The Clearly Seen Moon

Category:Fanfictions
Category:Fanfictions (Incomplete)
Category:Fanfictions (Semi-Canon)
A dazzling star, far up in the sky...
It's been seven years since Darkstalker took over Pyrrhia. Seven years since the IceWings were banished to their own kingdom. Seven years since Moon became no more.
The Jade Winglet want out. They need out.
== Prologue ==
Moon knew she was dying.
A dark prison suffocated her from all sides, squeezing her purplish-black wings against her small form, threatening to shove her eyeballs all the way back into the skull. Helplessly she clawed, letting out pants that had been rattling around in her lungs like wild animals. The only thing her claws met were more darkness, and she could hear her friends, screaming her name desperately. Qibli, Winter, Kinkajou, Turtle, Peril...all their voices mixed together in a cacophony of screeching voices. 
But another voice, clearer than the mess that her friends were, was cutting into her mind like a blade. It hurt. Oh, moons, it utterly stung, and all Moon could do was thrash harder in pure agony. 
"Come out, Clearsight..."
And then Moon knew nothing.
== Part One: A Lost Dragon ==
=== Chapter 1 ===
No one had ever told Qibli how odd it felt to roll a scroll between your claws, but then again, no one really told anyone else anything those days. 
With a sigh, Qibli glanced over at Turtle. The SeaWing had moved into his and Winter's cave, claiming it was too lonely in his old one now that almost everyone had left. It was only the Jade Winglet and the Dragonets of Destiny left, to be truthful. All the IceWings were forced to remain in the Ice Kingdom, Queen Coral had immediately ordered that all SeaWings (especially Anemone) be brought back to the Deep Palace at once, both Queen Glory and Queen Thorn said that any RainWing or SandWing who wished to remain would be allowed to, although most chose not to, and Queen Moorhen simply sighed and said that the sibs of her MudWing students were concerned about their troops safety, so most demanded they returned.
Not like they're even the real queens anymore...
No one spoke about what happened that day, but they all thought about it. They thought about how Darkstalker had grabbed at Moon, sent her spiraling into a dark prison, before she emerged as a dragon. The one Qibli and Moon had been introduced to in the library in the old Night Kingdom. The beautiful one, the one Darkstalker had fallen in love with all those moons ago. 
And then he'd declared himself king of the continent...with some twists. He'd explained that he and Moon (who he now only referred to as Clearsight) had previously agreed that Darkstalker was not to harm any of her friends, so none of them would be harmed. Next was the news that the IceWings now had to remain solely in the Ice Kingdom, and if they did, he'd remove the plague he'd cursed them with. Darkstalker built an entire Great Ice Cliff around all of the snowy arctic that not only killed any non-IceWing who tried to enter, but killed any IceWing who tried to leave or enter. Then the queens...Qibli shivered. 
Thanks to Darkstalker's 'generosity', the queens had been allowed to remain. In some capacity, at least. They all had to swear an oath of loyalty to the new king, of course, and were allowed to keep their thrones and treasure and titles and all that boring stuff, but they had no real power. Not anymore. Now they were only puppets. As Queen Glacier had already died of the plague, her oldest daughter took over, and now Winter spoke of letters every week or so from a friend of his named Lynx, always telling him how wonderful life in the Ice Kingdom was under Queen Crystal. When Tsunami voiced her surprise that Snowfall hadn't challenged her sister yet, Peril pointed out that they had enough going on and didn't need any fights for the crown. Surprisingly, Winter agreed with the SkyWing, and added how he wished he could go see Lynx, even just for a day. But he was stuck at Jade Mountain Academy, like the rest of them. 
It was the same with the NightWings. None of them were allowed to leave the Night Kingdom anymore; Darkstalker probably wanted them all close so he could keep an eye on them. That meant that Starflight and Fatespeaker were forced to move there with much reluctance. Sunny, although a hybrid containing NightWing blood, managed to avoid this, pointing out how she had a lot of SandWing qualities.
