Flashdrive

Heron S i e r r a ' s O C :  P l e a s e  d o  n o t  t a k e  o r  t a m p e r  w i t h  t h e  c o d e. T h a n k y o u !

pixel by Squirrel , ref by Heron

Flashdrive
 E x p r e s s y o u r s e l f
 * -| Canon =





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 Flashy is a small NightWing, and has to look up at most everyone she meets. Her eyes are large and blue, and sparkle with stars while her scales are dark with hints of navy blue. She has nicks in both ears, and small diamond earrings. Her spines are a light lavender. There are small silver specks near the tip of her tail.

But, the thing that dragons tend to notice the most is her almost dragonet-like appearance. Her face and elbows are rounded, and her tail is a bit short. At the end of it is a small diamond-shaped pouch-like organ that swirls in the colors of a galaxy.

Flashdrive holds herself proudly anyway, and has an aura of responsibility and is respectable. She is friendly and ready to help, but also a leader able to make tough decisions, and enforce them no matter what.

When she is angry, she is hard to think of as cute. Her eyes blaze, smoke pours from her nostrils, and her snarl is shrill and fierce. 

Start
Flashdrive was the dragonet of unremarkable parents, not expected to be anyone from the day she was born to the day she died.

When she opened her eyes that night, and felt the rough scalding talons on her sides, she knew the words for everything. That she could feel heat, that she should feel love, that she wanted to see sky and touch the moons. Her parents looked at her with some happiness, another dragonet.

But they already had a cave full of squabbling dragonets who demanded attention and hurt each other trying to get it. It didn't matter how beautiful she was, she was ignored.

As the smoke whispered softly into her ears and rushed past her face, they picked her up. She yelped helplessly, as she looked into the big eyes of her mother and father.

"Gatekeeper, that's a good name, isn't it dear?"

"Sure is, it fits our little dragonet."

After that, she was led to the cave, the home where they slept and ate and breathed hundreds of feelings. In it, she could feel the failed dreams calling out to her slowly, and could feel the quiet anger of her siblings boiling beneath the surface.

It was confusing. They weren't angry right then, but they had raged before, over and over while pacing in their cave, over their friends, over her.

Her parents touched her back softly and she flinched, knowing, even though she was a few hours old, that her life would not be the same if they got too close.

She knew she was dangerous.

The smoke and the mist, they spoke to her. She felt it humming inside and outside, a web of life and power and terror. It made her breathless and scared.

She wanted to be close to them and feel their warmth through her scales, but forced herself to shrink away as their talons drew close.

Her parents show her to her room. She saw the space was small, cramped, and scrolls stayed carelessly tossed about with mice under the sleeping ledges.

Creeping to her bed, cold and stony, she made a small noise of sadness as she watched her mother and father leave to work and get enough coins to let them live.

As she stays alone, she gasps. First quietly, then faster. Something is wrong! Her parents shouldn't leave. Not when she was just born. No, no! She had to have someone, someone had to care!

She sweated, her heart beating quickly, fear rising from a coiled serpent to a living monster, trying to leap out of her throat, pressuring her stomach. Her palms tingled.

And slowly, she started to cry.

Tears slipped down her face in long streaming rows, making dark trails, and she could feel the quiet humming from the mist fade away, the grey shimmering liquid dripping to the cave floor.

It was a while until they got back. But they ignored her anyway.

So much for being a precious dragonet.

Galaxy
It was in her last year of living at home that she realized why she was different.

How had she never spotted it before? At the tip of her tail was a strange small diamond shaped pouch. When she prodded at it with one talon, it faintly pulsated with strange energy.

She flew to the safety of her room to look more at it. It had small swirling designs, a sky of falling stars on the surface.

Gatekeeper sneezed and a silver energy rushed out of her nose and mouth as she gasped afterwards. It floated as mist in front of her eyes, scaring her more than anything.

What was this stuff?

Out of curiosity, she grew closer and touched it. It rippled. She tilted her head, and slowly brought it into her claws. It felt strange, like holding a ball of wind.

Feeling it humming around her again, trying to tell her something, she looked closer at the mist. Slowly, she felt herself imagining something.

There was this toy she had wanted for her whole life. It was small, a tiny watch full of gears and parts. At night, it glowed. And it could play any song she wanted.

