The Blood Moon Killer

Chapter 8: Reunion

Everyone had gone back to Qibli's house, as Clay was about to enter, he was stopped by a gentle tug on his tail, looking back, he saw Whiteout and Aardvark with their heads lowered. "Sorry for yelling and running away." They apologized. Clay just laughed and pat their heads "don't feel bad. Anyone would have done the same. I was just eating some cranberry pie when you guys saw me. I would've assumed it was blood too. Just... Watch where you're running to text time."

Smiling to each other and to Clay, the duo ran inside and met up with Jet, Kelp and Waterlily. Jet held his tail above Waterlily's head as she tried to jump and grab it. Waterlily made some laughing noises when she caught Jet's tail and began to claw at it. Jet winced "it hurts so much but it's so adorable." Kelp gently grabbed his sister and held her in the air as she flapped her wings.

"Awww." Aloe cooed, watching the kids play together "they're so cute~. Qibli! I want another one!"

Qibli's ears flipped back and he pressed his wings to his side. "Umm. Kinda a weird thing to say in front of the kids and our friends, love."

"I'm not surprised they get along so well, they're all 13 or 14. Except for Waterlily, she's, what, 9?" Kinkajou nodded and leaned on Turtle "they're so cute together. It's honestly been so easy with Waterlily. Kelp takes his responsibility as big brother very seriously. We can't be more thankful for them."

Peril looked at Qibli worryingly "you sure they're okay? I mean, what happened at Jade Mountain-" "Was a long time ago. I doubt this was an assassination attempt." Qibli stated, looking at Peril with a smile "I'm sure it was a 'wrong place wrong time' situation. But, we'll keep an eye out just in case." Peril leaned on Clay lovingly "that's a relief."

"And besides." Aloe interjected, walking to Peril and resting her tail on hers "if anyone hurts our kids."  "I'd claw their face off."  They both said. They looked at one another and smiled "I forgot how much I liked you Aloe." The Sandwing winked at her and then looked at Qibli who was looking out the window.

There was a screech that made everyone stop and look in his direction. A falcon that was all brown with yellow eyes landed on the window sill and faced Qibli, then bowed to reveal a pouch with the Sandwing crest on it. Grabbing the clasp and flipping it up with a small pop sound, he pulled out a scroll and held it in front of him as he opened it and began to read.

After a few seconds of silence, he closed it and looked back "it's from Queen Thorn. She wants us to report to the Stronghold immediately." "Alright" Aloe started, going to grab a small bag "uh-un." Qibli said, stopping his wife "she means all of us." He said, gesturing to the entire group. 

"Wait." Winter started, his tail flicking back "how does she know we're here?" Qibli cleared his throat "I... May have mentioned you guys were visiting. Anyways, something happened in the Nightwing Kingdom." "What?" Moon interjected, stepping forward. "It doesn't say. But Queen Thorn wrote that she'll explain once we get to the Stronghold." He paused for a long moment.

"She also requested that the kids come."

There was a loud yell of 'yess' and 'let's gooo' throughout the small house.

Peril chuckled as the cheers died down "well, looks like the Jade Winglet is back in action!"

----------

They arrived at the gates of the Stronghold where two Sandwing guards stood. "Qibli!" One of them said "good morning! How was your day so far?" They asked, as they did a small handshake "not good if I'm being honest." "Dang." The other one said, starting his own handshake with Qibli "how bad?" "Dragonflame bad." "Ouch. Everyone good?" Qibli nodded as the guards opened the gate and allowed them to pass, but they were stopped by Queen Thorn herself, still wearing the Eye of Onyx around her neck and a simple crown on her head.

"Qibli! Aloe! So nice to see you both again. I trust you got my letter?" She asked, stretching her wings and hugging them both "yeah, anyways, I brought the gang." He announced, backing up and gesturing to them with his wing. Queen Thorn looked at the adults, then the kids and knelt down "Queen or not I'm still a mother. Now come here!"

The children rushed to her and tackled her to the ground with a multitude of hugs. "You've all gotten so big! My goodness! I remember when Qibli told me for the fourth time he was going to be an uncle. You all look so much like your parents. I trust you're all behaving?" She questioned in a teasing manor. They all nodded.

Winter's ears flipped back "you know, if an Icewing Queen was seen doing this she could have been stripped of her rank. No challenge necessary." Moon chuckled and gently nudged his side "well you aren't there anymore, and Pyrrhia has changed so much." Hearing Moon's voice, the Queen stood up and gently placed the dragonets on the ground as she walked over to Moon.

"Hello Moon. I'm so glad you're here. I could really use your help." "Of course Your Highness, what can I do you for?" Turning around and flicking her tail, they followed the Queen through the halls and into a room with two other Nightwings and a couple Sandwings. "They arrived here moments ago from the old, or should I say, new Nightwing Kingdom. While doing some excavation, they uncovered two things very peculiar."

One of the Nightwings took a shaky breath as Queen Thorn motioned to them. The Nightwing stepped forward, "greetings. I'm Dreamweaver." Dreamwaver had all black scales and bright grey eyes. "This is my brother, Nightmarekiller." "H-Hello." He said, waving. They looked exactly the same, except Nightmarekiller had paler wings compared to Dreamweaver. "We were doing some excavation in an old part of the Nightwing Palace when we uncovered something."

"It was a large room, like a library, but it wasn't filled with scrolls of knowledge or anything like that... They were... Records."