Chapter 137: The Missing Prince
"You wanted to see me?" Kipling asked, fluttering into Winterstone's lair and taking a seat in front of the wildclaw. Winterstone smiled slightly as he entered, but her eyes betrayed the heaviness of the concern.
"Yes, I'm afraid we don't have much longer. We'll have to act soon," Winterstone sighed, "We aren't nearly as ready as I hoped we would be, but the disappearance of the third prince is most definitely going to spur Quartz's conquest. Besides, we've dallied too long already. Greenskeeper Gathering is almost upon us and it's been a year since your return. Not to mention, a rich supporter of our cause has recently donated a huge sum of money to our cause, it will buy us enough supplies and warriors to stand a chance."
"Why are you telling me this?" Kipling asked, feeling his heart beat faster. he hardly felt prepared to fight, let alone against Quartz and his entire undead army.
"Because you are the closest thing Fenn and Elric had to an heir, and if no sign of them has been seen, than I fear they are truly gone. You must be prepared to take your place on the throne," Winterstone explained.
"But-" Kipling's head was spinning. Him? King? He knew that was a possibility, but he had foolishly hoped his parents would swoop in at the last moment and heroically boot Quartz and Banella from the throne. "What about Eclipse?" He blurted, "Weren't we going to wait until she returned?"
"It has been months and no one has heard any news of your moon warrior friend," Winterstone reminded him, "India has been keeping an ear out for you, as you know, and she has heard nothing. Perhaps it is time to admit she may not be coming back."
"How can you be so pessimistic?!" Kipling asked, indignant. His fear was churning inside him, making him angry, "have you lost all hope? We have a plan! we need to stick to it! We aren't ready for this, we'll be slaughtered where we stand!"
"I am not being pessimistic, I am being realistic. If we aren't ready by now, we'll never truly be ready, and as we wait, Quartz continues to accumulate power!" Winterstone said, tone rising as well. That was when Kipling saw her own fear in her dark, wide eyes. "We will use these funds to recruit from Windkeep Tower and then we will strike, that is that. This is not your call to make."
Kipling's throat was too dry to speak. He simply nodded.
"You are dismissed," Winterstone said, clearly struggling to regain her composure, and Kipling suddenly felt a whole new level of respect for the leader of the rebellion. She was a great leader, and that meant she had to make the hard choices. She had lost so much, and yet she kept fighting, as if her losses fueled her determination. Kipling wondered if he would be a leader like that. Somehow, he doubted he had the same inner strength Winterstone said.
Wishing he knew what to say to comfort the wildclaw, but knowing there was nothing to do, Kipling decided to give her space. He left without another word, set on finding Rori and Luster. It was time they heard about all of this, and they could enjoy their last remaining time together before the fight. None of them were guaranteed to come out alive on the other side.
Kipling, however, was distracted by the sound of sobbing coming from the training room. He paused, hovering in the air, trying to see if he could make out who it was. Then he realized it didn't matter who it was; someone was hurting, and he could help them. Rori and Luster could wait. he flew into the training room to see Yuu bawling on the floor, a sword halfway across the room, clearly thrown in frustration.
"What's wrong?" Kipling asked, fluttering over to the young wildclaw and lighting down in front of her. She was still not yet at her full size, and with her sitting down it was much easier to make eye contact with her than with larger dragons.
"I hate this! I hate training! I hate fighting! I'm no good at it!" Yuu sobbed, hardly looking at the fae trying to comfort her. Kipling's heart broke for her. "I don't see why my parents are forcing me to do this!"
"Your parents are just trying to train you so that you can defend yourself if something happens," Kipling said calmly, "They want you to be safe."
"I know, but I just can't do it! I don't have the dexterity or the strength, the thought of physically hurting another dragons makes me want to cry!" Yuu sniffed, "I hate this war! I hate this rebellion! Why did I have to stay! Why couldn't I have gone off like my brothers!"
"Hey," Kipling said, fluttering up to her face to wipe her tears, "It's all going to be okay in the end, you'll see." He desperately hoped what he was saying was true. "Do you really wish your parents had sent you away?"
"No," Yuu sighed, "I'm glad I got to stay, but I'm just tired of all this training and all this fear. I just want to settle down and, I don't know, open a tea shop or something."
"Hey, you've been looking into herbal remedies, right?" Kipling suddenly had an idea. "Maybe you could be focusing your training energy into learning how to be a healer, in case we need on for the rebellion!"
