The desert was unbelievable! It was hot. HOT! I absolutely loved it here! I love my life! "Alright guys, enough. Come on. COME ON!" I didn't want to sound mean, I just wanted to explore. We waded through the desert as Storm flew above us. The shade was nice but I kept seeing her fly a little lower than struggle to get back up. She's probably overheated… "Hey! Huge bird! Let me fly a little, you look overheated." I got a glare but then she quickly retreated from the sky. I volunteered to give us shade only if Forest went with me. I flew a bit higher, just out of earshot, if we whispered. "Forest! I have a bad feeling about this…" What!? I needed a second opinion. Forest nodded his head then asked, "Do you have food? I'm STARVING! Those Frostwing's just made me bleed when I asked for some food." Oh my, New Moons! This guy is UNBELIEVABLE! How are we supposed to end the war with him… I flew lower back to my original spot. After a few hours, Forest squitched with Desert. Her scales sent so much warmth through my scales. TOO much warmth. "Tidal! Switch me!" Tidal rolled her eyes and flew up beside Desert. No matter how much I loved this place, I had the worst feeling in my talons every time they touched the sand. And sure enough, I was right. "Hey guys, what's that?!?" Desert exclaimed. Up ahead I saw brick walls, as tall as a couple of dragons. A huge gate with a couple of black scales sticking out from underneath the ground was in front of them. So much for stealthy guards. As we got closer, I saw a pair of eyes looking back at me. I ran ahead of the group and sat in front of one of the "guards". "You know, you guys really suck at being stealthy!" Both shapes came up and out of the ground. They were bigger than me, but I was sure I could beat them in a fight! "Why do want to enter the underground cove…?" Actually….. I haven't thought about that yet. "Daddy…, issues…?" WHAT AM I SAYING!!?? The guards looked back and forth at each other. "Who's the father, kid?" Maybe… "He's a Frostwing named… Snow '' The guards' eyes went wide with shock. I watched as the gates opened further and further. I saw only sand beyond that. When the gates finished opening, one guard brushed some sand off near the entrance. He opened a hatch and a flurry of eyes appeared. I guess they don't see the light very often… The guard who opened the hatch grunted and I obediently went inside. As my eyes adjusted, I saw diamonds, not eyes. "Wha-what is this?" I turned around to face the guards. They both were frowning while smiling at me, "Daddy issues! You really think were dumb enough to beleive that lie!" Great… "Yea! I'm not 4!" The other dragon was shouldered out of the way, "I told you to shut up, 223459867!" 223-WHAT NOW?! The guard shut the hatch and I was left in the darkness. I put my front paws on the hatch and pushed as hard as I could! When that didn't work, I continuously scratched the hatch with my talons. I even tried screaming! But my voice just echoed in the underground room… but wait? My echo didn't come back to me! That means there is a way out! I ran through the darkness, diamonds cutting into me in all directions. I kept going, and going, and going… It's hopeless isn't it… Yeah hopeless alright…! When I sat down, I thought about how my friends were doing… They must think I'm a total loser! I tried yelling again. I followed the way my voice went and ended up in a cave… A cave with a sun hole! Aaannnddd lets not forget the sleeping dragon vape vipers… These snakes are drawn to dragon blood. Any wrong movement- and i'm a total goner. Then I had an idea. I could totally imagine Storm saying, "Uh oh. That's your idea face- stop it I hate your idea face! Its creepy!" I almost chuckled out loud… I bent down real low… Spread my wings wide… And leaped into the air! My wingbeats were so loud it woke up the snakes. They slithered in my direction- but couldn't reach me because I was so high up. Some jumped and almost got my tail, it scared me! I flew up to the hole and noticed I could fit my neck and up through it. I didn't have fire… so there goes option one! I can't fly up here much longer than about 20 more minutes. "STORM!!! DESERT!!!" I screamed as loud as I could and when I waited for about 8 minutes, I gave up all hope of living. I found myself going down and I finally looked down. I regretted that so fast. Bloodshot eyes looked up at me from everywhere! Green, yellow, purple snakes with the same red dot between their eyes kept jumping up at me. Some up to at least 13 feet long! The ones like 9 inches didn't really bother me much. Then it all happened so fast. A big fat one got my foot while a dozen others got my tail. The unbearable pain! Someone was there… Forest I think. I tried to say something about how my body was burning up but my words came out too think and slurred for anyone to understand. I blacked out