Dragons After the War

Please feel free to leave any criticisms in the comments. Some minor swearing at parts.
== Summary ==
A good year or so has passed since the war of SandWing Succession, and peace has more or less returned to Pyrrhia. Dragons go about their days with minimal worry of any danger, and for the most part, it has returned to business as usual.
For some dragons, maybe this would be a good thing. However, not all dragons share this sentiment.
Dreamcatcher, a twenty something year old dragon has spent a good majority of his life preparing for and playing a major role in the war. Despite how terrible the war was, the war gave Dreamcatcher a purpose and a place in his tribe, but now he lives as another faceless, NightWing, nobody. With nothing to do and no one to turn to, he spends his days rotting away in the rainforest.
Aquila, another twenty something dragon finds herself in a similar situation, but on the complete opposite side of the spectrum. Aquila is a unpredictable and dangerously cunning SkyWing, haunted by the will of the infamous Queen Scarlet. Armed with nothing but her claws and her mind, she sets out with her team of five other SkyWings to overthrow Queen Ruby and lift SkyWings to a new age of enlightenment and ethnocentrism.
When Aquila meets with Dreamcatcher, he will have to make the hardest decision. To be granted a purpose again, or save the future.
In this new age of peace, conflict once again starts to brew as the wheels of fate start to churn.
All tribes are all already worn out from the war. Will they be able to survive another conflict?
== Chapter 1 ==
Dreamcatcher stared blankly at the empty scroll sitting in front of him, a small crack of sunlight streaming through his curtained window being the only source of light  illuminating his dark hut. Though, there was not much to illuminate anyway, just a simple bed, a table, and a small shelf that now held all of his worldly possessions. He tapped his writing claw on a scarred, wood desk, clearly annoyed and restless. As satisfying as the sound was, it annoyed him to no end that it didn’t help him come up with an idea.
Dreamcatcher was the self proclaimed best NightWing writer in all fields of literature. Though this may have been because that he found himself to be the only NightWing that seemed to be remotely interested with literature that wasn’t filled with facts. He enjoyed writing creatively, but found he had a particular soft spot for journalism. Though due to the nature of NightWing society at the time, “journalist” found itself to be synonymous with “spy” and “propagandist”. Though he was writing a lot, and had the cozy feeling of genuinely being needed, he secretly hoped a swift end to the war, so he could start writing honestly. He wanted to be well known and well off, doing nothing more than what he loved.
His naivety and hope for the future got way ahead of him.
Maybe he didn’t notice at the time, but in this particular story, the NightWings were the antagonists. So really it could only go one way for them. The RainWings defeated the NightWings without a hitch during the war, and were doomed to be perpetual refugees. They were forced to move away from their homes to the rainforest. Anybody who wanted to stay behind could take their chances with the erupting volcano.
But sometimes Dreamcatcher regretted coming to the rainforest. He might’ve been alive and healthier, but it didn’t mean he was happier too.
What did he hate about the rainforest? He had to eat more fruit, it rained too much, and there was at least one dragonet making fun of his black scales every day. Most importantly though, he was put out of the journalist job. Turns out that most RainWings are too busy lying in the sun being lazy to actually read things, or do much of anything other than the basics really. In fact, he was at least ninety percent sure that most RainWings didn’t know how to actually read. If you asked Dreamcatcher, he’d say it was a miracle they were able survive, much less create an advanced society that was more or less on par with other dragons.
He sighed almost instinctively look to his right, resting his snout on a black claw. He expected to see an overcast ocean and to be greeted by the strangely welcoming smell of sulfur and molten rock, but with a slight pang of sadness he realized that those days might be gone forever.
Now all he could really do was sit here all day, waiting for an idea to come to his head. Then at least he could make a little money so he could leave the rainforest and move somewhere far, far away. This terrible, humid, and claustrophobic rainforest. But until then, he supposed he didn’t have an awful lot to complain about. He still had his life and the NightWings were more or less forgiven for their crimes.
He gave a resigned sigh, and ceased his tapping. On his shelf to his right, was a jumble of random things that he managed to save before the eruption. He ambled over listlessly to the shelf and dug out a small and easily concealable notepad and a simple rope necklace that had a few ink pots attached to it.
He put on his necklace and flipped to a page on the notebook that wasn’t filled to the brim with hastily scribbled words.
“I just had to get the one that was almost filled, didn’t I?” Dreamcatcher mumbled to himself. Well on the bright side, this notepad certainly had some fond memories associated with it. He was half sure one of his first stories were written in there too. Dreamcatcher cringed. Maybe some of the memories in this notepad weren’t so fond.
He stepped out of the door to the Night Village, which was, as always, busy with NightWings. It always noisy here, even during the day. That's why he rarely stuck around to write here. It's why he almost always either wrote in his small hut, which was for the most part completely void of noise, or the rainforest. Despite his gripes with the rainforest, it did serve to provide him with a nice and quiet environment that was not claustrophobic to write in. Except for the occasional noisy RainWing dragonet, it really was the best place for idea generation.
He walked through the village, saying his hellos and good mornings to any passersby that cared enough to say anything to him. Though in the village, dragons rarely bothered. They were still a bit sore and angry after being defeated by the RainWings.
He wandered through the rainforest until he found a small clearing that permitted a little light to shine down from the canopy. The light shimmered and danced on the rainforest floor like the stars in the night sky. A small creek flowed through the clearing, and in it, tiny, light blue fish swam through.
“Good as any other place I guess,” Dreamcatcher said, settling himself down next to a rock right next to the stream. He pulled out his notebook, dipped one of his claws into an ink pot and started to hastily scribble down all of his ideas, pausing only to think for a brief moment. As a writer, the ability to create a stream of consciousness was key.
However, the stream of consciousness meant nothing when he crossed his ideas out every two seconds.
Then while he was writing, his thoughts were broken by a chain of rather loud and distinctive monotone bird chirps. He was no bird expert, but after spending enough time in the rainforest, one tends to listen to the birds. No doubt about it, the call belonged to the-
In the moment he recognized the call, it suddenly became clear the situation he was now in. The danger he was in was suddenly frighteningly evident. His options were limited, but if he could pull them off fast enough, he might still make it out. 
He could try tunneling his way into the ground with his claws. No, that would take far too long. 
He could try to fly away, maybe break the canopy and fly as fast as he could west, and disappear forever in the peninsula. No, that would still leave risk of being caught.
Maybe he could try being a rock? Strange, maybe, but he has done crazier things in the past to avoid being caught.
But before he could decide on a plan, while looking as natural as possible, it was too late. A previously camouflaged dragonet that was hanging upside down from a tree branch now manifested in front of him, smiling a big and warm smile. Her scales were a nice shade of light green, but her underbelly was an obnoxious shade of scarlet red that clashed with her scales. It was honestly a wonder she stuck with that color scheme and still managed to come off as normal to other RainWings.
