[IC] Legends of Pyrrhia | Wings of Fire

[PrankFox]

Eclipse let himself smile a bit as he watched all of the different dragons milling about the Sky Kingdom. Festivals weren't something Queen Ember did frequently, but when she did decide to host one they always were as extravagant as she could possibly make them. Bright colors hung from almost every inch of the palace and surrounding mountains mixing with the colors of dragons from many of the tribes. Despite the tensions rising between several of them it seemed everyone could lay down the spears for long enough to enjoy a celebration. He stretched his wings, letting the light catch on the star like scales underneath before leaping from the balcony he had been watching from and gliding down into the throng of other dragons.

He nodded his head politely at those who called out to him as a prince, and sent a grin in the direction of his friends from the palace. Weaving his way through a group of SeaWings, who were devouring a bucket of fish, he caught up to his friends: Ash, a bulky, bright crimson scaled soldier and Sunrise: a slender, deep orange and yellow scaled scholar of the arts.

"Finally decided to join the party, huh?" Ash called out a bright grin on his scarred face, "thought we'd never see you." He stepped forward and wrapped his wings around his smaller friend.

Eclipse rolled his eyes slightly, but returned the hug, "Clearly you weren't looking all that hard," he gestured with one wing towards the balcony he had perched on, that happened to be in direct eye line to where they were now, "I was right there."

"You should know by now he never looks at anything that isn't right in front of him," Sunrise said with a teasing grin at the bigger dragon, "Makes it super easy to steal his dinner." Ash looked over at her, a scandalized expression on his face, his jaw working like he was trying to come up with something to say, but couldn't quite get anything out. Instead he just flung one wing out and clocked her on the head with a triumphant laugh. To which Sunrise responded with a sound thwack on his back with her tail causing Ash to let out a melodramatic wail of pain drawing the confused gaze of a few other dragons nearby.

Eclipse shook his head at his friends antics, a smile on his face. He let his gaze wander around the festival grounds; keeping one ear on the conversation going on between the other two dragons.

[Marlowe]

Festivals weren't necessarily Skua's thing. It meant more work for him, which didn't necessarily bother him, but it allowed more ample room to make mistakes. He much preferred it when it was quiet around. It was easier to keep track of things, and that way he wouldn't be so uptight. He hung about with the other guards, listening to them complain about whatnot. One of the SkyWings, a long-necked, graceful-looking female, nodded her head brusquely as she conversed next to him.

"I'm telling you, it's a bad thing Queen Ember is allowing all of these dragons to constantly mill about. She's just asking for trouble. We all know different types of dragons don't really get along," she said.

The other female SkyWing next to her was a small one, but she puffed out her chest indignantly. "Don't say that kind of stuff, Cerise. Just look at how many of them are having fun--"

Skua rolled his eyes. Yeah, fun; the little one was right about one thing, at least. From what he could tell, there wasn't a sign of intent in any of the dragons that milled around stalls and barrels of food. They all seemed to be more interested in talking and eating than looking to start a fight. Frankly, the peaceful sight made him want to doze. Skua's muzzle wrinkled at Cerise's retort, not even bothering to pay attention to what he said as he spread his wings and took to the sky. Maybe a quick flight would wake him up. The smell of roasted pig reached his nose, and his stomach growled. Maybe a quick bite, too...

Though before he could really search for the place that heavenly smell, he caught sight of a familiar flash of black and red scales. Skua blinked in surprise when he saw Eclipse talking with two other dragons, both of which seemingly having just as much fun as the rest of the festive dragons. Grinning, he drifted down to join them.

"Aren't we being social today?" Skua teased Eclipse as he landed beside the other dragon. His yellow eyes drifted between Sunrise and Ash as he sat down. "Don't mind me, I'm just surprised he actually decided to show up."

[PrankFox]

Eclipse sighed with mock exasperation as one of his few other friends in the palace landed on the ground next to him, "And here I was hoping I wouldn't have to interact with anyone else today," he flicked Skua with the tip of his tail in a friendly manner; puffing his chest out and pitching his voice up to more closely match that of his aunt, "You've gotten in the way of my haughty gaze over the commoners." He and Ash chuckled as he let his chest fall. Ash turned towards Skua with a matching teasing smile on his face.

