The Resurrection

AN: First off, I should let you know that there are two POVs in this one. Darkstalker has the first and third parts while Moon has the second part. The end of Moon's part was partially inspired by the song One More Light by Linkin Park. That song is what got me out of my writer's block and motivated me to finish this one up. I'll put an asterisk * at the part I'm talking about in case anyone is curious.

As for the timeline, the first part takes place one day before the second, and the second/third take place during chapter 6.

Edited: (5/30/21)

Disclaimer: I do not own Wings of Fire. Shade is my OC.

Darkstalker:

There was almost never anything to do in this void. Most of the time, he was too exhausted to even care, so he would simply sleep—if one wanted to call it that. When he slept, he had dreams…no, not dreams…visions. Memories.

He saw the life that was his yet wasn't his.

He saw, felt, heard, smelled, and tasted everything that his living prison did. He lived a life that wasn't his and he couldn't control. It was strange to experience, but he didn't complain. For all he knew, he was lucky to have this much.

For instance, instead of experiencing the outside world through senses that weren't his, he could be stuck in a void with no escape before slowly going mad at the lack of…anything.

So no, he wasn't complaining.

It wasn't all bad, either. He got to see his mother in these memories. He got to see how his tribe was faring. Until recently, they had been happy with their new life. Now, though, through the eyes that weren't his, he could see the fear on those same faces. More importantly, he saw the destruction.

Darkstalker knew what that meant. After all, he had warned Moon that this time would come. He knew what was happening out there even if his prison didn't.

The Changewings were here.

Since he had given up his powers before he could truly delve into these events, he didn't know exactly what would happen. He could only hope that Moon would remember his parting words to her. He could only hope that his chance of freedom was close.

Three Moons would be good to be free again! There was the question of what he would do, though. After getting rid of his powers six—no…seven—years ago, the fog over his mind had lifted. He could finally see with a clear head the horrors that he had wrought with those same powers. Would he still see clearly if those powers were returned to him?

Or would they have the same corrupting influence, turning him into a monster once more? The truth of the matter was he didn't want to take the chance. If those powers came with temptation, it would be best to remove that temptation from his path. It was the only decent thing to do.

He didn't want to be the villain anymore. He wanted to be the dragon that Clearsight thought he could be…the dragon that Moon knew he could be. After everything he did, though, would he even get that chance?

If he only had the chance…

The point was moot, though. There was nothing he could do.

"Isn't there?" Darkstalker opened his eyes to the same dark void when he heard the voice. He saw a darker spot in the background—which was saying something since this place was darker than a moonless night.

A voice he hadn't heard in seven years answered the new voice. It took him a few moments to realize it was he who spoke. I had almost forgotten what my own voice sounded like! "Who are you?"

"My name is Shadeslayer, but I prefer to be called Shade. I am the Spirit of Night, and you, Darkstalker, will be my Champion." Just as suddenly as he arrived, he disappeared without a trace.

Once he was gone, his eyes became heavy once more, and he fell asleep to experience the life that wasn't his. All the while, he felt a smile on his maw. He would get his chance after all.

Moon:

She stormed through the village with an ugly sneer on her face. That arrogant Icewing dared to slap ME!? Where does he come off thinking that was remotely acceptable? It still stung slightly were his claws had made contact, and she was pretty sure they had left a few scratches.

She didn't care. She would wear them proudly to show the world just what kind of a dragon he was. There was a small part of her mind that thought he was in the right—that she was the one who acted out of line.

She absolutely hated herself for that weak part of her mind.

That Icewing had promised her that he would always be willing to help her, and he pulls a stunt like this? Oath-breaker! She mentally yelled her anger and frustration. It didn't matter to her, either way. She knew someone else who had promised his help.

Wake me when you need me, he had said.

Well, she needed him.

First things first, though. She needed to retrieve his vessel from where she hid it. He had entrusted it to her, and it was something far too important to leave in her hut or in someone else's care. She had brought it with her to the Sand Kingdom when she left and hid it from everyone…even Qibli.

