This chapter took a bit longer, but it's finally out!
I'll admit, I sort of faced writer's block on this chapter. I know what I'm doing AFTER Pinewood, but Pinewood is a bit of a new thing that I made up. It was pretty hard to think of what to type out here. This chapter is honestly pretty filler heavy as well.
In addition, future chapters might come out a bit later than usual. I'm working on some side projects that I'd like to get finished.
Regardless, enjoy the chapter!
POV: Cyclone
The light was shining through the single window in the room. Outside, it looked beautiful, with the few plants that could grow this far north shimmering in the sunlight. If it was any other day, Cyclone would be outside, putting his plan in motion.
So why was he still inside the room? Why wasn't he outside, interacting with the Skywings and finding possible new allies?
Simple: Harvey wasn't waking up.
Cyclone tried multiple things to wake him up, including shaking him and even using a small water bucket. Even Calcite came in to help, trying out multiple methods that she had used on her father. Nothing was working.
He wasn't dead, though. Harvey's chest was rising and falling like it normally did and he was breathing. Was it something special about scavengers? That they hibernated, like some other species do?
Who am I kidding? Harvey would have said something about that. He's not that stupid.
Right now, he was just sitting by the window, staring outside. There wasn't anything to do but wait for Harvey to wake up. It allowed him to be in his own thoughts for a little bit.
Is this a good idea? I know Darkstalker hurt Harvey and tried getting me arrested, but still…
Cyclone couldn't quite ignore the good Darkstalker did. Even if he was a manipulator, he still helped the Seawings build a new palace. Not to mention the other numerous projects he conducted all over Pyrrhia.
But then he learned that he was a dragon willing to change others. Winter was proof of that: forced to become a Mudwing named Coypu. And then Harvey's story of how Darkstalker intended to turn him into a Rainwing (He wasn't entirely sure about the specific tribe). He barely escaped from that, although the specifics were a bit vague.
How many others faced the same fate Winter did?
A sudden thud snapped Cyclone out of his thoughts. He whirled around, expecting Harvey to have awoken. But no, it was just Calcite, who had opened the door to check on Cyclone.
"The scavenger's still asleep, huh?", she asked, walking over to look at the sleeping form of Harvey.
"Yep", Cyclone replied with a sigh. "I don't know what's going on with him. He was just fine before we went to sleep".
Calcite gave Harvey a concerned look, before turning to Cyclone. "Well, are you going to go out?", she asked. "You can't just stay cooped up here all day, waiting for your scavenger to wake up".
"I'm worried about him!", Cyclone protested, adamant about staying here. "Who knows what will happen if he wakes up alone".
It was silent for a moment, before Calcite spoke up again. "I'll have my parents watch them for you".
She seemed a bit surprised, however, when Cyclone refused the offer. "No. I can't quite trust your family yet", he said. "I want to make sure Har- my scavenger is ok".
The slip of his tongue didn't go unnoticed, however. "Your scavenger has a name?", Calcite asked curiously. Cyclone hesitantly nodded at that, mentally berating himself for accidentally revealing that. "What is it?".
Should I say his real name? I still don't know if this place knows about the incident in the Rainforest. Three moons, does Darkstalker know Harvey's name?
Apparently Cyclone was silent for a bit, because Calcite sighed. "You seem really protective of your names. You wouldn't even tell me your name at first".
"S-Sorry. I have some... trust issues", Cyclone half lied. If he wasn't on the run, he would be freely telling his name the second someone started being nice. But since he WAS on the run, well, better safe than sorry.
He thought he saw Calcite's wings droop a little bit, but when Cyclone blinked again, they were in their normal position. "Alright. I hope I can get your trust someday", she said, giving a weak smile.
Cyclone immediately felt guilty. So much so, that he considered just telling Calcite the names. No other dragons had ever tried to gain Cyclone's trust (except for Current, I guess). Maybe I should just do it-
"AHHH! MONKEY'S ON THE WALL! MIND YOUR BUSINESS AS- oh".
The two dragons were now staring at Harvey, who was looking extremely guilty. "Uhh…. Yibble yibble?", he tried.
