OTHERMIND: Against the Tide

= OTHERMIND: Against the Tide =
=== By VoltairaRune ===
== The Othermind Prophecy ==
When fire streaks across the sky
When minds are lost, and dragons die
Darkest evil shall once more rise.
When peace turns to chaos
And trust is destroyed
Friends not themselves
Souls hollow, a void.
Jealousy and pride will lead one astray
Whom another, a “friend”, seeks to betray.
All who are free must as one unite
Only together can we win this fight.
On darkest night, fate will decide
Whether Pantala and Pyrrhia live or die.
The weapon you need is already inside…
Wings of fire shall once more arise.
== Prologue (Clearsight) ==
           Clearsight smiled as she watched her dragonets bouncing around in the clearing outside her and Sunstreak’s home; then she grinned as Tortoiseshell playfully pinned a giggling Commodore to the ground. Orange and Jewel tumbled in a mock-fight next to them. Her happiness was touched with grief, however. Her smile faded as she thought of Darkstalker, buried deep under a mountain, and felt a pang of sorrow at the thought of the dragonets she would never have with him.
           Her gloomy thoughts were interrupted by the touch of someone’s tail on her shoulder. Clearsight looked up to see Sunstreak smiling down at her.
           “You okay?” he asked.
           “Just thinking,” she replied, flashing a quick smile at him.
           He’s so beautiful, Clearsight marveled, not for the first time. The light from the setting sun filtering through the leaves illuminated Sunstreak’s gold and purple scales, making him glimmer like a living jewel. Prettier than any RainWing. She wrapped her tail around his, and they sat together for a while, watching their dragonets play hide-and-seek, with no care in the world except to make sure the seeker didn’t find them. Suddenly Orange (the seeker) found Jewel, who squawked like a parrot as she leapt out of the bush she’d been hiding in. Sunstreak chuckled.
           “Who would’ve thought two such differently colored dragons could have such beautiful dragonets?” he joked, grinning as he looked at his mate with a sly sidelong glance.
           “Oh, shut up,” Clearsight said, laughing. “You know perfectly well they look more like you.”
           “I guess,” Sunstreak replied. “But then again, that means you’re the only one who looks like you. Unique.”
           Clearsight shoved his shoulder with hers playfully. “Maybe if we have a dragonet with my black scales, that’s what we can name it. Unique.”
           “But it wouldn’t be true then!” Sunstreak said, eyes wide. “Besides, I like having the only dragon with black scales for a thousand miles all to myself.”
           Clearsight snorted. “Enough romantic sappiness,” she said. “The kids are staring.”
           Sunstreak whipped his head around, surprised, and saw that, indeed, all four of their dragonets were staring at them.
           “Oooooooooo,” said Tortoiseshell. Commodore stifled a laugh.
           Mortified, Sunstreak bundled the dragonets (who were now laughing hard) away into the house with an apologetic smile at Clearsight, who grinned back. “Told you so,” she said. “Besides, I’m pretty sure it’s your turn to tell them a bedtime story.”
           “Bedtime? But it’s hardly even dark out!” Clearsight heard Jewel complain.
           “Hush,” Sunstreak chided. “Or else no story.”
           “Oooo, tell the one about how you and Mama first met,” Orange said. “That one’s my favorite!”
           “Yeah, tell that one, Dad!” Commodore piped up, inducing a chorus of agreement from his siblings.
           As Clearsight watched her mate and dragonets walk into the house, she felt a swell of love for them. She missed Darkstalker, certainly (she felt another stab of grief at the thought), but now she had another love, other dragonets. She smiled peacefully.
           “Clearsight, you coming?” Sunstreak called.
           “In a minute,” she called back. “Just want to take a quick sunset flight first.”
           She got up, stretching, and walked into the clearing before spreading her wings and flapping hard to get airborne, the trees swishing in the breeze her wingstrokes created.
           Flying above the canopy, in the muted light of sunset, Clearsight was filled with a feeling of peace.
           And yet.
           She glanced down at the trees below, feeling…something. She wasn’t sure what the feeling was, but it was ominous. She didn’t like it. She saw a flash of red, and flew down for a closer look, making sure to keep her distance.
