Hey all. Here again with another chapter. Man, this week flew by fast. I need to catch up if I want to stay on my schedule that I've set for myself on this. I think I've done well in this one but could probably use improvement as well. I won't claim to be perfect. But I hope you all enjoy this chapter. A little shorter than I'd like, but i couldn't figure out what else to stuff in for where I wanted to leave off. So, hope you all enjoy.

I do not own Wings of Fire.

Normal speech

Thoughts

3rd person POV Focus: Wither

The other dragons scrambled to keep up with Wither as he flew towards the summer palace, His mind caught up in his argument of why he was still going towards everything he had been avoiding for years instead of flying away from it. Tsunami flew up next to him despite Coral's protests. "Hey... You don't have to do this. We're the dragonets of destiny. We'll figure things out." Wither shakes his head. "Not going to lie, that's exactly what my brain is telling me to do... okay, it's what a lot of myself is telling me to do. But with how things are now, if I try to leave, someone..." he rolls his eyes "AKA: Blister, is going to send everything she can to find me and turn me to her side, which just isn't going to happen. I just want to leave in goodwill without anyone charging headfirst into their deaths if they try to attack me."

Tsunami looked a little unsettled but pressed on in their flight. It was about half a day's flight to the summer palace, so it was rather tiring to the young dragonet, the small one in the harness having landed on Coral's back halfway through. He gazed back, eyeing the dragonet, before looking to Tsunami. "A sister I presume?" Tsunami nods. "You could tell?" Wither nodded to her. "Only reason I could think of for the harness." He sighs. "I really wish it didn't have to come to this." Tsunami looked to him, a bit of remorse in her eyes. "I'm... sorry for breaking our promise. I only planned for mother to come, not Blister." He shook his head. "No, at all. Protecting your family is more important than a promise to a relic like me." She blinked, looking confused as they flew on. The wind was indeed favorable on the way back, able to make the distance in about half the time it normally would, sunset approaching as they all arrived at the dragon skull island that hid the summer palace, where Wither noticed something peculiar. Something, or someone, was trying to burrow through the canopy of the summer palace. Before anyone could say anything, he dove down at a frighteningly fast speed, grabbing the dragon who was digging through the green foliage, and yanked him back, both falling onto ground nearby as Wither twisted them so that he was on top of the other, pinning him down. It was a Seawing with pale blue and green scales.

Tsunami came down quickly, before gasping as Coral and blister landed nearby. "Webs!" Wither looked to her curiously, holding the dragon named Webs to the ground. "You know this one?" Coral looked at Webs as well, her glare icy enough that if she was magical, a continent would be frozen over. "Oh yes... I remember this sniveling traitor anywhere. The traitor who left his post, abandoned his tribe, and stole the egg Tsunami hatched from." Tsunami looks to Coral, concern evident in her eyes. "He's also one of the three guardians me and the others had... He wasn't the best guardian, but he was good at teaching us history, and was the nicest of them." Webs gasped from under Wither, who lifted a claw off his neck to let Webs breath. Webs panted, looking to Coral submissively. "Y-you're majesty... I-I've come back to beg for forgiveness... Please. I swear I will never leave you again." Coral scoffed. "I should have you beheaded right here and now." Blister sauntered up next to them, before smiling. "Ah, thank you Wither, for capturing the assassin."

Wither and Tsunami both looked at Blister as if she had grown a second head and had antlers coming out of her horns. Blister continued. "Coral, it's obvious now. Webs has been the one who's been destroying your eggs. He's snuck in before, and he must have been the one who attacked Tsunami in the tunnel. It's the only explanation that makes sense." Coral thought over this, until Wither gave a bark of laughter. "You wouldn't have happened to eat any fruit that had fallen and sat under a tree for a few days? Because that's the only way you could have come to that absurd conclusion." He looks down at webs, still pinned under him. "This dragon couldn't have possibly done both. As I stated before, the distance is simply too large for both actions to have been committed by the same dragon. And I already told you, if my theory is correct, removing the Orca statue should make the hatchery safe. So, hate to burst the bubble of your personal little world where you're the smartest dragon alive, but if you're going to make accusations like that, back it up with a reasonable source instead of speculation." Wither looked to Coral, Blister fuming in rage at being suddenly ignored. "... He's a member of your tribe, so whatever you say goes, your highness. But allow me some advice for you. A good queen is always ready to deliver death to their enemies and the threats to their tribe... but never seeks it out. Only when it is necessary to protect her people." He gives a small smile to her. "Crazy old dragon with a few horns missing told me that a long time ago."

