Random Wings Of Fire Stuff

== Moonjou ==
Everything was back to normal. At least, that was what everyone said. And yet Moon felt like everything had gone out of control for the first time since she had arrived at Jade Academy. Her first friend was turned into a powerless dragonet with no memory of his former self. She loved Peacemaker, but at the same time, whenever she looked at him, she remembered Darkstalker. His gleeful grin, the way he’d helped her to control her powers, that unreadable mind of his that only showed her what he wanted her to see, the sorrow on his face when he talked about Clearsight, his charisma and power, and his true desire to do the right thing for Pyrrhia. Despite everything he had done, Moon still cared about him, and her heart ached when she realized she would never see him again. It was a pain no one else would understand, but Moon had to carry it every day.
But that wasn’t the only thing that felt wrong. There was also Qibli and Winter. Moon sighed thinking of them. The two dragons who loved her, who, for better or worse, fought over her. She knew if she wanted either one of them in her life, she had to choose. The problem was… she wasn’t sure if she liked either one of them.
Oh, she liked them. She thought they were both great friends. She was happy she’d been able to help Winter accept other tribes, and she loved hanging out with Qibli, just laughing and talking, and not worrying about anything. Romance, though… she didn’t really feel ready for that. At least, not with them.
Winter was too loud, too aggressive. She knew he cared, but he could get angry with the flick of a tail, and that kind of relationship was too uncertain for her liking. She didn’t want to be with a dragon who was always yelling at her, or who wouldn’t let her make her own decisions. Winter had a lot of growing up to do before he would be ready for a relationship, with anyone really, not just Moon. She knew that he truly regretted what he had done, but it wasn’t enough.
Qibli was kind and smart and funny. If she had to choose between them, she thought she would choose Qibli. He made her laugh, and he cared about his tribe. He could read her like a scroll, the same way she could read him, at least without the skyfire. But… Moon wasn’t sure Qibli really liked her. She’d read his mind after all. He was so desperate for love. That was part of why he was so loyal to Thorn, because he’d thought she was the only dragon who would ever care about him. Then, he had come to Jade Mountain, and found friends. Turtle… Kinkajou… Winter… Moon. Privately, she thought he liked Winter, not her. Anyone with eyes could tell he was constantly flirting with him. Winter was oblivious, of course, but hopefully he would figure it out someday.  There was also the problem that Moon was in love with someone else. She wasn’t a SandWing or an IceWing. She was a RainWing.
Moon had thought that Darkstalker was her first friend, but that wasn’t entirely true. Kinkajou was her first friend. When that poor, frightened NightWing dragonet had arrived, Kinkajou had been the first one to get her out of her shell. Darkstalker had taught her to control her powers, but Kinkajou had taught her how to make friends. And slowly, she had come to realize that she loved her. That bouncy, exuberant RainWing was the dragon she loved. What she didn’t know was whether Kinkajou loved her back. 
Moon spread her wings and soared high into the clouds, heading for the tall green leaves of the rainforest. Swinging through the trees, she saw her mother down below and waved her tail, although she didn’t stop to talk. She had another mission today. 
Finally, she heard something. It was in her mind, the sound of excited, happy thoughts, beaming with joy. Moon would recognize those thoughts anywhere. She swooped down with a little laugh of delight. “Kinkajou!” 
Kinkajou jumped, but then her scales turned a vibrant pink color. “Moon!” she said, running up to her. 
“You took off your skyfire,” Moon noted. 
Kinkajou winced, but only for a moment. “Well, yeah. I mean, I’m grateful to you for giving it to me and everything, but it’s SO HEAVY! Not very good for tree gliding.”  
Moon laughed. “That’s alright.” 
“So,” Kinkajou said. “Why did you come? Did you want to see the tree-gliding competition? It’s almost over, but…” Kinkajou got a twinkle in her eye. “TAMARIN IS IN THE LAST RACE!!!!!”
Moon laughed again. She really did love Kinkajou. “I would like to see that, but first,” she hesitated. “I want to tell you something.” 
Kinkajou’s eyes widened in anticipation. “What happened? Did you have another prophecy? Did Darkstalker come back? Did Qibli and Winter confess their love for each other?”
Moon shook her head. “No, no, wait, what?”
Kinkajou giggled. “Did you really not notice that Qibli keeps flirting with Winter?”
“No, no, I noticed that,” Moon gave a growl of frustration. “Kinkajou, I’m in love with you.”
There was a millisecond of silence. Just a millisecond. Then Kinkajou started talking again. “Wow REALLY! THAT’S AMAZING!” 
Moon just stared. “Wait, you… you love me too?” 
Kinkajou’s smile softened, and she looked serious for the first time since Moon had met her. “Yes, Moon. I do.” And then she touched her snout to Moon’s. 
== Qinter ==
Winter stared at the NightWing and the SandWing standing in front of him. He wasn’t sure exactly why he had called them here. 
He thought he had called them here to yell at them. He’d thought he was angry because instead of killing Darkstalker, they had turned him into a tiny dragonet named Peacemaker, who would probably discover who he was and start killing Winter’s entire tribe any minute now. 
But as he looked at their faces, and uncertain smiles, he knew that wasn’t what he was going to do at all. He was here to tell one of them how he felt. The problem was, he wasn’t sure which one. 
Moon was dark icy lakes, she was stars in the sky, she was glittering glaciers. If she was an IceWing, she would have been First Circle, aloof and untouchable. She was deep and mysterious, a velvety night sky. He loved her more than anything. 
But then there was Qibli. Qibli couldn’t be compared to an IceWing, because he was so far removed from what an IceWing was. He was the hot desert sun, the grains of sand pricking Winter’s feet. He believed in a queen that wasn’t part of the line of succession, in freedom instead of order. He was everything Winter hated… but then why was he so enticing? He should hate him. He was a street thug, the opposite of a royal IceWing like Winter. But if Winter told Qibli that, then he would grin, and make some irritating comment and Winter would have to struggle to keep his own face from lighting up.  
He loved Moon. But he cared about Qibli, as a friend, and yes, as the dragon he loved. He breathed a deep breath, and began to speak.
“Moon… Qibli,” he said, hesitating as he glanced over both of their faces. Moon looked politely curious, the way she always looked. Moon didn’t seem to have emotions beyond politely curious and mildly happy. Except for when she got headaches and started spouting nonsense prophecy words. Qibli looked amused by this entire situation, and his talons were quietly tapping a tune Winter didn’t recognize. Well, it would have been quiet if it wasn’t echoing around this entire room. Why did everything have to be so loud at Jade Mountain? 
“Yes, Winter?” Moon said, smiling slightly. Winter felt a stab of indecision. Why was he doing this? He loved Moon! He’d given up everything for her.
But he knew now it hadn’t been for her. It had been to see Qibli’s too smart, irritating black eyes again. 
He turned away from Moon, and looked at Qibli. If he’d been a mind-reader, he would have been able to tell what Qibli was thinking. But as it was, he could tell his brain was racing like a polar bear cub. He decided to cut straight to the point. “Qibli, I love you.”
Qibli raised his eyebrows. “Oh, really? I thought I was just your “irritating clawmate”. Qibli looked like he wasn’t taking this seriously, but the smile on his face said otherwise. 
Winter let himself laugh for the first time in a while. “You are. And I am the nephew of Queen Glacier, and am obviously far above you. But for some reason I like you anyway.”
Moon was just standing there, with a confused expression on her face. But Winter and Qibli were too busy bantering to notice her. 
