Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Starflight let out an annoyed breath. Fierceteeth was being awful as usual. She had thrown out one of his favourite scrolls again, despite him asking her not to. For some reason, she really hated him. But, no matter. He had a job to do. Mastermind had finally agreed to let Starflight see one of his secret experiments. He had been patiently waiting, cleaning up the lab, collecting supplies, doing just about anything to earn his father's trust. Now, after almost three months, Mastermind had agreed.
Starflight held his breath as he walked into the lab, crossing his talons that his father hadn't changed his mind. He swung his head around, looking for him, and finally spotted him, with his wings folded in, and hunched over a metal helmet. "Um... hey dad." Starflight said nervously. Mastermind shot up, his wings opening and knocking some glass vials off a desk as he turned around. "Oh! Starflight! Just in time! Come, follow me!" He exclaimed, side stepping the broken glass and beckoning to him with his talons. Starflight followed him into another room, avoiding the glass, and was looking behind him at the mess as he stepped into the next room. He would have to clean that up later. He turned to face his father, and stopped in shock at the sight before him. A grey and green rainwing was chained to the wall, wings drooping limply beside her like broken leaves. Starflight started forward, reaching towards the pitiful looking rainwing, but his father held him back. "Oh, no you can't go near her. We discovered something extraordinary about rainwings! They have a natural defence mechanism, although they don't use it very often. They can spit venom out of their two front fangs! We brought this one in to study how much venom they can use, to see if they run out, but she passed out before I got any useful information." Mastermind said, frowning. Starflight stared at his father in horror. How could he do this? " She needs water!" He cried in dismay. He rushed to the back of the room, filling a cauldron with some water, and went over to the rainwing. "Here." He whispered softly, unlocking the steel band around her mouth, and raising the cauldron up for her to drink. Soft pink bloomed around her ears as she sipped the water. "What's your name?" He asked, low enough so only she could hear him. "No nightwing has asked me that before." She murmured. He looked away. What was wrong with his tribe?

That night, Starflight decided to go exploring, to see if he could try and figure out what else his tribe was hiding. He crept along the familiar stone passages, trying not to hit anything with his tail. He was about to turn the corner leading to the dungeon, when he crashed into a dark purple-black nightwing. She yelped, but popped back up immediately. "Oh sorry! I thought I was the only one up late at night like this! I saw you around before. "Who are you? Ooh, wait, let me guess! You are... Bigtoes!" she said quickly. "Um, no, i'm Starflight." He said, frowning. "Are you sure?" she asked quizzically, peering at him. "Yeah, i'm sure." he replied, still frowning. "oh. Well, either way, i'm Fatespeaker. I had a vision about you! That's why we bumped into each other, probably. We were destined to meet!" she exclaimed. Starflight hesitated. Didn't she know that nightwing powers weren't real? He shrugged it off. "So, Fatespeaker? Um, I was exploring, but more importantly, What do you know about the rainwing prisoners?" starflight asked, watching her reaction. "Oh, I saw one the other day, they look so sad. All grey and stuff. I wish someone would help them. I would totally help them, like get them food or something, but I am not exactly a dragon that's very trusted." Fatespeaker finished, grinning sheepishly. "Help them... Oh! Wait! Fatespeaker, I know we just met, but you seem nice, and I want to help the rainwings. Are you willing to do something that we would probably get banished for, but is the right thing to do?" Starflight asked breathlessly. A plan was forming in his head. "Um... you know what, why not! It isn't very interesting here anyway." Fatespeaker replied, grinning.

The air was smoky as usual, but something was off. This was the fifth rainwing he had helped, but today was different. Something was ... different. Starflight shook his head. He could think about it later. Right now, he had to get this dragonet out while Fatespeaker was distracting the guards. The rainwing- a young dragonet named Kinkajou was a pale green, the color of fear, but spots of yellow were blooming in her ruff, indicating happiness, or excitement. Starflight poked his head around a corner, checking that the tunnel guards were gone, and then rushed forward, pulling Kinkajou along beside him. "Camouflage" he hissed as they approached the entrance to the rainforest. She quietly faded into the background, and Starflight checked one last time before stepping into the sunlight.
Even though he had been in the rainforest a few times, it still shocked him how clean the air smelled. He inhaled deeply, taking a moment to enjoy the feeling of sunshine on his scales. After a minute or so, he turned to where he assumed Kinkajou was and smiled. "Okay. your free. get back to your home, and make sure to get lot's of rest." Starflight said. A second later, he heard Kinkajou shriek in surprise, but as he turned towards what she was looking at, he was knocked unconscious.

