Scorpion's eyes burned, screwed tightly shut. Her thoughts clashing like clapping thunder as her arms continued to itch with small pin pricks under her scales, body shaking with raking shivers of adrenaline.

"Don't look!" Funnel cried, smiling at her. She held the princesses face, wings flared out and blocked Scorpion's view of the world around them. "Don't look, don't look, don't look-"

"Search the palace grounds!"

"FIND THAT ICEWING!"

"You highness, your highness! She's not breathing, her throat's been slashed!"

"Someone get Tamba and Imabli, GET THE ROYAL MEDICS!"

"Put pressure on the wound-"

"Would that even help-!?

"Mamba! Mojave! Go alert the royal guard, get the queen. This whole stronghold will be put into another lockdown! MOVE!"

Voices merged in the back of her mind, splitting her head with their shrill cries and barked orders that shattered any silence after Scorpion's horrified screams.

Jackal was dead, her sister was dead behind Funnel's wings. Her sister's corpse bleeding out onto the sand. Jackal was dead, and it was all her fault. Scorpion's tears started up again.

Funnel's already wide eyes stretched open even more, shouting over her shoulder. "Shadowsplitter!"

Everything after that was a blur.

Herbs and pollutes itched her nose, stinging her already sore eyes. Bringing up one of her talons, she rubbed at them with her broad wrist, the irritated skin meeting soft bandages laced in cobwebs. Tamba and Imbali were quick to treat her once she came staggering through the door, Funnel and Shadowsplitter supporting her on either side. Her memory grew fuzzy with all the panic that filled the air and rushed through her veins, draining Scorpion of any energy she had left after the fight. A hollow feeling was carving away inside her chest as the SandWing's face twisted in unease and discomfort. Scorpion's thoughts were a storm of mixed emotions like a haze: hopelessness, anger, grief, betrayal.

"The saddest part about betrayal is that it never comes from your enemies, it comes from those you trust the most. It will hurt, and it might for a long time, but the pain you feel today, is the strength you're going to feel tomorrow." Rattlesnake's voice rang like an echo in her mind, cutting through the seemingly endless daze, slowly dragging her back out into reality.

"-she alright?"

"I don't know."

She opened her eyes, staring at the warm torch light illuminating the large sandstone bricks that now looked like clay in the dark, her gaze unfocused. Funnel was there, along with Shadowsplitter. The two were somewhere off behind her, out of sight, yet Scorpion's could feel their eyes running along her back. What were they still doing here? Tamba and Imabli had left in a rush, grabbing as much supplies as they could carry before taking off for the arena.

"Can you.....can you hear her?" Funnel asked.

There was a pause.

"No," he said. "Not really. A little, but...no."

Silence.

Scorpion was starting to hate the silence.

The arena was quiet after Jackal collapsed, Scorpion's mind in a shock, so much so she couldn't even hear herself screaming.

Scorpion didn't like the silence.

The soft crackles and pops from the torches off behind her filled the air like quiet whispers, but they weren't enough to drown out the sandstorm that raged in her mind, trapping Scorpion within her own pounding and aching skull. Each time she closed her eyes, she was there again: in the market staring down at Sundance and Tarantula's corpses, or back in the arena watching Jackal crumble to the floor in horrifying gurgling, choking gasps as she desperately clawed at her gushing throat. Scorpion's chest ached hollowly, her claws digging into the skin around her snout, gripping herself tightly as her sore body stiffened.

Jackal was dead, two of her sisters were dead-

And whose fault is that?

It wasn't my fault! I didn't mean to, I just wanted to get away!

Scorpion saw herself back away from her sister's body, but her talons were red, sand clinging to her claws. They were red, her talons were red. Sticky gloves of scarlet clinging to her arms, having wrapped themselves up to her elbows. They were red, sand sticking to her palms-!

No...no, no, no, NO! She sucked in a sharp breath, warm- yet chillingly cold air slipping through her teeth. IT WASN'T MY FAULT! IT WASN'T MY FAULT! Jackal! Jackal did it to herself!

Scorpion's sides were heaving now, heart drumming and blood rushed to her ears.

Her eyes snapped open, pupils dilated to mere slits. Scorpion couldn't move, her body paralyzed, trapped within her own scales as she stared at the light dance across the walls.

This wasn't my fault, I did nothing wrong.

She tried desperately to push the memories out of her head as they tried to sink their dead claws into the back of her mind.

"I thought you were the fighter, Scorpion. The one who was supposed to get in my way the most." Jackal's words hissed in her ears.

"-ou can both go now."

Rattlesnake? The animus' voice was like a blade cutting through the blinding mist, Scorpion blinking back into reality.

"Are you sure? Shouldn't we stay till the healers come back-?"

"Meerkat will escort you, and you'll wait for further instructions."

"But why are we being interrogated?" Shadowsplitter demanded.

"Commander-in-Chief Fulgurite's orders," was all Rattlesnake said.

