When Lydia woke up her eyes shot open, heart racing from her dream with Farfalla. She felt woozy at first, like when she would get up too fast after sitting in her small throne for too long with her parents, but after shaking her head to clear away the lingering drowsiness that clouded her mind it felt a little better. She'd never had a dream like that before, it was nothing like the nightmares or other visits she's had. He was warning me of something, she was breathing heavily through her teeth. But he was also thanking me, but for what? It was still dark out, the last of the embers from the fire were casting the small hidden clearing in an eerie orange glow that seemed to make the densely surrounded clearing even darker, only illuminating the sleeping forms of the dragons around her.

Briar and Daffodil had their sides pressed together, intertwined with one another as they slept. The darker LeafWing's wings wrapped around them like a warm blanket. Briar's face was laid next to Daffodil's, the two LeafWings slept with their faces outlined by the burning embers. Less than a wing length away was Thorn, the younger LeafWing tucked into a tight ball, nearly as small as Lydia if she were laying down normally and not tucked up into an even smaller ball. Then there was Lychee: the green HiveWing had his back towards the remains of the fire, his wings occasionally twitching in his sleep.

It would've been peaceful if it weren't for the way Lydia felt like they were being watched, a burning sensation making the scales along her neck feel hot, her spines raising in alarm as she looked around. It took her a few moments for her eyes to adjust to the dark, not nearly as long as before, but once they had she was able to scan the dense treeline. There was no one there, but Lydia still felt uneasy.

Maybe I'm just uneasy from the dream, her lips pressed into a thin line of worry, unconvinced. As the minutes ticked on, the feeling began to disappear, but her unease did not. It continued to build up inside of her until it chased away any chances of the princess falling back asleep. But Lydia didn't know if she even wanted to fall back asleep. Would she be visited by Farfalla again? It was weird, something new. I'm really starting to not like new things, her ears pressed down against her skull, tilting back as she tried to settle herself back down. The young five year old NightWing curled back up into a tight ball, her wings wrapping around herself and pulling her cloak coser to help trap in her body heat and to keep the chilly night breeze out that tried to nip at her scales.

As she tried to calm her racing heart by taking in slow breaths, she started to think more about her dream with a clearer view no longer fogged by drowsiness and unease. What were those berries he was holding? Lydia had never seen them before, but something about them felt wrong, like a sudden stillness had settled into the air as soon as she could see them, no matter how pretty they looked, they felt wrong. They were in the visions too, when they were crossing the sea. Are they a type of berry from Pantala? Lydia's never seen anything like those berries before, no fruits that look to be little balls of night that could fit in a dragon's palm.

As Lydia continued to think about them more and more, she decided to hold off on them for now and focus on the events from the visions. Farfalla and Morpho talking in the Jungle, Morpho had those berries out at sea and he was watching Robin ahead of them, Robin drowns just a few miles away from Pyrrhian shores, her claws curled tightly, talons pressing into her palms as she paused. Wait.....Morpho had the berries while flying across the sea, and Robin was still alive, then after she drowned....Lydia didn't like where that thought was going. It made a shiver rake its cold claws down her spine. I can't just assume he was the cause of her drowning, I don't know what those berries do, but she had an idea of what they did, and she didn't like it.

"L-..-..-a?"

Her ears twitched at the muffled noise. A cold feeling washed over her like a wave lapping the shores. She felt like the soft crackling of the burning embers softene- no, muffled, they became muffled as she strained her ears. Looking around, she saw nobody, except for the others who were all still quietly asleep, unaware of the young NightWings silent distress that was rearing it's ugly head once more.

"L-...-..-a?" There it was again.

Lydia's tail tucked closer to herself, her limbs curling in tighter to her body to make herself smaller. A cold breeze fluttered past her side, as if it had been pushed by someone moving closer. "Ly-...-a?" Her oddly coloured claws tightly gripped talonfulls of soft grass, not tugging them free from the soil, but a strong enough grip that if she flinched, their stems would tear. "Ar-...-......-..-..sl...ep?.....I don-.....nk....--...ear us-..." The voice in her ears was muffled, sounding far away yet right in her ears at the same time, like it was inside of her head and waterlogged.

She saw flickering movement out of the corner of her eye and she couldn't help but turn to see what it was. For a split second, she thought she saw the flickering silhouettes of Moonglobe and Fatefinder, but as soon as she blinked, they were gone. "Moonglobe?" she quietly called out, not daring to go any louder than a mere whisper that could've been drowned out by the faint breeze that brought a cold night chill as it fluttered through the dark clearing. "Fatefinder?"

No answer, the only reply was the gentle breeze that fluttered across her cheek, weaving around her earring and slipping out from under her chin. She swore she saw them, she swore she saw a smile break out across Moonglobe's face for the split second they made eye contact and Fatefinder perk up from where he stood by the taller IceWing dragonet.

The silence ticked by slowly, hope dwindling the longer she waited for any sign her two friends were there. But nothing came. No more muffled voices, no more sweeping chills like someone pushing the air out of their way, no nothing.

"Rattlesnake?" Lydia even tried, her voice dying off as her hope practically fell apart inside of her. First I'm seeing things, and now I'm hearing my friends...is something wrong with me? She started to wonder. Are my powers disappearing? No, she knew they weren't, she just had a dream with Farfalla. Maybe somethings wrong with my powers, maybe I've used them too much?

