Entangled

----Hey there! Yeah, you! This short fanfiction belongs to , and is her first fanfiction. Otherwise, please enjoy! Also, Mature Content Warning: Scenes you may find uncomfortable, as well as violence!
----short summary
A small NightWing would find herself entangled in a MudWing's mind, as she knew was coming. Their arranged marriage was here. She finds him lovely, but most "stories" never end well.
this story features starry-night as the first person protag, and mushroom as the main antag. this fanfiction is in no way related to Windverse.
==Prologue==
I was laying in her bed, my back facing the cave entrance.
I knew it was coming, but I didn't know when. My father would come bustling in, and it could happen any second. And then, no more freedom after that. I was supposed to act like the nobility I was said to be, but it made me feel wrong. I didn't feel like nobility. Father's probably lying, like he always does.
It was dawn, the sky outside, however, was still dark. Soon enough, the cheerful sunshine was shining through the cracks in the room, it's tendrils trying to wake her up. NightWings are supposed to sleep at day, not at night. I still wasn't used to the new schedule we had to use, so I could be trapped under his talons.
Of all dragons… why him?
I still didn't understand my father's choice, and it made my scales prickle at the thought of it. No control over my future. I just had to suck it up. Smile and wave, smile and wave, and never, ever show your true emotions. It's like wearing a mask. For the rest of my life.
I am quite lucky my father was not a mind-reader, like much of our tribe is.
Suddenly, light crept onto my face, shining from the entrance to my room. Traitorous, that was what the lock on my door was. "Couldn't you have knocked," I groaned, shoving my head under my pillow. "after all those discussions we had?"
Father gave me a stern look, which was quickly over washed with excitement. "Wake up, dear!" he shouted enthusiastically, but still entirely too loud. "Today's the day! He's already left a letter, wouldn't you like to read it?"
I pushed my snout farther into the pillow, but I knew I had no choice. "Sure," I grumbled, my eyes drifting shut. All I wanted was to sleep, not another difficult diplomatic trip that would change my life, and take me away from everything I once knew. He's probably going to be horrible anyways.
My father had silently walked away, so I was shocked to see him gone when I finally pushed myself up from my very comfortable bed. I was thinking venomous thoughts, when I arrived at the table, which already had a few squirrels and rattlesnakes set out on it for me. I don't even like rattlesnakes, I think, with a sniff of disdain. I grabbed the letter and began reading it. It was... a bit hard to read.
----
Dearest Starry-night, 
It is I, your future love, coming to say about how I am so, so excited for today. We are finally getting married! This arranged marriage should've happened a long time ago. I cannot wait to see you! We haven't even met, but I've heard some lovely things about you. So, I delivered this breakfast for you. I hope you like it! I'm glad the SandWing war is over, so we can have this marvelous moment together.
All my love,
-Mushroom
----
I grabbed the scroll harder, small tears prickling the edges of my eyes. Yeah, we haven't met and I already hate you.
Why was I starting to cry easily? I wasn't like this.
"Well, you're expected to write a letter back!" my Father shouted cheerfully from his room.
I dug my talons into the table, flames flickering out of my snout. I lashed my tail, anger flooding through me, as well as a long hiss leaving my throat. I pushed myself up, and headed for the study room, my talons twitching. I grabbed a blank scroll and began writing, talons making wrinkles in it.
---- To Mushroom
Hello. I do not know much about you, only that you are supposed to be the dragon on the other side of the arranged marriage. I can tell that we may not like each other. But, it's for our parents, so you should try. Once again; I know nothing about you.
Except that you are Mushroom of the MudWings.
Please don't send me love letters before we even know each other. We have never met a day in our life. And this is only for diplomatic reasons. I have no reason to marry a snotty prince. Keep that in mind, Mushroom. I do not want to eat slob and lay around in mud all day.
Simply, keep your snout to yourself, or at least go stick it in someone else's business. Have a miserable life
- Starry-night
----
== Chapter I ==
I was flying. Really slowly.
It's not like I wanted this to happen. But Father was forcing me to do this. And I had no say in this. A growl was building up in my throat. With a lash of my tail, I rushed forward, passed my Father, and put my wings into my sides, diving to the large mansion. I landed at the entrance of the house - a large fence, just begging for a dragon to leap or fly over and pry the gold out of the walls.
He wouldn't even care. Mushroom's just a spoiled rich dragon, like all the stereotypes say. I bet they wouldn't even notice if I were to take a hunk of gold out of the wall.
The door opened. Like it would do anything to stop me. I walked forward, not wanting to hear my father's delightful (annoying) gasps. I continued walking, before stopping right at the door. It immediately sprung open, and an excited looking MudWing opened it. I rapped on his nose. "I'm looking for Prince Mushroom," I said with a blank face.
