Glorious Politics

AN: Before I get into the chapter itself, I just have one thing to say. I don't mind when people have debates or long, essay-like reviews. In fact, I encourage that kind of in-depth thinking. I want to know what you guys think and why. I want to hear different views of the same problem. What I don't want is people harassing others for their views or passion. Debate is fine, but there is no reason to instigate fights over it.

Disclaimer: I do not own Wings of Fire. My OCs Mistral, Sobek, and Diamondback belong to me.

Chapter Seven:

The Arboretum was as huge and beautiful as she remembered it. With how simple the construction of the majority of the Rainwing village was, an outside visitor wouldn't expect a construct so grand from a first glance of the Kingdom. The entire structure was reminiscent of the old Skywing Arena yet built entirely within the trees. It was the single largest structure in the entire Rainforest where many public events and meetings took place. She still remembered the challenges she underwent in this stadium twelve years ago when she first became Queen, and over the years, a few more such challengers had gone up against her. Thankfully, such instances were rare and she always won—without cheating—and most times, the challenger only challenged her for a bit of fun. The fact that such challenges interrupted her normal schedules was annoying, even she had to admit that maybe those Rainwings had a point. It was quite fun.

Other than her personal pavilion, the Arboretum was her favorite place in the village. Even now, on the other side of the stadium, she could see Tamarin working on her latest flower art with a few other dragons. She really wished she could go over to investigate, but that wasn't why she was here. Fortunately, since the Arboretum was so large, their presence wouldn't be a hindrance to her own operations so they could continue having their own fun while she worked. She normally used this place's size to her advantage in order to address large groups of dragons at once. To put that in perspective, her entire group of two hundred Nightwings only took up a mere quarter of the Arboretum.

Thankfully, Mistral's reaction to seeing so many Nightwings wasn't as visceral as she was expecting. He merely stared at the mass of black dragons with a clearly visible sneer to show his disgust at having to deal with the tribe he hated so deeply. Whether that would change given time, she had no idea, though she sincerely hoped he was true to his word.

Sobek and Diamondback split up with one on either side of her, simultaneously watching her, Mistral, and the group of Nightwings at the same time. Neither of them carried any weapons, but she had noticed over the years that most Sandwings preferred to use their tail barbs as their main weapon instead of the spears or swords that the Skywings, especially, liked to use.

Greatness was there to help organize the mass of dragons, and Mistral shot her a hate-filled glare ever now and then. As much as she didn't want to get into his personal business, she was really curious as to why he seemed to have a more personal grudge against the former Nightwing Princess. Although...maybe that was the reason. Maybe he just hated Greatness since she used to be a member of the Nightwing Royalty. She had her doubts about that theory, but it was possible. She was currently speaking with the group of Nightwings as Mistral looked about the area with a critical gaze. After a few minutes of this, he suddenly made his way over to one of the structures surrounding the Arboretum. "Where are you going?" the Queen asked as he began walking away.

"Commandeering this building for the duration of these interviews," he replied matter-of-factly. "A census is best conducted in private...though I doubt you would know that." She rolled her eyes at his snark but followed behind him, regardless. Though, she did grab Greatness' attention and gesture to the building to indicate their intentions. The Nightwing nodded before returning to her previous conversations.

Just before she turned around, another Nightwing broke free of the crowd and rushed over to her. Moon's presence here was a surprise but a welcome one...though now that she thought about it, there was no reason for her to be here. Moon wasn't a permanent resident of the Rainforest anymore, so she didn't need to be interviewed for the census. "What are you doing here?" Glory asked, curious about her presence.

"I needed to tell you something," she revealed, glancing in the direction of the building Mistral had disappeared into. "I would've come up to you sooner, but..." She trailed off awkwardly. "Look, I know I'm immediately contradicting myself when I say this, but that Icewing scares me."

Glory followed her gaze to see Mistral gazing at her impatiently from the doorway. "You're not the only one..." she murmured. Then, she shook her head and turned her gaze back to Moon. Her Nightwing friend was probably the only dragon she would ever admit that to openly...mostly because Moon could simply read her mind and find out the truth, anyway. No point in hiding her fear from a mind-reading dragoness, after all. "You better be quick, though. I'd rather not have him in a worse mood than he is already by making him wait."

Moon nodded in understanding as she began to say her piece, " I just wanted to tell you that Qibli should be here today unless he got held up by something, and that I'm going to wait for him near the tunnels."

"You do that," Glory agreed. "And make sure you bring him straight to me when he arrives."

"Will do," Moon replied with a smile. Then, she walked away, and Glory had nothing left to do but join the silently fuming Icewing over in his newly acquired 'interrogation chamber'.

She looked the structure over as she walked towards it. It wasn't big, but they didn't need a massive amount of space to do what they needed to. "About time," Mistral snapped when she finally arrived. "I loathe wasting time."

