Frozen Desert | A WoF Fanfiction

(Chapter 3) Twice a Week

A/N: I'm a little late with this, sorry bout that! I may be a little busy for the next few weeks, with end of semester tests and such, but hopefully I can keep chapters consistent, at least in quality. Hope you enjoy this one :D

Tundra's POV

Two times a week, my parents and I went to sermons. They took place in an open, amphitheater space, where my father would stand in the center of and preach. As a dragonet, I spent so much time there that I soon knew the place like the back of my hand. Every crack, crevice and corner were mapped in my head, and often times I would wander the area in my free time after my father spoke to the masses.

Every dragon in town showed up if they could. They'd socialize among themselves, chatting and gossiping. When my father spoke, they would all go quiet and listen to what he said. To me, he seemed to be more of a motivational speaker than a preacher. He spoke about everyday things, and occasionally would bring a member of the community onstage to speak.

Most of the time, I sat in the audience with my mother, tucked under her wing. I had heard Father speak so many times that listening to him preach just seemed like too much. Still, I tried my best to not fall asleep, although I wasn't always successful.

Sometimes, I would watch the dragons around me. A mix of all tribes could be found within our town, ranging from Icewings to Mudwings. There were a few tribes I never saw very much of, such as the Seawings and the Nightwings. Father told me that Seawings didn't want to live too far from the ocean, and that the Nightwings were too stuck up to join the common dragon in the mountains. So, faces soon became familiar, although I never could place names.

After a while, I knew the face and story of almost every dragon who attended the sermons. I knew all about the Icewing couple who were on the run from their kingdom, and about the Skywing who left her home to be with a Rainwing she met on a patrol. There was a small family of Mudwings who were loud and rowdy but had a much softer side than what I first saw.

That's why when I saw a new family, a strangely quiet family, I was immediately intrigued.

The couple consisted of members of two different tribes, a Rainwing and a Sandwing. However, that wasn't what struck me as odd. Hybrid couples were common here. The thing that confused me was the dragonet that sat between them. He was clearly a Mudwing, despite neither of his parents also being a Mudwing. His scales were divided between shades of swampy greens and browns, and he seemed to be around my age. He was large for his age but sat neatly with his legs tucked beneath him.

This fascinated me. Mudwings never had parents, much less parents from two different tribes. There were no others around him, leading me to believe that he had no siblings, which was also strange. How did he end up all the way up here in the mountains?

I was snapped out of my thoughts by my mother sharply jabbing me in the side with her wing. "It's rude to stare at people, Tundra," she whispered, and blood rushed to my cheeks. Was it that obvious?

"Sorry..." I mumbled.
She just sighed. "Who were you looking at?"

I motioned in the direction of the small family. "Them," I responded. "They're a Sandwing and Rainwing with a Mudwing dragonet, who has no siblings. That's so weird."
"It's not weird, Tundra," Mother scolded me gently. "I'm sure they're just like us, and that dragonet is still well taken care of."

"I guess so..." I said, turning back to glance at them one last time. The Mudwing also had his head turned, and we locked eye contact for a moment. I never ducked my head so quickly in my life.