But she didn't know how exactly she was using them, or how to exactly stop using them. Maybe it's like when a mind reader prys too much and they get a headache, or when a future seer focuses too hard and gets a migraine just behind their eyes. But she didn't hurt -aside from her shoulder, but that was getting better just like Pachira said it would. Briar's been keeping an eye on it- and all she felt whenever it was used was really just...fear, confusion, worry. It just stressed the young princess out with each passing moment.

If I was born powerless, would I be happier? Would it be better if I didn't know dragons could be ghosts? And that I can talk to them, they can show me things, visit me in dreams...guilt started to wash over her slowly, creeping up on her. That they can also disappear randomly, lose their grasp on time, go insane. But it didn't look to be all dragons that turned into ghosts, just a small talonful that seemed to wander between the land of the living and the unknown. What decides if a dragon disappears or is forced to roam the land as nothing more than a breeze?

It almost felt like they weren't meant to even be there, and that something was trying to force them back to where they belonged, making time slip through their claws like rushing water ready to sweep them away. Something wasn't right about it, nothing about it seemed normal. Some tribes did believe in ghosts, but those were stories of loved ones watching over their family before they moved on.

But these dragons aren't moving on, it's like they're stuck here.

"Lydia?"

The young NightWing practically jumped out of her own skin. Looking to her right, Lychee was looking at her. His green eyes practically glowed as the glowing embers reflected in his eyes, making them shine. "What are you doing awake?" He asked quietly as he shifted around a bit so his body was facing her more, and so that she wasn't really just looking at his back. "You should be asleep."

"I just...." What was she supposed to say? "Had a bad dream..." She felt childish to even say such a thing. Back home when she was still a very young dragonet, she would sometimes wake up crying with her parents in the room after she had horrible nightmares. But she'd hardly had any since. Until the one with the torches, she shuttered.

Lychee must've seen the shiver rake down her spine as he patted the ground beside him. "You don't have to tell me about it," he said softly as he beckoned her closer to him. Hesitating for a few moments, Lydia shakily stood before making her way over to the green HiveWing. Settling in beside him, she almost felt safer to have him there and she could feel her body relaxing, allowing her tensed muscles to loosen their grip.

She could faintly hear him talking to her, talking about something random. He was making quiet noise to fill the silent air so it wasn't so deafening. After waking up startled, her body pumped full of adrenaline, she could feel herself start to calm down. Which also meant her tiredness was coming back in full swing. Resting her head against Lychee's shoulder, the green HiveWing gave a light buzz before his tail curled up around her other side, almost tucking her in against him.

Soon enough, the princess drowned out the world around her as sleep began to edge its way into the back of her mind, creeping closer and lulling her to sleep. By the time Lydia felt herself nodding off, having to jolt herself away every few seconds until she could no longer fight it, allowing herself to rest as she laid her head down between her claws. Lychee's tail pulled her closer, wrapping his arm lightly over her shoulders as she drifted off to sleep. Unaware of the soft smile that was painted across Lychee's face.

For the first time in a long while, her dreams were pleasant, filled with Lydia racing through a field of blue grass lines in silver from the shining moons above her head, running over the hills with the laughter of another dragon as well as her own filling the air, a dragon sitting atop a cliff facing towards the sea, their helmet sparkling like the stars as the moonlight hit its surface. Another figure moved to stand by the dragon sitting by the cliff as Lydia and the other dragon disappeared over the hill. It felt familiar, but she didn't question it as for the first time in days for the young princess separated from her kingdom, Lydia's dreams were happy.

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

The next day wasn't much different from the first. They flew over rolling hills covered in a thick blanket of greenery as trees coated the landscape on all sides. The whole time they were flying, they were heading for the mountain ahead of them, still off in the distance, that had now split into a line of towering peaks the closer they got. Whenever Lydia's wings grew sore, the group would take a small break by a stream to drink their fill and find some food while they rested. Then they were back up in the air once more, heading in the same direction.

Lydia's heart would race every time she looked up to see how close they were getting to the mountains, how close they were getting to home. She knew there would still be a whole valley of mountains to search through before they found the mountain her parents and kingdom resided in. All she knew was that it was close to the Night Kingdom peninsula, where the fake queen resided with the rest of the tribe she had tricked into believing she was queen, and not Lydia's mother. She looked up, looking ahead to where they were flying. The mountains weren't murky anymore, no longer trying to blend in with the skyline. They were more defined, darker, and she could see the whites of their snow-covered peaks though there weren't many of them as the tallest mountains were in the heart of the Sky Kingdom, surrounding the palace and the inner valley with a natural wall of defense.

"Do you know how long it will take to reach the mountains?" The young princess asked, looking over to where Lychee was flying beside her.

"What? Don't like sight seeing from afar?" He chuckled as his wings buzzed while he flew. "It usually takes me and Sunflower around a day to actually reach the mountains from here, if we are where I think we are."

"Don't say that." Briar cut in, giving the green HiveWing a flat look.

"Say what?"

" 'if you think we are where you think we are', that's just asking for us to get lost."

"How can we get lost with the mountains right there?"

"With Daffodil here-"

Briar ignored the "Hey!" from Daffodil as the pale LeafWing shot her partner a light glare.

"-you'd be surprised with what can happen."

"Did you two get lost often back on Pantala?"

"When we were dragonets and she didn't understand the meaning of 'no'? More times than there are leaves on trees."

"OKAY! That's being a little over dramatic," Daffodil groaned, hanging her head back to look at them. "I never got us lost-"

"Watch where you're flying ants-for-brains."

"-that many times. We figured the Poison Jungle out eventually, we knew it like the back of our claws, and we even snuck Thorn out to the edge without a hitch."