Slowly, she watched at the mist in her talons began to press itself together and collapse until she had a watch in her talons.

She yelped in fright, dropping it to the ground.

HOW DID THAT HAPPEN?

As she picked it up, she realized that the gears were clumsily melted together, and that it would never be able to play a song or tell the time.

But it was exactly like she imagined.

Exactly.

Power
It was then she was consumed by it, the want to know why. Why was she gifted the strange power to create objects out of mist, and if there were others like her. She pored over hundreds of texts, holing herself up in the library as much as she was allowed each day to figure it out. After days of reading, she finally came across an old scroll. It was hardly staying together, and had been twined together with string before, but the string was now frayed and unraveling in her claws. She breathed in the scent of the library, feeling like the world was holding its breath as she started to read, tongue fumbling over the words. "''Galaxy born NightWings are born several times every half a century.

They were named after the first NightWing with the condition, named Galaxyweaver, who was able to twist the heavens themselves to do what she wished.

The galactic power has almost endless uses for the few NightWings able to shape it. It can create the form of every object imaginable, except for metallic and mechanical objects, which are not truly a natural part of our universe.

But the power is also a curse. It is thought Galaxyweaver went into exile after she had used it during a royal banquet to create her offering to the queen's daughter, an enchanted crown. Her power had thrown the entire kingdom into chaos, out of control, as the energy had entered the air, floating into the lungs of the other NightWings.

It is not known what happened afterward, but later witnesses found the princess dead along with her advisors, and Galaxyweaver, fled into the night.''"

She felt her whole world was shaken at that moment.

I'm dangerous, like I thought.

But I can make anything, almost anything, that I dream of.

''I can make my parents proud! They'd love if I helped the kingdom. And then we would live closer to the palace, closer to the sky.''

A nasty voice whispered, ''or kill them all, and be like Galaxyweaver, a criminal, a disgrace.

If I hide it, then they won't try to kill me for my powers. I'll be careful, and make sure that no one knows. No one can figure out.''

Gatekeeper exhaled and gently took the scroll into her talons, flying home and storing it behind her bed.

Tomorrow, she would go to school. She would make sure that everything was normal.

School
The day of school, her insides fluttered and she felt the mist humming more thickly around her. Hold it in, she scolded herself. Her parents absentmindedly wished her good luck and she took off, flying towards the Academy.

As she set down clumsily at the entrance hall and fell, she already heard the other NightWings snickering at her. One of them rudely poked at her tail. "What's that big lump?" Her eyes widened worriedly before she shouted, "It's just a birth defect, stop making fun of me!" "I was just asking!" he yelled back, wincing at how hard Gatekeeper swatted his talon away. "Okay, I'm sorry," she mumbled. "I just hate being made fun of. I want to at least have a good time on my first day." "Whatever." He said, lashing his tail and slithering off.

She frowned. She didn't mean to be that mean. As she walked to where the principal was and most of the dragons were gathering, she fell in beside another NightWing. She had been laughing with someone else before and now turned to her.

"Hey, you okay?"

"Mhmmm." Gatekeeper grunted, not meeting her eyes.

"You don't sound okay."

"Well I am okay, see?" She smiled as wide as she could, earning a laugh from the dragonet.

"If you say so!" she snickered. "What's your name?"

" gatekeeper ." she whispered.

"Say it louder please."

"GATEKEEPER!" she yelled.

"Not that loud!" she laughed again.

"My name is Cloudjumper."

"That's a weird name for a NightWing."

"That's because I'm part SkyWing silly! They fly so fast and are so cool! My mom is the most awesome one ever."

"She isn't grumpy?" Gatekeeper asked.

"Not unless you take her goats. Then she gets all firey."

"That sounds nice." Gatekeeper told her, actually meaning it. "To have a mom that's always there."

"Oh..oh..I'm sorry. I hurt your feelings, didn't I?"

"No it's okay." she sighed. "My parents just don't pay a lot of attention is all."

The two of them turned up to watch Headmaster Dreamseeker as he announced who would share sleeping caves with who. Cloudjumper leaped the moment she realized that they were paired.

"We're cave buddies! Bless the moons! YES!"

