The Animus Project AU Writing Collection

This page is a collection of writing pieces set in the Animus Project AU, organized by the year the events occur.
This page belongs to SkyDragonAerial, if you are not her or a mod, do not edit this page.
== 4005 AS ==
Calliandra sat quietly, staring at the large painted cavern wall. She had been known before the Scorching. They all had, and now the stories about the necromancers were fading. She'd been a goddess of war, and now she had been forgotten. 
“Oh. I didn’t think anyone else knew about this place.” A voice from behind her surprised Calli, and she had to quickly throw a disguise up. She turned to the other dragon, and lowered the hood of her cloak. He didn’t seem surprised, and was holding a couple scrolls. He looked friendly, and Calli felt like she could relax. He wasn't a threat. 
“Oh, right. I'm Redwood.” He said, shifting his scrolls around to offer Calli his talon. He looked like a hybrid, maybe NightWing and LeafWing. Calli accepted it, briefly shaking his talon. Redwood smiled at her, and put down his scrolls to start going through his pouch.
“Brimstone.” Calli said, using the name she'd given to her LeafWing/SilkWing appearance. “What's all this about?” She asked, curious. Redwood looked up at her, and his face lit up. He pointed to one of the scrolls he'd unrolled on the ground, at a rather inaccurate drawing of Genesis. He held up another one, to show her the similarities between the art on the scroll and on the wall
“See these murals? They're from stories from before the Scorching. I want to learn more, so I've been studying them.” Redwood said excitedly. Calli almost laughed, but she had to stay disguised. He had no idea he was talking to one of those stories, and he probably never would. 
“That's fascinating. What have you found so far?” Calli asked, wanting to see Redwood get excited again. It worked, and he jumped to his feet, pulling her over to one wall. He was talking so fast, and she had trouble keeping up with him. Fortunately, Calli knew most of the stories that had been told about her, so it wasn't difficult to keep asking him questions. 
“Oh, moons.” Redwood said suddenly. “It's almost dark. I should go. Maybe we'll see each other again?” Calli nodded quickly, and he packed up his things and left. She stood there until after the sun went down, trying to figure out why she was feeling this way about some random mortal. It was strange, but she did want to see him again.
== 4040 AS ==
Uranium knew she was going to die. Paradox’s most recent idea was something that Uranium had been trying to steer her away from for years, but it seemed to be what was waiting for them, no matter what she did. Every choice she’d made was to delay that moment, to keep that future as far away as possible. She’d hoped she could stall long enough for something to change. Of course, once Paradox had an idea, talking her out of it was about as effective as talking to a rock and hoping for an answer.
She’d always been on Paradox’s side. Warned her about every threat, pointed out every opportunity she’d almost missed. Uranium knew Paradox wasn’t the type to share her power, but she wasn’t going to let her girlfriend fail. Not yet, at least. She’d known it was going to happen for a while. When Paradox made her final move, it was Uranium who would be left standing in her way. Paradox didn’t like obstacles.
But there was a reason Uranium refused to tell Paradox about their approaching fates. If Paradox learned that Uranium would survive, her own downfall would be prevented. Uranium had to let Paradox’s success get to her. Make her over-confident. If she didn’t, there was a higher chance that Paradox would be more careful. That she would win. Uranium couldn’t let her win. That was why she was the seer, not Paradox. To make sure there was a chance she could still lose.
== 4041 AS ==
Nor watched her daughter playing in the snow, trying desperately to find a positive part of their new situation. The only thing she'd been able to come up with was that at least they were still together, and Calypso hadn’t been taken from her. She was far too young to survive on her own.
“Calypso! It's getting dark. Let's go inside.” Nor said, noticing the sunset. It was pretty, but she didn’t want to keep Calypso up too late. Her dragonet bounced over, and Nor scooped her up. She frowned, getting a good look at the SeaWing glow scales Calypso had on her wings. It clicked quickly, and Nor gasped.
Calypso had inherited her father's royal glow patterns. Which meant Nor’s mother would have seen right through her lie, and knew exactly which SeaWing she'd been meeting secretly. She'd done her best to keep Gigas out of this mess, but that hadn't been good enough. And now he was in danger too.
== 4049 AS ==
“Genesis, please. You’re overreacting.” Calliandra sighed, shaking her head. Genesis hissed in response.
“Then why are Chimera and Pyro missing, Calli? I’m telling you, it has something to do with Paradox.” Genesis insisted, her eyes narrowing. Calli took a careful step back, avoiding the plants that were reacting to Genesis’ outburst.
“Why would she do that?” Calli said. “She has no reason to get rid of any of us. They’re probably just busy somewhere.” Chimera had mentioned an ongoing war, something about the IceWings and NightWings bickering again.
“For eight years?” Genesis said, giving Calli a look. “Don’t be absurd.” Calli had to admit that she was right, and it was odd for either necromancer to be gone for that long. Even though they were immortal, and time didn’t matter to them as much, it was still unlike them.
“They haven’t been replaced yet. So they’re probably still alive.” Calli said, hopeful. It was unlikely, but she wanted it to be true. Paradox wouldn’t hurt any of them, she was just there to help. Take some of the pressure off the others. After all, it made sense to have a fifth. There were ten tribes now, and it was easier to only have to take care of two tribes each.
“Sure.” Genesis snorted. “We’ll see what you think when you’re the next to disappear.” Calli looked at her, confused.
“What does that mean?” Calli asked.
“That you’re too trusting. If either of us go, it’s going to be you.” Genesis snorted, turning and stalking away, leaving Calliandra on her own to think about Genesis’ warning.
== 4050 AS ==
Something felt off to Calypso before she even opened the door. She hesitated for only a second, and then pushed the door open, walking into the small house. The silence was the first thing she noticed. Even though it was just her and her mother, there was always some sound filling the space, usually Nor singing to herself.
“Mom?” Calypso called, her fear increasing. This wasn’t normal. Then she noticed the dark bloodstains on the floor, and her breath caught. She approached the far side of the room warily, but she knew what she would find.
Her mother. Dead. Calypso felt sick, and had to tear her gaze away from Nor’s body. She looked around, trying to figure out what had happened to her. From the blood, Calypso guessed that Nor had tried to fight back against whoever had attacked her. She looked up as she heard talonsteps, her eyes going wide. There was an IceWing she didn’t know in her house.
“Oh, there you are.” The IceWing said. “I was wondering where you’d gone.”
“You killed my mother.” Calypso said, seeing the blood on the other dragon’s claws.
“If she’d cooperated, I wouldn’t have had to. But since she refused to tell me where you were…” They trailed off, shrugging. “She had to die. And now it’s your turn.” Calypso froze. This dragon was here to kill her, not her mother. She could still hear Nor’s voice, though, in the back of her mind, and a chill in her talons.
“No.” Calypso said, feeling strangely powerful. “I won’t die today.” She instinctively flared her wings, and the room started filling with an icy mist. She had no clue what was going on, but she enjoyed the look of fear on the IceWing’s face. The IceWing hesitated for a moment, then turned and ran, leaving Calypso behind with her mother’s body.
“Goodbye, mom.” Calypso whispered, using the snow to clean Nor’s blood off her scales. She’d buried her near the cliff’s edge, but the reality hadn’t quite sunk in yet. Calypso had so many questions that she would never get answers to now, like why an IceWing assassin had been sent to kill her, and why she now had strange abilities.
She couldn’t stay there, though. Her life would be in danger if she didn’t leave, and she had to know if there were other dragons who could help her figure out her new powers.
== 4061 AS ==
Iridescent collapsed as soon they landed, exhausted. The five of them had been flying for hours, and this was the first island they'd found where the Animus Project couldn’t reach them. Crow stumbled as well, but stayed standing. 
“I know we're all tired, but we should set up some kind of defense before we rest.” Crow said. He glanced at the others, who were also in various states of collapse. Nova was leaning against Terra, who had one wing around her sister. Arcane was sprawled on the ground, his wings splayed out on either side. The only one who wasn't giving Crow a death glare for suggesting that was Terra, who hadn't actually had to fly at all. Nova had just summoned her as soon as she landed. 
“I will actually die if I have to do anything in the next hour.” Arcane grumbled, pulling himself to his feet. Iri glanced over at Nova, wondering what her reaction would be. It was weird, knowing one of her friends had the power to control spirits. Crow ignored Arcane, walking over to Iri and hauling her to her feet.
“Are you okay?” Iri whispered to him. She'd seen his expression when he found out Spirit was dead, and she was worried about her brother. He'd planned to bring Spirit with them in their escape, so they could be free together. He looked heartbroken about the whole thing.
“I promised her I'd come back for her, and I was too late. Did she think I lied to her? Did she think I abandoned her?” Crow said. “I feel so guilty.” He stared at the ground, sinking his claws into the sand. Iri didn't respond, she didn't know what to say. 
“But you got us out.” She said, knowing it wasn't enough to comfort him. She was pretty sure nothing would be able to fix his pain now. 
~~
“Nova? Is everything alright?” Terra asked, approaching her sister. Nova was curled up on the ground, her wings wrapped around herself. She didn’t really move until Terra was right beside her, and even then she turned away.
“Nova. Please?” Terra asked, nudging her gently. She wanted to know how to help.
“It hurts.” Nova mumbled, uncurling a little to look up at Terra. “I think it’s getting worse.” She stared up at Terra, holding her arm strangely. Terra knew what she meant. The curse that was supposed to kill her if she ever escaped from the Animus Project. It hadn’t quite worked as they had intended, since Nova was immortal now, but it still hurt Terra to see what was happening to her twin. She hated seeing Nova in pain at all.
When Crow had helped them escape, along with Iridescent and Arcane, Nova had gotten a pretty bad scratch on one arm. It hadn’t healed, even though they’d been on the island for about a month now. Instead, Iri had guessed that the scientists were hoping that an unhealing wound would kill her, or at least slow her down. Terra was worried that it would just spread, leaving Nova to slowly decay while she was still alive. It wasn’t a pleasant image at all.
“I think you’re right.” Terra said, gently pulling back the bandages that covered the wound. Nova winced, pulling her arm back.
“The heat makes it hurt more.” Nova whispered, and Terra felt guilty for hurting her. She had been brought back to protect Nova, not hurt her. She would do anything to keep her twin safe, no matter what. The biggest threats to her safety were the Animus Project, animi in general, and other necromancers, which meant Terra would have to be on guard all the time. But it was worth it, for her sister.
== 4062 AS ==
Arcane was frozen, terrified. His claws dug into the ground, but he wanted to run. To leave this cursed island, even if it meant flying back into the claws of the Animus Project.
"Terra…" Nova sounded just as scared as Arcane felt, staring in shock at her sister, who was standing over Iri's body, the hybrid's blood still on her claws.
"For your safety, Nova. Like you said." Terra growled, not turning around. She had her back to them, her deadly tail barb raised, ready to strike. Arcane hadn't realized just how much stronger she'd become since her death.
"She wasn't a threat, Terra. She was our friend." Nova sounded like she was about to cry, and she stepped towards Terra. Arcane wanted to pull her back, but knew that the young necromancer was the only one who could calm Terra down.
"Nova, don't. She might turn on you." Arcane whispered, but Nova ignored him. He didn't want to watch, but he couldn’t look away. If Terra hurt Nova, it wouldn't be pretty. Like the rest of them, she was cursed, but hers was the worst. Iridescent had been trying to figure out a way to stop Nova's decay, but now she was dead.
"She was using her magic on you." Terra spat, glaring at Nova, fury in her eyes. "I couldn't let that happen." Nova tried to say something, but couldn't. Arcane jumped forwards, getting between the twins. He knew it was a stupid move, but he couldn't let Terra hurt Nova.
"Iri was trying to help her, not hurt her." Arcane said, glaring at Terra. "Don't you get it?" Terra just flared her wings, and Arcane felt the temperature rise. He'd never trusted Terra, but Nova was his friend, and he knew how much she loved her sister. But now, he was pretty sure he'd been right the whole time.
"Nova, your sister is crazy." He hissed to her, hoping Terra couldn't hear him.
It took him a second too long to register Terra's movement, and another second to stumble back, staring at the quickly growing puddle of blood below him. He stared at Terra in shock, collapsing to the ground. He saw Nova jump at Terra, the two dragons fighting, and then nothing. Nothing at all.
== 4065 AS ==
Nova had only been in the SandWing Palace for a few days, and somehow everybody already knew her name. The only dragon she really knew was the one whose room was next to hers. Lady Fox. They were the queen’s cousin, and one of the friendliest dragons Nova had met so far.
“Nova! Good morning!” Fox’s voice broke through Nova’s thoughts, and she turned to see her.
“Lady Fox. Good morning.” Nova nodded to them, and was a bit confused by their reaction when she looked up.
“Do you always do that?” Fox asked, now walking beside Nova.
“Do what?” Nova said, not sure what she was talking about.
“The title thing. Most nobles don't use them for each other, but you do.” Fox said, and Nova blinked. It was just respect, wasn't it? Disrespect got you hurt. That's what the Council had made sure she learned first. Being useful didn't mean she wasn't disposable.
“You said you didn't want to be called princess.” Nova said, but it was a pretty lame excuse. Fox was silent for a few seconds, and Nova was worried she'd made them angry. She didn't want Fox to get mad at her, but she always assumed other dragons were like the Council. It was just part of who she was, now.
~~
Even after years, Nova still thought sunsets were one of the prettiest things she'd ever seen. Fox was next to her, their scales warm against Nova's side. But even spending time with her partner couldn't help Nova forget her stress and panic.
“You’re so tense, Nova.” Fox murmured. “What’s wrong?” Nova sighed. She didn’t know how to explain it, and she didn’t want to scare Fox. She knew she had to tell them at some point, though. Fox had to know that Nova wasn’t normal, that she had escaped from the Animus Project. That Nova was a necromancer.
She just didn’t know if Fox would understand, or if she would break up with her, which was probably the safer option for both of them. Nova didn’t want Fox getting mixed up in her world of ghosts and death, not when they had a safe life here, in the SandWing palace.
“You really have to be careful. There are rumors going around… there’s a few dragons who think you’re plotting something.” Fox said, hugging Nova tightly. “I don’t want something bad to happen to you.” Nova was about to protest that it was impossible for something bad to happen to her, but she couldn’t make herself. She didn’t know why she couldn’t.
~~
“Novaaa. It's getting late. We should head in soon.” Fox said, tucking a wing around Nova and taking one of her talons. She glanced up at Fox, a bit confused. She had been in the middle of something, and Fox knew she liked staying focused. Something felt wrong, but Nova couldn't tell what.
“It's not that late. And you can go back inside whenever you want. You don't need to wait for me.” Nova said, checking the sky. The sun hadn't even set, but Fox looked annoyed. Nova put her brush down, and tried to pull her other talon away from Fox, so she could clean it, but Fox wouldn't let her. The SandWing tugged her closer, pulling Nova into a tight hug.
