As we wing our way towards the sand kingdom, I think hard on me and Void's earlier conversation.

"The sand kingdom? The one you said is at war?!"

"Yep" 

"Why?!" Void is confused. Why wouldn't he be?

"Because we can hide there and see what's happening easier. It's only going to get harder and harder as the war go's on. It's the best place to survey what's happening discreetly" 

I also, kinda wanted to see Harpy again. Of course, she won't recognize me when I'm a Sandwing, but still. 

"Do you have a plan to help end the war?" 

"No. That's the dragonets of destiny's job. It'll be a while till they're able too though"

Ah them. I will see them one of these days. But I can't talk to them too early. Don't want to ruin their futures.

"Well then why do we need to worry about the war?" Void questions.

"Because that's what everyone else cares about. We can't have dragons be suspicious of us. It's essential to our safety. We can't have anyone finding out about our powers and backgrounds. That's where my powers come it"

I tap a twig that fell away from the fire, and a small blue teardrop earring appears. 

"This will let you become the same dragon type as me. It connects to my bracelet. When I'm an Icewing, you will. When I'm a Sandwing, you will be too. Of course, when I'm normal you'll also be an Icewing too" 

I toss the earring to him, and he puts it on without asking any more questions.

And now here we are, almost to the scorpion den. 

I decided we should wait to switch till we got closer, and come up with new names for ourselves. 

I already decided on Bastet, but Void is having more trouble. He wants his name to be 'just right'.

When we finally see the start of buildings on the horizon, I turn the dial to yellow. 

My scales when they change this time is a bit more seamless, less itchy and strange. I turn a bright golden tan, but my frill down my back is almost white. Looking over, Void is a deep brownish, with an even darker frill. But he seems to have kept his leaner appearance still. 

I carefully move my tail, feeling the barb on the end nervously. Hopefully I won't accidentally stab myself or others. 

"Jackal" 

"What?"

"My names going to be Jackal" Void says suddenly.

"Cool" 

I'm not quite sure yet how me and Voids relationship is. I did save him, sort of, but now I'm dragging him wherever I go. And He has to do everything I say. Which sucks for him. At this moment in time, he's kinda like a... guard? Maybe because he's older than me. 

"We need a backstory" I start.

"How about your my little sister, and our parents left for the war but never came back?"

Seems fine. Lines up with the future paths I think.

"Fine with me brother"

When we get there, things haven't changed much from my memory. Crowded streets, dragons everywhere, either trying to sell you something or steal from you. Younger homeless Sandwings like us wandering around, trying to snatch things from unsuspecting sellers carts. And, the smell of sand and sweat. Remind myself why I wanted to come here again?

Weaving our way through the crowded bazaars and sharp tails, we eventually make it to where I wanted to go. 

The orphanage.

"Why are we here? I thought we would take care of ourselves" Void,- I mean Jackal- whispers into my ear. 

"We're still kids Jackal. This is our best chance at starting out good here. Remember, no powers, we do everything the hard way"

He grumbles a bit but nods in agreement. 

Walking in it seems similar to before. Dragonets in cages- well, now, they look more like pens- along the entrance. Most of them are asleep, but one or two stare at us curiously.

I feel a rush of relief when I don't see that dragon from last time at the desk. Its just empty. I gesture to Jackal, and he reaches up to ding the bell.

Once the loud chime rings out, we wait for a few minutes before hearing talons scraping the ground. 

And, I fight my excitement back down roughly when Harpy emerges from the door. 

She looks angry till she lays her eyes on us.

"Oh! Hello! What are you two doing here alone?" I start to open my mouth, but no words want to come out. I look up at her red scales and enormous wings, lost in my memory. Luckily Jackal has my back.

"My name is Jackal, and this is my sister Bastet. We were wondering if we could stay here a night or two" He drapes a wing over me protectively.

Harpy eyes us sharply.

"Where are your parents?"

Jackal doesn't flinch.

"They left for the war before my sister hatched. They never came back"

They seem to have a stare off for a few nerve racking moments. Then Harpy sighs tiredly. 

"Fine. You can stay. But, I expect you to work for your warm beds"

Me and Jackal nod happily. 

"Come with me" she beckons us with one wing into the back. 

Everything's going according to plan. Well, mostly. 

2 years later...

2 years in and me and Void have been living with Harpy happily. Surprisingly, baby Sandwings get adopted out pretty fast. 

Me and Jackal have become almost essential to Harpy. It started out she would only let Jackal do any chores, mostly because she thought I was too young. But, once I finally turned two she allowed me small chores.

