Wings of Fire: Stalker of Dreams

== Prologue ==
Nightseeker looked over the ebony black egg. Its shell was thin and he could see a small dragonet wriggling under the surface.
"Tonight," Graceful whispered, brushing against him, her black wings touching his lightly. "I'm sure it'll be tonight."
Nightseeker turned to look at his mate. "So am I."
Graceful turned to look at the dark egg, then to the smoky air around them. "I just wish he didn't have to hatch here."
Nightseeker grabbed his mate's talons and held them in his. "He will, but I know he will not stay here. He is meant for greater things." He reached into the small pouch on his neck and pulled out the dark sapphire.
"Not this again," Graceful pleaded. "I already said that I wanted him to have no part in your family's business."
"But he is family," Nightseeker insisted. "He will carry on my family's legacy. The legacy of Darkstalker."
"Please." Graceful grasped Nightseeker's talons. "I want my dragonet to have nothing to do with that monster."
"He wasn't a monster," Nightseeker told her patiently. "Yes, history has painted him that way but my however-many-greats grandfather knew better than that. He knew that Darkstalker wasn't evil. And we will carry on his legacy with this." Nightseeker held up the dreamvisitor proudly.
Graceful sighed. "Why must we? Why can't you just throw that gem in the ocean and never think about it again?"
"Because I swore I would hand this down to my dragonets one day. I can't just break that now, after ten years."
"Why not?" Graceful inquired pleadingly. "Why can't you leave all that Darkstalker business behind you?"
Nightseeker opened and closed his mouth several times, unable to think of a response.
"You don't have a reason," Graceful said with a sigh. "But you want to do it anyway."
Nightseeker shuffled his wings. "I don't think it's so much that I want to do it, as much as I feel obligated to do it. And I don't know how to live otherwise."
Graceful grasped his front talons in hers tightly. "Let me help you. I'll help you change what you do. And if your family won't accept you, then we could go to the mainland. Whatever it is, I'll be by your side to help you through it."
Nightseeker pulled his talons out of hers with a sigh. "Alright, but can we at least name him something that would fit my family?"
Graceful nodded. "Of course."
Suddenly the sound of an egg cracking filled the air.
Graceful whirled around, her dark eyes shimmering with excitement.
Nightseeker smiled at his kind, worrying mate. She was always thinking of someone else but never herself.
He slipped the dreamvisitor back into the silk pouch on his neck, looking to the egg that was splintering with cracks.
"Just a little more," Graceful whispered gleefully. "You can do it!"
Nightseeker smiled, giddy with the thought that his dragonet was hatching. After all the waiting, all the imagining, he would finally lay eyes on his dragonet.
Suddenly the black egg shattered, and in its place was a small NightWing dragonet, hints of a sapphire blue glinting in his black scales.
He blinked and looked around confusedly, tripping on his small talons.
Graceful spread open her wings and held out her front talons to the small dragonet. "Come here, my darling."
The dragonet stumbled over in Graceful's open arms and she snuggled close to the small black shape.
Then she looked up to Nightseeker. "Have you thought of a name for him?"
Nightseeker hesitated.
"Come on," Graceful urged, nosing the small dragonet. He giggled softly, reaching up to grab his mother's snout.
"Well, I was thinking Dreamstalker," Nightseeker said uncomfortably. "I thought that I'd make it like Darkstalker's name but if you don't like it, I can think of something else."
"No," Graceful said, looking at her dragonet proudly. "I like the name. And I said you could name him. I'm not going back on my promise."
Nightseeker smiled at Graceful. "Thanks," he said.
"My little Dreamstalker," Graceful said, setting the dragonet down on the pockmarked stone. "You will always be in my dreams."
The dragonet spread his wings, the silver scales glowing orange from the light of the volcano, and flapped them lightly, falling backwards on his talons.
Graceful gave a soft laugh and went to help the dragonet to his feet.
Dreamstalker looked up and nuzzled his mother lightly.
Nightseeker watched as Graceful played with the small dragonet. He glanced up and saw one of his brothers descending through the smoky air.
He alighted on the beach next to Nightseeker, eying the dragonet with amusement.
"So when are you going to give him the dreamvisitor?" he asked curiously.
Nightseeker sighed. "Graceful made me promise that I wouldn't involve him with our Darkstalker business."
