Three days after the events of Chapter 19: Home.
"Hey come on, we need to go!" Swordfish woke up in his bed of shells. He looked up to see Vine had woken him up. "Oh… is that today?" Swordfish asked her, and she nodded. "Just give me a second." He said, and she walked out of his room.
Swordfish got up, and looked over sadly at the dried bed of mud that had belonged to his clawmate. Tsunami had asked him if he wanted it removed, and he had decided to keep it as a reminder of the personality of Cedar that had been his friend. Swordfish sighed. Cedar felt so long ago. So much had happened since that day Rattlesnake had been stabbed.
Swordfish had been having a tough time ever since he arrived here. He had had some trouble convincing his friends and the teachers (including that weird Skywing Falcon) that everything he told them was true. Some of them, like Sunny, Darkseer, Delta, and Fatespeaker, were easy to convince. Some of them, like Tsunami, Savanna, and Falcon, had denied it at first, but Vine had been undeniable proof. When she had introduced herself, Rattlesnake had immediately taken a liking to her.
The brutal truth Swordfish and Vine had hit them with made all of their heads spin. It didn't make sense at first. That there was a singular, untouchable world, and all the others were various versions of it controlled by unknown gods, but after some convincing, they had uneasily accepted it. The truth of the world, and only the dragons there knew it.
Things took a sour turn when Swordfish told them about the fact that he was supposed to take dead Swordfish's place. At first, only Darkseer had thought it was a good idea. "Abyss is right. I'm looking into the futures here. A lot of them… don't end well if we don't have Swordfish." "What do you mean?" Starflight asked him, and Darkseer began explaining the various futures without any form of Swordfish.
"In one of them, we're picked off one by one by the monster that killed Rainfall." "Adnachiel." Swordfish whispered. "In another, all I see is fire. There's one where there's an enormous battle ravaging what looks like the coast of the rainforest. I see a giant Nightwing attacking Jade Mountain." Savanna perked his head up, surprised. "A giant Nightwing? Could that be…Darkstalker?"
A strange silence fell over the room. Nobody knew where Darkstalker had been buried 2000 years ago by Clearsight. And how exactly was Swordfish going to stop that from happening?
Rattlesnake had fallen silent after Swordfish told her he was to replace the other Swordfish. She didn't even make eye contact with him, and Swordfish felt a twinge of his heart breaking, similar to like when Cassriel's illusion had fallen apart, and Abyss referred to Rattlesnake as "nobody important, nobody even real."
She might never accept me, knowing I'm not even the one she knew.
After a small vote with the teachers, they unanimously decided to let Swordfish and Vine stay in this world, and they would bury the Swordfish from this world. They also ordered everybody to keep quiet about everything discussed. Swordfish recalled the note Abyss had left Swordfish, which Swordfish had left in the grass world. "Only trust those you are absolutely sure you can." "It's up to you to decide if you'll treat Swordfish the same as the…one you knew." Sunny announced to the small group of dragonets. Swordfish looked around the room. Except for that weird Skywing, and Webs, who would surely be informed later, the only ones who knew the truth about the worlds, and the demons were…a few dragonets.
After that, they proceeded to have a hasty and secret burial of the old Swordfish. His wound had completely dried, and his eyes were still closed. Delta cried still, even though Swordfish was right there. Rattlesnake also cried, and when Swordfish attempted to comfort her, she brushed him away without even looking at him. Swordfish took one last look at the face of himself before Tsunami and Clay began pouring the dirt over him. The old Swordfish would be laid to rest under a tree at the foot of Jade Mountain, with only a small marking Tsunami cut into the tree with her claw to determine it was him.
Here lies the body of Swordfish the Seawing
4989 A.S. – 5005 A.S.
Of course, that wasn't Swordfish's real age or correct dates at all. They had to cover everything up, so that if anyone finds the grave, they wouldn't get too suspicious. After everyone had left the tree, Swordfish stayed there and stared at the freshly filled hole that contained an exact copy of him. This was his death. Swordfish realized that had he been the one who died, and another version of himself had been the one to come and live on, this would be the reaction. That could easily be him under there.
