An update within the month? What a miracle
This one is quite a long one, I'm probably going to be cutting down on the length after this one, Just to get them out quicker and so I stop procrastinating when it comes to formatting them. Probably doesn't mean definitely, but I'll try
Sorry I never really respond to reviews, I'm never sure what to say to them, but I just wanted to say that I really appreciate them. Support from people is probably the biggest reason I've been motivated to continue with this fic, so thank you, really
Following the previous day's events, the dragons in the greenhouse prickled with anxiety at the slightest sound or motion.
As the sun had begun to set all HiveWings had begun to return home, all thankfully moving in normal, irregular patterns as their tired wings carried them to the entrances in the high walls of the hive.
Sundew had reported to her parents about what they'd seen, and Moon had stayed up the rest of the night occupied by ideas of what could've been the cause. Not that she would've been able to get much sleep past Belladonna's mental grumbling.
Moon had tried to stay awake to quiz Sundew for more information on what had happened to the HiveWings, but as the night drew on the heat that usually signalled her sleep began to weigh down her eyelids. She'd rested her head on her talons, vowing to rest for only a few minutes, only to open them almost half a day later by rough talons shoving her to waking.
Moon groaned, blinking up at the unimpressed green face that hovered over hers.
"You know, you are a remarkably heavy sleeper for someone with such troubled dreams."
"Troubled dreams?" Moon repeated, rubbing her eyes, "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Every few hours it's non stop twitching with you. And a whole lot of talking. That's the kind of thing you only see from dragons with serious issues." Sundew eyed her. "Do you have serious issues? Anything bad happen to you?"
"No," Moon said a beat too late, almost adding 'not yet' before she caught herself.
"Right, so you're just annoying then." Sundew settled herself on the ground. "You know if Belladonna wouldn't kill me for it I definitely would've strangled by now just for some peace."
Moon yawned, unfazed. Sundew seemed like the kind of dragoness to threaten to kill everyone on a daily basis if they caused her the slightest inconvenience.
"But here's the thing though." Sundew shifted, and Moon noticed for the first time she was hiding something behind her folded wing, "I didn't kill you, because you weren't talking the whole morning. Once I took this away from you, you calmed down dramatically."
She reached down for what she'd been concealing, sharp claws lifting to reveal a shining black scroll case. She held it up with one brow raised. Moon's eyes widened, her wing instinctively flattening to her side to confirm that yes, that really was the scroll.
Sundew brought the scroll down to her chest, holding it in a way that Moon couldn't try to grab for it, not that she would have. "So my question is, what exactly could be in here that's causing that effect on you?"
Moon stammered, trying to reorient herself to this new situation.
I can't tell her the truth, Moon knew immediately, I have no idea what these dragons could do with that thing if they realise the true extent of the power it holds. Moon couldn't stand lying, but she saw no other option here.
"You haven't just checked?" Moon asked, trying to buy time to come up with something convincing.
"I was going to." Sundew shrugged. "But then I realised I probably wouldn't want someone digging through my things without my permission, and I also happen to be holding some things that could be very deadly to anyone poking around. Then the thought struck me that you might be doing the same thing. So in the name of prudence I decided to wake you and ask first. So, is this going to kill me?"
"No, it's- no." Immediately Moon was second guessing herself, should I have said yes to stop her from looking inside?
"Right right, I wouldn't really expect something like that from a creature as feeble as you."
Sundew traced a claw through the markings in the scrolls surface, and Moon saw the worrying image of a vision from months ago replaying in her mind. Of the dragon who was holding it, Queen Glacier in this case, having those markings light up, and turn her to dust. The scroll, though, stayed amicably still.
"There is definitely something weird about it though. It almost feels like it's… shaking? It's like a pins and needles sensation in my claws, you notice that?"
Moon nodded, unable to form words.
"So?" Sundew looked at her expectantly. "What's in it?"
"It's- it's a scroll." Moon's breath caught in her throat, waiting for more accusatory questions she would inevitably give all the wrong answers to and end up giving everything away to this dragon she barely knew, when Sundew suddenly laughed.
"A scroll? Seriously? On your continent do they actually use those? By all the trees, your tribe really is backward isn't it?"
"Huh?" Moon asked, now more confused than anything, "What do you mean backwards?"
"Why don't you just use books? They're way more space efficient, plus they've got so much more room for writing."
"I don't really know, parchment is expensive I suppose."
"Then why don't you just use paper?" Sundew pressed.
"We do-"
"No not parchment, I mean proper paper, from wood pulp. I mean, I'm glad you don't, but I can't imagine it's because you care about the trees as much as we do."
"Oh." Moon hadn't known that was possible, did anyone else back home? "I know the Sandwings make paper with reeds that are threaded together, but the plant doesn't grow in many places, and they're the only ones that know how to make it, so it's pretty hard to get your talons on."
Sundew thought about that for a moment. The LeafWing never asked her about any of the tribes back home, and Moon got the impression that she actually did want to learn about them, she just didn't want to seem like she actually cared about anything Moon had to say.
"Alright," Sundew said at last, "So what's in the scroll then?"
"Oh. Oh um, just notes." She latched onto the memory of that book she'd taken from Jewel Hive that she'd used for doodling and writing about the new animals she saw, hoping to pass the scroll off as something much the same, "I've been using it for writing about here, you know, being here. And um, all the things here."
"Ah," Sundew said coyly, looking remarkably amused, "You're worried I'll find something embarrassing in your little diary? Alright, I'll hold off, just this once."
She tossed it back to Moon who barely caught it before it connected with her snout.
"You better keep it down though." She gave Moon a stern look, "I can't have you interrupting my watch or-" From somewhere ahead of them, what sounded like the greenhouse's entrance, they heard voices, and rusting.
Moon startled, jumping to her talons and hastily slinging the scroll case around her neck so she wouldn't drop it. "What?-"
"The guards are on rotation right now." Sundew hissed softly. "That's why I chose to talk to you now. I'll bet anything that they're intruders." She backed up, bumbling Moon with her wing. "Go hide somewhere inconspicuous. I'll wake the others."
Moon didn't need to be told twice. She turned, diving into the undergrowth like she'd done countless times as a younger dragonet, hiding from noises in the dark. This time though there were no trees to climb as refuge, or long winding shadows to hide in, only the flimsy leaves of stout bushes, and ever present heat from below.
Her ears were pricked as she lowered herself into a particularly dense patch of foliage, listening out for malevolent hissing or enraged shouts. She closed her eyes, letting her more keen senses sharpen
The voices she heard were not at all what she'd expected. They sounded young, older than her but they couldn't be any more than young adults. Their words were muffled from the distance, but they sounded to be engaged in rather benign conversation, probably about the plants.
She frowned. Had they got this all wrong? Maybe the didn't have to hurt these dragons, maybe-
She heard a shriek from the voice closest to her, which was swiftly muffled. Too late.
Panicked rustling came from the other dragons, who quickly followed their companion into the claws of the LeafWings.