"What?" His brother flared his wings with outrage. "You don't have to listen to her!"
Nightseeker glanced to Graceful who was playing with Dreamstalker and hadn't seemed to have noticed the commotion. "I need her trust."
His brother snorted. "She trusts you with her life. She would never doubt anything you say."
"But if I break the promise I made to her, she might not trust me anymore."
His brother threw a wing around Nightseeker's shoulders. "Listen, I know you love her, but you can't quit now. We've lived for this! For handing down the legacy of Darkstalker, the real Darkstalker, to our dragonets!"
Nightseeker sighed. "I know."
His brother thought for a moment. "If only there was a way we could put the dreamvisitor in your dragonet's life without Graceful noticing." Then his dark eyes lit up. "I've seen dragons with jewels imbedded in their scales! We could –"
"Uh-uh," Nightseeker objected immediately. "Nope. No way. I would never do that to a dragonet, much less my son."
"So we don't have to do it right away," he said dismissively. "We can wait a few months to when he could take the pain."
"But how would imbedding the dreamvisitor into my son's scales solve our problem?" Nightseeker demanded.
His brother rolled his eyes at him. "You could tell Graceful you wanted something to remind you of the dreamvisitor." His brother gestured to the silk pouch around Nightseeker's neck and then to his forehead.
"I'm afraid I don't understand what you're saying," Nightseeker said bitterly.
His brother rolled his eyes again, as though the answer was so obvious. "I'm saying you could imbed it into his forehead and then he could visit the dreams of anyone he wants to whenever he wants and he wouldn't have to worry about losing it."
Nightseeker hesitated. "I don't even know if that would work," he said. "As far as we know, to activate the dreamvisitor, you think of someone and then place the gem on your forehead. We don't know if it would work if it's always on the dragon's forehead. I just don't think it'll work."
His brother waved a wing dismissively. "But we'll never know if we don't try."
Nightseeker sighed, glancing over at Graceful and Dreamstalker. "Fine. Two months from now. I'll bring Dreamstalker over. I want the job to be as quick as possible." Nightseeker's eyes hardened. "No matter what, I want that gem in his forehead. I'm not about to throw away what our family has been doing for thousands of years." Nightseeker looked pityingly to the dragonet. "And after that, he will truly be a stalker of dreams."
== Chapter 1 ==
Dreamstalker's earliest memory was a blinding pain in his forehead, as though the force of the moons had come to press upon him. And then he remembered that the force had disappeared but the pain had lingered. And he remembered that it had lingered for quite a long time.
And Dreamstalker knew he was special, different from the other NightWing dragonets. His father was always telling him so. The NightWing dragonets all had classes on how to sound like you were reading someone's mind, or make up a believable prophecy.
Dreamstalker had always been excluded from these. He had asked his father why once and he had said, "Because those are classes for making up powers. You have actual powers, so you have no need for those."
Dreamstalker wasn't exactly sure what his powers were. He had never asked, fearing that his father thought that he had powers that he didn't actually.
Today the air was especially sulfur smelling and the ash in the air seemed to coat Dreamstalker's scales more than usual.
"Today we will talk about dreamvisitors. Does anyone know what they do?" their teacher asked.
They were sitting in a cave, having a history lesson. The volcanic stone was full of holes and the air was hazy.
When no one perked up, Dreamstalker raised a talon.
"Yes, Dreamstalker?"
"Well, I'd guess, judging from the name, that it allows you to visit another dragon's dreams."
Their teacher nodded. "Precisely. Dreamvisitors are sapphires and three were created by the Darkstalker two thousand years ago. One of which resided here, though now it is lost to the volcano."
"But can't we just walk into other dragons dreams without a dreamvisitor?" Dreamstalker asked.
Their teacher frowned. "Of course not. What gave you that idea?"
"But – but I thought –" Dreamstalker frowned, glancing around. But all the other NightWing dragonets were looking at him like he was crazy. "I'm sorry, sir," Dreamstalker said to their teacher. "I was given false information." On the inside, he was thinking about the questions he was going to ask when he got home.
A NightWing dragonet raised their talon hesitantly. Obedience, Dreamstalker thought her name was.
"Yes, Obedience?"
"Um, did we ever use it before we lost it?" she asked quietly.
