Chapter Text
When Darkstalker woke up, he was a small dragonet again. At first, he thought his whole life was one huge nightmare, and that he had finally woken up. Then he realized that’s not what happened. He was a new dragon, with edges of rainbows dancing on the stars underneath his wings. With tiny claws and wide innocent eyes. By the time he realized it, it was too late. He had no more animus-touched scroll, no mind reading, and no prophetic powers. As he sat around on the rainforest floor, he began to cry as he mourned his past life. Raindrops pitter-pattered around him as the tears rolled down his snout.
His mother ran up to him and scooped him in her arms. “Oh, Peacemaker. It’s okay, Mommy’s here,” He pawed at his mother’s snout trying to tell her. No, its Darkstalker, momma help me. I’m not Peacemaker . Anything that came out was dragonet babbling, and he cried even harder.
He heard a familiar chirpy voice from behind him. “Aw, maybe he doesn’t like the rain?” the train stopped for a moment as a giant banana tree leaf was held over his head. He peeked over his mother’s shoulder to see Kinkajou standing beside him and his mother. She was smiling at him. “I think he’s rather cute. Do you want to come sit with Queen Glory, Hope?”
Hope is not her name He thought angrily, pawing at Kinkajou from his mom’s grip. She giggled at him. “Do you want to see Queen Glory, Peacemaker? She thinks you’re super cute too.”
No, he did not want to see Queen Glory. As a small dragonet, he was actually slightly afraid of her. Even if he was a huge dragon back in his past life, he knew how dangerous she could be. He couldn’t get her on his side, no matter how much he tried.
“Is Winter here?” Hope - Foeslayer - asked.
Kinkajou looked at her talons sadly. “He hasn’t come back to visit yet. I can only hope he’s just busy. I don’t want him to be mad at me.”
Winter was the dragon his mother talked about most, and he hated it. He knew Winter as a side problem that was easily taken care of. His mother idolized him for freeing her from her prison. However, he watched them interact once before the IceWing went off to who knows where.
She had cradled Winter’s head in her talons, a few tears threatening to spring lose.
She wrapped her wings around him and pulled him close. “Are you sure you have to leave so soon?”
Winter pulled back, looking at her sadly. “I’ve been here for a week. I think it’s time to find my own place.”
Hope grabbed his talons. “You’ll always have a place with me. You’re my family now, okay?”
Winter wiped a tear from his face. “I know.” And with that, he turned and flew away.
It was a simple heart-warming interaction, but Darkstalker - or Peacemaker now- couldn’t help but feel jealous. That was his mother, and he wasn’t going to let some pompous snot-nosed IceWing take her from him.
Hope bounced him in her arms a few times, catching his attention. “Well, my little Prince. Let’s go see our queen.”