Swordfish got up and took a look around. He and Vine were outside of Jade Mountain Academy, but there were luscious grass fields outside the academy. "This is Jade Mountain!" Swordfish told Vine. "This is where I went to school, but these grass fields are new." "Well of course there's going to be differences, we're in a different world!" Vine said.
Swordfish stopped and took a deep breath. He was in a real world now. Nothing felt any different. He didn't feel any different than when he was in a fake world, the one Cassriel made.
"Do you want to go in to the academy? See if they will help us?" Vine asked. She sounded hopeful. She reminded Swordfish of Sunny, but a little less… responsible. "Sure." Swordfish replied. "Hopefully they'll be uh, like the dragons I know." Swordfish began to fly towards the main entrance to the academy, when Vine asked; "Who runs it anyway?" Swordfish stared at her. "You really lost your memory, didn't you?" Vine nodded her head solemnly. "I remember that my name is Vine, and how to do Rainwing things, and the basics of the world. Like, I know Pyrrhia and the tribes and how the royalty system works. But I don't know much else." Swordfish sighed. "Let me explain everything."
"So, we're going to see the Dragonets of Destiny, huh?" Vine said. Swordfish had quickly informed her about the War of Sandwing Succession, the prophecy, Jade Mountain Academy, and the Tragedy of Prince Winter. "Yes, I'm hoping these Dragonets of Destiny are the same ones I knew from my world." Swordfish paused. "I mean, the fake one." He said sadly.
When Swordfish and Vine reached the door, they barely had time to open it before Clay came barreling out of it. "Come on guys!" He yelled. "Let's eat some grass!"
Swordfish looked through the door to see a stampede of dragons running and flying down the hallway. Swordfish took to the sky and had to grab Vine to get her out of the way too. Once Swordfish and Vine were to the side of the rush of dragons, they began to watch what was happening.
The dragons of Jade Mountain were eating the grass from the grassy field. Swordfish watched in awe as he saw Turtle. Not injured. He was well and healthy. He was shoveling grass into Peril's mouth. She seemed happy. Turtle seemed happy. The entire world seemed like it wasn't under the dark cloud that hung over Swordfish's world. It seemed happy. A kind of light shined in this world that Swordfish had never known. Swordfish took another deep breath, this time letting the smells waft over him. The smells of sunshine, flowers that had blossomed in the fields. He heard the sounds of dragons, happy.
Swordfish's thoughts were interrupted when he heard a voice call out to him. "Hey, you two! Seawing and Rainwing! Come join in!" Swordfish turned to see who called to him and Vine and saw a black-green Nightwing dragonet with silver teardrop scales by her eyes. She was with a Sandwing dragonet with a scar and an earring. Not the 'gold dragons twisting around each other' earring that Rattlesnake and Mahogany had worn, it had a silver teardrop hanging from the ring. There was also a grumpy looking Icewing with them, with an elegance to him, like he was royalty. There was only one option on who these dragons could be.
"Moonwatcher? Qibli? Prince Winter?" Swordfish asked in disbelief. "Those are them?" Vine asked Swordfish. "The story makes them seem so much more…serious?" Swordfish watched as Qibli came up to him and Vine. "How do you know our names?" Qibli asked. "We're from another dimension." Vine blurted out, and then covered her claw over her mouth. "Oh, we're familiar with that kind of stuff." Qibli replied. But Swordfish was looking around nervously. Vine had said that a little too loud. Abyss had told him Adnachiel would be hunting them. They were interdimensional outlaws. Swordfish began looking at every rock, every tree, everything. The dragons went about eating their grass, something Swordfish couldn't figure out. Suddenly a huge shadow passed over him. Swordfish and Vine screamed.
It was an enormous Nightwing. He was huge. None of the other dragons thought anything of it. He landed in the field and grabbed a huge chunk of grass. The large dragon also had the scales by his eyes like Moonwatcher did, and Fatespeaker did too now that Swordfish thought about it. "Oh calm down." Moonwatcher said to Swordfish. "That's just Darkstalker."
"DARKSTALKER!?" Swordfish yelped. "HE'S THE MOST DANGEROUS DRAGON IN ALL OF HISTORY!" Darkstalker then proceeded to make whale-like noises. "He was the most dangerous dragon in all of history." Moon said. "Until grass had him reborn." Darkstalker sat there, eating grass.
"Why do you eat grass?" Vine asked Moon. "Because it tastes good!" Moon replied, and bent down to rip out a few strands herself. Vine bent down and ate some herself, and proceeded to spit it out. "That's disgusting! How do you eat that?" "You don't like grass?" Moon said in disbelief. "SOMEONE DOESN'T LIKE GRASS?" Tsunami came over, yelling. "Tsunami, I need to tell you something. You're the headmaster. There are demons that control the…" Swordfish began before Tsunami cut him off. "Grass!" She said, totally abandoning her anger from before. She flopped down on the ground and began eating grass along with everyone else.
