Chapter Text
She stared out into the storm thrashing and clawing at her box, as if her box was some sort of wrapper on a delicious snack that the ocean couldn’t wait to devore. Polaris had no idea where she was, but she knew that she was far away from Pyrrhia and wasn’t getting back anytime soon.
When she had seen the peculiar, wooden box bobbing on the shore of the Rainforest kingdom, her curiosity, as always, compelled her to investigate. But Polaris was not expecting the smaller, iron box to start whirring and shoot the whole thing off away into the big, wide ocean. Now, she would’ve just flown up, up and away into the sky to get home, but her abusive father had viscously torn off her wings when she was only a hatchling. She started to sob, although the sounds of her agony were washed away by the sounds of the whooshing wind and crashing waves. all Polaris could do at the moment was wait. Wait for the sea to perhaps take her to an island of some sort, hopefully with some shelter and food and fresh water-Polaris's thoughts were suddenly switched from thoughts of survival to wonder when the storm started to melt away and reveal a magnificent sight....
It was an entirely new continent. As her wooden box approached the shore, Polaris could see dragons unlike any she had ever seen in her life. They weren’t from Pyrrhia, Pantala, or even from any legends she has heard of. The dragons she could see at the moment had four beautiful feathered wings, feather manes, and the most gorgeous, sun-colored scales she’s ever seen. Their scales reflected the sunrise in the distance. as the dragons shimmered and glowed, it looked almost as if they were made of light. *Light dragons*! Polaris gawked at the stunning dragons.
One of the light dragons noticed Polaris stepping out of her box onto the shore, so the light dragon decided to fly down to her. This light dragon had gold, red, and white scales. Their fore-wings had white feathers with a gold layer of feathers on top, and their hind-wings had white feathers with a red layer of feathers on top. Their eyes were a sky blue that sparkled in the light, complimenting their handsome and pruned face. They were likely pretty ordinary compared to other dragons in their tribe, but to Polaris they were the most gorgeous dragon she'd ever seen. As soon as the light dragon landed and made eye contact with Polaris, they began asking questions.
“WOAH! Who are you? *what* are you!? Are you one of those scary shape-shifter deep wing things?! If so, why are you in a boat? Can't you swim?” The light dragon queried suspiciously. Polaris flinched at the light dragon's sudden appearance and bombarding questions. She was almost honored that such a ravishing dragon was talking to *her* of all dragons, but then she remembered that she probably looked very out of place, maybe even looking like a monster, and that she was currently being interrogated. The light dragon tilted their head and narrowed their eyes.
“Well? Spit it out! What the moons are you?!” The light dragon demanded warily. Polaris stared at the dragon for a moment, feeling very alarmed, before slowly and quietly answering their question.“I... I’m a n-night wing/ice wing hybrid.... f-from Pyrrhia...I fell into this weird...box...and then it started up and took me away...” Polaris felt tears welling up in her eyes once again, but before she could start sobbing the light dragon tried to comfort her.
“Oh, my gosh, that sounds terrible! I don’t know what to say...you must be so scared right now!” The light dragon said empathetically, quickly shifting their tone and demeanor to try to come off as safe and comforting. Polaris nodded as she looked down at the ground to prevent herself from bursting into tears. The light dragon decided to try to lighten the mood.
“Well, since we haven’t formally met yet, my name is Spark. What's your name?” Spark inquired.
“I’m Polaris.” Polaris mumbled hush fully. Spark apparently has good hearing, because they smiled and responded with “That’s a beautiful name! It sounds like a thunder wing name.” Polaris tilted her head at them, having no idea what a “thunder wing” was. Were they like sky wings? Were some of them born with excess lightning, similar to how sky wings can be born with excess fire? Could thunder wings even breathe lightning, let alone anything?
Spark was staring at Polaris the entire time she was thinking. Spark cleared their throat.
“I guess you don’t know what a thunder wing is, right?” Spark asked, but they already knew the answer. Polaris nodded and scratched the back of her neck. She was almost embarrassed that she didn’t know, even though there’s no way she could’ve known what a thunder wing was. *I hope they’re as fascinating as these light dragons*. Polaris thought. That brought up a few questions.
“Say, are you a... let me guess.... Light wing?” Polaris guessed. Spark looked a bit surprised that she guessed correctly, but grinned regardless.
