Wings of Fire: Revenant
Chapter Eleven
“I said go right!”
“I am going right!”
“My right, not your right!”
“Why would you tell me to go your right? That’s asinine!”
“Will you just do it already?! We’re about to –”
SPLASH!
“Crash,” Peacemaker finished as they dropped like a pair of stones into the lake.
Cliff popped up from the surface of the water, snorting as though he’d sucked half the lake into his nose. “That was your fault!” he insisted.
“My fault?” Peacemaker replied incredulously. “I told you, you were getting too close, and you didn’t listen to me.”
“Well, you give extremely unhelpful instructions,” Cliff said, pointedly shaking the water from his ears.
The two of them then did the paddle of shame all the way to shore, each gripping one side of the large fishing net that they’d been holding.
“That was a good try,” Auklet said from her perch on a nearby boulder, making a concerted effort to hide her amusement.
Seeker, meanwhile, had completely keeled over in a fit of unrestrained laughter.
“I’m glad someone is having fun,” Peacemaker told her wryly.
“That was hilarious,” she said, wiping tears from her eyes.
“It takes a little while to get the hang of using a net,” Auklet said in that eternally patient way she had, “you just need a bit more practice.”
“Well, can I please practice with someone else next time?” Cliff said, plopping miserably down onto the shore. “Maybe someone who actually knows left from right?”
“Don’t make me kill you,” Peacemaker growled.
“You can’t do that,” Cliff replied matter-of-factly. “Do you have any idea how boring your conversations would be if I were dead?”
“I’ll take my chances.”
Cliff wrinkled his snout and lashed his long tail across the water, splashing Peacemaker’s already sodden wings.
“Cliff, be nice,” Auklet scolded him.
“Me?” Cliff replied without lifting his head from the ground. “Did you not just hear him threaten my life?”
“Tattletale,” Peacemaker muttered, shaking water all over Cliff.
“Honestly, how old are you two?” Seeker inquired. “You know, Auklet and I didn’t complain nearly this much.”
“Of course you didn’t complain,” Peacemaker returned, “you got to work with the one dragon who actually knows what she’s doing. Cliff and I have no clue what we’re doing. Do we, Cliff?”
“Not even a little bit,” Cliff replied, flopping onto his back like a drowned pigeon.
There had been a rather intense game of rock paper talons to determine who would get paired with Auklet as they tried out the fishing nets for the first time. Needless to say, Seeker had won that battle, and had had a much more pleasant experience as a result. She and Auklet were now perched atop the large boulders framing the mountain lake, contentedly enjoying the fat trout that they’d caught.
“Auklet, can we please just go back to fishing normally?” Peacemaker beseeched her. “I don’t think Cliff and I are cut out for this.”
“Aw, but you’re both doing so much better,” she replied genuinely.
“In what universe?” Cliff inquired, flipping his head back to look at her.
“It’s only your third try. You’ll get it soon, I know you will.” The SeaWing princess said everything in such a heartfelt way, as though she’d never had a bad thought about anyone in her life. This was probably how she had managed to talk them into trying this disastrous activity in the first place.
“Maybe we’ll get it eventually,” Peacemaker said, lifting up the sopping wet net, so that they could all see the uneven gaps and tears across it, “but I don’t think this is going to survive another attempt.”
“Ouch,” said Seeker, “how did you manage that?”
Auklet tilted her head at it. “Here, let me see,” she said, beckoning Peacemaker forward.
“Go on without me,” Cliff moaned from his spot on the bank, “I’m just going to lay here and die.”
“Have fun with that,” Peacemaker replied.
He hopped a few of the large stones to the spot where Auklet was sitting, handing the dripping net off to her.
“It’s not all that bad,” she said, examining the loose cords, “I’m sure I can fix it.” She then reached into the leather pouch lying beside her and pulled out a thick ball of rope. She wove it in with expert claws, knotting the new cords seamlessly across the torn sections of the net.
“Whoa,” Peacemaker exclaimed, “how are you doing that so fast?”
“A lot of practice,” she said without looking up. “Once you make enough of these, you start to memorize the pattern.”
“Wait, you’re the one who made this?” he asked, touching the net with his claws.
Auklet looked up at him with an uncertain expression. “Yeeees?” she replied hesitantly. “I like to weave all sorts of things.”
“Super cool!” he said, “I’ve never seen someone do that before. Do you think you could show me how?”
Auklet blinked at him. “You want me to teach you?”
“Yeah, could you? I use nets all the time to protect the gardens back home, so it would be really useful.”
Auklet pulled distractedly at the piece of rope she was holding. “I don’t know. I don’t think I’d be a very good teacher.”
“Sure you would. You taught us to fish, didn’t you?”
“That’s different. Fishing is easy; any SeaWing can do it. I’m really not very good at weaving.”
“Don’t listen to her,” Cliff called up to them. “I’ve seen some of the stuff that she’s weaved, and it’s all amazing. But apparently I’m ‘just saying that to be nice’.”
“Aren’t you supposed to be dying?” Peacemaker called back.
“It’s a slow process. Don’t rush me.”