"No, I need you to listen to me!" Swordfish said. "We're being hunted by a demon called Adnachiel!" "Maybe they can eat grass with us too!" Clay said.
"Wait, Clay how did you get here?" Swordfish asked. "Oh, I appeared for the sake of plot!" Clay said. "It's something that happens all the time here."
Swordfish pulled Vine aside. "These are not the dragons I know. They're… weird. I don't know if the grass has some weird effect on them, or that's just the way this place is." Swordfish wondered about that second option. What kind of visitor would create something like this? What must be going on in their minds?
"Do you know how to escape?" Vine asked. "Do you know how to use that necklace Abyss gave us?" Swordfish had been wearing the simple green necklace since he got to the new world. He took it off and remembered what Abyss had told him "Wear the necklace, and then imagine a rift opening up in front of you." Swordfish was already wearing the necklace, so he imagined a rift like the tears he had seen when the world was collapsing.
Nothing happened. He tried again. Still nothing.
Swordfish sighed, and turned to Vine. "We might be stuck here."
Hours had passed, and it was becoming sunset. The dragons continued to eat grass, and Swordfish and Vine simply sat on a rock, watching the insanity unfold. At one point, Queen Glory showed up, and Swordfish pointed her out to Vine, showing Vine her queen. "She's a good queen. She provided so much for the Rainwings and had mercy on the Nightwings. Mercy is a rare quality for queens these days."
The peace was suddenly interrupted when a dragon called out, "Hey! What's that up there?" Swordfish turned around and froze when he saw what it was. It's green and black robes flowed in the light breeze. It was perched on a rock on the Mountain. It's strange, skull like face shone pale white, reflecting the bits of moonlight that were beginning to beam through the sky. She grabbed an arrow from her quiver and loaded her bow.
Adnachiel was here.
Swordfish could hardly move. The monster that had killed Rainfall, was here for him. The arrows killed anything they hit. Even from this distance, he locked eyes with her. She was staring right into his very soul. Behind that skull, lay something Swordfish never wanted to see.
Vine suddenly grabbed Swordfish's claw. "GO! GO!" She cried. They began to fly away, and Adnachiel began to follow, crawling along the mountain like a spider, just as she did when pursuing Swordfish and the others that night when Rainfall died.
Adnachiel drew her arrow, she aimed it right at Vine. Swordfish and Vine ducked into the crowd of dragons eating grass. Suddenly, Swordfish watched in awe as Fatespeaker flew up, wearing something on her back talons. She rammed into Adnachiel.
Swordfish watched as Adnachiel fell off the mountain and into the trees down below. Fatespeaker came down and landed down beside Clay. "Grapefruit powered rocket boots!" She called. "Also, rest in peace whatever that thing was."
As the rest of the dragons crowded around Fatespeaker to talk about these 'boots,' Swordfish and Vine ran away. Adnachiel wasn't going to stay down for long, and they had to get out of here. These dragons could provide no protection. "Do you remember how to do it?" Swordfish asked Vine hurriedly. "No. I was kind of busy trying to remember who I was and trying to process everything Abyss was saying!" Swordfish thought back to when Abyss told him about Adnachiel. Maybe she had a weakness?
Swordfish replayed everything Abyss had done, telling him about Adnachiel, and how she is corrupted like Cassriel. Right after that is when Abyss told them how to use the necklace. Abyss put it on, and held out his paw, and the rift opened.
"Oh! I have to do the claw motion!" Swordfish said, realizing his mistake. He felt the simple necklace thump against his chest as he came to a stop. Swordfish put out one front claw out, and imagined a rift opening in front of him. One of those terrible rips in the fabric of the world. Suddenly, Swordfish felt a tugging from the green stone the necklace had, and the rift opened in front of him. Through it, Swordfish could see exactly where he was now, but it looked closer to the Jade Mountain he knew. No grassy fields.
Swordfish took one last look at the happy, ignorant dragons here. This was some weirdness he didn't want any part of.
Vine walked through the rift, and Swordfish followed. Once they were both in the new world, it closed behind Swordfish. Just like the rifts had done with Cassriel and Abyss when the old world was falling apart.
"This looks better." Swordfish said. It looked like home again. "Now remember, don't mention anything about the truth unless it's someone I say we can trust, and don't be too loud about it." Vine nodded. Maybe Adnachiel won't find us here. What if Vine and I just decide to stay here, and never tell a soul about the truth. But the memories of Rattlesnake, and the other members of his winglet convinced Swordfish otherwise. He had to get back to them. To her.
When Swordfish approached the doors to the academy, he opened them slowly, preparing himself for Clay to come rushing out again. But nothing like that happened. Inside the academy looked normal. Vine walked in, and Swordfish after her.