"Rather shocking isn't it. I expected him to stay up and out of the way the entirety of the festival," he turned the toothy grin on Eclipse, "and that would be a tragedy." Eclipse simply rolled his eyes, legitimately sighing this time. He looked towards the sky as if silently asking it why he decided to put up with these ridiculous dragons that he called friends. He might act as if they annoyed him but he really didn't know what he would do if they didn't take the time to hang out. He'd probably go crazy trapped in the palace with all of the other high and mighty royal types. They could be insufferable with all the gossip and posturing they did, he just couldn't understand it.

He glanced back down, "Well I don't know about the rest of you but I'm starving," he grinned towards Sunrise, the smallest out of the whole group, "Great skies knows you could use more meat on your bones." He leapt sideways ducking behind Skua as she swiped a claw at him, "She's a menace I tell you, trying to attack someone in broad daylight," he added a wounded tone to his voice as Sunrise barred her teeth at him, which from any other dragon would probably be intimidating, but from her it just looked kind of cute. Ash took a step forward and patted her gently on the head in a way that seemed both placating and degrading at the same time; which earned him his second thwack from her tail of the day. At this rate there would be a new record.

Eclipse slipped around his friend, wrapping one wing around him in an actual greeting, and started heading in the direction of the food stalls, still keeping a fair distance from Sunrise in case she kept trying for her revenge. As the other two prepared to follow, chatting with each other over what kind of food they wanted to get, he looked towards his blue-scaled friend, "Find anything fun to do at this festival, or have you been too busy gossiping with the other soldiers?" he asked with a good natured smile in Skua's direction.

[Marlowe]

Skua snorted at Eclipse's words as he rolled his eyes. He knew that Eclipse was joking, but he was tempted to cuff him over the head after that reply. Playfully, of course. Though, knowing his strength, he might be too rough about it. Nevertheless, he allowed his crooked grin to spread, and he glanced over at Ash. "A great tragedy, indeed," he agreed whole-heartedly, giving his tail a lax flick. When Eclipse teased Sunrise and caused her to take a swipe at him, in turn using his own body as a shield, Skua sent a sharp glare at his friend.

"You're lucky she doesn't shred you, Eclipse," he said in a cautious voice. Despite his glare, he nudged him jokingly. "One day, she'll really lose her temper, and I'll have to drag your tail to the healers."

Right after he said that, though, a laugh left his jaws. Ash and Sunrise continued their spiel, he let another laugh as Eclipse gave him a proper greeting. "What? Me? Gossip?" he chuckled as he walked beside him. "I think you might've confused me for one of the older guards around here. They never stop gossiping." Skua added as he held his head up. There were some unfamiliar dragons that looked at them with curiosity, and so he held his head higher. They probably figured Eclipse was one of the royals, and so Skua absolutely had to look at least somewhat proper. The smell of roast boar reached his nose, and he laughed again. "I'm sure I'll have enough fun if I get something to eat. I'm starving."

[PrankFox]

Eclipse grinned, "I know I can always count on you to protect me from her rather small wrath." He easily walked his way through the throng of other dragons getting food and chatting with each other, most people tended to get out of his way if they knew who he was. To be honest he kind of wished that they wouldn't act so impressed, it's not like he could take the throne anyway, but at least he didn't have to push and shove. He noticed some of the dragons paying them some extra attention and Skua promptly holding his head higher. He sent a quick glare in the direction of the curious ones who quickly averted their gazes. After he was satisfied they were no longer staring he briefly tuned into the conversation that Sunrise and Ash were having. She was prattling on about one of the scrolls that she had read recently; while Ash nodded sagely next to her despite looking like he was half-asleep.

He smiled fondly at them before looking back at Skua, "Well it's not like they have much else to do these days," he dodged to the side out of the way of a rather massive MudWing that wasn't paying much attention and shook his head slightly, "sometimes they actually have some pretty good stories to tell." He remembered when he was younger and got tired of working with his father; he would slip away to the barracks and listen to the older soldiers tell heavily exaggerated battle stories. Eventually his father would hunt him down, but he could usually convince him to stay and tell his own tales to avoid any more battle training.

