Hello all. A little bit of a short one again this week. First week of classes sucks. But I managed to get this out, and hope that you all enjoy it. mostly a filler chapter, but things will start picking up, and I do hope that you all enjoy what I've made for this. Plenty of the snark and battle of wits. I hope I'm doing a good enough blend of comedy and seriousness, but anyway, I hope you all enjoy this chapter.
Disclaimer: I do not own wings of fire.
"Normal speech"
"Thoughts/Nightwing queen"
"?"
Glory was regretting her choices. Mangrove was just drawling on and on about the specifics of picking fruits and it made her want to scratch out her eardrums. "Mangrove, I need to know things that will help me in the contest. I don't need every single little detail." Mangrove looked her over, before sighing. "You've been neglecting your sun time."
She frowned. "I need to be ready for this contest, not lazing around and sleeping." Mangrove shook his head. "It's not lazing around. It's absorbing energy. Glory, none of this is going to matter if you're barely able to stay up during the contest. Rest is a vital part of living, Glory." Glory tried to come up with a comeback but found herself not finding one. "... Alright, Fine. I'll sleep for an hour or two, but then we're straight back to this, alright?"
Mangrove nodded as Glory found a sunny spot to lay down, huffing lightly. She didn't want to admit it, but she was exhausted. Stress, anxiety and worry had caused her to sleep poorly these last few days, and she needed to rest. She closed her eyes, falling into a deep sleep. She opened her eyes to see the visage of a large Skywing, smoke curling up from her nostrils around her horns with gems embedded around her eyes. She sighed. "... Hello Queen Scarlet."
The council all stared at Wither in shock. in the silence, none of them spoke. the leader of the council, next to what Wither assumed to be the throne, was trying to cover a panicked expression. Morrowseer looked furiously at Wither, making him wonder if the false prophet was deluding himself into thinking that he could be killed by the Nightwing's glare.
He looked around the room, using the shock as a good opportunity to get a better look at the Nightwing council, and what he saw was... just sad. He could see visible ribs in nearly every single one of the Nightwings that were present, the only exceptions being Morrowseer and the one next to the throne. Each and every one of them were painfully thin. He sighed. "Celeste... You would weep at your tribe if you could see them now."
The council finally got over their shock, the apparent leader trying to save face. "How dare you accuse us of such an act!" Wither cocked his head to the side in response. "Would there be such a long moment of silence if I was wrong?" She stammered, unable to come up with a retort as Wither smirked. "I've played the game of words longer than most in this room have been alive... Princess, I assume? You can try to manipulate me with word, go right ahead. It'll be fun to see if I've lost any of my edge."
He gave a bemused smirk at the outraged looks on the faces of the Nightwing council, especially the look of fury on Morrowseer. He cracked his neck, looking to the assumed princess expectantly. "My real question is, why is it that the Nightwing queen remains hidden? Is she off somewhere else with her daughter taking her place?... No, I don't think so. That strange shape seems to be the place where a throne should be... Is there a reason why she remains hidden? Perhaps... she is injured?"
Princess Greatness of the Nightwings was internally sweating. This unknown dragon had been in the room for less than a minute, and had completely shattered their biggest scheme, and had basically guessed the state of her mother. She coughed lightly. "That is none of your concern, criminal. You stand here to be judged by the dark council." He returned a small smirk. "... Was it you who pick that name when you were a dragonet? It sounds straight out of one of Queen Coral's fantasy stories." She was very grateful that she was shaded enough for no one to see her blush.
"Enough. You stand accused of Assaulting Queen Blister, scheming against our tribe, and will repay us in use of your powers!" He stopped smiling, sighing as he sat down on the platform, surrounded by lava. "... If you mean what Blister has probably told you... I'm afraid my powers will be very useless to you." All of the Nightwings started to chatter, Greatness looking at him confused, before perking her ear towards the structure in the wall as she heard her mother's raspy voice.
She looked back down at him. "Why would it be useless? We have many who have died that you can bring back." He shook his head. "The only cases I can heal are those who died of unnatural causes. By the look of your tribe... I would say your most common manner of death would be starvation. I can bring them back... but they would simply die again due to the lack of food..."
He looked around at them, no longer smug or mocking, wearing an expression of sadness and pity. "... I once had a close connection to this tribe. I know of their great deeds, of leading the world away from the path of destruction using their powers... The Nightwings of old would weep at the state of their tribe, so close to the brink of extinction. You're all afraid. Scared that your lives will be taken away at any moment by the flames of the earth that loom above you every day. The volcano is only one small earthquake away from your time to escape this place to drop down from months to days, or maybe even hours..."
