Shadowed Visions

THIS PAGE IS ON HIATUS. I DON'T KNOW WHEN I'LL START WRITING AGAIN.
== Prologue ==
Lychee ran.
She ran as fast as her talons could take her.
Risking a glance behind her, she saw the strange dragon coming at her, flying at light-speed, and envied their treetop gliding skills, even in the midst of her desperate panic.
I knew skipping Ambrosia's rainforest flying class was a bad idea. It would have saved my life right now, she thought, letting out a yelp as she felt flames at the edge of her tail.
Lychee knew if the strange dragon caught her, she'd be dead, just like the rest. She wasn't sure why, but she suddenly knew this dragon was the one murdering all those innocent dragons. And she might become one of them. Gone forever, never to be seen again. Another death for Queen Elegance to puzzle over.
Which, unfortunately, meant there was only one option for the whole staying-alive plan. 
"Come on, Lychee, fly," she muttered determinedly as she launched herself into the air, dodging trees at all angles, and nearly ramming into an extremely startled looking leopard cub. Her sore wing strained with the effort and she felt the world tip sideways, just a little. 
Lychee felt a scorching pain rake along her prehensile tail and looked back for a split second to find invisible claws ripping into her flesh, staining rainforest leaves with a red liquid. She lashed her tail, gritting her teeth, determined to fight through the pain, and shook her attacker off. I'm not dying today. 
I just need to get to the sky. Just... A little... Farther..! She pumped her sparkling pink-white wings harder, tears of pain springing from her eyes.
She exploded out of the dense forest, hurtling from humid, warm rainforest into cool, fresh air and she rested for a moment, catching her breath in midair. 
Cold claws that grasped her made her shiver and she felt her attacker glaring at her from the rainforest. and fearfully kept her eyes on the empty sky in front of her. They know I'll come back eventually. But why not finish me off now? Despite her wariness, shrugged casually and guessed they just didn't want to be seen.
As Lychee flew, she looked back at the rainforest, and knew she wouldn't be able to leave forever. It was her home, and separation from it and the dragons inside already gave her a tugging feeling to return. Longing for the warm, sheltered safety of the rainforest and the company of her family and friends made her shake (probably thanks to the shock of the attack as well), and she forcefully shoved her feelings aside, beating her wings harder and turning the fizzing shock into energy.
She hopefully turned her head towards the safe peaks of Jade Mountain. They'll protect me. I hope.
Ignoring the tugging feeling to go back and report to the Queen, (definitely not to bury herself in her mother's wings and never come back out), Lychee pivoted to the direction of the Academy.
Something felt wrong, though. Was there something she missed? ...Forgot?
Suddenly Lychee's heart missed a beat and she nearly fell out of her steady wing-beat rhythm as she recalled the invisible claws embedded in her bleeding tail.
Invisible claws.
Her attacker was a LightWing.
== Chapter One ==
Panic. Screaming. Pain.
Starseer looked around at the chaos, unable to look away, to close his eyes and forget. Dying dragons were everywhere. The LightWing village was in ruins, flaming walls spattered with blood. Tears ran down his snout. 
“Wait,” he mumbled shakily, fighting back terror, “it’s just a dream.”  He closed his eyes and tried to calm himself, but the screams outside his head were unifying into a single voice and pounding into his skull. 
Find the shadow. Find the chaos. Find the panic. Run, hide. The voice controls all.
“IT’S JUST A DREAM!” He shrieked at himself. “IT’S JUST A-”
Cold talons shook his arm and Starseer nearly jumped out of his scales. He was curled into a soft moss bed, a surprised IceWing standing over him.
“Jeez, Starseer,” Icefall said, looking startled. “That seemed like quite the dream.”
“It sure was,” Starseer replied plaintively, still slightly shaking.
Icefall snorted, tiny wisps of frostbreath shooting out his nose. “Well, at least it looks like you slept through Topaz’s snoring.” He gave Starseer a cold, friendly, nudge, nearly toppling him.
“Come on! Ginkgo’s finally playing cello with an audience!” Icefall shook out his pristine blue-ish-orange tinged wings and strode out of their cave into the lantern-lit halls.
Ginkgo, their LeafWing for their winglet, Garnet Winglet, was the only member of the music class to play a cello. Starseer would have taken on the challenge himself, but he was the kind of dragon with four left talons, so he stuck to drums.
Everyone knew of the Dragonets of Destiny, who ended the Great SandWing War of Succession, also founded the Jade Mountain Academy, which brought peace to all nine tribes, and that included the Pantalian tribes. 
We’re at peace, Starseer told himself, still shaking off the horrific fragments of his dream. It’s just a nightmare. Still, the dream hung over him, making him tremble.
Walking down the quiet, long halls calmed him, though, the blue-tinted glass framing the lanterns giving the stone wall a tranquil turquoise glow.
Before long, whispers of a soft but firm melody danced into his ears. A green LeafWing with flecks of brown and gold scattered along his scales sat in the middle of a subtle audience, playing a shiny, sleek brown instrument. The steady, fluid symphony chased away his dreams and calmed him. Impressed, Starseer watched Ginkgo's talons move swiftly along the strings, holding the bow deftly between his claws.
Manatee, the youngest dragonet in the Academy, (in Amethyst Winglet, Starseer recited), suddenly started clapping loudly and out of beat.
That seemed to break Ginkgo’s concentration; he twitched and played a high-pitched, crunchy note that made Starseer want to stuff his moss-bedding deep in his ears.
“Heh,” Ginkgo said awkwardly. “You can go now.”
His audience retreated to the halls, a few leaving rare fruits or gemstones beside Ginkgo.
