A/N: Welcome to chapter 9, everyone! I hope you're all having a fantastic holiday season, and I hope everything is going well for you.

I don't have much more to say for now. So, as always, feel free to favorite/follow if you like the story, and don't forget to leave a review if you do. Enjoy!

Ch. 9: Chance Encounter

The Nightwing's marketplace was in a large street right in the middle of the capital city, not a ten-minute flight from the palace. Like most marketplaces in their opening hours, it was full of sellers showing off their wares and interested buyers wandering here and there looking at all the different things to buy. Smells of fresh meats and other foodstuffs floated down the street, enticing in any dragon that wanted a meal without taking the time to hunt themselves. Hustle, bustle, and the sound of idle talking filled the air as the Nightwings went about their normal day…or night, rather.

And, in that crowd of Nightwings, Indigo stood out like a clownfish in a school of mackerel.

She received more than a few curious glances as she made her way from stall to stall, and she didn't need to be a mind reader like some of them were to know that most of them were wondering why a Seawing was among them. For, while she and Fathom had now been in the Night Kingdom for some time, they never really did much outside the palace save for the flights Darkstalker took them on. In fact, this was one of Indigo's first times by herself outside the palace while off duty, and her first time in the city without Fathom. So, despite the Seawings having been in the Night Kingdom for some time, hardly any of these normal, non-palace staff dragons would have reason to know why a Seawing was suddenly in the middle of their marketplace.

She did her best to brush off the looks. After all, what would she think if she saw a Nightwing in a Seawing marketplace back home? Of course, it would be much harder for that to happen, seeing as the Nightwing would have to somehow be breathing underwater, but to her own mind the point still stood as valid.

She looked past the crowd and at the vendors, trying to locate one that would serve her needs. Off to her right was a large booth with butchered turkeys hanging from it, half-cooked, a smell emanating from it not too unlike the scent of the cooking from Foeslayer's feast a few nights before and which made her stomach rumble even though she wasn't hungry. Beyond that booth was a stall with a female Nightwing holding up different silks and linens, ones which wouldn't look out of place in the Seawing palaces. One more stall down looked to be a slightly less exquisite place, at least in décor, offering small jewelry pieces that she couldn't quite make out from this distance. Of the three, it was the last that caught her attention.

She approached the jewelry stall, politely declining to look closer at the fabric the dragoness presented to her as she passed (even if the purple sheets she was shown did match her scales magnificently), and began to study the pieces that were for sale. The majority seemed to be necklaces, many of them hanging from a few decorative stands, though on the table proper of the stall were several bracelets and tail bands. None had too much variety in color; they all seemed to be the same basic design, just with a variation on the focal piece of the necklace or bracelet, all in the same silvery metal.

She lingered for a few moments and caught the eye of the stall owner, an older Nightwing male who she noticed walked with a slight limp as he approached her. He raised an eye-ridge at her as he looked her over.

"Don't see many Seawings around here," he spoke in a voice that was a little cracked with age but held no ill-intent. She suspected he was just interested in a bit of conversation—and a sale—seeing as she was the only one at his stall.

"I wouldn't expect you would," she replied, looking through the necklaces. Each one had a slightly different image, mostly animals or nature images. One was a tree, another a wolf, and a third one a lion. They were simple, and she kind of liked them.

He shook his head. "No, no," he said slowly, "I don't suppose we would. Long way from the Sea Kingdom, ain't it?"

She just nodded in response, part of her hoping he'd not continue.

"Well," he continued, "Is there anything special you're looking for? Can't say I'm an expert on Seawing tastes, but I know my own stock, and if you're wanting any one look I can tell you if I have it."

Indigo shook her head. "Thanks, but I'm just browsing. I'm looking for a gift for a…friend of mine."

'Friend' was probably the best word she had for what she was to Clearsight. She wouldn't consider herself and the Nightwing to be particularly close, but Clearsight was really the only Nightwing that actually made any effort to say hi to her and get to know her as anything other than Fathom's bodyguard. And that was why she'd decided to come to the Nightwing marketplace: to find her a small gift for her hatching day. Darkstalker had brought it up at the dinner at his place and his mother had implied that she might do something special for it (something that, she supposed, might involve Fathom being there in some way), and in the event of some sort of party she did not want to be the only one without a gift. Not that she would be expected to bring one, but that was the point of gifts. Besides, Clearsight was a good dragoness, and she deserved it for her kindness to Fathom.

One of the necklaces caught her eye. It was a simple design, like the others, but of a silvery moon. The light gleamed off it almost like moonlight, and as she took it off the display, she was surprised at how light it felt.

