Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

Alright, so basically this is a story I've already been working on for a while and simply decided to add it onto this website.
NOTE: Things may seem off within the story such as: A confusing timeline, unexplained plot holes, out of character reactions, etc. All I can say is that they're in there on purpose for the most part and will be explained as you read through the story. So if you're confused, don't worry about it, it'll likely be answered later. - THIS STORY CONTAINS DARK THEMES AND SCENES, SO PLEASE KEEP THAT IN MIND! Enjoy the read.

Chapter Text

It was a regular weekend at Jade Mountain Academy. The skies were clear of clouds, and the sun rays enveloped the school, giving it a warm, joyful coating.

Most students were out flying and enjoying the bright morning, except for a handful who would rather read and relax indoors.

However, the Dragonets of Destiny were not relaxing but rather working. Gathered inside the staff cave, they were organising new students into the school.

Glory, unfortunately, was unable to attend due to having queenly duties back at the Rainforest, but she had previously informed them that no new Rainwing students were keen to enrol as of yet.

"Alright, so currently we seem to have about thirty-six students attending the school," Tsunami stated.
"After the incident that occurred in the history cave, Queen Ruby has been hesitant to replace Carnelian for fear of losing another dragonet. So, we have an extra spot in the Jade winglet.

Clay was the first to speak up. "What about Peril, though?" He raised a brow. "Didn't we agree to allow her to study?"

"Not as a Winglet member," Tsunami explained, keeping her formal composure. "We decided that it would be best if she studied separately for safety reasons. So, although she's studying, she won't be allocated a Winglet.

Tsunami paused. "Besides, she shows up to less than half of her classes, anyway. Not to mention a lot of students fear her. It wouldn't make sense to place her with them."

Clay made a face. "She's not that bad guys..." He sighed before moving on. "Well, if we do need a Skywing for the Jade Winglet we could ask around Possibility." He offered.

"That's a good idea," Sunny chirped with a bright smile. "There's got to be at least one Skywing who's willing to enrol here!"

"That's probably true, but remember that it'll take a while to fly over, find a Skywing who's willing, and then get back here before sundown tomorrow," Starflight said.
"The academic year starts in two days, Even if we left right now we wouldn't get back in time"

Sunny slouched over the table, Clay put a wing around her. "Hey, don't worry," He said reassuringly. "We'll figure something out, I promise."

"The Sanctuary is closer, and it MIGHT be possible to find someone.
Starflight pointed out.
"If I remember correctly Winter also lived there for some time, we could ask hi-"

"I already did so," Tsunami interrupted.
"When he recently returned for the new school year, I mentioned the idea and he said that nobody he knew was keen on it yet."

"Well, there goes that idea then..." Sunny sighed. "There's got to be at least one dragon who's willing! Right?"

The table fell silent as the four dragons pondered on how solve this issue. Starflight opened his mouth to speak but was cut off by a knock at the cave entrance.

"Come in!" Clay called.
He whipped around on the stone carved stool to face the entrance.

A few moments of silence passed before an excited Nightwing walked into the cave. Their talons scraped against the stone floor for a moment before they shifted into view.

Starflight grinned, recognising the dragon's talonsteps. "Fatespeaker, " He grinned.

"Hello!" Fatespeaker squealed in her usual cheery voice. She swiftly took a seat at the table without asking.
She caught a brief glare from Tsunami but the Seawing didn't act on it.

"So what's this about?" Starflight asked, tilting his head slightly to the left. "Is everything alright?"
Although he couldn't see, he had learned to identify dragons through his other senses and was now able to identify almost everyone who worked or studied in the school.

"Okay so you'renever going to believe this," Fatespeaker beamed.
"I've found a solution to the whole Skywing student issue that you've been working on for the past week!"

Tsunami's glare shifted into a mix of surprise, joy and a tad bit of sceptism.
"You have?!"

Fatespeaker nodded profusely.
"I kid you not some Skywing just dropped in at the entrance, he said he wants to study here!"

Clay grinned.
"Really?! Where is he then?"

"I told him I'd be right back. He's waiting at the Academy's entrance." Fatespeaker stood up.
"Should I tell him that he's in? He seemed rather kee-"

"YES!" Tsunami cried. "Tell him right away! Actually- I'll do it myself! I'm not letting this slip away!"
She stood up and bolted out of the room before Fatespeaker could even process what she said.

The rest of the staff were left sitting in the cave with a sort of surprise.
"That was... Unexpected." Starflight said as he got up. He sighed. "I forget that Tsunami still has that reckless edge to her even though she's the principal..."

"Let's follow her!" Sunny exclaimed as she too, stood up. She bounced on the spot, barely containing her excitement.

"Probably a good idea." Clay added. "Besides, this meeting hasn't gotten us anywhere."
He claimed.

Fatespeaker had no input. She silently made her way out of the now much more quiet cave. Everyone else followed behind, excited to greet this new dragon.

While this was happening, the Jade Winglet members were inside their cave hanging out with each other. Qibli and Kinkajou had left to enjoy the sun outside, but would be back eventually.

It had been quite some time since they'd gathered together again. So it was refreshing to meet up again.

Moon was reading a scroll about ancient dragon tribes and gods while Winter, Turtle, and Peril were playing with some of Turtle's enchanted fireproof cards.

Of course, only Peril knew they were enchanted by Turtle. The others believed that Anemone was the one who enchanted them since she was known for using her powers needlessly.

Peril had become close friends with them all, especially Turtle.
Although she found it a bit annoying and slightly upsetting to lie to her friends all the time when it came to the animus magic topic, she understood why.

Turtle never told anyone about his animus powers, he trusted Peril with that knowledge alone. And although she didn't like lying, knowing how Qibli was obsessed with the idea of being an animus, it was better to lie than face the consequences of him finding out. At least for now.

"HA! I win again!" Peril celebrated for the tenth time in less than an hour. So far the score was heavily in her favour with a six-point lead against Turtle and a massive eight-point lead against Winter.

Winter groaned as he flopped his cards on the ground in annoyance. "How are you so good at this?! You've never even played it before today! You have to have some sort of trick!" He called though Peril only laughed.

"Or maybe you just suck? Think about that?" Peril retorted, sticking her tongue out at him.

"HEY! YOU TAKE THAT BACK, MAGMA SCALES!" He shouted, sending a small puff of cold angry vapour from his nostrils out into the cave.
It floated towards Peril but soon evaporated due to the heat of her scales.

Peril was quick to respond with her insult. "RIGHT BACK AT YOU SNOW FOR BRAINS"

Turtle sat on the ground, watching Peril and Winter throw insults back at one another relentlessly.
Their prides battled against each other as they both refused to back down.

Turtle sighed, placed his cards on the stone-cold ground, and got up to go speak to Moon, the Winglet's scrollworm.

Turtle approached her silently.
"Hey, what's up?"

"Ah!" Moon squealed, fumbling with the scroll for a few moments before regaining control of it.

Turtle jumped back in surprise.
"Jeez! Sorry. Didn't mean to scare you." He paused.
"Surely the scroll isn't THAT interesting."

Moon rolled her eyes.
"Why don't you read it for yourself?"

Turtle scoffed.
"You know I'm not a scrollworm." He paused.
"Anyway, do you know how to get these two to be quiet? They're getting quite annoying."

Moon looked up and leaned to the left to see what was going on.
Peril and Winter were still at it with the insults. Their eyes showcased a fierce competitiveness.

"SNOW SNIFFER!" Peril spat angrily.

"VOLCANO!" Winter scowled.

Banter like this was common between the group as friends. Though it was clear that Peril and Winter were treading a fine line between banter and just plainly rude remarks.

Moon's eyes widened.
"Woah, what happened?" Her jaw hung open slightly with worry.

"Winter accused Peril of cheating after losing to her over eight times," Turtle explained in a calm voice.
"I don't know how to stop them since the last time this happened I tried to intervene and I just got yelled at."

Moon nodded as she analysed the situation.
"You know... I don't think they know what they're saying to each other at this point. If they did then they would be at each other's throats by now."

"DISAPPOINTMENT!"

"MONSTER! "

Turtle winced. "Yeah... This is escalating quickly, we should break it up."

"Okay but how do we do that exactly?" Moon rolled up the scroll before putting it away.

"That's what I came to you for!" Turtle cried.

"What do you expect me to do?! Just walk right up and expect them to listen to me?" She pointed out. "I'm the quiet one! You know this!

Turtle groaned.
"Fair enough... But we don't have time!" He said, getting a little worried about the situation which could turn messy if they didn't do something.

"Well, I don't know what to do! Do you have any other strange objects that you took from Anemone which could help?" Moon asked.

Turtle paused and then smirked.
"Moon you're a genius!" He called before he ran into one of the corners of the cave and carefully pulled out a loose stone to reveal a small but spacious area behind it.

This is where Turtle hid all of his enchanted objects. He'd always said he stole them from Anemone to ease any suspicion away from him. And so far it seemed to work flawlessly, somehow.

Turtle reached into the dark cold hole feeling around multiple items before he pulled out arguably the most random thing one possibly could. A Conch shell.

"Why in the moons... Turtle?!" Moon exclaimed, flabbergasted.

"Don't ask," Turtle replied, giving little information to Moon about what he was doing. "Also, you may want to cover your ears."

Moon raised a brow.
"Huh, why would I nee-" She was cut off.

Without warning, Turtle turned towards the bickering dragons and screamed into the Conch.

"SHUT UP ALREADY!"

A large blaring noise was shot throughout the cave as Moon covered her ears in the nick of time.
Winter and Peril were knocked back a bit before they both collapsed on the ground, completely knocked out cold.

Turtle's voice echoed and rebounded against the cave walls for about five or so seconds.
His voice dug deeper into the school and travelled through the halls like an invisible wave.

Moon took her talons off her ears after the audio subsided, meanwhile Turtle cheered happily.
"Problem solved!" He smiled. looking down at the bodies of Winter and Peril.
"Hey, do you want to meet up with Kinkajou and Qibli? I don't think these guys will be up for another game for a bit."

There wasn't a response from Moon except for a shy and quiet "Yeah sure..." She was clearly at a loss for words, but couldn't be bothered asking questions.

Walking out the cave towards the school entrance, they turned the corner to see an ocean of collapsed dragons all lying still on the grass.
Moon slowly turned her head towards Turtle, shooting him a significantly terrifying glare.

Turtle smiled awkwardly and nervously
"Sooo..." he said, clapping his talons together. "I may have overdone it a little."

"A LITTLE?!?" Moon snapped, "YOU KNOCKED OUT THE WHOLE SCHOOL!"
She walked around a few of the sleeping dragons who were just a little bit away from them.
Tsunami and some of the other staff were lying still in the crowd.
"THE TEACHERS TOO!"

"Relax, it'll be fine. They'll all wake up in five minutes... Hopefully." Turtle said as he scratched the back of his neck awkwardly.

"Oh my moons..." Moon sighed while she brought a talon to her face.

She sat there, pondering for a few minutes. However, her train of thought was interrupted when a dragon landed next to them.

He was a relatively large Skywing with bright red scales on most of his body, and dark orange scales on his undersides.
He had striking blue eyes that seemed almost unnatural.
He looked a little like Flame, only much less intimidating and also very, VERY concerned.

"Uhh, hello?" The dragon spoke. "Do you guys know what happened here? I was talking with a Nightwing called Fatespeaker when suddenly everyone around me randomly collapsed."
His gaze snapped between them and the collapsed dragons.

Moon nudged Turtle in the side with her elbow which got the idea across.
"Yeah... so, you see-" Turtle started but cut himself off.

A few groans were heard from the ground as with some good luck on Turtle's behalf, the dragons began to wake up.

"Oh, good they're not dead," The Skywing spoke, relieved.

"Wha- what happened?" Fatespeaker groaned as she gathered herself. "I feel like I was just hit by a boulder..."
She seemed drowsy, but after she laid eyes on the Skywing, her demeanour changed into one of glee

"Hey guys, wake up!" She shook the other staff members awake.
Slowly the rest of the staff began to recover from their blackouts to see what the commotion was all about. Tsunami was the first one to get up.

"Where's this Skywing you mentioned?" Tsunami rubbed her eyes a bit. She looked up to see the Skywing standing awkwardly in front of her.

"Uh... Hi! I was just wondering if you had any space so I could enrol in the school?" A hopeful smile made its way across his face.

Tsunami's face brightened as she nodded in confirmation, almost a little too excitedly.
"Yes, of course we have some room for you! We just need your name."

He smiled, a suspiciously large spark flashed across his eye.
"Pleased to meet you, Name's Hurricane."

Chapter Text

"And so the game begins..."

Chapter Text

The attic library was an eerie and dusty place. Piles upon piles of books were stacked on top of each other. Some were quite new with smooth plastic paperback covers with exciting adventure and fantasy stories hidden within their pages, while others were ancient with thin paper covers and even thinner pages that told the story of old-time philosophy and history. All these books surrounded a single orange beanbag which stood in the middle of the small dimly lit room as if it was a makeshift castle defending its precious treasure at twilight. A small circular window sat next to the beanbag peering out at the small village outside. A gentle falling snow could be seen through the window, miming the view in a 1990s Christmas film.

Inside the makeshift book castle sat thirteen-year-old Daniel Lorence who was just finishing up the fifteenth book of Wings of Fire which was officially released a few months ago. As he finished up the final sentence of the book he let out a long sigh.

"That's it I guess, that's the final storybook of Wings of Fire. An amazing book and even more amazing series but its conclusion was a bit disappointing."

he spoke out loud thinking no one would hear him until his older sister, yelled at him to be quiet. "HEY! THE CREAKY FLOORBOARDS FROM YOU WALKING AROUND ARE ENOUGH NOISE AS IT IS! SO SHUT IT!"

'Jeez alright,' He thought to himself.

His sister, Charlotte, was taking care of him while their parents were both out on a business trip.
Supposedly They would be back in a week so until then his sister would be caring for him. Although by caring it just meant buying him food and being antisocial in her room every day.

His mind quickly returned to the book.'So many things could have been changed and it would have made this conclusion so much better... If only I was able to change it myself...'
with that thought in mind, he took a quick bite of his PB&J sandwich before he neatly slid the book back into place on the shelf along with the rest of his WoF Collection.

He had been a fan of the series for a few years now and had collected all the available books so far. However when he slid that last book in he felt as if it wasn't over, not just yet. Like there was still more to the Wings of Fire story despite it being officially over for the moment with the fifteenth book.

He didn't know why he felt that way... there was just a feeling in his gut that told him it wasn't over... He peered out the window taking a good look at the falling snow and the dark town before him hoping it would make him forget the growing feeling.

It didn't work. He tried eating, bathing, and playing video games, but even after all that he just couldn't shake the feeling. He checked the time as he lay in bed.
'it's 3:48 am right now' he thought. 'I'm going to check on the book again'

Slowly, but surely he left his bed and quietly made his way up the attic steps skipping the fifth one as it was the one that creaked loudly, he needed to make sure to make as minimal amount of noise as possible to not wake his sister or he would never hear the end of it. The floor creaked now and then but as long as he took his time he should be fine.

Eventually, he reached the bookshelf and pulled out the book. It was the same book as before, nothing changed. Flipping through the pages he started to realise how dumb of an idea this was and how it was just a massive waste of time.

'it was probably just my dumb mind being upset about the series ending as there's nothing to see here' he thought grumpily. "whatever let's just get back to bed."

'Wait! Can't forget to mark the date on the calendar Daniel walked quietly towards the white calendar. Using a red pen that he kept near he marked off the date December 17th.

Afterwards, he followed the same way he came up the steps however he miscalculated and stepped on the 5th step.

CREEAAK! the step croaked. SHOOT! Daniel thought as a light down the corridor turned on and out came a shadowy figure that Daniel immediately identified as his sister. Daniel bolted as quickly and as quietly as he could to his room and locked the door behind him.

He let out a long sigh of relief, when he looked down he saw he was clutching the book in his right hand, before realising he grabbed the wrong book so his rush to the attic and nearly escaping his sister was for nothing.

"Dammit, dumb piece of crap" he whispered as he threw the book to the wall out of anger. However, he immediately regretted it as that's where a nail was sticking out of the wall from construction renovations yesterday afternoon.

The book's pages hit the nail and pierced the page before it ripped in two. Daniel looked at the ripped pages of the book. "No... No... No.. What have I done..." he whispered. He walked towards the book before he was shot back towards the wall by a strong force. He looked up to see the ripped pages of the book glow.

"What...?" was all he was able to get out before he shot towards the book at an alarming speed. He began to faint and the last thing he saw was a warm bright light before everything went dark.

"AHH!" Daniel screamed he woke startled at what just happened. An annoying headache had found itself a home inside his brain but Daniel soon realised that it was the least of his problems. Looking at his surroundings all he saw were miles upon miles of desert dunes in all directions, no sign of life, no sign of well... anything for that matter. There was nothing. "Where am I?" he began to stand up but he quickly lost his balance on his two legs.

"argh, what the!? Why can't I stand up?" his question was soon answered when he looked down. His heart skipped a beat. Where you would expect to see feet and toes he saw orange talons and claws. Where there was supposed to be smooth skin there were rough scales and large wings. "AAGHHHHHHHH WHAT AM I!!!" he screamed. Trying to run he fell again, his heart was pounding out of his chest and he didn't know what to do. In his peripheral vision, he spotted a tiny puddle in a nearby hole. The water was undrinkable but you could see your reflection relatively well. He crawled over to it and took a look at himself. "Th-that-that's no- not possible..." he saw his facial features... horns, long snout, with smoke coming out of his nostrils. "I-I'm a-a Dragon?.."

Chapter Text

'OH MY GOD I'M A DRAGON, HOW DID THIS HAPPEN, THIS MAKES NO SENSE, WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON!' Daniel had about 30 questions running through his mind per second and all of them didn't have a realistic answer.

'Okay let's just try to figure this out and calm down' He thought to himself. It worked to a point but half of his brain was still running in a panic.

"Alright, so the last thing I remember was being thrown towards a book??" Daniel thought out loud. "what the hell was that anyway? One second I'm in my room in the middle of the night and the next I'm stuck in the centre of a boiling desert, been turned into a dragon, and have no apparent way back home. Yeah, I think it's safe to say that I'M COMPLETELY SCREWED, NO QUESTION ABOUT IT.

He let out a sigh 'Well, might as well get a move on... nothing's going to happen from just standing here' He thought. "but which way? It all looks the same..." Daniel looked around. "let's just take a gamble I guess."

Daniel soon began his trip across the desert dunes. He had no idea where he was going but it was better than not going anywhere at all. 'maybe I can find someone else to tell me where I am' he thought with the tiny hope that there was someone or something else out here in the burning wasteland. Learning to walk on all four limbs was a bit difficult, to say the least. Daniel struggled to keep his balance on his front legs when walking but he got the hang of it eventually. He was still working on the running and flying bit but at least he was able to travel somehow. Flying wasn't an option as it was a lot harder than it seemed, especially since Daniel just wasn't able to beat his wings together and ultimately kept falling over.

Being unable to fly and only travelling on foot was taking its toll on him as it wasn't long before he began to dehydrate.
'need water...' he thought desperately.

He could feel his mind beginning to blackout. His vision was wobbly but he thought he saw something in the distance. It looked like another dragon however instead of being red and orange like Daniel. He was pale yellow and had a scorpion-like barbed tail. 'ha, kind of looks like a Sandwing...'
and that's the last thing he thought before his body gave up and collapsed on the hot desert ground.

The world was dark, with nothing to be seen except his scales, and a faint light that surrounded him.

"Hello..?" Daniel called out to the darkness. No response. "Hello, can anyone hear me!?" This time he called out louder.

Still no response. He was all alone, he started to walk around in what seemed to be an endless space. Constantly calling out for anyone. But nobody came, no one was there to save him from this nightmare.

Suddenly the room started to fill with water, as he tried to swim he realised that his left ankle was shackled to the floor. A dark black tentacle wrapped around it, rooting him to the floor.
There was nothing he could do.

Pulling and tugging on the supernatural restraints did nothing to free him. Scratching them with his newly found claws did nothing as they passed right through the dark matter.

The water was up to his chest now, slowly but surely making its way up his neck. It truly seemed like this was the end.

'hah... Dying by drowning... What a way to go...'
Daniel had given up hope. The water surpassed his airways and he tried to stay calm... Hoping by some miracle he could survive.

However... he heard a voice, in the distance a soft female voice could be heard.

When darkness falls one will rise,

One fast enough to rule the skies.

A golden glow shines through the lines,

To a certain dragon trapped inside.

Under the surface of yellow and white,

Lies a lock of rain and night.

For wander he must to find its key,

To allow himself to be set free.

But soon as time begins to turn,

Pyrrhia will slowly start to burn.

However only when the truth is revealed,

The curse shall finally break its seal.

'was that... A prophecy?..' Daniel thought.

However, he was snapped back to reality as he gasped before waking up in a bed. His scales were drenched with water up to his neck which gave him an uneasy feeling that the dream wasn't just a nightmare, and that part of it was real.

"Hey! You're awake" a voice chirped from behind him. "it's not every day you see a Skywing walking about in the desert, what are you doing there anyways" Daniel turned around to see a tall pale dragon with black and yellow scales as well as a curled up scorpion barbed tail.
'I don't believe it... It's AN ACTUAL SANDWING' Daniel thought 'it was depicted exactly like in the Wings of Fire books.'
then realisation hit.
'Wait... If this is a Sandwing, and he just called me a Skywing, and those are both tribes from the books...
does that mean I'm in the land of Pyrrhia?'

"UHH, hello? Are you alright Skywing?" the Sandwing said. His thoughts were interrupted and it took a moment for Daniel to realise that he had been blankly staring at the dragon for god knows how long now.

"Oh yeah, sorry, spaced out for a moment there" Daniel replied embarrassingly.

"Don't worry about it, here have something to drink, you're probably thirsty." The Sandwing said as he offered him a ceramic cup filled with water. If it was under any other circumstances he would of gulped down the whole cup in one go but after his nightmare? Trance? Vision?.. he had lost his thirst. However he didn't want to be seen as a bad guest, especially to someone who probably just saved his life from dehydration. So he took the cup from the Sandwings claws and drank the liquid slowly.

"So tell me, what were you doing out in the desert all by yourself?" The dragon asked with a tone of confusion to his words.

"Well... I sort of just woke up there and started walking about to find any source of life. I don't really remember how I got there"
That last bit was a half lie as he had a faint memory of being thrown around his room back on earth before waking up in the desert but the Sandwing would never believe him so he just left that little detail out.

"I see... But why weren't you flying? it would have been easier to traverse the desert while flying and plus you're a Skywing the fastest flier out of all the tribes. It puzzled me to see you walking on foot"

Daniel didn't know how to respond to that, on one talon if he told him he didn't know how to fly he would probably laugh or think something fishy was going on, but on the other talon if Daniel l did tell him he might help him learn how to fly.

Daniel thought for a moment then replied "I don't know how to..."

The Dragon stared at him in shock. "A Skywing, who doesn't know how to fly?!? Excuse me what..."

"I'm being honest here don't rub it in alright" Daniel said hoping to get off the topic.

"OK fine, I'm sorry, it's still a bit shocking and ironic though," he said with a tone of regret in his voice.

"Oh, I just remembered I never introduced myself, the name's Barren, pleased to meet you, and you are?" Barren smiled as Daniel noticed he was waiting for him to introduce himself.

'Crap, I don't have a Skywing name and I can't give him my human name or he'll think I'm nuts for sure! Come on Daniel think of the most Skywing name possible.
Just then the name hit him like a rocket. It was an original name that he hadn't seen anywhere else in the books so it should be fine.
Daniel stood up toward the dragon and said "Pleased to meet you, Barren, my name's Hurricane"

"Nice name, gives off a fierce vibe to it" Barren chuckled.

"Hey Barren" Daniel asked, "do you by any chance have a map of the world I could see? I want to figure out where I am exactly."

"Yeah, sure no problem." Barren walked toward the doorway of the room and beckoned Daniel to follow. It was only now that Daniel realised how nice of a place the tiny house was. There were golden brown rectangular lamps that were used as light sources, a nice fur carpet as well as a soft bed. Stain-glassed windows gave off a colourful glow to the area.

Beside one of the windows, Daniel noticed two potted cacti which if he remembered correctly were used to cure Sandwing venom. Multiple colourful artworks could be seen on the walls as well as painting of what looked like a SandWing and an IceWing.

Underneath the painting, it was titled *Clawmates.* The SandWing had a bright smile and had a wing around the cold dragon. While the IceWing had more of a scowl on his face. He was, however, still staring back at him through the painting.

The sides of the painting seemed ripped like they had purposely torn a part of the full picture off. 'Hmmm, that seems familiar... I wonder why though'

Eventually, Daniel entered into a small room with many gridded sheets of paper.
"Welcome to my mapping room, I like to draw maps of interesting things I find around the land. But ignore that, this is what you're looking for right?" Barren pointed to a large map on the wall that Daniel hadn't seen yet, but upon laying eyes on it he immediately recognised it.
Shaped like a dragon, with an icy head and a sandy body, it had confirmed Daniel's suspicions. He had indeed been transported into the fictional land of Pyrrhia.

Chapter Text

Daniel studied the map closely. There was a drawn-on house symbol which Daniel assumed was the location of the place where Barren lived and where Daniel's current location was. It appeared to be located in the southwestern Sand kingdom maybe a half-hour walk to the beach from it. There were also other landmarks marked on the map such as Thorn's Stronghold, The town of Possibility, and Jade Mountain Academy.

'I wonder how long it would take to get there?' Daniel thought curiously. 'based on the information in the books it must take a while even by flight, let alone on foot. Speaking of flying, maybe I should ask if Barren would be able to teach me how. I mean I won't make it far as a dragon who can't fly anyway.'

"Hey Barren," Daniel called.

"yeah, what do you need?" Said Barren as he turned to look at him.

"Would it be possible for you to teach me how to fly?" Daniel asked calmly, but inside he felt the most awkward he had ever felt in his entire life. "I mean, it's fine if you don't want to, I understa-"

"Yeah sure," Barren interrupted.

Daniel quickly turned around to look at him. "wait, really!" his face lit up as though he had just been offered a trip to Disneyland. Although he did admit that he would take learning to fly over any amusement park any day, I mean you would have to be out of your mind to not.

"yeah, I mean I haven't ever taught someone to fly but it shouldn't be too hard, come on, let's go outside"

Daniel followed him outside to the bright, warm, sunny desert. It was a much better day than the one before. Clouds provided a light shady cover to the sun's heat beating down on them.

The desert air was dry and cold but Daniel liked the feeling. It reminded him of what it felt like after coming out of the ocean onto the beach, meeting the cool breeze coming through as the warm sun fell upon his scales.

"Alright Hurricane welcome to flying one-on-one, the goal of today is to have you up in the air flying to your heart's content by sundown," Barren spoke with authority.

"Sweet, sounds good to me"

Barren continued. "right, first things first, let's practice taking off and landing. I want you to try to lift yourself off the ground with your wings before landing back on your feet."

Daniel nodded and prepared himself for he didn't know what would happen next. Flapping his wings he lifted off the ground only to just immediately fall back on all fours again. Luckily he stuck the landing so he didn't look like a lost cause to begin with. 'well that worked perfectly' he grumbled to himself.

"Alright, I want you to do the same things again except instead of flapping your wings quickly I want you to first, jump as high as you can, and second, make 2 large flaps with your wings to boost yourself higher. Now try again"

Daniel did as Barren said, and it worked a lot better than the first time with Daniel being able to get more than 10 feet off the Ground, "WOAH" Daniel yelled, as the land below him started to shrink. It felt like. Being shot up in the air by some other force. He started to fall again however as it wasn't enough to go into a full flight. Putting out his wings he was just barely able to stop himself from making a dragon-sized crater in the sand. He stood there after landing for a few seconds before looking at Barren in front of him.

"Nice job, you learned to land" Barren smiled

"That was actually kind of scary to tell you the truth, Barren..." Daniel said in a shaky voice "Maybe we can try something else?"

"Nope," Barren replied cheerfully, "you're making good progress we aren't going to stop here. I want you to try that again but tilt your limbs towards the breeze and tuck in your limbs after the first flap of your wings, that'll make you more aerodynamic and allow you to catch the wind better."

Daniel prepared himself, once again taking off Into the air like Barren said and tucking his legs in. It did help as he took off a lot higher than before, 'OH WOW THIS IS HIGH' however he immediately started plummeting to the ground after he lost his balance in the wind. 'STOP, STOP, STOP, STOP! Daniel yelled in his mind.

"SLOW DOWN" he heard Barren yell below him

Without another second to waste he threw out his wings to the side to slow down like he did before but it wasn't enough. "Oh NO-" he yelled as he crashed into the sand below.

"Oh moons! Are you okay?!" Barren asked, "That was a huge fall!"

"yeah, I'm fine don't worry"

"Good, you wanna take a break?"

"No, I'm too close to giving up now"

"Okay... If you say so... " Barren Said concerningly. "The tucking in is only for take-off and diving, if you keep your legs tucked in you move faster when flying however it is a lot harder to keep your balance and you can't land properly. So make sure to untuck them afterwards. Also, make sure to spread your wings as soon as you reach a high enough altitude to glide through the wind."

" Alright, I'll give it one more shot, then we can take a break"

"sounds good, I'll go prepare us some drinks for afterwards, you got this!" and with that Barren entered the house leaving Daniel alone outside.

'Alright Daniel, you can do this"
Putting all of Barren's words together Daniel prepared himself to give it all he had. He jumped and tucked in his legs, flapped once and then untucked them, he was about 50 feet in the air now. Keeping his balance he soared through the wind and had successfully taken off into flight.
Wings spread out he caught the air below him and sliced through it like butter.
"WOOOHOOOO!!!" Daniel yelled. Surprisingly, he found it a lot easier to manoeuvre in the air than on the ground, Managing to do all sorts of in-air tricks with ease.
'Probably a Skywing Perk' he thought.

Daniel did one last loop in the air before perfectly landing next to Barren's house.
"Wow..., that was...amazing..." Daniel said, feeling full of adrenaline. 'I should probably try and calm down a bit before heading into the house.' As so Daniel started to breathe in and out slowly. He expected it to slow his heart rate down a bit and it seemed to work but what he didn't expect was the small gust of flames that left his mouth when he breathed out for the 4th time.

Daniel blinked for a second, surprised before a familiar voice spoke from behind.

"Wow, that was a sight to see! Haha! You're a quick learner" Barren laughed. Before noticing Daniel's confused look. "Hey, why the surprised look? Or was that your first time resting fire too?" Barren joked. However, upon noticing Daniel's expression he realised it was. "Wait... You've breathed fire before right" Daniel shook his head softly. Barren was speechless. "come inside... We'll talk about it later.

Daniel silently followed Barren inside and took a seat on the bed he woke up in, to begin with. They both stared intently at each other for a brief moment. Barren with a sceptical look on his face while Daniel had a more worried look. Barren was the one to break the echoing silence.

"you see, now I'm confused Hurricane." He spoke with scepticism and a slight hint of distrust which Daniel didn't pick up. "It was already weird enough that you didn't know how to fly, but also not knowing how to breathe fire? Something's wrong here, so I want an explanation from you that clearly states why you don't know the most simple basics of being a Skywing."

Daniel was trembling. He didn't know what to say as the truth was so far-fetched that nobody in their right mind would believe him. The only option he had was to come up with a believable lie, as fast as Barren was impatiently waiting for an answer.

"W-well yo-you s-s-see" Daniel started

"SPIT IT OUT DAMMIT!" Barren roared.

"I'M NOT A DRAGON OKAY!"

Barren fell silent. His face went from angry to puzzled to worried and then back to puzzled again in a few seconds.

"What?"

"I'm what you guys call 'Scavengers' I don't know how I ended up a dragon but it's the truth. I woke up in the desert as a dragon and then you saved my life. It also explains why I don't know how to breathe fire or fly until today" Daniel said half-truthfully. He did know that he became a dragon by getting transported into the Wings of Fire series but he didn't think Barren would of responded well to that.

Barren was speechless once again. His brain wasn't able to process the things Daniel told him.

"I need to have some time to process this..."

"yeah... Suit yourself"

With that Barren walked away to the opposite side of the house.

'I should probably leave before he comes back to ask more questions. He already knows to much, and if he finds out that his world is just a book... He would probably have irreversible brain damage. Even though it is kind of hard to believe that this world is fake now that I'm here.

There's also that prophecy that I heard in my dream... Or whatever it was... And there's only one place where I can get proper help with this stuff.'

"Well, I guess I'm off to school again, Jade Mountain, here I come.."

Chapter Text

Daniel wandered the house in search of the mapping room. He needed to know the fastest way to Jade Mountain to get help with this prophecy.
'I think it's just in here' Daniel thought, entering the room to find what he was looking for, and Barren drew on some gridded paper. 'Crap, I didn't expect him to be in here... Let's try and leave quietly' Daniel took a few steps back before Barren spoke in a quiet voice.

"leaving so soon?" He turned his head to look at him. His face was a mix of expressions: curiosity, regret, and realisation, just to name a few of them; however, Daniel saw that there was an extremely faint layer of fear and anxiety in his eyes.

"Yeah, sorry, I was thinking of heading to Jade Mountain to see what I can accomplish there," Daniel said quietly.

"I see..." Barren started "Well in that case you'll be needing this."
Barren crouched down and removed a loose brick from the floor. It revealed a locked compartment which Barren opened with the strangest yet most creative key Daniel had ever seen. A paintbrush. He slid it into the lock and Click* was a map of Pyrrhia except a lot more detailed than the one in the book. In fact, it was the most detailed and well-drawn map Daniel had ever seen: There were images of where every known oasis was, The great ice wall, all the palaces including the 3 Sea kingdom palaces, it had the animus-made tunnels from the rainforest to the desert as well as even the old night kingdom where Darkstalker grew up.

"Thi-this is incredible!" Daniel exclaimed smiling. "Barren how in the world did you make this?"

"Oh, I used to be a navigator for all three Sandwing sisters at one point in the war. Due to my connections with all the tribes I was able to eventually make the most detailed map in all of Pyrrhia. This is the only map of its kind and if it got into the wrong claws who knows what could happen... That's why before I give this to I need you to promise me this one thing."
Barren said in a more serious tone.

Daniel nodded "Whatever you need Barren"

"Promise me. That if there is any chance that this map may fall into the wrong claws. You must destroy it."

Daniel's Eyes widened "but-" Daniel started

"no buts" Barren interrupted "Do you promise to destroy this map if you need to"

He looked Daniel straight in the eyes

"I promise, I promise that I will destroy the map if it falls into the wrong claws"

"Good, now you best be on your way if you wanna make it to Jade Mountain by sunset, even as a Skywing it'll take at least a few hours."

"Will do"

Daniel walked outside, because of the sun's position he guessed it was somewhere around three in the aafternoon which gave him two or three hours before sunset.

"Hey Barren" Daniel started "Thanks for teaching me"

Barren smiled "You're not done yet you have one last thing to learn before you leave"

Daniel tilted his head "I do?"

"Well you can't be a Skywing if you don't know how to breathe fire, but Don't worry it's simple" Barren stated. "to breathe fire you just need to hold your breath for more than two seconds, By doing this you will build up fire in your Lungs. To release you just blow like you were blowing out a candle.

Daniel did what Barren said and it worked like a charm.

"The longer you hold it the larger and more powerful your fire will become but be careful as if you hold it for too long it will be too powerful for you to handle" Barren said

"Understood, well I should get going now... Don't want to arrive there at midnight." Daniel said. "Once again Barren thanks for everything"

"it was my pleasure, stay safe out there Hurricane"

"Please, call me Daniel from now on, my scavenger name,"

"Very well then, Daniel, stay safe and know that you're always welcome here again"

"Thanks, Barren, I'll be sure to visit again someday." With that, Daniel took off into the sky.

"I'LL SEE YOU LATER!" he heard Barren shout from behind.
"I ALWAYS KEEP AN EYE OUT FOR FAMILIAR FACES AFTER ALL!"

"WILL DO!" Daniel shouted back with a smile, before long he was well above the clouds heading for Jade Mountain to hopefully meet some familiar faces.

'Barren said it may take a while to reach Jade Mountain but as long as I follow the map and take occasional breaks in the oasis for water I'll make it there by sunset.'

As Daniel flew through the air he realised how much more free he felt.' as free as a bird.' Daniel laughed, 'I guess I took that saying to another level.'

Daniel took a fresh breath of air. Doing a few tricks as he flew a thought came to mind his mind. 'Barren said that if you tucked your legs in you were able to dive really fast, I should try it out'

Daniel began to gain height preparing for possibly the scariest and most thrilling moment of his life. Slowly but surely he flew over the clouds until it was just nothing but a visible white blanket. It definitely took a while though, maybe 30 minutes.

'It's time.' Daniel gave one last flap of his wings before moving his body weight to his head. Quickly he began to fall and pick up speed, tucking in his legs the wind began to whip across his face. He could feel himself slice the wind and soon he reached the white layer of clouds that was once below him.
It was difficult to see through it as the only thing visible was what was within about ten meters in front of him.

Unexpectedly the top of a mountain came flying towards Daniel, 'Oh Crud!' he thought as he swiftly dodged it 'That was too close.'

Daniel was now able to properly observe how fast he was truly going as the mountainside was nothing but a grey and green blue. 'Damn,I'm moving fast' However his thoughts were interrupted as turned out the one mountain was the least of his worries as more mountain peaks began to appear out of the blue.

He was flying too quickly to stop so his only option was to doge it. Daniel swerved to the left to avoid one mountain and soon to his right to avoid another.

Just then a few more appeared simultaneously. There was no way to swerve out of the way or stop himself.

Then... Something seemed to awaken inside Daniel like a sort of revelation... At least that's what it felt like.
For some reason flying now seemed like a peice of cake even though he'd literally just learned a few moments how to even get off the ground.

Thinking quickly, Daniel -or something else altogether- threw out his wings and slid through the mountain's small ravine.

As the dull cold walls of the inner mounting blurred passed him he felt a shiver run through his spine like a train on a track. It was a lot colder inside, with only a few patches of warmth from the flowing magma underneath the mountain crust. Soon a bright light began to shine through the cave's cracks.

'That's my way out' Daniel thought. Flying through an insanely tight gap Daniel nearly scraped his wings a few times and just barely escaped certain death by doing a barrel roll through two jagged rocks.

Soon a bright light blinded him for a brief moment as he left the mountain only to be met by a forest In front of him.
'you've got to be kidding, there's no time to fly up I'll have to weave through it for a bit'

Daniel sped into the forest dodging, rolling, and waving his way through the trees. Now and then his wings would hit some branches however due to his extreme velocity they would just be sliced in half.

Something was wrong, this sort of flying wasn't natural, and Daniel knew this but was too full of adrenaline to figure it
out at the moment.

Daniel spotted an open patch in the leaves and took the opportunity to escape the greenery. However, upon his escape, he nearly flew straight into a dragon.

'OH SHOOT!'

Tilting his wings, he swerved away from the dragon only to find himself flying at full speed towards a large group of dragons. With little time to think and possibly an extremely bad accident in front of him Daniel ditched All efforts to think logically and let his instincts take over.

He flew under two dragons playing before doing three or so barrel rolls in a row to avoid eight more, shifting his body weight to fly upward he just barely missed crashing into a mountain he didn't see. Gliding against the side of the mountain Daniel shifted his weight once more to fall backwards towards land.

As he approached land he got ready to slow down. Daniel opened his wings at the last minute to catch as much air as possible and almost came to a complete stop. A huge gust of wind was forced from his wings as he landed on the soft lush grass.

"Wow. That was... Something else entirely.." Daniel thought aloud.
There was a hint of confusion in his words as he struggled to comprehend how in tw world he'd just pulled that off.
However, it was interrupted by a few voices nearby.

"WOAH!"

"DID YOU SEE THAT?"

"I DIDN'T THINK SOMEONE COULD FLY SO FAST"

"I KNOW RIGHT, IT WAS INSANE"

Daniel looked up to see a crowd of about twenty-eight to thirty dragons all staring at him, although he understood why as when he looked into the distance he saw that the soft layer of clouds that covered the sky had been sliced in two by his incredible speed.

Daniel's eyes widened in disbelief.
He shook his head slowly, 'No.... No that's not possible... I would have to be flying at least after than the speed of sound for that to happen...'

Daniel looked down at his talons.
Something wasn't right, and he knew it, there's no way he could just pull that off out of the blue let alone even accomplish splitting the clouds.

Suddenly, while Daniel was stuck in his thoughts, another dragon interrupted his thought process and snapped him back to reality.

"THAT WAS AMAZING!" Said a small pink Rainwing who bounded up to him. She was accompanied by a larger Sandwing with a scar on his snout.

"Got to admit," said the Sandwing "Your flying back there was impressive." Daniel looked around, many dragons were whispering and taking cheeky glances at Daniel while others just stood there.
They too, along with Daniel himself, were speechless with what they had witnessed.

"Well that's a new record I guess," Daniel said in a attempt to ease his brain from the physical impossibility of what had just happened to him.

Daniel stared back up at the parted clouds which were now starting to form back into more natural shapes.
'I shouldn't be alive right now... What... What in the world happened...?'

Daniel turned his attention back to the dragons who walked up to him. The Rainwing had a goofy smile one as she rambled on about how amazing his flying was. However on the other hand the Sandwing was staring intensely as if he was trying to read his mind.

"I haven't seen you around here before," the Sandwing said. "What's your name?"

"The name's Hurricane, pleased to meet you, and the reason haven't seen me before is cause I'm new around here. I was thinking of enrolling in Jade Mountain, care to tell me where it is?" Daniel said casually in an attempt to stop his mind from running wild.

Suddenly the Rainwing started to giggle while the Sandwing gave a small smirk.

"You're already here silly," the Rainwing said, just then Daniel looked around to see that he had indeed already made it.

Daniel's thoughts started up again.
'But this makes no sense... I've only been flying for an hour or so I should at least have another hour of flying left to do... Even if I did fly fast enough I'd be dead simply from the air resistance...'

It made no sense at all, perhaps he'd just forgotten or lost track of time but either way, he had somehow arrived an hour early. Despite the laws of physics screaming otherwise.

"Oh, I see that now, guess I was flying a bit too fast to notice," Daniel said as his thoughts were once again pushed back to the back of his head.

The other two dragons laughed for a bit before speaking again.

"Well I guess we should give you a proper welcome" said the Sandwing, "My name's Qibli and this here is Kinkajou" he said pointing to the smaller dragon "Welcome to Jade Mountain Academy!"

Chapter Text

The sun had begin to set, Daniel was talking with Qibli and Kinkajou who were explaining to him how things worked around the school.

'Except I already know this from the books..., Just play it cool Daniel, pretend you never went to school before'

Essentially Daniel was just getting a reminder on how things worked and so. Nothing new but it was good information to know so Daniel keep listening. Occasionally his mind drifted off to other matters like needing to find Moonwatcher to get his prophecy issue resolved.

'Alright so I need to find her and maybe the rest of the Jade Winglet could help me get it fixed.' Daniel then realised something. 'Wait... I Don't know what point In the story I'm in and for all I know if I mess something up...' Daniel felt shivers crawl over his entire body. 'who knows what may happen...'

It was only a few moments later he snapped back to reality when Qibli and Kinkajou looked at him concerningly. "you alright Hurricane? It looks like you just realised the world might end" Qibli laughed, though there was a concerning tone in his words. "Oh yeah I'm fine don't worry, still a bit shook from the flight." Daniel lied. "Don't worry about it it you're fine now, right?" Kinkajou chimed in.

"yeah I guess so" 'but I'm not sure for how long with this prophecy on my back' Daniel thought with worry.

"Anyway you should go and have a chat with Fatespeaker if you want to enrol" Qibli said,

"Yeah, I'll go do that now, thanks for the help, Qibli and Kinkajou,"

"Anytime," both dragons smiled

Daniel took off towards the schools entrance. He landed in front of a dark purple and black dragon. 'Guess I found her' Daniel thought.

"Hey, you're Fatespeaker right?" Daniel said trying his best to sound like he didn't already know every little thing about the school.

"Yep that's me!" she said enthusiastically

"Cool, Great, I was thinking of enrolling in Jade Mountain Academy. Do you by any chance have a spot for me?"

Fatespeakers eyes lit up, "Of course we do! We're actually in need of a Skywing after the history cave incident..." her voice died down a little when she mentioned the incident. 'she's probably referring to the explosion that killed Carnelian."

"I'll go tell the others the good news!" and with that she ran off happily towards the back of the school.

'Damn, talk about mood swings' Daniel thought. 'Guess I'll just wait here for a bit'
Daniel looked around at the crowd of dragons of all different shapes and sizes. Some were flying around playing tag, others were chatting, and some where hunting. Daniel even spotted a few dragons in relationships, most of which were inter-tribal. 'Hmm, guess you'd eventually fall for someone while you're here.

A few moments later Fatespeaker returned with who Daniel immediately recognised as the Dragonets of Destiny. "Oh hey you're back" Daniel said casually.

"Hey, so-" Fatespeaker started before a devastatingly loud blaring noise came from somewhere inside the mountain. Daniel immediately covered his ears drowning most of the sound out. He was able to make out the faint voice of a male but didn't quite hear what it said.

"WHAT WAS THAT?!" Daniel shouted. However everyone around him had already fallen into a deep sleep. 'what in the name of sorcery is this...' Daniel thought fearfully.
However soon he heard some voices approaching.

'Shoot ! I need to hide!' without thinking Daniel flew just above the cave entrance. It was a bad hiding place but it was the best he could do for the moment. Soon the dragons speaking came into view.

"So, I may have overdone it a little" said one of the voices, a male one Daniel realised.

"A LITTLE?" said the other voice, this one female. "YOU KNOCKED OUT THE WHOLE SCHOOL!"

'So they were the ones who did this... I need to see who they are' Daniel took a quick peak into the cave to see a Seawing and and a Nightwing.

'Wait... That's Moon and Turtle, which means that she CAN READ MY MIND!'
Daniel ducked back Into cover, however, it crossed his mind that Moon hadn't realised he was there. Did that mean he was immune. 'No... She's probably too distracted with the scene in front of her to notice, but it won't be long before she does so it may pay off to not be spying on them'

With this thought in mind Daniel dropped down onto the floor of the cave entrance. Both dragons looked towards him as he said in his most casual voice "Hey, do you guys know what happened here? I was speaking with a dragon called Fatespeaker before everyone collapsed around me."

'That should do the trick, I hope...'

Moon looked at him Curiously before the other dragons began to wake from their sleep.

"Wha-what happened?" Fatespeaker asked

"Oh good they're not dead" Daniel said in a surprised voice hoping it would convince them he didn't know much of what happened.
Of which he really didn't but it would probably be odd if he just ignored an dragon waking up after they suddenly collapsed. However Fatespeaker eyes lit up upon seeing him.

"Hey guys wake up!" Fatespeaker yelled at the school staff on the ground behind her. "I want to introduce you to our newest student!" she exclaimed.

Tsunami was the first up "so what was this news you wanted to show us Fatespeaker" she said groggily, rubbing her eyes before looking up.

"Uhh hi" Daniel smiled "I was hoping of enrolling in the school and wondered if you guys had any room for me?"

Tsunami smiled, "of course we do! We just need your name first before we make anything official.

"Hurricane. Pleased to meet you"

"Ooo" Sunny said "he's got a name like yours Tsunami"

Tsunami barked a laugh "Yeah, I guess he does. Alright Hurricane so you'll be placed in the Jade Winglet as that's the winglet without a Skywing at the moment."

"sounds good" Daniel said.

"Classes start In two days so you got a bit of time to get settled in." Tsunami continued" I would use this time to get to know your clawmates and... that's it really. Do you have any belongings with you at the moment?"

Daniel questioned himself on whether it would be a good idea to let them know about the map.

"Nope" Daniel said hiding the map.
Barren trusted it to him and said to destroy it if there was any chance of Daniel losing it. So he decided to keep it a secret from them. For now at least.

"Very well" Tsunami said. "I'll show you to your sleeping cave" She began to walk toward the west side of the mountain but before Daniel followed her, he spotted Moon eyeing him sceptically before quickly playing dumb when he looked her way.

'I'm onto you Moonwatcher' Daniel thought loud enough for her to pick it up. Immediately Moon turned to look at him with wide eyes, Daniel flashed her a sly smirk 'I'll see you later' he thought to her before following Tsunami to the sleeping caves. It didn't take as long as Daniel expected however what was surprising was seeing two sleeping dragons on the cave floor.

"Oh Moons..." Tsunami sighed "is it not possible to have ONE DAY where they can just... BEHAVE. PERIL. WINTER. WAKE UP!" Tsunami kicked Winter in the stomach before throwing a small stone at Perils head which efficiently woke both of them up.

"OOOWWW" cried both of the dragons

"What was that for Tsunami!" Winter growled.

"you were knocked out on the floor so really you should be thanking me for waking you two up" Tsunami spat.

"Whatever..." Winter said in a low voice

"but why did you wake us?" Peril then asked.

"You got a new clawmate, or more specifically, the Jade winglet got a new clawmate.

"Hey..." Daniel said nervously... he didn't know why he was nervous since he already knew almost everything about them but it might be actually meeting them instead of just reading about them though lines in a book.

"Hi" Peril said

"Hmph" Winter snorted which honestly wasn't that off for him.

"He'll be sleeping in Winters and Qibli's cave and you Peril will be moved to Clays room, you should probably head there now to get comfortable." Tsunami said

"O-oh, okay" Peril stuttered as she walked out of the cave.

"Alright Hurricane, get used to the place as you'll be spending the rest of the year here"

Daniel nodded as he walked towards a rocky ledge. It seemed to have already been heated. 'probably because Peril was sitting there beforehand' Daniel thought as he lied down on the ledge. 'it's quite nice to be honest though, maybe I'll heat it up every night with my fire' Daniel turned to look at Winter who was staring at him intently.

"Um, Hey..? How's it going.. Winter? is it?" Daniel tried to Socialise with the grumpy Icewing.

"leave me alone Skywing" Winter snarled
Before he turned his attention to the Map in Daniels claws.

"What's that?" Winter asked,

"This?" Daniel responded as he waved the map in his talon. "Oh it's nothing much really-"

"let me see it." Winter demanded

"What?" Daniel said, a little aggravated.

"Let me see it" Winter said, holding a talon out as if he was expecting Daniel to comply

'oh... Right... I forgot he can be a spoiled regal sometimes...' Daniel thought with a sigh. Though it turned into a devious smile when he realised he could mess with him.

"You really expect me to just give this to you?" Daniel asked, faking his confusion.

"Yeah, now hand it over!" Winter yelled.

"Yeah... No... I'm not giving this to anyone... Especially not a spoiled brat like yourself." Daniel spat.

"What did you say to me..." Winter said in a mix of an astonished and angry voice.

"you heard me" Daniel replied smoothly "you have ears don't you?"

He didn't want to insult Winter too badly as he wanted to eventually become his friend. He was however, going to have an easier time doing that if Daniel asserted dominance over him.

Then Winter would talk to him more without immediately causing a fight and slowly Daniel could gain his trust overtime.

'It definitely isn't the best strategy' Daniel admitted 'but it was better then Winter thinking he could walk right over me with ease. A small sacrifice now for better possibilities in the long run...'

"H-how Dare you! I'll have you know that I'm-"

"That I'm Queen Glaciers Nephew, you should treat me with more respect," Daniel finished for him.

He stood there shocked for a little while before his anger took him over again.

"WHY YOU" Winter screamed as he lunged towards Daniel claws out. However what happened next was something Winter didn't expect.

Daniel sat up quickly and caught Winters talon mid-air. He didn't break eye contact...

"Don't. Try Me. Winter." Daniel snarled

Winters eyes widened with shock as he tried to remove Daniels grip though to no avail.

After a few moments Daniel let go and Winter stumbled backwards.

"Who... Who are you..? " Winter asked, angry but also slightly frightened, though it only lasted for a moment.

Daniel ignored his question.
"I know everything about you... So don't give me that royal superiority, " Daniel spat before shooting Winter a strong scowl and laying back down on the rock ledge.

"I was trying to be nice to you, so don't ruin things for yourself,"
He settled on the heated rock while Winter grumbled and made his way to his own sleeping area.

Daniel yawned, deciding it would be a good time for a nap, seeing that flying took a lot of energy out of him.

Before he drifted off to a deep dreamless sleep, one singular thought crossed his mind.

'This is going to be fun...'

Chapter Text

It was well into the night when Daniel woke. Looking around at the dark gloomy sleeping cave he could make out the shape of a familiar Sandwing sleeping on an upper ledge that Daniel hadn't noticed. It appeared to be covered in a yellow-brownish material that looked like fur. However, everyone's favourite grumpy Icewing was nowhere to be seen.
'where's Winter? I hope he didn't get too scared from what happened before.'

Daniel thought with a hint of regret. 'I should find him, make sure he doesn't run off like he did in the books.'

Quietly, Daniel crept out of the cave careful not to wake the snoring Sandwing. Upon exiting the cave into the long hallway he realised how peaceful the school was at night.

Fire-lit torches gleamed in the hallway as decoratively cut holes in the walls served as windows for letting the moonlight from the three moons into the mountain.
'Oh wow... The three moons together look amazing. Much better than Earth's moon."
Daniel found himself admiring the moons for a few minutes before snapping back to reality

'Wait! What am I doing?! I need to find Winter!' Soon he began to rush through the hall as fast as his inexperienced four-legged running would let him. Which is to say not very fast. He could probably run faster as a human than a dragon at the moment.
'Ugh, I don't have time for this...' Suddenly Daniel came up with a risky idea but it was the only way to traverse the corridor quickly if he wanted to find Winter soon. 'screw it, I need to find him'

Daniel spread his wings and took off. Instantly his speed quickened to probably eight times the speed he was going initially. Daniel was sure to follow the torches out as he dodged and weaved his way through. Some sharp rocks popped out now and then which made it slightly difficult to traverse the corridor safely.

Not to mention it was already extremely tight, he was just barely missing the edge of the walls which threatened to take his wings off. Threading the needle he kept flying straight ahead towards oblivion until a larger room came into view up ahead. Daniel soon blasted through the room, past a solitary Icewing sitting on the Jade Mountain entrance, and out into the night sky. 'I guess I found him'

The cool air felt amazing on his scales as he proceeded to do a few fighter jet tricks he saw once back in his own dimension. Barrel rolls, flips, and deep dives were just to name a few of them however he soon remembered the main reason he came out there to begin with. 'Right, Winter.' Circling back to the main entrance he landed beside the lonely Icewing who was staring at him in astonishment.

"What in the Moons was that?!" Winter exclaimed.

"SHHHH" Daniel whispered, quickly covering Winter's snout with a talon. "You don't want to wake everyone in the school do you?"

"hmmmphmmaphmm," Winter retorted.

"Oh right, sorry" Daniel said taking his talon off Winter's mouth.

"What was that?" Winter said more quietly this time.

"Oh, that's just me having a flight that's all, you know, being a Skywing it's kind of my thing." Daniel gave a shy smile.

"No, I know that, I mean like... how were you flying so fast? I've never seen any Skywing or dragon for that matter, fly as fast as that."

"Oh really? I thought it was just normal to fly that fast,"

Winter shook his head quickly.

"Oh, well then, I guess that's something," Daniel laughed

"Why are you here Hurricane?" Winter asked in a sadder and softer voice.

"Huh?"

"you heard me, you have ears don't you?" Winter retorted sadly.

"Oh... Yeah, I do but what I mean is how did you know my name? I never told you it"

"After you fell asleep Qibli walked in and asked why you were there and I told him you were our new Clawmate which is when he told me your name.

"I see,"

"He also told me how fast you fly, I didn't believe it at first but when you came barrelling through the lobby I realised that the sand snorter was right" Winter gave a small chuckle which immediately caught Daniel's attention.

"As far as I remember, Winter Never really laughs at anything. Which means he's dealing with something. Maybe his parents, the ranks, or his brother even. But it's clear that something is wrong with him.' Daniel analysed the sad Icewing before asking.

"Hey, Winter, what's wrong" Daniel asked in a soft and supportive voice. Winter looked up at him, Daniel's eyes widened as he saw Winter was on the edge of shedding tears. "Holy, Winter are you okay" Daniel said, he was worried for him. He'd never seen anywhere in the books about this.

"Why do you care?" Winter snapped

"Because you're my Clawmate and I want to make sure you're alright," Daniel said. He didn't think it was safe to state them as friends yet. Especially after yesterday's incident. 'I should probably apologise for that...'

"I'm sorry Winter." Winter shot him a confused look.

"Sorry for what?" He asked

"I'm sorry for yesterday's interaction. I know we got off on the wrong side of things so maybe we can just forget and move on?" Daniel said hopefully.

Winter stared at him for a few seconds before speaking "I accept your apology"

"Thanks, mate," Daniel smiled

"Don't push it,"

"Right sorry... But seriously, what's wrong?"

"It's nothing, you should head back, I'll be out here for a while," Winter said, a small tear ran down his cheek but he either didn't notice it or didn't care. Daniel, however, did.

"Hmmm.. You said that you wanted to see what this was right?" Daniel asked as he offered him the map.

Winter stared at him sceptically before turning his attention to the map in hand.

"Is this a joke?" Winter asked uncertain if he should take the scroll in Daniel's talons.

"Not at all... I'll even show it to you," Daniel said as he sat down next to Winter and un-scrolled the map in front of him.

"Woah..." Winter exclaimed as he picked it up... "This is a detailed map... Where did you get this?"

"Oh... A friend gave it to me for my travels,"

"Ah, alright..." Winter said before he rolled up the map and gave it back to Daniel.

"Anyway like I said before... You should go back to sleep. I'll be out here a while" Winter said.

Daniel wasn't exactly happy with Winter's answer. He wanted to get to know him but Winter just pushed him away again.

'maybe... Something else might work...'

"Hey, let's go flying" Daniel said, offering a talon to Winter. "I don't know what's wrong but maybe a little night flight can help with it."

"What's the point, I don't want to and even if I did I wouldn't be able to keep up with you."

"True, you wouldn't be able to"

Winter's wings drooped a little as if he was kind of disappointed.

'so he does want to fly...'

"but, you could if I taught you a few of my tricks," Daniel said cheerfully.

Winter looked up.

"Tricks? You have tricks to flying?"

"Well, of course, there's a reason that you haven't seen a dragon fly as fast as me before." Daniel lied in the hope of convincing him to join. "So? you up for a little flying lesson or are you just going to sit there and continue being depressed?"

"Fine, I'll come join you but I'll have you know that I have little hope that this will work" Winter said as he got up.

"Sweet, follow me" Daniel cheered.

Soon both dragons were running towards the entrance before gliding down onto the grass below. "Alright, Winter I'm going to teach you everything I know in the next hour.

You'll be able to fly so fast you'll part clouds like what I did earlier." Daniel pointed to the rip in the clouds which miraculously was still visible. Winter looked over to see what he was pointing at.

"you did that?.." Winter asked in awe.

"yep and you'll be able to as well on one condition" Daniel said.

"Whatever you need" said Winter excitedly now seeing what he would be able to do.

"After we're done, you tell me exactly what's bothering you, no funny business, every detail," Daniel spoke seriously. Winter looked at him for a bit before reluctantly agreeing.

"Very well then, let's begin"

Daniel taught Winter everything Barren had once taught him less than twenty-four hours ago. Including taking off and landing as he soon noticed that Winter took off and landed differently from him and it was definitely holding him back.

"Winter, when you take off I want you to first jump as high as you can and then tuck in your legs before untucking them, It'll boost you higher" Daniel instructed him.

Without other words, Winter did as Daniel said and was soon faced with noticeable changes as he was launched about three times higher into the air.

"WOAH!" Winter yelled

"That's what I said too on my first time" Daniel laughed. "but you can see the difference right"

"Yeah, for sure!" Winter gasped

"Don't worry that was just the beginning of the lesson, let's next continue with landing. I want you to boost yourself in the air like before and come down for a landing however in order to land faster I want you to almost dive towards the ground before opening your wings to catch air about twenty to thirty meters from the ground."

Winter nodded and took off into the sky. Gaining height he started circling above before semi-diving before spreading his wings like Daniel said. It worked better than he expected as Winter almost immediately came to a full stop. It went like this for a while. Winter learned to keep his balance with his legs tucked in while flying which allowed him to fly not quite but almost as fast as Daniel. He was also able to do a few Skywing tricks which leveled up his flying capabilities.

'he's a fast learner. If he was born a Skywing he would probably be faster than me by now' Daniel thought. Winter soon returned from his flight.

"Well, that worked," Winter said giving off one of his extremely rare smiles "What's left to learn?"

"There's one last thing to learn" Daniel started "However... I don't know if I should teach you it"

Winter's smile faded into slight anger "Why not! Do you not think I'm capable!?"

"No, it's not that"

"THEN WHAT IS IT!" Winter barked, angry

"I NEARLY DIED WHILE TRYING IT OKAY" Daniel shouted.

Winter's face froze, "you nearly died?"

"yeah..." Daniel said remembering his multiple close calls while diving through the mountains and forests. "I don't want something to happen to you, Winter. As it is you're probably the fastest Icewing in all of Pyrrhia. So it wouldn't be a bad idea to stop now,"

"No,"

"Excuse me?"

"I said no, I've come too far not to finish the lesson," Winter said filled with a strong determination,"

"You're willing to risk your life? For this?" Daniel asked, baffled.

"No doubts,"

Daniel let out a long sigh, "Very well then, follow me."

The two dragons flew up and up, passed the trees, passed the mountains, passed the landscapes, and eventually passed the clouds. There was nothing above the clouds except for the Stars, Moons, and the two of them.

"Alright we're here," Daniel said

"Do we need to be this high?" Winter asked, rethinking his choices.

"Yes. If not this will end really badly," Daniel said. "This is your final warning, Winter." after you begin it will be very difficult to stop until you get close to the ground. Are you certain you want to go ahead with this?"

"Positive"

"Alright then since there's no talking you out of it, this is your final lesson. After this, you will have learned all of my flying secrets and probably be able to fly fast enough to part the clouds." Daniel took a deep breath "I want you to dive from here back to the ground. Make sure to tuck in your wings and legs to gain speed. Do whatever you must and take whatever route you need. Good luck Winter you're on your own now." With that Daniel dived underneath the clouds, leaving Winter alone with his thoughts on what to do next.

Chapter Text

Daniel waited patiently in front of Jade Mountain's entrance. 'This isn't good... He should have been back by now.' Daniel thought, his mind full of worry. 'You should go look for him, Daniel. Make sure he's ok' whispered one half of his brain. 'No! Don't do it. Remember, he wanted this, so it's in his respect to let him finish it without interfering' said the other.

The sky above had begun to lighten up as the moons began to set. There were still as solid thirty minutes before anyone in their right mind would think of waking up.
'But if he doesn't return beforehand? Then what happens? ARRGH SHUT UP BRAIN, he's going to be just fine, it's probably just talking a bit longer since he might not be used to the speeds. THEN WHY WOULD YOU LEAVE HIM UP THERE ALONE, DAMN IDIOT! Daniel was stressing out as both halves of his brain argued over what to do next.

Suddenly, a faint sound could be heard from nearby. 'Is that Winter... No, it's coming from inside the mountain. Are they footsteps?' The sound got louder as it was clear that someone was approaching 'Crap, someone's coming... just play it cool, pretend that there's nothing bad going on, who knows it could just be a random dragon walking through' but it wasn't. It was the worst possible person imaginable in this situation.

Qibli peeked around the corner to see Hurricane looking out at the rising sun.
"Oh, hey, what's up, Hurricane?" Qibli said in his usual cheerful voice, "Oh, hey! How's it going? 'No... why did it have to be him...' "Why are you up so early?" Daniel asked in a forced casual voice

"I could ask you the same question," Qibli replied smoothly.

"Oh, well, to tell you the truth, the flight yesterday really killed me, so I decided to go to sleep, been up since four or five in the morning," Daniel said

"Oh, I guess that makes sense... Well, I've always been an early bird, so it's normal for me to wake up at this time"

"Ah, cool, cool, yeah, I get that"

"Hey, by any chance have you seen Winter around? He wasn't in bed sleeping when I woke, which is kind of off for him. Usually, he's a heavy sleeper." Qibli asked curiously

'DAMMIT... why did he have to ask that...'

"Actually, I did see him, like two hours ago, when I first woke up. He did seem pretty down, though. Do you by any chance know what's up with him?"

"Oh... No, I don't know anything about that." Qibli replied, his face turning from giddy happy to a more serious look."

It looked like he was in deep thought as his facial expression became more worried and stressed, and Daniel was able to see his breathing had become a little more rapid than usual. 'Oh, he's overthinking again, as he does in the books. I should probably stop him.

"Hey", Daniel said, "I know that look, don't overthink things, it'll get you nowhere."
Qibli looked at him, surprised for a moment, before replying

"O-oh, okay"

"There we go", Daniel smiled "I know you're worried about him, but don't worry, he's a strong dragon, he'll be fine"

Just then, a loud Whoosh was heard from the Mountain entrance. Upon looking at what it was, Daniel simply smiled while Qibli just stood there at a loss for words.
'Well, that's a new one, Qibli lost for words, huh?' Daniel couldn't help but laugh.

Winter was flying as fast as Daniel was when he first made his grand entrance yesterday. Winter was doing some of the Skywing moves that Daniel had taught him. Daniel had the proud teacher face on while Qibli could only watch as his best friend almost matched Daniel's speed yesterday.

"SWEET MOVES WINTER", Daniel called out.

"THIS IS AMAZING", Winter yelled in response. He did one last trick where he flew up towards the sun and struck a stunning pose. With his wings fully stretched out, he caused a silhouette of himself surrounded by the glowing sun.

"Wow", Daniel expressed, "now that is truly stunning" He took a quick look at Qibli, who had a strong red blush across his cheeks and snout.

"Hey Qibli, you may want to get rid of that blush before he lands. Unless you're planning on explaining to him why you were crushing over his image," He laughed.

Qibli looked at him with embarrassment. "O-oh ri-right," Qibli stuttered as he had just been caught crushing over his Bestfriend

"Oh moons... " Qibli sighed, clutching his head with both talons before lying down on the cold ground before him.

Soon, Winter landed next to them.

"Looks like you passed your test," Daniel said, congratulating him.

"Yeah... I see what you meant now..." Winter said with a mix of adrenaline and fear.

"Hey, don't worry, you're fine now, right?"

"Yeah, I guess so," Winter said as he looked down at Qibli, who was still on the ground.
"What's his problem?"

"Let's just say he REALLY liked your performance," Daniel said, raising and lowering the area where his eyebrows would be. Winter seemed to get the message through, as a faint dark blue blush could be seen appearing on his face. Winter looked down at the Sand dragon, who by now had about half of his face a deep shade of red.

"I'll leave you guys alone, Winter, remember our deal, okay?"

Winter nodded

"Also, don't forget that classes start today, so make sure to get yourself together soon," Daniel joked as he flew back to the sleeping cave.
The corridor was a tight fit for his wings once again, but he had to fly slower this time, as dragons may be wandering the halls by now. Suddenly, out of the blue, a Nightwing and a small Rainwing made their appearance.

'OH SH-' Daniel thought.

He didn't have enough time to move out of the way, so he ended up crashing right into both of them.

"OOF," all three dragons said simultaneously.

"Argh, sorry about that. Here I'll help you up," Daniel said as he offered his talons to help them up. Which is when he realised that he had just run into Moon and Kinkajou

"Watch where you're going!" Kinkajou snarled. Before looking up at him.

Moon looked up to see him. Her eyes lit up with fear. "She was about to say something when Daniel stopped her

'Don't! You don't want your secret getting out just yet, do you?' Daniel thought.

Moon slowly shut her mouth, understanding what Daniel was saying

"Sorry about that, Kinkajou and Moonwatcher. Is it...?" Daniel said, playing dumb. Moon shot him a sceptical look but decided to play along.

"Yep, that's me..." she said shyly

"Oh, good, I'm not wrong," Daniel said with a fake sigh of relief. "I saw your name on the winglet list and assumed that you would probably be with someone else from the winglet, like Kinkajou"

"Of course she is!" Kinkajou shouted, "She's my BFF after all"

"Good for you, Kinkajou," Daniel smiled
"Well, I'll best be off now, I'll see you around."

Daniel began to fly away, but not before telepathically sending Moon one last message. 'Meet me in Winters, and Qibli's sleeping cave an hour after classes end, Moon, I want to discuss something'
Daniel looked back to see Moon staring intently at him. He gave a simple nod to her before she nodded back, confirming to meet up after classes.

"Well, that's sorted." Daniel said, relieved, 'I guess I could pay a visit to Turtle now, and there's one place he's most likely to be.'

Daniel walked the corridors searching for the underground lake with no luck. He soon, however, spotted another Seawing, light blue and pink; there was no mistaking who it was.

Anemone...' Daniel thought 'she might have an idea of how to get to the lake... But I can't straight up ask her, or that'll be a little weird. I'll just ask her if she knows where Turtle is. That should work'

Daniel walked up to her; luckily, her annoying bodyguard, Pike, wasn't around at the moment.

"Um, hey, Princess Anemone, correct?" Daniel asked as he walked up.

"Oh, yes, that's me. Who are you?" Anemone asked, tilting her head.

"Oh, right, sorry, my name's Hurricane, I'm in your Brother Turtle's Winglet. Do you by any chance know where he might be? Daniel asked casually.

"Oh, right! You were the dragon flying at crazy speeds the other day!"

"Yeah, that's me..." Daniel rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "So would you be able to show me where he might be?"

Anemone snapped out of her trance-like state as she replied, "Yeah, sure, follow me"
As he began to walk down the halls. She walked into a crack in the wall, making multiple turns along the way. 'left, right, left, left, right, right, left.'

Daniel made a mental note of the turns before they arrived at the lake. Where unsurprisingly, Turtle was chilling in the water.

"There he is," Anemone said, "Don't know why you would want to find him, considering I'm a much better friend plus an animus, while he's just a quiet nobody."

Daniel looked to see Turtle's wings droop and watched his facial expression become a little sad.

"The most fierce storms rise from the calmest seas," Daniel replied slyly. "Don't judge a book by its cover."

"Hmph," Anemone said before walking back to the main hall. "Whatever you say, speedster"

Daniel rolled his eyes and walked towards the Quiet Seawing.

"Hey, how's it going, Turtle?" Daniel said in a friendly voice as he sat beside him. The Seawing looked up to meet his eyes.

"Thanks for what you did back there," Turtle smiled

"No problem, she gives off annoying and spoiled vibes anyway," Daniel said, "Sorry you have to put up with her," Daniel spoke sympathetically

Turtle barked a laugh, "I never heard anyone speak about royalty like that"

"Screw royalty!" Daniel spat, "It doesn't matter how powerful, royal, or rich someone is. If they're a brat, then they're a brat. End of story."

Turtle laughed loudly, failing to contain himself as he wiped a tear from his eye. "I guess you have a point there."

"Which is why I'm curious," Daniel said in a more serious voice. "Why haven't you stood up to her yet?"

Turtle looked at him. "Because she's an animus, she'll end me in an instant."

"No, she won't, she can't beat another animus easily," Turtle's eyes widened at what he just said

"How di-" turtle started.

"How did I know?" Daniel interrupted. "You'd be surprised by what I know about you and the others," Daniel said while gesturing to the mountain.

"I know a lot, don't ask how I just do," Daniel said, least menacingly and creepily as he could.

Turtle just stared at him.

"You're not going to tell them, are you?..."
Turtle said with panicked eyes.

"Well, to be honest... I would, as it would help them to know. But if you're seriously scared, then I'll keep my mouth shut." Daniel flashed him a smile.
"But you should consider, they're going to find out eventually anyway.

"Plus... It will lift the weight off your back"

Turtle stood there silently, knowing that Daniel was right.

" I mean, Peril already knows. I told her in private a while ago. Turtle said

"Well, there you go, you have one down, now just tell the rest of the group," Daniel said

Turtle was hesitant, but he eventually spoke again.
"Alright, I'll think about it," Turtle reluctantly agreed. Just then, the first gong rang, signalling the first class of the year.

"Welp, we got classes," Daniel sighed.

"Time for some history with Webs..." Turtle said, which turned out great for Daniel, as he didn't know what his first class was.

"Right... I'll meet you outside," Daniel said as he walked towards the exit to the underground lake.
"Oh, and one last thing, Turtle," Daniel said mischievously, "You should make a move on Kinkajou."

Daniel saw Turtle's face turn a deep red.

"Oh wow, your face is priceless!" Daniel laughed.

"Shut up! Let's just get to class," Turtle said, embarrassed.

"Will do!" Daniel said cheerfully, and both dragons walked out of the cave and towards what Daniel was about to find out to be the most boring lesson across all the dimensions.

Chapter Text

Daniel and Turtle walked through the hall to their first class of the day. Daniel took this time to look around at the interior of the school.

Since the school was carved into a mountain there were lots of natural features. The cave top was littered with stalactites of different sizes. Many of them appeared to be glittered with little specs of colours. He saw greens, pinks, reds, some darker purples, and a few whites as well. 'Are those jade fragments?' Daniel thought. He knew that they came in different colours so maybe it was for this reason it was named Jade Mountain to begin with. Besides the colourful jade's on the rooftop he saw multiple artworks throughout the hallway. The paintings were quite crisp and impressive to say the least. 'Did students paint them? If so then they have some real talent' Daniel thought. As they continued to walk Daniel realised he really didn't know that much about his way around the school. 'maybe I should ask Turtle some questions'

"Hey Turtle, could you tell me some things about the school? Like anything I should know?"

"Well not much to be honest" Turtle said "although for some reason they changed things up this year regarding the winglets."

"Well first, we don't have a Mudwing in our Winglet because Umber decided to not come back for this year and stay with Sora in the mud kingdom after what happened with the whole Icicle episode." Turtle said "Initially we weren't going to have a Skywing either, until you came along at least"

"I see... Did anything else change?"

"Mmhmm" Turtle confirmed "Last year you would study with multiple winglets however, now you just study with your own winglet."

"How come? wouldn't it be better to learn with more dragons? You'd have a better chance of making friends."

"Yeah, the dragonets of destiny decided it would be better if dragons first got to know their clawmates well beforehand before putting them with other students." Turtle explained "they also said it would probably be easier to work on assignments together since you're all in the same winglet.

"Well they do have a point there" Daniel agreed "though I can't say it's the smartest decision considering they would have to have more classes running at the same time to teach all the students."

"Not really" Turtle replied "Now every winglet has a separate schedule regarding classes and lunch. So while one winglet has break, the others are in class. It's a bit weird but they're just experimenting with it at this point."

"But what if a someone has a friend who they want to hang out with in another winglet? Then what?"

"Then they just hang out after classes end for the day." Turtle said "and speaking of classes, here we are."

They stopped in front of a cave packed with scrolls that went up to the cave roof. 'There's got to be more scrolls in here then I've seen in my whole life... Then again. You don't see many scrolls on Earth so that's not too surprising' Daniel thought. He looked around. There were three wooden desks inside the cave. One of them sat in the centre surrounded by seven stools facing the front of the room while the other two desks were towards the back of the room which could each seat four dragons. So a total of fifteen dragons could be seated in the cave. however due the changes Turtle mentioned there would only be 6 dragons total for the lesson

Daniel spotted the rest of the Jade Winglet sitting around the centre table. Moon and Kinkajou sat on the right hand side while Winter and Qibli sat on the left. There was an empty seat on Qibli's Left hand side which left two spots open in the middle. Daniel took a seat next to Winter while Turtle took a seat Next to Kinkajou and Moon.

"Prepare yourself Hurricane..." Winter said with un-enthusiasm.

"For what?" Daniel asked a little worried at his words.

"The most boring lesson of your entire life" interrupted Qibli who seemed just as bored as Winter.

"It can't be that bad right..?" Daniel asked.

"They're not wrong" Turtle said joining the conversation. "Just wait and see."

A few moments later, Webs walked into the cave.

"Alright students, please grab a scroll and turn to chapter ten. We will be studying the dragonets of destiny and how they stopped the war."

Everyone got up from their seats and grabbed a scroll from the wall before sitting back down again.

'this lesson isn't that bad... It'll be fine' Daniel thought. Oh how he was so wrong as not even fifteen minutes into the lesson he was already bored out of his mind.

"God, how depressing can someone be to make every. Single. Sentence. So. Boring.

"Told you so." said Winter

"Yeah no kidding..." Daniel said with utter disbelief at how bad a lesson could possibly be.

It was at this time when Webs was speaking about how the dragonets of destiny started to bring the tribes together after leaving the mountain a few years early. When Moon suddenly asked

"Professor?"

"Yes Moon?" Webs responded.

"Why did the dragonets leave a few years early?"

Daniel's ears suddenly perked up as he saw his chance.

"I think it's time we spice things up" Daniel whispered with a devilish grin. The three dragons beside him looked at him each with a different expression. Turtle looked a little frightened, Qibli had a confused look on his face while Winter was quite intrigued

"How are you going to do that?" Turtle asked

"Just watch," Daniel responded before Turning his attention back to webs who was just finishing up his explanation to Moon.

"So in a summary, The Dragonets said that they were ready for the world although not having waited for the war to have lasted twenty years. Me, Kestrel, and Dune reluctantly decided it would be okay after a long discussion-"

"That's a lie," Daniel interrupted. The whole room of dragons turned to look at him.

"Excuse me?" Webs said a little annoyed.

"That's a lie" Daniel repeated when suddenly Qibli turned to look at him

"Hurricane, what are you doing!" Qibli whispered

"Spicing things up" Daniel replied calmly. The rest of the Jade Winglet sat silently watching the show as Webs continued to speak.

"What do you mean by 'That's a lie' Hurricane? Are you implying that I would lie to my students to... Let's say... Cover up my actions?" Webs asked angry

"That's exactly what I'm saying" Daniel said "Just like how you lied about letting the dragonets leave on their own and instead left them to die along with Kestrel and Dune by Scarlets claws while you escaped through the river hole in the mountain"

Web's face quickly turned from angry to shocked at his words and Turtle was the first to notice.

"Is that true Webs? did you really leave them to die like that... "

"Of course not!" Webs answered quickly. "he's just making up stories here."

" Oh really?" Daniel scoffed "then let's also not forget the time where you three plotted to kill Queen Glory because you thought she would mess up a fake prophecy."

"YOU WHAT!" Kinkajou and Moon yelled simultaneously. Kinkajou was fading into a deep shade of red while Moon was Standing up on her back legs leaning on the table infront of her.

"Should I continue?" Daniel asked casually

The Cave quickly went tense as the Jade Winglet kept looking from Daniel to Webs and back to each other all curious to see how this would end. .

"I don't know what your talking about" Webs finally answered

"I'll take it as a yes then."
Web's face continued to change emotion as Daniel continued to speak soon going from shocked to desperate to fearful.

"Dunes Neck was snapped by Scarlet while Kestrel and the rest of the dragonets were taken to the sky kingdom to fight for entertainment. Meanwhile you ran back to the Sea Kingdom where you were imprisoned by the Queen and sentenced to prison. You escaped because the Dragonets had mercy on you although they shouldn't have. On your way out you were stung by Blisters Tail and poisoned by Sandwing Venom. Then even after all that... the Dragonets still had enough mercy left in them to CARRY YOU! ALL THE WAY TO THE RAINFORST FROM THE SEA KINGDOM AND THEN TRAVERSE THE DAMN DESERT AND ICE KINGDOM TO GET YOU A DAMN ANTIDOTE!

Daniel was mad now, having just realised how much pain and trouble the dragon in front of him had caused them. At first he just wanted to mess with him but now... Now it was personal.

"you put them though so much pain when they were growing up... And yet the only reason you're still alive is because they had a good heart and not a rotten one like yours. Because if it was me in their place... You would still be in the rotting Sea Kingdom,"

The dragons around them were absolutely speechless. Qibli and Turtle jaws were down to the floor completely shocked. While Moon, Kinkajou, and Winter had nothing but rage on their faces.
Just then the gong rang to mark the end of the first period and the start of next class.

"Tch, saved by the bell," Daniel snarled at Webs before he put back his scrolls and stormed out of the class. Webs on the other hand was white as a pearl and motioned for them to leave as he thought about the the things Daniel had said which implied to the rest of the Jade Winglet that Daniel was telling the truth after all.

Daniel was walking down the corridor before he felt a cold talon touch his shoulder as well as hearing a "Hold up Winter!" from the distance behind him. He turned around to see Winter next to him as well as the rest of the Jade Winglet catching up to them.

"Ho-how did you know so much about him? It's not like you were there... " Turtle asked nearly speeches. The rest of the Jade Winglet turned to look at him curiously.

"It's like I said before Turtle" Daniel said slowly "I know a lot, don't ask how, I just do. Now let's get to Hunting class," Daniel quickly changed the subject to a more normal one "I was lucky to find that there was a schedule board on the way to History so I was able to memorize the next lessons and their locations for the rest of the school day." He said before walking towards the clearing to the outside world which was where the schedule said that class would be held.

Apon reaching the clearing to the world outside they were met with Tsunami who was going to be their instructor for today.

"Alright dragonets, welcome to your first Flying lesson"

"Erm, isn't this supposed to be hunting?" Moon asked

"Well it was" Tsunami explained "but due to the changes regarding the winglets and so; we needed to add an extra class to make sure everyone had something to do."

"Oh, alright" Qibli said "so how exactly does this work"

"The point of this class is to make you guys feel more confident in the air and when manoeuvring around obstacles. So to begin with we're going to have some races to see what level people are at. Currently there are a series of five levels. The higher the number, the more skilled you are. As of yet there have been no Dragons placed as level five so don't get your hopes up. Alright now are there any two participants want to go first?" Tsunami asked after a long and boring introduction.

"Yeah sure why not?" Qibli piped up "I'll fly first"

"okay then, anyone else?"

"I'll go, I want to get this over and done with" Turtle said as he stepped forward.

"alright this works, so basically a course has been set up around Jade Mountain. The first to make a full lap around and back here will win. Remember that it doesn't matter who wins or loses as depending on each others skill you may still be both placed in the same level. In the meanwhile the rest of the class will be seated on the observatory to watch.

"Works for me" Qibli smiled

"let's just get this done with" Turtle said

Tsunami whacked her tail into the ground
And so the race began. Although, it wasn't like you could see much from what they called the 'observatory'.
Half of the mountain was blocked off by trees so all you could see was just when they took off and when they were finishing. Which kind of sucked to be honest but there wasn't much he could do about it.

They were completely covered and if he wanted to fly up to get a better view he would have to hover over the branches which would tire him out for when his race came around so he just had to sit there.

Eventually both dragons came back with Turtle taking the lead at the last second Winning him the race.

"Alright boys," Tsunami said to the panting dragons." I'll be placing Turtle in rank four and Qibli in rank three."

'How can she even grade them when we couldn't see anything to begin with!' this makes no sense' Daniel thought. He heard Moon let out a soft laugh guessing she must of heard his thoughts.

"Okay I've finished grading Qibli and Turtle so now it's time for your race, Moon and Winter"

"Noooo!" Kinkajou suddenly shouted as she jumped onto Moons back.

"Woah, KINKAJOU!" Moon shouted at they both toppled over.

"I WANNA GO WITH MOON!" Kinkajou demanded, clutching Moon tightly while still on the ground.

"Hel-p m-e" Moon croaked as Kinkajou squeezed her little arms around her friend tighter than before.

Daniel stared down and couldn't help but laugh at the scene in front of him. Soon the rest of the Jade Winglet boys joined him and even Tsunami laughed a little before finally saying
"Alright fine, you win. That'll mean that Winter you'll be racing Hurricane."

