Murky Waters (Wings of Fire Fanfiction) ((DISCONTINUED))

Chapter 4

Darkness pressed against Darkwater's vision as he regained consciousness. His night vision was not activated, which meant his eyes wasn't open.

Stomp. Crunch.

Darkwater struggled to stand up. Something above him preventing him from lifting his body upwards, and something behind him stopped him from moving back. The ground he was laying on wasn't warm and soft like the grass in the Sky Kingdom. It was cold and uncomfortably hard, and seemed to be confided on all sides, like a box. Sounds of footsteps and voices made him think where he was.
Darkwater grunted, and he finally opened his eyes.
All he had seen was a bright, white blur at first, before his vision adjusted to the brightness.
Bars.
Dark, stone gray bars appeared in front of him, and the ground seemed to bounce but move at the same time. "Anemone?" Darkwater called.

He scooted his body forward and attempted to look through the bars. He saw scavengers... But lots of them. So many that he assumed there were thousands. They all walked in an organized line, though some were in small groups as they walked past.
It took Darkwater a moment to realize that he was in the one place he'd never expected to be...
A cage.
His heart jumped as he realized that there was no way out. Darkwater scooted back roughly, hoping that he could break the cage...
But nothing happened.
He roared with fear, his cramped legs attempting to scratch the cage's walls.
No, no, no. This can't be happening, Darkwater hopes as he whimpered. He needed his mother. Now. Outside of the bars, he spotted a ruby-red SkyWing miserably laying in his cage as it was carried by two muscular scavengers. The SkyWing wore a metal muzzle, smoke and tiny glowing embers floating from out of the nostril holes.

"Where are you taking me?" Darkwater commanded as he managed to stick half of his snout between the bars.

The scavenger, just as he expected, said nothing and kept walking. Darkwater continued to try to push his whole face through the bars, trying to possibly squeeze his whole body through the bars, but with his size, it was impossible. Darkwater laid in his cage, giving up on escaping for now. He could always use his animus magic to escape, but he feared that if he uses anymore, he'd use his soul forever. He sighed, wondering if his mother and siblings are looking for him. He laid in there for about an hour, eventually taking a snooze.

*:･ﾟ✧ ✧ﾟ･: *

Darkwater inhaled the air. Saltwater. He started to smell the ocean and all of its salty glory. With excitement, Darkwater tried to jump with joy, before he roughly slapped into reality once he hit the metal ceiling of the cage, but he kept smiling once he had seen the sea. It was a few meters away, and the dragonet could already smell the fish and the salty waters. Maybe the scavengers were releasing him into the water, possibly knowing that a dragon that looks like it's made for the sea should not be in the rainforest. Darkwater's hopes had risen when he thought this, but, once they reached the beach, Darkwater immediately saw a gigantic boat sitting in the water, a few feet from shore, orange-brown rust lined on the outside of the ship reaching towards the waters as if it was trying to escape the ship. The ship was named "Crown Prize", the text on the side of the ship bold while in a fancy-looking font, a crown also located next to the name.

Ｃｒｏｗｎ  Ｐｒｉｚｅ  ♕

Darkwater's ears turned back as the ship's horn bellowed, the sound making his heart race. It sounded so much scarier than a dragon roar. Darkwater thrashed around in his cage, roaring for help. "Mother!" Darkwater bellowed. "Please help me! Please!" Darkwater clawed at the bars, even bit them, trying to find a way to escape.
"Calm down," the scavenger hissed, though Darkwater could not understand what he had said. 

It wasn't long until Darkwater's cage was transported onto the enormous ship. The SeaWing's kidnappers carried his cage on a long, slanted platform that lead from the shallow waters to the ship's deck. Darkwater roared as he watched the ship's deck get closer and closer as the scavengers walked up the platform. Darkwater smacked his body onto the side of the cage, causing one of the scavengers to yelp. "Bitch," the scavenger said. Darkwater attempted to squeeze his claw through the bars, but before he could, he realized that he was already on the ship. The smell of cows and manure hit his nose, and he snorted as he looked around the deck. All he had seen was dark gray floors and loads of white gates and more scavengers. The scavengers wore bright orange clothing and white hats, and they watched as Darkwater and the other dragons were imported onto the ship. It gave Darkwater time to examine their flat, ugly faces. The scavengers on the ship ranged from dark brown, tan, to pale orange. Darkwater never expected scavengers to range from different shades of those colors. 

"Load em' up!" A short but broad-looking scavenger yelled. He held a clipboard in his hands as he raised his voice again. "We have to get them to Nevada pronto!"

Darkwater's cage was quickly placed in a random spot on the ship. His cage was settled next to the side of the ship, and he was then quickly pushed into a bigger cage. Darkwater growled at the hands that shoved him in the larger cage, but before he could snap those fingers, the opening of the cage slammed shut and locked, and the scavengers walked off. At least I have more space, Darkwater thought. While the other dragons were being loaded, Darkwater lifted his head as high he could go without hitting the ceiling of the cage and watched the waves crash onto the wall of the ship. It looked as if the sea called for him to come home, to his family. Darkwater roared, his bio-luminous scales flashing as he watched the wild waters.

"Shut your snout, SeaWing," a loud, gruff voice suddenly says. Darkwater turned his head, immediately staring at a large, golden yellow SandWing. The sand dragon's deep, black eyes frightened Darkwater, and the dragon's barbed tail was covered in some kind of bandage. "Roaring at the sky won't help you escape."

Darkwater dared to speak to the big, fearsome dragon. "Do you know what's happening? Why are there more scavengers? Why are they taking us?" 

The SandWing closed his eyes, his muscles relaxing as he laid down in his cage. "No, I do not know what is happening. And I assume that these scavengers came from a different continent or land, perhaps. That could be the reason why they act and look so much different than the Pyrrhian scavengers." The sand dragon's tail twitched. "And, I do not know where they taking us."

Once all of the dragons the scavengers managed to capture were loaded and secured, the ship slowly began to move away from the seashore. The powerful, booming sound of the ship's horn split the air as it moved further away from Pyrrhia. 

Darkwater stared at the ocean once more, his wings fluttering and twitching as he watched the waves, before turning his head to see the land of Pyrrhia slowly turning into a tiny dot on the horizon.