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Fatespeaker.
It was a strange word.
Especially when a void spoke it to you.
The rest of the noise that came out of its snout was nonsense. Like there was a wall ruffling it.
Cricket must be going insane.
Dragons had appeared in her visions before, but none that saw her.
Maybe saw was the wrong word.
The silhouetted dragon’s eyes were white, unfocused.
Cricket knew her eyes looked like that when she was experiencing one of her bouts of deja vu.
Maybe this dragon saw the future all the time.
Maybe this dragon was the power of Wasp that held all other Hivewings and it finally came to claim her.
But as she kept looking at it the less obscure it became.
There was no shadow obscuring them for their scales were just black. Though she soon discovered they had silver scales under their wing. There were litters of scars around their face and a deformity in their nostrils.
Like a piece of the night sky.
“Clearsight?” She whispered. The dragon slowly approached and as they moved the scars began to disappear and get covered with the dragon's black scales, eventually culminating with the revelation of their eyes.
Green.
The dragon — presumably Clearsight, took a moment to observe Cricket. Then turned their head and gestured to just beside their eye where silver scales lay.
Just like mine.
She reached out hesitantly, but as soon as she touched the other dragon, they disappeared and Cricket woke up.
And she was alone again.
A freak.
Amongst dragons who could never understand her.
Amongst dragons who she has to hide from lest they figure she’s not one of the Hive.
Amongst dragons who’ll maul her if she asks the wrong questions.
But then things went well for her that day.
An extra honeydrop in her lunch.
Bombardier didn’t come anywhere near her.
And her teacher didn’t roll his eyes at her once today.
There wasn’t even a hive search that day.
Nightborne Concord.
The ebony dragon was there again that night.
“You’ve said my name before.” She realized out loud. “I didn’t recognize your voice at first. You said it was nice to meet me.”
More muffled noise.
“It’s nice to meet you too.”
The dragon smiled.
“I had a nice day today, better than normal. A lot better than normal.”
“You did that, didn't you?”
Muffle.
“Thanks Clearsight.”
It continued.
Her sister came home looking a little less tired.
There was a hive search, but it was on the other side of Cicada.
Bombardier crashed into a wall.
She found some extra change in her room.
Took my sight.
“Is that what happened to your eyes?”
Clearsight shook their head. Waving a claw over their face they made their scars disappear once more, green eyes locking onto Cricket. With another wave of their claw they pressed their tear scales.
“Your magic?”
Clearsight nodded hesitantly.
“But I have it now?”
Clearsight shrugged and more muffles crossed the air.
“I hope I haven’t taken anything from you.” Cricket muttered, crossing her talons over each other insecurely.
“Thanks for the honeydrops Katydid.” Cricket announced, reaching over the counter and grabbing the bag with her lunch in it. Katydid looked at her peculiarly. “What?”
“How’d you know there were honeydrops in there?” She asked, confusion clear in her face.
“Oh… Clearsight told me.” She blurted out without thinking. Katydid gave her a worried face and Cricket quickly dashed out of the room, bag in claw.
I need your help.
Clearsight suddenly gained more scars. There was an open wound around on Clearsights neck and blood was pouring excessively. Cricket leaped forward.
“Lay down! I need to apply pressure!”
Clearsight shook her head and waved a claw, closing the wound and cleaning the blood.
“You made me worried.” Clearsight sighed as Cricket spoke. “I mean I guess I shouldn’t be worried, you are Clearsight after all.”
Clearsight waved a talon and the scenery shifted to a mountain.
Many dragons flew in and out, all different colors and of tribes Cricket didn’t recognize. Then the scene changed again. Another version of Clearsight appeared, the mountain was rubble and Clearsight laid in front of it, as if in mourning. The ground shook and the other Clearsight whipped around. Cricket followed their gaze towards a dark cloud she couldn’t see through. Clearsight, having seen this, drew a dagger from their bag and swiftly drew it across their own throat. Cricket gasped in horror as Clearsight dawned a wicked grin before collapsing in a pool of their own blood as they continued stabbing themself. Not long after, a dark tendril emerged from the cloud and entered Clearsight’s wound. Dark strings thread through their wounds and pull the lithe corpse back together. Clearsight was disturbed by this and waved the scene away, returning to Cricket's room.
“Do you need me to… kill you?”
Clearsight gave her a look that seemed to mean It’s complicated.
“Hey Katydid, who’s this?” Cricket asked, descending the stairs away from her room. There was an unfamiliar dragon sitting across from her sister, a well worn pair of spectacles rested on their face as they regarded Cricket gently.
“Cricket, this is… Doctor Centipede, you’ve met him before, remember?” Katydid explained, gesturing towards the doctor. “The doctors visit about your old night terrors.”
“Oh, I’m sorry sir.” Cricket said, lowering her head in slight shame. “I didn’t recognize you.”
“It’s quite okay Cricket, we met once years ago.” The older dragon assured. “I’m here on a different business. Your sister has had some concerns about your dreams, could you discuss some of that with me?”
Clearsight looked around in confusion as she appeared, Cricket laughed a little and grinned.
“Sorry if the alley is too grimy for you.” Cricket chuckled. “I — uh ran away from home.” Clearsight gave her a concerned look. “Both my sister and Doctor Centipede think I have religious psychosis.” Clearsight moved closer to Cricket and sat down beside her. “You mention Clearsight like twice and people think you're insane.” Tears were freely streaming down her face. “They know you’re real! They’re just lying to themselves! Who am I kidding, you probably know this already.” She wiped the tears away and groaned slightly in discomfort. “I bet my sister’s still out looking for me. She’s considerate like that. Did you know she’s actually my mom? Of course you did. I gleamed it off her mind once, using your powers actually. I just wish my life could be simple, you know.”
“Where do you think I should go?”
Clearsight was silent for a moment.
I think you should go home, Cricket.
“Yeah,” she muttered, still trying to wipe her tears away. “That sounds wonderful.” She stood and turned to exit the alleyway before stopping and turning once more. “If I go back, will you be here tomorrow.”
Don’t worry, I’m real, though now we can speak freely you should know, my name’s not Clearsight.