Huff.
Huff.
Rustle.
Crumble.
Huff.
Darkstalker's eyelids peeled apart to reveal eyes as dark as the cavern he rested in, the iris of all-encompassing black quickly expanding to adjust to the darkness. However, he shut his eyes once again, then reopened them, doing this several times to try to blink the dust out of his eyes.
A tear rolled down his sharp face, starting from the very scales that marked his incredible power. Darkstalker desperately wanted to rub his eyes, but he was locked in a prison of hard granite, and he was much too weak to move the stone, thousands of years of sleep taking its toll on his body.
He flexed his talons, feeling the torn copper wires and shattered moonstone, courtesy of an earthquake caused by a close flyby of a comet. His body locked in a prison of stone, there was nothing he could do with his withered body. He had to get out, but right now, all he could do was wait.
Not too long ago, he'd linked minds with a young Nightwing dragonet, taught her how to control her powers, and she, in turn, told him how long he'd been in a slumber, forced upon him by who he thought was the love of his life.
It all went to shit.
Moonwatcher, it was. Darkstalker had told her that history got it all wrong, that he wasn't evil. Another tear rolled down his face, this one not because of the dust. He wasn't evil. He'd cast a spell to protect his soul from the use of animus magic. Despite so much work on both his part and Clearsight's, it'd all gone to...
SHIT! FUCKING SHIT!
Darkstalker took a deep breath, trying to not cough. Even though he could live as long as he desired, Darkstalker still hated suffering. Coughing would make everything worse.
Nonetheless, the past could not be changed. Hope had come to him like the weak sunlight that occasionally came down a small hole to the surface in the form of Moonwatcher. Now he waited, bided his time in a silence disturbed only by his weak breath. Moonwatcher had just left him to go to the Rainforest, he'd begged her to stay, but she had to go. Darkstalker indirectly left her with a mission by telling her who the bomber was, and above all, Icicle's history and current intentions.
Suddenly, Darkstalker's haggard form went rigid, at attention. He felt a significant disturbance, then smiled, the grin on his face revealing his pearly white teeth.
Darkstalker looked into the future and saw new paths spring forth, growing like the roots and branches of a tree.
The futures where he will be freed grow more numerous and nearer than ever.
He furrowed his brows, concentrating on the ones where he is freed. These new dragons, they are key. Starting with the nearest one, a Skywing named Jason.
When Darkstalker read Jason's mind sometime later, he saw that Jason was asleep, somewhat content. Darkstalker smirked once again.
Enchant this copper wire to allow the holder to visit any dragon of the holder's choosing during his sleep.
Darkstalker grinned. He may have enchanted a scroll to do all that was written on it, but Darkstalker still held onto a fraction of his power. Darkstalker knew it wasn't enough to do anything physical, such as get him out, but his magic was still strong enough for something like this.
Darkstalker immediately dove into Jason's dreamless mind. There is only one timeline where Darkstalker's message to Jason would actually prevent his escape. The one where he killed Scarlet. Should Jason not kill Scarlet, the Jade Winglet finds and stops Scarlet themselves then retrieves his scroll from one of her underdogs, Chameleon. From there, everything fell into line, ending with Peril burning the scroll, allowing him to get out.
Darkstalker found out the next day, at sunrise, that Jason intended on joining the Skywing army. The moment Jason lifted off and started flying towards the barracks, it looked like a third of the timelines were sheared off, gone.
GONE!
This seriously hurt Darkstalker's chances of escape. The Jade Winglet represented a majority of his escape timelines, with the new dragons adding a few of their own. However, Jason joining the Skywing army immediately destroyed all timelines where the Jade Winglet helped him escape, as he would pulverize Scarlet in a spectacular fashion.
Darkstalker looked at his surroundings again, the jagged rock, the small shaft of light near his nose, and the dark coolness that wrapped around his body. Without someone to talk to, stewing in his thoughts, most of his escape timelines gone, dusted, Darkstalker started to breathe hard.
He squirmed, desperate to be free, but Jason ruined his chances. With a resigned sigh after a long time of anger and anxiety, Darkstalker shifted his attention to the other new arrivals.