Moth Lake

== Introduction: ==
I present to you, Moth Lake!
The story takes place 1 year after arc 3, and follows the perspective of Codling, a SilkWing who still isn’t sure about trusting the HiveWings, and HiveWings don’t trust her. 
She decides to go to Moth Lake, which was formed after a horrific flood. However, at this lake, Codling doesn’t realize that the still waters will change her life forever.
== Info: ==
The Page is owned by TheIceWingPopsicle.
There will be blood, gore and violence. 
Contains spoilers for the entire canon series. 
This page will be left unfinished due to writers block and business. 
Do not edit, vandalize, or delete this page, please! 
Chapters will be left unfinished or unwritten. 
If things like suffocation, death, and corpses bother you, please click off. 
== 1 ==
Codling’s family had always been a little strange.
The evidence? 
1: Cinnamon, her mother. Cinnamon spoke the old language of Pantala. She also gave them blessings from “Clearsight” every single day after school. 
2: her older sibling Kaleidoscope. Their name was weird enough, which is why their nickname was Kai, but the thing about them was that they loved hunting for fish. SilkWings didn’t hunt, but Kai said that they could do whatever they wanted.
3: Codling. She felt unsafe, unsure, she was a nervous wreck. She wasn’t sure how she categorized as a SilkWing, since she’d rather lay low and not talk at all.
So yeah, strange family, strange life. Codling was forced to hide that at school. She hoped one day that would change.
***
”I’m home—“ Codling barely finished opening the door when a newspaper was shoved in her face. 
“Read this,” Kai said forcefully. “It’s important.”
Codling sighed. “Homework is also important,” she pointed out, twitching her tail in annoyance. 
Kai laughed and took the newspaper away from Codling, squeezing it between their talons, a crazy glint in their eye. “Have you looked at my grades? It’s all FS. Who cares about homework, just READ IT.”
Codling reluctantly snatched the newspaper and read it.
“HiveWing rebels attack SilkWings?” Codling read. “This is—“
”CRAZY, huh, Cod?” Kaleidoscope guessed. 
“Please don’t call me Cod,” Codling whispered nervously. “Anyway, This isn’t surprising. I find it quite amusing that I was still right about HiveWings.”
Codling pushed past Kai and walked into the kitchen. She grabbed herself a mango and began to walk away.
”I made tea!”
”AAAH, three MOONS, MOTHER.” Codling yelled. 
Cinnamon tilted her head and her antenna drooped. “That’s not hello. Not even in the old language,” She said. 
Codling took the tea she was holding for her. It was saffron, for sure. She could tell by the little red squiggles floating around, which were part of the saffron plant. “‘I made tea’ isn’t a hello either,” she gently pointed out, taking a sip of the tea. 
“Fair enough,” Cinnamon said. “Anyway, Kai didn’t tell you why the newspaper is so interesting, did they?” She sat down on some pillows along with Codling and Kai, handing out tea to Kai and drinking some of her own. 
Codling shrugged and gave Kai a glance. What’s important about those little MaggotWings? she thought. 
Cinnamon looked at Kai, her antennas furling backwards in annoyance. The whole family knew that Kai wasn’t the sharpest claw on the dragon. They ALWAYS forgot everything. If you put information in their head, two seconds later, it would dissolve into steam of stupidity. So of course they wouldn’t fill codling in on the interesting info. 
”We’ll,” Cinnamon began. She took a deep breath, then began to speak slightly quickly. “I saw the HiveWings fighting the SilkWing. I managed to drag the HiveWing off with the help of a few other dragons, but we then saw that both HiveWings had a pouch. I peeked in, and saw the breath of evil inside. We thought it had died, but I soon realized that it may not have been ALL gone. I picked it up and told security. We’ll be going to the SilkWing council to discuss this problem tomorrow.” 
Codling took another sip of her tea. “Alright—“ 
”BUT THATS NOT ALL!” Cinnamon interrupted, spilling some tea on the floor. “I brought something. I know I shouldn’t have, but this is important.” 
Their mother dug into her pouch, and pulled out a vine that looked and even felt dangerous. 
”The breath of evil,” Codling whispered. 
== 2 ==
“Why did you bring that here?” Kai said, a growl rising in their throat. 
”Because if it’s still out there, you need to know what it looks like.” Cinnamon explained. “It’s obviously less powerful without Cottonface and Freedom, but if you hold it it sends this vibration up your scales, like spiders.” 
Codling gently touched it, and felt a shiver go up her spine. Well, shiver was an understatement—in truth she couldn’t describe how awful it felt. 
“I’m also taking it to the council,” Cinnamon added. 
