Starry Sky Saga

(This belongs to Dusky. Please feel free to ask if you want to be in the story, but please don't steal the idea or any of my characters.)
PROLOGUE
So no doubt you've heard about the War of SandWing Sucession, the war that divided the seven tribes of Pyrrhia.
Princess Burn had the SkyWings and MudWings as her allies. Princess Blister had the SeaWings and secretly the NightWings on her side.
And Blaze had the IceWings for her comrades. The Dragonets of Destiny, from the famous Prophecy, had ended the War by giving the Eye of Onyx to Thorn, the leader of the Outclaws. Burn and Blister became the sisters who would die, one by snakebite, one by the magic of the Eye.
Blaze lived, becoming the sister who bowed to the stronger and higher fate. 
Thorn ruled as queen of the SandWings for more that forty years after that, despite many hard times and unworthy challengers. When she finally passed on, she gave the throne to her granddaughter, Desolate.
Queen Desolate tried to follow in her grandmother's clawsteps. She made choices that Thorn would have made, but had her own quirks that made the whole tribe love her like they had loved Thorn.
Desolate had five dragonets. Two sons, three daughters.
Scorch and Skid, the royal twins, are around nine years old. Even though they are princes, they still have a bond with their mother, the queen.
The three sisters come next.
Scarab is the oldest at eight years. She is well known for her strength, speed, and skill in battle. She may come out with a few scratches, but she never once scars.
Spider is next at seven. Her smarts are beyond that of any NightWIng that has ever lived. She can make you think you're falling when you're not, or make you think you're in pain when you're not just by looking at you with her black as black eyes and by simply saying something to throw you off.
And I'm the youngest at six. Hi there, I'm Coriander. (Cori for short.)
We're always called the "Burn, Blister, and Blaze Reincarnates". My sisters have strength and smarts as their weapons. I didn't realize I had a weapon until the day I had to protect my friends from my sisters.
I didn't realize that the weapon I had so obliviously ignored would put my friends, school, and family in danger.
Care to hear my tale?
CHAPTER ONE : I Get My Hopes Dashed.
I woke up early one morning, which was unusual for me. I rolled out of bed and padded over to the window, opening it and glancing at the courtyard below.
The shimmering gold sands sparkled with the light of the rising sun. SandWings bustled to and fro, their pale scales flashing and their barbed tails thrashing.
I yawned and turned towards my small vanity and mirror that stood against one wall of my golden brown room, examining my wild, bedheaded look in the glass. (Okay, don't automatically label me as vain or prissy-princessy or any of that. I may have two sisters who are like Burn and Blister, but I am not the Blaze of us.)
I tried to smooth down my wavy frill, but failed. The dark gold wave bobbed somewhat mockingly, but I didn't mind, so I began putting on my accessories.
Black metal bands clamped around my horns, the small rubies set into them glittering dimly. Next I slipped my black choker on, and clipped a vulture-feather earring onto my left ear, while two mimicks of my horn bands went onto my right.
(Trust me, this is a LOT less than what i'm forced to wear at parties and meetings and stuff. Like I said, I'm not vain, but doesn't everyone want to look decent?)
I examined the tired slump of my wings and shook myself. I couldn't be tired today. I couldn't, because it was the day. The day when I could go to Starry Sky Academy. 
Don't know what that is, huh? So no doubt you've heard of the legendary Jade Mountain. Well, turns out, twenty or so years ago, they had so many students that they made an overflow school in the city of Tranquility to house all the extra dragonets. Well, the overflow school grew too, so it broke away from Jade Mountain and became Starry Sky.
I've been asking my mother, Queen Desolate, to enroll me for the past three years. Now, since my hatching day is in two days, she's letting me go, as a present.
I was so excited. I was going to be able to leave the Kingdom of Sand. (All right, don't go to: "*Gasp* Coriander, you've never left your own kingdom? Ever?")
I have. But that was when i was around two. My mother had taken me and my sisters to the Sky Kingdom for the every other month Tribal Council Meeting, a gathering of all the tribe's queens, their heirs, and their most trusted advisors.
