Dragonspeaker

**Minor:** Blark, Thymellia, Pinerrel, Mothest, Leafpole (past relationship)

**Dragonspeaker** is a fanfiction written by Anthraviolets that is cross-posted on FFN, AO3, Wattpad, and Quotev. It's a Wings of Fire fanfiction that is a fanon sequel to *Legends: Dragonslayer*, starring Wren, Rowan, and Commander Brook as the main point-of-views.

## Summary

"*Taking place not long after the events of Dragonslayer, Wren, Sky, Ivy, and Leaf are on the search for the mysterious golden dragon - meanwhile Rowan, Cranberry, Grove, and Thyme are working on building a town where humans can be safe and in Valor, Brook deals with the aftermath of the Dragonslayer’s lies.*"

## Chapters

### Part One

#### One

Chapter 1 -
WREN

Wren rubbed her eyes, blinking several times. She was greeted with a gentle ray of sunlight; presumably dawn. Glancing over her shoulder, she noticed Ivy and Leaf nearby, still asleep — she still found it odd to be travelling with other humans, after living alone with Sky for so long. It was odd in a nice sort of way, though — she was with humans she knew she could trust and genuinely liked. Sky had began to stir next to her, yawning a little.

Getting on her knees, she sat up, stretching. She’d been used to waking up early, usually rising with the sun — it was also useful for when she and Sky needed to leave so they could stay on the move. *I wonder how quickly Ivy and Leaf will get used to this,* She wondered. *I mean, maybe Leaf is an early riser nowadays but …*

Soon Sky was more or less awake, though he still seemed rather groggy. Wren smiled, albeit mainly to herself.

“Good morning, Sky,” She greeted him, chuckling softly.

He grinned back. “Morning to you too.” He glanced over in Leaf and Ivy’s direction. “It’s going to be so exciting travelling with more people!”

Wren gave him a smile, nodding. She wasn’t entirely sure how she felt about traveling with others yet, but she was glad that Sky seemed to be enjoying it. She glanced over in the same direction, a smirk creeping onto her face. *Speaking of other people … those two must be late sleepers or something,* She concluded. *Nothing I can’t fix.*

Sky seemed to notice her expression. “Wren?”

She glanced back, still grinning. “What?” She replied innocently.

“What are you planning? The look on your face practically gives you away.”

Averting her gaze from his, she replied, “Just waking Ivy and Leaf up.”

Sky frowned. “Well, be nice about it. I don’t trust that expression.”

Rolling her eyes, Wren walked over to Ivy, who was curled up against the grass, sleeping soundly. Crouching down, she lightly shook Ivy’s shoulder.

“Come on, Ivy. Wake up,” She murmured, still shaking her.

She seemed to be waking up, though Ivy was slow to rise — she reluctantly sat up, stretching and yawning as she did so. Wren could tell there were bags underneath her eyes, though not entirely noticeable — it did make Wren wonder just how much sleep Ivy actually managed to get last night. Before Wren could say anything else, Ivy seemed to nod off a little, almost falling on her back.

Ivy gave Wren a drowsy smile. “Oh … morning, Wren.”

Wren almost let out a snort of amusement. “Morning to you, too. Did you manage to get enough sleep last night? You seem out of it.”

“Oh? No, no. Don’t worry about me, I’m fine,” She replied, though it sounded more like a yawn in Wren’s opinion.

*I doubt that,* She thought, but she didn’t say it out loud — she had the feeling that Ivy wasn’t going to answer that question any time soon. *Besides, she looks too tired to even pay attention.*

Wren lightly nudged her shoulder. “Maybe while we’re travelling Sky will let you sleep on his back.”

“That’d … that’d be great.” Ivy yawned once more. She stretched her arms one last time before looking back at Wren. “So why do we need to be up so early, again?”

“I just want to be on the move as soon as possible. I don’t want to waste daylight,” Wren replied as matter—of—factly. Ivy just groaned in response, rubbing the crust out of her eyes.

Sky came over to them, giving Ivy a cheerful grin. “Morning, Ivy!”

Ivy returned his gesture, albeit still tired. “Morning to you too.” Now rubbing her other eye, she mumbled, “Sorry I’m not much of an early riser. I just find it difficult to wake up so early …”

“That’s alright,” Sky replied with a shrug of his shoulders. “I’m not much of an early riser either. Wren’s the one who insists on waking up this early, anyways …”

Laughing, Wren nodded. “That’s true! You’ve always been something of a slug in the morning.”

Sky scoffed, rolling his eyes. “But you are the one who can never stay in one spot.”

“What? No!”

Sky turned to Ivy, amused. “It’s true, you know. One time when we just woke up she’d been so insistent on moving on that we skipped breakfast!”

“We got food afterwards!” Raising an eyebrow, she added, “And besides, if I hadn’t gotten you to move, we’d have been staring at that snail for hours.”

Sky chortled. “I can’t help that snails are so adorable!”

Wren smiled. “I know you can’t.”

Ivy let out a giggle, taking Wren by surprise. Wren turned to face her, tilting her head.

“What’s so funny?”

“Oh, I wasn’t — your interactions with each other are adorable,” Ivy remarked, still smiling. “It just makes me really excited that humans and dragons are able to get along! I’m so glad I get to travel with you guys! Agh, I can’t wait to spread the word about dragon-human communication!”

Wren couldn’t help but grin at her — while they hadn’t talked as much as Wren would’ve liked to prior, she had always found Ivy’s little outbursts of excitement adorable. It made her thrilled to find another human who loved dragons and understood that they were just as complex as they were, just like herself. *Well, and Rose,* She added mentally. *But the fact that Ivy’s my age and also loves dragons like I do just makes me so happy.* Wren tried not to dwell on it often, though.

“So you weren’t in it just because Leaf came with?” Wren joked, raising an eyebrow.

Ivy frowned, confused. “I don’t get … oh. *Oh*.” She shook her head upon realising. “No, I just came with on my own accord. Even if he wasn’t coming with, I’d still want to travel with you both.”

Wren blinked in shock, though she could feel her cheeks flushing out of embarrassment. *Okay, maybe don’t joke about her and Leaf next time,* Wren, She decided. *I wasn’t expecting that for an answer, though. From what Leaf described, she seemed to like him back?*

*I might have to ask him about that later.*

“Wren? You alright?” She asked.

Wren was dragged out of her own thoughts. “Uh … yeah. It was a stupid joke, don’t worry about it.”

Ivy didn’t look the slightest bit convinced, but shrugged. She instead turned to Leaf, lightly tapping his shoulder.

“Hey, Leaf, wake up,” She murmured.

He woke up more willingly than Ivy had, though he still seemed somewhat tired. He gave Ivy a small smile, who returned it with a soft laugh. Leaf turned to Wren, blinking a few times.

“How long have you guys been waiting for me to wake up?”

Wren shrugged. “Not too long. I woke up Ivy awhile ago, but you didn’t miss much, I promise.”

This seemed to relieve him, somewhat. “So where are we going, then? If you haven’t decided that without me already.”

“Well, you and Ivy are still planning to find that golden dragon, right? I’ve been thinking on it and maybe poking around Valor’s ruins some more might help,” Wren admitted. She glanced back at Ivy. “You and Leaf encountered her there, right?”

Ivy nodded. “Yes! Since we left Valor I’ve been wondering about that, and since she took the sand dragons’ treasure, she might be somewhere around that area! Or maybe further into the desert? I’m not sure.”

Leaf smiled at Ivy. “I think you’re right. It wouldn’t hurt to give it a shot, would it?”

Glancing back at Sky, Wren rested a hand on his shoulder. “You think you can make it back to the ruins?” Sky nodded, a determined glint in his eyes.

Her attention was drifted away once she felt a light tapping on her shoulder. It was Ivy, who had a hesitant expression on her face.

She mumbled, “Could we eat something before leaving, though? I’m starving …”

*We could always hunt or gather fruits on the way there,* Wren wanted to reply, but didn’t have the heart to say it to Ivy’s face. *She probably isn’t as used to travelling like the rest of us, I guess.*

Nodding in response, Wren shrugged. “I suppose so. It shouldn’t be too hard to find something edible in the forest. We can go hunting for a bit, if that helps.”

“Well, I’ll just get some blueberries for myself,” Sky replied, grimacing at the mention of hunting. “I still don’t understand how any of you like eating meat.”

Leaf turned to Ivy, a hopeful expression on his face. “You want to go hunting together?”

