Hello all. Back again and I managed to pump out another chapter this week. It is a little bit of a return back to the original plot, but things are going to change drastically very soon. I am happy that there is a small following for this story, and I'll be honest, I am a little surprised by the amount of praise. I don't hold myself very high when it comes to writing quality, but I'm glad you all seem to enjoy it, so thank you for giving my story a chance. Anyway, this chapter will be a tad shorter than the last, but I'll make them back to the main length one I have a little breathing room after finals are done. Anyway, please enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Wings of Fire.

"Normal speech"

"Thoughts"

It was around twenty minutes later that Tsunami and Glory came back with several Cacti heads, both grumbling and complaining about Cactus needles in their talons. They dumped it in front of Wither, who cracked an eye open, looking at the green plant. "Thank you. I apologize if it was a hassle to work with." He scooped it up, pulling a bright piece off the side of one of them. "... Here, eat this." He plucked a second, using his talon to scrape off the needles on the sides, before handing them to Tsunami and Glory. "They aren't as flavorful as most fruits here, but they are far more refreshing." Tsunami looked at the cleaned cactus piece skeptically, before taking a bite out of it, juices oozing out at her teeth sunk in, before pulling back, her eyes wide. " It's so juicy..." Her lips then puckered in on themselves as she shuttered. "And sour!" Wither chuckled. "It is a bit of an acquired taste, but for those who haven't had anything to drink in days when traveling the desert, it's a life saver." Glory giggled at the look on Tsunami's face, before blinking as she looked around. "Where's Moonwatcher?" He tilted his head to gesture to a small spot beneath the trees, where Moonwatcher was shyly peering at them from. "She's a shy one, so please, try to be welcoming. I don't want her first impression of any of you as... hostile."

Tsunami huffed. "I'm just being careful. Can you blame me?" He shook his head. "Of course not. I only ask that you give her a chance rather than assume you know what she's like before getting to know her." Tsunami frowns, before she noticed Moonwatcher shrinking away at her intense gaze. Her mind went back to when she had first met her little sister, Anemone, before sighing. "... I'm sorry, Moonwatcher. A lot has been going on, with... a lot of dragons trying to hurt my friends. I'm just... on edge." Moon slowly relaxed. "... I-I understand... I don't have any friends, but I understand wanting to protect someone close to you." Wither had a playfully hurt expression, making his voice quiver. "Y-you don't see me as a friend?" Moonwatcher froze, stuttering. "I-I... u-um... I-I do, I just..." Wither laughed lightly. "I'm teasing you, Moonwatcher." Moon blinked, before pouting. "... That was mean." Wither chuckled. "Got you to relax a little though." Moonwatcher blinked, noticing that her talons weren't shaking out of nervousness anymore.

He smiled, before Sunny came back through with a bundle of long green segmented sticks. "I think I found it." Wither blinked at the pile that was dropped at his talons, before chuckling lightly. "You didn't need that much, but thank you, Sunny." He gazed to where Clay was trailing behind her, but was muffled as the mudwing tried to talk, stopped by a sicky, goo-like substance in his mouth. Wither chuckled. "Tough luck, Clay. Takes nearly half an hour to chew that all down." Clay mumbled grumpily as the other dragonets joined in chuckling, even Moonwatcher was giving out a small giggle. Wither looked to Moonwatcher, smiling. "Remember that trick I taught you. I know, it's scary being surrounded by a bunch of dragons you don't know, but... the rainwings are... well, mostly nice. There's always the odd cranky one." Moon giggled softly, but still hesitated. Wither tapped her head lightly, causing her to yelp, the rub her head. "W-What was that for?" He smiled. "To tell you to not worry about it so much."

She thought for a moment, starting to think of all the things she had seen from her mother's mind. The burning island, the predators of the rainforest. What the Nightwings would do with her if she was ever found by the- Another tap to her head broke her train of thought. "Ow!" Wither gave her a pointed look. "I'm not stopping until you stop thinking about the worst possible outcome." She frowned lightly. "... B-But what if- Ow!" She rubbed her forehead as Wither stared at her. "Gonna finish that thought?" She winced lightly. The pokes weren't causing any actual damage, but it stung lightly. "F-Fine! Just stop poking me!" He smiled. "Just trust us. It's not a bad place." Moon deliberated for a bit, obviously nervous, before giving a nod with a sigh. "A-alright... I'll try at least." Wither smiled. "That's the spirit." He unfurled his wings as he looked to the other dragonets. "Let's go back. I'm keen on not having this poison in me anymore, and you can give your update to Mangrove in the meantime."