"Salutations!" the MudWing said with a little bow. "You must be Starry-night. Welcome to your future home. Come on in!"
"O-oh, just call me Starry, I guess."
"Introductions will be saved until later, by order of our mistress," the MudWing said briskly, leading me down the hallway. I looked back, and saw father coming in. "Keep your etiquette polite and royal!" the servant barked, and I felt... utter shock. I readjusted my tail to be straight, and tightly tucked my wings in to my sides.
My head was alert, ready to see the MudWing I was supposed to marry. When we reached a large atrium, a MudWing sat there, his face.. not too beautiful, I must say. He looked dim and flat like all other MudWings. Is this the dragon I'm supposed to marry?
He looked up at me as though I was the sun.
"Starry!"
Somehow, when it was this dragon saying my name, it made me cringe. I lifted my talons up, and waved in a pathetic manor. The MudWing servant became tense, and grabbed my arm, and shoved it to my chest. She then forced me into a bow. I wanted to bite her snout off.
Well, at least the servant is better than the dragon I'm supposed to marry.
I watched the MudWing prince with a blank expression. He had warm amber scales, with bright orange eyes. He also had several gold necklaces draped around his neck, a gold tail band (those went out of fashion centuries ago!), as well as a few emerald and silver rings. Lastly, he had many onyx beads embedded in his head and wings. He looked, overall, idiotic.
I cringed when he smiled. How am I supposed to last my whole life with this dragon? How am I supposed to hold myself from clawing off his superior face in the first week?
I wanted to go home. But that wasn't an option for me anymore. I realized all the dragons in the room were staring at me. Good job on welcoming me. Now I just feel awkward. I quickly sat down, and Mushroom held out a talon cautiously, as those I would bite it off. I would. I should. I took it, my face made it clear how disgusted I felt.
"Well, let's formerly introduce ourselves," a female MudWing said, coming in. She was quiet tall, with a diamond crown. "Right, son?"
"Yes, Mother," Mushroom said, his tail twitching ever so slightly. The tall MudWing sat in the tallest seat, and cleared her throat. "Hello, visiting NightWing nobility, if you do not know me, I am Queen Moorhen."
The MudWing Queen! I thought. How did I not recognize her?
"You may speak, Mushroom," Moorhen prompted.
"I am Prince Mushroom," he said, with what I thought was a hint of annoyance. "I am the other side of your arranged marriage."
I bit my tongue, refraining from saying "yeah I KNOW" and instead I properly introduced myself. "I'm.. Starry-night.. of nobility.. greetings.. glad to be here."
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"Mother, I am fairly certain that the parents of the two wonderful dragonets that are getting married soon should have a private discussion,
I nodded, and Mushroom quickly grabbed my arm, and we darted off to Mushroom's room. "Nobody shall be allowed in this room for the rest of the time we are in here, unless I specifically say." And with that, he closed the door, and sank to the ground.
"Whew, being royalty is hard!" Mushroom sang, in a completely different voice. He was taking off his jewelry, and placing it in a chest. He looked like a light-hearted, young, and a lot more beautiful. He had a new warm smile on his face. "It's nice to meet you! I assure you, we'll be great friends!"
"Aren't we supposed to marry each other?" I asked sharply.
He looked behind him, then whispered into my ear. "I promise you, I am equally unexcited about arranged marriages. Especially with NightWings."
The bitter resentment of the word "NightWings" made me flinch. I could see it in his eyes- it was personal. Oh no, what did we do? I remembered. It was the night Morrowseer came back triumphantly to the volcanic island, as I breathed the volcanic ash in to my lungs. He announced that the young NightWing assassin, Deathbringer, as well as Quickstrike, had broken the MudWing alliance with Blister and the SeaWings.
And that they had killed Commander Tempest and a few MudWings in the forest to do it.
And then, since Deathbringer had proven his worth, he had been sent, after the mission in the Kingdom of Sand, to assassinate a royal MudWing with too many grand plans of how to stop the war. I wish that poor MudWing hadn't been killed.
This prince must have been there, must have seen one of his friends die. I remembered when Deathbringer came back, saying he had assassinated the MudWing and a couple other princes who had seen him. And so, the slightly young MudWing prince had sword revenge on us.
But it wasn't me, my mind whispered. My face twisted, without my control, into a small frown. How are we going to like each other?
== Chapter II ==
It had been two weeks.
Me and Mushroom were starting to warm up to each other.
Fortunately, I had my own room, so I didn't have to see him all the time. And honestly, things hadn't been going too bad, but I will never admit that. Another day, off doing things with a random MudWing. Couldn't I have been thrust together with a SkyWing or SandWing or even SeaWing?