Commander-in-Chief Fulgurite was one of the members in the Queen's council, head of the army and royal guard. They were one of the oldest dragons in the council, older than Camel. A large SandWing who matched the queen's tallest daughters in height, close to rivaling the Queen herself in size. A level head to even out Scorpion's mother, but still a fierce and brutal fighter in the face of battle. A SandWing whose body bore the reminders of war and tragedy, not a scale left untouched by scars older than the majority of the army itself.

When Scorpion lifted her head, her neck straining under the invisible weight of her mind, the others were already gone. Leaving her and Rattlesnake alone in the long bean-shaped room. Rattlesnake's eyes pinched in concern, the animus' gaze looking her up and down.

"I'm fine," she forced out, throat burning in protest. Still aching from seemingly endless screaming that tore her vocal cords raw, dryer than the sand the kingdom was built upon.

"I didn't even ask if you were."

"You were going to."

They stared for a moment.

"How are you feeling?"

I said I was fine hung off the tip of her tongue. "Sore," she admitted, "tired."

Rattlesnake was silent for a moment.

"I should've gone with you."

"What?"

"I should've gone with you," Rattlesnake repeated, meeting Scorpion's gaze. "I shouldn't have let you go alone."

Scorpion scowled. "I can handle things myself."

"I never said you couldn't. I'm just saying I should've gone with you," Rattlesnake frowned. "But, I'm just glad you're alright. Even if you are a bit...-" she looked her up and down swiftly, eyes merely twitching- "tattered."

Her ears flicked, looking away. Scorpion wanted to say she's been through worse and came out unscathed, but this honestly was the worst she'd been through. Sure the training she took in the arena could get brutal, but not to the point of purposeful bleeding. And even then they were mere scratches. But Scorpion had her belly slashed, claws swiped above her eyes, her wrist bitten and littered in teeth-holes, and her side impaled by Jackal's stinger.

"Those are going to hurt for a while," Rattlesnake grimaced sympathetically, "and your older ones haven't even finished healing yet."

The comment was enough to snap Scorpion from her train of thoughts. She pulled back, "I'll be fine."

"Will you?" Rattlesnake challenged, brows furrowed. Scorpion's chest ached, the large SandWing mirroring the animus' expression with an uncertain scowl of her own.

No, she wasn't fine. Nothing about this was fine, but Scorpion had no time to stop and think about it. There was still so much she needed to do, and these injuries were just getting in the way of her getting things done. What she needed to get done. Scorpion's family was still in danger, and while Camel was busy chasing after innocent IceWings, Scorpion had to find out who else was behind all of this. Those letters she got off of Blur's body was the key she needed.

I just need to go through them and see if I can- "THE LETTERS!"

Her heart dropped. Blood running cold.

She dropped the letters.

When Jackal tackled her, launching herself out from the cellar doors. The letters scattered across the arena like a flurry of feathers. She dropped them, and now they could be anywhere. Scorpion pushed herself upright, launching up onto her talons as her vision blurred, head pounding. She lurched forwards, the cot wobbling at the sudden rush of movement with a clatter, stumbling off to the ground. The second her talons touched the ground, her side spasmed in unbelievable pain, the muscles underneath her scales twitching violently she couldn't swallow down the cry of agony.

"Scorpion!"

Rattlesnake rushed to catch her as her shoulder met the floor, her wing tensing as her side twitched and strained over and over and over, tightening around something that wasn't there. The hole in her side clamping around nothing, muscles desperately trying to move but were severed and spasming. Scorpion gritted her teeth, eyes screwing shut as she tried to wait it out. She could feel Rattlesnake around her, staying close by her head and holding it upright as her body kicked and flinched violently. It felt as though the eclectic shocks were spreading, branching throughout her body.

Was it the venom? Was it doing this? Or was it really just her muscles finally realizing that they'd been severed, that there was a hole in her side the size of a dagger. Scorpion's body started to slow, spasms loosening as a wave of relief and exhaustion washed over her, the two SandWings left in eerie silence only broken by their breathing. Scorpion's body felt exhausted, limbs full of lead, refusing to move, unresponsive.

"Tamba and Imbali shouldn't have left you here like this," Rattlesnake hissed, sounding out of breath as if she'd been the one to collapse onto the floor.

Scorpion sucked in a breath. "They have other things to tend to."

"And not the still breathing princess who's been stung by a tailbarb in a vital area?"

She went quiet, starting to push herself up, straining as her side twitched.

"I need to get those letters."

Rattlesnake pushed her back down. "No- don't- don't move," the animus said, alarmed. "I'll take care of it. Don't-just...just don't move."

The princess' tail twitched, eyes prying themselves open to give the royal guard a hard stare. To which the animus met it head on, her sharp eyes glaring worriedly. It made Scorpion's heart stutter, warm embarrassment flushing through her cheeks and rushing to the tips of her ears, making her scowl.

"I'm fine," she tried to wave her off, "I need to take care of it."

"You don't have to do this alone, I said I'll take care of-"

"I don't want you more involved than you already are."

Rattlesnake went silent.

