Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"Hooooooow's my favourite Rainwing?"

Glory rolled her eyes at the voice, shaking her head fondly as Deathbringer barged into her hut like he owned the place. Strolling up to her with the confidence of 100 dragons, he grinned at her with that dopey grin of his.

"Well? Aren't you happy to see me?" He asked.

"Aren't you supposed to be supervising the training of the new recruits? Like I asked?" Glory replied, unimpressed.

Deathbringer pouted. "Well, yeah, but Tsunami can handle it just fine on her own. Besides, I wanted to see you!" The Nightwing sat down next to her, throwing a wing around her body.

Glory sighed, before giving in, leaning on him and resting her head against his.

"Oh, what would you do without me," she said, a smile forming on her face.

Chapter Text

"Hey Peril!"

Peril whipped around, mouth curving up into a grin at the sight of her favourite dragon on Pyrrhia. Her heart beat quicker as Clay walked up to her, a bright smile on his face.

"Oh, hi Clay!" She replied. "What are you doing here?"

Clay tilted his head in that adorable way Peril loved. "I just wanted to see you!" He said, before frowning a bit. "Are you busy?"

Peril shook her head quickly. "No, I'm free! Uh, what did you want to do?" She asked.

Clay responded by moving up next to her, leaning against her on her warm scales. "I thought we could stay like this for a bit," he suggested. "It's been a while since we've had any time to ourselves."

Peril nodded, not trusting herself to speak. Her heart hammered in her chest as she leant against the Mudwing, a comfortable silence forming between them.

Slowly, Peril slid her talon over, until it rested on top of Clay's.

He didn't pull away.

Chapter Text

"Come on! You've been in bed for HOURS!" Kinkajou tugged at Turtle's form, which was currently covered by a huge blanket.

Groaning in protest, Turtle half-heartedly attempted to shake her off. "No... 'm'tired," he mumbled. Kinkajou glared at him.

"No, you're just too lazy to get up. Come on, let's go flying!" She tried pulling the covers off of Turtle, only for him to wrap them around himself even tighter. Kinkajou growled in frustration.

Staring at the lump of scales, an idea suddenly came to mind. Stifling a giggle, she tried to sound as sad as possible.

"Oh, alright then. I guess you just don't want to spend time with little ol' me." She turned around, letting out a long, dramatic sigh at the end. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted Turtle peeking out from under the covers. A smile forming on her face, she pretended to leave.

"Wait!" Kinkajou stopped in her tracks, as Turtle quickly got out of his bed, moving up beside her. "Wait, I do want to spend time with you, Kinkajou," he said.

Turning around with a huge grin on her face, Kinkajou bopped Turtle on the nose with her talon. "Awesome! I'll meet you outside!" She then ran off, leaving behind a very confused Turtle.

"Wait, what?" He muttered. "She was faking it?" A fond smile then appeared on his face. Shaking his head, he ran out, chasing after the Rainwing.

Chapter Text

"No, you're doing it wrong. You light up this scale first, then you light up that one." 

"ARRRGH! THAT MAKES NO SENSE! WHY THE HELL IS AQUATIC SO STUPID!?" Tsunami let out a roar in frustration, as Riptide watched on patiently. For the last 2 hours, he had been attempting to teach Tsunami some of the more complex vocabulary of Aquatic. Keyword being attempting. Since they started, Tsunami had barely learned anything, struggling with a particular phrase she just couldn't grasp. Riptide considered himself a fairly patient dragon, but he was starting to reach his limit with Tsunami, especially with how much she complained.

"Ugh, why are we even doing this? I barely spend time underwater anyways, so there's no reason to learn Aquatic now," Tsunami scowled. Riptide sighed for the hundredth time that day.

"We're doing this because Queen Coral asked me to," he explained. "She doesn't want to have to go above water every time she wants to speak with you." Tsunami rolled her eyes in response.

"Of course," she retorted. Just then, a yawn escaped her mouth. "Wow, would you look at that? I'm tired. I'm just gonna go home now, we can continue this tomorrow..." Riptide resisted the urge to facepalm.

"Oh no you don't. You barely learned anything today!" He protested. Before he could continue, Tsunami held up a finger, silencing him.

"How about this," she suggested. "Let's have a race! Underwater. If I win, I get to go home. If you win, I'll stay for as long as you want to learn, and I won't complain." Riptide raised an eyebrow.

"You won't complain?" He doubted. Tsunami shook her head.

"Not once," she promised. Riptide shrugged.

"Alright then, your funeral."