I heard the familiar knock, the servants coming to wake me up. There were a bunch, but the mean one was dedicated to me. Very welcoming, if I must say. Anyways, she barged in and stormed over to me with her "I hate you and don't want to be near you and am rude right now" face.
ANYWAYS.
We had things to do today, and dealing with Frog wasn't on my list. So I got up before she could use her grimy talons on my shoulder, and began to get ready for the day. As often as they did, I was to be woken at the exact moment of dawn. Mushroom was there, eating his breakfast. I still wasn't used to eating the swamp food.
My Father wasn't here anymore, too. He had stopped visiting, just vanished one day. I had questioned for about two days (he left three days ago) where he had went, and finally I just assumed the rainforest.
"Hey," Mushroom said, apparently trying to spark up conversation. "You're wanted, back in the rainforest."
I couldn't describe the joy that just went through my scales. Keep it together. Don't let him see that you're excited. He'll end up hurting you, along with the Queen. "Uh, may I know why?"
"Queen Glory requests you."
...
And so, that's how I found myself flying through the pounding rain. I bet they did this purposely. Andddd of course, that thought made me even more angry than usual. A large raindrop hit my eye, and I yelped, almost crashing into a huge tree. I blinked the rain out of my eyes, and saw the rainforest ahead of us. Thank the moons.
I felt a jolt in my stomach. Wait, I'll see Father! That thought didn't exactly cheer me up, but he was the only true family I had left (no, Mushroom is not "family"), so maybe he knew me better than the slow slug flying behind us. He could at least try to fly a little faster..
I saw a flicker of blue scales, then it vanished again. I shrugged it off quickly. Hang on..? Was that a dragon? I curiously followed, and I knew the dragon could see me because of my dark scales standing out in the bright morning light. That has to be a dragon. 
I dove after her, without a word to the MudWings.
I saw the tail whisk into the rainforest, and I saw the MudWings (excluding Mushroom, please don't tell me he's clingy- oh, he's following the others, never mind!) fly ahead of me. I walk slowly to the dragon, then grab her tail. She's pretty large, and a lot older than me. 
She had a scowl on her face, and a long.. webbing looking thing on her back, with long and sharp ears. I found her.. gorgeous. I was about to ask her name, or even say something about her unique looks, but she growled.. or hissed.. at me, and then she moved backwards in a smooth movement, and the shadows and ferns swallowed her up. 
"STARRY-NIGHT!" 
I put my talons in my ears. The small, skinny servant, Willow, was yelling at me. Honestly, all servants were pretty mean, small, and skinny. Verdant isn't, though, whispered a small part of my mind. She's nice. Her visits sometimes cheer me up, but she's only there for a few coins and probably doesn't care. 
I hissed at the servant, and launched in to the sky, where Mushroom was waiting for me. I had an enormous scowl on my face, so maybe that meant Mushroom was a bit too smart to talk to me at that moment. Would be funny if he did, though. I sighed, and risked a glance over at him. He seemed upset. Couldn't care less. But sometimes, that didn't feel true to me anymore. 
I was distracted by thinking, so I didn't notice Mushroom towards the rainforest entrance. I hissed in and breath, then out. Mother is here. I had forgotten about that. The dragon I hated the most. The dragon who abandoned me and Father (although, Father deserved it, and she was horrid anyways). 
So that's why I didn't want to go into the rainforest. 
A guard with interesting patterns guarded the entrance. When we landed, I realized it must have been a hybrid. "Greetings, visiting royalty." The guard paused for a moment. "You are late." 
I felt a flare of annoyance and animosity. I'm not visiting, either. I'm from the rainforest. 
"Prince Mushroom, and Starry-night of nobility, I introduce myself as Twilight. Welcome to the rainforest. I will take you to the queen." 
Twilight, the guard, spun around quite quickly, and flew into the rainforest, with me and Mushroom right behind her. I forgot how hard it was to fly through the rainforest. But the SeaWing-NightWing hybrid in front of them slipped easily through the trees, as though she was a dolphin jumping through the waves. Gah, doesn't matter. 
We should be there soon. I looked around worriedly. Was that a small flicker of movement? Nowadays, RainWings had been... more fierce. Ha! As though. But it was true, Glory had been training them well, and they had a good system going, especially with the NightWing's help. 
A NightWing was in the shadows watching them. That's Allsight. An ex-friend. 
I felt a wave of hostility, and it probably affected my face, because the scowl on Allsight's face made it quite clear on what happened. I hissed at her, and Allsight vanished. My head tilted to the left, and my ears were pricked- I was listening for the coward to come back and face but. But Allsight never did. 