On the plus side, Rainfall's chest was still there, and still locked. When Swordfish had informed the teachers that Rainfall had apparently known what the truth was, and more, they themselves had Swordfish show them the chest. When they got to Rainfall and Frigid's room, Swordfish showed them the chest, and told them about the 8-digit code needed to unlock it. He described Sloth in detail as much as he could. Simple coverings, long brown fur on his head, and wearing a cute little satchel which probably contained the code. Falcon was the most shaken by all of this. Of course, he was the new one, and the dragonets of destiny had dealt with some odd things before. Swordfish felt bad when he saw Starflight and Fatespeaker comforting each other, and Clay nervously fiddling like Cedar did. He had thrown them into this dark situation, just like he had done with his friends.
On the second day, Vulture had come to accept this version of him. "You're just him, but from somewhere else. Like a doppelganger with all his memories and experiences. If I just think about it like that, I guess it's alright." Vulture had said, and Swordfish smiled at him, grateful to be able to talk to someone other than Vine and Darkseer, who had been the only ones to talk to him since the burial. Rattlesnake had started hanging out with Savanna more and more ever since the burial.
The only other one Swordfish had talked to had been Blizzard, who had at first kept her snobby personality until they walked into an empty room, when she stated how glad and surprised she was that he was alive. She had no problem accepting Swordfish, which Swordfish had found weird. He told her everything that had happened, and all about the demons. She asked no questions and had understood everything perfectly.
She never ceased to surprise Swordfish. "Why do you act like that when nobody else is around? Why do you act like this only around me?" He asked her. "Well… despite being in the third circle, I find a lot of the Icewing pretentiousness to be insufferable. It's what contributed to the Tragedy of Prince Winter. But the other Icewings here would judge me too harshly if I didn't act like the rest of them. They could report back to the palace and I would lose my spot in the rankings." Swordfish thought about what he had learned about Icewing culture. How they had rankings, and it was everything to them.
"I guess, I show you because… you remind me of someone from my past, Swordfish. If you're anything like how he was, you don't feel like you fit in with the culture from where you came from too." Swordfish nodded. His life back home, and how he could never be a palace guard. "You know, Rattlesnake, Vine, and Darkseer probably would be safe to show your true colors around too. Maybe Vulture too, but I don't know." Blizzard's expression suddenly changed, like she was thinking about something rather sour, but she didn't say anything.
After that, Swordfish and Vine had a meeting with Tsunami. "Vine, you have to go to the Rainforest. You're a new Rainwing that just… appeared. Glory needs to know about both you, and about the demons. You're a Rainwing, and technically her responsibility. Call for an audience and tell them Tsunami sent you and it's urgent." "I get to meet Glory?" Vine said, and Swordfish looked at her and saw her face. A combination of excitement and fear. She had seen Glory shoot venom at Fjord during the arena battle. "Swordfish, I want you to go with her." Tsunami said. "Okay." Swordfish said. "I want to go see my family anyway."
It was true. Swordfish had decided that he needed to go back to his town. He needed to know that things were still normal somewhere. A place without demons or serial killers or alternate worlds.
And now, it was time to go. Swordfish yawned and grabbed his satchel of items, which held Rainfall's drawing scroll, the pieces of the necklace, and a map of Pyrrhia. When he walked out of his cave, he immediately ran into Savanna. "…Hey" Savanna said. "I… want to say I'm sorry about thinkin' you were the killer. I grew up in the Scorpion Den, y'know? You need to learn how to read dragons. Figure out motives so you can survive. You used to confuse me, with all your weird things you would do, but now that you… explained everythin,' I get it now. Well, actually I guess I'm apologizin' for the version of myself from your world. I guess the one I should be apologizin' to is the one buried under the tree out there."
Swordfish looked at Savanna. "So do you accept me as Swordfish now?" Savanna chuckled. "Well there's no point in not havin' you still around!" "Do you know what Rattlesnake thinks of all that?" Swordfish asked, and Savanna sighed. "She hasn't said much to me about it other than 'I miss Swordfish.' Like you were still dead." Swordfish felt a feeling like a Sandwing barb piercing his heart. "I'm sorry." Savanna said. "It's… fine." Swordfish said, not looking at him.
