Shadow Falling

Relief

The clearing where they had left the scavengers was empty when Shade and Passion returned. Passion stood looking very peeved, tail whipping back and forth in annoyance. Her frill had turned dark orange. She stalked to the base of one of the trees and dug around at the roots for a bit.

Shade shuffled forward, trying to peer at what Passion was doing. She withdrew a silver earring with a glistening crimson fire opal. She held it in her talons, muttering something at it. Shade's heart jumped.

"Passion, don't!"

"It's fine, besides, I'm making it useful for more things than just finding scavengers."

She pushed the earring into her left ear then turned in a small circle, eyes narrowed.

"Show me the path of the scavenger named Vine!" she told the earring.

Nothing seemed to happen. But Passion immediately darted forward, following some path that only she could see. Shade moaned worriedly but followed anyway. Passion had her nose practically to the ground, like she was either smelling something or focusing very intently on something very small.

It didn't take long to find the scavengers, but by then Shade was already out of breath. The big scavenger yelled as Passion pounced in front of them, the other just jumped back in shock.

"How come you left?" Passion asked, curling her tail around the scavengers like a fence. "I won't hurt you."

The big scavenger, Hickory, shielded Vine with his body. He looked terrified.

"Stay... Stay back!" he cried, though he was trembling.

"I... I don't think she'll hurt us. She's not trying to kill us now. Not like the other two." Vine said, tugging on her brother's arm.

"Other two?" Shade repeated, almost to himself.

Vine nodded enthusiastically. "They were big! Bigger than you. They were the desert dragons. They nearly got us."

Passion looked over at Shade, head tilted thoughtfully. He shrugged. Most dragons would eat scavengers as a snack and think very little of it. These two wouldn't have been much, but a bored dragon would definitely go after them.

"Can you tell me what they looked like? Maybe we can protect you from them if they were to ever come back!" Passion said brightly.

Hickory shook his head vehemently, but Vine spoke up right away.

"One was big and had black scales on its sides! It nearly torched us! The other wasn't as big, and it nearly hit Hickory with its tail! The smaller one was a lot faster. They were really scary."

"Which is why we don't put ourselves in danger and stay away from dragons!" Hickory insisted, trying to pull Vine away.

Passion chuckled in a way that was decidedly discomforting. "But having another, stronger dragon who is willing to help a couple of scavengers like yourself would be in your best interest... Unless you want your little sister to get killed. But that's on you, Hickory."

She stood, looking to Shade and giving him a sneaky wink. Oh. Oh. She was trying to trick him into sticking around. She kept walking and spread her wings to take off.

"Wait!"

Shade looked back at Hickory, who looked furious with himself. Passion turned her head slightly to look back at the scavenger.

"I..." he groaned. "Please protect us. Okay, there. I don't want Vine to get hurt."

"Then of course I'll help you!" Passion cried, looking excited. "Can't be too hard to take care of a couple of scavengers. Shade, can you help me make a pouch like what you've got? Then I can carry them around with me everywhere!"

"Uh... sure?"

"What have you got in there anyway? You never take it off." Passion said as she pulled some leaves from a nearby tree.

"Rocks and stuff. My father used to find rocks with me."

"Oooo! That's cool, what sort of rocks?"

As she wove together the leaves to make a scavenger pouch, Shade showed her his collection. Hickory and Vine sat nearby, watching the two dragonets. He had found several more since coming to the jungle and he had to admit, it was nice to share them with someone again. And Passion was so enthusiastic about it. It made him genuinely happy.

After a moment, Shade handed Passion a small, pointed bluish black crystal that looked like there were hundreds of tiny stars captured in it. Her eyes got all wide as she took it. She had been coming back to that one, but by the look on her face she never would have guessed he would give it to her.

"You can start your own collection," he said, shrugging.

"Thank you! It'll stay with Vine and Hickory until I can put it on a necklace!" she held the crystal in her teeth while she poked and prodded the woven bag more. "Look! I think it's done!"

She fastened it around her neck, then stuffed the stone in it. She grinned proudly, which made Shade laugh a little. Wow, a real laugh. It was nice to laugh again.

"Okay, Vine! Hickory! I have your transportation ready for you!" Passion said brightly.

As she turned, the little female scavenger screamed, looking over Passion and Shade's heads. In unison, Shade and Passion looked up to see two Sandwings descending on them.