Chapter 13

Tidal woke up in the darkness of the night to the constant stream of water surrounding her. The same sound that has been dulling her hearing for the past many days. She just couldn't even remember how many. She had hoped that Queen Coral would have released her already. She had thought that maybe she could discuss with her, explain to her. But it seemed that she either thought Tidal hadn't spent enough time there or that she had forgotten about her, which, knowing Queen Coral wouldn't actually be very surprising to her. She stretched as best as she could trying to avoid touching the waterfall around her.

She looked towards the entrance of the cave, it was still the middle of the night. A couple guards were dosing nearby. She had been thinking about escaping for some times now: since Queen Coral didn't think it was time to release her, she should take the matter into her own talons and release herself. She was thinking about how to proceed about it. As an animus, there were so many ways she could just get away with it: Should she just leave and let the guards find out in the morning, or should she leave a mock-up of herself in her stead? She could also just teleport herself to where Moonlight was but she was bound to the plot by contract, and so she just murmured a quick spell and the waterfall split open leaving a completely dry opening through which she could walk without being electrocuted by the eels.

She looked over her shoulder as the opening closed hiding a relatively convincing fake Tidal where she used to be. She knew it wouldn't fool anyone once they started serving breakfast but there was still several hours until then and it may buy her enough time to get some distance between her and the SeaWing kingdom.

She then proceeded to slither past the guards silently, until she reached the cave's mouth and stretched properly for the first time since she got jailed. She groaned in relief as she felt her joints pop into place. A bit too noisily perhaps, as she heard a guard wake up and armor plates shuffling on the ground.

“Hey! Did you hear that?" said a voice not so far away.

“Hmhmm?" grumbled another in mid-slumber.

“C'mon, wake up, I heard something!"

“That's the littleneck clam rattling in your brain, Seaweed, get back to sleep." The second voice replied with a rustling noise indicating they rolled over on their couch.

“At least, I have a clam, Periwinkle… and a sense of duty.", the dragon's talons clicked on the stone floor as the guard was getting slowly closer to her position.

“Yeah yeah, just don't come back and yell it's One o'clock and all's well! or I swear you'll regret it."

The first dragon didn't deign reply to this and continued moving closer and closer to the entrance. Tidal had to find a way to hide herself, her tribe could see in perfect darkness and she didn't have time to take off and fly far enough, they'd see her in the sky immediately. She looked towards the sea but there didn't seem to be any way for her to hide. No rocky boulder under which she could hide, no kelp bushes either, plus the noise she would make while diving would alert the guard. She had to think and fast, she had nowhere to hide and the guard was almost on her. She thought of running away but it would cause her talons to rattle on the ground.

“ Think, Tidal, Think!" she yelled at herself internally. She would even punch her head if it had helped and also make no noise. She was going to be seen any second now, the guard was walking past the corner and soon would be facing her snout to snout. Tidal was frozen in place.

Seaweed stood two feet in front of her staring right in her direction. He looked almost alarmed, peering straight in her eyes. Slowly, his gaze moved up and down, then left to right from the horizon over the sea back to the continent.

The guard shook his head and sighed, “I swore…" he muttered.

Tidal sighed and froze again as Seaweed spun facing her again and observed intently for a good minute before turning around again.

“Periwinkle is right, must be my stupid brain…" he mumbled to himself as he faltered back inside.

Tidal would have sweated heavy drops if SeaWings could sweat. She spat out her spell in a single breath right as the guard saw her and it had worked. She thought she had messed it up but she had succeeded at the very last moment. “ You don't see me when you look at me, I don't exist in your eyes and you don't remember anything about me when you look away" was what she uttered under her breath.

It took her a long moment to calm her beating heart and stop her head from spinning. But as she did, she really felt quite proud of her accomplishment and a certain feeling of peace washed through her body. She lifted her snout to the wind and enjoyed the breeze for a bit before she glanced back at the prison. It would still be a few hours before they find out so she had some time to plan.

