The village was even livlier than Lydia had imagined, with all of the dragons waking up and moving about. For being in the rainforest, it was a lot more open than she thought it was. There were paved paths of light dirt, the plant life having been uprooted and moved elsewhere to make it easier for walking dragons, Lydia at first had wondered why they wouldn't all just fly around and stay within the treetops rather than be on the forest floor with all the wild undergrowth, until she saw a few SilkWing dragonets. They were wingless! In the place of their shimmering, butterfly-like wings were four small buds upon their shoulders.

There were plant-and-silk mixed stairways that spiraled up some of the trees, allowing the wingless dragonets to have easier access to the treetops where it seemed that most of the SilkWing's lived, if not most of their mixed tribe that was nearly as large as her own kingdom, with just over a hundred or two residents. Or at least those I can see. There were huts of woven leaves and branches, some even looked to be a part of the trees that towered up like walls around the paths. Some huts had gardens outside of them, with vibrant flowers in full bloom, the largest she'd ever seen for flowers.

Outside of a hut was a LeafWing and his dragonet who was seated by his side, watching in wonder as the LeafWing leaned down, looking to be whispering to some of the flowers, and watching them grow before their very eyes.

Briar was swiftly walking beside her, his longer strides making it to where Lydia needed to quickly trot in order to keep up with him, ignoring the light stinging from her shoulders with each step she took from her wounded side. Lydia reached out with her good wing, tapping Briar's side and making the teal-green LeafWing slow down and look at her with a questioning look. "What was that LeafWing doing?" She asked, pointing back towards the LeafWing who had whispered to the flowers with his dragonet watching beside him. The NightWing felt like she shouldn't be asking, that it wasn't any of her business and that she should stay focused on keeping up with Briar, but her curiosity, and tiredness, won over her. "He made those flowers grow right there!"

"His name's Arrowhead, he's one of the few LeafWings with something called leafspeak." He began to explain as he looked forwards again, picking up his pace and forcing Lydia to do the same, having to pick up her tail in order for it not to drag behind her and slow her down. "It's like how NightWing's have their own abilities, or how all of the tribes have something. Some of us have leafspeak, some stronger than others, but those who do can talk to plants, can encourage them to grow or allow themselves to be moved or molded. Reshaped. That's how some of the huts are actually a part of the trees, those with leafspeak asked the trees to allow us in."

"You can speak to plants?" She never thought a tribe could have such abilities, normally it was either venom, flashy scales, frost breath or fire. My own powers are weird enough.

"Some of us can. They say it's like talking to a dragon who can only say simple phrases and allow you to feel what they feel. It helped us back on Pantala in the Poison Jungle." Briar continued to explain as the pair swiftly walked down the pathway, Lydia trying to ignore the feeling of being watched by the curious eyes around them. The stares from some nearby SilkWings and LeafWings made her wish her wing would allow her to fly, to fly away and hide in a small dark space where her scales would allow her to blend in and not be seen. "It helped to keep dangerou plants away, such as ones that could eat fully grown dragons and snatch up dragonets with ease."

Plants that could eat dragons?? That made a shudder slither down along her spine, making her quicken her pace to walk closer to Briar, as if a massive dragon-hungry plant would suddenly lunge out of nowhere and try to eat her whole.

Lydia looked off to her left as she saw a pair of SilkWing dragonets, around two years old, running and laughing loudly as a LeafWing dragonet chased after them, trying to roar loudly like they were pretending to be a wild beast of stores and legends. It made Lydia's heart ache. When she was that age, her days were filled with playing, sure, but never with any other dragonets. She only played with her parents when they weren't busy, and when they were, she'd have to be quiet and listen while they commanded their hidden kingdom within the mountains.

It's only now that she's beginning to realize just how different her life was.

It was making her wonder if she even wanted to go home back to her kingdom, back to that kind of life and having to watch over the lives of all her subjects while being their leader, their protector, the one who would save them and bring them back to their old kingdom along the peninsula of Pyrrhia, the claws of their continent. Did she want to go back? The thoughts of never going home made her heart pang with grief at the thought of never seeing her parents again, but no one outside of the hidden NightWing kingdom knew who she was.

I can't just leave them, I love them. Lydia adored her parents, and wanted to be more like them when she grew older. Her mothers bravery and courage, her fearlessness in the face of others, Her fathers loving nature, and his ability to soothe any dragon he spoke too, able to understand them just by talking to them. It made the King and Queen a strong pair, almost an unstoppable force, one that evened each other out and looked after one another, keeping each other balanced and grounded. Maybe, if she pushed through her worries, she'd be able to be just like them and wouldn't need to worry about what kind of queen she would be.

Once she got back on track, she'd go back home and help her kingdom, like she was supposed to. Then she remembered the other prophecy, if she could even call it that. Find her. Find her. Find her. Ocean. Down. Flower. Deep below. Hidden in greens. Find the flowers awaiting to be seen. In other words: find Robin, or at least that's what she thinks she's supposed to do. Would these two fates happen one after the other? Or would she have to make a choice, having to pick which one to follow.

Either she went home and followed the prophecy that said she would save her kingdom and return them to their rightful place in Pyrrhia, or, she went on a wild goose chase to find Robin. Both ended in uncertainty, but one of them she was trained for, she'd been taught by her mother and Wiseflight on how she would someday save the tribe and would rule it, bringing the NightWings back to their former glory before the disappearance of their last rightful NightWing queen; Queen Mindwalker, who had disappeared decades ago during the beginning of The Beetle Era in Pyrrhia's history.

