Listen, And The Stars Shall Speak

Qibli's Visit

A/N: Dedicated to everyone who requested more about Stardust. Note that he is still a character in the making, so he's probably just gonna pop up every now and then. AND that this does not identify who Stardust's father is. It's just what happened to spark as an idea.

Queen Thorn was visiting the Rainforest, and Qibli was with her. He almost found it strange, entering the forest again. He hadn't been here in.....Was it really nearly four years already? It didn't seem like that long, seeing as Joy and Kelp and everyone else had visited. Now that he thought about it, it had been ages since he had last seen Moon. They had mainly spoken through letters, and she never mentioned much about her life. For all he knew, she could be married or something. Qibli wasn't, and he knew for a fact that Winter wasn't either.  The more Qibli thought, the more he remembered. He, Winter, and Moon hadn't been in the same place since........

...

He shook himself, shaking off the memory. That night was long in the past, and surely forgotten by Moon. They were just friends now, and friends didn't bring that buried memory back up. Luckily, a distraction popped up before he could uncover more unwanted memories.

"Qibli!" Kelp's familiar voice called out. He grinned at the sight of his old friend.

"Hey Kelp." he replied, walking over. A flash of scales darted by as a dragonet ducked behind Kelp. Qibli tilted his head to grin at the shy dragon. Kelp urged her forward.

"It's alright Ander, you remember Qibli, don't you?" he offered. Ander peeked out from behind her father, eyeing him with her star spotted eyes.

"I remember his face and name from the whispers of the stars, but in my own past I have no recollection of him." she declared quietly. Qibli raised an eyebrow and Kelp shrugged. 

"That's reasonable," Kelp insisted. "You were little." 

"But I do know about him," she retorted. Qibli smirked.

"And what do you know about me?" he asked curiously. Ander studied him for a moment.

"I sense a dragon with a kind face and a scarred past. Someone searching for nothing more than a sliver of love and devoting himself to whatever dragon delivers on that. You are loyal and brave, but also blinded by your desire for acceptance. You are wise far beyond your years, although I have met wiser. A memory taunts you currently, and you are about to receive a great shock due to it. You have an intriguing tale to tell, Qibli, protector of Thorn and betrayer of Vulture, and many look forward to hearing it."Kelp turned and he and Qibli stared at the dragonet in shock. Qibli fought the urge to drop his jaw. How the hell..... He'd never even spoken Vulture's name to Joy or Kelp, let alone to her. How the hell did she know? Ander smiled sweetly and walked off in a drunken way.

"I don't even know where she gets this stuff." Kelp admitted. "She told me all about Queen Coral's internal battle when Seashell and I hatched once." Qibli raised his eyebrows.

"Well, uh....." he paused, not knowing what to say that could possibly describe Ander. "Good luck."

"Thanks."

After that strange encounter, Qibli made his way to the Nightwing Village and knocked on the door of a familiar hut. A beautiful dragon with silver teardrops scales by her eyes opened the door and let out a gasp.

"Qibli!" She exclaimed, wrapping him in a hug and smiling. He hugged her back with a grin. What it just his imagination, or had she gotten prettier? "What are you doing here?"

"Thorn's here, so I figured I'd stop by and visit, seeing as it's been a while." He explained.

"A while? It's been years! Come in, come in." she urged. He stepped inside and glanced around.

"I wasn't sure if you still lived in the same place. You never mentioned it in your letters." Moon smiled.

"No, I'm still here." She paused, as if she wanted to say something but didn't. They talked a bit longer until footsteps sounded from down the hall and a small dragonet burst into the room and instantly froze at the sight of Qibli. Moon smiled at the dragonet, not noticing Qibli's wide-eyed expression.

"Hey bud," Moon greeted him and the dragonet practically dove to her side, hiding behind her as he stared silently at Qibli.

"Who's that?" he asked shyly.

"This is my friend Qibli." she explained, looking over at her friend, who had regained a normal expression. "Qibli, this is Stardust, my son."

Qibli silently thanked the moons for skyfire as his brain just about exploded. On the inside, he freaked, but on the outside, he remained calm. He waved a talon at Stardust.

"Hello."

"Hi." Stardust replied. He looked up at Moon. "Can I go play now?"

" Alright, but stay in the village, okay?" Moon insisted. He nodded and ran out the door. Qibli watched him go before turning back to Moon, who looked slightly guilty.

"I didn't know you had a son." he admitted. "How old is he?"

"He just turned three a few weeks ago." Moon answered. Don't do the math, don't figure it out, she pleaded. But this was Qibli. He figured out everything. He bit back any sound and tried to grin as he internally freaked out. Three years plus one for.....that, is four. Four years ago Winter and I..........Holy coconuts, he might be mine. Sure, he could be Winter's too, but he also might be mine. Is that why she didn't say anything? Does Winter know? Does Moon know who his father is? Why didn't she tell us?

He coughed awkwardly, and scratched the back of his neck. Moon swore in her head, knowing he had figured it out.

"That's about the time when....." Qibli trailed off.

"I know." she admitted. "Don't worry about it."

"Why didn't you say anything?" he blurted, all of his questions spilling out. "That seems like something we'd probably want to know!"

"Because I knew that you'd both freak out and argue about whose son he really is."

"Well can you blame us?" Qibli sighed. "Is there something you want me to do? Cause...." he paused. "Cause if he's mine, Moon, then I don't just want to do nothing. And even if he's Winter's, is there something you need or-"

"If I wanted something from either of you, I would've asked when I first found out." Moon declared. "It doesn't matter who his father is, and you don't have to worry about it. He's my son, and that's all there is to it. I'm not going to change things and ruin anyone's life simply because he exists."

"Are you sure?" Qibli persisted. "It's not fair to him if you are preventing him from having a father."

"He doesn't need a father. He has dragons that look after him and care for him. He has me. He has friends. I'm not going to complicate his life by saying 'hey, here's a dragon that may-or-may-not be your father. He's just going to be here from now on.' Understood?"

"Understood." Moon sighed. "Let's just drop it, alright?"

"Deal."