Moon stood, raising a talon as she debated whether to get closer. On the one talon, Sundew is definitely going to give out at me for not listening to her. But on the other talon, I don't think I could forgive myself if Belladonna hurt these dragons and I did nothing to stop her.
The LeafWing dragoness wasn't particularly pleasant to Moon, but at least she had a definite reason to keep her alive. Moon wasn't sure she could trust Belladonna, or the other two not to off these newcomers if they couldn't find a strong enough reason not to.
She padded towards the voices, keeping her weight balanced evenly across her talons to reduce the noise of her claws to barely a whisper. Not that she needed to be overly quiet with how loud the LeafWings were talking. Sundew especially seemed to be particularly indignant about something.
Using their words as cover, Moon flapped up to a slightly higher platform that overlooked the gap in the plant life the six dragons were inside of. Belladonna had grown several platforms over the night from woven plants, and although the position wasn't perfect she could make out enough of the dragons below, and she doubted they'd have enough of a break in the heated conversation to look up.
Two of the dragons were SilkWings, both of them blue with gorgeous swooping horns and delicate antennae. The larger blue one, also decorated with white and sunset gold patches, had large, butterfly-like wings. The smaller one, more cyan which faded to green, oddly had no wings at all.
The other dragoness was a HiveWing. Her honey yellow scales were broken up by spots of black that feathered out like ink splotches, and she wore hexagonal glass suspended before her eyes by copper wire. Moon thought she'd remembered an old scroll mentioning something like that in a list of Nightwing inventions. 'Glasses', it'd called them, rather uncreatively.
All of them were bound in vines, and their insect-like wings made the way they were pressed flat to their sides look even more uncomfortable,
Belladonna stepped towards the wingless SilkWing, tugging the vines from his snout. He winced, rubbing the spot they'd been tied.
"Who are you?" She barked, "And what are you doing here? Two SilkWings with a HiveWing? Do you work for her?"
"No," the SilkWing said, sounding surprised by the idea. "She's my friend." Sundew let out a sneering laugh.
"HiveWings don't befriend SilkWings." Belladonna insisted. "They control you, they enslave you, they order you about. But then that's what you signed up for, isn't it?"
The SilkWing stammered. "I didn't sign up for anything? I think?"
"True." Hemlock corporated. "Too young."
Even without being able to see her face Moon could feel Belladonna rolling her eyes. "Don't be so literal, Hemlock. You," she jabbed a claw at the wingless SilkWing, "Tell me your names."
"I'm Blue, and that's Cricket." He pointed to the HiveWing, who was staring at the LeafWings in utter amazement. It was impossible to see her expression from this high, but her thoughts were coming through loud and clear. LeafWings! She beamed. Real actual LeafWings! Alive, and in Wasp's greenhouses no less! Where have they been? Hiding in here? No, of course not, but where else? And how did they get in here?
Moon did her best to push Cricket's thoughts into a raindrop, fearing if she didn't her head might explode from everything being forced into it.
"And that's…" Blue trailed off as his other rather blue companion began to shake his head furiously. "Uh, someone else."
"Trying to keep secrets won't do you any good at this point. I only see two ways for this to end, with you either helping us, or dead." Belladonna glanced between the three of them, mentally sizing them up. Moon got the overall impression of 'weak and generally useless'. "In the former case it would be a lot easier if we knew your names. Or we could skip to the latter right now."
The larger blue SilkWing growled, and Sundew promptly kicked him.
"W-what are your names?" Blue asked, feeling remarkably proud of himself for asking a question.
"I'm Belladonna, and that's Hemlock. Our daughter is Sundew."
"Why would you tell them that?" Sundew hissed. "They can't help us, they'll turn us in the moment they get the chance. We should kill them now, and leave their corpses somewhere that will really scare those worms in the hives!"
Whenever Sundew threatened to kill her, Moon was well aware the prickly LeafWing was joking. With these dragons she wasn't entirely sure. They don't seem worried I'll turn them in. Because who would I turn them in to? She answered herself. I can't exactly stroll over to the hive for a chat, can I?
Moon heard an ominous hissing noise coming from Sundew's direction. "Sundew," Belladonna said impatiently, "Save that for later." Sundew muttered something and the hissing stopped. "Corpses laying around will notify the Queen that we're here, and that'll only make this mission harder."
"B-besides," Blue stammered, trying to calm his racing heart, "killing us would probably make the Queen very happy. And I'm guessing maybe you don't want to do that?"
Belladonna regarded him, new interest sparking in her mind. "The Queen wants you dead? Why?"
"Well…" Moon heard him debating whether he should tell the truth. Eventually when he decided he couldn't come up with anything he went on, "...she wants me locked up, in case I'm a flamesilk."
Flamesilk. There was that word again. This must be the dragon they're looking for. She found herself crouching lower to the platform, her tail shaking with wariness. These were wanted fugitives. But then again, so was she, so maybe she didn't have to be afraid of them.
"And she probably wants Swordtail dead because he attacked some guards to save my sister, and escaped Cicada Hive."
Swordtail sounded remarkably unimpressed Blue had said his name.
"Cricket… she doesn't know about Cricket yet. But if she did she'd want her locked up because she's been helping us hide from her."
"A helpful HiveWing?" Belladonna now had the full force of her attention trained on Cricket, examining her in much the same way she'd done with Moon when they'd first met. It made Moon's scales itch to watch. "That does sound like a useful dragon to know."
"Sounds like a bunch of four winged lies." Sundew growled. "If Queen Wasp wanted you locked up, you'd be locked up."
"Not necessarily," Blue reasoned, "She wants your whole tribe dead. And apparently, you're uh, not all that dead. By the way, how are you not dead? Are there a lot of you left?"
That explains that then, why the LeafWings hate these dragons so much. But why does Wasp want them dead? Maybe she has a reason, everyone does, right?
"None of your business." Sundew spat. "As if we'd tell you anything, treekillers."
Blue seemed disgusted by the insult, but understood it for a whole host of reasons Moon couldn't understand, that flashed by so quickly she'd have no hope of examining them closer.
"If you're trying to avoid Queen Wasp, what are you doing in her greenhouse?" Belladonna asked sceptically.
Swordtail was shaking his head so violently Moon was worried he might be having some kind of seizure. Blue in any case, ignored him.
"We're looking for my sister," He explained softly. "She's a flamesilk too, and when she had her metamorphosis Queen Wasp took her. We think she might be keeping the flamesilks somewhere around here."
The LeafWings glanced between themselves, breathing in sharply.
"That's-" Sundew began.
"-Yes-" Hemlock nodded.
-ah-hah." Belladonna finished, her thoughts sounding remarkably pleased. Perfect, her internal voice slithered, it's so satisfying when a plan slides so neatly into place.
"Ah-hah? What ah-hah?" Blue asked.
"It seems that we can be of use to one and other after all."
Blue seemed entirely confused by this. "We can?"