“Well, for some reason I like you too, even though you are a stuck up IceWing.” 
“Stuck-up? At least I am royalty! You are just a street thug.”
“Outclaw.”
“Street thug.” 
“Outclaw.”
“Street thug.”
“Whatever. Anyway, I like you too, you idiot. It took you long enough to figure it out.” And then Qibli ran in and hugged Winter, who wrapped his wings around the irritating, infuriatingly smart SandWing that he loved. 
== Cleril ==
Peril looked around, hoping no one else was in the prey center. Specifically, not a green SeaWing named Turtle who would probably be LYING ON THE FLOOR and totally ruining her big romantic moment. If it was romantic. Peril wasn’t entirely sure what qualified as romantic. Apparently, setting your enemies on fire did not, although helping in the death of Queen Scarlet was, to some extent. She would have asked Turtle, but somehow he didn’t seem like the type to know about romance. His crush, Kinkajou, had left him for Moon, which made complete sense. She liked Turtle(in a friendly way, OF COURSE) but he was SO BORING. He really was like a fireless puddle.  
Peril walked in, looking down to make sure she didn’t step on anyone’s tails, fruit, scrolls, or scavengers. She’d ALMOST stepped on one of the scavengers at Winter’s scavenger sanctuary one time, and he’d completely freaked out. He’d acted like it was the most valuable treasure in the world, not just a piece of prey that was slightly smarter than a camel or a sheep. 
But there wasn’t really time to be worrying about Winter. Clay was supposed to meet her here in a few minutes. She looked around, not seeing him, and immediately felt her heart begin to race. What if he wasn’t coming? What if he didn’t like her anymore? What if something had happened to him, and he needed Peril’s help? What if she'd hurt one of his students, somehow, without knowing it, and he was mad at her, and was going to banish her from Jade Mountain? 
Peril was just about to get up and go find Clay, either to protect him or convince him not to banish her, when she saw him entering the prey center. 
“Peril!” he said, with that ridiculous grin he always got when he saw her. Well actually when he saw anyone he knew, but she bet the smile was bigger when it was her.  
“Oh, Clay, hi! I’m glad you came. I mean, obviously you would, because I asked you to, and why wouldn’t you? But still.”
Clay smiled at her again. This time, it was that sweet smile that meant he liked her, but she needed to calm down because everything was fine. Or maybe that was just how Peril had interpreted it. She wasn’t that good at reading dragon faces, but she thought she’d watched Clay enough that she could recognize his expressions.
“So, uh, do you want to go flying maybe? I mean, you don’t have to if you’re busy, but since you had time to come here I thought maybe…” 
Clay grabbed her arm. It always gave her a shivery feeling when he touched her, as though she was expecting him to burst into flames no matter how many times he did it. “I’d love to, Peril. He spread his wings, and soared into the sky, with Peril soaring after him.
She quickly took ahead, as she was A SKYWING, and was much faster than most anyone, especially stupid Turtle, who was probably the slowest dragon in all of Pyrrhia, according to the way he had acted during their journey. 
No, Peril, she reminded herself. It’s rude to think things like that about your friends. 
But what if you don’t say it, Peril argued back at what was essentially Imaginary Clay. But she knew she probably still shouldn’t do it, so she turned her attention back to Clay. 
“So, uh, how has the school been?” she asked. Did that sound like a normal question? Or was that ridiculous? Should she just tell him how she felt already? She wasn’t sure, this thing called “small talk” was new to her.  
“Good,” Clay said, brushing his tail with hers. Did that mean he already knew she loved him? Or was he just saying it was good? Or did that mean it really wasn’t good, and he was trying to express it nonverbally? Was something important happening that Peril wasn’t picking up on? “A few students are doing a presentation about the history of SkyWing royalty, and they brought in a real royal.”
“Who?” Peril said with genuine curiosity. “Queen Ruby? She’s normally really busy, but I guess maybe…”
“No, it’s Cliff.” 
Peril laughed, fire snorting out of her nose. “Cliff, really? What is he going to do, sing that song of his?” 
“Yes, actually,” Clay said, landing on a boulder. “He says it’s his “first official performance.” 
“That sounds like Cliff,” Peril said, trying not to laugh. She hadn’t seen the SkyWing prince since the whole fiasco with Scarlet, but she was happy to see that his dream of being the “number one most beautiful singer in all of Pyrrhia someday” were being realized. 
“Um, Clay, I-I-I wanted to tell you something.”
“Yes?” he said, extending a wing. She looked at it for a moment before she realized she was supposed to touch her wing to his. She did so, and then continued.
“I’m in love with you. I think? I mean, I think about you all the time, and whenever I have a problem, I think about what Clay would do, so you know, that’s what Qibli said love is.” 
Clay’s face was doing some strange things. First, his eyes started getting all big. Then a big smile broke out on his face. And then he wrapped his wings around her, which was the weirdest feeling. Peril almost pulled away before she remembered it was Clay. Fireproof Clay. Her Clay.
“I love you too, Peril,” he whispered in her ear, and Peril’s entire body broke out in flames from pure delight. Clay winced, but he didn’t pull away. 
And that was how they stayed, until Tsunami found them out there to tell Clay he had a class in a few minutes, and then pulled Clay away, presumably to give him a lecture about how DANGEROUS and UNTRUSTWORTHY Peril was, which was just ridiculous. She was totally trustworthy. And if Tsunami tried to separate Clay from Peril, she would SET HER ON FIRE! 
But for now, everything was almost perfect. Scarlet was dead, Clay was her boyfriend, and Tsunami couldn’t do one thing about it. SO THERE. 
== Turtlone(Yes, I'm Biased Against Turtle.) ==
Turtle hated his life. Everyone else seemed so happy. Moon was off frolicking with Kinkajou in the rainforest, probably reveling in Turtle’s sadness. Why would Kinkajou like him anyway? He was a no-good excuse for a dragon who hadn’t done anything about Darkstalker even when he could have. Winter and Qibli were also frolicking, well, arguing about whether or not they should frolick, but close enough. It was their kind of love, and one Turtle would never have. He sank lower into the ground. Peril and Clay were a happy couple. That was one Turtle actually wasn’t bitter about. He liked Peril, only as a friend, obviously, and he was happy for her. 
But Moon and Kinkajou… Turtle looked with frustration at the armband he was wearing. The soul spell. He knew it was a good idea, and it certainly seemed to have made Anemone happy. Turtle, though… he just wanted to make Kinkajou love him. It had seemed like she did, before she abandoned him to go frolic with Moon. But he wouldn’t be able to enchant her anyway. He could think of way too many ways that could go wrong. 
Turtle sighed. He should probably just do what he always did. Lie around and wait for something good to come to him, if anything ever did.
INTERLUDE FROM THE AUTHOR: Attention everyone! Attention! Turtle is really boring, so we are done with him. I don’t know what to write. He’s sad. And alone. The end.
== More Qinter, Because I Love Them ==
“What?!’ Qibli said, staring up at Winter.
“Are you going deaf?” Winter said, shaking his icicle horns. “I’ve repeated it twice already.”
“No, no, I heard you, I just,” Qibli shook his head. “Let me get my head around this. You’re saying that we need to go to the Queen of the IceWings to get approval for our relationship.”
“Exactly,” Winter said, nodding his head sternly. Qibil had to make an effort not to break out laughing. 
“But… aren’t you banished?” Qibli asked, tilting his head. 
Winter got a confused look in his eyes. “Well--yes, but the queen said that I could come back for important things, and this is important.” 
