When she opened her eyes, she found herself back in her room, her soft blankets and pillows piled around her like a nest, making the air around her feel warm and welcoming. Her small circular window had the curtains tied with small threads of rope, letting in the warm early sunlight that washed over her blankets, warming them up even more.

Tucked into the crook of her neck was one of the stuffed dolls Quickstrike's mother, her grandmother, had made for her. It was one of a NightWing with shimmering golden button eyes and scales similar to her own, just more brown rather than red. It was soft and had a nice weight to it. With every little shift she made, she could hear the sound of tiny dried deads bouncing off of one another from within it, which was what gave it it's nice weight.

The little NightWing's mind felt fuzzy, her limbs full of lead from how comfortable she was. She didn't want to move at all. Even her eyelids felt heavy, trying to encourage her to fall back into a dreamless sleep. In the back of her mind though, she knew her sleep wouldn't be dreamless.

Ever since she had seen that SkyWing, Funnel, her mind has been racing like a raging storm, Funne;'s wails echoing deafeningly within her ears. It didn't take Quickstrike long to assume something was wrong, so he sent her off to bed and she slept the rest of the day away.

How long has it been....?

She couldn't think clearly through her fuzzy mind as her sparkling scarlet red eyes began to close once more, her eyelids drooping from her mental exhaustion. Lydia wanted to stay awake, but her body didn't let her as she tucked her head under her wings, pulling the blankets around her closer and holding the NightWing doll closer to her cheek, pressing against it as she let out a sigh through her nostrils.

After a few moments of tiredness tugging at the corners of her mind, lulling her to sleep, the young NightWing princess felt......odd. As though she were being watched. The burning sensation started out as a tiny prickle in the back of her neck between her shoulders, but it started to grow, becoming more noticeable. Eventually, it started to make her scales crawl as though there were tiny pebbles as small as grains of sand stuck under her scales.

Her eyes opened once more, but this time she wasn't in her bed and surrounded by warm blankets and pillows with the warm sunlight warming her up like she was sleeping by a fire. No, she was in the village square, laying by the fountain with the sun hung up high above her head. The princess was quick to shoot up onto her feet, her claws sinking into the dirt path as confusion struck her heart.

I was just in my room! She looked around, seeing the town empty, not a soul in sight. In two ways. How am I he- Is this another dream? It must be. Though, something didn't feel right about this dream.

"You...." hissed a voice that seemed to come from all around her. With a yelp, she whipped around, trying to spot anyone, but couldn't. "Did you think you could get away?!" the voice seemed to echo, a spitting hiss at the end almost like it was laced with venom.

Then, she saw them. Standing a few wing lengths away was a SilkWing with shimmering green scales, their wings spotted with different shades of blue and small flecks of gold with off white yelling spots coating the edges of the butterfly like membranes.

They weren't just any SilkWing though, they were one that made Lydia's chest boil in rage and anger, along with horror and fear.

It was Morpho.

The SilkWing's lips were curled back in a snarl, his teeth bared in an animalistic way, his canines were longer, more so like fangs. His once shimmering sky blue eyes were as black as a starless night, glistening threateningly. There was something else different about him too. His horns weren't like that of a SilkWing's anymore, long, thin and ribbed. Instead, they were smooth and dark brown in colour, thick and sturdy with sharp tips that looked like the tips of spears. The scales on one side of his face behind his cheekbones were a sharp golden yellow with black and brown stripes.

What's happening to him? She took a step back, the back of her foot pressing against the cool polished marble of the fountain behind her. Morpho's head twitched with a shake, his tail twisting and lashing behind him.

"Did you think you could keep away from me? Little night dragon?" Morpho spat with a snarl, taking a step closer, his thick golden necklace glistening in the sunlight as the three embedded moonstones shimmering and sparkling as colour flashed through their semi opaque surface. "NO ONE KEEPS AWAY FROM ME! And NO ONE is going to 'find the flower." he mocked.

Lydia felt frozen, her mind in a spin as her wings slowly unfurled along her sides, trying to make herself look bigger as her spines rose up along the back of her neck. She didn't know why she wasn't moving, wasn't running away. She felt frozen, stiff, paralized. It made her scales itch.