"You see, we know where the flamesilks are."
"You do!?" Blue exclaimed, all three captives now substantially more excited and alert. "Where is it? Have you seen a new cocoon there?"
"We can take you to where the flamesilks are, all you have to do, is one thing for us first."
Blue and Cricket's hearts dropped, but Swordtail was just as determined after hearing those words. His foolhardy energy made Moon rather nervous.
"I won't hurt anyone." Blue insisted.
"And you won't have to." Belladonna soothed. "We're not here to hurt anyone, or do anything terrible, despite what your Queen's propaganda may say about us. We're just here for one little thing." Belladonna paused, enjoying the suspense of the moment. "If you want us to help you get your Flamesilk back, all you have to do is steal the Book of Clearsight for us."
A reverent shiver ran through all three captives at the words, 'Book of Clearsight'. Moon stopped, realisation hitting her like a tidal wave. That's how these dragons know Clearsight. She must've come here after burying Darkstalker, either because she didn't want to face the tribe after everything that had happened, or she couldn't trust herself not to change her mind and let him go. And when she was here, she wrote down her prophecies in a book, to be passed down to keep safe the future generations.
What an ingenious idea. Had anyone else ever thought of it? Maybe not enough seers cared about a future without them in it to bother.
Most of what Blue was thinking was corroborating Moon's idea, but he had doubts in this plan. Surely the Book includes warnings about any dragons stupid enough to try and steal it!
"I know." Hearing Belladonna replying to his thought directly was startling, even though Moon knew she'd probably just read Blue's face. "I thought the same thing, but we've been here a few days now and no one's shown up to capture us."
"Yet." Sundew grumbled darkly.
Blue glanced over at Cricket and Swordtail, and whatever he saw in their expressions made him ask, "Um, could we have some time to think about it?"
"To think about it!?" Sundew snarled.
"You have until midday." Belladonna agreed. "Then, we start formulating our plan."
Hemlock removed the vines from the other's snouts, and the LeafWings swooped up to join her on the platform, all looking mildly surprised to see her there then trying to cover up that surprise with anger.
"I told you to stay put!" Sundew half whispered, half growled.
Moon shrugged, wary of making noise that would indicate to the dragons below they were being watched.
Belladonna seemed to get the same idea, because she moving right to Moon's side to hiss into her ear, "Did they see you?" Her voice was hard, suggesting that she did not at all care if Moon had been spotted for her own sake, but that it would be much easier to convince these dragons to help them if they weren't aware the LeafWings already had a captive they were allowing to live.
Moon shook her head, more focused on the conversation below them.
The HiveWing and wingless SilkWing talked quietly for a while, both of them seemingly opposed to helping the LeafWings.
"I can't see anything from here." Sundew grumbled. Her mother hummed in agreement, and they both moved to glide to another platform. Belladonna tapped Hemlock with her tail, giving Moon a meaningful look, which seemed to be a signal to stay and watch her.
Hemlock sat, keeping his forest green eyes pinned on her, but off of the dragons below.
"What do you think, Swordtail?" The wingless SilkWing asked the larger one, who was tilted on his side but seemed unable to readjust himself with how tight he was bound.
"I think they're watching us." He grumbled
After a moment Belladonna replied from above, "True."
"And I do agree they might be lying-"
"We're not!" Sundew interrupted spiritedly. "We're not lying conniving HiveWings! We're LeafWings! We're honourable! We-" She was cut off as Belladonna shushed her.
Swordtail did his best to look up, giving the canopy an unimpressed glance. "Would you like to be a part of this conversation?."
A pause, and then Belladonna replied, "No no, go on. Pretend we're not here."
Swordtail snorted, but didn't argue. "Anyway, I think we should help them. I couldn't give a toss if Wasp doesn't have her precious book anymore, and isn't this whole mission about rescuing Luna?"
"It's not just about Wasp though." The wingless SilkWing countered. "What about all of the dragons that really believe in Clearsight? What would stealing the book do to their faith in her?"
"I don't think we have much of a choice," The HiveWing said, catching Moon off guard. Wasn't she just against that idea? A brief examination of her mind showed she still didn't want to help, and she seemed half distracted by something else. "They've got us caught right? And if it means saving Luna, I think it's our best bet."
Moon frowned, peering closer. The HiveWing looked like she was fiddling with something. It took Moon a moment to notice from so high up, but Moon realised she was scratching something into the dirt.
They looked like symbols of some kind, surprisingly neat for the awkward position the HiveWing had to hold herself in to make them out. There was something familiar about them, but Moon couldn't even begin to guess what they meant.
Then it hit her. Words! She's got to be trying to say something right? But why can't I understand them?
She allowed her eyes to unfocus, thinking. What was the exact wording of my spell? "Understand and speak", right? Was that not specific enough? Does that mean I can only understand their spoken language?
She sighed, wishing more than ever the enchantments she made could be edited instead of having to make whole new spells.
Glancing back down, she realised she was remarkably lucky all three of these tribes seemed to share a language. Only now did she consider how odd that was. It made sense for the HiveWings and SilkWings to share a language since they appeared to live together. From what she'd seen however, the LeafWings shared no such quality with the other tribes. These three at least appeared to be startled at the sight of the green dragons.
She watched the wingless SilkWing glance down to his friend's message, just about able to read it from where he was. "Pretend to agree, escape later."
Moon wasn't surprised to find out that's what had been written. She'd be lying if she said she didn't have her own reservations about the LeafWings but she doubted escape was really an option for a lone dragonet. Maybe these three would have better chances together. Maybe I could escape with them, she thought, peering a little deeper into their minds.
They certainly seemed less sinister than the LeafWings, maybe she was better off trusting the Hive dragons.
The memory of yesterday replayed in her head, off all of those thousands of dragons descending onto the savanna, and that commanding voice that tolled in her mind. Or maybe not.
"Alright, we accept your deal," Swordtail said to the air, and Moon realised that she hadn't heard him read the message. He probably can't see it from there. Actually, Sundew and Belladonna probably can't either. She turned to look at Hemlock, who was still steadfast in watching her. She turned back quickly to avoid eye contact. And he wouldn't have noticed
She sighed, already feeling knots tightening in her stomach. What joy, another secret.
Part of her immediately wanted to tell the LeafWings what these dragons were planning, and to warn them in case things went south, but the more sensible part of her told her that she barely knew any of these dragons; probably best to stay uninvolved.
She peered down at the dragons below, studying them. She got the impression they would be important to her, either now or one day, and that hurting them now would be bad in the long run. But something else was tugging at her brain too, that whatever the LeafWings were planning for these dragons would end in utter disaster.
Moon couldn't tell what any of it meant though. She could see it barely, but the paths were knotted too tightly for her to make sense of any of the futures. Friendly faces and warmth and joy muddled with anger and fury and fire that stretched to the horizon.
She stopped, puzzled. Paths? Did I really just see multiple futures at once?
