Archive of Our Own ^beta

The sun was shining. The waves were lapping at Luna’s back legs. The sand was everywhere; on the ground, on her, in the ocean. She was wet and sandy, that was for sure. She tried to sit up, but it hurt, so she lay down for a bit. Eventually, through way too much pain, she managed to sit up and open her wings so she could look at them.

Her wings were bruised and torn; hopefully she could still fly with them. Her ankle looked dislocated or something like that. She crawled away from the waves as the sun beat down on her. She was so hungry she was willing to eat anything, even a fish or a zebra. Where was she? It didn’t look like Dragonfly Bay. And she had been flying for days, maybe a week. What continent was she even on?

A dragon walked over to where she was. Luna wanted to fight them, but she was aching so much, and she didn’t have any adrenaline left. Thank Clearsight, the dragon wasn’t a HiveWing. They had two wings, but they weren't a LeafWing either. The wings were more like scaly bat wings. They also had triangle spots on their pale yellow body, and a scorpion-like tail barb. Their eyes – that glittered in the sunlight – were pure black.

“What are you and why are you here?” Luna demanded, trying to act scary despite the fact that she was lying on the sand like a dragonet without legs.

“Mierda, no habla Dragón,” the stranger said. “Eso es desafortunado.”

“What the heck are you saying?” Luna asked. Was she on the continent Clearsight came from? Was that even real? Was she just delusional after so many days of isolation and hunger?

“Soy correcto; tu continente tiene un idioma diferente.” The yellow dragon shrugged. “Esta bien. Soy Gerbo.”

“Am I really on another continent? Did I just cross the ocean? How many dragons have even done that?”

“¿Necesitas ayuda? Estás herido. No te preocupes, no es muy mal.”

Luna moved and immediately regretted doing so. Everything hurt! It felt like every part of her body was against her. “I’m Luna. Oh, ow!” Her ankle was throbbing as if it had just been stabbed.

“Tengo una choza cerca. Venir.”

The yellow dragon – who Luna decided she was going to call Sandy – moved her body around Luna’s so the latter could move. They started walking across the sand, which was really hard. Her wings and feet kept getting stuck. It was as if the sand was trying to eat her.

“I need to get back to my brother!” Luna realized aloud. “And my friends, they need me.” How long had she been away? Her starvation wasn’t a big clue. Was Blue out of his cocoon by now? What did his wings look like? Was Swordtail searching for her right now?

“Necesitas descansar. La ayuda llegará pronto.”

They reached a hut tucked into a cove.. It was made of palm fronds, and Luna already felt cozy just by being around it. The door was real wood! Was Sandy rich, or were trees still abundant on this continent? Maybe a mix… What kind of tree was used?

Sandy walked her over to a bed of palm fronds, which Luna flopped onto. She was so tired; from the walk, from the flight, from life in general.

“Dormir un poco,” Sandy said in a commanding yet kind tone. “Voy a hacer un guiso de pescado.”

“Thank you.”

For a few minutes, Luna lay down, wondering what her friends were doing. She hoped they were okay, even Cricket, that annoying little HiveWing. Sandy came back with some sort of stew with fish. Luna drank it, and she hated it, but she was so hungry, and she didn’t know how to tell Sandy that she was vegetarian. Still, the taste was terrible, and the aftertaste was as bad.

“¿Luna es tu nombre?” Sandy asked, causing Luna to sit up to look at her.

The SilkWing nodded. “Luna. That’s me.”

She lay down again. She must’ve fallen asleep, because Luna woke up to Sandy gently shaking her awake. “Luna, nuestros invitados están aquí.” Now that Luna was awake, she could hear voices outside. “Está bien, iré a responderles,” Sandy added. As soon as Sandy left the room, Luna started to panic. What were these dragons going to do with her? She was defenseless…

Two new dragons walked back in with Sandy. One looked like Sandy, but smaller, with freckles and a scar on his face, and a hoop earring in one ear. She would call him Sandy Jr. He seemed kind and excited to meet someone new. And the other new dragon… she looked just like Clearsight except for her teardrop silver scales next to her eyes. Luna bolted up. Had she died and gone to meet Clearsight like her temple always said would happen?

“¿Qué es?” Sandy Jr. asked, examining Luna. “¡Tiene cuatro alas!”

“Creo que ella es del otro continente,” Sandy said. “Ella entró con la tormenta.”

“Guau.” Clearsight looked around as if someone was talking to her in a secret code. “Soy Luna. El se llama Qibli. ¿De verdad eres del otro lado del mar? ¿Cómo te llamas?”

“Ella no habla Dragón,” Sandy explained, or at least it sounded like explaining. “Su nombre es Luna.”

“Ah, claro,” Clearsight replied. “Yo tampoco entiendo su pensamiento.”

“Are you Clearsight?” Luna asked.

“¿Sabes acerca de Clearsight?”

She was right! This was Clearsight… but did that mean she died? Did Blue and Swordtail know she was dead, or were they still searching for her? How would she defeat Wasp now?

“Am I dead?”

“No te entiendo,” Sandy Jr. remarked. “Ojalá lo hiciera.”

“This is so annoying! I wish we spoke the same language!”

“No te enojes, no te vamos a hacer daño,” Clearsight said, sounding a bit scared. Maybe Luna didn’t die, because why would Clearsight – who was essentially a god – be scared?

“Te llevaremos de regreso a tu continente,” Sandy Jr. stated.

Luna felt oddly triumphant. She probably wasn’t dead… but she did have some interesting allies. All she had to do was learn their language, literally.