"You and I seem to have a very different meaning of 'eventually'."

While the two LeafWings lightly bickered back and forth -bickering used lightly as Daffodil kept lightly mocking Briar- with Thorn flying behind them with a tried smile on his face as he watched his brother and Daddofil argue, Lychee turned back to Lydia with a roll of his eyes. "You can make those two argue about anything if you're ever bored. Daffodil always will pick the opposite of Briar just to lightly argue with him."

"Do they ever," she peered around the green HiveWing to look at them before pulling herself back to look up at Lychee. "actually argue?"

"No, not really. The only time I've seen them actually get into a heated disagreement is over something dangerous. But those never last long, they're a great team and no matter how much they pull at each other's strings, they always look out for one another." He reassured her as they flew before changing the topic back to the mountain ahead of them. "Do you know where in the mountains you're from? The Sky Kingdom, or the mountain ranges?"

The SkyWings had most of the mountains on Pyrrhia, but prefered the ones up north along the wing on the continent as the mountains were taller and there was the valley where their palace had been built. The mountains where Lydia knew her tribe lived was in the lower ranges of the mountains, close to Jade Mountain where they were closer to towering hills rather than sharp mountain peaks. And she knew they had to be close to the Claw Peninsula where the Night Kingdom was settled.

"We lived close to the peninsula, I know it only took a few days to fly there and back."

"How many days?"

Lydia scrambled to remember how many days exactly it would take for some of the NightWings her mother sent off as spies to keep a watchful eye over the Night Kingdom. They would give detailed reports about the ongoing events under Misfortunate's rule and how their travels back had gone, generally talking about if their routes needed to be changed to help keep their kingdom hidden. One spy, Cometchaser, only came to give her reports once every month and it would take her four days of traveling.

"Four days." Lydia told Lychee, pushing herself out of the fog that thickly tried to surround her mind. "Four days to get from the Claw Peninsula to back home."

"Four days," Lychee mumbled to himself, his eyes having a far away look to them as he looked to be mapping out their next course in his head. "You must live around Jade Mountain then." He concluded, "There's a small section of hills that are a common place for travelers to cut through, they ease into the mountains rather than just flying straight into them. We can go through there and find the river that cuts through the mountains. It's a big one, we'll hardly be able to miss it." As Lychee began to explain their new route, the LeafWings began to listen and stop bickering with one another, ears perked with interest as they listened. Lychee knew the mountains better than the other three from what she'd heard. "We'll follow the river through the mountains, and it'll come out right to the sea. Me and Sunflower found it not long after moving closer to the mountains. If we follow it out to sea, we'll be in sight of the Claw Peninsula."

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

Flying over the mountains was strange, yet thrilling. And terrifying, they had to fly over the hills first. They were covered in patches of trees that from above looked like clumps of moss with their fluffy looking green crowns that swayed gently with the breeze. They were spread apart, separated by patches of vibrant rivers of grass or shimmering blue streams that sliced through the landscape like scars or birthmarks. Eventually, they began to fade away, slowly being spaced farther and farther apart, until they were no longer flying over forest covered hills.

Soon they were flying between towering mountains, a narrow valley of small hills laid out before them. Trees climbed up along the sides of the small mountains, covering them like moss clinging to the northern side of a tree. There were dark spots scattered sparsely across the mountain's surface, at first Lydia thought they might've been darker coloured stones jutting out from the ground, but when they flew closer to one, she realized they were caves.

"Do dragons really live in those?" Thorn quietly asked, Daffodil looking just as curious as the younger LeafWing.

"Yes," Briar replied briskly, keeping them moving with Lychee as the green HiveWing was the only one who'd really ever been out this far from their settlement. "So don't go poking your snouts in them or else you'll have your scales clawed off."

That even made Lydia flinch back from the cave closest to them, pushing her wings to fly up ahead with Lychee as the others flapped to catch up as well. The buzz of Lychee's wings filled the air, almost drowning out everything else around them. It wasn't loud enough to be distracting though, just a low hum that made the air seem to vibrate with the rapid beating of his wings that blurred with the speed they were moving. They would be easier to hear than wingbeats, that was for sure, if there were enough of them. They'd probably sound like a swarm of bees!

After Briar chased the other two away from the caves, nothing else really happened for the next little while as they flew. The air did grow colder, crispr, with a little bite to it when she breathed in deeply. A shiver would sometimes snake its way down her spine, her lungs feeling cold with each breath. She was getting used to it the longer they went on, but with the sun beginning to reach the other end of the horizon, it would only grow colder once it truly began to set.

"We should find a place to stop for the night," Daffodil pipped up, flapping her wings to fly up alongside Lychee and Lydia.

"Theres still another few hours yet," Lychee hummed. "And we're not too far away from the river now. It's just past that hill. Once we go over it, it'll be a simple dive and then we just follow it out to sea."

Briar: gave the green HiveWing a look. Not so much a glare, but close to a concerned scowl. "But how are we going to fly over it if we're all tired and our wings practically falling off? We don't want what happened to Robin to happen to us." It was blunt, and it was clear that Thorn was trying to drown out the conversation by the way his ears pinned back, eyes focusing on the landscape ahead of them.

"What if we just stop along the river?" She suggested, she hadn't spoken much since Lychee had figured out their next course. "We could stay there for the night and follow it in the morning."

"That doesn't sound like a bad idea," Daffodil nodded her head with a smile. "We'll be right by the river, so in the morning we won't need to go off and find somewhere to drink AND we'll be able to fish."

