[Author's note: HEY! I swear these chapters get longer and longer... Remember that snippet of music from the end of the last chapter? I've set a few tracks along this chapter. but they aren't absolutely needed if you don't want to listen. That being said, I hope you guys like Minecraft. :3]

(Chapter 4: Time Crunch)

-Prologue-

"Hello?"

Along the sleek decorated halls of a foreign and newly designed cruiser, a Starwing Guard prods along his scheduled patrol route until he finds himself seeking an echoing voice… one familiar and small, sniveling and lonesome. As he padded forwards around the corner, a ball of black scales curled up tight lay against the wall.

"Hey, this is a restricted area, what're you…"

He stopped his scolding questioning immediately, noting the royal insignia flash across her wings and the coloration of her astral marks. His voice fell a few tones down into a warmer, more friendly tone.

"Princess? Is that you?"

[-[ ENGAGE TRACK : C418 - WET HANDS ]-]

He knelt down to their level, as they curled up tighter in his presence. The ball of scales shook their head, letting out a squeaky and trembling "N-no…"

The guard recognizes this voice, unmistakably Princess Libra. She's only a year old (.1 GC) and at this point she should absolutely not be by herself, especially in a brand new Starship she doesn't know. He sits himself besides the shaky, royal dragonet and gives her some space.

"Hey… you're ok, you're safe… how can I help?"

Offering help didn't seem to help, as the princess only cries a bit harder now. The guard takes mental stock of the situation, proceeding carefully and gently for the young one.

"Are you lost?"

Princess Libra finally lifts her head up, revealing her head and watery eyes to the guard at last. She seems to steel herself once more as if offended by his statement, taking a deep breath to try and calm herself.

"N-NO! I'm… *Sniff* I'm not lost…"

All that crumbles once more as she hugs her wings around her and sniffles again.

"...princesses don't get... l-lost…"

The guard, now quite certain the little dragonet was lost after touring the new ship with her parents, sighed to himself as he devised a plan to keep the dragonet calm and find her parents.

"Yes Princess."

He stood at attention to make her feel a bit more empowered.

"Would you like me to escort you to…" He stopped for a second, allowing little Libra to get her own ideas. "Um… somewhere? Anywhere? I'm just on patrol, I can take you all over the ship.~"

Upon seeing this knightly Guard stand at attention for her, Libra perked just the teensiest of smiles.

"Uhmmmm… can you… can you take me to my mommy and daddy?"

The Guard kneels down for a moment and offers a warm smile.

"It would be an honor, Princess."

From the princess's eyes were tears no more, rather glee and hope that could only radiate from an ecstatic child. She finally sat up more, looking to the Guard as if he were her personal hero.

"Can, can I ride on your back?"

The guard, thrown a bit off by the request, stood and blinked in thought for a second.

(A Few Moments Later…)

"WHEEEEEE! FASTER, FASTER!"

Sprinting through the halls on all fours with the young Princess on her back, the guard had put his Light Pike on his side and barreled through the halls at the request of his rider.

"*Huff* Aye, Princess! Hang on tight!"

Libra giggled and laughed as a giddy young dragonet might, holding on and having arguably the time of her life. All of her worries had faded into naught, and for the moment she'd forgotten all about being lost.

The guard kept his speed as best he could, doing his utmost to keep the young princess happy and entertained. As he turned in the hallways and corridors, the map he followed brought him closer and closer to King Orion and Queen Aries.

"*Huff* Almost there, a few more turns and we should-"

What the guard was not prepared for was a leak of coolant fluid across the hall crossways, causing him to slip and slide into the dead end hallway uncontrollably. The two held on to each other as the floor underneath them seemed to catapult them into the wall.

"wWWOOAAH-"

POOMPF!

The collective splat of two dragons against a cold hard wall resonated ever so slightly, leaving one upside down Libra and a discombobulated guard scrambling to get up.

"Princess, are you alright?"

The princess did not respond, rather she just attempted to right herself slowly. As she sat upright again, it was revealed her silence was simply laughter. Pure and uproarious, she giggled without a care in the world.

"Hehehehe! Again, again!"

The guard heaved a sigh of relief and stifled a few peeps himself.

"Phew… Hehe."

Once the two found themselves upright again, they had but a few seconds before the King and Queen turned the corner to see the two collecting themselves.

"Libra!"

"There you are!"

Orion and Aries stood there a bit expectantly, while Libra charged into the embrace of her mother.

"MOMMY!"

Aries welcomed her wholeheartedly, embracing her daughter warmly.

"Baby girl, I was worried about you! I told you to stay close didn't I?"

Libra snuggled closer and nodded, while Orion approached the guard with pleased curiosity.

"I'm to assume you found her and kept her safe?"

The guard stood at attention and nodded.

"Yes my liege! I can show you all of what happened if you like."

Orion nods, then without further pause touches foreheads to the dragon in front of him. Briefly they interchange memories, just enough to understand the last few minutes worth of events, and but a few seconds after the two pull back.

King Orion's snout carries an impressed and pleased smirk, patting the guards shoulder. He took note of the orange and red scales down his snout to his back, especially noting the slow and careful shift between colors and scales.

"My thanks to you, soldier. You handled things well."

Orion and the guard looked over to Libra, who glanced back with a grand old smile. Orion then swiveled back to the guard, already cooking up an idea in his head.

"How would you like to be her personal guard? She'll need someone to take her around the Kingdom, someone she can trust and feels comfortable with."

Libra seems to perk up infinitely at the idea, Aries face awash with delight too. The guard stands much straighter now, star struck at the prospect.

"S-sir, that's… I-I would-"

He clears his throat and bows to King Orion.

"I swear to you, I will do my very best, my liege. I will guard her with my life."

Aries prods up to the now at attention guard, her curiosity piqued as well.

"Might we know your designation, corporal?"

The guard clears his throat once more, firmly putting the blunt end of his pike to the floor.

"I-S-O 42397, Cetus System." He sighs after reciting his Stellar Designation, obviously dissatisfied with it. "My parents abandoned me as an egg, I uh… I never received a proper name."

"Ah," Orion nodded. "I see."

"I, S, O, 4… 4, 3..." Young Libra spoke aloud trying to recall what the guard had just called himself, looking up at him while she did so.

"I-S… O… Iso… Iso!"

I-S-O 42397 found himself smiling, more on the inside than on the outside. He knelt down to Libra again, and immediately she put her nose to his. She felt safe, and even admired him… and he felt every fiber in his body shift to one thought: 'I will protect her, always.'

He smiled even more and let his eyes close.

"Iso… That's a good name, Princess. Call me Iso."

-X-

"Iso? ISO!"

"Commander wait!"

Considering the blaring alarms and rushing of dragons every which way, it wasn't easy for Iso to hear his two lieutenant commanders following behind him. Finding his way through the clamoring halls of the SWFC OMEGA, Iso kept his tail and cape swept out of the way while he navigated to a functioning panel on the wall.

"Commander Iso to Bridge Crew, what's our status?"

A short burst of static cut through the air before the hectic beeps and alarms of the Bridge Stations rang over the comms.

"We're keeping them occupied, we've got Fractal Warp capability on standby."

"Shields are holding steady at 87% capacity, but the Starcastle's Surface Energy System is really making a dent in our-"

A brief shaking of the ship and phase distortion later, the crewmans voice pops back up.

"Negative, make that 73%!"

"Commander, we don't have a lot of time left here!"

"Aye, Arrow and Echo will be up there shortly." Iso pressed a few more buttons on the panel. "Keep them busy, make sure the cloaking fields are in place!"

"Yes Commander!"

Another brief pause of static, and the comms went back to silence. The two smaller dragons besides Iso however, persisted.

"Commander, she specifically ordered us to stay back."

[-[ NEXT TRACK : C418 - DRY HANDS ]-]

Iso continued to input commands on the wall pad, still talking as well.

"Arrow," He shot a hardened glance at the dragon to his left, ghostly white and green flowing down his back and tail. "I cannot do that, and you know it."

"Yes, you can!" The other dragon with stagnant purple and grays flowing down his snout neck and arms, Echo placed himself besides Iso in an attempt to get his attention. "We can turn tail and leave, we already have scans reporting that she's alive and well!"

"We have scans indicating she's alive, but I can feel what she feels, Echo." Iso pressed one more button to initialize the complex command he input onto the pad, but the button refused to cooperate no matter how hard he pushed it.

"She needs help, and I promised I would be there."

"She STILL would have wanted you to keep back!" Arrow interrupted once more. "She knows what she's doing, and probably is counting on being alone and separated in whatever plans she's come up with!"

"SHE'S SCARED AND ALONE," With a firm JAB of his talon to the screen, it finally beeped resoundingly and opened the nearby airhatch. "AND I WILL NOT LET HER SUFFER ALONE."

Iso threw his cape to the floor, only donning a few pieces of modular body armor along his back and chest, shoulders too. Arrow and Echo exchanged glances before trying to dissuade their commanding officer once more.

"Commander," Echo put his paws to Iso's shoulders. "...Iso… This ship needs you, you are it's last bastion of leadership."

"No, Echo, I'm not."

Iso turned to Arrow and Echo once more, saluting to the both of them.

"No I'm not."

Arrow and Echo both paused, looking to one another briefly before they saluted back, albeit more out of respect than out of accepting their positions.

"Besides… I made a promise to my King. I can't back down on it now."

Iso stepped into the airhatch, Arrow speaking up one last time.

"We're traitors now, Iso… Does that promise really matter?"

...and for a moment, Iso stopped again. His eyes pierced whatever laid between Arrow and him, and he spoke with such determination the two had not seen from him before.

"...I promised Orion I would guard his daughter with my life. I swore to him, to Libra, and myself, that no harm would befall her. I was never here for a higher rank, I was never here to command the Omega Legion, and I have no qualms against the FreeClan or it's imperfections… I am here to protect Libra, and neither Starships nor my own Lieutenants will dissuade me from laying my life down for her."

Iso stepped forwards to Arrow and Echo again, feeling the ship rock and buck a bit.

"ISO," The wall panel erupted to life again, the bridge crew's panic tinging the air. "IT'S NOW OR NEVER."

Iso closed the airhatch, speaking through the mic to Arrow and Echo.

"Take care of my Ship, or I WILL jettison you both into the nearest star."

The two Lieutenants (now Commanders) saluted once more before rushing off to the bridge with their fellow comrades.

Iso let the light panels feed his modular armor, creating a scale tight field around him. The air in the chamber drained through the vents, and once the door opened he blasted out into the cold void. The only thing in his sights was the planet below, and bringing up his positioning matrix he quickly gained Libra's position.

'Hang on Princess… I'm coming.'

[-[PAUSE TRACK LIST]-]

-X-

'Smolder…'

'Vulture…'

'V-viper…'

'That's not tea!'

From her disquieted torrent of unconscious thought, Sunny bolted upright from her sleep, a white wrapping around her head as her scales were soaked with her own sweat.

"MOTHER!"

And then all was quiet… Sunny immediately fell back against the pillows and put a paw to her throbbing forehead, shutting her eyes as the dull pain grew more tolerable. Once her eyes opened again, her attention first drew to the room around her.

Sunny recognized the room instantly, her mother's bedroom. She sat upright once more in her mother's royal bedding, bowls of water and wet rags nearby on the tables. Two chairs sat perched close besides the bed, the door slightly ajar as she could hear footsteps nearby outside.

Her first instinct was to stroll out of the bed and outside the room, but considering she could barely feel her legs or the rest of her body, she thought it unwise. Instead, she waited for the other dragons nearby to come inside.

"Is she awake? Did you hear her just now?"

The voice outside, concerned with great interest, found it's way barging in. An older and slender Sandwing made her way in, holding a clipboard in one paw and a silver cup in her other. Her hazel eyes, previously droopy, widened at the sight of Sunny sitting up.

"You're awake! That's.. alarming, but good!"

This strange dragon, before Sunny could ask a single question, prodded right up to her and bowed in curtsey.

"My name is Aloe, royal medic and a personal friend of your mother."

Sunny blinked and held her head again.

"You're a healer?"

Aloe nodded as she inspected Sunny up and down, checking her eyes and reflexes.

"Yes I am, and I've been doing so a very long time. She instructed me to keep an eye on your condition, and might I say you've been extremely interesting!"

She picked up Sunny's right wing, taking in every detail.

"I dare say I'm good at what I do because I've seen near everything…" She perked back up to look at Sunny again. "Whatever this is, whatever happened to you, I have never seen before."

"Speaking of which," Sunny interjects as she massages her temples a bit. "What did happen?"

Before Aloe has the chance to respond, another familiar voice enters through the doorway.

"Any developments Aloe? Is she-"

The voice belongs to Thorn, and as the Sandwing Queen finds her daughter awake and alert, she finds herself by Sunny's bedside in seconds.

"Beetle!"

Thorn, ever the concerned mother, entwines her talons with Sunny's. Sunny squeezes back appreciatively.

"How do you feel, are you alright?"

Sunny nods, albeit slowly.

"I think I'm ok… I just have this awful headache, but it's going away."

"Here," Aloe offers up the cup to Sunny, who takes it happily. "This should help."

Sunny's initial gladness turns to disgust as she notices the nastiness of the strange purple sludge-like elixir in the cup.

"Ermm… What's in it?"

"Don't worry about it, just drink it. It tastes like fruit!"

Sunny shrugs and takes a generous sip, satisfied with the explanation given. It takes a few gulps before it really sets in, that the concoction Sunny was drinking was indeed nasty. Sunny nearly gags as she swallows again, setting the cup aside and coughing with disgust.

"HHUGH! What was THAT!?"

Aloe, without skipping a beat, offers Sunny a second cup.

"My apologies for lying princess, I just needed you to drink it. Please, wash it down with some Jasmine Tea."

Sunny, even more graciously this time, accepts the cup of brownish looking tea and just drinks it all. This proves to be an even worse taste, definitely not Jasmine tea, as she nearly physically jumps out of bed.

"GAAAH! WATER, WATER!"

Aloe moves to give her ANOTHER cup, but Thorn stops her and pours some water from the nearby bowls into a fresh goblet.

"Here darling, water."

Sunny, almost in tears by now, yanks the glass and gulps it all down in seconds. She heaves for a second before calming herself down with deep breaths.

"HOO… Huuh, huff… Moons abOVE, WHAT WAS THAT STUFF?!"

Aloe picks up her clipboard, scribbling in it a bit.

"You really don't want to know. I am curious though, how did it taste?"

Sunny rubbed her tongue and shivered rather intensely.

"It… It tasted like, a bird pooped in my mouth, landed in there, and then someone set it on fire."

"Huh. Speaking of which-"

"Aloe, please." Thorn shot her a glance Sunny couldn't identify, but Aloe stopped mid sentence as Thorn did so.

"Yes your highness." Aloe went back to her clipboard again. "Ahem… Besides the bad taste, how do you feel now?"

Sunny bristled a bit, blinking as she took note of her body.

"Weirdly… A lot less sore. My head is clear again, and I feel almost good as new." The Sandwing Princess felt around her wings and arms, down her abdomen as her snout contorted in confusion.

"...I feel like I can feel… More…"

"More?" Aloe and Thorn exchanged semi worried but still curious glances. Thorn held Sunny's talons still. "Can you describe it?"

Before she could answer, the Sandwing Princess stopped herself once more, gazing back with seriousness at her mother.

"Mother… What happened? I remember the Dragonbite Viper, and then panic, and then it's all fuzzy from there…"

Thorn and Aloe exchanged glances again, and Sunny hadn't a clue why that made her so anxious.

"You don't remember?" The Sandwing Queen sat beside her daughter, worry sown in her expression and compassion radiant in her eyes. Sunny simply shook her head, nearly nose to nose with her.

"Nothing… Did I get hurt?"

Aloe interjected once more, respectfully but poignantly.

"Oh you got hurt alright. That viper went straight for Thorn, and had you not grabbed it instead it would've absolutely killed her."

Thorn rubbed along Sunny's right forearm gingerly.

"It bit your arm, Sunny… You saved me by grabbing it before it got to me, and I can't thank you enough beetle… But moons, when that happened it felt like my entire world was about to break."

As Sunny listened intently, a slow burning panic welled up in her chest, her breathing quickening faster and faster. She checked her wrist to find no bite marks either. Questions started to arise in her mind, and it almost felt like her paws were on fire!

"Wait wait wait, I-I got bit? How… How am I alive? How long ago was that, why aren't there any bite marks?"

She held onto Thorn's talons a bit tighter. "Am… Am I gonna die?"

"Nonononono, no you're not gonna die, you're alright! You're here and you're alive and well!" Thorn squeezed Sunny tightly, while Aloe felt the time appropriate to interject again.

"After it bit you, the venom took its course like natural… But something unexpected and… Rather unexplainable happened."

It was about this time that Thorn and Aloe's attention increased… But their focus seemed to be placed differently. Thorn stepped back for a moment, Sunny's rapt attention split between the two. Her gaze swiveled back and forth.

"What? What happened?"

Thorn, half mesmerized, gently placed a talon on her daughter's chest.

"That."