That would be the one loud RainWing dragonet he mentioned earlier, Quetzal. She certainly was a bit strange. Had a strange obsession with birds, had a freakishly long tail, and in general was a bit on the eccentric side. She also claimed to miss suntime almost everyday, yet still had energy as if she ate coffee beans raw. Though then again, he did notice she was a bit more irritable and sarcastic than normal for other RainWings.
Despite Dreamcatcher’s general mistrust of RainWings, he felt she was alright. Though she was bad for ideas; he never got anything done when she showed up. 
Perhaps that was what he needed, another dragon to clear his mind a bit.
“Hey Dreamcatcher, what did you think of my quetzal call?” She said, snout a bit too close for comfort.
Dreamcatcher sighed as he set aside his notepad; The ideas he had down so far weren’t anything special anyway. “Why are you asking a NightWing his opinion on the authenticity of a tropical bird call?”
“Well,” she said, swaying gently in the breeze while putting her claw to her snout in consideration. “Most Rainwings are a bit busy being RainWings to really pay attention to stuff like this, you on the other hand, come here almost every day.”
Dreamcatcher looked upon her with a bit of suspicion. “What makes you think I have the time to listen to the birds?” Dreamcatcher asked. “As you probably saw while you spying on me, I was writing.”
Quetzal gave Dreamcatcher a weird look. “Well clearly if you had the situational awareness to notice my quetzal call and deduce that it was me, you would have the awareness to know what a quetzal call sounds like. Especially here, where quetzals are coming out of the woodwork.” As it happened to be, she seemed to be quite the astute observer as well.
Dreamcatcher rolled his eyes at Quetzal. If there was anything that she clearly wasn’t, it was subtle and simple. “Yeah, it was pretty good, could barely tell the difference if I’m going to be honest.”
Quetzal’s eyes lit up, and her smile grew. Little blotches of yellow broke the green of her scales, like little dots of sunlight shining through the canopy.  “Really? Thanks! I was practicing that call a lot over the past few weeks, trying to get it juuuuuust right.” Quetzal continued to blabber on about how she learned everything about the quetzal and recorded down. She completely glossed over the fact that his sentence was way too pandering to be a true response from him, and how she just said that he figured out the call was actually her. When Dreamcatcher said Quetzal was an astute observer, he meant that she was an astute observer occasionally.
“-and that’s why I hate eagles with a passion,” Quetzal said, slowly lowering self down to the ground. Behind her, her tail fell to the ground as if it were a long strand of rope. Sitting down, she slowly but surely curled her rather thin tail around her body, making about two and a half loops around her claws. “So what have you been up to Dreamcatcher?”
Dreamcatcher made a gesture with his snout, motioning to the notepad he had set down a little bit earlier. To this, Quetzal laughed. “I know you’ve been writing, fruit-for-brains, I’m asking what you have been writing!”
“I’ve been trying to generate ideas over the past few days, but I don’t know, I feel like I’m in a bit of a manic state,” Dreamcatcher said, unconsciously flipping through the many pages of his notepad. Half of the writing in his notepad were rejected ideas, the other half was intelligence he collected on the field, Nightwing journalism. “I can’t focus on one idea at a time.”
“That’s just you all the time Dreamcatcher,” Quetzal said shooting him a wry smile. “If given a choice of useless sentimental junk and all the gold in the world, you’d probably be sitting there twiddling your claws until the three moons crash into each other.” 
Dreamcatcher made a small frown at her. “This is serious, Quetzal, it’s been worse than usual lately, like my subconscious is trying to warn me of something.” Dreamcatcher unknowingly accidentally made a small rip on one of the pages.
Quetzal tilted her head and gave a concerned look. The look was not void of humor and lightheartedness, but actually seemed genuinely concerned. “You alright? You sound more like a loon than usual,” Quetzal started to look Dreamcatcher up and down intently, as if she was diagnosing a patient in the healer’s hut. “You haven’t been eating weird red berries have you? I once ate a whole bush of those things, and had the weirdest high.” Quetzal scratched her chin thoughtfully with the tip of her tail. “Actually now that I think about it, I think I ate a coca plant, which would probably explain why I couldn’t sleep that night.”
Dreamcatcher looked at her in confusion. “A coca plant?” He shook his head, mostly because he had no idea what that was, and was sure he never ate one in his life. Though he shook his head partly because Quetzal ate a random rainforest plant. “No, it has to be something else.” He stared blankly into the distance, as if he was looking for the answers somewhere in the depths of the rainforest.
He couldn’t keep his mind at ease for some reason. He used to be relatively laid back, but now he has a generally air of paranoia about him all the time. What if it really was his mind subconsciously trying to warn him of some upcoming danger, like a toned down future sight? It was times like these that he really wished that NightWings really had the powers that they claimed to have for all these years.
Quetzal bounded onto the rock next to Dreamcatcher and shaded her eyes with a claw, looking into the forest too, as if she was a scout. “Yep, those are trees alright. Never seen one up close before, it’s almost like we live in a rainforest?” Quetzal kept a stoic face as if she genuinely believed what she was saying.
Dreamcatcher looked up at Quetzal. “Quetzal please, no sarcastic remarks right now alright? This is serious.”
Quetzal let out a long sigh as she stretched herself on top of the rock. “Dude, why do you have to worry so much about problems that don’t even exist yet?” 
“Because they might become real soon enough?”
“Even if they do, why should you care? Just leave it up to someone else to do.” Quetzal yawned and rubbed her eyes. “I think I might’ve skipped one too many suntimes.”
“What if no one else can stop it? What if I’m the only one who prevent it?”
“Do you hear yourself right now?” Quetzal asked, chuckling a bit. “You sound like a storybook protagonist right now. There will always be someone who can do it or do it better.”
“That’s not always the case, Quetzal, just because something like that is rare does not mean that it doesn’t exist.” Dreamcatcher said, trying to look Quetzal in the eye, but she acted as if she was disinterested. Instead, she pretended to shift her focus more towards her surroundings than Dreamcatcher. “The world isn’t so dissimilar to a story once in awhile. Heroes, prophecies, and reality don’t have to be mutually exclusive you know.”
Quetzal made an incredulous look at Dreamcatcher, scales turning purple, most likely to emphasize her point. “Really? Your twenty or so years older than me, yet sometimes you act more naive.” Quetzal rose from her laying position and sat up straight. “Give me one example where there was a legitimate prophecy and a bunch of dragons rose up to do something against impossible odds,” Quetzal said as her scales set back on the colors they were before. “I think you would be hard pressed to find a good example.”
“What about the dragonets of destiny then? No one else could do it, so they did.”
“Oh please,” Quetzal said, waving her claw dismissively. “Any dragonet could do that. All they really did was wander Pyrrhia like a bunch of birds on the rainforest floor. Give me a MudWing, a SeaWing, a NightWing, and a SandWing, and I could do it too. Better, might I add.”
“I don’t know,” Dreamcatcher said, shrugging his shoulders. “They did some pretty amazing stuff, trust me, I was watching them the whole time. From what I saw, they did stuff that some grown dragons wouldn't be able to pull off.”