Coral looked to Webs, frowning as she looked like she wanted to tear Webs's throat out, but took a deep breath. "... Webs will be put in the dungeon for the time being until I hear him out... And IF I decide to give him mercy... He will have to start from the very bottom." Wither nods. "A reasonable answer..." He tilted his head as he realized something, looking down to webs. "Wait a minute, you've been hiding for at least a week by the count of the dragonets and Tsunami... Why did you come now?" Webs shivered under his talons, Wither internally groaning about having to deal with a cowardly dragon as webs spoke. "I-I was told that Queen Coral was in a merciful mood, that I could return if I begged hard enough." Wither frowned at this. "... Was the dragon who told you another Seawing?" Webs shook his head. "N-No... It was a Mudwing, Crocodile." Wither actually groaned this time as he pinched the insides of his eyes again with his talons. "Please tell me that you made sure you weren't followed."

Webs blinked, looking confused. "W-why would I need to do that?" Wither stared at him as if he was looking at the stupidest dragon in Pyrrhia, which was how he felt right now. "Oh, I don't know. You tell me if it sounds suspicious that a Mudwing would just conveniently tell a fugitive Seawing that their queen was in a merciful mood and should go back as soon as possible. It's not like they couldn't get an army from the marshes and follow you DIRECTLY HERE!" The idea seemed to dawn on Webs as Wither sighed. "Let's just get him inside for now and pray to the moons he wasn't followed... Worse comes to worse, we may need to evacuate the palace." Coral frowned harder, before nodding. "Very well... I'm not sure I like how convincing you are." He gives a short laugh, responding sarcastically. "It's one of my superpowers."

Wither hoisted Webs up, looking to him. "Just cooperate and you won't get hurt." Webs nodded, and followed as they flew into the tunnel, Wither splashing loudly as he shot through the tunnel with dare say even more grace than a sea wing. He burst out of the pool on the other side, landing on the small beach inside the palace. Everything was quiet other than the waterfalls inside the palace as Wither shook himself off, and then noticed it was because of the dozens of Seawings staring at him.

Coral and Tsunami came out after, Wither looking to them as they shook themselves dry. "First thing I want to do is to check up on the other dragonets and your egg, Queen Coral. Then, I request you send some of your guards to the Deep palace to remove or destroy the Orca statue. And..." He sighs, looking to the side. "This is the hardest request... I'd like to take a look at the body of the one that died. I want to see if there were any other possible elements of the assassin being anything other than the statue." Coral looked appalled by this request. "Letting you in my palace is one thing and helping us with the assassin is something I'm grateful for, but now you want to disrupt my dragonet's body!?" Wither nods. "It's a hard request, I know... But I need to see everything myself to come to a conclusion. Please understand Queen Coral, I don't ask this because of desire, but out of necessity."

Coral debates for a while, looking reluctant as Tsunami came up to her. "Mom... He's just trying to help. If it means protecting the one who's still alive, I think it's worth a try." Coral looks to Tsunami, before sighing, gently nudging her with her snout. "You better be right about this." She turned to Wither. "Fine... We were getting her ready for a proper Burial in the Coral reefs of the deep palace, but I'll have her brought here." Wither nods, giving a polite bow. "I thank you, your majesty." Coral gave the first smile since meeting Wither, before nodding. "Now, let's see if this Sandwing friend of yours has taken care of my egg." Wither rolled his eyes. "Doubt Sunny ever stopped holding it. Has a heart the same shade of gold as her scales, that one." Wither, Tsunami and Coral flew up to the ledge where Tsunami had last seen her friends, Sunny perking up from her spot, still cradling the egg against her chest. "Tsunami! Wither!" Wither gave a small smirk. "Holding up, you little ball of sunshine?"

The others looked to the commotion. Clay looked surprised, Glory looked indifferent, and Starflight averted his eyes. Wither winced a little at that. "Right. Got to apologize for snapping at him." Wither took a look at them, observing the difference since the last time he saw them, feeling a strange sense of... relief? Weird. He shook it off, focusing on the present. "Well, you all seem to be unharmed. That's good." Glory rolled her eyes. "What, Gonna tell us to get off your Island again?" Wither blinked, a little bit of red tint appearing on the cracks in his scales near his cheeks. He shook off the blush, giving a pointed look to Glory. "Well, not exactly thrilled to have my peace and quiet shattered for the second time in a week. But... it wouldn't feel right if I didn't do anything." He looks to Sunny and the egg she was cradling. "Keeping a good eye on it?" Sunny nods, giving an admittedly adorable attempt at a fierce look. "Nobody's getting it on my watch."

