Thorn emerged from the Queen Glory's pavilion and stretched her wings with an indulgent yawn. It had been a long morning of negotiations and there was still more to do before any documents could be written and signed. This was their first break of the day and Thorn was eager to move. It was unnatural to sit for so long, but that was apparently what you did when you were a queen: sat and talked.
Thorn let her wings rest outstretched for a while, allowing the curtain of sun that slipped between the leaves to soak into them. The light seemed thicker in the rainforest, like warm honey coating her scales. It was pleasant enough, but nothing compared to the clean, bright heat of the desert.
A moment later Six-Claws shuffled out and Thorn moved aside to give him room. He stumbled into the sun, desperately trying to flick off the centipede that was winding up his foot. By the time it fell off there were two shimmering red beetles scuttling onto his tail. He whirled around to swipe at them and his wing caught in a vine.
Thorn laughed, her head thrown back unabashed. He gave her a dour expression.
"I haven't seen you fight this hard since we invaded Burn's stronghold," she teased.
Six-Claws huffed and pulled the vine from his wing. "It's too crowded here. In the desert you can spread your wings as wide as possible and not have to worry about running into anything or anything running onto you." He eyed her jealously. "How come you aren't covered in bugs?"
Oh she was, but she had learned that it was more effective to just let the animals crawl over her as they pleased. They just saw her as another part of the jungle and would move on. Thrashing around trying to catch every little bug or critter that touched her scales would only end in misery.
"Not sure," she said. "Maybe the Eye of Onyx has a bonus feature of repelling bugs. That would be useful; protections against evil wanna-be queens and centipedes." She inclined her neck to reveal the enchanted pendant that hung around her neck. While she was very aware of the deadly powers that the Eye possessed, it was also nearly impossible to take it seriously. The Eye of Onyx was the symbol of her throne and the power behind it while also being the gaudiest piece of jewelry she had ever owned. She felt like a pompous camel-face when she had to wear it.
She had hoped her comment might make Six-Claws laugh. He was always reminding her, in his typical gruff affectionate way, to stop acting like a 'street rat' and sit regally for once in her life. She peered at him, finally noticing his silence.
He did not look amused. In fact, he was staring rather oddly at the Eye of Onyx. Thorn glanced down too, wondering if a giant moth had landed on her necklace and ruined her joke. Instead she saw Stonemover's moonstone pendant. Somehow it had wriggled out from beneath the enchanted necklace to dangle smugly over the onyx stone.
Slowly, so as not to seem embarrassed, Thorn readjusted her jewelry. She ignored the look on Six-Claws' face, the one the mirrored her own thoughts: Why haven't you gotten rid of that yet?
"Remind me to speak with Smolder when we get back to the Stronghold," Thorn said. She didn't need reminding - she needed to change the subject. "Hopefully he'll know how to reach the blacksmiths of the Kingdom. I know a few but we'll need a lot more than that to fill Queen Glory's requests."
The ploy worked. Six-Claws' brow furrowed as he considered her words.
"So you think this will work in the long term? These trade agreement, or whatever they are," Six-Claws grumbled as he shied away from a butterfly trying to land on his face.
"I wouldn't have agreed to them if I didn't think they'd work," she retorted. In fact, Thorn would do whatever it took to make this trade work. She'd be a fool not to. The rainforest was flush with materials and it was only a matter of time before the other Tribes got the same idea.
Their medicinal resources surpassed any kingdom, their rich sources of wood and plant matter could be made into textiles, and the mere variety of fruits would make even the most well off food-merchants clambering for the chance to put them on the market. But all those things were just perks. It was a reliable source of water that Thorn was after.
It was said that there were seasons were it fell from the sky in sheets so thick it was like waves crashing over your head. Clean, pure, drinkable water that could be put into pouches and distributed to SandWings in times of drought. According to Queen Glory, there was no shortage of water in the rainy season. Supply wasn't the problem, rather the collecting, storing, and transporting of the water was what needed sorting out.
She would have to leave those problems for Glory to solve. Right now Thorn was still sifting over the implications of Queen Glory's requests. For all its wonders, there were still fundamental industries that the rainforest was unable, or unwilling, to develop when they could import the material instead.
The Sand Kingdom was famous for its blacksmiths and glass makers, not to mention their numerous parchment-mills.
"There's still a lot of details to sort out," Thorn worried out loud, "we won't know the full magnitude of it all until Queen Glory's advisors wake up from sun time."
Six-Claws snorted and Thorn couldn't help but laugh as well. "That's the price of trading with RainWings. We work on their schedule."
"If only we could bottle up the desert sun and sell it to them," Six-Claws mused. "I'm sure they'd give us all the mangoes in the forest for that."
Thorn knew Six-Claws was joking, but it did make her wonder about other less obvious resources the Sand Kingdom had to offer. She was still so new at being queen... what did the Sand Kingdom trade in before the war? What had been their trading relationship with the other tribes?
As the new queen she had been given the glorious task of refilling the kingdom's treasury after the long and expensive war. Trading was definitely a priority.
"I'll get Smolder to look up the old trade agreements. Maybe we could reach out to the other tribes again, resurrect the old trade routes."
Six-Claws grunted in agreement. He watched her for a moment before saying, "I guess this means you and Smolder will be working late nights again."
Thorn tried to conceal the way her scales bristled and had to wonder why she was bristling at all. He was right. They would be working together in the future, and they had been spending a lot of time together already.
It was the silent question hidden in that seemingly innocent observation that put her on edge, the nonchalant way he was probing into her emotions. Even with someone who had been loyal to her for years, who would die for her if she asked, Thorn couldn't bring herself to pry away the layer of cactus spines she had placed around her heart, to share with him the rush of a shared smile or the feeling of lighting dancing along her scales when she knew Smolder was near.
You can take the dragon out of the Scorpion Den, but you can't take the Scorpion Den out of the dragon.
Thorn offered a shrug. "It's not like I'm not used to late nights. I used to pull all-nighters when I was running the Outclaws. It's just nice to have company, that's all."
The grin Six-Claws gave her was full of glittering amusement. "I'm pretty sure some of those all-nighters weren't work related. Especially when we brought in the drummers and dancers..."
"Shut up, you," she said, grinning too, the nostalgia of the moment a bitter-sweet pang in her chest. "You should go find Jambu. Queen Glory said he would know more about the mango situation."
"Right, Jambu... and that's the pink dragon?" Six-Claws looked out over the pavilion where several RainWings in varying shades of pink were gossiping in a glade of sun.
Thorn touched her wing to his. "I'm sure someone will point you in the right direction. I'm going to head over to the healers' hut. Queen Glory is going to give me crash course on RainWing medicine so I know what we're getting."
"Right," Six-Claws said, his voice hesitant. He looked distracted.
No, not distracted, Thorn surmised, recognizing the look of a general assessing the battle field, he's just deciding how to strike.
When he looked at her she tensed. Was he concerned about the trade agreement? Did he think it was a bad idea?
