The night air was chilly, nipping at Lydia's underbelly and her scales, making her silver earring cold to the touch. It wasn't too bad, but it did surprise her. Do the mountains usually get this cold? She wondered. She'd never noticed back home, but maybe it was different in the underground tunnels, caves and chambers than outside. I'm also flying over a river, so maybe that makes it colder? Gripping the edges of her cloak, she pulled it a little closer. It was difficult with her flying, but she was able to bunch up her hood and hook it around her spines to make it puff up around her neck. Though, there was nothing she could do about how it would snap at the underside of her wings when she soared.

With steep mountains on either side of her like towering walls that reached up into the sky, their points curled in an attempt to grasp at the moons two moons that had yet to be full, it gave the wind a channel to swiftly cut through. A shiver made its way along her back as she flapped her wings again, lifting her up a few tail lengths above the rippling waters surface below her that reflected the moon's light, turning it a shimmering silver that twinkled like stars.

She'd been flying for a while now, and night had fully set in with the sky turning a dark blue with splashes of purple. Tiny twinkling dots danced around the two moons, flickering like fireflies but they never disappeared. Lydia was in awe the longer she stared at them. I've never really gotten a chance to look at the stars, she realized as she craned her neck back to allow herself to stare up at the dark -though it was still bright and she was able to make out things easily- blue blanket of a sky with tiny holes poked into its surface for the stars to shine through.

For most of the time Lydia had been flying, she'd catch glimpses of Moonglobe or Fatefinder, sometimes even Rattlesnake but the SandWing was always farther ahead or off to the side, never directly beside or ahead of her like the other two. Whenever she'd try calling out to them, she'd get no response. She'd even tried closing her eyes and focusing solely on seeing them, but when she opened her eyes they were never there.

But they're here though, she assured herself with another flap of her wings that sent a gust of cold air between her back and her cloak. So I'm not alone, I just can't really talk to any of them. It was similar to the night Moonglobe died, when Fatefinder was trying to warn her but she couldn't hear him. Just this time she would see them all for a split second before they were gone, either just after she'd blink or out of the corner of her eye. Flickering silhouettes that she could just make out their features such as scale colour, eye colour, or body shapes.

Lydia began to feel a subtle ache in her wings, taking as her body needing to take another break. Along the way, she learned that the ledges were too small -even for her- to properly perch upon like most dragons would. But the young princess had another way of resting that no other tribes would even think to do.

Bat roosting.

Lydia had seen her tribe do it in the throne room, the large cave that spiraled upwards to a fine point with stalactites hanging from the ceiling, providing several places for NightWings to perch by hooking their claws into the tiny cracks or bumps on the rocks surface and clinging to them like bats.

Searching for another tiny ledge that jutted out from the steep cliff face, worn down by rainfall over the years, she flew closer to the side of the mountain to her left. Her wing was just a few mere claw lengths from escaping it's rocky surface as she scanned the silver-painted wall of rock for any nooks she could hook her claws into. They were hard to see, but eventually Lydia spotted one only thick enough for her claws to hook onto. She reached out with her claws, feeling them sink into the tiny dents in it's surface as her wings flapped to help slow her down. Lydia planted her hind claws against the scree that sloped down to the swirling river below that was like a slice of silver against the rocky landscape that towered over it.

Once her wings folded in, allowing her full weight to be taken off of the sore limbs and instead given to her claws, she let out a sigh of relief. That feels better. Lydia's one shoulder was still sore, having bandaged from Pachira still wrapped around it with the strong -yet fading- smell of herbs drifting from it. The NightWing dragonet's body hung from the cluff, no more than a dark shadow in a valley full of a thousand more.

In the Claw Peninsula, do other NightWings hang like this? She couldn't help but wonder, her mind creating images in her mind of other NightWings hanging from the canyon walls that split through the ground like a dragon as large as all of Pyrrhia had clawed out talonfuls out of the ground. That's how her parents described it anyway. Most of the Night Kingdom was built close to the sea, the ground being flatter there but also surrounded by steep canyons coated in thick forests that helped to keep them hidden in the day.

I'll someday get to see it for myself, Lydia realized with a blink as she turned her head to stare off down the river where the water flowed out to the sea. When the prophecy comes true, the prophecy that Lydia hadn't even heard the words too, but had been told it was all about her saving their tribe and striking down the deceitful queen who had tricked and manipulated the other half of their tribe after Animosity and Charming had been chased away by her and her followers with only the scales on their backs.

The thought of something like that happening to her parents before she'd even been laid made a surge of pity and anger wash over her. Why do other dragons have to be so cruel? Flashes of RainWings, Queen Misfortunate, Landslide, Quickstrike, Morpho, and the HiveWing flashed through her mind.

With a deep inhale, she lept off of the tiny ledge. Lydia's shadow was like a ball of dark night over the sparkling waters surface, where no stars could reflect their tinkling light alongside the two moons that watched from above. Oracle being close to half full while Perception was no more than a claw in the sky. The third and largest moon, Imperial, had yet to be seen and wouldn't be until the beginning of the third month where it would start to show.

"Mom?"

"Yes dear?" Animosity tilted her head, looking back out of the corner of her glowing amber eyes to meet her daughter's sparkling ruby ones. The Queen sat within the counsel room, seated at a large stone table that reached both ends of the irregular room with small stalactites that's been clipped on their spikes to prevent any fatal damage if they ever fell.