And then was the worst part: none of them were allowed to see Moon anymore. They weren't even allowed to call her Moon anymore, as Darkstalker had wiped all of her memories when he turned her into that horrible imitation of Clearsight. If anyone tried to explain her past to the new NightWing queen, or even said the word 'Moon', they would immediately be transported to Darkstalker's throne room for punishment. It was a frightful new spell the wretched king had conjured up. Instead the dragons came up with different ways to express themselves, such as 'wings above!' or 'stars above!'
They all took it hard and dealt with it in different ways. Turtle retreated to scrolls and the lakes beneath Jade Mountain. Peril often went for long flights, Clay occasionally joining her but often not. The dragonets collectively agreed that they needed to leave the winglet to grieve the absence of their clawmate. Winter disappeared into himself, becoming an icy shadow of his former self. Qibli simply tried to get through it, no matter how much it hurt him to go about his normal day without the intelligent and funny NightWing there. But Kinkajou took it the hardest; the RainWing's scales were never bright or bubbly anymore, instead dull grays and blues and blacks. She never smiled, and Qibli saw how Turtle tried to cheer her up, remembering sadly how he used to try and cheer Moon up if her favourite scroll got checked out before she could get her talons on it.
A cough snapped Qibli out of his reverie, and he twisted his head round. Clay was stood in the entryway, shifting uneasily from foot to foot. He rumbled, "It's lunchtime. Glory brought us some fruits from the rainforest...says they're real rare, so..."
"Coming," Turtle answered before him. The prince stood up and stretched his magnificent dark green wings. They looked as though they were laden with emeralds, and Qibli was reminded of how Moon's eyes used to sparkle even brighter than any jewel on Pyrrhia when she found a scroll she'd never read before. His heart panged, and he followed Turtle down the caves, his eyes dull and sad.
The prey center was, surprisingly, not empty when they got there. Tsunami was sat with Winter, the two not talking and instead eating their own meals. Tsunami a fish, Winter a frozen fruit that he'd most likely used his frostbreath on. Clay flicked a wing at a small net of odd-looking fruits. Turtle made a face and instead went over to a small pile of fish that Tsunami had caught that morning. Qibli strolled over to the net and poked one of the fruits: orange that had green insides. Perhaps Kinkajou could tell him what it was.
As if on cue, the small RainWing slipped into the center. She was still very small, even years later, and today her scales were painted with a dull blue-gray. Her head was bowed as she trudged over to the net and simply chose a mango, before going to sit near the ledge. Qibli looked over at her, before joining her by the ledge. 
"Hey," he said gently, wrapping a warm wing aroung Kinkajou. "You don't look like you've been getting your sun time. Why not, huh?"
Kinkajou sighed and looked down. "I don't feel like it...it's weird, I used to always want sun time and I used to ask Tamarin to come sleep with me because I don't like sleeping alone and sometimes Mo-" She broke off, looking down. "...sometimes she used to come and lay with us too, even though she's not a RainWing."
Then she looked at Qibli, and the SandWing was shocked to see a look of fierce hatred flashing in her eyes. "I hate that stuck-up scavenger dropping. He's ruined all of our lives!" she hissed, and splotches of crimson began to appear on her scales. But then she hang her head again, and the crimson was once again replaced by blue-gray. 
They all looked at each other, and Tsunami sighed wearily. "We all hate him, Kinkajou. But what are we meant to do? He took away the power of every animus on the continent," at this Turtle flinched, but his sister continued, "believe me, I have to deal with Anemone writing to complain about it every single week."
"Yeah, every power except his own..." Kinkajou muttered, shredding some grass between her claws. Again, every dragon looked at each other. Peril, who had just emerged from another one of her flights, seemed to realise what was going on, and she looked down, her sky-blue eyes odd and searching. 
All their attention was diverted to Sunny, however, as the golden dragon suddenly came rushing into the room, her wings flapping like mad and her scales reflecting the sunlight of the late afternoon, a piece of parchment clutched in her talons. "It's Darkstalker!" she stuttered, pausing to catch her breath near the entrance. Tsunami bristled and stood up, while Winter raised his head, his dark pale blue gaze flashing as he looked at Sunny sharply. 
