== Animae Adrift- A WOF AU===[]
AU notes:
1.After Darkstalker vanished, all the dragon tribes on Pyrrhia (Pantala isn't in this story yet) decided that animae were too dangerous, and began to follow the example of the SkyWings. From then on, if any animae (yes that is the correct spelling) were born, they were murdered. A queer IceWing named Frigid protested the new practice, and the SeaWings and NightWings teamed up to fight it as well. But eventually, every tribe on the continent accepted the new practice, and a animus has not been sighted in a long time.
2. Asha survived her wounds, and Webs managed to find Glory and an IceWing egg. The ToP kept them both.
3. Glory was born with a damaged wing, and some of the character's personalities are different.
=== Prologue ===[]
Kestrel and Dune watched the the eggs. The brown egg had a crack running across its surface already. Dune shifted awkwardly back and forth. "Webs said he'd be here right now."
Kestrel scratched at the ground with her claws. "Anything could have happened. You know Webs, he's probably..." The cave door flung open. Webs walked in slowly. He was gasping, and a scratch on his leg was bleeding. In his arms were two eggs, an IceWing and a RainWing. Kestrel and Dune were too stressed and worried to care.
"What took you so long? And what's with the two eggs?" Dune asked him.
"I got caught taking the IceWing. And as for your other question, I had an opportunity to take an extra from the RainWings." Kestrel opened her mouth, but Webs held up his front talons. "We might need it. The IceWing is royal as well. If either it or the SeaWing turn out to be animae, I'm not sure how long we can cover that up. We will at least have a backup, whatever happens. And really, what does Morrowseer have to complain about? An extra dragonet is probably a dream come true, especially if he doesn't approve of the RainWing." Kestrel and Dune nodded slowly. "Look, the brown one is hatching." Kestrel said. Webs turned over to look at it, just as it broke in two. Sitting in the nest was a tiny brown dragonet. It gurgled.
"Aw... It's actually pretty cu-" Dune said. Suddenly the brown dragonet lunged at the blue egg, which broke open with a crack. Kestrel grabbed the squirming MudWing, and the blue dragonet snuggled back into its shattered egg. "What's wrong with it?" Dune asked.
"Nothing." said Webs. "Something set it off, let's just try to calm it down." All the eggs were cracked by now, and a couple were even beginning to emerge from their eggs. The brown dragonet leaped out of Kestrel's arms and bit down hard on one of the eggs...
Part One[]
Chapter One[]
Clay had been thrown into the river again. Kestrel always threw him into the river, and he would wake up cold and soaked. His bones ached as he stood up slowly. Above the water, a silver snout appeared and its owner lifted Clay out of the water. Clay breathed a sigh of relief. It was Peak, the IceWing dragonet. He smiled at Clay. "Was it Kestrel again?"
Clay nodded. "It's always her. Thanks for helping me, I know it's a hassle.." Peak put a claw over his mouth.
"Clay, you are never a hassle to me. Ever. Got that?" Clay nodded.
"Thanks, Peak. But we better get back to the reading cave or else Starflight will go ballistic."
Peak laughed. "Alright, goober. Let's go."
When the two of them arrived at the reading cave, Starflight was sitting on a rock spire waiting for them. Everyone else was already there except Glory. He nodded at them as they entered. "Good, you're here. Now we're just waiting on Glory." At that moment Glory walked in.
"Sorry I'm late, Asha kept me.." Starflight glared at her. She stopped abruptly and sat down. Starflight began to read.
Clay's head drooped onto his shoulder more than once, but every time Peak would quickly squeeze his hand so he woke up again. Clay listened for as long as he could, but the next thing he knew, Asha was gently shaking him. "Clay? Kestrel's got an announcement for all of you."
Clay trudged into the main cave, where everyone was already sitting down. "Oh good, now everyone's here." Kestrel said. "Alright, so today, we're having an animus test. As you all know, animae normally are killed before they can say their first word. But our situation is a bit different. If any of you turn out to be animae-" Was it Clay's imagination, or did her gaze linger on Tsunami and Peak a bit longer than everyone else? "Well, we live underground, so it's quite likely we could conceal you for a bit longer than usual. But on one condition..." Dune suddenly interrupted her.
"But that isn't important. Here's how the test will work. You will be given a pebble in front of you. You will have to command that pebble to float above your head. If it floats, you're an animus.
Peak snorted. "Like we didn't already know that." Dune glared at him.