"I know this isn't my place to say," he began, "but considering the last dragon you were close with... I just don't want to see you get hurt like that again. I know you've got more common sense than most dragons but, still, be careful." He gave her a respectful nod and hurried away towards the group of RainWings.
Thorn watched him go, blinking away her surprise.
The trees rustled overhead as dragons swung from branch to branch and Thorn took a moment to compose herself. She resettled her wings, trying to feel like the queen she was instead of some young dragon having her love life scrutinized.
She'd been beetle-brained for wearing that moonstone necklace. All it had done was stir up trouble. Now Six-Claws would be worrying about her, maybe even judging her.
Thorn shook that thought away. No, Six-Claws wasn't that kind of dragon. He wouldn't think badly of her for starting a new relationship... would he?
A spear of indignation swelled inside her. So what if he didn't like it? It wasn't anyone' business what she did and who she spent time with.
And so what if she still had the moonstone? She didn't regret any of her choices - she had Sunny now because of it. Her brief time with Stonemover had been good, the happiest she had been up to that point, even if what followed had been pain and betrayal... So many years spent in fear, searching for her daughter while Stonemover was nowhere to be found - wondering if they were both dead.
The moonstone pendant felt cool against her scales, reverberating with her own heartbeat. She placed a talon on her chest, covering both the Eye of Onyx and the moonstone beneath her palm. Maybe it was time to put it away, or give it to Sunny. For so long it had been a symbol of hope and love, a tangible connection to the two dragons she cared for most in the world - proof that they were real and that she would find them again.
And she had, just not in the ways she'd imagined.
Her reunion with Sunny had been nothing less than a miracle. Of course her daughter would be the one to find her, that's just the sort of wonderful dragonet she was. Her reunion with Stonemover had been... less than wonderful. Even now she remembered the stink of stagnant water, the sensation of the damp air and cold stones scraping against her scales, and the sight of Stonemover lying there on the floor looking as still as death...
A loud rustling of leaves from above pulled Thorn out of the dark cave and back into the rainforest. A chittering monkey scrambled overhead, inspecting various fruits that swayed as the monkey's weight shook the branch. Several of them fell, splattering close to Thorn's claws in a burst of red juice.
Thorn decided it was best to not stand still for too long in this place. She needed to leave the past in the past and focus on the here and now.
She let her mind fill with the cacophony of sounds and smells, the sensation of standing on a swaying structure and the heaviness of the air. She replayed her meeting with Queen Glory, trying to pull out the sparse directions she had given her.
Twelve tree lodges down. Red berries growing on the balcony.
The directions were simple enough, but nothing was arranged in a straight line in the rainforest. It felt more like a city of back alleys and secret paths, and Thorn felt like the unsuspecting outsider just begging to be cornered and mugged. Although the bright pink orchids and lime green dragons made it hard for that grim image to settle in her head.
She moved forward carefully, steadying herself on the wobbly bridges while trying to count the pavilions as she passed. By the time she reached the eighth platform she was starting to suspect that she had taken a wrong turn. The sound of chatting dragons had petered off, and the path ahead seemed to be leading to a dead-end. She twisted around to study the path she'd taken. The forest was dense, vines and leaves filling the space like curtains drawn over her line of sight. There were a few platforms behind her, each of them with several woven bridges that disappeared from view as they stretched into the forest.
She faced forward again, scrutinizing the path. Above her, leaves the size of her wing knitted together like a roof. Only dim, green-tinted sunlight trickled down, making the area seem like a place below water. The air moved slowly here, like the calm, rhythmic breathing of the forest. The frustration that had been building all day eased. Tranquility permeated the space.
Might as well see where this path goes, Thorn decided. Could lead somewhere interesting.
Thorn wobbled over the rest of the bridge, glad once she reached the solid platform. The one thing she had noticed about the RainWings is that they built their structures in conjunction with the natural world. She had seen huts with whole trees growing in the middle, and various pavilions made from the slow weaving of living branches over many years.
This platform was no different. It was nearer to the forest floor, or maybe the terrain naturally rose up like a hill, because the platform was level with the thickest parts of the trees. They walled off the area nearly like a room, making the space feel intimate. To the left a small stream flowed over a tall, sharp boulder. The floorboards have been carved around the stone to allow the water to continue its path below the structure unbothered. Unusual flowers bloomed along the bark; then again most of the flowers here were unusual to Thorn's eye. They came in shades ranging from pink to deep purple; their petals long and silky, their shape reminding Thorn of the way the leaves of a palm tree draped over each other.
Thorn allowed herself a sigh.
It was all very nice, but not what she was looking for.
She turned to leave, already mentally retracing her steps and preparing her next move, when she sensed a shadow moving in her periphery. Her scales prickled, suddenly aware of another presence, and her instincts told her it wasn't just a stray monkey. Thorn turned back around, and that was when she noticed the other dragon that had been there the whole time.
They were sitting in the small slice of shadows offered by the wall of trees, a lean black shape that melted into the darkness like ink against a midnight sky.
Thorn's mind raced.
Who is that? A RainWing? Did queen Glory send someone to watch me? No, probably not. If a RainWing wanted to stay hidden then I wouldn't be seeing this dragon right now. A NightWing then? As far as I knew all NightWings except Deathbringer were forbidden from entering the RainWing village, but this doesn't look like Deathbringer ...
She drew closer. There was something familiar about the dark shape.
The twitchy tail and jerky arm movements, the quiet mumbling she had mistaken as background noise, and wings the color of the desert sky at night...
Thorn sucked in a breath with a loud hiss. "Stonemover?"
The NightWing jumped as if he'd just been bitten by a viper. He spun around, knocking over the easel that had been hidden behind his bulk. Stonemover dropped his paintbrush and grabbed the canvas before it toppled to the floor. His foot bumped a bowl of dirty paint water. It toppled over, its sludgy contents spilling across the platform.
"Thorn!" he rasped. He strained to keep the easel from collapsing on the ground while simultaneously searching the canopy above them as if expecting to see a Thorn shaped hole where she might have plummeted down from.
Thorn's own sludgy emotions were starting to spill out of her. Whatever queenly airs had put on for the RainWings had abandoned her. Even her cool headed Outclaw façade had evaporated at the sight of this wide-eyed idiot who had broken her heart.
"What are you doing here?" It came out more vicious than she meant. Stonemover flinched back, turning away from her to focus on the mess spreading around him.
"I - I was painting," he stammered and stood the easel up. His voice was so soft, like sand pouring down her back. He righted the turned over bowl and picked up his paintbrush, squeezing it in his talons like a protective talisman.
Despite her outrage, it was hard not to stare at him in wonder.
The last time she had seen Stonemover was a year ago, on the day of their first meeting after five years apart. The memory was still alive in her body, the thundering of her heart as she followed Sunny into the cold center of the mountain, her short, nervous breath as the tunnel tightened around her. Even now her stomach twisted in memory of her anxiety and hope of seeing Stonemover again.