"You just want to make Briar try fishing again don't you." Thorn laughed.

"I definitely would-"

"You definitely would make me do that."

"-not do something like that."

There they go again, she thought with a tired smile. It almost was beginning to feel normal, listening to the pair of LeafWings bicker playfully back and forth while Thorn laughed quietly in the background, sometimes joining in and ending up having to fly away with Daffodil as Briar flew after them like a hawk. Then she began to realize how much she'd miss them once she was back home. With her responsibilities and duty to her tribe -plus she doubted her parents would never let her out of their sights again- she'll be busy being dragged around the underground kingdom. The more she thought about being back home, the more she began to realize how much danger the others were unknowingly getting into.

The kingdom is probably in hysterics, Lydia's claws tucked themselves closer to her chest as she flew, flapping her wings as they all soared over the rolling hills. Animosity probably has every available soldier and guard searching Pyrrhia for me, and they'll be high strung. She could already picture the NightWings adorned in simple leather armor with dashes of silver, holding onto their spears tightly and ready to confront or even attack any dragon in their way or close to the missing princess. They could be mistaken for the ones who took me and killed Fatefinder, she realized, fear striking her heart. They'd almost be attacked on sight before I could stop them.

She took a quick side glance at the others. Daffodil flying above Briar, talking away while the darker shaded LeafWing promptly tried to ignore her, but with the way his ears were pinned back it was clear he was listening to her ramblings, flying just behind his shoulders an arm length above him. Behind them was Thorn, the quiet dragon softly joining in on the conversation after Daffodil's friendly attempts to include him, but not force him. Flying up less then a tail length ahead of them was Lychee, the green HiveWing keeping careful watch of the world around them, occasionally looking backt to make sure no one was falling behind and that they weren't being followed by any possible dragons wanting to use them for spear hurtling practice.

A chilling breeze flew into the NightWIngs face, making her squint. "L-...-...-ia." For a split second she swore she saw another dragon flying up by Lychee, directly ahead of her and staring back at her from over their shoulder. Their dull sandy scales with grey running down along their back with their sail, their sharp obsidian black eyes staring into her soul before they were gone, just like that. When she blinked, the breeze moving past her and allowing her to open her eyes fully, they were gone. As if they had never been there in the first place. Rattlesnake, the name felt comforting in her mind, yet she also felt a string of fear wrap itself along her spine like a shiver raking through her body from an especially cold gust of wind.

"Rattlesnake?" She questioned under her breath, barely more than a whisper as the soft wind that blew against their hears helped to muffle it, the others being none the wiser to the princess trying to talk with the elusive SandWing what had disappeared after losing her grasp on time for a split second, snapping out of it to warn Lydia before she'd been caught by a group of dragons flying their way.

No response came. All that filled the air around them was the gentle roar of the wind they soared through, the rustling of leaves when they flew over the occasional cluster or small forest of trees, the flapping of wings and the sounds of the others voices.

Unease began to creep up along her back, her spines raising up, quivering at the cold feeling that gripped her very bones. She felt like a little song bird that was about to be snatched out of the air by a bobcat or a hawk. The feeling of eyes watching her, but the inability to see where she was being watched from made her nerves spike like they were under freezing water yet burning with adrenaline. The more she thought about it, the more she allowed it to nag her from the back of her mind, the worse the feeling got. Her stomach felt as though she were doing flips in the air, only aiding in making her feel uneasy.

Trying to push the feeling aside, Lydia focused on her flying. Like when a dragon suddenly realizes they're breathing and can feel the way their body shifts to make it work. It was like that, but the young NightWing focused on the muscles in her body that moved to flap her wings, the way the wind pushed up against the membrane that stretched out to catch as much of the air as it could, helping to lift her up into the air. She could faintly hear the sound of flowing water off in the distance beyond the hills. A towering mountain was directly in front of them, the sun was setting beyond it, illuminating it in a firefly glow.

The closer Lydia flew towards it with the others, the more she felt as though she were flying closer into danger. Lydia had to fight the urge to not look behind her as the feeling of eyes watching her only made her feeling of unease even stronger.

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

That night Lydia didn't sleep, but she was the first to settle down and close her eyes. Her shoulders were tense, wings held stiffly to her sides as the thumbs of her wings held onto her cloak tightly, pulling it up and over her shoulders and using her tail to tuck it under herself in an attempt to give herself something softer to sleep on. The grass was soft, but not nearly as soft as the tall grass back in the forest outside of the settlement. This grass was thinner, stiffer almost, and wasn't fluffy like fur. There were small rocks -and occasionally roots from nearby trees that were a lot thinner than the ones she'd seen since being taken from the mountain- that protruded from the ground, digging in between ehr scales and poking at her from below.

The others had set up a fire before she had settled down, letting her light a small talonful of twigs on fire to get it started. Lychee was the first to settle down, the tall green HiveWing curling up beside her. He hadn't wrapping himself around her like the night before when he woke up to find her awake and on the verge of a silent panic attack. Instead, he was laid down close to her, close enough for her to feel the air shift with every slight twitch of his wings, she could hear them too over the crackling of the fire.

Across the fire were Thorn, Daffodil, and Briar. They had settled down after finishing their freshly caught meals which consisted of streamlined fish with pearly silver scales and green running along their backs and fins. Their sides were what caught the dragon's attention. In the light, they shimmered all kinds of colours, creating small rainbows in the fading light that peeked out from around the towering mountain that was almost like a massive wall circling around them from three sides.

