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FATHOM

It was good to be back in the Sea Kingdom.

Or, rather, it was good to be back in the Bay of a Thousand Scales. Technically he was on land conquered by NightWings, so he was still in the Night Kingdom. But the cresting ocean waves called to him like some old lullaby deep in his memory, and the whirling breeze cresting from hither to horizon felt like home enough to him.

The NightWings that came along to settle new villages in the archipelago were remarkably fast workers. They figured out how to fell trees, build walls and roofs, and lay foundations all on their own in a matter of days. And they did all of that without Fathom's help.

Which was a good thing, because Fathom didn't know how to do any of that. More often than not, he found himself standing on the beach like a lame seagull watching the NightWings as they started from scratch. The group of settlers were about a hundred strong, and when one of them found a technique that worked, word quickly spread to the rest of the NightWings. They learned fast and they worked hard, and before long, they had an island village to call their own.

The one thing they needed regular help with, even after a couple of weeks of settlement, was fishing. The NightWings managed to hunt the wild boars that inhabited the larger islands just fine, but they still hadn't figured out how to hunt for the fish in the sea. It was the main thing that made Fathom and Indigo actually useful to them, and before long, it became their full-time jobs.

At first, they were a bit annoyed by this. They were supposed to be island managers, ensuring that operations ran smoothly while the new villagers got things running. But the NightWings were so versatile and robust that they were capable of getting things to run smoothly all on their own, without relying on the guidance of natives to the area. Now they were reduced to mere fishermen.

But being reduced to mere fishermen actually proved to be a lot of fun. In some way, it actually felt more empowering than being a prince back in the Night Kingdom. The NightWings had grown to favor the taste of fresh fish, and Fathom and Indigo were the only dragons who could reliably bring it to them. They had a very real purpose here on the island, but in the Night Kingdom, they didn't really have much of a purpose at all, except for being Darkstalker's friend.

And besides, just because the NightWings here were capable of sustaining themselves on their own didn't mean that Fathom and Indigo weren't capable of teaching them anything.

"So, you want to learn to swim?" Indigo announced to a group of five young NightWings, all of them standing on the beach. Her trusty wooden octopus pet Blob was perched on her head, trying to make himself as tall as possible so as to make Indigo look more imposing. "Then congratulations! You'll soon be your tribe's first explorers of the deep blue. There's a whole ocean beneath these waves, and if you want to have any part of it, then you'll need to know how to move through it. Now, Fathom and I are SeaWings, which means we have webs on our talons and you do not." She demonstrated this fact by spreading her claws in front of the students. "But this actually doesn't give us as much of an advantage as you might think. We can swim a bit faster, but all of the techniques we learn as SeaWings can be used by NightWings too, and with a bit of practice, you'll be zipping through the water as though it were air. So, before we all get some shut-eye, let's get our feet wet."

It was morning on the island. They were further up north here in the Bay of a Thousand Scales than they were down in the Talon Peninsula, and the nights were consequently much shorter during the summer, which it was now. The NightWings' nocturnal rhythm was at first disturbed by this, but they soon acclimated to falling asleep and waking up when it was bright out. Back in the mainland, the morning light that they were feeling right now would have indicated to Fathom that he'd stayed up far too late. But here, it was merely a gentle reminder that bed time would be coming in a few hours.

"The first lesson is floating," Indigo continued. "Floating means keeping your head above the water. This is actually so easy that you can do it without even moving. Just tuck in your legs, spread your wings, and keep your head up. You should have just enough buoyancy to move your head around above the water. Fathom, would you care to demonstrate?"

"Sure thing, Indigo," Fathom said, trotting into the water. He waded through the waves until his shoulders were submerged. Then, he spread his wings wide and flat, tucked in his legs, and raised his head as he sank lower in the water. "You should be able to comfortably look forward, but if your head ever goes under and startles you, then just point your nose to the sky." He demonstrated by closing his eyes and looking straight up. "You should always be able to breathe from this position."