She couldn't tell, the moment had passed and whatever had just been in her mind had slipped away just as quickly. She thought she had, but now she was second guessing herself, and she didn't have time to think about it as she heard movement from ahead of her.
Belladonna and Sundew swept down to the dragons below, slicing through the vines holding them.
"Come." Hemlock said suddenly from behind, startling Moon. She stood, watching him beckon her off of the platform and away from the others.
She followed without argument, until a sudden wave of wrongness hit her like a storm. She had to talk to these dragons, to warn them of something to do with the LeafWing plan. But what? She didn't know. She got the impression it had something to do with what she and Sundew had seen from the HiveWings but she couldn't tell what.
She hesitated on the edge of the platform, glancing back. Hemlock huffed impatiently, tugging at her leg with his tail. "You're not to interrupt."
Moon dropped down to the ground, landing with a soft thump next to Hemlock's substantially heavy thump a moment later. He snaked off into the trees, and she did her best to keep up without making it obvious to the new dragons that there was someone else here.
"Belladonna wants to test your abilities against that of the book." Hemlock said flatly without looking back. "She wants to know if more recent predictions would be more accurate, despite Clearsight's supposedly legendary talents. So you're going to write out everything you can see happening about this mission, and you'll find the most foolproof way of successfully completing it."
He stopped walking once he'd judged they were a fair enough distance away, giving her something that could've been a hard glare but didn't quite have enough strength behind it. It was like an imitation of an expression from an inexperienced painter, or poorly performed play.
"No doubt if you have any amount of competency, you already understand the plan?"
Moon nodded, avoiding looking at him. She frowned, something that had been bugging her about the Book boiling over. I know Clearsight was good, but could she really see two thousand years into the future? Even Darkstalker said he hadn't been able to see up until now, but maybe Clearsight was just stronger than him.
Only then did she comprehend what was being asked of her. I can't just look into the future! What am I supposed to tell them? Oh no sorry, my powers only work when they feel like it, maybe wait for the next apocalypse and they'll tell you something useful.
Or I could try the only thing I'm capable of doing, triggering a vision automatically.
"I, um-"
Hemlock looked at her unimpressed. "You really can't see what we're doing?"
"No, no, I do. I just, I'm usually better at seeing the future when I'm near the dragons I'm predicting the future of." She'd seen that happen a few times, her vision of Qibli's family had only been dropped on her while she was talking to him, and all of the scenes of Jade Mountain falling had become substantially more pronounced when she'd begun attending school.
Hemlock grumbled something under his breath, swishing his tail. "So you want to speak to our captives."
She nodded, unsure if that was a question or a statement.
He sighed, wings dropping a fraction. "Belladonna will not approve."
She held up her palms in a 'what do you want me to do?' gesture.
Hemlock worked the muscles in his jaw, his brow furrowed as though he wasn't used to making decisions for himself.
"Fine." He sighed, padding back towards the others, "On the condition that Sundew be present."
Moon agreed to those terms, knowing the LeafWings would find a way to watch anyway.
They trudged back through the plant life, Hemlock pulling Belladonna aside to discuss with her first. Moon missed most of it given the substantially louder conversation going on between the other dragons, but eventually Belladonna waved her in, growling deeply. The older dragoness moved towards her, powerful muscles rolling beneath her scales as she walked. "If this is a lie, Clearsight, I'll personally cut you that useless tongue of yours."
Moon wet her lips, hesitating as she waited for the anxiety the older LeafWing always seemed to instil in her to wane. "I've got one question first."
Belladonna eyed her. "Well? Spit it out then."
"I- um, why are you bothering to steal the book if you already want me to see the future for you?"
Belladonna glared down her snout, looking for all the world like she was already tired of this conversation. "Because you're barely a hatchling." She straightened out her strong neck as if to demonstrate their height difference. "Clearsight, supposedly, was one of the most powerful seers to ever live. You on the other talon, act more like a startled gecko." She relaxed just slightly, giving Moon a hard stare. "If you can prove yourself to be worthwhile with this assignment then perhaps that will change. If not, well I can't imagine you'd be the most difficult to dispose of."
Without allowing her to respond Belladonna slunk off into the tangled growth of the greenhouse, leaving Moon no more reassured in her wake. There is another reason though. Sundew and Hemlock weren't thinking about it, but Belladonna certainly was. She wanted to hurt the dragons of the hives. Even with another, substantially less risky option for seeing the future she still simply wanted the hive dragons to suffer, to take away something so important to them just because she could.
Moon still didn't know why, and by now she reckoned she was better off that way.
Remembering what she was supposed to be doing she focussed on the conversation between the captives, waiting for a moment to make her entrance that would startle these dragons as little as possible.
"It'll be fine, why are you all acting like this is the end of the world?" That was Sundew, sounding particularly exasperated.
"Uh, I don't know, maybe because stealing the most well fortified item in all of the hives mightn't be as easy as you're expecting." Swordtail commented, crossing his arms. "Trust me, I don't like the HiveWings anymore than you do, but you might want to rework this plan."
"Then why don't you give some actual suggestions, clever claws? How exactly are we supposed to get the book without being in even a little danger? Do we magic it outside of the Hive?"
Moon unconsciously reached for the scroll, tapping the hard leather. I never considered that, using magic to make sure this goes well. Then my visions wouldn't even have to be accurate. The idea was tempting, too tempting. She forced herself to lower her claws. No, I shouldn't. I've nothing to write with anyway.
"How are we supposed to get into the hive?" Cricket asked, adjusting her glasses. "Swordtail has the wrong band, and Blue doesn't have one at all. Not to mention you. I just don't see this panning out."
The wingless SilkWing, Blue, didn't seem to entirely be paying attention to the discussion. The antennae on his head were twisting slowly, moving through the air like patient cobras. They were almost hypnotising, as the curled this way and that, and Moon found herself frozen to the spot as she'd been trained to do around actual snakes.
"Well lucky for you HiveWing, I really don't care what you think. So either we go through with this plan, or we don't help you get your flamesilk back. It's that simple."
"I just don't think it's very safe," Blue said, antennae twitching much softer. "What'll happen to you, Sundew, if you get caught? I can imagine you'll be in a lot more trouble than us."
Sundew tsked. "We won't get caught. Well, unless one of you stuffs this up. In that case, you're on your own."
"Well maybe," Swordtail said pointedly, "if this plan was a little more clear than, 'waltz in, somehow get past the guards and steal it', we'd be a little less hesitant."
Feeling like more of an intruder in the conversation for every minute she waited, Moon took a moment to steady herself before stepping out between the leaves. "I might be able to help with that, clarifying the plan."
Silence.
They stared at her.
She stared at them, feeling her heartbeat growing in intensity for every moment a word wasn't spoken.
Even while having nothing to say, apparently none of these dragons have anything to think either. They just stopped, frozen in the positions they'd been in with their heads turned towards her.