Sunny had experienced just about the strangest five minutes of her entire life, and as Thorn motioned to her chest, the strangeness continued doubly so. She looked down and witnessed, from what she could tell… her chest glowing with a serenely warm and divine golden energy. As she looked down at her chest, the same energy seemed to overflow from her paws and talons too. The light glowed rather prominently, a shade or two lighter than Sunny's own scales, and as she felt the awe and inspiration surge through her, that energy and light shone more and more intensely.

Thorn held Sunny's paw with both of her own, mystified and awe struck.

"After the viper bit you, you fell back and… Well, writhed on the ground in pain. Smolder and I rushed over to you screaming for the guards, but… you only laid there for about a few seconds before the bite mark started to radiate this... magic."

Aloe drew a bit more near, tantalized by the awesome energy glow.

"A Dragonbite Viper's venom can kill in seconds, and those unfortunate enough to get bit will die slowly and arguably in the most painful way… You not only survived, but the viper immediately croaked after it bit you, and something inside you activated this… Energy. And this energy started breaking down the venom."

Sunny, understandably, hadn't any words at all. Her gaze remained locked on her talons, mystified and wonderous. Thorn continued all the while.

"After that… Your entire body grew wrapped in magical energy, like it was pulsating and healing you. The bite mark vanished before our eyes, like nothing even happened. The energy started getting more and intense around you, and your eyes opened for a few seconds..."

Sunny finally tore her gaze away to see Thorn's expression far afield. Sunny hadn't known her mother to be awed or stunned by much, and witnessing her pause briefly in such a manner almost frightened the Sandwing Princess.

"...Out of your eyes and mouth came rays of fantastic light… It shone through the entire palace almost, and… Moons above Sunny, for five or so seconds you were divine."

Hearing of all this and witnessing her energy flow through her body, Sunny again was awestruck and speechless. She closed her talons and took a deep breath in an attempt to gain control. As she did, the light faded… Much to her surprise.

"What…" Sunny found her words once more and looked to Aloe. "What else happened?"

Aloe shook her head.

"Nothing. The light faded, you collapsed, and we brought you here. All that happened but a few hours ago."

"Okay…" Sunny calmed herself down some, looking back to her mother. "Is Smolder okay?"

"After nearly fainting," Thorn noted with a wry smile. "Yes, he is. After we made sure you were okay, he went ahead with his plan to talk to Onyx. He should be there now."

"Ah, that's good at least." Sunny glanced around the room again. "Do we know who planted the viper?"

Thorn nodded. "Ember confessed to being threatened by one of the kitchen staff, who fled immediately after. She's in custody for the moment."

"Do we know if Vulture was involved?"

"Most probably yes, but let's not worry about that right now…" Thorn nudged Sunny with her wingtip. "Let's make sure you're really alright first."

Sunny nodded again, finally getting onto her feet again. Thorn leaned against her, just to make sure she stayed standing up, which Sunny very much appreciated.

"So…" Sunny glanced up to Thorn. "Any ideas why I suddenly have super cool light magic?"

Thorn shrugged helplessly. "I've never heard of such things happening to anyone… That's why I brought in Aloe."

She whirled around to Aloe. "What're your thoughts?"

Aloe cleared her throat and scribbled more on her clipboard, going to the flip side of the page.

"Well… Based on what I've seen so far, Sunny's physiological responses, her mental state and recovery… I'd say…"

After dramatically scribbling a bit more, she turned the clipboard sideways and presented a simple message for the two of them:

ITS MAGIC.

Thorn growled under her voice some.

"Aloe I brought you here for medical evaluation, not punchlines."

Aloe tosses her clipboard aside.

"Dang it Thorn, I'm a doctor not a magician!" She paces around the room while Sunny and Thorn watch.

"This goes way beyond my scope, I can't give you much more answers than 'She's fine, she's got healing magic or something!' "

"Well then," Thorn sighed to herself, sitting besides Sunny on the bed. "Have you any other ideas?"

Aloe strokes her chin some, glancing between the two royals. "Well…"

She prods up to the two, her voice quieter now.

"...Do you think the Starwings might know?"

Sunny arches an eyebrow at the comment.

"How do you know about that?"

Thorn nudges Sunny's side softly. "Relax, I tell Aloe practically everything. We go back quite a ways."

Aloe seems to beam a smile at the comment.

"But you do have a point," Thorn continues as she rubs her chin. "The Starwings have probably seen hundreds of strange cases like this. They could definitely have an answer to whatever's going on."

Sunny follows along with her mother's logic. "We could ask Queen Aries during the upcoming meeting?"

Thorn shakes her head at the thought. "There wouldn't be much time to chat between the other queens..."

The Sandwing Queen continues to stroke her chin, barbed tail swirling along the ground some.

"Hmmmmmh… What if we go and try meeting her first? You did say she was set up at Jade Mountain, yes?"

Sunny nodded along. "Yeah, she should still be there."

"Then I dare say we should go meet her first." Thorn nosed Sunny's head gingerly. "Think you're up for travel?"

The Sandwing Princess shook herself off, bristled her wings a bit and took one more deep breath.

"Sure! Gives me an excuse to check up on Webs and Starflight, make sure they haven't burned my school down yet.~"

Aloe, curious and excitable, poked her head in once more.

"Um… No chance I could tag along, is there?"

"Actually, I was hoping you might." Thorn offered a smile to the older Sandwing. "Just in case something else happens to Sunny."

"Moo-oooom," Sunny stamped her paw to the ground. "I'll be ok!"

"Sunny," Aloe cut in once more. "Three hours ago you got bit by the most venomous creature in Pyrrhia, basically had a magical transformation, and took a power nap shortly after. I think a little concern is warranted."

"Aloe is right dear," Thorn picks up a few items to pack in her side satchel as she speaks. "Just to be safe."

Sunny mumbles under her breath something about cursing snakes, and collects her things. Aloe noses up to Sunny again.

"Also… I've heard quite a bit about Jade Mountain Academy, I would love to see it for myself! I'm sure with you as head of the school it's wonderful!"

A tickle of happiness scratched Sunny's brain, suddenly exciting her about returning home.

"Then I shall give you a full tour of the school when we get there!"

Thorn, already at the door, motions to everyone else.

"Shall we, ladies?"

Sunny, about to respond in kind, looks down at her talons once more… Noting an ever so soft glow like before. She couldn't exactly pinpoint what kind of feeling this was, but the only thing she knew for sure was that she enjoyed it. She looked back up with a determined grin.

"Let's go!"

(Meanwhile…)

Twisting and turning through thin streets and tight corridors rarely appealed to Smolder, having to fight for wing room and bumping into another dragon every ten seconds. Fortunately, Smolder need not go very far until it opened up into a broad and open street lined with barely opening shops.

The distant horizon and skyline still lay dormant and sleepy, lazy purples and dark navy painting over the stars, preparing for dawn in the coming hours. Even at this time of night, Sandwings could be found nearly everywhere, albeit less were active at night. Those who were active around this time, were not to be trifled with.

Smolder made his way to the fancier streets, crossing over to a metal fenced building with a bit of golden gilding etched into both the metal and reinforced sandstone. The building stood resolute, fashionable and dignified, yet protected and strong. Had anyone else found their way to this building, they might have mistaken it for a small palace. The front door, steel reinforced wood, stood guarded by two Sandwing escorts, both mean looking.

"Morning," Said Smolder, very much not intimidated by any of this. "Is Onyx in?"

"You will refer to her," The left guard, baritone and fierce, spoke first. His lazer beam gaze dug into Smolder. "As Queen Onyx. As in, the true Sandwing Queen."

Smolder, ever the stoic and charming dragon, stood unphased. He simply turned in place to the other guard after a moment.

"Morning," Said Smolder again, just as before. "Is Onyx in?"

Displeased growls and drawn spears were his response. Before he could speak again, the door quietly squeaked open. This attracted the guards attention, seeing as Onyx herself burst through. She stopped as soon as Smolder crossed her vision.

"Onyx!" Smolder did his best to put on a warm and welcoming expression, fatherly as possible. Onyx sighed and rolled her eyes, only for a moment before pushing past him.

"No. Get out."

As Onyx strolled right past him, Smolder followed casually.

"Nice to see you too. How's the whole Queenship thing going?"

"Shut up, stop following me."

"Do you want us to take care of him, my liege?" The right guard from earlier stepped forwards, prompting the left to follow suit. Onyx didn't even look back as she replied.

"Don't bother, remain at your posts. I'll be fine."

The two nodded and resumed their places, leaving Onyx and Smolder to keep walking. Smolder did his best to casually insert some conversation.

"So… What've you been-"

Onyx stopped both Smolder and herself in the middle of the street.

"Why are you here? You know as well as I do we have nothing to talk about."

Smolder, for the first time in a while, hadn't a response to that. His usual charming demeanor faded to something between somber and adamant, something Onyx might've interpreted as emotionally aching.

"...Yes, yes we do."

"No, we don't."

Onyx dismissed her father once more, simply poking forwards. She took a good few steps before Smolder had planted himself in front of her once more.

"Onyx, daughter… I'm not leaving."

Seeing that sort of determination from her father, Onyx instantly knew something was up. Whether it was heartfelt and sincere, or simply news she needed to hear, Onyx knew not. But she knew her father to be a decent dragon, and wanted to at least hear him out.

"...fine. I'm heading to a cafe before I attend a meeting later on, we can talk there. Until then, just follow me, and don't make me regret being associated with you."

Smolder offered a smile to his somewhat estranged daughter. "Thank you, Onyx. That means a lot-"

"And just-" Onyx put a talon to Smolder's snout in aggravation. "Shush. I'm already not in the best mood."

Smolder silently nods in agreement, keeping his trap shut. The two pad off down the street, occasionally glancing at the shops opening up.

Onyx didn't know how she felt walking beside her father for the first time in a long while, especially the fact that her mind lay distracted by the dragon beside her. Distractions in Onyx mind never lasted in her laser focused attention, and having Smolder occupy a small portion of that attention drove her absolutely insane.

But she prodded on towards the cafe a few blocks away, doing her best not to lose the cool persona she so meticulously kept up. The two kept walking in silence as the first semblance of morning crept in on the horizon.

-X-

"They should be around here somewhere, right?"

Qibli and Moon poked their heads out of the nearby bushes, searching the area for anything of relevance. The mellow early morning rays hid behind the foliage and dense trees, offering not much help to the search.

"Between the Diamond Spray River and Delta is what he said." Qibli made his way down a faint clearing, noting the path's wear from travellers. "And that's quite an area to search, he could've at least narrowed it down a bit."

"Better than nothing," Moon prodded up behind him. "At least we found a path of some sort."

"Think it leads anywhere useful?" Qibli sniffed at the ground intently, to Moon's confusion.

"It… might… what are you doing?" The Nightwing continued down the path while watching Qibli continue to sniff.

"A trick Thorn taught me way back when." He continued down the trail with his nose to the ground all the while. "Trails used often have a different scent than their surroundings, so if someone's been down this way recently or quite a few times, it'll smell… well, different."

Qibli hadn't yet picked his head up from the ground, but he needn't see Moon's face to tell that she had her doubts.

"Uh-huh… fascinating." She simply prodded past him, stopping short at a tree that caught her attention.

Qibli on the other hand had discerned a scent from the ground, and began sniffing furiously.

"Theeere you are…" The Sandwing pressed his snout further to the ground, now adventuring down the path past Moon, who still seemed quite fascinated with the same tree. "Moon, I got a scent, come on."

"Qibli wait, look at this-"

"But I have a scent! It's pretty strong too, let's go!" Qibli ventured forth, nose to the semi-beaten path. Moon just sighed to herself and let him go, prompting him to stop for a second and glance back.

"What?"

The unimpressed Nightwing gestured behind him again, and as Qibli swiveled his head back around, he came snout to snout with another, bigger Nightwing who didn't seem the most friendly by his expression.

"Lookin' for something?"

"GAH-"

Qibli fell backwards onto his scaly hind, while Moonwatcher stood by his side. Scrambling to get back up, Qibli dusted his scales off to present himself more formally.

"Uhm, uh… Yes, we are, actually-"

"Too bad, scram." The burly Nightwing, an ever so slightly maroon tint to his scales and wearing but a leather pouch around his chest, gestured back the way they came, seemingly scowling more and more by the minute. Moon and Qibli exchanged slightly worried glances, unsure of this new Nightwing's intent.

"Can we just ask a few questions though?" Qibli asked humbly, doing his utmost to appear non threatening.

"No," Immediately the Nightwing responded. "Beat it."

"But we-"

Qibli had barely a moment to react before the Nightwing in question snarled a deep and gravelly growl, prompting the Sandwing to step back a few steps. It took nearly every muscle in his tail to keep it from readying itself to attack position, which would only have brought tensions higher.

Thankfully Moon spoke up just in time.

"We're not here to harm the scavenger sanctuary, we know it's protected, we're simply looking for a friend." She planted herself beside Qibli chill as a cucumber. "We'll leave when we find him, or if he's not here."

As if Moon had spoken the secret code to disarming the dragon, his expression instantly softened and his demeanor lightened up about a dozen shades.

"Really? Great, now I don't have to be mean!" The previously aggressive Nightwing sat back on his haunches and offered a way relaxed and polite smile. "Sorry about that guys, my boss really hates trespassers here."

"Waitwaitwait, Scavenger Sanctuary? Moon where did-"

Before Qibli even finished his question, Moon pointed to the solid looking oak tree from earlier, where a sign hung from a nail half way down. Qibli squinted to get a better look…

"HARMONY SCAVENGER SANCTUARY"

"TRESPASSERS WILL BE CHASED OUT!"

"Huh…" Qibli offered Moon an "oops" smile, to which she responded with a smirk and a punch from her wing just hard enough to push him an inch or so.

"Ow… Uh, sorry about that. I didn't see the sign."

"Obviously." The Nightwing Guard, still chill and lax, proceeded down the path once more. "No biggie though! My name's Kindheart, big talons, big muscles, bigger heart.~"

"I'm Moonwatcher," Moon gestured to Qibli. "This is Qibli."

"Nice to meet you guys, though I'm afraid you're out of luck." Kindheart started down the path again, Moon and Qibli following behind. "Apparently I'm really good at my job, so not a lot of dragons come down this way anymore. Haven't seen any others for about a week now." His smiley snout found the rays of the sun peeping through the trees, silver scales illuminated by the rays.

"I'm afraid there's little chance your friend is here."

"Actually," Qibli piped up once more. "We're looking for Winter. We just came from the Talons of Peace, they said he was somewhere over here?"

Kindheart stopped in his tracks, and whirled around to cast a worried eye on the two.

"...Winter, huh? Did Riptide put you guys up to this, because I can guarantee you he's not-"

"Riptide didn't send us, we're friends of Winter." Moon responded promptly. Qibli couldn't tell exactly, but for a second he could've sworn he detected a tinge of guilt on her expression.

"Old friends… We need his help with something."

Kindheart's worry vanished from his snout, replaced only with curiosity.

"What did you guys say your names were?"

The duo reintroduced themselves.

"I'm Qibli."

"I'm Moonwatcher, Moon for short."

Kindheart repeated their names to himself under his breath a few times, nodding once he had them down.

"Moon and Qibli. Got it. Follow me, I'll lead you to our lodge alright?"

The duo nodded complicitly, following in the rather large Nightwing's footsteps. The path ahead was short until they stopped, a short offshoot path led them down to a clearing which contained a medium sized, well built shack, a few slatted windows near the roof to let in sunlight and fresh air. Kindheart stepped up to the heavy wooden door, notably steel reinforced, and turned around to Moon and Qibli again.

"Ok, so… Winter and my brother went to… uh, resolve an issue with some of the scavengers, I don't know what, so until then I have to ask you both to wait here. I just need to talk to Azure and Dragonfly, make sure they know what's going on."

Moon didn't need to look inside Kindheart's head to see that he didn't exactly feel comfortable doing that. He rubbed his head shyly and chuckled to himself.

"So uh… give me a minute ok? Be right back."

And with that, Kindheart produced a key from his pouch and disappeared into the mystery shack. Moon and Qibli sat down, glancing at each other. Qibli spoke after the first minute of silence.

"Well… he seems nice."

As if on cue, interrupting Moon's reply, aggravated yelling and indistinguishable insults were thrown at each other, neither of them belonging to Kindheart. The most prominent of these were a female voice, younger than the others but definitely the loudest. What was most troubling was how this went on for a solid five minutes, before any sign of stopping. Multiple times Moon and Qibli were expecting the door to burst open and be attacked by a stranger, but to their surprise no such thing occurred.

Only once the voices settled down, did Kindheart's snout poke through a crack in the door. Oddly he had a few beads of sweat dribbling down his forehead, the kind that only came after vigorous exercise.

"*Huff* Ok! You guys can come in now!"

Moon and Qibli both had many questions, but silently agreed to keep their traps shut until they deemed it appropriate. Kindheart opened the door for them, letting them into a rather cozy main hall. The interior was fairly rustic, everything made if not of log and wood, then of stone and granite, or sometimes polished metals. A decent fireplace lined the back of the room, bookshelves lined with journals and a few jars of herbs and such, a few open cabinets for foodstuffs too.