"Yeah!" Yuu said, seeming to perk up a little, "I've learned a lot of cool things while learning to make my tea!" Then she seemed to deflate. "But I don't have access to a lot of plants. It's low priority in comparison to food and other supplies."
"Tell you what, how would you like to explore a bit of Windkeep Tower?" Kipling offered. "I could take you to the gardens and we can see what we can find for your tea and remedies!"
Kipling knew it was a risk, leaving the Underground, but he also knew Yuu had never been properly outside in her entire life. Besides, the gardens were out of the way, surely they wouldn't run into any trouble there. Not to mention, with the rebellion on the rise, he could do with some fresh air himself, he was getting antsy.
"Would you really?" Yuu asked, eyes lighting up.
"Of course!" Kipling said with a smile. He briefly considered bringing Luster and Rori into this adventure, but he realized it would probably be safer traveling in smaller numbers. It felt weird doing something like this without his closest friends, but between Rori's size and Luster's tendency to attract any kind of trouble in a ten mile radius, he knew he had to leave them out.
Besides, he wouldn't be out long. What could possibly go wrong?
Yuu couldn't describe the feeling of actually stretching her wings and soaring through the air, feeling the wind on her scales properly for the first time in her life. She was ecstatic to the point of giddiness, she had almost forgotten why she came out here in the first place until Kipling lead her into the gardens.
Yuu's eyes widened, she had never seen so many plants in her life! Cherry blossom trees filled the grove, and lush flowers and greenery grew abundantly between the trunks. A gentle stream gurgled nearby, its clear water tumbling over round stones.
"Kipling, it's beautiful!" Yuu exclaimed, hardly daring to tear her eyes off such beauty, even just to look the fae in the eye. There were so many plants she recognized, and yet so many that she didn't. She had a feeling there was enough here to last her a lifetime.
"So you like it?" Kipling asked. Yuu felt his weight upon her shoulder as he lighted down. Still not having yet reached her full size, the fae took up most of her back.
"Like it? Kipling, I love it! Thank you for bringing me here!" Yuu gushed, rushing over to examine a bush of vibrant purple flowers.
"Once we win the war, you'll be able to come here anytime you want, and you can use the plants here to open that tea shop you were talking about." While Kipling was usually calm, this was the most relaxed Yuu had ever seen the fae.
"This is why we're fighting." Yuu breathed, the revelation dawning on her for the first time.
Having been born underground, it was easy enough to get consumed in the monotony of it all, falling into the routine of tedious and vigorous training without a clear cause but the stories her parents had told her. Now that she could see the beauty of Windkeep Tower, the beauty she was barred from, she could see why everyone underground was pushing so hard to get it back.
Yuu was so caught up in her epiphany that she hardly noticed the appearance of a third dragon until Kipling's weight disappeared from her back. She spun around to see a mirror dressed in mechanical rags and holding a net that held her escort.
"I thought I sensed your elemental signature, princey," The mirror gave a toothy grin, "Quartz has been looking high and low for you! And it looks like I'm going to get a mighty bounty for bringing you in!"
Suddenly, adrenaline began to course through Yuu and she sprung at the mirror, ready to fight to win back her friend. The mirror, however, was too fast. he was ready to meet her, and Yuu felt blinding pain over her left eye as the mirror raked his claws down her face. Yuu let out a yelp of pain and stepped back, clutching her face in her talons. She was so distracted by the pain that by the time she was able to look up again, the mirror and Kipling were gone.
In her panic, Yuu forgot the way that she and Kipling had come. Crippled by fear, she hid herself away in the bushes and began to sob again, her tears mixing with the blood dripping down her face.
It felt like ages until someone found her. At the sound of another wildclaw landing on the grass beside her, she jumped, and pressed herself deeper into the bushes, hoping the newcomer didn't see her. She was not so lucky.
"Hey, are you okay? Are you Yuu? Querida contacted me and sent me to find you after you went missing." A gentle voice sounded above the young wildclaw. Yuu turned and looked into the concerned face of a brown wildclaw.
"Who are you?" Yuu asked.
"I'm Rammus, Querida's biological son. It's okay, you can trust me. I'm on your side." The wildclaw soothed. "I didn't even know there was an official rebellion against Quartz, but you learn something new every day!"
Yuu stared up at Rammus, too tired and scared and in pain to properly respond.
