Eclipse gave a light chuckle at Dreamseeker's enthusiasm, "It's alright. I'd like to be able to do something like that, but I don't think I'd ever get my parents to agree to it with what just happened." After a final nod towards Cloud, whose eyes occasionally flicked over to them, he turned and walked back up the stairs; no longer concerned about the guards since they should be aware of Dreamseeker's presence now. Some of them in the hall, dragons he didn't immediately recognize, gave him a respectful nod, and a faintly suspicious glance towards Dreamseeker, as he passed by in the direction of his room.

"My friend, Skua, said some similar things," he smiled fondly, "Not about being heroes really but just not sitting around and doing nothing. He's a bit fiery and temperamental but he means well." He could hear quiet, steady breaths coming from his parents room as they passed by, and he pushed the door to his room open. Stepping inside, the lights were still burning faintly, and he settled down on one of several plush rugs that dotted the floor.

He gestured with one wing around the room, "Make yourself comfortable. It'd feel wrong to just kick you out in the middle of the night." He knew that if some of the other guards caught her flying around the palace at this late hour they would probably be less than friendly. The ones in the palace were aware, but that didn't mean all of them were, and despite his better judgement, he found himself liking the small, idealistic NightWing. She was very different from many of the dragons in the Sky Kingdom and it was refreshing.

"I'm sure there are probably dragons here that would go to the rainforest in a heartbeat. We all want to know what happened and why." He crossed his front legs and wrapped his tail tightly around him wondering what kind of argument he could make to his parents. Maybe if he convinced Skua to go and Dreamseeker came with them, surely they'd feel better if there was a group of them. He let out a soft sigh, resting his head onto his claws.

"WHAT?!" roared the larger, very angry male hybrid.

Dreamseeker and Eclipse had woken up early in the morning to catch Eclipse's friend before her went to his shift. Skua, or so Eclipse called him, was very much surprised to see a NightWing with his friend-- especially when he found out she was the one that had been staring at him during the whole festival. The morning had been very much peaceful until they spoke to him, and the more they explained, the more his temper flared. His sharp, yellow eyes kept glowering at her as if she had dumped a bunch of salt into his stew. SkyWing guards filtered past them, walking up and down the corridors as they moved to take their positions. There seemed to be more guards than the day before, she remembered. They probably didn't want to take any risks the day after Queen Ember's death.

"So, let me get this straight," Skua's lips twitched with a snarl. "You go to bed, and you find this NightWing flying about the vicinity of the palace, and you don't even wake me up before you go chasing her tail?!"

Dreamseeker couldn't help but step a little closer to Eclipse for support. "It's not like I would have attacked him!" she told him. "Not to mention, we have more important things to think about-- such as our next course of action."

Skua sighed as he shuffled his wings. She caught worried thoughts in his mind; possibilities of Brightstar or Storm getting injured, Eclipse getting killed, what would happen to his parents, what this meant for Pyrrhia... With a war on the horizon, it won't take very long for tribes to start making alliances. Dreamseeker shuffled his wings as well. That was why they had to hurry.

"So, what's the plan?" Skua finally asked, his eyes firmly planted on Eclipse. "Are we going to roam around Pyrrhia and ask who's responsible? 'Cause that'll take forever."

"I have another idea," Dreamseeker proclaimed. Skua's eyes dashed to her again, his gaze anything but friendly. She couldn't help but quiver. "We could go to the rainforest ourselves. The RainWings will probably be more willing to speak to us than a bunch of mean-looking SkyWing soldiers in armor, don't you think?"

"The RainWings won't talk to anyone. They're all lazy good-for-nothings, anyway," Skua snapped.

Dreamseeker huffed, trying her best not to flare her wings. Sure, she was quiet, and a little of a push-over, but this dragon was difficult to deal with. How could Eclipse ever have become friends with him? "It's not like we have any other choice. We have to try, don't we?" She glanced up hopefully at Eclipse. Oh, please let him take my side. I can't think of anything else to do!