"Anyway, who would like to go first?" Dune held up a pebble.
Glory walked to him. Her injured, lime green wing dragged on the ground as she walked. Clay wouldn't admit it, but he secretly really looked up to Glory. Her whole life, she had to struggle because of her injured wing. And now that he thought about it, it made sense. The RainWings hadn't had an animus in a long time. Kestrel snorted, but called her up.
Glory picked up a pebble off the ground, and said carefully, "Pebble, I command you to float above my head." The pebble didn't move.
Kestrel clapped. "You can leave now."
Webs nodded. "And there's a meal for you waiting in the dining hall." He smiled warmly.
Glory dashed off, and Starflight stepped up to take her place, fidgeting a bit.
At this point, Clay began to doze off, but woke up when he saw Tsunami choosing her pebble. Starflight was gone from the hall. Tsunami looked at her pebble, and said: "Pebble, float above my head." The pebble did not move.
"Clay?" said Asha. Clay nodded, and walked up towards Dune, who smiled in a almost endearing way at him. He picked up his pebble, and took a deep breath. "Pebble, I command you to float above my head." The pebble did not move in the slightest, and he almost fell over with relief. Webs jerked his head a little, and Clay realized he was supposed to leave now. "Oh, could I just stay and watch?"
Webs turned to the others. Kestrel waved her talons aimlessly, and Dune shook his head, but Asha chuckled. "Aw, let the kid stay and watch. What harm could it be?"
Tsunami piped up. "Could I stay too?" Webs groaned, but nodded.
Next was Peak. This was what he was really worried about. He crossed his talons, and Tsunami gave him a confident look. He smiled at her and she turned away.
Peak stepped up, a worried look in his grayish-white eyes. He picked up his pebble, and Clay noticed something. Tsunami's long neck was stretched out, and her eyes were screwed up in concentration. Clay leaned closer, and realized she was muttering something under her breath.
He caught the word Peak, and the word animus...
Was she...
Was she enchanting Peak?
Chapter 2[]
Clay reared back, stunned, as Tsunami finished her chant. She leaned back, and seemed to realize that Clay had heard her. Her eyes widened and she moved a little closer to him. "I swear it's not what it-" Clay ignored her and continued to watch Peak's trial. He was now even more nervous than before. Peak looked nervous too.
He nodded at Asha, looked at the stone, and said, clearly and somewhat nervously, "Stone, I command you to float above my head." The stone didn't move an inch.
Clay breathed again. Whatever Tsunami had tried to do, it hadn't worked. And now.Peak was staring at the stone with something like... confusion? He seemed surprised.
Dune looked at the remaining dragonets. "Sunny? Please come forward."
She walked to the pebble, looking a bit nervous. "Stone, I command you to float above my head." The stone floated above Sunny's head.
For a second, all was silence. And then it broke into a huge bout of cheering. Kestrel turned to Webs. "We did it! We found one!" Sunny stood in the middle of it all, looking confused and worried.
Tsunami grabbed Clay's hand and pulled gently. "Hey, buddy. We need to talk outside." Clay nodded, and let her lead him into the next room, where all the others were already standing.
"Don't you see?" Peak was roaring at Starflight. "They're going to weaponize her, and there's nothing we can do about it!"
"We could escape." said a bored voice on their left. Glory was lying down against the stone cave wall and seemed to be half-asleep. "Get her out of here and not give the dumb Talons a chance to hurt her."
"H-how do we know they're going to hurt her?" Starflight sputtered. "I see no reason to believe that is the case!"
Clay interjected hurriedly. "What are we talking about?"
Peak walked over to Clay, and put a hand on his shoulder. "We were just talking about Sunny and how we're worried about what is going to happen to her."
Clay looked confused, so Tsunami filled in the blanks: "We're all worried that the Talons will use her as a weapon to fulfill the prophecy."
"Like I said, we kind of have to escape." Glory yawned.
"No, we don't!" Starflight told her. "They haven't done-"
Peak glared at him, and Starflight shut his mouth.
"It's just common sense. That's what I'd do- no offense Sunny." Peak said. Sunny had just entered the room.
"Don't worry about it. I just feel a bit lost right now, that's all." Sunny said quietly.
"I honestly can't blame you." Peak said. "We'll figure this out, okay?"
Starflight nodded shakily. "Being an animus is kinda cool."
"You think?" The SandWing stared at him. "Even with all the losing your soul stuff?"
