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dead-end-draws · 2 months

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Tribe Banner concept art:

Folks seemed to enjoy my WOF WIPS, so here’s more concept art for y’all! My favorite thing about WOF is the potential for world building. I thought it’d be cool to see a tribe emblem represented on a banner/flag of sorts:

Read below for some of the thought process / headcannons behind the design choices: 👇

Skywing Banner:

Skywings pride themselves on 3 things; treasure, fire, & their enormous, soaring wingspan which steals the sky.

As such, portrayed on the banner, the fabric (often made with dyed cow or goat leathers) resembles draped dragon wings. Two Skywings embrace a goblet, which is spewing golden fire.

The banner is often held aloft with iron or gold poles, signifying to other tribes their wealth and pride.

Mudwing banner:

These banners are fashioned with leather hides from cow or crocodile skin, held aloft with bamboo, and painted with a Talon-print & Reed crest.

The talonprint symbolizes community and the strength of Mudwing sibling bonds. The reed border unifies all Mudwings regardless of their relationship to home; the swamp. Bigwings are often seen carrying these into battle, signifing their status and making it easier for a sib to locate them in the flurry of a fight.

Sandwing Banner:

Sandwing flags are made with camel skins and dyed cactus leather.

A crest shows a Sandwing coiled around a beaming sun, a reminder that despite the revered 3 moons, Sandwings are born to thrive in sunlight.

The fabric is cut in a way to mimic the swooping dunes of Sandwing territory. And the poles of the flags are equally intricate, with scorpion tails and golden ropes which frame the banner.

These flags make prominent appearances in parades, festivals, and markets, and even miniature version are often displayed in homes or as tapestries/carpets.

Seawing banner:

These banners are often seen displayed in royal quarters or councils, or above land to mark territory.

A nautilus shell crest on front echoes the swirl-pattern associated with royal Seawings: The banner’s borders resemble waves and a dragon swimming beneath their surface.

These are crafted with rich materials, strung with seashells, pearls, silver dollars, and deep oceanic color fabric. There is severe penalty for Seawings found plucking treasure from the banners, as they are a direct symbol of royalty.

Nightwing Banner:

These banners emphasize the Nightwings’ relationship to the moon, their source of power and praise. The material, a contrast of white stitching against purple velvet showcases moonlight and night, black scales against stars, magic and mystery.

They are seen decorated with 3 moons at the top and a centered dragon reaching up into the night sky.

These banners were often used during the war as secret code by spies to deliver to other tribes. Prophecy scrolls often came attached, delivering cryptic messages or secrets in the night. These banners all helped add to the secrecy of the Dragonet Prophecy, and kept tribes on their toes around Nightwings.

Rainwing banner:

Rainwing banners are not used for battle purposes like other tribes, most are mere decoration, location indicators, and have no unified design.

However, It is said back when Rainwings left the rainforest to trade pre-war, this particular banner design was often raised above Rainwing merchant tables, and showcases the coiled tail of a Rainwing with leaves, vines, and other sights from the rainforest adorning a bamboo pole. Bright color combinations accentuated the flag to entice curious customers.

Now, only one tattered version of the original Rainwing banner remains, displayed proudly in Queen Glory’s quarters, a reminder that building the Rainwings’ community is their most important goal.

Icewing Banner:

These banners reflect the same standards Icewings hold themselves to.

Like a visual of the rankings themselves, each banner is cut perfectly from an Icewing’s trained, serrated claws to resemble icicles, and crafted with fine blue stitching.

Flags are often held aloft with perfectly polished narwhal horn or bone, and can be inlaid with sapphires or diamond.

Icewing soldiers are often gifted these during ceremonies, and perform training exercises with the flags to test their stance/attentiveness. The crest showcases the swift sharpness of ice through a flying dragon, and a snowflake toward the bottom reminding Icewings that even minuscule snowflakes, small things, should be perfect in form.

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madds-is-ace-trash · 1 year

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Nightwing why are you warring a cape? Well for the baby of course! Dcxdp

This takes place in the same universe as my fic Mother of the storm and her star child.

A few years have passed and Danny is completely settled in and moved to bulhaven with dick. Eventually around the time he’s Turing 9 he insists that he wants to go out at night with dick. Dick is hesitant but Danny insist, pointing out how his abilities would make him the perfect recon detective. Dick can no longer argue when Danny beats both Damian and Cass the first day of training and he is out out in the field.

Danny hose out in his ghost form and picks the name phantom because it feels right and now nightwing patrols with a bird if his very own for the first time in a while. Danny is very good on patrols, he sticks close to dick often clinging to him and hiding behind him when dick is interacting with people. He’ll often turn invisible but it still doesn’t fell like enough to dick. He quickly released that he missed the cape and the layer of securing it added when Damien was his Robin.

So nightwing starts wearing a cape, and the people of his city starts coming up with all sorts of theories for the sudden change. The range from him practicing because he’s taking over the cowl to him hiding new gadgets. Very few have seen Danny and those who have are often not believed because, “nightwing had glowing eyes under his cape!” Is not very believable.

He doesn’t wear the cape all the time just when he has Danny, the cape is long the outside is black but the inside has a blue and black feather design so it looks like wings when he glides. It has a feature where it retracts in to a role on his back when he need more freedom of movement. And I’m addition to the cape he now has an extra loop hanging form his belt for Danny to grab on to as the hop rooftops. (Danny can will him self to weigh nothing so dick tends to pull him along as he floats any way)

As the news of dicks sudden costume adjustment is circulating he has to come to the watchtower with B for a mission. Danny tags along hiding in his cape like all the Robin had before him with Bruce. Meanwhile Bruce is totally not going all mushy over his grandson he is totally normal about this. All of the Leagers keep giving dick looks.

Until flash finally ask

Wally: so um nightwing what’s with the cape? I thought you hated them?

Dick*with a bright smile across his face*: it’s for my shadow!

Wally: your shadow? How is a cape ganna hide your shadow.

Dick: no not my actual shadow it’s to hide my bird.

Diana: your bird?

*Dick flares one side of the cape revealing the feathered pattern underneath but nothing else is visible hidden under the cape*

Wally: I don’t se-

Dick: whistles like a bird call

Danny slowly fading in to view giving the league a small wave as he scrambles to hide behind dicks legs: Hello

Hal: really Bruce another one!?

Dick Smiling at the small boy in his cape before closing it : nope this one’s all mine!

Meanwhile John Constantine who is present for this mission is freaked the fuck out. Because that kid with the flowing white hair and glowing freckles is definitely not human. And worse than that from what he can sense it’s pretty darn powerful to. He watches as all of his coworkers are working to get the boy out from hiding cooing over him.

Clark: he’s looking a lot better nightwing

Wally: Waite you already new about him?

Clark: yes the boy is nightwings child I’m guessing he only is just now joining the team

Diana: what’s your name little one?

Danny poking his head out of the cape: phantom my name is phantom

Fuck why was that name familiar? Oh shit that’s right John had heard rumors of the new ghost king and a prince milling around the infinite realms this must be the little ghost prince. How the fuck did dick end up with him? Waite sups said that was dicks kid, hold did dick?

John: ha Oh my god! You crazy fucker you fucked the ghosts king!

#danny phantom #dc x dp #danny fenton #dp x dc #dp #phandom #ghost king danny #i write some times #dpxdc #ms&sc #dc x dp prompt #you can use it as one I don’t care #this will not be continued so feel free to steal the idea #I just want Danny to hide under his papas cape #dick is very confused #over what John siad #and now the league is side eyeing him #Wally ask Danny who his mom is and he just says ‘dead’#this dose not help dick trying to explain he did not fuck the god of the dead #eventually they ask Danny if he knows who the king is #and he just says ‘Yhea me!’ and the crown of fire just appears over his head #he smiles and shows of his little baby fangs #John is having a melt down #the league just thinks it makes him even cuter #Danny explains he’s only a prince now until he’s big enough #John has to explain that actually makes a lot of sense because the realms have been running them self for years #The whole team is now having a crisis because they realize that means Danny has died #Danny is surprisingly nonchalant about it #he turns human to show them he’s fine #Batman is desperately trying to get everyone back on track so they can get to the mission

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flawseer · 6 months

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Wings of Earth

"For Wings of Earth, search through the mud, for an egg the color of dragon blood."

