The Turtle Bowl (Discontinued)

Chapter 2

"Are we flying in circles?"

It certainly felt like it. They had been flying for hours (days?) seeing nothing but ocean, and Luna was still feeling faintly sick after watching Moon catch a bird in midair, set it on fire, and eat it. Kinkajou had seen her face, though, and made a sympathetic face. "You a vegetarian, too?" When Luna had nodded, Kinkajou wrinkled her nose. "Meat eaters, right? Yuck! No offence, you two," she added quickly. Moon shrugged, her mouth full. "None taken," Qibli assured them.

...

After a short break for the night (they collapsed on the first piece of land they found), they set off the next morning confident (or at least hopeful) they would be on Pantala soon.

"You know," Qibli said a few hours later, "This actually brings back some pretty good memories."

"What, racing against time towards imminent doom?" Moon said incredulously.

"Yep," he said with a grin. "Racing against time towards imminent doom together."

Moon smiled back. "We have to do this more often."

Despite the coral Luna could see tugging him forward, he swooped over to brush her wing with his. "Absolutely."

...

Eons later, Pantala was finally in sight. Luna's wings had started drooping hours ago, but as soon as her continent was finally in sight, she felt a surge of adrenaline she didn't even know she was capable, shooting ahead of Moon, Qibli, and Kinkajou (who she could just barely make out shouting, "Race you!")

Blue!, her heart screamed. Swordtail! And that weird HiveWing and that LeafWing who rescued me, I guess.

Oh! That weird HiveWing!

She turned to her companions. "That thing is leading us to Blue, right?" When Qibli nodded, she continued, "Well, when we get there, he'll be in a cocoon. Also, there will be a HiveWing. This one's safe, but all the others? Evil."

"Three moons," he said, eyes wide. "An entire tribe?"

Luna started to nod, but then stopped and remembered Lady Cicada, who had stuck up for her and Blue in that horrible candy shop. And Blue's story about the HiveWing librarian, who had said that the Book of Clearsight's secrets should be revealed. And that guard, Hawker, who had stopped to wish her a happy--

Wait, what am I thinking? He's a GUARD. Who makes sure that we all stay nice and in line by injecting us with poison and putting us in prison. Who checks your identification before you go anywhere-of all SilkWings.

Luna blinked rapidly. "Maybe not all," she admitted. "But mostly."

...

Finally, they were in sight of a glow of fire within a cave. Luna couldn't go any faster, but she tried. She was concentrating so hard that she almost missed it, barreling straight into a squinting and suddenly very surprised HiveWing. "Luna?!" Cricket exclaimed. "Are you okay?"

But Luna had recovered her bearings, and immediately marched over to the last place she had seen her brother. "Is he out yet?"

"No," Cricket replied. "He's over there. And oh, Luna-he's a flamesilk!" Luna breathed a sigh, of relief and worry. I should have been here when he started his Metamorphasis, she chided herself as she paced towards his cocoon. "Luna," Cricket prompted from behind her. "Are you okay?"

But Luna was already looking around furiously, still missing something-or rather, someone. "Where's Swordtail?"

Cricket winced. "I thought that he was with you. When you blew away, he...he went after you."

"What?"

Luna was still processing when Qibli, Moon, and Kinkajou swooped in.

"WHOA," she said when Qibli and Kinkajou swept in, her eyes bigger than the full moons. And then Moon came in. Cricket did a double take.

"C-clearsight?"

"-No, no," Moon interrupted. "I'm Moonwatcher."

Cricket circled her, reaching out a claw as if she wanted to touch her and make sure she was real, then drew it back. Glancing between Luna and the three Pyrrhians, she finally gave them a small smile. "You aren't from around here, are you?"