“Really now?” Quetzal said, frowning a bit. “When did you become president of their fanclub?”
Dreamcatcher gave her a disappointed look. “Quetzal, can you be serious here for one second?”
“I am being serious! I just want to know why you’ve been so dang serious over this past week,” Quetzal snapped, raising her voice. “I mean do you hear yourself? Prophecies? Mysterious problems? We’re normal dragons with normal lives for crying out loud.” Quetzal stood up, unconsciously curling and uncurling her tail a bit while flaring her ruff. She also stood a bit taller while she talked, clearly getting frustrated at him. Though despite this, little pale blue splotches of color formed all over her scales, spreading out slowly like drops of water on paper. She continued, exasperated. “Whatever it is your worrying about, let someone else handle it alright? At the very least, don’t act so serious and grim all the time about it.”
Despite Quetzal raising her voice and visibly getting a bit frustrated at Dreamcatcher, he held his voice steady and didn’t rise up to her unconscious provocations. “Right, you're right Quetzal, I’m sorry. I’ll try to forget about it,” he lied. After all, appeasement and deception had been where he was strongest at since he was young. Sometimes to lie and end the argument was better than perpetuating your own views. He made his most convincing smile. 
Quetzal relaxed a bit, but still looked a bit annoyed.
She scoffed. “Look the point is, don’t worry about anything in that dumb mess. You’ll get older faster if you don’t live your life.” Quetzal patted Dreamcatcher's head with her tail after that statement. “But, I can’t control your life so whatever. Worry till the day you die, I need to catch up on my suntime.” With that, Quetzal leaped up to a branch while flapping her underdeveloped wings frantically. It wasn't before long that she disappeared into the rainforest, probably going back to the RainWing village.
Dreamcatcher knew fully that Quetzal never rested, that was really just a sign that she was a bit miffed at Dreamcatcher.
Dreamcatcher started on his way back to the village, clearly no reason to stay in the clearing. His thoughts were more chaotic than before, not only of his mysterious worries, but now of Quetzal and what she had said. He had hoped that his meeting with Quetzal might’ve taken his mind off of it, but instead it had the opposite effect, it troubled him further.
But then again, what was new?
He briefly glanced up at the canopy above him as he went down his usual path back to the Night Village. Judging by the position of the sun in the sky, he gathered it was a bit before noon. Despite it only being mid to late morning, Dreamcatcher felt inexplicably tired in that moment.
When he arrived home, he was no longer surrounded by the sounds of the rainforest or the sounds of the volcano or the sounds of dragons making pleasant conversation. There was a still silence that filled the room, one that might seem unnatural. But Dreamcatcher didn’t really mind it. He could think better in this still silence where only him and his thoughts filled it. After all, there were less loud Rainwing dragonets in here.
He didn’t know when, but eventually he fell asleep.
== Chapter 2 ==
Dreamcatcher sat on a sandy beach, absentmindedly watching the black waves wash onto shore and return to the endless sea beyond him. As usual, the moon was completely covered by dark ashes that came out of the looming volcano in the distance. The air smelled strongly of salt water that the wind blew from the sea. He sighed melancholically. This was the beach of his childhood.
He liked this beach, it put distance between him and all of his problems. It was calming how the wind slowly blew in and the waves rhythmically crashed against the shore. He used to spend  a lot of time at this beach. Sometimes for hours at a time, he would simply think and look blankly into the dark night. It was here that he often thought about the war and why he was he was doing what he was doing.
He often sat on the beach directly outside of the animus touched tunnel to the rainforest, so once in awhile, a guard or two might join him. He had many pleasant chats with all kinds of Nightwings about their thoughts, their hopes, and their dreams. Sometimes the conversation got heated, sometimes they were both content with spending a little time in silence, simply enjoying the scene. Dreamcatcher got to know a lot of good dragons like this.
Now he finds himself here again, completely alone with his thoughts.
Suddenly, he hears a light shifting of sand behind him to his right, soft and controlled breathing, as well as the ever so subtle and familiar sound of a dragon tail brushing aside sand. Then, the shifting stops and there is once again absolute silence. Only except this time, it’s a stifling and nervous silence. One that you would not want to find yourself in.
Dreamcatcher doesn’t move, he doesn’t sweat, he doesn’t even take his eyes off of the sea in front of him. Though deep inside, he is nervous. He was absolutely sure he was alone tonight, who could this possibly be? All kinds of possibilities popped up in his mind as he started to worry more. Could it be an assassin? Maybe he misheard and it was just some animal? Maybe it was Morrowseer? Though the last one was unlikely, Morrowseer rarely visited the beach for anything aside from hunting.
“The sea is beautiful isn't it? Even in a place like this,” Dreamcatcher said cautiously, listening closely to the response is given.
“Yeah, I don’t get a whole lot of views like this where I am from,” answered a rather feminine voice behind him. The voice belonged to someone rather old, maybe someone in their mid twenties, certainly no child. Her voice sounded cool and calm, almost superficially so. This was someone who certainly sounded like they had a lot of experience talking. Her words were soft and unassuming, a signal that she didn’t want to come off as threatening. This kind of dragon is the most dangerous kind. Let your guard down for a second, and they will exploit you.
Dreamcatcher’s mind started to work. She mentioned she doesn’t get to see the sea much where she was from, so it could only reasonably be a Skywing or a Sandwing. Tribes that are relatively far from a sea. Dreamcatcher continued the conversation, but carefully.
“You don’t get to see this a lot? Not a lot of places in Pyrrhia where you can’t see the sea. Where do you come from?” Dreamcatcher asked.
There was a brief period of silence as she undoubtedly was thinking of a proper response. “The Kingdom of the Sky. Beautiful skies and great views, but not a lot of calming atmospheres like this,” she said, as she sat down on the beach, a bit closer, but not enough to warrant suspicion. It was a bit strange that a Skywing is all the way out here, but the Skywings know nothing about the animus tunnel, must be a Skywing deserter wandering around Pyrrhia who happened upon the tunnel by chance.
“Really? I’ve never been to the Skywing Kingdom myself, but I’ve certainly heard of it,” Dreamcatcher said casually, relaxing a bit. Perhaps he was overthinking this entire situation a bit too much. Though in the back of his mind, he knew this whole situation made no sense, that there was more to it. Unfortunately, his thoughts were clouded by a dream-like haze.
There was another drawn out silence. “Really Dreamcatcher? You’ve never been to the Skywing Kingdom before? Now, I just find that hard to believe,” the voice said, not changing in tone at all.
Dreamcatcher froze. That was absolutely impossible, how could a Skywing know what his name was? No Skywing ever even knew that he existed, much less his name. Dreamcatcher started to sweat a bit, and his breathing became panicked for a second, before he started to actively control his breathing. “What? My name isn’t Dreamcatcher, it’s Constellation, and I’ve told, you, I’ve never been to the Skywing Kingdom.”
