Scorpion's eyes pinched as the cool night air stung her eyes, the chill seeping into her scales with a shudder. The sky was a tapestry of stars that danced across the sky with joyful twinkles and shimmers, the shrinking moons casting the sands in a sea of silver moonlight. Restlessness and frustration pooled in her stomach for days, twisting itself into knots and slithering underneath her scales where she couldn't scratch it away. The sensation made her skin crawl, and with the days slowly ticking down, it only grew worse and before she knew it, the eleven days were up. Cactus was set to leave tonight.

She felt hollow, her heart beating painfully in an echo that fell on deaf ears. Scorpion wanted to scream, to shout, but she couldn't. Tears of frustration would swell in the corners of her eyes, and just as quickly as they came, she would brush them away with a sharp blink or a harsh rub from her talons that left her face sore. Her throat would tighten as if she swallowed something too large, now lodged in the back of her throat and pressing uncomfortably against her collar, begging for release yet holding onto her breath with an iron grip. The making her chest burn.

I could still say something, I can still stop this before we leave, but she knew Camel wouldn't believe her and it made her feel hopeless. Pearl will believe me, she had to.

A coyote called off into the night, its howls piercing the air as a jackal met its cry with a cackle of its own. A cactus owl hooted, the ruffle of feathers in flight making her ears twitch. The deserts haunting and vast expanse was open, able to see far off into the horizon that seemed to be an ocean of endless sand that stretched on for miles. The early hunting patrol had left hours ago, flying off into the night to gather as many foxes, hares, lizards, and camels as they could to restock the kitchens. Some of the SandWings that tagged along were small and still in their dragonet years, but old enough to be out of the wingery.

The wingery was open to anyone who lived and worked within the palace, providing a safe place for the dragonets of servants, cooks, guards, nobles, and even royals. All growing up with the same climbing structures to leap from, the same sunken pool to cool off in the midday heat, and kept under the watchful eyes of ancient SandWings who taught Lioness fly, Beetle to be watchful of her tail, reminded Camel to cool off in the midday heat, and Scorpion and her brothers to be careful when they chased each other across the soft piles of sand surrounding the perches and ledges for dragonets to leap off of, with the promise of a soft place to fall into.

Scorpion ruffled her wings, stretching them out before tucking them back in with a roll of her shoulders. The sharp chill continued to nip at her scales, even as she tucked her tail in close, laying it over her talons as she watched the dunes illuminated by the sharp glow of the two moons that peered down like a pair of eyes, the third having completed its first of many full cycles for the year.

"Scorpion?"

A sense of deja vu rolled over her as she turned her head.

Cactus stood a few wing-lengths away, wings pulled in close against the leather armour and pouches that adorned his frame, making him look more like a soldier than a prince. His sharp green eyes pierced through the dark, reflecting the moonlight as he stepped towards her.

"What are you doing out there?" He asked. "You should be inside, as-....inside, you shouldn't be out here," asleep, Scorpion snorted. He was right, she should be, but no one was getting any sleep tonight with Cactus leaving on his own.

"I could be asking you the same thing."

He frowned, sighing in frustration. "Scorpion-"

"I was waiting for you," she turned back towards the horizon.

Cactus was silent for a moment, before walking up and sitting down beside her, saying nothing.

"The palace feels both empty and full at the same time," smiled Cactus.

Scorpion snorted, shoving him with her shoulder with a teasing grin. "That's because you're all buddy buddy with the other guards."

"Hey!" He shoved her back, "they're quite lovely once you get to know them, and I'll need their support on the battlefield when I become General someday. Besides," Cactus nudged her with his wing, "you could be my right arm, a second in command."

"In your dreams. If you want me in the army so bad, I might just pass you and you'll be my second in command."

He scoffed. "As if!" Cactus looped an arm over her shoulders, pulling her head down and ruffling her frill with his talons, ignoring her shouts of protest and flapping wings.

Scorpion blinked away the memory, the sound of her and her brother's laughter fading into nothing as she grimly looked back to the horizon, the expanse of stars shifting like a swirling pool of melted silver, shimmering with every wave.

"You know I don't want to leave, right?" Cactus' voice was quiet, carried off by the gentle breeze.

Her ears pinned back, "I know."

"It's okay to feel...upset, about everything. No one expects you to act like nothing's happened." He continued, "you're allowed to grieve, be angry, shout. You're allowed to express yourself, Scorpion."

She frowned, throat tightening. "I know," was all she could manage to say.

There was a stretch of silence, neither sibling knowing what to say as they watched the stars, listening to the sounds of the desert around them as it came to life in the night. Normally where dragons would be quietly prowling the streets or flying in the air, were animals confused on the sudden emptiness of the city around them, even out in the open sands. No one really wanted to leave their abodes, leaving the only sign of dragon activity to the guards who prowled the streets with torches, or remained shrouded in shadows for the element of surprise on their patrol. For those that Scorpion could see, they were like small golden fireflies slithering down the alleyways and roads.

"Watch them for me."

Scorpion blinked, "what?" She looked back at Cactus, who gave her a small, reassuring smile.

"Watch them for me," he nodded down to the palace. "Keep an eye on Ray and Thorn for me, make sure they don't get up to anything before they're given the all clear."