Qibli frowned, trying to think of another way he could get out of this. “If you’re banished, why does it matter that the queen approves our relationship?”
Winter growled, and his tail lashed on the floor. “Because it is an important IceWing ritual!” 
Qibli nodded wisely. “Ah, yes. We SandWings have a ritual like that too.”
“Really?” Winter asked, skeptical. 
“Yes, of course. We call it the picking up of the rock.” Qibli bent down and picked up a small pebble. He spun around in a circle, then held it up in front of Winter. “Ask the rock for acceptance, Winter!” 
Winter slapped the rock out of his claws. “This is serious! If we don’t do this, the Ice Kingdom won’t officially recognize our relationship.” 
Qibli sighed. Asking a bunch of stuck-up IceWings for permission to be Winter’s boyfriend was not his idea of fun, but for Winter’s sake, he would try. He extended his wings and shook his tail out. Winter leaped back and Qibli shot him an amused look. 
“Trust me, if I stab you with my tail, you can take consolation in the fact that it was absolutely intentional.” 
Winter hit Qibli with his tail. “And you should know that if you do stab me, an army of IceWings will come to get revenge.” 
“Oh, yes, I’m sure getting revenge for the murder of Prince Winter will be top priority for the new queen.” 
Winter stopped with his wings partially extended, a look on his face like he’d just been bitten by a dragonbite viper. “I forgot,” he hissed. 
“Forgot what?”
“Snowfall’s the queen now. Explaining this to Glacier would have been bad enough, but Snowfall....” he shook his head. “Maybe we shouldn’t go after all.” 
“Oh, come on,” Qibli said, flicking Winter’s wing. “You get all worked up about this IceWing ritual and now you’re saying we shouldn’t go? No way! Besides, teasing aloof royalty is one of my favorite activities.” 
Winter smirked, and took off into the sky, with Qibli right behind him, swooping through the sky with a feeling of exhilaration in his heart. Maybe this would be fun after all. 
Qibli knew they’d gotten to the Ice Kingdom when Winter tackled him out of the sky. They plummeted downward, in a twist of wings and legs, until they landed hard on the snow-covered rocky ground. 
“Ow!” Qibli said, pulling himself up with a wince. “What was that for?” 
“Look up,” was all Winter said. Qibli turned his eyes upward and was shocked by what he saw. 
A huge cliff of blue ice went ever farther upward, until Qibli couldn’t see it anymore. “What is that?” he whispered. He knew it was silly, but it almost felt like the cliff was watching him, saying, You shouldn’t be here. Get out of our kingdom! 
“That,” Winter said proudly. “Is the Great Ice Cliff.”  
Qibli had heard a little bit about that in school. Apparently it shot narwal spears at anyone who crossed it that wasn’t an IceWing. But he hadn’t even thought about having to cross it. “Thank you for not letting it shoot me with ice spears.”
Winter blushed, but it only lasted for a moment. “Well, it would be boring flying all the way home without you. Besides, it would be difficult to explain to Sunny how I got one of her students shot at by the Great Ice Cliff.” 
“Yeah, that was probably in the paperwork somewhere. Do not let your traveling companions get shot at by narwal spears.” After everything that had happened with Darkstalker and the Jade Winglet, any student who wanted to leave school without one of the dragonets had to fill out a ton of scrolls saying exactly where they were going, and exactly what they were doing, and making sure that nothing dangerous was involved. Qibli had almost ripped apart the scrolls several times in frustration. 
“So…” Qibli asked. “How do we get over the Great Ice Cliff?” It seemed too thick to break apart, and he was sure that no matter how high they flew, it would still manage to shoot at him. 
“We don’t,” Winter said. “We go around it.” 
“More flying?” Qibli said, shaking the snow off his aching wings. 
“More flying,” Winter agreed. 
After about an hour of flying over the ocean, they finally touched down. Qibli’s talons were freezing, but Winter was breathing in the cold air like it gave him life, so he decided not to complain. After walking for a mile or so, they met a guard. 
“Halt!” the gray and silver IceWing demanded. “Who are you?” 
Winter bowed deeply, which confused Qibli before he remembered the IceWing system of circles. Since Winter was in exile, he was probably below everyone. 
Qibli felt Winter nudge him, probably telling him to bow too, but he held his head high. He wasn’t an IceWing, and he didn’t need to follow their rules. He certainly wasn’t going to bow to this irritating guard who probably thought that IceWings were the ultimate tribe of Pyrrhia. 
Winter glared at Qibli, and continued speaking. “I am Prince Winter, and this is my boyfriend, Qibli. We would like to go see the queen.” Qibli felt a little sunbeam of happiness run through him when Winter called him his boyfriend, but he pushed it down. He was being ridiculously sappy. Focus on the problem at hand, get sappy over Winter later. 
The guard growled, and made a gesture with his hand, signaling for Winter to get up. He pointed a spear at both of them, and started marching them through the snow. 
After what felt like years of falling into snowdrifts and freezing his talons off, they finally arrived at the palace. Qibli had to admit, it was pretty impressive. Not as nice as Queen Thorn’s palace, of course, but it looked like it would have been difficult to construct. It was entirely made out of ice, with towers and a courtyard with a wall in it. Little snowflakes fell down, even though it wasn’t snowing anywhere else. He wondered if it was an animus gift, and made a mental note to ask Winter when they got home.  
When they got into the courtyard, Winter grabbed something off an ice tree. It was a glowing orb that floated above Winter’s head. He glanced at Winter, who nodded, so he grabbed one of his own. The guard looked disgruntled, but didn’t stop him. As soon as he plucked it off the tree, the guard poked the spear into his back, gently so that it didn’t actually pierce the scales, and they were marched into the throne room. 
Snowfall was in there, arguing with a white and blue dragon, who flew out of the room when they came in. She turned to them with an annoyed expression on her face. 
Hmm, Qibli thought. Paranoid, self-conscious. Misses her mother. She’s trying desperately to be a good queen, and protect her tribe, but she doesn’t really know how. 
“What are you doing here? I am busy! There are unidentified rainbow dragons coming to invade our kingdom…” Snowfall’s voice trailed off as she saw Winter’s face. Her eyes narrowed. 
“You!” she spat. “What are you doing here? Are you coming to steal my kingdom? Guards!” 
Qibli could tell Winter was having a difficult time restraining his anger. “No, my queen. I want to ask you something.” 
Snowfall looked at him with piercing blue eyes. “Hmmm. Go get some more guards,” she ordered the one guard who had brought them there. 
There was still one dragon standing by Snowfall, who hadn’t flown away. She was an icy blue, with speckles of darker blue on her wings and snout, a bit like the silver scales on a NightWing. He saw Winter catch his breath. 
“Lynx!” he said, going up to her. Snowfall shot him a glare that could have froze the sun, and he backed off, bowing as he did so. A moment later, four more guards came into the room, which Qibli thought was rather ridiculous. He could have escaped already if he wanted to, so there was no reason for so many guards. 
“So,” Snowfall said, glaring daggers at Winter. “What is it you wanted to tell me, cousin?”
“Queen Snowfall,” Winter said, breathing heavily, “I would like you to accept my relationship with Qibli.”
Snowfall just stared at him, then she turned to Qibli who cocked his head and looked her in the eyes, she opened her mouth, but was pulled aside by Lynx.  
Qibli was sure they thought no one could hear them, but like how SkyWings and IceWings have sharp eyes, SandWings have sharp ears. He could hear every word of their conversation.  
“Oh, come on, Snowfall. They love each other, what’s wrong with that?” Lynx was saying.
