Whiteout's scream jolted Foeslayer awake. In one smooth movement, Foeslayer leapt up, grabbed her diamond-tipped spear, and spun in place to assess for threats. There were none. She and Whiteout were quite alone on the beach.

"What's happened?" Arctic's voice frantically asked from above. Four talonprints appeared in the sand beside her.

"Black takes white," Whiteout mumbled groggily. "And white overtakes black. But white and black will overtake gray."

"Were you dreaming about a game, darling?" Foeslayer asked.

"No, chaos theory," Whiteout replied.

Arctic made himself visible. Foeslayer looked to him, comforted that the scream had merely been a bad dream and that their daughter was simply being her odd self again. But Arctic stared intently at Whiteout.

"Was it a dream, or was it your brother?" he asked. Foeslayer looked between Arctic and Whiteout, confused.

"What did I miss?" Foeslayer interrupted.

Arctic replied, "It seems that Darkstalker has used his powers again–" he inhaled angrily through his nostrils, "-to create a stone that allows him to enter other dragons' dreams."

Foeslayer gasped.

"No, he didn't mean for me to see him," Whiteout answered. She shared a meaningful look with Arctic, confusing Foeslayer again. Foeslayer was reminded of the half-unspoken communication she used to share with Darkstalker, but that couldn't be what was going on here, surely. Arctic noticed Foesayer's puzzled expression.

"Also, Whiteout–" Arctic paused, wondering how to say it. "She knows things, sometimes. I can't quite explain it yet. It's not like a usual power from either of our tribes. It earned Queen Diamond's respect, which probably helped us in the Ice Kingdom." Arctic paused again, considering. "Or maybe that's what made Snowfox hate us so much."

"Both," Whiteout clarified. "But it made Snowfox fear us. She hated you already."

"Right," Arctic agreed.

"Well that's a lot to take in," Foeslayer said.

"She's afraid of me," Whiteout told her mother matter-of-factly. She turned back to her father. "And now that Darkstalker has captured her, who is running the Ice Kingdom?"

"Darkstalker– what?" Arctic stammered. Foeslayer sat down on the sand.

"She's in the show prison," Whiteout replied, as if her parents already knew. "So who is running the Ice Kingdom? Is it General Squall?"

"Probably," Arctic muttered. He also sank into the sand, then quickly stood again to escape its heat.

"Does she have an heir, if– if anything happens to her?" Foeslayer asked.

"She has a daughter, but she's barely a year old," Arctic informed her. "The only other female relative of Queen Diamond–" he paused. "Is Whiteout."

"No," Foeslayer said firmly.

"I am, though," Whiteout said.

"You knew when you married me that I'm IceWing royalty. And now our son has fancied himself NightWing royalty. We tried to have a normal life. It didn't work."

"But Whiteout is NightWing. She'll never be accepted as the IceWing queen."

"She's also IceWing," Arctic growled.

"She'll have too many enemies. She'll have to wage war against her own kingdom."

"She could be the one who finally brings peace," Arctic hissed. "She's the bridge between our two kingdoms." Foeslayer considered his words for several long minutes.

"Imagine…" she finally said. "Our two dragonets ruling two kingdoms."

"Our love really did change the world, didn't it?" Arctic remarked, and moved to embrace Foeslayer. Foeslayer stood up and held Arctic for several long moments.

"It seems wrong," Foeslayer said at last.

"A NightWing king is wrong. But this – it's right. And surely it will bring peace. Snowfox didn't win the throne by contest to begin with, and she only served a few days. And Whiteout is more directly related to Queen Diamond as her granddaughter rather than just a niece. Or a grand-niece, in the case of Snowfox's heir. I know Diamond always wanted my daughter to take the throne someday."

"Yes, your daughter with some vapid IceWing noble."

"Well, yes, but Mother didn't always know best."

"That's putting it mildly," Foeslayer spat.

"Besides, the NightWing in me makes me scary," Whiteout laughed.

For the first time, her parents turned to her. Foeslayer seemed to realize that Whiteout might need to be part of this conversation.

"This isn't a joke," Foeslayer replied warily. "Returning to the Ice Kingdom? To take the throne and end the war? Your father and I got carried away there. It's incredibly dangerous."

Whiteout considered thoughtfully.

"White has overtaken black," she repeated. "Someone needs to save Darkstalker. I think that has to be me."