“Ginkgo!” Icefall exclaimed. “That was really good, and anybody could see it was that clapping that broke your concentration.”
"Thank you." Ginkgo smiled crookedly, and told him, “The authors want everyone to meet at the Great Hall.”
The authors of the school were descendants of the Dragonets of Destiny, who were the original founders of the school. Starseer liked the term author, though. It makes them seem less ancient.
As they entered the Great Hall, he reflected that they were more like a queen’s council. A dragon representing each tribe, the authors, were gathered on a platform where every student could see and hear them well. Although, he was pretty sure there were only five original dragonets of destiny, so he wasn’t sure how they worked the other tribes into the council. Oh well, Starseer sighed, putting away the mystery for now. If it’s not broken, why fix it? 
“Hey, Starseer!” Icefall whispered. He was beckoning Starseer to a spot where the rest of his winglet was sitting. He made his way to the spot, stepping over tails and dodging wings.
This was his second year, and he was still learning all his clawmates' names.
Let’s see… Icefall, as the IceWing, Ginkgo as the LeafWing, Ginger as the SilkWing, Cinders as the HiveWing, Topaz as the SkyWing, Amber as the MudWing. …Roadrunner as the SandWing..? Reef as the SeaWing, and me as the LightWing.
Starseer ruffled his wings, feeling pleased. 
“You look very satisfied with yourself,” Cinders commented, shoving him with a gray-speckled orange talon. “But hush up, the authors are going to speak now.”
Moonlight, the SilkWing author, stepped forward on the platform and took a deep breath as if to speak. Starseer perked up, wanting to hear the news, when loud wingbeats and a choking noise came from the entrance, catching every student’s attention.
A familiar pink-white LightWing with a brown leather satchel strapped to her chest dragged herself into the room. Her tail looked mangled, as if someone mindlessly tore sharp talons into it. 
Almost at once Starseer recognized her. “Lychee!” He shrieked, racing toward his injured friend.
“Hey, Starseer,” Lychee said, brightening a little. “What’s going on?” She smiled wryly, but the pain and panic in her eyes told him that her tail probably felt like it was on fire.
“What happened?” Autumn, the IceWing author, demanded, stepping toward the hurt LightWing.
Ignoring her, Lychee fixed her gaze on him. “That reminds me,” she muttered. “By queen’s orders, you’ve got mail.” She dug in her satchel, pulling out a pure white envelope with a berry-red stamp on it. Starseer noticed that while doing so, her tail twitched as if she wanted to use her flexible tail to bring out the letter instead.
Wait… Did she say Queen’s orders..? 
With trembling talons, he picked up the envelope and tore it open.
Starseer. It’s been quite a while, hasn’t it? I know you must be comfortable in Jade Mountain by now, but I have a request for you. We’re running low on dragons who want to be Moongifters. I honestly don’t know what’s quite wrong with that particular honor. I’m assuming it’s because of the pressure. But you are the last full NightWing in our tribe, and I feel that this duty is your destiny, to be a Moongifter. I promise you will be welcomed with open wings to the tribe. Our village is safe and secure. Your tribe misses you. Please consider this wisely.
* Sincerely, Queen Elegance.
Holy moons, Starseer thought, awed. A Moongifter. Me. Starseer the Moongifter.
Suddenly he was aware of something cold brushing his shoulder. He yelped, jumping up in surprise when he found Icefall reading over his shoulder. Icefall took no notice, and kept reading the note. Lychee snorted with an amused look on her face, despite it being twisted with pain.
After a few seconds, Icefall lifted startled ocean-blue eyes to meet his.
“But you can’t leave!” Icefall cried, dismayed.
“But how can I say no?” Starseer said, feeling a tug toward his old home. “I’ll see my parents again, and I’ll be a Moongifter!” And maybe check that the village isn’t on fire. He shook the stupid thought off. Of course it’s not on fire, beetle-brain. It was just a dream.
“I’m going,” He said firmly.
A strange, mischevious look filled Icefall’s eyes. “Okay,” he said, sounding suspiciously satisfied.
Starseer paused, and brushed his friend’s wing. “Okay then…” 
He turned back to Lychee. “When should I leave?” Starseer asked her. But she’d passed out, white covering her scales more than pink now.
Sailfish, the SeaWing author, stepped off the platform and bounded toward his unconscious friend. “Poor dragon,” Sailfish murmured. “Take her to the infirmary,” she called to the Gold Winglet.
Moonlight stepped forward, an elegant and commanding expression on her face, antennae high in the air. “If your tribe needs you, you should go to them at once,” she said, her voice echoing around the great hall. “The Academy will miss you. Say your farewells to your winglet, if you wish.”
Starseer leaped into the air, spreading his star-speckled wings to their full width in the clear, bright sky. 
Jade Mountain was, fortunately for him, very close to the LightWing Kingdom, the rainforest. The jungle green from below was giving him an overpowering sense of homecoming and he beat his wings faster. 
Suddenly he stopped. Whenever he beat his wings, a dual wingbeat came from behind him, making an echoing drumbeat-like sound.
Starseer swung around, hoping to look menacing, when inside he was freaking out. I hope this isn’t a sleeping-dart patrol or something.
“Who’s there?” he cried, hoping he didn’t sound like a frightened two-year-old dragonet.
Shimmering white wings flew up to face him. At once he recognized the mischievous, orange-tinged face of Icefall.
“What are you doing here?!” Starseer yelped, feeling a whirlwing of emotions; of shock, anger, relief, and affection for his friend.
“Oh, didn’t I say?” Icefall crowed. “I’m totally coming with you.”
== Chapter Two ==
“I’m pretty sure that’s not how it works, Icefall,” Starseer argued once more.