Ivy took a few steps back, shaking her head. “No, but thanks for the offer.” She instead glanced at Sky, asking, “Could I help? I prefer fruits over meat myself.”

Sky gave her a small nod, much to Ivy’s delight. Wren glanced at her brother, who seemed mostly surprised by Ivy declining his offer — and somewhat disappointed, as well. *That must feel awkward as hell,* She commented dryly to herself, glad she wasn’t in Leaf’s shoes. *I do feel bad for him, though.*

“Leaf, I can go hunting with you, if you want,” She offered, hoping to diffuse any tension the two had. He brightened up a bit, though he still seemed vaguely upset. “You go on ahead, I’ll catch up in a bit.”

He had an amused yet bewildered look on his face, but didn’t question it. He took off into the woods, though not without casting a glance over his shoulder every so often. Wren glanced back at Sky and Ivy, who were already chatting merily.

She crossed her arms. “You two will be alright together? On your own?”

“Yep! I’ll make sure nothing awful happens out there, so don’t worry,” Ivy confirmed, nudging Wren in the shoulder. “I promise we’ll meet you and Leaf back at the camp once we’re done gathering fruit.”

“Promise?”

“I just said I promise, you goof!” Ivy teased, giggling a bit. Her laughter dying down, she gave Wren a genuine look. “But I really do promise, Wren. Please try to trust me, okay?”

Wren sighed, nodding. “Okay, okay! I give in.” As she turned around to leave, she added, “Just don’t get yourselves hurt, okay?”

Ivy rolled her eyes in amusement, but gave Wren one last nod before letting Sky guide her into the forest. She ran over to Leaf, who had been tapping his fingers against his arms as he leaned against a nearby tree. He perked up once he saw Wren, something of a smile on his face.

She had to take a moment to catch her breath. “I’m … I’m back.”

Leaf raised an eyebrow. “So what were you three even talking about?”

“Mostly reminding them to be careful.” She frowned. “I’m hoping they know what they’re doing, but I can’t help but worry about them.”

He sighed, nodding slightly. “I get that. I really wanted to go with Ivy, I have my doubts about splitting up. I’d feel a lot better about this if I was with her.”

Wren rolled her eyes, scoffing. “Ivy, Ivy, Ivy! Sometimes you speak about her as if she’s the only thing on your mind.” Thinking on it a bit more, she added, “But really, I doubt Ivy needs any protection. You might be underestimating her. I’m more concerned about Sky …”

“I’m equally concerned about Sky!” He shot back. Before Wren could interrogate him further, he stopped suddenly, gesturing for her to remain silent.

*I want to know what that means,* She griped to no one in particular. As Leaf went ahead once more, she narrowed her eyes. *I’ll figure that out sooner or later.*
#### Two

Chapter 2 -
ROWAN

Rowan could hardly believe it.

Wren was alive, and so was Leaf, even after storming off from the mountain dragon palace. The dragonmancers had finally gotten their crimes exposed. She and Grove were finally out of jail. Rowan thought that it was a pretty great day in of itself, and the mild weather certainly was helping her mood.

She was sitting next to Grove, eating on one of the blueberries that Cranberry had gathered earlier that morning. Cranberry had been getting most of the food for them, as both Rowan and Grove were still feeling weak after being thrown into jail, and Thyme preferred to keep watch for any dragons. Grove was leaning on her shoulder, partially asleep. Thyme had been sitting nearby them, still not touching his own fruit.

Rowan glanced at Grove, gently nudging him awake. “Hey Grove? You awake enough to eat?”

He groaned, opening a single eye to look at her. “I don’t have much of a choice, do I?”

“Not really,” Rowan replied, handing him a small chunk of her own blueberry. “Come on, eat up. Cranberry didn’t get these for nothing.”

Grove grumbled underneath his breath, but didn’t argue — he took a few bites out of the blueberry, though he still dozed off on Rowan’s shoulder. Cranberry soon plopped down next to Rowan, practically flying out of the tangled undergrowth. Rowan lightly chuckled as she dropped a few blueberries on her lap.

Cranberry giggled awkwardly. “Sorry, Rowan.”

“Aw, it’s alright,” She responded, handing the fruit back to Cranberry. “You managed to get us all breakfast on your own, don’t apologise.”

Blushing slightly at Rowan’s praise, she grinned. “I guess.” She turned to Thyme, tilting her head. “Thyme? You okay?”

Surprised, he looked back at her. “You’re back already? Huh.” Now taking a few bites of his food, he shrugged. “I … just keeping watch for any dragons, I guess.”

*I doubt we’ll have as much of a reason to worry, but … I can see why he’s being cautious over it.* After their journey to the mountain dragon palace, Thyme had been more jumpy whenever they stopped briefly in any sort of clearing. While Rowan found it irritating, she couldn’t blame him. *He probably doesn’t want a repeat of Mushroom … but Mushroom actually deserved it. He was a piece of crap.*

Grove lightly tapped Rowan’s hand. “More,” He mumbled.

She whipped her head around to face him, chuckling. “Now you’re *demanding* more? You’re lucky that you’re doing such a good job of being adorable while doing it.” She handed him the rest of the blueberry, already full.

Cranberry snorted. “Is he still tired?”

“Yes, I am,” He snapped, his shoulders slumping. “I don’t know how you manage to be so energetic this early.”

Glancing up at the sky, Cranberry rolled her eyes. “It’s almost noon! I don’t know how you can still be tired after half of the day’s gone!”

Rowan smirked. “You usually wake up at dawn, Cran. I’m still tired myself.”

Giggling, she nodded. “True! I am still used to waking up that early. We — I always had to be up that early back in my troupe. Sleeping in was pretty taboo, if you know what I mean.”

Grove lifted his head to stare at her. “You mean to say it wasn’t allowed, or …?”

“What? No, no! Maybe that wasn’t the best choice of words,” She replied, her cheeks flushing. “It definitely wasn’t encouraged, to say the least. I did it once and I got chewed out so badly for it! Never did that again.”

Rowan raised an eyebrow. “That seems like an unnecessarily harsh reaction to sleeping in.”

Cranberry looked as if she was going to argue, but sighed, nodding. “Yeah, I suppose you’re right. I didn’t mean to sleep in, either … not my fault that I had to practice so late.”

As they all went quiet, Rowan’s gaze rested on the sack of treasure they had taken from the dragon palace. How exactly are the four of us supposed to start a whole new town with this? She’d been wondering about that since Wren, Leaf, Ivy and Sky had taken off. They had debated it once since they left, but decided to wait until later to discuss their plan in full. Having instructions on how to go about this would be great.

She remembered what Wren had said about the Indestructible City; it was something about refugees, wasn’t it? *I mean, heading there doesn’t sound like a bad idea in the slightest…but we probably need to find a place to build the town.*

Cranberry poking Rowan’s cheeks broke Rowan out of her inner monologue. She turned to Cranberry, sighing.

“Yes, Cranberry?”

She frowned. “You’re making the grumpy face again. Something wrong?”

*Every time I think about something you always call it my ‘grumpy face.’* Rowan didn’t want to voice it out loud, though. She didn’t want to start the day debating something stupid with Cranberry, and she’d feel bad about brushing off Cranberry’s concern for her, anyhow.

Rowan shrugged. “Just thinking about our plan. With the treasure, to be blunt.”

“I thought we agreed to make a new town,” Thyme chimed in, now looking at them.

“That’s what I *meant*,” Rowan muttered, not bothering to raise her voice.

Grove suddenly sat up. “Rowan, let’s try to *avoid* a fight right now.”

She huffed, glaring at him. “What? It was obvious what I meant with context, context that he has!”

Thyme groaned, shaking his head. “Okay, okay. I misunderstood. What about our plan were you thinking about?”

“All of it. Like, where are we going to build the town? How and where are we going to get the resources required to start building? Stuff like that,” Rowan explained, ignoring the urge to groan in frustration.

Cranberry hummed to herself. “Maybe somewhere further away from Talisman? I mean, it’d probably be a long walk, but…”

Rowan nodded at her. “As long as it isn’t too close to Talisman, I’m good.” I never want to be around it again for as long as I live. “We could move closer to the Indestructible City.”

“No,” Grove immediately snapped, catching her attention. “I don’t want to get too close to a place that big and with that much power.”

Frowning, Rowan crossed her arms. “Like Talisman was any better.”

Grove narrowed his eyes. “I’m not saying it was. I’m just saying, that place is dangerous and I want nothing to do with it. Not now, not then, not ever.”

