The Tree Wars ~ WoF Fanfic (SPOILERS)

Prologue

Birdwing

Birdwing was unlike any other SilkWing. At least, she didn't think so. She had really dark blue scales with hints of red and white, but her dark scales were practically black. She was able to pass them off as blue, though other dragons thought her suspicious. She couldn't deny them. Her mother had told her something that flipped her world upside down forever.

"Birdwing," her mother called to her, ordering her to sit down on the silk-woven couch. Birdwing obeyed loyally, sitting next to her mother with a smile. But the face on her mother had been solemn. Birdwing's hopes died down then. This wasn't good news. "You know how your scales are mainly a... black?"

"Dark blue," Birdwing correct her mother, having been groomed to say it whenever another dragon pointed out her flaw.

"Well..." her mother said, grabbing her claws. "You want to know why they're like that?" Birdwing nodded. "They're like that because your father is not a SilkWing."

"Is he a HiveWing?" Birdwing had asked, frightened of the answer. But to her relief, her mother shook her head. Birdwing's eyes brightened. "A LeafWing?" Though that didn't explain why she had black scales, there was no other dragon on the continent.

"Honey, no," her mother had said. "He's something called a 'NightWing.' You must tell NO ONE. If someone finds out, we're all doomed. You know who Clearsight is, right?"

Birdwing searched her mind, pulling up an answer. "Yes. She's the one who gave us the Book."

Her mother smiled. "Yes, but do you know what she is?" Birdwing had shaken her head. "Well, she's also a NightWing." Birdwing's heart sunk, but it also pounded with excitement. "Again, tell nobody. Not even your closest friends. Promise?"

"I promise! But what's his name?"

"His name was Serialkiller." Birdwing's eyes went wide at the sound of that. "He was trained to be an assassin," her mother went on. "He didn't want to be one, so he ran away. He wanted to do something greater. He wanted to explore. So he built a raft and... somehow... made it here, to Pantala. I found him washed up on shore, brought him into my home. I wanted to know more about him, but once he met me and saw my tribe, he didn't want to leave. He was a kind dragon, loved to learn and discover. So he stayed with me, and eventually..."

"You fell in love," Birdwing finished.

"Serialkiller was discovered one day, and I'm not sure how," her mother kept on. "The Queen Monarch banished him. She wanted nothing to do with Clearsight, and how he claimed to be the same as her. She thought he was lying. So she sent him off into the sea again. I don't know if he made it back or not... He saw you, though, and that made me happy. You were only a week old when he was discovered. Queen Monarch knows nothing about you, though. She believes your father is a SilkWing named Verde."

"Clearsight could see the future," Birdwing said. "Can I?"

"Serialkiller said you could. He explained it as having dreams, but during the day and while you're awake, of events that are important. Not even important sometimes. But they're not like memories or anything. They're the future," her mother explained.

And that's when Birdwing also knew that she could see the future. And her visions were unpleasant: the downfall of SilkWings. She could see SilkWings living under Queen Wasp, in the 'hives.' She saw dragons taken away from their families, used as tools. She saws SilkWings hunted for, killed, murdered. She saw LeafWings... or more... didn't see LeafWings. They had all been dead. And the only way she could stay alive through this was to flee for a little while, on this exact day.

Dragons are sick and dragons are dying. And no one can ever be free, she thought poetically, heading down towards the beach. The sky was gray and looming, the sea reached up for her on the clifftop. Blue and green lapped at the pale of the sand below. A cave was hidden underneath Birdwing, she could see it in her head.

She had been practicing with her powers for three years now. When her mother told her about them at the age of two, she knew she had to practice. So she had been, and now her powers were stronger than ever. She could follow certain paths, though she would easily get lost or fall from one. Sometimes she couldn't read the path right, and she got something wrong.

But this was something she had made certain was correct. She looked at it a million times over. She saw this future when she was four, and now she was going to follow it. She had been waiting until she could.

"I'm sorry, mother," Birdwing said. "I'm sorry I can't take you with me. I'm sorry you'll be killed. I'm sorry about father, and about how you will never know if he made it across the sea. I'm sorry that I can't save you." She opened her eyes to see rain plop on top of her nose. It was like the sky cried for her.

She watched as her mother was thrown into battle by Queen Wasp, and as a LeafWing named Panderosa killed her by slicing open her throat. She didn't want to watch it, but somehow, she was so intrigued. And maybe by learning of her death, new knowledge would come to her.

But as far as she knew, Birdwing could do nothing to stop it. She could do nothing to stop this war, to save the trees and to save the LeafWings. To keep her tribe free.

Maybe one day she'd join back with the SilkWings in the hives, but now she was seeing a new path. One that lead her down a lonely life, but one that gave hope to the rest of the tribes. She might live in the cave forever. For the rest of her life. A LeafWing would come find her one day, begging for her help. Somehow, the word of 'A dragon by the wings of birds' would grant someone the power of prophecy.

Birdwing had told nobody. Maybe her mother would tell someone before her death.

Birdwing made her way down into the cave, covering it with leaves and vines to hide it from view. If she didn't do it this particular way, a HiveWing would find her and kill her in two months time.

She laid down onto the stone and curled up into a ball. She listened to the waves as they swept away certain futures. She hoped that a LeafWing would find her. That was the best future, she realized. There was no other good future for LeafWings if he didn't find her.