           A vine? Clearsight thought, puzzled, as she glided closer. It was, indeed, a vine, a vine with a dark red stem streaked with bright green veins (the leaves were bright green with red veins) and—she flew closer—clusters of little white flowers in between the leaves. She wrinkled her snout. The vine smelled like rotting things, and a pungent, peppery smell underneath that.
           Clearsight suddenly felt a surge of horror, so intense that she nearly fell out of the air, dropping below the vine before recovering herself just in time. She slowly flew back up, until the vine was at eye level. She kept her distance, and let out a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding until then. This plant was evil. Clearsight could feel that without a doubt. It had a dark, pulsing feel about it, like a heartbeat, or breathing. It felt wrong, and she didn’t like it.
           I have to destroy it, she thought, feeling a touch of panic. She called up the fire inside her, and was about to burn that awful vine to ashes when she paused. She couldn’t burn the vine without burning the tree it grew on as well. Then the fire would likely spread, and sooner or later the whole jungle would be on fire. Admittedly, that would solve the problem (the fire could destroy the vines that were likely growing elsewhere, throughout the jungle), but it would solve it too well, as even the plants that weren’t bad would be destroyed.
           Not to mention the LeafWings and BeetleWings would absolutely kill her.
           She had to warn Sunstreak and the others.
           Flying back to the village as fast as her wings would take her, Clearsight saw timelines unfolding before her, all with the evil vine in them. The timelines were hazy, but she knew that unless it was destroyed, it would destroy them.
           And Pantala.
           And possibly Pyrrhia.
           
           She flew faster.
== Chapter One (Rune) ==
           Rune was not a wake-up-super-early kind of dragon. Indeed, the only time she DID get up early was if it was for something really important.
           But that was different.
           Needless to say, she did NOT appreciate being woken up by a big fat raindrop that decided to splash right on her snout. Rune grumbled and turned over, only to have another, even bigger raindrop splash on her head.
           “G’way!” she mumbled crossly, much to the amusement of the plants around her, who chuckled in their strange leafy way. “Five more minutes.” Splash. Rune groaned, and finally opened her eyes. She shook her head, scattering water everywhere, and peered up at the thick mesh of vines overhead that she had woven together using her leafspeak. There was a small gap in between several of the vines that was letting the rain through. “I could’ve sworn I fixed that yesterday,” Rune mumbled. Another raindrop landed squarely on her nose with a splat, sending miniature droplets spraying into her eyes.
           “Okay, OKAY!” Rune roared. “I’m getting to it!” She reached out with her leafspeak, gently guiding the plants back into place, shook herself again briskly, and sat down, frowning slightly. She tried to remember her dreams, but all she could recall was a sense of danger that she couldn’t shake. The plants whispered about it, too, telling her urgently about something in Pantala.
           Danger bad spreading hurry help hurry DANGER, they said, sending her a mental picture of some sort of vine. It looked familiar, and if it was what she thought it was, the plants were right to be worried.
           Is that the breath of evil? Rune asked.
           Yessssssss bad very bad danger spreading quick must hurry, the plants hissed. Rune lashed her tail, thinking. If that was the breath of evil—and it certainly fit the bill—then the dragons at Jade Mountain Academy had to be warned IMMEDIATELY. They could send messengers to the Pyrrhian Kingdoms faster than she could. She stood up abruptly and started pacing.
           Hurry evil spreading danger hurry! The plants murmured.
           Yes, I know, Rune thought back. Let me think. Sundew would know what to do about the breath of evil, given her knowledge of the evil plant. Rune shuddered, suddenly remembering parts from her dream: dark, cold tendrils growing over her, suffocating and trapping her. She remembered sensing other dragons entangled in the vines as well, and felt a cold stab of fear as she thought of her friends in danger, beyond her reach. And the dragonets…clever Auklet, brave Cliff, and sweet little Bumblebee. Rune’s heart twisted painfully at the thought of her losing them. Not if I can help it, she thought to herself. I just need to get to them before the breath of evil does.
