Rebirth (A WoF fanfic)

1

      The heat in the desert was almost unbearable to Bloodspiller. Though she was raised in the jungle, the heat there was humid and the air full of moisture. This cursed place, however...her scales had never felt this dry. There was sand stuck between her scales that seemed to suck out any moisture that she had left. 

      The dragoness flew, and as she did so her scales were constantly shifting, though as she continued on her journey through the kingdom of the sand the timing kept getting slower. This wasn't her first day out in the kingdom of sand, and she had been out of water for a while. Her throat was dry and her tongue seemed swollen in her mouth. She felt a little woozy, and her vision would blue every so often. Her head ached fiercely. 

      Bloodspiller knew that she was pushing herself too hard. She needed water, and soon. But she didn't know where she was going. This desert was vast, and there were no landmarks that gave her an idea of where she was or how to get to where she was supposed to go.  She hadn't even come across any oases on her journey through the Kingdom of Sand. 

      Her strength finally seemed to fail her, and she plummeted to the ground, slamming into the hot sand. She tried to push herself up, but she didn't have any strength left. 

      She was a disgrace. She had one job, and she blew it. She wasn't prepared enough, and she hadn't studied the geography of the area enough.  Now she was going to die, and Fearbringer would be furious that she did so, probably enough to somehow bring her back from death only to kill her once more. If she even survived, she knew she was going to be severely punished due to the lack of income because of how long it was taking for her to track down the location of her target.

      Eventually, she became still, knowing that trying to continue onward was futile. She wouldn't make it. She would die alone in this desert with no one to mourn her or care that she was gone. Fearbringer would find a new apprentice, and she knew no other dragons, other than the targets she had already taken care of.

      Weariness spread through her body until she finally slumped against the sand, her vision blurring. She allowed it to happen, closing her eyes, and despite knowing that if she fell asleep she may never wake up, she allowed her fatigue to take over, slowly drifting off into unconsciousness.

                                                                                 ***

      Bloodspiller's eyes shot open and she gave a gasp as water was splashed into her face. She shook her head to clear it before shooting a glare at the one who splashed her, a small hiss leaving her mouth. 

      "Don't you dare splash me..." Her voice was hoarse from disuse. It trailed off as she realized that she was laying in the shallows of an oasis. 

     Water...there was water here! 

      Her eyes went wide and she dipped her head, immediately taking large mouthfuls of the clear liquid, unable to believe that this was real and that she was able to quench her thirst. 

      The dragon who had splashed her seemed alarmed at the pace that she was guzzling the water. 

      "Hey, slow down! You're going to make yourself sick if you drink too much!" Bloodspiller paused and gave her a small glare, eying her up and down for a moment.

      The dragon was strange-looking, to say the least, and immediately Bloodspiller could tell that she was a hybrid. Some scales such as the spiky SandWing-like scales going down her sides were a sandy color, but there were others such as her underbelly that were a reddish-orange color. Her irises were an icy blue, and this was surrounded by the black of SandWing eyes. Instead of spikes, an almost fur-like frill went down her back to her tail, which was decorated by a single silver cuff with a blue gem on it, donned right before the barb on her tail.

      "You were close to being dead, you know. You're lucky I found you...I doubted you were going to survive." 

      Bloodspiller studied her, unsure if she should trust her or not. The dragon did save her and seemed to be friendly enough, but that didn't mean she could underestimate her. The barb on her tail looked wicked, and she could only imagine the tricks the dragoness was hiding. 

      "Why did you save me? There was no benefit for you to bring me to this oasis." Of course, she was thankful, but she doubted this dragon had pure intentions.

      The beautiful yet strange dragoness tilted her head as if she was puzzled by the question Bloodspiller had asked despite it being rather straightforward. She seemed to think for a moment before giving her answer.

      "It wouldn't be fair to leave you there. How could I live with myself knowing that I inadvertently killed another dragon? I mean, I wouldn't be directly responsible for your death, but still...I would feel bad for just leaving you there. Oh yeah, I never introduced myself! I'm Sandstorm. I can see the way you're eying me...yes, I'm a hybrid. My father was a SkyWing, and my mother a SandWing."

     She could definitely see the SkyWing aspects of Sandstorm. Her wings were rather large, and her face shape resembled a SkyWing more than it did a SandWing. She gave a small snort as she heard this; how did a SkyWing and SandWing manage to meet anyways?

      "Anyways, I've never seen a RainWing before! You look so beautiful, but...why aren't your scales colorful? I thought RainWings usually had bright colors." Bloodspiller glanced at her scales for a moment, which was varying hues of dark blue, making her color resemble a NightWing. 

      "It's none of your business." Bloodspiller's voice was stronger now that she had some water to drink. She could feel her strength returning.

      Sandstorm didn't seem to be deterred by her gruff tone of voice. "Alrighty, you have your secrets--I respect that. You RainWings always have such beautiful names...what's yours?"

      Bloodspiller considered lying for a moment, but then decided, what's the point? She'll be leaving soon enough, and this weird hybrid would move on and forget her. Finally, she breathed a small sigh and responded, "Bloodspiller."

      Sandstorm was taken aback by this response. She opened her mouth as if to speak, before closing it again. After a moment she just gave a small, awkward chuckle before responding, "That's nice..."

      Bloodspiller hated this. She couldn't understand how anyone could stand talking to other dragons; how could they bear the tension? How did they know what to say or how to act? It was awful and seemed like a waste.

      She got to her feet and stretched out each limb, wincing slightly from the ache that was caused by the impact of her fall. "Thanks for bringing me here, but I have to go."

      "Wait!" Bloodspiller tensed as Sandstorm protested. "You don't know your way around here. You'll end up like before: lost and thirsty. I can lead you to wherever you need to go."

      "I don't need your help--"

      "Please? I know this desert like the back of my talon. I can lead you to any oasis or city you ask for. Want to go north to the IceWings? I can show you the way. I can tell you're quite prideful, but...you need to learn that it's okay to ask for help."

      Bloodspiller's lips curled back into a snarl. Who did this dragon think she is? She didn't need her...she could find her way around just fine. At least, that's what she wanted to think. She knew that she had no hope of finding her target without some sort of guide. Maybe this dragon could be useful after all.

      "Fine. But don't annoy or question me. I'm not here to be your friend; I just have a job to get done. Now let's go: we're wasting daylight. I need to go to Queen Thorn's palace."

      "Alright!"

      Bloodspiller rolled her eyes at the gleeful response and began to follow the hybrid, knowing that she may have a chance to complete her assignment after all.

      When she kills Queen Thorn, maybe she will finally earn Fearbringer's praise.