Spire's legend ; Oversea Border

Prolouge

                       

Clouds hovered closely to the ground, and wrapped around spikes of towering mountainous rocks. The sun was just coming up over the horizon of the Sky Kingdom. The bright sunlight behind the tall castle casted a dark shadow upon the valley below the mountains.
In the hatchery of the Skywing kingdom laid 3 eggs in a nest of grass, leaves, and hay. They were pale red in color and nearly a few days old. It would take about a month or two before they would hatch.
A grumpy voice could be heard throughout the halls, the sound of a female Skywing. Her sharp talons clanked against the floor as she walked, and her yellow eyes glared meanly at her surroundings. On her face, a slight snarl bore. Cirrco was standing in the doorway of the hatchery, looking to the corner of the room where her eye caught something. She saw the eggs... her eggs. She didn't care about them.
Her belief wasn't on motherhood, it was on continuing the next generation of strong Skywings that will win wars and protect the queen.
With a huff, she continued on down the hallway, heading to a small balcony where she would be able to fly off. Hunger panged in her stomach, which made her not want to fly. Hunger was hurting them all. The sheep of huge tusks where disappearing into the mountain ranges, and the birds in the forest disappeared as well.
    The new method would have to go unseen though. Stealing prey from the ocean that was owned by the Seawings. They weren't caught just yet though.
Cirrco stood at the edge of the balcony, her wings drooping down a bit as she sat to gaze across at the rising sun. 'Hopefully my dragonets aren't weaklings, the ones who don't survive.' She thought bitterly.
A time in which she remembered a dragonet dying an embarrassment, and the mother sharing that embarrassment. She didn't want that to happen to her. Mothers weren't supposed to care for their dragonets for they wouldn't matter later on. All Cirrco minded was her duty to hunt for her tribe and earn the trust and loyalty of the queen.