“Cut the act Dreamcatcher,” the voice behind him said, growing more harsh and to the point. “I don’t have all night to waste on your pointless game of deception.”
Dreamcatcher tried to stay calm, but it was starting to visibly show on his exterior that he was starting to get nervous. “Who are you?” He asked, a little bit of a shake present, but subtle in his voice.
“Why don’t you turn around and see for yourself? I’m sure you’ll remember when you see me,” she said as if she knew Dreamcatcher. Though this isn’t the kind of knowing that would imply friendship. She has been watching Dreamcatcher for a long time now. Only now is she finally revealing herself to him.
Dreamcatcher turned around, and was met by a Skywing that looked regal. It was almost as if she was built to look exactly like royalty. He recalled seeing Scarlet once, and if there was a comparison to be drawn between this dragon and another, he would definitely relate her to Scarlet. She simply sat there, her eyes fixed into a glare, but her overall posture implied that she was relaxed. She showed no outside intention of harm to Dreamcatcher.
That probably scared him the most.
Suddenly, Dreamcatcher remembered everything. The reason he was so worried before, was because he has seen this recurring character in his dreams. Often, she wouldn’t be doing anything. She would just… watch. It was incredibly unnerving, but for the longest of times, he would simply brush her off as just another figment of his increasingly troubled imagination.
“Wait, you’re apart of my dreams?” Dreamcatcher asked. The more he understood the situation, the more the dreamy haze was lifted from his mind.
The dragon in front of him nodded. “Yes, yes I am, but it goes deeper than that, I’m afraid,” she said, unconsciously touching a curious glowing stone that she is wearing around her neck. “Just because I am a part of your dreams, does not necessarily mean that I am not real.”
Something in Dreamcatcher’s mind clicked. “You’re a dream visitor aren’t you?” Dreamcatcher asked, making a mental note to be a lot more careful with his words and actions now that he knew this was a very real dragon with very real motives. “I thought they were just a myth?” Dreamcatcher asked, trying to play down his own intelligence.
“I think you’ll find me to be more real than most dragons on this accursed continent,” the dragon replied. “My name is Aquila, the new leader of of a small group of rebel Skywings. We are going to finish what Scarlet started.”
“Really? I thought all Skywings loved the new Queen,” Dreamcatcher said, genuinely a bit confused. Queen Ruby seemed like a fine queen, she ran her kingdom well, and was quite popular with the vast majority of Skywings. Though this might be partially influenced by the fact that Scarlet was such a tyrannical leader. With Scarlet being the last queen, practically any Skywing would be widely regarded as a vastly better leader.
“Now Dreamcatcher, certainly you are smarter than that?” She asked. “As if a real, respectable Skywing would bow down to such a weak leader like Ruby,” she said, face forming a bit of a scowl. “As much as I would like to discuss that though, that is not what I’ve come here for.”
“Looking to recruit me for your cause?” Dreamcatcher asked, giving her a look of skepticism. “I’m just a writer, a failure of a writer at that. No way a dragon like that is going to mean anything to your cause. Find someone else,” Dreamcatcher said, voice reeking of self loathing. He turned away from her once again, hoping his attitude would drive her away immediately. He knew exactly what she was looking for.
“I think we both know full well what you are capable of, Dreamcatcher,” Aquila said, narrowing her eyes, and increasing the intensity of her piercing, analytical stare. “You’re the best at what you do, and you know it.”
“Sorry, I’m not a spy anymore,” Dreamcatcher said, digging his claws into the sand beneath him. “I've set that time behind me. I'm no longer bound by my past," with that last statement, Dreamcatcher turned around and looked Aquila in the eyes. "You'll find someone else, for sure. Just leave me out of this."
At this, Aquila made a rather wide smile and started to chuckle to herself. Dreamcatcher flinched, not expecting such a reaction out of her.
"You know, for a smart dragon like you, you really are a bit naïve," Aquila said. "I've seen your dreams, and I have to say, I've never seen someone more bound to his past than you. Even today, in reality, you live and die on the word of one dragon, Morrowseer."
Dreamcatcher froze when he heard the name.
"See, even now, you have such a strong reaction to the mention of the name," Aquila said, probably secretly noting Dreamcatcher reaction to the name. Dreamcatcher messed up by reacting to the name, now she has some leverage over him when convincing him to join. Even if he didn't know it, he had already lost.
"What do you know about Morrowseer?" Dreamcatcher asked, usual calm exterior breaking down.
"Depends on what you're willing to do," Aquila said with a smug smile. Dreamcatcher only responded with contemplative silence as he carefully assessed his option. However, his mind became a scrambled mess, and his judgement became clouded. "Recall that the dream visitor does not last forever."
Through clenched teeth, Dreamcatcher made his reply. "I'm willing to do anything."
"Good, it really is such an honor to have a dragon like you on board with my cause, really," Aquila said. Suddenly, she stood up and glared at him, seemingly towering over him. "However, if you betray me... Well, I'll make sure to find you a nice shady spot." Dreamcatcher has never been unnerved by death threats before, but somehow, this felt genuine, like she meant every word she said and could carry it out. When it came from her, in her voice, it sent shivers down Dreamcatcher’s spine. “I will be just outside of the rainforest, by a secret cave that isn't marked on maps. Don’t worry, you’ll either see me a mile away, or I'll find you. Make sure you aren't followed at all when traveling there.” Aquila’s visage suddenly started to fade, and the stone around her neck began to flicker a bit as she became transparent. “That's all the information I can give for now, see you later, and I'm glad that we have you on the team,” Aquila said, smiling sincerely at him. She eventually completely disappeared, leaving Dreamcatcher completely alone, once again, on the beach
Dreamcatcher didn't trust her for a second. He has known dragons like her, and if his experience has taught him anything, is that she should not be trusted. What should be done and what he wanted to do were completely different things though. Even Aquila seemed to know that in order to have an effective and loyal spy, you need to build a relationship on trust. So there has to be at least some truth to what she might know about Morrowseer. It certainly would not be in her best interest to trick a dragon like Dreamcatcher. Though was it really worth it? He was about to create one of the greatest crimes in the history of Pyrrhia, to help kill a widely beloved Queen, all for rather valuable information?
He never was a religious type, but even he recognizes this can't possibly be good for his karma.
He buried his head into his claws
“What mess did I get myself in now?”
== Chapter 3 ==
Quetzal sat on the branch of a rainforest tree, just outside of the Nightwing village. She was well hidden on her vantage point, and had a great view of the entire village. This usually was such a great view really, and often, she and her friends would hang out here and gawk at the Nightwings. Sometimes they would make fun of how ridiculously serious they looked and sometimes they would feel bad that they had to stay up all day when usually Nightwings were asleep. As much as Quetzal wanted it to be one of those times, she found herself in a completely different situation.
Here she was, in the middle of the night, with heavy wings and heavier eyelids. 