Eclipse couldn't help but roll his eyes slightly at Skua's reaction. He knew his friend would probably blow up over all of this, but by this point he was used to it. He brushed his wings slightly with Dreamseeker's as she took a step closer. "I thought about coming to get you, but by the time I did she would've been gone," he huffed slightly at the silvery dragon, annoyance painted across his face, "Then we never would've found out anything at all. Besides it's not like I can't defend myself well enough." His tail twitched with annoyance, and he took a moment to put on stopper on any raising of his voice, that would only make things worse.

His expression softened slightly, while he knew this was the reaction he would get, he also knew his friend well enough to clock that the anger came more from fear and concern than actual rage. At Dreamseeker's suggestion and Skua's immediate scoff he took a step forward and headbutted him in the neck as both a soft chastising and to draw his attention fully to himself and away from Dreamseeker.

He gave the other dragon a fond and excited grin, "Come on Skua, think about how cool it would be to get away from the palace and actually do something about this," he flicked his friend with his tail, "It'll take ages for the palace to get organized enough to do anything, so by the time they do we'll already have gotten there and figured out what's happened." his grin widened, "Besides, how could I go traipsing across the world without my favorite guard and best friend?"

He knew it probably wouldn't take too much convincing for Skua to come with them. The thought of leaving him behind seemed wrong, and he assumed the other dragon felt the same way with how much he'd spoken about wanting to find the one responsible. Still, he couldn't keep a small amount of nerves from bubbling up. What if he just completely blew them off? They would be down one and their chances would drop drastically without his help. He carefully danced around the fact that Dreamseeker was coming with them, if he heard that he might be more put off of the idea of flying all the way to the rainforest.

Eclipse grinned at Skua, excitement sending fire through his veins as he immediately wrapped his wings around his friend, "Imagine what she'll say when we come back having solved all this and maybe stopped a war." His grin faded slightly, but he let out a slight chuckle when it came to his parents, but he also felt incredibly worried leaving them here, most likely without saying anything to them, "It wouldn't just be your head, they'd find a way to stick your whole body on a pike as an example. Maybe hang it from the ceiling in the dining hall."

Eclipse grinned back at Dreamseeker, eyes bright and excited. He'd hardly ever left the palace, let alone traveled so far away. It was daunting but also exhilarating. There was so much of the world to see and he had only ever read about it in scrolls, and now he was finally getting the chance to actually see something different than the mountains and forests that surrounded the Sky Kingdom. The vast oceans where the Sea Kingdom resided, massive swathes of sands for the Sand Kingdom, swamps and hills for the MudWings; he wanted to learn about all of it.

His thoughts trailed off slightly as he watched the bickering between the two other dragons, his head turning back and forth between them, before Skua reluctantly agreed to Dreamseeker's point about greater numbers. He lightly rolled his eyes, if this is what he'd have to deal with the entire journey he was going to go crazy. Skua was his best friend, but he could get a bit haughty and overprotective when it came to unfamiliar dragons.

"I'm ready to go," he shuffled a bit nervously, Only problem is I don't think my parents would let me leave even if I explain everything to them. I don't really want to leave without telling them, but I know they'd try to stop us from going."

He cared for his parents a great deal and if he left without saying something they would lose themselves worrying about what had happened to him. After losing Ember he didn't think they would be able to handle anything happening to him. He glanced towards Skua, hoping his friend had some sort of solution. They'd sneaked out plenty of times when they were younger, but this was much different. They wouldn't be coming back in the early morning hours trying to keep their laughter quiet enough to not alert the guards; they'd be gone much longer.

Eclipse felt a grin creep across his face at the idea of sneaking out. It had been years since he'd actually done it since once he got older his parents cared a little bit less about where he was every second of the day. Well, until now anyway. He watched the guards pass by them staring at them curiously, and he made sure to keep his voice low, "Just like old times right."

He bounded after Skua as he led them up a narrow staircase that he thought they may have used when they were smaller. He certainly didn't remember the walls being so close together. If he remembered correctly it lead to a little used watch tower that was hidden slightly out of sight from the regular routes that the guards took on their patrols.

