I woke up to hear Forest snoring like a pig. "Sh-shut... Up '' I tried to say, sleepily. Forest just yawned and looked at me. "Go back to sleep, Tidal!" Desert shouted at me from across the room. The Lavawing was now trying to scold me while trying to not fall asleep. I snorted and started to snicker loudly. The big Shadowwing came charging into the room, with her dark black scales glistening in the sunlight from the little window. It was hard to keep my eyes open. Scale's big booming voice was so loud, I am pretty sure the whole valley could hear her. "Quit the chit chat! Forest get up! Tidal and Desert, you're coming with me!". Scales tried to look upset, but I could tell that she was exhausted. Even this early in the morning, Desert looked beautiful. Her golden-red scales lit up the hallway. Her eyes were the color of the sun itself, and her wings were big and orange. Her tongue slipped in and out of her mouth, sending steam up to the ceiling. I looked almost dead compared to her. I looked down at my own scales and almost sighed. I had deep blue scales, with a hint of whitish-greenish along my tail. My wings were nearly half the size of Deserts. Her scales sent heat waves all along my body as we walked. All my scales could do was turn from blue to white. I was the only Moonwing here. I couldn't breathe fire like Desert, I couldn't climb trees with my claws and tail like Forest, and I definitely could not turn invisible like Scales. The big dragon led us up two flights of stone stairs. VERY painful stairs. When we got to Scale's room, I noticed that she just got out of bed. She told us to sit down. Instead of lecturing us, I was surprised to find that she brought breakfast for us. I was too hungry to waste time, I finished the meal in like 2 seconds. I saw Scales had this weird glint in her eyes. And then the pain in my stomach made me realize what she had just done. She gave me a JIKU BERRY! Those berries are supposed to make dragons very, very sick. I ran over to her window to puke. When I turned around I found Desert and Scales snorting in a big hug. "OH! So your besties now!?" I shouted at them. They looked from me to each other and instantly stepped away. As we were walking back to our room, I said, "I hate how she always comes up with ways to torture us!" Desert went into a bubble of giggling, so I gave up on her. Forest was in MY bed now, and of course, he was sleeping. I ran over to him and pounced right on his snout! Being the smallest one, it didn't do much. But I got a quick, "YELP" as Forest jumped back.
When I turned around to laugh with Desert, I found her looking outside the window. I walked up beside her and asked what was on her mind. "Don't you think what life would have been like out there? With our own tribe…" she answered. That was the big question. None of us knew. All that I know about other dragons was that there were the Lavawings, Moonwings, Shadowwings, Windwings, and Frostwings. The war had started when the Moonwing Queen, Lunar died with no heirs to the throne. So her niece, Light, her nephew Core, and her other nephew Star, had to fight for the throne. Star was the most liked. But Light has the Moonwings and the Lavawings on her side. Core had the Windwing. No one could be trusted. Star only has the Frostwings and the Shadowwings on his side. Although he has the biggest dragons, the Windwings are the most agile, strong, and equally smart. It was a big and deadly world outside their fortress in Queen Lunars' old and abandoned palace. The place wasn't as big as I thought. But if we were on our own, I think Forest would die first. I know I shouldn't think so lowly of him, but he truly is a lazy Windwing. He might be taller than me, but he isn't as "Windwingy '' as he sounded. Forest was (of course) a forest green color. His eyes were as dark as Scales well, scales. Maybe even darker. His bone structure or outline of his wings was a really pale gold. His tale was narrowed down to a big thick point. One smack from his tail, and you'd be a goner! The scales on his back look kinda funky, but when I saw a drawn picture of the queens in each tribe, I realized that he must have been related to the Queen of Windwings. But not direct royalty. He has a weird light green squiggle, and the queen has a light green spiral. I might sound like a know-it-all but I'm not. That's Desert's job. She is a total freak when it comes to it. Forest And I are always treated so badly that we are always making secret escape plans without Desert. I think the best one was that since my grass pile was the closest to the window and I am the smallest, I crawl out the window and look for the door on the outside. Then open it up and let the others be free! But when I stand in the murky old water fountain in front of the door, I notice that Scales always I think breathes fire at the door. I have to figure out what it is. But Scales is always here. And when she goes out, Desert is in charge. I don't have night vision or fire like Forest, but his scales can't blend in with the deep blue water. So that's another great plan down the garbage. Because at night, it is really quiet, and Forest will be loud when trying to open the door. And neither of us even knows what area Scales uses her fire on! There aren't even any scorch marks! Like usual, Desert went off to do her chores. Forest eyed the door until he was sure that Desert was out of earshot. "Have you figured out anything on the front door?!?" Forest whispered frantically. "Ahh… about that. I may have spent the perfect time figuring it out sleeping.." I said in a normal voice. Forest gave me a quick scold, then walked out of the old plain gray room to help with chores. Plain gray room…