He chuckled, "We better find something quick then," he stretched his head up and found a stall with fewer dragons around it and many different kinds of roasted meats, "Can't have one of my best friends dying from lack of fun." He bounded towards the stall and examined the various kinds of meats they had: pig, rabbits, birds, and pretty much anything else a dragon could want. He selected a massive boar that was big enough for at least two of them, and then stood to the side so the others could get what they wanted. His mouth was already watering at the smell of the meat, so he quickly found an out of the way place for them to eat.

"Is there any news going around?" he asked seriously, "I haven't had the chance to talk with any of the soldiers or scribes recently." He sunk his teeth into the roasted meat and watched as Ash and Sunrise both made their way over to join them.

[Marlowe]

Eclipse was right, after all. Then again, he didn't have to deal with chattering dragons almost nonstop today. He rolled his eyes, trying not to think of Cerise and her constant bickering. That old lump of scales didn't know what the definition of fun was. But, her words had left what felt like ants crawling under his scales. While this festival was meant to bring dragons together, he could still spot some overly cautious glances from several individuals. Three moons, some could even be considered hostile. Skua sent a glare at a NightWing that stared at him for too long before focusing on the smell of roasted meats. That was something that boded well, at least.

Once he had gotten a whole roast boar, he took it over to where Eclipse ate and settled down. He flicked his tail as his fangs sank into the savory cut. "No news, other than what I heard about Queen Ember's speech," Skua mumbled around a mouthful. He felt bad for the queen. It was the first time a member of royalty had held so many dragons as guests in her kingdom, and tension was already crackling between a certain few of them. The NightWing stared at him again. Skua let out a growl.

"Maybe all the old grayscales are right," he muttered. "Nothing good can come from putting all of Pyrrhia in one kingdom..."

[PrankFox]

Eclipse frowned slightly at his friend, sensing the nervous energy he had. He knew tensions were on the rise between several of the tribes, but he didn't want to entertain the idea that it could grow into something worse. "What do you think Sunrise?" he queried towards the smaller dragon, "You're always reading all those scrolls." He saw the glare Skua sent towards something out of his line of sight out of the corner of his eye, and felt a brief flash of concern for what might have drawn the other's ire.

Sunrise shrugged slightly, "Well there's never really been a time when everyone completely got along. There's always someone who is unhappy with the way things are and wants to change things "for the better," and ends up starting conflict." As she talked, she reached a claw out and skewered one of the birds that Ash had in front of him.

Eclipse sighed, seemed like nothing could ever be easy. "Hopefully Queen Ember will have something good to say." His eyes flicked back towards Skua at his growl, and he twisted his head slightly to see a NightWing quickly snapping their head away. He shifted subtly to position himself in between the nosy dragon and Skua, effectively blocking the NightWing's view. He knew how much Skua hated people staring at him, usually because of how he looked, given who his parents were. That didn't give them any right to gawk though. He wasn't wholly SkyWing, and people didn't stare at him any more than any other members of the royal family.

"I wouldn't worry too much," he flicked Skua lightly with his tail, both to grab his attention and as a friendly gesture, "the Sky Kingdom has excellent soldiers if something does happens." He flashed a smile at the blue-scaled dragon; attempting to lighten the slightly tense and somber mood.

[Marlowe]

Sunrise seemed to share the same skepticism as he did. Though, he wasn't sure if he should be more at ease because of the fact that someone agreed with him, or if he had every reason to be more action. His eyes darted about once again. Maybe he should just calm down. No one looked suspicious-- even that NightWing had darted off somewhere. Maybe he was just getting stared at because he looked weird. Even though dragons tolerated each other more than before, hybrids were rare. Three moons, perhaps the NightWing was just admiring his scales. They were a dashing shade of silvery blue and oranges and yellows, weren't they?

Skua returned his attention to Eclipse, nodding his head at his words. "Of course," he said, lifting his head arrogantly. "As if I would ever let anything happen to Queen Ember. Or anyone, really. Especially you," he chuckled as he teased his friend, bumping his wing against his side. Eclipse's words did resonate with him, though. Queen Ember better have something good to say in order to ease whatever tension there was between the intermingling dragons.