The young princess stood by the door, shuffling her claws as her wings tucked themselves closer to her sides. "I couldn't sleep."

"Well that's what happens when you stay up all day reading all of these fairytales. Don't think Wiseflight didn't tell me when she found your nose stuffed in some of her scrolls." The queen smirked.

Lydia winced, looking down at the cave floor. The sun had long since set, and the princess had tried to get some shut eye but she just couldn't sleep, no matter how tired she felt. Her mind was buzzing from all the stories she'd read about legends and myths the tribes would spread. Told from mouth to ear until details were forgotten and the stories watered down juice that hardly tased like the fruit they came from anymore.

At the suffocating silence, Lydia's mother let out a soft sigh as she pushed her chair from the stone table that was covered in scattered scrolls held open by small weight stones pinning their edges. There were small ink pots too, and Lydia watched as her mother grabbed a small cloth to wipe the remaining golden ink from her talons. "Why don't I tell you a story? Hm?"

She instantly perked up, her large ears listening. Mother's stories were always interesting, maybe it was just because she didn't get as many from her Mom like she did from Dad, but she enjoyed them nonetheless. Animosity's stories were more realistic, about things that had actually happened and that her mother had experienced with her very own eyes.

Her mother slipped off of her chair, reaching down to scoop up the two year old princess in her protective and warm grip. Holding her daughter against her chest and shoulder, with her wing wrapping around her back to make sure she didn't tumble as they walked down a torch lit stone hallway that was awfully quiet aside from the Queen and the Princess.

"Where are we going?"

"When I was your age, whenever I couldn't sleep I would go and get some fresh air." Her mother explained to her softly.

Lydia chirped when no more torches came into view. Animosity kept going until a streak of silver light caught the young princess' attention. They came up to one of the few windows in their kingdom that allowed dragons to peek out into the outside world full of endless mountains and sea of stars that danced above their heads with three balls of glowing light looking down from above like silver eyes.

"Has Wiseflight told you the names of the moons yet?"

"They have names?"

"Yes, they do." Animosity smiled, holding her daughter up a little higher so she could get a better view through the small entrance into the hidden kingdom, so small that the princess herself could probably fit through without much issue. The only way she'd be able to reach it though was with help, as the dragonet hadn't been taught how to fully fly yet. She could flutter and stop herself from falling, but she couldn't lift herself off yet. "Their names are Oracle, Perception, and Imperial."

Lydia let out a curious chirp in the back of her throat as she stared up at the moons while her mother continued.

"Each moon gives a NightWing their powers, but it all depends on which is watching over you while you hatch." Animosity explained, "They are named after the first NightWings to have ever had powers, the holders who passed them down to the dragonets after them as they watched them hatch under their glowing moons. Legend says that they brought an era of prosperity to the tribe and helped them make their claim on the Claw Peninsula. They saved them from unexpected disasters, saved them from possible wars, and passed their knowledge down to the next generation of dragonets who hatched after they were gone."

"Gone?" She tilted her head. "Where did they go?"

"They're not truly gone. They became the very moons that light up the sky, shedding light across all of Pyrrhia, stretching to every corner so that they can reach any NightWing dragonet and pass on their powers. That way, the Night Kingdom will never fall like the others in the past."

Lydia's sparkling ruby red eyes opened with a wet blink, pushing away the memory of her mother as she focused back onto the task at talon: getting home. The river was broadening, stretching out on either side as the mountains began to pull apart. She flapped her wings to push herself a bit higher into the air so she wasn't just soaring above the silver river's surface.

Following the bending river that kept expanding before her eyes, she started to notice exactly how far the mountains were pulling apart. The river was no longer like a winding snake, slithering through the mountains like a scar separating scales, but instead was becoming a meainstem, the thickest part of a river as it either flowed to or from the main source.

And in this case, the river was heading out to the other side of Pyrrhia, heading out to sea.

A flash off in the distance caught her eye, and the young NightWings head perked up, alert. It was a flicker of a dragon off in the distance, too far ahead for Lydia to clear make out, but it made Lydia's heart pick up a beat, hammering in her chest. At first she thought it was another dragon flying towards her, but after a few moments she started to realize they were flickering in and out of the air, just like the others.

That dragon wasn't real, they were a ghost.

Shimmering orange scales and sparkling wings. They were too far away to make out specific details, but something about them made a shiver run down Lydia's spine. The closer Lydia got to them, the farther they looked to get, as if they were keeping close enough for Lydia to see them yet far enough away to where it was just barely.

Who are you? Lydia wondered as she flapped her wings harder to make herself go faster, eyes glued onto the strange dragon who was flying out to sea, just like Lydia was. Her eyes felt tired, but she kept going, blinking the feeling away as a sudden breeze made her eyes sting, making her wince. Lydia had her suspicions on who this dragon was, but something about them just looked wrong. They almost didn't look real, too blurry to be real.

Suddenly, the mountains around her were no longer on either side of Lydia. They were now behind her as Lydia's wings flapped madly to make her come to a stop, hovering in the air as she stared out into the open sea. Looking behind her, she could see that she'd made it out of the mainstem. I did it, she realized with an owlish glance at the two towering mountains that stood like a set of claws reaching up into the sky. Their slopes were steep, leading right out to the sea instead of to a forest covered beach with dirt that turned into light sand.

