Chapter 1: Awakening

The spell cast upon him had kept Darkstalker in his deep slumber for two thousand years, but even the deepest of sleep could not erase the pain in his heart and the building rage for the betrayal he had suffered from the ones he called his friends and the one he had loved. Every so often his body would jerk in a way to try and wake him, every attempt was met with failure, during these bouts with the spell and trying to wake up the once feared NightWing was left to think about the events that led him to this outcome and today was no different, "Many things which I hold dear have been taken away from me throughout the course of my life," he said subconsciously. Where time should have brought wisdom, all he had received was a deeper sense of rage thinking back on his past and how life and fate had cheated him over the years, "My mother. My friend. My lover. My liberty. My future. Some are too many to count when I look back. All I wanted was to seek true happiness and the only thing I've encountered was nothing but disappointment, constantly being hindered by the cruel sense of humor of fate," his voice growling slightly as he spoke within his mind, he knew how cruel the world was, he had learned that the hard way beginning with the loss of his mother, Foeslayer.

The pain from that loss had been replaced with a pitch-black rage seeded deep into his heart thanks to his father's mother, he would have taken great pleasure in killing Diamond personally, he would even go as far as to wipe out the entirety of the IceWings were it not for Clearsight talking him out, stopping him from continuing onto his goal. He had loved Clearsight with all of his being, some would have said that he would've died for her, but now his love for her had rotted away after the betrayal he suffered, the betrayal she and Fathom had done to him to stop his conquest of Pyrrhia, sealing him away in Agate Mountain and over the years of constant sleep Darkstalker had enough of fate meddling in his life and its cruel sense of humor, "If life is going to be cruel towards me, then why don't I play this game? There is a saying that two can play the same game after all. Some… are better than others."

His body jerked once again this time his arm slammed against a rock in the cave, when he tried to move his arm back into a comfortable position it wouldn't budge, the bracelet was caught on one of the more jagged rocks of the cave, to him it was a one in a million chance but it was just his luck that it was there, his forced his body to try and move his arm free even if it meant keeping the bracelet on, he'd rather not lose blood flow in his hand. It was now or never, he pulled against the rock albeit sleepily applying strength where needed.

There was a sharp snapping sound as the copper wires broke apart and with one last strong pull, Darkstalker freed his arm from both the rock and the enchanted bracelet that now lay in pieces onto the ground. He could feel the spell begin to break however his body was very weak, he struggled to even get on his feet and leave the cave so he could sate his hunger and quench his maddening thirst.

The decline to the river was the most agonizing experience for Darkstalker, each movement was met with another pang of pain from his atrophied muscles and the aches in his joints from sleeping in one place for so long. He could feel his power return to him as he made his walk though he wished he could heal or at least regenerate a bit faster as the pain was beginning to be too much for the NightWing, the motivation to just get to the river the only thing keeping him from keeling over from the pain. From his distance he can practically smell the water of the river, pain or no pain he will survive by any means.

At last, Darkstalker reached the river after an arduous and painful walk, dipping his mouth into the cool liquid he believes he had never tasted water so sweet in his life as the cotton dry feeling in his mouth and throat began to subside. But he knows that as much as his body needed water it also needed fresh oxygen as he swiftly brought his head up from the water taking in large gulps of air, "This takes care of one of my current issues," Darkstalker said aloud observing his surroundings trying to see if any of the scars of his last battle with his former friends were still evident on the land around him only to find none, "Oh how time forgets," he says before returning his attention to his thirst and going for another drink of cool water, "Now if I can find food then I can start tending to other matters." As if on cue a large fish began to swim up the river along with others of its kind, having not eaten within the last two thousand years Darkstalker can not afford to be picky about what he eats, not that he was to begin with. Using what skills as a hunter he could remember at the current moment he swiftly launched his open maw into the water and snatched a large fish from the water with it thrashing in his mouth, normally he would take the time to cook the fish but right now he was not a patient dragon, he needed to eat right now. If he got a parasite he will just use what magic he had to tend to the issue as best he can, he proceeds to eat the fish tearing off what soft flesh was on it before going back to the river to snag another fish.

Darkstalker continued to eat until he believed he had effectively whipped out the fish stock in the river, although unintentional he still needed to feed, the fish were not enough to sate his hunger. He needs something with more substance, more meat, and it would not take him long to find what he needed to solve his dilemma. Right in the tree line, he could practically smell the large cat watching him, licking his lips he proceeded to hunt the panther ignoring the sense of danger it presented. A decision he will soon learn from.

The panther had put up more of a fight than he could handle if his scales were not enchanted, though it did not stop the stinging sensation after the fight. Looking at the burnt cat Darkstalker proceeded to gorge on the animal until finally having his fill, raising his head to look at the three moons Darkstalker bathed himself in their light and feeling the wisps of cool air roll off of him. The time had finally come for his return to the fold, the world as ripe for the picking and it was time for Darkstalker to once again try to make it better, this time with no one to stand in his way, but right now he had to return to his domain and call upon his slumbering army.

"It may take years to find them," he thought as he remembered that he had sent them to the east where they would await his call, "To make things worse I do not remember the spell in which to call them. How could I forget? I never forget my own spells unless… my scroll." The thought that his scroll or worse his collection of tomes was tampered with sent a wave of fear through his spine, he needed to get home, sooner and not later.

