When the Moon Rises Again

Disclaimer:
All Wings of Fire original world, material, etc, are not mine. They belong to the original author, Tui Sutherland. The characters are not based on any other fanfic or canon stories.
All of the following belong to StarlighttheNightwing. Please do not edit unless or grammatical or spelling errors (which I happen to be prone to), and do not copy story or characters at all without permission. Enjoy!
"Before the Scorching, everything was chaos, but still there was light. Now, there are rules and things are darker than they have ever been." -- Alpine
=== Parts in When the Moon Rises Again: ===
* Backstory (Nyril/Klaartje's story)
* 1: Era of Starlight
(will update as more come)
== Prologue: I & II ==
=== Part I: Lost to an Ancient Land (backstory) ===
Long before the Scorching, in a continent that would later be forgotten to Pyrrhian minds, a group of dragons set off westward to settle a new home, and initiate alliances. They promised to return someday, from across the open ocean from a foreign land so different from everything they took as truth . . . but they were never seen again by their home continent.
What really happened to these strange, brave dragons, is far different from any of the tales on either continent. They weren't swallowed by the sea, or eaten by monsters in their new home. In fact, they fell in love with the Pyrrhian continent, and attempted to complete their mission.
However, these dragons knew civilization powerful and rigid, and were shocked to find the residents of Pyrrhia scarcely more than nomads, running from little mammals they called scavengers. Not particularly impressed, but willing to help, the new dragons set about showing their Pyrrhian counterparts how to create the concept of society. In doing so, they migrated away from the shore village they'd created when they'd landed, and instead chose to live with different Pyrrhian tribes. It was not long before hybrids of the two races became a commonality, and something truly profound was discovered in the mixed-blood descendants: they had magic.
Not the Animus magic, the ability to control physical objects with the loss of one's soul that existed already, but a special kind. Most of the new generation could shapeshift to several different Pyrrhian forms, and many had an added ability of their Lost Continent parent. At first, they were considered to have deformities or be cripples of a sort by one or both of the races. Soon, however, it became quite clear they were a step above everyone.
Outcast from their tribes for causing such havoc, these descendants and their parents discovered a home in the mountains, where the refugees gathered to live. Taught by the colonists who has lived with SkyWings, they perfected the art of drilling out mountains. An advanced land came into being, rules by these dragons. Still, they quickly discovered that without a ruler, there were many problems.
For them, the idea of leaving back to their old home was inconceivable, not to mention the lost continent had faded from their memories. Forgotten, as their legacy would later be. A temporary position was put in place, for without any source of leadership, they would be weak in comparison to the other tribes. Meanwhile, dragons around the growing queendom were asked to join the aerial forces to protect the land, if necessary. While this was true, the subjects were also being considered for possible leadership positions.
They found their queen barely a year into the search. Both of their queens, that is, although no one knew at that time. The dragonets were siblings, possibly twins, exactly half Pyrrhian blood from their IceWing father and half lost continent blood from their mother. She was their only caretaker, as her husband had died in a hunting accident several years before.
She'd named her children Alpine and Klaartje, after the naming styles of the two kingdoms. On first sight, Alpine looked like a full-blooded IceWIng, except her silver talons were not serrated, nor did she have the rows of spikes as normal IceWings did. Aqua-green eyes and shining moon-like scales completed her odd look, but this was nothing compared to Klaartje's appearance. Klaartje resembled her mother more, with an aerodynamic body, large wings, and amber eyes. Her scales ranged in color from silver-white around her head, to red-gold on her torso and a copper-brown cross around her feet. Her tail ended in a trio of spikes, something like her IceWing father's would have, long and almost glowing white.
The sisters were barely four years old, but even at that age they understood what was happening. They were being taken to be raised int he ways of the court, possibly as Queen Ascendants. They would be trained in many fighting arts, with and without weapons, and would be warriors of their people. Most of all, the sisters understood there was no going back. And they were fine with that.
They loved their people and their kingdom, and believed that as queen, either of them could keep the kingdom save. Though they didn't realize it yet, however, they were different in their wishes. One wanted to be queen to protect her people, the other wanted to protect her people to be queen, for she would come to crave power. As yet, neither knew, and perhaps it was for the best, although either way the world would be broken when either of the twins' reign was over.
In the court, Klaartje and Alpine saw each other less often than either would have liked, but both were beloved by the court. Klaartje quickly made friends with a NightWing named Nyril, who agreed to passed messages between the two sisters. Nyril was the daughter of an advisor to the throne, so she knew much about the ways of the land, though it was unlikely she would ever rule. In secret, Nyril taught the sisters about the outside world, the throne, and life in the court. Nyril, all would agree later, should have been queen.
