Hare wasn't sure how long it took her to wake up. When she opened her eyes, she was surrounded by dragons. Her friends.
She pushed herself up, wincing a little. Her head still hurt, but it was only the pain of a normal headache now.
"She's okay!" Sunny cried. "Oh, I'm so happy you're alright. I was so worried he'd accidentally killed you."
"Hare is far too strong to be killed by such a simple fool," Kestrel said lightly.
Hare smiled. She couldn't help but notice that even Glory and Jambu were there. Glory had a bandage where the knife had been and there were fresh claw marks over Jambu's eye. Hare noticed dried blood between his claws and running down his talon. He must not have cleaned his talons off yet.
"Good news." A sky-blue RainWing flapped over to them and landed beside the others. "She'll be okay. She'll just need a little extra rest, but she's able to return to her usual activities."
"Thank you, Bullfrog," Vanilla said, dipping her head. "Do you have any updates on Mangrove?"
"Mangrove?" Hare climbed out of the hammock that she'd been laying in. "You found him?"
"He was waiting for us when we got home," Ringtail explained. "He said he went to the Kingdom of Sand to try and find any signs of Orchid, but he couldn't find anything so he came back to find us."
"We brought him here to get checked on even though he has no visible injuries," Nightingale put in.
"He's okay," Bullfrog said. "You're all good to go. But you." Bullfrog pointed at Hare and poked her chest. "The minute your head pain gets any worse, come back here. Immediately."
"Okay." Hare nodded in understanding. Bullfrog eyed her for a minute before turning and walking to a table. "I'll give you one more treatment before you go."
"I know how to treat myself," Hare insisted. "One of our guardians taught me."
"Well, while you're in the rainforest, you're under my care." Bullfrog grabbed a leaf-wrap and gave it to Hare. "Meaning you'll be treated when and as I deem necessary. So, take it."
Hare sighed and took the leaf-wrap. She opened it, revealing a pile of poppy seeds, peppermint, and ginger. Hare swallowed the herbs and shuddered at the slightly bitter taste.
A purple RainWing crossed over from the otherside of the hut and joined the group. Hare waved at him. "Hi Mangrove."
Mangrove just nodded in acknowledgement.
"Drink lots of water," Bullfrog told Hare. "And be careful. For the love of stars, please avoid hitting your head."
"I will," Hare promised. She turned back to the others. "So now what?"
"Let's discuss this somewhere else," Ringtail said. "Somewhere more private."
"Wait," Glory said. "I want to get Silver first."
Liana sighed. "Of course. Come on, I'll take you to the shelter."
Liana led them out of the hut and through the trees. "It's in the center of the village," she explained. "Right by the hatchery."
"The hatchery?" Hare asked. "Don't RainWings use nests?"
"Nope!" Dainty flipped over a tree branch as she flew over it, curling her tail around the branch. "We bring our eggs to the hatchery. The parents get to keep their eggs separate, of course. No one wants to get their dragonets mixed up."
"What's the point of the hatchery, though?" Hare asked.
"In case there's complications during the hatching," Dainty explained. "We have dragons posted in the hatchery who are specifically trained to help with things like that. There's a whole program for it. Vanilla is one of those dragons."
Vanilla's scales turned light pink in embarrassment. "It's not too hard," she blurted.
"It's very hard," Dainty said. "Vanilla is just hombly."
"It's humble, Dainty," Nightingale said.
"Well that's a dumb word." Dainty twisted around a tree and stretched her wings so they caught the sun.
The group burst through the trees and into the center of the village. Liana led them around the statue of Black Widow and Jaguar and to a large hut. She dove inside, each dragon following after her. Hare was instantly nearly tripped by a jaguar. The creature hissed as she yelped and backed away, baring its teeth and crouching into a battle position. It had a necklace made of pink flowers and a white flower placed by its ear.
"That's Noodle," Vanilla said. "Kinkajou's jaguar."
"And almost as annoying as she is." Bromeliad bounded over and threw a vine leash around the jaguar's neck.
"Why are you here?" Glory demanded.
"The queen sent me here to check on her," Bromeliad replied, pointing at Noodle. "She's so insistent that I care for anything that has to do with Kinkajou." She gave a light tug on the leash. "As if the search parties aren't enough."
Hare looked around. Jaguars were racing around or lounging lazily by the windows. Sloths were sleeping in hammocks or hanging by the vines wove into the ceiling. Glory looked around at the sloths, shifting her talons nervously.
"Maybe she's not here," Sunny suggested after a few minutes.
"Where else would she be?" Glory said. "She wasn't by the boulder when we came home."
A nearby sloth in a hammock lifted its head sleepily. It yawned and blinked. When its gaze rested on Glory, its face seemed to light up. It made a warbling sound and stretched its claws toward Glory. Vanilla smiled. "I think we found her."
Glory rushed forward and grabbed Silver. "Thank the stars," she breathed.