This line from the Dragonet Prophecy is very funny to me, specifically because it refers to the color of dragon blood.

At face value, that makes sense. These kinds of eggs are relevant primarily to Mudwing culture, and it follows that they would call them "Blood Eggs", as they are the same color as the blood of their people, i.e. a deep red.

However, later we learn that this prophecy did not come from the impartial mouth of fate, rather it has been carefully engineered by the Nightwing elite circle to further their tribe's interests. With that biased origin in mind, note that they did not make reference to a "Blood Egg", which is the established Mudwing term for it, but rather opted to word it as "an egg the color of dragon blood".

Why do I think this is noteworthy? Well, by divorcing the subject from its Mudwing cultural roots like that, it becomes more of a general statement. It's saying "The egg is the color of dragon blood. Dragon blood is red." This statement is true for six of the seven Pyrrhian tribes. The sole exception are the Icewings- who happen to be ancient enemies of the Nightwing tribe -whose blood runs blue instead.

What this implies is that this prophecy was written in a way that covertly insults Icewings. It's insinuating they are not true dragons, i.e. their blood is not the appropriate color. That is on top of already overtly insulting them by not including an Icewing hatchling in the prophecy. As this prophecy is relevant to all the tribes on the continent, it ensures that every tribe will receive and accept this propaganda piece that insidiously proclaims Icewings as lesser beings, including the Icewings themselves.

Or that was the plan. In practice it went nowhere and its authors wound up shamed and humiliated. Whoops.

It is uncertain whether all this was intentional on Sutherland's part; I am likely putting way too much thought into a phrase that was just meant to sound good in a poem. But whenever I read this line, I picture Morrowseer, sitting alone in an empty cave with his writing scroll in front of him, smiling self-importantly while congratulating himself for sticking it to "those snow lizards in the north". Then he goes home and finds a note from his mate telling him she's gone out for the night and that he should de-frost himself some hot dogs in the sink.

And that picture is very funny to me.

#wings of fire #wof #dragon #flawseer talk #wof headcanon #wof nightwing #wof icewing

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im-totally-not-an-alien-2 · 1 year

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Vlad accidentally outed both of them publicly and Danny was forced to flee into the Ghost Zone while his former rogues destroy the portals and leave Vlad stranded in the mess he made.

Clockwork shows up only to dramatically tell Danny that "This chapter of your life has ended. It is time for you to begin anew." He also warned Danny that he would no longer be able to help him in the new world he would be inhabitanting and wished him luck.

Luck was something he clearly did not receive since he landed smack in the middle of Gotham.

Through a bright green portal.

At night.

As a very glowy Phantom.

In the middle of a very busy road.

People were staring at him from inside thier cars, some were trying to put thier cars in reverse to quietly get away some were filming him with thier phones or trying at least trying to. He is a ghost after all.

Some melodramatic person screamed and suddenly there was some type of demon swooping down to Phantom. It was at this point that Danny thought, Screw this. I'm out. Before turning invisible and flying away.

Except...the demon was following him. Black wings like a bat were flared as the thing followed Danny across the city. It took almost an hour to lose its trail and hes certain the only reason he managed to do that was by leading the thing into the sewers and phasing back up above ground while he was out of sight.

Danny took this opportunity to invisibly phase into a boarded up shop and transform from Phantom to Fenton then phase out invisibly and bolt. He needed to be more careful of cameras this time around. Amity may not have had a bunch but this city was infested with them. After a few failed mugging attempts from some people on the streets he thinks he knows why.

He spent his entire day exploring Gotham and swiping food. He felt bad about it but with no legal identity and no way to earn money in a non-criminal way he was kinda tight on options. Eventually dusk came and, not knowing if that bat demon thing could sense him or if it liked to snack on lost little ghosties, he began somewhat frantically looking for somewhere to hide for the night.

Danny was really, really good at finding hiding spots. Usually this wouldn't be a problem. The opposite really. But here it was.

Turns out most of the great hiding places Danny found (abandoned theaters, insides of clocktowers, the 13th floor of some wierd company towers that he heard were unused and had no way to access) they were already occupied. Either by thier wierd Owl cult, this wierd Robin cult or this wierd Bat cult, Danny has decided to avoid the heck out of the bat cult cause he was 90% certain the thing that chased him on his first night here was the bat monster they worshiped.

Also, that bird cult member in the back and blue kept trying to "adopt him" which he was pretty sure meant inducting into the cult, which is a solid no from him.

Appearently him just finding all of thier hideouts is either horrifying or just embarrassing to the members of the cults. One time he popped into another "bird nest" and came face to mask with Red Robin and Nightwing around when this first started. Everyone just stared at eachother in shock for a solid five seconds before RR began reaching for something and Danny bolted back the way he came (which weirdly enough was though a cabinet door)

RR inspected the dog sized hole in the back of the cabinet that the kid must have come through and realized it lead through the walls. Chilling.

In Dannys defence, his phone was left behind and he didn't even think about reading the newspaper past learning the current date. Still on him, but meh.

#dp x dc #fanfiction prompts #prompts #danny fenton #danny phantom #batman #tim drake #red robin #Nightwing #dick grayson #imagine the look on bruces face when he finds out this kid thought he was gonna eat him #or when he finds out the kid thinks they cultists

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clockwayswrites · 7 months

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Like Betta Fish Do Part 26

WC 1478, Masterpost CW: Canon typical violence, Aftermath of torture

“It’s Danny. They took Danny,” Babs murmured into the comms.

Dick’s heart skipped a beat.

“Basement or subfloor,” she continued, passing the information along to those of them who had been able to slip away in the chaos.

Dick burst out into the roof, still tugging up one of the hidden zippers on his uniform. He flung himself off the roof without hesitation. “I saw Danny twenty ago. They can’t have taken him far.”

“Twelve,” Cass chimed in.

Twelve was even better.

“Oh God, I just saw the timer,” Babs whispered. “We don’t have—”

“Hey, fish,” Jason’s voice came across the line.

Dick almost missed his grapple as he rushed lower to try and see any suspicious vehicles.

“Tim, city power—”

“Working on it,” Tim ground out, cutting Babs off in a way he normally wouldn’t.

“Forty-five seconds!”

“I can’t do it in that! I’m trying—”

A hitched breath. “I do. I'm sorry.”

Then screaming.

The lights flared and then cut out in one of the smaller office buildings crouched in Wayne Enterprises’ shadow.

Dick twisted and flew towards it. Another black shadow joined him in flight.

The comms were painfully quiet and then filled with a burst of chatter. Dick reached up and brushed his off as he landed on top of a cliché white van with a purposeful thump. Before the blue faced goon had even finished turning towards the noise he was unconscious.

Silently, efficiently, Cass and him worked through henchmen, dodging guns and tasers. That had to be how they took Danny. Dick remembered how the other froze up being shocked with his escrima sticks. Remembered how—

Now Danny had been electrocuted again.

Of all the ways for Danny to die…

Dick left Cass to finish off the room and stalked deeper into the basement. He didn’t try to be quiet. He wanted them to find him. He wanted them to try and stop him. They had killed Danny, the guy who had made Jason so happy, who stood up to Nightwing, who smiled and laughed and tried so hard to live!

Who made his little wing want to live.

Dick wanted them to try and stop him.

