Peaceflyt and his friends flew across the Mud Kingdom without any trouble. They saw a surprisingly small amount of MudWings out, but Pelican just suggested that most of them were probably relaxing in mud and that was why they couldn't see them.

Soon they were right above the coast, and Pelican was beelining for the beach. It was good timing, too; Atacama had just strained one of her wings and needed Pyramid’s help to keep flying. Peaceflyt nearly felt like his wings were going to fall off as well.

He was about to fly down and follow Pelican when he heard a strained “OW!” from behind him. He whipped his head around in surprise.

“Atacama!” Walnut yelped from next to her. She ducked under Atacama’s arm and tried to support her, but it didn't really help that much. Walnut was only around three-quarters as big as Atacama, so it was only a few seconds before Walnut gave into exhaustion and flew out of her arms.

“Owww, my stupid wing!” Atacama groaned. “Why do we have to fly so far?”

“We are flying across an entire continent,” Sparrow pointed out from behind them. “And it’s to save Peak.”

“Yeah, but I can't even be there to save her if I can't fly,” Atacama said bitterly. “Why haven't you helped me with my wing?”

“I’m only a little bigger than Walnut,” Sparrow responded reasonably. “Also I’m feeling pretty tired.”

“Well, we could land on the beach,” Pyramid suggested.

“I think that’s a good idea,” Atacama said through clenched teeth.

“I’m doing that right now!” Pelican’s voice objected from below them. Oh yeah, I was supposed to follow him, Peaceflyt thought obtusely. He dove down to Pelican’s level, and the others followed.

Pelican pointed down to an empty area of the beach that was partly blocked off from view by trees. “We should land there,” he said. And with that, he swooped onto the beach.

Peaceflyt looked at Walnut. She stopped in midair and shrugged. “We’ll be safe there. No one will notice us.”

“Probably,” Peaceflyt added. “Unless we’re too loud.”

“They probably won't care too much,” Walnut said. “The dragons living here probably have to deal with a lot of loud dragonet screams on the beach.”

“Yeah, that makes sense.” Peaceflyt laughed and descended towards Pelican, and she followed close behind. “Hi, Pelican,” he said as his talons hit the sand.

“Hey,” he said, smiling. He raised his snout in the air, smelling it. “It’s really good to be back at the ocean. The only bad thing is that my mom might catch me.”

“Right,” Peaceflyt said. “Hopefully that won't happe-”

He was cut off mid-sentence by a thud behind them. Pelican, Walnut, and him looked back in surprise. There, they saw Atacama, Pyramid, and Sparrow lying in a heap on the ground.

One of them cursed. “Ow.”

There was a surprised pause before Walnut ran up to Atacama, who was unfortunately at the bottom. “Atacama!” she shrieked. “Are you okay?”

“It’s my STUPID WING!” she yelled angrily. She tried to move it and winced. She looked up and glared at Sparrow and Pyramid, who were struggling to get off her. Eventually, they tumbled off, leaving Atacama lying pathetically on the sand.

Pyramid was the first to her aid. “It’s definitely a sprain?” she asked, jumping onto her talons.

“Probably, but I'm not an expert. All I know is that it hurts.”

“Okay.” Pyramid sat down to think. “Do any of you remember how to treat sprains from Herbs and Healing? I remember a little bit, but all I know for sure is to rest it.”

Everyone's eyes looked expectantly at each other, but they all eventually landed on Peaceflyt.

Great, he thought. I’m supposed to remember. I guess this is the downside of being the 'smart one'. He racked his memory, but came up with close to nothing.

“Uhhh… you could try putting it in water?” Peaceflyt said uncertainly. “I think it might help if the water’s cold, but since we're in the tropics I don't think it is.” He walked over to the water to dip a claw in. As he expected, it was warm.

“Is the water warm?” Pyramid asked. Peaceflyt nodded.

“It would help if we had an IceWing,” Sparrow said, mildly joking.

“You could try just going in the water until we figure something out,” Walnut suggested. Atacama gave her a slight smile and said, “Sure.” She dragged herself over to the water and plopped down in the shallows.

“Ahh, this is really warm.” She said contently. “I wonder why Fatespeaker said we needed cold water. This water could totally heal my wings.”

Well, maybe it's different for SandWings, Peaceflyt thought.

“So is there anything else that can heal sprains?” Pyramid asked. After a long period of silence, Pelican volunteered.

