Chapter Text
Darkstalker is working on trying to breathe fire again after the chaos that happened in the Ice Kingdom. He winces as the frostbreath injury flares up. Arctic is watching. "Focus," the IceWing snaps. "If it's anything like frostbreath, control is the first step."
"I know," Darkstalker growls, before he gasps, putting his talons to his neck. It's been three weeks since Diamond sent the letter that had sent Arctic over the edge; three weeks since Arctic took Darkstalker and Whiteout to the Ice Kingdom so that Whiteout can challenge Diamond; three weeks since Diamond, in one desperate attempt to make Whiteout waver, blasted Darkstalker in the neck with frostbreath, only for Whiteout to (instead of backing down) lash out in anger and tear out Diamond's throat; three weeks since Whiteout became Queen of the IceWings, and too busy to stop by at the Night Kingdom, despite her promise to Thoughtful. The war between the NightWings and the IceWings is still ongoing; Queen Vigilance refuses to let it end. If anything, the NightWing Queen is seeing the IceWings' current change of leadership as a weakness to exploit, though she can't attack the IceWings because of the Ice Cliff, so Whiteout is safe from being blindsided. The worst part, in Darkstalker's opinion, is that his injury still hasn't healed, even though he should never have gotten hurt in the first place.
Nearby, Clearsight is trying to feed Shadowhunter a slice of mango (purchased from some RainWing in the marketplace). Shadowhunter usually loves mangoes, but not this time. The week-old dragonet is staring intently at the door, refusing to interact with her mother's attempts at all. Meanwhile, Fierceclaws, blissfully unaware of whatever Shadowhunter sees, is sitting on Clearsight's head, tugging on her horns.
Darkstalker smiles at Clearsight, then goes back to trying to, at the very least, produce smoke.
Just as soon as Darkstalker makes the slightest amount of progress, feeling his throat warm up ever-so-slightly, the door bursts open. "Three moons!" Arctic yelps, then his tone turns aggressive as he says "This is my home, you must knock first."
"Silence, IceWing," the veiled NightWing hisses, pointing a spear at the IceWing Prince's throat. Darkstalker doesn't move. He doesn't know what to do. His scroll is in his room, so he can't enchant the intruder to be forced out of here. He glances at Arctic, wondering if he will use his own magic.
"I've heard that you two had dragonets last week," the intruder says to Darkstalker and Clearsight. "Are those them?" she asks, tipping her snout at Shadowhunter (who is hiding behind Clearsight's legs) and Fierceclaws (who has stopped goofing around and is now trying to lay flat on her mother's head).
"Yes, they are," Clearsight says. Darkstalker notes that her voice is oddly cold. It never ceases to annoy Darkstalker, how Clearsight is so comfortable with seeing futures so potentially-dark that Darkstalker steadfastly refuses to give them a glance; but then, that is the same reason why he was originally obsessed with Clearsight before that selfishness turned into genuine love.
The NightWing removes her veil and Darkstalker frowns; it's Queen Vigilance. "As your queen, I demand you hand them over to me now."
"No," Clearsight immediately snarls, taking a stance that screams that Vigilance should forget about being regal and just flee during the limited time where Clearsight is carefully picking Fierceclaws up off her head and setting the young NightWing down on the floor. Meanwhile, Darkstalker freezes. He can feel his injury causing more pain as he tenses up. He can't move. He hates where this is going so much that he can't see any set of actions that might lead to a good future; not any actions that he makes, anyway.
"You will do as I command," Vigilance growls. Arctic is tugging on Darkstalker, trying to get him to leave the room. Darkstalker is in no condition to do anything here, not even watch. But it's as though Darkstalker's talons are sinking into the ground. He can't leave. Not when his mate and dragonets are being threatened. "I've been told that your dragonets will spell an end to my rule. They must die so that I may continue to keep my throne."
As soon as Vigilance makes her open threat against the dragonets, Clearsight lunges too fast for Darkstalker or Arctic to do anything. It was brutal... it was terrifying. Darkstalker remembers how he and Whiteout witnessed the spats Arctic and Foeslayer sometimes have, but those were more like playful, verbal jabs. This, however, was real... and physical. Blood is being spilled as Clearsight's claws flash and her teeth chomp down. Every time Vigilance tries to fight back, Clearsight is already ten steps ahead of the Queen. It has almost the same energy as what Whiteout's fight against Diamond was like... but, then, Darkstalker had been too busy complaining to himself about the cold. Here, however, Darkstalker can see everything, and it is brutal.
When Clearsight finally stops her assault, Vigilance is laying on the ground. Vigilance is severely wounded pretty much everywhere. Meanwhile, the only blood on Clearsight was from Vigilance's wounds. Clearsight knew; that's the only way, Darkstalker realizes. She knew that Vigilance would come here to kill Shadowhunter and Fierceclaws. She was preparing for it, making herself be a better fighter, teaching herself to use her immensely-powerful foresight to be useful in directly affecting the present. Darkstalker finds himself quaking ever-so-slightly. He's found a new respect for his mate, as if he didn't have enough reasons already.
But then Clearsight takes things one step further... a step too far from what Darkstalker would've liked. "The prophecy you were told was correct, by your own undoing," Clearsight growls at Vigilance. "Our dragonets brought an end to your rule, because, by threatening them, you made me mad enough to attack. And now look at us, I do believe that I am Queen now, since it was as good as a challenge to your throne. And, my first three acts as Queen: first, I will accept Whiteout's wish for peace between our tribes, ending the war between the NightWings and the IceWings; second, I will demand that no dragonet is to be threatened because of something that isn't guaranteed to happen; and that leads me directly to my third act, making sure you don't threaten innocent lives ever again." Clearsight raises her talons and then brings them down on ex-Queen Vigilance's neck. It was swift and brutal, with no time for Vigilance to protest.
Arctic looks at Darkstalker. "Good thing I shaped up so quickly after you and your sister hatched," the IceWing admits, "I don't think I'd want to be on the receiving end of that." Darkstalker can barely remember, 9 years ago, when he hatched. Arctic was far from a good dragon then. Maybe Clearsight might've gotten ticked off at Arctic to show how nasty she could be to him if he had kept it up, but Darkstalker doubts it. If Arctic kept being as bad as he was that first week Darkstalker knew him, Darkstalker is pretty sure he might have killed Arctic first.