Now its almost like we run the place instead of her. We make sure all the dragonets are safe, get moved around when needed, and Jackal works the desk, along with helping clean and organize once a day. The place never looked better. 

When Jackal turned 6 just a little bit ago, Harpy decided he was old enough to get paid for his hard work. Since then, he's been saving up. He hasn't told me what for, but I don't mind it being a surprise. I purposefully keep myself from checking that fact in the future. 

Some days though, I stay in bed all day, remembering what happened before. Those three dragons faces haunting my dreams. But, they're never angry. No, they're always happy, and safe, and still living there lives.

Things they should still be able to do.

But the worse dreams are about my father. Watching him be cornered, trying to get back to help the others and tell them I'm no threat. Sometimes they kill him. Sometimes he flies into the building and doesn't come out. Others he's locked in a dungeon much like Voids, wrapped in chains forever.

I never tell Jackal the details, or Harpy. 

Jackal tries to get me to open up, but I just can't. Harpy just sits with me sometimes in silence, trying to comfort me. I appreciate them both so much.

I still wear all my artifacts, but only me and Jackal can see them. I thought maybe someone might take them away from me and accidentally use them. That would be a disaster. 

Right now, we're actually all getting ready to go out for a bit. Harpy called in a friend to watch the place while we're gone. She says its a 'special occasion'. She gives me a small silver chain necklace with matching bracelets to wear, and Jackal some black beads and an ebony earring. 

She herself wears a simple gold chain with a star shaped opal on it. 

I'm excited to see what we're doing, but also very nervous. I've never been to a party of any kind before. Jackal tells me that back at the ice kingdom, they had lots of special events like that he attended, and to just follow his lead. 

Even so, I'm worried. So many things can happen at a party. Much like a battle, how a last minute decision can change everything drastically.

But, it's going to be fine. I just know it. Somehow. Maybe.

"Bastet, can I talk with you for a bit?" Jackal interrupts my racing thoughts, entering my room silently.

"Sure" 

Even now, when given an order or permission of any kind from me, his eyes will glaze over momentarily. It's a bit creepy, but I've gotten used to it. 

After he checks to make sure Harpy isn't close by, he starts.

"How much longer?"

I blink in confusion.

"How much longer are we staying here? I like it, don't get me wrong, but soon I'll be 7, a full adult. Are you sure we need to stay here longer?" 

Hearing the tenseness in his voice, and the twitching in his talons, I realize how much living here is bothering Void inside. He needs more action in his life.

Although I hate to admit it, he needs an outlet for his destructiveness inside. 

"We will stay, for another 3 months. Till then, I have something for you to do"

He smiles widely in anticipation.

"But, not till after the party, ok?" 

He dims a bit, but I know he's on board. I feel bad that I can't let him make his own decisions yet. First thing he would do is kill anyone and everyone that looked at him funny. 

Not a great thing.

"Lets go kids" Harpy sticks her head in momentarily, her golden eyes racking over us swiftly. 

We both turn and follow her outside silently. 

Taking flight into the cool nighttime desert air, I glance up at the three moons, all of them at different stages. One is barely a crescent, another almost full, and another one seemingly split in half. 

They're the reason I'm alive still. 

Yet, for some reason, even though I know it wasn't all their fault, they took away my family. If I hadn't used my future sight to go in the water, maybe I would have survived the storm fine. I wouldn't have used my power since I didn't know I had it yet. I could have been happy, with my siblings. Two brothers. My mother and father. It would be years before I discovered my powers. My family wouldn't kill me for it. I could have given it up. Lived normally.  

But all that is speculation. I know that storm would have killed me. 

"Bastet!" I barely react in time, but even so, I'm still propelled face first into a dragon flying close to us, and we crash onto the sand in a pile of wings and tails. 

Untangling myself from the dragon, I notice his oddly colored scales and patterns. 

Then, he spread his wings out wide. 

(sorry about the pic, its my only drawing of him so far)

I'm momentarily stunned by what looks like two bright blue, green eyes staring down at me like a wolf staring at an ant. 

Then the odd dragon closes his wings, giving me a small glare.

"Gah, watch where your flying next time alright?" He starts to take off.

"Wait! Who are you?" I ask, still a bit astonished.

He looks a bit taken aback, but smiles. 

"Thysan" 

As he takes of, Harpy and Jackal land next to me, helping me fully to my feet.

"Who was that?" Jackal questions about the dark shape now pretty far away.

"No one" I lie. 

(Whew, I finally finished another one. How you guys like my new dragon? He's my original oc of course. Drawing him was a pain though. Who knew designing a Sandwing/Rainwing would be so hard?)