Use the same OC’s as last time. This is Part 4. (If you want a link to the last part, ask)

Seaweed- uh...hi?

Misty: now that you’re back, I may have accidentally stumbled upon something after I ran off..

Abyss’s father: it looks like an old underwater castle. Whether Abyss is there or not, we don’t know.

Seaweed- *gasps* a castle!

*The ground begins to shake, like there’s an earthquake, everyone has to get down to avoid falling*

Misty: what the-

Inferna: whenever you get an opening, get off the ground!

*Ivy and Mirage take off at the same time. Then Abyss’s parents. Bedrock and Misty take off next, then Coelacanth lift’s you up into the air, Inferna insists everyone else should get in the air. Stormbringer and Blizzard had lifted off. Mudslide was the last to get out, a huge wave washed over the beach with Inferna still on it, it ended up knocking over a few trees, one of which fell on Inferna and trapped her*

Mudslide: Everyone fly higher incase we get a tsunami! I’m going back for Inferna!

*Mudslide flies back to Inferna and lifts up the tree so Inferna can escape, Inferna was freed but it was hard to keeper her footing. A wave taller than her smashed her against one of the rocks on the beach and she was knocked out, Mudslide then had to grab Inferna and fly up while holding her, Mirage flew down to help as soon as she was clear of the waves*

Ivy: WHAT IN PANTALA WAS THAT?!

Blizzard: I’m going to assume magic.

*you see an island rise out of the ocean fairly close to the one you were just on, it looks like it was once a mountain part of a larger island, but only part of it was raised. You see different types of coral overgrown along the new island. And sure enough, the castle that Misty and Abyss’s father were talking about appears.*

Mudslide: I’m going to assume this is the place.

*As soon as the earthquake was over, you landed on the bank of the newly formed “island.” The castle itself looked ominous, especially with the fog that was starting to roll in. Mudslide gently sets Inferna down on the ground*

Mudslide: Blizzard, the ring.

*Blizzard hands Mudslide the ring, who the slips it onto Inferna’s talon, again. Inferna’s injuries heal after a minute, but Inferna doesn’t wake up*

Blizzard: the ring won’t make her wake up, if that’s what you are hoping for, it will only heal her.

Mudslide: .. I should have guessed that would happen.

Mirage: do you want us to continue on?

Mudslide: I think we should rest first, give everyone a chance to recover from that first.

Seaweed- wow! I've never seen waves that big...and the castle...it's terrifying I have to admit.

Bedrock: we’re going in there?

Misty: …*she looks at Inferna, then looks back at the old palace* I have a bad feeling about this.

Ivy: this entire place just feels so.. I’m not sure if wrong is the right word.

Cascade: it’s the same feeling you get when you go from the tunnels leading into the sandwing kingdom and the old Nightwing island.. I know what your mean Ivy.

Stormbringer: I guess that’s what happens when you dump a ton of magic into something. Who knows how much that dragon’s used already if he did this?

Mirage: that is a scary thought.

Seaweed- a very scary thought...

Mudslide: … let’s wait. We shouldn’t leave Inferna alone out here.

Cascade: I agree.

Seaweed- sounds good to me!

[End]

(cool!)

Ivy: just before Abyss left, he gave me the ring. he told me not to give it to anyone else. Only when he asked for it back.

Mirage: strange..

Seaweed- hmmm that's a little odd...

Cascade: I don’t think he’s ever done this before.

Stormbringer: which only adds to my concern.

Blizzard: well, the only way we’re finding why he did this is to save him.

Seaweed- yeah

*you approach the island, it’s small. Theres enough room for you all to land without moving onto the rest of the island, it’s full of trees*

Ivy: … this is going to be fun.

Seaweed- it sure will be...

…

Inferna: let’s be careful, we know this dragon is capable of using magic. To the extent, I don’t know. But the fact that they can use magic and no one else can is not good.

Mudslide: wait, no one can use magic any more?

Mirage: it’s a rumor, but Coral’s daughter is an animus right? Rumor has it that she lost her magic, and after Darkstalker was around, chances are everyone lost their animus powers.