What caught Moon and Qibli off guard however, were the tiny inclusions seemingly sized for scavengers. The fireplace sat surrounded by two smaller fireplaces, both with cooking spits equally sized. The bookshelves were spaced out evenly, with much smaller shelves at the bottom easily accessible by scavengers, and with furniture covered by wood panelling at the top to prevent anyone stepping on it. The room felt packed with stuff, cozy and comfortable, and highly functionable as well. Moon and Qibli both immediately relaxed in this atmosphere.

This changed however when one of the two oaken doors on parallel sides of the room (the left specifically) burst open with one livid looking Mudwing coming through it.

"That's IT, I'M TAKING A RESEARCH DAY."

Kindheart winced to himself and let her through, the small and spritely Mudwing carrying a heavy pack and several bags around her waist. She stopped at the main door, regarding Moon and Qibli.

"I apologize for my loudness, my name is Dragonfly. I would love to stay and chat," Dramatically she turned around to the other door, across from the one she burst out of. "But soME DRAGONS WOULD LOVE IT IF I DROPPED OFF THE FACE OF THE PLANET."

As if on cue, another voice from behind the other oaken door erupted forth, albeit muffled.

"SURE WOULD BE A LOT QUIETER, NOW WOULDN'T IT?!"

Dragonfly, about to storm over to said door, was stopped by Kindheart, giving her a stern but admonishing look. She stopped, but just barely, and regarded Kindheart in return with a fiery glare that almost made Qibli shrink back. She growled deep in her maw, and turned once more to the door.

"WELL HERE'S QUIET FOR YOU!"

And without another word, she whirled around to the exit and slammed it shut behind her, rocking the shack just a little. Moon and Qibli stood there a bit shook and totally confused. Kindheart sighed to himself, with just a tint of disappointment in his expression.

"Sorry about her, she can be…"

"Loud?" Moon guessed.

"Crazy?" Qibli also guessed.

"How about," Before Kindheart could respond, the same voice behind the other door responded in kind, before a tired and slightly disheveled looking Seawing, softest blue as can be and with his dorsal fins drooping down some akin to hair, graced the two's sight.

"An absolute hurricane of fury and grief that never shuts up?"

"Guys," Kindheart gestured to the newcomer. "This is Azure."

Azure padded over and bowed respectfully. "A pleasure to meet you both, any friend of Winter is a friend of mine."

Qibli was the first to react with surprise, followed shortly after by Moon. Friends? Friends of Winter? The prospect was a welcome one, albeit… somewhat strange.

"I'm Qibli," Qibli took the initiative and introduced himself. "And this is Moonwatcher."

Moon offered a smile in return. "Pleased to meet you."

Azure nodded, while Kindheart motioned to the fireplace, a few cushions along the floor to rest on. Azure took the leftmost one, Kindheart the rightmost. Moon and Qibli sat in the center, while Azure took a simple mug from the nearby table and sipped it gingerly.

"So," Moon looked to Azure with burning curiosity. "What uh… what do you all do here?"

Kindheart spoke up first. "Me and my brother Scrollseeker signed on as guardians, when Winter first started up the project. We were working with the Talons of Peace, but…" He stopped short, as if deciding to leave out parts of the story. "Well it was starting to feel like we weren't welcome anymore. Shortly after Winter left, we did too."

"Huh, ok." Qibli glanced to Azure next. "What about you Azure?"

Azure chuckled to himself and smiled in memory. "If I'm being quite honest, I didn't really want to leave the Talons of Peace. I was their head of Seawing Relations, Queen Coral kind of liked me. The only reason I left was because of Dragonfly."

"Wait," Moon piped up again. "You left because of her?"

Azure nodded with the same smile. "Yeah, she really wanted to join Winter's cause, so I came with."

"You… willingly went with her?" Qibli glanced back and forth between Kindheart and Azure. Kindheart leaned over to him slowly.

"They're mated."

Qibli regarded the Seawing with a disbelieving and confused stare, whilst Moon simply nodded to herself, the situation making much more sense to her.

"Oh yes," Azure took another good sip. "We met in Sanctuary a year or two back, and we just… fell in love almost instantly. When Winter decided he wanted to leave and start his project, Dragonfly, who worked as a botanist and alchemist, convinced me to come along as mediator and territory manager. And, well, we've been here ever since."

The room fell silent for a good few seconds, Qibli still confused as ever, Moon watching and waiting for him.

"Huh…" Qibli blinked a few times in thought. "That's great, I'm glad you two are… happy."

Azure nodded and took another sip, chill as ever. "We have our fights, yeah, but we make it through them in the end."

Kindheart stretched out his talons as he yawned, laying on his side. "They can be a happy couple, believe me."

Moon absolutely believed them, but looking at Qibli, she wasn't sure he was convinced. She didn't blame him, seeing their fights like that, but Moon knew love was capable of such strange things.

The sound of keys unlocking the main door disrupted the audience and their conversation, and a scrawny but lithe looking Nightwing almost fell through the doorway.

"Kindheart, we gotta go find Dragonfly, Winter wants her to-"

The new Nightwing, a slight green tint to his scales and a messenger bag around his chest, stopped to see the two newcomers in the main hall. He pointed at them, then to Kindheart and Azure. Azure nodded in silent confirmation, as did Kindheart.

"It's alright bro, they're here for Winter."

"Scrollseeker," Azure spoke up. "Can you get him in here? Tell him he has guests, important ones."

Scrollseeker silently nodded again, motioning for Kindheart to follow him out. As the two Nightwings set themselves outside, a brief passing conversation was held with a temperamental voice, which briefly passed and headed inside. Winter, just as Moon and Qibli had remembered him (if not a bit bigger and bulkier) clomped inside, setting his bag down by the door.

"Alright, can we make this quick? I'm a very busy dragon and I have about a million things to do."

He hadn't yet caught the sight of the two guests by the fireplace, as they had of him. Moon took note of the scavenger hanging onto Winter's neck spines, casually and calmly. He even had a little saddle where he sat comfortably. The scavenger, male as far as Moon could tell, with his long blonde hair and heavy jacket, tapped Winter's side as he regarded the two new dragons warily. Winter didn't notice.

"I can assure you, you don't know the real stressors of having to take care of an entire village of semi helpless scavengers, protecting them from everyone else who'd rather eat them."

Winter, still distracted as he rummaged through his back, only looked up as his scavenger friend tapped his neck much harder.

"Hey, what is it Jun?"

The scavenger pointed more heartily at the fireplace, to which Winter finally did.

[-[ENGAGE TRACK : C418 - KEY]-]

Winter obviously was accustomed to coldness, being an Icewing. However, a different kind of coldness set into the room when his gaze set down upon Qibli and Moon… Moon and Winter locked eyes instantly, and the coldness Winter described set into his soul; a cold that ripped up the past and threw it across his vision, clouding anything and everything that came up.

Moon's verdant green eyes met Winter's glacial blue, both unable to distract themselves from anything else. Qibli seemed to be the only one who could change either of their gazes.

"Hey, Winter."

Qibli meeting Winter's eyes was the opposite of coldness, their exchange of glances was the only thing that settled Winter back into reality. That, and Jun's rubbing on his neck to calm him down.

"H-hey, guys." Winter prodded forwards a bit and sat down in front of them, feeling quite similar to floating in a dream.

Moon felt control of her expression disappear, and a soft set smile bloomed forth, a little more than she cared to admit.

"Hi, Winter."

Qibli stepped forwards again, drawing the hologram device from his bag and taking a deep breath.

"We really need your help."

[-[PAUSE TRACK LIST]-]

-X-

"Everyone's glad to see you guys again, y'know."

Following the crowd of Mudwings through the dimly lit brush, Marsh and Sora went wingtip to wingtip with each other. Marsh's words broke Sora's slightly anxious and contemplative expression.

"Yeah, it definitely seems like it." Sora's maw bloomed forth the beginnings of a smile, still thinking about Reed and Pheasant and Clay. "Good to know our sibs always have our backs."

"Especially after the time you guys have been gone…" Marsh surveyed the small trail of Mudwings around him. "Three years, Sora… We missed you guys so much. We worried about you, and there honestly wasn't a day that went by that I didn't think about you both…"

Sora couldn't help but reflect on that notion, considering how every aching moment of her introspective self isolation was spent, if not on her own actions, on how much she missed her sibs. Despite secretly believing everything was but a stone's throw away from collapsing back into drama and hysteria, Sora had to admit everything was turning out much better than expected.

"Yeah… everything's gonna be ok, right?"

Sora glanced hopefully at her brother, who seemed as if he were about to respond with utmost optimism. The quickening of the Mudwings and frantic energy further ahead cut him off, however. Several Mudwings ran past them back towards the main encampment they'd set off from, others simply panicking at another scene just ahead. Sora and Marsh hadn't much reaction other than glancing to each other momentarily, then charging ahead to the scene.

Breaking through the circle of Mudwings surrounding a small clearing, the dimming moonlight painted the scene with grisly detail.

Four Mudwings lay dead, two on the ground and two viciously pinned against the nearby trees by their wings, spikes driven through their wingbones on both sides. All four lay pock marked by stab wounds through the neck and chest, no longer bleeding. One more dragon lay slightly outside of the ring, this one a Sandwing. And by the looks of it, blood along his stinger and scratches all over his bony chest, he'd been one of the dragons doing the stabbing. The Sandwing's eyes were bloodshot and widened, his neck crooked at an angle definitely not healthy.

Marsh's breathing grew rapid, his chest seizing up harder with each breath. Sora covered her maw and took a few steps back, retching into a nearby bush. Two new Mudwings, both wearing medical satchels, rushed in to inspect the bodies. The rest of the onlookers talked about in hushed astonishment, only giving way to one important looking Mudwing Commander.

"LISTEN UP, ANYONE WHO SAW WHAT HAPPENED HERE NEEDS TO SPEAK UP, RIGHT NOW!"

No response, except for unsure glances at each other and anxious shifting. Marsh raised a talon in question.

"Um… Commander, besides the obvious, who are these guys?"

Sora chimed in besides him. "I swear I recognize them… are they important?"

The Mudwing in charge heaved a pained sigh.

"Yes, yes they are. You're looking at the only relatives of Queen Moorhen."

(Meanwhile…)

"You say that as if we're going to just find her taking a nap under here."

Umber and Clay sifted through the rubble of the palace, any and all embers practically extinguished now. The first floor still had a few rooms partially intact, a couple of walls seared with the reminder of the raging flames.

"Well, she might've had some sort of compartment or something! Reed and Pheasant said she had her secrets, most of which she never shared with anyone. There's GOT to be something here."

"Liiiiike?" Umber picked up a large piece of flatwood, only to have it snap in half, the other half totally crumbled into ash. "What if whatever we're looking for got burned in the fire?"

"What if it didn't?" Clay noted the main poles, mostly carved granite, still intact. "We have to at least look around."

"And I definitely agree with you," Umber poked around the walls, peeking in between the layers. "But again, this place is pretty much destroyed… what are we really looking for anyway-"

Without explanation, Clay's head shot up and swiveled around to the distant forest. Umber promptly shut up, pointing his snout in the same direction and standing next to Clay.

"...What is it?"

Clay prodded forwards towards the forest once more, signalling silently for Umber to follow. Umber took this order with a nod, the two prowling towards the trees and crouching low to the ground.

"...I don't know... I just… got a feeling…"

Clay suddenly pounced forwards into the trees, out of Umber's sight.

"W-wait! Clay!"

Umber jumped along with him, blindly albeit, bonking his noggin into Clay's back. After briefly stepping around him, the two settled their eyes onto one badly beat up, hardly breathing, Queen Moorhen. She lay in the grass, bleeding ever so slowly out of a bandaged wound on her side, her pleading gaze on Clay, who momentarily stood dumbfounded.

"Queen Moorhen!" The two exclaimed in synchrony, rushing to her majesty's side. Umber, having learned a bit of healing from Jade Mountain Academy, examined her wounds and bandages hurriedly. Clay held her talons and propped her (rather massive) head up on his thigh.

"Hold on, we'll get help here soon, just hang in-"

"N-no…" Her voice rasped weakly, barely audible as she clutched at Clay's side. "There's no time… I-I'm not…"

Umber grimaced to Clay as the queen hacked a nasty cough, dribbles of blood down her chin and sides of her maw.

"I-I failed my kingdom, Clay… I let this happen…"

"NO, NO. You did not fail, you are NOT going to die, I just need you to-"

"Clay, look…" Umber garnered Clay's attention, unwrapping Moorhen's bandage. A deep gash, cauterized but still oozing with what looked to be venom, caused Moorhen to weakly roar out with pain. She clutched at Clay's talons and faced him eye to eye, panting hard.

"Clay, Dragonet of Destiny and Wings of Earth… there is only one heir left to the throne... The Sandwings, my sibs…"

She faltered for a moment, but forced herself to keep going.

"M-my only sister was barren and… In all my years, I've only had one egg… one child of my own..."

Clay and Umber glanced to each other once more, the dark understanding of witnessing the death of their queen plunging the air into solemnity.

"My baby… he is hidden-" Moorhen coughed up whatever she could to gasp for breath again, spattering red across the grass. "Find the catacombs… find my… m-my son…"

She placed her shivering talons on Clay's cheek, prompting him to hold them gingerly. "Protect my baby… m-my little E-Evergreen…"

Clay hadn't seen the pleading look in her eyes before, terrified for her kingdom and bereaved at the loss of her sibs, and asking for the hope of continuing her lineage somehow. She had no other requests or concerns, only that of her child… Clay solemnly nodded, squeezing her talons back as Umber stood beside him.

"I swear… He will be safe with us."

For the dying queen, relief washed over her expression, rays of the nearby dawn sifting through the trees and lighting her eyes with hope once again. With her thumb, she stroked Clay's cheek, a tear dripping down from the corner of her eye.

"I'm… proud of you…"

Finally, her eyes unfocused, her talons drooped, and unceremoniously her head flopped to the side. Clay lay her eyes to rest, and laid her down. Umber knelt and bowed his head in silence beside his brother.

"CLAY!"

A short galloping through the brush later, Marsh and Sora pounced into the clearing, Marsh immediately rushing to Clay.

"Clay, you gotta come with us, we have to find the Queen, she's in terrible-"

Sora's stunned silence, along with Clay and Umber's dignified sadness, prompted him to turn around and finally take note of the queen that lay dead before them. Marsh stopped dead in his tracks, sinking down to her level with a hint of despair.

"...She… How…"

Sora nosed Clay's side worriedly. "Clay, the others… Moorhen's sibs…"

Clay's gaze never left Moorhen's face, her expression previously hurt and distraught with nothing left, etched itself into the corners of his head. His promise and her renewed hope resonated even moreso, burning further in the back of his mind…

"I'm… proud of you…"

That last part didn't stop ringing around, feeding back into itself until his ears rang with tinnitus. Why would she say that? Clay had only met the dragon once before, and that was but briefly for ceremony. They had no emotional connection, why would they? Was Moorhen hinting at something? Did she secretly know something Clay should have?

'Stop it! Stop thinking! You have to act now, mud for brains, do something! She entrusted you with finding the soul heir of the entire Mudwing Kingdom, you gotta move!'

Clay cleared his throat.

"They're dead, I know…"

Marsh finally broke through his disbelief. "Then… then the Mudwing Kingdom has no more heirs…"

Sora naturally nosed back to Umber. "...what do we do?"

Umber wrapped a wing around Sora, while Clay brought all three in for a group hug.

"Moorhen told me with her last words that she had but one child, and she hid him in the catacombs. Her dying wish tasked us with protecting him…"

He stood once more, heading back to the medic huts with the other three in tow.

"We need to talk to Reed and Pheasant, and find these catacombs."

Clay spoke with finality in his voice, determined beyond reason now.

"The last heir of the Mudwing Kingdom needs us."

-X-

"He really wants to stay hidden, doesn't he?"

Down the darkened streets of the main Skywing City did Mesar and Nimbus stroll, following a map upon Mesar's wrist. The dawn had yet to come upon these parts of Pyrrhia, only a few other dragons roamed this early.

"He's definitely led me on a few wild goose chases before." Nimbus kept a watchful eye on their surroundings, also pondering his statement. "Wild geese chase? Chasings of wild gooses? Geeses?"

"I have literally no idea what you're talking about," Mesar's wrist beeping stayed consistent, no updating on Cliff's signature. "But I'm guessing it's a colloquialism of some sort."

"Yeah. It means he's done this kind of thing before, giving us the slip."

"Ah…"

The two continued on in silence for a bit, only after Nimbus heaving a guilted sigh did Mesar speak up.

"So, this Prince Cliff… What's he like?"

Nimbus seemed to perk up at the question. "He's genuinely a good kid, I really hope he'll be king someday! He's kind, sharp as a talon, and the Skywing populace has taken to him well."

"He sounds lovely!" As Mesar and Nimbus continued, Mesar brought up another question. "If that's the case… Why do you think he keeps leaving?"

"I'm willing to bet it's because Queen Ruby is terrified of losing him. She always has a guard placed with him, and he spends a lot of his time away from the palace."

"Huh." Mesar responds lightheartedly. "Mother issues?"

"He's… I hesitate to say troubled, but…" Nimbus rubbed the back of his head almost wistfully. "He's not had any good father figures, sadly to say."