"I think he's waking up." a voice murmured. " Why did you do that Glory? He was helping me!" a more familiar voice hissed. "Well, how was I supposed to know? All i knew was that nightwings have been taking dragons from our tribe, and then I see you with a nightwing! What else do you think that would look like?" The other voice replied. "Where... what happened?" Starflight asked, rubbing his neck with his talons. He groggily opened his eyes, but flinched when he saw two rainwings in front of him. Kinkajou was frowning at him with green fear blooming behind her ears, while the other dragon, Glory by the sounds of it, was giving him a suspicious glare. "Are you okay?" Kinkajou asked quickly. "Oh please. I just hit him with a sleeping dart. He is fine." Glory huffed, frustration colouring her voice. She regarded him with narrowed eyes, before curling her tail around her talons. "Look, supposedly, you have been helping the dragons in our tribe, but that is not enough. I need to tell you whatever you know about the nightwings so I can save my tribe." Glory said. "What about my tribe? I would be betraying them! I'm not gonna tell you about them if your just gonna kill them!" Starflight cried in dismay. "Okay, first off, the other rainwings are very against violence, so you don't have to worry about that, and second of all, even if they did want to fight, I am going to challenge the queens for the throne, so we would be working together." Glory said quietly. At the last part, Kinkajou whipped her head around to face glory, suprise and joy bubbling in her expression. Starflight hesitated for a moment, then sighed. His tribe needed to stop, and they needed someplace to live. Maybe if he did this, the rainwings would let the nightwings live in the rainforest somewhere. It wasn't like they could stay at the volcano. It was killing them. Starflight sighed, and then began to speak. "Alright, here's what you need to know about the nightwings..."

Chapter Text

Warmth. Darkness. A sense of peace. Then a voice, heard from within the confines of the sheltered egg. "Darkstalker, is this really okay?" Mother the not yet fully developed dragonet knew. "Clearsight, It's fine. I just enchanted a lizard egg, so there will be no angry dragons, don't worry." A second voice replied. Father. "I don't think she's gonna hatch anytime soon. But, it's an eclipse tonight, so this one should be Eclipse." Her mother said. She could feel a sense of confusion, but was too young to understand what it was, or why. then, darkness again as the young Eclipse fell asleep.

"Eclipse you are going to be late!" Cactus shouted, poking his head around the wall to stare at her. "Yeah, I know, I'm ... getting ready still." Eclipse muttered, forcing a smile. She didn't exactly want to go to school, and would honestly prefer to just live with Cactus for a while longer. Well, probably forever. After all, Eclipse hadn't really met any other dragons, minus a few random Sandwings here and there. She had grown up in the middle of the desert with Cactus, her Dad. Well, Adoptive Dad. According to Cactus, her egg was found on a palm tree in the middle of nowhere, with a scroll that had her name on it. She didn't know why, or who her parents were, but they obviously didn't want her. Eclipse smiled at Cactus, grabbed a roasted lizard, the n left to start heading to her new school. Jade Mountain Academy. That's where she was going. Supposedly it was supposed to be a place for dragons of every tribe to go and learn, now that the war was over. She looked back at the house she had spent the last 3 years of her life in, then turned and took off into the air.

