This is so fucking stupid. I can't believe I'm risking my ass to do this!

Flame was currently tucked into a tight ball in his bed as he waited for Ibis to go to bed as well. But she wouldn't! She was sitting on one of the floor pillows with a candle-lamp next to her while reading a scroll. Flame had gone to bed early in the hopes that Ibis would do so as well. BUT NOPE. The fucking dragon WOULD NOT go to bed. And to make matters worse, she was sleeping in his room. They had brought in a spare bed for her and everything.

Flame stifled a growl as he peeked out from under his wing to look out his window. The stars were twinkling to life against the deep black of the sky. He was cutting it close. They had agreed to meet around moon-high outside of the west-most building and then sneak into the palace.

After what seemed like hours of agonizing waiting Ibis finally blew out the candle-lamp and shuffled into her bed. Once more Flame had to wait until her breathing slowed and deepened, and then waited an extra ten minutes for good measure before he shot up and prepared to leave. He placed his pillowed and some extra things under the blanket to make a shape of a sleeping dragon beneath before quickly rushing to the window sill. Slowly he opened the curtains and then the pushed the window open. Flame clenched his teeth as a wave of cricket chirps and frog croaks rushed in. He risked a quick glance towards Ibis. She was still sleeping soundly.

With a breath of relief Flame jumped out of his ground-floor window and into the tall grass below. The crickets and frogs become silent as he landed among them. Poking his head up he looked around. His only company was the vast moonlit meadow that stretched on before him and the clear skies above that sent down a cool breeze.

OK. I got out with no one seeing me. Now I just need find those losers.

Keeping low Flame ran along the wall of the building in search of the others. The grass whipped past his snout as he scurried past opened windows with lights still on within. In those cases he would slow down and sneak past to just in case the dragon within were to hear him.

Finally he reached the other end of the building but was dismayed when no one was there. Flame tried to remain calm as his stomach flopped nervously. Had this all been a trick? A set up to get him in trouble?

I bet Jet set this up! he internally snarled and whipped around to head back. I bet those fuckers are laughing at me now, watching me run around the place like an idiot. The next time I see them-"

"Flame!"

At the sound of his name the SkyWing startled and turned his head to see Umber bounding towards him through the long grass. Flame's heart skipped a beat at the sight of the MudWing. Hot shame spread across his face as he realized it hadn't been a set up.

"Umber! Keep your voice down!" A harsh whisper emerged from the grass and Jet poked her head up. Next Sora peeked over the grass blades, her eyes sparkling wild with excitement and adventure.

Her brother, however, had nothing but dread in his deep eyes as nervously tore at the plants around him. It made Flame wilt to see Umber so worried.

"So how did you slip past your babysitter?" Jet quipped as stood up and waded through the meadow to approach Flame. Umber also perked and waited for his answer.

Flame's ears twitched in irritation but he hid it with a malicious smile. "I slit her throat and left her dying on the floor in a pool of her own blood."

All the colour drained from their faces and they stared at him with bug-eyes. Flame did everything he could to stifle a laugh.

Finally Umber spoke up. "Ha, you're...joking...right?"

"FUCKING OBVIOUSLY!" Flame barked and was immediately shushed by the other three. Flame waved them away with his wings. "I left her sleeping soundly in my room. Happy now?"

Sora exhaled a sigh of relief. "Oh good. That would have been awful."

"Well now that we all have THAT horrible image in our minds, let's get a move on," Jet spoke with fake cheer and the group of dragons took to the sky and flew towards the tall towers of Queen Ruby's palace.


The band of dragons approached the massive mountain that silently overlooked the Healing Center. It stood unyielding and powerful over the valley, like a vast sentinel. From high up on its peaks the main palace emerged. It was the oldest part of the palace and was hardly used in this day and age. Over the thousands of years the palace had been expanded and its towers and buildings crawled all along the mountain's face, cascading downward until they reached the base.

There was a majestic new palace near ground level that Scarlet had commissioned when she had been Queen. That was where the current royal family resided. Flame knew all these facts since his mother had mostly lived here during the war and he had used to beg her to tell him everything about it. Not that he had cared about the palace; he had just done it to spend time with his mom.

So this is the place my mom would disappear to for months on end. And it didn't ever cross her fucking mind to take me with her!

"Flame?" Umber timidly called his name and brushed their wings together as they flew. "Are you alright? You have a sad face on."