Soon afterwards Kinkajou and Moon raced. As usual you couldn't see basically anything through the trees so it was difficult to tell who was winning. Eventually after what felt like a whole hour even though it was maybe ten minutes at best, the race ended in a tie and both dragons were placed in the second level. It was now finally time for Daniel and Winter to race.

"Alright boys" Tsunami said "show us what you got!"

"With pleasure" Winter said.

"hey, Winter, let's see if you learned anything" Daniel said as he bumped Winter on the side with one of his wings.
All Winter did was nod with a very slight grin which only Daniel saw before eventually heading to the start line.

Daniel waited for the signal as he got himself ready. WHACK. There it was.

Winter and Daniel both launched into the air at an alarming speed and were already halfway around the mountain. There were obstacles of course but nothing that was too difficult to dodge. Daniel looked back to see Winter right on his tail, still holding steady.

'Wow he's actually keeping up. Impressive, but let's see how far he can go'

Daniel shot up into the air preparing to go into a dive to gain speed. Winter catching on to what he was doing followed him up.

"let's give them a show shall we?" Daniel called to Winter, he nodded nod briefly before shooting up past him. They were probably a few hundred meters in the air before they both dived down towards the ground. Daniel made sure to not dive and tuck his wings and legs in too much or else he wouldn't be able to stop. He saw the finish line in sight as Winter overtook him.

Based on their speed it would only take about ten more seconds to reach, so using what was left of his strength he flapped his wings one time, and tucked his legs in fully for a short second. It nearly set him off balance but he was able to recover as he caught up with him and ended the race in a tie.

They both landed, causing a large gust of wind and dirt to be thrown around. As it cleared they saw Tsunami in the distance. It was difficult to make out her face but it was safe to say she wasn't expecting a race like the one that just happened.

The rest of the Jade Winglet appeared they seemed just as impressed as Tsunami was, except for Qibli who had already seen Winter and Daniel both fly before.
Although Daniel guessed they didn't see the dive they both pulled off due to the trees from the observatory.

The gong rang signalling that it was the Jade Winglets free period time. Quickly Tsunami dismissed the class before writing something down on the scroll she had on her.

"Well that was fun," Daniel said to the rest of the group "I'm going to head back to the sleeping caves if you need me. Winter, we should race again sometime." He shot him a kind grin.

Winter nodded once again before returning the grin, but the funniest part of the day so far for Daniel was seeing the faces of his friends as he did so. They looked more shocked then when they were racing and so before he left Daniel added.

"Smile more, it suits you," He gave Winter a playful wink before he headed off.
In the distance behind him he heard Winter remark loudy.
"OH SHUT UP YOU SPEEDSTER" which only made Daniel smile more.

- - - - - Five minutes later - - - - -

Daniel flew back to the caves hoping for some rest after that tiring race however he found the opposite when he arrived as he found Peril sitting there instead with a pack of cards.

"Oh hi! Didn't see you there" Daniel said

"Oh, hello, I forgot that the Jade Winglet got a new Skywing... " Peril said softly

"yeah, uhh, sorry about that... Do you normally play cards with the group?" Daniel asked trying to start up a friendly conversation.

"yeah, normally during breaks we tend to play together since I have my own cave and all that, I can leave if you want"

"No, no it's fine they'll be here soon anyway"

Just then the rest of the winglet walked into the room.

Daniel saw Moons facial expression and immediately realised what was going on.

'Ah... Moon... We agreed to talk after classes... And alone' Daniel thought to her. She simply shook her head and said to the rest of the group around her.

"We need to talk about this prophecy you've had your mind on Hurricane."

Chapter Text

When darkness falls one will rise,

One fast enough to rule the skies.

A golden glow shines through the lines,

To a certain dragon trapped inside.

Under the surface of yellow and white,

Lies a lock of rain and night.

For wander he must to find its key,

To allow himself to be set free.

Daniel and the rest of the Jade Winglet were attempting to decipher the Prophecy in the short half-hour they had.

However, due to Daniel's well-put-together speech, they managed to convince Clay to let the rest of the Winglet stay in the sleeping cave for his lesson while Daniel himself went as a representative and kept it a secret.

In return, they would be doing extra homework on the subject immediately after class to which Clay reluctantly agreed but said it would be the only time.

Initially, the rest of the group had a full hour to think things through but after fighting over keeping secrets they had lost a half-hour of time.

- - - - - Thirty Minutes Ago - - - - -

"YOU HEARD A PROPHECY?" Winter yelled at Daniel

"Well not exactly..." Daniel tried to soften the mood to no avail "It was more like a vision-like thing I guess"

"THAT DOESN'T HELP IN THE SLIGHTEST" Winter Bellowed

Moon, Peril and Turtle were sitting on a rock ledge watching the madness, Qibli was behind Winter with no idea what to do to help the situation meanwhile Winter was constantly yelling at Daniel While he tried to calm Winter down. He didn't want to take desperate measures but at this point, it was looking like he was going to have to.

"Winter just calm down, Please!" Qibli begged from beside him.

"Calm down... YOU WANT ME TO CALM DOWN AFTER WHAT THIS GUY WAS HIDING FROM US THE WHOLE TIME." Winter yelled.

"Winter," Daniel said sternly

"WHAT!" Winter spat "Don't come to me with this crap after keeping this secret from us for moons knows how long!"

"Look, you're right, I should have told you sooner. I'm sorry" Daniel said. This caused the rest of the dragons to look at him.

"What do you mean you're sorry?" Qibli interjected "You had a reason to keep something like this a secret there's no need to apolo-"

"I'm not done yet" Daniel interrupted him.
"Winter look, all of us in this room have secrets we don't want each other to find out about. You also have a lot of secrets and I'm sure that some people would act the same way you are right now if they found out about them... Am I right?"

Winter fell silent, unable to look at Daniel in the eyes for a brief moment before looking back at him.

"I'll take it as a yes then. So how about we just cut the arguing and try to figure this out sensibly"

There was a small moment of silence before Winter eventually spoke up again, in a softer tone.
"Fine, but you're giving us all an explanation later," Winter growled

"Only if you also agree to spill your secrets." Daniel followed up "Trust me, a friend group without secrets has a lower chance of fighting and breaking up"

Winter shot him a glare but before he could say anything, Kinkajou piped up.
"I'm alright with that," Kinkajou said "As long as we don't fight anymore I'm willing to give up my secrets"

"Same here" Qibli agreed "Though I can't say I have many secrets already"

"Well, that's two... Anyone else?" Daniel asked.
Peril stayed silent, looking down at her claws and talons before eventually sighing.
"Fine..."

Daniel smiled, "Easy, now it's just you three.."
He glanced around at Turtle, Moon, and Winter who were all still very reluctant to say anything.

Turtle was nervous, as he shot Daniel a worried look.
Daniel simply gave him a look which read 'They deserve to know'

Turtle picked up on it and after a while, he too agreed.
Now it was just Moon and Winter, but it seemed like they didn't want to budge and had no intention of doing it.

"How can we trust you after what you hid from us" Winter asked.

"I don't expect you to" Daniel explained.
"However I'm sure we could say the same thing to you if you kept a secret hidden from us. Same with you Moon."

Daniel looked them both in the eyes softly.
"It would be better to let everyone know everyone's secrets than to risk losing someone's trust by keeping one."

"Winter and Moon were hesitant but eventually gave in seeing they were the only ones not agreeing.

Winter groaned "Fine... You win... But not now. Let's figure this prophecy stuff out first." Winter said.

"That's fine by me," Daniel said "We better start now then"
However, before he could make even a single movement... Clay walked into the room.

When he saw the group still in the sleeping cave he raised a brow.
"What are you guys doing? You're supposed to be in my class right now."

Everyone looked at him nervously when suddenly Daniel spoke up

"Let me handle this" Daniel said as he walked out with Clay. A few minutes later they came back with an agreement.

"So basically the deal is that I'll go to class for everyone here as long as we do extra homework during our lunch period. Clay agreed to keep it a secret. But if we get caught he won't bail us out.

After a few moments of intense contemplation
The rest of the Winglet agreed to the deal and watched as Daniel and Clay removed themselves from the cave and wandered off to what would have been their next lesson.

- - - - - Back To Present - - - - -

"AARRGH, THIS IS GETTING US NOWHERE" Kinkajou yelled "'A golden glow shines through the lines? LIKE WHAT IN MOONS IS THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN!"

"I'm not sure" admitted Moon, normally I'm alright with deciphering but this is on a different level.

"Well look at it this way" Turtle said "We've been able to figure out one line. 'One that's fast enough to rule the skies' is probably referring to Hurricane and his out-of-this-world speed.

"Okay but what about the other SEVEN lines?!"Peril asked" They don't make sense in the slightest! Somehow Hurricane Is wrapped up in this but we can't do much if we don't understand the rest of it." She pointed out.

"We could try and decipher the next easiest lines." Turtle offered "'Wander he must find a key, to allow himself to be set free
so assuming it's about Hurricane he appears to be trapped in some sort of way? And needs a key to leave?"

"Thanks, Mr obvious. It's literally what it says in the prophecy you just rephrased it." Winter replied sarcastically as he brought a talon to his face.

"Maybe we're looking at it wrong" Qibli offered "If it's about Hurricane then maybe we should look at it from his perspective"

Moon shot him an odd glance "How so?"

"Well to start with, he already knew a lot about everyone before we met him"

"As we saw with Webs today" Winter interjected

Qibli snapped his claws "Exactly! "

"It's as if he already knew us all beforehand..." Kinkajou pointed out which sent a chill down her spine.

"Remember what he said in class." Turtle spoke up "Nobody in years saw or even knew where the dragonets of destiny were kept in hiding, yet he stated facts you would only know from being there with them..."

"But what if they were just lies?" Peril asked. Though she was quickly answered.

"We know they were true because of Webs's expression afterwards"Qibli explained.
"So if he wasn't there physically then he was there In another manner.

"That makes no sense though, how would he be there?" Peril asked as she raised a brow.

"I've known Clay and his friends for a while and they've always told me that besides the guardians, they were the only ones inside" She pointed out.
"When I asked Clay earlier today he told me that none of them had even seen him until a few days ago,"

Everyone in the cave sat there. Pondering their next approach to tackle the situation since nothing seemed to be working.

"I think we should stick with looking at it from his perspective." Turtle said.
"let's try and solve this phrase," He read the phrase aloud "'Under the surface of yellow and white, lies a lock of rain and night.'" He looked around at the group. "Any ideas?"

"Well, it could be referring to the different dragon kingdoms, such as the Sand, Ice, and Rainforest." Peril pointed out

"If we also take into account that it said Hurricane was fast enough to rule the sky, does that mean he could be king of the Skywings as well?" Peril said before adding "I'm not sure, just throwing out answers"

Winter nodded "Yeah, at this point I'm also out of ideas." He said before reaching for the stack of papers that Hurricane wrote the Prophecy on.

Just then the gong rang signalling the start of lunch and a mountain of homework for them.

Peril sighed. "Well, we did what we could, let's meet up with Hurricane in the prey centre," Peril said However as they were packing up their things Winter spoke.

"Hey guys... " Winter said with a little in his voice

"Yeah?" Moon responded sceptically before noticing the scroll paper that the Icewing had in his hand.
"Winter, what are you holding?"

Winter didn't say anything and instead just tossed the parchment in front of them.
"I don't think we know what we're getting ourselves into..." he said.

"What do you mean?" Moon asked as
The dragons looked over the piece of written parchment and all their hearts skipped a beat.

But soon as time begins to turn,

Pyrrhia will slowly start to burn.

However only when the truth is revealed,

The curse shall finally break its seal.

"It's not just him and us wrapped up in this mess," Winter explained
"If we don't figure this thing out soon... Pyrrhia won't be here for much longer..."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Daniel sat in the prey centre, waiting for the Jade Winglet to show up with hopefully some good news regarding the prophecy situation they're stuck in.

Daniel had a stack of homework papers about the size of a small child's book that they had to complete by tomorrow to make sure Clay wouldn't snitch on them.

In an attempt to get a head start, Daniel had started on them and completed a few already. Though after realising he had barely made a dent he sat back on the wall, Sighing to himself.

'Oh, man... This is going to take a lot longer than expected' Daniel thought, taking a glance at the remaining papers.

There were supposed to be other dragons inside currently eating but due to the new changes it was just him in a large empty area.

Although it wasn't exactly empty as the many, many, chickens were still running about the place and making such a large ruckus it confused Daniel on how the other classes didn't hear all the clucking.
Yet it was still quite lonely though, to say the least.

Soon multiple clawsteps could be heard down the hallway as Qibli and Winter walked into the prey centre before swiftly hunting themselves some lunch and sitting down at Daniel's table.

"Where's the rest of the group?" Daniel asked wonderingly as the two boys sat down in front of him.

"Somehow, they weren't hungry so they decided to stay back for lunch and work on the prophecy a bit longer" Qibli explained.

Daniel nodded, "Ah, alright then, have you made any progress?" he asked and both dragons made a face before looking from each other to Daniel.

"So you see..." Qibli started

"We haven't made progress at all," Winter stated bluntly.

"Figures from the way you two looked at each other," Daniel replied.
"Well that's a bit unfortunate but on the bright side, I've managed to crack a line. And got some good and bad news for you"

The other dragons leaned in as Daniel explained.

"Under the surface of yellow and white, lies a lock of rain and night. I think it might be referring to an area in between the Sand and Ice Kingdom. Where both Sand and Snow overlap each other. If I'm right, then by looking there we may be able to decipher the rest of the prophecy."

"That would make sense..." Winter said, "But remember that it's on the other side of the whole of Phyrria, so how would we even get there and still get back in time for classes?"

"That's where the bad news comes in..." but before Daniel could finish the rest of the Jade Winglet walked into the prey centre to join them.

"HEY GUYS!" Kinkajou shouted as she bounced up to them. Her scales were a mix of different shades of yellows, and pinks which Daniel realised meant she was happy or excited. It was kind of an eyesore to look at her, to be honest, but it wasn't the worst.

"Hey, what's up Kinkajou?" Daniel greeted me with a smile

"What's with the scales? You're giving us all an eyesore" Winter growled harshly.

Quickly, Kinkajou's scales changed to a mix of mainly orange with a few soft blues. Although she had an extraordinary poker face since she didn't lose her smile at all, her scales snitched on her as the colours indicated annoyance and a hint of sadness behind her smile.
Soon the rest of the group came to join them.

"Hey, Hurricane," Moon said in a surprisingly not too soft of a voice.

'Maybe she's starting to trust me' Daniel thought as he looked up to find Moon staring at him 'Oh... Right.... Mind reading...'
Daniel thought quickly.

Though soon after, Daniel got a devilish idea as he telepathically spoke back to moon.
'Hey Moon'

Moon raised a brow but soon her face flustered as Daniel imagined a spicy scene of Moon kissing one of the other Jade Winglet members.
'Don't stay around my mind for too long or else you might regret it' He laughed.

Moon hid her embarrased blush before nodded.
"Got it..." She said as she sat down next to him.

Daniel shot Moon a smile, realising that he'd potentially discovered a new tactic to block out mind readers without the use of Skyfire.

Soon after that, Peril made her way to them as well but decided to sit a little further away as to not burn anyone with her fiery scales.
She was stil close enough to properly converse with them though.

"So as Winter told me earlier you guys haven't made much progress... But it's fine as I believe I've cracked one of the lines," Daniel stated.

"Wait really?" Turtle asked, surprised.

"Mmhm" Daniel confirmed
"'Under the surface of yellow and white lies a lock of rain and night', I'm thinking that it's referring to the Sand and Ice kingdoms and has to be buried somewhere within them."

"but remember it said yellow 'and' white, not yellow 'or' white so it can't be right" Peril piped in

"That is true..." Daniel started "Unless... You head to the border between them.
where it's cold enough for it to snow but it's still part of the desert so sand is present" Daniel explained as he marked the area on Barren's map.

"Woah..." Turtle said, "Where did you get that map?"

"Oh, this?" Daniel said waving it around a bit "It was a gift from a friend"

"Well, your friend was real talented then, it's the most detailed map I've ever seen" Turtle said as he scanned the map in front of him.

"Yeah, I know. He trusted it to me to keep safe so that's what I'm going to do," Daniel said as he grabbed the map and put it into the small pouch bag that Clay gave him earlier.
Clay said that every student should have one for personal belongings and scrolls that they needed to bring to classes.

"So you're saying that this 'Lock' we're looking for is somewhere along the MASSIVE border of the Ice and Sand kingdoms...And we don't know where..." Moon said bringing everyone back to the subject.

"Yes..." Daniel said, "But you got to admit it's better than not knowing at all."

"True..." Qibli agreed "but even if we think we're right we don't know for sure. And what worries me is that based on the prophecy, Pyrrhia is going to burn if we don't do something soon"

"Well, then it's been decided" Turtle spoke.
Everyone turned to hear what he meant.
"If the whole of Pyrrhia is at stake then we need to leave, now. We can't afford to waste time."

"Agreed" Qibli nodded "But what do we do about that" he said as he pointed to the stack of homework papers

"Well, we can't break our promise to Clay, considering he broke the school rules for us." Peril said "The least we can do is complete the homework for him"

"UUUUGGHHHH" Winter and Kinkajou groaned.

"Do we have to?" Kinkajou said "cause personally, I think it would be fine if we left it to go save the world"

Peril shot her a murderous glare.

"I m-mean, of course, we should do the homework," Kinkajou said as she grabbed a piece of paper and started to fill it out

Daniel sighed, well I guess there's no point arguing" Daniel said grabbing a piece of paper himself "But as soon as we're done here we are out that door, heading to the border"

"Right!" The rest of the dragons nodded simultaneously before they each started to fill out the homework as they prepared for their journey to save the world.

Chapter Text

It took nearly the entire lunch period to finish all the homework papers and by the time they finished, everyone was convinced they had severe mental brain damage from studying plants.

"FINALLY, WE'RE DONE WITH THIS STUPID HOMEWORK" Kinkajou cried. She put one of her arms in the air before she eventually placed her head on the table. Exhausted.

"phew" Winter said as he wiped his forehead. "I didn't think we would ever finish."

"I will admit, it took longer then expected" Qibli said "but at least we're done now"

Daniel had to disagree with the difficulty of the assignment. 'It was extremely easy, sure there were a few plants I didn't know because of being from Earth and all but it wasn't that hard. Year nine biology was harder then this and I had full marks so I don't know what everyone's complaining about.' Daniel thought. Although he immediately regretted it. When he looked up to the rest of the group only to find Moon analysing him like he was document.

'Shoot, I messed up big time' Daniel thought, his heart picking up speed. Moon turned to the rest of the group pretending to not hear anything but Daniel knew it was just an act. Although now it was time to change the subject before things got worse.

"Alright so I think it's time we head to the border. we already lost enough time with this so me and Moon will drop it off at the Herbs and Healing cave while the rest of you get ready to leave." Daniel said pointing to the stack of filled out homework in the centre of the table and then the group.

"Works for me" Qibli said

"alright, meet us in the entrance to JMA in exactly five minutes. No less" Daniel said sternly

Winter nodded before running off. The rest of the JW followed behind in suit except for Moon.

Daniels plan was to isolate Moon from the rest of the group so he could speak to her privately. And dropping off the papers together was the perfect way of doing just that.

"Sooooo..." Moon started

"I know you want an explanation for this..." Daniel said slightly worried and scared for how she would respond.

Moon nodded, her face dropping from a curious look to a slightly worried state. She probably noticed how he was feeling due to the tone of his thoughts, and such tried to calm him down a bit.
"I know this is difficult but like you said before, a friend group without secrets is a friend group less likely to argue amongst each other." Moon said

"No, No, you're right, but you'll probably freak out and be unable to look at me the same way."

"Oh, please" Moon scoffed "It can't be any more shocking then my mind reading and future sight" Because of other encounters there was no need to hide her secrets from Daniel as it was clear he already knew them.

'You only think that Moon. If I already knew your most shocking secrets, then how shocking do you think mine is...' Daniel thought to her telepathically as he didn't want to risk someone hearing him.

Moons eyes widened as the logic behind his words rammed into her like spears. Daniel was right, his secret is so much worse that it would make hers look like child's play if he was to tell her everything.

'listen, I'll tell you what I can, but I can't tell you everything, Not just yet at least'

"why not?" Moon asked cautiously

"because you would be questioning the existence of yourself, your friends, and everything you knew." Daniel said as seriously as he could so that Moon got the message that he wasn't kidding. Although he could tell from her face that he got the message across.

"Th-that's not true...." Moon said, trying desperately to hide the visible fear in her eyes and face.

"Hey, don't worry about it, you'll find out eventually anyway." Daniel said in the most comforting way he could. It didn't help much as Moon just looked at him like she saw Darkstalker rise from the ground or discovered Pantala existed. The image of the scene formed itself in his mind.

'I guess that hasn't happened yet...' Daniel thought.

"WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?! " Moon screamed probably loud enough for the other classes to hear. As well as possibly the whole continent.

"Moving on" Daniel said, changing the subject once again.
"We should probably drop these papers off, we've already wasted a minute talking here" and with that he scooped up his half of the papers and walked off to avoid any more conversation on the Darkstalker topic.

"Hey! Wait for me!" Moon shouted, shaking her head and snapping out of the fearful daze she had.
She took her half of the stack of papers and began walking after Daniel, towards the Herbs and Healing cave.

"Hurricane... please explain what's going on with you... I promise I can keep a secret of thats what your worried about" Moon said as she walked up besides him.
"You don't have to tell me everything... But atleast tell me how you know everything about us"

Daniel looked at her with a mixed expression of reluctance and worry.
He let out a deep sigh.

"I'll cut you a deal" Daniel said

"What kind of deal? " Moon said skeptically

"I'll tell you one of my biggest secrets of you agree to tell the group about your mind reading and future sight"

Moon thought for a moment. She was questioning whether it was worth it to tell her friends just so she could hear a secret from Daniel.

"Fine... I'll accept your deal. But only if you tell me right here, right now" Moon said sternly

"Very well then..." Daniel said slowly "I'm not from Phyrria"

"Wait you aren't?..." Moon said uncertain if she should of accepted Daniels terms and conditions.

"I'm from a place called Earth, a separate dimension to this one"

Moon was speechless at what was coming out of Daniels mouth. She didn't know if he was telling the truth but if he was... Then she really didn't know what she was getting into.

Daniel looked at her speechless face.

"I knew I should of kept my mouth shut... you clearly can't handle the reality of what I'm saying." Daniel said with regret and anger "Let's just drop this off already and meet up with the others."

They both walked in silence. Daniel was constantly thinking of how stupid he was to speak of things. He was however, too angry with himself to remember of Moons abilities so while he simply walked in silence Moon was reading his every thought.

'What am I going to do about this prophecy, And how am I going to get back home. My sister's probably worried sick... Or maybe not... I mean It wasn't like she cared too much about my existence. Nonetheless I need to get back. Only god knows how long it's been since I've been trapped here'

'although on the bright side, the prophecy is no doubt about me being trapped here and so... if there's a key to be found I'll be able to get back to Earth. Don't know how long it'll be but I'll make it back... I have to...'

Moon made a sad face. Listening to Daniels thoughts of his home dimension and how he felt here was actually really depressing. However she did have to admit that he did a really good job of being around the rest of the group, especially with a secret that's probably larger then all of the secrets they have put together.

They walked a bit longer down the hall as
Moon was cautiously reading Daniels mind and tried to keep a straight face while she did so. Not that it was easy considering what was going on inside his head.

'Alright, so if I'm right about the Borderland theory... My way out of Phyrria is buried beneath a layer of Yellow and White, then I'll just need to find the key to the exit and Leave. Easy... Right?'

Either way I'm sure the Jade winglet will help me out. Although considering how Moon reacted to my secrets. She's supposed to be the most understanding so how will everyone else react... Especially Winter and Peril....

'I'm worried about Winter though... He's hiding something from us and from the looks of it he thinks that we'll hate him if we found out about it. I can tell he's struggling with something... But what?

'Turtle is another issue as well, he needs to open up about his secret. I will admit that it might be even larger then Moons but it will help all of us out. He's probably scared of people using him for their own gain if they found out that he's-

'Oh look we made it already'

Moon snapped out of his head. Looking up from the floor she realised that they had indeed, already made it.

"Hey, Moon, hurry up or we'll be late to meet with the others" Daniel said as he raced to the front desk plopped the papers on it in a slightly disorganised piles before rushing out towards the school entrance. Moon did the same keeping close behind him. "The Gong's about to ring. We need to be out of the school by then"

"Right!" Moon said

Almost as if on queue, Tsunami appeared in front of them.

"Woah!" Daniel and Moon both said as they quickly came to a stop, leaving a trail of clawmarks along the stone floor.

"Uhhh, hi?" Daniel said, worriedly giving a small chuckle

"We were just on our way to cla-" Moon said before being interrupted by Tsunami

"Don't even try, I heard everything..."

"Ahhh... So I'm guessing there's no talking you out of it" Daniel said with a smile

Daniel looked back to see Moon also giving a cheeky smile behind him.

Tsunami meanwhile just had a scowl on her face and was staring at both of them.

"well that just leaves one option" Daniel said keeping eye contact with the principle

'Get ready to run Moon, I'll distract her and you warn the others. Make sure you're all out of the school. I'll catch up' Daniel thought. He turned around and saw Moon gave a small nod. It was about to go down.

Daniel closed his eyes. 'please don't kill me. For this...'

Daniel shot a plume of fire at Tsunamis face before running off into a crack in the wall which if he remembered correctly, led to the underground cave. His running had gotten better then when he had first tried it however he was still unable to sprint without falling over.

"YOU LITTLE-" Tsunami screamed as she wiped her eyes of Daniels flames. The flame wasn't enough to burn her severely but it would blind her for enough to time for Moon to slip past her.

Daniel looked back to see Moon run past Tsunami before she could get a hold of herself, the plan had worked but it wasn't long before she did and she immediately spotted Daniel when she cleared her eyes.

"HURRICANE!" Tsunami yelled as soon as she was able to see. "YOU HAVE DETENTION FOR FIVE WEEKS"

'Yep time to go..." Daniel thought before running into the labyrinth of twists and turns. Luckily for him, he had memorised them when Anemone took him down to see Turtle. Tsunami was close on his tail, quite literally as she was trying to claw it.

Daniel recited the turns he had to take to make not get lost along the way there. 'Left, right, left, left, right, right, left. Alright, I got it'

"Hurricane get back here! I'm not done with you! Not in the slightest!" Tsunami Growled

"Sorry Tsunami but I don't plan on dying today!" Daniel said in response, which almost earned his tail a date with Tsunamis teeth.
Soon both dragons had entered the labyrinth of twists and turns which was where Daniel had an opportunity to lose the wild principle chasing him.

Daniel followed the turns that lead to the lake, hoping along the way Tsunami would get lost.
Following the right corridor down he heard talonsteps getting closer. He saw a turn up ahead but at the pace Tsunami was running she would catch up before he could make it. Suddenly Daniel had a brilliant idea.

Daniel prepared himself, he sucked in some air before holding it in for a little while. Remembering from Barren that he shouldn't hold it in for to long, he quickly turned around and shot out a large flame at the cold floor. A large raging fire blocked the line of sight between him and Tsunami. It was enough to let him escape unseen where he was able to retrace his steps and return to the main corridor.

Walking out of the wall he looked both ways in search of any mad dragons who may want to end him. Of which he found none.

'I think I'm safe...' Daniel thought to himself.

In the distance Daniel saw everyone waiting for him just as the gong rang. Daniel started to run to the exit to meet his friends but just then Tsunami came barrelling out from a nearby corridor, claws outstretched as if she was hunting for some sheep.

"OH F-!" Daniel cried
He just managed to duck under her to avoid becoming Seawing food.

"RUN HURRICANE" Daniel heard Kinkajou yell to him. He ran as fast as he could towards the door, though he had to really focus to keep his balance and make sure he didn't fall or that would be the end of him.
"HURRY UP DAMMIT" Winter yelled,

He ran as fast as his uneven legs would let him as some movie scenes started to pop up in his head. 'So this is what Thomas felt when running in the maze...interesting'
He looked up and spotted the Jade winglet up ahead.

"GET OUT OF THE WAY" Daniel yelled, they immediately got the message and began to fly out of the cave. Other students had begun to walk out to see what the commotion was and before Daniel knew it, there was a long line of dragons all watching the show.

"THE FIRST ONE TO STOP THAT DRAGON GETS A FREE DAY OFF" Daniel heard Tsunami shout. Daniel soon realised that was the re-enforcement call as In a matter of moments almost the entire school ran at Daniel like he was the last meal in the cafeteria

Soon the world began to slow for Daniel as the dragons began to swarm him. If he wanted to get out he needed to bring out the acrobatics... Now.

'Let's hope that parkour works as a dragon.'

Daniel rushed at two dragons who tried to tackle him bunny hopping over one and ducking under the second. Another dragon came into view. A Skywing, Daniel slid under him as flames were seen overhead.

'OH MY LORD THEY'RE TRYING TO KILL ME!' Daniel thought but not for long as three more dragons came barrelling towards him.

Daniel quickly leaped into the air watching five dragons collide into each other below like zombies. He grabbed a stalactite and boosted himself off it. Diving through a Rainwings tail and onto his front arms where he went Into a roll under a larger Mudwing.

There was a bit more land to traverse before he was home free. Daniel was able to see a way though the swarm but It wouldn't be the most simple thing.

Daniel ran and vaulted over a dragon who was on the ground, his talon on the dragons back. Kicking his legs over he immediately went Into another slide under a group of Sky and Mudwings as they shot blasts of fire at him.

He saw his chance when a dragon was in the perfect position to be used as a ledge to jump off of. Running up he put his front arms on the dragons back and boosted off. He let out his wings and tucked in his legs.

Soon he sped past the crowd of dragons before an Icewing cut him off, forcing him to go into a dive. He was thrown into the thick of it and needed to fly through a group of about fifteen students. It was extremely similar to beforehand when he was flying through the mountain so he had an idea of what he was doing but it was much harder since all of his obstacles were moving.

'It's your time to shine Daniel, if you're truly fast enough to rule the skies like it states in the prophecy, then you are able to get through this' Daniel thought to himself.

Diving under two bursts of flames, he began to soar though the group of dragons.
Making quick turns to avoid Sharp chomping jaws and deadly tails from the students. He flew up and under a blur of different colors and shapes, which he could just make out to be Rainwing and Nightwing scales. Soon he came into a clearing as he managed to by pass practically the entire school. It looked like he was going to make it...

Then out of the blue, Tsunami Jumped him, cutting him off from the exit. It would be impossible to stop or weave out of the way from his momentum and Sliding under wasn't an option as Daniel saw she was ready for that as well. Having only mere seconds to react Daniel knew he was done for unless he did something no one would expect... so he did just that. Daniel leaped onto his front two talons into a handstand like position. Then he boosted himself up over the Blue dragon using his arms and wings.

Daniel landed on the other side of her and turned to face Tsunami and the rest of the school of dragons who he had just bypassed. There were a mix of different expressions but the most common one was definitely astonishment. Although you can't blame them considering he just completely outclassed the principle and all the students present.
Daniel gave a smile before running and leaping off the school entrance ledge and out into the open sky to join the rest of his winglet who could be seen flying off in the distance.

It didn't take long for Daniel to catch up to them, in fact it took less then ten seconds total at best. Daniel quickly whipped past the flying dragons before effortlessly gliding through the air back to them.

"Hey guys!" Daniel said cheerfully "Sorry about the hold up, the whole school kind of wanted to kill me for a second back there" Daniel joked

"I'm surprised you even made it out alive to be honest." Qibli said

"Yeah like how do you outclass Tsunami and the entire school." Winter said "you've earned my respect all over again"

"Ha!" Daniel laughed "Guess I'm just better"

"No kidding..." Turtle chimed in. His voice was shrouded in a mix of fear and astonishment. Honestly Daniel had gotten used to the face of shock on the dragons around him. He kind of liked it, it was funny seeing them react to things he did with ease which supposedly are really difficult to to do.

'Maybe it's just a perk of being human once upon a time'

The group of friends talked as they flew away from JMA, little did they know that life would only get harder from here on out.

- - - - - Ten minutes of flying later - - - - -

"No way! You really did that Winter?" Kinkajou shouted excitedly

"Yep" Winter said

"Wow! That would of been so cool! Diving through the clouds so fast you could part them in half" Kinkajou squealed

"It was cool" Winter admitted. It was actually the coolest moment of his life if he was being honest. While he was up there he truly felt... Free...

"Nah, I don't believe it in the slightest" Peril said "Winter would be too scared to try something like that"

"SCARED!" Winter bellowed "YOU'RE CALLING ME. THE AMAZING WINTER. SCARED?"

Peril laughed, "Damn sorry, I didn't think Mr Icy scales here would take it so seriously"

"SHUT UP PERIL" Winter yelled

The rest of the group laughed until they realised they were missing someone.

"Hey guys... Where's Hurricane?" Turtle asked. "He was just here a second ago"

The Jade Winglet looked around for him, though he was nowhere to be seen.

"WHERE DID HE GO?! " Kinkajou yelled "YOU CAN'T JUST DISSAPEAR INTO THIN AIR... Can you....?"

"I DONT KNOW" Qibli cried "IT'S HURRICANE, WHO KNOWS WHAT DAMN TRICKS HE HAS LEFT"

"Oh man... This isn't good" Turtle said worryingly.

The entirety of the Jade Winglet was panicking... Even Moon... She wasn't screaming her head off but she was definitely worried.

"WhoooHooo!" A voice suddenly yelled from the sky.

Winter immediately realised what Daniel was doing since he had said the same words once upon a time when he did it as well.

"EVERYBODY GET DOWN NOW!" Winter called to the rest of the group.
Just then Daniel came shooting out of the clouds above like a meteorite. He scooped up Winter by the Talon and took him into the air with him. The freezing temperatures of Winters scales almost caused Daniel to drop him immediately but he held on.

"Hey! What are you doing!" Winter yelled as he was carried up above the clouds, his friends becoming little specs of color on the sandy floor before disappearing from view.

"I'm just having some fun" Daniel responded way to casually for the situation at hand.

"Okay then but WHY DID YOU DRAG ME UP HERE! " Winter screamed.

"thought you would enjoy giving your friends a show" Daniel smiled.
Winter just mumbled something that Daniel couldn't make out but he didn't really care.
He went into a full dive all limbs tucked in as he let go of Winters arm.

"OOHHH SHIIIII-" Winter started before his voice was unable to be heard from Daniels position. However soon Winter was diving besides him.

"I hate you so much right now..." Winter said with a soft scowl on his face.

"Haha, I'll see you on the other side then" Daniel shot him a goofy grin before he dived out of sight. Thick clouds blocked his vision as he continued to dive into the oblivion.

The desert came into view a few moments later, as well as some moving specs of color which Daniel assumed was the rest of the Jade Winglet.

'Time to blow their minds... Again..." Daniel laughed to himself before diving past them at an alarming speed. Daniel did a loop to fly overhead just to see Winter close behind him.

"Hey, lets blast them with sand, it'll be funny!" Winter yelled

"I'm down!" Daniel replied with a malicious grin.

"Just blast them with wind a pon landing! Nature will do the rest!

"Deal!"

Both Daniel and Winter immediately dived towards the group of dragons. The were getting closer at an alarming speed but it wasn't until the last possible second when Winter gave the signal.

"NOW"

Both dragons spread their wings to slow down quickly. It caused a massive gust of wind and sand to form and land directly on the rest of the group.

When the sand cleared all that could be seen were five dragons who looked like they had a bit too much fun on beach day. Perils firescales had heated up the specs of sand and caused some of the smaller bits to heat up and slightly melt, giving off a very faint shiny coating on spots on her scales.
upon seeing their friends both dragons cracked down in laughter at the mess they caused.

"Really guys..." Turtle whined. He was covered in head to toe in sand that you wouldn't be able to tell he was a Seawing from far away.
This comment just made the two dragons laugh harder until tears were coming down their cheeks.

"Oh moons I'm crying" Winter laughed as he wiped his eyes.
He was cut short though when a large wave of sand hit him and Daniel in the face.

The other dragons laughed when Daniel and Winter regained their sight. Turtle had used his tail to launch sand at them.

"Alright, we deserved that" Daniel chuckled as he walked towards the group.

"How's that for 'Scared' Peril" Winter spat playfully.

"Alright... I take back what I said, that was actually pretty wicked" Peril admitted
Winter gave into a smile at Perils comment which visibly shocked the others but nobody said anything.

"Anywhoo." Moon interrupted "apart from the fact that we're covered in sand and I just realised that we're all going to be so screwed when we get back to school. Which way's the Sand and Ice Kingdom border? Because we've just been flying in the desert in a random direction for the past fifteen minutes." Everyone turned to look at Daniel.

"What?..."Daniel asked, there were a few moments of awkward silence before he realised. "Oh, right!" He reached into the belt bag and pulled out Barrens map.

He placed the map on the ground in front of him and the group. His talons on the top left and bottom right corners of the map. It blocked out the Ice Kingdom and a part of the rainforest but it didn't matter since they were focused on the Sand kingdom.

"alright so if we went directly west from Jade Mountain and have been flying for about fifteen minutes... We should be somewhere around here." Daniel explained as he made a temporary mark on the map with a nearby pebble.

"So if we're roughly in this area then we just have to keep flying northwest until the temperature starts to drop. Then snow will appear and that's where we plan our next move" Daniel continued as he put the map away"

"Sounds good but one question." Moon asked "how are we supposed to not get killed by the great ice wall? Only Winter is able to get past it and it guards the border. So unless you're planning on letting Winter search the whole Boarder alone we need a plan"

Daniel hadn't thought about that. It was true though, none of them but Winter could survive the Ice wall. They needed to think of something fast. Or else this would be all for nothing. Daniel was thinking of a plan when his train of thought was interrupted.

"Winter I know this might be difficult for you say, but we need a way around the great ice wall." Qibli said in his most convincing voice.

"NO! Telling you that would be like betraying my tribe. I know this is important but I can't tell you..." Winter seemed upset about what he was saying.

Daniel looked at the argument at hand and couldn't help but feel bad for Winter
'You can't blame him though, choosing between your friends or your tribe isn't a choice anyone should have to make...' Daniel thought

"QIBLI NO!" Winter Screamed "I CAN'T DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND THAT.

"I do... But remember that it won't matter in the end if ALL OF PHYRRIA IS GOING TO BURN. GET THAT THROUGH YOUR THICK SKULL" Qibli immediately covered his mouth with his talons.

The rest of the group went silent at his words. Winter looked at Qibli dead in the eyes, hurt by what he said.

"Winter I-" Qibli started

"Just... Leave me alone...Qibli ." Winter said softly before gliding off to the top of a sand dune.

Qibli was about to fly after him when Daniel stopped him.

"Just give him some space, its a hard decision he's making especially after what you just said to him" Daniel said

"LOOK I'M SORRY OKAY" Qibli cried "I- I didn't... Mean it..." Tears started to crawl down his face.

"Qibli.." Daniel said softly "Give him some space... He'll come around eventually though"

"Sigh... Okay..." Qibli said wiping the tears from his eyes before leaving Daniel to his thoughts.

'Damn, what are we going to do? Winter is upset and it's true we need the info but we can't push Winter to tell us. Especially not after what just happened. We need another plan.
But then he saw it, an opportunity.

There It was. In the top right corner of Phyrria. The great ice wall in all of it's glory. It was marked so clearly on the map with the it's thickness and what it areas of Phyrria it defended. From the looks of it, the great ice cliff only defended the southern boarder so the frozen beach next to the Ice Kingdom was safe to traverse for other tribes.

'I think I just found our way in.'

"yeah I guess you did" a voice said from behind him.

"Aah!" Daniel shrieked, spinning around to see Moon standing there, peering at the map in the sand. "Jeez don't sneak up on me like that"

"Sorry" she said "but I see you found a way around"

"Yeah, I did, If we fly to the West coast of the sand Kingdom we can follow the beach all the way up and avoid the great Ice cliff. I'm still not too sure on how we can search the boarder but at least we'll be able to get to it unharmed" Daniel explained.

"Well that's a start" Moon said "Also it'll be dusk soon and I would prefer if we found shelter to sleep in instead of freezing in the desert since the temperature is going to drop during night.

"That's a good idea, round up the others we'll get ready to fly soon" Daniel said as he tucked the map back in his pouch.

"What about Winter?" Moon asked "I don't think he want's to talk to anyone right now"

"I'll take care of him, don't worry"

Moon nodded as she walked towards The rest of the group. Qibli, Turtle, and Kinkajou were chucking sand at each other, meanwhile Peril was observing and commentating the match. This was because any grains of sand she touched for long enough were heated to very high temperatures and she could potentially hurt someone badly if she decided to throw scorching hot grains of sand at them.

It looked like they had forgotten about the fight or had chosen to ignore it. but Winter hadn't. It was time for Daniel to see what was up with Winter since he knew it wasn't just the argument he was thinking about.

Daniel walked towards the dune Winter was sitting on. He was staring out at at the setting sun it was quite a sight actually.

"Hey, buddy... You alright?" Daniel asked as he took a seat next to him. "You know that Qibli really regrets what he said to you back there"
Winter grunted in response.

"OK what's on your mind Winter" I never got the chance to speak to you after our little flying lesson so I want to know. Now." Daniel said, a little harshly but it was the only way to get Winter to listen to him.

"You'll hate me if I tell you..." Winter said

"Is this about Qibli?" Daniel sighed "You need to understand that he's sor-"

"It's not about him..." Winter spoke

"Oh.. Then what is it about?" Daniel asked. He knew that Winter has a lot of secrets and issues on his mind, but for some reason... Daniel had the feeling that this one was different. He didn't know why...

"it's about you Hurricane..." Winter said softly

Okay now he knew why.

"About me?" Daniel said worriedly "if it's about what happened when we first met at JMA then I"

"Let me finish." Winter growled.

Daniel silenced himself, realising he got a bit ahead of himself in the heat of the moment.
"Right.. Sorry Winter, go on" Daniel apologised

Winter shot him a strange look before Turing his head to the sunset and continuing on.

"after our argument..." Winter said this caused Daniel to flinch a little in regret. He knew he shouldn't have done that but he was to stupid to understand that.

"Qibli was explaining to me what happened after you fell asleep," Winter continued "He spoke about how cool it was and so on, he just wouldn't stop talking about it and... I don't know... I guess I got a little jealous. Since I had never actually heard him talk about someone like that... Well, except Moon since he's been crushing on her since school first started."

"Okay... What's your point here, how does this include me, apart from him talking about me more then usual" Daniel asked cautious to not start up an argument here when he was finally getting answers

"I don't know if I should go on... Because you're just going to hate me if I do..." a tear was seen crawling down Winters face but he didn't seem to notice it.

"Winter..." Daniel said "I promise that I will never hate and that we'll always be friends"
'I mean... How can I hate my favorite Wings of Fire character anyways' Daniel thought with a laugh.

Winter gave a sigh, it was clear he was worried about how Daniel would respond to him but his little comment reassured him it would be alright.

"Fine... I've... Been in love with that sand sorter for the past year..." Winter said and Daniel couldn't help but smile and celebrate internally as he was hoping for this.

"Why are you smiling?" Winter asked as he looked at Daniels face

"Oh uhh, no reason" Daniel said quickly
Winter shot him a skeptical glance before continuing his story.

"I've known for a while that Qibli was Bisexual as he's come out to us a while ago and everyone was fine with it."

"Okay but why is this bad, you have a crush on him and he's told you that he likes guys so what's wrong here?" Daniel was puzzled but he wasn't surprised as Winter was always the type to make explaining things like this complicated.

"I recently found out he got a new crush" Winter sniffed.

"Oh... Really? Sooo who is it?"

"it's you, Hurricane" Winter said

Daniels eyes went wide. He literally expected anything to come out of Winters mouth... Except what he just heard. He didn't think it was possible to make a character fall for him since he wasn't supposed to be in this world to being with but he guessed that logic didn't apply.

"I'm sorry what..."

"He has a crush on you Hurricane. When I found out I was really upset and decided to Come out for some fresh air that night and that's where you found me."

"Crud... OK... Look Winter I'm sorry about Qibli but if it makes you feel any better I'll have you know that I'm straight so I won't be taking him from you" Daniel said in an attempt to help his friend out but it didn't make much impact.

"and on top of that..." Winter continued now almost fully crying "He's getting more distant from me and we've been fighting more. It's like he's replacing me with you... He's the only dragon who's really been my friend my entire life and if I lose him.... I'll have nobody left"

Daniel just sat there silently... He didn't know how to react to the things he was hearing.

'Has it really gotten that bad between them just in the few days I've known them? To the point where Winters worried about losing him...'

"That's not going to happen alright. Because he likes you back, on that morning when you were coming back from your first diving he was blushing like mad. You saw it yourself! Unless I'm hallucinating he likes you more then a friend" Daniel said

"Winter shook his head "He was blushing because it looked like you... Not because it was me"

"Something's not adding up here, but I'll get it figured out, don't worry. I'll even help you get with him alright."

Winter looked at him, his teary eyes glinting in the sunlight.

"Really?" Winter asked hopefully.

"Of course! That's what friends are for right?" Daniel said although he remembered that Winter didn't consider people as friends easily.

Winter shot him a look which Daniel couldn't decipher as being either annoyance or.. Hope?

"Right," Daniel blurted, "I'm pushing it aren't I?" he tried to joke a little but was cut of when Winter spoke.

"Can you promise me something..." Winter asked, sniffling a little.
This caught Daniels attention a little. He was slightly skeptical but kept his cool.

"Sure thing Winter" Daniel replied, slightly worried at what he might say.

"Promise to never leave me... Don't abandon me like my parents did..."

His eyes went wide for a small moment. Winter was serious and Daniel immediately felt bad for him... For all the suffering he'd gone through...

"I promise" Daniel said sincerely.
He held out one of his talons hoping he would shake it considering That Winter didn't like hugs.

Winter glanced at Daniels talon before he took It with his own.

Daniel was relived, however Winter then said something that truly made him smile.

"Thank you... Friend"

Chapter Text

Daniel and Winter stood there for a few seconds before parting the hug.

"Thanks, I needed that," Winter said

"No problem," Daniel said as he looked down at the others." I see the others getting ready to leave, we should join them." Daniel said gliding off the sand dune towards the group before landing gracefully. Winter was right behind him and landed next to him.

"Alright, we're all ready to go," Moon said walking up to them "You alright Winter?"

Winter nodded

"That's good," Moon said as she looked back towards the setting sun. "we should go, probably only have about twenty minutes of sunlight left"

"Agreed" Daniel said "ALRIGHT LET'S GO!" Daniel yelled to the rest of the group clapping his hands to get their attention.
They soon all took off from the sandy ground heading for the west coast.

- - - - - Twenty minutes of flying later - - - - -

The sun had officially sunk below the horizon and temperatures were dropping quickly. They needed to find shelter soon or risk catching a cold, which by then travelling to the Ice Kingdom could be fatal. Not that it wasn't already... But it would definitely increase the chances

'Damn it's FREEZING...' Daniel thought as he looked at the dragons around him, 'it looks like I'm not the only one suffering here though' Peril and Winter were completely fine since Winter was used to cold temperatures and Perils firescales seemed to keep her warm. Either that or she was just really good at hiding her emotions. Turtle and Moon Were visibly uncomfortable however it was Qibli who was suffering the most here.

Being used to the hot temperatures of the daytime desert he seemed to struggle keeping up with the rest of the group ever since nightfall.

'although it doesn't make sense... He must have slept in the desert night at least once right? He should be used to it' Daniel thought, puzzled. 'but it does look like he's struggling... I should see what's up,'

Daniel quickly tilted his wings upwards and soared backwards over his friends to Qibli's position which he soon realised was actually a lot further away than he first saw.
Daniel flew down next to him.

"Hey, dude you alright?"

"Oh, yeah..." Qibli said softly. Swiftly, a large gust of wind crawled across their scales. It sent chills down Daniel's spine and Qibli let out a visible shiver as he clenched tightly clenched his jaw. "I-I'm perfectly fine..." Qibli continued, his teeth chattered in the cold wind disagreeing with hum.

"It's clear you're not alright..."
Daniel said as he touched Qibli's scales only to find that they were. "Oh wow! You're freezing!" Daniel exclaimed. Although he didn't know how it was possible since Sandwing scales were supposed to be Warm.

"I know... I don't know why though... Something about tonight... just isn't right..."Qibli said shivering as he flew.

"I'm not sure what you mean by that," Daniel said slightly baffled.

"Neither do I honestly" Qibli Chuckled "but I just feel... It... Know what I mean?"

Daniel did know what he meant. He felt the same way after he finished the last Wings of Fire book. Like he just had a feeling that it wasn't over... And in the end, it wasn't, since he was transported into his own Adventure soon after.

"Yeah, I guess I kind of do" Daniel admitted
This earned him one of Qibli's bright smiles. However, it was cut short when another gust of wind decided to ram into the group of dragons and gave them all a free sample of what was yet to come.
Qibli lost his balance for a bit before he recovered.

'Crap... He won't make it much further at this rate... He needs warmth and fast...' Just then Daniel spotted something down below. It looked like a small cave or tunnel but you Couldn't see much from up where they were.
'if it is a cave though... It'll probably be the only place we'll get some sleep and warmth. Worth a try"

"Hey guys!" Daniel called to the rest of the dragons flying ahead of him. They turned around to take a glance at him.

"Yeah? What's up?" Kinkajou asked and Daniel was extremely tempted to make a really bad joke by replying 'The sky.'
Although the only thing he would probably earn were disapproving glances from his friends and multiple groans.

"I think there's a cave down there we can take shelter in for the night" Daniel responded.

"WELL WHAT ARE WE WAITING FOR THEN? I'M FREEZING UP HERE!" Kinkajou yelled before diving down.

"Well, there she goes... Guess we aren't voting on this...?" Winter said glumly

"Guess not, I'll catch you down there" Daniel grinned before following behind Kinkajou.

The wind whipped past him as he followed the bright yellow and pink dragon down towards the cold grotto he had spotted earlier. Upon landing on the entrance to the cavern Daniel noticed how exceptionally large it was, especially for being in the middle of a desert.

"Woah! This is so cool!" Kinkajou yelled, her voice echoing throughout the entrance while Daniel watched her jump and fly about as the rest of the Jade Winglet landed next to him.

"Looks like someone's excited" Moon said, Smiling as Kinkajou bounded up to them.

"LOOK MOON, IT'S SO AMAZING" The Little Rainwing cried gleefully.

"Yeah, you're not wrong" Moon agreed as she walked off with her friend.

The rest of the gang came to join him.

"alright... So this is our temporary cave." Daniel said to the rest of his friends as they landed.

"Quite spacious," Turtle said as he scanned the interior of the large grey area in front of them.

"This seems oddly... Convenient..." Qibli said, tensing up as the wind blew around them "I-I'm going to head inside." He said as he quickly scooted himself Into the cover of the cavern

"Hey wait for me! QIBLI! " Winter Bellowed, Running after his shivering friend.

"Guess we'll head in as well" Peril said nodding to Turtle who just stood there dazed for a few seconds.

"Oh right!" He finally replied "Yeah, We'll head inside now. You want to join Hurricane?" Turtle asked.

"Not yet, I should see if I can find some firewood so we can stay warm for the night" Daniel replied

"Oh alright, well if it helps I think I saw a small patch of desert willow over there" Turtle pointed towards a large sand dune "Right behind the large dune, I'm pretty sure."

"Alright! Thanks, I'll be back in a jiffy" Daniel beamed. Turtle and Peril on the other hand just stared at him, baffled.

'Right... I forgot... Earth slang, dragons don't understand it.'

"be back soon" Daniel said quickly before taking off into flight beyond the dune. Just as Turtle had said there was indeed a small patch of Desert willow, but there was also a small Patch of cacti Nearby. Gliding down to the plants he began harvesting them as a substitute for firewood.
He contemplated the extremely unlikely chances of the formation of the caverns while he did so.

'I wonder the cave formed... It seemed strange that there just happened to be a massive cave in the middle of an area that's just sand... There were no mountains or solid ground; anywhere! There's no way this could of formed on its own... Somethings not right...

*CRACK*

Daniel's ears perked up. 'What was that...' he scanned the area for any signs of movement... Nothing. It was just him and the plants that would soon be sacrificed for a fire source.

However, he just couldn't shake the feeling... Like someone was stalking him.

'it's just your mind Daniel... Let's get this back to the cave and start a fire, they're probably all freezing'

He returned his attention to harvesting a few more plants before he saw a quick flash of Yellow and Blue in his peripheral vision. Someone was definitely there.

Daniel Whipped around scanning the area once again only this time to find a pair of blue Spikes poking out from behind a rock.

An Icewing? What's an Icewing doing out in the desert?'

But that's when Daniel spotted a scorpion barb swinging back and forth a little further behind on the tip of a tail.

'So an Icewing and a Sandwing, stalking me? Winter and Qibli?' Daniel thought, thinking they were playing a sort of prank on him. That was... Until he got a closer glimpse at the tail. It was a regular Sandwing tail except... It had Icewing spikes going down the tail and surrounding the black barb at the tip.

'HUH?! WHAT IS THAT DRAGON? ' Daniel thought panicking. He didn't remember reading about a tail like that anywhere in the books. 'Alright Claws... I hope you're ready for a fight... Daniel thought as he flexed his talons in preparation.

He took another look at the tail. It was now moving ever so slightly closer... However, he soon realised that the dragon the tail belonged to forgot to fully hide themselves and as such part of their back could be seen.

It confirmed that they were a Sandwing -Icewing Hybrid as Icewing spikes could be seen crawling along the Dragons spine. They started off a deep shade of blue until they eventually faded to a less noticeable white colour before going back to blue again.

'oh... God. Hey Daniel... you know that right now would be a good time to STOP SHAKING' he yelled to his body who didn't want to comply with his requests. The tail was getting closer and Daniel was shaking too much to move properly. Partly because he was freezing cold and partly because he was currently scared half to death with his heart rate constantly getting higher.

'Just calm down Daniel... It'll be fine' he thought in an attempt to get a hold of himself. Surprisingly it worked, and after a brief mental celebration, he took off the ground to try and get a better view of the strange dragon approaching him.

The dragon looked up at him with startled eyes as Daniel began analysing while he circled above them. Now that he had a better picture of the dragon he saw that it was female. Her scales were a bright sandy yellow and she had many Sandwing features. The only thing that gave away that she was a Hybrid where the many, many, many, Icy spikes along her spine and tail.

'Maybe I should try and talk to her... Would that be a good idea?' Daniel was lost in thought of what to do next until he just scarcely evaded being turned into an ice cube as a burst of frostbreath sliced through the air next to him.

NOPE, DEFINETLY NOT A GOOD IDEA' Daniel thought as more Bright blue bursts of ice came flying at him.

Thinking fast Daniel dived under one of the blue bursts. A few more whipped past his wings, leaving behind a faint falling snow in its place. It was quite beautiful but he didn't have much time to admire it as he was too busy dodging and weaving his way though the Hybrid's attacks. He kept his eye on the target as he tilted his wings to avoid the Icy blasts.

Eventually, he managed to swoop past the dragon and land on the ground. It wasn't a good landing as he had to dig his claws into the sand below. His talons burned as he skidded across the desert leaving behind dark scorching claw marks on the ground.

"Get back!" the dragon yelled as she raised her tail in a defensive position.

'That looks deadly...' Daniel thought with slight fear as he studied the tail of the hostile dragon.
Daniel stood his ground as the dragon growled dangerously at him.

"I'm not afraid to hurt you..." She snarled

"Well, neither am I..." Daniel replied, a little more calmly but still serious.
The dragon ran at Daniel, she swung her tail at him and he just managed to escape losing his head as he leaped back.

As he regained his balance a light sting planted itself on his right cheek. Daniel wasn't fast enough and one of the tail spikes had managed to scrape his cheek but he was luckily it wasn't the Venomous tail barb.

Daniel didn't care through. As long as he was still standing it didn't matter if he lost a bit of blood. With each passing second, a new blotch of red was painted on the large sandy canvas below him.
The dragon in front was staring intently at the cut on his cheek. A drop of Daniel's blood ran down one of her tail spikes, leaving behind a slick red line before eventually dropping to the sandy floor.

Daniel analysed her face.
She seemed almost sad... As if she regretted cutting him... However it wasn't stopping her from putting up a fight as soon came another swing from her tail, this time aiming for Daniel's chest...

Using his wings to propel himself upwards he boosted off the ground just in just enough time to see her barbed tail come inches away from giving him a recreation of Flame's scar.

Daniel flew overhead and landed on the opposite side of his opponent.
'OOF... That was way too close...' Daniel thought as he tried to recover his senses.
His heart was beating out of his chest, talons and claws burned from his scorching entrance. But he couldn't get much of a break as the dragon lunged at him, claws outstretched, aiming to slit his throat.

Daniel rolled out of the way just as she dived her claws into the sand next to him.
He sent out a powerful blast of fire towards her. It was a direct hit on the right side of her chest.

She quickly blocked it off with her wing, it wasn't a bad idea but it would definitely reduce her ability to fight. Especially with a severely burned chest and wing.

"Don't make me hurt you more" Daniel warned, feeling a little bad for the other dragon.
That thought soon passed though as she launched another Icy blast towards the ground in front of him. Sand shot upwards into the air as an angry dragon dived through and tackled him to the ground.

'DAMMIT!' Daniel thought, the dragon had begun to dig her claws into Daniel.
"OW!" Daniel blared as he began to feel his blood ooze out of his sides, slowly painting the dragon's claws red.

He tried to throw the dragon off with his free talons. Unfortunately, he had only managed to scratch a bit of her underside before she pinned his arms down.

The dragon coughed up Blue blood which ended up landing on the tip of Daniel's head. Along with this, blue blood also began to cover his underside as the cuts he gave the dragon began to bleed.

He was in bad shape... The dragon opened her mouth preparing to turn Daniel Into her newest ice sculpture. unless he did something fast, he would be a goner...

Suddenly, he got a brilliant idea... It was risky but It could potentially save his life. But he needed to keep her distracted for long enough to pull it off.

'well, I'll die either way if I don't try... Let's give it a shot' Daniel said mentally.

"An-any last words?" The dragon asked, she struggled to speak properly as more of her blood painted Daniel's scales

"Yeah, shouldn't I at least know the name of my killer before I die?" Daniel said Smoothly. As he asked he began to slowly wind his tail around hers. He had to be slow in order for her to not notice, and making small talk was the best way of doing that.

"Odd request..." she said sceptically "Well if you must know my name's Star"

"Oh cool! The name's Hurricane" He flashed her a smile. His tail was now about halfway around hers. He had to be careful though as to not accidentally pierce himself on one of Star's many Ice Spikes.

"Well, then Hurricane... Do you have any other requests before I turn you into an Ice cube?

"Well, yes actually!" Daniel said, his tail now fully wrapped around hers.

"And what is that?" Star said, impatiently

Daniel grinned... "You should always watch your tail" Daniel tightened his tail and dragged hers and his under her.

Just as predicted... The sudden shift of her lower body caused her to fall backwards. It was enough for Daniel to escape.

"YOU LITTLE PIECE OF-!" Star screamed, she immediately shot a blast of Ice straight at Daniel who responded by shooting his own Blast of fire back at her.

Both hot and cold collided and Sand exploded into the air, Daniel was forced to stop his attack as the sudden explosion of the grainy substance around him clouded his vision.

*Cough*'What the hell wa- *Cough* -s that!

He didn't have time to ponder, as he had a feeling that Star was close by, although nothing but flying sand could be seen in all directions.

All of a sudden... Daniel felt the temperature of the air around him drop. He was near-sighted due to the mini sandstorm surrounding him. But he just had a feeling...

That she was right behind him...

'well... I'm... D e a d m e a t. . .'

Chapter Text

'Well... Great...'

That was the last thought that passed through Daniel's mind before a searing pain was felt throughout his entire backside.
His scales split apart from one another as
Star sank her claws into Daniel's back and began to drag them down to his lower body.

"AARRRGH!" Daniel cried, his jaw clenched together as he tried his best to bear through the pain. He tried to run but wasn't able to move properly as Star had a strong grip.

"Oh no you don't! you're not going anywhere! Not until I'm done!" Star snarled.

Daniel looked back to see her. Her talons were lodged into his lower back, looking a bit higher he saw that fresh claw marks were present along almost his entire back. Her talons were covered in a mix of blue and red blood as well as bits of her underscales and face.

Daniel looked at the large cut he had caused on Star's chest. It was still bleeding dark blue and had painted most of her scales to the point where she looked more Icewing then Sandwing.
Her breathing was rapid and uncoordinated. It was clear the cuts and possible blood loss were taking its toll on her but still... She continued to fight.

Daniel had to give it to her... Even though she was in possibly more pain than him... She was still determined to kill him...

'I can't tell whether I should be impressed or scared at this point.' Daniel questioned himself 'Well, either way, I'm not dying today so I should probably get myself out of here'

Daniel shot a burst of fire at Stars talons which forced her to let go of Daniel. It did end up burning him a bit in the process but it ended up getting him free from her so he counted it as a win.

The sand from the explosion had begun to settle down back to the ground again and the evidence of the makeshift sandstorm ever existing had begun to fade away.
The three moons above had shifted places since Daniel last saw them, meaning that they had been fighting for at least more than half an hour.

'Have we really been fighting for that long? It only seemed like ten minutes.'

Daniel took a glance back at Star who was staring intently at him; It was kind of creepy, to be honest. Some of her yellow scales had been stained deep blue and red due to the brutal fight they'd been having for the past thirty minutes.

"Wh-why, do we have to continue...?" Daniel asked, Gasping for breath.

"You're not giving up are you?" Star asked slightly surprised. The truth was he wasn't in the slightest. He just needed enough time to think of a plan... And that's when it hit him.

'wait... Sand can be blown around by strong winds... And I can create strong winds...' Daniel gave a mischievous grin 'I have a GREAT idea...'

"Why are you smiling?" Star asked sceptically.

Daniel didn't say anything... Instead, he flapped his wings towards Star, throwing sand into her face.

"is that the best you got? You'll have to do a bit better than launch sand at me" Star said as she launched another large plume of ice at Daniel. But little did she know... She had fallen right into his trap...

Daniel launched a plume of fire at her Ice blast which caused another explosion of sand. The many grains were launched into the air and Daniel took his chance.

He launched himself into the air and began to quickly circle Star from above at rapid speeds.

'Come on... Please work...' Daniel pleaded to the gods above.

Sand whirled in all directions, Daniel struggled to keep his bearing as he flew. Soon the sand flying in the air began to pick up Daniel's wind movement and his plan was coming into action.

"You really think a sandstorm is going to intimidate me? I'm used to them" Star said cockily. However, she soon began to eat those words as he realised what Daniel was up to.

"Oh, MOONS!" Star screamed as she looked above her.

The sand was now moving at incredible speeds as a miniature sandy hurricane began to form around her. Daniel was nothing but a red blur intertwined between the many grains of sand flying about.

He had to admit that making a deadly mini hurricane wasn't the best idea if he was trying to not die. Especially after a hostile dragon had just messed up his back pretty badly.

'Although it's the only way to signal to the JW somethings wrong, I just have to pray to the gods above that they see it'

Daniel continued to fly, guiding and boosting his makeshift hurricane faster and faster.

Star sat in the eye of the storm... Terrified at what she was seeing...

"Is this the power of a god...?" She whispered to herself.

Star's trembling limbs made it hard to stand properly as she looked around at the scene taking place in front of her.

She had to get out.

Daniel looked down at the terrified Hybrid.

"YOU ENJOYING YOURSELF?" Daniel shouted to her, slightly laughing.

"WHAT IS IN THE WORLD IS THIS?!" Star screamed back.

"IT'S CALLED A HURRICANE" Daniel laughed "NOW YOU KNOW WHY THAT'S MY NAME!"

Star only stared at him with fearful eyes... Or tried to at least since he was moving so fast.

She walked towards the edge of the cyclone, preparing to run through it.

"I wouldn't do that!" Daniel warned. "The speeds of the sands would pierce your scales... You'd either die or be brutally injured when you get out."

As much as Daniel currently hated Star at the moment he didn't want her to die painfully, and by running through that wall would probably be one of the most painful ways to depart.

Star simply looked at him... And without another word... ran straight through the wall of sand.

She disappeared Into the wall... Leaving behind a line of deep blue grains...

Daniel was shocked at what he just witnessed...

'Holy... She really just did that...'

Daniel flew up above the sandy hurricane and out into the open air... The hurricane stood standing however it would soon disappear as its source of wind was no longer there.

Daniel searched the ground for Star who he found lying there a few feet away from where the slowing hurricane was.

'Well she doesn't look too badly injured' Daniel thought slightly relieved as her yellow scales were still showing... At least that's what he thought... Until he landed next to her and got a closer look..

Daniel's eyes went wide... His heart skipped a beat... She wasn't dead... But... She probably wishes she was...

He stared in fear and regret at what he saw... The only reason she appeared yellow from above was because sand had stuck to her upon leaving... The reality was that she had no yellow scales at all...

They were all painted blue from her own blood...

Chapter Text

Daniel looked at Star. Her eyes were shut and she seemed lifeless. Her once yellow scales had been completely stained blue to the point where she looked like any regular Icewing.

Daniel and anyone else would have thought she was dead if it wasn't for the very subtle movement of her chest rising up and down. She was breathing... But Daniel wondered how long she would last before she eventually succumbed to her injuries.

A small pool of blue had begun to spread on the desert floor, converting every grain it touched into its own.
Daniel's hurricane had finally disappeared and he was able to look around at the aftermath of the fight.
Blue and red bloodstains from him and Star covered the land before him. Like small puddles of colour on an empty canvas.

Suddenly... Daniel's full body began to sear with pain causing him to have to lie down on the sand next to Star. Luckily it seemed safe to do so as both dragons were way too injured to keep fighting.

"Oww..." Daniel cried quietly. His body was already in terrible shape and now looking back on himself, flying around at the speed of light probably wasn't the best idea.

His sides and back were bleeding heavily, dark red lines patterned his underscales as he struggled to breathe properly.

Looking at Star one last time, he couldn't help but feel sad, blue soaked her body except for her claw tips which were stained red.

"Well..." Daniel started... coughing up blood as another blotch of red was painted on the floor of the desert arena. "I guess we're both dying now..."

Star opened her eyes to look at him. She smiled... A line of blue leaked from her mouth and down to her chin. "Yeah... I guess so..."

Daniel couldn't help but smile back. Although it was not the right time for it. It just felt... right...

Soon his vision began to blur as his consciousness started to fade away.

Star looked at him, regret in her eyes... The last thing Daniel heard her say before darkness consumed him was...

"I'm sorry..." and then... Nothing but loud silence...

Daniel Woke, he was lying down face up and opened his eyes to find himself staring at a cold concrete ceiling.

'Wh-what? Concrete doesn't exist in Phyrria...? Does it?' Daniel thought, puzzled.

He sat up rubbing his eyes... He couldn't, no... He didn't believe what he saw...

He was on the floor of an enclosed room, bookshelves and posters of boy bands lined the walls. A small desk could be seen next to a human-sized bed. A small window sat on one of the walls, illuminating the inside of the room with a soft moonlight glow.

Daniel's mind spun as he looked around. He was still a dragon, that's for sure as he looked down to see red scales. Although his Injuries were nowhere to be seen...

'Huh... How strange'

He wasn't sure if he was still in Phyrria. Nearby a small buzz was heard. Daniel looked to see a mobile phone in front of him... A small bloodstain could be seen on its screen.

'Yup... Definitely not in Phyrria anymore... Just great!' Daniel thought sarcastically. Another buzz came from the phone and this time Daniel noticed something.
He crawled over to take a closer look.

The mobile phone had a pink rubber case with little pink cat ears that he would recognise anywhere. This wasn't any old mobile phone... It was his sisters...

'My sis-sister...' Daniel thought with a shudder...
He grabbed the phone with his talon attempting to unlock it without absolutely destroying the screen. Luckily for him, the screen protector seemed to be claw-proof.

He put in the eight-digit code that his sister used, he knew the passcode because he would sometimes take mental notes every time he saw his sister unlock her phone in the past. Over the years he slowly cracked the code and had learned it.

8, 7, 2, 0, 9, 2, 6, 5,

The phone opened... An AI voice came on.

"Welcome Charlotte, you have thirteen missed calls and forty-two unread messages. In the last twenty-four hours." spoke the robotic voice.

'the last twenty-four hours?! What happened?'

Daniel was freaking out a little since this was unusual for her as she was always on top of her notifications. He had to admit it was kind of impressive but now that she had this many missed calls and unread messages he was worried about what might of happened. Also, the small bloodstain on the phone wasn't helping with calming him down.

'Maybe I should check the messages... Who knows it might be important.' Daniel thought to himself.

It took a few tries to open the messages app since it wasn't exactly easy to use a mobile phone with talons and claws for hands and fingers.

Eventually, though he managed to open it. He expected to find that maybe all of her missed messages were from a group chat until he realised they were all from one number. What made this even stranger was that all the calls as well were from this one contact.

The Contact was named unknown, there was no number shown, and it had no profile picture.

Strange... Let me check the direct messages... '

Daniel opened the Chat... It appeared that the chat was made at 3:54 pm on December 18th...

'The day after I was trapped inside the books...'

He scrolled up to the beginning of the messages...

Unknown: Hello, Charlotte Lorence

Charlotte: Who is this?

Unknown: This is Sheriff Alex Williams speaking, I'm here to sadly inform you that your parents were recently involved in a deadly accident.

Charlotte: Accident? Are they alright?

Unknown: I'm sorry... They did not make it. however, In their will, they left their wealth to you and your brother, Daniel.

Unknown: You will each receive $597,834 to your names. However, due to the fact that Daniel is under the age of 18. He is unable to claim his part until his 18th birthday. Until then we will hold onto the money for you.

Unknown: Do you understand, Charlotte?

Charlotte: Y-yes, Sheriff

Unknown: good, I'm terribly sorry for your loss. We have dispatched a team of 3 officers to your current location so you may sign some documents to claim your part of your parent's will.

Charlotte: I understand

Unknown: Good, and once again I'm sorry for you and your brother's loss. Have a good day Charlotte. Thank you for your cooperation.

Daniel dropped the phone... Tears had begun to form in his eyes. He didn't stop them. He sat there for a bit before looking up again.

'No! This is a mistake... My parents aren't dead... Right?'

Daniel picked up the phone again and made his way to his Sister's bank account. A four-digit pin blocked his entrance...

'No...' Daniel thought 'No... Please not now... What would she use?'

Daniel stared at the 4-digit PIN code and realised that maybe she might of used her birth year.

"Alright... Let's try 1998"

PIN INCORRECT

2 ATTEMPTS BEOFRE ACCOUNT LOCK

'Alright then... Maybe her birth month and day?'

Daniel imputed the code 1124

PIN INCORRECT

ONE ATTEMPT BEOFRE ACCOUNT LOCK

"DAMMIT!" Daniel screamed... The tears had started to return... He needed to get into it...

Then he thought of something. His sister always had an issue remembering dates so she would normally use them as passwords so she wouldn't forget.

It was a long shot but maybe his birthday would work. He put it in 2009.

ACCESS GRANTED. WELCOME CHARLOTTE.

Daniel didn't have time to celebrate. He quickly scrolled through his sister's deposits until he found what he was looking for. Honestly... he didn't want to find it but he did.

December 18th
6:47 pm

$597,834
- Mum and Dad's Legacy

Daniel broke down. His mind and heart couldn't take the hurt.

His parents were really dead...

Daniel sat there rolled up in a small ball, sobbing. He sat there in the moonlight as tears ran down his face. All this time while he was stuck living his best life... His parents died... And he wasn't even there.

Suddenly, Daniel heard crying from behind
a door he hadn't noticed. He went out to check it out. His mind wasn't able to think straight from his sadness so he didn't even think to check if it was a trap or not.
He walked out of the room only to realise that he was in his own house.

He had never noticed since he'd never been allowed in his sister's room, although then again. It was kind of obvious whose room it was if her belongings were Inside.

'Am I really back home...? No... I'm still a dragon... But it looks almost exactly like it.'

More sobbing could be heard from further down his house's main corridor. He kept walking. The familiar dark oak floorboards creaked with each step he took. As he wandered closer to the sobbing he found himself staring at one of the photos on the wall.

It was a photo of his parents a few years back. His dad was wearing a dark suit and tie, and his slick black hair was blowing in the wind. His mother was wearing a beautiful red dress and smooth white high heels. Her hair blew in the wind as they stood next to each other.

They were standing together on a hillside as the ocean sparkled behind them. A beautiful sunset painted the sky an orangey Red.
It truly was a beautiful picture. Daniel smiled... But it was short-lived as he soon remembered that they were both dead.

He took one last glance at the picture before he continued down the hall, looking around at the walls of the house.

'It's like I never left... Though to be fair... I don't even know if I did

Soon he found himself in front of the door to his room. The sobbing stopped, although Daniel didn't realise it.

'Is this real?' Daniel thought... 'Or am I just imagining it'

Daniel slowly opened the door to his room. Everything was exactly as it was the day he left. The night desk next to his bed, the bookshelf filled with books, posters of superheroes and movies. It was all there.
The moonlight from the window shone through his room, greeting him when he entered.

He grabbed one of the books from the dusty black shelf. It was as if it was never touched. His bed was still as comfy as ever as he lay down on it.
He stared up at his star-covered ceiling. He had one day painted yellow stars on it so that he could imagine he was outside stargazing while he drifted off to sleep.

'Oh... What wouldn't I give to come back to this...' Daniel thought sadly, he was remembering the good times he had in this very room, staying up all night reading his favourite books and comics, chilling out on his phone...

'WAIT MY PHONE!'

Daniel sat up from his bed and looked at his bedside table. Unfortunately to his disappointment, it was not there.

However what was there instead made Daniel's heart skip a beat... It was a poster, or more specifically... a Missing person's poster. But what scared Daniel the most... Was that it had his picture on it.

He didn't know how he had missed it. He grabbed the piece of parchment with a claw, careful not to rip it by accident. Sitting back down on the bed he studied the poster.

MISSING

Daniel Lorence

Was last seen on the 17th of December on 18 Victoria Avenue.

If you have seen him please call
198 872 988 283 928.

It was kind of weird seeing it. He was right there but... Wasn't. Although he didn't have time to study the paper properly as Suddenly Daniel's sister Charlotte Barged into the room.

"AHHHH" Daniel screamed. Dropping the paper in his talons. "Ummm, don't freak out?" he gave her a shy smile. But to his surprise, she walked past him. Not even phased by his appearance. In fact... She didn't even notice him.

'Am I dead...?' Daniel shuddered as he stared at his sister.

She seemed to leave a trail as she walked, a blur of herself followed her every movement. She picked up the missing person's poster.

"I wish you were here right now Daniel..." Charlotte sighed, and a small tear fell from her left eye. However, to Daniel, her words echoed in his mind over and over a few times before fading away.

'Woah... What was that?' Daniel looked back at her to see a small tear leave her left eye.

"Hey... I'm here, don't worry... " Daniel said as he tried to wrap one of his dragon wings around her only for it to pass right through... Like she wasn't even real...

Something wasn't right... He was either dead... Or the world around him was fake.

'Both of which are not good situations.' Daniel thought glumly.

Charlotte got up off the bed and headed out of Daniel's room.

'Maybe I could follow her, I don't have much else to do...'

Daniel got out of his bed and slowly followed his sister. After exiting Daniel's room she walked around the main entrance of the house before eventually heading up to the attic.

'The attic? She hates it up there... What's she up to?' Daniel quietly followed her up. Step by step they climbed, Daniel was sure that the steps would break under all his weight as a dragon but they stood strong.

'Either that or they can't break because I don't exist.' Daniel's intrusive thoughts whispered to him. He shut them out as he continued to climb the steps.
They eventually reached the attic where Daniel's makeshift book castle still stood.

Charlotte walked and took a seat on the orange beanbag before grabbing the fifteenth Wings of Fire book.

Now Daniel was really confused... She hated that book series, why was she reading one, let alone the last one if she probably never read the first?

His thoughts were interrupted when she suddenly spoke...

"You know... I used to hate this series... But after you disappeared a month ago... It was the last thing I had of you... So I decided to read it"

'Is she talking... To me? Does she know I'm here... Or is she just... talking to herself?' Daniel pondered. However soon he remembered what she just said...

'WAIT DID SHE SAY A MONTH?!' Daniel yelled mentally. He rushed to the calendar and took a look at the date.

January 20th

He had really been stuck in Phyrria for over a month...

'I've been... Gone for over a month...? I missed Christmas and New Year's... All while Charlotte was all alone...'

Daniel felt really bad for his sister. Usually, he wouldn't care much since she was always yelling at him for no reason but after everything she had been through in the last month... And with nobody to talk to...

He looked back at her... She was quietly reading, Turning the pages every thirty seconds or so.

Daniel had never seen her so quiet and peaceful. She always tended to be talking on her phone which was constantly buzzing about with notifications almost every second.

'It's almost alien seeing her like this...'

Suddenly a loud barrage of whispers poured into his head and mind. Louder and louder they spoke.
Daniel covered his ears in a futile attempt to ease the whispers.

The cryptic whispers were speaking to him, they were trying to tell him something. Repeating the same thing... over and over...