The teacher shook his head. "We don't trust anything made by the Darkstalker. Everything he made had an evil purpose, and we're not sure if they were cursed."
"Darkstalker wouldn't do anything like that!" Dreamstalker blurted.
Their teacher sent a sharp glare to him. "I'm afraid I did not give you permission to speak. But I'll let it slide this time."
Then Dreamstalker firmly raised his talon, making their teacher sigh.
"Yes, Dreamstalker?"
"As I just said," Dreamstalker began, "Darkstalker would never do anything like that. Yes, he made a few bad choices, but he was mostly looking out for his friends."
Their teacher gave him a firm look. "No, we know from the stories that he was a psychotic maniac who lost his soul and would do anything for power."
"Then the stories are wrong, because that was not what I was taught," Dreamstalker said boldly.
Their teacher flared his wings, showing the silver star scales that glittered underneath. "Do not speak that way, especially of our legends! The Darkstalker was a monster and if anyone else says otherwise, then I'm afraid they are out of their mind!"
"Do not insult my father!" Dreamstalker snarled, standing up.
"Sit. Down," their teacher hissed.
Dreamstalker forced back the growl that had built in the back of his throat. Then, reluctantly, he sat back down.
"There. Now, we will continue our lesson. Dreamstalker, I forbid you to talk throughout the remainder of the class."
So Dreamstalker sat, fuming through the entire lesson. What did they know? What they knew were legends, stories meant to scare small dragonets. But Dreamstalker's father had told him the real story. Of how he would've done anything for his friends. Of how he enchanted his friends to make them feel better. Of all the small enchantments he did for his family.
"You are dismissed," their teacher said.
Dreamstalker sat up and left the cave, breathing in the heavy, smoky air, then coughing slightly.
He set off down the rock passages, taking shallow breaths as the smoke got worse.
He could hear his parents arguing from several caves away.
"Why don't you just shut your stupid snout, or so help me, I will claw it off just to make you stop talking!" he heard his mother exclaim.
Dreamstalker frowned. This wasn't one of their usual arguments, and they didn't usually argue much.
"Just shut up!" his mother exclaimed after a moment. Dreamstalker suspected that his father had said something in a lower voice. "I can't believe you lied to me like that!"
Dreamstalker started. What had his father lied about? And it didn't seem like him to lie at all.
Dreamstalker arrived at the cave and hesitated before going in.
"I'm back!" he called loudly.
The cave got awkwardly silent.
Dreamstalker walked over to his parents room and looked in.
His mother, Graceful, was looking at the floor guiltily, and his father, Nightseeker, glanced at him worriedly.
"I didn't hear much," Dreamstalker promised.
His father breathed a sigh of relief.
"I only heard the parts that were loudly talked about." He grinned at his mother, hoping to make her smile.
She gave a slight smile to him. Then, strangely, Dreamstalker saw her eyes flick to the gem on his forehead.
He reached up to touch the sapphire confusedly. Then he gave his mother a questioning look.
But instead she averted her eyes and looked away.
So Dreamstalker looked to his father.
His father glanced at the sapphire too, but didn't answer his unspoken question.
Dreamstalker looked between his parents confusedly. "So I'm guessing the argument had something to do with the gem in my forehead."
Neither of them answered. "Right. I'm going to go to the dormitory. And if you do start talking about it again, please do it more quietly if you don't want everyone in the fortress to hear." He winked at both of them but they didn't smile. "But I think I'll come back later. I wanted to ask some questions about what we learned at class today."
His father nodded, glancing at Graceful.
"Right, I'll be back in a bit," Dreamstalker promised.
Then he left the cave and continued down the stone hall towards the dormitory.
As he walked, he touched the stone in his forehead confusedly. Why had they been arguing about it? What made it different today than any other day?
He made his way to the dragonet dormitory. When he reached it, he stepped inside.
"Hey, Dreamstalker!"
Dreamstalker turned to the sound of his name.
His friend, Futureseeker, was waving him over with his wing.
Dreamstalker walked over to the corner of the dormitory that he was sitting in.
"What's up?" he asked.
Futureseeker shrugged. "Nothing much. I just wanted to know if you wanted to play marbles with me."
Dreamstalker shook his head. "You always win, anyway."
Futureseeker grinned. "You're right. No one can beat me," he said boldly.