"Fuck off, I'm fine!" Flame snapped, but a flicker of hurt passed over Umber's eyes. Flame cleared his throat. "Sorry. I'm fine," he repeated more calmly. Flame was making an effort to be less rude to the MudWing. After all, they were friends.

But it always amazed him how Umber seemed to just read his mind and know when he was upset. Thankfully Umber didn't push further, although Flame could tell the MudWing was pretty curious. Eager to get Umber's focus off of him, Flame decided to bother Jet.

"So where is this ghost of yours?" he called to the dragoness that was flying at the head of the formation. At first Flame thought she hadn't heard him, but a few seconds later she answered.

"Well the particular ghost we are looking for tonight is in the older section of the palace, higher up on the mountain."

Flame rolled his eyes and as he did he saw Umber make a grimace.

"So are there lots of ghosts around?" the MudWing asked with barely concealed anxiety.

Perhaps Jet hadn't heard the hint of fear in his voice, because she said the exact opposite of anything reassuring.

"Oh yeah, there are HUNDREDS of ghosts here. This place has a long history of assassinations, poisonings, betrayals, and fights to the death for the throne. You know, just your average royal family stuff." Jet shrugged and abruptly gasped. "OH and don't forget all the spirits of those who died horrible, agonizing deaths in the arena!" she chirped and Umber paled.

"But what about the ghost we are looking for now?" Sora inquired. "What's the story behind that?"

Jet's eyes lit up. "Excellent question, Sora! I would be glad to tell you all the story." The SkyWing cleared her throat and her previous bubbly face was replaced by a grim expression. She spoke in a dramatic voice, "According to the legends, about 300 years ago an unnamed Prince was to be married to a beautiful, noble dragoness. To everyone who saw them they were the perfect couple, but on their wedding night the Prince went crazy and murdered his fiancé by slicing off her head." Jet sliced the air with her talons to add emphasis. Umber squeaked nearby and Jet continued her lively story. "And ever since that night, her spirit has haunted this castle. Blood curling screams in the middle of the night, candles blowing off and then lighting themselves back on, the sound of whispering behind you, cold spots...it's all been reported," Jet stated matter-of-factly.

"What a bunch of bullshit!" Flame interjected. "You don't actually believe this stuff, do you?" He turned to Umber, expecting him to be just as skeptical but the MudWing's face had gone nearly white and his had pupils were the size of pins. Concern pulsed through Flame. "Whoa, Umber, relax. You do know that ghosts don't really exist, right?"

Flame ignored the snort from Jet and waited for Umber to answer.

"Yep. Right. It's just a story," the MudWing spoke briskly but his terrified expression remained etched on his face. Flame regarded him.

Ah crap, I can't have him bailing on me! What else can I say to cheer him up?

"You know," Flame began. "Even if there WAS a ghost, which there isn't, I would definitely beat them up if they tried to hurt you."

The fear on Umber's face was momentarily broken as he let out a breathy laugh. It made Flame feel good to see Umber smile, but he couldn't help taking slight offence.

"Are you laughing because I cheered you up or because you don't think I could take on a ghost?" Flame asked Umber but Jet answered.

"You can't fight a ghost!" she commented. "They're already dead, there's nothing you can do to stop them."

Once again this was the worst thing to say as Flame heard Umber take in a sharp breath.

"Well in that case I will just have to die somehow, and THEN I will come back as a ghost myself and battle the OTHER ghost for all of eternity." Flame flashed Umber a toothy grin and the MudWing laughed. Good. Maybe if I show him how stupid this all is he won't be so scared.

The air was getting cooler now as they flew higher up the mountain. As they followed the climbing palace Flame noticed the effects of time on the architecture. Plants that would have once struggled to find perch on the mountain's face now grew comfortably in the old castle. Flame could see trees sticking out of windows, walls covered in hardy shrubs, and berry-filled bushes on the partly caved-in roofs.

If plants got in I'm sure the place is festering with animals as well, Flame reasoned as the group began to bank towards a roofless courtyard. As they alighted down their wing beats rustled the leaves on the ground and sent some squirrels and birds fleeing. The courtyard was surrounded by four high walls and in the center stood a broken fountain with the statue of a beautiful SkyWing female inside. Each wall had a large archway that lead to a section of the abandoned castle.

"I don't see any ghost," Flame stated right away and was pleased when Jet released an exasperated sigh.