Scorpion continued. "I don't want to put you in danger like that," she admitted. "I don't know what'd Camel do to you if she found out about our secrets, Rattlesnake. I don't want to take that risk."

"But you'll take the risk with everything else?"

Scorpion frowned, gaze darting away. "I took care of it," she rubbed at the bandages around her wrist. "I can keep handling it," I have to. Scorpion couldn't imagine putting the weight of all this on anyone else. Ray and Thorn, Cactus, Vulture, Quicksand or Fennec, Sandstorm, her parents...Camel would spiral, stuck in a state of denial, maybe even continuing to pursue Queen Iceberg for the murders. It still hurts, knowing that Jackal had paid for their murders, and tried killing Scorpion herself once she realized she was caught.

"I won't let you ruin this! You won't get in the way more than you already have! You should be DEAD! You're supposed to be DEAD!"

It was better for everyone if she carried this burden alone, just until she was sure the threat was gone.

"But at what cost?" Rattlesnake dejected, motioning to Scorpion's injuries.

Her body ached, the chill of the floor seeping into her scales soothingly. Scorpion's heart beat lazily, calming from the surge of panic and adrenaline that took over her that night. I need to do this, she was convinced. I need to do this, so no one else has too. I can find the last piece to the puzzle, and then it will all be over and no one else has to get hurt. She could do this, she had to. Just a little more, and then everything would go back to normal. A new normal Scorpion was willing to risk her life for.

"Scorpion, please," Rattlesnake pleaded, dipping her head to meet Scorpion's eye, the pair still half sitting half lying on the floor, "Let me help." She held out her talon, palm raised. Rattlesnake's palm was small compared to Scorpion's and the average SandWing, yet still bigger than Sapphire's. Her fingers were slim and long, sharp hook-like claws on each digit. "I won't do anything without your permission," she promised.

"I don't want you using your magic," she shot back, shaking her head.

"It won't be a big spell, it's one I've done before. Just to help you heal a little faster."

"You've done this before?"

Rattlesnake nodded with a hum. "One of my first spells after my injury," she motioned towards her amputated arm. "Small enough that a young animus could do it on her own."

Scorpion hesitated.

"Okay."

"Okay?"

"Okay."

The animus met the princess' gaze, cool dusty amber meeting warm speckled maroon, silently asking for her permission once more, continuing when she gave no signs of protest. Scorpion's body went rigid as Rattlesnake moved. The grey SandWing's talons reached out to the left side of Scorpion's neck, reaching around and gently brushing her scales, sending a cold shiver that rippled beneath her skin. Her touch was gentle, singling out one of Scorpion's more yellow scales close to the front of her neck, and held it, pressing the pads of claws lightly against the scale.

"I wish to enchant this scale to heal all wounds," Rattlesnake started in a quiet whisper, Scorpion's scale beginning to glow a warm gold, brightening with each breath. Scorpion felt both something and nothing: a tickling wave sweeping over her like crawling water, but it felt like a mix of her imagination and reality. "Slowly rebuilding, painlessly, steadily, and carefully."

When Rattlesnake pulled back, the scale continued to glow. Tiny orbs of shimmering light floating up into the air like embers before it started to dim, fading down to a normal colour. Except for the odd coating over it's surface that gave it a polished sheen. The longer Scorpion stared at it, the more obvious it was that it stood out from the rest, a shade darker and shinier than the rest of her scales running down her neck.

"Is it supposed to look like that?"

"It means the enchantment's stuck," Rattlesnake explains. "All enchanted objects have a visible tell." She motioned towards Scorpion's scale, "they're subtle. Unless you know what to look for, you won't see it."

"Some enchantments are visible, most are. Something that makes them stand out to the trained eye," Rattlesnake went on. "Others are simply a feeling. Just something that makes it feel different, good or bad."

Scorpion thought for a moment, eyes resting on her scale before turning to the animus. The conversation was a relieving break from the clashing thunder of her mind, the storm of mixed emotions, memories, and thoughts that once shot off like lightning now starting to be soothed. "What's the tell for your knife?" She found herself asking. "It looks special, unique, but that could just be because it looks custom-made, one of a kind"

Rattlesnake paused, blinking in surprise.

"It's a feeling," she started to explain, Scorpion listening. "It's reassuring to have, and I feel strong enough to take on all of Pyrrhia. It feels like a safety net."

"When did you enchant it?"

"Four years ago, when I was five. It was my third and last enchantment for a while."

Scorpion gave her a puzzled look.

"When I first started using my magic, I did large spells. Sudden ones, I just kind of...blurted them out. I shouldn't have been able to do them at that age, I didn't even know I was an animus till then." Rattlesnake's ears pinned back as she continued, wings shifting uneasily. "I was drained for days, felt like I was paralyzed. My whole body was sore, so I stopped. I didn't want to use my magic if it did that to me, especially after losing my arm."

