Tempest's Collection of Short Stories

This is part of A World of Unity!
Just a place to store my various short Wings of Fire stories, for you all to read! Some stories feature canon characters, other feature OCs.
Note that "Echoes of the Truth" features my WIP fantribe, EchoWings, with the character Mourning Dove. "The Two Halves of a Single Tribe" features my WIP fantribe, ShardWings, with the characters Red Diamond, Olivine, and Zebra Jasper.
Warning for violence and death on "The Lost Dragonet", "The Silent Ocean" as well as mentions of death in "When a MudWing Dies", "The Death of a SkyWing", "The Great Ice Dragon", and "What Happens When LeafWings Die?"
== The Offer of Lies==
Monarch fiddled with her talons nervously, awaiting the two queens who would come to speak, and come to argue.
She knew that was all they would do. It was all they did last time, and the time before that, and the time before that.
Perhaps Clearsight wanted her to do something. Perhaps Monarch was supposed to intervene, to stop their arguments before it dissolved into violence. But if that was what Clearsight wanted, why hadn't she just warned Wasp not to fight Sequoia, or told her that Monarch would be the one to mediate their fights?
She hoped they would be here soon. Their tea was growing cold. She'd already drank some of hers, and now her cup was half-full, but she was waiting to continue drinking it.
At last, Sequoia swooped gracefully into the meeting room. Even threatened by Wasp, even at the other end of her horrific stingers, Sequoia still managed to hold her ground. Should she? Should she just give up?
Wasp came shortly after, half as graceful but not caring. The two dragons had brought their most trusted generals, Bloodworm (who was also Wasp's sister, interestingly), and Linden (who seemed more than a general to Sequoia, but Monarch knew not to ask). Wasp sat down, glaring at the two queens before holding the small cup awkwardly and sipping from it slowly. Sequoia did the same, perhaps less awkward, while Bloodworm and Linden simply watched, their faces without expression.
"Sequoia," Wasp hissed at last, the spikes along her spine flaring up as she spoke, and she spat the word out like poison. She bared her teeth at the LeafWing queen, as if hoping to intimidate her.
"Wasp," Sequoia replied in a calm manner, holding her cup gently and dipping her head, though Monarch could see the fins along Sequoia's spine were slowly flaring up as well.
"I have a proposition, and you might do best to shut up and listen," Wasp began, clearly forcing her spikes to lower. She briefly nodded to Bloodworm, before turning back to the two queens. "As you two know, I have read the Book of Clearsight-"
"-And you never let us read it," Sequoia interrupted, placing her cup down gently. "Why is that? Why would Clearsight not want us to read it?"
"I've told you," Wasp spat. "She clearly said 'For HiveWing royals only'."
"I know, and yet that seems a tad unfair," Sequoia replied, but she refrained from speaking further, allowing Wasp to continue.
"The Book has stated that it is time for I to rule all three tribes," Wasp declared. "All you must do is agree, nothing more! And then I can manage your tribes, and my own, while you two can relax and drink tea. No more nights of stressing whether you're doing the right thing, no more questioning your orders. I offer to carry this burden for you, as it is what Clearsight has intended."
Monarch and Sequoia were silent, unsure of what to make of this offer. Linden leaned over, whispering something in Sequoia's ear. Sequoia nodded, and the two whispered. Monarch strained to hear, but she could only hear fragments. But the tone of their voices sent a chill down her spine, as if they were planning to deny. Monarch was scared of Wasp, and she was pretty sure to some extent, Sequoia was too. But unlike Monarch, Sequoia would never show this fear.
After a moment of silence, Monarch realized Wasp's eyes were burning into the side of her neck. She was waiting for an answer. Monarch turned and stared right into Wasp's soulless black eyes. Another trickle of fear, she held back from shuddering. Wasp's glare seemed to see right through her, as if it were telling her it knew what she was thinking and feeling right at this moment.
"Very well," She said at last, fidgeting with her talons again and refraining from crouching away from Wasp's gaze. If Sequoia didn't flinch under Wasp's gaze, Monarch shouldn't, either. "I gift you my SilkWings."
A slow smile crept across Wasp's face. "Good. Sequoia, Linden, are you two done whispering? What say you of my offer?"
Sequoia drew in a breath, and spoke her simple answer. "No."
"What do you mean, no?" Wasp hissed, spikes rising again, before sipping some of her tea and calming herself. "Sequoia, dear, did you say the wrong thing, perhaps? Surely you meant to say yes?"
"I meant what I said," Sequoia said, staring into Wasp's eyes. "I will not hand my LeafWings into your treacherous, traitorous talons."
Wasp hissed, and poised herself like a dragonbite viper about to strike. "Come on, Bloodworm. It's time to return home now," Wasp said in what was probably the most cheerful voice Monarch had ever heard from her. Wasp put on a fake smile and flew off. Sequoia sighed.
"Do you think I made the right choice? Do you think it was wise of me to go against Wasp and Clearsight?" Sequoia asked, wrapping her tail around Linden's and burying her face in her own talons.
"It's hard to say," Monarch replied, unsure of what to say. "I suppose we'll just have to wait and see." Sequoia nodded, then rose to her talons, and she and Linden flew off, leaving Monarch all alone. She stared into her cup. Her cup was still half-empty, she saw. Just like how she felt.
==Echoes of the Truth==
Strawberry stretched out in her hammock gracefully, yawned, and tumbled out. Without hesitation, she twisted her body around like a cat and spread her wings to catch her fall, and she dug her talons into the thick tree branch below her.
"Whoop!" She exclaimed, sitting down. "Guess I'm not as graceful as I thought, huh?"
Strawberry's friend, Mourning Dove, was hovering above Strawberry, her feathery wings moving swiftly. Strawberry wasn't entirely sure what tribe Mourning Dove was, she was all feathery and soft, but she assumed her friend was a RainWing, despite her lack of strong camouflage and acidic spit.
"I suppose not..." Mourning Dove said slowly, in her odd little voice. She landed on the branch beside Strawberry, and the two watched various RainWings gathering to share fruit and talk of the day's news.
"There she is!" Strawberry cried suddenly, grabbing Mourning Dove's arm and pointing to a RainWing. The RainWing was pale pink and white, and seemed rather bored. Another RainWing, this one pale blue, was swooping over to her. "Cherry Blossom!"
Mourning Dove shook her head, leaning forward. Her gaze seemed distant suddenly, and the feathers along her neck flared.
"'So, how has your day been?'" Mourning Dove spoke in the voice of the blue RainWing, with her uncanny voice replication ability. Strawberry rarely heard her use it, as she knew it freaked Strawberry out. "'Finally shake that dragon off your tail?'"
"'She won't take a hint,'" Mourning Dove replied to herself in Cherry Blossom's voice. "'She was bugging me all morning. It's like she's still a dragonet.'"
Strawberry's scales slowly shifted to a shade of pale green, mixed with deep blue and hints of pink as she heard what Mourning Dove was communicating to her. She knew this was about her, who else could it be?
"'Poor Strawberry,'" Mourning Dove said in the first dragon's voice. Strawberry could faintly see the dragon shaking her head. "'I'm sure she'll get over it.'"
Mourning Dove lifted her head, turning to stare into Strawberry's eyes, waiting for her response.
"Why did you tell me that?" Strawberry asked, her frill flaring as she did. Dapples of orange mixed among her horrible rainbow.
"...I thought you should know..." Mourning Dove said in a quiet voice, her feathers drooping. "...I was trying to help you."
"You only made things worse!" Strawberry exclaimed. "If it weren't for you, I'm sure I could've fixed things with Cherry Blossom!"
Mourning Dove looked taken aback, and her friend quietly flew off without another word.
"Wait!" Strawberry called. She'd already regretted shouting, and especially at her most sensitive friend. Spreading her wings, she soared after her friend.
==The Lost Dragonet==
Time seemed to grow slower as she waited.
She'd been planning for ages now, planning every moment she'd spend with her dragonet. She'd teach them to hunt, to fight, to protect their territory, and eventually, what to look for in potential mates.
Her wings beat the air as she waited. Her own love, an aloof dragon with the softest eyes she'd ever seen, had gone hunting, in search of some prey to feed their dragonet when it hatched.
He was taking too long. The egg could not wait as she could.
Finally, when she couldn't handle being apart from her egg any longer, she swerved around, soaring high over the mountains and scanning the valley below. She cast one final look behind her, and as she saw no approaching dragon, continued on back to her nest.
Something seemed to spark inside of her. She knew the egg was going to hatch. She needed to be there, she really needed to.
She swooped down, landing on a stone cliff where her egg was waiting for her, in a nest of twigs, leaves, and sheep wool.
She scanned her nest, and let out a cry of despair as she noticed her egg was gone.
Her head shot up immediately, and she whirled around, scanning the areas around her home frantically in search of the egg.
Her harsh gaze fell on a group of scavengers, and they were holding her egg!
The scavengers seemed to have noticed that she was watching them, as they picked up their pace and began to run.
Without hesitation, she rose to the sky, and let fire run through her body, preparing to send a blast towards them. She knew her egg would be fine; a dragon had tried stealing it once, and when he failed, tried to burn it with no success. The scavengers, she hoped, were not fireproof.
As she opened her mouth to scorch them, something hit her wing, knocking her off-course. A stream of fire shot from her mouth, burning the trees it hit.
As she plummeted towards the ground, the scavengers threw something else at her.
A sword.
A dragon's sword.
It hit her in the chest, and pain blazed through her like nothing she'd ever felt before.
She hit the ground with a thud, and through her tears and her pain, she could see her lost dragonet's future.
The future it could have had with her.
It was perfect, better than anything she'd ever imagined.
But now, her dragonet's was ruined. Horrible, awful, filled with death and hatred rather than peace and love.
In a few moments, she knew, the father of the dragon would return.
The egg would not be there.
The scavengers would be long gone.
And she would be dead.
==Subzero==
===Part One: The Disguise===
Pale snowflakes lazily drifted down from the sky, slowly collecting on the ground, which was already dense with snow. It was rather cold today, as it was yesterday, and would be tomorrow. It was the Ice Kingdom, after all, and not the Kingdom of Sand or Mud.
Subzero slowly trudged through the snow, lifting her wings higher as she continued, each step bringing her body closer and closer to the snow below her, each step threatening to bury her in the snow.
She looked up at the looming IceWing palace ahead of her. She always found it rather ironic that her younger sister, Snowfall, ended up becoming queen; Crystal was far bossier and always seemed to have one eye on Queen Glacier. Subzero hadn't even known Snowfall wanted to be queen.
Subzero's eyes widened as she spotted a patrol of IceWings flying around, in search of prey to eat. She ducked down into the snow, hoping her pale blue scales were covered enough not to give her away.
After what felt like forever of the soft coldness of the snow against her scales, Subzero poked her head above the snow, her eyes scanning the sky above her. No more guards, thankfully.
She approached the palace, slipping through an old hole that had been made by two rather clumsy dragonets horseplaying. It was no surprise when they'd both been heavily demoted, nor was it a surprise that they hadn't been able to climb the ranks enough by their seventh hatching day, and would live out the rest of their miserable lives in the fifth circle.
She glanced around warily. It had been many years since Glacier had banished Subzero, and while some dragons would not remember her, some would.
She let out a sigh of relief as she spotted a clothing and jewelry store. She'd be able to disguise herself well there, as long as she was careful and didn't overdo it.
She slipped in, trying to act casual and hoping no dragon would question her. She still had her first-circle necklace; she'd held onto it ever since she'd been banished, so she was able to wear it wound around her neck in a few loops.
She slid off a large cloak, thinking about what her mother and her mother's council (which consisted of most first-circle IceWings, excluding dragonets and heirs) tended to wear. Glacier was never one for fashion; she simply wore her crown and a few occasional rings or wristbands, but her council tended to be more extravagant. She tucked the cloak under her wing, knowing she'd have to pay for all of this. Thankfully, she'd brought her snowflakes, so she wouldn't have to steal them.
She then grabbed two armbands, as well as a silvery veil for her head, and a few rings for her talons. She'd seen how other first-circle dragons looked, and knew that some were more jewel-ridden than this, but it would still help her blend in.
She walked over to the store counter, grateful that the store clerk was fairly young. Subzero guessed that he was in the second or third circle, judging by his lack of a necklace, and the way he constantly bowed his head to others.
He quietly reviewed her items, before telling her the price for them all. She slid the snowflakes over to him, and he collected them gratefully.
Once she was out of the store, she draped the cloak over her body and wings, and slid the veil on her head. She then clipped the armbands on and placed the rings on her talons.
There was one last matter she needed to deal with.
She walked over to the Rankings Wall. She'd seen her mother change it countless times (without her permission), so she knew how she could add her name to it. She also settled on a false name to give herself, deciding that "Snowdrop" would do quite fine.
But as she approached the Rankings, her eyes widened as she stared at the clawscrapes over the wall. She wondered for a moment who would do this and why, before finally realizing what this meant.
Hiding in the Ice Kingdom would be easier than she'd initially thought.
===Part Two: Her sister, the Queen===
Subzero quietly walked down the halls of the IceWing kingdom, keeping her head high and her wings tilted, just the way she'd been taught before she'd left.
It worked; no dragon dared to stop and question someone who clearly looked like they'd been raised by someone in the First or Second Circles, back when the rankings were still on the wall.
She froze, holding her breath as she heard a voice behind her, clearly talking to her.
"Hey, who are you?" It was her pesky sister, Snowfall. The queen. She knew better than to disobey a queen of the tribe she was trying to hide in, but with any luck, she could get this conversation without turning around. Snowfall was pretty young when Subzero had left the Ice kingdom, but there was always the chance she'd remember her older sister. IceWings typically had very good memories, better than most tribes.
"I am... Snowdrop," Subzero replied, using the false name she'd given herself.
"Snowdrop..." Snowfall said to herself, muttering under her breath. "My apologies, I didn't remember your name. I didn't know we had a Snowdrop in the IceWing palace, but I suppose I can't remember them all."
"It's alright," Subzero breathed, hoping her sister would leave. She pulled her wings in closer, a common sign that a dragon had places to be and didn't want to continue chatting.
"Wait- before you go, could I get a look at your face? I'm better at remembering names when there's a face to go with it," Snowfall said quickly. There it was. If she turned around, she would either be recognized or not, and who knows what would happen? But if she ran, she'd seem suspicious. So, she sucked in a breath, and turned around slowly, trying to keep her face calm as she stared at her sister.
Snowfall stared at her for a moment, then her eyes widened in surprise. She definitely still remembered Subzero.
Would Snowfall forgive Subzero for what she'd done? Subzero doubted it; she wouldn't forgive herself for it.
"Snowfall!" A tiny voice chirped, and a small dragonet tumbled into view. Subzero didn't recognize her, but she had the same eyes as Glacier, only darker, and her scales were similar to Father's. This must be a sister who hatched after Subzero left.
"Go away, Mink, please. I'm speaking with- I'm speaking with our sister," Snowfall said, waving one wing to dismiss her. So she was her sister. Mink turned to look at Subzero, eyes wide with curiosity.
"She doesn't look like Crystal," Mink commented, peering at her wing as if it might change color.
"I'm not Crystal," Subzero said, unsure about how she felt about her newest sister.
Snowfall shook her head, sighing, then looked at Subzero again.
"Why?" Snowfall asked, tilting her head. "Why did you have to do it?"
Subzero paused, her gaze flitting between her talons and her sister. She could still remember her talons covered in blue, her sisters staring at her in shock and horror, disgust and fear.
"You know why I had to do it," Subzero replied. Apparently she didn't feel that awful about it, although the reoccurring nightmares suggested otherwise.
"You need to leave. Now," Snowfall hissed. The spikes on her sister's tail clattered dangerously, and Subzero knew if she didn't leave, Snowfall would attack.
But where else can I hide? Subzero thought to herself, backing away from her sisters. The SkyWing kingdom? The Lost Continent? The Forgotten Ruins?
The look in Snowfall's eyes suggested Subzero would be best to do as her sister said. Subzero turned around, dipping her head.
The Forgotten Ruins it is, then. Rather there than the Lost Continent. Unlike the Lost Continent, no one really knew about the Forgotten Ruins. Subzero wasn't supposed to either, but she'd found the secret library, so of course she would read from it.
She spread her wings, flying away from her sisters, not looking back.
==The Two Halves of a Single Tribe==
Red Diamond was not a patient dragon, and with every passing moment, she wondered whether Olivine was truly just horrible at time management, or testing her limits.
If he wants to know my limits, he's going about it in a dangerous way, she thought to herself, curling in her spiked tail and letting smoke rise from her nostrils.
Red Diamond reached up and adjusted her crown, bored. She then began to study her claws, pretending as if they were the most interesting thing in the world as she continued waiting for Olivine.
At last, she heard him arriving. She lowered her talon and altered her position to be more 'regal', and stared down at him with disapproval.
"Late again," She commented, rising from her throne and stepping towards him slowly. "Tell me. How can we deal with our Pantalan threat?"
"My apologies, your highness. Ah, my wife, Aquamarine, was trying to convince me that they hold no threat to us- as if she would know anything- and believes we should ally ourselves with them instead," Olivine explained. "And the best way to deal with them is simply to attack. Nature has not been so kind to them as to us. They're a small tribe. They're blind, gentle, nothing like us. We would crush them with ease. Even if they tried to call for help from the SilkWings or LeafWings, we could crush them as easily. SilkWings do not fight, and the LeafWings are also a small tribe."
"What about the HiveWings?" Red Diamond asked, pretending she'd been listening to Olivine. "Will the Pantalan Shards try to ally themselves with that hornet nest?"
"I doubt it," Olivine replied. "I don't think the two tribes have a... a positive history."
"Good. Now, tell me," Red Diamond hissed, staring down at Olivine. "How long will it take for our army to approach Pantala? And how long will it take to defeat them?"
"I don't think long," Olivine stammered. "To go there and back would be around a week, and to fight... that depends. But no more than a year, if they call upon allies."
"Perfect," Red Diamond said, a small smile crawling across her face. "Zebra Jasper! I hope your army is as ready as you claim it to be," She called out to one of the generals.
"O-of course!" Zebra Jasper stammered, walking into the room. "But what's the occasion?"
"Why, we're repairing the gem, of course. Placing every shard together at last, so we can be one whole tribe, under my rule, in one continent, as it should've been," Red Diamond explained. "Now, get going. It's going to be a long journey."
==A New Year==
The quiet night.
Nothing but you, the stars, the three moons, and the quiet breeze.
And, of course, your friends.
Your noisy, reckless friends.
Dusky wished he hadn't let his new friends join him. They were playing in the field instead of looking at the stars, blabbering about their experiences at the Jade Mountain Academy instead of just enjoying the moment.
Unless, of course, this was their way of enjoying the moment.
Dusky winced as Bumblebee accidentally tumbled onto his tail.
"Sorry!" She squeaked, before jumping up and running at Cliff.
The new year was the only time he could see his old friend again, according to an old NightWing myth. He'd hoped it was true. He hoped that Freedom was up there in the stars now, watching him, and he hoped she would soon appear to him.
But it was a myth, so she wasn't guaranteed to appear. He just hoped she would.
Dusky shivered as a stronger breeze swept over the hill, and he crouched low, closing his eyes. He felt warmth on his side, and noticed that Cliff had moved closer to him, and Dusky smiled.
The other dragonets paused, then went to go sit by Dusky. Mink was curiously watching a small beetle, while Auklet looked bored out of her mind, as if she'd only gone over because that was what everyone else was doing. Bumblebee was now staring up at the moons, looking as if she was considering trying to fly up to them.
Dusky continued staring up at the sky, waiting. Which star was Freedom? Was she a star, or was she something else?
Dusky lowered his head onto his talons, too tired to stay awake. He was vaguely aware of the other dragonets leaving, and could hear them playing behind him for a while.
But eventually, they left, called back by their mothers and sisters.
Dusky was all alone.
He looked up at the stars again, sitting up.
Nothing.
He felt the breeze pick up again, and he shivered.
"Rather cold tonight, isn't it?" He heard a voice ask.
He turned to look.
And he saw Freedom, sitting beside him, watching the sky. She was partially transparent, and it was rather dark, but he knew it was her.
==Lady Vinegaroon==
Sometimes, when it was dark, Goldendrop would sneak out of her room and curiously watch Lady Vinegaroon.
Many dragons had praised her for learning her way around the Hive so quickly, since she originated from Yellowjacket Hive, which had a very different layout compared to Vinegaroon Hive. No one knew that she'd snuck around at night, and that was how she knew.
Vinegaroon would always be working on studying various plants that Goldendrop had brought her. Sometimes Vinegaroon's partner would appear, sometimes she wouldn't. Goldendrop liked Cotton just fine, but sometimes she'd would say something and Goldendrop would feel uncomfortable and/or unnerved. Cotton seemed to know things no HiveWing was intended to.
Sometimes, when it was dark, Goldendrop would sneak out of her room to watch Vinegaroon, but would pause and listen to the chatter of the other SilkWing servants. 
They spoke of their tasks, their jobs, their roles.
None of them were like Goldendrop. They had to gather dishes, prepare food, and organize books. Goldendrop had to collect odd white flowers, fight off dragontraps, and manage the various plants Vinegaroon grew.
Sometimes, when it was dark, Goldendrop would curl up in her nest and wonder, why me? Why was she the one, the only one, being chosen to do all of this horrible, dreadful tasks?
The other SilkWings didn't know it, but they had it easy.
It often felt like Vinegaroon wanted Goldendrop dead.
Once, when it was dark, all of the HiveWings seemed to vanish into thin air. Vinegaroon was visibly stressed; snapped at any dragon who approached her.
Her two friends met up with Goldendrop, away from Vinegaroon.
They told her to come with them. They told her she had to leave.
But why? Goldendrop wondered. Why me?
