Chapter 6

"What do you mean 'I should calm down'?!" Though Treefire kept her voice down, she was far from calm. One of her brothers was taken into the City of the Night where a tribe of dragons could for sure read minds. One rouge thought would spell his doom if he wasn't careful, but how could he be. What's worse was that it happened so quickly and she couldn't do anything to help. Now she, along with her other siblings were standing in a spot closer to the city where they couldn't see the sky. The wind would occasionally whistle past them making it easy to mask their voices.

Treefire continued. "We had a plan. A good plan that was going to work with all of us together."

"At least this way we can cover more ground and it gives us more time to explore without having to look over our backs." Leafall countered. They were all thinking the same thing. What if Alligator is gone forever?

"That's fine and all," said Treefire, "but what's the point now if he's there. We've already agreed we won't be able to find her in the city."

"Well," Mud spoke up hesitantly, "we agreed that it would be hard to find Lostbringer in the city."

"Same difference." Treefire was finding it difficult to keep her voice down.

Leafall continued. "Regardless, we know there's a place outside of the city we need to find. Until then, we need trust in Alligator."

And that was what they did. Treefire tried to keep faith in her brother, but she continued to worry. As the second oldest and the second strongest, it was up to her to keep everyone safe when Aligator wasn't around. This was unspoken among the siblings to the point where Treefire wondered if any of the others would agree. Regardless, she had to keep everyone safe in this new, unknown territory.

Mud and Leafall took up the front for they were the quickest and the most dexterous. Though the terrain was different, they glided through as if they were back in the forest. However, the shifting rocks made it hard to be stealth and the chances of falling were greater here. Back at the forest, if you fell, you could at least be confronted by branches and bushes if you were not fast enough to catch yourself in the air or if it was too cramped to open your wings. The rocks here could cut scales and break bones. If that wasn't bad enough, any loud noises they made would bring curious scouts to their location.

Darkness had fallen. Now everything around them looked more the same. They came back together using the fire light from Treefire as their beacon.

"It's no use at this point." Said Treefire once everyone was together. "We'll get lost if we keep looking now."

"You're right." Leafall's body was feeling heavy. "There's no point in continuing if we can't see anything."

"We don't have to see." said Mud. "We can still smell. Lostbringer should be the only dragon who would travers these crevices. If she comes here constantly, then her scent would be easy to find."

Both Leafall and Treefire looked over to Mud with surprised looks on their faces. Mud wasn't a timid dragon, but he wasn't bold either. He sounded so sure of himself, too. He was scared like the rest of them, and yet he stood so determined.

To Mud, it was fear and not determination that made him say what he said. Alligator was counting on them to find the hiding place of Lostbringer. In his mind, they didn't know how often Lostbringer visited her hiding place. The sooner they found it, the more likely it was to cross paths with her. The hideout would also be a good place to keep hidden from passing scouts.

Treefire looked up to the night sky. She was tired and cold, but she could see the starry sky clearer from where she was. She didn't like how Mud seemed to be so much more determined about this than she was. "We can't search for much longer." she said to Mud. "We need to rest regardless of where we are. I'll use my fire to warm us up."

Leafall and Mud drew closer to Treefire as she let out a stream of flame. The warmth of it would only affect them for so long, so when Treefire was done, the other two bolted to look for the Nightwing's scent.

Time passed.

Leafall was the one to find the hiding place.

The scent came strongly from the opposite side of a bolder. The bolder itself was surrounded by smaller rocks to make the makeshift door look more natural. Treefire had to use her remaining strength to move each of the rocks to eventually open up the hidden room.

"Finally! We founded it!" said Leafall. The room reeked of the stale presence of another dragon and paper. Leafall and Mud stumbled in as Treefire did her best to roll the rock back in place.

They found that the room they were in was covered in documents on the walls. There was a desk stacked with books and parchments while candles both used and unused were stored underneath. The candles were lit by Treefire.

Mud, with his weary eyes, did his best to look over the different maps of Pyrrhia all marked differently.

"Mud, let's sleep." said Treefire. "You can read those when we wake up." Leafall was already cuddled up to her sister and passed out.

"I know." said Mud. "But… these maps and these books. Something about them seems strange. It's like they're pointing to somewhere."

"Is that not what maps do?"

Mud gave an irritated grunt. Whatever. He thought. Sleep now, answers tomorrow. He crawled over to his sisters and slept beside them. Strangely, they all had the same dream of the day they killed their first dragon.

Alligator's did his best to keep his mouth from salivating now that he and the one called Galaxywing got to the gate to the City of Night. So many things could go wrong in there. Something was going to go wrong. He felt his heart breaking the scales of his chest.

Galaxywing, before they entered, asked the one he knew as Fatekeeper, "Are you ok? It's like a waterfall coming out of your mouth."

"I-slurp-I'm fine. Just hungry is all." Hopefully there was enough truth in that to be passed as fact, but even Alligator didn't believe it. It happens whenever he gets uncontrollably excited and even that is inconsistent. The idea was since he was half Rainwing, his body was trying to produce venom in self defense. If that was the case, why would his body not produce the one thing he did have; fire.