Sundew was the first to break the spell. "What are you doing!?" She hissed, lashing her tail. "You were supposed to stay away! Are you capable of listening to any instruction?"
"You, what-" Swordtail was staring at her, entirely bewildered.
That's who I was sensing, I knew there was a fourth dragon here! But who in Pantala is she? Or maybe not… That was Blue, who mercifully decided he wasn't going to say anything.
A high pitched squeal emanated from one of the dragons, and Moon flinched back, ears flattening with a wince. The noise came from the HiveWing, who apparently was oblivious to Moon's reaction. "Oh my god, oh my god! Who are you?! You're from Clearsight's tribe right? Are you from the distant kingdoms? How did you get here? Why are you here?" She gasped, clasping her talons together and hurrying towards Moon, who stepped back, startled. "Can you see the future? Did you have a vision? Is that why-"
"Cool it honey snout, before you give the poor thing a heart attack." Sundew called, staying where she was.
Cricket stopped an arm length away from Moon, adjusting her glasses self consciously. She was clearly trying, and failing, to hide a grin. If the LeafWings were a fascinating discovery to her, Moon was a whole uncovered library waiting to be dug through. "Sorry, sorry. Right yes, but wow."
"And what tribe are you supposed to be?" Swordtail asked, puffing up his chest in what he might have thought of as intimidating, but only elicited a groan from Sundew.
"I'm a Nightwing," Moon said softly, simultaneously trying to meet the HiveWing's gaze and avoid eye contact. She compromised on staring at the bridge of her glasses instead.
"You really are." the HiveWing laughed, holding Moon's wing knuckle so she could unfurl it to get a better few of the star-like scales that sparkled on the underside of her wings. "And wow, your scales are so smooth."
She ran a claw down Moon's neck. The Nightwing shivered at the contact. It tickled desperately, and Moon had to bite her tongue to stop herself from laughing.
"You're so much darker than I thought you'd be." She continued, as if Moon was in any way contributing to this discussion. "I mean, obviously in the paintings Clearsight was always completely black, but you really look like a piece of the night sky just fell out one day."
Moon chuckled nervously, trying to pull back from the HiveWing, who was now holding on to her shoulders to get a better look. She could feel a pressure building at the back of her mind, something threatening to come loose the longer the HiveWing held on.
"Not like our black scales. They're kind of more like river stones, more kind of… matte, right? But yours are so dark-"
"Maybe give her some space Cricket," Blue said patiently, placing a talon on the HiveWing's shoulder, while still standing a good distance from Moon. The SilkWing gave her a small smile, and Moon smiled back, feeling the tension in her wings relax as Cricket stepped back.
"Right, sorry I…" Cricket fidgeted with her talons.
"It's alright, you're just curious. I think we all are, right Swordtail?"
Swordtail huffed disbelievingly, trying to copy Sundew's uninterested stance. "No, why would I care about some random dragonet?"
Blue frowned, but didn't acknowledge that verbally. He turned his attention back to Moon, his smile back in place. "I'm Blue, and my friends are Cricket and Swordtail," he flicked his tail at them in turn. "What's your name?"
"Moonwatcher, but Moon really."
Blue opened his mouth to respond but Swordtail got there first. "You should go by Watcher instead, it's way cooler, plus a whole lot scarier. You should definitely go for scary."
"Well it's a good thing no one asked for your opinion on her name, because that's a stupid idea," Sundew said charmingly, glancing back at Moon. "You're here to make sure these idiots don't get themselves killed, right?"
Moon nodded, and Sundew sighed greatly. "Could you not have had your visions somewhere where they didn't have to see you?"
"Visions!" Cricket cried, eyes shining. "She can see the future!"
Once again, everyone's eyes were on her, and Moon was finding this experience increasingly uncomfortable.
"Wait, wait," Swortail said, brow furrowed, "If that one can already look into the future whenever you need her to, then why are we stealing the book in the first place?"
No, I can't, Moon almost winced, but of course, they wouldn't know that.
Sundew straightened up, almost looking offended that anyone would dare question her. "Do you have eyes, SilkWing? She looks like she's only just hatched! Forgive me for not trusting the expertise of the literal hatchling. She would certainly be helpful for this mission, since she's literally all we have, but I'd definitely trust the book over anything she has to say."
Cricket looked substantially more offended than Moon did at that comment. "She's not a hatchling, Sundew."
"And shouldn't we really be entertaining the option that definitely won't get us captured?" Blue chimed in.
"Well if we've got her, we won't be captured, right?" Sundew countered. Before anyone had time to respond she snapped her tail like a bow string. "Clearsight, come here."
Moon padded over, wishing desperately that everyone would stop staring at her. She settled herself beside Sundew, examining the crudely drawn plan that had been scratched into the dirt.
A shape that looked vaguely like a hive stood wobbly next to three figures, one of them with the thinner, distinctive HiveWing wings, and another looking substantially scarier than the other two. There was an arrow pointing from them into the hive, towards a rectangle at its centre which she guessed was supposed to be the book. Next to it was another HiveWing, with a cross marked over her. Two dotted arrows then pointed from the book back the way they'd come, or up, out through the top of the hive.
"That's not the plan." Sundew growled, catching her expression. "This is what I used to explain the plan to these dimwits."
"So pretty much the plan then." Swortail grumbled.
Sundew spun to yell at him, so Moon interrupted her before she could. "Who's that?" Moon asked, tapping the crossed out figure.
"The Librarian. Apparently she spends her entire life watching over the book. So either she'll back down when we get there and we just take it. Or, we take her out and grab the book anyway."
Moon made a face at that comment that she didn't think anyone noticed except Blue. Poor thing, he thought, looks like she doesn't want to go through with this plan anymore than we do.
"And the dotted lines, they're possible escape routes, right?"
Sundew nodded, her general mistrust directed towards Moon stemming for a moment as she was pleased she wouldn't have to explain absolutely everything again. "We leave the way we came if we're not spotted. If we are, the top of the hive is a much more direct route out, with less dragons potentially in the way."
"Right, okay then." Moon nodded, worry creasing her brow as she imagined the million ways this could go wrong. "And how do you expect to get in without arousing suspicion?"
"I've got a disguise." Sundew said nonchalantly. "The HiveWing will knock out the first few guards and I doubt the rest of them will pay us much attention."
I can't imagine that's the case. Moon couldn't understand it yet, but she could see something going wrong with this plan. Maybe see was the wrong word, perhaps feel? She could definitely sense something going wrong, and from when the feeling had begun she thought it might have something to do with the librarian.
Am I really supposed to make sure this goes smoothly? She worried her talons together, scratching at her claws. There's so much out of my control! One guard or civilian looks a different way and they're done for, how do I control that?
She's shaking, and then Blue had an arm wrapped around her, muffling her hurried thoughts beneath his slow calming words. It felt like warm honey was dripping over her mind, slowing her thought processes as they dipped further below.
She found herself unconsciously sinking into his side, trying to escape whatever she was seeing.
