Think positive.
She paced the entire perimeter of the den, searching every structure with even half a wall still standing. Every noise made her freeze and listen, her head cocked to the side, but it was always squirrels in the nearby trees or other little creatures scurrying in the underbrush. Which reminded her that she was hungry, so she caught a mouse and ate it, sitting on the old bell platform at the center of the village.
Well. There was no one here now, but that didn’t mean she should give up. Maybe the scavenger would return later. Except she probably wouldn’t if she spotted a dragon prowling through the ruins … but then again, if she’d stolen the treasure from the SandWings, that meant she had to be fairly bold and reasonably stupid.
Still, Sunny decided to hide, just in case.
She found a tree with thick, overlapping leaves and wide branches and settled into the crook of the trunk, keeping a sharp eye on the burnt village. From here she had a good view of most of it, and she spent the rest of the day watching and waiting.
By nightfall, as one of the moons climbed cheerily up the sky, Sunny had begun to doubt herself again. I should just go. I don’t have time to sit here — I have to get to my friends in the rainforest.
Besides, if she comes during the night, I won’t be able to see her anyway. If only I could see in the dark like Tsunami.
She dug her claws into the bark, forcing herself to be patient. If the Eye of Onyx was nearby, it was worth waiting for. Once she had that, she’d have a way to end the war.
Which won’t stop Scarlet from wanting to kill us, of course.
She stared hard at the village, now a shadowy mass of odd lumps and pointy shapes, overlaid with the silvery moonlight.
Was that —?
Something was moving in the forest outside the ruins. A small light bobbed up and down not far from the ground, blinking in and out as it went behind trees and bushes.
Now her ears could pick out the sound of footsteps. They were very quiet, but here and there a twig snapped, and she recognized the noise of paws brushing through leaves.
Softly she unwound her tail from the branch and slithered down the trunk. She crept silently through the dark village toward the light as it left the trees and floated toward a set of collapsed stone stairs, if Sunny remembered right from her earlier tour of the ruins.
There were two of them.
Two scavengers, one of them with short, fluffy hair — but the other one’s hair was long and she moved in a quick, confident way. Sunny was sure it was the same scavenger from her dream.
She waited until they climbed onto the steps and sat down. They were warbling in low tones that sounded like some of the rainforest monkeys, and the one with the long hair sometimes waved her paws as if she were drawing a picture in the air.
Flower did the same thing, Sunny remembered.
Now, the trick would be to approach them and get the treasure without scaring them off — and without getting attacked. They didn’t look like they were carrying any sharp little weapons, but you never knew with scavengers, according to the scrolls. And if these two had stolen the treasure, that meant they’d killed Queen Oasis, so they could be very dangerous.
She paused in the shadows for a moment, considering, and finally decided a direct approach was the only option.
“Don’t run away,” she said, stepping out in front of them and spreading her wings.
Both scavengers yelled with fright and promptly tried to run away.
Sunny leaped into the air and landed in front of the scavenger from her dream. That was the one she wanted. “I said, don’t run away!” Sunny barked, even though she knew the scavenger couldn’t understand her. “Hey! Come back!” She flung her tail out and tripped the little creature as it bolted in another direction. “I won’t eat you, I promise!” She pounced and managed to trap the scavenger between her front talons.
The second scavenger suddenly came running out of the ruins and threw something at her. This turned out to be the tiny lamp they’d been carrying, which bounced off Sunny’s scales but left a stinging burn where it hit.
“OUCH!” Sunny roared. “All right, I might eat you if you keep doing that!” She swept her tail around and knocked the second scavenger over, then picked up the first scavenger and hopped a step back, growling.
The scavenger between her claws was kicking and wriggling and being generally impossible. Sunny was trying really hard to hold it gently, but it was like hanging on to a moonbeam.
And the other scavenger was already struggling back upright, probably to attack her again.