Animus Curses

Finally... Chapter One.

 I was sitting in an underground lake with Anemone and a few other Seawings, along with one Icewing who was pointedly ignoring me. I assumed that the other Icewing and I were here for the same reason; the chill of the cave and the frigid water relaxed me and made me feel more at home, so far away from what I had grown up in.

The only reason I was back at school was because the Talons of Peace had instead I should go back to my friends and school. Riptide promise he would take care of my scavengers while I was gone, and they assured me I could visit anytime. The other issue was that one of the Icewings that had been here had almost killed another student with their frost breath, and was kicked out. And since my friends had been asking (more like begging) for my return to the school, Queen Snowfall relented when the Talons also started sending her numerous letters requesting my return. And now, I was back at school.

One of the Seawings was playing a rough game of tag with Anemone under the surface,, and suddenly the bubbles coming up from the dark water from their playful fuss stopped, and aquamarine flashes started appearing. I stood up from my comfortable spot in the shallows, wondering if I should go see what happened to them, when both Seawings shot out of the water, spraying icy droplets across my snout, wings and chest. Anemone snapped at the Seawing who had been with her,

"Go find something from my room and bring it back. Something sturdy." She sighed as the Seawing rushed away, their apologizes echoing through the tunnel as they raced off. As Anemone settled herself on a rock, I asked,

"What happened?" She sighed.

"That idiot grabbed at my neck and broke the necklace that protects my soul." She held up the broken string of pearls that always sat around her neck. I asked,

"So I assume you sent them to go get a replacement?" She nodded, shutting on her boulder and gesturing for me to sit. I climbed out of the frozen shallows and sat. After an awkward moment, she said,

"Must be weird that everyone from your own tribe treats you like you're dead." I replied calmly as I gestured to the Icewing at the other side of the cave,

"I should be dead. They're treating me like a traitor to the tribe, which, in a way, I sort of am, since I freed Foeslayer from that cave." I said the last part about Foeslayer much quieter, so only Anemone could hear it. Anemone asked me,

"Do you ever miss your family?" I shrugged.

"My parents, no, not really. My brother? ..Sometimes." I laughed quietly, unable to imagine saying something like that just a year ago. Impossible, I thought. I confessed,

"You lot have made me kind of soft. My parents are good Icewing parents, treating me like I should be treated as to discipline me. Kindness is a weakness." She shrugged.

"I dunno. I mean, Tamarin's blind, but she isn't allowing herself to wallow in self-pity about it. She's learned to live with it, and she's super happy." I said,

"Oh, yes. What about her? Moon keeps telling me you two have something going on." Anemone's snout was tinted with a faint blush, and I thought, Ah, it's that sort of thing 'going on'.

"It's not anything huge. Everyone keeps acting like it's world-changing." Anemone said, flicking her tail.

"On the contrary, it really is quite huge, Anemone. You're an heir to the Seawing throne. And with Tamarin in the picture, you've taken yourself out of the running to be the next Seawing queen." Anemone asked defiantly,

"Why can't I be both?"

"First of, you can't have dragonets, since, A) Tamarin is most definitely female, and B) She isn't a seawing, so even if you could have dragonets, they'd be Seawing-Rainwing hybrids. And anyways, she can't breathe underwater, and even if you gave her the ability to breathe underwater with some animus enchantment, she could never go to the Deep Palace, because she wouldn't be able to talk to anyone, because your underwater communication relies on flashes, which she cannot see." Anemone sighed as the Seawing returned holding a new piece of jewelry. Anemone thanked them and clipped the thick silver bracelet, which was studded with pink and lavender gems, onto her arm. She asked,