The river rippled in the distance, a murmur that filled the air like buzzing cicadas. With the darkening skies slowly revealing the twinkling stars, one of the moon's just a few nights away from being half full with a second moon being no more than a sliver in the sky like a dragon who was delicately cutting the skin off a piece of fruit, the birds hat retreated to their nests and hollows for the night. This left the now empty world around them to be filled by the bubbling of the river and the hisses and pops from the fire.

Lydia counted the seconds passing by, hardly registering what the others were saying as she forced her body to relax, chasing the stiffness away in favour of helping her look to be asleep. But she couldn't scare away the pounding of her racing heart, the way it hammered loudly within her ears to the point she worried Lychee would be able to hear it if he listened closely. Her claws gripped onto the grass tightly, threatening to rip the stems from their roots. Her thoughts were haunted by the images of the others getting hurt by NightWing soldiers finding them in the night and assuming they were the ones having kidnapped their only heir to the throne, the dragonet phropecized to save their tribe and bring back unity and peace.

They could get hurt while they're asleep, they could be killed before they even realize what even happened to them, her mind provided her with the imagery of Thorn, Lychee, Briar and Daffodil as ghosts just like Fatefinder, Moonglobe and Rattlesnake, following her around as they tried to not get lost in time and slip away forever by going mad. A shiver raked down her spine, I can't let that happen to them, I can't. The princess was practically convinced that something would happen to them, her unease from before only growing into a suffocating tidal wave that wanted to pull her into the darkness of the back of her mind where these intrusive thoughts lurked like leaping shadows being kept away by the warth of a torches light.

The more those thoughts raced through her mind like a swirling storm, the more she was convinced that they were truly going to get hurt, the more she believed something terrible was going to happen and that if she didn't do something, someone would get hurt and it would be all her fault. Just like Fatefinder and Moonglobe, they both died because of me, because I couldn't do anything. Fatefinder laying in a pool of his own blood, his shout of warning dying off in his throat before he could properly warn her of the danger she was stepping into when she pushed open the door. Moonglobe being trapped under the split tree Landslide has knocked over, Lydia's shoulder nearly being impaled while the IceWing was knocked unconscious, luckily not waking up as the large MudWing snapped his neck.

Another shiver spiraled down her back, slithering between her ribs and making her shake before she steeled herself, tucking her tail in closer against her side. Lydia had to do something, she had to. She could stop anything from happening before they could even get the chance of happening. But....how can I stop it? She didn't think she'd be able to stop any guards in time when they were fueled by adrenaline and the possibility of their princess' life on the line.

Unless....Lydia began to force her body to relax again, trying to give the impression that she'd already fallen asleep as she faintly listened to the others quiet chatter, the hushing that came from Daffodil when the others grew too loud, telling them "shhh, she's sleeping. She needs her rest with how far we've traveled, and she's looked about ready to faint for half of it since the spear incident." She didn't listen to the rest of it as it all went through one ear and out the other while the princess was trapped inside of her own head, her body acting like a cage that she could faintly control. There was no princess possibly in danger surrounded by unfamiliar dragons.

Lydia knew what she wanted -had- to do. If she could slip away once the others were asleep, leaving them a note to tell them that she was okay and that they needed to head back to the settlement, and follow the river like Lychee had said they needed to. Then she could create some distance and if she was found, she would just tell the guards she'd escaped from her captor and flown back.

I can tell Mom and Dad everything once there aren't swarms of hysterical armed NightWings around to hurt them. It was settled. She knew what she would do, she just needed to keep herself awake long enough to slip away. Even with the plan set in stone within her mind, something in her chest ached at the thought of leaving without saying goodbye. It felt as though she were abandoning, or even betraying, them and not thanking the others for all they had done to her. All because Pachira and Briar had found her passed out by a stream, she was finally going home, and she wouldn't even be able to thank them face-to-face until everything calmed down.

There was nothing Lydia could do, aside from this. She could protect them if she ran away, she could keep them safe and steer away the fate that had snared her other two friends, the fate they had been trapped into because they were wanting to help her. I don't want to drag anyone else into something like that, I can't. The moments ticked by too quickly, like the breeze that swirled around them, being kept away from the by the warmth of the fire that cackled. The noise of the fire eating away at the twigs placed inside of its ring of stones didn't help to sooth Lydia, it only aided in her worries with each crack, sizzle, and pop.

Eventually the sounds of the others died down, and when she peeked open her eyes, she could see all of them curled up in their own spots, seemingly fast asleep. Daffodil was practically sprawled across Briar's back, snoring away without a care in the world. Across the fire from them to Lydia's left was Thorn, the younger LeafWing curled up with his snot tucked under his tail, head resting upon his crossed arms. Lychee laid to her right, the green HiveWing curled up but not as tightly as Thorn to where he looked like a green ball of leaves. Though Lychee didn't have leafy green wings to help him with that, instead his dragonfly-like wings rested smoothly across his back, occasionally twitching in his sleep.

She couldn't help but just stare at them all for a few moments, her scarlet red eyes owlishly watching them all sleep before her gaze was slowly drawn back to the fire, its flickering light reflecting off of her brightly coloured iris' and making them glow in the dark. One of Lydia's talons slowly reached up, claws closing around the hanging ruby from her earring, rubbing the pad of her claw across its smooth surface, worn down to be as smooth as a river pebble from endless worried rubbing. This might be the last time she ever sees them all again...No, I could see them again in the future, once everything calms down and they're not in danger from my tribe for being mistaken as the ones who kidnapped me.