Peacemaker rolled his eyes before turning back to Auklet. “Cliff seems to think that you’re pretty good,” he pointed out.
“I can do some basic stuff,” she said, anxiously knotting a length of cord, “but nothing that impressive.”
“Well, that’s lucky, because something basic is exactly what I need. If you haven’t noticed, I’m not terribly artistically inclined. I tried to draw a tree once and it ended up looking like a hunk of moldy broccoli.”
Auklet chuckled softly before glancing back up at him. “You don’t have to do all of this just to make me feel good.”
“Are you kidding? You’d be doing me a favor.”
“Well,” she said, holding up the net to check for more holes, “in that case, I guess it wouldn’t hurt to try.”
“Great!” Peacemaker exclaimed, giving an excited little hop. “Maybe we could give it a shot sometime after the full-moon break?”
Auklet smiled. “Sounds good,” she said, handing the net off to him. “I think you should be able to use this now.”
“Wow, thanks,” he said, looking over the seamlessly patched net in awe.
“I hope you’re planning to do that with someone else this time,” Cliff called up, “you know, since I’m currently dead and all. Corpses aren’t very good at fishing, as a general rule.”
“Yes, but a corpse would be very useful as fish bait,” Peacemaker returned.
“No, you can’t do that” Seeker said, fluttering over to the spot beside him. “Who’s going to want to eat a fish that’s been nibbling on Cliff?”
“I don’t know whether to be flattered or insulted by that,” Cliff mused.
Seeker snorted, picking up one side of the net that Peacemaker was holding. “I’ll help you this time.”
Working with Seeker was considerably easier, and the two of them had soon caught a trio of wildly flapping carp. Having no interest in eating the fish himself, Peacemaker smugly handed his share over to Cliff, thoroughly enjoying the petulant look that the SkyWing gave him. The four of them then settled onto the surrounding boulders, where Peacemaker soon found a shrub of wild elderberries to snack from.
Cliff and Auklet were deep in conversation about nothing in particular when Seeker turned to Peacemaker and said, “You’re really sweet, you know that?”
“What? What’d I do?” he inquired, popping a talonful of berries into his mouth.
“You know what you did. That meant a lot to Auklet.”
“Oh, that. It wasn’t a big deal, really. I asked her to help me, remember?”
Seeker shook her head. “You know, I’m glad you’re such a good dragon, because you have one seriously tricky mind. That could be dangerous in the wrong talons.”
“Am I supposed to know what you’re talking about?” he replied innocently.
She laughed, tossing a slimy fishtail which landed squarely between Peacemaker’s horns. He shook it off, laughing as he threw a cluster of berries in her direction.
“Why are you two tossing food at each other?” Cliff inquired. “Is this some weird NightWing ritual that you haven’t told me about?”
“Of course,” Peacemaker replied, “we always have the traditional food fight after we dine. It protects us from attacks by annoying SkyWings.”
“Let’s see if it works, then,” Cliff said, slinging a large clump of dirt and grass, which thankfully sailed high over Peacemaker’s shoulder. “Drat, I’ve been foiled!”
Peacemaker laughed, playfully flicking the last of the elderberries in his clawmate’s direction.
Cliff might be a royal pain in the tail, but he and Auklet and Seeker meant more to Peacemaker than he could ever tell them.
He still vividly remembered how he’d felt in that moment two months before, when he and Seeker first returned from their talk in the garden. Cliff and Auklet had met them outside the school, still radiating anxiety for their friend. Peacemaker had told them everything – the whole truth – and waited for that look of contempt or pity to cross their face. But it never did.
“That’s why you ran off?” Cliff had inquired. “You could have just told me! I wouldn’t have taken us there if I had known it would upset you so much.”
“I was just … scared to tell the truth,” Peacemaker had admitted.
“That you can’t breathe fire?” Cliff had said. “So what? Everyone in the Sky Kingdom can do it. It’s not anything special.”
“That’s right,” Auklet had added, “Besides, I can’t do it, and neither can anyone else in my family.”
“Three moons, Peace, did you really think that we wouldn’t want to be your friends anymore because of that?” Cliff had asked him, looking completely bewildered by the idea.
“I feel so bad,” Auklet had said. “Have you been worrying about this the whole time? That we were going to run off and abandon you if we knew the truth?”
Peacemaker had averted his gaze.
Cliff had bristled as though he was preparing to fight an unseen enemy. “That would never happen,” he’d said. “You’re my best friend, Peacemaker, and you’re just going to have to learn to live with that, because you’re stuck with me for good.”
“With all of us,” Auklet had added.
Peacemaker had turned to look at Seeker, who smiled pointedly at him, all the light in the world shining behind her eyes. Peacemaker thought it wouldn’t be possible to ever love a group of dragons as much as he did at that moment.
The next two months had been a flurry of school, time with friends, and work on the garden. The plants had begun to lengthen and branch out, leaving carpets of green across the previously barren ground. Peacemaker felt himself glow with pride as the teachers congratulated him on all the work he had done, but he never forgot just how big of a part that his friends had played in it.
