Clearwing stepped through the gate at the front of the dome, nodding to the guard and quietly flying over the overlapping leaves and foliage. She landed in the back to follow the path Sundew had taken.

It was surprisingly difficult to keep up with the LeafWing; her leafy green tail looked just like the leafy green plants that overcrowded the edges of the path. Three times she lost the flash of gold scales and had to walk uncertainly along the path until she saw them again.

The ground here was well-trodden, at least. Clearwing wondered how many times Sundew had walked this way — certainly no one else used this path, or even knew of its existence. She kept thinking it would veer off into multiple directions, or Sundew would leap into the foliage or fly away. Either way, she didn't. They walked in silence the whole way, until suddenly the path opened up into a clearing and Clearwing had to jump into a bush she hoped wouldn't kill her for breathing on it.

Surprisingly, Sundew didn't even seem to notice. She looked like she was in her own world; and the sounds of the Poison Jungle at night probably muffled the SilkWing's jump as well.

Sundew took a jade frog out of her pouch and laid it on a wide, flat rock next to a pond, which appeared to be the centerpiece of the clearing. The dark water rippled, sending slivers of the three moons dancing across its surface. Flowers sprouted all over the ground, their colors adding to the enchanted effect the clearing was giving Clearwing. The LeafWing climbed up into a tree leaning over the pond, sighed, and curled into a ball.

Many minutes passed.

Was that it?

Did Sundew sneak away from the camp to sit in a tree and look at a pond?!

It did seem very calming, but Sundew had struck Clearwing as the sort of dragon who didn't like to be calm — she liked to rip out the throats of her enemies and scream battle cries at the moon.

A light rain began to fall, making Clearwing's wings feel soggy and forming dewdrops on the leaves. Clouds formed over two of the moons, and Sundew glanced up, but to what Clearwing didn't understand.

Suddenly the shadows started moving. Clearwing let out a yelp, but she quickly muffled it. Sundew's eyes lit up and a smile spread across her face. One of the shadows emerged into the moonlight, and it became the silhouette of a dragon.

Sundew leapt out of the tree and the two dragons hugged each other tightly. The other LeafWing stepped back, clasping Sundew's talons in hers.

"You were gone forever!" the new dragon said. "I have so much to tell you! I've been waiting and waiting and checking the boulder every night and it was dreadful and I didn't like it and let's never do that again! I was half afraid Belladonna must have found out about us. I started to wonder whether I needed to mount a daring rescue mission — blast through the barrier! Knock the other PoisonWings aside! Tear down your prison and sweep you away to safety! Wouldn't that have been so heroic?"

Sundew smiled, twining her tail around the other dragon's. Willow, Clearwing was pretty sure that was her name. An emotion radiated off the two of them; love, peace, happiness. "The most heroic, romantic thing ever, but totally unnecessary. You know Belladonna couldn't keep me locked up, even if she wanted to."

A small spray of violets sprang from the ground, and Clearwing finally realized why there were so many flowers; Sundew had been growing them.

"Show-off," Willow said affectionately. "So, what have you been so busy with? I had this awful nightmare that you got captured by Wasp. It felt so real, I almost told Queen Sequoia about it. I mean, she always says that Belladonna wouldn't endanger the rest of us by... that she'd at least tell... Sundew?" Her voice faltered. "What is it? Please tell me you didn't-"

"I, um, did leave the jungle again," Sundew said. "Don't freak out. It was a small detour, don't worry."

"But you weren't seen, right?" Willow said. "Nobody saw you, because you were careful. No one saw you."

"We..." Sundew trailed off. "We, uh. Did... a thing."

"Sundew," Willow cried.

"With, uh..."

"Oh no, oh no," the pale green LeafWing threw her wings over her head.

"It was fine, honestly!" Sundew said quickly. "We weren't seen. Not really. Okay. But we weren't caught."

"Who's we?" Willow asked. "What does that mean?"

"Belladonna, Hemlock, A bunch of other LeafWings, and... Luna."

"Sundew!" Willow yelped. "What did you do."

"Bloodworm Hive was kinda... turned into a pile of ashes?"

"WHAT?" Willow shrieked, sending an explosion of sleeping birds into the night sky.

"Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh," Sundew said, covering Willow's snout. "We had to do something! Fighting back against the HiveWings is kind of our goal! And Luna was totally alright with it! So were the SilkWings who lived there!! It was only the HiveWings we were hurting, honestly."

"But now they know about us," Willow whispered. "Now they know about us and they're coming and we're doomed."

"We also burned down Cicada Hive," Sundew added sheepishly.

"By all the trees," Willow said. "You were seen, Sundew! Unless maybe it was only like one of them! Maybe they think someone accidentally dropped a flamesilk lantern and burned down the Hive, and anyone who saw a LeafWing will tell all of their friends about it and — no, no, they'd know it was the LeafWings, I bet the queen was in their heads, oh my gosh. We're going to die."

"No!" Sundew cried, taking Willow's talons in her's. "No, we're not, Willow. We're going to win this time."

"How can you possibly think that? Even if we could win eventually, war means dead LeafWings, especially war against Queen Wasp. And we can't win, because there's nothing different from last time except there are fewer LeafWings to begin with! We don't have any time," Willow said, sitting up and brushing off her girlfriend. "We have to tell Queen Sequoia and prepare for what's coming."

"Hey, Willow," Sundew said. "That's not true. We're not doomed. Things are completely different. Now we have two flamesilks, an army — more or less — of SilkWing allies, a dragon from a new tribe, and a dragon who can see the future!"

"What."

Sundew rolled her eyes and turned back toward the jungle.

"Oh, come on, Clearwing. The plants started chattering the moment you started following me. I can only pretend for so long that you weren't spying."

Clearwing jumped, startled, and came out of the bushes.

Willow nearly leapt out of her scales.

"Sundew," she said. "Do you know this dragon?"

"Yes," Sundew sighed. "She's on our side, don't worry." She paused. "You are on our side, right?"

"I'm on my friends' side," Clearwing smiled. "So yes."

"Wow," Willow said in a sparkly voice. "Your wings are so pretty."

"Thanks. I think your scales are really pretty too."

They were, actually. Willow's pale green scales were flecked with darker green, like the shadows of leaves, and she smelled like chocolate and fresh rain and mint. Clearwing kind of wanted to make a candle out of her, actually.

"But burning a Hive, Sundew..." Willow turned back to the green-and-gold dragoness. "That's an act of war. Wasp is probably already on her way. We need to go back and tell Queen Sequoia."

"Doubtful," Sundew replied, flicking her tail. "And I still can't-"

"I agree with Willow," interrupted a new voice. Clearwing jumped — she hadn't even noticed this dragon. Do my powers just not work very well on LeafWings, or is something else going on? She wondered.

An enormous LeafWing with an elegant, long neck emerged from the foliage behind Willow, ducking underneath a cluster of dragon-traps. She was covered in scars, and was missing part of her ear and half of one of her horns. Her tail dragged across the ground as she approached the trio of dragonets.

That's Queen Sequoia, Clearwing finally registered. She's alive. I didn't know that.

She tipped her snout politely at Clearwing, then turned to face Sundew. She towered over the other LeafWing.

"Hello, Belladonna's daughter," she said. "Willow is correct that I need to know everything. I think it's high time you joined the real LeafWings."