Dreamstalker smiled. "They should have named you Marbleplayer instead of Futureseeker for how much you play with them."
Futureseeker wrinkled his snout. "I think NightWing names are usually supposed to inspire fear into other dragons. I don't think I'd be afraid of a dragon called Marbleplayer."
Dreamstalker laughed. "I guess so. I mean, I'd be afraid if he was as obsessed with marbles as you."
"Are you afraid of marbles?" Futureseeker laughed.
Dreamstalker wrinkled his snout at him. "Of course not."
Futureseeker shrugged. "You can't blame me for asking."
Dreamstalker glanced around, suddenly serious. "Listen," he said, lowering his voice. "Can you keep a secret?"
Futureseeker nodded, his eyes glinting with worry and excitement. "Of course. I thought NightWings were the best at keeping secrets."
Dreamstalker took a deep breath. "So in class today we learned about dreamvisitors."
Futureseeker nodded. "Yeah, what about them?"
"Well, I was told today that we have to have a dreamvisitor to visit another dragon's dreams."
Futureseeker nodded again. "That's how it's always been," he said.
Dreamstalker hesitated and glanced around. The dormitory didn't have many dragonets in it at the moment. But all the same, he leaned closer to Futureseeker. "I've always been able to walk into a dragon's dreams. I've been able to as long as I can remember."
Futureseeker pulled back and looked at Dreamstalker with wide eyes. "Really?" he said much louder than he would've preferred.
"Yes, please be quieter," Dreamstalker whispered, glancing around fearfully.
"Why didn't you tell me?" he exclaimed.
"I thought everyone could do it!" he said, flaring his wings.
"Of course not!"
Dreamstalker frowned. "I was hoping telling you would make me feel better, but now I just feel dumb."
He turned and walked away from Futureseeker.
"Wait!"
Dreamstalker turned to look.
Futureseeker ran over to him. "I'm sorry," he said quietly. "It just seemed crazy to me."
Dreamstalker smiled slightly. "Thank you."
Suddenly Futureseeker looked at him suspiciously. "So you actually can walk into other dragon's dreams?"
Dreamstalker nodded. "I'll do it to you tonight."
Futureseeker still looked skeptical. "How do I know it's not just a dream?"
Dreamstalker paused. "How about we think of a phrase? And when I visit your dream tonight, I'll say the phrase and you'll know it's me."
Futureseeker thought for a moment. "How about you say, 'The dream is real'? How does that sound?"
Dreamstalker nodded. "Straight to the point. I like it."
Futureseeker grinned. "So tonight. I can't wait!"
He bounded back over to his bed.
"You have to actually sleep tonight," Dreamstalker called to him.
Then he glanced around worriedly, realizing he had just called out to Futureseeker with other dragons around. A few other dragonets looked up, but none of them seemed confused. In fact, most of them ignored him.
Dreamstalker breathed a sigh of relief. Now he just had to prove to Futureseeker that he wasn't lying. And he would do that that night, at midnight, in the midst of Futureseeker's dreams.
== Chapter 2 ==
Dreamstalker went back to his parents' cave later that day and found them not talking to each other. 
"Father," he said. "Can I talk to you?" 
His father nodded. "Of course. What about?"
"Well, in class today we learned about dreamvisitors," Dreamstalker said. 
His father stiffened and glanced up to Dreamstalker's forehead. 
"Aha!" Dreamstalker exclaimed. "I was right!"
"About what?" His father gave a slight nervous laugh and Dreamstalker could see him stopping himself from looking at the gem. 
"This," he said, tapping the jewel, "is a dreamvisitor. I know it!" 
His father hesitated before sighing and nodding. "Yes, it is." 
"Where'd you get it?" Dreamstalker asked. 
"It's been handed down in my family from the time of Darkstalker himself." 
Dreamstalker gasped, gazing at his father in awe. "Really?" 
His father nodded. "One of our ancestors was in Darkstalker's close circle of friends. When all the NightWings were fleeing from Darkstalker in the old Night Kingdom, he went to Darkstalker's rooms and found his dreamvisitor. Then he took it and left, teaching his descendants about Darkstalker. And so far it's been given to the first hatched in each family. That was me and now you."
Dreamstalker touched the gem with newfound respect. "Wow," he breathed. 
