Living in the Dark

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What's life really like for the dragons under Darkstalker's rule? How did Darkstalker come to power? What secrets is he hiding? In this series of short stories by Colorchanger the Mindreader, RainWingHalfBlood, and DragonSiren22, all those questions will be answered and more. We will start with the story of Darkstalker's ever-faithful assistant and will tour the lives of a dragon from each and ever tribe- even those presumed extinct. Just a warning, though- some these dragons are less eager to release the closely guarded secrets they protect than others, so the addition of chapters may not be equal among the books.
=====Table of Contents=====	Lightwatcher - Carob - Papaya
=Book 1: Lightwatcher=
== Chapter 1 ==
I smiled as I sat at my desk, writing down the last few words of my manuscript. It detailed how Darkstalker had risen to power, and it was glorious, if I did say so herself. I was sure Darkstalker would agree. He'd given my the skill at writing that I now had. 
I really admired King Darkstalker. He'd brought honor and glory back to the Night Kingdom, and had freed them from the evil Queen Papaya. I knew it was true. He'd told me it all directly while she was writing the guide to the tribes. I wanted to tell everyone about how wonderful their King was. And now I had my chance. 
Its true- King Darkstalker is a wonderful, amazing king. I could tell you about so many amazing things he's done, but today I want to talk about what he did for me, specifically: 
== Chapter 2 ==
I was born under his reign, to two wonderful parents, Darkshine and Starseer. Starseer had the power of amazing gardening, and Darkshine had one of the bracelets that makes any dragon an incredible soldier.
=Book 2: Carob=
Note from Rain: This character uses the neopronouns Vi/Vir/Vis/Virs/Virself, please do not misgender vir.
==Chapter 1 ==
I woke to the sun shining through the rainforest trees. TREES! THAT WEREN'T TRYING TO EAT ME! I stretched my wings and walked outside, greeted by the smell of fresh (non-dragon-eating) flowers. The rainforest was paradise compared to the Poison Jungle. But, if it was so great, why did I feel as if I had lost a part of myself moving here? 
Of course, the Poison Jungle had been awful. Dragons getting eaten by plants. The HiveWings hunting them. Being controlled by that awful plant for two thousand years. Not allowed to live, but not allowed to die. I shouldn't miss it one bit, but for some reason, I do. 
We're happy now, and safe, I remind myself. Darkstalker saved us, and now we live in a nice, clean, perfect, definitely not dangerous rainforest. A little bit of freedom is worth that, surely?
Wasn't that what the SilkWings thought too? The annoying voice in the back of my mind asked. When the HiveWings forced them into slavery? That living in the hives and being "protected" by the HiveWings was worth their freedom? I shoved the voice down. I'd been doing that a lot lately.
No. This is different. Darkstalker is benevolent and looks out for us. And he did save us. No matter how bad this is -and it isn't bad at all, it's perfect- the breath of evil was worse.
== Chapter 2 ==
For years I had lived in the Poison Jungle, fighting for my life against impossible odds: deadly plants, deadly waters, deadly animals, and very extremely deadly HiveWings that would raze the jungle and destroy all of us if we even revealed a hint of our definitely not-dead existence. 
Then the PoisonWings had blown up a hive, and the HiveWings had come to kill us all. I almost wish they had succeeded, because what came after was worse.
The plant, the breath of evil, controlled all. Every leaf, bug, animal and dragon on Pantala belonged to and was controlled by it. For a while, it tried to get to Pyrrhia, but after it had drowned dozens of dragons trying to get across the vast ocean, it had given up, and settled to controlling us. 
We couldn't move a single muscle without the breath of evil doing it for us. It starved us for days on end until it finally remembered that we needed to eat. Sometimes I would almost think that it could hear our thoughts too, the one place I had thought that we were safe. 
Somehow it kept most of us alive for centuries and centuries.
Until finally, Darkstalker came.
= Book 3: Papaya =
== Chapter 1 ==
I was a queen once. The operative word being ONCE. Darkstalker took that from me. He took my crown. He took my kingdom. He took everything from me. Now, I want to take something from him. But- I can't. I'm a servant now. I have to bow to a NightWing, who would have once bowed to me.
I think Darkstalker made my serve this specific dragon on purpose. She's as much a servant as I am, yet doesn't know it. She thinks she has free will. That she's anything more than a puppet he can manipulate into doing whatever he wants. There isn't a single dragon in the world who isn't his servant. The SandWings resisted him and their population was decimated. The IceWings barely did anything and they were driven extinct. 
Darkstalker's choice of punishment for Lightwatcher is to be his assistant, to be in charge of writing every book, every manuscript, every "factual" rendition of Darkstalker's stories. The crazy thing is, I think she actually likes it. She actually thinks what he's saying is true.
I see what she writes. How the story gets told. How I'm painted as a villain for all of history. I think I deserve a chance to tell my side of it. A chance to say what really happened.
==Chapter 2==
In the old days, most RainWings -but certainly not all, including my ancestor, Queen Glory- were hatched in the Rainforest Kingdom, which we shared with the NightWings. And I was no exception. When I was 17 I challenged my mother for the throne- the traditional non-deadly way, of course. 
I won, and became queen. It was glorious. I ruled wisely and well over my subjects for many years. Then, Darkstalker came to power. There had been rumors of a great evil stirring but I never thought they meant Darkstalker, I didn't even think they were anything more than a campfire story that got out of hand. Darkstalker had been defeated four thousand years ago, then again two thousand years ago. Surely, no dragon could live for four thousand years? Right?
Apparently he could. And he had.
I still remember the day he came up to me, a huge NightWing, walking into my jungle. I told my guards to capture him, but they couldn't even get close before they walked away, with confused expressions on their faces. He gave a smile, a charming, dark, deadly smile, and he said, "I am King Darkstalker. I've come to take back my tribe."
Of course I didn't believe him. I mean, who would? "A king?" I laughed. "No tribe on either continent has ever been ruled by a king."
Darkstalker looked me in the eyes, dead serious, and said "Well then its time to start a new chapter in dragon history. Even the oldest traditions still need a little changing up once in a while don't you think? I'll give you a day to think it over, and tomorrow I'll be back for my tribe, whether I have to fight you or not."
==Chapter 3==
Sure enough, Darkstalker came back the next day and demanded the throne. Only, I wasn't there. No one was. Over the course of 24 hours the entire population of the RainWing Village had been evacuated, leaving a ghost town behind. 
I was sure that this would work. How could he ever possibly find us, with our camaflogue, and the fact that he had no idea where we were? But I should have known. It was Darkstalker, after all. He was infamous. I should have known he would find us.
And find us he did.
Category:Fanfictions
Category:Fanfictions (Fanon)
Category:Fanfictions (Incomplete)
Category:Genre (Short Story)
Category:Collaborations
Category:Content (RainWingHalfBlood)
Category:Content (Colorchanger the Mindreader)
Category:Content (DragonSiren22)
Category:Work in Progress
Category:Alternate Universes