           As Rune gathered her few items, she thought of how little she knew about the breath of evil. She only knew that it was extremely dangerous, sentient, very cunning, and could control the minds of other creatures, including dragons. It had already spread through the HiveWing tribe, and had taken over many of the SilkWings. She snatched up some of her more dangerous plants and insects. Just in case, she thought.
           Rune stepped out of her den, blinking at the sunlight that was just starting to stream through the canopy above. She took a last glance behind her at the little home she had created for herself. (Queen Glory had offered her a hut when she first came to the rainforest, of course, but Rune had refused, viewing this as an opportunity to practice her powers.) It wasn’t anything fancy, just some vines she had woven together to make a dome twice her height. But she knew the plants. Leaving them would be like leaving a part of herself behind.
           Goodbye, she thought sadly.
           Fly fast fly strong stay safe, the plants whispered back. As she watched, a small sprout poked out of the ground, growing rapidly up the outside of the dome. Swollen, tight buds burst open, showing trumpet-shaped flowers the color of the night sky—her morning glory. It was her favorite flower. Rune smiled.
           I’ll be back soon, she said, climbing up one of the many tall trees nearby, careful not to disturb the RainWings napping on the wooden sleeping platforms in the tree’s branches. When she finally reached the top of the tree, she spread her wings and lifted off, squinting into the light of dawn.
           Then, to herself, as she flew towards the Academy, she thought: I hope.
== Chapter Two (Auklet) ==
           “Hey, Auklet.” A talon poked her in the nose. “Auklet, come on, get up!”
           Auklet sleepily opened her eyes. A yellow dragon with black stripes was standing in front of her. “Bumblebee, what do you want? I was in the middle of a dream,” she said, curling up into a ball and turning away from Bumblebee before closing her eyes again.
           “Yeah, well, we’ve got a visitor,” Bumblebee said, poking her again (“Ow!” Auklet yelped, swatting at her.). “C’mon, let’s go see.”
           “Fiiiiiiine,” Auklet said, sitting up and yawning. She stretched, admiring her green scales. “Where’re Cliff and the others?”
           “Already in the Great Hall,” Bumblebee said excitedly. “They ‘wanted to let you sleep,’ which essentially means they didn’t want to wait for you. Come on come on come on let’s go seeeeee!!”
           “Okay, okay, I’m coming!” Auklet laughed.
           As they walked together down the stone hallways of Jade Mountain Academy, their talons clicking on the stone, other winglets streamed out into the corridor and joined them, until the hallway was ringing with excited murmurs.
           “We haven’t had any visitors in a while. Not new ones at least,” Auklet said. “Who d’you think it could be?”
           “No clue,” Bumblebee replied, nibbling on a mango. “I heard something about Rune, but she’s in the rainforest, so I’m not so sure.”
           “Where did you even get that?” Auklet asked, giggling.
           “Geh mwhat?” Bumblebee snarfled through a mouthful of mango.
           “The mango,” Auklet said.
           “Ohhhh, that,” Bumblebee said, swallowing. “Snudoo gave it to me. I’ve been keeping it in my pouch for a snack.” (She gestured to the pouch around her neck.) “Want some?”
           Auklet shook her head. “You know I don’t eat fruit. It’s weird.”
           “Is not!” Bumblebee retorted, miffed. “Besides, you’ve never even tried it. So how do you know you wouldn’t like it? Besides,” she said, taking another bite, “Mangoes are really good.”
           “Still no,” Auklet replied, nose in the air.
           “Please?”
           “No.”
           “Oh come on Auklet, now you’re just being snooty.”
           “Am not!”
           “Are too!”
           “Am—” the rest of Auklet’s sentence was lost as Bumblebee shoved a piece of mango into her mouth. “Hey!” Auklet protested, chewing. Her eyes widened slightly. “Three moons, this is sweet.”
           “Told ya!” Bumblebee laughed.
           “You are very stubborn,” Auklet said, swallowing.
           “Well, maybe, but I’m also right,” Bumblebee replied. “I told you mangoes were good!”
           “Trrrruuue,” Auklet agreed. “But I still think I’ll stick with meat. Which, by the way, you should try.”
           “Meat? Blegh!” Bumblebee gagged. “Not in a million years, Auklet.”
           “It’s only fair!” Auklet said, before bursting into cackles. She flicked Bumblebee with her tail (Bumblebee flicked her back).