Bedrock: are you saying that this dragon could have removed all animus magic besides theirs?

Mirage: it’s a possibility.

Abyss’s father: … we have no choice then, we have to stop this dragon from becoming another Albatross or Darkstalker.

???: I thought I told you all to not continue following me and your friend.

*they all turn around, the dragon Inferna and Ivy saw was standing at the edge of the forest*

Seaweed- ahh! Stranger! *Throws sand at them*

*it just flies through them, indicating they were a shadow*

???: please don’t tell me you thought that would do anything. I’m not stupid enough to actually meet everyone who wants to kill me on a deserted island.

Inferna: what do you want with Abyss? *growling*

???: I just want peace, unlike you skywing and sandwing warmongers.

Inferna: there is already peace.

???: I want peace forever, no more wars, all of the tribes getting along.. I think that would be nice. If you were wondering about the animus magic not working, that was not my doing, but it certainly was brilliant.

Mirage: what do you plan to do with that magic besides that?

???: that’s none of your concern, sandwing.

Seaweed- what's your name?

???: not your concern either. But my name is Barracuda. *they seem to be around Blizzard’s age*

Abyss’s father: what do you want with our son!

Barracuda: your son is an animus, much like I am. But I transferred my magic into a scroll before new spells would not work anymore. I took the inspiration from the legend of Darkstalker.

Blizzard: looks like he already is another Darkstalker..

Barracuda: I’m not immortal… three moons, that would be depressing. I wouldn’t want to live forever.

*everyone besides Blizzard and Stormbringer are surprised for some reason*

Barracuda: oh come on, it’s not that surprising. Am I the only one smart enough to see the draw backs?

Inferna: no.. it’s just, well.. surprising.

Mirage: this is beside the point, where are you—

Barracuda: I’m not going to answer that. Why would I? You just want to ruin what I’ve been planning for years. Besides, this whole scavenger hunt thing makes it more fun.

Seaweed- so what have you planned for abyss?

Barracuda: nothing but his cooperation and his magic. As soon as I have his magic, I will kindly return him to you.

Inferna: forcing everyone to have peace using magic is just as bad as all of these wars. If you think I like war, you’re wrong. I’ve seen so many dragons die when they didn’t even have too. I miss every single one of them. I also feel like you want that for personal gain. You are holding a dragon against his will and taking his animus magic away.

*Abyss’s parents were shocked to learn that their child was an animus, even more shocked when they learned Barracuda wants his magic*

Mudslide: I.. agree with Inferna. That could be detrimental to every kingdom. Governments could become corrupt like the sandwing kingdom during the war. If everyone was just focused on peace, we wouldn’t see the other issues going on that we could stop if we didn’t have magic preventing us.

Barracuda: that is why I am going to lead you. All of you. I’ll be everyone’s king in the name of peace.

Stormbringer: I knew there was another motive for this.

Blizzard: this is absurd, you can’t lead everyone. You would have to know what’s going on in each kingdom and address the issues. It’s not about just stopping wars, it’s about protecting your dragons and keeping them safe. I think you’re just some power hungry dragon who doesn’t understand how to lead a kingdom, let alone an empire.

Barracuda: but I can learn, as every queen has done. I can have dragons in charge of provinces no problem.

Seaweed- considering that your a seawing that there will be over hundreds of dragons trying to rebel! And how are you going to learn? Threaten every queen and king to get answers on how? Each tribe has different needs that are almost impossible to keep up with the amount of them if your are going to worry about EVERY tribe!

Barracuda: there wouldn’t be rebellion because everyone would have peace because of the magic. Like I said, I could have some dragons rule over provinces but I will decide anything that will go for the Empire. Such as basic laws.

Blizzard: again, impossible because you would need to know the needs of every tribe instead of just one.

Barracuda: that is the point of the advisors of dragons ruling over the provinces, they all will report back to me.

Abyss’s father: do you know how difficult it is to even manage 2 tribes at once?