"So," Indigo said, "Who's first?"

Fathom opened his eyes to see who was eager to volunteer. All five of the NightWings were eyeing the water with nervous excitement, but none of them raised their voice to offer to be the first.

He made his way out of the water and looked at one of the five dragons with them — Drifter, a bright-eyed five-year-old dragonet with a hint of blue in the scales that ran down his neck. He was just about to call on him when a voice stopped him.

"Fathom! Indigo!"

The call came from a NightWing named Eigengrau, whom Indigo had put in charge of keeping an eye on their eggs while they were teaching the swimming lessons. She flew in from the western half of the island and landed on the beach, her eyes bright as the sun.

Indigo soon replicated her gaze. "They're hatching?"

Eigengrau nodded, smiling bright.

"They're hatching!" Indigo quickly glanced behind her at the NightWing students. "Lesson cancelled, everyone; we'll start again tomorrow. C'mon, Fathom, let's go!"

Indigo had to tug on Fathom's arm a couple of times before the words actually registered in his brain. His eggs were hatching? His eggs were hatching.

His eggs were hatching! He was minutes away from being a father!

He leapt into the sky, letting Indigo take the lead as they flew to their house on the island. Blob was just barely able to stay on Indigo by gripping at her shoulder with one of his tentacles.

Given that Fathom and Indigo had eggs that they needed to protect, their house was the very first one that the villagers made. It was clumsily constructed and lopsided in its design, but still sturdy. It had a scaffolding of palm wood, walls made from reeds, and a roof made from several layers of palm fronds. Inside the house lay two SeaWing eggs, each lined with freshly made cracks on their shells, resting upon a nest of grass and sticks.

They huddled in close, watching closely as the eggs began to shake.

And then someone approached from behind them. "Fathom, Indigo," the NightWing called with officiality in his voice. Paradox — a NightWing who used to be a mayor in the village he left behind, and one of the most physically capable dragons in the new settlement. Fathom wasn't in the mood to listen to him right now.

Evidently, neither was Indigo: she soured her voice, saying, "We're kind of busy right now Paradox, can't you see?"

"I know," he said. "But this is kind of urgent."

"What could possibly be urgent enough that it warrants distracting us from watching our eggs hatch?" Fathom said impatiently, turning his head for just a moment to look at him.

"Er … Queen Pearl is approaching us," he said. "We only just spotted her. She'll probably be here in a couple of minutes."

Fathom's eyes grew wider. What could Queen Pearl want with them? She already knew that this village was being built. Was she trying to intimidate them? Was she going to threaten them to leave? He looked from the NightWing to their eggs a few times, considering what to do.

But then he heard another crack from his eggs, and nothing else mattered. "Nope, not urgent enough," he said.

Paradox paused. "What?"

"You and the NightWings can deal with her yourself," he said. "Feel free to let her know we're here, but Indigo and I aren't leaving this house. Now get out and leave us alone."

Paradox sounded like he was about to murmur something, but after a few heartbeats he did as he was asked and slipped out of their house.

"I've noticed a lot of the dragons here with us don't seem to know how to be properly courteous to a prince and princess," Indigo mused. "Wasn't there supposed to be a 'Yes, Prince Fathom' or something along those lines before he left?"

"I actually like that about them," he said. "It feels nice not to be groveled on by everyone for a change."

"I guess I'm not totally used to it yet," Indigo said, leaning on his shoulder. "But at least we're still respected. I mean, look at this house. They made it for us in a heartbeat, and nobody complained."

A knocking came from the green egg, and it made a noticeable rocking motion. Whatever was inside of it was fighting to come out. Indigo reached forward, preparing to help their hatchling come out, but Fathom grabbed her talon and shook his head. "They'll make it out," he said. "You don't want to rob them of the reward of breaking out of their shell all on their own, do you?"

Indigo smiled at him, and nodded, before bringing her talon back to her side and watching the eggs closely. "C'mon little guys! You can make it! Come and see the world!"

