Guardian Angel (Nebulous)

by Nebula the Starwing

What is worth fighting for? What does family really mean? Who gets to decide? I don't know, and Stardust doesn't either. In the town of Possibility he has to decide, and become a Guardian Angel for a young Dragonet in his time of need. Meanwhile, an inevitable confrontation brews elsewhere. (Rated T for some mild violence n stuff. Nothing Tui wouldn't put in her books.)

Guardian Angel - Nebulous

-X-

"C'mon Stardust, really let me have it!"

Clay stood his ground, bracing for the slightly smaller dragon to charge into him. Stardust however, shakily stepped forwards.

"Okay…" He danced around Clay, still totally unsure of what he was really doing.

"Erm… How?" He crouched into what he THOUGHT might be a pouncing position but just ended up looking silly. "How can I train to defend myself if I don't know how to attack…?"

Clay, tempted to laugh, just put his forepaw to his head. "Okay, okay. Let's try this then." He stepped forwards and positioned himself besides Stardust, crouching low into a defensive stance. Stardust positioned himself accordingly.

"When you're trying to defend yourself, you gotta stay lower to the ground. This way, if your attacker flies in from above you'll be ready to both retaliate, and be quicker than they are." Clay suddenly jolted off to the side landed and quickly pounced onto an invisible enemy, rolling off and landing gracefully; all startling Stardust who had never seen his dadly figure so graceful and elegant before. Nonetheless he shook himself off and resumed his stance.

"Stay low, be quick. Got it." Stardust attempted to do the same motions as Clay, but instead of rolling he just flopped right beside him. The two stared at each other a bit before busting out laughing, the sound bouncing around the cave.

The cave, reserved for the newly opened sparring lessons at Jade Mountain, had just been discovered when a wall suddenly collapsed in the main hallway. Bright light streamed in from several holes in the ceiling just wide enough to let in fresh air but not enough to fly through. A small little waterfall provided background noise to muffle some of the sound.

Most interestingly, Moss had flourished in this untouched spot providing a nice training mat across the whole floor. All in all, a perfect dojo for sparring.

Clay helped Stardust up and smiled proudly. "Not a terrible first attempt!" Stardust smiled meekly and stood aside.

"I think I need to know more about fighting before we continue any further…"

The Mudwing looked thoughtfully to his son. "Alright, such as…?"

Stardust shrugged. "Iunno… The basics?"

Clay squinted, confused at his son's response. "Where do we start?"

Again, Stardust shrugged. "Uhm… the beginning?"

Memories of Kestrel and her frustrations started to seep through to Clay. Now he understood her a bit better.

Clay sighed and nodded slightly. "Basics… Okay." Sitting in the middle of the mat, right in front of Stardust, he plopped himself down.

"Remember when we were walking through the forest to the Sandwing Kingdom, and were ambushed by thieves? What was the first thing you remember me doing?"

Stardust thought back to just a few weeks ago, having been attacked by two Sandwing thugs. What Stardust remembered most vividly was how Clay, his kind and soft father, immediately turned into a stalwart warrior and fought off the two Sandwings with vicious protective instinct.

"You jumped to defend me… and I remember you looked VERY… Erm… Protective."

Clay nodded solemnly. "Yes. There's a deep protective instinct that we as fathers have about our kin…"

His mind wandered a bit, looking to the outside window above.

"When those thugs came towards us, my foremost thought at that time was you. Whatever came our way, I was determined beyond all reason that I was going to protect you from it." His gaze landed again on Stardust.

"It isn't just a paternal instinct though. When you get into a fight, whether it be you getting jumped or stepping in to protect someone else, there's a deep fire that burns within your being, and that fire is what drives your fighting. Does that make sense…?"

Stardust went back to that memory. Clay's fighting and expressions were fierce and passionate, determined and never backing down. In that moment, Stardust finally understood.

"Yeah… I can feel that too."

Clay smiled with a tinge of pride. "Good! First and foremost lesson, whatever you do in a fight, you need that fire from within. Never let discouragement or intimidation put it out, for IN THAT MOMENT!..."

Rather dramatically, Clay flops over from being struck by an invisible force. "Gerk!"

On the floor he croaks out: "the enemy has already won…"

A grin poked at Stardust's snout. "Okaaay I get it…"

Clay sat up and cleared his throat. "AHEM… But seriously! Your morale is your driving force, and if you lose that… You've already lost. Okay?"

Stardust nodded aptly. "Okay, keep the fire going, check. What next?"

Clay stood back up, shaking himself up a bit.

"Alright, so besides that: first thing you have to remember, you are always armed for a fight. Your most important weapons are not swords or spears or anything else, but rather your own body."

Stardust sat up a bit more straight and paid careful attention. "How so?"

Clay brought up his forepaw. "First, is your talons." He clacked them together some. "These are always ready, and in some situations they're going to be your greatest weapon."

Stardust glanced down at his talons, inspecting them over some. Clay bought his attention back.

"Also always available:" Clay opened his maw and stuck his talon up between his cheek and gum in a rather goofy manor. "Hyour teefs!"

Stardust chuckled to himself, Clay took his talon out and shook his head in disgust. "Blech, that moss does NOT taste good…" A brief sputtering later, Clay continued.

"But as I was saying! Talons, and teeth. Sharp, handy, and if you use them right they can do a lot of damage. They're mostly used for offense but in the right circumstances they are good for defending yourself too."

The starry dragon nodded in understanding.

"Good, now there's four other weapons you carry with you: first, your tail!"

Clay spun around and whipped his heavy tail under the legs of an imaginary enemy, then twirling in the air as he slammed his tail back down atop the imaginary dragon with an incredible WHAM. Stardust grimaced, but ultimately looked on, totally impressed.

"Your body!" Clay tried slamming himself into an imaginary enemy, but just looked like he was dancing really badly or something. Whatever it was, it made Stardust bowl over laughing.

Clay tried keeping a straight face but ended up chortling too. "You know what I was trying to do!"

The two serioused up again as Clay sat up straight.

"Next, your wings!" The heavy set Mudwing displayed a series of blocking movements using his nothing but the ridges of his thick wings, then blowing a heavy gust at the waterfall, blasting the water across Stardust.

"Oops. Hehe."

Stardust shook the water off his wings onto Clay.

"I'm totally gonna get you back for that.~"

Clay smirked to himself, but continued on. "And finally! Perhaps your most potent weapon: FIRE!"

He shot a plume of fire straight in the air, a frenzy of flames shooting across the ceiling and pressing a minor heatwave through the room. As the flames died off, he posed heroically for his pupil. "Ta-daah!"

As impressed and dazzled as he was, Stardust sat there puzzled.

"Erm… Clay?"

Finally breaking his heroic pose, he glanced to Stardust.

"Something wrong?"

Stardust padded over and sat beside his father, in curious thought.

"I'm enjoying the lesson and all, but one small question…" He glanced up. "How do I breathe fire?"

Clay, about to answer with helpful insight, suddenly realized Stardust isn't of any tribe on Pyrrhia, perhaps even on the whole planet.

"Erm… I'm not too sure…" The Mudwing sat besides Stardust and looked him over briefly. "Hrmm… Open your mouth for me."