Barracuda: Glory is doing just fine—

Cascade: because the nightwings and rainwings live in the same place now! You wouldn’t understand how to rule the sandwings in an area with no water while ruling over the seawings, and area where water is well, *she points to the ocean* not something you need to worry about.

Barracuda: we shall see about that, until then, I bid you all farewell.

*the shadow of Barracuda fades away*

Mudslide: this dragon already makes me angry, at least Darkstalker was somewhat smarter than him.

Blizzard: no, he knows what he’s talking about at least.. he would need 6 loyal dragons from every tribe though. He would also need complete control over them. A rebelling province would influence others to rebel as well and the Empire would dissolve, but the magic prevents that. Besides that, most dragons think tribes shouldn’t mix either.

Ivy: hey, I’m here.

Mudslide: look at me and Coelacanth for a second.

Blizzard: I said most dragons.

Stormbringer: … I don’t want to give him ideas but.. *Blizzard looks at Stormbringer for a second, as if they were having some sort of mental conversation*

Blizzard: .. yeah he could do that.

Mirage: In any case, this is bad. We need to find this dragon and stop him before he does something crazy.

Coelacanth: I would say split up, but after what happened last time..

Bedrock: it might be better if we stick together.

Misty: as long as I’m not next to Inferna, I’m ok with that.

Seaweed- well we better start searching then shouldn't we?

Mudslide: there might be another clue on this island, let’s search for it.

Seaweed- ok!

*Everyone follows Mudslide, Misty tries to keep her distance from Inferna, but when Inferna’s walking next to Mudslide it’s hard*

Seaweed- are you ok misty?

Misty: yeah, I’m fine.

Bedrock: you don’t look ok.

Misty: you guys are the one’s who aren’t ok. We’re trusting a dragon who helped in the bombing of the Summer Palace and you think that’s ok?!

Mudslide: Misty, calm down.

Misty: no! This is stupid, beyond stupid! How do we know she doesn’t want to kill us? Why do you trust her if she brought distraction to one of the most important places in the seawing kingdom?! She’s one of the dragons that tried to kill all of us during the war and you’re just going to trust her? *she glared at Inferna before running off into the forest*

Coelacanth: Misty what are you doing?!

Mudslide: MISTY! *she ran after her, and hence, the whole group did as well.*

*you all reach the edge of the island only to find Misty flying away in the direction of the palace, you then see her dive underwater*

Bedrock: what are we going to do?!

Mudslide: … I’m not sure we can do anything.. *she sits down in disbelief, watching her sister run off because she’s trusting a skywing*

Inferna: … she’s right.. you shouldn’t have trusted me, you have no reason to.

Mudslide: *she looked at Inferna, shocked* .. Inferna.. when we first met you on the coast we all trusted you. You are a nice dragon. Whatever happened in the war isn’t your fault.

Inferna: … she won’t come back if I’m still with you.

Mudslide: she will eventually. She’ll be back.

Mirage: you’re not going to leave right?

Inferna: … you don’t need to be a Nightwing to see that that’s exactly what I’m going to do.

Mudslide: Inferna, don’t leave, Abyss needs you. We need you.

Inferna: you guys can save him without me. You don’t need me, I’m just a useless deserter. *she takes off and flies towards Skywing territory*

Blizzard: INFERNA! COME BACK!

*Inferna doesn’t respond, she flies off into the sunset*

Cascade: this whole team’s falling apart.

*Mudslide seemed depressed again, Coelacanth tries to comfort her*

Coelacanth: there’s nothing we can do about it now. We should try to get Misty back, she’ll be the easiest to find.

Bedrock: I can go search for her.

Mudslide: no. We’re not going spread ourselves out too thinly.

Bedrock: but she could be caught by that weird wizard dragon thing.

Mudslide: which is why we will go together.

Abyss’s mother: … We will find your sister for you. We don’t want you to experience what we have.

Mudslide: that would be appreciated. I don’t want to separate ourselves more.