This place actually looks pretty nice. Eclipse realized as she tucked her wings to her sides and started towards the entrance. She started down the brightly lit hall, nothing that the walls were smooth, indicating that these mountain tunnels had been here for some time. She was observing the interesting looking lamps fixated to the walls when a cheerful voice grabbed her attention. "Hello! You must be Eclipse, right? I'm Sunny, one of the founders of this school. We had planned to put you in a winglet, but you didn't show up, so you don't have a winglet." the dragon- Sunny, said. "Don't get me wrong, you can still be here, and go to classes and everything, but you'll have a cave to yourself, and no set schedule." she rushed to say, noticing the brief look of panic on Eclipse's snout. "oh... Okay, yeah that will work." Eclipse replied, studying Sunny. She doesn't look like any sandwing I have seen. She doesn't have a tail barb, her eyes are green, and her scales are more golden than sandy. Is she a hybrid? But what kind? Sandwing-Nightwing maybe? It would explain the eyes. Or she could be a Sandwing-Skywing. That would explain the golden color. Eclipse cut off that train of thought once she noticed Sunny waiting. " Um... Sorry, did you say something?" Eclipse questioned, smiling sheepishly. Sunny smiled, understanding flashing in her eyes. "I asked if you want to share a cave with anyone." She replied, smiling. "Oh... Um... no thanks." Eclipse stammered, thinking for a minute before responding. "Alright. you will just be able to go to classes as you like then.!" Sunny exclaimed, before turning away. "Just pick on of the empty sleeping caves, and you can have it." She continued, walking away. Well, school has started. Eclipse realized, letting out a breath.

"Okay and how do you patch a burn?" Clay, the Mudwing healing teacher asked, sounding very tired. "Apply burn ointment and wrap it in bandages, or palm leaves if you dont have any." A grumpy seawing called Pike offered. "Okay, and what about-" Clay was cut off as the gong sounded for lunch. "Oh, time to leave." A blue and yellow rainwing whispered. Eclipse tilted her head, watching the rainwing carefully. Something was off. She was walking a bit strange, feeling along the wall with her talons, and sweeping her tail around as if she was checking her surroundings. It was almost as if- Oh! Eclipse realized. She's blind! Eclipse frowned, wondering why it took her so long to realize. She curled her tail around her back talons, and frowned, searching her mind for the rainwing's name. Not Kinkajou, not Boto, or Coconut, so this must be Tamarin! Eclipse decided, smiling at the small victory. Lunch ended up being uneventful as usual, but this time Eclipse had decided to talk to Tamarin. They had only been chatting for about a minute when the warning gong for the end of lunch sounded. "I'm going to go to the history cave early so I can double check the layout." Tamarin announced as she stood up. she walked away, brushing her tail on the ground, and trailing her talons on the wall. Eclipse finished the lizard she was eating, then stood and folded her wings back as the gong sounded again. She was almost to the entrance when a shriek disrupted her thoughts. "No! Nobody can go in! You have to stay out! Get out!" Eclipse stopped in her tracks and turned to see who sounded so panicked. A Nightwing who was surrounded by a Sandwing, an Icewing, a Rainwing, and a Seawing. The Nightwing was hunched over, talons pressing against her temples, and her wings curled around her protectively. "Moon! Moon, Calm down! What's wrong with her?" The Rainwing exclaimed, turning to the Seawing with a worried expression. The Seawing hesitated, then grabbed the Nightwing- Moon. "I think she's having a panic attack. Something is worrying her. She looks terrified." He said, studying her. "No! Is there anyone in there!? Nobody can be in there- you have to get them out- I have to-" Moon stammered, before curling up again. The Rainwing hooked her talons around Moon's arm, and started pulling her away. "I think Tamarin is there, but it should be fine." She said, pulling moon away. "We have to bring her to Sunny. She'll know what to do." she continued. As they were walking Moon away from the hall, A red Skywing stalked past. "Hey Carnelian, don't go in the history cave." The Sandwing called to her. "Why not?" Carnelian huffed, smoke trailing out of her snout. "Uhh It's... Smoky?" He replied, frowning. Carnelian sniffed the air and then huffed. "You're an idiot sand-snorter. It's perfectly fine-" Eclipse tilted her head as her nose caught something. Was that... Cactus? "NO!" Moon shrieked, throwing herself forward before the cave exploded in a blast of fire. Eclipse flung herself forward, missing most of the blast, but a rock broke off and hit her head, before everything faded to black.