A pressure was building, and she realised it was Blue who was causing it. Her first instinct was to pull away, but she steadied herself. I need to see this, it might be my only chance to affect whatever happens. Going against all of her instincts, she focused on the noise, feeling a headache take route and spout at the base of her skull.
"Hey, you're alright." She heard Blue's voice, comforting but oddly distant. "It's okay if you think this is all too much, I'm sure they'll understand."
Because these LeafWings are just so understanding. She barely managed that thought as she focused all of her straining attention on the pain that was blistering inside her mind. She fed it, letting it grow and strengthen and surge forward until it swallowed her vision completely.
The first thing she heard was the buzzing. A high, racing sound that echoed off the arched ceiling above them. Them being Sundew, Cricket, Blue, and an older HiveWing she didn't recognise. She puzzled over the newcomer briefly before an identity came to her. The Librarian. Her true name didn't matter, not anymore. They were flapping up desperately, moving to escape the churning mass of claws and teeth that had become of the denizens of Wasp Hive below them. And they were going to make it!
Sundew and The Librarian had already crested the lip of the hive's highest exit, pulling on the vines that attached them to Cricket and Blue, the latter hanging helplessly as his winglessness stopped him from assisting.
Why was she being shown this? Everything looked like it was going to be fine.
Then The Librarian stopped pulling up her slack, and stood still. Sundew didn't notice, too wrapped up in shouting orders at Cricket, but Blue did. His face creased in confusion, then abject terror as The Librarian smiled, slicing the vines that attached her and Sundew to the others.
She was swiftly knocked unconscious by a blow for Sundew's tail, who watched her topple forwards into the hole as she went limp.
Cricket was trying to pull Blue's weight on her own, but it was futile. They were dipping, soon to be seized by the hundreds of talons that grasped towards them.
Blue looked to Cricket, surely recognising the hopelessness of their situation. He smiled sadly, and threw something he'd been clinging onto up towards her. She instantly moved to catch the small faded blue object, and Blue was swallowed by the crowd.
Moon expected a wave of despair to ball in her stomach as always happened in visions like these, that sinking miasma of dread that seemed to follow her nightmares like a plague. But nothing like that came. Instead, it almost felt like a weight had been lifted from her chest.
No, she thought to herself, watching the vision dissipate, that can't be the best possible outcome, can it? She could still feel a pain searing her mind, dulled but still present. Perhaps forcing a vision like that had caused whatever traces of magic bestowed them on her to linger.
Where will they take him? She wondered idly, and suddenly her headache grew louder.
She couldn't see anything, but a wave of heat engulfed her. The air stung with the foul scent of scorched metal and… tangerines?
Then it was gone, replaced by the cool silence of her empty mind.
But why should he be captured? Unless…
These dragons are looking for someone, aren't they? That's the only reason they agreed to this plan. What was it, Luna? Yes, their missing flameslik. Perhaps if he's captured by Wasp, Blue will be taken to wherever she are, and if he already knows about their plan to rescue her surely he'd be able to help from the inside.
What if I were to warn them about The Librarian's betrayal?
The world around her shifted, the buzzing that accompanied the previous vision roaring so loud she thought her eardrums might burst. She heard screaming, and felt something slick beneath her talons as scales bumped against hers-
Moon was wrenched very suddenly back into her body as water was splashed over her face. Her sense of touch came back to her first, feeling the brush of leaves against her soft underscales, and the dampness by her head.
Then her hearing sharpened. "This better be good Clearsight," Sundew grumbled, "Because that was the last of my water."
She felt gentle talons hauling her upright, and Swordtail exclaiming, "Woah! Did she hit her face when she fell? Man Blue, you've got to work on that reaction speed for the next time you've got to catch a damsel in distress."
She could almost feel Blue's embarrassment through her scales as he tried to picture himself as Cricket's noble saviour. She heard someone holding their breath as they peered closely at her face, and was not surprised when her eyes blinked open to find Cricket there.
The HiveWing adjusted her glasses, concern registering more clearly in her expression as Moon's vision unclouded. Her talon was raised, as though she wanted to touch Moon's snout, but she held back.
"Is that normal? I mean, I guess I've never seen anyone have a vision before so I wouldn't really know. That was a vision, right? Sundew?"
The LeafWing shrugged, although Moon could sense faint tremors of what could have been concern or mild annoyance from her mind. "I think it's normal, at least for this one. The same thing has happened before." She arched her brow sceptically. "But if that isn't supposed to be happening and that's just her brain melting out through her skull, I'd appreciate it if you stopped that Clearsight, because if you die my parents will take it out on me."
What? Oh-
She reached for her face, her claw retracting with a new shining crimson hue. She inhaled the scent of metal, wincing.
She remembered Qibli once wondering if her powers were like a muscle, and tired after use, but grew stronger over time. If he's correct in that assumption I might want to stop pushing them quite so much for a while.
After a lifetime of near complete neglect she was beginning to understand why her body was reacting so poorly now she was suddenly straining them so adamantly.
She shook her talon in the wet grass, wiping what she could from her face. Mercifully it seemed her nose only bled while she was actually using her powers, not after.
"I'm fine." She murmured, glancing back at the sketch of the plan on the ground. Pushing past her uncertainty, and the guilt that opened up like a quicksand pit inside of her, she forced a smile. "I think your current plan will work out fine, actually."
"See!" Sundew exclaimed. "I told you everything would be fine! And now look, you've given this one unnecessary brain damage. I hope you hive dwellers are proud of yourselves."
"You're sure you're alright?" Blue whispered to Moon so only she could hear. Moon nodded, and didn't protest as he helped her up. Once he was certain she was stable, he left to go comfort Cricket, who still seemed just as worried by this plan.
"Is everything actually going to be fine? Anything I should know about?" She heard Sundew say from behind her. Moon faced her, unsure on how much to give away.
"The more you know about the future the more likely it is to change," she said slowly. "From what I've seen you're best off without my advice causing you to second guess yourself."
Sundew eyed her, and she could hear Belladonna and Hemlock doing the same from somewhere she couldn't see. "Alright. Sure. And you know if something does go wrong-"
"I know."
Queen Glacier strode swiftly, moving towards the guest wing of her palace.
She wasn't particularly happy to be conducting business this late, having just organised the wall and was eager for rest. But her guest was most likely to be awake at these hours, and she'd been meaning to speak with her.
She approached one of the guards she'd stationed to watch over the entrances to the guest wing to keep out prying eyes. He nodded to her, but she could see something nervous about his stance. How odd. She'd question him about it later, when she didn't look quite so irritable and he felt like he could be honest with her.
These halls she'd rarely had reason to walk. It was unusual, being in a section of her own palace she barely recognised. Of course, she had been here before, once. As a younger dragoness while her mate was being selected for her, his family had stayed in these rooms.