for the next month. "He's awake! Awake! GET OVER HERE YOU LITTLE ROTTEN PIECES OF SHRIVELED POO!" I heard a voice say, but my vision was too blurry. "Wow. Very creative. I just adore your vocabulary." I understood Desert's sarcasm real quick. A thunder of feet came closer to me and I smacked whatever was closest to me. "Shut up… Too loud…" I moaned out. I opened my eyes a few times to make sure I was seeing clearly. We were in a room. A really cozy room! There was a fireplace across the room to my right and a table with food across the room to my left. "Wow!" I sat up slowly and noticed everyone had a bed. Well, a leaf pile. "1, 2, 3, 4, 5… Why are there six beds?" I looked at each of my friends and found Forest gone. "We brought you to a doctor! We had to backtrack to Queen Icicle." Storm's big smiling face looked up at me. I don't really care. I don't really care about my half sister. I don't really care how we got here. I don't really care who helped us. I don't really care about finding my real family. I don't really care about my life. I DON'T REALLY CARE FOR ANYTHING RIGHT NOW! ALL I CARE ABOUT IS WHERE FOREST IS! "Why… why are you mad…?" Storm asked. "Go away." And with that, I got off the bed and walked away. Storm ran up behind me and pinned me to the ground. Then she slipped off and Desert sat on me. "Too bad. Why are you mad?" Storm laid down in front of me and glared. "STOP!" I felt so angry and upset that I was able to push Desert off. I slit her throat, then slit Storm's wing. Then my tail sent Tidal flying into a wall. I walked to the open window hole in the wall above the table. I turned around and saw three crying faces looking at me like I was some kind of monster. "I said go away." I kept my head down and flew out the window to find Forest. Ugh. Stupid guilty conscious. But then again, it's all their fault! If they hadn't run away, we'd still be at home with our sorta dad! We wouldn't have gotten into this mess! And they probably know where Forest went, but too late to turn back now. Forest… My first friend. Yeah sure, I consider Storm my friend, but she's more of a sister than anything. I felt the need to get them all together and lead them back to Scales. But then again, I've gotten stronger with them. I have experienced pain, friendship, cold, heat, hunger, and even joy. Desert, Tidal, Storm, and Forest are all my everything. That was why I needed to turn back, apologize and help. "I'm sorry dragon pride, but my frie- my family means much more than this. I turned around and flapped my wings as hard as I could manage. The wind whipped past my face, screeching in my ears. I could barely keep my eyes open, but I had to go back! When I could open my eyes and see details, my claws had scraped the window and my snout smacked straight into the opposite wall. "OW OW OW!" I turned around, no Forest. Storm was fixing Desert's throat and Tidal was knocked out. No one paid attention to me. "New Moons! HELLO!?" I shouted at Storm. Desert was barely able to scowl at me and Storm looked unbothered. I sighed and sat next to Tidal. I poked her in the stomach with a claw. Nothing. "I'm really, really sorry. I was just angry that none of you bothered to notice Forest was gone." I sighed again and kept sighing until I heard movement across the room. I stopped sighing and looked up. Storm looked torn. Without realizing I had moved, I had Storm cradled in my wings and arms. She didn't look me in the eye, but just sat there, mesmerizing my face. Finally she spoke up, "We weren't worried because Forest said he'd be alright and back by sunrise…" She trailed off at the last word. I heard a barking laugh that turned into a quiet cough come from Desert. "You have to be the biggest idiot I have known!" Desert exclaimed. I shot a mean look at her and she laughed again. "Ok ok fine- the biggest idiot with anger issues. Happy" Desert's smile was so wide. I just couldn't understand why. Storm lay unbothered and motionless. At first I thought she was dead and started panicking but I saw her chest rise and fall in slow, steady rhythm. "Phew" me and Desert both sighed at the same time. I looked at Desert and started laughing, but she pointed a claw at me and started yelling, "NEW MOONS! WHEN I GET MY CLAWS ON YOU… YOU'LL PAY FOR MY PAIN RIGHT NOW! YOU WILL PAY!!!" I stopped laughing- just to start up again at the threat in her condition. It was a quiet night for the most part, I stayed up, watching the moon. At exactly sunrise, I could see green and gold flying towards the window. It was then that I noticed how messy the place was from our little "fiasco" last night. I hurried around trying to clean up what I could, moving Tidal, Desert, and Storm onto the other beds, scrubbing the color off of the floor trying to hide the blood, stuff I could clean quickly. Forest landed on the window and stared at me. Just