You're thinking too much. He thought to himself. Even though Galaxywing apparently couldn't read minds, he looked onto Alligator like how his siblings looked at a potential meal. Could he actually read minds?

The strange Nightwing looked up at the sky. "I guess…. it's about time I get something to eat, too. Mind if I get you something?"

"Y-slurp-yes please." Alligator had to keep his thoughts to himself.

Galaxywing led Alligator through the city. Even though the sun was completely gone now, it was amazing to see how the light orbs made it feel like the moons themselves were right above the city. Light orbs were perched on buildings and lanky "tree" tops. The ground was smoother than the mountain rocks with neat cracks in perfect square shapes. The smells were overwhelming. New dragon scents, roasting meats and sweet things like honey, and a whiff of something that stopped Alligator's heart.

That couldn't have been a Sandwing's scent, he thought. However, even if it was, the scent was gone as soon as he caught it. He couldn't linger on it now.

Alligator did his best to manage his thoughts and would practically stop thinking whenever another Nightwing would look at him. Any of them could have the ability to read his mind and learn the truth that there was an intruder among them. Yet no one reacted in such a way. They were all distracted by their own conversations or tasks to notice him in the first place. For the one that did, they looked more concerned than skeptical. Alligator was still drooling.

It felt like an hour had passed before Galaxywing stopped at the front door of a house. The house was so much bigger than the mud hut. Alligator wondered how many dragons lived in there only to stop thinking about it. Galaxywing knocked on the door and soon a new dragon came to answer. She was just as tall as Galaxywing, but her scales seemed to shine more than his. She had something on her face that overlapped her eyes and were fixed onto her nose.

"Galaxy? Shouldn't you be on your shift." She asked. By the lack of sounds coming from inside, it seemed she was the only one occupying the home.

"Good afternoon to you too." Galaxywing responded sounding hurt. "Do you have room for two more?"

The glasses dragon looked down at Alligator still drooling and not thinking. She focused on him as if picking out every scale on his head.

"Why did you bring him here?"

"He's hungry as am I. Since I am on break, I figured that I would see my favorite dragon on top of doing a good service."

The glasses dragon looked up at Galaxywing. He was giving her a charming smile and she released any tension in her body. "Come on."

Alligator was led inside first. The inside was surprisingly warm. The stone floors seemed to be where most of the heat came from and it was a nice feeling. Alligator still didn't like walking on the stone compared to the mud of his home, but this made it bearable. There were tables, cushions, a book shelf better looking than the one at home, and other things that made the house look lived in. It was more than what he thought any one dragon could have in one place. Was this normal for the everyday dragon? Did Galaxywing make a mistake by taking Alligator to the queen's den?

"Sit down anywhere if you like. I'll get us some water." The glasses dragon went into another section of the house. Galaxywing found a cushion to sit on, but he did not remove his spear. Alligator chose not to sit on a cushion. His drooling came to a near stop, but he kept on guard. The glasses dragon came back with two cups of water. The cup was like smooth stone to Alligator making him wonder if Nightwings had an obsession with rocks.

Galaxywing took a sip of his drink when the glasses dragon asked, "What was your name again?" referring to Alligator.

"Fatekeeper." He said with confidence. He took a sip of his own water.

Galaxywing explained how he met the young Nightwing. "I didn't see anyone other than him, but Nighthinker was sure there were others."

"Rainwings again?" the glasses dragon asked.

"Don't know."

The glasses dragon seemed puzzled, as if she was expecting a different and more sure answer. Even Galaxywing seemed confused by the answer he gave. The glasses dragon continued to ask Fatekeeper, "What were you doing outside the city?"

Oh no. He didn't think about that. "I've heard a lot about the forest where the Rainwings come from, so I wanted to see it." Alligator didn't really care about the Rainwings, but Fatekeeper had to.

The glasses dragon looked even more confused staring intently at Fatekeeper. Galaxywing gently placed his cup down and was now looking at Fatekeeper as well. It was then Alligator realized that they may not be looking at a Nightwing dragonet, but at a dragonet that was not one of their own. Was it something he said or could it be that he was brought here to have his mind read and he didn't know it. But if that was true, why haven't they done anything yet?

The glasses dragon asked another question to the now sketchy dragonet. "Who are your parents?"

Both Galaxywing and Alligator were caught off guard by this question. Galaxywing surely had his own reason to be shocked, but as for Alligator, it was a topic that cut deep in his heart.

With a dark tone he said, "I don't care."

"Lost, what does that have to do with anything?" asked Galaxywing.

Lost? Alligator looked up at the glasses dragon. Just as she was about to address Galaxywing, Alligator asked, "Is your name Lostbringer?"

Now the two true Nightwings were shocked prompting Galaxywing to pull out his spear pointing it at Alligator. He side stepped in response keeping his body low to the warm floor.

"Wait!" Lostbringer exclaimed as she tried but failed to reach the spear to lower it from across the table they were at.

"Why? You're not a prophet, so your name isn't well known. I don't why he would know your name outside of being a spy." Galaxywing was more focused and serious than at any point Alligator had seen him before now.

