A/N: So the plan was to ride that momentum of the last chapter and knock this next one out in the span of a week to a week and a half, so as to not make a long wait. Obviously, that did not happen, as I soon found myself writing almost everything besides this chapter (including, but not limited to: a chapter of another fic I have, two different one shots, and a prologue to a friend's story). That said, sorry for the longer-than-average wait. You have my solemn vow that the next one will come out quicker.

Anyway, feel free to favorite/follow if you like the story so far, and leave a review if you feel so inclined. Most importantly, and as always, enjoy the next chapter...

Chapter 24: Clawprints in the Sand

Clearsight trembled where she stood, a range of emotions flowing through her that Darkstalker could read well enough even without access to her mind. He couldn't really say that he'd ever seen her like this before, and he'd be lying if he said that it didn't suddenly scare him a little. There was such an intensity in her eyes, in her stance, that spoke of so much of the anger and disbelief that she wore on her face.

"What's going on here?" she finally hissed out, looking at them accusingly, and rightfully so. Yet there was tremor in her voice as well, and Darkstalker knew that she already knew the answer to her question.

Darkstalker flickered his gaze to Indigo, who had tensed up and was watching Clearsight warily. He slowly removed his wing from around her as Clearsight gave a snort.

"I'd say that this isn't what it looks like, but that would be a lie," Darkstalker dared to speak, despite silence probably being the more prudent option. But this was Clearsight, after all; certainly she of all dragons could understand.

"Is that so…?" Clearsight growled, her eyes shifting back and forth between them before she gave a grimace—a tell-tale sign of brief visions crossing her mind unlooked for. She lashed her tail and fixed her gaze on him.

He nodded. "It is."

Clearsight stepped forward, and Indigo in turn raised to her feet, and Darkstalker decided it would be wise to follow suit. He was suddenly very glad that a trained bodyguard was with him in that moment. For when he looked at Clearsight, he saw only barely controlled rage. She halted, then raised a trembling claw.

"You…you…" she said, her gaze on him, and she closed her eyes, searching for words, for something to say. But Clearsight found none. She opened them her eyes back up, and the fury for only a few seconds ago was gone, replaced with a look of such intense hurt that Darkstalker physically winced. Taking a deep, shaky breath, she set her claw down, and Darkstalker saw tears escaping from her closed eyes.

"Clearsight," he spoke her name, but she shook her head and stepped away. He made to take a step towards her, but before he could even put his claw down, she turned away from him. There was the clicking sounds of talons on stone and then a whoosh of wings as Clearsight fled away.

Darkstalker gave a sigh as he watched her go for the moment. It had very well crossed his mind that Clearsight may not take the news of him and Indigo too well, but he had been hoping to avoid something like this. When he told her, he was expecting it to be on his own terms and for him to be able break things to her softly. Of course, at the same time, he didn't know himself how much she knew. She was the greatest seer in the Night Kingdom, after all; surely she wouldn't have been so surprised by something like this, even if they never discussed it.

It hurt all the same, though. Clearsight was always supposed to be such a big part of his life, and him of hers. If she'd really still been expecting those paths…well, he could certainly understand her reaction. But even if those futures weren't to be, he still cared for Clearsight. She was a good dragon and a good friend, and he genuinely didn't want her to be hurt like she certainly was right now.

He looked to Indigo beside him, suddenly torn. Not over his decision, of course; he was resolved in the path he'd just chosen. But all the same a part of him urged him to go after Clearsight, to try to explain things. Yet he worried what Indigo would think if he did.

How would it look, He asked himself, If right after I tell her I love her, I immediately leave to chase after the dragon I was previously with?

Indigo, however, read the confliction in his eyes, and it was ultimately her who made the decision. She touched a talon to his and gave a nod.

"You should go after her," the Seawing told him, "I know what you're thinking. Just…be careful."

Despite the situation, he found himself giving her a smile. Of course she'd understand.

"Thank you," he said, and went to follow Clearsight.

…But not before tripping and falling on the cave floor, having forgotten to disentangle his tail from Indigo's. It had felt almost as much a part of him as his own that he'd just went ahead and moved forward without thinking, and the sudden tug of Indigo's tail not moving with him took him off balance. She quickly moved to help him up and apologize as they both unwrapped each other's tails, but other than a brief moment of frustration at the delay, he thought nothing on it.