Stardust obediently complied, letting Clay peek in; the skylight peered into Stardust's mouth, illuminating the insides.

"Let's see… All dragons capable of fire have what's called "Spark Patches" in the throat, right behind the tonsils." Clay poked around, bringing him more towards the light. "For Rainwings, they're replaced with venom glands. And Icewings? I don't really know, cold icyness I guess?"

Stardust struggled to keep his maw open, as Clay nearly went nose deep. "If we find those, we can make an educated guess, right?"

Stardust nodded slightly. "Ah-hah!"

Clay, snout deep in Stardust's maw now, suddenly jerked back upon hearing another confused voice:

"Am I interrupting something…?"

Tsunami's rather intrigued expression stuck in from the hallway. Clay stepped back and cleared his throat.

"Oh yknow… Just checking Stardust's throat. The usual."

Now even more confused, Tsunami strolled in curiously.

"The usual… What kind of self defense are you teaching him exactly? Throat punching?"

Stardust coughed a bit, then spoke up.

"We were discussing fire, and I didn't know if I could breathe fire and Clay was checking for Spark Patches in my throat and… Yeah."

Tsunami padded forwards. "Ah, that makes more sense." She prodded towards Clay. "And?"

Clay shook his head. "Didn't see anything, so… I don't really know…"

Tsunami nodded somewhat solemnly. "Ah…"

Stardust glanced down, a bit glum. The two guardian dragons sat beside him.

"Hey…" Clay nudged his son. "Don't let it get you down."

Tsunami bumped in again. "Yeah! Just because you might not be able to breathe fire doesn't mean you can't do some serious damage!"

And out of the blue and a flash of scales, Tsunami had Clay in a headlock comboed into a suplex, the two collapsed a few feet back.

"Urgh…" Clay sat up in a daze. "Why?!"

Tsunami shook her head a bit and grinned beamingly.

"See?~"

Stardust felt a grin tug at his maw. "Hehe… Thanks Tsunami."

Now leaning a bit on Stardust, she let out a soft purr and nosed his head. "No prob hun, just remember that you're as powerful as you believe you are, always. And lemme know if you ever want me to suplex Clay again.~"

Clay, from the floor groaned out: "WHY"

Stardust, now giggling and happy again hugged Tsunami. "I'll remember from now on, promise."

The two hugged for a bit while Clay still laid on the floor.

-X-

"Tau, any activity?" Queen Aries glanced at the viewing screen, data of the planetary destination scrolling by.

Tau, bringing up the travel data log, brought it to the main screen. "Nothing so far. Basic bursts of energy one would exhibit under normal circumstances, not close enough yet to examine advanced scans or neural activity."

Aries scrolled through the preliminary lifeform scans. "Hmm… How long until we get conclusive long range readouts?"

The smaller blue/green dragon stood at the Data Station, flicking through screens. "Approximately… .9 MGC. Less than two days or so. But, the scans are pretty leaning towards a populated planet so far."

A bristle of anxious colors flurried up her back scales, reds, greens and yellows graced the black starry skies of the Queen's body.

"Sigh… I'm tired of waiting. Each star we pass, I can feel more and more of his being… his mind and heart and…" Her queenly stature and professional manner almost broke into tears. "...I just want to see him..."

Tau, understanding the feeling, sidled up to her.

"Well… we're only a month away… almost there. It's not long now my Queen. We'll be there before you know it."

Aries offered a smile and nodded. "Yes… not long now." She glanced out the window into the abyss of stars.

-X-

Possibility never ceased to amaze Stardust.

Prince Cliff, Peacemaker, and Stardust strolled down the main market lane, bustling dragons moving around and transporting goods while the triage of dragons gazed around aimlessly and happily.

"Wow," Stardust spoke excitedly. "This place is huge! So many dragons and shops!"

Cliff, too busy looking at the crowds, agreed absentmindedly. "Yeah…" He turned to his posse. "Think we lost the guards?" He peeked around cautiously, heaving a sigh. "I HATE that my mom sends them around with me all the time."

Peacemaker prodded Cliff's shoulder. "Well, she cares about you obviously… and considering your status and place in Pyrrhia, it's no wonder she does."

Cliff sighed and shrugged. "I mean I guess, but do they have to be such sticks in the mud? I mean seriously, they're just…" The young prince flopped over playing dead over dramatically. Stardust chucked and helped him up.

"Oh c'mon, they aren't so bad! They're just taking their job seriously! If you warm up to em, they're really cool guys actually."

Peacemaker nosed in again. "Then again they ARE rather bland… I heard the shorter golden one talking about nothing but his rock collection." He looked to Cliff and Stardust seriously. "Not gem or mineral, ROCK. Bland, boring, plain ol rocks. I can get behind having hobbies but, rocks…?"

Stardust sighed in defeat. "Okay, maybe HE'S lame, but the other guy is cool! What's his name?"

Cliff chimed in again. "Yeah he's cool though! I think it was something like… a cloud name? Cirrus, Cumulus?"

Peacemaker, looking afar, mumbled to himself. "...Nimbus?"

Stardust beamed along with Cliff. "Yeah, Nimbus! How'd you know?"

Peacemaker kept staring, a blue streaked Skywing in his line of sight asking around the various Sandwings. "He's right there."

The trio ducked low and tried to sneak away, but suddenly Nimbus turned to their direction. A look of slightly angry relief washed over him.

"Hey! THERE you are!" As he pounced forwards, the trio glanced to each other for a split second.

"SPLIT UP"

Hurriedly and simultaneously, the three dragonets bolted in different directions: Peacemaker down the main square, Cliff in the slippery corridors of the new Nightwing quarter, and Stardust going deep into the Sandwing quarters. Dust kicked up as the impoverished quarters squeezed more and more into tight corridors.

Considering how big Possibility had grown, you'd expect the town to have a larger population of Sandwings. The opposite was true however, since Thorn taken power more and more Sandwings flocked back to the inner cities, leaving fewer and fewer in Possibility and the other cities skirting the kingdom. The Sandwing quarters thusly, hadn't expanded much in the few years that had passed, leaving what resided here in somewhat disrepair.

Stardust never really explored these quarters, but this seemed to be the poorer and less regulated part of the town. A few tired shoppes stood in corners of the small square, a few Sandwing children roamed around in packs, noticeably. Stardust peeked around to make sure he wasn't followed or seen, but felt bad for running from Cliff's guard like that.

Still he was glad to be exploring this part of the town. This tired section of the town possessed a certain charm that the rest didn't, almost seeming like a completely separate place entirely. In fact it-

"GET BACK HERE!"

Stardust's train of thought totally derailed, he noticed out of the corner of his sight a small striped Sandwing running for their life. Two burly and rather miffed Sandwings literally burst from the nearby dry mud wall, chasing after the young dragonet.

Still stunned from the sight of dragons literally breaking through walls (and seeing the Sandwing carpenters nearby really angry at this sight), Stardust felt a strong, wordless pang in his stomach. Gazing around, he noticed the faces of the dragons around him had worry and deep concern. Something told him the two larger dragons didn't have the best interests of the smaller one in mind, namely the solemn and deathly chill that hung in the air that brought a common worry and understanding amongst them all.

