What if Kelp died, causing Joy to snap and become a feared serial killer?

What if Kelp actually died when he got cut?

A/N: Not sure if this counts as serial killer so to speak, but it's what I came up with and I like it.

Dragons that were feared had a strange way of finding each other. It was something all criminals did. Outlaws, outcasts, dragons on the run, dragons that did horrible things, all the them frequented the same taverns, so to speak. For Joy they met around bonfires, small flames lit by a Skywing in the middle of the mountains, dragons warming their scales and telling stories about what they'd done to end up there; no one trusting anyone, not for a second. Joy was used to listening to other's stories. She found them interesting, and if she paid enough attention then usually the dragon would be kind enough to answer questions she had about what was going on in the Rainforest.

The Rainforest. She hadn't been there in years.

"What about you, Rainwing?" One of the older dragons asked. "How'd someone from a tribe like that end up here?" Joy smirked. Dragons never stopped underestimating Rainwings. It had been an advantage to her more times than she could count.

"I was normal once," She said. "Well, normalish. Had a family, had friends, went to school at JMA. That's where I met-" She stopped, her throat tightening. Dragons knew who she was. They knew about Kelp. Everybody did. But revealing who she was was never the thing that stopped her from saying his name out loud. "I met someone very special to me, and he was..." She shook her head. "He was perfect."

"Perfect never lasts," The Skywing remarked.

"I messed up one night," Joy went on. "He and I were on a hunting trip with some friends. The school ran it but we had gotten stuck outside when a storm hit, and someone I didn't think I'd see again found us. And I tried- I tried so hard to defend him, but it only singled him out, and I was young and stupid and he didn't know how to fight and she....She killed him."

"And I know," Her voice wavered and she slammed down on the emotion. She wouldn't cry in front of these dragons. She couldn't. "I know I should have let it go and moved on, but I couldn't, because the only reason he died was because she was after me. She wanted to hurt me and she knew exactly how to do it. I couldn't let it go, so while my friends mourned, I just filled with this rage. I've never known anything like it. It was like my blood turned to fire and I just wanted to murder everything and everyone I saw until I killed the dragon that made things better."

"I know what that's like," An Icewing piped up. He flexed his claws. "Revenge like that... It doesn't die down until you do something about it."

"And that's not exactly the best mentality to have while living in the rainforest," Joy said. "So I left. I went looking for her, but a dragon who has years of experience hiding can be hard to track down, and my anger just kept getting worse, so I started taking jobs to take the edge off, I guess. I just felt so much pain, and I wanted others to feel it too. My father was an assassin, so I already knew the tricks. I guess I just took a liking to the killing. It quiets the rage, sometimes, but nothing stops the fire. Only killing that bitch will do that."

"What about your family?" The Skywing asked. "Don't they wonder where you are?" Joy turned her head up to the sky, watching the embers from the fire burn into the sky.

"Leaving them was just as hard as watching him die. But I couldn't stay. I wasn't in a place to be who they needed me to be. I left everything, everyone I knew for this life. There's no going back now. It's better for them to just move on."

"Family doesn't move on. Not the kind that counts." 

"I don't like thinking about that."

*******

She found her easiest jobs in places where tribes overlapped. Dragons with enemies were easier to hide there, and shady jobs were easier to manage when there were a lot of dragons to hide amongst. A small city on the Skywing-Mudwing border was her usual spot to find work. Her reputation was growing there, and for good reason. There was no one better to hire for murder than a dragon that could turn invisible. Rainwing assassins were rare and valuable for a reason.

But maybe it was the growing reputation, or maybe it was just that Joy had gotten too comfortable over the years. Either way, she knew it should have been only a matter of time before somebody from the past tracked her down.

"Joy?" Air's voice was soft, like she was afraid she'd scare her off by speaking. Joy turned, and it was like they were right back at JMA all over again. Air had always been one of those dragons that never really changed.

"What are you doing here?" Joy asked, but the question went unanswered as Air practically tackled her with a hug. Joy winced at it. She couldn't remember the last time she'd been hugged.

"Me? What about YOU!" Air exclaimed. "Where have you been? So much has happened- there've been so many rumors saying you died or worse- we didn't believe them, of course, but it's not fun not knowing for sure-" She paused and then punched Joy.

"What was that for?!" 

"FOR LEAVING AND NEVER WRITING, YOU JERK! WE WERE WORRIED ABOUT YOU!" Air's face fell. "We still are." Joy shook her head.

"Don't be. I'm not worth it."

"Joy-"

"Shouldn't you be at JMA right now?" She hadn't kept the best track of time since she'd left, but she was pretty sure it was the time of year for school. "Are you on a break or something?" Air made a face.

"You haven't kept up on the news much since you've been gone, have you?" She asked.

"Not as much as I'd like to." Sure, she tried. But only so many dragons knew information about what went on within the Rainforest royal family, or what was happening with a bunch of random dragons she used to know.

"....Let's take a walk. I'll catch you up." Somehow the words didn't sound as nice as Air wanted them to.

They walked around the outskirts of town, where it wasn't crowded, and Air fiddled with her necklace as she spoke.

"JMA closed," She said, and Joy stopped walking.

"What do you mean it closed?" JMA was one of the best things that had ever happened to her, to anyone that went- the DOD had strong visions and hopes for that place, it was genius, how could they- Air shook her head.