“You don't need to do that now. It can wait until tomorrow.” Fox said softly, which wasn’t true. If Nova let the paint on the brushes dry, they'd be practically useless. And then Fox started messing with Nova's armband, gently pulling on it. She panicked, and quickly pushed Fox away from her, stumbling backwards.
“Don't touch that!” Nova said, twisting the armband slightly as she pushed it back up her arm. She couldn’t let Fox see. Especially not without an explanation first. Fox huffed, her eyes narrowed. Nova turned away from her, carefully cleaning the paintbrushes and putting everything away.
“Why don't you tell me things, Nova?” Fox asked, her voice sharp. Nova froze, halfway through washing the paint off of her scales.
“What do you mean?” She asked cautiously. She really didn't know what Fox was talking about. Fox was close enough to her that she could feel the heat from her scales, which wasn’t as comforting as it usually was.
“Who are you? You haven't told me anything about where you're from, or who you were before you got here.” Fox said, staring at Nova. She brushed Nova's shoulder gently, her talon hovering near the sigil burned into her scales.
“My pain isn't yours to handle.” Nova said. She didn't like Fox’s tone, it scared her. “Please, let me keep my past to myself. I don't want you to feel like I need help.” She looked up to meet Fox’s eyes, and tried to not flinch. She looked upset. Nova pushed Fox away again, collected her things, and headed back to their room. Fox would come back later. It would be okay.
~~
Fox had assumed that nothing had changed, that Nova had just gone out early, like she usually did. But it had been about an hour, and she was still nowhere to be found, and Fox was getting concerned. This wasn’t like Nova at all.
She paced a little, her barbed tail flicking nervously. Now that they were thinking about Nova so much, Fox started noticing small things that had changed in the room they shared with her. Her desk was empty, instead of the neat organization Nova liked. Her cloak was missing too, even though she almost never wore it. 
It really looked like Nova had left for good, and she wasn't planning on coming back. Fox thought back to how Nova had gently shaken them awake, and whispered goodbye instead of saying she'd be back soon. She really had left. Their eyes fell on a folded paper on Nova's desk. She'd left her a note. 
My dearest Fox, 
I am so sorry I had to leave you like this. I didn’t want to, but I can't bring myself to get you mixed up in my life. This is the best choice for your safety, I promise. 
Please try to forget about me, and I hope you can move on. I can't explain why or how, but I know that we'll meet again one day. I just hope it doesn't happen for a very long time. You deserve a long and happy life. 
My apologies, Nova
~~
“This is her?” Calypso asked, glancing at Paradox. The dragon standing in front of them wasn't at all what she'd expected when Paradox had told her she'd found the third true necromancer.
Paradox looked over the new dragon carefully. “Nova, correct?” She asked, and the SandWing hybrid nodded. She looked like she was about fifteen years old, which was the age Calypso had joined Paradox as well. Apparently that was just how it worked.
“Who are you?” Nova asked, taking a half step backwards. “How do you know my name?” Calypso felt bad for her, but couldn't answer her questions. Only Paradox knew the answers to that.
“We're like you, Nova. We know the pain you've felt, and what happened after. You lost someone, and tried to save them, right?” Paradox asked, and Calypso could tell that Nova was unsettled by how accurate she was being. Paradox was good at that, answering questions that hadn't been asked.
“My sister.” Nova said quietly, pulling her wings in close to her sides. Calypso hadn’t noticed the sigil burned into Nova's shoulder before, but she recognized it now. “Her name was Terra.” Paradox nodded slowly.
“Come with us. We can help you, Nova. You're more powerful than you realize. We're-” Paradox's favorite monolog was cut off when three large SandWings hit the ground, surrounding them. Before she could react, Calypso had been tackled, and her snout bound.
~~
Nova had her wings folded around herself, but that didn't help block out the other two dragons arguing. She could hear them in her mind, and it was terrifying and strange. She'd had no idea what was going on, and now all three of them were locked in the SandWing dungeon. 
Good going, Calypso. Now we're stuck. Nova didn't know who was talking, but she guessed it was the pale NightWing. She seemed to be the older one, and in charge. Nova didn't know what she was in charge of, though. 
You didn't have any better ideas, PARADOX. If the first dragon, the NightWing, was Paradox, that meant the icy blue hybrid was Calypso. The cramped cell turned chilly as the two strange dragons glared at each other in silence. Nova realized she wasn't just imagining the temperature change when she noticed the frost spreading across the walls. Frost that seemed to be originating at Calypso. Nova stared at her, confused, but didn't say anything. She was trying to ignore the argument they were still having inside her head. 
Calypso had ice abilities. Nova stared down at her talons, and focused for a moment, trying to find a strong memory of her sister. They had been right. She really was like them.
~~
Fox made her way slowly down the dark stairs to the cold halls of the dungeon. They didn’t like the darkness, but Nova was down there, and they wanted to make sure she was okay. She hadn’t been there when Nova and the two strangers got dragged back, but she’d heard about it quickly.
“Nova? Where are you?” Fox called, waiting for her eyes to adjust. They couldn't pick out her pale scales from where they were, but hopefully she could hear them.
“Lady Fox!” Fox’s heart skipped a beat, recognizing Nova's voice instantly. She sounded distressed, which they didn't like. Fox hurried through the dark corridor, quickly finding the cell Nova was in. The other two dragons only gave Fox quick glances, and ignored her. Nova, however, pressed herself up to the bars, and Fox took her talons, glad to feel Nova's scales against their own.
“Nova, are you okay?” Fox asked, and she nodded slightly. She looked paler than normal, though, and her soft yellow eyes were almost glowing. This wasn’t normal, and Fox knew it. One of the non-SandWing prisoners, a pale NightWing, shook her head.
“Of course she's not okay. Her powers are now fully awake, and she has nothing to control them with. We need to get her out of here.” The NightWing hissed, giving Fox a sharp glare. “If she loses control, it will be your queen's fault. Do you want an insane necromancer on your talons?” Fox just looked at her, confused.
“Nova doesn't have powers. At all.” They said, not sure what the NightWing was talking about. She just sneered in response, like she thought she knew more about Nova than Fox did.
== 5938 AS ==
Rock had never been able to connect with his little sister, even after being her only family for three years now. Polar had always been an angry dragonet, but now she was worse. Rock knew it was because of their mother, and although he also wished she hadn't left them behind, he thought Polar was overreacting. 
He was pulled out of his thoughts by a knock on the door, talonsteps, and a loud screech that could only have come from his four-year-old sister. Rock peeked out of his room, and stopped dead in his tracks. 
“Mother?” He whispered, stunned. Polar was still holding the door open, her mane fluffed up, pure fury on her face. On the other side of the door stood their mother. The dragon who'd abandoned them after their father died. She looked pretty much exactly how he remembered her, and she was holding a small, dark purple dragonet. 
“Rock. Oh, it's so good to see you again.” Tetra smiled at him, but he couldn’t look at her. Polar stalked away from the door, and Tetra stepped inside, settling her new dragonet on the nearest pile of pillows. Rock just kind of stared at her, confused.
“Why? Why did you come back?” Rock asked, his voice quiet. He'd been three when she left, and he blamed himself for Polar’s anger. He hadn't been old enough to raise his sister on his own, and the dragon who should have been there for them was back, about three years too late.
“Who's that?” Polar spat, glaring down at the dragonet, who had sat up, his little wings spread wide, displaying the star patterns scattered across them. Tetra smiled, looking warmly down at the dragonet.
“That's your brother. Corvus.” She said, scooping Corvus up and hugging him. “His father is a NightWing, but I know he'll fit right in here.” 
== 5947 AS ==
The sun was low in the sky, but the two IceWings traveling alone didn't seem to notice. The older one was annoyed, giving his dragonet a look of disdain as she ran ahead, and then darted back, sending plumes of powdery snow everywhere.
“For the last time, Sheer. Stop that.” Polynya growled, glaring at the pale blue and purple dragonet he was stuck with. She blinked, going quiet for the first time since they’d left the village. It was peace, at least for a moment. Polynya resented her. Sheer had ruined his life. This was the second place he'd had to leave because of her, and she wasn't even two years old.
“Why can't you carry me?” Sheer asked, bouncing over to her father.
“Because. You're old enough to walk on your own.” Polynya said, not even looking at her. He’d never wanted dragonets, ever. But of course, it had to be too difficult for her mother to just keep her. She had to send him away from the palace, so that he could make sure nobody ever figured out that Sheer was the queen's daughter. Because that was a problem for some reason. A problem that Polynya now had to raise alone.
== 5950 AS ==
“Are you sure it's safe for her to help you?” Swift’s mother asked softly. Swift was nestled in Bear's arms, pretending to be asleep.
“Of course. She's smart enough to not hurt herself, and I keep her away from anything that could be dangerous in the first place.” Rock said, his voice warm. He reached over and ruffled her mane gently. Swift really liked helping her father, even if he didn't let her get near the blades.
“She's only two. I just don't like the thought of her possibly getting burned.” Bear sighed, and Rock pulled them both into a brief hug.
“I know. I want to keep her safe too. But she likes helping me, and I have her do things like wrapping grips or weighing materials. Nothing she can be injured by.” Rock said, releasing Swift and Bear from his hug. Swift could feel her mother relax, and she smiled.
“I'm not going to let anything or anyone hurt our daughters, Bear. I promise.” Rock added, gently taking Swift from Bear. Swift yawned, and fell asleep for real. She felt safe, and warm, and happy.
== 5951 AS ==
Titan was pacing again, trying to calm herself down. Thyme had been gone for too long, and she was concerned. Acer had gone to look for her, and Titan wanted to join him, but someone had to stay with Morning Glory. She picked up her younger daughter, trying to settle her nerves. Acer would come back with Thyme, and there was no reason to worry.
“She's going to be okay. She's almost seven, after all. She can take care of herself.” Titan said, mostly to herself, but also a little bit to Morning Glory. She heard someone land, and then Acer appeared, his scales gray-blue and dripping with rainwater. She met his eyes, and knew what had happened.
“Nothing. We found nothing. She's just… gone.” Acer said, his voice hollow. Titan gently put Morning Glory down and went over to him. She knew he was devastated by the loss of his daughter, she meant everything to him. Thyme was important to Titan as well, even if they weren't related by blood.
“We're not going to give up, Acer. I promise, we will find her. No matter how long it takes us.” Titan said fiercely, taking his talons in her own. Acer gave her a sad smile, pulling her closer. Titan let him pull her into a tight hug, glad that she could comfort him.
“Thank you. For caring about her.” Acer whispered. “That really means a lot to me.”
“She's part of this family, Acer. Of course I love her, she's my daughter too now.” Titan said, meaning all of it. She loved Thyme as much as she loved Morning Glory, maybe even a little more, since she'd known Thyme for longer. She was not going to give up on her older daughter, ever.
== 5952 AS ==
Swift was hiding again, in the one spot Polar didn’t know about yet. She focused on the sound of her breathing, keeping quiet so her mother wouldn't be able to find her. She relaxed a little when Polar’s talonsteps faded away, which meant she was leaving this part of the cave system. 
“Swift?” Another voice hissed. She waited a few seconds before emerging from her hiding spot. Pirate must have followed Polar again, since he'd gotten there surprisingly fast. 
“What's she mad about this time?” Pirate asked, flicking Swift's tail with his own. “She looks like she wants to kill something.” He laughed at his own joke, which made Swift start laughing. She was grateful to have her best friend, otherwise surviving Polar would have been a lot harder. 
“I think she got a report she didn't like.” Swift said. Polar had been fine up until one of her guards had brought her a message, and then she'd gotten angry. Polar being angry usually meant it was time for Swift to disappear for a while.
“So I'm guessing you're going to need to stay over tonight?” Pirate asked, and Swift nodded. His parents were always happy to let her stay at their house, even if it was already a bit crowded.
“Thanks. You're the best.” Swift smiled at him, and they started walking back to the city. 
~~
Something was wrong with Solandis, and Ciana didn't like that she was the only one who seemed to have noticed. Her younger sister had always acted like a miniature version of Asp, overconfident and proud. It hadn't bothered Ciana at all, and she didn't really care about the extra time Latis spent with her sisters. Maybe she should have cared, or paid more attention to what her sisters were going through. 
Because now, Solandis was like a completely different dragon. She was nervous, quiet, scared. She made herself small, and barely talked anymore, when she used to compete with Asp to be the center of attention. Ciana had no clue what had happened, which just made it worse in her mind. 
“Dad? I think something happened to Sol.” Ciana said, hoping that Achiote would have an answer. Her father just gave her a confused look, then shrugged.
“I'm sure she's fine. Don't worry about her.” Achiote turned back to his vegetables, a silent dismissal of Ciana's questions. Of course he wouldn't have an answer. Achiote was usually ignorant of what was going on in his own family. But Ciana wasn't going to let him ignore them this time. Not when her sister might be in danger.
“But what if it's related to when she was gone for most of the night?” Ciana insisted. Sol’s changes had started after a brief disappearance, which had also only been noticed by Ciana. A period of time where Latis and Asp were also absent. “What if- what if mom hurt her somehow?” 
Achiote snorted. “Latis would never hurt any of you, and Solandis is fine. I don't have time for this, Ciana.” Ciana started to argue, but Achiote's sharp glare stopped her. She quickly left the room, with more questions than she'd started with. She wanted to find Sol, make sure she was alright, but she didn’t know if that would help either.
~~
Sheer could hear her dad and Rime fighting again. It wasn’t uncommon, but this time, both of them seemed angrier than usual. She lay in bed, listening to the argument instead of trying to sleep. They weren’t the only one awake, though.
“Sheer?” Wolverine whispered. “Do you think it's going to be okay?” Sheer didn't answer them, hoping they would think she was asleep. She didn't like that she was forced to share a room with them. They weren't family, no matter what Rime said. They never would be.
“Fine. But I'm taking my daughter.” Polynya's voice was suddenly much clearer, and then so was Rime's. Wolverine tensed up, their side pressed against Sheer’s. She didn't push them away, though.
“And the other two?” Rime asked. “Are you just going to leave them behind?”
“I never wanted dragonets, Rime. I never have.” Polynya's answer made Sheer feel like he'd slapped her. Their own father didn't want them.
“What about Sheer?” Rime asked, sounding just as confused as Sheer felt.
“She's my responsibility. I'm not going to abandon her.” Polynya said. Wolverine gave Sheer a sad look, and she glared at them. A pause in the fight, and then someone knocked on the door to Sheer’s room. They quickly shoved Wolverine aside and opened it.
“Ah. I'd hoped you'd be up.” Polynya said. “Get your things packed. We're leaving.” Sheer nodded, and looked past him to Rime. He looked upset, but not angry. Mostly sad. They turned away from the door, finding their bag from the last time they'd moved with their father.
