Our Stories

Short scenes from the lives (or deaths) of the Animus Project characters.

This page will be deleted once the individual pages are added and the writing uploaded there.

"Terra…" Nova sounded just as scared as Arcane felt, staring in shock at her sister, who was standing over Iri's body, the hybrid's blood still on her claws.
"For your safety, Nova. Like you said." Terra growled, not turning around. She had her back to them, her deadly tail barb raised, ready to strike. Arcane hadn't realized just how much stronger she'd become since her death.
"She wasn't a threat, Terra. She was our friend." Nova sounded like she was about to cry, and she stepped towards Terra. Arcane wanted to pull her back, but knew that the young necromancer was the only one who could calm Terra down.
"Nova, don't. She might turn on you." Arcane whispered, but Nova ignored him. He didn't want to watch, but he couldn’t look away. If Terra hurt Nova, it wouldn't be pretty. Like the rest of them, she was cursed, but hers was the worst. Iridescent had been trying to figure out a way to stop Nova's decay, but now she was dead.
"She was using her magic on you." Terra spat, glaring at Nova, fury in her eyes. "I couldn't let that happen." Nova tried to say something, but couldn't. Arcane jumped forwards, getting between the twins. He knew it was a stupid move, but he couldn't let Terra hurt Nova.
"Iri was trying to help her, not hurt her." Arcane said, glaring at Terra. "Don't you get it?" Terra just flared her wings, and Arcane felt the temperature rise. He'd never trusted Terra, but Nova was his friend, and he knew how much she loved her sister. But now, he was pretty sure he'd been right the whole time.
"Nova, your sister is crazy." He hissed to her, hoping Terra couldn't hear him.

“Nova. Please?” Terra asked, nudging her gently. She wanted to know how to help.
“It hurts.” Nova mumbled, uncurling a little to look up at Terra. “I think it’s getting worse.” She stared up at Terra, holding her arm strangely. Terra knew what she meant. The curse that was supposed to kill her if she ever escaped from the Animus Project. It hadn’t quite worked as they had intended, since Nova was immortal now, but it still hurt Terra to see what was happening to her twin. She hated seeing Nova in pain at all.
When Crow had helped them escape, along with Iridescent and Arcane, Nova had gotten a pretty bad scratch on one arm. It hadn’t healed, even though they’d been on the island for about a month now. Instead, Iri had guessed that the scientists were hoping that an unhealing wound would kill her, or at least slow her down. Terra was worried that it would just spread, leaving Nova to slowly decay while she was still alive. It wasn’t a pleasant image at all.
“I think you’re right.” Terra said, gently pulling back the bandages that covered the wound. Nova winced, pulling her arm back.

“Mom?” Calypso called, her fear increasing. This wasn’t normal. Then she noticed the dark bloodstains on the floor, and her breath caught. She approached the far side of the room warily, but she knew what she would find.
Her mother. Dead. Calypso felt sick, and had to tear her gaze away from Nor’s body. She looked around, trying to figure out what had happened to her. From the blood, Calypso guessed that Nor had tried to fight back against whoever had attacked her. She looked up as she heard talonsteps, her eyes going wide. There was an IceWing she didn’t know in her house.
“Oh, there you are.” The IceWing said. “I was wondering where you’d gone.”
“You killed my mother.” Calypso said, seeing the blood on the other dragon’s claws.
“If she’d cooperated, I wouldn’t have had to. But since she refused to tell me where you were…” They trailed off, shrugging. “She had to die. And now it’s your turn.” Calypso froze. This dragon was here to kill her, not her mother. She could still hear Nor’s voice, though, in the back of her mind, and a chill in her talons.
“No.” Calypso said, feeling strangely powerful. “I won’t die today.” She instinctively flared her wings, and the room started filling with an icy mist. She had no clue what was going on, but she enjoyed the look of fear on the IceWing’s face. The IceWing hesitated for a moment, then turned and ran, leaving Calypso behind with her mother’s body.
“Goodbye, mom.” Calypso whispered, using the snow to clean Nor’s blood off her scales. She’d buried her near the cliff’s edge, but the reality hadn’t quite sunk in yet. Calypso had so many questions that she would never get answers to now, like why an IceWing assassin had been sent to kill her, and why she now had strange abilities.
She couldn’t stay there, though. Her life would be in danger if she didn’t leave, and she had to know if there were other dragons who could help her figure out her new powers.