The others nodded, spreading their wings as they began to fly. They all flew ahead to the Rainwing village... except for Sunny, who looked back to see that Moonwatcher was hesitating. She flew down to join the Nightwing, giving her a kind smile. "Nervous?" Moonwatcher gave a shy nod. "Yeah... I don't like being surrounded by others... too noisy." Sunny giggled. "Well, We'll ask them to be a bit more quiet around you if you want." Moon frowned lightly, knowing that wouldn't work the way Sunny thought it would. Sunny gave her an empathetic smile. "... I was a little nervous too, leaving the cave I had grown up in... Granted, it was at spear point and in chains, but I couldn't help but wonder what dragons I would meet. What they were like, and how they saw the world... And I got excited. Excited to escape and find the good dragons of the world so we could end the war once and for all." Moon looked at Sunny, bewildered. "... But... Aren't you scared of all the bad things that could happen to you?" Sunny shook her head. "Well, normally I'd say that the prophecy won't let anything bad happen to us, but... I also have my friends. Clay, Tsunami, Starflight, Glory, and a few weeks ago, we met Wither. As long as I have all of them, I know nothing bad can happen to us." She beamed to Moonwatcher. Though Sunny was older, she was still smaller than the Nightwing, so she had to smile up to Moon, who blushed lightly in embarrassment, before giving a shy smile. "... Thanks, Sunny. I think I needed to hear that... I'm... still new to the thought of friends."

Sunny smiled. "Well, I guess it's up to us to give you a crash course then." Moonwatcher blinked out of confusion, which made Sunny giggle as she continued. "We all were taken away from our families, so It's good that you at least know your mom. None of us knew our parents, and so far, we've only met Clay's mom and Tsunami's mom. You're lucky that your mom cared so much about you that she tried to save you from that island. It sounds terrible... poor Nightwings..." Moonwatcher couldn't help but smile. "... You really care a lot about other dragons?" Sunny beamed. "Of course. We might be the dragonets of destiny, but it'll take everyone working together to stop this war." Moon looked bewildered at Sunny. Could all the tribe... really do that? Come together to end the war? Moon wasn't so certain, but the way Sunny was smiling, so full of hope... She couldn't help but hope that it did happen. "... I hope it works out that way... I think I'm ready." Sunny nodded, giving her another smile. "Alright. Follow me." Sunny leapt into the air, flapping her wings as she flew to the Rainwing village, Moonwatcher following behind her, lost in her thoughts. "... I'm still so nervous about all of this. New dragons, new voices... I really hope you can deliver on your promise Wither... I don't want this curse anymore."

Wither landed at the healer's hut, and quickly got to work. By the time that Sunny and Moonwatcher joined them, he was already halfway through sawing off a piece of bamboo with his talon, cutting off a fairly good sized piece, before pulling the newly sprouted bamboo shoot, poking a hole onto the flat section of the bamboo and then slowly starting to work the sprout through it. Once he did, he pulled the sprout back out and cut the tip of the sprout at an angle, making it so that the sprout was pointed and cut the base so that it was now a hollow needle. He then used another piece of bamboo to slide the needle, so it was poking outward on the side he had made the hole, making something the dragonets had never seen before. He chuckled at their incredulous expressions. "This is an old tool my tribe used to use for illness. Rather than simply laying remedies on the entrance wound, we would use this so that the cure could go into the bloodstream, fighting the disease or illness directly."

