Polycarpa (series)/Wings of Sea

Wings of Sea (alternatively known as "Book One: Ocean") is the first book in Polycarpa and is the Wings of Fire adaption of The Breaking Ocean, the first book in L1quid's Archai series.L1quid's notes and outlines for Polycarpa It is in the perspective of Coral, and is succeeded by Wings of Earth.
==Synopsis==
Seven elements, one world.
Three heirs, one throne.
Three strangers, one goal.
Enter the world of Polycarpa...
----Seven elements, one world...
Thousands of years after The Dragonet Prophecy, The Jade Mountain Prophecy, and The Lost Continent Prophecy; Pern is at war once again.
A royal power vacuum has gripped the world, and there is no hope in sight - until a mysterious, cryptic prophecy is delivered.
Coral is one of the dragons chosen to fulfill the prophecy. Raised with four others, all she knows about the war is from the literature she's read.
But when the war comes knocking on her door, everything will change.
==Map ==
==A Guide to the Dragon World==
<tabber>
|-|=
Click on each tab to view Polycarpa's A Guide to the Dragon World.
|-|DarkWings=
Description: wingless, shadow-like bodies; four legs; no wings; pupiless white eyes
Species Adaptations: can manipulate shadows (umbrakinesis) and a dragon’s reality (ontokinesis) through the Darkness
Leader: Archmonarch Nyx
Territory: somewhere in Polycarpa, we don't know
|-|HiveWings=
Description: scales in shades of yellow, orange, and red; four dragonfly-like wings; patches of black scales here and there on bodies
Species Adaptations: although many do not have any, some have differing "abilities" based on genes and environment, including shooting venom from teeth, stingers in wrists, shooting acid from tail stinger, and poisonous teeth
Leader: Monarch Blister
Territory: the central plains and savanna of Pantala
|-|IceWings=
Description: scales in shades of white, grey, and blue; forked blue tongues; serrated claws to grip the ice and other surfaces
Species Adaptations: can breathe smoke-like ice from their mouths ("frostbreath" or "freezing death-breath"); can resist all forms of cold and shades of light; very sharp eyesight
Leader: Monarch Arctic
Territory: the northwestern arctic of Pyrrhia, north of the continent's western desert
|-|LeafWings=
Description: scales in shades of green and brown (accenting colors can be any known color); two leaf-shaped wings
Species Adaptations: can gain energy from sunlight, knowledge of plants, some individuals have "leafspeak" (a form of chlorokinesis (plant manipulation))
Leader: Monarch Odollam
Territory: the northwestern mountains and the northeastern jungles of Pantala
|-|MoonWings=
Description: black scales; crescent-shaped white spikes and horns; twin tails; translucent wing membranes
Species Adaptations: have some form of telepathy which can be used to read minds, and telepathically communicate with non-MoonWings; can create illusions of any type and can manipulate moonlight (lunar photokinesis) through the Moon
Leader: Archmonarch Ilargi
Territory: somewhere on Polycarpa, we don't know
|-|MudWings=
Description: scales in shades of brown, with orange and gold scales seen occasionally; thick, armored scales; nostrils on top of snout like crocodiles and alligators; muscular and beefy stature
Species Adaptations: can hold breath for one hour (sixty minutes), can breathe fire if body is warm enough, can camouflage into the earth and the waters of swamps/marshes, exceptional strength, resistance to heat and fire if hatched from a blood-red egg
Leader: Monarch Copperhead
Territory: the eastern swamps and marshes of Pyrrhia, sandwiched between the continent's central mountains and the eastern sea
|-|NightWings=
Description: scales in shades of black or darker shades of other colors; silver scales scattered on undersides of wings, resembling a sky full of stars
Species Adaptations: can breathe fire, can camouflage into shadows and dark areas, can foresee the future or read minds if hatched under any of the three moons
Leader: Monarch Seeker
Territory: the southern jungles and rainforests of Pyrrhia, south of the continent’s central mountains and southwest of the continent’s swamps and marshes
|-|OceanWings=
Description: scales in shades of blue and green; gills on neck; webbed claws and spine; bioluminescent stripes on their bodies; five joints on their wings
Species Adaptations: can breathe underwater; can see in the dark; can resist all forms of underwater pressure; can resist varying temperatures; exceptional swimming; can manipulate water (hydrokinesis), ice (cryokinesis), coral (anthozoan manipulation), and other elements of the sea through the Ocean
Leader: Archmonarch Deep
Territory: the waters of Polycarpa
|-|RainWings=
Description: scales in all known shades and tints of colors in the universe; ruff behind ears; fangs in mouth; prehensile tails
Species Adaptations: can camouflage by changing the coloration of their scales with the chromatophores in their scales, can shoot an acid that degrades all organic matter from fangs
Leader: Monarch Anaconda
Territory: the southern jungles and rainforests of Pyrrhia, south of the continent’s central mountains and southwest of the continent’s swamps and marshes
|-|SandWings=
Description: scales in shades of yellow and light brown; scorpion-barbed tail; forked black tongues; rippling dune-appearing spine
Species Adaptations: can breathe fire, can camouflage into desert sand, heat-radiating scales, can go a long time without food and/or water, highly tuned sense of smell and hearing
Leader: since the mysterious assassination of Monarch Sunlight, the species is split between her three children - Echidna, Eclipse, and Egypt
Territory: the western desert of Pyrrhia, sandwiched between the continent's northwestern arctic and the southwestern peninsula
|-|Scavengers=
Description: skin in all shades of white, brown, and black; bipedal (walk on two legs); two arms, hands, and feet; sexual dimorphism (males are taller than females); wear different forms of clothing, with material from surrounding environments
Species Adaptations: can create tools from surrounding environments
Leader: we have no idea, since they’re scattered all over the planet
Territory: an unknown planet (homeworld?), all over Pern (currently?)