“The problem,” Snowfall said slowly, “is that Winter is in love with a SandWing. What self-respecting IceWing would ever fall in love with anyone but an IceWing. He’s a disgrace! And is probably planning to steal my throne!”
“He’s already banished, what does it matter? Besides, he’ll probably leave quicker if you just approve it. Then you’ll never have to see him again, although personally I think you should let him come back.”
“Never! He ruined the Diamond Trial. He freed Foeslayer! Besides, I am the queen. I don’t have to listen to you.”
“Whatever you say.” Qibli could see Lynx shrug. “But I think you should just approve their relationship.
Snowfall growled. “Fine. But I am doing this because I want to, not because you’re telling me too.”
She turned back to Qibli and with a face that was trying way too hard to look queenly, said, “I, as the Queen of the Ice Kingdom, officially approve your relationship with this SandWing. Now go!” she snapped, and Winter bowed frantically while trying to scoot backward out the door. Qibli flashed a smile at Snowfall, and then went after him.
Winter was looking angry enough, so Qibli decided not to tell him that Snowfall had only approved the relationship to get him to leave. Instead, he just twined his tail with Winter’s, and they walked out of the palace together, into the cold and snow of the Ice Kingdom.
== Clay Hanging Out With His Siblings ==
Clay flew through the sky, swooping down into the swamps. Most dragons didn’t notice him, but those who did smiled. Some started clapping. It was all very strange. Clay had been unconscious for most of the time, so he hadn’t actually done much, but everyone treated him like a hero anyway. 
Finally, he got to the sleephouses. He remembered the last time he’d been here, using the dreamvisitor to tell MudWings about the end of the war. But now, all he had to do was find his siblings. There were no more prophecies, no more battles. Just peace, and the school they were going to start. 
He saw the house, with its dark brown wood and surrounding mud pools. Clay looked around until he saw five dragonets wrestling around in the mud. He ran over to them.  
“Reed! Sora! Umber!” 
Five heads popped out of the mud. “Clay?” 
A chorus of voices began to shout. “Clay! Clay! Clay, you’re here!” 
Reed came to the front. He looked a little uncertain, like he always did around Clay, as if he thought Clay was going to try and steal his position as bigwings. “Hi, Clay. We were hoping you would come.”
Pheasant, one of his two surviving sisters, came to the front, holding… Clay’s eyes widened and his mouth began to water. She was holding a hippo. 
“We caught this for you. Maybe we can share it while you tell us about what happened with the three sisters?” she asked. The others nodded, with varying degrees of enthusiasm. Reed looked excited, Umber curious, while Marsh and Sora looked interested and slightly apprehensive. 
“Well, I suppose I can tell you about it…” 
“Great!” Reed said, and his siblings all gathered around him. Clay, after a moment of hesitation, scooted in and wrapped his wings around all of them. He took a bite out of the hippo, which was delicious and then began to speak. “Well, it all started when we got to Burn’s palace. Sunny had dreamvisited all three queens, so we were just waiting for them to arrive.” Sunny. Clay felt so bad about that. He’d never realized she felt so underappreciated. He’d tried to listen to Sunny, and had often told the group about her ideas, but Tsunami and Glory were often too busy fighting to listen very often. Starflight had probably done the best out of all of them. He’d noticed when Sunny was upset in a way the rest of them hadn’t.  Still, he hoped she knew they all cared about her. Even Tsunami, who was terrible at listening to Sunny, had been worried when she’d vanished. Well, she’d been incredibly angry, but that was her way of being worried. 
“Yes?” Sora asked quietly, jolting Clay out of his thoughts. 
“Oh, sorry! So the first one that arrived was Burn, who thought of this as a way to take out her sisters.” 
Marsh shivered, and Pheasant pulled him closer. Umber looked grumpy. “That sounds like Burn. I’m glad she’s not queen.” 
Clay could tell Reed came within a breath of telling Umber that they supported Burn, before remembering she was dead, and they didn’t need to be scared anymore. 
“Then Blister showed up, and Blaze. They all said that we had chosen them, and Sunny explained that they were going to let the SandWings choose.” Clay had almost ran in front of Sunny during that whole exchange. Seeing Sunny, who was essentially his little sister, tell two large, terrifying dragons, and one non-terrifying dragon with a terrifying dragon as her ally, that two of them weren’t going to be queen, was the most horrible thing he’d ever gone through. All Clay wanted to do was protect his friends. But this time, he couldn’t, and it had been harder than anything, harder than being in Queen Scarlet’s arena, harder than being locked up, harder than rescuing Glory. Because this time, he’d had to stand back and let one of his friends put themselves in danger, and it had been awful. 
His siblings were staring at him with wide eyes. “Wow,” Sora whispered. 
“Is she alright?” Marsh asked anxiously. “Burn didn’t hurt her?”
Clay shook his head. He remembered what happened next. He didn’t really want to talk about it, but he knew his siblings deserved to know. “No. Blister started agreeing with Sunny, and handed Burn a box. She said that it was a gift, but Burn could hear the dragonbite viper inside.” 
Clay wrapped his wings around Marsh and Sora, seeing them tremble, trying to send them waves of comfort, of It’s alright. I’m here. Pheasant’s eyes were wide, and she was leaning in closer, trying to catch every word of the story.  
“So, Burn killed the dragonbite viper, but it turned out there was another one in the box, and it bit Burn. Then everyone started running around, trying to get away from it. But I saw it going towards Sunny, and….” Clay hesitated. He didn’t like this part. Well, he did, because he’d saved his friends, and he was glad about that. He certainly didn’t regret what he’d done. He just didn’t like thinking about the venom that had poured through his veins, as hot as Kestrel’s fire. But Reed’s eyes were fixated on him, and he knew he needed to know.  
“And it bit me.” 
Before he knew it, a gasp of horror had come up from Marsh, and Pheasant had him clasped in her wings. “Ssh,” she whispered. “It’s alright. Everything is alright.” Reed was staring at Clay with an expression of absolute horror on his face. “We should have been there,” he said. “Sibs protect each other. We should have been there for you.”  
“It’s alright,” Clay said. “You couldn’t have been. Besides, I’m alright.”
“But… how did you survive?” Umber asked, with a light of curiosity in his eyes. “The bite of a dragonbite viper is fatal.” 
“Peril,” Clay said. 
“Peril?” Pheasant asked. “The firescales. The one in Queen Scarlet’s arena. That Peril.” 
“Is there another Peril?” Clay asked, genuinely curious. “But yes, the one with firescales.”  
“How did she save you?” Sora asked quietly. 
“No, why did she save you?” Umber asked, eyes narrowed. “I’ve heard about her. All she knows how to do is kill.” He glanced around at his sibs, as if to say that he would protect them in an instant from any dragon, firescales or not. 
Clay’s stomach was growling, and he took a few more bites out of the hippo. “Well, I don’t really know why she saved me, but I do know how. She burned the poison out of my system.” 
Everyone stared. Reed was the first to speak. “But that would have killed you!” 
“No,” Marsh spoke. “He has fireproof scales, remember?” He curled up back into Pheasant’s wings. 
“Right,” Clay said. “I still have a limp though.” He pointed to his leg. Sora crept up to look at it and immediately started crying. 
“Crane!” she wailed. “Blood, burned scales, frostbreath everywhere, churned up mud around her body.” Clay could see Sora breathing in deeply. “Mud. Comforting, soft mud. Sinking into mud puddles. Calm. Breathe.” He didn’t know what to do, so he just leaned into her, reminding her that it was alright. 