"Just shut up and follow me. I'll take you guys around and maybe we'll see something SPOOKY." She nudged Sora and the two females strolled boldly into the archway behind them. Umber and Flame exchanges wary glances and followed them in.

They first entered a large hallway that had one wall perforated with large windows that allowed the moonlight and cold air to stream in. On the other side were half rotted portraits of noble looking SkyWings. They had only made several steps in when Flame gasped as he felt Umber suddenly lean into him to hide from the staring portraits.

"Their eyes are following me," the terrified dragon peeped and ducked behind Flame.

Flame huffed. I don't have time for this shit! Flame breathed a stream of fire towards the portrait and it immediately lit up, the fire creating flickering shadows down the hall.

"FLAME!" Umber yelled, his fear momentarily evaporating as he scolded the SkyWing. "Why did you do that? You can't just DESTROY things on a whim!"

Flame shrugged as he watched the paper blacken and eventually the portrait fell to the floor in a heap of ash. "I did it because it was scaring you," he spoke honestly.

Umber stared at him before quickly adverting his gaze. "Uh, thanks I guess," he said and Flame swore he was blushing.

"HEY! WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON DOWN THERE!" Jet shouted at them from the other end of the hall. Her and Sora had gone far ahead and were already exploring the rooms at the end.

"Don't worry! I handled it!" Flame called back and even from this distance he could practically hear Jet roll her eyes.

"Well stop destroying things or I WILL come down there and end you!" And with that Jet retreated back into the adjoining room. Flame stuck his tongue out in defiance, even though Jet didn't see.

He heard Umber chuckled beside him. "I would be careful Flame. Jet is pretty tough. Your plan of becoming a ghost and going to battle might happen sooner than you think."

"Pfft. I could take her," Flame assured and then ran up to another portrait. "Check this one out! That has GOT to be the stupidest face I have ever seen." Flame mimicked the face on the portrait, which looked like it had been painted mid sneeze.

Umber burst out laughing. Flame smiled. He was beginning to like the MudWing's laugh. Once the brown dragon had regained his composure they hurried to catch up with Sora and Jet. They found them in a grand dining room. The tables and chairs were still there but they were so old Flame doubted they could support any weight without collapsing. Cobwebs hung everywhere, including all over the large fireplace on the left wall which also had an enormous portrait above. The SkyWing in the painting gazed forward in the direction of the vast window that took up most of the right wall. At least her eyes weren't following Umber around or else Flame would have had to burn her as well.

Jet and Sora were exploring a cabinet at the end of the room that was still full of dishes.

"This is so crazy!" Sora exclaimed. "How could they just leave behind all this stuff?"

"I guess it was sort of a gradual thing," Jet explained. "They just kept adding newer sections and everyone just started living there and buying more things to fill up their new homes. They didn't want the old stuff anymore."

Flame strolled up to the two dragonesses and sighed loudly. "WHERE is this fucking ghost at? We've been here for, like, five minutes and all I've seen are some boring portraits and spiders."

Jet's ears twitched. She inhaled and exhaled deeply while Sora brushed her wings against the pinkish dragoness. "Ghosts are not static beings that just stay in one place and can be found whenever you want. They appear to you when they WANT to," Jet hissed.

"Oh for FUCK SAKE'S!" Flame groaned. "So essentially you brought us here for no reason." He leaned against the wall and frowned.

"Of course not! We're exploring for fun AND I never promised we'd see a ghost," Jet pointed out.

"And there's nothing wrong with that!" Umber quickly added as he joined the group. "The 'not seeing a ghost' part, that is." He gave a nervous laugh.

Sora looked to Jet hopefully. "But do you think we'll see anything tonight? Anything scary?" Sora's intense desire to see a ghost unnerved Flame. What had made her so damn interested in dead people all of a sudden?

Jet looked coyly at Sora from the corner of her eye. "You know, not everything scary comes from ghosts and monsters and stuff."

Sora tilted her head with curiosity while Flame rolled his eyes and said, "What the hell does THAT mean?"

Jet put on a haughty air as if she were some sort of respected professor about to lecture her enthralled students. "Well, there's a school of philosophy that believes that our supernatural experiences are not external in source. They come from our subconscious, and anytime we look into something dark and unknown, like the night sky, it becomes a mirror of our subconscious."

A hush fell over the group until Umber spoke up. "Uhhh, what does THAT mean?"