Morpho took several steps forwards, his eyes gleaming with anger and mockery, a hidden rage flashing dangerously. His muscles tensed like a cat ready to pounce on a mouse, claws sinking into the ground below and tail lashing. A thin, narrow stinger sticking out below the tip of his tail. A HiveWing's stinger.

"Especially not some pathetic dragonet, who is LUCKY that she's survived this long! You won't be finding her, NO ONE WILL!" The SilkWing lunged forwards, his talons outstretched and jaws open with a roar.

Lydia was able to rear up on her hind legs, her wings flared out and claws ready to take the impact, her teeth clenched, but before the much larger SilkWing could land any blows with his tackle, something, or more someone slammed into Morpho's side with their shoulder, there was such force that the SilkWing landed a few feet away with a choking gasp, landing on his side with a small roll, his jaws parted to suck in the air that was forced out of his lungs, his eyes screwed tightly shut as he coughed.

That wasn't the only dragon to go tumbling on the dirt road. Another form was forced out of Morpho's body, a wispy form that was flickering with the rage of a burning fire. They were a HiveWing, long claw marks stretching down her throat to her collar bone, as though a dragon had grabbed her in a tussle and had dragged their claws down the front of her throat. Her eyes were as black as night, they pierced Lydia's soul as she screamed with anger, clutching her head with one talon as she glared at her.

Standing before her was a slender SandWing with dull coloured scales, the ones along her spine close to grey in tone. Their eyes were narrow and slim, ending in sharp points with sharp slitted irises to match. A frill that looked tattered and torn, holes here in there scattered throughout.

"Move! NOW!" The SandWing ordered as she looked at Lydia, giving her a rough shove that got the young NightWing to move.

The two ran side by side as the wispy HiveWing roared out after them with pure rage lacing her poisonous voice, "YOU WON'T GET AWAY FROM ME, PRINCESS LYDIA, I KNOW WHERE YOU ARE. I'LL FIND YOU, AND I'LL DESTROY YOU JUST LIKE I DID TO HER!"

The slim faced SandWing looked at her, her eyes wide "Do it!" she ordered, but Lydia didn't know what she was wanting her to do.

"Do what? What do you want me to do?!?"

"Dream hop!" she hissed with a flicker of her purpley grey coloured forked tongue, "What else? Hurry and do it! I didn't come to save your scales for nothing Lydia!"

"How do-?"

The NightWing was cut off as the SandWing whipped around with a furious hiss, her teeth bared as flames shot out of her jaws. She at first thought she was the target when the flames hurdled over her head, causing her to duck. She heard a roar of anger and fury from behind her, and when she looked, she saw the HiveWing skidding to a halt, shaking her head as if to clear out her eyes,

Lydia didn't know what she was supposed to do, she could only guess what dream hopping was, but there was no way she knew how to do it. Was it even a real thing? What if this was like a dream inside of a dream, a horrible nightmare?

"Now Lydia!"

The young NightWing screwed her eyes shut, picturing her visions and one place that came to mind was her first dream with Roseary, the slender LeafWing standing in a lush jungle with warm sunlight that washed down through the canopy, making the whole forest glow. She could smell the damp air that hung low in the jungle full of bustling life.

The next time she planted one of her talons onto the ground, she no longer felt the compacted soil beneath her claws. Instead, she felt mushy soil and tall plants brushing against her legs, rubbing moisture against her scales. When she opened her eyes, it took a moment for them to adjust to the darker lighting from the lush canopy above.

Wait....Her heart continued to pound within her ears, ringing alongside the noise of her own breathing. We're...

The SandWing slowed to a stop, Lydia following in suit. The world around them had changed. They were no longer back in the village town square, they were in a jungle, the jungle.

"How...." she felt speechless.

"That is dream hopping," they shook their head with a snort, "though..." the slender SandWing looked around with a hum that sounded more like a rumbly hiss in the back of her throat, her eyes narrowed and she looked over the fauna around them, "this is not what I expected. I knew NightWing's lived in the rainforest but this looks nothing like what I remember."

NightWing's living in the-?.....Oh, it took her a minute, but then it clicked. This SandWing was dead, just like Fatefinder, and she must've died before mom took the throne.

The dull coloured SandWing looked over her shoulder and back over to Lydia, meeting her scarlet red gaze with her black one. Her pupils were a thin line of gold around her slitted irises, almost too small to see through her narrowly shaped eyes.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" she blinked at her before turning to fully face the NightWing dragonet, "you don't recognize me do you? You haven't seen me till now."

"I- what?" Lydia just felt, oh so confused. "No, it's just." she waved her talons around, pointing out the world around them, "this isn't the Rainforest Kingdom, this is a jungle."

"A jungle?" they didn't look all that impressed, nor did they look to believe her. "What are you going to tell me next kid? That I'm a princess."

"No, this is a jungle." she paused, sucking in a breath, "A jungle on Pantala."

The SandWing just looked at her, emotions flickering through her narrow eyes, but they were gone before Lydia had the chance to be able to tell what they were. "I know I've been dead for a while..." she seemed to be choosing her words carefully, "what year is it?"

"It's 5012 AS"

The dull coloured SandWing blinked at her, "5012 AS?" she whispered back. "It's been thirteen years?"

Thirteen years? This SandWing's been dead for that long? Lydia nodded her head as the SandWing shook out their wings, as though they had been covered in sand and dust that made them itch. "What year did you think it was?" she couldn't help but ask.

"5004 AS." she admitted after a few seconds of silence, "5008 AS if I were to push it."

With a shake of her head, her tail flicking to the side she said, "we should keep moving, Incase they come after you again. While you're asleep you won't be safe from a dream visitor unless you keep moving"

"A dream visitor?"

"Yesss, exactly those ones, now move" she gave her a nudge, getting Lydia to start moving at a quick walking pace.

How would Morpho be able to get a Dream Visitor? Did he have one before?

Lydia had a bunch of questions swimming throughout her head, but she was hesitant to ask any while they walked because she felt like some of her questions might be too sensitive, so she opted to ask one that she felt was a good enough start.

"Who was that with Morpho," the NightWing dragonet asked, "when you came to rescue me? What did she want from me?"

The SandWing blinked, thinking for a moment before she shrugged her sharp shoulders as she used one of her wings to brush away a low hanging vine, "I don't know." was all she said.

The two walked in silence after that for a little while, the only sound being the sounds of the lush and lively jungle around them and their bodies pushing away blooming foliage that tried to stick to them as they walked.

"I have another question," Lydia blurted out after the silence grew to be too loud.

The SandWing raising a brow as a silent way of asking her to go on with a flick of her ears while they walked, their talons brushing away the lush foliage around them as they slipped around thick and sturdy trees with life hanging from their branches in the form of thick blooming vines.

"Who," she took in a breath, "are you?"

The slender SandWing slowed a little as she met Lydia's curious gaze.

"You wouldn't know me," she said after a few minutes of silence, "I died before you hatched."

"Because you died thirteen years ago?"

"Exactly." she hissed lightly with a nod. Lydia waited for a few moments to see if the SandWing would respond to her original question, but she didn't.

She's avoiding the question, Lydia felt her heart rate quicken within her chest as she followed the slender SandWing through the lush jungle, passing by the clearing where she first saw Roseary and the group of dragonets. They weren't there now, she didn't know if Roseary was even here in this dream.

Earlier she was talking about how she thought I hadn't seen her before.

The more Lydia started to think about it, the more that dots started to connect inside of her head. This SandWing sounded just like the dragon inside of the sandy dungeon, the hiss at the end of her voice sounded just like them, and that's the only dragon she's had in her dreams that she hasn't seen fully before. until now that is.

"Are you the dragon from the dungeon?" The SandWing's pointed ears twitched, a silver earring glistening in the filtered sunlight, showing she had heard her without giving a reply. "That was you, wasn't it?"

She was only met with silence once more, which just seemed to confirm it.

"Let's just keep walking, the farther we are in this dream, the better." The SandWing curled her tail, her stinger sitting snugly against her coiled tail. "And I hope we don't bump into whoever dreams this."

"Their name's Roseary, they're not bad. Just a little, ugh, mad?"

"Great," the dull coloured SandWing rolled her narrow eyes, "a time lost lunatic."

"A what?"

"A time lost lunatic," they repeated as they leaped over a fallen branch, Lydia doing the same, though she had to land on the branch first before jumping back down onto the ground. "Dragon's who have lost the sense of time. When you're dead, time bleeds into itself. The farther away you get from where you died, the worse it gets."

"Is that why you couldn't tell what year it was?"

They hesitated, before letting out a short sigh through their pointed nostrils. "Yess." she shook her head with a huff, "I'm far from my grave kid."

"Where....where did you die?" She wanted to know how far someone had to be before they started to lose track of time. What if Fatefinder lost track of time? Would he go mad? Maybe that's why Roseary's so...crazy.  "I just want to know how far you can go before time started to get blurry."

The SandWing stopped and looked back at her, Lydia held her gaze with a pleading look.

"It's for my friend, Fatefinder. He died trying to keep me safe and I see him a lot. He's trying to help me back home to my mom and dad in the mountains."

A look of pity flashed through the others gaze for only a moment before they steeled themselves once more, but their demeanor was softer, less tense and sharp.

"I died in the Sand Kingdom, the palace throne room to be exact. It was" the SandWing looked to think for a moment before continuing, "an accident."

The dull coloured SandWing closed her eyes, her eyebrows pinching together as she thought about it. "There were these statues, guards made of steel and iron. The last queen put them in during her craze during the war. Me and my...wife," she seemed to be choosing her words carefully. "We had an argument, we fought and I tried to help her. I was only trying to help her like I had before"

"What...what happened?" she stepped closer, feeling the dew covered grass brush against her talons.

"It was an accident. She didn't mean too. She just has too much strength and bottled up anger that she lashed out. She shoved me into one of the iron soldiers, and..." her sharp talons reached up and rubbed a spot on the center of her neck. "I was impaled. A spear to the throat. I choked on my own blood before my wife could get help."

Princess Lydia could picture it clearly. Two SandWing's, lovers, arguing in the thorne room. A fight that got out of hand to the point of one being impaled on a statue made of shimmering metal. The heart broken screams of her wife, calling for help, but it was too late.

The SandWing's eyes shot open, her golden irises practically glowing in the filtered sunlight like pieces of gold left out to sparkle and gleam. "You need to wake up."

"What?"

"You need to wake up, Lydia."

The SandWing turned to look at her, "you need to wake up!" her voice seemed to rumble with a hiss like thunder as the world around them seemed to brighten. Lydia could hear a loud and angry roar, it shot fear through her heart as she recognized it to belong to the dead HiveWing, the one with Morpho.

"Wake up now before she gets another chance to see where you are!" she snarled, "With Dream Visitor's, you can get a small glimpse of where the other dragon is, SO WAKE UP!"

Everything was happening all at one, her heart pounding heavily, making her ribs hurt as she could feel something tugging her from the back of her mind. She could feel she was starting to wake up, the feeling of pure panic she would get when she woke up from a nightmare washed over her, her chest feeling tight and full of cotton.

She felt the SandWing shove her, the last thing she was able to see was her slander and narrow face, her horns sharp and pointed, looking polished and smooth. But for a moment, a flash so quick she hardly saw it. The SandWing's face distorted, her jaw becoming broken and crooked with her tongue hanging out the side, a copper and golden crown sitting atop her head. But just as Lydia thought she saw it, it was gone, replaced with a world of white.

Lydia's eyes shot open and she let out a gasp, her lungs filling up with the warm air from within her room. Her sides hurt, her lungs burning as if they had been deprived of the oxygen rich air around her. She let out a cough as she pushed herself up with her forearms. She let herself breath for a few moments

Her heart was thundering from inside her chest, her mind fuzzy yet stuffed, a headache pounding against her skull as her eyes started to focus back onto the world around her. I'm in my room, I'm in my room, I'm in my room, she repeated to herself while she focused on calming her breathing down. The last thing she wanted was for Qucikstrike to come in and see her looking as though she had just seen a war.

No, not a war, she breathed in, then out, dead dragons roaming in my head and one who looks like she wants to kill me.

After a few more minutes of breathing in and out, just as Fatefinder had instructed her too, she was able to focus again. Her mind no longer feeling as though it were full of cotton, stuffed into her head to muffle her thoughts.

That's when she noticed something beside her, on top of the soft blankets and pillows that surrounded her was a folded piece of paper, it was small, able to fit within her talons if she curled them up.

It looked almost exactly like the one me and Fatefinder found in my room back in the mountains.

She reached over and grabbed it, pulling to closer to herself as she pushed it open with the tip of one of her claws. Written on the inside were letters, all scrambled and jumbled together, just like the first one she had gotten.