Wait, did they lead me- whipping around, Lydia's eyes looked out into the endless sea that stretched out as far as the eye could see, disappearing into a world of darkness only illuminated by the moonlight that reflected off the water's surface. But even that still wasn't enough to cast light out into the stretch of darkness that felt like a looming shadow, waiting for Lydia to fly a little closer before it leaped out to swallow her whole and drag her into it's murky depths. Where a dragonet like her stood little to no chance of ever resurfacing again.

Another shiver raked itself up and along her spine, making her spines rattle in fear. The ghost was gone, nowhere to be seen aside from flickers of vibrant orange that shimmered beneath the waves. Whenever her eyes would land on it, it would move elsewhere in the corner of her eye, moving with the waves.

Where did they go? Looking high and low, trying to peer into the water without getting too close to the rolling waves, Lydia couldn't catch another glimpse of them, of Robin.

That had to be her, A flap from her wings sent her up higher into the air, leaning closer to the rocky shores of Pyrrhia behind her. She could see the Claw Peninsula off to her right, looking like nothing more than a stretched out island off in the distance, hardly visible in the dark. It had to be.

Sucking in a deep breath, Lydia cried out as loudly as she could. "ROBIN!!!" Calling out for the dragon she was sure that she was meant to find, for whatever reason the HiveWing was trying to keep her from figuring out, Lydia was sure that the long dead dragonet who had reconnected Pantala and Pyrrhia once more was the missing flower she needed to find. The missing flower buried deep down below the ocean's surface, hidden in green within its beautiful yet cold and unforgiving grasp.

Something in the dragonets heart pulled for her to fly out there, to search for Robin and find her. Guilt washing over her like a tidal wave at her own fear of flying out any farther. I can't go out there, her mind screamed as her wings pushed her back.

No reply came to the princess, just the soft roar of the gently rolling waves shifting below and the flaps of her wings were what filled the silent air. Waves that seemed to be taunting her as she stared out into the endless void of darkness in front of her.

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

Lydia's mind was racing as she flew between towing cliffs and mountain peaks. The sun held itself up high, clouds creating moving spots of shade across the ground. They weren't as white as Lydia had normally seen from her time outside of the hidden kingdom, they were a light grey with swollen bellies that were tinted a dark blue. It was strange to see, especially with how bright the sky was. Is that what rain clouds look like during the day? Whenever it'd be raining or thundering, Lydia would sometimes catch glimpses of the dark pink or purple clouds at night that covered the stars and the moons as they rumbled.

But these clouds weren't grumbling or releasing any raindrops, not yet at least. They almost looked pretty as they drifted through the sky in long steaks. Like someone had taken a paintbrush and dragged it across a scroll or a canvas. Looking down from the clouds above her, Lydia went back to scanning the mountain sides, wondering why she hadn't seen any other NightWings yet.

They should be swarming the whole mountain range for me, where are they? She couldn't have been far from their home mountain now, where the underground kingdom was hidden away underneath layers of rocks.

In every direction, there were mountains covered in vast forests like a blanket of moss. There were spots or small lines of blue slicing up the fluffy green coat covering them that were small creeks and streams and small lakes. They looked familiar, but not the same scenery she'd seen from the hidden kingdom's smaller entrances. One thing Lydia remembered clearly was the Claw Mountain.

Towers of sharp stone on either side, framing the setting sun as it began to disappear off into the horizon. Pine trees bristled in the wind, their nettles filling the air with a soft rattle. Stars were starting to peek their way through the reddening sky like tiny moonstones embedded into a tapestry. In the center of it all, hooking around the sun like a claw, was a mountain the shape of an IceWings claw. Hook and serrated as it curled around the setting sun, its sharp tip resting right above the top of the burning ball of fire as it continued to lower down off beyond the vast valleys coated in trees and surrounded by rolling mountains.

She picked up her speed with a flap of her wings, pushing herself through the air while her gaze darted from mountain to mountain, hill to hill. If I can just find the claw mountain, then I can find the entrance to the kingdom. Lydia had never seen the exit herself, but she had been to the exit cave where she had her first series of visions. She remembered there was a hole in the top of the cave that had been blocked off, but when moved it was perfectly aligned with the moons. Their light would shine down into the cave, illuminating every nook and cranny in a sparkling silver glow.

Lydia, filled with determination that burned inside of her, flew high enough to have the perfect view of the rolling hills that split valleys full of lush forests in half and separated mountains that were aligned like dragon teeth. Her heart hammered within her chest, beating loudly within her ears. She passed another mountain, then another, and another. The thicket of forests below her turned from oaks and birch trees to towering pines that were so tall, the tops of their trees swayed under the slightest breeze.

Another flap of her wings sent her darting through the lower hanging clouds, the feeling of cold mist drizzling across her scales until she shot through the other side. When she flew out of the cloud, opening her eyes after blinking a few times to shake off the moisture that cling to her eyelids as they wided at the sight before her. Reaching up into the sky was a sharp and jagged mountain that's coat of pines thinned out before turning into a covering of sharp rocky peaks. The top of the mountain before her curled like a hook, like a claw. The NightWing instantly began searching the nearby hills and mountains with her ruby red eyes. Lydia looked over her shoulder towards the towering mountain behind her that spiraled into the ground, covered in lush forests so thick she couldn't tell one tree from the other rooted beside it.