"Come on, let's get you home, and then we can get that wound looked at, it looks pretty nasty." Rammus said, hoisting the young wildclaw onto his back. She didn't fight it, she was too tired to give anything anymore effort. After making sure she was secure, he kicked off the ground and into the sky.
"Where's Kipling?" Rammus asked after they had flown a little ways. Guilt pierced Yuu like the blade of a sword.
"He's gone. He was taken," She rasped, voice cracking, "It was my fault, I couldn't stop it, and he was helping me."
"Hey, don't blame yourself for this, okay? There are a lot of forces out there that seek to harm dragons like you and Kipling right now. It would take a lot more than just one dragon to stop it." Rammus reassured.
Yuu didn't have the energy to respond. Finally feeling safe and secure, her adrenaline faded and she slipped into unconsciousness.
"Well, well, well, what have we here?" Quartz flicked his tongue in satisfaction as he paced in front of Kipling. Upon his arrival in the disused wine cellar, Kipling had been frozen to the ground by Rhowen, who was now standing to the side in some kind of trance, his eyes glowing the same red as the ruby ring bound to his tail. Quartz had ordered he not be completely frozen until he had the chance to talk to him.
Kipling didn't respond. He shivered in the cold, and tried not to look at Desertstone, who was staring at him with greedy eyes, clearly awaiting his reward after capturing such a valuable prisoner.
"Fenn and Elric's precious son," Quartz purred once he realized he wasn't getting a reaction, "reunited at last."
That was when Kipling looked over his shoulder to look at the large ice block behind him more closely. To his horror, he saw his parents encased in the ice. The sight of it made his heart plummet, but he had to stay strong in the face of Quartz.
"Where have you been hiding, little one? What have you and your friends been up to?" Quartz asked, drawing his face closer. Kipling refused to speak, or even flinch. Quartz sighed, "I guess it doesn't truly matter. Now that I've met Desertstone, he's going to build me the ultimate weapon and then my conquest can truly begin. We'll wipe out anything that stands in out way."
Kipling shivered, but he wasn't sure if it was from fear or the cold. He supposed it could very easily be both.
Suddenly, loud footsteps thundered on the stairs and Banella burst into the room, her face twisted into a look of fury.
"Why didn't you tell me we had captured the prince, dearest?" Banella said, her voice sickly sweet.
"My beloved, I wanted to surprise you!" Quartz insisted, pasting a fake smile on his face, "He's only just arrived, you haven't missed much. You can be here for the final freezing."
Banella's eyes flashed, but she said nothing her. The queen then fixed her gaze on Kipling. Suddenly, he felt something grow warm in his pocket. Kipling tilted his head to see a small hourglass in his pocket glowing. He had forgotten to give it back to Rori, and had been carrying it around ever since they got back. Banella's face twisted into a smile as she surged forward and pulled the necklace out of Kipling's pocket.
"Oh yes!" Banella exclaimed. After taking a moment to admire it, she put it on. In a flash of light, she disappeared, and Kipling could not keep the shock and horror off of his face. Where had Banella gone? Why had she disappeared? Who had activated the time machine? What was going to happen now?
Kipling didn't have time to contemplate this. Quartz too turned to the fae, his own shock still evident on his face.
"What did you do with my wife?" He asked, then his face softened, "Oh never you mind, I'm glad you got her out of my way. She was a nuisance anyways. Rhowen, finish the job."
Quartz stepped back and the icy coatl stepped forward to take his place. Kipling stared helplessly into his merciless red eyes. This was a dragon he had once dined with regularly, a valued part of the clan he considered family. Yet another good soul twisted by Quartz's greed and ambition.
His last thoughts, as the bitter cold dulled his senses and sent him into darkness, was a flicker of hope that Winterstone was right, and that they would win in the imminent fight against Quartz.
Sapphire didn't feel much like a prisoner. He was not bound in any way, but sat freely on the bed on the edge of the room. Sure, Dremasul's house on the top of the tower was far from the elegance and extravagance of his parents' mansion, but there was something far more comforting about it. It felt lived in, like it actually belonged to someone. It felt more like a home.
Still, Sapphire didn't have the time to contemplate the ins and outs of Dremasul and his living habits. He was growing exasperated with his 'captors' hushed tones and suspicious stares as they discussed whether or not they could trust him or just how they wanted to use them.
"I'm still not sure we can trust him, he is Quartz and Banella's son. We have to be careful, otherwise we'll lose everything we're working for," Dremasul whispered.