“So, anyway,” Clay said, after being prodded a bit by Pheasant, “I was unconscious for the rest of the time, but Sunny told me what happened. Basically, Sunny found this old SandWing treasure thing. She said it was animus something?” Clay had trouble remembering the story. It was all very confusing, and there was a scavenger involved somewhere in it, he thought? But that wasn’t very important. 
“Animus touched,” Sora said softly. “There were several animus touched objects in the SandWing treasury, but the most famous was the Eye of--”
“Eye of Onyx! That was it!” Clay said.  
“I’ve heard of that!” said Pheasant. “Apparently it chooses who the rightful queen of the SandWings should be.”
“Yeah, it certainly did. Burn was dead, and Blister and Blaze were fighting.” 
Reed gave a snort. “Blaze? How long did she last? A minute? Thirty seconds?”
“Well, Sunny found the Eye of Onyx, and gave it to Thorn, her mother. But then Blister tried to grab it and it burned her up, so Thorn is the new queen.” 
Pheasant stared with wide eyes. “Wow! So you did fulfill the prophecy.”
Clay squirmed. He remembered when Morrowseer had told them that the prophecy was fake. That the NightWings had made up the whole thing in order to take over the rainforest. That none of it was real.
But Sunny had decided that they should tell everyone that it was real. That it was the last prophecy. And to be honest, Clay didn’t particularly care. The prophecy had given dragons hope, it had made them believe that there could be an end to the war. And now the war was over, and the dragonets had helped. Did it really matter that the prophecy had been fake? 
“Yes,” Clay said. “We did. And I’m going to have to go soon, my friends and I are setting up a school for all tribes on Jade Mountain. If any of you want to come, you would be more than welcome.” 
Reed stood up, facing Clay. “We’ll talk about it. And…” he hesitated. “Thank you for telling what happened.” 
Clay smiled. “You’re welcome.” He grabbed the hippo in his talons and soared up into the sky. He could hear the cries of joy and laughter from his siblings and he felt his heart fill with hope. It was finally over. No more destiny. No more war. Just him, his friends, and the school they were going to build. 
== Ripnami ==
Tsunami was very angry. She had been going to wait until Riptide contacted her, but it had been a week of setting up this school, and nothing. A week of dragging in scroll racks. A week of making information posters and organizing school supplies. A WEEK. And not one letter from Riptide. 
What could he possibly be doing that was more important than talking to her? Had the Talons of Peace infected him somehow, and made him stop caring about other dragons? Tsunami growled. When she found him, she was going to bite him for making her this worried. 
No, no. Don’t listen to your first instincts all the time. You’re not going to bite Riptide.  
She was going to yell at him though. He totally deserved it. He’d betrayed her by joining the Talons of Peace(which she felt like should bother her more but it didn’t for some reason), and hadn’t sent her one letter. Not one. So all she’d had to do was set up the school, and listen to Fatespeaker moon over how amazing Starflight was, listen to Starlight moon over how amazing his library was going to be, listen to Sunny moon over how amazing the school was going to be, and listen to Clay moon over how his siblings were going to come to the amazing school.
At this point, she would have preferred Glory. 
But Glory was off in the rainforest, teaching the RainWings how to fight, and so Tsunami needed someone else besides Fatespeaker, Starflight, Clay, and Sunny to talk to. Someone who didn’t see her as a dragonet of destiny, or the founder of Jade Mountain, or the princess of the Sea Kingdom. Someone who cared about her just as she was. 
And that someone was Riptide. 
As she finally got to where Deathbringer told her she could find the Talons of Peace--not that she trusted him, but Glory did, and she trusted Glory, so that would have to be good enough--she spread her wings, spun around in a circle, and lit up all the stripes at once. 
It should work as a signal. It had never failed to attract Riptide's attention before, after all. So she sat down on a boulder and waited. And waited. And waited some more. 
After about an hour, Tsunami had gotten up, and was pacing around, muttering angry things that sounded like, “What is taking so long? And, what could he possibly be doing? And, where in the three moons are the Talons of Peace!”   
Finally, after what felt like forever of pacing and looking up at the sky ever so often, they appeared. Riptide, along with a few other dragons. Talons of Peace. 
Tsunami’s tail lashed on the ground. She didn’t want them here. She didn’t want to be reminded of his connection to the dragons she hated. All she wanted to do was talk to him, to laugh like they used to, back in the Kingdom of the Sea when he was teaching her Aquatic. Was that so hard? 
“Tsunami,” Riptide said. She could hear the surprise in his voice, but he was trying to keep it down, not to show the other Talons his shock. Why did he care so much about what they thought? They didn’t matter. “Are you looking for the Talons of Peace?”
Tsunami looked him straight in the eyes. “No,” she said. “I’m looking for you.” 
Riptide waved a claw at the other Talons. “You can go, everyone. Me and Tsunami need to be alone.”  
The other Talons gave her suspicious glances, which made Tsunami want to smack them with her tail. They shouldn’t be suspicious of her. She should be suspicious of them, after they sent an assassin to kill them, and locked them all up in a cave for the first six years of their life. But looking into Riptide’s dark blue eyes, those thoughts all floated away like seagulls over the ocean.  
“So,” Riptide said, fidgeting with one claw. “I’m the leader of the Talons of Peace now. Nautilus retired, and he left it to me.” 
“Oh.” Tsunami said. Because really, what was she supposed to say? Congratulations for becoming the leader of a group of dragons who I hate and who trapped me underground for six years? Somehow that didn’t seem appropriate.
“Yeah. Um… so, why did you come here?” Riptide asked. 
Tsunami shrugged. “Just to talk, I guess?” She lowered her voice. “I’ve really missed you while I’ve been at Jade Mountain. Why didn’t you send me any letters?”
Riptide’s head drooped. “I don’t know, I guess I just thought you might hate me… after how I joined the Talons of Peace and everything.” 
Tsunami flashed the stripe at the end of her tail three times. Squid brain. Riptide let out a loud laugh. 
“Oh, I am angry at you,” Tsunami continued. “I mean, you totally betrayed me by not telling me a lot of very important things. Speaking of which, do you have any other life-changing secrets that I should know about?”
Riptide looked confused. “Um, no? I don’t think so?” 
Tsunami smiled. “Good.” And then she leaned in, and tapped him on the snout. 
For a moment, Riptide looked like he was about to faint. His eyes seemed to be bulging out of his head, and he was almost too in shock to keep his snout touched to hers..  
“You… you…” he stammered. 
“Yes, Riptide. I love you. I should hate you, for everything you did, but I can’t.” 
“Well, I love you too, Tsunami. Honestly, ever since I saw you storm into the Summer Palace and order around Shark, I knew you were something special. Then, when I started teaching you Aquatic… I knew I had fallen in love with you.”
“Me too. I was heartbroken when I found out that you had joined the Talons of Peace. I thought I’d never be able to love you again. I was so angry at you. But I knew, deep down, that I still cared about you, squid brain. Oh, and I did use the squid brain trick on Whirlpool,” Tsunami added. 
Riptide laughed. “Really? I wish I’d seen his face.”
And if the Talons of Peace had been able to hear, they would have been shocked to see their leader laughing and talking with the dragonet of destiny who hated them all. 
== Starspeaker ==
Starflight sat at his desk, listening to the tramping sounds of MudWing feet coming in and out of the room that was soon to be a library. His library. 
