Serendipity (Karlnapity Fantasy AU)

Chapter 27

As the sun moved steadily across the sky, so did the group.
After days, they had caught up with the ship, whose silhouette of the huge metal hulk could be made out on the horizon ahead. Everyone was happy about this, not only because they no longer had to walk almost continuously through the woods, but also because Quackity and Wilbur finally stopped arguing about the fact that they had gotten lost.

In the meantime, the group had left the forest and approached the coast.
No one said it, but each of them knew that the angels wanted to cross the sea. If they succeeded, it would probably be too late to save Karl. He would be doomed.

"Is it just me, or has the ship stopped?" suddenly asked Ranboo, pointing to the sky in front of him. The ship was now much clearer to see and no longer a silhouette. The smoke coming out of the huge pillars, which had previously turned the whole sky gray, was getting less and less. Sapnap, who was walking in front, stopped and signaled the others to stop as well.

"What now?" the Blaze hybrid turned to the others, his gaze fixed on Quackity in the back row. The bird mused, his gaze lingering on the ship in the sky. He would have loved to storm off and destroy the ship down to the last shred and free Karl from the clutches of the ugly angels, but everyone standing around him, and himself, looked like they would rather sleep here and now until all the stars in the sky had burned out.

"Are we even sure it stopped?" interjected Wilbur, and immediately all eyes wandered to him. when all eyes were off Quackity's back, he sighed out in exasperation and slumped his shoulders.
"Do you want someone to maybe go ahead and check?" said Tommy, flapping his wings excitedly as if he were already ready to fly off himself.
"I don't know if you should," Tubbo's tone was sharp but honest, whereupon Tommy scoffed in offense.

"I'd be all for Wilbur flying there. You're the fastest and quietest of us," Quackity spoke up, hiding his own wings behind his back. He hated talking to other Avians about flying and wings. The others either didn't notice or didn't comment on the fact that his whole body burned with shame at his uselessness. Instead, they all agreed, and the owl hybrid disappeared into the air with powerful beats of his wings and flew toward the ship.

"Now it's time to wait," Sapnap slumped heavily to the ground and leaned back against his backpack. The others followed him, and only a short time later the air was filled with soft chatter and the rustling of backpacks. Quackity sat apart from the group, his coat protecting him from the wind that blew unhindered against his back and stretched his wings out in front of him to clean them of the dirt of the last few days. He preferred to deal with himself than with the others at the moment.

Especially the conversation with Wilbur a few days earlier had caused the Duck Hybrid to lose himself further in his thoughts. The relationship between Quackity and Sapnap also suffered, as he avoided contact with the hybrid as much as possible. In the meantime, Sapnap had noticed this, of course, but apart from a few disappointed glances, he had not yet confronted Quackity about it.

Quackity flinched when he noticed a movement next to him. As if he had been waiting for the opportunity, Sapnap sat beside him and watched with a gentle smile as the hybrid beside him ran his fingers through the golden feathers of his wings, lost in thought. With a suppressed sigh, Quackity interrupted his grooming and turned his gaze to the boy beside him.

"Hey," Sapnap whispered as their eyes met. His posture was relaxed, his eyes slightly narrowed by the smile on his lips.
"Hey," Quackity shot back, his gaze jerking nervously from his hands back to Sapnap. He could almost feel the heat radiating from the Blaze on his own skin. Sapnap took a deep breath, the words on his tongue, ready to speak when they heard a trilling in the sky. Sapnap's head shot directly in the direction from which the call came. Quickly, but with an elegant landing, Wilbur landed on the ground just a few feet away from them and signaled them to move on.