Seaweed- *stomps the ground* ugh! We need to all stop doing this! If we keep breaking apart then who knows what will happen to abyss and inferna or misty.

*Abyss’s parents dive into the ocean water to find Misty*

Ivy: I can fly after Inferna. I’ll be quick.

Stormbringer: we need you here, you have the ring Abyss gave you to protect, it could be important.

*you hear the sound of wings flapping and turn around only to see Mudslide flying after Inferna*

Coelacanth: did she just…

Bedrock so that’s 2 down. I don’t like this.

Cascade: at least we know what Mudslide’s doing.

Bedrock: that’s not what I’m worried about.

Coelacanth: the last time we split up like this, our big wings died. It was during the war.

Mirage: three moons.

Stormbringer: oh my..

Blizzard: that’s horrible.

Coelacanth: now isn’t the time for sad stories, we need to pull ourselves together. We’ll stay here for the night. If they come back, they’ll meet us here.

Seaweed- ok then...I hope we can get everyone back...

*A little later, Abyss’s parents return with Misty*

Misty: …

Coelacanth: well?

Misty: I’m sorry for running off. I shouldn’t have done that. Especially not when that dragon could have kidnapped me.

Coelacanth: and?

Misty; I’m sorry about what I said about Inferna. That’s not something I should have said in the first place. *she doesn’t sound very sincere about this apology, unlike the first one*

Coelacanth: … I’ll take that for now.

Misty: *she looked around* where is Mudslide?

Coelacanth: Inferna left us to make you feel better and safer. Mudslide flew after her to convince her to stay.

*Misty was surprised*

Misty: she did?

Coelacanth: mmhmm.

Misty: what have I done? *she’s now worried, mostly for Mudslide, and she now realized Inferna never wanted to hurt anyone in the first place*

Mirage: relax, Mudslide will be back, I’m sure.

Coelacanth: I hope so. By the way she was talking to Inferna earlier though, she might not be coming back unless it’s with her. She’s also acting a little strange around her.

*Blizzard had her wing wrapped around Stormbringer, they gazed over towards the sun as it dips below the horizon*

Seaweed- well at least your back now and safe for now.

Misty: I guess. *she was nervous now*

Mirage: what do you mean by that? Coelacanth?

*Coelacanth nodded in the direction of the Nightwing and icewing*

Mirage: oh.

*Misty was pacing around the area.*

Bedrock: Misty, she’ll be back, don’t worry.

…

Coelacanth: if Mudslide goes… I don’t know how I’m going to keep us all together.

——————————————

*in a cave on another island*

Mudslide: come on Inferna.

Inferna: what’s the point?

Mudslide: we’re in big trouble, and so is your friend. He needs you. We need you.

Inferna: you really don’t. I’m just a deserter.

Mudslide: why would that matter here?

Inferna: it means I was too cowardly to fight. I have no honor.

Mudslide: … that’s not what I see in you. You didn’t desert just out of personal interest. You opposed your crazy queen.

Inferna: …

Mudslide: you trained Stormbringer and Cascade to defend themselves when you could not be there to defend them yourself. You were fully prepared to take on a Nightwing army just to save a rainwing you didn’t know. Was that something a coward would do?

Inferna: …

Mudslide: when I look at you, I see a fighter. Someone brave and willing to stand up for themselves and their friends. Someone who cares about other dragons.

*Mudslide lays down next to Inferna*

Mudslide: if that’s not you, I must be mistaken then. But that’s what I see in you. *she unfolds her wing and wraps in around Inferna*

Inferna: Your right, the only time I’ve acted like a coward is just now.

Mudslide: not even here, you left because Misty felt unsafe around you, that tells me you care about other dragons. It’s a bit late to return now. But maybe in the morning.

Inferna: alright. Goodnight.

Mudslide: goodnight.

*they both fell asleep next to each other*
————————————

*Blizzard and Stormbringer alternated keeping watch that night. Inferna and Mudslide returned the following morning*

Seaweed- yay your back!

Inferna: yeah, I’m back.

Stormbringer: glad you’re alright at least.

