The Sea Kingdom, Five Years Into the SandWing Succession War


"You did that on purpose!"

"No, I—I swear I—ha!"

Motion's laughter did not necessarily clear my suspicion. See, I was learning the hard way that when the rear half of your body is made of liquid, it is not necessarily compatible with the ocean.

I finally managed to scramble out of the waves, forced to only use my forelegs because...well, I don't mean to gross you out, but my entire back half had vanished. Once I was back on the beach, I quickly reformed it, entirely solid this time. Now Motion could receive her pummeling. Joking of course.

Still, I felt offended being the only person teleported into the water, be it on purpose or not. Motion was cackling wildly on the sand. Life couldn't restrain a laugh, but she offered a compassionate shrug. No longer acting for the Talons of Peace meant she had returned to her more gentle and caring attitude. Space had seemingly calmed down as well, gazing out at the waves with calm introspection.

The sun was very low now, close to disappearing. A lot had happened since arriving just this morning.

"Alright, I'm over it," I opened, trying to be more forgiving. "So. We know swimming is out of the mix, unless we suddenly learn how, but...where are we even trying to get to? Do we even know who we're looking for?" The whole thing was not very well though out.

"We don't have to bother with the whole traitor thing," Motion said, rolling back onto her feet. "I'm content to just explore with you guys! Everything here is really pretty." This hit the soft spot of my self-esteem, and I was filled with pride. Life looked embarrassed as well.

We worked hard on all of this stuff! It was about time it was appreciated.

"I think I've an idea," Space butted in. So that's what he had been thinking about. "If we'd like to observe the depths of the ocean, that is. Matter, can you generate oxygen?"

"But of course." A trivial matter, really. It was one of the easiest elements to make, up there alongside carbon and hydrogen. As such, I used those elements most in my designs, and Life incorporated them for her ideas too. If I remembered correctly, oxygen was essential for respiration. Come to think of it, did we breathe? Certainly not in the Corps.

There are a lot of logical and ethical questions you don't think about when dealing with the aspects of reality.

Space must have thought about this already, right? If he said we needed oxygen, then we did. Perhaps while we were on the planet, we had to abide by its rules.

Most rules, anyway. After all, we just teleported here.

"Great. So here's the theory. I can create an atmospheric sphere for us to remain in. So long as Matter makes oxygen, we can traverse the depths indefinitely. Like...a bubble of sorts."

"I like it!" Life chirped, briefly trotting into the water to investigate the feeling. "It's a good idea. I'm just gonna do this for a second. Chilly!..."

"Ooh, fun!" Motion bounded in after her, and the two began splashing around and playing in the water. At least they could enjoy it.

I suppose this is what we wanted all along. Something new, fun and exciting. At least, those two wanted it. I was just along for the ride. However, this train of thought spurred a new question.

Space had since coiled up in the sand, observing our friends flounder about. Was he happy? Melancholy? Bored? You could never figure out what the guy was thinking.

I guess you could say he was...spacious.

...

(Are you still here? If so, thanks.)

"Hey, Space. You alright here?" The dark blue entity flopped onto his side, trying to hide a sigh that almost came out.

"I'll be okay." He always lied about this sort of thing.

"I'm just curious. See, Motion gets bored easily, and she wants to look around. Life cares for creation, and wants to see how it can be improved. I'm support. But why did you join in this little escapade? You didn't say much when we recruited you back at the Corps." The question caught him somewhat off guard as he looked at me with a hint of concern.

"Matter...you and Life create. You design. Motion gives these creations the chance to thrive, to do, to be. And Time and Death keep things regulated, maintaining the flow of progression and evolution. But what do I do?"

Aha! An insecurity issue. I know what that sort of thing is like. He wanted to feel valued and important, and likely came on the journey to search for purpose.

You know, as though an aspect of reality wasn't important.

"Space, you're an idiot." He flinched with confusion, not understanding my point. "You do everything. You're the cornerstone. How would I make stuff if there was no place to make it in? What would Life do if her creations had no place to exist? Where would Motion go, Space? Huh?"

Not used to such admonishment, the oceanic dragon gazed out at the waves, crashing away. The waves that wouldn't exist if not for the atmosphere and the third dimension as a whole. To my surprise, a crab appeared out of the sand and strolled right up to him, as if it was saying, 'There there, cosmic being. It'll be alright.' I decided to seal the deal on his pity party, and laid down next to Space. The brave little crab still remained, tapping at him curiously with a claw.

"Look, Space. Even Time is irrelevant without you. Without the area, without the realm in which events can occur, is Time actually passing? You give all of us purpose. You are the glue that holds reality together."

If this were a different kind of story, this would lead to Space crying and understanding his worth, and I would probably kiss him or something to further prove that he's important.