The flight to the rainforest was longer than he’d expected. Starseer felt as if his wings would fall off any moment now. They’d flown without stopping, and now he was seriously regretting it. Icefall did suggest several breaks, some of which included eating massive amounts of food. 
"This isn't a fun, bizzare adventure," Starseer had informed Icefall. "We're just traveling to the rainforest for my moongifter ceremony."
Icefall rolled his eyes. "But that's booooorrrriiingg," he complained, his wings drooping. "We should at least eat, like, twenty-five pigs, and maybe hippos! Do you guys have hippos!? They're soo tasty."
Starseer sighed and slapped his face with his talon. 
A flash of white scales caught his eyes, and he let out a sigh. Of course, it was easier with his best friend flying at his side, than alone.
Icefall did a somersault in the air. “I bet that is how it works,” he sang. “You got a letter from the Queen of the LightWings, Starseer.” His gaze suddenly grew dreamy. “I bet they’ll throw a feast for us. They’ll have fruit, and giant tasty leopards and they might even have plants you can eat and…”
Icefall chats like a blackbird when it comes to food, Starseer snorted inwardly. He fixed his gaze on the irregular rows of endless trees, then suddenly dived into the humid ocean of green, embracing the familiar scents bombarding his nose.
Starseer heard a surprised yelp from Icefall above him, and a moment later he was crashing through the trees. Starseer jerked around to see his friend, spiraling gracefully down onto a root, to find Icefall flying headfirst into a gigantic banyan tree, his blue-orange-tinted wings getting caught on the intertwining, countless branches.
Icefall let out a moan. “I’m OK,” he groaned. He had a purplish-blue bump on his forehead, not huge, but big enough to make Starseer concerned.
Untangling his friend, Starseer said sternly, “You should never fly headfirst into the rainforest.”
“But that’s exactly what you did!” Icefall protested hotly, rubbing his bruised scales.
“Well, I know this area a lot better than you do,” he said, brushing Icefall’s wing. “Come on, I think we’re really close to the village!”
They scrambled, (well, Icefall scrambled) over roots and fallen trees as quickly as they could, when they heard a hiss of surprise.
“Starseer?” A familiar voice said. A tropical-bird-colored LightWing materialized out of thin air. Silver teardrop scales (every LightWing was trained to block mind-readers, so that wasn't a big problem for Starseer) marked her eyes, and black flecks covered her wings. Starseer recognized her at once.
“Parrot!” He gasped, excitement flowing into him.
“I heard Elegance wanted you to be a Moongifter,” She yelped.
Starseer suddenly felt embarrassed. “Y-yeah, I-I guess,” he stammered.
“Well, I’m a guard now,” Parrot announced proudly. “They let me have a diamond-tipped spear, can you believe it?!” She whispered excitedly.
Suddenly her gaze flicked to Icefall and her friendly expression changed to curious, but slightly hostile. “Who’s this, then?” she interrogated him. 
Starseer suddenly saw why Elegance picked Parrot to be a guard. Friendly with tribemates, hostile with enemies.
Suddenly she looked more amused than hostile now. “A friend from Jade?” she said wryly. “Did you bring your boyfriend from hugging school?”
Icefall’s head jerked up indignantly. “I am not!” He yelped. “I just thought he might like a friend to congratulate him on his Moongifting ceremony, THANK YOU VERY MUCH!” 
Parrot looked skeptical. “I see. Well, that’s all very well. You have permission to enter the-”
She was cut off as a tiny dart whizzed past their heads at lightning speed, nearly hitting Icefall’s neck.
“Easy with the darts, Satsuma!” Parrot shouted to a tree with sturdy branches, orange stripes rippling through her scales.
A green and orange hostile-looking dragon appeared, coiled into the branches in a defensive crouch as if she was about to leap onto Icefall and claw his eyes out, a enraged dark red cloud winding across her scales.
“It could be a trick!” Satsuma hissed violently. “Do you know that we and the Icewings used to be sworn enemies?! He could be getting revenge for some stupid thing we did last century!”
Parrot sighed, exasperated. “Look, he already looks like he flew headfirst into a rock. And it’s Starseer! We grew up with him!”
Satsuma stubbornly hissed again.
“You guys can go,” Parrot said, shoving them into a bush with wide, soft leaves, and turned back to Satsuma. As they walked, Starseer heard a heated conversation between the two of them, and exchanged an uneasy glance with Icefall.
"So," Icefall joked. "Are all your tribemates that excited to see you?"
"I think it was just her," Starseer replied, still taking in all the familiar surroundings. "Satsuma's always a little bad tempered, but inside, she's a really pleasant dragon."
Icefall looked skeptical.
The arboretum looked just as it always had, filled with crowds of dragons. Hammocks and fruit nets were hung on huge trees. Down on the rainforest floor, there were wooden homes and leaf tents for dragonets who were too young to fly and for dragons that weren’t fond of sleeping up high. Rainbow colors exploded in all directions as LightWings recognized him.
Starseer’s chest swelled with pride as memories seemed to crowd him. He was finally back home.
“Starseer!” Queen Elegance cried.
The giant purple-silver-black dragon bounded towards him gracefully and wrapped night-black wings around him.
Starseer didn’t pull away, but couldn’t help but feel confused; he was just a normal LightWing. Sure, being a Moongifter was a great honor, one of the greatest his tribe had to offer. But why did she seem so overjoyed to see him?
Icefall looked skeptical, eyeing their joyous reunion rather cautiously.
As they reached the Queen’s leaf-hut (LightWings didn’t build stone structures so they didn’t ruin their precious rainforest environment) Icefall asked, “So, when is Starseer’s ceremony?”