He slammed open another door. The room had barely any light from the squat narrow windows.

A chair was in the center of the room.

A body was in it.

Dick choked out a name. “Danny—”

And then Danny moved.

“Danny?!” The voice sounded small, choked off, but Danny knew it.

No, villains were involved, that meant it was the one with wings instead.

“Heeey Nightwing,” Danny said. He tried to raise his head to look at the other, but it just lolled back on his weak neck. He was left blinking up at the ceiling. All of him felt like jelly. “I have had… a shockingly bad night. Zero out of ten, would not recommend.”

Nightwing ran across the floor of the warehouse, footsteps loud in the flooded water. “Holy shit Danny, how are you alive?”

“Mmm been killed once by electricity before, ‘m immune now.”

“Yeah, no, Danfish” Nightwing said. His voice and hands both shook as he undid the ropes binding Danny’s wrists. “Pretty sure that’s not how that works.”

“Is too.”

“Is not.”

“Is with me,” Danny slurred. He tried, desperately, to stay sitting upright when the ropes around his chest were undone, but he was still in that jelly state and slumped forward into Nightwing who, thankfully, caught him. “Hey, think I’m gonna get a new set of Lichtenberg scars out of this?”

The arms around him tightened almost painfully before they relaxed. “Don’t know little fish. Guess we’ll have to see at the hospital.”

“No!” Danny tried to struggle against Nightwing as fear gripped him. “No hospitals.”

“Danny. You were just electrocuted— very publicly electrocuted, we have to get you checked out.”

Danny clung to Nightwing. “Nooo… they’ll know and they’ll want to cut me open and that can’t happen—”

“Danny, hey, it’s okay, we won’t let anyone do that to you,” Nightwing soothed. He held Danny’s face in between his hands, making Danny look at him. “We won’t let anyone else hurt you tonight. How about we call in a doctor we trust to the hospital. Is that okay?”

“They won’t tell?”

“Never. She’s always looked out for us, all of us. She’s patched us all up plenty, even Red Hood. Please? We’ll all worry otherwise and there will be more questions.”

Danny nodded, feebly, in the other’s grip. “Okay. Okay, I’ll go if she’s the one. Get the… the case, the ecto.”

He didn’t want anyone to worry about him. Fuck, had he scared them? He bet he had. He’d been a little scared himself. He didn’t want to be dead dead yet.

Things were just getting good.

“I have him,” Danny heard Nightwing say as the other man scooped him up. He pressed his ear to the chest, relaxing at the rumble of the words. “I have him and he’s alive.”

Two Face was saying something. Laughing at him, applauding him. Jason couldn’t hear it. He couldn’t hear anything but Danny’s screaming.

The TV was nothing but static.

Jason was aware, distantly, of the bomb being pulled off the hostages. Of Bruce having to hold back Damian from leaping at Two Face. Of the mayor pulling Bruce back from doing the same. Of another window shattering as Red Robin came through and the Bats descended on the henchmen scattered throughout the room.

Jason could still hear Danny screaming.

Screaming and static.

He lunged.

He was on Two Face before anyone could stop him. The man’s head hit the ground with a sickening thunk. Jason didn’t care. He started punching. He felt the delicate bone under that shocked yellow eye give under his fist. He swung again and again. Two Face clawed at Jason, but he didn’t stop— not until Bruce pulled Jason off the rogue and into his arms.

Jason curled into the hold like he was fourteen and small again. He clung to Bruce with cracked and bleeding knuckles and sobbed. He needed to stop, to pull himself together, to…

“…need to find him. Bruce, I need to find him!”

“Maybe we should let the others,” Bruce murmured. He ran a hand through Jason’s hair.

“No, I need to—” Oh. Bruce thought Danny had to be dead. He could be. He might be. But there was a chance that he wasn’t. And Jason’t couldn’t— “I need to.”

Bruce was silent before he sighed, softly. “Alright, Jaylad, let’s—”

The chatter in their comms that Jason hadn’t even been listening to. Hadn’t been able to listen to, went silent.

“Repeat?” It was Cass who asked, her voice small and demanding.

Barbara reached over and passed him her phone, using it as a cover for what they heard next.

“I have Danny,” Dick said. “I have Danny and he’s alive.”

“Damian, stay with Barbara,” Bruce ordered, already running.

Bruce and Jason took off through the aftermath of the hostage situation, dodging the crowd and downed goons, police and reporters.

“Nightwing,” Bruce urged into the comms.

“He’s alive and conscious but very out of it,” Dick said and continued before there could be any more questions. “Agent A, we need the doctor at the hospital. Call her and then head there yourself. You need to bring a case from inside the Cave. It’s in with the old training equipment, behind the dummies. The case is metal with a green ghost drawn on top.”

The ectoshots. Dick had remembered the ectoshots.

“Right away,” Alfred’s cool tone came across the comms.

“Nightwing,” Bruce said again.

“Not now. Just… fuck, B, he’s alive,” Dick said. Jason could hear the near heartbreak in his brother’s voice. The growing sound of ambulance sirens couldn’t cover it. “Just get here. The Jasper building.”

Jason’s slick dress shoes skidded on the damp concrete as they made it out the back door of the building. The flashing lights were already visible. The fog drenched buildings seemed to glow with them. Danny was so close and they still had failed him.

A police officer stepped forward to stop them as they came around a corner. Bruce intercepted the bracing arm and pushed it back; it gave Jason enough room to rush past and towards the ambulance. Paramedics and police were crowded around it. Nightwing was standing guard.

Jason shoved past them all.

Danny.

He slid to his knees and clutched at Danny where the other was sat on the back of the ambulance.

“Danny.”

“Hey, dead boy. I guess… I guess you get to keep your nickname still. Not mine yet,” Danny rasped behind the oxygen mask.

Jason choked out a laugh against his will. He buried face against Danny’s neck and squeezed the other tighter. He didn’t manage to hold back his tears. “Yeah, guess I do, fish.”

---

AN: *jazz hands* See! It's going to be fiiiiiiiiiiine.

I no longer tag, you can subscribe to the masterpost instead!

#dp x dc #dead on main #like betta fish do

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ninoxwof · 5 months

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Deathbringer the Nightwing

[Image ID: A digital drawing of a nightwing dragon named Deathbringer. He's black with a grey underbelly and wings that transition from night blue to dawn yellow. He has raccoon mask like markings on his face, and a gray bat nose with three branches. His horns are white like his star fleck markings and tilt downward. He has a white crescent like chest marking. His spines that flow from his head to his tail are the same gray color as his underbelly. On his clothing alt he has a cold gray cloth that wraps around his neck and leather bracers on his arms. He's standing, twirling one of his throwing disks in one hand and looking at it smugly. /.End ID]

#wof deathbringer #wof #wings of fire #wof art #dragon #nightwing #the hidden kingdom #the dark secret #winglets #winter turning

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otiksimr · 3 months

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Secretkeeper Drabble

Word count: 881

There’s probably a lot of mistakes in this wa…

——————————————————————————

Secretkeeper had her doubts when she saw the egg, silver and glittery under the moonlight.

Maybe it was just an odd large stone, or maybe it was a rainwing egg that had rolled its way out of its nest. By all accounts she's never actually seen a rainwing egg before, but they had to be bright, right? She had scrounged around the area where she remembered leaving her egg in, no dark, sad gray egg to be found. All paths lead to this shiny silver thing being hers unless a predator snatched the real egg up or some dumb rainwing mistook hers for its own.

And her own instincts have been rather sure that it was hers, or it had just decided that any remotely egg shaped thing was something worth looking after. She had thoughts of this being a mistake, sure she wanted her child to stay away from all the brainwashing back at the island and stay even farther away from the constant looming threat of the volcano. But even so at least Secretkeeper would have the insurance of other nightwings, how at the very least the hatchling in some way would be safe from the outside world. There were at least no predators, or any tribes lingering around at the island.