Cranberry leaned forwards, tilting her head. “Wait, what’s so bad about the Indestructible City? I thought it was one of the safest places for humans to live, or so I’ve been told.”

“Oh, it can be. If you manage to get in,” Grove replied, sighing to himself. “And even then, the current lord of it is … he has a lot of ideas you’d disagree with, I’ll leave it at that.”

Rowan shrugged. “Still would rather that over dragonmancers.”

Grove grimaced, but didn’t comment on it any further. *He knows how I feel about that. Dragonmancers will always be at the top of my list.*

“Ah. Well, *our* town won’t be anything like that *or* Talisman!” Cranberry raised a fist into the air, accidentally pushing Rowan to the side. *I would hope so.* “Oops. Sorry again, Rowan.”

Rowan sighed. “It’s okay.”

Thyme spoke up once Cranberry sat back down. “Well, finding a place to set up would be nice and all, but it’d be pretty hard to start a new town with just the four of us.”

Rowan tried to resist the urge to scowl. *He’s right and I hate that.* But who would be willing to help? Wren, Leaf, Sky, and Ivy had already left, and she sure as hell did not like the idea of heading back to Talisman to ask around for assistance. *I’d rather die, honestly.*

“Oh dear,” Cranberry murmured, rubbing her temple. “She’s making the grumpy face again.”

Grumbling, Rowan folded her arms in even more. “I’m not grumpy, I just hate that Thyme’s right about that.”

Grove raised an eyebrow. “… So you’re grumpy?”

Rowan just silently glared off into space, refusing to answer. Cranberry let out a small snort of laughter, though she gently rubbed Rowan’s back in sympathy. Grove glanced back at Thyme.

“I get that, but where would we go for assistance? I highly doubt we’d be able to get anywhere close to the Indestructible City’s entrance, let alone getting inside — and we all know how Rowan feels about heading back to Talisman.”

“Thank you for noticing,” Rowan muttered to herself. Cranberry gave her shoulder a hard shove in response.

Thyme tipped his head thoughtfully. “Well, maybe Rowan doesn’t have to go with? Two of us could go to Talisman and check, while Rowan and someone else can stay here.”

Rowan frowned. “I don’t like that idea either! I don’t want to be surrounded by people who were fine with sacrificing innocents because the ‘mystical’ dragonmancers said so. No thanks, I’ll pass.”

Cranberry rested her chin on Rowan’s shoulder. “Not all of them knew though, right? What about the ones who had no idea about the sacrifices? Before everything, I mean.”

Grimacing, Grove shrugged. “I mean, the older villagers still let it happen. I’m not entirely sure if I’d feel alright around them, too.”

“No, like … how do I word this?” Cranberry shook her head, groaning. “Rowan, what about your other sisters? Did they know anything about this?”

Rowan had to think for a moment before responding. *Did they know anything about the sacrifices? I don’t think so …* She never particularly had the chance to tell any of her other siblings the truth about Wren, aside from Leaf — their parents had always been keeping an eye on her since locking her in the cellar. She never exactly felt safe in her own home after that … moving in with Grove had been one of the best days after the event. It also didn’t help with the thoughts that none of her younger siblings would believe her — she could have sworn that she heard her parents’ voices ridiculing her, laughing that her siblings would believe that Wren was sacrificed, or that Rowan would fight for Wren’s life. *I’m not sure what it was that kept me from telling them. But they didn’t know and it’s my fault. They’d know some of the truth by now, I’d guess …*

“*Rowan*.” Cranberry’s voice broke into her thoughts.

Blinking at her a few times, Rowan shook her head. “Not until Wren said the dragonmancers and our parents tried to sacrifice her, I think.”

Cranberry noticed Rowan’s expression — she sighed, gently wrapping her arms around Rowan’s waist. Rowan could feel her own cheeks heating up, though she didn’t comment on it — she didn’t mind the hug that much, enjoyed it, even. Grove placed his hand on Rowan’s own hands, apparently sharing Cranberry’s sentiments. Even Thyme had scooted closer to the group to comfort Rowan. *Even if my parents never bothered to try, I know my friends will be there for me.*

Breaking the moment of silence, Thyme hesitantly asked, “So they likely would have no clue about the sacrifices or be alright with that happening?”

“That’s right,” Rowan confirmed, barely trying to raise the volume of her voice. She didn’t particularly enjoy speaking about this subject. “What about it?”

“We could try seeing if they would be interested in helping.” Thyme shrugged awkwardly, seeming unsure of his answer. “I mean, it wouldn’t be a bad idea, would it?”

“That sounds like a great idea!” Cranberry beamed. “We should do that!”

Grove frowned. “Well, not at all, but … that’s up to Rowan to decide. They’re her family, after all.”

The smile disappearing from her face, Cranberry nodded. “Y—Yeah, you have a point, Grove.” She glanced up at Rowan. “So … any thoughts?”

*Me?* She wasn’t entirely sure if it was the best idea to let her decide their plans. The last time she came up with a plan it devolved into Grove and her almost getting sacrificed by the dragonmancers. *I don’t want to let anyone else get hurt because of me. What if Bluebell or Camellia got hurt because they came with us? I’ve already hurt Leaf and Wren because of my own actions … I don’t want to hurt my other siblings.*

“Uh … well, a lot,” Rowan managed to muster. “I mean, do you all really think it’d be best for me to decide? I haven’t exactly made the smartest decisions lately.” *And by lately, I mean almost never.*

“Rowan, that’s *your* family. It’s your call,” Cranberry reminded her, or at least tried to.

Grove simply scoffed. “Yes, we do. Cranberry just said it, but your sisters are still your family. If you want to try, we can do it. We won’t do it if you don’t want us to.”

Rowan grimaced. “No, I do want to at least talk to them again, it’s just … what if everything goes wrong again?” She leaned into her own legs, resting her chin on her arms. “What if it only ends up getting them hurt? That would be on me. And I don’t think I could take it.”

She could feel a tear or two falling onto her arms - honestly, she didn’t have the energy to care at that point. Cranberry wiped away a few of the tears, though she still had an arm wrapped around Rowan.

“You wouldn’t be at fault for that, Rowan,” Grove murmured, rubbing his fingers against Rowan’s hand. “Not now, not ever.”

Thyme nodded in agreement. “You can’t just give up on yourself every time something goes wrong. Sometimes taking the risk is worth it.”

“Yeah!” Cranberry piped in. “And even if it was your fault, you aren’t the type of person to hurt them on purpose! Please don’t bring yourself down over it, Rowan.”

Letting out something of a wheezing laugh, Rowan sighed. “There isn’t much I can say to convince any of you otherwise, is there?” She looked back up, meeting their gazes. “But I guess you’re all right. It wouldn’t hurt to try.”

Cranberry smiled at her. “So we’re all in agreement? We’re going to visit Talisman?”

A hum of agreement seemed to drift around the group — Rowan returned Cranberry’s gesture, though she could still feel the rocks sitting in the pit of her stomach. *I’m still not sure if this is the smartest idea.*

#### Three

Chapter 3 -
VIOLET

“Come *on*, Violet! I swear this is a great idea!”

“The last great idea you had involved slathering yourself with *butter*!”

“*I was eight*. And it was a wonderful idea, you’re just jealous of my intellect!”

“So sneaking into a Wingwatcher meeting is a wonderful idea now?”

“We *are* Wingwatchers!”

“Wingwatcher *apprentices*.”

“Same thing! Besides, it’s not like they can kick us out! We’re far too invaluable for that. Seriously Violet, you’re worrying about this way too much. We’ll be fine.”

Sneaking into a Wingwatcher meeting was not Violet’s idea of fun. While she had to admit she was curious to learn what they were discussing, she wasn’t interested in going in the slightest. She’d much rather stay at home with a cup of warm milk and a book. Now *that* was fun. Unfortunately, Daffodil never seemed to share those sentiments, that one in specific.

Violet raised an eyebrow at Daffodil. “Brook can still suspend our training.” *And besides … I don’t want to go anyways.*

Daffodil scoffed. “We’re so close to being promoted to full Wingwatchers it won’t even matter!”

“Yeah … we’ll end up being promoted in the next three years at this rate.”

Rolling her eyes, Daffodil crossed her arms. “Violet, why are you being so uncooperative right now? *Especially* for things like this! You’d normally be all about finding out what’s going on in the Wingwatcher meetings.”