"Okay, hold on. All of this is irrelevant anyway. We're not letting the Talons use Sunny, and we're definitely not letting her damage her soul." Peak shook his head furiously, and his spikes rattled.
"It would be better if she never had to use her magic at all." Starflight responded.
Clay saw Tsunami slide away into a dark corner of the room, away from the conversation. She locked eyes with Clay and sighed cryptically.
"What's her deal?" Glory whispered to him. "She's been acting strange for the past few months, don't you think?"
Suddenly, Kestrel and Webs came out of the back room. The SkyWing scanned the dragonets when she entered in a strange way, almost like she was nervous.
Webs pointed at Sunny fiercely, "SandWing, come with us. It's time for your animus training."
"You better keep her safe." Peak said, eyeing the SeaWing with distaste. Webs had always been slightly frosty towards the dragonets, but he hated the IceWing especially. And Peak hated him right back.
"The SandWing, and more importantly her soul, will be in no danger." Webs said.
"Is that all you care about?" Peak hissed.
"Watch your tongue." Webs grabbed Sunny roughly and pulled her back into one of the rooms.
Clay wasn't particularly worried. Dune and Kestrel were far nicer than Webs, so Sunny should be alright.
"What's going on?" Asha emerged from the makeshift library she had built herself. It had been incredibly time-consuming to hack out of the mountain, but Asha insisted. It was filled with dozens and dozens of scrolls, most relating to the prophecy in some way. Starflight spent quite a lot in the library, so much in fact that Asha had taken him on as a sort of accomplice. Starflight appeared to think of the MudWing almost like the mother he never had.
"Well, Sunny's an animus..." Peak said.
Asha's expression turned stormy. "Well, I can't say I'm surprised."
"WHAT?" Starflight jumped a mile. "You knew?"
"Not exactly... but the Talons were pretty explicit that one of you dragonets was an animus." She covered her mouth. "Oops. I probably wasn't supposed to say that."
"I doubt it." Glory raised her elegant green head and sniffed at the air. "Can you guys smell that? Coming from where Webs is torturing Sunny."
Starflight raised his nose as well. "Oh yeah! Come on, let's go see what's going on!" He dashed away.
"Wait, I don't think we're supposed to-" Peak said. But Starflight was already off. NightWings have excellent senses of smell, so whatever it was must have really excited him. Clay thought.
Everyone other than Tsunami followed Starflight. The SeaWing gloomily sat in the corner and huffed. She beckoned Clay away and he left her alone.
In the room where the alleged smell was coming from, there was a bunch of... cows?
"Huh?" Peak looked shocked. "COWS?"
"Excellent job, SandWing." Webs said. "Five cows exactly as we commanded you."
"But... what about my soul?" Sunny asked.
"Never mind that." Webs said. "We're not going to let you use it enough to turn evil."
Kestrel and Dune were also there, looking unhappy with what Webs was doing but not stopping him. Kestrel noticed the dragonets and beckoned them over. "What are you doing?"
"I smelled cows...." Starflight said sheepishly.
The SkyWing guardian rubbed her temples. "Fine, just don't interfere with Webs's work. What he's doing is important, got it?"
"Weaponizing Sunny? Maybe for him it's important." Peak rolled his eyes and his spikes clattered.
"Shush." Dune said, looking alarmed. "With Sunny's magic, Webs will stop the war forever and all the bloodshed will end. There's no other way. But that means you can't question his orders. I know he's grumpy, but he really does care about you all. Once we've stopped the war, we can return you all to your families."
"Once you're done using us, you mean." Peak said.
"For what?" The SandWing growled. "Our goal has always been the same- we want to stop the war and return peace to Pyrrhia. If you dragonets wouldn't question us every step of the way it would be a lot easier."
"Fine." Peak sighed. His defiance seemed to cool and his tense shoulders relaxed. "So, why is Webs making Sunny create a bunch of cows?"
"To test her endurance." Kestrel interjected. "To see what her limits are. It might sound cruel, but it's all for the sake of the prophecy." She turned away again and watched as Sunny summoned more animals, a couple of large pigs this time. The main hall was starting to get crowded.
Asha came in, looking unamused. "All these animals are disturbing my peace and quiet." She looked at the squealing animals as Kestrel and Clay began chasing them.
Glory looked disgusted, and Peak simply shook his head.
Clay grabbed a squealing pig in his mouth and roasted it with fire, then bit down. It was delicious to have so much food around.
Kestrel had a much rougher but more efficient way of eating. She threw the poor mammal up into the air and swallowed it whole, bones and all.
