Wings of Fire; Claws of Betrayal (EDITING)

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

For the rest of the day, they followed Papaya through the Sky Kingdom. When it turned night time, Papaya forced them to stop and sleep with a brief explanation that it's "RainWing things" even though Blue had not once had a suntime - or a full night's sleep, for that matter - whilst she and Elk had been on the quest to find Gleam.

So, for the first time in a while, Blue finally slept the full night, even though the rocky ground was uncomfortable beneath her. In the morning the three of them continued their journey, however they didn't get far, because, at midday, Papaya insisted on having a suntime. 

"Listen, Blue," Elk said in a murmur after Papaya had settled down to sleep. The SandWing had brought Blue to a kopje, behind a cluster of rocks to talk to her in private. They were three metres away from Papaya just in case he hadn't yet fallen asleep and overhears their conversation. "I appreciate Papaya is your father and all, but he's slowing us down by a lot. I bet if he'd just given us a map with a drawing of where Gleam's location is, we'd already be there."

"I want to find Gleam as much as you do, Elk," Blue responded quietly. "But we can't just leave him now. He's only a RainWing; he won't survive out here all on his own. Also he's asleep, it would be brutal to just go without even telling him that we're going."

Elk nodded, but slowly. "Alright. I understand. So, we'll tell him we're leaving him when he wakes, yes?"

Blue sighed. She knew how he felt, but she didn't like the way Elk kept pestering her to leave her own father. "Maybe, Elk. Maybe."

Perhaps Elk got the message, because he backed a couple paces up. "Fine. Let's head back, and hope that Papaya wakes up soon." He grumbled, shaking his wings.

The two flew back and landed beside the sleeping Papaya, who's scales were rippling shades of tangerine orange and lemon yellow. As they landed, Blue could've sworn she saw a disturbance in the colour flow - a colour she couldn't quite catch before it turned back to yellow and orange - and the glitter of a blue... gemstone? She shook her head, dismissing it. The sun had probably dazzled her eyes.

Not soon after, Papaya gave a long, loud yawn that echoed through the mountains, then stretched like a wildcat. 

"Could you be any louder?" Elk hissed, grumpy enough that Papaya was dragging them down.

Papaya gave him a wounded look. "Moons, sorry. Maybe you should have some suntime. I heard it improves your attitude and temper." 

Elk grinded his teeth, and Blue stepped between them before they could start fighting. "How about we continue?" she asked instead.

Papaya turned to his daughter and nodded, his eyes shining. "Oh, yes, we're close. If we keep flying for the rest of the day, then we'll be at the place where Beam is kept."

"It's Gleam, for the last time, you senseless dragon," Elk snapped.

"Hey, now-" Papaya began, but Blue interrupted before they could start arguing again. "Let's just keep going," she said through her teeth. 

As they took off again, Blue hissed in Elk's ear: "I know that you're annoyed with Papaya, but stay off his tail, will you? He's doing the best he can."

"His best isn't good enough, then," Elk snapped back, then sighed. "I'm sorry, it's just that I'm worried that we won't find Gleam in time before they kill her."

"I'm just as worried, Elk, but I'm not taking it out on a helpful RainWing guide. Moons, if we didn't have Papaya, we'd be just as lost as we were-"

"Almost the-ere!" Papaya sang as he slowed down to match their pace. He did a backflip and danced through the sky, then regained his position as the head of the trio.