Flowers For The Sky

A Shocking Start

Ruby walked back into the woods, meeting back up with Shala and the dragons. "Did you get anything?" Shala asked. Ruby took her hood down. "As a matter of fact, I did." she said as she readjusted her cloak. "Turns out, that trader is a Dragon Whisperer himself, and he has a map to Caylus."

"And the catch?" Felix asked. "We need to gather all of the elemental flowers of Edenor." Ruby said. She doubled tapped her earring to bring up a map of Edenor. "Where do you say we go first?" Shala walked over to Ruby and tapped on an area in the southeast.

"I think we should go to Raiko first. She's the Great Lightning Dragon, and Felix and I have a boost against lightning, plus it's not too far from here." Shala said. Ruby nodded and closed the map, both girls going and getting on their dragons.

Scarlet and Felix took to the sky, carrying themselves on the wind. "Shala, since you suggested it, lead the way." Ruby said. Shala nodded and Felix flew in front of Scarlet. Felix and Shala guided Ruby and Scarlet to a clearing in front of a forest.

The two girls slid off their dragon's backs, and Shala announced, "Welcome to Raiko's Jungle. The most annoyingly damn thick and dense forest of Edenor. I hope that sword of yours is sharp." "It always is." Ruby said. "Good. We're gonna be using it a lot." Shala responded.

Ruby drew her sword and they walked over to the jungle. Shala had her bow at the ready in case anything went wrong, and Scarlet and Felix were ready for anything. Ruby started to slice through the vines and branches that blocked their path, with everyone else following.

"I see what you meant by annoying." Ruby said as she slashed through some bushes. They continued through the forest until Ruby stopped to catch her breath. "You okay?" Shala asked. "Yeah, just tired." Ruby responded. She looked up at the sky, barely catching the time through the treetops.

It was almost midday. "We've been at this for hours." Ruby groaned. "Do we know how close we are to the Lightning Lilacs?" Shala pulled up her map. "Uh, I know this isn't exactly great, but we're close to a clearing." "Why didn't we fly there from above?!" Ruby shouted.

"The trees cover the clearing from the air. You'd never be able to tell." Felix said. Ruby sighed and got back to slicing through the jungle. After a bit, they made it to the clearing Shala had mentioned. Like Shala had said, it was covered from above.

Ruby flopped on the ground, breathing heavy and dropping her sword. "Oh, are you alright?" Shala asked. "She's dramatic like that sometimes. Let her rest." Scarlet said. "I heard that." Ruby said, pointing at her dragon without sitting up. Shala sat down in the grass next to Ruby, their dragons joining them.

They all rested there for a while until the dragons heard a rustling in the bushes. Scarlet and Felix looked at where the sound came from, their riders looking at them. "What's going on?" Ruby asked as she sat up. "Listen." Felix said. The clearing went quiet and Shala and Ruby heard the rustling.

Shala grabbed her bow and notched an arrow as Ruby grabbed her sword off the ground. 3 yellow tigers came through the bushes, growling at the group. "Great. Lightning Tigers." Scarlet said. One of the tigers snapped its teeth with an electric charge around its mouth as it bit down.

"Ruby, Scarlet, take the smaller tigers. The alpha's mine." Shala said. Ruby nodded and they all rushed into battle. Shala used the arrow that was notched in her bow to shoot and land at the feet of the alpha tiger. Scarlet and Ruby lured the other two tigers away, with Ruby having to jump over one.

Scarlet crouched down, baring her fangs. Ruby held her sword up defensively, ready for the next move. Her and a tiger ran for each other, the tiger snarling. Ruby used her sword to slash at the tiger, barely moving out of the way in time to dodge a swipe of the tiger's paws.