Then she had seen him, and it had been sad and awful and heartbreaking. She hadn't even been able to muster any anger towards him, he had been so pathetic. She had left the mountain that day thinking that Stonemover really had died after all.
That was why it had been so hard for her to believe it when, five months after that day, Sunny had written her a letter saying that Stonemover had left the mountain. One of her animus students had freed him from his own curse and, even more shocking, had removed Stonemover's animus abilities at his request.
She remembered the whirlwind of emotions that had followed that letter, and recalled their bitter taste as she swallowed each of them down like wriggling scorpions. Now they threatened to come crawling back up her throat.
Thorn bristled, that dormant anger waking like a swarm of locusts.
"I don't mean the paint," Thorn growled. "What are you doing here? Sunny didn't say anything about you coming to the rainforest; I thought you were with the healers in the Sky Kingdom."
He glanced up at her, his velvety green eyes searching her face, his eyebrows raised in an unspoken question.
"Not that I've been keeping track of you," she quickly said and wished she had just kept her mouth shut.
Way to put all your cards on the table you buzzard brain.
The surprise of seeing him had thrown her off balance. That was all. She took a moment to gather her wits and find that cool, level-headedness that had gotten her through everything life had thrown at her. The initial rush of anger began to simmer away and it left a hollow ringing in her chest.
For his part Stonemover neither smirked nor looked triumphant. He nodded slowly, using a claw to scratch at the dried paint on his scales. It flaked off like red petals.
"I've only been here for several days," he finally confessed. "The healer I've been working with said it would be good for me, and Sunny has also been pressuring me to travel, saying that I should see the world and smell the flowers and all that." The corner of his mouth twitched upwards as he spoke about their daughter, and Thorn hated how that made her prickly heart burst. The smiled dropped from Stonemover's face as he glanced at her. "I'm sorry for bothering you. If I had known you'd be here..."
"You would've what?" Thorn prompted. "Crawled up a tree like a terrified lemur?"
Stonemover snorted, his faint smile flickering in the shadows, and Thorn recalled all the times she had put that smile on his face, and all the ways she had made him laugh during those long desert nights...
"Maybe," he agreed, "although I think I was rather brave for standing my ground, especially considering how you snuck up on me like that."
Thorn considered him warily. Was this really the same dragon she had seen fused to the floor of a mountain nearly a year ago? The same one that had looked at her with empty, pained eyes, like every breath taken was more agony than she could ever imagine?
She watched his arms, his tail, his wings; any part of him that moved caught her eye. Despite his freedom he still held himself like his scales were weighed down with stones - as if at any moment the mountain might come crashing back down on him. Thorn was tempted to run her talons over his wings and along his back just to make sure that the glimmering black scales she saw were real. He was weary, each movement taking more energy than it should, but this dragon in front of her also smiled and tried to make little jokes. This dragon had hope.
A tingling sensation wound its way through her chest, mingling with the torrent of other emotions. Oh, she was still mad at him. So very, very mad. She wanted to take that canvas he was painting on and put his head through it. She wanted to bury him in sand and cover his head in scarabs. Even tossing him off the platform sounded appealing, but underneath all the fury was an overwhelming sense of relief.
She hadn't realized how painful it had been to see him suffering, and to know he was suffering even when she couldn't see him. Now he was out of that awful self-made prison and Thorn felt something similar to when she had found Sunny - like she could finally gasp in a long, deep breath after years spent trying to draw air through a dried reed stalk.
She didn't share any of this with him. Her steady glare was making him even more jumpy. He began anxiously rearranging the bowls of paint lined up at the base of his easel, repeatedly knocking one bowl over while trying to straighten another.
"So what are you doing here?" he finally asked after a prolonged silence that Thorn hadn't even noticed.
Thorn shrugged as she considered what to tell him. It was an old instinct she couldn't shake. Information had always been hard won and hard kept in the Scorpion Den and even now questions like that put her on edge. As unlikely as it was the danger-assessing part of her wondered if Stonemover had gotten back in touch with the other NightWings. They might be trying to settle in to the rainforest but Thorn knew there were still a few troublemakers amongst them and she'd rather keep her name out of their mouths and ears.
"Queenly stuff," she finally decided on saying. She did not appreciate the tenderness that warmed his face or the way her stupid camel-spitting heart fluttered at the sight.
"You were always so good at being vague," Stonemover said, amusement and sorrow shadowing his words. "When I first met you all you asked were questions, but as soon as I tried to get anything from you I was suddenly being too nosey and was told to mind my own business."
Thorn turned her face to watch a shimmery green beetle crawl over the platform, unable to hold back her grin. "Well it wasn't my fault you were an easy target. I would just ask questions and you'd answer them. No one in the Scorpion Den was that naïve."
Stonemover ducked his head, and while she couldn't see him blushing she knew he was. "Ahem, yes, well - when a beautiful dragon appears out of nowhere and starts paying attention to you, it's hard to not give her what she wants."
Thorn focused even harder on the beetle, ignoring the way her stomach fluttered. The feeling didn't last, and soon the butterflies in her stomach turned to ice. A bitter taste coated her mouth. "Not beautiful enough to stick around though, huh?"
The noise of the forest canopy faded away as if her tone had frozen everything in place. Stonemover's jaw tensed, his wings tucked in close to his body.
Neither of them spoke for a while and Thorn wondered if she should just leave. Now that she knew he was safe and alright, there was nothing more to discuss between them. All these feelings inside of her were nothing but ghosts for what they once had. Re-opening old wounds wouldn't do either of them any good. The best thing for both of them would be to part ways before they ended up hurting each other again.
Yet she didn't move. She listened to the sounds of the forest, focusing on her breath as it entered and exited her lungs. She waited.
Finally Stonemover sighed, the sound like a rush of wind through a cavern.
"Thorn I - I don't know if my apologies mean anything to you. The last time we met I wasn't in the right state of mind to say anything, let alone what needed to be said, but truly, I am sorry for everything that - all the pain I caused."
He stared out into the darkness between the trees, maybe wishing he could disappear into them.
Thorn rolled his words over in her head, inspecting them as if they were a new stash of weapons. She could hear just as plainly the things he hadn't said as the ones he did. It occurred to her that she had been waiting for this confrontation. She ached for it. Before, she had forced herself to forget her hurt for Sunny's sake, and for the sake of her Kingdom. Well, if he was ready to dive into their past then so was she. Thorn squared her shoulders and faced Stonemover.
"Well, you seem to be in a better state if mind now, so what do you want to say to me? Will you at least tell me you regret what you did?" There were so many things Thorn wanted to know, and even more things she needed to hear from Stonemover. He had lied to her and abandoned her when she had needed him the most, leaving her to pick up the pieces. Knowing that he regretted leaving her behind wouldn't undo the damage, yet hearing him say those words felt vital.
She willed Stonemover to meet her gaze. "Do you regret it at all?"