She took off swiftly and once she considered herself far enough from the palace, dove into the ocean, as she would be more efficient and less prone to fatigue than flying all the way to the continent, and on the plus side, she could hunt without having to slow down.

It took her the biggest part of the night to reach the continent and when she broke the surface, the horizon was already lit by the sun and only one of the moons was still visible. She sat down on a rock by the seaside and looked towards the continent. She was in MudWing territory, and right behind it was the RainForest where Moonlight usually lived but she realized that she didn't even know if she was there nor what she would do once she met her.

“ Hey Moonlight, so, erm… here I am, I freed myself from my Queen's jail and I came straight to you because…"

She wasn't even able to finish that sentence, why did she come directly to her anyway? She sighed deeply, she had done all this on an impulse and she didn't even question it until now. Was it the right thing to do? And what if Moonlight said no? Wait… no to what actually?

Tidal felt like her brain was playing tricks on her, what would Moonlight say no to? It's not like the NightWing had said that she loved her or anything before. As a matter of fact, neither did Tidal, she just, well… she just felt something for the NightWing, something she couldn't describe. Moonlight had flown out of anger right into SeaWing territory to try and attack one of them, one she knew she couldn't defeat, just to understand why, why her parents died, even if it meant her own death trying to get answers. Somehow Tidal had found it commendable and wanted to stay true to her words that she would help Moonlight find out who did that. Yes, that's why she was here and nothing else.

Now she just had to convince hers… Moonlight that's why she traveled all the way from the SeaWing palace and for that she needed to find her.

Her gaze locked onto a nice smooth pebble being quietly licked by the waves, she grabbed it in her talon and ran a claw over it slowly.

“Well, well, well…" she grinned, “Stone, I enchant thee to stand one wing length away from me and point toward Moonlight's location until I have reached her… and to remain invisible to others so that they cannot interact with thee." She quickly added, realizing how awkward it would be to have to explain why a pebble was floating in front of her.

She could always try to clarify to whomever asked that she was using a Global Positioning Stone to find her way through Pyrrhia but somehow even she found it hard to believe at a time when animus dragons should be no more.

She took off as the sun rose over the horizon and headed straight to where the stone pointed, slowly raising up in the sky until she caught a thermal that would carry her without too much effort closer to Moonlight. She followed the stone dutifully until they flew over the RainForest and past it before she stopped and pondered. She looked at the stone, the magic never lied but still she wanted to check for herself, so she reversed course and landed near the entrance of the NightWing village.

The place seemed quite busy at the early hour as she walked along the different houses and other shops. The arrangement and styles emanating from the village felt quite out of place to her in the middle of the luxuriant forest. But the NightWings tribe had managed to adapt quite well in the few years that they'd been there, at least for those who stayed. She had heard of another group, something like half of them as it had been rumored, who had decided to rebuild their own lives independently and were also doing pretty well. So much so that from the few pieces of information she had gathered, they had grown quite different from the RainForest NightWings.

As she strolled further into the village, she wondered which cave was Tidal's one and if she had moved away from her parents'. Alongside a group of tree cabins, a small hill caught her eyes, where a house which had been carved in the stone appeared abandoned as if all the dragons avoided walking too close to it. Apart from the bright flowers and fruits laid in front of it, it looked as if the house hadn't been taken care of for a while. Tidal took a few step closer carefully and noticed the windows were closed with the blinds secured and the door was held shut with a plank across it. The front wall showed scorched marks that someone tried to rub away, the ground had been scrubbed clean and they even took the time to build a little parterre for the flowers to be kept and protected.

The young SeaWing stood there for a good minute staring at it.

“Are you looking for Moonlight?" A soft but commanding voice said behind her.

Tidal turned her head and noticed what she would have described as an imposing yet average-sized RainWing, with a green and orange body, bright frills attached to their horns and a blue hue on the top of their head, typical to the representation they showed in school books, however bearing a semi-regal attitude to her. Next to the RainWing and almost too close to her according to Tidal's taste, was a strong NightWing standing proudly, almost as if he was showing off. As she tried to look at him in details, she couldn't find anything about this NightWing that stood out apart from the fact that he kept moving his head side to side as if he was trying to catch the sun with his smug grin.