|-|SeaWings=
Description: scales in shades of blue, green, and purple; gills on neck; webs between claws; bioluminescent stripes all over body
Species Adaptations: can breathe underwater in all bodies of water, well-tuned nocturnal vision, can use tails to create large waves or to kill enemies, exceptional swimming skills
Leader: Monarch Brine
Territory: the eastern ocean and island chain of Pyrrhia, although some dragons prefer Pern’s global ocean instead
|-|SilkWings=
Description: scales in all colors of the universe; four butterfly-like wings with appear at age six during a process known as "Metamorphosis"; antennae on head
Species Adaptations: can shoot silk from wrists after "Metamorphosis", can detect threats within surroundings with antennae, some individuals can shoot a form of flaming silk known as "flamesilk"
Leader: Monarch Cinnabar
Territory: the central plains and savanna of Pantala
|-|SkyWings=
Description: scales in shades of orange and red; enormous wings
Species Adaptations: can breathe fire, can fly faster than an average dragon, high endurance and stamina, can resist all forms of cold
Leader: Monarch Rubicund
Territory: the central mountains of Pyrrhia, sandwiched between the continent’s western deserts and the eastern swamps and marshes
|-|SphereWings=
Description: scales in shades of black or darker shades of other colors; resemble a cross between a NightWing and a SandWing; have a sphere at the end of their tails
Species Adaptations: can create portals and can foresee the future through the Stars
Leader: Archmonarch Theia
Territory: Pern's heavens (we think)
|-|StormWings=
Description: grey or black scales, reminiscent of storms; long, narrow wings; five joints on their wings
Species Adaptations: exceptional flight; can channel lightning through bodies; can manipulate rain (ombrokinesis), lightning (electrokinesis), clouds (nubikinesi), ice (cryokinesis) and wind (aerokinesis) through the Sky
Leader: Archmonarch Tempest
Territory: the Skyridge Mountains of Polycarpa
|-|SunWings=
Description: golden scales; spikes protruding from head like sunrays or a crown of thorns
Species Adaptations: can manipulate heat (thermokinesis), light (photokinesis), and fire (pyrokinesis) through the Sun
Leader: Archmonarch Corona
Territory: the Burning Desert of Polycarpa
|-|TreeWings=
Description: scales in shades of green; two curved brown horns on head; large leaf-shaped wings; five joints on each wing
Species Adaptations: can camouflage in forests or forested areas; can manipulate flora (cholokinesis), fauna (faunakinesis), rocks and stones (geokinesis), minerals (crystallokinesis), and metal (ferrokinesis) through the Earth
Leader: Archmonarch Forest
Territory: the Great Forest of Polycarpa
</tabber>
==The Prophecy==
See the Sun split, see the Earth quake.
See the Sky whip, see the Ocean break.
See the Moon’s bane, see the Stars watch.
And Darkness will reign.
==Epigraph==
O holoré lay thee low
Holoél dark in the Deep.
Down beneath the earth you go
Go holoré fast to sleep
Fast to sleep
Fast to sleep
Dark holoré in the Deep
Rise again holoré now
Spring abundant holoél
Render green the dying bough
Raise the rock where Yurgen fell
- Yurgen's Tune (The Wingfeather Saga)
==Prologue==
5,012 A.S.
Coral, a female OceanWing, is leading Anemone, Turtle, and Jerboa to Polycarpa, her home continent. As they land on a rocking outcropping in Ocean territory, Turtle pants if they're there yet. Coral tells him that they're extremely close, and tells them that they must continue underwater to land on a beach where they will properly rest. Anemone begins doubting her decision to go with her brother, but Jerboa reminds her that it's way too late to turn back now. Coral then dives into the water, prompting Turtle, Anemone, and Jerboa to follow her. (Jerboa holds her breath, since she's not an aquatic dragon.) After a while, the group heaves onto a beach; "Welcome to Polycarpa", Coral says as Jerboa gasps for air like an drowning seagull.