Gatekeeper thought it could be worse. At least Cloudjumper wasn't mean or anything.

"Yay," she muttered.

Day
It turned out that she wasn't a bad sleeping companion after all. She didn't snore, or talk too much at day. Cloudjumper always passed out at exactly the same time every single day, which made it easy for Gatekeeper to go off without her knowing to practice her powers.

She would allow the mist to drain out of her. She found that the scroll said the best way was crying or cutting herself if she was endangering anyone. She chose a quiet spot surrounded by cliffs to quietly cry, watching her tears turn silvery before touching the dark rock.

She was scared, but also practiced making things. Like small toys, a blanket, which she later used to make her rock sleeping place more comfortable, a fragile dreamcatcher she gave her clawmate as a gift. It made her tired to use her powers too much, but she was getting better.

But one day it became a disaster. Cloudjumper was going to a party and saw her sneaking off, following her quietly.

The moment Gatekeeper started to cry she revealed herself.

"What's wrong?" She edged close to her, placing a talon lightly on her shoulder.

"N-nothing," Gatekeeper insisted, blinking back tears.

"Then why are you crying?"

"Because..because..."

"Because?" Cloudjumper gently pushed.

"Because I have to!" she burst. "Because if I don't, I'll hurt you!"

"What do you mean?" she tilted her head, eyes understanding but fearful.

"I'm a weird NightWing. You know that pouch I have on my tail?"

"Yeah, the birth defect."

"It's not a birth defect. It's where I keep my energy. I can harness the powers of the universe."

Her friend looked at her in disbelief. "I believe you, since you'd never lie, but the universe?"

"I can't show you. My energy is dangerous. It's called galactic energy, and it kills dragons who get near it, except for me. I didn't want you to get hurt...so I hid it."

"Then why were you crying?" she asked concernedly.

"It's the only way to make sure it doesn't build up and rush out of me. So I'm not sad. You can go to your party, have fun."

"No."

"No?"

"I'm staying with you! I don't want you to be all alone. There'll be hundreds of parties, but there's only one moment like this. I care about you silly. Power or no power."

She brushed their wings with a soft smile.

"Cheer up, we can do whatever you want. It's your night, err, day!"

Gatekeeper found herself smiling too, and she twined their tails.

"I just want to watch the dawn."

"Then we'll watch the dawn together."

Friendship
Gatekeeper found herself sticking by Cloudjumper a lot more, like she was magnetic. She didn't mind it, and they spent a lot of time together, even in the library.

The other NightWings didn't like it. She was too attached to some hybrid, and it was disgusting for them to even be friends. When she tried to ignore them, they started to leave things behind for her. Dead rats were on her sleeping ledge and blood was smeared on her scrolls.

She was scared, incredibly scared, and started to withdraw. Cloudjumper noticed what was happening, and tried to tell the others to back off, but they began to get even more savage.

When she walked by, she was jeered at. Some of them even threw stones. She had to cry and cut herself even more to make herself stop being tempted to use her powers.

When she was going back to her sleeping cave, they would yell that she was ugly and so gay for trying to spend so much time with Cloudjumper. It hurt her, but she never said anything back to them.

Soon, it was announced that they were chosen to go on an expedition to the Sand Kingdom and stay there for a while.

Cloudjumper told her, "This is our chance! Other dragons can't say anything if they aren't there. Come on Gates. We can do this!"

Gatekeeper sullenly packed her objects and told her, "I'll try. I guess it won't be any worse than here."

Love
The Sand Kingdom turned out to be exactly what they needed. They got their own sleeping quarters after the teacher they were traveling with used their funds to buy the four travelers rooms. Gatekeeper realized that her room felt empty without Cloudjumper there to sleep in it. But every night was exciting. They would try foods they never seen before, learn SandWing secrets in the place they kept their scrolls, race camels, watch dances.

As she watched her excitement in doing all of these things, Gatekeeper found herself thinking that she was beautiful. But she pushed it away in guilt, remembering what the dragonets had said about her.

Cloudjumper didn't seem to notice anything was up, caught up in the sight of the moons so close and the sound of night creatures.

It was one day that they were watching the dawn that she started to talk.

"Gatekeeper, I want to help you."

"Hmmm."

"I mean I really want you to be happy. No matter what the other dragonets say, I don't care about them."