Ţ̵̧̛̠̖̘͓͕̪͉̻̻̳̄̌͌̎̓̀͂̈́͆͗͌̒O̸̦͈̼̍͊̏͂̆͝ ̴̠̮̝̻̫̄͑͒̊̐̅̍͑͝͝ͅf̵̙͉͔̲̮̖̲̯̪͍̰̘̎͂̿̐͊̈̑̏̍͘͘͠i̵͖̬̟͖̳̺͙̺̳̻̐́͒̿̏̅́N̷͉̘͎̯̩̯̿̋͐̈́̑̅͂͋̍̅͜͜͝d̵̡̳̱̖͓͓̺̳̟͎͉̀̽̈ͅ ̴̛̖͆̆̿̄̚
̶̖̜͎̝̭͙̇̆̉̽̂̈́̋̐ṫ̸̝̫͈̑̀̀̎̽͜͝h̷̡͎̮̭̫͎͙͉̪͓̄͜͜E̶̪̲͍͕̻̐̓̄̐̑̍̏͘͝͠ ̷̧̘̩̩͕̣̱̠͋͂͋̿́̋̑̿͐O̷̧̪̬̰͋̈͛̈̇͒̄͛̑͒͐̍̚͜͝͝N̵̢͔͘ę̷͕̲͇̟̗͔͊͒̓́̾
̵̯͎͎̝̫͚̼͕̞͔̖͑̃̏͌̓͌͆̏̀͘͝Y̵̨̨͔͈̦̺̼̤̯͙̯̮̜͆̀͐́̒̕ơ̷̜̣̳̹̪̹̐̓Ư̴̱͔̅̾̓̈́̒̿̀̑͆́̅̕͝͝ ̸̘͓͙̗̪̺̼̳͍̅͌ͅS̵̮̟̖̫̼̘̩̞͎̤̱͚͙͌͑ͅḙ̸̛̝͇̟̼̝͌͒̆͆̔̎̋̆̉̋ͅȆ̷͖͔̻̞̙̼̟͎͙̯͓̄̽̔̾͛̈́͒̐̓͗̿͜͠k̷̰̻̜͊̈́̔̃͂̀̑
̸̦͍̫͎͇͎̦̦͗̾̉̌̒̏̕͝
̸̲̤͚̓̃̇̀̍͋̇̔̀̒̾̈͠͝m̴̖̺̭̻̾̀͌͑͊̌̏̇̐͛̚͜͠͝A̵̢̡̢̛̛̰̼̹̓̓ͅK̴̞̝̤̓̀̏͌́̇̈̌̐̐̎͋e̶̩͙̪͉͍͉̟̭̘͛͒̈̀̌͋͐͐̎͌̄͂̕͠ ̵̣͎̰͍̘̺̙͔̥̯͕̬̈́̅͐͒̈́̆̓̇̉̈́̈́̓a̴̧̧̛̠̠̼͚̭̖̮̽̓̆̽̊͗̌̒͋͜ ̷͕̺̬̫͈͖̯̳͚̱̺͈̤̻̔v̷͓͖̙̦͖̘̦̈́Į̶̢̣͕̝̜̫͉͖̹̳̼́̋̃̐͂̇̔̏̇̌̓͒͘͜͜͜͝s̸̢̨̝͎͎̗̯̪̱̯̊́̌̌í̴̬͇́͊̓͗̑̆̑̿͆̎̊͂T̴̩̦̰̩͛̇ ̸̡̢̧̘͓̤͕̮̹̥̀̎̐̉ẗ̶̙̺͔̗̳̦̞͚́̆̒̈̈́̐̓̌͘͠O̸̢̡̨̢̯̙͓͙͚͓͊̓̍̑̃̅̇͆̏̕͘͠͝͝ͅ.
̶̖̜͎̝̭͙̇̆̉̽̂̈́̋̐ṫ̸̝̫͈̑̀̀̎̽͜͝h̷̡͎̮̭̫͎͙͉̪͓̄͜͜E̶̪̲͍͕̻̐̓̄̐̑̍̏͘͝͠ ̷̧̘̩̩͕̣̱̠͋͂͋̿́̋̑̿͐O̷̧̪̬̰͋̈͛̈̇͒̄͛̑͒͐̍̚͜͝͝N̵̢͔͘ę̷͕̲͇̟̗͔͊͒̓́̾
̵̯͎͎̝̫͚̼͕̞͔̖͑̃̏͌̓͌͆̏̀͘͝Y̵̨̨͔͈̦̺̼̤̯͙̯̮̜͆̀͐́̒̕ơ̷̜̣̳̹̪̹̐̓Ư̴̱͔̅̾̓̈́̒̿̀̑͆́̅̕͝͝ ̸̘͓͙̗̪̺̼̳͍̅͌ͅS̵̮̟̖̫̼̘̩̞͎̤̱͚͙͌͑ͅḙ̸̛̝͇̟̼̝͌͒̆͆̔̎̋̆̉̋ͅȆ̷͖͔̻̞̙̼̟͎͙̯͓̄̽̔̾͛̈́͒̐̓͗̿͜͠k̷̰̻̜͊̈́̔̃͂̀̑

̸̦͍̫͎͇͎̦̦͗̾̉̌̒̏̕͝
̸̲̤͚̓̃̇̀̍͋̇̔̀̒̾̈͠͝m̴̖̺̭̻̾̀͌͑͊̌̏̇̐͛̚͜͠͝A̵̢̡̢̛̛̰̼̹̓̓ͅK̴̞̝̤̓̀̏͌́̇̈̌̐̐̎͋e̶̩͙̪͉͍͉̟̭̘͛͒̈̀̌͋͐͐̎͌̄͂̕͠ ̵̣͎̰͍̘̺̙͔̥̯͕̬̈́̅͐͒̈́̆̓̇̉̈́̈́̓a̴̧̧̛̠̠̼͚̭̖̮̽̓̆̽̊͗̌̒͋͜ ̷͕̺̬̫͈͖̯̳͚̱̺͈̤̻̔v̷͓͖̙̦͖̘̦̈́Į̶̢̣͕̝̜̫͉͖̹̳̼́̋̃̐͂̇̔̏̇̌̓͒͘͜͜͜͝s̸̢̨̝͎͎̗̯̪̱̯̊́̌̌í̴̬͇́͊̓͗̑̆̑̿͆̎̊͂T̴̩̦̰̩͛̇ ̸̡̢̧̘͓̤͕̮̹̥̀̎̐̉ẗ̶̙̺͔̗̳̦̞͚́̆̒̈̈́̐̓̌͘͠O̸̢̡̨̢̯̙͓͙͚͓͊̓̍̑̃̅̇͆̏̕͘͠͝͝ͅ
̸̪̪̫̙̱͇̲̆̈̄͒͌̈̈̍̐͂̅̾̚͘ř̷̞͖̞̟̭̻̜̯̉͋̽̿̍̓͐̐̈͑̈́̽̆͝e̶̢̢͍̭͈̯̖̺̘̬̳̦͆͂̔̌̒̈͗̐̓̔̂̏̕D̵̛͎̭̯̦̹̲̪̫͔̲͖̋̇̓̈́͒͗̉͗̚͠͝ ̴̛̣̦̣̱̩̞̈́͋̆̑̓͒̕w̷̧̡̞̞̦͈̼͗̆̈́̈̾͜Į̷̨̻̺̣̠̬̪͉͉̦̗̺̈̀̔̈́͑̉͘̕̕n̷̬̯̙̗̣̖̩̲̞̞͖͒̑͒̌̍͋̾̈́̇̂͛͌̆͌͝ͅG̴̨͙̦͈͖̭̞̫̺͉͂̆́͑̕͜s̸̡̧̜̞̘̤̺̖̙͕̳̼̕ͅ
̶̢̢̛͈͉͉̺͇͙̪̤͔͙̺̩̍͋̉̊̀͑͛̚̚͘͝Ṕ̷̣̻̗̙̮͕̟̺̝̩͈͖͛̂̀̐͋͜E̴̛̮̫̰̝͑̋̍̾͌̀̾̌̑̈́ą̵͉̬̦͍̘̐̐̇̾̈͑̀͘̚͜͝k̸̭͉̲͋̈́̈͐̐̇̆̃
̸̪̪̫̙̱͇̲̆̈̄͒͌̈̈̍̐͂̅̾̚͘ř̷̞͖̞̟̭̻̜̉͋̽̿̍̓͐̐̈͑̈́̽̆͝e̶̢̢͍̭͈̯̖̺̘̬̳̦͆͂̔̌̒̈͗̐̓̔̂̏̕D̵̛͎̭̯̦̹̲̪̫͔̲͖̋̇̓̈́͒͗̉͗̚͠͝ ̴̛̣̦̣̱̩̞̈́͋̆̑̓͒̕w̷̧̡̞̞̦͈̼͗̆̈́̈̾͜Į̷̨̻̺̣̠̬̪͉͉̦̗̺̈̀̔̈́͑̉͘̕̕n̷̬̯̙̗̣̖̩̲̞̞͖͒̑͒̌̍͋̾̈́̇̂͛͌̆͌͝ͅG̴̨͙̦͈͖̭̞̫̺͉͂̆́͑̕͜s̸̡̧̜̞̘̤̺̖̙͕̳̼̕ͅ
̶̢̢̛͈͉͉̺͇͙̪̤͔͙̺̩̍͋̉̊̀͑͛̚̚͘͝Ṕ̷̣̻̗̙̮͕̟̺̝̩͈͖͛̂̀̐͋͜E̴̛̮̫̰̝͑̋̍̾͌̀̾̌̑̈́ą̵͉̬̦͍̘̐̐̇̾̈͑̀͘̚͜͝k̸̭͉̲͋̈́̈͐̐̇̆̃

Ţ̵̧̛̠̖̘͓͕̪͉̻̻̳̄̌͌̎̓̀͂̈́͆͗͌̒O̸̦͈̼̍͊̏͂̆͝ ̴̠̮̝̻̫̄͑͒̊̐̅̍͑͝͝ͅf̵̙͉͔̲̮̖̲̯̪͍̰̘̎͂̿̐͊̈̑̏̍͘͘͠i̵͖̬̟͖̳̺͙̺̳̻̐́͒̿̏̅́N̷͉̘͎̯̩̯̿̋͐̈́̑̅͂͋̍̅͜͜͝d̵̡̳̱̖͓͓̺̳̟͎͉̀̽̈ͅ ̴̛̖͆̆̿̄̚
̶̖̜͎̝̭͙̇̆̉̽̂̈́̋̐ṫ̸̝̫͈̑̀̀̎̽͜͝h̷̡͎̮̭̫͎͙͉̪͓̄͜͜E̶̪̲͍͕̻̐̓̄̐̑̍̏͘͝͠ ̷̧̘̩̩͕̣̱̠͋͂͋̿́̋̑̿͐O̷̧̪̬̰͋̈͛̈̇͒̄͛̑͒͐̍̚͜͝͝N̵̢͔͘ę̷͕̲͇̟̗͔͊͒̓́̾
̵̯͎͎̝̫͚̼͕̞͔̖͑̃̏͌̓͌͆̏̀͘͝Y̵̨̨͔͈̦̺̼̤̯͙̯̮̜͆̀͐́̒̕ơ̷̜̣̳̹̪̹̐̓Ư̴̱͔̅̾̓̈́̒̿̀̑͆́̅̕͝͝ ̸̘͓͙̗̪̺̼̳͍̅͌ͅS̵̮̟̖̫̼̘̩̞͎̤̱͚͙͌͑ͅḙ̸̛̝͇̟̼̝͌͒̆͆̔̎̋̆̉̋ͅȆ̷͖͔̻̞̙̼̟͎͙̯͓̄̽̔̾͛̈́͒̐̓͗̿͜͠k̷̰̻̜͊̈́̔̃͂̀̑
̸̦͍̫͎͇͎̦̦͗̾̉̌̒̏̕͝
̸̲̤͚̓̃̇̀̍͋̇̔̀̒̾̈͠͝m̴̖̺̭̻̾̀͌͑͊̌̏̇̐͛̚͜͠͝A̵̢̡̢̛̛̰̼̹̓̓ͅK̴̞̝̤̓̀̏͌́̇̈̌̐̐̎͋e̶̩͙̪͉͍͉̟̭̘͛͒̈̀̌͋͐͐̎͌̄͂̕͠ ̵̣͎̰͍̘̺̙͔̥̯͕̬̈́̅͐͒̈́̆̓̇̉̈́̈́̓a̴̧̧̛̠̠̼͚̭̖̮̽̓̆̽̊͗̌̒͋͜ ̷͕̺̬̫͈͖̯̳͚̱̺͈̤̻̔v̷͓͖̙̦͖̘̦̈́Į̶̢̣͕̝̜̫͉͖̹̳̼́̋̃̐͂̇̔̏̇̌̓͒͘͜͜͜͝s̸̢̨̝͎͎̗̯̪̱̯̊́̌̌í̴̬͇́͊̓͗̑̆̑̿͆̎̊͂T̴̩̦̰̩͛̇ ̸̡̢̧̘͓̤͕̮̹̥̀̎̐̉ẗ̶̙̺͔̗̳̦̞͚́̆̒̈̈́̐̓̌͘͠O̸̢̡̨̢̯̙͓͙͚͓͊̓̍̑̃̅̇͆̏̕͘͠͝͝ͅ
̸̪̪̫̙̱͇̲̆̈̄͒͌̈̈̍̐͂̅̾̚͘ř̷̞͖̞̟̭̻̜̯̉͋̽̿̍̓͐̐̈͑̈́̽̆͝e̶̢̢͍̭͈̯̖̺̘̬̳̦͆͂̔̌̒̈͗̐̓̔̂̏̕D̵̛͎̭̯̦̹̲̪̫͔̲͖̋̇̓̈́͒͗̉͗̚͠͝ ̴̛̣̦̣̱̩̞̈́͋̆̑̓͒̕w̷̧̡̞̞̦͈̼͗̆̈́̈̾͜Į̷̨̻̺̣̠̬̪͉͉̦̗̺̈̀̔̈́͑̉͘̕̕n̷̬̯̙̗̣̖̩̲̞̞͖͒̑͒̌̍͋̾̈́̇̂͛͌̆͌͝ͅG̴̨͙̦͈͖̭̞̫̺͉͂̆́͑̕͜s̸̡̧̜̞̘̤̺̖̙͕̳̼̕ͅ
̶̢̢̛͈͉͉̺͇͙̪̤͔͙̺̩̍͋̉̊̀͑͛̚̚͘͝Ṕ̷̣̻̗̙̮͕̟̺̝̩͈͖͛̂̀̐͋͜E̴̛̮̫̰̝͑̋̍̾͌̀̾̌̑̈́ą̵͉̬̦͍̘̐̐̇̾̈͑̀͘̚͜͝k̸̭͉̲͋̈́̈͐̐̇̆̃

He couldn't make it out... But there were words jumbled up between the cryptic messages.

His consciousness began to fade away...
He tried to take one last glance at his older sister before darkness came to take him...

But all he was met with...

Was a glowing book...

Daniel opened his eyes to find multiple familiar dragon faces looming over him.

"Oh thank moons... He's alive" he heard someone say.

Daniel was still too dazed to understand what was happening or what just happened to him. But one thing was for sure.

He was back in Phyrria and most importantly...

He was alive...

Chapter Text

Daniel slowly raised his head to look at his friends.

"Hey dude... You alright?" Qibli asked. He looked a lot better from the last time Daniel had seen him. He wasn't shivering anymore and seemed more confident.

'I guess he's back to normal' Daniel thought happily and relieved.

He looked around at his surroundings. It appeared to him that he was back inside the cave. Dark rocky walls greeted wherever he looked, except for the right, which was the exit to the desert.

The rest of the Jade Winglet stared at him with worried faces. Moon was standing back a bit, watching from a distance. As was Peril... For obvious reasons.

Winter was towards the left side of the cavern. He was staring at a wall trying to make the others believe he wasn't looking but Daniel spotted him taking occasional glances at him.

Turtle was nowhere to be seen however so he turned his attention to Kinkajou and Qibli who were staring intently as they tried to talk to him.

"Ummm, Hello? Hurricane... You there?" Kinkajou asked

Daniel, however, ignored them. Not offering to even speak. This was for two reasons:

1. He was still trying to gain his Barings at what had just happened to him...

2. He had more important matters to think of... Like those cryptic whispers and...

'my sister...' Daniel thought... Remembering what he had seen. He didn't know if it was real, but soon his eyes shot open as he got up quickly.

"Hey!... Hey... You okay?" Qibli said, a little startled at his sudden movements.
Winter had also turned to stare at him. Intrigued by what was happening.

Daniel didn't say anything. He was too busy Putting puzzle pieces together, in the jigsaw board of his mind.

'The book...' Daniel pictured the scene. He took his eyes away from his sister for a split second... And then... She was gone... Nothing but a glowing book was left on the ground. It made no sense...

'How would she disappear Unless... She didn't. Unless she was taken somewhere else... Like I was. And if that's the case...
It means... MY SISTER IS ALSO IN PHYRRIA!'

Daniel was snapped out of his daze and bolted for the cave entrance. His mind was racing too fast to make rational choices.

"Woah! Slow down!" Kinkajou yelled.
"You're not fit to fly yet!"
Daniel ignored her, he flapped his wings and leapt off Into the sky taking a sly glance at his friends as he whipped past. He managed to spot the expression on Moon's face as he left.

Her eyes were wide open. But not in a state of shock... It was more like a state of realisation... Like she had just cracked the code to something.

Daniel didn't give it a thought. He needed to find his sister.
'Don't worry Charlotte... I'll find you.'

- - - - - 15 Minutes later - - - - -

The cave disappeared into the distance as he kept flying. Nothing but sandy dunes were in sight.

The sun was coming up again Daniel noticed, that a warm bright light could be seen in front of him. That was a good sign, he was going the right way.

Soon his stomach began to grumble... He just realised how hungry he was.

'Damn... When was the last time I ate?' Daniel thought... He didn't eat at Jade Mountain or when he was travelling with the Jade Winglet. And he didn't eat at Barren's house either... Meaning that he hadn't eaten at all ever since he entered Phyrria.

'How am I not dead yet?...' Daniel pondered. No human would ever last this long without food.
'But I'm not human... Not anymore at least.'

Either way, he was starving and he needed to find food soon. Luckily for him, he spotted the ocean not too far in the distance.

'I could probably fish for some food there' Daniel thought optimistically.

He kept flying for a bit longer. However soon the reality of the situation started to hit him.
He didn't have a plan or any idea on how to find his sister... And maybe bolting out of a cave... away from the only dragons who could help him may have been a bad idea.

'It's too late to go back though...' Daniel thought. 'I'm on my own from now on, it's better off this way anyways... At least they won't have to deal with the fact that they live in a made-up world.'

Daniel reached for his pouch to pull out Barren's map, only to feel nothing there.

"Wait...!" Daniel panicked as he fumbled around his scales. His bag wasn't on him.

'Did I drop it somewhere? No... Now that I think about it... I don't think I had it on me when I left... So it's back at the cave...' Daniel thought.

"DAMMIT!" Daniel screamed. His voice echoed into the distance... He doubted anyone heard him though.

"Well... I should at least get something to eat before thinking about my next move." Daniel said to himself.

He didn't even notice that he had already made it to the beach.
Daniel swooped down to the sand as he stared out towards the ocean.
It sparkled with sunlight as the sun rose behind it.
Immediately the picture of his parents came to mind and thus his sister. The rest of his family...

He couldn't hold back his tears. His head bent down... He cried.

'My parents... Are dead... and my sister... I might never see her again...'

However, his sobbing was interrupted when his stomach grumbled again.

'OH JUST SHUT UP ALREADY, I WAS HAVING A MOMENT!' Daniel screamed at his body which retorted with another grumble from his stomach.

Daniel sighed and walked out to the ocean in hopes of finding some fish.
The water was quite warm surprisingly and wasn't freezing like Daniel expected it to be.

'Well, I am right next to a scorching desert... Sooooo, makes sense honestly'

Daniel searched the shallow ocean for any possible prey. Usually, there wouldn't be any on earth since people at the beach would normally scare all the fish away.

It took a few minutes of wandering but eventually, Daniel spotted his target. A medium-sized fish, maybe around the size of his talon in length.

'Perfect, dinner for tonight...' Daniel grinned with hunger.

He needed to be quiet though. The fish didn't expect anything at the moment but Daniel would lose it for sure if he rushed.

Slowly he made his way towards the fish. Making sure to drag his talons across the and floor instead of stepping as that would alert the fish and possibly lose him his meal.

The fish was now within his reach he just had to be fast.

Daniel raised his talons and prepared to stab the fish through its eyes. According to YouTube's harpoon hunting videos that's where you want to aim for.

The fish was unsuspecting and angled itself in the perfect position for Daniel's claw to pass Right through it.

However right when he was about to catch the fish a seagull came out of nowhere and scooped up the fish for itself before flying away.

It dropped the fish midway through as it was too heavy for it to carry but that didn't matter to Daniel as the seagull had just earned itself a death wish.

"Oh... NO YOU DON'T!" Daniel yelled as he shot multiple insulting remarks at the plump white bird who was flying away.

Daniel caught up to it and grabbed it by its throat. The seagull gave a surprised squawk as it tried to escape Daniel's grasp.
Daniel drived the bird's head into the sand which killed it on impact.

"That's what happens when you try to steal someone else's food... You become the food." Daniel spat at the lifeless bird before he set it ablaze.

'Well, I should probably set up camp for the night' Daniel thought.

He left the sizzling bird on the ground. As he looked for a good place to set up.

He spotted an area near the beach/desert boarder.
There was like a miniature cliff about four to three meters in height before the beach began. It would work well as a base for his little hut.

'Hmmm, I could probably dig a makeshift cave for myself. And other dragons won't spot it from above... PERFECT!' Daniel beamed.

"Well... Better get to work..."

- - - - - Back with the Jade Winglet - - - - -

"So you're telling me... That he just... Left?" Turtle said unconvinced

"Yep... However, he did end up leaving his pouch behind with him. Although Winter isn't letting anyone touch it." Peril said, gesturing to the Icewing who was sitting in a corner, covering the Pouch in front of him.

"Hey! He wouldn't want us going through his stuff!" Winter snapped

Peril simply rolled her eyes at his remarks.

"Okay... So do we at least know why he left?" Turtle asked

"Nope," Kinkajou said

"Me and Kink were taking care of him after you and Peril brought him back here, brutally beaten up. Qibli said before adding. "As well as... Her.." gesturing to The strange Dragon who had been found next to Daniel.

Turtle looked at the dragon they had brought back along with Hurricane.

She appeared to be a Sandwing-Icewing Hybrid. They didn't know her name or anything about her much. She was quietly chilling out in a corner.

Since she couldn't move much and definitely couldn't fly, Peril had placed a small ring of flaming rocks around her to:

1. Keep her warm so she would heal up faster.

2. Keep her from leaving so they could question her about what happened when she eventually decided to speak.

Turtle remembered what happened...

Peril and him were out looking for Hurricane after what looked like some sort of sand twister was seen in the distance towards where he was.

When they flew over they found the aftermath of what happened. Blue and red blood was painted all over the area and two bloodied dragons lay in the center.

He had healed Hurricane with his enchanted healing stone however, he decided to simply wait with the other dragon as he didn't know how dangerous she was. They were both still badly injured internally so they decided to take them both back, despite the other's protests.

At first, she looked like an Icewing until it was revealed that she was just soaked in blue blood and that she was actually a hybrid.

They didn't know much about her other than the fact that she was in a fight with Hurricane. What gave this away was the mix of blue and red blood on each other's scales and claws, as well as the obvious claw cuts and slashes.

"Hey Turtle, don't daze off on me" Qibli snapped, which ended up bringing him back to the present.

"Right. Sorry..." Turtle said before he turned to look at Moon.

She was sitting quietly in a corner, avoiding any conversation on the topic.

"You've been awfully quiet Moon... Something wrong?" Qibli asked as he walked up to Moon.

Turtle noticed Winter in the back staring at the scene. He had a mix of sadness and anger on his face. Which could only be described as jealousy.

"How odd..." Turtle whispered to himself. He was however interrupted by Moon before he could go talk to him.

"Hey... Guys..." Moon said a little worried.

"Yeah, what's up?" Peril asked as Kinkajou, Turtle, and Winter switched their attention to her.

"I-I" Moon started before pausing... "... I can't do this...." she said as she curled up in a ball. Sobbing quietly.

"Hey... Hey... It's alright Moon...." Qibli said trying to comfort her...

"Yeah! You can tell us!" Kinkajou exclaimed happily.

"N-no... You'll all hate me... If I do..." Moon said.

"Why would we hate you?" Qibli asked concerningly

"Because you just will, if I tell you..." Moon said her voice so soft it was barely audible.

"It's you're secret... Isn't it..." Turtle said the rest of the JW turned to look at him.

Moon nodded...
"Remember what Hurricane said?"

"A friend group without secrets is a friend group more likely to stay together" Qibli finished...

"Exactly... So I wanted to tell my secret now... But... I don't know if I can..." Moon sobbed. A small tear fell from her eye.

"Well in that case... It would probably be a good idea..." Qibli said. "Alright, guys! Huddle up, it's time we each shared our secrets!"

Winter immediately piped up.

"NO! I'M NOT DOING THAT!" He yelled back at Qibli.

"Remember... You agreed to it at Jade Mountain... With all of us."

"B-But-" Winter started

"No Buts," Qibli interrupted "Get your Icy butt over here!"

Winter slightly blushed at Qibli's remark before eventually heading over and taking a seat in the circle.

"Alright, now that we're all here I'll be the one to start us off."

Everyone looked at him intently.

"Okay... Wow, this is a lot harder than I thought..."

"Exactly! So how about we all just lea-" Winter tried to talk Qibli out of it.

"Nu-uh," Qibli said putting a talon over Winters Snout.

Winter's face immediately cooled down as a deep blue blush was present on his face. Luckily no one could see it due to Qibli covering it.

"We're doing this.. alright," Qibli said sternly.

"So as I was saying..." Qibli started... "If I'm being honest I don't have too many secrets but I'll spill them"

"My family was extremely abusive towards me, to the point where I would eventually have anxiety over being 'ordinary' so I wanted everyone to like me"

The rest of the Jade Winglet was speechless...

"Is that true... Qibli" Kinkajou asked. Her scales turned a blue-grey colour.

"Yeah it's true..." Qibli admitted

"I'm so sorry..." Moon said

"It's fine it's the past anyway, Qibli added. "That's it I'm pretty sure"
He flashed the group one of his bright smiles.
Which made Winter's heart rate pick up a bit.

"Well I guess I'll go next" Peril interjected.

"I'm just going to state it how it is... I... Was never given any true love or friends when growing up so... I don't know what friends are supposed to be like and still don't. I don't know what affection is."

"I actually liked killing back in the arena... Because... It was the only thing I could do right..."

"I'm Sorry that you never experienced true affection before" Turtle stated.

"Same here..." Kinkajou piped up...

"Thanks, guys..." A small tear left Peril's eye but it evaporated instantly.

"I'm sorry you're childhood wasn't great..." Winter said, this surprised Peril since she thought Winter hated her. So for the first time in a while... It really put a smile on her face.

"My turn I guess," Kinkajou spoke.

"I was taken and experimented on by Nightwings for a while"

Moon flinched at Kinkajou's words. It was clear she regretted what her tribe did to her clawmate.

"Oh... And ImayormaynothaveacrushonTurtle" Kinkajou said quickly while turning a bright pink. Turtle stood there, a red blush creeping its way across his snout.

"O-oh... Uhmm," Turtle stuttered.

"Just go and kiss her already! " Peril exclaimed as Qibli pushed Turtle towards Kinkajou.

"Woah! Hey!" Turtle said as he toppled over and Into Kinkajou.
Turtle landed on top of her, snouts almost touching...

"Oh... Hey... Kinkajo-" Turtle started. However, Kinkajou made the first move and kissed him right on the snout.
When they broke apart Turtle just stared... baffled, while Kinkajou and the others laughed at his almost crimson face.

"Well, that was something," Winter remarked.

"You said it!" Qibli laughed, nudging Winter's wing with his own. This caused Winter's already very light Blush to deepen quickly. However, he wasn't as lucky as last time since Kinkajou saw this and immediately called it out.

"Ooooh! Looks like Winters got a crush~" Kinkajou mocked.

"Shu-shut up!" Winter retorted as he looked away from his friends in an attempt to hide his almost navy blush from them and most especially... His crush right next to him.

"Oh, C'mon Winter, tell us who's the lucky girl?" Qibli said in a pleading voice.

"It's nobody!" Winter turned to his friends still trying to hide his blush.

"Three moons, whoever it is... He's fully in love with them" Peril laughed.

"Don't worry guys... He'll have to tell us when it's his turn to speak" Kinkajou smirked.

"Well, I guess I'll go next then..." Turtle said, clearing his voice...

"Well... I'm an animus..." Turtle said, shrugging nonchalantly. This instantly caught everyone's attention. Especially Qibli's

"Wait really!" Qibli Beamed.

Turtle nodded in response.

Winter was giving him a sceptical look. "What are some of the things you've enchanted" He asked. Not fully convinced by Turtle's words.

"I see you're not convinced..." Turtle said.

"Can't exactly blame us" Moon blurted "I Mean... Would we be able to see you cast an enchantment?"

Turtle didn't want to cast a spell in fear of losing his soul... But maybe a small one wouldn't be too bad.

He took off his Skyfire armband.

"I enchant this armband to always point to Hurricane's current location"

The bracelet suddenly fell to the ground and began to shake violently, Eventually coming to a stop and locking in place in the air.

"Does that prove it?" Turtle asked hopefully
As he looked from the still floating bracelet to his shocked friends...

"That definitely proves it..." Winter said

"Wow! You're actually an animus! THAT'S AMAZING, could you be able to enchant me something to make people like me? OOh! ooh! Or how about my something to make me fly faster than Hurricane that would be so cool!" Qibli was constantly sending a barrage of requests at Turtle who was clearly getting uncomfortable.

"Qibli-" Moon tried to say

"Not now Moon I'm in the middle of something" Qibli interrupted

Moon quieted down after what he said.
Peril and Winter were getting a bit mad while Kinkajou just looked at Turtle with an 'I'm sorry' look

"Qibli you should stop" Kinkajou tried however Qibli either ignored her or didn't notice as he was continuing with his possible request for enchantments.

This angered Winter. He stormed up behind him, grabbed his shoulder and pulled him away from Turtle.

"Or how abou- Woah!" Qibli said as he was pulled away from Turtle.
Winter stepped in front of him.

"What was that for?!" Qibli yelled, a little annoyed that his friend would just push him over for no reason.

"you know exactly what that was for!" Winter snarled

"Uhm, no I don't... Please elaborate" Qibli said a little angry now, but he kept his cool.

"You're oblivious aren't you?" Peril chimed in from the sides.

Now Qibli was confused... Had he done something wrong?"

"What do you mean?"

"What she means is that Turtle here just told you his biggest secret which is already hard to do. And the first thing you do is barrage him with enchanting requests for your own gain! LIKE WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU?" Winter Bellowed "DO YOU NOT CARE ABOUT HIS SOUL?"

Qibli looked around at his friends who all shared the same 'He's right' look, except for Turtle who was avoiding eye contact with him.

He soon realised that they were all right... He had been so obsessed with possibly getting an animus-touched object for himself that he had completely forgotten what it does to dragons.

"look Winter, I'm sor-" Qibli tried to apologise.

"Save it" Winter spat. "Apologise to Turtle, not to me... Think before you speak."

He was angry with Qibli at how selfish he could be when it came to animus magic, although a small part of his heart couldn't help but feel sorry for him.

Seeing Qibli so... Upset... made Winter want to support him, tell him it was alright. Soon he felt his cheeks cool down a bit as he realised, the thought of him with Qibli had brought his blush back. He sat back down before anyone could notice it again.

"Let's just get this secret stuff over and done with..." Winter said to everyone as he walked off back to his spot.

"Agreed," Kinkajou and Peril said.

Turtle shot Qibli a hurt glance before sitting down next to Kinkajou.

Qibli didn't say anything and returned to his spot next to Winter, regret marked across his face.

"Well... Who's next?" Kinkajou asked

"Winter and Moon" Turtle answered.

Winter and Moon's hearts picked up knowing that it was their turn soon.

"I'll go" Moon blurted. She took a deep breath... And prayed to the moons above that she wouldn't regret this.

"I'm... A.... Mind reader....." She dipped her head down in case anyone yelled at her. But nobody did... until someone yelled her name.

'MOOOOON!'

Moon immediately covered her ears from the sudden shout. She eventually looked up at everyone else who was staring at her like she was just joking around, Except for Winter who had a shocked face on.

"So it's true..." Winter said.

Moon nodded...

Winter was fueled with rage for a bit and was about to lash out when he remembered what happened with Qibli...
He just barely managed to contain himself although he wasn't happy in the slightest...

"Why didn't you tell us..." Winter asked as casually as he could, though there was plenty of rage behind his calm words.

"I-I'm, sorry... I didn't think you would trust me after I did..." Moon sobbed.

"Well, how can we! If you've been in our minds! You're like Hurricane! You probably already knew all our secrets..." Winter yelled.

The others looked at Moon, now understanding that she was serious...

Winter stared angrily, his mind running faster than Qibli's for a short matter of time. Although, he was sure Moon was reading his every thought...

"I know you hate me... But you need to understand..." Moon tried to reason.

"WELL, I DON'T! YOUR TRIBE SAID THE POWERS WERE ALL LIES! WERE THEY LYING ABOUT THAT TOO?" Winter bellowed, unable to contain his rage.

Moon started to cry as Qibli got up in an attempt to calm Winter down. He had to return the favor for what he did for him.

"Winter..." Qibli said.

"WHAT!" Winter yelled.

Qibli put both of his front talons on his shoulders and stared into his eyes. "Calm. Down."

Winter's rage died down as he stared back at Qibli, their snouts were almost touching...
It was too much for Winter to handle, his heart started to beat faster and if he didn't calm his feelings down he didn't know what would happen.

Lucky for him, Turtle came and broke them apart before Winter got too ahead of himself.

"I think you should apologise Winter..." Turtle said in a soft voice. However, he was also hoping that Qibli would pick this up and apologise to him.

"Right..." Winter sighed. He walked towards Moon who was being comforted by Kinkajou.

"Hey... Moon..." Winter said as he settled down next to her.

Moon looked up but avoided eye contact.

"I'm sorry... For lashing out like that..." Winter apologised.

Moon looked at him and studied his face and mind.

"Thanks..." She finally said before turning her attention back to Kinkajou.

Winter turned around to see Qibli giving Turtle his apology which he accepted. It seemed like Qibli was back to his normal cheerful self, especially when he called out to the rest of the group.

"Alright! It's time for Mr icy face to spill his secrets"
Everyone giggled a bit at his remark.

"Ahh, I would have hoped you forgotten," Winter said

"Not a chance, love" Qibli joked in hopes of embarrassing him.

"No. I can't, I can't worry you guys with my issues..." Winter said

"Oh come on Winter it can't be any worse than anyone else's secrets" Kinkajou begged

"Yeah! Like you're saying it's worse than my mind reading or Turtle's animus powers?" Moon said questionably.

"Yes, well no, but still! I can't tell you..."

"Please..." Peril mocked "How bad can it be? You're from a royal family for moon's sake, if anything your problems are probably tiny compared to ours"

"And how would you know that?" Winter growled.

"OH COME ON WINTER YOU'RE STILL GOING TO BE LIKE THAT AFTER ALL THIS?!" Qibli bellowed

"FINE THEN!" Winter yelled

"I WAS NEVER LOVED BY MY PARENTS, THEY CALLED ME A DISGRACE. I WAS MENTALLY AND EMOTIONALLY ABUSED DAILY. I STILL AM. THEY LOVED MY PERFECT BROTHER AND WANTED ME DEAD..." he paused... "I'm not even considered a son to them... " Winter was crying... "and it only got worse ever since they found out who I loved."

"Happy...?" He curled up on the ground into a little icy ball of sadness.
Winter couldn't see anything but he was sure that everyone else saw him as a weakling now since they weren't saying anything.

In reality, everyone was completely shocked at what just happened.

They just stood there... They always thought Winter was treated well since he was royalty... They never expected... This...

"I'm so sorry Winter...." Turtle called out to him.

"Don't be, I don't need anyone's pity..." Winter said coldly, tears still running down his cheek as he got up. He was just passing by Qibli when he suddenly asked.

"Who do you love Winter?"

"Huh...?"

"Who do you love..? You said that the abuse only got worse ever since... Maybe if you told us we could help you...?" Moon said hopefully

"That's something you can't help with..." Winter replied a deep blue blush came over his snout... He didn't try to hide it.

"Maybe we can...? You know, get them to talk to yo-" Qibli said however he was
Interrupted by Winter when he passionately kissed him on the snout...

In front of everyone...

Chapter Text

The sun had begun to set leaving a bright orange glow to the sky above. Small crashing waves soaked the glistening sand on the shore. A few seagulls flew about, circling the ocean as they playfully squeaked remarks at one another.

Daniel was watching the beautiful scene in front of him from the inside of his makeshift cavern.
He had successfully dug a large enough hole in the wall to serve as a hut for as long as he needed.

He was able to fully stand up inside it and he had covered the floor in soft sand so it was more comfortable to lay down and relax. It could probably fit the whole Jade Winglet inside, it would be a little cramped but it would definitely work.

It took at least five hours to fully dig it out, another two to get rid of all the excess dirt by chucking it into the ocean and finally one more hour to decorate the inside with sand.

In total it took Daniel about eight whole hours of straight work to complete it.
Now he had just finished eating the roasted seagull he had brutally murdered earlier.
The bones of the bird lay in a small hole next to him.

"Well that was a good meal..." Daniel said to himself as he buried the remains of his delicious seagull delicacy.

He stared out as he saw the sun disappear beyond the ocean...

'Pantala is somewhere out there...' Daniel thought 'I wonder how they're doing? I mean... Wasp is probably still in charge...'
That sent a shiver down his spine... Knowing that that Lizard and Cottonmouth was still controlling everyone... Even Wasp...

'let's not think of that... According to the books it all works out in the end so its alright...'

Daniel walked out of his cave and took a look at the starry night sky...

'Wow... Now that... Is truly something gorgeous' Daniel thought at the beauty of Phyrrias night engulfed him.

The sun had just set so it wasn't fully dark however it was still a sight to see. While on earth stars wouldn't appear that early after sunset due to the light drowning them out.

However in Phyrria... For some reason the logic didn't apply as stars could still be seen as they glinted in the sunsets bright orange fade.

The orange blend was gradually becoming darker as the sun sank further below the horizon and more stars decided to come out of hiding.

'I need to take a fly... See what this is like higher up'

He lifted off into the air doing a few flips as he did so. The cool breeze whipped past his face and body as he continued to fly about.
Higher and higher he flew, the world below becoming smaller and smaller.

He eventually reached high enough to see the edge of he desert in the very far off distance. He never saw this before because the last times he came up here there were clouds blocking most of the view unlike today. He had come up to this height twice, once by himself, and once with Winter.

'Winter...' Daniel thought... It was only yesterday that Winter had called him his friend, which was truly an amazing achievement.

He suddenly, remembered the promise he had made made to Winter yesterday.... to never abandon him. And yet... The first thing he did the next day was run off without a word.

Daniel felt guilty, he had broken the one promise Winter gave him... In less then a days time.

'God... What kind of friend am I... To break a promise in less then a day..."
He sat there feeling bad for a while... The night had suddenly become cold. Clouds had begun to move overhead.

He looked out at the wide world of Phyrria in front of him. It was still a beautiful night, however the only thing Daniel felt at the moment was regret.

'it's decided... I'm heading back to the cave and the JW... I won't last long on my own, I need them...' Daniel thought.

The wind picked up and rain started to fall.

'First thing in the morning...' Daniel added mentally.

He flew back down to the shore and into his little cavern cubby.
The rain above picked up, Daniel shot a large blast of fire at the sand inside the cavern.

Due to the fact that he wasn't able to find anything flammable out in the desert, and his little stash of Desert willow was left in his bag back with the Jade Winglet, his only option for warmth was to scorch the sand and warm it up with fire.

I definitely wasn't ideal as the sand would just cool back down again in less then fifteen minutes, however it was the only thing that he could really do.

Daniel sped inside his now somewhat warm of a cave. The smell of cinder and smoke filled his nostrils for a few seconds before it died down.

Daniel laid down on his sandy bed, as he watch the droplets fall outside. There was always the slight fear that his cave would collapse on him in his sleep, especially during storms, but he would take the chance over not sleeping at all.

'It's going to be a cold night.' Daniel thought. Closing his weary eyes, the warmth of the sand relaxed the rest of his body as he began to fall into a deep sleep...

'First thing tomorrow... I'm going back...'

- - - - - With the Jade Winglet - - - - -

Winter was sitting in his cold, icy, corner of isolation... As usual.
He was carefully watching Hurricanes Pouch and was making sure nobody touched it.

He looked towards the rest of the group... Everyone seemed to be doing their own things:

Moon and Peril were talking with each other about something relating to how firescales came to be and how a dragon could possibly inherit them.. According to a scroll that Moon had once read in the library back at Jade Mountain.

"Really! Is that how it works?" Peril asked, she looked completely intrigued with Moons explanation.

"Yep! According to the scroll at least, who knows of it's right or wrong but it's the most realistic explanation, there's also evidence to back it up."

"Such as..." Moon started.

Winter stopped paying attention. He didn't really care much about the boring history of firescales. He didn't really care much for history at all. So he turned his attention to Kinkajou and Turtle.

Both dragons were happily cuddled up together as Turtle attempting to teach his girlfriend Kinkajou, how to read. However she mainly kept getting sidetracked, and overall wasn't learning much.
Although it looked like Turtle was just happy being as close to her as he was now, even if she wasn't learning.

"OH C'MON TURTLE" Kinkajou Whined, "We just left school and now you want me to go back to learning..."

"Yes Kinkajou you need to learn to read" Turtle responded.

"Buuut I don't want tooooo..." Kinkajou whined again "Can we at least just have a quick nap beforehand?"

"sigh... Fine" Turtle smiled. Immediately Kinkajou wrapped one of her small pink wings around him and settled down to sleep.

Turtle looked around the cave before giving her a quick peck on her forehead. He then settled down to sleep as well, still cradling her gently.

Winter had to look away at that point, not because he didn't like the fact that the were together. He actually was really happy for his friends and how they managed to get together. He had to look away because deep down he knew that he wouldn't find someone like that...

Small tears began to from however Winter managed to hold them back.

It's been at least four hours since He'd kissed Qibli In front of everyone. In reality he didn't mean to... It was just in the heat of the moment and he wasn't able to hold his feelings back.

He took a glance at Qibli who was sitting in his own corner of isolation. He was staring back at Winter but tried to play dumb when Winter looked over.

"Just amazing..." Winter whispered to himself. He placed his talons over his head and put his head on the solid stone floor.

"I can't believe I let myself do that... WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME!" Winter yelled aloud.

Kinkajou and Turtle were awakened by Winters sudden outcry.

"What happened?" Kinkajou said groggily, turning to Turtle for answers as she wiped her eyes with her talons.

Turtle was also just as groggy as Kinkajou but managed to shrug it off a bit easier then her.

"I'm not too sure" He replied as he looked around the cave for answers.

"It was Winter" Moon whispered to the sleepy couple. She didn't want to alert Winter that they were talking about him since it looked like he already had enough troubles in his mind. He didn't need another one.

"He just cried out of the blue and now is... Well..." Peril added as she gestured to what looked like a very depressed Icewing.

The rest of the Winglet turned to look at him, besides Qibli, who looked just as miserable in the opposite corner. They felt bad for them. They had a fight over Winters kiss.

Winter immediately blamed himself after he made his sudden action, and when Qibli tried to reason with him about how it wasn't wrong Winter came at him about how it was considering he knew about his crush on Hurricane.

However then it hit him that Qibli wanted that to be kept secret from the others for a little while longer and soon the discussion began to spiral out of control. Both boys shot multiple insulting remarks at one another until Qibli eventually said something he couldn't take back.

- - - - - Flashback - - - - -

Winter and Qibli parted the kiss after a few moments of tense silence. The rest of the group didn't know how to respond to what was happening in front of them. So they just stood there, wide eyed.

Qibli looked into Winters deep lapis colored eyes... A small red blush creeped across his snout. He didn't know if it was because he had just been kissed by his best friend or... Something else..

"So that's who you love..." Qibli said disbelievingly

Winter looked around at everyone else and soon realised what he had just done.

"OH MOONS!" Winter cried, he covered his mouth with his talon.

"Oh moons! Oh moons! Oh moons!..." Winter chanted.

"Woah... Hey calm down Winter, it's alright." Qibli said with one of his signature smiles.

"How is this alright... I- I Just kissed you!" Winter was panicking now, walking back and forth quickly, slowly breaking down...

"How is it bad? You're just expressing your feelings?" Kinkajou said from the side.

"Yeah, if anything you should be happy you finally got it off your chest Winter" Turtle added.

"No... You guys don't understand-" Winter said

"Then make us understand" Moon interjected.

"QIBLI ALREADY HAS A CRUSH OKAY! AND IT'S NOT ME!" Winter yelled. "Which means that it was wrong for me to do that... Do you understand now?"

Qibli looked at him, confused
"What do you mean I already have a crush?"

"Oh don't act dumb Qibli" Winter spat "I've seen the way you look at him, it's obvious."

"Who are you talking about!?" Qibli demanded, now a bit mad.

"You're really going to make me say it, in front of everyone? I wouldn't think you'd want them to know"

"Winter. I LITTERARLY HAVE NO IDEA WHO YOU'RE SPEAKING OF!" Qibli yelled.

"I'M SPEAKING OF HURRICANE! WHO ELSE?" Winter responded with the same volume.

Qibli fell silent. Now that he thought about it... He had to admit that he liked the red Skywing a little more then usual.

"See..." Winter said, his voice softer then before. "I told you... Plus he already knows anyway"

"Wait... How?" Qibli asked skeptically. "If I didn't even know until this moment then how would he know?"

"I told him" Winter stated flatly

"Winter! Why would you do that!?" Qibli shouted angrily.

"He was going to find out anyways considering how flat out you are!"

"BUT STILL! YOU DON'T DO THAT!"

The rest of the dragons present watched as Winter and Qibli continued to argue of who was right and who was wrong in the situation.

"Shouldn't we stop them..." Kinkajou asked

"No point, even if we tried they would just ignore us" Peril pointed out.

"We should at least do something? Right...? Moon are you able to hear what they're thinking?" Turtle asked curiously

"No... Their thoughts are so mixed up in the fighting that it's impossible to tell if they really mean anything that they're saying to each other." Moon said worriedly. "But what I can say... It that this won't end well.

And that was true as while the rest of the Jade Winglet spoke about trying to stop them they hadn't realised that the argument had already escalated to extremely tense levels.

"JUST SHUT UP QIBLI! YOU DONT KNOW WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT WHEN IT COMES TO MY MIND" Winter bellowed "I WISH YOU WOULD JUST STOP TRYING TO READ DRAGONS LIKE A SCROLL AND ACTUALLY BE A GOOD CLAWMATE!

"YEAH, WELL I WISH I NEVER HAD YOU AS MY CLAWMATE. ACTUALLY, I WISH I JUST NEVER MET YOU IN GENERAL!"

Winter froze at this statement, it reminded him the argument both of them had earlier. They had gotten over it quickly, but that was because Hurricane was there to help out and help sort things out. Not this time though...

Qibli suddenly also fell silent. He had done it again. He had made the same stupid mistake as last time, he had gone too far...

He looked up at Winters face. It was a mix of sadness and what looked like... Humor?

"Winter..." Qibli said softly... He was about to apologise when Winter started chuckling.

"Haha... So does everyone else Qibli..." Winter said...

These words made Qibli feel even worse. As he watched Winter walk away towards the back corner of the cave, he turned to his friends who avoided eye contact with him.

"What's wrong with me..." Qibli whispered to himself, as he walked to his own corner of the Cave, opposite to Winters.

- - - - - Back to Present - - - - -

"Um? Hello? Turtle... You there?" Kinkajou questioned, this snapped Turtle back from his Daydream and into reality again.

"Oh... Yeah, sorry was I day dreaming again?" Turtle asked a little embarrassed

"Yep..." Kinkajou replied,

"Right... Sorry"

"No it's fiiine... Plus it's cute~" Kinkajou teased

"O-oh shut up!" Turtle yelled, a bright red Blush forming on his face.

He turned his attention to his friends who were sitting in opposite corners of the cave. They both looked... Depressed, very depressed.

"Jeez... They must really regret what they said to one another" Kinkajou Said, her scales turning into a darker shade of blue

"Yeah" Turtle sighed... " Wait here, I'm going to go talk to them"

"Alright, good luck" Kinkajou flashed him a smile as he left.

walking towards the depressed dragons they both looked up at him. They weren't close to one another physically but they were still close enough to hear each other well

"What do you want Turtle?" Winter mumbled,

"I'm here to fix your friendship between you and Sandy over there" Turtle joked as he turned to look at Qibli in the corner. He had to admit it was actually kind of worrying seeing such a cheerful dragon look so dead inside.

"Don't Bother. All he has to say is how much of a jerk I am, which I already know, plus, he won't want to talk to me anyways"

Qibli was about to interject when he fell silent, knowing that Winter was right to some extent. Guess he also learned how to read Dragons like a scroll...

"Oh c'mon Winter! It's not that bad.. Right? You guys are best friends! For over a year if I must add. You can't end it now!"

"Correction Turtle..." Qibli suddenly interjected. "We were bestfriends...for over a year..."

"Moons! you guys are so stubborn, Just talk to each other! you can forgive and forget!" Turtle yelled

Turtle looked from Winter to Qibli, it was clear to tell they both blamed themselves for what happened and they still wanted to be friends.

However it was also clear that they both thought the other dragon hated them so they didn't try to speak or fix things as they thought it was a waste of time.

"Just leave us alone Turtle. Don't try and fix what can't be fixed" Winter spat before he turned away to go to sleep for the night.

Qibli just looked at turtle with sad eyes before heading off to sleep himself.

"Sigh...Hurricane would know what to do in this situation..." Turtle said to himself, he had to admit it was strange, he was able to understand both dragons as if he had already known them for years. He was able to make dragons who hated each other change into the best of friends within five minutes.

He was the only one who could fix this.

" Moons... Hurricane where are you when we need you..." Turtle whispered to himself.

Chapter Text

Daniel woke from his somewhat of a restful sleep. The smell of cinder had definitely died down a bit however there was still a small patch of it lingering in the air somewhere.

The sun rose in the horizon, sending waves of light which gleamed into the cavern, illuminating the inside before making its its way to a groggy Skywings face.

"Uhhggh" Daniel groaned as he rubbed his crusty eyes. He definitely did not get a good night's sleep but it would have to do as he needed to get back to the Jade Winglet.

"I definitely owe them an apology" Daniel whispered glumly.
'And an explanation...' His thoughts added.

He stepped outside the small cavern to an absolute wonder of a morning. The warm glow of the sun greeted his scales from just above the horizon. The fresh aroma of sand and sea salt made its way into his nostrils.

He took a deep breath in.... And out...
"Ah~..." Daniel sighed gracefully. "What a lovely morning"

He went over to the ocean boarder and stared at the surprisingly clear crystalline water in front of him. It was like staring through a liquid like glass.

He took a handful of seawater and splashed his face with it. Immediately his grogginess was gone and replaced with a soothing refreshing sensation.

He took a glance at the sky, some clouds had made their way overhead and would serve their purpose as a cover from the beating heat of the sun later on in the day. Especially during his gruelling flight back to the cave.

'If I can even remember which way it was...' Daniel thought, the realisation of his slight issue at hand hitting him like a bullet.

However Daniel soon ignored the slight worrying butterflies fluttering around in his stomach as he took off into the air above.

There wasn't much of a breeze so unfortunately Daniel couldn't fly as fast as he hoped, however, the scenery was quite nice.

He looked upon the vast shining desert before him. It was going to be a long journey back to his friends.
'But do they even see me as a friend anymore? I mean... I literally just flew off into oblivion without a second thought... And left them there...

"Abandoned..." Daniel thought aloud. "The one thing I promised Winter I wouldn't do..."

He continued flying for a few minutes, in deep silence... His mind was still slightly running with intrusive thoughts and whispers however he didn't pay much attention to them.

Still flying, there was no sign of the cave, only the golden glitters of sand scattered across the landscape.

'Still no sign of anything...' Daniel scowled 'Did I really fly that far?' Daniel pondered. It really didn't seem like that at the time. But then again... It wasn't like he was paying much attention, he was to busy thinking of the...

'Voices... Whispers... Cryptic sayings...' Daniel finished in his mind.

He had no idea what those voices were saying or even what they meant. He did manage to catch one saying in the bunch, 'Red Wings Peak...' Daniel repeated in his mind.

'The whispers mentioned a Red wings peak?' Daniel thought, puzzled. 'Maybe Barrens map could help me'

Instinctively he reached for the area where his little pouch would normally be only to feel his talon tap lightly on his underscales.

'Oh... Right...' Daniel remembered.

He kept flying all he could think about was the small bit of cryptic whispers he was able to understand. 'Red wings peak...'

It was the only thing he was able to really make out from the voices of his... Dream?... Vision? He didn't know what to make of it but one thing was for sure... Something about it felt... Real...

He looked down at is talons, the thought of his human body and life came to mind... Wearing branded clothes, playing games silently in his room, reading... He felt a a light pain of sadness and fear.

Fear that he may never return to his home or that he may possibly die here in Phyrria since he had already come face to face with death beforehand. A picture of the brutal battle between him and Star came into mind.

However what scared him the most wasn't the fact that he may be stuck here, that he may never have a proper home or that he even might die here... Never seeing earth again... It was the fact that... He began to believe that... Life on earth was unnatural, and that life as a mythical creature was... The way to be.

'S-shut up Daniel! What are you thinking!' Daniel yelled internally. 'Of course getting back to earth is the way to be! Look at yourself for your own sake! You're a monster! You don't want to be stuck like this for the rest of your life...' His Mind was now running a little with worry and uncertainty

'B-but... What if I do? What if I do want to stay a dragon...?' Daniel couldn't think straight. His mind was clouded with thoughts as two sides of his brain began to argue once again.

'This world. Is fake. You're in a book!'

'Yeah well, It doesn't seem very fake considering I'm currently living in it.'

' Everyone and everything here is just ink on paper, Get that through your thick skull!'

'Well they seem to have a conscious outside of the books. They aren't fake in this world'

'DANIEL! YOU ARE A HUMAN, NOT A DRAGON. HUMAN! YOU BELONG ON EARTH!'

'WELL WHAT IF I DON'T WANT TO BE HUMAN ANYMORE? BEING A DRAGON IS WAY COOLER AND PLUS I CAN FLY AND BREATH FIRE!

Daniel couldn't stop arguing with himself. On one hand he knew deep inside that this world was not meant for him and he needed to return to Earth. That was the whole point of all of this from the beginning.

But after seeing the amazing things he could do as a Skywing... He wasn't sure if he ever wanted to let go of it... Even if it meant saying goodbye to earth forever.

Daniel switched his attention to the glittering golden ocean below him as he tried to sound out his intrusive thoughts which seemed to have rooted themselves into his brain.

A headache had begun to form as the world around him began to spin once again. Daniel struggled to keep his balance in the air and as such was forced to land on the hot steaming grains of sand.

As his talons touched the ground he could immediately feel the scorching heat radiating off from the grains of sand below him across his entire lower body and underscales.

'Oh wow... It's hot..' Daniel thought, exasperated. 'well of course it it dammit, like, I'm in the desert for Moons sak-.'

Daniel stopped at his own words. Something was wrong. He wouldn't ever say moons... That's only something...

"Dragons would say" Daniel finished out loud.

He was losing his mind. It was being twisted... The longer he was in this world... the longer he was in his mythical realm... The more it changed...

His heart was thumping against his chest, his breaths were short and shallow. Fear. That's all that was there.

'There's no question anymore.... I need to leave this place...'

- - - - - Back at the cave - - - - -

The sun was just beginning to rise over the horizon when Star awoke from her sleep. She found It surprising that she slept so well. She hadn't slept that deep in moons knows how long.

She scanned the area around her, there were multiple dragons still deeply asleep. The burning rocks around her finally died out and now were nothing but a small patch of crumbled black dust.

She looked down at her claws which were still stained red. It was a miracle that she was still alive. She knew she should of died there, on the sand. She was only still walking because of these dragons generosity.

Even after she had nearly killed one of their friends they decided to being her back and decided to also treat her wounds as well. She owed her life to them.

Suddenly she spotted movement from her right and looked out to see one of the dragons awake, staring out at the sunset.

It was the Sandwing of the group, the one who always seemed cheerful, even in the worst possible situations.

Although now that she took a closer look at him she realised that he seemed kind of sad. Very far from the normal cheerful dragon he normally was. Did something happen while she was asleep?

Slowly Star got up on her four legs, they were extremely numb and she struggled to walk. She managed however. Stepping over the line of charred dust and made her way over to the Sandwing.

Qibli turned around at the sound of approaching talonsteps to see a strange dragon approaching him.

"Ummm, hi?" Star said awkwardly

"Hello..." Qibli returned her greeting with the same awkwardness.

Some of the morning birds were flying about in the sky. A warm layer of clouds loomed overhead to where they were standing as a bright ray of sunlight illuminated half of their faces.

They stood there, staring intently at each other for a little while before Star broke the silence settling down around them.

"Sooo, uh.. You seemed upset?" Star stuttered a little. "So I-uhh, decided to see if you were okay... Are you... Okay?"

Qibli eyed her skeptically for a brief moment before turning his attention back to the sunrise before them.
Refusing to answer her question.

Star stood there, a little annoyed at his silent response but kept her composure.

"Nice sunset..." Qibli said softly. He didn't feel as talkative today. Last night he had probably one of the, if not, most disturbing dreams of his entire life. And he remembered it... very clearly...

- - - - -

Qibli awoke... He wanted to apologise to Winter for yesterdays argument.
Now realising he was deeply in the wrong and that if he wanted to stay friends with him he needed to be the one who apologised. Not him.

But as he looked around he found that instead of a grey cave... There was simply nothing... Nothing but blaring silence and cold darkness.

A small light shone on him and it allowed him to see maybe a ten meter radius around him.

Anything after that it was too dark to see through. He was lying down on a cold black stone floor, some bits of white marble poking out here and there.

It gave off the illusion that he was walking on nothing, and it was quite unsettling to say the least.

'Where am I?' He wondered. Getting up and scanning the area in order to familiarise his surroundings and find a logical reason to the situation he was in.

Usually he was quite good at breaking things down in order to find solutions but when there was nothing to break down in the first place... Things got a little complicated.

"Hello...? Anyone there?" Qibli called out into the foggy void beyond the visible light source around him.

He waited a few moments, no response... However he just couldn't sake the feeling... That he was not alone. Someone or... Something... Was watching him.

He pivoted on the spot, in an attempt to catch his stalker off guard, although every time he did so... Something about the area changed.

What looked like strange tentacles made out of dark, foggy matter began to line the floor around him. But what made things worse... Was the fact that every second he wasn't watching them... They appeared to be moving closer...

That's when he heard a voice scream out. A young male voice, couldn't of been more then 5 years old, not quite an adult, but soon to be one.

"Help me!" The voice cried, the sound was drowned out by the darkness around him but it was clear that someone, somewhere in front of him needed help. And he was their only hope.

However... He couldn't do anything... Because in the suddenness of the situation he let his guard down and a dark tentacle wrapped around his tail. Pinning it to the ground.

'SHOOT!' Qibli cried internally.
Hs looked behind him, the restraint was hooked around his tail and rooted into the ground. He tried clawing at it only for them to pass right through.

It was like trying to cut water, however this 'water' had a very strong grip.
In the background of the chaos he heard something.

"ฬєɭɭ... เՇ ɭ๏๏кร ɭเкє ץ๏ย'гє เภ ợยเՇє Շђє קгє๔เςค๓єภՇ... ợเ๒ɭเ"

"W-What... Who said that!" Qibli yelled. Looking around frantically for the source of the sudden voice.

"๏ђ... ๔๏ภ'Շ ฬ๏ггץ ค๒๏ยՇ ๓є... ץ๏ย รђ๏ยɭ๔ ๒є ๓๏гє ฬ๏ггเє๔ ค๒๏ยՇ ץ๏ยгรєɭŦ"

"Show yourself!" Qibli snarled, as he stared into the darkness beyond his small bubble of light in search of any sign of movement.

"๓ץ... ๓ץ... ร๏ คﻮﻮгєรเשє..." the voice laughed... "ฬєɭɭ ยภŦ๏гՇยภคՇєɭץ เ'๓ ๔๏ภє Շคɭкเภﻮ, ภ๏ฬ ђ๏ɭ๔ รՇเɭɭ... Շђเร ฬเɭɭ ๒є ợยเՇє קคเภŦยɭ"

Soon three of the black tentacles appeared I front of him... Four more wrapped around his limbs, going around his legs and up around his stomach.

"What are you doing!" Qibli cried desperately.

The voice didn't answer him the tentacles drew closer. He couldn't stop them... He couldn't do anything... Except watch.

Without warning the tentacles shot forwards, one of hem shooting into his mouth and down his throat while the other two lodged themselves inside both his eyes.

Qibli couldn't scream... The tentacle in his throat denied it, they squirmed and slithered like snakes inside his body.

It was total agony... He felt the life being sucked out of him, he couldn't cry, or react in any possible way and he couldn't close his eyes either.

His view of what was happening was worse then what he was feeling. The tentacles felt like sand rolling around his eyes and into his brain system.

However... Soon began the worst part of them all... The voices... whispers... Circling in his mind like parasites. He couldn't drown them out.

IƬ'ƧMΣIƬ'ƧMΣIƬ'ƧMΣIƬ'ƧMΣIƬ'ƧMΣIƬ'ƧMΣ

ƬΉΣYDӨП'ƬПΣΣDYӨЦ! YӨЦ'ЯΣBΣƬƬΣЯӨFFDΣΛD!
KIᄂᄂƬΉΣM! KIᄂᄂƬΉΣM!

K I ᄂ ᄂ. . . Ή I M. . .
An image of a bloodied Hurricane appeared in his mind. He wasn't in control anymore, his thoughts had been overrun by the darkness.

"AHHGGHH!" Qibli muffled a screamed. Despite the tentacle lodged through his mouth and Into his stomach. Although he was able to make some noise.

It hurt like nothing he had ever felt before, believe it or not, it was worse then his family constantly abusing him in the scorpion den...

"คฬฬђђ เร ร๏๓є๏ภє ภ๏Շ єภן๏ץเภﻮ Շђє๓รєɭשєร? ՇђคՇ'ร Շ๏๏ ๒ค๔... เ ฬคร קɭคภภเภﻮ ๏ภ ђคשเภﻮ ร๏ ๓ยςђ Ŧยภ ฬเՇђ ץ๏ย..." The voice mocked as the tentacles quickly whipped out of Qibli's body...

He fell to the ground... The restraints had finally let him go but he was in too much pain to even take a step forward.

An incredibly bad headache had formed and his eyes felt like they had just been pulled out of their sockets and placed back inside again.

He closed his eyes for what felt like the last time... But before he lost consciousness to his pain he heard one last whisper from the unknown voice.

"ฬєɭς๏๓є Շ๏ ๓ץ ฬ๏гɭ๔... ợเ๒ɭเ..."

- - - - -

"Hey... Are you okay?" Star asked concerningly. He just realised he had been staring at her for moons knows how long.

"O-oh... Yeah I'm alright!" Qibli answered a little too quickly. It earned him a skeptical stare from Star but she didn't question him.

"Uh, I'm going to take a quick fly... Maybe catch some breakfast for us later" Qibli said in an attempt to get out of the conversation.

"Oh, okay... I'll just chill in my corner I guess, the name's Star by the way!" she smiled.

"Qibli" Qibli stated, reacting with one of his own smiles. "It was nice meeting you! I'll be back soon."

Qibli took off into the sky. The sun shone on him as he trie to mimick some of Hurricanes flying tricks. Of which he completely failed.

Qibli tried to do one of Hurricanes tricks where he would fly upside-down next to the floor.

Although he failed miserably since he wasn't able to keep his balance and nearly crashed headfirst into the sand below.

He was able to quickly recover and flip right side up and was in a decent position when he did end up crashing Into a sand dune.

Luckily he was just fine. Getting up he noticed there was a small lizard next to next to a patch of cacti.

"Well I guess I found my breakfast." Qibli thought happily. He was still a bit shook from his recent nightmare however he did have to admit that Star had managed to comfort him a little.

"Huh... Kind of like Hurricane..." Qibli said, his face heating up very slightly the more he thought of the bright... Red... Handso-

"WOAH! Let's not get too far ahead of ourselves Qibli" He said to himself. "You don't even know if he likes you back... Plus there's also Winter to think about"

Qibli was caught up in his thoughts, he Shook his head in an attempt to drown them out.

"ՇђคՇ ฬ๏ภ'Շ ฬ๏гк..." Voice suddenly spoke to him.

Qiblis eyes shot open. He didn't just hear a voice... Did he...? No he couldn't have... He was awake after all and it was just a dream. Qibli peered around at the landscape.

"Nothing suspici-" Qibli started... That was.. Until a black blur whipped past in his peripheral vision.

He turned quickly in hope to finally catch his stalker only to find nothing. Nothing but a small tumbleweed rolling away form him in the distance.

"ภ๏๒๏๔ץ'ร Շђєгє ợเ๒ɭเ... ๏г... ๓คץ๒є Շђєгє เร... ฬђ๏ кภ๏ฬร..." The voice repeated in his head just as more Shadows jumped around in Qibli's peripheral vison however as soon as he turned... There was nothing there.

Quiet echoing laughter could be heard all around him... As if he was surrounded by little dragonets...

However he was all alone... Yet the laughing didn't stop it only got louder.

Louder and louder. Qibli's world began to spin and as he looked around... The world began to shift and flicker different colors.

Fist the sky, then the sand, and before he knew it, his own scales too. Each passing second the world would become more distorted... Almost as if it was... Breaking... cracking... Glitching...
Yet the laughing didn't stop.

Qibli couldn't take it anymore.
"WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME!" Qibli cried out. Uncontrollable tears seeping out from his eyes.

Covering his ears, he tried to silence the sound to no luck. He closed his eyes and screamed the loudest he'd ever screamed before he was sure the whole of Pyrrhia would hear him.

Suddenly... the laughing stopped. Qibli was scared to open his eyes but he did so anyways.

He looked up. A mix of surprise, fear, and uncertainty loomed over him. He was no longer in the middle of the desert anymore. He was now in the Scorpion den.

It was now the middle of the night... Or that's what it looked like. Qibli Didn't know what to belive anymore. One second he was just going to get some breakfast for him and the rest of the group. The next he was... Well he didn't know how to explain it.

But he's somehow in the Scorpion den late at night and It was pouring down with rain.
For some reason he was wearing a dark black cloak, kind of like the ones his family wore on assassinations, however instead of just covering his face and a bit of his back, it covered his entire body.

You wouldn't of been able to know what kind of dragon he was with a cloak of this demeanour.

The town he grew up in hadn't changed much since he last left with Queen Thorn to the Palace. It left His grandfather, Vulture in charge of the place however, and as such he saw it seemed a little more dangerous the usual.

Suddenly he heard crying from behind him, Qibli expected to see nothing or some wild out of this worldly being based on what had just happened. However, nothing could of prepared him for the reality of what he saw.

Two dragons were knelt down on the ground, surrounding a larger Sandwing. They both had Dragon skull tattoos on their necks and it was a dead giveaway to who they were.

It was his siblings, Sirocco and Rattlesnake. They both were wearing the family's signature black hoods around their necks.

As Qibli took a closer look he realised that they were both crying. Now this got his attention instantly as he had never seen them cry before, not even after they came back to the house broken and bloodied from the occasional street fight.

"HOW COULD YOU DO THIS!" Rattlesnake screamed as she held the hand of the collapsed dragon. "HOW COULD YOU KILL HER!"

"Sure! she wasn't the greatest dragon... But that's no reason... To..." Sirocco sobbed sadly, tilting his head downwards.

Qibli took a step forward. He had gotten over the fear of his siblings a while back and for a very long time didn't feel anything for them... But seeing them so upset... It scared him and worst of all... Made him feel sympathy for them...

Qibli shook his head, he didn't know how to respond to this. For years he had always had constant thoughts, words and ideas ruining through and out of his mouth and mind. But... For the first time in what felt like years... He was truly speechless...

Taking another step towards them he eyed the dragon they were cradling with such emotion. His eyes widened when he finally saw who it was...

His mother... Cobra. Was on the cold ground... Lifeless. A large gash pierced her neck from one side to the other.
No doubt... she was killed by a blade. Someone had managed to assassinate her.

Suddenly screaming was heard in the distance. Qibli turned around only to find large raging fires engulfing the town.

Dragons took to the sky in an attempt to escape the chaos.
In the distance Qibli spotted his Grandfather, Vulture. Unmistakable dragon skull tattoos lined the older Sandwings scales.

In front of him was another dragon. He was wearing a cloak, almost identical to the one Qibli had on as well. The mysterious dragon was clutching what was a weapon Qibli had never seen before.

It was a compact metal rod with what appeared to be a hooked blade towards the end of it. A large ring could be seen at the bottom of the handle, looped around one of the Hooded dragon's claws.

Soon however the Hooded Dragon turned to stare at Qibli, a large manic smile crept across the dragons face. He couldn't tell who it was due to the cloak they were wearing but he couldn't find out as soon the fires around him blocked the line of sight between them.

The raging fires burned Qibli's scales on his neck as he fell back on the sandy and Stoney footpath.

Qibli began to breath fast and heavy, hyperventilating almost.
"No this isn't real..." Qibli whispered softly... He knew his mother wasn't dead. She was the greatest assassin he knew, there's no way someone could of killed her. And he refused to believe that the scorpion den was on fire.

Tears began to form again however remembering what just happened to him some minutes ago he held them back... His neck was burned severely. It was in a good amount of pain and Qibli knew it was going to leave a scar.

"No... This isn't real, it's fake. My Mother is alive and well, some puny assassin couldn't of Killed her." Qibli said sternly. The image of the hooded dragon came to mind. Something about them looked familiar... But he just couldn't put his claw on it.

The voice in his head returned
"ђ๓๓, ร๓คгՇєг Շђє Շђє คשєгคﻮє ๔гคﻮ๏ภ เ รєє," The voice in his head replied slyly.

" Yeah. I Know my mother isn't dea-" Qibli started. However he was interrupted by the voice.

"ภ๏ภ๏ภ๏..." The voice chuckled. "เ ๓єคภ ՇђคՇ ץ๏ย'гє гเﻮђՇ ค๒๏ยՇ ร๏๓є ครรครรเภ ภ๏Շ ๒єเภﻮ ค๒ɭє Շ๏ кเɭɭ ђєг..."

"I know my mother, she's not dead!" Qibli yelled. His heart rate picking up again. Now uncertain of what was actually happening as the cracking of fire whipped around him.

"เ'๓ รђ๏ฬเภﻮ ץ๏ย Շђє ŦยՇยгє... ภ๏Շ Շђє קгєรєภՇ, คɭɭ ๏Ŧ Շђเร เร שєгץ гєคɭ"

"What proof do you have that this is real. Let alone that it's the future!" Qibli didn't believe the voice for a second.

"๒єɭเשє ฬђคՇ ץ๏ย ฬคภՇ... ץ๏ย'ɭɭ Ŧเภ๔ ๏ยՇ ร๏๏ภ єภ๏ยﻮђ ՇђคՇ เ ฬคร ๏ภɭץ Շгץเภﻮ Շ๏ ฬคгภ ץ๏ย... ςђєςк ץ๏ยг คг๓... เ'๓ รยгє เՇ ฬเɭɭ єאקɭคเภ คɭ๏Շ" The voice said.

"Շђเภк ๏Ŧ เՇ คร ค... קคгՇเภﻮ ﻮเŦՇ..."

A sudden louder sound echoed inside his mind, and he didn't know how to explain it. The best he could do was relate it to a very distorted and slowed whistle.

Qibli didn't understand what the Voice was talking about but he wasn't able to communicate with it anymore..
It seemed that the voice had decided to leave his head... For now at least.

He turned his attention to his arm not sure if he should actually trust the random voice that was in his head. Which was definitely not his. Although curiosity got the better of him.

He unwrapped the cloak from his right arm to find a unique device strapped onto it. It was a compact fully black black metal rectangular compartment with leather straps circling his arm, keeping it in place... However as he studied it more he saw What looked like a small black button near the top of the device.

Cautiously... He pressed the button with his claw...

There was a small 'click' before what appeared object shot out of the device and
The sound made Qibli jump a little before he stared back at it to see what happened.

His heart skipped a beat, a large sharp blade, maybe about eight inches was locked in place under his arm.

It was a hidden blade... Perfect for assassinations...

He went it take a glance at his Siblings and 'dead' Mother only to find himself staring back at the cave that he was in to begin with...

The Night sky had somehow turned into the bright morning without him noticing and he was still wearing the black cloak around his body.

However he was terrified... And it wasn't the fact that a random deadly weapon had just suddenly appeared on his arm that made him so scared... Or the fact that some random magical voodoo voice had just messed up his mind

No...

It was the fact that this was proof that it was right... What he saw... It was all real... It had to be... How else would a very real weapon and a very real cloak suddenly appear on his body... If the place he was in wasn't real to begin with...

Then... That meant... His mother was actually dead... or would be soon...
His eyes began to tear up a bit... Someone really had managed to kill her... Or would at least.

He took one look at the blade attached to his arm. However, this time he was surprised... And not in a good way. His eyes went wide as he studied the blade under his arm closely.

It was too dark to see any detail or color of the blade back when he was. In his... Dream... Or... Whatever it was..

However now that he saw the blade in the daylight he realised the truth of the matter.

He knew why his mother was dead, he knew why his Siblings were screaming such odd remarks at him...

He knew...

The blade in his hand, it wasn't grey...

It was stained red to the hilt...

His mother was dead...

.

.

.

Because he was the one who killed her...

Chapter Text

Daniel had been walking for quite a while now.
His wings had given out on him after a long while of flying and refused to get him off the ground for more then thirty seconds.

It was a strange feeling to him, having sore wings. It was also quite Ironic considering he was a Skywing after all.

The supposed tribe with the most flying spped. All of his energy from flying had finally caught up with him and he was unable to do anything about it.

Honestly he had it coming to him. He was reckless with his flying skills and it wore him out slowly... And now he was paying the price of not being able to fly at all... At the one time where he needed to fly the most out of his entire time here so far.

'Welp... It's fine... I'll just walk for a bit and then take off again later' Daniel thought to himself.
It did little to reassure him that all would be alright but he did feel slightly better.

At the moment he was climbing up a large sand dune in hopes of getting a better view of the world around him.

Step after step, he kept waking, his endurance on land was not as great as his endurance in the sky and as such was having a difficult time just walking straight. Especially in a place as hot as the scorching sand kingdom.

His thoughts didn't help much either.
He had recently found himself constantly worrying about Winter and how he was doing, as well as the rest of the gang.

Also the Prophecy hadn't left his mind. He still needed to reach the boarder soon... It had been at least three days since they left JMA. They could of been there by now.

'Except I just had to be an idiot and run off' Daniel sighed...
'They're probably not even there anymore, went back to JMA most likely so they wouldn't get muddled up in my problems'

He didn't know for sure of course, which is why he was flying back. However, he needed to think of a plan incase they really had already left.

'Alright.. Well if the map's there then I'm able to continue on my own' Daniel strategised. 'However, if they did end up taking it away with them... Then I may have a slight issue...'

The sand crunched underneath his talons, he was nearly at the top of the dune.
Although he didn't notice as thoughts were still zooming around on his head.

'And if by any chance they're still there... I owe them a massive explanation...' Daniel thought worriedly he didn't know which option was worse at this point. 'Except that this one explanation could probably break their minds.

'First it'll be about why I ran off, then about Charlotte being trapped in this world, then about me not being an actual dragon or from this universe to begin with, and finally them finding out about them not being real...'

Both options were really bad as he desperately needed them to help him... But if he was to tell them what they really were... Just ink on paper... Who knows how they might react.

Soon Daniel reached the top of the dune. Huge bundles of golden sand and dirt outstretched in all directions before him. Although the cave was still nowhere to be seen.

'Great... I'm totally lost...' Daniel thought.

Daniel stared down at his talons, he could see the ripples of heat in the air around him. His body was lacking fluids, he was dehydrated... Weak...

Suddenly his ears perked as he heard Talking in the not too far off distance.
He looked down towards the ground to see two medium sized Sandwings.

The weren't as large as fully grown dragons as Daniel had seen but they were definitely older then he was.

'Maybe they'd be eighteen in human years, or six years in dragon years' Daniel analysed.

Both dragons were arguing with each other, they had Black hoods around their heads and back. However he realised it was only designed to cover the face of the user as the neck and rest of the body was still exposed.
Images of dragon skull tattoos were marked on each of the dragons neck.

'Strange... If I remember correctly from the books... Vulture had marks on his neck, representing each dragon he'd ever killed although I don't remember any other dragons having the same marks...'

'Maybe I should stick around a bit to see what their up to... If they're related to Vulture in any way then eavesdropping on their plans could prove quite useful...'

'Okay... First rule of eavesdropping... Don't get caught'

Daniel lowered himself to take cover behind the dune. The heat was slightly uncomfortable, however he was able to endure it, for a little at least.

The other Sandwings didn't seem to know he was there... Which was a good sign, a very, very, good sign.

"Listen dammit!" One of them yelled. "If we come back empty handed to the scorpion den we're going to receive on hell of a beating. He'll go on for hours and we'll never hear the end of it."

"Yeah I know! But what do you expect us to do here! IT'S THE DESERT FOR CRYING OUT LOUD! What does he expect us to find? Diamonds?"

"I know what you're saying but we have to think of something!"

From what Daniel could hear they were bandits/assassins, working for Vulture most likely and were sent out here to grab something...

Although now that Daniel thought about it... The Sandwing did have a point. Why would he send someone out to the desert, of all places.

Daniel couldn't help but snort a laugh behind the cover of the dune at how ridiculous the situation was.

'I mean what are they doing? Searching for buried treasure?' Daniel laughed.

"Hey! Did you hear that?" said one of the Dragons

"What do you mean? I didn't hear anything"

"No... I'm sure I just heard someone laughing"

Daniel was covering his snout with both talons. Trying his absolute best to stop himself from laughing again.

"Sis... You're crazy enough as it is... We don't need you hearing voices"

"Shut it Sirocco!" Daniel heard a voice hiss. "I'm not crazy!"

Suddenly it all came back to him. He knew those dragons. Dragon tattoos, currently in the scorpion den. They were no other then Qibli's siblings.

Rattlesnake and Sirocco.

"Yeah... Sure you aren't~" Sirocco teased.

"Screw you!" Rattlesnake barked.

"Oh I'm sure you'll be doing PLENTY of that back at home" Sirocco responded slyly, which deservingly earned him a loud slap across the face from Rattlesnake.

"S-SHUT UP!"

"Sirocco fell to the sand with laughter while his sister had a crimson face with a mix of anger and a very slight fluster.

Daniel had finally managed to gain control and hold in his laughter and was now back to eavesdropping.

"Three moons! focus up already!" Rattlesnake demanded, "We're going to be so dead of we don't get that map Gramps wants!"

Daniel's attention was caught by the word 'map'

'Map? What kind of map could they be talking about... Wait... They don't mean-'

His question was soon answered however as Sirocco spoke without warning.

"Well, what do you want us to do about it?" Sirocco asked "We already went to that dumb Sandwing's house and he said he gave it away to a Skywing. Then we followed the tracks to Jade Mountain which after a while of interviewing and threatening the staff they finally said he'd left for the desert with some students"

"Now we're chasing some random Skywing and if the rumours are true about his flight speed then even if we do find him we'll never catch him!

"It was a total waste of our time!" Sirocco concluded.

"Not exactly... We did end up learning his name... And who he's travelling with..."

"Hurricane" Rattlesnake stated "he's travelling with none other than the Jade Winglet and... Our dear brother... Qibli"

"Well then..." Sirocco smiled "I think Gramps would like to know of this information. Don't you?"

Rattlesnake nodded "Let's go"

They both took off into the sky, they flew above Daniel's head however didn't manage to spot him.

Quickly, seeing his chance, Daniel took off in the opposite direction, he spotted what finally looked like a large cave in the far-off distance and flew towards it.

It would take a while to get there considering his wings were still aching but he had no choice but to push through it.

Soon a large pain began to spread across his back, the external injuries from his battle with Star seemed to be fully healed however internally he was feeling worse than ever.

The breeze whipped past his face as his back continued to sear with pain, his body begged for rest and water... But he couldn't give in.

The rest of the group needed to know the severity of the situation they had just gotten themselves into.

Vulture wanted Barren's map...

And who knew what he might do to get it...

- - - - - Back at the cave - - - - -

Turtle opened his weary eyes. He had to admit that he did not have a great night's sleep.
The sun was high up in the sky when he finally raised his head to look.

However, his eyes were met by direct sun rays which ended up burning his retinas a little.

Scanning the interior of the cave he noticed two things straight off the bat.

One. Qibli was nowhere to be seen, although it was kind of expected since if he remembered correctly, he was a morning dragon and was probably out flying for a bit.

Two. Hurricanes attacker, the hybrid who had been in the cave with them for some time now, was up and walking about.

Her wounds still weren't fully healed. This was because Turtle didn't use his healing stone on her since at the time he was still trying to keep his powers a secret.

'But everyone knows about them now... So I could probably fully heal her up now.
Externally at least.'

Turtle laughed a little. He had to admit that Hurricane was right.
Back at JMA when they met in the underground lake he had told him that spilling his secret would lift the weights off his back...

At first, he didn't believe him... But after the events of yesterday... He realised...

'It did... Thank you for persuading me, friend."

Although soon his slight moment of happiness turned into a moment of disappointment and slight sadness.

He remembered that Hurricane wasn't with them anymore...
Turtle looked at the bracelet he had enchanted to track his current location.

It was still in the same place it was the last time he saw it. It wasn't moving, however... And that slightly scared him.

In secret, he had also placed a second enchantment on the bracelet in his mind. He enchanted the centre black rock on the bracelet to glow depending on his current condition.

For example, it would be normally coloured black if everything was fine, however, it would turn red the closer to death Hurricane was and turn blue the more danger he was in.

Honestly, he had just thought of the enchantment in the heat of the moment and couldn't perfect it.

'Not that I perfect many of my spells anyways...' Turtle thought glumly.

Either way, however, he was able to see his current situation. And if by any chance things were really bad the stone would start flashing between the two colours.

He did, however, find it strange that he was even this worried in the first place.

'Maybe it's because he was the first person to ever stand up for me...' His mind spoke as a picture of the scene in the underground lake returned to him.

It was kind of shocking at first. When he first entered the cave with his sister. Turtle immediately thought it was just another Dragon who would end up ignoring him... Like everyone else did.

He certainly did not expect him to turn down Anemone's request to be friends with him. She would only choose curtain dragons based on their skills to be friends with and most of the time didn't care much about them.

'However... She seemed kind of annoyed when he turned down her offer. Even after saying she was an animus, he didn't care... It's almost like...

He saw right through her... He saw what she was... Just a wolf in sheep's clothing...'

Turtle shook his head slightly, he shouldn't be thinking like that, I mean sure... She was indeed a bad dragon. Like how Hurricane described her.

He let out a small chuckle, he still found it baffling how Hurricane turned down an extremely rare opportunity to be friends with Anemone and then insulted her behind her back after she had made fun of Turtle. He simply didn't care And that's what he liked about him.

It didn't matter who they were, or what powers or tribe they were from, he would simply speak his mind, even if it would get him into a lot of trouble sometimes.

Another picture of the escape he made from JMA a few days ago came to mind. It was honestly impressive how he had managed to outclass the entire school and the teachers, especially when they were all trying to catch him.

Whatever happened, one thing could be said.

'Even if we only officially met a little while ago... He's one of my best friends, the only dragon who ever stood up to Anemone. And probably the only dragon in Phyrria who doesn't care about power or status.

'So... WHAT THE HELL AM I DOING!' Turtle yelled internally, now taking a proper look at the stone on the bracelet.

It was a dark shade of navy blue, meaning Hurricane was in danger, and all he was doing was sitting around in a cave while his friend was out there, in possible need of his help.

He suddenly got a boost of energy to get up, he picked up the bracelet and was about to run out of the cave when a talon grabbed his arm.

He turned to see the Hybrid holding him tightly in place. She was staring into his eyes. It wasn't a menacing stare however it was definitely unsettling.

"Where are you going?" She asked calmly, still maintaining eye contact.

"UHH... Nowhere?" Turtle said. He looked down at the talon she griped his forearm with. It was still stained red from Hurricanes blood.

This only made Turtle want to run out of the cave faster, he'd completely forgotten that Hurricane left when he still wasn't fully healed.
At least not internally...

He shrugged nervously... A small part of his mind feared that he would be departing this world in the next minute or so.

"Where's uhh, where's Qibli?" Turtle asked, his composure slowly melting away as Star continued to stare deep into his soul.

She inched closer just as the last of Turtle's composure had left his body. His heart was pounding against the walls of his chest uncontrollably.

Suddenly Star's eyes went wide and she let go of his arm, looking a little guilty.

"Sorry... I was being intimidating again wasn't I?" Star said.

"Huh?" Turtle responded, a little puzzled.

"I was taught outclaw skills by some good friends in the past and as such, sometimes become a little intimidating when talking to others."

"Oh. I see" said Turtle, calming down a little and taking back his quiet composure.

"yeah, it's why I don't have many friends" Star said, scratching the back of her neck with a claw before wincing at sudden pain from an exposed cut that she didn't know was there.

"You okay?" Turtle asked, slightly worried at her sudden pain.

"Yeah... Just a cut that I didn't know about" Star said trying to shrug off the pain but when a small trickle of navy blood painted her yellow scales once more she started to panic again.

"Hey don't worry, I can help" Turtle asked, reaching into his bag for his enchanted healing stone.

"Oh. Umm alright..." Star replied, a little sceptical by what Turtle meant by 'Help'

However, her scepticism soon turned to confusion when he pulled out a small smooth stone.

"Ummm, sorry to burst your bubble but I don't see how a stone is going to help out with a gash on the back of my neck."

"we'll see" Turtle grinned. He walked around to Star's backside and gently placed the stone on the bleeding gash.

"What are yo-" Star started, however soon she shut herself up as she felt the pain slowly disappear off her scales.

The rock worked its magic, literally, and
soon, the only trace of a cut ever being there was the small trickle of blue blood still present on some of her scales. However, the cut itself no longer existed.

Turtle took the stone off her neck and walked back to talk to her, gripping the rock tightly in his talon before placing it back inside his bag.

Star had a curious face as Turtle walked back to talk.

"What was that?" she asked as she vigorously rubbed the back of her neck, only to find that the gash had simply been rubbed out from existence.

She looked down at her talons, expecting to see blue but only saw slight stains of red from her and Hurricane's fight.

Star turned her attention back to Turtle and expected an answer to which he replied.

"I'm an Animus" A shy smile crept across his face as he said that, partly because he was still slightly worried about how people may react.

"Oh... Well, that explains a lot" Star said before she walked down to her corner and sat down.

This was far from the reaction Turtle had expected. She wasn't surprised or scared, and didn't really care much for it at all.

'Well... I think that she and Hurricane will get along very well. Especially considering they have so much in common. Like not caring about stuff like this.'

He laughed quietly for a second.
He was just finishing up his thought when he realised he still had a question to ask her.

"Hey" Turtle started, however, he also noticed that he hadn't learned her name yet. "Sorry... What's your name?" A small feeling of awkwardness settled around him.

She looked up from the ground to meet his eyes, "Oh right! Crap, I haven't even told you my name yet. Sorry, I'm not used to introducing myself since I'm alone most of the time."
She smiled
"Name's Star, pleased to meet you"

Turtle returned the smiled before introducing himself.
"Well hello, Star. Turtle at your service" he gave an overextended royal bow, however, It backfired and he ended up falling flat on his face and came face to face with Star's front talons.

"Wow," Star said as she looked down on the fallen Turtle. "If this is normal then I should introduce myself more often"

Turtle looked up at her and laughed a little.
"Well not really, that was just me being clumsy"

Star watched as he got up on all fours again to look a little more distinguished. A slight red patch has appeared on his forehead where he hit the ground but he paid no attention to it.

"Soooo... I was going to ask..." Turtle said. Star looked up at him, indicating she was paying attention.
"You said that you didn't have many friends..."

"That's correct," Star said, her face slightly drooping but it wasn't noticeable.

"But you also said that some friends once taught you outclaw skills... So I'm curious... Where are they?" Turtle asked, scanning Star's face closely.

She looked from him to the ground, this time her sadness was very noticeable but she refused to answer his question.
However, Turtle got the message.

"O-oh..." Turtle said... Realisation hitting him.
"I'm so sorry..."
He didn't exactly know how to respond to this so without thinking straight, his impulses caused him to wrap his wings around her.

Star tensed up a little but soon hugged him back.

"Thanks... I needed that" Star said before she parted the hug.

"No problem" Turtle smiled.
"Friends?" He offered a talon to her, in possible hope she would accept it.

Star took the talon with her own, "Friends" she repeated. Looking down at her blood-stained talon before adding.
"I should probably wash this off somehow" quickly letting go of Turtle's talon.

"Agreed" Turtle interjected.

However, they didn't have much time to react before the sound of landing talons echoed behind them.

Turning around they saw a yellow Sandwing with a dark black cloak standing in the center of the cave entrance.

The cloak covered the face of the dragon so they were unable to tell who it was, and more importantly... Whether they were friendly, or not...

Star immediately got up and began to growl at the intruder. Raising her spiked and barbed tail in a defensive position.

Turtle got up to stand by her, he didn't know who would want to bother a bunch of dragonets but he had to admit that they looked like they were looking for trouble.