"Mom! Dad!" She cried out, tucking in her wings as she dove down towards the side of the mountain, her hind claws reaching out to grab one of the thicker pine branches to land on. "Anybody!" Her only response was the quiet whistle of the breeze fluttering through the nettles, making them rattle around her like rattlesnakes. As quickly as she dared, the NightWing dragonet began to leap down from the towering pine trees. Reaching out or leaping down to the lower branches that bended under her sudden weight before they began to become thickers and sturdier. "Mom! Dad!"

Like a lost chick crying for its parents to return, Lydia hopes to hear the familiar roars of her family, or even just any member of her tribe, but the winds were silent. As soon as the forest floor was in view, she leapt down with a heavy THUD . Letting out a surprised gasp at how her breath had been forced from her lungs from the impact. Her legs ached with a dull throb, her shoulder feeling jostled from the fall, but she was quick to get up once she was able to suck in a sharp gasp of air.

Rushing to her feet, Lydia began a mad dash through the dense pine forest that covered the mountain. The floor was coated in a soft, but patchy, grass that had a thick layer of fallen spines. Some had fallen on an odd angle, making them stick up from the ground and poke into her palms as she ran. But the princess paid them no mind as she searched for the small entrance -possibly used by small animals- she had looked out of. She was so close, so close to home, yet something didn't feel right.

Lydia pushed those doubts away to the farthest corners of her mind as her wings opened back up, the young dragonet shooting off into the air once more as she twisted her way through the dense trees. Maybe if I go to the top, she flapped her wings before tucking them in close to dive in between two closely rooted pines who's nettles brushed against her scales, I can find the blocked off hole that let the moons shine though.

She still had yet to come across any other NightWings, not even any scouts. It was like the whole area full of rolling hills and jagged peaks were empty of any dragon life, even though Lydia knew her kingdom was here, her tribe was here underneath the many layers of rock.

The trees began to thin out and Lydia was beginning to be able to see in front of herself once more. The grass was starting to poke through as with the thinning trees meant less nettles to cover them in a claw-thick layer that poked in her palms and between her talons with a dull throb when she stepped on them too hard from sprinting. But Lydia wasn't about to slow down to a careful walk, not with her home being right below her feet, literally. "Anybody!"

Lydia crashed through the last pieces of the dense foliage, bursting out into the dim light and skidding to a halt with a huff, her sides heaving. The ground was coated in a fluffy coat of grass that felt soft -almost like down feathers- under her talons. The trees had now thinned out completely, creating a circular clearing lit up by the few rays of sunlight that were able to peek out from between the streaking clouds that rolled across the sky. In the center of it was a tall pointed rock. It would've looked normal if not for the fact that the moss clinging to its base was separated from the moss that grew on the smaller pebbles and roots. It was a sign that that rock had been moved often enough that the moss no longer attempted to regrow over that area. The rock was the only one at the top of the mountain, and stood in the very center like a marker.

Padding closer, the grass below her not making any sounds of protest as she walked across on silent steps. Once she was up to the rock she could feel it's warmth radiating off of it, most likely from any earlier sun it had managed to catch before the clouds rolled in. When she placed one of her palms against its smooth and yet bumpy surface and gave it a light shove, it didn't budge. She pushed a little harder, pressing her shoulder into it. If she was right about this being the correct mountain, then this must be the rock used to block off the top of the cave her mother had taken her to the night she had those visions, the night her training began to intensify.

The thought of her mother training her to fight other dragons, to be able to protect and defend herself as well as others -but mostly herself- made Lydia's mind flash back to the night she attacked Landslide after the large MudWing had killed Moonglobe. Lydia flinched at the memory, hazing to screw her eyes shut in order to push it away with a shake of her head.

If I can just move this rock enough that I can slip inside, she tried pushing against it again, digging in her heels and pushing with her shoulders, gritting her teeth and letting out a pained hiss as she felt her healing shoulder flare up at the pressure. Now that she thought about it, the more she found it strange that she hadn't come across any other NightWings yet, not a single one. They should be swarming the mountains like an eclipse of moths.

"Come on, come on-!" She muttered to herself under her breath, letting out a huff as she continued to push at the rock. It felt as though it weren't moving at all, until it did. Lydia nearly let out a mixed noise of surprise and excitement. "Yes! Come on, come on, just a little further. You got this." The young princess encouraged herself as she felt the rock shift underneath her talons, the sound of it scraping against something filling her ears aside from the chittering calls of the song birds perched up in the pine trees watching the NightWing dragonet. They probably thought this little dragon was weird for trying to move some random rock nearly twice her size in height, but they watched on nonetheless as Lydia continued to give it her all.

The rock scraped against more stone in protest, creating a sound both irritating but also encouraging to Lydia's ears. The more the young NightWing dragonet pushed, the more the stone moved. Her claws were clawing out bits of grass and dirt as she pushed, sometimes scrambling for purchase from time to time as her claws would slip if she didn't reposition them before she'd be close to falling. Below her, a small sliver of darkness was being revealed the more she shoved at the boulder. The more she pushed, the more it's endless maw stretched out below her like an endless pit ready to swallow her whole.