"So your scavenger CAN talk", Calcite said, with a hint of suspicion in her voice. "Ember was right about that after all".
Why did you do this to me Harvey?!
"Well…. fuck. You better not tell that grumpy dragon", Harvey told Calcite. "She was crazy as hell. Kept bragging about how she'll finally return to the palace".
This suddenly caused Calcite's expression to change to one of confusion. "W-Wait, what? Did Ember mean the Sky Palace?", she asked.
Harvey shrugged in response. "I dunno. I'm just a human. How would I know anything?".
Calcite turned to look at the door and stood up. "I need to go. I'll see you guys later", she said abruptly. She walked out of the door and closed it, leaving Cyclone and Harvey in the room.
"What was that?!", Cyclone yelled at Harvey. His mind was furious, even though, deep down, he knew that whatever happened wasn't intentional. Especially since Harvey had a genuinely sorry face on.
"I'm sorry man. I was sort of… stuck in that same place where Darkstalker… trapped me in", Harvey replied hesitantly. It sounded like he was pulling bits out of his memory that he'd rather forget. "Also had a nightmare with it as well".
Cyclone relaxed a bit. "That sounds intense", he observed.
"With that out of the way, let's get down to business!", Harvey exclaimed, changing the subject. "Get dragons to trust us, find allies and defeat that stupid ass dragon".
"I don't think it's that easy", Cyclone said, wincing a bit. He always had problems with talking to other dragons, even if he knew some of them for a long time. Once he got past saying "hi", his brain just sort of didn't know how to continue.
Harvey laughed. "Yeah yeah, you're probably right. We do need to get to work though", he said. "Where do we start though…".
Minutes later, Cyclone was walking out of the door with Harvey inside his pouch. The two didn't know much about Pinewood, so today was going to be an information gathering day. Find out what buildings were in the town and determine which place would be the most friendly.
Not far from Calcite's house was a store being managed by an older Skywing. The instant Cyclone stepped inside, however, the Skywing told them to scram. "Or else you'll meet the fiery end of my breath".
Since Cyclone would rather not get burned, he did as the Skywing told him. "Yikes, what's with that guy? You'd think he'd be welcoming you, considering the fact that you're a visitor", Harvey commented afterwards.
As they moved closer to the center of town, more dragons began to fill the streets. Along with the increased number of dragons was an increase of shops. Some were selling weapons, others were selling traveling equipment and many more.
Eventually, they passed what appeared to be a guard station. It looked worn down and abandoned, as if it hadn't been used in months. Along the walls were posters of various subjects, including a full moon festival and advertisements for some shops.
One poster, however, stuck out from all of the rest. It was a wanted poster, with a crudely drawn face of a Seawing on it. Below the poster were the words CYCLONE THE SEAWING and WANTED ALIVE. The reward was a bunch of gold and other metals. There were other wanted posters on the wall, but all had perfectly drawn faces and contrasted with the crude face of Cyclone.
"Whoever drew this poster really needs to go to art school", Harvey joked, poking his head out of the pouch.
"At l-least we know that I shouldn't give out my name", Cyclone commented. It looked like he would have to be Coast the Seawing for a little while.
Suddenly, a Skywing popped out of the guard station, scaring Cyclone. They gave him a weird look, before grunting and walking away.
After that little event, Cyclone recovered and continued to walk down the street. There were multiple different shops near the guard station, including one shop that was selling different accessories. Out of curiosity, he walked in.
"WELCOME TO SKYCLIFF ACCESSORIES!", a loud Skywing boomed the instant Cyclone walked inside. It startled him for a moment, causing the same voice to laugh. "OOPS. DID MY LOUD VOICE STARTLE YOU?!".
This dragon is really going to make me go deaf.
"S-Sorta?", Cyclone replied, wincing a bit. "I'm just here to l-look around".
"UNDERSTOOD! LET ME KNOW IF YOU NEED ANYTHING!", the skywing boomed from the counter. In the pouch, Cyclone heard Harvey grumbling about his poor ears.
Trying to ignore the ear pain, Cyclone walked around the shop and looked at some of the accessories. Most of them were foreign to him, however, he did recognize a few of them. One of them was a scarf, which he recalled, was what Whale was selling back at the palace.