As Goldendrop followed her friends, she stopped to stare at a large tapestry of Monarch, regal and majestic as ever.
Something familiar about her. Something alike.
And in that moment, she knew.
She was related to the once-great queen.
And that was why Vinegaroon wanted her dead.
==The Silent Ocean==
The ocean was fairly silent. It was nothing but sand deep down, and water all around, with few fish and plants around.
Algae had been swimming for two days straight now.
Images flashed through his mind every time he tried to stop and rest. So he never did. He didn't think about the dragons he'd left behind. Of his dead sister. Of the beloved Prince himself, holding that knife like it was a treasure. And perhaps, in some horrible twisted way, it was. A treasure that killed everyone.
He never thought about the poor, younger Prince, nor his little girlfriend. He never thought about the Queen's shocked, angry face as she fell. He never thought about anything.
He growled in frustration. Why? Why had the Prince done it? Was it the cost of animus magic? He supposed that Albatross was dead by now, but he didn't want to return home. Just in case.
Another week had passed since Algae fled the palace. Another week of pain and fear, of hatred - Albatross, for killing everyone and disturbing the peace. Lagoon, for using her brother. Fathom, for what Algae knew he would do in the future, following in his grandfather's talonsteps. Himself, for fleeing alone, running away instead of fighting Albatross or helping his family escape.
He wasn't sure where he was.
He needed to rest; his entire body ached. He'd been able to convince himself to sleep, but he could never for long- not without remembering all over again.
His eyes spotted a nice cave to hide in, one where any potential sharks would not find him so easily and attack him. He wasn't sure there were sharks in this area; the ocean around him was devoid of life aside from a few tiny scraps, and the sharks would most likely not be able to kill him, but it was not something he wanted to risk.
He slowly swam down to the cave, occasionally snapping at the tiny scraps of fish. He considered flying up to the sky above in the morning, to try and catch some birds, but he wasn't sure there'd be anything good. He was in the middle of nowhere, with no islands nearby that he could sense, and no good fish to eat. Birds would be scarce, but possible.
He curled up inside the cave, which was large, going deep into the ground. He laid by the entrance, no interest in exploring the cave, and tried to sleep.
Leopardfish had been assigned to the dragons who had to find lost SeaWings. By Pearl's order, they didn't have to bring them back if they didn't want to, but their families would all want to at least know where they are.
Her current dragon to find was Algae, a SeaWing seen fleeing southeast, and one of the only two that had yet to be found, the other being Prince Current.
She, alongside two others, had been given supplies before leaving, as they always were. Food, for them and for Algae, if he were found starving. Medical supplies, for them and for Algae, if he were found injured. And a few other things.
Leopardfish had always been skilled at tracking, her senses strong and useful, for dragons who no one else could find. But even she was surprised at just how far Algae had managed to go. Most dragons went west, into Pyrrhia, and the ones that didn't stopped on islands out of exhaustion.
But Algae had managed to make it twice as far as others.
It was a week before she finally sensed a change in his direction. His scent dived into a cave, with no implications that he'd ever left.
That'll make him easier to find, Leopardfish thought, smiling. Unless there's multiple entrances, I suppose.
She dove down into the cave, signaling with her talons for the others to follow. The cave went deep, she could tell, so she lit up all of her scales. Her night-vision alone would not be enough to find Algae.
Leopardfish and her two companions swam through the cave, which seemed to go deeper than she'd expected. I don't think a SeaWing has ever been this far underground, Leopardfish suspected. She quickly flashed to the others that they must dim their glowing scales, in order to not attract the attention of something dragons had never seen before.
Fish of all kinds swam away from the SeaWings. Some of the fish she'd seen before, but some looked unfamiliar. Leopardfish convinced herself to memorize some of their details, to tell the others of later.
Finally, when Leopardfish's wings ached and her head hurt and her gills seemed to struggle taking in what it needed, they found something.
It was nothing more than the skeleton of a SeaWing. Perhaps Algae's, but they couldn't be sure. Fish of all sizes were biting at the bones for scraps, but fled as Leopardfish lashed her tail over their heads.
Leopardfish lowered herself onto the ocean floor, horrified. It had been no more than a week; bodies did not decay into bones that fast. He most definitely did not die of natural causes, not unless being eaten by something was considered natural.
"Should we go?" One of her companions, Shallow, asked, his scales lighting up as he spoke in Aquatic. "Report this to Pearl?"
Leopardfish nodded, but stiffened as she heard something in the distance. Hearing underwater was never easy, but she didn't need perfect hearing to know that whatever that was, it probably killed Algae. And could easily kill them, too. Judging by the panicked looks on Shallow's and Reflection's faces, Leopardfish assumed they'd heard it too.
It wasn't until sharp teeth snapped around Leopardfish's tail that she realized they would never escape.
== The Islands==
Aqua's mother only taught her two things before her passing. To respect her older sister, the new queen Dolphin, and to not challenge her for the throne, either. Aqua found it kind of unfair that she could not challenge her sister, but she decided not to question it. Mother probably had her reasons. Besides, Aqua was only one. She couldn't fight Dolphin even if she wanted to.
She curled her blue-gray tail around her talons, the sand beneath feeling so dry. She watched the ocean waves slowly roll back and forth, waiting.
For what, she was not sure. Dolphin had told her to wait here patiently, and that she'd have a surprise when she returned. Aqua was pretty sure that was code for "leave me alone, stop pestering me", which was pretty unfair since Aqua only bugged her one time. Okay, maybe four times, but it wasn't even that bad.
Aqua was aware that something was watching her, probably a curious bird or a frightened woodland beast, and she curled her wings in. The pearls on her horns shook as she lowered her head to stare at a crab, which was scurrying away.
Aqua could sense something was off. Maybe it wasn't a good idea to leave a one-year-old dragonet on the beach, all alone.
Dolphin rolled her eyes as Salmon began to talk again about something boring. Salmon was intended to be her husband, as her mother chose, but he was quite a bore. The strongest dragon wasn't always the smartest. Salmon had fought in many battles; the only ones he lost were against math quizzes or history exams.
No, she'd wanted someone else. The one who worked hard, despite losing her front legs. Hurricane was the only one Dolphin truly cared for, but she knew they could never be together. Mother didn't approve; Hurricane was from a lower family, despite having better grades than Salmon could even dream of.
"Dolphin?" Dolphin turned to look at her guard, Hammerhead, staring at her.
"What is it?" Dolphin asked, trying her best to sound like she was a good queen who never zoned out.
"Do you know where your sister is?" Hammerhead asked.
"She's out playing in the coral reefs with Splash," Dolphin replied. "The one close to the Deep Sea palace."
"We checked there already. Splash says that she left. When questioned further, she said that you came and told her to follow you."
"Well, that's odd. I haven't spoken to her today. Perhaps it was Wave. I know he has paler scales, but in the odd lighting of the coral reef, Aqua may have mistaken him for me," Dolphin said.
"Perhaps, but it still seems odd," Hammerhead said, nodding slightly. "Anyway, onto our reports. Still no sign of the RainWings. Queen Rhinestone has suggested we could send a search party into the rainforest, look for any signs of RainWings. Kelp has already volunteered, but I told him I'd take this up with you first." Dolphin nodded her approval, then zoned out as Hammerhead began to drone on about a missing dragon named Hera, a shark attack on a nearby town, and strange scavenger activity up on one of the central islands.
Dolphin glanced out the window, wondering if Aqua was okay. Maybe she should've been more freaked out. She'd have to have a word with Wave later, see if he knew what happened.
==The Vanishing Sun==
It was a fairly quiet morning, nothing more than a soft breeze and the occasional bird chirps.
Moonwatcher lay on the ground, trying to help Kinkajou with her homework. Beside her, Winter and Qibli were arguing over a math problem, while Turtle was doodling on his homework.
"So the theme of Crown of Shards is...?" Moonwatcher asked, peeking at what Kinkajou had written on her scroll. Kinkajou's talonwriting was a bit hard to read at times, but it was getting better.
"That trust and friendship are important to thrive in life?" Kinkajou guessed. Moonwatcher nodded, and Kinkajou's scales shifted from their usual yellow-and-pink to bright shades of gold.
Winter flopped down beside Moonwatcher, having lost his argument with Qibli.
"Are you guys still reading Crown of Shards?" Winter asked.
"Well, Kinkajou is, but I already finished," Moonwatcher replied. "I'm just helping her work on her homework for it so she can move on to the next book."
"The next book?" Kinkajou cried. "There's more than one?"
"Yes," Moonwatcher replied, nodding. "It's a series. The next book is The Midnight Throne, which I already know you'll love."
Turtle stood up from where he was before and walked over, sitting down and staring at Kinkajou's scroll absentmindedly.
Winter looked up at the others. "Is it getting darker?"
"Probably just a cloud passing over the sun," Qibli replied, shrugging.
Moonwatcher nodded in agreement, but had a feeling it wasn't a cloud. The whole clearing seemed to get darker, and the birds stopped singing.
Kinkajou looked up at the sky, and shrieked.
"The sun!" She exclaimed. "The sun is vanishing!"
Moonwatcher looked up, and saw that the sun did seem to be vanishing, although she couldn't tell for sure what was happening; she had to quickly look away.
Then the whole clearing went dark as night, and everyone looked up at the sun.
Except there was no sun.
Instead, there was a mysterious black orb in place of the sun, light shining off its edges like a crown or a halo. Moonwatcher stared at it for a long time, before it slowly began to fade away, and the sun returned.
==When a MudWing Dies==
When a MudWing dies, their Bigwings will organize the funeral. If the Bigwings is fallen, then the oldest, largest sibling alive will take their place. If there are no siblings, close friends may help.
The fallen MudWing will be given a crown of flowers, usually woven with one or more flower(s) of each sibling's choice.
They will then be carried by their siblings and taken to the Bed of Death, a large, mysterious crater in the center of the MudWing kingdom, and laid there to rest. It is believed that there, the Earth will reclaim them and birth them anew, so many MudWings live in fear of not being able to be taken to the crater.
During the War of SandWing Succession, this ceremony was forgotten, though after the war ended, this kind of funeral resurfaced...
Viridis stared at the still, unblinking body of their sibling, Mudsplash, tucking in their wings and tail a little closer and lowering their head. Mudsplash had been taken by a terrible sickness, one that had not only claimed the life of Mudsplash.
Beside them stood Fawn, the Bigwings. She was weaving Mudsplash's crown of flowers. The crown was woven from five flowers, four from Mudsplash's siblings and one that they all knew Mudsplash would love. Viridis had chosen rainflowers, and had gone out to find some themselves. 
Fawn sighed, and Viridis looked over, watching as she placed the crown on Mudsplash's still head, then rose to their talons as Fawn nodded to them and the others. They were to proceed with the burial, then.
Viridis lifted Mudsplash onto Fawn's shoulders, trailing closely behind as Fawn took to the skies. They were lucky; they didn't live too far away from the crater. An hour's flight if they did not stop, and they certainly wouldn't.
