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Chapter Text

Death PACT members

Leader: Evergreen (Tree) - Male Leafwing

Co-leader: Blackdeath (Black Hole) - Male nightwing

Members:

Windseeker (Fanny) - Female Driftwing

Fulgurite (Lightning) - Male Sandwing/Tempestwing hybrid

Blueberry (Pie) - Female Rainwing/Mudwing hybrid

Gecko (Marker) - Male Rainwing

Nightshade (Remote) - Female Nightwing

Shrike (Pin) - Female Skywing

Lightspeaker (Liy) - Female Lightwing

Albus (Pen) - Male Seawing/Icewing hybrid

Periwinkle (Gaty) - Trans female Silkwing

Beluga (Bottle) - Female Icewing

Pinkstar (My oc) - Female Silkwing

Tribeless dragons (Algebraliens):

Iris (One)

Jade (Two)

Garnet (Three)

Vortex (Four)

Heliotrope (Five)

Bluewing (Six)

Ebony (Seven)

Ashclaw (Eight)

Silvertail (Nine)

Pyro (Ten)

Dandelion (X)

Chapter Text

Iris' POV

Iris (One) flicked a lone pebble against the rock wall of her cave as her stomach growled. She hadn't eaten in days; not that she really needed to. The spell she put on herself prevented her from dying of hunger or thirst while being trapped in the cave, which was useful, but annoying. She swivelled her head to look at the drawings of the eight Algebraliens she had scratched out on the walls in fury. Iris stood up and walked towards the drawings, clawing at one of the drawings.

Vortex (Four); the dragon who trapped her in the cave. The dragon who prevented her from fixing her mistakes. Iris hated all the Algebraliens, but especially Vortex.

I'll find them, Iris thought, the years being trapped here making her become more vengeful by the second. I'll give them a taste of their own medicine. No matter what I have to do to them.

She turned her back to the drawings, sinking her talons into the rock floor before laying down and curling her tail around her talons, bored out of her mind. Like usual. But the one benefit of being bored, she thought, was that she could think more efficiently about the 101 different ways she could get revenge on the Algebraliens.

Iris looked at her own claws. She has animus magic. She could do anything imaginable to make things the way she could want. The way she should want. A million possibilities swirled in her own head, and despite this happening daily, she would always feel a rush of motivation to get out of this cave as soon as possible. But just before she could run to the blocked entrance of the cave, she heard voices coming from outside, but they weren't who she was looking for.

"So, to clarify," said a male, somewhat raspy voice. "You think Windseeker (Fanny) got lost on our way here?"

There was an incredulous snort, along with a female, medium pitched voice. "Windseeker? Getting lost? Pfft, like that ever happens. Surely our most toughest member can find her way to our own hideout!"

"Windseeker's smart! She'll find her way here!" said yet another voice, this time more high pitched and cheery. Iris was beginning to lose track of how many dragons there were.

"Shh, be quiet Beluga! (Bottle) We don't want to be found by a random soldier, do you?" urged one of the voices.

"Come on, Lightspeaker! (Liy)" said Beluga. "You're so paranoid! Just let loose for once!"

Lightspeaker growled. "I can't 'let loose' when we're in skywing territory!"

Lightspeaker was not wrong about that, Iris thought. She did see the Claws of the Clouds Mountains when she got trapped here.

"Hey, at least it's not seawing territory," said the male voice. "If so, Windseeker would be in terrible danger, and Evergreen would freak."

"Are you calling her weak?!" Lightspeaker questioned.

"N-no, I-"

There was a bang against the blocked cave entrance and a roar of pain. At the same time, Iris saw a small pebble fall out from the blocked entrance, and a beam of sunlight shone through where the pebble once was. Iris immediately peeked an eye through the hole, and saw at least three dragons. An Icewing as well as two hybrids; one appeared to be a Sandwing/Tempestwing and another a Lightwing/Nightwing. The Tempestwing hybrid was crouched against one side of the blocked cave entrance, clutching his torso.

The Icewing's eyes widened. "Lightspeaker! What did you do? You can't take out your anger on us!"

The pale blue Lightwing hybrid closed her eyes and turned her back on the two dragons, breathing heavily and saying, "I... I think I need a moment." before walking away into the forest near the Diamond Spray River, close to where Mortarwing territory is. The Icewing held out a helping talon to the collapsed Tempestwing/Sandwing hybrid and he got up, looking at Lightspeaker still walking off to Mortarwing territory before pacing after her.

- - -

Hours later, night had fallen, and Iris was clawing her way through the hole, trying to make it bigger. She could use her animus magic of course, that would make it more quicker and efficient, but she was already almost there to use her magic now. The boulders blocking the entrance crumbled slowly as Iris worked her claws through it. Slowly, slowly, slowly the entrance crumbled until it was all gone, the moonlight shining down on Iris.

She opened her wings triumphantly and said, "Hey, guys!"

Iris took off to the air, though quite unsteadily, as she hadn't flown for years since Vortex trapped her in the cave. As Iris flew through the night sky, she knew that she couldn't get her revenge on the Algebraliens just yet. She would still have to recover from being trapped in the cave for so long, with no food, water or sunlight and moonlight. Iris would take as much time as she needed to rest and recover to be strong enough to stand a chance.

And when the time finally comes. She would make things even with Vortex and the Algebraliens once and for all.

Chapter Text

Windseeker's POV

Windseeker (Fanny) was flying from the kingdom of the sea as fast as she could. She hated flying, but most of all, she hated being chased. Two seawing guards were on her tail, spears at the ready. Windseeker growled in frustration and flapped her large wings harder, trying to outfly the guards, and dared to look behind her, only to see that the seawing guards were slowly catching up to her.

Driftwings like her aren't very aerodynamic, and she HATED that. She hated everything about her tribe, but especially their feud with the seawings since the War of Sandwing Succession. It really didn't help that the Driftwing Kingdom was right next to the Kingdom of the Sea, where skirmishes between the two tribes were quite common between the borders.

Windseeker realised that the two seawings were still chasing her and were not giving up. Ugh, fine! Looks like I have to deal with them myself! Windseeker turned around to face the seawing guards, hovering in the air and summoning the fire from her throat. But before she could breathe the fire at them, another dragon shot up from the forest below them and tackled with one of the seawings head on, almost knocking them out of the sky. Instinctively, Windseeker swooped forward to help, crashing into the other seawing and sinking her teeth into their neck. She frantically flapped her wings to keep herself steady in the air, but that was quite hard when she was fighting a seawing. The seawing dug their hind claws into Windseeker's underbelly, causing her to bite down on their neck further to try and stamp down the pain. Windseeker forgot to flap her wings and before they knew it, both dragons fell out of the sky, still tackling each other.

Suddenly, she felt the weight on top of her disappear from her immediately and she immediately regained her composure, managing to land in the forest on the grass safely. From behind her, Windseeker heard a thud and she turned around to see Nightshade (Remote) skilfully pinning down the two seawings that were previously chasing down Windseeker.

"I hate being chased by seawings!" Windseeker growled after catching her breath.

Nightshade nodded in agreement. "I know," She then raised her voice. "We got them, Death PACT! Windseeker's safe!"

Soon, Windseeker's fellow Death PACT members emerged from the bushes and Evergreen (Tree), Windseeker's mate, immediately ran over to her and wrapped his wings around her, despite the large sail on her back making it hard to completely hug her. "Windseeker!" he cried. "Thank the trees you're okay!"

Windseeker felt slightly weirded out from hugs, like always, but she didn't pull away from Evergreen's embrace. Evergreen let go of Windseeker from the hug, his brown eyes looking into her light blue ones. "Are you alright? We were out looking for you because you weren't back for a while. We were worried."

Windseeker rolled her eyes. "I hate obvious statements! I just happened to get caught by Shark's guards on patrol at the Bay of a Thousand Scales, which is why I took longer than I should."

The rest of Death PACT were tying the seawings together with vines so they couldn't escape. "Remember," said Blackdeath (Black Hole). "We shouldn't kill them, we can just leave them here."

"No, you shouldn't! We-" one of the seawings protested before Lightspeaker (Liy) silenced them with a hard glare. Windseeker walked over to the tied up seawings and hissed. "You should be lucky to even be alive right now, especially with how you treated me. We shouldn't kill other dragons, no matter how much we want to."

"What Windseeker said," Lightspeaker agreed, sinking her talons into the dirt.

Periwinkle (Gaty) looked at Evergreen expectantly. "What are we supposed to do with those two?" she asked. "We can't just leave them here. They'll starve to death or even get killed!"

"Psssh," Shrike (Pin) scoffed. "I think they'll survive. They're seawing guards for mountain's sake!"

"Not if they're tied up like that!" Periwinkle argued.

"Enough," Evergreen spread his brown leaf-shaped wings to stop the argument and garner all of Death PACT's attention. "Periwinkle's right. If we leave them out here to fend for themselves, they might not last out here."

One of the tied up seawings scoffed. "We can survive just fine. Just stop worrying about us, strangers!"

Evergreen ignored them. "We should return them back to their kingdom where they belong and will be safe with their tribe. As long as they never utter a single word about our existence to any dragons in power."

"So we have to go back to the Kingdom of the Sea?" Gecko (Marker) asked. Evergreen nodded and Gecko whined, "Waaaah, fine."

But Albus (Pen) grinned. "Yay! I'll get to be there again! Last time I went to the Bay of a Thousand Scales, I got to visit my mother there!"

Albus' mother was a seawing while his father was an icewing. Hybrids were becoming slightly more common in Pyrrhia, and Death PACT was mainly a majority of hybrids, but they were still considered quite rare.

"Can I just go back to our hideout?" Blueberry (Pie) asked. "I'll meet the rest of you there once you're done transporting the seawings to their kingdom."

"I'll come with you, Blueberry!" Beluga (Bottle) volunteered in her usual cheerful manner.

Blackdeath nodded in approval. "Sure. Now some of us have to help me carry them. They're way too heavy, even for me."

"Blackdeath being weak to carry a couple of seawings? Wow!" Windseeker said sarcastically before Pinkstar (My oc) elbowed her to shut up. Windseeker rolled her eyes. Dragons really don't get her dry, sarcastic sense of humor.

"I'll do it!" Fulgurite (Lightning) volunteered, grabbing one of the tied up vines with his front talons and unfurling his wings.

"Hey! Let me do it!" Lightspeaker protested, trying to shove Fulgurite out of the way. But Blackdeath intercepted her path, trying to protect Fulgurite. "Come on, Lightspeaker. Give Fulgurite a chance. He's been willing to help for a while."

"But he's been helping out a lot more than you've have been letting me help out!" Lightspeaker snapped, raising her voice. "Maybe you should just give me a chance for once, Blackdeath. Or are you so focused on Evergreen that you can't even consider me, of all dragons?"

Evergreen flinched and Blackdeath groaned in frustration. "Let's just go get these seawings back to where they belong. The rest of you can go back to our hideout. As for you, Lightspeaker," he glared at her. "If you can't get your temper under control, then we can't trust you go help us out. Simple as that."

Windseeker glanced at Lightspeaker, who looked like she was gonna burst. She knew how unfair it must be for her. Windseeker herself had anger issues, but she let it out by being angry all the time so much that everyone was used it by now. But as for Lightspeaker... her temper was quite unmanageable. Unmanageable to the point that she could physically hurt or even kill someone in her anger outbursts.

When Blackdeath and Fulgurite flew off, carrying the tied seawings to the Kingdom of the Sea, Evergreen ushered the remaining Death PACT members to walk back to their hideout, which wasn't very far from where Windseeker and the seawings had crashlanded. As they walked through the forest, Windseeker glanced back at Lightspeaker, who was looking down while Albus comfortingly wrapped a wing around her and reassured her quietly. Windseeker caught up with Evergreen and asked him, "Hey, do you think that Blackdeath has favourites?"

Evergreen gave Windseeker a puzzled look. "What do you mean?"

"I just hate favouritism! Blackdeath wouldn't let Lightspeaker help just because Fulgurite wants to please others by following orders!"

"I trust Blackdeath," whispered Evergreen. "Maybe the next time we're doing our duities, he'll give Lightspeaker something to do. We all have our own part to play after all."

Windseeker sighed. She hoped that Evergreen was right. There was no point in being a group that was supposedly 'better than the Talons of Peace' if some members weren't given the chance to do something useful. And she hated how out of control Lightspeaker’s tempers would get. If she couldn’t get her tempers under control, then Blackdeath would be right to keep her from helping.

And Windseeker had a feeling that if that happened, it wouldn’t end well.

Chapter Text

Albus' POV

Later that night, when Blackdeath (Black Hole) and Fulgurite (Lightning) had finished transporting the seawings to their kingdom, Albus couldn't sleep. Not that he thought was a big deal; he was told by the PACT that he was pretty restless. The three moons were thin crescents in the night sky as he walked out of the Death PACT cave which was underneath the Claws of the Clouds Mountains. He was surprised to see that Lightspeaker (Liy) was still awake, lying on the grass on her underbelly, gazing at the sky.

At first, Albus was quite hesitant. Lightspeaker must not be in the mood to chat right now, considering how Blackdeath had treated her earlier that day. Speaking of Blackdeath, what in the three moons was he thinking? Rejecting Lightspeaker's help like that when she desperately wanted to; that wasn't how Albus wanted Blackdeath to behave.

Albus was about to turn and enter back into the PACT cave when he heard Lightspeaker's voice. "Hey Albus,"

Albus jumped at the sudden sound of her voice and whirled around to see her looking at him. "You okay?" she asked.

He shrugged. "I'm fine. Just can't sleep."

Lightspeaker sighed. "Me neither."

Albus walked over to her and sat down next to her. "Are you okay?"

Lightspeaker glared at him. "Does it look like I'm okay?"

Both dragons stayed silent for a moment, for they both knew the answer. Lightspeaker sighed again and laid her chin on her talons. "They just don't care about us, Albus."

Albus knew what she was talking about. "Blackdeath?"

Lightspeaker nodded. "He rejected my help, said he didn't trust me and worst of all, no one even tried to defend me! Maybe I'm really not trusted here after all."

Well, I can't really say that you have keeping your anger in check lately, Albus thought before shutting off that thought. He shouldn't say that to her. Ever. Blackdeath's words repeated in his head. "If you can't get your temper under control, then we can't trust you to help us out. Simple as that."

"I mean, I guess that they- we- couldn't 'defend' you. Blackdeath is one of our leaders after all."

Lightspeaker growled, and Albus saw her crush the grass beneath her talons. "That's no excuse! They should've at least told him to just let me help, or at least suggest me to help! But they didn't."

"I-I'm sure he had his reasons Lightspeaker," said Albus, though he didn't believe his own words either. "Maybe next time, Blackdeath will let you help."

Lightspeaker snarled, glaring at Albus. "You're seriously going to take his side?!" She stood up suddenly, and Albus did the same thing. "He wouldn't let me help today, or yesterday, or even the day before that! It's hopeless, Albus. It's clear he doesn't trust me. None of them do."

There was a pause. "Do you think I don't trust you...?" Albus said softly, trying to stop his voice from shaking.

There was an even longer and significant pause as they both looked into each others eyes, Albus' bright blue eyes meeting Lightspeaker's paler blue ones that reflected the three moons. The edges of one of Albus' wings gently brushed against Lightspeaker's. "Even if the rest of Death PACT don't trust you, I do. With all my heart. Nothing can change that, I promise."

He was close enough to her to feel her breath against his bright blue gills. He almost forgot to breathe. Lightspeaker slowly pulled back and said, "I should go to sleep."

"Right," Albus agreed. They both headed back to the Death PACT hideout and back to their own sleeping caves. Albus paused outside of Lightspeaker's cave, peeking inside it. Lightspeaker was curled up in her padded sleeping corner, her face buried in her talons. Albus paused, unsure if she would be okay with him staying in her room for the night. Unable to resist the urge, he finally made the decision to stay with her. Lightspeaker might want to be alone, but she should be alone with him, the only dragon she trusts.

Albus laid down by the entrance, watching his friend slowly fall asleep in the cushioned sleeping corner. He hoped that tomorrow, he could get Blueberry (Pie), the perpetually calm one, to teach her ways to control her temper efficiently. Yes, good idea. I'll ask Blueberry if she has any ideas. In the meantime, he closed his eyes, and drifted off into a troubled sleep.

Chapter Text

Windseeker's POV

The sun was barely rising above the horizon, painting the sky in streaks of orange and pink and casting a warm glow from the leaf curtained entrance, and Windseeker (Fanny) was already up and about. She was in the main cave with Pinkstar, Periwinkle (Gaty), Fulgurite (Lightning) and Beluga (Bottle). Evergreen (Tree) and Blackdeath (Black Hole) were off on another death preventing mission with Gecko (Marker) and Nightshade (Remote) and Shrike (Pin) was visiting her mate, Copper (Coiny) in Queen Ruby's palace, again. Blueberry (Pie), Lightspeaker (Liy) and Albus (Pen) were likely still asleep in their caves.

Pinkstar, Periwinkle, Fulgurite and Beluga were lying in the middle of the room in a circle, playing Scales and Squares (basically a dragon version of checkers if you didn't know), and Beluga seemed to be winning. "King me! Hehehe!" she giggles.

Pinkstar groaned with resignation. "Ugh, I guess I deserve that. I knew I should've just chosen another spot!"

Periwinkle chuckled with amusement. "Chill, Pink. It's like what Blueberry says: you win some, you lose some!"

"But Blueberry wins almost every round!" said Fulgurite. "Well, except when she's against Blackdeath or Nightshade," he added quickly.

"Hey, Windseeker!" Periwinkle called out. Windseeker, who had been staring out the window, waiting for Evergreen and the other members to come back, was jolted out of her thoughts and turned to Periwinkle, realising that she was talking to her. "Wanna come play Scales and Squares with us in the next round?"

"I hate playing board games!" Windseeker yelled instinctively. "But I also hate having nothing to do, so I might as well just come watch."

"Cool," said Periwinkle. The pale blue silkwing shuffled a bit to give Windseeker enough space to sit between her and Pinkstar. The bright pink flamesilk looked a little uncomfortable sitting between the naturally broad framed driftwing and Beluga, the pure white icewing with hints of sky blue. But Windseeker didn't blame her. Pinkstar was the youngest and second-smallest out of everyone in Death PACT. At the same times, Windseeker heard talonsteps from the tunnel to sleeping caves and she looked up to find Blueberry stumbling into the main cave, yawning.

"Good morning, Blueberry!" Beluga greeted enthusiastically. "How'd you sleep?"

Blueberry shook herself. "As well as I could with Albus (Pen) snoring in the cave next to me."

Pinkstar blinked in confusion. "Wait, isn't Lightspeaker's room next to yours? I thought Albus' cave was next to mine."

"So, to clarify," Fulgurite started. "Does that mean Lightspeaker and Albus were sleeping in the same cave?"

Periwinkle's eyes widened with realisation. "Oooo, I think I know what's going on between those two..."

"Oh?" Windseeker leaned in to hear what Periwinkle had to say, and so did everyone else. But before she could spill the tea, there was a rustle from the main entrance. Everyone turned around to see that Evergreen, Blackdeath, Gecko and Nightshade had returned from their mission.

