(second person, your pov)

you never thought you were quite the right dragon for some 'big heroic destiny'.

sure, you wanted to be, but it just didn't seem like you quite fit the bill. you sure didn't know what 'wings of duality' meant, but you were just another nightwing, like starflight. you may have been a bit spikier than normal nightwings, but what did that have to do with anything?

the real question was, why on earth would the prophecy call for two nightwings? you just couldn't figure it out.

suddenly, you looked up from your scroll, hearing shouting from the other cave. kestrel must be training clay again... you decided to go and check up on him, to make sure he was okay.

as you walked toward the cave containing your friend/brother figure, you noticed tsunami was also walking in that direction.

"hey, tsunami," you said. "what are you doing, checking on clay?"

"hey, (y/n). yeah, i think kestrel's going hard on him again. gonna go tell her off. wanna watch?" tsunami said with a wicked grin.

"sure, why not? not like starflight's scrolls are any more interesting." you said to the seawing.

as you followed tsunami into the large cave, you saw clay gripping a stalagmite for dear life. you sighed a bit at that. poor, classic clay.

as kestrel kept yelling at the mudwing, tsunami went behind her and harshly bit her tail. kestrel roared in pain, whirling around to face the seawing.

"what are you doing, you little brat?" kestrel roared.

"well, obviously i'm helping clay, unlike you who was simply trying to kill him." tsunami replied sassily.

"you can shut your mouth, seawing. unless you want him to be attacked even more?" kestrel tested tsunami's patience with a threat.

tsunami said nothing, only glared at the large rust colored dragon. "that's what i thought." kestrel said authoritatively. "training's over. get out of here."

the three dragonets quickly left the large cave, clay wincing in pain at the injuries he had received from the mock battle.

"the nerve of her!" tsunami practically shouted, making you jump slightly. "i can't believe she would go so hard on you."

"it's okay, tsunami, really," clay said, still limping a bit. "i'll be alright, i think."

"just jump in the river, you'll feel better!" tsunami suggested. that seemed to be her solution for everything. aching bones? stiff joints? just feeling sad? 'jump in the river!' she would say.

"no, it's freezing, i'll feel worse," clay said defensively, clearly not wanting to go anywhere near said river.

"yeah, come on, tsunami, the water is freezing." you said to the ocean-blue seawing, poking your tail into the ice-cold water.

nevertheless, she pushed clay into the icy water, splashing you a little as she got into the water as well. "hey!" you said indignantly.

"oh, get over it," tsunami said. she swam around a bit in the deep blue water. her webbed talons made her glide gracefully in it.

you watched as clay and tsunami swam around for a few minutes, when tsunami spoke up.

"you know, kestrel will be sorry one day, when i'm queen of the seawings." she said with a dramatic flair.

"but i thought only a queen's sisters or daughters could challenge for the throne?" clay asked inquisitively.

"yeah, well, maybe the queen is my mother and i'm a lost princess," tsunami continued. "like the story."

"whatever you say, tsunami," you said with a sigh. all six of you had been dreaming of meeting your parents one day, hoping that they'd steal you away and protect you and never let you go again.

"i wonder what my parents are like," clay thought aloud.

"i wonder if any of our parents are still alive," tsunami said somewhat sarcastically.

you didn't want to think about that. you remembered kestrel and webs talking about plenty of bloody battles and dead dragons. you all knew that dragons were dying in the war— except maybe sunny, who distracted herself whenever they would talk about the war going on outside their caves.

"do you think they ever miss us?" clay asked suddenly, breaking the silence.

"oh, definitely," tsunami replied. "i bet mine were frantic when webs stole my egg. just like in the story."

"and i bet mine tore up the marshes," clay said.

"yeah, and i bet mine tried to use their nightwing powers to find me," you said.

you all had imagined scenes of your parents' desperate searches ever since you were young dragonets. you liked that idea. the idea that someone was looking for you, waiting to find you.

tsunami flipped onto her back, staring up at the rock ceiling with her green eyes. "well the talons of peace sure knew what they were doing," she said. "no one would ever find us here, that's for sure."

you all listened to the sounds of the cave for a moment. then it was broken again by clay.

"well, we can't stay underground forever," he said. "i mean, the talons of peace have to let us out sometime." he scratched behind his ear. "starflight says it's only two more years. and then we go home and eat as many cows as we want."

you only had to hold on for two more years... but that felt like such a long time. tsunami spoke again.

"well, first we save the world," she said. "and then we go home."

"right," clay replied. you had a feeling that he didn't know exactly how you were going to save the world, but you yourself felt rather confident for someone who had been raised under a mountain with no outside knowledge.

clay pulled himself out of the river, and you moved over a little to give him some room. he walked over to one of the torches and leaned toward it, trying to get warm. you could tell it wasn't working very well.

then tsunami spoke up. "unless..."

you looked at her. "unless what?" you asked.

"unless we leave sooner," she replied. she flipped again and pulled herself out of the water in one graceful motion.

"leave?" clay asked. "how? on our own?" you added.

"why not?" she said. "if we can find a way out— why should we have to wait another two years? i'm ready to save the world now, aren't you?"

you were uneasy about the idea, and clay seemed to be as well. to be honest, you weren't sure if you'd ever be ready to save the world. clay had confided in you that he thought the talons of peace would tell them what to do and how to do it. you, on the other claw, were sure you six could come up with something on your own.

"we can't stop the war by ourselves," clay said. "we wouldn't know where to start."

tsunami flapped her wings at him in exasperation, flicking water droplets all over him and she got a bit on you as well. "we can too stop the war on our own," she said. "that's the whole point of the prophecy."

"maybe in two years," you said. maybe by then i'll know what 'wings of duality' means... maybe then clay will be better at fighting.

"maybe sooner," tsunami said. "just think about it, alright?"

"sure..." you answered. you were still quite uneasy about leaving early.

"alright. i'll think about it," clay said. he seemed uneasy, too, though he was better at hiding it than you.

tsunami suddenly cocked her head. "i hear dinner!"

"ooh, dinner," clay said hungrily. "i wonder if there's cows."

"oh, clay," you said fondly. "always with the cows."

as you three walked toward the food, you thought to yourself. tsunami's crazy. we can't possibly stop the war now! but... what if we could? we could go home... back to our parents... back to our families...

you kept walking, still thinking about your family.

(word count: 1301)