Cyan snapped instantly into action. "Who's the lucky parent?" she asked, glaring at all of the dragons hovering in the air. 

"None of us," Dawn said. 

Cyan got up and walked toward the glass door separating the patio from the house. She opened it and called in "Panda, come out here!"

Dawn blinked in surprise but Dewdrop didn't seem fazed at all. A white snout poked out of the door, followed by a bewildered-looking SilkWing. He surprisingly had black markings under and around his eyes. His stomach was also black, and his wings had black markings on them as well. 

Dawn didn't want to ask how he managed to have black scales when he was a SilkWing, and right now she wasn't focused on it. She didn't know very much about egg laying, she had been too young when Orange was laid. 

Except this strange dragon apparently named Panda and Cyan were rushing Flutterwing into the house. The remaining dragons landed on the patio and Dewdrop reached down and picked up the discarded scroll. 

"Cyan gets cross if her scrolls get ruined," Dewdrop explained. 

Pomegranate just stared into the house in horror. She carefully placed Orange on the coffee table with shaking talons. "What's happening in there?" 

"Can we go in?" Mango asked. 

"Yeah, as much as I want to respect Cyan's boundaries, I would prefer to not spend two hours standing outside," Chamomile said. 

"You got it exactly," Mango said, nodding her head in agreement. 

"You've never explained your connection to Cyan," Dawn said, confused. 

Dewdrop nodded her head. "Ah, yup. I washed up on the rocks of the little beach when I was a dragonet. Cyan raised me as her own and trained me. I went into the Rainforest looking for Flutterwing and was captured by Snappea. I was kept under my spell for two years before Bamboo got careless and let me out of my cave. I wandered around the forest for a bit before you found me." 

"Bamboo?" Dawn asked, frowning. 

"He was working with Snappea. They were very close," Dewdrop confirmed what Dawn was suspecting.

Dawn nodded and glanced at her girlfriend, not wanting to talk about it. "Do you think we could go inside?" 

"Yes, please do." 

Dawn looked up in surprise as she looked at the open doorway. The SilkWing from earlier was standing in the doorway. He smiled at them. "Hi, I'm Panda. Cyan asked if Pomegranate wanted to come and see Flutterwing." 

Pomegranate paused to think for a moment, before saying "Yes." 

They all watched as she went inside. Then they followed behind into a small room that was a joint of a comfortable living room and kitchen. Dawn had never been in a real house before and was amazed. She stared at everything; every last little inch. 

Branching off of the back of the room was a small hallway with only a few doorways branching off of it. When they got in, Dewdrop frowned. "Huh, there aren't enough rooms." 

"It's fine, I can sleep on the couch," both Mango and Chamomile said simultaneously. 

"Do you have a room?" Dawn asked. 

Dewdrop looked embarrassed. "Yeah, I guess you could sleep in there. There is the couch," she pointed toward the couch in the living room. "But I don't think it's big enough for two dragons to sleep on. There's also a guest bedroom, but I'm guessing that Flutterwing will be taking that." 

"We can just sleep in the living room then," Chamomile said hurriedly. 

"Um- okay," Dewdrop said. "What should we do to pass the time?" 

"How long will they be in there?" Dawn asked nervously. 

"Probably two hours at most," Mango said. "But it's not her first egg, so probably not even that long." 

Dawn sighed and rubbed her temples. She wondered how long Flutterwing had been with egg. Dragons usually held their eggs for up to two weeks before they were laid. It usually took around a week before the symptoms became bad enough to be noticeable. The last few days were always the worst, she thought. But she wasn't sure. 

She had been too little when Flutterwing had lain Orange, and Papaya had never told her these things because Dawn had been too little when she was alive.

She sat down on the couch, frowning. "Are there any snacks?" She asked Dewdrop. "I'm starving." 

"Yes, I think," Dewdrop said, hurrying over to the kitchen. She came back carrying a bowl of dried meat. "I'm afraid this is all I could find," she said apologetically. 

"It's fine," Dawn said, taking a strip of dried meat. "How should we pass the time?" 

"How about 'Never Have I Ever'," suggested Mango. 

"What's that?" Dewdrop asked, settling herself down on the couch with the bowl of food. 