"Why did you only just ask about it now?" his father asked. "I was never really discreet about it. At least, with you."
Dreamstalker shrugged. "I thought it was a NightWing power to be able to walk into another dragon's dreams." 
His father started. "You didn't say anything to them, did you?" 
"Um," he said tentatively, "maaaybe?"
His father sat back and rubbed his snout tiredly. "I don't know what I'll do if anyone comes asking," he said, sighing. 
"Also," Dreamstalker said, "I may or may not have got into a fight when they were talking about Darkstalker." He shut his eyes tightly and braced for it. 
"What?" his father roared. "What did you say?" 
"I – I just said that he wasn't a psychotic power hungry maniac!" Dreamstalker said frantically. The look in his father's eyes was unlike anything he'd ever seen in them.
His father stepped forwards and gripped his shoulder. "If anyone figures out about this dreamvisitor, we could be killed," he said sharply. "So don't say anything. This includes anything about Darkstalker, any animus objects, and any mention of anything you've seen in dreams. And no visiting dreams tonight. Do you understand?" 
Dreamstalker nodded. He decided that it wasn't the best time to mention he had told Futureseeker about it and was planning on visiting him.
"Good." His father sat back for a moment. "Did you have any other questions?" 
Dreamstalker shook his head. "I just wanted to ask about that." Then he hesitated. "Did I eat yesterday?" he said.
His father shook his head. "I remember because you were complaining yesterday that you were hungry. So you'd better go out. The prey in the forest in dwindling."
Dreamstalker nodded. "Alright," he said. "I'll go to the dormitory afterwards though."
His father nodded. "That's fine."
Dreamstalker gave a slight polite nod, as was customary, showing a little respect, then left the cave. 
There was a slight orange glow showing in the porous stone beneath Dreamstalker's talons and it was warm to the touch. 
But Dreamstalker ignored it and opened her wings, launching himself into the air. He flew over the lava field and towards the small patch of trees. 
NightWing dragonets got to eat every other day. The NightWings wanted to make sure their dragonets would survive. Adult dragons got to eat once every three days. Dreamstalker had heard talk that they might limit it more though. They were rapidly depleting the small forest of its already small population of prey.
Although it would hardly be much longer until Dreamstalker got to eat less. He was turning eight in a few months and that would be the official time when he was switched over to his adult roll. He was worried about how he'd do with less food. He already got hungry when it wasn't his day to hunt, and he only had to wait one day.
Dreamstalker shook the thoughts away. He only had a few more months that he got to hunt every other day. It was best to use them wisely and not ruin his appetite by thinking about what he'd do as an adult.
Dreamstalker alighted as quietly as he could on the outskirts of the forest. He tilted his head to listen. He could hear a bird, a seagull perhaps, close to where he was. 
Dreamstalker crept through the forest when suddenly he heard a sound. There was something crashing through the forest towards him.
He sighed as he heard the seagull fly away in a flurry of wingbeats. It sounded as though there had been multiple. It would have been a real catch. 
Suddenly a NightWing burst into the small clearing Dreamstalker was in and almost ran him over. But the NightWing stopped at the last second.
"Oh," he said. "I didn't hear you." He narrowed his eyes at Dreamstalker. "What are you doing over here?"
"I lost my prey from the other day," Dreamstalker lied. It was a lie that he frequently used. Thankfully he never ran into the same dragon twice so they could see through it. "I was hoping that if I was quiet then I might've been able to hear it. But so far, no luck."
"Ah." The NightWing nodded. "I just hope no one ate yours. I can help you try to find it if you want."
"No thank you," Dreamstalker said cheerfully. "I don't want to keep you. I can find it on my own."
The NightWing nodded. "Thanks." Then he continued on his path through the forest. 
Dreamstalker scoffed slightly. He hated, absolutely hated, the way everyone on the island hunted. It was so gross and disgusting. He didn't mind the smell. It was all the things that wriggled on it, and in it. Dreamstalker shuddered. He had hunted like that once in his life, and he never wanted to do it again. He could still feel the slimy, charred squirrel (an interesting combination, one that made it all the worse) sliding down his throat, the worms and maggots still wriggling slightly, despite the fact that they had been burned, supposedly to death. Dreamstalker had not felt good that night. 
