Moonwatcher crept silently over the sleeping dragonets around her, trying to slip out of the cave they had sheltered in without being noticed. Rain was pouring outside, and impressively it seemed to be bucketing down even heavier than it had been before the others had fallen asleep. She stepped carefully over a set of green webbed talons and did her best not to accidentally stab herself on a very inconveniently placed tail-barb.

She scanned the cave, her eyes catching on the pitch-black shape she was looking for. The scroll had been left sitting on a ledge on the far side of the cavern, probably to ensure it wasn't damaged in the downpour. In front of said ledge lay the sandy yellow form of Qibli, who looked to be frowning faintly in his sleep. She wondered idly what he was dreaming about, although trying to find out could possibly be the stupidest decision she could make right now.

Stress began to work its way up through her, and she shook herself, as though her worries were droplets of water that clung uncomfortably to her scales. Moon lifted her talon, about to step over Qibli when suddenly a clap of thunder roared angrily from outside causing her to startle and yelp in surprise. She accidentally pushed her talon down too early and stepped on the edge of Qibli's wing. She stumbled back, ready for him to wake up and catch her trying to run away with the scroll, although she knew that wouldn't happen. The Sandwing slept on, breathing peacefully as though he hadn't felt anything at all. A wave of guilt built up in Moon's chest, and a horrid, sinking feeling weighed down her stomach and made her feel sick to the core.

A few days ago, when it had been just her and Qibli in Possibility together, Moon had snuck off in the middle of the night to go speak with Darkstalker. He had told her to go buy a vile of sleeping potion, saying something about her possibly needing it in the future. She hadn't understood at the time, although she did as she was asked, purchasing a small bottle of the stuff from one of the few Rainwing vendors in the city. Only earlier today had she understood what it was to be used for. The group had just found a cave to shelter in, and as soon as Turtle mentioned food Moon volunteered to go find them something. She had caught a mountain lion and hastily laced it with the purple, sweet-smelling liquid, catching a rabbit for herself to eat instead. Perhaps that had been why everyone else had been so quick to agree to talk everything over in the morning, and maybe that's why Peril and Qibli had seemed much more argumentative and short-tempered than usual.

The shame she felt from thinking about that was enough to make her want to curl up into a ball and stay like that forever. A voice in her head tried to reason that it was for the better, she'd have a much easier time getting away like this, but that didn't make her feel any less sick.

Eventually, she got over it, snagging the scroll and holding it tight to her chest. She had already gone too far to back out from this, she might as well see it to the end. She hurried out of the mouth of the cave, about to take off when the sound of sizzling caught her attention. She turned to see Peril, curled up on a ledge just outside where the others were sleeping. Despite obviously trying to find a sheltered spot, rain still dribbled against her steaming copper scales, droplets collecting together on the ledge above and splashing down in larger, heavier beads. Moon checked the Skywing's mind, finding nothing there but cool, empty blankness. She tilted her head to the side, perhaps Scarlet finally being gone had really changed Peril, maybe she could have that happy future with Clay Moon always heard her thinking about.

Will that future be possible if I let Darkstalker free?

She pulled back out of Perils mind, flapping up into the storm with the scroll clasped almost painfully tight to her underscales.

Of course she can have that future, Darkstalker isn't the monster everyone says he is, I just need to show them that

Usually thinking something along those lines would be enough to quell her worries about her new Nightwing friend, but today the worry that clouded the edge of her mind wouldn't be dispelled so easily.

She fought through the storm, the battering of rain against her scales keeping her grounded, and stopping any overly concerning thought tracks from going too far before she got distracted by the wind pulling her every which way. From what Moon had gathered from Darkstalker's stories of the old Night Kingdom, she guessed they had gotten storms like these quite frequently. Maybe Nightwings had even evolved to be able to handle storms better than the other tribes, and that was the small spark of hope that she clung to that she would be able to reach her destination without having her wings ripped out of their sockets.

Now she could see the shape of Agate mountain on the horizon, the peak that once stood tall as the highest point in Pyrrhia now a crumbled mass of stone substantially smaller than the impressive summit it used to be.

I wonder how strange that would be,

Moon pondered, a new burst of motivation driving her forward.

Waking up in a completely different world with no one you know, completely different Queens and tribe relations, and even something as seemingly unchanging as the highest point in Pyrriah being different than what you've known your whole life.