Except, no one present had the means or courage to do anything about it. Several different dragons peeked out the hole to see where they went, but soon darted back in, obviously afraid. Stardust mustered up an ounce of courage and padded to the hole in the wall.

'Someone's gotta protect him…' Hesitantly walking in their direction, he stopped suddenly.

'Do I even have what it takes? They looked pretty strong…'

Stardust started to dwell on the ways it could all go wrong, doubt starting to chip away at his confidence. He shook himself off and steeled himself again.

Right then, Clay's words reeled back to him.

"Your morale is your driving force, and if you lose that… You've already lost."

Stardust felt that fire spark back up again. He focused his thoughts on what he could do to protect the young dragonet. No one on Pyrrhia could match up to his power, and two dragons wouldn't stop him easily.

'...I do.'

Stardust peered up to the skylight, the sun shining down and inspiring bravery and power.

'I definitely do.'

The growing crowd, drawn from out of the woodworks, must've seen his steeled expression, faces of fear and doubt brightened into hope. Stardust, now hopeful and determined as ever, nodded to them all, and with a heavy blast from his wings he blasted into the sky.

-X-

"C'MERE RUNT! YA CAN'T RUN FOREVER!"

The sound of hindpaws hitting the dirt behind him, the terrified little Sandwing sped up even faster into the curved stone and sand ruins.

Sharp twists and turns forced the burly thugs to bash into unrelenting stone corners and slip around. After a few of these encounters, the two thugs stood in the middle of a maze of stone walls, the dragonet nowhere in sight.

"Rrr… Split up, find that little twig!"

As they split up, the Sandwing dragonet slid out of the crevice he slipped into and found his way against a huge cliff with no other way out. He couldn't fly out of here without attracting their attention, and he didn't dare go through the maze again for fear of running into them.

So there he sat, close to the wall and ready to spring. His breath finally calmed down but his anxiety and impending doom loomed ever higher.

"Hey, there you are!"

-X-

"Hey, there you are!"

Stardust had just turned the corner, finding the dragonet huddled up against the corner. He approached slowly and calmly.

"Don't freak out, I'm not here to harm you… I promise."

The dragonet slunk lower to the ground, obviously scared but starting to let his guard down a little. Stardust sat besides him and offered a smile.

"Don't worry, I'll protect you. What's your name?"

It looked as though the defensive dragonet didn't dare utter a word, but rather shook his head lightly and touched his throat. Stardust didn't quite understand, but he nodded along.

"Okay… I'm Stardust, what can I call you then?"

Glancing around the dirt floor, the dragonet picked up a small rock and held it to Stardust, who held it with much confusion.

"What's this…?"

The young dragonet pointed to the rock, then back to himself. A small dawn of understanding crept up on Stardust.

"Oh! Okay, so… Your name is…" He looked onto the dragonet curiously. "...rock?"

The Sandwing shook his head staunchly. Stardust thought up another name. "Stone!"

After another frustrated head shake, the dragonet pushed his talons together, barely touching. Stardust got the idea.

"Smaller huh…? What about… Pebble?"

The small speechless dragonet nodded with a smile. Stardust nodded with a grin as well.

"Nice to meet you Pebble!" Stardust looked a bit closer to Pebble's odd stripes, adorning the sides of his body.

"I like your str-" Judging by the way Pebble ducked back cautiously, almost out of reflex, he didn't want Stardust to touch the brownish maroon stripes across his side. Upon closer, more curious inspection from a foot away, Stardust discovered his initial conclusion about the young Dragonet was very, very wrong.

The stripes were in fact… scars. Long, gashed scars across the Sandwing's side, and judging by how deep, probably almost bone deep to his ribs (not very deep considering his skinny figure). They seemed to be as thick as the largest point of one's talon, streaking all down his side three times. Almost as long as Pebble's forearm, each one reached to the bottom of his chest, not quite meeting the scar from the otherside.

Most notably… A few drops of crimson dripped from the middle of his neck, a new stripe freshly made probably not five minutes ago. Pebble recoiled harshly, watching Stardust's expression change darkly.

Pebble's eyes down and tail tucked in, Stardust finally noticed the tail: The stinger cut clean off, a brand mark of a coiled snake placed precisely above it.

"THERE YOU ARE!"

Turning back around, five different sandwings, all burly and scarred, blocked the way out. A larger and darker dragon stood in the middle, assumingly the leader, spreading his tattered and scarred wings. Tattooed on the inside membrane were a pair of eyes, seemingly belonging to that of a cobra.

"You should know better by now, we'll always find you." As the middle dragon beckoned closer, Pebble backed up to the wall and shrank back as much as he possibly could. He seemed afraid, but not all too much, like this was routine. The leader glanced aside to Stardust, finally acknowledging him, then ignoring him and addressing Pebble again.

"He can't help, just like none of them could. His bloodshed will be on you twig. Just stop running and come back home. Or ELSE." Two of the other dragons flanking him pushed forwards a few steps. The middle dragon started gazing down Stardust with an intimidating glare.

"Move kid. I'm only saying it once. You don't wanna get hurt, do you?"

Stardust didn't give a response, only standing there with every fiber of his body trembling with energy; his mind and heart raced with nothing but adrenaline, and unfiltered rage. He felt that protective fire start to kick in, but in a way he'd never felt before.

Instead of cowering or backing down, he growled deeply, feeling the stellar warmth of his color changing scales accelerate and gather light. He wasn't going anywhere, to the displeasure of the big guy.

"Boss? Looks like he's gettin' mad…" The Sandwing to the left of the boss looked hesitant to take another step. The one to his right followed suit.

"And he don't look like any Nightwing I ever seen…" Both of them kept their guard up hesitantly. "Venom, I don't think this is a good idea. What if he's one of those magic animus dragons?"

The boss, apparently named Venom, growled harshly at them both.

"SHUT IT! FOLLOW MY ORDERS AND DON'T ASK QUESTIONS, THAT'S WHAT YOU'RE HERE FOR!" Now miffed as ever, he dug his talons into the dirt and glared again at Pebble.

"Get that runt back to me," Venom motioned to Stardust. "And tear this idiot protecting him, limb from LIMB."

A faint glow, accompanied by a soft thrum of energy permeated the dusty air around them all, emanating from Stardust's now shimmering body. His rainbow scales shifted colors more and more rapidly, to the point where individual scales could no longer be seen.

His eyes on fire with courageous fury, Stardust turned back slightly to Pebble.

"...stay behind me."

-X-

"MY QUEEN!"

Hard clacking of talons to the ship's floors rang down the halls, all the way to the Queen's Biosphere chamber. As the door slid open, Queen Aries sat close to her vivid floral arrangements, watering them in their pods. Hearing Tau's footsteps and voice, her head perked around.

"What is it Tau?"

Hurriedly tapping her tablet screen she projected an energy signature screen, this one labeled "NEBULA". A standard Starwing model took up most of the screen, several lines of information and bars sat to the side of the screen.

"Oh! We have dynamic energy signatures now, wonderful! What's so urg-"

As the data started to update, a massive spike in Astral energy topped the bars to the sides. The anatomical chart threw up warning signs all along the spinal and head regions, alerting to the high levels of energy pulsing through the host's body.