I quickly ran to the room with the doors. I batted my wings so hard I almost missed the purple-gray banner hanging from the wall and busted open my snout on the top of the throne. I instantly lashed back in pain. It felt like I just broke my snout! I touched it and winced. I had blood on my talons, but it didn't really matter. I grabbed the banner and flew off towards the kitchen. I kept digging around until I found this masher thingy. It was brown and skinny at the top. But it was huge at the bottom, kinda like a jelly bean shape. I used my teeth to chew off a bit of the banner. Then I put it in the bowl and smashed it until it was liquid. I flew back to our room and used my small pointed tail to "paint" the boring old walls into a light purple. When I had finished, I heard footsteps as the others were coming back, so I ran to the window, tossed out the extras, and turned around just in time to not look suspicious. Forest walked in first, his mouth open in awe. He first looked at his surroundings, then at me. Desert came in shortly after, repeating Forest. None of them said anything while we were getting ready to fall asleep. When I woke up, I saw that most of the color was gone. WHAT! Ho-how did this happen? Did it fall off when it dried? I worked for hours on this! I frantically ran over to Desert to check for anything unusual. When I found nothing, I ran over to Forest to check him. He had purple ALL over his talons! He must still be mad at me…. But I couldn't bear him any longer! Not after what he did. I tried to pounce on his wing while clawing his snout, but I just ended up being tackled to the ground. "Forest! What the heck man! How dare you destroy my art and then SIT on me!" I tried to thwack him with my tail in his back. But he sat there and stared at me. I remember something I did to Desert when we were training.I curled up in a small ball, well, at least I tried to. I made sure that the point in my tail was out. I felt his talons slipping around me as I went smaller. When he tried to get a better grip on me, I flung my tail and his back as hard as I could. He went still for a moment, trying to comprehend what just happened. But a moment was all I needed. I sprang out from under Forest as fast I could manage. I felt his talons along me again and used my wings so that I could go faster. In a heartbeat, I accidentally flew out the window. I was going too fast to stop. So I retracted my wings and tumbled to the Earth. I hit the ground pretty hard. My whole right side hurt like I had just been bitten by a Frostwing. It wasn't a deadly cold feeling, it was more like a OWWWWWW feeling. Luckily nothing was broken. I looked around to find that I was in a garden. A dead garden. The flowers in the scrolls looked nothing like this brown mushy dirt. Somewhere above me, I heard Forest shouting my name. I called to him to tell him I was alright. But no sound came out. I felt the uncomfortability of heat along my scales. I slowly turned around. "Hi." I managed to squeak out. By now I couldn't hear Forest shouting my name anymore. I turned around to look up. But I instantly felt hot claws around my mouth.
It's trying to melt me. I realized. It hurt the most on my wings. I could see Scales flying above towards the door. I tried to yelp but I burned my tongue instead. When Scales opened the door, Forest jumped out immediately. Scales flung herself after him screaming. But when Scales saw me, she flew faster and kept her mouth shut. The Lavawing was huge, and when the others got close, the dragon threatened to burn a hole through my wings. The dragon didn't talk, nor did he fight Scales and Forest. I didn't notice at first, but I saw Desert creeping along the mud. When she was close, she jumped and pounced on the dragon. The dragon was smaller than her, but from my experience, that was better. Desert had a hard time keeping the little dragonet under her, but when Scales came over, she sat right on top of the dragonet. She grabbed the head lightly and then jerked it off in a 360 degrees way. Blood went all over my scales and I screamed in fear! This was not how I wanted my day to go.I didn't realize until moments ago that it was a dragonet. The baby had been bigger than me because it was a Lavawing. Shock went through me and all I did was lay in my bed, staring out the window for the rest of the day. It was only a baby. Do I have to do that someday? I didn't sign up for this. I couldn't get that horrible image out of my head. The baby was crying but couldn't scream. I felt so much guilt. My scales were so white, I practically lit up the room. Forest was my only company. Desert nor Scales came into our room. To be fair, I didn't really want her to come. After Forest brought my lunch, I asked him to stay. We talked about what had happened. I felt, well, happier to get that off my chest. After I ate, I asked Forest to go. It was now time to put my plan into action. While I had all that time to think, I spent the last 4 hours thinking about how to improve our escape plan. I had to also focus on keeping my scales white. But I finally had a plan.
