Chapter Text
The Rainforest was ablaze with activity that Starflight hadn’t seen since… well, he hadn’t seen it at all since Glory became queen. But he certainly heard all the commotion when everything was being settled. His poor ears hurt and he nearly became deaf.
Now? He could barely keep up with anything. All of his senses were assaulted by a cacophony of different things. The scent of burnt wood seared his nostrils along with hints of decomposition to the point where he could taste it. Smoke still hadn’t cleared in certain areas and it felt like walking right back into the NightWing isle. Shouts of all different emotions rang his ears.
The burned forest floor was devoid of the characteristic dampness. Everything crunched and broke under his steps.
“Well, at least we can rebuild, unlike the volcano.” Fatespeaker spoke when Starflight compared the situation. “And you didn’t randomly turn around to have volcanic ash in your eyes.”
“I thought I heard Morrowseer charging us.” Starflight mumbled. “He would’ve been the type of dragon to shrug off lava.”
“Yes, well, he didn’t now did he?” Fatespeaker ruffled her wings with annoyance. “I feel so bad for our tribe.” Fatespeaker’s face fell as she watched a group of NightWings pass. “Twice now our home has burned. They don’t deserve that.”
“No, they don’t.” Starflight agreed. “How are you doing with all of this?”
“I can feel so much emotion. Moon really opened my mind. Like I was always an empath, but this is next level.” Fatespeaker allowed a wince to show. “Can’t read their minds, but I don’t need to.”
Right now, she and Starflight were on their way to the NightWing side of the kingdom. Their part wasn’t as affected, but much of the smoke billowed here. It clung like a dark cloud, obscuring the borders between the villages.
Greatness had proven to be a figurehead of the NightWings again, rallying them from despair and saving the village as flames threatened to consume them as well. Her help was invaluable to both the Rain and Night dragons, yet there were some discontent about how she was handling things. Focus more on the NightWings over the RainWings, some grumbled. Repair themselves then help.
And with Fierceteeth and this Vision she brought along with her, there may be enough driving force for something to happen. Starflight and Fatespeaker were sent to make sure that didn’t happen.
The NightWing council – led by Greatness herself – was in session. It was a public event, as it was a time of crisis. Already, though, some things were off.
Namely, Fierceteeth and Strongwings were present. That wasn’t unexpected. What was unexpected was them not in line to speak. No, they were silently observing. Fierceteeth’s expressional face was sour and dismissive of much, yet no signs of outbursts.
Perhaps it had to do with Vision sitting next to her. That made Starflight pause. Many of the NightWings that followed Fierceteeth sat behind her and Strongwings, as if she were the leader. Indeed, anyone who looked their direction would assume her to be in charge.
Yet Vision kept his eyes locked on the hearings and debates. No emotion. Fatespaker couldn’t detect anything either. There was something off about this dragon. No way it could be Morrowseer, but perhaps one trained by him? A secret son? That didn’t seem plausible. Not with the NightWing living conditions. He didn’t look much older than Fierceteeth, either.
“Clearly if we remain, we run the risk of being caught in a war that does not involve us.” One of the NightWing councilors stated. “Twice now our home has burned. We cannot risk a third.”
“If we run, what does that say?” Greatness asked without hostility. “We will not turn on those who showed us hospitality. Besides, if our foe can do this without warning, he will absolutely strike in our moment of weakness.”
The counselor grimaced but otherwise seemed to accept this possibility.
“Not if you do it when he’s attacking somewhere else.” Fierceteeth muttered to Strongwings.
“How are we going to know when he does?” Strongwings rightfully pointed out.
“Are you kidding me? The queens will be flapping around chaotically. All we’d have to do is watch their movements.”
“No.” Vision rumbled. Fierceteeth whipped her head to the larger dragon. “It will not be safe. There is another.”
“Another?” Fierceteeth scoffed.
“Animus is involved. We are not safe.”
“Yep, he’s the brains.” Fatespeaker whispered to Starflight as they took their seats between Greatness and Fierceteeth’s gang. “Ugh, it’s like there’s some sort of fog around him! I recognize him, I swear I do, but the moment it gets close I just blank!”
“We should talk to him.” Starflight suggested. Fatespeaker tilted her head, confused but also open to the idea. “We can’t just make assumptions and watch from the sidelines. For all we know, he could have genuine intentions and is keeping Fierceteeth in line due to an unknown bond.”
“Alright. But I wouldn’t do it in private.” Fatespeaker cautioned. Starflight nodded at her words.