The flight passed fairly quickly, and soon the crater was nearing into view. Fawn stopped, and signaled with her talons for their other two siblings to fly down and find a spot to place Mudsplash. Their youngest was back fairly quickly, leading them to where their other sibling was waiting.
Fawn gently slid Mudsplash off of her shoulders and began digging a small hole, the others joining her until they had a hole big enough to fit Mudsplash in. Fawn dragged Mudsplash over, setting the fallen MudWing in the hole and adjusting the flower crown. They then began to bury Mudsplash until they could not see a single scale of Mudsplash anymore, and knew that no scavenging prey would find the body.
== The Goddesses of the Sun and the Moon==
The Goddess of the Sun, Onyx, is a fair SandWing. Her eye is black as night and her wings are golden like the sun. She had two eyes once, really, but she gave one as a gift to an animus for a spell, cast on the Eye of Onyx. This way she may see from the necklace itself and cast her judgement on its wearer.
Her mane is like fire and her heart is set on fairness, truth, and justice.
Aside from the Eye and the crafting of it, she rarely comes to the mortal world. When she does arrive, she disguises herself as a simple, well-hatched dragon, though her form changes every time, and comes to guide the new queen, as she only comes to the mortal world to guide a new queen for her first year.
She guides the spirits of good and reforms them into stars, scattered across the universe.
The Goddess of the Moon, Obsidian, is an envious SandWing. Her three eyes are dark as night, but her pupils are light as the moons, and even seem to "wax" and "wane" according to their respective moon's cycles. Her scales are pale but spotted with shadow, and her mane is not nearly as elegant as her sister's. Her barb is like ice and her heart is set on envy, lies, and deceit.
She more often visits the mortal world, often disguised either as a commoner or an assassin, depending on how bored she is.
She guides the spirits of evil and reforms them into moons, finding planets for them to revolve around. It is also believed that the smaller moons, Perception and Oracle, are actually her daughters that she formed into moons upon their death, although no dragon knows for sure if she even had dragonets.
No one knows what caused the everlasting feud between Onyx and Obsidian. Some believe it is due to the clear favoritism of the sun over the moon, others believe it is related to solar eclipses. One thing is clear, however, and it is that not even the sisters know why they loathe each other, they just know they must.
==The Death of a SkyWing ==
The death of a SkyWing is never easy.
The ceremony is usually managed by the father, then if he is not available the managing rights go in this order based on availability: mother, their oldest sibling (even if they are younger than the fallen dragon), close friends, co-workers.
The ceremony takes place in a simple room. This room has only a floor, typically out of marble, with seven large pillars, one for each tribe. After the discovery of Pantala, the ceremonial places were all altered, adding three new pillars. Each pillar represents one of the tribes that the SkyWing could be reborn as. It is also worth noting that a ceremony can occur even outside the special room, as long as the gems, silk, and open space are available, though most dragons prefer the room.
The deceased SkyWing will then be covered in special white silk that will cover the dragon entirely. Then the silk will be pinned down by seven gemstones, one for each tribe, later changed to ten.
It is a common belief that interfering with this sacred ceremony will hold consequences, though no dragon knows for sure what those are. Some believe that the dead dragon will simply never renew, others believe that that is the source of "curses" like firescales.
It wasn't fair. The war had claimed too many lives. Jasper said that they were lucky to have been able to retrieve Peak's body, but that wasn't luck. Luck would be for Peak to have returned home safely. 
Rusty watched solemnly as Jasper slowly carried Peak's body into the center of the "room". As their parents had died long before, the task of the ceremony was carried by Jasper, the oldest. As Jasper lowered Peak's body onto the smooth marble floor, Rusty stepped forward, carrying the sheet of silk to cover Peak with. The two siblings silently covered Peak until there was nothing left, then took the seven gemstones they were given and began to place them on the silk. Garnet for MudWings. Citrine for SandWings. Ruby for SkyWings. Sapphire for SeaWings. Larimar for IceWings. Opal for RainWings. Obsidian for NightWings.
The two siblings then stepped back, out of the room, and sat together quietly, watching as the wind tugged at the silk sheets, making it look like Peak was alive, like she was breathing, like she was moving. 
There was nothing left to do for Peak but remain there for her. Her body would be removed by moonshigh, and buried so that no scavenging animals could find her.
==Some of the Great Myths of the Sea==
The sea is full of wonderous things. Pearls, coral reefs, and a different type fish for everyone. But as time goes on, some of the life under the sea became a bit... warped. Some myths told by land dragons of great leviathans, others told by fellow SeaWings of mighty krakens.
===The Abyss Leviathan===
The abyss leviathan is probably not real. Few dragons have ever seen it, and fewer still return to tell the tale, and the excuse for that is their invisibility. According to ancient legends dating back to the Scorching, the abyss leviathan is a behemoth, a large wicked beast that makes even the strongest of dragons tremble. Dragons who claim to have seen it describe it as large, with long fins and sharp teeth, and a thin body. Some dragons claim it is the size of a mountain, others exaggerate it to be the size of the smallest moon.
The abyss leviathan holds the ability to turn invisible, allowing it to sneak up on prey, and they are presumed to have a long lifespan.
===The Spring Sea Serpent ===
The spring sea serpent is a long serpent with pale blue scales. They are believed to find dragons lost at sea or in raging rivers, and aid them. They have long, elegant fins and often travel alone or with their young. There are few documents written about these mythical guardians, some documenting about shipments of supplies nearly being lost until one came to aid, others documenting swimming in rivers that suddenly became wild.
===The Horned Kraken===
While krakens are real, they aren't very common, and certainly none of them have horns, except these. They have a narwhal's horn, or sometimes multiple, protruding from their forehead, and many dragons believe these krakens can do magic with their horns, although what it is depends on who's telling it.
Some dragons believe they have control over the weather, others over water, some believe they can grant any wish, and others believe they have limited or full animus magic, though no one has ever been able to confirm any of these.
===The Sunset Siren===
The sunset siren is a real mystery, but the most common theory is that they disguise themselves as various dragons, sing to passing dragons about their greatest desires, trap them, then kill them. Not very pleasant.
They can read into one's mind and conjure up illusions to lure their target. One document tells of a friend who saw no sirens, but mountains of gold that sung to him, while the writer of the document claimed to have seen their deceased lover.
As per the name, these sirens only appear at dusk.
== The Great Ice Dragon==
Long ago, when the tribes had just begun, there was an IceWing. Perhaps he didn't look as much IceWing as present-day IceWings, but he certainly was one.
The day he hatched, his egg was half-buried in the snow, and his parents eagerly awaited. As the egg sat there, a comet flew overhead, lighting up the night sky in a single burst of daylight. And he hatched.
His name was Polaris, and he was different from other dragons, for he was magical. From his mind he could enchant anything any way he liked. Of course, there was a downside to this, but this wouldn't be discovered until his grandson, Aurora Borealis, hatched.
He had many close friends, but some were rather envious of his magic and the attention it gave him. So one night exactly 65 years after he first hatched, he was murdered in his sleep.
When he died, oddly enough, he was reformed a star, the North Star, which was later named after him. And when the love of his life died, she, too, became a star, and her loved ones, until every dragon who died became a star.
Her lungs and chest hurt. She didn't know where this sickness had come from. At first, she'd thought she'd fallen rather unlucky; she was always rather healthy, but as more and more dragons fell ill, she realized it might be something else. Course, she felt too lightheaded from all her coughing to ponder this further.
She'd had to take a few weeks off from her job in the Queen's Council, and as the other council members fell ill, she wondered what would become of the IceWing Kingdom.
She laid on her ice bed, chest slowly rising and falling, until a messenger came, and through his coughs, broke the news. "Blizzard... Queen Glacier has fallen." Then he left.
And right there were the words that made her question what the point was anymore. Queen Glacier, perhaps one of the greatest queens, had died. Her coughing became worse, and she clutched the diamond necklace she wore over her first-circle necklace. May Polaris guide me to the stars, she thought to herself. May he find me a place among my loved ones.
Whoever took the throne after Glacier, whether it was Snowfall or Crystal, they would do fine, she was sure. Unfortunate, of course, to rule during such a bleak time. How long would their reign even last before they, too, died? How much longer would the IceWing tribe last? Would future generations of dragons even remember a tribe of ice and snow, if they were so secluded from the rest?
Her breathing slowed, and as she knew the darkness was coming, she sent one final prayer, one final request to the North Star. Polaris... keep the IceWings safe. Don't let us all die out.
==The Crown of the Rainforest==
According to RainWing legend, there exists a deity of the rainforest. Perhaps the other kingdoms have their own deities guarding their lands, in the eyes of RainWings, perhaps they do not.
They call them Periwinkle, the Crown of the Rainforest, Guardian of all RainWings. They say Periwinkle is the embodiment of the rainforest itself, and that they are chaotic and carefree.
Stories about Periwinkle are told from voice and song, so not all of the details of them are clear. They are commonly described as soft and feathery, with silver scales and rainbow wings.
The most common story suggests that seeing them is a sign of good luck and fortune.
Violet sat upon the platform, organizing her fruit collection. She liked having a nice snack after her suntime, but ever since RainWings had begun to vanish, one of them being her close friend, she hadn't bothered touching her fruit much. She still tossed out old ones and added new ones in hopes of tempting herself, but it hadn't worked thus far.
She wanted her friend back, and she wanted to be safe. She didn't want to vanish and for other RainWings to just... not care. She lashed her now-orange tail, nearly knocking off some fruit in the process. 
She eyed one of the fruits in her talons before tossing it into her get-rid-of pile. She felt alone, more so than usual. She looked up as she heard a RainWing flying by, and shook her head as Dahlia flew over to a nearby branch, not looking at Violet. She'd been one of the RainWings to flat-out suggest that either her friend had simply run away, or that she didn't care about Violet anymore.
She wondered to herself as she continued sorting fruits whether RainWings would ever stop vanishing or not. Maybe if we had a dragon willing to find them, Violet considered. But she sighed, knowing that wouldn't happen. She herself was too scared to try, so why would it be any different for other RainWings?
Violet looked up briefly from her fruit-sorting and noticed a RainWing perched up on a higher tree, staring at her. She didn't recognize them. Their silvery scales and violet eyes reminded her of something, but she couldn't recall what. She couldn't say she'd ever met a RainWing whose default colors were silver. The RainWing smiled at her, then vanished, leaving Violet to ponder what just happened.
==The Three Moons==
The world of Pyrrhia has three moons, named Imperial, Oracle, and Perception by the NightWings, and popularized across the rest of Pyrrhia at some point during the Darkstalker Era.
Imperial is the largest moon, and often symbolizes trust, wisdom, and the past, and is often portrayed in great libraries. He is the oldest of the three moons in myth, and current studies suggest he may have been the first moon to orbit the dragon world.
When visiting the dragon world, he wears a disguise, an elderly NightWing with very dark yellow scales, though much lighter along his underscales, and silver-rimmed glasses. The stars beneath his wings form the constellation of the first Queen of the Dragons.
