All That Glitters

AN: Well, its done. Um... I guess I should warn people, this fanfic gets kinda dark. Some blood and whatnot. I am not sure if I should even bother, but just in case.
Sage had never wanted to kill another dragon. She had also never wanted to be abandoned by her parents, but look where that ended up. 
As she stood in the hut where her parents used to live, a sinking feeling fell into her stomach.  She was responsible for the deaths of the dragons who hatched her egg—and also abandoned her in the forest as soon as she hatched, never to return. Even so, they never deserved to die so violently. No one deserved a death like this. She should never have told that SkyWing about her childhood, or about the fact that the only thing that she regretted was not making her parents understand what she had gone through to get to this point.
Sage didn’t know what to do. They had welcomed her, understood where she came from and even helped her to grow, but this was to much. To kill her parents… She should leave. Sage knew that if any dragon saw her, surrounded by blood and death, they wouldn’t hesitate to make assumptions. 
But then she heard a small cracking sound coming from under the bed. Sage pulled whatever it was out, and to her surprise, found a egg. But if it was an egg, why wasn’t it in the hatchery? Were they afraid to have it be female, and have to leave it in the forest like they did hers? Or was it something else? What was it about this egg that was so spacial, and hers lacked?
Realization dawned on her. This was another dragonet whose life could be ruined like hers had been, not because it was abandoned, but because its parents, her parents, were gone. And it was Sage’s fault. 
What was she to think? The Organization said that it was better this way, that losing all family ties would help her move on. She should report this dragonet, so that she could do her job better. But just a dragonet? She couldn’t report it and have it killed as well. Sage sat down, trembling, and started to cry. A tiny head pushed its self from the egg, and made a small squeaking sound. Sage opened her eyes to see a small dragonet with large green eyes. 
“Hello little brother.” So her parents finally got what they wanted, a boy, but too late. But she couldn’t just have him killed. Sage just couldn’t harm a tiny dragonet who never did anything to wrong her. Like when she first hatched in the forest, the first plant she saw that she later learned was sage, she took as her name. Sage found a bit of parsley, and placed it next to her brother. “I will never, ever let anyone hurt you like they did to our family.” He should be safe here until someone found him, the Organization had no reason to check that they were all dead. Then she flew off, before she was guilted into doing something even more stupid.
———————————————————————————————————————————————
3 years later.
The Organization was in a dark, damp cave. Sure, it was huge, but the lack of sunlight was noticeable. But Sage didn’t say anything because she didn’t want any other reason for the other dragonets to hate her. Sure, she really didn’t care about their opinions, but they would get in her way. It didn’t matter because of what, maybe today it would be because she was a RainWing, or maybe because they had all killed their first dragons and she hadn’t. Sage didn’t know what to think, especially about the last one. She didn’t want to kill dragons, did she? But it was expected. They had raised her, given her food, and now she was expected to help them in their cause. Just then, four dragons approached. She had just been out on a scouting mission, at night, as usual. Sage had enough to deal with without them. There were a NightWing, a SkyWing and two SeaWings. She could deal with the NightWing, and maybe both of the SeaWings, but not that SkyWing. She had gotten top marks in training, and Sage wasn’t very far behind, but there was a big difference between an eight and a six. 
‘Got back from your ‘Sun time’?” the NightWing said. Wow, Sage didn’t bother to learn their names, and now she knew why. That NightWing must have serious anger issues if he didn’t feel better from picking on that SandWing. Whatever, she could deal with them. 
“Can’t you tell, you know, with your ‘mind reading’ and all?” 
The NightWing got quiet fast. He scowled as she passed. 
Sage almost couldn’t help smirking, but stopped herself. It was wrong to sink to his level. But then, she was no better than any of the killers here. An image of that egg, her brother, came to mind. What had she done? She could have taken him to another hut, or dropped him off at the hatchery, but to leave him amongst the blood for some poor dragon to find…
She had been waiting for years for an opportunity to get out and see if he was even still alive. 
Sage was left alone for the rest of her short walk to the room where they were meant to meet her. No one was there. She waited for what felt like long enough, and was about to walk out, when a red SkyWing marched into the room. It was almost like she had been waiting to see how long Sage would wait. Shortly after the SkyWing came in, a small SandWing followed her. 