           The hallway abruptly opened up into the Great Hall, and Auklet and Bumblebee flew above the heads of the other students, looking for their winglet, the Opal Winglet.
           “There they are!” Bumblebee said, pointing, before swooping down toward a cluster of dragonets, Auklet close behind her. Their talons clicked on the stone floor as they landed, although it was barely audible over the chatter of the other students.
           “Hey guys!” Hickory said cheerfully. Hickory was a sturdily-built MudWing, with broad wings, a deep chest, dark brown scales, and a smattering of lighter-colored scales on his face. He wore a gold earring in his right ear, which gleamed as it caught the light from the sunrise. Next to him was Kiwi, a RainWing whose scales were currently bright yellow flecked with hot pink.
           “Gah, easy on the eyes Kiwi!” Blueice yelped, wincing as he shielded his eyes. “Could you maybe tone it down a little?”
           “I second that!” Cliff said, grinning at Auklet, who grinned back.
           “Sorry! I can’t control it! I’m way too excited,” Kiwi apologized, pacing. “I haven’t seen Rune in ages, and she’s looking worried, so it’s gotta be something important, and I’m positively dying to know what it is!”
           Her face was such a comical blend of frustration, eagerness, and excitement that the rest of the winglet burst out laughing.
           “I’m not kidding!” Kiwi protested, but she was giggling hard too.
           “You literally saw Rune five days ago,” Machineel chuckled, her leaf-like wings rustling. “That’s not that long.”
           “True, true,” Kiwi said, sitting down. She turned to Auklet. “Sorry for not waking you up. You looked so cute asleep!”
           “It’s okay,” Auklet replied. “Bumblebee took care of it.”
           “And I got her to eat a mango!” Bumblebee said proudly.
           “A mango?” Omen and Glasswing echoed.
           “Auklet?” Quartz and Cliff gaped.
           “It’s true,” Auklet sighed, laughing. “Although she pretty much force-fed me.”
           “What did you think?” Kiwi asked, her scales now a (very mango-like) bright orange color striped with bright lime green.
           “It was…sweet. Very sweet. I feel like eating a nice big herring to get the stickiness off my tongue,” Auklet said, giggling at Kiwi’s mango-like appearance. “It was pretty good though. I will admit that.” (Bumblebee and Kiwi high-fived.)
           “Speaking of mangoes, do you have any more?” Hickory jumped in, licking his lips. “I’m hungry.”
           “Cocoa, you literally just got up!” Kiwi teased, nudging his shoulder good-naturedly. “Sometimes I wonder if you and Clay are secretly brothers or something. Or father and son.”
           “I’m always hungry,” Hickory replied. “And mangoes are delicious. Also, why do you keep calling me Cocoa?”
           “Because you’re cocoa-colored. And sweet,” Kiwi answered affectionately, hot pink.
           “Okay, lovebirds, enough gushy talk,” Glasswing smirked. (“Hey!” Kiwi protested.) “It looks like they’re about to speak.” He nodded towards the stone platform where Sunny, Tsunami, Clay, Starflight, Fatespeaker, Sundew, Cricket, Blue, and the Jade Winglet sat. Queen Glory was in the rainforest, Auklet remembered.
           The Opal Winglet quickly turned their attention to the platform, as did many of the other dragonets in the hall, who stopped talking. Rune stood up, looking nervous, before taking a deep breath and beginning to speak.
           “I don’t want anyone to start freaking out and acting like a ninny. I’m going to just put that out there,” she began. “But we have some…bad news. The breath of evil seems to be back. Sundew and I have talked, and it turns out we’ve both been warned by the plants. And the plants aren’t known for lying.”
           “The breath of evil?” called out another student. “Isn’t that that crazy mind-controlling vine that tried to take over Pantala? And the HiveWings and SilkWings?”
           Blue shuddered, remembering how he had been under the control of the vine after they had been tricked into burning a “cure” for the mind-controlled dragons so that the smoke could spread farther, “curing” more of the poisoned HiveWings faster. The so-called cure had really been the breath of evil in disguise, and many of the LeafWings and SilkWings had inhaled the smoke and been taken over, Blue among them. Cricket wrapped her tail around his reassuringly.