“You're just going? You're not going to ask to stay?” Wolverine asked, looking hurt. Sheer shook her head.
“Why would I want to stay if my only family is leaving?” Sheer said, feeling a little bit guilty when Wolverine's face fell. But they knew she didn't see them as her sibling. It was their fault for caring.
~~
History was the only class that Morning Glory's winglet shared with the Silver Winglet, which meant she also shared it with her. The dragon she absolutely did not have a crush on. She just thought that the other RainWing was pretty. It wasn't anything more than that. They'd never talked before, and Morning didn't even know her name. 
Which was a little unfortunate, since they were supposed to be working together, and Morning hadn't realized it until the dragon she'd been thinking about for the entire class came over to sit with her. 
“Hello.” The purple RainWing said, giving her a small smile. Morning had not been prepared to act normal around her, and instead, forgot everything she knew about how language worked. They just kind of stared at each other for a few seconds, Morning unable to string a sentence together, and the other dragon looking both concerned and possibly amused. 
“Um. Hi. I'm Morning.” She said, hoping that she wasn’t being too obvious. Which would be silly. There was nothing to be obvious about. 
“I guessed. Since I'm Solandis, you had to be Morning.” The other dragon nodded slightly. Morning hadn't noticed before, but the purple RainWing - Solandis - had an accent. One that she usually only heard from SandWings. She wasn't from the rainforest, which made sense. Morning would have met her there if she was. 
“Would it be okay if I called you Lan? Just because your name is kind of long.” Morning asked quickly, before really thinking about it at all. Solandis looked a little surprised, but nodded. 
“Sure. Usually dragons go with Sol, but I do like Lan. Nobody's ever called me that before.” She said quietly, smiling a bit more. Morning smiled too, happy. They could totally be friends. That was all she wanted. Just friends.
== 5954 AS ==
Morning Glory could feel the sadness filling the silence in her home. Her mother was preparing for the yearly queen's meeting again, but this time was different. None of them said it, but all three of them knew that Titan should have been bringing Thyme with her. She would have been eight, it would have been her first year meeting the other royals as the oldest RainWing princess. But Thyme was still missing. 
“Only two years left until you can join me, Morning.” Titan said, giving her a sad smile. Morning smiled back, even though she knew her mother was just trying to distract herself from her missing daughter. Acer had gone out earlier that morning, to clear his head, and he wasn't back yet. Acer didn't really mention Thyme anymore. None of them did, but it was clear to Morning that they all wanted her back. 
“Yeah. I'm excited.” Morning said, looking back down at the letter she was writing. She'd promised Lan that they would stay in contact this year, and she didn’t want to break that promise again. She didn't have much to write, though. She didn't want Lan to think she was bragging about her status, so she tried to avoid talking about being a princess. That meant she could only think of a few short paragraphs to write, which didn't feel like enough. She was going to send this to Solandis, after all. She didn't want to make her friend think she wasn't trying.
== 5955 AS ==
Solandis was surprised to see a NightWing in her cave when she got back after class. Her clawmate wasn’t supposed to arrive for at least another week, the teachers had said. Sol had been hoping to have another week of solitude, but that had come to an early end. It wasn’t all bad, though. She wouldn't be alone with her nightmares anymore.
“Are you Shadow? I’m Solandis.” She said, reshelving the scroll she’d been reading. The NightWing nodded, looking relieved. 
“Yeah, that’s me.” Shadow said. “Do we share this cave with anyone else, or is it just the two of us?” 
Solandis smiled. “No, just us.” She said. “It’s better that way, I feel. Three dragons in one cave is a bit crowded.” 
“How long have you been coming here?” Shadow asked, and Sol had to think.
“This is my… fourth year?” She said, counting. “No, third. Started when I was four, and now I’m seven.” 
“So this is your last year.” Shadow said, sounding a little disappointed. 
“Yep. Next year, a different RainWing will come to Jade Mountain.” Solandis shrugged. “Want me to show you around?” She offered, and Shadow nodded again. 
“That would be great. Thanks.” Shadow said, and Solandis smiled again. Shadow seemed nice. Hopefully she wasn't the type to ask a lot of questions.
Solandis took Shadow around the school, pointing out classrooms and other students. She didn’t mention that a good number of the other dragonets were royalty, they would be happy to tell her themselves. 
“Lan! Hey!” Solandis paused when she and Shadow passed the library. There was only one dragon who called her that. She waved to Princess Morning, who grinned back at her. Morning came over to join them, and smiled at Shadow.
“Oh, are you Lan’s clawmate? I’m Morning.” The other RainWing was somehow always energetic, and Solandis was both impressed and slightly annoyed by her. Morning was sweet, and kind, and happy, and forever the optimist. Sol didn’t want to have a crush on her, but she did. Morning either knew, and felt the same way, or she was completely oblivious to it, and only saw Sol as a friend. Either way, it wasn’t like Sol had a chance with her, Morning was going to be the next queen. 
“I’m Shadow.” She said. “Nice to meet you.” Morning glanced over at Sol, grinning.
“You’re lucky, Shadow.” Morning said, giving Sol a teasing look. “Wish I could be Lan’s clawmate.” She was called over by one of her friends, and left, leaving Sol slightly confused. What had Morning meant? Was Sol reading it wrong, or had Morning actually been flirting with her?
== 5956 AS ==
The nightmares that had woken Swift up early were the same things that had kept her from realizing something terrible had happened. She'd been keeping to herself the whole morning, staying quiet so Polar wouldn't have an easy reason to be mad at her. Polar didn’t like Swift disturbing her in the morning. Or the evening, either. Or any other time of day. 
Polar just didn’t like Swift at all. That was the real reason Swift avoided her mother as much as possible. And now that she was thinking about her, Swift realized she couldn't hear anyone else moving in the small cabin. Which didn't make much sense, when Polar was always talking to someone about something. 
Swift carefully opened the door to her room, making sure it didn't squeak too much. Still nothing. It was like she was the only one there. The first sign of something being wrong were the streaks of red across the floor. She didn't need to get close to recognize the smell of blood. 
It was also staining Polar’s door, which had been left slightly open. Something that Polar never did. Swift didn't want to look. She had a pretty good feeling about what she'd find. But she had to. There could still be a chance that Polar could be saved. Swift quickly pushed the door open, forcing herself to figure out what had happened. 
She had to look away after only a moment. Polar was definitely dead. She didn't think she could bring herself to tell anyone, but she had to. Someone else would know what to do. Maybe Barred. Barred always had solutions, and had let her stay over before. She would know what to do, and everything would be okay. 
And as long as Swift kept telling herself she just didn't have time to cry, she wouldn't have to think about how she wasn't at all sad that her mother, her only living family, was dead. 
~~
A knock on the door of Hearthstone and Barred’s cabin wasn’t unusual, but Swift was still startled when it happened. Hearthstone wouldn’t bother to knock, so it wasn’t him coming back. Cobra had locked himself in his room again, and the two youngest, Weasel and Refract, were helping Barred. Swift had a brief flash of hope that maybe, if she was lucky enough, it would be the oldest brother, the reason Hearthstone and Barred had taken in her to begin with, her best friend.
But it wouldn’t be Pirate. It had been more than a year since he’d been exiled, and she’d given up waiting for him to come back.
“I got it!” Refract yelled, almost running into the wall as he bolted out of the kitchen. Swift snickered, hiding it behind the scroll she was reading. She didn’t really pay attention to what was going on until she heard Refract’s high-pitched screech, and she jumped up. It sounded like the dragonet had been attacked. She ran to the door, and froze.
“Pirate?” Swift gasped, not sure if he was really there or if she was seeing things. Pirate grinned at her, although he did look a little confused.
“Swift! What are you doing here? Is everything okay with… at home?” He asked, releasing Refract from a tight hug and rushing over to her. He still had the scar over one eye from his fight with Salamander, and he looked different, even though Swift couldn’t tell why.
“I- um. I live here now.” Swift stammered, not sure why Pirate standing this close to her would make her lose the ability to speak properly. It was probably because they hadn’t seen each other in a year, and the last time they’d spoken, he’d been exiled.
== 5957 AS ==
Corvus tried to keep his focus on the fire in the corner, but he couldn’t keep his thoughts off of the CaveWing sleeping on the other side of his cavern. His half-brother, who'd barely acknowledged they were related. The dragon whose daughter Corvus had raised. The reason that Polar had gained power in the first place. 
And now, Rock was unconscious and dying in Corvus's home. He probably could have left him out there in the snow and nobody would have cared, but his morals wouldn't let him. At least now, Corvus could yell at him once he woke up. He glanced over at Rock again, wondering if he was even going to wake up. 
A few days later, he did. Corvus had just returned to his cave with water, and Rock's questions caught him off guard.
“Where am I?” Corvus almost dropped his bucket, but managed to stay calm. “Wait… Corvus?” Rock's voice was shaky, and a bit hard to hear. Corvus put down his water, walking over to Rock with a cup.
“Here, drink this. Yes, it's me. Surprised?” Corvus said, giving Rock a glare. The only time his brother had ever stood up for him was when he was being exiled. A bit too late at that point, Corvus thought. 
“Thought you were dead.” Rock said, putting down the now empty cup. “But I guess I was wrong.”
Corvus was not an angry dragon, usually. But Rock was getting on his nerves.
“What about Sawtell? Did you think she was dead, too?” He snapped. Rock's eyes went wide, and he tried to stand up, but couldn't. 
“You know her? Is she okay? Where is she?” He asked quickly, which confused Corvus a little. 
“I raised her after you abandoned her.” He said, tail lashing. “And… no. I don't know if she's okay or where she is. She left about a year ago. Joined Salamander and his group.” Rock deflated at the news, resting his head on his talons. 
“I'd hoped I could find her again. Bring her home.” He whispered. “At least tell her I never wanted to lose her. I just wanted to fix everything I messed up.”
~~
“What did you do?” Sawtell hissed, trying to hide her dread from the dark blue CaveWing sitting across from her. Salamander’s expression barely changed, which just made her more nervous. Her partner, Lion, had vanished, and Sawtell had a feeling that Salamander had something to do with his disappearance. “Where is he?”
“Why do you think I did anything? I couldn’t care less about who’s here or not.” Salamander said coldly. Sawtell knew he wasn’t telling the full truth, Salamander had been suspicious of Lion even since the now-missing dragon had first showed up.
“Because I know you were jealous. Upset that I liked him.” Sawtell snapped, her tail lashing. She’d fallen for Lion, and Salamander didn’t like that. He’d always been weirdly possessive over her, even though they weren’t together, and barely even friends. She didn’t like him that way at all, and she was pretty sure she’d made it obvious to him. Salamander, though, didn’t take rejection well, and wouldn’t back down.
Salamander hissed, his ears folded back. He stepped towards her threateningly. Sawtell refused to back away, letting him get right up close to her. He was trying to intimidate her, she couldn’t let him see that it was working. Sawtell was scared of Salamander, and she knew that if he ever found out about her dragonets - Lion’s dragonets - he would turn on her.
“You’re mine, Sawtell. Mine.” He growled. “He tried to take you from me. I won’t let anyone take anything from me again.” Sawtell flinched, looking away. He refused to understand that she wasn’t interested, and she’d stopped trying to reject him at this point. If it hadn’t been for Lion, she probably would have given in years ago.
“I’m not.” Sawtell said, finally done with his obsession. “I’ve never been yours, I never will be. Just leave me alone.” She snapped, whirling around and storming off. She found herself walking towards the city in the distance, and she curled up near the river. She regretted joining Salamander’s group of OutCasts now, and wished she could go back in time to refuse. To forget about Salamander, his goals of power. She wished that she could just live with Corvus again, the only dragon who’d really cared about her.
Lion, on the other talon, might have loved her, but he didn’t care. If he had, he wouldn’t have just left like that, without saying anything. Which was why Sawtell was sure that Salamander had something to do with it.
== 5958 AS ==
“You haven't changed at all, have you?” Salamander sneered. Swift was frozen in place, stunned. She hadn’t seen him in three years, and she'd almost been able to forget about him. But now he was back. And standing outside of her cabin. Swift had briefly forgotten about Pirate until he pushed past her, keeping himself between her and Salamander. She was a bit surprised, he had always been protective of her, but this was new. 
“Stay back, Salamander.” Pirate said, and Salamander scoffed. Pirate had almost killed Salamander the last time they'd seen each other, and it was clear they still had that grudge. Swift wasn't sure what to do. 
“Still doing everything for her, huh, Pirate?” Salamander said, stepping closer. “I'm really not surprised.” Swift realized he was trying to deliberately provoke Pirate into fighting him. Again. 
“I told you to stay away from her.” Pirate said, getting ready to fight. Salamander looked pleased, and it scared Swift. “She's not your girlfriend, Salamander. She never was.” Pirate lunged forwards, slamming into Salamander and pinning him down. He glanced over at Swift, letting her make the next decision. 
“Pirate. We don't even know why he's here. Let him up.” Swift said, her voice wavering more than she'd like. She wanted to look like a strong leader, but she was unsure of herself. Pirate nodded, and let Salamander go, although they were both still glaring at each other. 
“If that’s how you want to do this, I suppose I'll play along.” Salamander said, stepping back. He had a strange gloating expression on his face as he looked around and made a quick gesture with his talon. Which started the attack. Swift was suddenly overwhelmed by the sounds of combat throughout the city, and she stumbled. Pirate darted to her side, helping her stay upright. 
“What did you do?” Pirate asked, furious. 
“You think I've spent these years waiting to be let back into the clan? No. I've been planning my revenge.” Salamander said, almost laughing. “It wasn't difficult to gather the OutCasts with a simple promise of power.” He said. Swift paled, noticing the knife Salamander had produced. 
“And the last part? Killing you.” Salamander said, pointing it directly at Swift. “I've been looking forward to this.”
~~
Swift quickly glanced at Sawtell again, still feeling a bit of disbelief. Not only did she have a living family member, she had an identical twin sister. It felt like she was dreaming, and she both wanted to wake up, but she also wanted it to be real. Swift wanted to wake up and find out that Refract was still alive and her city was intact, but she didn’t want to lose Sawtell again or discover Salamander wasn’t dead. 
“You don't have to keep looking at me. I'm not going anywhere.” Sawtell said, and Swift felt bad. Her sister thought she was worried that she'd take off to rejoin the OutCasts. Swift knew Sawtell wouldn't do that. She'd saved her and Pirate from Salamander. 
“It's not that. I'm just… I've been alone for so long, it feels like you might not be real.” Swift said. Sawtell looked surprised, and she turned to look at Swift. It was a weird feeling, having Sawtell back. She was both so familiar and a total stranger to Swift. Swift knew her green eyes and her voice, but the way she spoke, and her expressions, weren't the same as the dragonet Swift barely remembered. 