Soon he was in the air looking for Clearsight, and it took him a surprisingly short time to find her. She was only about half a mile down the beach outside the cave, sitting in the sand and watching the waves. He landed a fair distance away and walked slowly up to her, his clawprints in the sand being washed away behind him by an incoming tide.

She gave him only a small glance of acknowledgement before looking back out over the water. Darkstalker could still see the tension in her scales, but she no longer seemed quite as furious as she had been such a short time ago. He hoped that would continue to be true.

For a while they just stood there in silence, the only sound the breaking of the waves. There was a full moon out tonight, the others more or less halfway there as well, which cast a bright illumination over the water. It was a beautiful night, ideal for flying, and a rather beautiful scene as well.

"I once saw a vision of our dragonets playing on this beach," Clearsight said, finally breaking the silence, "They were so happy, jumping up and down in the shallows and learning how to fish with Fathom."

Darkstalker said nothing, not sure what he could say. What was he supposed to say to that?

Clearsight shook her head. "I was looking for that future just now. I couldn't see it. I couldn't see any of them anymore," she looked away from the sea and met his eyes. "Darkstalker…why?"

He swallowed, uncertain, but he knew he had to answer. "I fell in love."

She lashed her tail, sending sand flying behind her. "But you were supposed to love me!" she cried, her calmer venire breaking, "In every vision, in every future, it was always us together! Sure, sometimes things weren't perfect, some timelines were darker than others, but even before we even met we both knew we were destined for each other. We had so much to do, so much to look forward to, but now it's all gone! What…what happened, Darkstalker?" The looking in her eyes was pleading, a desperate search for answers.

"I…I don't hardly know myself," he admitted after a pause, trying to tread cautiously, "It just, well, happened."

"That's not good enough!" she turned towards him, lifting a claw and stomping it back down. "You throw everything away and say it 'just happened'? Ha! Tell me, how long has this been going on? Have you and her been hiding this, keeping secrets this whole time?"

He shook his head. "It's not like that," he tried to explain, "I mean, we've been doing things together, but tonight was the first time that we…that I…"

"That you what?" Clearsight demanded.

"That I actually told her I love her," he finally got out, "That we became a thing."

She snorted a puff of smoke and narrowed her eyes. "But you knew before, certainly."

"I…yes," he admitted.

"And you never told me?" Clearsight's voice cracked at the question, and beyond the anger Darkstalker could see the hurt and the sorrow and the confusion inside of her.

He looked away, unable to meet her eyes. "I…I didn't want to," he said, "At first because I didn't want it to be true, and later because I was afraid of your reaction. I needed to process it myself before telling you…I needed time to think and work through it on my own."

"But you could have come to me!" Clearsight insisted, "We could have figured it out. We could have worked it out."

"Could we have?" Darkstalker asked, "Clearsight…I've hardly seen you for months. You've disappeared in your work. Even before working for the queen, you were always more focused on the future than the present. Is…is it any surprise that I would fall for someone who lived with me in the here and now?"

She growled and lashed her tail again, creating a small ditch in the sand behind her. "I was trying to help stop a war," she argued, "Was I supposed to do nothing like you did for so long? In time, things would have gotten better. We would have made up for that lost time."

Darkstalker ignored her little sting at him. "Maybe, maybe not. But Indigo was there when you weren't. She didn't wait for the future…and I found I didn't want too either."

"Then why didn't you try with me?" she demanded, "Why didn't you give me the same chance you gave her?"

He took a deep breath, and then released it. "I did," he said simply, and for a moment Clearsight was silenced. Her face fell as she looked at him, and in that moment she doubtlessly released for the first time just how many flights she'd declined to go on, how many fun trips and adventures she'd neglected. All the little things that had slowly added up until they reached the point that she'd lost him.

"B—but still," she tried to press, her voice now wavering, "What about us? Was everything for nothing?"

He sighed. "Clearsight, I enjoyed what time we had together. I really did. But how much of it was genuine? How much did you and I actually do together? Yes, we had thousands of things that we would do, but visions don't make a reality. It's not the same, Clearsight. I needed something real."

Clearsight fell silent again, her body still tense and trembling. She looked away from him and back over the sea.

"And Clearsight," he dared to continue, taking a step closer, "I…I honestly thought you'd know. At least a little bit. I figured that a seer like you would have seen what was happening between Indigo and I."

