The crew continue their journey along the trail, following Edreus' lead. Winston asks "Hey, um..Winston? I think there's supposed to be a city here.". Cam asks "Huh? What do you mean?". Edreus explains "Oh, I forgot to tell you, but this very land once belonged to the ancient race of Sky Warriors. Pollie excitedly speaks up "You mean the Valkyries!?". Sylvia adds "Weren't they just bird type beastmen?". However, Edreus corrects her, saying "It is said that they were supposedly their own race, separate from beastmen, completely made up of female warriors.". Cam asks "Just females? Then, I guess that's why they went extinct..". Sylvia adds "Actually, they didn't need males to lay eggs."
As they walk along the trail, Twig asks "How much longer do we gotta walk until we reach a town!?", to which Pollie responds "Come on, Tweety. It's not so bad.". Cam smugly looks at Twig, asking her "Tweety? Such a cutesy nickname..", to which Twig replies with a punch to his arm. Winston adds "Oh, right. I was surprised when good old shy Pollie went out of her way to give Twig a nickname.". Pollie hides her face in her hands, concealing her red blush. However, as they bicker amongst themselves, Edreus notices something in the sky, asking "Kids, what is that?". Just then a mysterious figure soars down to them on the ground, revealing itself to be a Valkyrie. The muscular, female warrior towers over them, brandishing a long spear in hand, and spreading her large wings.
They stand there, in awe of the warrior in front of them. Pollie starts enthusiastically asking "Oh my goodness! Are you really a Valkyrie!? I thought your race was extinct!", but Twig covers her mouth, apologizing to the Valkyrie. Sylvia rubs her eyes in disbelief, asking Winston "I..is she..real?", to which Winston nods in agreement. Edreus walks up to the Valkyrie, having to look up at her, and asks "I had thought your race was eradicated in the Skywars..", but before he could finish, the Valkyrie walks past him, up to the others, asking them "Where have you encountered the Mindshrooms?". Pollie hides behind Twig, who pridefully says "Oh, we took care of those lame fungus.". Cam adds "Actually, Pollie was the reason we made it out alive.". The Valkyrie asks "Oh? Where is this 'Pollie'? Surely she is a mighty warrior to have..", but she stops when she sees Pollie, nervously scratching her arm and looking down. The Valkyrie kneels down and says "Ha! Surely you lie to me! This tiny sprite!?".
Twig steps between them, exclaiming "Hey, Pollie's tougher than you think, Bird lady!". Sylvia quickly covers Twig's mouth, whispering to her "Do you know what happens when you Challenge a Valkyrie!?". Cam asks "Challenge? But she didn't.. ", but the Valkyrie interupts but grabbing Twig by her arm and flew up. "You seek to challenge me?!". Before Edreus could intervene, Pollie flew up and grabbed Twig out of her grasp. "L..Leave my friends out..of th..this!", Pollie shouts, taking the Valkyrie aback. They descend and the Valkyrie says "I admire your ferocity, little sprite.". Pollie looks away, hiding a proud blush on her face. Edreus asks "Can you inform us of the events following the Skywars?", to which the Valkyrie responds "We'll inform you at our settlement, come with me, all of you.".
Following the Valkyrie's lead, who can support carrying all of them as she flys. However Pollie flys slightly behind them, with Twig in her arms. "Hey, um..Pollie? That bird lady is a total..", Twig says, but is interupted by Pollie, excitedly squealing "She's awesome!". Twig nervously agrees, saying "Y..yeah, awesome.."
The Valkyrie leads them to a village concealed in the clouds, built on sections of floating land in the sky. Cam and the others gasp in awe, Winston wondering "Floating land? That's fascinating..". Cam wonders to himself "Just like home..", thinking back to his childhood home in that floating cottage. They land and get a good look at the place, teaming with both muscular warrior Valkyrie and smaller, civilian Valkyrie. Sylvia excitedly says, in disbelief "I never even thought the Skylands were real, now we're discovering a lost race?". They look at Pollie, who is ecstatically pacing, squealing in excitement "I've heard so many fairy tales about this place, a..and you Valkyries..This is a dream come true!".
Cam asks Edreus "Hey Grandpa? Isn't our house also built in the sky like theirs?". Edreus looks down, seemingly lost in thought. Cam taps his shoulder, snapping him back to reality. "S..sorry, Cambrodia. I'm just..lost in my thoughts.", Edreus says. The Valkyrie removes her Knights helm, revealing her long red hair and hazel eyes. "This is merely a fraction of our once proud Utopia.". Winston, curious, asks "A fraction?", Edreus replies "Because of the mass destruction caused in the Skywars, they were only able to save a part of their ancestral home.". Cam asks "What are the Skywars, anyways?". The Valkyrie leads them to a large structure in the middle of the village, housing a tapestry. "We Valkyrie were once peaceful folk, living in the land bestowed to us. Until the cursed ones declared war on all 7 kingdoms. We fought for nearly 5 years through the death and destruction caused by those..Demons.. ".
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Winston, shocked, asks "Demons!? They're real too!?". The Valkyrie looks back at them, muttering "The Beings Of the Onyx..". Edreus instinctively tightens his grip on his mace, in response. Cam says "It took 5 years for you guys to win the war!?". However, the Valkyrie responds "We didn't..we escaped with...some..of our lives, and some of our home..". Pollie speaks up, surprising everyone "Well.. maybe the Skylands weren't fully destroyed in the war..". The Valkyrie kneels down to her, placing her hand on her shoulder "We've made many attempts to find our lost lands, but..hope Is a warrior's greatest weapon.". Pollie smiles in response, but Twig interupts, stepping between them and asking "Alright, bird lady. You've told us all this history stuff, but not your name?". The Valkyrie responds "Edna, My name is Edna Greysith.". Twig adds, clearly getting aggressive "Okay, Edna. Why tell us all this, anyways? Most of us are kids..!", but she is interupted by Sylvia, who pulls her aside.