----A while later, the three visitors rejoin Coral at the "tail" of the third continent, having learnt Primal magic. Anemone and Turtle have mastered the Ocean, while Jerboa has mastered the Earth. The three "mock-duel" to show off their new abilities before Coral stops them. The OceanWing then gives the three tomes, scrolls, and books on Polycarpa's geography, magic, lore, and the likes before sending them back home. There is an air of hope that the seven Primal Sources will usher in a new magical age for the dragons.
----The prologue cuts to the future at an unknown time. Polycarpa's "tail" has become "the Divide", rendering it an island. As a result, the Pyrrhians and Pantalans that have decided to live on the continent make their settlements on the island. On the main continents, the governments decide to send prisoners to the rest of Polycarpa if their jails get full.
----There is another time skip, and Pern has descended into world war again over a royal power vacuum. History is repeating itself as another War of SandWing Succession has broken out, except this one is more bloodier and more involved than its predecessor. Yet in this chaos, a cryptic prophecy has emerged. Although everybody doesn't know its true meaning, some have decided to use it for their own personal gains, and fulfill it their own way.
----
6,006 A.S.
The bones and metal sheet lying on the floor of the cave seemed to tell the sand-colored dragon that his mission was wrought with fraud.
They were a faded white and enormous, around the size of an average dragon, and were in the form of a SandWing with some features from other dragon species in it.
In the crook of the bone’s curled form, on the stone floor, was an egg. It was the real reason Blaze was here; although the engraved metal sheet got in his way when he first saw and read it.
The egg was white, like light or snow; it had no markings nor blemishes. It was just a perfect white, round egg.
But now he was beginning to doubt coming here.
If this egg was really one of the last of the NatureWings, it would be a waste to take it and use it as a lazy power move.
Since the war began, gravedigging became a necessity to end it.
No, it was to win it.
Blaze turned around.
He wasn’t going to desecrate this cave.
Not this time, maybe later, when everything was over.
He spread his bat-like wings at the cave opening and vaulted into the cool, half-moon-lit night sky.
The grey-and-brown cliffs and small spires of the Skyridge Mountains soared under him, as if they were fossils from an ancient fight.
These mountains were the territory of the StormWings.
SandWing territory was the Kingdom of Sand, a dragon kingdom on the continent of Pyrrhia. It was far north of the mountains, the Burning Desert, and (ultimately) Polycarpa; it was also where the second War of SandWing Succession originated.
Blaze canted his wings so that he flew in the direction of the ocean, where an ally of the Order of Nature would help him there.
They would give him the “Sky” member.
How the Order had gotten six “chosen ones” from a cryptic Star prophecy befuddled him.
“See the Sun split”. That was an obvious reference to Sunlight’s death and power vacuum it created.
“See the Earth quake.” That was either literal or referring to the alliance Earth creatures had with Egypt.
The rest of the prophecy could be interpreted that way, except for the last two lines.
“See the Stars watch./And Darkness will reign.”
Blaze had a feeling that “See that Stars watch” meant that Star creatures didn’t interfere with the war, like they always did for most of Pern’s history.
But not this time.
When the Order initially gave him, Sawgrass, Silver, Wormwood, Flow, and Squall the task of finding and raising the “chosen ones”, a SphereWings with dark purple scales had met them on the coast of the eastern ocean. They gave them a small, dark purple egg that resembled a clear night sky.
“Do not lose this egg”, they gruffly said. “The prophecy depends on it.”
If the line in the prophecy was changed to “The Stars will come to you”, that would make more sense than the actual line.
Cold air from the mountains sliced through his wings like ice.
As the Order’s fastest dragon, he should be close now.
But as he flew over a stubby mountain composed of cliffs, he saw something in one of its crevasses at the top.
He paused, beating his wings to hovering as he peered at it.
It was a grey egg, an ice-grey shade if you will.
Blaze sharply inhaled.
How had an IceWing egg managed to be laid on Polycarpa?
He dove down to the cleft, landing in front of it. He whipped his head around, making sure that no one followed him from the proto-dragon’s cave, before gingerly pawed it out with his talons.
Once it was out, he gripped it hard, making sure that it wouldn’t slip from him as he flew, before flying back into the night sky.
As he flew, he noticed that the mountains were quiet, too quiet in fact.
He looked down.
Where were the dragons of the Moon, the Sky, the Stars, the Earth?
Where were-?
His thoughts were cut off when something – or someone – jabbed its claws into his back, dragging him downward.
He lashed out, trying to bite, poison, and burn his attacker, but whoever it was kept dodging and evading him until they both hit a flat, stony butte.
Everything in his body ached from the fall.
As he his vision cleared itself, thick, rune-engraved chains were deftly wrapped around his body and snout, and he could see who his attacker was.
Fourth moons and fireballs.
They were DarkWings.
DarkWings were wingless beings whose bodies appeared to be made of shadow. They could slip through anything with this, making them the world’s only unkillable dragon.
As the egg was taken from his talons, he could feel his natural abilities were draining from him – and that someone was watching him.
Even though he knew he was trapped in Solar Bindings, chains that neutralized a Sun creature’s connection to their Source (and also prevented similar non-Sun creatures from breathing fire); he looked up, and saw an enormous black dragon with white, crescent-shaped horns and transparent wing membranes was being handed the egg by a DarkWing soldier.
