Chapter 15

Umber

Why, Sora?

Those were the only thoughts that were going through Umber's head at the time as he walked through the caverns at a quick pace, from other caverns they had heard earlier how Peril, who had stayed near the burnt cavern, explained that nobody got burned or died, and Umber was able to see the expressions of some other dragons, terrified, but at least glad nobody got hurt.

But Umber now knew that this was an outcome that could have gone wrong, very wrong, it took literally two different Nightwings that can see the future to delay her and give others a warning, otherwise Umber imagined nearly this entire Winglet could've died.

That Nightwing, Oracle, said that Sora had told she would delay me before this, and truly, she had talked to me for some time before I headed over there. So she really would've been fine with everyone else dying? My new friends? And I saw her hanging around Moon too, I thought they were friends. Oh Sora, why would you do this?

Umber knew there must have been a reason, a motive that could explain all this, but he couldn't picture what. Oracle most likely knew but he didn't say it in his tale, maybe he thought Sora should explain herself? Either way, Umber didn't want to press him, he had looked shaken, and when they all started to move he'd been stumbling a lot until Turtle had gone to his side to have someone to lean onto.

And Sora could have killed them all, this group of mostly friends." Umber thought with a wince, he has to find Sora and have a big talk with her, now.

"Let's make sure she's not in the mountain first, then I think I know where she might be," he told the others, who nodded, following his lead.

They checked the library, but there was no sign of Sora.

"Hey, Starflight, has Sora been here recently?" Umber asked the librarian.

"Sora? Hm, no, haven't heard her today," he shook his head at the question.

"Alright, thank you." Umber said and stepped out, so not in the library, then they went and scanned around the prey center but she wasn't there either. So they check on the cave that she shares with Flame, who very "nicely" told them to get lost after their snouts poked inside.

"I don't think she's in the mountain… on our second day here, she showed me a nice calm spot that's northeast of here, she might be there," it felt bad for him to reveal that spot to others, Sora clearly had wanted it to be a place for her family to relax, but he has to bring around these other dragons and find Sora, so he will.

They all approached one of the exits, but when they were extending their wings, someone spoke up.

"Hm… h-huh, this is awkward but… could one of you give me… a ride?" The small Nightwing asked weakly, huffing a bit after the walking they've done around the mountain. "I would probably just plunge down right after taking off…"

"Oh right, sorry I don't think I'd be able to fly with you on my back." Turtle apologized sheepishly at him.

"Are you sure that it wouldn't be better for you to go to the infirmary?" Moon asked, turning at him.

"Sora nearly killed me, but I still wish to be able to be friends with her if possible, and maybe it aids if I am there too to talk to her, maybe it doesn't, I don't care, I still want to help," he replied, trying to stand upright to look better than he must be actually feeling.

Seeing that, Umber stepped closer to him. "You could get on my back, I'm sure I could carry you without trouble," the Mudwing lowered himself, and the Nightwing gave him a grateful smile as he carefully climbs up and gets on the middle of his back, there he stretched and from above it looked as if Umber had black charred scales back there.

After making sure the Nightwing is set on his back, Umber took off with Oracle holding on, and the rest of the group began flying as well, following after the large Mudwing.

Umber began to fly northeast as he said earlier, for about a hour they flew until the mountains had fully stopped and the ground was lower, there were more trees below, and Umber made a short turn to the right and began to descend, a blue color can be seen as a river is flowing downstream, at the sides there was muddy ground, with footsteps on the mud showing someone has been there recently.

Umber knew Sora had found a good spot, just one hour away, with the cover of trees above, a river right by the side, and there's a rocky formation with a small cave, so a perfect spot to relax, or hide.

When he landed, the Mudwing lowered his body so Oracle could jump off, then they all easily saw a muddy trail into the cave.

"She wasn't trying very hard to hide…" Winter muttered.

"I don't think she'd know that any others suspect her, she might be here to clear her mind after doing that." Moon whispered.

