A Heart of Frozen Shadows ~ A Wings of Fire Fanfiction

Chapter 2 ~ Barren Sands

(Credit to Derpking1234 for the character Barren. Check out his fanfic, Barren Sands for more information on this character)

Hours later, Frigid found herself flying over the sand kingdom, swiveling her head from side to side to make sure no one could sneak up on her.

She was beginning to tire, though, and would need to find an oasis soon. Luckily, the Scorpion Den was nearby, so she angled herself in its direction.

As it was every time she came, dragons skirted her like the plague as soon as she entered the market area. Every single dragon knows the reputation of the Shade, she thought with grim humour.

As she neered the oasis in the centre of the town, a pale yellow SandWing with a orange crest and almost white wings ran right into her. He was missing one of his forearms, which made his gate look quite odd. He quickly muttered an apology and tried to continue, but Frigid grabbed on to his forearm.

"Who are you?" she hissed, her voice cold.

"Um...I'm Barren?" the SandWing replied. "Are you okay? You're voice is kinda raspy. Do you have a cough?"

Frigid's eyes narrowed. How dare this puny SandWing insult me so. A cough! As if!

"Er, are your eyes okay now? They look like they might be stuck shut. Here, just let me..." Barren reached up, as if to peel open her eye, and Frigid recoiled.

"What is wrong with you?" she snarled. "Do you know who I am?"

"I feel like you won't like this, but...no, I don't know who you are," Barren replied, his expression slightly apologetic.

Frigid, meanwhile, looked apocalyptic. She bared her teeth, ready to breath deadly frost all over his face, when a scarred SandWing pushed his way to the front of he crowd. Only then did Frigid realize a crowd had gathered around Barren and her, eager for a fight.

One insult after the other. She absolutely refused to be used as entertainment for the filthy crowd, and instead grabbed Barren's neck. "Come with me," she growled under her breath, and began to haul him off.

"Hey, where're you going'?" a rough-looking SandWing asked her, blocking her from leaving the circle.

"Somewhere away from here," Frigid replied. She considered adding an insult, but decided against it.

"I don't think you be doin' dat," another SandWing piped up, this one thin and wiry. 

"Now why would you think that," Frigid growled, narrowing her eyes once more.

"Um," Barren muttered from between her claws. "Probably because they're going to keep you here...by force." 

"Shush, you," Frigid hissed right back. "And I'd like to see them try."

"Look, we came to 'dis place lookin' for a brawl, and we ain't goin' till we see one. Now fight!" the first SandWing slurred.

Frigid grinned cruelly. "So you want to see a fight?" she announced. "Then I guess I'd better give you one." Still wearing her smile, she let go of Barren. "Don't bother running," she hissed at him. "You and I have unfinished business."

With that, she turned back to the first dragon, and swung her tail at him, scoring red lines across his snout. "Was that what you were looking for?" she asked sweetly, already cataloging all the different ways she could defeat him.

"Whut?" the SandWing gasped. "No one hurts the Cheetah and lives to tell da tale, you frog-faced blob o' camel spit!" Snarling, he lunged for Frigid, his claws slashing at her face. 

She ducked just before he connected, and quickly shot frost at his chest and wings, successfully crippling him.

"Having fun yet?" she taunted, whirling around to smash him in the side with her wing.

"You t'ink dis is funny?" Cheetah yelled. "Jus' wait till I get me claws on your ugly snout!" He lunged again, and Frigid danced out of the way, almost, but not quite laughing aloud.

Their fight continued for several minutes, with Cheetah tiring progressively as each went by. Frigid however, seemed as energetic as ever, whirling and dancing away from each and every one of his clumsy attacks.

After a particularly bad lunge, the SandWing ended up sprawled on the ground, and Frigid decided to end the brawl. She stepped over to him, smoothly snapped his neck, before stalking over to where Barren had stood the duration of the fight.

"Anyone else object to me leaving?" she growled, and when no one answered, she left, dragging Barren with her.

When they were a safe distance away from the bloodthirsty crowd, hidden in the shadows of a particularly large stall selling brightsting cactus, Frigid rounded on Barren.

"Are you really serious about not knowing who I am?" she asked him, tilting her head to the side.

"Um...yes? Who are you, anyways? A new tribe?" Barren shot back.

"No! I'm..." Frigid trailed off, not knowing whether she could trust this SandWing, and also wondering how he hadn't guessed her origins already. "What I am is none of your business. I will have you know, however, that I am a firm member of Tempest and an assassin."

"Tempest? What's that?" Barren inquired, smiling the whole time.

Frigid just about grabbed him in a chokehold. Using enormous restrain, she instead lifted her snout and closed her eyes, breathing deeply. 

"Um, hellooo?" the SandWing announced. "Can you answer me? What in the world is Tempest?"

"Tempest...is an...organization...trying to fight back...against the...peace...treaties." Frigid muttered through gritted teeth, still reeling from the fact that a dragon could be this ignorant. Her whole life was centred around Tempest. How could he not know what it was?

"So...you're bad guys?" Barren concluded, nodding his head. "Well you could have just said so."

"Excuse me? We are not 'bad guys'! We are a rebellion fighting for the freedom to be who we are against the dictatorial grip of the queens!" 

Frigid knew she was just quoting things Storm had told her since she was young, but it made sense to her. Shouldn't dragons have a choice when it came to treaties? If someone were to ask her, she'd never agree to such a pacific thing as a treaty. Only weaklings would bow and scrape to a queen who would rather hug her enemies then beat them.

"Well, you seem like a bad guy to me. Or...make that a bad lady, since, you know, you're female." Barren piped up.

Frigid shot Barren a scathing glare. "Why don't you just keep your ideas to yourself from now on," she muttered. 

"Okey donkeys," the SandWing replied.

"Okey...donkeys?" Frigid said. "Um..."

"Oh, whoops. I meant to say dokey. Okey dokey."

Frigid rolled her eyes. "Well, I've decided not to kill you," she announced. "Now scram!"

"About that," Barren responded. "Can I, um, come with you? It's not like I have anywhere else to go..." 

"Come...with me? Why would you want to do that?" Frigid shot the odd dragon a sideways glance. What she meant to say, was why would anyone want to risk growing ties with another?

"Because I decided that I like you," Barren grinned. "I think...THAT I'LL TAKE THAT FOR A YES!" 

Frigid watched, shocked, as Barren grabbed her talons and yanked her out into the sunlight, grinning wildly. And even more bizarre was the fact that Frigid didn't mind...she liked the exited SandWing as well.

To be continued...