He picked up the cacti heads, before putting them in a freshly washed stone bowl, finding a smooth stone on the rack where the healers kept their herbs, and started to first, clear off the needled of the cacti, picking them off one by one. Starflight was looking at the impromptu tool with wonder. "This is genius. So instead of blood slowly absorbing the cure, you put it directly inside the vein in order to have it travel faster through your body. How has nobody else thought of this?" Wither chuckled. "Oh, I'm sure there have been many who have... But, as I'm sure you all would agree, not a lot of dragons like the idea of intentionally stabbing themselves with something sharp. Not to mention, it takes finesse to use. If you inject via blowing, like the one I've made... Let's just say, accidentally blowing your breath into a vein is a ripe recipe for disaster and agonizing pain." Starflight shivered. "Y-yeah, that doesn't sound... pleasant." Wither nodded. "Indeed. So, keep note of it for the future. Normally, the best way would be to have a stopper inside that perfectly fits with some way to pull it out and push in, but I'm not going to be able to make something like that without some tools."

He finished plucking off the cacti needles, before starting to use the smooth stone to grind the cacti in the bowl, the green plant being crushed and mashed over and over again, turning the green plant into a paste with fluids gleaming on it. He nodded. "This should be good." He slowly, carefully took his needle, before pushing it in-between the scales on his wrist, wincing at the pinch of pain as he placed it over his blackened vein, before looking to the dragonets. "Would one of you hold this in place as I pour?" Clay nodded, holding the needle as Wither began to pour the fluid from the bowl into the needle, the paste sticking to the bowl as only the liquid poured out. Wither then put down the bowl, nodding in thanks to Clay, before lifting the needle slightly to let some of the liquid pour out to eliminate any air bubbles. He then stabbed the needle into the vein, wincing at the pinch of pain, before gently blowing into the open end, pushing the liquid into his bloodstream, stopping only after a bit, over a quarter of the fluid he had poured inside remaining, before pulling the needle out.

"There. That should be enough for that bit." He pulled some of the paste out of the bowl with his talons, slathering it on the blackened entry point on the palm of his talon, before wrapping a long palm leaf over it. "I'd say I need a couple of hours for the cure to work its way through my system, but I should be back to full strength pretty soon." Sunny smiled. "I'm glad, Wither... It was scary, seeing you get tired so quickly... I was worried you'd fall asleep and not wake up..." Wither chuckled, patting her head which made her blush. "Don't worry so much, Sunny. I've been through... much worse. First time I was stung by a Sandwing, I had to wait out the poison. Took a month before it was purged from my body." She giggled softly. "Well, It's nice to have you back to your old, rough on the outside self." He gave a laugh. "I mean, have you seen my scales? They're pretty much segmented stones. I'd call that pretty rough." She giggled again as Glory got up, looking to them. "I'm going to go tell Mangrove what we found." Wither nodded. "You do that. As for me... I need to rest. It will still take time for the poison to be purged, and sleeping is the best thing I can do right now to help that along."

Glory nodded, before flying out. Tsunami sighed. "I better go with her. Make sure nothing bad happens like Mangrove running off." She took off to join Glory, Starflight sighing. "... I think we all better go make sure of that." Sunny nodded, before looking to Moonwatcher. "Sorry to ask this of you so early, Moonwatcher, but could you make sure Wither stays okay?" Moonwatcher blinked, before nodding lightly. "S-Sure. I don't mind." Sunny smiled. "Thank you. Make sure he doesn't get into any trouble." Wither grunted lightly as he laid down, closing his eyes. Sunny, Clay and Starflight took off to follow Tsunami and Glory, leaving Moonwatcher and Wither alone. Moonwatcher finally winced, touching her head lightly as Wither looked over to her. "Take it slow. One at a time, like I told you. Don't feel the need to silence all of them at once." She nodded, sitting down as she used the next couple of minutes to slowly let the voices of the rainforest around them fade into the ambient rain of her mind.

Wither then blurted. "My right, Fourth tree from the cockatoo." A bright pink female Rainwing, Heliconia he believed her name was, shimmered into being. She pouted as she landed nearby. "Pineapple was right. You seem to have some magic sense of where we are. You didn't even open your eyes, so how did you know?" He gave a smile, cracking an eye open. "I've always had exceptional hearing. I heard your talons scratching the bark." She smiled. "That's amazing. I never would guess that sound would be involved... maybe that's what I need to do to get better at hiding. Make myself stealthier." He chuckled. "Find patches of the trees that have moss on them. Those are great for suppressing sound. Where is Pineapple anyway?" She sighed. "Gathering duty. He is... ironically, in charge of gathering the majority of the pineapples." He actually barked a laugh. "I see the Rainwing sense of humor hasn't died."