*Because I don’t want to think about any of this Wingwatcher stuff when Ivy isn’t around. Or because I’m still upset with Ivy just leaving us behind like that. You know, the obvious.* Violet wasn’t going to say it out loud, however — she had a feeling that Daffodil knew that all too well and she preferred not talking about it.

She sighed. “I just don’t think this is a good use of our time. Can’t we do something else?”

“This *is* a productive way to spend our time!” Daffodil snapped. Exhaling deeply, she turned around, adding, “Look, you don’t have to come with. But I want to know what’s going on, so I’m going anyways — with or without you.”

As Daffodil began to walk away, Violet blinked in shock; she was being serious about this? *Usually she’d never go to do something on her own, especially without me … is Daff angry with me?* Violet didn’t like the idea, but it seemed plausible - whenever Daffodil was furious with Violet, end result was usually being ignored for a few days or so. *What did I do this time, though? I mean, she doesn’t seem angry with me, but …*

*I wish Ivy was here. She’d know how to handle situations like this.* Violet frowned, looking down at her shoes. *She’d be able to tell if Daffodil’s just angry with me or if she isn’t. She’s always been better at this stuff than I have.*

*Why did she have to leave so suddenly?*

“Vi? Are you …” Daffodil had took one last glance at Violet, her gaze wide. She came over to Violet, her hand gently brushing against Violet’s cheeks. “I know you don’t want me to go by myself, but please don’t cry over it.”

*Oh moons, am I crying? In front of Daff, of all people?* Violet tried to ignore the rising feeling of embarrassment in her cheeks.

She shook her head. “No, that’s not … that’s not why. I’m just…thinking about something else.” She took Daffodil’s other hand, sighing. “But you’re dead set on going regardless, aren’t you?”

Grimacing, Daffodil gave in, nodding. “Yeah. I can tell you everything that they said afterwards, though! So you don’t have to come with if you really don’t want to.”

“You’ll probably end up getting caught and getting punished for sneaking into it,” Violet snorted. “And if there’s nothing I can say to convince you otherwise, then I’ll have to come with anyways. It’s just not right when we aren’t doing stupid crap together.”

Lightly nudging Violet’s shoulder, Daffodil smiled. “Aww, I love doing stupid crap with you too, Violet!” *I’m more surprised she paid attention to that than what I said earlier … but I agree.* “Now come on! I think there’s a tunnel that leads somewhere into the main cavern somewhere.”

*…*

Nearing a somewhat large entrance, Daffodil flashed a grin at Violet.

“I think this is one of the entrances.” Daffodil tilted her head at the door. “Not sure if it’s the main one, though. But we still should be able to get inside. Somehow …”

Violet narrowed her eyes. “Daff, if this is the main entrance, we’re practically done for. Please tell me you aren’t serious when you say you aren’t sure.”

An awkward laugh escaping her lips, Daffodil shrugged. “Don’t worry, maybe it isn’t the main entrance.”

“*Maybe*?!” Violet snapped, immediately cupping her mouth in her hands once she realised she had risen her voice a bit too much for comfort. “Damn it, damn it-”

Daffodil grabbed Violet by the arm, and attempted to swerve towards the nearest corner as the footsteps from the room drew closer. *Damn it Daff, why did you let me come with?* Before Daffodil could get to the corner, Foxglove had already stepped out of the room, a vaguely amused expression on her face.

She chuckled lightly. “Everyone could hear you both bickering from a mile away, you know.”

Violet’s cheeks flushed, while Daffodil stiffened beside her. *Are we in trouble?* As Foxglove gestured for them to come closer, Daffodil reluctantly stepped away from the corner, Violet trailing from behind her.

Daffodil groaned. “Are we going to be punished for this?”

Foxglove shrugged. “Don’t know. Brook just gave up on trying to ignore your bickering and said to just bring you both in already.”

Frowning, Violet crossed her arms. “But we’re only Wingwatcher apprentices.”

“And that stopped you from trying to sneak into the meeting?” Foxglove teased, raising an eyebrow. Daffodil grumbled underneath her breath while Violet shifted closer to her. “Come on, you both might as well come inside. It’ll give you some experience for when you have to come to these meetings, anyways.”

Following Foxglove inside, Violet remained close to Daffodil as she tried to ignore the questioning gazes of the older Wingwatchers. *I mean, none of them look angry at us, so I guess that’s something,* She thought to herself. *Still nerve racking.* They stood next to Foxglove, Squirrel also sitting nearby. Violet’s gaze scanning the cavern, it seemed like most Wingwatchers chose to stand throughout the meetings, though there were a few sitting down. *How could anyone stand around for that long?*

Sitting close by was Brook, who had a cup of hot tea in her hands, bags underneath her eyes. *She’s still commander? I thought she would’ve given that responsibility to someone else so she could focus on ruling Valor.* Violet wasn’t entirely surprised, either — she’d seen how enthusiastic Brook was about Wingwatching at the welcome ceremony. *Still, just what has she been doing that makes her that tired?* Brook seemed to be more observant than Violet had hoped for, noticing Violet staring at her.

She sighed. “Kid, I’ve had a long day.” Taking another sip of her tea, she turned to the rest of the Wingwatchers. “I get that no one particularly wants to go to the old ruins while we still have the tunnel to fix. But some of our own are still there, and let’s not forget all of the other banished citizens of Valor.”

From his corner, Chipmunk muttered, “No one wants to do it because we’ll just get eaten anyways.”

Whipping her head around to face him, Foxglove scoffed. “I and several others have been to the old ruins before, and not once has anyone gotten eaten on the way there and back! You’re just a coward.”

Violet felt a smidge bad for Chipmunk upon seeing his flushed expression, but shrugged it off. *Foxglove does have a point. Even Daff and I have been to the old ruins before, Daff even more than I have. And we’re just apprentices!*

Foxglove glanced back at Brook. “I can lead a patrol there, if you’d like. No one else seems up to it, anyways.”

Brook sleepily nodded at her. “Thank you, Foxglove. Feel free to take whoever you’d like on the patrol, but I’ll be coming with.”

“Um, commander? With all due respect, wouldn’t it be more beneficial for you to stay in Valor?” Squirrel was now standing up, an eyebrow raised. “The tunnel still needs supervision while we’re shoring it up.”

“I’ll ask Lark if she can help out. She has more experience with that sort of stuff than I do,” Brook replied, gently stirring her tea. “But I’ll be going because I want to know if everyone in the ruins are alright for myself. Does anyone have any objections?”

A quiet hum of agreement seemed to stir around the other Wingwatchers — Brook appeared to take this as a sign to dismiss the meeting gesturing for them to leave. As most of the Wingwatchers began to leave, Brook turned to Violet and Daffodil, narrowing her eyes.

She pointed at them. “You two, stay.” *So are we actually in trouble, or …? Either way I’m not looking forwards to explaining this to my dads …*

Once the last Wingwatcher left, Brook craned her neck to see if the door had been closed, then took another sip of her tea. Daffodil was standing closer to Violet, her shoulders tensed up.

She grimaced. “So what’s our punishment?”

“Punishment? What are you on about?” Brook asked, a questioning look on her face. “I don’t punish apprentices for being curious. Besides, you both will end up participating in these soon enough.”

Violet almost let out a sigh of relief. *Thank the moons for that, at least.*

Daffodil tilted her head. “I thought you were going to punish us because we aren’t allowed to be here.”

“Well, yes, you aren’t supposed to be here. But I’d rather you two be in here than have to talk over you both bickering right outside the main entrance.” Brook let out a sigh, shrugging her shoulders. “That aside, that’s not what I wanted to talk to you about. I’m going to tell you both now that I don’t want either of you attempting to join the patrol to the ruins.”

Violet huffed. “We weren’t planning on it!”

Brook snorted. “Your record of following instructions says otherwise.” She stood up, finishing the last bit of tea. “Look, I get that you want to help out with some of the bigger issues — while you both definitely helped with the whole Dragonslayer situation in your own right, you have to understand that you both are just apprentices. You still have a few years of training before I can trust you both to do patrols out on the surface.”

“But we’ve *been* to the old ruins before! I had to live there for a brief amount of time. We could be a great help on the patrol!” Daffodil argued. “You can absolutely trust us to do patrols!”

“Daffodil, no. You both aren’t going and that’s final,” Brook snapped, already leaving the cave. She sighed, taking one last glance at the two. “But for what it’s worth, you both are good Wingwatchers. Don’t take this personally.”