Unable to reach him, Lostbringer once again turned her attention to Alligator. "You know Jetstream correct? Was he the one who sent you here?" But Alligator didn't immediately respond. Subconsciously, he thought back to the mangled body of his caretaker back in the mud hut. This time, Lostbriger pleaded more intently to Galaxywing to put down his spear. He was reluctant, but when he glanced over at her, he couldn't keep his composure. He removed his spear from Alligator's face, but kept it in his hand.

Lostbringer asked Alligator again if he knew Jetstream.

"I do." said Alligator while his body was still on the floor. "He said we could find you outside the city, but we were spotted by him and the other Nightwing on guard."

"Is he alright? What has happened to him?"

Galaxywing interjected, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Wait, wait. Before we ask any other questions, I would like to be caught up. Who is Jetstream, how does anyone here know him, and why come all this way to tell us this?"

Alligator sat up straight, no longer feeling the need to stay on the defensive. Now that he was found out and he was in the presence of the dragon he was looking for, he reverted his scales back to their brown color with only his backside remaining black.

"My real name is Alligator. Jetstream is a Seawing who has taken care of me and my siblings for many years now. Recently he was attacked by two Sandwings who called him a criminal, so in order to save his life we need to convince the Sandwings that he is a good dragon. He told us that Lostbringer could help with that."

Galaxywing turned to Lostbringer and exclaimed, "You have relations with a criminal?!"

"No!" she said defensively. "Or rather, I didn't know he was a criminal. Well..."

"So you did know."

"I knew he was a wanderer. He was the only one I could talk to about-" Her voice cut off almost unnaturally. It was like she was going to say a curse or bring doom to everyone if she finished her sentence. However, it seemed as if Galaxywing was well aware of what she wanted to say.

"You mean you feel for another dragon over that myth?!" his words came out along with a fire breath.

"It's not like that and you know it. But he was the first dragon who actually took me seriously about my research. Of course our friendship would only grow stronger."

"Some friend he turned out to be. Not only is he a criminal, he is a Seawing wanted by the Sandwings. The only way this could be worse if he was an Icewing." Alligator could only watch as the two Nightwings argued back and forth. He needed to get back on topic, but how could he break them up and not get hurt. Galaxywing continued, "We need to alert the Sandwings before this gets out of hand."

"No, you can't." said Alligator. "That's the whole reason we came to get Lostbringer so she came help us prove his innocence."

"Innocent of what? He can only be more guilty from here. His charges can be dropped if that's what you want, but if he thinks that Lost can do that then he is clearly delusional."

Alligator was taken aback. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Lostbringer sighed. "Since I'm not a prophet, I don't have any political power to sway the thoughts or opinion of the clans." She looked so defeated as did Alligator. However, a thought crossed her mind. "It's strange. Surely he knew that."

With that, Alligator thought back to his talk with Jetstream. "I think he did. Before we left, we asked him why we needed to do so much before going to the Sandwings. We thought all we needed was you, but he said it wasn't that simple." Alligator paused in thought before he continued. "I don't know what his plan is exactly, but he trusts you with whatever it is."

Lostbringer sat in her spot for the longest time. Conflicting thoughts wrestled for dominance in her mind trying to claim themselves as the right answer. Each thought was made manifest in the two dragons that stood in front of her separated by a table.

She had known Galaxy for so long that he could practically read her thoughts without having any ability to do so. He was lax at times, but was dutiful to the clan. For him, the Nightwings represented order between the clans of Pyrrhia and therefore had to be better than the other clans. If the Lostbringer helped a criminal using the influence of the Nightwings, then what laws could the other clans take into their hands?

Alligator was more of a stand in for Jetstream. The older dragon was different in how he viewed the world which seemed to give him an open mind. He was always careful to keep his mind guarded from her, and yet he continued to be open. Maybe there were dark secrets he kept deep in his mind and she was just blinded by what he offered her. Maybe he wasn't the dragon she thought he was. She looked towards Alligator. He was raised by Jetstream yet she never knew he existed before today. He was healthy and thought positively about Jetstream. Such warm thoughts made her smile as she remembered her own good times with the rouge scholar.

Alligator watched as Lostbringer walked towards Galaxywing. She pressed her body up against his and snuggled her head on his neck. Galaxywing was hesitant to share the affection, but slowly wrapped one of his wings around her.

Through a soft voice, she said to him, "I love you." There was a hurt expression in Galaxywing's eyes that seemed off for someone who was just told he was loved. It was soon made clear why as Lostbringer continued. "I need to help Jestream. I know you don't agree, but I can't abandon him and not understand why he did what he did."

Almost abruptly, Galaxywing removed himself from Lostbringer. He readied his spear towards Alligator with blank determination in his eyes. Lostbringer did her best to stop him, but he shoved her to the side knocking her down and tipping over the table.

"By the authority of Queen Duskhunter, you and your siblings are under arrest."

Author's Notes: That moment when you roll a 3 then a 5 on advantage persuasion. That is not a joke. Well, at least this way I can do what I do best; fight scenes.