Fallen sky

by Slinkkangaroo

An attack on Jade mountain confuses the Queens of Pyrrhia. Not who attacked it, but why three of the dragons that made it in the first place are the culprits.

1. Chapter 1

Snowfall always liked the Sandwing castle. Yes, it DID require a lot of annoyance and pain to get there but that was because she was an Icewing in the desert. But the castle itself was beautiful and full of life. Mostly because Snowfall could admire the similar color patterns that she herself enjoyed so much. It was pale yellow with hints of sandstone and obsidian making the castle seem like a giant Sandwing. The outer walls had been changed from the brutal addition to a more friendly pattern that represented each tribe.

The Icewing Queen entered alone as the royal meetings were private affairs. She waved off her guards who nodded and began flying back to the Ice kingdom. Thorn would send two Sandwings with each Queen so they were not alone on the trip back. It allowed the meetings to be held in secret while also guaranteeing safety for the Queens. Snowfall saw the Skywing Queen Ruby and gave a wave and approached her. "Ruby." She said, bowing.

The Skywing returned the bow and addressed Snowfall similarly. "A pleasure to see you again. Do you know why Thorn has called this meeting? It seemed out of nowhere." Though the Skywing looked as if she had a bone to pick herself but was keeping it in. Snowfall was curious but she figured it wasn't her business.

In truth, the Icewing knew that the others would expect her to know about the reason as she was close to Thorn, more close than anyone else. The two didn't keep many secrets aside from tribe discourse. (Though Snowfall tended to let some of it slip when she was venting) Unfortunately, Thorn hadn't brought up anything urgent that would require a meeting. In fact, she had been in a positive mood before. "I'm unsure. Maybe it has to do with delivery or something?"

"I thought so." Ruby spoke with a hint of annoyance and urgency. "Let's hope she's come up with a solution to our bandit problem."

"Bandits?" Snowfall questioned and tilted her head. "What bandits? I haven't heard anything about that."

Ruby seemed surprised as her eyes stared at Snowfall with interest. "Ah! I guess it makes sense. You aren't taking fruit from the Rainforest, are you?"

Snowfall bristled and shook her head. She was NOT willing to do ANYTHING that involved that stupid, lizard breathing Rainwing. She could go chew on a cactus for all Snowfall cared. "I'm guessing something is going on at the Rainforest borders?"

Ruby nodded. "Yes, but I'm guessing you will hear more about it during the meeting. If Glory even shows up." Ruby said the last bit like it was a piece of meat stuck in her teeth.

The two walked inside as the Sandwing guards stood in position in case of a threat. The walls of the palace seemed to get more beautiful with each visit. The different shades of yellow stuck out from each other and offered a unique experience that only the Sandwing castle could give. They walked past the many twists and turns that the large castle had until finally arriving at the dining hall that had only one other dragon inside of it, Queen Moorhen. She waved at the two and gestured for them to take their seats.

Each seat was specifically designed for each Queen with a chair that symbolized their tribe. (Tribes, in one dragon's case) Thorn sat at the head with Coral and Queen Moorhen to her left and Ruby and Glory to her right. Snowfall was given her own chair at the opposite end to Thorn which made her feel a little bit special but mostly it was because she was the last Queen to be instated.

The two took their seats and Snowfall remembered the one thing she DID hate about the castle, the seats always felt like sitting on sand. It wasn't too bad but geez was it annoying when you thought about it or tried to move. She finally found a good position and looked to the chair on her left. It had a star symbol surrounding different fruits, the symbol of the united rainforest. "Way too flashy."

Moorhen nibbled on one of the many roasted lizards that were on the table and Snowfall noticed a gap where a bunch of lizards probably were before the Mudwing Queen arrived. There were tons of the little creatures and Snowfall took one but knew she wouldn't enjoy it that much. It had a scaly texture to it and tasted like what the Icewing would imagine crickets taste like. She wished they had something else but the desert didn't have much available. That was when Coral, Queen of the Seawings, made her her way in and took her seat. She looked at the united chair and sighed. "Still absent?" She asked to no one in particular.

Ruby twirled a lizard leg in her claws. "Seems like it." She said with slight anger in her voice.