"Woah, Woah, calm down Star" A familiar voice echoed from the cloaked dragon who raised their talons in the air in an attempt to calm the situation.

"HOW DO YOU KNOW MY NAME!" She snarled at the intruder in front of them.
However, Turtle noticed a strange black device strapped to the dragon's forearm.

It appeared to be some sort of black box however upon closer inspection from afar he noticed there was a blade sticking out of it...
And it was drenched in blood...

Now he was also scared, whoever this was had just come back from killing someone...
His eyes shot open...
Qibli wasn't in the cave this morning.
What if something happened to him, or more specifically... What if this dragon did something to him?

"ANSWER ME!" Star bellowed.

"Okay... Okay... Just chill out..." the cloaked dragon said.
Slowly the mysterious dragon raised one of their talons as they grabbed the tip of the hood and pulled it down so Turtle and Star could see their identity.

A sudden rush of relief and confusion crashed over both of them as they stared at the dragon's face.

It was Qibli,
however, Turtle's relief then turned to worry as he noticed that it was his friend who had the bloody blade attached to his forearm.

Qibli had a face of worry and he seemed slightly traumatised, as if he had just witnessed something horrible.

"Qibli..." Turtle said in a shaky voice...
"What happened..."

He turned to look at Star next to him who also had the same expression of fear and confusion painted across her face.

He turned back to Qibli who still had a scared face on, the bloody blade still exposed and dripping on the cold cave floor.

"Look... I can explain... at least, I think I can..."

Almost as if on cue, the rest of the dragons began to awake... At the worst possible moment in time...

Turtle and Qibli stared at each other for a small moment, both of their eyes yelling the same phrase.

"Oh no..."

"Aaahhhwww" Kinkajou yawned, "Good mor- HOLY COW WHY DO YOU HAVE A BLADE QIBLI!"

"Wait don't freak ou-"
"QIBLI! WHAT ARE YOU HOLDING!" Moon yelled from his side.
She was staring at a small puddle of blood droplets which had formed by Qiblis talons.

"Okay! JUST CALM DOWN I CAN EXPLAIN!" however things only got worse as just at that moment, Peril and Winter woke up...

Winter opened his eyes to see what the commotion was all about.

"Oh, my moons! Can't you guys just let a dragon sleep for onc-" He stopped at his words when he laid eyes on Qibli.

"Qibli..." Winter said dangerously... "What did you do"

Qibli took a step back, his heart wouldn't calm down, and his body was trembling. Peril walked behind everyone to take a look at the situation.
When she spotted Qibli's bloody blade she froze. Her stance tensed a little but she kept silent.

"Look... Guys... I know this looks bad" Qibli started.

"YOU THINK" Winter bellowed. "YOU HAVE A BLOODY KNIFE ON YOU... Did you kill someone...?"

Now everyone had tensed up, the thought of Qibli killing another dragon had them all worried.

"No, no. I didn't... Well... I don't think I did at least" Qibli said, remembering his dead mother on the streets of the Scorpion den.

"You don't. Think. You killed anyone" Peril said skeptically. "WHAT IS THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN!"

"I DON'T KNOW HOW TO EXPLAIN IT!" Qibli yelled, a few tears forming in his eyes, he was so scared, scared of himself that he was crying.

Winter however didn't seem to care or even notice for that matter.
"WELL YOU BETTER HAVE A PRETTY GOOD EXPLANATION!" Winter screamed, a mix of fear and anger within his words.

Everyone looked towards Qibli, except for Turtle, Who was now breathing heavily.
His eyes had made their way to the enchanted bracelet.

The centre rock was flashing red and blue, and paired with the sudden appearance, of Qibli and his blood-soaked blade, a thought had come to Turtle.

'No... He wouldn't...' Turtle thought, 'Right...?'
He looked back at Qibli, however everyone's thoughts were interrupted when a bright red dragon came barreling into the cave from the sky.

"Oh Moons!" Peril yelled as she leapt over the dragon. The dragon had touched the small puddle of blood droplets which left a small smear of red as they skidded to a stop in the center of the room.

All eyes were on the red Skywing and there was no mistaking who it was.

A tired Hurricane had crashed into the cave, his chest was rising up and down rapidly.
With what seemed like the last of his strength, he looked up at all of them and said something that made them all shudder before he collapsed.

"Guys... We... Have a... Problem..."

Chapter Text

Everyone else in the cave was panicking.
One second Qibli shows up with a bloody blade attached to his arm and the next Hurricane came barrelling into the cave with a warning.

Turtle sat in a corner watching the madness unravel itself in front of his very eyes.
Winter and Peril were practically screaming questions and remarks at Qibli who was cornered on a wall.
Qibli was trying to calm them down but they wouldn't budge.

Kinkajou, Moon and Star were taking a look at the collapsed Hurricane in the centre of the room.
He was still breathing however he was definitely unconscious.

The way he entered the cavern was far from the Hurricane they knew acted. Normally he would land gracefully and possibly show off a little.

He was always easy going, even in some of the worst situations so far. However, his sudden crash landing of an entrance paired with his genuine worry when he spoke...

Turtle was sure it sent chills down everyone's spine.

His warning, that we all had a problem on our hands and based on his collapse from exhaustion he knew that he was pushing himself past his limit to get to them in time.

Which made Turtle worry.
'What was he trying to warn us about..?'

They would have to wait until Hurricane eventually woke up and who knows when that would be.
They just had to hope and pray to the moons above that the thing that he was trying to warn them about didn't reach them before he did.

In the meanwhile however... Turtle was. Nearly one hundred percent sure that almost everyone had questions for a particular cloaked Sandwing.

Turtle turned his head towards the drama on the left side of the cave. He knew that Winter was angry with Qibli however he most certainly didn't expect to find him pinning Qibli against a wall.

- - -

"WHY DO YOU HAVE A BLOODY BLADE WITH YOU!" Winter bellowed. Qibli was staring back into Winters deadly blue eyes. They looked both beautiful and terrifying at the same time.

A sudden thought of his kiss with Winter came back to his mind.
He was lost in thought to some extent, even in the worst possible situation he found himself blushing slightly.
It was ironic really, Winter was screaming at him from the top of his lungs yet all Qibli could see were Winters mesmerising deep blue eyes.

Ever since yesterday he'd been having mixed feelings about his friends, especially Hurricane and Winter. He didn't know if he saw them as only friends... Or... Something more.

"HELLO! I'M TALKING TO YOU!" Winter yelled, snapping his claws in front of Qibli's face.

Qibli was taken out of his thoughts and back to Winters, harsh questioning.
"Oh.. Um, sorry... Dozed off for a second there." Qibli responded apologetically in an attempt to ease the tension around him.

It didn't do much but Winters questions were slightly less harsh so Qibli saw it as a win.

"Why do you have a bloody blade with you." Winter repeated sternly, but not screaming.
Peril stood next to Winter, although keeping a decent distance away from him so she didn't set him ablaze on accident.

She also awaited a response from the nervous Sandwing however Qibli didn't exactly know how to respond considering he barely knew what happened himself.

"I'm waiting." Winter said dangerously, Peril also had a stern look on her face.

"Well, it's a long story and kind of hard to explai-" Qibli tried

"We can wait" Peril interrupted. She looked Winter in the eyes before turning back to Qibli.

"You're not going to believe me" Qibli said, desperately trying to avoid the topic, however it was pointless. They both wanted answers, and weren't leaving until they got them.

"You have two options Qibli" Peril stated. He looked up, slightly confused at what she meant.

Peril stared deeply into his eyes, a dangerous look printed across her face.
"you either tell us exactly what happened... Or we'll just have to force it out of you"

She flexed her fiery talons a little too close for Qibli's comfort. Small sizzling sounds were picked up by Qiblis ears as the heat could be seen rippling in the air.

Qibli's heart picked up, his eyes went wide,
'She doesn't mean...'
"You're n-not serious... Right? You wouldn't purposefully hu-rt a friend just over this"
Qibli stuttered.

"Well as far as I'm aware, my 'friend' is currently hiding a secret from us." Peril responded "and we can't have that, especially after we all agreed on no more secrets"

She looked towards Winter, he kept quiet however Qibli could tell he was on Perils side on this one.
The issue was the fact that Qibli knew Peril was right

They did all agree to not keep anymore secrets between them.
'So why am I hiding this from them? Wouldn't they be able to help me figure this out?'
Qibli pondered for a moment, and was about to speak when suddenly a voice spoke to him instead.

ɎØɄ'ⱤɆ ₥₳₭ł₦₲ ₳ ₥ł₴₮₳₭Ɇ!
The voice in his mind had returned to torment him.
Although it sounded a little different. It was not as clear as when he first heard it and it seemed... Broken.

'you again!' Qibli yelled internally.

ⱠØØ₭, ł ₵₳₦'₮ ₭ɆɆ₱ ₮₳Ⱡ₭ł₦₲ Ⱡł₭Ɇ ₮Ⱨł₴ ₣ØⱤ ⱠØ₦₲, ฿Ʉ₮ ⱧɆɆĐ ₥Ɏ ₩₳Ɽ₦ł₦₲. ₮Ⱨł₴ ł₴ ₳ ₥ł₴₮₳₭Ɇ.

'Like Id believe anything you say!' Qibli retorted to the voice.

₮Ⱨł₴ ł₴ ₳ ₥ł₴₮₳₭Ɇ... ₳₦Đ ɎØɄ'ⱠⱠ ₣ł₦Đ ØɄ₮ ₩ⱧɎ ₴ØØ₦...
Then the voice fell silent. Qibli called out to it, no response.
It was gone just as suddenly as it appeared.

"So, What's it going to be a Qibli?" Peril said. "I'll give you five seconds to answer or else we'll just have to force the words out of your mouth.

"Five" Peril started

'Okay.. Qibli, just tell them what happened and everything will sort itself out.'

"Four"

'But what if I'm wrong? What if the the voice is speaking the truth... Then if I do tell them... Will it truly be such a mistake?

"Three"

'Although, Should I really believe a mysterious voice in my head over common sense? I mean... It doesn't seem wise to do so.'

"Two"

'Shoot! I'm nearly out of time! Come on Qibli, Think! I need to come up with something, now!

"One"

"Okay! okay!..." Qibli blurted "I may or may not have a random voice in my head who may or may not have given me a dark cloak and bloody blade as well as may or may not have shown me a vision of my dead mother." He shot them an awkward smile. he didn't really care about how he explained the situation but it was the truth.

Peril and Winter gave Qibli a blank stare like he had just told the most ridiculous and made up story they had ever heard.

"Excuse me?" Winter said disbelievingly. "That has got to be the most fake story you could have possibly come up with. If you're going to lie at least make it believable"

"But it's true!" Qibli cried, the images of the burning scorpion den clouded his mind again.

"Yeah, right" Peril scoffed, "You can't fool us that easily"
She took a step towards him, her golden talon inching closer to his scales.
However just as Peril was about to make a move, Turtle intervened

"Woah, let's just all calm down for a second here" Turtle said as he stepped between Peril and Qibli.

Peril immediately jumped back a little as Turtle nearly ran straight into her fiery scales.

"I'm sure we can work something out that doesn't involve burning our friend Qibli here to a crisp" Turtle said hopefully.

"I agree..." Qibli chimed in but quickly fell silent afterwards

There were a few moments of tense silence. Before Winter facepalmed himself and Peril broke down in laughter. Both of their composures completely shattered in a second.

"Aarrrgh, we were so close!" Winter sighed glumly. "Why did you have to intervene Turtle"

"BAHAHAHAHA" Peril laughed "Wow... What a way to have that plan fail" She looked back at her confused and slightly petrified Sandwing and Seawing friend.

"Ummm.. Can someone elaborate please?" Qibli asked.
He turned to meet Turtle who had the same clueless expression as he did.

Winter walked in front of Peril, carful to not burn himself in the process.
"We were never going to actually hurt him" Winter explained. "We just wanted to make him think that so he would just tell us what's on his mind.

"It was a cold move I'll admit," Peril interjected "but knowing Qibli he wouldn't just speak up so we came up with a plan to force the words out I guess..."

Her voice died down a little after seeing a slightly hurt look on Qibli's face.
"Yeah sure, 'just a cold move'" Qibli said, making sarcastic marks with his claws before rolling his eyes and walking away.

This caught their attention though, they had been friends with Qibli long enough to know he didn't act like that.
It was the first time he ever displayed that kind of attitude, and for some reason, it scared them.

Turtle looked towards Peril and Winter who both had the same slightly spooked face as he did.

"You two should apologise" he gave them a mix of a sympathetic and stern stare.

Winter sighed once again, however this one wasn't a sigh of annoyance, it was a sigh of regret.
"Yeah, you're right. We'll be right back" He glanced at Peril before walking over to Qibli who was now staring out at the sunset.

Peril followed behind him in suit and while Turtle watched them walk off he turned his attention to the next issue in the centre of the room.

A collapsed Hurricane was being watched and treated by Kinkajou, Star, and Moon. They hoped he would wake soon but it doesn't look that would be happening anytime soon.

"Please... Please wake up soon..." Kinkajou cried. Her scales faded into a deep blue.
Turtle felt a tug at his heart upon seeing this.

He walked over to them and wrapped a wing around her.
"Hey. Don't worry, he'll be fine" Turtle said in an attempt to comfort her.

Kinkajou wrapped her own wings around Turtle as she cried into his chest. This caused Moon and Star to shoot multiple sympathetic glances at them, although they kept quiet.

Turtle gently placed a talon on Kinkajous head, they were all worried for Hurricane. They hadn't know him for long but he was part of the friend group now, and as such they were worried for him.

However the Turtle realised something.
'Wait a second, I'm an Animus. Shouldn't I simply enchant him to wake up?'
He looked between a crying Kinkajou and unconscious Hurricane before eventually meeting Star's sympathetic eyes.

He gently placed his talon on Hurricanes forehead. Although he had to admit he was a little nervous at what it may cost him regarding the purity of his soul.

Slowly, Turtle prepared the enchantment in his mind however just as he was about to cast it, he was stopped when Moon called out to him.

"Turtle... I know what your thinking" Moon said softly.

Turtle stared back, a little confused but soon remembered.
"Oh.. Right... Mind reading"

However, to his surprise Moon shook her head.
"It's Strange, for some reason I can't read your mind, at all" She looked him sternly

"but I can tell what your plan is. Listen I know you're just trying to help but Animus magic may mess something up, it's unpredictable"

Turtle stared back at her for a moment, his thoughts conflicting with one another.

'on one talon I could easily revive and make Hurricane better in an instant. It would probably stop everyone's worrying and we can figure things out faster.
but on the other talon I'll lose some of my soul, which could possibly lead me down a dark path... and plus, Moon's right, it's unpredictable.

He sighed and was about to take his hand off of Hurricane when something caught his eye.

The centre rock in his armband was glowing a bright sapphire blue which could only mean one thing.

'He's in trouble...' Turtle realised and soon he noticed that Hurricanes chest was rising up and down faster then usual despite being completely unconscious with no signs of awaking.

Star noticed this too and was the first to react.
"Oh, hey, hey! Wake up Hurricane!" her eyes went wide for a second. She shook his shoulders in an attempt to wake him which did not work.

"Shoot!" Star yelled, panicking a little as she tried multiple times to no avail.
At this point they all crowded around him. What really put them off however was when they looked at his eyes.

His eyelids were closed however you could see rapid and almost possessed like movements underneath them.

'something's wrong' Turtle thought. 'He's dealing with something, and I have a feeling it's not just another nightmare...'

- - -

Daniel awoke in a dark yet familiar place. It was the same place he was in when he first heard the Prophecy.

Dark black and white marble stone lined the floors beneath his talons and a faint black fog like substance was floating in the air around him.

A strange orb of light with no apparent source surrounded his body in a radius of about ten meters.
Beyond the light was the unviewable dark abyss.

A shiver was sent down his spine at the thought of the first time he was here, very clearly remembering his experience.

The black foggy tentacles around his talons, almost drowning him.
'Well I don't know if that was real or not to be honest... But it sure felt like it' Daniel thought, another shiver creeping down his vertebrae.

'Well I might as well explore this place, nothing better to do' Daniel shrugged.

He started walking towards the edge of the light however he soon realised that the light moved with him. Almost as if it was locked onto his body in some way.

The black foggy substance in the air was slowly getting thicker, eventually Daniel wouldn't be able to see much, even with the magical orb of light around him.

'I'll just keep walking, maybe it'll clear up? And if not I'll just head back' Daniel thought to himself in an attempt to ease the tension rising in his chest. Although he couldn't say it was very successful.

He kept walking, his vision slowly being clouded by the darkness in front of him. He tried to blow the substance out of his way using his wings but to Daniels surprise it was unresponsive.

'What? That didn't work? Does this place evade Newton's laws of physics?'

Daniel tested his theory by trying to take off into the air. However no air was caught under his wings so all he did was jump around like an idiot.

'Well I guess that proves it..' Daniel sighed, it was a mysterious place he was stuck in. 'a place where basic physics don' t work... But maybe I can use it to my advantage?'

He let out a small plume of fire into the darkness in front of him.
Since the laws of physics seemed to be lacking, the fire floated slowly through the air and didn't go out immediately.

Daniel walked forwards staring curiously at the floating flame. It gently flickered as

It gently wandered in the air and lasted about three minutes before it diminished.
However, at the same time a large gust of wind hit Daniel in the back from where he once was.

The fog was blown away from the wind as a result.

Confused, Daniel looked behind him for the source of the wind only to find empty air. However now that the fog was blown away a bit he was able to see around him a little more clearly.

He celebrated for a brief moment although it was very short lived as when the darkness cleared from the ground, a small spark could be seen.

Upon closer inspection Daniel noticed it was an earring, a very... Familiar one...

'where have I seen this before?' Daniel thought.
He picked it up and studied it for a moment. It was a small earring, a small orange stone was attached to a slightly larger golden ring.

'How strange... I know I never saw quite a piece of jewellery back on earth... So why is it so familiar to me?'
Daniel sat there, searching for a possible explanation.

'Maybe I saw it on some sort of poster? Or possibly a photo shopped image? I know that a class back at school once had to design jewelry'

It seemed plausible, however it just didn't feel right. He had never seen this at all, not in an image, or in real life.

'Well until now I guess' Daniel stated, though it still didn't answer the question a hand... But that's when it hit him.

'Wait a second... I have seen this earring... Just not on earth..' Daniel stared a the earring.
It glimmered back at him in a sort of response.

His heart however had begun to pick up speed.

'This isn't just any earring... It's Qibli's...'

Suddenly, a slow clapping sounds could be heard from behind him.

"ฬ๏ฬ... ՇђคՇ Շ๏๏к ɭ๏ภﻮєг Շђєภ єאקєςՇє๔." a mysterious voice chimed in from the abyss. "ﻮยєรร ץ๏ย คгєภ'Շ คร ςɭєשєг คร ץ๏ยг รคภ๔ฬเภﻮ Ŧгเєภ๔."

The voiced chuckled, which sent multiple chills down Daniels scales.

"๒ยՇ ภ๏ภєՇђєɭєรร, ץ๏ย Ŧเﻮยгє๔ เՇ ๏ยՇ. ﻮ๏๏๔ Ŧ๏г ץ๏ย!" The voiced started to chuckle again.

"What have you done with Qibli!" Daniel demanded
Images of Qibli's cheerful face appeared in his mind.
Although he'd only met them face to face about a week ago he considered them good friends.

'And if this guy did anything to him... They're going to regret it'

๏ђ ๓ץ ๓๏๏ภร! ฬђคՇ เร เՇ ฬเՇђ ץ๏ย ﻮยץร ςคгเภﻮ ค๒๏ยՇ єคςђ ๏Շђєг ร๏ ๓ยςђ!
The voice bellowed, a significant amount of annoyance and confusion.

Daniel just stood there

ɭเкє ץ๏ย'гє ɭเՇՇєгɭץ เภ Շђє ฬ๏гรՇ ק๏รรเ๒ɭє รเՇยคՇเ๏ภ ץєՇ คɭɭ ץ๏ย คภ๔ ՇђคՇ ๒ɭ๏๏๔ץ รคภ๔ฬเภﻮ ςคภ Շђเภк ค๒๏ยՇ คгє єคςђ ๏Շђєг!

Daniel was slightly annoyed at the voices statement.
' Like of course I would care about him! He's my friend anyways'
Another image of Qibli piped into his mind, Daniel recalled the memory of him blushing at Winters flying that night at JMA.

It was funny seeing his face almost fully crimson compared to his regular pale yellow.

The voice continued to ramble multiple remarks at Daniel, non of whish he paid any attention to but one thing definitely caught his attention.

... คгє ץ๏ย Շฬ๏ ๔คՇเภﻮ ๏г ร๏๓єՇђเภﻮ?
The voiced suddenly blurted in full seriousness.

"Woah! Woah! Woah! I don't know who you are but I don't need another multishipper on my mind..."
'It's only a matter of time before Kinkajou starts to ship me with someone, and I am not looking forward to it.'

A very slight Blush crept up on Daniels snout, though he didn't notice it.

ร๏๏๏, เร ՇђคՇ ค ץєร ๏г ค ภ๏? The voice asked, genuinely curious.

"WHAT DO YOU THINK?" Daniel bellowed sarcastically. Annoyance and anger creeping up on him.

ฬєɭɭ เ Շђเภк ץ๏ย'гє เภ ๔єภเคɭ, ๒ยՇ ՇђคՇ'ร ๒єรเ๔єร Շђє ק๏เภՇ the voice spoke. ๒єςยรє เ Շђเภк เՇ'ร Շเ๓є ฬє ﻮєՇ Շђเร קคгՇץ รՇคгՇє๔... The voice let out a psychotic laugh before three black tentacles appeared in front of Daniel.

Just mere inches away from his mouth and eyes.

ฬคภՇ Շ๏ кภ๏ฬ ฬђคՇ เ ๔เ๔ ฬเՇђ ץ๏ยг Ŧгเєภ๔? The voice said in a darker tone.

Daniel stared back at the tentacles which were slowly creeping towards him.
He tried to run, only to see that his talons and body were rooted to the ground by more tentacles.

His eyes darted around for possible exits, although he couldn't find anything. His breathing got faster as he started panicking.

ฬєɭɭ ץ๏ย'гє ค๒๏ยՇ Շ๏ Ŧเภ๔ ๏ยՇ...

Chapter Text

Daniel stared back at the three hostile black tentacles in front of him.
He couldn't move, his four talons and his tail were all rooted to the smooth marble ground below.
It wasn't looking good at all.

'Shoot... What can I do in this situation' Daniel asked himself.
He faultlessly struggled against the tentacles to free himself but it was no use.
He was trapped.

The voice laughed maniacally as it spoke from among the darkness,"ץ๏ย гєคɭɭץ Շђเภк ץ๏ย ςคภ єรςคקє ๓є..." There was a pause... "๔๏ภ'Շ єשєภ Շгץ เՇ ๔คภเєɭ..."

Daniel froze. At first he had thought that this could of all been just a bad dream, that maybe it was all in his head... but the voice knew his real name... and this simply proved that he was really in under his head at this point.

Daniel stared back at the tentacles which were now almost centimetres away from his eyes and mouth.
"H-how do you know.." Daniel stuttered "HOW DO YOU KNOW ABOUT MY NAME!"

The voice responded with the most chilling laugh Daniel had ever heard.

เ кภ๏ฬ คɭ๏Շ ค๒๏ยՇ ץ๏ย, ๔คภเєɭ ɭ๏гєภςє...
The voice spoke bluntly, however, a small bit of sinister motives could be picked up behind the words.

Daniel was scared, very scared. However, a part of him knew e couldn't let this dumbass voice get the better of him.
'C'mon Daniel, get yourself together!'

"Okay, so what?" Daniel responded to the voice. "I'm not scared of you if anything you're scared of me considering you haven't even shown yourself!"

A tense silence settled over the area, during this time Daniel swore he could of heard the sound of water but he shrugged it off.

"Hɱɱɱ," The voice groaned "Yσυ'ɾҽ ԃҽϝιɳҽƚʅყ ɱσɾҽ ιɳƚҽɾҽsƚιɳɠ ƚԋαɳ ყσυɾ Sαɳԃɯιɳɠ ϝɾιҽɳԃ, I'ʅʅ ɠιʋҽ ყσυ ƚԋαƚ."

"And what is that supposed to mean?" Daniel shouted, slightly aggravated.

"เՇ ๓єคภร ץ๏ยг คภภ๏ץเภﻮ!" The voice barked.

"So I'm annoying for stating the truth?" Daniel responded slyly. "I think you may have been dropped on your head when you were brought into this world."

"คคคคгггђђђђ ןยรՇ รђยՇ ยק!"
The voice was deeply aggravated. Which honestly amused Daniel.

"You know it's rude to not introduce yourself, or did that information also leave your two- wait sorry, one brain cell."
Daniel honestly didn't know what to do in this situation considering he was still stuck. So he thought he would try and make some entertainment for himself.

"If you're so powerful why don't you show yourself, all I've seen from you this far are just some black tentacles staring at me for the past ten minutes" Daniel spoke. There was another gap of silence.

This time Daniel couldn't mistake it. The sound of rushing water was echoing off from somewhere in the realm. 'Water? from where...' A chill ran down Daniel's spine. The thought of what happened last time was coming back to him. However, he didn't have time to think as suddenly the voice spoke once again.

"Y๏ย кภ๏ฬ... ๓คץ๒є เ รђ๏ยɭ๔..." The voice said in agreement.
However the tone didn't sound annoyed or aggravated. I sounded... sinister..."ץєคђ! เ รђ๏ยɭ๔... ץ๏ย ๔єรєгשє ฬђคՇ'ร ς๏๓เภﻮ!"

Suddenly the sound of rushing water began to fill his ears. The tentacles around his talons began to tighten. Daniel was pulled down towards the marble stone ground. However, he instead fell right through it.

The floor beneath his talons became liquified and in only a few seconds he found himself trying to grab his bearings on the situation as black tentacles dragged him below the surface of a now-liquified ocean.

deeper and deeper the tentacles dragged him, he saw the surface above get further and further away. 'Crap, now what... This is the one thing I Didn't want to go through again.'
Thoughts buzzed around his mind on possible exits however before he could do anything the tentacles suddenly stopped.

It was strange, he was still however able to breathe, although he was definitely deep underwater at this point. 'How is this possible' Daniel wondered but he soon remembered, 'Right! Physics functions differently in this realm, so maybe I'll be alright for a while' This thought managed to ease his tension a little but when a sudden rip current flung him through the water it came rushing back in an instant.

Daniel was shot back by the sudden current, doing multiple underwater flips. The water burned the inside of his nose and his vision was disoriented. "HELP!" Daniel tried to scream but only a mouthful of bubbles left his body. He eventually slowed to a stop a few seconds later.

Daniel sat there, stunned and floating in the middle of the water for a moment when the voice spoke again. This time, however, it wasn't from the darkness. It was coming from right behind him...

Daniel turned around, his heart practically beating out of his chest, 'At least that's what it feels like'
A dark shadow loomed in the distant water. It was the shape of a dragon, however, there were what appeared to be a dozen tentacles coming out of its back. Worse yet, he wasn't able to see how long they were due to the darkness around him.

However, this changed when glowing dots began to appear on the surrounding tentacles. Thus allowing him to see their full length.

Slowly but surely more and more dots of various sizes appeared in the water around him. It was extremely unsettling as they mimicked the appearance of White-eyes from the hosts of the Breath of Evil.

A cold shiver ran across his scales, partly because the water he was floating in was quite cold. However, it was also because he had just realised that the Tentacles were much, much larger and longer than he expected.

He looked around, glowing White eye-like spots stared back at him in every direction.
He looked below his talons to witness what looked like a massive swarm of slithering tentacles forming below him.

'Oh... My... Those are massive!' Daniel thought, his heart picking up pace again. 'They have to be at least five meters wide, probably more... And God knows how long...'
He studied the swarm below however his thoughts were interrupted.

"เร Շђเร ฬђคՇ ץ๏ย ฬคภՇє๔?" The shadow asked. Looking up to meet Daniel's face. A pair of Pure white glowing eyes and a bright white smile stood out among the darkness. Slowly the shadow began to make its way towards him.

Daniel looked around at the water surrounding him, a source of light could still be seen above. However soon he began to choke.
His time with the benefit of lack of physics was up and he was starting to drown.

He began to swim up towards the light but it didn't last long as he felt something tug at his throat. Peering down to see, more tentacles wrapped themselves around his body once again.

"ฬђєгє ๔๏ ץ๏ย Շђเภк ץ๏ย'гє ﻮ๏เภﻮ?"
The mysterious Shadow asked, the sinister smile on their face, distorting and widening. "ץ๏ย ฬєгєภ'Շ קɭคภภเภﻮ ๏ภ ɭєคשเภﻮ ร๏ ร๏๏ภ ฬєгє ץ๏ย?"

The tentacles brought them face to face. The white eyes appeared to be staring right into the depths of Daniel's soul.

The tentacle around his neck tightened. He grabbed them in an attempt to loosen them however his claws simply phased through it.

"คฬђ, ฬђคՇ'ร Շђє ๓คՇՇєг?" The shadow laughed. "ςคภ'Շ ๒гєคՇђ?"
A large plume of bubbles left Daniel's body as he continued to choke.

Daniel stared back at the psychotic wickedness in front of him.
He could hear his heartbeat louder and louder in his ears.
The world started to darken.

'Someone.. please... Help..'

- - -

Qibli sat on the edge of the cave entrance, looking out into the evening sky.
Normally when he stared out at the same sky in the mornings he would feel a sense of calm.
However this time it was different, he felt angry and upset.
Although he didn't know why.

'Why am I so upset?' Qibli thought. His mind flashed back to Winters and Peril's actions earlier.
'I Mean sure, it was a very malicious move but their reasoning made sense'

Qibli pondered for a moment. The thing was that he knew that they were right to some extent, Qibli knew they were right about him not opening up about this.

'so why did it make me so mad? I don't usually lash out like that..' Qibli sat there for a few more seconds.
He stared out into the distance... However, something caught his eye.

In the distance, behind one of the many dunes in the wide desert. A black dragon-like figure was standing there.

'Huh.. Who's that? A Nightwing?' Qibli thought. He squinted is eyes a little in order to try and focus on the distant figure.

Though a few seconds later he wished he hadn't... Upon closer inspection, Qibli saw that the dragon was not a Nightwing. Or any Dragon from any tribe for that matter.

It was a purely black dragon with no scales or details, almost like a shadow of some kind.
However, what really scared Qibli and nearly made him jump was when the shadow-like figure snapped its head to stare directly back a Qibli.
Almost as if it knew he was watching it.

There were no facial features except for two large white glowing eyes and a wide distorted white glowing smile.
The shadow tilted its head as it stared back at him. Qibli felt his heart pick up a little as he witnessed this.

The shadow raised what appeared to be an equally dark talon from behind the dune before it greeted him with a wave.
In any other circumstance, Qibli would have waved back...

But something about the dragon was clearly off. The same distorted glowing smile was fixed on the dragon's expression.
It was extremely unsettling.

And if it wasn't enough already, Qibli rubbed his eyes to clear them of any dirt or dust that could hinder his vision so he could get a better look at the mysterious figure but when he looked back... The figure was gone.

Nothing but sand in the wind.

'What was that? Some creepy as mystery dragon...' Qibli pondered deeply for a minute but he just couldn't figure it out. All the possible ideas he had to explain the situation related to him losing his mind. Which he did not find reassuring in the slightest.

'Maybe I'm just tired, can't say last night's sleep was very peaceful, I could just be hallucinating things as a result'
He looked back out just to make sure that the figure was really gone.
Another tumbleweed rolled in the distance, there was no sign of it, confirming his suspicions.

'But I just can't shake the feeling... That it just seemed a little too realistic for a sleep deprivation hallucination...'

His train of thought was interrupted when multiple talonsteps could be heard from behind him.

Qibli turned around to see Winter and Peril come to a stop before sitting down a little further away from him.

His face dropped a little and formed a slight scowl of annoyance.

"What do guys want" Qibli spat as he stared back at his friends who had just wronged him.

Winter opened his mouth to speak but fell silent. Peril simply looked a the ground guiltily, taking glances at Qibli now and then.

Qibli was growing more annoyed by the second. 'Why can't they just leave me alone? Or do they enjoy seeing me upset, like the pathetic dragons they are?' He thought angrily but surprised himself as he did so.

He turned back to look at the sunset as he pondered the reasoning behind his feelings.

'What? Why am I saying that? They're my friends, I shouldn't be thinking of them like that.'
Qibli was puzzled by his actions and thoughts.

He would never think of his friends like the way he was thinking right now.
He didn't know why, but ever since he woke from his nightmare he just felt... Annoyed... Angry...

'Violent...'

He couldn't explain it. But for some reason, a part of him wanted to cause something... Something big...

Something...

Chaotic...

A small psychotic smile began to form on his face, luckily, however, Winter interrupted his train of thought before his mind spiralled out of control.

"Hey... Qibli" Winter spoke softly.

Qibli turned back to them, his simile died down to where it was unnoticeable. Although it didn't feel natural, at least not to Qibli.
It was almost like a sinister force was tugging at the sides of his mouth in an attempt to bring the maniac smile back.

'Qibli... What are you thinking? Those kinds of forces don't exist. Stop overreacting!'
He shook his head slightly before he turned to answer his Icewing companion.

"Hmm" Qibli murmured in response.

Winter looked at Peril with guilty eyes, she returned the same regretful look before she continued the apology for him.

"Look... Qibli.. We're sorry.." Peril spoke awkwardly "We shouldn't have done what we did and it was wrong for us to do so"

She stopped awkwardly and gave Winter a soft glare which meant for him to continue it.

It took a small moment but he got the message.
"it was a bad idea and plan that we put together and we're sorry if we offended you..."

"Soo, are we cool?" Winter spoke, purposely making an Icewing pun in an attempt to cheer Qibli up considering he would always torment him with them constantly.

However, Qibli just stared back at him, unamused.
"You think you're funny for making that pun Winter?" Qibli spat. Which was extremely out of character for him.
"Well I'm not in the mood, if you're just going to be a piece of work like usual then you're better off leaving."

This surprised both Winter and Peril again. Although this time Winter was slightly aggravated.

"Oh come on Qibli!" Winter sighed with an aggressive tone. "We understand you're angry but you could at least acknowledge our apology. You don't have to be so rude about it!"

Qibli clenched his fists and jaw, his body stiffened a little but Winter Wasn't paying enough attention to notice.

"Honestly, why can't you just tell us what you saw? You're acting irrationally, and being delusional!

Suddenly without warning, Qibli whipped around and pounced on top of Winter, baring his fangs dangerously.

"Don't. You. Dare! CALL ME IRRATIONAL!" Qibli screamed into Winter's ear which left a slight sting.

Qibli dug his claws into Winter's chest, it wasn't enough to badly injure him but it was deep enough for him to have a strong grip on him.

Blue blood leaked from the small gaps between Qibli's claws and Winter's scales. It ran down the side of his torso and under scales until it eventually reached the grey stone floor, splashing a bit of colour onto it.

Winter's eyes went wide, he was scared, scared for his life. Looking down at the claws of his friend who had punctured his chest, his heart began to pick up.

He couldn't breathe well, or speak as every time he did he felt pain where Qiblis claws were positioned.
He looked at his face, he had never seen so much rage and hatred marked on the usually happy and cheerful dragon's face.

For the first time in a while, Winter seemed truly terrified and wished that the old Qibli would just suddenly come back and crack over a hundred Icewing puns in a row.
But something suggested that wasn't happening.

Winter turned to look at Peril who had the same mix of fear and surprise on her face.
She shrugged worriedly when she caught his glare.

She couldn't do anything to help, her firescales would burn Qibli too severely and they already had another friend to worry about.

The rest of the dragons were crowded around a shaking Hurricane. Who seemed to be in more pain than Winter was so it was no use calling for help.

Not that he was able to talk anyway.

"You want to know what I saw Winter..." Qibli asked, an internal raging fire still present in his mind.
"This. Thing... It was more of a voice than anything.., it... Tortured me..."
Teardrops began to form in his eyes as he continued to speak.

"Pain.. searing through my entire body... Under every scale... Every vain... Everywhere..."

"Whispers.., cryptic whispers... messed my mind up... I can still hear them..." Qibli clutched his head with a talon as more tears continued to drop on Winter's chest.

His grip softened and allowed Winter to breathe a little better and slightly speak.

Although didn't know how to react to this anyway, first it looked like Qibli was about to end him, and now he was having a mental breakdown.

"He-y" Winter croaked, he placed a talon on Qibli's arm in an attempt of two things. One, to try and get him to let go of his chest.
And two, to try and comfort him and give him the message that it would be alright.
Even though it would be difficult to get the message over.

Qibli didn't pay much attention to Winter's actions although his grip was loosening up.
As Qibli continued to let tears drop Winter pushed against his arm to try and shove Qibli's claws out of his under scales.

It was painful, very painful, more blood oozed out from his body as Winter struggled to lift his friend's arm.
Winter clenched his teeth as he endured one final thrust before Qibli's -now blue- sharp claws left his body.

He was finally able to breathe properly though his chest still hurt beyond anything at the moment but he had gotten his voice back.

"Q-Qibli!" Winter called, his voice a bit raspy however it didn't matter as it got the Sandwing's attention.
"Ca-alm, d-own... Please..." Winter now was the one who had started to collect teardrops however he held them back.

Qibli looked back a Winter, his mix of strong emotions fell to a soft puzzle glare when he eventually spotted the four bloody claw-punctured holes in Winter's chest.

Immediately, he switched his attention to his now very sticky blue talon.
His eyes went the widest they'd ever been in a while. A small gasp left his mouth as he turned back to Winter.

All of his confusion turned to panic in an instant as he put the pieces together and realised what he had just done to his friend.

"OH!" Qibli yelled quite loudly, which most likely got the attention of the others but he didn't care.
"Oh moons! Winter are you okay?!... I-I'm sorry... I don't know!?... I don't know what came over me!" Qibli was starting to hyperventilate.

In his sudden burst of rage and emotion, he'd ended up badly injuring one of his best friends... Or at least, he hoped Winter would still be his friend after this.
He had already messed up multiple times in the past few days, this would definitely be the last straw.

"Winter... I'm sorry... I truly am... I don't know what in the moons came over me but I've already wronged you multiple times..." There was a short break of silence after his sentence. Winter didn't know what he was going on about so he just tilted his head slightly to the side.

This caused some more of his blood to leak from his chest.
Winter winced slightly which only made Qibli panic more.

He was walking from side to side mumbling multiple rude remarks at himself. Winter couldn't understand most of it but he managed to pick up the words "Useless," "Terrible friend" as well as "Better off dead."

As soon as he heard those final words come out of his mouth He knew he needed to speak up.
He didn't care if blood would keep leaking if he did talk.

He couldn't let Qibli have the thoughts he had had for so long. He knew how much it could mess your mind up.

"Qibli. Stop talking" Winter spoke sternly. More blood came out of his scales as he did so but he ignored it.
"Stop talking nonsense, you know you're not better off dead..." Winter continued. He noticed he had gained Qibli's attention.

Qibli stared back at a now very dark blue Icewing who was pushing through moons knows how much pain in order to give him a message.

"Get yourself together!" Winter bellowed "YOU'RE NOT USELESS OR A TERRIBLE FRIEND! AND YOU'RE MOST DEFINITELY NOT BETTER OFF DEAD!"

By the time Winter had finished yelling the pool of blue blood had grown to reach Peril's talons to which she instinctively leapt back slightly.

"Winter..." Qibli whispered as he wiped the tear from his eye. "You shouldn't be talking... What about your scales?"

Winter let out a sole painful yet needed laugh, it forced even more blood out of him but he didn't care.

"Don't worry about me... As long as you're back to your normal self then everything's fine,"
Winter coughed a little which spewed out a few more small blue drops which plopped on the ground beside him.

Qibli placed his talons on Winter's chest an attempt to stop the bleeding.
"Winter stop talking!" Qibli cried, putting a good amount of pressure on the punctures

"I-I'm fine..." Winter said, his breaths noticeably becoming uneven which told Qibli he was lying.

"I'm just... A little tired" Winter said in the the most ordinary way possible, although it was clear that he was struggling to speak.

Winter put his head down on the stone floor, he closed his eyes and almost immediately lost consciousness from blood loss.

"Hey... Hey! HEY! WINTER WAKE UP DON'T YOU HEAD OFF TO SLEEP ON ME!" Qibli screamed, panic flooding back to him.

He shook the Icewings shoulders although no progress was made in regards to waking him back up.
Winter was out cold.

Qibli and Peril stared back at their fainted Icewing friend.
Luckily, Qibli's quick thinking finally came back to him at that moment.

He grabbed Winter's talons with his own and began to gently drag him across the cave floor.
A blue smear followed Winter's still body as he did so.

Qibli dragged Winter towards his other friends. He knew they were all worried about Hurricane and it would probably be a bad idea to worry them with something else.

But he didn't have much of a choice. If they didn't help Winter out then he could die.

"Turtle!" Qibli shouted upon spotting his animus friend.
Turtle turned to meet a very upset Sandwing dragging a body behind him.
His talons and some of his under scales were stained blue and there was a noticeably large blue smear across the stone floor.

Turtle's concern, however, shot through the roof when he noticed who he was dragging.

"Qibli... What happened to him?!" Turtle cried as he left Hurricane's side and rushed down to his fallen Icewing friend.

His heart rate picked up as he spotted multiple puncture marks on his chest.
"Oh moons..." Turtle whispered to himself.

"I messed up Turtle!... I messed up badly..." Qibli panicked.
"What do you mean yo-"
Turtle paused as he looked up, noticing that Qibli's claws were stained completely blue.

"I messed up... Please you need to help him.." Qibli sobbed, now on his knees he grabbed Turtle's Shoulders.
"Please... Turtle, I know I said I wouldn't ask you to use your powers but please..."
His talons fell to the floor.

Turtle looked down at his unconscious friend, seeing the blood ooze out of Winter's body made Turtle's stomach turn... He felt sick.

"Qibli... What did you do..."
Turtle was in shock, his brain struggled to grasp the situation in front of him.
He just stood there, staring at the slow stream of Winter's blood.

That was until Peril snapped him out of his daze.
"Hey Stupid! Wake up we need you" Peril snapped her claws in front of his face.
The sudden burst of heat brought him back instantly.

Turtle shook his head, and without saying another word he reached for his healing stone.
Although he was interrupted by Star who he hadn't noticed was also standing behind him.

She placed a talon on his shoulder as she also looked down at the sickening scene.
However, she was able to maintain her composure despite her body saying otherwise.

"Turtle.. It's Hurricane..."
Star spoke, her words clear and calm but with a small layer of deep worry Hidden beneath them. " He's gotten worse... I don't know what we can do"

This caught Qibli's attention.
"What do you mean he's gotten worse..?"

Star turned her attention to Qibli.
"I can't explain it.." She said slowly,
"Just see for yourself.."

She began walking away back to the red shaking Skywing.
"Turtle come on you may be his only hope at this point!"

"Right!" Turtle said but before he left he passed the healing stone he had taken out of his pouch to Peril.
"Use this to heal him" Turtle said, gesturing to Winter. "Make sure you don't burn him"

Peril stood there for a second, slightly shocked that someone would trust her with something like this. However, she simply nodded her head and bent down to heal her friend in need.

Meanwhile, Qibli and Turtle both ran over to where Hurricane was currently laying.
His body was tensed up, almost as if he was trapped by something.

"What happened?" Turtle asked desperately as both he and Qibli knelt beside him.

"We don't know," Moon said, " He was calm at first but then all of a sudden he started shivering and struggling."

"Something is terribly wrong" Star added.

Turtle placed a talon on his friend's chest, his heart rate was through the roof.
Turtle could feel Hurricane's pulse throughout his entire body.

With every beat, and every shiver he felt a part of his life being drained.
He couldn't explain it, but he just had a feeling...

Suddenly, Hurricane stopped breathing.
He started making jagged motions with his neck as he did so.
As if something was choking him.

"HEY HEY! WHY AREN'T YOU BREATHING!" Kinkajou shouted, jumping on top of him in an attempt to wake him.

"Kinkajou! Calm down, you might hurt him!" Qibli suddenly yelled, tackling the small Rainwing off of the choking Skywing as they both landed on the stone floor.

Kinkajou looked up at Qibli was scared eyes.
Qibli was slightly mad but her eyes reminded him of what he had just done to Winter and as such got off of her carefully.

He shot her an apologetic glance before returning to his love interest on the ground.
Leaving an uninjured Kinkajou alone to her thoughts.

Hurricane was still unresponsive to any futile attempts to wake him.
As Turtle and Star were constantly shouting his name and shaking him like there was no tomorrow.
Moon sat there, with a mixed expression of confusion and realisation.

However, her eyes snapped open when she realised something.

"Guys! Stop!" Moon yelled.
Turtle and Star fell silent as they looked up at her.
Moon had a mixed expression with two claws on the side of her head.

"I-I can hear him..." She mumbled.

"What? You can hear him?" Qibli asked, putting an ear to Hurricane's snout.

"No, I mean I can hear his thoughts..." Moon said as she shut her eyes tightly.

"What's he saying?" Turtle inched closer to her.

"I can't make it all out... But I need you all to be quiet for a moment, thoughts included" Moon said sternly.

The others looked at one another, uncertain of how to keep thoughts silent.
Soon, Qibli nodded signalling to the others to try their best to control their minds while Moon worked her magic.

Moon closed her eyes again in an attempt to reach into Hurricane's mind.
It was mainly darkness, now and then a few thoughts slipped from her friend's minds but after a few moments she could pick something up.

It was only a few words, but it was enough to send shivers down all of their spines.

"Someone... Please... Help.."

Moon gasped and opened her eyes after hearing his voice.
Upon looking at her friends she realised that she must have also said the thoughts aloud as they were also staring back with the same worried look.

Qibli was about to say something when Turtle beat him to it.

"That's it... I'm doing it" He stated as he flexed his talons slightly.

"You can't be serious, you know the possible consequences of it!" Star said, now also slightly worried.

"And the negative impacts it could have on you!" Moon interjected

"What's he going to do?" Qibli asked slightly concerned at what was happening.
But nobody had a chance to answer him before Turtle made his move.

Turtle ignored all of his friend's Warnings and placed his talons on Hurricane before he spoke aloud.

"I enchant this dragon to awake and escape from whatever nightmare or being is torturing him"

Chapter Text

Daniel saw the world around him begin to fade. He was losing his grasp on reality... and on life.

There was nothing he could do. Trapped by Kraken like tentacles, probably over a hundred meters below the surface. Even if he did by some miracle escape the entities grasp on his body he would most certainly drown before he reached solid air again.

'This is it I guess...' Daniel Thought with defeat. 'Never expected to die in a fantasy world but I guess life is full of surprises...' It was funny.. despite his current situation... the only thing that he had on his mind was happiness... a soft smile crossed his face as his world finally faded to darkness.

He didn't know what to expect from it. Death that is...
It was a mysterious thing, some people feared it, some people embraced it.
But you never knew what it truly is until you pass the line...

'Although I'm pretty sure you're not still supposed to be conscious'
Daniel thought, nothing but a black screen of nothingness surrounded him.

He couldn't see anything, not even his own body...
'If I even still have one that is...' Daniel thought grimly.
He must admit that if this was it, that if Death was just an endless darkness for you to be alone with your thoughts...

'It's not exactly a great ending... Buuuuuut. At least I'm not burning in a pit in hell..'

Daniel looked, or tried to look around at his black surroundings.
But it was strange, he felt his field of vision turn as he wanted it to, but it don't feel like he was attached to anything.

Like his eyes or conscious Was just floating in place...

Like a ghost...

'Am I really dead?... Is this it?.. Or is there something else..'
Daniel was conflicted. He didn't know what to believe or what was really happening.

However.. Soon a familiar voice could be heard in the distance.

"Hurricane!.. Wake up!.. Don't you leave us!.."
The voice was very faint but there was no mistaking who it was.

The faint voice of Kinkajou could be heard through the black void.
It wasn't clear from where her voice was coming from but more of his friends voices followed soon afterwards.

"Please.. Please work" spoke the distant voice of Turtle.

"Calm down, He'll be alright" a much much quieter voice said. Daniel couldn't pick up who it was but he guessed it was probably Moon since the other female dragons didn't have such a soft voice.

Daniel listened to these voices for a while not knowing if they were actually real or just in his mind.
Soon however Daniel spotted a distant spark among the darkness Beyond him.

A small white spot of what appeared to be light, sparkling on in the distance. Like a lonely star in the black area of outer space.

A possible glimpse of hope,

'A possible exit..'

Daniel stared back a the white dot among the darkness, it appeared to be growing larger by the second.
Either that or he was unintentionally moving towards it.

More of his friend's voices echoed within the darkness once again.

"Hey! Jokes over you should be up by now!.."
The slightly panicked voice of Qibli said.

Daniel was slightly worried now,
'What does he mean I should be up by now?'

Daniel looked back towards the light.
It was now a bright as day and as such he had look away in order to avoid being blinded.

Well at least he tried to look away but it seemed like the dark world he was trapped in began to brighten.

Everywhere he looked there was more and more brightness and he had no way to avoid it.
His vision became disoriented as nothing but white brightness surrounded him.

Eventually however... The white void slowly faded into the appearance of a grey stone ceiling.
As well the faces of five dragons staring down at him.

"HES AWAKE!" Kinkajou squealed, her scales changing colors to a bright pink and yellow which gave Daniel an eyesore.

Forced to switch his attention to avoid burning out his retinas, he looked over at a particular Sandwing who just happened to have a bright crimson blush across his snout.

Qibli quickly turned away in embarrassment when he met his eyes.
At first Daniel was confused, wondering what was wrong with his Sandwing friend.
That was, until he remembered Winters words about a supposed 'Crush' he had on him.

'Well I guess that confirms it.. Though it didn't even look like he was trying to hide it...'

'How strange...'
Daniel thought.
As he watched a crimson faced Qibli look away his attention was cut short when the face of Star came almost inches away from his own.

This made him jump slightly, although his slight fear faded as he stared back at her.
Now being able to study her face properly he noticed how beautiful she actually was.

There was an almost perfect balance between her yellow scales and Ice blue spikes along her back and slightly on her face.

And what more is that Daniel found himself staring back into her deep blue eyes which stood out due to the yellow facial scales around them which just made them that much more mesmerising.

However by far the most gorgeous part of it all was the fact that she had a yellow pupil instead of a black one.
Daniel didn't know how it was possible in regards to genetics however It made no difference to him.

The pupil looked beautiful on its own, like a small spec of gold in the centre of a large blue ocean.
The only thing that Daniel could think of at that moment was one word.

'Wow...'

Now Daniel felt his own Crimson blush form on his cheeks and snout.
Noticing this he slightly panicked internally knowing he might have gotten caught but no one seemed to notice.

'Must be because of the red scales...' Daniel thought 'Thank the lord'
He gave out a sigh of relief before in the calmest way possible said to Star.

"Can you get off me now?"
It took a moment for the message to get through to her but she understood.
A very faint blue blush of embarrassment came over her snout as she jumped off him.

"Oh Moons I'm so sorry!"

"Nah, don't worry about it" Daniel responded, his blush finally fading away like it was never there.
But his heart skipped a beat when he realised something...
'Wait a minute...' Daniel thought.
He turned to look at a particular Nightwing who was sitting just next to him.

'Moon?'

She looked back at him with the calmest expression she shot him a very very slight smirk.
Indicating to Daniel that she knew.

'Ah... Crap.'
Daniel thought but he was cut short when he felt something in his throat.

Without hesitation, he snapped his head towards the mouth of the cave, which just happened to be right next to him.

He jumped up quickly, startling his friends before he leaned over the edge of the caves mouth.

"Woah are you okay Hurricane?!" Turtle asked worriedly.

Daniel ignore his question, he couldn't speak. Whatever was in his throat prevented it.
Tears formed in his eyes as he started to gag slightly

"Wha-" Star was about to ask but she was cut of midway through her question.

Water, lots of water came rushing out of Daniels mouth.
He coughed as more water came out from is lungs and it took a solid fifteen seconds before all the water left his system.

By the end of it his throat was in deep pain.
A large damp puddle of sand had formed in front of Daniels face.
small droplets hung from the sides of his snout as he finally managed to breath in some fresh air after god knows how long.

"Uhhhgggg" Daniel groaned as he finally got himself on all fours again.

"What was that!?" Qibli asked concerningly.
"I don't think throwing up water, in the desert of all places! is a good sign"

"It's not." Daniel responded letting out another small cough as he turned to look at him.
"But I do have an explana-" Daniel was about to speak but stopped himself mid sentence when he spotted the weapon on Qibli's arm.

Qibli being the quick and vigilant dragon he is, spotted this immediately but he didn't have time to explain before Daniel spoke.

"Qibli... Where did you get that from... And more importantly... Why is there blood on it..?"
Daniel was now the one set on edge.

'What happened while I was gone... We're they attacked? Did someone get hurt?'
He only then noticed behind Qibli was his other two friends.

Peril was cradling over a fallen Winter, but what really made him panic was when he saw the liquid pool around his body.

From afar it didn't look like much, but he knew exactly what it was.
He'd seen it first hand in his battle with Star.
He knew exactly what it was considering the substance covered his own scales in the aftermath.

Winter was unconscious in his own blood...
Ans this only made Daniel wonder, as his heart rate started to race.

'What happened here..? '

Daniel fell back towards the side of the cave wall, despite the multiple dragons talking to him he was unresponsive.

All he could stare at was What appeared to be Winter's lifeless body, chilling there in the not so far of distance.

He was in a sort of panicked trance. Nothing seemed to get through to him a he just stared into the background.

His mind was a raging blizzard of emotions and thoughts, though non of them a showed on his face.

'What happened!? How did this happen? I shouldn't of left, I can't even keep a promise...'

The thoughts went on and on with each one getting worse then the last, however it wasn't just Daniel, it was everyone.

Everyone's thoughts were completely messed up. Ranging from Kinkajou's 'could I have done something to help out?'
To Qibli's 'I Should have seen this coming, why am I so useless!'

Moon clutched her head in a sort of pain, everyone's thoughts were too overwhelming. She was about to snap, she was done with everyone's bullshit.

"Stop! STOP! STOP IT!" Moon screamed. She covered her ears in an attempt to drown out the thoughts of others but it as no use.

This snapped Daniel out of his trance. Looking around at the nearly crying moon he was slightly puzzled at why she was acting that way.

"Moon are you okay?" Qibli asked, as he moved closer in an attempt to comfort her.

Moon didn't react to this, she just clutched her head tightly as she finally let some tears drop down to the floor.

"What's wrong Moon?" Kinkajou questioned, walking up and trying to talk to her.

She covered up her ears like she was trying to block out some imaginary blaring noise.
The others tried to reason with her but Moon ignored their words.

Daniels puzzlement was still printed across his face as he tried to figure out what was wrong with her.
However the confusion did not last long as Daniel finally realised what was going on a few moments later.

'Wait... She's being overwhelmed by our thoughts!'
Putting two and two together he jumped up and grabbed Turtles armband which was just sitting on the floor for some reason.

Turtle caught on to this and tried to stop him.
"H-Hey what are you doing!" Turtle demanded as he tried to take the stolen jewelry back from Daniels claws.

"Sorry dude, I'll give it back in a second!" Daniel called before he turned around and ran towards where Moon was now having a mental breakdown.

He looked at the armband, for some reason Daniel wasn't able to turn it in any shape or form.
It was like the armband was locked in place, always pointing at him.

'What? I don't remember this happening... Was it possible that Turtle enchanted it?'
Daniel pondered for a moment on the matter but he let it slide. He needed to get the armband to Moon.

Daniel looked back down to the piece of. Jewelry. The smooth black Skyfire rocks glinted back at him as they reflected the late morning sun.

He soon reached where Moon was sitting. Kinkajou and Qibli sat next to her as they tried to reach out to her but she was unresponsive.

'Well of course she would be, she's probably got about a dozen thoughts running through her mind at the moment. No way you're getting someone in that situation to concentrate'

Daniel rudely pushed passed Qibli and Kinkajou quickly feeling bad afterwards but he shrugged his feelings off.

"Hey Moon.." Daniel said softly as he placed the band on her scales. He didn't know id she had to actually be wearing or hiding the Skyfire for it's effects to work but he assumed otherwise when Moon stopped trembling after he did so.

"Hey... Can you hear me clearly? Are the thoughts gone?" Daniel asked hopefully.

Moon just looked at him with bewildered eyes before slightly nodding, indicting to him that they were gone.

"Phew" Daniel let out a sigh of relief as he sat back the armband still in contact with the Nightwings scales.

"We're all good here!" Daniel called out to the others, who looked just as puzzled as Moon did.

Just then Peril entered the conversation.
"Hey guys I finished patching Winter up, what did I miss?"

She looked at Daniel and then smiled.
"Good to see You're awake" Peril said before adding "Speed demon"
Daniel smiled back at her, guessing that he got a new nickname for himself.

But his smile faded just slightly as he scanned all the other dragon's bewildered faces.

He knew what was coming next and sighed deeply, thinking it was probably for the best anyways.

'Welp... Looks like I got a lot of explaining to do...'

Chapter Text

It was about midday, the sun was high up in the cloudless sky as it shone down upon the golden scorching desert.

Winter had recently woken up from his semi-coma however he was too injured internally to fly properly and as such was stuck travelling on foot.

Plus it was way too hot to continue their journey to the Borderland anyways. And if they needed to travel on foot they would tire themselves out. So instead the group of dragonets decided to kill some time.

This was done by having Daniel give them a two hour lecture and explanation about everything he knew regarding Secrets and knowledge.

--

"And that's about it really" Daniel concluded. He didn't know how long he was speaking to them for but it had to be a long time by now.

Daniel really didn't want it to come to this, where he had to explain everything to everyone.

'Well... Not Everything' Daniel thought, he clutched his Skyfire rock tightly in his talon hoping it was blocking out Moons mind reading.

After the whole dramatic situation Daniel was indirectly forced to spill his own secrets to them.
'Of which went... Decently... I would say'

So Daniel did just that, he told them almost everything about himself.
He told them he actually wasn't from Phyrria and actually from another dimension named Earth.

He told them that he knew a lot about them because on earth there were 'Stories' about Phyrria.
'Now I wasn't exactly lying when I said that, I just left out the bit, "we wrote the stories and you guys are all actually fake"
Because I'm pretty sure that would not go well'

In reality he really didn't say much apart from being from another dimension. Most of the time was taken up by him answering Questions... A LOT of questions.

It was mainly just questions about what earth was like and such and such, nothing too crazy. Although there were a few times where he had to completely lie for their sake.

One of these times was when Qibli asked,
"So strictly speaking, if you're from another dimension... Doesn't that mean there are other dragon tribes?"

It was a basic question in their eyes because Daniel never said he was actually human. So he needed to come up with some quick thinking answers or else his real secret would be spilled right then and there.

"Well yes, sort of" Daniel lied. "We do have other tribes but the differences are mainly just scale color, nothing like what you have here.

Technically Daniel didn't lie to them, at least not directly. He just stated the different races in a different form.
If they believed he was talking about other dragons it was on them.

"Okay so anything else? I've been answering questions for the last hour and a half and I would really like to change the subject"
Daniel peered around at his friends who were just processing this new information but soon Daniel remembered something.

"Qibli... You still haven't told me where you got that weapon.. Or more importantly, how you got it"

Everyone turned to look at Qibli who looked slightly nervous.
"You won't believe me if I tell you" He said and that's when Winter piped up.

"Really Qibli, you're going to say the same story again. Like c'mon man, you can talk to us" Winter sounded both aggravated and reassuring which Daniel didn't even think was possible.

"Qibli at this point I'm ready to hear anything, just tell me"
Daniel said, now curious at how his friend had gotten his hands on a weapon that as a far as he was aware, didn't exist in Phyrria.

Qibli sighed in defeat, still thinking that nobody would believe him but he spoke up anyways.
"Fine, but when you don't believe me don't tell me to make a different story because I'm telling you the truth"

"Works for me" Daniel said calmly

And so Qibli began another forty five minute speech as he described what had happened to him in the most detail as dragonly possible.

He started from his disturbing nightmare, to his unexplainable visions of what a mysterious voice claimed to be the future, to eventually him revealing that the weapon was given to him by the voice... And that the blood on it was his own mothers.

"There... That's it.." Qibli sniffled as he finally finished recapping probably one of the most scarring moments he will ever experience.
Wiping a tear from his eye he finally asked, "Any questions?" he gave a shy smile to try and lighten the mood but it was clear he was still traumatised by what he saw.

Although Daniel noticed he was still wearing the cloak around his neck that the Voice had given him.
"Why are you still wearing the cloak?" Daniel asked.
Knowing Qibli he wouldn't do anything unless it was for a reason which is why Daniel had the suspicion that he was hiding something.

Qibli looked up at him, his eyes felt sort of panicked but at this point he couldn't tell if it was because of what Daniel had said or literally anything else that had happened today.

"O-oh uhh, no reason" Qibli said quickly though this only raised Daniels suspicious even more.

"Can I have a look at it?" Daniel asked innocently Although his skeptical glare said otherwise.

Qibli was panicking internally now, he was clutching his own Skyfire rock which Daniel had explained blocked Moons mind reading.

That was also going to be another massive debate but at the time Daniel really didn't want to get into it. So he switched the subject before they could get started on it.

It took a while for Qibli to respond but he firmly said, "Sorry Hurricane, but it's my cloak and I would prefer if you didn't touch it"
Although right after he said that Qibli shook his head and started breathing heavily.
Like he didn't know what was going on in that moment.

However Daniel did... Because he recognised the tone of voice, despite the sound of it belonging to Qibli the tone was from someone else.

It was from...

๓є..

The voice spoke suddenly in his head which nearly made him jump.

"What! How are you in my mind!" Daniel yelled to the voice whose laughter was echoing off in the background.

๔เ๔ ץ๏ย гєคɭɭץ Շђเภк ץ๏ย ς๏ยɭ๔ єรςคקє ๓є?
The voice laughed, ՇђคՇ'ร Ŧยภภץ!

Daniel was uncertain, he thought he had just barley escaped that horrid dream alive.

คภ๔ ץ๏ย ๔เ๔ The voice interrupted him.
เŦ เՇ ฬครภ'Շ Ŧ๏г ץ๏ยг คภเ๓ยร Ŧгเєภ๔ ץ๏ย ฬ๏ยɭ๔ ๏Ŧ ๒єєภ ๔єค๔ เภ Շђє ภєאՇ Ŧєฬ รєς๏ภ๔ร

The voice growled. ฬєɭɭ เ'ɭɭ ђคשє Շ๏ ђคภ๔ เՇ Շ๏ ץ๏ย Շђ๏ยﻮђ, The mysterious voice echoed in the background.

ɎØɄ ₩ɆⱤɆ ₮ⱧɆ ₣łⱤ₴₮, ł₦ ₥₳₦Ɏ ĐɆ₵₳ĐɆ₴ ₮Ø ɆVɆⱤ ₴ɄⱤVłVɆ ₥Ɏ ₦ł₲Ⱨ₮₥₳ⱤɆ, ɆVɆ₦ ł₣ ɎØɄ Ⱨ₳Đ ⱧɆⱠ₱. ₴Ø ₣ØⱤ ₮Ⱨ₳₮ ł'ⱠⱠ ⱠɆ₦Đ ɎØɄ ₳ ₴₥₳ⱠⱠ ₲ł₣₮
The voice started to crack, like it was losing it's ability to speak.

'What Kind of gift?' Daniel asked skeptically.
Not knowing if he should even accept it.

ⱠɆ₮'₴ ₴₳Ɏ... ₳ '₵Ʉ₮₮ł₦₲' Ø₦Ɇ...
The voice responded cryptically.
Daniel didn't understand what he meant but didn't have time to ponder as he could feel the voice starting to leave his mind.
However he needed to know at least one last thing before it left.

'Hey Dumbass! I never got your name! Or should I just call you krakenhead from now on?'
Daniel called out, he tried to make a slight joke in order to both insult the person who just tried to kill him and also to try and ease the tension in his own body.

Ⱨ₥₥₥. ₩ɆⱠⱠ ł ₲ɄɆ₴₴ ł₮'₴ ₣₳łⱤ ₣ØⱤ ɎØɄ ₮Ø ₭₦Ø₩ ₥Ɏ ₦₳₥Ɇ ł₣ ₩Ɇ ₳ⱤɆ ₲Øł₦₲ ₮Ø ฿Ɇ ₮₳Ⱡ₭ł₦₲ QɄł₮Ɇ Ø₣₮Ɇ₦ ₣ⱤØ₥ ₦Ø₩ Ø₦...

үσ𝕌 𝓬ＡŇ 𝓬Ａ𝔩𝔩 爪Ｅ...
The voice was fading away, it was getting harder to just make out what he was saying but Daniel had close attention and he could just make out his final words..

卞 廾 ヨ 呂 丹 卞 ヨ 片 ヨ ヨ 尸 ヨ 尺...

The words rang through Daniels skull, the crackling of fire and the screams of dragons blared within the borrows of his brain.

He toppled forward onto the floor as the screams continued, like they were trying to escape the prison of his mind.
Soon it became unbearable but just as Daniel was about to scream out... It stopped.

He was left disoriented, struggling to gain his bearings on the world around him.
It took a few moments but his vision began to clear slightly just as Turtle called out to him.
"Woah?! Are you okay Hurricane?" which finally snapped Daniel out from his daydream.

Daniel shook his head before he responded. The last of his dizziness fading away as the world came to a stop around him.

"Y-Yeah I'm alright.." Daniel responded, although as he got up on his talons again he felt a sharp pain on one of his palms.

This caused him to visibly flinch and caught the attention of the others.
"Are you sure you're alright?" Moon asked uncertainly.

Daniel winced as he lifted one of his front talons off the ground, he was shocked not only to find a large gash across the entirety of his left talon, but also what appeared to be the most beautiful and deadly weapon he had ever seen..

'Is this what he meant by a 'Cutting' gift!' Daniel thought angrily.
"GODDAMMIT! PIECE OF SOME STUPID CRYPTIC VOICE!"
He screamed out loud, not caring if the others thought he was crazy.

"Arrrghh" Daniel groaned painfully as he clutched his talon. Thick red blood seaped from the wound and onto the cave floor, which at this point could be considered a bloody canvas.

"Three moons.. " Turtle cursed under his breath, "Hold on a second I'll be right back!"

Daniel watched as Turtle ran to where Peril was sitting.
Although they had been sitting there for a while she hadn't given back Turtles enchanted stone.

It was just sitting on the floor in front of them, along with about ten or twenty other rocks.
It didn't take long to find it however as there was only one rock radiating with heat which Daniel assumed was from Perils Firescales.

Turtle grabbed the stone, wincing slightly due to the unexpected high temperatures.
Bringing the stone to Daniel who was on the verge of tears the stone was placed in his injured palm.

Daniel bit his tongue, he could feel the wound healing however there was also the agonising sensation of high temperatures on an open gash.

After a few seconds he took the stone off and placed it back on the ground in front of him.
Here he switched his attention to the voices 'Cutting' gift.

'I'll be sure to remember this you dumb shadow!'
Daniel thought.
He picked up the object, which he immediately recognised.

It was a basic metal weapon, however it was one that was by far too advanced for Phyrrias time.
'How did he even manage to give this to me'?
Well I guess he kind of did the same with Qibli so who am I to know'

Just then however, the exact dragon he was thinking about spoke up.
"You heard him too? Hurricane?" Qibli asked slightly fearful yet curious.

He gave him a small nod before Qibli turned his attention to the weapon in Daniels talons.

"And what's that?"
Qibli studied the object Daniel was holding, absolutely clueless of what it could be.

"A cutting gift"
Daniel said as he flipped open the weapon to reveal what it was.
Two golden handles span in the air for a quick second around Daniels talons before it revealed a dark ice blue blade.

"In my world we call it a butterfly knife, or the more official name.. A Balisong"

Daniel looked down upon the blade, he just didn't understand how the voice was able to give it to him.

'Or more importantly... Why...' he could of given him literally anything else. But he didn't have time to ponder for just then he had remembered what he overheard on the way back to the cave.

Winter was about to ask a question about the blade but was cut off by Daniel before he could get a word out.

"Guys, I need to tell you something..." Daniel said in a more serious tone
He paused for a small moment to make sure the others were listening.

"I'm just going to put it bluntly" Daniel took a deep breath. "Qibli, on the way back here I ran into your siblings"

Daniel watched as Qibli's face fell from a natural cheery look to slight fear and anxiety.

"Rattlesnake and Sirocco?" Qibli asked.
Daniel nodded his head
"Yeah... Them."

"Well did they do anything to you?" Qibli scanned Daniels body for any possible injuries that his siblings could of inflicted.

"No, don't worry I hid behind a sand dune and wasn't spotted by them." Daniel said, calming Qibli down slightly.
"However I did overhear them talking."

He moved closer so everyone could hear him although they were all paying such close attention that it wasn't really needed.

"Vulture wants the map. Qibli, He's sent both of your siblings to hunt us all down as we speak and as such we need to get a move on."

Daniel got up to look at the small crowed of dragons in front of him who just stared back, uncertain of what to do.

"WELL DONT JUST SIT THERE! WE NEED TO GO!" Daniel yelled, which immediately got everyone up on all fours.

However while everyone else gathered anything they wanted to bring along, Daniel spotted a worried Winter.

'Wait! Winter can't fly with his injuries! There's no way he would be able to last five minutes up there..'
Daniel had messed big time, he'd completely forgotten Winter was unable to fly. and they wouldn't be going anywhere unless he thought of something quick.

Daniel walked up to him but this time Winter was the one to cut him off before he could say anything.

"I'll manage" Winter stated flatly.

"What?"

"I said I'll manage" Winter repeated. "I know you came up to me to ask about my flying, I'll manage"

"You can't be serious" Daniel said, astounded. "You're insane!"

"The Ice kingdom is at least another eight hours of flying away! Probably more even!"
Daniel shouted.
In reality he didn't know exactly how far the Ice kingdom actually was but he assumed it Would be about that distance.

"Besides" He continued, "No matter how much will power you have you won't be able to last five minutes up in the air"

"Wow, thanks for the boost of confidence" Winter scoffed, rolling his eyes.

Daniel groaned but he wouldn't let Winter get his way.
'Because If he does it might be his last flight.. Period."

"Winter, my point is that at the moment you are not for for flying, you could... no... You WILL mess up your internal system."

"So?" Winter said, not convinced it would be that bad.

"ARE YOU NOT LISTENING TO ME! WINTER YOU COULD DIE!" Daniel screamed.
"I can't let you do this to yourself"

Winter stared back at him, his face was cold but a small bit of tenderness lay underneath all of it.

Winter sighed.. "Fine, then what do you propose we do about my 'Incapabilty' to fly?'
He made sarcastic claw gestures at the word 'incapability' but he was willing to not go through with his original plan,
For now at least.

"Hmmm.." Daniel mumbled as he put a claw on the bottom of his snout.
"Well I do have one possible solution.."
It was definitely one of the most stupid ideas he ever had, but they were desperate.

'Well.. It's worth a shot I guess..'

Daniel sat down on the floor, his limbs tucked closely to his body so he would be able to stand up easily..

"What are you doing Hurricane?" Winter asked, eyeing him skeptically.

"Well since you can't fly I'm going to have to carry you, now get on"
Daniel explained.

"Ha! Good one" Winter laughed for one of the few times he did, but his face slowly fell when he realised Daniel was just sitting there patiently.

"Wait you're serious" Winter said, his face falling to disbelief.

"Once hundred percent" Daniel smiled.

"I think you're the insane one this time." Winter replied coldly not wanting to take another step closer to Daniel.
"I'm not riding on your back"

"I don't think you have much of a choice on this one dude" Daniel pointed out, gesturing to the rest of the group who were already gathered at the cave entrance.

Winter stared back before he swore under his breath.
"Fine, But if I die or something else happens to me or to you. It's YOUR fault" Winter said as he pointed a sharp claw at Daniel.

"Fine by me, now get on already, we got places to be"

Winter grumbled as he walked around to Daniels backside.
Under his breath Daniel heard Winter say.
"Moons, I can't believe I'm actually doing this"

Winter sat down on Daniels back, he leaned forward a little to where his head was almost next to Daniels.
His limbs were tucked neatly along his sides.

Winters scales were close to freezing and it sent multiple shivers down Daniels spine and scales.
"Oof, you're heavier then you look Winter" Daniel said.

"Are you calling me fat" Winter growled dangerously.

"No not at all.. Just wondering how the best way to carry you across a desert is.
Daniel responded coolly.
He wrapped his tail around Winters which made him hiss.

"Oi! What are you doing!? Having to hang on to you is bad enough I don't need your tail there as well." Winter hissed "Plus Isn't that kind of thing for couples?"

"Not necessarily, it helps with support." Daniel said. "Plus. It's good practice for when you get to do it with Qibli over there.. Hehe"

Daniel watched as Winters face turned from ice blue to navy within seconds.

"SHUT IT" Winter bellowed.

"Fine, fine, I won't tease you anymore" Daniel spoke before adding, "For now atleast.. But hold on cause I'm getting up.

Daniel lifted himself onto all fours again. He nearly fell over due to the large amount of weight on his back but he managed.

"You feeling alright up there Icy?" Daniel teased although he had just said he would stop.

"Mhmm," Winter confirmed. "And don't call me that"

"Sorry couldn't help myself" Daniel half apologised. "alright, now down to business"

Daniel walked over to the others, they hadn't seen him yet but when they did thier faces changed to a mix of puzzlement and confusion.

"Hey guys, we're ready to go" Daniel said confidently.

"Okay... But what exactly am I looking at?" Moon asked.

"Well since Winter here can't fly due to his internal injuries I reckoned I would carry him." Daniel explained "Plus I think he enjoys the view"

"SHUT IT!" Winter spat, which nearly made him lose balance and fall off however he held on by tightening his tail around Daniels.

"You do know that I could just enchan-" Turtle started but was sternly cut off by Daniel

"No. You're not going to enchant anything, your soul is priceless and I won't let you throw it away. Winter can manage."

Turtle looked between his claws and Daniel before he reluctantly agreed.
"Fine.." Turtle sighed. "Oh and by the way, here's your stuff back"
Turtle handed Daniel his ouch with all his belongings, including a much missed Barrens map.

Daniel smiled, "Thanks for keeping it safe for me."

"Well actually it was Winter who cradled it the entire time you were away so you have him to thank"
Turtle pointed out.

"Oh, well In that case, Thanks Icy" Daniel teased once again.

"I told you to stop calling me that!" Winter bellowed which only made Daniel and the others laugh a little.

"Sigh.. can we please get out of here already, this is humiliating" Winter complained from on top of Daniel.

"Yeah, yeah, calm yourself" Daniel said.
"Alright guys let's go, we know where the border is right?"

"Yep, about ten to twelve hours Northwest, we'll be there by sundown." Moon confirmed.

"Well then what are we waiting for? Let's Go!"
Daniel took off the ground in the direction of where Moon pointed.

The others followed behind him and Winter as they flew away from the cave and the high noon sun.

"You better get comfortable, it's going to be a long ride" Daniel laughed as he heard Winter sigh.

He looked forwards as the rest of Phyrria loomed in front of him.
He was both excited and terrified of what was to come.
'But as long as I'm with the gang I'll be fine. I know that for a fact.'

"Ice kingdom, here we come!"

Chapter Text

The warm Breeze whipped past Daniel's face as he flew which dried out his eyes slightly.
He was in the middle of the group of dragons. Qibli and Star up in the front, Turtle following closely behind, Then Daniel and Winter and finally Moon, Peril and Kinkajou.

They had been flying for a solid three hours by now with the occasional break for water.
It was good that Barren's map had many of the known oases marked so finding break spots wasn't hard at all.

During this time Winter was able to get off of Daniel's back which allowed both of them to release some cramped tension in their muscles.
It was difficult carrying someone on his back while he flew, he had to really concentrate but on the plus side, Winter's cold scales kept him cool from the scorching sun.

'Although when Night falls I'm not sure how well I'm going to be' Daniel thought with a slight shiver.
The chances of catching hypothermia during the night were not bad but with an entire Icewing on his back during the already cold temperatures, it wouldn't treat Daniel kindly.

'I'll be fine' Said one half of his brain, however, his other half disagreed.

'No, you won't, you think you can survive a trip to a place with close to sub-zero temperatures with an Icewing on your back? Winter was right, you are insane!'

'I just have to be positive, I'll just stop for a quick break and warm myself up with fire if needs be'
Daniel was arguing with himself, he found himself doing it quite often actually.

For some reason, his logical brain told him one thing, but his heart said another, he would constantly have these mental arguments and it made him mad.

'How Ironic, I'm getting angry at something that I'm doing to myself.. What happened to me?'
Daniel thought disappointingly.
He needed something to get his mind off the topic.

He looked up at his Icewing payload only to find out that he had fallen asleep on his back.
Winter's tail was still wrapped around Daniels however, he seemed to be doing it unconsciously to keep himself stable.

Daniel studied his face only to have it light up as he saw that Winter was smiling for once.

'He looks so peaceful' Daniel thought as he looked forward to where Qibli and Star were flying just in front of him.

'You'll be a great fit for him Winter, trust me'
Daniel kept his smile as he continued flying straight, letting Winter sleep peacefully for probably the first time in a while.

Daniel looked up towards Star, He couldn't hold his blush back as he remembered her majestically beautiful and mesmerising eyes.

There was something about her that just clicked with his heart and he didn't know why.
'But... I guess I can't deny it, I think I like her... A lot.'
As Daniel thought about his new crush he completely forgot about his internal argument with himself.
As such allowed him to fly just as peacefully as the Icewing who was sleeping on his back.

Meanwhile, Qibli and Star were talking with one another to pass the time while they all continued their journey.

"And that's it really" Qibli concluded.
He was just explaining to Star about Hurricane's dramatic entrance to Jade Mountain.

"Wow really?" Star asked, slightly in awe. "So he just casually flew into the vicinity at the speed of sound like it was any old regular day?"

"Pretty much" Qibli confirmed, he looked back at the red Skywing flying behind him but his bright face slightly fell as he noticed Him Staring at a sleeping Winter on his back.

"Hey.." Star said in a soft voice "What's the matter, you were just happy a moment ago?"

"Oh, it's nothing" Qibli responded, in an attempt to dismiss the topic but Star wasn't going to let him win that easily.

"No it is, I can tell, it's something you care about" Star said. "Please, maybe I can help you out?"
She shot him a kind smile which he returned despite his current state of mind.

"Fine, fine" Qibli laughed, "You've convinced me, I should probably get it off my chest anyways," Qibli said as he took a deep breath.

"I don't quite remember if you were present during this, but at one point back in the cave, me and my friends agreed on no more secrets," Qibli explained.

"This was so we wouldn't accidentally hurt someone else's feelings by keeping a random secret from them"
He looked towards Star to make sure she was listening.

She shot him a puzzled look,
"So what exactly does this have to do with you being upset all a sudden?"
She awaited an answer to which Qibli replied.

"Well during that time, Winter, the Icewing on Hurricanes back" He gestured to Daniel flying behind him.
"He told me that I had an obvious crush on Hurricane, I thought he was crazy... But after a good while of thinking... I think he may be right"

Qibli looked up to meet Star's gaze, although he was nervous considering that he didn't know how she would react to him having a crush on another male.

"I see.." Star said slowly, "So what's the huge deal?"

Qibli looked at her, slightly surprised. Her answer.
"What's the deal?" Qibli repeated in puzzlement.

"Yeah, what's the Deal?" Star repeated, "If you like Hurricane then wouldn't it be better if you just admitted your feelings to him?"
She tilted her head, "Wouldn't that be the most logical thing to do?"

"What, no!" Qibli responded quickly.

"And why not? Who knows... He might like you back. You never know until you try"
Star said, puzzled why Qibli didn't see it as the most obvious thing to do.

"Well... Okay fine, you're right.." Qibli reluctantly admitted. "But I have an issue and a hunch"

"And what are they?" She shook her head slightly and made a small vertical movement with her shoulders.
"Surely this 'issue' Can't be so bad that it's stopping you from just talking to him?"

"Well, that's the thing... It is." Qibli sighed as Star just looked confused out of her mind.

"Look, the issue is that I found out yesterday that Winter has a very large and strong crush on me," Qibli explained. He saw Stars face fall a little, he tilted his head in confusion for a small moment as he studied it.
Although he just ignored it for the time being and continued.

"And my hunch is that Hurricane likes someone else, I'm not sure who but I'm pretty sure it's not me"
Qibli expressed sadly.

Star was about to say something but Qibli interrupted unintentionally and unknowingly.
"Although that's not all," Qibli continued "You see... Winter has a crush on me, and he's one of my best friends... If I break his heart... I might lose that friendship... And I'm not sure if I can handle that"

"But if I don't break his heart, I'll never get to even have a chance with the person I love..." Qibli sniffled a little, the topic was slowly getting to his deep feels.
"So you see... I'm stuck between two choices with possibly very terrible outcomes for me"

He couldn't hold it in anymore, he needed to let a few tears drop to ease the tension.
Luckily he didn't break down right then and there but he was close.

"Hey hey.. It's going to be alright" Star said, reassuringly. She flew closer to him, a soothing mix of Cool and warm radiated off her Ice spikes and sandy scales.

"We can figure something out, and if it makes you feel any better I could help you get together with him"
Star said, as she looked at Qibli's shocked face.

"R-Really? You'd do that for me?" Qibli asked, hope glinting in his obsidian-coloured eyes.

"Of course! On one condition though" Star stated. She paused shyly for a moment before continuing.
"You help me get with my crush in return"

"O-oh Alright! That's fine with me" Qibli said, smiling.
"Who is it?" Qibli asked, elbowing her lightly as he raised his brows.

Star blushed a deep blue which heavily stood out on her yellow facial scales.
She glanced back towards the others and shot Qibli a 'him' look.

Qibli looked behind to where Hurricane was.
He looked deep in thought and as such didn't noticed Qibli's glance.

Qibli looked back at Star with a puzzled look.
She sighed and rolled her eyes before she whispered so only he could hear her words.

"I like Winter"

Qibli's eyelids shot up in surprise.
"You like Winter!?" he repeated a little loudly.

"SHHHHH" Star quickly said as she snapped his mouth shut with her talon.
"I don't want anyone to know yet.."
She explained as she let go.

"Right.. Sorry" Qibli apologised.
"But to tell you the truth, I'm not sure if I can help you."

He paused as he saw Stars face noticeably drop sadly.
"Not that I don't want to" He quickly added, "It's just that.. Winter already said that he likes me... And changing his mind once it's set one something had never been easy, and it'll probably be harder with his strong feelings."

Star listened sadly, she understood what Qibli was saying, that it would be extremely difficult.
"I-I understand" Star said, slight tears in her eyes.

This just made Qibli feel bad. He knew the pain of not being able to be with someone. So without thinking, he blurted
"Hey, I'm still willing to try if you are"

Star looked back suddenly,
"But what about your friendship with him? If he finds out you're trying to get us together... Won't he be heartbroken? And like you said.. That could end your friendship..."

Qibli hadn't thought of it that way. He hadn't thought of the possibility of Winter finding out of their plan.
She was right on this one, if Winter found out, it would most certainly severely damage or possibly end his their Friendship in an instant.

Qibli stayed silent for a thoughtful moment before he responded.
"He won't find out, not if we're careful about it. And if we do get you two together I'll have no issue asking Hurricane out, Win win"

"Or lose, lose," Star pointed out.
"They do find out and Winter hates both you and me, you lose your friendship and I lose my chance"

"That's not going to happen, it won't happen, we won't let it happen" Qibli said sternly.