Elegance looked amused. “Six days.”
Icefall groaned. “Six whole days… Do we at least get a feast?"
Queen Elegance flicked her tail and ducked inside, where a gold-silver sloth was waiting for her, and beckoned them inside. “Six days,” she continued, her expression suddenly somber, “because you need time to grieve, even if only two days.”
A lump of pure terror rose in Starseer’s throat, along with a cloudy mist of confusion. He suddenly wished he had decided to stay at Jade Mountain Academy.
“Starseer, someone’s been killing LightWings.” Elegance hesitated, then went on gently. “The last victim was your mother.”
* 
Starseer stayed in his old hammock the rest of the day, feeling agonized. His mother dead, and his father missing, Elegance told him. No wonder Satsuma was so defensive…
Satsuma had always been the angry, impulsive one when they were younger. She’d really never hurt anyone, though. She’d always scream in a rage about how stupid they were, and how she’d relish destroying them in tree gliding or fighting. But anyone could tell how much she loved her friends, even if she had a strange way of showing it.
Starseer heard wingbeats coming towards him and buried his head in his wings. He didn't want to talk right now, or ever again.
He let out a yelp as what felt like a spiky ball of ice sat on him. 
“Stop being sad,” Icefall said sternly, but not unsympathetically. “It’s making me sad, and I don’t like being sad at all.”
Starseer was somewhat shocked at his friend’s harshness. “I just came to my home to find my mother dead and my father missing,” he said miserably. Grief swelled in his chest, threatening to make him sob.
“Yeah, well,” Icefall shifted and almost fell off Starseer’s hammock. “They might be dead and missing, but you’re not, and laying here like a useless waste of scales isn’t helping anyone.” Starseer winced as he went on. “Do you think your mother would be happy to find you wasting away in a scrappy old hammock for the rest of your life? No! She’d want you to keep living and eat a whole feast with your lovable IceWing friend.”
“Then..?” Starseer asked, his grief loosening a little.
“Then,” Icefall said determinedly. “Then we find out who killed Clearleaf.”
“...Clearleaf?” Starseer said, confused. How does he know my mother’s name?
“Oh, Her Most Wonderous, Fantastic Majesty told me,” Icefall answered him, as if he read Starseer’s mind. "Also SHE SAID WE CAN HAVE A FEAST!" He whispered loudly in his ear.
But Elegance always called her “my mother,” or “Starseer’s mother”, never Clearleaf. I don’t think she even knew her name. 
...So how did she tell Icefall?
== Chapter Three ==
I have to figure out who’s been killing LightWings.
Starseer paced on the rainforest floor, thinking hard. His thoughts were repeatedly running around in circles and bumping into each other, and it was driving him crazy. And it didn’t help that Icefall kept jumping into giant lumps of fallen leaf mulch, making noise and staining his usually pristine scales.
“Can you keep it down?!” Starseer finally snapped, his mood sharpened by frustration. “I’m trying to think, and you're not helping at all! Wasn’t this your idea anyway?”
Icefall gave him a partly-bored, partly-exasperated, and partly-hurt look. “No. MY idea was to ask the queen for another feast and pig out! You’re sitting here pacing, doing absolutely nothing.” He said. 
As Starseer glared at him fiercely, Icefall quickly changed the subject. “We could go ask Parrot or Satsuma for help,” he suggested nervously, which wasn’t usually a main mood for Icefall. Starseer guessed he was just awed from meeting so many dragons from a different tribe in a single day.
“Satsuma is going to claw your face off if you come near her again. Don’t you-” Loud rustling of bushes interrupted Starseer, and he looked around to find Satsuma walking towards them, pushing bushes away. A whip-thin branch smacked her in the process and Starseer had to muffle a snort.
"Silvery moons, you jinxed it," Icefall muttered.
Satsuma took one look at Icefall and seemed to choke on her tongue, biting back a hiss. “Oh,” she said irritably. “It’s you.” She and Icefall locked gazes for an uncomfortably long time; sharp suspicion and anger against bright blue cheeriness and defiance. 
Luckily, she shrugged and shook out her tiger-striped wings, facing Starseer with a surprisingly concerned expression. “Have you seen Lychee around here?” Satsuma asked warily. Starseer tilted his head at her, curious. “I was supposed to meet her at the village to-” She stopped abruptly and a brief struggle crossed her face. Starseer glanced down at her claws to find they’d turned a rather pretty shade of dark pink and purple. 
Satsuma took a breath and went on. “Just- Have you seen her?” She finished.
A flash unsettling of memory passed through his head. Lychee collapsing onto the stone floor of Jade Mountain, holding up a letter. “Take her to the infirmary,” Sailfish had said. Uh-oh. Lychee was probably still in Jade Mountain. Urgh, why did it have to be Satsuma?? She could knock down a tree just by yelling at it! She was still his friend, but he didn't really enjoy her angry outbursts, especially if they were pointed at him.
He’d never seen Satsuma this worried, other than when he’d fallen several tree lengths during flying practice. Just say it carefully. “Satsuma, I’m sorry,” Starseer started cautiously. “But while she was taking a letter to Jade Mountain, she was attacked.” Satsuma’s eyes widened and fear entered them. Both him and Satsuma had known Lychee all their lives. 
Starseer wondered if he was the only one who heard the tiny break in Satsuma’s voice as she spoke. “S-so she’s…” She broke off, too shocked to answer.
“No, no, Lychee isn't dead,” Starseer replied hurriedly. “She’s just hurt. She’s at the Jade Mountain infirmary right now.”
“Ah.” Satsuma said, with a weird tone to her voice, a strange anger in her eyes. “Okay, Starseer. Thank you.” 