"Hello little Eclipse. Something bad is about to happen to me, so I figured that If Clearsight doesn't want me, wants to betray me, then she doesn't get you either. Why should she get to keep you, be happy with a perfect little dragonet that I made, and just forget about me. So, here goes. I enchant this egg to keep the dragon inside from growing, from getting hungry, from developing at all, to sleep and not ever wake up, for as long as I am gone. If I should come back from whatever Clearsight sentences me too, then this egg and the dragon inside it shall return to normal, and grow, eat, and hatch as a normal dragonet." the voice of the egg's father hissed, anger and malice coating his words. Wing beats. A couple minutes passed, and then darkness.

Chapter Text

It had been almost a month since all of the jade winglet but one had left. Sunny and Tsunami were very frustrated. The only member of the Jade winglet still at the academy was Turtle, and he had left for a little bit too. Eclipse was going over this in her cave when the gong sounded for lunch. She decided to visit the library, to see if she could find any books on Nightwing History, to find out if Nightwing eggs in the middle of the desert had happened before.

Eclipse was reading a scroll, when a tap sounded on the desk at the front of the library. "Hey Starflight, don't explode with joy or anything, but I have a historical question for you." A familiar voice asked. She looked up and saw Tsunami and a green sewing standing at Starflight's desk. "Really? Which era!?" Starflight asked, poking his head up. "I have no idea. Is there an era of Sinister bad guys? What do you know about a dragon called Darkstalker?" Tsunami asked. Eclipse furrowed her brow. "He was a very powerful animus Nightwing who disappeared over 2000 years ago.The stories say he was betrayed by his friend, a Seawing animus named Fathom, and perhaps also by his girlfriend Clearsight. Some say he had an egg, but there was no trace of one, so it was just a rumor." Clearsight. That's the other name from my memory. Were they my parents? No they cant be. They lived 2000 years ago. Unless... Darkstalker was supposedly an animus, so maybe... he enchanted my egg. Eclipse realized, with a thudding finality. She was so lost in her thoughts that she had stopped paying attention to the world around her, and looked up right as a massive head poked through the window. He was a dark blue, almost black dragon, with twisted black horns, and silver tear drop scales beside his eyes. "That story has been highly oversimplified. I mean, do any of the stories say that he totally deserved it?" The massive dragon asked, grinning, as an Icewing screamed and ran away.

"What's happening? Who is that?!" Starflight cried, grabbing Fatespeaker for support. "I- I don't know! Wait, let me have a vision. I see... darkness ahead!" Fate speaker cried, closing her eyes. "That's because your eyes are closed, you ninny." The dragon said pleasantly. "Don't hurt my students!" A ferocious voice growled. Eclipse swiveled her head and spotted Tsunami and Sunny breathless at the entrance of the library. "Why would I hurt any of your students? There is literally zero motivation for me to do that. Dragons today, so full of mistrust and hostility. Now, in my time- No, wait, we were exactly the same. That's one of the many problems I was going to fix. But, more importantly, I want to meet my-" The dragon- Darkstalker? cut off his sentence and pulled his head out of the window and frowned as if an annoying gnat was buzzing in his ear. Eclipse flew up towards the window to see what was happening, and stopped in surprise as she saw an Icewing dart around his face and rake her claws along his face, right near the teardrop scales. She gasped, expecting a massive scratch to open up and start bleeding, but the Icewing flew back, shaking her claw as if it had been a rock she scratched. What was that? That should have injured him, even if just a little. Is that a spell? Eclipse stopped paying attention as she pondered what had just happened. Next thing she knew, Darkstalker was smiling, and the attacking dragons were gone. He smiled, the teardrop scales by his eyes crinkling, and folded his wings to his side.

"Now then, as i was saying, I am here to meet my great-great-great-great-great-great-i don't know how many greats-great granddaughter, Sunny! I wasn't sure at first, but your father is an animus, which means he was a descendant of Whiteout. I wonder if she ended up with that nice nightwing, Thoughtful. " He finished, smiling as Sunny stopped in her tracks, curling her tail around one of her talons as a confused but happy expression overtook her snout. She smiled, then continued down the hall. "Oh, and most importantly, I wanted to meet my daughter, Eclipse."