We continued... walking.. through the rainforest. It's so muddy. But of course, that's why Mushroom wanted to come here. A small burst of flame shot out of my snout, and a nearby small plant set on fire. Mushroom started flailing around and jumped into the river, drenching both me and the plant. At least the forest's on fire. 
On second thought, that probably would have been better than what I was going through right now. 
The dragon appeared this time, her long ears pricked, listening to their conversation. Allsight growled at the dragon. "Don't mind her. That's just Joy, keeps stalking around the rainforest." A flicker of fire shot out of Joy's nose, and the unique dragons silently slipped away. "She's been hanging around for a while now, nobody knows why," Allsight offered from the front. "Anyways. 
"You'll need to see the Queen, whom you know as Glory." There was still a note of hostility in Allsight's voice, as though the NightWings still didn't like being ruled by the RainWings. Well, sucks for them, they shouldn't have lived on the volcanic island. Could of moved somewhere else, y'know. 
"Peach?" Allsight asked into the air. 
I frowned. "No thanks," I muttered, before I saw a shimmering in the air. Out of nowhere, a purple and yellow RainWing appeared. "No, it's Acacia," the RainWing snapped. That RainWing's definitely got a problem with Allsight. Oh well, they deserve it. 
"I'll take them to Queen Glory's pavilion," Acacia said. "Obviously you'll ruin the royals' moods before they even reach the halfway point." 
Allsight hissed, but immediately flew away. Wow, she really hates us, I thought with a small snort. Acacia shot me smirk, and we continued on. I was starting to like Acacia. Soon, we lifted into the air, and there the Royal RainWing Pavilion was. 
It's even more beautiful than I had remembered. 
There, Glory's "bodyguard", Deathbringer, sat, surveying the rainforest with wary yet fierce eyes. "Halt!" he called out, his voice wavering. 
"Something wrong?" Acacia asked. 
"Nothing," Deathbringer replied. He's lying. Oh well, I'll figure it out later. 
"What is your business with Queen Glory?" He asked. 
I hissed quietly. He knows why. But that's just normal guard behavior, I suppose. I had been getting accustomed to the guards acting the way they did. Always asked, because that's what they were ordered to do. Maybe the world was more formal than I had thought. 
"I-" I surprised myself by talking. "We," Mushroom corrected with a cough, "are here to discuss with Queen Glory the next stages of Queen Moorhen's plan." I bristled. I thought we agreed that I was going to do the talking, not this quaking prince. 
"If so, where is Queen Moorhen?" the aggravating NightWing bodyguard asked. 
"Queen Moorhen is quite busy, as a Queen," Mushroom replied with a shrug and a venomous expression on. "Just let us through!" 
Without hesitating, Mushroom pushed past Deathbringer, and into the treehouse. It was empty. Such an idiot, I thought with an embarrassed expression. "Sorry," I mumbled. 
Deathbringer sighed, rubbing his temples. "As you can see, Queen Glory is not here, and I would of said that a long time ago, but that's is violent behavior and trespassing." Deathbringer paused. "Dart him." 
"What does dart him mean?" Mushroom asked, before my sharp ears heard a small whisk in the air, and then Mushroom was slumping to the ground. "Do her as well," he said in an apologetic tone. 
I sunk to the floor, tail lashing. He'll be sorry for this! But I had already felt the little sharp pain in my neck, and I was befoming numb. 
And then it went black. 
== Chapter III ==
I woke up in a sunshine-y cheerful hut, with a bush of red berries outside.
Over in the corner, I heard a bit of sloshing. One of the RainWings (probably a NightWing prisoner), with scars around their mouths and wings, was drinking water. He had a tired expression, but didn't look at me with terror or hate, just curiosity and maybe the hope to forgive the NightWings.
We've done so many horrible things and they're still willing to forgive us.
I turned my head around. There, the healers were organizing something. And right beside me was Deathbringer, holding a blow-dart gun. Glory isn't here. And he hasn't realized that I've woken up. Something happened to Glory, and he was going to make sure everyone kept silent about it. 
"Sir!" one of the RainWing healers cried. "The murderer you caught is awake!"
Murderer?
But Deathbringer didn't turn to me, he turned to Mushroom. He raised the spear off the wall, while Mushroom was getting up as though he had been drugged. I would of called out, but I was terrified, I didn't want to see another dragon die. Especially one I like.
I had finally admitted it- I did like Mushroom. It felt like lifting a heavy burden off my heart. It felt good. And right when Deathbringer was going to impale Mushroom, a green blur jumped at him. The RainWings shrieked in a chorus of fear, all of them during lime-green, and darting out of the Healer's Hut. The dragon had purple webbing, and golden star patterns on them.