Thankfully, it's this kind of story, so that didn't happen. And no offense to the guy, but I do not wanna kiss Space.

"...Alright, I get it. Thanks, Matt. So that's why I came along. Though I'll admit that I'm starting to miss Time—and Death too, of course." Poor fool. I didn't blame him. There wasn't much purpose in what we were doing, and as someone who is perpetually working, I wasn't used to that feeling of freedom and lack of clear intent.

"Matter!" Motion yelled, interrupting the heartfelt conversation. Distress was laced in her voice. "This water tastes terrible!" Oh for Pete's sake...

Eventually, the girls had their fill of fun, and we went about setting up the underwater transportation trick. Space began to focus, intently watching the water. Within moments, the task was finished, and I could make out a vague outline of a sphere close to the sandbar. It did actually look pretty neat.

Without so much as a word, Motion plunged into the waves, swimming for the newly created space. How she suddenly knew how to swim was an enigma that could only be solved by asking the stupid creator of this story.

"Ugh. Idiot. She won't be able to breathe in there. Thanks anyway, Space." I hurried after her, knowing Motion probably wouldn't make it without my oxygen.

The trick to swimming was supposedly just kicking your back legs and thrashing your tail. Basically, you get the water out of your way so that you can exist in the place you just created. Kind of like what Space did with this ball. With this strategy, I steadily made headway through the blue. Actually, it was closer to black, as the sunlight was finally gone, leaving the ocean blank. Perhaps we should have waited until morning.

On top of that, anyone who has ever swam knows that it is impeccably hard to see underneath, so I was flying blind here. However, my claws suddenly felt heavy and dry, no longer weightless in the water. There was also a muffled sound of choking. She so owes me.

The rest of me tumbled into the sphere, and soon realized that yes; it was devoid of air. Eight protons...bam! The familiar taste of oxygen (which tastes pretty much like nothing in case you were curious) filled the space, and I opened my eyes to see Motion gasping in huge breaths. "I was supposed to go first, you dolt. How did you expect to stay alive?"

As she got her bearings, I made sure to add in some more elements and molecules to make a healthy mix of air. Pure oxygen isn't good in high amount.

"Everything was...fine...I don't...need you..." So stubborn.

"Motion! I've got your back, okay? We may govern the universe, but even you have limitations." She rolled her eyes, dismissing such a claim.

"Well I'll be. The unfeeling and cynical Matter actually seems to care for me." Pshaw.

Look, Motion is an idiot, and she needs help. So what if that responsibility falls on me? It's not like I actually care... I just don't want my Earth getting out of its orbit because she tried to have the planets dance a waltz or something.

Stop looking at me like that!

After a few more painful moments, Life joined the 'Spheremarine', with Space right on her heels. I made sure to refresh the oxygen every minute or so.

"Works like a charm," Space announced, proud of his clever plan.

"Wow, look at that!" Life pressed her paws to the wall of the orb, watching the encroaching moonlight dancing through the water of the shallows. It was a perfectly clear night sky, actually allowing us some vision from this perspective. The sandbar continued for a ways until a noticeable drop-off in the distance. A few smaller fish were hovering around in the clear ocean, but none were brave enough to get anywhere close to the giant bubble.

I wondered what Space's little zone was made out of. Could these fish pass through it too? Had he solidified the barrier? And what would happen if we ran into a SeaWing out here?

"Alright, Motion." The red dragoness stopped admiring a passing wrasse to look towards Space. "It's on you now. Let us explore."

"Wait, I get to drive?!" Oh no. She was much too excited for this.

"Not too fast please," Life asked, paralleling my thoughts. "I'd like to admire as much as possible!"

Our little aquatic journey began, hovering along the sandbar towards deeper waters. Fish skirted out of the way as we moved along. It felt vain to admire everything that I had worked towards creating, but I had to agree that seeing it up close and personal was rather breathtaking.

There was so much intricacy in the ocean. I was glad that thus far, pollution was kept to a minimum. Dragons didn't have the means to produce much of anything that wasn't biodegradable.

We had reached the end of the sandbar. Fortunately, the drop-off was not a strict cliff, instead leading to a slightly deeper area of a coral reef. Very convenient for our viewing party.

The reef was something everyone could truly admire. There were many more fish, and the quirky coral and strange plants made for a fantastic otherworldly garden.

"Gee." Motion indicated Life and I. "You two seriously didn't need to go so crazy on all of this. It's all incredible." Okay, that was too much. Blush lit up my face.

I hope no one took it to heart that the easiest way to manipulate me was through praise.

We perused the reef for longer, as there was much more to see. I even considered falling asleep on the relaxing dive, despite not actually requiring sleep in any form.

