They walked in silence for a little while, easing Dust's anxiety by the slimmest of margins. "Tell me a bit about yourself," said Starflight, curious about his student.
Dust glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, mentally cursing the curiosity that seemed to be hereditary. "Well, I'm an unsib. That just means that I don't have any blood siblings," Other than you, said Dust, leaving the last bit unsaid.
"I'm a part of a troop of unsibs and I'm their bigwings. I fought in the war and attended the event that ended the war," continued Dust, taking a turn and following her mental map while Starflight took a moment to take that same turn.
"How old are you?" asked Starflight, a small frown visible on his face.
"Six," said Dust, getting a sinking feeling of what the next question was.
"How long have you been fighting?" asked Starflight, his wings twitching a little in anticipation of the answer. Dust winced, she was right.
"I fought in the war for two years, almost three," said Dust, mentally cheering when she saw a small red cross sign over a cave. She could escape his questions! "The cave is here," said Dust before raising her voice a little to call into the cave. "Is anyone in there?"
On cue, Fatespeaker popped her head around the corner with a curious look. She gasped when she saw that Dust was carrying two dragons on her back. "Come in, come in," she rushed Dust in, pointing at a couple of beds as she spoke to Starflight for an explanation.
Dust managed to slide Thrush off first, jerking herself back into position to prevent the SandWing from doing the same. Moving to the next bed, Dust made sure that his tail slid away from her scales. There was probably a cure for SandWing venom around but she kinda liked not having to use it.
"You can go to your class now," said Fatespeaker, walking over to check-up on them.
Frowning, Dust hesitated for a moment. "Okay," said Dust, mentally whacking herself with her tail for her worry. They would be fine in their talons! Walking out, Dust brushed her wing against Starflight's as a goodbye. Dust had to go to the art cave after all.
When Dust entered the cave, what she saw was the majority of her winglet trying their talons at painting, sculpting, and/or weaving with a golden SandWing watching over them. "Where have you been?" asked the SandWing, aka Sunny, her voice inquisitive rather than demanding as one would assume.
"Peril arrived and a couple of dragons passed out when they saw her. I was just helping them to the infirmary," explained Dust, adding on something else last minute. "Thrush won't be here, he was one of them."
Sunny gave a small frown of worry but nodded along nonetheless. "Alright, thank you for telling me. Feel free to try anything that interests you," she said, her frown turning to a smile for a moment.
Dust nodded back, walking into the cave and over to Anemone with little delay. She grabbed a scroll and a bottle of ink, sitting near her clawmates as she dipped her claws into the ink. Mentally, she counted down to when Anemone would start asking questions. She was a curious dragon after all.
"What exactly happened? I try to investigate but Pike kept pushing me away from the commotion," asked Anemone (exactly on time), frowning as she mentioned the other SeaWing. Just by Anemone talking, she gave Dust an idea as to what to draw.
"Nothing much. Peril arrived, majority of nearby dragons panicked and ran, Clay greeted her, a couple of dragons protested, Clay and Peril left to talk something out, everybody left for classes other than the two who passed out, and I carried them to the infirmary. Everything that you could expect from a dragon who could burn you alive with a touch arriving," said Dust, shrugging a little as she outlined the general shape of her drawing.
Anemone nodded along, close to shrugging off the explanation before something caught her interest. "You carried the two alone?" asked Anemone, nearly everybody eavesdropping on the two at this point.
"Yes. Starflight did follow me to make sure that the two were taken care of but I was the one who carried them," said Dust.
If I just curve that line like that...
"What?!" yelped Anemone, startling Dust out of her concentration and almost making her smear a line through her entire drawing.
"Huh?" said Dust, tilting her head at Anemone in confusion. What was the big deal?
"Don't 'huh' me! You're saying that you carried two dragons on your back without any help? That's insane!" exclaimed Anemone, a few of the others nodding in agreement.
"I guess," said Dust, shrugging off the awed and surprised gazes of her winglet. "Aren't MudWings stereotypically strong anyway? This shouldn't be too much of a surprise."
The others gave her incredulous looks but Dust just continued to draw without a care in the world. By the end of the activity, Dust had a drawing of an oyster with a pearl in it. Thrush had come into the room just before it all ended, giving Dust a stuttery 'thank you' that Dust accepted with a smile.
"Imma go to the library," said Dust, smiling at Anemone despite her slightly sad look. With a moment to think about, Dust gave Anemone the drawing, albeit rolled up. "You can keep it," said Dust, brushing wings with her and Ostrich as she left for the library.
Dust entered the library with a simple hello to Starflight, picking up her scrolls from earlier and reading them despite the lack of information towards what she wanted to know. Parts of the scroll about the Royals dragged on and on. So much so that Dust managed to doze off.