He trembled.
This was no ordinary, large dragon.
This was Archmonarch Ilargi of the MoonWings, and an ally of Eclipse, Sunlight’s secondborn heir.
She picked up the egg and held to the light of the half-moon.
“And this is the gift that keeps on giving”, she smoothly mused to herself. She handed it to a nearby guard. “Put it somewhere else like the others. We keep going until dawn.”
The soldier bowed and disappeared into the dark night, as if they were never really there.
Blaze didn’t have anything to say.
The egg he thought as lonesome and chosen, was in fact a trap for those like him.
“Did you really think that egg was ‘chosen’, SandWing?” she purred before letting out a light chuckle. “That old egg won’t hatch for a while, and, well, the prophecy will be fulfilled by the time it does. But not how you lizards envision it.”
His dark eyes went wide.
What did that mean?
The round, white crystal that symbolized the Moon that was in the middle of her oddly-shaped silver crown gleamed like a diamond in the moonlight.
“I know what you’re thinking”, she continued. “You might be thinking that the prophecy must be fulfilled your way. What you don’t know is that there are others who want it to be fulfilled their way.”
She slithered towards him like a snake following its quarry.
Blaze’s scales screamed at him to run, but the bindings and the force that the DarkWing had on the chain held him in place.
In one swift movement, Ilargi grabbed his head with her large, black talons and twisting it, breaking his neck.
She took a step, studied the corpse, and then flicked her tail.
Two DarkWings came forward and removed the bindings from the corpse before dumping it off the cliff.
At the same moment, wingbeats and talons descended behind the Archmonarch.
Ilargi turned around, and was surprised to see who it was.
“Eden?”
The dragon gave her a toothy grin. “Surprise, surprise.”
Down below, in the rocks of the range’s cliffs and crags, something moved.
It was a dragon, an MudWing to be specific.
Sawgrass slithered off the rocks he was hiding on towards Blaze’s corpse.
Despite their species’ differences, this didn’t matter when they were both fighting for the same cause.
The pale brown dragon stared at the sandy corpse with his dark eyes.
It should’ve been him who had come out here. His camouflage was impeccable in rocky ecosystems; and if he had crossed Ilargi, he would’ve given her quite a beating.
Blaze had no chance here.
The Order had assigned him to find a Sky Dragon based on his prowess alone, rather than his elemental strengths.
“It should’ve been, it should’ve been me, it should’ve been me”, Sawgrass muttered himself repeatedly as he touched the corpse with one of his talons, and turning it into stone.
Lapis Corpus.
“Stone body”.
No had to know what happened tonight.
Flow (and the Order’s) orders.
The MudWing took several steps back.
The spell had replaced Blaze’s corpse with a bulky, weirdly protruded rock that barely resembled a dragon. If one were to see it, they would see an odd rock, no less.
Wingbeats severed Sawgrasses’ train of thought, and he looked up.
Ilargi and her cronies had taken themselves into the night sky, steering north.
No doubt to snuff out prophecy-believers like Blaze.
What good was hope when you were martyred for it?
<><><><><><>
The western ocean of Polycarpa used to be one, before the Divide.
Sheer white cliffs dropped down into it like fused, rocky icicles, and waves crashed against it, as if they were taking their pent-up anger out on them.
On one of those cliffs, a dragon stood watch, scanning his eyes for any travelers wishing to trade in a safe place, away from the destruction, death, and chaos.
Wind blew in from the sea to the land, billowing through his large, red wings and making the already-cold night air ever colder and rustling the leaves on the trees that grew on the cliffside.
Because of his dark red, ruby-like scales, it was easy for Sawgrass to spot Flame, who was standing on the edge of the cliffs.
The SkyWing seemed to sense the MudWing’s soft footsteps as he landed on the long, cool, damp grass. He didn’t turn around.
“I suspect something happened in the Skyridge Mountains.”
There was an emphasis on the word “happened”.
“Blaze is dead”, Sawgrass griped. “Fell for a trap set by Eclipse’s dragons.”
The SkyWing turned, and the MudWing met his ember-orange eyes. “And the egg?”
“That was the trap.”
“Hmmmm….” Flame mused, rubbing the back of his scaly neck thoughtfully. After a while, he opening the soft, brown leather bag that hung from his neck, and fiddled inside it with his claws.
“Where are you?” he muttered to himself.
Sawgrass tensed, fixing his eyes on Flame’s talons until they emerged with a small, dark-light grey egg in it.
“How did you-?” Lapis started as the SkyWing placed the StormWing egg in front of him.
“I kept it in case anything went… sour.”
Sawgrass pawed the egg with his claws, letting it roll into his mouth for easier transportant.
“Good luck”, Flame said in his thick voice as the animus dug beneath the earth with the spell Terra Torquent.
“Churning earth”.
<><><><><><>
The caverns that ran under Polycarpa were long, twisting, and imposing, as if an Archmonarch secretly lived under the continent.