He looked into Greatness's eyes, the younger Nightwing seeing a dragon who had the weight of the world on his shoulders. "... If you release the captured Rainwings, return them to the rainforest, and beg their queen for forgiveness, they might offer you a place in the Rainforest to escape this island." A majority of the Nightwings roared in fury, shouting insults at Wither. Greatness was seriously contemplating that option, until her mother hissed at her. "Never! The Tribe... Will never bow... to worthless rainwings!"
Greatness shook her head. "The queen refuses your offer. We will stand as we always have. Strong and proud." Wither sighed. "... And yet, it is that very pride that got you into this situation in the first place." Morrowseer growled. "Silence! You will use your powers for us if you ever want to see those worms of yours agai-" before anyone could react, Wither had grabbed one of the loose spikes on his talons and hurled it at Morrowseer. The chain stopped the spike, but only and inch away from Morrowseer's eye, causing the false prophet to take a step back in shock.
Wither growled. "I feel sorrowful for the situation of the Nightwings. Of their plight, and I wish to aid them, but you are an exception, Morrowseer. They might have been involved with your plan of deceiving the world, but I have no doubt that you were the main instigator. I hold no pity or compassion for a sniveling deceiver like you, who would dare to toy with the lives of others. Those five dragonets are better dragons than you will ever be!"
"Clay is brighter than he gives himself credit for, his heart is strong and brave, willing to face any danger to protect those he cares about. Tsunami is fierce and fearless, willing to go to any length to fight and protect her friends. Glory is dedicated and motivated, willing to put any amount of effort into proving others wrong about her. Starflight is inquisitive and wishes to learn more about the world, about all the tribes to find a consensus. And Sunny seeks to see the good in all dragons, even scum like you!"
Wither panted, growling loudly. "Those five dragonets are willing to put their differences aside to make this world a better place, which is more than anyone in Pyrriha's history will ever be able to say about you... The only history you will have is as the deceiver who sought to give false hope to all the tribes to benefit his own. With or without your prophecy, those five dragonets are going to change the world, and I will not allow you to harm them!"
Nightwing guards stood between Morrowseer and Wither as the two dragons stared each other down, spears pointed at Wither. Morrowseer's eyes were filled with a cold hatred and fury, while the blood red stars in Wither's eyes pulsed menacingly. "You won't get another chance. End the coward. Just a shove and all these pathetic dragons will go in the lava, and you can punish him." Wither stayed glaring, before turning away to face the council again.
He huffed, now looking annoyed. "So, anything else, or is this council simply going to bore me to death?" Morrowseer growled. "You will obey us or die!" Wither sighed. "... For a supposed prophet, you really have no patience." He looked at Morrowseer one last time. "Let me give you a little hint. I am very old. I resided on my island waiting to die until your dragonets of destiny landed and roped me into all this." He turned, walking forward, his stony scales causing sparks as the tips of the spears scraped against him, pushing forward past the guards as they flailed to not fall into the lava below, until he was face to face with Morrowseer.
"I have witnessed horrors that would only haunt you in your nightmares. I have experienced more pain than you ever will in your life. I have lost more than you ever will, even if you live for another five hundred years. I have loved and lost so many times that I grew to be tired of it all." He stared Morrowseer in the eyes, the Nightwing wavering as he saw pools of determined anger as Wither continued. "You threaten me with death, when I have waited for death for many years... Do you fear death, Morrowseer? Because I lost my fear of it a very long time ago."
The council was at a loss for words at Wither's brazen actions, the spears not even leaving a dent in his scales as Morrowseer's confidence wavered. Wither looked up to Greatness. "You can keep me in custody. It'd be just annoying to try and escape... besides, I'd like to take a look at the state of the Island to get an estimate of when it could erupt. Not that I don't trust your scientists to do their job, but I'd like to confirm it myself. I am not your enemy. But provoke me, and it will be the last mistake you ever make."
Greatness didn't know what to say, or what to do. No dragon had ever defied them like this. Every Nightwing was shocked into silence as Wither picked at the cuffs around his talons. "By the way, could you remove these? I think the fact that I ripped the spikes out of the wall is enough to say that these will do nothing to hinder me, and I'm sure none of you wish to hear the scraping of metal on stone whenever I move." Greatness could only nod dumbly. "... Why would you still want to aid us?"
He looked up to her. "... You're still young, and being raised in how this tribe is now, you wouldn't understand. This tribe was once very important to me... But that was a very long time ago." She frowned, hearing her mother again. "Such... Arrogance... watch him... wait until we can strike." "... As you wish, mother." She nodded to the guards, who used the oddly shaped tip of the spear to unlock the cuffs on him.
He flexed his talons. "So, the spear heads act like a key. Interesting." He pushed past the guards, headed for the exit. "Also, Please refrain from having any of your guards try to attack me. I'd rather not be the cause of spilt blood and an empty grave." He trudged past, noting Morrowseer's look of fury, giving a small smirk. "You're a hundred years too early to try and intimidate me, pup. Though, It would probably help if your main soldiers didn't look like they'd pass out from hunger."
