Ebony returned as the sun rose above the horizon. His flight had been quiet and enjoyable. The cool night air beneath his wings and the wind through his fur had softened the mental anguish within his skull. Now the coming of the sun warmed his back, filling him with the tingly feeling of morning. He smirked to himself, allowing his sense of humor to flow back to him. He would need all the humor he could get these days.
He swooped near the dragons' chosen campsite, relieved to see that everything was in order. The others had already stirred. Jia seemed to be speaking with Ember, while Nall and Ruby were... snuggling? Well, it wasn't a usual sight, but it was rather nice to see. Someone, probably Jia, also had set about finding breakfast. A fresh catch of sea bass from the nearby ocean lay piled neatly in the center of camp. It was quite a bit by human standards, but currently just enough for one hungry dragon. The others must have already eaten.
As Ebony backwinged for a landing he was greeted to another unusual sight. Nall smiled at him.
"Have a nice flight?" he asked sincerely.
Ebony gave a slight nod and returned the smile. Ruby poked her head out from under Nall's neck, partly to look at Ebony, and partly to brush against Nall.
"You two have a talk?" Ebony asked them both.
"We didn't have to," said Nall, with a shake of his head that might have been out of embarrassment.
Ruby snickered. "Yeah, the dummy just wouldn't admit things before, but we both knew it." She eyed the white dragon as if daring him to say otherwise.
Nall laughed and arched his neck high as he looked down at her. "Like you admitted it either."
Ebony grinned and after a moment of silence he coughed to get the pair's attention. He put on his best eager and ignorant expression and asked, "Admit what? Come on, I've gotta hear it!"
The two dragons looked at Ebony, at each other, then back at the black dragon. Neither spoke, or could think of something immediate to say.
"You still can't admit it," said Ebony, with a disappointed slump of his wings. He raised his head and smiled again. "But you should. It's great to know, but it feels even better to hear, and to say, so that there's no longer any doubt."
He bowed, and without waiting for an answer, he took his leave of them and headed over to the pile of fish. They didn't see it, but the black dragon had frowned as he turned away. Sometimes it was easier to give advice to another than to follow one's own.
Nall watched him pad off and took a few steps away from Ruby so he could face her directly. He cleared his throat and looked into her eyes, then hesitated at the expectation he saw there. He looked down and scratched absently at the dirt with a claw.
"Well uh... Ruby... you know..." he said.
She watched him, and her mind presented her with a myriad of possible answers. She could force him admit it. Know what? Or play dumb... Huh? Be completely crazy... I'm madly in love with you Nall. No! She couldn't say that, even if she felt it. And she realized, she did feel it. She had for a long time, she just wouldn't admit it to herself. Watching Nall shuffle there nervously, she decided that none of her answers were really right, but there was still a way to let him know exactly how she felt. Sidling over, she lowered her head and pressed it against Nall's throat.
"I know," she said. "I love you too."
Jia smiled as she watched the two from a short distance away. She wanted her family to have all the happiness that it could, and the two of them getting together was a milestone in their shared history. Now all she had to do is figure out what was wrong with Ebony. He pretended to be acting normal, but she could tell something was bothering him. He seemed a bit too focused on enjoying his breakfast, and that meant he was ignoring something else. She hadn't grown up under his care without learning to gauge his moods.
She looked over to him now, where he finished his last few bites while talking with Ember. Ebony tried to be kind to her. Goodness knew how much the little dragon needed it. Nall avoided Ember for the most part, though admittedly he was civil when forced to converse with her. Ruby, on the other paw, didn't try to hide her hostility and disdain for the malformed creature. Sometimes it was merely a vicious look, others a more vocal condemnation. At best, Jia kept Ember away from her and out of Ruby's immediate notice. Things went better that way.
"Do you like being with us?" Ebony asked.
Ember bobbed her head brightly. "Yes! Family, love!" was the enthusiastic reply.
"We might get in some dangerous situations," said Ebony. "It might be safer if you'd stayed somewhere else."
A look of worry crossed the dragon's features. It was more than just concern over safety. It was an expression of morbid fear.
"No leave alone again!" she cried. "No no no! Ember good! Ember want family!"
"Ebony..." Jia began, stepping forward.
The smaller dragon began blubbering, making herself look even more miserable if such a thing was possible. Ebony glanced at Jia and nodded. He put on an encouraging smile when he turned back to Ember. He patted her on the shoulder. "There, there," he said, bringing his head down to eye level with her. At this height his chin nearly scraped the ground as he talked. "We're not going to leave you alone if you don't want to be."
Ember looked at him with a hint of mistrust, but under the guidence of his soothing voice and reassuring pats, the terror drained from her misshapen face. She exhaled a bubble of mucus with a sigh and curled up into a small ball of fur and scales.