“Mother,” Codling whispered. She could barely speak. “Put it somewhere else—it’s somehow triggering,” She said. 
Their mother shrugged and put it away. But Codling couldn’t stop shaking. That plant—no, that thing, was what had ruined everything for her. 
When Codling was 5 years old, Queen Wasp had been spraying the breath of evil smoke everywhere, infecting SilkWings. Cinnamon and Kaleidoscope had managed to escape, Codling couldn’t. She inhaled to much smoke. Then she felt something poisonous grow inside her, something evil that weighed her down and made her feel like a bees nest had fallen in her chest and all the bees were angry and stinging her. Before she knew it, she was on the battlefield. She was hunting everyone. She was dangerous. And then she killed an innocent… 
”Want to head to the market place?” Kai asked, startling her out of her thoughts. “You look like you need some fresh air.” 
Codling smiled and nodded. 
”We’ll just be headed to the marketplace, Mom!” Kai called. 
There was a silence, and then Cinnamon called back, “Didn’t Cod just get back from the—“ 
They shut the door and left the house before their mother could say anything. Codling and Kai walked along the trees, heading to SilkWing Central. 
SilkWing Central was like a house without walls and a silk roof. Birch trees connected the silk together. Underneath, there were market stands and SilkWings running all about the area. 
As Codling walked in, she immediately felt at ease. Seeing so many dragons always calmed her down. Mostly because nobody would notice her when there were about a hundred other SilkWings that were actually interesting. 
“So what do you want to get?” Kai asked, bringing Codling out of her thoughts. 
“I didn’t really think about that…maybe just a pastry please.” Codling suggested. 
Kai shrugged and went over to someone running a pastry stand. “Two mini blackberry pies, please,” They asked the owner. The owner of the stand gave Kai what they asked for. Then Kai offered the pie to Codling. “Should we head over to a bench to eat?” They suggested. Codling nodded. 
They both sat on the bench, watching the SilkWings pass by. Codling even noticed some LeafWing’s and HiveWings passing through. “It’s nice to see everyone free,” Codling said thoughtfully. “Everyone was being held down by wasp. The LeafWings went into hiding, the SilkWings had no choice over what they did with their lives, and even the HiveWings couldn’t control what they did.” 
Kai nodded. There was a silence between the siblings, and then Kai said, “I’m sorry you were infected.” 
Codling smiled at them, trying to figure out what she should say next, when something caught her eye. It was a black storm, hurdling toward them. But on further inspection, it was something else entirely. 
It was a could of bats. 
Thousands and thousands of bats, flying past them, shrill screeches filling up the sky. And as the mammals flew by, water flooded the earth, washing over the ground and splashing onto flamesilk lanterns. 
And then a dark black dragon with white spots that glowed ran past them, screaming, “RUN!” 
== 3 ==
Codling felt Kai weave silk around her and pull her up into the sky, watching as the flood overtook half of the area. “Wait, what about mom!? She lives nearby, the flood could kill her!” Codling cried.
“We can’t go back for her,” Kai said. “We need to get to high ground, I can’t hold you forever!”
”BUT MOTHER!” Codling exclaimed. She tried to wiggle out of Kai’s grasp, tears in her eyes, but they held on tight to her. The flood started to uproot trees and pull dragons under, and the rest of the survivors were flying up to the sky, holding their dragonets or SilkWings who hadn’t grown wings yet. “LET ME GO!” Codling yelled. 
“But you’ll fall!” Kaleidoscope said. “You haven’t grown wings yet, IDIOT!”
Codling scratched Kai on the snout. She suddenly felt half the dragons eyes on her and her sibling. Kai’s nose was bleeding, and they looked like they wanted to set everything on fire.
The dragons started to fly away from the flood, towards the mountains. Kaleidoscope started to follow them, bringing Codling along. “I’m so sorry…I can’t believe that…” Codling could barely speak. She looked up and saw tears welling up in Kai’s eyes. 
“I get it,” they said. “I want to do something. But I need to keep you safe.”
All the dragons perched on the edge of a cliff. Everything was being flooded, including Codling’s house.
The flood was destroying Pantala.
Codling put her head in her talons and started to sob. Thoughts clouded her head, causing all sorts of emotions to flood out. My whole home is destroyed. The trees are being uprooted. Dragons are being swept away.
I sort of wish that was me.
———
Codling must have cried herself to sleep, because she found herself waking up on the cliff, and it was sunrise. 
She looked around. Some other SilkWings, HiveWings, and LeafWings had woken up. Some were still asleep. Codling felt like the flood had washed her away. “This is just a bad dream,” she said to herself. “Floods don’t just destroy, well, everything, right?” 