Windseeker jumped to her feet. "How'd it go, Evergreen?"

Evergreen smiled, which made Windseeker's heart jump as it always did whenever she would see that smile. "It went quite well. Other than the fact that we got into a bit of a crossroad with some Mortarwings, but we're good," he added quickly.

"And, we got breakfast!" Gecko declared enthusiastically, holding up some fruits as well as some dead birds.

"So, Shrike hasn't returned yet?" asked Blackdeath as the Death PACTers began to eat.

Fulgurite shook his head, his mouth full of bird. "I hate worrying about other dragons being late!" Windseeker snapped. "We should find her. Someone could've captured her!"

"I'm sure she's fine," Nightshade tried to reassure. "She is in her own kingdom after all. Queen Ruby might not like it when we go into her palace uninvited."

"Are we going somewhere?" said Lightspeaker's voice. Death PACT turned around to see that Lightspeaker and Albus were both awake and standing at the entrance that led to the sleeping caves.

"Now you two are awake!" said Blueberry. "And yes. We're going to the sky kingdom to check if Shrike has come back. She's been gone for a while."

"She has?" said Albus. Ignoring him, Blackdeath said, "We need a few dragons to stay here while we search for Shrike."

"I'll come!" Lightspeaker immediately volunteered, but it was drowned out by the other voices. "Can I? Can I?" Beluga repeated, practically bouncing on her talons.

Blackdeath sighed. "Alright, me, Blueberry, Periwinkle, Pinkstar and Fulgurite will come with me, while the rest of us stay here. Sound good?"

All of Death PACT agreed, except for Lightspeaker, Windseeker noticed. Lightspeaker's jaws and talons were clenched, and her expression look like that of someone who had seen the most outrageous thing a dragon had ever seen. Windseeker slowly shuffled away from her, not wanting to face her unreleased wrath. As soon as Blackdeath and the PACTers he had chosen flew off, Windseeker immediately went into her sleeping cave, wanting to distance herself from Lightspeaker as much as possible in her state.

Flopping onto her bed, she stared at the rock ceiling. It had been much harder for Lightspeaker to control her tempers lately, and that could be seen in almost every little thing she did. Windseeker had always hated Lightspeaker when she is so much irritable than usual. Luckily, Albus was the only one who could keep Lightspeaker's tempers in check, she hoped. She heard talonsteps by her entrance, and she sat up to see Evergreen standing by the doorway.

"Hey, you okay?" the green and brown leafwing asked gently.

"What do you think?" Windseeker snapped. "I hate to admit this, but I'm a bit... worried about Lightspeaker. She's been so... angry lately."

"Well, Lightspeaker has always been quite... difficult to deal with," Evergreen reluctantly agreed. "But I'm sure she'll mellow out one day. Like Blueberry!"

Windseeker growled. Evergreen might be her mate, but how could he not see the root problems behind Lightspeaker's anger? "That's not it! I think Blackdeath has been neglecting her. Refusing to let her help! All because she has anger issues. I hate hypocrisy!"

Evergreen gently laid his tail on hers. "Don't worry, Windseeker. I'll talk to Blackdeath about Lightspeaker and see if we can make her feel more valued and belonged." He wrapped his leaf-shaped wings around her. "We'll figure something out. I promise, my love."

Windseeker scoffed affectionately and hugged him back, hoping no one else was watching. "Of course. I trust you, you big sap."

Chapter Text

Windseeker's POV

The sun was almost at it's highest when Blackdeath's group returned. They had found Shrike at Queen Ruby's palace, who was, thankfully, alive and well. She had only taken a while because apparently, she was too 'caught up by Copper's rambunctiousness' and had forgotten to return to Death PACT's hideout by breakfast. Windseeker just rolled her eyes at Shrike's excuse. She has really fallen HARD for Copper then. she thought. Not that she was jealous or anything. Windseeker already had her own mate, Evergreen.

But that wasn't the only thing Blackdeath's group had to report. Apparently, they saw something 'really cool' when they were heading to the sky palace. "It was just this... cave. There were drawings on it, and it looked like someone had been living there!" said Fulgurite when asked to explain.

"And they probably still are," Windseeker added. "Look, if you're planning on going there again, please don't. It could've been someone's property you've trespassed on!"

"Great idea, Windseeker!" Beluga chimed in. "Let's go see it!"

Windseeker sighed. "Oh, great. I hate giving other dragons terrible ideas! But since you've got me interested, unfortunately, I guess I'll check it out too."

Evergreen stepped in. "If you're going, at least take Gecko with you. He's a rainwing, and he'll help you hide better."

"Yay! I love camouflaging!" Gecko cheered.

"So, can I show them now?" Fulgurite asked Blackdeath.

He nodded. "Sure, but be back soon! Don't take too long and worry us like Shrike did."

"Hey!" Windseeker heard Shrike retort.

"Lets just go already," said Windseeker as she, Fulgurite and Gecko left the hideout and took to the sky.

---

"I know you're there, Gecko, but I can't even see you," said Fulgurite.

Being a rainwing, Gecko had the colour shifting scales that could help him blend in. "Then go behind me. No one can see you then!" he advised.

It was quite hard for both Windseeker and Fulgurite to completely be hidden by the camouflaged rainwing, since Gecko wasn't that big, but Windseeker was naturally big like the average driftwing and Fulgurite was average sized. So they decided to hide by some of the bushes by the cave Fulgurite led them too. It wasn't far from Mortarwing territory, but hopefully they wouldn't mind if they saw them.

"This is it," whispered Fulgurite, pointing at the cave. "That's the cave we found."

As Windseeker peeked at the cave, she realised that he wasn't wrong when he said that someone had inhabited it. There were claw marks at the edges of the entrance, and there were the shapes of unfamiliar dragons inside. She couldn't make out what tribe they were, as the inside of the cave was still quite dark, even with the sun high in the sky. Suddenly, her ears perked up. Unlike Blackdeath, who wasn't known for his sense of hearing, Windseeker had a supreme sense of hearing, like all driftwings. She heard soft talonsteps on the grass that were heading straight towards them.

"Get down!" she urged quietly as she threw her wings over Gecko and Fulgurite and forcing them to crouch low.

Fulgurite and Gecko were crouched down behind the bushes while Windseeker peeked out carefully. Soon, she saw two dragons walking towards the cave. One of them was dark blue and the other was a vibrant yellow. But they didn't look like they were from any tribe Windseeker knew. Who are they?

The two unusual dragons paused outside the cave. "Where's Iris? Shouldn't she still be in there?" asked the bright yellow dragon.

"I'll go check," said the dark blue one. They entered in the cave before coming out again after a short period of time. "I'm afraid it's completely empty Dandelion," said the blue dragon. "I checked every corner."

"But how could she have gotten out?" said the dragon named Dandelion (X). "I thought we enchanted it to never break down."

There was a pause before the blue dragon let out a loud gasp that nearly made Windseeker jump out of her scales. "She had animus magic too! She could've used a spell against ours!"

Animus magic?! Windseeker knew there weren't much animus dragons left, not that she really took interest in it. The way animus magic worked was too confusing to her. She was also glad she didn't have some soul stealing magic in her own claws, like a normal dragon should be.

"Does Jade (Two) even know that Iris was trapped in there?" Dandelion wondered aloud.

The dark blue dragon shrugged. "I don't know, but the others are. We should gather them here by nightfall."

Dandelion grinned cheerfully. "Great idea Vortex! Let's go!"

Dandelion and Vortex (Four) then flew off and Windseeker slowly stood up, along with Fulgurite and Gecko, who had changed his scales back to their usual colour: purple with a hint of white. "What was that?" Fulgurite asked in a shaky voice once Windseeker deemed it was safe to talk normally.

Windseeker shrugged. "I don't know, but it seems like they're up to something."

"Those dragons looked weird," said Gecko bluntly. "They didn't look like any tribe we know of."

"You're right," Windseeker agreed. "We should report back to Evergreen and Blackdeath."

And with that, they took off to the sky again, unaware of what would come tonight. But little did they know about the pair of eyes that didn't belong to the two previous dragons were hidden in the trees and secretly followed them all the way back to Death PACT's hideout.

Chapter Text

Windseeker's POV

The first thing Windseeker felt was a talon poking her shoulder, trying to wake her up. She groaned and opened her eyes, blinking until she could clearly see Blackdeath standing over her.

"Wake up, we gonna go check out the strange dragons you saw, like you mentioned," he said.

Windseeker stood up and stretched. "Okay, but haven't we done enough exploring today?"

Blackdeath snorted. "You were the one who said we should check out those strange dragons by the cave in the first place!"

"Ugh, fine. I hate excessive exploring!"

Blackdeath said nothing as he and Windseeker woke up the rest of the Death PACT members. Most of them were very reluctant to go out exploring for the third time today, but Blackdeath seemed to have none of it.

"Do we have to bring everyone?" Blueberry questioned.

"Yes," said Evergreen, earning a groan from Gecko. "Strength in numbers."

Exploring all night did make some PACT members grouchy, WIndseeker noticed. Except for Beluga, Blackdeath and Nightshade of course. Because Blackdeath and Nightshade were nightwings and Beluga was just... Beluga. Perpetually happy, energetic, friendly, oblivious, and way too many adjectives for Windseeker to describe what Beluga was like, no matter what time of day, or in this case, night.

"Let's go, let's go," Windseeker urged impatiently. She hated waiting. Especially if that means Death PACT could miss their chance at seeing the strange dragons. Maybe more of them, if the dark blue dragon named Vortex (Four) was right about bringing the 'others' there. Whatever that meant.

---

Death PACT were walking through the forest, and Windseeker felt a creepy feeling slithering up her spine. Maybe it was paranoia? Creeped out, she instinctively walked closer to Evergreen until their wings were touching.

Noticing her, Evergreen asked softly, "You okay, Windseeker?"

"Y-yeah," Windseeker lied. "I just... do you have a feeling we're being watched? Because I hate that feeling. I hate it a lot."

Evergreen sighed. "I know. I don't really feel whatever you're feeling right now, but if you feel unsafe, just stick close to me, okay?"

Windseeker let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding and nodded. "Why is it so dark here?" whispered Gecko loud enough for only Death PACT to hear.

Windseeker rolled her eyes. "Uh, because it's nighttime? Duh. I hate dumb questions!"

"Oh come on, it's not that dark!" said Albus, who had a seawing's night vision. "Also, remind me why we set up our hideout so close to Mortarwing territory?"

"Oh, it's not that close. We're still in Skywing territory, aren't we?" said Nightshade.

"We set up our hideout at the Claws of the Clouds because the caves there are suitable hideouts," said Blackdeath.

"Alright," said Shrike, who hadn't spoken for the entire trip. "Good to know."

"We must be slow walkers then," said Blueberry unecessarily.

"Ugh, this walk is sooooo long," Gecko complained. "My legs are starting to hurt!"

"Oh boo hoo, you poor rainwing," Windseeker retorted. But she was also wondering. How long were they walking, and how far did they walk. Were they still heading the right way to their destination?

"Hey, be nice!" Beluga scolded lightheartedly, earning a huff from Windseeker.

"Yeah Windseeker, be nice," Fulgurite joined in as well.

"Can you all shut up?" Evergreen urged. "We're almost there!"

Everyone fell silent. Windseeker perked her ears up. They were, in fact, at their destination. She could hear unfamiliar voices overlapping each other. She recognised the voices of the two dragons from earlier, but the rest she didn't recognise. She stayed behind the group as she tried to make out what the unfamiliar dragons were saying. But before she could, she felt a talon on her shoulder and then another one clasping her mouth shut so she couldn't call out. Before she could have any time to react, she felt a sharp pain explode in her head before everything faded black.

Chapter Text

Windseeker's POV

When Windseeker finally woke up, she was in a dark cave, dimly lit by blue flamed torches and artificial glowing stars. She squinted and tried to stand up, but her talons and ankles were chained to the floor, as well as a metal muzzle around her snout, a chain around her neck and her were wings bound by shackles. In front of her, she saw metal bars with a keyhole on it. Though Windseeker had no idea where she was, she could already tell she was in a dungeon of sorts, though she had no idea where.

Windseeker thought she saw a shadow of a dragon pass by her door, and she stiffened, clenching her talons. Then the door creaked open, and a purplish-blue dragon that didn't look like any of the tribes Windseeker knew walked in and unchained her talons from the floor.

"You're finally awake!" the stranger said in a cheery voice. "Now it's time for the fun to really begin."

The dragon grabbed Windseeker's neck chain and dragged her along a tunnel that was also lit by blue flame torches an artificial glowing stars on the rock walls. Windseeker thought it would be beautiful if there weren't more chambers with other dragons in them. She didn't recognise any of them though. Soon, they both finally stopped in yet another cave which was much more spacey than Windseeker's own chamber and was stylised just like it too. The unfamiliar dragon sat down a feet away from Windseeker, who reluctantly sat down as well. The dragon flicked her talon, and the muzzle over Windseeker's mouth opened and fell on the floor in front of her with a clang.

"Alrighty, where to start?" the strange dragon giggled. "Deja vu!"

"I hate you!" WIndseeker burst out. "Who are you? Where am I?"

"Oh, chillax, I'm not gonna hurt you!" said the strange dragon. Now that Windseeker could see more clearly, she now saw that the purplish-blue dragon was wearing a dark blue cape patterned with golden stars and had a golden chain necklace with a four-pointed star-shaped sapphire. "I just have a deal for you."

"I don't even know who you are!" said Windseeker.

"Oh, apologies!" the dragon chuckled, though Windseeker could tell she didn't mean it at all. "The name's Iris, but I already know who you are, Windseeker."

Windseeker stammered. "Wh- bu- how do you know me?!" They had never met! Unless... "You were spying on me, weren't you?!"

Iris snickered again, grinning widely. "That's right! Moons, you are smart! Yes, I have been watching you and your friends. For a while now, actually."

"You stalker!" Windseeker yelled, standing up suddenly. "I hate being spied on!"

Iris fanned out her wings, which were patterned with lavender swirls, Windseeker noticed. "Calm down, Windseeker. I'll only be here with you for a short amount of time. But first, I have a deal for you."

Windseeker opened her mouth, before closing it again. She paused. A deal? This new dragon seemed shady, and her 'deal', whatever that was, would probably not be about anything good. Ugh, what am I thinking? Of course it'll involve something that's not good!

"A... deal?" she said hesitantly. "What is it?"

Iris curled her tail around her talons, her periwinkle blue eyes staring intensely at Windseeker. "You are aware of the dangers of animus magic like everyone else, right?" she asked, earning a nod from Windseeker. Iris continued, flexing her talons. "This magic is powerful stuff. Can do anything except bring a dragon back from the dead. But it can also eat away at your soul if you are too careless with it."

"We know," said Windseeker. "Everyone should know that."

"Of course, but that isn't the only danger, unsurprisingly," Iris grabbed a dagger with a gold handle from the rock shelf next to her and twisted it in her talons. "I have learned from... past experiences... that animus magic is hard to control when you get upset." she stabbed the dagger hard into a slab of wood next to her. The dagger pierced the wood with a harsh, grating sound, making Windseeker flinch. Iris flicked the tip of her tail, and that insignificant movement was able to make the dagger lift itself off from the wood, turn to Windseeker, and fly straight towards her. Before she could react, the dagger stabbed itself into Windseeker's right thigh, piercing through her thick driftwing scales, hard enough to bury itself in her leg to the dagger's own hilt.

Windseeker roared and collapsed on her side, clutching her injured thigh. Scarlet blood leaked out from where the dagger was stuck and was spilling onto the floor. The pain was so excruciating that she thought she was going to pass out. Iris stood up and walked towards Windseeker, standing over her. She then grabbed the dagger's handle and yanked it out so violently that blood spurted out from the injury the dagger had caused on Windseeker, and she gritted her teeth to stop crying out in pain. She covered the injury with her talons, trying to apply pressure to it to stop the bleeding.

"You idiot!" Windseeker roared at Iris. "What in the moons was that for?!"

Iris didn't look fazed at all. She simply smiled at Windseeker and said, "If you don't want me to do that to you again, just sign this little deal, and I promise I won't ever do that to you again."

Next to the blood stained dagger on the shelf, Iris pulled out a half rolled-out scroll that was mostly blank, except for a few lines with large spaces below each of them. Hesitantly, Windseeker dipped a claw in the inkwell and wrote her name over the top line shown, her injured hind leg still sitting awkwardly beside her. After Windseeker wrote her name, Iris flicked her tail at Windseeker's injury, and it began to magically heal, the thick scales knitting together until it was closed off. The pain was still there, but at least she wasn't bleeding anymore.

"See? That wasn't so hard, was it?" said Iris.

"Whatever! I did your deal, now send me back!" demanded Windseeker.

But Iris only smiled sinisterly before flicking her talon again, and in a flash, Windseeker found herself back in her cage, her wings still bound, but no longer chained to the floor. She sank her talons into the rock floor. That liar! I hate liars! But her anger began to die away when she finally began to wonder, Where am I? Does Death PACT know where I am?

How am I going to get out of here?

Chapter Text

Pinkstar's POV

"Uh, guys? Where's Windseeker?"

Pinkstar was the first one to notice that there was one fewer dragon amongst the group. All of Death PACT looked around frantically for any sign of the female driftwing. Lightspeaker groaned. "Oh, you've got to be kidding me. Now?"

"Wh- b- but she was just here!" Periwinkle cried.

Evergreen stood up immediately. "Everyone, search for Windseeker. Now!"

"But what about... them?" Shrike reminded, gesturing her wings to the circle of unfamiliar dragons.

Evergreen growled. Not with anger, or even frustration, Pinkstar noticed. But with worry and concern instead. "Forget about them! They're not our top priority! Windseeker is! Just split up and search for her. NOW!"

"You heard him!" Blackdeath urged. "Get searching!"

Pinkstar had never seen Evergreen, the usually calm leafwing leader, so agitated before. But then she had to remind herself that Windseeker was Evergreen's mate, and that they could have (or rather destined to have, according to Blackdeath) dragonets together one day. But only time would tell I guess- PINKSTAR FOCUS. She had no time to dwell on the thought of having a mate or a family or all that stuff. Right now, Windseeker was missing, and she could be anywhere.

As all of Death PACT split up and either took to the air or walked or ran in different directions, she spread her wings and took to the air, heading back to Death PACT's hideout, but then she paused, looking at the twin peaks of Jade Mountain, peeking by one of the three moons that was almost full. Could Windseeker be in Jade Mountain? Pinkstar shook her head. No, there was no way Windseeker could be fast enough to fly to Jade Mountain when they had all just noticed her going missing? Especially since Driftwings weren't very fast in the air.

Where even was Windseeker? Pinkstar had no idea where to start looking. Maybe in the Driftwing kingdom next to the Kingdom of the Sea? No. Windseeker had said once that she'd never go back there unless she really, really had to because of 'private reasons', whatever that was supposed to mean. Pinkstar sighed. She really wanted to go back to the hideout and sleep right now, but Evergreen would rip her to shreds if he found out Pinkstar hadn't even tried to search for his mate. If only Blackdeath didn't force everyone to go out in the first place. Pinkstar wasn't sure if she was supposed to blame anyone yet, but there was one thing she knew for sure.