Oracle is the smallest moon, and often symbolizes mischief, chaos, and the future, and is often portrayed as the unknown. They are the youngest of the three moons in myth, though studies are unclear whether Oracle or Perception became the second moon.
When visiting, they appear as a young, dark blue dragonet, though still lighter than Imperial, with lighter blue underscales and white freckles like stars across their snout and spine. Beneath their wings form the constellation of Clearsight, the most powerful known prophet in history that didn't hatch under the brightest night.
Perception is the third moon, though located in between Imperial and Oracle, and often symbolizes death, the mind, and the present. Myths state that summoning Perception from her moon will either grant you knowledge no other dragon has or death, depending on how you play your cards.
When visiting, Perception is a middle-aged, dark red dragon with black scales along her spine. There are no stars beneath her wings.
==What Happens When LeafWings Die? ==
When a LeafWing dies, it is commonly believed that they will be reincarnated as a plant, and so Leafspeak dragons are believed to be communicators for the living and the dead.
There are many plants a LeafWing could be reincarnated as, and each one depends on one's life.
Trees are the best thing, and mean that you were a good dragon all your life. This is why LeafWings are named after trees.
The burning of forests and trees is taken as an attack, and is part of the reason the LeafWings felt the need to stop Wasp.
Flowers are the second best, meaning you were mostly good throughout life. LeafWings whose parents may have done horrible things may be named after flowers or carnivorous plants rather than trees.
Carnivorous plants are third, meaning you were probably not that great in life, but it really, really could've been worse.
Ferns and the like are fourth, meaning you were not a very good dragon at all.
And sea plants are the worst thing, because they are underwater where no dragon has to see them.
The plan was outright stupid, as were the results. The idea was for Cherry to distract some HiveWings while Blossom and Rose escaped, as some HiveWings had came into the Poison Jungle. And as Cherry distracted the HiveWings, Blossom nearly tripped over a root and messed the whole thing up, while Rose got her wing stuck in a sundew and had to hold still to get free. They'd been lucky that the HiveWing guards were, at that point, plant food. But as the sundew released Rose's wing, they went to find Cherry, and stopped in their tracks as they saw her lying on the ground, spear embedded in her throat. One of the HiveWings must've thrown it at her as a plant grabbed him.
"Oh no," Blossom whispered. She reached forward and pulled Cherry closer, staring wide-eyed at her friend. After some debating, they agreed to pull the spear out, which caused more blood to spill out. Rose grabbed the scarf she'd been wearing around her neck, pressing it onto the wound to soak up the bleeding. Even if Cherry was dead, didn't mean they couldn't stop her from looking like a mess. Rose wrapped the scarf around Cherry and nodded to Blossom, and the two of them lifted Cherry onto their backs and flew towards the LeafWing village. As they landed in the center, many LeafWings poked their heads out of their houses to look at Cherry. 
Rose watched as Queen Sequoia stepped in front of them, staring at Cherry's body. "What happened?" She asked, her voice revealing no emotions.
"Some HiveWings found us while we were out collecting berries. I guess Wasp still insists on checking this jungle, even if we've established several times we're not here." Rose paused, then added, "the plants got the HiveWings, but one managed to throw his spear into Cherry's neck."
The village was silent as they buried Cherry, then sat all around quietly. They would have to sit there for the rest of the day, aside from dragonets, unless something happened, which never did. Rose sighed, staring at her friend's grave.
==Beryl ==
She never intended for her mother to find out. A lifetime ago, she'd fallen in love with a SeaWing named Seaweed, a commoner, and they'd had a single egg. Pyrope had never wanted to tell her mother, Queen Scarlet, for she knew without a doubt that her egg would be destroyed, and she would be killed.
She'd hid her egg in a small home, and had intended for the egg, and later the dragonet, to stay hidden forever. Beryl was what she'd chosen to name her daughter when she hatched.
But there was one unfortunate morning, one morning where she was teaching Beryl how to solve some complicated math problems, when the door opened.
Pyrope looked up, eyes widening in horror as she saw her mother standing in the doorway with Prince Vermilion. Vermilion had known that Pyrope had a dragonet, and while he didn't know where she'd hidden Beryl, he knew enough.
"A SeaWing?" Scarlet began, rolling her eyes at the dragonet. "Really?" Pyrope was silent, and Scarlet growled. "Out of all of my daughters, I never expected you to betray me like this. You know it's against the rules to have dragonets with other tribes, especially dragons that oppose us in this war!" Beryl, who was hiding behind Pyrope, snarled at her grandmother, teeth bared, and Scarlet laughed.
"You know what Mother does to traitors, Pyrope," Vermilion said, seeming to not care that his sister was about to die. Pyrope wondered what had gotten him to tell Scarlet. Was he just fed up with keeping the secret? Had she annoyed him somehow? Or did Scarlet question him on her disappearances?
Pyrope saw her opportunity then, and quickly glanced back at her dragonet, who was still behind her. Once Beryl stared up at her, she flicked her gaze to the door, to tell her daughter to run. Beryl nodded, and as she bounded forward in an attempt to make a run for it, Pyrope leapt from where she stood and attacked her mother. She had no intentions of survival, no intentions of challenging her mother for the throne. She just needed to make sure Beryl was safe. She pinned her mother to the ground, and looked at her daughter, who had stopped in the doorway, realizing what Pyrope was doing.
"Run!" She shouted at her dragonet. "Run far, and never return!" Then Scarlet slammed her into a wall. Pyrope watched, dazed, as Scarlet approached her, while Vermilion went after Beryl.
Beryl didn't know she could fly so fast. Her mother had taken her out to practice her flying, yes, but she usually kept at a slow and steady pace. She knew there was no way she would outfly the Prince, so she scanned the area below, spotting many trees and a river. She would have tried to hide in the trees, but her scales were a mix of green and red, and she wasn't entirely sure if that would hide her. Better to swim anyway, since she doubted the Prince could.
She dove down, the wind trying to knock her off-course, and she landed in the river with a splash. She quickly looked around, before picking a direction to swim in. She kept low to the riverbed, grateful she'd hatched with gills, and swam with great haste. She was aware that the Prince was still chasing her, keeping to the air and land, and hoped the river would lead to the ocean so that she could hide there.
After two hours of swimming, she was tired, but couldn't give up. The river split into two suddenly, and she chose to stick to the right. Luckily for her, the river blended her in well enough, and the Prince gave up. She risked peeking her head above the surface to see him flying away, and sighed with relief, pulling herself to shore. She wasn't safe yet. Perhaps she'd never be safe. But she wondered to herself for the first time in three years whether her father was alive or not.
==Violet Skies and the Seven RainWings==
===Part One===
Violet Skies sat alone as she watched the sun slowly setting beneath the horizon, leaving streaks of vibrant colors. She'd just finished work for Her Majesty, the SkyWing Queen, and had decided to take a break to watch the sunset.
"Sunsets are really pretty," A dragon said from behind her, and Violet Skies jumped back in alarm, before spreading her wings to fly off. The dragon called after her. "Wait! I didn't mean to scare you!" Violet Skies was already in the air when she turned to look at the dragon, letting out a sigh of relief when she saw it was not an intruder, but rather a SkyWing. She froze as she realized this wasn't any SkyWing, this was Marble, the son of the Queen. Which made him a prince, and this interaction pretty awkward. Violet Skies decided that it would be more appropriate not to fly off, as he could easily have her demoted for her disrespect, so she landed and bowed to him. She didn't know a lot about Marble, all she knew was that he got along fine with his sisters, though Scarlet seemed more interested in getting rid of him than getting along with him.
"You can stop that," Marble said quickly. "I really don't care, and Mother isn't here to witness anyway." Violet Skies paused for a moment, before sitting upright. "So, I'm Prince Marble, but you already knew that. But I don't know who you are, so..."
"Violet Skies," She said, nodding slightly. "Your mother's least favorite dragon." Violet Skies realized what she'd said, and wondered if he'd tell the queen. She may have to decide where to go. Maybe the Kingdom of Sand, hide in the Scorpion Den. Though maybe not, if the rumors about Princess Burn were true.
"Why is that?" Marble asked, tilting his head. "You seem fine to me."
"Oh, have you met other purple SkyWings before?" Violet Skies asked. Marble shrugged.
"I don't see why it can't be possible," Marble replied. "But Mother has a very strict view of dragons. If they're ugly or defective, best to keep them away. I'm surprised that she even let you stay here."
"I usually stay out of her way, and keep hidden during important visits," Violet Skies said, glancing back at the palace for a moment.
"Well, I think you're pretty," Marble told her, and Violet Skies narrowed her eyes at him, trying to decide if he was joking or not. "What?" He asked as she stared at him. "I do!"
"If you think we can be together," Violet Skies said, pointing at herself and Marble several times. "We can't. You're a prince, and I'm not worth knowing."
"And that's the thing," Marble said, rolling his eyes. "I'm a prince. I do what I like."
"Until your mother stops you," Violet Skies objected. "Which will result in my head on a spike."
A few weeks had passed since Violet Skies had initially met the prince, and she hadn't seen much of him since. Occasionally he'd stop and smile at her, or give her some scrolls to read when she was bored, but for the majority of the days, he knew to keep his distance.
Violet Skies watched as Marble headed towards her, probably to tell her about some boring meeting he'd had. He smiled and sat beside her.
"You were right. The meeting was very, very dull," Marble informed her, sighing.
"I'm sorry to tell you, but you're going to have lots more of those," Violet Skies replied, and he laughed.
"Oh moons, I hope not!" Marble said. "I nearly fell asleep!" Violet Skies snorted, and Marble grinned at her. Violet Skies noticed how he subtly put his wing around her. The two of them stopped talking, however, as an orange dragon stepped from the shadows, smiling at them. "Won't Mother be so thrilled to learn about Marble's new company?" Princess Scarlet asked. Before either of them could stop her, Scarlet ran off, Marble and Violet Skies trailing after her. But Scarlet was faster and stronger, and neither of them could catch up to stop her from telling Firestorm everything.
"Is this true?" Queen Firestorm asked, looking down at her son. Violet Skies had been slow enough that she'd missed Scarlet telling the queen everything. Firestorm's eyes widened as she saw Violet Skies.
If I hadn't followed, maybe Marble could've lied his way out! Violet Skies thought to herself, wishing she could just disappear. Firestorm growled, then roared loudly.
"You know," Scarlet added, still smiling. "I think Princess Burn might like a gift like that. She loves strange things." Firestorm nodded. The Queen lashed her tail, and guards came and grabbed Violet Skies, dragging her away.
The cell was dark and cold, but Violet Skies only had to wait there for two days until Princess Burn and Queen Oasis arrived. She sat up, wondering whether Burn would kill her before or after taking her to the Kingdom of Sand. It didn't matter, did it? She'd be dead either way, nothing more than a nameless SkyWing, a decoration.