     •Six years and two months later•

After many years, the Skywings continued to steal prey- not only from the Seawings but from the Mudwings and from the unclaimed Delta spray territory too. A reddish orange dragon spread her huge wings, and jumped from the rock ledge, soaring down towards the bottom of the kingdom after having kept watch in the morning sun rise. Cirrco was one of the kingdom's best hunters for the years she'd been at duty. She was in charge of leading hunting patrols, and now she had to lead them to the ocean.
She was met in the courtyard by three other Skywings whose names were Brick, Crimson, and Thrush, the queen's son. The three of them, from Cirrco's point of view, looked like little dragonets. She knew though that she could make them better hunters after a few trips.
"Greetings." She said lowly to them. "I'm sure you are all aware of our new commands from our queen." Cirrco had started. "We well be hunting in the ocean today, but we can't get too close to the border of the Seawing Kingdom. You know Queen Hurricane and her need to command the whole ocean." All three of the Skywings nodded in agreement at that statement. Queen Hurricane and the queen of the Skywings have had a rivalry ever since the start of the queen's rule over the Skywings. It is not shared why they hold hate for each other, for Queen Col kept it secret for a very long while.
The idea was to hunt animals like dolphins, sharks, turtles, and large fish. Based on Cirrco's poor knowledge on the ocean, she would assume that those could be found deeper into the ocean waters. The hard part was how they were gonna find these creatures. They had found huge whales on the other side of their territory in the cold bitter water, but swimming had not been their specialty and many of them got hypothermia or drowned in the cold ocean waters. Cirrco herself had tried hunting ocean creatures sometimes, and she had questioned it many times. The Mudwings with their fire resistant scales and bone crushing weight would surely not have been as much of a threat, but Queen Col had already tried to talk to their queen and she gave a strict no. Sea creatures- though no knowledge was known of them, would have to be hunted.
It was Brick that spoke next. "I read a scroll about sea creatures. None of them are dangerous accept for sharks maybe. We should be able to get a hold of one."
Cirrco nodded to the knowledgeable dragonet for he seemed to be the brains of the group. "Thank you Brick. Did the scroll say anything about where we can find these sea creatures?" she asked and sighed when the dragonet shook his head.
"Alright. We will hunt until we find something. However long it takes." Cirrco said, before nodding her head up the the sky. "Lets go." She commanded.
The four started off towards the ocean, which they could already see against the horizon. The Skywings had tried hunting on the other side of their peninsula, but they had found nothing but frigid cold waters, and no food. Winter seasons always took a toll on the Skywings, but not this bad.
Food was being taken by scavengers, and food was disappearing. Perhaps colder weather killed them too? Or maybe disease was wiping them out. Too many complex thoughts filled her head.
Cirrco focused her attention on the ocean which had gotten no closer in the time she had been thinking deep thoughts. It almost didn't make sense though... how did all the prey just... disappear? Maybe there was some immortal dragon against them. She had heard very distant stories about a dragon who almost killed off an entire tribe being an animus...
An animus. That sprung a new branch of thoughts that panged worry in her head. Animus blood ran in her family, but only a very distant relative had it. The only thing that Skywings knew about animus dragons is that they were dangerous and needed to be killed immediately. Cirrco spent some of her life worrying that it was her that would be an animus dragon, and she would be killed. She didnt care if one of her dragonets had the gene, for they would just be killed. What she was afraid of, was an insane animus dragon.
"Circco?" a voice sounded, breaking up her thoughts. She turned her head against the breeze that flung past them as they flew. It was Thrush that had spoken, and his pale yellow eyes were filled with some worry or concern. "Yes Thrush?" she questioned, not the littlest bit curious about what this dragonet was worried about.
"I heard from my m- um... Queen Col that the Seawings are aware of our unwanted presence..." Thrush said as he glided a bit closer to Cirrco so she could hear him. "The Queen asked Queen Hurricane and the answer was obvious. Do you think we'll get attacked?" he asked with a hint of worry.
Cirrco wasn't the sympathetic kind, and she wasn't sure what to say to this. "If we get attacked, we will win. You were trained for this Thrush, trained for a war that's on the brink of happening." she stated tersely.
If they were attacked, Cirrco wouldn't waste her breath to snap the throats of all the Seawings that attacked her and the three dragonets. Maybe it would send a message to Queen Hurricane that she shouldn't mess with the Skywings... and that maybe she should be more considerate on helping neighboring tribes. Threatening her wasn't a first strategy, but now it's clear that getting food isn't going to happen without putting down a fight. The Seawings will lose.
By now they were over the ocean  and land was just a bit behind them. The kingdom wasn't that far away from the shoreline, therefore these trips wouldn't be that difficult. The Skywing wings would carry them far until they reached deeper waters.
Cirrco hated water. Water made her scales feel slippery,  slimy and weird. She wasn't sure though how she would get any food without getting herself full of water, which was unfortunate in her case.
Almost as if she read her mind, Crimson spoke up. "So eh, how are we supposed to attack this new prey? If they are under the water surely they will be hard to catch? And we could drown in the process." Cirrco rolled her eyes a bit and stopped mid air, flapping her huge wings. She wanted to address them directly so they could hear her properly.The three dragonets stopped too, and treated in front of Cirrco.