He wasn’t entirely sure how one was meant to be a librarian when they were blind. Tamarin had taught him how to get around places and recognize dragons by the sound of their footsteps and tail thumps, but flying around the RainWing village was very different from being a librarian. What if he gave someone the wrong scroll? When dragons returned scrolls, how would he know where they went? How could he be a librarian when he couldn’t even read anymore? 
Starlight was shaken out of his anxieties by the sound of talonsteps. They were light, so it was probably a dragonet. They were too light to be Clay, no sound of webbed talons, so it wasn’t Tsunami, Glory wasn’t here, and he could hear a tail thumping, so it wasn’t a RainWing. It could be Sunny, but Starflight had a feeling he knew who it was. 
“Fatespeaker?” he called out hesitantly. 
Her loud, excitable voice rang out from the darkness. “Yes, it’s me. I wanted to see how you were doing.” Starlight heard a yelp and “Sorry, sorry, sorry,” and assumed that Fatespeaker had bumped into one of the MudWing workers.  
Soon, he felt a talon on his shoulder and he knew that it was Fatespeaker. He started speaking. “Um… Nice to see you. Thank you for helping me get around Jade Mountain for the first couple of days.” Tamarin had taught him how to get around, but while he didn’t know Jade Mountain very well, Fatespeaker had been near him, helping him while he tried to feel his way around. 
“No problem!” Fatespeaker said. “You had to come here, because I had a vision! I saw that you were going to start the greatest library in all of Pyrrhia. And all the other librarians would come here and say, “Wow, that’s Starflight, the super awesome librarian. I wish our libraries were as awesome as his!”  
Starflight gave a soft smile. “You know very well that the NightWings don’t really have powers. It was all a lie.” 
Fatespeaker huffed and Starflight could almost imagine that he could see the grumpy look on her face. “I know that’s what Morrowseer said, but my visions are totally different. They’re real! Okay, maybe they don’t come true all the time, but I’m sure they’re real.”  
Starflight could feel the smile pressing on his lips. “Whatever you say, Fatespeaker. I’m pretty sure I could find some evidence that proves your powers aren’t real though. Anyway, why are you here? They’re bringing in the scroll racks,” Starflight pointed vaguely into the darkness, hoping he was facing a scroll rack, “but we don’t have any scrolls yet.” 
“I’m not here for scrolls, silly!” Fatespeaker laughed. “I’m here to help you! I’ve had a vision!”
“Oh, what was it this time?”
“That you are going to be able to get around this library without help. And I’m going to help you and kings and queens will visit it and you will give them scrolls!” 
Starflight couldn’t help but think about that. Him, in charge of the greatest library in Pyrrhia. Queens would come to his library to get scrolls they couldn’t get anywhere else. Everything would be perfectly organized and he would always know where everything was. But even as he thought of it, he could hear Morrowseer’s voice echoing in his head. Weak. Useless. You’re a failure of a NightWing. You’ll never amount to anything. 
Fatespeaker grabbed his arms, and he realized it was time to start. He got up, and began walking. 
Aften an hour or so, Starflight wandered through the blackness, put his talons on his desk, and banged his head against it. “I’m never going to get this!” he wailed. 
“You’re right,” said a booming voice. Starflight whirled around and found himself looking straight into the dark black eyes of Morrowseer. 
He backed away. “You…”
“Yes, it’s me. You are running out of chances to show you can obey orders, Starflight. You’re just a worthless, pathetic dragonet who has no powers and will never amount to anything.” Starflight backed away, seeing only darkness and Morrowseer’s face everywhere he turned. He knew those words. He’d heard them so many times in his own head. Weak. Pathetic. Useless. 
“Ssstarflight, what’s wrong?” a voice hissed. He turned his gaze and grabbed the desk to steady himself. He could see the bright orange scales of Queen Scarlet. “I can’t wait to watch the NightWing fight. I think once he’s dead I’ll cut off his wings and hang them in my throne room. So thrilling!” 
Starflight ran. His head whipped around from side to side, trying to see where Morrowseer and Scarlet had gone. He had to find some place to hide. But how could he, when all he could see was cold, empty blackness, the way he had ever since he’d gone blind. Blind…
Starflight frowned. How could he have seen Morrowseer when he was blind? He sighed, and felt the bump on his head. He must have been hallucinating, bringing images from his nightmares to life after he hit his head. 
He crouched in the corner for a long time, shivering with fear, before he felt wings wrap around him. They didn’t emit warmth like Sunny’s wings, but the comforting feel of touching something separate from the crushing darkness was almost as good. 
“Fa-fatespeaker?” Starflight whispered, terrified he would hear Queen Scarlet’s voice responding.  
“Starflight, what’s wrong? Can I help you?” came back Fatespeaker’s enthusiastic, unmistakable voice. Starflight relaxed into her wings. Fatespeaker rubbed his head, then jerked back. “You’re hurt! Is that why you ran away? Should we bring you to the infirmary?”  
“No, no, I-I was hallucinating,” Starflight explained. “I saw you as Scarlet and I saw Morrowseer. But it’s more than that.” 
Fatespeaker sat down next to him. He could feel her wings come down and wrap around his shoulders. “Tell me.” 
Starflight started talking. He could feel his voice shake a little, but he kept going. She needed to know. “For the past few weeks, ever since the volcano erupted, I’ve been having nightmares.” Starflight had thought that he’d stood up to Morrowseer and been brave when he’d saved his tribe. But going blind had shattered his confidence, and Morrowseer had slipped through the cracks into his mind. “Morrowseer is there. He insults me, tells me I’m worth nothing. Sometimes I’ll be in Scarlet’s arena, fighting scavengers, while her laughter echoes through my mind.” 
Fatespeaker wrapped her wings around him again, and whispered in his ear. “Do you remember what I told you?”
He did. “Starflight… you were so brave.”
“That’s right. And I still believe that. You are brave and strong and smart and kind and… and I love you.” He could feel her gaze on him, her eyes staring into his soul as if she really could see the future.
“Ha!” Morrowseer snorted. “She doesn’t care about you. Why would anyone care about you? You’re pathetic!” 
“I can’t wait to watch the NightWing fight! That will be thrilling.” 
And through it all came Fatespeaker’s voice. “Starflight. You were so brave.” 
That’s right, Starflight thought. I am brave. I saved my tribe. I saved the RainWings. And Fatespeaker loves me. “You’re wrong!” he shouted at Morrowseer. “Fatespeaker is a better dragon than you will ever be, and so am I. I can write something on it if you like. Do some experiments.” 
Morrowseer growled. “I’ll go.” And he vanished with a poof. Starflight turned his gaze on Scarlet. “Well?” he asked.
Scarlet’s tail thrashed. “This is much less thrilling than I thought it would be.” And she too vanished. Now only Fatespeaker was left. 
“Did they come back?” she asked, in a surprisingly gentle voice for the excitable NightWing. 
“Yes, but they’re gone now, thanks to you.” 
“No,” Fatespeaker said. “Thanks to you. Now come on. I’ve got an idea for how we can help you remember the scroll racks. We brought in some scrolls and… oh I’ll just show you!” Fatespeaker ran off down the hall, and Starflight smiled, following the sound of her footsteps. He really did love Fatespeaker. Enthusiastic, smart, kind, amazing, lovable Fatespeaker.  
== Sunnyflight ==
Sunny’s heart ached whenever she saw Starflight. When she saw him with Fatespeaker, a pang of jealousy ran through her. But she didn’t love him. She couldn’t love him.
