Lavender was frozen, had they made so much noise that they alerted the NightWing's? If Animosity saw her, she'd sure recognize her! That NightWing basically screamed bad dragon, what would happen if she caught her following them? Her mind was racing and she couldn't come up with a response, but luckily Salamander had it covered.

"Ah! Hello there! I thought we'd lost you all since we came here for a small spot by the river." The hybrid said, her voice was smooth and felt calming to listen to, even with the slight hiss in certain words.

"Lost us?" Questioned one of the NightWing's, his dark brown eyes narrowing

"We saw you all leave the Sky Kingdom, we over heard something about the Rainforest and we just wanted to come and see what was going on. Has something happened?"

Don't make it obvious Salamander! She mentally hissed as she stayed silent beside the larger hybrid.

"Oh, so you were interested about the meeting o-" the NightWing was cut off by one of the other two NightWing's with a smack from his tail.

"Idiot! Are you just going to tell every dragon you see about the plan?!"

"I'm not telling every dragon I see! Just NightWing's!"

"Well that one isn't a NightWing." The second NightWing hissed as he pointed to Salamander who didn't react at all, or at least she didn't show it.

"Well, I'm part NightWing, so that counts to some degree." She shrugged as she looked at her talons.

Salamander I swear-

"See! She's fine! She's probably heard of it already! Right umm."

"Salamander."

"Right! Salamander! And who's this?" The first NightWig asked as he opted his head slightly as his eyes met Lavender's.

"Oh! This is my Niece-"

"Strongmind!" Lavender blurted out. "I'm Strongmind, and yes, Salamander is my aunt." She made sure her frills were pressed tightly against her neck, trying to make t less obvious that she was also a hybrid and not a pure NightWing.

"Strongmind huh?" Grunted the third NightWing who had been silent until now. "Is that because you're a mind reader?" She questioned, referring to the hybrid's white teardrop scales at the corner of her eyes.

"Yes, exactly why!" She nodded, giving a smile, even though it was forced, she tried to not make it obvious. It felt weird, having to do this around NightWing's. She was part of their tribe! She was part NightWing! It felt awful to be lying.

"What are your names? Since were getting to know each other." Salamander spoke up with a smile.

"My names Silentseer." The first NightWing smiled.

"Dooming." Grunted the second with a flick of his tail.

"Clearmind." Hissed the third NigtWing.

"Well it's absolutely wonderful to meet you three, would you be able to tell us now what's going on and why you're all heading to the Rainforest?" Lavender questioned, trying to sound as polite as possible.

"Oh! Right! Well, Animosity and Charming are gathering up as many NightWings as they can to help lead us to a new era! One better for us NightWings!" Silentseer explained with a happy sparkle in his warm yellow eyes.

"She's going to help us all," Clearmind grunted. "Why should we have to live under the RainWing's orders? They've been disobeying their own promise of keeping a queen who belongs to both tribes and actually cares about both. Clearly they just want to use us as nothing more than servants, so, she's going to lead us to a new dawn where we can rebuilt our tribe for the better and become the NightWing's we once were."

"Really?" Salamander questioned, looking surprised. "How does she plan to do that?"

"She won't tell us yet, but she said once were in the Rainforest, she'll explain it to everyone." Dooming growled.

"We should get back to the others, we don't want to get left behind." Quietmind huffed as she tilted her head, pointing with her horns to where the group was located. "Come on, you two as well, let's get going."

Lavender nodded silently as they all shot off into the air. The small hybrid flew behind the larger NightWing's as they lead the way. She looked over to Salamander who was looking back at her.

"Guess we'll have to keep up the act for a while longer." The larger hybrid smirked.

"Oh shush, just don't make it weird."

"Why'd you have to hide yourself anyway? Like, why do you have to change your scales and lie about your name? I didn't take you for the lying type."

"Animosity knows what I look like, and last time I saw her, she didn't look to happy to see me. So if I want to find out what she's up to, I'll have to disguise myself."

"We."

"What?"

"I said we." Salamander chuckled with a smirk. "We both want to know what she's up to. I want to see if I can find out her connections with Apricot since she looks to be the NightWing he was talking to a few days after Aardvarks murder."

Lavender nodded as they continued to fly after Dooming, Quietmind and Silentseer, soon, they could see the group of black coloured dragons, one that stood out the most was Charming who was talking with a female NightWing who had two dragonets with her who looked to be around four years old each. As they flew closer, she could hear their conversation.

"I promise my dear, your dragonets will be much happier, and safer, once the NightWings are all back together as their own tribe." He gave her a charming smile and the black dragoness hesitatingly nodded as she wrapped her wings around her two dragonets who stood by her.

Dooming, Quietmind and Silentseer all landed not to far away from the group, Salamander and Lavender Lansing behind them. They got some confused looks from the group, mostly directed towards Salamander.

"Who are they?" One NightWing asked.

"Why does she look weird?" Questioned a dragonet who was looking at Salamander before looking towards Lavender. "And her to, she's so skinny."

"Enough Fateteller, you know better than to comment things like that." The dragonet's mother scolded her daughter.

"What's the commotion about?" Snarled a voice Lavender wished she'd never have to hear again.

Animosity.

The well built dragoness stood amongst the crowd that cleared to make way for her. Her dark red-ish brown scales stood out from the crowd, but only slightly. Her gleaming yellow eyes felt as though they bore into Lavender's soul as they glared at her.

Dose she recognize me? Are my scales enough to hid myself? Her mind raced.

