WOF: Tribes Beyond Light

Fantasy-Painted-Reality

Moonlark opened his eyes to see the bright sunlight creep into his cave. He rolled onto his side and exhaled loudly. He heard a soft giggle come from behind him. He used his front legs to push himself up off the ground he slept upon. Behind him was Ivy, the large Leafwing. Her wings were spread out, and the sunlight bounced off of them like a chandelier. Her emerald green eyes sparkled. Moonlark had known her before he got transferred to Ravadryn when he was still a dragonet. There were close friends. "Hey, stranger!" she laughed. Moonlark bounced up into the air and ran to her. He gave her the biggest hug ever.

"What are you doing here?" Moonlark asked. Ivy's expression shifted from a vibrant green face with loving eyes, to a dark green look of fear. "I'm here to speak with Koi." she stammered. Moonlark's right ear twitched. "Who?" He looked at her with a confused eyebrow raised. Ivy raised her wing over her snout. Just moments later, she burst out laughing. Moonlark stepped closer to her. "What? What is it?" he worried. Ivy pulled herself together and muttered a response. "You're just. . . cute." Moonlark backed away. Ivy quickly realized what she'd said. "When you're confused, is what I meant." she added. Moonlark slowly nodded. She just called me cute! Thought Moonlark.

As he turned around, a small Seawing stepped into his cave. Ivy's eyes practically bulged out of her head. "Koi! What are you doing-"

The Seawing tucked her tail between her hind legs. She quietly stepped backward.

"Wait-" Moonlark said. He slowly walked over to Koi. He bowed his head to get to her level. Koi's words turned into a small squeak. "I'm sorry," she mumbled. "I shouldn't be here." Her scales became dim and darkened.

Moonlark sighed. "No, you're always welcome here if Ivy's around." he smiled. "I mean, besides the fact that I don't know you, any friend of Ivy's is a friend of mine," he said, joking. Koi's small ears perked up and her eyes were glinting in the sunlight. "A girlfriend too?" she asked. Moonlark stopped. Koi's small tail was flicking back and forth. 

Ivy rushed over to her. "Moonlark, I'm sorry, I meant to tell you, but. . ." she stopped. Moonlark was frozen in stance. It felt like the ground was falling from below him. He couldn't speak. He couldn't think. Nothing at that moment made sense. 

He finally zoned back in. He swallowed the lump in his throat. "Really-? You two are a thing, huh?" he tried to sound happy. "Who would've thought-" Ivy stopped him by placing her talons upon his shoulder blade. "You lied to me." Moonlark snapped. Ivy paused, and she took her claws off of him. Ivy took a short and quiet breath. "I'm not going to deny it," she admitted. "But I didn't want to hurt you." Moonlark's eyes traveled toward the ground. He tucked in his wings and sighed. "Thank you. I just thought. . ." "You're one of my best friends. One of my favorite people. But again, friends." she tried to cheer him up.

Moonlark glanced over at the Seawing, Koi, and saw her crying in the corner of the cave. The second she noticed him watching her, her sobbing became heavier and more uncontrollable. She used her left wing to cover her face, as her scales were shifting colors at at unusually high speed.

Moonlark quickly hurried over to her. "Hey, um, are you okay?" he asked her. Her wing slipped off of her snout and she looked at him. "I'm sorry," she squeaked. Her voice was still a little shakey. "I didn't mean to make you upset. I thought you already knew." She started to calm herself down. 

Moonlark sat beside her. He wrapped his wing around her, in a comforting way. 

"I didn't know." he told her. "But I'm glad I do now." Koi's scales started to glow a lighter shade of dark blue. "Okay," she said, nuzzling her head underneath Moonlark's chin. "You're one of the good dragons, just like Ivy." she compared. 

Moonlark looks up at Ivy's bright red face. "Yeah," he agreed. "Ivy is a good dragon." Ivy heard this, and turned to look at Moonlark. She smiled, as if she were thanking him for his praise. 

Moonlark eased himself to his feet. He stretched his long, lanky body. "So. . ." he began. "This is why you came to Ravadryn?" he asked Ivy, Her flustered expression quickly faded as she replied, "Ahem, not the only reason. I wanted to meet Beetle as well." 

Moonlark tilted his head. "Who?" he questioned. Ivy's wings fluttered in excitement. "The Hivewing Princess! The new dragonet!" she beamed. 

Moonlark's entire body went limp. It felt like his heart had stopped. His anxiety had been extremely heightened when he realized that he had forgotten about Beetle. 

"Psychological shock," he barely had enough time to zone back in before he heard those words come out of Ivy's mouth. "Oh," Koi responded.  Moonlark's ears were ringing, and his heartbeat was still out of control.

"He's been experiencing it ever since he was just a dragonet. It most likely has something to do with his anxiety. He gets worried over the strangest things." she continued.

Moonlark stamped his foot onto the cave ground. "It's not strange!" he roared. "I completely forgot about her. I was supposed to give Beetle a tour around Ravadryn before sunrise, and it's already hours past, and-" 

Ivy relaxed him by placing her talons on his back. "Hornet will understand." she assured him. 

He didn't exactly mean to, but his anger got the best of him, as he yelled at Ivy. "No, he won't! You always look on the 'bright side' of things, but you never actually think about reality!"

Ivy's chest puffed up, her eyes glowing a bright color. "You can't talk to me like that," she snapped back.

Moonlark knew he couldn't, but he couldn't handle the weights on his shoulders. "I need to go, you can leave my cave now." he said. He didn't turn around to see Ivy and Koi's faces as he left, but he knew he'd hurt them. 

None of what had just happened felt real to him at that moment. It felt like he was living a completely different life.