Scorpion couldn't help but glance at the amputated limb: scarred tissue long healed, scales having regrown around the injury, but not evenly. The scars grew out sharply, almost like they'd been from an explosion or a fire. "I was in one of the markets outside the stronghold...I don't remember all the details after that, but I remember fire." Scorpion's mind dug for anything she could remember about a fire in the market, but nothing came up.

If it was a fire in the market she was thinking of, then there would be records of it, but surely she'd remember hearing about a fire outside of the stronghold? Rattlesnake didn't look any older than her, and if she was a dragonet- old enough to remember it happening- then Scorpion would've been too.

"How old are you?"

"What, you think I'm old?" Rattlesnake teased.
Scorpion's snout wrinkled with a huff. "No, I don't think you're old. I might as well be calling myself old then."

"Well if her majesty insists on knowing," she said with a smile, "I'm nine, but I'm still older than you."

"Oh? Are you going to try pulling the 'well I'm older, so you have to listen to me' card?"

Rattlesnake shrugged. "I could."

"You couldn't."

"So sure?"

"Royally sure."

Rattlesnake snorted.

"What? Forgot who the royal in the room was?"

"It's hard to remember sometimes that I'm talking to a princess, future Queen of the SandWings."

She scoffed. "Seventh princess, I'm not that high up on the list. Vulture's the heir apparent, not me." Sixth now, her mind corrected her bitterly.

The mood was quick to go still after that, but it wasn't as tense as before. With the help of Rattlesnake- and a lot of convincing- Scorpion was back in her cot, side aching numbingly with an occasional twitch of her shocked muscles. Once she was settled, Rattlesnake slipped back out into the hall to keep an eye out for Imabli or Tamba, leaving her alone with her thoughts.

Scorpion found her gaze shifting down to her wrapped talons, her cleaned palms stared back at her. Her bandaged wrist sticking out like a sore talon against her warm peachy scales. Hooking one of her claws into the bandages, she carefully pulled them back, being met with the glimmering rows of sore scarlet, teeth-holes punctured into her skin and through her scales, surrounded in any red splotches and bruises, her heart skipping a painful beat at the sight.

Scorpion pulled her arm back for a strike. Jackal twisting below her, biting down on her wrist. Scorpion roared in pain, ripping her talons free, gripping her horns and slamming her to the sand. Searing hot, white fire, exploding between her ribs.

She sucked in a sharp breath, jolting herself back to reality, eyes glued to her wrist. Her claws were tightly gripping themselves, balled into tight fists that made her wrist ache. Forcing them to loosen, Scorpion stared down at the teeth marks, the image of Jackal biting down on her still fresh in her mind.

They'll be gone soon, Scorpion pushed the bandages back over her wrist, covering the clotted wound. If Rattlesnake enchantment works, her talons rested over the wrappings, idly smoothing out the ripples and folds. Scorpion just had to wait for her injuries to heal, quicker with the enchantment- she shot a glance towards her scale- but she couldn't help the feeling of overwhelming doubt that settled in her gut.

Could...could Scorpion really do this?

If Scorpion kept getting hurt like this, would she be able to take on whoever else is behind all this? Scorpion felt like her whole body was being torn apart, and she could feel anger sparking beneath her scales the more she thought about it. If she could take down the first three dragons involved in this, she could take on one more. One final push for it all to be over, and Scorpion just needed to find where to have that last shove.

Shudder and Blur had taken her on by suprise, and the second time the altercation had started because of her. But she came out on top. The next fight with Jackal had gone...worse, but Scorpion couldn't help but wonder if Jackal only was able to hurt her so much because she was already injured...because she didn't want to hurt her. Scorpion held herself back, and in the end it didn' matter.

Jackal was dead, even if it had been an accident.

Just one more, her talons curled into tight fists, her eyes narrowing. Just one more.

-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

Scorpion stared down at the scroll spread beneath her talons, stretched across the table and pinned down by carved paperweights that were shaped like palm-fulls of tiny dunes. Title scribed in large, bold letters, reading: SHIFTING SANDS OF THE DESERT KINGDOM. Her claw tapped against the wood underneath the old paper, filling the quiet room with rhythm tapping as her other talon held her resting chin, eyes narrowed lazily. She sucked in a deep breath, letting out a strained sigh as her wrapped side ached.

"Something wrong?" The peachy SandWing looked up, meeting Quicksand's gaze as her sister slowed her brisk pace past the table, a number of scrolls tucked under her wing.

After being under the careful watch of Tamba and Imabli for the next few days, Scorpion was finally allowed to roam a small section of the palace. At first she was escorted around by one of the royal healers themselves, until she was well enough to walk on her own without a shoulder or two to lean on. After Ray pestering the medics long enough, they eventually let her stretch her legs out to the library where she and Ringtail were during the lockdown, and where Quicksand and Thorn were waiting.

"They haven't stopped pacing," Ray said, helping her down the hall as the royal guard- split into two groups both ahead and behind them- followed closely. "I think Echis is going to be out of a job once she's allowed back in the stronghold."

