Before you start reading, i'd like to mention that this is a sequel to Wings of Fire - Creature if you didn't take the hint from the description. Please read it before reading this so you can understand what's going on in this story. Thank you. I hope you enjoy this story! 

- luna/kat

In the rainforest, it was quiet. Especially at night, which happened to be right now. In the rainforest, all that could be heard was light snores as RainWings dozed in their treehouses or hammocks or platforms. In the rainforest, everyone was asleep.

Except for Spectacular. 

Every RainWing was 'lazy', they said. All they did was sleep, and if they weren't sleeping, they were napping. But Spectacular didn't feel lazy this night. 

She felt disturbed.

Something was tugging her into the rainforest. Something that screamed 'DANGER DANGER' and 'CHECK ME OUT, I MIGHT BE DANGEROUS TO YOUR TRIBE'. Spectacular couldn't resist, and if she tried sleeping, she knew the feeling wouldn't go away until she explored. 

So, she did. Whilst her tribe was in a slumber she flew into the deep jungle. As she got farther and farther away from her tribe, she shivered. Several different animals chirruped in the trees overhead, but they didn't sound as cute and friendly as they usually did. Spectacular instinctively shifted into camouflaged mode, just in case something was lurking out there. 

She soundlessly moved through the trees, using her tail to swing on branches and gliding through vines and places where she couldn't rely on her tail. Spectacular was flying for ages, and just when she thought that she should turn back because her worries had been all for nothing, she heard something. Or rather, saw something. Or both. 

A black creature was crawling through the woods.

Spectacular landed on a branch, staying still, hoping the thing didn't hear her wingbeats. The creature lurked through the rainforest, looking around warily from time to time as if it were doing something wrong. It was walking like it had a purpose, so it couldn't be grub-hunting.

Huh, Spectacular thought, examining the odd thing. 

She watched as it went further into the undergrowth and waited until it was out of sight and hearing, then moved forwards a bit to sit on another tree and watch it further. 

The thing suddenly stopped and raised its snout to sniff the air. Spectacular's heart jumped and she coward against the branch, even though she knew it couldn't see her. She prayed with all her might that the creature couldn't smell her.

"I can smell you," the thing said. "Come out." Its voice was strangely... familiar.

Spectacular's heart was drumming, wondering whether or not she should expose herself, but before she could another thing came out of a tree.

"Ah, finally," it growled in a raspy voice. "I was wondering what was taking you so long." It flapped its wings angrily as if stretching the muscles, and then Spectacular saw something.

Speckles of white.

But surely... it couldn't be...

"I'm sorry, Phantom," the first thing said, bowing its head in shame. "I just didn't want my tribe to see me,"

The dragon named Phantom grunted. "See that it doesn't happen again."

It was a NightWing! The dragon named Phantom must be a NightWing, which meant the other dragon has to be a RainWing, if he 'didn't want his tribe to see him'. But what were they doing that was so secretive?

"Any news?" Phantom suddenly demanded. "Tell me something useful, Papaya." 

Papaya. A cold shiver slid down Spectacular's back. Papaya was the name of the dragon who'd she mated with for reproduction. Their egg was laying in the hatchery, and Spectacular knew exactly which one was theirs, unlike other RainWing parents.

Was Papaya betraying them? I guess I have to listen longer to find out, she thought. 

Papaya's form in the dark shrugged. "Nothing is going on. The RainWings think nothing of the howler monkeys you made. That idea was genius, by the way. They haven't taken notice of the changes in the rainforest yet, either."

Spectacular felt cold. Was this the dragon who was going to father her egg? A cold, traitorous, calculating dragon?

She felt like she should do something. Like go down and stop them. Fly back to the village to warn the others. But she knew nobody would believe her without proof, so she must sit here and listen more.

"Good," Phantom growled. The sun was beginning to rise. Faint, early morning sunshine was shining on the side of his face, revealing scars and soot staining his body. 

Spectacular stared at him, trying to memorise all his features: the crinkle on his forehead and snout because of all his scowling, scars lacing his scales and disgusting red boils where he had been burnt by fire or something else. 

"I better get going, then," Phantom rasped. "Bye."

"Bye. Same time tomorrow?"

"Yep."

Spectacular watched as Phantom slipped back into the tree he came out of and wondered if he lived there. But he had no time to dwell on that as Papaya was making his way back to the village. 

Spectacular waited for him to pass by, then leapt down from her branch and walked over to the place where Phantom and Papaya had just been standing. Talonprints. Just what she needed. 

Holding Phantom's features and the location of where the talonprints were, Spectacular flew back to the village as quickly as possible. It was almost waking time for RainWings. You wouldn't believe it, but RainWings actually woke up early so they could queue up to see the queen and complain about their problems. 

"Boo!" a voice suddenly said in her ear, and Spectacular let out a yelp and toppled sideways in the air. Warm talons caught her, and Spectacular pushed away from them and watched as her sister, Sunray, materialized, giggling.

"Sunray!" Spectacular growled in exasperation, her scales turning from the cloudy, worried grey-blue to orangey-red.

"Cheer up! What's gotten you so serious this morning?" her little sister said, looping in circles around Spectacular.

"Nothing! It's just I realised something that I have to tell Magnificent."  

"Ooo! What is it? Can you tell me? Please please please?" Sunray asked. 