"Ah." The Starwing empathized with Cliff more and more. "Not even any uncles?"

Nimbus hesitated to answer that question. "Well… Ruby and Hawk don't get along well at all, Vermillion rarely visits the palace and is taken with his own interests, and… I'm not sure the others are even alive anymore."

"What about you?" Mesar kept his snout busy with the search, rounding out the end of the street almost. "You're one of his personal guards, surely you must have some connection with him."

Nimbus' silence prompted Mesar to turn to his partner, seeing the Skywing's almost ashamed frown.

"I… I, uh… I don't think I'd be the best for him…"

Mesar stopped the search seeing as they've come to the end of the street with no results, and inspected Nimbus confusedly at his response.

"If I may further ask… Why do you think that?"

Nimbus looked over his shoulder, finding a café just opening its doors.

"...what say we stop for a break? We've been at it for quite a while, I can treat you to my favorite spot."

Mesar's response, besides the unplanned grumbling of his stomach, was an understanding and slow nod.

(In the cafe...)

"I never had anyone growing up…"

The two sat across from each other, the petite cafe housing barely another three dragons besides them. Mesar sipped on a cup of coffee (a drink that he instantly became enamored with) whilst Nimbus lazily dined on his creme puff (Mesar made a mental note to order one of those next time).

"My father spent half his time in prison, the other half was spent either slovenly asleep or terrorizing my mother…"

Mesar sat back on his cushion, listening to Nimbus go on. Nimbus leaned on the table, his eyes trained on the half eaten puff.

"Of course, I could never do anything about it. Mom blamed me, and even after my father offed himself she never let go of that resentment towards me."

"Nimbus, what could you have done? You were just a kid at that age." Mesar brought the silver cup to his maw again, taking the last few sips of that rich caffeinated nectar. "It's completely understandable, your situation."

"I know, I know…" Nimbus laid his head atop the table, maw in front of his plate. "It just sucks, is all… I just… I want to give Cliff the things I didn't get growing up…"

Mesar nodded to himself. "Well he has you, Queen Ruby said you were his favorite."

"And I am!" Nimbus lifted his head off the table, showing his emotional investment. "We have an emotional bond, he thinks we're friends and so do I, but… I wouldn't go as far as saying I'm fatherly towards him… After all, I have no idea where to start, and I might just muck up his development with how I was raised..."

"Nimbus." Mesar attempted to take another sip, finding no more sadly, and set the mug down. "You might be the only paternal role model he's getting right now. A fatherless Prince with a mother who runs a whole kingdom doesn't get much parenting, and I mean no disrespect to Queen Ruby."

He leaned forward and held Nimbus' talons. Nimbus was quite unsure how to feel about it, but seeing as the dragon came from outer space, he went along with it.

"Don't worry about what you're doing for the kid, just be there for him. You don't have to be a dad, just… Make sure he isn't alone, and make sure he doesn't feel alone. Y'know?"

Nimbus found himself squeezing the Starwing's talons in return, a very slight flush across his scales. His smile was sincere and honest, feeling a bit better about himself.

"Yeah… Thank you Mesar, you've… Illuminated me, in a sense."

Mesar beamed a smile, prideful and theatrical. He posed elegantly as if on stage.

"Why thank you! The brightest stars bring comfort and solace to the darkened hearts, I suppose.~"

The Starwing yet again picked up the mug of once delicious coffee, disappointed again to find it empty.

"Also… You think I can get some more of this?"

Nimbus, his eyes wandering back and forth as if contemplating an idea, sat more and more rimrod straight.

"Brightest stars bring comfort… Where does he feel comfortable?"

"No seriously, this stuff was really good. You called it what? Cah-fah? Cee-fee?"

The Skywing's eyes widened in realization, and swiftly he scarfed the rest of his creme puff and rushed out the door, motioning for Mesar to follow. Mesar, hesitating and glancing wistfully at the bartender, called back to Nimbus.

"BUT… TH-THE CAHFAH!"

A swift tug from Nimbus, and the two were off again.

(Half an hour of flying later…)

"So, tell me…"

Having traveled but an hour away, the two strode through Possibility's sandy streets, watching the vendors open their scattered and colorful shoppes. Mesar glanced around in amazement at it all.

"Why are we in this town specifically?"

Nimbus found his way through the quarters, familiar and dusty and bustling with Sandwings.

"Cliff always loved Possibility, he and Stardust often came here together. He said that 'seeing Sandwings and Nightwings and Skywings all live together' made him feel more at home than in his palace."

Mesar tilted his head in thought, impressed hearing the young dragon's feelings. "Wow… That's some forward thinking there."

"I told you, he's a genuinely good kid! Just growing up without… Structure, I guess." Nimbus stopped him and Mesar as the two ended up in the Sandwing Courtyard.

"Now… Would you mind, uh… Doing that thing again? With the wrist?"

Mesar nodded, activating his wrist tracker along the screen on his sleeve. A faint echoing pulse rang across his screen, displaying a trail of genetic samples along the ground.

"Well well well! Nice detective work there, partner."

Nimbus found himself nosing to the screen in awe.

"Woah… You uh, wouldn't be able to tell how recent that trail is, would you?"

Mesar fiddled with a few settings, tweaking informational saturation as more text popped up.

"Not exactly… The genetic trail has been here for less than a week though, so this is probably where he went off to."

Nimbus nodded, as the two followed the trail down the corridors of Sandwing architecture. Fewer and fewer Sandwings appeared in the way, and less actual buildings graced their paths. The crumbling sandstone seemed to erode further and further until around them lay naught but ruins.

Mesar and Nimbus spun around in circles, and watched the trail of Cliff's genetic dust peter out into nothing.

"Well…" Mesar disengaged his tracker, searching the area. "Now what?"

The Skywing stroked his maw, wracking his brain with concern. "There has to be something… He couldn't have just disappeared, could he?"

"He didn't fly off either, the trail would've still shown…" Mesar recalibrated his tracker a bit more. "Lets spread out, see what you can find."

"Well," Immediately Nimbus knelt down to the ground. "There's a lot of footprints around here… This place has something to it, nobody just goes around ruins like these for fun."

"Maybe there-"

Creeaaaak…

A squeaking wooden door opening cut through the air, prompting the attention of the two. Mesar instinctively ducked down, prompting Nimbus to follow. A pair of Sandwing heads peeked over the ridge of one of the ruined walls. Mesar scrolled across his screen, shifting to an audio enhancer. Static crackled for a moment before the speech came through.

"...-hope they start haulin' in some big ticket items. Been nothin' but petty thievin' lately."

"Startin' ta question the leadership 'round here."

"We been doin some pretty shifty stuff lately…"

"Yea, an what's with this little Skywing pipsqueak we got? The Nightwing was bad enough, but why's Cobra got us roughin' up a runt like that?"

"Now 'at don't seem right. Kidnappin' kids ain't worth the trouble anyhow, always squirmin' an cryin' and stuff."

"Makes me feel like we're the bad guys 'ere."

"Well, we kinda are."

"Yea, but still-"

The two Sandwings prodded out of view and out of sight, the audio enhancer cutting out finally. Mesar and Nimbus exchanged glances again, Mesar now elevated with worry, Nimbus seething with what Mesar would've called fury and hatred.

"Should we call for backup?"

Nimbus shook his head no. "No time. Can you fight?"

"Yeah, I can cover your back."

"Got it."

Stealthily and swiftly the two wove through the walls, sneaking to where the two Sandwings came from. Nimbus sifted through the sand, uncovering a heavy wooden hatch. He took a sharp breath and glanced to Mesar.

"You ready?"

Mesar steeled himself, taking out his expandable Light Pike from his side holster.

"We're just going in guns blazing?"

Nimbus squinted at the Starwing in confusion.

"...what's a gun?"

Mesar pointed his talon in response, unsure of whether or not he should explain. As if on cue, the hatch slowly opened, Mesar and Nimbus behind the pair of Sandwings climbing out casually.

"-I'm never buying dates from that place again, they were so over ripened, it's not even funny."

"Yeah but their prices are super cheap."

"So? Ain't worth it if they don't-"

Nimbus was the first to launch a surprise attack, swiftly butting the blund end of his spear against the first Sandwing's head. Like a brick she fell down against the wall, prompting the second to rear up.

Mesar swiftly applied a firm jab of his wings along the outside edges to the Sandwing's neck, twice in quick succession. That one fell just as quickly, silent and skillful. Nimbus and Mesar nodded silently at each other, compliments evident in their expressions.

The two opened the hatch, first inspecting the dimly torch lit interior for any signs of others. They dropped down fleetfully, crouching against the walls… Cells lined the interior walls, only one guardsman sitting in the corner, taking a gratuitous nap.

Mesar applied the same two-jab technique, while Nimbus checked the cells. Scouting further revealed no other Sandwings guarded the underground, allowing them to speak again.

"No one in the cells… I don't get it, he HAS to be here!"

Mesar scratched his head some. "It's possible they were talking about a different Skywing kid…"

"What other Skywing kid would be worth kidnapping, Mesar?"

"I dunno, this planet's priorities just seem out of order anyways!"

"Okay," Nimbus stopped Mesar right there. "I have no idea what that means and I won't ask, just help me look around ok?"

Mesar nodded again, albeit exasperated, and the two split up in the single hallway. There were no other doors, exits, or hatches that the two could see, until Mesar brought up his genetic tracker again.

"Waaaait a minute… That's strange."

Nimbus padded over. "What is?"

Mesar shared his screen with Nimbus, as Nimbus could see a path along the ground of many different colors, all leading to an open cell door, right into the wall.

"That."

The two glanced up at the wall, and agreed that it looked perfectly ordinary from the outside. Mesar could detect no cracks, and Nimbus found no secret switch or lever.

"So I'm going to assume something is on the other side of that wall…" Nimbus kept searching the cell frantically, while Mesar scrolled along his screen, searching for a tool to use.

"Maybe I have a seismic resonator in this thing, I can use that to find any sort of hidden features in the walls."

"Sure, do that, I'll just-"

Astonishingly, yet again, the wall began to move on its own. Two Sandwings stood in the doorway yammering on in their own conversation.

"-but what I'm saying is, I don't think papaya is really all that healthy for you."

"Then WHY did my mother feed me nothing but papaya for years, when it so clearly-"

WHACK! BAM!

Instant KOs. Nimbus rubbed his talons off, Mesar flexed his wings.

"Y'know," Mesar began, stepping over the two unconscious Sandwings. "I thought this would be moderately harder."

"These guys are definitely not professionals." Nimbus took stock of this new room, more cleanly kept and with maps and racks lining the walls. Only two cells lined the walls, this time one empty and the other housing…

A frightened looking Nightwing dragonet. Mesar stood by the doorway, keeping a lookout, while Nimbus went to work unlocking the cage.

"Shhh, we're gonna get you out of here, just stay calm."

The young Nightwing, a pastel dark blue with wide golden eyes, nodded with tears in her eyes. "Oh thank you, thank you thank you! Those Sandwing thugs tried mugging us, and kidnapped us when we didn't have anything, we've been-"

"Wait wait, hang on." Nimbus roughly opened the door at last, holding onto the young Nightwing's shoulders. "We?"

"Y-yeah," She wiped her eyes and pointed to the only other door in the room. "A Skywing… I-I think his name was Cliff… He was over here with me, but they took him in there… He…"

She sniffled again, wiping her watery eyes again.

"...he tried to save me when they robbed me, but they just took him too…"

Nimbus stood up and took a deep breath, growling deep under it. He spoke once more to the Nightwing Dragonet, calmly and with as warm a tone as he could muster.

"Thank you… What's your name?"

"G-golden, sir."

Nimbus smiled, confusedly and curiously, but he smiled nonetheless.

"Golden?"

"Yeah, Golden… My momma named me that because of my eyes."

Indeed her eyes were gold, deep and shimmering too. Nimbus took note, smiling a bit wider.

"Well… Nice to meet you, Golden. I'm gonna go get Cliff now, are there any Sandwings in there?"

Golden nodded in nervous shyness, holding up two talons. Nimbus took one more deep breath, motioning to Mesar.

"Alright, I'll take care of this. You go wait with my friend, I'll be right back, ok?"

Golden, obviously scared for this new kind dragon's well being, nodded again and scampered off to Mesar's side, who did his best to entertain the little one. ("Golden you say? You sure are a golden one!" "Tee-hee!")

Nimbus, as he approached the door, heard three distinct voices from the otherside. One was calm, with an air of meanness and intimidation. The second was gruff and loud, angry and aggressive. The third stood out the most, despite being so quiet in comparison… a young boy's voice did not whimper or whine, but rather shouted shakily and heartily, obviously scared for his life, but never backing down.

"Oh just give it a rest kid, no one's going to find you here."

"Or what's LEFT OF YOU ANYWAYS!"

"So just tell us what we'd like to know, and you get to keep your scales on your body."

"H-HA! The secrets of the Skywing Kingdom will DIE with me, you won't get ANYTHING!"

"Heh, you got spunk. I'll give you that much."

"Won't do you much good, brat."

"Needle, go ahead and take a talon off his pretty little paw."

"W-What? N-NO WAIT!"

Deciding not to allow this exchange go any farther, Nimbus kicked in the door, slamming it into the gruffer of the two and knocking him back into the wall. Immediately Nimbus got to work, pinning the first of the two to the wall and slamming her head through the sandstone.

"NIMBUS, YOU CAME!"

Nimbus whirled around to find an overjoyed Cliff bound to the wall with his wings and arms spread out. The sight drove Nimbus even angrier, prompting him to barrel into the other bulkier Sandwing, still recovering from the door to the jaw, and pin him to the ground.

"GRK!"

He held the ruffian Sandwing down with a hindpaw against his throat, the scarred and mean looking Sandwing choking and struggling wildly. With one well placed SLICE from his talons, his enemy's neck sliced open and the life drained from his eyes in seconds. Nimbus regretted such savagery in front of the young Prince, but he deemed it necessary in the moment.

"Behind you!"

Cliff shouted out to warn Nimbus, and the Skywing had but seconds to roll over, narrowly avoiding a stinger to the face as the second Sandwing charged back at him. The enraged Sandwing attempted a second thrust and it almost reached Nimbus' skull, if not for his two paws catching it just before.

"Rrrgh… Oh look, a hero!"

The Sandwing pressed it harder to his skull, pushing him back against the wall. She wasn't all too large, but this one definitely knew how to use her force.

"Too bad he's gonna get STABBED IN THE FACE."

Nimbus held that stinger just inches from his eye, using all his might to keep it at bay. He would've admitted, this was not the way he thought he'd go out, but he would be glad it was for a good cause.

CHOMP!

"GRAAH!"

The Sandwing let up in her violent force and whirled around, finding Cliff's teeth sunk in her outstretched wing. This gave Nimbus a chance to redirect that stinger straight into her own neck, and as he pushed it deeper into her esophagus, he RIPPED it out across the other side of her neck for good measure.

The last Sandwing sank to her knees, stumbling to the floor with a solid thud. Nimbus stood there and watched, covered in blood and wobbly legged. He collapsed to one knee for a moment.

"Phew… That… That was a work out."

Cliff hung there in disbelief, teary eyed and shaking so hard the chains rattled. Nimbus tore the key off the larger guard, and unlocked Cliff's cuffs.

"Hey, it's ok now, I'm here bud, you're sa-"

Cliff needn't any further encouragement, and the instant he dropped from his chains he lurched forwards into Nimbus' arms, squeezing as tight as he could.

"Nimbus, I'm sorry! I'm so sorry, I should've left a note or something, I just…"

The dragonet squeezed harder, heavily crying into Nimbus' chest.

"I… I'm so glad you're here…"

Nimbus, still panting hard, held young Cliff in his arms, and promptly sat on his haunches against the wall.

"It's ok… *Huff* You're ok… *Huff* hoo… what say we stay here for a minute…?"

Cliff said naught as he nodded slowly, curling up against his guardian. Nimbus let his head back, closing his eyes. Cliff was safe now, he was warranted rest for the time being.

"Nimbus, you alright bud?"

The peeking in of Mesar's head around the door prompted him to sit up, still holding Cliff tight.

"Yeah, I'm good… just, winded, a bit…"

Mesar recoiled at the amount of blood on Nimbus' talons and chest momentarily, cut short by the young Nightwing rushing in to see Cliff.

"Cliff! Cliff are you ok?"

Cliff switched in an instant from Nimbus to Golden, holding her tight in a firm hug.

"Golden! I'm fine, they didn't hurt me, are you ok?"

She nodded shakily, squeezing back. Nimbus watched on with a faint smile on his maw, as Mesar helped him to his feet.

"Seriously, you alright? No injuries?"

Nimbus nodded back heartily, cleaning some of the blood off himself.

"Quite alright, and we've made sure Cliff is safe, so I dare say I'm happy about all this."

"We're not done yet though."

Cliff's interruption caught the attention of Nimbus and Mesar, as he hurriedly rushed to the other room and searched across any tables or scroll racks nearby.

"What do you mean we're not done yet?" Nimbus followed close by, not letting the young Skywing out of his sight. "Cliff, you've been kidnapped and almost tortured, I'm not letting anything else happen to you."

