Wings of Fire: Nighthawk

Chapter 43: Departure

A warm ray of sunshine came through the entrance of their hut. He wanted a little more rest than that, but once he was awake he was up. To his left he could hear some stirring, which turned out to be Lobster. The red seawing was packing things up for them to leave. Mostly just fruits and a few herbs for Mojave.

"There he is, good mornin." Lobster said with a bit of humor in his voice. "You doing okay?"

"Yeah, I think so..hm-" Nighthawk grunted as he stretched. "What's the word of the day?"

"I talked to the healers and they told me we could take Mojave home if we wanted. So there's that. They even offered to help us get him to the ocean."

"Well that's brilliant. Perfect." Nighthawk smiled a bit. His friend tossed him a dragon fruit which he sniffed before digging into it. He huffed and hummed before quickly stuffing it in his mouth.

"Hungry I see. So who do you think attacked you last night?" Lobster asked. The seawing was looking much better now that they'd been in the dungeon. Nighthawk had noticed he filled out again and was no longer dehydrated. As he licked the fruit juice off his face he shrugged.

"No clue honestly. It could've been anyone. I'm guessing it was a Nightwing, as he mentioned Deathbringer. We'll have to be more careful. Or at least I will." He shrugged. Lobster nodded and walked out with their supplies. Nighthawk followed and looked at the village below. Nothing was burnt to a crisp so he had assumed the rain put out all that fire. He took in the warm morning air before sitting up and stretching his wings out, feeling the sun on his scales. "That's good.."

"Yeah. Definitely better than the desert." Lobster chuckled a bit.

"Mm, alright. Let's get everyone gathered." Nighthawk said calmly. The previous night still had him a little shaken up, but he knew they had to leave as soon as possible. He and Lobster flew down to Mojave who was waiting on the large platform in the center of the village, examining several different flowers. Once they landed the sandwing walked over.

"Hey, Lobster said you got attacked?" Mojave asked. Nighthawk nodded and sighed deeply. He was hoping Mojave didn't start asking too many questions, as he hated that. The sandwing just shrugged. "Glad you're alive. I know you wanna get out of here just as much as I do."

"Yeah.. although it's not too terrible here." Nighthawk shrugged. "However I would love nothing more than to be home." He sighed. "Anyway, we need to leave today, right now actually. I got a feeling some Nightwings are looking for me." He snorted out a little flame. A rainwing stared at him with curiosity, and he could only guess it was surprised about the fire. He knew they didn't have any, otherwise there would be light at night. "What?" He asked the rainwing who was staring at him.

"What was that glowy stuff?" It asked.

"Fire. No more questions." Nighthawk huffed. "Lobster, where is plum?" He asked.

"She's in a meeting with the queen, but I can't imagine she would take too long."

"Alright then. Is everything packed? Mojave are you doing okay today?"

"I'm breathing, so yeah. Wish my tail wasn't destroyed.." He sighed. "Gonna suck not to be able to fly again." He moved was only able to move about half of it, the rest was limp and useless, even the barb. Nighthawk thought about his life before he could fly. Soft, unarmored and squishy he was as a human, but now he was a sturdy dragon with scales who could fly as far as his wings would take him. He never wanted to go back, this was his new life. A better life. He stretched and sighed.

"We will think of something, probably. Anyway I see plum, let's get moving lads." Nighthawk started to pick everything up. Plum landed with four other Rainwings. They had a net woven out of vines and rope which looked quite sturdy.

"Good morning! Lobster told us you were leaving, sooo we got some stuff to help! This net will carry your friend so you can fly with him." Plum smiled. "And we were gonna help get you through the rainforest since it's hard to fly in it if you're not from here."

"Perfect, we really appreciate the help." Nighthawk said with a small smile. "Let's get going though." He shrugged and helped them get Mojave into the net. He was tied in with a special sort of harness, and to his surprise the sandwing would be able to move his wings in the net.

"Well look at that." Lobster said. "He can help us stay in the air, no need to steer at all."

"Yeah! We figured it might help since you guys are carrying a lot of stuff, maybe not the most but it's better than nothing." Plum smiled. She then signalled for her Rainwings to take Mojave into the air and carry him. She led the way while Nighthawk and Lobster followed. "To the ocean!" She called. As they flew, Nighthawk couldn't help but feel a little sad. The rainforest was a beautiful, vibrant landscape and it was a disheartening that he probably wouldn't see it again anytime soon.

"We definitely have to take Sulu and Tempest here one day, after the war is over. Whatcha think?" He asked Lobster.

"That's a great idea!" Lobster smiled. "Sulu would love it, I can see her finding all sorts of new things to cook with all these fruits and new animals."

"Aye, I can't wait to have her cooking again.. she's so good. I miss her." He sighed as he flew.

"Me too buddy, but we'll be seeing her soon enough, I know it. I can feel it."

"Yeah-" Nighthawk mumbled. He couldn't tell but he was blushing. He glanced at Lobster who was grinning a bit. "What?"

"You're in love with her aren't you." Lobster teased. "And no, before you ask I'm not mad."

"What- but- no- how- I'm not-"

"Haha! Relax, if anything I'm glad, because I know you'd be good to her." Lobster smiled a bit. "And you wouldn't break her heart, or abuse her, you're a good dragon. Who else would come across an entire continent, risk their life just to rescue one dragon?"

"Hm.. I suppose you make a good point.." Nighthawk huffed. "Fine, yes. I love her. She's fantastic and sweet.. one of a kind." He mumbled.

"Well you make sure you tell her that when you see her." Lobster said with a small chuckle. "Thank you for saving me, again. I'm lucky to have a friend like you."

"Yeah..I know, but you're a good dragon. You deserve good friends." Nighthawk said softly. "Anyway, let's just focus on getting home. Been way too long.." He sighed. He and Lobster went silent. It was happening, they were finally going home.