After a few seconds of updating, a larger alert popped up top: "TRANSFORMATION EVENT IMMINENT"

And with that, the two rushed off to the bridge.

-X-

Pebble, both terrified and awed by the swirling energy around Stardust, stayed pinned back against the wall. The black and rainbow dragon stood staunchly between the gang and Pebble, more and more light flocking to his black scales.

"You want him?"

The level of light Stardust emitted quite nearly blinded all who glanced at it, to the point where intense heat could be felt by anyone near him. Finally, with an ethereal and powerful pulse, all that light was dispelled, and left Stardust transformed.

His formerly black scales shone a bright white, almost impossible to look directly at without squinting. The ridge on his back no longer flowed with his usual rainbow spectrum, now more so a flurry of spacelike, nebulous material that shifted slowly but surely.

Most intimidating of all, were his eyes.

Black, formless, with points of white dotting the emptiness, like the void of space with it's stars of ice. You could see no pupil, no iris, it didn't even look like there were eyes in his head; only an empty space, and the five Sandwings felt it stare right at them.

Even his voice boomed, deeper and resonating through the area and echoing through the stone walls:

"Come get him."

Venom's posse took a few steps back, Venom only one. He could tell the others were raring to get out of there, and he didn't blame them. Still, he had to maintain control of the situation.

"Rrrrrrrrr… He can't take us all on at once."

The dragon to his right just stared at him incredulously.

"Um, BET?"

"SHUT UP. NOW EVERYONE: TAKE HIM!"

All five dragons slammed their forepaws into the ground, crouching into a spring onto their target, five dragons onto a single glowing Stardust.

Pebble shrank back a bit more, ready to fly off when given the opportunity to do so, but stood paralyzed to see how this would pan out.

As the five Sandwings pounced in the air, time slowed more and more as they approached their target. Stardust, calmly and with the elegance of the celestial bodies above, spread his galactic wings above him and blew a heavy gust forwards, pushing a massive wave of kinetic energy that blasts the five back into the stone wall.

The gang slammed into the wall, causing a crack across the length of it. Two of the dragons didn't get back up, but laid there semi unconscious. The other three shakily stood up again, the two besides Venom glaring at him.

"SEE?!"

Venom whipped his tail around the two of them.

"KILL HIM OR I'LLKILL YOU MYSELF!"

In a frenzy, he growled with a fiery light emanating from his throat.

"FIRE!"

From a safe distance, the trio of thugs planted their talons in the ground and released a rather impressive torrent of fire.

The transformed Stardust spread out his wings, and with one swift movement used them as a shield. Along with it, a sudden wall of prismatic astral energy sprang up, deflecting the fire off totally.

The three's fire died out finally, and seeing that they did nothing, understandably started to freak out.

"This isn't WORKING boss, we should split while we can!"

"Use your brain here, we can't win! This guy's too powerfu-"

The two dragons siding Venom were launched back with a sudden but violent shockwave, towards the rock wall again. Groaning and not daring to get back up, they lay there defeated.

And then, there were three. Stardust's nebulous yet intense gaze struck the now lonesome Venom full force, Pebble still awed from behind Stardust.

"Venom, back off and let the kid go. This will only go badly for you."

The Sandwing thug let out a vicious growl/roar in defiance. He wasn't about to give up now, it seemed.

"Let's find out then, SHALL WE?"

Without another thought, he barreled toward the dragon protecting the dragonet. Stinging tail primed behind him, he thrust it forwards while aiming towards Stardust's throat.

Something stopped him however, namely Stardust's talons both grasping him from his neck and his tail, a few inches from his nebulous eyes. Venom could still breathe (barely albeit) while hoisted almost effortlessly into the air by this smaller, teenage looking dragon, standing on his hind legs.

Stardust's talons clutched around the stinger, he grasped tighter and tighter, eliciting a crackling sound and heavy growls of pain from the Sandwing. With one quick squeeze from his talons, Venom roared out wordlessly as the cruel and sharp barb of his stinger cracked into pieces, flying off into the sand. His now bare and exposed tail segment bled from the venomous glands while an anguished scream racked Venom's body, writhing in pain as Stardust pinned him to the wall.

Pebble finally let go of the wall he clutched himself to, padding up to the scene slowly. Stardust's temper flared ever more the longer he looked at Venom. Not only could he feel the anger and terror from the Sandwing thug, but even when hoisted helplessly in the air and injured his only thought seemed to be getting to Pebble. And even without direct mind to mind contact, a few subtle memories made their way to Stardust's enhanced mindstate.

He couldn't exactly make out any of the the details of what he saw, but it drove him over the edge. He slammed Venom into the wall and let out a deep, malicious growl as a sort of gaseous prismatic flame came out the sides of his maw; his talons glowed and burned with the intensity of the Sun's heat, starting to singe the Sandwing's throat and cut off his air supply.

Somewhere in his mind, he was fully ready to just… squeeze all the way, shattering his larynx and be done with him. Other parts weren't as zealous but rage filled the better part of his mind, subconsciously forcing his paw to squeeze tighter and tighter. Venom kicked and choked out more and more desperately.

However… A small paw placed itself on Stardust's, Pebble staunchly gazing at Stardust with a pleading look. He glanced back to Venom.

"Pl-...lease! I ju-ghk-... she woulda… kchk… k..killed us both…"

Stardust finally felt the rage subside, a hint of pity taking hold. He couldn't bring himself to end it here and now… how could he kill someone in front of a child? Even if he was the abuser, death and violence didn't deserve more death and violence in its place. His grip softened, letting Venom breathe once more.

"*GASP*" After he finished hacking and coughing, Venom quite nearly passed out, barely maintaining consciousness from the pain and lack of oxygen. Stardust felt his grip slip further and further as the light faded from his scales.

Soon, he was back to normal, Venom lay on the ground attempting to recover. Stardust turned to Pebble and smiled solemnly.

"...Thank you… I would've gone too far."

Pebble smiled back with a certain understanding not complicit with words, only conveyed with the smile between two young dragons.

The two surrounded the weak and wounded Venom, who struggled to get up.

"Nngh… you don't… understand… I'm just… protecting him-"

Stardust suddenly grabbed him by the cracked horns, face to face. "ProTECT? What part of any of this was of protection? In what part of the memories of him that I skipped through in your head, were you "PROTECTING" him?"

Venom's expression contorted in bewilderment, and before he could say another word of protest, Stardust put their foreheads together and melded into Venom's mindscape.

The Sandwing, floating around in the mindscape shared between them, looked to start hyperventilating. Stardust, still ready to end this dragon's life (albeit not very confident about it) summons the dragon's memories forth with the same level of rage and power as his previous form. Vast orbs of places and events in Venom's life swirled around the two, Stardust's own starting intermingling in as well.

The two both were forced to experience the other's lives nearly in an instant, to the complete surprise of both Venom and Stardust, who didn't purpose for it to happen. In a flash of a moment, Venom's entire life up to now passed through his mind.

The young Sandwing grew up in troubled times, raised by a dysfunctional family and eventually handed over to a mob in the Scorpion Den, sold to an imposing and ominous Sandwing gang boss, tattooed all over with dragon skulls. Somewhere in there, Stardust swore he saw Qibli, but he couldn't have been sure.

