Claws of Hope

This story has been written and created by Soft Raspberry. 
=Wings of Fire=
=== Prologue ===
 A colorful and black dragon swooped down to the ground, only one thought occupying him. According to the visions of Moon, he was going to die soon, though he was so young. He sauntered off, looking for a strawberry patch, full of juicy red berries. 
His favorite fruit.
He gathered a few to bring back to his dragonets, Stargazer and Redmoon; he knew they would be delighted at the notion of more fruit from their father who was going to die soon. They only had, what was it, a few hours left with him? He knew he should probably be scared that he was going to die, but he wasn’t scared. In his opinion, he thought: I know I am going to die this way. It won’t come as a surprise. 
As he walked along the well-worn path that had been stomped on by many other dragons, he felt something inside of him. A pulse of something wrong - something Peacemaker had never felt before. He shook  it off quickly so it wouldn’t worry him too much. That was something Hope would have wanted Peacemaker to do. He missed her so much. He stomped back onto the path and quickly shuffled home. 
“Hi Dad! Ooo, you brought some strawberries home with you! Yum!” Stargazer said, and her voice quickly dropped into a lower tone, an almost mournful tone, “Oh, Dad. Did you bring those to make your last pie?” The worry in Stargazer’s voice made Peacemaker wince. He had only wanted to make his daughter happy. Stargazer was 7 years old, not quite an adult. She still lived at home with Starhunter. 
“Three moons, Stargazer! No, I brought them so we could share them,” He said, trying to sound cheerful. The sunlight glinted off Stargazer’s teardrop scale, a glittering drop of heaven. The white and blue speckles on the bottom of her scales made Peacemaker flinch again, reminding him of Hope. 
Thump, went this odd pulse again. It made him want to curl up in a ball and never wake up again. This time, it was harder to ignore, and it was clear that it came with a sense of evil. What is that? 
“Dad? You okay?” Redmoon asked, coming up behind him. He was about 9 years old, working for Queen Glory already. His dark blue and green scales made him recall an image of Moonwatcher, his friend who only lived a few doors down from him. 
“Of course, Redmoon. Let's go see your Mom, okay? I’m sure she’ll be happy you’re back from guarding the Royal Hatchery. How is Queen Glory doing? Deathbringer? Surprised I am going to die soon and they are all still alive,” Peacemaker joked. 
“Ah, she’s fine. Firefly, though, she still annoys the heck outta me!” Redmoon was talking about Firefly, the queen’s daughter. The little ball of energy was 5 years old, zooming through the palace like a bumblebee. Firefly looked kind of like Peacemaker, with black scales everywhere with little bits of colorful splashes mixed in. Except hers were more pastel colored, and she could change her colorful scales. 
They walked into their hut, Starhunter cooking another strawberry pie. 
“Hi! How are you doing? Feeling okay?” Starhunter asked sweetly. 
All at once, Peacemaker felt a sharp pain in his chest, and he collapsed to the ground.
“Peacemaker!” Starhunter shrieked. “NO! Now isn’t the time! NOOO!”  His dragonets were trying to prop him back up, and Starhunter was just sobbing. He just had to have the energy to say something more. 
“I...lo-love...you all,” he finally choked out weakly. 
And then all went black. 
=== Chapter 1 ===
“La la la,” Moonwalker sang joyfully. She was outside with her mother, plastering mud onto her house, which was slowly crumbling apart. I wonder what Papaya is doing right now! She thought. Papaya was Kinkajou’s daughter, who was Moonwalker’s best friend. 
“MOTHER! I need to go! Bye!” Moonwalker proclaimed. 
“Where?” Her mother said, “Oh, whatever, sure, you can go,” she paused. “Just be back with some strawberries ok?” Moonwalker cheered silently in her head and spread her wings to fly. She jumped in the air, and closed her eyes when the wind brushed along her face. Suddenly she spotted Kinkajou and Papaya, their scales materializing out of the air when they saw Moonwalker. 
“MOONWALKER!” Papaya shrieked, delighted. She leapt off the ground and catapulted toward Moonwalker. Papaya’s scales were a soft blue, with splashes of dimmed pink and yellow, evenly spread across her body. As usual, Kinkajou was a bright yellow and vibrant pink. 
“Hey, Papaya! What’re you doing?” Moonwalker didn’t even wait for her to respond. “Let's go exploring! There’s a whole half of the rainforest we haven’t even seen yet!” She looked at Kinkajou and she nodded with a smile.
“Yeah, you can go. The other side has AMAZING fruits, and plus, nobody goes over there, so there are probably a lot of unclaimed sloths,” Kinkajou said loudly and excitedly, but was drowned out when Papaya started screeching and jumping up and down. Moonwalker frowned at her.  Her scales were lime green and a bright flashing white, indicating fear. What was it? What was it? Why was Papaya scared?
“EEE! WHO IS THAT BIG DRAGON? WHY IS HE SO BIG??” she shrieked frantically. Papaya shot under a tree with large leaves and Kinkajou muttered something like “Darkstalker” with great fear. Why was Kinkajou scared, for all matters? She never ever got scared. 
A big, black dragon stalked out in front of them. He towered over them, almost as big as the trees themselves. 
“KINKAJOU,” the dragon snarled. His face was furious, and he could have killed Kinkajou and Papaya with a slash of his claws. 
“DARKSTALKER,” Kinkajou snapped back. Her scales were a bright, vibrant red that made Moonwalker want to scrape her eyes out. But she knew red meant anger, but why would she be mad at this guy? Why do they look so mad at each other? This guy looks ancient. No way him and Kinkajou could have known each other!! Moonwalker thought. 
Suddenly Kinkajou leapt forward and opened her mouth, and venom shot out of her two front fangs, and instantly Kinkajou vanished into thin air. Darkstalker roared with fury, clawing at his side like a mildly surprised sloth. 
“HEAL!! THREE MOONS!” He shouted, eyes closed in pain.  Wait, does that mean this Darkstalker is an animus?! Moonwalker thought. I thought there hadn’t been a NightWing animus in years! Well, except for that chunk of rock in Jade Mountain. 
