Wof: Under a Scarlet Banner

Prologue

Sunny laid on the cold cavern floor with Glory and Starflight in the study cave. Clay and Tsunami were still "training" with Kestrel, but it felt more like Kestrel bullying Clay and trying to get him to release his "inner monster".
Why can't she see that Clay is nothing like that?

   Then again if Kestrel knew, which of course she did, that there was no monster to release, Clay would come back to the study with more than scratch marks. Sunny snorted in frustration. She should do something. She already tried to tell her to stop, but that usually makes her more mad. Sunny's thoughts were interrupted by the voices of her friends coming down the tunnel.

"...you really should fight back one of these days, or do you expect me to come and save you with my future royal guards?" Tsunami snorted sarcastically.

"I don't anyone to fight in the first place. Can't we talk it out first, then have a big dinner after?" replied Clay with a smug face.

Even coming back from Kestrel's cruel taunting, Clay always came back the same old, soft hearted, hungry Mudwing. Kestrel would always talk about the monster that clay was when he hatched, but all Sunny could see was the biggest one of her friends, with the biggest heart, and the biggest appetite. The blue seawing with him was Tsunami. She was the best fighter in of all Pyrrhia. She was a little bossy, sure, and was totally a seawing princess, but deep inside she would do anything for her friends.

"Oh someone please feed the poor starving Mudwing."

"Yes, please do."

"Well, at least you both came back in time for our study session." Starflight said with his snout already buried in one of his scrolls.

"Right, we wouldn't miss them for all the gold in Pyrrhia. Why not invite Kestrel to one of them later?" Glory scoffed.

The sarcastic rainwing was Glory.Sunny really liked the way she could change her colors to anything she wanted. Many times she would change into the most dazzling colors she had ever seen. Looking at her made the caves seem a little brighter. If only their caretakers could see Glory the same way she did. Starflight was the smart one. He usually had his snout in a scroll, occasionally wrinkling whenever he was deep in thought. He would try to teach the others whatever he could. Sunny tried hard to listen to Starflight's lessons, even if they got a little boring.

That left Sunny herself. She thought she was smart, confident, courageous even. She only wanted the others to see her the same way she saw herself, how she saw the world. She had great ideas, she knew the world could be so much better if everyone stopped fighting. But now she was in the study cave trying to listen to Starflight. Which was fine.

"Of course we'll make her be the scavenger next time we learn about the three SandWing princesses." Tsunami said as she rolled her eyes.

"Hey why don't we learn about scavengers? We hardly learned anything about scavengers!" Sunny exclaimed.

"Well they hardly exist, they were nearly wiped out five thousand years ago during The Scorching. There are only a few dens left and traveling packs. The most notable thing they have done recently would be the death of Queen Oasis."

Glory snickered, "And to think that a little rat not only killed the queen of Sandwings, but also walked off with her gold, started a world war, and locked us underground for three years."

"So, how did they manage that? Are they smarter than they look? It's not like a cow could have done the same thing."

Starflight scratched his head in thought,"There's not much here that says so..."

"About killer cows?" Glory huffed.

"About the intelligence of scavengers. They do use sticks and sharp stones to hunt, but that doesn't mean they are as smart as dragons."

"Well I think that they could be. Maybe we can find one when we leave the mountain and find out ourselves." Sunny chirped excitedly. She then wrinkled her snout trying to remember something, "Uhh, what do they look like?"

"Well, they don't have scales, just weird pale flesh like a shaven sheep, they walk with two legs and use the others to pick things up, there is a small patch of fur on the top of their heads and some on their face sometimes, and they wear the fur of prey they kill."

"Having two legs must be so weird. I bet they trip over them all the time." Tsunami chuckled.

Sunny also laughed and tried walk around the room on her hind legs only to trip before making it halfway. Everyone burst into laughter at the silly sight. Sunny laid on the stone floor laughing along with them, wondering if she really could met one of these strange creatures.