The other path she could take was to find the missing flower, to find Robin. If Lydia was to go off to find Robin, she'd have to go out to the sea and find where her body's final resting place was, in the ocean. Maybe she needed to speak with her? Lydia could talk with the dead, but why did she need to? Then she thought about Morpho, and that HiveWing that seemed to be taking him over, scale by scale. The HiveWing who didn't want her to find somebody, to find Robin. Maybe there was something with finding Robin that would stop this HiveWing and Morhpo, who were now killing other dragons, dragons like Farfalla.

At the thought of the dark purple and blue SilkWing, the young NightWing thought she saw him standing ahead of them, like he was waiting for them to catch up before he turned off in another direction, disappearing like a cloud of smoke whisked away by the wind.

I'll decide after I'm done helping Briar, she decided, steeling herself and trying to calm her heart rate. After I'm done helping Farfalla.

"Did you know Farfalla?" She found herself asking, looking up from the freshly worn-down ground pathway, looking up to look at Briar.

Briar looked back at her out of the corner of his brown eyes, before looking back up ahead. "Not closely, but he was a good dragon. Quiet. He was a weaver back on Pantala, worked quietly too." The LEafWing began to describe him, talking about how Farfalla apparently used to be more outgoing and offering to help others, but after the journey across the sea, he became quiet, saddened as though he had lost someone dear to him. "I do know he used to have a partner, another SilkWing, but I can't remember his name."

In those visions, it looked like he was close to Morhpo and could only sit back and watch as he changed, before seeing what he was becoming, what looks to be taking over him. Maybe Morpho was once Farfalla's partner and this HiveWing that's taking him over is changing him, to the point where he's truly no longer Morpho. It was terrifying. Because of Rattlesnake saving her in that dream, it showed that this HiveWing wasn't alive anymore, and was a ghost seemingly looking for revenge. Or at least that's what she thought, she couldn't know for sure but that's her main idea.

"Now, Lydia, can you tell me what exactly you saw in your visions?"

The NightWing princess felt a pang of guilt. Briar believed that her powers were future vision, when in reality she only saw Farfalla's death seemingly after it had already happened, hours after when she had woken up. "Um, well, it was night time when it happened. He was surrounded by trees in a small clearing, one where maybe one or two dragons could fit inside of before they'd be back in the bushes? He was talking to someone named Morpho, a dragon I know, and....he was talking to him but Morpho isn't himself anymore."

"What do you mean 'he isn't himself anymore'?" Briar questioned, turning down the same path that Farfalla's ghost had before disappearing. "You knew him?"

"Kind of." Should I tell him? I haven't told anyone about where I come from. The hidden Night Kingdom is a secret, meant to protect us until the time is right for when we can go home! When...I help us go home. "Back home, he showed up and it looked like he knew my mother." Lydia began to explain, uncertainty hanging from her voice like a leech. "She didn't want him to leave, so my parents decided to keep him around in order to keep an eye on him. He started acting funny and he's....he's the reason I'm here."

"He sent you here?"

"No!" she nearly shouted, startling herself before she took in a deep breath, calming her heart that threatened to leap out of her chest, pounding uncomfortably against her ribs like it was pounding on the bars of a cage, trying to be let out. "He told another NightWing that I was his missing daughter, they took me, they kidnapped me. They killed my friend because he was trying to protect me, and because of something Quickstike did, Moonglobe died. And now I'm here, confused, scared, sore, and just tired. I want to go home."

Lydia didn't mean to let everything out, but once it started, it just didn't stop. She hardly even realized that they had stopped, and Briar was now looking at her with a look of pity and guilt.

"When we're done with going to see where Farfalla was attacked," The LeafWing started with a sweep of his tail, opening his wing to have it hang over Lydia, casting a cooling shade over her that her body relaxed under. Even with the early, crisp morning in the rainforest, it felt nice, soothing. "I know some dragons who can help you get home."

The princess blinked, looking up to meet Brair's gaze with a look of surprise. "Really?" What she said next made her feel childish. "You promise?" but she was a child, she was only five.

"Yeah," he smiled softly, it looked just like Pachira's, just smoother and it felt like she was seeing something rare, something only a few dragons would get to see. "I promise."

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

This place was exactly like in Lydia's visions, where she saw what happened to Farfalla from the sidelines, like nothing more than a spectator who was only supposed to sit and watch and unable to change what happened. The small clearing sparkled in morning dew that coated the lush leaves of ferns and bushes, the fluffy grass glistening as sunlight peeked through the canopy in order to shine down and reach the forest floor.

Just as she had described, the clearing was small, but large enough for two dragons to stand in comfortably at an arms length apart. It felt...eerie. Like at any moment, Morpho might pop out from the bushes and spear her just as he had done with Farfalla, that the morning would suddenly turn back to night and it wouldn't be Farfalla found dead in the morning, it would be her. Lydia shook those thoughts away as a shiver raked down her back, making her spines rise up.

The fluffy grass looked undisturbed, except for a patch that was stained a deep scarlet colour that looked to have dried upon the blades of grass, but also glistened because of the morning dew that clung to it, washing some parts away and making it drip again. Lydia swore she could see Farfalla laying there, a spear sticking out from his back and up into the air like a pole meant to have a flag hanging from it. As soon as she saw it, it was gone, letting Lydia clearly see the clearing once more and the spot of blood.

This was where Farfala died, she took in a shuddering breath, slowly moving forwards, scared that she would disturb anything. Lydia was thankful that the purple SilkWing's body wasn't still laying there.

"Do you know what he was attacked with?" Briar asked from where he stayed along the edge of the clearing, his wings tucked in close as eyes scanning around, alert.

"A spear." It almost came out naturally as she made her way into the clearing, stepping over branches and tiny rocks, making sure to step lightly. "A golden tipped spear with a hook," she described, her wings twitching uncomfortably. "It was long, with a wooden staff, the actual spear was curved like IceWing claws, but without being serrated."

"Where was he attacked with it?"

"Through his chest and shoulder blades, one wound, coming from behind."