Gjoe uif umpxfs.
Pdfbo. Expo. Umpxfs.
Effq cfmpx. Ijeefo jn hsffot.
Gjoe uif umpxfs xipt bxbjujoh up cf tffo.

Some of the words looked familiar, her mind starting to piece it together. She remembered what Fatefinder told her he did, how the letters were scrambled, it was an easy one he told her.

"The Alphabet is just shifted over." The young NightWing guard in training explained to her as they both looked at the first letter they had gotten in her room within the hidden castle under the mountains. "A becomes B, B becomes C and so on."

"It's that easy?" she asked, her large round ears perked up as her head tilted to the side, her earring bouncing with her movements, bumping against her scales with a light tap, the silver sparkling as the embedded ruby shimmered as brightly as her eyes.

"Yup! It's actually one of the first ones I learned in training, but at first I thought it would be super complex one, you know, since it's a secret message to the princess." he shrugged, earning a light snort from the princess beside him.

Find the flower.
Ocean. Down. Flower.
Deep below. Hidden in greens.
Find the flower who's awaiting to be seen.

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

"You got another note? And you're sure you figured it out?"

"Yes, I did exactly what you told me to do with the first one!"

"Okay! Okay! And you had a weird dream with not one, but TWO, dead dragons, ones who's been dead nearly three times your whole life so far?"

"yes , yes, yes and yes, three moons Fatefinder!" she exclaimed as quietly as she could from where she stood by Quickstrike. The older NightWing wanted to take her out to town again as he had to run some small errands and didn't like the idea of leaving her alone back home.

While he was talking to the same SandWing who sold the leather straps and ropes, Lydia was trying to talk to Fatefinde about the note she had gotten, while trying not to look made as dragons walked past them. Some walked right through Fatefinder without noticing he was even there, which was hard for her to not give some reaction too as her wispy friend gave a startled every time it happened.

"Show me it again, I wanna take a look at it."

"Alright," she sighed through her nostrils as she dug it out. After she had woken up to find the letter, it didn't take Quickstrike long to come and wake her up. He was surprised to see her awake already but he gave her a warm smile and brought her breakfast, which was a cooked and seasoned hawk that filled her up quickly. Once she had finished he gave her something he thought she would like, a leather thigh pouch that was tough and had straps to keep it shut. The straps she noted were from the SandWing in the market who Quickstrike was talking to, something about needing leather for some projects of his, as well as a new dagger holder.

Inside of the leather pouch were two things, the letter and the map she and Fatefinder stole.

Pinching the paper within her talons, she pulled it out and unfolded it, holding it open in her palm for Fatefinder to read over her shoulder. As she let him read it, she thought back to the SandWing from her dreams.

Who was she? And why was she helping her? Why would a dragon who's been dead for thirteen years be coming to Lydia? Dose she want something? Is that why she's doing this? She huffed, feeling mentally exhausted as Fatefinder hummed.

"Yeah, you got it right. These notes are so weird, possibly the weirdest things I've seen."

"And me being able to see dead dragons isn't?"

The wispy NightWing ignored her comment as he continued. "Why are you getting these weird notes? Who are you even getting them from?"

"Maybe the SandWing?"

"Maybe." he sighed, "It's just....this is all so strange."

"It is," she agreed as she shuffled closer to Quickstrike as a pair of SeaWing's walked past, walking through Fatefinder in the process. "Why is this all happening in the first place?"

Fatefinder gave her a pitying look, his ears drooping as he looked at her, "I wish I knew princess," he shifted his wings, his tail flicking to pull itself closer to him. "If I did, then maybe you'd still be back in the mountain caves, with the King and Queen."

"No, Fatefinder, don't think this is all your fault. It's not. It's no one's fault."

"But it feels like it is somehow," he stated with a shake of his head, "Morpho has always felt off to me, with how he was always trying to get close to you ever since Queen Animosity kept him in the caves. I knew something was off, and I should've said something sooner. I made a promise, an oath," the wispy NightWing corrected himself as he looked up to meet her gaze. "I promised to protect you, and I let you down."

"You haven't let me down." Lydia was quick to reassure him, wishing she could extend her wing out and put it over his shoulders like her parents had done to her, like Wiseflight had done to her. How Quickstrike would do it to comfort her. "You're here now, that's what matters to me. You've always been here, ever since I showed you the first note."