Black, purple, and white stained her scales as she took another deep breath and cannoned into the sky in the direction of Jade Mountain.
"So that was normal?" Icefall asked wryly, breaking the startled silence between them.
"Pretty much," Starseer sighed. "Satsuma changes moods really strangely. It's like you're talking to three different dragons."
Another awkward silence passed between them. 
"Uhhhh," Icefall tried. "So? The murder mystery? The feast? Interrogations? Lotta options here."
Starseer rubbed his temples. "I don't know where to start."
"Well, we have to pick someone to interrogate, right?" Icefall said, mischief in his eyes. "Who's the most annoying person in the kingdom?"
*
“I can’t believe you’re making me do this,” Starseer groaned.
“What? It’s just another LightWing!” Icefall protested as they flew closer to the healer’s hut, which was decorated by distractingly colorful leaves and flowers, all dressed with red berries.
“But she’s so annoying and dramatic and-” Starseer went on plaintively before being shushed by Icefall.
“She might hear you, and if you think she’s so annoying, that won’t end well,” Icefall whispered good-humoredly.
While Starseer resisted the urge to fly away as fast as he could, Icefall knocked on the walls and sauntered in, giving Starseer a carelessly amused look.
Inside, a (very annoyingly) beautiful black LightWing (as if dragons actually judged books by their cover..!) dotted with swirls of calming cold colors was sorting medicinal herbs, bathed in sunlight from a hole in the ceiling, which made it bright and airy inside.
Icefall had dragged him into talking to Divine because he said she was probably the one looking at the LightWing victims before pronouncing them dead, which meant she might have some theories. Starseer seriously doubted that, because she was squeamish with blood and death, but he reluctantly agreed that it might be worth a try anyway.
Who knows? Maybe she’s changed after all these years.
But as soon as Divine saw Icefall, she shrieked in an unnecessarily high and loud voice. “THAT’S AN ICEWING!!!!” She flopped down onto the polished wood floor, looking limp and helpless while her scales turned tornados of white and green. “He’s going to kill me,” she murmured before closing her eyes and shuddering theatrically, making her whole body jiggle like the fruit Starseer had for dinner last night. 
Starseer groaned.
Icefall peered at the supposedly unconscious dragon quizzically. Divine was splayed out like a wet leaf as if she was dead, but occasionally he saw her eyes peek open to check if the IceWing was gone.
Starseer and Icefall exchanged glances. “What’d I do..?” Icefall asked hesitantly, poking her with one of his serrated claws, which made her body shiver and she stretched herself out more, as if to convince Icefall she was totally dead, nothing to see here.
Starseer quietly slapped his talon to his face, exasperated. This isn’t helping ANYTHING.
Pulling himself together with a (rather impressive, he thought) amount of self-control, said, VERY POLITELY, “Divine, get up, it’s me, Starseer!” 
Divine jerked her head up, looking hilariously shocked. Within a few seconds, she was up on her feet and radiating control and light surprise, looking at him with her snout tipped slightly up, as if to prove he was still inferior.
Icefall snorted, and Divine jumped, shooting him a frightened, dramatic look.
“Starseer. Welcome back,” Divine commented haughtily, the air of superiority around her once again. “I thought you’d gone off to hugging school?” 
Then she let out the most irritating, annoying, fake laugh anyone’s ever uttered. Before he could reply, Divine swung into a completely different mood. “And what’s with the IceWing?” She retorted, whispering as though Icefall was around the corner and not right in front of her. “I don’t usually allow pets in the Healer’s Hut, you know,” Divine added snottily.
Icefall drew himself up indignantly. “I am most certainly not a-” He started, when he was interrupted by Divine. “I should probably get back to sorting those herbs,” she said. “But I’ll see you around, Star-Star!”
Starseer grumbled a curse under his breath. He hated that nickname. A lot. 
“Actually, Divine, can we talk to you about-” Icefall started.
Panic shot through Starseer and he bellowed over his friend, “YES, BYE DIVINE!”
Shoving Icefall out of the Healer’s Hut, he inwardly let out a sigh of relief. As much as he wanted to solve the murder mystery, Starseer never wanted to see Divine, no matter what she knew.
Immediately, Icefall turned on him irritably. “We could have gotten more information from her!” he barked.
Exasperated, Starseer replied, “More information? What kind of information did she give us? No pets in the healer’s hut?”
Icefall fumed. “I’m not a pet,” he said hotly.
He was about to reply when a familiar voice called from above him. “What’s the topic this time?” Satsuma crowed, spiraling down gracefully.
“Hey, stop picking on them, Satsuma,” a second voice rasped weakly. “Starseer’s just talking with a friend. Is that against the law? 'Ya big bully.”
Wait… 
“Lychee!?” Starseer gaped as his injured friend stumbled awkwardly onto the damp rainforest floor. Almost immediately, Satsuma was there to help her, wing on wing.
“Hey. What’s up?” Lychee said, her voice a bit wobbly.
“MYSTERY’S UP,” Satsuma exclaimed, one wing still on Lychee. “Apparently, Lychee’s got some news about the murderer.”
Starseer perked up, eager to hear after that disaster. He was one step closer to solving the mystery.
Satsuma looked at Icefall quizzically, irritated. "Shouldn't you be back to Jade Mountain by now? This is LightWing business, thank you very much."
Lychee elbowed Satsuma hard and she yelped. "What??" Satsuma said. "It's true!"
"I THINK," Lychee said sternly, "that Icefall came for Starseer's Moongifter ceremony." Icefall opened his mouth to speak and she went on, ignoring him. "But, since he's been brave enough to stay, even though there's a murderer, we should let him listen. LightWing or not," she added with a glance at Satsuma.