Morrowseer could only glare as Wither exited, free of the restraints. "... Are we truly going to allow this... creature, to roam our land?" Greatness sighed. "What choice do we have? Our spears obviously cannot penetrate him, and his strength prevents us from chaining him... Our numbers are already dwindling. I will not send more to their deaths." She frowned, trying to think. "Is he right? Has our pride destroyed us?"
Glory sighed at the sight of Queen Scarlet, noting that the burn scar from her venom was missing, noting a small shimmer in the background. "... I see. I'm still dreaming. You're using a dream visitor." She had learned about the animus touched objects from their guardians. A trio of sapphire gems that allowed the user to enter the dreams of someone they've seen before.
Scarlet huffed. "About time I reached you... You need to come rescue me. It's what you owe me." Glory had to hold back a snort. "Owe you? If anything, I owe you another scar on your right side to match the left." Scarlet roared angrily. "You did this to me! I was beautiful, but you took it away! You owe me for committing this sin!" The visage of Scarlet wavered, showing the horrid scar that Glory's venom had left for a split second, the scales seeming to have melted away.
Glory frowned. "I owe you nothing. You treated me like an object, and had my friends used in your arena. Maybe you should take this as a lesson. You never know how good you have it until it's already gone." Scarlet growled in fury, swiping a talon at Glory's face. Glory didn't even flinch, keeping eye contact with Scarlet. "You don't scare me, Scarlet. If you've fallen enough to need my help, I can assume that you might still be alive... but you are no longer queen."
Scarlet roared in rage. "You stole it all from me! I had everything and you took it!" Glory shook her head. "Blame yourself for not seeing what you already had and the consequences of your own schemes. You were the one who manipulated Peril, not me. You were the one who made a game out of every other dragon's lives. You are simply getting a taste of what you've done to everyone else in your life... I won't help you and I will never consider rescuing you. Leave."
Scarlet growled. "I will get you for this. Someday, somehow, I will make you and those little friends of yours pay!" Glory blinked as she actually woke up, rubbing at her eyes for a minute. "... Huh. That was interesting." She stretched, feeling more refreshed as she looked around, seeing Clay smiling at her. "How do you feel?" She nodded with a smile. "Better... A lot better now... Let's get back to training." Clay nodded, leaping off the platform with her as they met back up with Mangrove.
Wither sighed as he walked out of the palace, looking over the barren, ash covered landscape. "... This is worse than I thought. The island is already dead..." He rubbed some of the ash between his talons, letting it fall back to the ground. "... How do the Nightwing dragonets survive here?" He walked along the ground, noting lava rivers and spouts that gushed the burning hot liquid.
He sighed. "... Prideful fools. If they had simply asked for help... maybe this all could have been avoided." He was going to continue walking, until he noticed a familiar face peering at him from a cave above him. He chuckles softly, looking up to meet Fatespeaker's gaze. "Well, hello there. Were you going to tell me that you were spying on me?" She smiled. "No. I just had a vision that you'd be okay."
Wither smiled. "Well, I'm glad you were so faithful to that vision. Would there happen to be a vision of me getting off this Island?" She shook her head. "No, but I had one about a walrus on the beach!" He laughed. "Well, shall we go see if there is one together?" She smiled, nodding. "Sure! But... Don't tell Morrowseer. I'm not supposed to be out of the cave with the others."
He nodded. "You have my word." She smiled, before hopping down to land next to him as they both walked towards the beach. "... So, what kind of dragon are you? You're not any of the tribes I know." He shrugged as they walked. "Doubt you would ever hear of mine. I'm the last of them, so their bloodline ends with me." She gasped. "That's horrible! You mean you have no family?"
He paused for a bit, a very painful memory of dust in his talons running through his head. "... No... Not anymore. I had one once, but... that was a very long time ago..." She frowned. "... You poor dragon. I didn't know my parents, but to know and lose them... that must be horrible." He nodded. "... It is... the pain never truly goes away."
She frowned as they got to the beach, before hearing a strange bird noise. It was soft, and full of pain. Wither frowned, before moving aside a dead bush, finding a large white bird with a bite similar to the sloth they found in the rainforest, black and festering with maggots. He growled. "... This is disrespectful of the life this bird led... Even if it is just prey, it deserves a clean death, not to suffer like this."
"That's my prey." Morrowseer landed next to them, growling angrily, his eyes landing on Fatespeaker. "You are supposed to be in your cave." Wither stepped between them. "She is fine as she is. She is an old enough dragonet to make her own decisions." Morrowseer scowled. "Stay out of this, abomination." Wither gave a small hum. "Huh. I think that one's a first. Just because my tribe is no longer known doesn't mean it never existed. I am no hybrid, if that's what you're referring to, but that would be quite offensive to several dragons if you meant it that way."