There his life was nothing but a series of orders from big scary assassins and mob bosses treating him as an underling, never in control of his life and always mistreated, trapped in a constant cycle of vicious abuse until he got big enough to fight his way out. And just in the last few years, he'd agreed to lead a new gang contracted by an imprisoned assassin he'd never met, giving him the chance to be free and be his own dragon who'd never have to take orders again, leading him to this situation in Possibility.

However it was here that Stardust found a very intriguing part of his life: In the time Venom had started to make his presence known through the small Sandwing quarter, Pebble had grown up as an orphan with no parental figures to guide him. In almost the same situation that Venom had been in, Pebble underwent the same mistreatment, branded with the insignia of slave to the biggest gang in the Sandwing Kingdom.

Venom took him into his gang without any expectations, protective and only abusive in the circumstances that he was; berated and ordered around with the tinge of guilt and awful feelings he had back then too, which led to him being harder on himself and everyone else. In the end, he did have a deep seated care for Pebble but just lacked the emotional ability to show it. Going back and reviewing the memories further, the scars on Pebble's body weren't caused by Venom or his gang, rather from before Pebble met Venom, and also another Sandwing who tried to interfere and show Venom's weakness. Venom's memories of this were crystal clear, violence and bloodshed reigning supreme. It was this event that caused Pebble's injury on his neck and his fleeing from the scene, attempting to escape his situation.

Once the flashes ceased finally, Stardust drew back in recoil. A different understanding of the dragon in front of him shone like starlight.

Venom had no malicious intent (physically) but didn't exactly know how to raise a dragonet in better circumstances, much less supply the care and guidance a dragonet needed that he never got. That didn't excuse anything that he did however, and he knew it. He'd felt a certain pang to better himself, but being scarred emotionally and psychologically as he was, that didn't seem very likely that he'd escape the never ending cycle of hate he was provoked into.

...At least not without Stardust.

Judging by his reactions, it seemed Venom had just undergone the same memory flash-through that Stardust had. He glances around, before finally meeting Stardust's eyes.

"...you know then?"

Stardust nodded. "I do."

From before, Stardust could only see hatred and fury in Venom's gaze. Now, a saddened and scared dragon was seen from behind Venom's eyes. He heaved a guilty sigh and looked away.

"I'm a failure… everyone who I ever knew told me so, and it's true now more than ever." He looked as though he wanted to curl up into a ball so tight he'd disappear from existence, and if that didn't work he just might've killed himself outright. "I just wished I could've been someone different…"

He didn't dare make eye contact with Stardust.

"I can't take care of him… he'll just end up like me. It's… it's better if you just take him, and take him far away. The Scorpion Den… They're gonna come after me, and then him. They'll kill me either way, but at least he's got a chance with you and your family…"

Stardust was struck by the level of exposed and raw honesty Venom suddenly exhibited, understanding the hurt he'd been through. He didn't want to kill him any longer, rather help in anyway he could. Although at this juncture, he didn't know how he could…

But, an idea happened to manifest in front of him.

'Someone different…'

Stardust glided over to Venom and put his paw to Venom's.

"We'll take good care of him. But there's one thing I need to do first."

Venom, curious yet aggravated, uncurled and met Stardust with a staunch frown. "And what would that b-"

Before he could even finish, Stardust had put their heads together again, this time running through as many memories as he could in Venom's mind. Stardust had no idea if this would work or even do anything, but it was worth a try regardless.

Circulating more and more mental power, Stardust applied his astral energy to the mindstate, now fading out the memories Venom had in his mind. His entire mind burned with the power of Stardust's energy, memories and scars turning into distant pasts that became a little too foggy to bring up. Anger and hatred dissipated into vague emotions that only left him in confusion. He float there, adrift in the space while Stardust pulled their heads apart in real time, and let the now unconscious Venom flop back.

Stardust heaved a sigh and flopped back as well, totally exhausted from all this. Pebble laid beside him, still anxious for the future but feeling much safer besides Stardust. He nudged Stardust's head silently.

"Hey… I'm okay. Are you?"

Pebble nodded, but worriedly glanced over to Venom.

"He is too… But he's not going to hurt you anymore… I think. I'm pretty sure…"

A confused look permeated Pebble's expression, who glanced back to Stardust. Stardust, in turn, sighed tiredly and sat up.

"Here, let me just…"

Stardust gently pressed his head to Pebble's, the two entering the shared mindstate. Pebble's mind, through Stardust's perspective, seemed… more active. The empty void somehow felt bigger, more conducive to Stardust's power as he let it flow around, and most interestingly it carried a slight echo into the nothingness.

Pebble glanced around, seeming to glide around with ease. If Stardust didn't know any better, he'd have guessed Pebble had done this before.

Stardust summoned the recent memory of what happened in Venom's head, sort of replaying it for the two of them to see.

"He cared for you… Despite what he may have done, and I'm not excusing a single bit of it… He just wanted better for you… I hope he'll do better."

Pebble smiled a warm grin, looking back to Stardust.

'He will.'

A disembodied voice surrounded them both, catching Stardust off guard. Pebble simply brought out a memory, letting Stardust watch.

From Pebble's viewpoint, he's sitting right outside the window of the room Venom and his cohorts are in; listening in to the their conversation, all the while being as stealthy as possible.

Venom prowled around the dimly lit room, obviously agitated. The two thugs seemed to be trying to calm him down.

"He knows you didn't mean it boss, just give the kid a break…"

The other one chimed in as well. "Kid's scared Venom… he's only got you to look to as a father figure y'know."

Venom whirled around and barked in a sour tone of voice. "DON'T YOU THINK I KNOW THAT?!"

Venom continued. "You know why I even bothered keeping him around? Not so he could spy around, not so he could go thieving other dragons for us, none of that! The kid needs a family, just like I needed one when I was his age! And…"

He hesitates and takes a deep breath.

"...strike me down if I couldn't do it but IF IT MEANS I HAVE TO RAISE HIM MYSELF I'LL DO IT. I'm not the best at it and I'm probably the worst candidate for it but I'll be damned to let him get eaten alive by the world I knew. I just… I…"

The memory fades out a bit, but the last words can be heard:

"I want better for him than what I got."

The memory faded out into inky blackness, Pebble and Stardust disconnecting the mind scape and looking at each other.

"...Wow… I…"

Pebble smiled some. 'Yeah… It was hard being there, but he did care.'

Stardust couldn't figure out one last thing. "...Why didn't you leave? I mean, why didn't you try and run earlier?"

The Sandwing looked down a little. A few fluttering memories flew about.

'...As hard as it was, Venom took me in from something much worse. I would've taken Venom over that any day, and… He's probably the only real father I ever had…'

Stardust, still contemplating this, started questioning himself and his actions; wondering whether it was right of him to change Venom's psychological state. Pebble could tell what was on his mind.

'I think you did the right thing though. I would've done the same if I had your powers and was in your position.'

Not entirely convinced but a bit less shaken, the Starwing let out a sigh. "Thank you… Let's see if a second chance changes him."

'STARDUST!'

