#OH MINDREADER AND STARFLIGHT TOO :)!!!

[seawing-vibes]

Whats everyone’s fav friendships within WoF? Theres not alotta conversation around specifically friendships in the series and I’m Curious!! My personal fav is Pike & Tamarin <3 ! They are ! Buddies !!

[nivrad00]

School's Out

11. Hide-and-Seek

“We’re using NightWing rules,” Peacemaker announced. “So you have to stay in the village. And no camouflage!”

“Really?” Kinkajou said. “Then what’s the point?”

“That sounds fair to me,” Tamarin said with a smile. “I can’t see you either way.”

“I’m going to start counting!” Peacemaker said, covering his eyes with his wings. “You better go hide!”

“Okay, okay!” Kinkajou said.

As the hybrid dragonet started to loudly count backwards, the RainWing cast her eyes around the NightWing village. “Follow me,” she hissed. Tamarin nodded and let Kinkajou lead her away.

After rejecting a clump of bushes (too predictable, according to Kinkajou) and a RainWing hammock (what if the owner came back to take a nap?), the two RainWings huddled behind the marble stage where the Rainforest Court held its weekly forum.

“Ready or not, here I come!” Peacemaker shouted in the distance.

“He’ll never find us here,” Kinkajou said quietly, but confidently. “Trust me. I am a master hide-and-seeker.”

“Just wait until Bright-eyes is old enough to play,” Tamarin teased. “He’ll look into the future and know exactly where you’ll be before you even get there.”

Kinkajou rolled her eyes. “Okay, using NightWing powers is cheating. Which would be obvious to any master hide-and-seeker.”

“I wonder what it’s like to be a seer?” Tamarin said. “Do you think he’s had any visions already?”

“I hope not,” Kinkajou said. “Bright-eyes way too young for that. It’s hard enough being a hatchling, you know. Like, wow, there’s a whole entire world out there, and there are lots of scary dragons, and sometimes I step on my own tail and spook myself! And etcetera. Personally, I’d never want to be a seer. There’s enough to worry about in the present.”

“I think it would be alright,” Tamarain said. “Think of everything you could do for your friends. You could tell them, hey, trust me, you’re happier in the timeline where you follow your dreams.”

“Or you could be like, hey, ask that dragon out already, I foresaw that they’ll say yes!”

“Exactly!” Tamarin grinned. “Plus, if I were a seer, maybe I wouldn’t have gotten hurt so much growing up. Like, whoops, it looks like in this timeline I fly into a tree, so I’d better not do that.”

The RainWings giggled, but quietly, so they didn’t give their position away.

“I wonder if Bright-eyes would be able to tell us what all ourfriends are up to,” Tamarin said.

“Oh, psh, you don’t need future-vision for that!” Kinkajou started listing off dragons while counting on her talons. “Fatespeaker is helping Clay and Starflight fix up the library, Anemone and her sisters are on a trip to a coral reef, Peril is in the Kingdom of the Sea with Turtle, Sepia and Newt are going back to their bog, Marsh is taking Coconut to meet his bigwings, Sunny is spending time with Queen Thorn, the IceWings are going back to Queen Snowfall’s palace, Qibli is visiting Winter in Sanctuary, Moon’s probably out with her mom somewhere, and Mindreader and Fearless should be arriving at the village any moment now.” Kinkajou frowned. “Actually, they should have gotten here already. I hope they’re not lost.”

Tamarin was slack-jawed. “How did you know all that?”

“Easy,” Kinkajou said. “I asked them all before we left!”

“Found you!” Peacemaker hopped down from the marble platform and tackled Kinkajou. “I heard you talking from miles away!”

Kinkajou sprawled dramatically onto the ground. “Oh poo! I’ll get you next time!”

Tamarin giggled. “So much for master hide-and-seeker.”

[nivrad00]

The Pyrrhian Peace Summit

The Beanbag Conference

“Three moons, the logistics of seating six queens in one place is a nightmare,” said Mindreader, hovering in place above the amphitheater.

“The SeaWing Council seats twelve,” said Snail, moving a large wooden podium through the air with the help of Alba. “It’s not that hard.”

“It is too hard!” said Mindreader. “The audience of this amphitheater is divided into four equal sections. We have to seat seven entourages, the students of Jade Mountain Academy, and a public audience. You do the math.”

“I’m horrible at math,” said Snail. She started lowering the podium onto the stage. “Careful, Alba.”

The Sky Amphitheater was located in the depths of a pine forest, a relic from a time when SkyWing art and theater flourished. The amphitheater had a raised stone stage and tiered seating arranged in a semicircle, over which weeds and vines were starting to grow. Marsh had been equipped with a small broom and was laboriously sweeping the dirt off the seats, while Coconut followed behind him.