"Dust? Are you still here?" asked Starflight, frowning a little when there was no answer. "Dust?" This time, he listened carefully and managed to hear soft snoring. Starflight didn't quite know what that meant for a moment, chuckling when he realized that Dust had fallen asleep.
Walking around his desk, Starflight wandered towards the source of the sound. His talons bumped against scales, causing him to pause before gently trailing his claws over said scales. Searching around for a moment with Dust huffing at the tickling sensation, Starflight managed to grab and shake her shoulder. "Dust. Dust, you need to wake up."
"No," mumbled Dust, her unconscious self denying the NightWing.
"Dust. Dust. Dust, you can't sleep here all day. You need to wake up," said Starflight, chuckling under his breath at Dust's sleepy mumbles.
Dust actually woke up this time, her half-asleep mind reacting without much thought. "By the moon-blessed swamps and their masquerading fireflies, what do you want Co..." As Dust opened her eyes, she trailed off when she realized that the dragon waking her up was a NightWing and not a MudWing.
Idiot! You're at Jade Mountain, not at the kingdom!
"Sorry, I thought you were someone else," mumbled Dust, sitting up with a small yawn.
"It's fine," said Starflight, staying silent for a moment as Dust rolled up her scrolls. "Who did you think I was?"
"One of my sibs," said Dust.
In a way, you are, thought Dust, mentally whacking herself with her tail because of it.
She stood up, the scrolls tucked under one of her wings as she searched for their original places. "What did you mean by 'masquerading fireflies'?" asked Starflight, following her.
"One time Cocoa, the sib I thought you were, dared me to catch a firefly. I did but I also caught a mosquito. It became an inside joke so I say it sometimes," said Dust, chuckling a little as she remembered the scene.
They were preparing for their first fight for the war, the rest of them complaining about sore muscles while she tried to get them to shut up. Cocoa had dared her to do it to show that she didn't have sore muscles. When Dust had roared in fury about 'masquerading fireflies', all of them had a good laugh despite the situation.
"What are your other sibs' names?" said Starflight, one of his ears perking up when he heard Dust slide the scrolls into their places.
"Almond, Bay, and Brook," said Dust, smiling a little at the thought of her sibs.
And Starflight, her mind whispered, tempting Dust to actually whacking her head with her tail to shut it up.
"Do you have any siblings?" she asked to distract herself from the temptation to do so physically.
"One..." Starflight trailed off, nervously fidgeting with his talons as he continued. "She's only my half-sister and we don't have a lot in common. She kinda hates me really."
"Well if we're going down that track, I already hate her too," said Dust, blunt as could be while Starflight gave her a shocked expression. "You're siblings, you don't hate on siblings whether they be half or not. Dislike? Okay. Get annoyed by them? Normal. Hate? Get out of my house."
Starflight's jaw dropped a little. "I-I guess the MudWing sibling bond influences that type of opinion," joked Starflight, chuckling along nervously.
"I guess," said Dust, her claws subconsciously curling up in aggression.
She does not get to hate on my sibling! I may only be his half-sister but I will tear her apart if she gets within five feet of him! If she even thinks about hurting him, I will torture her to death!
Shaking off her thoughts, Dust forced herself to keep her voice passive as she spoke again, "I better get going, Anemone and Ostrich wanted to hang out."
"Alright, I'll see you around," said Starflight, smiling at Dust.
"I'll see you later," agreed Dust, smiling back at him and leaving the library without another word. Instead of going straight to Anemone and Ostrich, Dust decided to wander the halls. She needed to calm down before she snapped at one of them.
{(:)}
She had barely managed it but Dust eventually calmed down enough that she felt comfortable being around Anemone and Ostrich. The three girls spoke for a while when Dust came back, all of them ignoring Pike who was outside the door. Ostrich and Anemone had grilled Dust for a while about details of what happened but they eventually moved on.
Despite the varied topics that the three had discussed, Dust went to sleep with Starflight on her mind.
Opening her eyes in her dream, Dust looked around to see mountains upon mountains with something that looked like ruins peeking out from behind a few. Beside her on the small ledge she stood upon, a NightWing at least one and a half times her size stared down at the small valley in front of them. She looked like a completely normal NightWing, the only notable thing about her being a thick silver band around one of her wrists.
Following the NightWing's gaze, Dust noticed a few boulders that seemed a little too close together. Almost like they were hiding something. Something that the NightWing knew about.
Dust's thoughts were interrupted by the NightWing twining their tails. Something told Dust that this was a rare occurrence, causing her to only tighten the twist rather than undo it. Going a little further, Dust brushed their wings together to try and comfort the stranger. A flash of the NightWing covered in dust, debris, dirt, and water made the stranger drop her head as if grieving. All Dust could do was press her snout to the other's shoulder in comfort.
Just like before, an ominous voice from nowhere began speaking, "One will be related to the timeless yet nowhere near as lifeless. A tale of her family's old will be turned cold by the one who wishes to have its gift. It must be done or else she will drift."