Fatefinder looked into her eyes, his growing glossy as tears formed in the corners of his eyes. She almost reached out to brush them away, but stopped herself before she could with a look of pity filling her gaze, one just like Fatefinder had given her when she saw him for the first time in the forest after his death.

He's no older than me, she felt upset at the thought, her own eyes turning glossy, No one should have to go through this. Especially not Fatefinder. We both shouldn't have to go through this.

Lydia was so caught up in her own thoughts, that she didn't hear the sound of footsteps coming up behind her until she heard someone speak up from right behind her. "Hello Lydia!"

"AH!" she jumped with a flinch, whipping around to see Moonglobe, the odd looking IceWing with black scales that faded into white up along his neck up to his head. "Moonglobe!" The little NightWing quickly reached up with her palms to rub at her eyes, brushing her tears away as they threatened to fall down her cheeks. The small letter in her palms soaked up her tears before she put it away in her leather pouch.

"Sorry, Moonglobe didn't mean to scare you."

"No, y-you're fine."

"Who's this?" Fatefinder asked as he moved closer to the odd looking dragonet, sizing him up with his eyes. The other NightWing looked curious, looking the other dragonet over. He must not have ever seen an IceWing like Moonglobe before, if he's seen any IceWing's at all.

Lydia blinked at Fatefinder for a moment before it clicked, Right, Fatefinder hasn't seen Moonglobe before.

"Moonglobe sees you're talking more!" The odd looking IceWing said with a smile, the spines along his neck clicking against one another lightly. That's good! Not so scared!"

"I'm talking more?"

"Yeah! You aren't speaking quietly anymore. Moonglobe see's you're also standing straighter too." The odd looking IceWing pointed out with one of his serrated claws. "You must be feeling better! Not so scared anymore! Does that mean you could come hang out with Moonglobe?"

"Hang out with you?"

"Yes! Moonglobe would like to hang out with you! We can go see the traveling musicians that came by yesterday! They should still be here, Moonglobe thinks, still listening to their music."

"I don't know if I would be allowed." she admitted with a dip of her head, her wings pressing against her side. "Quickstrike doesn't like me going far."

"It's not far, just on the other side of the markets near the edge of town!"

"I still don't know, Moonglobe."

"What are you two talking about?" Lydia's spines spiked up as she whipped her head around to look at Quickstrike, who was putting some freshly bought leather straps into her leather pouch under his wing, the ring and key hanging from his neck glistening in the sunlight. She felt as though she had been caught doing something bad, but Quickstrike didn't look angry, instead he just looked curious. "Oh hello Moonglobe! How've you been today?"

"Moonglobe's been good! Just wondering if Moonglobe and Lydia could go see the traveling musicians before they go?"

The older Nightwing's ears perked up as he looked from Moonglobe to Lydia, and then back again before repeating, a thoughtful and curious look in his golden yellow eyes. He continued to think, debating something inside of his head, before his gaze landed on Lydia, which made her straighten ever so slightly like she would with Charming and Animosity, or whenever she would need to make an appearance for the rest of the kingdom.

"Do you wish to go Lydia? I still have a few errands I need to get done today."

I'm able to go? Is he starting to trust me to be on my own? Lydia didn't think that Quickstrike would even consider letting her go off on her own.

Well, off on her own with Moonglobe. She dose guess that the last time she had tried to run away was over a week ago, or at least she thinks it was over a week ago. There has to be a catch to this- wait, no, this is Quickstrike. He wouldn't do something like what mother said dragons would do.

She simply decided to nod her head with ahum that rumbled lightly in her throat. It wasn;t nearly as deep as Animosity's, but guards and Wiseflight have told her she dose sound like her mother when she dose it, just a lot higher in pitch.

Quickstrike looked the two of them over another time before he let out a light sigh through his parted jaws, "Alright you may go, BUT!" he pointed at the two of them with one of his talons, "Only if you promise to check in with Bullfrog. I know that he is going there with Landslide, the MudWing he's been trying to get with for the last few days. Deal?"

"Deal!" Moonglobe smiles, a look of excitement flashing through his solid blue eyes.

"Deal." Lydia couldn't help but smile too, which made Quickstrike seem to melt with a smile of his own."