He didn't answer right away. His eyes were unfocused as he stared up at the canopy, his mind faraway. Thorn remembered that that had been something she'd liked about Stonemover. He always thought carefully about what he said, although Thorn was getting nervous as the minutes rushed by in silence.
"I've had a lot of time to think about my choices," he finally spoke, "years in fact. Even when I learned about Sunny, about everything you went through to get her back..."
And you, Thorn thought, I tried to get you back, too.
"I don't know." He twisted the paintbrush in his talons so tightly Thorn worried it would snap. "I made the best choice I could with the information I had at the time. If I had known about Sunny - well there's no point imagining what could have happened. I did what I thought would protect you the most. I don't regret that."
Disbelief crashed over her seconds before the anger hit.
"You don't regret it?" Her voice was calm but her she could tell her fury was pouring out of her eyes by the way Stonemover flinched back.
Thorn sure as blazes regretted it. She regretted every minute she hadn't been with Sunny. Every single second that was stolen from them.
"I know," he replied, his talons raised in an act of surrender. "I know you and Sunny suffered because of my choices, but you have to understand. Maybe animus magic doesn't destroy souls like everyone said it would but something was wrong with me, Thorn. I don't know if it was the magic or not but all I knew was that I was becoming dangerous and needed to stay away from you. And the NightWings... if I had stayed they would have found me, or you, and forced me to...to do something even worse."
"So turning yourself to stone was the answer?" She knew she was being cruel. The wounded expression on Stonemover's face said it all, but she couldn't hold back anymore. "You should have told me, and not with a stupid letter that just got lost on the way. I could have gone with you. I could have protected you."
"That's exactly what I didn't want." The steely steadiness of his voice made Thorn pause, and it took a few seconds for the sting of his words to hit. Stonemover must have sensed her hurt as he quickly softened his tone. "So long as you didn't know where I was the NightWings left you alone. That's all I cared about."
"I could've handled the NightWings just fine," she hissed through gritted teeth.
The black dragon sighed again. Wearily he placed his paintbrush on the easel. His talons trembled as he rubbed his face with the heel of his palms. He looked so worn-out, so tired. Thorn felt a kick to her heart that she forced herself to ignore.
"I know it must be hard for you to understand why I did what I did," he said.
Impossible, actually.
"It's hard for me, too. Even trying to put it into words is... difficult. Please just - let me try and explain." Thorn could see his throat working hard, as if he were trying to swallow a rock. When at last he spoke it was slow and precise, each word coaxed out from somewhere deep inside. "As strange as it sounds, I've always known my life was not meant to be a happy one. Some dragons, like our daughter, are hatched with this innate optimism, this sense that the world is on their side. I was hatched with whatever the opposite of that is - a constant feeling of doom." He shrugged his wings. "Maybe that doesn't make sense to you. You've always forged your own destiny, and when I was with you I had begun to imagine I could do the same. Being with you taught me how to dream... but then reality came for me, or rather Morrowseer did, and I was reminded that no matter what, any ounce of happiness I made for myself could be snatched away at any moment. When I fled to Jade Mountain and turned my own scales to stone, I was resigning myself to the fate I thought I had always been destined for, and I knew I couldn't bring you down with me."
"That wasn't your choice to make for me," she argued; to her own ears it sounded more like a plea. Stonemover didn't react. He was watching her, his intelligent, sad eyes searching for something unseen.
"Honestly, I assumed you'd move on quickly; that you'd forget about me." There was no self-pity to his voice, only the tone of someone speaking a harsh truth. His face was hidden in the shadows; perhaps hoping what he said would sink into the darkness. "I didn't think you actually - that you really - "
He seemed unable, or unwilling, to say the rest.
"Loved you?" Thorn finished for him, her voice hoarse. Her chest spasmed painfully, like she'd just had the wind knocked out of her.
The NightWing shifted uncomfortably. "Not exactly. More like... I assumed that I loved you more than you loved me."
His inky wings fell to either side of him. He seemed smaller, less than he had been just a moment ago. It would be so much easier to hate him right now. To feel justified in her anger and have everything expressed so plainly. Instead it was like being hit in the chest with a canon. She shook her head wearily. "Well, you were wrong."
Without realizing it she had dug her claws into the wooden boards. Thorn brushed off the splinters clinging to her talons, refusing to look at Stonemover.
"And you were wrong about me not understanding," she declared. "Don't you think I know what it's like to feel hopeless? Did it ever occur to your enormous NightWing brain that a poor, starving dragonet like me could also feel like my life was one big dead end? In the Scorpion Den I never got the chance to love anything too much. When I met you that was the first time - the first time I ever really - " The rest of her words lodged in her throat. Thorn shook out her wings, scattering a few beetles that had been resting there. "Anyway. It doesn't matter."
Thorn was gratified by the startled look that overtook Stonemover's face, followed a beat later by shame. "I - never realized - " He took a shaky breath, his wings quivering. His whole body seemed to slump further down, like another layer of rock had been piled on. "I'm sorry, Thorn. Of course I know that you suffered too - that your life wasn't perfect. I just... feared I was making it worse for you."
"Is that all you thought about when we were together? Was it all just misery and heartbreak and despair? Did you even try to make a happy future for us?"
Stonemover closed his eyes for a moment, perhaps from exhaustion or just to give himself a moment to think. Then he said, "I won't say my choice to leave was the lesser of two evils and I won't say it was the least painful option, but I do think it was the one that gave us the best chance at happiness at the end."
"How can you say that?" Thorn demanded. "You can't know that."
Despite the years spent away from his fellow NightWings, Stonemover was still able to perfect the 'oh, but I can and do know that' look that all members of his Tribe seemed to learn at hatching. The urge to throw him off the platform returned.
"But you'd have to agree that you're happy now, right?" he prompted. "You're queen of the SandWings, the war is over, and Sunny is free to live in a world that is safe. I just don't see how any of that could have happened if you had hidden away with me under the mountain. Surely you must have had the same line of thought at some point."
It took a surprising amount of effort to not cuss at him, because of course he would say that knowing full well Thorn was a chronic over-analyzer. And of course he was right.
While Thorn had done everything in her power not to think about Stonemover for the past year, that didn't always mean she was successful. On certain nights when sleep failed to find her, she would let her mind slip into that dangerous territory of 'what ifs', turning over the endless ways her and Stonemover's lives could have weaved together.
Unsurprisingly, she came to the same conclusion now as she had those other nights.
If she had gone to Stonemover and stayed with him, assuming he had performed the same spell on himself as before, she would have had to raise Sunny in the caves of Jade Mountain. Would she have ever needed to create the Outclaws? Perhaps not, but so what? She would have had Sunny, and they would have been a family. Maybe she wouldn't have become queen of the SandWings, but she hadn't been trying to become queen anyways.
But being together was only half of the equations. She would be an idiot to pretend the war wouldn't have made their lives miserable, and it was at that point her fantasy began to fall apart and she would usually force herself out of bed to find some files that needed organizing, or some obscure SandWing law that needed studying.