This is going to be a looooong night.

---

By the time Pinkstar gave up on searching for Windseeker (which she didn't find her at all, which wasn't really a surprise), the sun was just about to rise, the first rays of sunlight just peeking out over the horizon. Blackdeath had said that he'd send out a signal if he had found Windseeker or if it was time to stop searching, even if you haven't found Windseeker yet. Pinkstar saw a campfire in the forest from the distance and flew towards it. When she had arrived, all of Death PACT were there except for Beluga, who was probably still out there searching.

"Any sign of her?" Fulgurite asked. Pinkstar shook her head in response, earning a groan from him.

Pinkstar also saw Evergreen who was lying down on the grass, his head bowed down. Pinkstar wanted to do something to comfort him, but he looked so stressed and upset that she wasn't sure if it was a good idea to bother him. She heard wingbeats and turned around to see Beluga flying back to them.

"Found anything?" Pinkstar asked.

"No," said Beluga worriedly, for even she took this situation seriously. "She could be anywhere! What if she gets hurt?"

"Calm down Beluga," Periwinke tried to reassure. "I'm sure Windseeker's fine. She's one of our toughest members, she can handle anything! Right Evergreen?"

Evergreen didn't even answer. He just stared into space, his chin on his talons. Blackdeath wrapped a wing around him. "Hey, we'll get through this. Windseeker can't be dead. We just haven't found her yet."

Evergreen just sighed. "I really hope you're right. But we should continue the search tomorrow."

Pinkstar heard Lightspeaker mutter, "Great, more searching to waste time."

She considered Lightspeaker lucky that Blackdeath didn't hear that. He didn't have a very good sense of hearing at all. Pinkstar felt weariness weigh down her wings, and she could tell that she wasn't the only one. Even Beluga looked a bit worn out from searching all night, but she was definitely more wide awake than Albus, who kept yawning and leaning against Lightspeaker. Gecko was already asleep, curled up next to Blueberry, who was surprisingly still awake, but was looking at Evergreen expectantly. Perhaps noticing the mood, Nightshade asked Blackdeath and Evergreen, "Are we going to stay here for the night, or are gonna go back?"

Evergreen looked up. "Is everyone even fit to fly back to our hideout?"

"Oh, I dunno man," yawned Albus. "I feel like I could fall asleep on my feet!"

"Oh, three moons, our hideout's not even far from here!" Shrike protested.

"I think I could make it!" said Beluga.

"Me too," agreed Pinkstar.

"Not me," said Blueberry. "If we rest here, we could have a better chance of finding Windseeker, and we're all tired from searching all night."

All of Death PACT agreed, so Evergreen sighed and said, "Very well, we'll rest here and continue searching in the morning."

Shrike rolled her eyes. "Oh, great! Now I'll never get any sleep! Albus snores like a moons-blasted hippo."

Lightspeaker flicked her tail. "Just learn to cope with it, Shrike. It's not like we have a choice here."

"Well, Blackdeath should have no problem with Albus." Pinkstar joked. "He isn't known for his sense of hearing after all!"

"I'll keep watch," Blackdeath volunteered, clearly haven't heard Pinkstar.

As all of Death PACT settled down to sleep, Pinkstar decided to lay down next to Periwinkle. Not right next to her, but just near enough so she could hear her. "Hey, Periwinkle. You think we should go early tomorrow?"

"What? Why?" Periwinkle whispered.

"We could go to Jade Mountain and see if Windseeker's there! I didn't get the chance to do it tonight, so maybe tomorrow!"

"But can't you just do it yourself?"

"No, because Jade Mountain Academy might think I'm signing up for their school if I go alone! It's better to explore there with a friend."

Periwinkle sighed. "Very well, I'll do it."

Pinkstar smiled. "Thanks, Periwinkle."

So Pinkstar settled down on the soft grass, already hearing the droning snores of Albus, and closed her eyes, sinking into a peaceful sleep. But little did the Death PACTers know about the pair of eyes stalking them by the trees.

Chapter Text

Windseeker’s POV

Windseeker had kind of lost track of the time in her cell, and it didn't help that there were no windows. She hated not being able to know what time of time of day it is. From the bars of her cell, she could see Iris imprisoning more and more dragons, always sending them out of their cells and then back. As usual, Windseeker saw Iris dragging another chained and muzzled dragon to her own cave. The new captive dragon appeared to be an orange skywing, but they had black star-speckled wings and black stripes all over their body. After the two dragons disappeared from sight, Windseeker could only just hear their voices.

"Well well well, if it isn't Tiger Eye!" said Iris' voice. "I've heard all about you."

"Wh- b- what do you mean?" stammered Tiger Eye (Basketball). "I don't even know you!"

"But I know you!" said Iris. "You sure aren't a fan of things not going your way, huh?"

There was a brief pause.

"Unfortunately," Iris continues. "I think that's something we have in common."

Before Windseeker could listen to more of Iris' and Tiger Eye's conversation, she heard something that sounded like a sizzle behind her. She whirled around and saw a reddish-orange spark at the back wall. Windseeker backed away against the bars slowly, for fear of combustion. But instead, the spark grew larger, until what seemed like a hole peeked through the wall. It grew until it became large enough for a dragonet to squeeze through, but not big enough for Windseeker. Especially since she was a driftwing, who normally had large body frames. But just before Windseeker could poke her talon carefully through the scorched hole, a pink silkwing head popped out of it, and she immediately recognised who it was.

"Pinkstar?" Windseeker almost yelled, before immediately closing her mouth so as not to get Iris' attention. "What in the moons are you doing here?"

"Rescuing you!" said another voice that Windseeker knew belonged to Periwinkle, another female silkwing. Periwinkle stuck one of her light purplish-blue talons out of the remaining space in the hole to let Windseeker know that she is here too.

"You two can't be here!" Windseeker urged. "It's not safe! If Iris finds out-"

"Don't worry!" interrupted Pinkstar. "We'll find a way to get you out, I promise!"

"What's happening here?" Windseeker stiffened, hearing Iris' voice from outside. She slowly turned around to see her glowering at her through the bars. Before Windseeker could retort that she hates been glared at through a jail cell, Iris said, "Think you can just spy on me, huh?" Windseeker realised that she wasn't talking to her, but to Pinkstar and Periwinkle. Iris then suddenly teleported to inside Windseeker's cell and reached out to grab Pinkstar by the neck. The flamesilk (yes, my oc's a flamesilk) immediately got away from the hole and escaped Iris' grasp just in time, but Periwinkle wasn't so lucky. Iris grabbed Periwinkle's wrist and managed to yank her out of the hole with superdragon strength, making the hole collapse and become even bigger.

Windseeker saw the opportunity to escape through the hole and tried to it, but then she felt her feet lift off the ground and she couldn't move. She looked back and saw that Iris was using her magic in one talon to stop Windseeker from escaping and her other talon was still gripping Periwinkle's wrist. She then exited the now broken cell and tossed Periwinkle and Windseeker into the cell next door.

"I hate you!" Windseeker roared as she was thrust to the floor by Iris. At the same time, Periwinkle yelled, "Let us go! Please!"

Iris giggled. Oh, how Windseeker hated it. "No, I don't think so. In fact, I've got a deal for you..."

Iris grabbed Periwinkle by the ear and yanked her out of the cell again. Windseeker tried to leap at Iris, but she closed the door on her face, making Windseeker collapse to the floor again, rubbing her snout. She could hear Periwinkle's yelling and protests of pain in the corridor, and it eventually faded away as she and Iris walked farther from her cell. Windseeker sighed. Well this is just great.

Now both Windseeker and Periwinkle were held hostage by Iris, and who knows what Iris was planning to do to Periwinkle. Who knows what Iris is even up to in general? Whatever it was, Windseeker knew that it couldn't possibly be good.

Chapter Text

Windseeker's POV

Periwinkle seemed dazed by the time Iris sent her back to Windseeker's cell. She collapsed in the corner behind Windseeker with her four pale purple wings flopped out beside her, and so Windseeker decided to move closer towards her. There was something about Periwinkle that Windseeker couldn't describe but could still read like an open book; she's upset, or overwhelmed, or both. "Hey," Windseeker asked. "You okay?"

There was a brief pause, the only sound being Periwinkle's uneven breathing.

Finally, Periwinkle mumbled, "Mmph, I'm fine. Just tired,"

Windseeker narrowed her eyes, not giving up just yet. "Really. You think I can't tell when something troubling is on your mind? I hate it when dragons hide their worries from me. Especially if they're my fellow Death PACT members."

There was another pause, this time more significant. Periwinkle sighed. "Please Windseeker, I don't feel up for talking right now. I'm tired and my leg hurts."

Windseeker noticed that there was a white cloth wrapped around Periwinkle's thigh and she could also see the blood that was being absorbed by the cloth. This was Iris' doing. She injured Periwinkle, just like she injured me. But at least Iris had been kind enough to try and stop the bleeding. Though not in a more efficient way like how she used her magic to heal Windseeker's wound. "What did Iris tell you?" Windseeker tried again, yet she didn't didn't get an answer from the unusually silent Periwinkle. So Windseeker stifled a sigh, eventually giving up.

Suddenly, there was a loud crash and clatter from outside. Windseeker immediately stood up and peeked through the bars. She couldn't see what was happening outside, but she could hear voices. With a jolt, she immediately recognised the voice of Lightspeaker alongside Iris'.

"Lightspeaker???" said Periwinkle in astonishment. "What is she doing here?"

Before Windseeker could find a good answer to that, she heard Lightspeaker roaring, "Who are you!? Let me go or I'll rip you to shreds!"

Soon, the ruckus became louder as Iris and Lightspeaker began walking through the corridor of cells, and soon enough, Windseeker and Periwinkle witnessed an animus magic bound Lightspeaker getting dragged by Iris by the tail. Lightspeaker's mouth was wrapped shut and her wings were bound by vines, and her talons were tied together. Windseeker had never seen such a cruel sight.

First herself, then Periwinkle and now, Lightspeaker. There really wasn't a good few days for Death PACT wasn't there. All of Death PACT must be worried, but especially Evergreen. As much as hated to admit it, she missed him. She missed him so much. If Evergreen were here, it would make things just a bit more bearable. But she guessed that at least Periwinkle being with her was better than being completely alone.

Chapter Text

Windseeker's POV

Windseeker and Periwinkle stayed in the same cell for what felt like hours, and Iris still hadn't finished capturing innocent dragons. The next dragons she captured were a sandwing and another hybrid; an unusually silver-coloured skywing with icewing spikes and horns. Periwinkle's wound on her thigh has completely healed over, but according to her, it still hurt, like phantom pain. Windseeker still remembered having that, though it didn't last long. But why was it still painful, even when it stopped bleeding? Was she just being paranoid?

Windseeker was pacing around in the cell, thinking about what Iris was up to, stabbing everyone like that and then just... healing them, but leaving the pain there. Maybe she just wanted to leave a mark so nobody would forget her? Windseeker sighed, shaking her head. She shouldn't think about that now. What mattered is how they were going to get out of here.

"Windseeker," said Periwinkle in an unusually monotone but gloomy voice. "Can you please stop pacing...?"

"R-right, sorry," Windseeker immediately apologised before sitting down. "I hate doing things that are out of my own control."

Windseeker looked over at Periwinkle sitting on the rock ledge and noticed that she had been acting a lot more... distant ever since she did a supposed deal with Iris. Her pale purple-blue eyes often stared into space, and she barely stood up. Her four wings were folded next to her, and her tail flopped off the ledge she was lying down on.

Windseeker sighed. "Look Periwinkle, we will get out of this... whatever this is. You might not have escaped, but Pinkstar has. Surely she would've gotten help."

Periwinkle remained silent.

Before Windseeker could say anything else, there were loud crashes and clattering and multiple voices at once. Periwinkle lifted her head, but still didn't get up. Windseeker ran to the bars and peeked through them, trying to see and hear what in Pyrrhia was going on outside. She recognised some of the voices, but there were others she had never heard before.

"Get out of our way you monster!" yelled Fulgurite, followed by a loud crash as if something was thrown.

"Don't make us kill you!" said Blackdeath.

"Oh ho ho!" cackled Iris. "Bluewing, you're siding against me now?"

"Yes," said an unfamiliar voice which Windseeker assumed belonged to a dragon named Bluewing (Six). "I always knew you were a danger to everyone. Not just us."

"What I did was an accident," Iris snarled suddenly. "But this is on purpose."

There was a clang of metal, and then a thud followed by a roar from Iris and then talonsteps heading towards the dungeons Windseeker and Periwinkle were in. "Bluewing! Do you know where her prisoners are kept?" Evergreen asked.

"They're this way!" said Bluewing. The talonsteps grew louder until Windseeker and Periwinkle saw Evergreen with another dragon that didn't match any of the tribes, like Iris. But this time, they had a more curved tail, and had blue scales the colour of a cloudless sky. The blue dragon got a pair of keys out from a niche next to the bars, and unlocked the door. The door creaked open, and Windseeker and Periwinkle immediately bolted out of it, heading for the exit.

"Wait!" Evergreen shouted, making them both pause. "There are other dragons trapped in those cells. We can't just leave them here!"

There was a brief pause before the blue dragon agreed. "You're right, leafwing. Come on, lets free them!"

One by one, the four dragons unlocked all the cages. A tempestwing, a sandwing, a leafwing and the hybrids; Tiger Eye (Basketball) the Skywing/Nightwing, Bristle (Needle) the Skywing/Icewing and Amber (Bell) the Skywing/Sandwing. As they unlocked all the cages, Windseeker asked Evergreen, "Where's the rest of Death PACT?"

"I told them to guard Iris and keep her pinned down until we managed to free you, Periwinkle and Lightspeaker," Evergreen had said.

Soon, when all the prisoners were freed, all of Death PACT bolted to the exit just as Iris was free. As they all flew away from Jade Mountain and in the sunset sky, they could all hear Iris roaring in outrage. "This isn't over! I'll get you for this! All of you! YOU HEAR ME!?"

Windseeker was panting with adrenaline as they all flew in the sunset. One of the imprisoned hyrbids, Tiger Eye, caught up to Evergreen, who was in front of Windseeker. "Hey, thanks for setting all of us free," thanked Tiger Eye.

Evergreen shrugged and smiled back. "Oh, it's no big deal at all. We help others who need it."

"Brother!" said a voice behind Windseeker. Soon another leafwing who looked quite similar to Evergreen caught up to him, and Windseeker immediately knew who that was. It was Lemon Leaf or Leafy for short. She was Evergreen's sister. Windseeker wondered how she could've gotten caught by Iris.

"Leafy!" Evergreen greeted. "Are you okay?"

Leafy nodded. "Oh, I'm fine. I managed to piss Iris off back there while you were all freeing the prisoners! You should've seen her face!" she began laughing so hard she nearly fell out of the sky before Evergreen caught her.

"Oh man," Windseeker chuckled. "I wish I could've seen that."

As Evergreen and Leafy continued to chat to each other midair, she looked back at Periwinkle, who looked much better than before, but she still wanted to check in on her. "You better now?"

Periwinkle blinked, then nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine now. Much better now that we're both free."

Suddenly, Bluewing paused. "Wait, where's your lightwing friend?"

Soon, everyone stopped in midair, and Windseeker slowly realised that the pale blue lightwing wasn't with them. "Oh great," Windseeker groaned. "Out of all the dragons we could've missed, why Lightspeaker?"

"Should we go back?" said Fallow, the female sandwing who had been imprisoned in Iris' dungeon.

There was a pause as everyone in the air looked expectantly at Evergreen and Blackdeath. Eventually, Blackdeath sighed. "We'll have to go after her later at night, when Iris might be asleep. We-"

"WHAT?!" Albus roared so loudly that almost everyone fell out of the sky in shock. "We can't just wait for her! We have to go after her now!"

Albus whirled around and tried to fly back to Jade Mountain, but Windseeker intervened and tackled him in midair until they fell into the edge of the rainforest. The formerly imprisoned dragons helped Windseeker contain the frantic Albus. Windseeker practically sat on Albus' back, pinning his head and body down. Amber sat on his tail while holding down his back legs, Leafy pinned down Albus' right wing while Discharge (Bomby) the formerly imprisoned grey tempestwing pinned down Albus' other wing. Fallow grabbed Albus' front talons and pinned them down too.

The rest of Death PACT and the other freed prisoners caught up to them. Evergreen looked over Albus, an understanding yet disappointing look on his face. "You should know better than to talk back to me or Blackdeath. You can't go out now. Not when we just made Iris mad."

Blackdeath gestured the prisoners to let Albus go and Evergreen opened his leaf shaped wings again and took to the air, the rest of Death PACT following him. Windseeker couldn't help but notice Albus looking back longingly at Jade Mountain. Don't worry Albus, Windseeker reassured silently. We will get Lightspeaker back soon. I promise.

Chapter Text

Windseeker's POV

By the time Death PACT and the freed prisoners had arrived back to their hideout, Windseeker noticed that there were already nine dragons there. But she wasn't familiar with any of them, nor did any of them look like the tribes she was familiar with. Much like Iris and Bluewing, but a lot of them had varied coloured scales. "There's more of them?" she said incredulously once they all landed. Windseeker couldn't help but notice that Albus still looked worried.

Evergreen nodded, his brown eyes twinkling. "They helped us rescue you after Pinkstar said that you and Periwinkle were at Jade Mountain."

One of the tribeless dragons, the small yellow one that Windseeker recognised from earlier when she first found them along with Gecko and Fulgurite, bounded over to Evergreen and hugged his legs. The yellow one was only half the size of Evergreen, Windseeker noticed. "You're back!" they cheered. "Did you rescue them?"

Evergreen grinned at the yellow dragon. "Yes we did, Dandelion (X)," he flicked his tail to Periwinkle and Windseeker. "This is Periwinkle and this is my... mate, Windseeker."

Windseeker couldn't help but feel herself blush at being introduced to someone unfamiliar as Evergreen's mate. Suddenly, a pale grey, almost white tribeless dragon wearing a golden chain necklace burst into the main room. "Oooooo, the mighty co-leader's got a girlfrienddddd!"

"Oh, shut up Silvertail (Nine)," said another tribeless dragon, who was dark-mauve and was lounging on a couch not to far from the entrance. "You're just jealous that you don't have a mate of your own."

"Oh yeah? Well, you don't either, Heliotrope (Five)!" said yet another tribeless dragon who was coal black and glaring at Heliotrope.

"Geez Ebony (Seven), that's a bit harsh don't you think?" Bluewing interjected.

Soon, the entire main room (which was a bit crowded with both the tribeless dragons and the freed prisoners and almost all the Death PACT members in it) was filled with chatter as the nine tribeless dragons shared banter. The freed prisoners and some of the Death PACT members, such as Beluga, Albus, Shrike, Gecko, Pinkstar, Periwinkle and Nightshade, joined in too, but the rest just stayed in the background, watching them. Blueberry just went into her room, unbothered as ever.

Windseeker just stared at them in bewilderment and Periwinkle asked Blackdeath, "Are they always like this?"

Blackdeath just shrugged. "Pretty much. But they still look after each other."

Evergreen joined in. "A bit like us, don't you think?" he said, grinning.

