Driftwood

Indigo stared up at the queen her eyes fixated on nothing but her cold glare. She couldn't understand what was going on and all thoughts seemed to have ceased until the queen finally broke the silence.
"You aren't from around here, are you?"
Chapter One, "Submerged"
Darkness.
It was all Indigo could see. A black, empty void. It wasn't that much of a change from the obsidian black walls and the dimly lit rooms, but it was still drastic.
What even happened?
She was just sitting in the room, waiting for Fathom to come back so she could talk to him about maybe leaving, but... This happened. All she heard was the sound of the clattering of a tiny rock before being transported to this abyss.
Indigo was scared.
It must be a just a nightmare, she told herself. And yet, even in the murky abyss she felt something. It felt as though she was floating and everything around her was cold.
Am I under water? Indigo wondered. She flashed her bioluminescent scales, giving off very little light. Indigo looked around what seemed to be the bottom of the ocean, confused. The ground below her was dense and didn't move around whenever Indigo looked.
Then, Indigo looked down. She saw a small statuette, a familiar one at that. The small wooden carving that Fathom had given her. It had shown signs of wear, but surprisingly it was still intact despite being this far under water. Indigo grabbed it and pressed it close to her heart, happy to see that there was something of familiarity to her down in these dark waters.
Where am I? Indigo finally asked. The darkness around her was overwhelming, as though she was trapped in a room by herself with no light whatsoever.
At least she knew where the bottom of the ocean floor was. I need to get back up. Maybe if I'm lucky I can go ask Dorkstalker if he had anything to do with this. Of course he does, Indigo. He hates you like you hate him, Indigo thought. She kicked her webbed talons and began to move upwards up from out of the depths.
It felt as though she was going faster than ever, faster than whenever she did those races against Fathom back when they were just one.
Indigo smiled, happy to think about memories back then. Maybe when she comes back, she'll bring up that time they saved that small turtle that was trapped around that piece of seaweed.
Distant childhood memories flashed though her mind, but they were foggier than Indigo expected. Memories that she knew should've been vivid seemed to be nearly faded away. On top of it all, a lingering sense of dread crawled around in her, though that may have been from the overwhelming amount of dark and murky water around her.
It'll be okay, Indigo assured herself as she continued her ascent. She felt as though she was going faster than ever, and yet it seemed as though she was making no progress. It was still empty and lifeless; but Indigo pressed on.
A lingering sense of hope coursed through her, hope to get back and tell finally tell Fathom that they need to get out of the Night Kingdom, hope to finally run away from the Night Kingdom and Darkstalker, hope to finally tell Fathom that she loved him.
After a few minutes of non-stop swimming, Indigo's surroundings began to brighten up a bit. She finally realized that she was in the Ravine, the area outside of the Sea Kingdom where nothing but darkness was.
Should've known, all SeaWings know about that, Indigo grunted as she kept on propelling herself closer to the surface. She was passing by small schools of barbs and even a whale shark as she neared the surface even more. She swam faster and faster, seemingly faster than the wind itself, until finally...
She erupted from the ocean, lifting herself high into the sky before hovering over. Indigo breathed in the fresh salty air as the sounds of the splash she had made ripped through her mind. She observed her soundings, looking around to see where she was. Indigo quickly noticed the thick forest just a couple miles in front of her, recognizing them.
RainWing territory... Indigo felt a returning sense of fear as she looked at the rainforest. She had heard tales of RainWings slaying any dragon who dare come near their forest, but that wasn't what was really on Indigo's mind.
How did she get here? Why was she here? So many questions and very little answers. The Rainforest Kingdom was far, far from the Night Kingdom, so unless Darkstalker knocked her out and dragged her over here to try and get rid of her it would make little sense for her to just... Wake up here.
Tossing me into the ocean to die does sound like something he'd do, Indigo thought as she hovered just above the water. She was just about to fly over towards the Night Kingdom to tell Fathom what happened when something caught her eye.
On an island just a bit away had a building on it. Curiosity crept into Indigo's mind as she looked at it more. The building had shown signs of clear decay, but something inside of Indigo screamed at her to look at it. She didn't know why, but she just wanted to see what it was about.
It could be a trap, Indigo told herself, but she gave into the temptation and flew over to the island. The island was pretty big, but not absolutely humongous. It seemed to be just the perfect size for Indigo to live, plenty of room to fly and run around in. It felt strangely familiar too. Indigo couldn't place her talon on it, but it felt like she had some sort of connection to it. The SeaWing tried to ignore this feeling, but curiosity got the better of her.
She flapped her wings and flew closer and closer to the island as more and more details came clear. Indigo finally soared down onto the island; her talons relieved to finally be touching some nice soft grass. It was a nice change from the usual marble or stone of the palace and the barren ground lined with sand from the Night Kingdom. The soft tall grass pressed against her scales as she made her way closer to the cabin.
