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A desert night walk

Ash sighed, letting her useless wings hang by her sides. She looked up, just as her siblings began fighting again. Over the stupidest thing too, who's turn it was to pick dinner. It was Ash's turn, but everyone had forgotten about that, because it had to do with her. If only she could fly up there and knock some sense into them. Ash was pretty sure she would have been the Bigwings, had she hatched as a full Mudwing. She already had the fierce desire to help her sibs, and subsequently hated it when they fought. Which was every day. Her tail swept across the ground, clearing the dust off the stone floor. You know what? It's my turn, I'm picking tonight. And since I know they won't stop to listen to me, I'll just have to go catch something myself.

Ash got to her talons and found a stone slab. She tried to carve some words into it, but the stone wouldn't budge. Fine then. I'll just have to do it some other way. Ash glanced over at the small fire they kept, mostly so her mother and Scorch would have somewhere to stand out of the way, where nobody would accidentally walk into them. Perfect. Ash reached gingerly into the edges of the fire, wincing, and pulled out a large talon full of ashes. Then she carried them into her room, carefully leaving a thin trail behind her. Then, she deposited the rest of the ashes at the end of the trail and started spelling out words with them.

I am going to catch my own dinner. I should be back by morning.

Ash sat back to admire her handiwork. There. That way they won't worry. Ash shook out her talons, trying to get the dust off. Eventually she gave up, realising they would just get more dirty outside. She poked her head around the corner. Scorch had Chill pinned to the wall and was roaring at him, while he kicked at her head and chest. Their aunts, uncles and parents scolded them futilely, while they continued fighting.

"WHY WERE YOU OUT ALL NIGHT!" Scorch roared. Ah. So they were fighting about something else now. Ash remembered this, Chill has gone out the day before and not come back all night. Everyone was frantically rushing about, looking for him. Sometimes Ash was jealous of Scorch. She was the only one who wasn't in constant danger whenever on her own.

"I already told you. None of your business." Chill said, with an air of calmness, but there was a slight touch of.. something different. Ash tilted her head. Was that fear she saw glinting in her brother's eyes? Wasn't that the same tone her father used when someone went missing? The, I'm actually super worried but I'm faking calmness tone. There was also something... inherently different about her brother since he had returned that morning. It looked almost like there were... smile wrinkles around his eyes, and his scales were slightly darker pink then before, the way they only got when he had been warm for a long period of time. But that couldn't be right, the desert was cold at night, and any place near it was even colder. But he did definitely look pinker, especially on one shoulder and his stomach. What did he do, lie on his back all day? And get someone to make a fire for him, and sit facing it all night? That's an odd thing for him to do. Anyways, she could ponder over it later. She already had a few working theories, but she would need further evidence.

Ash waited until a moment where nobody was watching the doorway, then quickly slipped out into the desert. The cooling night breeze refreshed her, and she felt ready to spread her wings and fly to the moons. She almost tried. She lifted her wings, but then saw them from the corner of her eye and quickly folded them again, embarrassed at being so caught up in the moment. Instead, she set out across the desert.

Ash walked for hours, but didn't see anything worth eating. Eventually, she was almost within sight of Queen Thorn's Stronghold. I should probably stop here. I don't want to get spotted. Ash yawned and stretched, not looking forward to the walk back, and so she didn't notice the wind picking up until it swept her off her feet. She stumbled, tripped and fell. Instead of hitting the ground, the sand she landed on collapsed and she fell into a cold, dark tunnel.