And the child would have other nightwings there to look after them, they could have friends there. They wouldn’t be lonely.

Secretkeeper pondered and pondered as she held the ‘egg’ in her talons, staring down at it as she was weighing her options. Whether or not she should just keep it here or fly back to the volcano with it, tell everyone the truth and admit to all the lies she had told them. Admit that all the times she went to scavenge around the rainforest she’s actually been checking up on her egg.

But today was the day it would hatch. It wouldn’t be safe to fly around with an egg about to burst open at any second. But it also wouldn’t be safe to leave a little hatchling to be out on their own in a dangerous forest with beasts and other tribe dragons. Especially those little scavengers wrangling about. But they also would be fed all the time with all the little animals and fruit just lying around. They wouldn’t have to constantly worry about a volcano exploding at any second, they wouldn’t have to breathe in smoke for their entire lives. And if they hid well enough they wouldn’t have to worry about any animals snatching them.

The rainforest was far colder and likely more dangerous than the volcano but at least there were ways to work around the danger, there was lava everywhere at the island, and the threat of eruption was constant.

Secretkeeper’s thoughts had been interrupted as she felt the egg move in her talons, cracks forming as slowly but surely the shell split apart. She stared at it, wide eyed and filled with wonder. She’s been to hatchings before, but this one. This was hers.

As it continued to shake and break apart, chirps came out from it. Quiet, small little noises. As the shell continued to crack all around, the little hatchling inside fighting their way out. Secretkeeper continued to stare as the egg hatched in her talons, the cracks continuing to form around the side of the egg.

Until eventually, a little hatchling made its- her way out.

Secretkeeper has seen hatchlings before. They were always the color of rock or smoke, sometimes even lava. Various shades of gray with some red here and there. But out of all those hatchlings, out of all the dragonets of the tribe. She can't think of one that’s had even a single star on them.

Her little hatchling, dark scaled and round, tiny little wings that would flap in earnest as she squeaked up at Secretkeeper. Even with how dark her scales were they had swirls of color in them, most noticeably hues of greens and blues, not unlike a galaxy. Actually, as Secretkeeper glances up at the sky and back down at her hatchling, they looked quite alike. It was as if a piece of the night sky had fallen down.

And the stars, she harbored so many of them. Little specks of silver all across her body. With as much as she’s seen and known, stars were only present on nightwings who’ve ventured outside of the volcano frequently like the ones tasked with surveying the rainforest. But even then, none of them ever had this many. The stars they had were always sparse, few to the point where they would be easy to count in quick succession.

But her little one had so many, a freshly hatched dragonet with so many stars, it was almost mesmerizing to look at. A little galaxy in her talons.

Her little Moon.

#I’m not very good at writing in character #my… art??#My writing #writing #wings of fire #wof #wof secretkeeper #secretkeeper #wof moonwatcher #moonwatcher #I don’t know how to tag this #drabble #Kos writes #that tag shall never be used again :)

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thesillywritersalley · 9 months

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A Birthday

~ Jason Todd x GN!Reader ~

442 words, pure fluff, a quick fic for the lovely's birthday

A.N. - thought I'd write something to celebrate Jason's birthday! No particular AU or run in mind, but it is running with Red Hood being a part of the Batfam, not the Outlaws or his own gang <3

August 15th - 11:54PM

The Red Hood, one of Gotham’s famous–and their most infamous–vigilante, crept quietly through his dark apartment. It was time for patrol, and time for his night to really begin. Slipping out of the window to the fire escape, he crept up to the roof of his home.

Where he was promptly greeted by a grumpy-looking acrobat in black and blue, arms crossed over his chest.

“Little Wing, what the hell are you doing?” “Going to my nightly Shakespeare reading, what the hell do you think I’m doing, Dick!” He responded sarcastically, not amused with the tone of his older brother. “Aren’t you supposed to be in Bludhaven, why are you spending your night on my rooftop?” Red Hood questioned as he pulled his namesake over his head, cloaking his black hair in a sheath of red fabric.

“I came back to take your shift tonight, Jay. You’re not on patrol, go enjoy the break with… you know who.” Nightwing winked, to which Jason stiffened.

He hesitated as he began his descent to the window he had shut behind him just a moment previous. As his older brother watched his cloaked head disappear below the edge of the roof, Dick heard the unmistakable.

“Thanks, Dick.”

August 15th - 11:58 PM

He shut the window behind him, and locked it with a quiet click. He removed his metal mask, placing it back in its place, a secret closet behind a false wall. The vigilante began to hide away the rest of his costume with it, stopping when he heard the footsteps behind him.

“Jason?” A sleep-ridden voice asked.

Hands still grasping his hood, he turned toward the familiar voice.

“You’re going out? Tonight?” They looked at him, tone almost calling disappointment into the air.

“No- I mean I was, but not anymore.” He smiled at them, scarred face warming.

They rushed to embrace him, ignoring the cold of the metal body armor against them. Gloved hands wrapped around them, one gently rubbing their back. The two stood, embraced as one in the dark of their apartment for a quiet moment. A song, vague and muffled, began to ring from their bedroom, causing Jason to stiffen.

“What the hell…” he muttered, releasing them to investigate.

“Oh! That’s my phone- sorry for the scare, hun.” They grabbed his still-gloved hand as they spoke, stopping the man from getting too far away.

August 16th - 12:00 AM

They planted a kiss on his cheek, that quiet alarm still flowing through the house.

“Happy birthday, Jason. I love you.”

He kissed them this time, pulling his partner close.

“I love you, sweetheart. Thank you.”

#jason todd x reader #red hood x reader #jason todd fanfiction #jason todd fluff #happy birthday jason todd

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ka1te-cat · 10 days

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Some WoF headcanons! (Pt. 1: Pyrrhian Dragons)

(Some of these ideas are mine, and some of these I’ve seen from others).

MudWings

Their colours can be browns, orangey-brown, greenish-brown, grey-brown, amber, jade green, and even brown-black.

Some MudWings can have crocodile-like snouts that are thinner and longer than regular MudWing snouts.

They have multiple rows of spikes along their back (like alligators and crocodiles).

Sometimes they can have webbed talons like SeaWings.

Due to their love of food, they’re one of the best chefs in the continent. They also love using lots of herbs and spices in their dishes.

MudWing royalty will wear bone/teeth jewelry, jewel piercings, cow pelt capes, flower crowns, and even antler crowns from deer, elk, or moose.

MudWings have tusks that they use to dig up plants and fight for mates.

Low class MudWings that struggle to make regular MudWing homes will dig undergroud or through the sides of cliffs/hills to make their homes.

SeaWings

They’re some of the biggest gossips in the continent and love to tell tall tales.

SeaWing families are very affectionate, and some parents are known to spoil their dragonets (which other tribes find weird).

Besides IceWings and SkyWings, SeaWings have the biggest hierarchical difference between lower and higher class dragons.

SeaWings that live near the surface/in reefs are more vibrant and have less need for Aquatic markings outside of communication (due to how bright their environment is). They also have weaker night vision.

Open ocean SeaWings look the most like an average SeaWing, and get bigger the deeper they live.

Deep-sea SeaWings are giant, and come in dark blues, navys, blacks, and even shades of red. They have the strongest night vision, and use Aquatic the most.

SeaWings have fish-like tails and sails along their wings and upper tail to help with navigation.

Due to them living primarily in the ocean, their wings are the least developed, and SeaWing dragonets fly much later than other dragon tribes.

SandWings

SandWings have the second hottest firebreath, only being beaten by SkyWings.

SandWing families are very distant, and many SandWing dragonets are orphaned shortly after hatching.

They have the best heat tolerance, and some SandWings can have fire resistance like blood-egg MudWings.