A deadpan look was his answer. " I noticed," she replied dryly. Upon entering, she saw that all of the maps and documents he had been carrying were spread out upon a table that had luckily been inside. "Since you appear to be ready, should I assume you wish to get started?"

"That would be best...unless you would prefer we sit here and twiddle our thumb-claws." The challenging glare he sent to her made his choice rather apparent. She returned his glare with one of her own but turned away with a frustrated groan. Right when she was about to leave and yell out to Greatness that they were ready, he spoke once more, "And what did that Nightwing say to you that was so important you kept me waiting?"

Upon returning her gaze to him, he was looking over his documents, though he glanced at her impatiently when she didn't speak up right away. She assumed he was referring to Moon, so she told him the situation. "Just that I will be expecting company later today, so unfortunately I'll have to leave later to take care of that." The sarcastic way she said 'unfortunately' wasn't lost upon the Icewing, and he didn't appear too happy with her mocking words.

"I'm sorry..." he began with a snarl. "Is completing this census—which you failed to complete, I might add—and catching a murderous cult not important enough to warrant your full attention?" He stood and glared at her, and in that moment, Glory had simply had enough of his attitude.

She got right up in his space, looking up at his snarling visage in a moment of pure fearlessness, using a single claw to poke his chest for emphasis after each point made. "Being that Queen Snowfall is your best friend, I would think you would know that Queens are rather busy dragonesses. The Rainforest might not be as busy or 'sophisticated' as the Ice Kingdom, but I still have things to do that don't revolve around you and your investigation. You have my cooperation already, but I shouldn't constantly have to hold your claw, especially when literally anyone can sit quietly behind you while you interrogate a bunch of Nightwings who have done nothing to warrant this kind of hostility from you." On the bright side, he wasn't trembling with the urge to kill her, but he still didn't look too happy about being lectured like that. His constant glare finally started to unnerve her once again, so she backed away and gave him his space. "So yes," she continued. "I will be leaving later today to deal with some other matters that require my attention. Until then, however, I will stand here and look pretty or whatever it is you need me to do that, for some reason, you can't do yourself."

He sighed and gave her the look he usually wore when she said or did something that he found exceedingly stupid. "I don't live here," he said matter-of-factly, though his tone made it seem like he was talking to a petulant dragonet. "I wouldn't know if one of those Nightwings said something that isn't true, which is why I need someone here—preferably their Queen—to corroborate everything they say."

As much as she hated to admit it, that did make a certain kind of sense. Not willing to simply concede defeat, she instead took that new piece of information and made another defense. "I may be their Queen, but I don't interact with them as much as you seem to think I do. I still don't know all of their names after eleven years, though I have tried my best to learn them. That being said, if you need someone to confirm the Nightwing's answers, the best dragoness to ask would be Greatness. She—"

The rest of her statement was cut off when he slammed a talon onto the corner of the table, breaking a sizable chunk off in the process. She took a step back and gasped in surprise and even slight fear as the Icewing closed the distance between them with an utterly murderous expression. "ABSOLUTELY NOT!" he roared. Both Sobek and Diamondback rushed into the room after hearing Mistral's furious roar, readying themselves in case the Icewing took things too far. "You keep that lying serpent away from me, do you understand?" he asked dangerously, promising unspoken consequences should she not agree. Glory nodded wordlessly, taking an inconspicuous gulp and releasing a small breath of relief as he backed away. "Any other...suggestions you want to give?" he asked, sitting down at his chosen spot while breathing noticeably heavier, as if struggling to control the amount of rage coursing through him.

Greatness was the only dragon she knew that had a greater knowledge of the Nightwing population than even she did. There really wasn't anyone other than herself that could help him, then...at least, not directly. "W-What about, Moon?" she asked, cursing herself for her slight stutter.

"I thought she lived in the Sand Kingdom?" he challenged. "How could she help me if she doesn't even live here!?" Despite the fact he had just asked her a direct question, he didn't seem to be interested in her answer. Instead, he searched her face as if he would find a clue in her eyes before a spark of realization entered his own. "Ah...she's a mind-reader, is she not?" She nodded, and he huffed. "Very well. This alternative is...acceptable," he relented, readying his supplies for the first interview. "Tell the snake I'm ready to begin."

With that declaration, Glory backed away from him, not taking her eyes off the Icewing until she was out of the door just in case. Once outside and a good distance away from the building, she stopped and released a shuddering breath. If Mistral had been intimidating from just having a nasty attitude, being on the receiving end of his full-blown wrath was so much worse. "You okay?" Diamondback asked in his normal gravelly voice.

She didn't know how to answer that.