“Darn Dreamcatcher, making me worry,” Quetzal said quietly, only half awake and half conscious. She started to doze off, but shook her head suddenly to shake off her drowsiness. She rubbed her eyes and let out a stifled yawn. She couldn’t sleep, not yet, not while Dreamcatcher is most definitely going to do something unbelievably stupid.
Ever since Dreamcatcher had all that talk about being inexplicably worried and prophecies, Quetzal has been worried sick, as much as she didn’t want to admit it. Quetzal couldn’t help but think that Dreamcatcher was going to do something, and when it came time for him to make a choice, he would make the wrong one, after all, he was terrible at making decisions.
Many scenarios made their way into her head, questions and uncertainties that had no way of being predicted. What if he was about to ally himself with the wrong people? What if he was going to do bad things? The last thought that ran through her mind made her feel more terrible than her lack of sleep. What if Dreamcatcher got himself killed? Dreamcatcher was her greatest friend, even if they had only known each other for a year or two. Even if sometimes he can be a bit strange, he was a great dragon, and always had time to talk, something she was never able to share meaningfully with another dragon. Not for real anyway.
Then again, sleep sounded pretty nice right now. Quetzal let out a long sigh. Why was she doing this anyway? Dreamcatcher was probably asleep already, dreaming of… Whatever grown ups like him are dreaming of, probably alcohol or something else grown up. Every passing second, it seemed like she needed more and more energy to keep her eyelids up. “Well, I’m sure it wouldn’t hurt to close my eyes for a little bit…”
Suddenly, as she was starting to doze off, she saw a light through her eyelids. “Wha-? Is it morning already?” She asked to no one in particular, groggily opening her eyes. She rubbed her eyes and refocused her vision.
There, standing right outside of a small hut, was Dreamcatcher, whose face was revealed by the dim light of the candle that he had lit with his fire. Quetzal suddenly was awake at the sight of Dreamcatcher. She looked up at the moons, it was still around midnight, when everyone surely was asleep. Dreamcatcher had no business being up this late.
Unless, he did?
Dreamcatcher had an anxious look on his face, and was carefully scanning his surroundings, as if he was being followed. Quetzal instinctively camouflaged herself, not wanting to get caught by Dreamcatcher. He scanned the treetops, and seemed to linger on Quetzal’s spot, but it could just be her exhaustion getting to her. Whatever he was doing, he wanted to make sure that nobody caught him doing it.
Something strick her as off about his behavior though. It seemed superficial almost. Quetzal then reached an epiphany as something that Dreamcatcher told her the other day rang through her mind. Back when I was a spy, there’d be no margin for error. If we slipped up even once, that would mean the destruction of the whole operation. Quetzal tossed the thought around in her mind for a few moments, so deep in thought that accidently uncamouflaged.
Dreamcatcher has learned over the years to be absolutely flawless in his executions of actions, so it would not make any sense to do anything that would be suspicious.
Unless he wanted to be caught by someone. Perhaps a very specific someone.
For Nightwings, it made no sense to carry candles to find their way around in the night, because they already had night vision, which allowed them to see clearly during night. Not only that, but the candle illuminated an anxious face, which is something that Quetzal would never relate to Dreamcatcher, because he has already been conditioned to be calm in almost any situation. Clearly, he was trying to convey some sort of message to someone, and Quetzal only knew one dragon he would even dare to trust in the rainforest. More specifically, only one dragonet.
A twinge of doubt spoke out in the back of her mind, what if she had it all wrong? What if she didn’t know Dreamcatcher as well as she thought she did? She shook her head. That still didn’t change the fact that Dreamcatcher was about to do something, something bad. In secret no less. At this rate, she might uncover something so much bigger than anything that she has ever known.
The thought made her heart race. The reason for this reaction was twofold.
While she was thinking, Dreamcatcher started to move in a direction that led outside of the Nightwing village, far away from the rainforest. Quetzal dropped down to the ground, flapping her wings in a way that created almost no sound. Luckily, Dreamcatcher didn’t seem to notice, but Quetzal noted that he appeared a lot calmer than he did before.
After following Dreamcatcher quietly through miles of twists and turns, Dreamcatcher finally came to a stop in an empty field a fair ways away from the rainforest. It was simply an empty field, and over on the horizon, was a sizeable cave, but not big enough for anyone to notice. Suddenly, as if out of nowhere, a female red and gold Skywing landed in front of Dreamcatcher, seemingly friendly smile on her face. Though something seemed off about her, something seemed eerie and and terrifying about her. Quetzal didn’t trust her for a second.
“Ah, Dreamcatcher!” She said cheerily, as if they had known each other for years. “I’m glad you decided to make the right decision.”
“My decision? I had no say in the first place,” Dreamcatcher said, not a shred of fear in his voice.
“Oh please Dreamcatcher, of course you had a choice,” the dragon in front of him said casually. Her smile somehow grew. “You had the choice to join us, are be put in a shallow grave.”
Dreamcatcher scoffed. “Hardly a choice if you ask me,” he said, looking her dead in the eyes, serious expression unchanging. “You’d find better choices in a Skywing arena.”
“Maybe so, but dragons like you make new choices,” She replied. “It would be a shame if I had to bury talent like yours in the ground, which is why I'm glad you made the right choice.”
Dreamcatcher didn’t even move. He didn’t emote, he didn’t react, it was hard to tell if he was even really breathing. This was a side of Dreamcatcher that she did not even know existed. “Cut the flattery,” Dreamcatcher said. “Let my work do the speaking.”
Aquila nodded in approval. “Now you’re speaking my language.”
Quetzal’s head was spinning. Who was this Skywing? Why is Dreamcatcher acting like this? She couldn’t figure any of this out, no matter how much she thought about it and rationalizing it. This kind uncaring and blunt Dreamcatcher that was in front of her, might as well be a completely different person. Not in story or person has Dreamcatcher ever acted like this. And the Skywing? Why would Dreamcatcher do something for someone like her? Someone that blatantly tried to intimidate him?
The amount of unknowns were too great, and Quetzal started to get a headache.
“But,” the Skywing said, looking around them, as if to make sure that it was, in fact, just the two of them. “Before we get down to business, I have to ask,” she leaned in close. “You weren’t followed were you? How unfortunate would it be if I had to kill a bunch of dragons today because you made a mistake.”
“I don’t make mistakes,” Dreamcatcher said, looking her in the eyes.
“Excellent, then we can be on our way then,” the Skywing said, walking towards the cave on the horizon before spreading her enormous wings. “Welcome to the team Dreamcatcher, I have a feeling that we’re one step closer to a brighter and more prosperous future with you onboard. Come with me, it’s not that far a fly.” With that, the Skywing lifted off, creating a huge amount of tailwind.
Dreamcatcher looked behind him and stared directly at Quetzal. Quetzal froze. She could have sworn she was camouflaged. Dreamcatcher made a gesture with his to follow him and Quetzal immediately got up, still well camouflaged. Though she assumed that he meant to follow him on the ground because flying meant a definite chance to get caught.
