Why Do I Love You?

Chapter 4: First Day

I wake to the feel of cold scales brushing against my wing. When I turn over, I see Icicle wiggling uncomfortably in her corner of the small hut. Last night, she had insisted that our sleep pile was uncomfortable & had claimed a pile of spare blankets laid out on the floor.

The sun is shining through our broken roof. I rise & shake my sibs gently to wake them.

Once everyone has woken up, including a very angry Icicle, we walk outside to begin our patrol. Even though the war has ended, we all have to patrol in shifts to be sure that all is safe. My sibs & I have the morning patrol today, the first of the fall.

We work our way through the small huts dotting the land, towards the border to the rainforest, this is where we are to patrol. We stop in front of a large tree with some red mud splattered on it to mark it.

"Okay, we'll split up into teams of two," my oldest brother speaks to our small troop, "We all meet back here when the sun is three claws above the eastern horizon. Go it?" We all nod & begin to split off into groups of two's.

Pheasant stands beside Umber & wraps a wing around him. Reed walks over to take Icicle's neck chain before looking at me cautiously.

"Sora," he speaks anxiously, "are you fine by yourself?" I nod, though I'm not entirely sure of this.

Icicle notices the uneasy look on my face before I can hide it. "What if Sora comes with us?" The vicious IceWing smiles kindly.

"Hey! That's a pretty good idea!" Reed's ears perk happily.

& so it was that I followed my brother & the glittering dragon to the west, towards the sea, while Pheasant & Umber broke off to the east, towards the sun. We follow the tree line until we reach a beach, which goes on for about 100 talons before reaching the sparkling ocean.

We sit on the beach for a few minutes until we hear a blood curdling scream echo through the trees. The three of us immediately jump to our feet & into fighting positions.

"You two stay here while I go check this out," Reed looks nervous while he walks towards the dense jungle.

We obey & sit quietly, too anxious to speak. To calm my nerves, I begin to sketch dragons in the sand. After a little bit, Icicle begins to watch over my shoulder. I shiver as her cold head rests on my shoulder. I can feel her tense when she realizes who I'm drawing. Crane.

We jump as heavy wing-beats approach us from the forest. We look to see my older brother flying towards us, terrified. Without really thinking, Icicle leaps in front of me, despite me being much stronger. Reed crashes onto the sand just as we hear the scream again, near enough to give me a headache. The air seems to shift as a dark blue dragonet materializes & screams again.

The odd-looking dragonet glares at me & spits an odd substance in my direction, but it hits a leaf instead, bursting it into flames. The dragonet leaps at me & attempts to sink her tiny claws into my neck. Thank the moons for Icicle, she peels the small dragon off of my scales & holds it, writhing, at arms' length.

"What the heck did we do to you?" Icicle growls more than she asks.

The dragonet shakes her head & points at me & Reed, "Not you," Her voice is high & rough from all the screaming, "just the MudWings." The mall dragoness spits the word out like venom.

I look at he questioningly.

She sighs before she begins to speak again, "Sit down. My life may be short, bu there is a lot to tell."

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Ooooooooh~ cliffhanger! Who's the tiny dragon? What's her story? Next chapter, prople!

Bye until I write again my kitties!

~<3 Shady