"After Kelp....They decided to keep it open the next year, although a lot of dragons protested, and I mean you can't really blame them. Not many dragons want to send their kids to a school where multiple students died. But they tried anyway. We all came back, but things were just...different. Seashell stayed a week before she left. She couldn't take it, not with all the memories there. Rainkeeper never showed up in the first place- he said he was too worried about you to focus on school. Even Nightflyer wasn't quite the same. Snowfall pulled all the Icewing students, and at some point Tsunami just...broke. She couldn't take it anymore, she couldn't keep acting like she was fine in that place when she wasn't. She had a breakdown one day, and after that Clay and Sunny sent everyone home. What's the point of keeping a school open when the teachers can't even teach or protect you? Sunny tried so hard to make it work again, but Glory and Tsunami had already left, Fatespeaker and Starflight were fighting too much to help anybody...Clay eventually just convinced her that maybe Pyrrhia just wasn't ready for the school yet," She scoffed. "And considering the way things are going, maybe it never will be."

Joy hung her head. It wasn't fair. JMA had been good to her, good to Kelp, and to see it crash like that... 

"What about you?" She asked. "And the others, how is everyone? Are you still with Nightflyer?" Air smiled sadly.

"Of course I am, I love Nightflyer," She insisted. "It's just... it's not easy, you know? I still get yelled at sometimes for being a hybrid, dragons get pissed anytime they see me and Nightflyer together. They say we're ruining the purity of tribe bloodlines or something, I don't know."

"That's not right," Joy whispered. Air and Nightflyer were made for each other. They didn't deserve to be called out just because their tribes were different. 

"Of course it's not, but what are you gonna do? We're living in the rainforest now. We used to have a place closer to the Skywing kingdom, but Skywings have never been the most accepting tribe. At least in the rainforest the protesters aren't violent."

"Violent?" Joy echoed. The fire in her veins ignited. Who were these fucking Skywings? What right did they have? And more importantly, where did they live and how soon could she make them suffer?

"It's fine," Air insisted. "Things are better now, and it's kinda nice being in the rainforest. I like being closer to friends." 

"How are the others? I haven't heard much."

"Rainkeeper's doing okay. He still misses you like crazy, and I'm positive that if it weren't for Pear he would be literally tearing the continent apart looking for you, so maybe you should write him a letter to to let him know you're alive." Joy shook her head.

"I can't do that. No contact, that's what I promised. It's just...it's easier to let them forget me than to stay in touch." Air made a face.

"You really don't know your family if you think they're ever going to forget you. Glory's only recently started accepting that you're not coming back, and that's only cause there's been so much pressure on her to make other arrangements."

"Arrangements for what?"

"For who gets the throne after her. It can't be Pineapple, and you're gone, so..." 

"So what is she going to do?" Air shrugged.

"Nobody's sure yet. I've heard rumors that she might name Kinkajou her heir or somebody else. Rainkeeper said she and Deathbringer were thinking of having another dragonet, but neither of them really want that cause they don't want to feel like they're replacing you."

"They wouldn't be." Joy said. "I get it. I left Mother in a horrible situation when I left. If having another daughter is the easiest way for her to solve that problem, then she should do it. I'd love to hear gossip about a little sister, and I'm sure it would give Rainkeeper something to occupy his time." Air grinned.

"Oh, Pear's been doing a pretty good job of occupying his time, so I don't think you have to worry about anything there." 

"Well if I can't worry about Rainkeeper, then who am I supposed to worry about?" The grin faded.

"Seashell."

"Why? What happened?" 

"I don't know. Nobody does. She hasn't said or written a word to any of us since Kelp, and it's not like we haven't tried. Everybody wrote her. Nightflyer and I even went to see her one time to find out why she never answered our letters. She didn't even look at us, just sat and stared out at the ocean like we weren't even there. Last I heard Tsunami was thinking about sending her to some sort of counselor in the Sandwing Kingdom. Maybe she'll get some help there."

"It can't be easy, losing your twin like that."

"I bet it's about as easy as losing the love of your life." Joy stared at the ground. That had been an unnecessary jab. "Have you seen anyone to talk about it?"

"No."

"Maybe you-"

"I don't want to talk about it." She took a deep breath, but it did nothing. "I'm just fine the way I am."

"Something tells me that running away from your friends and family isn't 'just fine'."

"Well it's good enough for me."

"You don't have to settle for good enough, Joy. If you'd just come back to the rainforest, we'd all be willing to help you move on, maybe you could-"

"Move on?" Joy nearly laughed. "I'm not going to move on, Air, I can't. What do you expect me to do? Move back to the rainforest, act all happy, take over as queen and find somebody new to carry on the line of succession with?"

"Sounds like a better life than roaming around killing dragons for scraps."

"If I go back, I have to take the throne, and if I take the throne, it's implied that I'll have dragonets with someone. And I can't. I can't do that. Never. I can't act like it's fine. How can I be trusted to run a kingdom, to protect two tribes worth of dragons, when I couldn't even protect the one I cared about most?"

"Joy-"

"I'm fine with killing for scraps, Air. It's all I deserve." Air fell silent, and Joy let her scales run in a cold color. "Now if you could tell me the names of the Skywings that were violent to you and Nightflyer, I'll be on my way."

"I'm not giving you a job, Joy."

"If it was a job, you'd be paying me. Consider it a gift from a friend instead."

"I don't consider the deaths of others to be a gift."

"Too bad, I'm gonna do it anyways." The rage was bubbling up again. Talking with Air had been wonderful, but it had brought up too much. She needed something to take the edge off, and killing a bunch of hybrid hating Skywings sounded pretty good right now.

Air gave her the names, and they said goodbye. Air said it wouldn't be the last time they saw each other, but Joy quietly disagreed. 

She couldn't go back to the life she had before. The fact was only reaffirmed a week later as she sliced the throats of the Skywings who had hurt her friends, stabbing to the tune of the mantra in her head.

Never again. Never again.