For a while, the two of them watched in eager silence as their hatchlings fought against their shells. The cracks on the shells grew larger and more numerous, and pieces were starting to come loose. The dragonets were struggling, but they were supposed to struggle. They'd break through soon enough.

Footsteps came from behind. Fathom somehow knew, just by the way they sounded, that they came from Pearl. "Mind if I come in?" she asked.

Fathom scowled. Why is everyone trying to ruin the mood for us today? "What makes you think that we wouldn't mind?" he asked, turning to face Queen Pearl. He knew that he should probably have a little bit more respect, or at the very least be a bit surprised that Pearl had decided to show up to see them, since it had been a while since they had properly spoken to one another.

But his eggs were hatching! At any other time, he'd care a little bit more about her existence, but right now his eggs were hatching!

"Because I'm your sister?" Pearl said, her voice softer than he was expecting. "I hope you haven't forgotten that in the time we've been apart."

"I haven't," Fathom said, turning back to face his eggs. "But I also haven't forgotten that if it were up to you, these eggs wouldn't exist."

"Yep, you were right and I was wrong," Pearl said. "I'm glad you broke your oath. You and Indigo deserve to be happy." She took a couple of steps forward. "Can I stay for a little bit? Please? I'd like to meet my new nieces or nephews."

Fathom would have turned her away, but there was something in her voice that sounded very familiar. It sounded like Pearl his sister, not Pearl the queen. That was a voice that he hadn't heard since she took the crown. And it was the voice of a dragon that he really did love, very very much.

"You can stay," he said. "But keep your distance … for now. I'll let you know when you can come closer."

The first piece of the shell broke loose on the purple egg, and Fathom caught his first glimpse of the dragon hidden inside. He saw its eye, wide open and ready to see the world. His heart nearly exploded with joy.

"Come on out, little guy!" he encouraged, leaning forward. "You can do it!"

A heartbeat later, the dragonet's head crashed through the shell. It squirmed its arms out too, but the hole that it had made with its head was too small for it to fit the rest of its body.

It was definitely a male. And judging by how he had already gotten stuck, Fathom guessed that this little one had inherited his own sense of foresight. He's going to get in a lot of trouble, isn't he? Luckily for him, Fathom and Indigo were already experts at getting into trouble, so they'd be able to teach him how to do it properly.

The shell shattered under the pressure of the little hatchling's efforts, and he fell back into the nest, hitting his head on his sibling's egg. Just then, an arm crashed through the shell, right next to his head, and he immediately scrambled back to his feet, startled.

In a more grandiose display, the second hatchling shattered the entire egg at once. One moment the egg was there, and the next there were a million shell fragments, which after having fallen revealed a sea-green female hatchling with her wings spread. She shook her head, blinked a few times, and looked around.

Her sibling looked at her funny. He leaned in and sniffed her, then scrunched his nose and sneezed in her face — which Fathom and Indigo both found so adorable that they started nuzzling each other at the same time to siphon out their affection.

"You remember what we were going to name them if we got one male and one female, right?" Indigo asked.

"Clearpool and Ripple, I remember," Fathom said, nodding. He picked up Clearpool, the female hatchling who'd just gotten sneezed on, and started giving her a tongue bath. At first, she chirped in protest, but after a few seconds, there was a reluctant purr coming from her throat.

Fathom giggled. "I think she's got your eyes," he said, nudging Indigo with his wing.

Indigo craned her head closer to Clearpool's eyes. "Uh, look again, fish-brain. Do I have bright blue eyes?"

Fathom paused his tongue bath to look at Clearpool again, and found that Indigo was totally right. Her eyes were a bright blue, like the sky on a summer's day on the beach.

Indigo yoinked Ripple from the nest and started showering him with licks as well. "Maaaaaa!" he complained, smacking his mother's snout with his tiny talons as she cleaned him.