“I’ve got it,” said Coconut. “What if we got six bean bags, and put them in a circle?”

“We can’t put the queens in bean bags!” cried Mindreader.

“Huh? Why not?” said Coconut. “They’re super comfortable. You should try it.”

“Marsh, can you go ask Tsunami where the banners are?” said Snail. “Alba, help me with the awning.”

Alba nodded curtly and lifted off again.

“Sure,” said Marsh. He dropped the broom and let out a breath. He would have gladly taken any excuse to stop sweeping. “I’ll be right back,” he told Coconut, who nodded amicably.

Marsh took to the air and headed back to Jade Mountain Academy, which was only a few minutes away. Each queen had sent back a letter of acceptance, and the entire school was busy preparing for the Pyrrhian Peace Summit. The Silver Winglet was assigned to cleaning duty. The Jade Winglet was in charge of decorations. And the Copper Winglet was at the Sky Amphitheater, setting up for a groundbreaking intertribal conference.

The students didn’t all agree with the idea, but Marsh, for one, was excited. He had been helping in any way possible the past few days. He couldn’t help but think that if the queens had just sat down and talked to each other twenty years ago, that maybe things would have been better… that maybe Crane would still be there.

Marsh landed in Jade Mountain Academy’s antechamber, which was currently deserted. He navigated to the staff’s quarters hesitantly, not sure if he was allowed to be in there. He poked his head into the torch-lit hallway. There was no harm in knocking, right?

Tsunami’s voice floated through the wall.

“When we decided to make the Academy, we agreed to start small. This is NOT small, Sunny. Do you really think putting the NightWings and IceWings together is a good idea? This soon?”

“I don’t know, Tsunami. I think they need to talk. Besides, it’s too late to cancel it now. All the queens have already been invited.”

Marsh gulped and started backing out of the hallway. It sounded like they were busy. Maybe he could catch Tsunami at a better time.

“Is someone there?” said Starflight from behind him. Marsh spun around, heart pounding.

“Oh! I was just looking for Tsunami! I’m sorry, I’ll leave now!”

“Oh, Marsh,” said Starflight. “It’s okay. I’m just bringing the others the schedule I drafted.” He showed Marsh a rolled-up scroll.

“I don’t understand where this is coming from. Didn’t we agree that this is the right thing to do?”

Tsunami gave an aggravated sigh. “Sunny, have you noticed anything strange about Starflight lately?”

Marsh gave Starflight an awkward look. The NightWing was listening with a furrowed brow.

“Starflight? No, I haven’t really had the chance to sit down with him recently…”

“He broke up with Fatespeaker. He’s SUPER depressed right now. And you didn’t even notice!”

“…Oh my gosh, really? I can’t believe… oh, I feel like such a horrible friend.”

Tsunami sighed again. “I’m sorry, Sunny. I can never stay mad at you. But you NEED to start thinking more realistically. Sometimes the world isn’t all peace and sunshine.”

The door opened suddenly, making both Marsh and Starflight jump.

“Starflight? Marsh?” said Tsunami. “What are you…?”

“Hi Tsunami, I just wanted to know where the banners are for the amphitheater, sorry for interrupting, I swear I wasn’t eavesdropping!” Marsh said very quickly.

“The banners? They’re in the storage by the art cave.”

“Okay, thanks, bye!” said Marsh. He sped out of the hallway, leaving Tsunami and Starflight in awkward silence.

He knew he wasn’t supposed to have heard that conversation, but he couldn’t help but feel nervous. The NightWings and IceWings had tried to wipe each other out just a few months ago, driven by Darkstalker’s rhetoric. Could they really ever be at peace? And what about the SeaWings, who had gone into hiding after the SkyWing bombs? What about the RainWings and NightWings, who, according to Mindreader, were still at each other’s throats?

By the time Marsh finally tracked down Clay to unlock the storage boxes for him, the sun was starting to set. Marsh gathered up all seven banners, each woven with the colors of a different tribe, and wearily set off toward the amphitheater.

When he arrived, six bean bags were arranged on the stage, with the rest of the Copper Winglet lounging on them.

“There you are. Finally,” said Snail. “Mindreader, do you want to help put up the banners?”

“In a moment,” Mindreader said, lying on her stomach with her wings splayed out. “This beanbag is soooo comfortable.”

“Hey Marsh,” said Coconut. “We finished setting up the stage!”

Marsh laughed, despite himself. “Yeah, I see that.”