Moonsky, a Nightwing-Skywing hybrid, was lying on the bright white sand of Vannahime's beach. A gray storm cloud thundered away below the Cloudling city, moving the Government island with it. No airship was affected, however - they all floated above the clouds, with the cities.

Moonsky sighed as a slow, massive cargo ship hovered by; the Integrity, if he remembered correctly. Two defenders - the Flea and the Redname - hovered alongside the zeppelin, ready to board and destroy any pirates or Cultists tried to steal the huge load of coal and ammunition. 

He sighed again, this time with annoyance, as he saw a small fleet of civilian warships -Dragonhome, the Defender, the Ingenuity, and the leach - were moving in his direction, the flagship slower than a slug and the other ships just as slow. The beach was a busy place today; there would be very few instances of a clear sky, especially with civilians not allowed to use propellers.

Moonsky froze when he had a clear view of the city. three dragons were walking out of the nearest building: a Skywing, an Icewing, and a Seawing. The three school bullies. They must have seen Moonsky out of a window and thought it was a perfect opportunity.

"Well, gnat, skywatching? Really?" The leader - Dock - said as Moonsky backed away. The tattoos on their snouts were becoming unnervingly close. "I thought you wanted to take an airship to explore the lower ground. Didn't you, Storm?"

"yeah, what happened?" The Icewing said, his storm cloud tattoos making him menacingly half camouflaged with the shadows that now covered the beach.

"Why don't we help him start? Maybe by... showing him to the edge of the island?" The Seawing said. The three kept advancing.

"Yeah, why not? How about it gnat?" Moonsky was now at the edge of the island, where no sane Cloudling would go, with the fear of falling off the island - unlike Terrans, Cloudlings had their wings cut off at hatching. "Besides, even if it isn't your dream, why not? I like looks of fear." he gave Moonskya punch to the stomach.

And Moonsky was pushed back.

At the edge of the island.

And he feel right off.

He had a moment to see the face of Dock, Storm and the Seawing turn into one of terror when they realized what they had done. Surely an airship above had seen them, right? Soon a grenadier would drop down and pull him up. Surly.

Moonsky fell... And fell... And fell... Soon, in the center of the storm cloud, he realized he was never going to be rescued. The bullies would be arrested and put in jail, yes, but him? He would die on the ground. his last moment would be him reaching the surface of the Terran soil, then he would be dead. Gone.

He beached the clouds. He looked down, and under him was water - the sea. A cloud of Terrans whizzed by, barely noticing him as he fell to his doom - he couldn't swim. He splashed down, pain exploding in his back as it hit the water. He could already feel water seeping into his lungs and starving him of oxygen.

Suddenly, another dragon dove under the water: a Seawing Terran. No, a pair of Terrans. they grabbed his arms and pulled him up, using their tails to help them carry his weight. They breached the water, and Moonsky gasped the breath he had never thought he would breath.

When the Terrans set him down, he could only think one thing: I'm on the ground, I'm on the ground, I'm on the ground, his mind went in an endless loop. He saw the Terrans land and rest, but a few were walking toward them. 

"Hello?" One said. She was yellow with black ink splotches on her scales, her wings twitching. "Are you okay? What do those tattoos mean? How did you fall? Why don't you have wings?"

"Cricket, stop peppering him with questions," another Terran said. She was green and brown, but with gold scales scattered here and there. "He probably isn't from around here."

"Where else could he come from if not here? The moons? Wait - did you come from the moons?"

"Cricket, stop!"

"Sundew-"

"Sundew, it's okay to ask questions, but Cricket, we should slow down," a third Terran said. She held herself regally, and Moonsky got the impression that she was their leader. She turned to him. "Who are you?" She said kindly.

"M-Moonsky," he answered, still terrified. "Moonsky of Vannahime."

"Well, Moonsky, what tribe do you come from?"

"I'm a Skywing-Nightwing hybrid."

The Terran looked somewhat surprised. "Where is Vannahime?"

Moonsky hesitated. How much should he give away? He decided to point up in an answer.

"Up there? Like, above the clouds?" the yellow one - Cricket - said.

He nodded. Aaaaaaaaaaaaand there went her river of questions.

"Whoa, how does it stay up there? Is that why you don't have wings? Your homes fly? Can we make our homes fly? Oh my moons, could you PLEEEEEASE tell me about where you come from!"

Moonsky - and the Terrans - looked at her for a long moment. "Fine," Moonsky said. "Take me home and I'll tell you about Skykeria."

"We should get some rest first. We did just fly across the ocean," the leader said as Cricket pumped her fist.

"Fine by me."

As the Terrans settled in, Cricket began peppering Moonsky with questions, from how Vannahime floated to why he had tattoos. When she finally stopped, Moonsky was tired, and fell asleep almost instantly.

                        ----<-->----

The next morning was peaceful, with trees rustling, a few birds chirping not a cloud in sight... 

Wait, what?

Moonsky jolted awake, heart pounding. No, no, no, no, no, he thought. The storm had moved on; and with it, Vannahime. He spun in a circle, looking for any sign, any tower, anything that would show him where to go. Nothing. No anvil for his hammer. No way to find his home city.

There were three shapes winging towards the sleeping Terrans, though. A Sandwing, a Nightwing, and another tribe that he only recognized from the ones sleeping around him. He stood up, and slowly walked toward where the dragons were going to land. When they landed, Sundew walked over to the unknown Terran, while the Nightwing walked up to Moonsky.

"You... how?" She said.

"How what?" 

"You changed my vision just because you fell off Vannahime. I thought such a subtle change would be so influential."

"I was just being bullied."

"I need to get you home. I'm Moon, this is Qibli." She turned towards Sundew, revealing a silver teardrop scale. "You should  take the Silkwings to the Rain Forest Kingdom to live with the Rainwings; the Leafwings can follow us to the Sky Kingdom."

"I'm coming with you," the greener Seawing said. "Hi, Moon. Hi, Qibli."

"Hi, Turtle. Thanks or coming with us," Moon said, looking at Turtle. "How has Tsunami been?"

"Fine. She always is," he said, then turned to Moonsky. "So, what are we looking for?"

"Ummm..." Moonsky took a moment to think about that. "It's on a floating island with teal ore running though it. The city itself is surrounded by airships, but it's mostly towering spires. It would be above the clouds."

"Okay, then," Turtle said. He turned back to Moon. "We can look from the mountains around Sanctuary, maybe rest there for a while."

"Okay," Moon said. The other Terrans were already taking off, winging north and south. Moon and Qibli picked Moonsky up by his forearms and they flew somewhere, moving north with a cloud of greens and browns.

Soon, after rotating Moonsky's weight and only a single break, they reached a mountaintop that was near this "Sanctuary." Qibli and Turtle set him down on a ledge and the four instantly searched for the city, but with no luck. No Government island in sight.

Moonsky sighed and sat down on the ledge. "We'll just have to look somewhere else. I gue-" an explosion stopped him from saying what he wanted to say. He turned around in horror to see three bombers releasing hell on some place, their mothership releasing much heavier bombs. it was fine, right? they were just bombing an outpost... right?

Moon gasped, only increasing Moonsky's fear. "That's Sanctuary."