The two dove into the lake where they were practicing next to. They agreed to race to the other side of the lake, and the first dragon to reach there, won. Riptide and Tsunami held their heads above water, waiting to go.

"Three..." Riptide started the countdown. "Two... One... GO!" And with that, the two dragons took off.

A few minutes later, Riptide finally reached the other side, completely out of breath. Tsunami was already there, playing with a pebble with a bored look on her face.

"What took you so long?" She asked. Riptide glared.

"How are you so fast?" He demanded. "You grew up in a cave!" Tsunami smirked, shrugging.

"Guess you need to work out more," she replied. Seeing his exhausted look, Tsunami helped him up, wrapping a wing around his body for support. "C'mon, let's go, squidbrain." Riptide groaned in reply, causing Tsunami to chuckle fondly.

"Yeah, you really need to work out more."

Chapter Text

"Starflight?" Fatespeaker poked her head into the library, searching for a certain blind Nightwing. Sure enough, there he was, sorting some scrolls into shelves.

"Fatespeaker?" Starflight turned around, looking in her direction. "I didn't hear you coming."

"Yeah, sorry about that," she smiled apologetically, before remembering that he couldn't see it. "So, you sorting the scrolls? Need some help?" At her offer, Starflight stiffened for a quick moment, before relaxing, though not quite fast enough for Fatespeaker not to notice.

"No thanks, I can handle it," he replied.

Fatespeaker raised an eyebrow, concern setting in. Starflight was acting strange. He never refused help, not from her.

"Uh, you sure? 'Cause I can just-"

"I said I can handle it!" Fatespeaker flinched as Starflight suddenly snapped at her. Calming down a moment later, he realised his mistake. "W-wait, Fatespeaker! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to..."

At this point, Fatespeaker knew something was wrong. In all the time she'd known Starflight, he hadn't once snapped at someone like that. Clearly, there was something bothering him. Walking up to the librarian, Fatespeaker placed a talon on his shoulder gently, causing Starflight to jerk back slightly.

"Starflight," she spoke in a soft tone. "What's wrong?" Starflight looked away in embarrassment.

"N-nothing," he said.

Sighing deeply, Fatespeaker tried again. "There's clearly something bothering you, Star. You know you can tell me anything, right?"

A long moment passed. Fatespeaker was beginning to think that Starflight wasn't going to say anything, when he finally spoke.

"It's just..." he hesitated. Fatespeaker put a wing around him reassuringly. "I hate being blind. You guys can do everything so easily, while I need help putting away scrolls. I just feel so useless all the time, like I can't do anything."

Starflight then let out a yelp as Fatespeaker suddenly grabbed him by the shoulders. "Listen to me," she said fiercely. "Don't talk about yourself like that! You are not useless. You're amazing, you're heroic, and you're the bravest dragon I know. If it weren't for you, this school wouldn't even exist! Hell, I probably wouldn't even be alive. So don't ever tell me that you're useless ever again! Got it?"

Starflight didn't speak for a moment. After a while, he looked up and asked, "You really think I'm amazing?"

Fatespeaker grinned. "Yeah, I do."

A small smile formed on Starflight's face, and Fatespeaker wished she could keep it that way forever. Leaning against her, Starflight nestled his head under her chin.

"Thanks, Fatespeaker." Fatespeaker twined her tail with his.

"You're welcome, Star."

Chapter Text

Qibli.

The clever misfit.

He was warmth, light; with pale-yellow scales that shone like the sun, like he was blessed by the gods themselves.

He was funny, kind, compassionate. He always knew how to make someone feel at ease. Like they were wanted.

His warm, strong wings made her feel safe, and protected, like how her mother's felt when she was a little dragonet.

He was so loving, so beautiful, so devoted to her. He made her laugh whenever she felt sad. He made her her favourite soup whenever she was sick. He adored her, cherished her, revered her.

And she did the same.

She loved the scruffy Sandwing with all her heart, and would do so until the day she died.

Winter.

The tragic prince.

He was cold, fierce; with icy blue and white scales that glittered like diamonds, the perfect image of royalty.

On the outside, he was haughty, grumpy, stubborn. He held others at a distance, trusting nobody to get close. But she knew better.

On the inside, the version of Winter only his closest friends knew, he was strong, loyal, brave. He was an honorable dragon, one who would never betray someone’s trust.

His cold, large wings always sent a chill down her spine, yet it was still the best feeling she knew.

He was so protective, so caring and passionate about her. Even though they didn’t always see eye to eye, even though they had fights here and there, Winter still loved her.

And she did as well.

She would love the noble Icewing till the end of time, staying by his side forever.