Dawn of the Darkness (Wings of Fire)

Chapter 11

     Whale opened his eyes slowly, coughing a little. His lips felt so dry...when was the last time he had drank water? He turned his head over to the side and saw Stingray curled up in her cage. Ray was perched in a tree, silent.
     Where was Downpour?
     He rubbed his eyes, groaning. His arms hurt. Was it because Downpour had punched him while he was knocked out? He didn't know.
     "You're up." A voice from the tree came from. Ray.
     "Yeah, I noticed." Whale said sarcastically. Ray gave him a sharp look.
     "Er-" Whale started, but Ray cut him off.
     "Shut up and help me look for that crazy RainWing!" Ray barked at Whale.
     Whale sat up.
     "Where did you see her last?" He asked, his voice hoarse from lack of water.
     "The Reef." Ray said.
     So that explains why she's on a tree, looking at the Reef. She's trying to find any signs of Downpour.
     Whale get up on his legs. He saw Stingray's bucket in front of her cage. It had a layer of water at the bottom, so that means it had been sitting out for awhile. He plunged his head into it, gulping up any liquid that was in the bottom.
     Ray's wings suddenly flared.
     "THERE THAT SON OF A DUMBFOUNDED CAMEL IS!" She roared, diving down into the water with a huge SPLASH!
     There was roars and the sound of water being disturbed. Should he help?
     Nah. He thought.
     Ray can do it herself. I'll just watch...er...would this be considered watching...? Ok, whatever, I'll be watching Stingray.
     That thought went down the drain as a RainWing and a SharkWing/SeaWing hybrid burst out of the water, entangled in themselves like a bristly knot, and landed on the beach.
     Downpour's scales flared a bright red as she clawed, bit, whipped, and lashed out at Ray.
     Ray didn't do much of anything different, except that she was much more calmer in the fight while being just as brutal.
     "I'LL KILL YOU!"Downpour screamed at Ray.
     Ray threw Downpour off of her. She started laughing.
     "In your DREAMS, honey!" She cried, laughing.
     Downpour roared in frustration.
     "Where's Sharrow when I need her?!" Downpour screeched.
     Whale stared at the scene in amusement, but his eyes furrowed at Downpour's last sentence.
     Who was Sharrow?! The name of this new dragon made it unclear to who's tribe she belonged to.
     "WHALE!" Ray's voice practically screeched from where she and Downpour were fighting. Whale turned his head to see Downpour bearing a large dagger-shaped stick and was holding it to Ray's chest.
     Whale's back spines with webbing flared up.
     "I'm coming Ray, I'm coming!" Whale screeched, bounding over to Ray and Downpour. He leaped and rammed into Downpour's side and threw her into the ocean. Wow. He...just did that.
     Ray wiped off a bit of blood from Downpour.
     "Well. Wasn't that certainly something." She said, bored.
     "Y-yeah..." Whale glanced down to where he threw Downpour. No sign of her.
     That's when he remembered Stingray. The last time he saw her, she was curled up in her cage. He glanced over at the small cage's direction to see her clawing at the bars, obviously spooked from the fight.
     "Stingray?" Whale took a step towards her.
     Stingray looked up. She had tears running down her face.
     "Is...is it over...?" She asked quietly.
     Whale looked surprised.
     "I...er-...are you...are you okay?" He asked, sitting next to her cage.
     "I'm-" Stingray started before Ray started stalking towards Whale.
     "Daddy! Behind you!" Stingray shouted, running to the edge of the cage's bars and banging on them with her fists.
     Whale whirled around to find Ray pouncing on him, claws sharp and ready to tear flesh.
     "You let her escape?!", screamed Ray.
     "N-no-no! I-...I- I didn't-!" Whale cried before Ray dug her claws into his cheek. He let out a squeal and jerked away.
     Ray looked crazy. "I'll just summon her!" She cried.
     Ray snapped her fingers while her eyes were closed, obviously casting a spell.
     In an instant, a dragon that seemed to have the jungle embedded to her scales, because perfect leaves, fruits, and sun were shining through.
     He took a moment to admire her, almost as if looking at an expertly-painted canvas before it all turned bright red to a sleek camouflage. Whale let her go again, for that piece of art he may see again.
     Ray hissed, annoyed. But she let her go, too. Probably because she wouldn't know what to do with an insane RainWing except make her be her piece of art, like Scarlet did once with that Dragonet of Destiny, or whatever.
     "C-can we keep her...?" Whale looked at Ray.
     "YEAH! Can we keep her?! Please?! Please?!", Stingray cried.
     Ray inhaled in frustration.
     "Fine. But she's staying with Stingray." Ray growled and snapped her fingers.
     Stingray's cage doubled in size as Downpour plopped in it, this time looking like the perfect Reef beside their island. Her scales changed to red, and instead of disappearing, she opened her wings and they made a loud clatter sound against the metal. Downpour stared at Ray with burning fury in her eyes, and poor little Stingray ran to the corner in fear.
     Ray inhaled tightly and turned to Downpour.
     "You are on my land now. You are going to see what happens when you get on my nerves, and you are on my special list I like to call, The Shit List." Ray sneered.
     Downpour roared and started gnawing on the cage's bars like it was her favorite treat.
     Ray hissed in disgust and snapped her fingers.
     In an instant, Downpour let go and fell backwards, screaming. She crushed Stingray with her wing, whom started screaming as well. She knew what was happening all too well.
     Stingray scrambled up Downpour's wing and curled up there, while Downpour screamed as her scales began to burn.
     Whale watched with relief that Stingray was safe and glanced over at Ray. She seemed to be grinning with this look on her face...was it a cunning look? Dangerous? Revenge-like? He didn't know. It kinda looked like all of them. But he saw Stingray slip, about to fall on the red-hot floor of the cage.
     Whale's wings flared as he darted to the cage and reached for its handle.
     In an instant, that part of the bar became red-hot. Whale's hand instantly jerked away.
     "Eeek-!" Whale cried. He could only imagine what Stingray has been going through, dealing with this frequently. It must really be torturous.
     And I'm realizing this now?! OUGH! Whale, you're SO STUPID!
      Whale dug his knuckle into his forehead.
     Stupid stupid STUPID!
    "WHALE!" Screamed Stingray as she started to burn. Downpour wasn't helping all that much since she was literally bouncing and crashing into the cage bars, actually tipping it over. She and Stingray crashed down onto the bottom bars, but Stingray (given her small size) was able to place her feet in the spaces between the bars, evading the burning.
     Whale growled and tackled Ray.
     "STOP!!!"