"What's he done now!?" Tsunami demanded, as though she was about to go and fight the NightWing king herself.
Sunny looked at them all, but especially Qibli and Winter. "For...for his and his...'queen's' fifth anniversary...he's invited us to the ball," she said in a low voice. Kinkajou nearly choked on her mango, and Qibli had to shake her to get the piece out of her throat. He was shocked himself, though. Every anniversary Darkstalker through a lavish ball to celebrate, but only NightWings were allowed to attend. 
Peril recovered first, her eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Why? Why now? After all this time, why are we finally allowed to go see...her?"
This had them pondering for a moment, until Clay simply shrugged and looked around at them all, his face sad but slightly hopeful. "It doesn't matter, though. Not really. We'll get to check on...on, well, you know who, and on the bright side, Starflight and Fatespeaker! And your dad, Sunny." he added as he looked at the small golden dragon, who looked slightly happier.
"Well...I suppose it'll be nice." she admitted, before looking round at them all and smiling sadly. 
"Let's all get ready to party tomorrow night."
=== Chapter 2 ===
They flew past the ruins of Agate Mountain on their way to the Night Kingdom, and all of them kept their eyes firmly on the peninsula ahead of them, though Qibli saw Winter cast a quick glance at the ruins of rocks before sharply turning his gaze back to the darkening sky. The three moons were shining a bright silver in the mix of stars and clouds.
None of them had dressed up especially nice for the ball, as most of them had no jewellery. Tsunami was wearing the pearls her mother had given her, as always, while Sunny was wearing a small bracelet of moonstones that Queen Thorn had sent her. Other than that, the only colourful one in the odd group was Kinkajou, who'd turned her scales a pale sky blue. 
Near Darkstalker's Teeth was where they ran into a line of NightWing warriors that were flapping above the mountain range, as if waiting for them. None of them held weapons of any sort and instead smirked smugly as the group flew to meet them. Tsunami immediately bristled while Sunny frowned, and it took Qibli a minute to realise why. It was Fierceteeth, Starflight's sister and the attempted assassin of Queen Glory. She was wearing a gaudy necklace made of obsidian that was almost impossible to see due to the darkness of her scales.
She cleared her throat. "King Darkstalker said you'd be showing up," her voice was grating, like a dagger being drawn across marble, "but we can't let the IceWing in." 
Tsunami looked like she was about to explode, but Clay shot her a warning look and briefly left Peril's side to get closer to Fierceteeth. "Winter doesn't pose any harm. Besides," he added, "the king invited us all, including Winter."
Fierceteeth narrowed her eyes, and for a moment Qibli feared they would attack. They'll have to deal with Peril if they do, he thought ominously. They all looked up at the sound of flapping wings, and Qibli's heart leapt into his throat.
A dragon with the largest wings any of them had ever seen, a dragon with icy white scales on the insides of said wings, a dragon wearing a twisted crown of spikes, descended on them, landing beside Fierceteeth and looking fondly at her. "Thank you, Lieutenant Fierceteeth," he smiled, as though she was a dragonet who had just learned not to spill their squirrel all over the floor at dinner. He then turned his cavernous eyes to the mismatched group of dragons. "But, Winter shall be allowed into the Night Kingdom. That is why I temporarily lifted the spell on this mountain range so lovingly named after me."
All the NightWings bowed deeply to him and Sunny stepped forward, her moss-green eyes wide with concern. "Your majesty, please...how's my father?"
Darkstalker smiled at her as though she was an old friend he'd dearly missed, and Qibli suddenly remembered that they were distantly related through Darkstalker's sister, or something. The king rumbled, "Ah, Stonemover. Well, rest assured, Sunny. Your father is a wonderful piece of NightWing history for our dragonets. He's been a little dull since he got his animus powers stripped, but..." 