Heliconia smiled, before spotting Moonwatcher, smiling. "Hi! You're a new face. Welcome to the rainwing village." Moonwatcher gave a polite but nervous smile, deciding to try and read this dragon's thoughts. "Wow, her scales are so pretty. Especially the tear-shaped ones near her eyes. I wonder if she's related to the other black scaled one, or at least, from the same tribe? More visitors in the same week. This week is getting so exciting!" Moonwatcher let the thoughts fade away, giving a slightly more confident smile. "Moonwatcher... Th-thank you. I'm still new, and... getting used to all this." Heliconia tilted her head. "Getting used to what?" Moon blushed lightly. "...Talking to other dragons." The rainwing frowned lightly, before Wither piped up. "Her homeland is a dangerous place, so her mother took her away from it, but that unfortunately made it so that she hasn't talked with other dragons before." Heliconia gasped. "Oh, you poor dragonet. That's horrible! Talking with other dragons is like, the best thing ever!" Moonwatcher gave a nervous smile. "W-well, I'm figuring it out... kind of."

Wither chuckled at the sight. Maybe Moon could make a couple of new friends here in the rainforest. Things already seemed to be going alright with Heliconia, maybe Moon could do well here. He closed his eyes, drifting to sleep, blissfully unaware that trouble was already brewing.

Glory landed near the hammock that Mangrove was resting in, the other dragonets landing close by as Mangrove rolled out of his hammock, landing on his feet. "Did you find her?" Glory shook her head. "Not yet, but we did find something strange. A tunnel in the boulder at the top of the waterfall. We walked through it and ended up in the kingdom of sand." Mangrove looked confused. "Kingdom of sand? Where's that?" Starflight chimed in, going into lecture mode. "The kingdom of sand is by all accounts the largest kingdom on the continent and is located on the other side of the mountain range to the north-west. It's... nearly half the continent away." Mangrove frowned. "Then Orchid was taken there?" Starflight sighed. "We don't know. There's no signs that she was, but it is a possibility. But who would take her? Or the other Rainwings?" Glory thought for a few minutes. "... Blaze? Her fortress is at the edge of the kingdom of sand, between that and the ice kingdom." Starflight shrugged. "Maybe, but why would she? Unless she was trying to weaponize Rainwing venom?" Glory raised an eyebrow. "You seriously think Blaze would be smart enough to think of that?" Starflight shook his head. "Not Blaze... Queen Glacier." Glory blinked. "... Right. Hadn't thought about her... but if so, Orchid would freeze in her palace dungeon before they could extract any of her venom."

Sunny sighed. "Sorry Mangrove. There really isn-... Mangrove?" She looked to see that the older Rainwing was missing. "... Guy's, I think Mangrove ran off." Her statement wasn't noticed as Glory growled out. "We need to find her soon. It might be a long shot, but... even if we don't find Orchid, you all wanted to meet Blaze, right? Meet the last Sandwing princess before you decide which one will be queen." Starflight sighed. "Glory, nobody said that you don't also have a say in this. you're just as much one of us as any of us." Clay nodded. "Agreed. You're one of us, and this is something you want, so we'll follow your lead. Prophecy or not." Tsunami rolled her eyes. "Some of us, maybe." Clay frowned to her, before Sunny was finally able to get a word in. "Guys!" They all looked to her as her expression became worried. "Mangrove is gone. I think he ran off to the Sand kingdom." They all looked to see that she was right, Mangrove was nowhere to be seen. Glory looked around, before growling. "Can't one dragon around here be smart for five seconds!?"