Bitter thoughts raced through her mind as she thought back to Quickstrike taking her away after Morpho had told the older NightWing about her, convinced that she was his missing daughter. She felt bad for him, a father who's lost his daughter and was endlessly searching every corner of Pyrrhia for her, but she wasn't his daughter. The only thing that is similar are our markings, that's it, but even then mine are still different. She didn't want to think about how the shape of his eyes matched her own compared to the slimmer and narrowed ones her parents had. Sure, Charming's were round, but were still pointed and sly, a cunning dragon shining behind those sparkling blue eyes. They just weren't as round and moon-like compared to Lydia's. That's just because I'm young, all dragonets have round eyes.

Her ears pinned back, her face turning into a scowl as she let go of her earring. Staring down at her claws that curled in, her talons pricking her palms like the cold breeze that endlessly tried to nip at any of her exposed scales not covered by her dark cloak. I can't just sit here and think the night away, she scolded herself, I can't trick myself out of this. I need to do this, I need to help them. Taking in a deep breath through her nose, she slowly began to untangle herself from her coiled ball. Slipping her tail out from where it was practically tucked beneath her belly, pulling her wings back up to hold them close to her sides, allowing for her cloak to flow over them.

It felt like eyes were burning into her scales, she felt like at any moment someone would wake up and ask what she was doing. At any moment, NightWing soldiers could descend upon them, urging her to move faster, but the worry of waking up Lychee, Daffodil and Briar, or Thorn helped to keep her from dashing to the river. It'll be just like when I snuck away from Quickstrike, she took in a shaking breath, I'll slip away slowly and once I'm far enough, I can make as much distance as possible before the sun rises.

Standing there, Lydia felt like she towered over everyone while they slept, like she was the most obvious thing in all of Pyrrhia. She felt out of place as though someone was practically screaming "Oh! Look over here! It's a dragonet trying to sneak off, someone better stop her!" Taking one step back was what broke her out of her frozen trance. Then another, and another, and another. Soon, Lydia had turned herself around and was slowly putting distance between her and the others who slept around the fire, clawstep by clawstep.

Just don't look back, just don't look back, just don't look back, Her heart hammered loudly within her chest, rattling against her ribs and ringing through her ears. Come on, just one step at a time and don't look back. One step in front of the other, her wings tucked close to her sides almost suffocatingly. Lydia knew that if she turned to even catch a glimpse of the others, it would convince her into going back and pretending her run away attempt never happened.

In front of her, a flickering silhouette shifted, taking a few paces before stopping and looking back at her. In the blink of an eye, they were gone, but Lydia felt as though they were still there, as though she were still there. Lydia recognized the thin, barbed tail that belonged to Rattlesnake. The SandWing was like a flickering torch on the verge of burning out, flickering in and out of the young princess' sight. There were more figures standing not too far away from Rattlesnake, other dragons she recognized. One step in front of-

"What are you doing?"

She froze, Lydia's eyes widening in shock as she stared off into the distance ahead of her as her body went rigid. She could feel her spines rise up, her wings tensing especially in her shoulder blades, holding still as if she could just simply disappear into the night sky and the shadows that danced around her, swinging and leaping with the glowing warmth of the fire several wing lengths behind her.

After a few seconds of silence, she finally had enough courage to turn around and see the owner of the voice that had stopped her dead in her tracks. Thorn. The young armoured LeafWing stood less than a tail length behind her, outlined in a bright yellow glow from the fire that burned behind them. Did I wake him while I was leaving? She felt panic grip her heart as the silhouettes of her friends slipped away, disapereing with the breeze.

"Lydia, what are you doing?" He repeated, his sharp green eyes narrowing slightly with a concerned frown etched into his face, staring into her eyes without any hesitation. Thorn had hardly even looked her in the eye during their entire journey, he would look at her, but not her eyes. As if he couldn't bring himself to do it.

"I...."

The two of them stood there silently. Thorn awaiting an answer, and Lydia fumbling to come up with one when her mind came up empty. She wasn't a good liar, she knew she wasn't. Other dragons could read her like an open book, her parents could too and always told her that her eyes gave her away. So in this moment, the young princess knew that her own eyes were betraying her, Like I'm betraying Thorn and the others.

"You're trying to sneak away, aren't you?" She blinked, looking up at the older LeafWing as he took a guess at what she was attempting to do.

Lydia felt as though she were about to cry, she could feel the ever growing sting in her eyes that made her want to squint. "I-I'm sorry, I'm so so so sorry," she quickly began to apologize, hardly even seeing the confused and heart wrenching look that suddenly struck Thorn's face as if he'd been slapped by her wing. "I was just trying to protect you guys, I don't want you all to get hurt because of me. I don't want to see you all like Fatefinder and Moonglobe, I can't let you lose time like Roseary and Rattlesnake-"

"Wait, wait, wait, no, hold on-"

"-I just couldn't let you all get hurt like they did because you're trying to help me and I can't," She felt her voice crack as a wet sob tried to push itself out but she swallowed it back down with a gasp. "I can't let you all get hurt because of me-"

"Ro-Lydia stop." She did, blinking up at Thorn with her wide red eyes. "What.....what are you talking about?"

