Wren sat on one of the Rainwing platforms, looking as miserable as he felt. He wasn't sure what made him feel worse, the fact that Joy's disappearance and being held hostage was pretty much all his fault, the fact that Raven had betrayed him, or the fact that he hadn't seen so much as a glimpse of Raven since that day in the forest.

It was horrible, in Wren's opinion. The mere thought of Raven used to make him feel all happy and giddy inside, but now it just made his heart ache. Raven had hurt him in the worst way possible, yes, but for some reason Wren just couldn't stop thinking about him. It was, according to Ander, the price you paid for having cared at all. Her lesson to him was to simply stop caring. But that wasn't easy, especially since Wren didn't know why Raven had done what he had done. Maybe he had had a good reason.

Or maybe Wren was just being stupidly hopeful.

"WREEEEEEEEEENNNNNN!!!!" A voice screeched from behind him. Wren didn't even have to glance up to recognize his cousin. Mako was like a howler monkey to the ears sometimes.

"HI WREN!" Wisteria piped up, both her and Mako climbing on the platform and attempting to tackle him. They smiled innocently at him, having no idea of any of the events that were going on of course.

"Hi guys," Wren forced a smile and Wisteria poked at his snout.

"Why you bein' frowny?" She demanded.

"What?"

"She said WHY YOU BEIN' FROWNY?" Mako repeated louder. 

"I don't know."

"You looks sad, that's all," Wisteria went on. "Why are you sad?"

"I'm not sad,"

"Yes you is."

"No, I'm not."

"YES YOU IS." Mako agreed. "MOMMY SAID THAT DADDY SAID THAT AUNTIE RIN SAID YOU WAS SAD AND FROWNY ABOUT SOMETHING WE CAN'T KNOW ABOUT."

"But we don't like not knowin' stuff!" Wisteria went on. "So TELLLLL UUSSSSSS!"

"No,"

"PLEAAAASSSSSEE?" They chorused.

"No." Wren repeated sternly. He poked at Wisteria. "And isn't your sister supposed to be watching you? She'll get worried if you disappear on her."

"Aw, not true. Rory only cares about boys," Wisteria countered.

"Well so do you," Mako grumbled.

"NO," Wisteria declared. "The only boy thing I care about is BEATING YOUR DUMB FISH FACE IN." Mako smiled.

"Awwww, you still wuv meeeeee!" Wisteria groaned. 

"WE'VE BEEN OVER THIS, I DO NOT." Mako shook his head.

"You shouldn't go tellin' lies, Wisty. Mommy says every time we lie, a monkey cries."

"So?"

"SO I DON'T WANNA MAKE THE MONKEYS SAD AND FROWNY LIKE WREN IS!"

"Wait.... Does that mean WREN'S A MONKEY?"

"YES AND HE'S FROWNY BECAUSE YOU LIED." 

"Who lied about what now?" Aurora questioned, popping up.

"I thought you'd never find them," Wren commented.

"I just listened for the sound of a young ship sailing and followed from there," She insisted. "Now come on Wisteria, we gotta go home."

"Nooooooooo," Wisteria whined. "I wanna stay and play with Mako!"

"Because she WUUUUUVVVVSSSS MEEEEEEE," Mako crowed. 

"Okay, nevermind, let's go home," Wisteria insisted. "He's bein' a fish face again."

"AM NOT!"

"ARE TOO!" Wren and Aurora rolled their eyes, and Aurora reluctantly pulled her sister away.

"Who's supposed to be watching you now?" Wren asked. Mako shrugged.

"I dunno..... Rosie, maybe?"

"Well where is she?"

"Teal said she was snogging a prince, so I think that means she snuck off to see Parch again."

"Aren't we not supposed to leave the forest?"

"I dunno, Rosie just does what Rosie wants."

"Well where's your parents?" Mako blinked.

"I dunno." Wren sighed.

"Alright fine, then I'll watch you. What do you want to do?"

"Ummmmmm, can I pick anything?"

"Yep."

"Okay.... Can we go back to the prison?" Wren's eyes widened.

"Why the heck would you EVER wanna go back THERE?" Mako shrugged.

"I wanna see that prisoner again. The mean one."

"Pineapple?"

"Yeah."

"Why?"

"I dunno.... Kinda wanna yell at her again?" Well, Wren couldn't argue with that logic.