The Queen of the Sandwings made herself known and let out a fake cough to get everyone's attention. She looked at Glory's chair but didn't say anything. She went to the large Sandwing throne on the head of the table and sat down. She took a lizard and ate it before starting the discussion, taking a sip of water to clear her throat.

"I am glad you all could make it. I'm sure most of you know what this is about but for the two who don't, our deliveries from the rainforest have been attacked by a strange group of dragons. Today's meeting was supposed to come up with some kind of solution. I think we should establish a new trade route. Thoughts?"

Ruby swayed her tail wildly from behind her chair. "The bandits will just figure it out and do it all over again. We need a permanent way to stop them. What if we set up a trap and capture them?"

Queen Moorhen shook her head. "I don't want to put my Mudwings in danger. These bandits are more dangerous than you think. Besides, we need Glory's permission since they are on the rainforest side of the borders."

"A lot of good that does us. If Glory isn't even going to show up, then what are we even supposed to do?" Ruby asked the group while Snowfall remained unsure. It SOUNDED like Glory should be doing something but it seemed like she wasn't even willing to show up for the meetings. Why was that?

Last Snowfall remembered, Glory had made it to the Queen meeting about the other continent but ever since she's been a no show. She held single meetings but Thorn seemed unhappy with hers and Snowfall's resulted in a screaming match that ended with both dragons being covered with fruit. "Not my fault she's an insufferable stooge." Three meetings had been called since and Glory had skipped all of them. In fact, she didn't even send someone in her place.

"I think she wants the rainforest to be separate from the rest of Pyrriah." Ruby muttered loud enough for everyone to hear. "She probably thinks that ruling two tribes means she doesn't have to work with the rest of us."
Moorhen took another lizard and after swallowing it whole, spoke. "She was younger than Snowfall when she took charge. What if she's let that power get to her head? Maybe Grandeur should have kept power until she was ready." Snowfall was not a fan of the idea that she was similar to Glory based on their age. She was MUCH better at ruling.

Thorn shook her head. "She knows how to rule. She's been ruling longer then I have-"

"And how did your last meeting go?" Ruby questioned the host. "Our experiences may differ but she was unwilling to hear anything I said. She was just a brooding dragonet in the corner waiting until I was ready to leave." She looked around the table and caught Coral's look of agreeance. "Coral? You haven't spoken yet. I think we would all like to hear your thoughts."

The Seawing Queen looked uneasily at her claws that were tapping the table. "I haven't spoken with Glory in quite some time." She said simply. "Our last meeting wasn't great, I will admit that, but she was clearly having trouble with both tribes. It isn't easy ruling one tribe as we all know." She seemed to wait for laughter that didn't come. Though Snowfall didn't disagree with the sentiment. Icewings were super difficult to work with and Nightwings sounded like an outright nightmare.

Thorn narrowed her eyes at Ruby. "As I was saying, Glory has had more experience than you are giving her credit for," Ruby's eye roll was very noticeable to anyone that wasn't eating the lizards. "So I hope we can all give her the benefit of the doubt. Until then, I advise we not send any more dragons to collect the fruits. We need her to notice that something is wrong and I believe this is the best way to do it."

Snowfall could think of a few other ways to get the Rainwings attention but most just ended with storming into the Rainforest and making the next meeting there. Wait, wasn't Tsunami visiting the Sea kingdom? And wasn't she friends with Glory? "Hey Coral," The Seawing looked over to the Icewing. "Why don't you just ask Tsunami to take the message for us? Actually, why didn't you ask Sunny to do it, Thorn?"

The idea sounded genius to her so why were the two parents even more unnerved then when the Glory meetings were mentioned?
"Tsunami has been very distant. I do not wish to share the rest, just know she does not seem to be doing very well." Was the Seawings response.

Thorn gave a knowing nod to Coral. "Sunny has not been returning my letters. I am not even sure she is reading them but I haven't been willing to make the trip to see her. Enforcing the scavenger rule has not been easy and I need to make sure it's being followed."

So neither of them had any interaction with Glory or her friends in that way. Tsunami seemed like the dragon to yell at her sickness until it went away. "So that's it then? Just stop the fruit deleviers?" Snowfall was ready to wrap up the meeting if that was all that was needed to be said.

