- "I mean, no one is completely evil... Dragons are complicated. Some are kinder than others, or braver than others, and some of them do really cruel things. But everyone has both good thoughts and bad thoughts and reasons for what they do, reasons that they believe are important."
- — Moonwatcher to Winter, Winter Turning
Template:Charbox Moonwatcher, preferring the nickname Moon, is a young female NightWing and the protagonist of Moon Rising. She is the first known NightWing in over 2,000 years to possess real prophetic and mind-reading powers (except for Fatespeaker, who was confirmed to have very weak emotion sensing and visions), proven when she delivered Jade Mountain Prophecy, the Lost Continent Prophecy, and several other minor visions throughout the second arc.
Moonwatcher was raised in the rainforest instead of the NightWing Island by Secretkeeper until the age of four, when she began attending the Jade Mountain Academy as a member of the Jade Winglet. She is currently in love with and dating Qibli.
Appearance
According to Secretkeeper, when Moonwatcher hatched in the prologue of Moon Rising, she had shiny scales, claws like miniature curved crescents, and a perfect tail. She is more healthy and well-fed in appearance compared to the other NightWings who had been living on the island.[1] She has a silver scale shaped like a teardrop on the outside corner of each dark green eye that shows her status as a mind-reader; they are described by Secretkeeper as "odd but beautiful."[1] They are "larger and more sparkly" than Fatespeaker's teardrop scales. She has light gray scales on her top scales and midnight black scales for a base, she has the same silvery gray underscales as all the other NightWings, and she wears a soft black leather pouch held with chains around her neck for her library card.[2]
Personality
Moon is a nice, but somewhat shy dragon. Due to being by herself for most of her life, she had trouble interacting with others, sometimes stammering when trying to talk, and it didn’t help that she could read minds. She suffered from Social Anxiety and was easily scared by loud and hectic situations, as shown by her anxiety about the prey center at Jade Mountain Academy. She often tried to avoid being around others by going off and reading scrolls. Moon is very anxious about what others will think of her and doesn't open up easily to her peers.
She's admitted to herself at one point that she doesn't want anyone to be able to see her subconscious side because then they would never like her. She is even more shy and nervous when she can hear someone's thoughts, though she would rather be able to than not. Her mind-reading and precognition have helped her several times, from listening to Scarlet dream-visiting Princess Icicle, to knowing when the history cave would explode. In Winter Turning, she seemed to become bolder and more confident in herself. This is likely because of not hearing all her friends' thoughts.
As the second arc progresses, Moon is braver and has less trouble with stuttering. She also has multiple conversations with others, particularly with Winter, where she doesn't seem to be as scared as she was in Moon Rising. Moon has also been shown to be stubborn, especially regarding her belief that all dragons have some good inside. As the second series progresses, Moon doesn't let herself get pushed around as much, standing up to Winter when he's yelling at her in multiple books and confronting Darkstalker with her new knowledge of his wrongs in Darkness of Dragons. By the end of the second arc, Moonwatcher makes friends much more easily, and all who meet her seem to immediately like her, and she seems to have lost her shyness and social anxiety.
Moon becomes better at expressing her feelings, controlling her fear and letting go of her worries as the series progresses. She also handles her visions better, able to control the pain and keep flying in Darkness of Dragons instead of panicking as she did in Moon Rising. Moon also shows her determined side on many occasions, such as when she convinces Winter of his good qualities, advocates for her belief that all dragons have some good in them, or seeks out Qibli at the end of Darkness of Dragons to ask if they can be together. So far, Moonwatcher has become a nice dragon who can sympathize and make friends easily. She has become much more outgoing and she has no problem with stuttering. She can handle her visions perfectly well, and her life seems to be very happy.
Biography
The Brightest Night
Glory mentioned Moonwatcher in the list of dragons who could go to Jade Mountain Academy when she told the Dragonets of Destiny that Kinkajou and Tamarin needed real teachers, not someone as inexperienced and awkward as her.
Moon Rising
After laying Morrowseer's egg, Secretkeeper hid it in the rainforest to protect it from the volcano and the harsh living conditions of the NightWing Island. As hatching under one or more full moons gives NightWings their powers, and NightWings not having those powers in thousands of years, Secretkeeper was shocked to see her egg had turned silver. Moonwatcher then hatched under two full moons, thus giving her the powers of mind-reading and future seeing.
Four years later, Moonwatcher and Secretkeeper are shown sitting together near Jade Mountain Academy, watching the other students arrive. As Queen Coral, Turtle, Anemone, and Auklet land, Moonwatcher first notices that she cannot read Turtle's mind and only hears a strange hum instead of thoughts, which confuses her. She then receives a vision of Turtle pinning Anemone down on a beach.