I flew up to the white chandelier. My white scales were too bright. I had to tone them down a bit, which made me dizzy. But I got a much clearer view from here than the water fountain. When Scales came to open the door, I found myself holding my breath. This is it… Scales had used her fire on the metal door knobs. Wait what? Confusion ran through me. I flew down from the chandelier when Scales closed the door. The handle wasn't burning hot. That explains the missing scorch marks. Then I realized that she used her fire to melt the handles together! My scales instantly turned blue, but I didn't mind. I ran to Forest and whisper shouted to him about what I had just found! Forest didn't seem as happy or shocked as I hoped. He kinda looked sad. "But you saw how a dragonet took you down. It's dangerous out there. It would be better to forget the whole escape thing and stay… safe.¨ He gave a hopeful look. But I didn't notice. I was too shocked and hurt to take in his feelings. "WE HAVE BEEN WORKING ON THIS FOR TWO YEARS! AND WHEN WE GET THIS CLOSE, THIS IS HOW YOU RESPOND TO ME!" I shouted so wholeheartedly that I started to cry. Forest got up at the first tear and tried to hug me. I flew off but bumped into Desert. Ow. Again with the snout?! It's like I want the pain! I flew around her and into the throne room. I didn't have fire so I had to compromise.
I knew what made Desert mad, I just had to hope her scales were hot enough. "You think you could ever beat me!?! You couldn't win an argument with my tail!" I shouted at Desert as she walked in trying to figure out what was going on. "Wait, hold on. WHAT! EXCUSE ME!" She yelled back at me and started to charge. Well that's a good sign. Desert let out a loud hiss, which meant she was gonna blow fire at me. Aaand that is my cue! I bolted to the chandelier as Desert fell right into my trap. Forest must have known what I was thinking. He stood, wings out, in front of the door. You have GOT to be kidding me! I flew down as fast as I could, straight into Forest underbelly. I never really caused a dragon to bleed, but Forest was definitely coughing up blood. But at least he was out of my way. I can apologize later, right now, I have to focus on saving my own scales! Desert was a close second behind me. But she wasn't fast enough. I slammed the doors shut right in her face. I'm free… The crisp air felt so good along my scales. There was a hint of blood in the air. I assume Scales didn't clean up his mess. I had to hide though. Forest would know how to open the door, come out, and drag me back in. But I noticed that the queen had statues. I could become a white statue. The statues were all bigger than me, but I found a broken one so all I had to do was perfect my wings and face. I turned my scales white, but I didn't feel like I had fit in. Luckily my plan worked. Desert and Forest bust through the dusty gold doors with a diamond crescent on it. They flew right past me! I crep slowly, following them. They stopped right at the bottom of the white steps. I flattened myself against the steps, making it look like I wasn't there. I stopped when I was within earshot. "WHERE IS SHE! THAT LITTLE BRAT! I should've known she was useless. She should have never been here!" That hurt. "Please don't say that about her! Tidal is the most graceful, useful, and bravest dragon I have ever known!" I couldn't understand why they were whispering. But at least in the worst moments, Forest always has my back! Like a true best friend! "Oh stop daydreaming about your little girlfriend!" GIRLFRIEND!?! "Shut up Desert!" When was the last time they got into an argument? "Oh come on! It is so obvious you have a huge crush on her!" Desert raised her voice at him in an alarming way. Wait, Forest had a crush on me?!? Forest smacked her with his tail. In return, Desert scratched his face, leaving a big bleeding gash along his forehead. Forest winced, and so did I. "OK! Gone or not! I will NOT let you do that!" I shouted as my scales turned blue and I came closer. Forest looked at me with shock and his face lit up bright pink. Desert started to laugh but quickly hid it. I came up to Forest and cuddled under his wing. Forest pulled me in for the longest hug. "Uh… You can let go now…" I said, But my voice was muffled by Forest's scales. "OOOHHHH-" Desert started to say. "Shut it!" I snapped at her. "Look, I'm sorry…", I started to say. It was silent for what felt about forever. "What if we run away!" My ears perked up. "WHAT!" Shouted the huge Lavawaing. Oops, I forgot she was there. "We could fly away to wherever! We could be together! Forever!" Forest looked at me with hopeful glint in his eyes, and something else, something I've never seen in him before. Mischief. "What are you doing?!?" I said curiously. Forest grabbed me, put me on his back and flew off. I had to keep my wings open to stay balanced. It took me a few tries though. It was starting to get dark, I didn't know how long we had been flying for. I wanted to sleep, but I was afraid that if I did, I would fall off. It was morning when I woke up, I was surprised to find that I didn't fall off.
