Tapestry Of Tragedy

*Title taken from the Imogen Heap song 'Neglected Space'*

Characters: Solandis,Raptor, Shadow, Morning Glory, Titan, Arcane

Solandis inspected herself in the mirror, pleased with how she looked. She'd worked hard to get to where she was now, and she was proud of it. She reached up again to touch the silver pendant she now wore. It was cool to the touch, and she traced the delicate lines engraved on the scroll.

“Sol! What's taking you so long? We only have a few minutes left.” Solandis sighed, and went to answer the door. Raptor scowled at her, grabbing Sol’s arm and dragging her down the hall. Sol yelped, and caught up to the older dragon, pulling out of her grip.

“Rude.” Sol muttered. “It doesn't matter that much if we're a little late.” Raptor didn't respond, of course. The SandWing princess and Solandis had never gotten along, even though they'd been training together for two years.

“It matters to me.” Raptor hissed back. Sol rolled her eyes behind Raptor's back. Royals. Always acting like they were better than everyone else. Sol was pretty sure the SandWing was just mad that Sol was a better assassin than she was.

“Whatever.” Sol shrugged, darting ahead of Raptor as they neared the main hall. She pushed the door open, and walked in, acting like she’d always known she would be here one day. Inside, she was very excited, which wasn’t something a respected member of Redwood Guild would show. She looked around, spotting a very familiar dark purple NightWing.

“Finally. I'd hoped you died.” Arcane grumbled as they approached. “Well? Are we going?”

Solandis was surprised to see a NightWing in her cave when she got back after class. Her clawmate wasn’t supposed to arrive for at least another week, the teachers had said. Sol had been hoping to have another week of solitude, but that had come to an early end. It wasn’t all bad, though. This new dragonet could be useful to her.

“Are you Shadow? I’m Solandis.” She said, reshelving the scroll she’d been reading. The NightWing nodded, looking relieved.

“Yeah, that’s me.” Shadow said. “Do we share this cave with anyone else, or is it just the two of us?” Solandis smiled. So this was Shadow’s first year. She could work with that. “No, just us.” She said. “It’s better that way, I feel. Three dragons in one cave is a bit crowded.”

“How long have you been coming here?” Shadow asked, and Sol had to think.

“This is my… fourth year?” She said, counting. “No, third. Started when I was four, and now I’m seven.”

“So this is your last year.” Shadow said. Solandis nodded.

“Yep. Next year, a different RainWing will come to Jade Mountain.” Solandis shrugged. “Want me to show you around?” She offered, and Shadow nodded again.

“That would be great. Thanks.” Shadow said, and Solandis smiled. This would be easier than she’d thought.

Solandis took Shadow around the school, pointing out classrooms and other students. She didn’t mention that a good number of the other dragonets were royalty, they would be happy to tell her themselves.

“Lan! Hey!” Solandis paused when she and Shadow passed the library. There was one dragon who called her that. She waved to Princess Morning, who grinned back at her. Morning came over to join them, and smiled at Shadow.

“Oh, are you Lan’s clawmate? I’m Morning.” The other RainWing was somehow always energetic, and Solandis was both impressed and slightly annoyed by her. Morning was sweet, and kind, and happy, and forever the optimist. Sol didn’t want to have a crush on her, but she did. Morning either knew, and felt the same way, or she was completely oblivious to it, and only saw Sol as a friend. Either way, it wasn’t like Sol had a chance with her, Morning was going to be the next queen.

“I’m Shadow." She said. “Nice to meet you.” Morning glanced over at Sol, grinning.

“You’re lucky, Shadow.” Morning said, giving Sol a teasing look. “Wish I could be Lan’s clawmate.” She was called over by one of her friends, and left, leaving Sol slightly confused. What had Morning meant? Was Sol reading it wrong, or had Morning actually been flirting with her?

Solandis glanced down at Morning, who was asleep beside her. It was better than the night before, at least. Morning had shaken Sol awake at least four times because she'd been having nightmares about Mourning. Sol sighed quietly. She hated that she was a little bit relieved that Mourning had died. She didn't want to be happy about something that had hurt her girlfriend so much.

A sudden rush of flapping preceded the appearance of Titan, who landed beside Sol and Morning. She gave Sol an amused look, probably because of how she was curled around Morning. Sol couldn't really bow to the queen, so she had to just nod to her instead.

“Is she doing alright?” Titan asked, giving Morning a worried look. She'd been regularly checking on her daughter since Swallowtail had sent her back to Pyrrhia. Sol hesitated, then shook her head. She didn't want to lie to the queen.

“This is the first time she's really slept in… two days?” Sol said, keeping her voice quiet. Titan sighed, shaking her head. Sol hugged Morning a bit tighter. “I don't want to wake her, she really needs the sleep.”

“I wish I could help her.” Titan said, gently brushing Morning’s wing with her own. “But thank you for being here for her. She needs you, Solandis.” Sol was surprised, but nodded.

“Of course. I'll do anything for her.” She responded. She didn't say anything else until after Titan had left.

“Because I love her.” Sol whispered, glad that nobody but Morning could hear her.