Her sharp copper eyes met Deathbringer's eyes without fear.
"Let the royals go," the tribeless dragon hissed. "Or you know what happens."
Deathbringer growled.
"I know what happened to Glory, and I'm not afraid to admit it to the world," they hissed. "now let them go." I was shocked- the dragon's voice dramatically changed. I saw Acacia out of the corner of my eye, aiming a blow gun at my savior. Not letting that happen.
"Look out!" I yelled, shoving the tribeless dragon away and off of Deathbringer. She snarled, but their eyes slightly widened when they saw Deathbringer trying to get up, the dart piercing his underscales, and how he fell down, completely vulnerable.
"Thanks, I guess," they said, rubbing the back of their head.
"Thank you," I breathed. "You saved me."
"Yeah yeah, let's just go." Their voice changed again, from the naturally feminine voice to the deep male voice.
"Wait, what about Mushroom?" I asked.
"Grr, fine, we can wait for this pile of rubbish," she said in a bored tone.
"What's your name?" I asked hopefully
"Anuke," they responded. "And you?"
"Starry-night."
Anuke hissed slightly. "Can that pile of rubbish take any longer?" she snapped, as Mushroom wobbled towards us. 
Finally, Mushroom stiffened up. "Shut up, Anuke, I'm going."
"Do you know each other?" I asked.
"No," Anuke spat. "And I'm glad I don't. Let's go."
"Where?" Mushroom asked.
Anuke smirked, looking at us. "You're such an idiot. That evil "servant" is the othermind's spy, and it sent a fake Moorhen to fool you into coming here. The othermind has spread here, and Glory, Deathbringer, and a few MudWings are infected, but not too many- have you heard the news of the New Continent Arrival?"
I shook my head.
"I brought you one, since you both live under a rock," Anuke said, their voice dripping with so-called "bored-ness."
And the most unique dragon came in. She was a young dragon, with no wings. She had white, and a few light pink-ish-gray, and two antennae- she was one of the most pretty dragons I had ever seen. 
"Well," Anuke said, breaking into the silence. "We 'ought to get moving, we have a long journey to the Kingdom of the Sea." 
"I'm ready!" the small wingless dragon yelped. 
Anuke cast her a skeptical look. "And how exactly are you getting there?" 
"You're going to carry me," the dragon smirked, before turning to me. "Allow me to introduce myself as Linen." The dragonet held a talon out to me, and I grabbed it, shaking it. 
"I'm Starry-n-, eh, just call me Starry. What.. what exactly.. are you?" I saw the look on the dragon's face. "No- no. I don't mean that in a rude way! I find you quite interesting- no, no, not in that way- I mean, you seem cool..." I trail off from the 
"I'm a SilkWing, from Pantala. I'm surprised you royals haven't heard yet." 
Yikes, she has something against royalty or something. But I have no idea as to why. A small thought chimed in my head. I can't read dragons that well. I didn't know what a SilkWing was until now. They're very pretty. Focus! What is she like? Is she threat? How will I figure it out..? 
And the answer was one that I didn't like very much, something I avoided. I would have to get to know Linen. 
"Your NightWing friend is waking up," Anuke commented. "Let's go, before one of you idiots gets infected." 
And with that, we leapt out of the window, leaving Linen (strapped with the woozy Mushroom) Mushroom, and me flying after her. 
... 
It had been two days. Anuke powered on tirelessly, leaving the rest of us falling back in the sky, slower and slower, especially Mushroom, who was tasked with carrying Linen, since he was the biggest. 
The third day, after stopping to rest and eat, we all noticed some storm clouds. The ocean below us was turbulent and dark, the waves roaring up in heights nearly taller than me. What was going on? A large storm? Hurricane season was over. There's no way... 
Maybe there was a way. Maybe if strange dragons.. SilkWings, and what Linen had told us during the flight, LeafWings and HiveWings, and a whole new continent that I, and frankly, nobody else, knew existed, maybe there was a way that a hurricane, outside of hurricane season, could happen. 
"Can we make it?" Mushroom called, worry tinging his voice. 
"Of course we can!" Anuke snarled, clearly defensive, as ver shoulders went tense, ver teeth bared. 
The sky got darker and darker, and it was even worse as the sun was eaten whole by the ocean, leaving a dark, starless night. Not even the moon was able to breach these thick grey clouds, the only light being my occasional burst of flame (since it was a little too chilly for Mushroom to breath fire) as well as an occasional flicker of lightning, off in the distance, signaling the storm we were flying into. 