"I'm sorry." Gatekeeper whispered.

"Why?"

Gatekeeper clumsily walked to face her, and gently cupped her face, looking into her startled amber eyes. Time seemed to slow as she saw the sunlight play off every one of her ruby scales and turn her eyes the color of fire. She felt her heart pounding as she kissed her, surprised to find her kissing back.

"For this," she finished, pulling away.

"Don't be sorry, it's o-okay. I never thought.."

Gatekeeper stared up at her, looking hopeful and terrified.

"I never thought you'd feel the same!" she smiled.

Gatekeeper tried to stop the happiness bubbling out of her, but couldn't help but smile as well, relieved and even more optimistic.

"I've liked you for a long time," Gatekeeper confessed. "I just didn't feel safe..telling you about it. I thought you would say that you didn't like me like that, and then we wouldn't be friends anymore."

"You're never keeping another secret again," Cloudjumper teased sternly, "And we're going to make an oath that you won't. Your problems are mine too, and my problems are yours."

"I swear upon the moons that I won't keep another big secret. But, I'll still keep secrets about where I keep my scrolls."

"Deal."

Laughing, the two of them continued to watch the sunrise, Cloud sneaking kisses all the while.

Metal
While in the Sand Kingdom, Gatekeeper became incredibly pleased by the amount of shops they had.

But more than that, she started to spend time in the forge. She was fascinated with metal, the one thing she couldn't shape right with her powers and would find the dragons who shaped it magical.

At night, she creeped into the same forge again and again, talking to the owner of it. Cloud knew about her love for metal, and amusedly let her go ahead and enjoy herself.

"So, how does heating up the metal make it all red?"

"Well, it's tha heat. It bends it in the roight way to give it a certin glaow."

"And how are you making that tiny latch with your claws? It's so small."

"Takes ah precision instrument. Ya need it for making the tiniest pieces work roight."

"Can I look?"

"Sure. Jus' don' break anythin."

She gently used the glass to stare closer at the metal holding together two sides of a thin stone box. It was made with such care, something that made her talons itch to see. She wanted to do something like that too.

After weeks of visiting, she finally told him to teach her all about forging and technology and science. Her face was so excited that he gladly obliged; it had been a while since he had an apprentice to teach.

Cruel
Everything seemed perfect about the trip, and she never wanted it to end. But it had to.

She never expected it to end like this.

She was strolling with Cloudjumper the last night they had before they left, taking in everything for the last time. She seemed wistful, and Gatekeeper understood. But at least they were together, and they would find a way to be girlfriends no matter what.

But, an enraged dragon leapt out of the darkness, a hood flying back to reveal a grotesque SandWing face.

"It's you!" he snarled at Cloudjumper stalking closer, "Dark Eyes, you left me behind! You let them do horrible things to me!" He sobbed, "h***, you don't know what I've been through! But you can die, and it'll be alright. The pain will end."

Gatekeeper was terrified by the lunatic, and could feel the mist humming with so much strength and force around her. Cloudjumper pushed Gatekeeper away.

"Go for help Gates. Get someone! I'll hold him off."

"No!" she cried. You'll die, I can see it I know it

The crazed SandWing-SeaWing flew at Cloudjumper with his claws sharp and ready to tear at her throat, and Gatekeeper did the only thing that she knew how.

She summoned the mist from around her, watching it flow out in silvery clouds, and with tears in her eyes, tried to shape it.

"A shield," she muttered feverishly, "make a shield in front of her!"

and the dark voice she felt inside of her bubbled up too, and added, "And make it kill him!"

Cloudjumper's face was frozen in horror, and then a crystalline shield materialized in front of her, splintering the SandWing's claws, and causing them to bleed. The shield flew at him and started to pound at his body, smashing him with all of its weight. Before he died, he managed to lunge forwards and bite her, sinking sharp teeth into the flesh of her arm.

But he ended up dying anyway.

When it was done, the attacker was smushed to a mess of bloody flesh, lying out on the sand. She rushed over to Cloudjumper, but found her choking and gagging, blood tricking from her mouth.

"What happened? Are you okay? Cloud, can you hear me?! ClOUD?!"