Before anyone could answer, Fulgurite joined in the conversation. "So, just to clarify, how long are these dragons gonna stay here?"

There was a pause between the small group before Evergreen finally answered, "For as long as we need them to stay. If Vortex (Four) is right about Iris still capturing innocent dragons and making deals with them to brainwash them, then our job isn't done yet. Plus, Lightspeaker's still with her, so we need to take care of that too."

Though loud chatter continued to fill the main room, Windseeker's keen ears still managed to hear a scraping noise by the entrance. There, she saw a rock slate that had something carved on it. Perhaps noticing it too, Fulgurite asked, "What is it, Windseeker?"

"I found something!" she said. Soon, the chatter died down as everyone in the room began to crowd around Windseeker to read the stone letter. She began to feel claustrophobic like sandwings would if they were in tight spaces. Luckily, Evergreen fanned out his wings to make sure they weren't suffocating Windseeker. "Yeah, let me breathe!" Windseeker agreed irritably. "I hate being squashed!"

"Sowwy!" Gecko apologised innocently.

Windseeker read the letter aloud, and everyone was quite startled and confused at what it said:

---

Congratulations!

You have been invited to a special event at Jade Mountain Academy! Gather everyone you can, for this is the biggest event JMA has ever hosted yet! Gather at the Great Hall by nightfall.

Signed, the teachers of Jade Mountain Academy

---

Chapter Text

Windseeker's POV

The entire crowd behind Windseeker looked at the letter, confused into silence.

"A special event?" questioned Pinkstar. "At Jade Mountain? Now?"

"That seems suspicious..." said Nightshade.

Windseeker glared at her. "You think?"

"Wh- b- where did you even get that?" Blackdeath stammered.

Windseeker opened her mouth but hesitated. It was just... there. "I-I don't know! It was just... there!"

"That's not helpful!" growled Vortex before snatching the letter off Windseeker. "Gimme that!"

Vortex's eyes read over every single word in the letter, his lips curling back in a snarl. Dandelion bounded over to his side, peeking over their shoulder. "Well, what does it say, Vortex?"

Vortex slammed the letter down on a nearby wooden table, almost squishing Pyro's (Ten) tail. "Hey! Watch it!" Pyro snapped, glaring at Vortex. But Vortex just ignored him and whirled around to glare at all of Death PACT. "This is in IRIS' HANDWRITING you DUM DUMS!" he roared. "HOW CAN YOU BE FOOLED SO EASILY?!"

Fulgurite bristled beside Windseeker. "We've never seen Iris' handwriting before! How could you expect us to know?!"

A green tribeless dragon named Jade (Two) gently elbowed Vortex aside. "Well now they do. And besides, the letter says to come by nightfall, and it's still midday! We've got plenty of time!"

Fallow (Barf Bag), one of the freed prisoners, shook her head vigorously. "Nuh uh. I'm not going back to Jade Mountain."

"Yeah!" Amber (Bell) agreed wholeheartedly. "You can all go to that special event or whatever, but we're not coming. Not after... all that."

"What if this special event is a trap?" said Ashclaw (Eight) in his usual raspy voice. "After all, it's not like Iris to host something 'special' when someone just made her mad."

Leafy gave a little smug smile and elbowed Evergreen, but he just gave her a sideways glare. Ragebaiter, Windseeker thought quietly at Leafy.

"Of course it's a trap!" Bristle (Needle) agreed.

"But what about Lightspeaker?" asked Albus, who had not spoken since they had arrived back at the hideout.

"Oh, I'm sure we'll find a way to rescue her once we make it there," said Blueberry nonchalantly, who had emerged back from her room.

If she's even still alive... Windseeker thought, before trying to stamp that thought down. Don't say that to them. Especially Albus, of all dragons, or he'll rip you to shreds. I'd hate that. Windseeker considered herself lucky that Albus wasn't a mind-reading nightwing.

"Aww," Beluga whined. "But I wanna go now! This event sounds like fun!"

Everyone in the room groaned in exasperation, but Gecko agreed. "We can both have fun and rescue Lightspeaker! Right Death PACT?"

None of Death PACT said anything. Evergreen opened his mouth to say something, but Bluewing interjected. "I could come with you!" Everyone turned around to face them. "I mean, if you plan to free Lightspeaker of course. Iris usually keeps her prisoners in the dungeons, but-"

"Great! Then it's settled!" said Evergreen before Bluewing could continue. "All of Death PACT will go to Jade Mountain to check out what this 'special event' is by nightfall, while the rest of you can stay here."

"Wait!" Jade interjected. "I wanna go!"

Vortex, Dandelion and Bluewing joined in as well. "Me too!" "Me three!" "Me four!"

Blackdeath nodded. "Alright, you three can come as well."

"Now all we can do is wait 'till nightfall," said Evergreen.

Chapter Text

Periwinkle's POV

Periwinkle sat down on the ledge as she stared at Jade Mountain, it's twin peaks shining against the backdrop of the setting sun. It was nearly time to head to this so called 'special event' at Jade Mountain Academy, and Periwinkle wasn't sure what the feeling at the bottom of her stomach was. She wasn't sure if she had the courage to go back to Jade Mountain again, especially considering what Iris did to her. Whispering threats in her ear, stabbing her in the leg; just thinking about that again was enough to make Periwinkle feel sick to the stomach.

She heard talonsteps behind her and looked back to find Jade taking a seat beside her. "Hey, Periwinkle!" they greeted cheerfully. "Wanna chat?"

Periwinkle shrugged. "Sure. I've got all the time in the world." She hoped she would. She couldn't help but worry that tonight would be her last night.

"I don't want to stress you out Periwinkle, but I'm having a feeling that Iris may be up to something more sinister behind those deals."

"Don't we all?" Periwinkle agreed. "There was no way she could've stabbed me in the leg and then healed it for no reason! There must be some kind of enchantment behind this."

"Well, Iris is an animus," said Jade. "And she is quite a smart one. I doubt she would just expect us to turn up there, or maybe she's just hoping."

"Well, we're heading there soon anyway. So Iris should be lucky," Periwinkle sighed. "Yay."

"Hey, I know you're still upset about Iris and all of that," reassured Jade. "But just so you know, me and the rest of your friends are here for you if you need anything, okay? We're gonna figure this out together."

There was a brief pause before Periwinkle sighed. "I really hope you're right, Jade. With Lightspeaker still in captivity by Iris, we still have a lot to figure out about her and her deeds."

"Well, like I said, we'll work this out together. Isn't that why Death PACT is so functional?"

Periwinkle paused. Did Death PACT really seem 'functional' to them? After all, Periwinkle noticed Blackdeath seemed to be neglecting Lightspeaker before she went missing.

Before Periwinkle could answer Jade, Nightshade appeared by the opening with a red hibiscus flower tucked behind her ear and golden rings on each of her left talons. "Pack up you two. We're getting ready."

Periwinkle sat up and stretched, and Jade did too. She looked at them, "Are you sure you want to come?"

Jade nodded with determination. "Of course. You Death PACTers are not sorting this out alone."

Nightshade chuckled. "Sounds like someone's determined. Alright, let's go. Can't be late!"

The three entered the main room, where the Death PACTers were getting ready, all wearing jewellery. "Where's the freed prisoners and the rest of the tribeless?" Periwinkle asked, noticing how the room was more emptier than it was before.

"They're all in the guest rooms," said Evergreen, who was wearing a chain of golden leaves around his neck for the event.

As Periwinkle, in a rush, grabbed an opal necklace from the jewellery box (used for special events like this one) and put it around her neck, Blackdeath said, "They better be good when we're gone. Come on, come on. Let's go!"

As the Death PACT members took to the air and flew south with Jade, Vortex, Dandelion and Bluewing, Periwinkle felt even more worried than ever. Something about this event was going to be more... memorable than it seemed.

Chapter Text

Windseeker's POV

The three moons had just risen by the time Death PACT and the three tribeless dragons had arrived at Jade Mountain. They were outside the entrance cave and even the outside was already packed with dragons. The majority of them were bejewelled and were chatting to each other. Windseeker also saw Fatespeaker outside the entrance, greeting guests and inviting them in.

"Death PACTers, stick close to us," ordered Blackdeath. "You can spread out to find Lightspeaker once we enter, but make sure we know where to meet up after."

All of Death PACT nodded. "Three moons, there's a lot of dragons here!" said Gecko.

"You don't say?" Bluewing agreed.

Once Evergreen and Blackdeath greeted Fatespeaker and she let them enter, all the Death PACTers (except for Albus, Jade, Vortex, Dandelion and Bluewing, who agreed that they would go searching for Lightspeaker in secret) entered the Great Hall, and Windseeker was absolutely stunned by the splendor of it all.

"Whoa," Shrike breathed, equally in awe.

The Great Hall was enormous, large enough to fit more than a thousand dragons, with even more room above to fly overhead. Stalactites bloomed from the floors and the ceilings and some met to make twisted pillars. A large, shiny bronze gong was behind the stone stage, with three dragon shapes carved into it. There were dragons of different tribes in every single corner, their chatter filling the cave, and there were tables full of every food a dragon could imagine. Basically a buffet on every table. (I was hungry when I wrote that part - Pinkstar) Lanterns hanging from the ceiling were shining green, blue and yellow light, lighting up all of the Great Hall. There was a large green banner hanging from one of the stalactites on the ceiling, spelling out 'Jade Mountain Academy 5th Anniversary'.

Beluga was practically bouncing on her talons, her ice blue eyes shining and her diamond studded silver armbands glittering in the light. "Yippee! I told you guys this is going to be a fun night!"

Windseeker sighed and rolled her eyes. "I hate crowded parties! But I guess we can loosen up a bit after everything that's happened," she tried to say over the chatter.

Beluga had already bounded off to one of the buffet tables and Fulgurite, who was wearing his yellow lightning bolt shaped earrings in his ears, declared, "I'm gonna get one of those roasted bison pieces before they run out."

And with that, Fulgurite darted away in the crowd and toward the buffet tables. Shrike, as well, bounded off into the crowd, muttering something about seeing her mate, Copper here, as he had also supposedly been invited. Sighing, Windseeker weaved and ducked as she made her way through the crowd. She had a peek at all the jewellery most of the party members were wearing, and realised that she was the only member of Death PACT who wasn't wearing any jewellery at all. Not that she cared. She hated jewellery. She thought they would look ridiculous on her and would feel uncomfortable to wear.

Soon, she found Evergreen beside one of the buffet tables, holding a drink in one talon (hand? idek) and chatting to Blackdeath, who seemed even more intimidating with his wings draped in golden chains and a thick golden necklace studded with onyxes. Windseeker didn't even know how he could even fly with those chains. As Windseeker made her way, Evergreen's eyes caught Windseeker's, and he smiled warmly at her. "Ah, Windseeker! Enjoying the party, are you?"

Windseeker nodded. "Yeah, but you two haven't forgotten about Iris and Lightspeaker, have you?"

Evergreen's smile faded as he became serious again. "No, we haven't. I assume Albus and the other tribeless have gone looking for them, right?"

Windseeker nodded again and Blackdeath sighed with relief. "That's good. Hopefully they find her soon."

"Yeah, me too."

Pinkstar walked over to the buffet table Blackdeath, Evergreen and Windseeker were at with a young mudwing. "Hey guys!" Pinkstar greeted cheerfully, her ruby bracelets glittering in the light of the lanterns. "You all having fun?"

She got responses of "Yeah," "Yes, we are," and "Of course!" from Windseeker, Blackdeath and Evergreen respectively. Pinkstar grinned and introduced her mudwing friend. "This is Chestnut (Cake). He's my friend and one of the students at Jade Mountain Academy."

Windseeker couldn't be entirely certain, but from the way Pinkstar was looking at Chestnut, she could tell that Chestnut was more than just 'her friend'. (Yes I ship oc x canon don't judge) Chestnut had chocolate brown scales and had a salmon pink ribbon wrapped around one of his horns. "H-hello," Chestnut greeted. "Pinkstar told me about you guys. It's great to meet all of you in person!"

"I'm honoured to meet you too," said Evergreen.

Out of the corner of Windseeker's eye, she thought she saw something pale blue out of the corner of her eye. She looked to the right and saw a familiar pale blue lightwing...

Lightspeaker?

"Hold on," Windseeker said. "I'll be right back."

"Wait, Windseeker-" Windseeker didn't hear the rest as she made her way through the crowd toward Lightspeaker, who was now about to climb up onto the stage. Before she could reach Lightspeaker, she bumped into another dragon who was a hybrid. "Gah! Sorry, sorry!" the hybrid apologised, and Windseeker immediately recognised him as Albus.

"Albus! Help me, will ya?" Windseeker demanded. "I hate bumping into dragons by accident!"

"Sorry!" Albus apologised again. "We found Lightspeaker, but she keeps running away from me!"

"I can tell," said Windseeker bluntly. "Come on, let's go after her."

Chasing Lightspeaker through a crowd was like chasing a runaway piece of prey through a labyrinth. Soon, one by one, the rest of Death PACT noticed Lightspeaker as well and began to follow her as well. Soon enough, they cornered her in a more isolated area in the crowded Great Hall, but Windseeker saw anger and hostility in Lightspeaker's eyes instead of relief at being found and (supposedly) rescued from Iris.

"L-Lightspeaker!" Albus shouted, reaching out to wrap his wings around her. "There you are! We were so worried!"

But before Albus could hug her, Lightspeaker flinched away, baring her teeth. "Don't touch me!"

Albus backed away, a mix of hurt and confusion on his face. Blackdeath took a step forward, looking at Lightspeaker. "What did Iris do to you? Tell the truth."

To Windseeker's astonishment, Lightspeaker's mouth quirked into a wide, almost manic smile. "When I got captured by Iris, she offered me both animus magic and a place where I truely feel valued and cared for," She let out a bitter, mocking laugh. "What was I going to do, say no to her offer?"

"That, for one, would've been a good choice to make," said Blueberry.

"Agreed," Nightshade chimed in. "According to the tribeless, you shouldn't trust Iris when it comes to power."

Lightspeaker snorted incredulously. "You don't know that. At least she values me, not like some dragons." She glared at Blackdeath, who looked like he wanted to sink into the floor. Lightspeaker gave a small grin of triumph at Blackdeath's embarrassment.

Windseeker could feel some of the dragons from the crowd looking at Death PACT and Lightspeaker with curiosity, but that was the least of her worries. "But why, Lightspeaker?" Pinkstar asked. "I get you wanted to belong somewhere, but animus magic? We all know what happens to your souls if you use your magic too much!"

Lightspeaker turned and glared at Pinkstar, taking a threatening step towards her. "You can't say anything, Pink. You already lost your own soul by hating on your mother too much."

Pinkstar opened her mouth to retort, but then she flinched as if she was struck and looked down in shame. Shrike gave Pinkstar a sympathetic look and Chestnut wrapped a comforting wing around her. Pinkstar had an abusive mother and an absent father when she was only just a dragonet. She grew up hating her mother more than her father, and vowed to never forgive her. Though Windseeker knew all too well what it was like to hate something or someone with a burning passion, even the amount of hatred Pinkstar had for her own mother was too much for Windseeker to comprehend.

Windseeker thought she saw something purplish-blue walk up the stage and with a jolt, she realised that Iris was here. Iris??? What in Pyrrhia is she doing here, at Jade Mountain Academy? And why now, of all times? How come I haven't seen her here before?

Because she doesn't want to have her surprises spoiled by her former prisoners like me, she realised.

As Iris scrambled onto the stage, she grabbed the banging stick (WHAT IS IT EVEN CALLED I FORGOT) and banged on the gong three times. BONG! BONG! BONG! The sound was so loud that Windseeker had to cover her sensitive ears, and the rest of Death PACT covered their ears as well. When the gongs sounded, all dragons in the Great Hall looked up at Iris, their faces a mix of confusion, curiosity, wariness and some even hostility. Windseeker heard Periwinkle mutter "Oh, no!" and Chestnut whisper "Who's that?" to Pinkstar.

By the time the crowd's confused muttering died down, Iris spread out her wings to their fullest wingspan, her voice booming in the Great Hall. "Welcome everyone! Welcome to this beautiful night of Jade Mountain Academy's 5th anniversary! I am sure you want this to be the best, most memorable night you've ever had, so I have come to-"

"Wait wait wait, who in the moons name are you?" said a snarky voice. A blue seawing wearing pinkish white pearls around her neck climbed up onto the stage and gave Iris a puzzled, yet outraged look. Windseeker recognised her as Tsunami, one of the seawing princesses and headmistress of Jade Mountain Academy. "Tsunami! What are you doing?" Blackdeath whispered urgently, though Tsunami couldn't hear him.

At being confronted by Tsunami, Iris chuckled. "Oh, introductions! My apologies. The name's Iris, but you don't need to introduce yourself, Tsunami."

Tsunami just narrowed her eyes at her. "I don't even know what tribe you are, but I do know one thing. You have no right to be on this stage without my permission. Get off right now."

"Or what?" Iris taunted.

Tsunami looked lost for a moment, her eyes darting to the crowd of watching dragons below. "Or- or we're gonna kill you!"

"You can't do that," said Iris smugly.

Just before Tsunami could pounce at Iris or do anything stupid, Pinkstar rushed onto the stage next to Tsunami. "Tsunami, don't," Pinkstar urged. "I've heard about Iris. She's not a dragon to be trifled with."

Iris smiled somewhat manically. "The pink little silkwing here speaks the truth! I recommend that you get off the stage instead, Tsunami. Or else things won't go so well for you."

Snarling, Tsunami slowly backed off the stage, leaving only Pinkstar and Iris there, facing each other. Pinkstar, what are you doing? Get down! Windseeker urged silently. You don't know what you're doing!

The crowd murmured in shock and outrage. No one, no one, had managed to threaten Tsunami and be left unharmed before. Even more proof that Iris is no dragon to be messed around with, Windseeker guessed quietly.

Iris turned to the crowd, a strange menace in her eyes. "Now, anyone else like to order me around?" she asked threateningly.

"I DO!" Pinkstar roared from the stage, and all eyes turned to her. Windseeker dug her talons into the floor. Pinkstar, you are doing something INCREDIBLY STUPID HERE, she thought, trying to restrain every muscle in her body to not come up there and pull Pinkstar off the stage. She could tell she wasn't the only one thinking the same thing. Shrike was growling in frustration and Fulgurite was trying to keep his scorpion barbed tail curled up, clearly resisting the urge to lash it and accidentally stab someone.

Iris menacingly turned towards Pinkstar. "What was that?"

"I said, 'I do'," Pinkstar repeated firmly.

Iris took one threatening step towards her, and then another, slowly. "Oh really? You do, huh? Well, you're just nothing but a puny powerless silkwing dragonet." She chuckled. "I mean, what are you going to do to stop me?"

All eyes settled on Pinkstar so as to see what she would do next. "We don't know yet, but I'm sure that we will soon."

Windseeker thought she saw a flicker of awe in Iris' eyes. "Hm, impressive for a dragonet like you. I've changed my mind," Iris prepared to leap off the stage. "There will be no announcement from me."