	When the scar didn’t heal, Kinkajou grinned and Darkstalker roared in anger. His silver teardrop scale gleamed dangerously.
“Kinkajou. KINKAJOU! ARGH! What did you do to me? WHY CAN’T I ENCHANT ANYTHING? WHERE IS MY MIND READING? HOW COME I CAN’T SEE THE FUTURE?” Darkstalker cried. He looked at his talons like there was something wrong with them. He unfurled his wings and studied the thin white line of scales and white and silver speckles. 
“Oh yeah, HA HA! Yeah, I totally took those away from you,” She said proudly, laughing. 
Darkstalker roared his fury, thrashing his massive wings around and tearing up the colorful flowers in his way. Head swimming, Moonwalker spun around and fled. She spread her wings to fly away forever, letting the breeze brush her face and the sun beat down on her scales, making them warm and cozy. She wanted to get away from this enormous evil black dragon and soar up in the wisps of cloud, in the clear turquoise sky, and never ever see this odd, scary dragon again. 
But before she could do that, sharp claws sank into her shoulder, and a vision flashed before Moonwalker’s eyes. Pain like nothing before spilt through her head to create an unbearable headache. She saw this same dragon cackling in front of a dark, dreary landscape. Lightning flashed and thunder roared in the background. Dragons of all tribes were screaming in terror and horror and fleeing in fright. 
Darkstalker was controlling a flock of green and yellow and dragons of all colors Moonwalker had never seen before. Their eyes were white, beady white, endless holes of evil. They stood in the exact same way as all the others and stood in a perfect line. Some were attacking and some were just standing there, acting menacing. 
And some of them had four wings…
=== Chapter 2 ===
“Don’t you dare move, puny dragonet,” Darkstalker snarled. He pinned her to the damp forest floor with his enormous talons. There was no chance of getting up against the large, looming dragon holding her down.
His claws dug deeper, a thin stream of scarlet blood trickling down her black scales. Kinkajou leapt forward, and thick black goop shot out of her fangs once again, hitting Darkstalker in a small spot on the side of his hulking body. Instantly he crawled off Moonwalker in great pain.
“Kinkajou! WHY?! I hurt SO MUCH and I haven’t even done anything bad yet!” Darkstalker yelped. Papaya was still hiding, terrified, under the giant tree with big leaves. Her scales were pea-green and white - Moonwalker could tell she was badly alarmed. 
“WHAT?! You totally just hurt Moonwalker and, uh, before I made a totally amazing plan you were going to DESTROY PYRRHIA!” Kinkajou shouted at him.
He unfurled his wings and shot into the air, quickly but Moonwalker could sense an old, creaky way about the way he flew.
“So, that went well,” Kinkajou remarked.
“Yeah, are we gonna die?” Papaya squeaked nervously.
“Nope. We’re gonna go find my awesome Queen Glory and go tell her about this!” She responded, scales a solemn gray and blue. 
They started off to her royal palace, first stomping quietly but then didn’t care and ran; they knew this was a big problem and it didn’t matter if they were silent. 
It was then Moonwalker began to ponder her vision. She had heard others talk about the Lost Continent, there were even some of their tribes living in various places on Pyrrhia. But - it looked as if Darkstalker was controlling them to attack. But what did he use? His animus magic was gone and he had no more powers from the moons. The dragons fleeing in terror - was Darkstalker punishing them for - whatever they did? The bigger question: Why couldn’t he just be a normal dragon and live in peace? It was all too confusing for Moonwalker to think about at once, and, sooner or later they were at Her Majesty’s palace. 
“Your Majesty? May we enter?” Kinkajou asked softly. 
“Always, Kinkajou! My mommy loves you lots,” Firefly chirped from inside. 
“Firefly,” Glory said warningly. “Yes, Kinkajou, come in. You’ve got Moonwalker and Papaya with you?” 
“Uh-huh, but we have something bad to warn you about! Darkstalker is back! To kill us all! HE’S BACK!” Kinkajou cried helplessly, locking eyes with Queen Glory. 
The queen closed her eyes and took several deep breaths. Her scales which were usually golden yellow, had bits of lime-green trying to peek through, but Glory held her composure and tried to stamp them out. 
“I thought he was…gone,” Glory murmured. The several guards surrounding her looked very worried, for basically the whole world had told stories of Darkstalker, evil guy who was TOTALLY EVIL. Moonwalker saw that Glory was worried, but she couldn’t stop herself from blurting:
“I had a vision about him,” Glory, Kinkajou, Papaya, and basically every dragons’ head in the room popped up, now listening intently. 	
“Moonwalker, could you tell us about this vision?” Glory asked. 
So she explained it, watching all the eyes in the room go wide and all RainWing scales turn lime-green and all NightWings wrap their wings around themselves. All of them had an immense fear of Darkstalker, as did everyone who had heard the story of him planning to take over the world and then some hero taking care of him so he would never, ever, come back out again.
But obviously not, since here he was, roaming the rainforest. And he was probably gonna take over the world again. Even though he doesn’t have his magic, for some weird reason. Who knew he even had magic? She answered herself immediately. Basically everyone. This guy is seriously infamous. 
	“Wow,” Glory said faintly after Moonwalker had finished. “Um, anything we could do about this?”
“We can go kill him! Kinkajou has already used her venom on him TWICE!!” Papaya spoke up. 
“Well, I met Darkstalker lots of years ago, and he was huge. Like, really really big. So I don’t think it will be that easy to kill him,” Glory said, vaguely amused. Silver slept peacefully in a little nook on Glory’s shoulder peacefully, but kept twitching like something was wrong. Well. Because something was wrong.
“Your Majesty, we must keep you safe! Let's get you into the underground city,” Kinkajou said solemnly. 
“I can keep myself safe,” Glory scoffed. “Let's remember, I turned our tribe into the most dangerous tribe in Pyrrhia. We have venom and camouflage scales! We are safe from Darkstalker, especially since he doesn’t have animus magic anymore, he won’t use it to hurt us. We are okay, guys. Okay.” 	