Fathom grinned at Ripple's pouty face. Just like his sister, he had the brightest sky-blue eyes. They looked so big and intense on his coat of purple-blue scales.

"They could have chosen a better time to hatch," Fathom said as he let out a yawn. "We're gonna have to stay up late, aren't we? Who's gonna be the first to go hunting for food for them?"

"I don't see why we both can't," Indigo said as she flipped Ripple over on his stomach to clean his back. "I don't know if you noticed, but our babies are SeaWings, just like us. There's no reason we can't take them swimming while we get them food."

"Well, sharks would be one reason," Pearl interjected. "They're out in higher numbers in the morning, and they'll happily eat an unsupervised baby hatchling."

Indigo looked back at Pearl, frowning at her. But then she shrugged, facing Fathom again. "Alright, then. How's about you go fishing while I give the little ones their first swimming lesson?"

"Okay," Fathom said. "But first, I think we can let Pearl meet her new niece and nephew."

He looked over at Pearl, who was sitting quietly in the corner of the room. When he called her name and beckoned her over, she smiled at Fathom and rose to her feet. Indigo narrowed her eyes at her, but still gave her some space to let her sit down between them.

"Clearpool and Ripple," Pearl said, beaming down at the two dragonets. "Aww, you've both got the royal pattern on your wings from Fathom. That means you're royalty!" She bowed her head low until her chin was touching the ground. "It is an honor to meet you, noble Prince Ripple and Princess Clearpool."

"I thought I'd been exiled," Fathom remarked.

Pearl straightened up. "What? No you haven't. Who told you that?"

"Well, after I broke both of my vows and refused to return to the Sea Kingdom when you commanded me to, I thought it would have been clear by this point that I don't consider you my queen anymore," he said, souring a frown at her.

"Oh, yeah, of course," Pearl said, pinning her ears and making herself look a little smaller. "But that doesn't mean I've exiled you. You can come back to the Sea Kingdom whenever you want. Everyone misses you. And a lot has changed since you left."

Fathom couldn't tell if she was trying to make it impossible for Fathom to stay mad at her, but either way, she was doing an annoyingly good job at it.

"Like what?" he asked.

"Well, for starters, we lost the war," she said, sagging. "Queen Clearsight and King Darkstalker have been driving us to the brink of starvation with all the reparations they're demanding. Not to mention that the NightWings carved out pieces of our land and started colonizing it for themselves, which is completely humiliating."

"Don't expect us to feel sorry for you," Indigo interjected as Fathom started feeling sorry for her. "You were the one who started the war in the first place."

"I know," Pearl said. "It's my fault. I'm a rotten queen."

"You can say that again," Indigo said, looking thoroughly unamused.

"Indigo," Fathom scolded.

"Well she is!" she protested, picking up Clearpool as she squirmed free of Fathom and dropping her between her own talons. She tilted her head, and Blob slid down to greet the two newly hatched dragonets. "She tried to drag us back to the Sea Kingdom, tried to keep us separated from each other, tried to kill our friends and their dragonets — have you forgotten that she's kind of been our enemy this entire time?"

Pearl looked as though she was on the verge of tears. Fathom extended a wing and covered her back with it. "No, I haven't," he said. "But she's still my sister, Indigo. And I don't want the Sea Kingdom to suffer."

"Well if they're suffering, then it's her fault," Indigo remarked, her voice completely unapologetic. "I'm not even sure if she actually feels bad. And if she does, then it's definitely for the wrong reasons."

"No, I messed up; I really did," Pearl said. "I should have believed you when you said that Darkstalker really was your friend, and that you really wanted to stay in the Night Kingdom. I was afraid that he'd done something to you, and that I was going to lose you forever if I didn't try to bring you back."

"How could you not realize that you were the reason that Fathom didn't want to come back here?" Indigo asked as Clearpool started pawing at her barbels.