She didn't say anything, but pointed weakly to Gatekeeper's tail, which glowed, and her wings, which were stained.

"I..." Cloudjumper rasped, "...I love you Gatekeeper...remember that..."

She was hit with what she done just as the NightWing took her last breath.

I killed her.

I killed her.

I killed her.

With my powers.

She fled.

Exile
After a while, Gatekeeper realized that she could never go back.

Her parents would never let a murderer into their house, her siblings would see her as a monster, and she would be slammed into prison by Cloudjumper's parents or killed by the ruler of the NightWings.

She went back to the only thing that gave her pleasure, smithing.

She finished being an apprentice and did jobs like taking out garbage from parties to earn coin for her own forge. She decided that she was no better than if she had been dead in some ways.

She wanted to let go of her old life, so she named herself again. She was called Gatekeeper, because that's all her parents thought she would be. She called herself Flashdrive, because of her love for technology.

If she couldn't be happy, she would make other dragons happy. She would invent and be reinvented.

She opened up her forge after a few months, and took orders for weapons, clocks, watches and anything she could.

At night, she would steal away and cut herself harshly, blaming herself and her powers for destroying her only chance at a beautiful life and love.

Machine
They were the first ones in a while to see her as a dragon instead of a machine.

"I would like a sword, but it has to be really golden. Like, golden like the sun."

"Do you have gold?"

"No, but..."

"Then I can't make a golden sword, sorry. Next!"

"No wait! I can do something for you! Anything! I need the sword for this next battle. Or I'll lose."

"How are you so sure?"

"Because first, my comrades will make fun of me so much that they push me over into the enemy, second, a gold sword will scare those IceWings, third, you make the best ones around. The best of everything. I'm serious."

She found herself slightly smiling for once, but then frowned.

"We can make a deal the-"

They interjected, "Got it. I'll give you art, you give me a sword. Bam."

"Isn't the one offering the deal supposed to set it?"

"Maaybe. But trust me, art is way better to get than anything else. I'll get to work on it right away."

Flashdrive rolled her eyes, "Fine. I'll make you a sword, but you have to make me the greatest masterpiece of all time."

Sun
They hung around a bunch, and she learned that their name was Serval and that they were a traveling soldier who was completing their time at the Sand Kingdom fighting the IceWings. To be polite, she told them her name and that she was just a regular dragon who ran a forge.

"What's so good about art anyway?" She asked, claws tinkering with the hilt of their sword.

"It's amazing. Feelings and colors and emotions and life all on a paper."

"Uh huh."

"I'm serious. Too serious. You'll know the feelings when I make it."

"What are you planning to have on it?"

"Uh uh uh...that's a secret. It's a surprise Flashdrive."

She looked unconvinced and said, "If you're a soldier, how come you're not in battle right now."

Serval laughed, which made her chest ache, "I'm skipping it! No, kidding. I'm not needed on the field for anything but surveillance and spying on any traps they set."

"Then how are you sitting here when you should be looking?"

"Because I'll look tonight. When all of the others are asleep, I'll creep and tip-toe out onto the battlefield and see if any of those frost-faces are out there. If they are, I'll throw sand in their eyes. Bam. Surveilled."

She tried to smother it, but ended up laughing for the first time in a while.

"What?"

"You're so stupid."

"No I'm not! I'm serious."

"Stupid," she snorted, lowering her tongs into the fire to heat the hilt.

"Hey, I'd like to see you face IceWings. They're all scary. NightWings are scary too, but you don't seem too scary."

"Psshh," she sighed, "I wish I didn't have to show you this but..."

Flashdrive turned towards him, smoke billowing from her nose, eyes flashing, face twisted into a snarl, "And you SAID I WASN'T SCARY?!"

They fell over laughing. "That's actually really cute. You look hilarious like that."

"No I don't."

"Do too."

They fell into a comfortable quiet, with Flashdrive finishing up the sword and holding it to the light.

"Wow."

"I know, wow."

"I want to hold it!"

"Okay, okay, relax. Here it is."

Flashdrive handed it back over to them and they held the sword in shaking claws. "So amazing, perfectly balanced, beautiful etchings. What have I done to deserve this?"

"Nothing yet," she said bluntly.

"I'll show you my art. By two days from now. I promise."

