Chapter Text
Hurricane stared down at what she had packed. Two daggers, a sword , some dragon flame cacti, and her obsidian naginita. She nodded and closed the sheath.
“General, how long are we to be gone again?”
Vole poked his head into the room, armor already on.
“As long as it takes to convince these people to help.”
She said gruffly.
He nodded and vanished into the hall. She returned her attention back to the buckles of the sheath, her mind reviewing the plan. A new evil had risen up, and apparently the only way to stop it was to work with … cookies. Or so Eclipsegazer said. Why the SkyWings had to go first was beyond her. Maybe it was because their tribe was the most persuasive? The plan was: travel to the cookie world (becoming sugary confections in the process), convince their leaders to attend a tribal meeting with the other queens, and from there, she really didn’t know. She finished buckling the sheath, swung it over her shoulder, and paced to the outpost recroom. Everyone else had already gathered, even Queen Ruby was already there. Hurricane cringed slightly. She was usually the first or fourth one to arrive, but these were weird times.
“Alright everyone, things have been crazy lately, and they're about to get crazier. Harpy, go make sure all the hatches are closed, Copper, your satchels open.”
She watched Harpy scrambled down the hall & Copper fumbled with his bag.
“Is everything ready Hurricane?”
Queen Ruby asked.
“Yes my Queen, but, may I ask, who shall look after the Kingdom while we are gone?”
“Cliff and Crimson are working together, with Vermillion's help of course.”
She nodded and sat in front of the table, looking over the map.
“If I’m right, we’ll come up here.”
said Pine, pointing to a small village nestled in the mountain coast.
“Then our first stop is here.”
Egret poked her smokey orange snout over her shoulder, taping a castle sitting on the coast.
“I don’t like it, it looks menacing & deadly.”
Ram growled from his corner.
“You don’t like anything, Ram.”
snorted Harpy, reappearing from the dark hallway. He looked over at Hurricane.
“All hatches are closed General.”
“Good, now everyone c’mere and listen. We’re gonna land around here,”
she tapped on the village.
“We get supplies and info, then we set out for the palaces.”
She grabbed a few knives and threw them at the map, each one hitting its mark on one of the different kingdoms: The Vanilla Kingdom, Hollyberry Kingdom, the Golden Cheese Kingdom, and the one they were going to first, The Cacao Kingdom.
“Now let's move!”
“Yes ma’am!”
Everyone scrambled to get their things and vaulted out the door and into the sky.
“I betcha a WEEKS WORTH of sparrows they try attacking us at first sight.”
Falcon said smugly, his smirk more of a scowl thanks to the frostbite wound on the right side of his face.
“How ‘bout TWO weeks, and the loser does the other's chores.”
chimed in Diorite, flapping furiously to keep up with him with her tattered wing.
“Your on.”
Falcon grinned and shot ahead. She watched as Diorite yelled at him and scrambled to catch up.
“He has a… slight problem with betting.”
Queen Ruby noted. Hurricane rolled her eyes.
“Tell me about it.”
She tucked in her wings and dove down to the entrance of Jade Mountain Academy. As she scanned the interior, she noticed Copper trying to silently climb the shaded part of the wall.
“Nuh uh,”
she said, tugging him back down by his tail.
“Not here, not yet.”
“But-”
He started, but she hissed and he fell silent. Her eyes swiveled to movement in the shadows, but it was only the Dragonets of Destiny and Eclipsegazer. They exchanged words with each other, and Eclipsegazer shared what she knew of the cookie world; ‘Earthbread’.
“Don’t die,”
Queen Glory said blankly.
“And please stay safe.”
Sunny said worriedly.
Queen Ruby nodded and turned to Eclipsegazer.
“So, how do you intend to get us there?”
The dark navy blue NightWing shook her head.
“Not me,”
She motioned with her wing to a small fidgety RainWing behind her whose scales were the color of limes and grapefruit. As the RainWing stepped out from the shadows of the wall, Hurricane could barely make out white scales that decorated her snout and the underside of her wings.
‘ There’s something familiar about her, but I can’t quite place it..’
Then, she watched as the RainWing’s scales went from green and red-orange to dark blue, purple, and black, with light blue and green fading at the edge of her wings and ruff. When her scales finished shifting, she saw two silver scales next to her eyes.
‘ Is that…’
“Cosmo? By the moons, you’ve gotten huge, kid.”
She grinned and went to stand beside her, nudging her teasingly with her wing.
“But you’ll always be small to me.”
“Hey.”
Cosmo gave her an offended look, shoving her away, but some of her scales turned a light pink.
“Uhhhh, I hate to ruin the reunion, but correct me if I’m wrong, isn’t animus magic gone?”
Vole asked, flicking his nearly brown tail back and forth.
“Well…”
Cosmo’s scales turned a jade green around her talons.
“Jerboa said that the candleholder couldn’t be fixed with animus magic, so I took a bit of sap and… glued it back together.”
They all stared at her, dumbstruck. ‘
That… actually might work.’
“Look at you kid, finally putting that brain of yours to good use.”
“Won’t be so funny when I beat you in a fight will it you-,”
Cosmo stopped, her scales turning an even paler green,
“H-Hurricane I’m so so sorry I-I didn’t mean to-”
Hurricane grabbed her gently by the shoulders, lowering her head to her height.
“Hey hey hey, it’s ok kid, no big deal. You’re fine, alright?”
She nodded weakly and her scales slowly started to return to normal.
“Thank you..”
Cosmo whispered.
“No problem kid. Now, you mind gettin’ us outta here?”
She nodded and walked over to the gong, placing her talons on it gingerly as though it might bite her.
“I enchanted this gong, so when I remove my talons, it will transform into a portal, a gateway between this world and the world of Earthbread.”
She looked up and stepped away slowly. At first, nothing seemed to happen. Hurricane started to believe that animus magic wasn’t fixed when the gong started to shake violently. Suddenly, there wasn’t a gong anymore, but rather a large, swirling white & purple portal.
“You’ve got at least a week before the other queens arrive at the agreed meet-up spot.” Eclipsegazer said from off to the side.
“Alright,”
Queen Ruby turned to her and the other Sentries.
“Does everyone understand the plan?”
“Yes Your Highness!”
they all shouted in unison. Queen Ruby turned to her.
“General?”
She motioned to the portal. Hurricane bowed and stepped forward.
“Alright then,”
she huffed under her breath.
“Let’s do this.”
She closed her eyes and threw herself into the portal, bracing for whatever came next.
“J-Just doing my part, Your Highness.”
Cosmo turned towards the giant gong that sat in the main hall and placed her talons on it gently.
“I enchanted this gong, so when I remove my talons, it will transform into a portal, a gateway between this world and the world of Earthbread.”
She looked up and stepped away slowly. At first, nothing seemed to happen. Hurricane started to believe that animus magic wasn’t fixed when the gong started to shake violently. Suddenly, there wasn’t a gong anymore, but rather a large, swirling white & purple portal.
“You’ve got at least a week before the other queens arrive at the agreed meet-up spot.” Eclipsegazer said from off to the side.
“Alright,”
Queen Ruby turned to her and the other Sentries.
“Does everyone understand the plan?”
“Yes Your Highness!”
they all shouted in unison. Queen Ruby turned to her.
“General?”
She motioned to the portal. Hurricane bowed and stepped forward.
“Alright then,”
she huffed under her breath.
“Let’s do this.”
She closed her eyes and threw herself into the portal, bracing for whatever came next.