“Uhh… you could try wrapping it?” he said unsurely. “I think a little pressure is good, but not too much.”

“Okay,” Pyramid said, pacing. “But we don't have anything to wrap it with.”

“We do,” Walnut interjected. Suddenly, Atacama, who was still in the water next to her, leapt up and pushed Walnut to the ground with her front talons jokingly. Walnut yelped in surprise and Atacama stifled a laugh.

“Yeah, we don't have anything,” Atacama said, turning serious.

“Do we?” Peaceflyt asked, unfazed. Atacama and Walnut had been best friends before they went to Jade Mountain, so he was used to seeing Atacama push Walnut around.

“We do,” Walnut said. “It's a piece of seaweeeeed…” She hesitated, seeing Atacama shoot her a look out of the corner of her eye that clearly said ‘don’t say anything’. “Sorry.”

“Whatever,” Atacama said indifferently. “Yeah, there's a piece of seaweed over here. I just didn't want to touch it because it's so slimy.”

“But it might help your sprain get better,” Walnut said encouragingly.

Atacama made an odd noise in her throat. “I’ll pass.”

“But we have to get to Peak as soon as we can!”

That changed her expression. “Yeah, fine. But only for a little bit.”

Walnut smiled. She grabbed the seaweed from under the water and her and Pyramid tied it around the sprain on Atacama’s wing. When they were done, Atacama grimaced. “I really don't like this.”

“Why?” Peaceflyt asked.

“It feels weird! It's all slimy and wet and gross!” Atacama tried to shake the seaweed off, but it was tight around her wing. Peaceflyt looked back at Pelican, who was frowning at Atacama. He knew what he wanted to say.

“How gross is it?” Peaceflyt asked for him.

“It’s disgusting,” Atacama said, annoyed. “Can you please take it off?”

“Sure,” Pyramid said. “But we might have to stay here longer.”

“That’s fine, as long as I don’t have to feel this anymore.” Atacama lifted her wing up and Pyramid walked toward her. She slowly untied the seaweed. When she was done, she threw it off to the side and Atacama breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank you.”

“No problem.”

Atacama shook her wing a few times to get the feel of seaweed off. Then she got up out of the water.

“Wait, you should be in there longer!” Walnut exclaimed.

“No, I'm fine,” she said. “My wing feels a little better now. I hate flying.”

“Yeah, me too,” Pyramid said.

“Me as well,” Sparrow added.

“But at least it's going to be worth it when we save Peak.” Atacama smiled and tested flapping her strained wing. She flinched.

“Uh oh,” Pelican said.

“It's fine. It doesn't hurt as much as before. Thanks for the advice, Peaceflyt.” Atacama nodded at Peaceflyt, who was currently pretty surprised.

Wow, my advice actually worked? I just guessed! Maybe I can help on this mission!

“No problem,” Peaceflyt replied.

“Are you sure you can fly for a long time though?” Walnut asked, concerned. “We might not hit an island for a long time!”

“I can probably fly for a while on my own. And if my wing does give out, someone will have to help me. Or I can just fall into the ocean.”

“But... you're not going to do that, right?”

Atacama pondered that question. “Well, I’d need to catch up with you guys. But falling into the ocean is tempting when your wings are numb.”

“Okay,” Walnut said unsurely. She walked over to Peaceflyt. “Are you ready?”

“To leave?” Peaceflyt said, startled. “Uhhh… yeah, I think.” It's going to be dangerous, the sensible part of his mind interrupted. Yes, I KNOW it is, but I don't want to think about it! Shush! He yelled at himself and quelled his thoughts.

“Pelican, are you ready?” Peaceflyt asked. Pelican nodded.

“I’m waiting for you guys,” he informed Peaceflyt. “Is everyone ready?”

“I don't know. Me and Walnut are,” he said. He walked up to Atacama, Pyramid, and Sparrow. “Are you guys ready?”

The three of them looked at each other and hesitantly nodded. “For leaving?” Atacama said. “Dang it, we have to fly more,” she repeated for the tenth time. She looked at Pyramid for her to respond.

“Yeah, I think we're ready,” she said coolly.

“They’re ready?” Pelican asked Peaceflyt.

“Yeah,” Peaceflyt replied.

“Then let's go!” Pelican vaulted in the air, followed shortly by the others. Then they flew off into the vast sea where, somewhere, their friend was waiting to be rescued.