Cyclone/Puffin's POV
The tunnels were almost finished, and Queen Puffin, once known as Cyclone, was almost going to collapse. She had spent these three sleepless nights digging a series of tunnel-caves with plenty of air pockets as a hideout for her sisters. Her claws were dull and worn from digging and scraping through layers of limestone.
As she sat down on the floor of a completed cave, a faint voice seemed to be calling to her. Cyclone. Cyclone, can you hear me? This is Lightbringer. If you can hear me, think "yes."
Puffin(Cyclone) smacked her ears a few times. She was exhausted, and probably hearing things while hallucinating. There was no way Lightbringer could send her a thought message—she wasn't a mind-reader. But just to be sure, she thought "yes" as clearly as she could, then "am I hearing things? Am I going crazy?"
Lightbringer's voice returned in Puffin's mind. No. You are not hearing things. You are perfectly fine. This message is very real, and yes, it is being sent by me. Have you got it?
Puffin shook her head. Now she was really hearing things. She closed her eyes. A few minutes later, Lightbringer spoke—or thought—once more, now sounding impatient. I am asking you a question. Have you got it or not? Tell me now! Please! We are all so nervous. Her voice sounded brittle, threatening to crack and unleash a river of tears.
Puffin sighed. Perhaps it was Lightbringer after all—the voice sounded exactly like her, bossy and impatient, yet always concerned for her little sisters' safety. She was probably referring to the message in the seashell on the beach. Yes, I have it.
Lightbringer seemed relieved. Good. We were all worrying. Well then, goodbye for now, and good luck.
Her voice fell silent.
Puffin longed to tell Lightbringer and the others everything, how she missed them all, how she lived in fear of her subjects every day, how she had built them a hiding place from Stratus. But there could be other mind-readers out there. And if she, an ordinary SeaWing, could hear Lightbringer's thoughts, broadcasted out like one of Mother's announcing-thingies* that amplified a dragon's voice, anyone and everyone could hear their conversation. Puffin shuddered. An empty, lonely silence fell in the cave except for the comforting sloshing of the waves. A school of brightly colored fish swam by, their metallic silvery-purple tails reminiscent of Lightbringer's silver teardrop scales. Speaking of Lightbringer, she did not broadcast any more thoughts, and Puffin sat there, thinking about how she could help her trapped sisters in the quiet solitude of the hidden caves.
The first thing she had to do was to sneak out of the palace, but how could she when no one in the sea could be trusted? This question swam in circles in her thoughts, a restless fish. Even when she fell asleep, there was no answer.
*The CloudWings invented the microphone and loudspeaker in Pyrrhia.
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The CloudWings
FanfictionWhen Pyrrhia was but a tiny volcanic island of a continent, there were already dragons living on it; well, above it. They were the CloudWings, who helped shape Pyrrhia to what it is today. How did the seven tribes of modern Pyrrhia originate, and...