Star was silent.. But she soon nodded,
"You're right.. It'll work, we'll be fine"

"That's the spirit!" Qibli smiled, to which Star happily returned.

Just then however Daniel flew up to them.
"Hey guys! Whatcha' talkin' about?"
He settled on Qibli's side since he was still slightly Nervous to talk to Star but his choice just ended up making Qibli's heart speed up.

"O-oh hey!" Qibli stuttered, a slight blush forming on his snout.

"Hey how's it going? Is your payload treating you well?" Star joked.

"Ah, nah its been fine, bit chilly I'll admit but nothing I can't handle," he shot her a sharp smile to which she laughed.

Qibli however was just listening in silently, too scared to look him in the face due to the near crimson blush across his yellow scales.

Daniel continued speaking, and to Qibli's luck not noticing his Blush.
"The trip would actually be so much better if this DAMN DRAGON WOULD STOP SNORING!"
He yelled which both woke Winter up and caused an outbreak of laughter from both Qibli and Star.

"Huh are we there yet?" Winter asked groggily as he opened up his weary eyes.

"No, but it seems you've lost your precious sleeping privileges after you annoyed Hurricane with your snoring" Qibli said.

"Yep, you want to sleep that's fine, but don't snore on me or I'll wake you up" Daniel said in a jokingly hard tone.

"Whatever, I'm not tired anymore anyways" Winter retorted, "And for your information, I don't snore"

"Yeahhhh, suuuree you don't" Daniel stared sarcastically.

"Are you calling me a liar!" Winter snapped

"No, I'm calling you oblivious to yourself" Daniel jokingly snapped back.

Winter bared his sharp teeth close to Daniels face but he didn't say anything.

"Wow.. You actually humbled him" Qibli said, slightly impressed. "usually I'm the only one who's able to do that."

"Ha! Are you kidding? This guy is easy to humble, isn't that right Icy?"
Daniel teased.
The only response that Winter gave to his remark was a soft "Hmph"

"Sure he's threatened to slice my face off before but it's fine now." Daniel said. But he knew damn well that the only reason he was getting away with this was because Winter needed to ride on his back.

'if Winter could fly I would be fending off a feral Icwing by now'
This indirectly told himself that he should probably apologise, even if it wasn't that huge of a deal.

"Nah I'm just kidding around Winter, sorry for the remarks and teasing"
Daniel said, To this Winter looked at him slightly puzzled but replied nonetheless.

"I accept your apology, just don't do it again" Winter said sternly.

"Can't promise that, but I promise to leave you alone until the end of this massive flight" Daniel replied which earned him a large groan from Winter.

Meanwhile Qibli just looked absolutely shocked, but when he noticed their intertwined tails he got slightly mad.. Slightly... Jealous..

"Woah? Are you alright Qibli?" Winter asked spotting his slightly aggravated facial expression.

Qibli ignore the question and instead asked a question of his own.
"Why are your tails intertwined?"
His question was normal, and he had a soft almost sad tone of voice when he asked it. But there was a hard layer of anger behind it.

And it only spelt one word in Daniels mind..

'Jealousy..'

"Oh, it's for stability, so he doesn't fall off my back."

"Why does he need it though? We're just flying straight aren't we? And plus, it makes you two look like a couple" Qibli said, both genuinely confused and very jealous.

"I TOLD YOU IT MADE US LOOK GAY! DIDN'T I?" Winter bellowed, he face palmed himself as a very noticeable blush of embarrassment formed on his snout.

"Well I mean you can't really say much yourself Winter" Daniel said as he glided closer to Qibli for 'multiple' reasons.

'Well if I want to keep my word to Winter I can at least make a start by bringing both of them together'

He flew downwards slightly so Winter and Qibli were basically shoulder to shoulder while he was able to neatly fly under the others.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Winter asked as Daniel finally came to a stop.

"Well I'm sure You two would love to talk to each other since you're best friends" Daniel Shot Winter a 'Now's your chance' look.
"I thought I would just let you guys get a little closer together, you know, so you can talk easier?"

It took a moment but Winter got Daniels message and his blush immediately darkened, although it made no difference to Qibli since He was also blushing deeply for different reasons.

Daniel noticed that Winter was struggling to make a conversation topic so Daniel took matters into his own hands.

'Or talons... I guess'
Daniel added as he looked down at what used to be his hands so long ago.
But he dismissed the idea from his mind as he started talking.

"You know, you guys should tell me more about Jade Mountain, I would love to know the stuff that's happened while I Wasn't there"

'Well I mean I don't think there would be much since according to the books Carnelian and Bigtail died about a week into the opening, if I remember correctly. Sooo,
Maybe the school opened about a month ago, or a little more.' Daniel estimated but he awaited someone's answer.

"Oh right! I guess that would be a good idea" Winter said.

"Ooh, you guys go to school? What's it like?" Star interjected as she flew down besides Daniel.
"Do they accept Hybrids into the school? If so then maybe I could join you"

"That would be great! Maybe you could even join our Winglet" Qibli said.

"If Tsunami allows it that is" Winter added

"What do you think Hurricane, would she allow me to join you guys?" Star asked.

"U-uhm, well I really don't know since I've only been a student there for about a week or so" Daniel said, trying to not look into her eyes as that would bring out his already darkening blush.

"But if she's kind enough then maybe it could work!" Daniel said optimistically. "Well have to see though"

"well it's definitely worth a try, right? " Star asked, hoping her new possible friends would say yes.

"Well of course it is, you can come back with us after we finish our mission and see what she says" Qibli proposed.

"Cool! That sound good.. But one question, what exactly is the 'mission'?" Star asked, now wondering why they were actually flying back to the Ice kingdom.

The others made a face which all said the same thing, 'Should we tell you?'

"Well I mean we might as well tell her considering she's coming along with us" Daniel said but Winter countered.

"But what if she tells others about it, we can't have everyone panic about what we're doing"

"True.." Daniel responded.

"Hey, I can keep a secret, trust me. It's how I've survived on my own for this long"
She followed this up with a pleading face.
"Please?"

Daniels heart rate immediately shot through the roof and as such he needed to look a way for a second in order to control it.

Meanwhile Winter and Qibli both looked at each other, before they finally agreed.

"Fine, but you NEED to promise us that you wont tell ANYONE about this" Winter said.

"I sincerely promise, on my life that I will not tell a soul about what you are about to tell me"
Star vowed as she put a talon in the air.

"Works for me" Qibli said, and then he began to explain the whole thing.

It didn't take nearly as long as the conversations in the cave but it definitely decent amount of time.

Daniel looked forward as Qibli and Winter both explained the Prophecy situation to their new official friend.

They explained everything about how they thought they may have cracked a line in the prophecy, and how something may be hidden in the Border between the Sand and Ice kingdoms.

Daniel didn't give much of an input, just answered some questions here and there when asked but that's about it.

Finally, after what felt like five hours but was probably only like twenty minutes the boys finished their explanation to Star.

There was a small moment of since before Star spoke.
"So you're telling me, we're going to the Borderland, on a simple 'hunch' something might be there, and If we don't find anything, we're back to stage one"

"Basically" Winter said.

"Wow... You really have no idea what you're doing, do you?"
There was a pause after Stars comment but Qibli eventually answered.

"Well... Okay no we don't, but if we don't do something Phyrria is going to burn so we might as well start somewhere.

"True.." Star answered, "if I knew what was best for me then I would probably just fly off by now but since I don't really care... Let's do it, I'm down for the adventure"

"Sweet! So how far until we make it?" Qibli asked.

"At least another few hours" Daniel piped up after a while of silence.

"Wow, I completely forgot you were here..." Winter said but was quickly shut down by Daniel.

"Oh really? Then who do you think has been carrying your frosty body ACROSS THE DESERT FOR THE LAST SEVEN HOURS!"

"I'm the only reason you're even this close with your damn boyfriend right now so you better be thanking me!"
Daniel spat, a cheeky smile crossing his face as he saw Winter's snout turn navy.

"Oh don't pull that with me Hurricane! You know you're also enjoying your time with your girlfriend down there!"

Soon Winter and Daniel began to playfully banter while both of their snouts went multiple shades darker.

The same happened with Qibli and Star as they both blushed from embarrassment and laughed at the two playfully arguing dragons.

Meanwhile, Kinkajou and Moon sat at the back of the group viewing the mayhem from a good distance.

"What do you think they're arguing about?" Moon asked as she turned to the smaller Rainwing.

"Oh, I don't know exactly, but I have multiple ideas" Kinkajou replied as she repeatedly moved her brows up and down.

Moon got the message and sighed as the Rainwing just laughed.

"Why am I not surprised," Moon said, face-palming herself.

"Why am I not surprised..."

Chapter Text

It had been another few hours since the last time Daniel spoke to Winter.
After their playful banter which left half of the group snouts five shades darker.

Winter started talking to Qibli about other matters which he wasn't exactly interested in.
Star had left to go socialise with the other girls in the group and he wished her luck with Kinkajou.

'No doubt she's already been asked over two hundred questions in the last few hours, probably more'
Daniel guessed,
'and I have a hunch that most of them were probably about our, 'Talk' about one another

Daniel looked up, Winter and Qibli were still yacking away on god knows what topic by now.
'Wow, for someone you used to hate for a long time, you do seem to get along well'
Daniel thought.

He looked up to the now dark gradient sky.
Some of the stars had finally decided to come out of hiding and were scattered across the sky like specks of paint.

Daniel was admiring the beauty of Phyrrias night when a large gust of cold wind crawled along his scales. Making him shiver.

'Not going to lie... I could go for a hot cup of chocolate right now' Daniel thought.
The Night was getting colder and he needed something to take his mind off of it or else he would never make it without getting frostbite.

But then he remembered that they never ended up telling him anything about Jade Mountain.
'Well I'm pretty sure I know most of it but it wouldn't hurt to just ask, and it should pass the time until we get there'

"Hey guys!" Daniel called.
This made them both jump at the sudden sound of his voice which indicated to them that they'd both forgotten that he was there.

They both looked down nervously to see Daniel's unamused face.
"you forgot I was here, didn't you?"

Qibli was about to say something but fell silent as he continued to stare at Daniel's face.
His feelings began to take over his body again but luckily Winter interrupted his train of thought.

"Yeah... We did" Winter stated bluntly.
Daniel shot him with a 'Are you kidding me?' look.
"Wow, I can see I mean so much to both of you"

"Hey... I was just stating the truth" Winter said in his defence.

"Whatever, just make sure you thank me for giving you a free ride across the damn desert!" Daniel spat before he continued with his original question.

"Anyways, I was going to say that you guys never told me about Jade Mountain, I was just wondering if you could give me some input before we headed back."

"Oh, well I guess we should probably do that," Qibli said, trying to get back on Daniel's good side.

"Well let's start from the beginning, shall we?" Qibli continued.
Daniel nodded in response as he looked up at him.

"So the school opened up about a year ago" Qibli started and already this immediately caught Daniel's attention.

"Wait, it opened a year ago?
Daniel asked, genuinely confused.

'I thought I was transported into some time after Book Seven... But if it's been almost a year? Then could that mean I'm in a separate timeline?'
Daniel thought, now curious about what else he may not know.

"Yeah, the school opened up about a year ago, after the war of the Sandwing succession"

"Huh, interesting," Daniel remarked as he made a puzzled facial expression.
Winter and Qibli both looked at him curiously but ignored his puzzlement.

"So after about a week Into the opening... The 'Incident' happened..." Winter said sadly.

Daniel looked back up at them when he said the 'Incident' guessing that Winter was talking about the explosion in the History that killed Carnelian and Bigtail..

"The incident...?" Daniel repeated.

"What was it?" Qibli finished for him. "Let's just say... Some dragons were luckier than others"
It was clear to Daniel that they didn't want to talk about it so Daniel dropped the subject.

"So, did anything else happen afterwards?" Daniel asked.

"Well, there was that part with Scarlet.." Winter said, "She died, and then came back from the dead, and died again. So unless you want to hear that story there's nothing else to say"

Daniel was silent for a quick moment, he guessed that most of it would be the same or similar to what he had already heard, but he wanted to see if there was anything else that was different regarding to the cannon stories, and whatever the hell he was living in..

"Yeah, sure, I'm down for Storytime" Daniel responded enthusiastically.

"Okay... Well prepare yourself, it's a long one" Qibli warned before he began.

Both boys took turns taking turns explaining the story to him but by bit, although Daniel already knew most of it, though things took an interesting turn when Winter explained the Diamond trials.

"So I was forced to fight my brother to the death in the Diamond trials". Winter said
"However, instead we found an ancient Nightwing inside a frozen block of ice"

"There was some drama relating back to Darkstalkers time but me and my brother Hailstorm ended up killing her."
There was a pause before Winter continued.
"Or more specifically I ended up killing her, she froze back into an ice cube and I had supposedly won the Trial..."

"Wait... So you won the trial? Daniel asked, completely shocked at what he was hearing.

"Yeah," Winter confirmed. "But I wasn't able to kill my brother, I didn't have the heart to do it. Yet I knew that if I walked out of those dreaded caves instead of him the tribe would hate me for killing one of the most loved Icewings around"

"My parents. I knew the abuse would have just gotten worse... So instead, although I was the true Victor, I left the crown to my brother and fled from the tribe..."

Daniel had no words, none at all... He had no idea how to react to this information.
'So in this timeline, Winter was the one who was victorious, not Hailstorm...'
"So your family thinks you're dead?" Daniel asked.

Winter fell silent, clearly, there was something he didn't want to say so Daniel was about to let it go although Winter interrupted him.

"Hey listen, if it's too much for you we can just drop the sub-"
Daniel's started.

"No, I may as well say it" Winter stated, "Hurricane, so you remember when you found me in the grand hall, late at night? Back at school?"

"How could I forget, you were close to tears right them and there" Daniel responded.

This caught Qibli's attention,
"Winter, you know you can talk to me about things like this... Right? That's what friends are for."

"Yeah... I know but... I didn't know how to tell you at the time"

"Which is why you told me... Later on, on that dune outside the cave," Daniel said softly.

"Yeah... I told you one of my deepest secrets... But I also left something out.."

Daniel's ears perked as he glanced at Winter curiously.
"You left something out...?"

Winter nodded... "Well I left it out because at the time I didn't know if I could trust you yet,"

"But now you do?... Right?" Daniel asked, although his hope fell when he remembered that Winter had massive trust issues.

'If he's not able to trust Qibli with this.. Someone who he's known for an entire year... Then what's the chance he'll trust someone who he's known for less than a week'

Winter seemed to notice Daniel's sudden change in facial expression and to Daniel's surprise and his own surprise he blurted aloud.
"I do trust you"

"Wait... You do?" Daniel asked, slightly shocked and confused.

"Well... I don't know why... But... For some reason, my brain says it's safe to trust you at least this once. Maybe it's because you shared some of your own secrets with me so it's my duty to return the favour."

Winter shrugged, "Well either way... Here goes nothing"
He took a deep breath for a quick moment.

"That night I received a letter from Hailstorm"

"From your brother?!" Qibli exclaimed.

"Yeah..."

"Well, what did the letter say?" Daniel asked, now very curious himself.

"Well a lot of it was just him checking up on me and my mental health which I can't say has been great since the events of the trials but it's been getting better the longer I'm away from my family."

Qibli and Daniel both shot him concerned looked which both said 'Talk to us'.
Winter sighed as he read both of their faces.
"I promise, I'll be fine, just give me time"

Daniel was hesitant but agreed, "Alright, I trust you're telling us the truth... But If something does happen please talk to us, you know you can"

"Yeah, remember that dude, we're here for you" Qibli added.

Winter shot them one of his rare smiles, "Thanks guys, it means a lot"

"No problem, also you should smile more, it looks good on you" Qibli said which caused Winter to blush slightly.

Daniel however interjected this, "Ooooh Winter's getting flustered~" he laughed as Winter glared at him.

Upon seeing this Daniel continued
"Right... Sorry, Winter.." Daniel genuinely apologised as he scratched his head a bit.

Winter let out a small plume of frostbreath, it crossed over Daniel's neck and left a very Very slight burning sensation however it disappeared after a while.

"Sooo, what else did the Letter say?" Daniel asked, trying to switch the subject.
Winter sighed and let out another burning cloud of ice particles from his mouth.

"The gig is up" Winter stated, "My parents found out about me still being alive, Hailstorm said they still didn't know about me being the true victor of the trial but moons knows how long until they do"

"So you've been scared for your safety, and the safety of your brother..." Daniel said to which Winter gave a small nod.

But then Qibli realised something really bad.
"OH MOONS!" Qibli yelled which caught the attention of the others and probably some of their friends flying behind them.

"WAIT WHAT ARE WE DOING!" Qibli panicked, "Hurricane we need to turn back, NOW!"
His eyes went wide as it looked like he just realised he was heading to his death.

"What do you mean?" Daniel asked, slightly confused. Although he was able to slowly see what Qibli meant.

"Did you not hear what Winter just said? His family knows he's alive! And he's scared for his safety! We need to turn back!"

Daniel put two and two together and soon realised why Qibli had suddenly started to panic.

'Wait... Winter's scared for his safety His family is in the Ice Kingdom at the moment... WHICH IS EXACTLY WHERE WE'RE HEADING!'
Daniel thought, his mind also full of panic.

"Great Ice Dragon! We need to go!" Daniel yelled. Looking up to Winter with guilty eyes.
"I'm so sorry Winter... We never should have come here"
Winter's eyes went wide with fear as He finally saw what was In front of him.
Daniel turned too, and he saw it was too late.

In the far-off distance, the shadow of a huge wall of ice loomed ahead.
There was no mistaking it. This was the great Ice Cliff,

'It's too late to do anything... We're already here..'.
Daniel thought sadly.

The sun had officially set by now and all that was left as a source of light were the glinting stars and the Moons above.

"We can't get much closer to the wall or else we may get shot by it! We need to get on the ground" Winter yelled.

But just then he saw that the wall may be the least of their current issues.
Two Icewings guards were patrolling the area in front of them unless they dived to the ground below they would be spotted easily.

Daniel stopped flying and grabbed Qibli's talon.
"Woah-What are you doing!" Qibli yelled as Daniel. Began to fly again dragging him back as he flew back towards the others.

"Guys! We have an issue!" Daniel yelled.
He came to a stop in front of Turtle and Peril before they were joined by Kinkajou, Moon, and Star.

"What's going on? Why did we stop?" Moon asked wonderingly.

"No time to explain," Daniel said. "Look we all. Need to get to the ground in the next ten seconds or we're all going to have a bad time."

"what do you mean a bad time?" Turtle asked now slightly nervous.

Time was of the essence and he couldn't explain the issue and get down to the ground in time before the guards saw them if they hadn't already.

"Winter!" Daniel called, Winter's head snapped to attention before Daniel continued.
"Can you dive?"

Winter didn't know what was going on fully but nodded, willing to trust what Daniel said.

"Okay, Kinkajou, grab Moon's talons and hold on tight, Turtle you do the same with Star. Oh and Peril... Just try to keep up"

Daniel Had the most brilliant yet stupid plan he had come up with yet, and he simply hoped it would work.

Suddenly Daniel unwrapped his tail with Winters and threw him off his back, Winter managed to outstretched his wings to balance himself in the air but his Chest started to sear with pain.

"Hey! What was that for?!" Winter yelled but Daniel ignored him, instead yelling another command.
"Winter! Get them Down!" and then without another word.

Daniel grabbed Turtle's talon who was holding onto Star, and with his other talon grabbed onto Qibli's.

'Moons I hope this works' Daniel prayed, not even caring that he unintentionally used Dragon slang.

Then he clutched both talons tightly as he dived directly down towards the ground all three dragons hanging on for dear life.

"OHHHH MOOONS!!" Turtle screamed as he held onto Daniels and Stars Talons for dear life.

"HURRICANE! WHYYYYYYYYYY!" Qibli screamed, the wind rushing passed their faces just as Winter caught up to them.
It was clear he was in pain but he wouldn't show it.

Just then Peril showed up beside him.
"We got an issue dude!" she yelled as she gestured to behind them.

Somehow a group of about nearly seven or eight fully gown Icewing soldiers were on their tails.
They were carrying various weapons as they chased after them.

'Crap! I only saw two of them! they must have called reinforcements, either that or we just have the worst luck possible'

"I could just burn them up" Peril stated, flexing her talons, but Daniel disagreed with the idea.

"No, we can't kill them or else the queen will become suspicious, it's better if we just lose them" Daniel explained.

"Alright well, how do you propose we do that?" Peril yelled over the loud whooshing noises of wind resistance.
Daniel needed to think of something fast. Or else they would all be frozen in ice but that's when he got another idea.

"Winter, grab onto Qibli!" Daniel yelled. Winter didn't hesitate, immediately using his open talon to do what Daniel said.
Once he saw that everyone was holding on to one another he yelled.

"So you guys ready for the ride of your lives!?" Daniel said as Winter looked at him with wide eyes.
"YOU CAN'T BE SERIOUS" Winter screamed, his memories flashing back to when he was first learning to dive like Daniel could.

"THEY, WON'T BE ABLE TO HANDLE IT! I COULD BARELY HANDLE IT AND I KNEW WHAT I WAS GETTING INTO!"

"Well, we don't have much of a choice!" Daniel said
Just as Kinkajou interjected. "Wha-what's happening?!" her voice was drowned out by the wind whipping her face as they continued diving.

But Daniel knew he couldn't explain, he needed to start now or else he wouldn't have enough time.
"EVERYBODY HOLD ON!" Daniel screamed just as he pulled up to start flying towards a large thundercloud which seemed to spontaneously for in the air next to them.

If they could lose the Icewing guards in the thundercloud, then the cover of the night would allow them to escape easily with no issues.

Daniel flapped his wings as hard as he ever had, he had a large chain of screaming dragons holding onto his back talons.

"YOU'RE CRAZY HURRICANE!" Star screamed from close to the back of the chain to which Daniel replied.
"I KNOW I AM!"

She went to yell something out but Daniel couldn't hear her, they had just entered the cloud and there was lightning everywhere.

"YOU'RE NOT SERIOUS ABOUT THIS ARE YOU?!" Moon yelled, quickly ducking as a bolt whipped past her head and into the cloud.

"WE'LL DIE IF WE STAY HERE!" Qibli screamed, panic flooding back to everyone there.

However, more trouble came as the Icewings appeared.

"STOP RIGHT THERE!" One of them commanded, however, Daniel did the opposite.
He immediately began to fly again as the Icewings started chasing them again.

"GET BACK HERE!" Another one yelled.
He started to fly towards them. But out of nowhere a Lightning bolt blew by and struck the Metal-tipped spear he was carrying.

There was a blaring crackling sound and a huge white flash of light.
Daniel had looked away from the scene to spare his retinas from burning out and he guessed the others did the same.

As he looked back the Icewing was nowhere to be seen.
The other guards looked hesitant, debating whether continuing to chase them was still a wise idea.

"Okay, time to go," Daniel said. He flew up towards the tip of the clouds.
The guards closely followed suit as Daniel tried to escape.

"STAR, HOLD THEM OFF!" He yelled, he didn't know whether she heard him but after seeing multiple blue blasts of light in his peripheral vision he guessed she did.

"OKAY EVERYONE, IT'S TIME... DON'T LET GO WHATEVER YOU DO!" Daniel screamed as loud as he could so that everyone could hear him.

"WHAT?!" almost everyone else said simultaneously. But they didn't have time to process what was about to happen as Daniel went into a dive again.

He held his breath preparing to breathe a large gust of fire.
His throat started to burn, but he kept holding it.

He felt smoke leave through his ears but it wasn't until they were nearly out of the cloud that Daniel turned around to face the screaming crowd of dragons on his tail.

They all looked at him with a mix of fear and anger which spelt 'You'll pay for this'

'Yeah... I guessed that, to be honest' Daniel thought.
He shot a huge plume of fire out from his mouth.

It whipped past the faces of his friends who stared back at it in shock.
The guards chasing them looked back at it and managed to flee the scene in time to not be cooked alive.
Although not all of them were able to escape with no burns.

Daniel stared back up at his massive explosion of fire which looked like something straight out of a movie.

The others were still looking back at the mayhem and Daniel took this opportunity to tuck his legs in and begin his stomach-turning dive.

The others felt it as soon as it happened.
Their stomachs, chests, and jaws all stiffened as they endured the fastest and most intense drop that they had ever experienced.

While they all struggled to speak due to the wind resistance, Daniel was out having the time of his life.

"WOOOHOOOO" Daniel cheered as he pulled up close to the ground.
He was tempted to do his usual short stop but he knew that the others would just crash into him from behind so he decided against it.

Instead, he did a few flips a barrel rolls to make up for it. He spotted a a mix of snowy and sandy mountains which would serve well for cover.

Daniel slowed his flying speed as he landed gracefully.
The large fire was beginning to die down but it was still present.
Within the dark cloud, it looked like a large fiery lantern in the sky.

Soon however a much smaller but just as hot and bright fiery dragon landed beside Daniel.

"Wow, what did you do to them?" Peril asked as she looked over at what was the rest of the group who were all shaken from the flight.

"Oh, well I guess I may have messed them up a lot... My bad guys" Daniel apologised shyly as he scratched the back of his neck awkwardly.

The only things that this earned him were multiple groans from six nauseated dragons and a very soft.

"Shut... up..." From Winter.

Peril and Daniel started laughing at the others who could barely stand up straight after what they had just endured.

"Well... We made it. Finally" Daniel cheered as he looked into the distance.
The great Ice wall stared back at him in the darkness.

A cold yet soft snow had begun to fall and Daniel felt chills crawl among his scales.
Yet all he wanted right then and there was to shove a bucket of ice down his throat.

That huge fire burned the inside of his throat and an agonising pain had set in soon afterwards.

"OW, OW, OW, MY THROAT!" Daniel yelled as he coughed, some small plumes of fire came out as a result.
Daniel grabbed a handful of snow and just swallowed it whole.

Hot Steam left his system through his mouth as he sat down next to Peril who just looked down at him.

"Well, I think you also messed your throat over too" Peril snorted, trying to hold back a laugh but ultimately ended up failing when Daniel when Steam started to come out his ears.

She fell to the ground in laughter.

"Oh my Moons this is priceless!" Peril laughed.

"Oh shush! You'll get your turn eventually." Daniel remarked. "But for now we should find some shelter, I ain't sleeping outside tonight I'll tell you that much"

"Agreed," Peril said before she got up again, leaving a patch of melted snow on the floor.

"Oh wait," Peril said, as she looked over to the others who were still collapsed on the floor.
"No way... They're all asleep" Peril whispered.

"Wait really?" Daniel asked as he came to look for himself.
It was true, they had all fallen asleep right and there.

"Welp, I guess we ARE sleeping outside then" Daniel sighed.
He couldn't deny it though, he was also really tired, especially after what happened in the last hour or so.

"But before we do, we should warm them up," Daniel said.
"Peril would you be able to just melt the snow around them? Sorry, I don't think my body would be able to take any more fire for a while"

Peril nodded and slowly but surely, carefully melted the snow around the others.
They left Winter buried in snow since he likes the cold but everyone else would be fine for the night.

"All done!" Peril said happily,

"Nice, well done, whelp I'm getting tired, I'll see you in the morning"
Daniel said as he curled up in the warmed-up patch of Ice.

"Night" Daniel called, he could already feel the darkness of sleep and exhaustion taking him over.

"Night..." Peril replied although Daniel was already sound asleep before he heard it.

Chapter Text

The sun had begun to rise above the horizon as a fresh cool breeze blew by.
Daniel had been up before first dawn so when Qibli awoke early as usual it was quite a surprise for him to see he wasn't the first one up.

"Oh hey, sleep well Qibli?" Daniel asked.

"Oh, Yeah it was nice, surprisingly warm for some reason despite us being in an area with snow," Qibli said as he stretched out his wings and flexed his talons.

"Oh, you have Peril to thank for that," Daniel explained, "She warmed and melted the ground around you guys before we headed off to sleep"
Daniel looked over to the hot sleeping Skywing who was resting peacefully.

"You'll do well to thank her later for not letting you guys catch frostbite" Daniel said
Qibli nodded in response.

"Soooo, why are you up so early? Usually I'm the first one up" Qibli asked.

"Oh, I don't know really, just thought I would watch the sunrise" Daniel said, although that wasn't true at all.

The reality was that Daniel barely slept at all. Every time he tried he would have some horrid nightmare.

He didn't know exactly what it was but all he saw was... Fire... Smoke... The dying screams of others... And what scared him most of all...

Red blood on his own claws...

So in the end he just stayed awake. Waiting until the sunrise.
He didn't want to admit it but he was truly terrified of meeting the voice again, the entity who would of killed him if it wasn't for Turtle.

'The gatekeeper...' Daniel shivered, A cryptic name for a cryptic entity...'

He needed to get his mind off things.
Daniel stood up off the ground and stretched his wings.

"I'm going to head out for a quick fly, I'll be back" Daniel said to Qibli who seemed to be daydreaming.

'Well he was at least, until I woke him up that is'
Daniel laughed to himself.
He turned around to take off but suddenly Qibli blurted something out to him.

"H-hey! Hurricane" Qibli started.
Daniel turned around.

"Yeah?"

There was a very noticeable red blush forming on Qiblis snout but Daniel pretended to not see it as that would probably put Qibli off whatever he was about to say.

"C-c-can I come with you?" Qibli finished nervously. "I'll- I'll keep up!, I promise!"
It seemed that he was extremely desperate to fly with him.

'And that's concerning... Both for me and for him'  Daniel thought,

Qibli sat patiently, awaiting the Skywings response when Daniel finally said.

"Yeah sure, why not. It'll be more fun to have company anyways"
Daniel agreed, although based on Qibli change in facial expression he guessed that his Sandwing friend was going to say something to him on this flight.

'I need to be prepared for him to say literally anything...'  Daniel thought, slight worry was building up in his chest but he hid it by shooting Qibli a cheerful smile.

"Well what are we waiting for! Come on then!" Daniel laughed as he launched into the sky.
Qibli followed close behind as they soon flew above the clouds as the cold morning wind whipped past thier faces.

"Ahhh! Now isn't this what true freedom feels like!?" Daniel breathed in a fresh and crisp gust of air.
He let it full up his lungs before releasing it back into the world.

"Now that's some fresh air" Daniel remarked, he shot Qibli another smile.
"So tell me." He started, "Why exactly have you decided to come along with me?"

Daniel's face fell to a soft curious look, Qibli on the other hand had the same nervous look .
Daniel noticed this and couldn't keep quiet anymore.

He waited until They were a little further away from their friends.
'Although we're already above the clouds so I don't think the others could hear us by now, although better safe then sorry'

Another silent minute passed by until he spoke up,
"Okay Qibli what's wrong?" Daniel said, his tone changing to a slightly more stern one.

Qibli whipped his head around to meet Daniels royal blue eyes.
"Well?"

Qibli struggled to answer him properly, Daniels eyes were messing with his mind.
He couldn't think straight.

"Uh- uh" Well you see-" Qibli tried but was cut off.

"Look, I know you have something on your chest Qibli, nobody's around and I can keep a secret if you need it"
Daniel's tone softened as he tried to convince his friend to spill whatever he was hiding.

Qibli sighed in defeat as he looked into Daniels eyes again.
"I-I don't know if I can..." He whispered softly.

"Why not?" Daniel asked, now actually concerned for his friend.

"I-I just can't" Qibli repeated, he fell silent afterwards as Daniel just looked puzzled.

"Would it help if we stopped flying for a bit?"
Qibli nodded slowly and to that Daniel went into a dive to reach the ground faster.

Qibli did the same however upon landing while Daniel did his usual short stop by catching wind with his wings.
Qibli just slowed to a stop before landing a little later then him.

The ground was made of cold dirt which was extremely uncomfortable on his talons and already made Daniel want to leap back up into the air again.

"Okay, so what is it that's been on your chest? I saw it when we were flying here and back at the cave."
Daniel asked.
He tried to blow some fire out to warm the ground around him though his throat still ached from the day before.

'Guess I'm out of fire for the time being'  he thought glumly.
A cool wind blew past which caused his body to shiver.

Qibli just looked back at him, he didn't see cold at all for some reason, though there was another emotions behind his obsidian eyes but Daniel couldn't pinpoint what it was.

"Okay... I'm not exactly sure how to start..." Qibli said.

"Just try your best"

Qibli took a deep breath.
"On the way here there where multiple things on my mind.. As usual"

"Mhm"

"But..." Qibli paused...

"But...?" Daniel repeated, edging Qibli to go on.

"Look, Hurricane... There's something that's been on my mind since JMA but I've never gotten the time time ask you... Until now"

Daniel's looked back to him...
'Oh no... Here we go'
He braced himself for literally anything..

The wind  blew past as he grew more and more anxious at a time.

"Are- are you and Winter... Dating?" Qibli stuttered.
His face formed into a shy smile as he rubbed the back of his neck with a talon.

Daniel on the other hand Immediately was immediately flustered by Qibli's question.
"Wha..." Daniel started but couldn't even finish his own sentence as his brain kind of just shut off.

"Hey.. Are you okay? Sorry... I didn't mean to ask such a strange question but I needed to know."

Daniel was still in a sort of shock...
He blinked back at Qibli as it was the only way to really get any message through as words didn't want to come out of his mouth.

"uh- wel- you see-" Daniel tried but couldn't do anything, it was like his vocal cords just disappeared completely.

"You seem nervous..." Qibli said as he eyed him sceptically.
"Soooo... I'm taking that as a yes...?"

Just then Daniel's consciousness came rushing back to him as he blurted out a little too loudly.

"NO! WE'RE NOT DATING!"
He shocked himself as how loud his voice was, although once he saw Qibli's startled face he quickly felt bad.

"Oh, sorry I didn't mean to yell at you, I... Was just kind of shocked at the question"

Qiblis ears were lowered as he quivered a little.
This got Daniel curious.

'Why is he so nervous? He's never like this.. Even when things are pretty bad...'

"Hey... Are you okay? Like seriously you seem terrified... It wasn't that bad... Right...?" Daniel asked. He took a step forward just to see Qibli take a step back from him.

He looked at Qibli's eyes, there was nothing but pure terror within them..
Daniel face fell to a hurt look,

"Oh... Sorry then,"Daniel apologised,
"I'll just leave you be for a while.."
He was about to take off but Qibli spoke up.

"W-Wait... Please..." Qibli stuttered.
Daniel looked back, confused.

"Yeah..?"

"I'm really sorry for what I'm about to do... But I can't hold it back much longer..."

"What... What do you mea-" Daniel tried to say.. But was cut off.

Qibli ran towards him at full speed, at first Daniel thought he was going to tackle him.
He was right.. Although he never expected what was to happen next.

As they both fell onto the cold sand Qibli wrapped a wing around Daniels back.
It all happened so quickly that he never had time to react.

Qibli fell on top of him as Daniel's back met with the cold damp slightly snowy dirt.

"Qibli what are you do-" Daniel tried to speak but was cut off again as without warning, Qibli pressed his own lips against his.

He brought Daniel into a deep lustful kiss that there was no escaping from.
It lasted a solid five seconds of what was pure bliss for Qibli and pure shock and confusion for Daniel.

Qibli parted his lips from Daniels as a bridge of saliva connected the two dragons for a few silent moments before it broke.

Daniel was back in shock again. A deep red blush formed on his snout without permission.
Although it made sense since his friend had just kissed him like no one had kissed him before.

Qibli got off of Daniel, a tear in his eye as he looked down at the red Skywing.

"I know you don't like me back... I'm so sorry... But I couldn't hold it back any more.."
Qibli confessed. More tears started to roll down his checks as he spoke.

Daniel meanwhile was absolutely speechless... All his body allowed him to do was to just stop and listen.

He looked back up at Qibli who was practically bawling his eyes out as he rambled about how he already regretted his mistake.

"I'm sorry.. I just couldn't hold back my feelings anymore.." Qibli said sadly.
"I knew beforehand that this was a terrible idea but I just didn't know how to express myself..."

Daniel just looked back at him. Unable to speak but able to think.
'What just happened... One second he's tackling and kissing me, and the next he's crying?
I'm not an expert in emotions but I'm pretty sure these mood swings aren't normal'

He switched his attention back to the Sandwing.
"I knew you didn't like me back yet I-I did it anyways! MOONS WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME!"
Qibli placed his talons on his head, his facial expression a strong mix of stress and regret.

"You probably don't even want to be friends anymore... Mother was right on this one... All I do is mess everything up..."

That last phrase rang inside Daniel's and mind and he knew this needed to stop. He needed to get his attention somehow...
But for some odd reason... Daniel just knew.. He just knew what he needed to do.

'God... Why am I like this?'
Daniel got up, and without thinking clearly, at all.

"Qibli!" He yelled as he moved closer.

The Sandwing looked up, he didn't have much time to react before Daniel placed both talons on the Sandwing's

"Qibli, shut up." Daniel said sternly. "You don't mess everything up, in fact you fix things and those who can't see that are blind."

"You're a better dragon then you give yourself credit for. And I do still want to be friends with you..."

Qibli stopped crying. He looked back into Daniel's eyes.
Both dragons had very deep red blushes though Daniels was barely visible due to his scales.

"Soo... You do like me back?" Qibli asked, slight hopefulness in his eyes.

Daniel fell silent, but his own eyes said it all.
He knew he didn't like Qibli back the same way he liked him but it wasn't like he didn't have feelings for him.

'Sorry, Qibli... But there's someone I like more'

"I see..." Qibli said sadly, "there's someone else you're interested in"

Daniel whipped his head around slightly confused how he knew almost exactly what he just thought of, but then he remembered.

'Oh right, Qibli's really good at reading people's emotions and body language'

Daniel nodded, "I'm sorry Qibli, but there's someone else I have my eyes on."
A quick image of Star popped into his mind before he shook it off.

Qibli looked down and sighed.
"It's alright, it's not the first time I've experienced heartbreak but it still hurts..."

"I'm sorry, I really am. But there's someone else who's had a crush on you for a long time.. You should see how you go with them."

"You mean Winter? I don't know how I feel about him to be honest. Sure he's a great friend of mine but he can be really cold sometimes and I'm not sure if I want someone like that as a mate,"

Daniel looked surprised.
'Did Winter already confess to him?'

"I can tell what you're thinking,"

"You can?"

"While you were off doing moons knows what, Winter confessed to me.. Well sort of."

"Oh.. I see. But what do you mean 'sort of'"

"Well he kind of just kissed me and then went into a mental breakdown, I'm not exactly sure why, it wasn't a huge deal but he acted like it was,"

"Well I mean you kind of just did the same thing, so maybe you can see why he would react the way he did,"
Daniel pointed out.

Qibli immediately went wide eyed like he had just had a revelation.

"You're right..." Qibli said slowly.

"See, you never know what someone is thinking in the moment. So that's why you should always dig deeper on things like this,"

"Yeah I guess you're right... I'll think about it..."

Daniel smiled but it was short lived as after realisation set in he couldn't help but feel even worse from this, he thought back to Winter.

Daniel thought back to the time Winter told him about his crush on Qibli, and it was also the time that Daniel initially found out Qibli had a crush on him.

As such, he still had a question of his own to ask him.
"Qibli, can I ask you something?"

The Sandwing looked up at him before nodding silently.

"Why me?" Daniel asked, "Like why do you like me of all peo- dragons, I mean dragons," He Quickly corrected himself as Qibli shot him a puzzled look.

Daniel continued speaking.
"I mean... We just met not even a few days ago,"

Qibli shrugged awkwardly.
"Well honestly... I don't know, I guess you were kind of cute, and you're also quite cheerful which is honestly something that's a little hard to come by," He explained.

Daniel nodded.
"But isn't there someone else that you like? Maybe even a girl, like why not Moon? Why pick me over her?" Daniel asked, trying to see if that idea would trigger a reaction.

Qibli chuckled softly.
"Well actually now that you mention it, I did like her, quite a lot,"

Daniel raised a brow.
"Really? Then what happend, why aren't you trying to get with her?" A sudden thought came to kind as his eyes widened.
"Wait! You're not cheating on her are you!?"

This struck Qibli by surprise as he quickly shook his head, "What!? No! We're not even dating! Besides, I wouldn't ever break someone's heart like that, if I ever get with someone I'd only look for someone else if we were to break up,"

"Right," Daniel said, "So why aren't you going for her then?"

"Because..."He paused for a moment.
"Because I already did, last year,"

Daniel's eyes widened.
"You did? And what happened?"

"Remember how I said a few moments ago thst it wasn't the first time I experienced Heartbreak?"

Daniel put two and two together.
"Oh..."

Qibli nodded sadly.
"Yeah, honestly I thought that she and Winter would get together after that event but it seems otherwise..." he shrugged, "Either way, that's what was supposed to happen I guess so it is what it is..."

Daniel looked down, knowing full well that the events that happened weren't at all what was supposed to.
Though he hid his emotions as well as he could which was good enough for Qibli not to notice.

Qibli sighed.
"But hey, at least I realised I had a thing for boys as well, so I got something out of it at least..."

Daniel didn't answer as Qibli rationalized with himself.
However, seeing the awkwardness of the situation Daniel decided to end the conversation.

"Hey.. Qibli can we keep this whole thing between us a secret?" Daniel asked.

Qibli was silent before he nodded.
"Sure, anything for a friend," he shot Daniel a cheery smile.
It seemed like he was finally back to his old self again.

Daniel nodded as he took the opportunity to leave the weird emotions behind.
"Well let's head back, we don't want to the others to worry about us being gone," ans with that he took off into the sky.

Qibli followed close behind as he teased Daniel to try and spill who his crush was.

Their voices echoed out across the land until they were inaudible.
And that's when...

A small Rainwing popped out from her camouflage scales.

"Well that was interesting," Kinkajou spoke aloud.
"Their secret may be safe from the others... But not from me."

She laughed to herself as she went invisible again.
"When one ship sinks another one sails... I'll just have to see how this plays out,"

Chapter Text

It was about late morning when they finally arrived back to the others.

Qibli was still wearing the cloak the gatekeeper had given him. The hidden blade, which Daniel had to admit, unsettled him deeply.

But he wouldn't bring it up as for probably the first time since the mountain Qibli seemed... Happy, calm, and at ease.
And he wasn't about to ruin that with some off-topic question.

The snow crunched under their talons as they landed.
Most of the group was still asleep except for Star, staring at the huge Ice wall beyond them.

Her ears perked as they landed, without a second thought she raised her tail into a battle potion.

"Woah, Woah, calm down it's just us," Qibli said as spoon as he saw this.

Star's tail lowered. "Oh, my moons! Where have you guys been?!" She yelled in a hushed voice.
"There's been Icewing patrols everywhere! I thought you guys might have been caught!"

"Look we wer-" Daniel tried

"Get down!" Star yelled in another very hushed but stern voice.
She leapt up and dragged both boys down to the ground.

They hid behind a small mound as she saw a group of four armoured Icewings landed about fifteen meters away from them at most.

"Alright soldiers!" what appeared to be the head of the team spoke loudly.
"We've been tasked by queen Snowfall to find some peculiar dragons which were seen flying around this area last night and to bring them in for questioning"

"Sir! yes sir!" The other guards replied.

The Daniel Star and Qibli looked back as the large group disbanded in different directions to cover more ground.

Large shadows flew overhead as multiple Icewings flew off in search of them, they were being hunted...

"See!" Star yelled in another hushed voice. "We're not safe here, we need to find what we came here for and get out!" she sighed deeply in annoyance.
"And it would help if you guys weren't messing around, What were you guys doing anyways?"

Daniel and Qibli both blushed noticeably to which Star immediately picked up.
She was silent for a few moments before she shot them a disappointed look.

"So you're telling me..." Star said losing her temper

"uh oh... this isn't good..." Daniel whispered to Qibli who simply looked back at him with the same 'We messed up' expression.

"That I was out here, trying to keep our scales from getting caught by Icewings... MEANWHILE YOU GUYS WERE MAKING OUT!?"
Star bellowed, a dangerous-looking blue glow started radiating from the inside of her snarling mouth.

It glowed though as she bared her teeth menacingly at the two boys.

"Okay! We're sorry!... Please don't kill us.." Daniel said as he stepped back.
He heard Qibli whimper slightly as he also took a step back.

"DO YOU GUYS HAVE ANY IDEA HOW WORRIED I WAS? I WAS ABOUT TO GO INTO THE KINGDOM MYSELF!"
Star continued to yell at them as the glow shone brighter by the second.

Daniel recognised the glow.
'That's the same glow she was making when we fought... She's not going to actually use her frostbreath on us... Right? '

"Star... Calm down.." Qibli said trying to ease the situation but to no avail.

But Daniel noticed something.
He shivered as Goosebumps crawled along all of his scales which he didn't even know was possible.

'Her eyes...' Daniel thought. They weren't normal.
They were still the bright blue eyes they always were and the golden pupil was a bright as ever.

However... There were lines, claw-like lines grew from the sides of her eyes and stretched towards the centre.
It gave off a demonic-like appearance...

But... He swore that he had seen those eyes somewhere else before... However, there wasn't time to think of that at the moment.
He needed to calm her down because it was clear that she was not in control of herself fully.

"Look Star... We're sorry for being reckless, that was our fault. We should have thought of the situation we were in beforehand..."
Daniel apologised sincerely before he added.

"Please... Calm... Down."

Star was practically standing over them at this point. A bright light blue glow illuminated the boys' faces.
They covered her eyes with their talons to block out the blinding light.

However, Star suddenly stopped as she saw this. Daniel and Qibli looked back at her in a mix of fear and confusion.

Her face was unreadable, there was definitely a lot more going on then what it showed but from what Daniel could see, it was a mix of puzzlement, fear, worry... And what appeared to be regret.

However, one obvious change could be seen.
Her eyes were back to normal... Something was deeply wrong with whatever just happened.

"Are..." Daniel started. "Are you okay Star..?"

She looked back at him, this time it was her normal innocent face.
She clutched her head in pain as she breathed heavily.

"Qibli... Hurricane..." She said softly. "What did I do...?"

The boys tilted their heads at her.
"You don't remember what just happened?"

She shook her head... All I remember was that I was... Yelling? At you guys for some reason"
She stopped.
"Then my mind went blank... Next thing I know... I'm standing over you guys... Fear painted across your faces."

"What happened..? Did I hurt you?"
She seemed worried and concerned, both for herself and probably for Daniel and Qibli who were essentially on the ground.

"Nothing happened, you were just yelling at us for some time cause we were being reckless, Right Qibli?"
He shot him a 'play along' stare which he understood immediately due to his amazing talent for reading dragons.

"Yeah, we kind of messed up a bit and you were just reminding us of why we were here and the stakes at hand."

Star stared back sceptically.
"So.. What exactly did you do?

"Now that," Daniel said as he pointed a claw at her.
"Is something we don't need to get into, as like you said we need to focus on the matter at hand. Finding whatever we're looking for"

Qibli nodded as Daniel finished, staying true to his word to not tell anyone about what they did on their... 'flight'

"Oh... Okay then.." Star said. Although Daniel could tell she didn't fully believe what they were saying and he could potentially foresee an explanation later.

'But that's the keyword, "Later" right now we really do need to focus on what we can do to get what we need and get out'

Daniel reached into the small pouch he had around his neck and pulled out Barren's map.
It felt good finally having the map back in his talons, he would of felt really bad if he lost it.

Unrolling the map he placed a claw on the rough area of where they were.

"So we're in this area somewhere, I think at least," Daniel said as Qibli and Star both leaned in closer to see the map more clearly.

"According to the prophecy, or whatever it is, 'Below the surface of yellow and White, Lies a lock of rain and night.'
Now I have NO IDEA what that means but we'll figure it out"

"And If we don't?" Star asked, "Then what"

"We have to, or else Phyrria will burn" Qibli pointed out"

Wait what?! You didn't say that the whole world was on our shoulders here!"
Star exclaimed.

Daniel sighed and passed her the few pieces of parchment on which they had written down the Prophecy.
"Here, read this. It'll explain what we're dealing with"

While Star was busy with the parchment Daniel had just passed her, he and Qibli studied the map to try and figure out what to do.

"Okay... So, we can probably start where the most sand is, on the outer edges of the Ice kingdom" Qibli said
"It's probably also the safest option considering we're being actively hunted at the moment"

"Agreed," Daniel said as he brought his claw to the ocean edge of the kingdom.
"So we can narrow the search down to just the west and north borders of the kingdom."

Qibli nodded. "Although we need a plan on how to do this since we don't even know what in the moons we're looking for."

"True..." Daniel responded, just then Star finished reading the prophecy.

"Okay... I have multiple questions... First off though.. What the hell is a lock of rain and night? Because that's what we're looking for right?"

Daniel cringed slightly, "That's the funny part, we have no clue..."

Star looked at him.
"Oh.. Wow! Yeah! AMAZING! JUST BRILLIANT!" She yelled as she flared her arms in the air.
"We have no idea where to look, no idea what we're supposed to look for, and are currently being hunted by Icewings and Qibli's siblings!"

There was a pause after her statement.
Daniel had completely forgotten about Qibli's siblings while they were flying over here.

'I think we may be in way over our heads on this one...'

"Look..." Star said as she gained the attention of her peers.
"If we want to stay alive we need to start getting down to business, so I suggest that we three"
She gestured her claws in a circular motion towards Qibli and Daniel.
"Should go and search this damn place, right now"

"Agreed" Qibli said as he stood up preparing himself for another flight.

"Wait, what about them?" Daniel added, "We can't just leave them here without supervision, what if they get caught in their sleep? Someone needs to be here"

"Why can't we just wake them up?" Qibli asked as he made some gestures with his talons. "Then we won't have to worry about it."

"No, because then some of them will want to come with us" Star pointed out "And if we have a large group of different coloured dragonets practically trespassing on the kingdom..."

"We'll stand out like a moving target" Daniel finished.

"Exactly"

"Okay, so what do we do with them then?" Qibli asked

"Well we only have one option really, we need to leave one of us three here to watch them"
Star answered.

"Qibli I think you should stay" Daniel spoke up without warning.

"Agreed" Star added

"What why?!" Qibli asked, a slight hurt face forming on his face.
"Why me?"

"Because when they do wake up they're going to want to follow us and we can't have that"

"Alright... But what does that have to do with me not coming along?"

"Well, you're the only one out of us that can convince them to not follow us, because if me or Star were to stay back we wouldn't be able to convince them. We need you for that"
Daniel explained.

"Plus" Star interjected "You're the one with a weapon for defence if things come to it"
That wasn't something Daniel had thought of but it wasn't wrong either.

"Oh... I see"

"Exactly, Okay so do we have this sorted? Cause we should really get going before they do get up"
Daniel said, getting a little impatient.

"Yeah we're all good," Star said as she turned to Qibli.
"Listen... Just make sure that they don't follow us, no matter how much they beg, scream, or plead, you can't let them come along. Got it."

Qibli nodded, "Understood"

"Okay, we'll be back soon," Daniel said
"Try to not get yourselves caught while we're gone"
He shot Qibli a smile, quickly picking up the map and parchment pieces before launching himself into the sky, Star following close behind.

Qibli watched from a distance as he saw his friends fly into the early afternoon beyond. They eventually disappeared beyond his view to which he sat down.

Looking up at the sky he thought aloud. "Well at least it will be peaceful for a while"

However, that's when claw tapped him on the shoulder.
He turned around to meet Kinkajous's excited face.

"We... Have A LOT to talk about!" She squealed.

Qibli sighed in defeat.
"Never mind"

- -

Daniel and Star flew silently through the foggy clouds.
It was annoying but understandable.

You couldn't see anything except what was directly in front of you.
Although it meant that it provided good cover from the Icewing patrols in the area.

"Soooo," Daniel said as he tried to start up a conversation.

Star looked at him curiously. "Soooo... What?"

Daniel tried to say something but he fell silent instead.
"Never mind, sorry... I was just trying to start up a conversation so this flight wasn't such a bore"
He groaned slightly as a small plume of fire came out of his throat.

His eyes widened slightly as he tried it again.
A much larger flame shot out of his mouth.

"Yes!" Daniel celebrated "I've got my fire back"

Star looked at him, slightly puzzled.
"You lost your fire?"

"Sort of, since last night I haven't been able to produce any more without my throat being burned to a crisp"
Daniel explained, "Well until now at least"

"I'm not surprised considering the massive inferno you set ablaze in the sky"

"True, true"

"Tell me..." Star asked, "How did you even manage to do that?"

"With a lot of patience and a lot of tears," Daniel joked in response.

"No seriously, I've never seen ANYONE make anything that big, even with frostbreath"

"Oh... Well, you just build it up for a while in your body and then let it go, it's not that difficult," He caught Star's raised brow and then admitted.

"Okay, okay, it's a bit difficult. You have to be able to handle the really painful burn that builds up. But if you can then it's fine... Although you won't be able to use it again for a while"

"I see.." Star said. A bright blue glow began to beam through her teeth as she started to build up her own blast.
However, Daniel shut her down before she did something she would regret.

"Woah, now let's not get too far ahead of ourselves"
He placed a talon on top of Star's snout, clamping it shut.
"You should only use that when we need it as you won't be able to use it again for a long time."

Star groaned, "Fine" She softly blew out a snow-like fog from her mouth as the glow slowly died down.

"Thanks, trust me when I say that you should only use it in emergencies"

"Mhm... Whatever you say speed demon"

Daniel laughed, he had come to like that nickname even if it was a bit annoying at first.

Soon both dragons exited the cover of the cloud and they both gasped at the absolute beauty of the scene in front of them.

They hadn't realised how high up they were.
Although still far from the Ice wall they had a clear view into the kingdom.

They saw many mountains and oddly shaped igloos which they guessed was where the Icewings slept.
And of course in the very far off distance.

'Snowfalls palace'

Before the kingdom, there was nothing except a large amount of snow, except towards the side of the continent where a darkly coloured beach sat quietly.

Crystalline waters rushed and crashed against its cold sandy shores.

"Wow... Now this is incredible" Daniel said, almost breathless as he took in the glorious view.

"It's the most beautiful view I've ever seen..." Star said, speechless.

They both flapped their wings in place as they admired the view but soon Star spoke up.

"Although we should probably head down to the beach soon, we stick out like the moons in the sky." Star pointed out
"If we admire this view for too long we'll be spotted by Icewings for sure"

Daniel hated to admit it but she was right. He didn't want to leave such a beautiful place so soon though.

'But if I get caged up by Snowfall I don't think I'll be seeing anything, ever again... So I think we should go now'

"Right, let's go" Daniel responded.
He took one last look a the view once again and mentally promised himself to come back again.

He dived down towards the beach, he could have gone faster however he didn't want to leave Star in the dust so he just flew at her pace.

It took a few minutes but soon they both touched down on the not-so-warm and dry sand.
It was a very uncomfortable sensation but they both ignored it

"Okay, so what do we do now? We've arrived at the 'Layer of yellow and white' so now how do we find this 'Lock of rain and night'?"
Star asked curiously.

"To tell you the truth I really have no idea, these prophecies can be cryptic so there's no telling what it means by what it says"

"Ah, I forgot that we had the best plan of all time to work this out" Star said sarcastically. "Well does the map say anything interesting?"

"Let's check"
Daniel reached into his pouch and took out the map.
However, it wasn't the only thing that came out from the bag as the Balisong the Gatekeeper had given him ended up catching a ride on top of the map.

The shining sapphire handles glinted in the sunlight before they fell off the thin paper map.

The handles flipped around in the air before it very unrealistically opened itself up and stabbed into the sand, mere inches away from Daniel's talons.

The knife came to a stop as the handles stood up like a flag.

Daniel looked down at the extremely close call he had just had.
'Guess I should really be more careful with that'

He went to go pick it up but Star beat him to it.
She grabbed the handles in her talons and pulled out the knife from the sand like it was some sort of special treasure.

"Hey! Be careful with that!" Daniel warned but Star either ignored him or was to busy analysing the weapon to pay attention.

She gently placed a claw on the sharp edge of the blade, and a small cut was made in the claw.

"The Gatekeeper gave this to you... Didn't he?"
Star said as she folded
the blade back into its safe and secure position with two talons before she carefully handed the weapon back.

"Yeah, he did, like I said befor-" Daniel paused as he noticed something.
"Wait a minute... I never told you his name... How did you know...?"

"Star's eyes went wide, and that was all Daniel needed to see.
He quickly flipped open the blade in an almost threatening manner...

Star flinched slightly as he did this but she hid it well so Daniel didn't notice.

"Star..." He started

"Mhm..?" She responded quietly, her voice a little shaky.

"Is there something you're not telling me?"

Chapter Text

Star looked at the red Skywing staring back at her intently.

"Is there something you're not telling me?" Daniel repeated.

He clutched the balisong in his talon. He didn't mean for it to be menacing but Star definitely took it that way as she kept making quick nervous glances between his hard stare and the sand covered blade.

"Look let's just forge-"

"No you're not getting out of this that easily" Daniel interrupted
"You're going to tell me exactly how you knew about his true name"

Star shifted uncomfortably from side to side as he flexed her talons.
"It's not important" She finally spoke.

"But that's the thing... It is. As far as anyone knows this 'Gatekeeper' can bring things from my world into this one... With power like that... Who knows what else he's capable of"
Daniel pointed out.

"So tell me... How do you know his real name?"
He gave Star another hard stare.

"Fine, I'll speak but we're not going to lose time just standing around. I'll tell you as we search for this 'lock of rain and night'. Deal?"

Daniel was hesitant, he could see Stars plan.
'She wants to divert the conversation to something else by taking my attention away from it... Well that's not going to work unfortunately'

Although she did have a point, as far as he was aware she was still helping with completing the Prophecy and they Were being hunted.

"Arrgh, fine. But you're starting right now"
Daniel stated.

"Fine with me, but first let's at least have a plan on where we should go. Take the map out and let's make a proper plan beforehand"
Star said persuasively.

Daniel seeing that he didn't have much of a choice, complied with her request although much to his annoyance.

He placed the map on the sand in front of them. The balisong still clutched within his right front talon.

"Okay so if I'm right we should be somewhere around here"
Daniel said as he pointed to the western edge of the Ice kingdom border.
"If we continue along the edge we should be able to search the perimeter before sundown"

"Mhm, I see, but it may take a little longer as we're also going to have to keep eyes out and heads down from incoming patrols" Star pointed out.

"True, but on the bright side that will give you PLENTY of time to explain your connection with the gatekeeper"
Daniel said sternly.

Star shot him a mix of a disgusted and annoyed look.
"Yeah, Plenty of time" She spat. "Let's just get a move on already"

She was about to take off into the air however Daniel stopped her.

"Wait a second" He said, as he scanned the map a little more closely.
There were two points on the map that they had missed.

One of them was just a little up north from their current position. It was labelled 'DC' while the other was much further up north from there.
It was located on the tip of Phyrrias snout and was labelled 'RWP'

"What is it?" Star asked, getting even more impatient.

"Take a look at this, I think we may have a starting point" Daniel smiled softly as Star walked over to take a look.

"Oh... How did we miss that?"

"I have no clue, although It doesn't matter"
Daniel looked up to the sky, the bright sun was maybe a little over halfway passed the midday point.
'So I'm guessing maybe one or two pm?'
"Let's go, we have work to do"

Star nodded, as she watched Daniel roll up the map from the ground and take off into the sky.

- -

They headed north, keeping to the western boarder in order to avoid the great ice wall which lied in the now not so far off distance behind them.

It had been at least one or two hours since they had first taken off, they flew silently for most of the time, only ducking into the clouds or behind moulds of snow on the ground to avoid patrols.

However Daniel has grown a little impatient, he thought Star would just explain the situation regarding the gatekeeper but it seems she had other plans.
He sighed, 'Guess I'll have to pry the words out myself'

Daniel flew up next to the shiny yellow and blue hybrid.
"So, care to begin your explanation?" Daniel said, refusing to drop the subject

Star turned to meet his hard stare,
"Explain what?"

"Oh don't play dumb with me, you know EXACTLY what I'm referring to"

Her face fell as she understood, sighing deeply before she spoke.
"You're not going to stop are you?"

"Nope, not until you talk" Daniel replied

Star sighed again for like the fifth time in one minute before she finally admitted.
"I met him last night"

"You what...?" Daniel replied, slightly worried
"You met him? Like did he enter your dreams?"

Star nodded... "Yeah.. He did"

"Well.. What happened? Did he hurt you?"
Daniel was genuinely worried now.
'If her experience with him was anything like mine...'

He shivered, he couldn't bare the thought of how close to death he was.
'I'll be forever grateful that Turtle was there to save me'

Daniel looked back to Star who was staring down at the far off ground below in an almost dazed sort of manner.

"Hey.. Are you alright?" Daniel asked cautiously.

Stars head snapped to look him in the eyes. This made his insides jump a little bit but he held his composure.

"I'm fine, nothing serious happened in the dream..." Star said reassuringly before she added "Nothing like what was happening to Qibli at least"

"Then what did happen?" Daniel asked once again, not reassured at all that Star wasn't hurt.

"Tell me the truth Star." Daniel said sternly, he was fed up with her avoiding his questions "What did he do to you?"

Star simply stared, she stared him in the eyes sadly, tried to talk but no words came out.

However that's when Daniel took initiative and lightly placed his right wing on her back.
It was abut difficult he had to admit since it put him off balance but he managed.

"Star.. Please... Don't hide this from me.."

And that's when Star couldn't take it anymore, she broke down in tears.
Without warning she grabbed Daniel and pulled him into a hug.

Or more specifically she just wrapped her wings and held onto his body as Daniel struggled to flap his wings to keep them from falling.

"Woah hey! What happened?!" Daniel shrieked.
It all happened so quickly that he couldn't really understand it.
Although one thing was for sure.

'That asshole did something.. And I'm nearly certain it wasn't pretty.'

"Hey, hey..." Daniel said trying to comfort the crying dragon clinging onto his body.
"It's alright.. Don't worry, I'm here"

It was kind of awkward because he wanted to comfort his friend but not to the point where she would find out he had a crush on her.

"Do you want to take a break?" Daniel asked.
Star gave a small nod.

Daniel glided down to the now very icy floor below.
Ice and snow caused Daniel to slip a little on landing however he was able to recover by painfully digging his claws into the ice.

It gave off an ear bleeding screech, before he finally came to a stop.

"Okay, we're down, now... What happened in your dream?" Daniel asked as he looked down to Star who was still clinging onto his chest.

She looked up to meet his soft worried eyes before she unwrapped her wings from around his body.

It was a strange feeling, as soon as she did this Daniel kind of wanted a little more.
'Oh shut up Daniel! Just focus on what's happening'

"S-sorry" Star stuttered nervously. "Sorry for jumping on you like that"

"It's fine, really!" Daniel reassured her, he didn't need her getting even more upset then she already was.
"Now... What happened?"

"He.. He... He showed me what he said was the future.."
Star finally got out.

Daniel's eyes went wide.
'That's what Qibli said...'

Star continued. "He showed me flashes of different times in the near future...
Fire, lots of it... Wanted posters with our faces on them...
Blood on my own talons... Red blood... Blood that wasn't mine.."

She broke down again,
"Hurricane! Something is wrong here! I-I don't know what... But..."
She fell silent, more of the disturbing flashed coming to her mind.

Daniel was speechless at what he was hearing, it was essentially the same thing Qibli had said about his experience.
'Except instead of one large scene she was given multiple different flashes... Every one worse then the last...'

He shivered, the thought of what she must of saw scared him considering that as long as he knew her -which wasn't long- she didn't seem like the one to cry easily.

'Yet whatever the fuck he showed her has her breaking down in tears'
Daniel thought.
Just then however he knew he needed to speak up, say something... Anything...

"Hey..." Daniel started, "it's alright, nothing like that is going to happen, he's just trying to scare you"
However Star shook her head.

"No... One of them was about you, Hurricane"
Daniel's heart started up,
'About me...? What did I do?"

Star was about to tell him what he saw but Daniel clamped her mouth shut
"Don't tell me." Daniel said.

"But.."

"No buts, keep whatever you saw to yourself. Understand?"

Star looked reluctant to comply, almost like it was something that he needed to know.
But Daniel wasn't going to listen.
'Any "Visions" this guy has is probably total bullshit.. So there's no point in hearing it out, no matter how bad or important it seems'

He looked back at Star with a hard stare but she eventually complied,
"Fine..." She said in an almost sorry like tone which made Daniel question if he had really made the right decision on this one, but he shrugged it off.

"Alrighty then, let's check the map to see here we could possibly be at this point" he said as he reached into the bag and pulled out the map again.
This time lying it across an area of Ice instead of Sand.

Star and Daniel crowded the map as they looked where to go next. Locating the black 'DC' point on the map he estimated about a five minute flight from where they were.

"Okay, if we are around this area then it's probably no more then a five minute flight to where we need to go" Daniel said as he pointed another claw on the map.

"Okay... But we're deep into the Ice kingdom by now, If we fly we may get spotted by the Icewings living here" Star pointed out "How long will it take to make it there on foot?"

Daniel looked at her, hesitant to comply but did it anyways seeing he really didn't have any other option.

Slowly Daniel made his way to Star and climbed on her back, he went into the same position that Winter was in when the roles were switched.

Daniel tucked his legs tightly around the sides of her back before he pleased his front talons gently on her back.

"Wow you're a lot lighter then I anticipated" Star said slightly amused.

"I sincerely hope you mean that as a compliment" Daniel responded as he shot her a soft sceptical glare.

Star simply giggled. "Take it as you will" She responded and soon they were off.
Star ran across the ice ground like it was just another day in the fields as Daniel was clinging onto her tightly.

"Hey! I thought we were going to be flying?!"

"Nope! Remember that we'll get caught so on foot it is"

Daniel groaned at Star although he couldn't argue knowing that she was right.

They continued like that for a while in silent.
An icy breeze washed over them, Star wasn't affected by it although Daniel noticeably shivered.

"Hey! Stop moving or else you're going to make me lose balance!" She snapped.

"S-s-sorry!" Daniel chattered, "It's FREEZING out here!"

Star only laughed at his remarks "Well get used to it! It's only going to get colder from here on out!"

Daniel couldn't get another word out sine he was shivering so much so he just held on tight and kept silent.

It was not fun, not in the slightest. However he couldn't admit it wad all bad.
The scenery was absolutely amazing even if they weren't inside the actual kingdom yet.

To the left was the bright blue ocean with the sun shining on its ripping waves. While on the right was a very wide but crisp landscape of ice and glaciers.

Daniel watched for what felt like forever as they passed by.
It was truly beautiful, and just for a second Daniel almost forgot about the freezing temperatures.
We'll that was until another breeze blew past them.

'And... I nearly forgot about that' Daniel scowled, although his train of thought was interrupted when Star called out to him.

"Hey! I think we're here" Star called as she came to a stop outside what appeared to be a dugout cave into a large glacier.

It was definitely a lot smaller then the cave that they took shelter in the Sand kingdom but it seemed to be a lot deeper.

Daniel got off of Star's back and prepared himself for the Burning sensation of cold ice.
Although when he put his talon on the ground he noticed it wasn't that bad.

He made a confused face as he thought deeply.
'How come I can't bare to stand on the ice back there, but over here I'm completely fine? Doesn't make any sense..'

Star giggled from behind.
"Whatcha' thinking about? You seem to be deep in thought."

Daniel shook his head, "Nothing, nothing important"

Star looked at him oddly but took his word for it.
"If you say so. Now what is this exactly?"
She gestured to the small cave opening which was just large enough for a grown dragon to pass through.

Daniel was already scanning the map to make sure they were in the right place.
The map matched up with their current location, this was it.

"Well there's only one way to find out"
He put the map away and stepped into the slightly tight cavern.

Star followed him closely, icy walls were a winding maze of corridors.
The flat ice acted like mirrors as Daniels and Stars reflections followed their movements.

To Daniels surprise there was a lot of light inside the cave.
'I guess the mirror-like Ice reflects the light from the outside into the cave as well'

They continued for a while longer in silence until the came across a fork in the path.

"Ah.. This isn't good" Daniel said.

"Well what do we do now?

"I'm not sure to be honest..."
He pondered for a moment but then had an idea.

"let's try the left route, however dig your claws Into the ice to make a sort of mark so we know where we came from in case this is some sort of loop"

Star nodded, she made a visible mark with her claw into the wall before they continued forward.

However they soon realised that the claw mark wasn't needed as when they reached the end of the passage they entered a room which made their spines crawl.

"Oh my moons..." Star shuddered as they looked around.

Daniel was speechless as well, he couldn't muster up anything to say. He just stared out at the gruesome scene in front of him.

About a dozen or more dead Icewings lay frozen in ice.
All of them held a sort of spear in their hands and had mixed expressions ranging for anger to fear to acceptance.

"What the fuck...?" Daniel said... He could understand what this place was but then he saw it.
And he knew exactly where he was.

He tapped Star's shoulder as he looked towards the object.
Star turned to ask what was up but then she saw it too.

"Oh no... Hurricane... We need to leave"

"Yeah.. I noticed. We're not supposed to be here"

Down by the end of the large room of frozen Icewings lied one singular black frozen dragon.

It's facial expression was a sort of sorrowful one and what could be seen as a small clear frozen tear rolled down the dragons cheek.

"If we're right on this... Then we're really in deep trouble here" Star said.

Daniel nodded... "We're in the Diamond caves..."

Chapter Text

Both dragons stood in the centre of the cave, unable to move.

The frozen faces of the Icewings stared at them ominously.

"Hurricane, we NEED to go!" Star shouted
Now genuinely worried.

Daniel was about to turn tail and run but out of nowhere there was a shout from deep inside the cave.

"Hey! Is someone there?" It was a hard female voice.
Talonsteps began to rush towards them.

"Move! Quickly!" Daniel called to Star in a hushed voice.

"Where!?" She returned in the same hushed tone.

"Anywhere just go!"

Star and Daniel ran back through the tunnels and winding caverns.
They had no idea where they were going or what to do.
'We really screwed ourselves on this one..' Daniel thought

The talons behind them grew louder as the sound of scratching claws on ice and their own reflections chased them though the caves.

Turn after turn the scraping claws didn't let up.
It was genuinely terrifying as eventually Daniel and Star reached a dead end.

"Oh no..." Star said,

"That's not good," Daniel responded just as worriedly.

"Now what?" Star frantically looked ever her shoulder to where the noise of claws was only getting louder.

Daniel soon however spotted a small ledge the that they would be able to hide on.

He grabbed Star's talon without warning and leaped up to the ledge above.

"Hey! WHA-"

"Shhh!" Daniel said as he pressed a talon on top of Star's snout to muffle her shout.

She looked at him with perplexed eyes but soon she understood and nodded.
Daniel took his talon off her snout as the dragon chasing them finally came into view.

"Hello? Is someone here? You know you're not supposed to be!"

Daniel and Star shrunk back towards the back of the ledge only barely visible to the female Icewing.

The Icewing looked around at the walls, she appeared deep in thought.
Daniel and Star peaked their heads out to get a proper look at their chaser.

She seemed to be about a little under Daniels height and had a very faint scar across her cheek.
However they didn't get much time to study her further as she soon looked up to them.

They immediately ducked down into cover again, praying that they hadn't been spotted.

Daniel could hear his own heartbeat as a sense silence settled over the cavern.
He was about to peek out again to check the scene however the sound of another pair of talons echoed into the vicinity.

"Hey! Wait up!" It was another female voice this time.
"You can't just run off like that without saying anything!"
The other dragon gasped for a little air before she continued.
"What were you chasing anyways?"

"I thought I heard something." the first voice explained with no detail at all.

"Really..?" The other dragon said sarcastically. "Like what? Some random person running around?"

There was another moment of silence before the same voice added.
"Scavenger, I mean scavenger,"

"Oh right.. I forgot you called those low-life creatures differently,"

"They're not Low-Life's! They're smarter then they look!"

"Yeah sure... Whatever you say Penguin,"

'That must be her name...' Daniel thought.
' Interesting.. I didn't think they had penguins in Phyrria. Although I could very well be wrong'

"Ugh, you'll see! Anyways I have news I've been meaning to tell you!"

"Hmm? What's it about, do you finally have a lead on where your brother could be?"
The other Icewing said curiously.

"Yep! If I remember correctly he was a complete nerd and as such the one place we're most likely to find him is Jade Mountain"

"You mean that stupid school?! No way! I'm not going there even if there was gold involved!"

"Oh stop whining Kori! I've already sent out an enrolment letter to the school. We should probably be there by next week"

'So that's the name of our pursuer... Kori... I'll be sure to remember that one.'

"Urgh! Of course you have... Well I guess there's no point arguing with you since that never gets me anywhere" Kori said with a dreaded tone

"you'd be right on that one!" Penguin replied.
"Now let's go! We need to go and get ready for school"

"Wait, wait, just before we go I wanna' ask"

"Yeah?"

"Why are you so desperate with finding your brother? I mean when we first met you said he was annoying and you hated him. So what's the urge to find him?"

Penguin stayed silent. Though she soon answered.
"Look... It's true that I hated him but after my parents death he's the only family I have left.. Even if he's annoying I need to find him."

Kori looked back with a sceptical stare.
"Are you sure that's all?"

Penguin hesitated. "Fine... I was a really bad sister to him okay... I just want to make things right"

"Wow I didn't know you had a heart" Kori chuckled which earned her a hard glare from Penguin.

"Okay, sorry. Let's go" Kori apologised as she took the lead and ran back through the cavern with Penguin following close behind.

There was the sound of running talons as both Penguin and Kori ran out the caves.

Daniel and Star looked at each other, not daring to say a word but they didn't need to Because the expression on Daniels face said it all.

"I know what you're thinking Hurricane," Star said in a whispered tone.

Daniel looked away, towards where the dragons echoed talons were last heard.

Star continued. "You know she's not your sister... She just happens to be in the same predicament as you"

"But what if she is Star... I don't remember what she looks like at all so she could very well be"
Daniel had to lie a little there in order to not blow his cover but it was sort of true.

"Hurricane.. Listen to yourself." Star said. "Even if you don't remember what she looks like it can't be her.. You're a Skywing. She's an Icewing. It doesn't work"

What Star said made sense though Daniel knew different.
'For all I know Charlotte could be any sort of tribe... Which means that there's a chance...'

However he brushed off the idea before he replied.
"Yeah... You're right.. But I have a feeling we'll be seeing them again very soon..."

Star nodded. "Yeah well let's think about that later, right now we need to get out of here"

"Agreed"

Daniel peaked over the ledge they were hiding on to make sure the coast was clear.
Once he did they both jumped down.

"Okay, now how do we get out?" Star asked

"I'm not too sure on that one but we could try and retrace our steps" Daniel said but then he noticed something.

"Hey... Look" he pointed to some interesting claw marks on the ground.
They weren't fully visible but they were there.

"Clawmarks" Star finished.
"They must of been left by those Icewings who chased us.

"Yeah.. And if we follow them then we may be able to get out of here"
Daniel explained.

"Good idea. Now let's go, I'm not too sure how much longer I can stay knowing there's frozen corpses here"

Daniel nodded and lead the way. He kept track of the Clawmarks closely as they ventured forth through the cavern again.

They kept close together in order to not lose each other in the winding tunnels.
The beady eyes of frozen dragons followed them which made it extremely uncomfortable.

The follower the clawmarks around the entirety of the cavern for almost an entire hour.
Eventually however the Clawmarks seemed to disappear and they couldn't follow them anymore.

"Well... That's it" Daniel sighed as he turned to Star.

"So now what? What do we do?"

"I'm really not too sure" Daniel admitted.
However soon the massive problem dawned on him.

What if they really couldn't get out.
What if they would slowly starve or freeze to death here.
'We would become like the many poor souls here who died in the Trials...'

Daniel shivered, he didn't want to think of that. He already came close to death once, he's not going to have it happen again.

He was in dep thought trying to figure things out when Star called out to him.
"Hey Hurricane! I found something!"

Daniel rushed over quickly.
"What is it?!"

"Look!"
She pointed to a specific mark on the wall.
It was in the shape of an 'X' and Daniel immediately gleamed.

"It's the mark we made" Star exclaimed.
"Which means the exit is somewhere down there"
She pointed a claw to another cave to which Daniel responded happily.

"Well what are we waiting for?! Let's leave this place already!"
They both ran down the tunnel which got brighter and brighter by the second.

The sound of winds echoed throughout the cavern getting louder and louder until they finally popped out into the world.

The sun's rays beamed down on them brightly, slightly blinding them but they didn't care. They were out.

"YES! THANK THE MOONS!" Daniel celebrated.
"I genuinely thought we were done for in there"

Star gave a large sigh of relief. "So did I.."

They laughed for a moment before bringing their minds back to the reason they were there.
"Okay, so clearly that mark on the map didn't help. However there's still one last Mark left"
Daniel said.

He took out and unrolled the map from the bag.
Pointing to the next dot he continued. "Right here. At 'RWP' that's our next stop."

Looking Into the horizon he saw a large mountain in the very far off distance.
"Well I guess we're heading to another mountain"

He looked towards Star with a determined facial expression which read 'Let's get this done'

Star smiled. "Well let's go then. I ain't waiting around for someone to find us"

Daniel returned the smile before called out.
"I'll race you there!"
He then shot up into the air at a blazing speed.

"Hey that's not fair!" She yelled back as she tried to follow him.

"You snooze you lose! Get used to it!" Daniel said.
Star grumbled but kept after him as they both flew far into the distance.

The crispy air whipped past both their faces as they laughed. Daniel slowed down in order to let Star catch up.
"Haha! I'm just joking, I know a race would be unfair"

"Ha ha... So funny" Star spat as she rolled her eyes.
"How long do you reckon it'll take us to get there?"
She looked into the distance to the large oddly shaped mountain beyond.

"Me? About ten minutes. You? I'm not too sure" Daniel admitted

"Ten minutes?!" Star gasped in astonishment. "Tell me you're kidding"

"Well more like twelve or so but nah, I'm serious"

"How?! How is that possible?"

"Well I can show you... If you want that is."

Star fell silent at Daniels words but soon agreed.
"Sure.. Why not? How about you get us there in under fifteen minutes"

"Challenge accepted" Daniel replied with a smirk.
Without warning he grabbed Stars talon and took off towards the clouds.

"H-HEY I WAS JUST KIDDING!" Star shouted but Daniel ignored her as he was already focused on the task.

Higher and higher they flew until it wasn't possible to see the ground below anymore.
A soft layer of white clouds covered the sky.

"Alright I think this is high enough"

"YOU THINK?!" Star screamed to which she was ignored once again.

"Well.. I hope you're ready" Daniel said to the now shivering hybrid.

Daniel dived face first into the white foggy abyss. Star began to scream as her stomach was turned inside out again.

Daniel tucked in his legs for more speed to which he immediately accelerated.

"ALRIGHT! NOW YOU EITHER HANG ON TIGHT OR YOU FLY BY YOURSELF!" Daniel called to which Star replied with a simple.

*Gulp*

He flew fast, really fast. The world was nothing but a large blur of colors.
If he was human he would most definitely be dead.
'But I'm not human... Not at the moment at least'

He flew towards the mountain which was rapidly getting closer and closer.
Before he knew it they were almost face to face with it.

He was forced to swerve out of the way from it's oddly shaped backside in order to not crash into it and deliver both him and Star to the next life.

Whipping through the stones he went into another dive, short stopping just at the feet of the mountain.

"Well... I think I beat the challenge don't you?" Daniel said with a smirk as he looked to Star who has gone a few shades lighter.

"Y-y-yep... Su-sure... Goo-d job"

Daniel only laughed at the scene before he wrapped a wing around her.
"Hey, you're fine~ don't worry"

Star didn't respond. She just stood there as her brain processed what in the world just happened.

Daniel noticed this and got a little worried.
"Hey.. Are you alright?"

Star still didn't respond for another few moments, she kept a straight face of bewilderment.
However as Daniel moved closer she suddenly yelled.
"Boo!"

"AH!"
Daniel fell backwards to the ground as Star started to laugh.
"Oh wow you should of seen your face!"
She laughed again as Daniel got up.

"Ha ha, so funny" Daniel remarked but couldn't help but smile. "Well I guess we're even now"

"Yeah I guess so" Star agreed as she offered a talon to help Daniel up to which he took happily.

The both stared towards the mountain.
It was interesting, not quite but almost shaped like a dragon on its two hind legs. The large rocks on its back looked like wings almost and we're littered with what appeared to be red jade.

"Well... We're here" Daniel said

Star nodded.
"Let's Investigate shall we?"

Daniel returned her nod affirmatively.
"Let's go"

They walked towards the dragon-like mountain.
There had to be a reason It was marked on the map.
'or at least I hope there's a reason'

As They approached the mound of rock they realised it was actually quite small.
Really small.

It was like a small little mound of rock.
Located maybe about twenty or so meters off shore it floated there like an anchored boat.

"Hey Star, didn't this look a lot larger while we were flying here" Daniel asked.

Star shot him a questionable look.
"Well I was busy screaming for my life so I didn't see it"

"Ah.. Right."

Daniel liked back at the small mound.
'I could of sworn it was at least three times larger... Am I going insane?'

He shook his head as they both landed on its cold surface.
To their surprise however there was an opening hidden behind one of the 'wings' of the mountain.

"What's this?" Daniel said as he went over to examine behind one of the jewelled wings.

A small crack was visible between two slightly lose rocks. It was a little small, only about three claws could fit through. However it was clear something was behind it.

" I'm not to sure..."Star said." But there's one way to find out"
She grabbed one of the rocks with both front talons before giving a significant look at Daniel.

He stood there, perplexed slightly until Star called.
"Well don't just stand there! Help me!"

"Oh right! Sorry"
Daniel replied as he walked over to the other rock and placed his own talons around it.

"Alright, on three we both pull and try and open up the gap"
Star explained.

Daniel nodded as he prepared himself.

"One..."

"Two.."

"Three!"

They both pulled with full forced on the loose rocks.
It didn't do much however it did end up opening up the gap a little more.

"Again" Daniel said.
He pulled and so did Star but it seemed that the rocks wouldn't budge anymore.

"Stop. It's not working" Star said as she pressed an eye to the hole. "Although we did manage to open it up a little"

"Mhm.. I can see that" Daniel said. Though his kind soon turned to other matters.

'What are we even doing here... Why are we even here? To save Phyrria from some random ass prophecy that probably isn't even real.'
He took a deep breath.
'Were probably just wasting out time, and I'm dragging the Jade Winglet into my issues... Coming here was a mistake...'

"Look Star-" Daniel said, he was about to call off the idea that something was actually there when Star spoke.

"Oh! There's something in here!" Star exclaimed which caught Daniels attention.

"Wait there is?"

"Yeah! Come, take a look!"
Star walked away from the crack so Daniel could see for himself.

He pressed his eye to it and looked around.
It was quite dark inside and he couldn't see much however there was definitely something there.

A small glint of red could be seen inside the crack although this just made Daniel lose a little hope.

"Star... It's probably just more jade... Like the ones here" Daniel said, he took his eye off and pointed to one of the many pieces of jade in the rock.

"No it's not! Look closer" Star said.

Daniel was reluctant seeing it as a waste of time but complied anyways... And that's when he saw it.

There was something in there...

Quickly Daniel reached into his bag for the balisong.
As he took it out he flipped the blade open. It wasn't ideal but there was a chance he would be able to grab the object with it.

Reaching into the crack he angled the blade so it would be able to be wedged underneath whatever it was that was In inside.

With one quick stab he lodged the blade underneath and carefully took out what appeared to be A bright red dragon compass...

But once he examined it fully his heart rate sped up.
Towards the top of it three words engraved...

"Red Wings Peak"

He remembered the words from his dream... And it could only mean one thing...

'The prophecy is real...'

Chapter Text

It was somewhere between late morning and early afternoon when Star and Daniel finally got back to their friends.

