Bigwings

Chapter Five

SOIL

Soil woke up because someone's warm talons were touching him. He opened his eyes and, in the dark shadows of the gross room, he saw a RainWing. A RainWing whose eye color he would've recognized among a thousand others. It was Grapefruit.

"WHA--" he started loudly. She made a shhh noise and pressed two claws to his mouth. His eyes nearly popped out of his eye sockets, he was so startled. "I'm helping you get out," she whispered. "So you can see the rainforest at night. It's really beautiful. I drugged the guards. They'll wake up in the morning when I bring you back. Come on." "What about Auburn and Sienna?" Soil asked. He and Grapefruit glanced at the two sleeping siblings. "They're in too deep of a sleep," said Grapefruit after a few silent seconds. "And...too many dragons awake will make a lot of noise. Come on." She gently tugged him out of the prison cell (that was what Soil decided to call it because it was guarded and locked) and led him outside. As they walked, Soil kept getting a weird feeling that he could not explain.

They emerged into the rainforest. After the horrific smell of the prison cell, the rainforest smelled heavenly. Apparently, rain had fallen, giving the rainforest a very humid feeling. Yet the smells made it all worth it. "Wow," Soil said softly, although his voice was partially drowned out by all the sounds: primarily the bugs singing their own unusual songs.

"I don't sleep well," said Grapefruit. "When I fall asleep, I only sleep until a few hours after sunset. Then, I spend the rest of the night outside." The night did not seem very dark. There were many fireflies outside, making the place very bright. In their light, Soil could not stop noticing how beautiful Grapefruit was. She kept glancing at him, and Soil noticed something weird about the way she was looking at him. Does she kind of feel the way I do right now? Does she find me handsome or something? But why me? Why me, if she has so many vibrant RainWings to choose from? Or, if she likes MudWings, why not Earth? Does she hate Cockatiel, too, and is that why she likes me? 

"It's so beautiful out here," Soil said with a smile. He remembered how all the other RainWings (besides Kumquat) looked at him with disgust or fear. Grapefruit looked at him with excitement and fascination, and he loved that about her. 

"Yes, I agree," said Grapefruit, edging closer to him. They sat next to each other, in the light of the moons and the fireflies, watching nocturnal animals prance around and listening to the songs of the bugs. By dawn, their tails had twisted together and they were practically squeezed into each other. Their heartbeats were at the same pace, and they were both smiling.

"Thank you," said Soil. "Can you bring me out here again tonight?" Grapefruit gave him a small, sad smile. "I'd love to do that," she said, twisting her claws together, "But what if Earth chooses to go with you today?" Soil felt sad at the thought of that. The thought of only spending one night with this shining dragon.

"My siblings hate me," he said. "Just because I sometimes prank them. They'd rather leave me here than take me back with them. I'd rather stay here than go with them, too. But then, Earth might decide to stay here." Grapefruit rested her head on his shoulder. "I want you to stay," she said. "I feel like we have a lot in common. I see that you hate Cockatiel, too. Is your favorite color orange? That's my favorite color." Soil chuckled. "Yeah, it's my favorite color," he said. "Listen, we can see each other in the daytime, okay?" Grapefruit nodded. "Let me take you back to your prison cell." Soil smothered a laugh. "That's what I call it, too," he informed her.

They both walked together down the hallways until they reached the "prison cell". "Okay," said Grapefruit hurriedly. "The guards are waking up." She opened the door. Soil waved goodbye and ran inside. The small RainWing closed the door and locked it. She hastily waved at him and then blended into the room. Soil heard her light footsteps for a while after she departed, but then they vanished.

"Ah!" said one of the guards, getting to his feet. "How did we fall asleep?" "Gee, I don't know, pal," said the other RainWing. "Mebbe it was that food." "True that," said the first guard. Soil got down onto the ground and made a scene of pretending to wake up. He yawned very loudly. Sienna and Auburn woke up, too. "Good morning," Soil said cheerfully to the RainWings. "You look very awake, MudWing," said the first guard. "Oh! It's like that all the time," Soil said, putting on a wide smile until his whole snout hurt. It's this weird thing I have...say, will Earth be ready to make his decision today?" The guards exchanged glances. "I'mma go ask the queen," said the second guard. "You stay here and guard them." Sienna let out a bored moan.

Soon the guard returned. "Earth is not ready to make his decision," he reported. "He asks to be given another two days to decide." Auburn howled sadly. "Shut up," the first guard snapped. "Hey, can we be let out of the prison cell?" Sienna asked. "We'll just walk around the village. We won't set anything on fire or wreck anything, I promise."

"We will separate you and give each of you one guard," the first guard said. "Each of the guards will be a member of the party that brought you here. Female MudWing, your guard will be Leaf. Light brown MudWing, your guard will be Dartfrog. Dark brown MudWing, your guard will be Grapefruit. At the normal bedtime of the RainWings, you will return to your room and fall asleep. I will go tell the queen my idea." Soil squashed a smile. A WHOLE DAY WITH GRAPEFRUIT! "Wait!" he cried as the guard began to walk away. "You guys don't seem thrilled about this job...so can the guards that guard us during the day guard us at night?" The first guard looked perplexed. "Fine," he said. "My companion and I would like some time off...okay. Fine. Grapefruit can guard the four of you since Dartfrog has noble duties to do and Leaf guards the market at night." Soil was VERY excited. Everything was going perfectly! I will be with Grapefruit the whole day and the whole night. Things couldn't have been better.