"You're asking the wrong dragon," she scoffed. "Thorn's better at keeping us out of trouble, me and Ray get into trouble."

Cactus shook his head, unable to hide the smile that pushed under his eyes. "You know what I mean."

"Not sure I do, oh wise one."

"Why you little-" He snagged one of her horns, pulling her head down and cuffing her frill. Scorpion barked out a laugh, trying to tug her head free as he gave her one last ruffle before pushing her head away, laughing as she pulled herself upright, running her talons through her sail. "Okay, cleverclaws."

Scorpion smiled in amusement, giving him a light shove and earning a soft elbow in turn.

"But seriously," Cactus' smile turned bittersweet. "Watch over them for me, all of them, until it's your turn to leave, okay? Don't hole yourself up, and don't let them either."

She stared at him for a moment, a pang in her chest as she took in her older brother's face. "Yeah," Scorpion smiled sadly, gently pressing her side against his, Cactus shifting to wrap his wing over her shoulder. "I will."

Cactus held her tightly, only holding her closer as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders, head resting in the crook of his neck, wings holding each other close. Scorpion's talons gripped the thick leather and strips of bone plating of his armour, split along his spine to let his sail through, holding him tightly, afraid to let him go. With a final squeeze, Cactus pulled away and gave the horizon a grim frown.

"It'll only be for a little while," he tried to reassure, looking back. "We'll be back before you know it, and...and everything will be alright."

Scorpion's throat tightened. Cactus wasn't leaving forever, but it felt like he was, like this was goodbye. The thought hurt, making her heart pinch as a wave of guilt slammed into her like a wall of sand.

"If the coast is clear, I'll send a letter with a SeaWing from the escort, don't let Thorn leave until they get here."

"I know," nodding her head.

"Good." He gave her a final look, just staring with his lips pressed in a thin line. Sucking in a deep breath, he stretched his wings. "Keep an eye on Camel for me too, would ya? Just until you leave."

"I will."

Scorpion watched as the older prince shook out his wings, leaning back on his haunches before sprinting off towards the edge of the palace rooftop. Launching off into the air with a heavy flap of his wings, the cold air swept him up in a wave that carried him off from the stronghold, silhouette darkening until he was nothing more than a black splotch against the night sky. She sat there watching the dark horizon long after Cactus had disappeared from her sights entirely. Scorpion only looked on, tail twitching with a low rattle.

Everything will be okay.

-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

"Stretch it out again. Good."

Scorpion held her arm steady as Tamba gently twisted it from side to side, twisting her wrist slowly and watching her face for any indication that it hurt. "Close," he ordered, and Scorpion closed her talons into a tight fist. "Now open again." Claws slowly unfurled, stretching out until she felt her skin prickle from the stretch between her digits.

"How's she looking doc?" her ears flicked as Ray lounged across one of the cots nearby, tail flicking lazily before being pushed away by Thorn's foot. "Is there hope for her survival- HEY!"

Her wing shot out, smacking the side of his cot and making it rattle, her triplet half jumping to his feet in surprise.

"Thank you," Tamba hummed, looking down at her claws as he motioned for her other palm. "Close."

Ray groaned, Thorn shushing him as Imabli gave the pair an amused roll of her eyes from across the room, putting away small jars of mixed pulp and remedies. It had been two days since Cactus left the palace, and there was yet to be any word of his safe arrival by the escort. Scorpion could see Thorn's wings twitching with unease, ears swelling as if a SeaWing bearing their brother's message would come barging in at any moment to drag him off to the oasis next, but it never came.

He probably doesn't know what's worse, she hummed, focusing back on her talons as she opened them for Tamba again, the healer carefully prodding her healing skin and comparing each of her movements to her uninjured side.

"Moons, be quiet." The prince hushed Ray, looking half tempted to whack him himself or cuff him over the ears.

"Hey, I have an idea," piped Ray. "Let's go to the wingery."

"Your mother doesn't want any of you near the outer sectors of the palace." Tamba reminded.

"Just to pay Roadrunner a visit. We won't be there long, plus I bet the dragonets would love to see us!"

"We'll just make Roadrunner's job harder," said Thorn. "You especially."

"Me? I'm not difficult to work around."

"You are."

Ray groaned. "Do neither of you even want to socialize?"

"You socialize enough for the three of us."

Scorpion tuned the rest of her brothers bickering out, watching her talons open and close, stretch out and twist, pivoting at odd angles until they naturally resisted. Tamba never pushed her movements too hard, just small stretches to track her wrists mobility. There were still marks dotted around her wrist like a trail, small freshly healed scars looping like bracelets, two rows in varying sizes. Though they were a lot smaller than before, they still felt like a burning reminder forever marked into her scales. She didn't know if the scars would ever fade away, either naturally or because of Rattlesnake's magic, but Scorpion still felt her sister's teeth digging into her skin and down to her bone, phantom flashes making it ache at night.

"Any other pain I should be worried about?" Tamba pulled her from her trance, moving her wrist with his own talons now, dark eyes trailing the healed marks notched into her scales like tiny slopes. "Aches, itching, pin pricks?"

"Nothing aside from what I told you already."

He hummed quietly, turning her wrist over one more time before letting it go. "The phantom pain should hopefully go away within a few days."

Hopefully? She raised a brow.