There was no response. She hadn’t expected there to be one, but then she realized that Kai wasn’t saying anything to make her feel crazy. So Kai wasn’t there.
”KAI?” She yelled, whipping around to scan the crowd of SilkWings. She couldn’t see them at all. 
Codling felt something clog her throat, and she felt like her head was being stabbed over and over. “Where are they?” She said to herself as her heart started beating. Everything began to spin. She collapsed on the ground and felt tears form in her eyes. Everything was unstable. She was falling through the floor. The sky was somehow caving in on her. Everyone was dying. She was dying. And—
“Codling! Codling, it’s okay, I’m here.” 
Someone shook her on the shoulder, and their voice sounded so familiar. She opened her eyes and saw Kai. Everything was normal again. The cliff wasn’t breaking apart, and she was still breathing, along with everyone else. 
“Where did you go?” Codling asked, sitting up. 
Kai sucked in their cheeks. They didn’t say anything. It took them awhile to find the words, and all they said was, “look over the cliff.” 
Codling couldn’t believe what she was hearing. She took wobbly steps over to the edge of the cliff and rooted her claws in the dirt. As a SilkWing without wings, falling was dangerous.
What Codling saw made her speechless everything was destroyed. Trees were uprooted, buildings were destroyed, silk was scattered all over the ground. Codling wanted to fall asleep again, because maybe she would wake up and it all would have been a dream, but she couldn’t. She stared, terrified at the destroyed continent.
At that moment, Codling heard beating wings. She looked up and saw five LeafWings—probably messengers—heading towards them. They landed in the middle of the crowd. Codling pushed through the crowd. 
The crowd started asking the LeafWings all sorts of questions. “Please settle down,” said a light green one quietly. “Please—“
”BE QUIET, WORMS!” Said a darker green one, hissing. Sprigs of weeds shot up at her feet. That looks like Sundew, Codling thought. She sat down with Kai next to her. 
The lighter LeafWing looked at Sundew gratefully and began to speak urgently. “SilkWings flew to the Forest of Wings, which if you are unfamiliar, is the place most LeafWings reside in.” 
I remember it, Codling realized. That was where Queen Sequoia lived. The LeafWings had planted it. Mother took me an Kai there… the thought of her mother made her shiver. She didn’t know if she was alive or not.
The light colored LeafWing continued. “They came for shelter with us, informing us about the flood. Queen Sequoia sent us to help replant the trees. With the help of Sundew, we will restore any damaged plants. However, we were also informed that…that…” she seemed to cut herself off, and a look of sadness crossed her face. 
A bright green LeafWing with autumn colors along his spine looked at the light LeafWing. “I can continue, Willow.” He offered. Willow nodded.
”We also heard that some dragons died in the flood, and many saw dark colored dragon with glowing spots. Some of us investigated the books from the HiveWings and prophecies from Clearsight. Some NightWings, specifically Moon, had come through the dreamvisitor and told us a prophecy about water and a dragon with control over any water within this continent. We think that, since it’s scales match up with the one from the legend, it is a spirit of water known as Control. Because of this, all dragons are being moved to higher ground.”
“What about replanting?” A dragon said from the crowd. 
Sundew suddenly spoke up. “We can’t do that. Not yet. Not when there could be another flood.” 
I guess that makes sense, Codling thought. 
“So all the dragons will live of this cliff until the waves start calming down. Even from here you can see that the lakes are more ferocious.” Willow said. “We’re going to head back to the forest to collect our things. We’ll back back though. Goodbye, and good luck.”
There was a silence. “We need to head back to our house.” Kai said. “We need to see if mom survived.”
”Okay,” Codling said, shaking. 
right now, she was feeling like a useless caterpillar. She wondered what they’d see. As Kai took off, holding Codling, she closed her eyes. But all she saw was waves of the flood, sticking to her memory, trying to drown her.
But she couldn’t open her eyes. She was afraid of what she might see.
== 4 ==
Codling felt Kai’s feet land on the earth. She forced herself to open her eyes and looked at her house.
Or what was left of it. 
Codling took in a deep breath and tried to compose herself. She took shaky, wobbly steps towards the house. Crossing over lots of rubble, she breathed out slowly. All she really needed to get was her Venus fly-trap plant which she was taking care of. Maybe more…but her brain was so disoriented that she couldn’t remember anything else. 
Kai followed her, looking around. They didn’t have to get anything. Wait, did they? Just focus on yourself for now, Cod, she told herself. Three moons, I used the nickname I hate on myself. 
