Sandy and Stardust: A Sunnyweed Story (NO CRYING UNTIL THE ENDING!)

No Pain

Perspective: 'Weed

Dark grey clouds, like the scales of a depressed RainWing, rolled in the sky above Jade Mountain Academy. They roiled and broiled like steam from a cauldron of boiling water. The sun was veiled behind the cloud cover, sending only a few rays down into the world below. It was about that time at Jade Mountain when all the students were bedding down for the night.

Tumbleweed had been looking for his favorite dragon in the whole world for the past hour and a half.

Sunny.

Oh, she was the most beautiful and kindest dragoness he had ever met, with eyes like emeralds and scales the color of gold. Her face was comely and her wings were expansive and enchanting. Just hearing her laugh was enough to send 'Weed's heart into a tumult, and just seeing her made his head swim. Her frill was just so... intoxicating. Everything about Sunny was absolutely perfect, and 'Weed loved her with everything he had in his soul.

They had been dating for about six months now, and every time he saw her, she practically glowed with both positivity and love, like a miniature star.

At least, she had until about two months ago.

He remembered the incident like it was yesterday.

He was leaving Mayfly's office one night, after passing yet another lesson on how to fix damaged muscle tissue when he heard someone crying. Not just crying--violent, uncontrollable sobbing, like someone who had experienced pure, unimaginable grief. When he investigated, he was horrified to find his usually cheerful, adorable Sunny to be the one crying. Once he had managed to get her to be able to speak through her rivers of tears, he finally learned the truth--the old NightWing Stonemover, the one-time lover of Queen Thorn and guardian of Jade Mountain, had finally succumbed to his own animus magic.

Sunny's father was dead.

The funeral for Stonemover had been held in the Rainforest a couple of weeks later, and it was one of the highest-attended funerals in the history of the Rain Kingdom. Thorn had given a eulogy unparalleled in passion and love and emotion, and Secretkeeper and Moon and Mightyclaws all gave their own personal testimonies.

But in the midst of it all, Sunny was biting her tongue against her own pain; 'Weed had seen her eyes squeezed shut, like she was only a stone's throw away from bawling those beautiful green eyes out. The last time they had dated, Sunny spent most of their dinner either crying or staring blankly at her waffles.

To add insult to injury, Thorn and Smolder had married only a week later. And even though he wasn't there, 'Weed guessed that Sunny was not in the mood to celebrate. She already lost a father; 'Weed guessed she didn't want a replacement.

That was almost a month ago, and 'Weed hadn't been able to talk to Sunny at all--she was too upset to speak to anyone, even her friends at Jade Mountain.

He had been sent to find Sunny by Clay, Starflight and Tsunami, all of whom were becoming increasingly worried at Sunny's cold shoulder. Even Tsunami's boyfriend Riptide was worried; Sunny had wanted to start up a peacemaking corps with the funding of the Barterguild and the political support of the Talons of Peace. Her grief and unusual behavior put that idea in jeopardy.

At last, 'Weed had found his love, sitting by herself, staring into the distance.

She looked totally unlike herself, with a blank, indifferent look in those beautiful green eyes of hers. Her body only moved with her breath, and nothing else. Her wings drooped like wilted, dry flowers, and even her luxurious frill seemed crooked and unusually sad.