Wings of Vain 1: demise

Shadow Foot’s heart sank as he stared at the darkness before him, what happened, what even happened there, why would he be here, why would this be happening, he never felt this sort of fear before, almost as if his whole body went numb, needles stabbing right into his veins, a chill running straight up his back.

“Look at the hybrid, he is so scared, kehehe, my, how does it feel being the one who is caught in my trap, my enchantment, will you may, or whatever you would call it.” A voice said.

“Who is there?!” Shadow Foot screeched, clenching his eyes shut immediately.

“Oh my, does that really matter hybrid? And besides I’m the one in control, so it really isn’t that smart to talk to me like that.” The voice said.

“I have a name you know!” Shadowfoot exclaimed.

“Well, I don’t care.” The voice said.

Shadow Foot put a paw to his snout and shuddered, he was starting to get terrified now, this dragon, or whatever they were, was terrifying.

“Now, are you finally going to stop arguing with me?” The voice asked him.

Shadow Foot nodded, still in fear of whoever this was, just hoping that they wouldn’t hurt him, yell at him, or do anything else to him. The mud-night was in complete and utter horror from this.

“Good, then do as I sa-“ the voice cut off as Shadow Foot awoke in the cave, laying under his blanket, blinking.

“Was… that just a dream?” The hybrid mumbled.

He shook his head and sighed, tapping it a few times.

“I really need to stop having nightmares or such.” He said to himself before looking across everyone, especially to not disturb them.

“Moons, well, I am hungry, and besides, it’s about time that we… well, we have to go and get those eggs soon… and I need energy to be able to.” Shadow Foot mumbled and walked through the cave to the food supply.

He started eating some food to replenish his strength, he was starting to get worried though, would a bunch of dragonets really be able to fight the dragons wishing to take over the world? He wasn’t really sure of that, most importantly, he was scared, scared for everyone.

“Stress eating again?” A seawing asked, walking in, his brow was raised.

“Oh, uh no I’m not Dolphin.” Shadow Foot squeaked.

“Oh yes you were.” Dolphin said as he put a talon on the hybrid’s chin.

“I’m telling you that I wasn’t, I’m trying to make sure that I have enough energy for the morning, and I was starving.” Shadow Foot said.

“Mhm, we should probably get you back to bed.” Dolphin said.

“But… I’m not tired anymore.” Shadow Foot whined.

“And I’m saying that you need rest for the morning.” Dolphin said.

He took Shadow Foot back to bed, putting him to sleep, Shadow Foot found himself back in that dream from earlier, the chill went straight up his spine once again.

“This…. Again?” He asked.

“Hey, why’d you wake up when I was talking to you.” The voice from before said, now sounding more aggressive.

“I-I’m sorry, I was hungry and had to go eat.” Shadow Foot whined.

“Sure, of course you were.” The voice said.

“Im being honest.” Shadow Foot said.

Suddenly, a gash appeared on his cheek, the hybrid’s eyes widened before he started screaming.

“Now listen to me, you will leave the group of guardians and smash the eggs for the prophesy, and ruin it for me.” The voice said.

“No, I won’t! I would never betray my friends.” Shadow Foot said.

“Ah, and here I thought you would be different, oh well, looks like I’ll just kill you along with the rest of them when the time comes.” The voice said.

Suddenly, Shadow Foot woke up, a worried looking rain-ice sat before him, looking into his eyes.

“Dragonfruit…?” Shadow Foot mumbled.

He felt his cheek, the cut wasn’t there anymore, so was it just a dream?

“I was so worried, you were trembling in your sleep.” Dragonfruit said.

“Oh, it was just a nightmare, you don’t have to be so worked up over it.” Shadow Foot said with a smile.

Dragonfruit and Dolphin both shot each other concerned looks, Shadow Foot could tell that they were skeptical about what he just said.

“What’s going on everyone? Is everything alright?” A skywing asked as she walked in.

“Oh yes, it’s all fine, no need to worry Goldbill.” Dolphin said.

“Now I’m getting worried.” Goldbill said.