She should've talked to me, to us, we would've all tried to help her out, if she has something on her mind we would have done our best so she could feel at peace, feel safe… we're meant to look out for each other, to trust our sibs since we're born, did she not trust us?

"I am going to enter first to talk to her, please let me try to just talk and see what is going on," the Mudwing asked the others, who nodded in understanding, although Winter looked reluctant and only finally accepted after some moments, mumbling to himself.

Umber entered the cavern, after just two minutes of walking, he was there at the end of it, Sora was lying down sadly, clearly having placed mud atop her back, and she was sighing.

"Sora?" Umber called forward, and she quickly got up, surprised.

"Umber? I… didn't expect to see you here," she said, looking at him.

"Sora," he said with clear relief in his tone upon seeing his sister. "I was really worried about you, I haven't seen you since little before that explosion happened." Umber gets close and protectively brings one of his wings over her body.

"Sorry…" she whispered. "That explosion was scary, I told Marsh I'd be out here." She explained, looking down.

That didn't sound right to Umber, Sora had kept more to herself since Crane's demise, but to just fly off like that soon after it happened and only warning one of them?

"At least nobody got hurt," he said slowly now.

She didn't reply for some seconds and then nodded slightly. "Yeah, I made sure to hear about that before leaving, that's a relief."

Then it appeared in Umber's head that Sora might be all the way here because of Oracle, she learned there were no deaths, and she might have thought coming here where no one would look would be the best move since there would be a clear witness, whatever her goal was with that explosion, it would've been too dangerous to linger any longer at the mountain.

So would she have just left us all without warning? Leaving us all worried? Would Sora truly do that?

And yet she didn't show any hostility or doubt towards me when I approached, maybe she thought one of her own sibs wouldn't come over to accuse her, yet here I am…

This felt incredibly tough on Umber, he had to talk this through with her, but he had no idea how she might react, Sora has changed a lot more than he'd ever imagined, when thinking of her, he'd never have pictured someone willing to kill innocent dragons and dragonets with a burning trap.

He knew the group that he came along with were probably some dozens of steps away, possibly trying to listen, and ready to act if Sora actually attempted to do something against her own brother.

"Sora…" His tone might've been more serious than he had wanted, because she had immediately looked at him.

With a sigh, and feeling like in a way he's betraying her, he asked. "I… I need you to tell me… the truth."

Her eyes widened as she got off from below his wing, backing away closer to the end of the cave.

"... What have you heard?" She questioned now with clear nervousness on her face.

"I… am sorry but, nearly everything, your friend Oracle told me what happened…" He saw her flinch when she heard that, and immediately after he realized he could have started this whole conversation in much better ways, this was far too direct!

"..." She looked down at the ground, she didn't argue, or go for something like "You'd believe him over me?" She only looked guilty and saddened when actually faced with these words.

"Sora…" All of Umber's words showed how much pain and sadness he was feeling from ever having to ask this question. "Did you do it?"

There was silence for several seconds until finally, Sora gave the subtlest of nods, and Umber felt like his whole world was falling apart.

"No… so it is all true? But… why would you do that?" Umber asked with a frown, looking down at her.

And that's when he began to see tears forming and coming down from her eyes.

"I'm sorry… I… really am sorry, at first I didn't intend for anyone else to get hurt, but then he appeared, I panicked and… I thought I had to hide the evidence…" She was starting to sob, seeing Umber looking at her like that, saddened, in disbelief, disappointed, that was a lot for her. "I couldn't just stop right there, justice had to be done, I had to kill her!"

"Her? Who is she? Why did you even do that in the first place?" He asked, feeling even more like the biggest scum in Pyrrhia after seeing her end like this.

She looked shocked and appalled by that question. "What? Did he not tell you that part?"

"Hm… No?" He shook his head in response.

She took a deep breath after sobbing, she must have expected him to know her target since he started the questioning, and now she had to say it herself.

"He always knew what I wanted to do… that's why he was hanging around with me, and made sure I could switch caves…" She began to speak up, looking with a hard stare at the ground as she thought of her target.

"I wanted to kill Icicle, that horrible Icewing, she has caused us so much pain…" She finally confessed.

