Moonsky and Floatleaf were lucky enough to fall onto a patch of webbing, breaking their fall. They were, however, in the middle of an open garden that probably had guards near it coming to investigate the loud rip and thump that the two dragonets had created. Already, Moonsky could hear the marching of talons and the voices of soldiers chatting as Floatleaf tensed.

"They're going to kill me," Floatleaf whispered. His face was torn into fear, and his wings were shaking like branches in a storm. "I'm a member of the species they tried to wipe out... They're going to kill me if I don't get out of here..."

"They aren't going to kill you," Moonsky reassured him. "They probably won't even know what you are."

"Hey, you two!" A soldier suddenly yelled behind them. Floatleaf, probably by instinct, got up and darted in the opposite direction. Moonsky, concerned for his new friend, rushed behind him. The soldier continued to yell at them to stop, chasing after the swift dragonets with impressive speed for being in full armor.

Suddenly, Floatleaf stopped, and it took Moonsky a few moments tor make out the silhouette of a nearly completely black dragon with some sort of stinger at the end of their tail who had stabbed him. As soon as Moonsky registered that, he darted in the opposite direction only to be hit in the head with something very hard.

Moonsky woke up slowly with a painful headache. Where am I? was the first thought that came to his head. Taking in his surroundings, he saw Floatleaf trying to get as small as he could in the corner. It was a cell they were in, actually, now that he was looking; bars of metal blocked the dragonets from leaving. Beyond them sat two relatively regal-looking dragons, one looking as old as the first airship and one much younger but holding a more slacked posture.

"Oh, finally you're awake!" the younger one exclaimed. "I've been trying to get the other one to talk but he's just been silently crouching there. I'm Jewel, this is my mother, Lady Scarab. What's your name?"

"Oh - Moonsky," Moonsky replied to the dragoness. He made sure to sit up as soon as he realized these were probably royalty, based on the fact that they have titles. "My friend is Floatleaf. What did you want to ask?"

"Well, first of all, are you a friend or foe?"

"I'm a friend, as well as where I come from."

"Where do come from?"

"Sk-" Moonsky cut himself off. Pyrrhians knew about Skykeria - there wasn't really any way to hide it after the battle over the Mud Kingdom, but Pantalans were a different story. The Government had recently declassified their plans to kill off the Breath of Evil, which meant killing the Wasp, but even without preparation a proper attack on her hive would leave dozens, even hundreds killed in the crossfire if she wasn't drawn out first - if she learned of Skykeria's pans to kill her, hundreds more would die ether way.

"Well? Where do you come from?" Scarab snapped. Floatleaf flinched so hard that it was surprising he didn't break straight through the wall.

"Mother, please," Jewel told her before turning back to Moonsky.

"eI don't know if I can trust you," Moonsky answered her. "If I told you where I'm from, what's stopping you from taking it over?"

"For one," Jewel pointed at Floatleaf, "I can tell he is a HiveWing - LeafWing hybrid, so if you couldn't trust me, he'd already be dead. For another, you seem to have fallen from the sky, so I know that there must be something up there and there's no point in hiding it. And for a third, some guards saw the large metal boat-thing you took here, so I know what to attack if I wanted to attack."

"Okay, that makes sense." Moonsky told the two dragons about Skykeria, the Government-Cultist war, the government's plan to kill the Breath of Evil("So that's how she does it," Jewel whispered to nobody in particular), and most of the important events that led up to him and Floatleaf, who was still curled in the corner, falling from the island and into her hive.

Jewel nodded afterwords, like she had heard all of it before. "So what does the island above my hive have to do about this war?" 

Moonsky shrugged.

"But it must be somewhat important, right?"

Moonsky shrugged again. "The most powerful airship in Skykeria is there, so I assume so."

"Well it better be," Lady Scarab snapped.

Jewel sighed, ignoring Scarab's last statement. Leaning back and looking down the corridors, she said, "look: Wasp isn't that good of a dragon. Most - me included - would like her dead. So if your government is going to kill her, now is the time. Make them do it, and I'll get you and Floatleaf out of here."