“I'm sorry, but that’s absurd. Your evil ex attacked your clan, basically destroyed your city, and killed Pirate's brother, and you're focusing on the fact that your long-lost sister exists? What about your clan?” Sawtell snapped, and Swift flinched. Sawtell was right, she should have been thinking about how to rebuild, not her personal life. Sawtell huffed, and turned back to where Ferret was lying, unconscious. “Also, you're bleeding again.” 
Swift immediately reached up to the injury Salamander had given her, and her talon had blood on it when she looked down. She quickly scanned the room, but it was just the four of them. Pirate wouldn't have been able to help even if he was awake, since he was now missing an arm. 
“Sawtell? Can you help?” Swift asked, and Sawtell nodded. “Do you need me to-”
“I know what I'm doing.” Sawtell said, carefully cleaning the blood off of Swift's arm. “I was raised by a medic.” Swift stayed quiet after that, letting Sawtell do her thing. She hadn’t known there were any OutCast medics before.
== 5959 AS ==
Iceberg had been preparing for a while, and now the only thing left for her to do was actually tell her parents. Tell them that she wasn’t a boy, and hope that they would accept it. She could still live up to their expectations, she just wanted them to know that she was their daughter. 
She heard talonsteps approaching quickly, and poked her head out of her hammock. Her mother slammed the door open, fuming. Iceberg was silent as she watched Storm rip the small picture of their family off the wall, shredding it.
“That lying, cheating, snake!” Storm growled, tearing the drawing more with each word. Iceberg had never seen her mother this angry before, and knew something had gone very wrong. This was probably the wrong time to come out, she decided.
“Mom?” Iceberg asked, and Storm’s eyes snapped to her. The look on her face told Iceberg she hadn’t realized the dragonet was there. 
“Oh. Drift. I didn’t think you’d be back yet.” Storm said, trying to force a smile. Iceberg tried to ignore the bad feeling her name always gave her. 
“Where’s-” Iceberg didn’t have a chance to finish her question before Storm cut her off.
“Your father,” Storm spat, “Isn’t welcome in this family anymore.” Iceberg’s eyes widened.
“Why?” What had her dad done that was bad enough for Storm to be this angry?
“I’ll explain when you’re older. Just… stay away from him, okay?” Storm said, and Iceberg nodded slowly. Her family. It was gone now. Just like that.
~~
Sheer was alone. Again. This wasn’t the first time, but having to stay behind while the rest of her patrol was out wasn’t fun. They didn’t know what to do with their time, and spent most of it sulking in their room. Today, though, she’d decided to do something productive, and was training in one of the open areas. She was the only one there, at least for a while.
And then Aurora showed up. Sheer always felt a bit awkward around her, and they knew it was because of their crush. Aurora stayed over on the other side of the room, so Sheer tried to ignore her. It was hard, though. She was quick, darting forward and attacking her target before Sheer could figure out what she was doing. Aurora looked over at them and smiled, waving them over before they could pretend they hadn’t been watching her. Sheer walked over to Aurora, trying to act normal.
“If you wanted to join me, you could’ve just asked.” Aurora joked, and Sheer relaxed a little. Okay, she doesn’t think I’m weird. That’s good. Sheer told herself. Maybe they could at least be friends, if not anything more.
“Well, I wasn't sure if you wanted to train alone or not.” Sheer said with a shrug. “And I’m pretty sure I would just slow you down.” They hadn’t trained with another dragon since they’d been injured, but if it meant they could spend time with Aurora, they’d do anything.
“It’s not a big deal.” Aurora said, glancing briefly at Sheer’s damaged arm. “You can still use your other talon, right?” Sheer nodded, confused. Of course she could use her other talon, but it wasn’t her strong side and she had never been good with weapons. Aurora grinned and handed her a dagger anyway. Sheer turned it over a couple of times, unsure of what Aurora was doing.
“Um. Wouldn’t it be safer without actual weapons?” She asked, and Aurora laughed. She has a really nice laugh. Sheer thought. She looked away from Aurora, hoping she wasn’t blushing too badly. Aurora probably didn’t share her feelings, and Sheer guessed she probably never would.
“Yeah, probably, but that’s boring.” Aurora replied, already darting towards Sheer. “Stay focused!” Sheer was caught off guard, and had to jump back to avoid Aurora. They had trouble keeping up with her, and ended up losing multiple times, which was pretty embarrassing.
“Will you believe me if I tell you I’m usually better than this?” Sheer asked, after picking herself up off the floor for the third time.
“I should hope so! Don’t want Ic-” Aurora hesitated before continuing. “Don’t want someone like you to be bad at your job.” She was still grinning, but Sheer felt like it was more forced than it had been.
“I’m going to take that as a compliment.” Sheer said, pushing aside their worries about acting like an idiot in front of Aurora. She was now concerned that she’d done or said something to upset her, but she wasn’t sure what.
“Sure. Let’s say that.” Aurora said, helping them up. Sheer laughed, trying to ignore her heart beating faster. She didn’t want to make Aurora uncomfortable by being too obvious about it, but she also wasn’t sure how much longer she could hide her feelings. They were contemplating how to tell her, or just ask her if she wanted to spend more time with them, when Aurora spoke again.
“Sorry, I really have to go.” She said quickly, brushing Sheer’s wing with her own. “Maybe we can talk more later?” Sheer nodded, and stepped aside so Aurora could leave. She was disappointed, but also slightly excited. Aurora wanted to hang out more. That was probably good. Sheer left to head back to their own room, and then remembered they still had Aurora’s dagger.
Well, there’s always tomorrow. I can return it later. She decided, grinning to herself.
== 5960 AS ==
Thyme looked up nervously, holding her egg close. Harrow was pacing, his antennae twitching. Neither of them knew what was going to happen. They knew that the scientists weren't going to let them keep their dragonet, but now it felt more real. Their cell was too small for the two of them, and Harrow's pacing was mostly him turning in tight circles while trying not to step on Thyme.
“Maybe they'll let us keep them until they hatch.” Thyme said hopefully, even though she didn't believe it herself. She just wanted to calm Harrow down. It worked, a little bit. Harrow nodded, and took a few deep breaths, coming to settle down next to her. He rested a delicate wing on her back, wincing as he did.
“Ah. Sorry.” Harrow said, giving Thyme an apologetic look. She hated how they'd done that to him, sabotaging his metamorphosis just to see what would happen. It had left his wings fragile and thin, and it hurt him to move them. They hadn't even taken the thick metal bands off of his wrists afterwards.
“It's not your fault they did this to you.” Thyme said, her voice bitter. “They're horrible. I don't want them to hurt our dragonet, Harrow.” Her annoyance quickly turned to fear. They were going to do similar, or maybe even worse, things to her dragonet. Harrow curled his tail around hers, pulling her closer.
“I'm planning an escape, Thyme. You and me, and our dragonet. I'm going to get us out of here.” Harrow whispered to her, sending another nervous glance out to the dimly lit hall. “I won’t let them take our dragonet, and I definitely won't let our dragonet hatch somewhere like this.” He sounded more intense than Thyme had ever heard him be before.
~~
“What does the queen want me for?” Sheer asked the messenger, confused. She hadn’t done anything recently that she would get in trouble for, and she wasn’t anyone special. The other IceWing, who’d told them that Queen Bitter wanted to speak with them, shrugged. 
“I don’t know. She just said to send you to see her, and it was important.” He repeated. Sheer sighed, sheathing their dagger and following the messenger to the main palace. The queen wouldn’t have asked for her unless it was something urgent, and it was just better to listen to orders anyway. The messenger walked with Sheer until they reached the doors of the throne room, and then he took off. Sheer glanced back at him, and then knocked.
“Come in.” Queen Bitter sounded bored, and when Sheer entered the room, she had three or four open scrolls laying around her, and one that she had apparently been reading. Sheer had heard other dragons joking about how she would throw them at dragons who annoyed her, although they were pretty sure that never happened. The queen wasn’t alone, of course. Lark, her advisor, and Commander Storm were also there, as well as a dragon Sheer didn’t know, but she guessed he was the guard captain. 
“You sent for me, your Majesty?” Sheer asked, bowing briefly. Bitter nodded, and waved Storm over, who scowled. Sheer glanced at Storm warily, they’d never gotten along, and she wasn’t sure why.
“Yes. I’m promoting you. Your circles, please.” Bitter said, holding out her talon. Sheer slowly removed the cool metal chain from around her neck, handing it to the queen. It felt strange to be without it, to see the two interlocking circles in someone else’s claws. Storm was glowering even more now, but she reluctantly passed Sheer another necklace, this time with only one circle hanging from it. 
“M- me?” Sheer asked, staring at the chain. She’d never expected this, never thought she’d be a commander herself, but she’d just been given that chance. “Thank you, your Majesty. I promise I won’t let you down.” They said, fastening the necklace and bowing again. Bitter huffed, and waved a talon at Sheer, dismissing them.
“You’d better not.”
~~
“What is this?” Alcyon looked up from his work as Lunarstrike threw down the scroll he was holding. Alcyon glanced at it, shrugged, and continued copying down the records they’d recovered from the old labs. It was a long task, but an important one. The eruption had damaged a lot of the old scrolls, but they were still legible, so Alcyon was rewriting them on new paper. 
“It looks like a lab report, Lunar. What are you talking about?” Alcyon said, ignoring the glare he was getting from the NightWing. He was busy, and Lunar was distracting him. 
“One that you wrote. Which is impressive, since this scroll is older than you are. Or at least, older than you claim.” Lunar said, jabbing a talon at the date on the top of the scroll. Alcyon rolled his eyes.
“I’m glad you know how to count, Lunarstrike. Go bother someone else, I’m busy.” He snapped, his feathers ruffling slightly. He’d never lied about his age, he’d just never had a reason to explain it, either. Lunar narrowed his eyes at Alcyon, clearly suspicious of him. 
“An explanation, Alcyon.” Lunar hissed quietly. Alcyon sighed, reaching for a cloth and cleaning the ink off his claws. 
“I am really twenty. I just age very slowly. I’ve been alive for about two thousand years. I have no idea why.” Alcyon said, amused by Lunar’s expression. It was the reason he’d joined the Animus Project, to try and figure out why he was who he was. He’d never gotten an answer, but he didn’t care. The Animus Project gave him a way to stretch the limits of the world, and he loved it. 
“What do you mean, you don’t know why?” Lunar said, astounded. “Wait. You were around when the Animus Project began.” He realized, and started pacing. “That’s fascinating…” 
“It’s really not. They were all idiots. Even my father.” Alcyon said. He was pretty sure his father, a dragon named Redwood, had known exactly why Alcyon was so strange, but he’d never asked when he was young, and Redwood had been dead for most of his life. “He was always obsessed with ghosts and that sort of thing. Now please leave.” 
Lunar finally left Alcyon’s workspace, although Alcyon didn’t resume his work. He was too busy thinking about his father. 
“He kept notes. Maybe I can find those.” Alcyon said out loud to himself, and started sifting through the scrolls on his desk. If he could find anything from Redwood, he would probably get some of his questions answered.
~~
Corvus walked down the cramped tunnel back to his cave, glancing around to make sure nobody was following him. He tried to avoid other dragons now, which he hated, but there was always a chance that one of Salamander’s dragons was still holding onto a grudge. He wasn't one of the dragons close to the river, either, which meant he had to get water from somewhere else. Fortunately, there was always snow. 
He sighed when he got back to his cave, shaking the snowflakes from his wings. Then he noticed the dragon curled up asleep by the fire in the corner. It took Corvus a minute to place her pale purple scales, since the last time he'd seen her, Sawtell hadn't had wings. He walked over to her, making sure he stayed quiet so he wouldn't wake her up. 
Sawtell's wings weren't the only difference, of course. It had been about seven years since she'd joined Salamander’s group of OutCasts, and he hadn't seen her after that. She had new scars, and even though she was sleeping, she looked sad. Now that Corvus could see her more clearly, he realized she was also slightly duller than usual. 
Like she was fading. Like she was a ghost.
Corvus’s breath caught. He'd only seen something like this once before, after the OutCasts had attacked the Arctic Fox Clan. Stories had started going around about the dead dragons becoming ghosts. Sawtell was dead. Which still didn't explain her wings, or what she was doing in his cave. 
“Dad?” Sawtell mumbled, slowly waking up. Corvus smiled at her, happy that she still thought of him as her dad. He stumbled a bit as she jumped up and hugged him, but he recovered and wrapped his wings around her. “I missed you.” Sawtell said quietly. 
“It's so nice to see you again.” Corvus said, but he was still concerned about his daughter. She looked nervous and scared. “What's going on?” He asked. Sawtell hesitated, then she tensed and pushed him away. Corvus was confused, but he didn’t want to make Sawtell uncomfortable. 
“I- this was a stupid idea.” Sawtell said, staring down at her talons. “I had to see you again, but… I knew this was going to happen. If I don't leave now, I might attack you, so I have to go.” She said, but she still quickly hugged Corvus again before disappearing up the tunnel. 
“I missed you too.” Corvus said quietly, not sure if Sawtell could even hear him.
~~
The sun was ready up when Morning Glory woke up, and she lay in the warm light for another few minutes. She hadn’t heard the voices before, but now she could pick up two dragons talking. Her mother, and… Solandis. She shot upright, surprised. Lan hadn't said she was going to stay the entire night.
Morning left her room, heading to the kitchen, where her family usually collected in the morning. Lan was looking very uncomfortable, and she caught Morning’s eye as she entered the room. Titan, who'd been talking to Lan, turned and smiled at Morning.
“Good morning, sweetheart.” Titan said warmly, coming over to hug Morning. Solandis looked relieved that Titan had left her alone, but she still couldn't leave. “You didn't tell me your girlfriend was here.”
Now Morning wanted to sink through the floor, or maybe just vaporize on the spot. Lan's expression said she was feeling the exact same. She mumbled something about how Lan hadn't meant to sleep over, and wriggled away from her mother.
“I'm going to leave now, I think.” Lan said awkwardly, shifting back and forth. Morning nodded, grabbing her talon and pulling Lan out of the kitchen. Titan had a knowing look on her face, and she just smiled.
“Oh. My. Moons.” Morning giggled once they were outside. “I am so sorry, I didn't think you'd get cornered like that.” Lan shook her head slightly, smiling now.
“Don't worry, she didn't ask me anything about us. Just about myself. I think it went over well?” Lan said. “I'll see you later, then. Maybe you coming over to my place would be easier. As long as we don't fall asleep again.” She teased. Morning gave her a tight hug, laughing.
“Alright, bye for now, then!” Morning said, and then Lan flew off. Now it was Morning’s turn to be interrogate by Titan, she guessed.
== 5961 AS ==
“Thyme, are you okay? You’ve been really distracted recently. This isn’t like you.” Azure said, concern in his voice. Thyme didn’t respond, and she looked away from him. He didn’t need to worry about what was bothering her, it would just make him anxious.
