Winter's words had an instant effect on the other three dragonets.
He's right, Kinkajou realized. How - what -
Turtle's mind was as quiet as ever, but he shifted on his talons and gave them a curious frown.
Worst of all was Qibli. How did they know? They couldn't have done this - could they? They're dragons with secrets, and Thorn said not to trust NightWings - but why would they? I know I haven't figured her out yet, but I don't see violence in Moon. And I don't see malice in Eclipse. And yet, how did they know? But if they set the fire, why would they try to stop us from going in? But surely she wouldn't - she couldn't have - I can't believe I'm thinking this -
"You didn't - sorry, but - you didn't have anything to do with -" he started.
"No!" Moon cried. "Of course not!" She brushed away tears, trying to keep her voice steady. "I would never hurt anyone."
Eclipse found something in herself to pushed her body off of Moon, and staggered forward. Crouching low, she opened her wings as much as she could to shield her sister, breathing heavily.
"I know," Qibli said, but not convincingly. She was better at hunting than anyone expected. There is strength beneath those scales. In the right circumstances, wouldn't any dragon be capable of hurting another? Even her? But why? And Eclipse has always shown her strength, but never has she shown a disregard for the dragons around her. She doesn't seem like the type to hurt another dragon without reason. She's a protector. So why. . .
"If you didn't do it, then do you know who did?" Turtle asked. He hadn't spoken since the blast; he hadn't moved from his spot by the wall until he came chasing after them. He looked shaken, but not destroyed. Eclipse wondered what he was thinking. Did he suspect them, too?
"Or maybe you saw something?" Kinkajou suggested hopefully. "Something that warned you?"
That might work, Darkstalker said. At least two of them want to believe that; start with that lie and build from there.
I don't want to tell them any lies. Moon pointed out. Even ones they want to believe.
Moon pressed her front talons together, sharing a feeling of wrenching fear with Eclipse. Their mothers' words echoing in their heads. Never never tell anyone about your curse. Never let anyone find out. It will be the end of everything.
"There's only one explanation," Winter hissed over Eclipse's shoulder. "You did this. You set that fire. I don't know why yet, but I will find out." he was accusing Moon, not Eclipse. He had his suspicions about her but a part of him refused to believe Eclipse had any part of this.
The other explanation was there, hovering at the edge of his mind, but he couldn't bring himself to believe it yet. He'd been so sure - so sure - that the NightWings were lying about their powers all along.
Eclipse twisted her neck to look down at Moon. The decision to tell them is yours. You already know where I stand with this. She wanted them to know. She'd wanted everyone to know the moment she walked into the NightWing village for the first time.
"I swear I didn't," Moon said, glancing at Eclipse's eyes. "Please believe me."
"Can't you tell us how you knew?" Kinkajou pleaded.
Eclipse turned back to meet Winters eyes, a silent plead held within her green eyes. Winter's eyes softened for a moment, before tearing his eyes away and looking back at Moon.
Moon didn't speak. She couldn't it seemed. A pounding fear seemed to stop her from saying anything more.
Winter stared at Moon for a long minute, and then glanced at Eclipse. He then lashed his tail, spikes clattering against the stubby pillars dotting the floor. "I will give you one chance, NightWing. You have until midnight tomorrow to tell me the truth - or I'm going to tell everyone what you did." He took a step forward, bumping his chest against Eclipse's and stretching his neck past her wings.
Eclipse bent her neck, pushing her face against the underside of his chin. They both knew she couldn't stop him if he tried anything.
"I knew NightWings couldn't be trusted, but I was starting to think maybe you were different. Clearly I was wrong." he said to Eclipse. He stalked out of the cave.
Eclipse felt a strange pang of hurt blossom in her chest where she could still feel the cold of his scales. She hated that Qibli noticed her hurt expression over everything.
Moon buried her face in her talons, shaking. Eclipse let her wings fall and stumbled as she turned. Kinkajou reached for her hesitantly. The doubt in Kinkajou's mind - of all dragons - made Moon feel even worse.
Eclipse staggered to her side and rested a wing over her back, leaning against Moon as she had a wave of dizziness.
I don't understand, Qibli was thinking, and that was clearly an unfamiliar and uncomfortable experience for him. His brain kept circling all the possibilities. . . including the truth, but he kept shying away from it. Eclipse knew it wouldn't be long before he came to it, though.
But he wasn't the first one there.
"Three moons," Turtle said. Glowing lines lit up along his wings and neck, making him shimmer eerily in the dark cave. He took a deep breath, staring at them with wide eyes. Eclipse winced.
"It was a vision, wasn't it? You can see the future."
Kinkajou gasped. "No way," she whispered.
Admit nothing. Darkstalker advised.
Eclipse clenched her jaw and looked to Moon.
Stay secret, stay hidden, stay safe, they're mother's mantra echoed in both their minds.
There didn't seem to be any chance of that now.
Moon looked down at her talons and nodded. Eclipse breathed out. A sigh of relief.
"What?" Kinkajou cried. "What else have you seen? Anything about me?"
"When did you know?" Qibli asked, taking a step back, away from the sisters. But all the powers are supposed to be gone! So who's lying to us - the prophecy dragonets, the NightWings, or Moon? Or all of them? "About the explosion - how long did you know without telling anyone?"
Eclipse hated the look of fear that danced in his eyes.
"We just saw it," Moon said. "It was right before class - sometimes the visions come months before something happens, sometimes only a few minutes. I never know. . . It's not like a helpful power."
"We?" Turtle echoed, looking at Eclipse. Qibli looked at her too and she breathed deeply before nodding.