It's a little cold up here. Maybe I should buy one….
Problem was, Cyclone didn't have any sort of gold or any metals on him. Just a scavenger and a rock inside a pouch. Maybe if he could somehow get some gold….
"WELCOME TO SKYCLIFF ACCESSORIES!", the same skywing boomed. "AH! NICE TO SEE YOU AGAIN, CALCITE!".
Calcite?! Why is she here? I thought she was dealing with Ember or something.
"Thanks, Hellfire. Mind if you tone down your voice a bit?", Calcite's voice said. Cyclone was hidden a little bit by a rack of diamond rings, so he had not been noticed yet.
"Understood! What brings YOU here today?", the skywing, who Cyclone assumed was Hellfire, said loudly. It was quieter than it was before, but still a bit too loud for his liking.
"Uh… have you seen a Seawing anywhere nearby?".
Hellfire let out a chuckle."Why, yes! He's currently in the store!", he replied. "HEY SEAWING! CALCITE HERE WANTS TO SEE YOU!".
Ack!
"He is? Coast! I need you for something!", Calcite shouted.
"Coming!", Cyclone shouted back. He couldn't help but wonder what she needed him for.
He walked over to the entrance, where Calcite was waiting for him. She was smiling, although Cyclone could see a sense of worry behind it.
She gestured towards the exit and walked through it. After saying farewell to Hellfire, Cyclone followed. Clouds had begun to form in the sky, signaling that it might rain later. A light breeze blew through the town, making the pine trees sway a little bit.
They walked over to the guard station, which was currently vacant of any dragons. "Follow me", Calcite said, before walking right inside. Cyclone couldn't help but feel a little worried, but he reluctantly entered the station.
The inside looked as abandoned as it did on the outside. Chairs were flipped over, the counter looked barely usable and overall, Cyclone did not like being there. Why Calcite decided to take him here, he had no idea.
He'd find out soon enough.
Calcite took a deep breath, before turning her head to face Cyclone. Worries about what she might say drummed through his own brain. Was it a big deal? Was it not? Why was he worried about this?
"I want you to be honest with me, Coast", Calcite began.
"O...Ok".
Another deep breath. "Are you… really named Coast?".
NOT OK!
Internally, Cyclone was panicking. What caused her to have doubts about that name?! The wanted poster didn't mention a scavenger, so it couldn't have been that that tipped her off. Unless Ember somehow knew and told her?
WHAT DO I SAY?!
Calcite was waiting for an answer, looking at Cyclone with eyes that conveyed a number of emotions. Fear, suspicion, trustworthiness, and many more.
He had only known her for a day. How Cyclone was able to deduce all of that, he had no idea. It freaked himself out. It couldn't mean… that.
"U-Uh…", Cyclone stammered out, still unsure what course of action to take. Lie, or not?
What was the right choice?
"Just tell her, for christ sake!", Harvey suddenly shouted from the pouch. "It's pretty obvious that something's up at this point".
The shouting didn't go unnoticed by Calcite. "Tell what?", she asked, with a concerned tone in her voice.
Cyclone sighed. It was time to tell the truth.
"My name…. is n-not Coast", he admitted. "Like I-I said, I couldn't quite trust you with the real name".
Calcite tilted her head to the side in confusion. "W-Why? What could I do with a random Seawing's name?".
"Quite.. a bit. The n-name's Cyclone. Cyclone the Seawing".
These words had an immediate impact on Calcite. Her eyes widened and she took cautious steps, putting distance between her and Cyclone. These actions were understandable, but it still hurt him a little bit seeing that. He didn't want to be feared, especially based on a lie.
"Y-You?! You're the one who tried to murder two innocent Rainwings?!".
And everything is already going wrong.
"N-No! I never did anything like that!", Cyclone cried out.
"He's right, you know", Harvey chimed in, pulling himself out of the pouch. "Two rainwings attacked us at sunset, working for that Darkstalker fellow. Never intended to kill them, just simply fought back in self defense".