// WARNING: This is when the graphic blood and gore part REALLY comes in. If this triggers you, please click off. - Pinkstar \\

Windseeker had no idea why Pinkstar was doing what she was doing, maybe it was by instinct or it was just that it seemed like the right time, but when she did it, it ended in a disaster. Just as Iris was about to leap off the stage, Pinkstar sprung at her, claws outstretched, ready to strangle her with her flamesilk. But before she could, Iris, without even looking, flicked her tail and a barbed, wicked looking dagger flew out from under her cloak and stabbed Pinkstar straight in the chest, burying itself to it's hilt. The dagger then sliced down through Pinkstar's underbelly, almost cutting her in half and then stopping in between Pinkstar's hind legs before yanking itself out and falling onto the floor with a clank.

Pinkstar collapsed forward, blood pouring out of her sliced open underbelly and pooling onto the stage below her. She coughed and gagged and gurgled, letting out a strangled cry for help. Pinkstar lifted her talons and tried to stop the intense bleeding from her underbelly, but all efforts were futile. Soon, the life faded from her eyes and she collapsed onto the stage, her legs crumpling and her four wings slumped beside her. There, in the stage, she lay in a large pool of bright red blood, a look of pure terror forever remaining etched onto her face.

The entire crowd, including all of Death PACT, watched in shock and terror. Windseeker instinctively backed away from Pinkstar's blood that was now starting to spill off the edge of the stage, unable to tear her eyes away from the gruesome sight. Blood everywhere, Pinkstar's dead body, and Iris picking up the bloodstained dagger and slowly walking off the stage, some dragons making way for her.

Windseeker, who was petrified all the way down to her bones, felt the Death PACTers beside her, including Gecko, who was trembling uncontrollably from snout to tail, his scales shifted to shades of sickly green, the colours of fear and distress. Albus had his head in his talons, and Windseeker couldn't tell if he was crying or not. Luckily, Beluga wrapped a wing around him, and Evergreen wrapped a wing around Gecko and pulled him close and took one of Windseeker's talons in his. Blackdeath looked down on his talons and Shrike, Periwinkle, Nightshade and Fulgurite just stared at the stage, their mouths wide open in shock, and Chestnut had wrapped his brown wings around himself, his head hidden in his wings and trembling just as hard as Gecko. Even Blueberry, who was usually apathetic and nonchalant about everything, looked somewhat shaken.

No one spoke for a long, long while.

Finally, Iris said, "I've changed my mind. Again. All of Jade Mountain will be mine now. There will be no school here anymore and all of the Dragonets of Destiny shall be trapped in my dungeon. Any dragon here that tries to stop me... will join her." She flicked her tail to Pinkstar's bloodied dead body before walking away into one of the tunnels leading to the sleeping caves.

Windseeker saw Lightspeaker climb up the stage and stare at the crowd with apathetic eyes. But before Windseeker could feel any resentment towards her, Lightspeaker said one word, "Run,"

And in Jade Mountain, where tonight was supposed to be a celebration, all hell broke loose.

Chapter Text

Windseeker's POV

It was pure chaos in Jade Mountain Academy. Dragons were screaming and shrieking in fear, trying to run and fly to the exit. There were so many dragons running for their lives that Windseeker thought that she and the rest of Death PACT would be trampled to death, and she hated being trampled. Amidst the fleeing dragons, Windseeker saw Albus sitting in the corner, an unfocused look in his eyes and his wings wrapped around himself. Windseeker made her way towards him without stampeding on any dragons and grabbed him by the wrist.

"Come on Albus," Windseeker urged. "Lets go!"

Albus shook his head frantically and tried to pull away from her. "B-but what about Lightspeaker?"

Windseeker glanced at Lightspeaker who was still on the bloodstained stage and saw that she still had that apathetic look in her eyes. "We can't get to her, Albus. She's too far gone."

Albus let out a cry of pain. "She's not! We just have to-"

"COME ON!" Windseeker roared, losing patience with him. "We have to go before Iris takes us next!"

With that, Windseeker finally got Albus to stand up and they both ran to the exit, but there were so many dragons trying to escape through it at once that it was almost impossible to get through. "Where's the tribeless?" Windseeker asked.

"They both fled in secret once they saw Iris," said Albus.

"Windseeker! Albus!" a voice shouted amongst the din. Windseeker looked around to see Evergreen and Blackdeath who had found a window that was big enough for a fully grown dragon to fly through. Once Albus and Windseeker reached the hole, Evergreen lifted his head and roared, "Death PACTers! To me! Let's get out of here!"

As all the Death PACT members gathered, they were all about to fly out of the hole one by one when Lightspeaker appeared out of nowhere and grabbed Gecko by the hind legs before yanking him up and pressing the same dagger that was used to kill Pinkstar against his throat. "Where do you think you're going, Death PACTer?"

"No! Lightspeaker, please! Let me go!" Gecko pleaded.

"Hey! Leave him alone!" Windseeker roared.

Lightspeake growled. "One wrong move and say goodbye to Gecko." She pressed the dagger harder against Gecko throat, but not enough so it would start to bleed. Gecko whimpered in fear, his scales turning green again.

"I hate threats!" Windseeker retorted.

Shrike growled and Evergreen declared, "That's it!" and lunged at Lightspeaker. Gecko managed to twist himself out of Lightspeaker's grip and made his way to the exit, which was way less crowded now that most dragons had escaped. There was no sign of Iris though. Evergreen tackled Lightspeaker and sank his teeth into her shoulder, but Lightspeaker didn't recoil since Lightwings have high pain tolerance. Lightspeaker raked her claws through Evergreen's flank, making him roar in pain and collapse. Just before Lightspeaker could attack again, Periwinkle grabbed Lightspeaker's wings and pinned her to the floor.

Shrike looked back. "Me and Periwinkle will hold her off! The rest of you go! We'll meet you at the hideout!"

"You heard her! Let's go!" Nightshade ordered. Evergreen leaned against Windseeker for support, his flank still bleeding. Don't worry Evergreen. We'll take care of you for the time-being. As they took off into the air, Evergreen was still able to fly without support, though he was a bit shaky and unstable.

"You okay?" Windseeker asked.

Evergreen nodded, grimacing as he beat his wings in the air. "I'm fine. Just a little sore is all."

"We'll make sure to get you patched up Evergreen," said Nightshade.

Evergreen smiled thankfully, making Windseeker's heart flutter. Gosh, I always forget how lucky I am to have Evergreen as a mate until now! She looked back and saw that Albus still had a conflicted look on his face and her heart sank with guilt at being happy while Albus was not. She HATED feeling guilty, especially over something like this. Suddenly, she heard raspy breathing from him and she also saw that his eyes became more afraid, detatched and upset, and his wings even faltered. When his breathing grew louder and was trembling so much it seemed that he was going to fall out of the sky, she realised that Death PACT had to stop flying for now.

That was eventually proven to her when Albus breathed, "Stop, please stop... flying..."

"Death PACTers! Stop flying!" Windseeker roared.

Blackdeath didn't hear the first time Albus said it, but when Windseeker did, he turned to her, bewildered. "What? Why? We have to escape! Didn't you see what Iris did to Pinkstar?!"

Windseeker growled. She didn't have time to argue! "I said, 'STOP FLYING!'" she roared even louder. After what happened, she was taking none of it.

Blackdeath dived down towards the forest below them, and the rest of the Death PACTers followed suit, along with Periwinkle and Shrike, who had finally caught up to them. When they finally reached the floor, Albus collapsed in a heap and curled up into a ball with his wings over his head, sobbing harder than Windseeker had ever seen him do.

As Albus continued crying, Periwinkle asked, "Is... is he okay?"

Windseeker shook her head and Evergreen whispered, "It's about Lightspeaker."

"Oh," said Shrike. Her eyebrows were suddenly raised in realisation, before her face turned into one of sympathy. "Oh... oh, Albus. I-I'm so sorry."

Albus' breakdown reached a fever pitch when he started to hyperventilate, his breaths panicked and shallow. His claws shredded the grass beneath him, and Windseeker immediately ran over to Albus and grabbed his talons firmly, but gently.

"Albus, stop!" Windseeker urged. Though she had never seen someone have a panic attack before, which she HATED, she had heard how to deal with them, thanks to Evergreen. "Just breathe with me, okay?"

Windseeker took deliberate, deep breaths to make sure Albus followed suit, and he did. When he finally got his breathing back in control, Windseeker noticed that his eyes seemed more focused and he had stopped crying, though there were still tear streaks on his face. Windseeker suppressed a sigh of relief and she noticed that Gecko had gone over to sit beside Albus, his small rainwing body tucked himself under Albus' blue and white wing.

Blackdeath tried to reach out. "Albus, I-I'm sorry. I should've-"

Albus lashed out, startling Windseeker and Gecko. "SHUT UP, BLACKDEATH! You don't have the right to speak here. If you hadn't been so neglectful of Lightspeaker, if you actually gave her a chance at feeling like she belonged, she wouldn't have felt so left out! Maybe then she wouldn't have accepted Iris' deal! This is YOUR fault!"

Blackdeath backed away, silenced. Windseeker felt anger simmer beneath her as well. Albus spoke more than the truth. He spoke out against Blackdeath's terrible leadership. At least Evergreen was a better leader and tried to do something about Lightspeaker.

"Well, to clarify..." Fulgurite hesitated, obviously not sure if what he was going to say might cause more tension. "Lightspeaker might have been more hesitant to accept Iris' deal if Blackdeath tried to think about Lightspeaker more..."

Blackdeath glared at him and Fulgurite immediately shut his mouth. Blueberry looked up at the night sky and said, "We should get going before Iris finds us."

Windseeker agreed and was about to stand up and fly away, but Albus said, "Wait. Can we stay here for a little longer? I don't wanna go. Not yet."

Evergreen sighed. "Alright. We can stay here for as long as you want us too Albus."

Which I really hope isn't for long, Windseeker hoped, but didn't dare say it aloud.

Albus exhaled shakily. "Thank you, Evergreen."

Chapter Text

Windseeker's POV

A day had passed since the incident at JMA with Iris. Windseeker didn't realise how obvious it seemed that Death PACT had witnessed something traumatic until Iris' freed prisoners pointed it out. Some of it wasn't sympathetic in Windseeker's opinion.

"Woah, what happened?" Tiger Eye had asked when Death PACT arrived back. "You all look like you had seen ghosts."

When Evergreen and the other Death PACTers (except for Albus, who was still in shock) explained what had happened, they were all shocked, except for the tribeless.

"We've seen Iris do much worse," Ebony (Seven) had said grimly.

Windseeker wanted them to explain, but Blackdeath just ordered everyone to get some rest, for the Death PACTers were all tired from all the drama that had happened back at Jade Mountain. Though Windseeker and everyone else was dying to know what Ebony had meant, she agreed that they were all indeed tired from what happened. So she had reluctantly obeyed and went into her room before falling asleep, though she knew that it was a long time coming before they could possibly heal.

And, when the time was right, find out how to stop Iris once and for all.

---

Windseeker woke up relatively early the next morning to the sound of someone sobbing. She sighed. I hate hearing sounds like that first thing in the morning, she thought grumpily. She got out of her bed and stretched, yawning widely before exiting her sleeping cave. Windseeker nearly bumped into Heliotrope (Five) while walking down the hallway. "Hey! Watch it!" Heliotrope snapped.

"Okay! Sorry, jeez!" Windseeker apologised insincerely. "I hate bumping into other dragons!"

"You should," Heliotrope agreed. "As do I. Now get out of my way. I'm gonna have breakfast, if no one even cares what I'm doing."

Windseeker stepped out of the way as Heliotrope made his way to the hideout's main exit. What's their problem? Windseeker wondered. She saw Beluga skipping out of her sleeping cave, cheerful as ever. If Windseeker was being honest, it shocked her how Beluga would still be... herself even after everything that's happened recently, or maybe she is just trying to hide her feelings from yesterday. If she was trying to hide it, Windseeker couldn't help but feel a little unsettled at how well she could hide it. I hate it when dragons hide their true feelings from me! It makes things too complicated!

"Hey Beluga," Windseeker asked. "Do you know what Heliotrope's problem is?"

"Oh, you should ask Silvertail (Nine) and Bluewing!" said Beluga.

Windseeker sighed through her nose. No hope there. "...Alright then. How's Gecko and Albus?"

Beluga's smile slowly turned into a frown as she considered Windseeker's question. "Albus is... not doing great. I'd rather be Gecko than him right now."

Windseeker didn't know whether to feel surprised or not. Though Albus was usually cheerful and optimistic, he was also quite sensitive about his closest friends, including Lightspeaker. He has very bad abandonment issues. Of course he would take this harder than anyone else here. Windseeker growled. "I hate other dragons dwelling in the past! I'm gonna talk to him."

Windseeker was about to make her way to Albus' cave before Beluga grabbed her by the tail, avoiding the sharp teardrop shaped fin at the end of it. "Wait! Albus might not want to see any body right now! Wouldn't it be a good idea to just leave him alone?"

Windseeker lashed her tail out of Beluga's grip, nearly whacking her in the face. "Let go of me! You stay out of this, Beluga! It was your idea to go to this so-called 'party' in the first place once we saw that invitation, and look where that landed us! It's your fault Albus isn't able to cooperate with us."

She snarled out the last sentence, hoping it would sound threatening enough, then turned around and made her way to Albus' room, not looking back to see the hurt look on Beluga's face. As she paused outside Albus' room, she took a deep breath and peeked in, seeing Albus curled up on his sleeping cushions in one corner of the room. She silently entered the room, one careful talonstep followed by another, and asked carefully, "Hey, Albus. How are you doing?" Ugh, I hate feeling this awkward! Windseeker groaned internally.

Albus didn't answer, nor did he move a muscle. Windseeker sat on the cushions beside him, surprised by how soft they were. Windseeker took a deep breath. "A... a lot has changed these past few days, huh?"

Albus said nothing.

Windseeker sighed again, searching through her brain for the right thing to say. What should I even say? I'm not good at consoling others like Evergreen is! I hate feeling lost!

"Look, I know everything's confusing. I know you're hurt and angry and confused and... you feel like taking it out on others," she paused, thinking about how she had recently pushed Beluga away and blamed her for Albus' current state when she was only just trying to help. She would have to apologise to her later. "But you have to fight those feelings. I'm not gonna say I know what you're going through, because I don't. Not at all." But I wish I did. "But I do know one thing. You shouldn't have to go through this alone. We've all lost someone important to us, even if they aren't exactly the same."

Albus still stayed silent. Windseeker sighed, feeling slightly lighter than she had before. "I guess that's all I've gotta say for now." She stood up. "I'll go check up on Evergreen."

Just before she was about to walk out of the cave, Albus choked out for the first time in what seemed like a while, "Wait,"

Windseeker whipped her head around to face Albus, who had his head raised from under his wings. "Don't leave," he begged, his voice slightly hoarse from lack of use.

Windseeker hesitated for a bit, looking outside of the room, before turning back and sitting on the cushions next to Albus. "Alright."

A soft, mumbled "Thanks," was all that was needed to be said by Albus. Now that he had his head slightly higher, Windseeker could see that he had dark circles under his eyes, and his usually pristine white icewing scales seemed to be scuffed, as well as his bright cornflower gills, which seemed to have become dull, as if they were rainwing scales that shifted colours depending on what mood the dragon was in.

None of them spoke for a long, long moment.

Windseeker was both surprised and relieved at the lack of awkwardness between them. Dandelion poked their head into the room, as well as Gecko, and Windseeker wouldn't admit it, but she was glad that Gecko was now feeling good enough to be up and about. "Hey guys! You got a minute?" Dandelion asked.

Windseeker nodded hesitantly. Dandelion and Gecko entered the room, and they each sat on either side of Windseeker and Albus. "Where's Vortex?" Windseeker asked Dandelion.

"Oh, he's with Ashclaw and Heliotrope at Jade Mountain, trying to find out what Iris is doing there."

Windseeker sighed with relief. Good; at least Death PACT had the tribeless to help them solve how to defeat Iris. Hopefully they would be back soon with some useful information. If they're not, then they're absolutely useless. And I HATE useless dragons!

"Hey Albus. Can I show you something?" Gecko asked, interrupting Windseeker's thoughts.

Albus turned to look at Gecko, curious, then nodded. Gecko and Dandelion grinned momentarily at each other before Gecko took out a sheet of paper and handed it to Albus. Windseeker peeked over his shoulder to see what was on the paper, and there, she saw a neat drawing of Albus and Lightspeaker sitting next to each other and looking content as ever.

"I knew you and Lightspeaker were very close," said Gecko. "So I wanted to draw this so you can still remember the good times together."

"I helped with the drawing!" Dandelion chimed in cheerfully.

"Do you like it?" Gecko asked.

Albus didn't speak. Windseeker thought she imagined Albus trembling slightly until she saw him clench the paper so tightly she thought he was going to rip it. He began to breathe heavily, and Windseeker heard a choked sob escape him, followed by another and then another, until he let go of the drawing and buried his face in his talons, crying.

"A-Albus?" Dandelion stammered.

"Are you okay?" Gecko asked. "I-I-I'm sorry if I upset you with my drawing! I-"

"No, I-" Pen couldn't say anything through his sobs. "I love it, I just- I can't lose you too, I CAN'T!" he practically screamed the last word out and collapsed onto Gecko, wrapping his wings around him and sobbing onto his shoulder, even though Albus was bigger than Gecko. Gecko hugged him back, and Dandelion followed suit.

"Can I join?" Windseeker asked.

Dandelion nodded and shuffled a bit to give Windseeker some space, and she wrapped her broad wings around the three dragons, not wanting to be anywhere else other than here. Windseeker wasn't really into hugs (truth to be told, she hated them), but seeing how emotionally fragile Albus had been lately, she had to put aside all her feelings for the time being and be there for him. For all of Death PACT.

Chapter Text

Windseeker's POV

Windseeker didn't know how much time has passed while she, Gecko and Dandelion were comforting Albus, but she didn't care about that. All she cared about was Albus and how desperately he needed someone to be there for him right now, especially when Death PACT lost TWO members. One of them being close friends with Albus. But eventually, Albus' sobs gradually became less intense and all he could let out were soft sniffles. Gecko, Windseeker and Dandelion eventually broke away from the hug and Albus looked up, still looking upset, but not as much before.

"Feeling better?" Gecko asked.

Albus nodded slowly. "Yeah, thanks guys."

Windseeker shrugged. "It's no big deal at all." What was this feeling? Pride? Windseeker never really felt anything like it, but if it felt this good, she did not regret doing what she did to make herself feel it.

Ashclaw poked his head in the cave with a furrowed brow. "Hey guys, we found some important information while we were at Jade Mountain," he said in his trademark raspy voice. "I think you all need to hear this."

---

"As far as we know, Iris' animus magic is not like others," said Ashclaw.

Everyone, including the remaining Death PACTers, the former prisoners of Iris (only Tiger Eye and Fallow stayed because the rest of them returned to their homes) and all the tribeless, were gathered in the main room, with Vortex, Heliotrope and Ashclaw discussing what Iris is up to at JMA.

"Apparently, she can steal others' animus magic," said Heliotrope. "Including ours."

Shrike leaned forward towards them instantly. "You are animuses too?!"