"Hello? Is anybody here? If you're prepared to kill me, I'm more than happy to beat you to a pulp!" Indigo called out to the field.
No response.
"Okay then... Just going to walk into the abandoned cabin..." Indigo mumbled, pushing away the grass and getting closer towards the building.
"If any dragon is in here, just know you're in for a world of hurt." Indigo said to the cabin, only to get no response once more. She stepped inside, the old floorboards creaking and squeaking like claws on a chalkboard. The cabin was falling apart, having holes in the walls and the wood looking rotted from suffering through countless days of rain and storms.
Of course a cabin right by the ocean wouldn't last long, Indigo reminded herself, pressing on. This cabin could probably be used as a clue to let Indigo know what happened, or maybe even she could bring back some plans the RainWings had made up back to Queen Pearl and have her and Fathom be rewarded.
Just try to figure out why you're here, Indigo thought. The SeaWing traversed through the cabin, each step causing the floorboards to creak and squeak. There was no decoration and hardly any furniture in what seemed like the remains of a living room; save for a single couch and a rotting table the colour of sand.
Indigo turned a corner and into a new room filled with junk. Papers and maps scattered the floor and on one of the walls was a giant map with red lines and circles all over it. Red crosses dotted the occasional circles before being scribbled out. It smelt faintly of old rotting fish, though that was nearly gone.
Great, in the home of a crazy dragon. Indigo pressed on. The SeaWing continued her journey, though she felt more uneasy than ever in this cabin.
Finally, she reached what appeared to be the kitchen. From bowls that quite possibly once held fruit long ago came roots and small plants. Anything else, fish or otherwise, was only left as a rotting lump of nothingness or a mere skeleton.
It was silent in the cabin as Indigo sat there, taking in the sights. What is this place? What is its purpose? Why has it been abandoned? Who's was the previous owner?
All of her thoughts came to a screeching halt as soon as she heard a noise.
A small bang in one of the cupboards.
The SeaWing's heart raced. It's probably just a rat, she thought; but there was nothing else on the island that was alive.
She stepped over towards the cupboard, curious as to what it could be. The bangs were infrequent, sometimes multiple happening at once as though there were several critters in there. Maybe there's a small nest of mice to snack on.
She opened the door only to be met with something lunging at her.
"AH!" Indigo lunged back, startled by this strange being. Her eyes followed as the creature fell to the floor, landing with a distinct and quiet thump.
The first thing that she noticed is that this certainly wasn't anything like a rat.
It was a nearly marble white animal that had many limbs and arms, all wiggling around. It struggled to gain its composure, and yet it never even made a single noise. The strangest thing was that it didn't even have a normal texture like any other vermin. It was wooden with several scratches, nicks and chips in it.
Finally, it hit Indigo as she recognized the little piece of driftwood.
"Blob!" Indigo kneeled down before the tiny octopus. It bounced around happily as it made its way to the SeaWing. Despite all of its very clear wear and damage, the statue still had as much personality and joy as she remembered it.
"What are you doing here, little guy?" she asked. "How did you get all the way over here?"
Blob seemed to ignore Indigo's question, instead snuggling up to her leg. She picked him up and stoked his head, feeling all of the cuts and splinters that protruded from it. "You're not in very good shape, aren't you?"
The small octopus nuzzled up against her talons, not reacting to anything she was saying.
"No but really, why are you out here?" Indigo dropped the cutesy voice. "That... doesn't make any sort of sense." She raised her head and looked around the dilapidated cabin, confused and concerned by all of this.
"Moons above, Fathom must be worried sick." The SeaWing paced around, trying to think of what to do. "No, get a hold of yourself. You got to get back to him. He's- Darkstalker-"
She stared at the wooden sculpture in her talons, then to Blob. She let out a sigh. "Come on, let's go back to the Night Kingdom."
Without another word, she took a deep breath and walked out of the decaying building and back to the field of tall grass. She opened her wings and took flight once more, soaring against the wind. Then, right when she was above the ocean once more, she nose-dived. Spiraling downwards, she hit the water and took off.
She was one of the fastest and most agile swimmers the royal guard had seen in ages, able to quickly outmaneuver even the best in her division. She had great endurance, amazing speed and outstanding reflexes.
She would be able to reach the Night Kingdom in an hour or two, but even then, that wouldn't be enough. She needed to get there faster. Who knows what Darkstalker could've done while she was gone.
Did she have any evidence that devilishly evil dragon was behind all of this? No, but who else would've magically placed her at the bottom of the ocean? Fathom wouldn't have done that. Unless somehow the spirit of Albatross returned just to drag her to the depths his body was tossed into, it had got to be that sniveling little lunatic.