I would protest, but I don't really want my vocal chords ripped out by the mean green roasting machine that was flying ahead of us, purple and blue leaf-shaped wings powering forward. Perhaps ve was a useful part of our ever-growing, and ever-so-strange "friend group". At least nobody else would tear off my face...? 
Wind whipped in my face, small bits of debris flying around. I had to blink out multiple pieces of which I think was dirt (not sure, though I hope it was). Flying was gradually becoming harder. Rain was light as first, before raindrops as big as a scavenger's head began pelting us. It was dragging Mushroom down. He was strong, but the weight was too much, even for him. 
"We should land!" Linen yelled. Yeah, easy for her to say. She wasn't even flying. For the moons' sake, she didn't even have wings! 
But Linen was right. We really should. 
"There's no islands around here! We chose to go straight across and not around," Anuke barked. Ve had to practically yell over the wind. 
And like that, Mushroom plummeted out of the sky, Linen with him. Anuke's eyes widened, and a strike of lightning hurtled through us. Something caught in my wings. I tried to fly, but it was like a tangle of webs, pinning my starry wings to my sides. I began falling from the sky, hurtling faster and faster towards the roaring water below, Anuke diving after us, being the only one left with flight. 
It was extra painful when I hit the water. I was disoriented. Everything around me was dark blue, so calm. The terrible storm above us seemed to be nothing but a wisp of smoke in my mind, a dream. Bubbles streamed out of my nostrils. A fish seemed to be looking at me, almost.. curious. Wait. A fish? I was under the water! 
I screamed, more bubbles flowing out of my snout. I was losing air, and fast. The more I panicked, the worse it got, with my lungs screaming for air. My limbs flailed around, paddling at the water. I don't know how to swim. It took that thought a second to sink (no pun intended) in. And, the currents were too strong to fight. 
I'm going to die. Right here. Right now.
It almost felt peaceful, accepting that. I was about to accept it, close my eyes and let the darkness overcome me... 
...But I saw a flicker of movement. It was coming to save me. 
A SeaWing rushed towards me, and I saw Anuke reaching for Mushroom, before slinging up out of the water. The SeaWing grabbed me, and threw me up out of the water. The pounding storm wasn't exactly helping, though. 
I blinked in and out. 
"There's an island up ahead!" The SeaWing shouted, and yet it sounded so, so far. Where was I? Who was that? The sky was fuzzy, and too dark... was this all a lucid dream? Would I wake up back in Queen Moorhen's palace, ready to jumpstart (not) another day? 
I let the sleep overcome me, tired of this "dream" and ready to wake up. 
... 
When I fully awoke from the heaviness, and stood up shakily on the beach, the storm had already passed. Storm. The night before (or was it? How long had I been out?) came flowing back. It was like a dam, slowly at first, but then it came pouring through, giving me a pounding headache. 
The SeaWing who had rescued me was sitting in the water, back facing us. Anuke was trying to start a fire, and snarled at Mushroom whenever he tried to help them. Finally, she got it going, and yelled in triumph, before a mellow-looking Mushroom started cooking fish over the fire. 
The sun was shining on the beach, illuminating the sand with a bright glow. It was blinding to me, as I was used to the dark rainforest, or dimly-lit (usually, unless the queen came) MudWing Palace. Suddenly waking up in this was a huge shock to me. 
Anuke snorted with laughter, and the SeaWing's head shot around. 
"Relax, Eska, I'm not going to kill you," Anuke joked. 
This just made the SeaWing, Eska, flinch even more. 
"Your name is... Eska?" I interrupted. It was a unique name. I liked it. 
"Nympheska, but I prefer Eska," she replied, 
"We should get moving if we're to reach the Coral Palace anytime soon," Eska commented. "It would be safer. Not that it's finished, but there's a construction crew there, and it would be safer." 
Anuke snorted yet again. What's so funny? I thought. It's just the Coral Palac- oh.. 
I caught onto it right before Anuke yelled out, "Coral loved herself so much that she named the new palace after herself! Who votes that the Summer Palace was a better name?!" 
I raised my talon, and Anuke waved wildly at me. "SEE? She agrees." 
I looked back over to the firepit. Huh. Mushroom was gone. Where could he have went? My neck stood up, slowly spinning in a spiral. And with that, I realized something. Mushroom was gone. He had vanished. I double-checked, just to make sure. There were no brown scales, not anywhere. 
"Mushroom?" I cried. "MUSHROOM?" 
I saw desperate claw marks in the sand. So there had been a struggle. Linen darted out of the lush forest. "Monsters!" she yelled. "They're coming."
"Shut it, you stupid SilkWing," Anuke hissed, but Eska looked like she was about to blow up, out of anger or fear or anxiety, I had not a clue. "We get off this island, now."