“It’s nothing. I’m fine.” Thyme lied, her thoughts immediately drifting back to Amethyst. She was suffering, and Thyme had no idea how to help her. She had to get back to her daughter, just in case Amethyst needed her. Azure would understand. “I should go. I have work to do at home.”  
Azure looked disappointed for a second, but then nodded. “Alright. Just, you know you can talk to me, right?” He took her talon, gently squeezing it. “I’m here for you, always.” Thyme smiled at him, grateful that he cared about her. She hugged him tightly, resting her head on his shoulder for a moment.
“Well, if you have to go, you should probably do that.” Azure said, removing himself for her hug. Thyme laughed, and walked home. She sped up once her small home came into view, anxious to get back. When she’d left, Amethyst had been asleep, but her scales had been too pale for Thyme’s comfort. She hated that her dragonet was sick, but she didn’t know what to do. She had no idea what was making her sick, or how to stop it.
Thyme went straight to Amethyst’s room to check on her. No change, but whether that was a good thing or a bad thing was unknown to her. She sighed, and picked up the sleeping dragonet, holding her close. Thyme winced as her gaze flicked to the dark sigil burned into Amethyst’s shoulder. They both had it, but it hurt Thyme more when she saw it on Amethyst. The Animus Project’s mark meant that Amethyst’s sickness was most likely a curse of some sort, but Thyme refused to give up on her.
“Moons. What did they do to you?” Thyme asked quietly, not wanting to wake Amethyst. She’d managed to escape mostly unscathed, and she knew she was one of the lucky ones for escaping at all. Her partner and only friend, on the other hand, had been killed while trying to protect her. Thyme hugged Amethyst closer, trying not to think about the dragonet she’d lost to the Animus Project. She knew Amethyst couldn’t possibly be her daughter, she wasn’t half SilkWing, but Thyme liked to think she’d been given a second chance, to save someone else from their shared past.
Sometimes she wished she could have her dragonet back, but that was impossible. If her dragonet, taken from her before they even hatched, had whatever the Project was looking for, they would have been changed, twisted. If not, they were most likely dead now. The Animus Project wouldn’t just let someone go, they would find a way to use anyone they got their claws on. It scared her that a group like that existed, and there wasn't any way to stop them.
== 5962 AS ==
Solandis folded her wings back, trying to keep her disappointment out of her voice. She didn't want Morning to think she was upset or angry, because she wasn't. She just wanted Morning to be happy, and a sad goodbye was not an option.
“It’s okay. You're not at fault here.” Sol said, giving Morning a small smile. She was going to miss her, but it wasn’t like she could do anything to keep Morning with her. Titan had made her choice, and Sol’s thoughts about the whole thing were irrelevant.
“I'm sure I can convince my mom to let you come with me.” Morning said, taking her talons. Sol could picture it clearly, living on Pantala with her girlfriend. But she couldn’t let Morning betray herself like that. Sol gently pulled away, shaking her head.
“Morning, I can't let you do that. What about your fiance?” She said, and Morning’s face fell.
“I just don't want to lose you, Lan.” She whispered, and Sol’s heart hurt.
“I know. But we can't keep this up. For you, for me, and especially for the dragon you're going to marry. The best choice for everyone is to just… stop talking, I think. I don't want this either.” Sol said. She couldn’t bring herself to meet Morning’s eyes. She didn't want to see her girlfriend hurt.
~~
71520 didn't know his real name. He was pretty sure he didn't even have one. The other dragons always referred to him with the numbers, so that was how he referred to himself. It was the only name he'd known. And he didn't need a name. He was just a defense system. His only purpose was to remove anyone trying to get in or out of the labs.
This was one of the rare times he'd been brought out of his cell and to a testing room. He watched the other dragonet curiously, not sure what the big dragons wanted him to do. His wings flickered and his antennae twitched. He moved towards her, inspecting her carefully.
She was supposed to be here, 71520 determined. He turned to look at the dragons observing them and sat down, flicking his tail over his talons. He had done his job, and judging by the way one of the scientists was scribbling down notes, he'd done it well.
“Hmm. That's an improvement.” One of them said, after the third had removed the other dragonet. 71520 tilted his head, confused. The last dragonet had tried to run for the door. He'd stopped them. Wasn't that what he was supposed to do?
~~
Mourning didn't like waiting, and she was nervous as well. She didn't even have Siren by her side this time, since her mother had said it would be ‘inappropriate’, but hadn't explained why. Her brother was there as well, even though Mourning had told Swallowtail it was weirder to have her brother there than her bodyguard.
“Can you stop fidgeting?” Tortoise said, giving her a sharp look. “It won't make time move any faster.” He sat back, obviously bored. Mourning rolled her eyes. She hadn’t wanted him to be there either, but their mother had insisted.
“Fine. I'm just nervous. What if we don't get along?” Mourning asked, finally managing to stop twisting the pendant on her necklace. She was wearing more jewelry than she usually did, since it was such an important day.
“You'll be fine. She's nice.” Tortoise said, giving her a reassuring smile. Mourning nodded slowly, feeling a bit better. Her brother wouldn't lie to her.
After a few more minutes of waiting, the RainWings finally showed up. Most of them were dragons Mourning had seen before, which meant the one she didn’t recognize was her fiancé. Morning Glory. The group landed, and nobody moved for a long second.
“Moons, I've never felt this awkward before.” Morning Glory was the one to break the silence, and she stepped forwards, still laughing slightly. “You must be Mourning.”
“Y- yes. That's me.” Mourning said, forgetting her own name before Tortoise quietly kicked her. “It's nice to finally meet you.” Now that her brain was working again, she realized that Morning Glory was pretty.
“I think it'll be easier for everyone if I go by Glory. I was thinking about it on the flight over.” Morning Glory said, which was something Mourning hadn’t even considered. She nodded, glad that Glory had come up with a solution to their very similar names.
“I like it. It suits you.” Mourning said, smiling. Glory smiled back, her scales shimmering more pink. She'd never seen a RainWing actually change colors before, and it just made Glory prettier. Maybe this wasn’t such a bad situation, no matter what Siren thought.
~~
Morning Glory stood still, letting her grandmother fuss over her. Even though she still wasn't used to living on Pantala, meeting her father's family had been nice. She had a cousin she'd never known about either.
“Emperor, sweetheart, bring me the ahh, yes, the flower one.” Lady Hevea said, waving at the table where she'd laid out most of the jewelry she owned. Emperor nodded, but she looked a bit confused.
“Grandma, you have three different flower necklaces. Which one?” Emperor asked, and Morning giggled. This had been going on for a while now, Hevea being vague and Emperor not getting clarification from her. Hevea sighed, walking over to the table herself and picking up the necklace in question.
“I really don't think all of this is necessary.” Morning chimed in. “I still have a few days.” She met Emperor's eyes, and they grinned at each other. Morning was glad she'd met her cousin, and that they got along so well. Morning and Emperor had only met a week ago, and they were already close.
“Yeah, I think Morning learning her way around is more important than how glittery she is.” Emperor added. “You can always decorate her later!” Morning started laughing, and then Emperor did too. Hevea sighed, and waved one talon at them.
“Alright, out. Just don't do anything stupid.” She said, smiling.
~~
The only other dragons in the infirmary were the doctors, and they were over on the other side of the small room, but Aurora wasn’t alone. Sheer was sitting beside her low bed, trying not to laugh at her. She was glad they were there, even if it meant they weren’t doing their job.
“Everything stings. Why does it sting?” Aurora muttered, shifting her wings again. She’d been in the infirmary for two days now, and she was getting restless. Unfortunately, Sheer had decided it was now their job to make sure she didn’t try to leave until the doctors said she could.
“Rory, you look like you lost a fight with a cactus. And stop that, you’ll make it worse.” Sheer reminded her, looking pointedly at the pieces of Brightsting cacti pressed against Aurora’s wounds. Aurora huffed, but stopped moving. She knew Sheer was right. If she moved too much, the cactus juice wouldn’t be able to counter the SandWing venom as quickly as she wanted it to.
“When will they let me leave?” Aurora asked. Sheer shrugged, which wasn’t at all helpful. “I'm not that hurt.”
“Not that hurt? Aurora, you tried to fight three SandWings by yourself. I'm surprised you're not dead. Extremely relieved, but surprised.” Sheer said. Aurora made a face.
“I told Fox not to tell anyone!” Aurora protested.
“You drive me crazy sometimes, Rory. You mean you were planning to not tell your girlfriend why you're in the infirmary this time?” Sheer said, narrowing their eyes at her. Aurora looked away.
“Maybe.” She admitted.
“Gahh.” Sheer said, shaking her head. “You're insane.” She said, but Aurora knew she was smiling.
~~
Mourning could practically hear Siren's negative thoughts, and she flicked her antennae like she could shake the feelings away. Siren was still upset, no matter how many times Mourning had tried to explain to her bodyguard that it hadn’t been her choice to get married. Mourning had hoped that talking to Siren without Morning Glory around would be helpful, but it was just making everything worse.
“Please, Siren. Why won't you talk to me?” Mourning finally asked, breaking the heavy silence that had filled the space. Siren didn't respond, and her face stayed cold and expressionless. She'd been pushing Mourning away ever since the queen had told them about her engagement. Well, Swallowtail had told Mourning, and Siren never left her side, which had been great when they were dating, but was mostly just uncomfortable now. 
“We have nothing to talk about.” Siren said, her voice flat. She was acting the way she'd been trained to, which kind of hurt Mourning. They'd been so close, and now Siren was back to being just another royal guard. All because Mourning's mother and the RainWing queen had decided that the best way to form an alliance was to get their daughters married.
“I completely understand if you're hurt, or jealous.” Mourning said, and Siren just scowled. Mourning looked away, hoping that Siren would understand soon. She should have told Siren to stay at the palace, to give her space. 
And then Siren shifted her grip on her spear. Lunged forwards.
The last thing Mourning saw was Siren's dark red scales and cold expression. 
~~ 
Sawtell could only watch from her sister from a distance, carefully hidden in the shadows. Swift was sobbing, huddled near Pirate's body. Sawtell wanted to run over and comfort Swift, but she couldn’t. Swift didn't know she was undead. 
None of them had noticed the IceWings at first. Then Pirate had taken an arrow to the face. An ambush. Sawtell hadn't intervened, even though she knew that if she'd helped, Pirate might have survived. It hurt to see her sister like this, but if she ended up attacking Swift, she would never forgive herself. 
Swift looked up, and met Sawtell’s gaze. She froze, her expression stunned, scared, but still hopeful. Sawtell turned and ran, heading for the cave she'd been sleeping in. Maybe Swift would forget that she’d seen her, or maybe she'd think she was seeing things.
~~
Solandis glanced down at Morning, who was asleep beside her. It was better than the night before, at least. Morning had shaken Sol awake at least four times because she'd been having nightmares about Mourning. Sol sighed quietly. She hated that she was a little bit relieved that Mourning had died. She didn't want to be happy about something that had hurt her girlfriend so much. 
A sudden rush of flapping preceded the appearance of Titan, who landed beside Sol and Morning. She gave Sol an amused look, probably because of how she was curled around Morning. Sol couldn't really bow to the queen, so she had to just nod to her instead. 
“Is she doing alright?” Titan asked, giving Morning a worried look. She'd been regularly checking on her daughter since Swallowtail had sent her back to Pyrrhia. Sol hesitated, then shook her head. She didn't want to lie to the queen.
“This is the first time she's really slept in… two days?” Sol said, keeping her voice quiet. Titan sighed, shaking her head. Sol hugged Morning a bit tighter. “I don't want to wake her, she really needs the sleep.”
“I wish I could help her.” Titan said, gently brushing Morning’s wing with her own. “But thank you for being here for her. She needs you, Solandis.” Sol was surprised, but nodded.
“Of course. I'll do anything for her.” She responded. She didn't say anything else until after Titan had left.
“Because I love her.” Sol whispered, glad that nobody but Morning could hear her.
== 5963 AS ==
Technically, the ruins of the old city were off-limits. However, Swift was the clan leader, and she needed to be alone. She slowly walked down to the edge of the river, staring down into the water. She was close to where everything had fallen apart. She still remembered it, Pirate attacking Salamander, both of them getting exiled. Pirate's return a year later. 
Thinking about her past started a flood of other memories. Polar’s death, meeting Sawtell again, being reunited with her mother. She started crying, and didn't try to stop her tears. 
She wasn’t sure how much time had passed before she heard talonsteps, and turned around, expecting it to be one of her dragons with a message for her. 
The dragon who was there, however, was someone she'd never seen before. She was a pale icy blue, which was unusual for a CaveWing. She had a scar over one eye, and a necklace with dark blue stones hanging from it. She felt familiar, even through Swift knew she had never met this dragon in her life.
“Who are you?” Swift asked, ready to fight if she had to. The new dragon nodded to her, stopping a small distance away.
“Someone you know too well.” She responded, which just made Swift confused. 
“We've never met. I've never seen you before.” Swift said.
“Are you sure?” The other dragon asked. “Because I know you, Swiftlet.” Swift froze, staring at her. 
“How do you know my name?” She asked, trying to keep her fear hidden. “Who are you?”
“Who I am isn't important, although if it makes you feel better, I suppose you can call me Moonstone.” The other dragon said. Swift narrowed her eyes at Moonstone. 
“Why are you here?” She asked. Moonstone glanced up at the rock ceiling. 
“I was looking for someone.” She said slowly. “Although it looks like they've already left.” The way she was speaking sounded like she was intentionally leaving out details, which made Swift suspicious. 
“Leave. I don’t know who you are, so I know you’re not part of this clan. Get out of my caves.” Swift said, and Moonstone just smiled at her. 
“If you insist. But remember this. We will meet again.” She said, turning and disappearing towards the exit, and surface. Swift turned and left as well, farther into the caves, back to her city.
~~
Sheer knocked on the door to Aurora’s room and winced, her injuries still bothering her. They knew going to the infirmary was the optimal choice, but the queen had told them to go check on Aurora, so that's what they were doing. The queen's exact words had actually been ‘return Aurora’s daggers to her’, but Sheer had wanted to see how the commander was doing anyway.
“The queen told me to bring these to you.” Sheer said, after Aurora had silently opened the door. She looked at Sheer blankly, and had obviously been crying. Aurora took the knives from Sheer, and closed the door again without saying anything. Sheer waited for a moment, and Aurora opened the door again.
“Okay, I'm good now.” Aurora said quietly. “You can come in.” Sheer smiled at her girlfriend, closing the door behind her. Aurora sighed, collapsing on her bed. Sheer walked over to her, gently putting a wing around her.
“Four years, Sheer.” Aurora whispered. “I can’t believe he just showed up like that after Four. Years.” Sheer knew exactly how Aurora felt, they had been just as stunned and confused to see their former commander, who should have been dead. 
