Chapter Text
Brightseer slowly opened his cloudy blue eyes, his black wings stretching out along his bed made of leaves. He gripped a nearby torch stand, and dragged himself up. Rainy this morning... He noted as he looked around the room in his wooden hut.
He walked over to a brown desk he had made himself and grabbed a metal lantern he had strung together, tying it around his neck loosely. He used it to navigate around at night, as he was disabled by Nightwing standards. Just because I lack night-vision doesn't mean I'm lesser. I mean, the other 9 tribes don't have night-vision... He internally complained as he walked towards his parents room.
Brightseer peeked into their room, searching for them. Looks like they're gone already. He walked out of the hut, tucking his wings into his sides. He looked around the rainforest, the atmosphere gray from the ongoing rain.
I've always lived a life in the rainforest. My parents tell me they lived on an ash-ridden volcanic Island before it erupted, and all of the nightwings had to evacuate into the rainforest with the rainwings 20 years ago... His thoughts ran through the history he had been told as he walked past several huts, the mud splashing his white talons. It didn't make sense to him, how could someone live like that?
He saw several dragons staring at him as he passed by, their eyes suspicious. What are you looking at? He thought of saying out loud, but decided not to.
He walked into the village center, glancing at the various shops and shady dragons running about. He searched for his parents, looking past a dragon being dragged forcefully outside by its parents.
He was about to go searching in the medical section of the village, as his mother was a doctor specializing in trauma related to the spine and wings. He could smell the medicinal herbs from the center. He was interrupted by a fight breaking out behind him, hearing several punches.
His head snapped around to see what was going on. He saw a rainwing cornering a shivering Nightwing, red blood flowing down their snout while they tried to de-escalate the situation. "P-please-"
The male rainwing snorted, his scales shifting to an angry red. "You think we still trust you? Your tribe kidnapped hundreds of our own! We should never have let you into our rainforest." His voice trembled with rage. Brightseer heard its thoughts, using his mind reading. You deserve nothing.
Brightseer's face shifted into an angry expression, his jaw tightening slightly. That was over 20 years ago, and dragons still hold grudges? He could see where they were coming from, but this was too far.
He decided to intervene. He moved before he could think, pushing the rainwing aside. His wings stretched wide, blocking the rainwings view of the Nightwing. "Back off." He noticed the crowd watching them, but he didn't care. Punishing the child for the sins of the father, he thought. It was unjust and cruel.
The rainwing, still seething, bared his teeth. "You think you're some toughguy, huh? Protecting the innocent and all that heroic nonsense?!" His wings flared, his scales shifting to an even deeper red with some hints of blue.
The crowd shifted, some getting excited at seeing a fight— while others backed away out of nervousness. Most of the crowd had disappeared as the injured Nightwing pushed itself up, backing away.
"Leave him alone," Brightseer said to the rainwing. He looked back to the Nightwing, and recognized his face. It was FutureSeer, from one of his construction classes. He turned back to the rainwing, his claws digging into the mud.
The rainwing laughed, his scales shifting to a mix of an amused yellow and red. "We got a real toughguy over here! Hey everybody, look at me!" He spoke mockingly, ready to spit rainwing venom into Brightseer's eyes.
He was interrupted by the sound of wingbeats and leaves being pushed away. "That's enough!" A deep, feminine voice shouted.
Brightseer recognized the voice almost immediately. It was Glory, queen of both the rainwings and nightwings. He softened his stance, shifting to face her.
Brightseer looked at Glory as she landed, her emerald green scales reflecting off of the rain. "What the hell is going on here?" She half-asked, half-ordered. She looked down at the muddy rainforest floor, and saw blood flowing wildly from where the injured Nightwing stood.
The rainwing stuttered, his scales shifting into a mix of green and blue. "I- Uh-" His eyes shot around frantically, searching for a way to escape. He was ready to fly off, his wings getting into a position where he could shoot into the sky.
Glory snorted, amused. "Don't even think about flying off." Her voice echoed throughout the rainforest. She gestured at the canopy.
The trees shifted and moved, as if something or someone was there. Several branches broke, and then fell onto the ground. 6 invisible rainwing guards appeared, all standing by Glory with fierce protective looks on their faces.
Brightseer put a protective wing around FutureSeer, his face softening at his friend's scared expression. "Go to my mother in the medical section. Tell her I sent you." He gestured in the general direction of the medical sector, ushering FutureSeer away.
FutureSeer nodded, his voice quivering slightly. "T-thank you." He covered his bleeding snout with a leaf and flew off in the direction Brightseer pointed out, grateful for his intervention.
Brightseer turned back to Glory and the seething rainwing, his expression hardening once again. "Your majesty, may I explain the situation?" He asked with practiced grace, engrained in him from his father's job as one of Glory's palace guards.
Glory nodded, her emerald scales shifting to a darker tone of green. "You may, Brightseer." Her voice returned to its usual elegancy, yet it was mixed with some slight anger.
Brightseer glared at the rainwing, who was now being held from escaping by Glory's guards. "That rainwing was harassing someone for no good reason." He simplified the actual reasons.
Glory snapped her talons, a flash of anger entering and quickly exiting her face. "Guards, drag him away." She ordered, a hint of her usual snark returning. She glanced at her guards as they dragged the rainwing away, who was now struggling and trying to escape. She turned to Brightseer. "You have a lot to explain to your father. He'll be pissed when he hears about this. Come along." She ordered, flying through the rainforest and towards her palace.
Brightseer followed, the lantern around his neck clacking as he flapped his wings to catch up to Glory. How am I going to explain this? My father's an asshole. His thoughts raced as they drew closer to the rainforest palace. It wasn't a palace really, more like a very large treehouse.
As they flew, Glory casually spoke to him. She flew upside down, using her wings like a bed as the wind carried her and pushed her forward. "You really need to stop getting into fights." Her voice kept its snark, sparing him no expense.
Brightseer rolled his eyes, not taking them off of his flight path as the storm still raged on. The rain slammed into his scales while he flew, reflecting his white horns brightly. "Yeah, I know. You're not my mother." I'm not special, so why do I get special treatment?
Glory laughed, switching back to a regular flying position as they flew. "I know. But you really need to learn when to stop." Her wings flapped quieter and quieter as the rain slowly cleared up.
The sun slowly bled through the clouds, the light reflecting off the drenched rainforest beautifully. The sky was a bright pink, slowly shifting into blue. The clouds were still present, just far less so.
As they neared the palace, Brightseer braced himself for the confrontation with his father. He prayed that it would go well, but he knew there was a low chance of that happening.