"Now off you two go," he grave them each a light nudge with his wings, "make sure Bullfrog and Landslide bring you both home once it's done!" the NightWing told them as Moonglobe grabbed Lydia's talons and started to excitedly lead her away. Lydia could feel his cold talons against her scales, it was almost like touching cold water that warmed up around her touch.

"Make sure they're able to see you the whole time! Don't leave their sight! And be careful!"

"Moonglobe'll make sure we will!" The odd looking IceWing dragonet called back as his wings shot open, Lydia doing the same in order to keep up as they both took off into the air.

She took one last look back towards Quickstrike to see him watching them go, a loving and warm smile on his face, his golden eyes shimmering with love and affection. The little princess gave him a wave as they flew, which seemed to make him brighten even more as he gave her one back. Her heart thudded within her chest as she turned to look ahead of her, letting Moonglobe lead the way.

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

Lydia looked around in awe as she and Moonglobe landed on a street along the edge of the village on the other side of the markets. It was a large and open street, round like the dirt path that wrapped around the fountain in the center square. There was a small section off to the right where the musicians were playing. There was a row of crates behind them to form a small wall, with off white fabric hung overtop of them to give them shade from the sun as they played.

In front of them was an open space where dragons were dancing and singing along, laughter filling the air alongside the music. Surrounding the edges of the clearing were tables and benches. Dragons were seated everywhere, some eating from dragons preparing food, knowing they'd make a fair sum of gold from the dragons coming to see the musicians and have some fun.

Not too far from where the music was coming from was the familiar form of Bullfrog, the large MudWing sitting at a table with another MudWing, presumably Landslide. This MudWing looked eerily familiar but Lydia couldn't put her claw on it as her attention was drawn away to the dragons currently creating the music that filled the air alongside singing and laughing.

There were four of the traveling musicians, all playing their instruments and filling the air with lively music. The fist was a SeaWing who played some kind of flute that was carved and painted, looking like a piece of coral taken right out of the sea. Their scales were a dull green, their tail fading into a muddy brown. As they played, their bioluminescent scales would flash along to the music, their spinal fins moving to the beat.

The second musician was a SilkWing, with bright pink and blue scales, she played a set of bango's, hitting the thin tanned leather tops with her palms at the fast pace, her tail thumping along to the beat.

The third was a MudWing who was playing an instrument with strings, Lydia had never seen it before, but it was large and carved from thick pieces of wood, almost looking like a large log compared to the other dragons, but compared to the MudWing it looked to be just their size.

The final musician, the one in front of the rest, was a hybrid with a patchy scale pattern, almost like they had been painted on from a paintbrush coated in mud and dust. They had a long frill that ran down along their spines, sharp, glistening emerald green eyes that shone just as brightly as the emeralds that hung from their neck and wrapped around their wrist. One feature that grabbed Lydia's attention was that this dragon had two tails.

She had never seen a dragon with two tails before, but then again, she's seen a lot of things recently that she's never seen before. A black and white IceWing who speaks rather strangely and seeing dead dragons to be exact.

"Those are the traveling musicians?"

"Yup!" Moonglobe nodded his head, "Moonglobe sees them come here once every year before fall."

She blinked and turned to look over at Moonglobe who stood by her side on her left. "In the fall?" Has it been this long already? Summer's already ending?

"Mhm!" he nodded his head again as the spines on the end of his tail twitched. "They go around the neighboring villages and settlements to play music! Moonglobe heard they go through all of the Sky Kingdom."

"Do they come around any other time during the year?"

Moonglobe looked to think for a moment before shaking his head, "no," he answered simply with a shrug of his wings, "Moonglobe hears they travel through the Sky Kingdom through summer to fall, then in spring and winter they stay home. Moonglobe knows they started this a few years ago when Moonglobe was little."

"When you were little?"

The pair of dragonets walked past others, moving out of the way of sweeting tails and shot out wings that would flap in excitement or joy. Moonglobe wa in the lead, a few steps ahead of Lydia, but they were shoulder to shoulder.

"Yup! When Moonglobe was one! Very little, but old enough to remember! Moonglobe's mom also told him about them, she liked music."

"Your mom? Dose she live in the village?"