Morrowseer growled, before pulling the still moving bird towards himself, the bird crying out in pain, until Morrowseer bit it's head off. Wither grimaced, seeing Morrowseer tear into the rotting flesh of what he knew was an Albatross. "... That is utterly disgusting. You have a tunnel to the Rainforest, why not gather fruit from the forest floor? It's better than eating carrion." Morrowseer growled as he tore off a wing. "Why would we ever lower ourselves to eating fruit?"
Wither snorted. "You've already lowered yourself to eating rotting prey." The false prophet growled, before devouring the rest of the bird, Wither sighing as he looked onward towards the sea. "... It's funny that I can't hold any anger towards this tribe... but this situation is entirely because of their pride. It's the one thing that Nightwings and Icewings hold in equal values."
Morrowseer glowered at him. "Watch your tongue!" Wither rolled his eyes. "Again, intimidation only works if you're actually intimidating. The Rainwings are a peaceful tribe who have no grudges or reasons to go to war. If your tribe had simply swallowed their pride and asked for help from the Rainwing queen, your tribe would probably be in the rainforest right now, stuffing themselves with the bountiful fruits of the rainforest. But no, every other tribe has to be an enemy. No other dragon can be trusted... And It's honestly pathetic how paranoid your tribe has become."
Morrowseer growled in rage, his talons clenching as Wither gave wry smirk. "You want to attack me? Go right ahead and try. It took a several ton boulder just to knock me out, I'm sure you'll be able to do something about piercing through scales as hard as stone. Of all the Nightwings, it is obvious that you are one who does not only refuse to change, but fights to make sure nothing changes from how it is... To think, all of this conspiracy, the prophecy, the scheming, kidnapping, and manipulation... All of it could have been avoided if you and your queen had simply swallowed their pride and asked for help."
He started walking away, Fatespeaker scampering behind him as Morrowseer glared at his back in rage. they got a good distance away when Wither sighed. "That dragon will never change. I can see it in his eyes... A shame. If he could have just looked past his own agenda, he could maybe do something valuable in this world. But instead, he squanders it, manipulating others." Fatespeaker tilted her head. "What do you mean?"
He smiled to her. "Another time. But... I am noting the distinct lack of a walrus." Fatespeaker blushed. "I-I never said it was right now, but there definitely will be one here someday." He laughed lightly. "True enough... These friends of yours... Would you happen to know the way back to them? I have a feeling that I should meet them." She nodded, smiling. "Sure! Though, Flame and Viper are pretty mean. Ochre is almost always cranky and hungry, and Squid is... Squid." He rolled his eyes. "I see... Well, lead on.
She led him back towards the cliff she had been spying on him on, flying up into a small cave system, Wither sighing as he heard arguing and the sounds of fighting. Fatespeaker led him into a cave, where he was greeted by a sad sight. There were four dragonets, just like she had said, but it was worse than he thought. Ochre, the Mudwing by his assumption, was trying to tear any meat he could off of a very tiny and ill looking mouse. The other three though...
"Help!" A seaweed green Seawing was running away from the other two. He assumed that one was Squid. The sandwing, Viper, chased after Squid, her poisonous tail barb poised to strike as she tried to chase down the smaller Seawing, her black eyes glittering with malice. The last one, the Skywing he assumed to be Flame, was spouting gouts of flame at Squid in an attempt to roast him, the light brightening the dark red and blood red scales on his body.
Wither sighed, before projecting his voice out. "AHEM." All four dragonets stopped. looking at Wither with various expressions. Squid looked baffled, Viper looked cautious, Ochre looked annoyed, and Flame... Looked like someone had just stolen his favorite toy as Squid managed to slip further away from him. Wither sighed. "... So, these are the 'Dragonets of destiny'... I fail to see how five dragonets who spend their free time trying to kill each other are supposed to end a war."
Glory sighed as she curled up on a platform. The entire day had been grueling and mind numbing, learning about the different skills the Rainwings had. She had to admit, it was a lot harder than she had thought, and had a newfound respect for the Rainwings that did their jobs perfectly every single time. She huffed, closing her eyes as she drifted to sleep, thinking about Wither. "... Don't you dare die on me, Wither... Not when you gave me the confidence to go through with this... Not after you gave me the power to be open with my friends... Please, be alright, Wither."
There you all have it. Again, I'd love to make a commission for Wither's picture, so if anyone has recommendations for who to go to for that, feel free to PM or add it in your review. Nothing too expensive. Glory sees Scarlet, and Wither has had quite the verbal joust with the Nightwings. Again, hope that this is a good enough blend of comedy and seriousness, and Wither is about to meet the alternate dragonets. I hope you all enjoyed, leave a review if you'd like, and I'll see you all next week.