“Have a seat Sage.” 
Well, that was the only option, so she sat. 
“I heard that you were waiting for your first mission, well here it goes. Only one thing. You must agree to the mission before you know what it is.” 
That was odd, but Sage really needed to go outside the caves. She needed to check on that dragonet. “Yes. I agree.” Sage could barely contain her excitement. She could fly, and not be supervised. 
“I am glad that you are so willing. You are to go to the largest Talons of Peace hideout. They are still active even after the war. But their leader is too close to us, you must exterminate the threat.” 
She could do that, but to be honest, Sage didn’t really want to see any other dragon die, let alone kill them herself. They all seemed to have one expression on their faces just before they died, pure terror and pain. She didn’t want to see that ever again. But Sage had a job. She had to do it, even if it meant killing another living, breathing dragon.
“I’ll do it. Where is it?”
The SkyWing smirked. “Surprisingly, near the RainWing village. You are going back to the rainforest.”
———————————————————————————————————————————————
Sage had been flying for what felt like a long time. Since she left the caves in the mountains near the SkyWing border, she had been screaming inside. She couldn’t go back, what if one of the dragons recognized her? What if her brother was there? She wanted to see him, but couldn’t risk him seeing her kill the dragon she had been sent to assassinate. After what felt like hours and hours of non-stop worrying and flying, she finally made it to the edge of the rainforest. She thought briefly of changing her scales to normal colours, and seeing her brother, but thought better of it. So she quickly camouflaged herself and made her way to the Talons camp. 
Unsurprisingly, they were living in holes in the ground. In a slightly larger hole, with a table with a map on it, she found the dragon she was sent to kill. But, he was in a room full with dragons. Sage had to go under the table to avoid being discovered. She did get some information regarding things she didn’t understand, something about the Jade Mountain Academy, she would tell her boss later. 
After what felt like even more hours, and what was confirmed when she got outside following her target after the meeting was over, it was night. It almost felt too convenient, but she had to get close enough to kill him, and if he felt her when she was invisible, well that would be a problem. So instead she walked a little ways off, and shifted her scales to a bright green with a small bit of black outlining her eyes, frills and wings. Then she did her best to act link she wasn’t a trained assassin who was trying to kill someone. She tried to act happy. 
Acting happy is a funny trick, especially when you have never truly been happy yourself. But Sage was trained to be an excellent actor. By the organization’s standards, at least. So she bumbled into the clearing where the SeaWing they put in charge of the Talons was trying to find berries. 
“Hello!” 
The SeaWing looked up, appearing to be very startled. “W-What are you doing here?” 
“Oh, just trying to find some mangos, oh… You’re pretty.” Sage changed her scales to look like the SeaWing. Acting happy was killing her. But then the SeaWing moved, relaxing in front of a dragon he thought was not a threat, in doing so exposing the veins in his neck. Sage darted forward, wasting no time, quickly slitting the dragons throat. Sage closed her eyes just before he died so she couldn’t see his final expression. She had done it. The Organization would be proud. She, personally, wanted to throw up somewhere.    
“Sorry. I am so sorry.” She heard the body hit the forest floor, and then just after it, a secondary thud. She opened her eyes, seeing a small male RainWing starring at her.
“Y-You’re… Sage?” Who was this dragon? How did he know her?
“Yes. And you are?”
“Everyone calls me Parsley, so I guess that’s my name.” Oh no. Not Parsley. He couldn’t have seen her, especially not now, not like this.
“… Parsley? Is it really you?”
“Who else would call themselves Parsley in front of a monster?” Monster? No. Was that really what her brother thought of her?
“Look-“ 
He cut her off. “NO YOU LOOK. YOUR THE REASON MY PARENTS ARE DEAD! YOU KILLED THEM! YOU ARE A MONSTER!” 
No. This couldn’t be happening. What could she do to stop him? “What? I never…” Sage hated herself more then ever in this moment. 
“I REMEMBER YOU. I REMEMBER THE BLOOD, AND MY PARENTS… My parents lying on the floor.” 
“THEY WERE MY PARENTS TOO!” Oh no. No no no no no. Why did she say that? It was bad enough that she had spared his life, kept his existence a secret, but now she was talking and giving information to him too? Where would this end?