"They don't always go away," he continued, getting up and moving to her side as she lifted her wing. "Sometimes they're permanent, a constant reminder. You just have to remind your body that it's not in pain anymore. Almost like waking a dragonet from a nightmare: even if they are awake, they can sometimes still think they're dreaming. You just have to help them realize they're awake."

Scorpion nodded quietly, watching as the older SandWing unwrapped her bandages and peered at her side, running his talons over the ragged and stretched tissue with a feather-like touch. The skin surrounding the healed over puncture, still stitched closed, was pale and web-like, tendrils stretching out like a branching succulent. The center was darker than the rest, reminding her of the ice-burn scars on Camel's shoulder and Vulture's tattered ear. She kept her wing up as Tamba began to poke along her side, tracing each shoot of healing tissue and watching her body for any signs of discomfort or pain.

"We could probably remove your stitches today."

"Does that mean she'll be done with her checkups soon?" Asked Thorn. The prince leaned closer to watch the healer work, keeping back far enough as not to get in the older SandWings way.

"She'll still be coming back for a few more yet," Imabli said from across the room. "But she's on the right track, just the last mile to go."

Scorpion perked up. Almost as good as new.

Tamba set one talon against her side, lining a claw by her stitches and pulling them taut. "You're going to feel a bit of tugging," he warned. "It's not going to be comfortable."

-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

"So, how's the side?"

"Sore."

Ray chuckled. "At least Tamba was honest about it hurting," He ducked under a flick from her wing, narrowly avoiding a swift slap to the side of his head. "Watch the horns! You're gonna kill me with that aim."

"Twenty scales if you do it," Thorn smirked.

"DUDE!"

Scorpion looked back. "Thirty."

"You guys CAN NOT be betting on my life right now!"

"Deal."

"NO!" Ray shouted as Scorpion whirled back around in his direction, the prince sprinting a few paces ahead, nearly stumbling into the patrol of guards surrounding them.

The stronghold almost felt busier than usual, like every day life and duties were trying to pick back up again under the watchful gazes of the patrolling soldiers who prowled the corridors and guards who kept watch, lining the walls like statues in shimmering armour of gold, silver, and bone, marking their status as royal guards in the palace. Servants were escorted around in groups, accompanied by a lone guard who either looked bored or watched them like a starving vulture waiting for a lizard to stray too far from its hiding spot in a cactus patch.

Ray glared at the two of them from over his shoulder, sticking his tongue out childishly.

"How is your side feeling?"

She looked at Thorn, "It's alright," Scorpion shrugged. "Sore."

It still felt like the stitches were being tugged from her side, threads slipping through her healed skin, pulling on her tender side like snared hooked, but slipping through and out onto the floor easily enough. It still made her scales shudder at the memory, her rewrapped side itching. Scorpion pressed her wing firmly against her side, trying to rub the feeling away with a shake of her head.

Thorn hummed, "how does the rest of you feel?"

Scorpion quirked a brow.

"Inside." Thorn specified, "How does the inside of you feel?"

"Like I got stabbed."

He shook his head, looking ahead of them. Scorpion followed his gaze to watch Ray trying to start a conversation with two of the guards in their escort as they made their way to the wingery. It was reliving to see Ray finally starting to go back to his normal, annoying self. Almost like the world was starting to heal, but dread still hung heavily in the air like the stench of death. Ray might be one of the first few in their family to try bouncing back, but it still felt like a mask, like he was trying to hide that anything was wrong, trying hard to be that perfect shoulder for somebody to lean on.

"I'm fine, Thorn." She sighed and looked back at her brother, only to find him already staring at her with a sharp frown. "Really, everythings fine."

"Nothing's fine," he challenged. "And you saying things are fine just prove to me they're really not."

"How so?"

"You always say you're fine. It's your go-to."

Scorpion went quiet.

Thorn looked away, glancing back at the rest of the group ahead of them before lowering his voice. "Ray's not alright either."

No one is, guilt pushed against the back of her throat and Scorpion swallowed it down bitterly. The same sinking feeling tugged in her gut, shame prickling in the back of her mind that she had to push away. None of this was her fault, she didn't do this. But none of those thoughts stopped the overwhelming sensation that tried to cling to her mind.

"What about you?" She tried, trying to change the focus away from her, cutting through the thick fog that suffocated the conversation and made it go still. "How are you doing?"

Thorn sighed, forcefully. His shoulders tense and tail coiled, barb tucked in tightly with his stinger pressed in safely, but his whole stance was nervous, prickly and on edge. Ears pinned and trying to listen to something that wasn't there. "Nervous," he admitted quietly.

"About the letter?"

He nodded.

They had to keep everything vague about them slowly leaving, not even the guards knew. Only those involved in the move itself and the few SandWing soldiers tagging along knew the full extent of what was happening.

"We can talk about it more later," she promised, giving his sign a light nudge. "Once Ray is done gawking over Roadrunner for a bit, we can go to the library or the court yard for a little while."

"I heard that!" Ray shouted from ahead.

Thorn rolled his eyes and called after the other prince, Scorpion watching as her face dropped to a somber frown, watching her brothers as they chided at one another teasingly ahead of her. "Watch them for me." Cactus' voice echoed. Scorpion's ears pinned, frown deepening. Even with them here in front of her, Scorpion still felt alone. An invisible weight pressing down on her shoulders, cold talons sinking in through her scales and clinging onto her like a parasite that no one else could see.