"More like Thorn will be the one putting her out of a job if Mom and Dad don't start putting him on the council." Scorpion snorted, arm held close to her chest as she walked, wing draped over Ray's shoulder for support. "Quicksand won't be busy in the library anymore with her scavengers and Dusk."

"We'll have to start calling him Prince-consort Dusk," Ray chuffed, Scorpion leaning more of her weight on him as they lumbered slowly and steadily down the hall.

It hurt enough where she didn't enjoy walking on it quite yet, but Imbali said it was getting there. What hurt the most, no matter how little she moved, was her sting. The SandWing royal family's barbs were large, the bulb alone sometimes the size of a dragon's fist, and it felt like a long hooked dagger had been plunged deep into her side. The stitches keeping it together also didn't help with making her- albeit short- travels any more pleasant.

Once they got to the library, Scorpion was quickly told to sit down by their older sister, Quicksand fretting around them as she ushered the younger princess to sit and rest, before being given something to read.

"Is that scroll too boring?" Quicksand reached for one of the scrolls tucked under her wing, "I know you tend to like grand stories."

"No, the...-" Scorpion's eyes darted down to the scroll- "uh-...this scroll about territory changes is one of the most exciting and blood-pumping things I've read in days." She drolled.

Quicksand snorted, rolling her eyes. Trying- and failing- to suppress the smirk that pulled at the corners of her lips, lightly shaking her head. It was like a breath of fresh air to see her sister smile, the tiniest glimpse of it sent her heavy heart soaring.

The days following Jackal's death were tense, even more suffocating than Sundance and Tarantula's. The heavy royal guard and army presence was also starting to get into everybody's heads, adding to the already kindling fire.

Hallways and corridors were swarming with armed soldiers, replacing the royal guard that was now solely focused on protecting the crown and not the palace grounds. Wherever the royal guard was, there was sure to be one of Camel's dragonets nearby. Even now, the library's walls were lined in armed SandWings who sat vigilantly under the large stained glass windows, standing by the doors and a pair pacing the room, looking down every aisle as if the IceWing they'd been looking for would suddenly appear out of thin air from a space in the shelves.

It was suffocating.

None of them had a say against their parents, against Camel.

"Well, if you're so invested in it," Quicksand placed her scrolls on the table, sitting on the cushion across from her. "Why don't you tell me about it?"

"Aren't you busy playing librarian?" She quipped.

"Not too busy to listen to my little sister."

"Well," Scorpion started with a snort, "once Amber became Queen of the SkyWings, she tried taking land from Camel across the Five-Tail River."

"I remember that, mom was pretty angry about that one," Quicksand said thoughtfully, tapping her chin. "If I remember correctly, Amber also wanted to have Possibility sign a decree stating it's residents were a part of the Sky Kingdom and all able bodied dragons would join her army when called for."

Scorpion blinked in surprise.

Quicksand grinned. "Didn't know that one?"

"No, I didn't."

"Seems like someone's been missing out on history." The two princesses turned their heads, Quicksand peering over Scorpion at Ray and Thorn. The two princes stood in one of the nearby aisles, scrolls tucked in their arms. Thorn raised a brow, walking to the table with Ray close behind.

"Well sorry I've been cooped up in the medical wing."

"As someone who was stitched up should."

"I wasn't even bleeding anymore-" she tried, but Thorn was having none of it.

"There's something called a crater scar, and even if you think scars are cool-" he shot her and Ray a look- "they're not exactly fun." He expressed, spreading his palms once he set down his scrolls on the table, Scorpion pushing them to the other side.
"Anyways!" Quicksand said over the two siblings before they could start a light banter, the older princess motioned with her wings to Thorn. "Why don't you tell us about the decree, Thorn. You're a good storyteller."

Ray snorted. "Not as good as me- HEY!" He ducked his head, avoiding a swat from Thorn's wings that nearly slapped the top of his head. "I have a frill I'd like to keep, thank you very much."

Thorn stuck out his tongue as he moved around the table. "Amber ascended the throne after defeating her mother- Queen Olivine- in a royal challenge, and her sister- Princess Falcon- a little more than a month later, in 4981 AS."

"Yikes,"Ray made a disgusted face at Quicksand, "that reminds me you'll be turning 22 soon. You're getting old."

"Shush!" Quicksand batted at him with a talon, "I'm not old! I'm as ripe as a cactus fruit."

"Yeah- that's getting moldy."

"One of the first things Amber did as Queen was claim more land, but instead of creeping into tribeless territory in the lower mountain range of Pyrrhia to the south, she turned her attention to the borders of neighboring kingdoms," Thorn continued, pacing around the table. "She fought Camel over the Five-Tailed River, but Camel didn't budge."

"Isn't Possibility tribeless territory?" Scorpion asked.

"It is now, but back then it wasn't. Possibility used to be two settlements separated by the river," Thorn explained. "Made up of both SkyWings and SandWings, the two eventually merged in 4977 AS when Camel became Queen. They eventually separated from the Sand Kingdom and held a vote to rename themselves to Possibility. There's another settlement down south if you follow the Claws of the Clouds Mountains, Sanctuary." He's starting to sound a lot like Cardón, Scorpion mused, imagining how the old advisor drawled on and on about boring history and old laws that Scorpion swore were older then Lioness herself.