After Queen Coral and her dragonets enter the Academy, Secretkeeper says goodbye to Moonwatcher. Moonwatcher briefly stays where she is, but eventually approaches the Great Hall, where she is greeted by Fatespeaker. After receiving her welcome scroll and a map, Moonwatcher walks to her sleeping cave, where she begins looking through scrolls provided by the Academy. As Moonwatcher undergoes a headache from an external conflict between Carnelian and Pike, she is spoken to by a mysterious telepathic voice, which disappears shortly after speaking to her.
Clay then separates the arguing dragonets, and Moonwatcher realizes that Carnelian is one of her clawmates as she storms into their cave. Shortly afterward, she is greeted by Kinkajou, her second clawmate, who invites her to the school library.
After speaking with the librarian, Starflight, Moonwatcher receives a library stamp and a soft black leather pouch to carry it in. She and Kinkajou then meet Sora, who continues to read while Moonwatcher and Kinkajou visit the prey center. After meeting Kinkajou's friend Coconut, Moonwatcher rescues a terrified scavenger named Bandit from several dragonets who were presumably trying to catch and eat him. She is confronted by Winter, who threatens to slice her face off if she didn't return his pet. However, he is quelled by Qibli, who attempts to negotiate with Moonwatcher before realizing that she doesn't want to eat Bandit. Sunny and Clay then intervene, and Moonwatcher returns to her sleeping cave where she spends the rest of the day, eager to avoid conversation about their interaction.
That night, Moonwatcher experiences a dream of Jade Mountain collapsing. Her mystery friend helps her out of the nightmare, and after asking her how many years since the Scorching, he abruptly disappears from her mind. Puzzled, Moonwatcher decides to visit Stonemover with intentions of finding her mystery companion in the flesh. After realizing that Stonemover is instead an animus dragon, however, she returns to her sleeping cave. There, she overhears Queen Scarlet and Icicle planning a murder through a dreamvisitor.
The following morning, Moonwatcher and her clawmates enter Tsunami's meeting cave, where they meet Umber and realize that Winter and Qibli have been placed into the Jade Winglet after their interaction the previous day. After an uncomfortable discussion about NightWing powers, Tsunami launches a hunting party and abruptly flies into the clouds, her students following more slowly. After catching a mountain goat, Moonwatcher follows the others to the prey center to eat. During the flight back, her mystery friend briefly teaches her how to slip other dragons' thoughts into the back of her mind, and she then shares her goat with Qibli, Umber, and Sora while Kinkajou and Coconut share fruit; Winter sits away from their group with Icicle.
Moonwatcher and Qibli then discuss Qibli's family, and although he believes that he'll never have to see them again, Moonwatcher has a vision of three bigger SandWings sneering down at Qibli as he shouts "Where is she?" at them. After her vision fades, Qibli appears concerned and thinks about offering Moonwatcher swordleaf root for her "headaches", but she insists that she's alright.
After eating, Moonwatcher and Sora return to the library, where Sora begins reading a scroll regarding IceWings. Moonwatcher, after asking Starflight for a scroll concerning animus-touched objects, receives one titled The Animus Histories. After reading about the Summer Palace, the Royal SeaWing Massacre, dreamvisitors, and Darkstalker, her mystery friend instructs her to read the section on Fathom, revealing himself to be Darkstalker soon afterward.
After Kinkajou warns Moonwatcher and Sora that history class is starting soon, one of the students alerts the Academy that "Queen Scarlet", who is revealed soon afterward to be Peril, has invaded Jade Mountain. Clay, upon seeing Peril, invites her to stay, and Moonwatcher, Kinkajou, Winter, and Icicle then head to history class. Kinkajou introduces Moonwatcher to Tamarin, and Tamarin then introduces Onyx, her clawmate, to Moonwatcher and Kinkajou. Moonwatcher realizes that, like Turtle, Onyx's mind is impossible to read, even to Darkstalker. Webs, the history teacher, then begins his lesson to teach about the Scorching, but he is soon overwhelmed by questions unrelated to the topic. Moonwatcher, barely listening to Webs's lecture, converses with Darkstalker, and he eventually convinces her to at least consider the possibility of freeing him.
Later, during Kinkajou's suntime, Moonwatcher explores the school's tunnels and eventually approaches Mightyclaws, who is busy painting the NightWing Island in the art cave alone. Moonwatcher, taking a canvas, brushes, and a few shades of blue and green paint, begins talking to him about NightWing powers and Darkstalker. Mightyclaws, upon hearing Darkstalker's name, reacts negatively, although he does answer her questions about him. He then storms out of the cave upon seeing Moonwatcher's painting, which depicts a badly-done rainforest, and snarls that the painting - in other words, Moonwatcher never having to live on the Island - is why she'd never be a true NightWing.
