a/n : this is a pairing i saw once in a random fic on ao3, i'll link it in comments when this is published. (if i can find it). i thought this was a really interesting and sweet pairing, and i'm just happy to write abt an underrated ship and with an underrated character: carnelian. i've always liked carnelian for no apparent reason, and then she just died right off the bat which dissapointed me. i thought this dynamic was really interesting and it quickly became a favourite of mine.

btw there's a longer time-gap between the days of jma opening and the day of the cave explosion for fic purposes 👍

i thought of this idea in my head on the way to walmart to get groceries, so i couldn't write it down anywhere. so i decided to make it today while i had a physical and mental crisis lmao. enjoy

this will be fluffy stuff at the beginning, angst at the end. oops

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Carnelian hated everyone. She hated her chatty winglet who couldn't take things any seriously. Constant chit-chat and goofy faces passed between each other. She at least tolerated Winter, who didn't seem all that excited about Jade Mountain Academy, just like Carnelian. But he was full of himself. There wasn't anyone who Carnelian could like, in her winglet, or outside of it. They would all be useless in battle, too. She could beat them all in seconds with a mere swipe of her talons.
Except for one.
A little MudWing named Sora.
Sora was in the Gold Winglet, while Carnelian was in the Jade Winglet. But that didn't stop them from seeing each other. A little bit before they had joined the school, they had met briefly. And now in the school, Carnelian could see more of her. She felt drawn to the quiet MudWing, so different from Carnelian. But she was different in a wonderful way. In a sweet, loveable, Sora way. And she was quiet. And although Carnelian liked when other dragons were quiet, she wanted nothing more than to hear Sora speak her mind. The SkyWing wanted to see Sora that first night.
Laying awake in the cave at night while the others slept, her mind kept going back to her. And in her late night thoughts, she realized why. She realized she was in love with Sora. Sure, they hadn't spent any time actually together, and Sora probably didn't feel the same, Carnelian was in love and there was nothing she could do about it.

So when the next day arrived, Carnelian found herself making her way over to Sora at lunch. She played it off as wanting to get away from her noisy winglet and to a quieter table. Sora was sitting with two of her brothers, Marsh and Umber. Carnelian sat with them and talked to them whenever they talked to her.
Then Sora and Carnelian had started to talk more, much to Carnelian's surprise. She hadn't expected Sora to like her back. She liked hanging out with Sora. Sora was sweet and quiet and shy. She was just pleasant to be around. And she was someone Carnelian could finally calm down and be herself with.
A few days passed and Carnelian's feelings only got stronger. Sometimes it felt as though Sora did share those feelings towards her, but the doubt in her mind kept pressing on.

[ Sora POV ]

Sora knew that eventually something bad was bound to happen at the school, but what she didn't know was that it would involve her. The moment she saw Icicle, something clicked inside her mind. She didn't realize it at first, not until it kept getting inside her head. When she sat in the library alone, Sora had let her mind wander. And that was when the knew Icicle was the IceWing. The IceWing that had claimed her sister's life a few years back. She was the one responsible for killing Crane in cold blood. Sora knew that it was war, and many dragons killed one another, but this was different. This was outside of the war. Their battle was over, and the MudWing team was ready to fly away with their victory. But suddenly, an IceWing murdered Crane before they could leave. It was unfair. The battle was over and the IceWing still kept fighting. It was unfair.

And when Sora saw the IceWing in her winglet, it all came clear. She could finally get her justice. But the war was over, and she wasn't sure if she could even bring herself to kill Icicle. The IceWing was much more powerful than the MudWing. Icicle was one of the highest ranked IceWings. She was a claimer of victory. And Sora was supposed to kill her? Sora, the harmless, quiet, shy MudWing? Impossible. She couldn't even tell her sibs. They would never accept the idea of murdering anyone, even if that someone happened to be the killer of their sister they missed so much. They probably wouldn't even believe her word.

But Sora had to. She needed the justice. She needed Icicle to know what devastation she had caused the siblings.

Stress and worry was eating away at her, day by day. Every night when she tried to sleep, and every morning she tried to make her way in the world. Carnelian was the one she could finally stop talking about her trauma with. She was the one Sora could unwind with, because Carnelian had no idea of the pain she went through. To Carnelian, Sora was an ordinary dragon. And she liked being that. She liked being someone ordinary with no sad past that had come back full circle to haunt her.

She found herself falling for the majestic SkyWing. Sora loved the way Carnelian was, which was the real Carnelian. Not some bad-tempered, grumbling, jerk who always complained about the dragons around her and how she was a better fighter than anyone. Sora loved the way that Carnelian was brutally honest with her, telling her about her insecurities and how her toughness was just an act to make herself feel better. Sora loved the way Carnelian would hug her with her giant wings when they were alone. And she couldn't help but admit that she loved the way their talons sometimes brushed. The way Carnelian's deep orange eyes darted away when she got too awkward about opening up about her feelings.

And it all ended when Sora finally did it.
She set off the bomb.
She set off the bomb to kill Icicle, only to fail when Icicle wasn't even in that cave.
Instead, three innocent dragons. One wounded, two dead.
It was devastating to see Bigtail's charred corpse and Tamarin's injuries. Sora felt so guilty. Two innocent dragons fell victim to her crime. But when she saw the beautiful, dark crimson scales, now charred and as black as NightWing scales in some places, she could barely take it. Her heart plummeted and the guilt choked her, wrapping her in a miserable funk of overwhelming remorse.

It was Carnelian. No. It was Carnelian. The powerful, majestic, surprisingly sweet SkyWing warrior. The love of her life. Now dead. Dead to her own talons. She was such a stupid fool, thinking her dumb plan would work. Her dumb, stupid, absurd, foolish plan. It was too risky but she did it anyway. And for what? Two dead innocent dragons, one her beloved, and one innocent injured dragon? She didn't even get what she was supposed to. Why couldn't life just be fair for once?
It should have been me in that cave. Not these poor dragons. Not my beloved, Sora thought before she could stop herself. For days and days, she was being destroyed by guilt. She kept visiting Tamarin, hoping she would survive and she wouldn't be a murderer of one more.
Day by day, her mental health got worse. And worse. She figured she should try again to kill Icicle. But yet again, the plan didn't succeed. This time, she hadn't killed anyone innocent. But Icicle is also innocent, in a way, a part of her mind kept whispering. But Sora pushed it aside.
That day her second attempt to kill the IceWing queen's niece failed, Icicle knew. She was going to kill her, without hesitation. And as much as Sora felt awful and a part of her wanted to give in to the IceWing's merciless claws, she knew she had to keep going.
She had to keep going for Carnelian.

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a/n: omg its done 😱😱 i know i said i didn't have any motivation, but i was really feeling it for a oneshot. i didn't feel like writing my actual story (the distrust sequel) but i felt like writing a oneshot about a pairing that has been itching at my brain since i saw it

word count for the actual story: 1257

word count in total: 1499

thank you for reading ok bye👍