A flash of red and orange scales in the sky caught his attention. Skua glanced up to see that at least a dozen armored SkyWings had filtered out of the palace. In the middle of the guards was a large, very pale orange SkyWing. The midday sun made her scales look almost like a mixture of liquid gold and fire, and the golden necklaces around her long, graceful neck only added to her beauty.

"Attention all!" roared one of the SkyWing guards as they soared towards the pulpit that looked over the celebrations. "All dragons must gather in the arena to listen to Queen Ember's word!"

Skua had already taken a bite out of his boar, and he swallowed quickly before he looked back at Eclipse, Sunrise, and Ash. "Well, at least we're here already," he commented.

[PrankFox]

Eclipse grinned at the teasing from his friend, knowing that despite the tone, Skua really meant what he said. "No one I'd rather have following me around and looking intimidating." Despite the tensions in the air it did seem like most dragons were having a good time with the festivities. There was plenty of food and interesting conversation to be had, so that hopefully boded well for the coming days. He continued eating tuning into the snappish back and forth that was going on between Ash and Sunrise, but that was about the usual for the two of them. He could hear snippets of conversation going on all around them. Dragons talking about mundane things like what time the festival was going to end or what food they should get. However, there were also those that talked a bit quieter about rising hostilities among the tribes. He hoped it was just talk.

He was snapped out of his thoughts as he saw Skua glance skyward and heard the call of one of the many SkyWing soldiers flying with Queen Ember. Must be time for the speech, he was certainly interested in what his aunt had to say about everything that was going on. She looked radiant as ever with the various pieces of jewelry catching the sun and sparkling across her scales. His head tracked her across the sky as she headed for the high part of the arena where she addressed the crowds.

He turned his attention to Skua at his comment, "That certainly makes it easy. No need to fight through the crowd to get a good spot to listen." He shifted slightly so he didn't have to crane his neck around to see the queen as she settled onto the pulpit and the guards took up their positions nearby. Some in the sky and others on the ground.

Her head held regally Queen Ember gazed across the assembled dragons as they flooded into the arena, a faint smile across her face. As she stepped forward and addressed the crowd, "A warm welcome to the Sky Kingdom to each and every one of you. It is our pleasure to be able to host a festival for all of the tribes of Pyrrhia." She gestured towards the crowd with her claws as she spoke, the smile never dropping from her face, "It brings me great joy to see so many dragons from so many walks of life gathered together; appreciating each others company."

Eclipse let himself sit back and relax a bit. The calm nature of the Queen's stance setting his mind more at ease as she continued her speech.

[Marlowe]

It was kind of hard to believe that his mother served Queen Ember as a guard. All of the other armored SkyWing guards appeared fierce and intimidating, and Skua remembered his mother as kind and understanding. To think that she might have been as stern-faced as one of such guards in her youth. He shook his head, chewing and craning his head as he turned to peer at Ember. The queen was a young queen, her scales unblemished from any fights as her neck swung from side to side at the watching dragons.

"There may have been times where dragons of all tribes have gathered like this, but I'm sure that no one can remember a festival as grand as this one!" Queen Ember's voice chimed. "May the celebrations continue, and may we go on to relish each other's company for--"

"Look out!" One of the guards at her side had cut through the queen's speech with a terrified screech, her massive crimson wings flaring as she attempted to dive towards Queen Ember.

But it was too late. Something whizzed through the air, something small and shiny, and streaked towards Ember's ornamented long neck. Its edge stuck itself into her underscales, and the queen screamed in pain as blood tarnished her neck. Skua's jaw dropped open as he leapt to his feet, his wings expanding as he prepared to take flight towards Queen Ember. But the many SkyWing guards crowded around her, so much so that Skua could no longer see her collapsed body. More and more dragons screamed and roared in panic around him. The sky came to life with the multicolored hides of SandWings, SeaWings, NightWings alike, and more SkyWing guards poured forth from the palace in a panic.

"Everyone stay calm!" yelled one of the SkyWings as others flew in loops around the frightened dragons. The dragons that hadn't been able to flee in time shoved against each other, their eyes wild with fear and uncertainty. Skua's wings itched to take flight, to take into the sky and search for whoever had attacked the queen. But the sharpened, angry, desperate gazes of the SkyWings tasked to keep them calm proved that he could do no such thing. If he rebelled, he'd probably be pinned and arrested as a potential suspect. Not that he would do such a thing to Ember! He had Ash, Sunrise, and Eclipse as witnesses!