"Well, I didn't," Clearsight snapped, still not looking at him, "I had more important things to worry about and look at where the future was concerned. I thought that you were one thing that I didn't need to pay any mind to. I always assumed that we'd be together, so I never even thought to take it into account, I never…" she trailed off, then hissed as she brought a talon to her face. "Of course!" she exclaimed, "That's why the futures were so cloudy, my visions less accurate. I was viewing everything with faulty assumptions. Ugh! It all seems clearer now. How many mistakes did I make in my predictions because of you?"

Darkstalker shook his head. "You really didn't see any?"

"I saw a few," she admitted, "But never did I think any were actually likely. Just a few outliers here and there, as far-fetched as any other of the thousands of things that could technically happen but almost certainly never will. I thought you loved me…why would I even consider that you'd be pursuing it?"

He glanced down at his talons as she spoke, unable to meet her eyes. For while he'd been hoping that that wasn't the case, in his heart he'd figured that it was. That it would blindside her just as much as it had initially done to him. The idea that Clearsight would know and not mention it, or even support it, was a happy lie he'd told himself to avoid telling her himself.

Shaking his head, he gave a sigh. "You're right," he told her, "I should have told you sooner. For that, I am sorry, Clearsight."

She huffed, but seemed to finally relax a little bit. "You should have," she agreed, "After all, who knows how many errors I might have made since I didn't know. All the little things here and there that could be affected now…all I work I've been doing could be worthless now!" she paused and growled, "Three moons, do I even know anything anymore? Did I send dragons to the wrong place to die because of this, because I made a few wrong assumptions? And what about now? I'll have to go over everything again."

Darkstalker cocked his head in confusion as she went on. Was she, right now, still worried about all that other stuff? Was this really where her concern lied? So soon after realizing that this incessant need to focus on what was to come was her issue, she'd gone straight back to it. And in sudden irritation, he found himself saying something that he probably shouldn't have.

"Are you really more angry over your precious futures than over me?" he bit out, interrupting her, and the glare she suddenly cast him carried the fierceness and heat of dragonfire.

"How dare you!" she suddenly shouted, whipping her whole body around to face him, "How dare you suggest that!"

He took a step back as the angry look from before, from back in the cave, returned to her face.

"Do you think I wanted all this responsibility? Do you think I wanted to be dragged away from my parents and now away from you to serve a higher call? Of course I didn't! But it was my duty, so I did," she stomped her feet in the sand and hissed, "I would have traded all my power just to be able to live out the futures I saw for real. To just live normally instead of constantly being plagued by visions!"

"Don't say that," Darkstalker said, softening a bit at her words, fierce though they may be, "Clearsight, your power is a gift. It's part of you, and it's not something to be taken for granted. You're the greatest seer alive now, maybe ever, and that's not something to just throw away. Do you have any idea just how useful it is to—"

"Useful?" Clearsight interrupted him, "A lot of use it's done me." She snorted and narrowed her eyes at him. "In fact, that's probably the only reason you cared for me, wasn't it? Because of my power?"

"No!" he said immediately, "It's not like that!" but Clearsight wasn't listening anymore.

"Were you ever actually concerned for me, or just what I could offer in telling the future? Clearly the second, or else you wouldn't have thrown me away for a Seawing! I bet you were laughing as you flew alongside her, thinking about how you could just use me to see what you wanted to while still staying in the dark," Clearsight was practically snarling now, her breaths deep as she formed her own connections, faulty as they were.

"Well, no more!" she declared, "You're a seer, Darkstalker, find your own way from now on. You'll get no help from me!"

Darkstalker's concern was so focused on her outburst that it took him a moment to understand what she meant. She wouldn't help him at all with future seeing, and with the meeting with the Icewings upcoming, her help was something he could ill afford to lose.

"Clearsight," he said, trying not to sound confrontational at all, "Be reasonable. There's no reason that—"

"Be reasonable?" Clearsight scoffed, "See, now you care about me again, when my power's what's in question."

"It's not like that," he insisted, "Clearsight, just listen…"

"No," she growled, "Not anymore, and not again. You betrayed me, Darkstalker, and this is your reward. If your care for me is so small, then you'll get just the same amount of my help."