They rotate the location to make it fair, or sometimes all the tribes will meet in the exact middle of all the territories, the city of Tranquility.
Anyway, me, Scarab, and Spider stuck together like peas in a pod all the way up to the Sky Kingdom. We laughed, joked, had fun.
But when we got there, our bond changed. It was almost the end of the meeting. Queen Rose of the SKyWings and Queen Surf of the Seawings were presenting their daughters-their heirs- to the Council.
Queen Rose had Princess Cerise, and Queen Surf had Princess SingSong. The other queens looked at my mother after presenting their daughters and asked which of us (which of us sisters) would be the heir.
She looked at us and said she hadn't chosen an heir yet. Something happened later that would change her mind about that, and would change the bond between my sisters and me, but I won't explain it yet.
I heard a knock on the door and turned towards it. "Who is it?" I called.
"Shish-kebob dragon," a joking voice sang back.
I laughed, opening the door. I looked up to see my brother Skid standing there. I gave him a hug, then a light punch in the shoulder.
"Morning, Skid," I said. He smiled. Skid, like his twin Scorch, had sand yellow scales similar to mine, except they had almost white frills, while I had the dark gold coloring to mine like Mother. The mate to my vulture-feather earring dangled on his right earlobe.
"Ready to go to school, little sister?" he asked, returning the light punch. His black eyes shone like orbs of dazzling jet. I nodded vigorously in reply. "Heck yeah!"
"All packed?" he asked, eyes flicking to my room. I remembered, and ran back inside, snatching a black pouch on a silver chain and slipping it over my head so it rested on my neck. "Okay, now I'm ready." I said. "I've got my favorite scroll, my skyfire, and my ocarina in here."
Skid's smile dropped a fraction. "I hope you still stay happy, even after breakfast." he said.
I looked at him, confused. "What do you mean?" But Skid shook his head. "You'll see soon enough," he replied. "Come on, Mother wants us to have a family breakfast together."
I followed him to the dining hall, still confused. I didn't understand why he was so down.
Oh wait. I did understand why he was so reluctant to go.
My sisters were there. (Okay, now you're probably thinking, "Coriander, how scary could your sisters POSSIBLY be?" Ha. Ha. Let me show you.)
Scarab and Spider sat staring at me, glaring with flicking tongues. Scarab had pale yellow scales with darker yellow patterns running down her body. Her eyes were the color of a moonless night, dark and haunting, like a dead thing. Her shoulders and neck bulged slightly from her muscles, and her wings were tattooed with the beetle she was named for.
Spider was even scarier. Her eyes were black like an infinite hole, looping into darkness. She had white-gold scales and the same yellow flame latterns like Scarab did. Though on her wings however, were the tattoos of a spider's web.
They both wore a black circlet shaped like a hissing dragonbite viper, and they spoke in unison like twins, even though they were a year apart.
"Good morning, Coriander, sleep well?"
I quelled my shudder and sat by Scorch and Skid. "good morning, sisters. I did. Did...you?"
No answer. Instead, Mother spoke up. "I hope you did sleep well," she said, emerald earring glittering. "It's a long flight to Tranquility, and you all need your strength."
I blinked, an orange slice halfway to my mouth. "Us...all?" I asked.
Mother smiled jubilantly. "Yes! You and your sisters barely see each other anymore, so I thought it would be great if they went to school with you!"
CHAPTER 2: I Get Kicked And Glared At.
All right, all right. Fine. I'll tell you how and why my sisters hate me.
Remember the Council Meeting? Well, near the end, the adults let all the kids out to fly, stretch, and just have fun. Immediately, the other, older dragonets took to the air, play-fighting and leaving me. 
I was playing my ocarina (well, my very first one), and talking to the only other two year-old dragonet. She was a servant to Princess SingSong, with gray-green scales and a hand-made cowrie shell necklace. We talked to each other, despite the differences in our stations.
We were cut off when we heard shrill roars and howls. I rushed over to the older dragonets, who had landed and were crowded around each other in a large circle. I pushed through to the front, and gasped at what I saw.