Codling searched her room. Most of her homework was soggy. Her grades would definitely go down if she couldn’t turn anything in. Luckily, she had some homework scrawled in on a wooden slab of bark. Maybe if I just think about what I need to do…if I worry about something other than, well, everything else, my brain will go back to normal. 
Of course this was wishful thinking. How could she think of anything positive if it wasn’t just a fantasy? Her brain started digging up the most of her hopeful thoughts in attempts to distract herself.
As she grabbed her Venus fly-trap, she heard a short but bloodcurdling scream that edged from shock into grief. Codling turned and saw Kai, staring at something on the floor.
Something with peach colored and white scales. 
Codling began to walk over, staring down at the ground as she went. Little did she know, this was a mistake. She began staring straight down at the corpse of her mothers body.
”Mother,” Codling whispered. It looked like she tried escaping the flood through a window, but drowned before she could. This was the most unpleasant thing she’d seen all day. 
You knew this was a possibility, she thought. You knew nobody could survive that. Even you. 
Codling began to sob as she locked her eyes onto her mother. The tears covered her vision, making everything blurry as the world started to spin. I feel like I died in the waters too. I feel like I’m dying right now, In fact.
Suddenly, everything went black.
———
All she could hear was the constant water.
The waves crashing back and forth, and yet, she couldn’t see anything. It was all just dark and blank, except for the constant splashing. The waves drowned out every noise, and Codling felt herself drifting away from her body. She wasn’t sure how, but her soul was floating in the air, above it all, hovering just above her existence. 
A faint glow of white appeared, surrounding her. Flooding her gaze. And suddenly, she plummeted back into her body.
Codling opened her eyes, not able to comprehend what just happened to her. It was some sort of out-of-body-experience, this she was sure, but the last time she felt connected to herself was earlier in the day. When she was with Kai, staring at her mother’s body.
She had felt light headed and dizzy, and then she saw nothing. Codling must have passed out, and Kai probably carried her back up to the cliff with all the other dragons.
I guess I was asleep for awhile, she realized when she the sun setting. She sat up and looked around. She was back on the cliff with the other SilkWings, and Everyone else was asleep, including Kai, who was asleep behind her. She started to lean towards them, ready to fall asleep again.
”Behind you.”
Codling whipped around at the voice, wanting to shriek, but she felt her voice get caught in her throat. What she saw was somehow terrifying.
It was a dragon, covered in white spots that glowed, with light blue eyes that were glowing as well. It had no pupils, but most strangely, no wings. 
“You,” Codling hissed. “You told everyone to run.” 
“So you can hear me,” the dragon said without moving its mouth. It’s voice echoed in Codling’s head. 
Codling couldn’t say anything. She felt like her throat was being tied into a knot. She felt her brain shutting down. She searched for her voice, and said, “who are you?”
The dragon, laughing, flicked its tail as clouds began to rumble and pour rain down on the cliffs. 
“I’m Control. And I’m here because of you.”
== 5 ==
Codling stared at Control for a moment. “No you’re not,” she said, digging her claws into the ground. 
“Classic denial—of course I am.” Control said. “You know I am. And maybe it’s because of that emptiness you feel, this newfound anxiety you’ve never experienced before, but you fear me for unknown reasons.”
Codlings mouth opened and closed, trying to figure out how the mythical-spirit-thing was reading her mind, or more accurately, her emotions. “Why did you come for me?” she asked. “Why not a LeafWing, or a HiveWing, or literally any dragon better than me?” 
“I came to talk,” Control answered. “Also, you have very low self esteem.” 
“Okay well…I don’t want to talk. Go away.” Codling turned away from the spirit.
”Tell me what you need, and I can give it to you.” Control whispered. Codling’s ears pricked up. She turned and stared solemnly into Control’s eerie glowing eyes. “What did you just say?” Codling asked nervously.
Control stretched and its eyes suddenly changed to yellow. “What do you need?” 
Codling thought for a moment, and then slowly said, “I need…I need guidance. I need a way to keep both me and Kai safe. I need my mother back.”
She heard a laugh coming from control. “Too easy. I believe I can help with that. But you’ll need to trust me.”
”why should I trust you?” Codling asked hesitantly. “Who—What—Even are you?”
Control stared at Codling with no expression. “How about this,” it said. “I explain myself, my history, and I’ll give you five years to decide to trust me or not.” 
“Five years?” Codling asked. “Shouldn’t it be five days—four days?”
”I am not impatient.” The spirit answered. “When you live forever, five years is not a long time. But if you want it to be five days, then okay.” 