“Oh no, it’s fine, Shadow Foot was only having a nightmare.” Dragonfruit said.

“I’m gonna take a walk.” Shadow Foot said.

“Alright… just be careful please.” Dragonfruit said.

“I will.” Shadow Foot said as he got up and walked out of the room, he sighed, not knowing what to do about that strange dream, the prophecy or anything.

The hybrid lifted his head as a sand-night-ice approached him.

“Ibis, what do you want?” He asked.

“I don’t want anything, I just came to see the idiot and that is all, now bye.” Ibis said, cutting past Shadow Foot.

“Now that was uncalled for.” Shadow Foot said.

‘I am not an idiot.’ He thought.

Shadow Foot shook his head and returned to everyone else, defeated.

“Shadow Foot? What’s wrong?” Goldbill asked.

“Ibis, again.” Shadow Foot said.

“Great, him, he is always such a jerk.” Dragonfruit said.

“Well, we probably should get going now.” Dolphin said.

“Yeah, we do not want to screw up on this prophecy.” Goldbill said.

The group of 4 left the cave and split up, each flying off in different directions, Shadow Foot felt his heart drop, he was getting scared once again, and that nightmare didn’t help him at all.

“What am I even going to do? What if that was real and I… no… stop panicking Shadow Foot, just stay calm…” he said to himself.

His eyes widened when he noticed an army of seawings nearby, he immediately bolted for a nearby cave, hiding inside, trembling. The hybrid watched as they passed by, not noticing him.

“E-excuse me sir?” A soft voice stuttered behind Shadow Foot.

Shadow Foot turned around seeing a hive-ice hybrid behind him.

“Uhm, w-who are you and why a-are you here?” The hybrid asked.

“Shadow Foot… and I was hiding from the seawings.” Shadow Foot said.

“U-uhm oh, uh w-well I’m Iodide.” The other hybrid said, “I’m a d-doctor, well, n-not that good at it… I uhm… only had myself to teach m-me.”

“Oh, I’m sorry.” Shadow Foot said.

“Well u-uh, I’m supposed to be heading to the mud k-kingdom, c-can you escort me there, Shadow Foot sir? I came h-here to rest f-for the night a-a-and now I’m f-feeling all better.” Iodide said.

“Oh yes, I was just heading there too.” Shadow Foot said with a small smile.

Iodide rubbed up against Shadow Foot’s side, wagging his tail happily. Shadow Foot felt himself start to blush.

“Yay!” He squealed.

Iodide opened his eyes and grinned before kissing Shadow Foot on his maw.

“Oh moons.” Shadow Foot said happily as Iodide pulled back and started taking him out of the cave.

The two glanced around, Shadow Foot sighed deeply, glad that the seawings were all gone now.

“So, ready to go.” He asked.

“Yup, the c-coast seems to be c-clear.” Iodide said and took off, Shadow Foot close behind.

“So w-what’s your reasoning for g-going to the mud kingdom?” Iodide asked.

“I uh, have to get an egg for a prophecy.” Shadow Foot said.

“Ooh! N-Neat! M-Mind uh, waiting for me to f-finish treating my patient’s injuries first when i get there and then we can get it together?” Iodide asked.

“Oh, uh, sure.” Shadow Foot said.

“Yay! That makes me h-happy, so uh I-I’ll say more about it o-once we are there.” Iodide said.

The two spent awhile flying before they reached the mud kingdom, landing down on the ground before they were met by a mud-sky hybrid.

“Ah, h-hey Maiya I’m h-here, I hope you d-don’t mind my b-boyfriend tagging along.” Iodide said.

“Sure, whatever, just hurry up.” Maiya said.

Iodide then turned to Shadow Foot, finally seeming to have calmed down, making his stutter go away.

“So, ready to see a doctor do their work?” Iodide asked.

“Of course I am.” Shadow Foot said.

Iodide smiled and wagged his tail, he was happy once again. He took his paw and walked towards the hut that Maiya was at, she was waiting for them.