"I-I need to leave, you're all in danger if I stay. Lychee told us where we were going, so I can just follow his instructions to get back home while you guys go back to the rainforest where you'll be safe-"

"You haven't said what we're in danger from, Lydia." His wings were pressed tightly against his sides, claws tightly gripping the grass as his eyes flickered between the two of hers, struggling to hold the young NightWings gaze as he tried to keep his voice steady. "If somethings coming you could've just woken Briar and-"

"You don't understand!" Her wings flared out, flapping at her sides from her outburst. "They'll see you and think you're the ones who took me away! They'll hurt you before I can stop them! They're trained to keep the mountain safe, and if they see me with you guys, they'll kill first and ask questions later once they've got me back home with my parents."

"What are you tal-" He stopped, blinking. Realization began to dawn on him. "Is it because of...you know," he waved one of his wings, where you're royalty went unsaid.

"Yeah, that." She tucked her wings back in, the sudden rush of hysteria from her outburst slowly beginning to taper off, 'That's why I need to leave before the others wake up. I need to get away so you're all safe, so they don't see me and hurt you."

The air went silent, the two of them staring at one another for what seemed like forever. One ready to flee at any given moment, and the other looking at her with confusion and worry, his brows pinched and lips pressed into a thin line. This was the longest he'd ever looked at her, and it was clear to see that it hurt him to look in her eyes, but he was. Thorn wasn't just staring at the scales under her eyes or her snout, he was looking into her eyes. Red meeting green.

"What.....what happens if they do see us with you?"

"They might not listen to me in time to stop," Lydia's heart was pounding, rattling her ribs that felt like the bars of a suffocatingly small cage within her chest. "So I need to go, please. Don't wake the others."

"Lydia just....stop, for a second. And by the book stop saying 'please' I....I can't stand to hear you say that when you sound so much like her."

Before she could even say anything, her jaws clamped shut. I sound too much like her...Lydia knew she sounded like Robin after both Briar and Pachira -even Thorn- told her as such. She was beginning to calm down from her panic just moments before, but Lydia still felt like something was wrong and that they'd get hurt. It felt as though she were acting too quickly, like she wasn't thinking things through, but deep inside, Lydia felt as though she were doing the right thing. Doubt tried to sink it's way into her heart but she pushed it away, her ears pinning back,screwing her eyes shut and blinking back her ears. I'm doing the right thing.

"You don't want to do this, do you?"

She opened her eyes, looking up from where she hung her head downwards. She could see he had one of his palms reaching out to her, but stopped by hesitence once she'd opened her eyes. "No, I don't...but I don't want you guys to get hurt because of me. Fatefinder and Moonglobe already did, I couldn't do anything to save them." The dragonet felt eyes watching her from behind, in the corners of her vision she could see the flickering forms of the young NightWing guard in training and the odd IceWing with black scales coating his body, but not his face.

"What...." Thorn winced, pulling his claws back. "What happened to them? To make you so scared that something will happen to us...just from helping you?"

Lydia could feel the tears threatening to come back. "They were both killed because of me," She said wetly. "Fatefinder died when I was taken. I was being lured into a room where they were waiting to kidnap me. He went in first because he thought something was wrong, and he was right. I wish he wasn't, because maybe -just maybe- he'd still be here." Her tail tucked itself closer to her, her wings pressing against her sides tightly. "They killed him when he tried to scream for me to run. I found him bleeding out, then everything went black."

She took in a shuddering breath. It felt like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders, telling someone about Fatefinder's gruesome and heart wrenching death that haunted her in random spurts. Flashes of memory that shot through her mind, nearly making her crumble down where she stood with grief and regret.

"I was taken to a village, where a NightWing believed I was his missing daughter. There I met Moonglobe. He was sweet, kind, and he listened to me. He called me by my real name, not the name Quickstrike gave me. Because he was my friend, he died for it. Landslide," the name tasted bitter on her tongue, "hated Quickstrike because of an accident with her sibs and I don't know why....but she was planning to take it out on me." She could practically hear Landslide telling her what had happened from that night, the way the large MudWing snarled at her with disgust and hatred that only a heartless dragon could hold.

"Your father killed my sibs, says it was an accident, saying he was only after Milkweed for some little crime. I'm here to get revenge, and when he brought you here, he sealed your fate." Landslide snarled in Lydia's face, holding the young NightWing to face her from where she was pinned below the tree, one of its branches stabbing into her shoulder.

Lydia sucked in a gasp, blinking the memory away with a shake of her head. "She took us out into a forest where she trapped us under a tree she'd knocked down. Moonglobe was knocked out, while I was awake to see the whole thing..."

"That's where you got that wound on your shoulder," Thorn pieces together. "Isn't it?"

She weakly nodded her head, the tears coming back with no way for her to stop them. "She killed him, snapping his neck as I screamed at her to stop. I was able to get free and I attacked her, I never felt so angry," Her claws dug into the grass coated ground, tiny rocks prickling her palms. "I think I might've blinded her, I don't know. Everything after that is a blur, I just remember flying away as fast as I could, listening to her angry shouting until I couldn't hear her anymore."

When she met Thorn's gaze once more, looking up from her talons, all she could see was pity and heartache in the older LeadWings eyes. A look of understanding shone within them, one that made her pause to stare at them.

"So you're worried the same thing will happen to us if you stay here," he concluded, his ears drooping down at the sight of her tears. "I...When I saw you sneaking away, all I could see was her sneaking away. All the times she would try to slip away without being noticed to go back to the hives, all of the danger she put herself into. All the times I thought I lost her...Until..." His wings dropped down, brushing the tips of the grass below them. "She was really gone, and there was nothing I could do. I knew something felt wrong when we set off from the last island, I knew she didn't look right, she couldn't fly straight. I should've done something-!"

