Chapter Text
Prologue
She knew what it was before she stumbled out of her egg. Beautiful, golden light. Four shining stars. Their glows glittering across the dew-covered leaves. The trees towered over her, but she couldn't find it in her heart to care. The world above her was amazing, and she knew how vast it could truly be. Her claws reached out to the largest and fastest moon, grasping it. The thread shattered. A cloud of beautiful rocks disappeared under the treeline. SkyFire, her mind echoed.
(-)
SkyFire had been walking for an hour. Why? That thought had chipped through her empty mind since she started her long journey. She'd been imagining stories of strange dragons all day. Her favorite dragon was purple, and she was so smart. Clearsight is dead, Comet. She's not coming back. Stop talking about her like you're so mighty to disobey the rules of life and death. She shook her head, banishing the thought. Imaginary dragons can't die. She couldn't understand why her mind was fighting with her on this. Didn't it want her to be happy? To imagine new things?
(-)
As Sky approached the familiarly loud bamboo village to pick up her 'orphaned' scrolls (Queen Glory had put out an order that any dragon living outside her villages should still learn, bringing about the idea of a specialized list of scrolls for orphans to check out from the library), she saw a strange dragon. I'm sorry, are you okay, Moon? Moon, when did she hear that name? It was nice.
She neared the grimacing NightWing, another unwelcome thought of hers causing her to stumble as she opened her maw. The words were falling out of like she knew too much. Remember when we first met? I was so confused how- "I- I'm sorry, are you okay, Moon?"
"I"m fine. I get a lot of headaches."
"I'm SkyFire." Your mind, it's like a room of mirrors. Like it's just echoing my thoughts back into me.
The older NightWing paused, confused at fledgeling's words.
"Sky is okay-I'm not good at talking."
"Are you a mind reader? Like me?" Moon's question caught Sky off-guard. Be strong. Be vigilant.
"... Why do you ask?" She didn't know where the skepticism came from, but she thought to be strong, and revealing who she was completely contradicted that sentiment. Moon's tail flicked across the ground, contacting her tail for just a moment, opening the floodgates of her mind.
-ably a mind reader, bu-
Sky launched herself back from the unforeseen contact, filing her strange comments under the "Ignore" rack of her brain. Jumping back without a reason seemed to make Moon's expression fill with more confusion. "Don't-... I don't like being touched."
"Sorry. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable. I think you're a mind reader. I can teach you how to make it quieter. I teach a class to some of the NightWings here."
Moons, why is she so determined to make me spill my guts? Am I a mind reader? I'd like to think so. Doesn't everyone like to think that they have all the power in the world, though...?
"... Yes... I'd like to think so? I haven't read that many scrolls on NightWings. She imagined a blue dragon, fierce, strong, and loud. What about yesterday when you answered my question before I asked it, wasn't that mind reading? Her mind faded to black for a moment, before the blue dragon returned to the front of her mind. Sorry, I'm getting off-topic. As headmaster of the school, It is my duty to- She faded back into the obscurity. "That's not mind reading. I can't read minds."
Moon's voice cut through the moment she had alone with her thoughts. "Who are you talking to?"
She didn't know what to think, and her mind didn't offer any solutions. She began thinking of a response, and by the time she had looked up, it was clear she'd been silent for a while. She didn't have anything to say. She didn't know what to say. What do you do when a dragon asks you what you're doing when you're clearly sleeping, or asks if you can read while you're reading. She was at a loss for words.
"Can I hold your claw?" The dragoness asked in the most respectful tone Sky had ever heard from any dragon, even her imaginary NightWings (Then again, those two weren't exactly quiet dragons.). She braced herself, giving a tiny nod. She hoped Moon didn't see it...
Loud.
She couldn't think.
Are you okay?
A safe anchor. She clung to that voice like a RainWing to a hammock.
I'm fine. She felt a dragon crawl behind her eyes. It felt strange. Like something was out of place inside her mind. It felt so wrong.
Mind reading isn't a curse. You just need to know how to control it.
You remind me of one of my imaginary friends. I call her Clearsight. She's nice, even after she sees horrible things. As she said that, she felt a wave of shock emanate from the NightWing's mind. For a moment, their talons fell apart. She saw it happen a thousand times. Two claws joining. Ice and Night. Sea and Rain. Sky and Mud. Night and Night. She felt the crawling beneath her scales return.
(-Moon-)
She was... Confused, to say the least. How did this two year-old dragonet know who Clearsight was? There weren't any scrolls in the orphan program talking about her until at least year four. And yet, she spoke as if she was well-acquainted with the millennia-old seer. She called the weaver an imaginary friend. Then there was her mind. It wasn't spiky like Queen Glory's mind, nor was it the comfortable hum of her namesake. Even IceWings' minds, being painfully bright, never parroted her own thoughts back. I remind you of Clearsight? Would you like to elaborate?
Do you also see her in your dreams? She's nice, Respectful, smart...
She felt that 'In her dreams' couldn't possibly be interpreted literally. It was entirely possible this dragon had a mental condition, or she just had an overactive imagination (Moon knew what that felt like) and found a scroll on Clearsight early. Queen Glory preached about openness of education, so it wouldn't be that absurd for her to find a random scroll in the library.
A large dragon. A line of white scales. Well, now we're even for you telling your friends about SkyFire. She jumped at the dead hybrid's voice. Moon calmed herself, repeating in her mind the sentiment that Darkstalker couldn't hurt her. She watched him die. That was an older quote. Maybe a memory Sky had pulled from her brain. She calmed her thoughts, projecting a simple question.
What... What was that? She didn't sound nearly as calm as she'd hoped. For a six year-old, she felt that her grief-management skills were subpar.
My thoughts? I'm-I was pretty sure that every dragon could think, right? I don't see any reason for that to not be the case; is it not just my imagination? Moons, this NightWing must've been isolated like her... That should not have happened. Queen Glory had mode sure it was impossible for any dragon to live without knowing anything... Then again, here was a NightWing seer who didn't even know she had powers... She had a lot to explain.