Umber's eyes widened, but before his brain could fully process what she'd just said…

Footsteps were running forward into this part of the cave at high speed, Sora quickly got on guard, looking that way as white scales appeared.

And then as suddenly as he appeared, he fell down to the ground, mud now coating his lower scales, due to two Nightwings literally tackling at his hind legs from behind to make him trip, then a Sandwing getting casually atop the Icewing.

"Get off me! You heard that too, she wants to kill my sister!" He complained, trying to shake Qibli off his back, to no avail.

"I think I like it here, it's a cool seat, and the shaking feels relaxing." Was the Sandwing's only reply.

And Sora gave a good look at the Nightwings that had tackled him.

"Moon… Oracle…?" She managed to say.

"Hey Sora." Moon nodded at her, her face clearly showing mixed emotions, but Umber was sure she still felt mostly happy to see her.

"S-Sora hm… d-does huh, stopping a raging Icewing prince from killing you put the two of us even?" Oracle said sheepishly, and Umber saw Sora wince after seeing the injuries that she had given him, now visible instead of in the dark.

"Even? But… I…" She looked completely speechless from that, looking at the damage that she had caused.

"W-weeell I… bit your tail earlier?" He replied apologetically.

"Is this serious? Does nobody actually care about what she just said!? She planned to murder a princess! My sister." Winter snarled and tried harder to get the desert dragon out of his back.

And at the far back, a certain green Seawing can be seen, looking unsure about whether he should do something with the icy prince or not.

"M-Maybe if you give her ONE minute to explain why she hates your sister to the point of wanting to kill her, you'll understand more?" Oracle offered, and Winter shot him such a glare that it made him stumble back, Umber had to admit it could've been worded better.

"You brought them all here…?" Sora asked nervously, her brother had just revealed this peaceful spot after all.

"I'm sorry, I had to do it… everyone wanted and needed to hear your words. Sora please tell us why you caused that explosion." Umber said in his softest possible tone.

Seeing the very displeased Icewing who had never stopped to struggle, with a gulp, Sora began to speak.

"Umber, did you truly not recognize her at all? In that one battle… she's the one that killed Crane, our sister…!" She revealed with tears coming back to her eyes, and even Winter had stopped thrashing for a moment upon hearing that.

"It was her? Sora are you completely sure about that? There were so many Icewings in that battle, it was all so confusing…" Umber questioned.

"I wouldn't have done it if I wasn't sure…" She replied in a more serious tone. "The first day, I wanted to give the benefit of the doubt, to not assume it was her… but she talked during her sleep, saying how killing is easy enough… and from there I knew I was paired with Crane's killer." Sora said in a bitter tone.

"How did you prepare an explosion just 3 days after finding out it's the same Icewing?" Qibli questioned, not at all bothered from literally sitting down atop a cold and grumpy dragon.

"... Dragonflame cactus," she whispered in response. "Skywings used these during the war, I know they grow in high places so it wasn't too hard to find just one… They can explode like that when fire touches one…"

"Woah, interesting." The Sandwing nodded, probably mentally taking note of that.

"As you can see… even with such a dangerous plant, all of her shiny white scales are still untouched, my plan was a total failure… just like you had warned me it would be." The last part was directed at Oracle, who looked back at her in the eyes.

"You said you saw it all days ago, how I'd fail at killing her, and I ignored you… What would be of me afterwards?" She asked directly, wanting to know the consequences of her actions, there was a long pause, even Winter, who still was on the ground, was looking directly at the Nightwing, just like everyone else.

After some moments he sighed.

"I… there's a whole other future, one that I see often where I didn't get to join the academy and meet any of you, in that timeline without someone trying to stop bad events from happening… the explosion still failed at killing Icicle, but there's significantly more… casualties…" He began, closing his eyes to not see everyone looking at him.

More casualties? Oh Sora, what could have happened? Who might've died from your misguided attempts by yourself? Umber thought pained.

"That actually happens? So who…?" Turtle spoke up for the first time since he arrived here, the word "dies" lingering without him actually saying it.

