A World Upside Down - WoF Jade Winglet AU

In Darkness - Moon

One time, in the rainforest, a NightWing dragonet was practicing flying and weaving through the trees. Her mother had gone out to check out an area they would possibly move to. Moon had about half an hour or so to herself before Secretkeeper would return.

Moon was enjoying herself. It was fun feeling the wind whip by her face as she brushed by the trees. Should she collide with some branches, a nice puddle of water would be waiting on the forest floor. It dirtied her, but it was worth the trouble.

Especially when she heard a dragon cry for help. A dragon that she knew her whole life.

"Mom!" Moon called. "Are you okay?"

Hearing her mother respond in this state was heartbreaking. "I can't - Moon! Come here to me!"

The little NightWing's heart was pounding as she strained to catch a hearing of her mother in her mind. After a few more callouts and a minute of searching, Moon finally discovered Secretkeeper buried halfway in a blob of quicksand, with one of her wings horribly disfigured.

She also figured she saw a sliver of a flashing color in the light nearby, but wasn't able to confirm that sight.

This was one of the few times Moon ever cried with her mother. "Mom! What happened?!"

Secretkeeper tried to struggle out of her trap. "Now is not the time. Get my wings out of here, then pull my arms out! Now!"

Moon obeyed immediately, pushing past the waves of tears in her eyes and fatigue in her body.

Her mother's wings were the easy part. At this point, most of her body was buried in the death goop. That's all it was to Moon.

Secretkeeper was struggling to crawl out, her talons repetitively getting caught. "Listen, Moon. I - "

A flurry of colors jumpscared Moon, cutting off the sentence. The surprise dragon was employing what was a tool in the quicksand around Secretkeeper, their talons working efficiently and seamlessly.

Moon stared in awe at the stranger as they mostly freed her mother in approximately a minute.

The two NightWings stood by after, eventually huddling in an embrace. Secretkeeper turned to their savior with Moon under one wing. "I...we...I have no words," she started. "Just thank you."

Was Moon looking at a RainWing? She had only ever seen a few before, and definitely not this close up.

He was quite stunning. He carried sharp, defined facial features with a lean body that somehow rescued a full dragon. His scales were a mint green and dull yellow, which stayed the same the whole time.

Moon picked up a lot of thoughts from him. Most of them were about wondering who they were, thinking of the other quicksand traps, and the next time he can sleep.

"No need to," he stated in a nonchalant voice. "I'm Benevolence." Totally didn't just show any, Moon got from his thoughts. "I guess you could consider this area my home."

Benevolence and Secretkeeper exchanged greetings, information, and just general facts about themselves. Moon figured he would become a family friend.

They saw him just a few times in the years after, and ever since Glory became queen, he must've been relocated.

That was the closest Moon had ever been to losing a loved one.