"You! State your name and your business!"
The young NightWing scrunched up his snout in annoyance. He was a young adult, who hadn't quite shaken the youth from himself yet–still being rather scrawny as well. A few more years and he would grow out of this... But really, he didn't need to rely on physical strength. He was born on Brightest Night, the first hatched in a clutch of two eggs, meaning he had three powerful gifts: mindreading, foresight, and animus powers. Though, he was much older than he appeared–he just unfortunately aged much slower than other dragons. Nobody needed to know that, however.
"Fumus," He responded to the guard towering over him. "I'm here to speak with the queen."
The dark-eyed soldier blinked down at him, moving aside. "Right this way."
How irritating, how big he tried to act. Though Fumus had his mindreading powers, he generally blocked out the thoughts that swirled into his head. They were so annoying, and frankly he felt he'd drive himself insane if he kept listening to the dull thoughts of such imbecilic dragons... But yet here he was, going to speak to one right now.
She lifted her head as the doors opened, draped across her throne. A sharp-toothed grin stretched across the young queen's face as she sat up. "Fumus! My, it's been awhile."
'Not long enough.' Fumus's mind grumbled as he tried so hard not to huff. His tail flicked behind him though. "Queen Vigilance."
"...Aren't you going to bow?" The guard who let him in hissed from behind him.
Fumus gritted his teeth, turning his head back to glare at bigger dragon. "I don't bow to anyone."
A deep, rumbling growl left the guard, clearly insulted by the fact Fumus wouldn't be submissive to a figure who was much less powerful than him in his own mind.
The queen herself sighed however. "Fiercewings, don't waste your time. Fumus here is very stubborn...now please close the doors and leave us."
A loud, irritated huff left the large dragon, and he shut the doors as ordered, leaving the two alone in the throne room.
Thank the moons he was gone.
"A private meeting with me," Vigilance chuckled. "My, you are desperate."
"I'm not desperate for anything," Fumus growled. "I'm here because the world's fate is at stake and your damn tribe is involved with it!"
Vigilance frowned, clicking her tongue. "Such language... Well, I suppose you are a seer, yes? What did you see in your visions that is so important?"
Fumus sat down, his tail swishing behind him. "Decades from now, a hybrid of your tribe and another's will be born an animus, and in my visions that dragon slit all of the queen's throats, one by one, and you will be the first. He will be the King of Pyrrhia, and all who oppose him will be killed."
Now, Fumus didn't care about the queens. He didn't care if their kingdoms would fall... What he was more concerned about, was the fact this dragon could find out and dismantle The Underground. Even if Fumus felt confident enough that he could stop this dragon with his own talons, so much would still be lost. There would be no more of The Underground, and years of work and tightly-woven secrets would be gone.
Vigilance's eyes focused on Fumus, seeming to examine everything about him from his scales to his eyes. "...This is what you believe you saw?"
Fumus narrowed his eyes. "Believe?"
Vigilance threw her head back and laughed. "You seers couldn't tell a dream from a vision I bet!" She sighed, looking back at Fumus and grinning. "It's too cute."
The fire glands in the back of Fumus's throat began to swell, heat filling his maw. "I take you're refusing to take this seriously?"
"How can I?!" The Queen cackled. "A hybrid animus taking over the world and becoming king? No way! You've had bizarre predictions before, but this has reached a whole nother level. A king?!"
As more of her laughter filled the room, Fumus's teeth ground against one another. How could someone be so haughty that they don't listen to a legitimate warning?
...Guess it was her loss.
"Fine, then," Fumus responded. "But remember this... When one of the moons falls from the sky, the realization of your damn foolishness will hit you."
Vigilance kept laughing. "Okay, sure!" After a few more laughs, she sat up, smirking down at him. "My you look mad... You wish to leave, I presume?"
"Indeed..." Fumus growled in response, turning around and beginning to leaving the room. As the doors opened, he heard her voice from behind him.
"Oh, when will I see you again?"
He didn't answer her.
He speed walked after this, wanting to get out of this damn castle as soon as possible. There was a crackling noise in the back of his throat, and smoke began to pour from his nostrils. Once finally making his way outside, he stopped, seeming deep in thought.