Nyril, as most NightWings were, was dark in color, mainly black with cobalt accent scales and golden eyes. Her mix of lost continent blood had provided her with an extension of bone on the end of her tail, straight and a couple feet long, Nyril could wield it as well as any sword. She showed Klaartje how to use her tail spikes as a club, and Alpine how to block thrusts without spikes. She stayed good friends with the two even when others faded away. Nyril was different, sometimes sensing thing that would happen a few minutes before they did, despite not having inherited mind reading or prophecy from the moons at her birth.
When the time came to choose between the half dozen Queen Ascendants, Klaartje was set apart. Apline and Nyril became a part of her cabinet, and the reign of the First Queen began. Of course, Klaartje was not actually the first queen, but was considered such by the history scrolls because of her involvement of the advancement of her tribe. She formed the aerial corps into a fighting force, had the building of different wings for each dragon tribe begun, and created a Representative Council which included a dragon of each of the seven tribe appointed by their fellows to have the queen's ear.
The first Representative Council was made of Khaki the MudWing, Zahra the SandWing, Rhiannon the SkyWing, Moonshadow the NightWing, Rada the IceWIng, Mahogany the RainWing, and Jade the SeaWing. These dragons, of course, were not without their own politics. Rada and Rhiannon bickered incessantly, Moonshadow and Zahra were close friends, Mahogany and Khaki argued about territories for their tribes despite both being extremely shy otherwise, and Jade was an all-around extrovert, whose boiled down job description was Keeping the Peace. (Mostly this last was for Rada and Rhiannon.)
With the Representative Council, Regina Klaartje built the kingdom of the ChangeWings into one of the greatest known, ruling fairly and justly, for many decades. And then things changed. Alpine was the first to notice how distant and snappish Klaartje was becoming, but there was nothing she could do, but warn the court that the queen wasn't feeling herself. Of course, Alpine knew it was something more, but she wanted to consult Nyril first befor she made any rash decision.
Away on the other side of the continent, placating SeaWings with several other councilors, Nyril felt a tug deep in her soul. Something's changed, she realized sadly. Klaartje's not the same. If you asked her, she'd say she didn't understand how she knew, but that she'd always understood that it would come to this.
The more distant and sharp Klaartje became, the more worried her court became, constantly checking for illness. However, they refused to be frightened yet. They didn't know how easily power could corrupt. They wouldn't learn until it was too late.
It took less than a year for Klaartji's power-induced madness to take her, for she went willingly. It was just as the chill of autumn was reaching the kingdom from the north, refreshing from the blistering summer, that Klaarje could keep up the ruse of sanity no more. Under the watchful light of two moons, she crept from palace, gliding in the dark as the traitorous moonlight flashed over her glowing scales.
Angry at the moons, confused and annoyed as to why she hadn't thought of this before, the once great queen allowed her hidden darkness to take over. She roared, a threatening vibration that send shivers down the dragon sentries, and dove back into the palace.
Believing they were under attack, which they were in a way, the palace guards hurried to evacuate the all-council members and others of high rank. Upon entering the queen's chambers, Alpine discovered deep scratches in the polished stone, and a silvery trail of blood belonging to the guard who came for her. Alpine quickly stepped back, turning and running toward Nyril's rooms. She didn't know or care if Klaarje was in her chambers. She had to warn the palace: the threat came from within; the queen is taken by madness.
Alpine would never make it. Klaartje had been behind her, and knowing how dangerous Alpine's words would be, and where she would run, Klaartje used open-air pavilions to intercept her twin just before she reached could reach the courtyard, of which Nyril's room was.
"Hello, ssister," Klaartje hissed, advancing upon Alpine. The IceWing's eyes darted frantically: she was cornered here, in a pocket of shadow, where the guards running about couldn't see her. The only way back was how she'd come, through the depths of the palace, trapped unless she found a room with a balcony. Klaartje, if she'd planned for this, had done it well.
"Why are you doing this?" Alpine demanded, trying to shove reality back into her sister's lost self.
Klaartje looked almost confused for a moment and then replied pleasantly, for all her flowery tone was worth, "Because I can. I'm queen: these are my subjects whom I've protected through war and storm. They've given their lives to me to keep save, and I have, but doesn't that mean that I own them too? If I so wish, I can take what is rightfully mine, and I am choosing to do so now." Both her voice and her eyes hardened at the end, making her frighteningly beautiful silhouette even more terrifying. (or nyril thinks later?)
Alpine stifled a gasp. "But they're yours, so you protect them. You don't kill them, or send them off to hopeless battles, or-or murder them in the middle of the night!" Or at least you didn't before, a voice in the back of her mind said.