SandWings can have rattles near the end of their tail (right before their tail barb), and shake it when intimidated or angry.

They’re the most musical tribe, and have travelling bards (similar to IceWings).

Alongside SkyWings and SeaWings, they’re expert jewellers, and have very good reviews from even queens who buy their products.

SandWings are the most opposed to pets, and consider them a waste of space and resources. Thus, any dragon with a pet will most likely have their pet eaten or accidentally killed.

Many SandWings will have underground burrows to stay cool during the day, and will hunt in the evening/at night to avoid the intense sun.

SkyWings

SkyWings shed their scales the most of any tribe, and some dragons or even humans will collect the scales for jewelry or decorations.

SkyWings often have windchimes outside their home, and consider elegant designs and complex sound systems to be more desirable.

They have a very good tolerance to altitude sickness.

The hotter the SkyWing’s fire is, the lighter their scales are (like actual fire (I also love the idea that some SkyWings have blue or white scales due to how hot their fire is)).

They have the best eyesight, but have terrible night vision.

SkyWing eggs are more durable than other eggs from different tribes, and can even survive small falls from their nests (firescale eggs are more fragile though).

Their overall endurance is crazy good, and pride themselves on how well they can fly/fight.

SkyWings and water don’t mix whatsoever. They act like housecats when forced to go in water.

NightWings

Besides mind reading and future sight, NightWings born under new moons can have telepathy or past sight.

They’re super big on accessories, and often have lots of pouches and sacs filled with their favourite items.

A rare condition that NightWings can develop is something called Vampirism. Dragons with this condition crave blood and are super sensitive to sunlight (so they’re basically vampires).

NightWings born with albinism are often cast off by their parents or even killed due to being “impure” or “not fit for living”.

They have the weakest firebreath due to them spending the least amount of time under the sun.

NightWing scales under the sun are actually very vibrant, and shine in many different colours when in the right condition.

NightWings overheat often due to their scales attracting sunlight.

They have an interesting relationship with humans, and wish to study them more often and learn from them.

IceWings

Similar to NightWings, their scales are colourful under the sunlight.

They are the second best swimmers and can hold their breath for up to an hour.

Their horns can sometimes be segmented (like cervidae), and can be shed or broken off during spring and summer.

IceWings are very pompous and despise getting dirty.

They celebrate the winter solstice and love to have parties whenever something eventful happens.

IceWing royalty wear animal hides, gemstone jewelry, bone necklaces/bracelets, and shell jewelry.

The equivalent to firescales in IceWings is frostscales, where instead of burning things, they freeze things. And like fireless twins, frostless twins exist, and have a lower life expectancy due to them having poor cold resistance.

IceWings make igloos for non-IceWings to help them stay warm when staying in the IceWing kingdom.

RainWings (my favourite tribe!)

They are expert dancers and love to perform for others.

RainWings omnivores exist, but are more uncommon (these usually exist when the RainWing is a hybrid).

They are the best medics, and often have travelling medics that go around spreading info about medical herbs and treatments.

RainWings often become biologists due to how diverse their territory is, and have the most extensive knowledge about animals and plants.

Besides sloths, RainWings often own tropical birds, frogs, insects, and even wild cats (like jaguars and panthers).

RainWings are the second worst flyers, and are more used to gliding than full on flying.

Some RainWings have extendable tongues that they use to grab stuff with (like chameleons)

RainWings have sticky pads on their talons that are used to grip surfaces better (like geckos).

#wof headcanon #wof #mudwing #seawing #sandwing #skywing #nightwing #icewing #rainwing

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the-silver-peahen-residence · 2 years

Note

"Hey you two. Miss me?" Red Robin grins at Nightwing and Red Hood.

(Red Robin, aka Tim Drake, from Batman Unlimited. I've been thinking of adding him, maybe. I know Red Hood isn't in the Batman Unlimited verse, which is three movies. Nightwing's in it, with a cool design)

The two looks hearing the familiar tone to look. "No way, Red Robin? What are you-"

"Well, this is something...Hello again Tim.." Dick said with arms crossed with Jason looking.

((....He was my favorite character from Batman Unlimited. You would do wonderful as him. <3))

Silver butterfly mun/Peahen mom

#OOC and IC #mun and muse answered #ask answered #muse answered #mun answered #silver roses #scattered silver rose petals #peacock and peahen feathers #curious peahen and peacock #silver butterfly mun #peahen mom #the mansion owner #jason todd #red hood/red assassin of the night #dick grayson #nightwing/blue wings of the night #within-the-resort

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puzzled-pegasus · 7 months

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Wof Tribe Headcanons

IceWings have lots of variety in the shapes of their horns. They can be straight, curved, looped like a ram's, or branched like antlers.

IceWings can have gray or green eyes as well as blue.

Somewhat of a given but IceWings have blue gums. I noticed this while drawing one with bared teeth lol

SeaWings have a coating of slime on their scales to help them glide through the water, like a fish. Because of this, they always feel wet to the touch.

More of a redesign than a headcanon but I feel like SandWings should be able to have a gene for rattle tails instead of barbed. Additionally, they should have mouth venom like a NightWing.

SkyWings are particularly closely related to RainWings and can change color very slightly between shades of red, orange, or pink.

Solid color dragons are boring af so guess what! They can have markings! Stripes, tails of different shades, spots, speckles, freckles, face stars, muzzles, blazes, tail tips.

Many MudWings have green mixed in with their scales to blend in to more mossy or algae filled swamp land. They can also have green or yellow eyes as well as brown.

SkyWings have a holiday like Halloween, where they carve gourd lanterns and make sweets and whatnot and the high status ones paint their faces and wear costumes because it's the night where the spirits can come down from the sky and cause Mayhem and I'm not sure what other traditions it would entail but the war and Queen Scarlet and all that kinda made it not fun for a while so they stopped celebrating as much but Ruby is bringing back the Fun and doing pair costumes with Cliff

SandWings grow marijuana

NightWings can have silver freckles

The only tribes that have SLIT PUPILS should be SeaWings and NightWings because SeaWings have good night vision and NightWings also should, as they are in fact up at night.

This fact in mind, NightWings should 100 percent have LIGHT eye colors because LIGHT eye colors reflect more light so one can SEE BETTER AT NIGHT. These colors should include yellow, orange, green, and blue, maybe purple because they're all mystical. Not black eyes like are described on Darkstalker.

SandWings are often superstitious and things like magicicans, psychics, witchcraft, onstage shows are common jobs. It was probably originally an idea to trick people into paying them for lying, but it caught on and now many people believe it. Storytelling is also a common job.

NightWing wings have sort of feathery edges like an owl, allowing for near silent flight at night.

Falconry is common in SkyWings because birds of prey are the only pet they can have follow them and be even close to keeping up with them in the sky.

I've probably said this before but uh?? Where's our tribe flags??? They need flags and symbols and stuff??

RainWings have flat molars because they eat more fruit than any other tribe and have for thousands of years

SilkWings can have fuzz like moths! They can have patches of it, or a line down their back, or a tail tuft, or be completely covered!

SeaWings can have barbels like catfish. This makes them especially useful at hunting for shellfish. SeaWings and SandWings also have heat sensors.

SandWings can taste the air like a snake. Their tongues flick out whenever they are intrigued. They have a bit of a lisp because their tongues are unusually shaped.

#wings of fire headcanons #wof tribe headcanons

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writing-till-i-am-dead · 20 days

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Kinkajou’s Trauma

Kinkajou felt herself tossing and turning in her sleep. Another restless night. She was panting and shaking.

“Please. Let me go!” she cried out. She tried to press herself against the wall, to make herself small.

One of the Nightwings rolled their eyes. “Why did they take the gag off of her? Just because her venom’s not strong doesn’t mean I wanna hear her talk.”