Codling took a deep breath. “Fine.” She said reluctantly. “Tell me.”
Control suddenly turned all white, glowing brightly. Codling looked away, but the light still blinded her. Suddenly, she was underneath dark black water, and she could only see glowing teal bubbles. She suddenly heard Control’s voice, as faint images were painted in her mind.
”Many thousands of millions of years ago, spirits tasked with balancing the elements of Pantala were called upon. There were Six of them—Life, Death, Growth. Disaster, Secrets, and me, Control. We were all made to be used as guidance for dragons. But one could only think about growing. So, growth created the poison jungle, extending its powers above ours. 
“I tried to tell the others. I tried to tell them that Growth was going to tangle the roots of what we were made to do. But they didn’t believe me! So I watched Growth’s power grow, and grow, and grow, until we would all eventually die to it. The other spirits hid themselve’s, merely existing as thin air, but still spreading. Still living on. And yet…I did not join them. 
“So, with the last of my power I summoned the water, and split open a ravine full of water, an underground well. I shoved Growth into it, closed the ravine, and waited underneath the water with Growth, waiting for it to drown. Eventually, after 8,000 years, it did. And yet I could still sense a presence of constant growing above me. So for years, I focused on bursting open the ravine, for the next thousands of millions years. And when I did…the flood came. The flood that killed your mother.”
Suddenly everything went black, for just a few moments. Then Codling opened her eyes. Tears began to fall off her cheeks. “So. You did this.”
”I’m afraid so,” Control sighed, though it’s face remained the same. “Now, do you trust me or not?”
Codling thought for a moment, wiping her eyes. She felt like the world was spinning. She didn’t trust this thing. Not yet. “I still need to know,” she said. “How will I get what your promising?”
There was another silence. And then the spirit said something that Codling couldn’t process; “You’ll have to be possessed by me.”
== 6 ==
Codling stumbled back, shifting around uncomfortably. Her heart began to beat faster and faster. “No,” she managed to say, closing her eyes, “give me time. I—I don’t know how I feel about this.”
She opened her eyes, but Control was gone, leaving but a puddle of black water where it had stood.
***
Codling barely slept afterwards, sometimes waking up to the sounds of thunder and big flashes of lightning. She wasn’t sure if another flood was starting, but she could always hear screaming in the thunder and the lightning painted pictures of dead bones and bodies in her mind. Whatever it was, it always ended with codling waking up with a headache and trying to fall asleep again.
when she finally woke up at morning, SilkWings. LeafWings, and HiveWings were all talking and gathering around a cluster of rocks. It mostly contained SilkWings, all talking in a disorganized way. That’s the SilkWing council, she realized. Is kai there?
She felt herself panic for a moment before telling herself to calm down. She had to find kai, and they were probably told to take their mother’s place at the meeting.
Still, why would the council gather right now, at the worst time and place?
Codling stalked over to listen. She slunk next to a light colored rock, which her scales blended in with nicely. From here, she could hear talking. Or more accurately, yelling, arguing, and a lot of noise.
”That thing you keep bringing up is just a story for dragonets!” One of the SilkWings hollered. “Your an idiot!”
”ITS EVIL, OBVIOUSLY… STOP BEING STUPID.” Okay, that was hollering.
There was more arguing, yelling, and other noises, until Codling heard something that made her heart nearly stop; “This thing can possess any animal, but if the animal dies it will die as well. So we just need to lure out a mouse or something to kill it.”
Then there was lots of dragons saying they agreed, that it was a smart plan, and that this dragon who thought of it was a genius.
But, three things. 
One, the council was talking about Control.
Two, Control was dangerous, which means they could kill her if she was possessed. 
And three, she had found Kai, and they were the one who had made the plan to kill Control.
== 7 ==
Codling had stalked back to the sleeping cave and picked up a rock, using it to sketch drawings on the stone walls. Kai flapped over to her. “Hey, you’re up early. Did you uh… hear the council?” They stammered
Codling was pretty sure they were nervous about telling her about Control and how they would kill it. Maybe I should tell the truth, she thought. Maybe I should just tell them that I met with control. But, right now, for no reason, she was upset with them. She was upset with herself, even, and she didn’t want to talk. So she just shook her head no. 
“Oh, okay. It was boring anyway. I almost fell asleep again. Want me to get you some…uh…” Kai stopped talking as Codlings facial expression changed to annoyed and angry and she gripped the rock tighter. 
“If you’re hungry, the LeafWings are growing more fruits. So.. yeah.” Kai fluttered their wings and turned away. “See you later.”
