Rainfall and Nightfall

== Note to the Reader ==
This fanfiction takes place many years after the War of SandWing Succession. NightWings no longer live in the rainforest but dwell on a hidden island far away.
==Another Note to the Reader==
This is a short and sweet fanfic about a RainWing and a NightWing. Please don't use any of the characters unless you have my permission. (but I'm also really sorry if any of them seem like exact copies of any of yours; if they do, I promise to change them up a little). Thanks! - Misty
P.S. ALMOST FORGOT. Please do not edit whatsoever. The only exceptions are if there is a spelling mistake/grammatical error.
==A Clouded Night==
Rainfall blinked and found herself in darkness.
The moons were not shining this night.
Neither were the stars.
Perfect. 
Rainfall unfurled her wings and threw herself off of the vine platform, transforming the jump into a silent glide. A faint breeze brushed against her scales with gentle talons, and Rainfall allowed pink to blossom in her scales. The night was so dark that no RainWing would see her.
The edge of the rainforest appeared, and Rainfall banked towards it, thankful for a chance to rest.
No other RainWing even considered sending out a patrol to guard the borders of their unseen kingdom. If the mud dragons or the sand dragons or even the sea dragons came from the dark wings of night to attack, they wouldn't notice. And that was why she had to make sure that never happened.
Rainfall marched down the length of trees. Her neck erect and her eyes narrowed, she glared down the path ahead and flicked her wings, eager to see some intruder. But none came. Perhaps this is a waste of time. 
Never think that, she berated herself.
For many hours she marched and stood guard. Only when the golden flower of the sun appeared on the horizon did she allow herself to stop and rest her sore eyes and wings. A sense of accomplishment filled Rainfall as she ate her breakfast of berries. I have successfully protected the rainforest. 
She was about to return to the RainWing village when something - no more noticeable than a blade of grass stirring in the wind - flickered in the corner of her eye.
Something...or someone.
Rainfall continued as if she hadn't seen the flicker, and then, at the last moment, she hurled herself at the intruder, baring her teeth and clawing his scales. A loud screech of pain answered her.
"What are you doing here, black dragon?" she snarled in his ear. "You can't enter the rainforest without permission of the guard."
Though he was an impressive size, the black dragon hardly struggled. "The guard? The guard? Since when do RainWings have guards?"
"Since now," Ranfall answered, giving him a little shake. "You're under arrest." Excitement filled her. My first prisoner! 
"I don't fight RainWings," he said. A sparkling black eye blinked up at her, shining with amusement. "Let me up, I say. Before I have to make an exception." Tendrils of smoke curled threateningly from his nostrils. "I'm not about to enter your precious rainforest, however. I'm travelling to the desert to collect some brightsting cactus for my tribe."
"I don't know what 'cactus' is, but I'm afraid you're not going anywhere." Rainfall picked up a stone and crashed it against his head, knocking him out. She gingerly stepped off of him and used some vines to tie his snout and claws.
And now I have to alert the queen.
Rainfall cast a wistful glance over her shoulder at the prisoner before taking off into the rainforest. He will never be able to escape those bindings, even if he wakes up.
She would never have guessed how wrong she could be.
==A Net of Vines==
When Rainfall returned, nothing remained of the skirmish. The black dragon was not there, and all that was left of his prison was a pile of charred vines.
"No!" Rainfall screeched, landing beside the vines. The queen and some curious RainWings that had tagged along yawned and circled around the crime scene. How had he managed to do this? 
Something crinkled and bent sounded beneath her talons. Rainfall hissed and picked whatever it was up, and then she realized that there was writing etched into it.
She was the only RainWing who had thought it necessary to learn to read, and so she had escaped the rainforest a few weeks to learn the basics from a retired MudWing healer. With some difficulty, Rainfall could make out what it said.
To: the RainWing guard
My name is Nightfall. My story was true: I am looking for brightsting cactus to bring back to my tribe, because we have just been attacked by some SandWings.
She couldn't believe the next few lines.