"Here, we can explain it to you. We would play it all the time when Snappea wasn't here, to try and stop our boredom," Chamomile said, getting excited. 

"Sure," Dawn said suspiciously. If the game wasn't good, at least it would be entertaining. 

* * *

"AAH! I HATE YOU!" Dewdrop yelled. 

Dawn snickered. "Okay missy, your turn." 

Dewdrop glared at her. "Never have I ever... Killed a big dragon." 

Dawn stared at her for a long moment before slowly and deliberately lowering one of her fingers. Only two left.  Mango and Chamomile stared at her in surprise. They were easily winning, with Chamomile only having lowered one finger and Mango lowering two. 

"You've..." Mango whispered. 

"Killed a big dragon?" finished Chamomile.

"Um- well, I don't think it died so to speak. I just got a little bit of my venom down its throat," Dawn said uncomfortably. 

Dewdrop scoffed. "Oh that thing was definitely dead," she confirmed. 

"Oh!" Dawn said, suddenly remembering something. "There was also that dragon who I put in a coma..." 

"A coma?" Chamomile yelped. 

"It wasn't a full-grown one," Dawn explained. "That's where the nickname Damage comes from."

"Ahh," Dewdrop said, nodding her head knowingly. "The Return of Damage." 

"Maybe I should start calling you that," teased Mango. 

"Nooo," Dawn said tragically, flopping to her side on the couch. 

Chamomile laughed and took another strip of meat from the bowl. Mango just giggled. Dewdrop patted Dawn on the back. "Don't worry, if she calls you that I'll come and kill her in the night," she said comfortingly. 

Dawn let out a strangled squawk of laughter. "How is THAT supposed to help?!" 

They all collapsed into another fit of laughter. Dawn and Dewdrop rolled around on their backs, and Mango and Chamomile just cackled. 

"What's happening here?" 

They quickly snapped to attention and looked up. Cyan, Panda, and a very pale-looking Pomegranate were standing in the hallway. 

"We were teasing Dawn," Dewdrop explained. 

The ghost of a smile formed on Pomegranate's lips. She smiled at Dewdrop. "That's always a fun thing to do." 

Dawn wrinkled her snout. She glanced at Cyan, who was looking tired and grumpy. "Is my sister okay?" She asked without thinking. 

Cyan raised an eyebrow. "She's your sister now?" 

"My half-sister," Dawn said hurriedly. 

"Ah. I suspected that Aardvark would move on," Cyan said knowingly, nodding her head. 

"Can I see her?" Dawn asked. 

"Yes. She's just tired," Cyan said. 

They followed her down the hallway. Cyan stopped in front of a door and knocked. "Flutterwing? Are you okay? They want to see you." 

"I'm fine, come in," Flutterwing responded with a weak voice. Dawn had never thought she would ever hear her sister sounding so weak. She twitched her tail as they opened the door. Flutterwing was sitting propped up on the bed. 

She looked exhausted, but her face brightened when she spotted Dawn. Orange had been following them warily, but at the sight of her mother, she ran forward. She landed on the bed and scrambled toward Flutterwing. 

Flutterwing yelped. "Ah, calm down!" 

Orange let out a little purring noise and snuggled up in her mother's arms. Sitting on a table next to the bed, was the egg. 

It was a swirled collage of pale green, buttercup yellow, and white. Dawn walked up to it and stared at it for a moment. 

"Do you have a name planned?" She asked quietly. 

Flutterwing looked at her serenely. "No, do you?" 

Dawn thought. She thought hard about the events of the last few days. She thought about Snappea, of Mother and Bamboo. And she had an idea. 

"Is Empathy a weird name for a dragon?" she asked. 

"No, not at all," Flutterwing said with a small smile. 

Before, Flutterwing would have scoffed and said that it was ridiculous. But now, after everything, they all were different dragons. 

Times really had changed.

≺︱✵︱≻

A/N

:D OMG AFTER OVER A YEAR. It is with great pleasure to say that this is the last chapter of Forest of Shadows. The only thing left is the epilogue. I really want to thank you all for reading along with this shit show of a story, and please vote if you can. 

Thank you :D