Talons and Tails

Introduction

I realized some things may not line up, like how no one saw or mentioned Qibli's earring or Turtles jewelry, so just imagine Turtle enchanted his armband to be invisible or something, and Qibli put his earing in a bag (: Thought of changing previous chapters, but I'm a naturally lazy person and that's too much work.

Thanks for waiting and for reading, enjoy!

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"It worked."

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Qibli's heart leaped in excitement as he explained his idea to his friends.

"Turtle, you can do a spell that allows us to understand the scavengers. Assuming their squeaks convert into actual words," he added, starting to pace as he thought of the ways this might not work, and if so the right way to word a spell like that.

"I never would have thought of that. Though why do we want to hear them again?" Peril asked skeptically.

Winter gave her an, are you kidding me, glare. "Because," he said as if it was the most obvious thing ever, "Scavengers are intelligent and amazing creatures who we know next to nothing about and stupid dragons continue to see them as nothing more than food on two legs!" Peril raised an eyebrow at him.

"I was just wondering. Hey, what if they're all like mini-Winter's, and just yell at us the whole time? Then can I kill them?" She asked, ignoring Winter's darkening face.

"No, if that happens we can just break the spell. It's not like understanding them will make them more dangerous. They're not exactly Darkstalker."

Qibli instantly regretted mentioning the giant Nightwing's name as Winter started hissing frost breath. He'd only succeeded in annoying his already upset friend further.

"Winter," Moon said, forcing the tense Icewing to look at her. "This spell will let you talk to scavengers, ask them questions and learn about them 10 times more efficiently than you ever would in Sanctuary," she reasoned, and his face relaxed, albeit slightly.

"Yeah. So cool off Winter! Get it? Cool off? I'm hilarious." Kinkajou proceeded to descend into a fit of giggles as her friends looked at her, three of them smiling at her sense of humor. Peril looked puzzled on why that was funny, but restrained herself from asking.

"So, Turtle, will you do it?" Qibli asked again, drawing everyone's attention back to the question.

Turtle nodded, and they made a loose semicircle around him as he picked up a stick and handed it to Qibli.

"Well, you should write it. A spell this big has to be carefully thought out, and you're the best dragon I know for that." The rest of his friends nodded, and Qibli used his wing to smooth out the sandpit near one wall.

He stared at the sand for a second, before he brought down the stick and began to write.

Much like the spell he'd written at Jade Mountain for the battle between the Icewings and the Nightwings, he erased and replaced his words, shifting them around until it was perfect. Satisfied, he took a step back and dropped the stick.

"There. That should do it. Now we need something to enchant, something we won't lose," he said, scanning the small wide space for something permanent.

"We can enchant your earring again," Turtle suggested, pointing at the small leather pouch Qibli had tucked under his wing before they'd left the rainforest, and forgotten about.

He'd taken it off for the mission, a little nervous of it tearing at his ear again which had been painful enough the first time, and that was when he'd known the danger he was throwing himself into.