As the sunlight hit his eyes he paused even after both Skua and Dreamseeker had leapt from the top of the tower into the beautiful morning sky. He glanced back towards the palace, an intense feeling of regret sweeping through him as he thought of what his parents would do when they realized he was gone. Ultimately this would be for the best. They'd find out what happened and he would be able to come home to a much happier sight. One without war.

At Dreamseeker's call his head snapped back around and he pushed the worries from his mind. He couldn't help but grin at the barely hidden excitement that slipped into her voice. "Coming!" This would be an exciting journey for them, his worries could come later. He took one step back before leaping off the tower. He let his own excitement bubble over as he looped above the other's heads before soaring over to join them as they began the journey away from the Sky Kingdom.

Eclipse had never spent this much time flying in one direction with such a singular goal in mind. Usually it was battle maneuvers or aerial tricks, but this was just pure endurance. Thankfully his large wings did most of the work for him as they made their way clear of the Sky Kingdom and the sea of sand stretched out ahead. He caught himself staring at Dreamseeker more than once, appreciating the way the desert sun reflected off her white and black scales before quickly snapping his attention back to the direction they were going whenever she or Skua glanced his way.

He didn't necessarily like the desert. The sun beat down and his dark scales did little to reflect the heat. He couldn't imagine how uncomfortable it probably was for Skua given his IceWing heritage, but thankfully he was able to spot an oasis for them to stop at where they could get some food and water. He'd noticed Skua's glares towards Dreamseeker and couldn't help but sigh. He was fairly certain his friend was just being prickly, but he wasn't usually this distrusting of others. Maybe they just needed time to warm up, but he didn't want to have to play mediator for this entire trip.

He turned his full attention back to Skua and felt his nerves send pins and needles across his scales, by tomorrow they might be able to figure out who was responsible. "Me too. Though there is the possibility that they aren't even from the rainforest," he snorted softly, "It's not like the RainWings would ever kill someone, especially a queen." He plucked some feathers from some strange desert bird he'd been able to bat out of the sky, "This may just be one stop. We might have to go even further to actually find whoever is responsible, but maybe the RainWings will at least be able to tell us if anyone weird has come to the area."

The likelihood of them being lucky enough to actually discover who did it at the first place they went seemed slim at best. He shrugged his shoulders slightly and glanced back towards Dreamseeker, keeping his voice low, "You seem extra prickly when it comes to her. Why don't you trust her?" he directed towards Skua, flicking him lightly with his tail.

Eclipse honestly wasn't entirely sure why he'd grown to trust Dreamseeker so quickly. He just couldn't look at her and see someone who could possibly have anything to do with what happened to Ember. He frowned slightly at Skua's words, "She's the only reason we can make this journey in the first place. If she hadn't been around it probably would've taken us months to figure out where the poison came from, and by then it might've been too late." He rolled his eyes at the exaggerated NightWing name, "Well you could just ask her. Besides she isn't exactly a very good liar. I learned that when we first met, so unless she's a great actress I don't think she had anything to do with it."

He flinched when he saw that Dreamseeker had heard some of the conversation, and gave her an apologetic look as she curled herself into a tight ball slightly away from them. He gave a sigh, he'd probably have to talk with her in the morning to make sure she didn't take what Skua said to heart. He really was a good friend when you got past the sharp exterior, and he knew he was just trying to be careful with an unfamiliar dragon. It was in his nature to protect people, that's what made him so good at his job, but it also made him rather paranoid about things he didn't know anything about.

Despite his mild annoyance, he still gave his friend a smile, "I know," he said quietly; reaching his neck forward to bump his head against Skua's, "You're a good friend. My aunt's death would be dragging me down a lot more without you around." He could continually feel the worried and uncertain thoughts creeping around the edge's of his mind, but having his friend, and hopefully a new one, nearby was enough to keep them at bay.

He glanced towards where Dreamseeker laid curled in the sand before looking back to Skua, "I don't want you to get hurt either, so we both need to be careful." He knew his parents would be devastated if something happened to him, and despite never meeting Skua's he had a feeling the same could be said for his family.