stared, no notion he was alive. Finally, he slowly moved down from the window and onto the floor. He whispered just above my hearing something that sounded like, "The others say they heard a fight going on…". Dead expression, straight posture, to be completely honest, I was calm. A soft breeze blew by, gently swinging the gem around our necks. We stood there, listening to all the sounds of nature. The quiet swish of the wind, a little chirp or snap here and there. I don't know how long it lasted, but when a big dragon burst through the door, our moment was over. The dragon was clearly a Frostwing, with a deep cyan robe that flowed down to the tail. The Frostwing had two cups, one of water, and one of plant. A deep grumble came from the dragon before he spoke. "I hope to not intrude but I have something to ask of you Mr. Flick." I felt my jaw move in a downward motion as I nodded my head. "G-Go on" was all I had to say. He handed me the cups and said, "Drink your medicine first, then the water." And left us to be. To my surprise, the doctor added berries to the plant mix so it tasted better. Without realizing, I was hugging Forest, digging my claws into his back. I noticed the feelings I felt and embraced them. I was never really outside much… So having a friend, my first real friend… I didn't want to let go. Forest slowly extended his arm and reached around my trembling wing. Two flying blue things flew past, one big and one small. That's how I felt. I feel so small, so ridiculously small that it drives me insane. We sat there, hugging all the way until the sun shown in my eyes and I couldn't see. I closed my eyes tightly and re-opened them slowly. From my angle, the sky was a mixture of color. Some dark, some light, and some somewhere in between. I could relate so well to nature… "hehehe" I let out a small laugh, basking in this moment, my bad thoughts turned to water and washed away. "Hmph" A small noise behind us made me jump and Forest pulled away instantly. Tidal had woken up. "Ugh… My head…" She moaned. Tidal slowly crawled out of bed. She got down really low and moved slowly, like she was about to attack. I don't have any idea of why that didn't bother me. "Morning Tidal. Did you sleep well?" Forest asked in a cooing voice. Jealousy spiked every inch of my body. Tidal went up into a normal stance and whispered, "I'm no some baby, don't ever talk to me like that again. Morning guys." She looked around the room while talking, refusing to make eye contact. At first I thought she had sensed my jealousy and immediately tried fixing my face, breathing, and stance. Once I checked all of those I realized Tidal was laying down, moving her head in a slow, circular motion. "Are you ok?" I asked with no trace of concern in my voice. I could feel the glare Forest held as I wished I took that back. "Y-yea… I just feel a little woozy…" Tidal's voice was getting more and more quiet as she talked. "I don't think 'woozy' is even a word." Forest chuckled trying to lighten the mood. Tidal let out a small sigh and drifted back into unconsciousness. I took a deep breath in while Forest said, "Phew, I'm glad she didn't see that!" I choked on my exhale and started coughing. Forest instantly ran over and started hitting my back with his fist. When I stopped coughing, I felt a little better. Forest cared about me and without a second thought hurried to help me. I knew Forest had a crush on Tidal, I'm pretty sure everyone knew except for Tidal. I felt nothing other than friendship for everyone. You know what, i'm getting too into my feelings rights now, I need to distract myself. I took the two cups and started to bang them together, squeezing my eyes shut so I would have to look any one in the eyes. It took a little while until I realized Forest had grabbed my cups and threw them out of the window. I ran to the window in a hurried rush. But it was too late. The cups went crashing down and split in a thousand little pieces. "W-Why would you DO that!?" I whisper-shouted franticly. Forest put a talon over my snout and my heart felt like it was trying to kill me. I-I feel only friendship for everyone. Friendship, friendship, lov- FRIENDSHIP! A slight red under Forest scales popped up as he quickly retracted his arm. Did I do that? Did my face give it away? OH GOD HE KNOWS!?? "I-I-I-I-I-I" I kept studdering. "Calm down, its ok. It was weird, i'm sorry. I was just trying to tell you to be quiet." He managed to say in a cool calm voice. I know it was ok. But I felt like crying. My chest throbbed in pain with my heartbeat when he said "weird". Forest looked down and walked over to an empty bed. He snuck a glance at me before laying down and returning to sleep. "Yea... I should probably get to sleep aswell..." I mumbled just low enough for me to hear. I took the last bed and layed down. It felt like forever, just laying there, dieing on the inside. The hole just got bigger and bigger as I replayed his words in my head. And such a shameful look too. I just layed there, silently suffering until the familiar darkness of sleep carried me back into a world of love and happiness. A dream I would soon forget when I opened my eyes again. I let the darkness take me and felt myself smile a little before I went numb.