The air grew still, the only sound was the life of the large rainforest around them waking up with life as the animals and critters, much like the dragons in the village, were getting ready to start their morning, unaware of the intensity that hung as heavily as the humidity in the air around them. Lydia turned to look back at Briar from over her shoulder. "He kept saying he would help Morpho, that he could get help." She practically muttered, her voice a mere whisper, before looking back towards the blood-stained clump of grass that waved in the soft breeze like it was waving at her. "But Morpho wouldn't listen...." that HiveWing wouldn't listen.

A snap off in the treeline made both Briar and Lydia jump. Lydia's shoulders tensing as she crouched, her mind snapping back into awareness as if it was instinct, her red eyes scanning the trees as her legs grew tense, ready to bold. Briar on the other talon hunched his shoulders, one of his arms positioned back, neary under one of his wings, preparing to grab something as he pounded a little closer to Lydia, standing right by her tail and ready to move the second something happened.

The NightWing's mind was racing, her breathing sounded louder than the birds that happily chirped and cawed overhead, the sounds of other animals echoing throughout the rainforest, the sounds of their calls sounding muffled in Lydia's ringing ears that were trying too hard to listen, filling the emptiness the animals and life around them couldn't fill with a staticky ring. She could feel her heart pulsing through her body, steadily, but increasing.

Has Landslide found me? Has Quickstrike come to get me and take me back to his village? She didn't want to go back, she didn't want to die by the same talons that murdered one of her freinds. She didn't want to see either of those two dragons EVER again, they took her friends from her, they took her life away.

Everything was tense for what felt like an hour, when in reality it was just mere moments before anything happened. Up ahead, the bushes rustled, Lydia's heart pounded, and Briar's claws gripped onto something strapped to his hip. Before either of the two could react, a dragon's face poked out, nearly making Lydia's heart leap from her chest and Briar attack with the long hooked dagger he gripped tightly in his talons.

It was a HiveWing, one with green scales with odd light patched scattered across his body in clusters. His eyes were a dark green, almost blue, that fit well against his scales but also stood out like a star in the night sky. Normal, yet bright and noticeable. Hanging from his neck was a necklace made of a simple, thin rope that looked smooth to the touch, clearly made to be worn instead of used. Attached to the thin rope by two small golden loops were two wooden-carved pendants: One of a sunflower, and one of a fruit.

Lydia was ready to bold, to run back to Pachira's hut and to hide away within the soft nest of blankets, but stopped herself, sinking her claws into the ground to stop herself from fleeing when Briar spoke. "Lychee?" The teal-green leafWing blinked, the webbed spines along his back laying down once more, no longer raised in agitation and aggression. "What, in the love of the trees, are you doing here?"

"I was here looking for you," The green HiveWing said simply, not beating around the bush as he stepped out from the rainforests lush undergrowth, shaking out one of his hind talons, almost gently, as a few strag sof wet grass tried to cling to his scales. "Pachira said you took off in a hurry this morning with a dragonet? I was hoping you weren't busy and came to ask if I could-...." he paused, blinking, his face turning into one of surprise as he spotted Lydia.

She flinched when his eyes landed on her. The only thing she could think of when she saw him was HIVEWING! MORPHO! HIDE! And she did just that as she backed up to hide in Briar's shadow. She wanted to feel bad for thinking that way, this HiveWing didn't look anything like the one that was seemingly fusing with Morpho and taking him over, but that's all she could think about, all her mind would loop back around to.

"That's a NightWing dragonet."

Briar snorted with a roll of his eyes, standing up straighter and putting his long dagger away back in the sheath hidden under his wing that Lydia hadn't even realized was there. "No, it's a reading monkey."

"You know those are called Scavengers right?"

"Reading monkeys." Briar repeated with a childlike sense of stubbornness before the HiveWing, Lychee, brought their conversation back on track.

"What are you doing with a NightWing dragonet?"

"Pachira found her by the creek along the border close to those mountain dragons' territory. Infected shoulder, passed out, dehydrated, close to showing signs of starving, any longer and you could start counting her ribs." Briar listed off, making Lydia slink back further into his shadow as she listened. Did I really look that horrible? She asked herself as Briar continued on. "You know how Pachira is with dragonets, you saw it for yourself back on Pantala. She took her in without a second thought, even if some angry NightWing's came looking for their lost dragonet."

Just the mention of angry NightWing parents made her think of Charming and Animosity, reminding her of how she'll be back home soon, Briar promised.

"Shouldn't she be resting then?" Lychee asked, a hint of concern lacing his voice as he tilted his head to try and get a better look at Lydia. Blue eyes meeting red.

Briar paused at that, thinking it over as he looked off to the side. Did he forget she was still injured and unable to fly without her whole arm screaming in protest as it recovered and fought off infection with Pachria's helpful care? "I just learned something that made it slip my mind."

"And is that why you're out here? Along the edge of the village? In a clearing with...with..." Lychee's eyes caught on the stained grass in the center of the clearing, through whirling through his head before everything seemed to click as he looked back towards the two of them, but more so Briar as Lydia was content to stay quiet and keep the attention of the strange looking HiveWing off of herself. "Is there where...?"

"Yeah," Briar's voice was short and right to the point, like a dragon trying to hide their feelings. "This is where it happened."

"Where Farfalla died?"

Briar simply nodded his head this time, not meeting Lychee's eye.

In a much quieter voice, Lychee whispered "You know it's not your fault, right?" Briar looked like he wanted to argue, but Lychee continued. "You were on guard on the other side of the village." When Briar didn't comment any further, the green HiveWing looked back down at her.

Briar blamed himself? She looked up at the LeafWing, who in turn looked down at her, giving her a reassuring look. "Lydia, this is Lychee, a...friend."