“Hey, Lan? I need help with something.” Solandis woke up slowly as Morning gently shook her. “Do you recognize this?”

“Huhh?” Sol mumbled, automatically accepting the piece of paper Morning handed her. She stared at it blankly for a bit, then her eyes went wide and she sat up quickly. “Where did you find this?” She asked Morning, her voice more intense than she’d intended.

“Mother said she and a few of the other queens are trying to identify it, I’m not sure why. But you know what it is?” Morning asked, and Sol nodded. The sigil of the Animus Project. Arcane had it tattooed on his shoulder. She traced the lines drawn on the paper with one claw, thinking.

“Lan? Everything alright?” Morning asked, pulling Sol out of her thoughts. She smiled at Morning, but it was a forced smile. Morning frowned at her, and took Sol’s talons. “This is clearly bothering you. Please tell me, it’s important."

“We have to go see your mother. Immediately.” Sol said, pulling her talons away from her wife. Morning looked hurt for a brief second, then nodded.

They flew to the Queen’s Pavilion in silence, which made Sol feel guilty for hurting Morning. When they landed, Queen Titan glanced between the two of them, looking amused.

“Solandis says she knows what the sigil is.” Morning said, glancing at Sol briefly. It felt like a slap in the face, hearing Morning use her full name instead of her usual nickname. Sol really had hurt her.

She’d ask Morning once they were done talking to the queen. She wanted to apologize for whatever she’d done immediately, but Titan had to know about the Animus Project.
“Your Majesty, this sigil belongs to the Animus Project. They’re-” Titan cut her off.

“I am very aware of the Animus Project.” Titan said, her voice betraying her fear. “Morning, you should know the real reason I needed this identified. It’s about… well. I’m trying to find your sister.” All three RainWings fell silent. Sol tried to put a wing around Morning, to comfort her, but Morning shrugged her off. Sol managed not to show her own hurt feelings.

Morning looked stunned, like she was trying to find the right words. “You mean… Thyme?” The older princess had vanished years ago, when Morning was young. Most of the tribe had given up on the hope that Thyme would return, but Morning had always wanted her sister back. Apparently Titan hadn’t given up either.

*But if the Animus Project has her, she’s basically just dead, isn’t she?* Sol thought, but she pushed the dark thought away. Thyme could be rescued, she didn’t want Morning’s hope to be destroyed.

Solandis knew something was wrong when she landed, glancing around nervously. She was pretty sure she was being followed, but she didn’t know why. It wasn’t Morning, who’d left earlier that day for a meeting with some of the other queens. It was after sunset, so maybe one of the other RainWings was curious about why she had left the village. It wasn’t a RainWing at all, she realized. Although it had been a long time, she could still tell the difference between the living and the dead. She was being tracked by a vampire.

“Well, you just made this a lot easier, didn’t you?” The other dragon said, and Solandis had to dig her claws into the ground to resist turning around. She knew that voice too well, and she’d hoped she’d never hear it again. She’d hoped that her past would never catch up with her, but here it was. She turned slowly, meeting the vampire’s eyes.

She was right. It was him. The NightWing had dark purple scales, pale wings, and sharp green eyes. He hadn’t changed at all, simply because he couldn’t. He’d been dead for over two thousand years. She had been stupid to think that simply changing her name and running away would deter him.

“What do you want?” She asked, struggling to keep her voice even. She knew, though. She knew exactly why she was about to die. The deal she’d made before she’d met Morning was coming back to haunt her. She thought that leaving RedWood would mean he would forget about her, but she’d never forgotten him.

“Oh, I’m sure you remember.” Arcane said softly. “You wrote it yourself.” Solandis looked away, and Arcane laughed quietly. He knew he was right, he just wanted to torment her for as long as he could. This wasn’t about confirming anything, he was just drawing out her inevitable death.

“I left the guild, Arcane. Is this really necessary?” Solandis asked, hoping she could get out of this alive. She knew it was a long shot, but maybe she could convince him. “And besides, I haven’t called on you for years. Doesn’t that count as ending our link?” She couldn’t die here. Morning would be devastated, and she’d just lost her mother. Solandis dying would destroy her.

“That wasn’t part of our deal, was it?” Arcane said, walking closer to Solandis. “I believe you said we would be linked until you were royalty. RedWood wasn’t part of it.” He waited for Solandis to respond, but she didn’t. She couldn’t. She hadn’t thought about including RedWood Guild in her link conditions, since she hadn’t thought she would ever leave.

“And look. You can’t argue with this, can you?” He lunged forwards, grabbing her arm and twisting it so they could both see the marks they had on their inner wrists. Solandis’ heart skipped a beat. Hers had dulled over the years, but now it was back to the vibrant red it had been when she got it. The conditions she’d made were met. Arcane was free.

“I do have to admit, your loophole was good. But not good enough. And now here you are, married to a queen. Which makes you part of the royal family.” Arcane grinned, showing off his fangs. “Thanks for that.” He pulled her sharply towards him, quickly stabbing her with something in his other talon. She had enough time to realize it was a sleeping dart before the world vanished.