Dreamcatcher flapped his wings and lifted off, in pursuit of the strange Skywing. Quetzal kept herself down close to the ground, bounding after them as fast as she could. By the time that she arrived, she was panting, and could barely keep her camouflage on. She was on the verge of collapse from the run alone, and couldn’t keep up. She had to stay conscious though, Dreamcatcher needed her to bail him out of this incredibly dumb situation.
The two dragons landed outside of the cave, which now that Quetzal got a closer look at, was actually incredibly small. That was definitely a place she would not want to be, and even just looking at it gave her shivers.
“This is it? I thought it would be a bit more extravagant,” Dreamcatcher snarked, adding a little edge to his voice. Though the Skywing didn’t notice and started to laugh.
“What’s with the sudden change of attitude? You seemed pretty chipper before, in your dream,” the Skywing said.
“I could say the same about you, Aquila.” Dreamcatcher replied.
“Ah yes, well, you need to take on a certain attitude to get the job done,” Aquila threw a talon over his neck and pulled him into a friendly embrace. Quetzal chuckled quietly in spite of herself, looking at Dreamcatcher’s absolutely mortified expression. That seemed more like him. “But come on, we’re allies now, comrades in arms! Trust isn’t something you can intimidate yourself into, it’s something you earn,” Aquila smiled at Dreamcatcher. “And I intend to win you over.”
“Strange words coming from the ghost of a tyrant,” Dreamcatcher said, pushing himself out of the embrace.
“Like you can talk?” Aquila retorted.
“Suppose not.” Dreamcatcher shrugged.
“Anyways, this is a small cache of supplies and a base of operations for the rainforest area. It’s small, secluded, and unmapped. Every single one of these things comes with enough resources to sustain long and drawn out reconnaissance missions of any variety, and have enough arms to arm a small militia,” Aquila explained.
Dreamcatcher seemed to intensify his glare, as if he was silently and harshly critiquing her. “That’s all well and good, but getting to one to another without being followed must be a harrowing experience.”
Aquila smiled and nodded, seemingly acknowledging what Dreamcatcher said. “Nothing escapes your notice, huh?” Aquila smiled unsettlingly at Dreamcatcher. Dreamcatcher didn't so much as flinch, but Quetzal shivered at the sight of her toothy grin. “Our base is a series of underground tunnels that are all interconnected, sure, might take a day or two to get to one place to another, but safety is priceless, wouldn’t you agree?”
“Sure, but one last question.” Dreamcatcher said, with a blank unreadable expression. It had only occurred to Quetzal now the reason for his overly specific questions, and as she realized his true motive, she cursed to herself that she didn't have a notepad, similar to Dreamcatcher. “How many people will I have to work with? I'm not used to huge organizations.”
Aquila burst into sudden laughter, once again bringing Dreamcatcher close with a friendly embrace. “Oh Dreamcatcher, what do we look like to you? We’re just a rebel group, not some kingdom or large organization. Last time I checked, we only had four or so more members, excluding us,” Aquila said. “You’d be highly mistaken if you would think that we of all dragons have much of a force to fight with,” Aquila said rather lightheartedly. “Come in, there’s plenty of space,” Aquila said, before entering the little cave and disappearing into the depths below.
Dreamcatcher looked back at Quetzal, who was still cloaked, nervously chewing on the tip of her tail. He brought out his worn notebook, and flipped to a page that wasn’t riddled in ink marks, and began to write as fast as he could. With frightening and accurate speed, he ripped the page out and tossed it behind him, entering the cave after Aquila.
Quetzal quickly scrambled to get the page, and hastily returned back to her hiding place, not wanting to alert any unwanted company. She quickly opened up the crumpled note, glad that the ink dried fast. Dreamcatcher’s handwriting was, for the most part, almost completely indecipherable. Half of it looked like it was written in an actual language, and some of it looked like an incoherent chicken scratch that you would find in a journal of a dragon who had went insane. Though, after some time, eventually she figured out what some of it read. She read it aloud to herself quietly. She might have given herself the ability to read, but her reading skills were still lacking quite a bit, and she often had to sound words out.
“Quetzal… if you are here… contact in Possibility… Talons of peace… Mention my name… Probably in a bar somewhere… Hurry,” Quetzal read aloud. Despite the situation they were both in, Quetzal couldn’t help but internally complain about how ridiculously vague Dreamcatcher was in this note. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that half of it wasn’t legible, but more likely than not, it was just because he was being incredibly vague. Currently all she had to go on was that she had to find someone in Possibility, who was probably in a bar. Quetzal didn’t even know what a bar was, or what dragons did in there, how in the world is she supposed to find a dragon in one? Quetzal cursed Dreamcatcher under her breath.
Suddenly a solution to all her problems came to mind, but she hated the thought of it. She carefully weighed her options, a sick feeling rising in her stomach. On one talon, Dreamcatcher really needed the help of this dragon, whoever they were, and seemed to trust them. On the other talon, if she was going to do what she was going to do, she might do irreparable harm to her soul and her psyche.
She nervously picked up a rock that sat next to her, holding it with shivering and unsure talons. She thought long and hard before finally saying what she wanted to say. “I… I enchant this rock to lead me to whoever I want to find, no matter how far away they are,” Quetzal said. Then, as if magic, the rock started to gently tug in one direction; it started to tug in the direction of the desert. Well, she always wanted to get out of the rainforest. Maybe not on a wild goose chase, but she was getting out of the rainforest nonetheless.
She sighed, making sure to add the most recent enchantment onto her list. “That makes 26,” she said to herself quietly, before lifting of and trying her best to fly to Possibility.
== Chapter 4 ==
Quetzal listlessly trudged across the peak of a sand dune, panting from overheating. Rainforest days might’ve been able to get hot, but desert days had the capacity to practically cook her alive. She wiped more sweat from herself. She wasn’t even aware that a dragon could realistically sweat this much until she came here. In her talons, the small stone was still tugging in a direction, hopefully toward Possibility. It was times like these that she wished she could fly as well as all the other dragonets in the rainforest. If she could fly, she’d probably be there already, but no. Instead, she got to take a day long trip through the desert.
She looked up at the sun, shielding her eyes with a talon. It looked about mid-day to her, a significant amount of time since she left the rainforest. She wondered how something that had been her ally for so long could turn around and become the end of her. In the rainforest, it was more a humid warmth, which she absolutely adored, but here, it was more a dry oppressive heat that threatened to end her any second now.
“Why couldn’t Dreamcatcher have a friend somewhere nicer?” Quetzal asked aloud between labored breaths. “I would have even been fine with going into the ice kingdom, anything would be better than this!” After shouting, she realized that she was talking to herself, and probably sounded insane to anybody in earshot. Though she knew that there probably no one in earshot in the middle of nowhere. She was the only dragon in earshot of herself.