Thorn nodded and was about to end it with thanks to the other Queens for joining but the hurrying of clawsteps and wing beats turned everyone's attention to the entrance of the room. A guard shouted something about 'stop!' and ' not allowed!' which ended with the door being forced open. Snowfall prepared to go on the offensive just in case but it was a familiar Sandwing that entered. A familiar Sandwing, Nightwing and Icewing in fact.

"QIBLI!" Thorn said with a dark look. It was rare for Snowfall to see the Outclaw leader that she knew Thorn was but this was definitely the closest she had gotten. "What is the meaning of this interruption?"

The Sandwing stopped himself and went from tired and exhausted to worried. He seemed a lot smaller under the glare of the Queen but Moon didn't seem quite as phased, though when the gaze turned to her she faltered as well. "I-it's the academy!" She said worriedly. "Riptide was hurt and unconscious and the whole feeding lounge was scratched up and the others were nowhere to be seen!"

Winter nodded his head in affirmation. "It's true. We all saw it. Kinkajou is nursing Riptide back to health and Umber is looking around to make sure no one else was in there. We came here as fast as we could."

Coral and Ruby had the same fearful expression while Moorhen looked nervous. Clay may not have been one of her subjects but he was still a Mudwing. Snowfall couldn't not stare at her tired cousin and wonder why he was standing so close to the Nightwing. "What do you expect us to do?"

Snowfall wished she hadn't said that since Thorn looked at her with more certainty then anything she had ever seen. "We must go and see what is going on. If someone attacked the academy, I think we should all investigate. The school is meant to represent all of our tribes, right?" Once everyone agreed, though Snowfall was still uncertain what they could even do about it, Thorn nodded to Qibli. "Take us. If this is truly important, then we must see it with our own eyes."

Another flight through the desert which meant more sweat and joint pains. The sun beat down on her icy-blue scales and since she wasn't used to the heat, her wing beats felt like they needed twice as much energy to perform. She had fallen into the back next to Winter who seemed to be having a similar issue. Though he fared much better then her since he spent more time in the desert to hang out with Qibli and Moon who alternated between the rainforest and desert.

"So…how's home?" Snowfall remembered that Winter never ever ever visited and she decided to not bring that up out of the goodness of her heart.

"Not bad. In fact, Lynx had a semi-decent idea that involved those little creatures you like so much. Basically we started taking and holding animals like them so we wouldn't run out. I think it's boring but whatever."

Winter grinned at her. "Sounds like you're jealous she came up with it first. Just like every other great idea that she 'stole' from you."

He received a thump by her claw against his side in response. "Don't mock your Queen or I'll have you executed. Hey, speaking of dragons that I pardoned, how's Crystal doing?"

Winter shrugged as they finally left the desert, feeling the great air hit her wings. "She's doing fine. That Mudwing of hers is super interested in puzzles for some reason. Can't get enough of them. I think he also wants to visit the Ice kingdom one day but Cr-" His face turned from calm to a worried realization real quick. He wouldn't look at Snowfall and instead tried to change the subject. "What about those scavengers?"

Snowfall narrowed her gaze. "What did Crystal say or do? Why doesn't she want to go back for a visit?" Was it something she said? It couldn't be, they hadn't talked in a good while.

Winter's face finally met hers with a droopy expression. "She just…isn't sure how you will treat him is all. He's a Mudwing, not an Icewing…"

"Why would I care?!" She scowled. She didn't care when she met him! Did she? Well, he wasn't an Icewing and she couldn't imagine her royal sister dating a Mudwing and now she was. Well, he may not have been cute or smart or anything but if Crystal liked him then who was she to judge…"Am I judging him right now? Does this count? I don't think it should. I can have my own thoughts even if I don't voice them! Oh wait, what did Lynx call that? Hm, pretty sure it counts but what does Lynx know?"

Winter looked back to the mountain as they closed in on the academy. "I don't know. She just told me not to tell you…" Her cousin was usually pretty sure of himself and that made him super annoying. Hanging out with those two weirdos made him a lot more tolerable. Though she still thought the Sandwing was an annoying know it all and Moon could REALLY stop reading her mind. "Wait a second." She scowled as she saw the Nightwing flinch and did not dare to turn around.

