Peace and its Shadow

Chapter 2: One After Another

A few days later

Peacemaker sat alone on a thick tree branch, quietly resting as birds were chirping. Darkstalker also rested near him, although he floated like a cloud in the sky. Peacemaker felt the presence of someone watching him, he opened his eyes and started looking around. Darkstalker felt the same presence as well.

"Someone is here," Darkstalker warned. Peacemaker realized a few days earlier as whatever mood or feeling Peacemaker felt, Darkstalker felt the same thing so he knew he wasn't just being paranoid. Peacemaker scouted out his surroundings. Could it be a Rainwing watching me? Peacemaker shuttered at the thought. He was never all too comfortable with the thought of being stalked by camouflage unless it was a game of Hide and Seek he and the other Rainwing dragonets used to play. Eventually, he asked,

"Is someone there?" Peacemaker tried concentrating on not thinking too much in case Moon was near. Which she was, all the time now. Peacemaker had started seeing Moon every hour of every day ever since Clearblade. Suddenly, a dragon materialized right next to him. Peacemaker jumped and if he was honest he would've clawed at his face if Peacemaker didn't immediately realize who it was.

"Hey buddy, nice to see you again," the dragon cheerfully said. They looked similar to Glory but were now bright pink and looked a little older. It was Jambu, Glory's brother.

"What are you doing sneaking up on me like that?" Peacemaker questioned. Peacemaker noticed Jambu tense a little, his bright smile faltering a little before going back.

"What, can't I meet up with my friends? I used to play all sorts of fun games with you, remember?" Jambu said. Yeah, that's because you had to, specifically for me as a request from Glory. He thought but didn't say it out loud.

"Well, nice camouflage sneak up, you should probably do that to other Nightwings. Their reactions would be hilarious," Peacemaker joked. Jambu laughed,

"Of course it is, though I got to say, you don't have the usual reactions when I sneak up on you anymore." There was an awkward silence between them.

"So, what made you decide to come visit me?" Peacemaker asked. Peacemaker once again, saw the tenseness. Is he hiding something? Could he be watching me because he's suspicious that I did it? Does he know? Peacemaker's thoughts started to race.

"Oh...well I had nothing else to do and Pineapple was somewhere else so I came to see you. You're quite fun to talk to," Jambu answered.

"He is keeping something from you," Darkstalker commented. Peacemaker almost forgot he was there. Despite his huge size, he is often silent and sometimes is just invisible to Peacemaker's brain. Peacemaker kept on persisting.

"Fun to talk to? How? I just started gardening and farming strawberries, that's it for me," Peacemaker said.

"I think farming strawberries with you was quite fun, especially picking them, you were always chaotic and had a lot of energy. Though you don't have as much energy anymore, definitely not after Clearblade," Jambu said before adding, "Sorry about her by the way, I'm sure it isn't going well." Clearblade. Peacemaker thought sadly. He tried pushing the thought of her corpse down to the bottomless pit he called a heart.

...

"Moons, Peacemaker, I'm so sorry," his mother, Hope said hugging him. Peacemaker tried not to break down, sobbing. However, he was more empty-eyed after the incident. He looked over, Moon was there. Darkstalker was in the corner of the room.

"You got a visitor," Darkstalker announced.

"You okay, Peacemaker?" Moon choked out. Peacemaker couldn't ignore the disbelief and shock on Moon's face. Maybe partially from what happened to Clearblade, but Peacemaker deep down knew (or at least he later figured out) that Moon and her visions were wrong. Peacemaker didn't respond, he just buried his face on his mother's neck. Peacemaker felt another pair of wings wrap around him, Moon looked at Peacemaker quietly. Peacemaker's thoughts started getting more intense gradually. She has all these powers that the Nightwings didn't have for centuries but it still failed them! Why was she not there?