"Your mother would murder me if I took you there."

 "Oh. Well...." Mako's face lit up with an idea. "MAYBE," He said in a loud whisper. "IF WE DON'T TELL HER, SHE WON'T KNOW." Wren blinked.

".....Wow."

"Good idea, right?" Mako smiled. 

"No."

"Oh." Mako's smile faded and Wren sighed.

"Eh, what the heck. I'll take you back, but we're not gonna see Pineapple again, okay? She's too evil for you."

"Okay!" So Wren flew them to the entrance to the Nightwing Prison, the guards obviously stopping them at the cave opening.

"Why do you need access to the prison?" One of them asked.

"I'm uh, on important royal business," Wren nodded. "Top secret, and I need to speak with one of the prisoners inside about it."

"What about him?" The other guard gestured to Mako.

"Oh, um," Wren sighed. "I got stuck babysitting. AGAIN." The guards exchanged a glance and then shrugged.

"Go ahead," The offered.

"Wren?" Mako whispered as they headed through the cave.

"Yeah?"

"We're gonna make a lotta monkeys cry today, aren't we?"

"I'm afraid so, buddy."

They headed through the prison, Mako taking in everything again with wide eyes. Wren had no idea why the little dragonet would ever want to come back to such a horrible place, but who knew. Mako, like all members of his family, was a little weird.

Mako waved hi to all the guards they passed, and most waved back or offered him a smile. But then one of the guards decided to actually say something.

"You looking for your boyfriend?" The guard guessed.

"What?" Wren questioned, slightly confused. 

"Your boyfriend, right? The Nightwing looking one?" The guard went on. "He went through here with another kid a little while ago." Wren stopped. 

Why would RAVEN be in the Nightwing prison? That didn't make any sense-

Except.

The dragons that had looked for Joy had searched the rainforest. They hadn't searched the Nightwing Island.

"Where, exactly, did they go?" Wren asked. 

"Up by where the old fortress used to be, I think," The guard insisted, pointing at a misshapen heap of rubble and ash in the distance. "I don't know why you'd go there. Nothing but rock and a few tunnels that haven't collapsed yet."

"No idea," Wren admitted. "Thanks,"

He kept walking, his eyes on the fortress.

"What's going on?" Mako asked innocently.

"We're gonna go check out that fortress," Wren offered.

"THAT THING?"

"Yeah, and I think it would be a good idea for to stay SUPER quiet while we're over there, okay?"

"Okay." Mako fell silent as Wren flew them over. There weren't many places you could easily land on what was left of the fortress, so Wren went with the most obvious entrance. He made his scales match the dark rock around them, just in case, and let his wing cover Mako as he neared the entrance. He stopped at the sound of voices.

"You are a complete IDIOT!" Someone declared. Wren knew that voice. Crow. No doubt about it. 

"How am I the idiot here?" Wren's blood ran cold. Raven. The sound of his voice along stung. 

"Because if you hadn't been stupid enough to fall for that STUPID PRINCE, then none of this would've happened."

"I thought Father LIKED keeping a Queen captive," Raven shot back sarcastically.

"He would've liked teaching you and your pathetic boyfriend a lesson a lot more."

"Well NEWSFLASH, that's NOT going to happen."

"Why? Because you're a coward and Wren is a weakling that I could kill with one good punch?"

"Crow, I swear to the moons, if you lay so much as a talon on him-"

"You'll what? You did exactly what we said when we threatened him the first time, and this is no difference. You're pathetic, Raven, and you keep all your weaknesses exposed. You may not be loyal to what Father and I believe in, but at least we know how to keep you on our side."

"I will NEVER be on your side,"

"You will if it means keeping that prince alive, which is stupid anyways, considering how much he hates you." 

Wren fought the urge to jump out and kill Crow right then and there. His stomach twisted with both fury and regret. He had been wrong. Raven hadn't betrayed him at all. He'd just done what he thought would protect Wren.

"Shut up," Raven hissed.

"You shut up. I'm gonna go help Father keep stupid Joy quiet, like a LOYAL SON WOULD." Crow snapped.

Joy. They were keeping her here. Wren sucked in a breath, and he darted away from the the entrance, heading back for the cave home. He had to tell someone what he's just found out. He had to tell them now, before something bad happened, either to Joy or Raven or both.

Oh Raven, he thought. What have you gotten yourself into?