OC: Indigo
Fandom: Wings of Fire
Species: RainWing

Collab with @LunyaVioletBlue, Nightleaf is her OC. She might be writing her pov of this soon (or in like eight years), unless she decides otherwise (btw go follow her she's a great writer and LUNYA YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO SAY OTHERWISE OR ELSE I WILL YEET YOU INTO THE VOID AND YOU CAN GO JOIN FORGOTTEN GRIAN CAUSE HES LONELY)

~~~

My claws gripped the tree branch and I trembled. My scales were green, but not out of fear, no, I had learned to control my scales for the most part. I was green to camoflauge with the leaves on the tree. I didn't want anyone to see me like this.

But that was why I had run, hadn't I? So that no one would see me scared and conflicted. So why was I camouflaging?

I rested my head on my talons and took deep, calming breaths. As much as I hated the NightWings, I couldn't stop Glory from taking them in. But she hadn't gone through it like I did. Neither had the other Dragonets of Destiny. They hadn't felt the burn of lava, the fear and dread as the magic was pulled right out of me and reused for purposes that I didn't want. Not even Mango understood. Mango, bless her heart, was still as innocent as a dragon could be, despite being older than I was.

Maybe I could run. Leave the rainforest. Escape the dragons who had warped the scales on my shoulder to be permanently green.

But it was all I had known.

Below me, on the forest floor, a twig snapped.

It was almost barely audible over both the distance and the sounds of jungle animals, but I heard it. My spines bristled, and I curled my tail tighter around the branch. I scanned the undergrowth, trying to pick out any sign of scales.

I readied my blowgun just in case. I never went anywhere without it anymore. Is it a NightWing? I thought, and suppressed the bright, un-camouflagey green that threatened to bubble up under my scales. Are they still trying, even with Mastermind... wherever Glory put him? I wouldn't put it past them.

I listened for the smallest sounds. I was out of practice -it had been a while since I had been on sentry duty - but I still knew how to tell the difference between dragon steps and animal steps.

There it was - the slightest rustle, like a tail brushing against a bush. It was further off than the twig snap had been. I couldn't hold back curiosity, and I leapt silently from one branch to another, following the sound.

I could tell it was trying to be stealthy. I smiled at the attempts.

My smirk faded, however, when we reached a clearing in the lower canopy and I finally got a better look.

Her scales were deep green, so dark that they could be mistaken for black. She had silver scales at the corners of her purple eyes, and a sprinkle of gold scales along her spine. Her wings were folded, but even so, I could tell they were a different shape than most. But for the most part, she looked like...

A NightWing. It IS a NightWing.

But she's weird... maybe a hybrid? Like me, possibly. Mango said we probably had distant IceWing ancestry, because we have purple blood. But she doesn't look like an IceWing. She's not spiky enough.

But either way, she was still a NightWing, and so I pulled out my blowgun and loaded it with a dart that would knock her out cold for probably about five minutes, with a ten-minute paralysis after she woke up.

After a brief hesitation, I shot it.

The dragon flinched as it hit her shoulder, and within seconds, collapsed onto the ground.

I cautiously jumped down from the tree and approached her. The village was too far to bring her back to the other NightWings. What was she doing out here?

I snapped myself out of my thoughts. I needed to work quickly. Maybe something to tie her with... vines? There were plenty of those. But I didn't want her to feel like I meant her harm. And I didn't have much time. I pinned her down and hoped I had regained the strength I had lost during my time on the NightWing island.

Two minutes in, I got bored.

I poked the side of her face. She didn't move.

Grumbling, I plucked a leaf from a nearby plant and examined it.

Finally, the dragon stirred and blinked. "...Hi."

"Hello," I said, keeping a polite tone but not necessarily friendly. I put down the leaf. "You'll be paralyzed for the next ten minutes, by the way."

I had decided I'd get that out of the way before she tried to move and got suspicious and tried to throw lava at me.

"Yeah, I figured," the dragon said sarcastically. "Who are you, though? Was that you following me?"

Despite my attempts to keep emotions inside, there was probably surprise all over my face. "How did you know? I was completely silent."

How did she know? Was she one of the mind reading ones, like Mastermind had said there were? I had thought they didn't exist. That was what the blind NightWing, Starflight, had said.

Panic rose to her features. "You wouldn't know," she said. "I, uh... heard you."

I narrowed my eyes. Last I had checked, NightWings didn't have super hearing, and I hadn't been audible even to myself.

So I said the first thing that came to mind, and unfortunately, it was rather threatening. "You are completely at my mercy right now so I suggest you tell the truth, NightWing."

"Geez," she said. "Someone's being grumpy. Or is it grouchy?"

"Both," I growled.

"Well, one, I'm not a NightWing."

"You look awfully similar to one," I said, hiding the fact that I had been taken off guard by that fact.

"Two," the Not-NightWing continued, "You can threaten me all you want and I technically don't have to tell you the truth. Technically."

"Technically," I admitted. But it would be a lot more comforting for me and comfortable for you if you did.

"Three-"

Oh COME ON, there's more?

"Yes, I am HALF NightWing, I guess."

HA.

"Four. Uh. I diiiiid heard you?" besides the grammatical error, she sounded like she was trying to assure herself. "Who knows? I mean- I do, 'cause I heard you. Totally. Mhm!"