"We found these two following us by the river, they say they've been following us since we left the Sky Kingdom." Grunted Dooming.

"They also we're following us because they wanted to come but we're late and hadn't caught up till now." Silentseer added wish a glare at Dooming, who gave one right back.

"Is that so? And why would Salamander be so interested in us?" Animosity questioned as she walked closer to Thank right in front of them. "A wanted dragon who has a high price hung above her head like a prize."

She knows Salamander's waned?

"Like the others said, I'm rather interested in what you have planned for the NightWing's. A better future, as you say." Salamander hissed lightly with a flick of her tail.

"And why would a hybrid care?"

"I like interesting things, and you, Animosity, are what I find interesting."

Animosity was silent for a few moments, her glare never softening, just as hard as ever as she looked into Salamander's eyes, as though she were searching through her. But, what ever she was looking for, she couldn't find as her gaze shifted onto Lavender.

"And who's this skinny dragonet." She grunted.

"This is Strongmind," Salamander was quick to reply, but her voice was calm and levelled. Lavender felt the other hybrid wrap one wing around her. "My Niece."

"Your Niece?"

"Yes, that's what I said."

Lavender kept quiet as Animosity looked at her for a few moments, slightly lowering her head to meet her gaze. She made a humming sound before grunting and standing back up to her full height.

"Let's all get moving, we've wasted enough time here." She ordered before looking back at the two hybrids. "You're both coming to, "

-~-~-~-~-~-

They'd been flying the rest of the day before they found a spot to rest. Lavender didn't get much sleep that night since she kept looking over towards where Charming and Animosity were sleeping. Sometimes it seemed as though Animosity wasn't really sleeping, she looked as though she just had her eyes closed. The next day, she was tired to say the least, so flying most of the day really took its toll on her.

She kept shaking her head to keep herself awake as she and Salamander flew in the centre of the group. Quietmind told her and Salamander to fly in the centre along with the parents with dragonets, since Lavender looked to be one. She still couldn't see how other dragons still saw her as a five year old dragonet, she was taller than one! But, she didn't argue as they flew.

"You look tired." Lavender was pulled from her thoughts tiredly by Salamander who flew beside her. "How much sleep did you get last night?"

"n' you look stupid." She tiredly muttered.

"Alright, you didn't get much sleep, got it."

"Alright, you didn't get much sleep, got it." Lavender mimicked, earning a snicker from the other dragoness.

They kept flying until they were out of the Sky Kingdom and now flying over land that levelled out below them. There was a familiar river up ahead and not to far behind it was the village that took residence just outside of the Rainforest. They were already almost there.

"If we take a stop at the village, you can take a small nap to get some energy, you'll need it." Salamander suggested.

"M'kay." Lavender nodded with a huff as they flew over the river. It was the river where Sapphire and Lavender caught fish while Funnel and Shadowslitter were in the village. That was the day she first met Charming and Animosity.

"So," a voice spoke up. They both looked to see Silentseer flying close to them. "How are you both related? Like, I know your aunt and niece, but, what's the story?" He asked with curiosity glittering in his eyes.

"Salamander's from my....fathers side! Yes! She was my fathers younger sister." Lavender said, her tired mind starting to form a story.

"Was he also a hybrid? If he was then why do you look like a full NightWing?"

"He was a full NightWing, like my mother-"

"My brothers parents split before our mother found my father, so I was born. So in reality, I'm his half sister, but I'm still his sister all the same so when he and his wife...passed, I took responsibility for taking care of this stupid lizard." Salamander cut in as she playfully rubbed one of her talons on Lavender's head, earning a few grumbled from the smaller hybrid.

"Well it's a good thing you took her in!" Silentseer smiled. "Dooming and Quietmind are like siblings to me, or, well, just really good friends."

"We're not friends." Snarled Dooming who was flying not to far from them with Quietmind who was just looking straight ahead, looking to be ignoring them entirely.

"Oh don't you deny it sir grouchy!"

Quietmind just rolled her eyes as she listened to the other two NightWing's banter. Lavender found it amusing and she couldn't help but smile slightly as she listened to the two.

"We're going to take a small break!" Called a voice from up ahead, the voice belong to Charming who was looking back at them with one of his charming smiled.

By the moons, who names a dragon Charming? Lavender grumbled to herself as she shook her head to clear her tired mind.

The group of dragons started to make their decent into the village that mostly had NightWing residents who didn't pay them much mind until they saw Animosity and Charming, those two got their attention.

As soon as Lavender's talons touched the ground, she felt relief wash over her. She could take a small nap like Salamander suggested.

"I think I'll be able to sleep for a century." She huffed as she and Salamander started to make their way through the village.

"You might not wanna do that though or else I'll have to do all this stuff by myself." Salamander chuckled as they walked towards the edge of the village where there were a few trees that castes looming shadows across the soft grass covered floor. Once they reached it, Lavender practically collapsed beside the trunk of one of the trees with a grunt.

"I'll make sure to wake you up if anything interesting happens." Salamander promised with a smile.

"Okay," Lavender yawned as she curled in on herself, her wings rapping around her body and making her feel as though she'd been wrapped up within a blanket like she would be back home when ever one of her parents, or her brother, found her sleeping somewhere in the hut they called home back in the Rainforest that was just off in the distance. "G'night Sally." She muttered tiredly as she closed her eyes.

There was silence that stretched on for a few moments before Salamander spoke.

"Goodnight Lavy."

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In my opinion, Salamander and Lavender are stubbornly adorable together, you can't deny it.

- MindlessTyper