Peak walked over. "How long is this animus training nonsense going to to take?"
Kestrel swallowed before responding, "As long as it needs to. Until we can end this war."
"Maybe Glory has a point." Peak muttered, striding away from the bustle. Clay power-walked to keep up with him. "I can't stand living in the dark like this." He seemed to realize something. "Clay, where's Tsunami? She's not here, right?"
"She's back in the other room."
The IceWing dragonet nodded. "Let's go tell her what's going on, okay?"
"I'll come with you." Starflight melted out of the shadows behind them.
"That is CREEPY!" Peak yelped and jumped aside. "Fine, whatever. There's a reason why everyone hates NightWings, you know!"
"Correction: there's a reason why everyone fears NightWings and thinks they're amazing." Starflight said, looking very smug."
"Please, just come on already." Peak said. "We're burning daylight."
As they walked into the room, Tsunami turned her head in their direction. "What do you want? I thought you all were watching Sunny and her amazing animus powers." She growled at them.
"Wow, someone's jealous. Calm down, we're just here to tal-" Peak held up his moon-white talons.
"The river, right?" she said suddenly.
Peak went even paler than normal. "What? We're weren't going to do that until later, right?"
"Why not now? I've had enough of the Talons's nonsense and I'm sure the rest of you have too." Tsunami scratched at the ground, glaring at Peak.
"Don't-don't assume things!" Peak yelled. "The river was our secret plan!"
Starflight looked at them gloomily but didn't say anything.
Tsunami rolled her green eyes. "Peak, please. I think they can handle it. Simple as this- we'll use Sunny's special magic to make ourselves able to breathe water, then we'll go through the tunnel and get out of this stupid place. It's a win-win, Sunny doesn't have to use her magic, and we can all go back to our fami-"
"Not so fast." said a familiar voice. It was Webs, sneering and dragging a terrified and shivering Sunny along with him. "No escape."
"You don't even need us here!" Peak yelled. "The only dragonet you need is Sunny!"
The SandWing looked at him in shock, but covered her head and continued to cower.
Webs didn't even look at the dragonet. Instead, his gaze turned on Tsunami. "You were the ringleader here, correct? Come with me."
"Over my cold dead body." Peak snarled, stomping up in front of the SeaWing guardian. "Who told you that it was okay to scare us into doing whatever you wanted?"
"Peak, shut up." Starflight whispered, looking terrified. "It won't help and you know it."
"I don't care!" the IceWing yelled. "I want some answers!"
Fortunately for Peak, Webs completely ignored him again. "SandWing, conjure up some chains to bind her. Make them unbreakable."
"What?" Sunny yelped "I-I don't want to do that!" She flinched as Webs held up his talons in a threatening manner.
Clay felt something rear up inside of him, like there was a tiny dragon running around on his insides and turning them red-hot. Has Webs been hurting Sunny? His talons clenched and an overwhelming desire to punch the SeaWing in the face flooded over him like a tidal wave. Part of him wondered if this was the part of him that the guardians had watched attack Glory's egg when he was only just born.
Peak snarled and grabbed Sunny's talons. "You don't have to do what he says, right Sunny?"
"Stay out of things that aren't your business, IceWing. Summon the chains now."
Sunny gulped and nodded. She put her talons on the side of a small gem embedded in the rocky floor. "Enchant this gem to turn into unbreakable crystal chains that will bind Tsunami the SeaWing."
The gem turned into sparkling diamond chains that flew up at impossible speeds, dragging Tsunami to the floor.
Peak lunged forward, screeching in fury, but Webs simply smacked him across the face with his wing. "Fool! Do you now see what happens when your own selfishness gets in the way of peace?"
The IceWing's snout was now bleeding slightly. "You don't care about peace at all!" A small jet of cold air came out of his nostril.
"I care about it more than anything! Or I wouldn't be doing this right now!" Webs yelled.
"BREAK IT UP RIGHT NOW OR I'LL CLAW YOUR SNOUTS OFF!" Kestrel bellowed, coming into the room. "Really, you two? Peak, I'm very disappointed. Webs, we agreed you'd rein it in a little bit."
"Kestrel, these dragonets are utterly impossible!" the SeaWing yelled. "Despite everything I do, they will never cooperate!" He glowered at Peak and his gills flared.
Peak snorted, causing a tiny drop of frostbreath to splatter on the ground. Kestrel tipped her head back and groaned. "I really don't have the patience to deal with this today. Also, why is the SeaWing chained up?"