Now it was his turn to cry, angry tears making the dark green and glitter in the dim light. Thorn sat down with a light thud, like all of his energy had been sapped away, leaving him with nothing to help him stand up any longer. "I could've done something," he whispered, almost too quietly for Lydia to hear before he screwed his eyes shut, taking in a shuddering breath, and opening them again to look at her. "I know that feeling, the feeling in your gut that something, no matter how small, is wrong. Like a burning hot piece of led that wormed it's way into your stomach."

A pause, a moment taken for each of the two crying dragons -who've dealt with too much for their short lives- to take a breath. A small moment of peace as their grieving hearts were given the spare second they needed to let it all out after having their emotions bottled up for so long. It almost hurt to have their corked popped off and everything poured out, but Lydia felt just a tad bit lighter after she'd told Thorn her fears, and it looked as though the LeafWing looked to have felt it too.

"Are you going to stop me from leaving?' She asked, breaking the silence with her quiet whisper.

He shook his head, "No, I won't." He shifted where he sat, tucking in his tail and lifting his wings back up to where they rested back in their normal place, no matter how heavy they felt. "But I don't like you leaving by yourself either, over..." he shuttered, wings shivering at the thought. "Over water."

He thinks I'll drown like Robin, it was her turn to piece things together now. Of course he'd be scared of her flying off in the night, especially after flying all day with hardly any rest. Her wings were sore, and if she suddenly cramped up or fell asleep while flying, she could fall into the swirling river that quietly roared off in the distance.

"I'll be careful, I'll make sure to take breaks and-"

"Lychee said the ledges are too steep for dragons to perch on without losing their footing." Thorn reminded her with a flick of his tail. "You won't be able to take any breaks over the river, that's why we stopped here for the night before the sun fully set."

"I'm small, I might be able to still use them," she countered. "And I'll know where I'm going." Am I just trying to convince myself of that so I don't just turn tail and go back? She scowled at the thought, she'd already made up her mind, no matter how much doubt fillest her chest with the feeling of fluttering butterflies.

Thorn supported a conflicted look upon his face; lips pressed into a thin line, squinting at her with worry shining through his eyes, nostrils flared out and wings twitching. He took a look back out of the corner of his eye, and when Lydia followed his gaze, she saw he was looking back towards the others who were still asleep, oblivious to the tense feeling that hung heavily within the air. When Thorn turned back to look at her, his eyes were shut, confusing the young dragonet for a few moments before he spoke.

"Follow the river until it opens up into the estuary, take every break you can along the way to make sure your wings don't get too tired. If you ever start to feel like you're about to fall asleep while flying, try to find a ledge big enough to rest on." He began to list off, telling Lydia everything she needed to do while over the river that split through the quiet, towering mountains that surrounded them like a crescent on three sides, the moonlight painting their peaks in a stark silver. "Once you're out, find a spot to sleep, and don't push yourself to keep flying once you're out of the estuary."

The young adult LeafWing still had yet to open his eyes, almost as if he was refusing to see with his own eyes that Lydia was leaving. He technically wouldn't be lying then if he said he didn't see me leave to the others, she thought painfully as a saddened smile tugged at the corners of her lips, pulling at her face. "Thank you, Thorn." Lydia's body felt antsy, unable to keep itself still any longer as her wings began to fan out around her, ready to push herself up into their air like she had done at least a dozen times now. She'd gotten better at taking off and actually flying over the last few days. "I'll be careful, I promise."

It felt as though she were saying goodbye to him forever, as if she wasn't going to see any of them again. No, it's like the heroes from Dad's stories, she told herself. It helped to keep her from thinking about the possibility of her never seeing Thorn, Daffodil, Lychee, or Briar again. Just like in the stories when the hero leaves to find what they've been searching for. By leaving, she would be saving them from the possibility of getting hurt because they were helping her.

She didn't really know what to say, she didn't want to say goodbye but she also didn't want to leave without saying it either. Thorn must've picked up on her hesitance because he nodded his head for her to go, still not opening his eyes.

"I-"

"Don't say goodbye," he cut her off. "I don't want to hear you say it," I don't want to hear her say it went unsaid. "I'm not ready to hear it."

Her heart ached for him, a feeling of guilt washing over her. Maybe before I go, I can give him something, maybe some form of hope about Robin. The young hybrid had been dead for five years, but Lydia was sure that the prophecy she'd been given through mysterious letters left in her talons after waking up from confusion dreams, meant she was meant to find her ghost.

Taking in a short breath, Lydia began to recite the prophecy, like she was reading the words off of the piece of scroll like it was in front of her. "Find her, find her, find her. Ocean down flower. Deep below, hidden in greens. Find the flower who's awaiting to be seen." Her voice felt as though it'd been taken by the breeze, like it wasn't really her saying those words off by heart.

Thorn's eyes shot open, staring at her with wide green eyes that looked close to tears once more. No more words were said as Lydia's wings opened to their fullest and pushed herself off into the air. Thorn and the others forms began to shrink away, the ground dropping out from under her as the river came into view, its rippling surface shimmering in the moonlight and making it look like sparkling liquid silver. It cut around the base of the crescent mountain, flowing down into a steep valley full of towering steep cliffs with ledges that were hardly more than a claw length thick.

I can do this, she told herself. With a flap of her wings, the young NightWing princess began to make her way down to the water, flying along the dropping slope along the hill. Flying along the river in the dead of night with the shimmering moonlight to guide her, Lydia was going home.

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- MindlessTyper