Many of them were still asleep surprisingly, however Peril seemed to already be awake.

She looked up, her attention caught by the crunching of cold snow under Daniels and Stars talons.

"Hey you're back!" Peril yelled happily though she shrunk down quietly after realising how loud her voice was.

"Sorry...". She said quietly.

Daniel and Star just smiled. "Yeah, good to see you too guys" Daniel said.
He walked towards them before he sat down on the floor.

There was a slight cold tingle in his scales when they touched the snow but he soon got used to it.

Qibli, Peril, and Star joined him as they sat in a small circle.

"Soo," Qibli started.
"Did you guys find anything?"

Daniel and Star nodded as they revealed the compass.
"We found this" Star said.

Daniel placed the compass in the centre of the group circle so they could all see it.

"Woah, that's definitely something" Peril said as she studied the compass closely.
She reached out to take a closer look but that's when Qibli stopped her.

"Hey be careful!" He snatched the compass away quickly before Perils talons could melt the compass into dirt.
"Firescales.. Remember?"

"Oh.. Right..." Peril said, shying away from where the compass was.
"I forgot I'm cursed..."

Daniel felt bad for the Skywing. He knew Peril didn't like her firescales just from reading the initial series back on earth.
'though I never really saw how bad it was, she's not able to do basic things... Man.. I'm so sorry Peril'

The circle of dragons fell silent as Peril shuffled her talons nervously.
It was clear she was uncomfortable so Daniel switched the subject.

"So that's all we found really" Daniel spoke which earned him a strange look from Star.
He saw this and immediately knew what she was thinking.

"Well we did run into some Icewings on the way there but nothing serious" Daniel added.

"Wait you did? Are you alright? Were you spotted? If you were then we could have a big issue! The queens would find out, we could have a potential war-"

"Qibli... You're doing it again" Peril said calmly, un-phased by his words of panic.

Qibli looked at her before the words sank in.
"Oh... I am? Sorry, just a bad habit I guess" he apologised

Daniel meanwhile was slightly put on edge.
"I'm sorry what was that?" he knew Qibli had the tendency to overthink a lot but it wasn't that bad...
'Well maybe it wasn't that bad to me while I was reading... But I'm not reading a book anymore.. This is real.. And If he's like this constantly... I'm not sure how he's able to live a normal life..'

"Sorry Hurricane, I tend to overthink sometimes" Qibli explained, though Daniel could tell he overthinked on a constant basis.

"It's fine, don't worry" Star said in a reassuring tone which made Daniel remember she was actually there. "besides, I'm more interested in finding out what this compass is"

"Agreed" Daniel said as he beckoned for Qibli to give him back the compass.
He compiled and soon there was a bright red compass inside the palm of his talon.

I was shaped like a dragon, had full red wings and body and he swore he had seen it somewhere else.

But he couldn't put his claw on It. Not just yet at least.
Placing the compass back on the snow Peril walked up for a closer view.

Star was about to grab the compass for safety purposes but was stopped when Daniel reached a limb out in front of her, stopping her in her tracks.

She gave him a worried look which Daniel understood, she was scared Peril would melt the compass and they would lose the only thing they worked for.
'But she won't do that... She knows better'

Qibli also shot significant glances between Peril, the compass, and Daniel though when Daniel ignored them, he kept silent.

They all watched as Peril examined the compass closely.
She lowered her head close up to the red relic as Steam flew off from her sizzling scales.

There were a few moments of tense silence as Peril looked up to the sky and back at the compass, a look of puzzlement forming on her face.

"What's the matter?" Daniel asked as he looked at his scorching friend curiously

Peril ignored his question for a moment as she looked up to the sky again, this time making small little gestures with her claws as if she was drawing something.

However she soon looked Daniel straight in the eyes and answered his question.
"The compass is wrong"

"What? How could it be wrong?" Star objected to which she snatched the compass from under Peril's snout which almost earned her a large burn but she didn't care.

She fiddled with the relic in her talons, confused on how it was wrong.

Peril sighed.
"Look, the sun rises in the West and sets in the East"
She drew an invisible line across the sky with her talon.
"That compass is not pointing north, it's pointing slightly northeast"

"So? We literally found the stupid thing in a rock, who knows how old it is, it could of been slightly messed up overtime" Star said, still refusing to believe it was broken.

Peril swayed her head dismissively. "it doesn't work like that but I wont explain it, the point is that it's broken..."

Qibli made a face but soon spoke out,
What if its not a compass at all... What if it's something else?"

Everyone fell silent, confused, until Daniel broken the awkward silence.
"Okay.. Well if it's not a compass, then what is it?"

"Now that..." Peril stated, "I have no clue, "

"Ah, just perfect. We have no idea what in the moons this thing is and we're running out of time" Qibli spoke. He flared his wings, distressed.

"Hey, it's not all bad, I mean at least we came back with something" Daniel said positively, trying to get his friends spirits up.

"I guess... Though I'm not sure how useful it is if we don't even know what it does." Star groaned.

"I think I can help with that" A random voice interjected.
Everyone switched their attention to the source of the voice but were surprised to see it was just their friend Turtle.

"Turtle? What are you doing up so early?" Peril asked.

"Yeah, I thought you were a late sleeper?" Qibli asked.

"Oh I am" Turtle admitted before he laughed a little, "have you not seen the sun? It's easily past one in the afternoon by now"

Spontaneously, everyone looked up and we're immediately blinded by the bright afternoon sun.

"Ack, my eyes!" Daniel said, which just made Turtle laugh hysterically as everyone else had similar reactions.

"BAHAHAHA!" Turtle laughed while everyone else rubbed their eyes and groaned.

"Ya know, you can be real annoying sometimes," Qibli said semi-sarcastically.

"Yeah I know, but I got to have fun at least se sometimes right?" Turtle laughed which just made Qibli sigh.

"Anyways, you said you could help with this" Qibli gestured to the relic, "How exactly?"

Turtle didn't speak, instead he walked over to where the piece of red metal was and spoke the words. "I enchant you to tell us exactly what you are and what your purpose is,"

Daniels eyes went wide as Turtle finished the sentence.
"Turtle! No! You can't use your magic!"
It was too late, the damage had been done but he could a least try and stop him for his future.

"And why not? It's my choice, I know the risks," Turtle responded in an annoyed tone which was kind of out of character for him.

'Oh no is the magic already corrupting his soul?' Daniel thought worriedly.
"Yes I know that it's your choice... But please, I don't want you to end up like Albatross"

Turtle frowned, he knew what Daniel meant, thought he didn't regret it.
"Trust me, I'll be fine"

Daniel sighed, he knew he couldn't win so he just nodded his head to what Turtle said.
"If you say so..."

Turtle was about to respond when the relic suddenly whipped out of his talon and started to hover in the air, gaining everyone's attention.

A mysterious voice came from the relic which sent shivers down the spines of Daniel, Star, and Qibli.

เ ค๓ Շђє кєєקєг ๏Ŧ Շђє รςг๏ɭɭร, รєєг ๏Ŧ ŦยՇยгєร. เ ฬคร єภςђคภՇє๔ Շ๏ ɭ๏ςคՇє Շђє ภєคгєรՇ รςг๏ɭɭ ๏Ŧ ςђค๏ร เภ ๏г๔єг Շ๏ кєєק Շђє๓ รคŦє Ŧг๏๓ Շђє гєรՇ ๏Ŧ Շђє ฬ๏гɭ๔...

The voice then fell silent.
"Wow... That was.. Unexpected." Peril said.

"You think?!" Star yelled. "This thing is enchanted!"

"Yeah! And If anything sounds powerful enough to make Phyrria burn it would be these so called 'Scrolls of chaos' that it's supposedly tracking!"

There was another tense silence.
"Well that settles it then." Daniel said as he got up and shook off the snow which had attached to his scales.

The others looked at him, perplexed.
"What do you mean by that?" Turtle asked.

"Well, if this thing is enchanted to track these so called 'Scrolls of chaos'" He made little sarcastic marks with his claws.
"Then I think we should check them out"

"Woah, Woah, Woah, just hold on a minute, we don't even know what these scrolls of chaos even are, what if we're biting off more than we can chew?" Qibli said.

"I'm with Qibli here, this seems like a bad idea" Star spoke but Daniel had already made up his mind.

"Look, according to my cryptic ass prophecy, if we don't do something Phyrria is going to burn.. And this is our only lead"

Star sighed, "There's no talking you out of this, is there?"

"Nope"

"Welp, what are we waiting for, let's go save Phyrria then." Peril spoke enthusiastically.

She was a bout to take off when Turtle spoke out. "Wait a second, you should a least make a plan for this. The tracker is pointing towards the Ice kingdom, so it would be wise to send an Icewing with you"

Turtle made a significant glance towards a sleeping Winter.
"Also maybe a small group would world best for this, Who knows where it'll take you and a large group of dragons might be hard to keep track of."

Daniel placed a talon on the bottom of his snout.
"Hmmmm, fine. Me, Star, and Winter will follow the tracker, Meanwhile you guys try and figure out what the other lines of the prophecy could mean"

He took out the two pieces of parchment from his bag and handed them to Qibli.

"Awh man, do I really need to hang back again?"

"Sorry dude, but you're not fit for the ice kingdom." Daniel said apologetically "And besides, your brilliant brain is more useful here cracking the code to the prophecy."

"Really? Cause right now I feel really useless."Qibli admitted.

"Well your not, trust me. You'll have more impact here than with us." Daniel explained.

"Really?" Qibli said, still uncertain..

"Of course!" Peril said, you're the smartest one out of all of us. We need you for this!"

Qibli sighed but finally complied.
"Alright... I'll hang back again,"

"Thank you Qibli" Daniel said, "You'll do great here, trust me"

"Mhm.. Sure thing. Just stay safe for me out there, you too Star, don't get yourselves captured or killed" Qibli demanded.

"Haha, don't worry, we won't" Star laughed as she shot the worried Sandwing a smile.

"Promise?" Qibli asked.

"We promise" Daniel said as Qibli finally smiled.
"Okay, don't do anything stupid to get us in trouble, I think we might already have enough when we get back to school..."

Daniel laughed, "Right, well c'mon then, wake up Snow for brains over there! We got a world to save!"

He pointed to Winter who was still sound asleep, though wouldn't be for long.

"Right, I got you, don't worry about it" Turtle replied calmly, he had a cheeky grin on his face which gave Daniel the impression that Winter wasn't going to have a peaceful awakening.

He looked down to the tracker in his talon as he thought..
'Well.. I never thought I would be trying to save the world at any time in my life... So let's hope we succeed'

'Mom, Dad.. I'll make you proud if you're watching from up there...

And Charlotte...

...I'll find you sister, don't worry about a thing'

Chapter Text

The wind was surprisingly warm despite them flying into the land of snow and Ice.
Daniel and Star flew next to an annoyed Winter who was rudely awoken from his nap about twenty minutes ago.

"So let me get This straight" Winter spoke, he let a small yawn out of his system before continuing.

"You guys went out while we were all sleeping and brought back what appears to be a compass but is not a compass it's actually a tracker for some 'Scrolls of chaos' which apparently could be the reason why Pyrrhia will start to burn in the Prophecy"
He stopped and took a deep breath.
"Wow that was a mouthful"

Daniel stared at his friend for a moment before answering.
"Yeah that's about it, so now we're following wherever this thing takes us."
He gestured to the relic in his talon.

Winter took a closer look at it, it was an interesting little relic.
It appeared to be a normal compass with the centre of it rotating around like normal.
So it did tell direction, or at least it used to.
Now the north arrow would point towards wherever the supposed 'scrolls of chaos' were.

"So this thing points to where we need to go?" Winter asked.

"Yep," Star interjected, trying to get into the conversation.
"Although it's taking us close to the Ice Kingdom"
They all looked into the snowy wasteland as the great ice wall finally approached.

"Alright guys... I guess we're going in" Daniel said.

"Woah Woah Woah, just wait a minute! I'm not helping you break into the Ice Kingdom?!"
Winter yelled suddenly, he stopped flying and looked at Daniel.
"It's against Ice Wing law to help people break in"

"Winter you know we have to go where it says we need to" Star said but Winter retorted in response.

"Yeah well, I didn't think it would lead us here. Plus nothing you can say to change my mind.

Daniel sighed, "Well if Phyrria burns there won't be a law there won't be anything at all because we'll all be dead. So if that's what you want then be my guest. Me and Star will just break in without you then"

Winter looked at him with deadly eyes but Daniel stayed calm showing he was going into the ice kingdom whether Winter liked it or not.

There was a tense stare-off between Daniel and Winter before he eventually gave in.
"UUURAAGHHH FINE!" Winter yelled, "But I'm only doing this so Phyrria isn't demolished, okay." A small puff of frost came out of his snout as he finished up his sentence.

"Works for me, now lead the way friend"
Daniel laughed to which Winter rolled his eyes but didn't say anything.

Together they flew into the far distance beyond.
Winter took the lead as Daniel and Star followed suit.

It took a while Daniel had to admit as while the wind flowed over his scales like a school of fish he found himself thinking about his whole situation.

'So we just need to discover this scroll of chaos... And it will hopefully help us figure this whole prophecy shit out. I also need to find a way out of Phyrria..'
He looked to Winter and Star flying close to him.
Star looked over and shot him a happy smile to which he returned.
'But I'm not sure if I should tell them... At least not yet.'

He turned his attention to the Great Ice Cliff which stood a near five-minute flight away.
Honestly sand didn't know if he was ready to go back to those freezing temperatures.

'But if Phyrria's fate rests on our shoulders... It's not like I have much of a choice but to go back anyway.'

Daniel continued to be deep in thought as he pondered over the possible outcomes of this Mission... Each ending getting worse and worse as they came and went

' What if We get caught and sent back to JMA? Or even worse, we get locked up in the Ice Kingdom dungeons.
What if we don't even make it to where the tracker tells us to go, what if I just catch frostbite and freeze... While Winter and Star watch me die slowly... Or even worse above all that... What if this scroll isn't even on Phyrria... What if it's on Pantala? Then what... Do we just watch the world burn and us along with it?'

Daniel couldn't think straight. His heart picked up pace at the thousands of ways this could go horribly wrong.
And he would have spiralled downwards If it wasn't for Winter calling out to them.

"We're here!" Daniel was snapped back to reality at Winters words.
He looked up to see the Great Ice Cliff towering above them.

"Oh wow... I never saw the Great Ice Wall this close"
Daniel said.
The first time around he was so caught up in his thoughts that he had missed it but not this time. This time he saw the full beauty of the structure.

"It protects everything inside the kingdom." Winter responded before adding, "And it's called the Great Ice 'Cliff,' not Great Ice 'Wall'"

"Yeah, did your family not teach you that?" Star asked wonderingly, "I'm pretty sure everyone in Pyrrhia knows how to say It"

Daniel's face fell, "My family...?" He repeated flashes of memories came back to him, good memories of him and his parents... Then the text message and the news about their deaths... His sister never really cared for him but she was still part of his life. He shook his head. "I don't talk about them"

Star looked at him, puzzled. "Why not? Were they not great to you?"

"No no, it's not that, I just don't want to talk about it" Daniel said as he tried to divert the conversation.
But then Winter interjected. "Well I highly doubt they're worse than my family so I don't think you have much to hide" Winter scoffed.

Daniel shot him a glare, "Let's just drop the subject please, thank you" he was getting a little aggravated but kept his composure.
"How do we get in Winter?"

The Icewing turned to meet his eyes, "I was actually interested for once but if you insist... I'll skip listening to your attempt at a sad life story"

Daniel's glare intensified. "Look, I'll admit that my childhood was probably better than yours if that's what you're trying to prove but let's just drop this already" Daniel had enough on his mind, he didn't need more.

"No I'm curious now, we've never heard anything about you and your past yet you seem to know almost everything about all of us" Winter returned his glare but it wasn't a glare of anger, more like one of deep confusion.

"Hurricane, Maybe Winter's right on this one... if you were to tell us more about yourself then maybe we could get along more and understand each other" Star suddenly interjected herself into the conversation.
Winter looked at her and then back to Daniel whose face had fallen to a mix of reluctance and sadness. "Look it's obvious something's on your mind so just spill it already" Winter said in a slightly harsh tone.

"Look, guys, I appreciate it but I don't want to worry you with my problems, it's better if I just figure it out on my own" Daniel said.
'Also because I'm not sure if you guys can handle my problems since I'm not even supposed to be here...'

He looked over to Winter who was staring at him, a sort of realisation printed across his face.
Daniel looked at him, confused but soon realised what was up.
'He sees himself... he sees himself bottling up all his problems... though he'll never admit it'
Daniel shook his head "Let's go, we got work to do"
Star and Winter exchanged glances but eventually, they both nodded.
"Fine, I'll lead the way," Winter said.

Soon all three of them flew adjacent to the Great Ice cliff as they made their way past.
They flew in silence as Daniel took in the scenery of the snowy peaks of surrounding mountains, the oddly shaped Ice Kingdom Igloos in the distance, as well as Queen Snowfalls castle.

The breeze felt nice on his scales as he looked down to the ground rushing below him like a wild river.
He smiled though it soon faded, he wanted to stay like this forever, he wanted to stay free, with the friends he never had back on earth.
'But... I can't stay... I know I can't, no matter how much I want to I need to return to where I need to be, Earth.
Sure... it won't be as free, or nice... instead, it'll be more lonely, and controlling, but it's where humans like myself belong, and I can't change that'

Daniel looked down at the clawed red talons he had gotten used to over the past few days. He knew that time in Phyrria worked differently which meant that when he eventually returned, Earth would of most likely changed a lot.
'Earth would of changed so much by the time I even left his realm... is it even worth going back to anymore? My parents are dead, my sister is already In Phyrria so what exactly do I have to go back for?'

It made no sense to go back, no sense at all. why would he return to a place that's worse than the place he's in when he could just live in wonderland for the rest of his days?
'Because I'll mess up the world even more, using time travel knowledge if I mess up the course of events too much then I can cause this world to collapse completely. So if I was to stay here it would only be a matter of time before my actions catch up with me.'

'So that settles it... Even if I end up living my life by myself with nobody else... I must leave in order to make sure I don't destroy everything and everyone in it... So I'll cherish the moments I have now so when I do leave it doesn't hurt as much...'

Star and Winter were a lot further up than him at the current moment and they seemed to be deep in conversation so Daniel thought it was safe enough.
"Hey guys can we take a small break? I want to check something!" Daniel called out.

Winter and Star both looked at him "Yeah sure, I'm down for a quick break anyways" Winter agreed.
Star nodded and all three of them flew down to the crisp, white, and VERY slippery land below as Daniel almost lost his balance when landing.
meanwhile, Star and Winter both landed easily thanks to their extra sharp claws built for this climate.

when they all finally gathered Star asked "So why did you want to take a break?"

"Oh I just saw something and wanted to check it out, plus I thought a break could be useful while we make a plan"
He reached into the bag around his neck and took out Barren's map and the pieces of parchments with the prophecy written on it.
"See if you can find anything, I'll be back before you know it"
Star gave him a questionable look but didn't say anything as she started to make progress with Winter on the prophecy.

Daniel took it as an 'okay' and left to go 'check out' something he had seen though in reality he just needed to be alone for a little while.
once he was out of sight completely he sat down on a small mound of snow and took out two items from his bag. A small bottle of ink he had snatched on his way out from History and a rather long scroll that Clay had given to him to take notes in class with.

He took out the scroll and ink and started to write, he was going to treat this scroll as a journal entry for his adventures so that when he finally left Phyrria the Jade winglet would have something to remember him by and have a reason as to why he left.

'𝓓𝓮𝓪𝓻... 𝓐𝓷𝔂𝓸𝓷𝓮 𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓵𝓵𝔂'

'𝓜𝔂 𝓷𝓪𝓶𝓮 𝓲𝓼 𝓓𝓪𝓷𝓲𝓮𝓵 𝓛𝓸𝓻𝓮𝓷𝓬𝓮 𝓽𝓱𝓸𝓾𝓰𝓱 𝓽𝓸 𝓟𝓱𝔂𝓻𝓻𝓲𝓪𝓷𝓼 𝓘 𝓶𝓪𝔂 𝓫𝓮 𝓴𝓷𝓸𝔀𝓷 𝓪𝓼 '𝓗𝓾𝓻𝓻𝓲𝓬𝓪𝓷𝓮 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓢𝓴𝔂𝔀𝓲𝓷𝓰' 𝓸𝓻 '𝓢𝓹𝓮𝓮𝓭 𝓭𝓮𝓶𝓸𝓷' 𝓲𝓯 𝓘 𝔀𝓪𝓼 𝔂𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝓯𝓻𝓲𝓮𝓷𝓭. 𝓣𝓱𝓲𝓼 𝓲𝓼 𝓶𝔂 𝓯𝓲𝓻𝓼𝓽 𝓙𝓸𝓾𝓻𝓷𝓪𝓵 𝓮𝓷𝓽𝓻𝔂 𝓸𝓯 𝓶𝔂 𝓽𝓻𝓪𝓿𝓮𝓵𝓼 𝓲𝓷 𝓟𝓱𝔂𝓻𝓻𝓲𝓪. 𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓽𝓻𝓾𝓽𝓱 𝓲𝓼 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓘'𝓶 𝓪𝓬𝓽𝓾𝓪𝓵𝓵𝔂 𝓷𝓸𝓽 𝓯𝓻𝓸𝓶 𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓼 𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓵𝓶, 𝓘'𝓶 𝓯𝓻𝓸𝓶 𝓪 𝓼𝓮𝓹𝓪𝓻𝓪𝓽𝓮 𝓭𝓲𝓶𝓮𝓷𝓼𝓲𝓸𝓷 𝓴𝓷𝓸𝔀𝓷 𝓪𝓼 '𝓔𝓪𝓻𝓽𝓱.'

𝓘 𝓴𝓷𝓸𝔀 𝓘𝓽 𝓼𝓸𝓾𝓷𝓭𝓼 𝓬𝓻𝓪𝔃𝔂 𝓫𝓾𝓽 𝓲𝓽'𝓼 𝓽𝓻𝓾𝓮. 𝓘'𝓶 𝓻𝓮𝓬𝓸𝓻𝓭𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓶𝔂 𝓽𝓻𝓪𝓿𝓮𝓵𝓼 𝓪𝓬𝓻𝓸𝓼𝓼 𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓼 𝓷𝓮𝔀 𝓵𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓘'𝓿𝓮 𝓯𝓸𝓾𝓷𝓭 𝓶𝔂𝓼𝓮𝓵𝓯 𝓲𝓷 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓪𝓵𝓵 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓷𝓰𝓼 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓘 𝔀𝓲𝓵𝓵 𝓮𝔁𝓹𝓮𝓻𝓲𝓮𝓷𝓬𝓮. 𝓜𝔂 𝓶𝓲𝓼𝓼𝓲𝓸𝓷? 𝓽𝓸 𝓯𝓲𝓷𝓭 𝓪 𝔀𝓪𝔂 𝓫𝓪𝓬𝓴 𝓱𝓸𝓶𝓮. 𝓘'𝓿𝓮 𝓻𝓮𝓬𝓮𝓷𝓽𝓵𝔂 𝓽𝓮𝓪𝓶𝓮𝓭 𝓾𝓹 𝔀𝓲𝓽𝓱 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓙𝓪𝓭𝓮 𝔀𝓲𝓷𝓰𝓵𝓮𝓽 𝓯𝓻𝓸𝓶 𝓙𝓪𝓭𝓮 𝓶𝓸𝓾𝓷𝓽𝓪𝓲𝓷 𝓪𝓬𝓪𝓭𝓮𝓶𝔂 𝓽𝓸 𝓱𝓮𝓵𝓹 𝓶𝓮 𝓸𝓷 𝓶𝔂 𝓽𝓻𝓪𝓿𝓮𝓵𝓼, 𝓽𝓱𝓸𝓾𝓰𝓱 𝓽𝓱𝓮𝔂 𝓭𝓸𝓷'𝓽 𝓴𝓷𝓸𝔀 𝔀𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓶𝔂 𝓽𝓻𝓾𝓮 𝓰𝓸𝓪𝓵 𝓲𝓼 𝔂𝓮𝓽.

𝓘𝓷 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓬𝓾𝓻𝓻𝓮𝓷𝓽 𝓶𝓸𝓶𝓮𝓷𝓽 𝓘'𝓶 𝓸𝓷 𝓶𝔂 𝔀𝓪𝔂 𝓽𝓸 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓘𝓬𝓮 𝓴𝓲𝓷𝓰𝓭𝓸𝓶 𝔀𝓲𝓽𝓱 𝓶𝔂 𝓯𝓻𝓲𝓮𝓷𝓭𝓼 𝓦𝓲𝓷𝓽𝓮𝓻 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓢𝓽𝓪𝓻 𝓲𝓷 𝓼𝓮𝓪𝓻𝓬𝓱 𝓸𝓯 𝓼𝓸𝓶𝓮𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓴𝓷𝓸𝔀𝓷 𝓪𝓼 𝓪 '𝓼𝓬𝓻𝓸𝓵𝓵 𝓸𝓯 𝓬𝓱𝓪𝓸𝓼' 𝓲𝓷 𝓱𝓸𝓹𝓮𝓼 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓲𝓽 𝔀𝓲𝓵𝓵 𝓪𝓵𝓵𝓸𝔀 𝓾𝓼 𝓽𝓸 𝓼𝓸𝓵𝓿𝓮 𝓪 𝓭𝓲𝓼𝓪𝓼𝓽𝓻𝓸𝓾𝓼 𝓹𝓻𝓸𝓹𝓱𝓮𝓬𝔂 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓹𝓸𝓽𝓮𝓷𝓽𝓲𝓪𝓵𝓵𝔂 𝓫𝓮 𝓪 𝓬𝓵𝓾𝓮 𝓯𝓸𝓻 𝓶𝓮 𝓽𝓸 𝓰𝓮𝓽 𝓫𝓪𝓬𝓴 𝓽𝓸 𝓔𝓪𝓻𝓽𝓱. 𝓗𝓸𝓹𝓮𝓯𝓾𝓵𝓵𝔂 𝓘'𝓵𝓵 𝓫𝓮 𝓪𝓫𝓵𝓮 𝓽𝓸 𝓴𝓮𝓮𝓹 𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓼 𝓾𝓹𝓭𝓪𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓯𝓸𝓻 𝓪 𝔀𝓱𝓲𝓵𝓮 𝓪𝓯𝓽𝓮𝓻 𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓼 𝓯𝓸𝓻 𝓘 𝓭𝓸𝓷'𝓽 𝓴𝓷𝓸𝔀 𝔀𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓪𝔀𝓪𝓲𝓽𝓼 𝓶𝓮 𝓷𝓮𝔁𝓽. 𝓖𝓾𝓮𝓼𝓼 𝓘'𝓵𝓵 𝓳𝓾𝓼𝓽 𝓱𝓪𝓿𝓮 𝓽𝓸 𝓯𝓲𝓷𝓭 𝓸𝓾𝓽.

- 𝓔𝓷𝓭 𝓸𝓯 𝓔𝓷𝓽𝓻𝔂 1

Daniel blew on the paper to dry the ink before he eventually rolled it up and placed it inside of his bag along with the small bottle of black liquid.
He wiped the tip of his claw clean on the snow before he headed back to his friends.
Walking back, a cool breeze flew over sending some snow through the air. A clear view of the whole kingdom could be seen and this is when Daniel got an Idea.

Daniel opened his bag once again he took it out and looked down at the tracker. He drew an invisible line towards where it was pointing but his heart sank as it was clear as day where they needed to go.

"Oh no..."

"Winter is not going to like this... nor is Snowfall..."

Chapter Text

Turtle opened his weary eyes before yawning and getting up off the ground.

He had earlier woken Winter up to send him off with Daniel and Star to follow what they described as a 'Tracker' and that it could give them a lead on how to stop the troubling prophecy from happening.

When he awoke, he expected to find Qibli, Moon, and Kinkajou awake, but no. Instead, he found himself on cool stone floors.

'W-what? Where am I?' Turtle thought. As he looked around and gathered his bearings, he realised he was in his sleeping cave, back at school.

His face fell into deep confusion as he finally entered the familiar open corridors.
Analysing his surroundings a thought came to Turtle's mind.

'Wait what if the others are here too? If so.. Did someone kidnap us?'
Turtle walked down the open corridor, the holes in the walls acted like windows and let what appeared to be the late morning sun shine through.

Turning the corner into Moon's cave he found Peril and Winter setting up some of his enchanted fireproof playing cards.

"Oh hey, Turtle! How's it going?" Peril said happily.
She placed the cards face down and dealt some to Winter. Moon was also in the cave though she wasn't playing, she was in the back reading a scroll.

'How odd... Isn't this exactly what happened the day we met Hurricane?'
Suddenly however Turtle's heart rate skyrocketed when he remembered Moon could read minds.

His hand instinctively reached for the Skyfire rock on his bracelet which earned him an odd glance from Winter who was watching him.
"You alright? You look like you just saw a ghost," he said, tilting his head to the side.

Peril and Moon also glanced up as they heard this, they were about to say something but Turtle quickly shut it down.

"I'm fine, just uhh, felt a bug on my scales," Turtle lied, "I'm fine,"
He stared back at Moon who was looking intently at him.
'She must be trying to read my mind... Thank moons for Skyfire'

"Hey Moon, what are you reading about?" Turtle asked causally though there was a deeper meaning behind his words.
'If I remember correctly, Moon was reading a scroll about Ancient Dragon tribes that day. So If she's reading the same scroll then something's up'

He awaited a response quietly, Moon tried to break into his mind for a few more seconds before she gave up.

"Oh this? It's just a scroll on Dragons, nothing you'd probably be interested in," she responded before burning her head into the scroll again.

"Can I take a look at it?" Turtle asked, refusing to give up his theory.
Moon shot him an odd look.
"Really? Normally you're not interested in these sorts of scrolls"

Peril and Winter also shot him odd glances, "Are you sure you're feeling alright Turtle?" Peril asked.
Turtle sighed deeply, "Yes I'm sure, I'm just feeling like reading today for some reason," he shrugged to make his act look real though he was actually lying and only wanted to read to see if it was the same scroll.

The rest of the dragons in the cave exchanged wondering glances.
"Well, I don't see why not, here you go," Moon said as she handed the scroll to Turtle.

He opened it up and started reading.
Moon looked at his eyes as they darted from line to line.
Soon however he found the title he was looking for.

There it was, the title clear as day.
'Ancient Dragon tribes and figures from before the scorching'
Turtle half smiled as it proved he was right, this was just a repeat of the day they met Hurricane.

Although soon something caught his eye.
There was a list of extinct dragons which ruled over the land once upon a time, each of which had brief descriptions, but there was one which stood out.

'Ruin 'Red wing'
The image was of a Skywing, there wasn't much info on the ancient figure surprisingly but from what Turtle gathered it appeared this 'Ruin Red wing' was a sort of godly figure to Skywings.

'Or at least it used to be... Because he must have gotten lost in history after many years... Turtle realised. He kept reading.

There was a basic description of what he looked like however it was stated that it is unknown whether 'red wing' was a real dragon or not.
But just as he finished reading his heart rate increased.

Below the small description lay one line...
'Though it is unknown whether Red Wing really existed, it was rumoured that he was a dragon so fast one could say he had the potential to rule the skies above'

Turtle's mind spun as he realised that the prophecy might relate to this 'Ruin Red wing'
And as such he needed to get as much information on him right away.

He looked back to Moon who was waiting patiently for the scroll to be returned to her.
Knowing that he couldn't run off as it would be really out of the ordinary he l handed it back to her.

"Thanks," He said, shooting her a cheerful smile.
Turtle could see Moon was still puzzled but she smiled back nonetheless,
"Anytime,"

"Alright well, I'm going to head off now," Turtle announced to the rest of the dragons in the cave.

"Awwhh man, come on I was just about to deal out the cards so we could all play," Peril said.

"Sorry, maybe next time, I got something I need to check out."
He replied, the others shot him one last odd glance before he walked out of the cave, and down towards the main entrance to the school.

As he was walking he spotted a small dark Nightwing speaking to a much larger bright red Skywing which he immediately recognised.

'That's Hurricane... Though I thought he arrived a little later'
He stood there watching from afar for a little while before he remembered.
'Oh right, he did mention speaking with Fatespeaker before we met him'

As he continued to watch him he saw Tsunami enter the conversation and properly welcome Hurricane to the school.

It was around this moment that he and Moon met Hurricane for the first time.
'I mean I guess I could go and Introduce myself again...'
Turtle waited for another few minutes until Tsunami started to walk his way.

At this point, he would have been by the main entrance as he watched them walk away... But now he was on the other side of it.

Once Tsunami got close enough he stepped into view in front of them, trying to act like he wasn't just stalking them a few seconds ago.

Tsunami jumped back, slightly startled by Turtle's sudden appearance.
"Oh hey Tsunami, how's it going?" Turtle said casually.
He glanced over to Hurricane who was chilling by Tsunami's side though the look on his face said that he already knew who Turtle was.

"Ah, hey Turtle," Tsunami said, trying to keep her principal-like composure. "I was just on the way to your cave to introduce you to your new clawmate," She gestured to Hurricane next to her.

"Oh cool, should be nice to meet you," Turtle said enthusiastically and pretended to not already know who he was.

Hurricane nodded, "You too,"

Tsunami looked down at the two dragonets, "Well it appears you two are getting along great, I'll leave you two to talk, I got to break the news to the rest of your Winglet."
And with that she walked off, leaving Hurricane and Turtle to talk alone.

"Soooo..." Hurricane started but was cut off when Turtle interrupted.
"Look here Hurricane, don't play dumb I already know you know a lot about me."

Hurricane's eyes shot up quickly but soon his face fell to a sort of neutral.
"Alright then Turtle, how did you know? Did you use your powers to scan me or something?"

"Let's just say, we're closer than you think," Turtle said cryptically as he shot Hurricane a significant glance.

Hurricane looked back with puzzled eyes.
"What do you mean by... 'closer'?"
He tilted his head to the side and thought for a moment.

Turtle shrugged, "You'll just have to figure it out yourself..."
He started to walk off with a smirk on his face.
Nobody had been able to confuse Hurricane that much so it was sort of entertaining, to be honest.

"H-hey! Wait up!" he felt talon-steps behind him as Hurricane caught up.
"I'm serious... What do you mean we're closer than I think? Have we met before?"

Turtle sighed, "Follow me" He didn't wait for a response before he started walking down towards the main entrance and making a sharp left.
Continuing his walk he ignored all of Hurricane's protests and discussion attempts as he made his way through the small caves and cracks of the mountain to the underground lake.

"Woah... I never imagined it like this" Turtle heard Hurricane whisper to himself.
It was almost like he had heard of this place before.
'Huh... Odd.'

"Alright, now you can ask your question" Turtle said to Hurricane who snapped his head towards him.

"OK... Uh well, first things first how do you know I know a lot about you and this place?"

"I already told you, we're a lot closer than you think" Turtle responded.

Hurricane sighed, "Okay... Then please elaborate on what the you mean by that?"

"It means we're more than just strangers"

"Yeah I got that but the question is HOW?" he made a talon gesture and emphasized the word 'how'
"Have we met before?"

"I guess you could say that" Turtle shrugged, he walked away and dived into the lake.
He swam underneath the surface for a little while before re-emerging and floating calmly on top.

The roof of the lake was filled with gleaming stalactites and a large open hole allowed for the sun to shine through.

Turtle sighed happily as he felt the warm sunshine and cool water wrap around his scales, though a few moments later Hurricane interjected.

"Okay, enough cryptic prophecy shenanigans," Hurricane spat.
"What exactly do you know about me?"

Turtle looked in his direction to see his face, Hurricane glared at him, he was done playing around, he wanted answers.

"Turtle." He spoke in a soft yet dangerous voice. "Tell me the truth. What do you know about me?"

Turtles stayed silent as he nervously shrunk back into the water.
"Well I don't know that much about you personally, it's just that I know that you know a lot about us,"

Hurricane tilted his head slightly as he processed what Turtle said.
"Okay... Do the others know then?"

"Yes and no," Turtle responded, not sure how to properly answer that question.

Hurricane shot Turtle an 'are you kidding me' look.
"Wow, that clears things up for me! Thank you!" He said sarcastically.

"Look do you know about me... Not being a dragon?"

Turtle snapped his head towards him,
"what..?"
he turned to look at his friend to make sure he heard that correctly.
'What does he mean by 'not being a dragon?'

However, he wouldn't get the chance to ask him because Hurricane was gone. He was alone, in an empty underground lake and no explanation of how.
He was confused, he didn't know what just happened though he didn't ponder.

Soon a small crack in the wall appeared, and a soft cyan blue light shone through it.

'What is that? I don't remember this being in Jade Mountain'
Turtle got up out of the lake, Water pellets dripping off of his scales.
He walked towards the crack in the wall but stopped dead in his tracks.

'Should I really be doing this? What if this leads me somewhere I can't get out of?...' he stared nervously at the crack, uncertain about continuing.

Then he remembered and immediately felt like an idiot.
'Oh wait, I'm an Animus, I can just magic my way out' He gave himself a respective facepalm.

'Well... Here goes nothing
Slowly, he put one arm through the crack, then another.
It was a tight squeeze but eventually, his whole body fit through and then popped out the other side.

However, he couldn't believe his eyes at what he saw...

He was back home...

back in the Summer palace...

Turtle looked around at the place he'd known for so long.

However, that's when he noticed it.
A dark pitch black dragon with a wide white smile,
It stood about twenty or so meters away from him yet when it spoke it was like it was right behind him...

ฬєɭɭ, ฬєɭɭ, ฬєɭɭ..

ฬєɭς๏๓є ђ๏๓є...

ՇยгՇɭє...

The figure threw what Turtle saw to be a serrated-like blade at him.
His eyes shot up as he ducked underneath it to successfully keep his head attached to his body.

He looked back at the wall behind him.
A large shiny blade was lodged in the wall. on one side it was deeply serrated with arrow-like gaps able to catch on to things and with enough force, could break them in half.

The other side of the blade was smooth and sharp, honed to perfection, easily sharp enough to slice through scales with ease Turtle realised.

His heart rate increased dramatically as he finished studying the weapon.

'In the hands of a well-trained dragon... This could be deadly... Maybe I should keep hold of it.'

Turtle reached out to grab it l but once he placed his talon around the weapon he realised it was a mistake...

There was a sudden flash of bright light.
Turtle couldn't see anything, but all he felt was...

Agony...

Internal pain, he didn't know what but it felt like something was logged in his eyes and mouth, squirming its way through his body.

It was like his eyes had been taken out of his body and then placed back in their sockets whole his throat and burned.

Soon, cryptic voices began to whirl around in his brain as his mind succumbed to the unknown torture it was being put through.

The voices were loud in his mind, they appeared to be coming from everywhere and they all repeated the same phrase... Over and over...

丹しし

廾丹工し

卞廾ヨ

呂丹卞ヨ片ヨヨ尸ヨ尺...

Turtle couldn't take it anymore, he needed to get out.
With what remained of his sanity and clear thinking he thought.

'I enchant myself to escape whatever this is!'

The voices in his mind circled again but soon died down, the pain in his eyes and throat left and he was able to speak again.

The blinding light cleared and allowed him to see again he found himself on the pike of snow, surrounded by his other friends who were already awake.

He took quick and shallow breaths.
"What was that..."

"Turtle! You're awake!" Kinkajou bounded up to him happily.
"You've been asleep for AGES were you planning on just skipping today completely?"

Turtle was speechless, his mind still worrying That what he was seeing wasn't real either.
'Though that doesn't appear to be the case... This looks, normal'

He looked up at his girlfriend who looked down at him oddly,
"You alright?"

Turtle nodded,
He was about to get up when he felt a strange object underneath his talon.

His heart skipped a beat when he moved it, there it was... The same blade he had seen in his dream.

However, that wasn't what scared him the most as when he picked it up in the blade's shiny reflection... He saw it.

The dark black dragon... Was standing right behind him.
A claw was placed up against the tip of its snout, indicating to Turtle to be quiet...

White glowing eyes stared back at him through the blade.
Turtle watched as the dragon shot him a sinister smile and a small wink before disappearing from the reflection...

Chapter Text

"WHAT! NO! WE'RE NOT DOING THAT" Winter bellowed as Daniel tried to reason with him, although he wasn't complying much.
"IT WAS BAD ENOUGH EVEN GETTING YOU THIS FAR, AND NOW YOU WANT ME TO GO EVEN FURTHER?"

He screamed in Daniels face with a burning fury though Daniel didn't flinch.
"Look, I know we're asking for a lot here"

"RIGHT YOU ARE!" Winter butted in though Daniel continued.

"But if we don't do this Phyrria is going to burn, and at that point there will be no pint arguing cause well all be dead, so even if it is illegal I would just man up and do what needs to be done to stop the damn world from being destroyed"

Winter stared back in a sort of shock, how could someone not care about the laws of dragons, was he really this dim-witted?

No... He was just so focused on doing things for the greater good that he would blind himself on short term ideas to the point there was no talking him out of it.
Winter shot him a glare in a final attempt to make Daniel reconsider though it failed.

Daniel stared back, his mind was made up despite the idiocy of it. He was going in whether Winter liked it or not, and if he did it alone that was fine by him as well.

Winter sighed in defeat, "You know... I'm not sure how but your are really persuasive, like more then normal"

Daniel chuckled, "Persuasion my ass! Let's go, we got stuff to deal with"
And with that, he took off the ground with Winter and Star following close behind.

They traversed the edge of the Ice kingdom border, slowly but surely the temperatures dropped below negative degrees.

It got to the point where Daniel struggled to keep balance in the air due to his uncontrollable shivers.
Though he pushed through it as he reminded himself why he was here.
'Daniel get yourself together, who cares if it's freezing, you got fire to warm yourself up and it's better to catch a cold then to let Phyrria catch on fire.'

He forced his shivers under somewhat of control as he pushed forward, Star and Winter flying next to him now.
"Hey... Hurricane," Star spoke, noticing the shivers Daniel was trying to hide. "Are you sure you're alright? the temperatures are getting well below freezing by now"
Winter turned his head to Daniel with a slight anxious face though it was barely noticeable.

"I'm fine" Daniel tried to sound casual though when another cold breeze flew past it was hard not to shiver.
"No you're not" Star interjected with strict manner, "Look, I know you want to help but you might be pushing yourself too far, me and Winter could follow the relic and you can head back, nobody would blame you"

"Besides" Winter interjected, "You're not built for this, Star's part Icewing unlike you, you could potentially die here" He said though quickly added, "Of course it's not like I would care but a dead Skywing would definitely stir things up.

Star shot him a significant look, "What he's saying is that you're not built for this climate and we wouldn't forgive ourselves if you died because of it"
Daniel frowned at their words, he was conflicted.
'On one hand... or talon I guess, I would be able to go back to the others and potentially help out with the prophecy, plus I can't deny that my dragon body wouldn't be able to withstand this forever.
But on the hand of things I can't fully trust them to not get themselves killed, Winter could be hesitant to do things and I can't let Star go in alone if that happens. No... I need to be with them I can't let them do this alone'

"Look, guys I appreciate your concern for me but I'll be fine, I promise," Daniel said reassuringly which just earned him a few odd glances from his peers. "Plus there's no point going back since we're already here"

Winter shot him an odd look, "What do you mean? we couldn't of been that close"
Daniel gestured with his head, "look ahead"
Winter looked up and fell silent when he saw it, the huge icy structure glimmered in the sunlight as it reflected among the entire kingdom.

"It's time" Daniel said as he looked down to the relic, it was pointing straight for it.
"Well.. this is it, let's get this done. In and out. got it?"
He shot a glance to Winter and Star who both nodded nervously.

"Good"

As they flew in silence towards the massive structure Daniels heart picked up pace, he realised he was about to break an entry to probably one if not the most guarded places in Phyrria.

'The Icewing palace...'

It took a few minutes of Daniel freezing his scales off before they reached it. Of course they weren't at the main entrance since they would be easily spotted by Icewings so they needed to break into the place without being spotted.

"Well...This is it" Daniel sighed, a plume of breath vapor left his mouth due to the cold temperatures.

Star and Winter landed beside him quietly and the huge structure towered over them, casting them in its shadow.
Daniel looked over to Winter who seemed really on edge.

"Hey Winter," Daniel said softly.

"Hm?" Winter said, quickly trying to hide his nervousness, "Yeah what's up?"

"Look.. you're going to be fine, okay." Daniel said and a strong yet reassuring tone.
Winter simply looked down.
"I am fine... just a little nervous of being found out"

There were a few moments of silence but just as Daniel was about to say something Star was the one who beat him to it.
"Winter nobody is going to find out... okay" She placed a talon on his shoulder affectionately before pulling him into a hug. "We'll be fine"

Daniel watched this and got a small pain in his chest...
'What? why is my chest hurting? am... am I jealous?... jealous of Star hugging Winter?... No, I'm not... I'm just... slightly upset she's not hugging me... yeah, that. Not jealous, not at all'

Daniel watched as Winter made a sort of awkward face towards him to which he responded with a shrug, though on the inside he was still slightly upset.

Star let him go, "Don't worry so much, now c'mon! we got a scroll to find!"
she leapt up into the air as Daniel and Winter exchanged glances.

"Well she seems keen" Daniel joked to which Winter replied, "sure, whatever you say"
Soon the two boys flew up behind her as they searched for a potential entrance to the palace.

"Hey Winter! You got anyway to break into this place?"
Star shouted a little too loudly.

Winter immediately responded as he caught up to her. "Shhh! You're going to get us caught! And yes, I know a way in... Follow me"

The trio of dragons flew up besides the gleaming walls of the frozen castle. Making their way to a nearby balcony they landed as quietly as they could to not draw attention to anyone who may be inside.

There was a sort of semi-transparent door which allowed them to see into the castle.
On the other sides was what appeared to be a large dining room with an extended table for feasting.

"Okay... Now let's get what we need and get out" Winter whispered to Star and Daniel who nodded in response.
As Daniel tried the door he realised it was locked.

"Oh for the love of three Moons..." He whispered under his breath as he spotted frozen lock on the front of the balcony door.
Daniel stood there, thinking of his next move but he didn't have to think much.

Soon Star butted him out of the way as she took out her claws and picked the lock on the door in a matter of seconds.

Daniel and Winter looked at her with slight shock.
"What?" She responded calmly as she pushed the door open.

Daniel shook his head as he took the lead and was the first to officially break an entry into the castle.
'Well... I guess I'm officially a criminal...', One part of his brain thought but he managed to calm himself down.
'Calm down Daniel, it only counts if you get caught, so make sure you don't'

The room was large and cold.
Portraits of what Daniel assumed were the past Icewing queens littered the walls around the hall.

Clear ice chandeliers hung from the roof, sending waves of colorful beams into the room as the sun's light reflected through the small prisms.

The table itself was nothing special apart form it's large size, made of a sort dark colored wood, one that would be found in a southern rainforest.
'But not this far up north... So I'm not surprised that something like this would be here..'

Overall the room itself was probably one of the most beautiful places Daniel had ever seen, despite it's cold temperature he felt warm inside for some odd reason.

'I Wonder what the rest of the place looks like...' Daniel thought. Although he knew he couldn't roam around like a guest.

He looked down at the tracker in his palm, it pointed towards another large double door, this one appeared to be made of the same wood material as the table.

"This way" Daniel beckoned his fellow peers to follow him as he made his way to the large door as he pushed one of the sides open.

Winter and Star joined him, none of them saying a word.
Which is why they all jumped when a voice was heard behind them.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN I CAN'T DO THAT!? I'M THE QUEEN FOR MOONS SAKE!"

Without thinking twice, Daniel, Winter, and Star all fled through the door and shut it quickly yet quietly.

Their ears pressed against the wooden door as they eavesdropped on the dragons who just entered.

"AS THE QUEEN I SHOULD BE ABLE TO DO WHAT I LIKE! ISN'T THAT WHAT BEING QUEEN IS FOR?"
Shouted a young but very angry voice.

"Well.. Yes that's true but as your friend-"

"Acquaintance" The queens voice corrected. "You're my acquaintance, not my friend"

"Right... Sorry Snowfall" The second voice said.

"it's 'Your majesty', moons do I really have to correct you all the time Lynx?" Snowfall said annoyingly.
"Look I may only be filling in for Queen Glacier while she's fallen sick but as your temporary Queen you should still treat me with respect"

"Sure thing whatever you say... 'Your majesty'" Lynx retorted which earned her a growl from Snowfall.
"Alright.. I'm sorry, but on a more serious note... What happened with Queen Glacier?"

Daniel heard Snowfall sigh deeply as he looked to Winter and Star who shared the same puzzled yet curious expression.
He turned his attention back to the conversation.

"I'm not sure to tell you the truth Lynx" She sounded genuinely upset.
'Well of course she's going to be upset,', Daniel thought 'it's her mother after all'

"Mother fell sick about a week ago and was moved from her room to the healing centre where she could recover.
She didn't say much about what happened as she didn't really know herself... But she did say one thing"

There was a few moments of silence.
"Well? What did she say?" Lynx asked.

"She had a vision. Or at least that's what she called it"

"What? That's not possible Snowfall, only Nightwings were said to posses those sorts of powers, If they even had them at all"
Lynx pointed out.

"Yeah I know... But what she said she saw was well... Interesting to say the least"

"Really? What did she see?"

"A Skywing" Snowfall said and Daniel felt his eyes widen.

"A Skywing?" Lynx repeated. "Are you sure?"

"Positive, however one thing did stand out, she said she heard a voice, a male one... It spoke to her a single phrase"

"Which was?" Lynx said with eagerness which Daniel couldn't deny he also shared at this point.

Snowfall gave another sigh before she whispered in a hushed voice but just loud enough for Daniel to hear through the thick wooden door.

"The Heathens are good..."

Daniel was confused at her words but he didn't have time to let it sink into his mind as soon Star called to him from the other side of the room.

"Psst! Hurricane! Get over here we found something" Star yelled in a hushed voice.

He looked over to them to finally see the room they were in.
It was a bedroom with a large Queen sized bed.
They were in Queen Glaciers bedroom.

Daniel didn't want to leave however, he was interested in the story Snowfall was telling though he forced himself apart from the door and walked over to where Star and Winter were standing.
"What did you find?"

"Look" Winter said as he pointed to the tracker.
The north arrow hand was going out of control no matter where they walked.

"What's wrong with it? Is it broken?" Daniel said, slightly scared they had just lost their only lead.

Star shook her head, "No... It means we're above or below whatever it's pointing to"

"Oh... Okay so what do we do?" Daniel asked, his heart calming down a little.

"Well we did find this" Winter interjected. He moved the foot of the bed and pressed a space in front of it.

The bed moved aside soundlessly, it was amazing really, how something so heavy could move so silently.
Once the bed fully shifted it revealed a dark hole in the rooms floor.

"Oh.. Well that seems like something" Daniel said.

"If I'm being honest I have no idea what it is or where it goes but it's better then nothing" Winter said.

Daniel looked at him before he took initiative and took the first drop into the tight cavern.

It wasn't that deep to be honest however it was definitely very dark, pitch black almost.
Daniel was well into the dark when he heard Winter and Star drop in behind him.

"Owch! Watch it!" Winter hissed.

"Sorry" Star said "Can't see much down here, Can you light us a way Hurricane?"

"Yeah sure" Daniel spoke as he let out a small but bright plume of hot fire.
The fire illuminated the inside of the icy cave as it reflected off almost all the surfaces.

The cave continued downwards with carved steps leading the way.
In that small time frame Daniel spotted a wooden unlit torch which could come in handy.
The fire faded away and the dragons returned to darkness once again.

Daniel reached out to feel the torch before lighting it and giving him and his friends a decent light source.

"Alrighty" Daniel said, "Here we go..."
He took a step forward down the ominous carved staircase and was relived when he heard Winter and Star doing the same.

"So what do you think this place is?" Star spoke to break the creepy silence.

"Honestly I'm not sure, I've lived in the castle most of my life yet I've never seen or heard for that matter, of a place like this" Winter said wonderingly.

"Hmm, interesting. Hurricane what do you think?"

Daniel ignored her for a moment as he swiped away some cobwebs that were in his way before responding.
"Well I'm not sure, but since the entrance to it was in a bedroom it's probably some underground secret vault or something of the sort"

Daniel answered Star's question but he lied because he knew exactly where they were going.
And his prediction was confirmed after the next step as they entered a small but neat room filled with artefacts.

Each artefact had a note next to it.

'Well... I guess I was right then... We're in the Forbidden treasury...'

As soon as Winter laid eyes on the room he also knew exactly where they were.
He gasped.

"What? What's the issue? Where are we?" Star asked, slightly worried at Winters sudden change of expression.

"I didn't even think this place existed..." Winter said as he pushed past Daniel and into the room.

He looked at each artefact with admiration.
"This Place... This Place is the forbidden treasury... The place where all the Animus touched objects were stored for the queens and princesses to use..."

Star was the one with wide eyes this time.
"Wait so you're telling me..." she started.

Winter nodded, "Every object in this room is enchanted"

Daniel looked around at the objects, there were three that he immediately recognised:
The gift of stealth and strength, the gift of vision wasn't there since it only appeared to people who needed it.
However, there were two other labels which caught his eye.

The gift of compromise: A sort of sceptre like object.
And the gift of understanding: which appeared to be gone from it's position.

Interesting, I didn't know there were more then just the three gifts, however... The gift of compromise looks like it could come in handy.

Daniel reached out for the sceptre, it was a sky/ice blue with decorated pink and blue jewels towards the top lined in a bright layer of gold.
'Damn.. Back on earth this thing would be worth millions if not more..'

He held the sceptre in his talon, he wanted to take it with them but there was no way it was fitting in the bag.
Suddenly however the sceptre retracted into a small version of itself, It was so small and compact Daniel could completely hide it in his talon.

'Well that's convenient, I guess whoever enchanted this thought of the issue of transportation as well.'

Carefully he placed the sceptre into the bag but not before Winter spotted him doing so.
"Hey! What are you doing!? We're not here to steal the enchanted items if you forgot!" Winter shouted quietly.

He couldn't make much noise as he would likely get someone's attention from the palace.

"Okay, yes I know but seriously, this thing could be useful for us" He took out the sceptre as it returned to it's normal size again.
'I guess it just expands automatically when I need it to, neat'

"The gift of compromise, I'm guessing it works with the persuasion of others to reach an agreement" Daniel said but Winter only shot him a glare.

"Put. it. back." he snarled.

"No, this thing could be really useful and I highly doubt that the Icewings will be using it since we have no conflict in Phyrria anymore."

"How do you know they don't need it? For all you know they could use it to work out something with the queen's of other tribes" Winter pointed out.

"If they did then it wouldn't be down here catching dust now would it?" Daniel shot back.
"Face it, it's going to get more use with us then with them, and although it is wrong it'll be better in the long run"
He tapped winter lightly on the shoulder with it and his expression immediately changed.

"You know what, you're right. Take it, we could use it."
Winter said before he added, "And just for good measure... " he tossed Daniel a blue tiara.
"Take that as well, now let's get back on track to what we need to do"

He snatched the tracker from Stars claws and continued forward in the direction of where It was pointing.
Daniel however was just in complete shock.

He looked to Star who was also in the same boat as he was.
"I guess the 'Gift of Compromise' really does work"
Daniel looked down at the sceptre.
It glimmered in the cracking firelight back at him.
'So I guess it was you... Thanks' Daniel thought to the sceptre in his claws, it sparkled happily, in a way to say 'thanks for using me again'
It retracted and Daniel placed it back in the bag with the Tiara and Balisong.
"Okay, let's go and catch up to Winter"

Star nodded and they both ran after their Icewing friend.
Winter was seen in the distance as he seemed to phase into a wall and disappear.

Daniel and Star both slowed down.
"Woah! What did I just witness" Star yelled a little too loudly.

"I have no idea," Daniel said just as confused but soon Winter appeared out of the wall again, clutching what looked like a green and black Scroll covering.

"WHAT IN TH-" Daniel screamed as he fell backwards while Winter walked out of the wall causally.

"Oh hey guys, I got the scroll" he waved the casing around cheerfully.

"WHAT WAS THAT?!" He yelled from under him.
'And just when I thought things couldn't get any weirder Winter phases through the wall like some stupid harry potter voodoo."

Daniel stood up again.
"I'm not even going to ask... You got the scroll, good, let's get out of here"

"Wait shouldn't we see what the scroll says first?" Star interjected.

Daniel was about to bag it, he had enough magic for one day but he knew Star was right. They can't go through all they did and then just not see what it said.

"Fine, Winter unroll the scroll" Daniel said.

"Way ahead of you" Winter responded as he already had the scroll on the ground.
He had a puzzled expression on his face however.

Daniel lowered the torch so he could read it as well but soon his face also fell into confusion.

"What is it? What does it say?" Star asked.

"It's just a repeat of the prophecy we already know-"

"No there's more at the end" Winter cut him off.
Daniel scanned the scroll down to the end, winter was right, there were two lines at the end.

Beware of some who are not in control,

As a corruption has come to take it's toll

There was also a small diamond shaped blue shard rolled up in the scroll.
Daniel grabbed it carefully, however it suddenly flew out of his claws and jammed itself into the tracker.

The shard started to glow, the tracker started to spin again until it stopped on an empty gap.
The gap started to glow a luminescent green.

Everyone sat in silence unsure on what they had just witnessed.
Although Daniel was the first to spot something at the very end of the scroll.

"Guys look" Daniel said as he pointed a claw to the scroll again.
At the very bottom of the scroll was one small line

Days remaining: Seven.

"What do you think that means?" Winter asked.

"I'm not sure, I guess we'll just have to wait and see what happens when the timer runs out." Daniel said.

"But what if it's a bad thing, what if that's when Phyrria is set to burn?"
Star interjected.
Daniel hadn't thought of that and if Star was right by any chance then they may have a massive issue on their hands.

"Okay so what do we do about this then?" Winter said as he gestured to the tracker, it was still spinning uncontrollably.

"Well this started when the shard entered the tracker... And look there's three more gaps which can fit similar shards" Daniel pointed out.

"That means we need to find them" Winter said. "But the question is how, if the tracker is well... Like that"

"Hmmm, well it's got to stop eventually... OH! Maybe seven days from now it'll reset or something!" Daniel said happily.

"Well if that is the case then there's nothing we can do at the moment, let's get out of here." Winter said.

Daniel and Star nodded before they continued down the passage which lead into another cave Daniel didn't see.

However as they left the treasury, taking two of the enchanted objects with them, Daniel couldn't help but have a terrible feeling.

'We're not even close to completing this prophecy... And it looks like there's more of it... Which means... we're going to have a massive scavenger hunt... and we once again might be in deeper than we realise...
The words of the scroll echoed in his mind...

'Beware of some who are not in control...,

As a corruption has come to take its toll...'

Chapter Text

The trio of dragons ran through the narrow tunnel of the staircase and back up to the Queen's bedroom.
Upon climbing out of the hole Daniel extinguished the torch and placed it back in its found place on the wall.

Once they were all out Winter pressed something towards the base of the bed and before Daniel knew it the bed was already back in its original position.
Like nothing ever happened.

"Alright, how do we get out of here" Star asked.

"We could try the same way we came in" Daniel offered but Winter shook his head as he looked outside at the late afternoon sun.

"No, at this time of day, it would most likely be guarded, I've memorised the watch party patterns, we need another way out"

Just then a loud Woosh was heard by the side of the window.
"Get down!" Winter cried.

They all immediately fell to the bedroom floor just beneath the window as the shadows of larger dragons sneaked into the room.

"See I told you, there's nothing in the bedroom, now let's go we need to meet with the Queen," Said one of the voices. It was a deep male one and he had a rough sort of growl to the way he spoke.
"You know she's not like Glacier, she'll punish us for being late"

The other voice gave out a sort of disappointed sigh.
"Very well, I just thought I saw some movement inside, either way, let's go, her majesty called all the guards Inside the castle for some reason"

Daniel, Star, and Winter stayed silent. Not daring to move a muscle in case by any chance they were spotted... Then all would truly go to hell.

As soon as Daniel heard the beating wings of the dragons move away from the window, he made a daring move.

Peaking his head over the base of the window he saw where the two Icewings were gliding off to.
The sun was still high up in the sky but would soon begin its descent in probably less than a few hours' time.

As Daniel squinted his eyes to ignore the sun's bright glare he spotted the Great Ice Cliff in the distance.
He ducked back down behind the cover of the icy window.

"Alright, well if the Queen is at the Great Ice Cliff at the moment and she called almost all the guards then strictly speaking we should be able to walk through the palace with ease" Daniel said.

"Ehhh, I'm not so sure about that" Star interjected.
"Wouldn't there still be workers and other royal family members present"

"Well, either way," Daniel got up off the floor and wandered over to the dark wood door.
"We need to get out of here and the more we wait around the sooner everyone is going to come back so I prefer to not waste any more time discussing this thank you"

The others couldn't argue against his points, so they all rushed out of the door not bothering to make sure the coast was clear.

Luckily there was nobody around except for them and the beady eyes of the Icewing portraits.
"Okay Winter, you know the layout of this place see if you can get us out of here" Daniel whispered.

Winter looked at him but didn't say anything, he took the lead and Daniel let him as he guided him and Star through the palace.

He took turn after turn down the surprisingly warm frozen corridors.
He continued further until he suddenly stopped.

"Yo, is something wrong?" Daniel asked.
Winter turned to meet him.
"Someone's around the corner" he concluded.

"Who? An Icewing?" Star asked to which Daniel and Winter both looked at her.

"Well, of course, it's an Icewing! We're in the 'Ice' kingdom" Winter said to which Star replied
"You don't know that, for all we know some random Sandwing could be there."

"Why would a Sandwing be in the palace, let alone the Kingdom," Daniel said before
The trio peeked the corner.
Daniels and Winters faces fell to shock and disbelief while Star only beamed.

There, in the centre of the ice-blue corridor, lay the unmistakable scales of a pale yellow Sandwing.

"I think you guys owe me an apology" Star smirked.
"Oh shush you" Daniel said. "less than one percent chance"

Star laughed quietly though she then said on a more serious note.
"Okay but what in the moons is a Sandwing doing in the palace.."

"I have no idea but they definitely shouldn't be here" Winter growled.

"Uhm, sorry to burst your bubble but it's not like we're supposed to be here either" Daniel pointed out.
"I say we just forget about the random Sandwing and focus on getting out of this place"

Winter however was too busy studying the Sandwing to answer him.

Daniel turned his attention back to the dragon who appeared to be in deep thought, not paying attention to their surroundings.
Daniel had to admit they did look a little familiar...
Then he saw it.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me..."

He hadn't noticed it but along one of the Dragon's necks was a dark dragon skull tattoo...

"Guys we need to go!" Daniel said, fear making its way into his voice.

"what why? Who is that?" Star asked and Winter turned to listen for once.

"That Tattoo... It's one of Vulture's minions..." Daniel spoke with a shudder.

"You mean the ones who are after the map?!" Winter asked with panic. Daniel nodded.
"They must have followed us... And no doubt are looking for us as we speak"

"So what are we standing around for?! Let's go!" Star shouted quietly.

"But where?! That's the only way out without going through the supposedly guarded balcony we came in from" Daniel shouted as he started to panic though he was interrupted by Winter

"No... There's another way"
He ran back behind the wall and into another door, opposite to the Queen's bedroom.
Daniel and Star followed him without question considering he was the only own who knew the layout of this place.

As they entered the room it only took a matter of moments for Daniel to notice they were in the castle kitchen.
Winter sped past the bundles of neatly organised plates and cutlery as he headed for the corner of the room.

A delicious smell soon filled Daniel's nostrils as he walked through the kitchen himself.
'Mmmm, that smells really good. Must be the Queen's dinner for tonight'

Despite how tempting the smell was and how badly he wanted to follow it to the source Daniel continued to follow Winter until they reached the corner of the room..

"Alright, well... I have good news and bad news" Winter said...

"What do you mean Good news and bad news?! We don't have time for this!" Daniel remarked.
"You said there was another way out from here, where is it?"

Winter made a face before he lifted a clear icy trapdoor-like lid from the wall.
Immediately came a terrible stench which made Daniel sick.

"Oh wow that is strong...!" he gaged a little "What is that?" Daniel asked as he covered his nose with a talon.

"It's the kitchen trash chute. It leads out to the bottom of the castle where the rubbish is collected and disposed of by lower-ranked dragons."

Daniel looked down Into the chute, it reeked of rotten meat and bones. Old crusty bloodstains could be seen on the icy walls of the chute.
It was also extremely dark and he couldn't see the bottom of it.

"Ha.. Ha.. Please tell me you're joking..." Daniel said as Winter looked him in the eyes.

"Does it look like I'm joking?" Winter said as he held the lid open.
"You said you wanted a way out, I gave you one"

Daniel turned to Star who had the same face of uncertainty and disgust.
"Well... If it's really our only way out-"

"No. How about we just go back and fight Vulture's goon, it's a three-on-one, we can't lose" Daniel offered.

"Oh yeah three dragonets versus a grown Sandwing assassin, what an amazing idea. Honestly, do you think things through, at all?" Winter remarked.
"If we fight them we'll most likely lose first off, and if by some miracle we do end up winning, two of us would probably be dead and the last one severely injured which would make getting out of here impossible."

Winter sighed as he put a talon to his forehead.
"In simpler words, if we fight them, none of us will get out of here alive so I'd take my chances with the trash chute If I was you"

"But what if we die from falling, it's not like there's enough room in there to fly" Star interjected.

"Yeah, that's true! If we take this we might just die from falling, it's not like we can see the bottom.."

Winter stayed silent for a moment before he answered.
"Use your claws, if you dig them into the Ice there's no way you'll fall"

"But my claws aren't sharp enough for that... I'll just end up scratching the ice before falling to my death" Daniel pointed out but Winter had enough.

"LOOK DO YOU WANT TO GET OUT OR NOT, IF SO THEN JUST JUMP ALREADY!" Winter bellowed and immediately covered his mouth.

"Nice one, now we're really screwed," Star said.
Talonsteps could be heard approaching the door and this is when Winter bailed.

"I'm out, Hurricane you either get your head together or die, your choice" and with that he leapt into the chute without another word.
Star closely followed him and whispered an
"I'm sorry" before also leaping into the gap.

Now Daniel was all alone in the kitchen.
'Well great..., this ain't good at all...'

Daniel paced the room silently as the noise of the approaching dragon grew closer..
The smell was stronger than ever and it nearly made Daniel want to take his chances with the assassin but he managed.

He shifted uncomfortably before he muttered to himself.

"screw it..."

With some quick thinking, he took out the gatekeeper's gold and blue coloured balisong from his bag before he leapt into the trash chute.
Digging the blade into the ice it made an ear-bleeding SCREEECH sound but it did its job in managing to keep him from freefalling into the rotting dark abyss to his potential death.

As Daniel glided down into the darkness he shot a soft plume of fire next to him.
The fire lit up the small claustrophobic area and he was able to look down to see the yellow and blue figures of Star and Winter.

The fire only gave light for a little while and Daniel was shoved into the darkness again though it didn't matter as soon light came from the bottom of the chute.

Unexpectedly the cute tilted to the side.
The wall Daniel was digging the blade into tilted upwards which caused it to slip out and make him fall backwards on the sliding chute.

Eventually, he slid out of the chute and into a small but disgusting pile of old bones.
Winter and Star both looked at him as they stood next to the pile.

"Well, that was... Extremely uncomfortable" Star said.

"You mean absolutely disgusting" Daniel retorted as he got out of the pile.
A few of the red blood-stained bones stuck to his scales and he had to take them off manually.

"We'll I'll admit it wasn't ideal but at least we're out of the palace" Winter said optimistically for once.

"Yeah, and smelling like we haven't washed ourselves in ten years" Daniel inputted as he waddled over uncomfortably to a nearby body of water.

The water was well below freezing and Daniel probably wouldn't be able to feel his limbs or any of his body afterwards but if it would get rid of the awful smell the rotten bones were giving off he was all for it.

Daniel put away the balisong, took off his bag, and leapt into the water.
A freezing sensation soon covered his scales as the below-zero waters consumed his entire dragon body.

A slight headache began to form from this and despite how much he wanted the leave, he didn't.
He swam around for a little while observing his surroundings.

To his surprise it appeared dragons were able to withstand the salt of ocean water in their eyes but either way, he needed some air.

Daniel swam up to the surface quietly however he still held his breath even after surfacing when he looked towards his friends.

Winter and Star were both staring and appeared to be talking to a much larger Icewing.
They had been caught.
He couldn't make out exactly what they were saying but he assumed it wasn't good.

Slowly, ignoring the freezing pain his body was in Daniel got out of the water and onto dry land again.
He had to really concentrate on not falling as that would immediately give away his position to the larger Icewing.

The ice was also much harder to fully walk on since his talons were wet making it more slippery than it already was.

Step by step Daniel made his way to where his dropped bag was.
'Alright... Just take your time Daniel. Whatever you do, don't slip...'

Eventually, he managed to reach the bag and without thinking he took out the first thing he saw, the balisong.

He flipped it open and began to approach the Icewing quietly.
He looked up towards the others, Winter was still distracting the older Icewing when he noticed Daniel approaching.

Winter's eyes went wide as he saw what Daniel was up to.
He tried to shake his head to tell Daniel to not go through with it but it was too late.

The Icewing whipped around and their eyes went wide as Daniel quickly lunged forward and tackled the Icewing to the ground.

In a matter of moments, Daniel clamped the Icewings snout shut and pressed the blade against its throat.
Not enough to cut the scales of the dragon but hard enough so they knew not to try something.

"Hurricane! What are you doing!?" Winter bellowed.

Daniel looked up at him and Star.
"I'm keeping him from telling everyone about us what does it look like?"

"Get off of him!" Winter yelled dangerously.

Now Daniel was confused and shot Winter a puzzled look but he did as he said.
Slowly he took the knife off of the Icewing's throat.

The Icewing's eyes were of pure terror and trauma.
As Daniel unclamped the dragon's snout slowly he prepared to dodge in case they decided to blast frostbreath on him but they never did.

Instead, they stood up, chest rising up and down rapidly as they looked into Daniel's deadly blue eyes.
They retreated to Winter's side as they eyed him with pure terror.

"Hurricane" Winter said.
Daniel turned to meet him as the older Icewing stood beside him.

"Meet my brother, Hailstorm"

Chapter Text

"Okay so let me get this straight real quick" Daniel said.
"This guy is your brother. And not some palace guard that will will turn us into the Queen"
Winter nodded, "Yes that's correct, Right Hailstorm?"
He looked to his brother who was eyeing Daniel intently.

"Are you sure we can trust him Winter? I mean... He's a Skywing after all"
Hailstorm said acting like Daniel couldn't hear him though he was only a few steps away.

"Look Hailstorm, I'm sorry for jumping you. I just thought you were attacking or going to turn us in so I tackled you."
Daniel said apologetically.
"If I had known who you were I wouldn't of"

Hailstorm wasn't buying it.
"Words can be deceiving, you would know best considering who your queen was"

"I have no queen" Daniel interjected and this caught Winter and Hailstorm attention.
"I live by my own rules"

He shot them a smile but the only thing they returned was shock.
"What do you mean you don't have a queen? Doesn't every tribe have one?" Hailstorm asked.

"Yeah, what about Queen Ruby? The current queen of the Skywings" Winter continued.

"HA!" Daniel laughed, "I don't care! I don't see myself as part of her tribe so she can do what she likes."

"What if she commanded you to do something? Even if you're not part of her tribe in your eyes you would surely do what she said.. Right?" Winter asked.

"If it's within reason, sure." Daniel responded.

"What's considered 'Within reason?" Hailstorm said.

"Like a small favour, jeez can you guys not understand what I'm saying or do I have to put it bluntly for you to understand?"

The others looked a him questionably.
Daniel placed a talon to his face.
"If she give me a command that requires more then a small movement or a verbal answer I'd tell her to shove it. Does that clear it up for you?"

Winters and Hailstorms eyes went wide and Daniel guessed they couldn't imagine talking back to their queen like that.
'But she's not my queen... None of them are... So I'm not obliged to follow anything they say, I'll do it on my own terms'

"But she's your queen?!" Winter said to which Daniel responded once again.
"Not my queen, I don't have one"

"What about other queens? How would you treat them?" Hailstorm asked, Daniel noticed the look on his face when he asked him.
'He must be thinking on what I'd be like towards their own queen..'

Daniel stayed silent before he answered.
"I'd treat them like anyone else, I'll say hello, goodbye, and so on but don't expect me to bow and do all that respective rubbish"

Winter and Hailstorm looked shocked beyond belief and that's when Star walked next to them.
Now she was also intrigued, "But you must have some sort of leader or someone you look up to, right?"

Daniels face fell, "I did... Once upon a time I did... but they're dead now... So I'm on my own, I make my own rules"
The memory of his parents flashed through his mind.
He sighed, "Forget it, they're not important anymore, let's just get a move on already"

"Winter, are you sure your brother won't turn us in? Because it's pretty clear he's not fond of me"
Daniel looked at Hailstorm who was still just standing there... menacingly...

"Why are you even here Hailstorm? I thought only lower ranked individuals were supposed to work these jobs?" Daniel suddenly asked.

"You know about the circles?" Hailstorm replied, slightly surprised.
"He knows a lot, like A LOT" Winter answered for him to which Daniel nodded.

"Yeah, what he said" Daniel replied "But continuing my question, why are you working here? Shouldn't someone else be doing this?"

Now Winter looked to his brother with curious eyes.
"Yeah why are you here? Aren't you in the first circle?"

Hailstorm looked down at his Brother with a sort of sad eyes.
"Well yes but technically no. I'm still in the first circle officially but after the queen learned about what we did in the trials she put me in 7th circle duty for a month to make up for it"
Hailstorm stated.
"Though it'll probably only last a few weeks since the queen is making plans for our family to visit you in school since you're still alive"

"WHAT?!" Winter shouted as he looked to his brother with scared eyes.
"Tell me your joking! Please!"

Though Hailstorm only shook his head,
"I'm sorry Winter but I think it's going to be confirmed..."
And with this Winter broke down completely, failing to hide his emotions.

"No.... No.. NO NO! WHY, WHY!..." He broke down right there on the cold ice.
"Why... Why can't they just leave me alone...? They've already messed up my life, do the get pleasure out from it?"

Tears fell down the side of his cheeks and Daniel couldn't help but feel sorry for him.
'Jesus... His parents must be so much worse then I imagined... No wonder he's always so cold.

"Hey Winter, it'll be alright, okay" Daniel said in an attempt to comfort him.
He lightly wrapped a wing around his back.
It wasn't in a romantic way, more of a way to simply say, 'I'm here for you'

Winter looked up to meet Daniel's eyes,
"It's going to be alright, I'm by your side, always. That's what friends are for"
After hearing this Winter wiped a tear from his cheek before genuinely smiling.
Not a quick smirk like the ones he'd shot Daniel on the way there but an actual genuinely happy smile.

"Thanks Hurricane" He said finally before he got up on all fours again.

"No problem, now I say it's about time we got out of this Icy place" Daniel joked.
Winter nodded,
"Yeah, let's go"
He turned to his brother, "Well, I guess I'll see you later"

Hailstorm laughed.
"Hey, don't worry about it. From the looks of it you got yourself a loyal friend"
He turned to Daniel and gave him a sort of bow.

"Woah, what's with all sudden respect?" Daniel asked jokingly.
"Is this like a sort of tradition I don't know?"
He quickly returned the bow back to Hailstorm as he awaited his response.

"Oh it's just a way that we royals greet one another" Winter explained.
Though this just made Daniel more puzzled.
"Oh... I see, but I'm not royalty, why bow to me?"

"Well it's... Complicated. But it just means I have respect for you" Hailstorm said.
"Mainly because you managed to make my brother smile for once, and that's something not even I can do sometimes"
Winter whacked him with his wing.
"Oh shut up"

Daniel laughed.
"You two have an incredible bond you know that." he smiled.
"anyways, time to go, we should get back to the others"

Soon Daniel started to walk away as he made his way back to where they came from.
He assumed that they would simply be able to walk around the great Ice cliff again like they did before.
However he was stopped dead in his tracks when Hailstorm called out to him.

"Hey, you can't go that way!"

Daniel looked back, confused.
"What? Why not?"

"There's guards posted around the perimeter at this time of day, if you want to get out of here without being spotted you'll have to sneak around inside of the kingdom"
Hailstorm explained.

Daniel fell silent.
"You got to be kidding me... How are we supposed to make it through the kingdom without getting caught?!"

A tense worryful silence fell over the group of dragons.
"Well I mean, we would need someone who knew the Ice kingdom like the back of their talon in order to get out.
Star pointed out.

"And also someone who's welcome in the Kingdom" Winter added.
There were a few moment of silence

Immediately everyone turned to Hailstorm.
He looked at each of them before sighing intently.
"There's no talking you out is there?"

"Brother..." Winter said slowly.
"Please... We need you"

Hailstorm sighed once more as he looked his brother deep in the eyes.
Winter stared back intently.
"Fine" Hailstorm said after a tense staring contest.
"Follow me, we don't have much time"

Swiftly, he took off over the mounds of snow and Daniel was quick to follow.
Winter and Star picked up too and in a matter of moments they were all off running through the snow as the sun began to set above.

Hailstorm ran for what felt like hours on end.
Clearly he was much more in shape then Daniel and the others but they kept up, they had to considering he was their only way out.

'Damn... He's fast' Daniel thought as he looked up to Hailstorm ahead over him. 'I guess years of training from his parents paid off'

However, this thought soon passed and he shut his mind off for the time being, his sole focus on getting out of this place alive.

They ran for a little longer before Hailstorm stopped.
Daniel stopped as well... Or at least tried to.
His claws couldn't dig into the ice well and he ended up skidding along the ground into a surprisingly soft yet very cold mound of cloudy white snow.

"Alright, this is as far as I can take you" Hailstorm spoke.

"What why?!" Daniel cried as he freed his head from the snowy pile.

"I can not leave until my duties have been competed, but if you take that route you'll end up at the base of the great Ice cliff."
Hailstorm explained.

He pointed a sharp claw to a small and dark cave which appeared to be carved out inside a mound of snow with and hardened Frostbreath.

"I wish you dragons good luck on your grand escape"
He took a kind bow once again.

"I understand, thanks for what you've done for us" Daniel said as he returned the bow.
"Oh and there's no need for all the formal language, aight?"

Hailstorm laughed as Winter and Star took Daniels side.
"'Aight' then" He spoke back to Daniel, not exactly understanding what the word 'Aight' meant but assumed it was a good thing.
"I'll catch you guys later, good luck"

Daniel nodded before he took the lead. He squeezed through the small dark gap and to be honest it didn't get better.

The walls were not getting any tighter to walk through but the fact that there wasn't any light sort of gave Daniel a large feeling of claustrophobia.

He was imagining the worst possible scenarios.
'What if this tunnel ends and we're put straight into the clutches of the queen's,
What if we get stuck in here and can't get out?
It wasn't helping.
They pressed forward as Daniel tried his best to not think about these very bad but very unlikely situations.

"You guys doing alright back there?" Daniel asked, hoping to forget about his scenarios with a little small talk.

"Yeah I'm fine, little tight but I'm fine" Star said, "Though to be honest it would be much better if we could see where we're going"

"Agreed" Winter chimed in from the back of the line.
However, the need for light was gone a few moments of silence later as the outside sun began to leak Into the cave up ahead.

"Hey guys, I think I see an exit" Daniel spoke which lifted the falling spirits of the dragons with hope for an escape from the darkness.

Step after step the dragons continued down the tunnel towards the light however now it did appear like the walls were closing in tighter and tighter.

They pressed forward despite the uneasy feeling rising in their chests and as the light drew closer voices could be heard.

"Are you sure this is necessary?" Spoke one voice, an older male one.

"To tell you the truth I'm not sure however if the queen deems it so then we must follow her orders" spoke another.

"Why Did Glacier choose her to take her place? She's too young, she's not ready yet"

"She never specified why but apparently she had her own reasons to do so, either way queen Snowfall is in charge for the time being and she's called for all the guards to attend this so called 'gathering'

The first voice sighed profusely, "Very well then, let us attend her speech.
However, I'm not sure what she has in plan.

Daniel listened deeply as the voices left.
Though he didn't ponder as they finally arrived to the end of the cave.

Daniel squeezed out with some difficulties but he succeeded.
Soon Star and Winter followed behind and back out into the cool air.

Since they were closer to the great ice cliff and much further south then where they once were it was a little warmer, not by much but it was still noticeable.
Although it was still well beyond freezing despite the slight temperature rise.

Daniel looked back and smiled.
Hailstorm was telling the truth, they had successfully made it out of the kingdom thanks to the tunnel, now all that's left is to get passed the Great Ice cliff.

However soon Winter and Star both called out for him.
"Hey! Come check this out" Star called to him in a hushed voice.
The wind picked up as snow blew past them.
Daniel waddled over thanks to the cold and he took a look at what Star and Winter was seeing.

"This Doesn't look very good for us, does it?" Winter said grimly.

"Nope, not at all..." Daniel responded with the same grim tone.

The trio of dragons were mounted on a small cliff covered in soft snow as they looked down several meters to where a large army of Icewing soldiers gathered at the base of the great Ice cliff.

Up at the front was non other then Queen Snowfall herself accompanied by her 'acquaintance' Lynx.

She raised her arms and talons to quiet down the crowed which worked pretty well to Daniels surprise.

"Attention Please!" Snowfall spoke aloud however it really wasn't needed since it was clear the crowed was already listening attentively.

"Yesterday Night a group of suspicious dragons were sighted near the Ice kingdom border."
She pointed a claw towards the Wall behind her, Indicating it to be the border.

"And before any of you ask, according to one of the watch parties they were not Icewings, in fact... Two of them were spotted to be a Skywing and a Nightwing." There was a tense growl at the word 'Nightwing' and Snowfall paused for a breath before she continued her speech.

"This Skywing was claimed to have remarkable flight speed far beyond what any of us have ever witnessed" She paused and there was another gap of silence.

"It is for these reasons I have asked for all the royal guards to participate in this search as we do not know what these dragons are capable of, please start your preparations as the search will begin shortly"

Snowfall concluded her speech as the loud chatter of dragons and moving talons filled the air.
Daniel ducked back down behind the top of the small cliff ledge to avoid being accidentally spotted.

"Okay so what's the plan here? How do we get out of this?" he spoke to Winter and Star.

"Well we could go back into tunnel and hide there until the coast is clear" Star offered And Winter agreed.
"Yeah that sounds like a good ide-" he started however he was interrupted by a large shout.

"LOOK OUT!"

Next moment, there was a sudden large explosion like sound as the ground rumbled drastically.
The sounds of yelling and shrieking dragons rang in their ears as they all fell to the ground.

Cracks began to open up beneath them and an ominous glow emitted from the depths of Daniels bag.
Daniel spotted this and pulled out whatever was making such light and his heart skipped multiple beats when he did so.

It was the scroll... It shone a dark black glow, An evil black glow. It was almost like a shadow....
But that wasn't the worst part as soon a voice, a voice that Star and Daniel recognised instantly.
The voice of the Gatekeeper... Spoke from the scroll.

Y๏ย รђ๏ยɭ๔ภ'Շ ๏Ŧ ๔๏ภє ՇђคՇ...

When the chilling words passed through the dragons skulls the ground rumbled even more and the cracks formed reached up the great ice cliff emitting the same dark glow as the scroll in Daniel's talons.

The screams of dragons didn't let up and voices shouted louder then ever.
The trio peaked over the cliff's ledge and saw the terror of what seemed to be the scroll's doing.
Dark black cracks lined the ice blue ground of the kingdom and the great ice cliff.
Dragons took to the skies and whirled around in all directions in order to avoid the supernatural destruction.