A gust of wind tore through the valley, kicking dirt into Dust's eyes and forcing them to close. And just like that, Dust was tossed into her usual dreams.
{(:)}
While she interacted with everyone as per usual, all Dust could think about was her dream. What did it mean? Who was that NightWing?
She became a little distracted when it came to the afternoon with the Jade Winglet in the music cave. First off, Boto seemed to actually have energy for once which was beyond surprising. Second off, Anemone managed to drag Dust into dancing with her and Turtle which was quite fun.
Sadly, all good things had to come to an end. Her thoughts returned to the dreams which caused her to go to the history cave for the maps, hoping to get some idea of where the second dream took place. The only two in the cave were Tamarin and some NightWing, Bigtail was it?
Studying the map of Pyrrhia on the wall, Dust frowned a little as she tried to figure it out. There was only one large range of mountains, most of it in SkyWing territory. Why would a NightWing legend or tale have anything to do with that region?
Her speculations were interrupted by a thrumming at the base of her skull. Danger, her sixth sense whispered, the thrumming becoming worse.
Danger! Evacuate! Danger! It repeated those two words in raised volume, causing Dust to wince a little before following 'orders'.
"Hey, Bigtail was it?" Bigtail raised his head from where he had been studying a scroll, frowning a little at the sudden address. "I'll take that as a yes. I forgot to tell you when I got in here, but Moonwatcher wants to talk to you. She said it was pretty important and urgent," said Dust, hoping to the moons above he took the bait.
Sorry in advance, Moon.
"Um... okay..." he gave Dust a confused look but rolled up his scroll and left. One down, one to go.
"Hey Tamarin," greeted Dust, walking over to sit beside the RainWing.
"Hey Dust," said Tamarin, 'looking' right at Dust.
"I overheard that Kinkajou really wanted to talk to you. Something about finding a new spot for sun time I think," said Dust, wincing as her internal alarm started screeching at her.
"Is that so? I'll have to talk to her--" Tamarin suddenly cut herself off, her nose raised high as she sniffed for something.
"Tamarin?" asked Dust, frowning a little at the sudden shift from her friend. Tamarin didn't speak, grabbing Dust's wrist instead and leading her to one of the scroll racks. She knocked it over, dragging Dust closer to her.
Shield! Dust's internal voice screamed. Dust didn't think twice, moving before throwing up her wings as protection. Not even a second later, the world exploded.
The force shoved Dust forward, her head banging painfully against the wall. Millions of needles attacked Dust's wing and side, accompanied by the stinging heat of flames. Even with her head and vision spinning, Dust could see that the history cave was destroyed and engulfed in flames. Part of her started to freak out but another part of her, the soldier part, was completely in control.
"Tamarin," said Dust, coughing when the smoke got to her. Luckily Tamarin was mostly unharmed, although she did look a little dazed from the hit to the head and the edges of her were a little worse than singed.
"Tamarin, I need you to get on my back. Get on my back and hang on tight," ordered Dust, nudging the RainWing with her shoulder to give the blind dragon a reference point. Tamarin shakily nodded, clambering onto Dust's back while white and various shades of green chased each other across her scales.
Tamarin's arms wrapped around Dust's neck, some of her claws digging into Dust's scales ever so slightly. "Okay," whispered Tamarin, seconds later coughing up a storm thanks to the smoke.
"This is going to be scary. You might get a little burned but it's all I can do. We're getting out of here," said Dust, turning towards the door with a hope and a prayer in her mind. "I'm running in three, two..." Tamarin's claws dug a little deeper, her arms grew stiffer, and she laid herself more flatly on Dust's back.
All Dust did in return was silently pray that her MudWing abilities were enough. "... one!" Dust broke into a full-on sprint, ignoring the flames that licked at her scales. They burned but it healed, not without a little pain of course. Also, more little needles stabbed into Dust's talons, not that Dust paused to check what they were.
Dust burst into the open, barely dodging Peril as she rushed into the flames. Their wings skimmed each other, neither one of them pausing to awe the lack of burns as they continued running. Coughing a little as she slowed down, Dust stopped and panted.
Tamarin didn't climb off of her back, petrified by her brush with the flames. Meanwhile, Peril finally came out of the fire while dragging someone along. Dust's stomach lurched when she saw that the dragon wasn't moving, looking more black than red.
Clay ran past, staring at the blackened dragon with grief in his eyes. "Is there anyone else in there?"
"There shouldn't be," said Dust, coughing a bit barely a second later. "I only saw Tamarin before it went off. Peril is in there," Clay grimly nodded, running into the flames nonetheless.
They came back a moment later, Winter questioning the two immediately. "Is it all clear?"
