Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The Rainforest was beautiful. Hope had loved it the moment she was introduced to it. Although she was quite confused about the dynamics between the NightWings and the RainWings, she agreed that this was a much better place to live than the volcano. She had heard many stories from Starflight, and any NightWing that would talk to her, about how the volcano made the NightWings live in anxiety and fear, threatening to blow up for almost four years now. 

She found herself quite lonely, even though she was surrounded by dragons. Anytime she would talk to NightWings, she felt ostracized and confused. Being asleep for thousands of years makes you a little behind on the times, and nobody cared enough to catch her up to speed. 

When she would try to talk to RainWings, a lot of them gave off a strange feeling, like they were all scared that she would try to eat them or something. Or they would just stare at her and then disappear. 

The only dragons she found herself enjoying were Starflight, The Queen, her Bodyguard, and The Jade Winglet. She had a particularly soft spot for Winter, as he had freed her from her aching prison. He had also immediately treated her like a normal dragon, and not some ancient relic that needed to be researched. To him, Hope wasn’t a bomb about to go off, either. She was a sign that things could get better. A sign of rebirth and Hope. Hence her name. 

She paced delicately through the forest, walking past the NightWing village. Hope liked walking across the rainforest floor, the sounds of the trees creaking with the wind, the bugs and birds buzzing around in the air. She nosed bright colored flowers that sprang up from the mossy floor. 

The tall NightWing crept up towards the waterfall she normally sat at. She found lots of dragons there at different times, hoping for a place to be alone. Most times, they would sit in silence, other times, she would engage in pleasant conversation before one of them left the other. 

Today, there was a small NightWing curled up with his wings spread out to catch the sun. He had midnight-black scales with purple and deep blue glints. He looked as though he was his own treasure breaking out of a dark mountain. The sun made his scales look like gems. 

“Hello, Starflight.” Hope called, padding up to him and sitting beside him, patting his tail with hers to let him know she was there. 

The smaller dragon lifted his head, and she got a look at his blindfold. It seemed to be slipping off a little bit, and she could see the pink scarring on his snout. He subconsciously pushed it back up, only for it to slip down even further. He wrinkled his snout in frustration. 

“I’ve got it.” Hope said calmly, reaching towards his face. When she grabbed onto the back of the cloth, Starflight flinched. She untied the knot, keeping the cloth in front of his eyes, and tied it to be tighter than before, so it wouldn’t slip off. 

“Thank you, Hope.” He muttered when she was finished. 

“No problem,” She whispered. “How are you feeling this morning?”

The other dragon turned his head away from her and sighed. “I’m not sure, to be honest.”

Hope tilted her head in confusion. “Oh? Is something going on? You don’t have to tell me, but I’m here if you want to talk. We could always just sit and listen to the waterfalls together.”

“It’s just,” The shy dragon started, looking hesitant to explain himself. “You know my father, right?”

“The only dragon in the Rainforest who’s in prison? Yeah, sure. A little bit.” The bigger dragon stated, closing her eyes. 

She liked to feel more connected with Starflight this way, by seeing what he could be seeing. She also liked the way the sounds got more intense when her vision was out of the question. 

“Well, they’re having a trial for him soon. They’re going to decide whether or not he’s going back into prison forever, or if he’s going to be let into the NightWing village.” Starflight huffed. 

“Hmm. Which one are you hoping for?”

“I don’t know, that’s what makes me feel awful. One the one talon, I want to hope that he’s grown and gets let out, because I don’t want him to be miserable for the rest of my life. But on the other talon, deep down inside I hope he rots in that cell. I feel absolutely terrible for thinking any of these things.” The midnight-colored dragon sounded as if he were going to cry. Hope wondered if he really could cry at all. 

“You’re completely valid for feeling both of these things, believe me.” Hope said, sighing. “You want him to have a good life because he’s your father, but you also resent him for doing horrible things.” 

“Yeah, I know.” The two sat in silence for a long while, and Hope wrapped her wing around the boy’s shoulders. His head found its way onto her, and she let him lay against her for a minute. “Can I ask you a favor? You can say no to this.”