As Tidal didn't react, the RainWing took a small step forward and bowed her head slightly.

“I am Glory, Queen of the RainWings and the NightWings and… this is Mu… DeathBringer, my personal bodyguard. You are Tidal, aren't you?"

The SeaWing dragonet nodded, as if she would expect such things to be known between Kingdoms but she imagined that words of her escaping wasn't a known fact yet.

“And I see you've escaped." Glory continued.

Tidal raised an eyebrow.

“I'm surprised this news came to you so fast," she replied calmly.

Somehow she hadn't felt any threat from Queen Glory remark, not like she would have if it had been Queen Coral speaking to her.

“I know of no one in the SeaWing kingdom capable of such rapid flight."

Glory smirked and lowered her head to her level.

“A Queen has her own secret sources, plus I shouldn't let a fugitive on the go, don't you think?"

Tidal felt a bit annoyed, she hadn't flown here to get thrown back into jail so soon, but she noted a certain playfulness in the Queen's voice as if she was toying with her. She certainly seemed to know more than she was willing to say. The SeaWing smirked back at her.

“ I think you won't be doing anything about it because you know better even if your boyfriend there really wants to tackle me."

Glory raised her eyebrow and shot a glance at DeathBringer, then burst out laughing, making him feel suddenly quite embarrassed and probably glad he wasn't a RainWing.

“I will let you know, my Queen, and you, little one, that we have been past the boyfriend stage for quite some times now.", he corrected, resentful.

“That's true." Glory added as she wiped a tear. “However, you girl have some explaining to do as to why you're here before I let you go any further."

The Queen poked her in the chest with a wingtalon as she said that.

Tidal smirk disappeared and she looked at the house behind her then back at Queen Glory.

“Follow me, we will have a better conversation around a cup of tea and I will tell you what you need to know."

Tidal nodded somewhat reluctantly, she didn't want to waste more time than she needed but she had been absent for so long that five more minutes wouldn't do much of a difference. Plus, Queen Glory might be able to fill in some details for her, as she had been dieing to know more since Moonlight came to the SeaWing kingdom unannounced.

They took off and flew back North, Tidal saw the stone moving around her and positioning itself behind her tail, making her feel uneasy as it felt like she was moving away from her goal. She reassured herself that they, at least, were not flying outside of the RainForest. As a matter of fact, they were flying much deeper into it. As she gazed around, the trees appeared to set up an impenetrable wall in every direction, even above her; the green canopy formed a giant roof that felt unreachable, even she tried to fly up with all her strength. It struck her that she probably would not be able to escape this place if Glory decided so.

After a while, the RainWing Queen veered left and started spiraling down, that's when Tidal noticed the cabins and pathways built among the trees, connecting them together like a spider web. Despite the much lighter color of the constructions, they were barely visible to the unaccustomed eye unless you were specifically looking for them. They sure did fit perfectly well with the surrounding wildlife thought Tidal.

As they landed, Queen Glory walked towards one of the largest cabins, a RainWing standing beside it pulled away the sheet covering the entrance and extended a wing as an invitation to step inside. Tidal's eyes adjusted easily to the darker place and she immediately noticed the throne. It was quite peculiar, to say the least, and unlike any throne she had seen before —not that she had seen many anyway.— It was very simple, without any flashing of gems or precious metal. It was however clear enough that this was the Queen's throne by its sheer size and design as it had been built using very dark wood that contrasted strongly against the cabin's walls and furniture. On it, sat a sloth which obviously seemed to have taken quite a liking to this specific seat for its naps. As Glory moved to sit in the throne, the sloth emitted a little noise that sounded like a greeting before it proceeded to climb around the Queen's neck to resume its sleep.

“This is Silver, my sloth pet." Glory introduced. “Please, have a seat."