"What the heck, Twig!?", Sylvia asks. But Twig snarkily replies "What? What did I do? I just wanted Ms. Super cool bird lady to elaborate on why she would involve us in all this.". Sylvia says "She's not involving us in anything..", but Twig interupts her, mocking Edna "HoPe Is A WaRrIOr's GrEaTeSt WeApOn. Remember that?". Sylvia sighs, as she comes to a realization "Twig.. are you..jealous?". Twig defensively steps back, shouting "What makes you say that!? I'm not jealous!". Sylvia steps towards her, with a calm tone "Look Twig, I know you love Pollie, but just look at her.", as she gestures towards an enthusiastic Pollie as she follows Edna. "When was the last time you saw her that..happy?". Twig looks down, saying "So, I don't make her happy, huh?". Sylvia stops herself, quickly saying "N..no, that's not what I meant!", but Twig storms off.
Twig sits behind one of the village houses, with a scowl on her face. "Stupid, all this..is so stupid!", she mutters to herself. She thinks back to the day she confessed her feelings to Twig:
Flashback:
As Winston, Edreus, Pollie and Twig cnontinued their journey to find Cam. They took a break near a river, as everyone relaxed, Twig looked longingly at Pollie as she admired the butterflies. Twig, with a soft blush on her face, said to herself "OK, Twig..now's the time! Tell her.", as she walked to Pollie.
Pollie looked up at her, asking "Hmm? What's up, Twig?". Twig, initially hesitant, said "I..uh..I have to tell you something..". Pollie curiously asked "What's up?", Twig blushed, stuttering "I..feel..", before eventually kneeling down and drawing a heart in the sand. Pollie, initially confused, eventually realized what Twig meant. She sat next to her, asking "Do you..really mean..that?", with a soft blush on her face. Twig nodded, averting her gaze. Pollie drew a bigger heart near the one Twig drew, saying "This is how I feel about you..". Twig blushed, asking "R..Really?", Pollie nodded with a soft smile on her face. Twig spotted a flower in the bushes and reached to get it for Pollie, but a bird landed on it, tweeting loudly in Twig's face as it took the flower. Twig, initially angry, looked back at Pollie who was laughing, saying "It was so cute, how it was tweeting. Hey, your name kind of sounds like..". Twig blushed, saying "Are you gonna start calling me..that?", Pollie nodded, saying "It suits you, right Tweety?". Twig looked away, hiding her intense blush.
*end of Flashback*
Tears fall from Twig's eyes, as she thinks to herself "Maybe I don't know how to love.. her..". Cam finds her, saying "Phew! I finally found you!", but stopping when he sees Twig's crying face. He sits next to her, asking "What's wrong, Twig? I don't think I've ever seen you cry..". Twig looks away from him, saying "I..I'm not..". She look back at him, saying "It's been a while since we talked like this..". Cam responds "Yeah, it's been a wild journey..", Twig says "You always seemed like you had it all figured out.. You always knew where to go on your journey, not like me.", as she buries her face in her hands. Cam giggles, saying "Oh, not even close. I've gotten lost, many times in my journey..".
As the rain starts to pour, Twig asks "How do you do it, huh? You know exactly how to..love someone..'. Cam, with a sorrowful look in his eye, asks "Is this about Pollie?", Twig nods her head, saying "Why am I like this? I know I love Pollie, but when she's with the bird lady, I.. ", Cam says "It hurts when she's happy with someone else, huh?". Twig says "I...remember what happened with Violet..Is that gonna happen to us?". Cam, puts his arm around Twig's shoulder, hugging her and saying "She loves you, Twig..Remember that.". Twig cries, whimpering "It just gets..hard to..believe that sometimes..". Cam says as Leo jumps out of his bag to comfort Twig "What Violet did still hurts, but I trust what she said in that letter. That she loved me. You have to trust Pollie, too.". Twig smiles, petting Leo, saying "Y..you're right..". She stands up, looking back at Cam, who says "Go on, she's waiting.". Twig runs throughout the village, looking for Pollie in the rain. Cam looks at Leo, with a lone tear on his face.
Twig finds Pollie waiting near a group of Valkyries. "Pollie!", Twig tearfully shouts as Pollie runs to her. They meet with a tight hug, Pollie saying "Twig? What's going on..?", but Twig says "I'm sorry, I've been a big fat jerk. I was just scared..of losing you..". Pollie wipes her tears, saying "Tweety..". They release each other, Pollie saying "I..uh..I'm leaving the group..for now. I decided that I'm going to train with Edna and the Valkyrie for a while..". Twig, initially shocked, calms down and asks "Is this what you want?". Pollie, surprised, asks "You're okay with it?". Twig says "I trust that we'll be together soon.". Pollie hugs her tightly saying "I love you so much, Tweety..". Twig says "I love you, too..".
Edna says "We must get to training, with haste." They break the hug, as Pollie gets ready to leave, she sees all her friends bidding her goodbye. Tears start falling from her eyes as she flys off with Edna and the other Valkyrie. Twig watches as she disappears in the rainy skies, but the rain subsidies, the golden glow of the sun bathing the Village. She quietly says "Goodbye, Pollie.."