Crevasse, she didn't think she'd thought about him since he'd died two years ago, leading the defence against Burn's deepest push to find Blaze's stronghold. She'd mourned him of course, and she'd never have wished for his death, but how much could one be expected to care for a dragon whose main purpose was to ensure the continuation of her bloodline?
She found the room she was looking for, sweeping in with all of her natural elegance, and practised composure. She was almost immediately knocked out of that composure by the heat that swamped her.
Foeslayer was lounging by a scroll case, scanning through one of them, while others rested by her talons. Her eyes flicked up to regard her visitor, grinning and giving her a wave in greeting, very obviously noticing Glacier's discomfort.
After some brief reading Glacier had discovered that the temperature in each of these rooms could be changed at the occupant's leisure, probably from when they'd been intended for other tribes. Foeslayer of course, the moment she'd heard that information, and blasted the temperature as high as it would go.
Glacier only allowed herself a small frown, reaching for the dial and twisting it left. The temperature fell to a much more acceptable level, and though it was still uncomfortable for her, after two decades of Blaze's unreasonably enormous fireplaces she thought she could manage.
"Surely that can't be comfortable, even for you." Glacier sighed, unimpressed.
"You will not believe how cold I have been for the last age." Foeslayer moaned, throwing her head back. "I'm simply enjoying a change of scenery."
"Reading anything good?" Glacier asked, moving away from the door.
Foeslayer looked down, as though she'd forgotten she was holding a scroll. "Ah, no, just looking at the words to keep me occupied. I can't read any of this."
Glacier stared at her, trying to gauge if she was joking. She'd never been good at understanding other tribe's facial expressions, but she found no hint of a smile that would usually indicate the Nightwing was trying to wind her up.
Foeslayer shrugged when she didn't get a response. "I suppose when Diamond enchanted me to be able to understand your language she never considered I'd need to be able to read it. Because well, I wouldn't have."
Ah, Glacier remembered now, a passage about how Diamond was going to allow the participants of the trial to communicate with Foeslayer.
Glacier hadn't fully understood it at the time, but now she was kicking herself. Had she not spent enough time around Blaze and her Sandwings, hearing them speak a different language to find it strange when a Nightwing was inexplicably able to speak hers with the fluency of a native speaker? She wouldn't say any of that out loud though, because she was the Queen, and of course she already completely understood the enchantments Foeslayer had been bound with.
"Interesting, I was wondering how that enchantment would work. Can you only understand Icewing languages?"
Foeslayer began to slide the scrolls back into place, clicking her tongue. "This might come as a surprise to you, but I actually haven't spoken to anyone other than Icewings for the last…"
"Two thousand years." Glacier filled in for her.
"...Two thousand years." Foeslayer finished slowly. "So no, I would have no idea."
Glacier's Pyrrhian was a little rusty, having used it last on the false brightness night to converse with the other Queens, but it would do. "Can you understand this?" She tried.
"Yes?" Foeslayer asked, confused. Glacier thought it was astounding that the Nightwing had now slipped into speaking Pyrrhian and hadn't noticed the change. "You sound a little different but sure I can understand it."
"And how about this?" Glacier tried in Sandwing.
Foeslayer turned to look at her. "Well now you're just putting on an accent. Why would I not be able to understand that?"
Glacier had spent years practising with Jerboa and Blaze to get the hissing infliction of Sandwing just right, it almost felt unfair that Foeslayer was able to do it so perfectly without even noticing.
"That was Sandwing. How interesting, although I suppose it's quite possible you can only understand it because an Icewing is the one saying it."
Foeslayer nodded like she wasn't quite following. "Anyway." she flashed a smile, continuing to converse in Sandwing. Glacier guessed the language would only swap once she herself said something in a different one, but she figured the practice would probably be good for her. "If I heard that correctly just before you got here-"
Her head ducked through the door frame, and she returned with a neat silver bucket in her claws. From hear Glacier would see a cork sticking up at an angle from the top.
Glacier arched her brow. "I thought you said you didn't drink?"
"I don't, normally. Just doesn't have a good effect on dragons, you know? Or maybe that's just me and Arctic," she set the bucket down on a squat table, shaking out her talons from what surely must've been ice-cold metal, "but, I figured I'd earned it."
Foeslayer moved to grab two glasses from the cabinet by the near wall, and Glacier accepted the one she was offered. "When I said you could order anything you wanted from my kitchens, this wasn't what I meant."
Foeslayer hummed distractedly as popped the cork, filling their glasses up much higher than was necessary. "I'd say that's on you for not being more specific." Foeslayer lifted the bottle, placing it back in the bucket with the sound of crunching ice.
Glacier frowned, swirling her glass. "I have work to do tomorrow."
"I'm sure you do dear, in fact, I'm relatively certain you have work every day." Foeslayer clinked their glasses together, the deep red liquid splashing dangerously close to her rim. "But I can't, or at least shouldn't finish this on my own. Consider this my late congratulations for your Queenship." Foeslayer raised her glass. "To a challenge well won."
Glacier raised her glass a fraction, taking a drink. The challenge, I don't need to tell her about it. It had been messy, and possibly a bit drawn out. Glacier certainly wasn't proud of the things she'd growled to her aunt when they were close enough no one else would hear. But it was over now, that was what was important. It was over, and now she was the Queen.
"So," Foeslayer said after a moment. "Why are you here?"
Glacier glanced at her, unused to questions being asked so obviously of her.
"I mean, as much as I do enjoy your company, considering it took you, what? Three, four decades to retrieve me, I can't believe you care much for mine. So?"
Glacier refused to let her expression shift as the Nightwing met her eyes. I should've left her there, hissed that voice in her head, the one that had been present since the moment she'd become Queen. Perhaps it was a manifestation of the new responsibility she felt for her tribe. Whatever it was, in that moment Glacier felt it was entirely justified.
How dare this Nightwing speak such insolence to her in her own palace! By the great Ice dragon, she was a Queen! She would not be talked down to by petulant young dragoness', with overinflated senses of self importance. This wretch was a soldier, a nobody. Perhaps Glacier's years of training had blinded her to the fact that they were far from equals, but that was not an excuse the Queen would tolerate.
Still, she was a Queen, and she would not stoop to insults so soon. "I have a request to ask of you."
Foeslayer smiled. "Another? I was not aware I was not aware I was indebted to you."
"You are not," Glacier agreed, "But I believe this arrangement may be mutually beneficial, if I may explain myself."
Foeslayer took a sip, nodding. Not that Glacier needed her approval. The Icewing leaned back, relaxing her posture.
"Several months ago, there was an incident in the Sky Kingdom. A Nightwing dragoness ran off with an animus object of great importance. This object is a scroll, which supposedly, can be used in the same way as any normal animi's power, to enchant anything the user desires."
Glacier paused to drink from her glass, watching Foeslayer's expression. She wasn't particularly competent at hiding what she was feeling, and Glacier mused if that could be because she was used to having to hide her thoughts, not her face.