Calypso froze when she felt something change. She knew, instinctively, what had just happened. Nova, who'd gone to visit her island town, was dead. The necromancers were linked, so they could communicate without having to speak to each other, and now Nova was gone. Not just faded, like the two who'd disappeared, but entirely gone.
*Paradox-* Calypso started, but Paradox was already responding.
*You felt it too.* The NightWing thought back. Calypso confirmed, and hesitated. She was only getting one response, but there were two other necromancers.
*I can't reach Necromancer. Do you think…* She didn’t want to finish that thought. Calypso didn't want to think that it was Necromancer who killed Nova, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that he, and the Animus Project, had something to do with it.
*You're probably right about the Animus Project’s involvement.* Paradox thought, which made Calypso's dread worse. *She was one of their more powerful dragons. They'd either want her back, or want her dead.*
*Why now?* Calypso asked, even though she knew Paradox wouldn’t have an answer. *Why Nova?* She knew something drastic had happened to the Animus Project, since the volcano the labs were built under had erupted suddenly.

She heard talonsteps approaching quickly, and poked her head out of her hammock. Her mother slammed the door open, fuming. Iceberg was silent as she watched Storm rip the small picture of their family off the wall, shredding it.
“That lying, cheating, snake!” Storm growled, tearing the drawing more with each word. Iceberg had never seen her mother this angry before, and knew something had gone very wrong. This was probably the wrong time to come out, she decided.
“Mom?” Iceberg asked, and Storm’s eyes snapped to her. The look on her face told Iceberg she hadn’t realized the dragonet was there.
“Oh. Drift. I didn’t think you’d be back yet.” Storm said, trying to force a smile. Iceberg tried to ignore the bad feeling her name always gave her.
“Where’s-” Iceberg didn’t have a chance to finish her question before Storm cut her off.
“Your father,” Storm spat, “Isn’t welcome in this family anymore.” Iceberg’s eyes widened.
“Why?” What had her dad done that was bad enough for Storm to be this angry?
“I’ll explain when you’re older. Just… stay away from him, okay?” Storm said, and Iceberg nodded slowly. Her family. It was gone now. Just like that.

It wasn't that Iceberg was scared of anything in the woods, she would just rather stay very far away from them. But Shadow had said she wanted to find out what had happened to Genesis, and Iceberg was not about to let her girlfriend go into the creepy forest on her own.
“Oh, moons.” Shadow gasped, and Iceberg hurried over to her side. “Is that… blood?” Iceberg felt a bit sick, but she nodded. The dark stains on the ground were definitely IceWing blood, which meant there was only one dragon it could have come from. Sheer, the only other IceWing on the island. Iceberg had never really liked the older dragon, but she didn’t want them to be hurt, or worse.
“Yeah. I… I think it’s Sheer’s.” Iceberg said. “I know it’s not mine, and I don’t think there are any other IceWings or IceWing hybrids on Fate.” Shadow stepped closer to her, clearly nervous. Iceberg tucked a wing around her and pulled out her spear, just in case they got attacked. Iceberg could feel Shadow’s heartbeat racing, and she briefly wanted to tell the NightWing to go back to town, but she knew that would just worry Shadow more.
“We should look for her.” Shadow said after a few minutes, and Iceberg nodded. She stepped away from Shadow, looking around cautiously. Iceberg had no idea what could have attacked Sheer, and she didn’t want to be caught by surprise. Shadow was being quiet as well, glancing around.
It didn’t take them long to find Sheer, unfortunately. Their body wasn’t very far from where Shadow had found the blood, and they were very dead.
“What happened to her?” Shadow said, her voice quiet. Iceberg had no idea how to respond. Looking around, she realized that Sheer wasn’t the only one who’d been injured. There had been a fight here, and Sheer hadn’t been the only IceWing.