This time, she didn't stop her mind as it travelled further down the path.
The NightWings would have probably found some other poor SandWing dragonet to be their Wings of Sand, but Thorn knew as well as Stonemover that no one could replace their daughter.
Their girl had saved the world. Where would they be now if she had been kept from that destiny? Would she have had to spend her whole life hiding from the NightWings and running from the war? Was Thorn wishing for a life that would have left Sunny in a crueler and more hopeless world than the one they have now?
The very idea chilled the damp air around her. Thorn tucked her wings close to her body; the unfairness of it all souring her stomach.
She didn't want to say that Stonemover was right, and she still wasn't sure he was. She wanted there to be another way, a different path where everything worked out and no sacrifices had to be made...but that wasn't how life worked. Thorn hadn't survived this long by putting her faith in fairy tales.
Even if such a plan existed they were beyond the need for it now. Thorn had already wasted so much of her life planning and scheming, surviving long enough to find her daughter, and she was tired of thinking about things that would just cause her more pain.
Stonemover was waiting for her to answer, his face soft and anxious. Thorn exhaled, the fight leaving her.
"I don't know what would have happened if things had gone differently," Thorn accepted, using her most diplomatic voice. "Maybe we all would have been worse off or maybe not. I'm still not convinced that you disappearing without a trace and me losing Sunny was the only way for things to work out. Either way, it's useless to obsess over a life that never happened. We're stuck with what we've got."
Stonemover nodded absently, his forehead pinched together in that achingly familiar worried way of his. He had probably hoped she would agree with him. Maybe one day she would come to see things his way, once the pain of all those years finally dulled to a low ache. That would take a while yet.
There were, however, some parts of her mind that had been changed.
"That being said... I'm glad you told me why you did it, even if it's a few years late," she carefully added. "It helped knowing what you were going through and... I can see why you made the choices you did." Indeed, this was maybe the first time she actually understood him. For years she had tried to put herself in Stonemover's wings. Anticipating where he might have gone, who he could have been in contact with... it had led to nothing but dead ends, but then again how well had she really known Stonemover?
It was finally starting to sink in just how completely Stonemover had believed himself to be nothing but a burden to her.
How could she hold a grudge against someone who had been hurt to the point where they actually believed that? If anything, she should be focusing her fury on Morrowseer and all those NightWings that made him feel like that... not that it would do any good now.
The final knife in the heart came from knowing that Stonemover had done it all out of love, even if it had been completely misguided. He still should have told her the truth, about being an animus and his fears of hurting others... it would have explained so much.
Stonemover blinked several times as if trying to bring himself out of a dream. "You can?" he asked disbelievingly.
Thorn nodded. "I think so. You felt trapped and powerless, like one wrong move could lead to everything you cared about being destroyed, so you did the only thing you had the freedom to do, even if it wasn't what you wanted to do." She offered a sympathetic smile; a peace offering. "Sometimes we don't have the option to make the right choice."
This seemed to settle something in Stonemover. He sat a little taller, not completely unhindered, but some of his burden had been lifted. "Thank you - it means a great deal to me to hear you say that."
Heat filled her face and Thorn convinced herself that it had nothing to do with the way Stonemover was looking at her. She fluffed out her wings, resettling her mind on the conversation.
There was something else she needed to know.
Thorn moved closer to the NightWing, who straightened up, his brows lifting in surprise.
"What I don't get is how you could have possibly thought so little of yourself? By all the sands, you were an animus. You could have done anything." The chasm that had grown between them folded in on itself. She took another step closer and for once she didn't try to keep that quiver out of her voice. This close she could see the way the sunlight draped over Stonemover's black scales like water on stone. "Please tell me you don't still think like that."
Stonemover sighed. He touched the bowls of drying paint at the base of the easel and didn't say anything for a while. The breeze swayed the branches along the platform. The earthy smell of damp soil and ripe fruit settled around them.
"Do you remember back when we were still getting to know each other, you used to beg me to tell you about myself. All the things I did as a dragonet, what my family was like - all that nonsense." His mouth quirked in remembered amusement. Thorn matched his smile.
"Yes, and you always told me it wasn't worth talking about."
His smile dropped and he nodded. "I wasn't lying. I was nothing remarkable as a dragonet. Not smart enough to be a scientist and not brave enough to be a guard. I was too quiet and twitchy to be trusted with anything important. Needless to say, I was a disappointment to any family I had... until my magic was discovered." A shudder ran along the starry sky of Stonemover's wings.
"Suddenly I became useful... a tool. I hated it, yet I couldn't deny that it made me feel essential. For the first time in my life I felt like I actually had a purpose, that I was meant to be something. But I was just fooling myself. All that power and all it did was make me into more of a coward." His bitterness was palpable, like the waves of hot air that preceded a sandstorm.
"I could have removed by magic, but I didn't. Instead I ran away from you, from my Tribe, and encased my scales in stone all because I knew that if I removed my magic I would be useless. Ironic, I know, but that was how I saw it. As long as I had a use, I had a reason to live, even if the life I lived was a miserable one."
Another long pause. Thorn could feel the forest breathing around them. A few curious RainWings swung by but, sensing the tense atmosphere, quickly left for happier napping spots.
"I've been speaking with Sunny and some other dragons lately, trying to understand why I feel like this," he continued. "Some days are harder than others. I can't say I think all that highly of myself, I feel I don't deserve to - even if Sunny would smack me for saying that. There is one thing that has changed, though."
Finally he looked at Thorn, really looked at her. Her stomach flipped at the intensity of his dark eyes, a fiery passion flickering in the space where there had once just been dull sorrow. "I don't want to spend any more of my life hidden away. I want to live. Even if I am unimportant and useless, I want to live."
The conviction in his voice pulled at something deep inside of her. Thorn's body reacted before her mind could even process. She encased Stonemover's talons in her own. They were warm and rough, just like she remembered.
"You were never unimportant," she said, her voice wavering. "Not to me."
Stonemover had gone still. He looked as though he was either holding his breath or had forgotten how to breathe altogether. He stared at their clasped talons and then at Thorn, his throat working as he struggled to speak.
"I... thank you," he whispered finally.
The already abundant heat from Thorn's scales was growing as their scales glided together, and the sensation reminded her of another pair of talons...
Several nights ago, in a room painted orange with the glow of lanterns and torches, Smolder had clasped her talons. They had been searching the library for days for old records left from the time of Queen Oasis. Thorn was sure Burn would have either destroyed them out of ignorance or simply lost them out of neglect, but when Thorn had dug deep inside a dusty trunk and pulled out a withered, heaping bundle of parchment, Smolder's eyes had lit up in excitement.
It had just been an accident, of course. A moment of enthusiasm that made him twine their tails together and press her talons inside of his...