"We HAVE names, you know!" Peak yelled, wiping his nose and leaving a smear of blue blood across his arm, like a slash wound.
"She was attempting to escape the mountain and was plotting with the others." Webs said the word plotting like it was a rotten cow he wanted to spit out as quick as possible.
Kestrel sighed. "In that case... you are correct, Webs. Chaining her up would be the correct punish- where'd the SandWing go?"
Out of nowhere, Sunny had slipped silently away from the two guardians, and vanished into nothing.
Webs roared in displeasure. "Well, what now?"
Kestrel rubbed her temples. "Go find her. I will watch the dragonets."
There was silence as Webs strode away and Kestrel looked at the dragonets. She made a strange face and turned away. "Fine. Go ahead, you're free to escape, I suppose. I don't think I can stop you, and I must confess that Webs's behavior is... perfectly appropriate for the situation. Her body tense and she shook herself, red scales shaking. "Yes, what he's doing is perfectly reasonable... But yes, you're free to go. I won't tell anyone."
"We can't leave Tsunami, Glory and Sunny!" Peak yelped.
"You'll have to, if you want to escape Webs's tyranny." Kestrel said, eyes wide.
Sunny melted out of the walls. "I'm here. Let's go."
Starflight gaped. "What- how did you-"
Peak nodded. "You camouflaged yourself, correct? All you had to was slip away from Webs and enchant your own scales... very impressive." He seemed to have calmed down after his previous outburst.
Sunny nodded. "I'll make a way to track and record my spells, since I've already used some anyway." She put her hands on the ground. "Enchant a random pebble buried in the ground to turn into a jar filled with many pebbles. Whenever Sunny the SandWing uses an animus spell, make a pebble in the jar turn yellow and have the words in the spell carved onto it." A jar rose up out of the ground and Sunny clasped her talons on it.
"You shouldn't use too many spells... don't forget about your soul." Peak said, looking nervous. "But how about one more? Make us all able to breathe underwater, for a little bit at least."
Sunny nodded. "I'm still getting used to this whole animus deal..." She picked up a pebble from the jar and whispered into it. "Enchant this pebble to turn every dragon in this room into a SeaWing for three hours."
A pebble in the jar turned yellow. Kestrel's eyes widened and she dashed out of the room as quick as she could.
In a instant, all of the dragonets were turned into SeaWings of many colors. Clay marveled at his own beautiful green talons.
Peak laughed. "Wow! This is awesome. Not exactly what I expected, but...." He turned and inspected his own sleek blue tail. Clay thought he looked like the most beautiful dragon in Pyrrhia.
Tsunami, on the other talon, looked like she was trying not to burst out laughing. "This is uncanny, like all of you just vanished. I mean, I've never seen another SeaWing, except for Webs of course. I didn't know we could be green."
Starflight put his talons to his face as if he didn't believe it was his. "This is AWFUL. THREE HOURS of being a SeaWing?" He shook his head, and his pearlescent pink horns shook violently.
Sunny chuckled. "It's not so bad. Now we can breathe underwater, you know." Her fins rippled.
"Yaaaay." Starflight said sarcastically. He poked at his gills. "Eww. Everything feels all slimy."
"I for one can't wait to get out of here. My body feels so powerful!" Peak struck a pose.
Tsunami sighed. "I sure wish I could join you..."
"If Sunny's using her magic anyway, why don't we just free you?" Clay said.
"Don't worry about it." the SeaWing said. "Someone's gotta be there to take the blame when Dune and Webs find out we've escaped."
Starflight blinked. "Are you sure? I hope they don't hurt you..."
"No problem. I've got the Queen of Sarcasm here to help me." She gestured at a sleeping Glory outside the room. "And Asha will sort them out if they get too rough. I can also fight for myself, you know." She raised her talons and smiled, but in a hollow sort of way.
"But..." Starflight seemed to have a realization. "If Sunny's not here to free you... those chains are unbreakable..."
Tsunami nodded, as if she had already accepted it. "I can handle myself. Please, just go. Now."
Starflight looked uneasy. "Looks like this is goodbye, then. See you around, I hope."
The SeaWing grimaced. "Stop getting sentimental and leave me alone already." She put on her bossiest future queen voice. "This instant, or it'll be OFF WITH YOUR HEADS!"
And, with a final glance back at the SeaWing, the dragonets of destiny dove into the river.