She continued on, long tail lagging lazily behind her. It was finally happening, her brain was being cooked so bad that she was actually starting to go insane. She started to panic. First, it’s talking to yourself, then, it’s a downward spiral into madness. Then, off in the distance, she saw a sizeable city. Of course! She would first start having visions, manifestations of what her wants, only to have them grow further and further away, a cruel trick played on her by her deteriorating mind. 
However, the closer she drew toward the mirage, the closer it got. Not unlike a real city. “Oh shoot,” Quetzal said in sudden realization. “Is that actually real?” She said in awe, as if she had never seen a city before in her life.
Many of her mental functions may have shut down at this point, but at the very least, she knew for certain that a city most definitely meant water. She quickened her pace, and soon, the city filled her vision to the point where she could actually see dragons in the city. However, in her glee, she tripped and sent herself tumbling down the sand dune. At the base, she hit her head on a rock, turning her scales white and almost instantly knocking her out with a sickening crack.
…..
Quetzal groaned as she slowly opened her eyes. Almost instantly, she wished she never woke up as a persistent and painful aching in the back of her head suddenly made itself evident. She clenched her teeth and cursed under her breath for a good few seconds before settling down. She shook her head, trying to shake off her grogginess.
She started to observe her surroundings, slowly realizing the situation that she was in. The first thing that she noticed was that the room that she found herself in was certainly not the desert. She started to panic. Had she been abducted? Was she going to be killed? Was she going to be eaten by an ancient, cannibalistic dragon tribe that had been long forgotten and isolated from the rest of Pyrrhia? 
After calming her wandering mind a bit, she at the very least ruled out the last option.
She investigated her surroundings a bit more, taking care to analyze every detail. Underneath her was a rather comfy and strange bed, that used wooden posts to support it on the front and back end of the bed. Certainly a strange way to organize a bed if you asked her. On the bed seemed to be some small blood stains, which she hoped were just her own. To her right, she saw a small window that showed a view of outside. Clearly, wherever she was, it wasn’t a comfy establishment, because the window overlooked a blank wall of another building. Charming. Right next to the bed, she found a small table that had a small glass of water and a folded note. Without a moment’s hesitation, she immediately downed the water, sighing in relief. Now if only she had that a few hours ago.
Aside from that, the room looked rather old and run down, and the sounds that came from downstairs were loud and clear. Below her, she heard sounds of slurred speech and cheering. Wherever she was, it sounded like a more public space.
She picked up the note and opened it cautiously, as if the slightest misstep could lead to her death. She opened the note, relieved that it was actually something legible. All it said was, ‘enjoy the water, I’ll be up to check on you’. Strange words to be written on a note, for sure, but she probably looked awfully strange to whoever found her. She tried not to dwell on the words too much, if she did, she'd probably start over thinking this entire situation again. She got up from the bed and stood up, wincing a bit; her legs were probably still sore after the whole trip. 
Then, it hit her. She had to get out of here immediately, she still had to find that dragon Dreamcatcher wanted her to find. She started to grow more panicked as she started to think about what would happen if she didn’t find this dragon in time. However, before she could think on the subject for too long, she heard footsteps approaching, and what sounded like a casual conversation. She quietly ran to the door, pressing her ear against it in order to hear.
“Ha, who did you drag in this time Camilla?” Asked a gruff, yet rather jolly and chipper voice.
“A Rainwing, looks like a young dragonet,” answered a feminine voice. She sounded composed, but underneath her voice was a layer of concern. Albeit well concealed concern. Quetzal assumed this was Camilla.
“Again? Damn kids, wandering through the desert. Doesn’t anyone at least tell them to prepare?”
“Well, if they did, there wouldn’t be so many kids that end up like her.”
“Ay, true. I remember when I was a kid-” the male dragon started. There was a whimsical and nostalgic tone to his voice, as if he was recalling the glory days of his youth.
“Oh brother, not again with these stories,” Camilla groaned, it seemed that they have went through the same cycle many times.
Undeterred, the other dragon started his story. “My parents would force us to cross the desert ourselves, back and forth. If we didn’t do it within the day, they wouldn’t give us any dinner.”
“Wow, really?” Camilla sounded unimpressed and probably wasn't even paying attention. If Quetzal had to guess, she'd probably heard thousands of stories like this.
“Oh yeah. That was back during the good old days of being a Sandwing. Nowadays, it’s all about education and living the cushy life without actually putting work into it,” the Sandwing said, putting a little bit of an edge to the end of his sentence, probably out of spite for today’s generation.
“Mhmm,” Camilla said, drawing closer to the door. “Hey, toss me the keys will you?”
“Huh? Oh yeah sure,” the other dragon said, tossing something that made a jingling sound in the air. It was abruptly cut off by what she assumed was Camilla catching it. “So where was I? Oh yeah! So one time, my sister-”
Camilla shushed him. “Look, I like your stories, really, they have a charm to them, but this is a dragonet we’re talking about. I doubt they want to hear how much you hate the current establishment,” she said hastily as a tapping sound came from the other side of the wall.
“Uh, Camilla.”
“Yeah?”
“You’re missing the keyhole again.”
“Shut up, I’ll figure it out eventually,” Camilla said, as the tapping grew faster and harder.
“Here, Camilla, lemme do it.”
“No, no, I got it,” she hastily said, the tapping growing more vigorous.
“Look Camilla, just give me the darn keys, at this rate, you're gonna snap them in half,” he paused before resuming. “That's not an exaggeration either, with your background and all.”
Camilla let out a sigh of defeat and handed the Sandwing the keys. “Thank you for your cooperation girl, I swear, getting you to listen for once is a bigger achievement than winning against a dragon who cheats at cards.”
Camilla let out a grunt in response as the key made a clicking sound on the other side of the door. Quetzal jumped back and tried to look as natural as possible just as the door swung open, revealing two rather interesting characters.
The first was a rather well toned Sandwing. The had soft eyes and a friendly look, with deep laugh lines on his face. However, it didn't look like he was a stranger to conflict, as a small, faded scar ran over his right front leg. He seemed to absolutely overshadow Quetzal and the other dragon he was with, which was rather intimidating despite his friendly looks. He simply smiled at Quetzal.
The other dragon in the room was slightly smaller than the one to her right, but that wasn’t the first thing that Quetzal noticed about her. The first thing she noticed was how much she stood out. She was an Icewing, certainly a rare sight to see outside the ice kingdom, a rarer sight to see in the desert of all places. Quetzal’s eyes were first attracted to her face though. On her left eye was a white eyepatch, with a black cross drawn on the center of it. Her face looked rather blank and unreadable, and her one good eye looked like it was already analyzing Quetzal. Strangely enough, she tilted her head to the left ever so slightly, as if to get a better look at Quetzal with her good eye.
“Ah! I see you're all better already,” the Sandwing said, approaching Quetzal. The Icewing hung back, probably unsure of what to think about Quetzal. “That’s good, that’s good. The name’s Oasis, and I'm the owner of this fine establishment. However, the credit for saving you should go to Camilla over here,” Oasis said, putting a wing around Camilla and pushing her forward. Camilla glared at Oasis, but it lacked any hostility. Quetzal determined that they were probably close friends, maybe even closer than that.