"I guess I didn't want to admit it to myself." Ripple climbed over Indigo's talon and waddled up to Pearl's face. Pearl smiled at him and tapped her nose against his. "I knew that Fathom was sad back at the Sea Kingdom. But I also knew that I still loved him, and that I wanted him to be happy. I couldn't be sure that Darkstalker felt the same way."

"In Pearl's defense, I never really made Darkstalker sound like a model citizen when I was writing back to her," Fathom admitted. "I didn't want her thinking that my job at the Night Kingdom was done, and that I was ready to come back."

Pearl patted little Ripple on the head, and he squeaked at her. She picked him up and handed him to Fathom, where he started to climb up his arm. "So, are you going to be staying here in this new village from now on?" Pearl asked him.

"I'm not sure," he answered, pressing his chest to the floor as his hatchling made his way onto his back. "I'm not gonna lie; I miss the beaches and the sun."

"And Fathom's driftwood carvings," Indigo added.

"And the water," Fathom continued. "Three moons, I missed the water."

"Then stay," Pearl said. "Or better yet, come back to the Sea Kingdom if you don't want to stay here. The Night Kingdom is no place to raise a pair of SeaWings anyway."

Fathom folded his ears. "I know, but Darkstalker's my best friend, and staying here means not having him around."

"Well, can't say I don't know the feeling," Pearl said. "You and Indigo were my best friends too, before you left for the Night Kingdom."

"Either way, we're definitely going to be staying here for a little while longer," Fathom said. "These NightWings still need to learn how to swim before they can sustain themselves."

"Speaking of which," Indigo said, rising to her feet with Clearpool in her talon, "I think it's about time we introduce these two to the ocean."

Fathom nodded, slowly standing up so that Ripple wouldn't fall over startled. "Oh, by the way," he said, turning to face Pearl. "I forgot to ask: why are you here anyway?"

"I heard a rumor that you were here in the new NightWing colony," she said, standing up. "I know coming here probably violates some sort of clause in Clearsight's treaty, but I had to come down and see you. If only to let you know that you don't have to worry about me imposing on you anymore, now that the war is over." She brushed her tail with his.

He saw Indigo rolling her eyes out of the corner of his eye.

They made their way outside and headed down to the beach. Blob flopped out of the house behind Fathom and slithered up to Indigo's side, climbing on her tail as it brushed along the sand.

"Alright, you two little fishies," Indigo said as she took Ripple from Fathom's back. "Ready to use your gills?"

Clearpool and Ripple made eager squeals as they reached for the ocean.

"Okay, then let's go!" And at that, she trotted right into the water and disappeared beneath the waves.

Fathom inhaled the fresh ocean breeze, and noticed that he'd picked up a whiff of Pearl's scent. There was such a strong nostalgia that he got from it. That specific combination of the briny vapors of the beach with that very distinct odor that naturally came from her brought back old memories from when he was a young and innocent dragonet. He was so happy back then, when she was just Princess Pearl. Back when she was always busy preparing to be queen, but still found time to be his sister.

Pearl gave him a sisterly smile. Which wasn't a smile that said, 'I love you, bro,' but a smile that said, 'I think I'm in the mood to annoy you right now.' "Hey Fathom, remember when you accidentally enchanted the moons to turn pink?" she asked.

Fathom immediately looked away, turning pink himself. "I have no idea what you're talking about and that never happened."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Pearl said, her smirk widening. "What I meant to ask was, 'Remember when you very intentionally enchanted the moons to turn pink but then freaked out when they actually did, and then turned them back, pretending it was an accident?'"

"Nope, never happened!" Fathom said. "You must be remembering incorrectly, because we definitely both agreed that that never happened after I undid that enchantment."

"Undid what enchantment?" Pearl asked, cocking her head playfully at him.

"The enchantment that did nothing because it never happened!" Fathom said, smacking her upside the head with his tail.

"Ow!" Pearl said, ducking down and rubbing her head.