It looked so dark. A feeling of comfort washed over the shiver that tried to shoot up her spine. That was her home down there, with her tribe and her parents waiting for her. NightWings were called NightWings for a reason. They thrived in the dark, had the second best eyesight at night, and could blend in with the night sky and shadows, practically becoming one with them and almost impossible to spot.

"Follow the torches. Follow the torches. Follow the torches."

"Find the flower. Find the flower. Find the flower."

Voices echoed within Lydia's ears like an endless ring, even the hammering of her heart couldn't muffle the voices as Lydia continued to push at the boulder, pinning her ears back as if it would help to silence them. They grew louder and louder each time the rock moved, the sliver of darkness soon becoming a gaping maw beneath ner.

"Follow the torches. Follow the torches. Follow the torches."

"Find the flower. Find the flower. Find the flower."

I could slip in before the rock rolls back in place, she wouldn't be able to hold it like this forever and she could already tell her shoulder had had enough by the flaring ache that throbbed through her right wing. I just need to be quick about it, Lydia screwed her eyes shut for a moment as she sucked in a breath, heart drumming loudly and rattling against her ribs. Don't think about it, just do it! The voices were growing louder and louder, becoming an endless ring within her ears as she gave the boulder another shove, sinking her claws into the dirt as her body tensed.

"Follow the torches, find the flower. Follow the torches, find the flower. Follow the torches, find the flow-!" She jumped.

Stale -yet crisp- air flew past her face as she tucked in her wings, her cloak flaring out around her as the world went dark, the voices suddenly cutting off and leaving her mind empty in an eerie way. It was like something in the air shifted as the shadows swallowed her whole. The scraping sound of the bolder swiftly rolling back into place rang out around her, helping to further encase the princess in darkness as her wings shot out, wildy flapping at her sides to slow her descent. The world around her was pitch black, with no light coming through from anywhere.

At first Lydia was startled by being unable to see, but her eyes were quick to slowly adjust. Empty darkness became fuzzy shapes. She let out a shuddering breath as she continued to slowly make her way downwards until she felt the tips of her claws barely scrape against stone. Stepping out blindly with her hind claws as the steady dripping of water echoed around her.

"Mom?" She tried calling out, her voice bouncing off of the cave's walls and echoing in soft waves before it faded out. "Dad? Wiseflight?" No answer, again. Hearing her own voice ring throughout the dark space made it feel even emptier, eerier. The young NightWing felt even more alone as she hadn't seen even the smallest flicker of Rattlesnake, Moonglobe, nor Fatefinder. Not since the night she believed she saw Robin out at sea, the flickering orange dragon who looked to be swallowed whole by the sea. "Fatefinder? Moonglobe? Rattlesnake?"

Nothing.

She didn't like feeling so alone. Even when she was with Quickstrike, taken away from her home and her family, she wasn't truly alone as Fatefinder was there with her every step of the way. Even in the forest where Moonglobe died, he had been there. When she was wandering aimlessly in the forests, trying to find her way back to the mountains, Rattlesnake was with her and had comforted her when Lydia had had enough. But here, she felt truly alone.

"Just have to find the main door," she muttered quietly to herself , bringing back her focus, as she continued her search. Reaching out with her claws, her wings fanned out along her sides to act as an early warning if she missed a nearby rock.

Feeling along the smooth cave wall, she ran her talons across its surface, feeling for anything out of the ordinary. Lydia let out a quiet gasp as she felt her claws hook behind a smooth rock that jutted out of the wall. The rock was a small boulder, a little bigger than the one she had to shove out of the moonlight hole in the top of the cave. It's surface was smooth, her free talons feeling every little bump that tried to grip at the tips of her claws but were too worn down to cling to properly.

Lydia ran her claws over it again, feeling a line of separation between the boulder and the stone wall, the round rock going back further than her claws could reach. Her heart gave a powerful THUMP within her chest as the NightWing began to try and find a way to somehow pull the large rock out of place.

Surely someone has to be on the other side guarding it, she thought as she sucked in a breath before calling out in hopes of being heard. "Dad! Mom! Anybody!"

Sill, all the princess got was silence.

Dead silence.

Something felt wrong about everything. Lydia continued to look for a way to let herself in as uncertainty poked the young NightWing in the back of her mind. The rock barely budged out of it's place when she pulled it, but it felt almost loose. Like it hadn't been properly sealed behind the last dragon to slip inside the underground kingdom. It scraped against the floor, a faint light began to trickle in from the sliver of open space lining the edge of the stone, widening with each of Lydia's tugs.

Suddenly her claws slipped from the rocks surface, scratching along its side and creating an ear splitting screeching noise as she nearly lost her footing. Wings wildly flapping to help keep her balance as she tethered, threatening to fall backwards until her claws hooked onto a tiny nook in the rock. Lydia stood there for a few moments on her hind legs -if it could be even called standing- hanging onto the rock as she sucked in a deep breath, trying to calm her beating heart. Her quick and stuttering breaths shuddered when she let them out, her wings quivering. Gulping down a final breath, she straightened herself as she turned to look at the streak of golden torch light that sliced through the slithering darkness like a blade.