Some however, weren't as lucky as Daniel spotted a few charred bodies of soldiers among the chaos as well as the slightly moving dragons barley able to keep themselves in order.
He had no idea what was happening but a slight feeling in his gut told him it was his fault...

'Okay... maybe stealing a supposed 'scroll of chaos' was a pretty bad idea from the looks of it' Daniel thought grimly. 'Too late now though... we just need to get out of here'

Daniel looked to Winter who had a look of horror printed vividly on his face.
"We need to go! NOW!" Daniel shouted.
Star was quick to her feet but Winter only looked back at him.

"But my Family! My tribe! they're down there... dying!" He cried and Daniel couldn't help but feel sorry for him.

"It's true and I understand it's wrong to leave them, but tell me. Would they risk their lives to save you? Winter?" Daniel pointed out.
Winter stared at him, unwilling to answer.

"The answer is no, they wouldn't. Only Hailstorm would even think about it and he's safe at the castle" Daniel concluded.
"If you want to save them it's up to you and I wouldn't mind, but just know that I highly doubt they would do the same. Either way though we need to get OUT OF HERE!"

Winter shook his head, he was conflicted but eventually agreed.
"Fine! how do we get out?"
Daniel was still working on that, they couldn't fly over the wall and would get spotted as soon as they left their position, there were no more tunnels or underground passages and if they decided to stay here they would probably die.

He thought for a moment as he looking into his bag, and he spotted the tiara that Winter had tossed him.
At the time he wasn't paying attention and didn't think much of it but now that he saw it again he realised what it was.... and that's when it came to him.

"There's only one way out..." Daniel said as he took out the dark blue tiara and placed it on his head. It was heavy and a little uncomfortable not to mention silly looking but it was needed.

"The only way out of this is through the great Ice cliff"

There was another crack and shake in the earth as Winter understood what Daniel meant.
"Wait wait wait! You're not saying what I think you are... right?" Winter pleaded but he knew all to well already he was wrong.

"I'm sorry, but if we want to get out of here alive we're going to have to break through that wall"
From what Daniel could see from Winter's expression he wanted to yell at him, probably tell him how it's not a good idea.... but he never did.

Winter sighed deeply as he looked up at the magnificent structure that had guarded their kingdom from the outside world all these years... yet... Daniel saw there was something in his eye that conflicted with what he had previously believed.
"I Understand.... it needs to go anyways"

And this is what shocked Daniel the most,
"WAIT WHAT? YOU'RE COMPLETELY FINE WITH THIS?" Daniel asked a little too loud for comfort and completely bewildered.

Winter nodded, "It needs to go, It served it's purpose during the war between tribes but that's over now. Keeping it will just make more Icewings fear the outside, it will cause them to grow up with bad views on other dragons... it will cause them to grow up like me..." He said sadly.
"Therefore, even if I can never see my brother again... even if I'm hated by everyone until my death... it needs to go"

Daniels eyes went wide.
'He's really serious about this...'
He placed a talon on Winters shoulder, hey... you wont be hated, not by everyone" Daniel said.

"Yeah" Star chimed in. "You still have us and the rest of your friends, we'll be here, always"

Winter took in a deep breath,
"Alright then, let's go tear down a wall"

Chapter Text

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Chapter Text

Loud shouts and screams of terror filled the vicinity.
Black cracks grew to enormous sizes as they eroded the crystal blue ice which lined the ground and walls around them.

"Okay so what's the plan here?" Winter asked, ignoring the chaos around them.
Daniel responded quickly.
"If I can get to the great ice cliff I can use this to help me break through."
He gestured to the very unfitting ice blue tiara on his head and Star couldn't help but chuckle as he did so.

His face fell, " Ha.. Ha.. So funny" Daniel remarked sarcastically.
"Yes I know it looks stupid but I'll assure you that the power is not"

There was another shake in the earth which caused them all to topple over.
Daniel's fist smashed into the ground as they did so.
The earth ground shook violently as massive ravines emerged from where Daniels fist met the ice.

There was no time to do anything, the trio fell deep into the opening cracks as the world began to darken.

"OOHHHH NOOOO!" Daniel screamed.
The wind whipped past the back of his head as he looked up to the falling silhouettes of his friends.

Without thinking twice he flipped himself back up with his wings before boosting into the air.
Closing in he grabbed both of them by the talons as he shot up forward.

"HURRICANE! WHAT DID YOU DO?!" Winter screamed, he let go of Daniel's talons as so did Star after she regained her bearings on what was happening.

"I CAN EXPLAIN" Daniel shouted back however he wouldn't have time as a massive boulder of ice came falling into the ravine, threatening to crush them.

Daniel shot forward and with a swoop of his wing he planned to knock it off course but instead, nearly obliterated it.
He looked back, surprised.
He'd expected the 'gift of strength' to just help him move the boulder out of the way, not fully destroy it.

'Well I'll be dammned, I guess animus magic really does work doesn't it..."
The trio flew back to the surface to which it wasn't much better honestly.

The massive cracks that were caused from the scroll seemed to have stopped spreading, leaving a corrupted pattern imprinted on the ice.
However what did take it's place were the deep dark ravines that had been formed when Daniel's fist hit the ground.

'Well... That's not good...'

As Winter and Star joined him he realised that he had a clear way to the Great Ice cliff.
With all the Icewings in shambles because of the destruction -which was partly his fault- he would be able to break through the wall with minimal issues.

"Alright, if we move now we'll be able to get to the wall while the guards are too busy with the destruction around them to deal with us" Daniel proposed.

"Okay, but what if they do notice us and start to chase us, then what? We don't have a backup plan do we?" Star asked.

"Well..." Daniel said as he made a face.
"No... No we don't" he sighed
"But either way we don't have time, we need to go while we have a chance"
Star shot him a reluctant expression which said 'This is a very bad idea'

He sighed, "okay yes, I know that we have little to no plan here but if you look around you'll realise we also have little to no time as well"
The ground shook again, causing more cracks underneath their talons.

More shouts of dragons echoed throughout the vicinity but this time there was something different.
A scream, one that was definitely familiar, rang in his ears.
Although all would be answered once he heard the voice.

"KORI!" Shouted one of the voices from below, the voice of Penguin, one of the Icewings who Daniel and Star nearly ran into inside the Diamond caves.

Daniel peeked over to see what horrors were happening.
Turns out the cracks in the ground had sprouted small tentacles which wrapped themselves around the legs of dragons.

They were long, thin, and fully back with noting but small white spots on them.
They appeared almost like a moving shadow.
Although what really scared Daniel was the fact that he recognised them.

'I know what's going on here now... Those are non other then the Gatekeeper's... And I have a hunch that getting sucked into one of those will not be pleasant...'

Quickly he tossed the enchanted Tiara to Winter who yelped slightly and caught it with surprise.
"H-hey! What are you doing?!" Winter yelled.

"No time to explain! Just break down that wall! I got something I need to take care of"
He leaped off te cliff towards the ground, leaving them behind with the tiara.

"Wait! When will we know when to do it?!" Star yelled from behind him.

"I'll give a signal, just trust me! You'll know when you see it!" Daniel shouted back and with that Daniel dived into the crowed of light blue Icewings.

He spotted his target a littler further up in the distance.
Two Icewings, one of them had their back leg strangled inside the shadow tentacles, pulling them down into the abyss.
The other was desperately trying to help though it was clear they weren't doing great.

"Hold on! I'll get you out of this Kori!" Penguin grunted as she pulled with all she could but it was really no use.
Daniel saw her look down at her friend, tears forming in her eyes and that's when he knew what to do.

Quickly he tucked in his limbs but extended one of his talons out to grab her.
Immediately he began to fly much faster however it was extremely difficult to keep balance.

Closing in on his target he reached out his talon and grabbed the burning cold talon of the Icewing.
With the sudden force from Daniel's flight speed the shadowy restraints snapped off of Kori's leg.

Blue blood splattered off from where the shadowy restrains detached and
Bright purple bruises as well as deep cuts were all that remained afterwards.

Daniel made painful face.
'That's going to leave a mark and probably be extremely painful... But at least she's not being dragged into Oblivion.'

Daniel landed quickly before placing the Injured Icewing on the ground.
He looked down to Kori, he was surprised.

'Despite what had just happened to her she didn't scream, either that or she's just unable to.'

He looked up to the sky to see Winter and Star flying to the Great Ice Cliff.
"Well at least they got what to do" He whispered to himself.

"KORI!" the other Icewing yelled, they ran over to where Daniel and the injured Icewing were sitting.
"Oh my moons Kori! Are you okay?!" They said desperately as they tried to shake their friend awake.

Daniel assumed this was Penguin, the other Icewing who was with them in the Diamond caves.
"Is she alright?!" Penguin suddenly asked Daniel who was snapped back to attention again.

"Yeah, she should be fine, just make sure those injuries get some treatment." He gestured to Kori's severely torn leg.
'That is definitely going to scar...' He thought to himself.

"Well I best be going, make sure she's alright" Daniel said to Penguin before he looked to Kori again.
To his surprise she was looking directly back at him which made Daniel jump a little.

It wasn't a menacing glare, more like a soft look of thankfulness.
She didn't say anything, she just looked at him for a few moments before closing her eyes.

Unfortunately, that wasn't the end of Daniel problems... It was actually just the beginning"

A large shadow suddenly loomed over him, Daniel's eyes widened as he looked over his shoulder to see a large Icewing Soldier glaring down at him.

"O-oh... Hello there... How's it going" Daniel smiled shyly.
'Well... I'm screwed aren't I?'

"It's going well..."The Icewing said, "However I don't think you're supposed to be here..."
He growled dangerously as Daniel got up to face him.

"Ha ha! You're right! So best that I'll be on my way now" Daniel said quickly as he turned around to take off into flight.

The guard however, had different plans as he stomped on Daniels tail which made him yelp in pain.

"Oh no..." The guard said with a devilish smirk and a slightly sinister tone in his voice to which Daniel assumed he was just trying to sound menacing since he needed to keep his soldier composure.

"No... I think the queen would love to have a nice long chat with you..." be said before adding "Skywing" in a sort of disgusted way.

He looked Daniel in the eyes. A now worried smile printed across his face as his hear began to pick up pace.
'Well great... I guess Nightwings aren't the only Tribe the Icewings have grudges with...'

"Look I would love to, but I really need to go, I'm missing school right now and need to get back" Daniel said, trying to play it cool depute his heard and trembling limbs saying otherwise.

"Your school can wait, our queen can arrange for you to return shortly... After you tell us how in the moons you got in the kingdom in the first place!"
He was starting to get mad, Daniel looked around to see multiple quiet faces staring at him.

They all ranged from confused, to scared, to angry, none of which Daniel liked in the slightest.
'But if I want to get out of here I better start thinking of something fast...'

The spear in the guards talons shifted in an unorganised way, He noticed this quickly.
'Is he... Scared? Worried? Scared and worried for what I can do?'

He didn't know how to react but if there was a spark of weakness then Daniel could possibly use it to his advantage.
He looked his oppressor in the eye before quickly flexing his claws in a Dangerous way.

He continued to stare into the eyes of his Foe to the point where he saw the spear tremble noticeably.
'So he is scared of me... Interesting...'

Daniel was about to try something.
"Listen here alright because I'm only going to say this once" he spoke to the guard in a hushed tone which surprisingly caught the Icewing off guard.

"I just saved one of your kind from a very painful death, so If that's not enough to let me go then I'm not sure what is... But I'll tell you one thing..." he gestured to Kori who was lying next to him, Penguin saying comforting words to her as she treated her wounds before pointing a claw at the Icewings chest.
The guard, who was already secretly terrified did nothing to oppose Daniel of his actions.

"If you don't let me go right now... Things are going to get real ugly, real fast" Daniel said.
The guard stayed silent before bursting out in laughter.

"Oh yeah?! Like what? Tell me! It's you against an entire army! You're not going to do any harm to us!"
The guard snickered and a few others joined in from the large crowed now watching them.

He was trying to make a fool out of Daniel however, the only thing that Daniel was paying any attention to was the small flying figures of Star and Winter off in the distance.

They had reached the wall successfully and were in position to destroy it though they froze when Daniel saw them look down to him and the troubling situation he was in.

Just then it got even worse, as none other then Snowfall decided it would be a good time to join the party.
As soon as she laid eyes on Daniel's bright red scales her face fell into a menacing fury.

"WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS? AND WHY IS A SKYWING INSIDE THE KINGDOM?! She demanded.

The guard snapped to face her as he switched his posture to a more formal and attentive one.
Daniel noticed he had unknowingly moved his back talon off of his tail and as such there was nothing left keeping him stuck there.

'I could fly off right now, tell Winter and Star to break the wall and they'd never catch us... But what's he fun in that? After all... I have them all where I want them.. All staring at me.. And none of them at Star nor Winter at the wall... Nothing they can do... But watch it crumble to the ground...'

That was his plan all along, and Daniel started to laugh which sent shivers down the spines of everyone around him.
"W-What are you laughing about?!" Snowfall stuttered angrily.

"Oh nothing!" Daniel laughed, "Just how you guys have no idea what's about to happen..."

"You're really still going on about how your going to make us regret capturing you?! Pfft, face it kid, your not going to do anything to us." The guard said as he pressed his spear on Daniels throat, his confidence returning after seeing the large amount of armed Icewings around them.

Daniel sighed... "Welp I tried... Don't say I didn't warn you"
He Inhaled a massive gust of air before he returned it as a massive blast of it into the air.
It grew up to tremendous heights, making a bright glow in the air before eventually dying out.

He looked to the guard again who just stared back, slightly amused.
"Well I'll hand it to you, that was pretty impressive but a simple fire show won't stop an army"

And that's when Daniel hit him with his wild card..
"Who said I was trying to stop and army?"

The faces of everyone around him fell to confusion before shock as seconds after his 'Fire show' multiple colossal rumbles were heard and everyone looked towards the source in fear..

Everyone watched as a small silhouette, that only Daniel knew the true identity of slashed the great ice cliff.
With each cliff came a colossal sized crack and quake.

It only took three hits, before the great Ice wall collapsed completely and was turned into the great ice cubes.

'I guess they got my signal' Daniel thought, relieved.
With quick timing he swiped his tail under the legs of the guard in front of him which caused him to topple over besides the already fallen Kori

Unlucky for the guard his head ricocheted against a smooth rock peeking out of the ground which had knocked him out clean.
Daniel turned to look at the Icewing queen as the entirety of the Ice wall collapsed behind him.

He grinned
"Don't say I didn't warn you"

The queen looked between him and the destruction that had just occurred.
"Who... Who are you..." Snowfall asked, pure terror for the first time in her life flowed throughout her whole body.

Daniels smiled deepened into a sort of Sinister one, he didn't know why... But he felt powerful... Like he could take on the whole army if he wanted to despite the obvious fact he'd lose.

Quickly Daniel picked up the rock that the royal guard had unluckily knocked himself out on.
He scratched something into it quickly before he tossed it at Snowfall.
"Catch"

It landed at her feet but before he could pick it up to see what Daniel had written he was already up in the air flying out of the kingdom though the piled of now deemed 'Great ice cubes' so fast that no one even saw him take up.

Daniel flew off as he began to catch up with his friends.
Looking back he saw the entirety of the Icewing army staring at him while Snowfall finally picked up and read what Daniel had written on the rock.

C A L L M E R E A P E R

Chapter Text

It was maybe around mid-evening when they finally managed to return to the others.
Qibli was still wearing the same cloak the Gatekeeper had given him while he talked to Peril about something Daniel couldn't hear.

As they closed in for landing Daniel spotted Turtle and Kinkajou in the distance.
Although Turtle seemed to be looking down at something in his talons with fear Kinkajou simply looked puzzled.

The trio soon touched down on dirt for once instead of snow which gave Daniel a sense of relief for some reason.

"Oh hey! You're back!" Qibli cheered as got up from the ground.
Some specs of brown dirt clung to his under scales but they fell of almost immediately once he began to walk.

"How did it go? Did you find the scroll of chaos?" Qibli asked.
Daniel didn't say anything and instead pulled out the object from his bag.
It was no longer glowing which was a great sign since what had happened to the Ice Kingdom...

"So we did get it, however, I have good news and bad news to share" Daniel said.

"Oh... What is it?" Peril asked also now intrigued as she walked a little closer, the heat radiating from her scales felt incredibly nice after spending so long in the Ice Kingdom.

"Well the good news is that we may have a lead on how to stop Phyrria from burning and save it" Daniel said.

"Really! That's great!... Qibli said excitedly" "Then what's the bad news...?"
Daniel sighed, "I think it's best if I spoke to all of you at once."

Daniel called out to Moon, Kinkajou, and Turtle who were huddled over a little further in the distance, talking about something he couldn't overhear but it was clear that they didn't know they arrived.

"Hey! Get over here we got a world to save!"
Winter called out to them.
They all looked over and their eyes widened with what appeared to be a mix of fear and nervousness.

The other bounded over to them.
"Hey, you're back!" Moon cheered, "How'd it go?"

"Alright, though we got a story to tell so best of you sit down" Star said.

Turtle and Kinkajou raised a brow but sat down with the rest of the group.

Now that they were all together Daniel could begin telling his story.

"Alright, so where do we begin?" Daniel asked curiously.

"I guess from when we first entered the kingdom?" Star offered.
She looked to Winter who nodded.
"Works for me"

They turned back to the others and began to tell them the long story of how they managed to get the scroll and get out of the kingdom.

Star spoke about breaking into the palace and the forbidden treasury, how there appeared to be one of Vulture's minions inside the palace as well and there... Interesting to escape down a trash chute.

Winter spoke about his encounter with his brother and how they were going to visit Jade Mountain in the coming weeks.
He also spoke about how Hailstorm managed to get them to the great ice cliff with no issues.

However, that's when Turtle interrupted him.
"Sorry Winter, but while we're on the Great Ice Cliff topic... Where is it? Wasn't it just over there a little while ago?"
He gestured a claw to where the Great Ice Cliff would be but instead, there was nothing. Just empty air.

"Oh..." Daniel said as he rubbed the back of his neck.
"Well we needed an exit soo we... Made one" Daniel said finally and this is when everyone's jaws dropped.

"Y-you what?" Turtle said flabbergasted.
"You're not saying that you blew a hole in the great ice cliff?!... Are you?"

Qibli looked to Winter,
"Winter, you're part of the royal family you wouldn't let this happen, let alone be a part of it... Right?"
Winter didn't respond for a moment before he looked at Qibli with one of the coldest stares he'd seen before he said.

"Like rules, some walls are also meant to be broken."

The others looked a few shades lighter than they were originally, even Kinkajou was completely shocked at what they had just done.

"You guys destroyed an ancient enchanted landmark... And probably the most important one to the Icewings... AND GOT AWAY WITH IT?!?" Moon shrieked of disbelief.
"What- how- why-..." She didn't know how to express what she was hearing so she just fell silent.

"We had to make our own exit in order to get out of there alive" Daniel explained.
"We did this by using an animus-touched tiara that was in the forbidden treasur-"

"YOU STOLE AN ANIMUS-TOUCHED OBJECT?!" Qibli suddenly yelled, it was a mix of fear and surprise as well as a very slight hint of envy, though nobody picked up on it.

"Two actually" Daniel added as he took out the jewelled sceptre from the bag which extended itself in his talon, gleaming up at him happily.

Everyone's eyes looked down at the sceptre and Turtle looked like he was about to faint from what he had witnessed.

"So you're telling us..." Peril started
"That you three... Managed to steal not one but TWO! Animus touched objects from the treasury, destroy the most important enchanted landmark in Phyrria and STILL get out unscathed?"

"Pretty much," Winter said casually, "Oh! The scroll of chaos also ended up messing a lot of the place up with dark black cracks and deadly scorch marks so there's that too..."

"Wait what-?" Moon started but was shut down by Star before she could start asking questions.

"The point is a lot of stuff happened, alright. But we managed to get out of this place alive and well so I would highly suggest we leave while we still can" She said.

"Agreed" Daniel continued. "No doubt they're already trying to find out who we are and making preparations to look for us"

"Can't believe I'm saying this but I think it's time we stopped skipping school because school would probably be the safest place for us to figure it out right now" Winter interjected into the conversation.

"Then it's settled," Daniel said. "We'll all fly back to school today, if we leave now we should be able to make it back by the time the moons are up in the air"

The others nodded and prepared to take off but then Turtle interrupted them.
"Uhh, guys... I have some bad news.."

"Oh what now!" Peril groaned. "We've already had enough bad news for a month, and now you want us to hear more? Can't you just keep it to yourself this one time?"

"B-but it's important!" Turtle cried.

Daniel walked over to him, he put a comforting talon on his shoulder.
"Tell me, What's the bad news?"

Turtle sighed as he revealed the sharp blade in his hand from behind his back...
"I had a dream last night... About... Him.."
Turtle looked down at the ground as he gripped the blade lightly.

Daniel's eyes went wide.
"He got to you too...?"
He asked fearfully, to which Turtle replied with a simple nod.

Now Daniel was genuinely scared.
'He's going after them now... The Gatekeeper... I don't know why but I doubt it's for good intentions..'

It was clear Turtle was on edge from whatever in the world he had witnessed, however he needed some time to calm down before flying.

"Alright, let's chill for a few moments and try to get everyone ready for the flight ahead of us." Daniel called out.
"Kinkajou would you mind keeping Turtle company? I need to go and do something real quick"

"Mhm, you can trust me!" Kinkajou said gleefully.

"I know I can, don't worry," Daniel said and was filled with satisfaction when he saw Kinkjaou's smile widen and her scales shift to a happy yellow.

Quickly Daniel flew off to maybe around twenty or so meters in the distance where he sat behind a rock in the shade.

Taking out the small bottle of ink and the now deemed 'Notes' Scroll he started to write another entry on his adventure so far.

𝓔𝓷𝓽𝓻𝔂 𝓽𝔀𝓸

𝓘'𝓿𝓮 𝓶𝓪𝓷𝓪𝓰𝓮𝓭 𝓽𝓸 𝓰𝓮𝓽 𝓸𝓾𝓽 𝓸𝓯 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓘𝓬𝓮 𝓴𝓲𝓷𝓰𝓭𝓸𝓶 𝓪𝓵𝓲𝓿𝓮 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝔀𝓮𝓵𝓵 𝔀𝓲𝓽𝓱 𝓶𝔂 𝓯𝓻𝓲𝓮𝓷𝓭𝓼.
𝓦𝓮'𝓿𝓮 𝓶𝓪𝓷𝓪𝓰𝓮𝓭 𝓽𝓸 𝓽𝓪𝓴𝓮 𝓽𝔀𝓸 𝓮𝓷𝓬𝓱𝓪𝓷𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓸𝓫𝓳𝓮𝓬𝓽𝓼 𝔀𝓲𝓽𝓱 𝓾𝓼 𝔀𝓱𝓲𝓬𝓱 𝔀𝓲𝓵𝓵 𝓱𝓮𝓵𝓹 𝓲𝓷 𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝓳𝓸𝓾𝓻𝓷𝓮𝔂 𝓪𝓬𝓻𝓸𝓼𝓼 𝓟𝓱𝔂𝓻𝓻𝓲𝓪.

𝓐𝓬𝓬𝓸𝓻𝓭𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓽𝓸 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓭𝓮𝓮𝓶𝓮𝓭 '𝓼𝓬𝓻𝓸𝓵𝓵 𝓸𝓯 𝓬𝓱𝓪𝓸𝓼' 𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓻𝓮 𝓪𝓻𝓮 𝓸𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓻 𝓹𝓪𝓻𝓽𝓼 𝓸𝓯 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓹𝓻𝓸𝓹𝓱𝓮𝓬𝔂 𝔀𝓮 𝓷𝓮𝓮𝓭 𝓽𝓸 𝓾𝓷𝓬𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓻. 𝓗𝓸𝔀𝓮𝓿𝓮𝓻, 𝔀𝓮 𝓷𝓮𝓮𝓭 𝓽𝓸 𝔀𝓪𝓲𝓽 𝓯𝓸𝓻 𝓼𝓮𝓿𝓮𝓷 𝓭𝓪𝔂𝓼 𝓫𝓮𝓯𝓸𝓻𝓮 𝔀𝓮 𝓬𝓪𝓷 𝓭𝓸 𝓪𝓷𝔂𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓷𝓰.

𝓘𝓷 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓬𝓾𝓻𝓻𝓮𝓷𝓽 𝓶𝓸𝓶𝓮𝓷𝓽 𝔀𝓮'𝓻𝓮 𝓪𝓵𝓵 𝓱𝓮𝓪𝓭𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓫𝓪𝓬𝓴 𝓽𝓸 𝓼𝓬𝓱𝓸𝓸𝓵 𝔀𝓱𝓮𝓻𝓮 𝔀𝓮'𝓵𝓵 𝓪𝓵𝓵 𝓶𝓸𝓼𝓽 𝓵𝓲𝓴𝓮𝓵𝔂 𝓻𝓮𝓬𝓮𝓲𝓿𝓮 𝓪 𝓼𝓬𝓸𝓵𝓭𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓯𝓻𝓸𝓶 𝓟𝓻𝓲𝓷𝓬𝓲𝓹𝓪𝓵 𝓣𝓼𝓾𝓷𝓪𝓶𝓲 𝓯𝓸𝓻 𝓼𝓴𝓲𝓹𝓹𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓼𝓬𝓱𝓸𝓸𝓵 𝓬𝓵𝓪𝓼𝓼𝓮𝓼 𝓽𝓱𝓸𝓾𝓰𝓱 𝓘 𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓷𝓴 𝓲𝓽'𝓵𝓵 𝓫𝓮 𝔀𝓸𝓻𝓽𝓱 𝓲𝓽 𝓲𝓷 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓮𝓷𝓭 𝓲𝓷 𝓸𝓻𝓭𝓮𝓻 𝓽𝓸 𝓼𝓪𝓿𝓮 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝔀𝓸𝓻𝓵𝓭.

𝓗𝓸𝔀𝓮𝓿𝓮𝓻 𝓪 𝓵𝓪𝓻𝓰𝓮 𝓲𝓼𝓼𝓾𝓮 𝓱𝓪𝓼 𝓫𝓮𝓮𝓷 𝓫𝓻𝓸𝓾𝓰𝓱𝓽 𝓾𝓹𝓸𝓷 𝓾𝓼 𝓪𝓼 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓖𝓪𝓽𝓮𝓴𝓮𝓮𝓹𝓮𝓻, 𝓪 𝓬𝓻𝓮𝓮𝓹𝔂 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓶𝔂𝓼𝓽𝓮𝓻𝓲𝓸𝓾𝓼 𝓰𝓸𝓭 𝓵𝓲𝓴𝓮 𝓯𝓲𝓰𝓾𝓻𝓮 𝓱𝓪𝓼 𝓽𝓪𝓴𝓮𝓷 𝓵𝓲𝓴𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓲𝓷𝓽𝓸 𝓽𝓸𝓻𝓶𝓮𝓷𝓽𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓾𝓼 𝓽𝓱𝓻𝓸𝓾𝓰𝓱 𝓭𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓶𝓼.
𝓘'𝓶 𝓷𝓸𝓽 𝓼𝓾𝓻𝓮 𝔀𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓱𝓲𝓼 𝓶𝓸𝓽𝓲𝓿𝓮𝓼 𝓪𝓻𝓮 𝓫𝓾𝓽 𝓘'𝓶 𝓼𝓾𝓻𝓮 𝓽𝓱𝓮𝔂'𝓻𝓮 𝓷𝓸𝓽 𝓰𝓸𝓸𝓭.

𝓜𝔂 𝓼𝓲𝓼𝓽𝓮𝓻 𝓲𝓼 𝓪𝓵𝓼𝓸 𝓼𝓽𝓲𝓵𝓵 𝓪𝓷 𝓲𝓼𝓼𝓾𝓮, 𝓼𝓱𝓮'𝓼 𝓫𝓮𝓮𝓷 𝓶𝓲𝓼𝓼𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓯𝓸𝓻 𝓪 𝓵𝓸𝓷𝓰 𝓽𝓲𝓶𝓮 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓲𝓯 𝓘 𝓮𝓿𝓮𝓻 𝔀𝓲𝓼𝓱 𝓽𝓸 𝓵𝓮𝓪𝓿𝓮 𝓟𝓱𝔂𝓻𝓻𝓲𝓪 𝓹𝓮𝓻𝓶𝓪𝓷𝓮𝓷𝓽𝓵𝔂 𝓘'𝓵𝓵 𝓷𝓮𝓮𝓭 𝓽𝓸 𝓯𝓲𝓷𝓭 𝓱𝓮𝓻 𝓫𝓮𝓯𝓸𝓻𝓮 𝓘 𝓭𝓸.

𝓗𝓸𝔀𝓮𝓿𝓮𝓻 𝓪𝓼 𝓯𝓸𝓻 𝓷𝓸𝔀, 𝓲𝓽'𝓼 𝓳𝓾𝓼𝓽 𝓹𝓵𝓪𝔂𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝔀𝓪𝓲𝓽𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓰𝓪𝓶𝓮 𝓾𝓷𝓽𝓲𝓵 𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓷𝓰𝓼 𝓼𝓽𝓪𝓻𝓽 𝓾𝓹 𝓪𝓰𝓪𝓲𝓷.
𝓐𝓷𝓭 𝓱𝓸𝓹𝓮𝓯𝓾𝓵𝓵𝔂 𝔀𝓱𝓮𝓷 𝓽𝓱𝓮𝔂 𝓭𝓸 𝓲𝓽'𝓵𝓵 𝓫𝓮 𝓰𝓸𝓸𝓭 𝓷𝓮𝔀𝓼 𝓯𝓸𝓻 𝓸𝓷𝓬𝓮.

𝓔𝓷𝓭 𝓸𝓯 𝓮𝓷𝓽𝓻𝔂 𝓽𝔀𝓸

Daniel got up as he wiped his stained claw clean from the ink before placing the bottle back into the bag.
He waited about a minute to let the ink dry before he rolled up the scroll, put it away and glided back to the others again.

"Alright, are we all good to go?" Daniel asked.

"Yep!" Qibli replied, "I can't wait to get back to sleeping on a proper bed for once anyway,"

Daniel nodded before looking to Turtle again, he was sitting quietly on the dirt with Kinkajou by his side.
"Yo, you feeling alright mate?" Daniel asked as he came to his side.
"We're getting ready to leave now"

Turtle ignored him and instead asked him a question of his own.
"Hurricane... You said you weren't from Phyrria right?" his voice was quiet, a lot more than usual, like he had just stopped crying.

Daniel looked down at him, worried.
'What did he do to him... I swear to god if I ever get my hands on him I'll kill that Gatekeeper myself'

He answered the question calmly despite having a burning fury building inside of him.
"Yeah, that's right... Why do you ask?

Turtle sighed again.
"Because you were in my dream... Or I at least think it was you... It could have been the Gatekeeper playing mind tricks again..."

"Just spit it out, it'll help, trust me," Daniel said.

"Okay, okay..." Turtle said. "I was speaking to you, it was like a repeat of the day that we first met, down in the underground lake. Remember?"

"Yes I remember that, but what does that have to do with the Gatekeeper?"

"Well, when I was speaking with you in my dream... You mentioned something odd to me..." Turtle continued.

"Okay... Like what exactly? What did I say to you?" Daniel asked, now genuinely intrigued and confused.

"Well for context we were talking with one another about how I already knew you.
This was because I had my memories from the real world and of course, the dream version of you didn't know that so it was... Interesting to say the least"

"Sounds like one bizarre dream to tell you the truth Turtle" Daniel said "Though I still have no idea how this involves me not being from Phyrria?"

"I'm getting to that part" Turtle explained.

"Oh, my bad... Continue" Daniel said as he gave him full attention.

"Well... It went on as to how I knew you to which I just said we met before and whether the others knew to which I said no...
"And then..."
He fell silent, his face making a conflicting expression.

"And then what?" Daniel edged him on to keep speaking.

He looked Daniel dead in the eyes before he spoke again.
"And then... You told me these exact words" Turtle said.
"Look do you know about me... Not being a dragon?"

Daniel's eyes widened... If there was one way the Gatekeeper would get back at Daniel for escaping his deadly dream then it would be by exposing his darkest secret...
'And he did just that... He told Turtle, in the form of me... That I wasn't a dragon...'

"Hey, Hurricane are you alright?" Kinkajou asked once she saw his worried face.
Daniel had completely forgotten she was there since she was normally so much louder then she was currently being.

He snapped back to reality,
"Yeah, I'm alright... Just a little... Tired" he admitted however soon his vision began to blur And he collapsed on the ground next to them.

Instinctively they both jumped back as he came crashing down to the ground.
"Woah! Are you alright?!" Turtle asked.

Daniel couldn't speak, his vision blurred into darkness.
There was the sound of a ~pht~ ~pht~ as he saw the bodies of Turtle and Kinkajou collapse to the ground as well.

His eyes were forcefully closed by whatever had come over him but before he dozed off completely he felt something be taken off his neck.

As well as two familiar sinister voices which said...

"Looks like we won't go back home to the Scorpion Den empty handed brother... You know for being the laziest tribe Rainwings sure do have some good stealth weapons..."

"Agreed... I'm not sure how they came up with it but besides that... I'm sure Gramps will be very pleased with this find..."

Daniel's consciousness finally faded out completely...
And he fell into an empty void of darkness... Or so he thought.

When he opened his eyes again he found himself back in the same disturbing place where he first met the Gatekeeper.
His eyes widened with fear as soon as he laid sight on his surroundings.

'Oh no! Oh nononono No! NO! NO! NOT THIS PLACE AGAIN!'
Daniel screamed in his head
However, then he looked up and there he was in all his glory.

A dark shadow with white glowing eyes and a smile, a black tentacle coiled around his horn with white eye-like spots covering his body and wings, giving off a demonic appearance.

ภ๏ฬ, ภ๏ฬ ๔คภเєɭ ՇђคՇ'ร ภ๏ ฬคץ Շ๏ ՇгєคՇ ร๏๓є๏ภє ฬђ๏'ร ɭєՇ ץ๏ย เภ Շ๏ Շђєเг ђย๓๒ɭє ђ๏๓є... Spoke the gatekeeper with a very off-putting grin.

"What do you want from me?! And why are you going after my friends now!" Daniel demanded as he forced himself to stay brave against him.
"What do you want? To kill us?"

The Gatekeeper's face fell.
เŦ เ ฬคภՇє๔ Շ๏ кเɭɭ ץ๏ย เ ฬ๏ยɭ๔ ๏Ŧ ๔๏ภє ร๏ คɭгєค๔ץ, ๒ยՇ ฬђєгє'ร Շђє Ŧยภ เภ ՇђคՇ?

"FUN?! WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY THAT?! IS THIS NOTHING BUT A GAME TO YOU? ARE THE LIVES OF INNOCENT SOULS JUST YOUR PLAY DOLLS?!"
Daniel screamed in the face of the gatekeeper who was unamused.

ฬєɭɭ Շ๏ ๒є ђ๏ภєรՇ... ץєร, ๒єςคยรє Շђєรє 'ร๏ยɭร' ץ๏ย รקєคк ๏Ŧ คгє ภ๏Շђเภﻮ ๒ยՇ ŦเςՇเ๏ภ. ๏г ђคשє ץ๏ย Ŧ๏гﻮ๏ՇՇєภ ՇђคՇ ץ๏ย'гє Շгคקקє๔ เภ คภ ŦเςՇเ๏ภคɭ ฬ๏гɭ๔, ค ฬ๏гɭ๔ ՇђคՇ'ร ןยรՇ เภк ๏ภ קคקєг.

"You're wrong," Daniel snarled. "Those innocent dragons have a conscious, and it's wrong for you to play with them LIKE THEY'RE NOTHING BUT TRASH!"

He flexed his claws and tried to swipe at the Gatekeeper who swiftly dodged his attack.

เ'๓ ๏ภɭץ Շгץเภﻮ Շ๏ ђєɭק! Շђє ร๏๏ภєг ץ๏ย гєคɭเรє ฬђคՇ Շђєรє ๔гคﻮ๏ภร คгє ๔คภเєɭ Շђє ร๏๏ภєг ץ๏ย'ɭɭ ๒є ค๒ɭє Շ๏ ﻮєՇ ๏ยՇ ๏Ŧ Շђเร קɭคςє! เՇ'ร ןยรՇ ɭเкє เภ Շђє קг๏קђєςץ!

Daniel fell silent.
"How do you know about that?" He growled.

The gatekeeper laughed.
๒єςคยรє เ'שє รєєภ เՇ, เภ ץ๏ยг ๓เภ๔ คภ๔ Շђє ๓เภ๔ร ๏Ŧ ๏Շђєгร. ץ๏ย'гє ภ๏ ๔เŦŦєгєภՇ ๔คภเєɭ... ๏г รђ๏ยɭ๔ เ ςคɭɭ ץ๏ย гєคקєг เภรՇєค๔ รเภςє ՇђคՇ'ร ђ๏ฬ ץ๏ย เภՇг๏๔ยςє๔ ץ๏ยгรєɭŦ Շ๏ ђєг.

"That was just a quick codename I made for myself, you can't commit a crime and just tell the queen what your name is, if you could read my mind then you would know that so I call make-believe on your answer to my previous question."

The Gatekeeper growled, he was getting annoyed but kept his composure nonetheless.

๒єɭเєשє ฬђคՇ ץ๏ย ฬคภՇ, ๒ยՇ ๏ภє Շђเภﻮ เร Ŧ๏г รยгє... ค ς๏๔єภค๓є ɭคкє ՇђคՇ ๔єรєгשєร ค ŦเՇՇเภﻮ ฬєคק๏ภ... ๔๏ภ'Շ ץ๏ย Շђเภк?
He smiled devilishly.

"Oh yeah? And what's that supposed to mean?" Daniel demanded
He glared at the shadowy figure infront of him intensely though the Gatekeeper was unphased.

と回凵'しし 片几回山 己回回几
ヨ几回呂凵廾...
日凵卞 尺ヨ冊ヨ冊日ヨ尺 卞廾工己...
と回凵 片几回山 山廾丹卞 卞廾ヨと
卞尺凵しヨと 丹尺ヨ...
勹凵己卞 工几片 卞回 卞ヨしし 丹
己卞回尺と.
己回 山廾丹卞'己 卞廾ヨ 工己己凵ヨ
山工卞廾 尺ヨ山尺工卞工几呂 丹几句
己尸工しし工几呂 己回冊ヨ
と回凵尺己ヨし乍?

Daniel could barely understand what he was saying which meant he was finally waking up again.

The ominous dark abyss around him faded away as he opened his eyes and groaned aloud.
"Ugh, why does he always have to be so cryptic all the time"
Daniel complained.

He saw however that he wasn't in the same place as he was before, actually they all weren't.
All of Daniel's friends were sound asleep around him however they were no longer at the Icewing border, they were all outside Jade Mountain Academy...

The lush dark grass swayed in the cool breeze and leaves from surrounding trees floated about in the sky.
Somehow the Gatekeeper had transported all of them back to school, it was the dead of night and the three moons were shining above.

'Alright, I'll give you that one... You did help. But JUST ONCE! The rest of the time you're a total piece of work.'

He reached for his bag around his neck, but it wasn't there...
Then Daniel remembered... It was taken, stolen off him before he fell asleep.

As he twisted his neck he felt a painful prickling sensation on the side of it.
He felt around and pulled out an empty sleeping dart.

Someone had drugged him, and he knew exactly who...
'Qibli's siblings... They stole my stuff from me, no doubt they're already at the stupid Scorpion Den celebrating...'

He slammed his fist down into the ground.
The clunk of metal was heard on the impact and Daniel's eyes widened when he saw it.

He knew what the Gatekeeper meant now...
'A fitting Weapon for a fitting name... Just Ink on paper... Rewrite and spill some of it yourself...'

The Gatekeeper wanted him to get revenge on the people who wronged him... By rewriting the timeline in his favour and spilling their blood... Remembering that they're not real at the end of it.

A smooth-ringed sickle laid in front of him, it gleamed in the moonlight..
The weapon of the Grim Reaper...

A weapon perfectly fit... for murder...

Chapter Text

It was early in the morning when the first gong rang to signify the start of classes.
Normally Daniel and the rest of the Winglet would be heading to history but not today.

Because instead they had a nice warm meeting with Tsunami.
Down in the very back halls of the school lied Tsunami's office and was where everyone except Peril was getting a scolding.

"WHAT IN YOUR CRAZY MINDS WERE YOU THINKING?! YOU CAN'T JUST STRAIGHT UP LEAVE SCHOOL!"
Tsunami bellowed at the six dragonets who were sitting in front of her.

"Well Miss, in our defence we did manage to bring you a new student" Daniel pointed out.

Tsunami's voice died down in volume though she was still extremely angry.
"Yes, but that doesn't excuse you for what you've done Hurricane..."

She sighed as she looked to all of them.
"Look I don't mean to sound bossy, trust me I've already had enough of dragons like that.
But your parents or caretakers have left you in my hands for the year so I'm responsible for your safety. What am I supposed to tell them if you go off and get yourself hurt or even worse! Killed!"

She sat back against the wall whole everyone else looked down to the floor, except for Daniel who kept eye contact with her.

"Well since my parents are dead and I don't have a caretaker what are you supposed to do with me then?" Daniel asked.

This came as a bit of a shock to everyone including Tsunami but Daniel kept it as casual as he could.
"If this whole thing is about our parents leaving us in your hands then what about me?"

Tsunami looked at him however even she knew she didn't have a proper answer for him so she just kept it honest.

"Well... Nothing really, it's optional for you since we're not obliged to keep you here... Though I would highly recommend staying, You've already made some friends here at Jade Mountain, and you'll be able to learn many things here"

Daniel looked at her content with her answer.
"Alright then... So what do we have first?"
Tsunami smiled at his comment before she answered for him.
"Well I don't think it's worth it to go to History since we're already close to the end of the lessons so your next lesson will be..."

She looked through some unorganised scrolls before she finally said.
"Ah here we go, oh and how convenient, you're next class is Hunting with me, I'll meet you guys outside when the next gong rings"
She said with a smile.

Daniel nodded.
"Alright then, when is that?"

Tsunami looked to him,
"I'm not sure actually, but based from when the first gong rang I'd say maybe around fiteeen or so minutes from now,
I'll dismiss you guys so you can get ready."

"Okay then, thanks" Daniel said before he he added out of the cave and down the already too familiar halls of Jade Mountain.
He made his way back to his sleeping cave and sat down on his stonly ledge, but not before warming it up with some fire.

The others soon sat down inside the cave.
Qibli and Winter on their respective ledges. And Turtle on his one above Daniel's.
Star had been moved to the Girls cave next door and was now officially part of the Winglet and the first Hybrid in the school.

So now Daniel, Winter, Qibli and Turtle all shared a cave while Moon, Kinkajou, and Star shared another, and if course Peril was still sleeping in Clay's room.

Soon everyone else, including Peril and Star who were waiting outside entered the cave.
Daniel sighed deeply as he looked to everyone else.

They each had the same sad look of empathy as they stared at him.
He had told them what had happened with the Gatekeeper last night and how Qibli's siblings had stolen the bag from him.

"So what's the plan then?" Moon suddenly spoke to him.
Daniel looked confused.
'How... How did she know? Isn't the Skyfire blocking-... Oh right... It got stolen along with my other stuff... "

Daniel looked into Moons eyes, she returned a sad look.
Because of her mind reading she knew how valuable that bag was and how Daniel blamed himself for losing it.

Moon shook her head.
"So what's the plan Hurricane?" Moon asked again, this time catching Daniels attention.
"Huh?"

"What's the plan to get the bag back?" Moon asked for a third time, "I know you're upset. I've seen your thoughts so what's the plan?"

Daniel sighed... "I really don't know, we just got back from skipping already so I doubt they'll let us go out again that easily..."

"Well I mean if I remember correctly tomorrow is the weekend" Winter pointed out.
"We get two days off to go and visit family and whatnot as long as we're back in time for classes"

"That's true, and the scorpion den is relatively close by, if we leave tonight when the moons are out we should be able to get in and out with what we need and get back in time for classes"

"Then that's a plan, we can start making preparations early so we're ready when night falls" Turtle said, and everyone else nodded, everyone except for Daniel.

"Woah, guys aren't you taking this a bit too fast? Like it's the Scorpion Den for crying out loud! Probably one of the most dangerous places in Phyrria, not to mention we'll need to steal from Qibli's family"

He looked at Qibli, his face had gone a little pale as he realised what they were really dealing with.
"See!" Daniel exclaimed. "It's a suicide mission."

"He's got a point" Winter interjected. "now I don't know much about the Scorpion Den regarding Qibli's family and such but I do know that it's littered with thieves and assassins"

"That's true" Qibli confirmed. "Unless we get a fitting cloak for each of us and the skills of master assassins within the next few hours we're completely screwed by trying to steal anything"

However, it was then that Turtle coughed loudly.
Daniel glared at him as he knew exactly what he was going to say next.

"No. You're not using your animus magic for something like this, your soul is too precious to be wasted on a simple worthless bag"

"Bro, I can just magic the bag into my talons in the blink of an eye, I don't see what the issue is. We can LITTERALLY AVOID THIS WHOLE MESS!" Turtle shouted as he flared his arms in the air.

"Well not exactly..." Qibli said. "If my siblings took the bad then it's probably with my grandfather... And knowing him he also probably has animus power on his side.
He's also clever, on the things he wishes to keep safe he would probably force his animus minions to enchant them to be immune to animus magic"

"Do you know for sure?" Turtle asked, "Because if it's just a guess we could save us a HUGE amount of flying and energy with a snap of my claws."

He didn't let up, it was almost as if he wanted to use it, to prove to Daniel he was truly okay.
"Turtle..." Daniel pleaded, "Please don't, even if it does work what will the cost be on your soul?"

Daniel was pleading with everything he had at this point. To convince him not to use it.
"You don't want to end up like Albatross do you? I mean look at Anemone, her personality is rotten to the core, and what do you think caused that? She was definitely not like that when she hatched"

Turtle looked to Daniel before looking down at his claws.
"I'm not like her... I swear" His voice was much quieter then before which told Daniel he was breaking through to him.

"I know you're not... But you will be if you use your power to much..." Daniel said.

Turtle sighed, "But what if I used it for good? I could help." Hope filled his eyes as he looked at Daniel, he sighed deeply.

"Look... It's your power and if you want to use it it's up to you... But please... Be careful... I don't want to see you be the one with the bloody knife in this generation..." Daniel pointed to the blade which Turtle clutched in his talon.

He had hidden it in the cave along with Daniel's sickle before the first gong rang and luckily for them on body had found the weapons... At least not yet.
Turtle gazed at the blade as it shone back menacingly.
He met Daniel's eyes again which were. Filled with worry.

"I'll be careful, I promise you that" Turtle said finally.

Daniel closed his eyes, before he finally spoke.
"Fine, if you want to cast an enchantment now then do so, but make sure it's worth it for the soul your losing."

Turtle nodded, "Qibli, you said we wouldn't last if we didn't have the proper skills and equipment right?"

"Yes that's correct, why do you ask?" Qibli responded, lifting one of his brows.

"Well I have just the thing then" Turtle said as he waked over to the corner of the room and pulled out a loose stone.

The others looked down with a bit of surprise.
"Now when exactly did you do this?" Moon asked, not questioning his motives.

"Oh I did this when they were all asleep last night" He pointed to Winter Qibli and Daniel.
"Ah! here it is!" Turtle exclaimed as he took out a brown bowl from the inside of the wall.

"A bowl?" Winter asked skeptically, "You did all that for a bowl?" It was clear he was starting to have his doubts.

"Not just any bowl," Turtle reassured him.
"I enchanted this to duplicate whatever I put in it, for example.. Qibli can I borrow your earring please?"

Qibli was confused, but intrigued nonetheless so he took the yellow ring off his ear and gave it to Turtle who placed it in the bowl.

At first nothing happened but then Turtle spoke aloud.
"Twice as much please,"

Almost immediately the ring split into two like some Harry Potter voodoo. You couldn't blink or you'd miss it but now in the bowl lay two identical earrings.

He took them both out and then handed them to Qibli who had a face of amazement.
"Neat right?" He said as he dropped one of the earrings in Qibli's talon while he kept the other one himself.

"Yeah, no kidding..."

"Exactly, so if you don't mind giving me the cloak you just randomly showed up with a few days ago can make eight of them for all of us."

"You mean seven" Peril interjected, "Because the second you put that thing on me it'll be burnt to a crisp."

Turtle frowned, it was true, she couldn't put on the cloak or it would burn... but then Turtle had a brilliant idea.
"Wait, wasn't it your hatching day a little while ago Peril?" he asked, switching the subject.

Peril was puzzled at is sudden off topic question.
"Yes, why do you ask?" she raised a brow towards him.

Turtle smiled, "Well in that case I should probably give you a hatching day gift."
He closed his eyes and muttered something under his breath which nobody could understand.

He opened them again, "Done," He said with a smile.
Peril looked at him again, this time with double the confusion she had last time.
"What do you mean?"

Turtle grinned. "Hold your talon out and Just imagine channelling your fire into it, let the fire leave the rest of your body"

"Uhm... Alright?" Peril said wonderingly, meanwhile Daniel looked up with wide eyes, "Turtle... Did you just do what I think you did?"
Turtle nodded excitedly and Daniel couldn't help but smile too.

Everyone else also looked at Peril with wide eyes and a toothy smile .
Even Winter had a slight grin at the news.

Peril, however, didn't understand anything.
"What? What happened? What did he do? Is there like some sort of joke I'm not getting here?" She asked wonderingly.

"Maybe this will explain it." Turtle said and before She could react he threw himself into her, hugging her with his wings.

"WOAH WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! YOU'LL DIE IF YOU TOUCH ME" Peril screamed.
However instead Peril simply looked down at her Seawing friend.

Turtle definitely did not die or get burned in any way for that matter, and instead just looked at Peril as he continued to hug her tightly.

Peril was completely baffled.
"What...? How is this possible...? You should be dead by now?!"
Turtle simply shook his head and gestured to Perils talon.

Peril looked over to it, instinctively she always threw her talons and every part of her body back in fear of accidentally burning someone else.
However then she saw it..

Her talon, was quite literally on fire. Like she held all the fire in her body into one talon.
Because of the mass amount of heat and energy, small flames erupted from in-between her scales.

Suddenly, Turtle interrupted her moment.
"I enchanted you to be able to control your Firescales, you can channel them to any part of your body just by thinking of it."

Peril was still too amazed by what Turtle was saying to answer so instead she just tried it out for herself.

Her scales lit up and died down like a soft warm light show as she moved the fire around in her body.
Finally she moved it back to her tail so her entire front body was fire free.

"I'm not great with casting spells so I know it's not perfect bu-" Turtle started but was interrupted when Peril hugged him.

"Thank you..." She whispered softly yet extremely happily as she shed a tear of joy which ran down her face without evaporating for the first time in her life.

Soon they parted the hug as Peril took a deep breath, letting her natural fiery scales take over again.
"It's perfect, it's the best gift I've ever received, probably one of the only ones I've ever received but nontheless..."

Turtle smiled, "Now you can wear the cloak with no issues"
Peril nodded.
"However I am curious, l can I fully turn my firescales off?" Peril asked before quickly adding "It's completely fine if not! I don't want to sound picky, what you've done for me I can never repay"

Turtle only laughed, "Yes you can, however it's totally dependant on your mood." Turtle explained.
"if you're calm you can control the intensity of the flame and basically turn it down to where its unnoticeable."

"And what happens if I get angry?" Peril asked, now slightly worried.

"You won't be able to control them as easily and you'll definitely not be able to turn them off, and in some extreme cases it may even become more powerful"
Turtle said.

Peril looked at him, wide eyes, she couldn't imagine her Firescales becoming more powerful then they already were...

Turtle looked up sadly.
"I'm sorry, I didn't know how to word it properly so I did it based on emotions which I now realised was... Really stupid..."

The cave fell silent for a moment before Peril broke it.
"Hey, it's completely fine. Turtle... You gave me an opportunity to feel things without destroying them for the first time in my life" Peril said surprisingly softly.
She took the fire away from her talon and placed it on his shoulder.

"And if that comes with some downsides then so be it, I'll learn to deal with it. Besides, if I do get angry I'll probably end up burning myself so It'll serve as a reminder.

Turtles eyes went wide, as so did Daniel's. Though then Daniel remembered that Peril was known to have some uncanny ability to make the most non reassuring things in any given situation.
'So honestly this made sense for her to say something dumb like that'

He looked over to catch Moon staring at him again, reading his mind.
He shot her a blank expression.
'Well I mean I'm not wrong am I?' Daniel said telepathically.

Moon gave him one of those 'Hmm that's True' looks before they were all intrurrupted by the sound of approaching talons.

Quickly upon hearing this, Peril moved away from the others and activated her scales as to not draw suspicion from whoever it was that was approaching.

It was a good thing she did that as soon Tsunami popped her head into the room.
"Hey, sorry but apparently something came up with one of the other classes and I need to see what's going on so I won't be able to teach you guys Hunting today"

"Oh really? What happened?" Moon asked.

Tsunami sighed.
"My sister Anemone is being an idiot with her magic in Herbs and Healing so Clay ad requested me to talk some sense into her"

"Pfft... That's going to be a hassle" Daniel remarked as shot her a 'Good luck' Expression.

Tsunami wasn't amused.
"I'm sure I'll manage thank you very much.
She rolled her eyes before continuing on with her announcement.

"As for you guys, since there's no teacher for you... and you have a free study period next... and then lunch... And then Herbs and Healing with Clay, though I doubt he'll want to teach after dealing with Anemone... Which means...

She frowned as she realised what this meant and Daniel smiled with a large smirk.
"Which means we don't have anymore lessons for today, do we miss?"

Tsunami didn't say anything, she only sighed before muttering.
"Lucky is what you guys are"
She then walked away to deal with Anemone's annoying shenanigans.

Daniel spoke once she left,
"So I'm going to take that as a yes to no more classes for today.

"YES!" Winter yelled, "Moons I really did NOT want to do anything today"

"But you never want to do anything" Qibli joked and Winter slapped him with his wing for that one.

"Alright, well if that's it then I want to go and feel some things outside for the first time" Peril said, excited.

"Oh cool, I'll come join you guys" Star said, being so quiet that Daniel forgot she was even there... Again.
"I need to learn the layout of this place anyways so outside may be a good starting point"

"Ooh! I'll come too!" Kinkajou squealed.

And already everyone was preparing to leave for the outside, however that's when Turtle said something.

"Wait just a second though... I want to check something.." He said.

"Oh yeah? And what's that?" Daniel asked curiously as he got up from his stone ledge.
However then something caught him by Surprise.

Suddenly, Turtle clawed at his face as if he was trying to attack him, but this wasn't what shocked him... It was what came after.

In almost like a sort of flash, Daniel's body seemed to work on its own, he couldn't really explain it.
Quickly Daniel ducked under Turtle's vicious swipe as he used his tail to sweep his legs from under him.

On Turtles way down he caught his open talon pulling it up slightly to change his falling course of rotation so he ended up on his stomach instead of his back.
Finally Daniel pinned him with one arm against his back in a painful position.

In a mater of moments Turtle went from swiping at Daniel to lying face down on the ground.
A few moments after that happened, Daniel got off of him and tried to process what just happened.

The others all looked as frightened and surprised as he did.
"WHAT WAS THAT HURRICANE?!" Winter yelled of shock.

"I-I don't know... I've never done anything like that..." Daniel said as he looked down at his talons.
"It was like I already knew what to do.. Even if I've never done it... Does.. that make sense?"

The others still looked at him, however soon Turtle got up and said something which made them all turn to him instead.
"Well I guess that means it worked then"

Daniel whipped around, "Excuse me? What do you mean? What worked exactly?"

Turtle smiled, "Did you really think Peril's hatching day gift was the only spell I casted?"
Turtle shook his head.
"Qibli, you said we wouldn't be able to get anything done in the Scorpion den if we didn't have the skills right?"

Qibli nodded, yeah that's right. If we don't have the skills to sneak around the place or even just to fight properly then we'll be dead meat"
He took a pause,
"But what does that have to with Hurricane suddenly pinning you? And why did you even attack him in the first place?"

Turtle giggled, "I'm surprised you hadn't figured it out yet but I fixed the skills of 'master assassins' issue that you said we needed"

Then it clicked in Daniel's Head.
"Wait... No.. YOU DIDN'T!" Daniel yelled with fear but Turtle only laughed.

"Yeah, I did. I gave us all the skills of assassins so we would be able to get what Vulture stole from Hurricane back."

Now everyone's eyes went wide.
"Turtle! What about your soul?!" Daniel cried.
"Please tell me you only did it on a few of us..."

Turtle gave him a look of idiocy.
"Didn't you just hear me... I said I gave it to ALL of us."

Daniel looked at him in the eyes...
"Why... Why would you do that...?" Daniel growled.

"What else am I supposed to do ?! Just let you waltz in there with no fighting skills whatsoever? YOU'LL DIE" Turtle yelled.

"Yeah but I could at least TRY! AND YOU WOULDN'T HAVE TO WASTE YOUR SOUL LIKE THIS!"
Daniel shouted back.

"YOU WOULD DIE IF YOU WENT IN WITH NOTHING!" Turtle screamed, trying to get some common sense thought to him.
Though nobody, not even Daniel expected what came out of his mouth next...

"AND WHO CARES IF I DIE? HUH? I DONT HAVE ANYONE!" Daniel screamed... Tears rolling down his cheeks as he fell to the ground in sadness.

"I don't have anyone... My parents are dead... My sister is missing... I never even got to say goodbye..."
Tears ran down his cheeks, creating a small puddle on the floor.

"So I don't care. I don't... Give a CRAP if I die! Because then I'll see them again... And it's not like anyone cares about me here anyways."

He fell silent before he looked up at a shocked Turtle who looked like he was also about to cry.

"Hurricane..." He tried as he put out a talon though Daniel then got up.

"Forget it, I'm sorry for yelling at you Turtle, I know you were only trying to help" Daniel apologised, but as he turned to leave Qibli stopped him.

"Where do you think you're going? You're not planning on doing this yourself are you?"
He said as he pushed Daniel back onto his ledge.

"Guys listen-" Daniel protested but was interrupted.

"No, you listen here. You're our friend now and we care about you, alright."
Peril said strongly.
If we didn't we wouldn't of bothered to go all the way to the Ice kingdom and back for a litteral scroll which has now been stolen"

"Exactly, and you do have dragons who care, you have us. And we'll be with you, all the way" Moon said with a smile.

"I mean, now that Turtle gave us these skills we're kind of forced to" Winter pointed out but after a glare from Star he added "but nonetheless, we'll all be by your side"

"Really? You'll still stay with me? Even after all the trouble I put you guys through?" Daniel asked, bewildered as he wiped a tear from his eye.

"Yeah! Of course we will?" Kinkajou inputted "Isn't that right guys"
Everyone nodded.

"So what do you say?" Turtle asked with a determined smile.

"You ready to crash a compound?" Qibli added.

Daniel looked up at all of them as he grabbed the sickle the Gatekeeper gave him from a hidden loose stone below the ledge.

He smiled devilishly as he flipped the sickle in his talon.
Part of his face shining menacingly in its reflection.

"You bet I am."

Chapter Text

The Night was cold as the cool wind blew against the group's scales.
Further in the distance were the dim lights of the Scorpion den.
Their black cloaks swayed in the wind as they flew.

The group had left a little while ago, but not before getting a brief understanding of the skills Turtle had magically given them.

At first, it was weird to just happen to have the fighting skills of assassins and over and over again everyone surprised themselves with what they were able to pull off.

Even Kinkajou the smallest of the group, managed to pin both Turtle and Qibli at the same time.
This surprised and scared everyone to the core and even made Winter spit out the water he was drinking when he saw them get brawled by her.

'And that's when she wasn't even going invisible... Wow this magic really works
Daniel thought softly as he clutched the small piece of Skyfire that Turtle had given him in a temporary replacement for the one in his bag at the scorpion den.

He thought back to definitely the most eventful practice brawl that the group had before leaving for the scorpion den.
'Me and Kinkajous little spar'

Multiple scenes flashed through his mind, however, he didn't let himself dive too deep into the scene.
It was in the underground lake, at first it was just a normal basic spar as both dragons dodged each other's attacks.

They had agreed on no fire or abilities and just raw fighting so it came as quite a surprise when Kinkajou suddenly went invisible.

It caught Daniel off guard when it happened. However, he did realise that whenever she moved quickly there was a small translucent ripple in the air.
Kind of like the ones from when the surface of something is extremely hot and it radiates off.

Of course, it was barely noticeable so it was essentially impossible to see where she was going.
'She did manage to get quite a few hits in on me at that point but she made the mistake of trying to attack me from the front'

At that point he was on the edge of the lake and when he saw one of her movement ripples he ducked down beneath her.
Her scales shifted colours to purple and orange as surprise overcame her when he was able to predict her movement.

Daniel didn't know but he was sure at least someone was shocked by what they just saw.

While she was visible Daniel grabbed her by the talon, not too harshly as to hurt her but enough so he had a good grip.
She wasn't able to move properly as Daniel had a grip on her.
He pinned her to the ground.

"So what exactly did we agree on?" Daniel said with a smirk.

"Uhm, no cheating with abilities of any kind?" she responded nervously.

"And what did you do?"

She sighed as she saw struggling against Daniel's grip was futile.
"Cheated by using my abilities..."

"Mhm, and do you know what cheaters get?" Daniel asked as his smirk widened.

"Uhm... A second chance?" Kinkajou asked with a shy smile.

Daniel shook his head, "They get soaked" and with that, Daniel picked her up and chucked her into the lake.

She squealed something nobody could make out before she fell into the lake with a relatively large splash.

She resurfaced with a hilarious displeased look which made everyone else laugh.

However soon he was woken up from his daydream by the sound of Winter speaking to him.

"So remind me again, what's the point of these things you call... 'Codenames' Hurricane" Winter asked as he put emphasis on the word 'codenames' while making sarcastic claw gestures.

Daniel sighed, "They're for communication without giving up our real names" Daniel explained.

"I seriously don't think this is needed, aren't we just getting in and out?" Winter asked.

"Yeah, sorry Hurricane but I'm with Winter on this one," Peril said equally unconvinced about the whole idea of having codenames.
"Like in what situation would we need these?"

"When you would want to communicate with one of us" Daniel said.

"But then I could just say our normal names"

"and risk them knowing who we really are? No! Then they might come for us!" Daniel pointed out."

"He has a point Winter, and plus I kind of like the codenames" Qibli interjected.

"That's only because you got a decent one! Mine literally couldn't be any less original" Winter barked while Qibli just snickered.

"Chill out 'Subzero', it's a cool name in my opinion" Qibli laughed which just made Winter blow frostbreath out of his nostrils in annoyance.

"Like I said, completely non-original Qibli, or should I say 'Scorch' instead since you seem so happy with that" Winter sighed.
"Why couldn't it be anything cooler like Hurricanes or Kinkajous? Or even Turtles!"

"Hey, mine isn't that cool!" Turtle said, joining the conversation.

"Oh please! your codename is literally 'Karma'! That's probably one of the best ones! And Kinkajous is 'Ghost!' That's much cooler than my idiotic one,"
Turtle opened his mouth to speak but nothing came out.

"See! Even he knows it!" Winter complained.

"Oh just deal with it, Winter! At least yours makes sense!" Peril said, "Me, Star and Moon don't even know what our ones mean!"

Daniel's ears perked as he heard this.
"Oh, I can answer that," He said casually.
Everyone turned their heads to him.

"Oh cool! What do they mean?" Moon asked.

"Well first off, Moon yours is 'Wolf' correct?" Daniel asked to confirm.
Moon nodded her head.

"Alright then, in my dimension those are animals which are loyal and devoted to family, they're quite shy but are strong fighters and quite intelligent"

Moon's eyes widened, "Oh, Neat! Thanks for clearing that up"
She seemed quite contented with Daniel's answer however Winter just seemed even more jealous to an extent.

"OH COME ON! THAT SOUNDS SO COOL!"
Winter said.
"Agreed," Qibli said and was joined by Kinkajou.
"Yeah! You got such a cool name!"

Moon looked down shyly, "Thanks, though what do Perils and Stars mean?"

"Oh yeah! What's ours?" Star spoke up excitedly.

Winter Muttered softly, "It's probably better than mine."
Daniel shot him a face but said nothing.

"Okay, well your codename Peril, 'Phoneix' is an immortal bird from my dimension's mythology which possesses the power of fire and represents the sun."
Daniel explained.

"And Star your codename 'Deadlock' doesn't mean much in my world but it represents a sort of blockade in the way of others which I take as to not letting others get in your way, almost as if you don't let the actions of others have an effect on you"

He took a breath of air, "That was a mouthful," everyone seemed content with their codenames, except for Winter who looked filled with envy.

Daniel sighed, "Winter you know your Codename doesn't suck right?"

"Yes, it does," Winter spat "While everyone else gets cool meaningful ones! Mine doesn't mean anything!"

Daniel sighed again, "I know it doesn't mean much to you right now but you'll know how meaningful it is when it comes to it"

Winter scoffed and ignored him, "whatever I'll deal with the stupid name" he muttered 'Sub-zero... How original... ' under his breath.

However, then Kinkajou piped up, "Hey guys! I think we made it!"
Everyone else looked up to the bright light from the small town just up ahead.

The group hid behind a semi-large desert dune which overlooked the whole scorpion den.
It was much larger than Daniel initially thought it was. it was significantly larger than a town but not large enough to be called a city.

Daniel overlooked the place searching for something however then Qibli pointed a claw out towards the town.
"There, do you see that large building in the distance"

Daniel looked further to where Qibli pointed, but then he saw it. Back in what appeared to be the centre of the city was a significantly larger building.

He couldn't see it properly from where they were but he estimated it was a circular building, maybe had a garden of some sort.

"That's the compound... One of the most fortified buildings in the Scorpion Den. Lined with traps and landmines. The home of my family and most importantly... My grandfather, the most dangerous dragon in the city."
Qibli finished his small speech and there was a small moment of silence before it was broken by Daniel.

"Alright, are we ready for this?" he lwwwwwwwooked around at the others who all nodded.
"Okay then, don't forget your codenames, let's go get our stuff back"

Daniel flipped the sickle in his talon while Qibli adjusted the hidden blade which was still on his forearm.
Turtle clutched his own weapon in his talon as he looked down at it.

Daniel remembered teaching him what it was and how to use it while the others were having a friendly spar with each other.

He didn't have much time to go over it but he taught him the name of the weapon and what it did.

He explained it was called a Sword breaker and for obvious reasons.
The smooth sharp side of the blade was used for offensive use and to attack your opponent.

Meanwhile, the serrated side was used to catch and break any blades which got caught in it by bending them.
Usually, they didn't break the weapon however they are very good at disarming the wielder.

They never got much practice in and Turtle said he never wanted to hurt anyone with it but he knew how to use it properly which was a good thing.

Soon they found themselves on the rooftops of the scorpion den, maybe about two or three blocks away from the compound.

Qibli however stopped as he analysed what to do next.
"What? What's the matter?" Daniel asked.

"We need to split up, there's no doubt going to be some of my grandfather's minions patrolling the area. We'll have a better chance if we take off in pairs and try to find any potential weak spots instead of just barging in there.

"Alright, Me and Star can take the left side from the streets.
Qibli, You and Winter take the right from the streets.
Kink and Turtle you guys can take the left from the rooftops and Moon and Peril you guys can take the right from the rooftops."
He paused to make sure everyone followed what he was saying.

"If you find anything that we could potentially use to get in, make a mental note of it and we'll all meet back here in ten minutes.
Don't try to be stupid and run inside! That's a good way to get caught or killed... Or both"

"Alright, good luck everyone, We're going to need it here, and remember! Don't call ANYONE by their real name. You don't know who could be watching." Qibli said.

It was clear that everyone was put on edge after that but nonetheless they decided to be brave as each duo went their separate ways to scout out the area.

Star and Daniel both dived Down to the darkened streets of the scorpion den and it was really just as creepy and sketchy as Daniel pictured it when reading the books back on Earth.

The ground was lined with small stone pebbles and golden sand which looked dark orange compared to the normal yellow color of the day.

Burning torches were used to light the way down the dark winding alleys which seemed to go on forever.
However, what really set him on edge was the fact that he could have sworn he saw dark-shifting shadows moving about within the unlit alleyways.

"Jeez, for a place that supposedly has a lot of inhabitants, it's dead quiet at night," Star whispered.

"Yeah... This place is really sketchy... " Daniel responded.

Their steps echoed through the deadly dark pathways as they approached the large luxurious compound which really stood out now that It was much closer up.

They were about a block away at most and Daniel kept a watchful eye on his surroundings.
The sickle was hidden within his cloak which conveniently happened to have a concealed pocket on the inside of it.

'Honestly, with the way that we're dressed, we'd probably fit right in with any other sketchy dragons doing who knows what at this time of night.'

They continued on in silence, but that's when Star muttered something to Daniel.
"Do you hear that?" she asked.

Daniel listened to the world around him, it was dead silent, nothing but the sound of their soft breaths to be heard, not even the wind which was blowing just minutes ago showed up.

"I don't hear anything, why?" Daniel whispered back to Star.
However, she ignored him and instead had a face of deep focus.
"Someone's following us" Star finally said.

Daniel's eyes widened, "How can you tell?"

"Just listen"

Daniel did as Star said and listened, he didn't speak or have anything on his mind, he just listened... As closely as he could... And then he heard it.

Right after he took a step he made a soft tap sound on the stone pathway. Star was the same but she was in time with him so there wasn't a second tap from her. However, there was a very faint second tap right after he took a step, and since it wasn't coming from Star it indicated there was another dragon nearby.
'Ah, wonderful... Exactly what we need right now. A stalker.'

"Do you hear it?" Star asked, Daniel nodded,
"So what do we do about them then?" Star asked but Daniel was already ahead of her.

"You know," Daniel spoke much louder so that the stalker could hear him.
"You're not very good at following others"

They both turned around to face their stalker who turned out to be three dragons instead of one.

They were all Sandwings, one of them was quite large and most definitely already an adult while the other two were much smaller and probably around Qibli's sibling's ages.

The adult Sandwing had a large brutal scar across one of his eyes and multiple other ones further down his body.

The younger dragons didn't appear to have any however they certainly didn't look weak in the slightest.

The adult Sandwing chuckled, "How did you know?"

"Your talon steps," Star answered, "They were out of place"

The older Sandwing smiled, "Clever, very clever. Though unfortunately, I don't think Cleverness will help you now"

Daniel looked at him with a puzzled expression however he soon realised that the older Dragon couldn't see it because of the hooded cloak.
"Why do you say that? You're not planning to mug us, are you... Because that wouldn't be wise"

The two younger Dragons by his side snickered, "Dude you guys are like half our sizes. You're still dragonets, don't come at us with your bluff" said one of the younger dragons.
"Yeah, don't try us. We'll kill you in an instant if we have to" said the other but the the adult interrupted them.

"Now, now, boys. What have I told you about making remarks at our victims."

The other two younger boys groaned and sighed.
"Sorry Dad," They said simultaneously.

Now Daniel was really confused.
'Dad? No way these guys are a family... Then again, Qibli's family does run the place so honestly I'm not surprised.

"Look, we appreciate the talk but me and my friend here need to go and do something now, plus we have nothing on us so there's no point mugging us if that was your plan"

He turned to Star who replied.
"Yeah, me and Reaper here need to go and have a nice... 'Chat' let's say... With Vulture over there," She pointed a claw to the compound and immediately two of the dragons laughed.

"You guys are going to the compound!? Do you have a death wish? Nobody who goes in there unwelcomed ever comes out alive!" Spoke the adult dragon.

"Yeah! You guys are dead meat if you even step near that building." Remarked one of the sons.
However, one of them... the youngest one was completely pale.

"W-what did you just say...?" he spoke.

The others looked at him concerningly, while Daniel was confused...
"Are you alright? Do you need help?"

Daniel reached out a talon but instead, the Dragon who was much older than he was looked at him like he was some sort of demon.

"Oh no! Dad! brother! we need to get out of here!" he yelled as he looked with terror between Daniel specifically and his family.

"Hey! What's with you? You're normally never this scared? Are you looking at the old wanted posters again?" Said his older brother.

"Yeah... B-but there's been a new one sent out!" He shivered.

"Okay but what's the matter? You know Vulture sends one out like every day essentially and the bounties are always minimal, like one hundred to a thousand gold, if that" Spoke the adult Sandwing as he looked down at his son.

"N-no! You don't understand! This one was issued by the Icewings! The same copy of it has been sent throughout the whole of Phyrria, This has never happened before!"

"WHAT! Show me!" Yelled the Father who snatched the parchment out of his son's hand.
His face also went pale once he saw the parchment.

Daniel and Star stood there until Daniel realised.
"Oh crud! Deadlock we need to meet up with the others!" Daniel said to Star before turning to the trio of Sandwings.

"Listen here you idiots, you've wasted our time here and if it wasn't for the fact that we need to get back to the rest of our group you'd be knocked out on the floor right now, so If you could move out of the way it would be nice"
Daniel said to the trio but none of them was paying any attention to him, instead, they were all staring at the price of parchment in the Father's claws with pale faces.

"Uhm, hello! Can you get out of our way please?!" Star tried but she was soon asked a question by one of the Sandwings.

"Is... Is it true you destroyed the Great Ice cliff...?"

Daniel and Star looked at one another...
"How did you-" Daniel snarled but to his surprise, the three Sandwings soon answered.

"We're sorry for bothering you, please don't kill us. We'll be on our way now"
Soon all three of them ran off into the darkness, leaving Daniel and Star puzzled about what just happened.

"What was that?!" Daniel expressed,
"They threaten to kill us and then proceed to run away?"

"Well whatever it was that scared them so much was on that piece of paper." Star pointed out.
Daniel looked to the ground at where the trio of Sandwings were once standing and a singular piece of parchment lay face down on the ground...

Daniel walked over to it and picked it up... And then he felt his own face go pale, and his heart rate increased.

It was a wanted poster... A wanted poster issued by Queen Snowfall of the Icewings.

WANTED
DEAD OR ALIVE

Alias: REAPER

Description:
- Skywing,
- Dragonet: About six years of age
- True name unknown.

REWARD: $100,000

here was a clear-drawn photo of Daniel, luckily for them, there were no colours on the poster so they couldn't identify what colours his scales were but it was clear he was a Skywing.

Either way though, he didn't get away with what he did back in the Ice Kingdom, he was now a Wanted criminal... And according to those Sandwings... The first one ever to be wanted across the continent...

He looked up from the poster to see none other than the Gatekeeper, staring at him from the darkness.

Gσσԃ ʝσႦ Dαɳιҽʅ, ყσυ'ɾҽ αʅɾҽαԃყ ɾҽɯɾιƚιɳɠ ყσυɾ ʂƚσɾყ... Hαԋαԋαԋα

He disappeared just as fast as he was there, but either way one thing was for sure.
'he's right... I've unknowingly rewritten my story... And my story is the story of a villain...

He sighed, "Let's go Deadlock, we need to break the news to the others, there's no going back anymore"
And with that, the duo leapt into the air to break the shocking news to the rest of their friends.

Chapter Text

Daniel and Star both touched down on the rooftops where the others were also just arriving.
Daniel had the rolled-up poster clutched within his talon, he didn't exactly know how to tell them properly but he'd do it somehow.

Once they re-joined the others Qibli was first to speak up.
"Alright, what did everyone find?"

"The rooftops are completely locked down, me and Wolf met up with Ghost and Karma as we circled the perimeter.
There is a way in but it's guarded by a dozen of Vulture's minions.

Qibli nodded," Alright, Sub-zero and I potentially found a way in, but let's hear what Reaper and Deadlock have to say first.

Daniel took in a breath.
"We got jumped by a trio of Sandwings," Daniel admitted.

"What?! Are you guys alright?" Qibli asked with some fear in his eyes.

"Yeah we're fine, at least at the moment" Star said.
The others were confused.
"What do you mean by that?" Turtle asked as he raised a brow.

"See for yourself," Daniel said as he handed Qibli the wanted poster.
His eyes went wide.
"Woah! You're wanted all over the continent! And your bounty is... Impressive," Qibli exclaimed.

"Let me see that!" Winter said as he snatched the poster from Qibli's talons.
"A hundred thousand?! Woah we really made Snowfall angry,"

"Apparently so," Daniel said. "Luckily for you guys you don't have wanted posters yet, so let's keep it that way." he gestured to Winter and Star who played a part in the destruction of the Great Ice Wall.

They both nodded profusely with that idea.
"Alright, since Reaper and Deadlock got jumped I think we should just use the potential way we found Scorch" Winter said.

Qibli nodded,
"Right, follow us"

Soon Winter and Qibli began to run across the rooftops, the others followed behind them.
Some of them struggled to keep up because many of the jumps were sketchy, so they decided to fly next to them.

Daniel however was having a great time and had no issue keeping up since he used to do parkour a long time ago.
He wasn't the best at it and was usually always scared of falling, but now that he had wings he was doing things he would have never dreamed of.

He leapt from one building to the next with ease and easily kept up with Winter and Qibli who were actually not bad at what they were doing themselves.

He decided to take a slightly longer route for fun where he leapt off the main stretch of a building into a wall run on another for a little while before he jumped off onto another building.

Coming up to a sloped rooftop he saw his friends eventually come to a large drop up ahead to which everyone seemed to glide down to the ground.
Instead of doing that, however, Daniel decided to be a little stylish.

He slid down the side of the rooftop before doing a flip off the end of it for fun.
Afterwards, he glided down to where his friends were sitting as they waited for him.

"This the place?" Daniel asked.
Qibli nodded.
They stood In front of a large white and gold marble wall which Daniel guessed was surrounding the compound.
It was luxuriously decorated with neat carvings and easily stood out from the other houses.

"Phoenix, can you cut us through?" Qibli asked.
Peril nodded, thanks to Turtle's magic she focused her firescales to one claw which surprisingly burned hot enough to melt the smooth polished stone.

It wasn't a quick process however as Peril's claws kept overheating and she'd end up burning herself after a while so she needed to keep switching between claws.

However it paid off eventually as she cut through the smooth wall, now all that there was left was an unmoved chunk of polished marble.

"Okay, so how do we move this without making a huge amount of noise?" Moon asked in a hushed voice.

"Well If we pull the chunk towards us then we should be able to catch it and move it aside" Turtle pointed out.

"Karma, this thing is probably as heavy as a boulder, honestly I think it's better if we just tip it over and run in there," Winter said.

"And risk us getting caught 'cause of the massively huge noise it'll make when it smashes on the ground? Moons no that's a terrible idea!" Star exclaimed.

"Well, what's your plan then?" Winter retorted, Star was about to answer him when a sudden voice was heard behind the wall.
"Psst! Guys! It's me"

"Huh? Ghost is that you?" Winter asked.

"No it's one of Vulture's idiotic minions, Yes of course it's me!" Kinkajou commented Sarcastically which got a quick snicker out of Qibli. Winter shot him a glare.
"How did you get inside? Didn't you say that the rooftops were locked down?" Daniel questioned.

"I went invisible" Kinkajou answered, they couldn't see me." She answered.

"What about your cloak though? Can't they still see that?" Moon commented and Kinkajou just laughed.
"It's right behind you Wolf"

Moon turned around and saw the dark black cloak sitting in a clumped pile behind her talons.
"Oh, I see,"

"Ghost, how many of Vulture's guards can you see?" Daniel asked.
Kinkajou stayed silent for a moment as they awaited her response.

"Maybe about three" She finally answered.

Daniel sighed, "Alright are you able to knock them out or potentially get them out of the vicinity so we can move this block right here?"

"I mean I can try but I'm not sure how, I don't have any blow darts on me at the moment...I mean I could always just... Kill them.. but I don't really want to hurt anyone." She said though there was a sort of lump in her voice when she said 'kill'

"No no, there's no need to kill anyone! we'll figure something out" Turtle piped up, however, Kinkajou didn't reply.
A few moments later then was the sound of voices from behind the wall.

"Hey! Who ar-" Spoke one voice before it was cut off by something, there was a Thump' That was heard behind the wall and then fell silent.
Next was the sound of what Daniel thought to be a singular Rainwing dart but it sounded a little off, like it was heavier than normal.

Soon however there was one last loud 'CRACK' As something large hit the marble wall from the other side.

This caused the already loose chunk of marble to fall over towards the group.

"WATCH IT!" Daniel called as he dived out of the way of the falling block.
Moon quickly grabbed Kinkjaou's cloak before getting out of the way herself.

The block slammed to the ground And there was a loud crash as it shattered into coarse rough edges.
Everyone flinched when it did so and
A small burst of dust from the debris shot into the air before settling down on the floor again.

"Well so much for being quiet" Peril retorted before she ran through the hole in the wall.
Everyone else followed her in to see what the commotion was behind the wall.

As they all ran through they found themselves in a sort of garden.
The entire place was surrounded by the marble wall in a circular motion.

The garden itself was beautiful. It was decorated with various colourful flowers and exotic plants you would never find anywhere in the desert.

Daniel looked around,
'Wow, even if Vulture is the most dangerous dragon in the whole city he's definitely got some good taste in decoration.'

Then he spotted Kinkajou in the middle of a soft patch of grass, she had her back to them as she looked down at herself.

"Hey... Are you alright?" Moon asked as she approached the now noticeably trembling Rainwing.

"Kinkajou..." Moon said softly, Daniel shot her a soft glare for using Kinkajous's real name but he dismissed it.

The small Rainwing turned around, tears in her eyes.
Crimson blood was splattered in her claws as she fell into Moon's wings.

"I-I didn't mean to... He made me... He made me do it."Kinkajou sobbed.

Daniel looked around at the scene and he realised why Kinkajou was so distressed.

Three Sandwing guards lay distant from one another, at first Daniel assumed they were all knocked out as that's what he told Kinkajou to do... But as he looked closer, he saw different.

The first one lay on the ground, red running blood spilt out of their slit throat.
The second was on the other side of the garden, an arrow lodged through one of its eye sockets and out the back of its head.

The last one sat against the marble wall, their head was still attached but not in a proper way, meaning the large crack that they had heard earlier was the neck of the dragon snapping.

"I didn't mean to!... He.. He made me do it! Told me that I needed to..." Kinkajou continued to sob as she curled up in her friend's wings.

At this point, everyone else had noticed the three dead bodies scattered in the garden and it was safe to say that they were all terrified.

"Ghost... What happened here..?" Daniel asked, Kinkajou looked at him with teary eyes.
"I told you... He made me... I didn't want to... But he made me.."

"Who's 'He'?" Winter asked with a puzzled expression.
She shook her head.
"I don't know... He was like a moving shadow... He had white glowing eyes and a white smile... It was almost like he was controlling me..."
She shuddered as she finished up her sentence.
"How are they..? What did I do to them...?"

Daniel looked down at her sadly, she caught his expression and her eyes went wide.
"They're dead... Aren't they? I killed them... didn't I?"
Kinkajou said as she crawled out of Moon's embrace.

She walked over to each of the bodies, she looked at her own claws with disgust at what she'd done.
However, she soon wiped a tear from her eyes as she picked something up from one of the bodies.

Kinkajou walked back sadly, Daniel saw that she knew it was too late to do anything, the damage had been done.
'So instead she's choosing to be strong and push through her regret... I'm sorry Kinkajou... If only we were there to help...'

In Kinkajous's talons were two items, in the first talon she was carrying what appeared to be a crossbow, probably wielded by one of Vulture's minions before Kinkajou killed them...
'Well from the looks of it two of them were quick deaths, so at least they didn't suffer much, I can't say the same for the one with the slit throat'

In the other talon was a small gold-coloured key which seemed to be helpful.
Kinkajou -traumatised yet strong- walked passed her friends as she unlocked the entrance to the main compound with the key.

