Fire and Water → Wings of Fire [2] ✓

Chapter 1

the warmth of the sun is all she can feel.

I hope it's worth it, Gem thinks, and she lays her tail over her claws.

"Gem, come on, we need to come up with a plan," Sunny says, nudging Gem's wing. Gem sighs and shakes herself out of her thoughts. "Sorry, I was just thinking about... well, how..." She shakes her head. "I've just been a bit distracted." Sunny smiles and leans her head against Gem's neck. "We've noticed, but it's okay," she says.

"Are you sure?" Gem asked, looking at Tsunami who was gazing out towards the ocean. "What if... what if I come up with a plan and it fails? We could be risking ourselves here."

Sunny chuckled, "Gem, all you need to do is help us. Starflight will come up with something; he always does," she said. Gem sighed and nodded. It was true, Starflight was the clever one. It didn't have to be her.

"Will there be a celebration in the SeaWing Kingdom?" Clay asked playfully, and everyone burst out laughing. Glory flickered from gold to green and from blue to sapphire purple. "Oh, Clay, you never know. I haven't been in contact with Queen Coral, but she doesn't party like the old NightWing queen. I suppose she has no reasons to celebrate, considering her daughters are all dead."

Tsunami lunged at her and tore open her light-colored stripes. "I'm not," she hissed.

Glory rolled her eyes. "I know, Tsunami, you've made that clear." Gem stepped between them and spread her wings, gently touching the tips to both dragonesses. "Calm down. I want both of you alive before we reach the Sea Kingdom," she said.

Glory blushed, her scales shifting from red to orange and back to deep blue. "Okay, okay, sorry, Gem," she said, bowing her head. Tsunami mumbled an apology as well. Clay smiled and walked away from the water's edge, a squid clutched in his front talons.

Gem raised an eyebrow and took the squid in her claws. It squirted ink all over her, and she yelped but held onto it firmly. "Hey, calm down, little friend. I won't harm you," she said, nudging the squid with her snout.

The squid blinked with large round eyes up at her before it crawled up to her neck, then to her head, settling there with a contented expression.

Sunny chuckled and nudged Starflight, who had been lost in thought. He looked where she pointed and smiled, his green eyes blinking. "Nice hat, Gem," he said.

Gem laughed and poked the squid with her claw. It squealed back at her and curled its tentacles closer around her horns, becoming a makeshift hat. "Well, this is my new hat. Anyway, Starflight," she turned towards the NightWing, who blushed when their eyes met. "Do you have any plans?"

Starflight nodded. "I'm thinking we--" He cut himself off and stared into the sky, his eyes widening. Gem immediately sensed that something was up and signaled the rest of their friends in the trees. Only Tsunami and Glory remained on the beach as they took cover among the trees.

Gem was about to rush out and grab them, but Clay stopped her and signaled for her to stay quiet. He looked up at the sky where a lone SkyWing glided by and narrowed their eyes at the trees.

Did they spot us? Gem thought, trying to suppress her panic.

She got in the way of a stream of flames, flinching as the fire seared her scales, but she didn't stop. Gem spread her wings and positioned herself between the SkyWing and Tsunami.

"Stop!" she barked at the dragon. The SkyWing looked confused and furrowed his brow at her. "Princess?" he asked, and Gem growled, "I'm not a princess, but let us go, or I'll tear your throat out." It was the wrong thing to say, but she needed to assert her dominance and earn this dragon's respect. Both outcomes would be favorable, actually.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, disregarding her attempt to appear intimidating."Your mother is dead," he added, and Gem had to bite her lip to keep from howling in truth throughout. She had never liked her mother, so why did it tear her heart to pieces knowing she was dead?

Gem shook her head.

No, she thought, I must be dreaming. "I have no connection to my mother. I just want you to leave us alone," she said. The SkyWing furrowed his brow once again as he was dropped back into the water, and this time he hit the sandy bottom.

He didn't resurface.

Gem turned around and saw Clay staring at her.

Clay dove down and assisted her, and together they laid the guard back down on the beach. Glory emerged from Gem's shoulder and growled at Tsunami, "What the hell were you thinking?!" she roared.

Tsunami raised her snout defiantly, "I did what anyone would have done — I saved us."

Glory shook her head. "You didn't save us. He wouldn't have harmed us, and he couldn't have, remember? The princess is here, after all. Besides, he couldn't have gone against her."

Gem lowered her head and clawed at the sand. "You guys, I'm not a princess. I don't want the throne, and I'm not even sure if my older sister Ruby has taken it by now."

Tsunami growled, "Sometimes you're just too stubborn, Gem. You are a princess, just like me, and you don't need a thorn to prove it. Now please, I just want to get home." Gem nodded, and together, they all dragged the unconscious guard to another beach, one that might be safer than the one near the Sky Kingdom.

This time, they let Tsunami go ahead and waited until she returned to a cave. Gem lay awake, staring out at the beautiful landscape before them. The stars twinkled in the sky, and the moonlight bathed everything in its glow.

Gem couldn't help but think, I just hope Tsunami's family is better than mine.

It took a few hours before Tsunami burst through the surface of the water, followed by another Seawing. They seemed to be fighting, and Gem quickly stood up, roaring in fury and launching herself into the air. Indigo, the name she had given the squid, clung tightly to Gem as she clashed with the other Seawing.

"RAH!" she roared, and the other dragon whimpered, slashing its claws across her snout. But Gem said nothing more than this: "Stay away from my friend!" Tsunami tried to intervene, but Gem had delved too deep into the shadows of the fight, and there was no way to pull her back out.

At last, she was torn away from the SeaWing, and she growled, "Hey, hey, calm down." Clay spoke up and held her steady in the air while keeping a firm grip on her. "It's just me, the fight is over."

Gem turned around, her eyes filled with tears. She pulled away from Clay and buried her head in her talons. "Wh-what did I do, Clay? What have I heard?" she sobbed.

"Nothing, you just gave him a few bruises, that's all. Look," Clay nudged Gem and smiled kindly as she looked towards the other SeaWing lying on the beach, whimpering. Tsunami sat beside him, her tail curled over her talons. She didn't look angry, just concerned. The other dragonets had gathered around, and Gem felt the tears welling up again from their fear reflected in their eyes.

Once again, she broke free from Clay and flew straight out towards the ocean. She didn't stop, she didn't look back, tears streaming down her face, with Indigo keeping her company. "Meow?" the little inkling squidlet mewled, but Gem simply shook her head and lowered her wings, catching a breath of air. She landed on a fragile rock, gently placed Indigo in her talons, and sat down, crying. "I'm too dangerous," she said, her voice choked with sorrow.

Tears flowed incessantly, cascading in relentless streams. It seemed as if they would never cease, as if an endless reservoir of sorrow resided within her.

Indigo mewled and reached out a tentacle, wrapping it around Gem's arm in an attempt to comfort her. "Mew, mew," it murmured softly, expressing its concern in its own unique way.

Gem looked up at Indigo, her orange-red scales streaked with tears of gold. "No," she said, gently removing the tentacle from her arm. She stood up and stretched out her wings. "I can't do it anymore. Here." She conjured flames in her talons and etched a burnt message on the stone next to Indigo. "I have to continue alone. I can't save the world." And with that, she flew away, becoming nothing more than a dot on the horizon. Poor little Indigo whimpered, "Mrr..."