Kinkajou had a sickened look on her face, indicating she was remembering back in her time how evil and sinister Darkstalker was in her time and what he was going to do. 
Jambu stepped forward and cleared his throat, tiny wrinkles lining up on his face.	
“But, Queen Glory, you must be kept safe! You are the most important and the best Queen in Pyrrhia! Let’s get you to safety now!” Jambu said importantly. Moonwalker noticed he and others looked as if they needed Queen Glory for their life. Like that their life depended on her. 	
The queen sighed eloquently. “Listen. I am your queen. And I say I am okay. So we are staying right here until he actually does something bad. Do you hear?” Glory said sternly. All of the dragons nodded sadly and sat back down. Almost everybody’s scales were gray and a solemn blue, even the NightWings radiated sorrow. Even though they had a RainWing for their queen, they knew they needed her and that she kept them safe. 	
“And if we really need help, we can call some SandWings and MudWings to help us,” She announced. “Now let's all go about our day. Except for the scouts. Can you camouflage yourself and look for Darkstalker? Do NOT make ONE noise, do you hear? I’m not having any dead dragons in my rainforest today!” Slowly the crowd sparsed, and the scouts camouflaged and slunk away to stalk Darkstalker. The moment that thought appeared in Moonwalker’s head, she thought: Ha, how ironic. 
She flew home to her mud house to find her mother was gone. Probably in the house, Moonwalker thought. She skipped in and found her mom gone. 
And splatters of thick red blood splashed on the ground. 
=== Chapter 3 ===
What?! Where did she go? WAS SHE DEAD?! Moonwalker looked around in panic, let out a sharp cry, and fled to Queen Glory’s palace. Gorgeous light pink orchids hund daintily in front of Moonwalker as she flew, brushing her face, but Moonwalker didn’t notice because she was so frightened. Cute furry sloths dangled from the overhead thick green leafy canopy, but Moonwalker couldn’t slow down to give them a quick hug or cuddle with them. When she found herself at her palace, thick mud squeezed her talons as if they were giving her good luck. She burst in, breathing heavily. 
Glory was sitting regally at her wooden table, going over the blueprints for the new treehouse for an old male RainWing almost as old as Glory herself. Slowly she looked up, and a flash of surprise ran through her face. 
“Moonwalker...is everything alright? You were just here and...you look like you were in a great hurry,” Glory asked, voice trembling, just the slightest bit. Moonwalker thought she might have guessed she had another vision. 
“No, no, I didn’t have another vision,” Moonwalker reassured her quickly. 
“Are you sure you aren’t reading my mind?” Glory said cautiously. 
“Yes, of course I am sure! Only NightWings with a silver teardrop scale have the power to read minds,” she promised. Glory nodded, and Moonwalker nearly overflowed with joy and relief. 
“I need to tell you something! SOMETHING IS WRONG! I don’t know what happened but something is WRONG!” Moonwalker exclaimed, not caring that she was super nervous. I mean, it was the queen, after all. 
“Tell me quickly,” Glory suggested calmly. Silver was draped now on her front claw, looking curiously at Moonwalker with her big brown eyes. 
“I went home and there was BLOOD all over the place! And my mom was GONE! Really gone! And I’m PRETTY SURE it was DARKSTALKER coming to HAUNT us!” She let it flow out like water, and when she wanted to stop and take a breath, her mouth wouldn’t take a break. “AND WE NEED TO DOOOOOOO SOMETHINNGGGG!!” she cried frantically. 
“Oh wow,” Glory said faintly. “Well. Let's get a search party to look for your mother. I promise we will find your mother, Moonwalker. I promise.”
Firefly popped up from behind Glory. “I think what Moonwalker means is that we are all going to DIE!” She squeaked nervously. She buried her head into Glory’s shoulder and scared Silver off so that she slid down Glory’s claw and landed with a thump on the floor. Glory sighed and closed her eyes but smiled sweetly at her. 
“No, Firefly, I’m sure Darkstalker didn’t kill her. IF she is dead, anyway,” she added quickly, spotting Moonwalker’s sick expression. She scooped up her sloth and let her rest in the groove on her shoulder. 
“Right. So. Can we get those search parties, like, RIGHT NOW? Cause like, they need to catch Darkstalker too, I mean, he’s a big scary bad guy,” Moonwalker said, fidgeting with her bracelet with moonstones on them. 
“Yes, we can,” Glory said, “Just remember, your mother might not be dead, and Darkstalker is probably just feasting on mangoes somewhere in the rainforest,” she finished with a wave of her claw. 
“No, he’s not,” Darkstalker said, appearing behind Moonwalker. Firefly let out a yelp of alarm, and even Glory had the grace to look a bit nervous. “He’s right here, coming to talk to Queen Glory of the RainWings and NightWings, who by the way, should have been my dragons.” 
“Darkstalker. What are you doing? First off, you were not invited here. And also, they were not going to be your dragons. You brainwashed them and tricked them into loving you,” Glory observed. “They were not your true followers and you know it.” 
“Well, off the topic of that,” he said, “I think it's time Pyrrhia welcomed me. People have been afraid of me for no reason too long,” Darkstalker shuddered, but why? Of course Pyrrhia was afraid of him. Moonwalker wanted to shout back, Of course they are! Do you remember your plan to uh, DESTROY THE WORLD? 
“Guards, take this dragon and put him in a very deep dungeon and have at least 6 dragons guarding him,” Glory barked at two green dragons standing at the door. 
“Yes, Your Majesty,” they replied, then flew off with Darkstalker thrashing in a hammock made of vines. 
Then Glory ordered two other dragons, “Go get 5 groups of 5 guards,” she instructed them, “and let them search the rainforest for Moonwalker’s mother. Do you know what she looks like?” 
“Yes, Queen Glory,” and then they too flew off. Glory took off her pink and purple lily necklace and placed it on her table and instead put on a simple white orchid one, landing lightly on her shoulders. 