"Whatever. I'll deal with her later." Winter's wings halted a little at that, making him fly like a pigeon. "How close are we? I am really tired. Like I could eat a walrus right now."

Winter pointed to the largest mountain in the world and nodded. "Good, because we're here."

The three were NOT kidding when they said the eating lounge was a mess. Tables were turned or broken in half; the walls had massive black ash splots; food was thrown all over the area. It was a mess. Luckily for everyone but Coral, Riptide looked a lot better than how they made it seem. His snout was bandaged up and the Seawing had massive scratches that didn't look permanent along his stomach. Kinkajou had been applying some kind of ointment to his wounds when they got in and Thorn was the first dragon to go over and try and help.

Snowfall looked around the room and heard dragons approaching the main hall and turned to see a Mudwing and Nightwing who Snowfall guessed was not Starflight and Clay. "Umber, right?" She whispered to Winter who nodded. "Umber! Who's that?"

The Mudwing seemed alarmed at being addressed by a Queen or he was just alarmed that the Icewing Queen was so young. Either way, Snowfall decided to avoid it and just hear him out. "Uh, hello…your majesty? This is Fatespeaker."

The Nightwing bowed to Snowfall and ran over to Riptide to make sure he was ok. That was when Snowfall realized that the Nightwing's eyes looked red and dry. Her face was dark and sad. Her breathing seemed concerning as she took deep breaths each time she tried to speak to the Seawing.

When Snowfall looked back, she saw that Thorn and Coral were running past them and down the hall. "Hey, wait!" Snowfall called out but the two ignored her and she realized when they turned that they were checking on the teachers lounge. Snowfall approached Riptide and after seeing that none of the other Queens were going to speak, she addressed them. "Ok, so what happened? And don't leave anything out."

Riptide rested a wing reassuringly on Fatespeaker who looked close to tears. "I was visiting Tsunami but I didn't realize she was down at the Sea palace. Fatespeaker said I could hang out here until she got back and this morning, I came in to get something to eat and Clay attacked me." He bristled at the memory. "He was something else. Have you ever been hit by a limping boulder? That was what it felt like. Once he had me pinned, I yelled for help and Da-Webs came in but I saw a flash of yellow tackle him. When I finally shoved Clay off, he shot fire all over the room. The rest is fuzzy but I remember feeling a splitting headache and everything went dark. Then Kinkajou was giving me a bandage while Webs was walking back to the teachers lounge. I don't know what Fatespeaker was doing."

"Clay just attacked him? Why? Wasn't Clay like, super nice or something?" She could have sworn that the Mudwing dragonet of destiny was slow to anger and even slower to actually cause harm. What could have provoked this? "Ok, Moon, did you see any of this?"

Moon shook her head sadly. "We didn't stop to check. We just saw Riptide hurt and left to go get Thorn. She was closer and we hoped a Queen could help." Wait, Glory is way closer…

"Ok, Well Fatespeaker, what did you see?" Snowfall asked while Qibli was muttering something about 'Clay?' and 'Attacked?'.

All eyes were on Fatespeaker who seemed unsure of herself. She took another deep breath and tried to explain. "S-Starflight asked me to go get some scrolls from the back shelf. While I was back there, I heard wing beats of someone getting closer and when I turned to look, a scroll shelf was shoved down on top of me. After pushing it off, S-Starfl-Starflight…" She couldn't finish the rest and hid her face behind her wings. Snowfall wasn't too sympathetic to Nightwings but she looked beyond grief. Riptide tried to comfort her and Snowfall waved in a gesture so she didn't have to continue.
"So both Starflight and Clay just attacked you two out of nowhere…that yellow flash must have been Sunny attacking Webs before he could help. But whose wing beats did you hear?" She asked. "Moon, Qibli and Winter couldn't have gotten here that early and judging by their faces, they didn't know who the attackers were before their second arrival.

Fatespeaker sniffled with her face still covered. "I'm not sure…I'm sorry." She mumbled out.

"Hm, I think we should check just in case. Winter?" She asked and the Icewing nodded. The two headed out of the room and out the window, flying around to check the area. The wind was really nice against her scales. The mountain was large enough so even a simple circle around was going to take awhile.
Winter hummed nervously when they saw a small patch of trees but when they checked, nothing was inside. "What do you think about this? It's super sketchy, isn't it?"

