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DARKSTALKER

Darkstalker had never been so uncertain about the purity of his soul until now.

He thought that he was a good dragon, and he thought he always would be. And he figured that if he'd ever needed to do anything bad, then he would be able to convince Clearsight that it was for a greater good. Never did he feel like his soul was being corrupted by animus magic, not once.

And yet Clearsight still worried. He'd never really thought critically about what that might've meant. It could have simply meant that for all of the numerous possible futures that Clearsight saw, she was uniquely good at focusing on the worst ones. Darkstalker liked to believe that that was the case.

But even granting that (and Darkstalker was only just now starting to consider the possibility that maybe that assumption was wrong), it still meant that those possible futures were still possible futures. And Clearsight might have just come back from one right now.

Oh moons, what am I going to say to her? he thought, anxiety creeping into his scales and causing his talons to tap nervously on the ground as he waited for her to show up to school. What can I possibly say to make her feel better? He'd thought of a hundred different things already. 'I'm so sorry, Clearsight: I don't know what could have gotten into me, but I'll never do what I did again.' And, 'I know you're probably not very happy with me, but the dragon you're talking to never actually did any of those terrible things.' And, 'I might have failed you once, Clearsight, but now that you know what caused things to go wrong, you can help me do a better job this time.'

A gruff sigh escaped from his snout. This feeling was weird. It was unnatural. What happened to his confidence that everything was going to be okay? Why was he so unsure all of a sudden? The odds were in favor of Clearsight telling him that nothing happened, right?

"Darkstalker? What happened?"

Darkstalker blinked and looked over at his sister, who had been standing beside him. She had a curious, ditzy stare directed at him, which usually indicated that she was thinking quickly and in many strange directions at once. "What are you talking about?" he said to her. "Nothing happened." Not to me, at least.

"But I can hear lots of little bubbles popping inside you," she said, cocking her head. "They've been popping all day. I thought you'd woken up filled with soap."

Darkstalker winced a little. "I'm okay, Whiteout," he said. "Maybe I'm just filled with soap because I want to make sure I'm extra clean today."

Whiteout smirked. "You're very clean, brother. Three crescent moons are shining in your soul."

"Oh," Darkstalker murmured. "Well, if you say that's a good thing, then I'll take your word for it."

Clearsight swept into the grounds, landing beside several other students touching down from the sky onto the landing clearings. Darkstalker darted for her the moment he saw her, nearly crashing into another student along the way. "Hey, watch where you're going!" the stranger snapped, beating his wings and keeping front two hands backed up and off the ground to avoid him.

"Sorry! Sorry!" Darkstalker shuffled around him and bounded towards Clearsight again, as the dragon went the other way mumbling something in his mind about Darkstalker thinking he owned the place now that everyone knew he was an animus.

Clearsight, who had clearly seen the entire thing, took a couple of steps towards Darkstalker as he approached. "Can you go one day without winning my heart with your smoothness?"

"Did you use it?" Darkstalker asked, ignoring her quip.

Clearsight blinked. "Use what? The watch?"

"Good evening, Clearsight!" Whiteout called as she followed up on Darkstalker's rear. "You're looking very isotropic today."

"Uh … thank you, Whiteout," Clearsight responded awkwardly. She looked back at Darkstalker with a small smile. "I set it, if that's what you mean."

Darkstalker held his breath. There was relief welling in him, but it was guarded. "And you didn't … come back from anything?"

Clearsight shook her head. "I did use it to get a bit of extra sleep, but that's it."

A smile bloomed on Darkstalker's face. "That's it? Really? That's — oh, that's wonderful, Clearsight!" He scooped her up and twirled her around, squeezing her wings closer into his chest. "I knew it! I knew you didn't have to worry."

"Um, actually no, I kind of do," Clearsight protested, wriggling herself free from Darkstalker's hold.

Darkstalker shook his head. "If I destroyed the world in this reality," he argued, "then you would have gone back and I wouldn't witness you telling me that you didn't use the watch. Since you're telling me that you never used the watch, I'm clearly never going to do anything terrible. QED."

