Claws of time

Chapter 11- The colors of your mind

A few weeks had passed, it had been a while since I had last talked to Darkstalker. Fathom and Clearsight on the other hand would try and get into contact with me. I remember Clearsight and I had a conversation that she seemed to be genuinely interested in. That conversation was about Pantala. Clearsight wanted to know all about the continent and the dragons on it, and I was more than happy to talk to her about it. "Wow!" she exclaimed when I told her about the types of dragons that lived over there. "The BeetleWings sound a lot like the RainWings, but with extra powers! That's so interesting there's different types of silk they can produce." I nodded in agreement, "Yeah, I really liked the LeafWings though, being able to grow plants almost instantly is crazy!" Clearsight nodded. "You should've seen what the place was like when we all first arrived. It was overrun with these vines that could mind control dragons and animals, and there was this weird hybrid dragon that was controlling the plant." Clearsight shook herself, "Creepy... I'm not so sure I would want to go back there." I laughed a little and stood up, squared my shoulders and put on a brave hero voice, "Well not to fear but I, Shiver, the amazing and incredible IceWing, saved the entire continent from the vines!" Clearsight giggled, "Really?" I nodded and sat back down, "Yeah, but it wasn't really that cool, very terrifying though." Clearsight hummed, "I can see a timeline where we all go back and visit the continent, making a map to finally reunite all the tribes." I looked at her with a bit of wonder, "Really?" "Yeah, but it's very faint." Clearsight added with a bit of sadness. "What a shame we sent those tribes away, I think it'd be neat to have more tribes here." "Agreed, the dragons that live on Pantala now, didn't deserve to be sent away. It was their queen's fault, not theirs." Clearsight shook her head again, "Hopefully that future is possible, I'd love to travel there." I spread my wings, "It's a long journey, very tiring, but there are islands that are in between the trip that you could rest on. I had a map but I lost it back in the Sea kingdom when Fathom's grandfather attacked everyone." Clearsight looked at her talons sadly, "Oh." I nudged her wing with mine, "Don't worry, I'm sure I could make another sometime." Clearsight looked up from her talons and smiled, "Thanks, I'd like that." I looked out the window of Clearsight's room at the three brightly shining moons, "I should probably let you get back to writing your prophecies so Queen Vigilance doesn't get mad." Clearsight sighed, "Alright, I'll see you around?" I nodded, "Yeah, I'll be here, don't worry." I had to stay, I thought to myself remembering what Lostthought had told me. I turned and walked out of Clearsight's room and down the hall towards mine. I opened the door and walked across the room towards the shelf where lots of scrolls were held. I remember from looking at them one night that some of the scrolls were blank, and others were stories and maps, mostly from the Night kingdom. I lifted one of the blank scrolls off the shelf and spread it out on the floor. I grabbed the jar of ink from my pouch and dipped my claw into it. I started attempting to draw the lines of the borders of the old Pantala map, but it was harder than I thought. I let out a frustrated growl as my claw slipped and drew a long black line across the paper. I grabbed the scroll and crumpled it into a ball and reached for a new scroll when I heard a knock on my door. I got up and walked over to the door curiously, and cracked it open. Behind the door I saw Lostthought shifting anxiously. I opened the door more to greet her, "Hey Lostthought!" I called cheerily. Once Lostthought saw me, her demeanor shifted, she smiled and waved, "Hey Shiver, I wanted to come check up on you. I haven't seen you in a while." I shifted awkwardly, "Well, I was looking for you, I went to the Library, I went to the beach, and I tried asking some other NightWings if they knew you or where to find you at, and they acted as if they never heard of you before." Lostthought sighed, "Don't worry about it." She said with a shrug while peering over my shoulder, "Hey, watcha working on?" "Oh," I said as my wings drooped, "I wanted to make Clearsight a map of Pantala because she asked for one, but I am a terrible artist." I said with a sigh. Lostthought laughed, "Don't worry, I know someone that can draw it for you!" She gestured to me to follow her, which I happily did.