"That's an interesting way of saying one of your best friends." The HiveWing smiled.

Briar snorted with a shake of his head, "You need to stop hanging around Daffodil." Lychee's smile only broadened before looking down back at Lydia.

"Are you both here to investigate some more?"

Lydia nodded her head quietly along with Briar. "I thought that having a NightWing take a look at it might be helpful." because she has powers, went unsaid and she was thankful that Briar didn't make any mention about it. "And it was."

Both Lychee and Lydia blinked in surprise, looking at Briar. "It was?" they both said in unison.

"Yes, it was." Briar swept his wing over Lydia, giving her a light nudge. "Which means we need to get back to the village and warn everybody."

"What?" Lychee trotted quickly to keep up, not needing too much since his legs were longer than both Briar's and Lydia's. "What do you mean warn everybody, Briar?"

"We know who did it, and they could still be here."

That hadn't caught up with Lydia yet, but with Briar saying it out loud made it all feel like it was crashing down upon Lydia's shoulders and pressing in on her chest, suffocating her pounding heart. Morpho was here the night before I found the creek, before I was found by Briar and Pachira. She felt a feeling of cold dread drip down her back, the feeling of an icy gold stare burning into the back of her neck as they walked, heading back for the LeafWing and SilkWing village. They might still be here.

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

When they returned to the village, it felt like all eyes were suddenly on them. LeafWings and SilkWings alike were watching them, sure, it wasn't all of them, but the feeling of being watched burning into the back of Lydia's head as they walked. The little NightWing had been moved in between the towering form of Lychee and the clever of Briar's leafy wings that hovered over her, casting a shadow for her scales to blend into. Aside from my coloured scales, she thought with a slight nervous glare shot down towards her own talons that felt like they stuck out like a sore claw. NightWing's did have markings sometimes, she's seen guards with them back home, but none like hers, none that stood out so differently against her scales. They're just from dad's side, she told herself, ignoring the way her mind thought back to Quickstrike's markings and how similar they were to hers, almost uncanonly so.

"Lydia," Briar's voice pulled her out of her thoughts, making her look up and meet his brown eyes with her red ones that glittered in the shadow his wing casted, even though it wasn't much as the sunlight that filtered through the canopies of the massive rainforest trees seemed to filter through his wings as well. "When we get home, I need you to sketch out Morpho's face for me, alright? It doesn't have to be pretty, it just needs to be as close as possible, with as many details as you can remember from your visions."

That won't be hard, she thought bitterly, surprising herself. Morpho's half HiveWing face was engraved into the back of her mind, like a lingering nightmare that haunted her like those moon forsaken torches in that dark brick tunne, and Roseary's cries and screams of a traitor. "Okay," she nodded her head, feeling her earring bounce at the movement, it's weight feeling reassuring, comforting, familiar. "I can do that."

Lydia's never really drawn anything before, aside from messy doodles and crude drawing when she was a little dragonet. Charming would always praise her and adore every little thing she made, cherishing it like they were the most prized jewels in all of Pyrrhia. Even though she hasn't drawn anything since she was two, it shouldn't be too hard, right? It might not be the best, but Morpho's face felt like it would forever be in the back of her mind, lingering, waiting, watching.

A shiver ran up along her spine, making her pause and look behind her towards the end of the path where they had just come out from the thick foliage that no longer felt welcoming and beautiful. It now felt dangerous, like something was watching her with its predatory eyes, just waiting for her to step a little too far away from the others in order to snatch her away to never be seen again. The thoughts of her parents hopelessly searching for her and never finding her made her heart clench up and ache, her throat feeling tight and her wings feeling heavy.

Then, Farfalla flickered by the end of the path, starin at Lydia with his lifeless yet terrified eyes. He just stood there, watching her, wings twitching nervously as his jaws moved, saying something she couldn't hear. It was like when she first found Fatefinder after he died, all over again. Farfalla sounded muffled, like he was underwater and trying to talk to her while being right beside her, yet far away at the same time.

A sense of dread felt like it was washing over her in a suffocating wave. "Farfalla?" Lydia's voice was quiet, a mere whimper as her ears pinned back, grabbing the attention of both Lychee and Briar who had stopped in their tracks a few steps ahead, each looking back at her with looks of confusion and concern, but Lydia couldn't see them, all the could focus on was Farfalla, who just stood there.

Everything seemed to become dark, the looming trees casting long shadows that stretched across the ground in threatening clusters that wriggled and churned the longer she could see them from her peripheral vision. There were a pair of eyes staring out at her from within the bushes, glowing in the dark, almost tauntingly. One a deep, suffocating blue, and the other a glittering black.

"They're coming for me, they're coming for me, they're coming for me." Lydia was wheezing, feeling out of breath as her heart roared within her ears, ribs constricting like hungry vibers. Those haunting eyes, the ones that are after her, the ones that don't want Lydia to find her.

Her mind felt like it allowed her body to take full control as she ran, ignoring the pain in her shoulder as she ran past Briar and Lychee, ignoring their calls for her as she ran, fear spiking through her like stalagmites spiking up from the ground and impaling her from all sides, making her nerves feel like they were on fire from the adrenaline. Lydia didn't know where she was going, just dashing down along the pathway with the feeling of something chasing behind her, ready to pounce on her and drag her away.

She wanted to hide, to curl up somewhere safe and not be found. The NightWing felt as if there was only one place to go, one place that she could run to and know she would be protected, she would be safe.

"Pachira!" She cried out, heading right for the friendly LeafWing's house. Lydia saw the door begin to open, and she didn't hesitate before barreling intisde. "Pachira! Pachira!" The princess felt like she was calling for her father after having a bad nightmare, crying over the terrifying dreams that haunted her for minutes after she awoke.