“Charmed,” she said, tilting her head downward a bit, as if to bow.
Oasis took in a sharp breath of air. “Yeah, back from her parts, she was a real fancy type, get what I’m saying?” At that comment, Camilla frowned and smacked Oasis over the head with her tail. “Hey, don’t be getting ornery over something that's true!” At that, Oasis let out a jolly laugh that was almost contagious. Oasis extended a talon to shake for Quetzal. “What might your name be sweetheart?”
“Quetzal, it’s Quetzal,” she said, reluctantly taking his talon and shaking it. She smiled lightly, trying to make herself seem as serene as possible. Though she didn't really have to try. It seemed like with Oasis, she felt a lot less worried about everything she was ruminating about before.
Oasis showed a reaction to her name, though it wasn't anything big or even noticeable to anyone who wasn’t paying close attention. A slight raise of the eyebrows, an irregular blink, and a strange look in his eyes as he shook her talon.
“Something wrong Mister Oasis?” Quetzal asked sweetly. She felt that she should push a little bit further on the subject, after all, she had pretty much concluded that these were decent dragons, though Camilla looked a bit off.
“Nothing you should worry about, just the odd mannerisms of an old dragon. You got some pretty sharp eyes there though, and a mind to match, where’d you learn that?” Oasis asked.
“Learned it from a friend back in the rainforest,” Quetzal said, taking care to leave out any specific details.
“Really? No Rainwing I’ve ever met was half as sharp,” Oasis said, chuckling a bit to himself. “Doubt that any Rainwing could teach you to be so observant.”
“Who said it had to be a Rainwing?” Quetzal said, looping her tail around her again out of habit.
“Ah, and there is where I finally find the answer. Now tell me, which Nightwing taught you what you know?” Oasis said. He still seemed friendly as ever in his questions, but the amount of questions he asked started to unnerve her. The blank and unreadable stare of Camilla’s only eye did not help either. Quetzal noted that she never said that the person who taught her was a Nightwing. Either this dragon here was some kind of enemy to Dreamcatcher, or knew him well as a friend. Though the strange thing is that she has never heard Dreamcatcher talk about Oasis in his stories. Not once. She decided to take her chances and told the truth.
“His name’s Dreamcatcher,” Quetzal said casually.
Oasis immediately started to smile, even bigger than before. “Ah, that makes a whole lot more sense.”
At this moment, Camilla stepped into the conversation. “Excuse me for asking, but who is this ‘Dreamcatcher?’”
“Thought I you told me to shush about my old stories or else I was gonna bore you and our guest here,” Oasis said snidely.
“I more meant the stories you tell in excess,” Camilla said.
“Alright then, well Dreamcatcher is an old friend back during the war. During the war, Dreamcatcher would use me as a way to spread information and rumors all around Pyrrhia. I befriended and taught him everything that Morrowseer couldn’t fill in. I was one of the only friends that he had I’d reckon, I hardly considered Morrowseer to be a friend of his,” Oasis said, once again wandering into that nostalgic tone he had before, remembering all the good times that they shared, no doubt. However, his voice soon turned grave as he continued. “Knowing him, I thought that he decided to die with that Morrowseer dragon. Dreamcatcher loved the dragon to bits, but the love was never returned, not from what I saw. Guess that he finally listened to something I said,” Oasis said, chuckling a bit at the last remark. “Actually now that I think about it, you and Dreamcatcher aren’t so different; both of you don't listen to a damn thing I say!” Oasis exclaimed, laughing heartily. He patted Camilla on the back with his wing, making Camilla cough a bit.
Suddenly, something clicked in Quetzal’s mind. “Wait, you wouldn’t happen to be a part of the Talons of Peace would you?”
Oasis smiled at Quetzal with a look of pride on his face as he puffed out his chest. “That I am! Proud member of the Talons of Peace since it was still a movement of two dragons. In fact, I was made the leader not so long ago,” Oasis seemed to grow sadder at the last comment. With sullen eyes, he continued. “Then again, it isn’t so much an achievement when everyone upped and left the Talons of Peace after peace arrived. We used to be everywhere, now, I can count the amount of members on my claws. Two out of five of ‘em are standing right in front of you.”
Quetzal took out her rock, and sure enough, the rock was tugging towards Oasis. She walked up slowly to Oasis, and touched him the the rock, and not a second after, the rock became completely still in her talons.
“Uh, you okay there girl?” Oasis asked cautiously, visibly confused at Quetzal’s actions.
“Yeah, more than okay actually, now that I’ve finally found you,” Quetzal said quickly, relieved that she finally found who she was looking for in a timely fashion. “Dreamcatcher sent me to find you, he needs help.”
“Help? I’ve known Dreamcatcher long enough to know that he doesn’t often ask for help. How do I know you're telling the truth?” Oasis said, narrowing his eyes a bit.
Quetzal pulled out the note that she kept and handed it over to Oasis. Oasis immediately snatched t up and started to read it intently. Camilla leaned in to sneak a peek.
“Oh no…” Oasis breathed.
“What is it?” Quetzal said, concern renewing.
Oasis held out the paper and pointed at the writing. “His writing still looks terrible,” Oasis said rather matter-of-factly. He nodded his head. “Though yeah, this is definitely his handwriting. Must’ve been in a hurry if he scribbled all of this down.”
“Let me take a look,” Camilla said, taking the paper. She read over it intently with her one eye, as if carefully analyzing it. “Pretty sure this is actually a different language,” Camilla said, handing the paper back.
Oasis nodded. “Sad thing is, it isn't.” Oasis took the paper back and handed it back to Quetzal. “Camilla, get the other dragons together, we have another mission.”
“Right. What shall I tell them?”
“Tell them to prepare for a stealth mission, but be ready for anything,” Oasis said, growing serious.
“Anything, Oasis?”
“Yeah, if Dreamcatcher needs help, we need to assume the worst. Gather them up and bring them here, Quetzal here will explain the situation to me, and we’ll create a plan of action.”
“Will that be all?”
Oasis nodded at Camilla. In an instant, Camilla bounded out of the room at frightening speed and grace.
Oasis shook his head. “What trouble did he get himself into this time around?” Oasis’s expression seemed unreadable, or at the very least, the strangest amalgamation of emotions. He seemed concerned, happy, frightened. Maybe he was feeling the same thing as Quetzal was right now. 
Oasis used his tail barb to hook around the door handle and closed the door with a slam. He sat down and got comfortable, and put on the most serious expression that she had ever seen him with in the short amount of time Quetzal knew him.
“Alright, how about you start from the beginning?”Category:Fanfictions (Incomplete)
Category:Fanfictions (Canon)
Category:Fanfictions
Category:Genre (Adventure)
Category:Content (RibbonRaptor)