The next day, Moonwatcher attends her first music class with her winglet, playing a mbira. Afterward, on her way to the library, Winter approaches her to ask for help with Bandit. Although Moonwatcher tries to give Winter advice on how to help his pet, he eventually storms out of the library in frustration. Halfway down the tunnel to her next class, history, she is hit by an awful vision of the history cave exploding in flame, killing her friends. Although Darkstalker advises her to stay away, she hurries toward the history cave, and although managing to stop most of the other dragonets from entering, Carnelian ignores Moonwatcher's warning and goes to class anyway.
The classroom then explodes. While Darkstalker calms her down, Moonwatcher's physical friends try to help her away from the smoke while Umber runs to get help. Peril and Clay then enter the cave, dragging out Carnelian, Tamarin, and Bigtail. Carnelian and Bigtail are confirmed dead, and Tamarin is alive but badly injured, taken away to the underground lake and then to the infirmary by Onyx, Clay, and Pike. Winter, dragging Moonwatcher away from the fire, asks how she knew about the explosion. After Winter leaves, warning her to tell him how she knew by the next midnight, Moonwatcher confesses her mind-reading and visionary powers to the rest of her dismayed friends.
The only dragon who doesn't seem horrified by this is Turtle, who invites her to a large underground lake, where he pulls out a dragonflame cactus seed from her shoulder, which was stuck there by the explosion. Moonwatcher begins to fly above the water, contemplating whether or not to flee the Academy. Presumably deciding to stay, she lands on a boulder near Turtle. He suggests that she should use her mind-reading abilities to catch the arsonist, and she agrees. On their way back, they meet Tsunami and Sunny, who assure Moonwatcher and Turtle that they're trying their best to catch the dragon who caused the explosion.
The next morning, Qibli approaches Moonwatcher, offering to help her find the arsonist. They start by attending an assembly in which Sunny and Clay ask the students that they give the staff two days before leaving to find the killer, followed by a speech from Starflight concerning physiological trauma. Moonwatcher then listens to Pike, Icicle, and Flame's minds, but none of the suspects think about the explosion like they were the ones who caused it. While Darkstalker tries to help Moonwatcher out of Flame's angry thoughts, she is thrown out of his mind by Flame himself, who noticed an uninvited presence in his brain.
When they go to the prey center, unexpectedly a stalactite falls where Icicle and Winter are sitting, nearly impaling Icicle. There were visible claw marks along the base of the stalactite, and that was when Icicle suspected Sora as the arsonist and of trying to murder her. Moon, reading Icicle's mind, rushed to save the little MudWing before Icicle could have her vengeance. They found Sora in the infirmary, apologizing to Tamarin. Sora, who was visibly crying, explained that Icicle was the one who had killed her sister, Crane, in a battle between the IceWings and MudWings during the War of SandWing Succession. Distraught, Moon let Sora escape into Pyrrhia with her brother Umber so that she wouldn't lose her life to Icicle.
Moon, Qibli, and Winter then found Icicle creeping toward Starflight to kill him on behalf of Ex-Queen Scarlet to free her older brother, Prince Hailstorm, from her SkyWing prison. With the help of Qibli and Winter, Moon was able to stop her and save Starflight. Icicle, however, escaped out of a leaf window; Qibli suspected that she had gone in search of Queen Glory to kill her since Icicle might have thought that Scarlet might forgive her if she killed the dragonet she hated the most.
As they make plans to go in search of her, they discover that Winter has left Jade Mountain, taking Bandit and his cage with him. After they found Winter in the pouring rain, the Jade Winglet (except Turtle), went with Winter to help him find Icicle. Moon later delivered the Jade Mountain Prophecy, then confessed her powers to Winter.
Winter Turning
After arguing with the other dragonets, Winter finally allowed them to help him after Turtle returned to Jade Mountain to tell everyone where the rest of the Jade Winglet had gone. After setting Bandit free in the pouring rain, he traveled to the rainforest with Moon, Qibli, and Kinkajou.
Once they had arrived, Moon offered Winter some fruit and started to discuss her childhood. Moon's mind was interrupted by a NightWing named Obsidian, who (according to Moon) had "dark thoughts". Arriving with Bromeliad, he nastily told them that rainforest visitors had to be permitted; as Kinkajou objected, Moon calmed her down by saying that going to the NightWing village would give her a chance to see her mother.
Glory sends them to the tribe's hatchery, so the guards could watch them, but they end up escaping regardless. This is accomplished when Kinkajou tells the dragonets in the wingery to count to 1000, but then remembers they can't count, which gives them a narrower window of time. Winter uses his frostbreath to make a hole, which they all fly out of. They then find their way to the portal to the NightWing Island. When they get there, Moon doesn't think this is what the prophecy meant by 'The Lost City of Night'. They find Icicle, who has been awake for days, to keep Scarlet from visiting her in her dreams. Kinkajou has left a trail for Queen Glory, who finds them, tranquilizes Icicle, and orders them all back to the Kingdom.