So Dreamstalker now hunted his own way, secretly. He stalked up on his prey, hiding in the shadows, then he pounced. He would cook and eat it then and there, instead of just biting it and waiting for it to die.
Dreamstalker cocked his head, determined to catch something. There! Off to his left, he could hear something. Maybe one of the seagulls he had heard a bit ago. 
Dreamstalker crept in its direction, keeping to the shadows, though it was already fairly dark in the forest. 
At last, he spotted it, peering out from behind a tree. It was, in fact, a seagull, and it appeared to be preoccupied. It was pecking at something on the ground, a lizard or something like that, and didn't appear to realize that Dreamstalker was there. 
He allowed himself a small smile, then pounced onto the bird, snapping its neck in an instant. 
Dreamstalker ate the whole thing quickly then left the forest, the ash on the leaves of the tree coating his scales, making them seem more gray than black. 
He headed straight towards the dormitory. The day was almost over, though he couldn't tell from the sky, and he was antsy about visiting Futureseeker's dream. He didn't know why though. He'd done it before, though only once. Futureseeker's dreams were weird and confusing, and he hadn't noticed Dreamstalker at all. 
In fact, the stories Dreamstalker could tell would amaze everyone. Dragons had the weirdest dreams. But as far as Dreamstalker knew, he didn't dream. Nothing that he could remember at least. But that was probably the case with most dragons. 
Dreamstalker went straight to the dormitory and saw that a few of the dragonets were already lying down and were asleep, and the only ones that were up were talking in hushed tones. Surprisingly, Futureseeker was one of the ones lying down. Dreamstalker had expected him to stay half up half the night. 
Dreamstalker lied down on his stone ledge and threw a blanket over himself. 
"Futureseeker," he whispered. Then he opened his eyes, expecting to see something odd, but instead he saw the underside of his blanket. 
Dreamstalker frowned. Either Futureseeker was in such a deep sleep that he wasn't dreaming, something that he highly doubted, or he wasn't asleep yet.
Dreamstalker sighed. Of course. How could he have expected Futureseeker to have been asleep yet? He was most likely too excited to fall asleep. 
Dreamstalker gave a soft frustrated growl. He had no idea how long he'd have to wait for him to fall asleep. So in the meantime, despite what his father had said, he decided to visit a few other dragons' dreams. First of all, he went to Obedience. He was curious about what she dreamed about.
He thought about her and a moment later, his surroundings changed. 
He was standing on grass, grass greener than any he had ever seen. Dreamstalker blinked in confusion and at the brightness. Up in the sky, high overhead, the sun was shining. Dreamstalker only knew what it was because there were a few days of which the smoke wasn't as heavy and he could see through it slightly. 
Laughter caught his attention. He looked up into the sky – the sky! It was bluer than blue, the color of the sapphire in his forehead, but so much more beautiful. 
After he got over the sky, he looked at the two dragons that were flying in it. One he recognized as Obedience, but the other he wasn't quite sure. He was rather handsome and looked kind, though as if he knew things. Dreamstalker wondered who he was. 
Suddenly Obedience turned around and gave the dragon a lick on his snout.
This is a private dream, Dreamstalker realized. Technically he knew that every dream was private, but this was one that displayed a dragon's true feelings. Dreamstalker, just because he thought it was right, always stepped out of them the moment he realized what they were.
Just as he was about to leave, he saw something glint in the bright sunlight. It was in the other dragon's forehead. Dreamstalker squinted a realized that it was a dreamvisitor. 
The other dragon was him! 
Dreamstalker found this even more embarrassing and he ducked out of the dream a moment later.
He opened his eyes and saw the blanket that he had pulled over himself. 
So did Obedience like him? He had never thought so. She acted the same around him as she always did. But the dream seemed like solid proof. She liked him. More than that. She loved him. 
Dreamstalker was flattered. He had never expected that anyone would love him. What was so special about him? But Obedience obviously didn't care.
Dreamstalker smiled. It was nice, knowing that at least someone cared about him. 
He nearly fell asleep but he shook himself awake. If he forgot to visit Futureseeker's dream, then he would think he was lying. 
At the thought of Futureseeker, Dreamstalker's surroundings changed. 
He was in a white space. It was all white. No floor, no ceiling, no nothing. And yet Dreamstalker was standing.