Shame
She tried to cope with it alone, but the mist and her guilt wouldn't leave her alone.

She felt traitorous, feeling what she felt. Happy.

Cloudjumper was gone, she shouldn't be happy. She killed her girlfriend, she shouldn't ever be happy.

She still cut herself, but not as deeply. And she started to cry more. The mist slowly leaked out, unused and lonely.

Serval was nice. They were very funny, and kind, and interesting.

But to even care about them would be hurting Cloudjumper's memory.

So she held it back again.

Painting
It was the night.

The annoying soldier gently placed their talons over her face and lead her outside.

"You're not kidnapping or mugging a poor forge owner, are you?"

"Of course not. It's. A. Surprise. Do you get it? That means you can't see it until the LAST second. And then, you'll scream, 'I can't believe it! Ahhhh! What a master of art they are!'"

"Okay, hurry it up, I keep tripping on stones."

They finally let her see it. It really was a masterpiece.

On the biggest board she had ever seen, they painted a metallic design that curved and intertwined like a tree with wings attached. The colors were absolutely beautiful. Around the base of it, two golden snakes stared with green eyes outwards, sparkling.

"I can't believe it! Ahhhh! What a master of art they are!" she cried teasingly.

"And a standing ovation from Flashdrive, makes this piece a winner. Bravo!" They mockingly bowed.

She let herself smile a little bit.

"Was it worth a golden sword?" they whispered into her ear, surprisingly close to her.

"A hundred times over," she admitted, hating how her heart rushed and she felt herself becoming embarrassed.

"I hope so," Serval breathed before unexpectedly kissing her. She found herself panicking, did she want this to happen? But Cloudjumper? But being a dragon with galactic powers?

She shortcircuited, and sensing something was wrong, they pulled away.

"I'm sorry," she said in a small voice. "I can't. You don't even know the first thing about me."

"What do you mean?"

"For one thing, have you ever paid attention to my tail?"

"Looks fine to me."

She exasperatedly pointed to the pouch on her tail, "This isn't normal. I'm not normal."

"So?"

"Agh!" she growled, pacing. "Ok. I'm going to make it clear. I'm a Galaxy born NightWing. That means I have powers that can kill you."

"How?" They inquired.

"All around me is this mist, the universe. I can shape it. If I pull it out of me, it can make your lungs tear open and it can stop you from breathing and can make you bleed..."

"But can't you control it?"

"Yes, I can let it out of me by slashing myself and letting myself bleed or forcing myself to cry. But sometimes it doesn't work."

"How?" They repeated, sitting and watching her pace.

"I us..." her voice cracked. "I used to have a girlfriend. But I killed her with my powers..it's al...it's always haunted me."

"I was defending her from this insane dragon, but my powers went all wrong. I ended up killing her. I made a shield but by letting my power out into the air, she couldn't breathe anymore."

"I don't know how that feels, but I'm so sorry," they murmured.

"That's why I can't be close to anyone again. I'll make a mistake again, and they won't be alive anymore."

"I'm scared. I'm scared that by being with you, I'll kill you."

She started to sob, looking terrible with tears smearing her face. She was shocked to find that they put a wing around her and twined their tails.

"You can cry. It's okay to cry about things. But it doesn't make it any better to be alone."

She looked up into their warm eyes, and cried harder, burying her face so they couldn't see it.

She murmured tearily, "What did I do to deserve someone like you?"

"You existed," they replied affectionately, "duh."

As they separated, Flashdrive mumbled, slowly recovering, "That masterpiece. I want it as the sign to my forge."

"Sure."

Then, she threw her arms around them and kissed them for real this time, not minding the feeling as the whole world melted away to just the two of them and the stars twinkling above.

Son
Now, they lived together on the street close to where she worked and close to where they could safely go back to the field.

Almost all her secrets were gone, and she felt free, freer than she had in so long. They were a very expressive and happy couple, and she loved Serval with all of her heart.

One day, while they were in their home, curled up together, she confessed, "I have another secret."

"Noooo!" they gasped.

"It's nothing bad," she said quietly. "At least I hope."

"You have five seconds," Serval said playfully, kissing her forehead.

"Okay," she mustered up courage, "We're going to have a dragonet."

"What?"

"We're, going, to have, a dragonet."