Scarab and Spider against two of the Mudwing princesses, Ambereyes and Rockfang. The MudWings' scales were bloody, red consumed their brown bodies. Their jewels were ripped off, and lay in dark puddles.
Scarab was also covered in blood, but she didn't have a scratch. Spider was suspiciously clean; only her claws were red. "We will teach you to insult our mother, our family," Spider hissed.
Scarab's tail thrashed like a snake on fire. "Be damned to burn," she snarled.
Ambereyes struggled to stand, and Rockfang weezed horribly. I saw Spider slowly grin. I was horrified, angry at both sides. But...I wanted to make sure it didn't continue. How could I stop it?
"FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT!" the crowd of royals chanted, demanding the awful entertainment. I turned and saw that the other three Mudwing sibs were trying to get through the barrier, but the other dragonets were holding them back in glee.
I saw Spider nod to Scarab. Their tails arched in unison, and they advanced. The MudWings' eyes widened in fear.
I don't know how, I don't know why. But time seemed to slow down, and my brain sped up. I knew that Spider was closest to me, so I leapt at her. I swear my claws missed, but she seemed to cannon away from me, like I had pushed her. She slammed into Scarab, and they tumbled into a writhing heap.
Time resumed, and I remember standing in front of the MudWing princesses, my small wings flared and my own tail arched. My sisters stood up, hissing. When they saw me helping the MudWings, they froze. 
"Cori?" Scarab said softly, rearing up like a cobra.
"What did they say that was so bad that you had to nearly murder them?" I had yelled. Spider's eyes narrowed, and she looked as though she was piecing something together mentally. 
"You traitor," she growled, voice becoming the emotionless, oily hiss it was today. I was hurt. "No, I'm not!" I was about to protest more, but wingbeats broke the silence.
"Daughters!" Queen Knoll yelled, landing with a hard thump beside her children. The mahogany dragoness wrapped her wings around them.
"WHAT is the point of this?" Queen Surf demanded. Her green tail thrashed, and her pearl strings rattled over her scales.
"She cursed your name!" Scarab yelled to Mother, pointing at Ambereyes. 
"She joined in, argueing about how if it weren't for our tribe, the War would never had happened!" Spider hissed, narrowing her eyes at Rockfang.
"THEY NEARLY KILLED US!" The MudWing princesses screamed. They shrank into the wings of their sibs, sobbing quietly.
"We were only tryting to protect you," my sisters muttered to Mother in unison.
My mother glanced at me. "Where do you fit in this?" she asked softly. I glanced around, and I remember feeling the orange, yellow, green, black, purple, and pale blue eyes of the queens around me. Queen Parrot of the RainWings and NightWings had soft, muted silver scales then. 
"I...didn't want anyone to get more hurt." I managed to mumble. I felt something warm wrap around me, and my head was tilted so I had to look at the queens.
Mother glanced at the queens, and her voice when she spoke was cheerful, but decided, firm. "I remember how we were on the topic of heirs earlier. My other daughters might kill me and take the throne, but I believe it's clear who my heir is. I'm sure the Eye of Onyx," she held the magical item that sat around her neck. "I'm sure the Eye will choose the queen who would protect everyone."
The queens and royal children gave low hisses of approval, of respect, and nodded to me. They all took off, heading back to the palace to end the meeting. Before I took off, I saw Scarab holding my ocarina. It must have fallen out of my talons when I leapt at Spider.
Right before my two year-old eyes, Scarab crushed the instrument, and together, she and Spider threw themselves into the air, snarling, glaring at me with the force of a thousand venomous cobras.
(All right, back to the present.)
I stared at Mother, open mouthed. "We're...going to school together?"
She nodded vigorously. "Yes! And your sisters are already packed, right girls?"
Spider turned her head slowly to look out the nearest window. "Yes, Mother. All ready." 
Scarab grunted. "They're outside." she muttered darkly.
Mother smiled, and everyone continued eating. I tried to swallow more than a lizard, but a lump had formed in my throat.
After we ate, Mother led us outside, into the large courtyard. Three servants held travel satchels, and handed them to me and my sisters. the dark brown satchel was slipped over my head, and with a nod from Mother, the SandWings slipped back into the stronghold.