Moon and the others aren't about to give up easily. They find themselves soon traveling across the mountains to the Sky Kingdom, searching for a mountain where they believe Ex-Queen Scarlet may be hiding, and where they hope to find Hailstorm, Winter's older brother.
They go to the Talons of Peace, trying to find a SkyWing who can help them. Soon after, they meet Pyrite. Pyrite is a nervous, simple-minded, and unusual SkyWing, who is very loyal to Ex-Queen Scarlet. No one in the group thinks it's a good idea to bring her, but are left with no other options. Thus, Pyrite becomes their guide to finding Scarlet. Moonwatcher says she feels sorry for her. Moonwatcher also said it's almost like her thoughts are looping.
Eventually, the Jade Winglet finds Winter's brother, who is actually Pyrite, but was transformed by Chameleon. Unfortunately, there is an unexpected encounter, in which Kinkajou is horribly injured by a mysterious NightWing (who was actually Chameleon) when she is violently thrown against a tree. Then, the group flies toward Possibility, where they find a MudWing doctor, named Mayfly. Winter decides to take his brother back to the Ice Kingdom. He claims that he won't come back. Qibli and Moon say that, regardless, they will wait four days in case he changes his mind. Throughout his entire time in the Ice Kingdom, Winter thinks of Moon. Near the end, after he lost the Diamond Trial and because Hailstorm didn't want to kill him, he returns to his Winglet, ready to help stop the prophecy, and tell Moon exactly how he feels about her.
Escaping Peril
In Escaping Peril, Moon tells Peril that Qibli probably has thought of five ways to defeat Peril, although he had only thought of three by the time she stated that. Then, she reveals to Peril that she is a mind reader, to which Winter later objects. Moon and Qibli await Winter, though they have doubts that he will show up. Once Moon finds Winter, he is severely burned because of an accident with Peril, and she frantically tells him not to die. Turtle reveals his animus magic by healing Winter with his river rock he enchanted to heal surface wounds. Moon is shocked to hear of his unexpected powers. After Peril comes back from the Sky Palace, Turtle tells Moon about the scroll in Chameleon's possession. Once the scroll is retrieved, Moon admits that she had been talking to Darkstalker and that she promised to return it to him. A heated argument arises, ending in an interruption from Qibli to sleep. The morning after that, she leaves without the others, knowing how Winter would react. She is carrying the scroll to release Darkstalker. When Peril finds her residing by Jade Mountain, she is crying because of what he did to Prince Arctic. He enchanted him to do whatever he said, and apparently, he told him to disembowel himself. Soon the others return in shock that she is crying and hasn't released him yet. Talking turns to fighting as they argued about who gets to keep the scroll. Peril tried to stop them by burning the scroll but ended up giving Darkstalker exactly what he wanted, as he immediately got his powers back.
Talons of Power
Moon is first seen talking with Darkstalker when he came out of the ground. When she notices that Winter, first arguing with Darkstalker, is now acting friendly and more open, she tells him to not enchant her friends. He denies that he did anything to Winter. When they tell him they all should go hunting, she tells Turtle to go warn the school. Turtle does so, only to intrigue Anemone to meet Darkstalker. When they arrive after hunting, Darkstalker mentions seeing timelines with both of them, most likely referring to Winter and Qibli, where she responds by covering her ears and denying everything. Anemone sets off a lightning storm with a copper bracelet she enchanted to do so. Darkstalker asks if there are any scrolls about Fathom and Clearsight.
Flame comes to them, only to have the horrid scar on his face healed. Darkstalker also enchants a bracelet on Mindreader to give her mind-reading abilities, Mightyclaws' earring to give him the power to have anything he draws to come to life, and a makeshift bracelet for Fearless to give her super-strength. Moon seems worried about him giving out these free powers. Then, Moonwatcher has a vision of someone being attacked and brings Sunny and the others to Stonemover, who is very close to dying.
Darkstalker enchanted a stalactite to heal Stonemover but then removes his curse which causes him to yell in alarm that his claws aren't his after which Darkstalker enchants it to turn him back to stone. Anemone enchants a piece of bone to find the culprit, who is Flame. He states that he asked Stonemover to enchant his scar to heal, but he refused, to conserve his soul. In reaction to this, Flame almost killed Stonemover. After this dilemma, Darkstalker says he wants to lead the NightWing tribe to the Lost City of Night.