It was night when Storm shook me awake. The others had packs of food and medicine on their backs. "Whats all that for?" I tried to ask as Storm shoved some fruit in my mouth. Again, I reconized Deserts sarcasm before she said anything, "Whatya think two clawed baby?" Realization hit before anger. We were going to see Deserts family. In Lavawing territory. "HaHaHaHa!" I couldn't control my laughter. Everyone looked puzzled. Storm eventually punched me in the rib until I stopped laughing, which happened pretty quickly. "Were doomed! New Moons after all these years! And we haven't even said 'Hi' to Scales or Dad!" I said with a huge smile on my face. I guess it was the fear that did that. I often find my brain and body trying to protect me by holding off the fear and replacing it. I smiled for a while. Everyone either got infront or behind me. But they kept a good enough distance to not see my face. I kept smiling until I fell asleep at our temporary campsite. The fear still didn't set in until we landed right outside of Lavewing territory. The ground was pure black rock. Bits and peices of lava shown between large and small cracks. It popped and sizzled. Not to mention, it was HOT. Like the story of the Great Dragon and the prince. The prince had thrown the Great Dragon into a fire with his feet tied and his wings bound. The screams made you want to rip your ears out. Repeating this as and older dragon makes me realize just how bad our childhood was... Lava-Canos exploded with such a ruckus the ground shook and I heard nothing but a deafing roar in my ears. Tidal bent down and covered her ears. Blood seeping through her talons and running down her arm until a small stream made its way to the floor. Deep Dark red, almost black with a golden tint due to the lava. I walked over and put my talons over her to try and help, but it was no use. The noise stopped, but not before another loud POP and CRACK found its way out of a Lava-Cano. The volcanos with lava hotter than usual formed from the mixture of blood and special lava by the Lavawings themselves. I was told flying even 30 feet about them would burn the senistive tissue between your wings before you felt the pain. Only a Lavawings tough, hard skin and fireproof scales could withstand it. But we had to help her. Desert wobbled forward a bit, her tounge sending steam into the ash covered sky as she slipped it in and out. Fear refused to let my muscles move, but I bit my tounge until feeling came back to my legs. I walked forward, staying on the rock and dodging the bits of lava flying by me. The others followed, staying close to me this time. A large black rock rose from the ground until it peaked the ash. I soon realized this was the Castle and main building. "STAY BEHIND ME AND LET ME DO THE TALKING!" Desert shouted over the noise. We all nodded in agreement as Forest carried the shaking Tidal on his back. Blood ran all down his side practicly glowing with the amount of lava near us. We managed to find our way into the throne room. I couldn't quite see with my throbbing headache and blurry eyes, so I let Desert lead the way. The further we got to the throne room, the less noise. Soon it was complete silence as we entered the room, our talons echoing as they CLICKED across the floor. The queen stood before us, in glowing rubies forged from freezing lava at a certain point to wear it was still liquid but solid enough to be a rare gemstone. I felt out of place. It was so clean and nice, and we were just a bunch of dirty kids wearing stolen treasure from corpses. Not to mention the smell! I can't remember the last time we'd bathed. Desert bowed and grunted for us to do the same. "Weak" the queen hissed as she saw Tidal vibrating with blood everywhere. "Sorry to be a bother my queen, but I must ask of you a question." Everybody looked at her shocked. When could she not be sarcastic? And whats all this fancy smancy talk?! The queen sighed and motioned for her to continue. "I would like to know the whereabouts of Gory." If the room was quiet before, it was dead silent now. I could even hear myself blink. "That crazy traitor? What would you want with her?" The queen hissed. Desert stood a little taller, maybe proud even? She spoke with a clear, loud, and powerful voice that made even the queen flinch. "Shes my mother." Somehow the room managed to get even quieter, which was starting to freak me out a bit. The queen sat there, glaring at Desert with keen golden eyes.