The other Nightwing slashed his tail and laughed. “Don’t worry, Dawnsight. We won’t have to be the ones who deal with her annoying screams. We’ve got a new little dragonet who’s going to be helping us with our experiments.”

“Oh? And who might that be?”

Kinkajou was shaking like a leaf, blood dripping into her eyes, tinting everything red.

The one who walked in..

No..

No!

“Moonwatcher!”

Kinkajou jolted out of her hammock and felt to the floor with a thud.

“Just a nightmare..” she whispered to herself.

Moonwatcher, from her bed, jumped at the noise.

“Huh, Kinkajou? Wuz goin’ on?” she exclaimed. She rubbed her eyes and looked at Kinkajou.

“Kinkajou? Hey, what the matter? You’re trembling like a scared sloth.”

“Oh, ya.. had a.. um..” she attempted to stand up, stretching out the wing that she landed on when she fell. “I’m fine. Really.. don’t worry..”

Moonwatcher gave her that look. That look that said ‘I don’t need mind reading to tell that something is wrong.’

Kinkajou sighed and fidgeted with her pouch of skyfire. This wasn’t the first night this has happened.

“Ok..” she said with a sigh and climbed back into her hammock. “Look, these past few nights have been… hard. Now that we’re at peace officially, since Darkstalker was defeated and all, I actually have a chance for restful nights. Yet.. my nightmares.. they..”

Moon saw the way she began to shake again. She extended a talon to her and Kinkajou took it gratefully, squeezing it tightly.

“I have dream of everyone I know, dying around me..” she looked over at Carnelian’s old sleeping spot. She tightly closed her eyes, remembering watching her Rainwing brethren being tortured and slowly dying, and a deep sense of sadness washed through her, her scales painting to shades of stormy gray and full blue.

“And.. you..”

Moon seemed surprised. “Me?”

“The Nightwings.. they.. the things they did..” Her free talon went up to the side of her neck and traced over one of her many scars. “Moon, I know you were never part of that, but when I see you..”

Moon’s face flashed to that one awful Nightwing. Big and burly, who would look at Kinkajou through the other side of glass with contempt. Morrowseer

She shook her head to clear away the image. Moon wasn’t Morrowseer. She just.. looked a bit like him. But that’s just her brain playing tricks on her.

Moon looked at her with big, green, thoughtful eyes, listening to her every word.

Kinkajou took a deep breath. “I know I should be over it now. I know I’m safe now and that you never.. yknow. You were never part of all that! I shouldn’t be scared of you! You did nothing wrong!”

Moon’s brow furrowed and her wings reached out to brush against Kinkajou’s. “No. Kinkajou, it’s ok to acknowledge and share these thoughts. That trauma..” she looked away for a moment. “It doesn’t just go away overnight. Sometimes you need to think on them, sit with them, accept them.” She tightly closed her eyes. “I’ve learned that the hard way.”

“Moons what happened with Darkstalker wasn’t your..”

Moon raised a talon to silence her. “No. This isn’t about me, Kinkajou. I understand if my presence may still be unnerving for you. We’ve been through a lot together, but it doesn’t change the fact that I still have a similar face to those horrible dragons who hurt you.. I just.. I just hope..” she rested her head on Kinkajou’s hammock as she sat on the floor below it, “that after everything we’ve been through you know you can trust me..”

Kinkajou’s eyes softened and she twined her tail with Moonwatcher’s. “Of course I do..”

The two exchanged soft looks and smiled. Kinkajou closed her eyes and, with Moonwatcher near her, fell asleep for, perhaps, finally, a peaceful night of sleep.

Divider by @saradika

#Did this just turn into a Moonjou oneshot-?#Kinkajou #kinkajou wof #kinkajou wings of fire #Wings of fire #Wof #fanfic #Oneshot #moonwatcher #wof moonwatcher #WoF moon #Moonjou #fanfic writing #Writing

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espion7971 · 15 days

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NightWing tribe sheet!

hey guys, sorry this one took a little bit. nightwings have a lot going on. also, i talked about both the old night kingdom and the volcanic island, but i didn't really mention their new rainforest setup, bc i didn't want this to be *too* long. so sorry that there isnt anything regarding that lol

Physical Appearance + Traits

-NightWings are the only fully nocturnal tribe, going to sleep a bit after dawn and rising at sunset. Their colors are dark, not only making them invisible in the shadows but also letting them fly at night without standing out. The undersides of their wings are scattered with starlike scales and rich coloration that perfectly resembles a night sky. Their night vision is almost perfect, and their eyes flash in direct light not unlike nocturnal mammals like cats.

-NightWing colors are usually mixed with green, blue, purple, or some combination of these. Some are nearly pitch black, and others are more gray. Their beaklike snout, horns, and spines are usually the same light silver as their scales, but sometimes these can be black too.

-Healthy NightWings are often somewhat large and even bulky, with thick tails and strong legs. After their retreat to the volcano, they were thought for some time to be scrawny and have a permanent dull roughness to their scales, but after a few generations in the rainforest they began to again be sleek and strong.

-The three moons are not only extremely important to NightWing culture and imagery, but also have a physical effect on them. Named Oracle, Perception, and Imperial, each full moon can grant a different ability. A NightWing hatched under a full Oracle will have limited prophecy abilities, and Perception will grant mind reading. Imperial added to either of these will make them stronger. The only thing that is still uncertain is whether Imperial alone has any effect. Some dragons insist it grants natural leadership abilities, but the only consistent observable effect it seems to have is a deep-rooted infatuation with the moons throughout the dragon’s life.

-Perception - mind reading - will also leave a silver teardrop-shaped scale in the corner of the dragon’s eyes. It will be reinforced with a silver circle beneath it if Imperial’s strength is applied. Oracle’s mark is more subtle, but seers’ eyes themselves will often be strikingly silver, and some have noted more clear constellations present in their wings.

-The strength of the power can often depend on how directly the dragonet was exposed to the light.

-The pattern of stars in the wings of NightWings are as unique as a human’s fingerprint. Sometimes, though, they resemble real constellations, and even when they don’t, there are seers who claim to be able to read a dragon’s fortune in their wings, similar to palm readers or even Zodiac theorists. Superstitious parents may have the wings of their dragonets analyzed by these seers. It’s very rare, but on occasion a dragon may be hatched with large, bright patches of clustered star scales, and these dragons are not only considered extremely attractive and desirable, but also may be said to be blessed by the stars themselves.

-Albino NightWings are extremely rare, but they are practically worshipped. One factor in the bad blood between NightWings and IceWings was the feeling from NightWings that IceWings’ pale coloration was a crude mimicry of the moons, and therefore impure and insulting.

Life Cycle:

-NightWing eggs are laid in small clutches, usually between two and four. They incubate on secure clifftops, carefully watched by parents, for 3-4 months, and hatch quite physically defenseless. They take longer to learn to walk and fly than any other tribe (with the exception of SeaWings, of course). NightWings believe this is a sign of superior intelligence, as their development goes to their minds first and their bodies second; it is, in fact, true that NightWings learn to speak and even read quite early compared to other tribes.

-NightWings live with their parents and siblings in family units. It isn’t uncommon for homes to be multi-generational, with grandparents or even great-grandparents to live in the same place as their descendents, as some dragons simply never choose to leave their unit. They also sometimes live with friends and other relatives. Some also choose to live alone.

-Despite how many NightWings sometimes choose to live together, they are actually not very socially dependent dragons. Some are more social than others, but much of their lives and work will be spent on their own, even though they live and sleep with other dragons. They are self-motivated and many are quiet and disinterested in conversation. They also tend to lean toward making friends outside their families rather than having the same parent and sibling bonds that some other tribes have.

-Dragonets spend much of their time, for several years, in school. NightWing schooling is very organized and thorough, and every dragonet is expected to attend. The vast majority of their socialization while they’re young is done in school.