As she left, Violet glanced at Daffodil, who was staring glumly at her feet. Placing her hand on Daffodil’s shoulder, Violet gave her a small smile.

“Hey, don’t do that,” She murmured. “It’ll be alright.”

Daffodil groaned. “I know. But don’t you think it’s a bit silly that Brook won’t trust us out there? I mean, especially me!” She crossed her arms. “I just wish we could come along with.”

Violet’s smile turned into a smirk. “I may or may not have a solution to that.”

#### Four

Chapter 4 -
WREN

Wren glanced over Sky’s shoulder as they flew in the air — smaller mountains remained below them. *I’m so glad we don’t have to walk through that mountain range,* She thought to herself. *That’d take way too long, honestly. And I don’t think Ivy or Leaf would enjoy that …*

She glanced over her shoulder, turning to Ivy and Leaf. “How are you both holding up so far?”

Leaf was just barely clinging onto Sky’s back, trembling a bit. Ivy, on the other hand, seemed perfectly content — hell, Wren could swear she seemed more excited if anything.

“I don’t think I’ll ever get used to this,” He mumbled, clutching his stomach.

Ivy raised a brow at him, chuckling. “You alright, Leaf?”

He gave her a small smile. “Could be feeling better.” He attempted to subtly inch closer to Ivy, which Wren wanted to guess was out of wariness. “How are you enjoying this?”

Ivy shrugged, still laughing. “Don’t know, but it’s awesome! I don’t get how you don’t like it.” She glanced back at Wren, tilting her head a bit. “So you and Sky get to do this every day?”

Wren grinned. “More or less.”

“Wow…” Ivy breathed, her eyes wide. “This is all so amazing.”

*Someone’s lived her whole life under a rock,* Wren commented to herself, quickly wanting to smack herself for thinking that. That wasn’t exactly wrong - all of Valor was located underground, wasn’t it? No wonder Ivy was so excited about everything. *Glad I didn’t let that one slip out …*

Leaf lightly nudged her shoulder. “You say that about everything these days.”

“I know, but it’s true! This even better than the first time I got to go outside!” She looked over Sky’s shoulder, her hair whipping her face. “I’m so glad I left Valor. Everything out here is beautiful.”

“Well, almost everything,” Leaf coughed to himself — Wren wanted to rebuke him for bringing Ivy’s mood down, but she didn’t seem to be paying attention to either of them anymore. So instead she settled for a simple glare.

She gently rubbed her hand against Sky’s neck, craning her neck a little to catch his eye. “Sky, how are you doing? Do you need to take a break?”

Sky smiled at her. “Well, I think I’m doing pretty alright, considering there’s three of you on my back right now. But could we take a small break?”

“We can do that.” Wren gave him a curt nod, then turning to Ivy and Leaf. “We’re going to land in a bit!”

Leaf let out a breath of relief. “Thank the moons.” Ivy rolled her eyes at him in response.

…

Once they found a relatively smaller clearing, Sky had landed, though making sure to be mindful of Leaf and Ivy. Wren hopped off once given the opportunity, Leaf doing the same, albeit struggling a bit to do so. He glanced back at Ivy, who was slowly getting down.

“Ivy, I can help you down if you want.”

She shook her head. “No thanks, I think I can get down by myself.” As she slid off of Sky’s back, she found herself accidentally tripping over her own foot — which ended up landing her on top of Wren, the both of them falling over in the process.

Wren let out a small yelp. “I—Ivy!”

Ivy drew back, her cheeks flushed. “Sorry Wren!” She got to her feet, brushing off her tunic. She gave Wren an awkward smile. “Didn’t mean to fall on you, I swear.”

Wren snorted in response, standing up as well. “It’s alright.” Ivy seemed to relax a little, joining in on Wren’s laughter. Leaf just rolled his eyes, and while it bugged Wren, she wasn’t going to bother with that.

*I swear, sometimes he really needs to stop taking everything so seriously,* She thought. *It’s not my fault if Ivy can be a little clumsy.*

“So … Ivy, are you doing any better since this morning?” Wren asked, hoping to dissolve the tension.

Ivy shrugged, yawning. “A little. I wouldn’t mind a nap, though.”

Leaf frowned at her. “You should probably try going to sleep earlier, then. I know for a fact that there’s no one hunting us down during the dead of night.”

“I have tried that, and it never works or helps!” Ivy argued, throwing her hands in the air. “I always end up waking up a few hours into sleeping, anyways. I don’t see how going to sleep earlier will help.”

Wren stared at them both, bewildered. “Wait, wait — what are you both even talking about?”

Ivy looked as if she was about to respond, but Leaf jumped in before she could say anything.

“Are you sure you want to share it?” He asked, raising an eyebrow.

She blinked at him, confused. “We’re also travelling with Wren and Sky. They should both know.” Leaf was disgruntled by her response, but said nothing else.

*Why is he acting so upset about that, anyways? It’s Ivy’s business, not his.*

Ivy glanced back at Wren, sighing. “I … well, you see, since the whole situation with the Wingwatcher arrests happened and Leaf, Daffodil, Stone and I had to live in the ruins for a while, I developed a sort of sleeping problem, if that makes sense? It just got really hard to go to sleep while knowing there were people hunting you down and even if I did get to sleep, it was even harder to go back to sleep. I usually just slept closer to Daffodil when it happened, but…as you can see, she’s not with us.”

She turned to Leaf briefly. “Her dad was the one who drove you four out of the city and ordered the arrests, right?”

“Uh … yes. Why do you ask?”

Wren ignored his question and looked back at Ivy. “Your dad’s a piece of crap.”

Sky glared at her. “Wren, I’m pretty sure that shouldn’t be the first thing you say after someone admits they have sleeping issues!”

“I’m not wrong!” Wren shot back, crossing her arms. Ivy remained silent, avoiding everyone else’s gaze — Leaf appeared to pick up on this, glaring at Wren.

“Quit trying to upset her!” He snapped, earning a bewildered look from Ivy in the process.

“I’m not upset, Leaf. I’m just thinking.” She sighed to herself, shaking her head. “I know he’s terrible. But I can’t help but see him as my father still.”

“Some father he was,” Wren muttered. “If he lost his temper to the point where his own daughter has to run away from home to feel safe, then he doesn’t deserve to be called one.”

Ivy just grimaced, her gaze unblinking. “I—I guess you’re right.”

Leaf threw another glare at Wren before placing a hand on Ivy’s shoulder. “You okay?”

She brushed his hand aside, walking away from the group. “I want to be left alone for a bit.” She sat next to a nearby cluster of pebbles, ignoring Leaf’s attempts to get her to stay.

Sighing, Leaf folded his arms. “Wren, I agree with you but you came off way too strong for Ivy.”

“I can see that now, Leaf!” Wren shot back. *And now I feel a little bad for it … a little. She should realise that he never was an actual father to her, regardless of whether they’re related or not.*

Leaf just scoffed at her, already beginning to walk towards Ivy. “I’ll go talk to her.” Wren immediately grabbed his arm, pulling him back. “Wren, what—”

“She *just* said she wants to be left alone for a bit! Can’t you respect that?”

“Oh? And are you going to talk to her about it, then?”

“That’s not even what I *said*, you daft—”

“Both of you, stop fighting!” Sky intervened, pulling Wren away from Leaf before she could say more. He gave both of them a stern look. “If Ivy wants her own space for a bit, let’s give her that, okay? I’ll talk to her once she’s in the mood, because the both of you clearly can’t.” He remained silent for a moment, then added, “I’m going to stretch my wings for a bit.”

Before Wren could say anything more, Sky stalked off, though not too far away. Ivy was still sitting by herself, occasionally glancing back at the three, but refused to move from her spot. Wren could’ve sworn she saw a few tears welling up in her eyes, and if it was the case, it didn’t make Wren feel any better about the situation.

She glared at Leaf. “You’re being way too overbearing and clingy, you know that?”

“How is being concerned over her 'overbearing'?” He snapped back, keeping his voice low.

Wren shrugged, rolling her eyes. “I don’t know, how about the fact that you constantly try to comfort her and defend her when she clearly doesn’t want that kind of attention from you?” Avoiding meeting his gaze, she muttered, “She doesn’t seem the least bit interested, either.”

Leaf scoffed. “If she wasn’t interested, then she wouldn’t have let me kiss her.”