“Okay, let's get you a home now,” Glory said, “We can’t leave you alone.” She waved a claw at another dragon with violet and cobalt whorls spirling and he scooted away to the hatchery. Hmm, Moonwalker thought, what did that mean? But she didn’t have time to think about that, because Glory beckoned her over to the doorway. “Let’s go, Moonwalker.”
She leapt off the balcony into the sky, soaring over the treehouses and leaves of the tall trees. She saw a young blue and green dragonet poke her head out of the treehouse and call something to her mother. Her mother, a vibrant pink and purple and gold, nodded and came inside. A moment later, they both came back out with baskets weaved with leaves and grass and swooped down into the forest ground. Moonwalker guesses they were about to go fruit picking. 
Then she saw another group of lavender and soft blue dragons - about five or six of them - in the healing treehouse, tending and fussing over some new patient with deep wounds. The kind with a lot of blood. 
In fact, this new patient was a NightWing. 
Could it be Moonwalker’s mother?
“Your Majesty,” she called to Queen Glory, “Can we check the healing treehouse for my mother?” 
“Hm, good idea, Moonwalker,” Glory said, and they shook off anything that found their way onto them and swiftly walked inside. 
It wasn’t her mother. 
The NightWing was sleeping, with a sad navy RainWing sitting by the bed stroking his snout with a loving expression. Hm, a NightWing RainWing love? Moonwalker thought. Instantly the RainWing looked up with a guilty face at Queen Glory. 
“It’s okay, Raspberry. It’s too obvious to be ignored. I’m not going to be one of those queens who thinks our RainWing blood should not be contaminated, especially since I myself had a ‘forbidden love’,” Glory said with a smile. Raspberry’s face melted into relief. 
“So,” Moonwalker said softly, “What happened to him?” Raspberry looked down, sadness taking her over. 
“He was just flying with me to go fruit picking. And then one of his wings missed a beat and he plummeted to the ground. He only lived because I softened his fall,” Raspberry said miserably. “Is he going to wake up? I don’t know. I feel like it's all my fault.” She buried her face into the flowers at the NightWings’ side, crying silently. Moonwalker patted her back gently, trying to make her feel better. Oh, how she hated watching dragons in pain. 
“It’s going to be okay,” Glory promised. “Now, Moonwalker and I have to go somewhere real quick. Have a good day, Raspberry. Don’t give up.” At that Glory gave Raspberry a concerned look and walked out of the treehouse. 
Soon, they were up in the air again, flapping their wings, feeling the sun and breeze brush their scales. Suddenly Glory banked down and came upon a small gathering of tiny treehouses. Several yellow heads poked out of the treehouses when Glory and Moonwalker landed. There were 20 treehouses and it looked like 19 of them were full. 
“Your Majesty!” one of them exclaimed. “We had no idea you were coming!” She bustled into her house quickly and tumbled back out with a basket of overflowing dragonfruits, papayas, tangerines, mangos and many more mysterious fruits. 
“Thank you, Zinnia,” Glory said gratefully, and plucked a pineapple and an orange off of the top of the messy pile, tossing the orange to Moonwalker. “We are here to...borrow Lemon’s home. I sent her to talk to Queen Scorch about meeting next moon cycle. Can Moonwalker live here for awhile?” 
“Of course, Your Majesty,” Zinnia said, then bowed. She led them to a small leaf house decorated with many orchids, lilies, daisies and asters. It was very neat and tidy, orderly and clean, and at once Moonwalker fell in love with it. 
“Here you go, Moonwalker. Keep it nice, and have a good time. I promise we will find your mother,” Glory said, and backed out of the treehouse. “Thank you, Zinnia for the fruit and house. And to the rest of you also.” She nodded at the rest of the gaping RainWings. 
“Thank you, Queen Glory.” Moonwalker said, and the rest of the dragons echoed. She walked back in and curled into a ball, soaking in all the facts about this house. 
It was really nice, actually. There were six oranges and nine mangoes resting in one corner, and a few flowers were used to decorate the ceiling, which was also very leafy. She had created a nest of moss and big leaves to make a nice place for her to sleep in the night, which was what Moonwalker was laying on. 
I’m SO tired, she thought, then closed her eyes, waiting for sleep to come. 
=== Chapter 4 ===
“Heeeellllooooooo?” someone with bright scales whispered loudly above her head. 
Hrm. It was Papaya, her snout barely an inch away from touching Moonwalkers’. She gently shoved it away. 
“Papayaaaaa,” Moonwalker complained. “I was sleeeeppiiinnngg.” she looked around and noticed she wasn’t in her house. Oh yeah, she thought. I’m in Lemon’s house. 
“Well you need to get up!” Papaya exclaimed, scales a blinding yellow and pink. “Darkstalker has probably already killed, like, the whole IceWing tribe already.” She tossed her head with an angry, determined face, like she was going to take on Darkstalker herself. “LIKE, how did he survive two venom scars! Let’s go give him a few more!!” Papaya punched the open air, pretending it was Darkstalker. 
“You silly, he’s massive! It will take about 1000 more venom scars for him to die,” Moonwalker said. 
“Well then! Let’s go! I’m ready! 1000 venom scars COMING RIGHT UP!” Papaya bellowed a little too loudly. 
A solemn blue snout poked into the treehouse, frowning. “Papaya. It’s too early to be shouting,” Zinnia murmured sleepily. 
“Blorg, too early! It’s like, noon!” Papaya said indignatly. Zinnia shook her head and went back outside, probably to go back to sleep. 
“Well, that frog face will be sorry she said that to me when I save the world like mom!” Papaya said fiercely, scrunching up her snout. 
“Wait, your mom saved the world? When?” Moonwalker asked. She had heard all the tales of Queen Glory of her friends saving the world from war, and Glory saving the RainWings from being snoozy sleep heads for the rest of eternity. Was Kinkajou somehow a part of that? 
