Wings of Fire: The Prequels

2.9

"Then tell me, son, how long were you planning on hiding?" Scarlet hissed, the smug grin on her face only growing at the gasps and stunned expressions that swept through the room.

"Long enough to make sure that you couldn't come back to finish Burn's job," said Cloud, doing his best to block out processing what he could see of Peril's face. "Long enough to make sure that the glory of the dragonets of destiny faded to the point that current rumors of me didn't spiral out of control. Long enough to make sure the kingdom was stable enough to take the sudden appearance of another prince."

"How noble of you," Scarlet scoffed, a small and near-invisible frown appearing on her face as she realized this wasn't going her way.

"You asked me who I am," said Cloud, smothering a smirk as he grounded Scarlet's little act further into the ground. "I'm Cloudwatcher, a proud wing leader and soldier of the Sky Kingdom. I'm Cloudwatcher, the silent, unnoticed, and unneeded dragonet of destiny. I'm Cloudwatcher, the prince who will stand with the rightful queen of the kingdom."

Cloud wrenched himself out of everyone's grip, taking them by enough surprise for it to work. He stood by Ruby's side, ignoring Ruby's stare specifically to keep himself put together. "And that queen is my sister, blackmail with my nephew or not," said Cloud, the confidence in the statement taking many aback but that didn't change it in the slightest.

Scarlet finally had enough, snarling at him in disgust to hide her disappointment and anger at Cloud's lack of scrambling for an excuse. "Enough of this. Guards, lock both of my disloyal spawn up. Spread the message that all of the hiding cowards are to swear allegiance to me," spat Scarlet, smoke twisting around her horns and hiding pieces of her disfigured face.

Silence.

"Or we can watch this welp burn along with every disobedient lizard here."

"Do as she says," said Ruby, finally gathering herself together from the metaphorical bombshell. "Whatever it takes to keep Cliff safe. You two, I want you to be the ones who lock us up," Ruby's choice of Fissure and Falcon was only met by a nod from Cloud.

"But, Your Majesty—" Fissure started, cut off by a shake of Ruby's head. She reassured Cliff, Cloud doing the same by smiling at his nephew. They left without much more fanfare, the siblings keeping their heads up as they left.

The walk there was spent in silence. Fissure and Falcon had them crawl through the hole created by Peril last time. The grate was replaced with minimal mending, giving the two an escape route if needed.

Silence continued between the siblings until the other two were out of sight. Cloud stayed up against the wall, laying down and letting his head drop for the first time since they entered the palace. "Why didn't you tell me?" asked Ruby, her voice quiet as she tried to unravel the complicated situation.

"I didn't know how. You already knew I was a dragonet of destiny, the rumors would've told you," said Cloud, sighing as he felt the gravity of it all increase just a little more. "To be honest, I didn't know until the night that the others escaped. I don't believe rumors, but when you hear from Scarlet herself that no dragonet of hers will participate in the prophecy you have to believe it."

"That's still quite a bit of time to tell me," Ruby said, not giving Cloud an out.

"I know. It was a pretty horrid thing for me to keep quiet. I just didn't know how to say it, when to say it, or if I could deal with the fallout," said Cloud, frowning with an empty chuckle making it past his lips. "I guess that bit me, huh?"

"Mm..." Ruby hummed quietly, staring at Cloud intensely enough that he could practically feel it. "I guess now that we have enough time, we should do some sibling bonding."