Wren simply stared at him for a moment before responding. “There’s so many things wrong with that statement that I’m not sure where I should even begin.” She sighed, shaking her head. “Look, I don’t want to get involved with … whatever this is but I’m just going to suggest that you and Ivy talk this through and leave it at that.”

He frowned, but didn’t argue. “I guess I could do that.” Leaf let out a sharp exhale, shoving his hands in his pockets. “So … how exactly do you manage to stay in the air that long without getting sick?”

Wren laughed. “You get used to it.”

“That’ll be the day,” He groaned, though he was vaguely amused. His gaze darted around the clearing for a bit, adding, “I wonder how much longer it’ll take to the ruins? It didn’t take us that long to go from Valor and back to Talisman.”

“I don’t know, maybe a few days at least? We should be fine,” Wren replied, sitting on the ground. “I just want to avoid any dragon cities and the Indestructible City for the time being. Sky got dragon-napped last time he went to a dragon city and I don’t like the Indestructible City much.” *And I’m still mad at Undauntable.*

Leaf raised an eyebrow. “So the main reason we’re headed this route is because you don’t want to go near it?”

Wren smirked. “Maybe.”

As the two talked for a bit longer, Leaf stopped, looking from behind Wren. Wren turned to see Ivy walking over to them, still appearing somewhat downcast. She met both of their gazes.

“Hey,” She greeted them. “You guys did realise I wasn’t that far away from you, right?”

Wren didn’t particularly enjoy the implications Ivy’s statement had — neither did Leaf, apparently, as his cheeks flushed with embarrassment. *At least I don’t have to get involved with that mess.* She glanced back at Ivy, grimacing.

“Um, Ivy? I’m…I’m sorry if I was a bit too harsh with you,” Wren sighed. “I just…have strong opinions against people like your father.” *People who don’t even care for their own children. Like my own.*

Ivy shrugged, folding her arms. “I can tell you’re sorry, Wren. And I get where you’re coming from. But I’m still kind of angry with you.” She gave Leaf a side glance. “And you.”

Wren wanted to argue, but she didn’t want to upset Ivy even more. *And she has some right to be angry with me, I suppose.* Instead she gestured for Ivy to sit down, which she did so with mild confusion.

“Where’s Sky?” She asked, tilting her head.

“He’s stretching his wings for a bit. It doesn’t take him all that long,” Wren replied. She whirled around only to spot Sky rushing over to them, an expression of worry on his face. She immediately stood up, both concerned and worried. *What happened? Did he get attacked by someone? If he did, I’m going to find whoever did and—* “Sky, what happened?”

He took in a deep breath. “I think the soldiers from the Indestructible City are following us, Wren.”

#### Five

Chapter 5 -
ROWAN

*This is such a stupid idea. Why did I agree to this, again?*

She was walking in between Grove and Cranberry, with Thyme taking the lead. Rowan wasn’t exactly thrilled that they were headed back, to say the least — but having Grove and Cranberry with her did help her be somewhat at ease. *They don’t have to be by my side all the time, though.*

Rowan didn’t particularly *want* to dwell on that, though. At least, not at the moment. She was more concerned with how her sisters would react to her since they removed the dragonmancers from power. Were they disgusted with her for hiding the truth from them for so long? Or did they more upset with the fact that she’d left without even talking to them?

*They’ll probably hate me for it like Leaf. I wouldn’t blame them, either.*

Cranberry’s palm brushed against Rowan’s hand. She gave Rowan a reassuring smile - Rowan smiled back, blushing and slightly dumbfounded. *She’s always so sweet to me. Why is she so nice to me? I’m not sure what I’ve even done to deserve it …* Grove’s chuckling pulled her out of her thoughts.

“You both are adorable,” He commented. Cranberry simply giggled, while Rowan simply blushed harder, unable to resist letting out a few laughs.

Thyme grinned at them, though he didn’t comment on it. “We should be close to one of the underground shelters.” His gaze rested on Rowan. “You don’t have to go in the village with us, you know. You could wait in one of the shelters till we come back.”

Rowan shook her head. “No, it’s … it’s fine. I should come with, anyways. I need to speak with my sisters whether I want to or not.” *And I need to know if they hate me for hiding the truth about Wren too.*

Grove frowned, resting his arm on Rowan’s shoulder. “I can do most of the talking, if that helps.”

Something resembling a smile tugged at her lips. “Thanks.”

They didn’t talk much for the rest of the walk to Talisman. Cranberry had been trying to soothe Rowan’s nerves for most of the walk, but Rowan didn’t feel that it was helping much if at all. She was grateful for it, though. Upon reaching the village itself however, Rowan didn’t feel as sick to her stomach as she had felt when the idea was initially presented to her — it was still there, of course, but the gut feeling felt slightly better.

Rowan could see some villagers walking about, though not without warily glancing up at the sky for dragons — the warning bell was also still standing, along with the dragonmancers’ old study. *Did anything even change since we left? I wouldn’t put it past them, honestly…* She wanted to try and be positive that these people could change their ways, but she felt that even a little faith in them was too much.

“Rowan, where would your sisters be at this time?” Grove asked, turning to her.

She shrugged. “I don’t know … it’s not like I paid much attention to them. I remember Bluebell enjoying wandering around the village a lot, though. She might be out.”

Thyme nodded. “Yeah, I think I remember her doing that … a lot. Wasn’t she the one you said thought that she could speak to butterflies?”

“Yep.”

Cranberry blinked at Rowan. “Wait, you weren’t joking about that?”

Inhaling sharply, Rowan shook her head. “No.” She shrugged. “But that was when Bluebell was nine, so hell knows if she still thinks that. She still wanders around the village randomly, though.”

“Well, we can ask around for her,” Grove suggested.

Rowan grimaced. “What if we can’t find her? Does that mean we can leave, or …?”

He rolled his eyes. “Well, you know where Camellia lives, don’t know? She’s long moved out of your parents house by now.”

Almost immediately Rowan wanted out at the suggestion of going to Camellia. *I really don’t want to talk to her again, no thank you, Grove.* While Rowan didn’t *hate* or *dislike* her sister per say, Rowan didn’t particularly favour Camellia over the others. Camellia had always been more rude and snappy with everyone when any adults weren’t around and had always been snobbish, at least in Rowan’s opinion — Rowan could live with it, but she’d much rather speak with someone else in Talisman.

Cranberry held back a few chuckles upon seeing Rowan’s expression. “I assume she’s not your first pick.”

“Well, I would hope not!” Rowan snapped, huffing. “She annoys me.”

Grove let out a snort of laughter. “Well, for your sake, let’s hope we can find Bluebell.”

…

It had only been a bit of poking around Talisman, but Rowan was already feeling sick just hanging around the outskirts of the village. She had asked if she could wait until the others were done — Cranberry had wanted to come with, but Rowan didn’t particularly want to be around anyone else at the moment. She was walking in the section of the forest where she and Leaf used to spar together … how long ago had it been?

*Years from now, I think,* She answered, ignoring a pang of sadness in her chest. *I miss those days. Back when he didn’t hate me, I mean.*

Did Leaf still hate her for that? She doubted it, but … it wouldn’t surprise her if he still disliked her for lying. *Which I can’t blame him for. I…I have been an awful older sister to all my siblings. Especially to him and Wren.* Rowan had been trying to avoid those types of thoughts since she already knew how those conversations in her head would go by now, but when she had no one else to talk to, it was exceptionally hard to avoid it.

*Cranberry would probably try to reassure me that he doesn’t hate me,* She mused. *And honestly? She’s probably right. I’m probably just overthinking, but …*

“Ugh, this is all a load of crap. None of this would be happening if it weren’t for mom and dad and the *dragonmancers* —” Rowan plopped down next to a nearby tree trunk, sighing. She curled up into her arms and legs, lowering her head. “If it weren’t for me …”

*If it weren’t for me, then maybe everything would be better.*

Rowan ignored the tears falling onto her cheeks, though she couldn’t help but let out a few sniffles. She *loathed* the fact that she was now crying over it (*again*), but it did feel a little better to release her tears, for the time being. As she remained sitting down, she felt a hand touch her shoulders, catching her attention. She looked up, expecting to see Cranberry or Grove or Thyme — to her surprise, she locked gazes with Bluebell, who seemed just as shocked to see Rowan.

Bluebell tilted her head questioningly at her. “Rowan? It’s really you? You’re … back?”

Rowan wasn’t entirely sure what to say — she didn’t think any of her sisters would find her while she was out in the woods, but now that one of them had?