“The patient is inside.” She said.

The hybrid moved out of the way to allow the other two hybrids inside, inside was an injured mud-sky who was still conscious.

“Hey.” Iodide said.

Shadow Foot looked at the nameplate next to the bed, ‘Muktuk.

“Your name is Muktuk, right?” Shadow Foot asked.

Muktuk nodded his head weakly.

“Y…yes.” He said.

Iodide walked up to Muktuk and started treating his wounds, smiling softly.

“Its all gonna be ok, I promise you.” Iodide whispered.

The two dragons then left after they made sure everything was ok with Muktuk and headed to where Shadow Foot had to.

“So im supposed to meet with the parent of the egg, it’s just a simple handing over since well, y’know, mudwing parents don’t raise or nurture their dragonets.” Shadow Foot said.

“Ah?” Iodide squeaked.

“Well, I won’t be like that, but well, they usually just leave them to raise each other in a sense, the eldest being the one who has to keep the others safe.” Shadow Foot said.

Iodide glanced around at all the mudwings, starting to feel slightly nervous.

“S-so how long will we b-be?” He asked.

“Just a few minutes at the most and then we will leave.” Shadow Foot said.

He took a deep breath, just hoping that he wouldn’t have the same kind of dream he had the last two nights after he gets this egg, it will just be a simple exchange right as well, right? No one will tell him to destroy the eggs, right?

The hybrid groaned and sighed, smacking his talons against his face, upset with himself.

“Is something wrong?” Iodide asked.

“Oh, uh no, sorry, was just overthinking things, I tend to do that sometimes.” Shadow Foot said.

They went down to a hut near the end of the mud trail where a female mudwing was waiting, but one he didn’t recognize.

“Hey, what are you doing here? I was supposed to meet with-“ Shadow Foot said.

“My sister? Yeah, she was unable to bring the egg herself, so I, you can call me Coypu, came to give you her egg myself.” The mudwing said.

“I feel uhm, nevermind.” Iodide said.

Coypu handed the mudwing egg over to Shadow Foot and headed back into the house.

“We should just go.” Shadow Foot said.

“Ok.” Iodide said nervously.

The two took off, flying to the cave where Shadow Foot and his friends were staying at.

“Alright, you will have to be very careful from now on, we can’t let that group find out about this cave.” Shadow Foot said.

“Ok, got it.” Iodide nods.

Shadow Foot walked inside, holding Iodide’s talons before Dolphin approached them.

“Hello Shadow Foot and…” he said.

“I’m Iodide!” Iodide says.

“He is my boyfriend now.” Shadow Foot said.

“Oh, that’s neat.” Dolphin said.

“Thanks.” Shadow Foot said.

“Oh, there are two dragons I’d like you to meet Shadow Foot, they will be helping us now as well.” Dolphin said.

He turned around and started leading Shadow Foot and Iodide to another cave where a mudwing and a skywing were speaking to each other.

“You two, meet Ferment and Aris.” Dolphin said.

“Oh, uh it’s nice to meet you guys.” Shadow Foot said.

“Same to you, I guess.” Aris said.

“It is really nice!” Ferment exclaimed.

Shadow Foot placed the mudwing egg down with the others and took a deep breath, turning to Dolphin now, frowning, well he wasn’t upset, just slightly disappointed since if they got the set of eggs wrong, who knew what the nightwing that had the vision would do to them, and they did get the set wrong.

“Why is there a rainwing egg instead of a sandwing egg?” He asked.

“The mudwing queen forced the sandwing queen to get all the sandwing eggs that would hatch on this day destroyed, the mudwing queen is highly against this prophecy and wants to get rid of the chances… and all we could get in time was a rainwing egg.” Dolphin said.

Dragonfruit walked in, taking a few deep breaths.

“Sorry I’m late!” She exclaimed.

“What took you so long?” Dolphin asked.

A seawing walked out beside Dragonfruit, nervously rubbing her arm.

“I just found someone else who’d be willing to help us, why don’t you introduce yourself?” Dragonfruit asked.