Violet Skies realized she'd started to cry a little, and raised her talons up to stop the tears. She wondered what would happen to Marble. Killed, probably. Princes weren't that useful to queens, not unless one died with no heirs. She stopped her thoughts when she saw a SkyWing stepping towards her cell from the outside. She didn't know him particularly well, but she knew his name was Sol. He held a ring of keys, and Violet Skies realized he was freeing her. Sol inspected the keys, muttering under his breath as he tested various keys until finally, Violet Skies heard a click and watched the cell door open.
"You'll want to leave the kingdom," Sol told her. "Otherwise Firestorm or Scarlet will surely find you." Violet Skies nodded, and stepped out. She smiled at him for a moment before running off, hoping no guard would stop her.
===Part Two===
Violet Skies fled for her life. She'd been imprisoned not that long ago by her own queen, Queen Firestorm, and freed by a dragon she did not know very well. She hoped that Sol would be okay, that the queen wouldn't find out, nor her daughters.
She'd decided to flee to the rainforest, as it would be the safest place. The MudWing kingdom was too close, the SandWings meant dealing with Burn at one point or another, the IceWings were closed off, the SeaWings were underwater, and she had no clue where the NightWings were. Violet Skies supposed that it wouldn't be too hard to figure out that she'd gone to the Rainforest, but that would still take time, perhaps enough that she could be off this continent.
As the trees of the rainforest came into view, she swooped down towards one of them, landing on a branch and looking around. Once she found a safe-looking path inwards, she glided through, careful not to brush her wings against anything that might interrupt her flying.
At some point, she realized she was rather hungry, so she landed on the soft mossy floor below and began looking for something to eat, whether it was a fruit or an animal. She stopped, however, as she saw a large house up in a tree. It was all alone, and was woven from various plants. Beside it were two hammocks and one large wooden platform, held in the air by various vines. Who lived here? Various colorful flowers decorated the house, and Violet Skies wondered if it was purely for decoration, or because the RainWings living there often forgot where it was. She looked around one last time before stepping into the entrance, not daring to step inside. The inside was a bit small, with one room that looked like it was for sleeping, and one room with fruits in it, as well as the entrance room, which was the largest.
"Hello?" Violet Skies said, trying to see if she could spot any RainWings. "Is anyone here?" Violet Skies waited, then shrugged, realizing no one was home. She debated whether to wait outside or inside, then figured it would be more polite to wait outside. She stepped out of the entranceway and stood on the small ledge, waiting.
"Alright, I think that's good," Riverstone told the others. They'd been out collecting fruit for a while to refill their stash, and had a heaping pile that made Riverstone wonder if they would be able to carry it all back.
Raspberry beamed at the sight of all of the fruit, especially the raspberries, which were her favorite. Riverstone hoped that she wouldn't eat them all like last time.
"Everyone is to carry an armful of fruit back except Paradise, who will fly behind to make sure no one drops their fruit.
The flight home was short, though rather annoying when Raspberry began singing something about heading home. She stopped, however, when everyone stopped. A strange purple SkyWing sat in front of their home! The SkyWing looked up at them.
"It's an invasion!" Aquamarine shrieked, her scales shifting from a pale blue to a frightened green. "Run!"
"Wait!" The SkyWing called. "I don't mean any harm!" The RainWings all stopped their panicking, though Spinel looked tempted to throw a fruit she now held at the SkyWing. "My name is Violet Skies," The SkyWing went on. "My queen tried to imprison me for my odd scales, but I escaped."
"She's a criminal!" Spinel hissed, throwing one of the fruits. Riverstone quickly swooped down and caught the fruit before it splattered all over Violet Skies.
"I doubt it," Riverstone replied. "From what I hear about Queen Firestorm, she is not pleasant towards anyone ugly or different. Most likely, she did nothing wrong but was imprisoned anyway." Violet Skies nodded, smiling. "My name is Riverstone. You may stay with us for however long you need, only if you promise to help us out with fruit gathering." Violet Skies nodded again.
"Thank you!" She said. With that note, the RainWings all headed in and placed their fruit in the stash, though Raspberry snuck a few raspberries into her mouth first. Violet Skies stepped into the house.
"As you know, my name is Riverstone, and I am the leader of this little group," Riverstone introduced. "The pale blue one is Aquamarine, the purple one is Hyacinth, the red one is Paradise, the pink and yellow one is Raspberry, the pink and blue one is Swift, and the pink and red is Spinel."
"Why do you all live alone?" Violet Skies asked. "Why not with the other RainWings?"
"We just felt like living on our own," Riverstone shrugged. "We do still visit the village, though."
"Are you all siblings?" Violet Skies asked.
"No, but we're mostly the same age," Riverstone replied. "Raspberry is three years younger than us. We found her egg abandoned and outside of the nursery, and decided to take her in. Perhaps we were too young to be raising a dragonet, but we all worked together, which made it easier." Violet Skies nodded.
"Suntime!" Hyacinth declared, stepping outside. Violet Skies gave Riverstone a confused look.
"Suntime is where we relax in the sun," Riverstone informed her. "It recharges us and strengthens our color-shifting capabilities. You can join if you want."
They all stepped outside, watching as the sunlight drifted down onto the two hammocks and the platform. Aquamarine and Swift claimed one hammock, while Hyacinth and Spinel took another, leaving Raspberry, Paradise, Riverstone, and Violet Skies to the platform. While Riverstone was a bit unsure whether Violet Skies would fit on the platform as well or not, they were glad to see that she would. The sunlight was warm as Riverstone closed their eyes to rest.
===Part Three ===
Firestorm sat elegantly upon her throne, one of her servants bowing low. He had gone on a dangerous mission, but it would all be worth it when she became the most dangerous dragon in Pyrrhia.
She'd heard rumors of a magical scroll. Write whatever you want in it, and it'll be sure to come true. And if this servant didn't mess up, then every dragon would fear her.
The servant, saying nothing, held out the scroll to her, forcing her to get up to retrieve it. She grabbed the scroll and quickly dismissed him, then went into her sleeping chambers to read what had already been written.
As she read through the scroll, an idea struck her. What better way to test if this scroll could work, than to use it to end Violet Skies, the traitorous, defective dragon who called herself a SkyWing.
She'd first disguise herself, then find Violet Skies in the rainforest. But killing her outright seemed a bit too... boring. Then another idea formed. What if she made it appear Violet Skies had died? She knew where Violet Skies had fled, and had no doubts she was living with one or more RainWings. Then the RainWing would be the one to kill her! She laughed to herself. Oh, it was all too perfect.
Violet Skies was collecting fruits with her RainWing friends again. She'd been staying with them for a few weeks now, and they seemed to really like her.
"Alright, everyone grab an armful of fruit," Riverstone instructed in the same way they always did. "This time Hyacinth will fly behind to make sure no fruit is lost."
Every dragon did as instructed, and soon Violet Skies was carrying fruit, both in her arms and in the pouches Spinel had woven for her from various plants. They flew out to the den, everyone dropping their fruits in the stash.
"Suntime!" Raspberry sang, racing outside and flinging herself into a hammock. The other RainWings followed her lead, and soon Violet Skies was sleeping on the platform with Paradise, Aquamarine, and Riverstone. The sunlight was warm and refreshing, even for a dragon that did not require suntime to recharge.
But as she slept, a song she'd never heard began echoing in her mind. Wasn't a bird singing, and the RainWings were all asleep... She lifted her head sleepily, looking around until she found the direction the song was coming from. Investigating wouldn't hurt, would it?
She pushed herself to her talons, shaking out her wings, then leapt off the platform, swooping under branches until she was as close as she was willing, in a clearing not far from the den. The bushes in front of her rustled, and she tilted her head curiously as a RainWing she'd never met stumbled out. She'd been to the village a few times since joining the RainWing, and had learned to identify dragons outside of their color, and this was not one she recalled seeing. This dragon was red and orange, the two colors like fire on her scales.
"Who are you?" Violet Skies asked, trying to study the RainWing further. There was something familiar, yet...
The RainWing smiled at her awkwardly, then tripped as she tried to come closer to Violet Skies, sending fruit flying everywhere from a pouch around her neck. The RainWing gasped, and Violet Skies immediately began picking up the fruits and placing them in her own pouch, then removed it and placed it around the now-standing RainWing's neck.
"Thank you!" The RainWing exclaimed. She plucked a ring out of thin air, and placed it in Violet Skies's talons. "As a gift. Oh, don't worry," She went on as Violet Skies stared at her, debating whether to giving it back would be rude or not. "It's nothing special. At least, not to me."
Violet Skies nodded, then slipped the ring on. She spread her wings and took flight, back home. The RainWings had woken up from their suntime, and were now staring at her, confused. Violet Skies tried to smile at them, but she suddenly felt very lightheaded. She began plummeting down to the rainforest floor, the RainWings becoming very alarmed and trying to catch up to her.
Violet Skies was dead. They were sure of it. Swift stared down at their friend's body. She'd stopped breathing, surely that meant she was dead. Movement caught her eye, and Swift noticed a RainWing she'd never seen up in a tree, smiling. But as the RainWing noticed her, she turned invisible.
That RainWing had to have been behind this. Swift leapt up into the air, the others following her gaze, and tackled the RainWing off the tree.
"What did you do to Violet Skies?" Swift growled, her scales shifting into colors of blood-red and pitch-black. She placed one talon around the RainWing's neck, blinded by rage. This moment would surely be one she would look back upon and regret, even if the RainWing had done it.
The RainWing, whose scales became visible once again, simply smiled. "What does it matter? She's dead."
But as Swift prepared to whack the dragon on the head to knock her out, she spotted a scroll lying beside the RainWing. She still whacked the dragon unconscious, then stepped off the dragon, picked up the scroll, and began reading it.
Whatever it was, it was dangerously powerful. Even just holding it gave Swift an uneasy feeling. And reading what she could understand made it worse. Swift had always been more interested in reading than most other RainWings, and though her vocabulary was still more limited than other dragons, she did not need to know every word to understand the purposes of this scroll.
And right at the bottom of all the words were the ones written by a different dragon.
"Enchant this earring so its wearer will turn into a RainWing while they wear it."
"Enchant this ring so its wearer will fall... dead." There were some words between 'fall' and 'dead', but she couldn't read them, assuming it wasn't important.
Swift noticed the earring, and yanked it off, bits of blood spilling from the RainWing's ear as her scales shifted suddenly. She became larger, stronger, with jewels and scars. A SkyWing. Queen Firestorm. But apparently, removing the earring was enough to wake up Firestorm, as she opened her eyes and hissed at Swift.
Above, Swift was aware the other RainWings were watching. But right now, she had to get Firestorm out of the rainforest. Swift barely dodged in time as Firestorm attempted to rake her claws across Swift's neck, and she lashed out by grabbing Firestorm's shoulders and repeatedly bashing Swift's head into the queen's neck, using the horn on her snout as a weapon. Then she shifted her scales invisible and stepped around the queen to her back, careful not to disturb the ground, and bit on Firestorm's tail. Firestorm roared with fury, and seemed to decide that it wasn't worth it. After all, Violet Skies was dead. But as Firestorm took flight, Swift spat some venom on the queen's neck, watching as she shrieked and continued on.