Stepping towards it, one of Lydia's claws stepped into its light. Warmth folded over her set of claws in shallow, gentle waves with every flicker of the lit torch that glowed dimly in the spiraling stone passageway that stretched out until it looked no bigger than the tip of a nettle. Aside from the torch in front of her by the entrance behind the freshly moved boulder, there were no other sources of light that she could see at the other end of the tunnel. Just darkness.

I thought there were more torches than that... Lydia frowned, staring off into the endless tunnel through the small entryway she had created.

It looked small, but maybe if she twisted herself the right way, she could slip inside without having to pull the boulder out any further. Sucking in a deep breath through her flared out nostrils, she shook the antsy feeling out of her legs before she squeezed herway between the boulder and the stone wall. Twisting herself to the side, she had to push herself up onto her hind legs, practically standing on the tips of her claws as she pushed herself through the gasp, having to suck in her gut in order to fit without too much of a pinch. It felt like an eternity before her front claws started to scrape at the ground on the other side as she wriggled her way out.

Landing on the other side with a light thud, the princess expected to see a patrolling guard peek around the dark corridor and spot her, roar in celebration to alert the rest of their tribe that the princess has returned. But there was nothing, just silence aside from the quiet crackling of the dimly burning torch that looked as though it hadn't been relit in a few days at least.

Reaching up with her talons she pulled the torch down and held it close. Feeling its dying warmth wash over her scales in rolling waves. Holding it in front of her face, she let her own fire slip through her teeth with a gentle whoosh that helped the fire grow back into the blooming flower of crackling heat it once used to be. Lydia began to make her way down the winding tunnel, the boulder blocking the hidden entryway soon being swallowed by the dancing shadows that slithered in the corners of her vision.

Why isn't anyone guarding the entrance? She questioned as she walked, ducking her head from time to time in order to slip under low hanging ceilings. Maybe they're guarding the end of the tunnel? Soon the young princess made it out, still holding the torch close, yet no one was there. "Hello?" She called out, looking around the dark tunnel. No torches were lit, and they didn't look like they had been for a while. Are Mom and Dad trying to make it look like no ones here? To stop anymore dragons from being taken? The King and Queen didn't know that Morpho had given away their position in order for Quickstrike to sneak in and kidnap their daughter, as well as kill a guard-in-training. "Anybody?"

Nothing.

Lydia's steps grew quicker, faster as she swiftly trotted from door to door, hall to tunnel. Everywhere. But she still had yet to come across a single NightWing. Lydia kept searching, calling out for anybody but she never got an answer. It was like the whole underground kingdom had gone dark. Objects were left in place as if everyone had just vanished into thin air. When she got into the kitchens, pots were still over dead fires with cooked food inside that had long since gone cold. Teaching rooms for dragonets had scrolls left out, not having yet been put away. Lydia was practically running now, dashing down halls and crying out, begging for anyone to come out and find her, but she was only met with the echo of her own voice.

"Mom! Dad!" She cried out as loud as her voice could allow, "Please! Anybody! Wiseflight! Fateful! Faith!" The princess even called out for Fatefinder's sisters, in hopes they could somehow hear her wherever they were. Lydia could feel the sting of tears building up in the corners of her eyes, but the dragonet blinked them away as she searched and searched and searched. Her heart growing louder and louder the more she came up empty clawed.

Eventually, Lyida found herself shoving open the door to her room, finding it to be the messiest room she'd found. It looked as though everything had been overturned and thrown across the room. Like they were searching for me. A single sliver of scroll laid out in front of her, writings written in shimmering golden ink similar to her mothers were sprawled across its surface, shimmering under the torchlight the princess held within her talons.

Reaching down with her free claw she pinched it between her talons, holding it up close to the torchlight in her other palm to read what it said. The words seemed to echo throughout her ears like an eerie ring, like a whisper spoken from a snake as its tongue tasted the air.

'Beware the day that turns the sky red, for a dragon is coming for all our heads. A dragon with eyes the colour of red dragon's blood, will come to take all that you love. Beware the dragon born under three watchful eyes, for they shall come to claim your queen and reveal an evil that has yet to be seen.'

The small piece of scroll fluttered to the floor, falling out of Lydia's grasp as she blankly stared down at it, her red eyes wide as it repeated over and over and over again within her head. The young princess took a startled step back, her wings practically shaking under her cloak. She could feel her heart hammering painfully within her chest, practically slamming against her ribs.

Is that the prophecy about me? It didn't sound like a dragon who was going to save their tribe from a lying queen who tricked her tribe and stole the throne. It sounded more like a warning. A warning about a dragon, about her, who was going to 'claim your queen'. Lydia didn't even know what that meant, but it didn't sound good. Maybe it just means me putting mom back onto the throne? Like I was destined too? Something about it still seemed off, felt wrong.

Stepping back, Lydia pulled the torch closer to her chest. Unease prickled along her back like a bunch of ants furiously biting between her scales to get at her skin underneath. Turning herself around, she swiftly began to make the trek to the center of the hidden kingdom.

The Throne Room.

A large hollow cove that spirated upwards to where dragons clinging to the top looked no bigger than a claw. The three towering thrones carved to look like jagged stalagmites and stalactites -with Charming's being carved to look like waves and Lydia's being a mix of the two- were pushed close to the left of the small entrance she and her family would walk through, while the main entrance was directly across from it and was the entrance used by the rest of the tribe as well as Morpho. The whole area was empty, not even a single NightWing resting from the large stalactites. Lydia could hardly see the top, even with her torch trying its best to fill the empty void with its flickering glow, and it made her feel even smaller, even more lost.

