Author's Note: I am so, SO very sorry for such delay between the latest chapter of the fic and this one. I wrote a chapter for two differnet fics in the middle, so technically I've been writing this one for just 5 days, but still, apologies. So I hope this chapter was worth the wait!
— Chapter 10 —
Qibli
After having such a barrage of revelations, Qibli's mind was now processing twice as fast as usual, due to needing to work on both the current dilemma that is the situation with his grandfather, and now also thinking constantly about Scavengers and how wrong literally all of Dragonkind had them.
Seriously Oracle, how do you do it to learn all these things? Did the future show you a bunch of scavengers or something? Or I guess, perhaps you were more clever than any of us and maybe you actually tried to learn. Qibli pondered in his mind.
After being temporarily perplexed by what just happened, Queen Thorn had walked off to do as she said and talk to some other dragons about the situation, leaving Qibli in the hallway with a decent amount of whispering dragons, all taken aback by Oracle's reveal.
Qibli felt quite proud of the Nightwing, even here in a different kingdom he was able to utterly baffle others and change their perception of things, that's without a doubt one of his best qualities, his capacity to surprise people and make them rethink.
Well, Qibli's still perplexed and thinking thoroughly, but he decided that the best course of action would be heading to rest as well, Thorn is busy and she didn't have any tasks for him at the moment due to their sudden appearance, and knowing she'd probably prefer if he actually had a good night's rest, he went to the room he usually occupied ever since they moved to the palace.
He hoped that Queen Thorn would be able to get some good reports about the Scorpion's Den situation, but if she doesn't… What should be the next step? Maybe Oracle comes up with a plan thanks to his visions, or thinks of the perfect spell they could use. Qibli was wary about using magic at the start of this expedition, but that was before Oracle mentioned the fact that his grandfather had the Mirror, which changed things a lot.
He went to his bed, and despite the fact that he's always thinking, Qibli had learned a long time ago how to just make his body sleep anyway to get the always required rest needed for life in the Den, and after just a single minute, he had fallen into a light sleep.
Next morning he woke up quite literally as soon as the sun shone down on his scales, and just a moment after that, he was already standing and off the bed, heading to the door and ready to ask questions.
The castle's halls were already slowly starting to get filled by different dragons, all heading to their respective spots to get into their tasks for the day, and Qibli knew what his task was, to meet up with Thorn now if possible and see if any information was gathered for him to think of something.
But before that, he thought that he probably should go and get Oracle before getting deep into a conversation. They're a team here and this wouldn't be possible with him, so he should be there if Thorn has any significant development to give.
He went to the side where the guest rooms are located, and after a bit of asking, he learned which one was Oracle's, so he approached it but then he saw that the door was already open and the Nightwing wasn't there.
"Huh, guess he decided to wake up early today," Qibli commented to himself, slightly surprised given how late the small dragonet awoke the previous day.
He made his way to the castle's dining hall, assuming that if Oracle could have gone anywhere after waking up, it'd be here, and yet there were a good amount of other Sandwings, but no Nightwing in sight, so he decided to ask.
"Hey there, have you seen my friend Oracle? He's a Nightwing," he asked one of the Sandwings that was there and was eating some stuff.
"Oh! A small, funny one? I believe I saw him on the upper levels before I came here, he was looking at everything," she replied after a moment.
"Aha, enjoying the sights I suppose, thank you," he said with a grin, nodding at the other dragon, he got some food before he walked off this room and opened his wings, taking off to the upper sections of the palace, knowing that his friend must be around.
And indeed, after five minutes of searching, he spotted the Nightwing hovering in front of a few paintings set up here, and he was looking at everything with curiosity and interest.
"So, based on what I've seen today and the previous day, I believe I can say that you enjoy good arts," Qibli said with a grin as he approached, making Oracle do a quick turn to look at him.
"Oh! Good morning Qib," he said, waving with a talon as he landed on the ground. "Yeah, guess you could say that, I woke up quite early this morning, so I decided to give myself a tour around the palace after breakfast, and got immersed in looking at everything," he said with a giggle.
"I'm glad that you're enjoying yourself here," Qibli said with full honesty, given that Oracle is visiting his kingdom, it's good that he gets a good impression. And also things are likely to get tougher for a while in not too long. "And it's also good to see that you haven't fallen to a heat stroke yet," he added with a grin, making Oracle comically groan slightly.