When Starflight had first told her his true feelings, a lot had been going on. She’d been kidnapped, and hadn’t had a lot of time to think about romance. And when she did think about it… well, her friends never took her seriously. Why would Starflight? Besides, the prophecy was everything to her. It was what she was meant to do with her life. If Starflight didn’t believe in it… well then how could they ever have a future together?
After the war was over and her friends began taking her seriously… well, she’d come up with different reasons. She was too busy running a school. She needed to help her mother, now that she was the queen. Starflight and Fatespeaker were probably in love, anyway. No room for Sunny in that equation. No need for her. Besides, she only loved Starflight like a brother. She didn’t like him that way. 
Maybe if she said it enough times, that would make it true.  
It was so hard to keep lying to herself though. She cared about all her friends, but she cared about Starflight more than the rest, or maybe just in a different way. She really never had thought of him that way--that was true. But when he’d told her, just for a moment, before she’d been kidnapped and everything had spiralled out of control, she’d wondered if maybe this could happen. Maybe there could be a future for them. Maybe she really did care about him, more than she cared about all dragons. Maybe they could be together. 
When she’d seen him come out of the tunnel, face burned by lava, she’d wanted to rush in, wrap her wings around him and never let him go. She’d give up her life for any of her friends--maybe for any dragon-- in an instant, but Starflight was the only dragon that had ever given her this shivery feeling in her wingtips. When she’d found out he loved her, that feeling in her stomach she got that made her want to grab him and never share him with anyone else was something she’d never felt about any dragon. And she thought it was love. 
Sunny walked down the hall, sighing. She’d just gotten back from a confrontation with an IceWing about proper scavenger care. She was really glad someone had brought a scavenger, and she hoped he would let his winglet study the scavenger, but it had still been exhausting. She could see Starflight, inside his library, handing out scrolls to Moon and Kinkajou. Sunny still couldn’t believe what he had done. They’d organized the library so that he could find any scroll he needed, even though he couldn’t see. Fatespeaker had helped him. 
She winced at the jolt that went through her when she thought about Fatespaker. She didn’t like feeling that way. There was no reason for her to be jealous of Fatespeaker. She actually really liked her. She was kind and smart, and shared Sunny’s opinions on a lot of things. She was also a really good friend to Starflight, and Sunny was glad that Fatespeaker had helped him when he first went blind. But when she thought about them, she couldn’t help but imagine them laughing and talking, brushing their wingtips together as they walked past in the halls, and she couldn’t help imagining their easy friendship turning into something more.  
Sunny walked into the library. “Starflight?” she said. 
“Sunny? Is that you?” he asked, and Sunny imagined what it must be like for him, seeing nothing but darkness, and hearing nothing but her voice and the voices of the other dragons in the library. 
“Yes, it’s me,” she said, hoping he could tell that she was smiling.  
“Do you know where Fatespeaker is?” he asked, looking uncertain.
It’s just an innocent question, Sunny. Stop being so suspicious. “She’s greeting the last few students.”
“I see,” Starflight said, smiling. “I just gave Moon and Kinkajou their library cards. They seemed to be getting along.” 
“That’s good,” Sunny said. “I thought they might get along.”
“So, do you need a scroll?” Starflight asked. 
Sunny sank into a chair. “No, I just wanted to talk. It’s great seeing all the dragonets finally here, but…”
“It’s a little exhausting,” Starflight finished.  
Sunny nodded. “I always thought I wanted dragons to listen to me and take me seriously. But it turns out telling dragons what to do all the time is actually really tiring.”
Starflight laughed. “It really is.” 
Sunny stared into his eyes. “Starflight, I need to tell you something.”
“What?” Immediately, Starflight got up and started pacing around. “What happened? Is something wrong?” 
“No, nothing’s wrong. Starflight… I’m in love with you. I realized it when you told me. I tried to deny it, but I can’t.” As Sunny said the words, she felt all the lies, all the worry and anger and denial fade away. It was just her, staring into Starflight’s shocked black eyes. 
“I… I love you too, Sunny. I always loved you.”
Sunny twined his tail around his, and at that moment, Fatespeaker walked in the room. 
She opened her mouth, then closed it. “Sunny? Could you come with me?” Sunny nodded, and followed Fatespeaker out the door. 
“I’m sorry!” Sunny blurted out first. “But I love him, and I know you do too.”
“I know he loves you,” Fatespeaker said softly. “I’ve always known.” 
Sunny tilted her head. She’d never seen this side of Fatespeaker before, and she felt a pang of guilt about all the times she’d been jealous, seeing them hanging out, just being friends. 
“I hope we can still be friends,” Fatespeaker asked. “You’re a really nice dragon, and I like you a lot.”
Sunny laughed and wrapped her warm wings around Fatespeaker. “Of course!” 
Fatespeaker jumped, startling Sunny. “Great! Make sure you make him happy,” she added, more quietly. “That’s all I ever wanted.” 
Sunny turned, and went back in the library to see the dragon she loved. The dragon who had always loved her. The dragon who she was finally ready to love back.
== Darksight ==
Dear Clearsight,
Hey. It’s me. Darkstalker. 
There isn’t much of me left, just the last remnants of myself clinging on inside the brain of this dragonet. Peacemaker. I don’t know how much longer I’ll last. So I need to tell you some things, before I lose myself completely. 
I don’t know if you can hear me. I don’t know if you even still exist, or if you just faded out of existence when you died. I don’t know what happened to you after I was trapped under the mountain, where you went, what you did. 
I know I can’t ask for forgiveness. But I just need to tell you what happened, so that maybe, by some miracle, you can forgive me, and I can see you again. 
I was so angry when I was first trapped inside this body. I cursed everyone, Fathom, Moon, Arctic, Foeslayer, that annoying flamboyant RainWing, that blubbering descendant of Fathom… I even cursed you, Clearsight. I wanted someone to blame, someone to wreak vengeance on. But I wasn’t in control anymore. 
I’ve had a lot of time to think in here. I still think I did the right thing, but perhaps I went about it the wrong way. Or maybe that’s just Peacemaker’s thoughts melding with mine. I’m not sure. But all I can remember is the look on Whiteout’s face when she was freed from the spell. I didn’t understand it then. I think maybe now I do. One will lose the future. And that one was me. I think we were both so focused on making sure the future turned out right, we lost sight of the present. 
You were trying to make sure I didn’t turn evil, and your fate was so intertwined with mine that you didn’t have a choice. We were meant to be together, whether you loved me or not. I hope you did. But I don’t know. I don’t know if you ever appreciated who I was then, or if you only saw the futures where I turned evil. The one that eventually ended up coming true. 
I was so focused on making sure my perfect future came, my shining bright glory where I would be king and you would be my queen. I thought that it wouldn’t matter what I did, because it would be leading to that perfect future. I was wrong. I should have just stayed there with you. We could have been happy, but I wasn’t satisfied. I was never satisfied.  
But I promise you, Clearsight, whatever you think about me, I didn’t just do it for power. I didn’t only care about myself and my future as king. I was doing it for you, for Whiteout, for Mother. It wasn’t the right choice, but it was for you. When I woke up, two thousand years later, I still tried to be king, to help Pyrrhia but it was pointless, because you weren’t there. And without you beside me, there was no future to look forward to. 
So, please, Clearsight, before I lose myself entirely, tell me you forgive me. I know I did so many awful things. I know they all affected you because of how heavily our fates were bound together. I know there is no reason for you to love me again, after everything I did to you… and everything I did to Pyrrhia, two thousand years later. 
