was gently holding apart a writhing SeaWing and a hissing SkyWing.
“It’s only the first day, folks,” he said genially. “Nothing to be so grumpy about already. You’re probably both just hungry. Carnelian, take a deep breath and see me later. Pike, walk with me.” He spread his wing over the SeaWing’s shoulder and firmly guided him away down the tunnel.
The SkyWing watched them go with narrow eyes, growling to herself. Then, to Moon’s alarm, she swung around and marched right into Moon’s cave. Without saying a word, she threw herself onto the rock-ledge bed, folded her large scarlet wings forward over her eyes, and proceeded to stew in sullen silence.
One of my clawmates, Moon realized. Yay.
She blinked at the SkyWing for a moment, wondering if she should say something. Her heart was beating fast and the headache was still there, receding slowly toward the back of her skull. She cleared her throat, swallowed, opened her mouth … and then gave up and turned back to the scrolls.
Several minutes later, a whirlwind burst into the cave, nearly trampling Moon with bright yellow talons.
“Oh my gosh, sorry!” it yelped. “I didn’t even see you there! I guess that’s a NightWing skill, hiding in shadows, right, ha ha!” They put me in with a NIGHTWING? hollered her brain. Hello, isn’t anyone worried about my potential post-traumatic stress? But the little RainWing didn’t drop her enormous smile for a moment. Her scales, too, didn’t shift: They stayed a blindingly bright banana yellow dotted with splotches of alarming raspberry pink.
She seized Moon’s front talons and pumped them cheerfully up and down.
“Isn’t this exciting? I’m so excited I can hardly STAND IT. That’s why I’m this color, by the way. I have been trying all morning to turn myself something more dignified and I can’t do it; my scales are all like, YAY WE’RE REALLY HERE! and will not listen to me.”
Moon noticed that there was one spot on the RainWing that wasn’t eye-meltingly colorful: a triangle of three small black smudges on her wing that looked like tiny splashes of ink.
“I’m Kinkajou,” the RainWing added, beaming.
“You’re noisy,” the SkyWing observed from under her wings.
“I love this place,” Kinkajou said. She let go of Moon and bounced over to the hammock, while her thoughts went, essentially: Library! Art! Friends! “Have you explored at all yet? There’s the most amazing library — not that I can read yet, but oh my gosh, I’m working on it really hard. And an art cave! It’s full of all these colors of paint, like, like, like a couple of RainWings just EMOTED all over it! You guys, we should make amazing paintings and then decorate our cave with them. WOULDN’T THAT BE AMAZING?”
“I might literally die of joy,” said the SkyWing flatly.
“You look way healthier than most of the other NightWings,” Kinkajou said to Moon, evidently deciding to ignore the SkyWing for the moment. “Your scales are so shiny. I’d almost guess you were a RainWing in disguise, but you’re not, are you?”
“I didn’t grow up on the volcano,” Moon said softly. “My mother hid my egg in the rainforest.”
“Oh!” Kinkajou said, and her brain went Aha! “I’ve heard of you. Wow, that’s a relief. That means you weren’t anywhere near the NightWings who locked me up. I mean, I’m all for amnesty and making friends across tribes and forgiving each other and everything, but seriously, it was scary there, like I thought I might actually die, and so I figured maybe I’d start by making friends with some other tribes first and gradually work my way back around to the NightWings, but you’re hardly a NightWing at all, so that’s OK, then.”
Moon winced. “Hardly a NightWing at all” was essentially what she’d been hearing in the NightWings’ thoughts about her for months. It was a little brutal to hear someone just say it out loud.
“So what’s your name?” Kinkajou
“It’s only the first day, folks,” he said genially. “Nothing to be so grumpy about already. You’re probably both just hungry. Carnelian, take a deep breath and see me later. Pike, walk with me.” He spread his wing over the SeaWing’s shoulder and firmly guided him away down the tunnel.
The SkyWing watched them go with narrow eyes, growling to herself. Then, to Moon’s alarm, she swung around and marched right into Moon’s cave. Without saying a word, she threw herself onto the rock-ledge bed, folded her large scarlet wings forward over her eyes, and proceeded to stew in sullen silence.
One of my clawmates, Moon realized. Yay.
She blinked at the SkyWing for a moment, wondering if she should say something. Her heart was beating fast and the headache was still there, receding slowly toward the back of her skull. She cleared her throat, swallowed, opened her mouth … and then gave up and turned back to the scrolls.
Several minutes later, a whirlwind burst into the cave, nearly trampling Moon with bright yellow talons.
“Oh my gosh, sorry!” it yelped. “I didn’t even see you there! I guess that’s a NightWing skill, hiding in shadows, right, ha ha!” They put me in with a NIGHTWING? hollered her brain. Hello, isn’t anyone worried about my potential post-traumatic stress? But the little RainWing didn’t drop her enormous smile for a moment. Her scales, too, didn’t shift: They stayed a blindingly bright banana yellow dotted with splotches of alarming raspberry pink.
She seized Moon’s front talons and pumped them cheerfully up and down.
“Isn’t this exciting? I’m so excited I can hardly STAND IT. That’s why I’m this color, by the way. I have been trying all morning to turn myself something more dignified and I can’t do it; my scales are all like, YAY WE’RE REALLY HERE! and will not listen to me.”
Moon noticed that there was one spot on the RainWing that wasn’t eye-meltingly colorful: a triangle of three small black smudges on her wing that looked like tiny splashes of ink.
“I’m Kinkajou,” the RainWing added, beaming.
“You’re noisy,” the SkyWing observed from under her wings.
“I love this place,” Kinkajou said. She let go of Moon and bounced over to the hammock, while her thoughts went, essentially: Library! Art! Friends! “Have you explored at all yet? There’s the most amazing library — not that I can read yet, but oh my gosh, I’m working on it really hard. And an art cave! It’s full of all these colors of paint, like, like, like a couple of RainWings just EMOTED all over it! You guys, we should make amazing paintings and then decorate our cave with them. WOULDN’T THAT BE AMAZING?”
“I might literally die of joy,” said the SkyWing flatly.
“You look way healthier than most of the other NightWings,” Kinkajou said to Moon, evidently deciding to ignore the SkyWing for the moment. “Your scales are so shiny. I’d almost guess you were a RainWing in disguise, but you’re not, are you?”
“I didn’t grow up on the volcano,” Moon said softly. “My mother hid my egg in the rainforest.”
“Oh!” Kinkajou said, and her brain went Aha! “I’ve heard of you. Wow, that’s a relief. That means you weren’t anywhere near the NightWings who locked me up. I mean, I’m all for amnesty and making friends across tribes and forgiving each other and everything, but seriously, it was scary there, like I thought I might actually die, and so I figured maybe I’d start by making friends with some other tribes first and gradually work my way back around to the NightWings, but you’re hardly a NightWing at all, so that’s OK, then.”
Moon winced. “Hardly a NightWing at all” was essentially what she’d been hearing in the NightWings’ thoughts about her for months. It was a little brutal to hear someone just say it out loud.
“So what’s your name?” Kinkajou
Similar Books
Torn Apart (Book 1): Terror In Texas
C.A. Hoaks
Jinx
Sage Blackwood
Meanicures
Catherine Clark
Jodie's Song
Marianne Evans
Faithful Heart
Al Lacy
Veiled Threat
Alice Loweecey
Summer of Love
Emily Franklin
FanGirl
Angel Lawson
Enemy Inside (Defectors Trilogy)
Tarah Benner