Sands of Time

Chapter 3

"Explain yourselves," the dragoness snarled. "Do it now! Quickly, before I change my mind and run the both of you through your very fleshy bodies!"

"Uh..." Sun's mind blanked and he stared, struggling to process what he was seeing. She was a Skelewing. In the jungle. "Ah...we...we just...we were..." What he wanted to say was, "We were just passing through and we didn't mean to trespass so could you please put down the spear and we'll be on our way?" but all words fluttered away like frightened butterflies before they could even reach his mouth.

The dragoness rolled her eyes, tightening her grip on the spear as she rounded on Fire. "Okay, let's try you then, kumquat-breath. How did they find me? How many of you are there?" Her eyes--or rather, where her eyes should have been--darted from the drakes to the forest and then back.

They? Who's they? Sun frowned, closing his mouth now that it was clear his voice was capable of failing him at the most inopportune moments. "You're...you're a Skelewing!" he blurted before he could stop himself.

"Brilliant observation, Sherlock," she hissed, her head snapping back toward him again. "Did you come up with that all by yourself? What gave it away? Wow, they really sent their brightest warriors to deal with me this time. Excuse me if I don't tremble in complete terror."

"So, wait," Fire tipped his head, seeming less than concerned about the blood-thirsty dragoness practically barring their way. "There are Skelewings here too?"

Fire, I love you, bro, but do try and keep up, would you? Sun deadpanned and shot his companion a narrow-eyed glare.

The dragoness hissed again, taking a step back and glaring at them both. "An interesting development to see two worlds so vastly separated in the cosmos, brought so close in alliances that both would be so unaware as to stumble upon something they do not understand."

"Uh...I think she's making fun of us, dude," Fire commented, stamping the dirt anxiously with a foot.

You don't say. With a growl, Sun shook out his wings, still eyeing the weapon warily. "Listen!" he exclaimed. "I don't know who you are--or who you think we are--but we're not here to fight!"

"So says the two warriors who've trespassed on my land and are refusing to leave."

"Hey, now! We would leave if you would just put that spear down and not try to murder us with it!" Sun argued, the words he wanted to say finally erupting out, though not exactly the way he'd envisioned them, his tail twitching as Fire dug his talons into the dirt, apparently getting the same impression as him. This dragoness, whoever she was, did not trust them. Obviously, who she thought they were and what they were doing there was entirely different than reality, but how were they supposed to convince her of that?

"Ha," the dragoness scoffed. "Likely story. Which world sent you two idiots after me? Snowfalle, right? Those selfish lizards were never very good at the whole peace-between-species thing. This would be so like them too. So why don't you just go back there and tell them how much I don't give a crow feather what they think about my lifestyle. If I want to live alone, then I will. There's nothing those boneheads can do about it."

Wow, okay. Not exactly what I was expecting, gotta be honest.

"We aren't here to...force you to go back to Snowfall!" Sun tried to explain once again. "Honest! We only trespassed by accident! Please, put the spear down, and let's talk about this civilly!"