But that’s all over now. It’s just me and you. You know everything, everything I’ve done, everything I will do. If you can, tell me you forgive me. Because I love you Clearsight. No matter what I did, I always loved you. That was why I enchanted the earrings, you know. Yes, maybe it was to make my plans easier, but it was also because I wanted to make you happy. I couldn’t stand seeing you worry so much. Please, even if you can’t forgive me, just tell me you love me. At least give me that. Because I always loved you.
Sincerely, 
Darkstalker
From within the midst of Peacemaker’s mind, Darkstalker heard a whisper of a voice, a voice he knew better than his own. “I forgive you, Darkstalker,” whispered Clearsight. 
Darkstalker smiled, and let himself slip away into the cracks of Peacemaker’s mind, only to resurface in dreams or long forgotten memories. 
== Clearstreak ==
Clearsight smiled at her mate. Sunstreak. He was so different from Darkstalker. He was cheerful and kind and funny, with none of the charisma or charming passion of Darkstalker that he’d had when he wanted to show her new things. But he’d never tried to kill his queen or his father, and he didn’t have any dangerous life-threatening powers. More than that, he was with her because they loved each other. Sure, she’d seen a future where she was with him, but she’d also seen futures with several Pantalan dragons. She’d chosen to be with him because she genuinely loved him, not because their fates were tied together. When she was with him, the future never seemed all that important. She still looked at it all the time of course, so that she could protect her tribe and her dragonets, but she didn’t feel the need to constantly look ahead to see if they were going to have an argument, or if this conversation would be the one that would lead them onto the path of darkness. Sunstreak didn’t have any paths of darkness. Clearsight’s decisions still impacted the future, but his didn’t. He was just a smart, ordinary dragon. And that was a refreshing change of pace after Darkstalker.
“Clearsight?” Sunstreak said, with a little sweetness in his voice that was just for her. He always sounded so peaceful, no matter what was happening. All the BeetleWings were like that, a pacifist, peaceful tribe that were different from any tribe on Pyrrhia. 
She looked around their home, a grassy hut made out of twigs and rocks, covered in flowers and long grass. She could see in her visions that they might move to the forest someday, to be with Sunstreak’s LeafWing friends, but for now she was perfectly happy here. 
“What is it, Sunstreak?” she asked, smiling at him. They were outside and the sun rippled across his gold scales, revealing the hidden layers of rose and blue. 
“The dragonets are arguing again. It doesn’t seem like a big deal to me,” he added with a shrug, “but I know you like to know.” That was another thing about Sunstreak. When she wanted something, he wouldn’t argue, or try to point out why she didn’t really need it. He’d just do it.
Her dragonets. Clearsight thought of them, sighing a little sigh of happiness. She’d thought that she had loved seeing them in her visions, but seeing them, in real life, not just a timeline, she loved them ten times more. Commodore, who always had a joke to tell, Jewel, the youngest of her siblings, who was calm and peaceful like her father, Orange, who  loved his parents and siblings more than anything, and Tortoiseshell, as smart as Clearsight.  They were still young, but when they got older, she knew they were going to be great dragons. She’d know that even if she couldn’t see their futures.
Clearsight closed her eyes and peered into the future. It was Commodore and Tortoiseshell arguing, of course. Clearsight was pretty sure they got that from their NightWing side, as she’d never seen a BeetleWing argue, except in a few unlikely visions. It seemed to her that the most likely outcome would be that they would sort it out themselves, but there were a few futures where it escalated into a fight. Sometimes Sunstreak was able to stop them, sometimes not. She didn’t want any of her dragonets to get hurt, even if it was unlikely, so she decided to intervene. 
She opened her eyes and saw Sunstreak staring at her curiously, the way he always did when she used her powers. She could tell it amazed him, but he didn’t want to ask in case it was rude. He was sweet that way. 
“I’m going to go stop them, okay?”
Sunstreak nodded. “Sound good. They by pond.” Clearsight laughed. She’d taught him Pyrrhian and he’d tried to teach her Pantalan, although she wasn’t very good. Sometimes he still liked to talk like he barely knew her language, just to make her laugh. They were planning to teach their dragonets both languages, and Sunstreak tried to talk to them in Pantalan whenever possible. Secretly, Clearsight hoped that someday the whole continent would speak Pyrrhian, so that if any dragons from Pyrrhia came here, they would be able to understand each other. She could see that it was possible, but the vision was blurry and far away, so she didn’t dwell on it. 
Clearsight thrust herself back into the present, walking down to the pond. It was nothing too special, a medium sized pond that was big enough to swim in, but the dragonets loved it. It was fairly common to come down there and see them all playing, swimming or chasing frogs. Sunstreak had taught them how to swim. He’d taught her too, but the dragonets were still better than her. She looked like an owl that was trying to fly in the water, and was splashing feathers everywhere. Usually it was quiet and peaceful, but today she could hear the sound of voices coming from the banks. 
“It’s not my fault the bird got away!” Tortoiseshell said, spines bristling. “You scared it off with your horrible hunting techniques!”
Commodore growled softly. “You were the one who jumped in the lake while I was trying to sneak up on it. I would say it’s your fault.”
Jewel was sitting on the side, watching with wide, interested eyes, while Orange looked horrified. He’d gotten his hatred of arguments from his father, and was probably the most like a BeetleWing of anyone in the family, besides Sunstreak obviously. He didn’t have his wings yet. None of their dragonets did besides Tortoiseshell, who often boasted about it. 
“Hey! Hey!” Orange said, running in and waving his talons in the air. “Stop fighting! I’ll catch you both a bird.” 
Tortoiseshell frowned. “Well… I suppose that could be alright.”
Commodore grinned. “This I’ve got to see.”  
Orange frowned, as if he hadn’t expected them to take him up on his offer, but got into a hunting position. He prowled down the lake-shore, looking more like a wildcat than a dragon, until he spotted a bird nesting in a tree by the pond. He prowled down to the base of the tree, stepping on a few twigs, and leapt into the air. 
But Orange was too small to propel himself high enough and without wings, there was no way for him to reach the top of the tree. He jumped about halfway up and then fell into the pond. The bird flew away with a loud squawk, and Tortoiseshell and Commodore burst out laughing. Even Jewel smiled. Orange resurfaced, smiling sheepishly, and started laughing too. That was when Clearsight decided to reveal herself.
Orange burst out of the water. “Mommy!” he said, rushing into her wings. “I calmed them down. Did you see that?” 
“I saw, my little darling,” Clearsight said. She could tell from her visions that this might be the first step on his path to become a diplomat. It might not be, he could develop a passion for music a few years from now, or a hundred other things. But there was a pretty likely future where he became a diplomat because of what happened today. 
She looked fondly at all of them. Jewel, her rose colored scales shimmering in the dimming light, Commodore and Tortoiseshell, laughing together together, Tortoiseshell flapping her blue and white wings, just to show off, and little Orange, curled up in her lap, peaceful and happy. She loved each and every one of them, and she knew that they were all going to have the happiest lives. She was going to keep them safe, and they were all going to live happily together on Pantala. This was her destiny, and she was going to get it right this time.
Notes:
I do not ship all of these, so you should not use this to see what ships I like and don't like. If you want to know that, you can ask me. 
The reason there is no Glory story is because most of these are ship stories, and I find Glorybringer very unhealthy in a lot of ways, so I didn't want to put a story about it in this. 
Enjoy!
Category:Fanfictions
Category:Fanfictions (Incomplete)
Category:Fanfictions (Semi-Canon)
Category:Content (Colorchanger the Mindreader)