“Mother?” He whispered, stunned. Polar was still holding the door open, her mane fluffed up, pure fury on her face. On the other side of the door stood their mother. The dragon who'd abandoned them after their father died. She looked pretty much exactly how he remembered her, and she was holding a small, dark purple dragonet.
“Rock. Oh, it's so good to see you again.” Tetra smiled at him, but he couldn’t look at her. Polar stalked away from the door, and Tetra stepped inside, settling her new dragonet on the nearest pile of pillows. Rock just kind of stared at her, confused.
“Why? Why did you come back?” Rock asked, his voice quiet. He'd been three when she left, and he blamed himself for Polar’s anger. He hadn't been old enough to raise his sister on his own, and the dragon who should have been there for them was back, about three years too late.
“Who's that?” Polar spat, glaring down at the dragonet, who had sat up, his little wings spread wide, displaying the star patterns scattered across them. Tetra smiled, looking warmly down at the dragonet.

“Ooh, it’s so warm.” Amethyst said, walking over to stand beside Crystal. “Thanks for letting me join you.” She'd surprised Crystal when she asked to come with them, and they'd happily agreed. Amethyst’s mom, however, had been less enthusiastic about it, and made Crystal promise that they wouldn't go anywhere too dangerous.
“Of course! It's always more fun traveling with someone else.” Crystal said, flicking Amethyst lightly with their tail. “We should get going, so we can make it to Scorpion Clan before nightfall. Which is that way.” They said, checking their compass. Crystal started walking, Amethyst right beside them.
“Sorry about Thyme, by the way. She seems strict, but she’s just worried about me.” Amethyst said, and Crystal smiled.
“My mom said the exact same thing when I was begging my dad to take me with him.” Crystal said, laughing. They'd asked their dad for weeks for take them on his next trip to the surface, and he'd finally agreed, and together, they'd managed to get Swift to let them go. Except… there had never been a next time. Crystal had never traveled with their father.
“Hey, are you okay?” Amethyst asked gently. Crystal realized she'd must have noticed their mood had changed, and they smiled at her.
“Yeah. Fine. Just thinking.” Crystal said. “About my parents.” They added. Amethyst looked like she wanted to ask more questions, but she didn’t. They answered her anyway.
“My dad promised me he'd take me with him on his next trip, but then life got complicated, and it never happened.” Crystal said. Amethyst brushed her wing against their side, and they smiled at her again. “It's okay. I'm okay now. I was… three?” They said, thinking back to before they'd lost their family.
“What happened? If you're okay talking about it.” Amethyst said. Crystal nodded.
“My parents adopted my cousins after their mom died, and then my dad died the next year.” They explained. “I never actually left the clan until after Grey took me in.” Crystal noticed Amethyst’s confused look, and explained more.
“I was six when my mom died. Grey was friends with her, so she gave me a home. I don’t have any living family left.” Crystal said. “It was all so long ago, though. It's not as painful as it used to be.” Amethyst looked at them, sympathetic.

“Okay, fine. You win.” She said, scrambling to find her quill. “But we do have to actually talk to each other. It's a group project.” Crystal looked up from their work and shrugged.
“So find someone else to work with.” They said, waving to the other groups of dragonets in the library. “I'm sure the teachers won't mind.” Amethyst was going to say something snarky back, but then she noticed what Crystal was actually writing.
“Is that a letter?” She asked, and Crystal glared at her. It was definitely a letter, which was interesting, since Amethyst knew Crystal didn't really have anyone to write to.
“Does it matter?” They said, quickly covering the writing. Amethyst blinked, more confused. Crystal was a strange dragon, but they were also Amethyst’s clawmate, and she wanted to get to know them.
“Sorry. I was just curious.” Amethyst said, wondering why Crystal was so quiet all the time. They never talked about their family, or their tribe, or really anything, which was weird compared to some of the other students of Jade Mountain, who would take every opportunity to tell someone why their tribe was the best. Crystal stared down at the scroll in silence.
“It's… not really a letter. I'm not going to send it to anyone.” They said quietly. “It's more like a diary.” Amethyst felt kind of bad now, for trying to read it. It was Crystal’s business, not hers.
“Oh. Sorry.” Amethyst said, not sure how she was supposed to respond. “I guess it's cool if it helps you with stuff.”