He sighed. Of course, Futureseeker just imagined a white backdrop for a dream. It was so stupid. 
Suddenly Dreamstalker's eyes caught onto something in the distance. It was black, almost pure black. 
Dreamstalker started to go towards it when suddenly and hole appeared in the pure whiteness. Dreamstalker peered into it and he could see the dormitory. 
And, much to Dreamstalker's surprise, Dreamstalker stepped out of it. 
Dreamstalker rolled his eyes. Was that seriously how Futureseeker imagined it? A portal from the real world into a dream? For one, that was completely wrong, and two, a dream would never in a billion years look like the way Futureseeker imagined it. 
Well, he argued with himself, this is a dream, so therefore a dream does look like this. Dreamstalker frowned. Shut up, he thought viciously. 
Futureseeker gaped at the fake Dreamstalker. "This is so cool," he murmured. 
"The dream is real," said the fake Dreamstalker. 
The real Dreamstalker rolled his eyes. He did not like how he sounded. His voice sounded too gruff and deep. 
"You can really do it!" Futureseeker said gleefully. 
"Alright, this has gone on long enough." The real Dreamstalker stepped up to Futureseeker. 
Futureseeker frowned and looked between Dreamstalker and his dream one. "Wait, what? Who are you?" 
"I'm Dreamstalker," both Dreamstalkers said at once. 
Dreamstalker glared at the fake one, then turned to Futureseeker. "You of all dragons would of course make this complicated." 
Futureseeker looked at the fake one again. "Which one of you is the real one?" 
"Me!" both of them said. 
Dreamstalker rubbed his snout tiredly. "Alright, how about this. What if I leave your dream, but then come back? Will that prove to you that I'm the real one?"
Futureseeker nodded. 
Then in the next instant, Dreamstalker stepped out of the dream. He felt he was back before his eyes had time to register. He felt the heat from the volcano leaking through the holes in the stone and the sharp, ash filled air of the dormitory scrape in his throat. 
Dreamstalker lay on his stone ledge, knowing that he was falling asleep, though he couldn't seem to do anything about it. But as he was almost completely asleep, he shook himself awake. He had to go back to the dream, no matter how unappealing it seemed. He had to prove that he wasn't lying. 
Then after much persuasion by himself, Dreamstalker thought about Futureseeker and fell into his dream. 
Even though he knew that Futureseeker had weird, confusing dreams, the sight that met him was unlike anything he could've ever imagined. 
The white landscape of Futureseeker's dream was crowded with shapes. It took Dreamstalker a moment to figure out that all the dragons were him, except for Futureseeker in the middle of the group. He was looking around frantically, as though trying to find a way out of the mob of Dreamstalker.
"Hey!" Dreamstalker called over himself. "I came back! Can I go?" 
"Please!" Futureseeker cried. "All of you, please go!"
Dreamstalker didn't stay to wonder what had caused the explosion of himself. He just left the dream. 
And in an instant, it was far quieter. He had hardly realized how loud the dream had been until he was back in the silence of the dormitory. 
Dreamstalker pulled the blanket back and glanced over to Futureseeker. He was jerking slightly and mumbling under his breath. Dreamstalker felt slightly bad for him, though he knew he couldn't help. He never could. It was just a dream. Dreamstalker couldn't wake him up from inside it. 
Then a thought occurred to him, an obvious one that he should've thought of before then. He could just go wake him up. 
Dreamstalker pushed off the blankets and stood up, forcing back a yawn. Everyone was asleep now. Or at least, everyone was in their beds. Maybe not all asleep, but it looked like it. 
Dreamstalker reached Futureseeker's bed and brushed his shoulder lightly. He got no reaction. Then he grabbed his shoulder and shook it. Futureseeker jolted awake. 
"Dreamstalker?" he said groggily. "How are you here?" 
"Quiet," Dreamstalker said softly. "You were just dreaming." 
"Oh." Futureseeker sat back and closed his dark eyes. And in another moment, he was snoring. 
Dreamstalker gave a soft incredulous laugh then went back to his bed. He climbed onto it and pulled up the blanket. And despite all the thoughts running through his head, his eyes drooped and he fell asleep. Category:Wings of Fire
Category:Fanfictions (Unfinished)
Category:Fanfictions (Semi-Canon)
Category:Literature