"We swept the entire space. No one else in there," said Clay, a tired nod accompanying his words. Winter walked forward, breathing his frost breath on the flames to snuff them.
"Tamarin!" Kinkajou ran over to Dust and her friend, staring at the blind RainWing in worry. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, thanks to Dust," said Tamarin, not moving an inch as she spoke. Clay checked the SkyWing's pulse, shaking his head as he removed his claw. She was dead. She was dead because Dust wasn't fast enough.
"Oh my," Clay walked over to the two, staring at Dust's stinging side with worry. "What are those?"
Pike answered before Dust could even look at what he was talking about. "Th-They're from th-the attack on the S-Summer Palace... We should go to the underground lake, it'll help any burns."
"Lead the way," said Clay, Dust nodding in agreement.
"I'll come too," said a SandWing, she was rather burly and she had tattoos and a necklace.
"Go to Sunny," said Clay, his orders directed towards Peril. "Tell her to bring tranq darts and meet us at the lake," Peril nodded, only hesitating for a moment before running. Pike led the way, the four of them hot on his tail. "What happened?"
"I don't know," said Dust, wincing a little as Tamarin dug her claws in and the needles from before dug deeper into her talons. "Tamarin and I were talking before she suddenly dragged me to the side. She knocked over one of the scroll racks and put me next to her. I had a sixth sense moment and put myself in front of her. A moment later, the cave was in flames."
"Are you okay?" asked Clay, frowning a little at something on her stinging side.
"My side feels like someone decided to rapid-fire splinters into it but other than that, decent," said Dust, starting to feel a little faint. They suddenly descended, the tunnel they took opening up into a chamber that had a small lake as most of its floor.
Dust immediately walked into the water, shivering a little at the cold. "Tamarin, I'm gonna start swimming. You'll have to let go of me," said Dust, feeling Tamarin shudder at the idea. "It'll be okay, Tamarin. You have to cool off those burns."
"Okay," Tamarin whispered, her grip loosening a little. Nodding, Dust continued deeper into the lake. After a bit, Tamarin let go when she felt the water herself. Tamarin's white scales started to fade but they were nowhere near gone. Dust decided to finally look at her side, cursing under her breath when she saw the little spiky green balls stuck to her. They were causing her to bleed, giving a reason as to why she started feeling faint.
Peril and Sunny suddenly appeared, the SandWing with a small satchel around her neck. "How is everyone?" asked Sunny, nervously glancing around at the group to check for injuries.
"A bit shaken," admitted Dust, leaving the water to have the SandWing gasp. "I can fix the whole spike ball thing, with some help of course," as she said that, Dust walked closer to Peril. "Imma need you to brush your wing across my side."
Peril wasn't the only one who gasped. "I-I can't! I'll kill you!" shouted Peril, backing away from Dust with a terrified look in her eye.
Meanwhile, Dust just gave her a deadpanned stare. "Are you serious?" said Dust, Peril blinking at her in confusion. "I ran through the flames, same as you. I have the same blasted ability as Clay," said Dust, shaking her head slightly at Peril's lack of thought.
"Oh," Peril nodded along, shyly walking forward with her talon outstretched. Extending one of her wings, Dust waited as patiently as ever while Peril burned every one of the balls. As an added bonus, Peril cauterized the wounds that were bleeding but the burns were healed not even a second later.
"Thank you," said Dust, bowing her head to Peril for a moment before turning to the rest of the group. "Is Tamarin good to go?" asked Dust, her focus returning to the RainWing who was treading water.
"I might tranquilize her just for ease," said Sunny, nervously fidgeting with her claws as she spoke. "The less pain the better."
"I'm okay with that," agreed Tamarin, navigating the water to return to shore with less difficulty than most would think. "Kinkajou would probably demand it anyway," added Tamarin.
Clay chuckled at that while Sunny gave a little giggle. "True," said Sunny, waving Clay over to be closer to her. "Why don't you get on Clay's back so we can transport you easier?" said Sunny, Tamarin nodding in agreement. It barely took a moment before Tamarin was comfortably on the MudWing's back. "Night Tamarin."
"Night," responded Tamarin a second before the tranquilizer hit her.
She was out like a light, dozing peacefully on Clay's back. "We better go to the infirmary," said Clay, beginning to lead the way. Most followed, Pike and Peril staying behind to do their own thing. The walk transpired in silence, no one really finding much to say. Even when they got to the infirmary, most of the activity was putting Tamarin down, watching her, and sorting out supplies.
"Dust?" Clay called.
"Yeah?" responded the one in question.
"I want you to have some rest, you've had a crazy day," said Clay, nodding towards a bed next to Tamarin's.
"I guess," Dust said with a small frown on her face. She shrugged, taking said bed and laying down. Simply by closing her eyes, Dust was thrown into dreamland.
Maybe this time she could get some actual rest rather than the weird prophecy dreams.