Before we knew it, it so happened that we had already whittled away the entire night. Daybreak made itself known. With this newfound confidence, our tour group looked tentatively towards deeper waters. It looked legitimately dark over there regardless. We didn't have reason to fear, but by common sense it was not a good idea to explore the depths like that.

"Um...can anyone make a light?" For whatever reason, all eyes turned to me.

"What? Light is energy. It behaves like a wave. That's for Motion."

"Light also behaves like a particle," she snapped back. Drat. That was true. Space clapped a paw on my shoulder.

"Then it looks like you'll have to work together."

Wait, what? Eww. I didn't want my photons 'excited' by Motion of all people. We regretfully shared a glance. Motion didn't look as appalled, but she wasn't on board either.

"Umm...can we take a vote first? Do we really want to explore the deep?" A nudge from Life was the only response needed.

Resisting the urge to gag, we joined hands. Operating quickly to get it over with, I produced electrons to foster some electromagnetic current. Motion finished the process to create photons and thus a ring of light around our bubble. How was a mystery; you'd have to ask her, but I doubt even she really knows. I guess, in hindsight, it wasn't that hard of a task.

With housekeeping out of the way, our little Reality convoy descended towards yet another drop off. Immediately, lifeforms were more scarce here. Life had based most of her creations off of sunlight, after all. Hmm.

"Life, is there anything down here? I thought those food chain things required sunlight." She perked at my question, happy to explain.

"Not quite. See, you designed the planet with molten rock at its core. I went from there and developed organisms on the ocean floor that rely on heat rising from fissures and volcanos, as opposed to heat from the sun. Of course, we're nowhere near the floor yet. Up here in the mesopelagic zone, you'll still see lots of other—oooohhhh!" She jumped excitedly, pointing out into the murkiness. It was ironic that she could get so ecstatic about things that she herself had made.

It was kind of hard to see it...oh wait.

See, as much as I enjoyed watching SeaWings swim and enjoy their lives, I didn't care for giant oceanic creatures. One could say I was a bit uncomfortable with the openness of the ocean. So to see some massive, dark, big-headed thing was a little unsettling. "Wow! It's a sperm whale!"

A what? Why on earth would she name it like that? That's just mean. (I figured out later that it's because of the oil in their heads used for echolocation, but still, Life could have at least been kinder when naming the poor things.) "So pretty! It must be on one of its feeding dives!"

Feeding down here? It was difficult to see past the light of the Spheremarine. Motion looked somewhat concerned also. The whale was very large, and we could see from here that it had lots of teeth.

"...Life? What do they eat?"

Uh oh. At that moment, I got a very very very very very bad thought. I'm pretty sure everyone but Life was sharing that thought at the moment.

"Squid, fish. Why?" Right on cue, our new deep-diving friend picked out the blatantly obvious and bright sphere floating near it in the water. It seemed to be filled with a lot of tasty meat.

This was the time to make like Pierre and get outta there.

"Pedal to the metal, Gretel!"

"What?!" Motion yelled back at me, staring in wide-eyed horror at the whale, now rushing forward with its open jaw.

"Make it happen, Captain!"

"WHAT?!"

"HEAD FOR THE HILLS AND PAY YOUR BILLS!"

"I think he's suggesting we leave the area," Space added, oh so helpfully.

"Oh. Okay."

One second, we were staring at rows of small, fish-stained teeth, the next, we were out in the sun and sand again. Rather than moving the bubble, it seemed Motion's first instant reaction was to teleport us far away.

"Oh dear," Life muttered. "I didn't think that would happen." I swept my gaze around the area. It was not the same beach on where we started. In fact, it was just a tiny island poking above the waves, just enough for all of us to be clustered on. Standing up offered a wide vantage point. The mainland was in one direction, and in the other—woah.

"At the very least, we got to see what we wanted to," Space said, though I was not very conscious of his words. Capturing my attention was what I had understood to be the SeaWing palace. This was the one they used for above ground visitors, or at least I could surmise from viewing back at the Corps. Or rather, it used to be.

A number of red and brown shapes were flying all about it, and the whole thing was up in flames. Yikes. Could this be an act of war? We had to have missed something.

"Everyone." My fellow aspects all stood and followed the gesture, responding with similar shocked reactions.

"Huh."

"How awful..."

"That's a lot of heat!" Sounded about right. There was something about the destruction that was rather captivating. This was how the world worked.

Life had to have been disappointed. She wanted to observe dragon behavior, and so far all we seemed to be getting was the worst stuff. Probably what we deserved for choosing to visit amidst a war.

It made me wonder how Death was getting along. Knowing him, he probably had separation anxiety from being away from Life for so long. Time likely didn't care.