"Ah," the old seller said, "An excellent piece, this one. Pure, uncorrupted silver. Worthy of any dragon's hoard in the days before the scorching. May I?" he held out a claw and she gave it to him. He raised it to his mouth and bit down on it, right on the moon design, then returned it to her. There wasn't the smallest scratch or blemish on it.

"Very nice," Indigo told him, "How much is it?"

"Fifty copper," he answered, "But for you, forty-five."

Fifty copper! Indigo struggled to keep a straight face. Fifty copper was more than she earned in a whole month, and she was part of the queen's honor guard. It was ten silver coins, assuming the Nightwing was using Pyrrhian standard, which would seem to be more silver than the necklace even had in it. Even though the necklace seemed to be of higher quality silver, it didn't soften the blow any.

"Interesting," Indigo said, slowly setting the piece back on the display, "I'll have to think it over." In truth, she had no intent to buy it now; there was no way she was about to spend more coin on Clearsight than she'd earned while knowing her.

The Nightwing seemed a bit disappointed as she left his stall and went on her way, but even if she was willing to spend that kind of coin on a friend, there was no way she could afford it. She only had a few copper on her, and that was only from what she'd brought with her from the Sea Kingdom. Despite the "importance" of their mission, both Seawing and Nightwing royalty had seemed to either overlook or intentionally neglect the nature of payment of all of Fathom's guards, not just Indigo. None of them had yet to receive a single coin in payment for their performance in the slightly more than a month they'd been here, while back in the Sea Kingdom the guards were paid weekly. At this point, Indigo wasn't sure whether the plan was for her to be paid upon return to the Sea Kingdom or if the Nightwings were supposed to cover it. Lionfish had insisted that the latter was the case, but none of them could quite bring themselves to confront anyone at the palace about it, not even Fathom. For the most part, it wasn't too big a deal, as the Nightwings had thus far provided them adequate food and lodgings, but it did mean that she didn't have much spending money at all.

It's a shame, she thought to herself, Some of this food smells really good.

Darkstalker's mother's little banquet had surprised her a little bit—in a good way—with some of the Nightwing cuisine. While at the palace she and Fathom normally kept to the more familiar fish dishes, she'd been enticed to try some of Foeslayer's specialty dishes filled with land-based herbs and spices. They'd been surprisingly good, and they made Indigo much more curious about the ordinary Nightwing's meal, not just the palace stuff. Purchasing a few items from the market to enjoy would go a long way in satisfying that curiosity, if only she had to coin to spare.

Indigo frown a bit at the memory of the party, though. Everything had gone all right in it, Fathom had had a great time, but the whole thing just felt…off to her, and not necessarily in a bad way. It was difficult for her to try to express, even to herself, but it eventually came down to the one dragon that it always seemed to come down to: Darkstalker.

When she'd first come to the Night Kingdom, her aim was simple: protect Fathom. At all costs. Primarily, that entailed protecting him from the possibly very dangerous Nightwing animus that was Darkstalker. She'd known as soon as she'd met the black dragon that he would not make that easy, that he was going to use his magic no matter what Fathom said and that he'd try to get Fathom to do the same. It was why, at the beginning, she'd wanted so much to just kill him and get it over with. It would have been easy—she'd had his life in her talons on their first meeting—and Fathom would have been safe. Sure, there would have been some repercussions, but nothing as bad as an insane animus destroying the world. All it would have taken was a flick of her claws and a lot of horrible things may have been avoided.

But Fathom had said no. For good or ill, Fathom had kept her from doing it. He'd wanted to try to befriend the other dragon, to try to make him see the error of his ways. So far, Fathom had been failing in the latter task miserably, but at least he himself wasn't joining Darkstalker in using his magic. Darkstalker had assured her that he bore no evil intent towards Fathom and, while she had begun to believe him, that didn't mean that he couldn't change his mind and do something horrible if he thought it warranted. She knew that one little thing, spell or otherwise, could bring his whole world, and by extension Fathom's, crashing down. So, she'd continued to guard Fathom, to protect him, to think up ways to eliminate Darkstalker if he ever became as big a threat as he seemed to be. So that when he went on a homicidal rampage like Albatross had, she'd be able to kill him before he killed Fathom.

And therein lied the problem, what unnerved her so.