Parsley stumbled backwards, visibly trembling. “My… my sister… is a monster.” 
Those were the last words Sage heard him say before he ran back to a cave. Sage didn’t know what purpose it served, where he was going or why. All she knew was that her brother hated her, and she had only one place to go back to. 
———————————————————————————————————————————————
Sage cried as she flew, not just feeling sad and lonely, but actual tears were streaming down her face. How could she have done this? Not just killing another dragon, but doing so in front of her brother? The only dragon she ever cared about? She approached the small cave entrance, which was misleading, hiding a large cave within. As soon as she landed, the SkyWing and her SandWing pet approached. It struck her as strange that she had no idea of anyone’s names. And no one knew her name, apart from the leader. Why was this just occurring to her now? 
“Is it done?” The SkyWing asked.
“Y-Yes. I killed him.” Sage said. She turned away. What about Parsley? What would happen to him?
“Good, you show promise. Let me ask you a question, how many dragons would you kill to prove yourself?” Why would the SkyWing ask permission to ask a question first, if she wasn’t going to wait for Sage to respond? 
“As many as I have to.” Well, that was a lie. She would never hurt Parsley, or kill any dragon she didn’t have to. 
“Would you even kill one of your own tribe?”
“Yes, if I had to.” A RainWing? What was she talking about?
“Good, we have news. A RainWing somehow managed to work his way up to becoming a general in the Talon’s ranks.” 
Sage cringed. Lots of others made comments such as this, claiming that it was impossible for any RainWing to accomplish anything. As if they weren’t talking to a RainWing as they said that. “I’ll do it, where is he?”
“Near the SkyWing kingdom last we heard. I expect another success.” When had Sage ever failed? But she didn’t want to think about it. 
———————————————————————————————————————————————
 Blood spurted from the dragon’s neck. Sage roared a challenge to the almost certainly dead dragon. His scales turned white with fear and pain. He… was a RainWing. How didn’t she know that? Sage thought she was killing a IceWing… but one of her own tribe? 
She shook off that thought. Sage just had to finish the job. But then the dragon looked up with his large green eyes. 
“Parsley…? No…” How could she do this to her brother?
Suddenly, her brother, the only dragon she ever cared about, was torn to peaces by the SkyWing, the one who led her organization. A strange, strangled scream escaped Sage’s throat. 
“What’s the problem? I thought you could kill one of your own tribe, and didn’t you tell us where to find ALL of your family?” the blood-red SkyWing said. 
Sage didn’t respond, only lunged towards the SkyWing’s neck, only to be pinned down, about to be killed by the more experienced fighter. 
“Did you really think you, a worthless assassin, could ever stand a chance against ME?” The SkyWing slashed down, slicing open Sage’s scales. She cried out with pure pain.  
Only after she died did she realize that this was what Parsley would have felt before his death. 
Sage bolted upright, almost screaming, but stoping herself. She looked around the small cave that she was assigned. Her roommate, a MudWing, was snoring just below her as Sage slipped out of her hammock, out of the cave and into the large cave. 
She was the only one awake that she could see. That dream still caused her to jump at every noise, peer into every shadow. Something was creeping up behind her. She spun around and almost instantly stopped herself from killing the dragon who snuck up on her. “It’s you.” The fat, bumbling MudWing that could barely hold her own weight posed no threat to Sage. Unless snoring counted. It was her roommate. 
“What are you doing out here?” Sage said, the venom almost dripping from her voice.
“Um… I was just going to go to the dining hall, I was hungry…” The MudWing stammered.
“Then go right ahead, I have somewhere to be.” That was a lie, Sage only exited her room because of the offensive noise coming from her roommate’s nose, now that she was awake and heading to the dining hall, she could go back to sleep. But Sage walked to the main cave, with its low hanging lights that did barely anything. 
As she looked outside, a sinking feeling fell into her stomach. Something was wrong, she just couldn’t place it. Then Sage saw it, dragons flying away from the cave entrance. She couldn’t help but wonder where they were leaving to. Training didn’t start until much later, and there should be no missions until later. Then a voice echoed throughout the cave.
“Join them Sage. They are on their way to start the mission you must finish. Go with them, and kill the Talon general.”