The shore was just on the horizon now, and the sun was surely higher than it was when they left. "We will dive down at our prey, and grab it with our jaws, or claws. Make sure you are positioned correctly, because if you mess up, i'm sure they won't come back by the surface." Cirrco started. "We will stick together since we are in enemy territory." she added before she turned her head to scan the ocean.
This surely would be difficult and she knew that. They did have a risk of drowning if they got stuck in the water, but if their wings were strong enough they could propel them towards shore or help them lunge out of the water.
With the beacon of her head the three swooped out of the partly cloudy sky, and spread their wings just as they hovered over the ocean. The ocean smelled of salt and fish, which was and was a good sign that there was fish and aquatic creatures in the water. 'This is going to take forever, and someone is surely going to die.' Cirrco thought quietly. Her eyes darted around quickly and precisely as the waves of the ocean blue capped and splashed.
Some time passed. All there was to think about was the unbearable pane of hunger that kept stabbing them. All there was to watch was the continuous waves of the ocean below them as they flew. There. Movement.
    "I see something." Thrush announced to the group, and they all slowed down a bit. A pod of dolphins. They looked so peaceful and happy. 'Prey is prey. Hunt or die.' Cirrco told herself.
    "Good, Thrush since you spotted them first, why don't you take the kill." She suggested to the young prince. He looked quite uncertain at first as if he wasn't sure if he'd get it, but something made him more confident because he nodded and flew towards the pod. Cirrco watched with a careful eye as did Brick and Crimson. "Be prepared to fly to his aid incase he missed our stars drowning." She told the other two. With understanding nods, the two then returned their attention back to Thrush.
    His mother will be proud to learn that his first catch in the ocean is a dolphin. Cirrco continued to watch. He was hovering a bits above the ocean watching the pod, waiting to strike at the perfect time. 'Good. A good hunter always waits for the perfect opportunity when chances are slim.'
    Thrush made a feint movement and dove down towards the pod. He looked very confident in his catch. Cirrco motioned the others to get closer incase something went wrong, and they slowly followed the dragonet. A dolphin breached at the surface, just in Thrush's grasp. The dragonet spread his wings wide, and in a split second,  snatched the creature of of the water. It made a small splash, hopefully not disturbing the other dolphins. High pitched noises came from the now alarmed and injured dolphin that he grasped.
    But wait. Victory seemed on the brim now. Cirrco saw something that made her hold her breath. She could see underneath Thrush was the blue silhouette of a dragon... a Seawing.
"Thrush! Seawing! Get out of there!" She called to him in alarm.
    Too late. Two largely built Seawing soldiers of blueish green coloring leaped out of the water and grabbed ahold of Thrush. One grabbed his wing, and the other grabbed his back leg, before dragging him under the water. There was a short screech before Thrush's head disappeared under the surface of the water.
    This was exactly what she didn't want to happen. She saw something out of the corner of her eye, and catching her off guard a pale  blue shape lunged at her trying to knock her off balance into the water. Within seconds there were two more Seawings, and those two attacked Crimson and Brick. She couldn't even catch a glance of them because just seconds after she was knocked off balance the dark blue Seawing attacked her again, this time grabbing at her tail. Cirrco spun around and raked her sharp talons across the Seawings head, hoping he would let go of her tail.
    The shrill from his mouth was enough for her to escape from the jaws of the Seawing. The smell of blood and salt in the air stung her nose as she darted away up into the clouds, hoping to get the Seawing by surprise if she lost him in the clouds.
    It took her a moment to catch her breath as she vigorously slapped her wings in the air. Brick and Crimson, she needed to protect them. Without a second more, she dove out of the protection of the misty clouds, and towards the ocean where she was met with blood stained waters and no dragon in sight. She felt a deep horrible feeling in her heart, but had a pang of anger at how these weak dragonets died within seconds of fighting. "Show your faces!" she screeched at the sky and she looked around. There was nothing there. Nothing in sight but the now calm waves of the ocean, and the rising sun.
    A splash could be heard below Cirrco, causing the Skywing to whip her head around in the direction she heard. The pale blue Seawing That had attacked her emerged from the water. Cirrco could now see the dragon was wearing a pearly white necklace, a golden chain necklace, and two matching earrings on each ear. Her gills flashed an odd darker color of purple, and she had white markings on the outlining of her wings. She made some sort of flash with her scales and two other Seawings emerged from the ocean. It was the two who had killed Brick and Crimson. This was the queen of the Seawings.
    "So Skywing, I guess it's war you want. Here's the deal. You leave and never come back, or we will kill you like we killed the rest of your pathetic group of dragonets." Sneered the dragon of royalty. Cirrco was not a good fighter as she was a hunter, but she knew now she was outnumbered. She would have time to take revenge on them another time when she was stronger.
    "Fine you fish brains. Thanks for letting us starve." Cirrco hissed. The Skywing glared at the slimy looking dragons that stared her down, before she wacked her wings at the air and within a second, she was gone in the clouds. She flew fast, almost faster than she ever had before. It wasn't because she was scared though- she needed to get the message to Queen Col.
If the Seawings dare kill our dragonets, then we shall return the favor.
       
This is war.