"Gah, don't mention that part, I've been evading windows and open spaces as much as I could, I am not quite fit for that desert life," he admitted sheepishly.
"You'll get used to it after a sunburn or two," Qibli joked, and Oracle vehemently shook his head at that.
"Aaanyway," Oracle quickly said to change the topic. "I met some dragons while passing by, and guess what? I had a very short encounter with Blaze."
"Oh yeah? And what did she say?" Qibli asked with some amusement. Blaze was without a doubt, the least bright dragon in the palace, but even most of the Outclaws that resent royals or were wary about them weren't able to dislike her. Her personality was able to give some laughs or a snort from amusement. And as she was given a simple role of managing a part of the royal treasure simply to give her something to do related to pretty things, she hadn't been a bother at all.
Oracle giggled, wrinkling his snout and making an exaggerated tone now. "Oh gosh! Is that a Nightwing? What's a small hatchling doing here?"
Qibli immediately laughed at that, especially given that Oracle got Blaze's mannerisms almost perfectly. "What? Are you telling me that's not the best way to start a conversation?"
"She called me a hatchling," Oracle protested but not really looking bothered. "I am small, but not that much."
"Well, Nightwings and their dragonets have been a very rare sight until recently, she probably has seen enough to count with just one talon, so one could assume things about their sizes," Qibli said.
Oracle just shook his head in an amused manner, chuckling alongside him, as they did that, Qibli looked at him for a moment, thinking of something. He told himself yesterday about how he'd try talking to Oracle about, well, Rainwings, and only if the Nightwing was comfortable with engaging in such conversation.
Right now, there weren't any other dragons nearby or passing by this specific hall, especially being early morning still. Qibli planned talking to Thorn soon, and it could be perfectly possible that afterwards there might not be too much time or a place to talk in private with his friend. And there is also the fact that supposedly they've still got a hidden Rainwing with them, he hasn't spotted or felt their presence yet, but he assumed they were near, and he thought that this though probably makes Oracle nervous at times.
Qibli wanted to help when possible, Oracle had once called him out as "too loyal" when they had that talk about Animus, but he couldn't stop it. He'd been loyal to Thorn and the Outclaws for half of his life, and ever since he stepped foot in the mountain, he had his Winglet and Oracle as new friends, and he just wanted to help, to be that friend that's there when they need it.
So he spoke up now, even if the mood might be temporarily dampened, if he could help Oracle through with this, he felt that he should. "Hey, Oracle? I wanted to ask you something, if you'd be fine with it."
Oracle looked at him, his silver eyes already giving off an expression of uncertainty, possibly wondering about what he could want to talk about, and if it might be about that part.
"Hm… Sure, yeah, what is it?" Oracle asked, looking around for a moment.
"I want to let you know, we only have to talk if you're actually up for it, okay?" Qibli said to make that clear for the Nightwing. "It's about something I noticed when we were at the Rainforest, and even before that."
Oracle's talons twitched slightly, and he turned his head to look off to a side for a moment before looking back at him.
"Oh," Oracle whispered. "I know you, you're very observant so I… am quite sure that I realize what you mean in particular…"
Qibli slowly nodded, not wanting to rush this or make his friend feel even more anxious than he certainly is already going to feel. "If you want to, we could talk. You've helped me with a talk about my feelings, so I thought I could do that for you as well."
"Ah, right, that…" Oracle whispered, tapping on the ground a few times with his claws, just looking down at his talon as he did that, as if it was the most interesting thing in the world, before he finally sighed. "W-Well… I… You think I need to? Well, given you mentioned this, of course you do, what am I saying? Logically… I just pledged myself to the Rainwing queen, and there's Rainwings in the academy, including one of the members of our group…" He began to ramble on.
"Oracle," Qibli said, trying to be calming. "It's not about need, but about want, I do personally think it might be good for you, but the end decision is all on you anyway, and I wouldn't want to make things any worse for you."
Oracle rubbed the side of his head a bit. "I've seen this side of yours before, but I am still not quite getting used to it…"
"Surprised that I can actually act serious sometimes and not crack jokes coupled with witty comments? Understandable, really," Qibli said with a nod, then added. "Don't tell Winter yet about this part of me, it'll just surprise him more when he sees it for himself."