The next thing Fathom knew, Pearl latching onto his shoulders, trying to tackle him to the ground. He stood his ground for a moment, trying to adjust his weight and levy his sister's strength against her. But it wasn't long before Fathom toppled over and Pearl had him pinned against the wet sand.

When Fathom looked up at Pearl, she grabbed onto his chin with one talon and pressed his head down into the ground. Glancing upside-down at the ocean, he watched as a wave started to approach him. "Ah! No, Pearl, wait—!"

The wave crashed into him, cutting his pleas for mercy short. He struggled against Pearl's grasp, the rushing water just barely covering his gills enough for him to breathe it in.

He honestly had this coming to him. He used to do this exact same thing to Pearl back when they were kids, and he was the bigger sibling.

When the wave finally receded, he heard Pearl laughing overtop him. He shoved her aside, and she let up, allowing him back to his feet as her giggles continued. He shook his head to expel the sand and water droplets from his scales and scowled at his sister. But by the time she was done laughing, he was smiling too.

"Glad you're not scared of me anymore, at least," he said to her.

"I don't think I was ever scared of you, just of what you could become," Pearl said. "Animus magic still terrifies me. Now more than ever."

"You know, it does have the power to do a lot of good."

"I know. Honestly, a bit of magic would take us a long way here in the Sea Kingdom with how bad things have gotten. But when there's a mark of the NightWings on the moon staring back at you every night, it's a pretty harsh reminder that animus magic is some scary stuff."

Fathom glanced at a corner of the island, where he saw a NightWing cracking a coconut with the sharp end of a rock. He'd been a bit concerned about the new mark on the moon as well when he first noticed it. But it was very popular with the NightWings. It made them so proud. It was hard to stay worried about it when all the dragons around him loved it so much.

But Pearl's other remark caught his attention once he realized what it was she said. "Do you … want me to use my magic to help the SeaWings, Pearl?"

Pearl shook her head. "No, no," she started. Then, after a pause, she added, "Would you, though? If I asked?"

"I … I think so," he said. "I mean, I'd need to think about it, and it'd depend on what spells you would want me to cast. But I mean, I don't want the SeaWings to starve."

"Hopefully it won't come to that," Pearl said. "But it'd be nice if the Night Kingdom weren't the only Kingdom with animus magic right now. Especially when Darkstalker is at the head of it."

Fathom sighed. "You know, Darkstalker really isn't so bad. You know he's still my best friend, right?"

"It's hard to see him that way right now. I mean, look at this colony. He's building new cities right in the Sea Kingdom's backyard."

"For the sake of his own tribe," Fathom explained. "These dragons are moving here from overpopulated cities where they were struggling to survive. He's not building these colonies just to intimidate you."

Indigo popped her head out of the water and looked at Fathom. "Fathom, you need to take a look at our babies. They're learning so fast!"

"I'll be right there!" Fathom called back. He gave one last look at Pearl and said, "Trust me, I think you can eventually come to be on good terms with him too. He isn't building any colonies on land he didn't fairly conquer, and he's never attacked anyone unprovoked."

"What makes you so sure that that isn't going to change?" Pearl asked. "I mean, there's a first time for everything. How do you know he isn't going to expand the Night Kingdom any further?"

"Because I know Darkstalker," Fathom said. "He and Clearsight might be unapologetic, but they're not aggressive. Expanding any further would require war and conquer, and neither of them want that."

And at that, he galloped into the water, eager to see what good swimmers his hatchlings naturally were.

A/N: Oops, that took way too long to get out.

I'd spend a paragraph or two apologizing for the long wait and making excuses like I've done in the past, but that's boring and predictable, and it probably won't make me look very noble. So instead, I'll let you know that I'm gonna try and make it up to you. I think if I put my mind to it, I can have the next chapter out by this time next week, and the chapter that follows to be out by this time the following week. I won't promise that this will happen, but I'll make it my goal. If I don't meet it, feel free to send me dramatic PMs on FFN about how I betrayed you.

As always, feel free to let me know what you think, and I'll see you all in the next chapter!