"Nimbus," Cliff finally brought up a map fragment depicting some of the southern Claws of the Clouds Mountains, and some of Jade Mountain as well. "They're planning something, I overheard them!"

"And it is NOT your concern, Cliff!" Nimbus raised his voice just a tad, enough to get his point across. "We'll report it to the Sandwing authorities, but I'm not letting you wade back into danger again-"

"Wait… are you…" Cliff's attention wandered over to Mesar, unfamiliar to him but curious. "...Are you a… Starwing?"

Mesar, about to answer his question for him, stood aback as he answered correctly.

"That I am… how did you know that?"

Cliff looked back to Nimbus, more urgently this time.

"Nimbus, they know. The Sandwings who are plotting something know about the meeting, or whatever that means, and they're going to try and-"

"They know about the meeting?" Mesar's voice rose a bit louder in disbelief. "How? Only a select few are privy to that information!"

"Wait," Nimbus waved his talons confusedly. "You mean the meeting between the Queens? THAT meeting?"

"That one. And they're going to try and stop it." Cliff pointed to a spot on the map fragment, right about where Jade Mountain Academy began. Golden gasped to herself, Mesar and Nimbus immediately poured over the map to make sure Cliff was right.

"...And, you're absolutely sure that's' what they were talking about?"

Cliff nodded, his focus far in contemplation. "I remember seeing this big scary tattooed Sandwing talk about it… he said something about Dragonflame Cactus."

Nimbus had known the young prince to take political matters quite seriously, diving headfirst into matters some adults wouldn't dare touch. Cliff took to such topics with fascination, wanting to know everything he might to better his kingdom. Truly he understood the inner workings of a kingdom, the stakes that hung in the balance. Nimbus felt a pang in his stomach he couldn't describe as he took note of Cliff's expression shifting to one of horror.

"...I… I think they're gonna try and bomb the meeting… kill off all the queens in one place…"

Mesar's expression went cold, checking the expressions of everyone else in the room confirmed his fears as well. He tapped the screen on his wrist again.

"Queen Aries, are you there?"

No response… not even static.

"Queen Aries, this is Sentinel Mesar, do you copy?"

Again, nothing. He tapped a few more times, broadcasting on a wider channel.

"This is Sentinel Mesar broadcasting on multiband frequencies, does anyone copy?"

Nimbus, Cliff and Golden looked on in confused fascination, anxiety lining the undertone of the room. Mesar growled to himself.

"No responses… from anyone, weirdly. It can't be radio interference, the airwaves around your planet are practically clean. Someone's preventing communication down here."

Cliff looked up to Nimbus worriedly. "Nimbus, what do we do…?"

Nimbus looked back down to the map again, mulling over his options. What was he to do? What was he expected to do? His only mission was to recover Prince Cliff, and he'd already done that. Whatever this entailed went way above and beyond the scope of his duties, but…

Glancing over to young Cliff, he knew that the prince was right in wanting to stop this plot, but he hadn't any idea how.

"Mesar… when did you say the meeting was?"

"By now… should be around this time tomorrow."

Cliff was the one doing the gasping this time. "We have to hurry!"

"Cliff," Mesar spoke up this time. "I agree that this is an urgent issue, but we have other dragons to take care of this. You don't need to be in the line of fire anymore."

Just as Cliff was to protest, Nimbus cut the two off.

"Mesar, he's right. We have to hurry if we're going to warn them in time, that leaves no time to escort Cliff back." Nimbus offered a serious glance, one conveying worry yet trust, to the princely Skywing. "He'll just have to come along, now won't he?"

Cliff was unsure of how to react for a moment, but he soon sat upright and nodded affirmatively.

"I won't slow us down, I promise! I can handle myself!"

Mesar regarded Nimbus with a look that held a single question: 'Are you sure about this?'

Nimbus simply nodded, an adamant steel behind his expression. Mesar nodded along.

"Alright then. Stick close to us Cliff, we'll need you."

"First," Nimbus spoke up once again, assuming the role of group leader. "Golden, we need to get you to safety. Do you live close by?"

"I-I live in the Nightwing Quarter, I can find my way back from the main streets."

"Good," Nimbus led the group out of the underground tunnels, making sure no one was following. "We'll get you back to safety, then we have to make our way south."

Swiftly they made it to the broad streets of downtown Possibility, where Golden found the shining corridors to the Nightwing Quarter. She stopped momentarily, however.

"Cliff!"

Cliff nosed up to her, whereupon she planted a peck on his cheek. "Promise me you'll be safe, ok?"

Cliff, reeling from the kiss on his cheek, nodded with a heavy flush across his snout. "I-I promise. I'll come see you again… uh, sometime?"

Golden flashed a perfectly adorable and pleased smile, before turning into the crowd and vanishing in between the Nightwings. Nimbus and Mesar did everything in their powers to contain their sheer joy, maintaining their seriousness. Cliff however saw right through their facades and huffed to himself.

"C'mon guys, we gotta move!"

Nimbus and Mesar took to the skies along with Cliff, the three hurriedly making their way across the town. Dawn crept up over the hillside and buildings, casting rays all across the streets now. Nimbus led the way towards the mountains, praying they would not come too late.

-X-

'No no no no no, come on! Where did you go?'

Stardust poked his head through bushes and treelines, still poking around in the darkness in hopes of keeping himself concealed. He stalked after the mysterious rainbow scaled Starwing which he swore he recognized, only to lose her in the grove of bushes she suddenly jumped into.

'Please be still be there, please still be there, please still-'

As if on command, the mysterious Starwing poked her head out from the bush, surveying her surroundings. Her scales down her back no longer dripped down with rainbow colors, as if she could conceal them at a moment's notice… Stardust still recognized her as the same dragon, though. It only brought up more and more questions in his mind.

'How do you do that…? Can… Can I do that?'

The mysterious dragon moved on from her hiding spot, swiftly taking off towards the mountain range. Stardust pounced after her, stalking from a good distance behind while keeping her in his sights. The two trailed all the way to the base of the Claws of the Clouds Mountains, where Stardust caught up to her as she found her way to a cave in the side of the sheer cliff face. Stardust felt now was a perfect time to introduce himself at last, but just as his talons reached the ground…

"Iso… I know you're there."

Stardust nearly leapt back into the brush in surprise, maintaining his hiding spot until the mystery dragon found him. To his surprise, a totally different dragon stepped forwards from the opposite side of him, another Starwing. This one larger and bulkier, red and orange adorning the scales cascading down his neck and back. His talons draped across the stone ground, quiet and graceful.

"Was I that obvious?"

The other mystery dragon nearly stomped her talons down, as her voice dropped to a pallid hissing.

"I told you to take the Omega and STAY AWAY."

"The Omega is probably out of the quadrant by now, they damaged the Starcastle's communications and sensor decks when they came in. They're safe, Princess."

Stardust, paying careful attention to the conversation playing out, found himself stunned in place when Iso called her Princess. It took a moment for it to register, but Stardust's mind whirled inside of his skull with a stressful combination of wonder, confusion, anxiety, and most of all, questions. Lots, and lots, of unanswered questions.

'Why didn't mom and dad tell me about her…? She was here the whole time? Did she know about me, or did they keep us apart on purpose…?'

"Iso I told you, I don't need help! I have to do this on my own!"

The mysterious Princess stormed off into the cave, leaving Iso to follow behind.

"Then why are you on the run, again?"

'On the run…?'

Stardust had no choice but to poke along from behind, staying just out of earshot. Libra sighed to herself in self pitying aggravation.

"Due to a… uh… an extremely unlikely and unfortunate occurrence. Everything was going rather well until the blasted shuttle decided to explode."

"It… exploded?"

The two settled in the deeper part of the cave, Iso setting up a synthetic light along the wall.

"Matter Reactor intake suddenly swallowed up something massive, caused the stellar core to kick into overdrive…" Libra rubbed her head awkwardly and sat down. "I uh… had to make a singularity for me and the pilot to escape."

Stardust could've sworn Iso went pale in the face, despite being hard to tell from the distance.

"...Are you ok, Princess?"

Libra nodded, her expression sullen as her gaze met the ground.

"Yeah… but I'm not sure what to do now… What do I tell Stardust?"

Stardust, finally working up the courage to interject and make his presence known, planted his talons to the stone and stepped into the light.

"An introduction would be nice."

[-[ NEXT TRACK : C418 - SUBWOOFER LULLABY ]-]

Stardust usually enjoyed the spotlight, only finding a few times where the peering gazes of others turned his stomach aflop; most of those times due to him landing in trouble, a few special cases with fessing up and such. He did not savor the nausea that usually accompanied the spotlight, preferring rather to go about such ventures casually, and without confrontation.

This was not one of those times. Stardust watched as the two shifted from sudden and immediate apprehension and slight terror, to the dawnings of realization, and from there… Iso's expression drifted down from wonder to somber quietness, looking to Libra worriedly.

Libra stood onto her talons, slowly as if in a haze. She swallowed hard, dread dripping down her scales almost like sweat. Her prismatic eyes found Stardust's gaze, holding a plethora of unspoken emotions behind them. Stardust drew forwards slowly, just as Libra did. He sat down before her, daring not to say another word until she did.

Libra reached out gingerly, stroking Stardust's cheek with her talon and a wistful yet joyous smile on her snout.

"Stardust… I'm so sorry we haven't met sooner."

Stardust gently held her talons in his own.

"Me too… You're my sister, aren't you?"

Libra simply nodded. "My name is Libra… Libra Quasar. I'm your big sister, Stardust."

The young Starwing Prince knew from the moment he heard Iso call her Princess that this dragon was more than likely his sister, but hearing her say it out loud affirmed something previously unfulfilled. He stepped forwards and brought his arms around Libra in a tight hug.

"It's so nice to meet you, sis… I'm sorry for hiding, it's just-"

Stardust felt the air suddenly push out from his lungs a bit, Libra's arms wrapping around him in return and squeezing much harder than he anticipated. Her body trembled ever so softly, prompting Stardust to squeeze back tighter and nose his snout in her shoulder.

"You have nothing to apologize for, little brother… I'm just…"

Libra stood nose to nose with Stardust, doing all she could to not seem like a teary eyed little Princess.

"...You have no idea how happy I am to see you…"

The two embraced once more, neither one daring to let go of each other. Iso stood aside respectfully, the tiniest of grins evident on his maw.

"I'm glad to see you too sis, I just…"

Stardust felt the tiniest bit guilty for the words he spoke next.

"I… Honestly didn't know you existed until now…"

Libra's gaze fell to the floor, releasing Stardust from the hug.

"Stardust… How much did you hear?"

The two sat back down around the light, Stardust and Libra sitting side by side.

"I heard him call you Princess… Something about the Omega and the Starcastle, and also that you were on the run. Other than that… I don't know much else."

Libra and Iso glanced at each other briefly, before Iso prodded up to Stardust respectfully.

"Prince Stardust, I am Commander Iso. Libra's personal guardian and protector." He regards her with a proud and pleased smile. "Though usually, she needs no such thing. She's one of the most fierce and capable dragons I've ever met."

Libra's grin could not have been kept down, no matter how much she tried. Stardust found it infectious, smiling to himself.

"Great to meet you, Iso. I am Prince Stardust Nebula, as you uh… Probably already know."

Libra's eyebrows furrowed a bit. "Stardust Nebula? You've chosen your title name?"

"Mhm!" Stardust nodded happily. "Dad got me all registered in the ship's Royal Access Profile."

"Already, huh?" The Princess' worries slowly dialed down to the back of her mind. "I bet they're glad to see you."

"Yeah, and me too! It's…" Stardust hesitated for a moment. "...it's really nice to finally see where I came from…"

The guilt that washed over Libra resulting from that one sentence hit Libra in the gut harder than she anticipated. "I can only imagine…"

Stardust, reading her emotions rather easily, felt compelled to prod further.

"...Libra… My parents never told me what happened… Why I grew up here instead of with them… why I was left here... "

Again, Iso and Libra exchanged apprehensive glances. Libra held Stardust's talons firmly but lovingly.

"They didn't? They didn't tell you anything?"

Stardust simply shook his head. "Nothing…" He met Libra's eyes with a pleading look. "...do you know what happened?"

Stardust was unable to discern the emotion behind Libra's eyes right then. Something about it told him he shouldn't ask, but Libra spoke up anyways.

"...Yeah. I know what happened… And if you really want to know, I'll gladly explain everything…"

"Can you show me in your head? We could uh… do that Astral Interface thingy. " Stardust offered as helpfully as he could. "It would probably be a lot easier that way, I've done it before."

Libra again thought to herself, mulling over the idea for a bit. She nodded once more, then looked to Iso.

"Iso… Can you make sure we aren't disturbed?"

Iso nodded and bowed respectfully.

"I'll keep a lookout. Take your time."

Libra and Stardust nodded, retreating a bit further back into the cave to a more comfortable spot. The two said face to face, Libra looking quite nervous.

"Alright, I know you've done this kind of stuff before Stardust, but this one is gonna be… A lot. It might get intense, and if it does, just let me know and I'll pull back. Alright?"

Stardust took a deep breath, ever so slightly unnerved by her warning but eager to proceed on anyways.

"Ok… I trust you sis."

Libra swallowed again, planting her head against Stardust's.

"Thank you… I hope you always do…"

Before Stardust had much time to contemplate the meaning of that, the two were sucked into the shared mindscape, the two meeting in the boundless void.

'In order for you to understand the rest of the story…'

Libra's voice carried through Stardust's mind, echoing as memory swirled in Stardust's vision.

'We have to start a bit further back.'

Stardust felt an overwhelming force set his mind back into oblivion… Piecing back together a memory in which he stood behind Libra's eyes. He felt his mind try and reach out for control again, body tensing up and panicking at the overwhelmingly powerful sensation.

'Don't fight it, Stardust. Just let go…'

Libra's energy caressed Stardust's mind and energy, soothing and guiding with familiar comfort. Stardust's body settled in place again, letting himself slip away into the seemingly infinite cradle of Libra's memory.

And Stardust could've sworn that everything that existed around him dissipated into nothingness… and he lay afloat in the vastness of space.

[-[ PAUSE TRACK LIST ]-]

-X-

'Let it go…'

All Libra could sense was the void. Inky blackness surrounded her, eyes shut in the vastness of space. She let all of her energy, restless and pent up, bleed out from her consciousness and body…

'Let everything go…'

Her momentum in the boundless void kept her rotating backwards, spinning just fast enough to spread the center of gravity through her body.

'Clear your mind…'

Libra felt her wings stretch out a bit, radiating her astral energy from the mesmerising patterns under them. The prismatic scales shifting colors down her back evolved faster and faster, and the emptiness in Libra's mind seemed to… expand.

'...and become one with everything…'

In the space surrounding her, there lay no matter for sound to pass through, no physical way to hear anything. Yet, in Libra's brain, she heard it nonetheless… at first the cacophony of sonic voices lay distant, faint in the cosmos unreachable. A symphony dissonant and strange, but musical as it resonated in every neuron up and down the Starwing's body.

'...become… one…'

The young Princess nearly drifted off into slumber with the sound cascading through her. All that surrounded her now was cosmic bliss, sensation beyond experience… and the strange yet beautiful noise that brought her deeper into another layer of reality came closer…

And closer still…

"Lieutenant Iso to Libra, come in."

Libra snapped upwards, her head violently rearing up as if waking from a nightmare. Her head swam with thought once more after being empty for her meditative state, and everything settled back into place; stars where they were all along, and a few planets acting as markers on a map. Her second or so of readjustment set her back in her body, and another few seconds allowed emotion to flood through.

The first of which, unyielding anger.

Libra tapped a few buttons on her black modular armband, creating a force field bubble of oxygen around her head and neck.

"I THOUGHT I SAID UNINTERRUPTED, ISO. ONE HOUR FOR ASTRAL MEDITATION, UNINTERRUPTED."

Though she could not see him, Libra knew Iso cringed in recoil on the other end of the signal.

"I know Princess, I deeply apologize. Your mother-"

Now that Libra could breathe again, an overexaggerated sigh blew through the contained air.

"What could she POSSIBLY want now? She's had me run all over this star forsaken quadrant on her errands!"

"I relayed your request for uninterrupted silence as you requested-"

"It's been 4 minutes."

"-so it must be important."

That much, Libra could not deny. Aries definitely had Libra busy, but she respected her wishes for relaxation. The two's relationship suffered from some strain in this particularly busy time in the Starwing Expansion, neither mother nor daughter at true fault.

Libra heaved another sigh, this time more out of appreciation for air than of aggravation.

"Alright… where does she need me?"

"Aboard the Voidwatcher, Medical Bay 2."

"Aye. I'll be there shortly."

"Copy. Be safe out there, I'm on my way as well."

"Copy. Libra out."

Libra tapped her wrist comm, disconnecting the communicator. With one more tap, the air bubble around her head collapsed as she blew out her breath. She spread her wings, collecting the starlight that struck them and propelling herself just behind her.

Turning around brought into sight a fleet of starships, headed off by the regal and imposing Starcastle, and followed by around 20 or so smaller vessels and cruisers. Each ship lit up their own section of space with ambient lighting, swarmed by free flying Starwings and the background colors of the radiant nebula morphing in color and surrounding them in a cavalcade of space dust. Libra dove in between the dragons and ducked underneath the positively monolithic spaceships.