When he gets to the rainforest, he asks Glory if he can bring her subjects back. To promote his idea, he starts handing out superpowers to the NightWings, though not making any of them permanent. Moon, Kinkajou, and Turtle then go to a cave close to where the NightWings are sleeping. When Turtle returns from following Darkstalker, Moon is awake. She says she had a nightmare and that her sleep schedule is different. Moon tells Turtle he is a good brother and then they have a conversation about it before going to sleep. The next day, Moon says she is going to go with him, only to visit. They do so, and Moon follows Anemone to the room where Fathom stayed, but Anemone said it was too dusty and dirty. She starts to beat Moon with a broom, enchanted to continue hitting her until she began cleaning.
Darkstalker then enchants Moon and Kinkajou so they don't hear him tell Anemone to leave (although of course it doesn't work on Kinkajou, so Turtle tells her to act like it). After Anemone leaves, Darkstalker restores Moon. She then says she senses danger in The Kingdom of the Sea. Moon stays and most likely is forced to stay at the city by Darkstalker afterward.
Darkness of Dragons
In the very beginning, Qibli is watching Moon leave to the rainforest with Darkstalker. Later in the book, she is shown through the Obsidian Mirror talking to Kinkajou. In Part Two, she appears when Qibli finds her in the NightWing library. She and Qibli reunite and she seems happy to see him. Moon then begins talking about how amazing the NightWing library was, and that she would stay forever because of this. Qibli silently disagrees and thought he only would if she asked him to.
Qibli then offers her one of the earrings and explains that they will protect her from Darkstalker's spells. She looks sad, saying that they don't need to worry so much about Darkstalker, but puts it on anyway. The earring didn't change her opinion of him, confirming that her trust for Darkstalker was of her own.
Moon is present for much of the second and third parts of the book and helps to fulfill The Jade Mountain Prophecy alongside Qibli, Turtle, Kinkajou, and Anemone. Later she is shown foreseeing Darkstalker as Peacemaker. In the epilogue, she and Qibli start an official relationship. Moon and Qibli then travel to Jerboa II, where they meet the first dragon from the lost continent of Pantala, later learned to be named Luna.
The Lost Continent
She appears in the epilogue alongside Qibli when they first see Luna right where Darkness of Dragons ended. Moon is shocked to see a dragon from the lost continent for the first time and introduces herself and Qibli to the SilkWing. Moon tells Luna that she had a vision about her and when Luna asks if she can see the future like Clearsight, Moon is surprised that Luna knows who Clearsight is. She tells her that she can see the future too, just not as well as Clearsight. Luna tells Moon she needs to get her back home, to which Moon says that she can't and hasn't even seen any visions of the future revolving around the lost continent. The young SilkWing responds saying that she has to and that her tribe needs her help.
The Hive Queen
Moonwatcher appears in the prologue alongside Luna, Tsunami, and other dragons. Moon thinks that Luna wants her to save the SilkWings and that she is "the second coming of Clearsight". She thinks how Luna doesn't know that Moon can read minds and has a conversation with Luna. Moon tells Luna the prophecy she has been hearing in her head. Qibli, Tsunami, and Turtle join them. Turtle tells them how his animus magic is "broken" and the others debate ways on how to get to Pantala. Eventually, Tsunami says that "all [she] and Turtle have to do is swim there."
Moon also appears in the epilogue with Luna. She shares her new vision with Luna and says that the Pantalan dragons are coming to Pyrrhia. Moon also sees dragons fighting one another and flames which are probably from the burning Bloodworm Hive.
The Poison Jungle
Moon is mentioned by Tsunami in the SapWing village.
Relationships
Secretkeeper
Secretkeeper is Moonwatcher's mother. During a hunting patrol in the rainforest, Secretkeeper lied to her companions about having stomach cramps, the egg coming out cracked, and wanting to bury the eggshells alone. She, however, later gave birth to Moonwatcher's egg and hid it among the rainforest foliage. Secretkeeper cares about her daughter very much and was willing to risk everything - even, perhaps, her own life - to keep Moonwatcher safe and healthy from the volcano. She even refused to tell her partner, Morrowseer, about their dragonet, fearing that he would take Moonwatcher back to the Island if he ever found out about her existence. When Moonwatcher hatched, Secretkeeper was in awe and believed her to be the most perfect and healthy dragonet she'd ever seen. After Secretkeeper found out about Moonwatcher's mind-reading powers, she was very worried and warned Moonwatcher that she must always keep her power hidden to appear normal. She cares very much for Moonwatcher's safety and happiness, and although she sometimes becomes exasperated with Moonwatcher's nervousness and paranoia, she loves her nevertheless. In the epilogue of Darkness of Dragons, it was confirmed that Moonwatcher visits Secretkeeper in the rainforest often.