"I'd rather take the whale," Motion concluded. Being over there did not seem fun. Just as many figures were flying around the palace as there were falling out of the sky. Smoke was billowing amongst the clouds.

"Hold on now." Space pointed towards a group of roughly six shapes in the air. Dragons, heading our way. They were all a variety of colors, and my inexperienced mind instantly guessed Talons of Peace.

You, wise readers who read the books, probably know better.

Yeah, that's right. I met the DoD's. Feel free to be jealous.

"Should we say hello? Maybe they know what happened here." This was a hesitant decision. One does not simply approach a group of strangers.

To our good fortune, it seemed we would not need to do so, as this convoy noticed us first. Whether or not this was good fortune was yet to be seen. As you're aware, the dragonets were young and temperamental at this point.

The Reality Corps of then did not know that.

"Wait a minute!" Life gripped my shoulder as she got a lightning bolt of inspiration. I was prepared to fight or run, based on whatever she said. "These are those young dragons from the cave! We were watching them just a bit ago."

Wait, those ones? Seriously? (And yes, I know the timing doesn't effectively match up, but just go with it.)

"You know them?" Space asked, warily treading his talons in the sand as the no-longer-strangers came within earshot. I could count exactly six now. One of each: Sea, Sand, Night, Mud, and Rain. However, at the rear was a second SeaWing that I recognized, but didn't remember. They seemed much older and appeared to be gravely wounded. My guess was the attack on the palace, and the group was fleeing to find medical help.

Maybe we shouldn't have slowed them down.

"Hey!" Exclaimed the younger and more agile of the two ocean dragons, who was also the one leading the charge.

"That's Tsunami," Life whispered, helping out the Corps. It was hard to tell what the newcomers thought of us and whether we were seeing aggression or wariness.

"Who the heck are you people?"

Sassy and rude. Not a great first impression. Surprisingly, it was Space who decided to step up this time and speak for the group as a whole. Sadly, it didn't work out for him very well.

"Would you happen to be associated with the Talons of Peace, perchance?" Tsunami's expression soured. The rest of her gang seemed nervous by the name drop as well, the SandWing in particular drifting back in flight to defend their wounded.

"I'd watch yourself, kelp-brain. You wouldn't want to impede the Dragonets of Destiny." She delivered it with a smugness, but of course we had no idea.

"Impede?" Motion hissed, surprising me with the level of aggression. "You're the ones who came over to us!" The MudWing of the DoD's (Clay, as Life had whispered) mumbled in agreement, causing Tsunami to growl.

At the time, I was wondering who these strange dragonets really were. They seemed conscious of the Talons, but not necessarily amiable with them. However, Nautilus had said there were only two traitors in the Sea Kingdom. Something else was afoot.

I decided to try and diffuse, as things weren't going so hot.

"Hang on, everybody. Let's try and relax. I don't think we're enemies here."

The NightWing of their group, who Life indicated as Starflight, seemed to agree with my point as he hovered closer to Tsunami.

"That does make sense. Clearly, they aren't active in the war, being a mix of these different tribes." It took me a moment to realize that Starflight had been attempting to whisper, meaning we weren't supposed to hear him. I found that rather humorous, but restrained a smile.

"Guys," the only SandWing among everyone announced. "I don't think we have time for this. Webs is getting worse." Life took note of the crippled dragon, aided in flight by those around him, and swiftly disregarded her Snowlily persona to demonstrate compassion. The IceWing (in appearance only) took to the air, but it was seen as a sign of aggression. The DoD's collectively swerved backwards.

"Do you need help? Is Webs okay? You shouldn't be flying in this condition."

"Which is why," Tsunami spat. "We are trying to get to the shore. So it would be great if you got out of our way!"

"Again!" Motion stamped her foot, looking more and more agitated (both mentally and in the way her body was vibrating). "We never tried to bother you! So go already!"

With one last snarl, Tsunami took off like a shot, the others swiftly following after to avoid any potential attack. I personally didn't think we looked that threatening.

Life dropped back to the sand, watching them go towards the mainland with worry.

"We're following them, right?"

"You do realize that will only make them more wary?" Space pondered, doodling in the sand. I noticed with a start that his drawings looked similar to the ones Time always made. He really must have missed her. Life got that serious and frightening look again.

"They clearly aren't in the war, and they aren't the Talons either. These dragons may be the perfect demonstrations for how we can improve this world. That's what this is all about!"

Hey man, whatever. I was frankly just there to have fun and crack some jokes. Just point me in the right direction, you know?

It was agreed upon. We took flight, finally with a purpose in mind.

Research the Dragonets of Destiny, and find out how Pyrrhia could be improved. You know, minus all of the feudalism, persecution, inter-tribal hatred, and massive ongoing war.

What fun.