"Aren't there like," Ray pondered, "dozens of tribeless settlements separate from the kingdoms?"

"Yes, but none are as big as Possibility and Sanctuary," Quicksand joined in. "That's why-"

CREEEAAAKKK CLICK GROAAAANNNNN

The rattle of the library's doors shook the air, silencing the four royals. Their heads shot up, twisting to look as the royal guards pulled open the old pieces of large wood by their handles. On the other side were more SandWings dressed in army attire, their heavy silver armour glistening coolly by the shimmering gold of the royal guards. Standing outside of the doorway was a lean SandWing with peachy orange scales, long horns like a SkyWing, and pouches strapped across his chest and neck with several more wrapped around his hips to carry scrolls.

"Sizzle?" Quicksand pushed herself up from the table, peering at the messenger as the rest stayed put.

"Your highness," he bowed with a dip of his head, before turning to address the triplets, "and your younger highnesses."

The messenger straightened himself, wings pressed flatly against his sides. "Your presence is requested in the Map Room by their majesties. It is of utter urgency, and her majesty looks...troubled."

Ray frowned. "Everyones been troubled as of late, who wouldn't be?"

"More than usual, even your father is having a difficult time calming her down enough to stand still."

"Did they say why they wanted us in the Map Room?" Thorn asked, an uncertain look spreading across the prince's face. Something isn't right, we're never called to the Map Room, unease gripping her chest as her tail shifted.

Sizzle paused, wincing. "Yes," he said slowly, sighing, "but I cannot say. It's a matter to be discussed amongst the royal family in private." Sizzle turned to Scorpion, "your messenger will also be there."

Funnel? Scorpion blinked, why would she be there? Now she was even more confused, and it seemed the others shared her feelings, giving eachother mixed looks of confusion and concern.

Quicksand and Thorn tried to put their scrolls away, but were stopped by Sizzle who told them it'll be cleaned up by one of the palace staff. Ray tucked himself under Scorpion's injured side, and the four of them started to make their way to the Map Room, the library doors closing after them with a loud groan and a floor rumbling CLICK. The trip to the Map Room was painstakingly slow, and Scorpion's back burned with embarrassment and shame and the group walked slowly enough to match her hobbling strides, supported by her brother. Even though Tamba and Imabli said she was healing quickly, thanks to Rattlesnake, her impatience claws at her relentlessly.

"So, what do you guys think this is about?" Ray asked.

"Dunes if I know," Quicksand shrugged.

The royal guard paid no mind to the royals, not even a glance in their direction as they talked, focused on the world around them, ears pricked and alert.

"It has to be something serious if they're having us go to the Map Room," Thorn pointed out, looking back to Scorpion and Ray, "especially with you having to come."

Scorpion scowled. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means you shouldn't have to walk that far. It's only been a few days since you were attacked, again." And Jackal being killed, was left unsaid. "Even if you insist that you're fine, you really shouldn't be moving that much. You could pull a stitch, and it's bound to still hurt."

"It's fine."

Thorn was right: everything did still hurt, but was on the road to recovery. She just had to wait. Scorpion could move her wrist, wristing it hurt, but she could move it. Putting weight on it was another problem, but Tamba had reassured her that she could try walking on it in a few days once it had more time to heal. Jackal's sting hurt the worst, and each time she moved she could feel the stitches shifting, keeping the wound closed. While it didn't gross her out as much as she thought it would, everytime she thought about it brought a sinking feeling inside her already aching chest. Scorpion stole a glance at her enchanted scale, while it stuck out like a sore talon to her, no one else seemed to notice.

Rattlesnake said no one would tell the difference, but I still feel like I'm being watched.

The conversation dwindled after that. The shifting of armour and the steps of talons seemed to echo in the airy hallways with tall, arching windows basking them in sunlight. Scorpion felt disappointment as they ducked down into one of the inner hallways, no windows to let in any natural light. The sun washed along her back, almost pulling on her tail as they stepped out of its warmth and into the cool shadows that danced with the flickering torch light. Doors were sparse in this section of the palace, the rooms they led to being larger and the halls designed to be maze-like and confusing. By the time they reached the Map Room, Scorpion sides heaved with stain, Thorn having moved to her other side to help support her as she leaned heavily on Ray.

"Come on," Quicksand beckoned softly, the two soldiers posted outside moving to open the doors. "You'll be able to sit and rest inside."

Stepping into the room, it was large with an arching dome ceiling covered in detailed carving of the desert: dunes wrapping around the base, decorated with native flora and small animals. Instead of tapestries hanging from the walls, there were maps. Some were old and yellow, the ink almost as brown and added as the rest of the paper. Others were newer with recent towns and settlements marked. Most of them were of the Sand Kingdom, but the largest map at the head of the room and hung up behind the head of the large table, was a map of Pyrrhia itself.