I hugged my brothers, and as I took off behind the others, I heard Skid say, "Stay frosty..." We angled north, towards Tranquility.
------------------
Okay, now your wondering: "Coriander, how was the flight?"
It sucked, thanks for asking.
We made exactly three stops before we actually left the Kingdom of Sand. Mother landed by the biggest oasis towns, and met with the officials. Each time we stopped, my sisters would sit by me and smile at the citizens, but as soon as the adults' backs were turned, they turned on me.
Scarab would kick me hard in the leg to shove herself away. The first two times, I gave a muffled yelp. Mother would turns around, alarmed. But Spider curled her wing around me and gave a perfect copy of the yelp, shooting Mother a sugary smile as if we were playing a game.
Mother smiled, and turned back to her business those times. Then Spider would jerk away from me as if I had firescales.
She would then glare at me with her haunting eyes, making me shudder multiple times, even with my back to her in flight.
We stopped only once when we were in the Sky Kingdom. It was by a lake, and as I stooped to take a drink from the clear water, I anticipated the glares and the kick. I felt the familiar pain, this time at my side, where my hip met my body.
Luckily, biting my tongue prevented me from grunting or yelping. I avoided their glares as we took off for the final time. We caught a lucky updraft, and soared through the blooming sky.
When I saw the buildings and the multi-colored scales of the inhabitants, I felt the pain of the glares and kicks fade, for we had reached our destination.
We had reached Starry Sky Academy.
CHAPTER 3: Getting Tackled Is Great!
I gaped at the school, awestruck. Its stone walls merged with the base of the mountain that stood tall and pround behind it.
Dragons glided around the three large towers, red, blue-white, black, and rainbow scales standing out against the purple-gray of the rocks. Black stoned balconies poked out of the school and mountain, flowers growing towards the light of the sun.
Mother landed softly in the courtyard, and we followed. Dragonets of different ages, both hybrid and pureblood, turned to stare at us. Mother caught a surprised Scarab and pulled her into a hug, murmurring about how strong and beautiful she was. Scarab's eyes pierced me and the bystanders, as if daring us: "Go on, laugh."
Scarab was released, and Spider was swept up next. Her tail barb rattled on the stones in an uncomfortable frenzy, like it was possessed, but she hung in our mother's embrace. 
Finally, Mother hugged me. Her scales were warm, with the right amount of roughness. She smelled of flowers and of the desert sands back home...
"Have fun dear," she cooed to me. "Try to bond with you sisters, and try to make friends. Learn a lot. Be as smart as the Darkstalker. You know what, I know you'll be even better." She released me, and spread her wings.
Mother took off, and flapped away, a golden shape in the blue-pink blush of the morning sky.
I heard the hiss before I felt claws grab me by the back of my neck. Spider pulled me close, her eyes stabbing mine like daggers.
"Listen, little sister," she hissed, voice dripping with hatred. Mother wants us to get along, but as long as we're here, you are our enemy. We were always meant to be enemies."
Scarab gripped my other arm, then shoved me towards the entrance with one great heave. I reached forward to slow my fall, but my face collided painfully with the cobbelstones.
I bit my lip to push myself through the throbbing pain, but I still stood up wobbily. I jumped slightly as my sisters took steps towards me.
"Here, sister," Scarab growled. She flung my pouch and travel satchel at me. I caught them; I hadn't even realized she had taken them.
"Since we're actually fair," Spider began, twitching her wings back.
"We'll let you have a head start," Scarab finished. She pointed to the school. "Go, see what winglet you're in. Go meet your clawmates."
They tilted their heads and grinned slowly, grimly, evily at me.
I needed no second bidding. I slipped my bags over my head and dashed inside the school as fast as I could. I sped into the Main Hall so quickly I almost collided with a MudWing-SeaWing hybrid. He blinked confused, slightly weirded-out eyes at me, then walked away, his blue-green tail swishing.
I took a breath to calm myself. Then five more.
I studied the hall around me. The dark purple walls were lit up with white and gold moonglobe sconces, and a few red moonglobes floated near the ceiling, balancing the light and shadows.