"WHAT?"

"We are going to have offspring." she stated exasperatedly.

"I can't believe it! A DRAGONET!" Serval yelled, "We're going to have A DRAGONET!"

They jumped up, "And I'm going to be a parent. I can't wait!"

"Calm down," she told them. "We have to think of a name, and get them blankets and toys, and how we're going to get them a room, and.."

"I got their name! I got it! Gage, it's perfect. A gage is a token of defiance, an object for measuring, and the other meaning is," they cleared their throat, "to offer one's life in good faith."

She frowned at the last one, but couldn't help but agree. Gage was a good name for their dragonet.

"And I'll start right away on making art for their room. Not right, right, away. Just tomorrow morning."

"Good thing, because you have to sleep for once," she tackled Serval so they were lying down again.

Farewell
After Gage was hatched, nothing could be better. She would take the small dragonet to the forge and watch as his blue eyes grew wide in happiness. She made him a small black watch and gave it as a gift, one that he loved and wore ever since his third hatching day.

He had his mother's eyes but Serval's face and horns, and she couldn't love him more.

She never told him about her galactic powers, wanting to keep it a secret until their son was older and could handle those things.

He also loved art, and spent a lot of time painting with his other parent, becoming skilled quickly.

But after a while, she got sick after one meal. She was weak and always had headaches, staggering and unable to breathe in her forge like she used to. Serval thought that she was overworking herself with the requests and told her to rest.

She stayed inside all day, but it only got worse. She would go unconscious and the moments she spent conscious were blurry in her mind.

Gage wasn't allowed to come in, but she wanted to tell him that everything would be fine, and that she loved him.

After a while, she grew agitated in confinement and got out of bed, starting to pace from side to side. What was going on? Why was she trapped?

Serval still came to give her meals, but they looked very worried every time, asking her if she was okay and if it got worse. All she could do was groan. Sometimes she snapped at them angrily when they tried to touch her, yelling that she was fine.

But she was not. She couldn't sleep, and could hardly choke down food. She saw Cloudjumper's ghost everywhere, and the insane dragon lunging out of the darkness to laugh at her. She snarled back at them to leave her alone, but they came every night.

Serval was scared now, and brought soup and water to her, calling Doctor Mayfly about the case. Flashdrive would kick away the water and start screaming as she saw it, she hated water, it was ugly, she hated it! The evil dragon loved it!

Serval walked in, waiting for the MudWing doctor who had to travel for miles to see what was happening.

Flashdrive stood weakly, drooling on the floor and breathing harshly, "You see him, why don't you kill him?" she looked up, her blue eyes bloodshot.

"Flashdrive, it's me. There is no evil dragon."

"Yes, he's here! He's here," she screamed, her eyes dilated.

Serval saw Gage coming up to the door and told him, "You have to go, this is dragon business. Stay downstairs and don't come up til I tell you."

"Fine," he pouted, walking back down. He looked back for a moment scaredly before leaving Serval's sight.

Serval locked the door and dodged as Flashdrive flew at him, roaring wildly, "I'll kill you! I'll kill you!" Mist rose out of her nose and mouth and from her scales, morphing into a warped stone knife.

"STOP!" they yelled, "You have to wake up, he's gone!"

Snarling, the knife flew at Serval and missed, all for Flashdrive to set upon them and bite their shoulder, crying out in triumph as they bled. Serval kicked Flashdrive off of them and knew what they had to do.

They were bitten. They had what she had. They would die. And she had to die too.

He leapt forwards and feeling uncontrollable grief, slashed her throat with their claws just as she bit their throat.

Both of them lay mangled and dying, Flashdrive twitching in final spasms, choking out, "I'm sorry, I'm so s-sorry.... I love you Serval, and I love Gage...I never meant- "

Serval whispered, "I know Flashdrive. I love y- "

Both of them were still, eyes glassy and staring at an empty ceiling, closed away from the stars.



On the outside, she's awkward yet teasing, afraid of being judged and afraid of getting attached. All her life, she's been scared of her galactic powers, mostly too afraid to use them except for the few times she's made gifts or attacked in emergencies. But she always feels the mist around her, telling her to use it. On the inside, she's truly kindhearted and loyal, getting deeply attached to you. When she loves, she loves with all of her heart, the good and the bad, for better and for worse.