Wither chuckled lightly. "Oh, I'm shaking in my scales already." Sunny giggled, before nestling the egg closer to herself. "Did you figure anything out?" Wither had to sigh to that. "Nothing concrete, just a theory so far. Still need to do several precautions before we can return it to the royal hatchery." He turned to Coral. "I recommend having at least one of your dragons stand guard inside the hatchery. Just in case." Tsunami stepped forward. "I'll do it." Coral looked to Tsunami with concern. "Tsunami, dear... are you sure about this?" Tsunami nodded. "Yes. I'll do anything to protect her." Wither nodded. "Well, you had better get going. I have a feeling that this little one is going to hatch tonight, and it is tradition for a princess to hatch in the royal hatchery, is it not? I'll take the night to look over the body for you, Queen Coral. You will get her back." Coral nods, turning. "Very well. Come Tsunami. If you're going to guard them, you'll at least be going armed." They headed out, Sunny looking to Wither as they did. "What do you mean body?" Wither sighed. "The dragonet who was killed last night... I wanted to look over it to see if there were any other signs of who might be the assassin if my theory is wrong."

Starflight couldn't hold himself back anymore. "How are you... smaller now? You used to tower over us." Wither raised his talon, showing the bracelet. "I've had a good number of connections over the years and had this made by an old animus friend of mine." Starflight, Sunny and Glory widened their eyes, while Clay looked confused. "Animus? What's that?" Starflight huffed at Clay. "Didn't you pay attention in history class? Animus is the magic that a very rare few dragons are capable of using." Wither nods. "Yes. I had this made specifically to reduce my size in the event of me visiting any of the palaces. My original size would be just a... tad too big for the tunnel."

He took a breath, looking to Starflight. "I'm... not exactly good at this sort of thing, so I'll just be blunt... I'm sorry for snapping at you a couple of days ago. You... caught me at a bad time, and my emotions were high. You didn't deserve to be snapped at." Starflight blinked owlishly, before nodding. "N-no worries... I was the one being a nosey dragonet..." Wither smirked. "Yeah, well, You're a dragonet. Young and inquisitive. Both good traits but can get you into trouble every now and then." Sunny smiled. "... admit it, you missed us." Wither's blush returned a bit, but easily mistaken for the simple lines under his scales. "... Perhaps. Maybe my isolation has simply made me long for some conversation that wasn't trying to drag me into a war." Sunny giggled. "Thank you for helping us. I didn't want to get you involved, but... Thank you anyway."

Wither nodded as Coral returned, looking conflicted. "... She's here." Wither nodded. "Thank you, your majesty... It would be best if nobody interrupted me as I look her over." Coral was reluctant but nodded. "Fine, but my guards stay outside the room." Wither nodded again. "Reasonable." He turned to the dragonets. "You four be safe. If my theory is right, Tsunami has nothing to worry about tonight." He headed out as Sunny waved, Coral taking him to an outcropping in the stone walls where the limp body of the killed dragonet laid. She was so small, fragile, a beautiful color of aquamarine scales dotted with a sea green pearly color, the phosphorescent Seawing scales evident, but had no glow. Wither sighed, frowning as he came closer, tenderly caressing the area of her scales where she had been strangled to death. "... It's never easier, seeing bodies like this. I've seen plenty, but each is just as hard as the first..." Coral looked to him, before nodding. "You're... very understanding... I think I'm beginning to see why you are so convincing... Have you... experienced this kind of loss before? The loss I feel?" Wither winced as a memory replayed in his mind, his talons holding a pile of dust that slipped through his claws. "... That doesn't matter right now. What matters is that we make sure it never happens again."

Coral nods, looking at Wither's talons, seeing that the stranger before her had clenched them so hard that a trickle of blood was running down them. "I see... Do as much as you can. I want my children safe... And... Thank you, Wither." She flew out, Wither unclenching his talons as the bleeding quickly stopped. "... Not a horrible queen, but too paranoid... She has lost so much, yet has much more to lose..." He gazed at the body, hours passing as he stared at it. It was about midnight when he finally moved, placing a talon on the dragonets head, his other talon resting on her chest. "I will probably regret this... make that definitely, but... I can't stand to see this again." The lines under his scales glowed red as they seemed to move like a flowing liquid, starting from his horns and going down his face and chest, into his talons. Like a river, red lines started to spread onto the dead Seawing dragonet's body, knitting together like threads as it slowly moved to cover her form, seeping into her scales like blood being absorbed by a cloth. Wither's eyes closed as he felt the energy drain from him, before breathing softly. "Your time is not done, dragonet. Return. Live the life that was taken from you." The red lines sewed together like a cocoon, before fading away, seeping into the dragonet's scales. She glowed softly for but a moment, before the red light faded. A minute pasted. Two minutes. Then two sea green eyes opened.

