Inscrypion x Wings of Fire : Leshy's Endgame

Chapter 18 - Leshy

Leshy is laying just outside, feeling miserable. He made a mistake, and now Whiteout's mad at him. He didn't intend for it to be that way. He was planning on making a suggestion to her on how to limit how often she used that card of hers. He can't explain what even happened. All he knows is that, one second, he was about to pinch out his second candle, and the next, Whiteout was gone, angry at him.

No matter how hard he tries to look into the future to find her, she's nowhere to be found. Not good. He gets up and goes to ask Darkstalker. He has to be back home by now, right?

He sees him. He's sitting in the corner of his room, hanging his head. "Oh," Leshy says. "So the party wasn't going well?"

Darkstalker looks at him. "You know that tailband I wear? The one that puts others to sleep if they try to hurt me?" he asks. Leshy nods. "We had a few SeaWings visiting. One of them... Clearsight brought him up, so did Hecate."

"Fathom..." Leshy mutters, remembering his talk with the nervous SeaWing. "Hecate had us talk for a moment while you and the others were talking about what to do about your situation."

"Well," Darkstalker says, trying to be nonchalant, "I may have brought up what Sakura showed me. I didn't get a chance to say that I'm safe now. All three of his guards fell unconscious on the spot, including one who is... more than just a guard, I guess I could say."

"Oh..." was all Leshy could say.

"He thought I killed them. He wouldn't listen to me telling him that they're just asleep until I destroyed my tailband in front of him and shook his guards awake."

"You could've just done the latter," Leshy points out.

"I know," Darkstalker groans. "I don't know what's gotten into me. I wasn't thinking clearly. And for me, that's dangerous. So I guess I've just been here for the past while or so. Don't worry, I won't go missing for 6 months like I did last time."

Leshy leaves Darkstalker alone. If Darkstalker decides he needs time alone to figure out how to do better, he may as well have it. Maybe Leshy could ask Clearsight about where Whiteout went instead.

----

He spots her arguing with Listener in the air above the school. He flies to them on silent wings. "Look," the mind-reader says, "you talked me into putting it off for long enough. And the worst part is how that party was the best time for us to do this since school was closed because Truthfinder won't be there. And I still don't understand how your thoughts have become so blank again."

Leshy glances at Clearsight, trying to pick up on any stray thought she has. Nothing, once again. Darkstalker must have visited her sometime during these past four nights or days.

"Look..." Clearsight says. "It was a bad idea then, and it's been even worse by the day. Why do you even want to try so hard?"

Try what so hard? Leshy wonders, blocking Listener out. He realizes this calls for stealth and he's learned that he can't have his mind read when he's the Prospector (though the SkyWing should probably be given a name), and so he puts the mask over his face, tying a vine on. Immediately, his vision becomes slightly blurry and he's struggling to fly as easily as he usually does, as if he's suddenly really old, or tired from chasing a dream that eluded him for too long.

They fly down to the entrance. The sun is coming up and both Clearsight and Listener are very clearly both tired. Leshy lands soon after the others do. The three dragons (Listener and Clearsight unaware of Leshy's presence... well, at least Listener) enter the school. They step through the hallways lined with projects and artwork. Leshy's struggling to have his night vision adapt to the darkness, though that could be because he is currently a SkyWing that looks like a NightWing with features from some unknown tribe.