           “That’s the one,” Tsunami replied grimly. “And if it’s back, we are in a lot of trouble. How many of you have heard of dragonbite vipers?”
           Nearly all of the students raised their talons, breaking out in nervous murmuring again.
           “In that case, you probably know that they can kill a dragon with a single bite,” Tsunami continued. “The venom can be burned out before it reaches the heart, but unlike Clay, who as many of you know was bitten by a dragonbite viper to save our lives, and whose life in turn was saved by Peril, most dragons do not have fire-resistant scales, so even if they survived having the venom burned out of them, they would almost definitely be seriously crippled for the rest of their natural life, unable to do much.” She glanced over at Clay and Peril, sitting side by side. “Well, the breath of evil—or the Othermind, as it is also known—has a great many of these vipers under its control. I think you can see where this is going.”
           The Great Hall erupted in panicked shouts, students clamoring to be heard over the din, yelling frantic questions at the platform.
           “What do we do?”
           “Why is it back?”
           “How are we supposed to stop the Othermind if it has deadly vipers on its side?!”
           “SHUT UP,” Tsunami roared, flashing her bioluminescent scales. The Hall quieted, save for a few anxious rumblings in the crowd. “Rune specifically told you not to panic and act like ninnies. So, if you don’t mind…” she glared around the Great Hall. Her eyes met Auklet’s briefly, and she flashed a quick smile at her younger sister. The Great Hall went dead silent.
           “That’s better,” Tsunami continued. “I’ll admit I don’t completely know what we’re going to do about this, which is SO annoying, but we have to remain calm.” She looked like she had swallowed a lemon as she said the word “calm,” and Auklet had to stifle a giggle. Her big sister was anything BUT calm, and she had the feeling that, given her own way, Tsunami would probably swim straight to Pantala and start destroying every vine in sight. But she was also too smart for that, for which Auklet was grateful. She didn’t want to lose her sister.
           “Rune and I are going to put our heads together and record everything we know about the Othermind,” Sundew said. “Starflight, wanna join in?”
           “Obviously,” replied the NightWing with a grin.
           “Don’t bore us to death, mind you,” Rune added, laughing.
           “Oh, fine,” Starflight sighed, pretending to be disappointed.
           “Also, should any of you even think of playing the hero and gallivanting off to face something you’re completely unprepared for, DON’T,” Tsunami said. “The Jade Winglet already did that, which was not a good idea, so don’t. Just don’t.”
           Kinkajou giggled, and Turtle tried to suppress a grin next to her. Tsunami gave a pointed glare at her brother.
           “That goes for you too, Turtle,” she said. “And for the rest of the Jade Winglet. No funny business this time.” The students in the hall laughed.
           “Moon, are you okay?” Sunny asked, shooting a concerned glance at the young NightWing.
           For Moon was crouched over, claws on her head, grimacing and squinting her eyes shut. Qibli twined his tail with hers, holding her talons gently with his. Moon shuddered violently as she opened her eyes and stared glassily ahead over the heads of the silent students.
           And she began to speak.
== Chapter Three (Moonwatcher) ==
           Moonwatcher grimaced. A headache had started to form behind her temples. I hope it’s not a prophecy headache, she thought, as Tsunami shot a glare at her brother Turtle. She had had those before. The worst was at Jade Mountain, when Darkstalker, at her request, reluctantly stopped shielding her from the Jade Mountain Prophecy, which had been clamoring for attention in her brain.
           Another stab of pain. Moon squeezed her eyes shut, as if to block out the pulsing pain, and clutched her head. She felt Qibli wrap his tail around hers and take her claws in his. Then—
           Ow.
           A knife-sharp bolt of agony ripped through her head, making her fall onto the floor. Moon could handle normal visions, but she’d never had one this painful. It was like her brain was on fire. The pain grew and grew until she felt her skull would surely explode—
           Suddenly it stopped.