Everyone was gone, and she was alone.

Tears were flowing freely now as the princess made her way up onto her fathers throne, curling up as tightly as she could as she held her torch as close as she could without the flames trying to bite her. Lydia felt exhausted. Like every ounce of will to keep searching had left her body, leaving her as nothing more than a body with nothing left to give. Why aren't they here? Her eyes burned, and she had to blink her tears away, her throat feeling sore from all of her attempts to call out for her parents, for Wiseflight, for anybody. They're all supposed to be here.

Lydia's mind was full of questions, swirling around like a raging storm having nowhere to release its fury. She was so distracted that she didn't see the tall, flickering red figure making their way closer to her, walking on silent steps as they inched their way closer to her. It was only once she wetly sniffled and rubbed at her eyes that she saw them, but only once they were practically right in front of her. Hunched down to be closer to the young dragonet in height, even on the throne. They were a SkyWing with curled horns that stuck up into the air like spiraling towers. It was hard to make out any small details because of the dancing darkness that taunted her in the edges of her vision, but Lydia could see the shimmering red of their scales.

They looked to be talking to her, or at least trying to, but she couldn' hear them. Their voice was nothing more than white noise that filled the air like a quiet buzz.

"I-I-I can't-'' she swallowed, trying to steady her racing heart that felt as though claws were gripping it mercilessly, "I can't u-under stand y-you." Her voice shook, no matter how hard she tried to even it out like a crumpled piece of scroll.

The ghost stopped and tilted their head to the side, Lydia unknowingly copying them. Their ears perked up at the sight, but Lydia couldn't see their eyes and with them flickering in and out of sight like a dying flame, she couldn't tell what they were feeling off of their expression. They tilted their head to the other side, the princess doing the same. After a few moments of tense silence, they slowly reached out with one of their claws. When Lydia flinched back, wincing at the louder buzz that rang within her ears, they paused before proceeding. Gently, their claws cupped the side of the lost heir's face, rubbing the soft underside of their claw pad under her eye as if to wipe away her ears.

"......-tle one-....-leep-...st you-....-ead."

Their voice -no, her voice, replaced the loud ringing within her ears. Making her pause and stare at them with wide eyes as their form began to become clearer. Lydia could now see their face, see her shimmering golden eyes that burned as brightly as the torch she held, the warm look within those eyes that looked to be telling her that everything would be okay. With her energy drained, her heart aching, Lydia could hardly fight against the gentle pull of sleep that tugged at the back of her mind. Her eyes grew heavy, stinging from the tears that were slowly beginning to dry. Resting her head down, the SkyWing moved to lay down beside her, not once leaving the young princess' side.

"I want my mom," she whimpered as she tucked her free talon closer to her chest, her torch slowly dimming. "I want my dad."

"I kn-...., I-....-ow," the ruby red SkyWing whispered soothingly to her, "-...-..u'll se-...-em soon, don't worry.....--..--..-sleep now-.....-...-est."

As Lydia's mind began to sink further and further into worried sleep, images flashed through her mind with the SkyWing's gentle touch: The red SkyWing sitting up in the treetops watching the sunrise with another SkyWing who's scales were a glowing orange that blended down into a warm red at his talons. He wore armour and looked to be the same age as the dragon beside him as they watched the sunrise. The next was of the two SkyWings talking, the orange one looking flustered while the red one burst out laughing.

"You're absolutely ridiculous, Aventurine!" He scolded with a shake of his wings as his friend laughed at his own embarrassment.

"Oh come on, Aarron!" The red SkyWing exclaimed with her high-pitched laughter. "You have to admit," she snorted into her talons, tail swishing in joy at her friend's flustered misery as water dripped down the young soldier's face. "You were asking for it!"

"I was NOT!"

"You SO were!"

The next flash was just as joyful. Aventurine sat within a small cave, the entrance letting in warm sunlight that lit up the walls adored in art of all kinds. Held within her talons was a bundle of cloth. Aventurine stroked it gently, warmth blossoming inside of her chest as she perked up, hearing her partner's wingbeats as the soldier entered their cave. "Aventurine?" He called out, "Aventurine I need to te-"

When she turned around, the orange SkyWing stopped dead in his tracks, his eyes wide in awe at what his partner held within her gentle grasp. An egg. "I-is that...?"

At her silent nod, holding back her tears of joy, he lept forwards and wrapped her in a warm hug. "I'm going to be a dad!"

"I was already thinking of names, and I think I found one I like."

"Do I not get a say?"

"Maybe," she laughed as he lightly hit her with the underside of his wing. "I was thinking Funnel. Something beautiful, yet dangerous. The perfect little SkyWing."

The last memory that Lydia saw before she slipped away into a dreamless slumber, lulled to sleep by the warm and happy memories shared to her by Aventurine, was one that she saw for just a second.

A tunnel rumbling, guards shouting as rocks fell from the top of the tunnel. "Hurry!" Aarron cried out, clutching their daughter close to his chest. The dragonet was hardly even a few months old. Aventurine was right behind them, she could feel the enraged fire from the soldiers chasing them, biting at her ankles. A loud rumble split through the air, Aventurine could hear little Funnel's fearful cries and could do nothing to sooth her as she felt a crushing weight slam into her back, pinning her to the ground as the tunnel collapsed around her.