If you wanted to, you could come with me. You haven't even seen the rest of Pyrrhia...the desert, the arctic, the MudWing swamps, or even the Claws of the Clouds Mountains. 
Signed,
Nightfall
"If we're quite done here..." the RainWing queen said drowsily.
"Yes, yes, I'm sorry. I must have been mistaken." She waved the queen and the other RainWings away. But Rainfall didn't follow them back into the rainforest. She had already made up her mind.
The rest of the letter echoed in her mind.
Meet me by the tallest tree of the MudWing swamps...tallest tree...MudWing swamps...
This was a chance in a lifetime.
==Brightsting Cactus==
"You came!" Nightfall said as Rainfall perched on the tallest tree that she could find. The black dragon was crouched at the base of it, and he stared cheerfully up at her. "One condition of joining Nightfall the NightWing's Tours is that you have to tell me your name."
"Rainfall," she answered. "When do we leave?"
"Right now." Nightfall tapped his black snout. "You see, there is a MudWing patrol on their way and if they see a NightWing they'd start to ask some uncomfortable questions. First stop is the desert. Follow me!" He clambered up the tree and then unfurled his great, jagged wings before leaping into the azure sky.
Rainfall followed as quick as she can. The desert! I'm actually going to the desert!
They stopped several times for a drink of water, and when a great thing of rock rose on the horizon Nightfall veered his course towards it.
"What's that?" Rainfall asked.
"Oh, that's Jade Mountain, the tallest mountain in Pyrrhia," Nightfall replied. "And that," he nodded towards a blurred yellow haze, "is the desert. We should be there by evening." There was a slight pause, and then he asked, "So, you've never been outside of the rainforest?"
"Only once," Rainfall replied, feeling a bit embarrassed. "And that was to find some dragon to teach me to read. I only went to the closest border of the swamps, though. What about you?"
"I'm a traveller," was the reply.
The two dragons continued to fly, and when the haze had transformed to dunes Nightfall dived down towards the ground.
"We can rest here and continue on in the morning," he said.
Rainfall yawned and felt her eyes close. She didn't regret leaving the rainforest whatsoever. I've seen mountains and swamps and lakes and ponds in one day. I wonder what lies ahead.
As she drifted off into sleep, she felt a dream enter her drowsing mind.
There was fire and smoke and burning trees. A sharp taste assailed her tongue as she banked towards the flames licking hungrily at the trees. The air was buzzing with the wings of orange dragons and sandy yellow dragons, and from their maws shot bursts of flame. 
RainWings were screaming and dragonets were wailing as the dragons attacked the rainforest. Rainfall dropped the bundle of fruit she was carrying and then hit a dragon hard with one of her wings. He screamed in pain.
"We have to fight, RainWings!" Rainfall howled into the gale. "Use your venom, your claws, anything! Hurry!"
They only won that battle when one RainWing, a venom instructor, retaliated with a burst of venom at one of the sand dragons. The victim let out a bloodcurdling scream before plummeting towards the blazing banyan trees. The rest quickly got the message and flew away, hard and fast. 
Rainfall woke up to see the shine of Nightfall's worried eyes staring at her.
"Are you alright?" he asked. She could hardly see the rest of him against the black line of trees.
"I was dreaming of the attack on the rainforest," Rainfall said stiffly.
"Attack?"
"Yes. Some sky dragons and some sand dragons came and lit many trees on fire."
"So that was why you were standing guard duty," Nightfall mused. "I was wondering. Usually RainWings are so lazy - no offence - that they just roll over and fall asleep rather than do anything about their problems."
"I'm hardly the usual RainWing," Rainfall pointed out.
"Hardly," Nightfall said, and he sounded amused. "Well, we might as well get some flying done now. I need to collect some of the brightsting cactus, you know." She heard the whisper of his wings as he took off.
Rainfall blinked, and then she followed him into the air, ignoring the tired cries of her muscles. Just a few more miles before I get to the desert.
When they reached the desert, the sand was cool and the moons were blazing boldly above. Cacti - as Nightfall explained - were stationed around them, thorny to the touch. He took a spear to several and stowed them away in a leather bag hanging around his neck.