“I … sort of?” Rowan avoided meeting Bluebell’s gaze. “What are you doing out here, anyways?”

Bluebell sat down next to Rowan, frowning. “I could ask the same of you. But to answer your question, I was taking a walk. I wanted to find some butterflies, but … this is just as good!”

Rowan shrugged. “I … really did not want to come back, Bluebell. And I don’t intend on staying.”

“Why are you here, then? And are Wren and Leaf with you? I never got to say goodbye to them …”

*What am I supposed to say to that? Neither of them are with us, and I hate seeing Bluebell upset. But if she finds out I lied to her … I couldn’t. Not again.*

“Well … no. They aren’t with me,” Rowan confessed, exhaling deeply. “They took off on their own. It’s just Grove, Cranberry, Thyme, and I.”

Bluebell glanced down at her feet, her shoulders slumped. “Oh.”

Rowan grimaced. *Yeah … this is the exact kind of conversation I wanted to avoid. And yet …* Gently nudging Bluebell with her arm, she wasn’t entirely sure how this attempt at comfort would go.

“Hey, don’t … don’t cry. I’m sure you’ll see them again one day.” Rowan was almost certain that was the *wrong* thing to say, but then again, her other option was to bail. “You still have Camellia and Mallow to take care of you, don’t you?”

Bluebell shrugged. “Camellia hasn’t talked to Mallow or I since you guys left. And Mallow and I don’t really … talk to each other that much anymore, either.” She sighed. “I know we’ve never been exactly close, but … everything that happened that day was really upsetting, Rowan. Camellia said she needed time to think, which obviously she’s just brooding, and Mallow—”

Rowan rested her hand on Bluebell’s shoulder. “Listen, Bluebell? I’m really sorry about not telling any of you the truth sooner. I didn’t mean for things to come out that way, I swear.”

“Hmm, I believe you, but Camellia might not forgive you for it.” Bluebell gave Rowan a weak smile. “But you didn’t answer my other question.”

Laughing awkwardly, Rowan smiled back. “Oh, that. Well, uh … my friends and I might be trying to see if anyone would like to help us build our village? By ‘anyone’ I mean you, Mallow and Camellia …”

Bluebell’s gaze widened. “Wait, really? You want us to help you? *And* you’re building a village?”

Rowan nodded. “Yeah …? If you wanted to come with. You don’t have to.”

Bluebell grinned. “That sounds *awesome*. I’m coming with you guys.” She stood up, stretching. “I really don’t want to keep living with mom and dad, anyways …”

“Did they do anything to you? Or Mallow and Camellia, for that matter,” Rowan asked, her voice laced with concern. *It wouldn’t shock me if they did. They never looked at us the same way again after Wren.*

She grimaced. “I … they were really mad.” Bluebell clearly looked too uncomfortable to speak about it, but Rowan could form an educated guess judging from her expression. *That’s disgusting.* “But it won’t happen anymore since we’re leaving! …Right?”

Rowan stood up, awkwardly embracing Bluebell in a hug. Or at least, tried to. “Bluebell, I’d never hurt you like them. You know that.” To Rowan’s shock, Bluebell hugged back — she couldn’t help but smile.

“I know, Rowan,” Bluebell drawled, giggling. She held on for a bit longer, then drew back. “You’re a surprisingly good hugger, for someone who hates touch. Anyone ever tell you that?”

Snorting, Rowan nodded lightly. “A few times, yeah.” She glanced around their surroundings, then sighed. “We should probably find my friends. They’re probably worried about me by now …”

Bluebell shrugged. “Well, I would hope so! Maybe they’ve already talked to Camellia and Mallow about it?”

*Maybe.* Rowan didn’t particularly want to comment on that, mainly out of hope that they had already finished talking with Camellia so Rowan didn’t have to. *I know Camellia isn’t going to be happy with me for this. I mean, she’s never happy with me for anything, but…*

“I suppose so,” Rowan mumbled. “But do you really think Camellia will be able to tolerate me regardless? Most of our conversations end with yelling and insults.” *Which … I wish I felt worse about. But I really don’t feel bad about yelling at Camellia.*

Bluebell gently patted Rowan’s back. “Aw, Rowan. Camellia will come around at some point! But if not, then I’m still with you.”

Rowan said nothing in response, only giving Bluebell an awkward smile. She still wasn’t sure about this whole idea. She still wasn’t sure if coming back to Talisman was a good idea. *But I do know at least one of my sisters doesn’t hate me for everything…even if I deserve it.* Rowan doubted that alone made the trip worth it, but … it made a little part of her feel just the tiniest bit better.

#### Six

Chapter 6 -
BROOK

Brook scowled at the papers scattered across her desk. She was sitting in her office, still reading through the paperwork she had been neglecting to work on for days now. Most of the overdue papers were related to her duties as the commander of the Wingwatchers, but the other half was related to her new duties as lord of Valor. Which was something she didn’t *entirely* mind, but she hated how it got in the way of her other job that she enjoyed more.

*Well, maybe neglecting isn’t the right word,* She thought, tightening her grip on her pencil. *Because last I checked, I didn’t get a choice in being arrested for the stupidest reason.*

Brook had just started on working on ideas to solve some of the issues brought up in their last Wingwatcher meeting — and then Heath called a mandatory meeting and arrested her shortly afterwards. She vividly remembered kicking and pulling the hair of several of Heath’s men that day. *I still can’t believe he had the gall to do that publicly. I knew he disliked me, but…*

But she knew there wasn’t anything she could do about it now. It was all settled with, and Heath finally lost his power — she didn’t particularly *want* to dwell on it, but her mind constantly drifted back to her frustration and rage that the whole issue happened in the first place.

“All these tunnel problems wouldn’t even be *things* if he was never lord in the first place!” She groaned, digging her face into her palms. “By all moons, did he have to be *that* inefficient at problem solving?”

To Brook, it felt like most of her recent work as Valor’s new lord was cleaning up Heath’s mess. And she loathed *every second of it*. It was always a reminder that she shouldn’t even be in the position she was currently in, and a position she didn’t particularly *want*, either. Not that she minded it much, but she was perfectly content with remaining commander of the Wingwatchers. Being the lord of Valor complicated that.

Brook glanced back down at the papers, sighing as she picked her quill back up. *Brook, you can rant about Heath’s awful decisions later. You need to finish this now so Lark won’t bother you about it AGAIN.*

Lark had been helping Brook out with most of her tasks, which Brook did appreciate, but she still found it annoying when Lark had to remind her to finish certain things. Which was often. Brook had to wonder how much free time Lark had on her hands to do this consistently, but then again, Lark always happened to have spare time whenever it was work related.

Skimming through the paper for the fifth time, Brook let out another frustrated groan and chucked her quill at the wall. She also wanted to throw the papers, but Lark had organised them for her yesterday and Brook wasn’t going to risk getting a paper cut. Instead she settled for slamming her arms against her desk, resting her head on top of them.

*Ughhhh. Paperwork and cleaning this up isn’t a good combination for my health.*

“Uhh, mom? You okay?”

Brook lifted her head; Forest was standing right outside the entrance, a questioning look on his face. He took a brief glance at the pencil now laying on the ground before quickly looking away.

She slumped in her chair. “I despise this paperwork. I just want to go on an outside patrol or work on the tunnels instead!”

“Now you know how I feel about skygazing notes,” He muttered, his gaze narrow.

Brook scoffed. “Skygazing notes aren’t this bad, what are you even *talking* about? And they don’t even have to be that long or complex!” *Well, unless you’re a Wingwatcher apprentice whose name is Ivy … and have some sort of obsession with describing everything in detail. Especially the dragons.*

Forest rolled his eyes, but didn’t argue. “Anyways, did you have any meetings planned today?”

Raising an eyebrow, she leaned into her chair. “No. Or at least, I don’t think so. Why’d you ask?”

“You don’t? Hmm.” He frowned, glancing behind his shoulder. “That’s confusing because Lark is at the door. Maybe you forgot?”

Brook quickly shot out of her seat. “Lark’s *here*? *Now*? Okay, now I definitely know that I had nothing else planned — it’s my paperwork day.” *Just what is she doing here, anyways? It’s not like she has to see me right now … and to be perfectly honest, I don’t want her to see me complaining about paperwork.*

*… or her husband.*

Brook wasn’t over the fact that Lark was with Heath *still*, despite everything. But she knew it was a sensitive topic for Lark, so Brook usually tried to avoid mentioning Heath specifically whenever their discussions got dangerously close to that. *And I’m not sure if I’d be able to restrain myself from saying all sorts of things while in that kind of mood.*

Forest nodded. “Did you, uh … want me to tell her you’re busy? I can do that if you want.”

