Wings of Fire as Humans: Jade Preparatory Academy

Chapter Forty: Fatespeaker Moonslayer

By the time Tsunami and Riptide came back from their "swim", Fatespeaker was exhausted. She'd only finished two subjects' worth of homework, and it was already after six pm. She was just beginning to open the next textbook when there was a knock at the door. 

"Wonder who that could be," Glory said, getting up to open the door like a normal person. 

"Don't open it," Starflight advised, not taking his eyes off his paper. "We don't need the distraction."

Glory turned and stared at him. "So I'm just supposed to ignore the door when it rings?" Her eyes met Fatespeaker's, and they both rolled their eyes. 

"You are when you're doing something more important," Starflight replied. Fatespeaker couldn't tell if he was serious, but knowing Starflight, he probably was. 

Glory groaned, rolled her eyes again, and opened the door. 

"What took you so long?" Sundew asked. 

"Sundew!" Willow snapped. She smiled at Glory. "She's grumpy today, sorry. What she means to say is, 'Hello, Glory, thank you for opening the door in such a timely manner'."

"That isn't what I meant!" Sundew piped up. 

Glory snorted. "I can understand being grumpy," she said to Sundew. "It's my usual emotion." 

Willow sighed in exasperation as Sundew said, "Just open the door so we can come in." 

"Go away and do your homework!" Starflight called as soon as the door shut.

"We're done," Sundew announced, to general astonishment. 

"No, we're not," Willow corrected. "She's lying." 

Sundew sighed. "Why do you have to be so honest?"

"Because it's the right thing to do." 

"You sound like Sunny," Glory informed her. 

"Thank you," Sunny called from the couch next to Peril. 

"Yes, thank you," Willow said, heading farther into the room and high-fiving Sunny. 

Glory sighed. "Care to give a reason why you're here? If you have homework, shouldn't you be doing it?"

"You should," Starflight added. 

Sundew shot him a disgruntled look. "Well, we were here to talk to Starflight, but if he's going to ignore us and tell us to do our homework, then I suppose that's a lost cause." 

Starflight actually looked up from his book. "Is this more important than your schoolwork?" he asked in a tone Fatespeaker interpreted to mean he expected them to give a sheepish smile and say, "No". 

To Fatespeaker's amusement and Starflight's shock, both Willow and Sundew said, in perfect unison, "Yes!" 

"Nothing is more important than schoolwork," Starflight chided, earning protests and lists of exceptions from around the room. 

"What?" he asked. "It's important!" 

"It is," Fatespeaker acknowledged, though she didn't really mean it. "But there are some things that are far more important. Like friends and family." 

Starflight winced, looking satisfyingly guilty. "Okay, sorry. Few things are more important than schoolwork, and those are some of them." 

"This is more important," Sundew insisted. 

He glared at her. 

"It is," Willow confirmed. "It's really important. And we think you'll give the best advice of everyone here." She frowned. "Maybe not better advice than Sunny." 

"Hey!" Starflight protested as Sunny smiled. Fatespeaker covered her laugh with a cough. "I give good advice!"

Sundew yawned. "I mean, we thought that, but if you're not going to give it to us, we'll ask Sunny. I'm sure she'd be more than willing." 

"I would," Sunny confirmed, looking amused by the whole conversation. 

"Oh, fine," Starflight grumbled. "I'll talk to you about whatever super-important thing this is." 

"Great!" Willow said so cheerfully that Sunny glared at her. "Now, before we tell you, you have to agree to three things." 

"Okay . . ." Starflight said warily. 

"First, we're telling you purely in confidence. This is a secret."

Starflight leaned back and crossed his arms. "I can't promise that." 

Sundew sighed. "If you're going to say that you can't promise not to tell anyone if someone's being hurt, blah, blah, blah, all that nonsense, then I can assure you that it won't get anyone hurt." 

Willow made a noise that sounded like a protest, and Fatespeaker wondered what on Earth this could possibly be about. 

Starflight caught it too. "It seems like your girlfriend doesn't agree." 

"She's not my girlfriend!" Sundew yelled, and Willow just stood there blushing furiously. The rest of the room burst out laughing. 

It was nearly five minutes before the room was quiet enough for Sundew to grit out, "Just agree, Starflight. Or I'll go to Sunny." 

"Why is that such a threat?" Sunny demanded. She turned to Starflight. "Do you think my advice isn't as good as yours?" 

He mumbled something unintelligible. 

Sundew sighed. "Just listen, both of you. We're going to need . . . backup, and we need to talk to competent people." 

"The rest of us are competent," Tsunami piped up. 

Sundew ignored her, focusing on Starflight. "I suppose Sunny can be included in this conversation, but not the rest of you. The rest of you are competent, but do not always make competent decisions." 

Fatespeaker and the rest of the group exchanged glances. Fatespeaker was a little offended, and she could tell her friends were too. But they all silently agreed to let it go. 

Starflight sighed. "Fine. I agree to the first of your terms." 

Willow nodded. "Our second term is that you don't freak out." 

Starflight laughed. "Okay, that's easy. Freaking out is Tsunami's thing." 

"Hey!" Tsunami snapped. 

"What? It is!"

Sundew groaned. "Our third and final term is that you do your best to have rational, unbiased judgement." 

Starflight blinked. He looked confused, an emotion that Fatespeaker rarely saw on his face. "Okay . . ." 

"Great!" Sundew exclaimed before he could say anything further. "Then let's go. The girls' common room in your dorm?" She looked at all the girls in the room, daring them to argue. 

Fatespeaker shrugged, speaking for all of them. "Go ahead." 

Starflight looked so unhappy as Sundew and Willow led him into the girls' common room, Sunny following more cheerfully. When the door was fully closed, Peril turned to the rest of the group. "Who wants to listen at the door with me?" 

Fatespeaker smiled. This was going to either be a disaster, or the most fun she'd had in a while. Either way, it was going to make the night interesting.