Society + Culture:

-Even more so than SeaWings, NightWings have thousands of years of literature that they take enormous pride in; the main reason for their education system at all is their need to teach about their history and writings. Poetry and orchestral music are inventions of the Night kingdom, and they are beloved within the tribe. Their technology is on par with SkyWings, but instead of weaponry and armor, their focuses are on instruments, glasswork and even some scientific tools.

-Their society doesn’t rely much on rank and structure; some dragons may have higher status, usually based on wealth, but NightWings don’t have distinct ‘high-status’ and ‘low-status’ groups like other tribes might. They are valued based on ability and intelligence, and not so much by birthright. Mindreaders and seers are usually well-known and well-respected, though there is a subtle jealousy pointed toward them throughout their lives as a result.

-There was a time when NightWings would intentionally try to lay eggs that would hatch on full moons, especially double moons, hoping to have powerful offspring. However, many myths state that these dragonets would be cursed, and their gifts would somehow backfire; in these stories they often died, young and tragically. This practice was later discouraged and even considered taboo.

-This hasn’t stopped some morally ambiguous experiments from being carried out. Eggs about to hatch have been intentionally exposed to meteor showers, eclipses, blue moons, harvest moons, northern lights, and a number of other phenomena with the hopes of finding some new and mysterious powers. The records of the results have been lost to time.

-Architecture is another particular piece of pride for NightWings, and while the Night Kingdom still stood, it was a marvel to any dragons who visited. Their structures - schools, homes, even the kingdom - were carved directly out of the cliffs of their jagged land, and then carefully and lovingly sculpted over time; pillars and statues and high-vaulted ceilings with intricate detailing are almost reminiscent of ancient Rome.

-Even before their retreat to the volcanic island, NightWings were not very involved in the conflicts between other tribes. They were perfectly content in their region, and tended to think other tribes didn’t have much worth seeing anyway. Because they don’t usually bother themselves with fights like this, when they aren’t hunting, they tend to spend their time on things like art, writing, astronomy, and music, as these are highly valued in their society. Those who weren’t interested in these areas could also do limited military work, construction work, or work in service of their royalty as guards, hunters or servants.

-Once they lived on the island, though, survival trumped anything else. Food was scarce to non-existent, they lost the majority of their craft and literature, and some died outright from smoke inhalation toward the beginning. They carved rough tunnels into the cliffs with their own claws. They became hardier, but much less advanced. They also lost all knowledge regarding the stars and moons, including that of their own powers.

Diet:

Old Kingdom: Omnivorous. NightWings could make a wide variety of food and drinks, usually eating small animals, fruits and vegetables that they could grow or trade, and even some mushrooms. They had no qualms about eating them raw without preparation, if they just needed a quick meal, but they could mix and cook food to make a variety of meals.

Island: Carnivorous. They eat anything they can find, and rarely bother to do anything beyond cooking it, if even that. Very few plants grow on the volcano, and only the most desperately hungry dragons will eat it.

#wings of fire #wof art #wof headcanons #nightwings #my posts

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green-eyedfirework · 3 days

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Slade isn’t expecting visitors today, so he’s annoyed that the sound of footsteps interrupts his book. The curtains are drawn wide to let in the sunlight, and he doesn’t bother getting off the chair. As one of Talia’s best gladiators, he can get away with a lot more than anyone else. He’s earned enough to buy his freedom ten times over, and Talia knows that the only reason he’s here is because he wants to be here.

It’s in her best interests to keep him sweet. A lesson Ra’s never learned.

“Slade,” she calls out before she fully steps into view, wearing a low-cut dress typical of high class fashion and yet bristling with knives, “I’ve brought a gift.”

“I wasn’t aware I was expecting one,” Slade says, still in his seat. There are two guards with her in addition to her personal shadow, and they’re holding someone upright between them.

“This was one a long time in waiting,” Talia smiles, and beckons the guards forward. It takes a long time to recognize the stumbling figure between them—clad in the typical revealing silks of a bedslave, bandages wound around their torso and half across their face, ruffling dark hair. Their head is bowed, golden cuffs around their wrists, but it isn’t until Slade spots the blue brooch clipping the silks to the unassuming black collar that he realizes who this is.

Nightwing. Richard Grayson. Up until recently, one of the Arena’s favorite gladiators. And the man that killed Slade’s son.

He doesn’t realize he’s on his feet until Talia’s smile widens. He ignores her, and stares at Grayson. The man is gaunt where he was once gleaming, a golden young gladiator now gray and exhausted and faintly trembling. The outline of his collarbones is starkly visible, as are the dark shadows around his visible eye. Grayson lifts his head to meet Slade’s gaze, expression cool and blank, and there’s no fire in that startlingly blue eye.

He looks like someone walking to their executioner.

“And what’s the gift?” Slade asks sharply. He heard of Grayson’s loss weeks ago, a startling upset with one of Talia’s young gladiators, and the Arena had voted to spare him. He assumed that Talia would’ve used Grayson in one of the games she was always playing to catch Lord Wayne’s attention, not bring him here.

To the first person in the country who wanted to tear him apart.

Talia smiles, and gestures to Grayson. There’s a flicker of something in Grayson’s eye that fades to blankness. It isn’t quite resignation or quiet placidity. It’s a mask, and Slade’s itching to tear it off his face.

“He’s yours,” she says. For what? For a night, a day, a week, a fuck, a beating, a—“to do with whatever you wish. Keep him or kill him, I do not care. His fate is yours.”

Slade blinks. This time, the fracture across Grayson’s mask spreads wider before it’s suppressed. Before Slade can fully understand what’s going on, his cell door is opened and Grayson is none-too-gently shoved inside.

“Have fun,” Talia laughs, smirking at Grayson before she walks away, “Goodbye, Richard.”

Grayson doesn’t say a word. Soon, the guards and Talia are beyond hearing, and the heavy weight of the silence is the only thing there. Silence, and Slade staring at the single person he’s wanted to tear apart for years.

He takes a step forward. Grayson presses back against the bars, clearly trembling now, expression fighting to be blank but panic too hard to fully conceal. He’s trapped in a corner and there’s nowhere to go and Slade stalks forward with all the time in the world.

“Nothing to say?” Slade asks, because he’s been waiting for this moment for so long, stoking the fires of his vengeance year after year, waiting for Wayne to finally buckle and schedule a fight between them, and in his dreams, Nightwing turns to Icarus, the boy that flew too close to the sun. And Nightwing dies, red spilling across the sands.

Now it looks like the wax wings burned on the way off but didn’t manage to take him with it, and Grayson’s thinner than he usually is, lost muscle and new scars and no matter how fiercely he tries to manage his expression, there’s a brightness he can’t quite mimic.

“Is there anything to say?” Grayson asks, voice hoarse, “You’re going to kill me. I don’t have a speech for pretty last words.” Defiant but weary.

This is a pale imitation of the golden, gleaming young gladiator that raised bloody dual swords to the roar of an Arena, triumphant over his son’s corpse, and frustration abruptly washes over Slade.

“Aren’t you getting ahead of yourself?” Slade growls, and he’s close enough to wrap a hand around Grayson’s throat and yank him away from the bars. “Do you really think that I’ve been dreaming of killing you for years only to give you the mercy of a quick death?”

Grayson does attempt to defend himself, long-ingrained fighting instincts unable to let him truly surrender, no matter how much resignation he feigns, but Slade flings him at the floor to avoid the retaliatory swipe.

That Grayson falls is the first surprise. The man has preternatural grace. Slade quickly calculates that the bandages across his right eye are the culprit, as are whatever injuries he’s hiding, but the thought is pushed aside when Grayson hits the ground.

Because he screams, actually, open-mouthed, screams, voice cracking in a way that indicates precisely why it’s so hoarse, and immediately rolls over to curl up on his side, gasping and shaking and nearly clawing at the floor.