Before she knew it, she had collided into the LeafWing who let out a surprised shout when Lydia slammed into her chest. The NightWing clung to Pachira, violent shivers raking along her spine as though they hurt.

"Lydia!" Pachria's arms wrapped around her, holding her close with her wings acting as a blanket of security around Lydia's shoulders. "What's wrong? Where's Briar?"

Her mind was still fuzzy, yet sharp as panic's cold iron grip held on tightly, refusing to let go as its claws sunk into Lydia's scales. "They're coming for me, they're coming for me! They're going to get me!" she felt hysterical, but she couldn't break out of it.

"Who? Who's coming to get you?" Pachira asked, holding onto Lydia tiger while she looked towards the door, her scarlet red eyes wide in fear. Lydia could faintly see both Briar and Lychee standing in the open doorway, watching with bated breath as they huffed, having chased after her.

"Morpho and the HiveWing, they're coming to get me like they said they would. They said they would, they said they would!" She cried, her claws gripping onto Pachira's forearms tightly, pressing into the other dragon's scales. Her heart felt like it was going to break, shatter into a million pieces from how hard it was pounding, roaring within her ears like a thousand drums all thundering together in a cave, making the sound echo and ring. "They're going to kill me! They're after me because they don't want me to find her! They don't want me to find her!"

Pachira's eyes were as wide as saucers as she looked down at Lydia with worry in her dual coloured eyes. There was another LeafWing standing by the door, one who looked to be a few years older than Lydia with rich green scales covered in darker green speckles. His eyes were a bright gold, almost glowing. His wings looked a little too large for his body, his legs thin and lanky, like his body hadn't yet fully grown into itself.

"Find who?" Pachira asked. "Who are they trying to stop you from finding, Lydia?"

The new LeafWing tried to speak, "Mom-?"

Lydia cut him off. Her voice shook, taking shuddering breaths that felt as cold as ice yet suffocating, as if her throat was closing up. "Robin." She managed to force out with a sob. "I need to find the flower, I need to find her and they don't want me too, they wont let me find her."

The room went silent as the words that haunted her flowed from her mouth freely without any restraint, repeating what the strange notes that she and Fatefinder had desigfered, read.

"Find her. Find her. Find her. Ocean. Down. Flower. Deep below. Hidden in greens. Find the flowers awaiting to be seen."

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

When the others had managed to calm her down, Briar was able to get a sketch out of the scared NightWing dragonet. Even with how her claws wobbled,  her lines sharp and messy, the face was clear enough to be able to see the SilkWing whose face was being slowly taken over by sharp HiveWing scales and a smooth horn on his forehead, his right horn thickening, shortening and becoming smooth, losing its light ridges. The right side of his face was sharp and menacing, the HiveWing's black eye feeling like an endless void, while his left side was rounder with smooth scales and long, thin horns with antennae.

"Don't worry Lydia," Briar reassured her as he took the tan coloured scroll-paper from her talons, rolling it up in his palms with a single motion as if he'd done so several times before and had it memorized. "We won't let them get you, alright?" The LeafWing looked at her, the princess sitting quietly by the table with Pachira holding her close. "I promised to help you get home, and I don't go back on my word."

All she could do was quietly nod, feeling drained from her hysterical sobbing and cries just moments before. She's never broken down like this before, and it was draining. She's never felt so tied and numb before, but for the first in a long time, she's felt safe too. Pachira had yet to let her go, holding her close in her arms and letting the young princess rest her head in the crook of her neck. If she closed her eyes, she could almost believe she was within her mothers arms, being held close and safe while her mother whispered sweet nothings into her ears.

"Could someone maybe explain what's going on?" Lychee asked from where he stood siftly beside the closed woven door separating them from the outside world. His dragonfly-like wings were twitching uncertainty upon his shoulders, creating a light buzz from time to time as Briar handed the newly rolled up scroll to the other LeafWing, who was standing in the room who looked to be in a daze, just staring at Lydia with wide, unreadable golden eyes.

"I'll explain the best I can." Briar told them as the other LeafWing seemed to snap out of his daze and realize that Briar was trying to hand him a scroll. He took it hesitantly, almost looking embarrassed.

"Sorry, I wasn't....I wasn't listening. What am I supposed to do with this?" The younger LeafWing asked, his voice was light, tired sounding and nervous, as if he didn't trust his own voice. I don't trust my own right now.

"I need you to go to the protection cuncel and have them start making hunting parties to find this dragon, Morpho."

"O-Okay, I'll be right back." He didn't look to need any more convincing as he was quick to leave, shutting the woven door made of vines, branches, and silk, behind him with his tail. For the short time the door was open, Lydia's grip on Pachira's forearms grew tighter, claws pricking the older dragon's scales as her reassuring hold tightened around her, pressing her closer.

Briar and Lychee watched him go, the two green dragons looking worriedly as they watched the other LeafWing presumably fly off to wherever he was instructed to go. "He hasn't gotten any better," Lychee stated softly, his ears lightly pushed back. "Has he?"

"No," Pachira's voice was quiet. "No he hasn't, it's hit him the hardest and he's gotten worse."

"I've been getting him to do some things around the village, but he still needs time before he will be back to normal." Briar shook his head, turning back towards the table and sitting himself down across from Lydia and Pachira, sitting on one of the soft seat cushions. "Thorn still has night terrors from that day."

"I feel like we all do." Lychee too sounded wilted, as if he'd been snapped at by an angry soldier.

After a few moments of silence that felt more deafening than a fire-breathing sky letting out all of it's fury through clashing thunder and heavy rain pour, Briar began to explain what was going on, after asking Lydia if she wanted to tell them, to which she shook her head, not trusting herself to speak. As Briar started to tell Lychee and Pachira what had happened, Lydia was beginning to get lost within her thoughts, her mind feeling numb as fuzzy, her limbs weighing her down as if she were wearing shackles meant to keep her from flying.