At these words Turtle flinched, and Qibli saw Winter shoot a fierce glare at Darkstalker, who beckoned for them all to follow him. "The ball will be in the palace, of course. Me and Clearsight have been working hard in order to make it look spectacular," he said, his voice practically a purr as they flew over first few settlements, and Qibli could only gawp.
The lost city of night was no more a pile of old ruins and dangerous sculptures. Now, it was a dazzling landscape of pavilions, buildings and neatly kept flowerbeds, strangely enough. Lamps shone from every window, and banners had been put up in the Great Diamond, saying things like, 'Long live King Darkstalker and Queen Clearsight!' or 'The NightWings are Victorious!'
Sunny was studying the city with a strange desperation, and suddenly she let out a soft gasp, looking at Darkstalker again. "The library! Will- will Starflight be there?" she asked hopefully. Clay and Tsunami stopped as well, looking around wildly as they flapped in the air.
However, the NightWing king shook his massive head. "No. Starflight and that sweet little NightWing who follows him around are at the ball tonight. It's mandatory, after all, even for the dragonets," he explained as he suddenly dove into a courtyard, causing his 'entourage' to abruptly stop in midair and awkwardly fly down after him. Peril nearly crashed into Kinkajou and hurriedly flew back as her tail caught on a vine, which briefly burst into flames before being reduced to a pile of ash. 
"Oops," she said, as though under her breath, shooting a nervous blue look at Darkstalker, but the NightWing was too busy murmuring quietly with Fierceteeth. Clay shot a small smile at Peril, and touched his wing to hers. Qibli thought of how lonely the MudWing must have been; Marsh had gone back to the Mud Kingdom to be with his other siblings, and despite how much time had passed, Sora and Umber were nowhere to be seen. All of a sudden he appreciated Peril a lot more for keeping Clay's spirit up.
The courtyard they landed in was beautiful and lush and smelled like jasmine flowers. Peril grimaced at all the foliage, but Darkstalker smiled toothily and purred, "Don't worry. I've made everything within the palace premises fireproof. The dragonets tend to get a bit too playful, you see..."
They approached two guards by the wide steps leading into the palace, and with a jolt Qibli realised one of them was Fearless. She'd been in the Silver Winglet with Ostrich and Anemone; Ostrich had described her as keeping to herself when nothing interesting was happening, but being the first on the scene when something dramatic happened. 
Ostrich...I wonder how she's doing. The young SandWing had gone back to the stronghold in the desert to be with Six-Claws and Kindle. Queen Thorn had wanted Qibli to return as well, but he'd refused. He wanted to be here, among his friends; besides, how was he meant to defend Jade Mountain if he was off in the stronhold with the Outclaws?
It was almost a shock the way Fearless barely acknowledged them with little more than a dip of the head before she opened the door and moved aside so Darkstalker could lead the way to the throne room, where the ball would be taking place. The other NightWing guard bristled at the sight of Winter, but Qibli was hopeful to see Fearless just look at him blankly. It was obvious that, having attended the academy, she didn't hold the same animosity towards IceWings that most NightWings did. In fact, she could often be see laughing away with or talking quietly with Changbai, her clawmate, back before everything went so wrong.
Stop thinking about that. You're finally getting to see her, after all this time.
He tried to focus on the elegant decorations hanging in the winding hallways that Darkstalker led them through, the king humming a jaunty tune to himself while his massive tail flicked back and forth. Winter and Tsunami both very much looked like they'd like to bite it.
Thankfully, he didn't have to pretend not to be thinking about something else, when he saw the throne room.
Ethereal decorations hung from every column, every pillar, every nook and cranny. Gems sparkled off the scales of every dragon, for every dragonet was wearing at least one piece of jewellery that reflected their scale colour. There was a strange scent in the air: jasmine mixed with herbal tea, almost. Sunny had made them all it one morning, as she'd heard it helped calm nerves. Even the thrones were decorated. There were two of them, and the tallest one was about two dragons high in backrest, with a small string of three moonstones strung across the top of it, making it look as though the three moons were gazing down on the lower dragons, judging them harshly. Perhaps that was the intention; showing how Darkstalker was above everyone on Pyrrhia. Beside it was a smaller throne, where, if a dragon sat in it, their head would only go up to Darkstalker's shoulder. It was shaped like a full moon and had light gold gilding. 