Jet strode over to him and spoke softly, "It means that the monsters aren't out there, they're in here." She tapped her temples with her talons. Flame heard Umber gulp.

"Wow. I think I liked the ghosts more when there were on the outside of my head." The MudWing's legs were shaking and he looked pretty close to passing out.

"So this was just a BIG waste of my time essentially." Flame twitched his tail with irritation.

Jet shrugged. "Yep. I guess you shouldn't have come then."

Flame narrowed his eyes. Fucking bitch.

"That's it. I'm out of here. I'm not risking my ass any longer." The SkyWing whipped around and stocked out, his talons hitting the stone floor.

"Wait! Flame!" He heard Umber chase him into the hallway. "Please don't go! Can't you stay a little longer?"

Flame sighed and paused his steps. "Well I sure as hell don't WANT to stay, so why should I?"

The brown dragon became flustered as he tried to think of a reason. "Well, I thought that...um..."

"You could always leave with me," Flame softly suggested and leaned in slightly towards Umber. The MudWing let out a small gasp at the closeness and Flame backed off, quickly realizing what he was doing.

Umber's face took on a shade of red and he cleared his throat while he thought about Flame's offer. After a moment he regretfully shook his head. "Sora would be so upset if I left...I'll stay for her." He looked absolutely miserable and Flame could hardly bear it.

Oh shit. Why does he have to look so pathetic? HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO LEAVE NOW?

After a few moments of arguing with himself Flame finally relented. Oh, fuck it. I'm already in deep trouble. I might as well get comfortable in it.

"FINE. I'll stick around for a while longer. But only if I get to burn more things."

Umber's eyes lit up and he laughed. "I'm sure we can find something else for you to destroy."

Side by side the two dragons retraced their steps and returned to the dining room to find Jet and Sora were gone.

"Ah, crap. They wondered off," Flame noted with a huff. Umber's eyes became wild with panic. Flame tried to calm him. "Don't freak out! I'm sure they're just around the corner." At the other end of the dining room was yet another door. Flame opened it and poked his head through. It was a windowless hallway but there was no sign of Sora or Jet. Uh oh. Umber's so going to freak. And he did.

"SORA!" Umber cried and pushed his way past Flame into the hall. "SORA WHERE ARE YOU?" His voice was shaking now. Flame was feeling a bit nervous himself. Not because of Sora or Jet, he didn't think they were in any actual danger, but because he had never seen Umber this upset.

"Umber, you have to relax, just...take deep breaths or something." But the mud dragon wasn't listening and was running around the hall checking the rooms. Flame groaned and chased after him. Finally he caught up to the frantic dragon and gripped him by the shoulders to keep him still. "STOP PANICKING!" Flame shouted and gently shook Umber's shoulders. "They are probably off exploring. Let's just stay in the dining room and they will probably return that way when they leave."

Umber nodded absently. "OK. Good idea."

The dragons made their way back to the room to find the door had been jammed shut. Flame calmed Umber's fearful squeaked by explaining a draft must have slammed it shut and it had JUST SO HAPPEN to get stuck.

"B-but I didn't hear it slam," Umber's voice quivered.

"Well yeah, you were screaming so much you could hardly hear anything else."

Without the light from the dining room the hallway was extremely dim. Flame blew a plumb of fire. "We'll have to find another way around," he said before started down the hallway with Umber brushing up against him.

Flame checked each of the rooms and went into the only one that had another door in it. Flame grimaced. I'll have to be careful. This place is like a maze. I don't want to get lost. The chosen room was a small library. It had likely been someone's study at one point. Now it was just dusty and smelled like farts. Luckily there was a window and that allowed some light from the moons to enter.

"Your sister and Jet probably went this way as well," Flame mentioned to Umber who was sitting nervously nearby. The two went forward to leave but Flame paused as he heard something behind him. Umber noticed and stopped just at the door. "Is something wrong?" he asked.

Flame shushed him and strained his ears. It sounded like a voice. Maybe it was Jet or Sora. But when it spoke again it came from right beside him and was no more than a whisper.

Murderer.

It was Stonemover's voice.


Author's Note:

So it wasn't until after I started writing this that I realized I had put the gang in the most stereotypical "spooky" place ever: a haunted, abandoned castle. Oh well ;3

Also, a thank you to Quasimagical for helping me think of the backstory for Jet's ghost.

And thank you to everyone who is reading this and has left reviews. I appreciate you all C: