Wendy didn't like anything about this. A bunch of Fires showed up to apparently take her away from Magnolia to some new land that she would know nothing about and it scared her.
She didn't know if she'd see her friends or siblings ever again, and that scared her even more.
But what upset her the most is how easily Natsu left all of them in favor of going with the Fires. She knew he always wondered where he was from, and she understood him being upset at Irene for hiding it.
But did that mean he had to abandon the rest of them?
She sighed, perching on a nearby building and slumping slightly.
She didn't want to leave.
She felt a warmth around her, then glanced up to find out it was Erza, who pressed herself against Wendy's side with her wing around the smaller Sky. She also heard the sound of someone climbing up the building, and felt Gray lean against her other side.
Wendy buried her face in Erza's neck, crying quietly while Gray gently scratched and rubbed her neck.
Erza wordlessly pulled her closer, tightening her grip on the younger Dragon. After a few short moments, Wendy whimpered, "I don't wanna go…"
"I know.. but you heard what mom said.. This is for the best.." Erza said, "Besides, it's not as if you'll be gone forever, right..? Nobody will stop you from coming back.."
"Yeah," Gray ran his hand through her fluffy feathers. "You can visit us all the time."
Wendy just kept whimpering quietly.
"And.. who knows? Maybe you'll grow to love the Dragons there. I'm sure you'll find a lot of lovely Skies like yourself. You'll find your family, Wendy," she said. "And they'll be so happy to see you."
"Y-you really think so..?"
"I know so," Erza nodded.
xXxOxXx
"Alright, young Sky, are you ready to go home?" Atlas asked, leading Wendy up higher and higher over the mountains where her home supposedly sat.
She really wasn't. Wendy wanted to go home and sunbathe in the park with Natsu and Gajeel like she used to. She wanted to read in the library with Erik and Rogue. She wanted to race in the skies with Sting and Laxus.
She wasn't ready to give all of that up.
She sighed, "I have to be, so yes…"
"Don't be like that. You belong here. You'll love it here," Atlas said.
Wendy gasped for air. The higher they went, the thinner the air got. She could see that even Atlas was struggling.
"Is this safe?" Wendy asked.
"It is for you. Do not worry, you will grow accustomed to it with time, but as for the rest of us, it is for the best that we turn back now."
She glanced up, "It's awfully cloudy…"
"It is always cloudy in this area."
"How will I know what to look for?" Wendy asked.
"There are plenty of Skies around these parts of the mountain range. It will not be long until you find one," Atlas assured. "Just keep your head up and your eyes forward."
And with that, Wendy was sent on her own. She had sent one last worried glance to the others, but Laxus just nodded her on, mouthing, "You'll be alright," with a reassuring nod.
She glided along the breeze flowing between the canyons. She landed on a higher perch and took some time to get used to the thinner air, so that she was no longer gasping for breath. While she was resting, she took a moment to examine the scenery around her.
As nervous as she is, she had to admit that the place is very beautiful. Mountainous terrain covered in greenery; forests and gorgeous wildflowers. And they went on as far as she could see before the fog took over.
She glanced up, trying to see how tall the mountains got-
Wait.
Was that a floating boulder?
Wendy tilted her head slightly, before flying up towards it to get a better look. Yep, it was a rock, no larger than she was, that was suspended in air through some form of magic. Curiously, she tapped it with her talon, but the only thing it did was tilt slightly. She perched on top of it and it sank slowly under her weight.
There was a stream of magic feeding into it, keeping it afloat, that she could feel on the breeze. She knew she was supposed to be finding other Skies, but this was just too much for her to go without feeding her curiosity.
She followed the stream of magic, flying up past more floating rocks–ranging from smaller than her claws to bigger than the first one she found–and even flew up through the clouds.
What she saw blew her mind.
A whole island, surrounded by smaller islands, that was large enough to house a whole Kingdom! The smaller islands also had unique attributes to them. One housed a garden and looked like the rest had a park, one looked like a training ground, and-
"Watch out!"
Wendy whirled around, and just barely had time to let out a quick, "Eep!" before diving back under the clouds, mere seconds before getting knocked out of the sky by another Dragon.
She hovered for a few seconds, trying to calm herself down after that near miss, before slowly flying back up. This time, she took a moment to make sure there was nobody else around her before flying completely through the clouds.
"Wow.." she breathed.
She hovered for a moment, taking in the sight, before making her way towards it. As she flew towards it, however, she couldn't help but notice the number of eyes on her.
She hesitantly landed on the larger island, as if worried that touching it would send it toppling out of the sky.
"Hey, Windrider!" a slightly larger Dragon landed next to her. He looked more like a Griffon than a Dragon, with his front half looking bird-like, similarly to Wendy herself, while his back half actually looked more draconic.
"Wait, you're not Windrider.. Weird, you look a lot like her," he murmured.
"Sorry for the confusion.." she ruffled her wings slightly, "I'm Wendy. I.." she hesitated, "I'm looking for the Sky Kingdom."
"A Sky who doesn't know her own Queendom?" the other Sky tilted his head, "Well, look no further, because you're standing right in it!"
"Wow!" she jogged ahead, "This place is so magical! You guys live on a floating island?" she bounced around.
"We didn't always. We used to live in the mountains down below, but we were forced to hide up here after several fights with the Lightning Dragons. They accused us of stealing one of their own, but.."
"Well.. The story is a lot more complicated than that," Wendy commented, "None of the Kingdoms stole eggs from each other. There was a thief who framed everybody!"
"Really? Who?"
"Well.. I don't know for certain, but.. Everybody thinks it was a Sage who did it.."
"Well, the Sages can mimic the magic of other Dragons, but why would they do this..?"
"I don't know, but that's why I'm here now. I used to live in a human city, and they wanted me to find my.. my home.." her voice quieted down as she said that.
"Well, Wendy, welcome home," he gently nudged her, "Let's go find Grandeeney. She lost an egg a few years ago, and you look an awful lot like her daughter, Windrider."
Wendy nodded, then followed the Griffon-like Dragon.
"Have the Lightnings ever found you?" she asked.
"No. We think they viewed it as a victory since they chased us out of our home, but it's fine. This place is a lot nicer anyway. Although, I do miss the forests below."
"It does sound a little upsetting, being forced to leave your home because of other Dragons.." Wendy said quietly. The other sky just shrugged, "You get used to it.. after a while.."
"But you shouldn't have had to!" Wendy exclaimed. "You never stole the Lightning egg, and they never stole my egg!"
"None of us knew that at the time," he reminded, causing her crest to flatten slightly. "We acted on what we knew."
He led her into a large building filled with nests. Most of the nest contained sick or injured Dragons. Wendy only had a moment to feel sorry for them before a larger, fluffy white Dragon glanced into the room.
"Oh, hello. My apologies, but I already have my talons full at the moment," she said. "But, if it's an emergency, I can find the room."
"No emergency! But since you're busy, we can find Windrider instead!"
"Why, it looks like you already found her!" the larger Dragon chuckled, then got a closer look, "Wait a second. You're not… You're.. You look so similar, but you're not.."
"I'm Wendy," she said. "I was taken from here years ago as an egg."
"That was you?" the larger Sky's blue eyes widened. She then sighed, "Oh, and I can't even greet you properly! I'm so busy here. We're short staffed and we have so many sick and injured… Go find Windrider. She'll give you everything you need to know and I'll come find you once I can, okay?"
Wendy and the other Sky nodded, then turned to leave.
"That was Grandeeney," he explained. "What do you think?"
"I know where I get my own healing talents from! I always wanted to be a doctor back in Magnolia. Do all Skies have healing magic?"
"Not all, but some of us do," he nodded, then took off, "Windrider usually spends time in the gardens, so just follow me!"
Wendy did so, gliding on the breeze behind him, diving down towards the smaller island, and taking a moment to appreciate the plants in the garden. They were well-maintained and gorgeous.
She spotted a blur out of the corner of her eye, and tried to follow it as it flew around the gardens, followed by a much darker blur.
She watched the two of them skid to a stop on the stone pathway leading around the gardens, then bump their wings together.
Unsure of what exactly to do or say, she just followed the other Sky as he glided down towards them. Wendy didn't know about the black one with the red highlights in her feathers, but she could probably assume the equally white-and-blue as herself was Windrider, given how everyone kept claiming that the two looked alike.
"Windrider! Chelia!"
The two looked up at him as he landed, only for their gaze to switch to Wendy. Windrider's feather's flared slightly in surprise.
"Who.. Who is this?" she asked, slowly moving closer to Wendy once she landed. Chelia gasped excitedly, bouncing around her, "She looks just like you, Windrider! Except maybe a little bit shorter. And her eyes are a different shade of brown. Her wings are differently shaped, too. But other than that, it's uncanny!"
Wendy took a moment to examine the fellow Sky. She did look a lot like Wendy aside from all the differences mentioned. She was taller, slightly more muscular, and the feather in the front of her crest was snapped in half, hanging forward as opposed to the others that were angled back.
Windrider looked thoughtful for a moment, before saying, "You're… the missing Sky, right?"
Wendy nodded.
"Oh, mother will be so happy!" Windrider flapped her wings excitedly, "Does she know yet?!"
"Yeah. We found her, but she was busy at the hospital, so we couldn't talk much, but she seemed happy to see me."
"That's because she is! We all are! We were all so worried about what the Lightnings were doing, if they killed you or were torturing you, or.." she trailed off, grimacing slightly.
"I wasn't!" Wendy quickly assured, "Well, I wasn't taken by the Lightnings."
"You weren't?" Chelia asked, eyes wide. "But Grandeeney-"
"Mother herself admitted that she didn't think the Dragon that attacked her was a Lightning," Windrider admitted.
"But the evidence was all there!" Chelia said. "Her den was electrified! The injuries she suffered all had textbook Lightning magic symptoms!"
"But it wasn't a Lightning," Wendy insisted. "Everyone thinks it might've been a Sage that did it.. When we were found in Magnolia by the Fires, their King seemed insistent that it was Irene's fault."
"Queen Irene?" Windrider gasped, "That's impossible! I never knew her personally, but from everything mother told me.. Irene was never that type of Dragon. She wouldn't do anything like this!"
"Grandeeney knew her?" Wendy asked.
"They used to be friends… a long time ago… The Skies and Sages bonded over their shared skill of enchantments and healing," Chelia explained.
"So the Skies won't allow the Sages to be attacked like this, right?" Wendy asked.
"What can we do about it?" Windrider asked solemnly. "We still have to worry about the Lightnings. We may not be at war anymore after our loss, but they will still harass us given the chance."
"It doesn't help that we've always been at odds with them in the past. We would argue over who got what parts of the mountain range. The egg thieving was just too much by that point.." Chelia added.
"But we can change all of that now! I just… need to figure out how to clear Irene's name too.." Wendy said.
"We can worry about all of that later. I want to get to know my sister," Windrider nuzzled her.
Wendy smiled, nuzzling her back. She just met this Dragon, but being around her felt right.
Even her short moment being with Grandeeney felt right , even if it was, well… short.
Wendy felt herself smiling–as much as her beak would allow–as she followed Windrider.
Erza was right, Wendy actually felt at home here. And if she ever felt homesick, she could go back to Magnolia to visit. Maybe she could ever bring Windrider and Chelia!
Wendy was home.