“At least we know he's actually dead now.” Sheer said, not sure how to comfort Aurora. She'd had a more complicated history with Iceman than Sheer would have guessed if she hadn't told them. 
“That's true. But… I still killed him, Sheer. He's dead because of me.” Aurora repeated, and Sheer pulled her into a hug.
“You saved my life, Rory.” Sheer said. “He would have killed me if you hadn't been there.” Aurora didn't respond, but she did relax a bit, letting Sheer hold her. In the silence, Sheer was reminded of their now shredded wing, and grimaced. They would have to get that checked out. But later. Aurora needed her the most at that moment.
~~
Swiftlet sat just inside the mouth of the cave, her dark scales keeping her mostly hidden. She was quiet, her tail curled over her talons, watching. There hadn’t been any IceWing attacks for a while, but it was better to keep an eye out for nothing than to lose her only dragonet. She could see Crystal and Ferret from where she was sitting, which meant she didn’t have to leave the safety of the caves. She hadn’t wanted to let the dragonets leave at all, but she knew it would be good for them, and she didn’t want to disappoint Crystal.
It had been a year since Pirate died, and Swift was still heartbroken. She hadn’t even recovered from losing Sawtell when he’d died, and now she was alone. She wanted to disappear into her job, to be the collected, strong clan leader they thought she was, but she couldn’t. Crystal needed her, now more than ever, and she had Sawtell’s dragonet to care for as well.
Swift heard Crystal yelp, and then Ferret laughed. She was glad that the two of them got along so well, Ferret could help Crystal more than she could. Although both of her parents were dead, she’d been raised by her aunt. She hadn’t missed Polar when she died.
Crystal suddenly shot out of a nearby snowbank, darting around to hide behind Swift. They were followed by Ferret, who skidded to halt in front of her. Swift half-turned to look back at Crystal, who blinked up at her.
“Protect me?” Crystal asked quickly. Swift smiled, gently brushing some of the snow out of Crystal’s mane.
“Always.” She promised, and Crystal gently poked her, grinning.
“I knew I could make you smile!” They giggled, darting off again. Swift was stunned for a brief moment, and then smiled again.
They planned this. For me. To make me feel better. 
== 5964 AS ==
Nova stared down at her damaged arm, a bit relieved. She hadn't taken off her armband in years, and it wasn't as bad as she'd thought, after almost two thousand years. She knew it would get worse, though. She'd been hiding her curse, her constant state of decay, from everyone. The enchantment on the armband hid her injuries, made her look normal to everyone else.
“Nova?” She turned quickly, meeting Calypso's eyes. The other dragon paled slightly, staring at Nova's bad arm. Even though she was also a necromancer, Calypso didn't like blood. Nova quickly grabbed her armband, putting it on. The illusion activated immediately, making Nova look like she was never hurt.
“I… never told you about my curse, did I?” Nova said, and Calypso shook her head. Neither of them liked talking about their pasts, so it wasn't strange that Calypso didn't know, Nova just felt bad that she'd kept that a secret from her girlfriend.
“I knew you were cursed, you never shared the details.” Calypso said, already looking more comfortable. “I never asked about it because I knew it was your choice to share it with me or not.” Nova smiled at her, happy that Calypso had never asked her about her life in the Animus Project.
“If I get hurt, it won't heal. Ever. It was meant to slowly kill me if I ever escaped, and if I was mortal, it would have worked. But instead, I'm just going to keep… well, falling apart forever. I'm basically a living corpse.” Nova said, looking at Calypso, who looked stunned.
“Weren't you a dragonet? When you escaped?” Calypso asked quietly, walking over to pull Nova into a hug. Nova nodded, leaning into her cool scales. “That's horrible. I'm so sorry you had to go through that.” Calypso said, and Nova could feel her shudder.
“I'm fine. It's fine.” Nova said, looking up at Calypso. “I promise.”
~~
Seeing dragons from the royal families wasn’t unusual in Sanctuary, and especially not when the annual meeting was happening. Ciana could almost always predict when each group would arrive, or at least the order they’d show up in. So it wasn’t the fact that the small cluster of RainWings were Queen Titan’s family that stunned her, it was who was with them. There were four of them, which Ciana had expected. Titan, of course, her husband Acer, Princess Morning Glory, and the dragon Morning Glory had recently married. Everyone in Sanctuary had heard about the princess’s marriage, but Ciana would have never guessed that the new royal was her missing younger sister. But it very clearly WAS Solandis walking with Morning Glory, her dark purple scales making her stand out more than her height already did.
Ciana wanted to ask Sol so many questions, but she hesitated to approach the group, which had now stopped. Solandis probably had a reason for disappearing the way she did, and she hadn’t even noticed Ciana yet. She just watched from a distance as Solandis picked up a small mirror from a market stall, turned it over a few times, and then angled it in a way that allowed Ciana see her sister’s reflection. Which meant that Solandis could also see her. Neither of them moved for a moment, until Solandis put the mirror down and said something quietly to Morning Glory. Morning nodded, and Solandis waited for the other three to keep going before she turned to Ciana, walking over with an expression she couldn’t really decipher. 
“Ciana.” Solandis’s tone was cold, sharp. She sounded nothing like the dragonet Ciana remembered. She looked the same, though. Dark purple scales, vibrant green eyes, and deep yellow accents. Solandis was taller than Ciana now, and gave Ciana a strong feeling of mystery and secrets.
“Sol. I’m so glad to see you’re alright.” Ciana said, giving her sister a smile. Solandis didn’t return it. “We were all really worried when you just disappeared like that.”
“Don’t lie to me. I know exactly how much you all cared.” Sol was actually angry, bright red flickering through her dark yellow ruffs. Ciana couldn’t remember seeing her sister get this emotional before, and if she had, it was never anger, and never directed towards Ciana.
“I cared, Sol. You’re my sister, I-” Ciana wasn’t making it any better for herself. She wasn’t sure what she’d thought Sol’s reaction would be, but it wasn’t this. She barely recognized this version of her sister, and she’d hoped the years would have made Sol more like her former self. It looked like that hadn’t happened.
“Don’t call me Sol.” Solandis snapped. “Don’t pretend you know me.” That one hurt Ciana the most. They’d been close when they were dragonets, and Ciana had been the dragon to start calling her Sol in the first place. 
“What happened to you? You used to be different. This isn’t who you are.” Ciana said softly, finally asking the question she’d been wondering about for more than ten years. 
“What do you think happened? Latis never tried to hide what she wanted from us.” Solandis hissed. “She got that with Asp, her loyal follower, willing to do whatever she wants. Thought she could mold me the same way. She didn’t care if I didn’t want to do her tests, so she never gave me the choice. She forced me through the same training Asp went through. I thought that’s what I wanted.” 
Ciana felt cold, even though it was almost noon. She’d had a feeling that Latis had something to do with it, but she never would have learned the truth on her own.
“She made me kill someone, Ciana.” Solandis had that cold tone again, and it was fairly unnerving. She sounded almost emotionless, empty. Not unnerving, Ciana realized. Scary. “I was four.”
~~
‘Calliandra’
Calli froze, looking around. It had been a long time since she'd heard that name.
“Who's there?” She asked, flaring her long, feathered wings. It wasn't someone from the nearby town, they all knew her as Brimstone. It wasn't Paradox, either, she'd recognize the other necromancer's voice.
“Oh, Calli.” The voice hissed. It sounded rough and strained, like the speaker was struggling with their words. “You don't remember me?” 
Calli stared at the dragon who emerged from the shadows. She was a soft green, but it was hard to see her scales through the vines that seemed to be growing out of her. The sight of her stirred a deeply buried memory in Calli's mind.
“Genesis.” She said, stepping towards her oldest friend. “What happened to you?” 
Genesis laughed, although it sounded like she was choking on the noise. 
“What do you think, Calliandra? Paradox happened.” She spat, and Calli had to look away. 
“She did this to you, too.” Genesis said, and Calli looked at her again, stunned.
“Did what?” She asked. Paradox had only trapped her here because she'd lost control. Attacked the others. She'd lost her powers, even though she was back to normal now. 
“Messed with your mind. Stole your memories. Locked your powers away.” Genesis growled. “Got you out of the way without killing you.” 
Calli shook her head. “No, Paradox would never do that.” But now she had two sets of memories filling her mind. The ones where Paradox was just protecting them, and where Paradox had attacked her, erasing her mind and changing her. She didn't know what to believe anymore.
“See, Calli? Paradox can't be trusted.” Genesis said, looking smug. Calli sunk her claws into the soft undergrowth. Which of her lives were real? Were either of them? 
~~
“Hey, Lan? I need help with something.” Solandis woke up slowly as Morning gently shook her. “Do you recognize this?” 
“Huhh?” Sol mumbled, automatically accepting the piece of paper Morning handed her. She stared at it blankly for a bit, then her eyes went wide and she sat up quickly. “Where did you find this?” She asked Morning, her voice more intense than she’d intended.
“Mother said she and a few of the other queens are trying to identify it, I’m not sure why. But you know what it is?” Morning asked, and Sol nodded. The sigil of the Animus Project. Arcane had it tattooed on his shoulder. She traced the lines drawn on the paper with one claw, thinking. 
“Lan? Everything alright?” Morning asked, pulling Sol out of her thoughts. She smiled at Morning, but it was a forced smile. Morning frowned at her, and took Sol’s talons. “This is clearly bothering you. Please tell me, it’s important."
“We have to go see your mother. Immediately.” Sol said, pulling her talons away from her wife. Morning looked hurt for a brief second, then nodded.
They flew to the Queen’s Pavilion in silence, which made Sol feel guilty for hurting Morning. When they landed, Queen Titan glanced between the two of them, looking amused. 
“Solandis says she knows what the sigil is.” Morning said, glancing at Sol briefly. It felt like a slap in the face, hearing Morning use her full name instead of her usual nickname. Sol really had hurt her. She’d ask Morning once they were done talking to the queen. She wanted to apologize for whatever she’d done immediately, but Titan had to know about the Animus Project. 
“Your Majesty, this sigil belongs to the Animus Project. They’re-” Titan cut her off.
“I am very aware of the Animus Project.” Titan said, her voice betraying her fear. “Morning, you should know the real reason I needed this identified. It’s about… well. I’m trying to find your sister.” All three RainWings fell silent. Sol tried to put a wing around Morning, to comfort her, but Morning shrugged her off. Sol managed not to show her own hurt feelings. 
Morning looked stunned, like she was trying to find the right words. “You mean… Thyme?” The older princess had vanished years ago, when Morning was young. Most of the tribe had given up on the hope that Thyme would return, but Morning had always wanted her sister back. Apparently Titan hadn’t given up either.
But if the Animus Project has her, she’s basically just dead, isn’t she? Sol thought, but she pushed the dark thought away. Thyme could be rescued, she didn’t want Morning’s hope to be destroyed.
== 5965 AS ==
Thyme hovered in place, staring at the RainWing palace in front of her. It didn't feel real, being back. She held Amethyst close, since her daughter was sleeping. Her family was waiting for her, they hadn’t given up on her. She tipped her wings, and dove down to the palace landing area.
A few seconds later, she was tackled by a soft pink blur, which turned out to be her baby sister. Except, Morning Glory wasn't a tiny dragonet anymore. She was only three years younger than Thyme was. Which meant that Thyme’s baby sister was an adult now. She'd missed Morning’s entire life. She felt strangely guilty about that, when none of it had been her choice.
“Oh, moons. I'm sorry, did I hurt you?” Morning asked, pulling Thyme up to her feet again. Thyme shook her head, smiling at her sister. “I'm so glad you're home.” Morning continued, throwing her wings around Thyme, hugging her tightly.
“It's good to be back.” Thyme answered, feeling like she was going to cry. Morning nodded, then her eyes went wide.
“Oh! You haven't met Solandis!” She gasped. Thyme gave her a confused look, and Morning grinned. “She's my wife.” Thyme smiled a little, happy but also sad that she’d missed so much. Her little sister, who she hadn’t seen since she was three, was married. She'd been gone for longer than she'd realized.
~~
Thyme spread her wings out, enjoying the warmth of the sunlight. She didn’t feel tired, though. While she was trapped by the Animus Project, she had stopped sleeping in the middle of the day. Now that she was back in the rainforest, she was trying to join the rest of the tribe in suntime, but she still found sleeping difficult. 
Amethyst, though, wasn't having that issue. She was fast asleep, curled up next to Thyme. Morning and Solandis were on Amethyst’s other side, pressed against each other. Thyme stayed quiet and still, so she wouldn't wake them up. She was happy to be home, especially now that Amethyst was doing better. Thyme figured that her sickness had something to do with how far away she was from the Animus Project's labs, and leaving Pyrrhia had activated the worst part of her curse.
“Lannn. Get off my tail.” Morning grumbled, waking up slowly and gently shaking Solandis. Thyme had to stifle her laughter, since Amethyst was still asleep. Solandis huffed slightly and shifted, but she was still grinning at Morning. Thyme softly nudged Amethyst, to both wake up her daughter and to pretend she didn't notice that Morning and Solandis were quietly flirting with each other.
They hadn’t been awake for very long when someone landed on their platform, which immediately silenced all conversation. The new RainWing looked distressed, and they bowed quickly. Morning was standing now, concerned.
“I'm so sorry, Princess. Both of you. It's Queen Titan. She's dead.” The RainWing said, and nobody spoke for a long minute. Then Morning’s stunned expression broke, and she collapsed into Solandis, sobbing. Solandis pulled her wife into a close hug, folding her wings around both of them. She looked just as broken as Morning, but she wasn't crying.
Thyme didn't know how she was supposed to feel. She wasn't Titan's daughter, not really. Morning was her half-sister. But Titan had always been a great mother to her, before she was taken. The Animus Project had grabbed her when she was six, and she had been missing for seventeen years. Thyme was never as close to Titan as Morning or even Solandis was, especially since she'd only been reunited with her family for a month.
Thyme didn’t respond, and just picked up Amethyst, holding her tightly. She should have gotten more time with her family. So much time had been stolen from them, and now they'd never make up for it. 
~~
Talonsteps. Behind her. Sheer had assumed she was the only one who would be awake this late at night, but she had been wrong, apparently. They turned around to see who was following them, and froze. Even though it was dark, and they had their face and body covered by a dark cloak, she recognized the shimmering colors of the other dragon.
“Aurora?” Sheer whispered, choking up. “I thought… I'd lost you forever.” They wanted to run to Aurora, to apologize for everything they'd done, but it was too late now. Sheer had betrayed Aurora’s trust, and they didn't deserve her forgiveness.
“Sheer.” It was the anger in her voice that hurt Sheer the most, and she knew she deserved it. Even after everything they'd been through together, they'd chosen Crow over Aurora, and they regretted it now.
“You're here for me, aren't you?” Sheer asked, watching Aurora. “Because I'm supposed to be dead.” Aurora nodded, and pulled the hood of her cloak down so Sheer could see her face. 