"As you can imagine, all the Queen's of Pyrrhia have been rather concerned by this, both because of the power that this scroll can wield, and by the previous… concerning actions of this dragoness. That is to say, she doesn't sound the most well adjusted."
Glacier decided she would leave out the talk that Moonwatcher supposedly had communications with Darkstalker. The idea itself was ridiculous on its face, no matter what the Dragons of Destiny may say, and there was no point mentioning Foeslayer's dead son if it may cause her to become uncooperative.
"Luckily for me, my nephew, Prince Winter, was an acquaintance of hers, and he is rather concerned for her well-being."
Foeslayer's eyes raised at the mention of Winter, but for once she stayed silent.
"He wishes to go retrieve her from where she has been hiding, and I believe I can trust him to not abuse his access to this scroll while returning to me. But of course, I care for him, and would prefer for someone to be able to watch over him on his journey. He is young, and rash, and I think someone with a better head on her shoulders may do him some good while he looks for our missing Nightwing,"
Foeslayer bit the edge of her glass, thinking. "Why not send one of your own soldiers? Surely they are more trustworthy than I."
"This journey will be dangerous. You've got strong wings, and a good sense for storms, which I think may be vital. Also, I'm sure you understand the damage animus magic can cause when left unchecked, I'm confident you'll be responsible with the scroll."
"Dangerous? My, that sounds fun. Where exactly do you believe this escaped Nightwing is hidden?"
"She's travelled to the Lost Continent," Glacier said plainly, taking a sip. "The longer she spends outside of our control the higher the chances are she uses that magic for... unwise purposes. And that can't be allowed to happen."
"Really?" Foeslayer smiled in amusement. "That's what you think?"
"That's what I know," Glacier said assuredly.
Foeslayer sat back, though Glacier could see tension in her wings. "My, that's unfortunate. Why exactly do you think I'd want to help find this little runaway of yours?"
"I may be many things, but I am not forgetful. You know my Nephew, and from the face you made when I mentioned him, you feel rather guilty about something. I don't know exactly what transpired between you two during his trial, but I can imagine it wasn't pleasant. I believe this could be a good opportunity to smooth things over between the two of you."
Foeslayer did look guilty, and part of her looked enraged Glacier was trying to use that against her.
"Also, your new Queen is rather hesitant to accept you back. She doesn't know if you are as dangerous as the stories say, and she's not taking her chances. I'm sure completing this mission successfully would prove to her you can be trusted."
Foeslayer's eye twitched, taking another drink of her wine. "Is that a threat?" She asked softly, failing to hide the growl in her words. "What are you going to do if I say no? Throw me out into the world with no Kingdom to protect me?"
Glacier shrugged, peering down her snout. "I'm sure you can handle yourself." She leaned forward, looking Foeslayer dead in the eyes. "But between the two of us, the Nightwing's aren't quite as prosperous as they used to be. You're quite a rare sight nowadays, and I'm sure there would be many buyers offering to pay handsomely for a stuffed specimen as impressive as yourself."
Foeslayer remained deathly still. Only her eyes moved as they burned with hatred. "I could kill you. I could kill you right now."
"I'm sure you could, that is what your kind does, isn't it? But where would that get you? Imprisoned again? I assure you my daughters will not be as willing to release you as I have been."
"Right, because you've just been so hospitable."
"I have my moments."
"My apologies, your majesty," Foeslayer said Glacier's title with such contempt it made the Queen's spikes bristle, "But I'm not particularly fond of being sent on this suicide mission to find some island that doesn't exist. That's why you're sending Winter, right? You failed to kill him the first time when you sent him to face me, why not try again?"
"How dare you!" The Queen snarled, pressing her snout barely a claw's snout from Foeslayer's. "I had no say in the Diamond trial, it is tradition for-"
"Oh, it's tradition, so of course that makes it okay!" Foeslayer interrupted. "My mistake, I suppose you think my imprisonment was justified too, right? Because it's traditional. Why even bother letting me go."
Glacier was shaking with fury. She didn't respond, a few moments becoming the longest minute of her life as the two of them braced to lunge, or defend an attack.
Suddenly, there came a noise, a sharp scraping that rang in her ears like a grim promise.
Glacier was standing in a heartbeat, eyes wide as she thought almost hysterically, she's got a weapon!
The Nightwing was standing as well, glaring at her.
What is it, a knife? One of her precious spears? I knew she couldn't be trusted!
The Nightwing looked completely enraged. I suppose she didn't mean to reveal herself. Too bad, I already knew not to trust you, you lying, unhanded, backstabbing-
Foeslayer blinked, then blinked again, and her head slowly turning to the bucket resting next to them. Unbelievably, she laughed. "Wow, it's been a long time since I've heard that sound. I suppose you aren't too familiar with the sound of melting ice either."
Glacier was so caught off guard she couldn't help but laugh as well, her anxiety translating into something that came out strained, and mildly manic.
Oh, that, oh. Now she was looking, she could see the condensation settled on the outside of the bucket. She must've asked for ice to keep it cold.
Then it happened again, the ice clinked together and the bottle sink slightly lower. That startled a new wave of laughter, the two of them smiling together as if they hadn't been about to rip out each other's throats. Lucky for them nobody would ever come down this way, or the whole palace would probably assume they were mad.
Eventually it died down, and then two of them were left standing and feeling rather ridiculous.
Foeslayer lowered her head. "Wow, to think I really thought you were about to attack me. Sorry, that was a needlessly aggressive opening from me, wasn't it? I've been told enough times to stop poking sleeping bears to know better by now."
"No, no." Glacier sighed, sitting as she collected herself. "That was my fault. I really don't know what drove me to say that."
Foeslayer eyed her, considering her words. "You know, I have noticed something different about you. I suppose that's just what time does, isn't it?"
Glacier tapped her glass, thinking. It wasn't just time. She couldn't explain it. She'd never hated Foeslayer the way she did now, even though she'd known all of the same information as she did now. It was like the moment she'd won that challenge, and put on her crown that-
The crown.
"Foeslayer," Glacier asked delicately, keeping her voice smooth, "Did Diamond ever wear a crown around you?"
"She did," Foeslayer responded, unsure what Glacier was probing for. "On that first visit with the Nightwing delegation I think she had one, I avoided looking at her so I didn't really notice. But the day she captured me, when she brought me back to the palace she had a new one. It was spectacularly impressive, I have no idea how long it must've taken to create, because it was practically buried in diamonds, and tiny intricate carvings and spikes, and it looked like it weighed an absolute ton."
"Right." Glacier nodded, "That's… alright, thank you." She stood, tail twitching. "I have to go." I should check her notes first, but there's always Jerboa's scroll if I can't find anything. But would Diamond really have enchanted the crown? Staring straight at Foeslayer, it was impossible to believe the answer was no.
"Already? Alright, should I finish your-"
Glacier tipped her head back and downed the last of her glass.
"-okay then."
Before waiting for another word, Glacier turned on her heel, disappearing towards her chambers.