As the meeting went on, Starflight noted three main subjects that kept being brought up. One was the exodus some wished to enact. The second was the food situation, which seemed to be the least of the three. But the third was not one brought up in front of the council.
No, it’s one Starflight felt . One he was afraid of. All he had to do was look at the crowd and follow the gazes of some NightWings whenever a RainWing passed. The time was now to strike if they ever wanted to. Yet, it did not seem like they had enough numbers to simply invade. If banded together they could, but it was too isolated.
Fierceteeth would’ve been the leader in most circumstances. She’d rally them all. Yet Vision kept her not necessarily cowed, but in line.
“A suggestion.” Vision finally rumbled as the council got ready to end. Their eyes turned to him. “The river is currently flowing into the Rain Village, correct?” There was a round of nods. “Why haven’t we dug an irrigation system to allow it to flow through ours? That would solve a food and water issue.”
“Do you know how difficult it would be to dig a river through our village?” One of the council members all but scoffed.
“It need not be deep or wide, but it would solve the issue of having to venture to the other side of the kingdom. There is another, smaller river on the other side it could connect to as well. Dragons who live in the center will not need to travel as much. The soil is prime for crops, too, so a line in the center will cause the same effect.”
“So you are suggesting that we dig a canal?” Greatness asked him.
“Something to that effect, yes.” Vision nodded curtly.
“That may work… but it’ll take a bit to get done. It’ll have to be after the crisis unless you are able to do it with some volunteers.”
Once more, the larger dragon nodded. Starflight didn’t think it to be a bad idea. In fact, it was a lot more benign than he could’ve ever anticipated. He was expecting some sort of subtle jab at the RainWings but no, it was simply using natural resources. In fact, from where he described, it wouldn’t affect the other tribe at all, as it flowed down to the ocean past the Rain village.
With the council dismissed, Starflight and Fatespeaker decided to catch up with the small gang. From the way they meandered around, they were expecting this. That did unnerve Starflight a tiny bit, but they were in public. Nothing would happen.
“What do you want, Starflight?” Fierceteeth instead asked with exasperation.
“I want to know what you’ve been doing for the past four years. Not even a peep from you.” Starflight kept his tone neutral. “Then you’re prancing around as queen of the NightWings.”
“Why do you care? It’s not like we ever had a sibling relationship.” Fierceteeth pointed out. “Mastermind is your dad, too. We’re barely family.”
“I’m not the one who shut that door, Fierceteeth.” Starflight locked eyes with her. It was there she seemed to realize he had them. She did not bow or shift her stance, but a subtle widening of her gaze.
“He’s here because of me.” Vision instead spoke. “I clearly remind him of someone. I recognize the look.”
“I may as well ask then.” Starflight decided to go for it. “Are you related to Morrowseer?”
Vision barked out a laugh that took everyone by surprise. Starflight from how loud it was, and if Fierceteeth’s reaction was any indication, he did not do this often.
“I am not related to him, no.” Vision shook his head. “However, I have indeed followed his example while on the isle. I was one of his apprentices, if you could call it that.”
“By being a swolitician too?” Fatespeaker gestured to his size. Starflight felt his rib crack from trying to withhold a laugh.
“Appearance and charisma are important to the role, yes.” Vision stated. “I was not on the isle when it exploded. I wandered the outside world, taking in tribal customs and so on. I only recently came into contact with Fierceteeth, and then we came here.”
Starflight felt something in the back of his mind. Being trained by Morrowseer – something he didn’t even know the larger dragon would ever do – and now taking in tribal customs… that was the mark of someone who was learning to manipulate them. At least, if Starflight ever had a dark streak, that would be what he’d do.
“Sooo, by training under Morrowseer, what exactly do you mean by that?” Fatespeaker felt his mindset.
“I studied him and his actions. Read his notes. He was training myself and a few others to act as his eyes and ears through the Night Tribe and the outside world. Then, he stopped about six months before the end.” Vision’s muzzle curled into a faint smirk. “I think he suspected we may try and kill him.”
“What happened to the other trainees?” Starflight decided to follow that thought. “Were they killed?”
“If they are dead, I had nothing to do with it. I understand you may not trust my words given what I told you, but if I were to do that, I would be down very valuable allies.”
So, we need to figure out who these other apprentices are, Starflight made a mental note. “Alright. I believe you.” Not really. “You’ll have to forgive my suspicions, though.”
“I expected you to confront me much sooner.” Vision chuckled. “Imagine my surprise when I discovered the queen’s consort was sending RainWings to spy on me.”