"But it is helpful," Kinkajou said, bewildered. Monkeys and mangoes, I'd love to be able to see the future! "You saved us."
Maybe they could have saved the others, too, Qibli thought, if they'd told us it was a vision. If we'd known what was going to happen, we could have stopped them. If she'd told the truth - if we'd known about her power beforehand -
She saw Carnelian in his head, tangled up in his guilt that he should have tried harder to stop her from going in.
"Would you have believed me?" Moon asked him. "If I told you I'd had a vision?"
"I would have," Kinkajou said, wounded, and Eclipse realized that was true.
"Who else knows you can do this?" Qibli asked. "Can all the NightWings see the future?"
"No one else knows except our mother," Eclipse answered between deep breaths, wincing as blistering pain began to creep over her back as the numbness from adrenaline began to wear off. "And as far as I know, no one else in the tribe can do this."
Apart from our secret friend, the legendary monster Darkstalker, of course, rang Moon's mind.
"Is that it?" Turtle asked. "Or is there anything else we should know?" He inhaled sharply, looking suddenly more awake than he ever did. "Can you read our minds?"
Kinkajou and Qibli stared at them, their eyes wide.
This is the last moment they'll like me, her sister's mind echoed. This is how I lose them.
Eclipse breathed deep. She could feel herself loosing the battle against the fog clouding her head.
Just lie, Darkstalker whispered. Hold on to your one advantage.
Secret. Hidden. SAFE.
But Eclipse could hear what they were thinking, too.
Qibli. Won't they lie to us? How can I trust her? How will I ever know if she's lying?
And Kinkajou, I believe in Moon. She'll tell us the truth.
Eclipse glanced back at Moon. You're choice.
"Yes," Moon confessed. "We can read your minds. I'm sorry." Moon turned to Kinkajou. "I'm really sorry. I can't help it. It just happens; it's always happening. I can't turn it off. Please, please don't tell anyone."
"You could put Moon in danger if you tell anyone," Eclipse glanced between Kinkajou, Turtle, and Qibli.
Are they hearing my thoughts right now? Qibli wondered. He clearly saw the answer on their faces, because he took another step back. What have they heard? The pace of his thoughts, incredibly, sped up, as he seemed to flash through all the possible things they might have seen. All my plans to get other dragons to like me? My nightmares about my family? My thoughts about her? How many embarrassing - she must know - I can't - has she been laughing at me this whole time?
"No!" Moon cried. "I really like you."
He grabbed his head, as if he was trying to keep his thoughts inside, and then flared his wings. What if I accidentally think about one of Thorn's secrets, or one of the hidden dens of the Outclaws? Secrets she didn't understand started spilling through his head. Or what if she hears some of the terrible things I think about other dragons? Who would ever like me if they knew what I thought about everyone? "Talons and tails," he mumbled. "This is not ok. I have to get out of here." He turned and bolted through the cave entrance, disappearing beyond the torchlight.
But I don't understand, Moon thought, half to Eclipse and half to Darkstalker. He never thought anything more terrible than any other dragon. He's more interesting and kinder and more insightful on the inside than almost anyone else I've met.
He doesn't know that, Darkstalker pointed out. He's never seen inside anyone else, the way you two have. After a few years of reading minds, you'll see - it's often the most brilliant dragons who are the most insecure. And the ones who are most afraid of their minds read - because they think they must have the worst, lowest thoughts of anyone - are nowhere near as bad as the ones who complacently don't care because they assume everyone is as terrible as they are. Mostly everyone is terrible, by the way.
"I wish you'd told me," Kinkajou said. Her head was spinning: I thought she was going to be my best friend, but all along she was hiding this huge secret from me. And now Carnelian is dead, Tamarin is hurt, and someone tried to blow us up, and there are all these grumpy dragons here, and school is nothing like I expected. I wish it was yesterday. I wish none of this had happened. I wish someone who could SEE THE FUTURE had maybe STOPPED ALL THIS FROM HAPPENING.
"I'm sorry," Moon said again, hunching her shoulders miserably. "I was afraid. It's not exactly the first thing I tell other dragons."
"Well, it should be!" Kinkajou said fiercely enough to make Moon flinch. "If you're going to be in our heads hearing everything, then you should at least warn your friends. And if you're seeing the future, and it's bad, then you really have to tell someone. I don't understand you."
"I didn't want you to hate me," Moon said quietly.
"Well, did you want me to trust you?" Kinkajou demanded. "Because this is the opposite of how to do that." Orange and red were starting to flicker through her scales. Why am I even bothering? She knows what I think. She can hear it all herself. "I have to go check on Tamarin. I need to think. The kind of thinking that's just between me and me," she added sternly.
And then she was gone, too, leaving Eclipse and Moon with Turtle.
That's what happens, Darkstalker said with a sigh. But don't worry. They'll come crawling back when they need you.
Shut up, Darkstalker, Eclipse thought bitterly just as Moon thought: I don't want them to crawl. And what do I do about Winter? If Qibli and Kinkajou reacted that badly - won't he hate me even more than they do? But if I don't tell him something by tomorrow, everyone will think I set the fire. That I killed Carnelian and Bigtail.
Moon sank to the floor, wrapping her wings around herself, and started to cry. Eclipse glanced at Turtle, pain dancing in her expression, before sinking down next to Moon and placing her head carefully on Moon's neck.
After a moment, she felt a wing gently brush her back. Even when he was touching her, she couldn't sense anything but that quiet fuzz from Turtle. He looked down at her with his dark green eyes.
"Come with me."