Klaartje cocked her head curiously. "You really don't understand do you, dear sister?" And with only that for a warning, she leaped at Alpine, lips pulled back to reveal glistening, sharp teeth.
Alpine nearly slipped on the glossy floor (Moons curse these polished halls! she thought frantically) as she darted ahead of Klaartje, swerving around a corner and nearly crashing into the opposite wall.
She wasn't quite fast enough. Klaartje was upon her instantly, clawing her wing membrane and ripping it dangerously close to the bone, before going for her neck. It was only the years of training that saved Alpine's life then, or saved it momentarily anyway. Not willing to harm her sister seriously, Alpine shoved Klaartje off her and tore off down the tunnel again, spreading her wings and twisting so she could spiral up through a servant's access in the top of the side wall. Her bleeding wing leaving a tell-tail trail of silvery blood and throbbing painfully, Alpine managed to shove the access closed and sprint across the narrow chamber, slamming through the next hatch.
Gasping on the other side, Alpine's attention flicked down the two possible hallways. She ran down the one to her right, where a faint glint of moonlight promised hope. Klaartje appeared from the hatch, no longer held closed by Alpine's weight, and sprang after her, catching quickly. Reeling left, Alpine disappeared through a room to her left which had been left open when the occupant was evacuated. She knew -- she hoped-- that the room had a balcony.
Throwing open the curtains, Alpine was about to escape into the night when Klaartje bounded after her and threw her against the wall with her spiked tail. Pinned, Alpine threw herself at Klaartje, who had already moved in for the kill. As one, the sisters collided in a mix of claws, emotion and blood. Klaartje opened several wounds in Alpine's underbelly, but Alpine managed to bite a piece of her ear off, as well as rip a line across her neck. Stunned, Klaartje paused long enough for the desperate Alpine to escapr out of the window, flapping wings that seemed to be growing heavier by the moment.
Klaartje stepped forward to pursue, but seeing how labored her sister's breaths were, she knew it wouldn't be long. She grinned like the mad-dragon she had become, and whirled around, grabbing the nearest object, and threw it after Alpine's receding form. Not waiting to see if Alpine's flight broke as planned and she crashed to the trees or not, she raced toward the only other dragon she knew could betray her, in Klaarje's death or life.
It wasn't that Klaartje thought the guards incompetent, it was more of a terrible instinct that drove her to kill those close to her first. In a twisted way, she didn't want Nyril or Alpine to see what she'd become, and so she went for them first. Spreading her wings into the slow moonset, she continued where Alpine had left off in her search for Nyril, through the open, multi-storied courtyard and up to the NightWing's rooms.
Nyril had heard the screams, and quickly barricaded the door with furniture, leaving open the window open for escape. She wasn't sure who the murderous assassin was, or at least she wasn't quite sure, until the clawsteps came toward her room, and then everything became clear. Hidden by her dark scales in a pocket of shadow and invisible from the door, a knife clutched in her talons, Nyril closed her eyes and tried to think clearly. If this is Klaartje coming for me first, then Alpine or one of the councilors should be able to warn the city. If not-- she didn't want to think about the if not.
A heavy thump resounded through Nyril's bones as Klaartje attempted to throw the door open by force. An angry growl followed, and then a pattern of footsteps backwards as Klaartje prepared to ram herself through the oak door. The wood would hold, but no t for long.
Quietly, Nyril stepped toward the window, palming the dagger. A second lightning pattern of footsteps and then a crack as the door splintered partially.
"I know you're in there," Klaartje growled. "You were smart to barricade the entrance, but it won't take long to get in once the door's down." If Nyril had ever had any doubt about how thin the line was between life and death, it had vanished with this episode.
Almost to the window, she heard another splintering sound and heavy panting from the other side. It would have been easier for her to kill us, but we've all had the luxuries of court handed to us without having to train for years. This proved advantage as well as hindrance for Nyril, for she hadn't been involved in guard or hunting duties for over a year.
Diving out the open window, Nyril threw open her wings and surfed along the cool night air, fighting her way high into the sky. I have to find someone to stop her before she kills us all.
Twisting in a graceful arc, she dived behind a turret in the mountain peaks just before a silvery form came sailing out of Nyril's window toward the Council of Representatives' quarters. Beating her wings with greter determination, Nyril fled to warn the city. They'll get her, she thought grimly, even if it takes the whole army to do it.
A piercing screech sounded distantly behind her, but the queen was not Nyril's immediate threat. She was swiftly devising a way to get the city -- and royal -- guards to take her story seriously. Just before she crested the edge of the mountain, Nyril glanced back. She wanted to help her people, she thought, breathing hard, but she wanted the power more. That's why she became queen and Alpine didn't -- Alpine didn't care about the prestige or regency. She- another screech made her realized the truth glittering before her eyes all along. Alpine was here to save us.