“Oh, uhm uh, hi I’m Orectolobidae.” The seawing said nervously, a large, awkward smile going across her face.

“How can we know that we can trust her?” Dolphin asked.

“She is an old friend of mine.” Dragonfruit replied.

“So that means?” Dolphin asked.

“We can trust her.” Dragonfruit said.

“Dolphin, stop it, this isn’t like you.” Shadow Foot said.

“What are you idiots doing?” Ibis asked.

Iodide started looking nervous about this, Shadow Foot could tell that he was about to freak out.

“Just ignore him, he is always like this.” Shadow Foot said.

“Ok, I-I’ll try.” Iodide said.

Goldbill walked in smiling, her tail wagging behind herself.

“I’m back!” She exclaimed

“Glad to see our trans friend once again.” Dolphin said.

Aris walked up to Goldbill and looked her over, thinking for a second.

“You are quite pretty.” She said.

“Oh, thank you, you are too.” Goldbill smiled.

“Well, it’s about time that we all get some sleep, it’s getting late and the eggs won’t hatch until tomorrow.” Dragonfruit said.

“You can sleep with me Iodide, since we are together now.” Shadow Foot said.

Iodide grinned and nodded.

“Thank you!” He exclaimed.

The dragons all returned to the guardian sleeping quarters and Shadow Foot snuggled with Iodide, immediately falling asleep then and there. He soon found himself in the same dream as the past two nights.

His eyes widened in fear once again.

“No, not again…” he said.

“I brought you here to give you one last chance, destroy the eggs and join us and we will give you as much power as you wish, doesn’t that intrigue you? You can be strong, your father would finally accept you.” The voice said.

“I told you already, I will not!” Shadow Fruit exclaimed.

“Fine then, what I said before will happen, you will perish with the rest.” The voice said.

That dream ended, sending Shadow Foot into a normal dream, leaving him to sleep for the rest of the night, still utterly confused about the whole thing.

Was that really a dream, or was it a real dragon speaking to him in his dreams, and why would they want to stop the prophecy, he knew why the mudwing queen wanted to, she is just mentally deranged, but not why this one would, and if it was a real dragon, who were they, and why would they speak specifically to him?

Suddenly Shadow Foot was woken up, Ferment was smiling to him softly.

“Morning! It’s time, everyone else is with the eggs.” Ferment said.

“Thank you for telling me.” Shadow Foot said.

“Glad to be of assistance.” Ferment said.

The two walked into the cave where the eggs were being kept together, Ferment went off into his own corner, Shadow Foot glanced around and saw Aris and Goldbill whispering to each other. He noticed that Dragonfruit and Orectolobidae were flirting with each other.

Ibis was standing in the corner, looking as angry as always, for some reason, it didn’t really matter anyways, they only had to ignore him. Dolphin was talking with Ferment at this point.

Iodide soon walked over to Shadow Foot and hugged him, smiling bright.

“You ready?” He asked.

“Yeah, I’m excited to see the prophecy dragonets hatch.” Shadow Foot said.

The seawing egg started wobbling and it then cracked open as a small seawing stuck his head out, blinking his eyes curiously.

“We can call him Exotic Dreamer, or Exotic for short.” Gull says.

The second egg to hatch was the nightwing egg, the nightwing slowly poked her head out of the shell.

“Midnight Galaxy, or we can just call her Galaxy.” Iodide said.

The third to hatch was the mudwing egg, she broke out, but there was something differently about her, she didn’t have her right paw.

“Her name is Topsoil.” Ibis said.

The skywing egg was the next to hatch, the dragonet had a small frown on his face as he glanced around.

“That’s Solar.” Goldbill said.

The rainwing egg started cracking until the rainwing dragonet broke out of the egg, she stumbled over to Solar.

“And that one is Cherimoya.” Dragonfruit said.

“I’ll teach Exotic Dreamer about aquatic when he grows up, he will need it when he goes to the sea kingdom.” Dolphin said.

“Yeah, that’s a good idea.” Shadow Foot said.