Suddenly, a voice ripped through Swordfish's thoughts of hope, that this was just like home, but real. "Hello!" Called the voice. It was Sunny, but she sounded even more friendly than normal. "We weren't expecting any more new students!" Sunny said, still holding her super friendly, happy face. "I just got done showing around our newest student, Oceancurse!" Swordfish looked at Sunny weirdly. She was acting… weird. Like, more weird than normal. "Oceancurse is a hybrid! Isn't that cool? Our school is so inclusive! Anyway, what can I help you with?" Sunny asked. "My name is Vine!" Vine said, sounding eerily like Sunny. "And this is Swordfish." "Hi." Swordfish said. Something was off, but he couldn't place it. "Nice to meet you two, are you two new students I was unaware of?" Sunny asked. Before Swordfish could answer, Vine began talking. "No, we're from…" "Far away." Swordfish cut Vine off, and then gave her a look. "Oops, sorry." She whispered.
"Hey, uh, do you have a Sandwing student named Rattlesnake here?" Swordfish asked. Now, Sunny was the one that looked confused. "No…" She responded. She was interrupted by a gong sounding. "Oop, its lunchtime!" Sunny said, and ran off towards the prey center. It was a friendly run. Swordfish took a deep breath. This place felt more like home than the weird grass world, but it still seemed off. Like sleeping on a different surface, or eating your favorite food only to have it taste like something else.
"Well, you want to go see what's up?" Vine asked, and Swordfish shrugged. Maybe he was just being paranoid. Maybe this world would be alright, and would provide help.
Swordfish and Vine walked to the prey center, and instead of getting into all the chaos, Swordfish hung around by the exit, like he used to. He wasn't even hungry. He didn't think he could eat after everything that had happened since he woke up in the hospital wing.
Swordfish watched as he saw a very odd looking dragonet walked by with a Mudwing close behind her. That must be Oceancurse. Swordfish thought. He wondered why the visitor that controlled this world made Oceancurse this way, a hybrid of so many tribes. Didn't the visitor realize how hard it must be in Pyrrhia's society? Swordfish wondered what the visitor was thinking, and one of his two scars began to hurt. It felt fresh. Like he had just been stabbed. An image flickered through Swordfish's mind. A memory. One of the blades that came out of the wall in Cassriel's little room.
I wonder why
Swordfish watched as Oceancurse was suddenly approached by a Rainwing and a Nightwing. The Rainwing flashed colors on her ruff and began circling around Oceancurse. Oceancurse turned grey and black. "Look, OB." The Rainwing said. "It's O-O-OC!" The Mudwing said, breaking her silence. "Sorry, O-O-OC," The Rainwing sneered. Swordfish could piece together that this was not a good dragon already. "Listen here, that hot Sandwing, who is also hot in the 'good-looking' sense of the world, is mine. Back off Hotness, or you'll get a taste of Rainwing venom." The Rainwing bared her fangs. So it's about a love interest. Swordfish thought. How… weirdly familiar. The Rainwing smirked. "You don't own him!" Oceancurse cried. "Why aren't you nice?"
It was only now that Swordfish realized what was so weird about this place. Nobody had depth. They were just like characters from a poorly written scroll. They were so bad, they were good.
The Rainwing snickered, then looked at the Nightwing. "I don't know, Twister, why am I not nice?" She made a fake gasp. "Oh, wait, it's because you suck! Ha ha!" Vine visibly cringed. The Nightwing apparently named Twister just coughed. A group of students suddenly appeared and began admiring the Rainwing, who strutted off.
Swordfish held back a laugh when the Rainwing and Twister were gone. Vine looked at him, shocked. "Why are you laughing? Did you really think that 'you suck' insult was funny?" "No." Swordfish said. "It's the classic love triangle. Protagonist, perfect love interest, competition."
After some of the chaos died down, Swordfish began to talk to Vine about what to do next in a hushed tone. "So you think they are… they are… I can't think of the word." Vine said. "One-dimensional." Swordfish said. "Yeah. Nobody here has any depth." But Vine didn't seem to be listening. She was focused on a passing Skywing. "Vine?" Swordfish asked. "Look at him." Vine whispered. Vine nudged a nearby Skywing, and asked what the name of the Skywing she was staring at. "Expendable." Said the random Skywing. Yeesh. Their name is Expendable. Who in Pyrrhia would have a crush on someone named Expendable? Swordfish watched Expendable run off with curiosity, and Vine watched in awe. "Did you see him?" Vine asked. "He was so handsome." Swordfish took a nice look at Vine. "Do you know what expendable means?" He genuinely asked her. "No. They don't teach that advanced vocabulary in the Rainforest."
Swordfish sat there wondering how his new friend could fall for one of these depthless dragons, when Expendable rushed into the room again. "Oh stars!" He said. "Oh my stars, oh stars!" He conveniently tripped on something. He stayed down on the ground. "SHE'S DEAD! SHE'S DEAD! DEAD! THERE'S BEEN A MURDER!" But in the silence that followed Expendable's yelling, Swordfish froze as he heard a high pitched noise in the distance.
The huntress had found her prey.