The call from beyond the void, beyond the mindscape rang in their ears. They pulled apart out of surprise, seeing three different dragons in the stone opening: Cliff, Nimbus, and a Sandwing guard. Cliff rushed over.

"You okay Star?"

Stardust stood up and nodded with a heavy sigh. "Amazingly, yes. Yes I am."

A trio of other guards arrived to see the semi unconscious thugs, looking around confused. Nimbus glanced around impressed.

"Huh… Gonna need more guards."

Stardust and Pebble smiled to themselves, leaving Nimbus and Cliff confused.

-X-

"So you're telling ME-"

Qibli stood in front of the Stardust and the assortment of thugs and guards in the streets. Peacemaker, Cliff (surrounded by Nimbus and a notably furious Queen Ruby) surrounded them both.

"-that you single handedly took down a whole gang by yourself?"

Stardust nodded casually. "Eyup."

Qibli squinted in disbelief, looking to Pebble.

"And you saw this?"

Pebble nodded affirmatively. If he could talk he would've, but a simple head nod would do. Qibli just stammered a bit and took a curt breath in resignation.

"Okay, I mean… I believe you, just…"

Glancing back and forth between Stardust and the thugs, especially Venom, he grew more and more incredulous.

"...HOW?!"

Stardust, about to explain, opened his maw, but promptly closed it again in favor of different words.

"...I'm not entirely sure. I get the feeling I might never know, but… I just did."

Qibli sighed in frustration. "Urgh… I guess that'll have to do." He turned to the thugs again. "So who are these guys? I recognize one of them vaguely…"

Stardust padded up to them. "All I know is they were sent by an assassin clan in the deeper parts of the kingdom. Big guy, skeleton tattoos all over his body… know anything about him?"

The resulting silence and serious expression caught Stardust off guard. Qibli nodded thoughtfully.

"Yeah… You could say that."

He prodded up to Venom, sitting confused and a bit anxious. Qibli seemed to not notice and questioned him directly.

"You, name. Now."

Venom, startled, fell back a little.

"Agh! I uhm… I don't… I mean I think… Venom… I think, I just…"

Notably confused, Qibli prodded further.

"Hit your head or something?"

Venom shrugged slightly.

"Maybe… I can't remember to well… it's kinda coming back to me but… I don't know."

Another aggravated sigh escaped Qibli's maw.

"Rrrg… Alright, guess I can't get much from you." He turned to the nearest other thug. "YOU. Who do you work for?"

The Sandwing thug pointed to Venom.

"No, who do you as a WHOLE, work for?"

The thug peered down in thought again… and immediately pointed back to Venom.

"NO I MEAN- who does HE work for? Who are you all in league with?!" Qibli pressed his snout to the other Sandwing. "And DON'T just point at Venom again."

The sandwing shrugged helplessly. "Heck, I dunno dude! I just got recruited and told to follow orders."

Another voice piped up, saving the thug from getting straight up decked by Qibli.

"Cobra."

Qibli turned his head slowly, with a scowl like someone called his girlfriend ugly. He glared at the Sandwing, Venom's right hand assistant.

"...where, is, she?"

The thug shrugged casually. "Still imprisoned probably… that's not stopping her and Vulture though."

Qibli nodded and glanced around. "I figured. How many others are here, prowling around?"

Resignedly, the sandwing female complied. "Three, maybe more. They were sent to recruit, but it's been only a few days." She leaned in.

"Honestly, I just want to see Cobra and Vulture's operation burn… they have it coming, and they've had it coming for a while." The female Sandwing thug seemed a lot more willing to cooperate with Qibli than with the guards. "Anyway I can help, I'll do it."

Qibli offered a knowing and friendly glance. "You honestly have no idea how much I relate. Thank you, we appreciate it."

Venom, still listening, piped in again. "Don't… Don't I know you?"

The two stared each other down, silent and in thought. Venom's gaze indiscernible and foggy while Qibli focused intently on him.

"...Can't say sadly. Sorry." Wordlessly, Qibli turned to the guards.

"I think you should work with them on rounding up the rest, root them out before they pose a substantial problem." The guards nod in unison, escorting them all away. Stardust chimed in before they could leave.

"Also… keep them in the city, don't transfer them to the capital. It only puts them closer to Cobra and Vulture."

Qibli nods along. "Keep close watch."

The guards nod again and take them out of sight. Qibli turns to Stardust and Pebble, Peacemaker, Cliff and his guardians following suit.

"So," Qibli started. "Who's this again?" He nosed Pebble gently. Stardust kept the Sandwing child close to him.

"This is Pebble, adopted by Venom."

The gang's expression changed dramatically, realizing the stripes adorning Pebble's sides were actually scars.

Nimbus spoke up first. "Glad we got him out of there… Any idea where his birth parents are?"

Qibli, inspecting his tail (very gingerly, touching with implied permission from Pebble) drew back and shook his head. "He belonged to the Scorpion Den. Knowing that alone… I don't think trying to find his birth parents would be a good idea."

Pebble's face fell a bit, the idea of his birth parents either dead, or worse yet, not wanting him, didn't exactly feel too good. Qibli, taking note, sat beside him.

"That being said… I think he should come to Jade Mountain, At least for the time being. The last thing Pebble would need is to be alone with people he doesn't trust, and I think he and Stardust would get along fine."

Ruby and Nimbus nodded in agreement, Ruby offering a sincere smile to the little one. "I agree, if anything what he'd need is family."

Stardust turned to the Sandwing child. "What do you think Pebble, wanna come with me? I promise you my family will take you right in."

The small Sandwing glanced around at the smiling faces and warm expressions. Something about it felt foreign, strange almost. But ultimately, it felt like what he was looking for all along.

He gazed at Stardust and nodded affirmatively, coming in for a hug.

A collective "Awww" swept through the area, passerbys stopping to watch and "Awww" as well.

Qibli and Ruby shooed them off, Cliff and Peacemaker looking at the two guardians hopefully. Cliff clasped his talons together.

"Well! All's well that ends well?"

Ruby, whirled around in a frightening motherly way and tugged Cliff with her down the street. "Don't think you're out of trouble little one, that stunt you pulled running from the guards I assigned you was NOT funny."

Peacemaker, slinked back besides Qibli and Stardust, watching Cliff dragged off protesting. "BUT MOOOOOOOOOM-"

As the trio of Skywings padded out of sight, Stardust and company glanced to each other with the faintest of smiles.

"Well," Qibli broke the silence first. "I think I'd better stay here for the time being. The guards might need help, and my knowledge of the Scorpion Den could be of assistance."

He prodded at Stardust in a familial sort of way. "You get Pebble home safely, okay?" Qibli glanced to Peacemaker briefly. "Mind going with them?"

Peacemaker nodded with a smile. "Sure, no problem!"

Qibli nodded and turned to leave, but first looked back to Pebble.

"Oh and uh Pebble?"

The young Sandwing pawed forwards a bit. Qibli then proceeded to use his talons in a series of gestures that Peacemaker and Stardust didn't exactly recognize, but Pebble knew quite well.

(In Dragon Sign Language [DSL]:

Qibli: Do you perchance sign?)

Pebble, surprised and now quite excited signed back enthusiastically.