Wither snored softly as Moonwatcher sorted through the Rainwing voices in her mind, slowly but surely fading them into the background. It was amazing, that she could actually have their voices face into the background rain that played in her mind. She took a deep breath, feeling calm for the first time since Wither had taken her from her little hiding place... Right until Heliconia appeared right next to her, causing her to yelp in surprise. "C-can you not do that? You scared me." Heliconia giggled, settling. "Sorry, It's just too fun to resist. We Rainwings are so good at spotting each other that it's a little boring, but super fun with new faces. Dragons who don't know how to see up. We all laugh at their surprised expressions when we manage to sneak up on them." The Rainwing looked up, hearing wingbeats. "Ah, That'll be my friend, Pineapple. You'll love him. He loves trying to test the limits of his camouflage, playing our little game." Moonwatcher watched as Pineapple landed nearby, Holding a bundle of the yellow and green fruit he was named after. "Hey Heliconia. I save some for you and our new hide and seek player." She smiled. "Well, he's taking a nap right now. Oh, And this is Moonwatcher. She's apparently staying here with them for a while." Pineapple looked her over, before giving a kind smile. "Hey. Welcome to our home... Want some?" He offered one of the spiky fruits, Moonwatcher giving a semi-uncomfortable look out of habit. "... Sure." She took the pineapple, slicing it neatly with her talons to get rid of the skin, before chomping down on it.

It was far more juicy than she had expected, the acidic sticky fluid dripping down her chin and neck as she blushed. "W-wow... I've never eaten one so... messy." Pineapple nodded. "I know the area best for growing them. And I know exactly the right time to pick them. We sometimes mash it down into juice for if we want a refresher during a hot day. But we also sometimes find coconuts, and if you crack one of those open and mix the juices of both together in the coconut shell, it's amazing." Moonwatcher looked at the remains of her pineapple, eating the rest, before tilting her head curiously. "I see... I've never tried that... Remind me to try it later." Pineapple nodded with a smile. "Will do!" He then sighed. "I better go check on Jambu. He's been working on something for the last day. I think he wants to give something to that new rainwing, Glory. I think he said that she was his sister." He flew off, leaving Moon and Heliconia together next to the sleeping Deathwing.

Moonwatcher tried to relax, sorting through the ambient thoughts in her head. The rainwings were just like Wither said. Most of them were calm enough that sliding them into the background was easy, with a couple of exceptions. Namely, this one rainwing that kept ranting in her head about being removed from her teaching duty to a disobedient student that she called Kinkajou. She sighed as she pushed out those thoughts, trying to see if there were any others that she could slip into the rain of her mind. She settled in more, giving a small sigh as she got comfortable, Heliconia smiling over to her. "We have hammocks if you want to use one. They're really comfortable and you won't risk falling off the platform. Moon gave a shy smile back. "I should be good. I'm a peaceful sleeper." She closed her eyes as she relaxed, feeling safe amongst strangers... She had to pause at that thought. She was surrounded by people she didn't know... but she felt safer than she had ever felt before. She thought on that, looking to the dragon who had made it all happen, before smiling. "... Thank you, Wither... Maybe... Maybe I can live without being scared of everything after all."

Glory and the other dragonets landed just outside of the boulder, the young Rainwing cursing to herself as he started to go in, before Clay put a talon on her shoulder, stopping her. "Wait up. We shouldn't just rush head first into this." Glory began to protest but stopped herself from lashing out. He was right, no good would come from acting rashly. "... So, we go stealthily... I should go alone. I can camouflage myself, but you all can't. It would be too risky for you all to go, so close to Burn's fortress." Clay shook his head. "We keep telling you, Glory... You're one of us. Where you go, we go." Sunny nodded. "We agreed to help you, Glory. We're not backing out on that now." Glory looked between them, Starflight and Tsunami. "... Thanks guys. It... means a lot." Sunny nodded before looking back towards the village. "... Should we tell Wither?" Glory shook her head. "No. Let him rest. We've bothered him enough for a while."