There was an awkward pause before Savanna spoke. "So… where are you going?" He asked. "Actually, I'm going to the Rainforest with Vine, and then going home. I'll be gone for a while." Savanna looked thoughtful. "Really? You're going that far East? And you're comin' back alone?" "Yeah." Swordfish said. "I'm just hoping I don't get abducted by Cassriel or something while I'm alone. I'm willing to bet that Glory will come back with Vine though." "Huh." Savanna said. "Well then, seeya." Savanna walked away, and then began running when he heard the first gong ring, and then he was gone into the crowd of other dragonets.
Not long after, Swordfish was standing with Vine at the main entrance. Clay saw them out. "Good luck with Glory, she can be a bit skeptical sometimes." He said with a smile. Vine nodded cheerfully, now appearing excited to meet her queen. "And Swordfish, good luck with your family." Clay said in a lower tone, and Swordfish nodded. Clay had been the one with Tsunami to hear his story in the music room that time.
Vine took to the sky first, and Swordfish followed behind her. "Well, you first. You know the way better than I do. You have a map." Vine said. "Oh yeah!" Swordfish said, and took out the map. "This way." Swordfish said, and they began to fly.
Morning began to fade into noon, and into afternoon as they made the journey to the Rainforest. They had to stop at a few streams to drink water and make sure they were going the right way. Vine looped in excitement as the trees began to get taller and the leaves thicker, the forest denser. Swordfish really didn't particularly enjoy the rainforest, but he was glad to see Vine happy. She was so different from how he had found her, dying in the void.
As they began to go deeper into the forest, they could no longer fly, and had to resort to walking through the plants and weeds of the forest. As the birds began to chirp and make noise, and frogs and monkeys made their cacophony of peeping and howling, Vine began to look more and more at home, with her scales changing to match the forest floor. She was happy here, dashing around the large trees.
Swordfish didn't care for the rainforest as much. The whole place was loud and chaotic, a stark contrast to the quiet waters Swordfish grew up in.
Suddenly, a Rainwing appeared out of nowhere. "Ah! Good job dragonet, you caught the intruder!" He patted Vine's head. "Now, what do you want here? Run for your life! I'm threatening!" "This is serious business Jambu, he's not an intruder he's with me! We're from Jade Mountain." Vine said, and then looked shocked. "I-I know your name!" Swordfish jerked his head up to look at Vine. "You remember something?" He asked urgently. "Try to remember more!" Vine closed her eyes and concentrated, and then made a sound of frustration. "It's already gone!" She wailed. "Of course you know my name." The Rainwing named Jambu said. "I'm the queen's brother." "That's not what I meant, Jambu." Vine said, defeated. "We need to talk with Queen Glory as soon as possible." Swordfish said. "Ooh I don't know if I can do that. She's pretty busy right now with this Nightwing that ate the wrong mushrooms." Jambu said thoughtfully. "This is urgent. Tsunami sent us. Just tell Glory that." Swordfish said. "Well, I can lead you to her, but I don't know if she'll be able to talk." Jambu said, and then took off to the trees, where he began swinging from branch to branch. Vine followed him, doing it with ease, like she had done it before. Swordfish sighed. "I hate the rainforest." He muttered.
When the three dragons arrived at the Rainwing village, Jambu landed perfectly on a platform on a tree, and Vine landed beside him, laughing. Swordfish crashed next to them, his face full of scratches from branches. "How… do you do that?" Swordfish asked, winded. "Lots of practice." Jambu said, and then took off into the sky, flying to the left.
The Rainwing village was beautiful. All the dragons were beautiful colors. Gorgeous flowers were littered all over the place, like it had rained rainbows. Jambu flew into a hut that looked like it had been expanded recently. Swordfish and Vine followed him.
When they got inside, they saw a couple calm blue Rainwings, milling around. There were various cots inside. One of which had a sleeping Rainwing on it, with a bandage made of leaves on her arm. On one side of the room, stood a Rainwing wearing a crown made of flowers, and two Nightwings, standing around one of the cots.
"Hey Glory, these two drag…" Jambu started when the Rainwing wearing the crown yelled back at him. "Not now Jambu! I told you that this poor Nightwing is important!" Jambu turned back to Swordfish and Vine and shrugged. "I told you so." "We're from Jade Mountain! Tsunami told us to tell you it's urgent!" Vine said loudly. Glory turned around, and then her brow furrowed when she saw Vine. "Wh- who are you?" She asked. "We'll both explain. We must have privacy though." Swordfish said. "What are your names?" One of the Nightwings asked suspiciously. "Deathbringer, calm down. They're obviously safe if Tsunami sent them. How about you go clear the throne room if we have to speak privately?" Glory said. Deathbringer started to say something, but didn't, and walked out of the healer's hut and flew off.