Eclipse stretched his wings, appreciating that the heat of the desert hadn't yet become sweltering this early in the morning. Their little oasis also kept the air cooler around where they slept with the added bonus of attracting small animals that they could catch and eat. He felt a mixture of nerves and excitement as their small troop got ready for the last leg of their journey before they reached the rainforest. As he glanced up at the sky to try and gauge where the sun was his eyes caught on three dragons flying towards them, SandWings by the colors of their scales. He squinted slightly against the sun, they didn't appear to be wearing the armor of the Sand Kingdom but they were certainly armed.

"Skua," he kept his eyes trained on the SandWings, "We've got company." He backed up closer to where Dreamseeker and Skua were as the three other dragons landed, sending sprays of sand up around them. Now that they were closer it was easy to see that these were not guards in any sense of the word. They looked rough, with a multitude of scars scattered across their scales and old, rusty spears in claw.

"Now isn't this interesting," the largest of the three sneered, "Some weird lookin' young dragons and a NightWing, how strange." He flicked his tail at the other two SandWings who immediately moved to surround the three on all sides, "Didn't your parents ever teach you not to trespass."

Eclipse tracked the other two dragons with his eyes as they moved around, "There wasn't anyone here when we arrived. How could we have known?"

The head SandWing scowled, "Don't get smart with me," he took a few steps closer, "Clearly someone needs to teach you some respect." With an easy flick of his tail he signaled to the other two who lunged forward towards Skua and Dreamseeker, teeth and spears bared, before leaping towards Eclipse with an angry roar.

Eclipse was able to dodge out of the way of the first lunge, but the sand underneath his feet shifted as he moved throwing off his balance as a wide swing of the spear the SandWing held slammed into the side of his head sending a ringing pain into his ears. He staggered to the side, shaking his head to clear the stars and was just able to bring up his claws in time to bat the sharp end of the spear away from his neck. He backed up slightly a low snarl bubbling up as his eyes flickered between the other fights going on around him.

Eclipse ducked down as the leader reared up to take another swing with the spear, unleashing a torrent of flame onto the exposed underbelly of the large SandWing who let out a roar of pain and rage before slamming the spear downwards where it met with Eclipse's shoulder. Letting out a matching roar of rage he wrenched himself free, the spear tearing a jagged line across his scales. He's much bigger than me. No way I can overpower him, but I've probably got more brains than all three of these idiots put together. He quickly feinted to the right and when the spear struck where he would've been he took the chance to latch his jaws onto the arm that held it, feeling bone break between his teeth. With a cry the spear fell into the sand.

He could hear Skua fighting with one of the others, insults and curses flying between the two as they grappled for the upper hand. He frantically looked for Dreamseeker who was smaller than all of them, only to notice her latching into the side of the SandWing that Skua had been fighting, and her own combatant...defeated already? How did she do that?

He was forced to bring his attention back to the leader as he snarled, one leg now useless, and swung the barb on his tail towards Eclipse's side forcing him to leap out of the way as it swung wide. The two prowled around each other until the SandWing lunged forward again and knocked Eclipse clean off his feet into the hot sand, "Got you now you little freak." He cried out in pain as the sharp claws sunk into his neck and chest. His movement was severely limited but he struck out with one back leg; knocking the SandWing's own out from under him. Using the opportunity he flipped their positions and unleashed a jet of flame directly into the leader's face.

As he pulled back, feeling slightly sick as the SandWing screamed and writhed on the ground; scrabbling at his eyes in an attempt to get the searing pain to stop, he heard Skua's roar of agony and Dreamseeker scream out his friend's name. He saw the blood dripping from the barbed tip of the female SandWing's tail and running down Skua's leg, "No! Skua!" All the pain he was feeling shifted quickly to panic and then rage shortly after as Skua staggered back and the female SandWing pushed Dreamseeker away preparing to flee.