           Moon sat up, not seeing the dragons staring at her with worry, not hearing Sunny ask if she was all right. Her mouth opened, and words flowed out, as if she was just the vessel for another’s voice. Her voice was deep, and as she spoke, scenes flitted in front of her, scenes filled with darkness and pain and sadness:
           “When fire streaks across the sky
           When minds are lost, and dragons die
           Darkest evil shall once more rise.
           When peace turns to chaos
           And trust is destroyed
           Friends not themselves
           Souls hollow, a void.
           Jealousy and pride will lead one astray
           Whom another, a “friend,” seeks to betray.
           All who are free must as one unite
           Only together can we win this fight.
           On darkest night, fate will decide
           Whether Pantala and Pyrrhia live or die.
           The weapon you need is already inside…
           Wings of fire shall once more arise.”
                                                                                                                    …
           Moonwatcher woke up from her trance to find everyone gaping at her, openmouthed. Moon felt a rush of embarrassment and stared down at her talons, shifting uncomfortably. It was Qibli who broke the silence.
           “Whoa,” he said, looking as stunned as everyone else.
           Moon raised her head and nervously looked around. Her eyes met Kinkajou’s. Her friend’s scales were white with shock.
           “Oh come on,” Moon said, suddenly exasperated. “Surely I wasn’t that cryptic.”
           “You were,” Tsunami said, looking more frightened than Moonwatcher had ever seen her look.
           “Pantala and Pyrrhia…could die?” Rune rasped, at which the Great Hall began to buzz with fearful whispers.
           Moon suddenly realized the effect her prophecy had had on everyone in the hall. She remembered the scenes she had glimpsed as she told the prophecy. Her talons began to tremble.
           “I’m…I’m not sure,” she whispered. “I saw glimpses of what could happen, but I can’t be sure if they will happen.”
           “What did you see?” Qibli asked in a low voice, twining his tail around hers again.
           “Darkness,” Moonwatcher said. “Grief. And pain…so much pain.” She clutched her head again as if to shield herself from the memory. She looked up at Qibli, who was normally so jovial, so fun and full of spirit, but who now seemed to be at a loss for words.
           “‘Fate will decide,’” Clay murmured. “Could that mean Fatespeaker?” He looked over at her.
           “I don’t think so,” Moon replied, causing Fatespeaker to let out a shaky sigh of relief.
           “I might not have as good foresight as you, Moon,” Fatespeaker said. “But I do see one thing…we’re in a lot of danger. This isn’t going to end well.” (“Don’t need a prophet to see that,” Tsunami groaned.)
           Moonwatcher turned to Rune. “You said you were going to work with Sundew and Starflight to compile a list of information on the Othermind. Can you still do that? And quickly?”
           “Of course,” Rune answered, glancing at Sundew and Starflight. “Come on, guys. We should get started immediately.” She turned, and walked in the direction of the library, Fatespeaker and Starflight close behind.
           “Since when are you the boss?” Sundew grumbled, but followed Rune anyway.
           “Tsunami, can you take care of all the other stuff, like organizing dragons for jobs?” Moon asked, looking at the blue SeaWing.
           “You bet,” Tsunami said, lifting her chin. “I am, after all, a princess.” (Clay and Sunny groaned, rolling their eyes.)
           As Moon slowly walked towards her cave to get some rest, accompanied by Kinkajou and Qibli, she wondered what Clearsight would do if she was faced with this situation. She felt a nagging doubt that she was the wrong dragon for this. She tried to look at potential timelines, like Clearsight would, only her worries were causing all of the timelines to end in walls she couldn’t get by. Or at least, she hoped it was her worries that were causing the walls, and not something more…sinister. Get over yourself, Moonwatcher, she scolded herself. You have work to do. Work that is distinctly not whining about the situation.
           And yet, even though her best friends were right there next to her, she couldn’t shake off the unsettled feeling of being completely alone.
== Chapter Four (Rune) ==
           “On darkest night, fate will decide, whether Pantala and Pyrrhia live or die.”
           Whether Pantala and Pyrrhia live or die.
           Live or die.
           No.
           Those are the words that echoed through Rune’s head as she sat, stunned, listening to Moonwatcher’s prophecy.
           We can’t die.
           And yet, according to Moon’s prophecy—and Moon’s prophecies were rarely, if ever, wrong—they could die.