She mentally sighed, her anger momentarily lessening at the thought of her previous love. I miss him. I wonder if I'll ever see him again? She shook her head clear of such thoughts. It doesn't matter. He's not here to help, so he doesn't matter right now.

She had put it in her satchel when she left, and since she had constantly been on the move, she hadn't had a chance to place it anywhere safer. After checking to make sure she didn't have it on her, she made her way back to her hut. She received a few strange looks from the other dragons in the village since she wasn't supposed to be alone…or maybe it was because of the face she was making.

It didn't matter. The only thing that mattered right now is retrieving the vessel, so she could begin his resurrection. That sounded a lot creepier than I thought it would. She made it back to her hut and looked around to make sure no one was around before entering and closing the leaf curtain.

Her bed was a hammock attached to two of the hut's supporting posts. She wasn't after her bed, though. She moved the pile of leaves and grass under her bed to reveal a spot of freshly dug dirt. She went out to make sure no one was coming. Still clear. Without any hesitation, she began digging in that spot. It didn't take long for her to find her satchel.

She reached in and immediately felt the strangely warm and tingly sensation that his vessel gave upon contact. She smiled to herself. Now, I just have to find Peace…Hope should know where to find him. And if she tries to stop me…well, she won't.

She replaced the mound of dirt before placing the pile of leaves and stuff over it again. The satchel was placed around her neck and hidden underneath her wing. The leather it was made from blended into her scales to make it even harder to spot. That's why she had bought it in the first place. She wasn't taking any chance with something as important as the object it contained.

Once again, she trekked through the village with a new destination in mind. She had a vague idea of where to find Hope. After the destruction of the Nightwing village, And the death of my mother, she continued. That mental thought made her physically stumble as the reality hit her suddenly. My mother is dead. I'll never get to see her again…hear her voice…never get to go to her for support when I'm upset.

She saw a few dragons stop to stare at her, and she wondered why before she realized the truth. Silent tears were falling from her eyes because of her current line of thinking. Her eyes hardened again, "Don't any of you have anything better to do!?"

After hearing the anger in her voice, they all either flew away or camouflaged to escape her wrathful gaze. With that particular problem taken care of, she resumed her march to where she believed that Hope was. She stopped outside of a hut on the north side of the Rainwing village. She could definitely feel someone's mind inside.

Without further ado, she knocked forcefully on the wooden door. She felt the mild surprise from the resident inside. I wonder who that is at the door. Peace isn't due back for a few more hours.

That confirmed who was inside at least. The door opened a few moments later to reveal a slightly surprised Hope on the other side. "Moon? This is quite a surprise…Oh my, what happened?" She felt the larger Nightwing trace the scratches on her cheek, and she winced slightly. I guess they're still a little tender.

At the evident care and concern in Hope's voice, Moon's anger almost completely dissipated. Tears once again threatened to fall from her eyes. She could feel Hope's concern for her mount, and she felt bad for worrying her like this. Hope had always been kind to her. When she returned to visit her mother during her breaks at Jade Mountain, she would always come visit Hope and Peacemaker, too.

Peace had almost become a little brother to her, and Hope was…she reminded her of her own mother. She was always willing to help Moon if she needed it. She was always giving her gifts for her hatch days. Hope and Secretkeeper had also become very close friends. She honestly didn't know why the older Nightwing was so kind to her. Maybe it was because she had saved her son's life. Maybe this was her way of showing her gratitude.

Whatever the case was, Moon needed support right now, and Hope was the best place to get it. There was almost no hesitation when she replied, "My m-mother is dead."

Sympathy filled the larger Nightwing's eyes, "I know. I grieve the loss of a friend, but I can only imagine what you are feeling right now. Why don't you come in for a while and sit?" Hope moved to the side, and Moon decided to take her up on her offer. Some friendly company sounded good right now.

Moon sat down by the table, and Hope brought over a cup of fruit juice for her. She accepted before taking a small sip. "Thank you, Hope."

