Wings of Fire: The Secret of Silverstripe

~Ch.18: Hope and Happiness~

On the morning of Silverstripe's next report, Silverstripe woke up from her midnight sleeping break and swam over to Turquoise. She pulled out her slate and huddled over to Turquoise's light from his stripes to write I need to go to my next report in a minute. Morrowseer wants me to be there at dawn. I'm sorry. I know you need some sleep.

It's fine, Turquoise flashed. Be right back. I'm going to get one of my friends.

Silverstripe nodded and watched as Turquoise swam out of the hatchery to return a few minutes later with a scrawny, pale green SeaWing.

Hello, I'm Bonefish, the pale green SeaWing flashed. As Silverstripe looked at him, she noticed that he had several slashes cut into his wings and fins. He had also lost an ear, and gone blind in one of his eyes. The eye that he could see through was moss green, and eyed Silverstripe with curiosity. You must be Abyss, Turquoise's cr--

Yeah, Bonefish is a friend of mine, Turquoise flashed, interrupting Bonefish before he could finish. He was a soldier a few months back, but was severely wounded in a battle with IceWings and decided to become a palace guard instead. He turned to Bonefish. Can you stay here, awake, while I sleep for a little while?

Sure! Bonefish flashed. Where are you going, Abyss?

She needs to run an errand, Turquoise flashed. All set, Bonefish, Abyss?

Yep! Bonefish flashed as Silverstripe nodded.

Good luck with your errand! Turquoise flashed to Silverstripe. Silverstripe hugged him for a moment, saying silent thanks before she swam out of the hatchery and started the flight.

Silverstripe landed on the stone skull just in time to see the sun creep over the horizon. A few minutes later, a black shape resembling a bat flew in the northern part of the horizon. It was difficult to see at first, giving that most of the sky was still dark, but after a moment Silverstripe recognized Morrowseer's yellow, glaring eyes as they scanned the island.

"Greetings, Morrowseer," Silverstripe said after the NightWing landed heavily in front of her.

"So you still have some competent blood in you from your grandparents," Morrowseer observed.

"The SeaWings or the NightWings?" Silverstripe said in a salty tone.

"The ones with backbones," Morrowseer said, glaring a little more intensely at her.

Silverstripe narrowed her eyes at him, forcing herself not to say "So the ones with actual homes that aren't covered in death and ash."

"Report," Morrowseer said firmly, seemingly thinking that he had won the argument over which tribe was better.

"Abyss has a stable identity in the Kingdom of the Sea," Silverstripe said. "She is maintaining trust among her fellow SeaWings, and recieving information from guards and Turquoise."

"Update on the complication?" Morrowseer asked, a hint of venom in his voice.

"The complication has been stabilized into a minor inconvenience," Silverstripe said, putting a little venom of her own in her tone.

"The information?" Morrowseer asked. He could tell that Silverstripe was challenging him; his wings unfolded a little, his spikes raised, and his tail flicked angrily behind him.

"The SeaWings are maintaining their base on the coast of SkyWing territory," Silverstripe recited. "Commander Tempest continues to be doing well in gathering morale and troops. No news on the summit, other than that it will have to wait until the area along the coast of the Sand Kingdom has been cleared of Blaze's troops. The SeaWings are starting to lower their defenses inside the bay, and are focusing their troops on the offensive line in the Sky Kingdom."