When they'd first met, Darkstalker had been rather hostile towards her. Not that she expected anything less after she'd basically tried to kill him at their first meeting, but it wasn't exactly a good thing to have as powerful a dragon as him as an enemy. But as time went by, that seemed to have changed, at least a little. While they weren't exactly on friendly terms, he was no longer giving her hateful glares and stares like he first had. In fact, he'd even been cordial on occasion. She hadn't wanted to read too much into it, but she couldn't deny a certain curiosity over why his attitude had changed, even if just a little. Even so, she continued to steel herself, to plan for the worst.

Then had come the dinner at Darkstalker's house. For the first time, she'd gotten a real glimpse at how he lived, not just where. She saw a dragon with a home, a family, and friends. A dragon with a sweet little sister who loved to play games and a kind mother dedicated to her tribe. Darkstalker had trouble with his father—hatred, even—but had genuine care for those around him. For the first time, she saw that the dragon that she'd wanted to kill had a life outside of the flights he took with Fathom.

Darkstalker wasn't an insane, all powerful psycho bent on destruction, he was just a dragon.

A dragon that had more power than the average dragon, granted, and one that could cause more than a little destruction, but still a dragon with problems, hopes, and dreams like any other. She didn't have to be a mind reader to sense the genuine affection he had for his mother when she'd caught sight of them embracing each other after the meal, nor could she miss his tension when his father had arrived. Yes, Darkstalker was still a subject to normal emotions and feelings; he was not beyond reaching.

It was an odd sensation, Indigo thought, to have this realization about a dragon she had wanted to kill not long ago. Back then she could have slain him without a second thought…now, not so much. He was no longer a one-dimensional villain like in a story; he'd become real to her. And now, for really the first time since arriving in the Night Kingdom, she had no idea how she was supposed to feel about him.

A loud clang snapped her out of thoughts and back into reality, out of the past and back into the crowded marketplace present. Ahead, she saw that one of the stalls had a bunch of large iron and copper kettles out for sale and a couple of dragonets playing in the street had bounded into one and knocked it over. She bit back a small chuckle as the shop keep hollered at them even as the small Nightwings bounded away, oblivious.

She shook her head, a small grin on it. Thoughts about Darkstalker can wait, she said to herself, suddenly in a better mood, I still need to find Clearsight a good present.

It took a bit more looking, but she finally settled on a nice, simple, one-looped bracelet from a permanent shop that she found farther down the street. It was silver, like the necklace that caught her eye before (though probably not as high quality of silver), but it didn't have any special design or etching on it. Indigo figured that might be a good thing though—it could be worn with any other accessories without standing out. Clearsight had always struck her as not being a vain dragon, so it was likely that she could appreciate it more so than many other of the dragons that lived in the Night Palace.

She exited the shop and walked back into the street, satisfied with her purchase. It was the only thing she'd come here for, but it had been nice all the same to get a better sense of the kingdom that she was going to continue to stay in for an indefinite period of time. Now she had a better sense of what was there, and she had a few ideas of other items she could get if she ever got a few more coins to get them with.

The crowd in the market had thinned a bit by the time she was done, but there were still enough dragons around that she couldn't just take off to fly back to the palace without bumping her wings into a Nightwing or annoying them with her wing-wind. She'd need to find a more open area to take off in or she knew that she would be receiving some nasty glares. The last thing she wanted was for the Nightwings to have a negative opinion of her—and by extension Seawings in general—especially if she wanted to come back to the market again.

She was trying to find a good spot where she wouldn't bother anyone when she was suddenly jostled from behind, another dragon bumping into her tail and then pushing forward and jostling her wing. It caused her to stumble and almost fall, but she caught herself and stayed upright. She whipped her head around and was a second away from giving a hiss at the other dragon when she suddenly recognized who it was.

"Foeslayer?" she asked, suddenly taken a bit aback by seeing Darkstalker's mother here. Not that she couldn't or shouldn't be here, it was just unexpected. Although, of all the Nightwings she could have run into, Foeslayer was probably the best; in their somewhat brief meeting, she'd struck Indigo as a rather pleasant dragoness to be around, a dragoness that went out of her way to be kind to Fathom.

She expected Foeslayer to turn and recognize her, maybe have a small chat, but what was even more surprising than the chance encounter was that Foeslayer didn't do either. She didn't even acknowledge her. She just continued to brush on past her as though she hadn't even bumped into her. Indigo didn't get an exceptionally good look at her face, but there was an odd look on it, one that almost looked pained. Foeslayer was mumbling something incoherent under her breath as she passed, and she continued to do so as she walked away. Then, in the middle of the street, she jumped up and took off, disrupting everyone around her who gave shouts as her wingbeats beat dust and debris into the air. She flew straight ahead in the direction she was walking, not even glancing behind at the small chaos she'd caused.