Or she would have believed that if he hadn't stayed like that a heartbeat longer than needed, searching her face for a reaction and, seeing none, pulling away with an embarrassed smile.
"Sorry," he had said, "I shouldn't have done that."
She regretted not reaching for him. It had been too much of a shock, and truthfully, she had been a little afraid. And now here she was holding onto someone else like she had wanted to with him.
A sinking feeling pulled at Thorn's insides. The fluttering of her stomach came to a stand-still. She pulled her talons away, a sudden onset of guilt settling over her.
So many years had passed from when she and Stonemover had been together. Too much heartbreak and betrayal stood between them, and yet... she could remember why she had fallen in love with him. Her feelings for him weren't like they had been, but she could still feel their presence, like the imprint of a talon in a bed of moss. She wanted to get to know this dragon again, but was that all she wanted?
She thought of Smolder again, and all the ways he had surprised her with his kindness and compassion - his oddness that she teased him for while secretly adoring.
Was that what she wanted?
"Sorry about that," Thorn said at the same time that Stonemover began mumbling his own apologies. They stopped talking and a charged silence stretched between them.
To her surprise Stonemover seemed equally as panicked, his eyes bugged out like he had just swallowed a dung beetle. Thorn almost laughed at how obviously guilty he looked, like a street urchin getting caught trying to steal a coconut, but a lick of suspicion dried up any humor.
Stonemover had always kept things from her - what secret was he hiding from her this time?
"Um, hello? Excuse me... is everything alright here?" someone spoke from behind.
Thorn cursed loudly and spun to face the intruder. In a split-second decision she angled her tail barb low in a defensive position, rather than arching it over her hear aggressively. It turned out to be the best choice. The RainWing blinked at her with wide, unconcerned eyes, oblivious to the fact that she had nearly been skewered.
"Thorn, don't!" Stonemover yelled entirely too late. If Thorn had wanted to stab the RainWing she would have already done so. Nonetheless she lowered her tail and resettled herself, trying to hide the fact that she, Queen Thorn of the SandWings and once ruler of the brutal Outclaws, had just had the living daylights scared out of her by some RainWing.
The RainWing sat gracefully in the middle of the platform, her posture and expression serene and calm. She was larger than Thorn but didn't reach the same height as Stonemover. Two large carrying bags had been fastened under her wings while flowers the color of snow at dusk were twined around her horns. At a first glance she could have easily been mistaken for a SeaWing; she looked like a river come to life, the miasma of blues along her flank flowing and swirling like the deep clear pools of water that were tucked away along the forest floor.
"Is everything alright?" she repeated, seemingly addressing both of them but Thorn could tell the full brunt of her focus was on Stonemover. Jets of dark green flooded her scales as she studied the NightWing.
Interesting, Thorn mused. This RainWing wasn't as vibrantly loud and energetic as others. Everything about her was soothing and Thorn guessed she was one of the healers.
A healer! The word thrummed in her head like a gong. She was supposed to be speaking with them about the trade agreement! Had Queen Glory arrived at the healers' hut first, noticed Thorn hadn't showed up and sent one of them out to find her? Moons - that would be so embarrassing. But no... the RainWing hardly paid Thorn any attention. She kept looking at Stonemover.
"We're okay, Blossom," Stonemover said, a gentle quaver to his voice. His head was tucked in bashfully and a small smile peaked out from the corners of his mouth as he stared at the RainWing.
Oh? Thorn looked back and forth between the two dragons, things falling into place as she watched them watch each other. Oooooooh.
Well. No wonder Stonemover had looked so guilty.
"This is Thorn," he added after a pause. "Queen Thorn of the SandWings. She's... she's also the one I told you about."
"Oh!" Blossom beamed at Thorn. "Sunny's mother!"
Heat flooded Thorn's face. She turned to Stonemover with a glare that could boil scales. There was a cold sense of betrayal in her chest that she didn't understand. It only took a second for the hypocrisy to sink in. Smolder knew about Stonemover. How else was she supposed to explain Sunny? Stonemover had every right to share his personal history with whoever he wanted.
She forced herself to take a breath.
Think first, feel later. That's what she used to tell her Outclaws, or mostly, what she used to tell a particularly mouthy Outclaw with a freckled face and a talent for getting in trouble. She needed to be a Queen right now. Her feelings... she'd sort them out later.
"Nice to meet you." Thorn inclined her head at the RainWing. "Are you a friend of Stonemover's?"
"His friend and medical advisor."
Alarmed, Thorn looked to Stonemover. "Medical advisor?"
"Nothing to worry about," he quickly assured. "We met in the Sky Kingdom. Blossom was studying with the healers there and when I arrived they thought she'd be a good fit for me. She's the one that suggested I visit the rainforest."
Bursts of rose pinks curled into the RainWing's scales as she beamed at Stonemover. She stepped nimbly around the murky water stain and other various paint splotches to sit at his side.
"I'm not finished training yet," Blossom interjected. "I still have a few more years. It can be pretty stressful sometimes. SkyWings have a very... aggressive way of doing everything. I'm lucky I've had Stonemover with me this whole time." She nudged the NightWing affectionately with her shoulder. "I always feel better after spending time with him."
"Really?" Thorn asked and got an offended look from Stonemover. She shrugged at him. "What? I never took you as the pep-talk type."
"Ah, well that's true enough," Stonemover grumbled. "I don't think I've ever said anything peppy in my life."
This comment made Blossom smile, yellow streaks appearing within the blue. "That's okay. I don't need you to literally cheer for me each time I wrap a bandage. That would be a little weird."
For the first time since arriving, Blossom met Thorn's gaze. There was no malice or envy, just an opened faced trust that Thorn didn't feel she deserved. At that moment, Blossom seemed to be making up her mind about something, her light green eyes focused.
"Have you been to see the new healing center in the Sky Kingdom?" she asked Thorn.
"Ah - no, I haven't had the chance," Thorn answered weakly. She really had been meaning to visit but had always managed to find an excuse not to - most of which involved avoiding Stonemover.
"You really should. It's incredible. Dragons from all over Pyrrhia are there - I work with a few of them, but I'm really lucky to have Stonemover." Blossom smiled warmly at the NightWing, placing one of her talons over his. "I care about all my patients, but I've never met anyone who works as hard as Stonemover does."
Thorn titled her head with interest. "Really?" This was not said with doubt. Thorn genuinely wanted to know more about Stonemover's recovery, and a part of her wished she had been there to see it.
The RainWing nodded confidently. "I'm lucky to get the chance to study in the Sky Kingdom, but it's been really hard sometimes. For the longest time I couldn't do anything right, at least according to the SkyWings, and their way of life is so different from my Tribe's. I was lonely and anxious and spent a lot of nights wishing I was back home, but then I met Stonemover. He was scared and lonely too. He had gone through so much and had so much work to do, but every time I was with him he was always so... determined. He never gave up, even when it took him weeks just to re-learn how to open and close his talons. I'd never met anyone like that before..."