“Oops,” Papaya said guiltily, smiling nervously at her. “Uh, so maybe, um, I wasn’t supposed to tell you that? But you’re my best friend, so it’s okay. My mom totally saved the world from Darkstalker awhile back. She did some awesome magic stuff!!” She beamed at Moonwalker. 
“Oh nice! Great let's go fruit picking!” Moonwalker abruptly wheeled around and shot off to the far side of the rainforest where the best fruits could be found.  
“Wait up!” Papaya called, and a moment later she was flying right behind Moonwalker. Since it was midday, clusters of RainWings were laying peacefully on branches or hammocks hung from branches. Calm colors swirled around on their scales, creating a wonderful and majestic scene. Hundreds of RainWings just sleeping on the branches. Should she tell Queen Glory that if anyone ever wanted to attack, it would be the easiest thing ever? Or could they at least camouflage? Her two tribes would be in constant danger if the RainWings kept sleeping out there like that.
Moonwalker dove down into a particular familiar spot of trees and landed on the muddy ground. It was a large clearing, with a clear blue pond in the middle with colorful fish swimming in it. Interesting-looking plants grew along the pond side. Most RainWings didn’t even know about this place. Only the ones who explored far enough to find new things. 
More important, there were many trees - aspens, willows, maples, cedars, and many more - and also fruit trees and bushes. The clearing was overflowing with orange and lemon and cherry trees, and grapes! Papayas were at their claws and mangoes hung above them. Kiwano, durian, passion fruit, cherimoya, salak, and so, so many more unusual fruits were scattered everywhere. And oh, there were some wonderful spots to lay up in the trees eating all this delicious fruit. 
“Ooo! Did you know about this place before? How come you didn’t tell me??” Papaya said excitedly. She traced her talon in the mud to a tangerine tree and ran up to it. 
“Maaayyybbbeeee,” Moonwalker replied mischievously. Papaya swatted her face with her tail and frowned, still giggling. 
“Anyway. Let’s get some FRUIT!” Papaya exclaimed. She took a tangerine from the tree next to her, and then darted around the clearing, picking mangoes and pineapples. 
A loud noise came from one of the trees. Moonwalker gazed up, and found Papaya hanging from one of the lime trees. Moonwalker stumbled over there quickly, mud caked between her talons. 
“Papaya,” she scolded. “Seriously, how did this happen? I’m guessing you were trying to pick a fruit and then you totally died.”
“NO! I went up to get the top fruit, and then got tangled in the branches!” Papaya protested, laughing. 
“Maybe I could help you get out,” Moonwalker offered. It looked like it would be hard. Her wings and legs were all caught up in vines and leaves. 
“Or I could do it,”  a voice said from behind her and Papaya. She spun around, eyes wide. 
There stood Darkstalker, only an inch from the pond. What is it with this guy on arriving at such WEIRD times? His eyebrows were carved into an amused, charming curve. Papaya hissed and thrashed in the tree. Quickly, Moonwalker sliced her claws through all the vines, freeing Papaya. Papaya jumped up, talons in a fighting position, and ran up to Darkstalker. 
“Don’t you DARE harm me or Moonwalker! Go AWAY! DIE!” Papaya screamed at him. She dug her claws into Darkstalkers scales, and tried to shove him into the pond. Gingerly, Darkstalker pried her claws out. “EEEEE!” Papaya shrieked, and sent a jet of venom out of her fangs. It hit the side of Darkstalker’s massive face, where the venom sizzled and smoked, burning through his scales.
“MUST you? Didn’t I mention, like, twice, that I am GOOD? I was only doing GOOD things? Why can’t anybody realize this IMPORTANT thing?” Darkstalker demanded. He glared at Moonwalker and Papaya, Papaya mostly. 
“Wait, but how did you get out of prison?” Papaya asked.
He snorted. “Hah! They think they can imprison me, the one dragon who has been alive for TWO THOUSAND years! I am massive!” He studied his wings and nodded, satisfied. “I mean, I do have a lot of venom scars, thanks to this little dragonet,” he said stiffly, shooting Papaya a hostile snarl. 
“Well, you’re about to get about, hrm, a LOT more!” Papaya said. 
He chuckled, sounding amused. “Oh, pumpkin. You’re harmless,” Darkstalker cooed. 
If RainWings had fire, Papaya would have had smoke pouring out of her snout, engulfing her into smoky air. She would have been on fire, like that one SkyWing who had scales on fire. Peril, was it? Moonwalker had met her once, when she and her mother went to Jade Mountain Academy a month ago to apply for a spot there. She was with Clay, that prophecy dragonet, and had been leaning against him with a dreamy expression. 
Mother, Moonwalker thought. Her chest ached with worry. Where in Pyrrhia was she? It occurred to her she should ask Darkstalker. THREE MOONS, no! That would be so suspicious if he was really the one who hurt her! Argh, NO. 
“But-I-I-they hurt, didn’t they?!” Papaya stammered. She still looked furious, but not paralyzed enough she wouldn’t do anything. Once again, venom sizzled out of her fangs.
“Papaya!” Moonwalker whispered fiercely. She didn’t answer. 
But Darkstalker saw it coming, and ducked out of the way. He lunged towards Papaya and seized her throat. 
“One word,” he hissed to Moonwalker and Papaya, “and both of you are dead.”  
=== Chapter 5 ===
Moonwalker breathed in and out slowly. Would he actually do that? Papaya’s eyes were wide and scared, as if she’d actually come to her senses for once. Darkstalker just looked smug. He had also clamped Papaya’s snout shut so she couldn’t use her venom.
Our only weapon, Moonwalker thought. And it's gone. 
“What’re gonna do about me now? NOTHING!?” Darkstalker barked a sinister laugh. 
Wait, not our only weapon! She thought with a jolt of hope. Darkstalker can’t see the future now, he said so. But I can! Right now, vision! No vision came. NOW! Right now! Argh, vision! Suddenly, a vision flashed through her head, another dreadful headache coming right along with it. It was actually the same vision, but with a few minor tweaks. The only difference was...they were right in front of the rainforest. Just standing there. As soon as it had come, it flashed away again. She opened her eyes and realized she had her wings over her head. She slowly unfurled them, and saw that Darkstalker was peering at her intently. 