She scraped her claws against a tree to sharpen them. "Yeah. I don't know them too well but none of them-minus Tsunami, none of them seem like the type of dragons to just attack their friends for no reason."

"I've known them for a bit and it's super far out in legitimacy. But Fatespeaker wouldn't lie about Starflight. Riptide is a cool dragon and he wouldn't do it either about Tsunami's friends. Honestly, I'm a little worried that something worse is going on."

Fatespeaker remembered what Moon had said and turned to face her cousin with a serious expression. "What did Moon mean by 'Thorn was the closest Queen'? The Rainforest is right over there and way closer." Winter somehow looked even more worried and that was enough Snowfall needed. "When was the last time you went to the rainforest? Actually, when was the last time Moon went to the rainforest?"

"Moon doesn't want me to say…" He muttered.

Snowfall glared daggers at him. "As your Queen, I'm ordering you to tell me. So explain." He still looked unsure but judging by her sharpening of talons, he wasn't in a good position to argue.

"Glory told her to leave. She said it was for her safety but I don't buy it." He said with his typical frustrated scowl that she knew all too well. "Moon was really hurt by it and she sucks at hiding her feelings. Apparently Glory wasn't even the one to make her leave, Deathbringer was. I'm not sure what has been going on but I don't like it."

So Moon was kicked out by Deathbringer for her own safety…"Did he do it to protect her from a threat or from Glory?"

"They might be one in the same if my hunch is correct." He bristled. "I think we should go back. I don't see anything."

"Yeah. Maybe we should but I want to be sure." She saw a small cave that wasn't connected to the academy halls and Snowfall dove down to check it out with Winter behind her. It was a small circular den that looked as if it could hold two dragons. Inside was moss and more moss and a snake that slithered off when it saw the giant creatures approach it. There was nothing out of the ordinary that Snowfall could see. It looked like an ordinary den that a scavenger would try to hide in. That was when she spotted a jewel of some kind. It was small and red with a dragon symbol scratched into it.

"Strange." Was all Winter had to say about the find.

The Icewing was super useful. "I think we should take this back to the others. Whoever was supposed to be here clearly left before you guys arrived."

Once they returned to the eating lounge they saw Webs and Riptide chewing on some fish with Coral glaring at them from a separate, not split in half, table eating the exact same type of food. Fatespeaker was talking with Thorn about something that, judging by their looks, was very urgent. Ruby and Moorhen were talking to Umber and while Snowfall was seeing all of this, she realized her cousin had ditched her for his friends. With no one else to talk to, she approached Webs who was an old, sweaty Seawing. "Hey, so I've gotten their stories about what happened. Mind giving me yours?"

It took the dragon a moment to realize that he was talking to the Icewing Queen and he bowed rather uncertainty. "Y-yes, of course. I was preparing my lessons for next month when I heard my son-" Riptide found major interest in the table for some reason, staring at the broken shards of the table. "Scream, I ran in to see what was going on and was shocked to see Clay tackling him to the ground. I wasn't sure what to do and that was when Sunny of all dragons pinned ME down!" he looked aghast. "I never would have believed…I mean I've seen her fight before but nothing like that. Kestrel would have been happy, i'll give them that."

Snowfall didn't care who this 'Kestrel' person was so she continued. "What happened after?"

"I did my best but I'm getting old. I was out of breath and then someone, I'm guessing Clay, hit me on the head with something and everything went black. When I woke up, Riptide was hurt as well and Kinkajou was helping us. I didn't feel comfortable staying in the same room I got attacked in and went back to my study room." His voice was boring and he spoke like the worst kind of history teacher. "I am so glad I never had to sit in a lesson with this old dragon."

"Ok, I think I've got everything then. Well, almost everything. Hope you two get to feeling better." They thanked her as well and the Icewing made her way out of the lounge and into the dark hallway. She noticed how little torches were lit and about half of them had been knocked down to the floor which Snowfall needed to walk over. Each entrance was labeled. History, writing, reading, medicine, fight training. "Hm, most dragons just call it battle training." Not important. Down a little further away she saw the room that she was looking for. The library.