That's what drove her move than anything. She wanted to get back and protect Fathom, but she also wanted more than ever to finally take a swipe at that NightWing and show that she's not just 'Fathom's little pet'.
So, that's what she did. Fueled by anger, fear and worries, she made her journey back to the Night Kingdom. It was relatively uneventful, occasionally having to check that she didn't drop Blob or the statuette. The surface of the ocean was same as it always was with any other region of the continent. Beautiful, multi-coloured coral reefs that stretched over miles, pods of fishes that would break apart as soon as the speeding dragon would pass by, all of the typical things.
Until... hours passed and soon enough Indigo found the waters getting murkier. Not in the sense that some sand was kicked up by some whale, but it was significantly hazier than before.
The rich blue SeaWing slowed down, feeling more unsure of her surroundings. She swam upwards poking her head out of the water. Observing around, she should be close, if not right on top of the beaches to the Night Kingdom.
But... where was it?
In all directions was just more ocean. She couldn't have been wrong. Indigo always had a great internal compass and had excellent intuition.
So why was she still in the middle of nowhere?
Hesitantly, she dipped back underwater. Paddling through the cloudy sea, she continued her way to the kingdom. Her confidence had wavered, but she was still determined nonetheless.
She felt Blob wiggling around in her left talons. He was getting restless. I know buddy, she thought. But we have to keep on going.
A couple minutes passed without anything meaningful happening. Still, the swarm of smog around her was unsettling. It was like swimming through a plume of smoke produced by a forest fire.
It seemed like it was just going to be exactly like this for ages, until something caught her eye. Below her, something stuck out from the depths, barely visible. She stopped, curious as to what this was.
Barely visible and obscured by the clouded water, she could make out some sort of structure. It was made from stone and was shaped in an odd way.
Whatever it was, she knew it wasn't natural.
Hesitant, yet still ever curious, she slowly approached it. She could practically hear Fathom's voice calling out from behind her, trying to tell her that it wasn't safe or something like that.
Yet, the closer she came to it, a sinking feeling formed in her stomach.
It was a statue of a NightWing.
It was the outstretched talon of a dragon; the tip of the claw having been broken off and half-submerged in the sand below. Head of the dragon was still attached, though heavily damaged and cracked. The emotionless eyes and the oddly detailed fangs made for a disturbing appearance. 
But it wasn't just the statue that was odd. Around it was countless buildings, crumbled and decayed from being under the water. Houses, from what Indigo could see. They sat there, still and seemingly untouched for generations. Seaweed, moss and other underwater flora covered the structured head-to-toe in its mass, swallowing them and attempting to break away more and more.
What in the name of the moons?... she thought. Is this a NightWing village? It... can't be. Indigo shook her head and ascended to the surface once more, her heart racing. Poking her head up, she was finally able to see something in the distance.
The NightWing palace. It's obsidian black sheen and glow reflected the sun brightly, making it look as though it was sparkling.
She launched out of the ocean and flew towards the Kingdom, looking down below. All of this water under her? It should be land. It should all be land. Why was it claimed by the sea?
A lump formed in her throat as she stressed more and more about things. What had happened to the kingdom?
Finally, after what felt like forever, she finally reached it. She felt her heart drop to her talons as she looked upon what the remains of the capital. It, just like the village she had encountered before, was beaten and broken down. Covered in dust and sand as though the dessert nearby was trying to absorb it into itself. Overgrown and filled with vines, every bit of the kingdom was left in absolute ruins. The school that once stood high and mighty was nothing more than some pillars and a load of rubble. The Great Diamond was broken apart and wreaked. The palace itself? It was crumbling and falling apart, the tall towers having snapped off and fallen into itself.
"Holy mother of Pyrrhia..." Indigo cursed as she flew down towards the kingdom, put into a trance by the destruction of this beautiful kingdom. She landed in the middle of what once was the main plaza, the course terrain pressed up against her claws as several smaller lizards scurried away, disturbed by her sudden presence.
Disbelief was all that she could feel. This couldn't be real. This simply wasn't reality. Just hours ago, she was sitting in the royal suite, minding her own business. 
Now, the Night Kingdom was in ruins. It had been claimed by natured and was left to rot. Desolate and devoid of any inhabitants, it was now a haunting sight.
Indigo's mind swirled with several questions, none of which providing any sort of comfort in this horrible time. What's going on? What happened to the Night Kingdom?
Where is Fathom?..
Chapter Two, "Return"
Category:Fanfictions
Category:Fanfictions (Incomplete)
Category:Fanfictions (Fanon)
Category:Genre (Tragedy)
Category:Genre (Adventure)
Category:Content (SomePerson9000000)