"What's going on with this Nightwing?" Vine asked, walking up to the cot where Glory and the other Nightwing were. "Why is he so important?" Swordfish trailed behind Vine, not wanting to get involved in anything, but his curiosity getting the best of him. The Nightwing with Glory looked up from the floor she had been staring at, and she had tears in her eyes. "He's my husband, Truthteller. And he's insane!" The Nightwing began crying again. "Moonlight. I told you, we'll get him back." Glory said with confidence, but Moonlight kept crying. "Gone. Gone. Gone." She sobbed.
Suddenly, Moonlight's crying was drowned out by Truthteller opened his eyes, and Swordfish saw a shakiness in his eyes. His claws began to twitch, and then he began screaming. "ROBES! DARK! PRINCESS! 3007!" His entire head began to twitch and shake back and forth, and he screamed even louder. "JUSTICE, SECURITY, PEACE!" Then, his words devolved into gibberish. "PRMT WZIPHGZOPVI!" He suddenly stopped screaming, and he closed his eyes, his body peaceful again. "I still don't understand what that means." Moonlight said sadly. Swordfish had to take a step backward, and take a deep breath.
Robes. Dark. That night in Rainfall's cave. The four robed dragons with golden armbands, watching Frigid sleep like malevolent bats.
When Glory was flying Swordfish and Vine back to the throne room, Swordfish asked about Truthteller. "According to the Nightwings, he disappeared about a year ago, the day after the whole thing in Possibilty when so many dragons died happened. He just showed up again two days ago when these two Sandwings found him wandering the desert yelling stuff. At first, we thought the heat had just got to him, but after two days of water, shade, and comfort, he hasn't changed. All he can say is the things you heard him say." Glory said with a tinge of frustration.
When they reached the beautiful throne room, inside was empty except for Deathbringer and an old Rainwing. "Grandeur won't leave." Deathbringer said, exasperated. "I refuse to leave when something is so important that you have to literally shove some dragons out the door. I've lived as a member of this tribe for nearly a century, and have even served as queen. I want to know what is so important that it could affect the tribe." Grandeur said elegantly. "Understandable, let her stay." Glory said, to which Deathbringer quietly stomped the ground in defeat.
After Glory took her seat in the throne, Vine stepped forward. "Hi. My name is Vine. I don't remember my past, and you won't find any record of me anywhere, because I'm not from this world." All three pairs of eyes, Glory's, Deathbringer's, and Grandeur's, widened.
Swordfish and Vine told the story of what had happened, Swordfish covering everything leading up to the point he found Vine, and then the two of them both telling about Abyss, the other worlds, the visitors, and the reaction back at Jade Mountain.
When they were done, Deathbringer was the first to speak. "That can't possibly be true." He said. "The ultimate truth of the world, and only a select few dragons, consisting mostly of dragonets, know about it?" "Do you have any better explanation?" Grandeur asked Deathbringer. "If this is not true, then how do you explain Vine standing right there?" "If you want total proof, you can go to Jade Mountain and unbury the other Swordfish!" Vine said, to which Swordfish turned his head to look at her.
"But this is ridiculous! Visitors? Gods from other worlds?" Deathbringer asked with nearly a smile. "Glory, you have to back me up here." All eyes turned to the queen, who closed her eyes, and said nothing. Her flower crown casting a light shadow over her eyes. Swordfish could see well in the dark thanks to his Seawing eyes, but even he could tell the room had become dark as it became night. Glory didn't say anything for what seemed like forever, until she opened her eyes, their emerald green shining in the dim torchlight.
"I believe you."
Swordfish sighed in relief. "Why would Tsunami and Starflight believe you if it wasn't true? Those two would immediately find out if this was false." Glory said.
About an hour later, Glory and Deathbringer had arranged a group that was going to go to Jade Mountain and talk with the teachers about this strange new information. Vine was going back with them. "See you later, Vine." Swordfish said, and Vine nodded. "You too." Swordfish looked to the south. To the sea that lay beyond the towering trees.
He was going home. Back to the quiet, dark waters.