Saguaro was surprised at how long Herring stayed in the air, considering how much he complained about his wings hurting. But they'd managed to stay above the storm for hours longer than expected, banking on air currents and riding the wind.

"We should be close to the sea by now. Right?" Herring asked. Well, groaned moreso.

Holler dove below the clouds and resurfaced a moment later. "Yeeeup!! It's all ocean down there!"

"Finally!" He shouted. Saguaro held tightly to Herring's neck as he angled his wings and fell like a wet blue stone through layers of clouds. Below them, the storm had died to a drizzle, and Saguaro squeezed her eyes shut as the force of their fall lifted her back end. Her back talons scrabbled at the air, hoping to feel Herring's scales under her claws. But to no avail.

Too high. Can't fly.

Herring banked just as he reached the surface of the ocean, and slowed their descent. He glided lazily and landed with a huge splash into the ocean.

"Are you nuts!" Saguaro cried. "I'm gonna get waterlogged!"

"You can swim. It's not so hard." Herring said. He turned to face her and flipped backwards into the sea. His luminescent scales glowed from far below her, shining out against the oily opaqueness of the stormy sea.

It's like he's a totally different dragon. She thought.

Holler skimmed the surface of the ocean with his wings, pulled up into a corkscrew, and flared his wings to catch a tiny ray of sun that peeked through the clouds. He then vanished into thin air with a ripple of his scales.

"Do either of you know where we're going!" Saguaro shouted. She was greeted with a spray of water to the face, as Herring laughed. He flicked his tail at her again, washing her with water, and swam around her in tight circles.

"They oughta named me Otter, y'know?" He laughed. "I might have liked the name better."

"Did you even listen to me?"

"Hm? No. Sorry. I was so wrapped up in all this ocean!"

"Uh-huh." Saguaro rolled her eyes. "I could tell."

"It's so much better than flying. I'm so weightless in here."

"Speak for yourself. I feel like a bug trapped inside the hump of a camel."

"Awright awright. I'm sorry." Herring said. He swam underneath Saguaro, and let her lace her talons around his neck. "I don't mean to strand you."

"Guys!!' Holler cried, suddenly appearing out of thin air. "SeaWings due north! I think they're headed this way."

"Fucking fishheads!" Herring swore. "Ok, new plan. Holler!! Grab Saguaro! Camo mode!"

"Yessir!" Holler dove and reached his talons out to Saguaro. In one fell swoop, he snatched her out of the water, and strained to climb back into the air.

"Goodness!! You're heavier than you look!" He cried. "Climb up, climb up!"

Saguaro quickly hoisted herself onto Holler's back, and the sea far below them made her dizzy. Once again, her mantra began to parade through her head, and she clung to Holler with all of her might.

"Ok I gotcha! All's good! Keep your tail out in case things get messy. That barb could make quick work of them!"

"Got it. You give the word."

Holler nodded and his scales shifted colors again. When his wings were spread, he shielded Saguaro from any eyes in the ocean. She could peek over his shoulder at the bubbles where Herring had dove into the sea.

"What's he doing?"

Holler turned to circle back around the way they came. "Coming up with a convincing lie, I hope! But Herring's real smart like that, he can do it."

They waited in the sky as the minutes dragged on longer and longer. Holler's wingbeats were growing tired and erratic.

"Is he okay?"

"He can breathe underwater."

"I mean, that's not what I'm worried about. What could they be talking about?"

Holler shrugged. "No idea! The underwater language takes longer to talk with than just, words."

All at once, a mountain of seafoam and bubbles erupted from the water below. Three SeaWings tangled up in one another. With one more following close behind.

"Herring!" Saguaro cried. She covered her eyes with her talons, peeking through her claws as Herring came away from the SeaWings attacking him. His mouth was dark with blood, but from the look on his face, it might have been his.

"Go! GO!!!" He roared, flaring his wings and beating them like mad against the water. He lifted away, putting distance between him and the SeaWings. But it wasn't fast enough.

A blur of pale green scales came flying out of the sea, and snatched Herring by the tail. He cried out as he was yanked downwards, and disappeared again into the water.

"Herring!!" Holler shouted. His scales burst open like he was bleeding out, and it took Saguaro a moment to realize he had changed himself to look like a SkyWing almost instantly.

The SeaWings below noted too. Two sets of eyes were instantly trained on Holler, and Saguaro hid behind his neck to avoid their gaze. They rocketed out of the sea in streaks of navy and indigo, teeth bared.

Holler snapped his jaws open and roared. He dove straight for the dragons, and clashed with the purplish one in midair. His fangs extended, and a jet of inky liquid sprayed into the SeaWing's eyes. He roared in agony, shrieking as Holler continued to attack.

Saguaro leaped off his back when they began to go down, and the navy blue dragon whorled in the air to attack. But his eyes went wide with fear when he saw her wing stumps extend, reaching to grab him.

He knew who she was.

"A SandWing! She's the spy that Blister-!" The dragon cried before Saguaro clashed with him. She wrapped her claws around his snout and dug in hard to keep him quiet. But the two others had already heard. They'd already seen her. The peculiar SandWing with no wings. Saguaro felt a twinge of guilt as her venomous barb pierced the tender belly flesh of the SeaWing in her claws. He thrashed in the air, roared, and fell to the water, taking her with him.

Saguaro's vision was assaulted with a flurry of bubbles and saltwater that stung her eyes. She couldn't keep them open, and so her world under water was plunged into darkness. When she resurfaced, she wiped the water off of her face, just in time, as the SeaWing in Holler's talons was falling straight towards her.

The impact dragged her back under just as she found the time to take a quick breath, but Saguaro's lungs were on fire. She kicked and pulled with all her limbs and fought her way to the surface again.

Air rushed into her lungs as Saguaro's head breached the surface. A wave of water came for her, so she took a breath and charged through it. She floated for a moment at the top of the wave, and saw Herring and the green SeaWing struggling. But she lost sight as the ocean bobbed and swelled around her.

"Saguaro!" Holler cried. He was winging away above her. "I got the purple one!!"

"I got the blue one!" She hollered back.

Herring and his foe were grappled, jaws closed around each other's necks, when they went under again. Holler swooped and soared over the spot where they disappeared.

"I can't see them." He said sullenly.

It was then that the ocean burst open and Herring surged upwards. His wings floundered out to his sides and he rested there, catching his breath on the surface of the water. Blood oozed from his neck and gills and face.

"Herring!!" Holler cried.

"Oh my god I thought you were dead!" Saguaro said. She paddled over to Herring. "Are you all right?"

"Herring cracked a grin that was a few missing teeth shy of toothy. "You should see the other guy."

"What did you DO?"

"I tried telling them I came in peace. But I think I got a little lost in translation."

"We need to get you somewhere we can tend to your wounds. You too, Holler." Saguaro said. She kicked her legs as hard as she could, and scooted forward a few feet in the vast emptiness of the ocean. Who even knew how far away the nearest island was?

Herring started laughing. No, he was guffawing, practically. But it quickly turned to hacking and coughing as his injuries caught up to him. "Get on, soggy. Your swimming is pitiful to watch."

Saguaro resigned to Herring and held onto his shoulders. He took off like a spear through the water, quickly putting distance between them and the three corpses left in the middle of the ocean.