Starflight paled but otherwise kept his stance neutral.
“Oh yes, I am well aware of them. They need not worry, but I understand the action.” Vision turned to walk away. “If you have further questions, I am not hard to find.”
Starflight waited for them to walk away before turning to Fatespeaker. She had the same baffled and concerned expression he showed.
“He’s the ringleader.” Fatespeaker stated the obvious. “And he’s lying. He’s so lying. But I don’t know what about.”
“I believe him about the Morrowseer connection.” Starflight said, to which Fatespeaker agreed. “I don’t know about anything else.”
“We’ll need to tell Deathbringer. What about Greatness?” Fatespeaker gestured back to the council building.
“We should tell her, yes, but I think we should speak to Deathbringer first. Get the facts squared away.” Starflight looked back to the Rain Village.
“Something’s coming, by the way.” Fatespeaker gripped his shoulder, holding her head. “I can’t make sense of it. But I see starry skies and a giant moon. I felt it earlier but, well, we were kind of in the middle of talking to Vision. I gotta talk to Moon about it.”
“Giant moon?” Starflight raised a brow. “They’re always giant.”
“Yeah, but this one is like, twice the size and four times as bright. I cannot make any sense of it.” Fatespeaker shuddered. “All I know is that if it hit me with that intensity, Moon was probably smacked right in the face.”
“Oookay, well, we can use the Dreamvisitor.” Starflight placed a claw over hers and smiled. “Whatever that means, we’ll figure it out.”
***
“I’m sorry, what ?” Glory stared incredulously at the dreamvisitor before her.
“Yep. That’s what’s happening .” Tsunami’s voice answered in her mind. “I don’t think they hit that far south, but keep an eye out for them.”
“Great, just what I need after my kingdom nearly burned down.” Glory grumbled hotly, tail lashing on the floor of the estate. “Alright, well, I’ll make accommodations for Hope and Arctic.”
“Oh, by the way, don’t be surprised if she’s very irritable for a while. Took a lot of convincing to have her not break down Queen Luna’s door after Anemone warped herself and a few others to Pantala. Including Peacemaker.”
Glory nearly reached for another frog juice at that statement. “Are you telling me that Peacemaker is alone in an environment that is so chaotic that someone may just snatch him?”
“Mhm. I’m going to kill Anemone when she gets back. Orca gave her back the powers. For once, I’m not strictly angry with Orca about this because she had no idea that Anemone was… Anemone. She still refuses to bring them back because ‘its unexpected’ and did I tell you how much I hate being powerless against someone like her?”
“You’re not powerless if she’s answering to you.” Glory pointed out. “She could run off on her own far more than she is, but she still stands by you. You have a hold over her. Use it.”
“Suppose that’s true.” Tsunami mused. “Anyway, that’s what’s going on. How’re things down there?”
“Calm… for now. The problems that are going to hit me are going to be political I think.” Glory grimaced. “The RainWings are vulnerable now.”
“Wonderful. I think the Mud Kingdom is the only place that hasn’t been hit then.”
“Yes, I think so too.” Glory sighed wearily. “Have you told your subordinates about the symbol I mentioned?”
“Yes, I didn’t forget. Nothing on that front. You reach out to Ruby?”
“I did.”
“Then I expect we’ll run into something soon. I gotta go back to the Sea Kingdom. Let me know if there’s anything I can do.”
“Will do.”
Which meant that Glory would only reach out if absolutely necessary. She hated that part of herself that didn’t want to appear weak. She knew her siblings would do anything to help, but it was her stupid pride that prevented them. Well, at least she couldn’t say no to the ones here.
“You done with your call?” Deathbringer poked his head into the room. “Or whatever we’re calling it now?”
“Yes, I am.” Glory rested her head on her palm. “Please tell me you have good news.”
“Well… I have news, but it’s not necessarily good news.” Deathbringer stepped in with Starflight and Fatespeaker. “We may have a bigger situation on our claws.”
“What now ?”
Out of everything Glory expected, it was not hearing that Morrowseer had apprentices. The giant dragon looked like he would crush anyone and anything that remotely got in his way. She should have expected his legacy would come to bite her in the tail at some point, but everything just kept tumbling down at once.
More alarmingly, Greatness did not tell her about this. Well, that was going to be rectified!
It took a few moments for the NightWing princess to arrive. She was tired, but upon seeing Glory’s grumpy face, straightened up. Glory did not like being mad at her, especially since she had graciously allowed her to stay, but this wasn’t something she could take lightly.