Silvertail nodded, though they looked confused at what the plural for animus was. "Yeah, though Vortex, Dandelion and Jade's magic is way more powerful than the rest of us. Except for Iris, of course."

"But that's crazy. You can't steal a power like that!" Nightshade protested.

Heliotrope scoffed bitterly. "You'd be surprised then. Back at Jade Mountain, we saw that Iris kidnap random dragons and injure them with a knife that's enchanted to steal someone's animus magic and give it to her instead. If the dragon the knife stabs even has magic of course."

Ebony looked at Jade, who was on the cushions talking to Periwinkle without a care in the world. Ebony sighed. "Hey, you two! All of us need to hear this, and that includes you two."

Jade shrugged, smiling at Ebony. "Oh, don't worry Ebony! I already heard the rest of the convo."

"Then join us!" Albus invited. "I bet you don't make deliberate mistakes! Not like some dragons." He turned to glare at Blackdeath with such hatred that Windseeker felt a strange urge to shield him from his intense glare.

Blackdeath groaned with exasperation. "Ugh, will you stop blaming me for just one second? It's really getting on my nerves and it's also getting us nowhere."

Albus growled, taking a threatening step closer to Blackdeath, and Beluga ducked out of the way awkwardly. "How can I stop blaming you?" snarled Albus. "It's your fault Lightspeaker became an animus!"

Blackdeath flinched, but still glared at Albus. Windseeker could see where Albus was coming from. The Lightwings having an animus was never supposed to happen. And everyone knew the price of using animus magic in exchange for your soul. Was it already too late to save Lightspeaker? I really hope it isn't, for Albus would be devastated.

"Lightspeaker was always a nuisance anyways," Blackdeath said, and Windseeker realised, with a sinking feeling, that he was being genuine.

Albus had the most outraged look Windseeker had ever seen him have and before he was about to lunge at Blackdeath, Silvertail intercepted, fanning out their light grey wings. "Woah, woah, woah! Guys, stop fighting! That's not radical!"

Growling, Albus backed away slowly, still glaring daggers at Blackdeath. Though Windseeker knew that Albus' anger towards Blackdeath was justified, she decided she should seperate them for now after this meeting so none of them would get hurt. I hate my fellow Death PACTers arguing! And we've all been through a lot already!

"But what about your souls?" Periwinkle asked the tribeless. "Aren't you worried about it if you use your magic often?"

Bluewing shrugged. "Losing our souls doesn't affect us tribeless, even if we are animi."

Windseeker couldn't help but feel envious of the tribeless. Imagine what you could do if you had animus magic and not lose a part of yourself everytime you use it! She shook her head and stamped that thought down. No, she can do just fine without animus magic. Not like Lightspeaker, who took the chance to have it without thinking about the consequences. Power can turn you evil. The tribeless clearly knew that better than anyone else here.

"So what's the plan here?" asked Fallow. "Do we just barge in, stop Iris and escape?"

There was a pause. Vortex looked unusually deep in thought, clearly thinking of a plan. Dandelion eventually broke the silence. "I mean, we do have a plan, but it's a pretty risky one."

"A risky plan's better than no plan at all," said Evergreen, who had stayed silent the entire time. "Let's hear it."

Chapter Text

Albus' POV

Albus should've never gotten his hopes up.

The plan had failed. Miserably.

Bluewing suggested that they should distract Iris long enough for some of the Death PACT members to steal Iris' enchanted knife and stab her themselves, killing her and possibly giving the animus magic back to the dragons she stole them from. Periwinkle and Albus (who wanted to be far from Blackdeath as possible during the plan) found the knife but were caught by Lightspeaker, who snatched the knife from the two dragons and went on a killing spree, murdering more than half the students who attended JMA, and Periwinkle was also killed during the massacre trying to protect the students. But luckily the Dragonets of Destiny were all still alive.

Albus still remembered seeing the blood everywhere in the Great Hall and in the middle of it, Iris and Lightspeaker standing beside each other as if they were best friends. He had been petrified, unable to move or fly or do anything until Blackdeath grabbed him and fled Jade Mountain with the Algebraliens and the rest of Death PACT.

Now, Jade, who had supposedly been best friends with Periwinkle in a short amount of time, was so depressed they couldn't leave Periwinkle's room, and Albus was tempted to do the same thing. He had also never seen Blackdeath so furious before, and it felt even worse that the anger was directed at him.

"Maybe if you weren't so concerned about Lightspeaker instead of Iris and escaped quicker," Blackdeath had scolded. "We couldn't have lost anyone."

As much as Albus wanted to deny it, he could see where Blackdeath was coming from. Maybe if he hadn’t been so focused on Lightspeaker, maybe Iris could’ve been stopped. Maybe so many dragons, including Periwinkle, wouldn't have died.

He didn’t know what he and the rest of Death PACT were going to do anymore.

He trudged into his room and saw the drawing of him and Lightspeaker and felt an unfamiliar rage bubble within him. One that he had kept in for felt like forever since Pinkstar's death and Lightspeaker's betrayal. He roared and grabbed a candle from his bench and flung it across the room, and then grabbed the drawing and ripped it to shreds with his teeth and claws, blinded by rage. Albus then grabbed a small carved glass statue of himself made by Lightspeaker and flung it across the room, shattering into thousands of pieces once it hit the wall.

By the time Albus let out all his anger, he collapsed onto a heap on the floor, exhausted. The room was a mess, shredded pieces of paper and shards of broken glass everywhere. Albus covered his face in his talons and curled his tail around himself as tight as he could, his wings limp at his sides. He felt a lump building in his throat, and he failed to restrain his sobs. Why why why? he kept repeating to himself. Why did Death PACT have to lose so many members? First, Pinkstar and Lightspeaker, and now, Periwinkle. He never was that close with Periwinkle, but he knew her well enough that she would never blame anyone for a situation that was out of everyone's control.

Maybe Lightspeaker was right. It is hopeless. It's awfully clear no one cares about us.

But I still can't lose anyone else. Not now.

"Albus?"

Albus took a few deep breaths to control his crying. He knew the voice of Blueberry from outside his room, but he didn't lift his head up to face her. And it also didn't make sense. The apathetic Blueberry, of all dragons? Why her? Maybe she just felt bad for her. Any sensible dragon would. He still rememberd when he first joined, Blueberry didn't really have faith in him, and even thought that he wasn't even trying to help.

"Can I come in?" she asked.

Albus didn't have it in himself to answer. He heard Blueberry's talonsteps become louder as she entered the room. "Three moons, this place is trashed," she commented. "Are you sure you're okay?"

Albus bit his tongue to stop himself from making an angry retort at Blueberry. Though he was sad, he shouldn't be angry right now. Not that he had it in him to even be mad at someone else right now. He deserved to be sad. Especially after what he did to endanger all of Death PACT.

Blueberry sighed. "I know we didn't have the best first impression when we first met, but that doesn't mean I don't care about you."

Now that took Albus by surprise. He immediately looked up with his tear stained face at Blueberry. "You do? But... I thought you hated me for not being a good member."

Blueberry looked down at her talons as she sat down next to him, avoiding the shards of glass. "'Hate' is a bit of a strong word, and I don't really use strong words like that. But I do not ha- dislike you. And who cares what Blackdeath says? Just because he's one of our leaders, doesn't mean he's always right. What happened back at Jade Mountain was no one's fault. If anyone's to blame, it's Iris."

"...what about Lightspeaker?" Albus asked hesitantly.

There was a significant pause. "I... I'm not so sure," Blueberry finally answered. "Lightspeaker's always been... complicated. I don't know her like you do, Albus. Which I guess is good for you."

Albus dug his talons into the floor and lashed his tail. "No I don't! I don't know her! I didn't even know that Lightspeaker would betray us just for animus magic!"

"True, but I didn't know that either," said Blueberry. "Neither of us did. I always thought she was loyal, even when Blackdeath was... harsh to her."

"He thought she was too impulsive to be one of us," Albus snarled bitterly.

"That didn't mean she was a burden," Blueberry argued. "Maybe if Blackdeath had listened to me, Lightspeaker would've stayed."

Albus' eyes slowly widened with realisation. "Wait, you actually-"

"Yes, I did," said Blueberry before Albus could continue. "I tried to convince Blackdeath to let Lightspeaker do more, but of course, he was too stubborn." Blueberry sighed. "Young dragons these days... always think that they know better. Not that I really care. You can't change everyone, no matter how much you want to."

Albus couldn't help but have a newfound respect for Blueberry. Ever since they first met, Blueberry was quite scornful to him, but now... Blueberry actually tried to help him and Lightspeaker! Maybe they do care about me after all. But will Lightspeaker ever believe that too?

Blueberry stood up, careful to not step on any glass shards. "I better go, and clean up this mess. I ain't doing it for you."

Albus stood up, his legs slightly numb from sitting for so long but otherwise feeling more lighter than before. "Alright, and Blueberry?"

Blueberry, who was about to leave Albus' room, looked back curiously.

"Thanks for being there for me."

Blueberry shrugged nonchalantly. "Eh, it's no big deal. It was the least I could do after everything that's happened."

Chapter Text

Windseeker's POV

Windseeker wasn't the only one who took the incident at Jade Mountain hard. As much as she wanted to blame the tribeless for thinking of this plan, only to have it fail, she knew that it would get them nowhere, and she hated that. Not like Blackdeath, who had blamed Albus for being too hesitant and supposedly being the cause of so many deaths, including Periwinkle's. Windseeker had no idea what Blackdeath had been thinking; Albus was already struggling as it is, and it wasn't his fault he was too scared to fly away during Lightspeaker's killing spree. Evergreen wasn't really happy with Blackdeath's reaction either.

"I don't care who's fault it is," he'd said. "Right now, we need time to recover and find another way to stop Iris. Before it's too late."

It was night, the three crescent moons high in the sky. Windseeker was in the main room with Evergreen, Fulgurite and Shrike. Beluga, Gecko, Blackdeath, Nightshade and Albus were in their own rooms, Blueberry was with Albus, Vortex, Dandelion and Ashclaw were trying to get Jade to leave Periwinkle's room (but to no avail, unsurprisingly), Tiger Eye and Fallow were getting intel on Iris from the surviving students and staff of JMA, and the rest of the Algebraliens were out hunting or doing whatever outside. Windseeker didn't really care what.

Sighing, Windseeker flopped on her back on the silk carpet that had been weaved by Periwinkle, gazing at the ceiling. "Moons, what can we do? Iris is unstoppable, especially with Lightspeaker and all the magic in her talons."

Evergreen walked over to his mate and sat down next to her. "Don't worry, Windseeker. We'll come up with something," he said. "We always do."

"You make that sound so easy," said Windseeker. "I hate worrying!"

"Don't we all?" Shrike sighed. "We're losing too many members to her. How can you be so optimistic right now, Evergreen?"

"It's faith," Evergreen corrected. He curled his tail around Windseeker's and, to Windseeker's frustration, she saw Fulgurite immediately look away and snicker. She suppressed a sigh. Her fellow PACTers were hopeless, but not useless, and she would have to put up with their teasing about Windseeker and Evergreen being mates.

"Guys! We're back!" said Pyro's voice through the entrance. "And we have visitors too!"

Before anyone could make their way to the entrance, Beluga immediately burst through to the entrance, accidentally shoving Windseeker and Evergreen out of the way.

"Ow! Watch it!" Windseeker growled.

"YIPPEE! They're back!" Beluga cheered. "Did you guys find anything?"

Tiger Eye, Fallow and the tribeless who had come with them entered the room, which was becoming crowded now that everyone was here (except for Jade, who was still bedridden), along with a few guests. According to Bluewing, the guests were there during both the JMA anniversary party where Pinkstar got killed as well as the massacre that Lightspeaker had caused only a day later.

Apparently, the two guests were Copper, Shrike's mate, and Chestnut, Pinkstar's 'friend'.

When Shrike saw the rusty orange skywing, her face lit up like a comet in the night sky and leapt into his wings. "Aww!" Beluga cooed, seeing Shrike and Copper. "Aren't they sweet?"

Vortex rolled their eyes. "Yeah yeah, but we don't have time for sappy reunions. They're here because they have information."

Blackdeath walked over to Chestnut, towering over him because of his imposing height. Chestnut literally had to strain his short neck to look up at him. "Chestnut," Blackdeath greeted. "It's great to see a friend of Pinkstar here. We're sorry that you had to witness her passing in such a gruesome way."

Chestnut sighed shakily and looked down. "Y-yeah, it's been hard to cope with Iris doing... stuff."

"And what might that 'stuff' be?" Windseeker asked, both curious and afraid to find out.

Copper inhaled sharply. "Well... Iris has been very... cruel to us ever since she took over Jade Mountain. Not even the Dragonets of Destiny, or even Tsunami, can even stand up to her without risking getting killed."

Heliotrope rolled their eyes. "Well, there's a surprise."

Ebony nodded in agreement. "Yeah, of course she would treat the students the way she treated Garnet (Three)."

"Garnet?" Albus asked, who had remained quiet the whole time. Death PACT had never heard the tribeless mention Garnet before.

The tribeless paused, a distant look in their eyes, before Bluewing spoke. "Garnet was one of us. Iris... killed her, so we had to trap her to make sure that she would never do that to anyone else again."

"And now..." Heliotrope trailed off, for everyone knew.

"I-I'm so sorry," said Evergreen, and Windseeker gently laid her tail on his, but is careful not to get to physically affectionate in front of everyone.

"Now you see why we came for your help?" said Pyro. "When we heard that Iris kidnapped one of your friends, we had to come help. We didn't want anyone else to get hurt by Iris."

Chestnut wrapped his wings around himself. "I don't ever wanna go back to Jade Mountain. Not while Iris is there."

"Me neither," Copper agreed.

"So, to clarify," Fulgurite began as always. "We're gonna let more dragons stay?"

Blackdeath glared at Fulgurite. "You got a problem with that?"

Fulgurite flinched. "N-no, just checking!"

Windseeker felt frustration swell up within her again. What was up with Blackdeath today? Why was he being more moody than he usually is? Because of what happened at JMA. Windseeker wasn't as good at recognising social cues as Evergreen was, but she could see that Blackdeath was occasionally stealing a glare from Albus, and she could tell that Blackdeath was still blaming Albus for everything that's happened.

"So we can stay?" Copper asked expectantly.

Evergreen smiled welcomingly. "Of course you can! We are dedicated to keeping others safe. Which includes giving others a place to stay for the timebeing."

"Yay!" Shrike cheered. She bounded over to Copper and nuzzled each other's snouts. Windseeker looked away and faced Evergreen. "Are you sure it's the right idea to let them stay? It's already crowded here as it already is with the tribeless, and this hideout isn't exactly the biggest one in the world!"

"After hearing and even witnessing what they've seen, how could you possibly turn them away?" said Evergreen.

Windseeker opened her mouth and then closed it. "I hate it when you're smarter than me, Evergreen." she said with a snort.

Evergreen batted his tail playfully at her before heading to his room. Everyone was heading to sleep for the night. Blueberry led Chestnut to her room and Shrike and Copper stayed right next to each other in the main room still. Windseeker saw that Blackdeath had his back turned to Albus, who was still looking down at his talons. Windseeker walked over to him and asked, "Hey, you okay?"

Albus looked up at Windseeker. "A little. Doing better than last time though, thanks to Blueberry."

Windseeker stamped down her surprise at that. She never really thought that Blueberry would be good at emotional support, but she must be wrong then. "Alright. But you still seem... exhausted. You wanna go back to your room?"

Albus shook his head. "No, I've spent too much time in there already. I can just sleep here."

"...alright then," said Windseeker before making her way to her own room. "Sleep well, Albus."

Windseeker paused outside her room, taking a deep breath. She never realised how exhausted she was until now, but she figured everyone must be. So much had happened these past few days, and she hated eventful days. Especially this one. She collapsed onto her bed and closed her eyes, but sleep was a long time coming for not just for her, but for all of Death PACT.

Chapter Text

Windseeker's POV

"No, stop! Please!"

Windseeker was jolted awake by the sounds of everyone screaming and Gecko begging for mercy. She scrambled out of bed and rushed out of her sleeping cave and into the main room, only to be greeted by quite the sight.

The main room was mainly empty but was trashed, glass and paper strewn across the floor, the leaf curtains charred at the edges, but what really stood out was Gecko, who was pinned down on his back by Lightspeaker, who was pointing a large dagger to his throat. Her face was twisted into a snarl as she pressed the dagger closer to Gecko's throat.

"What in the moons is going on here?!" Windseeker cried.

Gecko and Lightspeaker turned to look at Windseeker. Lightspeaker chuckled, a sound that caused a shiver up her spine. "Hello, Windseeker. I've been waiting for this moment for forever."

"For forever?!" Windseeker repeated. "Haven't we been through enough today?! Where's everyone else?!"

"Outside. But you're distracting me with all this talk, Windseeker. I've got a Death PACTer to kill."

"STOP!" Windseeker roared and leaped at Lightspeaker, making her tumble off of Gecko until she managed to pin her down. "What in the moons is wrong with you?! You're not a selfish, psychotic killer!"

Lightspeaker looked up at her, baring her teeth at her. "Am I though? It's your fault I'm like this."

"No, it's Blackdeath's fault. He's the one who neglected you."

"Yes," Lightspeaker agreed. "But the rest of you supported him. You never stood up for me. Albus was the only one who actually cared about me. Not that he could do anything about me being banished to the side." she added bitterly. "I guess that makes him useless then."

Windseeker groaned. "Three moons, I hate narrow-mindedness! We do care about you. We went to the Jade Mountain Academy party to search for you, until we found out Iris has been keeping you captive."

"She isn't keeping me captive," Lightspeaker scoffed. "She's doing me a favor. Now I have both a place where I belong and animus magic! Ha!"

Windseeker growled. "You-"

A roar from outside and someone yelling "SILVERTAIL!" interrupted Windseeker and caught her attention. Death PACT! They must be in danger, I have to help them. She got off Lightspeaker but before she could reach the exit, a vine ensnared one of her ankles and dragged her back in. Windseeker tried to dig her claws into the stone to stop herself from being dragged back in, but the vine was relentless.

"Keep her there," Lightspeaker ordered the vine.

Windseeker roared with fury. "I hate you! Let me go!"

Lightspeaker growled. "No, I don't think so. I'll just leave with Iris."

Lightspeaker walked away from the room, leaving Windseeker lying there with her ankle tied to a small stalactite with a vine. Soon, the noise outside began to quiet down before the rest of Death PACT and the algebraliens entered the room. Evergreen was the first one to notice Windseeker tied up and he rushed over to her and cut the vine.

"Windseeker! Are you okay?" Evergreen asked, helping Windseeker up to her feet.

"I'm fine," Windseeker snarled. "Except for Lightspeaker barging in and trying to kill Gecko before I stopped her."

"She did WHAT?" Fulgurite practically screeched.

Copper huffed. "I knew that Lightwing was trouble ever since that incident at Jade Mountain Academy."

Tiger Eye agreed, shuddering from snout to tail. "True that. She scares me."

Albus bristled, baring his teeth. "Don't you dare talk about Lightspeaker like that! She isn't herself right now."