"Wow," i breathed, tracing the looping constellation ecthed into the walls with my claws.
"Yeah, it's amazing, isn't it?" a calm voice said. I quelled my jolt and turned to the left to see an IceWing-NightWing hybrid. His structure was pure IceWing, but he had soft stone gray scales, with a baby blue underbelly. His horns, claws, spikes, and wings were a glittering black. On the undersides of his wings, he ha sparkling icy blue star-scales that swirled in constellations like the walls.
He had been holding an intricate metal contraption with gears and a handle, but he slipped it into his slivery-white wolf skin pouch and looked at me, startling me with bright, fiery yellow orbs instead of blue or black ones.
"It is," I managed to say. My gaze flickered to the corners of his eyes, where teardrop scales lay. Instead of silver, they were a startling white.
He noticed me gawking . "I am a seer and a mind-reader, but before you freak out, look." He pulled a piece of skyfire out of his pouch, then slipped it back in. "I make sure everyone's thoughts are safe." he said.
"Hi there, Princess," he said, bowing. He then stood up and held out his talons to shake. "I'm Solstice."
I blinked at him. "How do you know I'm...?" I trailed off, letting him talk.
Solstice flickered over my shoulder. "By your attire, I'd say you're a princess. By the way the large dragoness hugged you and looked at you, I'd say that was your mother, the queen, who loves you." He blinked, and a small furrow appeared between his eyes. "By the way those two dragons throw you around and glare at you, I'd say those are your sisters, who hate you."
I felt a strange laugh escape my lips. I looked at Solstice, then shook his still-outstretched talons. "Well, you summed us all up." I said. "What are you, a detective or something?"
Solstice smiled. "I want to be, when I'm an adult." He seemed to remember something. "Where is my brain today? Come Princess, we need to see what and see what Winglet you're in." 
I followed him to a large sign in the middle of the Hall. The gold and silver-painted wood made the white parchment stand out. I saw the words "Steel Winglet", "Iron Winglet", "Bronze Winglet", and "Aluminum Winglet" inscribed in swirling black ink.
In the twenty-eight names, I found Scarab's in Iron Winglet with the clawmates Ox and Lichen, and Spider's in Steel Winglet with Opal for a clawmate.
"What's your name?" Solstice asked me. "Oh, sorry!" I said. "Coriander."
"Found you," he said, right after I said the last syllable of my name. "Oh hey, you're in the Bronze Winglet with me."
I looked at him, and he shot me a sideways smile. "I can show you the ropes of this place, Coriander." he said. He then turned and began walking to a tunnel. "First, I can take you to your sleeping cave."
I followed him, but before I stepped into the moonglobe-lit hallway, a sound made me turn. Dragonets were wispering to each other, some soft, some loud as Spider slithered down another hallway, an Icewing-RainWing hybrid on her back. The dragonet waved happily to everyone like a queen, and I saw Spider's tail barb rattling hard with anger and humiliation, even though her face was a blank mask. Scarab was glaring at everyone who looked at them.
The snickering dragons clamped their mouths shut and hurried away.
I remembered Solstice, and dashed after him. He had his head tilted as he stood beside a cave, but he righted himself as I came near. "Okay, here you are," he said. "But...um."
"Um what?" I asked.
He spoke again, his voice slightly different. "You'll be tackled hard against the bedroom wall by a dragon you met when you were very small."
"Was that a prophecy?" I asked, giving him a small nudge.
Solstice smiled sheepishly. "Yeah, sorry. Go on in, and maybe later I can show you the library."
With that, he turned and walked away, his spikes and tail rattling softly. I took a breath, pulled my satchel close to my chest, and slithered into the sleeping cave, preparing myself for what my clawmate, or clawmates, will be like.
I looked up, and heard a shriek. I glanced to the right, and saw a green blur launch herself off the ledge and sail towards me.
The dragon slammed into me, and we rolled into the wall on the far side of the room. My tackler grinned like mad, and shrieked:
"OH MY MOONS IT'S YOUUUUUUUUUU!"
CHAPTER 4: Happy Haddock.