"We need to tell one of the keepers here that we're taking her." Vanilla looked around the hut. There was a RainWing sitting by a scroll and looking off into space. Vanilla bounded toward him and waved her talon in front of his face. "Earth to Piha! We're taking that sloth, it belongs to Glory."
Piha blinked and looked at Glory. "That little thing? Alright." He opened the scroll and ran his claw down a list. He stopped halfway through, dipped his claw in some ink, and marked something. "You're good to go."
"Thank you." Glory put Silver on her back. Piha shook off his talon. "You're that new RainWing, right? I'm assuming so, considering all these dragons." He waved his claw around, signaling to Hare and the others. "You got chosen pretty quick. Sloths normally wait a little longer to pick a dragon."
Glory just nodded. "Thank you, Piha. We should get going now. We have some things to discuss."
"Right, of course." Piha dipped his head respectfully. "I've heard about your mission. Very kind and brave. I can't say all dragons here would risk themselves for dragons they don't know anything about."
"They're dragons who are living and breathing," Hare said, adding, Or once were, silently in her head. "That's enough for us."
Piha just nodded. Liana and Ringtail took the lead, guiding them out of the hut and through the trees.
"We should head back to the tunnels," Nightingale suggested. "Most dragons don't like going there, so it'll give us some more privacy."
Ringtail nodded in agreement. Liana sighed irritably and switched directions, heading in the direction of the clearing with the tunnel. Hare flew with Kestrel uncomfortably close to her side.
"Uhm..." Hare shifted a little to give herself more room, but Kestrel was instantly right next to her again.
"No," Kestrel said. "We will be no further than this."
There's hardly any space for me to flap my wings with how close we are!
"Why?" she asked.
"Because I'm making sure nothing happens to you," Kestrel replied. "Like you don't hit your head or faint."
"I'll be fine," Hare insisted.
"There's no harm in being careful."
Hare bit back a groan. She knew Kestrel was just trying to help, trying to be the mother she never got to be.
But must she be so insistent and close?
When they finally arrived in the clearing, Hare gave herself as much personal space as possible. She walked over to the water and took a few drinks, enjoying the feeling of the cool water running down the back of the throat. Jambu walked over and dipped his talon in the water. Hare swallowed her last drink and looked at him.
"I'm surprised you didn't do that sooner."
"I didn't have time," he said without looking up at her. "Glory and I got treated, then we stayed with you until you woke up."
"You didn't have to," Hare said. "Especially you. You and the other RainWings barely know me, you could've found something else to do."
"That little golden one and the blue one insisted on it," Jambu said, pointing at Sunny and Tsunami. "Besides, we have a job to do."
"I'm sure Queen Magnificent didn't mean you have to be with us at all times," Hare said.
Jambu glared at her. Hare forced herself not to react. He seemed so unfriendly at times. "Did you forget the part where the queen said you do not have our trust?"
"I know that," Hare snapped. "I heard the orders. I'm just saying, not all of you need to be on us at once, especially if one is injured. And why do you even care so much? You weren't one of the original guards assigned to us."
Jambu lifted his talon out of the water quickly and violently, sending droplets of water splashing onto Hare. She was almost sure he did it on purpose.
"We have things to discuss." He stalked off to sit by the others, who were all gathered by the edge of the water on the opposite side of Hare. She sighed and did the same.
"I got into that stronghold," Mangrove was saying. "I searched everywhere. There was no sign of any RainWings. Just an undecorated fortress and an odd tower."
"Do you know if anything was in the tower?" Glory asked.
Mangrove shook his head. "I doubt it."
"It must have been Burn's weirdling tower," Starflight said. "It's where she keeps all her odd little collections."
"Would she keep RainWings in there?" Vanilla asked. Starflight shook his head.
"They aren't in the Ice Kingdom either," Ringtail said thoughtfully. "So where else could they be?"
"Maybe they really did just run off," Dainty said. "We could just quit this whole investigation right now and return to our normal lives and wait for them to come home."
"And I could step on your tail and see how bad it hurts," Liana snarled.
Dainty stepped away. "I don't know why you're all so worried."
Liana snapped her teeth. "My sister's friend was kidnapped, moron, and my sister would be an easy next target!"
"Anyone would take advantage of a blind dragon," Ringtail agreed.
"Tamarin can defend herself," Dainty insisted. "She's strong."
"Until she's caught off guard!" Liana snapped.
Hare looked off into the trees as the arguing continued. Birds fluttered through the branches, butterflies danced around each other. Flowers decorated vines that drooped from the trees in a beautiful way. A light orange tail whisked behind a nearby tree.
Wait.
Hare blinked at the tree. She glanced at the others, then got up and walked toward the tree. They were too busy arguing to notice if she disappeared for just a few moments.
Hare looked behind the tree. She could see more of the dragon's body as they raced behind another tree. Hare picked up her pace and hurried after them.
She burst through the undergrowth and was caught off guard by the dragon standing in front of her, staring at her with wide blue eyes. The two dragons blinked at each other.
"What-"
It was so strange.
Why was a SkyWing in the rainforest?