She shook her head and sucked in a deep breath. Try to stay in the moment, I can deal with everything later. Fennec's face came to mind, and Scorpion shook it away with a glare. She turned her focus back onto her brothers, the corridor around them opening and becoming more airy, the guards holding their spears up tightly as some scanned the tall windows that stretched up nearly overhead, with the bend of the sandstone walls. Try...try not to think about everything, she didn't sound all that convincing, even to herself.

The squealing of dragonets split through the air, and Scorpion's ears perked up. Ray was all but bouncing on his heels as he raced ahead of them, startling the guards who split to speed after him. Thorn hung back until Scorpion caught up before he started to walk again. Passing under a towering archway decorated in carvings from the stronghold's construction, Scorpion eyes narrowed, blinded by the sharp sting of sunlight that rained down from the cloudless sky. Blinking, she waited as her eyes adjusted, ears now ringing from the squeals and laughter of dragonets.

Warm sand shifted beneath her feet, warming her talons. The wingery was a lot like the courtyard, just less natural and more dragon-made with walls and pillars of sandstone with small ledges and claw holds. Soft piles of sand surrounded the pillars like piles of pillows and cushions, ready to catch any dragonet if they were to fall or slip, or if they hadn't yet learned to fly. That's what they were there for after all if the Watchers weren't there to catch them. In the center of the wingery dipped a shallow pool that's surface reflected the sunlight and sent it scattering like a bunch of shimmering stars that waved and danced along the walls, gleaming like a sea of jewels.

Overlooking the wingery was a shaded pavilion draped in long white curtains that blew gently in the wind that circled around the open space that caught the cool draft. It soared through her sail and went down her spine, chasing away the heat that burned along her back scorchingly. It was past midday, and there were a talonful of young dragonets splashing about in the pool under the watchful gaze of an old SandWing who watched from a ledge atop the pavilion, the other two Watcherz most likely inside with the rest of the dragonets that weren't out in the sun.

In one corner of the open area, there was a first aid station with baskets jars with brightsting cacti and pulp, along with several bundles of soft bandages. Sitting behind the stand and sorting through baskets of fresh brightsting cacti sat Roadrunner, the dusty brown SandWing ruffling through the store and pushing older cacti and pulps to the front to be used up before the fresher supply. The young Watcher-in-training focused enough on her task that she didn't see nor hear the royal trio come into the wingery until a few dragonets splashing in the pool squealed and gasped.

Roadrunner's head snapped up as Ray smiled at the dragonets.

"There's my favourtie Watcher-to-be!" Ray called, quickening his pace to the first aid station.

"I didn't know I was getting a visit by royalty," Roadrunner mused with a smile, glancing at Thorn and Scorpion, "all three royal triplets too! Such an honour."

"We were dragged here, call it what you will." Thorn shrugged, ear flicking before he looked back at the dragonets in the pool who were watching with wide, shimmering black eyes. Grins and looks of awe pulling at their faces, their small wings ruffling in excitement. Thorn looked back at Roadrunner, "this love-struck beetle brain-" he shoved Ray with a wing- "wanted to pay you a visit."

"Hey! Who shoved a thorn bush up your snout?" Ray huffed, "honestly, no clue what's gotten into these two, but they're extra pushy."

"I can get puchy-er." Scorpion proposed.

"That's not even a real word."

"Yeah it is."

"It so is not! 'Pushy-er,' really? Come up with something better."

"I can get physically pushy-er."

Scorpion looked over in time to see Thorn give Roadrunner a 'see what I put up with?' look, the watcher-in-training smiled with an amused gleam in her black eyes. Scorpion and Ray's light bickering came to a halt as wingbeats filled the wingery, their escort splitting off into different parts of the room. Armed guards flew up onto larger perches, one sitting beside the old Watcher and speaking quietly, whispering with their heads down.

Roadrunner's grin slipped into a tight frown, warily watching the armed SandWings as they took posts around the wingery, a small wing poking around the open space. "Still under tight watch?"

Ray's lips pressed into a tight frown of his own, "yeah."

"Do they really have to search the wingery like this?"

"They have to," thorn shook his head. "Queen's orders."

Scorpion could only watch as the wing of guards poked along the walls and into the sand with the blunt end of their spears. At least they were cautious enough of the young dragonets around to not use their spearheads, but it still was an unnerving sight that had some of the older dragonets watching them wearily with mixed faces of confusion and worry. One of the safest places for a dragonet to grow up before being allowed to roam the rest of the palace, treated like a possible death trap for the three young royals standing by the first aid station. The guards perched along the higher ledges overlooking the wingery had their heads cocked upright, staring into the sky to watch for dragons flying overhead, heads snapping towards anything that so much as moved.

"I don't want the dragonets to see all this." Said Roadrunner quietly.

"They're just doing a quick sweep," Ray reassured. "They'll be done soon, and then they'll just sit off by the archway looking all intimidating and statue-like."

No dragon would hurt a dragonet, she paused, frowning. There was a dragon though who hurt a dragonet, and Scorpion couldn't stop from thinking about Rattlesnake and her missing arm. That was in the streets, she shook her head, not here. Here, they're safe. Scorpion turned back to watch them work, eyes trailing them as the wing picked their way along the edges. One of the Watchers slipped out from the pavilion, eyes narrowing at the armed SandWings with a sharp glare. His forked black tongue flicked over his teeth disapprovingly as more dragonets pooled around his feet, peering out curiously.