Tidal looked behind her and found that in each of the cabin's corners were seats that seemed to have been made in the same wood as the Queen's throne. She pulled one of them to the center of the room and then stopped midway staring at Queen Glory, suddenly unsure if it was the correct etiquette to bring it out of its corner.

“Please do, I want to be able to hear you without straining." said Glory immediately as if she knew what she was about to ask.

The chair felt quite comfortable, much more than what she had been using in the SeaWing's palace. It seemed that those had been designed with the shape of a dragon's body in mind and even if she was still much smaller than an adult, whoever made them had also thought to accommodate for smaller bodies.

As she continued admiring the place, a smaller RainWing walked by her balancing a large plateau with one of her foretalon; a cup, a bunch of leaves and other things resting on it.

“Do you want some tea?" Glory offered, “We cultivate it here in the forest, the IceWings are quite fond of it surprisingly…"

“Y-yes, please." She said hesitantly.

“Just put the amount of leaves you want in your tea then."

“I… wouldn't know, I don't think I ever had tea before. Not like that anyway…", added Tidal, almost embarrassed to admit it.

Glory softly gestured at the other RainWing and they swiftly swung the plateau around until the cup and leaves were facing them. With their other talon, they carefully grabbed onto the leaves, crushing and mixing them expertly with a couple other things that Tidal couldn't recognize before gently pouring them in the cup as if they were flouring a cake. The RainWing then moved the jug of hot water that they had been holding with their tail all along over the cup as steaming water flew from it. Tidal found herself surrounded by strange and enticing smells as she reached for the cup the RainWing offered her.

She slowly brought it to her nostrils and let the scents and flavors invade her senses. She could recognize at least a dozen of them: oranges, pitayas, mint, hazelnut… She brought the cup to her lips but it was still too hot for her to drink right away and barely touched the liquid after she blew on it for a second.

“Alright Tidal…" Glory interjected. “What should I do with you?"

“Not much, I reckon," she replied without skipping a beat, “I don't think Coral has yet called for my arrest and even if she wanted to, she'd too proud to ask another Queen to do it for her, furthermore, she'd probably not be very happy to know that others are aware of my escape and lastly, I'm an animus, so there's that."

“Sassy, I see…"

Tidal smirked a bit without looking at Glory as she sipped some of her tea.

“I used to be like you until I became Queen." Continued Glory pensively.

“Do you regret it?" Tidal asked with genuine curiosity.

“No." The Queen paused for a short bit. “I wouldn't give up my place for it or anything else in Pyrrhia. I am proud of what I did with both tribes and despite the difficulties and hardships, I would do it again in a heartbeat."

DeathBringer, who had slid himself next to the Queen, nodded in approval. Glory glanced at him with a knowing smile and wrapped her tail with his behind her throne.

“But you understand my position and you are not going to stop me from doing what I have to do because you've been there too." Tidal pointed out.

“And I am also a Queen who can arrest you for being too sassy if I so desire, so stop doing that now!" Glory pinched her nose bridge with her foretalon and sighed. “You are not the first dragonet I stopped before, I could very well stop you and unlike your Queen, the fact that you are an animus doesn't impress me much."

“But you're still going to let me go the same way you did with Moon."

Glory groaned, “I wish this part could be omitted when being retold… The risks aren't the same, Tidal, Moon was…" she paused for longer than Tidal expected, as if she realized what she was about to say wasn't going her way. “Fine. Yes, you are right on all counts. I will let you go but only because I know where you are going and that I have my spies following you."

“Spies, huh? So you know where Moonlight is and that she is fine."

“Yes to both questions, young one. Next one" replied Glory with a bit of annoyance in her voice.

“Hmm…" Tidal looked down as she rummaged through her thoughts. “well, where is she?.. Wait, before that, please tell me what happened to her parents."

Glory looked straight at her with a frown. She looked more serious than ever, Tidal thought she looked like Coral at that very moment but without the anger issue.

“Well, get comfortable, it's going to be a long story…", Glory started.