She nodded before sitting beside her, "Do you want to talk about it?" Moon shook her head, and Hope nodded in acceptance. "You know we were both worried when we didn't hear from you in so long."

Moon gasped and nearly spilled her drink. I sent letters almost every month! 'Qibli' must have stopped them from being sent! "Sorry," she replied to Hope's concerned face. "I tried to, but…"

After she trailed off, Hope leaned down and gently asked, "But what?"

Moon wrestled with herself internally before quickly coming to a decision. If Hope was like a second mother to her, then she deserved to know the truth of what happened.

So she told her…

It took several hours and more than a few emotional outbursts before the tale was finished, and by the end of it, Hope had wrapped the smaller Nightwing in a comforting embrace. They were both silent for a long time afterwards as they merely took solace in the other's company.

Moon reached over to grab her satchel but stopped. Guilt and doubt was beginning to eat away at her. Here she was mourning the loss of her mother, but she wanted to ask Hope to give up her son. How could she justify this? Revenge? Justice?

Moon avoided eye contact as she grabbed a smooth object from the satchel and placed it on the table. She heard a small gasp followed by a long, LONG, stretch of silence. Moon was starting to regret her choice and reached up to take it back when a gentle paw was placed atop hers. Moon looked up to see the overwhelming sadness in the older Nightwing's eyes. "Are you sure this is the only way?" Hope asked after a moment.

She nodded solemnly, "He warned me this would happen. I need his help."

"Who's help?" a new voice chimed in.

They both looked up, and Moon panicked a little when she saw who it was. Hope was the one who answered, "Peace, honey, I thought you would be gone longer?"

"I got done early," was his simple reply. Moon quickly hid the onyx vessel from his sight before he turned to address her. "Hello, I'm…Moon?" He tilted his head, and she could tell he was skeptical.

She giggled slightly, "No, I'm Moon. You're Peacemaker."

The younger Nightwing's eyes opened wide in surprise when he realized that this actually was Moon, "Moon!" He jumped forward and threw his arms around her, "I missed you, Moon! And I'm…sorry for your loss," he finished kind of awkwardly.

A small, sad smile made its way onto her face, "Thank you, Peace." She looked back at Hope and received a small nod in return. She mouthed the words 'I'm sorry' to which Hope shook her head. Don't be, Hope's voice sounded in her head. I'll miss Peacemaker, but Darkstalker is my real son. Promise me that you'll bring him back to me when you're done.

Moon nodded before turning to Peacemaker, "Do you want to go for a walk?"

The younger dragon was all to willing to go for a walk with her, "I know! I can show you my strawberry patch!"

Moon nodded with a small smile, "I'd like that."

They walked through the village once again as they made their way south. Peacemaker kept trying to start a conversation and Moon tried her best to stay engaged, but her thoughts were elsewhere. Eventually, Peacemaker stopped trying altogether.

That made her feel worse.

When they made it to the strawberry patch, Moon was surprised by a few things. First, this place was huge! You could build at least three large huts in this area with a little room to spare!

Second, it was right next to the southern wall. Wasn't it dangerous to be this close to the wall?

Third, it was almost completely isolated. There was no one here except for them. In fact, she hadn't seen or heard anyone in the last twenty or so minutes.

Almost like he was reading her mind, Peace said, "I put my strawberry patch here because I like the peace and quiet. Nobody ever comes this far out."

That's good. I don't want anyone else to see this. She brought out the piece of onyx and shuddered. The sensation was different this time. It felt…excited.

Like it knew its owner was close.

"What's that?" Peace asked.

"It's nothing," she answered…a little too quickly.

"Moon, are you okay?" He asked, concerned. "You know you can talk to me, right? I'll do my best to help."

That was enough for her emotions to overwhelm her. Here he was, placing his trust and love in Moon, and she was about to betray him. He tried to come closer, but she shook her head, "N-no! S-stay there!" She lifted the onyx with shaky claws before looking at his confused and hurt expression, "I'm sorry," she breathed out. She looked at the onyx again and whispered a single name, "Darkstalker?"