Skua turned to look at Eclipse, his eyes bright with anger and uncertainty. "Did you see that?" he hissed. "The... the thing that hit Queen Ember-- it looked like a dart, or a knife, or something sharp. And it hit her in the neck. Three moons, do you think she's even still alive?! Who could have done such a thing?!'

He was practically roaring at this point, his serrated claws digging into the earth and his tail lashing to and fro. I feel so useless!

[PrankFox]

Eclipse felt a swell of pride for both his aunt and his father, who had served as a guard for the queen for as long as he could remember. He wasn't sure if his father was among the guards with her right now, but he couldn't imagine he'd be anywhere but with his sister on a day like this. Unfortunately they weren't really close enough for him to be able to discern which dragon was which under all of the armor they wore. His dad took a great deal of pleasure traveling around with Queen Ember and pestering her when she wasn't busy with her many duties she had to preform every day.

Queen Ember's voice was clear and strong despite her youth and general inexperience. He knew he'd never be able to stand up in front of this many dragons and give a speech like this. He glanced at the dragon's sitting around them, almost all of them were watching with rapt attention at the words that rang out across the arena. Before they were abruptly cut off as something struck her in the neck and she fell back into the guards with a scream; red covering the pale orange. He could see the guards moving in to surround her, some facing her and others facing out frantic eyes on the crowds below.

His entire body froze and the screams of the other dragons around them faded into the background as everyone began to panic around them. His dad was up there, their Queen had been struck with...something, he hadn't be able to see exactly what, and might be bleeding out as the crowds pushed and shoved in order to escape. With the chaos there would be no way to find the one responsible, they could go after his dad or his mom next, and he had no idea what he could possibly do to help.

He snapped out of his panicked thoughts, just barely catching the tail end of what Skua said to him. "I...I don't know." he looked backwards towards Ash and Sunrise who were staring with horror and shock on their faces; as were many of the other dragons who hadn't run. He looked up towards where the soldiers were circling, attempting to calm the masses. They didn't seem to be having much luck.

His voice finally caught up to his thoughts as his head whipped around to Skua, slightly frantic, "That's my family up there! I have to get to them, what if the dragon responsible is still here and goes after someone else?!" He could see the pent up frustration in his friend's stance as he spread his wings went to take off into the sky, and froze again, this time with indecision. He needed to know if his family was okay, but he didn't want to leave his friends here in case something happened. He looked back and forth between the chaos on the pulpit and where Skua stood lashing his tail, completely unsure of what he should do.

[Marlowe]

Skua was getting more and more aggravated by the minute. The SkyWing guards flapped about, shoving back against the dragons that wanted to escape. His eyes flicked about the crowd; he couldn't find any suspicious dragons in this mess, no guilty or pleased faces that flashed among the bewildered ones. He caught sight of dragons with eyes filled with tears of panic, fear, and confusion. How many had families they were wondering about? How many of them were separated from their loved ones in this chaos? Skua awaited another attack, another flying dart that soared towards the other members of royalty. But none came. It seemed that their assassin had either blended with the crowd almost perfectly, or had fled the scene right after his attack.

Eclipse's words snapped his attention back to his panicking friend. A scowl crossed his maw. They were doing nothing sitting about. And Eclipse wanted to make sure his family was alright... "The assassin is gone by now. There's no way that they could do anything in this mess," he commented. "For now, we should find out if everyone is alright!" Though, judging from all the blood, I doubt the queen is okay.

He spread his wings, taking off into the sky. One of the guards moved to intercept him, though Skua snarled. "Three moons, I'm one of the queen's soldiers! Let us through!"

Skua wasn't sure if it was because of the intensity of his roar or his words, but the SkyWing blinked in surprise and moved to let them pass. Skua flapped towards the pulpit, landing among the fretting SkyWings and their royalty. Ember was still on the floor, gasping and writhing as her tail curled and uncurled. There wasn't so much blood, at least, not as much as he had thought. The healers on the scene fluttered to and fro, their eyes wild with panic.