He sighed when he got back to his cave, shaking the snowflakes from his wings. Then he noticed the dragon curled up asleep by the fire in the corner. It took Corvus a minute to place her pale purple scales, since the last time he'd seen her, Sawtell hadn't had wings. He walked over to her, making sure he stayed quiet so he wouldn't wake her up.
Sawtell's wings weren't the only difference, of course. It had been about seven years since she'd joined Salamander’s group of OutCasts, and he hadn't seen her after that. She had new scars, and even though she was sleeping, she looked sad. Now that Corvus could see her more clearly, he realized she was also slightly duller than usual.
Like she was fading. Like she was a ghost.
Corvus’s breath caught. He'd only seen something like this once before, after the OutCasts had attacked the Arctic Fox Clan. Stories had started going around about the dead dragons becoming ghosts. Sawtell was dead. Which still didn't explain her wings, or what she was doing in his cave.
“Dad?” Sawtell mumbled, slowly waking up. Corvus smiled at her, happy that she still thought of him as her dad. He stumbled a bit as she jumped up and hugged him, but he recovered and wrapped his wings around her. “I missed you.” Sawtell said quietly.
“It's so nice to see you again.” Corvus said, but he was still concerned about his daughter. She looked nervous and scared. “What's going on?” He asked. Sawtell hesitated, then she tensed and pushed him away. Corvus was confused, but he didn’t want to make Sawtell uncomfortable.
“I- this was a stupid idea.” Sawtell said, staring down at her talons. “I had to see you again, but… I knew this was going to happen. If I don't leave now, I might attack you, so I have to go.” She said, but she still quickly hugged Corvus again before disappearing up the tunnel.

“It looks like a lab report, Lunar. What are you talking about?” Alcyon said, ignoring the glare he was getting from the NightWing. He was busy, and Lunar was distracting him.
“One that you wrote. Which is impressive, since this scroll is older than you are. Or at least, older than you claim.” Lunar said, jabbing a talon at the date on the top of the scroll. Alcyon rolled his eyes.
“I’m glad you know how to count, Lunarstrike. Go bother someone else, I’m busy.” He snapped, his feathers ruffling slightly. He’d never lied about his age, he’d just never had a reason to explain it, either. Lunar narrowed his eyes at Alcyon, clearly suspicious of him.
“An explanation, Alcyon.” Lunar hissed quietly. Alcyon sighed, reaching for a cloth and cleaning the ink off his claws.
“I am really twenty. I just age very slowly. I’ve been alive for about two thousand years. I have no idea why.” Alcyon said, amused by Lunar’s expression. It was the reason he’d joined the Animus Project, to try and figure out why he was who he was. He’d never gotten an answer, but he didn’t care. The Animus Project gave him a way to stretch the limits of the world, and he loved it.
“What do you mean, you don’t know why?” Lunar said, astounded. “Wait. You were around when the Animus Project began.” He realized, and started pacing. “That’s fascinating…”
“It’s really not. They were all idiots. Even my father.” Alcyon said. He was pretty sure his father, a dragon named Redwood, had known exactly why Alcyon was so strange, but he’d never asked when he was young, and Redwood had been dead for most of his life. “He was always obsessed with ghosts and that sort of thing. Now please leave.”
Lunar finally left Alcyon’s workspace, although Alcyon didn’t resume his work. He was too busy thinking about his father.

“Nova?” She turned quickly, meeting Calypso's eyes. The other dragon paled slightly, staring at Nova's bad arm. Even though she was also a necromancer, Calypso didn't like blood. Nova quickly grabbed her armband, putting it on. The illusion activated immediately, making Nova look like she was never hurt.
“I… never told you about my curse, did I?” Nova said, and Calypso shook her head. Neither of them liked talking about their pasts, so it wasn't strange that Calypso didn't know, Nova just felt bad that she'd kept that a secret from her girlfriend.
“I knew you were cursed, you never shared the details.” Calypso said, already looking more comfortable. “I never asked about it because I knew it was your choice to share it with me or not.” Nova smiled at her, happy that Calypso had never asked her about her life in the Animus Project.
“If I get hurt, it won't heal. Ever. It was meant to slowly kill me if I ever escaped, and if I was mortal, it would have worked. But instead, I'm just going to keep… well, falling apart forever. I'm basically a living corpse.” Nova said, looking at Calypso, who looked stunned.
“Weren't you a dragonet? When you escaped?” Calypso asked quietly, walking over to pulp Nova into a hug. Nova nodded, leaning into her cool scales. “That's horrible. I'm so sorry you had to go through that.” Calypso said, and Nova could feel her shudder.