"Are you sure it's a good idea to have Moon working with him?" Sobek questioned, looking back towards the Icewing's building with a hateful glare. "She isn't a fighter, and I question the wisdom of putting her in a room with someone so obviously...unstable."

"I question the wisdom of putting myself in the same room as him," she muttered, making both of the Sandwings look at her worriedly. "Even Darkstalker didn't intimidate me as much as that Icewing does." Truthfully, she was beyond simply intimidated by this point. After that little incident, Mistral now legitimately scared her. Sobek couldn't have chosen a better word than 'unstable' to describe the Icewing because she was seriously concerned about him simply snapping at some point. Sobek and Diamondback shared a skeptical look between each other, making Glory feel slightly guilty. If she was concerned about her own safety, she wasn't exactly assuaging their concerns about making Moon work with him.

And Moon had just admitted to her not ten minutes ago that Mistral scared her, too. When she remembered that, she just felt worse for volunteering her friend without even consulting her first. At least Qibli should be here to help protect Moon when they reached that point. And both Sobek and Diamondback could stay with them, as well. Mistral was the only real threat to her in this entire rainforest as far as she was concerned, so with him occupied, she could spend a few hours by herself. It would probably do her good, anyway. "You'll both be with her," she finally answered. "And, uh...maybe you should go tell her about the new development, Sobek."

"Will you be alright with just Diamondback here?" he questioned, and the genuine concern in his voice lifted a weight from her shoulders. Maybe he had been a bit upset throughout the week, but it seemed like he wasn't holding it against her. At least, that's what it sounded like to her, and it's what she hoped to be true.

"She'll be fine," the older Sandwing responded with utter surety. "Nothing will happen to her as long as I'm around. Trust me when I say I don't plan on failing to carry out the duty Queen Thorn charged me with." Sobek nodded to his comrade, saluted Glory, and then went off to find Moon.

She watched the younger Sandwing for a few moments before giving Diamondback an appreciative smile. "Thank you, Sergeant-Major. Queen Thorn is lucky to have a dragon like you in her military."

He waved her off with a, "Just doing my duty, Your Highness. Nothing more or less." Be that as it may, she wished more dragons had the sense of honor and loyalty that Diamondback seemed to have.

With that small conversation out of the way, it was time to return to the matter at claw. "Greatness!" she called to the Nightwing in charge of organizing the rest of the Nightwings. The former princess turned to her and nodded, knowing that they were ready without Glory having to say anything.

Greatness waved to a particular Nightwing within the crowd, and Glory was somewhat surprised to see that Secretkeeper was the first dragon she would have to interview. Greatness escorted Moon's mother to the Queen and smirked at Glory's expression. "Thought I'd give you a few dragons you knew pretty well before we got into the total strangers," she explained.

"I appreciate it," she responded sincerely before turning to Secretkeeper. "Fair warning, though. That Icewing is not a very friendly dragon."

"That's an understatement," Diamondback mumbled.

The older Nightwing looked between them with a slightly nervous expression before she took a breath. "I appreciate the warning, but...I had Morrowseer as a husband for several years. I'm sure I'll be able to handle this Icewing." Her voice was quiet, and Glory nodded in understanding. Even after all this time, Secretkeeper, being true to her name, hadn't told Moon the truth about her father, and honestly, Glory didn't blame her. She'd had the misfortune of meeting the massive, foul-tempered, and hugely ambitious Nightwing. Moon was far too innocent to take knowing her father was one of the main instigators behind one of the worst wars in history very well.

Diamondback raised an eye ridge at that bit of information but didn't say anything, and a stern look from Glory was enough for him to nod, an unspoken promise to keep that nugget of information quiet. Not many dragons even knew who Secretkeeper's husband was nowadays, and both Glory and Greatness were counted among that small number, so she had nothing to worry about from either of them.

"You two can go on ahead," Glory addressed Secretkeeper and Diamondback. "Tell Mistral I'll be there in a minute." The Sandwing guard nodded and motioned for a curious Secrekeeper to follow him. Now that they were somewhat alone, Glory turned to Greatness. "Do you have any idea why Mistral seems to hate you, specifically?" she asked. That question was bothering her, and she rather hoped that she had the answer. "He called you a lying serpent, and that sounds personal to me."

Greatness looked away, an unreadable expression on her face. "You might say that, yeah." The confirmation made Glory even more curious. Clearly the Nightwing knew something, but it didn't seem like she was willing to share. The apologetic look she gave to the Queen only proved that theory. "I'm sure you'd probably like to know, and you have every right as Queen to ask me, but...it's not something I'm proud of...or very comfortable talking about. So can I please implore you to just forget about it?" Despite the burning curiosity within her—and the fact that she did have every right to know—Greatness has been a massive help and close friend over the past decade. The former Nightwing princess has done so much for her that, just this once, she was willing to drop it.