Shiver meet my sister, Truthsnatcher. The Nightwing that Lostthought was talking about looked up from her scroll and at me. "Hello." She said softly. "Hi." I replied. I looked between Truthsnatcher and Lotthought, "Wow you two look really similar!" They both chuckled a little before Lostthought spoke up, "Yeah, we're twins!" I looked between them again, "Yeah I can see that." Truthsnatcher looked at me again, "Are you reading that? Or What's the scroll for?" She said pointing to the wadded up scroll in my hands. "Because if you're reading that, you need to learn how to take better care of your scrolls." She gestured towards her pristine scrolls, which barely had a rip in them. I shook my head, "No, I need your help... your sister said you're a good artist? Can you draw me a map?" Truthsnatcher looked at me funny, "Can't you just buy a map? I'm sure that would be easier." I laughed, "It would be, but there's one small issue... This is a map for a lost continent." Truthsnatcher squinted her eyes at me, "What are you playing at IceWing... your head is filled with colorful four-winged deformed dragons... what is this?" Lostthought snorted a laugh, "Oh sis, I told you about the BeetleWings before, they're not deformed." Truthsnatcher shook her head, "Oh yeah." She stood up and stretched and walked over to me, taking the scroll, "Aright, Let's get started." She led me over to a large desk with ink jars sitting on a shelf high above it. She smoothed out the scroll, "Aright, can you imagine what the map looks like?" I looked at her confused, "Wouldn't it be easier to describe it?" Truthsnatcher shook her head, "No, I can see it in your mind if you think about it, which is easier." She dipped her claw into the ink. "Oh, alright, that makes sense." She turned over and shushed me and I shut my mouth quickly. I watched as she etched out the map carefully into the scroll, making sure not to miss any detail. Truthsnatcher sighed and held up the scroll, "Finally finished." She handed me the finished map, "Here ya go. Personally I don't believe it exists, but my sister's mind has been filled with thoughts of what it's like there, so annoying when you're trying to read or think of ideas to draw." She finished with a growl. Losthtought gave a nervous chuckle, "Sorry, it's just so exciting!" Her wings fluttered a little and she pranced over to see the map. "Ooo, this one really looks like a dragon!" She exclaimed. I nodded, "Much more defined than Pyrrhia." Lostthought nodded in agreement. "Oh please, just another IceWing story." Truthsnatcher said with an eye roll. "If you don't believe in it, why'd you help me recreate the map?" Truthsnatcher laughed, "That's an easy one, to get her to shut up!" She pointed over to Lostthought. Lostthought shrugged, "I will not apologize for being excited about a never seen before continent with a whole new tribe on it!" Truthsnatcher just rolled her eyes again, "IceWing lies I tell you... I can see the coldness in his mind. A deep freezing blue." I gave Lostthought a weird stare and she shrugged. "He's not lying." Truthsnatcher stuck her nose up at us, "He is. I can see what magic has done to his mind, the blue melts into black, twisting into a swirl. It's all a lie." Lostthought gave a nervous chuckle and pushed me out of the room, "Hehe, sorry about that." I looked at Lostthought with a very nervous expression, "What is she talking about, was that a prophecy?" Lostthought shook her head, "No, no, no. My sister is a little different from other NightWings. Instead of hearing people's thoughts she can see them, and we're not sure why. But I wouldn't worry about what she said, she's probably just making it up to scare you." I shook my whole body, from my head to tail, "Doesn't mean it's not terrifying though." She nodded in agreement, "Yeah, but don't worry I'll go smack her for you." I waved my talons, "No, you don't have to go do that. She did help me with the map afterall." I looked down at the map I held in my talons, looking at all of the little details she added to it, this map was absolutely perfect. "I'm going to go ahead and take this back to Clearsight." I turned and left Lostthought's house, heading back for the palace.