Off to the left side of the armada lay a smaller circular vessel, oblong in width and sharp in some edges creating the appearance of a giant draconic eye. Along the side lay inscribed "SWFC VOIDWATCHER", the inscription glowing a bright white. Libra entered through a side air hatch, depressurizing the containment room before finally entering the ship's maintenance halls.

Libra shook the cold off her scales, the warmth of synthetic starlight raining down from the roof. She strode down the halls, talons clacking against the floor grating as it echoed across it's metal. A few minutes of wandering proved pointless considering Libra hadn't any idea where she was really going, and only after coming across the server maintenance door did she stumble across another dragon. They stood with their claws on a wall data pad, oddly frozen with their gaze blank.

"Hey," Libra padded over to them. "Do you know how to get to Medbay 2 from here? I can never remember how to get around this blasted ship."

No response. Not even a blink. Libra paused for a moment, feeling around for this dragon's energy. Being a gifted user of her Astral Powers, she had the ability to feel every single entity's energy aboard the ship if she so desired, and yet… from this dragon in front of her she felt nothing.

And in that moment, Libra stood back petrified.

"...How…" She circled around the dragon that stood frozen. "...how are you doing that…?"

The Princess finally gained the courage to draw closer, still seeing no movements or energy. She circled towards their face, daring to touch their face. Libra felt a coldness tingle across the pads of her paw as she tilted the dragon's head towards her… and swirling in their eyes lay every color into a single pool that Libra couldn't seem to take her eyes off of. Checking this odd dragon's back, they only displayed an off white down their chromatic neck and back scales…

Starwing physiology dictated that an Astral-born Starwing displayed their energetic spectrum along their scales, primarily along their back and tail, sometimes along arms and legs and even faces. Any place that a Starwing displayed their spectrum should only be able to flash any color within their boundaries, a white-red Starwing would only appear white-red, a full spectrum Starwing can be any color, and so on. Libra not only witnessed a Starwing that emitted no energy that could be felt naturally, but one that displayed mixed signatures totally different from one another.

According to Starwing Bioenergetics, this was not only fully impossible naturally, but would result in neural overload as a result of energetic frequency collision and more than likely fry a dragon's brain. Libra certainly felt nothing in their mind from where she stood, their body stood stiff as if every nerve in their being roared with electric fury. She could think of only one way to find out for sure what was going on… slowly she pushed her head to this strange dragon's forehead, and connected their minds together.

Now, since Stardust viewed these memories from inside Libra's mind, what lay between Libra and this other dragon's mindmeld was all too fuzzy and blurred… He could only feel impressions of vast swirling power, a trapped mind within a fractured body, and Libra's attempt to break through their stillness. After an amount of time indeterminate to Stardust, whether an hour or a second, Libra broke from their mind and the two promptly collapsed on the floor; Libra panting heavily and cradling her head, the mystery dragon nearly passed out from exhaustion.

Wildly Libra scooted over next to them, shaking their head in an attempt to keep them awake and lucid.

"HEY, NO NONONONO, STAY WITH ME."

The other dragon's eyes returned to their normal spectrum, offwhite and greys dominating their spectrum. A detail particularly etched into Libra's memory was their face… a face containing horror unknown, but tired and weakened from time. Their voice, raspy but predominantly female, croaked out while they grabbed Libra's talons weakly.

"Al… Alpha Codex… Entry… 37… JS4…"

"Wait, wait what?" Libra cradled the other dragon's head tenderly, opening an audio recorder on her arm pad. "Alpha Codex, Entry 37 JS4- what is that?"

Their eyes unfocused again, glazing over.

"...it's..." And with their fading life force, they spoke only once more.

"...too much…"

Libra held onto the talons of a dying dragon, intently watching their expression slack from horror to nothingness. Continually frozen were their eyes, glossing over further with only grey. Stardust sat from the metaphysical backseat in Libra's mind, but somewhere in there he had the awful feeling… This was the first time Libra had ever witnessed another Starwing die in her arms.

And the worst feeling yet came from Libra's mind in real time… this would not be the last time either.

"...Alpha Codex…"

Libra forced herself to snap out of it, refusing to let the creeping horror wash over her any longer. She laid the dragon against the wall, moving to the data pad on the ship's wall. The last thing the previous dragon brought up still displayed on the screen, data entries from the Voidwatcher's Deep Space Energetic Reflector Dish (DSERD). Libra scrolled through the entries, noting their entry numbers and designations. The last one opened read:

ALPHA CODEX - ENTRY 36 - LR83

Scrolling forwards through the list of entries, she was greeted with this:

ALPHA CODEX - ENTRY 38 - PFT06

"It's gone…"

Scrolling back and forwards revealed it was no mistake, the aforementioned entry either did not exist or as Libra suspected right away, it was deleted. Looking back down at the dead dragon brought back the distant memory of her mother summoning her here in the first place.

"Alright mom, you wanted my attention-" Libra switched the data pad screen over from the codex entries to ship schematics, uploading the route to her arm pad. She stretched her talons out to the body leaning on the wall, summoning her energy to lift it up along with her.

"You have my attention and more."

Surprisingly it was but a few short hallways down to the main corridors, a few more halls from there to the main medbays. The glances of shock and fright from the body floating a foot or so behind her garnered more attention the farther in she went. Approaching the halls where the medbays lay, a few medics and one very concerned scientist tracked alongside her.

"Princess," The skittish scientist pushed her glasses up her nose. "Your mother is awaiting you in Medbay 2-"

"I know." Libra replied without a second glance. "Something tells me she's gonna want to see this."

"That's the thing, we-" Before this scientist could respond, Libra opened the door to the second medbay and strode inside with the body in tow.

Upon entering the medbay, a row of raised beds lined the walls, all but one empty. The first bed available lay surrounded by medical examiners, where upon Libra's arrival, their collective heads swiveled around to meet her. Queen Aries prowled to the scene from around the nearby corner, her expression nearing frantic.

"There you are!" Aries almost galloped towards Libra, only stopping short noting the body Libra carried with her powers. Confusion spread across her mind like fire, burning next with apprehension.

"Wait… why do you have another body with you?"

"I'm sorry," Libra nearly let the cadaver alongside her fall to the ground. "What do you mean another?"

"My Queen," The same scientist that followed Libra in, placed herself between the two royals. "It seems there's been another death in the same fashion as the first, this time on the other side of the ship."

The scientists and medical examiners at the first bed quickly rushed over to the second body, picking them up and gingerly setting them on the adjacent bed. This allowed Libra to rush over to the first body that previously lay surrounded.

This dragon was quite different from the first, a bulkier male with streaks of crimson and dark green across his snout and back, stretching down his shoulders too. He lay on his back, a few white patches connected to the screen above the bed displayed his nonexistent vitals, similarly across his forehead. Everything read static, indicating bodily death and brain death.

What struck Libra to her core were his eyes, opened wide in his last moments of life. They conveyed the same overwhelmed terror that Libra recognized moments before, and worst of all were their color… grey.

Total grey, no color at all. Just like the first body. The more she stared at those lifeless eyes, the further Libra felt a stab of panic in her consciousness.

'Another one?'

The Princess couldn't take her eyes away from the body.

'How? Why? What's going on here?'

More and more Libra dwelled on the nature of their deaths, the force she felt grip that poor dragon's mind resonated in her own. Something about it all troubled her further.

'What…' The question she dared not ask rang further in the back of her head.

'What did they find?'

-X-

The next thing Stardust knew, he was ripped from Libra's point of view back into his own body with an overwhelming panic gripping his body. Heaving a few hard breaths and stumbling back, he caught a glimpse of Libra doing the same thing. Seeing her doing so helped reality set back into place, the dampness of the stony cave settling around him and providing a more comforting backdrop. He sat against the wall and gripped it with his talons, as Libra padded over to hold him by the shoulders.

"Hey! Stardust, it's okay!" Stardust had no trouble finding the tinge of panic in Libra's voice and stature, calming him down some. "I'm so sorry, I… I wasn't... ready to bring it all back up again, it's my fault."

Stardust wrapped his arms around his sister tightly, nodding to himself.

"I… I don't blame you…" Libra squeezed the living daylights out of her brother once more, prompting him to do the same. "That was… I don't even know how to describe that…"

"Me neither. Even after all this time." Finally the Princess let go, and padded back some to the center of the cave. Stardust followed suit.

"But… all that… what did it mean? Was there more?"

"Sadly yes," Libra made herself comfy on the stone ground. "Too much more… I didn't know it'd still hit so hard."

Stardust laid a paw on her back in sympathy. "We don't have to go back if it's too much. I don't want you to-"

"No," Libra shook her head firmly. "It's leading up to something, I promise. It's… it's important."

If Stardust didn't know any better, he could've sworn Libra had something to prove to herself. Iso peeked in from around the corner.

"You've only been in there a minute or two, by the way."

"Really?" Stardust glanced outside to see the night still hung in the air where it was before. "Felt like we were in there for at least an hour…"

"Time dilation often has strange effects in memory interactions." Libra found a faint smile upon her maw thinking about her past. "You can stay in memory lock for hours on end, and it could only be a few minutes in real time."

"The danger lies in losing yourself," Iso spoke up from further ahead in the cave. "And it's easier than you'd think."

"Enough of that, Iso. We don't need to scare him." Libra nosed up to Stardust again. "Do you want to try again, Star?"

Something about Libra's casual mention of Stardust's nickname and the conversation-like tone in the room set Stardust back into a trusting mindset. After all, he was among family, was he not?

"Yeah. I trust you, Libra."

...For a second, the Princess had nothing but happy thoughts, hearing her younger sibling admit he trusted her. That's all she really wanted in the end, her family's love and trust. But remembering how the two of them had gotten here in the first place, and the events that transpired those years ago… Her happiness grew tainted with unrelenting guilt, more and more feeling like a spear through her heart. Those words echoed still, painting a plethora of mixed emotions in her mind.

"I trust you."

-X-

'Well… this is it.'

Peacemaker gracefully landed on an outcropping of stone, overlooking half sunken stone buildings and jagged edges erupting from the turbulent seas rising over them. The once impressive City of Night now lay crumbling amongst the ocean's grasp, a few stray buildings emergent from the sea. A great calmness permeated the ocean air, something about time's relentless exertion eroding the city into rubble brought a sense of stillness to Peacemaker, Darkstalker's point of view more sorrowful than anything.

'Indeed… Even as rubble, I recognize it well.'

Peacemaker sat himself down, shivering as the howling winds of the night blew in off the sea.

'Seems… colder than I… well, you... remember.'

'This place had its fair share of cold. Both chill, and heartlessness.'

Peacemaker couldn't argue with that. Darkstalker had seen and taken part in the heartless acts that took place all those years ago… but Peacemaker held hope that this time, the Nightwing city would be different.

'Well… this time we're going to be involved, and we're going to learn from our mistakes.'

'We, as in…?'

'Well, firstly you, Darkstalker. But the rest of the Nightwings too! This place is going to be a fresh start, a new mark in Nightwing History!' Peacemaker set his sights on the horizon ahead, a faint shimmer of purple indicating the stretch of dawn to come. Despite watching straight ahead, Peacemaker also looked inside himself at Darkstalker.

'And… you get a chance to redeem yourself.'

Darkstalker scoffed, albeit with a smile he couldn't deny.

'Redeem myself… I thought that's why I got transformed into you.'

'Well you're not me anymore. You're still you, mostly.'

'Kind of missing one really important part.'

'You KNOW what I mean.'

Even if he remained trapped in Peacemaker's mind, Darkstalker retained all his mental faculties and consciousness. His memories, his persona, all of it remained intact. He certainly was thankful for that, and spending a few thousand years under a mountain taught him greatly of patience. Darkstalker didn't relish the situation he found himself in, but could not abate the feeling that this position he found himself in perhaps changed him for the better; an idea he greatly disapproved of at first, but found himself opening up to more and more.

'...I know what you mean… but I can't shake the feeling I'm becoming more like you each day.'

Peacemaker's maw steadily blossomed into a satisfied grin.

'You like it, don't you?'

'I'm still trying to find a way to kill you, in case you're interested.'

'Oh shut up. Are you going to help me raise this city from the ocean or not?'

Darkstalker found himself on his feet again, padding around in Peacemaker's head.

'Considering I'm strongly against using your animus powers to rebuild an entire city by yourself, a feat not even the most powerful of magical dragons could accomplish without going absolutely insane, no. I'm not going to help you with this one.'

'You are LITERALLY the one who told me not to be afraid of my magical abilities.'

'SMALLER PIECES, PEACEMAKER! You enchanted a mirror, which was good, but now you're making the jump to an entire CITY.'

'Then HELP ME!'

Darkstalker growled a sigh of displeasure to himself, thinking this over more clearly to himself. Had this been anyone else, Darkstalker would never even think of approving. Of all the Animus dragons he'd known in his life, he could honestly say none of them had the purity of heart that Peacemaker possessed. He could trust this dragon with their powers, unlike the animus dragons of his day. Darkstalker could see almost no parallels between his father and Peacemaker, even when he knew everything going on inside Peacemaker's head. He saw no hidden motives, no dark intentions, not even a selfish thought. Darkstalker honestly had no idea how the dragonet did it.

Then his train of thought drifted towards the now. What would happen if he did successfully raise up the city? The powers of an animus dragon didn't directly make them go insane, as Darkstalker well knew. The pressures of its usage and the sanity of its user went hand in hand, and with no one to guide them and let them know they'd gone too far, they may very well go off the rails. Visions of Albatross and his rampage flickered through his mind like a flame. But Peacemaker had Darkstalker as a guide, and his pure of heart reassured Darkstalker well. The whole scenario posed a thought experiment that Darkstalker knew not how to answer… he only knew that this dragon he resided in proved him wrong about a great many truths he assumed about the nature of animus magic.

As Darkstalker looked out over the sunken city through Peacemaker's eyes, he finally chose a side of the argument in his head.

[-[ ENGAGE TRACK : C418 - SWEDEN ]-]

'...Tell me, Peace… How do you intend to go about this?'

Peacemaker hadn't a response readied.

'Well… I would uh… just say the magic words. Rebuild the city as it once was, or something like that…?'

'Are you prepared for how it will feel channeling all the energy through you?'

Peacemaker tilted his head in curious confusion. 'Wait, what do you mean how it will feel?'

Darkstalker prodded forth to the front of Peacemaker's head. 'What's the largest thing you've enchanted?'

'I think it was that metal door I fixed, for that Sandwing Palace.'

'Do you remember the tingling in your talons? The slight strain on your arms? You spoke the words, sure, but animus magic takes more than words to carry out an action.'

Peacemaker shifted in place some. 'You mean I'm gonna feel all the magic I'm using…?'

Darkstalker reached out with his conscious mind to sort of guide Peacemaker's mind.

'All animus dragons learn in time, that the most potent use of their magic comes not with words, but with their will.'

Peacemaker watched as the waves crashed against the shore, smashing upon the craggy spires that stood from the water.

'...So if I think hard enough, I can bring the entirety of the city up without speaking a word…?'

'Not think. Will. You have to use your magic as an extension of yourself, your willpower and the animus energy coursing through you as one.'

Darkstalker's mind gently guided the dragonet to feel the extension of magic in his talons and paws. A faint tingling coursed through his body, magical energy resonating within him. The color dotted Nightwing looked down at his talons in wonder. 'Woah…'

Darkstalker nodded. 'Words are but a method of taming the magic around you.' He did his best to try and poke Peacemaker's mind. 'But harnessing it with nothing but your will and soul… that is how you raise cities.'

'I… I see…' Peacemaker's new understanding of his magic brought up feelings of unease, wondering how powerful an animus dragon he really was. A moment's worth of self doubt was all that was needed to make Peacemaker hesitate. Darkstalker stopped him before he could go much further down that train of thought.

'That feeling of power, raw and untamed… that is what turns dragons insane. But you… you know this, and you are cognizant of what can happen. I know you won't let it consume you, I'm sure of it.' Darkstalker's tone turned more empathetic and assuring, a feeling he had yet to grow accustomed to.

'...You're one of the few dragons I've ever met who I truly believe in, Peacemaker.'

For the past two days, Peacemaker has had to live with the embodiment of his evil past in his own head; sharing the same memories and the same headspace, driving Peacemaker crazy. He in no way ever thought that he'd be capable of befriending this megalomaniac, especially when he knew everything about him.

But Peacemaker found himself in the uncompromisingly heart wrenching moment of being truly touched by Darkstalker's words. This dragon capable of so much darkness bared his heart to Peacemaker, and found himself connecting to the one dragon he'd sworn himself an enemy of. For Darkstalker to say this and mean it as profoundly as he did… Peacemaker's eyes fluttered with tears, streaming down his neck and behind him as the cold wind drove them back. The young dragonet spoke out loud this time:

"...Thank you… Darkstalker… If… If I'm being honest… I believe in you too."

Darkstalker… smiled. The monster that reached within his very soul and gripped his heart had no power, as Darkstalker felt a pang of happiness like none before. He cherished such a feeling immensely.