Feeling betrayed and angry, Codling threw the rock at the ground. Kai had lied. Lied to their own sister. A growl rumbled in her throat as she turned towards the outside of the cave, snarling. It looked like the dragons were using broken branches to build huts and stuff. She could even see a bonfire being made. The thought of warmth made codling realize how cold everything had felt recently—the water, the wind rushing past the cliffs, the cave…and suddenly found herself wanting to help the tribes set up the fire.
Codling stepped out of the caves and snapped a branch off a nearby bush, throwing it into the pile of sticks. She saw a HiveWing carrying a large stone and setting it at the edge of the fire, two SilkWings chatting while sitting on a log, one orange and one light blue with legs that looked like they were dipped in paint. She saw a LeafWing growing wildflowers and dragonets running around to play in them. Everyone was acting like the flood didn’t happen.
But codling didn’t lie, unlike Kai. She wasn’t going to pretend everything was okay.
Soon, it will be okay, because I can go to control. And then maybe I can get my mother back. It was an absurd thought—she saw her mother’s own corpse, lying motionless and still, unlike how she was used to seeing her. But she was desperate.
She suddenly heard a conversation happening near her. Turning her focus towards the sound, she realized why it stuck out to her—Kai’s voice was within the conversation. They were talking with a LeafWing, a HiveWing, and a dark black dragon with white spots—those were called NightWings, right? 
“So you lost your mother in the flood?” The HiveWing said to Kai. “And now your younger sister seems upset.” 
Kai nodded. “But I honestly wouldn’t blame—oh, Hi, Codling!” Kai said, nervousness begging to creep into their expression. “I, uh—these are friends from the council.” 
Codling stared for a moment. “You—what?” She asked. Then she just stopped. 
“I wonder what your wings will look like,” said the HiveWing, going over to Codling. “You’re not as colorful as most SilkWings. Not that that’s I bad thing I mean—HiveWings look really boring, so you look better, than my tribe, but all I’m saying is—“
Codling stopped listening to what he was rambling about. Then she sat up, sighed, and walked away, looking for anything else to do. Maybe she could go explore further into the cave where everyone slept.
”Codling,” Kai said, appearing beside her. “Sorry about Aphid. He’s really weird…”
”It’s fine,” Codling said. “I just want to be alone.” And then she started to go into the sleeping cave. 
turns out Kai’s nervous around me now, she thought bitterly. I don’t know what they want from me. I just lost my mother, and I didn’t even get to say goodbye. Maybe they just don’t trust me to know everything. Maybe I’m a burden to them, and these “friends” are just here so that Kai can vent to them about me. After all, the HiveWing did say that I seemed upset—
“UGH!” Codling let out a frustrated growl. She sat down and looked at her talons. “Maybe I’m just stupid,” she hissed. “Maybe Kai and I will drift apart. Maybe that’s what they want for themselves—time away from me.”
She paused for a moment taking a breath.
”I think I’d want that too.”
== 8 ==
Codling was having a nightmare. 
The flood was leaking into the sleeping cave, trying to drown her. Except…this water wasn’t blue. It was black, and glistened. As it surrounded her, she felt herself begin to fall through the floor. 
Tree branches were falling down with her. Dragon flies were attacking her. Wasps were flying about. Everything was flashing between her falling, her mother and Kai’s corpses, and water. She felt herself dissolving, and as she dissolved she fell faster, and as she fell faster she began to cry out for help, and then she was…awake again
Codling heard shouting from the outside of the cave. “Codling! There’s a bonfire! Come get warm!” That sounded like Kai…but they were using the name Codling, not her annoying nickname Cod. They loved to tease her with it. 
So we’re really drifting apart, she thought. “I’m Coming! Just give me some time…”
”That was one wild dream,” said a weird voice behind her.
Codling jumped. It was a dark black dragon with white spots. “I hate you,” she whispered to control. “Also, you can’t just be in here! You could get caught!”
”Im fully aware your sibling wants to kill me,” Control said. 
“Okay, so disappear!” Codling hissed.
”Not until you tell me what you’ve decided.”
”…what?”
Control sighed. “We have much less time then I thought. Much, much less.” It whispered. “I still sense a sort of presence, wanting to grow—but it’s kind of permanently stunted.”
Codling thought about this. “Um…my mother did find the breath of evil being hoarded by HiveWings,” 
“What? She held the breath of evil?” Control burst out. Codling tried to cover its mouth. “Shh,” but when she pulled her talons away, they were shaking, and they were stained black. The black suddenly vanished. 