She heard Peacemaker stumble and fall. When she looked up, she saw the panic in his eyes, "M-Moon? W-what are y-you doing? I-I feel funny."

The tears came faster when he said that, but she managed to say, "Shh…It'll be okay, Peace." She looked back at the stone in her paws. Why was she doing this? What gave her the right to end Peace's existence? He trusted her, yet she was about to erase his entire life. Who cares if someone's time runs out if a moment is all we are?

She was beginning to hate herself for this. She wanted to stop. She wished everything was back to normal, so she and Peace could go back to picking strawberries while laughing because they were eating as many as they picked…she wished things could go back to the way they were.

She tightened her grip on the stone. They can't, though, can they? My mother is dead. Doing this to Peace may not be right, but I need his help. She steeled herself before whispering into the stone, "Wake up, Darkstalker. I need you."

Darkstalker:

By his estimate, it had only been a day before his prison walked into his house to see a distraught looking Moon. He had been asleep at that point, like always, so he couldn't do anything other than watch the scene play out.

They walked through the forest until they were back at the strawberry patch. Though he was asleep, he knew what was about to happen. His chance was so close! The walk and small conversation after they had gotten here was unbelievably slow to him.

'Darkstalker?'

Within his prison, Darkstalker's eyes flew open. With that single utterance of his name, he was more awake then he had ever been. He felt his prison stumble before falling. He heard his prison panicking as he asked Moon what she was doing, but he didn't care.

He wanted his body back.

He saw Moon hesitate, and he growled in frustration. Why hadn't she released him yet? She was so close! Was she actually taking pity on his prison? It wasn't a real dragon! It was artificially created with animus magic—his animus magic. Why would anyone miss something that wasn't actually real?

Come on, Moon! RELEASE ME!

He could feel the surface of this endless void, yet he was cruelly being held back from breaking it. I'm so close! RELEASE ME, MOON!

He saw the determination enter her eyes again before she uttered the magic words, 'Wake up, Darkstalker. I need you.'

He felt the weight holding him back release him as he broke through with a roar. He felt his body returning to its old form…and size. Not only that, he felt all of his powers returning to him. Just as he thought, the corruptive fog was beginning to settle over his mind. He had to make this quick.

With the transformation completed, he opened his eyes before thinking up the wording he would need for this spell, "I enchant myself to take the form of my fifteen-year-old self." With that sentence, he felt his body shrinking until he was only a few heads taller than Moon, who was looking at him with a mixture of astonishment and wariness.

"Before you say anything, I have some insight to gain. Give me an hour," he said before closing his eyes. First rule of looking into the future, if you want it to change, don't tell anyone. When you do, they end up meeting their fate on the road they take to avoid it. If you don't, they wouldn't know anything was about to happen, and ninety percent of the time, the bad thing that was about to happen…doesn't happen. It's kind of weird, but that's how it works.

No matter what he saw, he wouldn't tell Moon unless he needed to. Speaking of which, why do I keep seeing that Icewing from seven years ago? He must be important for some reason…oh, he just died. Nevermind. Wait a minute, that happens today. Why does he appear afterwards, then?

There are forces at play that even I don't fully comprehend. He felt a prophecy begin to bubble to the surface, but he merely brushed it aside. Once you learned to ignore such instincts, it was easy to…well, ignore them. Let's see…assassination plot on the Skywing Prince, Anemone gets kidnapped…that's no good. She may have been a brat, but she doesn't deserve any of this.

It's that Icewing again. Where is he at, though? This place is unlike any I have seen…Woah! I know what that thing is!

…

…

The Icewing can control it!? I thought for sure he was about to implode…Dang it. So this Icewing is going to be the new owner of the Anchor?

This ought to be interesting.

He opened his eyes again and smiled at Moon, "Did you see anything worth mentioning?" she asked.

He shook his head as he returned his animus and foresight powers to his vessel, "No. Nothing."

AN: The next one should be read before going to chapter 7, as well.

Until Next Time

AdmiralCole22