A few days had passed since Moon found herself confined to the healer's cave at Jade Mountain Academy. The stone walls were starting to feel uncomfortably familiar, though the constant flow of her friends from the Jade Winglet made her stay more bearable.

Kinkajou was, unsurprisingly, the most frequent visitor, her scales shifting between bright pink and yellow as she bounced in several times a day, chattering about everything happening in their classes. "Black MOon! You won't believe what happened in history class today!" she would exclaim, her scales turning a brilliant orange with excitement.

Winter would come, too, though he tried to act like his visits were purely to bring her the homework she was missing. Despite his cool demeanor, Moon noticed how his usual frosty expression would soften slightly when he checked on her recovery.

Qibli brought a different energy to the cave, always arriving with clever observations about their lessons and witty comments that made her laugh despite her discomfort. He had a way of making even the dullest homework feel interesting, especially when he started theorizing about different ways to solve their problems.

Turtle was quieter in his visits, but no less welcome. He would often bring scrolls from the library that he thought she might enjoy, sitting quietly nearby while working on his own writing.

Black Moon was propped up on her cushions, a history scroll spread out before her, when a warm golden glow preceded Sunny's entrance into the healer's cave. The small SandWing teacher's scales caught the light as she stepped inside, her friendly face bearing her characteristic gentle smile.

"How are you feeling?" Sunny asked, her dark green eyes full of concern as she approached Black Moon's bed. The dark purple scales along Black Moon's neck gleamed as she shifted to face her teacher, careful not to jostle her healing wing.

Black Moon smiled softly, her obsidian scales catching the light that filtered through the cave entrance. Her eyes, deep and thoughtful, shimmered with genuine warmth as she looked up at her teacher. "I'm doing fine, thank you, Sunny," she replied, adjusting her position carefully to avoid disturbing her bandaged wing. "How's my winglet?" The question carried a note of concern - she'd been missing her clawmates more than she cared to admit.

Sunny's sandy golden scales seemed to capture and reflect the cave's gentle illumination, creating a warm glow around her as she settled near Black Moon's bed. Her familiar, friendly presence brought comfort to the healing chamber. "Just fine!" she responded with her characteristic cheerfulness, her dark green eyes bright and reassuring. "But, of course, they've been worrying about you, as usual," she added with a gentle flick of her barbed tail. The little wooden flute she carried - a favorite teaching tool for her music lessons - was held delicately in her talons, suggesting she might have just come from teaching a class.

Black Moon chuckled softly, the sound echoing gently off the curved stone walls of the healing cave. The afternoon light streaming through the entrance caught her obsidian scales, making them shimmer like stars against a midnight sky. Her eyes, usually bright and attentive, glinted with a complex mixture of amusement and hidden anxiety as she shifted her weight on the pile of soft mountain goat furs that made up her bed.

"I've noticed. She won't leave me alone for more than a moment, always telling me everything," she said, her voice trailing off abruptly as she caught herself. The words seemed to hang in the herb-scented air between them, unfinished. Her dark talons, polished like black pearls, curled anxiously against the stone floor, scraping tiny grooves that matched countless others from previous patients.

I can't tell her about Darkstalker, she thought, her heart thundering so loudly she worried Sunny might hear it. A bead of sweat trickled down between her scales, and she resisted the urge to shake out her wings - especially the injured one, still wrapped carefully in Yarrow's herb-soaked bandages. The mysterious voice had become her constant companion during these long, quiet days in the healing cave. When the torches burned low and her friends had all returned to their sleeping caves, his whispers would fill the darkness with promises and possibilities that both thrilled and terrified her.

Sunny can't know about that, she reminded herself firmly, forcing her expression to remain as still as a frozen lake. Her talons flexed unconsciously against the history scroll she'd been reading, its edges crinkling slightly under her grip. Ancient ink drawings of long-dead queens stared up at her from the yellowed parchment, their painted eyes seeming to judge her silence. The very thought of revealing that the infamous NightWing terror - the monster from their darkest history scrolls - had been speaking to her and Moon made her scales feel two sizes too small. Such knowledge would shatter the careful peace of Jade Mountain Academy like a stone through a glass window, sending everything spiraling into a chaos that would make even the Great War seem orderly.

Sunny's warm presence beside her felt suddenly dangerous, like standing too close to a fire. The small SandWing's golden scales caught the light from the cave entrance, creating dancing patterns on the walls that reminded Black Moon uncomfortably of the way Darkstalker's voice danced through her thoughts. The wooden flute in Sunny's talons - carved with delicate scroll patterns by Tsunami as a Hatching Day gift - seemed to watch their interaction like another silent witness to her deception.

Sunny's dark green eyes lingered on Black Moon for a moment, curiosity flickering across her face like shadows from the torchlight. Though concern creased her brow slightly, she didn't press further - a trait that had made her such a beloved teacher at the academy. "Well, I'll come check on you soon then," she said, her voice warm as summer sand. Her golden wing lifted in a cheerful wave, catching the light and sending brief, glittering reflections across the cave walls before she slipped out, her barbed tail disappearing last around the corner.

Left alone, Black Moon released a heavy sigh that stirred the dried herbs hanging from the ceiling. She sank back onto the stone ledge, her scales scraping softly against the cushions as her injured wing twinged in protest at the movement. The healing cave suddenly felt both too large and too small - the silence pressing in around her like a physical weight.

You know you're making this harder than it needs to be, she muttered silently, her thoughts sharp with frustration. Her talons traced absent patterns on the scroll still laid out before her, the ancient parchment crinkling softly under her touch.

Darkstalker's voice filled her mind like smoke, smooth and rich as honey but with an underlying current that made her scales prickle. Oh, I do enjoy a challenge, the ancient dragon mused, his mental chuckle rolling through her thoughts like distant thunder. There was something both captivating and unsettling about the way his voice seemed to wrap around her mind, as tangible as the bandages on her wing but far more dangerous.

I try not to, she thought back, unable to keep a flicker of exasperation from crossing her face. Her tail twitched against the stone floor, sending a small pebble skittering into the shadows. The afternoon light was beginning to fade from the cave entrance, and with it, her resolve to keep resisting his subtle manipulations felt like it was fading, too.