Icefall ruffled his wings, pleased, and shot a smug look at Satsuma, who seemed to burn with fury.
"Fine," Satsuma fumed. "But don't expect me to start weaving friendship bracelets and giving hugs."
== Chapter Four ==
“I think the murderer is a LightWing,” Lychee said hesitantly.
Starseer nearly choked on the hawk he was eating and coughed out feathers.
The four dragons were in the same clearing where Satsuma had first asked about Lychee. The wind was shrieking mercilessly, making each dragon on edge and gloomy, reflecting the weather.
Icefall stopped eating his pig and looked around self-consciously, as if he had just realized someone had said something crucially important and he’d missed it.
“B-But it can’t be a LightWing!” Starseer blurted disbelievingly. He trusted Lychee, but this was a whole new level of unbelievable. “We have almost no enemies! Except outside our tribe,” Starseer added, shooting a pointed look at Satsuma.
“Well, I know who it is,” Satsuma said simply.
“No, you don’t,” Lychee replied, suddenly strong and sharp. “We have no evidence. You may have been doing some 'detective work' but you still haven't found any direct clues."
A violent mix of red, blue, and purple flashed onto Satsuma’s scales, and suddenly she looked capable of inflicting serious harm, a dangerous gleam in her green eyes. “Yes, I have!” She roared, a deep orange clouding her face. “That’s the- It’s- I can’t- I can't tell-” She spluttered, suddenly looking unsure. Pale blue swirled through her talons and she shivered, curling into her wings slightly. Her sharpened eyes flickered to each of them, as if challenging them to comment.
“Well, does anyone even have any suspects?” Icefall sighed, looking as frustrated as everyone else. Satsuma shot him a look filled with daggers but said nothing.
“I think it might be Azalea,” Lychee started, sounding more confident than before. “He was the last one I spoke to, other than Satsuma, before I left for Jade Mountain, and he's always been a little shady.”
Satsuma looked doubtful, but both Starseer and Icefall were confused. “Err, who?” Starseer said.
“Y’know, we can just go talk to him,” Lychee suggested calmly. “Even if it is him, he won’t attack all four of us.”
“All three of you, you mean,” Satsuma growled. “I’m off.” She spun around and flew.
Starseer sighed. I can't believe she just left like that.
Icefall let out a little “huh” noise. “Was that suspicious or what?”
Lychee stared at him, disbelief in her eyes. “It couldn’t be her,” she protested, but there was a barely detectable hint of doubt in her eyes.
“She’s violent, randomly flies off all the time, bad tempered,” Icefall snorted darkly. “It definitely could be.”
Starseer was shocked. It couldn’t be Satsuma, right? She said she knew who it was. Suddenly he felt a sort of realization that made him scared. What if she was talking about herself?
The thought that Satsuma might be the one killing all those innocent dragons made him cold to the bone. All those dragons… 
Unexpectedly, an image of Satsuma in chains formed in his mind, roaring curses and turning an angry red-blue in a black dungeon.
Where was that? As far as Starseer knew, there were no dungeon-like places in the LightWing Kingdom. All the queens their tribe had ever had chose banishment for disloyal subjects over dungeons, so there’d never been a need for one. He shook out his wings. I’m probably just worried.
Lychee shook herself as well. “Well, if we’re done here,” she announced curtly, “we might as well check on Azalea before it gets dark.”
Without waiting for an answer, Lychee quickly spread her wings and flew in the direction of the LightWing garden.
Icefall grinned. “Another epic adventure.”
“Icefall?” Starseer asked softly, aware that he sounded like a frightened dragonet. “Were you... serious about Satsuma? Being… Well, I don’t know, evil?”
Icefall made a face he couldn’t decipher. “We’ll never know until we know," He said, in a frighteningly low voice. T Then he, too, launched into the air, winging away.
Starseer’s wings slumped, overwhelmed with trepidation. A single drop of rain plopped down on his head. The sky rumbled ominously and suddenly he was being pelted by millions of raindrops. Suddenly, he wanted to go back to Jade Mountain. He wanted to sleep in a torch-lit cave on soft moss, surrounded by his friends. He wanted his parents back.
Holding back a sob, Starseer shook himself and braced for the coming storm.
* 
The flight to the garden was bumpy and chaotic. Lychee and Icefall seemed to be lost in the midst of the storm, so Starseer had to rely on memory to get there.
Past the pavilion, take the right on the Healer’s Hut. Here. 
Starseer’s heart missed a beat as well as his wings as he heard a loud shriek. He dived down, plummeting towards the garden as fast as he could, desperation making him pump his wings faster. 
Slamming painfully into Icefall as he crash-landed, Starseer looked around frantically. In the greenhouse, it sounded like Lychee was crying. He scrambled inside and at once his talons touched a sticky red liquid. He let out a muted gasp, shocked into fearful silence. That must be Azalea… 
A blackish-pink LightWing was splayed out on the greenhouse floor with his neck ripped out, blood pooling from the gruesome wound.
Blue eyes flashed in the dark and Lychee let out a plume of flame, illuminating her disbelief. Another dragon had been killed, and they were too late to stop it.
A familiar voice echoed out in the entrance. “Hello? Guys? Azalea?” Satsuma stepped inside, looking completely calm. At least, until she saw Azalea. Satsuma nearly jumped out of her scales, which reacted with a scared pale green all around. “Wha-What happ-” She paused, then said unexpectedly. “I have to do something,” and she flashed a quick glance at Lychee that Starseer intercepted. It was so serious it scared him, although he wasn’t sure why. “Stay. Here,” Satsuma growled.
Then she flew off again, leaving Starseer with the same suspicion Icefall had probably felt towards her.