“You’re the only one that can hear me,” Control said. “But the breath of evil can track anyone who chooses to do it harm… which means any HiveWings who have been exposed to the plant could be looking for you and Kai. You need to be possessed by me,”
Codling thought that Control was being unreasonable, but then she started to think…she was losing everything. And it had promised it could help her.
”One more day,” she said, “and then I’ll make my decision.”
And with that, Control slipped away.
***
The fire lit up the sky, sending sparks into the air. Codling was sitting behind the crowd gathered around it, but close enough to feel the warmth.
She didn’t want to cry, but she wasn’t sure how long she could hold back the tears. Her emotions had been so messed up and confusing lately, that it seemed like they all wanted to flood out of her right now.
Flood, Codling thought. It’s the best way to describe how I fee… but whenever I hear it I just want to fall asleep and never wake up again.
She stretched out her claws, almost as if trying to capture the warmth in her talons. I just want Mom back. I want Kai back. She looked over. Kai was sitting with their “friends.” It wasn’t a stretch to think they were moving on from Codling because they were both too broken to cope. If they had other friends who were completely fine, they wouldn’t feel sad anymore. 
Yeesh, her thoughts didn’t even make sense anymore. Codling looked up at the stars. Or maybe just the dark, dark sky— the stars weren’t showing up because of the fire. Codling felt tears start to appear in the corner of her eyes. She was just… sad. And she hated not knowing how to feel about anything anymore.
Suddenly, Kai started making their way over to her. Their friends didn’t follow. Kai gestured her to come closer to the fire. Codling did. And then she leaned against Kai’s shoulder as she fought back the tears that were trying to come out. 
Neither her or Kai said anything to each other. They both just… breathed. 
I can trust Kai, she thought. They can trust me too. I’ll tell them how I know about Control. I’ll tell them everything. 
She stared into the fire, burning brightly and sending off warmth. The flames danced up at the sky, and sent light all across the crowd.
I’ll figure this out… I have to.
== 9 ==
Codling found herself having another strange dream. This time it wasn’t really a nightmare, though—she was surrounded by glowing white light, radiating off her scales. She also couldn’t feel anything below her—it was as if she was floating. She stared ahead at the white abyss. She then heard echoing in her head. 
“Hello, Codling.”
Codling couldn’t speak back. She found that her mouth wasn’t working. Control? She thought.
There was a silence. “No. It’s your mother. Cinnamon.” 
Codling thrashed around. Where are you?! She thought desperately. Her mother was speaking to her! She was alive! She—wait. This is a dream, I’m talking to myself.
”No, you’re not. Go ask Control. I don’t know why you’d be talking to that weird spirit though, but it can confirm it for you.” Cinnamon whispered. “I’m waiting for you. There’s something you need to see.”
Where can I find you?
The light suddenly began to dim. Everything went darker, and Codling felt like she was about to fall. Oh no—wake up, wake up, WAKE UP!
”Oh shoot—I’ll wake you” Cinnamon said. “And I’m… I’m below the waters of Moth Lake.”
Then Codling woke up. She rose up slowly and tried to think about what happened. It was still nighttime, and the bonfire was almost burnt out. She was still with Kai, and they were staring into the flames.
She shook jumped away from them and shook herself out. Kai glanced at her.
Growling, Codling darted into a mini forest of trees, trying not to trip on any rocks or twigs. “CONTROL, WHERE ARE YOU?” She roared. She didn’t care if anyone heard her. “WHERE. ARE. YOU.”
”Have you made up your mind?” Asked an eerie voice. Control stepped out from a patch of shadows, with its eyes now looking like a multitude of colors, all flashing into black. “About being possessed?”
”First tell me this,” Codling said, hissing at them. “Is my mother waiting for me under Moth Lake? And where is moth lake?”
Control stared at her, its eyes suddenly going all black. “Yes. And Moth Lake was where I trapped Growth.”
Codling was shocked. Cinnamon had managed to connect to her, and that meant she really could find her. “Thanks for the answers.” She managed to say.
Control’s eyes went back to glowing. This time they were white. “Now tell me—have you made up your mind?”
Codling paused for a moment. This was a creepy spirit from a time long past. It could kill her and itself at the same time. Being possessed by it wasn’t safe, and she should just go back to Kai and agree to have it killed. 
But on the other claw…
Codling was so sick of this. She was sick of sleeping in a dreary cave, sick of being stuck on these cliffs, sick of the fear of floods. She was constantly being haunted by nightmares and the thought that her Mother would never see her metamorphosis, never see her fly happily, never experience her own child. She didn’t want to feel like she was walking on eggshells and that she didn’t have control over her emotions. 
She wanted her mother back. She wanted Kai back. She wanted back everything that the flood had stolen from her. And there was only one way to get it.
