— Chapter 9 —

Darkstalker

For 6 months, Darkstalker was rather sure that he had several plans, good ones in fact, his plans are always good.

After one day, where it felt like all of Pyrrhia was shaking, for the first time in however many years he's been sleeping, he felt something, he was able to feel, and to open his eyes and so he did in a rush with some glee.

And everything he could see was only darkness.

It happened very few times in his life, but this was one of these times where he was surprised, where he actually felt stumped. Trapped in a small cavern that can barely hold his enormous height… When did he get to such a size? His talons moving around and feeling solid rock and granite and no openings.

He had tried to look in the future to see if at some point by pushing or pulling on certain rocks he could make a path, no luck. The visions where he focused only on himself only had him enshrouded by the darkness with no way to get out without his powers.

And that is when he began to expand his visions to outside his stone prison as a way to see the outside without actually being outside, and he saw Pyrrhia again.

And he saw something surprising, dragons and dragonets of different tribes starting to gather around the nearest mountain which would be Jade in the following months, parents nuzzling their kids and hugging each other before the dragonets went inside.

Like a school? Are they making one for all the tribes? I see fellow Nightwings, and… Icewings, and every type of dragon, how much have I missed? I guess a few centuries.

There was absolutely nothing else for the one that wanted to be king to do, so this entire time he'd been checking the nearest and most likely future, while reading the minds of anyone that came close enough to the range of that power of his, he can't look back at the past to see everything that occurred before, so this should do for now, gathering knowledge from bystanders and that's how he learned of some recurring names, and that apparently there was a great war that had only recently ended, with many thinking on their minds about some "Dragonets of Destiny".

That of course just raised his interest even more, of destiny? That sounds like a name that would be used in relation to a prophecy, and Darkstalker felt proud that his tribe was still shaping the fate of the world.

I'm sure that Clearsight must have led them, either as their beloved queen or a leading seer, telling them what must be done to get back on track, I'm sure they must have won the war with the Icewings if she took such roles.

But there was something about his tribe that was making Darkstalker feel wary, occasionally they'd appear on his range to read their minds, and not once did he see any visions of a prophecy or future event within their minds, or thoughts regarding someone else's mind. He looked forward again, at the time when the school opened, and he saw several Nightwings mingling with other tribes, there wasn't any pride coming from the strongest and greatest tribe in Pyrrhia, some were even talking to Icewings.

And at first he only saw a single Nightwing with a silver teardrop scale by her eye, even though it looked more faded than usual.

That is worrisome, did something happen to their mind readers? No, everything must still be normal, it's possible they just didn't send those to the academy, it could be a great asset for other tribes if they tried to take advantage of their powers, and seers don't have any clear markings so they should be safe at first sight.

But as he looked more into the future, months ahead he saw another Nightwing, a female dragonet, she looked shy and nervous in that future and she had clear silver teardrops by her eyes, and Darkstalker immediately knew that he wanted to meet her

Finally the actual day where the academy opened its doors occurred, and there were so many dragons, so many minds, most of them being excited, happy or curious, with some others being reserved and nervous, and fewer being angered and not wanting to be there.

But Darkstalker had been waiting for someone in particular, and at last, he met Moonwatcher, and she had actually heard his voice.

He knew that they were going to be friends, that she's extremely likely the one that will finally set him free so he can follow his destiny as a leader, nearly every future that contained Moon was bright.

And yet he just wasn't able to remain joyful for very long, approaching he could feel the mind of another Nightwing, and this one got his complete attention after seeing the loud thoughts he had at the front.

Darkstalker is right there, and when I approach I'll be within his range of MIND READING, oh and also he might have already looked at the futures that include me, and if I want to play hero, isn't the literal main villain that might already know I will attempt change the biggest threat?

What?

This was the first dragon in months that had thought of him in their minds, but that isn't the strangest thing.

He actually appeared to know he's at some point near Jade Mountain, and not only did he call him a villain… he wants change?