“So our tribe has powers again?” he said darkly. Moonwalker nodded, not able to respond. Papaya shook her head vigorously, trying to signal something to her. Moonwalker tilted her head at her questionly. What is she trying to say? “But not me.” Oh, that was it. He doesn’t have his powers anymore. He used to be the powerful one. 
Moonwalker had to say something - she couldn’t leave her friend in danger. “L-let P-papaya go,” she stuttered uncertainty. Darkstalker definitely looked amused now, and he wasn’t even trying to hide it. 
“Hah! No. She’s MINE,” Darkstalker rumbled. Papaya once again tried to signal something. She waved her talons away, like she was shooing Moonwalker away. She did it once more, even stronger. Oh, she figured out. She wants me to go. Moonwalker shot off before Darkstalker could stop her, and flew straight to Queen Glory’s palace. 
But wait. Was that really the place to go? She knew Queen Glory would listen to her, of course, but wasn't she busy? And what could she do about it? So, who else? Someone fierce. 
Firefly! Queen Glory was great, but she had helped her so much that Moonwalker thought she should have a break. Firefly had an energy that never ran out and bounced her up and down all day. She could still go to the palace, but look for Firefly instead. 
“MOOOONNNNNWAAAALLLKKEEEERRR!!!” A high voice shrilled behind her. Well. Looked like Firefly found her before she could find her. A tiny body flung herself onto Moonwalker’s own body. Small claws dug into her stomach. “HELLLLOOOOO!!” 
“Three moons, Firefly,” Moonwalker laughed. 
“Moonwalker! Yay! My mommy says to stay away from you while she’s working with you, so I don’t annoy her,” Firefly frowned and lashed her tail ferociously. “But oh well! She’s not here now!! HaHA!” This was the kind of blazing energy that came from her every single time Moonwalker chatted with her. 
“I need your help,” Moonwalker said solemnly, changing the mood dramatically. “My friend Papaya is in danger by Darkstalker and the whole rest of the tribe!”
“WHAT?” Firefly gasped. “I’ve met Papaya! We need to go save her NOW!” She pressed her eyes closed shut, as if she was calculating how to attack. 
“Uh, we might need help,” Moonwalker mumbled, but Firefly was already bounding into the palace. The one other time when Moonwalker had met Firefly personally, Queen Glory had rushed off to do something and Firefly needed to go with her. Even at a distance, Moonwalker could tell she had vigorous energy radiating off her scales. “Okaaay, into the palace then,” she said, and strided after Firefly.
“Mommy!” Firefly was saying to Queen Glory. “Look who I found!”
“Moonwalker,” Glory said, face asking all that could not be said. There were 10 other dragons in the room, Deathbringer standing loyally at the throne’s side, 2 NightWing guards, and RainWings scattered about doing regular things. “What’s up now? Are you asking if your mother has been found? Sorry, my scouts said they haven’t seen her.”
“Papaya’s in danger,” she blurted. “Darkstalker escaped and has her captive. He’s probably going to come for us next.” Firefly looked hurt, probably since she hadn’t told her. But when could she? Firefly had been ‘all attack’ and ‘all chat about how my mommy keeps me away from others’. 
“What?” Glory roared. Her hidden mask of scales glowed dimly in the fading sunlight, but she was unable to hide the fury in her face. “Nobody - NOBODY takes my subjects captive.”
“Um-right?” Moonwalker squeaked. “So, maybe we should go get her now?” 
“Yeah! I met Papaya once! Let's go save her!” Firefly piped up, charging for the door. 
“Firefly, no. Stay here with Deathbringer,” Glory said sternly, dragging her back to the big black dragon and leaping away herself. 
“NOOOOOO!” Firefly shrieked after them. Glory shook her head back at her.
“Tell me, where is she?” Glory asked her. 
“I’ll lead you to her, Your Majesty,” she replied, and took the same route to get there as last time. She found the giant banyan tree and knew her way from there. Turn right? She asked herself. Left.
What would have happened if she hadn’t got caught in this mess? Would Papaya be safe? Her mother, too? Could she just be at home now, with her mother making jam? And not have to speak with the queen every few seconds? She wished she would just have a normal NightWing’s life, spending time with her mother. She wished nothing had happened. 
She saw the mark she needed and dropped down slowly. There was the scarlet lily, and the magenta orchid. And, oh, there is the lavender heliconia and that golden bromeliad. She landed in the clearing with Glory on her tail. The clear pool looked majestic with all its colorful fish swirling around. Dark and light brown sloths dangled over everything, sleeping peacefully and snacking on papayas and mangoes. 
Finally, she spotted the looming shape of Papaya and Darkstalker on the far side of the pond. He was poking her with his sharp claws and prodding her to move closer to him with a large stick. Papaya was fighting fiercely against his massive, well, everything, but her efforts were nothing compared to his and she was beginning to look like a wilting flower drooping in his talons. Darkstalker’s head snapped up when heard the talonsteps approaching, acting as if he had not been torturing Queen Glory’s subject just a few seconds earlier. 
“Glory,” he said sweetly. “Papaya and I were just having a nice chat.”
“You’re one of my subjects, too, so treat me like it,” Glory snapped back. She paused, and then continued. “You and I both know you weren’t ‘chatting’. Give her back to me right now and I might seriously consider not giving you another venom scar.” 
“Ah, sorry, Your Majesty,” Darkstalker snarked. “Not like it would do anything to me anyways,” he added. 
“Stop being such a frog face and give me Papaya back,” Glory demanded, not even looking ruffled or offended.
“No,” Darkstalker snarled. “She’s mine.” Moonwalker closed her eyes, hoping she could melt into the background and stay there forever. Suddenly Glory was laughing and Darkstalker howling in pain. Even before she opened her eyes, she knew what had happened: She gave him another venom scar, she thought. 