”I’ll do it.” Codling hissed. “Possess me you—“ 
She heard a twig snap. She saw Kai looking over. They looked shocked, and even terrified. She looked back at Control. But it had disappeared. 
“UGH!” She shouted. She grabbed a pebble and threw it. “I WAS TALKING WITH SOMEONE KAI!”
”With an evil murder spirit?” Kai asked angrily. “Because that’s what it looked like to me.”
Codling slammed her claws in the ground. “It’s not LIKE that!” She growled. “It’s going to help me find mom. We talked about that a couple nights ago.”
Kai’s antennas drooped, and their face curled up. “So, one, MOM IS DEAD. We both saw her body. And two, WHY DIDN’T YOU TELL ME YOU IDIOT?! THAT THING IS DANGEROUS!”
“I KNOW!” Codling yelled. “But YOU lied to me too! I know that you wanted to kill Control! You told everybody about it at the council!” She went right up to Kai and yelled, “WHY WOULD CONTROL LET ITSELF GET POSSESSED IN A CROWD FULL OF DRAGONS, GENUIS? DONT YOU CALL ME AN IDIOT IF YOUR ONLY PLAN IS THAT?”
A short pause. Kai looked like they were trying to find something to say, but Codling hadn’t run out of words yet. 
“And don’t even get me STARTED ON HOW YOU DISTRACT YOURSELF FROM THE FACT THAT WE LOST MOM WITH NEW, STUPID DRAGONS!” She roared. “YOU KNOW WHAT, I THINK YOU’RE JUST IN DENIAL THAT MOM DIED!”
”YOU’RE THE ONE IN DENIAL!” Kai screamed.
The two of them kept arguing and yelling and roaring until Codling felt tears prick her eyes. “I DONT WANT TO LIVE WITHOUT MOM, BUT I’D GLADLY MOVE ON FROM YOU!”
At that moment, a trail of dark black water curled around Codling’s claws. Her eyes went a bright cyan color, and she felt herself filled with pure anger. She was done being the nice little sister. 
She. Was. DONE.
She jumped at Kai, pinned them down, and clawed Kai’s neck.
Kai roared and flipped backwards, knocking Codling away. Codling laughed and hissed before lunging back at Kai and grabbing their antennas and pulling them. She then wrapped her claws around their neck and pressed her talons into their scales. 
“CODLING!” Kai yelled. “THIS ISNT…this isn’t you!”
At that moment, Codling heard the pain in their voice. The sadness, the fear—and she knew that she has gone too far. 
Letting go of Kai, codling darted away into the trees. She felt herself start to cry. I would never hurt Kai, she thought. I would never want to. But something made me…
She looked down at her talons. Black water was curling around them.
I’m an idiot…
There was never any urgency to be possessed by Control. There was never a reason to be possessed. If anything, Control wouldn’t help Codling find her mother. Control wanted, well, control over Codling. And she let that happen. What have I done?
And at that moment, the ground started to shake. Cracks split through the earth. The ground began to shift lower and lower, and Codling realized the cliff was starting to fall away. 
Codling tried to dart away from the falling piece of land, but she smacked into a tree instead. “OW!” She yelled. Codling rooted her claws into the dirt. Wait, her claws. The black water was swirling away from them. Control was leaving her…
The cliff shook and shook, until eventually it fell away from everything else. Everyone else was safe at the bonfire, because that part didn’t fall, but Codling wasn’t. She snarled, and all she could think was—
Control is going to destroy everything.
== 10 ==
“Codling,” 
Codling gasped and looked around. She was surrounded by a bunch of water. There were glowing swirls of light that surrounded her, and up ahead… 
Codling could see her mother. 
Cinnamon turned around. “Hello, there.” She said. 
For a second, Codling couldn’t believe this. It was a dream—It was all a dream. Her mother wasn’t real—she wasn’t here. Codling tried to scratch herself and see if this was real, but she didn’t feel anything. “It’s a dream,” she said. “You don’t exist.” 
Her mother walked over to her. “I’m sorry, Codling.” She said. “Control is evil. You always had control, but it tricked you into thinking you didn’t.” 
Codling stared at her mother. Then she felt tears leaking from her eyes and went closer. Her mother wrapped her wings around her and let her cry. “I w-was so stupid,” Codling whispered, her voice trembling. “I yelled a-at Kai…” 
WIP 
Category:Fanfictions
Category:Fanfictions (Incomplete)
Category:Mature Content
Category:Content (TheIceWingPopsicle)
Category:Genre (Tragedy)
Category:Genre (Adventure)