Cinder: In No Way, a Hero || Book 3

~ Chapter 12 - The Plan ~

As soon as Soot and Eagle were thrown into a dungeon, Soot had collapsed on the floor. Eagle frowned, sitting next to Eagle. They placed a wing over the sobbing SkyWing. "There, there, Soot, it's ok."

Soot growled. "It's not ok! I screwed everythin' up! Like I always do..."

Eagle wrapped their tail around Soot, who flinched. Eagle moved their tail away. "You've never messed anythin' up. Y'er a dragon. Dragons make mistakes."

"Not as many as I've made."

Eagle frowned. "You could make a million mistakes, and I'd still love you as much as I do now."

Soot looked up at his SkyWing friend. "R-really?"

Eagle nodded. "Mhm."

"But...why love me in the first place?"

"Because, y'er caring, empathetic, smart, and brave."

Soot snorted a forced laugh. "Me? Smart? I'm the biggest idiot there is."

"Not at all," Eagle debated. "You were smart enough to realize that you needed to leave Skyblaze. You realized that it was for the best to leave. And you came up with a full plan to stop her."

"And what about brave? How am I brave?"

"You faced y'er fear of becomin' an outcast. Even though you were terrified, you still did it. And you were brave enough to tell both myself and Passionfruit about what Skyblaze threatened you to never tell."

Soot wiped his tears. "Eagle...I love you so much."

Eagle smiled, nuzzling Soot. "I love you too, Soot."

The SkyWings wrapped their wings around each other, as well as their tails.

"I promise you, I will get us out of this," Eagle said.

...

Right as Soot had fallen asleep, he heard the cell open. He opened an eye and saw a magenta RainWing walk in. Soot sat up. "What're you doin'?"

The RainWing sighed. "Queen Passionfruit has decided to let you two free. There's a whole group waiting in the Pavilion for you. Now, can you wake up your friend?" He nodded to Eagle.

Soot nodded, nudging Eagle softly. "Eagle, wake up."

Eagle stirred, groaning. "Mmm? What happened?"

"We're leavin' the cell. Cinder and the others came f'er us."

Eagle got up slowly. "Yay."

Soot laughed softly, and walked with Eagle, following the magenta RainWing to the Pavilion.

They arrived in a few minutes, seeing the Ragtags waiting for them. Soot and Eagle walked up to the group. Soot was skeptical. "I'm surprised you came back f'er us."

Cinder looked away, huffing. Comet answered for her. "Of course we did. Once a Ragtag, always a Ragtag."

Eagle smiled. "Thanks, guys." They turned back to Queen Passionfruit, as well as Soot. "Thank you, y'er majesty, for lettin' us go."

Passionfruit nodded. "Of course. I was brought awareness of your guys' situation, thanks to Comet. Consider the Rainforest your safe place."

The Ragtags all nodded thanks, and flew back to Comet's treehouse. There, Comet and Cinder led Soot and Eagle to a back room. Soot, at first, was skeptical, but Eagle convinced him to hear them out.

Cinder sighed. "Here's the deal. We learned that this virus Ronin has, it was made by an animus. Fortunately, he's dead. Unfortunately, that means we don't have a clear way to find a cure from this creator."