It was also the place where the Order’s “chosen ones” were to be raised and kept until the time came.
When Sawgrass arrived in the cavern that was designated as this system’s “main cave”, he found Flow and another dragon watching the stone nest in the middle with great intent.
The nest wasn’t really a nest – it was a small divot in the ground that they had decided to use as one. Various blankets of different colors and shapes overlapped each other, forming a mosaic which the two other eggs peacefully lied in. One was black; the other one resembled a clear night sky full of stars.
In reality, the divet could support seven eggs. But the prophecy didn’t need seven dragons – it required what could be found.
Early on, the Order had decided to have at least five to seven dragons to be their Primal representatives.
Sawgrass strode over to the nest, and opened his mouth to place the StormWing egg in it.
The grey egg was now covered with his saliva, giving it a hard, slimy feel.
He backed away several footsteps to allow Flow, an OceanWing, to study it.
She was smaller than most of her kind, around half their normal size. Despite this, she was the ringleader of the guardians, watching their every move and dictating who or what should where.
After she peered at the eggs, she gave the MudWing a side-eye. “Where’s Blaze?” she demanded. The orange-gold light that came from the fires on the walls gave her blue scales an eerie glow.
“Dead”, he snorted. “Caught and killed by a trap set by Eclipse’s dragons.”
“And the egg…?”
“That was the trap. Luckily, Flame had a substitute lounging around in his bag.”
He gestured at small, grey, nearly black egg.
“We didn’t lose just Blaze”, Flow snorted. “Silver. She managed to get the MudWing egg down here before exhaustion took her.”
Sawgrass stared at her. “Did you get anyone?”
She nodded, gesturing at the long, grey, dragon who was sitting on the ground and holding something. “The SeaWing that Squall’s holding in her talons.”
Sawgrass craned his long, thick neck, and could see that the StormWing assigned to them by the Order had a small, blue dragonet quietly sleeping in her grey talons.
“She was the first to leave and the first to return”, Flow explained. “She found the SandWing, and she’s already named the three that have already hatched.”
Sawgrass turned and raised an eye ridge. “She named them?”
The OceanWing nodded. “The SeaWing is Coral; the MudWing is Clay; the SandWing is Sunny.”
“What about others?” the MudWing inquired.
“We don’t have names for them yet…”
“Well, we don’t have any time!” he interrupted her with a furious roar. “They could hatch at any moment!”
“Stop being an arrogant Star creature”, Flow growled, “or I’ll turn you into water.”
Sawgrass couldn’t say anything. He huffed, although he was secretly terrified.
Blaze’s cover up could become his own punishment.
From Squall’s talons, Coral stirred and began to cry.
“Now look what you’ve done!” the StormWing hissed.
“You could give her to me”, a gentle, bass voice came from the shadows.
It belonged to a grey, nearly black DarkWing.
Of all the guardians, Wormwood genuinely tried to be the opposite of what his Primal Source was associated with. Despite this, he was a coward.
Squall turned to him, and her blue eyes threw daggers at him.
“Go back to the shadows, demon”, she bitterly hissed, before standing up and leaving the cave with the hatchling.
Sawgrass couldn’t comprehend why the Order had chosen Squall to look after the chosen ones. Despite being no offspring, she viewed raising dragonets as a chore.
She also viewed everyone with a prejudiced lens.
Well, not everyone, exactly. There were a few individuals she tolerated.
Wormwood slinked back into the shadows.
After a long night, Sawgrass wanted some sleep. But he had to watch when the eggs would hatch.
He laid down on the stone floor of the cavern, and watched the nest until he closed his eyes, and sleep took over him.
<><><><><><>
A sharp crack woke Sawgrass from a hellish dream where Sunlight’s heirs banded together, found the cave, invaded it, and destroyed the dragonets.
He gripped the stone underneath him, reminding him that both were very much alive and very new in the world.
He groggily sat up, and realized that the others were gone. Only he remained.
Half-awake as he still sat, Sawgrass, yawned, stretched, and shook himself before peering at the nest.
The dark egg that he had brought was hatching.
Crack.
Crack.
Craaaack.
Slowly, but surely, the shell split up and fell away.
He goggled the hatchling that was in its place.
It was a small black dragonet with white, crescent-shaped horns on his head; white, crescent-shaped spikes running down its back; two bat-like wings on its back with transparent wing membranes; and two tails.
What he had mistaken for a mutated NightWing egg or a random DarkWing egg, was in fact the egg of a MoonWing.
Three moons.
“Crrrr?” the dragonet purred as Sawgrass picked it up with his thick talons and brought it close to his square snout.
He had a name for this dragonet, one that had been used throughout history for great dragons – no matter their species.
“Luna”, he whispered to the hatchling.
This dragonet now carried the name of many historical figures (including that infamous SilkWing who carried out a cultural revolution on Pantala).
“Lrrrr?” the dragonet purred.
Sawgrass placed her on the ground, as he heard another egg crack.
He looked up.