Already the extent of her actions were catching up to Swift, and she turned to look at the other RainWings, who were watching Firestorm leave with wide eyes.
The RainWings sat with Violet Skies, who had been laid on the platform until they were ready to bury her. Sunlight gleamed off of her perfect scales, and beautiful flowers were laid on her body. They didn't know a lot about SkyWing funerals, but they did know that the body needed to be exposed for the spirit to leave.
Aquamarine hissed suddenly, and the RainWings all turned to look as a SkyWing landed on the platform. He raised his talons awkwardly as they all glared at him.
"I just came to see Violet Skies," He told them. "We were close once."
Riverstone nodded, though they still watched the SkyWing out of the corners of their eyes. The SkyWing looked up suddenly at what Riverstone had in her pouch.
"What's that?" He asked, pointing to the scroll. "May I see it?"
Riverstone nodded, passing it to him. "A magical scroll. Queen Firestorm used it to kill Violet Skies."
The SkyWing nodded sadly, then unrolled the scroll, reading through it. When he got to Firestorm's spells, he gasped. "She's not dead!"
"She's not?" Raspberry asked, confused. She eyed Violet Skies's body suddenly, as if it may wake up and startle her off the platform.
"But she looks dead," Paradise added, pointing to her body. "She's not breathing.
"The wording of the spell claims to make her appear dead, but not actually. Listen: 'Enchant this ring so its wearer will fall unconscious, appearing dead.'" The SkyWing paused, located the ring, and slipped it off. Nothing happened.
"Shouldn't that have woken her up, then?" Riverstone questioned.
"It should have- Ah! It's because the enchantment does not state that the effect will only occur while wearing. We'll need to enchant something else to fix this, then." The SkyWing held the ring, turning it in his talons. "We should probably bury this. Go find me something to write with and something to enchant while I hide this." Without waiting to see what would happen, the SkyWing flew off.
"Aquamarine," Riverstone instructed. "Go find some ink. There should be some at the village, left over from the painting contest. Doesn't matter what color. Raspberry, find something that the SkyWing can enchant." Aquamarine flew off into the direction of the village, while Raspberry simply grabbed a branch and handed it to Riverstone, who nodded. Soon, the SkyWing returned, as well as Aquamarine, who was now holding a vial of purple ink. The SkyWing smiled at Aquamarine, dipped his talon in the ink, and began to write.
"There," He said, looking at the stick.
"What's it say?" Raspberry asked, hints of yellow and pink lighting up her otherwise-depressing colors.
"It says: 'Enchant this stick so that when it is broken, it will undo every animus spell cast on Violet Skies in the past'." He paused, before adding, "I wasn't sure if how to word some of it." The RainWings all nodded eagerly, and he held out the stick. "Let's hope it knows which stick," he added as he snapped the stick in half. The RainWings all waited one moment, two moments, and Violet Skies woke up.
Violet Skies looked around, before smiling as she saw the SkyWing. "Marble! Why are you here?"
"Queen Firestorm is dead," He informed her. "But Scarlet is queen now, so I figured I would be safer here than at the palace." Violet Skies nodded, then hugged him.
"Are you two in love?" Raspberry interrupted. The two SkyWings looked at each other for a moment before Violet Skies nodded.
"I'll introduce you to everyone later," Violet Skies told Marble as they all flew back to the den. "It's getting a bit late..."
== Larimar ==
=== Part One ===
It was another busy day for Larimar. Every day had become a busy day for her when her mother died, her father remarried, then later died. Smoky Quartz was as most first-circle IceWings were, tall and self-absorbed, and her daughters were no better. Her mother, her real mother, wasn't like most first-circle dragons, and that had gotten her killed, and Smoky Quartz in her place.
"LARIMAR!" One of her stepsisters, Pine, called out. The other stepsister, Silverclaws, echoed Pine's cry. This was her life now, nothing more than a servant for them. They saw it fitting, as her father was third-circle, and in their eyes, anyone lower than the first circle was not worth speaking to. Larimar sometimes wondered how her father and Smoky Quartz had even gotten together.
Larimar sprinted into the room with Pine and Silverclaws, who waited impatiently as Larimar set their breakfasts down on the table in front of them.
Pine didn't look rather grateful, but that was to be expected. Silverclaws didn't even acknowledge her. Sometimes Larimar wondered if Pine and Silverclaws shared the same father or not, considering that neither of them looked like their mother. But it was not her place to question her stepmother's interests.
Larimar dipped her head to her stepsisters and went to her room for the five minutes of peace and quiet before they finished eating. She lay across her bed, reminding herself that it may be horrible now, but surely it could get better. Smoky Quartz couldn't live forever, could she?
A small animal caught her view, and she turned to see a scavenger waving his paws at her. This was one of her friends, and his name was Pebble. When her mother had isolated her from the rest of the world, she'd made friends with what she could. She'd even learned the language of scavengers, though she wasn't extremely skilled in it. She knew simple words and phrases, colors and emotions, as well as her own name and the names of her friends, but she still didn't know what scavengers called themselves.
"What is it?" Larimar whispered to the scavenger. "What happened?"
"I found another!" Pebble squeaked excitedly. The scavengers had an odd way of entering and exiting the IceWing palace, and Larimar had no clue how no dragon ever spotted them. Pebble disappeared in a crack in the wall, then reappeared minutes later dragging a half-asleep scavenger with him. The newcomer looked up at her, eyes wide, and shrieked, but Pebble began soothing him. The newcomer, it seemed, thought she was being sacrificed to Larimar.
"And who is this?" Larimar asked, pointing to the newcomer. "What is her name?"
The scavengers whispered to each other, too low for Larimar to make out the words, then turned back to her. "She says her name is Petal!" Pebble informed Larimar. Larimar outstretched one arm, and pointed one talon at Petal. Petal hesitated, then touched Larimar's talon in greeting.
"Welcome, Petal," Larimar said. She was about to ask Pebble to tell Petal about life in the palace, or find Creek to do it, but there was a loud knocking at the door of the house. "I had better get that," Larimar told them. "Mother won't be pleased." She didn't know the word for 'stepmother' yet, so she reluctantly referred to Smoky Quartz as her mother. The scavengers seemed to understand that they weren't related though, not by blood.
Larimar sprinted out of her room and down the steps, faintly aware that Pebble and Petal had stopped in the doorway to watch her. She opened the door to see an anxious-looking delivery dragon. She smiled at him, understanding his anxiety, and he seemed to relax slightly. He handed her an envelope, and bowed his head before flying off.
Larimar read the back of the envelope, but did not dare to open it. Smoky Quartz would not be happy if she did. It was from the Queen herself, so Larimar hastily trotted to Smoky Quartz's room, knocking three times as she was advised to.
"Come in," Smoky Quartz called. Larimar slid the door open, and flinched as she heard Pine and Silverclaws horribly playing the harp in the room. No wonder the door was closed, their neighbors may think an infestation of birds had arrived. Smoky Quartz glared at Larimar, so she quickly sped up to her stepmother and handed her the envelope.
"It's from the Queen," Larimar informed her. Pine and Silverclaws stopped their playing, looking unusually interested. Smoky Quartz opened the envelope, and read the paper in it, eyes widening as she did.
"It's an invitation to Princess Angelite's hatchingday ball. All those in the palace may attend," Smoky Quartz told them. "Pine and Silverclaws, you absolutely cannot go looking like that. Otherwise you'll be mistaken for a lesser IceWing and thrown out!" Pine and Silverclaws nodded, tripping over each other as they scrambled to their rooms.
"Would I be allowed to attend?" Larimar asked, then felt incredibly stupid. Smoky Quartz would definitely say no. But she wanted to go, wanted to get out of the house and enjoy herself.
"If you have something more proper to wear," Smoky Quartz scoffed, which meant no. Larimar nodded, and headed out of the room into her own.
"What was it?" Pebble asked as she flopped back onto her bed. "Who was at the door?"
"Just a dragon," Larimar sighed. "With offers to the princess's ball. But mother says I cannot go."
"Why not?" Petal asked, sitting on her desk. "Why can you not go?"
"I do not have anything fancy to wear," Larimar told them, resting her head on her pillow. "And I may get kicked out without looking fancy."
Pebble and Petal began whispering to each other, then Petal disappeared into the wall-crack, while Pebble began pointing to the chest. It had her mother's belongings, given to her before her death. Maybe it had something.
Larimar lightly patted Pebble on the head, then flung open the chest. Atop piles of fabric and strands of jewelry she never knew her mother had was a chain necklace with a single circle hanging off of it. A first-circle necklace, her mother's. She gasped, then slipped it over her neck. She wasn't first circle, but high enough to make Pine and Silverclaws complain at night. She then rummaged through the chest, pulling out a very nice and soft cloak, and slipped it over her, tucking it over her wings. She couldn't wear anything else, however, as the rest was just more cloaks and too-large accessories. She turned to see Petal running in the room again, dragging with her a necklace of pearls and a veil for her face.
"For the ball!" Petal squeaked. "I got it from your sisters!"
Larimar nodded, then slipped on the necklace, which was thankfully one that could be clipped open or closed, then slid the veil over her face. She looked in the mirror she had, and smiled. She looked perfect for the ball.
Larimar raced down the stairs, and stopped as she saw her stepsisters and stepmother at the door. Not waiting for her, but she'd arrived in time. She smiled at Smoky Quartz.
"I see you managed to uncover some things to wear," Smoky Quartz commented, narrowing her eyes. "Pine, Silverclaws, look at this."
Pine and Silverclaws turned to look, eyes wide as they took in Larimar.
"That looks- wait," Pine said, stepping forward and eyeing the necklace. "Mother, that's MY pearl necklace!" Pine didn't hesitate in yanking it right off, lucky that she didn't break it.
"I need a first-circle necklace!" Silverclaws sighed, pulling that off as well. "And my veil back, thank you not at all."
"Mother, can I have the cloak?" Pine asked, pointing to it.
"Why, of course," Smoky Quartz told her. "Larimar won't be needing it, she's not going!" At Larimar's shocked expression, she added, "Stealing accessories is not proper, nor is wearing only a cloak. They'll think you poor." Smoky Quartz smiled at her. "Think of it this way. If you go, they'll surely throw you out of the palace, and even I cannot help you. But if you stay, you won't be thrown out. I'm helping you, really." Then Pine snatched the cloak off of her, stuck out her tongue in a rude way, and draped the cloak over herself.
"Have fun at home," Silverclaws sneered, following Smoky Quartz out. Pine followed without hesitating, leaving Larimar utterly alone.
=== Part Two ===
The scavengers in her room were silent as Larimar lay on her bed, crying quietly. All of them had gathered to watch and wonder how they could help. Pebble, who was perched in the only window, wished he could punch Pine and Silverclaws in the snout.
Movement caught Pebble's eye, and he peeked out the window to see a strange pale blue dragon heading down the street. He thought he recognized her, but from where? He hadn't ever met any dragons outside of Larimar and her horrible, awful family. So where could he...
