Fourth Wheel ||Qinter||

Chapter 15 - What happened?

A/N:

In this fic, the dragonets went through the Lost Continent arc before chapter 1, so they already know Blue, Cricket, Luna, Swordtail, Snudoo, etc.

Also, Winter doesn't have the enchanted earring in this fic so he survives the barrier because of a different reason.

Enjoy this chapter :)

"We're almost there," Foeslayer reassured the dragonets. "Just a few more minutes."
"We're at Darstalker's Teeth," Moon observed.
"That's right," Foeslayer confirmed. "Dragons who pass through this area will feel a buzzing shock. That's because these mountains were actually enchanted by Darkstalker. However, IceWings will die when they pass over it."
"So, do I just wait outside?" Asked Winter, confused.
Foeslayer chuckled. "No, you're related to Darkstalker, so you'll be fine."

Winter frowned. "How can you be sure of that?"
"I'm his mother. Of course I'm sure."
"If you die, we'll be sure to avenge you," promised Turtle.
"Your tone is way to casual, given the context," Qibli muttered.
"We're here," Foeslayer announced. "Pass through quickly, and the shock won't affect you too much."
Moon bravely volunteered to go first. She tucked her wings to her sides and flew like a swift, streamlined arrow through the barrier. Her wings jolted a bit as she passed through, but she made it through unharmed. Next, Tamarin went. She was just as fast as Moon. Turtle went next, flying as smoothly as he could swim underwater. Qibli flew through right after Turtle, his wingbeats barely faltering as he passed through the barrier. Soon, it was Winter's turn. Without hesitation, he propelled himself forward and through the barrier. The shock jolted painfully through his body. and for a terrifying second, he felt paralysed. He soon regained control and joined the rest of the dragonets. Foeslayer made it through the barrier with ease. "Let's go find Clearsight."

"We need to split up into three groups of two for optimised efficiency and safety," Tamarin decided once the dragonets and Foeslayer had set talon in the lost city of night. "I'll go with Moon, Turtle can go with Foeslayer and Winter can go with Qibli."
Moon smiled. Tamarin knew exactly what she was doing by pairing up Qibli and Winter. "Let's go, Tamarin."
"Come with me, Turtle," Foeslayer called out.
"So," Qibli began awkwardly, blushing slightly. "Uh, I guess it's just us two now. Let's go find Clearsight."
"Alright. Where do you suggest we-"
Qibli suddenly yawned. "Um. Sorry, fatigue is catching up to me. Go on."
"Where do you suggest we search first?"
"Let's start at the fountain. It's in the centre of the city, so we can search by starting from the fountain and spiralling outwards."
"Okay then. Follow me."

The two dragonets made their way through the city, the only discernable noise being the gentle scraping sound of Winter's tail against the ground. Soon, they saw the dried up fountain ahead.
"We're here, Qibli," announced Winter.
No reply.
"Qibli?" Suddenly, Winter felt a warm weight fall onto his tail, followed by snoring. He turned around and saw Qibli asleep on his tail. Winter blushed furiously.
"Get off," he stuttered. He knew Qibli wouldn't wake up. Sighing, Winter grabbed Qibli's talons and dragged him over to the nearest bench. He tried to pry the sleeping SandWing off of his tail, but Qibli clung on. Winter buried his head in his talons.
"Now I have to wait for him to wake up," he complained to no one in particular. "Great."
After a minute of sitting in silence, the IceWing snuck a glance at Qibli's sleeping face.
He's even cuter when he's asleep, Winter thought. Wait- WAIT, WHAT? Winter buried his head in his talons again, this time not out of frustration but out of embarrassment. He didn't want anyone to see him like this - blushing like an idiot with a SandWing clinging to his tail.