If my eyes could get narrower, they did. "Uh huh, convincing. Look, I just escaped your tribe - I guess your half-tribe's island, where they tortured me for venom and magic. I'm not the most trusting dragon at the moment."

I moved one of my talons and clenched it around a rock to keep myself from trembling. It had been a week at most since the rescue. I wasn't sure I would ever get the horribly cheerfully calm voice of Mastermind out of my head, the burn of lava off my scales. And the guilt. My only friend on that island had been left to die. By the NightWings... by Glory... by me.

I was snapped out of my thoughts by the dragon saying, "oh, you too?"

I scrambled off of her. "Me TOO? WHAT THE HECK DO YOU MEAN BY THAT?!"

She couldn't have gone through the same thing I did. She wasn't magic, at least, not like I was. She was a NightWing, and I had never seen NightWings hurt each other as much as I knew they wanted to. Besides, they had captured RainWings to study their venom. NightWings did not have venom, and she did not look half RainWing.

"Nothing!" the dragon yelped.

I huffed. "Well, you're probably not supportive of Mastermind if you haven't tried to torture me or exploit the gifts nature gave me yet, so I suppose I'll let you live."

"Yay!" the dragon cheered.

I snorted and walked away, forgetting she was still paralyzed. Mango was probably worried sick, thinking I had gone and died...

"Who's Mango? Wai- HEY, YOU CAN'T JUST LEAVE ME HERE"

I jumped. Had I said that out loud? Apparently I had, because the NightWing powers had been proven fake.

I forced out a fake laugh. "Forgot you were still paralyzed," I said. "Mango is my sister."

"Oh," the dragon said. "I thought RainWings don't do family."

I smiled to myself. "A lot of us don't, but she was showing me how to use my venom and we found out."

I felt the smile fade just as quickly as it had come. I pushed the thoughts of chains and lava out of my head.

"I'm confused," the dragon declared. "I don't know much about RainWings." She shifted a wing. The effects of the dart were wearing off.

"Well... basically, if one RainWing's venom stops another RainWing's venom, then they're related. The faster it stops, the closer it is," I said.

"Oh, cool! I wish I could do that."

"We don't use it for anything," I admitted. "At least, we didn't before Queen Glory threw the old queen system out the window. But now she's let the NightWings stay and she's just expecting us to forgive and forget-"

She made an ohh sound and tried to stand up straight. "HEY, LOOK AT THAT! I'm MOVING! I CAN MOVE!"

I stopped myself from rambling any more about the NightWings. One, she could move. Two, I wasn't quite ready yet to talk about it without bursting into tears, and I did not want to do that in front of a dragon I had been keeping hostage a few minutes ago. "Hey, cool," I managed instead, wincing at how half-hearted it sounded.

"Oh," the dragon said, and I winced again. My rant had not gone unnoticed. But unlike anger or judgement like I expected, it was recognition. "Wait then, do you know my brother? Half-brother, technically."

I stiffened. A half-brother of hers would be a NightWing. "Possibly. I don't know many of them."

"Well, his name is Deathbringer," she explained. "A rather dramatic name for him, if you ask me."

"Oh yeah. Him." I sighed.

Honestly, I wasn't even surprised that Deathbringer had a long-lost sister. He usually kept to himself about his life before the rainforest, but he never failed to talk about his experiences since the Mission When His Career Ended. Especially Glory. He didn't shut up about Glory.

The dragon started jumping, probably trying to wear the tranquilizer off. I didn't bother telling her that moving around wouldn't make the paralysis go away faster. "I know! He's got a huge ego, a huge head, the annoying sarcastic remarks, and a lot more. Annoying-est brother in the universe!"

"We've never officially met, but I've seen him around. He's in love with the queen."

I could hear the irritation in my own voice. Rumor had it that Deathbringer was supposed to assassinate Glory before he fell in love with her instead. For one, what kind of assassin fell in love with their target, and even worse, she trusted him in return. The whole thing was a mess.

The dragon - Deathbringer's half-sister, according to her - gasped and made some odd noises. "HE HAS A CRUSH ON THE QUEEN OF THE NIGHTWINGS AND RAINWINGS?"

I hummed in confirmation. NightWings and Rainwings. Another reminder.

"CAN YOU TAKE ME TO HIM?"

This dragon seemed to enjoy yelling.

"I... I can, but you seem awfully nervous around other dragons."

I was suspicious. Can you blame me?

"Oh, now I have something to annoy him BACK!"

I could respect being annoying to siblings. I was a professional. But it was strange how the first time she had an excuse to go to the village, she took it. "You sure you'd be okay just walking straight into the RainWing village?"

The dragon who may or may not have been able to read minds nodded. "Uh, yeah. Totally. Perhaps."

I narrowed my eyes at the unconvincing reply. "I missed your name."

"Nightleaf!" the dragon answered enthusiastically.

"Also, if you're a hybrid," I continued, taking note of her name. "What's your other tribe?"

All eagerness was quickly gone. "Um... I don't think I'm allowed to tell you that..." Nightleaf quickly changed the subject. "What's your name?"

"I don't think I can take you to the village, then," I said stiffly. This dragon was too secretive. I wasn't much better, but at least I lived here. I wasn't an intruder who was half kidnapper. I didn't want to tell her my name, but she'd probably figure it out somehow anyway. "I'm Indigo."

"What? Aww, dang it!" Nightleaf complained, but it seemed half-hearted. "Well, nice meeting you, Indigo!"

I turned to leave for the second time, because Mango was definitely getting worried, and Nightleaf could move now. "Mhm. See you around, Nightleaf. Maybe."

I walked away.

~~~

Again, go follow LunyaVioletBlue, ok byeeee!

-Indigo