Sage whipped around, seeing the SkyWing. Couldn’t help but ask “Why are you not with them? I will go, but shouldn’t you be flying with them?” 
“I was waiting for you, we can still catch up and finish the general. Once and for all, the Talons will die.”
That was odd, why her? What did she know that Sage didn’t? “I’ll do it. I will finish the Talons.” What had she just agreed to?
———————————————————————————————————————————————————
The SkyWing slowed down for Sage, no one could keep up with a dragoon that tribe. But it was weird. Why would the leader of the origination be showing respect to her? They caught up with the rest of the group around nightfall, when they were resting. 
“Why is she here?” Some SandWing said.
Good question. Why was Sage even here? Sure, she was the one who was told by the leader to kill him, but apart from that, why her? Was she trying to prove a point?
“She is here because I said so. Now go back to your post.” The SkyWing spoke, only it seemed to Sage that she was yelling. But she was here, and to be honest, a part of her was excited. Another time she could be outside, and the air, and no snoring room mate… It was amazing. But the larger part of her was screaming at her. To be outside, was to be expected to kill another dragon. And why would anyone want that? To take another life… Sage couldn’t think about what cost her freedom would come at. She may have no idea who the Talon general was, but she wouldn’t wish that on anyone. 
“Where are we going?” Sage asked, hoping everything she was hiding wasn’t showing in her voice.
“There is a valley near the SeaWing border, we think he is there. But he may be in hiding, Sage you need to find him, he is a RainWing as you know, and he will not hesitate to attack, don’t confuse him for a second with the other RainWings you have encountered. This dragon is more like you then you think.” 
More like her? Why would any dragon end up like her? It is rare for any RainWing to end up with a upbringing as bad as hers, let alone have no dragon to look after them like she did. But one name kept coming into mind. One dragon that fit all the criteria, and would want her dead. Sage had to stop herself from saying her brothers name out loud, and ended up looking like she was going to through up. She had to see him. Had to. Maybe to warn him, or maybe to help him. Though the last option included her being thrown out of her organization. Why did that other her? They were the ones to kill her parents, not the Talons. 
But just as she thought that, the SkyWing pointed out a small tent slightly apart from the rest. “Thats where you will be sleeping, at least its better then your own cave. No roommate.” The SkyWing smiled. It struck Sage that she might be nice, but then she remembered what happened to her parents. No one incident could change that.
————————————————————————————————————————————————————
After the fire went out, and the guard had to go to fetch more wood, Sage left. She had no idea where she was going, or what she was getting into, but she had to see Parsley. Her scales had been green, but now she did her best to keep them the same as her soundings. 
After she reached the edge of the clearing, Sage was met with an odd sight. Sure, she could see the valley that the SkyWing told her about, but it didn’t feel quite right. For some reason, she thought it would be just like in her dream. Like the SkyWing arena, with its sand floor. But if Sage looked, she thought about how this would be the ideal spot to kill someone. Now that she realized that…
“Why are… you… here?” It was Parsley. 
“I had to see you… look, I need to talk to you. Brother… You need to leave. Now. Its not safe, some dragons… They want me to kill you.” 
He barely even flinched. Did he not understand her? 
“Do you think I care? Why do you even care? You killed my parents, and how do I know you didn’t volunteer to kill me? So you could finish the job? WHAT? WAS MY SUFFERING NOW ENOUGH FOR YOU?” 
No… NO. Why would he think this? She didn’t…
“No, Parsley, that wasn’t me. It was them. The organization… they did it. They thought you were holding me back.”
“No, you were BORN a monster. My parents heard it from a NightWing… one of the dragon that actually took care of me told me… you were going to kill so many people. So they left you in the forest. You got what you deserved.”
How could he say that? She… He was right. Sage was a monster. And Parsley needed to leave if he was to live. 
“Please Parsley. I know I am a terrible sister, not even that, a terrible dragon. But you don’t deserve this, you need to run.” He looked like he wasn’t going anywhere. 
“No. I am going to kill you for what youRe did to my parents. Even if I die trying.” He really didn’t care, did he? 
“Parsley, I am not going to fight you. And you need to leave, I don’t know how much longer we have before she shows up, And believe me, that dragon will kill you.” Sage glanced over her shoulder, and saw a red smudge against the dark sky, it was to late. “Parsley! Hide, now!”