Nightshade opened her mouth, but hesitated, unsure if what she would say would cause more tension between them. "We... can't be too sure right now, Albus. She seemed quite happy to leave us back there."

Bluewing let out a roar to get everyone's attention. "Are we just gonna ignore the fact that SILVERTAIL IS DEAD?"

Windseeker almost choked on air. She hadn't noticed that Bluewing was carrying the dead body of Silvertail on their back. Silvertail had a large gash on their throat that extended from ear to ear, and was still bleeding, her eyes lifeless. Three moons, how did I not notice?

Evergreen looked down at Silvertail solemnly. "We should bury her outside. We can't keep them in here."

Ebony nodded. "He's right. But there's also one more thing we should tell you."

Everyone leaned in to listen to what Ebony was going to say.

"Us tribeless can't stay here any longer. What if Iris attacks again? We came here to help you stop Iris, but we also put you into nothing but endless danger."

"B-But it isn't your fault Iris escaped!" Shrike stammered. Is it though? Windseeker wondered. How did Iris even escape, is what I'd like to know.

Ashclaw sighed. "We know, but it is our fault two of your and our friends got killed."

"Three, if you count Lightspeaker," said Nightshade, somewhat insensitively since Windseeker notice Albus stiffen and clench his talons. Windseeker slapped Nightshade gently with her tail, earning a glare from her.

Vortex nodded. "Ebony's right. We tribeless have gotta go. Tiger Eye and Fallow, it might be for the best if you go too. Iris will be looking for you two most of all."

That made sense, Windseeker had to admit. She first met them when they were in Iris' dungeons, and escaped with her. Tiger Eye shook her head. "No, I'll stay. But Fallow can go, if she wants. Do you?" She looked at Fallow, who looked conflicted.

"I'm not sure..." said Fallow. "I want to keep you Death PACTers safe but... I just can't let this Iris situation go! I'll stay too."

"What about Jade?" said Ashclaw. "They haven't left Periwinkle's cave ever since she died."

Vortex pushed their way through the dragons. "I'll go get them. Don't be surprised if I have to physically drag them out of the cave myself!"

Dandelion bounded over to Vortex. "I'll help!"

As the two tribeless dragons left to get Jade out of Periwinkle's cave, Windseeker looked back at the tribeless. According to what they said, they would only endanger Death PACT's life, no matter how much they would try to help. But Vortex had also said that Iris would also be looking for her former prisoners like Tiger Eye, Fallow and... herself. Either way, Windseeker had a sinking feeling that nowhere, no forest, no cave, no refuge, not even Death PACT's 'secret' hideout, would be safe when Iris is still lurking.

Chapter Text

Windseeker's POV

Three days passed by in a blur since the tribeless decided to split up from Death PACT. Though Ebony said that they'll still be around if Death PACT needed anything. Albus hadn't stopped mourning Lightspeaker, and Chestnut hasn't stopped mourning Pinkstar either. Though Albus was taking this worse than Windseeker expected. She thought that it would get easier for him as time went by, but apparently not. I hate coping in unhealthy ways! And for a good reason too.

Fallow and Tiger Eye would usually go to Jade Mountain everyday to spy on what Iris was planning next so they could go back and update Death PACT, who would try to come up with a plan to stop her, but there was a strange pattern. Every time they finally come up with a plan, Tiger Eye and Fallow would go back and tell them that Iris was doing something completely different, and Death PACT would have to change their plan again. This happened for three days.

"I told you, we have to go all in and just kill her!" Windseeker had growled. "I hate a change of plans!"

"But if we just barge in and try to kill Iris, we'll be slaughtered!" Blackdeath had said. "Didn't you see what happened to Pinkstar?"

"But if we don't, Iris will just pick us all off one by one while we'll just be sitting ducks," Windseeker had pointed out. "And Pinkstar tried to fight Iris alone. We won't be alone this time."

"Well said, Windseeker," Evergreen had agreed and Windseeker silently thanked him. "If we do attack Iris, we'll at least need some help."

Blackdeath had reluctantly agreed, and that was good enough for Windseeker. At least for now. Windseeker would still see Shrike and Copper doing whatever they wanted to do together, and she and Evergreen had to agree that the two skywings were even more sappier together than Windseeker and Evergreen themselves, but some dragons (*cough* Beluga *cough*) disagreed.

But to put that all aside, if had been more than an hour since Fallow and Tiger Eye left to gather more intel on Iris, and they still weren't back. "What if Iris kidnapped them?!" Chestnut panicked.

Windseeker was about to tell him that it was quite unlikely, before realising that this was Iris they were dealing with here. Iris, who had kidnapped innocent dragons just so she could steal their animus magic, if they even had it that is. "We should rescue them, shouldn't we?" said Gecko.

"But we're still so vulnerable!" said Shrike.

Evergreen rolled his brown eyes. "Yes, but we're not that vulnerable. It'll take us more than a few deaths to stop us from going against Iris."

Almost as if on cue, Windseeker's ears picked up a rustle from outside. "Did you hear that?" Everyone looked at Windseeker and then at the entrance as an orange and black dragon stumbled in, limping and her black star-speckled wings drooping heavily beside her. She flopped onto the floor, groaning.

It was Tiger Eye.

"Three moons!" Shrike gasped. "What happened to you?"

Tiger Eye let out a shuddering gasp and tried to stand up, before Evergreen gently laid her back down again. "Don't get up. Just rest." he said soothingly. "Can you explain what happened?"

Tiger Eye coughed slightly and hoarsely whispered, "Iris..."

Windseeker sighed. "Of course it was Iris. Who else could've done this?"

"Done what?" Fulgurite asked. Windseeker pointed at a scratch on Tiger Eye's left thigh, which was red and raw along the edges and jagged black lines were spreading slowly from it. Sandwing sting. I'd recognise that anywhere.

Tiger eye continued. "She's... taking control of some of the students of Jade Mountain Academy, even some of the Dragonets of Destiny. One of the sandwing students got me in the leg, but I kept on running."

"What about Fallow?" Nightshade asked anxiously. "Where is she?"

Windseeker had a sinking feeling that she already knew the answer, and it was confirmed when Tiger Eye said, "Fallow's dead. She bought me time to escape." She gasped, out of breath, and slumped forward, her injured thigh splayed out awkwardly beside her.

Windseeker bit back a roar of rage, stomping her foot. "Not again! I hate losing so many dragons in the span of a week!"

Albus sighed. "Me too."

Copper's eyes widened. "It's already been a week? Three moons!"

"Three moons indeed," said Blueberry blankly.

"What are we gonna do now?" Beluga asked, serious for once. "You heard what Windseeker said before; we can't just sit here while Iris kills us all off one by one!"

"But what about Tiger Eye?" said Albus. "We need some of that brightsting cactus, Fulgurite!"

Fulgurite blinked. "Don't ask me! I'm part tempestwing too, you know! I don't have scaled talons like some of you do!"

"We can just get some from the desert. It's not too far from here." Blueberry suggested.

"Oh, good point," Fulgurite realised. "I'll go get some."

"Oooh, me too!" Copper agreed enthusiastically, though he isn't a sandwing or a lightwing.

Evergreen nodded. "Right. The rest of us will go get everyone who's willing to stop Iris with us, once and for all."

If anyone left who's willing to stop Iris is even still alive... Windseeker thought. No. Surely there most be some dragons left still alive that are willing to help us. If we survived, so have they. "Right, but who do we go to first?"

"The tribeless."

Chapter Text

Windseeker's POV

The first place Death PACT all collectively agreed to go to find the tribeless was the cave where Iris had been trapped for years. And sure enough, the tribeless were there. Fulgurite and Copper were off in the kingdom of the sand to gather some cactus for Tiger Eye while she was being supervised back at the hideout by Chestnut, much to his chagrin. When the tribeless saw Death PACT flying to them, they were a bit surprised that they needed them in such a short time.

"Already?" said Dandelion, surprised. "It's only been three days."

"Felt like forever to me," Vortex scoffed. Windseeker resisted the urge to disagree.

"Why are you here anyways?" Bluewing asked. "Do you finally have a plan?"

Before Windseeker or anyone else from Death PACT could answer, Pyro blurted, "Oh please do! It's been so frustrating with you all changing your plans over and over again!"

Blackdeath growled slightly. "Well, this time we're not. We finally have a new plan that is not changing anytime soon."

"I sure hope not," said Ebony. The rest of the tribeless agreed.

"Let him finish!" said Windseeker, her tail twitching impatiently. She really wanted to get this over and done with.

Blackdeath gave Windseeker a grateful look (which made Windseeker want to claw Blackdeath's face off, as he was such a terrible leader before all of this happened) and continued. "As I was saying, we have a new plan, but it's a risky one."

I hate risky plans! Windseeker thought, before reminding herself that pretty much every single plan they've thought of to stop Iris were all quite risky. But this one will be even more riskier. Especially if we're basically gathering a huge army.

Blackdeath explained the plan, which was quite simple yet, like Windseeker had thought before, risky. For the gathering-everyone part, she wasn't worried about that at all, but after that, when they all have to confront Iris, that part was quite worrying. If this plan failed, everything goes wrong and everyone dies because of Iris and Lightspeaker, it'll be all of Death PACT's fault, and only theirs. As Blackdeath continued explaining the plan to the tribeless, Windseeker glanced briefly at Albus, who had been much more quieter than usual ever since Lightspeaker had betrayed them. She couldn't blame him. He had to watch Lightspeaker leave the group and then kill Pinkstar, Periwinkle and then almost everyone at Jade Mountain the last time they were there. If this plan failed and Lightspeaker didn't make it, poor Albus would be devastated.

"Are you serious?!" Bluewing burst out once Blackdeath had finished explaining the plan. "That's a literal suicide mission!"

"Well, it's not like we have any other choice," said Blueberry, shrugging.

"We can't stay and fight!" Ashclaw protested. "Didn't you see what Iris and Lightspeaker did to everyone back at Jade Mountain?!"

"Well, yeah," said Evergreen. "But we can't just let Iris keep doing this to other dragons either! Think about it, she'll be looking for all of you most of all. Especially you, Vortex. If she finally kills anyone who gets in her way, then she'll turn on all of you! You wouldn't want that, would you?"

The tribeless fell silent for a moment. The silence was broken when Ebony sighed reluctantly. "Alright, Evergreen. We're with you and Death PACT."

Evergreen dipped his head politely. "Thank you, Ebony. And I'm sure the others are in for it too?"

There were varied murmurs within the tribeless dragons.

"Yeah yeah, we're in too."

"It's never going to work, but it's worth a shot I guess."

"Anything to get rid of Iris once and for all!"

"This'll be close enough to get my revenge on Iris for what she did to Garnet."

When the tribeless died down, Windseeker couldn't help but smirk, impressed, and so was the rest of Death PACT. "You did it, Evergreen," Nightshade complimented. "You convinced them."

"And I totally thought you could do it!" Beluga cheered, the 'totally' not sounding sincere, but Windseeker didn't point that out. Evergreen needed motivation. Especially now, when Iris seems unstoppable. She hated discouraging dragons, especially someone like Evergreen.

"Alright, now who's next?" Windseeker asked Evergreen.

"We've done the tribeless. Now we need to get to the Dragonets of Destiny."

Shrike raised her eyebrows. "How? Some of them are being controlled by Iris, remember?"

"Then we'll find someone who isn't."

---

"Queen Thorn? Are you sure?" Windseeker asked.

"Very sure," said Evergreen. Death PACT were all flying to Thorn's stronghold in the desert, and though Windseeker hated flying through harsh conditions like this one, they apparently had no choice. Also, either Fulgurite and Copper were already there, or they had left the desert because they already got what they need.

Albus was complaining the whole way. "Ugh, it's soooo hot, I feel like I'm gonna be boiled alive!"

Windseeker groaned. "I know Albus, but we have to keep flying, so stop complaining! I hate it!"

That was enough to silence Albus for the whole trip. Soon enough, after flying through the scorching desert for what seemed like hours, they finally arrived to the sandwing stronghold. Windseeker had never seen the stronghold in person before, and was a lot bigger than she had expected. Suddenly, a sandwing guard flew from over the wall and looked down at the Death PACTers warily.

"Stop! Who goes there?"

"We have a message for Queen Thorn!" Evergreen shouted as loud as he could so the sandwing guard could hear. "It's very urgent!"

The sandwing narrowed their eyes at him for a moment and then flew back into the stronghold. A few minutes later, the door slid open and three intimidating sandwing guards. "We don't get visitors from so many other tribes that often," said the head guard. He chuckled. "Her majesty would be quite pleased to see you all together."

Evergreen smiled pleasantly. "Six-Claws. How nice to see you." Windseeker looked down at Six-Claws' talons and realised that he really did have six claws. Oh three moons, how could I forget? I hate forgeting stuff! This was the Six-Claws, who was the Head of Guard for Queen Thorn and has a daughter that goes to JMA. Windseeker had heard about him, but never really believed he actually did have six claws until now.

"We need to talk to Queen Thorn," said Blackdeath. "It's very urgent."

"If it's that urgent, then I suppose you can talk to her as soon as possible," said Six-Claws. He gestured for Death PACT to follow them into the stronghold. The first room they entered was the courtyard, which was occupied by rooms and towers. Windseeker had never been inside the stronghold before and it was bigger than she expected, though she told herself not to be surprised. It is where the sandwing queen lives after all. Eventually, they arrived at a white tent near a large oasis that had pale pink and yellow lilies floating on the surface of the water. The other two sandwing guards stepped aside as Six-Claws poked his head inside the tent.

A minute later, Queen Thorn stepped out of the tent. She was wearing the Eye of Onyx as always, and seemed to radiate a queenly aura, which made Windseeker have the urge to bow in her presence, which Evergreen did.

Evergreen stood back up. "Your majesty," he addressed. "I am Evergreen and my group, Death PACT and I, have come with a warning."

"A very urgent warning!" Albus burst out before earning a glare from Blackdeath to silence him.

"You may continue, Evergreen," Thorn offered.

"Jade Mountain has been taken over by a dragon who wants nothing more than to steal everyone's powers, and taken control of almost everyone who goes to Jade Mountain Academy..."

"Including Sunny and the Dragonets of Destiny," Blueberry added, but she might as well just dropped a dragonflame cactus into the stronghold.

"WHAT?!" Thorn and almost all the sandwings shouted simultaneously.

Smolder popped his head out of the tent. "What do you mean Sunny and the Dragonets of Destiny are taken control of?!" he roared in disbelief. Soon, the entire stronghold watching murmured to each other, some of them casting wary looks at Death PACT.

Shrike glared at Blueberry. "Really, Blueberry?"

Blueberry shrugged unapologetically. "What? I had to tell them. It was the only way to actually get them to help us." Windseeker had to admit that Blueberry had a point there. She didn't know Queen Thorn that well, but Sunny was her daughter, and she knew that as her mother, Thorn, would do anything to rescue her, her friends and the school. It made sense why Evergreen decided to go to Thorn after the tribeless.

"QUIET!" Six-Claws roared. "Let Thorn speak!"

Everyone fell silent as Thorn spoke, her voice booming across the stronghold. "I haven't forgotten what my daughter and her friends did to end the War of Sandwing Succession and save us all. I think it's time we repay the debt." She turned to Death PACT and bowed her head. "Evergreen, you have my word. We will help you stop this new threat once and for all."

Evergreen bowed back. "Thank you, your majesty. You have no idea how much this means to us. Hopefully the other tribes will help too, if they approve so."

The queen of the sandwings nodded. "I'll host a queens meeting at midday and see if any of the other queens will help us."

"Great. See you and hopefully the other tribes at dusk," said Evergreen.

Chapter Text

Windseeker's POV

Windseeker wasn't sure what to expect once she and Death PACT arrived at Jade Mountain. A lot of dragons from all the tribes were there already, meaning that Thorn had successfully convinced the other queens to let their tribes come to stop Iris. However, some members of the tribes weren't exactly willing to go, so they stayed behind. But what Windseeker didn't expect that Iris was in the Great Hall already, in the middle of a large drawn white circle in the middle of the Great Hall. The tribes who came were standing outside of the circle.

"Oh, three moons," Nightshade gasped. "Iris has been expecting us!'

"You think?" Windseeker growled back.

Death PACT landed in the circle as the crowd outside of it murmured to each other. They heard things like, "What are they doing here?", "Why are they in the circle?" and "What does Iris have to do with them?".

"Silence!" Iris roared and the crowd went silent like she said. She turned to Death PACT, to Evergreen and Blackdeath particularly. "You must be Death PACT. I obviously knew you were coming thanks to a certain student here..." (Hint: Canon WOF character)

Before Windseeker could try to figure out who Iris was talking about, Blackdeath responded. "What do you want from us, Iris? We don't have animus magic."

Iris rolled her eyes. "Oh, I know. But ever since I caught this driftwing over there," she glanced at Windseeker, who felt as though everyone's eyes were pinning her down. She hated being stared at. "You group of misfits have been such a thorn in my side for the past few days..."

Shrike had the audacity to scoff. "Yeah, but why wouldn't we be? You've been kidnapping and hurting innocent dragons just to see if they would be an animus!" She spread her red wings to gesture the crowd surrounding them. Some of them nodded and muttered in agreement, but some were shocked and horrified.

"I agree," said Blackdeath. "You already have this power! You shouldn't need to steal it from someone!"

Iris smiled sinisterly. "I do have this power, but not enough..."

What does that mean? Windseeker wondered worriedly (alliteration wooo). She could feel Gecko trying to cower behind her, and she gently wrapped one wing around him. Iris grabbed a nearby chain and yanked at it, revealing Lightspeaker who was wearing a metal leash with the chain.

"Lightspeaker!" Albus cried. He tried to run to her but Fulgurite pulled him back. "What are you doing to her?!" Windseeker demanded.

Iris yanked the chain again, making Lightspeaker collapse onto the floor. "This lightwing has been really useful to me. Carrying out my deeds and killing traitors for me. But she started getting a mind of her own. Refusing to do what I say. So obviously I'm not gonna keep her anymore."

Iris flicked her tail, and the magic stealing dagger flew out of her cloak and aimed straight toward Lightspeaker's heart. Albus escaped from Fulgurite's grip and with a roar, he lunged at the dagger, grabbing it and trying to pin it to the floor. Some of the dragons outside the circle (including the tribeless) tried to intervene, but there was some kind of magical forcefield around the circle that stunned whoever tried to enter it. We're trapped here.

"STOP!" Albus roared at Iris. "I won't let you hurt her!"

"And who's gonna stop me? You?" Iris scoffed.

"Yes," Albus answered. Evergreen stepped forward. "And us."

Iris' mouth curved into a snarl. "Try me, misfits."

Windseeker curved into a ball and like an armadillo, she rolled herself to Iris, who flew out of the way just in time and Windseeker uncurled herself and skidded into a stop. Shrike breathed a burst of fire at Iris, scorching the tip of her tail and making her screech in pain. Iris took to the air and then dived down at Shrike, but Nightshade slashed her talons across Iris' side, narrowly missing but close enough to leave thin bleeding lines on her purplish blue scales. Iris' dagger yanked itself free from Albus' talons and was flying in zigzags across Death PACT, trying to figure out who to stab first.