In their off time, the four of them had taken to trying various activities, all with varying degrees of success. Flight maneuvers with Cliff were simple enough, but blacksmithing with Seeker had ended in a trip to the infirmary. Evidently, putting Cliff and Peacemaker together in a room full of sharp tools and very hot fires was a recipe for disaster.
After this, they had decided that a much less perilous activity was in order, and so Auklet had begun teaching them to fish. Peacemaker found it surprisingly fun to swoop down and snatch up the dark shapes from the water, and being able to deliver his catch to the prey center afterwards made him feel all excited and useful.
Since things had been going so well with the fishing, Auklet had decided that learning to use a net was the next logical step. This had led them to where they were today, almost exactly two months from Peacemaker’s arrival at the school.
It was late afternoon now, and the horizon was slowly bleeding through with shades of burnt orange and red. Distant birds were beginning to take up their evening chorus, while frogs chirped cheerfully from the nearby trees.
Cliff swept away the pile of fish bones gathered at his feet, thoughtfully picking the silvery scales from his talons. “Do you guys know what you’re going to be doing for the full-moon festival yet?” he inquired. “My mother wants me to come back to the Sky Kingdom for the celebration. I wanted Auklet to come with me, but she’s going to be busy.”
“My mother wants me to visit her, too,” Auklet explained. “We’ve never been apart for this long before. When I came here, I promised I would go home every chance I got.”
The full-moon festival was an old SandWing tradition that had been revived shortly after the war and soon begun spreading to some of the other tribes. To be fair to all of the students, every tribe was given two days off from school at this time, to visit family or celebrate however they chose.
Currently, one moon was half-waned and another was no more than a silvery, whip-thin crescent. The last moon, however, was very nearly full. The festival would begin in just a few days.
“What about you two?” Cliff asked Peacemaker and Seeker. “Do NightWings celebrate the full-moon festival?”
“Not usually,” Peacemaker replied. “Full moons are the time when moonborn dragonets hatch out, so we try to keep things pretty calm and quiet for them.”
“That’s true on the settlement as well,” Seeker added, “but I was still thinking about going back to surprise my father. I’d really like to see him again.” She turned to look at Peacemaker. “Do you think you’ll do the same thing for your mother?”
Peacemaker shook his head. “We already talked about it in our last letter. She’s going to be caught up in delegation meetings the whole time, so even if I did go home, I would still barely see her. I think I’m probably going to stay here and maybe do some work on the garden.”
“All by yourself?” Auklet inquired sadly.
“I’m sure Moon will be staying to grade scrolls. I can bother her while you three are gone.”
“That’s kind of depressing, Peace,” Cliff replied.
Seeker picked thoughtfully at the earpiece of her glasses. “I have another idea,” she said, catching Peacemaker’s gaze, “you could come to the Peninsula with me.”
Peacemaker gave a start of surprise. “What? Really?”
“Why not? You said you’ve never been before, and it would be a lot more fun than flying in silence the whole way.”
“That definitely won’t be a problem if you bring Peace with you,” Cliff quipped.
Peacemaker shot him a withering glare. “Seriously? You of all dragons are making a comment about someone talking too much?”
Seeker flicked Peacemaker’s snout with her tail. “Focus. I was also going to say that I could show you around the old Night Kingdom. A lot of it is still completely abandoned.”
“Why?” Auklet inquired. “Didn’t dragons want to make their houses where there were already buildings to work with?”
“It’s kind of unstable,” Seeker explained. “Pieces of the buildings are known to just randomly fall off sometimes.”
“Well, that’s reassuring,” Cliff remarked.
“Plus, some of the NightWings are still superstitious about the area around the Great Diamond,” Seeker continued, ignoring him. “They think it’s haunted.”
“Some SeaWings still think that about our Island Palace,” Auklet said. “It took the Summer Palace being almost destroyed for them to even want to use it again.”
“SkyWings can’t really afford to be that picky,” Cliff said. “After having Scarlet as our queen for so many years, basically every inch of the kingdom has some horrifying story attached to it. If we avoided every place that might be haunted by the tormented souls of dead dragons, then we’d have nowhere to live.”
“You are really not selling me on ever visiting the Sky Kingdom,” Peacemaker commented.
He then turned back to Seeker and said, “I would love to visit the settlement. My mother goes all the time for her job, but she always finds some excuse not to bring me. Something about how she’s there to work, not babysit me, or something ridiculous like that. As if I’ve ever gotten into trouble before in my life. But didn’t you say that you wanted to visit with your father?”
“Having you there won’t keep me from doing that,” she replied. “Besides, I think he’d really like to meet you.”
“Aww,” Cliff cooed, shooting a goading smile at Peacemaker.
“I liked you better when you were a corpse,” Peacemaker huffed.
Seeker exchanged a look with Auklet, as though the two of them were silently debating whether male dragons were worth all the trouble.
“Well, if you’re really sure … ” Peacemaker started.
“I wouldn’t have offered if I wasn’t sure. I don’t talk just to hear the sound of my own voice, unlike some dragons,” Seeker replied, shooting an impish grin at Peacemaker and Cliff.
“Harrumph!” Cliff responded, turning up his nose in regal distain.
“In that case,” Peacemaker said, rustling his wings excitedly, “let’s do it!”
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