I hissed at Anuke. "Without Mushroom? Are you insane?"
"Why yes, yes I am, thank you very much," Anuke snapped. "Fine, you can get eaten with Linen by the 'monsters'."
Like the world was disagreeing with them, a huge white-eyed dragon lunged out of the forest and at Anuke. Ve snarled, avoiding it's jaws. Ver cut through the dragon's throat, and the white, cold eyes struggled to stay on. "I'll.. kill you," it hissed, in a voice that had another voice overlaying it's. Right before it faded, I felt it's jaws snap around my right wrist. I opened my mouth, letting out a silent scream, or a roar of pain. I couldn't tell if it had left my snout, my hearing was all messed up.
When my hearing returned, I saw the dragon. Its white eyes faded, and the dragon, with a normal voice, opened its mouth, screaming like it was bloody on fire. The infected SilkWing writhed around before Anuke delivered a killing blow.
"Arghhh.." Anuke hissed, cleaning the blood off their talons. "I was hoping not to get messy today..."
Linen looked sick.
I turned towards Linen. "You brought it here," I hissed. "That thing looks like you, but with wings."
Linen took a step back. I stepped forward. "I'm going to slice through your neck. Mushroom is controlled by that beast and it's all your fault." What am I saying?
"She's bitten," Anuke growled. "Look at her arm. It's a bloody mess."
"I'm in control of myself," I roared. "but Mushroom is probably dead now, or infected or whatever!"
And if Linen wasn't here he would be okay.
"Mushroom was taken!" Linen snapped. "He protected me. Luna will defeat the Othermind soon enough."
"So all we can do is wait," Eska commented, sitting down with her back facing the rest of them. 
"But what if waiting doesn't work?" I snapped, tail twitching fiercely. "What if your great and glorious Luna won't save us?" Sometimes dragons have too much faith in others, I thought briskly. "Not everything will work out."
"Have faith," Linen hissed. "...or are you just a quitter?"
I jumped forward, but Anuke barreled me out of the air and pinned me down easily. "Fighting between ourselves will not help, you absolute idiot!" Anuke roared. 
Eska looked concerned, but swept forward. "They're right. We shouldn't do that or it will make us no better than the... the uh.."
"Othermind?" Linen offered.
"Yeah, that," Eska said, obviously a little embarrassed, though not too much
"So it's all agreed. Three versus one. Do you agree?" Anuke growled, looking me dead in the eyes. I hate you so much. I didn't really feel that, that's just what I felt at that moment.
"Fine," I said, almost pouting. Anuke will rip my throat out if I don't agree with them. "So we wait."
==Chapter VI==
It had been three days.
And Mushroom had burst out of the forest.
I had been sleeping, when suddenly Linen shook me awake. "Look! Mushroom's back."
I was awake instantly, pushing past Linen, running to Mushroom. He was crouching down, shaking, his eyes wide. When I reached him, I wrapped my wings around. Anuke made an 'ew' noise, and I glared at her. I'm so glad he's okay. Tears were threatening to burst, but I pushed them back. I don't care that much about him. Not yet- no, no, intrusive thought, get out of here!
I noticed Eska hovering nearby because she began speaking. "I was scouting the forest and found him."
"See?" Linen said. "Luna did succeed, the othermind must be gone! Eska is fine, and that's a good sign. Right?"
I scoffed. Well thanks to her, I guess. I probably could of done it, too. "We should start moving," I said, after a second. "Queen Moorhen is bound to be worrying about us now."
"I don't care two frogs about Moorhen," Anuke growled.
"Then you can leave," I hissed.
"As tempting as that is, you're quite interesting," Anuke said, changing their voice again.
"Shut the hell up, rotten vegetable," I growled.
Quick as a flash, Anuke pinned me down, their eyes full of rage. "Don't. Ever. Call. Me. That."
I nodded, fear gripping me. This dragon could and would kill, if I wasn't careful enough, and I wouldn't like an early death.
"I think Starry is right," Linen said nervously.
Anuke flashed the little SilkWing a glare.
"I mean, about getting a move on," Linen snapped.
Anuke growled, refusing to admit that she had misunderstood. "Alright." 
"So, to Mo- I mean, Queen Moorhen, we go?" Mushroom asked, almost with an idiotic-like stupidity.
I was going to be so hypocritical, but.. it would be stupid to go on to Moorhen. Why hadn't I thought of that?
Why would he be so ignorant to go running back and whining at his Mother's talons? Didn't he not like her? And plus, what if this so-called "hero", Luna, didn't destroy the "othermind"?? Those intrusive thoughts kept plaguing my mind. Why couldn't I shove them in the back of my head? They were always... lurking in the dark..