Suddenly Darkstalker's mind was floored with new visions, ones that didn't exist before. He never saw this very small dragonet within his visions just one week ago, he had a recognizable look, he wouldn't just ignore it, no, out of nowhere everything was changing, including the many bright futures where Moon freed him, they now also had this dragonet, he kept on reading his mind

I can't let Darkstalker or Moon know that I am a human or well, Scavenger as they'd say, from another world… nor can they know I carry enough detailed future knowledge that could make even Darky there raise an eyebrow.

The moment I step into the mountain's proximity, he might check my mind as I am a Nightwing. He said he read EVERYONE'S minds here, and I doubt I can keep my thoughts in check, so what should I do…?

"Darky…? Darkstalker muttered baffled the moment that thought appeared and indeed raised an eyebrow at that, but he quickly forgot it and focused on much more important stuff.

He REALLY underestimated my range, such a glaring mistake, but one I am glad he made, this information is most… interesting, Darkstalker thought to himself.

He knows Moon, a friend of hers from the tribe? Or… he thought about the future knowledge he has, is he a seer too? Did he see some of Moon's futures too? Is he trying to go AGAINST me!?

He said he's a scavenger, how can that make any sense? Scavengers are funny small things that Clearsight and Listener liked, how could one be a Nightwing too? An Animus experimented on one for fun?

Darkstalker's mind was raging, starting to quickly study the many new futures that included this small and scrawny Nightwing, the ones that also had Moon as well, and suddenly most of these futures had turned out much worse.

And then he had to focus again on the so-called scavenger, because his mind had suddenly shouted something about Seawings, and one minute later, Darkstalker was completely unable to read his mind again. A small dragonet had blocked him out.

Darkstalker had to be much more careful suddenly, he decided for a while to just keep giving small commentary to Moon, he needs her friendship and trust more than ever, all of his hopeful previous visions were gone, most of them replaced by ones containing the strange Nightwing, and Darkstalker wasn't freed in several of them, he couldn't let that happen.

After little time, Moon had noticed some of the odd stuff, two dragons that had some sort of mental block on them, a Seawing and the Nightwing, and now Darkstalker suddenly began to think of that Seawing, he had appeared in majority of his visions, and he was nearly the perfect image of Fathom, what is going on?

And now, just merely some hours later, Darkstalker had been following these two dragons with his foresight; he cannot read their minds, but he can see their actions.

And when they stepped into a cavern that had an underground lake, his visions had started to go wild as his eyes widened, no… No.

They couldn't do this, in so many visions, they started to conspire against him, they wanted to stop him before he even got to do any sort of good to the modern world! The Nightwing, Oracle is his name, he fully confirmed his gift as a seer and began to give away several highly specific predictions, little events that Darkstalker had seen too on the visions before Oracle had appeared to mess things up.

He began to shift and move in his prison, his mind racing with worry.

Moon, you must listen, he called out right into her mind.

Huh? You sound… tense Moon thought back to him, she had been simply relaxing in her cave and laying down, trying to sleep.

Dragons are starting to conspire, they want bad things to happen,he quickly followed.

The Nightwing had lifted a small rock from the ground and was proposing a spell, an incantation that would make so many of his visions null and worthless, and Darkstalker began to move more.

No matter what, you cannot trust these two dragons that had their minds blocked to us, the Seawing and the Nightwing, that leads to plenty of bleak futures.

This was such a sudden change of plans, something he never got to account for, in a good amount of the non-Oracle visions, the Seawing had proved valuable enough, but he's seen the future, the risks far outweigh the positive parts, Moon cannot be with them.

What do you know? What's happening with them? Moon asked worried.

And then the rock was thrown into the lake.

All of the visions he had through the day, his thoughts, everything, it all changed. Turtle and Oracle just looked like mere afterthoughts in his visions, just standing in the background and smiling and chatting to others.

Darkstalker immediately forgot everything that he just heard and stopped looking at the underground lake, it didn't seem important, nothing ever happened on it in his visions.

And everything looked bright again, so many of the bad futures that appeared since Oracle's arrival were just gone, they didn't matter.

Why can't I trust them? Moon insisted.

Hm? Oh Moonwatcher, it is nothing, sorry for worrying you.

And so he left her to her own doubts and questions, Moon could not understand what was happening, the mystery voice in her mind appeared to have such a sudden shift, from clear tension in his thoughts, to just calmness.