"I … don't think that's how it works," Clearsight said, though she sounded a little uncertain.

"I don't care how it works. All I care about is you. You're exactly the way you were before, and that's exactly how I wanted you to be." He smiled brightly and hugged her again.

"Clearsight!"

Darkstalker brought his arms down and faced the sky. Amid the other dragonets flying down to the school, he spotted a gray-bellied NightWing with silver teardrop scales against her eyes flying their way. Clearsight's friend, Listener.

She landed gracelessly in front of them, galloping to a halt after touching the ground. She whirled up to Clearsight and grabbed one of her talons, pulling her away from Darkstalker. "Clearsight. I need to speak with you right now — alone," she said, casting a quick glance at Darkstalker. Her mind reeked with distrust.

"Why?" Clearsight asked, tilting her head.

Listener's voice quieted down. "I have a new idea for our school project," she explained. "But I wanted to run it by you first."

Ah, Project: Free the Scavengers. Clearsight had already spoken with him about their scheme to set the trapped scavengers in the school free. He thought it was kind of a silly idea, but he respected it. Listener was the only other dragon Darkstalker knew who actually realized how smart those sorry little creatures were. He completely supported her efforts to set them free. A part of him even wanted to help them. But he didn't want to risk getting himself in trouble with the school — not when so many eyes were already on him. He had his own world of plans and plots to worry about. He could let Clearsight and Listener handle this one on their own.

"Sounds pretty important," Clearsight said, grinning tiredly at her friend. "We can go to the arboretum: it's always quiet this time of day. I'll talk to you later, Darkstalker."

Darkstalker nodded as she walked off with Listener, flicking his tail joyfully.

Whiteout smiled up at her brother. "I like her," she said to him. "For the dragon of chaos, her stitching is unusually straight."

" 'Dragon of chaos'?" Darkstalker repeated, cocking his head at Whiteout. "You're not talking about Clearsight, are you? She's the least chaotic dragon in the world."

"I know! It's so curious, isn't it?" Whiteout began to walk towards the classrooms. The dragons ahead shuffled aside to make way for her and Darkstalker. "But I can see the snakes tangled in her yarn. And they don't need to bite her to teach her about disorder."

Darkstalker hummed thoughtfully. Sometimes he got the impression that his sister had powers far beyond his or Clearsight's. When she looked back up at him, she let out a gentle laugh and nudged him with her wing. "My brother appears to be birdwatching."

"It's nothing," he said, this time paying little mind to whatever that might have meant. "Some of the things you say make me worry sometimes is all."

Whiteout shook her head, and her eyes glistened at him. "You're not a fretful dragon, brother, so don't fret. I have faith that she can win the future without your gears to guide her."

"I know," Darkstalker said. "I should probably forget about that silly watch, shouldn't I?"

"You should like that strategy," Whiteout agreed. "You've given Clearsight enough hope to try it out herself."

"I did?" Darkstalker looked ahead as he walked up the stairs into the courtyard. "That's good to hear." We'll forget about it together, then. I've been burdening my mind with it for long enough.

And forget about it he did.

He forgot about it when he left school that night, and huddled into his room to harmlessly enchant another item.

He forgot about it when he met Fathom and Indigo for the first time at the welcoming party in the Queen's palace.

He forgot about it when he scraped a dagger through his chest to test out his enchanted scales.

He forgot about it when he watched in grave lament as his mother slowly flew towards her awaiting doom in the Kingdom of Ice.

He forgot about it when he captured Arctic in the middle of betraying the NightWings, and when he punished him for his crimes in front of the tribe.

And he forgot about it when he flew to Agate Mountain to meet with Clearsight.

But when Clearsight's bracelet slipped from her wrist onto his, and he saw her mind unguarded for the first time in years, he remembered. Because in the midst of all of the terrible futures that Clearsight saw before her, she didn't forget.