(Pebble: Yes! You're one of the only dragons I've met that has ever signed to me!)

Stardust and Peacemaker stood by, watching with curious, yet confused wonder.

(Qibli: Good! I'll make sure to teach Stardust some sign language so he knows what you're telling him. I'll see you around!)

As Qibli left, he raised a paw, closed his middle two talons, leaving his thumb, pinky and fore-talon extended, waving it as if saying goodbye. Pebble did so as well, leaving the two black and rainbow dragons confused as ever.

-X-

"YOU DID WHAT"

Clay, Peril and Tsunami all stood around Stardust, Pebble and Peacemaker, Peril wearing a particularly stunned and shocked face. Tsunami and Clay also seemed stunned, but more impressed than shocked.

"I know, I know," Stardust backed up his previous sentence. "It sounds bad and scary and dangerous but it really wasn't!"

Peril, obviously mad and fuming, squinted.

"Then tell me, how is fighting a band of thugs single handedly NOT dangerous?"

Stardust had several valid points but decided against it. Luckily Clay piped up.

"Peril, Stardust has powers that we can barely even begin to comprehend. It's not as dangerous for him as it might be for us."

Peril whirled around face to face with Clay. Before she could speak a word, Tsunami chimed in.

"Even so, Stardust only DID so because it was the right thing to do!"

NOW Stardust felt he could speak without making things worse. "I PROMISE I never went looking for trouble, I just wanted to help this little guy out! If there was an opportunity to do it without violence I would've done that instead but…"

Stardust turns to Pebble and smiles just a tinge. "I wasn't about to leave him."

Peril, still fuming, seemed right on the edge of tackling someone. She took a few deep breaths and calmed herself, then nodded.

"You're right… On those accounts, you're right." Peril nosed her son's head gently. "You did the right thing… and for that I'm the proudest a mother can be."

Right as Stardust was about to speak again, Peril cut in again. "BUT STILL AS A MOTHER IT'S INCREDIBLY FRIGHTENING AND ALARMING TO HEAR MY CHILD TOOK ON A GANG OF THUGS! Am I the only one in here who's even slightly fazed by this?!"

Clay spoke once more. "Stardust, I know we were just sparring in the dojo a couple days ago, but it's always better to run if you can. We worry about you, y'know?"

Tsunami stood besides Clay with a proud smile. "We're proud of you little guy, and all we want is to see you happy and succeed!"

Peril offered a smile. "Just always be careful. For us… Okay?"

Stardust nodded back to all. "Okay, promise." He then turned to Pebble besides him. "Now about Pebble…?"

A voice entering from behind startled the group. "He can stay!"

A sudden whirling around revealed Sunny prodding in. "He can absolutely stay!"

Tsunami walked up to her. "Okay, who's he gonna stay with? Last time I checked the winglet rooms are all but full and-"

Sunny flocked to the Sandwing child. "He can room with me! Him and Stardust can switch out or stay together if they choose, but I'll take him!"

"Sunny," Peril addressed Sunny. "Are you sure about-"

"Absolutely I'm sure, always nice to have another student here!" Sunny sat close by Pebble and gave him a somewhat motherly smile.

Of course everyone found this sudden interjection of Sunny's unrelenting positivity and unexpected protectiveness of Pebble suspicious in almost every regard, which prompted Clay to step up as well.

"Sunny," He nosed up to her. "How long have you been standing outside the cave waiting for us to ask that question?"

About to make a stern defense that "no I wasn't waiting outside listening how dare you assume that" Tsunami spoke up next.

"And why are you so adamant that Pebble room with you?"

The Sandwing in question glanced at Tsunami. "I just want him to have a chance here is all! Is that so bad?"

Still suspicious, Peril glanced over her. "Still… It seems a little sudden, y'know?"

Adjusting herself in a dignified manner, her tail coiled around her a bit, as it usually did when she found herself nervous. Pebble couldn't help but notice that he and Sunny shared the quirk of having no stinger. That alone drew him a bit closer to her.

"As a founder and advisor of Jade Mountain Academy, is it so odd that I take a great interest in potential students?" She draped a wing affectionately across Pebble's back. "I want him to feel welcome and loved here."

Stardust piped up this time. "I think that's amazing and commendable, but you still don't know almost anything about him…"

Sunny, now tired of arguing, just sighed and ducked her head a bit. "...I also miss having a little dragonet to take care of… okay?"

The group collectively "awwed" and surrounded Sunny (minus Peril) in a hug.

"In that case, sure. He can stay with you." Clay nosed the Sandwing along with Tsunami.

"Thank youuuuu!" Sunny wrapped her arms around the smaller sandwing who had taken to her. Pebble, snuggled against Sunny, had the biggest smile that Stardust had seen him with thus far.

-X-

'That sounds heavy Star… I'm sorry you got faced with that situation.'

Stardust laid on his back outside on the stone outcropping, the moons reflecting across the sky onto the mountains. A small enchanted locket sat open by him, Peacemaker on the other side of it.

Peacemaker, sitting atop a tree hammock in the jungle, gazed up at the moons and sky above, no clouds in the sky obstructing his view of the aetherium above.

Stardust rubbed his snout in frustration. 'Yeah… I did my best though.'

The more that Stardust thought about it, the more unsure he felt about his actions.

'...In your opinion… Do you think I did the right thing?'

Peacemaker turned over a little bit, getting comfy in the hanging vine sleeve. ''What do you mean?'

Rolling over onto his feet, Stardust paced around some. 'I mean did I even have the RIGHT to wipe his memories, did I have the right to make him a different person?''

Stardust flopped back onto the ground confused and discouraged. 'Maybe I should have just killed him… end the whole situation…'

Peacemaker, perturbed his best friend and brother could say something like that, brought the locket to his face.

'Hey! Look at me!'

Reluctantly, Stardust complied, viewing Peacemaker's snout up close. Peacemaker spoke a bit more forcefully, but with love.

'If you manage to resolve a situation without violence or death, that's a sign of true strength. Death, violence and hate are the easy ways out, and only a coward chooses to kill when there are other ways out.'

Peacemaker pointed at Stardust through the locket. ''You are brave and strong in ways most are not, and what you did was way better than any other option you had at the time.'

Stardust, rather taken back by the profundity of the statement, sat down and pondered that.

'...Wow… that's… oddly profound. Thanks peace, that made me feel a bit better.''

Peacemaker offered a brotherly smile.

''Thanks Star. Life lessons tend to come easier when you have someone else's memories stuck in your head…'

Stardust flopped back again. ''Ah… how's that going by the way? Getting better or worse?'

Peacemaker tossed over again with a tired yawn. 'Eh, so-so. Sometimes it resurfaces but it fades after a little. Getting more manageable, though.'

Stardust put the locket down and looked up again. 'Nothing new though?'

Peacemaker shook his head. 'Nope. Hey, on a different note, you wanna go visit Possibility again tomorrow? There's a really neat shop there that has some cool toys.'

The moons, gliding ever higher, made Stardust glow ever so gently. ''Nah I've had enough of Possibility for one week… maybe next week though.' The rainbow dragon turned over and yawned again. 'Hey Peace, I'm gonna head to sleep. Talk to you tomorrow okay?'