~—— 🌙 ——~

Moon and Tamarin rushed through the city, not bothering to admire the ancient architecture surrounding her. They needed to find Clearsight as soon as possible, and save Pyrrhia.
Suddenly, the sound of shattering glass echoed through the ruined city, and Moon suppressed a shocked squeal. She heard claws scraping across brick and turned around, positioning herself in a defensive stance.
"Who's there?" She called out, her eyes scanning the surrounding area in search of movement.
A dragon stepped out of the shadows. She was massive, bigger than any dragon Moon had ever seen, with teardrop-shaped scales shining silver against the inky blackness of the rest of her body. It's Clearsight, I've found Clearsight! Moon thought.

Moon opened her mouth to greet the dragon in front of her, but was silenced by a swipe of Clearsight's claws, aimed straight at her snout. A blow aimed to kill.
"Three moons!" Moon yelped, leaping back. "Are you even Clearsight?"
"Of course I am." Another swipe.
"Then why are you trying to kill me?"
"You're getting in the way of Darkstalker's plans. I can't let that happen."
"But what about putting him to sleep? We all thought you were on our side, that's what all the scrolls said-"
"The scrolls were lying," Clearsight said bluntly.
"What what about Blue, and Cricket, and-"
"Your friends from the Lost Continent?" Clearsight leaned in, her snout almost tickling Moon's ear. "I killed them." Another swipe of Clearsight's claws grazed the tip of Moon's snout. The pain brought her back to her senses. Moon turned and ran.

The ruins blurred around her as she ran, scared tears streaming down Moon's snout and stinging the wound, mixing with her blood and falling to the ground. She could hear Clearsight close behind her, and imagined her claws outstretched, swinging at her tail. She's going to kill me. Moon ran faster. She knew Tamarin was camouflaged somewhere behind her. Tamarin would be safe, but Moon had to find someone, anyone. She wouldn't be able to take on a dragon as big as Clearsight alone. She swerved sharply to her left, her claws scraping painfully against the gravel and dashed through a space in between two buildings before leaping into the air. Moon saw pale yellow and pale blue scales in near a dried-up fountain at the centre of the city, and dived. "Winter!" She yelled. "Qibli! Help!"

~—— ⭐️ ——~

"Qibli! Help!"
Qibli woke with a jolt. He barely noticed that he'd been sleeping on Winter's tail, because he was too focused on the dragon plummeting down towards them. It was Moon.
"I'm getting chased by Clearsight and she's trying to kill me!" Moon yelled, before hitting the ground and falling unconscious. Another, bigger dragon appeared over the buildings in the distance flying towards them at an alarmingly fast speed.
"That's Clearsight?" Asked Qibli incredulously. "What are we gonna do, knock her out?"
"Good, you're awake. And yes, that's exactly what we'e going to do. I'll distract her, you jab her with your tail. Only do it once, we don't want to kill her, and since she's much bigger than most dragons, she probably wont die from a small amount of venom."
"But-" Qibli sighed. Were they really about to knock out their only lead? "Fine."
"Great. Now, get off my tail."
"Huh? Oh. Right. Sorry."

Clearsight was on the ground sooner than they had anticipated, making her way towards Moon's unconscious body. Winter landed in front of her, slashing his serrated claws at her face.
"You little-"
Clearsight fell to the ground, her limbs paralysed. Qibli stood behind her. "You sure she won't die?"
"Hopefully not."
"Now, let's focus on keeping Moon alive. If Clearsight moves, stab her again."
"Oh, okay. Wow. Violent."
Winter glared at Qibli, shutting the SandWing up.
A twitch of Clearsight's body made the dragonets turn around. To their shock, Clearsight's body was shrinking.
"What in the world...?"
The silver scales next to her eyes disappeared, and she became thinner and smaller.
Qibli scrambled over to check the dragon's pulse.
"She's not Clearsight, but whoever she is, we killed her."

——

heloooo

So technically im still on hiatus but i just felt like writing something. Unfortunately this does not mean that i will be posting weekly chapters or ending the hiatus. I lost my chapter plan that went for all the chapters up to chapter 19 and I'm very sad because I have forgotten the plot. Yup. I'll try to remember it because I remember the general plot overview but it wont be the same thing as what i had originally planned.

As always, thanks for reading and SELF PROMO JOIN THE DISCORD LINK IN BIO ;))