Anuke was giving me a weird look. That's when I realized that my talons were digging into the sand, smoke beginning to rise out of my snout. I quickly batted it away, sneaking a quick glance towards the silly MudWing prince, before recomposing myself.
"I declare myself as leader of the group," I spoke boldly.
Anuke opened ver mouth, about to let out a loud protest, but Mushroom broke in.
"We should have a vote."
Most heads, except for mine, shot to Mushroom. Agreement, confusion, and anger. 
"That sounds fair," Eska offered.
"SO then we throw a vote, wasting time instead of-" Anuke paused, taking a deep breath and growling. "Fine. We'll do the silly vote."
"Okay," I agreed. "All who want Anuke as our leader, raise your talons."
Only Anuke, with a triumphant look, raised a talon, before ver face dropped, realizing nobody else was voting for ver. I watched as ver face twisted into a scowl, and I had to put a few talons to my snout to stop myself from laughing.
"All who want.. hehe... Nympheska, as our leader, please raise your talons," I said slowly, trying my hardest not to laugh. (I couldn't help that small bit! Don't judge me!)
Nobody raised their talons, and Eska's shoulders slumped from the tension, relieved.
"Okay, all who want Mushroom as our leader?" 
Not a talon raised.
"All who want Linen as leader."
Eska's talon raised.
"All who want me as leader?"
Linen's talons, as well as Mushroom's raised. Anuke shot me a disbelieving stare, and Eksa gave me an approving look. I shifted in the sand, tail sweeping it back and forth (I tend to fidget a lot, and it usually centers around my tail.) Sometimes, I forget that I don't like to lead, and I become clueless. So maybe this was a learning experience for all of us? Who knew.
I shuddered. "Right. So, first, we have to make sure that the othermind has been defeated." I cast a glare at Mushroom. "And not going running off to Queens who could possibly be infected. Sorry, Mushroom," I added, as I saw his mouth opening to protest. Even if he was a cheery, and sometimes... weak and shallow dragon, he was still quite stubborn, especially to the ones he loved.
Is he like that with me?
I dismissed the thought as soon as I had it. Why would that cross my mind, of all things? Just because I liked him didn't mean I cared what he thought about me. ...right? Someone back me up!
"Well, when are we leaving?"
Linen's voice made me jump out of my thoughts. All dragons, even Anuke (though still as angry as ever), were staring at me. 
"W-well-" Three moons. Why am I stuttering? "Is everyone ready?"
That made Eska and Mushroom freeze.
Eska sighed, shaking her head. "I'm not coming with you all. I think I've helped enough, and I appreciate the company, but I've got to get back home."
I stiffened. Was she mad at me because I became leader? I had thought that she would direct us to the Coral Palace. I couldn't tell. Why was I never able to read dragons? First Linen, now Eska. I could understand Anuke, and a maybe Mushroom, but those two? 
I just couldn't! For thousands of years, our tribe was supposed to be able to "read minds". And yet, I can't do it. I can't even get a feel. I felt my talons dig into the sand.
"Really, you're just going to desert us?" Anuke snarled.
Eska stiffened, but did not reply. She cast me a glance, before slipping into the water, quick disappearing into the dark and deep depths below the surface. Anuke stood by the shore, staring into the water, bristling. Ve was like the dragon I wanted to be, but was too shy to become that dragon. And plus, who would like me then? Mushroom certainly wouldn't. (Shut up, thoughts!)
I sighed, rubbing the bridge of my snout. How were we supposed to find the Coral Palace? It wasn't located on any maps. Well, not yet. Once they were finished building it, they would put it on newer maps.But that wasn't the point. We were in the middle of the Bay of a Thousand Scales with no sense of direction, and most likely there were no dragons around.
How did this start off as fantasy love and shift into a survival... nightmare? I just wanted to go home. For everything to be normal. I wish I could just undo everything.
wip
==- Cast of Characters -==
Characters with a + play a more significant role. Bold means they are a main character and made by Cloudy.
Starry-night
Mushroom
Anuke the Tribeless Dragon - Hypnosania +
Orca - Shelly +
Linen - Chaotic +
Category:Genre (Romance)
Category:Genre (Tragedy)
Category:Genre (Short Story)
Category:Mature Content
Category:Content (Roach.png)
Tachinid - Shade
Cloverglint - Nyferine
Lullaby - Luna
Marbles - Ladpotch
Allsight - Azure (slightly +)
Oak - Barktail
Acacia - Glory-The-RainWing
Joy - Spi
Twilight - Rain
Verdant - Xxanmie
Cloud
Pearl
Queen Glory (Canon)
Queen Moorhen (Canon)
Deathbringer (Canon)