To Windseeker's dismay, the dagger flew to Evergreen and sliced through one of his brown wing membranes. Evergreen roared with pure horror and backed away into a corner of the circle (CIRCLES DON'T EVEN HAVE CORNERS WHAT) while Windseeker breathed fire aimed at Iris, but Iris used her magic to redirect the fire to Beluga. But she darted out of the way just in time and breathed frostbreath at Iris, who dodged. Fulgurite leaped at Iris from behind, but an enchanted stalactite turned into a rope and seized Fulgurite by the waist and retracted, pinning him to the ceiling. The magic-stealing dagger was pointed at Nightshade's throat while Blackdeath was trying to redirect it, and Blueberry, Shrike and Beluga were still battling Iris. Lightspeaker was still lying on the floor, the chain leash still on her while Albus was next to her, trying to take it off. Windseeker couldn't seem to find Gecko, but if she had to guess, he would be camouflaged.

As she glanced up at Iris, Windseeker realised, We outnumber her, but she overpowers us. Ugh, I hate being overpowered! What do we do now?

She looked around at the crowd outside the circle, an idea popping into her head. This is gonna be the stupidest thing I've ever done, but here goes nothing... Windseeker closed her eyes and leaped outside the circle, feeling the shock pulse through her body and she thought she might faint, but her talons eventually found the ground outside the circle. The dragons surrounding her were staring at her, but she wasn't worried about that. She had to find the tribeless. Windseeker pushed through the crowd and scanned for any dragon that didn't look like they were from any particular tribe. Soon enough, she found a tribeless dragon with deep blue scales next to another tribeless dragon who had bright yellow scales.

"Vortex! Dandelion!" Windseeker cried out. The two dragons faced toward her, surprise evident on their faces. "You think you two can disable the forcefield?"

Dandelion's surprised expression became full of even more disbelief. "But if we do that, everyone will come rushing in! It'll be too overwhelming!"

"I don't care!" Windseeker didn't have time to argue. "You think you could get another dragon in the field to help us stop Iris? We're being overpowered there!" She gestured to the circle where Death PACT was clearly losing the fight against Iris. "You want to stop Iris right? This might be our only choice right now, other than get killed by Iris, which I would hate."

Vortex growled. "Fine! Whatever..." And so, he and Dandelion darted off into the crowd. Windseeker looked back and from what she saw, there was no way Death PACT was going to win this fight against Iris. We can't lose anyone else, Windseeker fretted. We just can't. Oh great, now she was beginning to sound like Albus. Windseeker heard a roar from the circle which drew her attention back to the fighting. Iris had slashed Albus' gills with the enchanted dagger, which was now dripping with red blood. Windseeker couldn't stop herself from screaming at Iris, "I hate you! Don't hurt my friends!"

Beluga gasped, momentarily distracted. "Friends... she called us our friends! Did you hear that? Windseeker-"

Beluga was interrupted when Iris lunged at her, pinning her down and slashing her throat. "NO!" Albus shrieked. As Iris let go of Beluga, who was bleeding blue blood from the gashes on her throat, Albus rushed to her side, trying to cover up the bleeding. Vortex, Dandelion... hurry up! We're losing here!

Gecko's scales suddenly shifted from the brown-grey colours of the rock walls to dark red and shot black venom from his fangs, which caught on one of Iris' wings and made two small holes. She roared and whipped around, finding Gecko, but just before she could lunge at him, the rock ceiling collapsed as a hole was made, and there was a flash of orange and black as a dragon came crashing down on Iris. The two dragons wrestled for a bit until Iris stopped struggling under the other dragon's grip.

It was Tiger Eye.

"You-" Evergreen stammered. "You recovered?"

Tiger Eye nodded. "I heard about what was happening and two of the tribeless said that you guys need my help. And here I am." She looked down at Iris, who was baring her teeth in an angry snarl. Tiger Eye lifted up a talon, ready to slice Iris' throat out and kill her, once and for all. "This is for all the trouble and torture you've caused me and so many other dragons."

And Tiger Eye did it. But not without a cost.

Just after Tiger Eye slashed the back of Iris neck as hard as she could, Iris' enchanted dagger flew from her talons and stabbed Tiger Eye straight in the chest, burying itself to the hilt before yanking itself out and clattering onto the floor, now powerless.

And, with a heavy finality, both dragons collapsed onto the floor, dead.

Chapter Text

Windseeker's POV

A few days had passed and Windseeker could still hardly believe it. Iris was gone. Finally gone, after many years of being trapped, only to escape and hurt innocent dragons to steal their magic, if they had any of course. But though she was finally dead, there was to be no celebration, as almost half of the dragons who attended Jade Mountain Academy were dead. Everyone was back to normal now, as when Iris died, so did her spells on the dragons and her dagger, as it was enchanted to obey only her.

There were so many victims: Pinkstar, Periwinkle, Fallow, half of the dragons at Jade Mountain Academy, but most of all, Tiger Eye.

The hybrid was a hero. Tiger Eye had lost her life to save not just Death PACT, the tribeless, or even just the academy, but to save all dragons across Pyrrhia and even Pantala. Thanks to her, no one would be ever harmed by Iris again. And Windseeker didn't admit it, but she wished she could've known Tiger Eye better, to see and realise what a kind, selfless and brave dragon she was. Oh, look at me; the hateful dragon, wanting to know someone better even though they're already dead. Call her a sap, Windseeker didn't care. They were all going to be okay from now on.

Well, some of them.

The road to stopping Iris did not come without a few casualties. Some of the dragons who weren't involved in Iris' plans and crimes had a few minor injuries, nothing too severe. However, some of Death PACT wasn't so lucky. Beluga, who had been severely injured during the fight with Iris, was at death's door and one of Evergreen's wings were ripped, meaning that he would never be able to fly again. Lightspeaker was mightily exhausted from everything Iris had made her do as an animus. Dandelion had enchanted Lightspeaker to go back to the way she was, without animus magic. After she had been stripped of her granted magic and returned to normal, she had collapsed onto the floor, and Albus freaked out, thinking Lightspeaker was dead. it took a while for the Death PACTers to calm him down and tell him that she just needed to rest. But Albus wasn't convinced.

The other Death PACTers, including Windseeker were mostly in good shape, other than a few minor injuries. The Dragonets of Destiny let Death PACT stay in Jade Mountain for as long as they needed to, and were also attempting to offer new dragonets a place in the academy, as so many of them were killed by Iris. But Windseeker wouldn't get her hopes up about that. Pretty much all of Pyrrhia had heard about what happened, and they probably wouldn't send their students there if they would get killed easily. Whatever; that wasn't what Windseeker was worried about. Right now, all she could think about was her group. Would they survive? Would she ever forgive Lightspeaker for what she did to betray us?

The last thought stood out particularly in her mind. Though Lightspeaker had been neglected by Blackdeath, that was no excuse for her to try and kill one of them. Let alone betray them. Stupid Lightspeaker. I can yell at her later when she wakes up.

She entered the infirmary cave, Blackdeath and Albus already in the cave. Lightspeaker, Beluga and Evergreen were in seperate beds. Evergreen was already awake, but the other two dragons were still unconscious. Albus, who had his head buried in Lightspeaker's chest, looked up at Windseeker, his blue eyes bloodshot and dark circles prominent underneath them. Blackdeath had a wing wrapped around him.

Windseeker went to Evergreen's bed and touched snouts with him. "You're awake," she said softly.

Evergreen pulled back, letting out a weak yet genuine chuckle. "Of course I am. One broken wing isn't enough to take me out for good."

Windseeker sighed. "I'm sorry you had to end up like this. I'd hate to-"

"Hey, it's okay," Evergreen reassured. "I'm alive, aren't I?"

That's true, Windseeker thought. I hate being ungrateful! Three moons!

Windseeker looked at Blackdeath. "How are they?"

Blackdeath shrugged ruefully. "Lightspeaker's still exhausted as ever and Beluga's not waking up, but she's still breathing."

"Barely," Albus choked out, laying his head back down on Lightspeaker's shoulder and closing his eyes.

"You should rest, Albus," said Evergreen, looking at him. "You've been by Lightspeaker's side for what seems like forever."

"B-but..." Albus stammered. "But what about Lightspeaker?"

"She'll wake up in her own time," said Blackdeath.

Evergreen nodded in agreement. "She will. In the meantime, you should get some sleep."

Albus clenched his jaw, wanting to argue back before sighing. "Fine, but I'll still stay with Lightspeaker."

Albus dragged his wings on the floor as he made his way to one of the empty beds nearest to Lightspeaker. He flopped onto it and lay down on his side, sighing as he closed his eyes. Soon, his chest was rising and falling rhythmically, a sign that he was finally getting the sleep he needed.

Evergreen sighed pitifully. "Poor Albus. He has really been taking this hard, hasn't he?"

"Who wouldn't?" said Blackdeath, and Windseeker agreed. There was a rustle from one of the occupied beds and they realised that Beluga had finally woken up. She had bandages wrapped around her throat just below the jaw, and there was a bandage wrapped around her tail as well. Beluga's blue eyes were a bit cloudy, though they still had a tiny bit of that characteristic cheerfulness and optimism as she had always have before.

"Guys?" Beluga choked out before wincing and clutching her throat.

"Beluga! Thank the trees!" Evergreen cried. "Are you okay?"

Beluga nodded weakly, her face a grimace. Seeing how much pain she was in, Blackdeath gently laid Beluga back down. "Shh, don't talk. Just rest. Iris put a lot of strain on you."

"Speaking of Iris," Windseeker chimed in. "She's dead now. We're safe, Beluga."

Beluga, who was now laying down again, sighed in what was clearly relief, before getting a coughing fit, her body heaving. Windseeker quickly glanced at Albus, who was still asleep, completely oblivious. "Don't argue with me, Beluga," Evergreen scolded from his bed. Windseeker tried to restrain an amused smile. Though Evergreen was injured, he was still a competent leader. "You had taken a huge beating from Iris a few days ago, and you need to rest to recover."

Beluga pouted, clearly wanting to argue, not that she could in her state. Talonsteps were heard from the entrance of the cave and Windseeker turned to see Shrike and Copper. "How are they?" Shrike asked.

"Beluga and Evergreen are awake," said Windseeker. "But Lightspeaker still isn't."

Shrike glanced worriedly at Lightspeaker, and then at Albus, and then at Beluga. Ugh, I hate this! When will Lightspeaker ever wake up? Windseeker took deep breaths, trying to keep her anger in. Whatever would happen next, if Lightspeaker ever wakes up, she just had to be patient. Not that she was that type of dragon, but it wouldn't hurt to at least try, right? As Shrike sat down next to Beluga, Copper wrapped a wing around his skywing mate.

Windseeker glanced at the sleeping Albus. Poor dragon. If Lightspeaker never wakes up, how would we handle this? How would we ever tell Albus that she's gone? It would destroy him, Windseeker buried her face in her talons. She hated feeling this hopeless. She looked back up at Lightspeaker. Right now, it didn't matter how mad she was at her right now. All that mattered was whether Lightspeaker would wake up. Oh, Lightspeaker. Please wake up so Albus will be back to his old self again. Please wake up soon. Please.

Chapter Text

Windseeker's POV

The three moons, two of them almost full and one of them a thin crescent, shone through the big hole at the top and was reflected on the lake. Windseeker lay down beside the lake, gazing at the stars. The underground lake was usually crowded with seawings but tonight, it was empty and for now, it was all just for her. Lightspeaker still hasn't woken up, making all the Death PACTers really worried, especially Blackdeath and Albus. Windseeker heard talonsteps behind her, and she sat up and turned to find Beluga, who was a bit unsteady on her feet, but was able to walk nonetheless. She still had bandages wrapped around her throat. According to the healers, Beluga wouldn't be able to talk full sentences. She could still say a few words though. But Windseeker hoped it wasn't permanent. Oh, what am I thinking. Of course it's gonna be permanent. Iris did a lot of damage to her throat.

"Beluga? What are you doing up so late?"

Beluga didn't say a word as she lay down next to her. Windseeker sighed. "Are you okay, Beluga?"

Beluga just gestured to her bandaged throat and shook her head. "You're... worried that you might never be able to talk again?" Windseeker guessed.

Beluga nodded briefly, looking at Windseeker with sad, puppy dog eyes. Oh Beluga, I'm so sorry. There was still a part of Windseeker that hoped Beluga would regain her voice fully, but only time would tell, she guessed. Windseeker would hate to lose her own voice. How would she be able to voice her own displeasures?

"I'm scared," said Beluga, her once clear voice now hoarse from her scarred vocal cords.

"I know, I hate being scared too," said Windseeker. "But things will get better."

She didn't say "I promise" because what if it didn't? She wished she could be more like Beluga; endlessly cheerful and optimistic despite going through stuff.

"Guys?"

Blueberry voice was heard from the entrance of the cave, and both female dragons sat up and faced Blueberry. "Lightspeaker's awake. Took her long enough."

She's awake? Oh, finally! Windseeker and Beluga followed Blueberry through many tunnels which felt like a maze and they finally arrived at the infirmary cave. All of Death PACT were already gathered there, as well as Lightspeaker, who was indeed awake. Blackdeath and Lightspeaker were talking to each other, but Windseeker couldn't tell what emotion was on their faces right now.

"I'm glad to see you're okay, Lightspeaker," said Blackdeath.

Lightspeaker snorted incredulously. "No thanks to you."

Blackdeath looked down on the floor before looking up against to meet Lightspeaker's eyes. "Lightspeaker... I owe you an apology. Clearly I've neglected you for too long."

"You think?" Albus spat before getting lightly whacked on the tail by Evergreen.

Blackdeath continued. "I know you have your reasons for being... having a short temper, like Windseeker-"

"Hey!" Windseeker burst out. I've been working on it! she silently added.

Blackdeath ignored her. "But I just want to say sorry for not... treating you as a valuable member of our group. You don't have to forgive me if you don't want to, but you are welcome back into our group."

Lightspeaker blinked. "Oh, well, I... don't know if I want to go back."

"W-what are you saying?" said Albus. "Are you... leaving?"

Lightspeaker nodded. Windseeker couldn't stop herself from snarling at her, "Good riddance, traitor. Just because you were neglected by Blackdeath, doesn't give you the right to betray us and try to kill anyone who's in your way. We'll never allow murderers like you to live among us. It's your fault almost everyone's dead, and I hate it."

Lightspeaker flinched and all of Death PACT stared incredulously at Windseeker. "Don't you dare speak to her like that, Windseeker," Albus snarled back at her, sounding genuinely angry, which was rare for him. "She had gone through a lot more than you ever have. What is wrong with you?!"

Lightspeaker grabbed Albus by the shoulder and pulled him back before he could lunged at Windseeker. "It's alright, Albus. She has every right to be mad at me. They all do."

Windseeker snorted. "Oh, you bet I am." She had no idea how long she would stay mad at Lightspeaker, but right now, she did not want to see her face. She needed to be away from her to process all of this. "Now leave. I don't want to see your face right now."

"Windseeker..." Shrike glared at Windseeker, but she ignored her.

"Please, Lightspeaker," begged Albus. "If you're leaving, at least let me come with you."

Lightspeaker stared at him, conflicted. Gecko grabbed Albus' tail desperately. "Nooo, don't go Albus!" he whined, and Windseeker resisted the urge to roll her eyes at how pitiful he seemed. Albus wriggled his tail from Gecko's grip. "I'm sorry, Gecko," he apologised before helping Beluga help Lightspeaker to her feet.

"Can I come?" Beluga asked Lightspeaker and Albus, who looked at each other briefly before nodding back at Beluga.

"B-Beluga, you can't be serious about this!" Evergreen stammered.

Beluga nodded firmly. Would she still be able to survive by herself when she's still injured? Windseeker hoped so. But she wasn't alone. She had Albus and Lightspeaker by her side. The trio were about to take off through the window when Albus looked back. "Guys, I'm so sorry. I wish-"

"Me too," said Evergreen. "I hope we see each other again."

"Good luck out there," said Blackdeath.

Death PACT watched as the trio took off through the window. Once they were nothing but dots in the light of the new dawn, Fulgurite asked, "So, to clarify, what do we do now?"

"Well, that's three more members down," said Windseeker. "I hate losing so many members!"

"It's not your choice if they stay or not," said Blueberry.

"We should head back to our hideout," announced Evergreen. "We've been here at Jade Mountain long enough, and it looks like everyone's recovered."

"Yay! We can go home now!" Gecko cheered.

Evergreen smirked. "We can. Now come on, Death PACT. Let's head home."

And with that, Death PACT left the infirmary and out of Jade Mountain, heading back to their hideout. Though they were a bit low in numbers, Windseeker had an unfamiliar feeling inside her that from now on, even with their own scars from the battle, they were all going to be okay.

Chapter Text

Jade's POV

Jade stood in front of the memorial that was placed inside the mourning cave. The sunlight shone through the large opening in the cave, and the sunbeams seemed to illuminate the stone memorial that was engraved with the names who had fallen victim to Iris and the formerly insane Lightspeaker. The list was quite long, because a lot of students were killed by Iris and Lightspeaker, followed by Pinkstar, Periwinkle, Fallow and Tiger Eye. Speaking of Tiger Eye, she was the last victim, as well as being known as the hero who saved everyone by killing Iris before dying herself. Of course, all the other death's weren't overshadowed, but Tiger Eye's name was at the top of the memorial, which showed her importance.

And Jade saw a particular name that stood out to them in particular: Periwinkle.

The kind silkwing was the first dragon from Death PACT who interacted with Jade, other than the leaders of Death PACT of course. Jade had realised that they and Periwinkle had a lot more in common than it seemed. They were like birds of a feather. But there was just one secret between them.

Jade loved Periwinkle. But now, it was too late for them to tell her.

Would she have felt the same way? Jade would find themself constantly wondering. And it also hadn't occurred to them that their grief was very very obvious to others. Especially to the rest of the tribeless. Vortex hadn't gone through exactly... sympathetic measures to get them out of Periwinkle's room after she died. But they didn't blame him.

"Hey there, Jade," said a signature raspy voice that belonged to Ashclaw. "You've been standing there for a while. Wanna come down to the prey centre to eat with the rest of us?"

Not turning to face Ashclaw who, though he was a reliable source for comfort, Jade did not want to see right now. They could talk to them later. "I'll just stay here for a bit longer. I'll come soon, I promise."

There was a brief pause before Ashclaw sighed. "Alright. Take your time, Jade."

As Ashclaw left the room, Jade gently traced their talons over Periwinkle's name engraved in stone. Oh Periwinkle, if only you were here now. I'm so sorry I never got to tell you that I loved you. I wish I did, even if I was scared you wouldn't feel the same way. Jade took a deep breath. They took most of their time to mourn, but they also got to look to the future. The past was now in the past. Of course, they would always love Periwinkle, but she wouldn't want them to rot in bed like they did before Iris' death. She'd want them to be happy and live their best life as well as always remembering her.

Jade stood up and exited the mourning cave, heading down to the prey centre where the rest of the tribeless were. The Dragonets of Destiny offered them to stay here at Jade Mountain for as long as they all needed to. Death PACT had already left they heard, and the DOD were still trying to enrol students, meaning that the academy was mostly empty.

Jade could grieve more later. Right now, their own future awaited them.