Wings of Honor: Tales of Pyrrhia

Chapter 8: Finding Scavengers

We flew over the forest. The sun was going down again, but Winter and I kept scanning the trees to try and find the den. We smelled smoke, but couldn't see fire. We kept circling over where we smelled smoke, but couldn't see anything.
"I can't see anything. Maybe they escaped once they realized your scavenger went missing." Winter said.
Actually, that would be a good idea. "We have to keep looking. You can still smell smoke right?"
"Yeah, smoke but no fire. Scavengers can't disguise fire."
Can they? They aren't normal scavengers after all.
We soared over once more, then I saw something amongst the trees. Something different than the others... somehow. I dipped down to see what it was. As I did, suddenly, I felt a wave of fear and nervousness. Something was here, lots of somethings. And they were afraid.
"There!"
There it was, a small structure with the color of the trees. I landed nearby.
"Moon wait!"
Suddenly, I heard loud squeaking. A whole tribe of scavengers wearing strange furs and holding sticks of wood pointed them at me. Wait. Those weren't spears, they were the guns! And they were angry with me, squeaking and closing me in!
"Wait! Stop! I'm a friend."
"Yibble yibble yibble!"
"Yibble Yibble!
"Yibble Yibble."
"Yibble!"
They didn't stop. All of them squeaking. I saw Winter come around again, mouth open to spray them with his frost breath. I closed my eyes, surrounded. There was nothing I could do.
"Moon!" I turned to the voice.
I saw one of them trip. A thunderclap echoed through the forest on a dry day. I cowered, folding my wings over myself.
"WAIIIIT!" I heard someone cry out. "HOLD! Hold! Hold your fire!"
Kinkajou, Turtle, and Qibli swooped down to us. A familiar-looking scavenger slid down from Kinkajou. Their entire demeanor changed.
"Yibble!"
"Yibble Yibble."
"At ease! Let Moon go!" Marvin ran up and gestured at the rest of his fellow scavengers.
"Yibble?"
"Yibble Yibble!"
"I am very much aware Goldman. Stand down!"
"Yibble Yibble. Yibble!" Another scavenger gestured as well.
They put their weapons down, but were still standing and watching over us. Marvin made a circular motion with one of his claws, and they all gathered around him. Somehow, I could understand them now. They spoke like they were happy to see him.
"Lieutenant! Where the hell have you been!"
"We sent half the squad after you, but you disappeared!"
"Scare us half damn way to death Marvin!"
"Well I'm sorry, but I wasn't about to lead a bunch of unknown dragons straight back to camp. And for scaring the crap out of Gossing."
"So that's why he smelled like shit!"
"Shut up Rossum, you know nothing!"
"I can smell a scared little bitch when I see one."
"How dare you-"
The youngest looking scavenger lunged at another one, swinging his claws madly at him while the others tried to drag him away.
"Hey! Stop!" Marvin ran up and pulled the two fighting scavengers apart. "We can't be fighting. Not right now. Not like this."
The youngest one sniffed.
"But Lieutenant... he-"
"I don't want to hear another negative thought leave your lips Private Gossing. Your charade just so happened in front of some very powerful allies." Then Marvin looked up to me, then to my friends. "Or enemies."
He walked off, leaving them to their own devices. Walking straight up to me, he stopped short of my claws. I took a step back, not knowing what he was going to do.
"So you're Moon eh? In the flesh" He put his claws at his hips.
"Y-yeah." We met eachother's gaze.
He took a second to look over me again.
"Well, I owe you my life. In fact, everyone here does." He looked back, waving his claws in the direction of the other scavengers.
"So." He turned back to me. "What can we do for you Moon? Or are you just gonna let us be?"
I don't know. I don't know who you are, or what the prophecy has in store for you.
He looked down at the ground. So this whole rescue mission, was for nothing?
I gasped, looking down at the pondering scavenger.
So you can read minds, and communicate with me too.
He smiled at me, chucklimg. "Apparently so. Talking with a dragon, never thought I'd hear the day."
"Wait. You said, talking, with that dragon?" One of them exclaimed.
"Lieutenant. You better not be shiting me."
"Why?" Marvin turned back to face them "Can you not understand them?" He motioned at me.
"Hell no!"
"They sound like grunts and grumbles. Like somebody's getting busy."
"Shut the fuck up Rossum." He turned back towards me, I felt a tinge of embarrassment. "Yeah sorry about them. They aren't really ones for diplomacy."
"The only diplomacy I signed up to do, is written in full-metal-jacket and blood." Boomed the larger scavenger, before I could say anything.
"Yeah, that's Tech-Corporal Goldman, our machine gunner. He doesn't really like me all that much."
I can see that.
Marvin smirked. But then he noticed something, a pang of fear washed over me.
The white one!
He took off, running towards Winter. Only now did I see it too. Winter was laying a little ways away from the camp, but I could see a new blue spot on his wing. He was bleeding!
"MEDIC! Someone get Jimmy over here!"
We all rushed to Winter.
"Winter are you okay?"
"Winter! You're hurt, don't move."
"I don't want to move... hurts... too much." He groaned.
I looked around, spotting Marvin climbing up onto my friend.
Yikes, that's cold, and bright. Really annoying.