"Two deaths, and one ends up badly hurt but lives." Oracle said with a frown. "The deaths are a Nightwing… I… think he isn't actually at the academy? I think I took his place by being the lucky one to join the Gold winglet instead. Then… Carnelian died and Tamarin barely managed to hide and ended up hurt."

"WHAT!?" Kinkajou's voice resonated first after a shocked silence, her scales giving away the brown of the wall she'd been against for camouflage, Umber didn't even notice she was there, instead turning many shades of red. "Carnelian? Tamarin!? That could've happened?" She cried out.

Umber saw his sister's expression and he immediately went closer and covered her with a wing, and she didn't resist or try to move, tears running down fast once again.

"I would do that to Tamarin? It'd be all my fault…" She sobbed now.

"And…" Oracle sounded unsure.

"And? There 's still more?" Umber asked exasperated.

"Yoooou then… tt-try to murder Icicle again right in the prey center by making a stalactite fall on her, then you are forced to run away and Umber goes with you and you can't go back home nor stay around the area because Queen Moorhen would search for you, and Queen Ruby would also search for you because you'd have killed a Skywing, so you two end in self imposed exile and then I have literally no idea about what happens to you?"

Oracle's words had left behind a silence such that even Winter didn't react too much from hearing another assassination attempt against his sister would've occurred.

"What!?" Sora cried at that. "I drag Umber with me? We… don't go back home?" She hides her face on Umber's side, who tries to comfort her.

"I wouldn't call it dragging, we're meant to stick together and protect each other, that'd be it." He tried to assure her, but he knew his expression showed that this future was not pleasant to him.

"It's the same thing… I'd have dragged you into exile! It… it would be like if our sibs lost two more in just one day…" Sora protested.

And Umber didn't know how to respond to that.

"That… that is what I've been trying to prevent, Sora, the future where you have to be a fugitive. I've been trying to get you into a future where you can stay in Jade academy with your friends and family…" Oracle assured with a small smile, but she wasn't looking at him.

"It could still happen." Moon spoke up. "You caused that explosion, but maybe… maybe you could talk to the school's founders? I doubt they'd divulge your motive, only Oracle got hurt and with how he's been trying to help, I believe he forgave you," the Nightwing gave a quick nod at that. "So it might not be too late."

Sora would now look at them again. "You think so? If I stop now… I can still fix things?"

"Well I feel like the founders should probably at least get to make you work or help after you burned down a classroom," Qibli casually stated. "But I doubt anything could be worse than that timeline we just learned, that one sounds awful.

"Does my opinion here just doesn't matter anymore?" Winter complained.

"Would Sora apologizing to you be enough? It's not like she could apologize to Icicle, I am sure you can realize that'd just end badly." Oracle asked, the prince grumbled and mumbled for a while and everyone took it as a yes.

"I… am sorry for trying to murder Icicle and for still trying in that other future… I just cannot forgive Icicle, and I can't tell her I'm sorry, but I promise I won't try something like that again, it's not worth it to carry on with my revenge." She said softly in a whisper, one more tear running down her face.

"... I'll be watching you very closely…" Winter promised, giving her a harsh glare, then he looked at Qibli. "Now, can you get off me!?"

"Aww, I was enjoying it here." Qibli shook his head and got off his back, Winter stood up, there was tension as he stared at Sora some more… but then he finally turned back to head outside, giving a scornful glare at everyone.

Umber still kept a protective wing on his sister. "Let's go back, I am sure that if we talk to Clay first, he'll help convince the others to not make your punishment too harsh." He asked softly, and after some seconds, Sora nodded too, and now everyone was starting to leave the cave.

Oddly enough, Oracle was rushing forward towards the front where Winter is, and tapped his side, making him stare at the side towards him.

"What do you want now?" He questioned coldly.

"A-ah hm well… prince Winter, before we head back I… thought that since the whole Sora situation is sorted out now, that perhaps I should reveal some stuff about your family…" Oracle told him, looking up to his face.