That was odd, Indigo thought as she watched her go. She glanced back the way Foeslayer had come from and realized that she recognized the street, which intersected the market area, as the one that Darkstalker's house was on. Foeslayer must have just left home and marched straight this way, though why she'd waited until getting into the middle of a crowd to fly away was beyond her. What was a bit more interesting, once Indigo got her bearings a little more, was that she was flying straight north. Maybe she got called back to her outfit early, was the best idea Indigo could come up with. It might explain why she was rude and in a possibly bad mood.

She shook her head and put her focus once more on her task of leaving the marketplace and returning to the Palace. It only took a minute for her to find a good open place (apparently, there were small areas specifically designated for dragons incoming and outgoing by flight), and soon she was flying over the streets of the Night Capital on her way to the palace. Before she made it there, though, she cast one glance north and thought that she could just vaguely see a dot that could be Foeslayer flying away.

As she landed on the balcony, she overheard two voices coming from Fathom's room, both of which she recognized instantly. Fathom was talking to Darkstalker, who must have arrived while she was gone. She mentally kicked herself for that, having taken too long at the market—she had planned to do her best not to let the Nightwing be around Fathom without her to protect him—but at least the voices seemed to indicate that nothing horrible had befallen anyone while she was gone.

"Thank you," she heard Fathom saying as she walked out of the balcony and into the room, although only Darkstalker seemed to glance over in acknowledgement, "You really don't mind if I keep it?"

"I've used it on my father already," Darkstalker said with a little shrug of his wings, "So I don't really need it anymore. I may need it back to double check him later—he was pretty bad but not completely evil—but I think it will be better in your claws. You seem to want it use more than I do, and I know it helps you feel a bit better about everything."

Indigo finally saw what they were talking about as Fathom lifted up Darkstalker's little telescope and pointed it at him. The Nightwing had given him his soul reader, or whatever it was that he called it.

"See, I'm still not evil," Darkstalker said with a grin, looking at the black and white sands that she couldn't quite make out from where she was, "Now come on, let's go bother Clearsight."

"Let me see that," Indigo said, speaking up as Fathom suddenly jumped, noticing her for the first time.

"Indigo, you're back!" he said, looking both surprised and relieved, "How was the market?"

"It was fine," she told him, trying to carry a neutral expression around Darkstalker even as she took the soul reader from Fathom and pointed it at him for herself. The sand dial spun for a second or two before stopping. It had about the same levels of black and white sand as it had the first time she'd seen it used on him. She wasn't sure whether to find that comforting or suspicious. Of course, the reading could be a trick...

"Satisfied?" the Nightwing asked with a smirk, "And no, I didn't do any special enchantments on it to make it show what I want it to show or anything sneaky like that that I know you're thinking of. Believe me, if I ever begin to turn into a hideous, evil monster, I'd like to know it ahead of time as much as you would."

She gave a frown as he read her mind regarding any additional enchantments, but any unpleasant thoughts were replaced with curious ones at his following statement, his claim that he'd want to know if he was turning evil—presumably to stop it from happening.

I wonder if he really means that, or if he's just trying to say the right thing, she thought. Part of her, though, genuinely believed that it was the former.

"Anyway…Clearsight?" Darkstalker asked, already beginning to leave the room to head to hers. Fathom followed and so did Indigo, and it wasn't until she was at the door that she finally caught sight of the current guard on duty—Lionfish—lounging in a corner paying no attention to anything that had just been said or done. She made a mental note to give him a growl for it later; he needed to be at his most alert whenever there were any visitors, especially Darkstalker.

"Didn't Clearsight say she had to work today?" Fathom asked as they began walking down the hallway to her room.

"Vigilance wants her to work every day," Darkstalker answered with a roll of his eyes, "She already quit school her future seeing full time. It's not good for her, Fathom. Flying and hunting and swimming with me, with us, is what's good for her, not staying cooped up in her room all day writing down scroll after scroll of events which more than likely won't even happen."

He gave a small sigh as they arrived at her room and rapped on her door. Indigo heard a clatter of things falling, followed by the thumping of talonsteps. Finally, Clearsight stuck her head of the door and gave the three of them a stern look.

"I knew it was you," the Nightwing dragoness said, looking over them.

Darkstalker opened his mouth to say something, but a perfect response came to Indigo and she took it before he could.

"Really?" she said with a mock gasp, "It's like you can see the future!"

Darkstalker shot her an odd look, "I was just about to say the same thing," he told her as Fathom stifled a laugh.