Inside was a giant circular room with scrolls upon scrolls scattered around. The shelfs that should have held them had been toppled over, smashed into the ground with wood and stone splintered over the ground. To the right of her was what looked like a front desk that had burn marks. The person that burned it probably wasn't looking where they were firing. "So Sunny was probably in her room and after hearing Riptide's cry, she saw Webs run past her and decided to try and stop him. Starflight was alone with Fatespeaker. But why? Why would they do this?"

"Snowfall?" The Queen turned to see Thorn standing at the entrance with a grim smile on her face. She was obviously trying to look reassuring but the news of the attack was breaking that facade of confidence. "I was told you went down here. Are you ok?"

"I should ask you the same thing." Snowfall said sadly. "You're closer to them then I am. What are your thoughts on this whole ordeal?"

Thorn grimaced and flicked a scroll away. "I don't know honestly. I thought I knew them. They're some of the nicest dragons I've ever met. I can't imagine Sunny attacking Webs like that or Clay attacking Riptide."

Snowfall made a low hum, similar to her Cousin. "What if those three are lying?"

Thorn shook her head and sat down, staring at the windows. "No. I've met a lot of liars and thieves in my life and those three aren't like that. They were honest the whole way through their stories and they all seem to collaborate. Clay attacked Riptide, Sunny probably knew Webs was going to help and stopped him and Starflight could get Fatespeaker alone. Once they were all down, they left before Winter and the others could see anything. My question is still why."

"That's the question that doesn't seem to have a good answer. If they wanted to get rid of them, why would they leave them alive? If they wanted to escape, why wouldn't they just wait until the others were asleep? What could have provoked Clay? It all makes my head spin. The three have no reason to attack and yet they did."

Thorn nodded then traced her talon along the broken drawing of five dragons. Probably the dragonets of destiny. "I think I need to investigate the rainforest. Glory has to know about this.

"About that, Winter told me something about the rainforest that you need to hear." Snowfall was tempted to keep it hidden as it wasn't her place but if Thorn was going to go visit Glory, then she couldn't go in unprepared. "Glory or Deathbringer kicked Moon out of the kingdom for her 'safety' and it se-"

Thorn silenced her with a gesture. "So he told you? Qibli said something similar but he was certain it was Deathbringer. Before you say it, I know it may seem nefarious but Qibli was actually there. According to him, Deathbringer was very worried about Glory, more likely what Glory was doing, and sent Moon away just in case. I know how you feel about the assassin but he wouldn't put Moon in danger if he could avoid it."

Was her opinion on that stupid bodyguard that obvious? "Oh, well nevermind then. Though I don't think visiting her would be too good right now." Snowfall said nervously, taking a step towards her fellow Queen. "What if she does something, or is involved? If you tell her she might try to stop you from spreading the word. Not that it would. I mean, every other Queen knows now."

Thorn snickered softly. "Yes, I reckon she wouldn't be too happy if your theory is correct. Though I must say, I doubt she would be. You don't know her like I do."

That was probably true. Thorn came to power a few days after Glory and they were both pretty close to each other in terms of distance. Though wasn't Glory the 'I only do stuff by myself' type of Queen? "I tried that. Not a fan." Snowfall looked over to Thorn. "I still don't think it's safe for you to go there. Not until we get more information."

Thorn stared curiously at Snowfall. "What do you suggest, Snowfall?"

The Icewing tapped her chin. On the one claw, they could all confront Glory together. If they did so, she would have to respond. But maybe…"I think we should send out a scouting party to find Clay, Sunny and Starflight. Once we find them we can figure out why they did this."

Thorn hid a small look of pride that Snowfall caught a glimpse of. "Not bad. I'll take my leave and set that up. Let's go tell the others, shall we?"

Snowfall nodded and the two left the library, entering the eating lounge to see every dragon eating some food and fixing the tables. Riptide and Webs had gotten into a discussion with Fatespeaker who looked a bit better though still hurt by the attack. Ruby approached the two and gave them a questioning gaze. "Did you two find anything?"

"Nothing that we don't already know." Thorn grumbled. "When I get back to my castle I'll send out a search patrol. I suggest you all do the same." She said the second part a bit louder so Moorhen and Coral could hear. "Qibli, grab your friends and guard the academy. I want you to report to me if you find them." He nodded. "With that, I'll take my leave. I assume we all have business in our kingdoms?"