It was large, big enough to even outmatch Camel's wings even if they were stretched out to the fullest. Scribed across it were mapped out settlements, bases, locations, and more. What caught Scorpion's eye the most were the dates beside some of the dots and marks, with tiny initials written underneath. Eyes wide in awe, she realized what they were: they were notes and letters written by past Queens, years scribed in tiny scratches- or at least she thought they were years. Scorpion felt like she was walking amongst ghosts, retracting the steps of her ancestors that walked within this very room for hundreds- thousands of years, the longer she stared at the old map hung up like a stretched tapestry.

The center of the room was filled with a long table, large stretches of cushions lining the floor for dragons to sit, yet the only ones there aside from them were their parents and Funnel.

"I'm glad to see you all here," Ringtail spoke softly, rising from his seat. Ringtail smiled warmly. "You all look well," his eyes darted to Scorpion, and the princess saw the older SandWing wilt at the sight of her bandaged injuries. While Camel sat at the head of the long table, glaring down at her talons that tapped away at the old dark wood, Funnel was pressed into the far corner across from the door. Back straight, sitting stiffly, eyes darting around as if unsure of where she was allowed to look.

Where's the NightWing, Shadowsplitter? She wondered, I haven't gotten the chance to ask about him nor Funnel- moons- not even Rattlesnake the last few days. The thought brought back Scorpion's unease. She hadn't seen Rattlesnake for days, and worry started to chip away at her, scale by scale. A mix of concern for the animus' wellbeing, and for the letters she promised to take care of. I'll find her once this is settled.

It wasn't long before the rest of the family started to arrive, Sizzle stepping in after them and locking the door with a long, thin golden key that slipped back into one of his many pouches. The messenger moved to the back of the room to sit with Funnel, giving the younger dragon an encouraging nod.

Camel glanced up from her talons. "Sit, all of you," she ordered.

Scorpion and Ray shared a frown, but they all obeyed. Each taking their own seats at the table, and Scorpion noticed gloomily at the empty spaces between Fennec and Sandstorm. The only one who didn't take a seat was Cactus, the eldest prince standing rigidly by the door. Quicksand opened her mouth as if to call him to sit, but with a look and a shake of her head from Vulture, the princess' mouth shut.

"Before we get started, I want you all to know that I love each and every one of you," Camel's eyes looked around the table, meeting each of her dragonets confused and worried gazes. "And I'm so so so sorry for everything that's been happening lately. I never wanted any of this to happen, to any of you. When I challenged my mother for the crown, I thought I had saved all of you, but I should've seen this coming."

"Mom-"

"Don't," Camel raised a palm, shushing Fennec. "Just- let me get this out."

Fennec frowned, settling back down into her seat.

Camel continued. "Ringtail and I have thought long and hard about this, but please, nobody say anything until we're one. We've had a lot to discuss as of late," she gave her husband a saddened look, the King returning it with an encouraging smile, "and I don't-....I don't want to shout as we go over this. Now," Camel took a deep breath, "some of you will be leaving the palace grounds."

Silence.

The room went still as they all stared wide eyed.

"We're leaving?" Fennec's face pulled in a panic, "Why? Why are we leaving?!"

"It's for your safety-"

"But we're safe here!" Fennec protested, shooting up with a lash of her coiled tail. "We don't need to leave- How long would we even be gone?"

"However long it takes for me to settle things."

"Settle what? Mom, we're fine here! Don't send us away-!"

"It's for your safety, Fennec!" Camel roared, Fennec flinching back. "I can't protect you here, and that's been proven more than enough times! Two of your sisters are dead! Your soon to be brother-in-law is dead! Moons, your little sister was nearly killed, TWICE! There is one, if not two, more assassins plaguing this kingdom, and I will not just stand here, and let them take you away too! Any of you!"

The room was silent, yet Scorpion's ears still rang.

Ringtail reached out, resting his talons over hers and giving a light squeeze. Camel took a moment, closing her eyes with a sigh before opening them again. "I'm sorry, Fennec. It's been stressful as of late." Fennec nodded quietly, having flinched back down at Camel's shout. The Queen gave her daughter a guilty look, before scanning the others in the room. "Like I said, I can't-" she choked on her words with a mix between a snarl and a choked sob- "I can't protect you here."

Scorpion listened, mind in a numbing spiral. She's sending us away? Does Camel really think she can't protect us anymore? Camel was looking in all the wrong places, she was looking outside their borders, not inside the walls of their own home. Scorpion was about to speak, but the words died in her throat, Quicksand turning to give her a puzzled look.

Camel continued, snapping back the two princesses' focus. "Most of you will be sent to Queen Pearl's Summer Palace. She has agreed to take you in until further notice. A SeaWing escort has already been sent out as we speak. Cactus will be taking charge of this rehousing, working with Pearl's Rear-Admiral Barracuda."

Cactus straightened at the mention of his name, taking a step forwards as their parents gave him a nod.