For now, at least...

Since there was no reason to suspect that whatever personal grudge Mistral had with Greatness would end up endangering the entire rainforest, there was no reason to pursue her inquiry further. Yes, she was curious. But as long as neither did anything to the other, she could allow them their secrets. If or when the situation changed for the worse, only then would she demand answers.

With a gesture of her head, she allowed Greatness to return to the crowd, and the Nightwing gave her an appreciative smile, bowed politely, and then left. Now that she was finished conversing with Greatness, she returned to the building where a very impatient Mistral was awaiting her arrival. Secretkeeper seemed a bit anxious, though Glory didn't blame her. Mistral was quite intimidating. "Now...are we actually ready to begin?" the Icewing questioned her, clearly annoyed at the constant delays.

"At your leisure," was Glory's clipped response as she claimed the corner behind him and away from the door. Speaking of which, the door was left ajar and Diamondback was just visible standing guard outside.

"Finally..." he huffed before turning his rather unfriendly gaze to his first interviewee. At least he wasn't outright glaring at her. "Name," he commanded.

"Secretkeeper," was her reply. As Mistral looked down to mark her answer down, the Nightwing started to say something, "I—"

Only to be interrupted by the Icewing. "You will speak when spoken to," he snapped, though he never looked up at her. Secrekeeper flinched back in mild surprise at the rudeness, sending a glance over to her Queen. Glory returned her gaze with an apologetic one. "Age," was the next demand.

"Thirty-two," she replied after a moment.

"Point out your hut on the map before you," he commanded, and Glory couldn't help but look towards the table's contents with a curious and critical eye. She hadn't really paid much attention to it yet, but the map of the Nightwing village Mistral had spent nearly a week labelling was placed in front of the place where Secretkeeper had sat and was turned to where the Nightwing could clearly see it. She spent a few minutes looking the map over before she pointed her hut out. Mistral studied the indicated building with a critical gaze. "Is she correct?" he asked.

Despite never turning back to look at her, Glory knew that the question had been directed at her. Moving closer to get a better look, she looked the map over before nodding. "Yes, that's her hut."

Mistral marked the number he had labeled her building with on his scroll. "Do you live alone?"

"Yes."

"Any relatives that live in one of the other Kingdoms?"

"Just my daughter, Moonwatcher," was Secretkeeper's response. The way she said it was matter-of-factly because what else would she say? Mistral, however, didn't expect that response, judging by the way he momentarily paused in his writing.

He recovered quickly, though, and resumed with his questions. "And what of the father?"

Both Glory and Secretkeeper blinked at that. "I'm sorry?" the Nightwing asked for clarification.

"The father," he repeated impatiently. "Where is her father? You claim to live alone and said that your daughter is the only relative you have outside of the Rainforest. So where is the dragon that sired her?"

Secretkeeper was deathly silent, even going so far as to send her own glare at the Icewing. "My husband is dead," she replied dangerously quiet. Mistral narrowed his eyes at her tone, and for a moment Glory feared that he would demand to know the identity of Secretkeeper's husband. If he reacted so poorly to Greatness, she wondered how he would react to knowing that he was sharing a table with the widow of one of the War's primary instigators. That also made her wonder how his perception of Moon may change should he learn the truth.

But Mistral just grunted and marked down a few more things on his scroll, making both dragonesses breathe a small sigh in relief. After a few tensely silent minutes, Mistral finished writing and looked up. "You may go."

The abrupt dismissal took Secretkeeper by surprise. She hadn't answered many questions, but then again, this was just a simple census to learn the identities of the Nightwings in this Kingdom and the others. Glory gestured for her to go when she looked to her Queen to make sure it was alright for her to leave.

Diamondback opened the door for the Nightwing, nodding to her politely as she passed the Sandwing on her way out. Less than a minute passed before a new dragon entered and sat down, this one much more nervous than Secretkeeper had been. He was barely settled before Mistral stated his first demand. "Name..."

Glory sighed to herself. If this was the way every one of these interviews was going to go, this really was going to be a long day...

AN: Now, I haven't done one of these in a while, but if anyone has any Nightwing OCs they want a cameo of, I need a name, gender, age, physical description, personality, defining marks or characteristics, and the names of relatives (still living) either in the Rainforest or in one of the other Kingdoms. I don't mind hybrids, but I do have some stipulations for them. First, they have to live in the rainforest. And second, I need the names and tribes of both parents and their current whereabouts.

All submissions will be accepted until stated otherwise. Guest reviewers are also welcome to submit OCs as I check those reviews, too. The cameos will all be dragons that Mistral interrogates during the census, and credit will obviously be given to their rightful owners. I look forward to reading about your OCs!

Until Next Time

AdmiralCole22