She turned away, then, finished, and with a powerful beat of her wings took to the sky before he could even say another word. He opened his mouth to call after her, but he knew it was useless; she wouldn't respond. Not for a while at least. She needed time to process it, and she probably needed to be either alone or with friends who weren't him. All he could do was breath out and let his wings slump to his sides as he watched her disappear away into the night sky.

He remained standing there for several more minutes, looking into the night sky for a while before turning his attention back to the calm waves of the sea. The water shimmered under the light of the moons, uncaring about the world around him or the emotions inside. It was calm and certain, never wavering in its course and action.

Darkstalker had known when he'd made the choice that Clearsight would have to be told sooner or later and, while he had thought it would later, he'd anticipated a less-than-pleased reaction. But he hadn't been expected that. Perhaps he should have, but he didn't. And while Clearsight may have been the one to fly away angry, he understood why. She alone did not hold all the sorrow. For as much as Darkstalker knew that he had made the right choice, there was an emptiness there as he looked over the sea. There were dragonets that could have been that now would not be. There were memories and moments that were now just shattered ideas of what could have been. He'd just lost an entire lifetime, it seemed, of amazing things that only a few months ago he would have given anything to live in and for.

But those things were no more. He could remember that which might have been, but he would not dwell on them. There was a new future for him, a new destiny, and he was looking forward to it. Slowly, he began to walk back down the beach, the claw prints he'd made before now disappeared, washed away by the ocean.

He could have flown, but instead he walked all the way back to the cave where he'd come from. There was just something calming about it in the moment, just taking a moment to breathe, to think. And the more he did, the better he felt. He just wished that Clearsight was doing the same wherever she had gone.

Darkstalker found Indigo lying on the same patch of moss that he'd left her. Her head was down and her eyes closed, and for a moment he thought she was asleep before she opened an eye and looked at him. She gave a yawn and lifted her head as he approached.

"How'd it go?" she asked, and though her voice and body bespoke a bit of aloofness, he could hear genuine worry and concern in her mind. She'd hoped that it had gone well, and he was sorry to disappoint her.

"Honestly, not very good," he admitted, settling himself down at her side and letting his body relax a little, "She was angry, but I suppose that was to be expected."

"I'd imagine so," Indigo observed, putting a wing over him.

"It probably didn't help any that it was here of all places, too," he said, noting for perhaps the first time that this was supposed to be his and Clearsight's special cave, but instead he shared it with Indigo instead of her, "But regardless…things could have gone better. I've never seen her like this before. She accused me of only caring for her power and then flew off, after vowing not to help me with any future seeing from now on."

Indigo sighed and gave a small shake of her head, "That's…rough," was all she could say; he could hear in her mind that she wanted to say more, but didn't know what she should. But that was okay; just her being here right now was comfort enough. "Even for the war stuff?" Indigo did think to ask, though, and Darkstalker nodded.

"It seemed so," he said, "I don't know if she'll be able to keep that vow unless she quits working for Vigilance…but I don't know. I hope not. I don't know if I'll be able to figure out how the meeting will go without her."

Indigo twined her tail around his as he leaned into her, finding some comfort in the familiar feeling of her scales against his own. "I'm sure it will all work out," she told him.

"I hope so," he said, "I really do." If it didn't then would all of this be for naught? Would he have sacrificed what could have been a good future for death and destruction? What if he—

He shook his head, getting those thoughts out. "Now's not the time for that, though," he told Indigo, "Tonight's a good night regardless of what happened, and what may happen in the future. For you're here and we're together…for now, everything is as it should be."

She smiled, and he felt his own worries melt away. He might have been the one to say the words, but she was the one that made him believe them. Indeed, he'd been looking forward to now, to when things between them were finally laid bare, and not even Clearsight's interruption could spoil it.

He leaned into her and her to him, and they shared a kiss. A briefer one than before, but no less passionate. Because just being with Indigo was enough, and it was something that he would strive to never take for granted.

They broke the kiss and Indigo nuzzled his cheek as she took her wing off of him, allowing him to be the one with his wing over her and covering her with his warmth. She snuggled into his side as he pulled her closer, and he could feel warmth and contentment in her mind as she leaned into him and him into her. It was the same feeling in his own mind, and he would be more than happy if he could simply bask in the moment forever.

"What happens now?" Indigo asked, softly, her head still against his, "With us, I mean?"