Thinking about Darkstalker and the Nightwing-Icewing war sent her mind spiralling down a different, more personally upsetting direction. She thought about Winter, the cool touch of his scales, his pale, icy blue eyes, like stars reflecting off an Arctic lake, the way he could be saying the most horrible things to her one second, and risking his life to save hers the next. He was an enigma to her, and no amount of mind-reading would remedy that. She was fairly certain he didn't like her or at least was trying not to like her, but it had still stung when Winter had never returned to Possibility. Qibli had assured her every day that he would be back, but alas it really looked like the Icewing Prince was gone for good. She knew she probably shouldn't miss him. He and his siblings had caused her more than enough trouble, but it still made her heart ache to think about never seeing her friend again, without even a proper goodbye.

Moon touched down on a grassy slope a couple dozen metres from the remains of the peak. She waited anxiously for the voice of her friend to find her, and fortunately, she didn't have to wait very long.

Moon? Is it really you?

Yes,

She answered although she knew he didn't need her to confirm that.

And, you have my scroll, you actually found it, and you've brought it to me?

Moon didn't know whether to be offended by that or not. Was he saying he thought she wasn't capable of finding the scroll? Or that even if she was, she would just run off with it, or give it to someone else?

Sorry,

Moon winced completely forgetting that Darkstalker could hear everything she was thinking, not just what she wanted him to hear.

I didn't mean it like that, I just

No no, it's all right, I know what with Clearsight... what she... look I just get that you mightn't have trusted me fully.

The two sat in silence for an impressively long amount of time, Moon just listening to the patter of rain on the slick grass slowly growing lighter as hints of moonlight seeped through gaps in the clouds.

Okay,

Darkstalker rumbled in her head,

Moon, would you mind setting my scroll on fire for me?

That certainly caught her attention, and she snapped out of the daydream she was in, her brow furrowed in confusion.

But won't that just destroy the magic?

She heard a noise, almost like a mental wince.

Not, exactly. When I first created the scroll I enchanted it so that whenever the scroll was destroyed my magic would return to me, just in case.

Moon sat there, a little stunned

But you said-

I know, I know what I said, but Moon please understand that I didn't know if I could trust you to help me at the time. I truly apologise for not being honest with you, it won't happen again.

Moon didn't know what to say to that, so instead of addressing any of the colliding emotions she was having she instead answered with,

It's still too wet to light properly, surely I could just enchant something to set you free right? Maybe if I-

Moon began unrolling the scroll when suddenly Darkstalker's voice cut her's off, much louder than it was before

That won't be necessary, and besides, what if it harms your soul, why take the risk? Surely if you light it up enough times it'll turn to ash, no matter know rain-soaked.

Moon was secretly rather relieved to hear him say that. The thought of using animus magic herself seemed rather daunting, and she didn't even have anything to write with. But, there was something, the haste with which Darkstalker had told her not to open the scroll, it felt off like there was something he didn't want her to see. With a moment's deliberation, she continued, opening the scroll up further.

Moon don't! Please they're private. I promise you, I had Clearsight check every enchantment I made, there's nothing terrible in there.

Oh, how she wanted to believe him. How she wanted to say, of course, I'm just being paranoid and everything is fine, but she couldn't, and the more she opened up the ancient parchment the more she just had to keep going until it was fully unwound and all of Darkstalker's enchantments were laid out before her.

Moon please, this is the one thing I ask of you, don't read them.

His voice was quiet, pleading. She felt as though she were standing at the edge of a precipice, right on the tipping point of the future, and this was the moment it would be decided if Jade Mountain were to fall. She took a deep breath and started reading.

The first half of the scroll had tight, neatly written lines, assembled perfectly straight like soldiers marching. After that, however, the lettering became slowly more erratic, spells written out wherever there was space to fit them. It almost looked as though it were a representation of Darkstalker's slow loss of his soul, although she wished she hadn't thought that as soon as she had. And then she reached the bottom, her eyes tracing along the outside of the final spell, as though even they didn't want to see this. Darkstalker was completely silent now, she guessed he was listening intently to her thoughts, and she tried her best not to be creeped out by that. She swallowed, somehow already guessing what the spell would say before she read it.

"Enchant Arctic the Icewing to obey my every command"

That was it. In plain ink, right in front of her, there was the moment Darkstalker had become the most dangerous dragon in Pyrrhia. There was the moment Darkstalker truly lost his soul for good.

She expected the Nightwing to start defending himself, pointing out how it wasn't that bad, and she just needed to have faint in him like he always did. But there was nothing. Just... silence, emptiness like the fog that surrounded her when she held Onyx's necklace or the lonely nights she spent alone in the rainforest growing up, waiting for her mother to return. All she could hear was the patter of rain against the ground, and the rustling of a long-dead try in the wind. Whenever she'd known silence like this before, she'd wish desperately for company, another voice in her head, no matter how unfriendly or threatening, to seek comfort in. Now, however, as the nothingness buzzed in her brain, all she wanted was for it to stay like that. She prayed desperately for Darkstalker not to talk, so she could slip away and not have to face, well, whatever he was going to say.