She flapped her wings but before she could get high into the air Eclipse slammed into her with a bellowing roar; digging his claws into the thin membrane of her wing and shredding it. She couldn't get away, he had no idea what to do about SandWing venom, and he wouldn't loose anyone else he cared about. As they both fell back into the sand he pinned her barbed tail under one back foot and his front claws driven into her shoulder and neck, not enough to kill her, but certainly enough to cause pain.

His eyes were bright with rage as he glared down at the SandWing. She hurt his friend. She'd pay for that. His teeth bared close to her snout, "How do we help him?"

She just grinned at him, teeth coated in blood, before spitting directly into his face. Eclipse felt another flash of rage as he slammed all of his weight down onto the claws in her throat and felt her body go limp under him.

He could see Skua's face painted with agony as he rushed towards him, and turned to Dreamseeker, "What do we do? There has to be something!"

Aardwolf let out his third, or maybe fourth, long suffering sigh of the last 5 or so minutes as he stood watch outside the gate that lead to the Scorpion's Den. If he had to get stuck with guard duty at least they could've put him inside where things actually happened sometimes. The only thing the outer wall guards had to concern themselves with was if the so called Duneprowlers decided to make an appearance, but so far, nothing. He absentmindedly twirled a long, thin piece of wood through his claws and began faintly humming some drinking song he'd heard the older guards singing late at night with slurring voices.

His eyes caught a flash of movement on the edge of the dunes and his whole form snapped into attention preparing to sound out the alarm. He squinted his eyes and blinked several times in confusion at what he saw trudging towards The Scorpion Den. Three dragons, a small NightWing, what looked to be a darkly colored SkyWing, and an oddly colored IceWing who was being propped up by the SkyWing, "What the..." he watched for a moment longer as they drew closer and now noticed the blood dripping from all of them from various wounds and the staggering gait of the IceWing.

He could easily tell, even from this distance, the effects of SandWing venom on a dragon. He'd seen it often enough to know and he doubted that these three, who looked about as suited for the desert as a fish, knew what to do to stop it. He leaned his spear to one side of the gate and flapped his wings before soaring the fairly short distance between himself and the newcomers.

"You three don't look so good," he commented as he thumped down into the sand, "What happened?" He could get a better look at them now and winced slightly at how sliced up they were. The NightWing looked like she'd been through a whirlwind of claws and the other two didn't look that much better. He'd seen his fair share of fights, been in his fair share too, but it'd been a while since he'd seen this many injuries.

He looked down towards the IceWing's leg. The scales and veins around the cut were blackened and he could see the muscles in their body trembling with the effort of staying on their feet and fighting through the pain, "We can get that sorted out for you," he gave the three a bright grin, "He'll be fine in no time."

Aardwolf looked to the small NightWing as she pushed her shoulder into the side of IceWing, "Damn bandits," he could see the IceWing was pretty quickly losing conciouness against the shoulder of the SkyWing who looked stricken and frankly terrified, "We can help. We just gotta get him to The Den." He took a step forward and gently pushed the NightWing out of the way as he took up her position on the other side of the IceWing, his much larger frame giving more support.

"Thank you." He turned his head at the quiet mumble from the SkyWing on the other side, who appeared to be struggling just as much if his tightly clenched jaw and shaking legs were anything to go by.

With some amount of pulling and prompting from both sides they were able to get the IceWing into the gates of The Scorpion Den. The other guards who were working nearby immediately jumped up and grabbed their spears, "Settle down you bunch of stab happy brutes," he pushed his way through the group of them, "Can't you see they've been through enough."

With some grumbling the guards settled back into their previous positions, "In here." He gestured with the tip of his barbed tail to a stout and wide tent that had one part of the entry flap tied back. Inside were a few guards who had been injured in a scrap with the bandits not too long ago; resting on the softer sand and pillow that littered the floor in set places. Near the back there was a smaller female SandWing with darker scales sorting through different supplies. "Got someone for you Viper. He got hit by a SandWing stinger."

Viper immediately looked up at where the three had stumbled into the tent, "Alright, bring him here," she gestured to one of the nearby cushioned areas as she began picking up gauze and a vial of the cactus juice that nullified the venom, "We'll get him back on his feet in no time."