“you’re smart! You're exactly right. I’m a full-on LIGHTWING!” Spark declared proudly. They spread all four of their feathery wings and shook them to make the feathers silky edges glimmer in the sunlight. Polaris couldn’t help but stare at Spark in astonishment at how beautiful they are.
“You’re...beautiful...” She blurted out, but immediately regretted it. She could feel herself warming up to this dragon already, which was very unusual for her. She couldn't help but feel a *bit* comfortable around Spark.
“Ah, I mean-well, you’re just-was that-I mean-” Polaris stuttered and spluttered, causing Spark to laugh lightheartedly.
“Aw, you’re charming!” They pinched Polaris’s cheek gently, making Polaris blush lightly. Spark pulled their talons away, making her disappointed for some reason. Although, she would never actually tell anyone that.
Spark grinned, and suddenly their eyes lit up like an idea came to their mind.
“I know a really smart inventor named Brightsky that can make you some new wings! He's also my brother, but that's not important right now. C’mon, I’ll show you the way!” Spark gestured for her to follow, and so, the two of them went on their way, to a mystery inventor. Polaris would never trust any other dragon and willingly follow them only ten minutes after she met them, but she had no other choice. all she could do was follow spark, and pray to the moons that she wouldn't end up getting hurt, or worse...
·:*¨༺ ♱✮♱ ༻¨*:·
As Polaris walked with Spark into a small town filled with bustling merchants and tourists, Polaris heard gasps and whispers and dragons mocking her and Spark.
“It’s a deep wing!”
“is that a huge mountain lizard?!”
“of course Spark is befriending a weird creature.”
Polaris had thought that these dragons would be as kind as they were beautiful, but by the looks of it, she was wrong. Or maybe it was just this town in particular? Or maybe it was just *her* in particular.
She decided to try ignoring them, and instead focus on the scenery. The houses and buildings were made of pure clay bricks and birch logs, and most had a beautiful orange moss growing all over them, like the moss was slowly enveloping them and giving them a huge blanket. There was a surprising number of merchants that were selling sweets and were very colorful and had long, curly manes. They seemed curious about Polaris, and a few of them even smiled and greeted her. That made her feel a lot better.
There was also an unusual number of pots that were filled with tomatoes. It seemed as if every pot she looked at had at least one tomato. Tomato here, tomato there, there were even some tomatoes growing on and in the buildings. WHAT IS WITH ALL THE TOMATOES? It looked as if the tomatoes might as well take over the town. Polaris mentally betted that this town was called “Tomato Town”.
Polaris tried to pay no attention to the tomatoes, but was so busy trying not to stare at all the tomatoes, that when Spark stopped in front of a small house mostly made of bamboo and silks, she walked right into Spark. They seemed to not have noticed (luckily), and they trotted up to the front door excitedly and gestured for her to come in with them.
Polaris walked up to the silk door, and Spark pulled back the silk to open it for her. She walked in, and almost instantly tripped on a pile of metal parts and blueprints. Spark grabbed her before she could face plant on a very sharp looking wheel with lots of metal teeth. She yelped and jumped to avoid the teethy wheel and other clutter, but stepped on a tiny, white, plastic brick. Polaris bit her lip and peeled it off her back talon. Spark’s eyes were wide as they watched her prance around to avoid the obstacles. She almost bumped into a big, wood and metal structure, but was prevented from making that massive mistake by someone's callused talons catching her. Polaris squeaked and turned to face them, almost bumping snouts with them.
She realized that this was likely Brightsky, the genius inventor that Spark was talking about. He had red, white and gold scales, and his right talon looked like it had been wrecked in an accident at some point in the past. He had gold glasses with purple lenses and his feather mane looked like it was ruffled and messed up from crawling underneath something.
“Spark! Who is this intriguing dragon that you brought with you?” Brightsky inquired curiously. He proceeded to examine Polaris as if she were a puzzle he was told to solve. Polaris’s eyes darted around the room as Brightsky poked her and squinted at her. He was about to grab a huge needle and do something with it to Polaris, when Spark gently pushed him off of her. Polaris let out a sigh of relief. She was *not* in the mood to be a test subject. “Brightsy, I love that you’re so.... *curious* about Polaris, but we came to-” Spark started, but was cut off by Brightsky.
“OH MY MOONS, are you from the Far Empires?!” He asked Polaris eagerly.
She nodded hesitantly.“If you’re talking about Pyrrhia, then, y-yes...” She replied quietly.
