Secrets & Promises

Coming Home

Sapphire could hardly sleep that night. She was finally going home. Her real home. That dingy cave was being left in the past. When her father finally awoke, his eyes widened before he realized that Sapphire was already up and ready to go. A deep chuckle came from within his chest, "You're up early."

She rocked back and forth, wanting to wake her mother and be on their way. Nodding quickly, she jerked her head towards her mother, a question lingering in her eyes. Her dad sighed lightly, before moving over to Glory. He whispered something into her ear, and within moments, her mother was shifting and the tips of her ears had turned pink.

Glory stretched her long, lean body before blinking several times to adjust her eyes to the light. Sapphire tried her best to stay still, but found that it was simply impossible. After Glory had, mostly, woken up, she turned to her daughter and husband. Happiness shone upon her face as she watched her daughter look around at the world in complete awe.

Sapphire's head snapped towards her mother when she cleared her throat. "Let's go home, hm?" Sapphire bobbed her head rapidly, all but knocking her over when she hugged her. Glory let out a laugh. Deathbringer watched from the sidelines with a happy smile, not a smirk for once.

Within minutes, the trio was flying further into the forest. Sapphire opted to fly with her mother this time, wanting to spend time with her while also enjoying the beauty of the forest around her.

Sapphire had never seen so much color in one place. Fruits and animals of all colors and sizes were scattered around. With her eyes wide, Sapphire gazed around as her mother maneuvered her way through the expansive trees and greenery. Sometime during their trek deeper into the forest, other dragons began following them. Sapphire quivered slightly, before remembering that she was with her parents. Parents who would not let anyone hurt her.

It seemed that the further they got into the forest, the more dragons began following them. Seemingly, the whole forest knew of their arrival. Not a dragon in sight wasn't flying with them, following and guiding them to the interior of the forest.

When they reached an opening, Sapphire's eyes widened in shock. It was beautiful. Houses were scatter throughout the trees, connected by bridges and different platforms. Above, platforms were scattered with hammocks and different dragons were popping up all over, colors shimmering through their scales.

Her mother was the first to land, touching the ground on the biggest platform in sight. Her father was quick to follow, settling just beside Glory. All of the dragons who had been escorting them soon landed anywhere they could, whether in trees or on the ground below. Darker dragons soon came into the mix, not many but enough to be noticeable within the array below.

Glory cleared her throat, quite loudly, and the dragons went quiet. Of course, there will still the near silent murmurs of anticipation. A large dragon came over. They moved their head down towards Glory, seemingly talking into her ear. Glory nodded, a minuscule smile coming to grace her face.

She raised her head, and her mother did the same. The dragons went silent, knowing that the dragon was about to announce something.

"After an agonizingly long three years, the youngest heir of the rainforest, daughter of Queen Glory and her mate Deathbringer, Sapphire, Princess of the RainWings and NightWings, has come home!"

Cheers erupted, causing Sapphire to flinch into her father who simply grinned down at her, nudging her forward slightly. Glory moved closer to her daughter leaning down to whisper in her ear, "This. This is your home. And you have nothing to fear here, I promise." Sapphire looked up, nodding at her mother.

***

By the end of the day, Sapphire was exhausted. Most of the day had been spent in celebration, for the occupants of the forest, and Sapphire had met some more dragons, such as her uncle Jambu and relative Granduer. She liked Jambu, his brightness and pink-ness made him peculiar to say the least. Granduer was kind of stone-like, talking only when needed or to shed light on something.

Although it had been exciting to see her new home, Sapphire had admitted to herself early on that it was going to be tiring to get used to a new routine. Especially when her last one was one full of pain. Shaking herself free from memories, Sapphire looked to her parents as the last of the dragons who had gathered dispersed. Glory sighed in relief, almost falling into Deathbringer.

Deathbringer let out a short chuckle before nudging her shoulder with his own. Glory shook her head at his antics before turning towards their daughter. Sapphire, who had been zoned out just moments before, gave a tiny upturn of her lips, tiredness shining in her eyes.

"My Queen, I think it is time we go get some rest. Tomorrow will be yet another busy day, and I think we all need to be prepared for that." Glory agreed quickly, already beginning to move in the opposite direction of the main village. Deathbringer was quick to give Sapphire a nudge to get her to follow her mother before following himself.

The hut wasn't too far, but it was just on the outskirts of the village. It was much bigger than the huts inside of the village, but wasn't obtrusive. Her mother entered first, Deathbringer having caught up and holding the leafy curtain up for Glory and Sapphire. Once they were all in, Deathbringer moved to Glory, asking a question that Sapphire couldn't understand.

Glory turned back to her, "Where would you like to sleep, with us or in your siblings' room?" Sapphire hesitated before answering, "Can I stay with you? Just for tonight." Glory's expression softened, "Of course, c'mon little one." Sapphire followed her parents to one of the rooms in the hut.

Glory was the first to lay down, Deathbringer following shortly as he curled around her mother. Her mother's wing opened for her, beckoning her over. Sapphire moved under it, snuggling close to her mother's warm embrace. Her father's wing soon moved over the both of them, shrouding Sapphire in darkness. Although, this darkness wasn't cold, it was warm and safe. That was all it took for Sapphire to fall into a dreamless sleep.

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Ahhhh, so sorry for the long wait y'all! I totally started this chapter weeks ago, and never finished it! Here it is, when I last left off it was at around 400 words and is now over 1000! Hope you liked it and stay safe! I'm not promising whether I'll update next week or not, but I will certainly try my best!