"No," he stated simply, seemingly unaffected by it, "she's gone. Moonglobe doesn't know where she is, but she's gone." When he looked over at her, his ears went down as he saw the pitying look on her face, "no, no, no!" he waved his talons around frantically, "Moonglobe's okay don't worry! Almost seven, old enough to be by himself." he reassured her with a smile. "Besides, the village looks after Moonglobe, so he isn't alone!"

"But still," she winced, "you were alone, to some degree."

"Moonglobe didn't feel alone, not lonely.'' He shook his head as he led her to a stand where a hybrid was preparing what looked to be cooked and frozen seafoods. The dragon looked mostly IceWing, with glowing bioluminescent scales like those found on SeaWing's, their talons were webbed as well from what Lydia could see as the hybrid held up a thin stick with small cubes of meat skewered onto it. "And Moonglobe definitely won't be lonely anymore with Lydia here! A new friendly and pretty face! One who listens to Moonglobe and doesn't make funny faces."

"Listens to you-? Sorry, I'm asking a lot of questions." She could feel her ears burning from embarrassment.

"No, it's okay!" The IceWing dragonet smiled at her as the hybrid in front of them held up the skewered meat, and with a sharp inhale, they blew freezing frost breath across it's surface, spinning the stick to coat it in shimmering ice. "Moonglobe likes questions!"

"You do?"

"Mhm! Moonglobe likes the game twenty questions!"

"I don't think I've ever heard of that game," she hummed in question as she watched Moonglobe smile towards the hybrid, asking for two of something.

"I've actually played that game before."

Lydia flinched, her spines shooting up along her spine in surprise, she whipped her head around to see Fatefinder, the wispy NightWing standing beside the princess. Her ears perked up at the sight of her friend.

"Fatefinder!" she smiled her spines laying themselves down once more along her back, "Where did you go? I haven't seen you since Moonglobe showed up."

The other NightWing blinked, confusion flashing across his features, "What? I haven't left though? We were just by Quickstrike were we not?"

"No?" Now she herself felt confused, "Me and Moonglobe left him a little while ago and have been here for the last little bit."

"You...have?" Lydia watched as Fatefinder seemed to grow even more confused, the other NightWing had his wispy ears pressed back against his skull. "I thought..." she looked around, seemingly just realizing that they were, indeed, somewhere else.

"Fatefinder," she said quietly, feeling dread wash over her, remembering what the SandWing told her about dragons who wander far from their graves, "how long has it been for you."

"It feels like we were just there..."

Is he losing track of time? Are we too far from where he died? She could feel her heart rate quicken inside of her chest. Will he go mad like Roseary?

Before she could let these thoughts go any further, Moonglone came back, holding two shish kababs in his serrated claws. They both looked raw and uncooked, not frozen either. The meat didn't look to be anything she recognized, its flesh was a pearly white that shimmered, no skin was left on the smoothly cut and stabbed cuts of meat.

"Here!" he smiled as he sat down and held one out to her. Over his shoulder, Lydia could see the hybrid cook watched with a smile on her face as she watched them while working. It wasn't an overbearing one, almost a teasing, knowing, smile.

"Thanks," she smiled back, taking the end of the stick in her claws as Fatefinder stood beside her, blinking curiously at the meat as well. "What is it?" she asked as she sniffed it. I didn't smell bad, the meat itself smelled almost like nothing, but there was something lingering in its sent.

"It's whitefish," Moonglobe told her as he let out a small puff of frost breath over the tip of his kabab, the top freezing ever so slightly before he took a bite, pulling the top few cuts of meat off the stick. "Moonglobe thinks you'll like it!"

Lydia watched him eat for a few moments before she took a bite herself. The meat tasted like nothing she had ever tried before. It wasn't chewy like most raw meats she had tried when she was a curious dragonet who wanted to know what the taste difference was between cooked meats and raw meats, instead it seemed to pull itself apart on her tongue, falling into strips as she chewed. The meat felt cold, as if it had been resting of ice before it was severed, which made her shiver slightly when it touched her teeth.

"This is good," she hummed happily as she swallowed, licking the edges of her jaws, "thank's Moonglobe!' The odd looking IceWing seemed to brighten as he watched her eat.

"You're making me want some, princess." Fatefinder laughed from where he sat beside her, watching the two of them as they ate.

"Let's play twenty questions." Lydia chuffed with a smile.

Unaware of the eyes that watched them from the crowd.

————————————————————

- MindlessTyper