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Someone was shaking. It wasn’t full on thrashing yet, but it was approaching that. It was enough to disturb the sleep of everyone else.
At first, it wasn’t clear who it was. The five of them were arranged in a big, snuggly pile, limbs intertwined and bodies curled around each other. But as four out of the five heads popped up one by one, all yawning and glancing around, it became clear.
Tsunami was the first to determine the “culprit” who had awakened her, if only because she could see in the dark. The others were left blinking in the near darkness of the study room. Only a tiny amount of moonlight was gracing the floor and the torches had burned out. She watched as Clay, Starflight, and Glory all squinted in the darkness before Starflight pulled away from the others slightly. He reached forward, groping for the nearest wall.
“Starflight,” Tsunami hissed. “The torch is above your head to the left.” Starflight turned his head, following her instructions and breathed out a plume of flame. It hit the torch, instantly bringing it back to life and granting them enough light to see.
Clay blinked in the sudden light, waiting for his eyes to adjust. Glory was sleepily rubbing her eyes, looking even more tired than she usually did after her midday naps. The four of them looked down in unison at their fifth companion who hadn’t awoken. The one who had woken them up instead.
Sunny lay on the floor of the cave, still somewhat curled around Clay’s body. Her trembling was getting worse as she now cried in her sleep. The dragonets glanced at each other, sharing a wordless exchange. Clay reached down and nudged Sunny awake.
She gasped wetly and raised her head slightly. She let out a choked sob upon seeing the others looking at her. Sunny lunged forward to hug Clay. He held her tight as the other dragonets leaned in to join the hug as well.
“Are you alright Sunny?” Starflight asked. Sunny started to nod but then shook her head almost violently. She let herself be held by the others for a long, quiet series of heartbeats. Then she wriggled out of the grip.
“It was just a bad dream,” she said, pointedly avoiding eye contact with anyone.
“What happened in it?” Starflight asked.
“Don’t be insensitive Starflight!” Tsunami elbowed him. “She shouldn’t have to talk about it if she doesn’t want to!”
“No, no it’s fine,” Sunny interjected. “I want to talk about it.” She dropped her head with a sigh. The other dragonets leaned in and waited.
“All of us, we were out of the caves, going through Pyrrhia,” Sunny finally said. “We were trying to stop the war, trying to convince everyone that we were the Dragoonets of Destiny.” Her voice hitched. “But no one was listening to us. They just laughed at us. We kept trying but no one believed us. And the war kept going and we couldn’t stop it at all. We were failing to fulfill the prophecy!”
Sunny had started crying again. She broke off as she buried her face in her talons. Tsunami hugged her tightly.
“We’re not going to fail! That stupid dream won’t come true! We won’t let it!” Sunny lifted her head at Tsunami’s words.
“R-r-really?” she stuttered.
"Yeah!" Tsunami grinned at her. "These kinds of dreams don't come true! You're not a NightWing, so it wasn't like it was a prophecy or anything. Right guys?"
“Of course,” Clay said, wrapping his wings around Tsunami and Sunny. “We’re the Dragonets of Destiny. This is what we’re meant to do so we’ll stop the war. At least I think so. Am I right Starflight?”
Starflight jumped slightly when Clay addressed him. He shook himself, as if to compose himself, and hugged Sunny as well.
“Yes, I believe we will,” he said. “I don’t know which of the SandWing sisters we should choose though.”
“Pfffft, we’ll figure that out,” Tsunami huffed, nudging Starflight. “Don’t be a smokebreather about it.”
“Well, I’m not technically part of the prophecy but . . .” Glory started to say but she trailed off upon noticing the expressions of the others. “Whatever, it’ll work out somehow.”
Sunny reached forward to grab one of Glory’s talons. With an eyeroll, Glory let herself be pulled into the group hug.
“You don’t have to worry alone Sunny,” Clay said. “I’m sure we’re all a bit nervous about fulfilling the prophecy but we can do it.
As the others chorused in agreement, Sunny laughed and rubbed her eyes.
“Thank you,” she whispered.