"Where's Hyrax?" She heard Ray ask quietly.

"He's somewhere off in the palace," Roadrunner huffed. "Sulcata has him off on some wild scavenger chase."

Hyrax was another watcher-in-training, a year older than Roadrunner and the triplets, but the two started their training at the same time from what Ray told her and Thorn. From what she heard, he was the type of dragon who preferred to do as others said rather than bossing dragons around, often letting Roadrunner take charge if things got out of hand. Sulacta was one of the three Watchers in the wingery, she was the oldest with a sharp bite to go along with her bark.

Being the head of the wingery watchers, she was the one who chose Roadrunner and Hyrax to be their successors once they passed, as it seemed like none of the old SandWings planned on retiring. Sulcata was the very watcher who taught Scorpion's great-grandmother to fly and the thousands of dragonets after her when she had been a watcher-in-training herself.

Nopal and Lappet were the other two watchers who kept an eye on the dragonets in the wingery, and the two who watched the guards with hawk-like stares. Lappet was perched upon a short balcony that overlooked the clearing across from the pavilion, her dark grey and brown scales sticking out sharply from the surrounding sandstone and the guard seated next to her. Her tattered dull and grey sail reminded Scorpion of Rattlesnake's. Nopal stood by the pavilion, using his wing to hold up one of the long white curtains for dragonets to peer out, some taking their chance to run away from their lessons and into the pool, splashing the young SandWings who huddles quietly to watch, earring an earful of squeals and chirps that got a few of the watching guards to crack a smile.

"Good thing she doesn't send you out on those." Ray said.

Roadrunner quirked a brow. "Why?"

"Then it'd be harder for me to find you and pay you visits throughout the day."

"Visits that'll get me in trouble with how often you do them. Sulcata will have my head sooner or later, you're just lucky she can't have yours or Dusk's."

Thorn snorted, "oh she'd find a way. Even Sulcata has her way with Camel and Ringtail, so I wouldn't put it past her."

"Yeesh, don't remind me." Ray shuttered.

The wingery didn't take long to go back to normal once the guards finished their sweep of the place. Dragonets raced around, chasing one another up ledges or daring others to leap from the highest posts. Older dragonets played imaginary games, taking on roles and acting out battles and stories while younger dragonets were more interested in splashing in the pool. Nopal stood by the waters edge, helping some of the youngest dragonets waddle in the shallows while he held the youngest in his talons.

They're so little, she watched the tiny dragonet slap the water's surface curiously, letting out an excited squeal as it rippled. Did I used to be that small? Scorpion knew she'd been tiny as a dragonet, the last to hatch of her clutch and the smallest of the three until she hit her growth spurt at four.

"-usk have been visiting a lot recently." Roadrunner's voice filtered back to her ears, pulling Scorpion from her thoughts and back to the conversation. She turned away from Nopal and the dragonets, looking instead at Ray, Thorn, and Roadrunner.

Thorn blinked, tilting his head, "they have?"

"Who?" Scorpion asked.

"Dusk and Quicksand," Ray chimed in. "Apparently they've been coming to the wingery quite a bit recently and talking with Sulcata."

"Dusk's been here a few times by himself too, just watching the dragonets and playing with some of the ones who gawk at him." Roadrunner waved a talon, "there's a group that adore him. I always hear them screaming 'Prince-consort! Prince-consort!' anytime he pops by."

"He's a familiar face here then?"

Roadrunner nodded, "as familiar as a royal consort could get."

Scorpion glanced away from the others and back to the rest of the wingery at the sound of ruffling wings. The conversation tampered off at the sight of a pair of guards escorting an armoured SeaWing near the archway. His scales were a deep, shimmering blue that gleamed in the sunlight like crushed lapis, eyes a pale blue like the sky. His armour was a mix between metal and coral, chainmail and thin leather holding everything together and adding protection over the sides and back of his neck where the armour needed to be split in order to allow his webbed sail to fit through. Strapped flush against his neck was a scroll pouch, sealed tightly shut with small straps and buckles that held the cap in place.

"Is that a SeaWing?" One dragonet gasped, drawing more attention to the visitor.

"Is something cool happening?" Asked another, looking up at Nopal, "why are there so many strange dragons here?"

Nopal gave the royal triplets a questioning and sour look, before scanning around the clearing and watching the guards wearily.

"Prince Thorn?" Called one of the SeaWing's escorts, drawing more attention to the royals than before.

Scorpion took a glance towards her brother, seeing Thorn's face pressed in unease: his eyebrows punched, lips pressed thin, and ears back as he held his wings stiffly against his sides. Even with the relief that Cactus had seemingly arrived safely to the Glass Oasis, it now meant that Thorn was next to leave the palace... Alone.

-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

The palace felt cold, empty.

Scorpion peered out her window, staring off into the silver sea of dunes illuminated by moonlight. It was almost identical to the night Cactus left, but instead of a vast view or the horizon that stretched on as far as the eye could see in either direction, it was framed by old sandstone bricks that lined the small archway, thin white curtains tied off on either side with rope. Her room was dark, not a single candle lit to chase the shadows away other than the torchlight able to slip through the seams of her door from the hallway, where a set of guards kept watch. Her heart beat slowly, tingling with worry that made her chest pang hollowly.