Nall and Ruby came up to them, the latter pointedly keeping Nall between her and Ember. "We need a plan for our next move," said the white dragon as Jia and Ebony turned towards him. "We're running out of time. If we don't get our powers back soon, we'll be too weak to do anything at all."
"What about the Star Dragon?" asked Jia, settling back on her haunches. "We could ask him for help."
Nall considered that for a few moments before shaking his head. "No," he said. "I've dealt with him before. His mission is to guard the passage between Lunar and the Blue Star. As long as that isn't threatened he won't get involved. In fact, we're likely to get attacked if we so much as enter the Star Tower."
"Which," Ebony muttered, "leaves out any help from Lucia as well."
Nall nodded. "We're on our own, dragons."
"But has Twyla attacked him at all?" said Jia, pressing her point. "He's a dragon too, isn't he? If she's out to replace us, what's to stop her from replacing him as well? Maybe she thinks he should get more involved in Lunar's daily affairs too. We should at least try to contact him."
The white dragon snorted lightly, breathing a puff of frost. "Point taken."
Ruby shifted her position and turned to Nall. "I think Jia may be on to something. Also, the Star Dragon is an honorable being. He might let us contact Lucia if he can be made to understand our situation. I was the last to go. I could go speak with him."
"Are you sure about that, Ruby?" Nall looked at her, his concern easily exposed in the sound of his voice.
Ruby smiled confidently. "I'll be fine, Nall. If he wants to fight I'll just leave."
"All right then," said the white dragon, bringing everyone into his gaze, "here's what we'll do. Ruby, you head to the Star Tower. Ebony, for lack of any better suggestions, you and I will split up and search the land by air. Since they left in a hurry they might not have had enough time to set up a new lair. We may get lucky and spot signs of Twyla and her false tribe. Jia, you stay here and watch... Ember." He gave himself a shake. "We'll all meet back here by sunset and don't be late or we'll have to assume that something drastic has happened to the missing party."
Nall felt the tuggings of pride in his heart as he looked at the dragons around him. None of them were arguing or making sarcastic comments about his leadership capabilities. They were all taking him seriously. In fact, he was taking himself seriously. He couldn't help but feel the tribe being strengthened by the situation. This was their trial by fire.
"Right," said Ruby, breaking Nall free from his reverie. She inclined her head thoughtfully. "I'll head to the Star Tower and come back here as soon as I can."
"Ruby..." Nall began as the red unfurled her wings. She looked back at him. "Be careful," he said.
"Duh," she said, grinning, and propelled herself into the air.
Nall smirked and looked over to Ebony. The black dragon simply nodded, having already been told what to do.
He turned to Jia. "You be careful too," said Ebony.
"I don't believe there's anything here to harm me," said Jia, smiling to him, "but I give you my word I'll be careful. Besides, this time will give me a chance to speak with Ember some more. We may still have things to learn from her."
Ember perked up upon hearing her name spoken and twitched an oversized ear, but seeing that she didn't understand much of what was being discussed, she remained quiet. Ebony nodded to Jia and followed Ruby's example by leaping into the air.
Nall watched the dwindling shapes of the other two dragons and nodded his farewell to Jia. He picked the direction opposite of Ebony, then flew off himself. Ember turned to look up at Jia, her eyes questioning.
"They leave?" Ember asked quietly.
"They'll be back," Jia said, smiling encouragingly. "And for the time that they're gone, I'll be here."
Ruby came into sight of the impressive Star Tower. The structure rose high into the air, almost as though it meant to reach the Blue Star itself, and in a way, it did. The top of the tower broke into three separate spires, each with a spherical cap. The one in the center was the largest and contained the gate to the Blue Star. Ruby considered landing, but she didn't have any dragon eye jewels to open the sealed door at the base of the structure, and even if she did, she had no desire to fight her way past the tower's many guardians. Besides, she could fly, so why should she take the long way?
Slanting her wings a few degrees, she adjusted her course to aim for the top of the tower. The air was thinner here, making flight more difficult, but as she got closer, she saw a window near the top of the central spire. It was too narrow for a human to squirm through, much less a fully grown dragon, but it was an opening nonetheless. A ledge ran around the circumference of the tower and slightly below the window. It wasn't wide enough for her to fit her entire body on top, but she could make do.
Ruby flew in close, tilting herself back as she clamped her foreclaws onto the ancient stone, her body coming to smack against the side of the tower. Her hindclaws scratched against the smooth surface below without finding any purchase. It wasn't the most comfortable of positions, but it was enough.
