Just a little Glorybringer for ya

The Incident of the Nightwing Island

It was a busy day. Glory was rushing all over the Rainforest, answering questions and solving problems. Deathbringer, as usual, was at her heels all day. They were so busy on this day that no one spotted Rainkeeper sneaking off to the Nightwing village.

Rainkeeper had only been to the village once before. His dad had brought him there and had told him about how they lived on a volcano until Glory let them move into the forest. He had even shown the dragonet the tunnel to the volcano island. 

"But you are never to go there. Alright?" Deathbringer had ordered. "It's dangerous in there and I don't want you getting hurt." Of course, Rainkeeper had promised that he would never go into the tunnel. 

But that promise didn't exactly get kept.

Rainkeeper wandered around the village, keeping his wings tucked in so no one would recognize the Rainwing scales. He stumbled upon a group of three Nightwing dragonets, all boys. Maybe they can be my friends, Rainkeeper thought. He wanted a friend. Sure, he was liked and dragons wanted to be around him, but he wanted someone his own age that he could play with. The closest thing he had was his cousin Pineapple, Jambu's daughter. But she was five years older than him and mean to everyone. No one really knew why she hated everyone she'd ever seen. 

The boys stopped playing as Rainkeeper neared them. 

"Hi," he said cautiously. "Can I play with you?" The boys glanced at each other, and one of them stood up and swaggered over to him. 

"Well, that depends." he said accusingly. "The Rainforest is boring. If you can bring us somewhere cool, then maybe we'll let you hang out with us." Rainkeeper blinked. 

"Um. Okay. I'm Rainkeeper." he tried. The other dragonet studied him for a moment. 

"That's a dopey name, but we'll change it if you get in to our group. I'm Shadowslayer." he replied. Rainkeeper frowned. He liked his name. It wasn't dopey at all. Maybe if I get in their group I can convince them that it's a cool name, he thought. "So," Shadowslayer questioned. "You got somewhere cool to take us or not?" Rainkeeper thought for a moment, but the only place he could think of was the tunnel to the Nightwing Island. But Dad said never to go there, he remembered. But what's the worst that could happen? he thought to himself. 

"I've got a place." Rainkeeper proclaimed. "But I wouldn't say it's cool. It's actually quite warm."

The four dragonets, Rainkeeper, Shadowslayer, and his two cronies, Destroyer and Killer, stood at the entrance to the tunnel. 

"Okay," Shadowslayer admitted. "This is pretty cool." They walked into the tunnel and Killer raced ahead of the group. 

"WOAH! Guys! Come check this out!" he yelled from up ahead. The others ran to him and stopped when they saw it. It was a huge skeleton of a dead dragon. Rainkeeper's eyes widened in horror as the other boys exclaimed over it and poked at it with their claws. 

"Creepy." Destroyer announced. 

"Yet cool." Shadowslayer corrected him as they went further down the tunnel.

Elsewhere....

Deathbringer wandered around the Rainwing village, growing slightly worried. No one had seen Rainkeeper all day and no one knew where he had gone. So, Deathbringer was searching for him, praying that he'd just gone exploring instead of being kidnapped or worse. When he was sure the dragonet wasn't in the Rainwing village, Deathbringer headed to the Nightwing one. He didn't think that Rainkeeper would be there, but you never knew. 

After asking around, Deathbringer heard that Rainkeeper had been seen walking towards the tunnels with three other dragonets a couple of hours ago. No one had seen them since. He wouldn't go there, would he? Deathbringer thought to himself. No, I told him not too. But still... With that, he rushed off to the tunnels. 

Rainkeeper watched from the tunnel entrance as the other boys explored the volcano island. 

"Come on scaredy-sloth! Don't be such a downer!" They yelled at him. Rainkeeper was hesitant. The volcano was still active and streams of boiling hot smoke and bits of lava occasionally shot into the air from random places in the ground. He didn't want to get burned. Plus, the air was covered in ash and smoke. It wasn't breathable. He missed the fresh air of the rainforest and the bright blue sky that you couldn't see from this island. 

"Maybe we should head back," he suggested. The boys ignored him. "Guys?" he asked. Suddenly, a loud BOOM was heard and a geyser of smoke and drops of lava shot out of the ground right next to Killer. The dragonet screamed as the drops landed on him, burning his scales. Rainkeeper jumped from his spot on the tunnel and flew towards Killer, pulling him away from the deadly geyser. 

"Hatchlings!" Shadowslayer shouted at them. "Man up!" 

"I wouldn't be so cocky if you knew how much trouble you are in." a deep voice growled from the tunnel. Rainkeeper's face fell as Deathbringer walked out.

"Out. Now." Deathbringer ordered. Destroyer ran for the tunnel and Shadowslayer reluctantly followed, Killer limping behind him. Rainkeeper rushed towards the tunnel and looked at his dad regretfully. He winced as Deathbringer glared at him and grabbed him by the arm, pulling him out of the tunnel and away from the boys. When they were back in the forest, Deathbringer let go of him and glared. Rainkeeper shrank under the glare, wanting nothing more than to melt into a puddle of disappointment.

 "Dad, I-" he tried. 

"I don't want to hear it." Deathbringer snapped. "You deliberately disobeyed me. And if that's not enough, you put three other dragonets in danger, one of which is hurt. I told you not to go there and you didn't listen. You are in a lot of trouble, Rainkeeper." The dragonet stared at the ground, fighting off the tears. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the boys watching him. Deathbringer paused for a moment, studying his son. He was practically crying. But Deathbringer wasn't done yet. He was mad. "I am very disappointed in you." he declared, walking away from the dragonets. Rainkeeper winced. That sentence stung more than anything else.

 "Wimp." Shadowslayer announced. 

"Oh Shut up." Rainkeeper snapped, running away from the other dragonets. 

Glory whirled around as Rainkeeper trudged inside. She rushed over to him and pulled him into a hug. 

"I didn't mean to-" Rainkeeper began, but he stopped when Glory hugged him.

 "I know." she explained. "I'm just glad you're alright." 

"He's still in a lot of trouble, Glory." Deathbringer retorted. Rainkeeper felt the sting of his father's words hit him again. So, when Glory finally released him, he ran to his room, shut the door, and collapsed on his bed in tears. 

Deathbringer watched as his son fled from the room. 

"Maybe I was too hard on him." he said regretfully. 

"He'll be okay," Glory insisted. "He's strong." 

"I didn't think it would hurt him that much." he admitted with a sigh. "I never stop and remember how seriously he takes everything I say until it's too late." 

"He just wants your approval." Glory replied. "He takes everything you say seriously because he wants to be like you." Deathbringer looked at her.

 "He shouldn't be." 

Rainkeeper lay in his bed, thinking. I'm very disappointed in you, the voice in his head sang.

  I'm going to make it up to you dad, he vowed. Somehow.