Of course, Darkstalker did everything in his power to ignore it, and went right back to his usual facade of impervious wit.

'Oh moons, knock it off. We have a city to reconstruct, don't we?'

Peacemaker nodded in confirmation, rubbing his talons together. He glanced around to find a place to start, but something caught his eye in one of the ruined buildings…

[-[ STOP TRACK ]-]

'Hang on… what is that?'

The sunrise in the distance refracted just enough light across the sea to bounce in the broken room, producing a faint glittering. Peacemaker knew there was definitely something in there.

'I don't know…' Darkstalker's interest had been piqued as well. 'Nightwing Architecture rarely incorporated reflective elements.'

'Well,' Peacemaker leapt off his stone ridge, gliding into the diagonally leaning dark building. 'Let's check it out then, shall we?'

As Peacemaker landed in the window, he took stock of the broken building. A few pieces of wooden furniture had been reduced down to moldy nubs, tables laying broken with bits and pieces everywhere. The roof partially collapsed down and knocked out the wall closest to the sea, leaving debris to collect at the bottom of the room. But right in the middle of the room, in a crack in the stone floor, lay a simple, silver bracelet with four tiny sapphires embedded all around it.

Peacemaker carefully picked it up, inspecting it thoughtfully.

'Huh… That's pretty.'

'That it is,' Darkstalker noted. 'But it looks familiar.'

'Could it have belonged to someone you knew? Clearsight, Hope?'

'No, neither of them were too fond of jewelry. This looks… almost Icewing in design…'

'Icewing? Maybe it belonged to Arctic-'

An intense realization smacked Peacemaker and Darkstalker in the face simultaneously. Peacemaker nearly lost balance.

'Wait… Wait, ICEWING. Darkstalker is this-'

'That IS.'

Peacemaker held the bracelet to the sun, watching the reflections shimmer and glisten off the still pristine silver.

'Peacemaker, you just found one of the lost Gifts of Diplomacy.'

-X-

"Core Division, Status Report!"

The bridge of the Starcastle, after their encounter with Libra's Pirate Command Ship (dubbed the Omega Cruiser), bristled with more dragons at various stations than Tau had ever seen before. Taking her place at the central command station, a squared off hologram table with a few different data pads all in a row, she brought up visual comms to the ship's Stellar Core Sector. Ascella, the binary twins, brought up their individual screens in response.

"Core integrity holding within 87% modulation threshold, stellar mass decreasing steadily."

"We're re-routing the matter converters to cycle through the stellar chamber, which should give us a boost in power."

Tau nods while switching screens to overall ship status.

"We're gonna need it, we're still working on restoring external communications across the board."

Xenon piped up from his station to Tau's left. "Hull damage has been regenerated, integrity holding steady. Focusing energetic diffusion towards system function."

Neon spoke in turn from the other side. "Engines were hit pretty badly though, that's gonna take some time. Might need some manual repair crew down there."

"Don't tell me we're adrift, Neon." Tau brought up the rear end of the ship, bringing into view the massive engine outputs. "Orion is NOT going to like that."

"No ma'am, Stabilizer engines and Gravity Flux systems are still online, Stellar Warp is crippled for the moment though."

Tau rubbed her snout tiredly, taking a sip from her mug of warm beverage. "Better than nothing, I suppose…"

Next she flicked to a different screen, monitoring overall life signs. "Sadr, injury report?"

A dragon directly behind her at a different station spoke up, light blue and off white streaming down his back. "7 injuries across two sectors, no fatalities."

"Good thing we have a skeleton crew." Tau scrolled once more on the holographic display to comms. "Comms, report."

After a moment of silence, and a few heads turning towards her, Tau remembered her role.

"Wait, comms. That's me."

Sifting through the data and automated damage reports, Tau grumbled to herself annoyedly.

"Well that's no good…" She cleared her throat and announced more officially the damages.

"Radio frequency oscillation is crippled, Astral Spectralization Codex is down until the SM Engines are online, and since no one aboard has significant Astral Abilities, we're basically down for the count..."

"We'll see about increasing the ship's energy pool," Ascella Beta mentioned over the comm. "But we can't make any promises."

"Aye. Let me know if you have any other ideas."

"Can do. Ascella out."

After the tone of the comm cutting out, Tau sat back in her chair, taking another sip and sighing in thought. Sadr, Xenon and Neon turned to her, all awaiting orders.

"Regenerative capabilities mark system restoration at 4 planetary rotations out, just around 94 hours." Neon chimed in helpfully. "Until then… what do we do?"

When Tau first rose to the rank of General from Fornax's passing, the opportunity weighed on her mind as heavily as a Star's gravity well. She'd been a lieutenant for what seemed like only a month, adjusting to being a bridge crew member slowly but surely. After her rank up, Tau quickly learned that with leadership over a vessel such as this one, the King and Queen's Royal Flagship, an extreme amount of pressure lorded over her at all times.

Her gaze fell down to her reflection in the polished black metal, the seafoam green and turquoise in her eyes and snout scales shifted ever so slowly.

'C'mon Tau… you got this, you need to be a leader right now. Dragons are counting on you to lead them...'

Tau steeled herself once more, rising from her chair.

"OKAY, until we get comm systems back online, we're essentially on our own here. The Omega intercepted our transmissions and scrambled communications in the area, so we weren't able to inform them of the attack. We need someone to get to the surface, contact the King or Queen OR Sentinel Squad, and act as a messenger."

"There's another way to bring transmissions back online," Sadr spoke up once more, scrolling through his data station. "We'd need to plant a series of radio transmitters on the planet, but each of our data stations come equipped with custom frequency receivers that should be able to pick up the long range transmissions."

"Good," Tau pointed her talon in response. "That'll work. How many would we have to set up?"

"Hard to say, I'd recommend at least five, planted in strategic locations to broadcast the frequencies evenly."

"Right. Last time I checked in with Aries they've established base camp and replication matrices, so all we need to do is go down there and inform them of the plan." Tau clasped her talons together and glanced around the room.

"Who wants to go to a new planet?~"

(Meanwhile…)

"She did WHAT?"

Sheratan's disbelief resounded through the cave, she and Hamal tending to Caelum's broken leg. Hamal and Caelum both shushed her, doing their best not to disturb their King and Queen in the other room.

"Sorry… but, seriously? An Astral Singularity?"

Caelum nodded solemnly, wincing in pain as Hamal applied a surgical scan from his medical tool kit. "Ngh… yeah, she had to, otherwise we would've been blown to bits."

"Or, she would have initiated a chain reaction which would turn the whole planet into a star through-"

"Hamal," Sheratan stopped him mid sentence. "We know what could've happened."

"I'm just saying." After viewing the scan on his data pad and wincing to himself, he set it aside. "Given the situation she was put in, I don't blame her. But still, a singularity on the surface of a planet…"

"She saved my life." Caelum laid back and drew in a deep breath, doing his best to ignore the pain. "I'm more than grateful for that."

Sheratan set her eyes on the scan Hamal had taken, then glanced to Caelum. "I bet… your leg on the other hand-"

"I'm gonna need to reset the bone." Hamal offered a smile. "Only hurts for a moment, then I stick you with some QuikGen and you're all set."

The Science Officer paled in the face at "reset the bone". He squirmed in his seat for a moment, taking a deep breath to settle him down. "Alright… let's get it over with."

Sheratan sat herself besides Caelum and grasped his talons. "Squeeze my paw, it'll help."

Caelum nodded and squeezed tight, an appreciative smile upon his maw. "Thank you…"

Hamal sat himself at Caelum's hindpaws, feeling up his thigh for the fracture as Caelum covered his maw to silence himself. Once the round of Hamal's talons felt along the ridges of broken bone, Caelum tensed up all at once and squeezed his eyes shut.

"hMMFH!"

Hamal had a faint grin on his snout. "There you are. Ok, I'm gonna count to three, and set it back in place. It's gonna be a pull out, and then push in." He gripped Caelum's leg gingerly, looking up at him. "Ready?"

Caelum nodded with the expression of someone very much not ready for what was about to happen, while Sheratan held Caelum's paw a bit tighter.

Hamal readied himself.

"Alright… one!"

With a quick turn clockwise, Hamal performed the pull/push action so quickly Caelum had barely any time to react. All that was heard was a soft squish and crunch, with Hamal relinquishing his leg immediately after. Caelum froze in place soundlessly, a single tear dripping from the corner of his eye.

"Cae? You ok bud?" Sheratan leaned in after a few moments of silence.

Caelum finally released his breath slowly and surely, tapping his foot on his non-broken leg rather hard as he nodded.

"Ffffffhmmm… Mmmhmmm… Yeah, that was… fun."

"Wait," Hamal pulled out an oblong cylindrical container, almost like an epipen. He pressed a button on the side, causing a two inch needle to burst from the bottom. "One more thing!"

Again, before Caelum had time to react, Hamal thrust the needle down into his thigh, directly atop the point of fracture where a squirt of gene based regeneration serum filled the cavity. Caelum nearly burst up from his spot, quite loudly shouting as well.

"yYAAAAH-"

Sheratan's paw over his maw quickly muffled his howling, followed by Hamal taking out the needle and backing away.

"Alright, done! No more, I promise."

Caelum immediately stood on his good leg, clutching his now healing thigh while he hopped around and muttered obscenities under his breath. Sheratan and Hamal kept their distance until Caelum finally released his leg, flexing it back and forth as if nothing had ever happened in the first place.

"Phew… thank you, Hamal. That feels so much better."

Before Hamal could respond in kind, the approaching silhouettes of two imposing dragons tore his attention away. Aries and Orion stood in the cave entrance, both with solemn expressions. Boteïn followed behind them, doing his best to keep a neutral expression but unable to wipe an anxious tinge from his expression.

"Caelum, is your leg better?" Aries spoke first, prompting Caelum to nod politely.

"Yes my liege, I'm healed."

"Excellent." Orion stepped forwards into the cave, taking mental stock of the base elements Sheratan and Hamal had set up. "You'll stay here with me at base camp, we'll figure out what's been going on from here."

"Sheratan, Hamal, Boteïn." Aries motioned to the three, who stood at attention immediately. "You're with me." Once they had a better look at the Queen's expression, they could see the spark of hope that remained within the somber exterior.

"We need to find my daughter before the meeting of the Queens."

The trio of Starwing Sentinels nodded and saluted.

"Yes Ma'am!"

-X-

"It's a lot to take in, I know."

Winter, Qibli and Moon sat in the cabin as morning further crept in through the windows, surrounding the hologram device as it powered down. Winter (and his scavenger friend Jun sitting nearby) stood totally stunned and awed by what they'd just witnessed.

"I… That…"

Winter rubbed his chin with his talons. "...I'm not hallucinating, right? I didn't accidentally drink any of Dragonfly's special tea?"

Before either of them had the opportunity to ask, Winter glanced to Jun. "You saw it too?"

Jun nodded slowly, bringing out a journal from his pocket and furiously scribbling in it. Winter sat back down and stared at the fire, while Qibli and Moon scooted just a bit closer.

"They've already made contact with us at Jade Mountain," Moon picked the hologram device and inspected it with fascination. "And it's still just… blows my mind that it's all happening…"

"...Starwings…" Winter bristled his back scales after saying it with his own words. "What… what're they like?"

"Peaceful," Qibli offered. "If anything. Their level of technology is absolutely astounding, and from what I've seen of them, they're quite wise."

"Living among the stars…" Winter glanced back and forth between Qibli and Moon with wonder. "Imagine what they could teach us."

"If the Starwings make good on their intentions of peaceful relationships with Pyrrhia, then who knows what we'd be able to accomplish?" Moon's fascination and idealism resonated with Winter's words.

"We just need to get all the Queens of Pyrrhia on board with the idea," Qibli presented the main problem at hand. "And… we need your help to do so."

By now, Winter's brain worked through the train of thought with the Starwings, and what really was going on here. He regarded Moon and Qibli with a thoughtful glance, unsure of his feelings now.

"...You need me to talk to Snowfall."

Moon and Qibli fell silent, sharing a moment of eye contact before nodding slowly.

"You're the only Icewing Royalty we know that's outside Icewing territory, and you know Snowfall on a personal basis." Qibli's tone of voice came out almost as pleading. "From what we know of her… there's no way a non-Icewing would be able to convince her."

"Plus," Moon offered helpfully. "You have your brother Hailstorm to help."

Winter's expression fell from the original high of wonder and awe, to remembrance of his old life, bringing forth a great sadness he'd been running from for a long time.

"Yeah… Hailstorm…"

Moon and Qibli again exchanged glances between each other, this time a bit more worriedly.

"Please, Winter." Moon nosed up to Winter's shoulder. "The whole of Pyrrhia kind of lays in the balance…"

Winter again stood silent, and after a few moments he motioned for Jun for come to him. The scavenger scurried over and effortlessly climbed atop Winter's neck.

"Can I show you guys something?"

The two nodded, following him as he stood and walked to the door. A short wordless trek later, Winter motioned to go ahead of him, where Moon and Qibli encountered a tall wooden fence with a well locked gate. The bottom of the fence had arches up, allowing room for smaller creatures to get across underneath, definitely big enough for a scavenger but just too small for a dragon. Qibli pressed his paw to the gate latch, pushing it down and opening the gate outward.

The trio stepped into a wide clearing of the forest, big enough for a sprawling town of scavengers and a field worth of width between the treeline and the city, allowing dragons like Winter, Qibli and Moon to pad around safely. Moon and Qibli stood and took in the sight of the rather impressive town, while Winter led them to the edge.

"Guys, welcome to Harmony."

Moon and Qibli looked out over the cleanly built scavenger town, both awed at its sheer size. For a town full of rather small beings, the two dragons weren't sure how they didn't spot it before. They would have before hand, had it not been for the tree cover stretched over half the town, providing a bit of camouflage from above so it wouldn't be as obvious to any dragons flying overhead.

As for the town itself, the streets bustled with people and livestock, shoppes lined the mainstreet and most fascinating of all (at least to Qibli), a few onlookers stopped to gawk at the dragons that had entered the town limits, but nobody made a big fuss about it. A good few scavengers even stopped to take a friendly wave at them, to which Qibli and Moon waved back in a daze. Not even the children took to fearing them, a few brave older ones rushed to the edge of the field, just shy of the open grass, all to get a better look at them. Moon didn't know how to feel about the many eyes on her, or even about the hundreds of minds all running around down there. Upon a quick glance inside a few of the residents' surface level emotions, Moon found that their presence even comforted them. The level of trust displayed between the scavenger town and the dragons parading around floored her, prompting her to gaze back at Winter.

"Wow… Winter, this...this is amazing!"

Winter's snout now lay painted with a perplexing measure of pride, peace, but some sort of turmoil evident underneath. Moon dared not to peek inside her friends head, more so out of respect rather than fear of what she would find. Winter, in response, nodded to himself as if pushing away those negative thoughts.

"Thank you Moon, but…" Winter moved on towards the back of the city, coming upon a rather tall tower that reached just above Winter's shoulders. Stone designs of dragons climbing up around it surrounded the windows and vines crawling up the sides, giving it a serenely aged style. Atop this tower lay a platform perfectly suited for a scavenger and dragon to stand face to face, a sort of pavilion providing a roof over the top. Winter stood near the tower with a knowing smile.

"It gets even better."

As if on command, two scavengers dressed in similar green and white garb found their way atop the platform from a staircase below. The two approached Winter on the edge of the platform fearlessly. The two looked to be related, or at least similar to each other. The younger male spoke first, giving a hearty wave.

"Hey Winter, what's up?"

Qibli and Moon nearly stumble backwards hearing the scavenger speak in their tongue, prompting the two scavengers to bust out laughing.

"Oh man," The older female spoke next. "That does NOT get old!"

"You-" Qibli, returning to his feet, got quite close to the platform to inspect the strange scavengers. "You guys speak our language?"

"Sure do!" The younger male spoke up once more. "Took me a while, and my sister Rowan is still getting the hang of it, but it's possible!"

Moon stood besides Winter, still taken by surprise at the revelation. Winter just went on to talk to the two scavengers.

"How're things going, Leaf?" Winter nosed the scavenger male gently, Leaf putting his forehead against Winter's snout momentarily like custom.

"Everything's still going smooth, the water supply is clearing up thanks to Dragonfly's efforts."

"I don't know what we'd be doing without her," Rowan remarked thankfully. "She's saved this place more than a few times." Rowan touched her head to Winter's nose as well, the two looking expectantly at Moon and Qibli next. "You gonna introduce us?"

"I'll let them speak for themselves.~" Winter moved aside, letting Qibli and Moon take the stage. Qibli introduced himself first.

"Uh, hey guys. My name is Qibli, it's nice to meet you!"

Rowan and Leaf furrowed their brows a little, thrown off by his name.

"I'm sorry, Qi-bli?" Leaf repeated the name syllable by syllable, looking to Rowan. "Am I saying that right?"

"Yeah," Qibli nodded. "That's my name."

"Qi-bli…" Rowan repeated the word to herself a few times, then looking to Leaf and saying something in their scavenger language. Leaf responded in kind, still confused as well. He looked back to Qibli and Winter.

"I uh… don't think I know that word yet?"