Moonwatcher

His voice was low and chillingly cold. She shuddered. No one called her by her full name.

I will only tell you this once more. Set my scroll on fire, and let me go.

This wasn't a request, not a favour between friends, this was a command, one he was sure to punish her severely for not obeying.

She was shaking so badly she could barely roll the scroll back up and slide it back into the fraying leather case that held it. She redid the latch that held it in place, staggering up. Her mind was flashing through any number of terrible things Darkstalker could have made Arctic do.

I can't let him out, can I?

Just as she was about to take off, Darkstalker's voice rattled through her brain, causing her to crash back down into the grass

MOON! Stop with this nonsense, and let me go.

She got up, her underscales now coated in a layer of slick mud that made the smooth black scroll-casing near impossible to hold onto. She tried to open her wings to fly again, but she could already feel drumming at the back of her brain. A whisper that she should get down and pay attention to what was going to happen next. And then a wave of visions crashed over her, writhing and squirming around her brain like a pit of hissing, spitting vipers. She cried out, squeezing her head in her talons and shrinking to the ground, tears pricking at the corners of her eyes.

Images flashed through her mind, fast and frantic, and she strained against her quickly blooming migraine to understand them.

She can see flashes of scales, orange and green and yellow, her friends. They find her on the mountainside. She feels nothing but relief at that prospect but the images keeping going. Turtle helps her and then... is that an argument? Their voices grow louder and angrier and Moon shoves her head further down into the dirt, trying to feel any hind of relief. Then all she can see is fire, blistering scorching, monstrous fire, surging down her every timeline and setting the world ablaze. Then her visions twist into what she always sees, Jade Mountain splitting open, dragonets screaming as they collapse into the cracks, or being crushed to death as he caves around them compress into rubble. Dragons collapsing dead pools of their blood, Icewings and Nightwings clashing as the sky thunders behind them, and many much more awful things she struggled to describe.

She pushed herself back up, wiping that the tears that were now streaming down her face. She had to leave, now. She wasn't sure whether she imagined it or not, but she was almost certain she saw the smoking copper shape of a certain Skywing friend of hers peaking over the horizon. She wasn't keen to stay and find out if it was her. She flapped up, flying in no particular direction.

MOON!

His voice startled her, but this time she was able to maintain her balance. She kept flying, pushing her wings to carry her anywhere but here.

Please, Moon, you're my only hope, don't leave me like this

Darkstalker was sounding more desperate by the second, and Moon couldn't help but doubt herself. Could she damn him to being trapped in the mountain for another... well she didn't know how long and right now she didn't want to think about that. She pushed on.

Please, Arctic he- he practically put the same spell on my sister. He was going to take Whiteout to the Ice Kingdom and marry her off to some noble where she would have been miserable her whole life. Don't you understand, I had to do it.

You didn't have to kill him. You especially didn't have to do it like that.

This time she let the tears come, too mentally exhausted to argue any further. She just flew and flew, listening as Darkstalker's voice became quieter and quieter until she couldn't hear him at all, and she was alone again with just the wind to keep her company. By the time she realised she had flown in the direction of the desert it was too late to turn back, so she adjusted her trajectory so she was flying over the Great Five-Tail River, and up towards the Ice-Sand border where the temperatures were more bearable.

She tipped her wings down, gliding close to the surface of the water. She checked her reflection in the running currents. Her stomach, face and arms were caked in mud, and she still had several long scratches from her fight with Shapeshifter a few days ago. Moon still shuddered from the memory of that noise Kinkajou had made when she was slammed against that tree. She was unsure if the bubbly Rainwing would ever fly again.

She was flying parallel to Possibility now, the winding mismatched streets stretching out across the river's shore. She had enjoyed her I'm there, dancing with Qibli in the full moon festival, or turning the library upside down with him while she secretly searched for any information about Darkstalker. Regret weighed down her heart, she wished now that she had confided in Qibli about her Nightwing friend, but it was too late I that now.

The sun was almost setting now, but she couldn't stop, she just kept flying as far as her wings would carry her. She watched as the valleys and canyons below her transformed into pine forests and snow began to dust the mountains in the distance. The sun had long since set, and the light from Pyrrhia's three moons was soaking deep into her bones, the only thing carrying her onwards. The night passed in a blur, and the moment warm golden light began to peek over the horizon she crashed unceremoniously into the fur trees below, her wings unable to move an inch further. She curled up into a ball, shivering from the cold as her stomachs growled in complaint. She would've caught herself something to eat but her muscles were so beyond strained she couldn't even comprehend the idea of getting up. She closed her eyes and immediately dropped into sleep