Chapter 2: Opening Scenery

Deafening was the silence that followed Morrowseer's statement. Bloodwalker put together that the plan involved taking over the rainforest through using him as a terror inducing influence, hoping that the primitive Rainwings would flee to better pastures. He looked at the porous screen, where he hoped to see a glimpse of Battlewinner's eyes. He got his wish, clear black permeated by a hint of blue hues. It was as if ice had imbued itself in the eye. Cold, devoid of anything positive, only the endless drive for power, and willing to grind anyone down who stood in their way. Of course, this meant that Battlewinner saw his eyes, if only a moment. Retreating into the shadows, he heard Battlewinner start to converse, but overcome by a hacking cough.

Retreating into the folds of the fortress, he looked for Deathbringer, and reasoned he was in the wing that held Quickstrike. Rushing over there, he saw his parents, Quickstrike, and Deathbringer there.

"Mother..(pant, pant)..Father...(pant) I have something to tell you." Bloodwalker gasped out, on the brink of collapse, and the ever-present ash in the air was not helping.

Knifewielder helped her son up and said something, "So you overheard them?" Bloodwalker paused, took a moment to process what his mother had just said, and decide what do do about it.

"YOU KNEW ABOUT THIS?! AND YOU DIDN'T TELL ME!?" exclaimed Bloodwalker.

Knifewielder winced at the volume that he spoke. "Yes, we felt if you found out about the mission beforehand, it might add stress on you, especially if you heard them say some...unflattering ways of speaking about you." she replied sadly.

Bloodwalker growled, but quickly calmed himself. "I'm not stressed about thd mission, just the fact that I'm only seen as valuable for my eyes. I will do it, but I can't really respect this plan." He forced out and pulled away. Tromping out of the castle, he suddenly ran into Mastermind.

"Oh! Just the dragon I needed to see! Please do come with me, I have something that will be incredible!" Mastermind exclaimed. Bloodwalker didn't even get a chance to respond as the scientist pulled him towards his chamber. As usual, several scrolls and snippets of info lay out on the tables. But what Mastermind laid out for him was something he could never gave expected.

They looked eerily similar to Mastermind's glasses, but were much more triangular, and had black tinted lenses. Mastermind, without hesitation, put the odd contraption around Bloodwalker's head, where the glass pieces fit perfectly above the eyes. Still reeling, Bloodwalker tried to pull it off, but Mastermind held his talons down.

"These lenses allow you to see, but hide your red eyes. While wearing these, you would be nearly imperceptible to the Rainwings." Mastermind explained.

"I'm really not liking that everyone seems to know about this mission except for me." responded Bloodwalker. Mastermind shrugged his shoulders. Going back to his workstation, he brought up a small pouch to keep the lenses in. He showed Bloodwalker how to remove them, and put them in the pouch. Bloodwalker awkwardly said goodbye and went back to his room to wait for the inevitable assignment.

Lo and behold, Morrowseer came in, and started giving him details about how this mission was important, for the good of the tribe, how he should take this at highest priority. The normal claptrap he heard when Deathbringer was assigned a job. Later that day, he left his home, and looking back, he didn't realize yet how much he would miss it.

Getting through with the help of an official letter from Morrowseer, he traveled through the tunnel . As he was going through, he felt something strange. Something like cold ice sliding down his spine. This tunnel, whatever it was, was not natural. Coming outside, he was surprised to see he was coming out from the middle of a tree. This confirmed his belief that this was animus magic of some sort. Going into the dead of night, he reluctantly put on the lenses. Making his way through the forest, he listened intently for any sound.

Then, he heard it. A faint whisper if voice, through the ancient trees endless rustling. He turned towards the sound, and made his way toward the source. Hiding just out of sight of a clearing, he saw something he was never expecting in this entire mission.

There was a Nightwing hatchling hidden in a bush. Normal eyes would have simply glanced over it, but Bloodwalker was an assassin, trained to always notice everything. He was confused. Why would they raise a Nightwing here, siring the same term as his mission. But when she peeked her snout out, things became even more staggeringly confusing. Her snout had a more pointed look, and moreover, looked incredibly like Morrowseer. There was no mistake, this dragonet had to belong to Morrowseer, but his last dragonet had died in the shell, or so Secretkeeper had said. He determined he would confront her later, but he decided to leave well enough alone. A bristle of movement behind him caused alarms to sound off in his head, and he turned around to see a truly ancient Rainwing. Her face was wrinkled, her eyes stared without seeing, yet held the kindest smile on her face.

Bloodwalker began to panic. He hadn't even lasted a day. He'd been discovered. What would his family say? The Rainwing looked down at him and seemed surprised.

"Well," she started, female by the tone of her voice, "Your not the one I usually see, although, I really can't see much at all." Bloodwalker became a bit more relaxed. This Rainwing must have a seeing issue. If he played his cards right, he may be able to get away with her seeing him. But all that brushed to the side when the Rainwing pushed past him, and plucked a fruit from a nearby tree. Kneeling down, she rolled it over to the bush where he had seen the Nightwing dragonet. A quick claw nabbed it and clearly started to eat.

The Rainwing turned back to him and asked, "Well, I havent had any visitors recently, why don't you come to my hut?". Bloodwalker was starting to question whether or not he was still thinking straight since he hadnt run yet, so he decided to be polite. She couldn't see him.

"Well, pardon me, but you haven't told me your name." inquired Bloodwalker.

"Oh, thats easy. My name is Loyalty."

I think this one fell a bit flat, but what do you guys think. Please review. Peace out!