Wings of Fire; The Creed

Chapter 18

Starburst jolted awake, panting heavily. The sun was halfway between the horizon and midday. Starburst felt incredibly sore, and she did not feel well-rested at all.

She stood up from her spot, stretched a little, hoping she could loosen her muscles, but to no avail, and lifted off.

She flew off toward the ocean, not really thinking about where she was going, but rather just trying to clear her mind. She stopped once before arriving at the shore to grab a bunch of bananas from a tree. She landed at a small sandy beach, where she just sat there.

Am I... Am I going to fail my fr... um... I mean clawmates? Are they my friends? I mean, they have been staying here even if this doesn't concern them at all. I mean, I don't want to be here either, but at least they are staying here with me. Artemis is my friend... I think.

She was watching the waves softly wash up and down the shore, every once and a while snacking on a banana. The RainWing from her dream looked like she had seen her before, but not familiar enough to pinpoint exactly who it was...

By the time Starburst snapped back into reality, the sun had set a lot more. There were only a few hours left of sunlight. Starburst had to make a decision about what she was going to do. She had a bad feeling about what was going to happen, but she needed to decide now.

"I could just leave..." Starburst reasoned to herself aloud.

"But if I leave, I put Firefly in danger..."

Starburst fought with herself internally for a little while longer before she finally decided on what she was going to do.

I should stay. I have no idea what I am going to do, but it is better than being a coward. I am no coward! I have been trained as an assassin, kind of... I-I should stay and figure this out.

Starburst sat up, leaving the bunch of bananas on the sand, and left to go to the village. Starburst, for once, had no idea, no plan for what she was about to do. It was time to act, and there was no time to plan. She had to be decisive. The only thing driving Starburst was sheer determination.

After a while of flying, she did come up with a small plan. It was not very detailed, but she planned on getting her clawmates together and set up an ambush, using herself as bait. They would surround an open area, and then they would all jump in from the canopy above.

She was finally approaching the village when the sun was first hitting the horizon. She could hear the wingbeats of the now fully awake village. The chatter of monkeys and birds crisscrossed the trees.

When Starburst finally broke through the tree line outside the main part of the village, she could see everyone finishing up their jobs for the day.

She was flying through the village when something started to make her feel uncomfortable. She swore she could feel someone glaring at her, which she already knew was not uncommon. Everyone in this village hated her anyway. But something about this feeling was different. She felt like the glare was more murderous. She kept her cool, trying to stabilize any potential scale shifting, that way no one would notice, and nonchalantly glanced around the village.

She did catch a few side-eye glares from RainWings around her, but they were all just quick glances. None of them were what was giving her the feeling of being stalked. This was concerning to her.

She was on edge when some unfortunate dragon scared the living daylights out of her.

"Starburst!" the other dragon called out.

Starburst whirled around, to face the dragon who called her name. Horror and anger filled her. She saw an older-looking NightWing bolting as fast as he could toward her, trailed by her clawmates.

"Starburst! Look who we found!" Artemis called from behind the rapidly approaching NightWing.

Starburst growled low and loudly, flaring her ruff, which was colored full red and black, expressing her deep rage and hatred for them at that moment. She bared her fangs and flexed her claws, threatening to slice anyone apart if they got too close.

The NightWing noticed this, and stopped, right before he collided with her. They both landed on separate branches, keeping a close eye on one another, the NightWing with a sad, anxious face, and Starburst, her eyes burning with the flames of hatred.

The rest of the group came down next to the NightWing, not noticing Starburst's reaction quite yet.

"Look who it is Starburst! We found him while we were searching around the forest," Artemis chirped happily, with a pleased expression on her face, until she looked over at Starburst, who was fuming.

"Father,"Starburst growled, plain and cold.