Why can't everything go back to the way they used to be? She wondered, pressing the side of her face further into Pachira's shoulder. Before Landslide's ambush, before Quickstrike took me away, before Fatefinder died, before Morpho even showed up into the underground kingdom, before all of it. She began to tune back into the conversation, her ears twitching and her earring bouncing against her scales, reassuring her like Pachira's comforting embrace.

"-en she started talking to herself, saying Farfalla's name." He's already gotten that far? It felt like she had only zoned out for a second, when it must've actually been a minute or two. "Then we got here. I don't know if it's normal for NightWings powers to make them react like that, but she just looked terrified, as if something was truly there."

"There's still a lot we don't know about the other tribes here on Pyrrhia," Lychee pipped up. "That could just be how some visions are, and we haven't exactly asked any NightWing's what it's like, we've only heard from the MudWing's really."

"I thought there was a power that was connected to those white scales around their eyes?" Pahira asked softly. "I remember Shadowsplitter having them."

"Let's get back on track," Briar flapped his wings. "I promised to help Lydia get home, and if Morpho is the one who kidnapped her and is now trying to kill her, we should get her out of here before she ends up like Farfalla, with a hole through her chest." Lydia shivered at the imagery, feeling Pachira's arms tighten around her as the mother LeafWing must've shot her son a lightly scolding look by the way he quickly moved on. "I can take her back home, I'm one of the most experienced with being outside of the village."

"You're not going alone!" Parchia fretted with a hiss. "At least take Daffodil with you."

"The LeafWing from this morning?" Lydia found herself numbly asking, lifting her gaze from her wooden table to look up and met Briar's warm brown eyes with her own vibrant ruby ones.

Briar blinked, a softer look flashing through his eyes while his body stayed tense. "Yeah," he nodded, "The LeafWing from this morning I pointed out to you."

"If you want," Lychee cut back in, his tail coiling around his talons. "I can tag along, since me and Sunflower live past the edge of the village, I can help with navigating."

While Briar and Lychee began talking about who they'd allow to come along with them, and what they should possibly take with them -Briar mainly suggesting weapons that Lydia had never even heard of-, Pachira looked down at Lydia, her wings wrapped around Lydia's back like a leafy blanket that allowed a small amount on sunlight to filter through, making the little NightWing's scales almost appear to look brown. "Those two get like this sometimes, they didn't even ask where your home is." The motherly LeafWing smiled softly, pulling a small one out of Lydia in turn. "Where is home Lydia?"

"In the mountains, between Claws of the Clouds Mountain and Jade Mountain."

"In the mountains?" Pachira blinked in quiet surprise. "You don't live in the Claw Peninsula? The Night Kingdom?"

"No," She shook her head, pushing the side of her face closer to Pachira, listening to her steady heartbeat. Not yet at least. "We live in the mountains, close to the Claw Peninsula. I live there with my mom and dad." And the rest of my tribe who follows them instead of Queen Misfortunate. Thinking of the other NightWing Queen reminded her of how her parents were keeping this civil war hidden, until Lydia was ready to help them save their tribe and take back their kingdom, ready to fulfill the prophecy. The prophecy that Lydia hadn't even been told the words to. "Animosity and Charming."

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

Lydia felt anxious as she stood waiting with Briar and Lychee, with Pachira by her side by an archway of vines and branches that almost looked to have grown into the shape of a tall archway. At first she hadn't spotted it, until she looked up when a colourful bird screeched before taking off into the air with another one chasing after it. The birds were vibrant blues and yellows, with tails tipped in green. "Those are macaws," Pachira had told her with a smile, "noisy birds, but they're funny. Some of them have been copying dragons and playing with some of the SilkWing dragonets."

Some dragonets were watching them, along with parents who eyed Lydia with curiosity and suspicion, though most of the suspicious looks shot their way were directed towards Lychee, though the green HiveWing didn't seem to mind, or at least didn't show if it did. The oddly coloured HiveWing nearly blended in with the bushes and large ferns along the edge of the path, growing in thick clumps around the arch way. The only thing that made him stand out were his wings, they glistened and sparkled when sunlight touched them, like polished glass or jewels. Lychee's necklace was another thing that helped to desperate him from the foliage, the golden clasps holding the carved pendants onto the rope would gleam in the light, drawing any dragon's attention.

The more she looked at then, the more she wondered what they were for. It was an odd airing, a weird spiky fruit and a sunflower. Normally some dragons had a reason behind their jewelry. Oh, that soldier over there? Her earring was from her partner. That royal hall guard? His necklace came from his little brother. Lydia's earring had a meaning, or at least to her it did. It was one of her first treasures given to her by her father, and one of the few given to her by her mother. Both of her parents gave it to her when she was three. Charming told her it matched well with her eyes, while Animosity told her it went well with her crown, and didn't dra in too much attention. The two dragons had very different senses of fashion, so Lydia treasured the earring, one of the few pieces of jewelry the two could agree upon and gave to her. Plus, it just felt reassuring, like it was something more than just an earring.

"There you are!" Briar's exclamation pulled Lydia out of her thoughts, pushing her back into the present. She blinked, shaking her head to help clear her mind before looking up to see what had gotten Briar to break the comforting silence between the small group while they waited for Daffodil. Speaking of the lighter green coloured LeafWing, she was heading their way with a leafy looking chestplate, the same kind that Briar had on. They were hard like armor, looking to be made out of large leaves that folded over one another like scales, curling up into spikes for protection where one leaf ended and a new one came out from underneath it.

The armor leaves were lined in a shimmering golden paint, making them stand out, but not so much so that they would limit their ability to hide within the undergrowth and lush vegetation that surrounded them. Briar was wearing one as well, the only ones not having any of the strange armor being Lychee and Lydia herself.