"Is the SeaWing going with you?"

Thorn shook his head, "No. No, he's-...he's leaving later. Tonight. With his own escort."

"The SandWings coming with us to Possibility?"

"Yeah."

The echoes of her and her brothers talking in the hallways hours prior rang in her mind, whispering in her ear like they were still there. Thorn had left long ago as soon as the SeaWing soldier arrived at the winger to pass along Cactus' message. Thorn didn't have the safety of night to fly through, nor did he get the chance to cover himself in a cloak nor any armour.

"Why aren't you leaving tonight? Why do you have to leave now?" Ray quickened his pace to walk alongside them. "Wouldn't it be safer to leave in the dark, like he did?"

"If Cactus wants this plan to work, we need to leave as soon as we're given the order to." Thorn shook his head again, quickening his pace with his wings pressed back tensely. "We need to all be gone before anyone notices. Like he said: it's giving us the headstart that we need."

Scorpion held her tongue for most of the walk, preferring to walk in silence as her thoughts brewed like a storm on uncertain winds, ready to change direction at any moment. She could feel words pressing against the back of her throat like bile, but her jaw was locked shut. Scorpion didn't know if it was her body acting against her will, or her own ability to keep herself quiet. Either way, she said nothing. Her mind a numbing yet wordless frezy of feelings and pictures that flashed through her mind like lightning.

He'll be safer now, Scorpion slowly blinked out of the memory, her eyes glancing out at the horizon painted in stars, the moons looking even smaller as they continued to shrink back from the brightest night. There wouldn't be another for the next one hundred years, and it felt all the more special and exciting that it happened close to her and her brothers hatching day- but it also felt daunting. Like the world was changing, and no amount of gripping or clawing at time to stop would prevent it from coming.

"Be quick," said Scorpion, Thorn looking up to meet her gaze. "Fly as fast as you can and don't stop. Keep flying east until the sun sets. Take a small break before nightfall, then keep going and don't look back. You won't be alone for long, you just need to get to Cactus. He wouldn't leave without making sure you make it to the oasis first."

Thorn took a deep breath, but it came in more like a gasp. "I know."

"Cactus will be waiting for you," Scorpion pulled away from Thorn, standing back with Ray. "We'll be right behind you."

Ray offered up a small smile. "Me and Fennec will be there before you know it, then we'll just have to wait for this slow lizard," he nudged her wing.

Thorn shakily nodded his head.

Ray sucked in a breath before he lunged forwards, wrapping his wings around Thorn in a tight hug that made the other prince freeze. The freckled SandWing was quick to snap from his daze and wrap his arms around Ray's neck tightly. Scorpion felt herself move, wings lacing over her brother's shoulders like a cocoon as she held them both, encasing the three of them in a wall of wings and scales, blending in with one another.

This is what I'm fighting for, her eyes screwed shut. I'm fighting her for them. I'm doing this to protect my family.

The SandWing could still feel the lingering warmth of her brother's scales pressed against her own, and it made the air around her seem even colder. The feeling would only grow over the next few days as they're each sent out one right after the other. Fennec would be the next to leave, but Scorpion wasn't going to see her off like her brothers, not that she's seen her anyways.

Scorpion scowled, I haven't caught wind of her anywhere in the palace.

Aside from workers and guards, the stronghold felt barren of any other dragons Scorpion knew.  She'd have to seek out her family in order to even cross paths with them, and Fennec seemed to be doing everything in her power to stay out of sight. She was nowhere to be found since Camel called them to the Map Room to drop their plan on them seeking shelter in Pearl's Summer Palace until things settled with the IceWings, and it was starting to get on Scorpion's nerves.

"We're leaving? Why? Why are we leaving?!"

"It's for your safety-"

"But we're safe here! We don't need to leave!"

Fennec's shrill voice in that room felt heartbreaking, hearing her sister's voice sound so panicked and scared. But now it only made her blood boil. It no longer sounded like one of her sisters pleading to stay home, begging for their mother not to send them away, but instead like a lying viper waiting to strike the second its prey let its guard down. Now with Fennec keeping out of sight and only stars knows where, it truly did feel like being trapped in a dragonbite viper's den with the possibility of one lunging out of the shadows at any moment.

Scorpion didn't know how much Fennec already knew, or if she was onto her, but Scorpion did know that snooping around for the golden SandWIng would get her nowhere and only further prove that she knew what Fennec feared, and it could lead to her sister causing more harm during the move if she was desperate enough like Jackal was. So, she would keep her distance, not willing to take that risk.

Fennec would be easier to take care of than Jackal, Scorpion thought as she watched the stars, a few streaking across the sky.

Fennec was smaller, leaner, and thinner than Scorpion and Jackal. She was one of the shorter princesses, preferring to polish her scales and decorate herself and Sundance in jewels from Camel's or from their own treasuries. While Jackal could hold her own in a fight, Fennec would be easier to deal with if caught off guard and not given the chance to get away. Scorpion might be big and strong, but with Fennec's smaller size, she could easily slip away somewhere Scorpion couldn't reach her and vanish.