Morrowseer
Morrowseer was Moonwatcher's father, but they never knew each other; Morrowseer never knew that Moonwatcher existed, since Secretkeeper hadn't told him about their dragonet for fear that he would demand she be returned to the island. Even after Morrowseer's death, Secretkeeper refused to talk about him; Moonwatcher had only learned of his name by reading from her mother's thoughts. He was killed in the Night Kingdom by the volcanic explosion before she met him. In The Dark Secret, when Moon would have been about three and a half years old, Mastermind asked Morrowseer if he had any dragonets, and the only response was a stony glare.
Qibli
Qibli is one of Moonwatcher's closest friends and a confirmed love interest. Moonwatcher respects his intelligence, bravery, and honesty, and loves him for being kind and humble. In Moon Rising, she admired his ability to gain information just by looking and analyzing a dragon, and it was confirmed near Moon Rising's conclusion that after giving Qibli Skyfire, she would miss listening to his thoughts. Qibli began developing feelings for Moonwatcher very early on, though he was always very subtle and polite with his feelings for her.
The two act more like best friends than a couple, often joking and rarely being serious with each other. Qibli has proved to be a patient, loyal and respectful partner for Moonwatcher, and it was this that led her to choose him over Winter in the epilogue of Darkness of Dragons. However, Qibli often believed that he could never measure up to Winter, believing Winter to be too handsome and serious for Moonwatcher to choose anyone else - he even reprimanded himself for joking with and "acting like her goofy friend" instead of behaving romantically, as Winter would. In Winter Turning, he was also shown to be protective of not only her but all of his friends, when he instinctively jumped in front of Moonwatcher to save her from a flaming spear.
Winter
Despite his icy exterior, Moon sees him as a friend and is hurt when he yells at her or calls her names. Winter admits many times that he's in love with her. She is very confused about his thoughts and doesn't quite understand what they mean, describing them as "mirrors, reflecting self-hate and guilt." In Winter Turning, Moon was distraught when Winter decided to leave. In Darkness of Dragons, however, Moon chose Qibli over him to be her partner. Winter was heartbroken over this decision but came to realize in the end that it was himself who drove her away.
Darkstalker
Darkstalker was the second dragon to learn about Moonwatcher's powers. Darkstalker was very upset that Moonwatcher hadn't received any training in how to use her powers without getting overwhelmed. He and Moon became good friends after he taught her to block out other dragons' thoughts, and she becomes the only dragon he truly cared about since Foeslayer, Clearsight, Whiteout, and Fathom. He asked her numerous times if she could retrieve his "talisman" - the scroll that held his animus power - and she tries to bring it to him in Escaping Peril. After Peril accidentally frees him by destroying the scroll and returning Darkstalker's power to him, Moon accuses Darkstalker of lying to her. He defends himself, saying that he was desperate to escape his imprisonment, which may have been true. However, Moonwatcher doesn't seem to fully trust him after that.
Kinkajou
Kinkajou is Moon's best friend and has been shown to care much about her. Moonwatcher and her were clawmates in the Jade Winglet. Moon was distraught when Kinkajou was injured severely by a mysterious companion of Scarlet's (Chameleon, in his NightWing form, Shapeshifter), showing the strong bond between them. At first, Moon was put off by Kinkajou's energetic thoughts and actions but realized that Kinkajou really did care about her.
Princess Anemone
Princess Anemone appears to show a great deal of jealousy towards Moonwatcher throughout Talons of Power. This is because of Moon's closeness with Darkstalker. Moon seems oblivious to this until Anemone enchants a mop to attack her out of rage. Moonwatcher seems to forgive the SeaWing princess, as she defends Anemone when Darkstalker is furious with her for hurting Moon. Anemone, Princess of the SeaWing Kingdom, gives Darkstalker an enchanted snake-shaped earring to make him like her more than Moon. Darkstalker, enraged, harshly refuses the offer and states that he "doesn't accept gifts from animus dragons."
Peril
When Peril first comes into Jade Mountain Academy, Moonwatcher senses fear among all the dragonets and is confused until she finds out exactly who Peril is. She realizes that she cannot read Peril's mind very well, due to some kind of constant fiery wall that seems to hide her thoughts (likely her self doubt and hate), although a feeling gets through here and there. However, she does not think of Peril much in this book and only really starts to think about her more in Escaping Peril. After Peril accidentally burns Winter, Moon is concerned. She shows suspicion of Peril, which adds on to Peril's insecurities about other dragons not liking her and causes Peril to fly away. However, later when Peril proves herself to have good intentions, she trusts her and views her as a friend.
Princess Tsunami
She is shown to be a little wary of the ferocious SeaWing founder of Jade Mountain Academy. But the two soon get along. Tsunami is always grumbling about how she told Moonwatcher no visions and prophecies anymore. Moon considers Tsunami to be a brave warrior of the Dragonet Prophecy. She allowed herself to smile at the fact that she had not been on to run from her winglet but the great Tsunami in Moon Rising while the Jade Winglet is having their first session.