Yeah, I know, join the club.
I giggled at Marvin's comment, and I heard him chuckle as well. He moved down and unfurled Winter's wing. The dragon hissed at him, and he stumbled back.
"No! Don't do anything!"
"Moon, tell him I can't tend to him if he attacks me." Marvin looked to me.
"I can hear you, you know." Winter spat.
"Then suck it up and let me help you." Marvin spat back to him.
The IceWing sighed. "Fine. Just... don't hurt me too much."
"I'll do what I can." Marvin calmly said, continuing to splay Winter's wing, revealing a small hole, his blue blood surrounding it.
"You've been shot. Probably by Gossing." Marvin groaned, looking over at something.
"Can I eat him after this is over?"
Marvin just chuckled and continued to prepare the wound. Another scavenger came up, the one who responded to 'Jimmy.'
"I don't know how much morphine I need to pump into this guy." He said.
"I don't know either. Hey white dragon, on a scale of one to ten, how much does this hurt?"
They rubbed small pads over his wound, causing him to hiss and roar in pain.
"Moon?" Kinkajou stood behind me, now a dark green. Her voice trembled with worry. "Is Winter going to be okay?"
"He's going to be fine." Marvin answered her. "It's only a puncture wound through his wing. We're cleaning it up and dressing it now. Jimmy, hand me that tape." Marvin reached for Jimmy, passing a roll of green. I heard a sickening sound, but Marvin seemed unphased. He cut the green leaf-like fabric with his teeth, before laying strips along the edges of a white cloth. It seemed to hold the cloth down.
"Okay, now we need to dress the other side. Roll over for me."
"Nuh-uh." Winter shook his head. "No way am I rolling over just for a scavenger to hop all over me."
"Well, you can either lay here in pain and possibly get infected, or you can let us help you." He looked into Winter's eyes for several long moments. Winter blinked, his mind made up
"Fine. Just don't hurt me."
"I'll do what I can."
"You have a bad habit of saying that."
"I say that because it's true." Marvin looked back at him. "Now roll over. Moon, can you help me?"
I walked up, slowly nudging Winter and rolling him over onto his backside. His legs flailing helplessly in the air. I could tell he wasn't happy. He hissed again when they unfurled his wing once more, doing the same procedure they did on the other side of his wing.
"Annnnd, that should do it."
The two got off of him, stepping back and letting him get back up. Winter flexed his wing, noticing it folded up uncomfortably.
"It's only a dressing, until your wing heals. You'll be able to fly, I made sure the tape's secured. Just don't get it wet." Marvin sighed.
"Why not?" Turtle asked, canting his head.
Jimmy took the initiative. "The tape that's holding the bandage together will loosen, and the whole thing will come off. It'll leave the wound open again, and could possibly lead to the wing tearing further."
Turtle just looked on, confused, at the second scavenger. I didn't quite understand it either.
"Oh, I'm the one who can translate." Marvin stepped up. "If it gets wet, the bandage might come off. And it could make it rip even further."
"Oh." Turtle exclaimed.
"Fascinating! Three moons, I've never seen a medical procedure performed like this before!" Qibli stumbled over to Winter, checking out the scavenger's handiwork. Admiring Winter's wing.
"You must be decades ahead of us in medicine! You must show me what medical supplies you have!" Qinli looked back at Marvin, starry eyed.
"We'd love to, but I think we just spend half of them fixing up this... Icewing? You called him Winter?"
The ice dragon kept laying down, obviously too lazy or in too much pain to move.
"Oh man, you're hurting." Jimmy went and petted Winter on his side. "How much morphine can we spare on him, Marvin?"
"I don't know. And I'm not about to, considering he was about to freeze my men to death." Marvin stood towards Winter, claws at his hips again, and a serious face on.
"Moon. Tell him I'm sorry, I was only trying to protect you."
I was stunned. Winter meant it, I heard it in his voice. I think I also heard Qibli gasp for a moment.
"I understand you did what you thought was right," Marvin piped up. "No really. You were protecting your friend. My men were protecting each other. Thankfully we managed to get back in time and avoid any serious bloodshed." He walked over in front of Winter, putting himself in front of Winter's head. If he wanted, Winter could freeze the scavenger and be done with it. But he didn't. Marvin also acted fearless, like he knew Winter wouldn't kill him. The scavenger placed his hand on his neck, running it down.
"You'll live. We'll make sure you're alright." Marvin turned back to Jimmy. "Go ahead and give him a couple syringes. Just... please don't attack my men unless you're provoked on purpose. Then you can give them everything they deserve." He talked back to the lying dragon.
I heard a deep, rumbling laugh from Winter. Marvin smiled, returning back to me.
"So Moonwatcher. What should we do now? I mean, I can show you to camp. As long as you don't raid it." In fact, stay a while, I have a few things I'd like to talk to you about.
His mixed use of mind-reading talk and actual talking surprised me a bit, I wasn't sure which one was real if I didn't see his mouth moving. He made a long swinging motion, beckoning us to come with him. The soldiers had already disappeared, and the rest of my winglet began to follow him. I looked back at Winter. I saw him struggle to stand up, his legs shaking.
"Come on Winter."
He unfurled his good wing around me, and I helped walk him back to Marvin's camp.