The older prince cleared his throat. "Like Camel and Ringtail said, some of us will be traveling to the SeaWing Summer Palace. Namely Fennec, Thorn, Scorpion-" she jolted at her name- "and Ray. We'll be escorted by a SeaWing guard with Scorpion's messenger: Funnel."

Funnel?

All eyes turned to the tall SkyWing in the corner, who suppressed a flinch at all the attention.

"Why is she coming with us?" Thorn asked. "No offense, but why would we need a messenger to accompany us if we're traveling to the Summer Palace? And why wouldn't you send Sizzle with us? He's been working for the crown a lot longer than she has, and already knows where it is."

"Thorn has a point," Sandstorm looked up from her folded talons. "Why give some random SkyWing the location of a historical secret?"

Scorpion glared. "She isn't some random SkyWing," she defended, "she's my messenger."

Sandstorm snorted. "Scorpion's messenger, but my point still stands."

"She'll be coming with us because nobody outside the kingdom knows about her yet," Cactus explained. "By having Funnel go instead of Sizzle, dragons won't realize we're gone until we're already far out of the desert and well into the steppes, or even the mountain range if we're lucky. No one will notice a difference, and if they do, it'll already be too late to start tracking us with our head start."

"But why bring any of the messengers if the first place?" Sandstorm challenged.

"It's so when you get there, you'll send them back to inform us that you made it there safely," Ringtail spoke up. "It will save more time, and let us know as soon as possible that you've all made it, and there wasn't any trouble. After that once Funnel returns, Pearl will give us updates if your stay lasts longer than a few months."

"A few months?" Thorn said in alarm. "How long are you expecting us to be gone?"

"It doesn't take that long to get to the Summer Palace," Scorpion agreed. She hasn't been there herself in years, not since she was three, yet she was sure it didn't take that long to get to the Bay of a Thousand Scales.

Sapphire splashed ahead of her in one of the shallow pools in the upper Summer Palace. Scorpion walked after her awkwardly in the chilling water that sloshed around her elbows. She held her wings up, her tail coiled across her back.

"Are you afraid of getting your wings wet?" Squid teased from one of the other larger pools on the level. "Come on, I'll dunk you in!"

Scorpion twisted to shout over her shoulder at the older SeaWing prince, but her words died in her throat as she stared blankly at Vulture and the other SandWing who sat beside them in the memory. Her face was blurred out, her shimmering gold and white scales sparkled, reflecting the water. As she spoke, her voice distorted like Scorpion was dunked below the surface, not a single word reaching her ears as the once playful and loving memory sent a painful spike of fear through her heart.

Scorpion's eyes shot open, breathing heavily, her side flaring with each intake as she clutched her necklace in a white-knuckle grip. Her chest ached painfully, longfully, as fear lodged itself in her throat. Skull throbbing as the waves were already starting to slip away with the fading memory. It's always the memories, her breath shuttered. That same moon forsaken dragon- guilt crashed over her at the thought, her heart aching more.

But it was always the same face, every single time. Scorpion felt haunted.

"-'ll leave in small groups so as to not draw attention to ourselves," Cactus' voice pulled her back to the present, blinking the last of her dizziness away with a shake of her head. "I'll be going first to the oasis outside city grounds. I have the directions down on maps for each of us and our escorts. We'll regroup by Rattle Ridge before heading for the Great Five-Tail River. Ray, you'll be next, and after you is Fennec." The eldest prince's gaze shifted between the two, before landing on Thorn. "After she's gone, it'll be Thorn's turn."

Cactus' bright emerald green eyes turned to Scorpion. "You'll be last, to give yourself a bit more time to heal before heading out. Funnel will be sticking with you."

Scorpion looked back at the SkyWing who met her gaze in a startled blink, before puffing her chest in- albeit nervous- determination.

"We set out in eleven days' time. By the time I get to Glass Oasis, the escort party should have arrived and I'll send them back to the palace to start escorting everyone. We'll only be apart for three days at most, then we'll travel as a group by Possibility and along the Five-Tail River. If we're forced to stay in the Sea Kingdom longer than seventy days, then Sandstorm, Quicksand, and Vulture will be joining us."

The older three princesses all made a face at the plan, Vulture most of all in her own subtle way, but it stuck out like a sore talon on her usually calm and stoic face. Sandstorm scowled, glaring at her talons, and Quicksand frowned looking off to the side.

"Why are we planning to be gone for so long? Why are we even being moved in the first place?" Scorpion asked. She already had an idea on why they were being moved, and guilt made her chest feel heavy. I can still hand Shudder over now, and we won't have to leave- no, there was still one more dragon involved and Scorpion had no idea who it could be. They weren't out of danger yet.

Cactus was about to speak, but Camel raised her talons, silencing her son.

"Because, Scorpion," Camel sighed. Straightening herself, she stared down her youngest daughter across at the tail of the table. Scorpion felt her spine run cold as she listened to her mother. "I'll be taking Iceberg to war if she refuses to resolve this."

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- MindlessTyper