How Did We Get Into This Mess - KOTLC Oneshots

The Panakes Nest Oneshot

Sophie was fast asleep under Calla's tree once again, not knowing Keefe was on the other side with Luna and Wynn. Every time Luna teleported, Wynn would follow. Which made it a lot harder for Keefe to draw them, but he didn't care. Silveny may have been jealous of all the paintings Sophie was receiving, which totally wasn't why Keefe was sketching the baby Alicorns

Sophie groaned and flipped over, expecting more tender bark, and instead met with Greyfell's bony back. Her sleeping body twitched and Sophie's arm flung out to hug a hanging branch. Sophie's fingers caressed a Panakes bud, and she snapped awake when Luna frolicked to her and decided to playfully bite Sophie's arm.

"Ouch!" Keefe jerked up when he heard Sophie exclaim, banging his head on the braided trunk. He winced, clearing his throat. 

"Foster joins the land of the living! Congrats! Remember to thank Luna for the one-way ticket out of dreamland."

"Keefe?"

"Yes, 'tis I, the great ruler of Keefelandia." Sophie pretended to scoff, inwardly laughing at Keefe's antics. Luna's method may have been painful, but at least Sophie had a nice welcome committee. To Keefe, the smile on Sophie's face was worth the welt that would surely rise up later. 

Keefe set aside his array of charcoal pencils and thick paper, scampering up the sturdy boughs of the tree. It was a cross between a weeping willow and an oak tree, the embodiment of Calla.

"Aren't you coming?" Sophie rolled her eyes but proceeded to climb up the Panakes. It wasn't an unreasonable time for Sophie to wake up, but the sky was still a blend of pinks and oranges. It made her wonder about the importance of time because sunrise and sunset were the same for those moments where the sun was not to be found, but the sky a glowing masterpiece nonetheless.

Sophie neared the branch Keefe was resting on. The tree didn't get thicker or thinner as you went up, which amazed Sophie, reassuring her that branches wouldn't break under her. Calla wouldn't let that happen anyway. Once she sat down next to Keefe, he pointed not at the sky, or the dots below them, but the tree line that surrounded the hill's clearing. It was a swirling line of trees with an array of colors, from an obsidian black to sky blue, to a cloudy white. Sophie's eyes tracked the design to the Havenfield gate, so unlike Everglen's.

The fence was the opposite of the shining bars encasing Everglen's endless property. It was an ombre crystal prism that fractured the light around them, throwing back rainbows.

"I've never seen the gate before," Sophie breathed in awe. Keefe certainly had. Every time Keefe had come to visit Sophie, Grady would wave the triangular key, just to remind Keefe he couldn't get in. 

"That's why I showed you." Keefe knew Sophie had a home crystal that took her directly to the entrance of the house, under the leapmaster. She would always help Grady with the animals, but Grady kept the dangerous ones on the outskirts of Havenfield. By the gate. So Keefe had plenty of time to watch the Gorgodon go about its peculiar business. "But there's another reason." Keefe took Sophie's hand and they climbed higher until the pair came upon a nest made from twigs and what seemed like dinosaur feathers. "It's a moonlark nest. And today is when the birds set off in the water." 

Keefe angled Sophie's head so she could see the sleek black mama bird rub her nestlings head as the baby made a crying noise when the tide started to pull it away. Black eggshell pieces littered the sand, making a delicate trail. The baby moonlark drifted away on the current, with iridescent black eyes. Sophie made a strangled noise in the back of her throat as the mama flew away, reaching her hand out.

"Watch." The bird dove in and out of the sea, gaining momentum with every turn until the bird burst out of the water and flew into the horizon. Keefe pulled Sophie so she was looking at him. "I know you had a hard time with the recent Neverseen attacks. But that's you. And I can't wait to see when you fly."

"Why did you show me this?" Sophie rubbed the moonlark pendant on her collarbone.

"I think you needed to." Sophie had needed to see it. She had always known how the moonlark was cast off at birth, but now she understood why. The moonlark was pushed into the tide so it could fly. And it was time for Sophie to fly.

(A/N: It seemed uplifting, determined, and pure Sokeefe at the same time. I had no idea what I was doing while writing this-I never do-but I'm glad this is how it turned out. First person to comment as always, don't forget to VOTE, COMMENT, AND REQUEST! [insert inspirational thing here about it being time for the reader to fly])