That was when the night revealed the SandWings.
Rainfall went green with fear and she crouched down against the sand. Seventeen SandWings circled them, their teeth bared. She could hear the slither of barbed tails against the sand.
Nightfall extended his wings to their full length and snapped at several.
"Leave us alone, and no one will get hurt."
"A SeaWing and a NightWing gathering brightsting cacti by the moonslight," one of the SandWing said in a strangely smooth voice. "How...romantic."
"Not a SeaWing," another growled. "A RainWing." He nodded to the jets of orange anger flaring up in Rainfall's scales.
"RainWing or not, she's intruding, along with this NightWing." The first SandWing let out a roar and flung her tail at Rainfall, who rolled out of the way. Nightfall blasted fire at her face and she ducked down.
An earsplitting shriek rose, and then a MudWing platoon appeared, slashing at the SandWings, RainWing and NightWing. "For the Mud Kingdom!" one roared, clawing a SandWing's snout.
"This is MudWing land," another snarled. "Surrender!"
One of the SandWings staggered blindly and his tail flailed, inches away from Nightfall.
But it didn't hit him.
Because it had plunged into Rainfall's side as she flung herself in the way.
==Saved by a Cactus==
She woke up, feeling as if her very veins were on fire. She was somewhere serene and quiet, and something soothing was being applied to her wound. Painfully, Rainfall opened an eye and saw Nightfall anxiously watching her.
"You're awake!" he said with a great breath of relief. His claws were caked with brightsting cactus. "How do you feel?"
"Terrible," Rainfall answered with a growl. She closed her eyes again. "Wow. Sheesh. That hurts." She gritted her teeth.
"You saved my life, you know," Nightfall said quietly.
"Apparently you did, too. Where are we? What happened?"
"After the SandWing tail barb hit you, I dragged you away from the fight. Luckily everyone was too engrossed with tearing each other to ribbons that they didn't notice. So I brought you to a cave in the Claws of the Clouds Mountains." Nightfall continued to apply some cactus to Rainfall's wound. "I thought you were going to die, you know."
Rainfall struggled to raise her head and look at him with disbelief. "You were worried about me? We've only known each other for a day."
"Well, yes, but you did get yourself stabbed by a SandWing to make sure I didn't die," Nightfall said wryly. "You might as well get some rest. Tomorrow I can show you the Kingdom of Ice."
The next day they set off for the Kingdom of Ice, and the day after that they flew across the ocean towards SkyWing territory. Rainfall disguised herself as a SkyWing just as a precaution and acted as if she was escorting Nightfall to some sort of prison when a patrol flew above them, but otherwise they didn't meet any new dragons.
After that and exploring the Diamond Spray Delta, Nightfall led her to the Bay of a Thousand Scales.
"Isn't it amazing and beautiful?" he asked Rainfall as they flew over the ocean and a rocky outcropping.
"It is," Rainfall said, breathing in the strange salt air.
Nightfall batted her with his wing. "Wait until I show you the Ruins of the Summer Palace. You will be AMAZED."
Rainfall laughed and dipped a claw in the ocean. Nightfall flew alongside her.
Though she loved the places that she explored, there was one dragon that she loved more.
And she was fairly certain he felt the same way.
==Cliffhanger==
They were flying peacefully, drifting on the air currents and laughing as a whale would spray them with his breath when a dragon as blue as the sky flew out of the ocean and attacked Nightfall. The NightWing roared and scratched at his attacker while Rainfall raked her sharpened claws along the SeaWing's scales. Another SeaWing, this one green, added his weight to Nightfall, which made him tumble to the ocean.
Rainfall cried out and dove after him.
The icy water met her with such force...
And she reached out her claws to the retreating shape of her newfound friend.
I will save you. I will save you, she wailed silently.
She thought she could hear an answer.
I know.
Category:Content (Mist the Moon Dragon)
Category:Genre (Romance)
Category:Fanfictions (Fanon)
Category:Fanfictions (Completed)
Category:Fanfictions