"She's been poisoned," one of the healers hissed.

The largest SkyWing guard growled. "Then do something about it, Cloud!"

"I-I can't... we don't know what to do--! The poison's already in her blood, and it struck an artery..."

Skua's blood froze over like the coldest tundra. He whirled his head around to face Eclipse. "Poison," he hissed. There were many types of poison in the world, ranging from SandWing venom to dragonbite viper venom. Though, even he knew that, once the poison hit the blood, there was little one can do. And if it hit a vital point on one's body...

[PrankFox]

Eclipse nodded shakily at Skua's words, still trying to wrap his head around everything that had happened. He was grateful for the initiative of his friend, even if it was a bit forceful. "This is going to mean war with whichever tribe is responsible," he looked at the faces of the dragons below them as they quickly made their way up into the sky, "and whichever tribes they're allied with." Any one of them could've been responsible for the attack on Queen Ember, but at the same time, most of them were innocent bystanders. Many of their faces were filled with shock and sadness, and if a war started so many of them would die, even though they did nothing to cause it. He shook his head angrily to banish the thoughts away.

He let Skua lead the way through the guards, slightly surprised that the one that attempted to stop them didn't recognize either of them. Though the stress of the situation probably made things difficult. As he landed on the pulpit beside Skua, he could see the healers nearby, trying to do anything they could to help their queen, but the pain seemed to grow every second she laid prone and gasping. Her claws scrabbled against the ground, leaving deep gouges in the stone. He easily recognized his father crouched close enough to have his snout pressed to Ember's forehead, but far enough to not get in the way of the healers that rushed around. The deep reds and oranges of his father's scales seemed pallid and his eyes were clouded as he whispered soothing words to her that were much too quiet for Eclipse to hear.

At Skua's hiss he pulled his attention away from his family for a brief moment to stare at him. "Why would someone do this?" he shook his head, "What is there to possibly gain?" The surprise was beginning to give way to a blood boiling anger; a rage that he usually tried to keep well in check, but this time he planned on using it to discover who was responsible.

A sudden flurry of activity from the healers drew his attention back to the crowd. The gasping from Ember had grown quieter; her tail and claws stilled in their frantic motions. The only movement was the blood bubbling up between her teeth and pooling on the stone underneath her head. There was a beat of still silence before pandemonium erupted as roars and cries rose from the assembled dragons.

Eclipse immediately shoved his way through the crowd, an incomprehensible roar of rage and grief causing several of the guards and healers to jump backwards in surprise. He pushed past the rest of the healers to crouch next to his father who hadn't moved from his position next to Ember; small tremors causing the armor he wore to clank slightly. He draped a wing across his father's back; knowing there was nothing he could possibly say to make this any easier.

[Marlowe]

This was almost too much for Skua to handle. The grief that pooled together from the spectating dragons was heavy in the air. Yet, alongside the grief and pain, there was a quiet rage that hung thick like blood between them. Eclipse was right. Whoever was responsible had just started a war between tribes. After so many years of peace and prosperity... he trembled, the mix of emotions swelling in his chest. He couldn't even bring himself to comfort Eclipse and his father. He wasn't related to them, and he only had a percentage of SkyWing blood...

Suddenly, Ember's body became still, and the smell of death quickly flooded the air. The Skywings all screamed and roared and wailed in unison. Skua ground his teeth together and snarled. "This means war!" he roared, quite literally bristling with fury.

The SkyWing healer, Cloud, ducked his head. "Did... did no one see anything?"

"The dart came out of nowhere..." one of the SkyWing guards whimpered.

Skua's scales felt like needles. "We need to find whoever is responsible, whatever it takes. We're wasting our time hanging our heads and feeling sorry for ourselves!"

Most of the SkyWings glared at him, but Cloud shook his head. "It may prove more difficult than we think."

"Why?"

Cloud carefully lifted the sharp object that had struck Ember. It was covered in blood, but there was something else there. Something waxy black was splotched over the dart, and Skua wrinkled his nose.

"This is unlike any poison I've ever seen before. It's not SandWing venom, and it's not dragonbite viper venom... and look, it's eaten the scales around the puncture wound on Ember's neck."