She pulled herself up as best she was able with her forelegs and peeked inside the window. She saw a large circular room with a stairway on either side. It was the room in which Hiro had confronted the Star Dragon a century ago. Ruby would never forget it. But it was empty now, and as she recalled, the transporter to the Blue Star was just beyond this room. If she wanted to see Lucia, she'd need to get in here. As she pondered just how she was going to get inside and accomplish that, she almost burst out laughing for missing the obvious. But then, she hadn't used that form in a long time.
With a small bit of concentration, she became her young, or flying cat, form. Though she didn't have her bow any longer, she looked much the same now as she did before she had claimed her aura for the first time. Fluttering upwards, she landed on the sill of the window and squeezed though. The space could accommodate her smaller form without too much trouble. She popped out on the other side and glanced around, hovering in place, before winging her way towards the passage to the transfer chamber. However, she was quickly halted by a quiet voice, which nevertheless, managed to fill the room.
"Why are you here?" it asked.
She looked to either side of her, her small wings pumping madly. "I came to talk to you!" she cried.
Ruby frowned at the sound of her high pitched voice. It was entirely inappropriate for this exchange. She landed and concentrated on returning to her adult dragon form, wanting to present a more impressive figure for a debate on equal grounds. Nothing happened.
"You will be unable to change," the voice stated. "This is my tower. I can chose which magic is allowed here. Now, why do you want to speak to me?"
Well, at least it looked like Twyla hadn't gotten to him. With that attitude, maybe he even threw her out the door if she tried to see to him. Actually, she probably hadn't even come here. Ruby couldn't imagine the Star Dragon allowing her to leave intact if she so much as threated his sacred duty.
"You can at least talk to me face to face!" Ruby yelled, now considerably put out. Bad enough getting her power snuffed even more than it already was. She wasn't going to put up with being a little winged kitty while he got to play all-powerful draconian being. Besides, being a little dragon made her look and sound so pouty when she got upset. She couldn't expect to be taken seriously like this.
"As you wish." said the dragon.
There was no flash, no poof of smoke, when the Star Dragon appeared. He was just suddenly there. And he filled the room. Ruby gasped and took a few involuntary steps backwards. She had expected an armored humanoid figure, the form he had used when he fought Hiro, not this. This being towered over her, and would have done so even if she had been in her adult form. While it was definitly draconic, it was difficult to make out any details. The dragon before her seemed to absorb light instead of reflecting it, giving it the appearance of gazing into darkness, or space itself. Set deep within the head was a pair of piercing eyes, two bright points of light that seemed to see more than the surface, and shifted colors even as she watched. He was beautiful, and in a way, frightening and alien. He simply watched her, waiting for her to speak.
After a few moments, or a few minutes, she wasn't sure which, Ruby found her voice again, but it sounded so small, so unimportant, like a child's bothering an adult hard at work. "I... I came to ask for your help. The Dragon Tribe..."
"Does not matter to me," he said. His eyes flared with a light that brooked no argument. "My duty is here."
"But surely you could help us. You're a dragon too," she insisted.
"I am not a part of the Dragon Tribe." Again, the words were a firm statement of fact.
Ruby pulled her face into a contrite expression. "Sorry. But if you're not, then what are you?"
"That is not for you to know."
The red dragon sighed and tilted her head in the direction of the transfer chamber. "We could really use your help, but you won't, at least let me go talk to Lucia."
"No."
"No?" Ruby's hackles raised. She jerked her head around to look at him like an angry snake. "Why not!" she demanded.
"That is not for you to know."
"You let Hiro pass!" she snapped. "I was there!"
"I had my reasons."
Ruby was starting to think that she could have a better conversation with the wall. This wasn't turning out well at all, and the Star Dragon's answers all came with the same limitless calm. She found herself grabbing for her last desperate strands of control of the conversation.
"What if I beat you up? Hiro beat you up and you let him pass."
"Dragon is not to fight dragon."
"But you just said you weren't a dragon!"
"I said I wasn't a part of your tribe."
The angrier Ruby got, the more infuriating the Star Dragon's indifference became.
"Look buddy," she started hotly.
She never got to finish.
"This conversation is over," said the dragon.
Ruby suddenly found herself in the air outside the tower. She instinctively snapped her wings open to check her fall. She snorted flame from her nostrils at the treatment she had received and practically exploded back into her full dragon form. Flapping her wings, she started back towards the tower, fully intending not to let him have the last word. However, before she could even get close, she bounced off an invisible barrier. It did not harm her, but it forced her away at a powerful speed, flipping her end over end in the process. After Ruby righted herself, she bellowed one last bit of flame in the direction of the tower before turning her course to take her back to the others.
"Thanks for nothing, jerk," she muttered.