The Dragon in the Cave- a Wings of Fire OC Story (1)

Chapter One

A/N- Hi everybody! This is book one of my series about my WoF OCs! These books were originally written in 2016-2018, but I recently found them and edited them. I wasn't going to post them anywhere but I've been getting so many questions about their stories so I figured I'd just post them here & people could browse if they were interested. There are five/six full books written about them that are considered "canon" in my mind, but there are also short stories that I wrote in moments of inspiration that may be posted in the future. Thank you for your support <3

Cornsnake looked at his friends huddled against the wind and the sharp rain. He knew they were cold, it was obvious. He wished he could help them more. As a SandWing, he knew he could.. but the warmth radiating from his scales could only do so much.

The three of them had been running around the continent on their own for years. All they had were each other.

His one friend, Cloud, had been abandoned randomly as a newly hatched dragonet. He didn't know anything about his family, aside the fact that his mother was an IceWing and his father was a SkyWing. Although it was never said out loud, Cornsnake assumed that him being a hybrid was the cause of his abandonment. But if it bothered Cloud, he never let anyone in on it. He had always been the leader of their tiny group- always the first to detect danger and he'd risk his life for them over and over again.

His other friend was a RainWing named Raindrop. Cornsnake didn't know anything about her background. She didn't like talking about it. Although Cloud mentioned to him very early on that her parents had been killed randomly. Cornsnake thought that was odd- all he knew of the RainWing tribe was how peaceful they were. It made him shiver thinking about it.

Cornsnake was a different story. He, unfortunately, remembered everything he had endured as a dragonet.

His mother was an odd dragon- eyes always wide as if she were always on the lookout for danger, but she radiated the opposite of anxiety. She was quite boring, and although Cornsnake loved her, she often turned a blind eye to the abuse he was subjected to by his two sisters. They were the real problem. They would constantly pick on him- pretending to strike him with their dangerous barbed tails, scratch him until he bled, and often gave him black eyes for days on end. One night, he fled the Sand Kingdom. He had had enough. After a long and exhausting flight, Cloud had found him and brought him back to Raindrop. They became fast friends and went nowhere without each other.

"How about we find a cave to stay in overnight?" Raindrop shouted, shivering from next to Cornsnake. Her scales radiated dark hues of blue. Cloud nodded gingerly. His white scales were soaked in rainwater. He looked like a ghost- aside from his orange freckles and the occasional red scales scattered like stars across his body and wings. Wind whipped at Cornsnake's scales as he looked around.

"There!" he said. A mountain stood strongly about a few wingbeats next to them. "Let's head to that mountain. That's our best bet for shelter."
"Good eye, Cornsnake," Cloud praised. They, with some difficulty, flew towards it.

By the time they had seen a plume of fire from inside the cave, it was too late. The three crashed into the cave, and he heard Raindrop shriek as they hit the ground, slipping and sliding from the rain.
"Three moons," Cornsnake muttered, standing up and shaking the rain water off his wings, showering Cloud from next to him. They all looked at the back of the cave. A petrified NightWing stood there frozen in shock. She was young, and-by the looks of it-freezing. Her violet eyes were wide with fear. Cornsnake locked eyes with her, heart racing.
She was beautiful.
Dark hues of purple covered her underscales and underbelly. Moonglobes surrounded her eyes, and she had white, diamond-like scales twisting down her body.
"Easy," Cloud assured her softly, taking a hesitant step forward. "We're not going to hurt you." He looked her up and down, and Cornsnake watched his brow furrow with concern. "How long have you been here? What's your name?" Cornsnake noticed then how thin she was. She, however, said nothing in return and kept her eyes locked on the three new dragons. He sat there staring at her, and Raindrop kept her gaze trained on her.
"Where's your family?" Cloud tried again. Silence continued.
"Can you talk?" Raindrop asked, tilting her head. The NightWing flicked her ears back. "I'm guessing that's a... no?"
"My name's Cloud," the hybrid said. She slowly lifted her head to gaze at him.
"Cloud," she said softly, scraping her talons against the floor of the cave. Her voice sent odd chills down Cornsnake's spine, and he shivered. Raindrop shot him a strange look. A smile cracked across Cloud's face.
"So you can talk," he concluded. "Just not well. How long have you been here for? You seem...underfed." Cornsnake winced at his bluntness, and followed his friend's gaze to the back of the cave where eggshells lay scattered.
"You've been here since you hatched?" Cornsnake asked, shocked. The NightWing jumped, as if not realizing he could talk either as he'd stayed silent the entire time before that. She shot him a confused glance. "How old are you?" She did not answer. She looked to be not much younger than him, although who knew for sure with how malnourished she seemed to be.
"We can help you," Raindrop said, tail flicking with sudden excitement. The black dragonet still had not moved from the back of the cave. "We can be friends!"
"Friends?" the NightWing said quietly, eyes trained on Raindrops changing scales.
"Slow down," Cloud warned, voice low. He turned to Raindrop and Cornsnake. "We don't even know her. She doesn't know us. How do we know we can trust her? What if she doesn't trust us?" He shook his head. "It won't work." Cornsnake felt his heart drop, and he looked back to this new dragon. The rain outside slowed down, and the moon finally shone through the mouth of the cave, lighting up the scales near her eyes as she took a hesitant step closer to the group. He couldn't keep his eyes off her.
"I'm Cornsnake," he finally introduced, ignoring his friend's warning. She redirected her attention onto him, and he watched her inspect him, looking him up and down. "That's Raindrop. And, obviously, Cloud." He watched her sit down and look at her talons, as if she hadn't even heard him. Cloud looked at him and shrugged, as if he wasn't sure what to make of her at this point.
Suddenly, she looked back up at them and pointed to herself.
"Visionseeker."
Cornsnake face splintered into a smile, like ice cracking on a frozen pond, heart warm.
"Visionseeker, hm?" Cloud said thoughtfully. "Can you say anything else?" She tilted her head, and he shrugged and nodded.
"When did you eat last?" Raindrop asked, as if now just realizing how malnourished Visionseeker looked. "You look thin." The NightWing said nothing.
"She's obviously not gonna answer," Cloud muttered. Cornsnake shot him a look, unexpectedly filled with irritation at his friend's impatience. It was obvious she was trying. Who knew what she had been through before this.
"I can teach you things," he blurted. Visionseeker looked back at him and tilted her head. "I can. I can give you a real shot at life. You've been here too long, clearly."
"Cornsnake-" Cloud started, voice low. Cornsnake winced at his tone. But Raindrop batted at Cloud's snout.
"Hush, it's a good idea. We can stay here and help her and have somewhere to live." Cloud sighed and looked at Visionseeker.
"Can she even fly?" he muttered.
"I can teach her that, too," Cornsnake insisted. Cloud stifled a snort.
"Friends?" Visionseeker said quietly, taking a step forward towards them. Cornsnake shot her a shy smile, heart racing.
"Friends," he assured her. "When you have a bond with someone else. When you stick together, no matter what."
Visionseeker smiled for the first time, and his heart pounded against his chest. She was possibly the most beautiful dragon he'd ever seen. Did all NightWings look the way she did?
Did they all smile the way she did?
He was doubtful.
Raindrop beamed from next to him.
"Well, look at you!" she exclaimed. "You're a fast learner." Cloud sighed, finally smiling at her as if he were surrendering. The four stayed together in the cave that night, surrounding a fire. Cornsnake sat down next to her and explained all the things they could do together and all the things he could teach her. She nodded with each word any of them said.