“No, it’s alright. Bring her in, I need a breather from all of *this* anyways,” Brook replied, exhaling deeply. As he left the room, Brook rubbed her eyes. *And it’ll give me something of an excuse to avoid doing some paperwork. Maybe.*

Brook got to her feet and walked over to where she threw her quill — she had to wonder why Lark was even coming over in the first place. *I don’t think we have any meetings scheduled until tomorrow,* She mused. *So why now? She hardly comes here if she doesn’t have to.*

Before Brook could get back to her desk, Lark walked in, vaguely amused. She raised an eyebrow.

“Oh dear. What did your quill do to you this time, Brook?”

Brook knew what Lark was implying. Whenever Lark had caught Brook in one of her moments of frustration, Lark had began to find it funny to gently tease Brook about it. Namely, about her constantly throwing her quill across the room. Brook simply huffed and sat back down in her seat. *I mean, she is trying to be friendly outside of meetings.*

“I have overdue paperwork to finish,” Brook groaned. “And I don’t want to finish it. This quill is a reminder of that.”

“Oh! I didn’t know you were busy. I can leave, if you’d like.”

“No, please stay,” Brook sighed, rubbing her forehead. “Some company would be nice, all things considered.”

“Really? Thank you!” Lark dragged a chair to the front of Brook’s desk, sitting in it. “I hope I’m not too much of a bother.”

Brook chuckled. “Nah, you’re alright.” As she resumed to her paperwork, Brook hummed quietly to herself. “So … what brings you here?”

Lark grimaced. “Well, um … it’s kind of weird, I think. If it’s weird that I just wanted to talk with you for a bit. I mean, I find it a little weird, at least. And pretty awkward, to be honest with you.”

“Like…outside of our meetings?” Brook asked — Lark nodded in response. “That’s not weird at all! In fact, I would love to speak to you more outside of those.” *And I wish you kept speaking to me after I became the Wingwatcher commander. So you’re right in that it’s really awkward.*

An awkward smile was plastered onto Lark’s face. “It’s not? Well, that’s a relief. I’ve been wanting to speak to you more lately, anyways.”

Brook shrugged. “Glad I can be of some help.” Now lightly gnawing on the tip of the quill, she frowned. “Is there any specific reason you wanted to talk?” *Is everything alright at your home?*

Lark looked away. “I … I just want to talk to someone who I know won’t yell at me for things that aren’t my fault for once.”

“Was Heath yelling at you *again*?” Brook asked, though she felt it came out more like a growl.

“I-I … I don’t really want to talk about it,” Lark confessed, folding her arms into her sleeves. “But to answer your question, yes.”

*He really doesn’t want to change, does he?* Brook would expect that he would have learned something from the ordeal with the stolen treasure, and try to hold back on his temper. Then again, Brook knew that Heath had always been a short fuse since their teenage years and was adamant about not working on it, so it didn’t surprise her in the least that he was still unpleasant to be around, from her experience.

Sighing, Brook briefly glanced back at her. “Well, you can come vent to me about it whenever you need to. Or want to. Whatever works, I suppose.”

Lark’s cheeks were flushed. “Y—You really don't have to do that, Brook,” She stammered. “I’m doing fine. Your problems are a bigger deal than mine, anyways.”

“Bah! Not to me. Your problems are just as big of a deal as mine, Lark,” She replied.

Lark opened her mouth to argue, but was quickly cut off by a knock on the door. Brook turned her attention to the door — what was it *now*?

“Who is it?”

“It’s Foxglove, commander!”

Brook inhaled sharply, already guessing who it was likely about. “Come in.”

Foxglove opened the door to reveal two young Wingwatcher apprentices — apprentices who Brook immediately recognised to be Daffodil and Violet. Foxglove had an expression of pure exasperation on her face, glaring at nothing. Daffodil had her arms crossed, pouting — Violet simply looked irked, refusing to meet anyone else’s gaze. *What did they do now?*

“These two decided to try and sneak off so they could join one of the surface patrols. You can imagine the struggle it was to get them back in Valor in one piece.”

Daffodil huffed. “It’s not our fault that we mistook which patrol it was!” Violet immediately buried her face with her palms, groaning.

Brook let out a long sigh, lightly shaking her head. “Foxglove? Make sure you assign someone to watch these two when we head to the ruins.”

She began gesturing for the two to the head out of the office, still vaguely annoyed. “Alright, you two can leave.” The apprentices quickly left, immediately bickering with each other on their way out. Foxglove exhaled deeply once they were out of earshot. “Are you going to punish them?”

“Foxglove, those two are a rare breed of Wingwatcher apprentice. In that punishment does not deter them, it only makes them disregard rules even more.” Brook grimaced. “And you know how I feel about punishing apprentices.”

Foxglove gave a disgruntled shrug, but didn’t argue. “So who should watch them, then?”

*Well, I can say with certainty that it won’t be you or me,* Brook wanted to say, but the look on Foxglove’s face told her that stating the obvious was not going to put her in a better mood. “Tell me, who do you plan taking with us for the patrol?”

“I was thinking of taking Wintersweet, Yarrow, and Squirrel,” Foxglove answered. “Wintersweet and Yarrow work well together and Squirrel because I’m pretty sure Pine’s still at the ruins. It’ll probably cheer Squirrel up a bit, too.”

“Surprisingly thoughtful of you.” Brook raised an eyebrow at her. “I genuinely thought you were going to drag Chipmunk along just to spite him, though. Seems right up your alley.”

Foxglove shook her head and laughed. “No, we both know how he is on daylight patrols — he’s generally better at the night missions, anyways. I’m perfectly fine with letting him spend time with his girlfriend for the day, no matter how fun picking on him sounds.”

Brook snorted. “Try not to take *too* much pleasure in teasing Chipmunk when you do it again.”

“I’ll try,” Foxglove joked, rolling her eyes.

Tipping her head to the side, Brook shrugged. “Back to the matter at hand … if that’s the case, then I can assign Holly or Parsley to watch them, if that’s alright with you.” *I mean, it’s alright with me. I’d hope both of them have the common sense to know how to at least keep an eye on two fourteen-year-olds, no matter how difficult they might be.*

Foxglove frowned. “But Holly? *Really*?”

“Do you have that little faith in your sister, Foxglove?” Brook teased, earning another eye roll from Foxglove. “I’m sure even Holly can handle that kind of responsibility. She knows how to handle the younger apprentices fairly well, and you have to admit she does have more experience than you. But because I know you’ll complain, I’ll assign Holly and Parsley to watch them. Deal?”

Somewhat amused, Foxglove nodded. “Deal. Thanks, commander.” As she left, Lark let out a few quiet laughs.

She raised an eyebrow at Brook. “You really are close to all the other Wingwatchers, aren’t you?”

“Well, not all of them, but … yeah. They’re like a second family to me. I wouldn’t trade the world for a better team to work with,” Brook confessed.

Lark smiled. “That’s sweet.” Brook felt her cheeks heating up in response — the best she could do was muster up an awkward smile in return. “Brook? If you want to focus more on your Wingwatcher tasks, I’d be glad to help out with your lord duties, if you’d like. I know you love being the Wingwatcher commander more than being the lord of Valor.”

“Really? That’s great! Cause, uh … I have a favour to ask of you.”

“Brook, I’m not going to do your paperwork for you,” Lark replied with a teasing smirk.

“Well, it was worth a shot,” Brook laughed. “But in all seriousness, I was hoping that you could take the lead of the reconsealing of the tunnel nearby the old village for the next few days? I have to head to there for a bit and I’m not sure how long I’ll be gone. A few days at most, I’m hoping.”

Lark blinked in surprise. “Uh … you want *me* to take over something like that? Are you sure?”

Grinning at her, Brook reached across her desk, placing her hand on top of Lark’s. “Hey, don’t doubt yourself. You have some of the most brilliant ideas to improve Valor and are great at leading these sorts of things. You’ll be just fine.”

“R—Really? Well, if you say so … I guess I can try,” Lark giggled, her cheeks flushed. Brook’s smile spread wider, laughing in response. *I think I might enjoy spending time with Lark more than I thought I would.*

## Notes & Trivia

* This story takes place slightly before A Violet's Solace.