"Hey!" They all nearly jumped as Jambu came out of the underbrush. "Where are you all headed? You'll miss the harvest and sun time." Glory sighed. "Mangrove ran off to look for Orchid through this tunnel. We're going to find him before he gets himself killed." Jambu frowned. "Oh... Anything I can do to help?" Glory blinked lightly. "You... want to help?" He nodded. "A little short notice, but if Mangrove is in danger, I can't just let my little sister and her friends go alone." Glory looked conflicted, before nodding. "Alright. Come on." Jambu nods, before turning back, shouting into part of the forest where he came from. "Gonna be gone for a while. Thanks for the food, Pineapple!" Pineapple's voice came from the other side. "You're welcome! See you when you get back!" He smiled as he trotted forward, Glory tilting her head curiously. "Pineapple?" Jambu smiled. "A close friend of mine."

Glory nodded, before facing the hole in the boulder. "... Let's hope Mangrove hasn't gotten too far." She went into the tunnel, leading the way towards the kingdom of sand.

Several hours later.

Wither yawned lightly as he woke up, cracking his eyes open to see Moonwatcher sleeping peacefully nearby. He smiled softly at the calm expression on her face. "... She looks just like you, Celeste... back before..." He ended that thought. Too much was happening to be dwelling on the past. He looked at his talon to see that the blackened veins had brightened in color, now only a sliver of the black remaining. "Good." He got up, stretching as his joints popped, before giving a long yawn. "Well... I wonder where the dragonets ended up." Pineapple came landing down, smiling as Heliconia landed beside him. "Hey. How ya holding up?" Wither nodded to the two of them. "Much better now." Pineapple smiled, before looking to Moonwatcher. "Aw. Was she tuckered out?" Heliconia jabbed his side. "Shut up, Pineapple. I think she was just super nervous, so of course she's tired." Wither nodded to them. "She is... not used to being around dragons. Too much noise for her liking." Heliconia nodded. "Yeah. Hopefully we can help her get more comfortable. I can't imagine how boring that must be, not talking to other dragons."

Wither had to stop himself from giving a nervous laugh from how similar that described himself before he met the dragonets... In fact, a lot had changed since they appeared on his secluded island. He took a moment, reflecting on how he was then, and how he felt now. Before, when he was alone, his days were long and boring, but uneventful. Nothing surprising happened, nothing painful. He wasn't stabbed and poisoned. But... Even with all that, it was strange that he felt... happy. Happier than he had felt in the last few decades. "... Moonwatcher isn't the only one who has begun to change. Not too long ago, I adamantly tried to not talk to other dragons. But then those five sort of... dragged me along on their adventure to where we are now." He sighed, smiling at how chaotic but interesting his life had become since meeting the five troublemakers.

He looked to the two Rainwings. "Do either of you know where the five dragonets went? With Glory?" Pineapple nodded. "Yeah. Jambu went with them to a strange waterfall, something about sand? They said something about Mangrove running off to try and find Orchid, and something about a tunnel? I was just giving Jambu some food, so I wasn't part of the conversation, but it sounded like they were all headed to find Mangrove. Though, apparently, they need to fly next to a... fortress? I think Glory mentioned someone named Burn owning it?" Wither's eyes widened, before slowly bringing his talon to his face, pinching between his eyes as he growled out. "Of all the hair brained... I don't blame them, but... Ugh, this is a mess... How long ago did they leave?" Pineapple looked up at the sky to gauge the time as the sun was just starting to set over the horizon. "About... seven or eight hours ago?"

Wither groaned. "Stupid brave dragonets... alright... Can I ask you both to watch over Moonwatcher while I'm gone? If she asks where I am, tell her I promise to be back soon. I need to go make sure those five don't do anything stupid." Pineapple chuckled, before nodding. "Sure. No problem!" Wither nodded, before getting up, glancing at Moonwatcher for a quick second. "I know it's scary, Moonwatcher, but I know you will do well here. I'll be back as soon as I can... You won't be alone like I was." He leaped off the platform to dive down to the waterfall, before quickly making his way inside.

Unknown to him that someone, lurking in the shadows nearby, watched him land and go. A low growl reverberated in the now empty clearing, before the figure slowly crawled up the tree on the opposite side of the stream, disappearing into it.

Well, there you have it. I definitely didn't want to leave out meeting what those who've already read the original series know they're about to meet, but this will turn into a major turning point of what I plan to do with this story later on. No spoilers. Anyway, Thank you for ready, review if you'd like, always welcome to feedback, and I'll see you all next week.