Skua craned his neck to look closer. Cloud was right. Ember's scales had twisted and deformed among the blood, as if they had begun to melt off her body.

"Then we have no exact way of knowing where the poison came from..." Skua muttered.

[PrankFox]

Eclipse listened to the conversation going on between Skua and the healer, Cloud, while keeping himself crouched next to his father. His legs were starting to cramp up a bit, but he wasn't about to move. He frowned in confusion at the dart that was being held in between the healer's claws. He'd certainly never seen anything that looked like that or had the effect on a dragon's scales that this substance did. Maybe Sunrise would know something, she spent all that time reading through old scrolls.

He heard a familiar roar and glanced up to see his mother, Brightstar, soaring quickly down to the pulpit; light catching on the gleaming white scales under her wings and bouncing off her jet black hide. Despite not being directly related to the Queen she still commanded a great deal of respect, and the guards lowered their heads; stepping back slightly to allow her to move closer. A deep sadness filled her eyes as she looked down at Ember. The Queen had been one of the first dragons to truly welcome her when she'd first come to the Sky Kingdom with Storm.

Eclipse felt himself sag slightly in relief, surely his mother would know what to say or do, she always seemed to know more than anyone else did. He drew his wing back and pushed himself to his feet, opening his jaws to say something, but quickly snapping them shut again at a minute shake of Brightstar's head.

"Blackbird and Jet," she called out to two of the guards nearby, "Please take Storm back to the palace." The two SkyWings moved to help Storm to his feet and gently lead him away from the body of Ember. "Take care of him, I'll be there shortly." She took a step towards the healers and began a hushed conversation with them; occasionally gesturing towards Ember and the crowd below.

Eclipse moved to stand next to Skua once again, "What should we do?" He bumped his wings against his friend as he shifted uneasily, "Should we try to figure out what the poison is?" He sighed, suddenly exhausted. This festival was supposed to celebrate peace and instead it was going to be a catalyst for war.

[Marlowe]

At the appearance of Eclipse's mother, Skua had become much more quiet. He had roared and stamped his feet enough; he wasn't a mewling dragonet that had to be told to be quiet. Yet, his tail still lashed wildly, and his bright eyes blazed with fury. The two of them were very much being ignored. The SkyWing guards in the pulpit muttered among themselves, then split off to the dragons keeping watch over the clusters of dragons in the arena. They spoke among each other as well, and then they turned to the spectators and roared something. Skua couldn't hear their voices over the sound of the wind, but the clusters of dragons slowly began to take into the sky. Skua began to wonder why exactly the SkyWings were letting them go, then thought again. If no one knew where the dart had come from, then they had no leads. They would find the culprit eventually, though.

Skua eyed Eclipse when he was approached. "You can bet on it," he growled. Though, where would they start? The healers and the royals seemed to only be interested in conversing with one another, and the rest of the guards looked to only know as much as they did. Most, if not all, of them looked confused about the source of the poison. "Where do we start? The healers don't even know where the poison comes from. If they don't know, then who does?"

[PrankFox]

Eclipse sighed as the guards began to allow the crowds to make their way out. "I don't know," he turned to look at Skua who seemed to be getting more agitated as time went on, "I was thinking that maybe Sunrise might know something. She spends all her time reading old scrolls, or maybe my mom, but I don't think she'd tell us anything. Other than that I really have no idea."

He dug the tips of his claws into the stone of the pulpit; anything to keep him remotely grounded with everything going on around them. He didn't really think they'd have much luck in finding out who was responsible or what this poison was. They were just two young dragons and if the healers and every guard who was here knew and saw nothing, what could they possibly do. Despite this he couldn't imagine just sitting around and doing nothing while the tenuous peace they'd lived in for years crumbled to the ground around them.

As his thoughts ran circles around each other he noticed his mother had finished whatever conversation she'd been having with the guards, who began to hustle about and prepare for whatever came next, and she began to approach where he and Skua stood. She looked more weary and unsure than he'd ever seen her before and that sent a jolt of nerves across each and every one of his scales. If Brightstar didn't have any ideas then, in his mind, their chances of solving this crept closer to zero.

Her eyes swept across the both of them, "I can't imagine either of you know much more than the guards, but if you happened to catch anything that they missed I'd love to hear it."