           Moon stopped speaking, and her eyes went back to normal as her body relaxed. Rune saw her mouth open, heard her speak, heard the others speak, but the words sounded like they were coming from deep underwater, muted by the pounding of blood in her ears.
           “Pantala and Pyrrhia…could die?” she whispered hoarsely.
           “I-I’m not sure,” Moon stammered. “I saw glimpses of what…could happen…but I d-don’t know for sure if they will happen.”
           Rune let out a trembling breath, partly of relief, partly of fear, as the Great Hall hummed like a swarm of bees with scared murmurs.
           It might not happen.
           This can be stopped.
           She shook herself lightly, as she had in the rainforest to shake off the rain. Her panic was replaced with a sense of resolve as she listened to Moonwatcher quietly explaining what she had seen.
           It didn’t sound good.
           Moon spun to her, and she straightened attentively.
           “You mentioned compiling a list of information on the Othermind with Sundew and Starflight,” Moon said. “Can you still do that? And fast?”
           “Of course,” Rune answered, looking at her LeafWing and NightWing friends before walking towards the tunnels that led to the Jade Mountain Academy’s library. “Come on, we should get started right away.”
           “Since when are you the boss?” she heard Sundew grumble. She suppressed a smile. Even in times of great danger, Sundew was still the same snarky dragon she’d always been. This ability to maintain a brave face in times of trouble was one of the many things Rune liked about her.
           “So, any idea what we’re looking for, exactly?” Starflight said, interrupting her thoughts. “I’m not sure I’ll be much help, either, seeing as I can’t see.” Fatespeaker laid her tail gently across Starflight’s back as they walked towards the library. Starflight smiled at her.
           “Three moons, Starflight, you don’t need to see to learn,” Sundew retorted, rolling her eyes. “Besides, you have a great memory. Surely you’ve heard something about the breath of evil we can use.”
           “True,” Starflight agreed. “But nothing new. Trust me, if I knew anything of great importance, like, say, its weaknesses, or how to defeat it easily, I would tell you in a flash.”
           “Well, it’s a plant,” Fatespeaker jumped in. “And most plants don’t do too well when faced with fire.”
           “Or RainWing venom,” Rune said. “And probably frostbreath. Where’s Winter?”
           “Still in the IceWing kingdom,” Fatespeaker answered. “Tsunami’ll probably have messengers sent to all the Pyrrhian Kingdoms by sundown.”
           “What about the Pantalan Kingdoms?” Sundew asked crossly.
           “Tsunami will probably want to do that herself,” Fatespeaker replied. “She’s already made the journey once. She can do it again.”
           “Why not send a SkyWing?” Rune said. “They can fly for ages and not get tired until long after any other tribe would’ve fallen out of the air with exhaustion.”
           “Maybe,” Starflight agreed.
           “Come on, we’re here,” Sundew called, already several dragon-lengths ahead of the others.
           Walking into the library, Rune took a deep breath, inhaling the familiar smell of paper and scrolls. She loved being in here, and in normal times you could often find her curled up in a corner with a scroll, reading contentedly. She hadn’t realized how much she’d missed this place until she was back in it.
           She thought back to the months she’d spent in the rainforest with Glory, learning about her RainWing skills. There had been next to no scrolls to read there, apart from the ones Glory had written as part of her duties as queen of the RainWings. But those were more like lists of stuff she had to do and notes on the other RainWings’ requests and issues. That had changed after about a month and a half, when some scrolls were donated by Starflight—remembering, no doubt, his horror at there being no scrolls there when he first came to the rainforest. The RainWings hadn’t even known what scrolls were back then, a fact that still shocked Rune slightly.
           “Hey, Rune, you coming? I distinctly remember someone saying we should get started right away,” Sundew said, poking her head out from behind a bookshelf and interrupting Rune’s reverie. Rune jumped.
           “Sorry!” she said, hurrying to where the others were.
           She tripped, and after catching herself quickly, looked down to see what she had tripped on. It was a scroll. She picked it up. A History of Pantala: On The History of Every Recorded Moment of Importance to Now’s Date, the title said. Sundew snatched the scroll out of her talons and quickly unrolled it, scanning the words. Rune looked around. Scrolls were everywhere.