“Hmm?” Hope hummed questioningly. 

“Will you go to the trial with me?” He asked softly. “I don’t want to go by myself.”

“Sure, honey. Of course I’ll go.” She thought about what she was going to do with Peacemaker. Maybe Kinkajou would watch him for the day. She was sure she wouldn’t want to go to the trial anyways. 

“Thank you.”

She wondered what exactly was going to happen during this trial, and she was actually quite nervous. But a lingering feeling licked at her stomach, and she wondered if something good could come of this. For now, however, she would sit here with one of her only friends, and listen to the water trickle down the rocks.

Chapter Text

The morning started…usually for Hope. She scooped up her dragonet and quickly went to the meeting spot she and Kinkajou had agreed on. 

“Here he is!” Hope chided, holding her baby, Peacemaker. The little dragon writhed in her grasp, protesting to being held. The scales under his little wings were changing colors rapidly, which they tended to do when he was in an angry mood.

“GIVE ME THAT SWEET BABY BOY!!” Kinkajou cheered, lifting him out of his mother’s grasp and hugging him tightly. Hope laughed as she saw the pout her son had put on. 

“Oh, don’t look like that.” She giggled, bopping him on the snout. “You’ll have a good day with Auntie Kinkajou while Mommy goes to do a favor with a friend, okay?” 

“We’re going to have a blast!” Kinkajou snorted, pinks and yellows swirling around her snout. She was an anxious color of pale blue, and she looked up at Hope. “Are you sure you want to go? You could just hang around with us.”  

Hope felt bad for the RainWing and petted her wing softly. “I have to go for Starflight. Honestly, the guy hasn’t done anything harmful to me, so no scales off my wings.” She glanced at the smaller dragon sharply. “What are you hoping for?” She was genuinely curious of everyone’s opinions on the trial. Most were swindled to let Mastermind rot in prison, however it seemed like a lot of RainWings weren’t even sure what he was locked up for. 

The little dragon looked up at the NightWing, a roll of unsure colors waving over her scales. “I think.” She looked like she was anxious to give her answer, as if she could be judged for what she was going to say. “I hope he goes free.” 

Hope reeled back in shock. Out of all of the RainWings, Hope had thought Kinkajou would be the one to hate him the most. To let him die in prison. “You want him to get out?” 

Kinkajou lashed her tail, kicking up dirt from the ground. “Well, yeah. Don’t get me wrong, I hate the guy, but I want him to see RainWings as dragons instead of experiments. I want him to see that he was wrong, but I don’t want him to suffer in the way we did.” 

“That’s very noble of you,” the older dragon said, nodding in thought. “I know many dragons - Both RainWing and NightWing - that want him to stay in jail. Even Starflight has doubts about him.”

She didn’t like the look on her friend’s face. The little dragon shook her head quickly, giving her a weak smile. “Well, I guess we’ll see what happens.” 

Hope nodded slowly. “I’ll come back to tell you what happened, I promise. “She nosed her son for one moment more before turning around. “Goodbye!” She quickly ran and jumped, starting to fly away quickly. After everything had happened, Hope often found herself struggling to leave her son again, even if it were just for a few hours. It was painful, and she wasn’t quite sure why. It was like she thought that if she looked away from her son for one moment too long, he would turn evil again. 

As she flew towards the familiar waterfall Starflight would be at, she took a second to enjoy the flight. She closed her eyes for just a second, not long enough to be hit by flying objects in the Rainforest, and let the feeling of the sun shine down on her. She relished in the warmth, as being stuck in the Ice Kingdom for almost two thousand years didn’t allow for much heat. She let her wings extend as far as they could go, and loved how the wind rushed under them, carrying her forwards. Nothing could compare to her flying with her long lost lover through the old Knight Kingdom, but this could suffice her appetite for now. 