"Oh," Qibli thought to himself for a moment. "It's like a desert wind, hot and humid."

"Ah!" Rowan piped back up. "So like a-" Moon and Qibli didn't understand what word Rowan used next, but it sounded scavenger like so they went with it.

"Yeah," Winter nodded. "Exactly that."

"Qibli!" Leaf spoke the word once more, knowing exactly what it meant now. "I'm Leaf, it's nice to meet you!"

"I'm Rowan, his older sister." Rowan wrapped her arm around Leaf's shoulder in a sister like fashion, the two tussling for a moment. Leaf and his sister looked between Winter and Qibli, prompting Qibli to look to Winter as well.

"Am I supposed to do the, uh, snout thing?"

"Well, it's up to you." Winter spoke with an oddly knowing and proud smile, like he enjoyed initiating his two best friends into a secret club he started. "The nose touch represents trust between you and the town, so that the scavenger you're talking to knows you won't try and eat them or anything."

"It's always reassuring to us to know we can trust a dragon," Rowan added. "Having you guys on our side takes a load off our minds."

Qibli had to admit, they made a lot of sense on that front. If Qibli were ever in their position the gesture of trust would have great symbolic weight and reassurance. The Sandwing nodded, and slowly nudged Leaf as Winter did earlier, doing the same with Rowan.

"There you go!" Winter's encouraging words brought forth a giddy smile from Qibli, who promptly looked to Moon. Moon, assuming her turn had come, approached the platform with grace.

"Leaf, Rowan, it's lovely to meet you both! My name is Moonwatcher."

"Moon-looker?" Rowan repeated, seeking confirmation. Leaf tapped her arm and repeated the name once more slowly. "Oh, Moonwatcher. Nice to meet you too!"

Moon nodded, briefly touched noses with the two polite scavengers. Out of curiosity, she briefly poked her mind in the two's heads, only to find their thoughts completely foreign to her… The two thought in a completely different language, and Moon hadn't a clue of what any of it meant. She could only discern feelings and wordless interpretations of what they thought, and for some odd reason that prospect comforted her greatly.

"Hey," Leaf spoke up next. "I actually have to get back to business, y'know being Mayor and all."

"Yes, I'm sure you're dying to get back to paperwork and endless debates with Ivy about future zoning." Rowan turned to the stairs along with Leaf. "Meanwhile, I get to listen to Old Man Arden complain about the smell of manure."

Leaf pat his sister on the back as she stomped down the stairs, stopping short to wave at the trio of dragons. "I'll see you later guys, duty calls!"

"Stay safe Leaf," Winter needn't exactly call out, being quite larger than Leaf. "Azure should be back later to check up on you guys."

With another friendly wave goodbye, Leaf disappeared down the tower, leaving Winter, Qibli and Moon alone again. Winter casually walked around the city again, Qibli and Moon in tow.

"You see the kind of progress we've made here?"

"I have to admit," Qibli replied while watching the bustling town. "This is really cool."

"Winter," Moon stayed beside him each step of the way. "Harmony is incredible. I can see why you're so protective of it."

"Which…" Winter led the two out the gates once more, stopping just outside the gate. "...Is why I don't think I can leave."

Moon and Qibli stopped in their tracks, turning to look at Winter.

"Winter-" Qibli started in protest, cut off again by Winter.

"Guys, you know I would do anything for you, but this…" He gestured to the gate again, the prospect of leaving his progress behind left waves of unease in his mind. "This is my life now, and I can't just get my things and leave."

"We're not asking you to abandon your sanctuary," Moon spoke up next. "We can even stay here to take care of Harmony in your stead!"

"I know you'd rather die than see your uptight family again," Qibli pleaded with his Icewing friend. "But the fate of Pyrrhia rests in your talons, Winter! This is a literal call to action, and we really need your help!"

"FIRSTLY," This was the first time Winter raised his voice in front of the two, bringing back memories of the older, bitter and resentful Winter. "I would not rather die than see my family, no matter how much they resent me."

"Fair."

"Second… I... haven't seen Hailstorm in years." Winter let the sentence go from his maw with what sounded to Qibli like disappointment, onto himself more than anything. Winter sounded ashamed to say it aloud. "Even longer for my parents… Snowfall would barely recognize me, and if she did, I don't think I could convince her to leave her palace much less the Icewing Territory."

"That's why we have the hologram message, to present her with news she can't ignore!"

Qibli's plea fell on deaf ears, Winter shaking his head. "Then you can get another Icewing to do it, I know several."

"Are they Icewing royalty who don't want to kill us?"

Winter crossed his arms. "Now you're just getting picky."

"Winter."

[-[ ENGAGE TRACK : C418 - LIVING MICE ]-]

Moon stepped forth, nearly face to face with the Icewing.

"Please… You know how important this is, this can and WILL change everything! It's just… You have to be the one to do it."

Moon stepped closer, pressing her head against Winter's nose. "...For me?"

Something about Moon's presence so close to his own stopped Winter in his tracks, throwing time around him into slowness, and running memories of the past through his mind over and over. He tilted Moon's snout up, forcing the two to meet eye to eye.

Many times before did Winter picture her eyes so close to his, pure emeralds of life to his sore eyes. He could only gaze deeper and sink into the feeling of having her there. A weakness began to emerge from the fractures of his past, a tide unrelenting as it swallowed up everything but her. Winter could only stand there, gazing in her eyes in a wistful haze. He wanted above all for her to understand, and for her to-

"...Moon, can you do something for me?"

The Nightwing nodded slowly but surely. Winter continued.

"I know you're not looking in my head to read my thoughts, because you're my friend and you respect my privacy, but…"

Winter fumbled for Moon's talons, gingerly taking them in his own.

"...Read my mind, because everything I could never explain is trapped in there and it's all of the things you need to see."

Moon honestly didn't know how to feel about Winter holding her talons, feeling a fluttering sensation in her stomach that she hadn't for a long while. She simply nodded, closing her eyes and reaching into Winter's mind.

To describe an Icewing's mind as ice like would be a dramatic understatement. Winter's head went on like a hall of mirrors, with the occasional icicle of emotional trauma hanging down from past memory. Despite this, Moon found Winter's mind in a much more tolerable state than her last reading a few years ago. Previously these mirrors radiated doubt and self hatred, feeding back into each other in a cycle of endless torment. Now, they seemed to just be blank, almost peaceful. What really stood out to Moon was a flurry of snow blowing through, slowed so that every snowflake of a thought remained visible and independent.

Moon sifted through the flakes of memory, each one a frame in a time of his past. Moon could pick out frames of their battle with Darkstalker, time spent with Qibli in the desert, even Peril and Turtle stuck out in a few of them. Notably, the smallest and least noticeable frames were that of his childhood in the Icewing Kingdom, as if pushed back. Most prominent were the happiest memories, ones with his friends and recent ones of his scavenger preservatory. However, Moon looked back to the mirrors once more…

And upon every one of them, Moon's verdant gaze through Winter's eyes remained the constant picture on their surface. Winter's focus seemed to haze over, the snowflakes slowing further until it almost seemed as if Winter's entire mind submerged into water. Moon could tell with certainty that Winter had little control over his thoughts upon seeing her again, every snowflake of memory stopped in time completely the more she focused. And with that rushed forth unease, a world of hurt that Winter so desperately buried where he wouldn't find it; all to have it shaken up in his head like a snowglobe, now that Moon graced his presence once again.

'Do you get it…?'

Winter's conscious voice flooded through his mind, speaking directly to Moon. Moon understood that being back in Winter's life brought up unpleasant memories, but she couldn't understand why he was so adamant on staying put.

'Moon, I'm incredibly happy to see you and Qibli, you know that better than anyone.'

And she did, perhaps better than Winter himself.

'But I've finally been able to move past the hurt… I've found my peace here, I've moved on.'

Now Moon understood more clearly what Winter meant. The minimization of pain, the clarity of mind, and the effects of the past seeping in and dragging him back… Even as Moon looked around in his head, she noted the pangs of regret and doubt freezing the mirrors over, until all that remained were her own eyes staring back.

'Seeing you… I don't know whether I'm losing my sanity or remembering all the pain I tried so hard to forget, but this is more than just me and you, Moon.'

The snowflakes seemed to spread wider and wider by the second, almost encompassing Moon's field of view. She sensed that a panic grew from deep below, a familiar pain that Winter did his utmost to keep suppressed.

'If I go back… I might just lose myself to the things I left behind… and, I…'

Of all the things Moon has seen in Winter's mind, every word and feeling in his scrambled head, none had ever felt as small and scared as he felt now.

'...I don't know if I can handle that…'

Never before did Moon wish she could hug someone in their own head, longing to take away a pain she knew not how to treat. Truly she understood what leaving this haven would mean for Winter, and despite what hung in the balance, Moon didn't have the will to ask any further for

Winter to go, and with this new understanding of where he lay mentally, she backed out of his head.

The two stood face to face again, Moon opening her eyes to see Winter's tear-filled and emotional gaze. Her eyes drifted down to the forest floor, squeezing Winter's talons one last time before letting go.

"I… I understand."

Qibli stood by with a somber yet confused expression, daring not to interrupt their time but aching to understand what went on just now. Moon turned to him slowly.

"I think we should head back to Sanctuary."

Qibli's expression contorted with surprise, begging to ask questions about all this but getting the feeling that Moon would explain later. He simply nodded and let Moon turn back to Winter.

"There's a few Icewings who might be able to help," Winter's voice croaked for a second before he cleared it out, taking a short breath to calm himself some. "Though they might take some convincing too."

"Hey," Moon wrapped Winter in a firm hug, letting her head rest on his shoulder. "Me and Qibli can do this, we'll… we'll figure it out. We always do."

Winter paused for a moment as Moon wrapped her arms around him, and gently he laid his arms around her the same. He laid his head on her shoulder, daring to squeeze her to him softly.

"Alright… thank you guys for visiting, I really appreciate it."

Moon pulled back after a moment, allowing Qibli to go in for a hug as well. Winter accepted it gladly, which Qibli thought strange of him at first, but did nothing to question it.

"Of course Winter, we miss you. We'll come and visit, now that we know where you are."

"That sounds great," Winter let go and offered a nostalgic and appreciative smile. "If there's anything else I can do, let me know, ok?"

"Well," Moon reached in her satchel momentarily. "I do have one more thing."

Winter's head swiveled around, as Moon brought out a fabric pouch from the satchel. She handed it to Winter, who accepted it graciously and curiously.

"A gift?"

Moon's smile seemed a bit shy and anxious, prompting Winter's curiosity further.

"Yeah, I saw it in Sanctuary and I thought you might like it."

The Icewing regarded Moon with a thoughtful glance before emptying the bag into his paw. What fell into his talons was a silver pendant, bound in a simple chain to act as a necklace. Winter turned it over in his talons to find the front engraved with a crescent moon, and there his gaze stayed for what felt like an eternity.

"To um… remind you of us, y'know?"

Winter covered his maw with his paw, hoping to conceal his quivering lip. He nodded, holding back tears as best he could.

"I… I love it. Thank you, Moon."

Moon offered one last smile. "Of course… We'll see you around, ok?"

Winter let his talons back down. "I'd like that. Moon, Qibli… thank you guys."

The two stood there for a moment, neither wishing to leave, but as the sun drew further in the sky and illuminated the heavens into daylight they could wait no longer. Moon sighed to herself, turning aside to the road back to Sanctuary.

"Take care, Winter."

As Moon turned around, Qibli turned with her but not before glancing back to his Icewing friend.

"We'll… see you around. Be safe."

[-[ STOP TRACK ]-]

And as the two traversed the road to Sanctuary, Winter eventually lost sight of them in between the trees, and walked on trembling talons to the lodge. The walk lasted no more than a few minutes until he entered his abode once more, the atmosphere of the lodge sinking him back into reality. Jun sat by the fireplace, still scribbling away as he glanced up to see a disheartened and broken Winter.

Winter flopped down on one of the cushions farthest from the fireplace, twiddling the pendant between his talons still. Jun hopped on over, fascinated and worried by Winter's behavior.

"...I couldn't do it, Jun…" The Icewing rested his head on the floor, the crescent moon reflected in his glacial eyes. "I let them go…"

Jun sat cross legged beside Winter's head, rubbing his snout tenderly. As Winter fiddled with the pendant, he noticed a crease on the edge, and with little difficulty he picked it open. The pendant opened into a locket, with words engraved inside as well.

Like the Moons above
I am always with you.

The Icewing read over those two lines over and over, each time growing more teary eyed, until he couldn't make out the words any longer. He simply closed the locket, and held it in his paws as he buried his snout in the cushion, giving way to his sobs. Jun rubbed his neck and provided what little physical comfort he could.

To his surprise though, Winter stopped himself with a few deep breaths and a hearty BANG of his tail to the floor.

"GET A HOLD OF YOURSELF, WINTER!"

The Icewing shook himself off and wiped his nose after a few sniffles, refusing to give in to his unstable emotional state.

"Don't let yourself get dragged back there, not after all this time…"

He glanced down to the pendant once more, tearing his eyes away from it, only to look at the fireplace. An idea formed in his head, one that caused him to think intensely for a few moments before closing his eyes and sticking the pendant back into the fabric pouch. He couldn't bring himself to toss it away so soon after Moon had gifted it to him, but the pain the memories brought back forced him to keep it tucked away for now.

He sat up once more, sighing to himself. "What am I gonna do, Jun?"

Jun, ever the attentive friend, waved to his Icewing friend to get his attention. Winter's gaze fell down to his scavenger companion.

"Hm?"

Jun simply placed a hand over his heart and kept it there, allowing Winter to discern his meaning. Winter tilted his head in response.

"My heart… you think I should… listen to my feelings?"

A simple head nod from Jun confirmed Winter's theory, forcing him to reevaluate his stance. For years now, Winter did everything in his power to force those feelings and painful memories down; he believed that they were all but gone, and Moon's return proved just the opposite. What he had worked for so long to do, she had undone in but moments. Jun's mention of listening to his emotions forced Winter to think the opposite way: Instead of denying his past and ignoring it, perhaps he should have been accepting his pain and coming to terms with who he was and how he felt. The idea certainly was not an easy one to contemplate, in fact Winter would rather have burned the pendant Moon gave him than dig up everything he kept down. But he could not deny that Jun had a point, if not having given him the idea that Winter agreed with.

Winter simply sighed a deep and deflating breath, admitting to his own messed up mentality in some way.

"Yeah… I think you're right, Jun."

Jun nodded, but this time he pointed to the fireplace rather urgently, to which Winter seemed taken aback some.

"Wait, you're saying I should melt the necklace? I can't do that, Moon gave it to me specifically so-"

Jun interrupted Winter by waving his arms to signal no, and pointed towards the fireplace again, this time slightly to the left. Winter tilted his head again, not getting what his muted friend meant.

"It's not that? Then what…"

Winter followed Jun's arm and where it pointed. Jun was pointing at the fireplace, yes, but between the fireplace and Jun lay a black pyramid object, something definitely not usually there. Winter immediately felt everything else fall by the wayside as he realized what Jun was pointing at.

"...They forgot to take the message from the Starwings…"

Jun nodded in an over exaggerated so Winter would notice, then promptly pointed to the door.

"You're right, I gotta get it back to them-"

Jun again waved no, but pointed to the door. Winter faltered again.

"You… you think I should… take it to Snowfall?"

Winter regarded Jun as a dear friend, and as an equal who despite having no voice, spoke through his actions and gestures. When Jun tried to get something across, Winter usually knew exactly what he meant, and usually what Jun had to say proved to be helpful and wise. Jun's statement about Winter listening to his emotions, and going not to give the message back but directly to Snowfall herself, forced Winter to think long and hard about all this.

The more he thought about it, the longer a list he could come up with of reasons he shouldn't go. He dreaded leaving Harmony to his four trustees, not trusting them to get things done and expected them to squabble amongst themselves like dragonets over the last piece of food. He knew for all but a fact that Snowfall would either have him imprisoned on sight, or outright banished with how their relationship stood, and his mother and father (if they were even still alive) would prove no help at all. Every part of returning to the Icewing Kingdom pricked pins and needles in his sensibilities, and Winter strongly listened to his sensibilities about these matters.

But on the other hand, the prospect of actual space dragons coming to reside on Pyrrhia was a monumental enough issue to make Winter question whether he was right or not. Moon and Qibli convinced him of the importance of this event, and he had to admit he was the most likely candidate for the job of convincing his cousin. However the biggest reason Winter kept coming back to, were two little words that Moon tossed out that could've stopped his heart had she spoken them again.

"...For me?"

Winter found himself clutching the fabric pouch again, tighter and tighter as his brain nearly split in two over the decision. Finally though…

"...rrrgh, for snOWS SAKE, FINE."

Jun jumped up on Winter's neck, and the Icewing burst through the lodge door with a determined anger evident in his eyes. He knew full well that he may come out the other side of this a different dragon altogether… but his reason stood out clear as day to him.

'For Moon.'

-X-

[Author's Note (again): The next chapter will be the last in this story arc! THAT'S RIGHT, ARC 1 IS NEARING COMPLETION! Don't worry though, you're sure to see more after that.~]