He squealed in delight at her response. “How interesting that the Far Empires continent is named after an insect, just like Photinus! This continent is named Photinus, in case you don’t know.” Brightsky informed her.
Polaris had no idea that the word “pyrrhia” actually was a type of insect. She wondered what type of bug it was, and why anyone would want to name an entire continent after a bug. Brightsky began searching his bookshelves and mumbling to himself.
Spark cleared their throat, enabling Brightsky’s descent back to Earth. “Erhm, yes, you guys. So. You.” Brightsky points at Polaris with his mechanical pencil.
“What’s your name? And what’s your tribe, if your continent has multiple tribes?” He questions her.
Polaris gulped. “M-my name is Polaris, and I’m an Ice/Night wing hybrid. I unfortunately don’t have wings because... because of personal stuff.” She answers his questions as swiftly as possible to avoid having to delve deeper into her past. Brightsky nods, satisfied with her answer despite being visibly concerned about her missing wings.
“So, what is it you wanted from me?” He asks curiously.
Spark chimed in. “We came to ask you to build Polaris a new set of wings so she can fly!” Spark said cheerfully.
Brightsky’s entire face lit up. “I’ve actually been working on a mechanical set of wings for disabled dragonets that aren’t Light wings! They’ll be perfect for Polaris!” He declared proudly, and then walked over to a pile of machinery and random parts. He rambled equations and calculations and theories to himself quietly as he searched through the mess of complicated mechanics and blueprints.
After a few moments of silence and sounds of clanging metal, Brightsky emerged with a set of metal and silk wings that were painted black and silver.
“And they even suit your color scheme!” he said with a sparkle in his amber eyes as he skipped back towards Polaris. She was surprised at how strong and stable they looked, while also looking elegant and flimsy.
“I am SO excited for you to test these wings!” he said enthusiastically. He strapped the various belts to Polaris’ shoulders and hips. Brightsky backed up and examined his work, and then nodded.
“You ready to FLY LIKE A BIRD?” He asked her eagerly.
Polaris shuffled her feet and whispered “I was born ready.”
Spark grinned and lead her outside, paying close attention to where she steps so she doesn’t destroy Brightsky’s entire house by accident.
Polaris stepped outside and inhaled the crisp, mid-day air of Photinus (And also inhaled a not-so-crisp bug of Photinus too, but don’t tell anyone that that happened). She faintly remembered some steps on how to fly from when she was really tiny and was still learning, but she was not expecting to instinctively launch into the air and start flying. She gasped (she didn’t inhale a bug this time, luckily) and looked around as if she just got told she was a princess.
Sure, her flying was really wonky and she could barely control it, but she was doing it! Polaris was really up in the sky! She couldn’t believe it! Was this a dream? Did she get knocked out and now she’s in a coma? Suddenly, as if the universe wanted to *prove* that she wasn’t dreaming, Spark flew up to Polaris and bumped his snout with hers. Spark grinned as she blushed slightly.
“w-w-what was that for?” She stuttered.
Spark responded with a shrug and continued grinning at her.
Their grin faded when they noticed something though.
“Are you.... crying?” Spark asked, concern evident in their voice. Polaris realized that she was indeed crying, but smiled and cried even more when she realized those tears were tears of... joy. Her smile grew even wider and she wiped away some of the tears. She couldn't believe that she was flying like a normal dragon! She could feel the wind in her face and all over her body, and it felt amazing. She was extremely grateful that she got carried away to Photinus, even though she left behind her friends. They were more like acquaintances though, and she never liked them much in the first place. Now, she had a chance to... to be free, and to live her life. To start over, and make *new* friends, and even maybe family.
“Race you to that mountain!” Polaris grinned, and then shot off into the clouds, Spark close behind her, every step of the way.
:*¨༺ ♱✮♱ ༻¨*:
The last thing she remembered was playing hide and seek with Spark. Polaris was hiding under a tree at the base of the small mountain close to the shore and was snickering to herself as she watched Spark flying around looking for her. But now she was here. She felt hard, cool stone beneath her as she lay there, too petrified too open her eyes just yet. She heard water droplets patting against the stone and falling together into puddles. She also heard what sounded like fish splashing around in a pond. After a few moments of agonizing stillness, Polaris sighed and finally opened her eyes. She was greeted by a dark purple and turquoise dragon, similar to a sea wing, staring down at her. She flashed a glow-scale on her tail, which was likely some sort of insult in aquatic.
