worried for me," She said. "I'm trying to keep all of us safe." She glanced at Kindle and ducked her head.
"I'm keeping us safe just fine!" Tsunami protested.
"And we've already waisted enough time flying to the SkyWing Kingdom." Willow complained.
Tsunami smacked her tail into the water to send a cold wave over Willow. The RainWing hissed and jumped away from the sea. "Just stop complaining Willow. We don't need to hear anymore of your snarky remarks."
"Stop it!" Kindle said. "Stop fighting, all of you. Mink,stop them." She turned to look over at the IceWing, who was calmly watching Tsunami splash Willow with ocean water. "Why should we even bother trying?" Mink asked her with a soft sigh and a twitch of her tail.
"Oh yeah, let's here from our IceWing," Glory teased. Her scales this morning were gold like Kindle's, but with drifting splashes of ocean blue. She sat down and yawned at Tsunami, displaying her venom-spitting teeth.
"Hay," Mink said, nudging Tsunami's wing with her own. "It's all right for Stargazer to worry. We don't even know where the NightWings are or what they want. But," She nodded quickly. "I know you want to find the SeaWings as fast as possible. So let's find them instead of fighting about it, and then we can get to safety sooner."
Tsunami shot one more narrow-eyed look at Stargazer then turned back to the ocean. Mink was right: the important thing was to find her family and a safe place for them all to hide.
"Aww," Willow said. "So wise and cool."
I think she is," Kindle said, looking over at Mink as she spoke. Stargazer sat down, flipping her tail around her talons unhappily.
Mink settled into the sand of the beach. "So now what? Should we shout 'Hey, SeaWings, we've got your missing princess!' and wait for dragons to bound joyfully out of the ocean?"
"The Missing Princess was just a story in a scroll," Stargazer reminded them. "We have no idea what we'll actually find in the Kingdom of the Sea."
True," Tsunami muttered to herself as she stared out at the welcoming waters of the sea. "I could just dive in and look for the SeaWing palace," Tsunami suggested.
"Out there?" Stargazer sounded alarmed. She spread her wings and shook sand off them, blinking anxiously.
"Where else do you suggest I find the SeaWings?" She asked.
"Swimming in the ocean is not like swimming in an underground cave river," Stargazer lectured. "There are strong currents and unpredictable waves and, and big things with teeth-"
"I'm a big thing with teeth." Tsunami grinned at her.
She didn't laugh. "It's not safe," She said. "What if we lose you?" Tsunami wanted to poke her wrinkled-up worried snout with her sharpest claw.
"Stargazer, cheer up," Kindle interjected. "Tsunami can do anything. And how is she supposed to get home to her family if she can't go into the sea?"
Mink sighed and splashed sea water on Stargazer's talons. The NightWing yelped and jumped away from the water. "Ok, we get it Miss know-it-all." Mink snapped irritably. "Now hush your mouth and cool off."
It wouldn't be like that for Tsunami. She was sure of it. Maybe Kindle's dreams of her family had turned out all wrong, but hers would be perfect. Especially now that she knew her egg had been stolen from the Royal Hatchery.
She was the daughter of the SeaWing queen.
Not only that, but according to Stargazer, none of the queen's other female dragonets had survived to adulthood. Tsunami was the only living heir to the SeaWing kingdom. One day, she would be queen of the SeaWings.
True, that meant one day she'd have to fight her own mother to the death to become queen. But that day could be as far off as she wanted it to be. Not something she had to think about now.
She spread her wings and breathed in the salt-spray air again. Out of the corner of her eyes she kept seeing tiny creatures pop out of the speckled sand and then vanish again.
"Oh, no!" Mink heaved herself to her feet, sand and seashells and tiny, astonished crabs flew through the air as she lashed her tail.
"Ow! Stop that!" Willow commanded, covering her eyes.
"What about us?" Mink's silvery white wings flapped. "I didn't think of that! Tsunami, we can't go with you to the SeaWing palace. We can't breathe down there! How can we stick together if you're underwater?" She clawed at the water, leaving deep gouges in the wet sand. "What are we going to do?"
Tsunami kind of adored Mink when she was in a tizzy. She also adored that it had taken an entire day for it to occur to her that the Kingdom of the Sea was underwater.
"Well then come on what are we waiting for?" Mink exclaimed. Tsunami laughed and shook her head in fond amusement. "Woah Mink, don't get your IceWing spikes in a twist." The SeaWing said in a joking tone.
Mink rolled her eyes at Tsunami. "Haha, IceWing puns. Hilarious and original! What's next, coming up with the cool and cold jokes?" Asked the IceWing, clearly sarcastic, but Stargazer and the others all knew that there was no mean spite in her tone to Tsunami.