The StormWing egg was hatching.
Impossible! he thought.
StormWing eggs required lightning to hatch.
And you couldn’t access lightning underground.
Unless…
Sawgrass craned his neck over the divet and saw that Squall was flat on the ground, casting Caelum Fulmen onto the egg.
“Giving a talon?” he inquired.
The StormWing jumped onto all fours, and the spell’s rune – which resembled a lightning bolt and gave off a pale blue glow – dissipated into the air.
“I’m not helping”, she spat indignantly. “I’m forcing them out.”
She cast the spell’s rune again, spoke its incantation, and struck the egg with the bolt.
Over, and over, and over Squall did this until the eggshell split, leaving a small black hatchling in its place. Like Luna, it had two bat-like wings on its back and two curved horns on its head. Unlike her, it had grey eyes.
As he scooped up the hatchling and placed it on the ground, he felt that Luna was clinging to one of his legs for comfort.
“Rrrr?” she said upon seeing the hatchling.
She cautiously slinked away from Sawgrass, keeping one talon his leg, and reached out with another one to feel the other dragonet.
He bolted away, went around the nest, and jumped onto Squall. He clung to her like how Luna was clinging to one of Sawgrass’ legs.
“ACK!” the dragon protested. “Get off me!”
A name popped into the MudWing’s head at the moment.
The dragonet was a StormWing, and it bolted towards Squall…
He gestured at the hatchling. “Bolt.”
“’Bolt’?” Squall sniffed. “What kind of name is that?”
“One that you don’t get to change.”
As if on cue, a splashing sound came from behind the two, and two swiveled their heads towards it.
Flow had emerged from the cavern river, as if the commotion abovewater piqued her interest. Her sky-blue eyes went wide at the sight of the dragonets, especially at Luna.
“Three moons”, she breathed.
The OceanWing’s scales shimmered pale blue in the firelight as she strode towards the divet. Luna sunk her claws into Sawgrass’ leg, so much so that one could assume she would accidently draw blood. But the MudWing wasn’t fazed by this; his species had the most armored scales in the world.
He could see that Bolt was doing the same with Squall, but she was trying to get him off as quickly as she could.
Over, and over, and over, she pried him off until he came loose and shoved him towards Flow.
“Take him”, she growled, as she stopped dead in her tracks. “I’m going to check on the others.”
She turned away and slunk towards the other caves where the other dragonets were kept for now.
“Should we-?” Sawgrass started, but Flow lifted a webbed claw, not even looking at him.
“Not right now. Later.”
Both dragons peered into the divet. The SphereWing egg had not yet cracked. Like how lightning was needed for Bolt to hatch, it needed starlight to hatch.
But how do you get starlight underground when you were so far away from it?
Something popped into Sawgrass’ mind.
“Flow, get the artifacts.”
She gave him a look that read “Are you serious?”, to which he silently replied with a look that said, “Do it.”
“I’ll get them”, she said before turning away and melding into the water.
They had come so far, and they weren’t going to squander it by missing a couple of parts.
The prophecy had to come true, whatever it took to fulfill it.
==Part One: Dark in the Deep==
6,012 A.S.
===Chapter 1===
A blast of cold air from the spell slammed itself into Coral.
The SeaWing curled herself into a scaly blue ball, stayed still like a stone that had been weather-beaten throughout Pern’s million-year history.
But she was no enduring stone, she was dueling an Archdragon.
Who was cantankerous against everything and everyone.
“Aqua Corpus”, Coral whispered to herself, and felt her body transform into water.
When an Ocean mage turned into anything Ocean-related, whether it was coral or kelp, it became a part of them.
The dragon’s scales, her insides, her wings and horns, turned into liquid and she soon became a puddle.
Even in this form, she could still see Squall fuming.
“Whatever you’re planning Coral”, she hissed, “will never work in the real world. You’re not Clay.”
Out of all the dragons the Order of Nature found for the Prophecy, Clay was the biggest of the five. Despite this, he was a vehement pacifist.
Typical of a MudWing – striding to find balance and harmony above everything else.
Only one could theorize how they became (metaphorically) flaccid.
Squall strode through the cave, the rune for the spell Ventus Percutiens – which resemble streaks of wind – glowing pale blue in her grey talons.
Hold Coral, hold, the dragonet told herself as the StormWing came closer, and closer, and closer.
Closer, and closer, and closer Squall came until she trod over Coral.
At this point, the SeaWing decided that this was her moment to strike.
She reversed the Aqua Corpus spell, returned to her original form, and body-slammed into the Sky Archdragon, throwing her to the ground.
Before she could get back up, Coral placed a heavy, webbed foot onto her chest, simulating what would happen if the two had fought for real – she would choke her to death.
The StormWing looked up at her with hard, sky-blue eyes “Impressive”, she mused in her usual gruff voice, “but like I said, that won’t work in the real world.”
Coral didn’t say anything. She just took her foot off of Kestrel and offered a talon.
Constructive criticism was a good thing. It pointed out your flaws and where you needed to improve; although many portrayed it as being an attack on your character.