“They’re alive?” Greatness asked blankly when she was filled in. “I thought I recognized Vision, but I was under the assumption Morrowseer had killed the program figuratively and literally.”
“It’s not like him to show mercy.” Deathbringer chimed in.
“It’s possible that they escaped the isle after learning about it.” Starflight suggested. “He mentioned not being on it when it exploded.”
“That would make sense and why they’re only coming back now. Provided Vision isn’t the only survivor.” Greatness tapped her tail on the floor with thought. “There were four in total, and each trained to carry out his will should he be unable to. Vision, Foresight, Silentwings, and Polaris.”
“Isn’t Polaris an IceWing name?” Glory raised a brow.
“It is, but it is also a guiding star we followed. The double meaning is that IceWings may suspect a traitor in their ranks if the name is mentioned.” Greatness nodded with affirmation. “This program was very hidden and the four’s real purpose was only known by the higher ups. I’m unsure why, but it was pulled, and I never saw any of them again. It’s why I never mentioned them; I assumed them dead.”
“Alright, I’ll forgive it.” Glory exhaled, feeling both relieved and highly frustrated. It felt like enemies were crawling out from every nook and cranny now. “Can we expect four Morrowseers now?”
“I cannot say,” Greatness said apologetically.
“What about physical features? So we can find the others.”
“Polaris had a star-like symbol on her head. Not hard to find if she’s still alive. Silentwings has large, bat-like wings. Foresight is scrawny and not much taller than Sunny. Vision, as you can tell, is very large.”
“Sooo, basically keep them far away from Mightyclaws.” Deathbringer stated. All eyes turned to him. “Um… he’s got an animus object. Did you all forget? He’s been mighty useful at threat keeping. Heck, Mastermind used him to help fortify things.”
Glory groaned as the realization came back. “Right. Okay. He’s been so quiet and elusive of late that I completely forgot about it during our crisis.”
“Yeah, I gotta check in on him myself. I’m sure he’s trying to draw everything back to normal. Poor dragon beats himself up if he doesn’t get details exact.”
“Find him.” Glory ordered. “We need something that can counterattack. Or, at the very least, find this group that Sora mentioned.”
“Aye aye, my queen.” Deathbringer bowed. She rolled her eyes.
“Not yet. I want to talk to you after,” Glory said. “Greatness, use what resources you have to find these dragons. I want to monitor them.” She turned to Starflight and Fatespeaker. “I’ll need you to keep Mastermind in line as well as your sister, Starflight. Fatespeaker, I want you to get a general feel of the Rain and NightWings. I need to know their morale.”
“I don’t think we have much to worry about from my father.” Starflight responded, nodding anyway.
“I’m not the best at sensing so many emotions, but I’ll report any strong ones. Besides, I'm an excellent therapist.” Fatespeaker boasted. “You heard about my promotion, right?”
“I did. That’s why I asked you.” Glory allowed a taut smile.
“I have a few dragons I can trust. I’ll put them to use.” Greatness bowed slightly.
“I trust you, Greatness,” Glory said truthfully. She seemed surprised by this. “You didn’t tell me because you assumed them dead. You’ve never hidden anything from me before this. So, I will give you the benefit of the doubt.”
With that, all except Deathbringer departed. He gave her a questioning look, and she gestured him to come closer. When he did, she spoke again:
“Keep Moon away.”
“Pardon?” Deathbringer raised a brow.
“We know she’s Morrowseer’s daughter.” Glory whispered. Deathbringer narrowed his gaze before it flew open. “Exactly.”
“Do you really think they’d try and lure her in?” Deathbringer questioned. “She’s hardly like him.”
“I’m very much aware. It’s why I didn’t blow down her door when I found out. She still doesn’t know I know and I’d like to keep it that way.”
“How’d you find out about that before me again?”
“Went to check on Peacemaker a month after we were told. Heard Moon talk about it with her mother.” Glory huffed out, wings ruffling. “Nearly broke my camouflage from surprise.”
“Right, right. Well, I’ll do my best, but unless we want to let her in on everything, that’ll be difficult.” Deathbringer pointed out. “Guarantee you that if Qibli finds out, she’ll know. Can’t exactly bar Queen Thorn’s son.”
“Do what you can. If we must reveal, we will do just that.”
“Alright.”
“And Deathbringer?” Glory called after him when he went to leave. Her stance shifted slightly. “… Come back safely, okay?”
He offered a wide, confident smile. “I’ve never failed you before. I shan’t this time.”
“See to that.”