Determined. Thorn considered this. Had she ever seen Stonemover determined before? Yes, back when she had first met him. He had been so determined to save his Tribe, and Thorn could remember how much she had admired him for that. That light had been gone in his eyes when she had finally reconnected with him deep in the labyrinth under Jade Mountain. A shudder ran beneath her scales at the memory.
"Well, I've never met anyone as patient as you," Stonemover said softly. He stared at Blossom with such naked wonder that Thorn felt she should give them some privacy.
"Uh huh..." Thorn muttered. "And is it normal for medical advisors to travel with their patients?"
Stonemover and Blossom exchanged furtive glances.
"Um, well, not really, no," the RainWing tittered, "but it was my idea for him visit the rainforest and I wasn't going to miss the chance to show him around - and someone has to make sure he does all his exercises and stretches." She poked him with her tail and he grumbled half-heartedly.
Despite the way her clashing emotions for Stonemover grated against each other, Thorn couldn't bring herself to dislike the RainWing. This dragon was so kind and gentle, someone Thorn would have easily written off as harmless, but she spoke with a definite awareness and surety in herself. She found herself returning Blossom's conspiratorial smile.
"Thank the moons he has someone looking out for him," Thorn said. "Back in the desert he used to get lost all the time because apparently all the sand dunes look the same or some such nonsense. He'd be gone for hours and I'd be fretting my scales off only to find out he went to the wrong place."
"They really did all look the same..." Stonemover muttered.
"Oh, he still gets lost. All the time really," Blossom said through a giggle. "Just this week I've had to pull him out of quicksand three separate times!"
"It wasn't three times!" Stonemover objected, embarrassed indignation lifting his voice above the sounds of the forest. "It was more like one and a half. I nearly got myself out that one time...almost."
Blossom wrinkled her nose at him as if trying to keep back a laugh. "Yes, of course. Still, as your medical advisor I advise you to remain on the platforms at all times and leave the jungle adventures to me." More bursts of rose fluttered along Blossom's throat and chest as she leaned against Stonemover, her tail wrapping around his. Stonemover made a loud, high-pitched choking sound.
"Oh! I almost forgot!" Blossom pulled away and reached into the pouches at her sides. She pulled out - well, a bunch of junk from what Thorn could see. Flower petals, leaves, tree bark, beetle wings, colorful feathers and what could have been part of an orange peel.
"I brought you some supplies! Do you think you could make paints out of any of this?"
The NightWing seemed grateful for the distraction. He inspected each item carefully, giving his full consideration to everything. "No harm in trying. I'll see if I can get any pigment out of them in water - which I'll be needing more of." He glanced sorrowfully at the drying sludge on the floor.
"I'll do it," Blossom announced. She took the bowl and shook out the last few drops of dirty water. "You stay here where I don't have to worry about you getting stuck in a tree or falling into another pit of quick sand."
"I have not once gotten stuck in a tree," Stonemover protested, but Blossom was already gliding liquidly through the dense forest. She turned back once to smile reassuringly at him and then was gone. Stonemover's gaze lingered on the patch of canopy where she had vanished, his wings flexing open and closed.
It was finally just the two of them again. Thorn was acutely aware of nothing having changed and yet everything being different. This dissonance covered the place like a dome, muting everything on the outside and making it impossible to return to how they had been before. She let herself adjust to this, focusing on the warm wood beneath her talons, sturdy yet soft enough to allow her claws to dig in.
Time and betrayal weren't the only things between them.
"She really loves you," she broke the silence first, and there was no malice to her words.
The black dragon finally pulled his eyes away from the forest. The vibrancy of him was diminished now, as if he didn't have the energy for it without Blossom.
"I know," he whispered, and his words sounded more tragedy than triumph. He brushes his claws over the flowers Blossom had collected for him, the touch so gentle it made Thorn shiver. "I don't know why. She could do so much better."
"She could do a lot worse, too," Thorn mused. The air between them felt heavy and tight, but not in an ominous way. The sensation was more like the strings of a harp; something was still connecting them, and now all they had to do was play the right chords. Or maybe there was a point where you had to accept the song was over.
"You love her back, don't you?"
Stonemover's shocked eyes met her own and Thorn saw the answer clear as day.
It was said in the twinge of guilt that flickered across his face; in the fear on his brow; and in the joy that swelled from his whole being.
He breathed out shallowly, like someone finally relieved of a heavy burden. "I suppose it's obvious, isn't it?"
"You never could hide anything from me. Remember?"
Stonemover chuckled at this, but it was a hollow thing. He dared to look at her again, steady and certain. "You've found someone else too, haven't you?"
Thorn jolted, but the shock past over her swiftly. Of course he would know. She suspected Sunny told him, or maybe he had asked about her. Either way, they had both been caught wishing for more than they could have.
Now it was Thorn's turn to look away. Out of habit she clutched at the Eye of Onyx, relying on it to give her some sort of strength to get through this conversation. "Yes. He's a prince if you can believe it... or I guess he was a prince." The pendant was warm in her claws, as if a little piece of the desert sun had been tucked away just for her. It reminded her of the way Smolder's talons felt against her scales.
"You know, I don't say this to many dragons, and if you tell anyone I'll deny it, but it's hard being queen somedays. Really hard. I don't know, I guess he's - he just..."
"Makes each day a bit easier than the last?" Stonemover offered with a knowing smile.
Warmth like golden light spilled into Thorn's chest. "Yeah. Something like that." Something pinched at the tender scales along her neck. Thorn glanced down to see she had tangled the chains of the Eye of Onyx and the moonstone pendant. Her heart felt tight as she carefully unwound the chains. Caught in a beam of sunlight the moonstone lit up like a hundred full moons.
Stonemover gasped as the refracted light danced along the platform. "You kept it?"
"Of course I kept it." The pendant twinkled in her palm as she slowly wrapped her claws around it.
"Even... even after you saw me under the mountain? Even after you saw what became of me?" His questions were raw wounds that gushed of self-hatred, and of awe.
Thorn squeezed the pendant until she felt her pulse reverberate within the stone. How many times had she held the necklace in her palm just like this? How many nights had she pressed it to her heart and tried to remember Stonemover's face, or the sound of his breath next to her? She knew it's every contour and imperfection, its weight, and the way it looked in every sort of light. It felt as much a part of her as her scales or wings.
"I never should have left you in that stupid cave," she said, her voice a whisper amongst the many others in the forest. "I should have dragged you out or yelled at you more or... or something. I should have made you leave with me."
Hesitantly, Stonemover inched closer to her until she could make out each of the small lines that grew from the corner of his eyes. She noticed the concerned crease in his brow and recalled how she used to rub her thumb over his worry lines until they ran smooth.
"Thorn, you've already done so much for me. Too much." Everything he said was imbued with such earnestness. He was too vulnerable and too genuine all at once. It was almost more than her heart could bear. He stretched out his wings and for a moment it was like being beneath the desert sky. Like being home. "But leaving the mountain was something I had to do alone. It was about time I did something brave on my own for once."