She looked back to Moon,
"Can I have my cloak back..?" She asked softly, "I don't want anyone seeing my scales like this..."

Moon nodded as she handed the slightly oversized cloak to the smaller Rainwing who put it on quickly.
"Reaper, you take the lead from here... I'll hang back with Ghost for a little while," Moon said.
Daniel looked at her and nodded, "Right, we still need to get what we came here for,"

He pressed forward into the place, with the others following him in except for Moon who sat back to calm Kinkajou down.

Upon entering the building he realised how rich Qibli's family was.
Smooth, polished, sandstone walls had engraved carvings of what appeared to be a pattern of diamonds of different shapes and sizes.

A large bright yellow chandelier hung from the circular ceiling which was surrounded by smaller metal lamps which also had cut-out carvings.

"Sheesh... I didn't know your family was this rich Scorch" Daniel stated.
Qibli choked at his remark, "Ha yeah! When your grandfather is a massive crime boss you tend to roll in the gold."

"We can see that" Star added with awe.
There was a huge door made of high-quality polished wood with even more carvings.

Daniel stared at the door and couldn't help but think to himself.
'Bro, what is with Vulture and carvings? Like my guy, did you carve out this entire place or something?'

"Ehh well, I personally think the Icewings are richer than this but nonetheless it's pretty impressive for the Scorpion den" Winter said.

Qibli ignored his remarks and they all walked through the large wooden door to the rest of the compound.

Behind the door the place expanded, and that was when Daniel realised that the place was so much larger than it appeared.

Daniel's jaw completely dropped when he saw it.
Behind the other door of the already pretty big building lay a massive piece of land which was almost like a small town in itself.
Decorated with hanging lamps and a smooth pathway leading to other smaller buildings which Daniel guessed to be sleeping quarters.

At the very back of the place lay one massive building, even larger than the one they had just left.

Winter's face fell to shock and Qibli grinned, "Yeah, that wasn't it alone don't worry, there's still plenty more,"

Daniel looked up at the dark sky, the moons were directly above them.
Stars glittered through the thick clouds which threatened to storm later on.

He also now saw why nobody was ever able to get inside.
Despite the open sky above, there were about a dozen Sandwings perched on the side of the compound walls, watching the surrounding areas all night.

They wouldn't be able to fly out without being spotted so they were forced to get out the same way they came in.

"Alright, if our stuff will be anywhere it'll be within his treasury," Qibli explained.
"So we're heading straight for the main building" he pointed a claw up the pathway.

"But how? There are probably at least twenty dragons watching this very area," Peril pointed out.

Qibli shook his head, "Now this is where these cloaks come in handy, watch how it's done"
Suddenly Qibli dashed out into the open, however, he just seemed to disappear after a few moments.
That was until he re-emerged behind one of the sleeping quarters.

Daniel saw what he did, he ran through the dark shadows where the light didn't reach and because of the black cloaks, you could barely see him.

Qibli looked over to them before he beckoned them to follow him.
Daniel looked from side to side, "Stay in the shadows" He whispered to the others.

He sprinted out into the open, running off to the side to avoid the glowing firelight from the lanterns.
He ran as quickly and quietly as he could, luckily the sand in the area helped with suppressing his talonsteps.

He eventually made it to where Qibli once was but he must of run ahead of him when he saw him coming over.
Daniel couldn't see where Qibli was.
'He must be too blended in for me to see, I guess that's a good thing.'

Daniel looked back to see Winter and Star also following him so that was his cue to leave.
He dashed out again towards the main building where Qibli would meet him but fate had other plans.

As he was running two guards on ground patrol just happened to be walking the opposite way as him and they nearly crashed into one another.

Daniel had little to no time, the cloak prevented the watch guards above from seeing him, but these two walking towards him definitely would.

Lucky for Daniel there was a door right next to him which just happened to be open, he ducked through into the room without thinking twice just as the guards walked by.

"Hey, was this door always open?" Spoke one of the guards.

"Beats me, I barely come around this side of the compound" Spoke the other.

The first guard grunted in thought,
"Well honestly I don't see the point in carrying all this equipment, nobody ever comes in here anyways so I'll just leave it in here for now until the end of our patrol,"

"What if someone does come in though? Then what?" said the second guard, however, the first guard was already inside the room.
"Relax, nobody in their right mind would try to break in here,"

There was a semi-loud clank as a bundle of weapons was placed on the ground just a few steps away from Daniel who was hiding in the worst yet best place possible.
'Behind the door... It's so obvious that nobody ever checks it'

"What about that Reaper kid?" Said the other guard as the first one left the room Daniel was in.
His ears perked as he heard his codename.

"Who?"

"Did you not hear?! He's the first ever Dragon wanted all over Phyrria! He's even more wanted than Vulture."

"Oh really? That's impressive, what did he do? Burn down a village or something?" The first guard appeared to be quite ignorant Daniel observed.

"HE DESTROYED THE GREAT ICE CLIFF!" shouted the second guard which from what he could hear caught the other guard's attention.

"WHAT?! HOW?"

"Nobody knows but he's extremely powerful."

Daniel couldn't help but smile at the fact that some strangers he didn't even know were calling him powerful.
'Well, I guess I've got myself a reputation...'

"Well if he can destroy an ancient enchanted landmark then he's got to be... How old is he anyways?"

"That's the shocking part... He's a dragonet, around six"

"HE'S SIX?! AND HE'S MORE WANTED THEN VULTURE?!"

"Apparently so, but either way, we should get a move on, we can't stall on the patrol"

"agreed,"

With that they both left the vicinity allowing Daniel to exit the house safely, however, before he left he noticed the pair of weapons on the ground and two things stood out to him.

A small jar of what looked like a sort of black liquid and what was without a doubt... A kunai, another weapon of Earth.

'What? Why is this here... And how did they get it? Has calamari brain also been giving out Weapons to other dragons? If so then we may have an issue.'

Quickly, Daniel snatched the two items while the coast was clear and sprinted towards the other building where he already saw everyone inside.

They all turned their heads to meet his.
"Where have you been!? Peril scolded him as he entered the place.

" Look, I ran into some trouble alright, but I'm fine now"

"Oh, but ARE you?" spoke a powerful voice from further inside the building.

Soon the dragon himself came out into view.
Covered in dragon skull tattoos and accompanied by his two eldest grandchildren.
Vulture entered the room...

Soon the exit was blocked by dozens of Guards, they were surrounded, locked inside with the enemy.

"I've heard some things about you, Reaper." Vulture said sinisterly "You got quite a reputation, and I respect it from one crime boss to another. However, I am curious... Why have you decided to break into my compound?"

"You should know the answer to that!" Daniel remarked, "Especially since you sent the dragons by your side to steal from us... Or more specifically... Rattlesnake and Sirocco."

The dragons next to Vulture shifted expressions from a smug devilish smirk to a puzzled surprise.

"We don't want to start trouble here, so we'll leave you alone if you give us back what's rightfully ours," Daniel demanded.

Vulture however only burst out in laughter,
"You can't be serious?! You're outnumbered here! If anything you should be making a deal for your own safety,"

But then Daniel let out a chilling Laugh which sent shivers down the spine of everyone there, including Vulture though he didn't show it.

"Vulture, tell me? Ever heard of 'Death's Whistle?" Daniel asked as he began to whistle a very creepy tune.
However, what Vulture or anyone else in the room didn't know was that it was a signal.

Suddenly out of nowhere Moon dropped from above and knocked Vulture towards Daniel.
Kinkajou appeared from thin air and kicked both Rattlesnake and Sirocco down to the ground.

Daniel quickly whipped out his sickle and held it against Vulture's throat, threatening to kill him right then and there.

Moon and Kinkajou held down Vulture's tail harshly, refusing to let it go off the ground.
He was completely defenceless...

"Nobody move!" Daniel ordered "Or Vulture gets it!"

"Reaper.. Can I say something to him?" Qibli asked, Daniel looked at him.
"Go for it"

Qibli walked up to his defenceless grandfather,
"And who are you?! Some Sandwing traitor of mine?"

"Not exactly, but I reckon you'll figure it out."
He sighed,
"My... My... What a pitiful creature..." Qibli said as he extended the hidden blade.
It shot past Vulture's face and left a cut on his cheek...
"You deserve this you know..."

"WHO ARE YOU?! WHO ARE YOU GUYS!?" Vulture screamed.

Qibli leaned closer to him.
"You can call us... The Heathens... Remember the name... Grandfather."

Chapter Text

Vulture's eyes went wide after what came out of Qibli's mouth...
"Q-Qibli?!" He stammered as he tried to retreat from his grandson's grasp but reconsidered when he felt the weapon pressing against his throat.
Rattlesnake and Sirocco gasped slightly as they looked down at their younger sibling.

"Little brother..?" Rattlesnake asked.
Qibli shot her a deadly glare, "Don't you dare! You have no right to call me that!" He snarled at his sister.

"But we're family-" Sirocco started but Qibli interrupted him.
"Not anymore!" he yelled angrily, "Not after you guys abused me and after Cobra SOLD ME OFF!"
Qibli's eyes were deadly, filled with a striking rage built up over the years.

"Give me ONE good reason why I shouldn't slit your throat right here and now,"
he pressed his blade harder into Vulture's neck until it started to draw blood.

"Because then you'll be just like us," Spoke a voice from out to the side.
Qibli turned to look at who spoke, from behind Qibli's shocked siblings came a much larger female Sandwing.

Daniel saw Qibli growl and assumed this to be Cobra, however, what sealed the deal were the Chakrams on the side of her body.
"What's the commotion here?! I come back from one assassination and you guys are getting invaded? Pathetic,"

"Hello there, Glad you could join us Cobra," Spoke Daniel formally.

Cobra turned to look at him, she had just come back from one of her jobs so she was still cloaked but Daniel managed to see the puzzled expression from underneath it.
"Who are you?

"Ah, my apologies for not introducing myself, the name's Reaper, though your father here seems to already know about me."
He gestured a claw to Vulture, shifting his view between Qibli and the blade he was pressing against his throat.

"Cobra.. Dear... I know I never say this but... Stand down."
This sentence shocked every Sandwing in the room, even Qibli was dumbfounded.

"W-What?! You can't be serious?! You're just going to let a bunch of dragonets run in here and rob you? They're half your size!"
Cobra yelled with anger but Vulture shut her down.

"Yes, and they managed to break into this place and reach the main building without being spotted, nobody's been able to even lay a claw in here before them, so they know what they're doing,"

Daniel looked to his friends knowing that everyone, including himself, had no idea what in the world they were doing and just happened to get lucky with how things played out.

'Yeah, we definitely know what we're doing, mhm... Totally...'
He thought sarcastically as he turned to meet Cobra's eyes.
At this point, she had taken off the cloak, or at least partly, her face wasn't concealed anymore but the back fabric still rested slightly on her back.

"What do you want? Gold?" Cobra asked.
Daniel shook his head, "We want what you took from us"

She raised a brow, "Which is?"

"Ask your kids, they're the ones who stole from us anyway," Daniel said as he shot a deadly glare towards Rattlesnake and Sirocco who at this point were shaking with fear.

Qibli looked to Daniel, surprised.
He just shrugged in return,
"Don't look at me, I ain't doing nothing, not my fault they're terrified."

Qibli laughed a little, "Right, whatever you say Reaper"
Qibli looked back into Vulture's dark eyes.
"Give back what you stole from us"

"Only on the agreement that you leave right afterwards," Vulture added but Peril interjected.

"How about on the agreement that we don't burn your place to a crisp," she said with a glare.

Vulture stared into her eyes...
"Th-that works too... Though first, you'll need to let me go"
Vulture gestured to Moon and Kinkajou who were holding down his venomous tail.

"Very well, but if you try ANYTHING you can say goodbye to your 'precious little compound'"
Daniel said with sarcastic claw gestures before he ordered Moon and Kinkajou to get off of him.
They did so but kept a careful eye on him as they re-joined the group.
Qibli was hesitant but retracted his blade back into the holder.

"There, now where's our stuff?" Daniel demanded.
Vulture looked into Daniel's eyes, He didn't know what the Sandwing was thinking of but he nonetheless, led the way past the wall of minions, they shot them all dirty glances though the group didn't pay any attention to them.

As they were walking they passed through Vultures armoury. The walls were littered with different weapons of all kinds however two of them caught his eye.
A small miniature crossbow and what appeared to be a dual blade from what Daniel could tell.
it was a relatively small thin weapon however what set it apart was that it was double-sided.
on each side of the handle was a thin but sharp black coloured blade.

'Hmm, those could come in useful' Daniel thought.
He looked behind him to see the rest of his group, as well as Cobra but she didn't seem to be paying attention.

Daniel made his move and as they approached the wall, he swiftly took out his talon and snatched the dual blade, crossbow, and bolt quiver before hiding them inside the pocketed cloak.

His cloak was now quite full however and looked sort of bulky,
'Well, I guess I should probably distribute these out'
He walked a little slower and allowed Moon and Kinkajou to catch up with him.

"Psst, take these" He whispered.
He handed the Kunai he had picked up earlier to Moon while he gave the small crossbow and quiver to Kinkajou.

They looked at him with puzzled expressions.
"What are these for?" Moon asked curiously as she looked down at the small concealed weapon in her talons.

"I don't fully trust Vulture to not pull something, I mean there's a reason people fear him right?"
Daniel explained in a hushed voice.

"Right, so what are we supposed to do? Kill him?" Kinkajou asked, her value for life seemingly nowhere to be found after she had her first kills earlier.

"What!? No! We're not killing him. That's a good way to get us all on wanted posters, and a good way to raise Reapers bounty" Moon remarked.

"Fine then, so let's say he does pull something, then what?" Kinkajou asked questionably.

Daniel sighed, "Well... Then I guess we kill him..."
Moon looked horrified.
"You can't be serious?! We'll all be wanted criminals if we do that!"

Daniel was about to respond when Star came up to them.
"Hey, whatcha' guys talking about?"
Quickly, without answering her question Daniel passed her the dual blade.
She took it without question but seemed puzzled about it.

"We're planning Vultures murder to answer the question,"
Kinkajou said but was shut down by Moon.
"No! We're not killing him!" she exclaimed quietly.

"If he tries something we might need to! Or else we could risk the lives of our Winglet"
Kinkajou shot back.

"I'm sorry but can someone please tell me what's happening? We're going to kill Vulture?" Star asked as she looked down at the unique weapon in her talon nervously.

"No, we're not... But we have suspicions he might try something on us, and if he does... Then we might have to resort to extreme measures," Daniel explained as he glanced down at the weapon Star was clutching.

"That. Is just in case he does." He gestured to the weapon and Star nodded.
"Alright, I understand"

Daniel nodded, "Good, now I need to go talk to Scorch about something. Ghost, can you be our eyes in the sky? Keep an eye on Vulture,"

Kinkajou nodded, "I can do that, but won't they notice this?" she gestured to the Small crossbow in her Talon... It was much smaller the the one she took off from the dead Sandwing guard which suited her better not to mention that they probably had to leave the original one behind since it was so large.

"Not as long as you keep it under your wing" Daniel pointed out.
"But do you know how to use it, if all comes to worst?"

She examined the weapon before nodding, "I think I'll manage" She said briefly but before Daniel could get another word in they heard Vulture's voice from further up.
"Alright! We're here"

"Guess that's my cue, I'll be watching don't worry" the Rainwing spoke before she disappeared and left her cloak on Moon once again.
There was a small "Sorry Wolf." That came from above them before it fell silent and she was gone.

"Alright, look after yourselves, I'm going to see what Mr Tattoo over there has in store for us."
Daniel walked away from his friends and up to where Vulture was waiting for him.

Cobra was already next to him which struck Daniel as odd considering he had sworn that he saw her just some time ago behind them.

However, as he approached the menacing duo he shrugged off the idea and tried to look as confident as he could despite being only half their size.

"So... You promised to leave immediately as soon as you got what you wanted correct?" Cobra asked sceptically.

"Yes that's right, as long as everything is in there of course," Daniel said.

"Of course," Vulture repeated as he walked off, however, there was a sort of off-tone to his voice... Almost like he was excited.
'He's most definitely planning something... Be prepared Daniel..'

Soon he came back holding what looked like Daniel's bag.
"This is what you're after isn't it?" He asked casually, but once again, that off-putting excitement lingered in his deep obsidian eyes.

"Yes, now If you were to hand it over that would be appreciated... Don't make yourself regret playing with me," Daniel warned.

"Oh no, don't worry I'm not playing... But I am curious.."
Vulture opened the bag and pulled out Barren's map before tossing the rest of the stuff at Daniel's talons.

Daniel quickly opened his bag up and scoured through it, everything was there except for the map which was in Vulture's claws.

"Where did you get this map Reaper? Because I must say it was quite impressive, very detailed."

Daniel scowled, "A talented friend gave it to me, now if you were to please hand it back that would be highly appreciated..." He extended a talon and Vulture stared at him before finally responding.

"No."

"No?!" Daniel repeated.

"No," Vulture concluded, "I've been looking for this very map for a very long time, why so isn't of your concern but I'm not giving it away after I finally have it in my grasp."

Daniel fell silent before he smiled devilishly.
"I'm not concerned about why you want it because it won't matter! We had a deal and I suggest you stick to it!"

He turned to see everyone else staring at him. Moon looked with wide eyes and Daniel dropped the Skyfire he had been carrying along this mission.

'He's not going to give up the map... So things are going to get ugly... Tell the others,'
He picked up the Skyfire again and saw Moon nod in his direction. Indicating that the others would be ready.

"Vulture... I've been kind, if I wanted to I would have just killed you right then and there in the other room and taken my stuff back for myself, instead I let you live, don't make me revoke my kindness."

"Is that supposed to be a threat?" Vulture growled.

"Take it as you will, but I'll tell you one thing, I don't care if it's with this place destroyed or with you all dead or both even... We're not leaving without that map."

Vulture shot him a glare to which Daniel didn't flinch, he raised his venomous barb in a deadly manner.

"I'll give you one last chance," Daniel said in a harsher tone.
"Give me the map... Or these pearly walls won't be white for much longer..."

It was clear to Vulture that Daniel wasn't backing down no matter how hard he tried to scare him, he had finally met his match.

"Very well then, if you won't leave without this map... Then I guess you won't be leaving at all..." He turned to Qibli who was staring at his grandfather with a glare so cold it was almost unnatural for him.

However what Qibli said to Vulture next really scared Daniel even though he had just threatened to murder him himself.

"I should have killed you when I had the chance..."
The thing was that the way he said it, pure hatred within his tone and the way he was looking Vulture in the eye, unmoving... It terrified Daniel.

'Woah... Who knew cheerful, joking Qibli could be so terrifying...'

He looked up to Vulture and knew he was also thinking the same thing.
"Well... He is most definitely your son Cobra" Vulture said.
"But either way... I'll leave you to it, this map will change everything for us... And we can't have some meddling dragonet ruin it."

"Very well father... Leave me to it" Cobra said as she took out her Chakrams from behind her back.
Daniel sighed as he turned to look at her.

Vulture in the meanwhile ran out the doorway, the map clutched inside his talon.

"What's wrong? Scared? I wouldn't be surprised, after all, I doubt you have any fighting skills... " Cobra snickered.

"You'd be surprised," Daniel retorted which earned him a glare from Cobra.
"Alright I've had enough of you!" she snarled as she lunged towards Daniel.

She swiped dangerously over his head as he swiftly dodged it.
Using his tail he whacked Cobra in the legs which put her off balance but wasn't enough to knock her over.

"Go! Get the map! I'll take care of this one." Daniel yelled to the others, they looked at him with reluctance to leave but did so nonetheless.

Qibli looked back to see Daniel face off against his mother. Daniel saw this and reassured him it would be alright.
"Hey, I'll be fine! Follow the others. Meet me at the outer edge of the Scorpion den!"

Qibli looked back, it was clear he wanted to fight but Daniel wouldn't let him even if he pleaded.
Eventually, he ran out an open door and out onto the compound again to follow everyone else.

"Well then... Now that that's been settled... Let's dance shall we?" Cobra said smugly.

"Deal"

Cobra lunged forward aiming right for Daniel's throat with the sharp end of the Chakrams for a quick kill but Daniel swerved out of the way before it could hit him.

However, she landed back on her talons and at a moment's notice she was on the attack again.
Cobra slashed at Daniel's legs with her venomous barb before attempting to slice through Daniel's chest.

Luckily for him, he saw the barb coming in time and instead ran at Cobra before leaping and dropkicking her in the chest.
It caught her by surprise and she was thrown into a wall which dislodged a few stones.

Unfortunately, the Chakram still managed to hit him, his blood was splattered on the wall and a cut was revealed on his forearm.
It was only a small gash but it was still surprisingly painful.

Daniel was, however, shocked with himself of how strong his hits were to pay any attention to it and instead fell into his thoughts.
'Guess it's just another perk of Animus magic...'

He watched Cobra groan as she got up again, clearly, she wasn't expecting to get brawled by a dragonet but here they were.

"I see why Father was afraid of you... Though don't act tough just yet, I'm just getting started here"
Cobra laughed.

"Wow, you can laugh? From what Scorch told me you were as cold as ice," Daniel joked.

Cobra growled and leapt up from the wall as she tackled Daniel to the ground. She dug her claws into his scales which caused crimson blood to paint the floor red.

Daniel slashed across her face with his claws, this got her front two talons off of him which allowed him to quickly lift his torso and headbutt her chest.

It was just enough to free him but before he knew it she was already back once again looking for more.
He rolled out of the way and back on all fours where he shot a blast of fire towards her.

It hit her square in the face which made her topple over into a table, snapping it in half like a twig.
The room was still halfway intact but with the way things were starting to pick up, he doubted it would be for much longer.

Cobra used her fire against him as she tried whatever she could to kill him.
She slashed at him with her Chakrams, clawed at him and used her venomous tail barb, she even threw furniture at him but she just wasn't able to injure him sufficiently.

Of course, she did get a few hits in among Daniels's cheek, wings, and legs but these were all from being hit with incoming furniture, she was never able to land a proper hit with her weapons.

At this point Cobra was exhausted for two reasons: One, Daniel had managed to somehow dodge all of her incoming attacks except for the furniture ones.
And second, Daniel hadn't even taken out his weapon yet, like he wasn't taking the fight seriously.

He wasn't because he didn't want to kill Cobra and instead just wanted to tire her out.

The room was a complete mess, the furniture and wood were ripped and broken, the walls and floor were cracked, there was a huge hole where the doorway used to be and some areas of the room were on fire.

Daniel turned to Cobra who looked like she was about to collapse but she continued.
She was on the edge of a wall when she spoke.

"Alright, I'm done with you... TAKE OUT YOUR WEAPON AND FIGHT ME PROPERLY! "
Cobra screamed as she angrily threw her chakrams towards Daniel.
They flew like bladed Frisbees which would take his his head off if they hit him.

"As you wish!" Daniel yelled as he pulled out his sickle and with one clean movement, he hooked both of the flying Chakrams within the sickle ring.

The blunt handle ended up whacking into his side which didn't leave a cut but instead a painful bruise.
Blood Leaked from his forearm and dripped onto the floor.

Cobra was stunned at how Daniel had managed to catch the Chakrams mid-air, too surprised in fact that she didn't even notice When Daniel sent them flying back at her.

They lodged into the walls right next to her head as Daniel towered over her. He pressed part of the sickle into her throat.
Cobra looked at him with fear. For the first time, she had lost a battle against her foe.

Wing flaps and the sound of talons echoed behind him as he turned around to see none other than Rattlesnake and Sirocco standing in the doorway...

"Mother!" Rattlesnake called, she was about to attack Daniel when out of nowhere a crossbow bolt flew right past her face.

"Don't move!" Spoke Kinkajou as she reloaded her crossbow.
She landed behind Daniel with a deadly bolt aimed straight at Qibli's siblings.

Cobra suddenly grabbed Daniel's forearm, a trickle of blood lined from her mouth down to her chest and she was covered in dust, dirt, blood, and bruises.

"Pl-please... Don't hurt them..." Cobra said.
"I know we're your enemies but please..."
A tear, a genuine tear fell down her face and onto the floor.

Now Daniel was confused, from the books it was clear she didn't have much care for Qibli at all... But as far as he remembered it didn't say much about her not loving any of her children even if it's probably true.

'Yet here she is... Crying... Pleading to let her kids live... I can't tell if it's an act or if it's real... But it won't matter anyways...'

Daniel sighed as he took the Sickle away from Cobra's throat.
"You guys are pathetic... No wonder Qibli never wanted to come back here" Daniel said.

He didn't bother using his codename since it was only Himself, Kinkajou, and his family in the room.

"Let's move Ghost, the plan is already in session," Daniel said.

"Plan? What plan?" She asked wonderingly.

The plan Scorch, Phoenix, and I went over in private... If things went south... We'd burn this place to the ground."

He turned to Qibli's family,
"Look, I don't really care what happens to you since you're all terrible dragons... But since I'm feeling kind today I'll give you a warning... Get out before it's too late..."

Rattlesnake looked at him, "What do you mean? You're not going to burn down to compound right?! We'll have nowhere to go!"

"Well, then you better ask Queen Thorn for forgiveness and maybe... Just maybe... she'll let you stay with her for a little while"
Daniel said.

"Yeah, right! She wouldn't let us stay even if we gave her all the gold we had!" Sirocco spat.

"Well I don't know, but I gave you a warning, you can choose to take it or not," Daniel said finally.

"Wait..!" Cobra gasped, her voice was raspy and she struggled to speak.
"What exactly... Are you going to do...?"

Everyone turned their heads to Daniel so said in the coldest manner he could.
The wind from outside blew wanted posters onto the room.
They all had the same face on them... The face of 'Reaper'

"Say farewell to the Scorpion den... Because it'll be nothing but ashes when we're done with it."

Chapter Text

Everyone in the room was shocked.
Kinkajou looked at Daniel with a surprising mix of fear and admiration.
Sirocco and Rattlesnake looked vividly terrified meanwhile Cobra was too focused on the outside world to comment.

Daniel looked outside, the night was still dark... Or it was... Until there was a bright flash in the night sky.
Then a massive bang echoed through the city and most definitely woke everyone up.

Daniel spotted multiple black dragons take off into the night sky.
Kinkajou stood next to him, her eyes wide with fear...

"You never said anything about this..."She said softly as a massive unmistakable glow of fire began to reach into the sky...

"Because we know you would never agree to it... And besides, this place is a terrible place with terrible dragons" Daniel responded as she watched the flames.

"But what about everyone else?! You know some normal civilians live here right!" Cobra suddenly interjected.
She was finally able to walk again but there was no chance she would be able to fight.

"This is the only city in the desert apart from Thorn's Stronghold! If you destroy it you'll put the lives of hundreds if not THOUSANDS of dragons into jeopardy!"
Cobra screamed.

She seemed genuinely distressed which was odd for her to say the least.
Daniel sighed.
"This place... Is filled with dragons like you who don't care about others and instead steal from anyone they can think of,"

"But-" Sirocco started.
"No buts," Kinkajou said which caught their attention.
"We gave you a warning, now leave,"

They looked back to the smaller Rainwing with confusion.
"Why are you here? Aren't Rainwings just lazy fruit eaters? You're not cut out for this," Rattlesnake barked.
However, this was a mistake...

Daniel's eyes went wide, as Kinkajou's scales went a dark red almost matching his.
"Well good job, you just signed your death wish," Daniel remarked.

Kinkajou went invisible but before she could do anything Daniel grabbed her by the tail.
"No! Don't use your energy on them we got more important things to do."
He stumbled forward a little as Kinkajou revealed herself just inches away from Rattlesnake, bearing her fangs at her.

Rattlesnake jumped back a little.
"Okay! I take it back, we'll leave now... Mother let's go,"

Cobra stumbled forward as she limped over to her children.
Daniel eyed her sceptically still not convinced that she loved them but he shrugged it off.
'Not my problem anyway'

"Alright, let's go Ghost. We're done here"
She nodded and they prepared to take off but before they could Cobra asked one last thing.

"Reaper..?"
Daniel turned to meet her eyes.
"What." He said with an irritated tone.

"Why haven't you killed us yet..? Why haven't you killed me yet..?"
Daniel was sort of shocked at the question but he answered it anyway.

"Because even though you're our enemies killing you wouldn't do any good, if anything it would make us more wanted than we already are..."
Daniel sighed... However, it was a half lie, to be honest.

It was true that killing Qibli's family wouldn't do much to help with their rapidly growing reputation.
'But it's also because... Cobra won't make it through the night... If what the Gatekeeper said was true... She'll be dead by daylight... From Qibli's claws...'

Daniel took off into the sky as Kinkajou followed behind him.
He arched upwards into the sky to get a better view of the chaos.

His eyes widened as he saw it, he knew what to expect when they discussed the plan, however... He never expected it like this.

Bright orange flames reached up into the sky as a dark murky cloud of ash erupted, contaminating the sky above.

Nearly an entire block of houses had been set ablaze in the short period they had been here.
He saw multiple dragons flee the scene of mass destruction as they ran off away from the fire while others took off into the sky.

Kinkajou flew up to him.
"Oh my moons... What have you done..."
She stared down at the chaos.
That's when she spotted a small Sandwing Dragonet hiding from the flames behind a visibly unstable piece of rubble.

Daniel also noticed this... And suddenly for a second... His humanity returned to him.
He dived down towards the small Dragonet without a second thought.

Burning Flames grew closer to the rubble but after another explosion nearby it ended up toppling over.
However, Daniel was able to quickly scoop up the child despite them being a little heavy before the rubble was able to crush them.

He crashed into the ground, scraping off some of his scales in the process and spilling more of his blood onto the streets.

Daniel cradled the Small innocent Sandwing in his wings as it trembled.
He crashed up against a building which luckily wasn't on fire.

He stared down at the Dragonet who had its eyes shut.
Eventually, it opened them up to meet Daniels, his hood had come off while he was out tumbling on the ground so he didn't appear frightening to the small child.

The Small Sandwing smiled up at him and immediately wrapped its small wings around his chest.

"Awww!" Kinkajou squealed as she landed next to him.
"He likes you,"

"Are you sure it's a he? I can't tell," Daniel said as he tried to gently pry the dragonet off but he seemed to be clinging to his chest tightly.

"Well to be honest neither can I but he looks like a boy to me," Kinkajou said.

"Alright well, can you help me get him off of me because we can't go back to the others with a Dragonet strapped to my chest,"

Kinkajou didn't say anything but she walked over to him and started to lightly tickle the small dragon.
It laughed happily and lost its grip on Daniel's chest before Kinkajou took him off.

"You're welcome," She said, "Now let's go, the others are probably worried about us,"

"Right, but what do we do with him?" Daniel asked as he looked down at the dragonet which Daniel guessed was only one or two years old since it was smaller than Kinkajou.

However, she didn't get to answer because suddenly a group of four dragons burst into view on the street across from them... And Daniel immediately recognised them.

"You...!" Daniel glared as he pulled out his sickle from his now torn cloak.
He put his hood back over his head as he bared his teeth.

The Sandwing Family across the street saw him, the largest of the group also immediately recognised Daniel.

It was the family from the dragons that tried to mug him and Star earlier.
As soon as they saw him fear immediately formed on their faces except for one of them who he guessed was the mother and didn't know about their earlier encounter.

"Reaper, Do you know these dragons?" Kinkajou asked.

"Oh, you bet I do... These guys tried to mug me and Deadlock in the alleyway earlier on!" He yelled his loud enough for them to hear.

"Look... We thought you were just some newcomer alright! We didn't know you were an experienced outclaw!" Spoke one of the sons.

"That still no excuse for what you tried to do!" Kinkajou interjected herself into the conversation.

She took a step forward toward them, however, they didn't move... They were all too terrified to move.

"Look, Mister! Whatever my husband and sons stole from you I'm sure we can return... Right? There's no need for any trouble here,"
Said the female dragon.

Daniel shook his head, "They didn't steal anything, they were too scared to but either way it doesn't matter, they were still wrong to do so,"

"Look... Reaper correct?" Spoke the father of the family.
"We apologise for trying to steal from you but you need to understand that half the dragons here are the same! Stealing is the only way to make a living here, it's just how it is!"

"Hunt or be hunted..." Daniel replied.

One of the sons nodded.
"We don't want any trouble, believe me, this fire has already burnt down our house... It also caused our little sister Shimmer to go missing... We're just trying to find her before it's too late..."

Daniel felt a pang of guilt in their chest and that's when he realised Cobra was right... Even though everyone here were all thieves, they were doing it to sustain themselves...
'And I just destroyed the very thing they worked hard for... And possibly killed one of their family members

"I don't want anything from you guys, you already seem to have enough problems..." Daniel said but suddenly the small sandwing he saved jumped up on top of his head and knocked him to the ground.

"AH!" Daniel shouted as he fell forward onto the pebbled street. His Weapon flew over to the family's talons in the process.
Kinkajou laughed and the Small dragonet joined in as he climbed off his head, pulling the hood down with its movements.

"Oh come on! Can't I get a break after saving you?!" Daniel remarked as he
grabbed the small Dragonet in his two front talons, out of reach from his body.

It had a goofy face on, Daniel scowled slightly at the dragonet.
However, soon the family in front began to gleam.

"SHIMMER!" Yelled one of the sons looking towards Daniel, but soon a deepened fear settled over them once again.

Daniel saw this and guessed what was going on.
'Ah lovely... This thing just happens to be their missing sibling and now they're terrified I'm going to do something to him... Wait her, not him, it's a girl right?'

He looked up again before he sighed, he walked over to them.
"Here, take your sibling back" He dropped the dragonet in the brother's talons before he went down to pick up his sickle...

That however is when the Mother of the family grabbed Daniel by the talon quickly. This startled him and instinctively he pulled down and ducked.

This caused the mother to lean over his back from which he then used his wings to boost himself under her legs which ultimately forced her onto her back.

It wasn't painful, it was more like a roll of sorts however she was definitely in a more vulnerable position.
Daniel dashed over her snatched his weapon off the ground and ended in a prepared position.

It all happened so fast that they didn't even know what happened.
"Wow, you're good" commented one of the sons, the older one.

Daniel looked at them and then back at their mother.
"Why did you grab me?" Daniel demanded in a not-so-harsh manner.

"I-I'm sorry" Replied the mother "You just looked so young..."

"It's because we are" Kinkajou interrupted as she suddenly appeared beside Daniel, her scales shifting colours rapidly.

The Sandwings were in awe, "A Rainwing? I didn't know your tribe had the guts to come to a place like this," remarked the younger son.

Kinkajou growled dangerously which made the Sandwing regret his choices quickly but Daniel inurrupted before Kinkjaou went into rage mode again.

"Look, Rainwings are misunderstood. They're not Lazy, just passive. And most of All... Extremely dangerous" Daniel explained.

"Anyways," Kinkajou said as her scales died down to normal again as she calmed down.
"We'll best be off, we need to meet up with the others"
Daniel nodded he was about to take off again but was stopped by the Father of the family once again.

"By the way. I know this is odd but thank you... Thank you for getting rid of this terrible place"

Daniel looked at him, surprised. "You're... Thanking us for this? Aren't you mad?"

The Sandwing shook his head.
"No, not at all really. Even if dragons don't want to admit it this place was terrible... Now that it's being destroyed they can move on like us" The father explained.

"Oh, well you're welcome I guess... Though I highly doubt that Thorn is going to see it that way" Daniel pointed out with a laugh.

He looked around at the fiery chaos before it looked like mass destruction... But if dragons believe it to be good riddance then he would let the place burn.

Vulture's luxurious compound stood behind him, the marble walls prevented the fire from spreading into it but he knew that if he were to light it on fire it would all burn since it was mainly made of wood.

"Hey, you want to see something cool?" Daniel asked the family who gave him a puzzled expression.

Daniel smiled as he sucked in and started to build up a large burst of fire like the one he did in the Ice Kingdom.
His throat started to burn as he kept building it up but he didn't let it out until a few moments later.

Kinkajou saw what he was doing when a reddish fiery glow started to shine through his teeth.

"THREE MOO-"

Daniel let it out in one massive roar.
The burst of fire that left his body was the size of maybe two whole buildings and it was unleashed into the compound.

The smooth shiny wood inside immediately caught on fire and in a matter of moments the place was set ablaze, and Vulture's reputation along with it.

Daniel coughed a little, and Kinkajou looked at him.
"Ouch... That's going to be painful for a while" She inputted to which Daniel nodded.

"Well, time for us to take our leave, may you guys start fresh and live a happy life"
Kinkajou beamed, despite all that they had done they were still children with good souls and nobody could deny it.

They took off into the sky towards the outer edges of the den where he had agreed to meet Qibli.

It didn't take long to make it there but what shocked them both was how fast the fire had been able to spread.
It was already through to about half the city and it was clear there was no stopping it.
The Scorpion den was done for.

They landed on the outer edges of the place but instead of finding Qibli, they found Vulture... Looking back at the place as it slowly crumbled into ashes.

Daniel landed in front of him, his weapon clutched in his talon as he took it out from his damaged cloak.

"What have you done..." Vulture gasped with fear...
Daniel ignored him,
"Where are our friends?" he demanded but then there was a call from further behind Vulture.

Everyone was sitting on a rock behind him as Winter had the map in his hands.
They rushed over to them.

"Hey guys! Glad to see you made it out alright."
Kinkajou said as she bounded up to Moon who smiled down at her.
"Yeah, it was a little scary but we're all fine, we got the map back"

"I noticed," Daniel said as he walked up to Winter.
"Thanks for keeping this safe for me Winter" Daniel said, technically speaking it was a bad idea to use his real name but since they were already out and Vulture seemed pretty occupied already with his thoughts it seemed fine.

"No problem" He said as he handed the Map back to Daniel who put it back in the bag around his neck. It felt good to have it back on him again for once.

Winter suddenly spoke again. "You know, maybe next time you should tell ALL of us the plan instead did just Phoenix and Scorch.

"Ah right, sorry about that" Daniel apologised to the group.
"But Winter I do have something for you"

Winter's ears perked at the sound of his name.
"Really? What is it?"

Daniel looked into his bag and pulled out the balisong, "This is yours now, I trust you to use it well and carefully" He explained.

"Oh Wow, thank you... I don't think anyone's given me a gift before, apart from Hailstorm that is"
Winter said as he took the blade in his talon.

Daniel felt bad for him after he said that.
He watched Winter try to work it out as he used two talons to open it.
But then he looked around and realised Qibli was nowhere to be seen.

"Hey, guys? Where's Qibli?" Daniel asked and the others looked at him with puzzled Faces.

"He said he needed to do something, we thought he was with you guys?" Peril explained
And that's when realisation flickered through all their eyes.

"Oh no... The dream" Turtle said. "You don't think he went to meet them right?!"

Daniel shook his head, he saw the look of hatred Qibli had when he was speaking to Vulture... Even if it's not him Daniel was certain he was going to go through with it.

"Stay here! I'll be back in a second! I need to stop him!"
Daniel shouted as he ran back to the fire where Vulture was, the tattooed Sandwing was still staring at it.

There Daniel spotted Qibli standing in front of his mother with Sirocco and Rattlesnake behind her.
They were talking, but with the flickering and cracking of the fire, Daniel couldn't make out what they were saying.

He was about to rush in, to stop him from playing into the Gatekeeper's mind games but it was too late.

With one swift motion Daniel watched as Qibli drove the blade into the side of Cobra's throat, she stayed there for a few moments just looking Qibli in the eyes... Before he pulled out, her body dropped to the floor... Dead...

As Rattlesnake and Sirocco fell to the ground above their dead mother, Qibli looked at Daniel.
However, he wasn't able to get any words in before the fire blocked his vision and an ominous voice was heard from behind.

Yσυ ƙɳσɯ ყσυ ƈαɳ'ƚ ʂƚσρ ƚԋιɳɠʂ ƚԋαƚ αɾҽ ɱҽαɳƚ ƚσ ԋαρρҽɳ ɾιɠԋƚ?
Spoke the unmistakable voice of the Gatekeeper.

Daniel whipped around to see him, clearly for once.
He had strange white glowing scales on his back and tail and circular patterns printed on his legs.

His wings appeared to be made of many separate white specks with bright white outlines on the edges.

Daniel stared as he pulled out his scythe, for some odd reason it was dripping fresh blood and he couldn't explain why.
He knew he never killed anyone... It may have been from when he first pressed his sickle against Vulture's throat but if so it would have been dry by now.

He decided to ignore the strange scene and instead looked back at the Gatekeeper.
"I know what you did to him... You made him believe it was the future and gaslighted him into killing Cobra" Daniel snarled, he took a slash at the Gatekeeper but it passed right through him.

The Gatekeeper ignored Daniel's pathetic attack and instead continued talking.

Sɱαɾƚҽɾ ƚԋҽɳ ƚԋҽ αʋҽɾαɠҽ Dɾαɠσɳ I ʂҽҽ... Nσ ɱαƚƚҽɾ, ყσυɾ ƚιɱҽ αɳԃ αʅʅ σϝ ყσυɾ ϝɾιҽɳԃ'ʂ ƚιɱҽʂ ɯιʅʅ ƈσɱҽ ƚσσ..

"And what's that supposed to mean? That you're going to gaslight them as well!?"

The Gatekeeper gave out a chilling laugh as he said one last thing before he left.

Then he disappeared, Qibli had already rejoined the group and they were ready to leave... Daniel walked back and they all took off as they left the smoldering city to burn to ashes.

They suspected that they would be back at school by sunrise and should be able to avoid suspicious if they could get a few hours of sleep in.

However, as they flew back, despite the quiet conversations going on throughout the group, the words of the Gatekeeper echoed in Daniel's mind the whole flight back to Jade Mountain.

"Yσυ ɯҽɾҽ ɯαɾɳҽԃ"

Chapter Text

The sun was relatively high in the air as it shone warm rays of sunlight into the world below.
Daniel was in his sleeping cave catching up on some rest so it wasn't obvious that they did some strange things the other day.

The group had arrived back to school yesterday at daybreak where they decided to sleep for most of the day before they all awoke around noon.
Even Qibli who was an early bird slept in.

Now it was Sunday in Daniels mind since he didn't know if there was an actual name for the days that Phyrrians used.
Daniel was simply lying on his ledge as he finished another entry on his scroll.

𝓔𝓷𝓽𝓻𝔂 𝓽𝓱𝓻𝓮𝓮

𝓐 𝓵𝓸𝓽 𝓱𝓪𝓹𝓹𝓮𝓷𝓮𝓭 𝓼𝓲𝓷𝓬𝓮 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓵𝓪𝓼𝓽 𝓽𝓲𝓶𝓮 𝓘 𝔀𝓻𝓸𝓽𝓮 𝓼𝓸 𝓘'𝓵𝓵 𝓫𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓴 𝓲𝓽 𝓭𝓸𝔀𝓷 𝓯𝓸𝓻 𝔂𝓸𝓾.

𝓞𝓷 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝔀𝓪𝔂 𝓫𝓪𝓬𝓴 𝓽𝓸 𝓼𝓬𝓱𝓸𝓸𝓵 𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝓼𝓽𝓾𝓯𝓯 𝔀𝓪𝓼 𝓼𝓽𝓸𝓵𝓮𝓷 𝓫𝔂 𝓠𝓲𝓫𝓵𝓲'𝓼 𝓼𝓲𝓫𝓵𝓲𝓷𝓰𝓼 𝓢𝓲𝓻𝓸𝓬𝓬𝓸 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓡𝓪𝓽𝓽𝓵𝓮𝓼𝓷𝓪𝓴𝓮.
𝓦𝓮 𝓱𝓪𝓽𝓬𝓱𝓮𝓭 𝓪 𝓹𝓵𝓪𝓷 𝓽𝓸 𝓰𝓮𝓽 𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓷𝓰𝓼 𝓫𝓪𝓬𝓴 𝓽𝓸 𝔀𝓱𝓲𝓬𝓱 𝓣𝓾𝓻𝓽𝓵𝓮 𝓾𝓷𝓯𝓮𝓭 𝓾𝓹 𝓾𝓼𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓱𝓲𝓼 𝓐𝓷𝓲𝓶𝓾𝓼 𝓹𝓸𝔀𝓮𝓻𝓼 𝓭𝓮𝓼𝓹𝓲𝓽𝓮 𝓾𝓼 𝓦𝓪𝓻𝓷𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓱𝓲𝓶 𝓷𝓸𝓽 𝓽𝓸.

𝓗𝓮 𝓰𝓪𝓿𝓮 𝓟𝓮𝓻𝓲𝓵 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓪𝓫𝓲𝓵𝓲𝓽𝔂 𝓽𝓸 𝓬𝓸𝓷𝓽𝓻𝓸𝓵 𝓱𝓮𝓻 𝓯𝓲𝓻𝓮𝓼𝓬𝓪𝓵𝓮𝓼 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓪𝓵𝓵 𝓸𝓯 𝓾𝓼 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓢𝓴𝓲𝓵𝓵𝓼 𝓸𝓯 𝓐𝓼𝓼𝓪𝓼𝓼𝓲𝓷𝓼 𝓪𝓯𝓽𝓮𝓻 𝓠𝓲𝓫𝓵𝓲 𝓼𝓪𝓲𝓭 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝔀𝓮 𝓷𝓮𝓮𝓭𝓮𝓭 𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓶 𝓸𝓯 𝔀𝓮 𝔀𝓮𝓻𝓮 𝓽𝓸 𝓮𝓿𝓮𝓻 𝓫𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓴 𝓲𝓷𝓽𝓸 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓼𝓬𝓸𝓻𝓹𝓲𝓸𝓷 𝓭𝓮𝓷.

𝓦𝓮 𝓭𝓮𝓬𝓲𝓭𝓮𝓭 𝓽𝓸 𝓰𝓲𝓿𝓮 𝓸𝓾𝓻𝓼𝓮𝓵𝓿𝓮𝓼 𝓬𝓸𝓭𝓮𝓷𝓪𝓶𝓮𝓼 𝓼𝓸 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝔀𝓮 𝓭𝓲𝓭𝓷'𝓽 𝓮𝓷𝓭 𝓾𝓹 𝓼𝓹𝓲𝓵𝓵𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝓲𝓭𝓮𝓷𝓽𝓲𝓽𝓲𝓮𝓼 𝓽𝓸 𝓪𝓷𝔂𝓸𝓷𝓮 𝔀𝓱𝓸 𝓱𝓪𝓹𝓹𝓮𝓷𝓮𝓭 𝓽𝓸 𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓻𝓱𝓮𝓪𝓻 𝓾𝓼.

𝓦𝓮 𝓭𝓲𝓭 𝓶𝓪𝓷𝓪𝓰𝓮 𝓽𝓸 𝓫𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓴 𝓲𝓷𝓽𝓸 𝓥𝓾𝓵𝓽𝓾𝓻𝓮𝓼 𝓬𝓸𝓶𝓹𝓸𝓾𝓷𝓭 𝓾𝓷𝓼𝓬𝓪𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓭 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓰𝓮𝓽 𝓶𝓸𝓼𝓽 𝓸𝓯 𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓷𝓰𝓼 𝓫𝓪𝓬𝓴 𝓱𝓸𝔀𝓮𝓿𝓮𝓻 𝓱𝓮 𝓭𝓲𝓽𝓬𝓱𝓮𝓭 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓭𝓮𝓪𝓵 𝔀𝓮 𝓱𝓪𝓭 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓲𝓷𝓼𝓽𝓮𝓪𝓭 𝓻𝓪𝓷 𝓪𝔀𝓪𝔂, 𝓵𝓮𝓪𝓿𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓒𝓸𝓫𝓻𝓪 𝓽𝓸 𝓴𝓲𝓵𝓵 𝓾𝓼 𝓸𝓯𝓯.

𝓛𝓾𝓬𝓴𝓲𝓵𝔂 𝓣𝓾𝓻𝓽𝓵𝓮𝓼 𝓮𝓷𝓬𝓱𝓪𝓷𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓪𝓼𝓼𝓪𝓼𝓼𝓲𝓷 𝓼𝓴𝓲𝓵𝓵𝓼 𝓼𝓪𝓿𝓮𝓭 𝓶𝔂 𝓵𝓲𝓯𝓮 𝓪𝓼 𝔀𝓲𝓽𝓱𝓸𝓾𝓽 𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓶 𝓘 𝔀𝓸𝓾𝓵𝓭 𝓸𝓯 𝓫𝓮𝓮𝓷 𝓴𝓲𝓵𝓵𝓮𝓭 𝓮𝓯𝓯𝓸𝓻𝓽𝓵𝓮𝓼𝓼𝓵𝔂 𝓫𝔂 𝓱𝓮𝓻.
𝓞𝓷 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝔀𝓪𝔂 𝓸𝓾𝓽 𝔀𝓮 𝓼𝓮𝓽 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓹𝓵𝓪𝓬𝓮 𝓪𝓫𝓪𝓵𝔃𝓮 𝓯𝓸𝓻 𝓰𝓸𝓸𝓭 𝓻𝓲𝓭𝓭𝓪𝓷𝓬𝓮, 𝓶𝓮𝓽 𝓪 𝓯𝓮𝔀 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓷𝓴𝓯𝓾𝓵 𝓭𝓻𝓪𝓰𝓸𝓷𝓼 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓵𝓮𝓯𝓽 𝓫𝓪𝓬𝓴 𝓽𝓸 𝓼𝓬𝓱𝓸𝓸𝓵.

𝓤𝓷𝓯𝓸𝓻𝓽𝓾𝓷𝓪𝓽𝓮𝓵𝔂 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓺𝓾𝓮𝓮𝓷𝓼 𝓪𝓻𝓮 𝓸𝓷 𝓽𝓸 𝓶𝓮 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓱𝓪𝓿𝓮 𝓪𝓵𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓭𝔂 𝓼𝓮𝓽 𝓸𝓾𝓽 𝓪 𝓫𝓸𝓾𝓷𝓽𝔂 𝓯𝓸𝓻 𝓶𝔂 𝓬𝓪𝓹𝓽𝓾𝓻𝓮.
𝓘 𝓬𝓪𝓷 𝓸𝓷𝓵𝔂 𝓱𝓸𝓹𝓮 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓸𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓻𝓼 𝓭𝓸𝓷'𝓽 𝓶𝓮𝓮𝓽 𝓽𝓱𝔀 𝓼𝓪𝓶𝓮 𝓯𝓪𝓽𝓮 𝓫𝓾𝓽 𝔀𝓲𝓽𝓱 𝔀𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝔀𝓮 𝓳𝓾𝓼𝓽 𝓹𝓾𝓵𝓵𝓮𝓭 𝓸𝓯𝓯 𝓘 𝓬𝓪𝓷'𝓽 𝓼𝓪𝔂 𝓲𝓽𝓼 𝓵𝓸𝓸𝓴𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓰𝓸𝓸𝓭..

𝓔𝓷𝓭 𝓸𝓯 𝓮𝓷𝓽𝓻𝔂 𝓽𝓱𝓻𝓮𝓮

He put the ink away again and tore off the finished journal entry since he didn't want anyone stumbling upon it accidentally.
He rolled it up neatly and placed it near the bottom of the bag near the other one he had written.

He couldn't deny that the bag was much lighter now that a lot of the stuff they used to carry inside it such as the Balisong were now all tucked away neatly in the hidden hole in their sleeping cave.

Now the only thing that was in there was Daniel's scroll, Barren's map, the odd relic, and the Scroll of Chaos as well as a small bottle of an odd black substance which he had stolen off one of Vulture's minions after they left it inside the room he was hiding in.

'I should probably ask him about that' Daniel thought, he got up off his ledge and adjusted the bag neatly around his neck.

Turtle who was also in the cave looked to him.
"Where are you off to?"

Daniel turned around, slightly startled.
"Oh! I'm just off to find Qibli, need to ask him something"

"Ah, I see, also while you're at it make sure he's alright... After..."Turtle looked around to make sure nobody was nearby before he continued but Daniel understood what he was going to say.

"Yeah, I'll make sure he's alright after... That." Daniel said indicating to Turtle he was on the same page as him.
Turtle nodded and he went back to the small study desk the cave had.

Daniel left him to be and walked out into the Corridors of Jade Mountain.
It was odd, to say the least, he would never in a million years have been expecting to walk the halls of a fictional school.
'Yet here I am, Walking normally in a school of Dragons'

It took him a while but soon he found himself near the study caves.
He looked around, there were dragons in each cave and Daniel stopped for a moment.

'Alright if I was Qibli right now where would I be?' He thought for a moment and then it hit him.
'Wait Sandwing are musical right? Then he's probably inside the Music room... The only question is where it would be... Maybe I could ask someone, Sunny, maybe, she's probably the dragon who's most likely to know'

However then there was a tap on his shoulder, Daniel whirled around to meet the dark eyes of a small Sandwing, it definitely wasn't Sunny though because they had a barbed tail.

"Uhm, hello! Sorry to bother you but you looked like you were lost," Spoke the small Sandwing, they had innocent eyes which shone like polished Obsidian.

"Oh, yeah sorry I was looking for the music room... Or more specifically I'm looking for a friend who I think would be in the music room but I have no idea where that is," Daniel said.

The smaller Sandwing gleamed.
"Oh Really! I was just on my way there! I can show you if you want!"

Daniel smiled, "That would be nice, thank you,"

She smiled back, "My name's Ostrich by the way!"
She extended a talon which Daniel greeted with a shake.
"Hurricane,"

"Ooooh! Cool name!" Ostrich said, "Anyway follow me! I'll show you to the music cave,"
Ostrich began to walk down the hall and Daniel followed her as he tried to keep a mental note of the hallways.

It didn't really take long for them to reach the Cave, it was tucked back near the back of the school however it was still well-lit by torches and didn't feel at all creepy.

"Here we are!" Ostrich exclaimed as they entered the cave.
It was nearly shaped so that sound would bounce off the walls and a bright skylight really brought life into it.

Many of the instruments inside he didn't know the names of but of the ones he did know he saw: A harp, maracas, marimba, drums, and even an upright base which he found quite surprising.

Of course, it was nothing like what they had back on earth but nonetheless, it was cool to see some relevant items for once.
Near the back of the room, there was a sudden large banging of drums.

Qibli sat on the drumkit and with some makeshift drumsticks played an impressive Drum solo, he was able to make quick movements and beats without going too fast or too slow and kept a really nice rhythm.

It went on for a little while until Qibli spotted them Staring at him and immediately stopped.
"Oh! When did you guys get here!?" Qibli asked, a little startled.

"Just a little while ago, by the way, you're an extremely good drummer!" Daniel said.

"Really? Thanks! It's more of a hobby that I just happened to be good at," Qibli explained, "However, Ostrich there is incredible on the Marimba"
He beckoned Ostrich over to which she complied.

She grabbed the Bass and started to play a wonderful melody on the wooden instrument, Qibli slowly started to drum in tune as they gave Daniel a short private show.

Once it was over Daniel gave them a well-deserved applause.
"Wow... That was amazing"

"Really!" Ostrich beamed happily.

"Of course! You guys are talented! I don't have anything like that," Daniel said.
To this, they looked at him oddly.

"You don't have any sort of musical talent? I thought everyone could at least play some sort of instrument," Qibli asked to which Daniel shook his head.

"Nope, I don't have talent like that, I mean unless you count singing in my own time" Daniel joked but this caught their attention.

"You can Sing?" Ostrich asked.

"Well... Sort of, it's more of something I just do in my own time. It's not like I dedicate much into it like you guys with your instruments,"
He explained but they weren't convinced.

"You should sing for us," Qibli said, "Who knows, maybe you're a natural at it,"
Ostrich followed this up.
"Oooh! Yes, sing for us! Please! please! please!" She pleaded with puppy eyes.

Daniel sighed, "Fine, though I can't promise it'll be any good..."

"It's fine, go for it! We won't judge" Qibli reassured him.

Daniel took a deep breath, the only song he properly knew off by heart was 'Toxic' by Boywithuke since he used to sing it to get over the feeling of loneliness since he didn't have many friends on Earth.

"Oh by the way, the only song I know is a sad one, just a warning," Daniel said to them.

"Oh? That's interesting I've never heard a sad song before, all the songs we have tend to be happy and upbeat" Qibli said.

"Really? You've never heard a sad song?" Daniel asked but the Sandwing shook his head.
"The closest I had was a song about war but even then it was about peace so this should be interesting to hear"

"Ah I see, well if you want to know the song's about Toxic Friends" Daniel explained.
Qibli nodded and awaited Daniel's singing.

He couldn't deny that he was nervous, it was only two dragons but the nerves still whipped around in his stomach and chest like butterflies.

He took a deep breath and began to sing.

All my friends are toxic, all ambitionless,
So rude and always negative

I need new friends, but it's not that quick and easy
Oh, I'm drowning, let me breathe.

I'm better off all by myself
Though I'm feeling kinda' empty without somebody else
Oh,
I hear you crying out for help
But you never showed for me when I was ringing your cellphone

Oh, you don't know how it feels to be alone
Baby, oh,
I'll make you know, I'll make you know, oh~

I'm drowning, let me breathe~

I'm drowning, let me breathe~

I'm drowning, let me breathe~

I'm drowning, let me breathe~

But life is immaculate, backing it up a bit
Counting my hours and knocking on wood

Avoiding my opposites, chewin' on chocolate
Had a bit limited time, but I should,
Be good for a minute, don't want to admit it
I'm running on seconds, I'm rigid, I'm screwed.

Don't know what to do, I'm thinking of you
I'm drinking up bottles and bottles of booze.

I'm better off all by myself
Though I'm feeling kinda' empty without somebody else
Oh,
I hear you crying out for help
But you never showed for me when I was ringing your cellphone.

Oh, you don't know how it feels to be alone
Baby, oh, I'll make you know, I'll make you know, oh

I fell into your river
That's where you told me lies

You said that I'd feel better
But this is where good guys die

You took my pride away, but
You cannot take my life

I'll find another way
I'll wonder if you're takin' my life

Don't you see how I...

I'm better off all by myself
Though I'm feeling kinda' empty without somebody else
Oh,
I hear you crying out for help
But you never showed for me when I was ringing your cellphone

Oh, you don't know how it feels to be alone
Baby, oh, I'll make you know, I'll make you know, oh~

I'm better off all by myself
Though I'm feeling kinda' empty without somebody else
Oh,
I hear you crying out for help
But you never showed for me when I was ringing your cellphone

Oh, you don't know how it feels to be alone
Baby, oh, I'll make you know, I'll make you know, oh~

Daniel finished up his song and looked back to the two Sandwings.
He expected them to laugh at him for how silly his singing was but was met with the opposite.

Qibli was absolutely shocked.
"Wow... That was beautiful,"

"Pfft! Beautifully bad if anything," Daniel remarked but he was quickly interrupted by Qibli.

"No, I'm serious! That was amazing!" Qibli exclaimed.

"Wait really? I always thought my singing was mid," Daniel said.
Ostrich shook her head, "No it's SO COOL! Even if the message was sad,"

"Yeah, I mainly used it to get rid of bad thoughts, and It may sound ironic since it's a song about sad things but it worked," Daniel explained.

Qibli nodded, "Anyway, you have a really nice voice, you should put it to use." and to this, Daniel laughed a little.
"I'm glad you think it's cool but I'm not much of a music person, I just sing this to get rid of thoughts when needs be."

"Fair enough... But hey... Would you mind teaching me it?" Qibli asked shyly.

"Huh?" Daniel asked before he added, "I mean sure but why?"
Qibli shrugged.
"I guess I just want to use it... For the same reason you do" He shot him a significant look and Daniel understood what he meant.

"Oh... Right. Well, I can maybe teach you later today. If that works?"
Daniel offered and Qibli nodded profusely,
"Yeah that works"

"Alright then, I'll see you later" Daniel responded but just as he was about to leave he remembered the reason he came to find him in the first place, and what Turtle had said to him earlier.

'Right, I needed to ask him about what I acquired from Vulture's guards and to see if he's okay after the incident with Cobra... But I can't do it while Ostrich is here...'

"Hey Qibli!" Daniel called.

"Yeah?" He asked as he looked up to meet Daniel.

"Turtle wanted to talk to you later on today so drop by our sleeping cave when you can"

"Alright, will do" The Sandwing responded and with that Daniel walked out of the cave.

After a little while of getting lost in the corridors, he found his way back and entered the main hall of the mountain.

Many different Dragons of every tribe were hanging out.
Some of them with dragons of the same tribe while others with dragons of different tribes.

As he was walking he spotted colourful wings fluttering outside as he imagined the loud sounds of joy from outside.
Suddenly there was a call from behind him.
"Hey, Hurricane!"

Daniel whipped around to see Winter and Peril standing by the school's entrance. Beside them Was A relatively large crowd of coloured dragons all trying to get a good look at what appeared to be a notice board.

It was a small wooden frame with pieces of parchments of different kinds hooked onto it with what appeared to be...
'Thorns?' Daniel shrugged, 'Guess you need to make do with what you got'

He walked over to Peril and Winter
"Yo! What's up with all the commotion?"

"That's what we were about to say, apparently the results of everyone's flying tests have been made public!" Peril exclaimed, "We were wondering if you wanted to check them out with us"

"Oh! Cool! Yeah sure I'll take a look, I'm also interested in where I got placed"
Daniel admitted and together they all walked over to the notice board.
Or at least tried to since it was blocked by maybe a dozen or so students.

"Alright, so what's the plan to get in there?" Daniel asked Winter.

"Well I mean we could try and squeeze our way through all of them to the front" Winter theorised.
"Though they'd probably just get mad and shove us back if we tried"

"True... Well, there's also the option to try and hover in from the sides" Daniel said.

"And then have crash into them if we lose balance?" Winter pointed out.

"Right..." Daniel sighed. However, it was short as Peril soon spoke to them.
She was already in front of the notice board and the students seemed to have dispersed except for one or two who kept a good distance.

"What? Peril where did everyone go?" Winter asked, just as puzzled as Daniel was.

"Oh well almost everyone in this place is terrified of me so all I had to do was stand nearby and they all ran off" Peril said casually.

"Ah, that makes more sense," Daniel said as he and Winter walked up to join her.
They looked at the notice board and soon spotted the results of the flying tests.

Most dragons ended up scoring in levels two and three with some of them even scoring in level four.
Daniel cloned up to level five to see only a few names.
The only ones of the bunch he recognised were 'Flame' 'Anemone' and 'Peril' Many of the other names appeared to be Skywing names which wasn't surprising at all.

"Woah Peril look! You made it to level five!" Daniel exclaimed.

"Wow, I guess I did..." she smiled however it then fell to a sort of slight confusion "But how did Anemone get there, I don't think Seawings can fly that fast right?"

"I bet she probably enchanted herself to make it" Winter spat.

"True, there's no way She could realistically make it" Daniel agreed, I mean I could see her making level four but level five? It's a long shot"

Just then however none other than the Seawing princess walked in and overheard what they were saying.

"Uhm excuse me but what were you saying about me? Because it doesn't seem very respectful"

"Oh speak of the devil, here's mommy's girl in the scales," Daniel remarked which got a laugh out of Winter and Peril beside him...

"Watch your mouth Skywing, I wouldn't go messing with an animus if I were you" She flexed her talon dangerously but Daniel ignored her knowing that's what she hated the most.

"Anyways guys, let's debate this. Did Anemone cheat with her powers? Yes or no?" Daniel said as he turned to face his friends.

"Hey! I'm still here you know!" Anemone said.

"Well, we need to take in all the possibilities," Peril said,
"Although it's odd it's not impossible since she could very well be a good flyer, for example, Turtle was placed in high level four so strictly speaking if she pushed herself more than him it makes sense she made it to level five"

"Hello! Treat me with some respect, will you!?" Anemone shouted.

"True, but Anemone is known to use her powers to win things like these, I mean have you seen how she uses her powers foolishly, I wouldn't be surprised if she used them again in her mind to make herself fly faster"
Winter pointed out.

"STOP IGNORING ME!" she bellowed

Daniel turned to look at her, "Fine then, what do you have to say then Animus girl?"

She was extremely aggravated though Daniel didn't really care much for it but he thought he might as well listen to what she wanted to say.

"I didn't cheat! I'm not like you and your idiotic Icewing friend who probably scored level one and are just jealous of my success like everyone else" Anemone barked.

Winter growled but Daniel took his mind off of it by speaking again.
"Oh yeah! What about our ranks Winter?"

They both looked towards the board to find where they were however it appeared that him and Winter weren't on the list... At all.

"HA! You slow pokes did so bad that you're not even ON the list!" Anemone snickered, Winter was about to yell a rude remark back at her but that's when Tsunami came into view.

"What's going on here?" She asked as she stood over Anemone.

"Oh... Hey sis... How are you?" Anemone said in an innocent voice but Daniel could tell it was an act.

"Tsunami she's making a scene here and is making fun of Hurricane and Winter for not being on the board," Peril explained.

Tsunami looked at Peril sceptically, it was clear she wasn't fond of her for obvious reasons but there was no reason for her to lie about Anemone.

"Anemone," Tsunami sighed, "What have I told you about making fun of others,"

"But they ignored me and called me a Mommas' girl," Anemone whined however Daniel noticed that right after she said this Tsunami had to hold in a laugh and this made Daniel smile.
'So she knows it too, That's funny'

"Alright... Well, be nicer alright, especially since these two scored so high on the tests we needed to make another lever just for them," Tsunami said as she walked past Daniel and Winter who just looked at each other in confusion.

Tsunami quickly added another piece of parchment to the board and Daniel and Winter both gleamed as they saw what it was.

Tsunami had posted up another Level.
Level six, and there were only two names in there, 'Hurricane' and 'Winter.'

Anemone looked in disbelief as she saw the two dragons she was just bullying rank above her.

"Who's the slow poke now?" Daniel said, Anemone groaned and stormed off defeated.
Meanwhile, Tsunami just watched.

"Moons she is a talonful... Sorry, you have to deal with her all the time," Winter said to Tsunami.

"Don't worry about it, she's my sister, I can manage her," Tsunami said.

Soon Winter spotted Moon, Star and Qibli walking down from where the music room was.
They saw them and walked over.
Coincidentally Kinkajou and Turtle were also just arriving at the scene.

"Hey guys!" She squealed happily as she bounded over to them. "What's going on?"

"Me and Winter here just scored the highest in the school for the flight Results, check it out" Daniel said.

The others came forward and took a look for themselves.
"Level six?! I thought there were only five?" Turtle questioned.

"There were but when these two raced we needed to make a separate level for them because of how skilled they were," Tsunami explained.
"I mean you guys were there, you saw it for yourselves,"

"Well barely," Qibli inputted. "The observatory was so overgrown with trees to the point where you couldn't see practically anything"

"Agreed," Moon said,

"Really? Oh well, I'll have to get that checked out then. But anywho-" Tsunami started but was cut off by the sounds of flapping wings.

They all turned to look as a Sandwing messenger rushed over to Tsunami and handed her a scroll and multiple pieces of brown-coloured paper.

"Urgent message from Queen Thorn!" Spoke the exhausted messenger.

Qibli's ears perked up.
"Queen Thorn?! What's happened is she in trouble? Did someone attack her?"

Tsunami didn't answer instead she pushed forward to the notice board and began to frantically put up the pieces of parchment before she shouted out to everyone there.

"ATTENTION STUDENTS! THE SCHOOL IS UNDER LOCKDOWN PLEASE MAKE YOUR WAY TO YOUR SLEEPING CAVES!" She demanded.

In a matter of moments, everyone was running back to the sleeping caves frantically, unknowing of what was happening.

"What's going on?! We're on lockdown!?" Daniel yelled.
Tsunami turned to look at them,
"Go to your caves! I need to get everyone inside!"

Then she ran off outside to bring in the dragons who were outside the school.
However, when she did this she revealed what was happening.

"Guys..." Daniel said.

"Yeah... We see it." Star spoke.

"What are we going to do...?" Turtle said

"The only thing we can do at the moment, run back to our sleeping caves and pretend we know nothing," Daniel said.

And without another word they all ran off to where they needed to go.
As they left behind the troubling items on the board...

Eight wanted posters with their hooded Faces on them, each one with a different alias...

And a bounty on all of their heads...

Chapter Text

Everyone was gathered inside the boys' sleeping cave as they discussed what to do next in this troubling situation.

It was clear that Thorn now knew of their existence which meant it would only be a matter of time before the other Queens also knew.

"So what's the plan here? What do we do?" Peril asked from the entranceway.

"I don't know..." Daniel admitted. He put on a face of deep thought as he tried to come up with possibilities.

"Should we run? I mean they're going to find out eventually if we stay here," Moon said.

"That'll be suspicious though," Qibli pointed out "A group of dragonets who perfectly fit the description vanish as soon as wanted posters are hung up in their school? Bad idea,"

"I agree with Qibli, it's best if we lay low for a while," Winter said.
"Besides, we need to wait a few days until the time on the scroll runs out."

"True... So we just pretend we know nothing about it then?" Star asked.

"Daniel nodded, "Seems like that's the play here," he said as he laid down on his warmed-up ledge.
"The most dangerous place is sometimes the safest after all,"

The others didn't quite understand what he meant by that but took his word for it.
"Alright, well since we're on lockdown and obviously can't go outside, you guys want to play some cards?" Kinkajou asked.

"I'm down, prepare to be destroyed!" Peril boasted.

"We'll see about that!" Kinkajou shot back.

They took out the cards from the wall and they began to play.
Daniel watched the game from his ledge, Peril was winning once again to begin with which honestly wasn't much of a surprise.

There were a few rounds of the games as Peril continued to win however Kinkajou and Qibli who were playing as well managed to get a few rounds in too.

The game continued for around half an hour as Daniel just watched because he couldn't understand the rules.
Eventually, however, Sunny made her way into the cave.

"Hey guys! Sorry to interrupt but we need you all in the main hall, Tsunami has an announcement," She said.

"Oh alright, pack up the cards and let's go," Winter said as he hopped down from his ledge.
Turtle did the same while Kinkajou packed up the cards, Moon rolled up the scroll she was reading with Star while Daniel just watched them scurry along.

When they were all about done Daniel got off his ledge and followed Sunny who led them down to the main hall.

Once they reached it they saw all the students gathered in one large crowd.
It gave him flashbacks of when he'd first run away from the school.

Soon Tsunami stepped onto a large rock as the eyes of two or three dozen students watched.

"Students! I've gathered you here for two reasons!" Tsunami called.
"As you all may see behind me Queen Thorn of the Sandwings has passed a troubling message!"

She gestured to the wanted posters behind them and Daniel swore he saw all his friends tense up.
However he didn't blame them, little did Tsunami know that the wanted dragons she was warning them about were standing right in front of her.

She continued her small speech as she scanned the semi-large crowd.
"They're known as 'The Heathens'" Tsunami said, "They are extremely dangerous and NOT to be messed with!"

She spoke with a strong voice.
"Because I know that some of you are already thinking of trying to collect their impressive bounties, DO NOT! IT WILL GET YOU KILLED!"

She paused before she looked towards a smirking Skywing.
They had dark maroon nearly black scales on their back, their main body scales were just a little darker than Daniels but close to the same while his under scales were a sort of dark pale pink.

At first, it looked like they were just any old Skywing, but then Daniel saw their face, and he immediately knew who it was.
A nasty scar slashed across the side of one of their cheeks and across to the side of his eye, not blinding him but being close to it.

"I'm looking at you Flame!" Tsunami snapped.

"Oh come on! Do you know how rich I would be if I caught all of them!?" Flame barked.
Tsunami was about to say something but then Anemone beat her to it.

"Yeah! Why don't I just magic them here and turn them in? They can't do much against an animus," she boasted.

Everyone else took a few steps back in fear meanwhile Flame looked with excitement.
"Yes! Bring them here, we'll be rich!" He shouted but that's when Tsunami shut them down.

"ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MINDS?! WHY WOULD YOU BRING THEM HERE!?" Tsunami bellowed.

Anemone looked up to her,
"Relax sister, I can just enchant them to fall asleep or something, it's the easiest thing in the world, what are they going to do?"

Tsunami shook her head.
"You didn't read the details about them because if you did you'd realise just how bad of an idea this is,"

Anemone smirked.
"I don't need to see their details, I already know they can't beat me,"

Daniel and his friends watched from afar, he noticed a slight anger building inside some of them at Anemone's words.

"Yo guys, chill out alright, you're going to give us away here," Daniel whispered to them.

Winter looked at him,
"What?! She's calling us weak, and you want us to let it slide? I say we just go beat her up right now!"

"I agree with Winter on this one, I've wanted her out of my life for a long time and if this is the way to do it I'm down," Turtle interjected.

Daniel was surprised with his agreement, usually, he wasn't one to make fights... Although he did have to admit that Anemone wasn't a good dragon to him especially.

"Look I know you're mad but we can't risk it, if we get found out now we're going to have all six queens on our back! We need to lay low," Daniel pointed out.

Winter and Turtle hesitated but reluctantly agreed as they looked back to the crowd of dragons.
Luckily it seemed none of them were paying any attention to their quiet conversation so they were safe.
'For now at least...'

He turned his attention back to Tsunami who was getting noticeably fed up with Anemone.
She put a talon to her eyes.
"You just don't get it do you, you're so full of yourself and completely arrogant that you don't even know what you're getting into."

Anemone scowled after she was called out.
"Alright then! Tell me! Tell me what I should be so afraid of!"

"KARMA IS AN ANUMUS! ONE OF THEM IS AN ANIMUS ALRIGHT! THEY'LL KILL US ALL IF YOU BRING THEM HERE!"

The room fell silent,
"Wh-What...?" Anemone murmured.

"If you think you can take on the eight most dangerous dragons in Phyrria you're mistaken because if you play this game you'll end up dead! just like Cobra!" Tsunami said.

The Sandwing students went pale while everyone else fell into confusion.
"Cobra's dead...? How..." spoke one of the Sandwings in the crowd.

"Who's Cobra?" Asked Flame from beside Anemone.
"She was one of if not the most skilled assassins in the entire scorpion den" Piped up a small Sandwing which Daniel identified to be Ostrich.
"I don't know all the details, that would be Qibli... Considering she was his mother..."

In a matter of moments, the whole crowd turned to Qibli who stared back for a few moments before Winter nudged him on the side, indicating for him to talk just as Anemone asked.
"Qibli... Who's Cobra?"

Qibli sighed as he went on to give a five-minute speech about Cobra and who she was.
He went through her relationship with Vulture, and her incredible assassination skills before faking being shocked at her sudden murder.

"So to round it up, she was the most dangerous assassin in the Scorpion Den... And if the Heathens killed her... They mean business,"
He concluded his small speech before Tsunami spoke again.

"You still want to challenge them Anemone?"
The Seawing princess fell silent.
"That's what I thought," Tsunami said.
She paused for another moment before she brought the school's attention back to her.

"Because of this sudden news, the seven queens will be arriving at this school tomorrow to discuss this matter, and as such you will all show respect to them!"
She turned to meet Daniel's eyes.
"I'm looking at you Hurricane!"

"Bro, what did I do?" Daniel commented but only received an eye roll from Tsunami and multiple odd glances from students but none of them said anything.
Then it hit him,
'Oh... Right, I kind of caused a ruckus and then ran off... Right that makes sense

Tsunami spoke again,
"Because of this, you won't be able to leave the premises of the school until we know it's safe, you're still free to go outside but a teacher must be with you to supervise,"

This earned multiple groans from the students before Tsunami silenced them.
"All else will continue as normal, your parents will be able to visit in the coming week if they choose to do so,"
Everyone looked at her silently for a few moments before she added.
"You're dismissed,"

The crowd of dragons scurried away in separate directions, the teachers who were present left and soon the place was desolate.
Daniel turned to Turtle,
"How did they find out about you?"

Turtle met Daniel's hard stare, he didn't say anything though.
"How did they find out about your powers," Daniel growled.
Turtle looked to the ground, guilty.

Daniel stared down at him, "what did you do?"

"Well... I may have cast a small tiny enchantment..." He confessed.

"What kind of enchantment...?" Moon asked fearfully.

"Well... I may or may not have enchanted Qibli's family to forget who he was..." Turtle said.

"What!?" Qibli yelled a little too loudly for comfort. However, it didn't seem like anyone was eavesdropping so it would go unharmed.

"It was needed! Or else we'd all be in trouble if they knew who you were!" Turtle shouted in a hushed voice.

Daniel sighed.
"Alright, but that doesn't explain how they know. Unless they heard you,"
Turtle shook his head.
"I don't know, but it doesn't matter, the issue is that they do know so we need to tread lightly,"

"Agreed." Star inputted as she walked up and brushed her wing slightly on his back.
Daniel's heart jumped a little but he calmed it down slightly.

"Alright, so the queens are supposed to come tomorrow?" Kinkajou asked.

"Apparently so," Peril said... "Which means Ruby will be here..."

"So Will Glory..." Moon added... "I Can't believe I'm saying this but this is the one time I don't want to see them...

"Yeah, Ruby still sees me as nothing but a monster so that's going to go so well," Peril said sarcastically.

Daniel looked around at their faces.
It was clear they were all nervous for tomorrow.
"Hey guys! Don't worry you'll be fine, Aight? Be calm, act how you would normally and if asked about... You know what, then just pretend you know nothing,"

Daniel tried to reassure them, but it didn't do much but that's when Qibli spoke up to switch the subject.
"Hey Hurricane, didn't you say you would teach me that song you sang earlier?"

"Oh right! Yeah sure. Let's just go back to the cave first" Daniel said however then a movement was caught in his peripheral vision.

He was just barely able to see Flame dash into the crack leading to the underground lake, he seemed in a hurry for something.
'I'll have to check that out later though, right now I should keep my promise'

Daniel shrugged off what he saw for now and began to walk back to the cave along with Qibli.
When they arrived he noticed everyone else was also following them.

"What are you guys doing here?" Daniel asked as he tilted his head to the side.

"What? Are we not allowed to watch?" Winter asked a little irritated.

"No, not at all just that I didn't think you would be interested in this?" Daniel replied.

"Well I mean we don't have anything else to do so might as well," Peril pointed out.
Daniel shrugged.
"Suit yourself,"
He turned his attention back to Qibli as he started to teach him.

It was an excruciating process since Daniel was going off only his singing capabilities and since the tune was quite sad Qibli struggled to get the notes right.

However, it ended up being a success in the end as after about two or three hours of Daniel abusing his vocal cords, Qibli finally managed to learn the whole song by heart.

At this point, the sun had already set well below the horizon and the only light in the sky came from only one of the three moons since the other two weren't visible.

Daniel sat back and sighed, his voice was unsurprisingly raspy and his throat was sore but he assumed it would get better within the next hour or so as long as he didn't use it much.

"Well... That was certainly something," Peril said.
Daniel turned quickly to meet her, he'd completely forgotten that they were there.

"Oh, yeah sorry about my atrocious singing, it's not the greatest," Daniel said as he laid down on the warmed stone ledge.

"Are you kidding? Your singing is great!" Kinkajou said however they didn't know from where since she was invisible.

It made Daniel jump a little when she eventually appeared out of nowhere but he got over it.
Then he remembered,
'Right... Flame... I should see what he's up to, if he's still there that is'

Daniel looked to the windowed corridor just outside their cave entrance.
The moons had begun to rise over the darkened horizon as they made Their way to the sky.

Daniel looked to his side as he carefully took out the loose rock from the wall and efficiently put on his cloak before sliding the sickle into one of the internal pockets.

Unsurprisingly this caught everyone else attention.
"Woah what are you doing?! What happened to laying low?!" Turtle asked.

"Sorry guys but there's something I need to take care of, and I think I'll need this to do it.

Daniel quickly ran out of the cave while the coast was clear to do so.
His cloak whipped behind him as he ran through the darkened hallways.

The distant chatter of other students echoed softly as he ran however it was only a matter of time before there was a sudden tap on his shoulder.

Quickly Daniel whipped around, sickle in hand as he slashed to where the sudden tap was.
However, the dragon ducked underneath it before Daniel saw who they were.
It was Turtle, fully cloaked and armed with his Swordbreaker.

"What are you doing here?!" Daniel growled dangerously.

"Oh come on! I can't let you do whatever you were planning on your own! Besides, you're not the only one who saw Flame acting off,"

Daniel's eyes widened though he doubted Turtle saw it due to the hoods.
"You saw him too?"

"If you mean act strangely while entering the passage to the underground lake? Then yes," Turtle said.
"But my question is why are you trying to find him? Didn't he say he wanted to kill us earlier today?"

Daniel sighed, "Yes that's true but I noticed something... He does it for attention, he wants dragons to know he's capable of things, I don't think he hates us, if anything he looks up to us"

Turtle took off his hood and shot him a face of disbelief.
"You can't be serious right now... He's literally after your bounty!"

"Our bounties," Daniel corrected him now that they all had reward money for their captures.

"Right... Our bounties... But still! This is a bad idea! Plus he's probably not even there anymore!" Turtle pointed out as he pulled up his hood again.

"All the more reason to investigate, see what he was up to because I doubt he was going for a casual swim," Daniel said,
"Now are you with me or not? Because we shouldn't be here in the open like this much longer,"

Turtle took a deep breath, "Fine, let's go catch a Skywing"
He smiled slightly as he ran off quickly and quietly down the hall and into the crack to the underground lake with Daniel following close behind.

It was much darker than usual since by now the moons were fully up in the sky and the sun was nowhere to be seen.
Soon they finally entered the lake however to their surprise they saw Flame sitting there, staring at them.

"Hello there... Reaper and Karma... I've been expecting you..." Flame said as he got up off the wet ground, a few water droplets hung from his underscales but soon fell off.

"Hello Flame, we've also been expecting you to be here too... But how did you know we were coming?" Daniel asked, trying to sound confident.

Flame smirked, "Let's say one of your friends gave me a little heads-up earlier today,"
He gestured to the side, to which Daniel and Turtle both looked to see none other than the Gatekeeper, sitting casually yet creepily in the corner of the cave.

"Oh... Of course it was you," Turtle sighed, "Who else would it possibly be,"

The Gatekeeper gave Daniel and Turtle a simple nod but didn't say anything and instead just watched the conversation.

Daniel turned back to Flame, "So what's this about then? Why would you wait for us here?"

"If you're after our bounties then I'm afraid you're in over your head because we're not going down without a fight," Turtle added as he took out his Sordbreaker.

"Hey, let me handle this," Daniel whispered to Turtle.
He turned to meet Flame again.
"Look Flame, I know you're not after our bounties,"

Flame looked a little confused, "What do you mean by that? Of course, I want your bounties! You know how rich I would be!?"

Daniel ignored his words and shook his head dismissively.
"You're after attention, you're sick of others telling you you're weak and unimportant and want to prove them wrong. I'm right, aren't I?

Flame looked down for a moment, Daniel knew Flame wouldn't admit it but it was true. He didn't care for the money, he wanted fame and to be known as something...
'And capturing us was his plan to do so... But I think I've got a better idea...'

"You're wrong Reaper! You know nothing!" Flame barked as he bared his teeth at him though Daniel didn't flinch.

"Is that so? Then what about the History Cave incident? If I recall correctly you wanted people to know that you caused it even if you didn't."

Flame froze, his anger falling to a sort of shock.
"H-how do you know about that...?"

"I have my ways," Daniel replied as he looked to Turtle who had the same expression of shock.
' Oh right... I didn't tell them I knew about the explosion yet... Whoops.'

"Either way, I think we can work something out, a deal of sorts." Daniel offered.
He looked to the Gatekeeper who was still in the corner, his expression was one of realisation and Daniel assumed he already knew what he was going to ask next.

"Flame... Since you want to be known as something so badly I can give you that... But only if you do us a favour in return," Daniel said.

Flame's shocked face died down a little, "I'm listening,"

Daniel smiled... But it wasn't on command, he couldn't move his body or control it at all... It was like something had taken over it.
'Huh?! What is this? Why. Can't. I. MOVE?!'