He recalled Larimar reading a book on royalty, and telling him about it. And if he remembered correctly, then... this was the animus princess, the one with the ball. So why was she here, and not at the ball? Pebble sat for a moment pondering, then remembered. Animus. Surely she could help!
Pebble grabbed Petal's arm, whispering frantically in her ear. The others seemed mildly interested in what he was whispering, but said nothing. He then dragged Petal to the hole, where they went through the lengthy process of exiting the house. They rarely did so, Pebble not being sure when the last time he did that was. They then ran across the ice lawns, hoping to intercept the princess before she left.
They slid and tumbled over the ice, before coming to a sliding stop at the princess's talons. She looked down at them, bewildered. Pebble began thinking about the dragonspeak Larimar had tried to teach him. He'd not gotten nearly as much understood as Larimar with humanspeak, but he hoped he could string together a sentence that would make enough sentence.
"She need help!" Pebble squeaked up at the princess, who stumbled back as he spoke her language.
"Who?" The princess asked, her voice soft. She then asked another question, but Pebble couldn't make out enough of the words to answer.
"Larimar!" Pebble cried, hoping that the princess knew Larimar. He knew they went to the same school- all palace dragonets went to one school- but he had no proof that they'd ever met, ever even shared a class. The princess tilted her head to one side, and Pebble assumed they hadn't met.
"She want to go to the ball, but mom said no!" Pebble squeaked again, wishing he'd been able to learn more dragonspeak. Petal, who had been standing to the side, began frantically waving her arms to catch the princess's attention. Once the princess turned her look to Petal, she began pointing rapidly at their house.
"Why did her mom say no?" The princess asked, looking at the house as if she hadn't noticed it before.
"Mom is evil!" Pebble informed the princess. "Keep her busy so she can not have fun. And now saying no to party."
The princess blinked at Pebble, then turned back to the house. "I think I will just go ask this Larimar about what happened." The princess headed to the house without another thought and opened the door.
Larimar still lay on her bed, but had stopped crying. But as talons began clicking on the ice stairs, she froze, and the scavengers all ran and hid. Larimar's eyes widened as an unfamiliar IceWing stepped into her room. But not just any IceWing. Princess Angelite, the only living animus.
"Did you teach the scavengers the dragon?" Angelite asked, turning her head to look at Pebble. Larimar nodded, and Angelite sat down. "They say your mother is evil and kept you from the party. Why? Aren't you a part of the second-circle?" Larimar nodded again.
"She's not my mother," Larimar said softly. "She's my stepmother, and she... doesn't particularly like me. She says I will get kicked out of the palace if I show up without anything eye-catching, then when I put something together she let her daughters rip it apart." Larimar looked away, staring instead at her desk.
"They won't kick you out just because you aren't wearing several expensive accessories. But I can help you, if you want." Angelite flexed her talons to remind Larimar that she was magical.
"But you can't use your powers!" Larimar exclaimed. "The whole point of the ball is for you to give your only gift!"
"No one will ever know anyway," Angelite said with a shrug. She grabbed a pile of books. "I enchant these books to become various beautiful accessories that will fit Larimar perfectly and make her unrecognizable, and to turn back into books and return to this room after midnight," Angelite declared. At once, the books all lifted into the air and shifted into various things. Necklaces, rings, veils, and a gem-embedded cloak. Even two anklets made out of pure glass. They all wrapped around Larimar perfectly, and when she looked in her mirror, she almost didn't recognize herself among all the beauty.
"Wow, thank you!" Larimar exclaimed. "But what will it cost?"
"Nothing," Angelite said with a smile. She extended a talon. "Shall we?" Larimar took Angelite's talon, not wanting to refuse the princess. Together they left the home and headed to the ballroom.
"The Queen won't be mad we weren't already there, by the way," Angelite said as they walked down the street. "I'm not expected to give my gift in another hour."
"What is your gift?" Larimar asked. She wondered what she would do if she were an animus with one gift. Create something to look into the future? Or something to give infinite knowledge?
"I was picturing something rather beautiful. We are at peace with the other tribes; Pyrrhia hasn't seen war in decades. So we don't need another Ice Cliff." Angelite paused for a moment before continuing, "so what about something that... this is going to sound weird, but something that mimics the outside weather in here?" Larimar stared, trying to picture it. "Specifically, when it snows, there will be light flurries in here, not enough to pile up, and that will melt away as soon as it touches the ground."
Larimar nodded, still unsure how to picture it. "It sounds nice."
"Mother disagrees, but I get to make the decision in the end, not her," Angelite shrugged. They stopped at large ice doors. "And we have arrived." They stepped inside, Angelite nodding to the guards. Larimar's eyes widened as they stepped into the ballroom, with beautiful music playing and dragons dancing. It was no party, everything seemed to be "proper", even the dances, but it was still nice. "The party's not that exciting," Angelite said. "Want to dance with me?" Larimar nodded, smiling. She did not agree because Angelite was a princess- no, she knew she could say no and Angelite would understand and go find something else to do. She agreed simply because she enjoyed the princess's company.
The two of them danced for a while with others, some dragons stopping to stare, until the clock chimed midnight and the queen called out to the crowd. Angelite hissed a word Larimar had never heard, but assumed wasn't very appropriate, judging by the looks some of the nobles nearby gave her.
"The spell will wear off now. Your family will recognize you, and they will not be pleased," Angelite told her. She stopped, her talon hovering over Larimar's, and she wondered if Angelite was considering reenchanting the accessories, but decided against it. Too many witnesses. "Go!" Angelite hissed.
Larimar nodded, turning and sprinting out of the room. In her hurry, one of the anklets around her ankle fell off and hit the ground, Angelite muttering under her breath as Larimar continued on, the accessories slowly disappearing.
Angelite grabbed the fallen anklet and quickly shoved it into the bag she kept hidden under her wing as her mother waved her forward. Right. It was showtime.
The sun rose, light filtering through the palace, and Larimar shot up out of her bed. Had last night been a dream? She looked to her desk, eyes widening as she saw the glass anklet still sitting there. Definitely not a dream, but shouldn't that have disappeared? A memory in the world, Larimar thought to herself, slipping it under the covers of her bed. She sat on the windowsill, staring outside. Pale snowflakes drifted throughout the palace. Angelite's enchantment, Larimar realized. She headed out of her room, and stopped as she saw her stepmother, Smoky Quartz, standing in front of her door.
"Why were you at the ball last night?" Smoky Quartz demanded. "That was you, wasn't it?"
Larimar shook her head, hoping she could string together a lie. "I stayed here like you told me to. I had nothing else to wear anyway," Larimar told Smoky Quartz. Smoky Quartz seemed to buy it, having realized there was no way for Larimar to have obtained all of that. Not even Smoky Quartz had jewels and cloaks that fine.
"Shining Diamonds!" Angelite hissed to her brother. She always found him rather ridiculous, but right now she needed his help.
"Hm?" He brother asked, looking up from what he was horribly drawing in his homework scroll.
"I need your help," Angelite said. She told him about Larimar, albeit briefly and skipping over many key factors, and about the dance. "Mother won't like that I prefer a second-circle dragon over the first-circle snob she's having me marry. But she won't care if you do."
"So you want me to look for her?" Shining Diamonds asked.
"Yes!" Angelite replied, fishing out the anklet she'd saved. She'd used her magic to save both this and the one Larimar still had. "You can use this, claiming that you did not see her but found this."
"And then what?" Shining Diamonds asked, rising to tower over his sister. It wasn't particularly fair that he was taller than her, especially considering that she was older, but that didn't matter. "If you can't be with her now, you definitely can't be with her when you find her."
"We'll run away!" Angelite declared. "I've already given my gift anyway. I don't want to be queen, I want to be happy." Shining Diamonds sighed, then nodded. Angelite hoped that the lighting of the ball room made her look similar enough to Shining Diamonds that they might think he had been the one to dance with Larimar. And they wouldn't question when she accompanied him, not if she claimed that she wanted to make sure that her gift was still running strong.
Prince Shining Diamonds was apparently looking for her. She assumed it was her, anyway. A mysterious dragon who'd shown up, outshone everyone, danced with royalty, then left at midnight sounded like her. But she hadn't danced with Shining Diamonds. She'd met the prince before, and knew he wasn't really interested in relationships. So perhaps this was a plan of Angelite's.
Larimar was in her room when the prince arrived. She tried to leave her room to go see him, hoping that Angelite would be there and recognize her. But the door, strangely, was locked. Usually the door wasn't locked unless Smoky Quartz had guests over or had gotten tired of her. Did she suspect?
Larimar began to panic, mind racing. What if Smoky Quartz lied about Larimar, made up something to make Angelite despise her? She'd done it before, she'd surely do it again. Petal was watching her, and without saying anything, nodded. Did she understand?
Petal scurried through the labyrinth in the walls until she made it to the main floor. There was the prince and the princess, both watching, unimpressed, as Pine tried and failed to tell them that the anklet was actually not an anklet, but rather a tailband, stumbling over her words. Silverclaws shook her head. Petal waved her hands, and Angelite noticed her, eyes widening.
Angelite said something to Smoky Quartz about them having been there for a while, and asked if they could rest. Smoky Quartz nodded rapidly, perhaps hoping that that was a good sign. Then as Shining Diamonds awkwardly walked into the sitting room, Pine and Silverclaws watching him intently, Angelite said something else about wanting to head out and return home. Smoky Quartz nodded, and clearly not caring if she left or not, headed into the sitting room as well, leaving Angelite alone.
Petal waved her hands again, and began pointing upstairs. Angelite looked up, and followed Petal to the top, until only a door stood in her way.
Pebble slipped out from one of the wall-cracks, staring at Angelite. "Larimar is in there," Pebble told her, using dragonspeak. Angelite nodded, eyes wide, then lifted her talons to the door, and it swung open without a key needed. Petal tilted her head. "Angelite is an animus," Pebble whispered in Petal's ear. Petal nodded.
Larimar lay on her bed, tapping her anklet anxiously when the door swung open. But it was not Smoky Quartz at the door, nor her stepsisters, but Angelite.
"Come on," Angelite whispered. "We're sneaking out." Larimar nodded, and Angelite grabbed her talon, pulling her down the stairs. They were lucky that Smoky Quartz did not hear them, and Larimar stopped to smile at her scavengers for a moment before Angelite tugged her out the door.
"Where are we going?" Larimar asked. To the palace? To another house? Outside of the palace?
"Outside of the Kingdom," Angelite told her. "Mother won't be pleased with me, but... I love you. I can't sit here and do nothing, so we're running away together." Larimar blinked. "I won't let anything bad happen to you, I swear." Angelite paused, tilting her head. "If you don't want to come, that's fine. I can find you a much safer place to live."
Larimar sighed. "I do want to go with you, but..." Angelite cut her off.
"Then let's just go! We'll go somewhere they won't find us, but somewhere we won't be isolated." Angelite paused, then added, "We can live with the SkyWings, or the NightWings, or on an island, but not here." Larimar smiled and nodded, and followed Angelite.
Category:Fanfictions
Category:Fanfictions (Incomplete)
Category:Genre (Short Story)