Qibli felt Winter tense, as well as everybody else. Kinkajou's scales turned a light emerald while bubbles of red bloomed on her ruff, and Turtle went to put a wing around her, but she shrugged him off angrily and shot daggers at Darkstalker. For a moment she looked as though she wanted to spit her venom at him, but seemed to restrain herself, although her tail lashed like a wild serpent.
Darkstalker turned to them all. "I must go and check if Clearsight's ready yet. For now, socialise with the other guests. Have fun!" With that he vanished through some other doors, but Qibli kept his mind safely empty until the sounds of his footsteps faded down the hallway before relaxing, and glanced about. He realised that Sunny had spotted Starflight and Fatespeaker, who were by the buffet table, and the little golden dragon already flapped her way over to them, throwing her wings around her blind friend and hugging him fiercely. Starflight momentarily froze, until it seemed he recognised the feeling of warmth, and he relaxed, hugging the hybrid back.
"Sunny! Are Tsunami and Clay here too?" He asked eagerly, glancing around, as though hoping to hear their voices.
"Yes! And Kinkajou, and Turtle, and- oh, Starflight, we're all here!" Sunny replied enthusiastically. She then turned to Fatespeaker and took her talons in her own, squeezing them. "And Fatespeaker! How are you? How's the library here?"
The female NightWing smiled back and then moved forward, hugging Sunny gently and touching her forehead to hers. "It's great here, though the food is gross! They make us eat rattlesnakes! Be glad you aren't a full NightWing." 
Suny giggled. "I'll have to thank my mother for that..." She looked at Starflight. "Sorry Glory couldn't come; we don't think Darkstalker would take too kindly to another tribe's queen in his palace." 
They both looked regretful for a minute, before Starflight cleared his throat and flicked a wing at the buffet table. "Have you tried the, uh...squirrel? I think there's some fish," he added, glancing at Turtle and Tsunami, and then looked at Kinkajou, "and there's nuts and berries and cheese, and, uhm...stuff you'd like, Kinkajou." 
The little RainWing gloomily went over to the table and began to poke through the selection, her wings now dappled with orange and emerald as she used her snout to nudge a pile of sad-looking strawberries. Qibli didn't really feel like eating, so instead he occupied himself with looking about the throne room. It was filled to the brim with NightWings, with even some dragonets as young as one year old dashing about like mad, playing tag and staring at the strangely-coloured dragons that had invaded their kingdom. 
Qibli headed over to a dark corner. He didn't want to talk with anyone, and judging from how Winter had stalked off somewhere, they both had the same idea. The corner Qibli chose had been polished to perfection, just as everything had in the room. The perfect place to wait out the ball until...until she finally showed up. 
He turned around, trying to hide in one of the soft black silk curtains, only to come face-to-face with Deathbringer, and if it hadn't been for the former assassin slapping his tail over the SandWing's snout, Qibli would've screamed. 
"Shh!" Deathbringer hissed, and Qibli was surprised to see a surprisingly serious look in his gaze. When he'd met the assassin he'd been at the side of Queen Glory, ready to defend in a funny jokey way. He'd annoyed Winter, and that was what was important in the moment for Qibli. "I've been hiding out here half the night, no need to expose me now!" 
"S-sorry," Qibli panted as Deathbringer removed his tail. "Can you blame me though? I thought I was going to have an early death there..." 
Deathbringer grunted. "Might be better than living under this slime weasel and his creepy possessed 'queen', honestly..." 
There was an awkward silence for a minute, before Qibli looked at Deathbringer. "I would've thought Queen Glory would have asked if you can stay in the rainforest. He let Winter stay at Jade Mountain." 
A growl. Deathbringer looked particularly hostile. "She did. He said all NightWings must be in the city." 
More coming soon...