"We'll I'm so sorry you came to me on such short notice," The other LeafWing snorted with a roll of her pale, lime green eyes. "Already dressed in some of your armor, which, by the way, why aren't we wearing all of it?"

"The dragon who killed Frafalla didn't do anything else to him," Briar explained with a flick of his tail. "So we just have to worry about our chests, hence the chest plate."

"Oh, well I guess that makes sense, but it still feels strange, like I'm only wearing half of my scales." Daffodil shook out her wings, shiving at the thought that made her webbed spines nervously flap along her back like a sail. Before Briar could say anything else about it, that's when the other LeafWing spotted both Lychee and Lydia, her pale eyes widening as she smiled. "Oh hello! Lychee, it's good to see you!"

Lychee hardly had time to respond before he was enveloped into a hug that nearly toppled the tall, green HiveWing over, his wings buzzing upon his shoulders as he smiled. "Hi Daffodil, It's good to see you too."

"And you must be Lydia!" The LeafWing's attention turned towards her. The little NightWIng leaned back into Pachira's chest from where she sat in front of the older LeafWing. Luckily, Daffodil didn't tackle her into a hug like she had with Lychee.

"Are we ready to go?" Briar asked with a huff, flicking his tail as Daffodil let go of Lychee.

Daffodil waved one of her talons in dismissal. "Yes, we are, we were just waiting for you."

"I- We were waiting for you-" He was cut off by the other LeafWings laugh as she spread her wings, leaping up into the air and allowing the small breeze to help lift her up above their heads. "Nevermind, let's go."

"Wait!" They all turned their heads in the direction of the voice, Lydia spotting the LeafWing from before who had taken her sketch of Morpho and the HiveWing to their protection council.

"Thorn? What are you doing here? I thought I sent you to the protection council?"

"I already gave it to them, and heard you were leaving. So I rushed here." The LeafWing, Thorn, flew over and landed with a light thud onto the tan-coloured dirt pathway in front of them. "I'm coming too."

"You're what?"

"I'm coming too. I know I haven't done much in the village since we arrived here, but I want to do something." He paused, his leafy wings shifting nervously from where they huffed his sides. "I want to do this."

As Lydia watched them from where she sat, her back pressed into Pachira's front as the motherly LeafWing's wings were wrapped around her like a blanket, she realized how similar Briar and Thorn looked. They both shared the same long, thin horns, whip-like tails, tall bodies with slender necks and the same facial shape. Just Thorn looked a lot younger than him and was shorter than the darker coloured LeafWing, his scales being closer to Pachira's in shade but just being a little richer in shade.

Thats when it clicked. Thorn! His name is Thorn! Pachira's other son.

The two brothers were giving each other a look, almost as if they were talking to one another silently within the privacy of their minds. After a few seconds, that's when Briar seemed to give in, letting out a sigh through his parted teeth, a tired look flashing through his eyes. "Fine, but you have to do exactly as we say, and you'll need to quickly rush back home and get your chest plate, you'll need it."

Thorn didn't look as though he needed to be told twice, as he dashed off in the direction of their hut, unfurling his wings and taking off.

"Once he gets back, we'll be heading for the mountains by the Claw Peninsula." Briar looked back towards Lydia, his wings pulling themselves up higher and his chest puffing out. "And we'll be taking Lydia home."

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

The hut was quiet, almost eerily so with none of her sons home, or the young NightWing Lydia. It felt lively, if not tense, but still full. It reminded Pachira of when they were back on Pantala, housing Robin. The young Pyrrhian hybrid was full of life, loud, and spunky, encouraging Thorn to come out of his shell and actually make some friends. But after Robin's death, he had sealed himself away again and even more than before.

But maybe she's not dead, the LeafWing thought from where she sat at her table, alone with only the comfort of the plants hanging around her for company. She knew it was a foolish thing to think. The SkyWing-NightWing dragonet sank below the waves, not even her friend Snowflake could save her, who was part IceWing and could swim. Pachira had to dive in, in order to keep her from drowning herself. The rest of the flight there, she'd carried Princess Snowflake to the shore, crying along with her as they found a winglet of SeaWing's who helped them search once they got over their shock of the new tribes. When they had returned, they regrettably told them that she was gone and they couldn't find her.

Idas and her agreed to let her take a few days to herself in order to tend to Lydia. The little NightWing's shoulder had shown signs of early infection, but Pachira had never worked on a dragon with scales as dark as night; she nearly missed the wound that was settled between the scales along Lydia's wings on her shoulder. The LeafWing had to clean it out, being careful as to not wake up the exhausted and small dragonet. How terrified she looked when she walked in to see her awake, lying in bed with her head down and bright red eyes wide like moons. Pachira had never seen such eyes before, never seen eyes that looked like rubies laid out to glitter and dance in the sunlight.

They reminded her of Robin's eyes; bright, vibrant, full of life. And from that first day they met; fear, but also warning, silently saying "if you come any closer, I'll send an entire nest of bullet ants upon you." A fierce dragonet with a fiery personality to go with it. But Lydia was the complete opposite from Robin. She was quet, soft spoken, skittish, terrified.

Pachira knew something horrible had happened to that dragonet, she was traumatized.

She just wanted to hold her close, tell her everything was alright, that she could protect her and chase all of her fears away. It was the same way she felt with her sons whenever they would wake up, terrified from a nightmare as young ragonets, terrified of being attacked by the HiveWing's in their sleep. But now Thorn mainly had night terrors from that day, the day of Robin's drowning. Pachira felt the same way towards Lydia like she had with Robin; wanting to protect and shelter her from the horrors the world can possess.