Sunray was a rather small, always cheerful dragon who was usually the colour that matched her name: golden and warm amber, sometimes sprinkled with dark orange and pink here and there. She was quite a silly and giggly dragon, and Spectacular could never rely on her to be serious or keep a secret, so she was definitely not telling Sunray until she told Magnificent.

"I will let Magnificent know first, and then maybe I'll tell you as well," Spectacular said.  "That's if you aren't annoying."

"Me? Annoying? Never!" Sunray giggled.

Spectacular rolled her eyes playfully and sailed over to Magnificent's treehouse, where a small line was already building up. As she expected, Mangrove was one of the dragons lining up, in his usual dark red colour and crinkled-up-snout frown.

"Orchid still not back?" Spectacular asked in a sympathetic way, but apparently it went out wrong.

Mangrove whirled around, fury boiling in his eyes. "Yes, she's not, because Magnificent won't search for her!"

"Next!" came Magnificent's voice before Mangrove could add anything else. The furious dragon turned and stormed into the treehouse.

"Pleaassseee tell me," Sunray begged.  

"In a bit," Spectacular said, her gaze scanning the village to see where Papaya could be. Finally, her eyes caught on him - he was laying on a platform next to one of his friends, wings overlapping, colours flowing through his scales, looking like he'd been there the whole time. He was such a good actor, Spectacular realised with a shiver. 

"Next!" Magnificent shouted again, far too soon, as if she was tired of Mangrove's moaning. The red dragon emerged, looking as if someone had just set the pile of fruits he'd been planning to eat on fire.

Spectacular gulped, heart thudding, as she entered. Inside, Magnificent was sat holding one of her sloths. Sunray followed Spectacular into the hut.

"Yes?" Maggie said patiently.

"Well, since there's no introduction to make what I am about to say flow nicely, so I'll just say it straight-up," Spectacular took a deep breath. "We have a traitor among us."

Spectacular expected some kind of scolding or rolling of eyes, but she didn't expect Magnificent to just burst out laughing. "Seriously? Is this some kind of joke?" Even Sunray was shaking with laughter beside her.

Spectacular was humiliated. "No, I'm telling you the truth. Look, I'll even tell you what I saw last night..." she explained in full detail about Papaya and Phantom, Phantom's details, even the talon marks where they had stood talking.

Now Magnificent looked the tiny bit serious. "Okay," she said. "You," she nodded at Sunray. "Go see if these 'talonprints' are there."

Sunray nodded. "Yes, ma'am!"

She followed Spectacular out, Magnificent calling from behind, "Next!"

"Hey, was it true what you said in there?" Sunray asked her whilst they were flying.

"Yes!" Spectacular snapped. "Why do you think I would lie about this? About my own partner, may I add, and how could I know what a NightWing name is?"

"That's true..." Sunray said uncertainly. 

By now they had arrived at the place where Spectacular had seen the talon marks. She landed onto the mud beside them and showed them to Sunray. "See?" she growled.

Sunray gasped, her sunny colours fading to a green shade of fear. "You really were telling the truth..." she whispered.  

"But we must get to the bottom of the case, and that's by questioning Papaya."

----

Spectacular landed on the platform Papaya was eating on with a thud. Sunray landed beside her, a little quieter.

Papaya jumped, the mango he was snacking on flying out of his talons and landing on the ground below them with a splat. Papaya looked at it mournfully, then turned to them. "Hey! I was eating that," he said ruefully. 

"Oh, were you? I'm sorry," Spectacular tried to stay as polite as possible. "Anyway, I want to ask you, where were you last night?"

"Uh, asleep? Where else would I be?" he said. 

Spectacular spotted a flash of purple in his pale rose-gold scales, but it faded quickly. Guilt. Fumbling for an answer.

Spectacular shot a glance at Sunray and saw that her eyes were narrowed - clearly, she noticed both of them. 

"No, that can't be true, because I saw you flying off in the middle of the night," Sunray said. Spectacular knew she was lying, because Sunray had been fast asleep when Spectacular had gone to investigate, but she was trying to help the case. 

Papaya stood up, his scales flaring orange. "Look, I don't know who you saw," he growled. "But I was right here the whole night." He's being defensive, Spectacular realised. He's trying to scare us off, so we don't find him out and ask more questions. Well, Papaya, that's not going to happen.

Spectacular knew him well enough to know that he'll blurt the answer to this question without thinking. "Then who was the SkyWing you were talking to, over there?" she waved her talons towards the place where she and Sunray had come from. "What was his name? Emerald? No-"

"It wasn't a SkyWing," Papaya snapped. "It was a NightWing, and his name was Phantom." Immediately he gasped and clasped his talons over his maw.

"Aha!" Spectacular cried. Suddenly there were colours of red and white materializing all around them - colours of anger and shock. Spectacular realised that they had been listened to this whole time.

Papaya looked around, purple and white clear in his scales now. "Please, I promised it's not what you-"

"Leave this rainforest!" Grandeur rasped, staggering towards him with a murderous expression on her face. Spectacular was stunned. Surely a RainWing wouldn't harm another?

Papaya backed away and yelped when he had nothing left to stand on, flapping his wings madly. Rotten fruit was thrown at him, followed by hateful shouting. 

Papaya winged away into the trees of the rainforest, throwing hurtful and hateful glares back to them. 

The rainforest was safe. Spectacular's egg and everyone else's could hatch in peace.

Blueberry can hatch in peace.