Mirage: right, we can do this together.

Coelacanth: Are you both ok? Was it a relatively normal night for you guys? Besides what happened yesterday.

Mudslide: no. No weird magic seawing came to kill us if that’s what you’re asking.

Seaweed- good I'm glad you guys are safe!

Destruction*

???: Stormbringer, what happened to Inferna?!

Stormbringer: blinded by magic from what I can tell.

Mudslide: she, Misty, Cascade, and the green one spotted the same dragon. The same event happened to all of them but only Inferna’s permanently blinded.

Ivy: my name’s Ivy, but yeah, there’s another seawing out there. It was only one but they made weird clones or shadows of themselves and created this thick fog.

Misty: I think Inferna was the only one to insult them though.

Inferna: is that Blizzard?

Blizzard: yes it’s me, can you see me?

Inferna: I can barely see my own talons. *she waves out in front of her, trying to see if something is there before walking toward her, Mudslide her to the icewing*

Mudslide: who is this dragon?

Inferna: her name is Blizzard. Another one of my friends. How did you find us?

Blizzard: Stardust told me. And it’s hard to miss the only island with a raging storm over it with fog when there isn’t any other cloud in the sky.

Seaweed- yeah...oh wait didn't I see you on the mountain? When you collapsed from exhaustion and then I brought you to a cave I found?

Blizzard: what are you talking about? *she looks confused, she doesn’t look like the type of dragon who would deny that*

Inferna: what?

*Stormbringer looks at you and then back to Blizzard*

Cascade: erm.. *her scales turn light orange in surprise* is that true? Were you okay?

Blizzard: of course I’m okay, I know when to rest. I traveled the same route to the icewing kingdom as I normally do. *She shrugs* I feel like I would remember you if I did, and who are the mudwings?

Mudslide: I’m Mudslide, the one that looks like a seawing over there is Misty—

Coelacanth: I’m Coelacanth, and the mudwing next to me is Bedrock.

Mudslide: Mirage asked us to find Abyss.

Mirage: you were in the ice kingdom when this happened.

Blizzard: I just got back a few days ago, I must have arrived a day after you left.

Stormbringer: we’re glad to have you back.

Inferna: do you still have the healing ring?

Blizzard: I do. *she slides a ring off one of her talons and slides it on to Inferna’s talon*

Seaweed- hmmm interesting...I hope the ring works.

Inferna: it’s working. I can see more clearly now. Thank you. *she hugs Blizzard and then Mudslide*

Seaweed- thank the moon's it worked.

*Blizzard was sort of confused by the gesture, Mudslide shifted a little as well, but seemed to welcome it*

Inferna: thank you..

Mudslide: why are you thanking me? This icewing was the one that saved you.

*Stormbringer was now standing next to Blizzard*

Blizzard: you don’t need to thank me Inferna. You’ve done enough for me already.

Inferna: the thought of not being able to see again scared me. Would be weird for a skywing to be blind.

*Ivy was playing with a gold ring, standing away from everyone else*

Coelacanth: I’m glad you’re ok.

*Inferna hands Blizzard the silver ring she gave her back*

Blizzard: let’s go find Abyss.

Abyss’s mother: given what just happened, maybe we should go while you all return to your tribes, we don’t want you to get hurt.

Blizzard: you both could end up like Inferna here.

Stormbringer: or worse, it’s better if we stick together two teams from now on, a land team and a sea team.

Mudslide: we don’t have to, I know where Abyss went next. We can lift off once everyone is ready.

Seaweed- yeah...I'm ready whenever you guys are to go find abyss.

Stormbringer: everyone else ready?

*most dragons nod in unison*

Abyss’s father: we’re ready

Mudslide: follow me guys.

*with the mudwing hybrids in the lead, you all take off, Inferna flies close to Mudslide, Blizzard and Stormbringer fly together with cascade following behind them with Mirage and Ivy, he seemed to be looking at her gold ring every few seconds*

Seaweed- hey ivy? Why do you keep looking at your ring?