Prince Turtle
Moon first spotted Turtle at Jade Mountain Academy during her first day at there. She describe Turtle as 'dark green, like an emerald hidden in a cave, with flashes of brighter green underscales and hints of gold in his eyes.', she compares him with his sister that he did not wear any adornment other than gold armband that was studded with black rocks (later known as Skyfire).
At that moment, Moon realized she was unable to read any thoughts from Turtle. She describe his mind as 'serenely still' or 'almost soothing blankness'. But just as Turtle was about to step into the Jade Mountain cave, Moon had a vision on him that show him pinning his sister, Anemone, at the beach. She thought Turtle might be sinister hidden inside him. As time passed, Moon suspects Turtle to be the voice in her head, as she couldn't hear his thoughts, she sometimes uses his mind as a shelter against the thoughts of other dragons. During their first class with Tsunami, Turtle insisted on knowing and questioning NightWings' power had placed Moon in a difficult spot.
Not long after, Moon saved Turtle and the others from the fate of being burned alive at the history cave. After being confronted by Winter, Turtle was the first to speak out (but not necessary first to think) that Moon had the power of foresight and question her ability of mind reading. After she confessed, Turtle was the only one who stayed with her. He then brought her to an underground lake which he then tended her wound and encourage her to find the culprit behind the bombing classroom incident.
After having to resolve the mystery behind the bombing incident and murderous plan, Moon explains to him and her winglet about her power and Skyfire stones. She asked Turtle to hand the stones to each of them so that they can keep their thoughts to themselves.
When they realized Winter was missing, they decided to follow Winter and help them. Turtle was reluctant to go with them and searching for a reason not follow. After Turtle passed Skyfire to Winter on Moon's request, Winter convinced Turtle to return to Jade Mountain and Turtle was not seen until she met him with Peril.
In Escaping Peril, Moon, in turn, was the first to realized that Turtle's power when he used to save Winter. Mentioning that Turtle's secret was his animus power. She defended him against others that how he used his power should be decided by him and him alone. When Turtle used his animus power to get Darkstalker's scroll from Chameleon, she was worried about his soul, but he shrugged them off as he said 'tiniest of evil' was in him. Later Turtle broke up an argument on what to do with the scroll by suggesting them to sleep it off, but Moon took the scroll to meet Darkstalker alone.
In Talons of Power, when they were following Darkstalker to the old NightWing kingdom, Moon spoke to Turtle and told him that he is a good brother, but he denied it. She then warned Turtle about her vision of him pinning Anemone down at a beach, fearing that he might kill his sister. After that, they met Anemone at SeaWing guest room at the old Nightwing kingdom, and Anemone cast spell on cleaning tools to hurt Moon. Turtle tried to reason with Anemone but Darkstalker came and sent Anemone away. Turtle followed Anemone when he heard Moon say she had a vision that there was going to be danger in the Kingdom of the Sea. Darkstalker mentioned that Moon was pretty fond of both Turtle and Kinkajou, which made him reluctant to kill either of them. Moon did not see Turtle again until Darkness of Dragons, where the group rescued Turtle from Darkstalker's dungeon.
After the Darkstalker event, Turtle and Moon went back to Jade Academy and continue to be good friends in the Jade Winglet.
Family Tree
| Secretkeeper | Morrowseer | ||||||||||||||
| Moonwatcher | |||||||||||||||
Quotes
"Arrk?" - Moonwatcher's attempts at speaking
"Mommy?" - Moonwatcher's first word to Secretkeeper in Moon Rising
"I don't want you to leave me here. I really, really don't want to stay here."