She narrowed her eyes as she saw a familiar dark shape sitting in front of the waterfall, and quickly dropped down to land close beside him. Starflight flinched at the noise, and probably at the vibrations of her thumping down next to him. His face quickly softened. “Hello, Hope. Unfortunately, it’s a beautiful day outside.” 

Hope immediately wrapped a wing around him, and he nosed into her shoulder. “Hey, let’s be positive. We have no idea what could happen. Where are we supposed to be?” 

Starflight sighed, which he seemed to do often. He reminded her of how Sunny described her father at times, and was desperate to make sure Starflight didn’t end up like him. “I think we have to go to the Royal Pavilion.” He glanced up at her, almost like he could sense the concerns that were rattling around in her mind. “I know how to fly there from here, don’t worry.” 

“Do you want me to help you anyways, just in case?” Hope had spoken to Tamarin multiple times, and the young dragonet had told her all about how she had flew straight into trees when she was newly blind, and how hurt she could have gotten. Hope wasn’t quite sure what she would do if Starflight got hurt. He had already been through a lot in his life, and Hope was determined to help him live a long, happy life now. 

He quickly shook his head. “I can do it. I promise. I want to do it myself.”

Every motherly urge in Hope’s head was screaming at her to PROTECT THIS BABY, but he was quite stubborn. She rolled her eyes fondly. He’s stubborn like my baby was. She faltered her thoughts for a moment as she watched Starflight fly away, wondering if comparing him to Darkstalker was a good idea. She decided it could be, since she hadn’t seen the evil part of her son until the very end. 

She often wondered to herself if she could have prevented anything that Darkstalker had done, or if it was fate no matter what. 

Hope was quite impressed with Starflight, as he seemed to know the Rainforest well, and could glide in between the trees, even with his lack of vision. He only got tangled up in vines once, and he easily rolled himself out of it, only calling out to Hope to ask which direction he was now facing. She reminded herself to ask him how he learned to fly so well, and if he had a system in his brain to remember where all the trees were. 

They touched down on the royal Pavilion, and Hope glanced around at the flowers that had been growing around the sides, and almost on the tightly-knit vines that made the flooring. That was one of the things Hope had loved most about the Rainforest, flowers were everywhere. She had planned to start making her own garden, which would have flowers and strawberry bushes and all sorts of pretty shrubbery all around. She had to focus on making her shack into a home, first.

She regained focus as she saw Starflight slip through the vine curtain. She quickly followed him, and her stomach turned in knots as she looked around the room she found herself in. 

Most notably, was Queen Glory, who was standing in the center of the room. She was swirling with colors of unease, however she was trying to gain control of her scales, and she did so quickly, turning a calm shade of gray. 

There were very few other dragons in the room, including Grandeur, who was a blazing red color. A few other RainWings and NightWings were there that Hope couldn’t really recognize. 

She gazed to the corner of the room, and her eyes froze. Tsunami had come down from the school, and was sitting right beside a NightWing who had his wings and talons bound. Deathbringer was sitting on the other side of the dragon. That must be Starflight’s dad. 

This theory was proven true when his eyes laid on Starflight. “My boy!” He yelped, earning a sharp crack in the ribs from Tsunami. She hissed at him to be quiet. 

The only indication that Starflight had even heard his father say anything was his ears flicking backwards. Other than that, his face was completely still. Hope thought this could be either because he didn’t want his father to know how he felt about him, or the fact that Starflight wasn’t sure how he felt about the older dragon in the first place.

Glory narrowed her eyes at the two. “Hello Starflight, please, come sit.” She flicked her tail towards a free place, and Hope quickly guided her friend to where the Queen had pointed. The spot was in between Mastermind and another RainWing, and Hope deliberately separated Starflight from his father by taking the space next to the other NightWing. 

The two parents made eye contact for a brief moment, and Mastermind flicked his tail in a small greeting, smiling at her. Tsunami didn’t catch the movement, so Hope returned the notion before focusing on Glory.  

“Alright, we’re here to vote on if Mastermind should be put into the population, or if he should remain in jail for another…” Glory looked like she was trying to remember how long she had decided to make him wait. “12 years?” 