She loves machines more than anything and creating metal, the one mystery that her powers didn't dull. She is very skilled and deceptively strong even though she is small, lifting claymores that are double her weight. Most of the time, she is fine with doing what she loves and staying in the background, unnoticed except for her loved ones.

When she's angry, she thinks she looks terrifying but she has been told plenty of times that it's cute. Which is something she hates.

She is fine with being your friend, and confides in anyone who gains her trust.



==='She can: '===
 * melt into shadows, but not as well as a pure NightWing
 * throw you 100 feet before you realize what's going on
 * use her galactic power to shape anything that isn't metal
 * fly pretty well
 * breathe slightly chilled fire
 * attack with her claws and tail
 * kill you with Galaxy Mist

===''She can't: ''===
 * deliver prophecies
 * see the future
 * completely melt into the shadows
 * breathe frostbreath


 * -| Relationships =

 

Cloudjumper
Her first love. It's hard to think of her, but she wants to believe that she's looking down from a beautiful place somewhere, wishing happiness on everyone. She loved Cloudjumper so much, as the first friend that ever went out to accept her and as the first dragon to steal her heart.

Serval
Her mate. Serval is one of the best things that ever happened to her in every way possible. They taught her how to appreciate things in life, and she is so grateful that they were there every step of the way. She loves them very much, and laughs at how ridiculous they can be.

Gage
Her beloved son. She wishes that she never had to make it so hard for him, and in her last moments, has so many regrets. She always remembers when he was a dragonet and would ask for storytime, or when she would tickle him, or the hours he would spend by her side, learning how to forge. She wants him to know to never give up, to be proud and continue on, even without her.

Sundial
Her mate's sister. She hardly knew her, but heard that she was kind and nice to dragonets. In case of emergency, she signed off permission for her to raise Gage as a son.

Destiny
With her newfound love of art, Flashdrive really appreciates Destiny's talent and how she pursues what means the most to her while running her store. When Flashdrive comes over, she likes to gaze at all of her spectacular works, and has a deep love for the ones with a lot of emotional significance. Even though Destiny can be snarky and closed off sometimes, Flashdrive enjoys their comfortable silences as well, for all of the feelings that can't be said in words.

Galactic
She understands the timid NightWing's pain, they share the terrible fate of being Galaxy born, always feeling their powers pressed around them. But, Flashdrive tries to show Galactic the beauty of them as well. Making small gifts, weaving the universe, feeling satisfied as a dragonet's face lights up. They also share the fate of having killed or hurt dragons who they didn't want to, and FD is Galactic's shoulder to cry on whenever she is feeling sad. She's happy that she finally found love with Natural and now has a cheerful dragonet, but Flashy would never give up her own powers for the world. Around Galactic, the two of them can open up and be friends.

Diamondback
Flashdrive finds it easy to talk to the calm and collected Diamondback, and isn't afraid to confide in him every once and a while. Although most judge him for being an animus dragon, Flashdrive doesn't see it as a curse, knowing the burden of strange powers. Overall, he's a good friend to her.

Featherflight
For sure, Featherflight is a dreamer. And in some ways, painfully reminds her of Cloudjumper and her natural energy. Flashdrive finds that she likes when Featherflight takes her to the library and they read scrolls together, and doesn't even mind hearing her crazy imaginative ideas. FD finds Yap absolutely adorable and enjoys spending time with him too.

Sabotage
Flashdrive is interested in Sabotage's knowledge and connection to technology and machines. She is mystified by the way he seems to have so much control over starships, and can even connect to them, and the first time they met, they had a long conversation about intergalactic travel. FD doesn't mind Sabotage's long silences or strange appearance, and finds it soothing just to listen to soft music with him.

Dreamcatcher
Flashdrive is easily swayed by Dreamcatcher's kindness, but her no-nonsense disposition doesn't permit the young NightWing to be vague about what she sees. She is very acceptant of her powers/


 * -| Gallery and Trivia =

 


 * can sing decently enough
 * reads the most complicated scrolls before bedtime
 * likes chocolate and tickles
 * hopeless romantic secretly
 * loves watching the dawn
 * hates the cold
 * gets the sniffles a lot