Even despite Harvey's words, Calcite's eyes were wide with panic. And frankly, Cyclone had no idea what to say that could convince her otherwise. It was his and Harvey's word against Darkstalker and the entire rainforest.
"I do gotta wonder though, what gave you the idea that Cyclone was lying?", Harvey asked curiously. Apparently he had an idea of where to go.
"E-Ember mentioned it", Calcite replied hesitantly. "I-I thought she was crazy…".
"Hmm. She probably knows more than she's letting on…", Harvey mused. "Ember. Not you, by the way".
What are you trying to do, Harvey?
"Either way, we never tried to murder
anyone. Honestly".
Calcite didn't seem convinced. She kept darting her eyes over to the two, then the window, then the door, then back to the scavenger and dragon. It was obvious that she was scared.
"Yeahhh I don't know what to do Cyclone", Harvey admitted, shrugging his shoulders. "Normally I'm good at planning, but convincing people of the truth is not really that easy. Especially when the liar is the goddamn king of the world!".
"...So I-I gotta do the work?", Cyclone asked.
"Probably. You can do it man! You're more genuine than I can be".
"What d-do you mean?".
Harvey thought for a second, keeping his eyes on Calcite. "How do I say it…. You can tell the truth better than me. I think that's the best way to phrase it?".
Cyclone blinked at Harvey for a moment. "I can tell the t-truth better? That's… kind of weird".
"Agh, I can't explain it! You do the talking, I'll be in here ok?". And with that statement, Harvey buried himself back into the pouch. Looks like he really was leaving it up to Cyclone.
He turned to Calcite, who was looking more confused than before. She probably heard the conversation between Cyclone and Harvey.
"L-Listen here…. I know I haven't b-been truthful to you..", Cyclone began, nervous of what to say. If he said the wrong thing, then he would forever lose the trust of Calcite, along with any chances of recruiting any allies here.
"...And I guess d-doubting us makes sense. Why would the king lie, after all? If we were dangerous criminals, then of course w-we would be hunted down-".
"Get to the point", Calcite spat out.
"...Do I really look like someone who would try to k-kill two innocent Rainwings?".
"Looks can be deceiving. I thought I could trust you, and yet here we are".
Cyclone sighed. How could he convince her now? Calcite seemed like she had made up her mind already and she was just biding her time.
"I… suppose so. I just… r-really didn't want to lose Harvey…". A single teardrop fell out of Cyclone's eye, rolling down his face and splattering onto the floor. "H-He is.. one of the few friends who would.. accept me as who I am".
"In the p-past…. I would wish I could be someone else. I-I wanted to be someone who d-didn't get bullied at school. I didn't want to be Cyclone". More tears were starting to appear on his face, falling down to the floor.
"But…. t-thanks to Harvey…. I've changed", Cyclone said, smiling now, tears still falling down his face. "Helping him escape from Darkstalker, running away f-from the rainforest, it has all changed me. No magic spells can change who you really are".
"I am Cyclone the Seawing. And I won't let Darkstalker change that".
Emotional words from Cyclone at the end, huh?
The next chapter should hopefully be less filler heavy. I can't guarantee this, however.
Like last chapter, below this is an extra segment. I think they're called omakes, but I'll go with "Segmentation", even if it's a weird name. I'd consider this one canon, unlike the last one.
Two skywings were talking to each other, discussing about their next trip to the Sky Palace. A nice stroll down the street was just what they needed to relax and have an open mind about the vacation.
They were passing by the Guard Station, when one of them perked their ears up. "Hey... you hear that yelling?".
"I do. Must be an argument between two guards".
The first skywing had their eyes peeled open for any sounds. "It sounds like... they're arguing about criminals?".
"Like that Cyclone fellow?".
"Possibly. There's no way he would be way out here. Still don't get why Darkstalker doesn't just catch him like he normally does".
The second Skywing shrugged. "Who knows. Imagine if he was immune to animus magic".
"That would be bad. If a criminal has that power, then it's over for dragon society".
"Somehow, I doubt that. Anyways, let's get back on topic. Where at the Sky Palace do you wanna go to?".
The two skywings walked away from the guard station, leaving behind an argument.