The scene when she opened her eyes was chaos. Papaya was running around screaming like she was the one who had got attacked. Darkstalker was thrashing around with his claws going to a new spot on his body every few seconds. Glory’s snout was opening and closing rapidly, and black jets of sizzling venom were splashing out onto Darkstalker’s scales. So. She was giving him multiple venom scars, which is what it looked like. Soon Papaya’s mouth was doing the same thing, and more melted spots were appearing on Darkstalker’s scales.
“ARGH! STOP IT! I’LL GIVE YOU PAPAYA, JUST STOP IT!!” Darkstalker screeched, trying to claw at his wounds but failing dramatically. He was only spreading the venom to melt other parts of his scales. 
“No, that's not all. You endangered everybody, Darkstalker. Everybody. Don’t you see how wrong that is?” Glory said between opening her mouth to spit more venom. 
“I WAS ONLY DOING THE RIGHT THING FOR MY TRIBE AND PYRRHIA,” Darkstalker yelled. “DON’T YOU SEE HOW RIGHT THAT IS?”
“Oh yes,” Glory shouted over the pandemonium. “Genocide, taking over the world with no way to stop you, and killing thousands of dragons is SO the right thing!” 
“For the FUTURE of Pyrrhia!” Darkstalker hissed. “It was for EVERYBODY!”
“YEP! You betcha! Taking over the world is definitely for all the tribes,” Glory hissed right back. 
Papaya was sitting on the end of his tail, slowly covering it in black goop. His tail was shortening since the venom was melting it, but he didn’t seem to notice it - he was too concentrated on shouting at Glory. Her opening mouth and Darkstalkers many injuries reminded Moonwalker of many dragons, like an army.
Suddenly Moonwalker had an idea, hitting her like lightning. 
Couldn’t she just go get the RainWing army? 
=== Chapter 6 ===
Yes! She could! The best of ideas. The very best. All she had to do is go back to the village, gather the army and come back to kill Darkstalker. Easy. Right?
No. It turned out that the rainforest did not like this idea. As soon as she left, a heavy rain fell, pelting her in the face. It soaked her wings so much she couldn’t even fly. So, she compromised and dropped to the ground - the muddy, muddy ground. 
But then, the mud was so thick she could barely move, and when she could, she was about as fast as a turtle. But she trudged on, knowing the dangers of Darkstalker. Finally, she found the RainWing village. Dragons of all colors were milling around the market, fascinated by the variety of items sold in the different tents. Moonwalker flew up to an enormous rock towering above everything. 
“LISTEN!” Moonwalker bellowed to everybody. Slowly, every dragon was staring at her. 
“Your queen is in danger, and so are you. Remember Darkstalker?” She hollered. “He is evil and he will kill your queen and maybe yourself if you don’t move! So, follow me and let's go fight!” Worried looks were drifting around the crowd. Many of them were nodding, and some looked very angry, like they were thinking: How dare he try to kill my queen! Moonwalker felt the same way. 
“Let’s go, right now, before anything else can happen!” one shouted to the others. 
“Yeah! We can defeat him! With VENOM!” another yelled. 
Soon everybody was bustling around to get ready for the battle to come. 
“WAIT! Come here as soon as you can and then follow me!” She tried to screech to the remaining dragons. 
Will this work? Moonwalker fretted. The dragons below her looked ready to fight for their queen, and nothing was wrong, but would Queen Glory even want them there? Too bad. They were coming to save her anyway. 
“LET’S GO NOW!” Moonwalker yelled to them, and took off to the clear pool. She could hear the fighting dragons not too far away from the fruit clearing. 
“You will pay for this,” Darkstalker hissed to Glory weakly. “I will make you pay, no matter what.” 
“QUEEN GLORY!” many of the RainWings shrieked at once. They all descended to the ground and pounced on Darkstalker, freeing Glory and shooting venom at him all at the same time.
“Moonwalker,” Glory said as she landed by her. “Did you organize this?”
“Yes,” Moonwalker admitted sheepishly. “I thought you were in danger.” 
“And I was,” Glory said. “Thank you.” She ducked her head in a half bow, then turned to watch what was happening between Darkstalker and the RainWing army. The RainWings were slashing their claws against Darkstalkers’ throat, shooting venom on his unharmed scales, and some of them were even kicking at his underbelly. 
To her surprise, Glory laughed. “You should have seen the RainWings before I was queen,” she remarked. “They were snoozy heads who didn’t know anything about their missing RainWings, the SandWing War, or just ANYTHING. They were so naive.” Moonwalker had heard rumors, but she never thought they were true. 
“Tell me about it. RainWings are so fierce now,” Moonwalker said, tilting her snout. It looked as if Glory couldn’t tell if she was kidding that RainWings were fierce. 
Again, Glory laughed. “Of course. Did I mention I was a Dragonet of Destiny?” she smiled when Moonwalker gasped dramatically. Of course she knew. Everybody knew. Queen Glory then explained the whole story of her life, from under the mountain, to being Queen Scarlet’s art, learning about her venom, being imprisoned in the Kingdom of the Sea, to going to the rainforest and all the secrets involved. Everything single thing about her life, during the battle, she told Moonwalker. By the end, Moonwalker was utterly fascinated. 
“All of this happened to YOU?!” She cried, appalled. 
“Of course,” she replied. Glory glanced at the battle and grinned at Moonwalker. “Obviously, they’re better now, thanks to me.” Darkstalker’s body was now coated thickly in venom and blood, and he was yelling and screaming awfully. It was very hard to listen too. 
Is this the end? Suddenly, with a sickening stomach lurch, Moonwalker remembered her vision. 
Glory recognized her face. “Everything okay?” She asked. 
“The vision,” Moonwalker whispered. Glory’s eyes widened.
“You’re right,” said Glory, trying hard not to look frightened. “But if we kill him now then it won’t happen, correct?” 
Moonwalker nodded. “I guess so.” It was very true that she’d had the dream of it happening, but that was yesterday. She hadn’t had it at all today, so that was a good sign. 