Snowfall was glad to finally leave. The Queens waved goodbye to the Jade winglet plus Riptide, Fatespeaker and Webs. They were about to take off, standing at the edge of the mountain when two pairs of wing beats were flying fast and straight for them. "Stop." Moorhen said to all of them and took flight. Being the largest, she would be more threatening. "Smart." Snowfall thought. "WHO GOES THERE?" The Mudwing bellowed from a beast deep within her throat.

Once the dragons came into view, Snowfall could see that one was green and one was sky blue with shades of pink. She was about to ask what they were doing to Thorn only to see Coral fly straight past Moorhen and to them. "My dragonets!" It was a little odd she still referred to them as that. "Anemone, you have SCRATCHES!" She shrieked then reached over and tapped a scratch on Turtle's wing as well, grimacing.

Snowfall followed Ruby and Thorn who flew over to the Seawings. Anemone rested her head in her mothers chest while Turtle looked more out of breath than Winter had flying through the desert. "M-mother, It's T-Tsunami!" He said between gasps. "S-she just at-attacked us…" His stomach rose and fell. "She stopped chasing us when we surfaced…I think she knew…we were go-going to get he-help…"

Coral looked more furious than any dragon Snowfall had ever seen. "NO guards helped my DRAGONETS?" She yelled.

Anemone shook her head. "They did! But she got a hold of a spear…No one is dead but, wow, she can fight…like, really well…"

Turtle nodded in agreement. "She also fights dirty."

Snowfall looked out into the ocean. She pictured the two heirs running for their lives as their older sister tried to stab them with spears. 'What about Auklet?" Coral cried out. Turtle reminded her that Auklet was under VERY heavy protection in the deep sea palace while Tsunami was in the summer palace.

"I think you two should come inside." She pointed to the castle. "Coral, go back to the sea and warn your guards to watch out for Tsunami." The Queen looked heartbroken. It finally dawned on her that this threat was her own daughter. Thorn guided the two Seawings inside so they could get some rest from the attack. Moorhen groaned and muttered something about needing to alert her Mudwings and she flew off as well with Ruby following. "Go, Thorn. I'll talk to them and figure it out then tell you."

"Thank you, Snowfall. Good luck, and be safe."

When Thorn flew off, Snowfall glared at the sea. "Alright…so that's four dragonets of destiny that just attacked for no reason." Her eyes turned to the dense forest with storm clouds hovering over it in the far distance. "I wouldn't be surprised if we had a fifth in our midst." And she flew back into the academy. Inside was Turtle being hugged by Kinkajou and Anemone and Moon awkwardly not looking at each other. "Ok, I would like for you two to explain what happened exactly. After that, we can fill you in on something similar to what happened here."

Anemone cleared her throat. "We were getting ready for dinner. Mother was still out so we didn't have to be as formal. At first, everything was normal. Tsunami was a little sick to the stomach but she was released from the medical hall for dinner. Out of nowhere, she leaped across the table and pinned Turtle down, trying to slash his snout. I freaked out and a guard tried to force her off with his spear but she grabbed it and forced it out of his claws. With that, the other two guards tried to fend her off as we leaped into the water and swam away. Not long after, she was chasing after us with a gash on her chest and then she caught up to us, scraping her claws against me until we escaped in a current. When we neared land, we flew out. We hoped being in Mudwing territory would scare her off."

Turtle nodded with his sisters retelling of the accounts. "Yeah, all of that and then we saw all of you. It was so scary…" He muttered as Kinkajou nuzzled her ahead against his neck. "We didn't do anything to her! She just leaped at us."

"Sadly, that isn't the most confusing thing we've heard today." Snowfall admitted.

They told the two Seawings about the events at the academy and they looked just as surprised as Snowfall was hearing about it the first time. They were shocked that Clay, Starflight and Sunny were willing to attack the others for no reason. "WHAT?" Anemone said in shock.

Snowfall nodded. "Yep. So now we have four different stories that all link up." Her mind raced as she tried to put something together. "The Summer palace…if I had to guess, it all would have happened at the same time. Tsunami leaped at you and Clay leaped at Riptide. Sunny needed to run down the hall first and Starflight needed to push the scroll shelves down." She looked over to Qibli who she knew was at least a little bit smart. "What do you make of this? Thorn seems to value your input. Do you have any thoughts?" "That sounded Queenly. Right?"