“Yes.” Sheer’s heart skipped a beat, and she couldn’t look away from Aurora, who now had dark red scales on half of her face. That was another thing Sheer blamed themself for, Necromancer's attempts to use Aurora to bring back Bloodlust. Now the two dragons were fused. 
“I'm sorry. For everything.” Sheer said, pulling their wings in close and looking away. She didn't want to see Aurora’s expression. “I didn't want to hurt you like that. It's all my fault.” She reached up to the chain around her neck and pulled, breaking both the necklace and the immortality spell Crow had placed on it. 
~~
It wasn't that Iceberg was scared of anything in the woods, she would just rather stay very far away from them. But Shadow had said she wanted to find out what had happened to Genesis, and Iceberg was not about to let her girlfriend go into the creepy forest on her own.
“Oh, moons.” Shadow gasped, and Iceberg hurried over to her side. “Is that… blood?” Iceberg felt a bit sick, but she nodded. The dark stains on the ground were definitely IceWing blood, which meant there was only one dragon it could have come from. Sheer, the only other IceWing on the island. Iceberg had never really liked the older dragon, but she didn’t want them to be hurt, or worse.
“Yeah. I… I think it’s Sheer’s.” Iceberg said. “I know it’s not mine, and I don’t think there are any other IceWings or IceWing hybrids on Fate.” Shadow stepped closer to her, clearly nervous. Iceberg tucked a wing around her and pulled out her spear, just in case they got attacked. Iceberg could feel Shadow’s heartbeat racing, and she briefly wanted to tell the NightWing to go back to town, but she knew that would just worry Shadow more.
“We should look for her.” Shadow said after a few minutes, and Iceberg nodded. She stepped away from Shadow, looking around cautiously. Iceberg had no idea what could have attacked Sheer, and she didn’t want to be caught by surprise. Shadow was being quiet as well, glancing around.
It didn’t take them long to find Sheer, unfortunately. Their body wasn’t very far from where Shadow had found the blood, and they were very dead.
“What happened to her?” Shadow said, her voice quiet. Iceberg had no idea how to respond. Looking around, she realized that Sheer wasn’t the only one who’d been injured. There had been a fight here, and Sheer hadn’t been the only IceWing.
“I guess they were attacked.” Iceberg said. She really wanted to run home, to forget about this whole thing, but she couldn’t. The best option would be to report this back to Bronze, and let her figure it out.
~~
It had been two months, but Thyme still felt awkward and out of place in her own family. She'd been gone for so long, and she was still used to being by herself. They'd had a month to grieve Titan's death, but now the RainWings needed a new queen. Morning was laying in a corner of the room, her scales a dull blue-gray. She'd been that color for weeks now, which worried Thyme.
“How long is this going to take?” Thyme said, staring at the doorway. She wanted to get this over with, especially since Amethyst hadn't been allowed to join her. “We're just fighting, right?” She glanced over at her sister, who shook her head.
“Mom would have chosen who'll take over next, and if she didn’t, then it goes to the oldest.” Morning said, not really moving. Thyme was a little annoyed that Solandis and Amethyst had been made to stay behind, since Morning clearly needed support, and Thyme had no idea how to help her. Morning’s wife, however, would definitely be able to comfort her.
The door opened, and both princesses jumped. Acer reappeared, a crown in his talons and a sad smile on his face.
“This belongs to you, Thyme, if you want to accept it.” Thyme’s eyes widened at her father's words. Titan had chosen her, even though she'd been missing for seventeen years. Titan truly hadn't given up on her.
~~
Calypso froze when she felt something change. She knew, instinctively, what had just happened. Nova, who'd gone to visit her island town, was dead. The necromancers were linked, so they could communicate without having to speak to each other, and now Nova was gone. Not just faded, like the two who'd disappeared, but entirely gone. 
Paradox- Calypso started, but Paradox was already responding.
You felt it too. The NightWing thought back. Calypso confirmed, and hesitated. She was only getting one response, but there were two other necromancers. 
I can't reach Necromancer. Do you think… She didn’t want to finish that thought. Calypso didn't want to think that it was Necromancer who killed Nova, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that he, and the Animus Project, had something to do with it. 
You're probably right about the Animus Project’s involvement. Paradox thought, which made Calypso's dread worse. She was one of their more powerful dragons. They'd either want her back, or want her dead. 
Why now? Calypso asked, even though she knew Paradox wouldn’t have an answer. Why Nova? She knew something drastic had happened to the Animus Project, since the volcano the labs were built under had erupted suddenly. 
Maybe they're rebuilding. From the beginning. Paradox suggested.
== 5966 AS ==
Morning stared down at the circlet in her talons. She couldn’t bring herself to wear it, though. It would always be her mother’s crown, not hers. She sighed, and carefully placed the circlet back on the shelf where she kept it. If the other queens found it weird that she wasn’t wearing a crown, then that was their problem.
“You should wear it. You look more confident.” Morning turned to her wife, smiling at Solandis. She’d tried to stay quiet, so Solandis wouldn’t be woken up, but apparently she didn’t have to do that. Sol was already awake, which wasn’t unusual. She had managed to walk up to Morning while she was focused, and tucked a wing around her.
“It’s still too painful, Lan.” Morning said, leaning into her hug. Solandis pulled her close, resting her head on Morning’s. Sol’s scales were soft purple and gold, and Morning grinned. Pride and excitement. “I don’t think I can do this. I’m not the right dragon to be queen.” Sol scoffed, hugging Morning tighter.
“Stop that. You’re not a failure, Morning. You’ll be a great queen.” Solandis said, and Morning sighed.
“How? I’m named after one of the most famous queens in our history, there’s no way I can live up to that.” There was a reason she went by Morning, and not her full name. Morning Glory. She didn’t feel like she was good enough, and she didn’t want to be compared to the ancient queen as soon as another dragon heard her name.
“Morning, look at me.” Sol said gently. “You’re not Queen Glory. And that’s a good thing. We need someone who can lead our tribe through peace, and that’s you. Just because you’re named after her doesn’t mean anyone is expecting you to be like her.” She reached around Morning, picking up the circlet. She settled it on Morning’s head, and stepped back to adjust it, smiling. “There. You look perfect.”
Morning sighed again, reaching up to take the circlet off, but Sol stopped her. “Morning, trust me. It looks good on you.” She urged.
“Alright, alright, you win. I’ll wear it.” Morning laughed. “I love you, and I’ll see you when I get back.” She hugged Solandis tightly, and left the platform, flying towards the tunnels. She would be fine, as long as she trusted herself. And Solandis, of course.
== 5967 AS ==
“This is not a joking matter, Sheer.” Sawtell huffed, rolling her eyes at the IceWing. Sheer just grinned at her again, and Sawtell had to resist the urge to punch them in their new teeth. 
“You're boring. I have fangs!” Sheer said, laughing. “This feels so weird, honestly. I can't believe I'm back here.” They added, gesturing to the snowy forest around them. Sawtell glanced over at Aurora, who looked like she was regretting all of her life choices.
“This is entirely your fault, by the way.” Sawtell said, and Aurora sighed, but nodded. She was the one who had decided to make Sheer a vampire, and it had been her idea to get Sawtell to help them figure out their new state. 
“At least she hasn't done anything stupid yet.” Necromancer commented. He was only there to keep an eye on Aurora’s daughter, although what had actually happened was that Ferret and Squirrel had tagged along, and now they were watching Bleak. 
“It's been an hour. Give her time.” Aurora said, grinning at Sheer, who shot an overly dramatic offended face right back. Sawtell just rolled her eyes again. 
“Right, apparently none of you can take anything seriously. I'm done here.” Sawtell said, glancing at Necromancer. He'd be fine here with these two, she just wanted him to know where she was going. 
“Mom, come on.” Ferret chimed in. “Please? We've never been able to have a moment like this. For once, nobody is dying, or trying to kill anyone. We don't need to be serious right now.” Sawtell paused. Ferret was right, of course. She'd been focused on protecting herself and her family for her whole life. Now, she didn’t have to. It felt wrong, somehow. Like if she let her guard down, something terrible would happen. 
Except... it wouldn't. There was no threat. She was safe, her family was safe. Sawtell sighed, and smiled at Ferret. 
"Okay, yes, fine." She said, sitting down in the snow. It would be okay to just take a moment with her dragonets. Nobody would die. 
~~
“Of all the dragons to show up here, with the RainWing royal family, I really didn't expect it to be you, Solandis.” Sol glanced around, trying to figure out where the voice was coming from. She hadn’t been back to Sanctuary in years, and this was exactly why. Dragons knew her here, and it wouldn't take long for the information to get back to Latis.
“Stop hiding, Raptor. I know it’s you.” Sol hissed. The SandWing queen laughed, stepping out of the shadows. She was taller than Sol, and still wore the symbol of the RedWood Guild. Of course she was still working for them.
“Solandis. You and I both know she already knows you're here.” Raptor said, taunting Sol. Solandis kept her expression still. She wouldn't let Raptor know she was scared.
“So what if she does? She has no say in my life any more.” Sol said. “And she wouldn't break her own rules. I'm not worried about what my mother thinks.” Raptor snorted, flicking her tail.
“The rules of the Guild don't apply to runaways, Solandis.” Raptor warned. “Take my advice. Watch your back. And your wife's, as well.” Raptor turned and disappeared again, leaving Solandis with a chill. She shook it off, and headed back to where she and Morning were staying. She had to make sure she was safe.
~~
“What do you think you're doing?” Iceberg hissed at Maple, slamming her cards on the table dramatically. Maple just gave her a confused look. Hellebore and Owlet were writing notes back and forth, and Meris, Iceberg knew, was plotting. Bronze had once again declined their game invitation.
“Taking my turn?” Maple said, reaching for the game board. Iceberg frowned, unsure of what to do. If Maple moved now, Iceberg would be stuck when the round got back to her. Unless she broke their alliance, which wasn’t the best idea. Meris was already winning, and changing strategies this late in the game was always a fast way to lose.
“Are you going to move or not?” Hellebore sighed, lightly tapping their cards. Apparently he and Owlet had planned their next moves while Iceberg and Maple argued. Maple nodded quickly, pushing her piece forwards before Iceberg could object.
“One, two, three, and I'm not moving.” Owlet said, laying down xer cards in rapid succession. Iceberg glanced at the play, and sighed in relief. Owlet hadn’t gotten any more points, xe were just stacking boosts. It was a little concerning, yes, but not a risk Iceberg was going to focus on.
The real concern was the gloating expression on Meris's face. The face that told Iceberg he was about to win. Again. For the fourth time that afternoon.
“You fools!” He laughed, playing all of his cards at once. Meris tallied up his extra movement points, just to rub it in more. Iceberg knew her expression probably looked like she'd eaten a lime whole, but he deserved it. She was not a sore loser, Meris was being a sore winner.
== 5968 AS ==
Solandis didn't mind dragonets, but now that she’d spent a few days taking care of Amethyst, she knew she didn't want any of her own. Fortunately, Acer had agreed to watch her while Sol went for a walk. And Thyme and Morning would be back at the end of the week, so she didn't have to wait for too much longer.
It was nice to have some time for herself for once, even if she felt uneasy. She walked towards the river, glancing behind herself a few times. It really felt like she was being followed. She just couldn't figure out what was following her. Or who. Sol figured she was just making things up, and tried to ignore the feeling of dread.
That was the wrong choice. A rush of movement behind her, and Solandis hit the ground. It took her a few seconds to realize she knew the tall RainWing pinning her down, sharp claws pressed against her throat.
“Hello, baby sister.” Asp said, sneering down at Sol. “Surprised?” Sol didn’t answer, she was trying to find the other dragon she knew would be there. RedWood assassins never worked alone. Unfortunately, Asp's vampire teammate was nowhere to be found.
“Who sent you?” Sol hissed, trying to move Asp's claws away from her throat. It didn't really work, as Asp was older, taller, and stronger than Sol was. It had been years since she'd seen her sister, and it looked like Asp had succeeded where Sol had failed. Asp had the same star-like tattoos as Latis, the same ones she'd seen on most of the other RedWood Guild members. A kill tally.
“Who do you think?” Asp asked, snorting. Sol had been right. Of course Latis wanted her dead. And of course she would send her oldest daughter to kill her youngest. Sol knew her luck would run out eventually, and Latis would find out where she was. Big news, especially when it was about royal weddings, spread fast.
“Right. That's enough talking from you.” Asp said, giving Sol a fake sad look as she drew her dagger. Sol didn’t let herself look scared. Fighting back would only make her death longer and more painful. She wouldn't let Asp have that excuse.
Solandis didn't gasp or flinch when Asp drove the dagger into her throat. She just accepted it, letting the world fade away. Her only regret was that she knew how much pain Morning would suffer.
~~
“Are you sure you're going to be okay?” Iceberg asked again, giving Shadow a concerned look. Shadow sighed, but she did find Iceberg’s worrying cute.
“I'm going to be fine. I promise. The cold won't be a problem.” Shadow said, brushing her wing against Iceberg’s. She hadn’t told anyone about her magic, not since she'd escaped.
“How, Shadow? I trust you, but… you're not an IceWing. It's a lot colder than most dragons think.” Iceberg said, and Shadow hesitated.
“Because… I've never told anyone this. Please, don't tell anyone else.” Shadow said, waiting for Iceberg’s quick nod before she continued. “Um. I'm an animus.”
Iceberg’s eyes went wide, and Shadow was nervous for a brief second. “Shadow… you're being careful, right? Not overusing it?” Iceberg asked quickly, taking Shadow’s talons and pulling her closer. Shadow nodded, relieved that her wife wasn't scared of her.
“I've only used it once. When I figured out I had magic, the first and only spell I cast was to limit what I could do.” Shadow explained. “I can't use my magic on other dragons, or in a way that could harm anyone. I can only enchant myself.” Iceberg looked a bit happier, and she sighed with relief, hugging Shadow.
“That's good. That you're keeping it under control.” Iceberg said. “I've heard stories, and I don't want anything like that happening to you.” Shadow closed her eyes, trying to not think about what had happened to the dragonets she'd grown up with.
“I know. That's why I'm not letting it get ahold of me.” Shadow said. “If it does manage to corrupt me, if I ever start to slip, or my defense spell fails, I need you to kill me.” Iceberg opened her mouth like she wanted to argue, but she nodded slowly.
“I promise. I hate the idea, but if you want me to, I will.” Iceberg said, hugging her again.
~~
Iceberg had forgotten what cold smelled like. It had been eleven years since she ran away, and now she was back. Shadow stood beside her, her dark blue scales standing out against the pale snow. Iceberg wasn't worried about being attacked, though. If nobody recognized her, they would be brought to see the queen. If they did recognize her, then they wouldn't be in any danger either.