“I’m going to go fight,” Glory said. “If you don’t mi-,” 
“Of  course, I am going to fight too,”  Moonwalker interjected. Glory nodded and they both ran into the fight. 
Darkstalker was gasping for air, as the venom was eating him up. RainWings were stabbing him and doing everything they could to keep him away. Queen Glory advanced on them and raised her forearms. Some of the RainWings looked disappointed, but they backed off and stopped fighting. 
“I will figure out a way to come back,” Darkstalker whispered weakly to Queen Glory. “I will come back...and kill you.” 
“Oh, no, you won’t,” Queen Glory said reagally. “You are dead. Goodbye, Darkstalker. This is the end of your two thousand years.” He whimpered one last time and Glory stabbed him with a large thorn one of the RainWings produced from somewhere. 
His chest stopped rising. 
He was dead.
“This is a nice fruit clearing. Everybody, have some fruit and if you have wounds, jump into the pond to clear them off. We can’t have suntime though, sorry,” Glory announced. All of the RainWings bowed, then staggered off to find mangoes, pineapples and papayas. “And thank you.”
Papaya ran up to Moonwalker, beaming, with a thrilling energy like Firefly’s. “Moonwalker! What a great idea! WOW! This is AWESOME! WOW! Let’s do this EVERY DAY,” she trilled, but could barely be heard over the chattering of every other dragon. “Now can we go fruit picking?” Moonwalker laughed, and joined her to go pick fruit. 
They clambered joyfully over to a tree with lots of tangled vines (the one Papaya got trapped in), tore off the strong ones, then got strands of long and tough grass and weaved them together to make two baskets. Moonwalker spotted a patch of grass that wasn’t mud and they gathered all fruit that hadn’t been claimed by other hungry RainWings and then lay down, letting the rain drench them. The fruit was way better than the fruit on the other side of the rainforest, just as Kinkajou had said the day before. 
Moonwalker thought of how fun this was and how Darkstalker was gone now, forever. Never ever coming back. 
And then, she remembered her mom. 
“Papaya! Where in the three moons is my mother?” Moonwalker said, panicking. Papaya scrunched up her snout.
“Silly, she’s right there. Did you not see? She’s been here since you brought the army with you to save me and Queen Glory,” Papaya said. 
“Thank you thank you bye!” Moonwalker said happily, sprinting into her mother’s arms, spread wide for her to jump in. “I thought you had died!” she sobbed.
“Moonwalker! Thank goodness you’re safe. Darkstalker came to our house while I was making jam. I spilled some of it, I was so scared. I bet you thought that was blood. He just popped me into a cave, tying me with some vines. When he left me, I chewed on them and freed myself and came here. I don’t even know what is going on,” she said. 
“Oh, mother, you don’t even know,” Moonwalker laughed, and launched into the story. 
=== Epilogue ===
Firefly sniffed the air. Was that smoke? Hrm. Her mommy always told her to stay in the palace, stay away from danger, blah blah blah. But what if this was dangerous and she needed to warn everyone? Ooo, I know who will listen to me! DADDY! This was her approach to most things. Deathbringer always listened to her, and let her do cool things. 
She zoomed into the throne room, where Deathbringer usually was, earning the attention of all the dragons in the room. Her mother, Queen Glory, was off somewhere negotiating with Queen Snowfall on all those darn dragons she got in her territory from where was it? Didn’t matter. 
Also, that was a few days ago. She might be back now.  
“DADDY!” Firefly shrieked, leaping onto his back. “I smell SMOKE. You need to DO something about it.” 
“Firefly,” he warned, but let down his guard. I mean, she was his dragonet. “Fine. Let’s go together.”
“Count me in,” a voice said behind them. Dang it! Mommy alwaysss finds out. “You’re not going without me.” she shot an amused glance at Deathbringer, who had a guilty look on his face. 
A big, brown dragon stepped into the room. Glory’s whole face lit up, as if candles were right under her snout. 
“Clay!” Glory exclaimed. “What're you doing here?” 
“Peril and I came to say hello, and Smoke came along too,” Clay said. “Peril and Smoke are on the big rock by the old tunnels.” He smiled, and so did Glory. They both looked lost in memories. 
“Well, let’s go! Come on, Deathbringer!” Glory leaped off the balcony into the air, and several of her guards followed. They wound through unknown parts of the rainforest, parts that Firefly didn’t know. 
Soon, they found themselves at a huge rock, followed by an eerie feeling. Something wasn't right. Firefly shivered. 
Two dragons were sitting on a massive rock, one copper gold with smoke rising from her scales and one an amber orange-brown. 
The first one had odd creepy ice-blue eyes, and the second one had kind brown eyes. Clay walked up to them and hugged the one with creepy eyes, then hugged the one with brown eyes. The look on his face suggested he loved them so, so much. 
“Hello, Peril and Smoke,” Glory said, nodding her head politely. “Any business? Or are we just here to say hello?”
“Your Majesty!” Smoke cried, then bowed. She looked awed, like this was the most important day of her life, meeting the RainWing and NightWing queen. 
“Just here to say hello,” Peril answered. “But Clay told me about the tunnels, so I wanted to check them out.”
“They are super creepy,” Deathbringer said instead of Glory. “I never want to ever go back in th-,” he started, glancing nervously at it and scooting closer to Glory. 
“Well, too bad,” Glory interrupted. She charged into the tunnel with everybody on her tail. WEIRD, Firefly thought. The tunnel was SO hot, and it was SO dark. The rock was all chipped and rough, as if dragons traveled through here everyday. It smelled like death. Soon, a bright, flashing light came from above. 
When they stepped out, a huge mountain stood in front of them. The sky was clear, and wisps of white clouds hung daintily in the air. The sun blazed happliy and shared its cheerful song, shining a bright light on all of the dragons below. Hundreds of pink, purple, and green dragons milled around. Some were to-the-bone-skinny, and some were plump, making it hard to believe they could fly. 
They looked like nothing anybody had ever seen before. 
THE END!
Category:Fanfictions