"Wait, what?!" Eclipse cried, snapping her head back around to stare at Darkstalker. "But you're from 2000 years ago!!" Darkstalker smiled gently. "Your egg was cursed to stay asleep without ageing, keeping your body frozen in time unless I ever woke up." He answered calmly, Watching for her reactions. His wings twitched at his side, and he continued. "I know you have an adoptive father, but I would really like to get to know you." Eclipse hesitated. "Um, I think I need a bit of time. If I want to get to know you, then... Let's meet at the base of Jade mountain tomorrow. I need to talk to my Dad- adoptive dad," she amended. He smiled, and she took that as a sign that she could go. So, she lifted her wings, and flew out the window to go visit Cactus.

Darkstalkers Pov:
Eclipse had left, and now Darkstalker didn't know what to do with himself. he hadn't planned much else other than spending time with his daughter. Daughter, he thought to himself. Such a weird word to use for her. He let out a sigh, and squished himself out of the library. He decided to go see if he could find Moon. So big... he's that giant Nightwing!... Is he gonna kill us?... He seems nice, maybe he could give me powers. He's Animus right?... He's ginormous, moons above!... Why is he here... Darkstalker sighed as he flicked all the dragonets thoughts out of his awareness. The main problem with being a mind reader was crowds were so noisy. So many thoughts, coming from so many different dragons, Which was why he found it impressive that Moon hadn't gone insane yet. He was just about to give up his search, when he spotted a flash of black, and heard her timid, yet strong thoughts. "Moon!" he cried cheerfully, flicking her with his wing. "I was looking for you!" She startled, then looked up at him and smiled. "Hey Darkstalker. I was just... Thinking." She trailed off, that worried expression that reminded him so much of Clearsight that it hurt, appearing on her snout. He nudged her, grinning. "that's your problem! You think too much! C'mon! Let's fly! Have fun! Live a little!" He grinned, trying to get her to smile. "...Alright. lets go fly for a bit." She said, tilting her head up towards the entrance.

Morning. He couldn't sleep at all last night, mainly because he didn't understand these dragons sleep schedule, but also because he was so excited. He had looked into the future, and every timeline showed Eclipse showing up. He finally understood Clearsight's obsession with the future. It was amazing being able to know every timeline, and having the ability to change small things, to nudge people onto the timeline that he wanted. It made him feel... powerful.

He stopped his train of thought as he noticed dark purple wings speckled with silvery-blue freckles flying towards him. He lifted of the ground, flying over to meet her halfway. He grinned as he swooped around her, then tilted towards the ground to land. "Hey... Darkstalker" she said, hesitating. "Hello my wonderful daughter! Daughter! That's so strange for me to say," he exclaimed, nudging her. "So, what do you want to do?" He asked, smiling. He already knew what she would say, but she didn't know that. "Um... can you tell me your story, and what happened to my egg?" She asked, softly tracing her claw in the dirt below. He smiled. "Of course!"

Darkstalker explained his life, omitting the fact that he enchanted Clearsight, tried to enchant Fathom, disappeared Indigo, killed his father, tried to kill the queen, and that he was the one that enchanted her egg. When she asked who it was, he hesitated, but then said that Fathom was jealous of him so he enchanted the egg.

"Wow... I thought... I guess I thought that some random dragon had done it. I didn't realize it was someone you were so close to." Eclipse murmured, looking down. She had a sad expression on her face, and Darkstalker peeked into her mind to see why. That must have sucked. I don't know what I would do if someone I was close to betrayed me like that. Darkstalker smiled. She believed him, at least for now. Worst case scenario, he could always enchant her to believe him later.