"I'm telling you, his soul is clean, his intentions are pure!" Draxxor hissed.
"Yeah, well your soul readings aren't always one hundred percent accurate," Dremasul hissed back.
"Oh yeah? Well, they seemed pretty right about you!" Draxxor's tone was rising in anger.
"You know I can hear every word you're saying," Sapphire pointed out, slightly amused at the shock on their faces as he spoke, "I'm right here you know."
"Right, yes, of course," Dremasul smiled, "I'm sorry, it's just, you can never be too careful these days. If you want to go, you can, we're not keeping you here."
"Speak for yourself!" Draxxor huffed, "I think a war prisoner is an excellent idea!"
"You're doing it again," Dremasul hissed at Draxxor, "I thought your vigilante days were over."
"Well, desperate times call for desperate measures!" Draxxor hissed back.
"Look, I don't know what you're looking for, but if you trust me, maybe I'll be able to help. I know all the secrets of the mansion and I hate my father as much as you do, if not more," Sapphire piped up, "I'm friends with Ruby, she's told me all about the days before my parents took over. I want to help bring them back."
"See? He's telling the truth," Draxxor waved a hand at Sapphire. Dremasul rolled his eyes.
"Alright," Dremasul sighed, "We're looking for the former king and queen of Windkeep Tower. Their disappearance was out of character, and we think it has something to do with your parents."
"What do the king and queen look like?" Sapphire asked, some half-forgotten memory from his hatchlinghood rising from the surface.
"Fenn is a pink fae with blue wings, and her husband, Elric, is a purple guardian in golden armor." Dremasul explained. As he gave the description of the former royals, everything jolted into place. Sapphire could remember his excursion into the wind cellar of the mansion as if it were yesterday.
"I think I know where they are," Sapphire said, breath catching in his throat. He opened his mouth to share his memory with the two wildclaws when there was a knock at the door.
"Hide him!" Draxxor hissed to Dremasul as she moved to get the door. Dremasul leaped into action and shoved Sapphire into the next room, closing the door behind him. From his place in the darkness of the second room, Sapphire could hear the door opening and the footsteps of what sounded like a wildclaw.
"Rammus! What are you doing here?" Dremasul asked, surprised, "I didn't think you were coming until mail time!"
"I have news. There's an underground rebellion against Quartz, and they are going to be fighting against him very soon," The dragon called Rammus explained, "Have you had any luck with your project?"
"Actually, we've just had a breakthrough!" Draxxor exclaimed, "Or at least, we hope so. Sapphire, do you want to come out? It's okay, we can trust him."
Sapphire opened the door with a creak and stepped into the other room. Things were really getting exciting now, and he was glad he was on the right side of the fight!
Rubywing sat at her desk, feeling hopeless. She had just heard of Kipling's kidnapping, and it seemed all hope really was lost. She scarcely knew what she was going to do, or what she could do to help. She didn't even have Sapphire here to encourage her. She was worried about him, it wasn't like her brother to disappear like this.
There was only one glimmer of hope left, but even that was dwindling. Her heart skipped a beat as she heard a knock on the window. Ruby immediately leaped to her feet and opened it. The gap was only just wide enough for Rammus to slip in.
"So, you've finally decided to stop hiding away and reveal your location!" Rammus grinned. Ruby wished she could share in his joy. She knew even calling him here was putting his life at risk after Quartz's threats, especially considering the occasion.
"Look, times are getting desperate. I can't stand how our father is ruling anymore. We have to do something, I don't know what, but I can't stand by and let this happen any longer!" Ruby was growing frantic, and she began pacing.
"Hey, sis, calm down!" Rammus soothed, stopping Ruby in her tracks and resting his hands on her cheeks, "Breathe with me, everything is going to be okay."
The two took some deep breaths until Rubywing had calmed down again.
"Hey, I have some good news," Rammus reassured, "There's going to be an attack against Quartz very soon. Apparently there's been an underground resistance growing for quite some time, and they have put out a recruitment call for the final battle. Tomorrow morning, every resident of Windkeep Tower is going to wake up with a note on their doorstep: pick a side, and stand and fight for our clan."
Ruby couldn't help it. A joyful sob escaped her throat. Maybe, just maybe, Windkeep Tower wouldn't be under the control of her father for very much longer.
See, I told you today's chapter is pretty long, but there are some pretty big things happening in it! We are very much nearing the endgame.
(your still good Petall, Desertstone is the bad one.)
