DragonTribes #2: ForestTribe

Chapter 16: The Messengers

Zoe laid against Petunia's warm scales. Her dragon purred as she bathed in the sunlight. Zoe thought about things to do, which she hadn't found anything in the past few weeks.

She thought of the strange dragon a lot, but didn't speak of it until now, "Do you remember a couple nights before the race, with the new dragon?"

Petunia curved her neck to Zoe. Her dragon nodded.

"We haven't seen them for a month now." Zoe stated.

Petunia nodded her white head again. She looked up to the sky. Zoe followed her gaze. She glanced at the blinding sun. Sun... We use the sun to tell the time of day. Time of day!

Her dragon's intelligence made her smile, "We need to look for them late in the evening."

Petunia purred. Zoe smiled and reached for Petunia's snouts with her lips. Petunia moved her face closer. Zoe kissed Petunia's beak. Petunia purred louder.

***

"Goodnight." Mom smiled.

"Sweet dreams." Zoe called to Mom from her bed as she turned to walk out the room.

"You too." She replied as she stepped out of Zoe's room towards hers.

Zoe grinned. Just wait a few moments for her to get settled next to Dad. Zoe instructed herself as she stared at the ceiling. To settle her ragin boredom, she tried counting how many pieces of wood made up the roof of her room. She got to twenty-three and then stopped. She carefully lifted the covers off of her and stood up quietly. She paused and listened, still silence. She tip-toed out her room and paused at her parent's doorway. Zoe peeked over the frame. Both Mom and Dad laid motionless, deep in sleep. Zoe continued her silent hike through the house. She quietly opened the front door, pleading for it not to creak. The door successfully opened and closed behind her silently. Zoe skipped happily, but as quietly as possible, to the fence. Petunia was already at the gate, tail wagging rapidly.

"How'd you sleep?" Zoe whispered and giggled.

Petunia's tail continued to wag and she purred excitedly. Zoe cautiously opened the gate, just barely enough so Petunia could squeeze out. Petunia inched out her pen. Zoe grinned and closed the gate. It creaked shut. Petunia's ears perked, and they both froze. There was no noise of anyone who they might have awoken. Zoe continued on. The silence was eerily spooky to her. Zoe preferred the sounds of the monkeys and birds. She led Petunia through the north of the village towards the chieftan's hut. She watched her foot for a moment, then looked up. Zoe froze as a light came to view. It was candlelight from the chieftan's hut. She sat next to someone's hut a little away and looked at Chieftan Taia's doorway. They would have to wait for a while because last time they encountered them, the sun had set long before. They sat in silence.

Petunia sat next to Zoe, ears flicking. Petunia's ears flicked back and she raised her beak to the air with a deep sniff. Zoe looked to the sky with her. A dragon flew overhead, thankfully not noticing them, and landed next to Chieftan Taia's hut. Zoe studied it quizically. The dragon was a vibrant red, like Zoomer, but it had flame details. A Firedragon, here? She knew it wouldn't have feathers because JungleDragon's were the only ones that did. Strangest to her, it had a horn on its nose.

"Stay here, Dagger." A female voice said softly, almost too soft for Zoe to comprehend.

Petunia's ears flicked forward. A girl, not just any girl, the girl, dismounted from the even newer dragon. Why a FireDragon? She still wore the colorful stripes on her left arm. The dragon, or Dagger, turned to the girl and followed her towards Chieftan Taia's hut. A clanking noise sounded from its direction. Zoe leaned forward for a better view of the dragon's ankle. There was some sort of brace on it. The noise coming from a chain on its brace.