The StormWing’s grey scales were smeared with dirt, although she would clean them later in the river.
SeaWings, OceanWings, and StormWings could resist the bitter cold in their respective environments to varying degrees.
StormWings were better adapted for Pern's cold, upper atmosphere; OceanWings and SeaWings could manage the temperature fluctuations in their aquatic home with ease.
The dragon took Coral’s talon, and she helped her back up.
“Dismissed”, she said before turning to the only other dragon in the cavern. “Clay, your turn.”
If this were a real fight, Coral thought as she slinked to the river that connected the other caves together like threads being connected in a mystery, he would be dead in a second.
“Coral”, Squall said.
The SeaWing stopped and turned. She was close to the river.
“I changed my mind. Can you stay?”
She nodded. You obeyed your authorities without questions, without any doubts.
Clay was already in the middle of the cave, facing Squall. His brown armored topscales lightly shuddered, as he knew what he was going to endure.
The MudWing was like a brother to the other dragonets.
But even brothers had their own faults as well.
Squall faced the dragon, not even looking at him.
She drew the rune of Ventus Percutiens, her favorite training rune Coral knew from experience, and swiftly struck Clay.
He stayed still, using Coral’s “stand still like a stone” technique from earlier before hurriedly flinging himself at the StormWing.
The dragon stooped, dodging the attack and allowing him to hit the floor before rushing at him.
Clay yelped, scrabbling his talons, running towards a small cluster of stalactites and hid there, curling himself into a small ball.
Squall slithering over to the rocky grotto, her long, grey wings tightly tucked to her sides, and yanked him out by the nape of his neck.
“Hey!” he complained. “I thought you said that’s an illegal move!”
Squall whipped him around, got into his face, and hissed in his ear, “Nothing I do is illegal. Where’s the violent little monster inside you? The prophecy requires that.”
She turned to Coral and gestured with her head to come.
The SeaWing obeyed, and she noticed that Squall’s grip on Clay was hard.
“Pound him”, she growled. “Show him what happens when you lack the means to defend yourself.”
Reluctantly, Coral obeyed.
She used her talons, her teeth, her magic to beat Clay over, and over, and over until he crumpled on the floor.
There were days where this happened, and Coral wished that she’d never beat Clay.
This was one of them.
He was a brown, bloody, mangled mess lying on the floor like pounded coffee beans that had been scattered by some violent force.
Squall stared down at him, as he raggedly breathed.
“Maybe that”, she spat, “will get you to realize that violence is the only answer.”
She looked at Coral. “Leave him”, she ordered before turning away, supposedly heading towards another part of the cavern system.
The SeaWing looked back at Clay, who was still bleeding on the floor, before walking towards the river.
“Coral”, she heard him rasp in his deep voice, “don’t leave me here.”
Leave him, Kestrel had said. If Coral had helped Clay, she would find out and probably beat her too.
So, she turned away and walked to the river, where she dove into the water, and swam away.
Far, and far, and far away she swam until she found the cave that contained what she had been tending to for years. An artificial reef where she could live.
It was her attempt to recreate SeaWing culture, based on the literature she read that said that her kind lived in reef cities.
She had molded the reef into a half-moon shape within the rocks; multicolored branches of coral jutted out like a mosaic of stiff tentacles.
The underground currents had swept white strings down the river, and they had tangled within the reef.
Coral sighed.
Every time she came down here, something had snagged onto the coral, whether it was organic or not.
This time, it was a cave anemone, a type of Ocean creature only found down here in the caverns.
They floated through life, pulling nutrients from their aquatic environment.
She unwrapped the long tentacles from the coral with her claws, as if she were untangling a piece of twisted rope, before letting it go.
And as she watched it drift down the river, a sound came from the darkness.
==Changes from Original Novel==
*The dragons being the DarkWings are Archai's Shadow Drakes, a type of wingless, shadow-like that's considered the series' unkillable dragon. The SunWings are Sungold Dragons, a type considered to be "Archdragons" because of their vast power and rareness.L1quid's notes and outlines for Archai
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*In the original novel, the prologue sets up the prophecy in some way, similar to how Wings of Fire set up The Dragonet Prophecy. In the adaptation, the prologue is the premise of the series (there is a third continent of the world, which has been exploited and now war has broken out); and the prologue of the original novel.
*In the original novel, there are three elves and three dragons chosen to fulfill the prophecy (one per element). In the adaptation, there are six dragons chosen to fulfill the prophecy (one per element).
**In the rough version of the original novel, there was a dragon and an elf per element, but was significantly cut back for plot and character purposes. In the semifinal version, all seven elements are represented in each species through five purebloods (one individual per element) and one hybrid (two elements in one individual).
*In the original novel, Coral is sold to the Fangs, lizardpeople connected to the Earth, after she and the other "chosen ones" are betrayed by Pharos to traders. In the adaptation, Coral is sold to Rubicund, the SkyWing queen, to be an arena fighter after Flame betrays the "chosen ones" to traders.
