Until Tomorrow

__NOEDITSECTION__'Authored by BronzeRattle
Complete! Started on September 4 2023 and finished on the fifth.
While wondering what to do with Mooseblight in the now scrapped sequel A Path of Time, I wrote about a short and sweet non-Mooseblight related story to tide over the time.
Please ping (@BronzeRattle) BronzeRattle if you want me to see your comment in a reasonable time span.
Note: Any advice spoken by characters is not through my viewpoint and should not be trusted in real life. I know that sounds obvious but seeing that this story does touch on adoption, just in case 👀.
No summary for this story, it's too short!
UNTIL TOMORROW
:5,048 AS
Three sets of talons landed on rock.
Sandpaper hated this place. But they had made their decision, and he was to get the ordeal done.
"Paradox and Hooktail, stay here while I make sure she's here," he huffed as he took a step forwards. The cave was as daunting as the first time: Huge and dark and full of danger. He had never understood how anyone could live here.
Sandpaper made his way down into the cavern, going as far as he could see, which was about one wingspan before the sun gave way to void. He briefly stopped to breathe a burst of flame. Orange light spilled over shiny walls smoothed by years of trickling water. Neat piles of bones were strewn everywhere.
Yep. She was definitely still living here.
Sandpaper readied to take a step forwards and instead found himself unexpectedly falling forwards with a yelp. Talons flew forwards and the hybrid slammed against the ground.
Immediately a massive figure rose in the darkness—She was so big she created her own wind currents that rushed over him. The NightWing's snout was brewing with anger until she looked down. Her brown eyes shone as she recognized him. "Sandpaper?"
"Dulcify," he coughed, having accidentally inhaled the poisonous cave dust.
Dulcify relaxed some, but he could still see her muscles flexed to act. "What...What are you doing here?! I told you and Blackbite that I never wanted to see your snouts again, that I was too dangerous for both of you and the whole world!"
Sandpaper's heart leaped for a moment. She was not going to be happy when she heard about Blackbite, but that was for a different time for a different mood. "We need your help."
She raised a brow. "Who is we?"
Sandpaper broke eye contact. "Me and my partner Hooktail. Can...can we talk away from the entrance?"
Dulcify grumbled "Fine." She lead him deeper into the abyss and stopped by several torches. "This cave is decently sound proof. No one should hear you. Why did you tell her about the thing?"
The hybrid forced himself to crane his neck. Now that they had torchlight here, he could see that Dulcify had grown at least a head taller than her last appearance. Her curved horns were grooved from age, and the strange ruby teardrop scales that lined her eyes sparkled mysteriously. Put simply, she was not a dragon you ever wanted to cross.
He shook his head. "I didn't say your name specifically. I only suggested your thing. Do you remember the IceWing invasion a year ago?"
"I have heard."
"Right. Hooktail was recently given custody of a SkyWing-IceWing dragonet born during the attack. Paradox. He's sitting outside and unfortunately that attack had a chilling effect on him so I was hoping-"
"DADDY!" A red dragonet stormed into the space.
"Hooktail!" Sandpaper yelled.
"Sorry! Paradox, your father needs some alone time. We need to stay outside." He could hear her voice fading as she took him out.
Dulcify waited and sat down. "I get it. You want me to erase his memories of the attack."
"I was hoping for something a little more drastic..."
Her face fell. "As in how?"
"Dulcify, we shouldn't be his parents. In all honesty, he should be with his own birth parents, but we don't know where to start with that and his IceWing father was likely killed or captured in the attack. He will never see them again. If he can't have his parents, he should at least have SkyWing ones to properly teach him the way he should be taught."
She paused. "How long have you two had Paradox?"
Sandpaper thought for a moment. "A month."
"A month." Dulcify stood up. "A month is enough time for a dragonet to get comfortable with any pair of dragons he gets stuck to, whether or not they are really his, and really Sandpaper, the difference is not important at that age. Sure, adopted parents is something you have to fess up eventually and it can be an ugly and horrible thing if not done right. I will not ignore that part and no parent should, but it comes down the line.
"What I mean is that if I were to erase his memories of you two and that traumatic event in one blow, we run the risk of serious problems. For both me and him. Remember the incident Sandpaper. You were there. It did not go well. It is the reason why I call the underground my home. Erasing the event I can do, although truthfully I think he could get over that lump with professional help rather than my magic, but it is not ideal to do both. It will purge too many memories. Did Hooktail agree to this?"
Sandpaper inched forwards. "She agreed to the attack being erased. Neither of us told Paradox for...obvious reasons."
"So she would not want the memories of you two to be purged. I agree with that take."
"Can I propose something else?"
"Go ahead," Dulcify sighed.
"Can't you...add in memories?"
She groaned. "Bad idea Sandpaper. I have experimented with it before on small animals with varying results, but never on a dragon, and I cannot promise it will go well. In short, yes, I can. It is more similar to a subliminal message than memories however."
The hybrid adjusted his spectacles. "My idea is to erase the event and us adopting him, and add in that we just know him as sort of grandparents. That way he could still know us over in SkyWing territory."
The NightWing glanced at the entrance of the cave. "This is immoral. I will not do such a thing without her consent."
"But-"
She was done taking orders. "Hooktail!"
Several seconds later, a green NightWing and a red SkyWing-IceWing dragonet arrived.
"That's a big dragon!" Paradox shrieked.
"I am harmless, I promise." Her eyes flashed back to Sandpaper. "Just sit down, stay quiet, and I will show you something spectacular."
He sat down eagerly, orange wings swept over his body. Tiny breaths of his cold air tingled against Sandpaper's scales.
Dulcify bowed her head down and closed her eyes in deep concentration. After several seconds, she licked her snout, hummed a short melody, and lifted her head again to inspect her work. The dragonet's expression had turned blank, slate-like, as if he wasn't there.
"Is this supposed to happen?" Hooktail whispered.
On cue, Paradox released a scream of pain and collapsed.
"Dulcify!" Sandpaper shrieked. He bent down to pick him up but Hooktail had already beaten him to it. The NightWing's face was stormy as she whipped up toward the massive NightWing. "What did you do to our son?!"
Dulcify was unfazed. "A side effect. Your son will be in this state for all of today until the mind numbing wears off. Your partner knows this. I promised that I will not hurt him."
But you could, Sandpaper thought.
She clapped her talons together. "That is all I have for you NightWings today, so would you please leave my house and leave a tip at the entrance if you appreciate my service. I value all donations."
She turned around to slink further back into the cave, but Hooktail wasn't ready to drop the topic. "You put our son in a coma!"
Only a blue head looked back, ruby teardrops ever so malicious. "Wait until tomorrow for your desired effects."
And so the ordeal was done.
== (Trivia) ==
* The title Until Tomorrow refers to the onset of Dulcify's powers.
* "Until Tomorrow" is currently the fastest fanfiction to be written, taking less than two days. This was previously held by "The Affair", which had taken twenty.
** The reason for the disparity is because I pretty much knew exactly what I wanted to cover for this fanfiction, which is quite rare in my writing.
Category:Fanfictions
Category:Fanfictions (Completed)
Category:Fanfictions (Fanon)
Category:Genre (Short Story)
Category:Content (BronzeRattle)