The next morning

Tsunami returned early the next morning, towing a small, newborn dragonet with her. The little dragonet bounded around the sand of the beach near the tunnel to the summer palace, stumbling and blowing sand out of her snout, the other dragonets of destiny huddled around, laughing as they watched the little dragonet play in the sand. Coral was nearby as well, smiling lovingly at her newborn daughter, hugging Tsunami tightly. "Thank you, Tsunami... I... I was so worried that Wither was wrong." Tsunami smiled, nuzzling into her mother. "Good thing he wasn't... to think Orca would come up with this sort of plan." Coral nodded. "Yes, but now it's over... Have you thought of a name?" Tsunami looked at the little dragonet, who was shaking sand out of her talons. "... Auklet." Coral smiled. "That's a wonderful name, Sweetie." Wither landed a bit of a ways away from them, walking over as he observed Auklet. "She's healthy, and most importantly, not dead." Tsunami nodded. "... I... still feel horrible that one of my sisters died..."

Wither stopped for a second, before looking to Coral. "... What would her name have been?" Coral blinked, looking down. "... Wave... We were going to call her Wave..." Wither nodded. "A good name." Tsunami frowned. "... not really for a grave." Wither nodded. "Yes... a name on a grave is never easy, but... well, that's not why I was asking." The dragonets and Coral looked puzzled, before Wither before turned to look behind him. "What do you think, little one?" Coral and Tsunami both looked even more confused, before the world seemed to stop for them. They could only stare in confusion and bewilderment as... the dragonet who had died, been strangled to death, the princess whose body they had found two days ago, walked towards them with shaky legs. Coral's mouth opened and closed, tears threatening to fall from her eyes, her voice on the verge of cracking. "...H-H-How?..." Wither smiled to her. "Does it matter?" He nudged Wave forward. "Go on. Go meet your mother, Wave." Wave blinked, wobbling over to Coral, looking up with a confused expression. "M-M-Mama...?"

Coral let go of Tsunami, before hesitantly wrapping her talons around wave, her expression hopeful but full of dread, thinking this might all just be a dream. It was when Wave nuzzled into her chest that she broke down into tears, hugging the little dragonet as tightly as she could without hurting her as she whispered over and over again through sobs. "My baby... My baby..." Tsunami looked to wave, confused and a little cautious as the strange dragon smiled at the scene. She approached him, caution wining over respect. "Why and how?" Wither looked to her. "Why? I did it because I've grown tired of seeing families broken by this sort of tragedy. As for how... Afraid that's a secret I'll be taking with me to my grave... Whenever that happens. Besides, it really doesn't matter." Tsunami couldn't answer to that, only able to watch as Queen coral hugged the child she thought she had lost, Tsunami unable to help herself from smiling at her third younger sister. Wither had a small smile. "Well, If nothing else, I think the story that Queen Coral will write about this will be a big hit..." He leans in and whispers to Tsunami. "Um... I am actually a really big fan of her stories... Think you could get her to sign my copy of 'The lost princess'? It's my favorite."

Tsunami couldn't help but laugh, Wither chuckling alongside her as he looked to Coral, who had gone to cradling Wave in her talons, bringing Auklet into the hug as he sighed. "Well, that's means there's only two things left to take care of." Tsunami looked to him. "What would those be?" Wither eyed her. "What to do with Webs, for one thing... And... It was the statue that attacked the eggs. So, the final question is..." He turned to face her directly. "... Who was the dragon who attacked you?"

So, there you have it. A little more info on Wither and what he can do. I will just make this disclaimer; Wither is not of any Cannon tribe of the Wings of Fire universe. He's from a tribe of my own imagination, though the name is not exactly original. I see Wither as someone who believes actions speak louder than words. I hope this story doesn't come off as me just "Fixing" things, i want this world to branch out naturally with the changes that will happen due to Wither's involvement in all this. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, leave a review if you'd like, and I'll see you all next week.