**This was a deliberate nod to the events of The Dragonet Prophecy, wherein the Dragonets of Destiny become fighters in Scarlet's arena after the said monarch finds them.
**The Fangs in the original novel were inspired by the Fangs of The Wingfeather Saga, although this is L1quid's interpretation/version of them.
*In the original novel, Coral is placed into the same cell as Brynn Wolff, a female human, and her pet Cloud Dragon (Sky Dragon) "Wispy" in the Fangs' arena. In the adaptation, Coral is positioned between Wispy and Earth's spires in the SkyWing arena prison.
==Trivia== 
*The original novel's title, The Breaking Ocean, was derived from the Archaian Ocean Primal. In the original series, the Ocean is associated with beginnings, depths, change, transformation, fluidity, purity, fury, appearances, and pressure. 
**The original title of the original novel was Ocean. It was changed to avoid being confused with The Dragon Prince: Ocean.
**Because Archai was inspired by The Dragon Prince, the filler covers for the original series and the WoF adaptions are artwork from the series. For this book, it is key art for the show's fifth season.
*Because this series does not follow nor take place in the main series timeline, where the dragons learn of humanity's sentience via Wren and Sky, the guide is an expanded version of the one seen in Wings of Fire and includes dragons seen in Polycarpa.
**The Archdragons seen in the original series are made "Archmonarchs" (archdragons who are monarchs of their respective species) as compensation for the canon Wings of Fire lore.
*The epigraph (Yurgen's Tune from The Wingfeather Saga) was added into the fanfiction as L1quid wanted to have it in the actual book, but ultimately scrapped it for copyright reasons. (This would be if the book was published, as they are an independent author.) When L1quid first heard the song, they thought that it specifically referred to the series' Sea Dragons. Upon further investigation, they found that the in-world song refers to Yurgen, the king of the dragons', desperate dig for the Ancient Stones to heal his son from Ouster Will; this digging formed an island and sunk the dragon's old kingdom, forcing them to become sea dragons.
**As it relates to the actual book (and its adaptation), the song can be taken at face value as a reference to the Ocean, but can also refer to how people "dug" so deep to figure out the prophecy and/or to make the prophecy come true their way that it killed them.
*The plot of the original novel (and the adaptation) was inspired by the plot of The Dragonet Prophecy.
**Some aspects of the original novel (and its adaptation) were inspired by L1quid's old and unfinished Wings of Fire fanfictions. The one that this one takes the most from is The Other Dragonets, which asked the question "What if the SandWing sisters had their own Dragonets of Destiny?".
*The title of the novel's first act ("Dark in the Deep") is a reference to the lyrics of "Yurgen's Tune" from The Wingfeather Saga (which was the epigraph), but also referenced how the six chosen members were raised underground, far from prying eyes. The title of the second act ("Blood Coral") was inspired by the Blood Corals of The Dragon Prince, but also referenced how Coral and her friends were captives in the second act. The title of the novel's third act ("Breaking the Surface") was the original name for the third act of Shifting Storms, the Wings of Fire adaptation of Turning Tides, the first book in L1quid's series These Alien Dragons, before it was changed.L1quid's notes and outlines for These Alien Dragons
**The original name of Shifting Storm's third act name was present in the original Alien Dragons novel until it was changed to its current name, "The Restless Sea".
==Notes==
On 08/01/2023, L1quid decided to type the summaries of Ocean's rough chapters before uploading the final adaptation.
----On 10/06/2023, L1quid decided to put a hold on Archai (and its Wings of Fire adaptation) to focus on These Alien Dragons (and its Wings of Fire adaptation). (They are currently working on book 2 of the series and some side stories that will explore more of the series world.) They will work on the series from time to time, if they have writer's block.
----As of March-April 2024, L1quid has merged Archai with their other series These Alien Dragons to create Strangely Dim (because both series' plots were dragging them through the mud).This means that Polycarpa (as a series) is discontinued. However, because the series' lore is important to the world of Wings of Fire: Strangely Dim, all Polycarpa content will be kept on the wiki and the summary of adaptations' chapters will substitute for the actual plots.
==Gallery==
File:The wicked depths (season 5 key art, the dragon prince).png|"The Wicked Depths" key art for season 5 of The Dragon Prince. This will was used as the filler cover for Wings of Sea until an actual cover was made.
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File:The Breaking Ocean (full handdrawn cover (WoF version), Archai).jpg|The full, handdrawn cover of Wings of Sea, by L1quid.
==References==
==External Links==
*Book One: Ocean (Archai) - The Dragon Prince fanon wiki
*Archai: The Breaking Ocean - L1quid's Wattpad page
*Named Polycarpa characters, unnamed Polycarpa characters - Wings of Fire fanon wiki
Category:Fanfictions
Category:Fanfictions (Fanon)
Category:Fanfictions (Completed)
Category:Content (L1quidMarbl3)
Category:Genre (Prophecy)
Category:Genre (Adventure)
Category:Alternate Universes
Category:Inspired by Fiction