That got the desired effect of making Oracle giggle for just a second and putting him at slightly more ease, before the Nightwing looked up to him, sighing a little.
"Okay, I guess we could talk a little about this… Who knows? Maybe I will achieve inner peace from this and can help better…" He accepted.
"Alright, neat," Qibli said, signaling him to sit down, which he did, then Qibli did so as well. He had helped some other dragons during his time with the Outclaws, because living in the Scorpion's Den will always leave scars behind, be it physical or internal, so this will be just like that.
"Well to start us off… I… Am perfectly aware that this is extremely silly and dumb…" Oracle muttered.
"Huh? Dumb? Why do you think so?" Qibli asked, confused.
"Well… I ended up… You know… From a dragon that I literally already knew beforehand was bad, and yet now I flinch or get nervous when standing near Rainwings that aren't doing anything to me, just seeing them and these venom-spitting fangs…"
"Look, Oracle, you are not dumb because of that, and it does you no good to dismiss yourself due to this," Qibli quickly said. "That is quite literally how things work when it comes to triggers and such, your mind is going to relate specific things to danger and trigger these reactions as a defense mechanism, it's just instinct, it's not on you nor makes you dumb."
Oracle seems to be considering it, remaining silent for a moment before speaking again.
"Okay… But even then… What should I do? I'll be seeing Rainwings daily at the mountain, and when I leave… I might need to go to the Rainforest then, no…?" Oracle asked.
"Well, you don't have to, dragons are perfectly able to leave their kingdom and live somewhere else, you got your home at the Sky Kingdom, right?"
Silence.
Oracle looked down, eyes very open as if he realized something, and Qibli looked worried.
"Oracle?" Qibli asked, looking at him.
"I… Wouldn't have anyone there…" He said slowly, oddly enough in a tone as if he just realized.
"Oh," Qibli understood immediately, wincing at that, so Oracle didn't have others to go back to?
It must have been relatively recent, he's not that old, and no offense but I can't imagine many ways for him to fend off himself and survive in the Sky Kingdom for a long period of time, his physical skills were sorely lacking during the first days I saw him, and a slow Nightwing would stick out a lot to the eyes of the Skywings. He quickly theorized.
"Can we… Please not go there? I'd rather just focus on what we were talking about before, more relevant, rather than talk about… That," Oracle pleaded.
"Of course," Qibli immediately nodded, and the small dragonet looked relieved. Qibli was not the type of dragon that would force someone to talk about their home or family, especially not after learning this. That is something that must come naturally from Oracle himself, because it's not like Qibli wanted to talk much about his own home drama either.
"O-Okay, okay, so… Rainwings…" Oracle muttered. "What do I do? I don't want to just be scared or flinch each time I end near one, thinking they could randomly just spit at me…"
"Hm…" Qibli said in thought, tapping his chin with a claw. "Well, first off, there's something to think about: that event quite literally happened just 3 days ago, yes?"
Oracle gave a light nod at that now.
"Yep, so your mind probably wasn't given much time yet to even process things a lot, especially given that just yesterday we already left again and ended straight on Rainwing territory," Qibli mentally frowned slightly at this. Oracle was the one that offered to tag along to help him, but after learning they were heading to the Rainforest, Qibli should have said something earlier.
"So, what? You're saying it's just a matter of me processing it and then all good?" Oracle asked in a confused tone.
"No, not exactly, more like… The first day after that happened, when you were Cirrus, you didn't seem all that nervous yet and you didn't really react to Kinkajou, so I guess it didn't quite settle into your mind fully what happened, so now your mind is starting to react to it."
"Right, makes sense… And what can I do in response to that? I… Know that Kinkajou is a good, funny dragon, I don't want to be startled when near her, maybe even hurt her if she notices…" Oracle questioned.
"Honestly? It's only my opinion for an idea you could try, but I'd say that maybe when we're back to the mountain, you could explain to her that at times you might act odd when near her due to the circumstances, but still try to hangout with her?" Qibli said.
"Huh? You mean, hangout and just spend time with the very thing that startles me?" Oracle asked, confused.
