Iris flew silently below Tsunami, her scales blending in seamlessly to fit the space around her.
Above her, Tsunami's eyes glanced down before flitting back to the mountains ahead.
Iris eyed her own wings suspiciously, Tsunami couldn't actually see her, could she?. Even so, she fell back behind the blue dragonet's tail, hoping that would hide her better. She hugged her satchel closer to her chest.
Iris looked behind her and studied the forest they had just left, there had been no sign of Queen Scarlet so far. She began to wonder if she was actually going to get away with throwing a pinecone at the violent Queen of the Skywings.
'What a great story to tell Jambu!' She thought excitedly.
Iris looked back at Tsunami, or at least where she used to be. In a whirlwind of blue Tsunami slammed into the Rainwing mid-air. The sudden shock caused Iris's scales to radiate a bright green, she barely had time to make a single squeak before Tsunami closed one webbed talon over her snout with another holding her wing behind her back.
"Who are you, and why are you following us?" The Seawing questioned, furious. The Mudwing was hovering where he was before, only now he was turned to face the captive Rainwing.
Iris shook her snout free from Tsunami's grasp, "My name is Iris, I'm from the Rainforest Kingdom! I've been following you since Queen Scarlet," Iris's wings twitched, "I threw the pinecone at her!"
The Mudwing gaped, "That was you?"
Iris nodded, "Yep," she watched Tsunami's webbed claws nervously, "Can- Can you let me go?"
Tsunami growled and slowly took her talons off of Iris. She flapped back few feet and eyed the Rainwing suspiciously. "Are you with the Talons?"
Iris blinked, "What are the Talons?"
The Mudwing turned to Tsunami, "I don't think she's a threat, we should just let her go."
Tsunami glared at the Mudwing, "We can't Clay! She could tell someone about us! All they'd have to do is offer her some fruit or something and she'd tell them exactly where we went."
Iris frowned, she knew most dragons didn't take Rainwings seriously, but thinking she would betray a dragon's trust for a piece of fruit? Ridiculous!
"Why would I betray you for fruit? We have enough of that in the Rainforest." Iris stated obviously.
This was apparently not the input they were looking for. Tsunami gave her a fierce look. Clay's eyes scanned from Tsunami to Iris, the former gave her a sympathetic look.
"Look," Iris said, calming down a bit and her scales turning a mellow blue, "I'm not the smartest bird in the nest, but even I can see that you're in trouble. You'll have Queen Scarlet on your tails soon if we don't hurry." The two dragons didn't seem convinced. "I just want to help, and I'm tired of being told I can't!" Iris voiced desperately.
Clay nudged Tsunami in the ribs and both dragons huddled together. Violet strained to hear what they were saying, but, compared to the songs of the rainforest, the silence of the open air was deafening.
Finally, the two dragonets faced Iris again. The Rainwing noticed that Tsunami had a particularly sour look on her face. Clay spoke up, "If you promise not to tell anyone what you saw, you can help us."
Iris put a claw to her chest and nodded, "I won't even tell my own brother." Iris knew she would regret that someday, but that was the most solemn swear she could think of.
Clay continued, "Some dragons are keeping our friends trapped. We just escaped, and are going back to help them."
Tsunami bared her teeth, "Just so you know, there's five of us and one of you, so don't try anything."
Iris gulped.
Clay jerked his head back, "Come on, we have to go." He swooped under Tsunami and flew off towards the mountains.
Tsunami waited until Iris had flown past her before following close behind, bumping into her tail whenever she felt the Rainwing was going to slow.
After swooping and diving in between the mountains for what seemed like ages, the trio landed on a small cliff face. Clay and Tsunami viewed the scenery as if they were seeing it for the first time. The Seawing saw something in the distance and pointed, "Over there!"
Iris followed the blue dragonet's gaze and saw a thin pillar of smoke rising in the sky. The two dragonet's beside her leaped off the ledge in unison and flew towards it. Iris quickly tailed behind, the cold morning air piercing her scales.
The Rainwing stopped and hovered next to Tsunami, she was peering down into a hole in the mountain, which was the source of the smoke. The smell of it was unfamiliar, almost like burning wood, but different in some way.
"Starflight and Sunny must be right there," Clay said, gesturing to the gap in the stone, "Right below us!"
Iris was confused. Under all this rock, who would ever live down there?
"So we're close, but we just have to find the entrance," Tsunami said. "The tunnel must come out somewhere nearby." She flew down to the base of the mountain and began pacing around.
Clay flew up and seemed to be studying the place from above. Iris flapped up next to him.
"So, how long were you and your friends left in this place? How many of you are there? Are they Mudwings and Seawings like you? Who are the Talons of Peace? Tsunami mentioned them earlier."
Clay seemed taken aback by the bombardment of questions. He paused for a moment as if sifting through them.
"Um, me and my friends have been kept under the mountain our whole lives," Iris gasped at this, she couldn't imagine spending every day in a dark and damp cave. Clay continued, "Not counting Kestrel, Dune, and Webs, those are our guardians, there are five of us. No, not all of us are Mudwings and Seawings. Starflight is a Nightwing, Sunny is a Sandwing, and Glory is a Rainwing like you."
Iris gave Clay a look of horror, "Does Glory get sun time?" She was afraid to learn the answer.
Clay blinked slowly. "What's sun time?"
Iris went pale. No matter where a Rainwing went, no matter what they were doing, they ALWAYS had sun time. What was a non-sun Rainwing like? Was she deformed? Iris felt like getting her hands on the people who took these poor dragonets hostage.
While Iris had been busy plotting Clay's gaurdian's demise the aforementioned Mudwing had gone down by Tsunami. They looked like they were discussing something, and Tsunami flew back up to the Rainwing.
"You, keep watch. If you see any dragons coming, and I mean any dragons, get us. We're gonna' be down there." Tsunami pointed at a ravine down on the ground before flipping back and diving into it. Clay gave Iris a little wave before following.
Iris smiled at his kind gesture before flopping down. She turned a dusty brown and enjoyed the warmth of the newly risen sun. She watched the sky closely. Then watched the sky more closely. Then continued watching the sky.
Iris began to realize that she did not have a lot of patience.
She twisted her head around and stretched her neck. She plodded around her little space. She practiced her camouflage. She fiddled with the strap of her satchel. She glanced from the sky to the ravine over and over.
"Ravine, empty sky, ravine, empty sky, ravine, empty sky, red dragons flying towards me, ra-" Iris stopped. "Red dragons flying towards me, SKYWING SOLDIERS FLYING TOWARDS ME!"
She scrambled up and raced down the mountain, her satchel slipped off her shoulder and thumped to the ground. Her talon scraped on the rock as she blasted off and spiraled down into the ravine. She spotted an open cave and charged through the entrance. It was dark and cramped and cold but Iris had more on her mind. She burst into a large cave.
"SKYWING SOLDIERS HEADING THIS WAY!"
Iris witnessed five heads turn towards her. A Nightwing burdened with the most scrolls the Rainwing had ever seen in her life. A small Sandwing with golden scales. A fidgety looking Seawing. An orange Rainwing flecked with blue. And finally, a Mudwing with a look of fear on his face.
"Who's that?" The new Rainwing snapped suspiciously.
"A friend," Clay said, racing to the exit, "And she says Skywing soldiers are coming, which means we need to go."
But something made Clay stagger back, and that something was an angry looking Queen of the Skywings and a group of at least ten soldiers, all armed.
"My, my, won't this just be thrilling."