"What do we do now ?" Scarp asked, looking over at Firefly. In less than a second, all eyes were on her, hungry for answers.

"Should we go in and split up ?" Mire suggested.

"That's a dumb plan," Nemertea blurted out. "It's practically made to fail every time."

For once, Firefly kinda agreed with her.

They were in the borders of the Rainforest, where the trees were still a normal size and there was more air than vines. If they were to carelessly enter, though, they'd end up either tangled between giant tree snakes or tranquilized by a patrolling guard. And neither of those things sounded very pleasant.

"No, no.." Firefly mumbled, thinking of a plan. "Didn't my mom say that she'll be staying on the beach ?"

"Yes !" Lychee exclaimed. "In the south, right ?"

Firefly nodded. "Then it shouldn't be so hard to find her. We can just follow the coastline."

"Good idea," Mirage said before taking off to fly through the beach they were already on. Not long after, ten other dragonets were flying in the air along side him, fully energised and back to their signature diamond formation.

The sound of crashing waves accompanied their wingbeats. Every now and then, the roar of a panther could be heard aswell. As the sun starts to set, and the sixth roar broke, Firefly spotted a wooden structure below the canopy of a tree thanks to her sharp eyesight.

Far above the ground, was a fairly sized wooden platform with flowering vines draping off of the railings. Tall walls surround the trunk of the tree, with windows and windowsills holding morning glories dotted at random places and each revealing a tiny bit of what's inside. And like all Rainwing homes, the crown of the tree served as a roof that can both let sunlight in and keep you dry during the rain.

The structure looked like any normal Rainwing houses nowadays, except for one thing that separates it from all the others : guards.

Queen Glory didn't like the idea of having an extravagant and extra unique palace like the other queens. So, she chose something more simple and similar to her subjects' to show that she is still one of them. What the other Rainwings didn't have in their houses were lots and lots of guards, though. It's a very special touch that Deathbringer adds to almost everything involving his queen, the love of his life.

"That has to be it !" Lychee said brightly, yellow bubbles appearing everywhere on her peachy pink body. Said yellow was also spreading onto Firefly's ruff and stars.

"Should we land ?" Mirage piped up from ahead.

"Yes," Firefly said. She knew that a dozen of dragonets suddenly crowding the temporary royal hut was going to cause mayhem between them in the guards, not to mention her father. Deathbringer has, afterall, accidentally attacked dragons that threathened the safety of his mate, even the ones who were still dragonets.

"Lychee and I should go there first while the rest of you stay on the forest floor."

"I'm coming too," Fangsnapper declared. It sounded more like a statement than a request.

"Why ?" Firefly raised an eyebrow.

"I just am."

"Fine by me," Lychee shrugged before climbing the nearest tree.

Firefly and Fangsnapper followed suit, leaping from one branch to another untill they were high enough to jump and glide all the way to their destination.

It was a quick and easy flight since the three were experienced with flying in between dense trees. Firefly couldn't imagine how chaotic it would've been if the rest of their wing were to imitate them.

They touched down on the edge of the wooden platform with a thump, catching the attention of all the Rainwing, Nightwing, and even hybrid guards in the vicinity.

"Princess Firefly ?" one of them, a pale indigo Rainwing, said.

"Oh great ! You recognize me," Firefly breathed out a sigh of relief. She was afraid that getting to her mother would prove to be difficult, but thankfully, the moons were on her side.

"Of course, your highness !" she grinned, proud of herself. Only when she said that did she remember she was speaking to royalty and rushed to bow down before Firefly, along with the other dragons in the perimeter.

"Okay, okay, get up ! We're in a hurry here," Fangsnapper commanded. "Since we don't need to introduce ourselves or anything, can you just show us where the queen is ?"

The Rainwing guard looked disgusted over the fact that she was being bossed around by a puny Nightwing dragonet for a hot second before her smile returned.

"Rattan !" she called to another Rainwing. This time, a very colorful one. He looked like one of those splodgy neon paintings on Mirage's home's walls.

"Escort them to the throne room please," she said

Rattan nodded and beckoned the three dragonets to follow him through the entrance.

The inside didn't look as nice as the outside. It was a lot more empty and had barely any color to it. The windows brought plenty of the afternoon light in, and you could see the leaves and flowers from outside. But other than that, light brown dominated the square room.

They flew to the second floor where a solo throne decorated with white flowers was the only object in the room other than a leopard fur rug on the floor. (Lychee was probably internally raging because of the choice of carpet)

There was only really one thing that brought color to the area. And that was Queen Glory of the Rainwings and Nightwings, sitting regally on her throne with teal, blue, and warm orange beautifully displayed on her scales. Beside her, was the ex-Nightwing-assasin that had managed to captured her heart, Deathbringer.

The two of them had obviously been talking when Firefly entered, maybe even flirting with each other judging by the smirk on her father's snout.

"Ekhmm.." Rattan cleared his throat, earning the royal couple's attention and two raised eyeridges. He bowed to them and said, "Your majesties, your daughter and niece have come to visit you."

He stepped aside to reveal Firefly, Lychee, and Fangsnapper standing very awkwardly, the two cousins incredibly close to each other. They could foresee what was going to happen next even without prophetic powers.

It seemed as though Rattan did too because the moment the queen layed eyes on her daughter and her expression changed from all business-like to shock, he slipped away without a word, not wanting to be in the way of Glory's fury.

He was smart to do that, honestly. Oh, if only Firefly could do the same at that exact moment. All she could do was get ready for the inevitable outrage her mother would let lose.

"Why... WHY ARE YOU HERE ?!" Glory bellowed, red and orange visible from the underside of her wings.

Firefly swore she heard parrots and toucans squawking and scrambling to get away from the noise. A sloth or two might have also fallen from their branches. Come to think of it, that panther she kept on hearing before hadn't roared in a while. It probably moved all the way to the ice kingdom when it heard Glory's roar. Maybe her friends were rushing to get there too. The point is, Glory is without a doubt, absolutely terrifying.

"Hey mom, hey dad..." Firefly started cautiously. "I have some important news....?"

Note : Ahh.. I haven't had this much fun writing a chapter in a while. Can't wait to write the next one XD