"Might just be the only way to get over that, no? You were fine with Rainwings before that, so now you need to remind your body that the majority of them are literally safe to be near," Qibli nodded.
"... That… Makes sense…" Oracle slowly nodded, clearly thinking deeply about it now.
"You've got time to think about it," Qibli assured. "We'll most likely spend some time here in the Sand Kingdom, so if needed, you can prepare yourself for that already."
"You're right… Yeah, okay, I…Think I might try it?" Oracle said, and he gave Qibli a shy and nervous smile. "Hm, thank you… Qib, for being so nice and helpful."
"That's what friends are for, aren't they?" He replied, giving a big grin at Oracle now, then he titled his head as the Nightwing stepped closer to his side.
And then, it looked a bit awkward and quite funny, but the smaller dragon made an attempt to raise a wing to bring it over to Qibli's back above, and Oracle himself was looking sheepish as he stretched it.
"Hah… Literally anyone can go and hug me, but as you see, I kinda just look silly when I try to hug…" He muttered.
Qibli chuckled from that, looking in amusement at the quite failed attempt of showing gratitude, then he just brought one of his wings over Oracle for a moment, earning an indignant sound from the Nightwing.
"Seeee? What I just said!" Oracle protested, but he didn't really add anything else or moved for that moment the wing was above him.
And meanwhile, Qibli smiled. He didn't quite get to this level of bonding over with the rest of his actual Winglet, so being here after comforting Oracle, ending with a hug and all, it told him that his way of just being was working, and that he truly had a good friend so little after the academy opened.
He pulled his wing away after a few seconds, and Oracle awkwardly moved off to the side, but he was having a more natural smile. "Thank you… Also I gotta say, Sandwing hugs really feel quite good with that warmth," he said with a giggle.
"That is one of our best qualities," Qibli replied with a wide grin at the smaller dragon, who nodded at that.
"I… Will think a lot about what you've told me, and follow your idea when we get back… And hm, I think I am feeling a little better after that talk."
"Great! Well If you ever need an easygoing dragon to talk to again and make you laugh with quality jokes, you quite literally know where I live," Qibli said and Oracle nodded to that.
"Will have that in mind, alright…!" He then cleared his throat some more, looking down the hallway. "Sooo hm… We're done with this now? Like… Done?"
"Of course, we've made a lot of progress in this short session I feel like, but now if you don't have anything you might want to share, we could go back down and meet up with Queen Thorn," Qibli said.
"Yeah! That sounds like a good idea," Oracle replied, clearly looking more at ease after this was done, and so now, Sandwing and Nightwing flew back down to the lower levels to meet up with the queen once more, Oracle following right behind.
They found Thorn, this time not in her oasis room, but actually within the castle as she walked around and had quick chats with other dragons on the way, then she spotted them and headed towards their direction.
"Good morning, and good to see you two," she said, giving them a nod as both Qibli and Oracle bowed in response.
"Good morning as well, we wanted to see if anything new happened, or if we could help," Qibli said.
"Oh, of course, well I'm afraid to say that there's really not a lot at the moment that you could do," Queen Thorn said, shaking her head and looking at Qibli in the eyes, her expression telling him that she means it, and then she handed over a scroll to him where she'd written something.
No significant news about the Den, Vulture's group has been very quiet lately based on my sources there.
Qibli looked puzzled by that, his grandfather had been quiet? That's unusual, and could only mean that he was really up to something big, taking no risks here. He knew what the original plan was, but with a seer being added to the mix and the uncertainty of what he knows, it was hard to tell what could happen.
"But at least I've got some news that I'm sure you'll appreciate," she said, turning her head to Oracle. "For the time being, the dragons residing here in the palace have been instructed to not eat Scavengers. And if more general results are as you said, then that will be spread around as soon as possible.
Oracle gleamed with hope and immediately bowed again at Thorn. "Thanks, your majesty! Literally anything that can help them in any way is a significant upgrade."
Three moons, he truly did it. A new rule at the palace due to his word alone, way to go! Qibli thought, smiling at the Nightwing.
"And I was told that Sunny has taken the news about scavengers really well, not a surprise at all, but Smolder told me that the last hour has been her teaching Flower how to speak dragon," Thorn said with an expression signaling her amusement while saying that, and Oracle giggled.