== Chapter Five ==
I just don’t know what to do. 
Starseer let out a heavy sigh and rubbed his head, trying to prevent the migraine he knew was coming. Ever since the storm had rolled in, he’d had the most annoying headache ever. 
The atmosphere of the normally cheerful rainforest felt damp and gray along with the tribe’s mood. Everyone was grieving Azalea, which apparently was the royal gardener. Starseer himself had never known him, but the weight of another death pushed him back down into his hammock every time he made an effort to get up.
Lychee had gone to her hut to “calm down”, and Starseer had no idea where either Icefall or Satsuma had gone. Satsuma’s departure wasn’t too shocking, but Icefall’s disappearance was much more worrying.
It's like after Azalea, everyone disappeared. Starseer sighed plaintively, sinking into his hammock.
Lightning boomed behind him, making him jump and nearly fall off his hammock. Almost instantly his headache seemed to explode, shards of pain piercing his skull. Starseer let out a shriek as his head seemed to split open. He squeezed his eyes shut and willed the pain to ebb.
Fortunately, pain finally faded, and he found himself in the village arboretum, the trees he’d loved all his life alight with flame. 
“No! No!” Starseer shrieked. “Someone help! Please!”
At once screams sounded all through the rainforest. Satsuma suddenly appeared in the middle of the chaos, setting flame to more land, her scales dappling angry orange-red all over. Starseer flew over to her at once, with vain attempts to push her away and stop her.
A scream that rose above all others shot from the queen’s tent. Feeling heavy with dread, he raced inside to find Icefall on the floor, ocean-blue IceWing blood pooling around him. Icefall saw him and let out a gasp that was choked by blood as it dripped out his mouth.
“Icefall!” Starseer screamed. Disbelief swept through him like a cold wind. How did this happen..?
Starseer woke up with tears in his eyes, his head throbbing like fire. What… What was that? Suddenly fear jolted through him like a lightning bolt. Will that actually happen?! Oh no, Icefall! The Arboretum!
He leaped out of his hammock and flew towards what might have been his last chance to save his tribe.
The weather after the storm was beautiful, sunlight sparkling on a million drops of dew. Despite the cheerful atmosphere, Starseer still felt trepidation about what he had seen. He didn’t know how, or why, but he had an overpowering feeling that if he didn’t try to stop it, it would happen, and more dragons would die.
Diving down, Starseer crashed head-first into the arboretum floor. His head throbbed and he rubbed it gingerly, then shook it off, although that made the pain worse. He had to get to the queen’s tent.
Unexpectedly, his least favorite dragon came haughtily striding toward him. 
Divine gave him an unconvincing pretending-to-be-concerned face. “Starseer, you sure hit your head pretty hard there. Do you need anything for that?”
“Actually, no,” Starseer retorted crisply. “Oh, but have you seen Satsuma anywhere?” He added, a little desperately. 
“Oh, yeah!” She chirped. “I think she’s talking to Queen Elegance in her tent! I think that scary IceWing was follow-” She was interrupted with a loud thump and a snarl from the Queen’s tent.
NO! Starseer pushed Divine aside and raced toward the tent and burst inside. Satsuma was circling Icefall, Queen Elegance in the corner, a dark red liquid pooling around her. Starseer’s breath caught in his throat. Satsuma’s talons were dripping with blood.
“It was you!” Icefall snarled, oblivious to Starseer’s presence. “You killed them all!”
Satsuma turned a shade of pale green, with unpleasant dots of red and growled back, “You don’t understand!”
“I 'understand' well enough!” Icefall shouted, and Satsuma leaped on him.
“No!” Starseer shrieked, and both dragons jerked around to look at him, shocked. “Satsuma, what are you doing?”
“You don’t understand!” She screamed. “None of you understand!” She knocked Icefall down and pressed his face to the floor, while he struggled in protest and fear. “It was her!” Satsuma pointed down to the body of Elegance. “She killed them!” 
“Yeah, right,” Icefall yelled, still struggling under Satsuma’s claws. "Do you think we're stupid? You murderer!"
“Satsuma…” He said, softly, pressing down his fear and shock. “Even if that’s true, you killed a dragon. You killed a dragon. I don’t think anyone will believe you.”
“No, I-” Satsuma protested, then stopped. She slowly turned to Elegance’s body, then let out a choking sound. “I’m… Helping, I…” Her talons were shaking wildly, and her eyes were bloodshot. She dug her talons into her legs, eyes wild and glazed. Starseer winced as he saw blood trickle down her scales. What happened to her?
Icefall struggled and pushed himself out from under her. He looked shocked, and he was trembling.
“Satsuma!” A new voice came from the entrance. Lychee burst inside and grabbed Satsuma’s bloody talons, her scales a distraught stormy blue.
Starseer cocked his head, confused despite the chaos revolving around the room. How did she know we were here..?
“But,” Satsuma gasped, sobbing furiously now, “I killed-”
“Stop,” Lychee interrupted her, setting her claws down. “You made a mistake. Just explain.”
Satsuma shook herself, then seemed to gain control and said, “It was Elegance. She killed Azalea, she killed Lichenwings! She killed Clearleaf, Starseer.”
“How would you know?” Icefall growled, while the Starseer’s world seemed to vibrate with shock. A bleeding cut on Icefall’s forehead Starseer hadn’t noticed before gave him a fierce look and made him look... Older. 
“Wasn’t it a little suspicious that all the victims had NightWing traits?” Satsuma shot back. “I’ve been to Renewal, so I know what I’m talking about!”
“Renewal?” Lychee hissed suddenly. “Satsuma, this is serious. You can’t just go around yelling that name!”