It was like hunting a jackrabbit: be quick, catch them before they reach their burrow, and watch out for their claws in case they go for your eyes. But in this case, instead of a jackrabbit, it was another SandWing who helped to plot the murders of her own family and backstabbed her own accomplice.

Knock knock knock.

Scorpion's ears perked. She turned, looking back at the door as it creaked slowly, dancing torchlight flooding the room until a shadow blocked most of it out. Scorpion couldn't help but blink in surprise at the sight of Meerkat who stared back at her.

"Are you alright, your highness?" He asked, clocking his head to the side as he held the door. "I heard scraping." His eyes looked down at her tail, and it was only then that Scorpion realized her tail had been lazily lashing back and forth, her barb dragging across the ground.

She lifted it up, coiling it and letting it rest against her side by her folded wing. "I'm fine."

"Is something on your mind?" Meerkat pressed softly, leaning into the room, but not actually stepping in.

Scorpion pressed her lips together in a frown, staring down at the torchlight that streaked across the floor and around Meerkat's shadow. She glanced back up at him, eyes looking towards the hall and only being met with a hanging torch and a wall barren of any guards.

"Where are the guards?" She deflected, changing the subject.

"Hmm?" Meerkat blinked, shooting a glance out back towards the hall before looking back, "there was a shift change. Me and Rattlesnake will be keeping watch of you tonight."

"Where is Rattlesnake now?"

"Oh her way here, I assume. Though, she's not usually one to be late..." he trailed off, looking back down the hallway again.

Scorpion had to swallow down the lurch of worry that shot through her. She's fine, Rattlesnake can handle herself, with or without magic. Rattlesnake wouldn't let anything sneak up on her, especially not with the whole palace on edge and Fennec about to leave soon after the SeaWing- Camel spit! Scorpion nearly jolted out of her scales. I didn't tell Rattlesnake we're leaving.

Meerkat's ears perked up, pulling her from her thoughts, "there she is! She's just coming down now."

She opened her mouth awkwardly with a pause, before closing it and trying again, "send her in once she's here, please." I need to tell her. Scorpion didn't need to wait long between Meerkat slipping back out into the hallway and Rattlesnake stepping in the room with a brow raised in question.

"Is something wrong?" The animus asked quietly, stepping in the rest of the way and shutting the door behind her as Scorpion motioned her in.

"Yes, and no."

"That's definitely the answer I was looking for," Rattlesnake crossed the room, sitting beside her and staring out the window to follow Scorpion's gaze out into the dark horizon of dunes and stars. They sat quietly for a moment, before Rattlesnake softly spoke up, "what did you need?"

"We're leaving."

...

Rattlesnake blinked, now staring at her as if Scorpion had suddenly sprouted two heads, "What?"

"Half of us are leaving the stronghold, we're being sent somewhere safer," she explained quietly in a low whisper.

"When?" The animus asked simply, confused as the gears shifted behind her eyes.

"We've already started."

"Already? Why wasn't I-"

"No one in the palace knows," said Scorpion, shaking her head. "It's so we get a headstart in evacuating the kingdom."

Rattlesnake mouthed 'the kingdom?' quickly to herself. "Where are you going then?"

This was when Scorpion paused, uncertainty burning behind her chest and the location sitting heavily upon her tongue. Was it safe to tell her they were going to the Summer Palace? A place kept secret from the other tribes for hundreds of years, thousands even? To a dragon Scorpion has only known for nearly two months- she shook her head, snuffing out her worries.

Rattlesnake's kept my secrets, and I've kept hers. We rely on one another, Scorpion argued to herself, how can she trust me if I can't trust her? "The Summer Palace," she replied, watching Rattlesnake's eyes widen in surprise.

"The Summer Palace?"

"The Summer Palace," she nodded, "Cactus and Thorn have already left, and Fennec's next-" Rattlesnake's eyes narrowed- "then Ray. I'm last, to give my body more time to rest. We're moving in groups so nobody notices we're gone till it's too late, and regrouping at Possibility."

"Who else knows?"

"Funnel, she's going to fly back to let my parents know we've arrived safely. She was picked because she's not as recognizable as Sizzle, not yet anyway. A small talonful of guards will be helping to escort us to the border, but after that we're on our own with the SeaWings," Scorpion said, trying to ignore the hammering inside her chest as her heart pounded nervously. She turned back to the animus, prying her eyes away from the framed distance, "I need you and Meerkat to come with us. Find a way to become a part of the SandWing escort, I don't want to leave him here, and I need you with me. Once we get to the Summer Palace, we're dealing with Fennec."

Rattlesnake's eyeridge scrunched in concentration, listening.

"Vulture talked with me in the Medical Wing, she was trying to figure out who attacked me. I...I couldn't tell her, not yet," she shook her head, "not until everything finished. She told me that Camel isn't listening to anybody, not her advisors, not the healers. She didn't believe Tamba when he and Imbali went to give my medical report."

"So why are we waiting until you get to the Summer Palace?"

"Pearl will listen to me, she has to, then maybe she can snap some sense into Camel. Fennec's not dumb enough to try anything by herself, and I haven't seen her in days. I don't want to wait till then, but it's the best shot we've got right now. I don't want to spook her into doing something before-"

"-before you meet back up with the others," Rattlesnake finished, nodding her head. "And a back up plan?"