Eclipse shook his head, he had been looking back towards Ash and Sunrise when everyone had begun to panic. All he'd seen was Ember falling to the ground. "Skua said something about a dart," he looked questioningly towards the silvery dragon, "but we already knew that. Did you see where in the crowd it came from? That could help."

[Marlowe]

Skua frowned at his friend's reply. So, no one would really know anything about this poison. He tapped a serrated claw against the floor of the pulpit, glaring to the side. His mind rattled with different types of thoughts. Who? Why? It just repeated in his head over and over, only driving forward the anxiety in his chest. The flash of black scales caught his eye, and he raised his head, blinking at Brightstar.

"A dart came from the midst of the crowd, but I didn't see anyone winding their arm up to throw it. It just... flew out of nowhere. Now that I think of it, I didn't see anyone that might have had bad intentions, either." Skua found this hard to admit, but he wasn't going to make anything up. One of the things that came from his mixed bloodline was the SkyWings' excellent vision, but even his eyes couldn't pick anything up. "I'm sorry," he bowed his head towards Eclipse and Brightstar. "If only I'd have been more observant..."

[PrankFox]

Eclipse leaned a shoulder against Skua, silently making sure the other dragon knew he didn't at all blame him for not being able to notice anything, and gave him a faint smile. His mind was still reeling, running through all manner of questions and possibilities for what could have happened and why someone who do this. The only though that came continually to the front of his mind, no matter how hard he tried to shove it away, was that someone wanted to start a war with the Sky Kingdom.

Brightstar simply nodded her head, looking lost in thought for a moment, "It's alright dear. Even the guards who were right up next to the Queen saw nothing, so I shouldn't have expected either of you to have seen any more than they did." She stepped past the two young dragons, briefly brushing her wings against Eclipse, "Go get some rest. It's been a trying day." She smiled warmly, if slightly strained, before leaping from the pulpit and soaring down to the crowds below.

Despite what his mother told him, Eclipse found that he could not rest, even as the sun fell in the sky and the stars began to twinkle cheerfully he found himself pacing the length of his room in the palace; like some kind of caged beast. He let out a long sigh before stretching his wings, maybe a flight would do him some good. He was sure it wasn't the smartest idea to be out alone when someone was attacking royals, but he didn't care at that point, his room felt stifling and his darker scales would hide him well enough.

Pushing open the doors to the balcony attached to his room he took a deep breath of crisp night air before leaping into the inky blackness and spreading his wings. The wind whistling by and rushing across his scales drove the meddlesome thoughts away as he soared down before looping back up and around towards the mountains. As he glided near the mountain that held the palace his keen vision caught a flash of movement on the stone slightly below him. He came to a stop, flapping his wings to keep him aloft, and stared at the place where he'd seen it; waiting for anything else.

After a brief moment he saw the moonlight catch on black scales and for a second he thought it was his mother before remembering seeing her inside the palace with his father. No other NightWings lived in the Sky Kingdom, so they definitely should not be here. He moved slightly closer, but not close enough that he was at risk of being attacked, "Who's there?" he put more force into his voice, like his father did when ordering the young recruits around, "The festival is over. You shouldn't be here."

[Marlowe]

She always loved to fly.

The night swathed her scales, rendering her almost invisible, even in the moonlight. It was the perfect opportunity to swing by the SkyWing palace in search of any clues to what had happened to Queen Ember. She had come to the Sky Kingdom to take part in her festival, which started with music and food and laughter and ended with screams and questions and tears. She tried her best to be careful in getting too close to the palace; she didn't want to attract any attention, especially the night after the assassination. Yet, her curiosity and concern had gotten the best of her, and she seemingly caught the eye of a rogue SkyWing that had been flying about at this time of night.

Dreamseeker flinched at the curtness of his words. Oh no. She didn't want to be stopped by a guard-- or worse, a member of royalty. From this distance, she couldn't tell who it was that had started to approach her, but she wasn't keen on sticking around to find out. She tucked her wings close to her, diving away from the strange SkyWing and towards a nearby patch of woods. She had no chance at outflying a SkyWing-- even from here, she could tell his wings were much larger than hers. Her last resort was to lose him in the trees.