The Sandwing looked up from his meal of lizards. "Oh, me? I'm flattered she speaks so highly of me. Well, Everyone but Clay attacked someone close to them. Starflight and Fatespeaker are mates, Sunny values Webs as the last surviving guardian-"

"Minder." Webs muttered.

"Minder, last surviving minder, and Tsunami cares greatly for his siblings." He didn't speak at first then his eyes looked as if a bolt of lighting struck his pupils. "Peril was supposed to visit the academy!" He shouted. "Riptide wasn't supposed to be here but Ruby wants Peril guarding the prince whenever she isn't there! Clay was SUPPOSED to attack Peril but since she wasn't there, he attacked the closest dragon!"

That…well it didn't NOT make sense, but honestly it just seemed coincidental. Moon must have read her mind because she said the exact same thing to Winter just a second after Snowfall thought it. "I hope you know that I hate your stupid powers so much." Moon winced and Snowfall felt a little better. "We shouldn't rule that out yet but if that really is the case, why would they do it? Doesn't that sound super stupid?"

"Yes. It's also weird that they left everyone alive. Even Tsunami didn't seem to go for the kill in the story. She was just trying to cause damage. Doesn't it just seem odd?" Moon asked.

Turtle laid down on the ground. "Speculation isn't getting us anywhere. Can we ask the animus question yet?"

Everyone bristled as a chill wind struck the cave. No one could use animus magic anymore but objects remained intact. What were the chances something could make four dragons go crazy and attack those around them? "A certain Nightwing comes to mind." "GET OUT OF MY THOUGHTS, MOON!" Snowfall shouted. The Nighting clenched up when Snowfall conjured the image of Darkstalker and then jumped back behind Qibli after being shouted out. The Sandwing growled at Snowfall.

"I doubt whatever you were thinking was that important."

Snowfall glared icy picks at the Sandwing. "I could be thinking about a blade of grass and I'd still find it very frustrating. Either learn to control that stupid 'gift' or find a way to get rid of it." Winter shared Qibli's frustration but Snowfall wasn't going to waste more time arguing with them. "So can we assume animus magic might be at play? I doubt the worst dragon ever made didn't have anything to do with it but what about those other animus dragons that Darkstalker grabbed?"

Turtle shuffled in place. "None of them would have done anything like this. I think it's safer to bet an object will be the culprit. Though who's controlling the object is the real question."

"We sure are asking a lot of 'who' questions." Snowfall grumbled. "Ok, we can't be certain until we contact Glory. Something tells me she might not have had a good day either. Kinkajou, I'll need you to go investigate."

The Rainwing bit her lip. "Um, about that…"

"Don't tell me, Deathbringer kicked you out as well?" Snowfall really wanted to kick that stupid Nightwing in the leg. "UGH! Fine! Fatespeaker, take them to go figure it out! I'm going to go back to my kingdom and try to figure out if any animus objects have been taken. I'll be back in a few days." The dragons seemed in agreement.

"Don't forget to leave if anything bad happens. Don't take any chances!" Qibli was telling Moon every dangerous thing in the Rainforest as if she didn't live there her whole life.

Moon snickered and tapped his wing tip with hers. "I'll be fine. Fatespeaker can keep us safe. Besides, Kinkajou won't leave my side even if I ask her to." Said Rainwing smiled with pride.

Snowfall rolled her eyes at the jolly separation. "Yeah yeah, just get going. I'd say Webs is in charge but let's be real, Riptide's in charge." The two cousins bowed in thanks and Snowfall headed off shortly after Moon, Fatespeaker and Kinkajou. She flew through the air and down on the edge of the Sandwing border. She had grown better in her long flights though traveling from one side of the continent to the other would always take a long time. With said time, she could reflect on…wow, the day? It really felt longer. She didn't know the dragonets of destiny too well. In fact, she only knew Tsunami and Glory but neither left a good impression. Yet Tsunami wouldn't just attack her brother and sister. Would she?

"Is that wing beats?"

Snowfall turned to see a dragon flying towards her…from the Mud kingdom…from the direction of the ocean. "Walrus dung."