Scorpion raised a brow, urging her to continue.

"In case Pearl doesn't believe you, what's your back up plan in case things don't work out and Fennec now has solid proof that you're onto her."

Scorpion had been so focused on everything currently around her, and fretting about Fennec, that she never thought about the what-ifs with ehr plan on going to Pearl. What if she doesn't believe me? Something unpleasant squirms in her gut, making her feel nauseous, but she swallows it down, "then I'll do what I have to."

"How far are you willing to go?"

"As far as it takes."

The room went silent, the pair staring out of the window, each of them lost in their own thoughts. Pearl has to believe me, her mind kept repeating, she has to. But there was no guarantee that she even would. Sapphire had said that Pearl tried fighting Camel on making them leave back to the Sea Kingdom, so it gave Scorpion hope that the SeaWing Queen would be on her side and understand why she couldn't go to her mother about this. She still might not believe her. Pearl saw the SandWing royals as her own dragonets with how close the two royal families were, and to learn that two of them had been plotting to kill the rest of them would ruin her, maybe to the point of refusing to accept it like Camel.

Then Scorpion would have to take things into her own talons, again.

Holding up one of her talons, all she could see was the shimmering red that coated each claw in thick ribbons that ran down the length of her arm, dripping from her elbow. In the blink of an eye, it was gone, but burned into the back of her mind. Would Scorpion be able to handle the weight of her sister's blood on her talons a second time?

I have too, Scorpion glanced back up through her eyelashes and away from her held up palm, staring back out into the horizon filled with the yowls of coyotes and jackals, and the hoots of owls. She wasn't doing anything wrong, even if it hurt- and moons it did- she was protecting her family, and Fennec and Jackal stepped out of it the moment they came together to plot their murders. Guilt tried to push up like bile in her throat, but she swallowed it down definitely. None of this is my fault.

But she could handle it.

She had to.

Rattlesnake reached out, talons lacing over Scorpion's and she could feel her muscles relax, claws unfurling as not to prick the grey SandWing's talons. "Everything will be okay," she said, her tone soothing to Scorpion's ear, making her heart jolt with a flutter. There wasn't a burning passion, or a fire of bravery behind her words, but a promise. "We'll get through this."

Scorpion silently nodded her head, gripping Rattlesnake's slim talons in her own much larger ones, claws intertwining in a secure grip. Reminding her of the pinky-promises she and her brothers would do as dragonets with their smallest claws. Scorpion squeezed, and Rattlesnake squeezed back.

"We're in this together, the moment you decided to take on two IceWings at once."

She snorted, "I could take on three."

"How about four?"

"Hmm," she pretended to think for a moment, "maybe."

Rattlesnake's eyes pinched in a smile, ear flicking teasingly before they both stared back out, watching the gleaming moons that hung in the sky like glowing orbs of speckled white, surrounded by stars that almost seemed to be twinkling brighter than before, making it all the more mesmerizing. The silence wasn't loud, instead it was soft, peaceful. Her mind wasn't hissing like an angry death adder, full of thoughtless static about everything that was going on. For the first time in days, Scorpion didn't hate the silence.

"When do you leave?" Rattlesnake asked quietly.

"In a few days. Fennec's leaving either tonight, or tomorrow. I won't know until Ray's set to leave," she said.

There was a pause. "I'll make sure me and Meerkat are in the escort," Rattlesnake didn't turn her head to look at Scorpion as the princess looked at her out of the corner of her eye. "I'll figure something out."

"Without magic?"

She was silent for a moment, "without magic."

-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

"You ready?"

Scorpion stared off into the horizon, eyes narrowed and scanning where the dunes blended with the dark sky. Leaning off the edge of the stronghold, Scorpion's scales blended in with the sandstone under the moonlight. The night was clear, not a cloud in the sky. All the night had been clear since Cactus left, and now it was Scorpion's turn.

Rattlesnake stood by her side, Meerkat and Funnel a wing-length away. The pair, adorned in their own royal guard attire and Rattlesnake's helmet tucked away under her wing, stood still with their heads held high while Funnel looked out in the desert with stiff shoulders. She didn't know how Rattlesnake had been able to do it so quickly, but she'd been able to get Meerkat and herself moved to be her personal escort to the Glass Oasis. Scorpion had no say on who went, but Rattlesnake got it done.

"Yeah," Scorpion sucked in a breath and closed her eyes, steadying her heartbeat that pulsed throughout her body in warm waves. Letting it out in a small puff of smoke that swirled up and around her nose ring like snakes. "Let's go."

Spreading her wings, Scorpion leaned off the rest of the way and pushed off the ledge with a strong leap, swooping with the sharp incline of the wall and lifting up with a heavy flap of her wings. The wingbeats of the others taking off behind her sounded like thunder in her ears compared to the silence of night around them. Not a jackal nor hare seemed to stir in their wake. The dry chill in the air nipped at her scales, making the underside of her wings tingle, the wind brushing against her bare and scarred side where Jackal's sting forever left a mark in her skin.

Leaving, Scorpion felt a weight lift off her shoulders, but a sense of dread hollowed her gut with an eerie echo she tried to shake away to only have it linger just beneath her scales.

We just have to make it to the Sea Kingdom, her lips pressed thin, eyes narrowing, then Fennec will be gone.

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- MindlessTyper