Her last living thought was to keep her daughter safe, to make sure she was safe. But all she could see was darkness.

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

When Lydia first woke up, her torch had long since gone out, but her eyes had adjusted by now and she could make out the shapes of everything around her. The SkyWing -Aventurine- was gone. The princess had tried calling out for her, but got no response. Her ears were met with only ringing buzz as her mind tried to fill in the seemingly endless silence. Every second more she spent down there, the lonelier she felt.

Maybe if she went back to the top side of the mountain, she'd be able to wait for her tribe's return from...from wherever they are. They have to be coming back, they wouldn't just...wouldn't just leave me...Lydia's eyes burned as she started to make her way back through the cave tunnels she had spent her entire life roaming, memorizing, interacting with her tribe mates, her future subjects.

The trek through the tunnels was almost heart wrenching to the princess, an uneasy feeling burning on the back of her neck as an itching prickle nipped her spines and scales. It only made her walk faster. She would occasionally light her path by huffing out flames from her throat, the flames momentarily lighting her way through the darkness. In the back of her mind Lydia felt as though Morpho -or even the HiveWing- would suddenly be looking around the corner at her, with his eyes turned that gleaming black and yellow scales covering the right side of his face. She shivered, pushing that image away with a shake of her quivering wings.

Lydia kept moving, not once slowing down as she picked up her pace from a slow walk to a swift and flighty trott, ready to switch into a mad dash at a moment's notice. They're not here, she had to painfully remind herself as she pressed herself to keep going, even with how defeated she felt. No ones here.

Slipping past the boulder she moved to uncover the entrance, having to squeeze her way past it once more, Lydia realized she had a problem. Specifically the boulder then still covered the moonhole she came through. The NightWing felt panic attempt to suddenly surge inside of her, but she swallowed it down. Maybe I can just move it again, opening her wings, she shot off into the dark air, using her fire to light her way so she didn't fly snout-first into a stalactite.

Finding her way to the top, Lydia pressed her palms against the bottom of the rock, not feeling it budge even an inch as she pushed. She had nothing to push herself off of either, so it was just the small dragonet using her own strength which already wasn't very much with her physical training having just started only a few weeks prior to Quickstrike kidnapping her. What if I push off of a stalactite? There were several hanging from the cave ceiling around her, forming a ring of jegged hanging rocks, some glistening with dripping water that helped to make the air crisp.

Reaching out with her hind claws while trying not to pull her arms back from where they hung over her head, pressing against the cool underside of the boulder blocking her way out. At first, she was kicking at nothing but empty air, until she felt her claws scrape against wet stone. Stretching her legs out further, she could feel a thick stalactite hanging a wing length away from her. When she followed it up with her hind claws, she found a good place to plant her hind talons and push. At first there was no give, the boulder stubbornly staying in place like it was meant to. It's too heavy, she huffed, pulling her arms back down as her wings flapped to keep her in the air.

How did the NightWing guards move it last time I was in here? Lydia's mind scrambled to try and remember, but she didn't even know if she saw what they did to open it. She did know that all of them were on the ground, none of them were flying in the air like she was. Lydia's eyes narrowed as a brooding look crossed her face. Her claws reached out and began to feel around the bottom of the bolder, tracing the seam that held the boulder snugly in place. At first she thought nothing was there, until her claws hooked onto something that stuck out.

Sucking in a deep breath, Lydia let out a small puff of fire, just enough to light up the thing in front of her and hopefully not set whatever it was on fire. It was round and made of carved stone, looking like disks of silver with how smooth they were. Between the two round stones was a long piece of rope that stretched off into the swirling sea of darkness below her.

A pulley!

Lydia reached out and grabbed the rope, it was covered in an odd soot as if to hide it from sight down below. Of course mom would want this covered up, she realized with a blink. So a wandering dragon who makes their way inside wouldn't see it. Giving it a tug, she felt it easily move with her and move the rock, almost too easily.

A prickle of unease began to creep up on her, but she pushed it down in favour of pulling the rope again, the boulder blocking her way out moving as a crescent of light filled in the cave, making her squint at the sudden early morning light that momentarily blinded her as she pulled the rope some more until she felt like it was enough for her to fly out.

With a quick flap of her wings, she shot up and through the gap, feeling the fresh mountain air swirl around her. But that wasn't all she felt as there was a sudden shift in the air behind her before something slammed into her back, sending her skidding into the rocky ground with a cry "AH!" as sharp pebbles dug into her scales and tore at her cloak. Lydia landed with a heavy thump, the air in her lungs having been knocked out of her from the impact as she gasped for breath, feeling like a fish out of water The air taunting her as she couldn't suck any in as her lungs burned.

"Did you really think," A rumbling voice made Lydia freeze, her body going cold as tremors shook their way through her body. "That you'd get away from me? After what you've done."

Standing there from around the boulder, stood a large, broad MudWing was a snarl pulling at her face. Her one golden yellow eye burning as she sneered at Lydia, the other having been completely clawed out by the young NightWing dragonet. They had one talon planted against the stone, holding it up before they let it fall back into place with a SLAM and a small cloud of rocky dust that swirled up at the sudden movement.

Landslide.

————————————————————

- MindlessTyper