And her voice....She sounded so much like Robin, it was like she was actually talking to the lively dragonet again, but it wasn't here, this was a different dragonet who came from another tribe, different parents. Animosity and Charming she said, Pachira hummed, looking at her palms as her arms rested upon the table. They'll be fine, they'll all be fine.

Knock Knock Knock.

The LeafWing's ears perked up as the sound echoed throughout her hut, ringing in her ears. Who could that be? She wondered if it was Idas coming to see how she was doing, or he needed her help with something. The two did make quite the team when it came to leading their tribes, but it was clear that the other kingdoms gave them weird glances for not having a royal family and not even calling themselves a kingdom. But they worked well together.

Pachira was a good face for their leadership, and was generally calm but was able to come up with quick decisions when needed. Idas was a quiet, aloof SilkWing who didn't like to speak much. But when it came to long term problems, it was almost like he had it all mapped out within a matter of days, even hours. He never looked to care or put much effort into his job as co-ruler, but she knew he did. She knew how he would sometimes spend endless nights working without the prying eyes of others.

They were a good team, and it made her wish she had met him before leaving Pantala, but she was glad to know him now.

She stood up from where she sat, heading towards the door and grabbin the woven vine handle that slipped through two holes in some of the bound wood. When she opened it, she was quite shocked at who was on the others side. She had to blink for a second as it clicked in her mind on who it was. "What are you all doing here?" Pachira asked in surprise.

It was dark outside, heavy rain clouds having covered the sky a few hours after her sons, Daffodil, Lychee and Lydia had left the village in the direction of the mountains. It hadn't begun to rain yet, but the coldness in the air held the heavy, yet comforting, sent of rain.

There were four dragons standing outside her door, all varying in height and in tribes. The first was a broad shouldered, grey-ish brown NightWing with teardrop scales on the corners of his golden glowing eyes. Standing beside him was a tall, slender SkyWing. The third was  NightWing-RainWing hybrid with bandages holding up her limp wings from dragging across the forest floor. And the fnail dragon was a SandWing with two barbless tails and the face of a NightWing, wearing all kinds of simple, yet beautiful emeral based jewelery.

"Hey Pachira," Shadowsplitter said, a tired smile spreading across his face. "May we come in?"

"Of course!" She stepped aside to allow them access into her hut. "Especially with this storm coming and you think I wouldn't?" Pachira gave him a look, as if daring him to answer, which earned her a laugh from him. Good, she thought once she closed the door behind them. They need those small moments of joy, especially after everything. "How's Python doing?"

"He's doing good," Lavender's frills twitched happily at the mention of her and Salamander's son. Python was one of Robin's friends, someone that Thorn had gotten along with for the time they were close, but after Robin's death, they needed some time apart. "He's wanting to try out to become a member of the township guard."

"That's great," Pachira smiled, walking around them to take her seat at the table once more, Shadowsplitter following suit with Funnel sticking by his side, not saying a word. The SkyWing seemed to have wheeped her voice dry since the death of her daughter. Apparently she used to be a lively and kind hearted SkyWing, but since Robin's death, she'd been queit, miserable. Pachria knew that if she had lost one of her sons, she would be the same. The grief would be overwhelming. "If he ever wants any pointers, Brair's always free and I bet he would love to see how much he's grown."

"We'll let him know, I bet he won't even hesitate to say yes and would want to fly across Pyrrhia right away." Salamander chuckled, leading her wife Lavender to sit down beside her brother-in-law: Shadowsplitter, Lavender's half-brother. "We just stopped by to ask somethings."

"Shoot your slingshot." She odded, folding her forearms and leaning slightly on the table. "I'll answer the best I can." Maybe Python's already planning on asking Briar for some help?

Shadowsplitter was the one to speak up, copying Pachira's posture from where he sat. "Have you seen a NightWing dragonet around? Five or so years old, timid, shy, quiet?"

She blinked, ears perking up. "Yes, I have. I actually took her in two days ago." she began to explain how she found Lydia passed out by the small river that ran just a little ways away into SkyWing territory, and how she and Brair had been looking for some Wooly Lambs Ear for her herbal stores. The whole village relied on her stroage, along with their other healer, Caterpillar, who had taken up the job to help ease Pachira's workload. "Her name was Lydia, why?"

"We were looking for her after an attack at a nearby MudWing villiage, where she came from. Some...tragic things happened and another dragonet lost his life and Swiftrunner, or Lydia nearly lost hers before the town guard showed up."

Swiftrunner? Attack? A dragonet lost their life? She immidetly wanted to ask what had happened, but something else caught her attention. "Where she came from? Lydia didn't come from a MudWing village, she came from the mountains." Pachira narrowed her eyes slightly, leaning her head back. "She came from the mountains. Lychee, Daffodil, and Briar and Thorn are off right now taking her back home to her parents."

The four dragons in front of her all shared a look of mild confusion, before Shadowsplitter pressed on. "Pachira, did she say who her parents are? Who her father is? Was he a NightWing, a bounty hunter, named Quickstrike?"

"No, he wasn't named Quickstrike, and she had two parents, not one." the LeafWing shook her head slowly, her wings pressing into her sides. "Her parents names were Charming and Animosity."

The whole room went still, silence filling the air like the humidity the rain would soon bring, almost suffocating. Lavender's pink eyes widened. Salamander's body grew tense as she grit her teeth, sharing a look with her shorter partner as they scoted closer together. Funnel's ears pined back, giving Lavender a worried look. While Shadowsplitter had a look of horror, wide eyes and his jaws slightly parted, his golden eyes looking down at the table, thinking something over in his head. "Pachira, I need you to tell me this, it's for the sake of a whole tribe."

"Shadowsplitter? Whats going on-"

"Where are they now?" The look on his face shut her up, making her jaws click and her webbed spines quiver, raising in agitation. "Pachira, where are they going?"

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- MindlessTyper