The flight back home took longer than Darkstalker had expected before remembering that he had not flown in two thousand years, he was getting tired of remembering that fact and not to mention enraged at the betrayal of his former friends and lover. He growled in anger thinking about them.

He hated them.

More than that, he despised them for what they did.

Even Indigo. Especially Indigo, whom he deemed was the most responsible for his downfall, for his imprisonment.

He could have had it all, they all could. But she had to ruin it with her distrust and sowing it into their hearts, "This is all her fault," he growled before swinging a claw into a weak stone pillar of his domain breaking it into dust with a roar, "DAMN YOU INDIGO!" His voice echoed down the hall, he somehow managed to compose himself with the reminder that he needed to check his library. He could plan his revenge later.

With barely contained anger he returned to the task at hand with his tail occasionally scraping the stone floor of his home.

Making his way into his library he took his time checking to see if anything was amiss, so far it felt like everything was in their proper place, exactly where he had left them. He turned his attention to looking for his scroll, the one thing he knew was the most important object in his library, the one thing that would help him only to find that the scroll was gone. His entire body shook with rage, his heart now a crushing void of seething anger, he knew who to blame for this and blame them he did. Darkstalker had poured everything he had into the scroll and now it was gone and most likely destroyed, but something ate at him. If the scroll was indeed destroyed then wouldn't he no longer be immortal or at least wouldn't have noticed a change in the enchantment? He let those questions sink to the bottom of his gut and allowed his rage to subside. He could easily make another scroll if was at full strength, but he was nowhere near his full strength more than likely he could keel over from overexertion, there would be no need for someone to see if he was still immortal.

He was was in deep thought when he heard something scuttle down the hall, the scrapping of claws on stone was all too familiar to Darkstalker and he left the library to investigate the sound, the dimly lit corridor yielded little results on what was making the sounds but he could hear them non the less. He continues to follow the sounds down the corridor, his patience wearing dangerously thin, "SHOW YOURSELF," he roared in annoyance before spotting something running towards the entrance, something small, something very small.

He chased after it thinking it was an IceWing spy, he would take great pleasure in rending flesh from bone and then sending the pieces to the Ice Kingdom as a warning, but as he was about to launch his attack on the invader something had caught his eye, it wasn't because of the distance that the dragon was so small, it was because the dragon was merely a dragonet. Swiftly he made his way to where the dragonet was hiding, not that it was hard.

Clearing away the rubble as the storm raged outside Darkstalker got a good look at the dragonet, it was a SeaWing-NightWing Hybrid, he stared at the young dragon admiring its dark green skin mixed with grey along with the specks of gold that seemed to almost shimmer in the flashes of lightning outside, and although he could barely see them the dragonets wings sparkled like a brightly light night sky, just like his own. "Hello there, little one, where do you come from," he asked the frightened youngling, his features softening to look more warm, friendly, almost welcoming in a way. The dragonet squealed out in fear desperately trying to find somewhere else to hide, doing so successfully. The act almost hurt Darkstalker, needless to say, that he should have not assumed the dragonet was a spy, "Now now there is no need to be afraid. You're safe here, I won't hurt you," Darkstalker said, trying to look for the dragonets' new hiding spot, being as calm and gentle as he can be. After a good while of searching, he spotted the youngling's tail sticking out from between another pile of stone rubble, "You can come out now."

The dragonet pokes its small head out from the rubble looking up at the enormous being in front of it who was smiling down at him and holding out his hand for it to climb on, the youngling did so albeit reluctantly, "There you are," it heard Darkstalker say as he lifted it up to his eye level making it yelp in surprise and fear. With nowhere left to go the dragonet stood on Darkstalkers hand, shaking in fear with head low and eyes up.

Darkstalker studied the dragonet closely, determining that the youngling was a young male, and judging by the dragonet's malnourished form he was left abandoned for quite some time. Such cruelty towards a child boiled his blood to no end, but he managed to keep his cool around the child. Such cruelty would not be tolerated, not to Darkstalker.

This youngling will not be hungry anymore.

With a smile Darkstalker spoke to the young hybrid, his words as smooth as honey to his young ears, "You will be well cared for my little drake, I will see to it that you will not be left wanting in this world like so many others. Dragonets all across this continent. Starving. Alone. Unloved. Isn't it good I found you?" His question was left unanswered, not that he was surprised it would be a while before the young one was able to learn how to speak, " Together we can learn a lot from each other. You will need not fear the consequences of your power, you will grow and strengthen it as you grow and strengthen yourself," his statement was almost unfounded, the likelihood of this young hybrid being an animus was almost slim at best but Darkstalker was not going to be deterred by the odds, he could sense that this dragonet was very special, that he would do great things one day.

He smiled at the thought and began to walk back into his home with the child in hand, taking one more look into the younglings alluring golden eyes he felt his heart skip a beat, animus or not this child would never be left alone in this world with no one to care for him. Setting him on the bed Darkstalker lay next to the dragonet thinking about what to call him, the name came quick to his head and he let the words flow out of his mouth like water down a river, "You, my young Shadowfang, will become my legacy," Darkstalker said as he watched the dragonet snuggle up to him feeling his head against his chest listening to Darkstalkers beating heart lulling him to sleep. With a smile Darkstalker lay his head down, he may have been asleep for the last two thousand years but eight more hours would not be the end of him, and this time he was not going to be alone, "You will become my hope for true happiness," he whispered letting himself drift back to sleep.