“Are you done pretending to be asleep now?” the seawing-looking dragon growled.
Polaris squeaked and tried to jump away, but slipped on the wet stone and landed on her underbelly. The dragon snorted, and then attempted to cover it up with a cough. Polaris took note of the dragon's angler fish light on her head, and the fact that her eyes were completely white. Polaris also saw a small pond with fish and a stream leading away out of the cave. Oh yeah, she’s in a cave. So that’s why everything was wet rock and she had glow worms crawling on her talons. Wait, what?! Polaris yelped and shook off the creepy sticky glow worms. Bye-bye, suckers.
“Are you alright?” The strange dragon asked. She sounded like she was trying to be intimidating, but actual concern was dripping from her voice.
Polaris stared back into her pure white ghost-like eyes. She swallowed down her fear and cleared her throat.
“y-yes, I’m....ok, I guess. B-but...who the bloody moons are you?!” she asked hesitantly, although the last bit came out rushed and terrified.
The dragon went silent for a moment, before responding almost reluctantly.
“Olm. My name is Olm.” The supposed Olm said.
Polaris asked another question. “Are you an emo sea wing?”
Olm barked a laugh. “Those Pyrrhian versions of us, proud deepwings, are much weaker than my kind!” Olm squared her shoulders and stood tall. Then she processed that first part. “Wait, what does emo mean?” she asked suspiciously.
Polaris changed the topic by asking more questions. “Then what are you, and where are you from?” her curiosity was piqued, despite the situation. “And did you kidnap me? What’s going on?” she asked charily.
Olm gulped and looked away. “I....I was sent to murder you, as part of my mission. But I’m not the type to enjoy murdering a fellow dragonet.” She said more to the glow worms on the cave wall than to Polaris.
“W-why is killing *me* part of your mission?” Polaris asked nervously, fidgeting with her talons. She wondered how Olm even found out about her existence in the first place, even before Polaris came to Photinus.
Olm went silent. Polaris waited patiently for a response, tapping her claws against the cold, slippery stone beneath them. After an agonizing amount of silence, that felt like an eternity despite only being a minute or two, Olm finally answered.
“I have to use my powers to pretend to be you, so I can save my tribe. But maybe when my mission is done, I can let you go, along with Princess Sunray.” Olm said sincerely, with almost sad eyes. At this point, she had given up on trying to be intimidating and scary.
Polaris gave her a quizzical look. “.... what powers...?” she questioned quietly.
Olm closed her eyes, and suddenly turned into an exact replica of Polaris. Polaris gasped. How was this possible?! Wasn't animus magic removed from existence? Was it even animus magic? Or did deepwings have their own type of magic?
“That’s what Spark was talking about earlier! Can all deep wings do that?!” she asked fearfully.
Olm shook her head. “No, only I can. I’m the last Deception-Fin in the world.” She said mournfully.
Polaris was speechless as she stared at this replica of herself, standing in front of her. It was like gazing into a mirror, except that this mirror had a mind of its own. Olm closed her eyes, and went back to her original form. She was kind of bulky for a dragonet, now that Polaris thought about it. Olm let out a sigh.
“I’m so sorry I have to keep you trapped here. I really didn’t want to do this.” She apologized.
Polaris was upset about the kidnapping and everything, but she couldn’t help but feel some sort of empathy.
“You know what? As long as you let me go when your mission is finished, I think I can handle living in a cave for a while.” She said, trying to be understanding like Spark. She would definitely not give herself up in any other case, but this is better than getting killed.
Olm was visibly surprised by this. “You’re fine with this?” Olm asked, her eyes wide.
Polaris nodded reassuringly. “If this is to save a tribe, then absolutely.” Polaris said.
To be honest, she didn’t want to be stuck in a cave with a bunch of creepy, sticky glow worms for who knows how long, but she also didn’t want an entire tribe to be doomed. And, to be honest, she was also mainly doing this to not get herself killed.
“Thank you....” Olm said quietly.
Olm wrapped her wings around Polaris in an awkward, but grateful embrace. After a very awkward moment, she let go and jumped into the pond. She looked back at Polaris, and then swam away into an underwater tunnel. Polaris stood there alone, confused about everything that just happened. Then she smiled. *Life is confusing, but that’s what makes it worth living.* She thought to herself.