Did she always know Klaartje would destroy all along? Or was it just fate?
Alpine's body was never discovered, despite the trails of her blood tracked for nearly a mile to a cliff above a large lake. It was assumed that the councillor had drowned herself, or simply lost consciousness somewhere around that area. If she had survived, she would have returned to the City already, either alone or with ChangeWing allies to subdue Klaartje. Not all of the councilors survived, either.
Khaki the MudWing, Mahogany the RainWing, and Jade the SeaWing were mourned throughout the kingdom. Zahra the SandWing had managed to inflict damage on her former queen with her poisonous tail, but died of her wounds later, leaving the grieving Moonshadow in the care of Rada the IceWing and Rhiannon the SkyWing, who had become friends despite their differences. (Albeit, friends whose conversations mostly consisted of arguments.)
Nyril stubbornly refused to be cowed by the event, and later became the most senior councilor to the new queen, a SeaWing youth who ruled with great care, but was rather feisty. Nyril took Moonshadow's place among the Council of Representatives, along with Rada and Rhiannon retaining their former positions. Though the Council was renewed, it was disbanded several years later, leaving only Nyril in the palace service. Of the other three original members, Rhiannon proved to be a great hunter, and her IceWing counterpart became a commander in the aerial forces. Moonshadow died several years later, and though it was never publicly announced, all who'd known her close friendship with Zahra suspected depression.
Though the ChangeWing kingdom was left rattled, but the strength of diversity kept them pulled out of the feat everytime it threatened to overtake them. Perhaps the ex-regina would have become a ghost story, if not for two young dragons' intervention. Nyril's daughter, Sonora, met a kindred spirit before reaching adulthood. Nayarit was fearless, protective, and brimming with curiosity. Her origins were unknown, having come to the tribe as a newly hatched dragonet, and taken under the wing of Rhiannon, of all dragons. The tiny SandWing mainform dragonet and the ex-council member SkyWing bonded instantly, and while Naya's supposed ChangeWing parents were never found, she never was without family. (Rada the IceWing, a fighter until the end, only made peace with Rhiannon over losing custody of the dragonet herself when Nayarit approached her several years later.)
Nayarit and Sonora didn't set out to make history, but inadvertantly obtained famr with their quest for truth . . . and Ambassador Alpine as well, although they refused to admit it. It was half a decade before Sonora finally returned, abounding in knowledge and secrets. Most of her adventurous tales she took to her grave, along with the secret of Nayarit. The NightWing and her dear SandWing friend had been separated sometime through their adventures, and although Sonora spent almost two years looking for her, she was never found. Or at least, the way Sonora told it, she never was-- Nyril gave up trying to get a straight story out of her daughter and relaxed in her retirement, most likely haunted by her own adventures, triumphs, and lost friends. Mother and daughter, having won many battles in their day, were too alike for comfort. Luckily, a pattern never developed, for Inga, Sonora's child, never grew up in their shadows.
Perhaps Nyril's small Gift of foreshadow allowed her to understand something would happen, for she left a secret of her own buried in the depths of the old palace, most of which was later demolished and rebuilt for extra security and added chambers; the new 'palace' was really more like the City with which it was combined. In her will, Nyril declared only her descendants able to open this crypt, which wouldn't be a problem, since the space was never found.
However, many centuries later, a dragonet with scales blacker than night would be born, and by the time her story had been around less than a decade, she would have but one choice left to her: fight for freedom, or die in darkness, having never seen the full extent of light or shadow. Her name was woven of threads of light, as was her soul; thrice moonborn she was, and just as powerful as any fireborn SkyWing, gentle and fierce and caring in her own way.
. . .
=== Afterword: ===
I may add more about the Council and Nyril/Alpine/Klaartje before what happens here, but I want this to be short(ish!) as a recap. So, feedback on if I should make this a shortstory and Starlight's story be separate would be appreciated! (If you're commenting to condemn the number of typos or grammer, though, just FIX IT instead please.)
(Also, this took me a little less than a week, so don't be expecting any miracle writing marathons to get Starlight's story out, if you would. Some of us have lives not centered on social media.)
Thanks for reading! I hope you liked it, and feedback is appreciated, as long as its helpful and not a hundred 'I hated this' without explanation. Don't forget to read the next one! (edit: I'm going to try to put a Part out per week --or two-- so, hope that works!)
Yay, happiness! Part two is here! (Or at least part of it anyway.)
Category:Fanfictions
Category:Fanfictions (Incomplete)
Category:Fanfictions (Fanon)