"Where here!" Forest said, he was obviously exhausted. Forest landed at some cave high on a mountain. I hopped off and when I landed, Forest collapsed on the ground, panting with his tongue out. "You, get some sleep, and rest up those wings." I tried to say in a sweet voice. When I felt heat along my tail scales, I turned around and almost shot Desert in the chest with my tail spikes. I leaped back and toppled over Forest. Forest groaned, Desert snorted, and I let out a long heavy sigh. "Come on, get up. We have a lot of teaching to do." Desert shouted at me like she was boss. "Teaching…?" I was so confused. Desert didn't mind my last comment and took me by one talon, flew off, dragging me behind her. My right front leg felt like it had just been dislocated! We landed in a field full of tall grass. Big enough for just my eyes to barely see above the top. When I looked around, I saw a big yellow thing with brown polka dots. I probably was as tall as it. "That, that is called a giraffe! And that is what we are going to hunt and eat!" Desert whispered excitedly. HUNT!?! EAT!?! What about the berries we ate at home, were those not good enough?!? But I was too hungry to argue. As we crept closer, I saw a little baby "giraffe" next to the big one. A baby. Just like that dragonet. We are no better than Scales… Before I could blink, Desert jumped out of our hiding spot and tackled the "giraffe" to the ground, biting at its neck. When the body stopped shaking, I realized the horrible truth. The baby had run into the grass. I caught it and held the poor thing close. When Desert grabbed the body and flew off she called my name so I could follow. I put the baby on my back and tried to hide it as I spread my wings and flew off after her. When we landed in the cave, the baby squealed as I made a crash landing. I saw Desert run towards the thing, baring her teeth. I jumped in front of the giraffe and Desert skidded to a stop. "YOU BROUGHT THE BABY HOME!" Desert wasn't screaming, she was making my ears bleed! "HOME! You call this HOME! Well I don't! And why can't I keep it? I can name it, feed it, and care for it." I said in a sort-of begging way. Desert let out a shivering snort and walked away slowly. "I think I'll call you…. Banana!" I said excitedly towards the baby. The baby was shivering, probably because of Desert. I slowly walked Banana towards a ledge in the cave. I put Banana in my talons and flew up to the ledge. I set Banana down gently, then laid down next to it. I lifted up my wing and Banana understood me. She crawled underneath my wing, I closed my wing and slept. The sound of rapid breathing woke me up. When my vision cleared, I saw Desert glaring at Banana from her ledge.
I bared my teeth at her and she stopped. This adventure is NOT gonna be fun… Definitely. I told Forest about Banana and how Desert disliked the baby giraffe. Forest seemed, well, calm. It made me furious. That night I took Banana and flew off to a nearby cave. The cave looked the same, old, smelly, and gray. But it was bigger so it would do. I was smart this time and went to the back of the cave where it was black from the outside. Banana would give us away though. I put and wing over her and concentrated on making my scales as deep blue as possible. I looked at my scales and realized that each one was shifting into the darkness. I had to try this out on other things. I told Banana to stay as far into the cave as possible. I flew out into that field that me as Desert caught the mama giraffe in. I focused as hard as I could on my surroundings, and to my surprise, each scale shifted into the grass. I was in so much shock and excitement! I could finally be a real part of the team! I flew back to Forest and Desert's cave as slow as I could. Luckily I was quiet enough. I focused on the cave wall and turned into it myself. I heard talking in the cave and crept along the wall slowly. "-Left us AGAIN!" I heard Desert shouting. "Well it was probably your fault" Forest said angrily. Little did he know that it was his fault. They kept blaming each other so I left. Nothing interesting going on there. I went back to the cave, Banana definitely stood out. When I landed, Banana squeaked. I guessed that I still looked like a cave wall, I relaxed and my scales turned back to blue. Banana was too shocked to squeak. I snorted at her reaction. I heard wing beats behind me and turned my scales black. I ran over to Banana and hid it with my wing. "I thought I saw another one sorry." I heard someone say with a deep grown-up voice. "Well get your eyes checked idiot!" This time it was a female. I crept closer and saw two Moonwing dragons. My own kind! But then the female came into view. She had white stones strung across her wings. A beautiful Diamond crescent was placed on her head along with bright white sapphires. Light… I was witnessing the real Light! In real life! When we were younger. We would think about who would be a better ruler. In the end, we would always decide that Light would be the better Queen. I was still in shock. I was standing in the path of the future queen herself! I was so excited I almost lost my camouflage. When she flew out of her ear shot, I squealed like a little girl. Desert and Forest must have heard me because they came out of nowhere. "Did you see that!" I said like a little girl finally meeting her biggest idol. Desert and Forest looked back and forth. "You mean you didn't see that! Light was just outside my cave!" I was so excited, my scales turned white. Good thing they don't know about my secret weapon! Desert lit up and Forest practically glowed. I guess I got outta trouble this time! Forest and Desert kept asking me questions. Like, what did she look like, did she fly solo, is she as pretty as we thought, etc. But, they were my friends, so I answered all of their questions. I left out the part where I could camouflage.