Clearsight, however, was not amused. "You are not distracting me today," she cried, "Go away! Queen Vigilance wants a full report on all the Icewing activities for the whole of next year by tomorrow. I'm sorry, but I have no time to waste on frivolous flights or games or whatever is you want to do."

Ignoring her, Darkstalker bundled past her and into the room, Fathom and Indigo following behind. The floor was covered with scrolls, as was every other available surface. Indigo was careful not to step on anything, but even so the tips of her talons pierced the ends of a few scrolls that sat right in the way of the only clear path through the room.

"Great kingdoms," was all she could say as she surveyed Clearsight's mess, hoping that the ink on all of the scrolls was dry and wouldn't stain her scales.

"You have to tell Vigilance that an entire year of information is impossible," Darkstalker told Clearsight, shaking his head as he observed the same things Indigo was, "You know as well as I do that trying to do that with so many variables just doesn't work, at least not well. Three fourths of everything you tell her will be invalidated the second she even sees it. It's ridiculous."

"It's not ridiculous when hundreds and thousands of live are at stake," Clearsight argued, "And not everything changes just because of one or two little changes or decisions. And besides, this is important—I helped us win that battle at sea a few weeks ago. And that engagement at the Red Canyon in the desert? We'd never have pulled it out if I hadn't have made sure that reinforcements were sent in time. But every time I'm right, every time I help, Queen Vigilance just wants more and more details. Exactly how many dragons in this camp? Exactly what time of day will they attack—"

"Come on, Clearsight," Darkstalker said with an exasperated sigh, "Next she'll be asking you how many grains of sand will be in the next desert sandstorm. If you try to do everything, you'll lose your mind. Come flying with us! It'll clear your head. There's a delicious pack of wolves running through the forests of Boarderland Mountain, and tomorrow morning will start your hatching day. Have a little fun!"

"I can't!" she protested, "And I don't understand why you're so against me doing this. If I can foresee and stop attacks or make sure we win the important battles, it will go a long way towards stopping this war. I can save so many lives, Darkstalker. Who knows, I could even stop and attack that could otherwise have killed or injured your mother! That's not ridiculous, is it?"

That halted Darkstalker, who suddenly seemed at an uncharacteristic loss for words. He grumbled something to himself as he gave a small lash of his tail, accidentally knocking over a few scrolls.

But the mention of Darkstalker's mother didn't just affect Darkstalker. Indigo suddenly remembered her chance encounter with Foeslayer not long ago, and her curiosity at the older dragoness's behavior returned. An idea popped into her mind that Darkstalker may know what was up with her.

"Speaking of Foeslayer," she spoke up hesitantly, feeling like she was speaking out of turn after the exchange between Darkstalker and Clearsight, "Is everything all right with her?"

Darkstalker's eyes immediately narrowed at her question as he whipped his head towards her. "Why wouldn't she be?" there was something a little threatening in the tone of his voice, something almost accusatory.

"It's just…I bumped into her a little bit ago," Indigo explained, "Or rather, she bumped into me. It was right when I was finishing up at the market. I was leaving a shop and she ran into me but she didn't stop. She just kept on going and mumbling something to herself before she took off and flew north. Was she returning to duty or something?"

"She shouldn't be," Darkstalker answered, his glare turning into a look of confusion, "She should be home for another three days. I have no idea why she'd—"

He was cut off by a sudden gasp by Clearsight. She shot out one claw and grabbed Darkstalker's talon while she brought the other to her head. Trembling, she sunk to the floor and Indigo thought she heard a whimper.

"What is it?" Darkstalker shook her talon and pulled her face towards him. It wasn't until he followed with "What did you see?" that Indigo realized that she was having a vision.

"It's—it's your mother," she cried, "Darkstalker, It's Foeslayer! She's in danger—the Icewings—there's a spell—a plan!—we have to find her!" he words scrambled over one another and she suddenly let out a sob, "We have to find her and stop her or everything is going to be awful. What happens to her, and then to everyone. Darkstalker, it's horrible!"

Tears were streaking down Clearsight's face as she lost control of herself. Indigo was taken aback as she watched, never having seen a dragon go into a vision much less one this disturbing. Darkstalker wrapped his wings around the Nightwing dragoness to comfort her, but when he looked at the two Seawings in the room, his face held a rigid determination.

He looked at Fathom first. "Fathom, I need you to go through the palace and alert any guard or soldier that you see about what's happened. Try to see the queen if you must; as a high-ranking guest I'm sure you can get a fast audience."

Then he turned towards her, a fiery intensity in his eyes like she'd never seen before.

"Indigo, take me to where you saw my mother."