Peacemaker nodded as well. 'Alright dude, sleep tight. Sweet dreams. Love ya.'

'Love ya too, night.'

'Night.'

As both parties closed the locket, Stardust padded off to his room.

Peacemaker though laid in his hammock, still gazing up at the stars.

-X-

"SHIP STATUS" Tau ran through the data screens, several other crew members frantically typing and inputting commands at their stations.

"No major damage to hull integrity," a burly and tall Starwing lieutenant flicked through screens rapidly. "However a few minor fractures are present, emergency field protocols are in place."

Another smaller corporal frantically inputting data in the console spoke up. "Core temperature reaching Blue Dwarf status, radius 17% decrease. We can't make another jump like that until we cool the core off some."

Tau brought engine capacity down to a minimum, life support and micro thrusters being untouched. Screens and lights flickered but leveled out at a lessened brightness. Having traveled the course of two days within half an hour, the ship obviously had taken a beating warping through densely packed space. But considering the situation, Orion and Aries deemed it a worthy situation.

The King and Queen made their way onto the bridge. "Tau!" Orion stepped lively towards her. "You didn't break my ship did you?"

Tau shook her head enthusiastically. "No my liege, just had a rough time making it through that gravity field. Minimal damage, nothing the hull's regenerative properties can't handle."

King Orion nodded while checking the ship's status screen, Aries going straight to the planetary data console. "Have any advanced signals bounced back yet?"

A science officer stepped up. "Yes my Queen!" The small Starwing male, orange and yellow scales adorning his back, flicked three different screens onto the larger viewing screen.

"From what we have picked up, they don't seem very advanced. Societally, it would seem they have monarchical rules aligned with certain factions based on topography and physiology. Several distinct genetic base types have been identified: Arid Desert Base, Jungle Base, Mountainous Base, Oceanic Base, Arctic Base, Swamp Base, I think…?"

Aries nodded in agreement. "It would seem so… and this is globally or just confined to one continent?"

The small science officer replied in kind. "Continental. The others do seem inhabited but no scans have come from those."

The officer glanced at the topographical map. "...is it just me or does the continent kind of resemble a dragon?"

Tau and the King and Queen studied the shape a bit.

"Huh…" Tau nodded. "It does kinda."

"Anyway," The science officer brought up a different screen. "Results show mostly metal and wood based tools and weapons, no electrical readings or machine driven impulses detected, so it's safe to assume they haven't reached an industrial revolution. Fairly basic technological standards."

Orion stood besides the officer. "What's your name, corporal?"

Shifting a bit, he nodded with a salutation. "Caelum, sir."

Orion offered a smile. "Caelum. Would scans indicate anything towards the disposition of the governments?"

Officer Caelum thought to himself furiously and rummaged through the information. "W-well… what do you want to know?"

Aries rifled through the scan's data a bit. "Are we dealing with a peaceful culture, a primitive species just learning the foundations of civilization, a warrior or tribal people…?"

Caelum brought up the map again. "Let's see… based on the civilization's infrastructure and spread of towns, they haven't advanced too heavily into each other's domain, and what spread there is, is light and intermingling with each other." He turned to the royals and clasped his paws together.

"I'd say they're just on the verge of recovering from something in the last hundred years or so. What, I have no idea. But it seems as though they're starting to integrate more and more with each other as a species, despite race and phylum. Overall, my guess would be that they're a peaceful but hardy civilization."

Aries smiled to herself. "Perfect! Then tomorrow, we'll go introduce ourselves. Tau!"

Tau popped up from her chair. "Yes my Queen?"

The Queen dragged the three data screens into her tablet. "Prepare and mount an expeditionary group, have them ready by the next solar cycle, approximately 18 hours."

Orion opened his mouth to speak in protest of his wife's rather rash decision, however one of the crewmates announced something in quite a loud voice:

"UNIDENTIFIED SHIP COMING INTO RANGE."

-X-

Tossing and turning, turning and tossing. Peacemaker couldn't sleep for the life of him. Repressed memories of his alter being kept reassembling themselves in his mind, almost trying to form something bigger.

But what, he couldn't tell nor did he want to. He groaned and massaged his temples in an attempt to get the voices in his head out.

"C'mon, just let me sleep…"

At speaking out loud, the voices grew louder and disjointed. Frustrated, he shouted inside his head this time.

'SHUT UP!'

To his amazement, they all quieted down.

To his dismay, it became TOO quiet, As if something had changed. It just didn't feel right, like those memories were all now confined to a different part of his mind.

Whatever had happened, he could finally hear himself think at last.

"Phew… glad that's over…"

Somewhere in the confines of his brain however…

I'll say.

Peacemaker sat up rim-rod straight.

"Who said that?"

Oddly enough, Peacemaker heard a voice that sounded familiar. He hadn't ever heard it, but it just… sounded too close to someone else's voice.

Take a guess.

Now that he thought about it and heard it again… that voice come from inside his own head.

'No… you can't…'

Peacemaker put his paws over his ears.

'You're DEAD.'

Correction, I never died. I just… fell asleep. Again. In fact, I became you. Either that or I only came to exist AS you. Confusing really...

'Please don't tell me…'

Indeed. Nice to finally meet you Peacemaker.

For Peacemaker, it was to be a long night.

My name is Darkstalker. But… Something tells me you knew that already.

-X-

"They'll blow us to pieces the moment they spot us!"

Padding through the darkened halls with dragons bustling and repairing frantically, it was hard for the triage to keep up with their helmeted leader.

Then don't get hit.

The other two piped up from the back, all captains voicing their concerns.

"That's a Giant Class Stellar Cruiser, they out gun, out run, and out class us in every way! We wouldn't be able to give you more than an hour on that planet without getting smited!"

The other two looked at him curiously upon saying the last word.

"What? Smiten? Smote? Smit?"

The original captain spoke up again. "IT'S SUICIDE, MY QUEEN."

Whirling around suddenly, she practically roared at them.

THEN LEAVE.

Silence. Everyone stopped dead in their tracks.

Slowly, and solemnly, their queenly figure detached her helmet, revealing her face with a scar underneath her left eye and every color imaginable in her irises.

"...look, either way, I'm almost certain I'm not coming back whether you're here or not. I may be captured, I might not. But if you're here… innocent lives will have been lost." She looks down. "And either way, I need to make this right. He doesn't know, but he's in serious danger and I'm probably the only one who can do anything about it."

Still silence. The head captain's expression turned sullen. "...We can't just leave you, who knows what might happen to you."

The queenly figure nods. "I know… But in the interest of your safety, you HAVE to leave me."

The captain interrupts again. "But my QUEEN-"

Immediately the queen interrupts. "I AM NOT A QUEEN, ISO." Still addressing the head captain (who's name has been revealed as Iso) she detaches her sweeping robes to reveal the multicolored rainbow scales down her body.

"...I am a princess. And they will treat me as such."

Iso nods and bows reluctantly. The rest of the crew follows. "As you say… Princess Quasar."

Heading towards an escape shuttle, she regards her crew for the last time.

"...Call me Libra."

-X-

Stardust and company will return again, in a chapter finale

Watch the skies.