I blinked a few times. My tackler, who was still grinning, was a SeaWing with shiny gray-green scales and dark green eyes with gold flecks in them.
She had bright, pastel green Aquatic stripes, and her horns and underscales were the same shade of neon green. The SeaWing's teeth flashed a pearly white as she smiled a toothy smile at me.
"Hi hi hi!" she exclaimed. "You must be my clawmate! I mean or course you 'cuz why else would be in this cave? So hi I'm your roomie! Do you like to read or draw or sing 'cuz I'm great with any of those!"
She stopped for a millisecond. "Oh no am I babbling? I don't mean to babble but I'm SO excited about school and making new friends and everything! The Seawing finally took a breath, and held her talons out to me. "Hi, I'm Haddock," she said at normal speed.
I sat there for a few moments, processing her torrent of words. I finally pushed myself into a sitting position and spoke. "Hi, Haddock," I said slowly. "I'm...Princess Coriander."
Haddock gasped, and her happy expresion bled to terror. "Princess? I'm so sorry!" she bowed so suddenly that I thought she had fallen over, but her wings flared and her whole body dipped low in the respectful pose. "I'm sorry!" she said, her voice changed from happy to scared. "I didn't mean to speak out of turn!"
She twisted a hand-made cowrie shell necklace around in her claws nervously; her tail twitched. A cowrie shell necklace...(Yeah, you probably made the connection too.)
"The SeaWing servant from the Council Meeting in the Sky Kingdom!" I said, my voice louder than I had intented it to be.
Haddock looked up in surprise, and studied my face. Then, like she had never changed, became the bright, bubbly dragon who had tackled me. "I am! Then that must make you..." her gaze fell on my feather earring. "The SandWing princess...the only royal who actually talked to me like an equal!"
Haddock sprang forward and hugged me in a green blur. I blinked, but otherwise didn't react, for I wasn't really hugged much. Unless my mother's hugs count.
She seemed to realize what she was doing, and released me, smiling sheepishly, a hint of nervous fear in her eyes. "Sorry..." she said.
"No, it's okay," I replied truthfully. I gave her a smile that told her it really was. "It's better than getting kicked." I rubbed where Scarab had hit me last.
Haddock gave me a confused look,so I explained my whole life, from the Meeting to today. When I finished, I curled my tail around my talons.
"That sounds awful!" Haddock said, pertaining to my sisters. "I have four siblings, but they rather pretend I don't exist rather than taunt and play with my like they do for each other." I felt her tail curl gently around mine, and I saw empathy in her eyes.
"The most awful thing," I concluded. "Is that they're here with me, and I just have to stay frosty and prepare myself for whatever plan they have for their enemy..." Haddock nodded after I spoke, and turned her head towards the door. I followed her gaze, and finally noticed what our room looked like.
Since we had moved to one of the beds to talk, I got a full view of the space. The walls were a soft gray so light they were almost purple. Shapes of moons, suns, and stars cascaded around the room, and on the ceiling, glittering silver-white and white-gold in the light of the two bright moonglobe sconces in the doorway.
The two ledge beds were covered in furs, and two large skins lay over them, serving as blankets. "What are we looking at?" I asked Haddock.
"What was the prophecy, and who told it to you it again?" she asked.
"You'll be tackled hard against the bedroom wall by a dragon you met when you were very small," I said. "And his name was Solstice; he was a IceWing-NightWing hybrid."
Haddock grinned. "We met when we were little! So it came true! And Solstice? He's so nice." She twisted her claws, a goofy smile on her face. "He's like a brother to me, even though we've known each other for a short time. He showed me around when I got here yesterday."
"He is nice," I agreed. What was that weird flutter in my chest? It couldn't be the beginnings of a crush, right? No...of course not. I haven't gotten to know him better, but maybe we could be friends.
"We're probably meant to be the best friends EVER!" Hadoock said.
"Solstice said he was going to show me the library later," I said, shrugging my satchel off but keeping my pouch. Haddock grinned at me. "How 'bout I show you it now?" she asked.
I smiled. I turned to her, then jumped off the bed. "Sure, why not?" 
Category:Fanfictions
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Category:Fanfictions (Canon)