"Well, I'll help her out later on in that case, Flower will eventually be a fluent speaker, that I can assure." the Nightwing said with a nod.
After that, Thorn dismissed them, and Qibli felt some dread when thinking of his grandfather, and the worst part was that he couldn't even voice it because he might be listening in.
Qibli signaled to Oracle, telling him to follow as he headed towards his own room, by this point, something had to be done. Letting his grandfather take the offensive and strike first could go terribly wrong, so it was due time for a new plan.
They reached his room, and Qibli sat down, so Oracle did the same thing as Qibli thought for a second. Knowing that if grandfather is watching, then he'll have to hold two different conversations at the same time because it would look strange if the two of them were just there all silent while passing over a scroll to talk.
"So, say, are you planning to spread these news about scavengers through Pyrrhia?" Qibli picked a relevant topic, and he was honestly curious about that too so it worked, and he began to write as he spoke.
"Huh? Oh… Yeah, I've been thinking about the scavenger situation for some time and… I thought that since I'd be coming here, where the palace's residents are used to seeing a scavenger, and with Thorn sounding like a good queen, I thought this would be the best place to start," Oracle said.
Qibli nodded, as he wrote some words and passed the scroll over to Oracle.
I don't actually know what to make of my grandfather, the possibilities with him knowing about you or the scroll are quite terrifying, we need to do something, like maybe some magic?
Oracle looked at this for some moments before he dipped a claw on ink as well and began to write back while keeping up the conversation.
"Hey so, while we're on this topic… Maybe you think that you could give me some recommendations? Like who I could try to focus next on convincing," Oracle asked.
"Hm…" Qibli pondered about it for a moment before he had an answer ready. "Well if you want my opinion on the matter, from what I've seen in the maps, most Scavenger dens are within the Sky Kingdom, so maybe you could attempt an audience with Queen Ruby? From what I've heard around and also from Carnelian, she seems like a good ruler, unlike her mother."
Oracle finished writing and passed over the scroll to Qibli now.
What kind of plan? And what type of spell? Remember we're quite limited due to just being 2, so we cannot do something that might directly affect Vulture, and snatching something that's technically his now might count?
"With Ruby, eh? Hm…" Oracle tapped his chin with a claw for a moment. "Actually… Yeah, that sounds just perfect, I do happen to hold some knowledge that she in particular would be extremely interested to know about."
That perked up Qibli's interest while he was writing. Wow, future knowledge even for Ruby? He's certainly very well prepared.
The scroll was passed over to Oracle once again with his next words.
That's true, and we can't just do something like blocking ourselves from the Mirror, or else if we're lucky and he still doesn't know about the scroll, at least he'd certainly know we have access to Animus if we did that.
"Oh, that's great to hear. Well, if Ruby likes what you've got to tell her, then I'm sure that you can convince her. No Skywings going after scavengers would probably be one of the biggest changes so far," Qibli replied.
The Nightwing passed the scroll over to Qibli once more, and his face was an odd mix of uncertainty and determination.
Hardly anything can be done while Vulture holds the Mirror, so maybe… We could try to take it? With magic we can put on ourselves, we'd be the ones best fit to even try that.
Qibli looked surprised at these lines, especially when they came from Oracle. Was the small Nightwing proposing for the two of them to steal from his grandfather, at the Scorpion's Den, within his own lair?
He very quickly considered the drawbacks and upsides of would be two dragonets entering the literally most dangerous place of the Sand Kingdom, with black robed dragons everywhere and certainly a good amount of traps. And worst of all, the actual presence of his grandfather, with the idea that he might have to see him.
But on the other talon, retrieving the Obsidian Mirror would be an incredible blow, Vulture wouldn't be able to so easily spy on everyone and learn things that he shouldn't, and they could even use it back against him, with such a tool, Queen Thorn might just finally get to take down his grandfather, along with his organization, and also one of the last nightmares that were still present within his mind, it would be a massive step for the Scorpion's Den to finally grow up more than ever into a better place with far less fear.
After a whole minute, he began to write again, he only needed a few moments before showing the scroll to Oracle.
If we are able to make a good plan with just the perfect spells for such a dangerous trek, then I'm in.