Thorn took a slow, deep breath. He was right, of course. Despite everything she did to control her life, she could never control other dragons or their choices, even if those choices were stupid. For some reason that probably had nothing to do with her, Stonemover had decided to save himself for once. The frustration that it had taken him so long to figure it out was overwhelmed by her pride in him; just as the joy she felt for Stonemover's happiness and well-being overshadowed any of the other needling feelings.
"You were always braver than you gave yourself credit for," Thorn spoke, and Stonemover smiled at her gratefully. She stared back down at her curled up talon, slowly relaxing her palm to reveal the moonstone once more. "Do you... want the necklace back?"
He gaped at her in horror. "Of course not! I gave it to you because I loved you and...well..." he twisted his tail between his talons. If Thorn didn't know any better she'd say he looked downright shy. "I know we don't feel the same as we used to, but... you'll always be important to me, Thorn. There are a lot of things I regret, but you weren't one of them. I don't want to pretend what we had never happened. I meant what I said when I gave it to you that night; it doesn't belong to me anymore."
Of course he had to bring that up. If only he'd known how many times she had relived that night; she had reminisced about it so many times during their years apart that by now it was etched into her scales...
"It's yours now," he had said that night so long ago. Thorn had been awed by the luminescent gem being placed in her sandy, calloused talons. It was too delicate, too beautiful for someone like her, but Stonemover gently curled her claws over it, wrapping his own dark talons around her pale ones. "It will be yours forever, or for as long as you want it...just like my heart."
Given everything that had happened between them it should have been a bittersweet memory, a moment that she looked on with equal parts regret and despair, but to her own surprise Thorn barked out a laugh so loud it caused several parrots to flee from their perch above them.
"By all the sands," she exclaimed after a few loud snorting laughs, "I forgot how much of a romantic sap you were." She let the pendant fall from her grip and it came to rest against her chest once again. "Alright, I'll keep the necklace if that's what you want, but are you absolutely sure you don't want it back? It would look very nice on Blossom... or maybe your future babies?"
She raised a suggestive eyebrow and tried to hold back another laugh when Stonemover made a face like he'd just inhaled a tarantula.
"What? No - we don't - that is we haven't - I wouldn't - really it's too early for that kind of thing and - oh, you always did like to torment me like this."
"If by torment you mean make you all flustered? Then yes, it was a specialty of mine and I think I still have the knack for it."
"Evidently you do," he grumbled.
A rustle of swishing leaves was their only warning when Blossom returned, a nearly overflowing bowl of water carefully held in her talons. "I'm back!" she declared and carefully placed it on the ground near Stonemover's easel. It was a wonder she had been able to carry it across the jungle without spilling every last drop. "Did I miss anything interesting?" she asked, and it occurred to Thorn that Blossom might have overheard parts of their conversation.
"Uh, no, nothing interesting," Stonemover quickly offered.
If Blossom had heard anything she hid it well, even to Thorn's well trained eye. She busied herself with tidying up Stonemover's paints, seemingly unaffected or uninterested in the weird energy spinning between them.
"Hm, if you say so," she said, and Thorn wasn't sure if she heard a hint of doubt in that response. There was no chance to dwell on the issue; Blossom was already speaking again. "Oh! By the way, I ran into another SandWing while I was out." This comment was directed at Thorn. "I didn't speak with him but I heard him talking to some other RainWings and your name came up..."
"Oh buzzards," Thorn cursed and stood. How long she had been away? What an unobservant camel brain she had been. Far off the sound of distant conversation was growing stronger; no doubt the RainWings were finally waking from their naps. Had the shadows at the edge of the platform grown longer? The sun lower? Was Six-Claws tearing the jungle apart right this moment? "I need to get going. I've been away too long..."
"Oh?" Stonemover stood with her, looking agitated. "So soon?"
She couldn't help but smile at his regretful tone. "It's been fun catching up, but I seriously need to get going before Six-Claws starts calling in back up to find me." She brushed her wings against Stonemover's and added more softly. "Guess I'll see you around?"
She really did need to leave, but this goodbye felt too quick, too inadequate. Then again, when was a goodbye ever just right? How many more times would she say goodbye to this dragon before it stopped hurting?
He nodded curtly. "Yes. I hope so."
Thorn nodded too, aware of Blossom's lingering curiosity at this strange, prolonged farewell. A sudden image of Smolder flashed in her mind; that handsome, annoying smirk that brightened his face when she insulted him, or the way she would catch him staring tenderly at her in the light of the evening candles.
The heaviness in her chest eased a little. She had to stop thinking of this as an end. She and Stonemover were both moving forward in their own ways. She had to remember that. She had to.
Thorn forced a smile, giving Stonemover one last playful tap with her wing. "And you better take good care of this dragon in the meantime," she ordered, motioning towards Blossom. "She deserves it."
Better than you took care of me, she didn't say.
A deep blush fell over Stonemover's face. He glanced shyly at Blossom. "I will," he promised as the RainWing fixed him with a positively brutal 'what's that supposed to mean?' look that Thorn approved of. It pleased her that someone was around to keep Stonemover on his toes.
With Stonemover occupied Thorn made her way towards the edge of the wooden platform, but just as her talons reached the rope bridge she stopped. She wasn't sure if everything was settled between her and Stonemover - there were still a lot of feelings she needed to sort out, and not just about Stonemover - but the bitterness she had felt towards him had disintegrated.
Now that her mind was cleared of the heavy weight of resentment she'd been nurturing, it became clear there was one last thing she needed to say.
She took a deep breath and swiveled her head around.
"Stonemover?" Thorn called out, meeting the NightWing's gaze across the distance. Butterflies drifted about like falling petals, his body silhouetted with pink flowers on the tree behind him. She hesitated, wondering if she were being too generous, too vulnerable, and deciding she didn't care.
"I forgive you."
He blinked at her a few times, astonished. Then he smiled softly and bowed to her.
Her chest was warm and full as she finally turned to leave. She could see the bridge she was supposed to have taken, the one that led her to the healing pavilion. Ahead of her was another path too; one that led away from Stonemover and what had been, and towards what was still yet to come.
x The End x
A.N.
This story is dedicated to @Hufflepuffner and all the other Stonemover truthers out there!!
The inspiration for this story comes from the fact that I think Stonemover gets a lot of shit in the books that he doesn't deserve. Sunny literally has no patience for him and he's kind of portrayed as the guy who just gave up, but he also was most likely seriously mistreated for most of his life and severely controlled. Idk he's just a pathetic guy who needs some love <3 He had to make some hard choices and he probably did what he thought was best.
Blossom is also on OC soul healer I introduced in my other story 'Healed'. This isn't specifically a Healed AU story, I kind of wrote it as it's own thing, but I'd like to think it is Healed canon compliant haha
Bonus fact: The purple flowers on the cover are purple hyacinths, representing regret and forgiveness :3