It was a good question. Luckily, unlike so much other stuff going on outside the cave, Darkstalker had an answer for her. "Now, I'll court you properly, like I…well, a bit like I actually have been doing, come to think of it. But officially from now on?"

"Oh?" Indigo asked, "And what does Nightwing courtship look like?"

"Like spending a lot of time together," Darkstalker said, "And taking you to all the fanciest parties as my significant other, not my bodyguard. Adorning you with all the gems and splendor of the dragon hordes of old and wooing you with my own charm and grace. Making sure that everyone knows that I'm to be yours, and you mine."

"So, what you've been doing?" Indigo observed with a small chuckle, "Well…except the bodyguard thing, and the 'charm and grace' of course."

"Ha, ha," he said, but snorted in amusement at her jest. She obviously didn't take it seriously at all. "If I had no charm and grace, would you be here right now?"

"Fair enough, I suppose," Indigo gave a small rumble in her throat as she closed her eyes and rested her head on his neck and shoulder, "But don't get too big a head about it."

"Of course not," he said, giving her a squeeze with his wing, "But then…did I ever tell you that I enchanted an earring once to make all dragons think I was charming and handsome?"

Indigo opened her eyes and blinked at him as he craned his head a little to look over her. "Is this your way of saying that I'm under an enchantment?" she asked, and although her voice was teasing, he heard a tiny spike of worry in her mind.

He shook his head fast. "Of course not!" he told her, "I never wore it around you, actually. But it did help when I was younger. Being a hybrid wasn't easy, much less being one half Icewing when living in a tribe at war with them. It…it feels nice to be treated nicely, even if it's not real."

"I…I guess I can see that," she said, closing her eyes again, "But you never had to enchant me, Darkstalker. Remember that."

"I will," he assured her with a smile, then gave an amused huff, "It won't surprise you to learn that I actually did think about it in the early days. Not to make you love me, of course, but just to be less antagonistic."

"I remember you threatening to use magic on me quite vividly, actually," Indigo said.

"I did, didn't I?" he asked, trying to remember the particular circumstances but not quite able to. Ah well, it didn't matter now. "There were quite a few futures where I made good on that threat, too," he said, not quite sure why even as he said it, "I remember seeing one where I ended up enchanting Fathom to forget about your entire existence, and another where I trapped you in a little Seawing shaped wood carving so you'd stop being so bothersome. Needless to say, I'm glad I didn't."

"Darkstalker?" the beautiful dragoness beside him asked.

"Yes?"

"If this is your idea of being romantic—talking about all the ways you thought about killing me—we may need to reexamine our relationship."

Darkstalker couldn't keep back his laugh at that, and he could just about see Indigo's eye roll through her closed eyes. He certainly could see the grin on her face.

"You're right, of course," he told her, "So…a different topic, perhaps? How about the way your purple eyes shine brighter than amethysts, or how your scales capture the light of the moons like a thousand sparking stars?"

She squeezed his tail, and he could feel the satisfaction in her mind. "Better," she purred, "Tell me more."

"Then I can talk about your prowess in flight, and mastery of the waves," he said, closing his own eyes, and resting his head against hers as she rested herself against him. "Or would you prefer me to discuss the sharpness of your wit as well as your claws, and the beautiful strength that I can see in both your body and your mind?"

"Any would be sufficient, I think."

"Then I shall speak of all of them, so long as you wish to listen," he said to her, "Even if it should take all night and into the morning."

She pulled away from him just a little bit. "There, there. You don't have to overdo it."

"And who said I was?" he asked her, "But you're right, there's a much faster and easier way to say all that I wish to."

He had to shift himself a little, removing his scales from against hers, but it was worth it as he leaned in for a kiss, which she eagerly accepted. And if her mind was any indication, it would be far from the last one in their immediate future. Suddenly, Darkstalker was looking forward to many different other futures, where they would be doing more than just kissing, but that would wait for now. There would be a proper time for that, to become mates, and Darkstalker would not make the mistake of rushing that process.

All the same, it was hard to believe that anything could get better than it was right now, alone with the dragoness that he loved. The future may be difficult in what was still to come, and that would be made even more so with Clearsight's reaction, but in this moment, he was content to let it be.

For now, it was Indio who put it most simply, as she rested her head against his and nuzzled his cheek: "I think I'm going to like Nightwing courtship."