He looked up in confusion as the much larger dragon, the SkyWing landed on his back. 
“Oh, thank you Sage for keeping this little dragon here for me. Now I guess it is up to me to finish the job.” Parsley tried to shift his scales, but he appeared to be to scared to change them.
“STAY AWAY FROM HIM!” Sage screamed, she was done with this. This dragon, she was the real monster. Sage might not be the best, but at least she didn’t kill dragons just so she can have another assassin. 
“Sage? Why are you disagreeing? I thought you had no other ties?” A look of realization appeared on her face. “He… this dragon, is he your brother?” 
Sage let out a long hiss, and then she attacked, quickly getting the larger dragon off Parsley. “Leave… my… family… alone.” 
Parsley was frozen. A flurry of emotions crossed his face, before he lunged at the SkyWing. Relief instantly entered Sage’s mind, before worry took its place. He could not defeat her. He didn’t stand a chance. 
All her fears came to life as her brother was flung across the ground, only to stop moving. Sage stopped thinking. And started fighting. 
The SkyWing turned to her, grinning. Sage screamed, and spun around to look at the dragon who had hurt her brother. 
“I get the feeling you don’t understand. THIS IS MY BROTHER, AND THE ONLY FAMILY I HAVE LEFT, ALL THANKS TO YOU… So how do you expect me to react?”
Sage jumped at the SkyWing. The larger dragon let out a hiss of pain and surprise, before fighting back. 
“Why, with all that I have given you, and you still chose the family who tried to kill you, and you” the SkyWing looked at Parsley, “she is not a good person. Your sister has killed. And you still-“ She didn’t finish her sentence before Sage shot venom at her. The SkyWing screamed and tried to fly away. But the venom in her eyes caused her to fall in to water, and it didn’t look like she came up. 
————————————————————————————————————————————————————
“I know you can’t forgive me, and you really shouldn’t. But please, if you hate me. Just say so.” Sage and Parsley sat on the beach. Parsley sat a noticeable distance away from his sister, and looked wary. 
“I don’t hate you, at least, I don’t think I do.” A look of relief came over Sage’s face as Parsley said those words. But as he continued, her face fell, and she started to cry. “Its just, I can’t trust you. Maybe we should just go on with our lives and pretend this never happened. You can go back to wherever, and I can go back to the Talons.” 
“B-But Parsley, I can’t go back. I just killed the leader of my organization, how can I face anyone without them trying to kill me? They properly already know, and are heading this way as we speak.” Parsley flinched. 
“Then we should go. You can go back to the village and pretend that you just lost your way. No one would know any different. Change your name and hide. We won’t ever have to see each other again.” 
“B-but, Parsley. We are the only family we have now. Does that mean nothing to you?” Parsley began to cry quietly, it did mean little to him. 
“Just go Sage. We have to find a way to live like this now.” 
————————————————————————————————————————————————————
Epilogue, 2 years later.
“Hey Glimmer!” The cry cut through the trees, shattering the stillness around the dragon. 
“Yes?” Came the quiet reply, as a brightly coloured RainWing ran into the clearing. Sage looked up from the flower she was examining, as a healer, she did have to find new herbs, even if she had no luck. 
“There is some new dragon here, he got injured and is asking for you. Know why?” The dragon was momentarily distracted by some brightly coloured bug before continuing. “ He asked that I give this to you.” 
It was a sage leaf. Sage could hardly contain her excitement, her brother finally came back. She ran out of the clearing, ignoring the dragons calls of ‘hey, come back!’ And ran into the healer’s shack. There, Parsley sat. Looking slightly distressed as to the odd bird that was staring at him, almost in a way that stated that he was dead. 
“Par- I mean…um… Hello! How can I help you?” Parsley frowned slightly, before saying:
“So… Still feel like sticking together?” Sage grinned. 
“Yes! Family, right?” Parsley frowned, and looked out the window toward a small hut that sat abandoned for years. 
“Yah, family.” 
End.
AN: So... Its done. Well, sorry about the fight scene. I am terrible at those. But anyways, I am not sure if I will bother to write a sequel to this, if you want me to, then please tell me.  
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