Firefly

Chapter Fourteen

::Chapter Fourteen::

"Wh- Psh- kah- fSHHH- haha!" Morning Glory sputtered, flaring her wings and flinging her hands out as if she was trying to be diplomatic.

"WE ARE NOT- I mean- we're friends! We're just friends. Totally- I mean, psh who- ha- I'm going to go stand over here now," Morning Glory said quickly, rubbing her pink face.

Firefly sat there calmly, staying on the pedestal and staring up at the statue of Basil. Morning Glory swept to the other side of the statue, running her hands through her white and blue-ish purple hair.

Sweetpea shrugged, moving over to Firefly. "I'm Sweetpea! The teasing little brother. I'm not terrible, just so you know, just a prank here, a little tease there, but mostly I'm pretty great- I just like annoying people," He said, grinning.

Firefly narrowed her eyes. "You remind me of my brother. He had that same smug face. My name is Firefly," She added, flipping her curly hair off of her shoulder to settle on her back, which was matted and frizzy. Firefly swished her tail forward, curling it around her knees.

Sweetpea laughed. "For some reason, I actually get that a lot! Apparently there are a lot of smug brothers in the world, haha."

Firefly glared at him, and he subsided quietly, leaning against a tree on the edge of the clearing.

"So. Where are you from?" Sweetpea asked after a moment, then smiled at her when she glared at him. "I've lived in another forest for half of my life, on the outskirts of angel territory, but I honestly like this one better- everyone is familiar with each other, and everyone is considered family. It's nice." He looked at the sky, which was starting to reveal hundreds of stars spraying across the now dark sky.

"I grew up in a palace made of ice, marble, and sunlight," She offered. "It kind of sucked, though. I would rather live here, with your wonderful trees and different seasons- if what M said is true and you have four different seasons- all unique?" She said, looking hopefully back at Sweetpea.

"We do! How would you not know that?" Sweetpea said, tilting his head. "Also, a palace- are you royalty or something?"

"SHE TOTALLY IS BUT SHE WON'T ADMIT IT!" Morning Glory interjected, sliding in between them, cutting Firefly off before she could deny everything.

Firefly shifted her weight, looking at Morning Glory and frowning.

"Don't glare at me! You totally know it's true!" She yelped.

"I'm not glaring! This is just my face!" Firefly protested, bristling. "And as if me being royalty helps anything." She paused, then added from the look of their faces. "Not that I am. I'm definitely not, I mean psh, why would I be royal? You have no proof!"

Morning Glory sighed, then lifted her hand to her mouth and whistled. The noise echoed through the forest, after a moment, the small bird named Canary swooped down and nestled into her hair.

"Please, Firefly. I really want to figure it out. Think of it! An entire hidden kingdom, a tribe that just vanished into the clouds-" She paused, stopping mid step. "The clouds. The Skyshine Angels disappeared into the clouds. I guessed it before, didn't I?" Morning Glory whirled toward Firefly, looking at her accusingly.

Firefly hesitated. She was no traitor to her tribe- yet, she could make Morning Glory so happy if she told her.

"No," Firefly burst out without thinking any further. She just lied to her friend! The guilt tangled her mind like spider webs spun across her brain. "Sorry, M."

She shook her head. "It's not your fault. It was that scroll, for being smudged! Hmph. Very irritating. I wonder what it said..." She paused, staring up at the sky, which was dark and wonderfully covered in stars. The moon glowed brightly, casting ghostly shadows across Morning Glory's face. She stood, putting her hand out for Firefly to take. "Hey, in the meantime, let's go see the other wonders of the forests and kingdom! What do you want to go to first? There are the palaces, there's the flying range, I wanted to show you my room- I could also bring you to the other forests, or I could show you some other villages." Morning Glory counted on her fingers as she spoke, then glanced at Sweetpea. "You've been strangely quiet."

"Skyshine Angel! Alive! I-I thought we lost the entire tribe. Holy mother of trees!" Sweetpea rubbed his face, looking baffled. "Sorry. Just startled. Also, I wish I could hang out a little longer, but my mom worries if I'm out too late, plus, I don't want to be a third wheel. Have fun on your date!"

"WE ARE NOT-" Firefly started, but Sweetpea spread his wings and leaped into the air, sweeping over the trees due north, and after a moment the darkness wrapped its wings around him and he disappeared into the night.