"I take it didn't go well?"
Fumus's head jerked up after this, and he looked up to see his brother sitting on one of the castle railings, smirking down at him. "What are you doing up there, Satanick?"
"Just thought I'd make my entrance more dramatic." He answered. Afterwards, he hopped down from his perch, using his wings to break his fall as he landed next to Fumus. "So, Queeny didn't listen?"
"Of course not."
"That's shocking, she loves hearing you talk."
The two began walking away from the castle as they continued their conversation.
"I don't know what I expected, she's a queen, of course this goes right over her head... Oh well, she'll pay for it later."
"Did you tell her that whole 'moons falling from the sky' spiel?"
"Yes. And once she has that dream, she'll become incredibly paranoid from that day forward. Fucked up part is that she won't remember what I've said today, either."
"HA!" Satanick barked. "Oh that's rich!"
Fumus smirked. "Indeed..." Though, his normal frown came soon after. "But of course, there is still that risk, and the fact she'll forget about it doesn't help the fact that our organization could perish beneath the claws of this imbecile." More smoke poured from his mouth, showing how irritated he was.
Satanick sighed, shifting his talons. "Guess we'll have to wait and see what the future holds... Damn, we probably shouldn't of come out here to begin with."
"I should've never met Vigilance to begin with," Fumus huffed. "Guess I was just wanted a taste of rebellion, but it was a stupid wish. Justim and Vicers chose us to be what we are for a reason, we are experiments to see if an organization they planned would work. Even if I do hold my tongue around Vigilance, and she knows nothing about The Underground, doesn't even know it exists, if they found out about this then it won't end well for either of us."
"But we already knew the risks of this before." Satanick responded a little too casually, as if it were a rule he'd been scolded about over and over.
"Well, I'm trying to make it clear that I'm never doing this again." He walked ahead of his brother a little bit.
Satanick stared at the older dragon's vigor with awe. Despite Fumus being unfortunately small compared to him, he was still his big brother, and Satanick looked up to him. That's exactly what Fumus wanted.
"Well," Satanick began. "Hopefully our little secret stays a secret, Justim and Vicers tend to find out a lot of things. Sometimes I wonder if they have spies..."
Fumus suddenly stopped in place, which caused Satanick to do the same, clearly confused. Out of nowhere, the smaller dragon suddenly whirled around, with Satanick letting out a soft hiss in response. Within a split second, Fumus's pointer talon was at Satanick's throat.
"You keep your mouth shut," He snarled. "If you breathe a word about this to Vicers, or even Justim, I'll scrape this right across your throat, you hear me?"
Satanick stared at his brother wide-eyed, couldn't even swallow, that's how close the claw was the cutting his throat. He slowly lifted his talons up, gently squeezing the wrist of his brother. He wouldn't rip it away, wouldn't fight against him. With a huff, Fumus lowered his talons again, making Satanick breathe out a sigh.
"I never said I would," The younger NightWing answered honestly. "Just a curious speculation... Besides, even if I would, Vicers doesn't listen to me half the time anyway. He never takes me seriously."
"...It's hard for me to take you seriously." Fumus snorted, whipping back around. Satanick simply stared at him with a plastered frown, but still followed after him.
"It's not my fault."
"You are a fault."
"...Rude."
After a few more minutes of walking, they came to a clearing, sighing in unison.
"You want to go home, or walk around the town?" Fumus asked.
Satanick was surprised he asked, especially considering the conversation they just had not too long ago. It was nice how he was considerate of his feelings... Made him smile a little, actually. "Nah, I know you hate this kingdom. I've seen the town enough times anyway. Plus, it'll be dawn soon, and we don't want a repeat of last time."
Fumus snorted in response, being reminded of that last time Satanick mentioned. NightWings are nocturnal, though Fumus was more used to the day than Satanick was. Last time they left at dawn, Satanick was so tired, he fell into the sea and nearly drowned himself. They had to rest on a nearby island until night came around again, and they didn't hear the end of it from their mentors for days.
"Fine by me." The older NightWing responded, then spreading his wings and taking off into the sky. Satanick followed shortly after.
Within seconds, the brothers disappeared into the night.