           “What the…” she said. “Did a hurricane come in here or something?”
           “Yup,” Starflight groaned. “Hurricane Sundew.” Rune laughed.
           “It’s really not that funny,” Starflight protested. “It’s going to take me forever to reorganize all this.”
           “I’ll help, of course,” Fatespeaker said, wrapping her tail around Starflight’s.
           “Sorry,” Sundew mumbled. “I can go a little over-the-top when I’m upset or in a hurry.”
           “I can see that,” Rune quipped, giggling.
           “Oh, shut up, Rune,” Sundew said, rolling her eyes. “Besides, I think I found something…”
           The others crowded around.
           “It talks about how the BeetleWings and LeafWings first came to Pantala,” Sundew explained, tapping a section with her claw. “It mentions them having to fight against a ‘fiendish enemy,’ which the author writes was a vine that later became known as the breath of evil.” She looked up at them. “The scroll’s really old, but I don’t think that matters in this case, seeing as the Othermind has been around for so long.”
           “I’d say that’s definitely something,” Starflight agreed. Fatespeaker nodded.
           “Who’s the author?” Rune asked, taking the scroll carefully. Her eyes widened as she read the name. “Tortoiseshell! One of Clearsight’s dragonets! Wings above, this really is an old scroll…”
           “Is it the original scroll??” Starflight asked with wide eyes. “Let me see!”
           Rune handed him the scroll, and Starflight took it with infinite care, before sniffing it, eyes narrowed in thought. He shook his head.
           “Not the original scroll,” he said (a bit sadly, Rune thought). “It doesn’t have that wet mildew-y smell. Plus, given Tortoiseshell lived over two thousand years ago, the original scroll would probably have decayed long ago. I think this is a copy.”
           “How old is it?” Fatespeaker asked.
           “This particular copy?” Starflight said, holding up the scroll.
           “Yes,” Fatespeaker replied.
           “Maybe a hundred years, tops,” Starflight answered, after giving it a moment of thought. “I got it from the LeafWings, so they must make a new copy when the old one gets too worn out.”
           “Guys…” Rune said, looking up at the others. She had just noticed something strange. “In the title, look what it says.”
           “‘A History of—’” Sundew began, before Rune interrupted.
           “No, after that. Look,” she said, pointing to the title. “‘On The History of Every Recorded Moment of Importance to Now’s Date.’”
           She looked at the others, then grabbed a quill and started writing on the scroll.
           “What are you doing?!” Starflight screeched, hearing the scratch of the quill on paper. Sundew shushed him.
           Rune ignored him, underlining certain letters in the title before standing up, holding the scroll.
           “Look,” she said.
           The others crowded around and read the title again, Fatespeaker whispering what it said to a still-indignant Starflight.
           Rune felt a swell of triumph, as if she had found one of the keys to stopping the horrible events Moonwatcher’s prophecy warned of. And in a way, she had.
           With a little help from Tortoiseshell, of course. Rune sent a silent thank-you to the spirit of the ancient dragon.
           Rune reread what she had written, and met Sundew’s wide eyes. Sundew grinned.
           “Definitely something,” she said.
           Rune looked at her work. She hadn’t done very much, only underlined certain letters…
           On The History of Every Recorded Moment of Importance to Now’s Date.
           O-T-H-E-R-M-I-N-D.
           Othermind.
MORE CHAPTERS COMING SOON!!!
== Credits for OC's ==
These links are to my posts on the Wings of Fire Wiki that describe the OC's used in OATT (OTHERMIND: Against the Tide). Thank you so much again for everyone who contributed their OC's; OATT wouldn't be possible without you!! =♥w♥= <(mew!). Rune, by the way, is my OC; I'm currently working on filling in a RainWing base for her. (She's a LeafWing-RainWing.) :D.
My "Calling All OC's!!" post:
https://wingsoffire.fandom.com/f/p/4400000000000333542
My post on the official cast for the Opal Winglet:
https://wingsoffire.fandom.com/f/p/4400000000000336407/r/4400000000003399096
Category:Fanfictions (Incomplete)
Category:Fanfictions
Category:Fanfictions (Semi-Canon)