Hope was in shock. 12 years seemed inhumane, however she wouldn’t argue with the Queen, so she bit her tongue for the time being. 

The Queen looked around expectantly. “Oh uhm. Raise your talons if you think we should keep him in jail.” She said this quite dismissively, as if she wasn’t really worried about what any of these dragons had thought. 

To Hope’s immense shock, every dragon in the room raised their talons except her, Starflight, and of course Mastermind. 

Glory nodded quickly. “Well, that settles that. Take him back.”

Mastermind suddenly lurched towards Starflight, only to be quickly yanked back by Tsunami and Deathbringer. He tried to wriggle out of their grasp quickly, but was unsuccessful. “Please, no!” I just want my boy!” 

Tsunami shoved him towards the door. “Come on, let’s go!”  

The pair of much stronger dragons yanked him out the door and started flying down towards the jail, with Mastermind screaming for Starflight the whole way down. The last audible thing Hope heard him yell was ‘I just want to see my son.’ That broke her heart, being a mother herself. She knew how she felt, in some way, being separated from her child. In some ways, her child is gone forever now. She couldn’t mistake that. Darkstalker was gone, no matter how much she loved Peacemaker, he could never be what he once was. She was slightly relieved by that fact, but was swarmed with guilt when the relief struck her. 

Starflight’s jaw was tight, and Hope knew he was trying to make it look like he wasn’t affected by the voting, but his body was shaking. With anger or sadness, Hope wasn’t sure which. 

“Sorry Star.” Glory whispered to him, trying to brush him with her wing. He shoved past his sister and bolted out the door, jumping off the pavilion and flying off into the sky. Hope stayed where she was. He probably just needs some space right about now. I know I would if that happened to me. 

She glanced at the Queen, and shuffled her feet quickly. This seemed way too rushed for my liking. She glanced at the dragons in the room. Not exactly a fair trial, either. 

The NightWing shook her head hard. This is NOT my place, but I need to say something. “Your Majesty?” She called out anxiously. What was wrong with her? If it were back in her time, she would march straight up to ANY Queen and give her a piece of her mind. But here she was, nervous to talk to a RainWing. Not that RainWings were a tribe to be trifled with. 

Glory whipped her head around. “Oh Hope. I forgot you were here.” Oh thanks Glory, that doesn’t sting at all. “Do you need something?” 

“Uhm, yes. I think you should hold another vote for Mastermind.” She blurted out. 

The Queen raised her brow, and trails of orange annoyance snaked their way through her scales before quickly retreating back to gray-blue. “Why, we had a vote already.” 

“Well, it seemed to be really rushed.” Hope said. “And it didn’t look like you really cared about what happened to him.” This remark made the Queen narrow her eyes at the NightWing, and Hope knew she had to keep talking quickly before SHE went to jail, too. “I mean, you also didn’t have any of the RainWings who were imprisoned here. Those are the dragons that SHOULD be having the vote, anyways.”

“Hm,” the Queen hummed to herself for a moment. “You’re right.”

Hope reeled back quickly. “I am?”

“Yes.” Glory said. “Okay, I’ll think about it. Thank you for your input. Now, if you don’t mind, I have things to attend to.” The Queen nodded quickly and flew out the door. 

“Okay, wow.” Hope said in an empty room. “I did NOT think that would work.” 

She slowly walked out of the room and stared at the clouds that were rolling through the sky. It was going to storm soon, or it looked that way, at least. She thought about how the RainWings may vote towards Mastermind. For most of her life, dragons had been predictable to her, but now she couldn’t even be sure how her friend Kinkajou would vote on something like this. She remembered the dragon screaming for his son, and a heavy feeling sat in her chest. She knew that deep down, Starflight had wanted his father. He would never admit it, though. 

The poor dragon thought he was so much of a bother for being blind that he would rather die than tell anyone his problems. Hope could tell he was devastated by a lot of things happening around him, however. 

Hopefully, I can take care of this one thing for you, Starflight.