Darkstalker and Eclipse had been going out for daily flights, swooping around the mountains, stopping to hunt when they needed, and sleeping wherever they found an open area. They had been doing this for about 2 weeks. Darkstalker was starting to get a bit annoyed at Eclipse asking about Clearsight, about his life 2000 years ago, and about that stupid seawing, Fathom.
"Darkstalker, I was wondering, what was the night kingdom like 2000 years ago?" Eclipse asked, sweeping her tail on the ground. "Same as now. Dragons, Parties, food." Darkstalker replied shortly. This was getting annoying. So many questions. She was reminding him of Clearsight with all these questions. Wait. Did she suspect something? Was that why she was asking so many questions? He realized, whipping his head up to gaze at her sharply. She was trying to get him to slip up and reveal something? He hissed. " Also, what happened to Clearsight? She kinda disappeared, and no one knows what happened to her?" Eclipse questioned, tilting her head, some of her silvery freckles catching the sun, and flashing. Darkstalker flicked his tail back and forth, studying her. His talons curled, and he narrowed his eyes. "If you're so curious, why don't you go ask your little friend Moon? Because stars know that you seem to be trying to catch me for something, and I don't want you around right now." He snarled, his talons digging into the sand. A hurt look flashed across her face, but he disregarded it. She was just acting, trying to get him to pity her. She lowered her snout and opened her wings. "If that's how you feel." She whispered, and flew away.

Eclipse's Pov:
Eclipse shook the tears off her snout as she flew away. She was just trying to learn more about him, but he just snapped. She clenched her eyes, and beat her wings, determined to outfly her feelings, and escape from Darkstalker's sudden rage. She had just calmed down as she landed at the entrance of Jade Mountain, When a flash of dark wings startled her as they skidded to a stop in front of her. "Eclipse! You're here! Thank the moons! I need to talk to you!" Moon cried out, grabbing Eclipse's talons and pulling her away.

Eclipse was in shock. Almost everything Darkstalker had told her was a lie. He had killed his father- No, he made his father kill himself. HE enchanted his friends, enchanted her! He was the one who had enchanted her egg. Not Fathom! Her own father! She wasn't sure how to react. Moon was observing her with a worried expression, and she remembered that Moon could read thoughts. "I'm fine. Sorry, it's just... a lot to process." Eclipse said, curling her tail around her back talons, the spikes brushing her scales. "I think... I think I need to go talk to him." She decided, standing up, and flaring her wings open. Moon sighed. "Okay, I knew you would say that, but, please, be careful. He... isn't himself right now." Moon admitted, looking down.

Darkstalker's Pov:
Darkstalker had calmed down a bit by the time he noticed Eclipse returning. She was flying slowly, her snout watching the star filled sky. He smiled at her as she landed, noting the look of shock on her face. She hesitated, her claws digging in to the ground, before she raised her snout to meet his gaze. "Why did you lie? And, before you deny it, Moon told me everything. I would've understood if you had just told me!" She burst out, fear and anger mixing in her eyes. "You enchanted my egg because you knew something was going to happen to you, and so you did that to make sure Clearsight could never be happy. But I can almost guarantee she ended up happier than you'll ever be!" She finished, a single tear rolling down her scales. Darkstalker narrowed his eyes. So Moon had told her, had she? Well, that wouldn't do. "Why didn't you just tell me the truth!? You're my father! You are supposed to make sure I'm safe and loved, not use me to spite your girlfriend!" Eclipse cried out, fury filling her gaze. "All I wanted was-" "Shut up." Darkstalker said coldly, cutting her off. "Forget everything Moon told you, forget everything about my past, forget that your egg was enchanted, then shut up and then goo sleep for a bit. When you wake up, you will be the same, but with no memories of everything that happened in the last 20 minutes. You will also listen to whatever I say, and trust me with your whole heart." Darkstalker said, inflicting his tone with his magic. He frowned as he noticed Eclipse's gaze fill with fear and betrayal. His magic didn't work. "Ground, form a small ball of dirt." He commanded, frowning as it did exactly that. So why- Oh moons above. he realized, his eyes widening. Since her egg had been stewing in his magic for around 2000 years, she had developed an immunity to it. He had been wondering why she was already 3. The magic must have been unable to hold her any longer. He reached out a talon, but Eclipse flinched back and flew away, wings shaking with fear and heartbreak.