That isn’t a minor injury. That is—

Slade’s not an idiot, not a mindless brute tearing people apart because he knows nothing else, no matter how much the impression suits him. He used to be in the military, used to command, used to strategize, and he’s spent years watching lords and ladies play their games.

It’s a fact that Grayson displeased Talia in some way, she would’ve given him back to Wayne otherwise. Dropping him in Slade’s lap means Grayson’s only coming out of the cell as a bloody ruin. So Talia got her money’s worth, sold Grayson to everyone that’s wanted a piece of the charming young gladiator, until—until someone damaged him so badly that Talia wouldn’t even try putting him back together.

Slade grabs that ridiculous brooch and uses it to lift Grayson off the floor. Grayson’s struggles are weak, and they cut out with a choked sound when Slade drops him on the bed. Slade finds the nearest knife.

Grayson sees the light glinting off the blade, reflected in his too-wide blue eye, and squeezes that eye shut. Stops breathing too.

Slade carefully slides the knife under the bandages and slices them all free.

The outer layer comes unwrapped easily, the cloth wrapped around Grayson’s head to keep it in place. The second layer is more packed together, but comes undone with a few more cuts. It’s the third layer that’s plastered to Grayson’s skin, and Grayson starts making those quiet sounds again, as if he’s trying not to shout.

It comes off, tugging at every inch of Grayson’s skin, to reveal a brilliantly red slash extending from just below Grayson’s right cheekbone to disappear into his hairline. In its path lies an empty eye socket.

One visible blue eye stares at him, glimmering and wide.

When Slade places the knife right under it, he gets the first true glimpse of terror.

~#~

Grayson is sitting on the edge of the bed by the time Slade steps through the curtain, a book in one hand but clearly alert. Aware of how long gladiatorial training takes, aware that Slade is back too soon, wary and—

His entire face brightens when their visitor steps past Slade. Any thought Slade had of keeping himself between the two is thrown out the window when Grayson pushes himself upright and nearly throws himself at Hood with a cry of “Jaybird!”

Hood catches him and clutches him close, spilling a long string of half-choked apologies, and now Slade’s curiosity is burning. Hood is murmuring “sorry,” over and over and over again, and Grayson is shushing him, and there’s a familiarity there that Slade hadn’t expected. Sure, he knows that Hood was trained alongside Grayson, before he went out to a match he wasn’t prepared for and became Talia’s, but Hood’s bitterness for his former master and all Wayne’s gladiators is fairly well known.

Until now.

“It’s okay,” Grayson finally says loudly, squeezing Hood tightly in a hug, “It’s okay, Jay, it’s not your fault, and I’m fine, I’m okay.”

Well, that was a lie. Hood clearly knows it as well because he disentangles enough to look Grayson in the face—and blanches. “What happened?” he says quietly, cupping the side of Grayson’s face that’s still bandaged, “Your face—your eye—” Quick as a flash, Hood turns on Slade with a snarl, “What did you do to him, you bastard—”

“Jason, stop!” Grayson gets between them, his back to Slade, holding Hood’s shoulders, “Slade didn’t do anything to me, calm down.”

The light in Hood’s eyes is a little less manic when his gaze drops to Grayson. “If it wasn’t him, then who?” Hood snaps. Grayson doesn’t immediately answer. “Dick.”

Slade crosses his arms and waits. Grayson didn’t tell him the full story, but it’s easy—“Sionis,” Grayson exhales.

Enough to guess.

Hood’s face runs a full gamut of emotions in half a minute. “Talia’s blacklisted Roman,” Hood says slowly, “That because of you?”

Grayson makes a weak smile and shrugs, “Difficult to do business with a man that insists on destroying your things.”

“Fucking hell, Dick,” Hood curses roundly, “Why the fuck—you can’t—stop trying to save me!”

The last one comes out as a shout, and far too loud. Grayson’s pressed his lips in a thin line, Hood’s eyes are flickering, and the silence is heavy and tense.

Both of them flick a glance towards Slade. “Don’t stop on my account,” he says mildly, “This is the most entertainment I’ve gotten all month.”

“Can we get a moment?” Hood asks, on the verge of rudeness.

“You paid for a visit,” Slade points out, “Not privacy.”

Grayson steps smoothly in front before Hood can retort, and asks quietly, “Can we purchase privacy then?”

Slade flicks a glance at Hood, who’s nearly vibrating in place, and Grayson, tense and desperate, and the way their hands are locked together, firm and tight. He pushes off the wall and heads for the curtain, “Fine.”

“How much?” Hood calls out.

Slade smirks before he lets the curtain close behind him, “You get to find out.”

He ends up waiting outside the cell, absently sharpening a knife, hearing a low murmur too quiet to make out distinct words. At one point, Hood’s voice rises into a tirade about Grayson’s intelligence and common sense, but it’s quickly hushed. It’s close to the half hour when Hood comes stomping out.

“Well?” Hood crosses his arms, “What’s the price?”

Slade arches an eyebrow, “You’re not the one who has to pay.”

For a moment, he thinks Hood’s going to punch him. The younger gladiator squeezes his hands into fists and his glare is vicious enough to set something on fire. “If you hurt him—”

“What, Hood?” Slade cuts him off, “What will you do? You can’t stop me, and Talia won’t stop me, so explain to me how exactly you propose to protect him?” Hood is vibrating in place, a murderous statue. “If you threaten me again, I won’t be so obliging to the next deal you want to make.”

The paleness is from fury and fear both, and Hood keeps his mouth shut as he roughly stomps past Slade. Slade watches him go until his footsteps stop sounding, and then heads back inside.

Grayson is waiting for him, again sitting on the bed, hands crossed in his lap, gaze fixed on Slade. “What is the price?” he asks quietly. Evenly, for all that he’s tense and clearly scared.

“Answer some questions,” Slade says, taking the chair, “Honestly.”

Grayson looks suspicious. “What questions?”

“What did Hood mean when he told you to stop trying to save him?”

Grayson purses his lips but deflates, leaning back, clearly resigned. “It’s not really a secret,” he sighs, “I threw the match.”

It takes a second for Slade to comprehend. “You threw it,” he repeats, “You threw the match.”

Grayson shoots him a half-irritated look, “I wasn’t going to kill Jay.” Something crosses over his face, a flicker of the death that still hangs between them, the dead boy that Slade wants to avenge. “And I—I knew they wouldn’t vote for my death,” Grayson says quietly, “Jay—I couldn’t take that risk.”

On the surface of it, it makes sense—Grayson’s made a name for himself, been pretty and charming at every sponsor that flits his way, there’s no way they’d let him die without extracting their pound of flesh.

“And Sionis?” Slade asks.

At this, Grayson’s face twists. His gaze drops, and Slade doesn’t know if he’s doing it consciously, but his hair drifts over the bandages, as if to conceal it. “Sionis—has his preferences.”

“And Talia whores out the gladiators that aren’t doing well.”

Grayson’s expression twists further. “Unless she had reason to doubt his self-restraint,” he says quietly, and Slade can see it. Can see Grayson provoking Sionis until the man lashed out with a wound too egregious to ignore. Lashings, brutality, blood and pain? Fine, when it could all be concealed under shifting silks, and everyone wanted scars on a gladiator.

But a missing eye on one of the Arena’s prettiest warriors? No, even Talia al Ghul, with all her animosity, couldn’t ignore that that was a step too far.

“Regardless of whether or not it worked, you had to know she would kill you for it,” Slade says.

Grayson doesn’t look him in the eye when he responds, “Talia was clear on my eventual fate from the very first day.”

Slade blinks. With that interesting piece of information, Grayson shifts up the bed, until he can lean against the wall, and cracks open his book. He doesn’t say anything else.

#my snippets #sladick #gladiator au #mutilation #prisoner

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