Wings of Fire One-Shots

Smolder and Palm - What If?

This is my favorite love story in the WOF universe, and I thought it would be fun to do a what if about Palm going to jail instead of Prickle. There will be some bending of the plot, but I'll try my best to stay true to the story. 

When Agave barged into Prickle's home, Palm knew she was screwed. They had been friends in the wingery, and Agave knew about the small scar that distinguished Palm from her sister Prickle. Their friendship didn't matter anymore. Back then, they were both about one year old. Now, Agave was a large soldier, who had changed a lot. Agave lunged, at full force, towards Palm. Palm's first instinct was to protect her stomach. Her unborn dragonet will not die. 

She found herself flying with the guards towards what would be a life sentence in the deepest, darkest dungeon. Her fate had been decided before she had even been caught. The worst part was that Palm would be close to Smolder, but Smolder never knew she was there. 

Smolder didn't know she was there for the next 19 years. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They were starving. They were thirsty. They were deprived of every basic right. 19 years ago, Palm had had her last second in the sunlight. Her daughter, Onyx, was born in the dungeon. They caught rats to survive. Maybe once every year, or what felt like a year, someone would bring a little bit of food down there. These dungeons were reserved for the worst of the worst. No one thought to come down there. They used to be crawling with gang leaders and murderers,  but everyone had passed away from starvation or old age. It was survival of the fittest, but everyone was confined to their own little dungeons. Palm felt bad for every poor soul who died since they were forgotten, but the dragon she felt the worst for was Onyx. Onyx had never had a droplet of sunshine hit her skin. 

It was another dull day. The dungeon had a sort of deafening silent. Onyx's stomach grumbled, but there was no food in sight. Palm was lying on the ground, trying to cling on to reality, on to life. She heard the doors to the dungeon creaking open. Hopefully, it was a soldier, coming with food, because someone had remembered to feed the prisoners. But it wasn't. It was a soldier, but they were bringing someone new into the dungeon. She was bright, excited, and sociable. She was chatting to the guard. It was about all kinds of things. About her friends, about the Scorpion Den, about her thoughts on the palace. The soldier was clearly over it. He opened the dungeon door for the cell across from Palm and Onyx's. The dragon happily hopped in.

"Excuse me, could you bring some food down for my dragonet and I?" Palm asked, her voice raspy. The soldier nodded his head, and shut the dungeon doors.

"Hello!" The chipper dragonet said. "My name is Sunny! What's yours?" Onyx stood up and stuck her head through the bars. 

"My name is Onyx. This is my mother Palm. Why are you all the way down here? They stopped using these cells years ago." 

"Oh, I'm just here because the SandWings are waiting for Burn to return, so she can out me in her weirdlings tower. I'm going to leave tomorrow, I've been promised being able to go on walks from time to time. How did you two get here?"

"It's complicated." Palm ducked her head, thinking of Smolder. He probably thought she was dead. 

"I'm sorry. For whatever happened to you. It must suck to be stuck down here all the time." They sat in silence until the other dragonet had fallen asleep.

When Palm heard the snores of the young dragonet, she whispered into Onyx's ear. "Tomorrow we escape. And we find your father." If he's still alive... She felt Onyx stir. "Can you tell me about him, one more time?" Palm sighed, prepared to tell her daughter about one of the worst moments of her life.

"It all started when Smolder came into the kitchens where I worked. My sister, Prickle thought it was dangerous. I thought it was okay to have a little crush on one of the SandWing princes. Eventually, word got around that I liked him. Smolder began coming to the kitchens more often, and inviting me to the gardens at midnight. These meetings were never truly private. I started realizing that when people stared at me in the hallways. Even the princesses, Burn, Blister and Blaze were in on the secrets. The only thing that was a secret was you, Onyx. The night I found out about you, I told Smolder that I wasn't safe anymore and that I needed to leave. He knew immediately what I was talking about. He suggested that we elope, find an oasis west or maybe south of the palace, and never bother the royal family again. I wish it was that simple. I wish we had left that night. By morning, everyone knew about our plan. When we tried to leave, we found soldiers upon soldiers, and with Queen Oasis standing in front. She declared that I needed  to give up, that a lowly pot-scrubber didn't deserve to be with a handsome prince. Smolder whispered into my ear, that I needed to fly, fly for my life. I launched into the air, and saw he didn't follow me. He was shouting for me to keep going, that he'd find me one day. I made it to my sister, Prickle, and within a few days, the guards found me. Everyday I've spent down here has been spent thinking about how I want you to meet your father and how I want you to live a normal life."