"I know, Stay secret. Stay hidden. Stay safe. So isn't this really dangerous? What if I make a mistake here, with all these different kinds of dragons around?" - Moonwatcher to Secretkeeper
"No. I don't want to be ... like other dragons. I just want them to not mind that I'm different if that makes sense. I want to stop being scared - of being found out, of what my visions mean, of other dragons, of everything." - Moonwatcher to Darkstalker
"All right. But please stop trying to scare me. You are not as terrifying as you think you are." - Moonwatcher to Winter
"If I couldn't read minds, everyone I met would be like Turtle - completely unreadable. Strange and blank. I'd have no way to know if they were kind or cruel. I'd never understand why they act the way they do. Everyone would be all surface. I'd think Winter was just mean; I wouldn't know about his dead brother and how he hates himself more than anyone else. I might think Qibli was just goofy and ordinary, if I didn't know about his layers and his amazing mind and his childhood. I'd have stayed away from Kinkajou, because I wouldn't have known or believed that she really liked me. I guess that's how other dragons live ... never knowing how complicated everyone is. That's what it would be like, to be normal." - Moonwatcher's thoughts
"That just seems kind of wrong, doesn't it? I mean, judging dragons by their dark thoughts, and using that to justify spying on them? Lots of dragons think dark things sometimes; it doesn't mean they'll ever actually do them... I don't know, I guess I don't like to think of myself as sneaking around in dragons' heads. I can't help what I hear, but it doesn't seem fair to do it on purpose." - Moonwatcher to Qibli
"You can't give up. Of course it's hard; the whole point is that you're trying to fix something that's nearly impossible to fix. But if no one ever tries, then it will always be terrible. You and Clay and the others ... dragons believe in you. You have to take that gift and do something with it, not run away from it." - Moonwatcher to Sunny
"I mean, no one is completely evil. ... Dragons are complicated. Some are kinder than others, or braver than others, and some of them do really cruel things. But everyone has both good thoughts and bad thoughts and reasons for what they do, reasons that they believe are important." - Moonwatcher to Winter
"Why would you be a librarian if you don't get excited about scrolls? I will never understand some dragons." - Moonwatcher to Qibli
Prophecies
| Prophecies | Meaning |
|---|---|
| The Jade Mountain Prophecy[3] | Interpretations |
| The Lost Continent Prophecy[4] | Unknown |
Trivia
- Moonwatcher's favorite genres include history, adventure stories, ancient legends, and encyclopedias. [5]
- Moonwatcher is one of the three protagonists with their name in the title of their book, the others being Winter and Peril.
- If Moonwatcher marries Qibli, she will become a princess by marriage, as Qibli is the adopted son of Queen Thorn.
- She is one of six characters in the series to go by a nickname, the other five being Admiral (Ad), Magnificent (Maggie), Snowfox (Fox), Sunny (Beetle), and Bumblebee (Bug).
- Her egg hatched under two full moons and thus gave her two powers: mind-reading and precognition.
- Moonwatcher and Winter are the only two dragons in their series to have a mantra so far. Moonwatcher's is "Stay secret, stay hidden, stay safe," given to her by Secretkeeper.
- In Moon Rising, when Winter is yelling at Moon in the prey center, demanding her name, one of the names he guesses is Mooncrusher. Mooncrusher is the name of a yeti in another series written by Tui T. Sutherland called The Menagerie.
- Moonwatcher has had a few visions, including:
- Prince Turtle fighting Princess Anemone on a sun-drenched beach, which later came true in Talons of Power.
- Qibli yelling at three SandWings, shouting "Where is she?" This vision is probably a reference to how Qibli had to rescue Ostrich from Onyx and Vulture in Darkness of Dragons.
- Jade Mountain burning during an earthquake, then collapsing, sending falling rocks everywhere and crushing and burning screaming dragonets.
- The history cave exploding, with her winglet, among other dragons, smoldering and dying.
- A tree falling, most likely somewhere near her. This had saved her from her eventual fate.
- Dragonets (most likely the offspring of Clay and Peril, Tsunami and Riptide, Glory and Deathbringer, and Starflight and Fatespeaker respectively) playing in Jade Mountain.
- Darkstalker as Peacemaker, picking strawberries.
- The cover of the book Moon Rising is most likely the scene in which Moon is flying in an underground lake after the explosion with Turtle watching nearby after he asked her if she could still fly.
- Moonwatcher is one of the five dragonets whose hatching is described in the books, the others being Darkstalker, Auklet, Bumblebee, and Clay (in the The Dragonet Prophecy graphic novel).
- Moonwatcher is named thus because when she hatched, Secretkeeper thought Moonwatcher looked like she wanted to grab the moons in her talons and roll them around.
- Both she and Fatespeaker are described as “having her own treasure" about their jewel-like scale patterns.
- Moonwatcher shows signs of having anxiety, most likely social anxiety. This lessens later in the arc, likely because of her newfound friends.
- As well as being the main point of view in Moon Rising, she is the POV for the prologue of The Hive Queen.
- Moonwatcher is the youngest protagonist so far in the series.
- Moon is the third POV to have never met her father.
- Moon is one of the only two POVs to have a parent witness her hatching, the other being Darkstalker.
- Moon is the second pure NightWing POV and the third NightWing POV overall.
- In Moon Rising, Secretkeeper calls her “moon bud”.
- Moon is the first dragon to have her mouth closed on a book cover, the second being Darkstalker and the third being Cricket.
- Moon is the second empowered NightWing in generations, the first being Fatespeaker.
- Moon is the first NightWing in generations with strong mind-reading and prophecy power, since Fatespeaker has a very weak prophecy power, and a still weak mind-reading power (she can sense emotions).
Gallery
Canon
Fan Art
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Moon Rising, prologue
- ↑ Moon Rising, page 32
- ↑ Moon Rising, page ? (Chapter 24)
- ↑ Revealed by Tui T. Sutherland at the launch party for The Lost Continent
- ↑ Moon Rising, page 19