“You okay?” Shadow asked softly, brushing her wing against Iceberg’s side. She nodded and gave Shadow a little smile, pulled out of her thoughts. Shadow wasn't shivering at all, which was good. Iceberg had been worried that her wife wouldn't be able to handle the cold, but her magic seemed to be working.
“Yeah. Just thinking about how the last time I saw this place, I was barely seven. Last time anyone from the palace saw me, I was a boy.” She said, laughing slightly. They were getting closer to the palace, and it looked exactly the same. It hadn’t changed since Iceberg had left.
“You're sure you want to do this? Even if they don't accept you?” Shadow asked, which was what Iceberg had been asking herself the whole time. She nodded, but she wasn’t totally confident she was right.
“I haven't seen them in so long. And… I guess I kind of miss them. Even if they never cared about me, they're still my parents.” Iceberg sighed. She hoped Storm was actually at the palace, and not out on a mission. She really didn't care if her father was or not, he'd made the choice to leave their family himself.
Shadow went quiet when the two of them walked into the main hall of the IceWing palace, the smooth ice feeling strange and wrong under Iceberg’s claws. It was nothing like the busy streets of Fate, and Shadow was clearly getting a bit uncomfortable. The NightWing was shifting back and forth a little, and she’d stepped closer to Iceberg. Iceberg tucked a wing around Shadow, and a few of the stares stopped, which then led to whispers and glances.
Of course there would be gossip. Commander Storm’s missing son was back.
== 5969 AS ==
Amethyst sighed dramatically, dropping her quill and flopping over on the pile of cushions she'd claimed in the library. Crystal still didn't react, and Amethyst made a face at them.
“Okay, fine. You win.” She said, scrambling to find her quill. “But we do have to actually talk to each other. It's a group project.” Crystal looked up from their work and shrugged.
“So find someone else to work with.” They said, waving to the other groups of dragonets in the library. “I'm sure the teachers won't mind.” Amethyst was going to say something snarky back, but then she noticed what Crystal was actually writing.
“Is that a letter?” She asked, and Crystal glared at her. It was definitely a letter, which was interesting, since Amethyst knew Crystal didn't really have anyone to write to. 
“Does it matter?” They said, quickly covering the writing. Amethyst blinked, more confused. Crystal was a strange dragon, but they were also Amethyst’s clawmate, and she wanted to get to know them. 
“Sorry. I was just curious.” Amethyst said, wondering why Crystal was so quiet all the time. They never talked about their family, or their tribe, or really anything, which was weird compared to some of the other students of Jade Mountain, who would take every opportunity to tell someone why their tribe was the best.
Crystal stared down at the scroll in silence. 
“It's… not really a letter. I'm not going to send it to anyone.” They said quietly. “It's more like a diary.” Amethyst felt kind of bad now, for trying to read it. It was Crystal’s business, not hers.
“Oh. Sorry.” Amethyst said, not sure how she was supposed to respond. “I guess it's cool if it helps you with stuff.” 
“Mm.” Crystal said, writing again. “Before you ask who it's not being sent to, the answer is my parents, okay?” They said, answering Amethyst’s question before she even asked it. She could tell Crystal didn't want to talk about it anymore, so she stayed quiet as well, picking up the history project the two of them were supposed to be working on. 
== 5970 AS ==
Morning Glory didn't want to let go of the small bundle of flowers she'd collected. They were Lan’s favorites. No, they had been her favorites. Either way, Morning thought about her every time she saw a water lily, and that made her happy in a sad way. She carefully placed the flowers at the base of Solandis's grave marker, making sure it looked nice.
“Hey, Lan.” Morning whispered. “I know you can't hear me, but… I just want you to know that I really miss you. And I still love you.”
Obviously, there was no response. Morning would have been more worried if someone HAD answered. She wiped her tears away, taking a shaky breath. She didn't want to start crying again. It had already taken her a while before she was ready to visit Lan’s grave in the first place. It had taken her longer to be there alone.
She didn't feel alone, though. There was someone else there, someone she couldn’t see. It felt more like a comforting presence than someone actually watching her. Morning didn't want to get her hopes up. But maybe…
“Lan?” She asked, trying to keep herself calm. “Is that you?”
~~
Crystal had been trying to ignore the box Grey had left in their room for weeks. She'd gone back to Crystal’s old cabin at some point, and brought back some of their parent's things. It was easier for Crystal to move on without having reminders around. Or so they told themself. They knew Grey did it because she cared about them, but it had still been too painful for them to open it when she brought it to them.
But now, they were having trouble focusing on their map. They kept glancing at the box they'd shoved in the corner. It had a sort of quiet peace, even though it was just an inanimate object. Crystal scowled at it, then turned back to adding small details to the mountain ranges near the sea. They couldn't concentrate for long. The box caught their attention again, and they sighed.
Fine. If the box wanted to be opened, they would open it. Crystal packed away their maps and pens, and walked over to the corner. They carefully lifted the lid off, and, surprisingly, didn't immediately burst into tears.
Crystal lifted the small pile of letters off the top, and set it aside. They didn’t need to read their parent's love notes to each other. There wasn't as much stuff in there as they'd expected. Their father's travel bag, which still felt heavy. A small portrait, which Crystal guessed was Pirate's family. They went through the whole box, remembering happy moments with their parents and cousins.
And then it was empty. Except for a small gold disk. Crystal picked it up, curiously turning it over. It was a compass. A really well-made one, as well. Crystal frowned, turning it over a few times. They'd helped their dad clean out his bag a lot, and they'd never seen this compass before. They looked at it closer, trying to figure out where it had come from.
Then they noticed the engraving on the side. It had their name lightly carved into it. Crystal was confused, and then it clicked. Their grandfather had taught Swift blacksmithing, and she'd been making this for Pirate before he died. They had known that. Their mother had planned to give it to them instead, so someone else could use it.
~~
Calliandra stood silent, motionless. Like a statue. Calypso never knew what to think of the other necromancer. Calli was interesting, obviously old and extremely powerful, but she acted young. Calypso guessed this was partially because she’d had large chunks of her memories removed, but she wasn’t sure.
“Hello, Calypso.” Calli said suddenly, turning to look at her. Calypso was startled, she hadn't realized Calli had noticed her. Calli was looking at her, but she seemed somewhere else, like she was lost in her thoughts.
“Calliandra. Is everything alright?” Calypso asked her, quickly recovering from her brief surprise. Calli nodded, but she still looked distant.
“Just thinking. Remembering.” Calli said. Calypso nodded, a bit confused. She could hear a few of Calli's thoughts, but they didn't make much sense. They were fragments, mostly. Shards of broken memories.
“I'll leave you alone then.” Calypso said, turning and leaving. She missed Nova suddenly, a sharp pain in her heart as she thought about her girlfriend.
~~
“I think Amethyst might be closer with Crystal than she claims.” Thyme said quietly, and Morning glanced over, following Thyme’s gaze to where Amethyst and Crystal were sitting and talking. The two of them were smiling and laughing, but it just looked like friendship to Morning. She gave her sister a confused look, and Thyme raised an eyebrow at her in return.
“I'm pretty sure you're making things up.” Morning said. “They were at Jade Mountain together, of course they'd want to catch up after years.” There wasn't much else for them to do, since the other queens hadn't arrived yet. Morning, Thyme, and Amethyst had been the second group to show up, and the CaveWings, as always, were early. Usually only Wolfe came to the meetings, but this time, one of the other groups sent someone. 
“Wow, you're kind of oblivious. I'm surprised you ever managed to figure out Sol liked you.” Thyme teased, and Morning tried to hide the brief second of pain that gave her. She was still trying to get over her grief for her wife, but it was hard. Thyme must have noticed, because she tucked a wing around Morning. “Sorry.” Thyme said quietly. “I didn't think.”
“It's alright.” Morning said. Solandis had died years ago, and thinking about her hurt less than it used to. She glanced over at Amethyst and Crystal again, and she smiled. “Okay, no, you're definitely right.” She said, nudging Thyme. Crystal had flicked their tail over Amethyst’s, and the RainWing had gone pinker than usual. They looked happy together, which Morning liked. Amethyst had always seemed worried about something, even when she was young. 
“She could do a lot worse.” Thyme pointed out, and Morning nodded. She didn’t know Crystal, but if their leader trusted them enough to send them in her place, Morning felt that was a good sign. 
== 5971 AS ==
The first time Crystal visited the rainforest, they had absolutely hated it. Now, though, they spent more time there than with their own tribe. They liked spending time with Amethyst, who had once again woken them up in the middle of the night to go find… something. She hadn’t told them what it was yet.
Crystal squinted, looking around for Amethyst’s soft pinks. She was surprisingly hard to find at night, even though they were standing in a clearing.
“Got one!” Amethyst said excitedly, sitting up. She was holding one talon close to her chest, which made Crystal worried that she'd hurt herself for a second. She wasn't hurt, fortunately, she was just holding something gently. “Crystal, come over here! I don't want to scare it.”
Crystal was confused, but joined Amethyst, who slowly moved her arm to show Crystal what she'd caught. It looked almost like a butterfly, but much bigger than any butterfly they'd seen before. It was black, with huge yellow wings, and it was about the same size as Amethyst’s talon.
“Wow. What is it?” Crystal asked, looking away from the large not-butterfly to Amethyst, who was still grinning. She didn't respond right away, instead taking Crystal’s arm and holding their talon next to hers. Crystal gave her a confused look, unsure of what she was doing, when the thing moved, slowly crawling onto Crystal’s arm.
“It's a comet moth. And look, it likes you!” Amethyst said, watching Crystal and the moth with an amused look. “It's like… a nighttime butterfly. These ones are my favorite.” Crystal sat back, letting the moth sit on them. They could barely even feel it, which was strange. They hesitated, then carefully tried to pet the moth. It barely moved, and Crystal smiled at Amethyst.
“It's so soft.” They said quietly. They didn’t want to disturb the little guy, even though they were pretty sure it was almost dead. Amethyst nodded, petting it herself gently. She held her talon next to Crystal’s, and carefully tapped its back. The moth crawled back to Amethyst, who set it back on the tree it had come from.
“That's what I wanted to show you.” Amethyst told Crystal happily. “Pretty, right?” Crystal nodded. They hated being woken up, but it had been worth it, to see their girlfriend this excited about something.
== 5972 AS ==
Thysania stared at her wrists again, disappointed once more. Her Metamorphosis should have started already, according to Bronze. She didn’t want to think about the possibility of never getting her wings, even if it was something that she’d always known might happen. Bronze had never hidden the fact that Thysania was adopted, and that she didn’t know who Thysania’s biological parents were. She did, however, know that Thysania was only partially SilkWing. 
The door to Thysania’s room creaked open, startling her. Bronze looked confused for only a second, and then she gave Thysania a small smile.
“Still nothing, huh?” Bronze asked. Thysania nodded slowly, feeling kind of embarrassed. She’d been standing in the dark, so it was probably obvious what was going on. Bronze walked over to her, pulling Thysania into a tight hug. “It’ll be okay. Even if you never go through metamorphosis, you’ll still be part of the community.” 
Thysania didn’t respond. She didn’t want to stay on Fate. She’d been waiting to be able to leave for so long, and it felt like it had been ripped away from her. Amethyst had left years ago, and she’d been Thysania’s only real friend. She had never told Bronze that, though. She wasn’t sure what her reaction would be. Bronze had never gotten upset with Thysania, but would she feel betrayed if Thysania told her that she couldn’t wait to leave the island she’d grown up on?
== 5973 AS ==
Crystal sank into the sand, glancing back at the hidden tunnel. They were concerned for a bit, until another dragon exploded out of the passage, sending sand everywhere. Crystal had to scramble out of the way as Amethyst shook the sand from her wings, laughing.
“Ooh, it’s so warm.” Amethyst said, walking over to stand beside Crystal. “Thanks for letting me join you.” She'd surprised Crystal when she asked to come with them, and they'd happily agreed. Amethyst’s mom, however, had been less enthusiastic about it, and made Crystal promise that they wouldn't go anywhere too dangerous. 
“Of course! It's always more fun traveling with someone else.” Crystal said, flicking Amethyst lightly with their tail. “We should get going, so we can make it to Scorpion Clan before nightfall. Which is that way.” They said, checking their compass. Crystal started walking, Amethyst right beside them.
“Sorry about Thyme, by the way. She seems strict, but she’s just worried about me.” Amethyst said, and Crystal smiled.
“My mom said the exact same thing when I was begging my dad to take me with him.” Crystal said, laughing. They'd asked their dad for weeks for take them on his next trip to the surface, and he'd finally agreed, and together, they'd managed to get Swift to let them go. Except… there had never been a next time. Crystal had never traveled with their father. 
“Hey, are you okay?” Amethyst asked gently. Crystal realized she'd must have noticed their mood had changed, and they smiled at her again.
“Yeah. Fine. Just thinking.” Crystal said. “About my parents.” They added. Amethyst looked like she wanted to ask more questions, but she didn’t. They answered her anyway.
“My dad promised me he'd take me with him on his next trip, but then life got complicated, and it never happened.” Crystal said. Amethyst brushed her wing against their side, and they smiled at her again. “It's okay. I'm okay now. I was… three?” They said, thinking back to before they'd lost their family.
“What happened? If you're okay talking about it.” Amethyst said. Crystal nodded. 
“My parents adopted my cousins after their mom died, and then my dad died the next year.” They explained. “I never actually left the clan until after Grey took me in.” Crystal noticed Amethyst’s confused look, and explained more. 
“I was six when my mom died. Grey was friends with her, so she gave me a home. I don’t have any living family left.” Crystal said. “It was all so long ago, though. It's not as painful as it used to be.” Amethyst looked at them, sympathetic.
“I don't know any of my biological family, so I understand.” Amethyst said. “At least we have each other.”
--
Sheer stood her ground, keeping her eyes on the dark blue dragon across from her. It had been a while since they'd done something like this, and it would have been obvious to anyone who had known them in life. However, Thysania was not one of those dragons, and Sheer’s combat skills would be useful to her. 
“I'm really not sure what you're waiting for. Just attack me.” Sheer said, watching Thysania imitate a statue again. She looked terrified, and had already dropped her spear twice. Calliandra's thought process on this still made no sense to Sheer, and Aurora hadn't been much help either. 
“But what if I hurt you?” Thysania asked quietly. Sheer could only sigh.
“That's the point. And I'll be fine. I'm already dead, remember?” She said, trying to make Thysania feel better. It didn't have quite that effect, and then they felt bad. Thysania got even quieter, pulling her wings in close. Her antennae folded back, and she looked like she was going to cry. 
“I didn't-” mean it like that. Sheer started to say, but she was cut off as Thysania vanished, leaving the spear behind. “Alright, fine. Guess I'm doing cleanup as well.” She said to the empty space around her. 
Category:Fanfictions (Fanon)
Category:Fanfictions (Incomplete)
Category:Fanfictions
Category:Genre (Adventure)