Researcher's Journal: A Journey Across Pyrrhia

Chapter 1: Failed Midnight Escape, Friend in a Dark Place

Chapter Notes: This is my first foray into writing so any suggestions, comments, or even a heads-up on a typo is appreciated.

Legend: "thinking" "talking" *sounds*

(Day 0) 11:42 pm, Southern forest somewhere near the "Sky Kingdom" borders

A deep saffron dragon raced through the dense forest, every wingbeat and running stride filled with fear as he desperately tried to put distance between himself and his relentless pursuers. "The canopy is too thick; you can't escape by flying," he realized, while his mind continued to formulate a plan to escape into the cover of the night.

"They're gaining," his racing thoughts warned him as he brushed past branches and shrubs, leaving small lacerations on his still-hardening deep saffron and beige scales. Frustration welled within him as he chastised himself, "You should have waited for your veil to fully complete instead of scouting around like an idiot." He recounted his last actions, where he had poked around beneath the tree canopy to avoid detection, but clearly, that didn't go according to plan.

Now being pursued by what he assumed to be SkyWing guards bent on his capture after mistaking him for a trespasser aiming to sneak into their kingdom's boundaries, the dragon now found himself in a perilous situation. "Stop immediately, trespasser!" their bellowing shouts reverberated through the trees, spiking his adrenaline.

His eyes scanned the forest ahead, locking on to a sizable clearing up ahead. With a possible avenue of escape, he pushed forward, a glimmer of determination sprouting in his chest. "Come on, just a little more," he muttered to himself encouragingly as he angled his sprinting body toward the approaching clearing.

Breaking through a few bushes into the clearing, he vaulted upward from a raised root and burst through the forest's canopy, feeling a wave of relief wash over him. However, his hope was short-lived as his ears picked up a sharp command from a dragoness off to his left. In response, her subordinates activated a ballista-like contraption, propelling a net directly toward him. In an instant, his wings became ensnared, and he started tumbling from the sky, struggling to cut free from the net with his claws.

"Blast it! They chased you into a trap," his mind shouted when he realized the trick, with his frustrations being voiced out as angered roars. Preoccupied by thrashing about in the net, he didn't notice the fast-approaching ground. His realization came too late, and with a resounding *crack*, everything faded into darkness as he blacked out from the impact.

~~~

(Day 1) 6:33 pm, SkyWing Palace dungeon

"Hey, *poke* hey, wake up, hybrid," a melodic yet gravelly feminine voice broke our dragon's slumber. When he eventually cracked open his eyes, a pounding headache immediately assaulted his awakening body. "Whoa, take it easy," the voice callously cautioned. "You took quite a hit, based on that sizable chip on your horn and cracks on your left horn and the bloody forehead scales."

Our dragon, still disoriented by the headache, managed to croak out "Uhh, who are you?"

The voice responded with a grumble and reluctance, "Wouldn't you like to know, hybrid?" Her tone carried a hint of disgust, but she still extended a claw to help Hornbill to his feet before retreating into a defensive stance.

As our dragon steadied himself, he first looked around and examined his surroundings. "Alright, we're in some sort of dungeon. Our wings are clamped, and I'm sharing a cell with a SeaWing," he muttered quietly, his gaze slowly falling on his defensive cellmate, "Wow, you look... dry," was his mind's first reaction upon seeing the SeaWing.