“Renewal…” A voice from outside growled. Princess Ibis stepped inside, radiating fury. She took one look at her mother’s body and at Satsuma’s bloody claws, and let out a hiss of barely suppressed rage. “That’s what this is all about, isn’t it..?” 
Divine’s head peeked out from behind Ibis’s talons. She saw Queen Elegance and seemed to faint. Despite all the tension, Starseer couldn’t help feeling exasperated. How is she a healer when she faints at the sight of blood?
Ever since dragonet-hood, Divine had always been a perfect, pretty-princess of a dragon, never failing to keep a superior I'm-too-beautiful-for-this aura above her head. But when she asked to be a healer, and she had always wanted to be one, Starseer thought that was some of Divine's nonsense, and she would one day just give up. That the smells of herbs made her nauseous, or they were staining her claws, or no one could see how beautiful she was in the dusty, old hut. Starseer was surprised to find that she'd gone through (WIP don't look at this)
“Your Majesty, the queen was the murderer!” Lychee said, speaking up boldly against the new queen’s glare.
“Do you really expect me to believe that?” Queen Ibis snarled haughtily. “You,” she growled, pointing at Satsuma. “I always suspected you were a traitor, just like your parents.”
Satsuma’s scales flooded with barely muted colors, and before Ibis knew what was happening, she was on the floor, and Satsuma was on top of her.
“Lychee,” she hissed. “I’m going to Renewal. We’re going to war soon enough. I’m going to warn them. Don’t. Come. After. Me.”
And with that, she leaped off of Queen Ibis, and flew west.
At once the queen leaped to her feet. “Follow her!” She roared to the nearest three dragons crowding the area, trying to listen in on the commotion. Lychee shoved the new queen aside, grabbed Icefall and Starseer, and threw them into the sky, along with herself.
“Fly!” Lychee shouted to them, panicked, and shot a blast of fire into a LightWing guard’s face, who screamed violently with pain. 
Lychee’s call seemed to jolt them into action, and both Icefall and Starseer sped away, towards an orange-green shape winging away in the direction of Pyrrhia’s talon. 
*
Starseer felt everything become a blur as he became lost in the sound of his own wings beating, farther and farther away from his home kingdom, and the tribe he’d grown to love. Icefall swooped in beside him and sighed audibly.
“Hey. Uhh… So. Sorry your visit to the tribe didn’t go as planned,” Icefall said awkwardly. 
Starseer’s wings drooped. “I just wanted to be something great. To be a Moongifter for my tribe. …I didn’t even get to the ceremony.”
Icefall sighed, then brightened, his blue eyes gleaming. “Yeah, but we can just make one of our own!”
“One what of our own?”
“A Moongifting ceremony! I can just… I don’t know, steal a Moon Globe from my tribe's tree.” 
Starseer snorted. “I guess we can make that work. Hey Lychee?” He added, looking behind him. “Do you know, maybe, the customs for LightWing Moon-” he broke off, disbelief washing through him as he stared at empty air.
Icefall spun around in mid-air, confused, until he realized what had happened. “...You've gotta be kidding me.”
They’d left Lychee, their bold, fearless friend, back at the Kingdom, with a whole tribe full of dragons that were furious at her.
Chapter Six coming.... uh, later.
Characters
Lychee - A pink and white LightWing with a scattering of black flecks and white star patterns on her wings. (she) RainWing parts: ruff, tail, scales. NightWing parts: horns, wings, snout, breathe fire. Sky-blue eyes.
Starseer - A black LightWing with a scattering of white scales like stars on his wings and a faint, small black scar near his eye. (he) Pure NightWing. Purple eyes.
Icefall - A pure white IceWing with pale-blue-and-orange-tinged scales. (he) Dark blue eyes.
Queen Elegance - A giant purple LightWing with shades of dark cool colors (silver, black, blue) and stars sparkling on her wings. RainWing parts: ruff, horns, wings, snout, venom. NightWing parts: scales, tail. Amber eyes.
Parrot - A LightWing with colors of the tropical bird parrot and a scattering of black scales on her wings (i forgot to add those on her design). RainWing parts: horns, wings, snout, venom, tail, scales. NightWing parts: teardrop scales, fire. Blue eyes.
Satsuma - Angsty mean LightWing with bright orange scales and squiggly leaf shapes of green scattered across her body. She has tiger-like black stripes on her wings. Pure RainWing. Other: venom in claws, fire (if warm enough), venom in fangs. Green eyes.
Clearleaf - a black LightWing with shades of green and blue on her wings and nervous purple eyes. Pure NightWing.
Divine - Sassy, unpridictable disaster. Black LightWing with swirls of calming cool colors like blue, green, and purple dotted along her scales. Amber eyes. RainWing parts: Tail, wings, scales. NightWing parts: snout, horns. 
Azalea - Blackish-pink LightWing with yellow stars scattered along his blue-shaded wings and purple eyes. Pure NightWing. 
Princess (queen) Ibis - Light brown Lightwing with purple wings and a pattern of light-blue moons all along her scales. Although her mother is mostly a NightWing look-alike, she has almost no traces of NightWing in her appearance. 
Artwork
File:Starseer the Moongifter.webp|Starseer the Moongifter
File:(REDACTED);929485637.png|Icefall Design
File:Lychee design.png|Lychee design
File:Parrot Design.png|Parrot Design
File:Mean grouchy angsty orange.png|Satsuma Design
File:Property of Darklight's Cavern.png|Cover (by ~Sonora of the SandWings and RainWings)
Category:Fanfictions
Category:Fanfictions (Incomplete)
Category:Fanfictions (Semi-Canon)
Category:Content (Darklight's Cavern)