Scales to Skin

XXV

Firefly

Peril, Turtle, and Kinkajou all came back at around the same time. I knew because Finch darted into the building I was trying to sleep in and crawled in bed with me. He whispered about Kinkajou's big, scary wings that she could barely control, Turtle's razor-sharp gills, and the glowing intensity and satisfaction that seemed to surround Peril. He said she seemed calmer than usual, and that scared him. I know he knows they won't hurt us, but I don't blame him for being afraid. He's only a child.

A few hours later, it seemed like everyone was outside and chatting, so I slipped out to join them. River smiled when he saw me and patted the ground next to him. I gathered that Queen Coral - a SeaWing, and apparently Turtle's mother - had agreed to the 'visit,' as she had called it. In fact, she was on her way already.

Turtle claimed it was because she felt bad about basically abandoning him his entire childhood. River thinks that's an exaggeration.

"So. Who do we have now?" Carnation asked, resting her head on her fist and her elbow on her knee. 

"Only Moorhen and Snowfall," Qibli answered. "Which are the two we knew we would have trouble with, so it's not unexpected."

Carnation nodded. 

"And then we have the teachers to worry about," Moon added. "Clay, Sunny, and Tsunami."

"They'll insist on attending anyways, so that's not an issue," Winter chuckled.

Qibli nodded. "But who knows what they'll think of it?"

"Good points," Moon sighed. "And do we even know what we're going to say? It feels like this is something we should have planned out."

"Yeah. You're right," Winter picked out a pot of ink and a scroll. "I'll write it down. Tell me what happened, Moon. From your perspective. We can edit it later."

Moon nodded slowly. "Okay. Well, first of all, I started off looking for a scavenger just like you. And I found one," she gestured to Carnation. "I was about to take her, but something caught the corner of my eye. The Lazulite Dragon.

"So, of course, I went to pick up the dragon. And, as you've all seen, it turned me into this. Well, not this, but, you know. What I was before. I was really confused, and the scavenger girl took me and hid me in a bush to 'save' me from the dragons. But when I saw Qibli land, all I knew was that I knew him and I needed help. So I let him take me, and in turn got the girl taken by Winter. I mean... you."

Winter glanced up and smiled at her. "And then... it was clear that you guys were continuing on with the project, and they all assumed that I was a scavenger. And that's because... I was. I wasn't just in the body of one, I had the mind of one, as well. I could only read the scavengers' minds. My instincts were like theirs. You all scared the hell out of me, even though I knew that you wouldn't hurt us. But the most important part was... I could speak their language.

"They actually had  a language. They spoke to each other, they spoke to me, they had real, normal lives. Lives just like ours," Moon's eyes welled over as she talked, and I could feel my own tears coming, as well. She opened her mouth to speak again, and I watched her intently.

Then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw movement.

It was just a flash, but it was there. I turned to follow it, then gasped. There he was.

Qibli heard my gasp and turned to follow my gaze. He sat up straight when he saw. He flicked Moon with his tail, cutting her off. Before she even realized what was happening, he was gone. I swear I saw him, but there weren't many hiding places in the room. None that he could've gotten to so quickly.