Wings of fire: Possibility

Part 1: Chapter 1

It was midday and the sun was blazing over the calm pine forest. The silent trickle of the three-tails river could be heard and the great mountains could be seen over the horizon. The faraway peaks were covered in snow, and even tough it was the beginning of summer a cold breeze ruffled the trees. Three sand dragons were padding along the edge of the mountains and the small pine tree forest, sending echos of their conversation bouncing off the stone walls.

- "I have no idea how you convinced me to come with you on hunting patrol, but I immensely regret it," Prickle complained, curling his tail as a thorny bramble bush brushed his smoky sand-colored scales.

 - "Oh come on, it isn't that bad! We'll find prey... eventually," Said Savanna.

- "Well if you two don't shut up you'll scare all the prey from here to Possibility," Catamount called out from behind her shoulder.

Prickle muffled murmur of protest. She and her best friend, Savanna, had spent all there free time hunting since they were merely dragonets. This morning, they had convinced Catamount's brother, Prickle, to join the hunting patrol. She was sure he wouldn't have come if Savanna wasn't with him, as Prickle had shown a particular affection for her best friend in the last few months. Her short-tempered brother was calmer with the presence of Savanna, but he was still unbearably loud and lousy. Suddenly a small sound brought her back to reality. She raised up her barbed tail as a signal for silence to the other dragons behind her, who were still arguing. She paused and pricked her ears up; in the familiar silence of the hunting grounds, she heard the tumble of paw pads stumbling on the rock. From her rocky perch, the young sandwing could clearly see the shape of a shaggy grey feline; it was a lynx. It looked young, but had strong muscles and powerful back legs, and its left ear tip seemed like it had been torn in battle. She immediately dropped into a hunting crouch and started to move down-wind to avoid being scented by the unsuspecting cat. Her friends must have seen the lynx too, because they crouched down behind a rock and stopped moving until Prickle was barely visible against its grey surface, camouflaging his smoky scales. She moved closer, and closer... but as soon as she was going to leap, the wind changed direction and brought her scent directly to the lynx. He let out a yowl and turned around. He flexed his claws and took a few steps back, but before it ran away Catamount bounded from a  jutted rock to another, using her wings for balance. After a last long jump, she landed on its back with a swift bite on its neck. The grey feline trashed  for a few seconds under her weight before collapsing on the rocky ground. She turned around with a smile and with the fresh kill dangling from her mouth, and her friends bounded up to her. Savanna sniffed the bundle of meat and fur

- "That'll make a fine meal for all of us!" 

Savanna looked at Prickle expectantly.

- "Good catch, I guess..." he mumbled, barely loud enough for both she-dragons to hear it.

Catamount guessed he would have liked to have catched that lynx himself. He wasn't the best at hunting because of his loudness and constant complaining, but his smoky scales blend very well with the grey mountain rocks and if only he could be more stealthy he could be a great hunter. She knew he was holding back a sharp remark, but he probably kept his mouth shut because Savanna was here. Catamount flew over to a high rock ledge and put the lynx in the shade where they could pick it up later when they were finished with their hunting trip. She soared down beside her friends again and winced at her sore claws scraped on the cold stone. She had gotten used to being in the forest and mountains, but her sandwing claws still longed to walk in hot desert sand. But as Savanna landed with a loud thump in a fern thicket to sunbathe in the sun, she let out a startled squeak as a hare jumped out just in front on her snout. Catamount lowered her front arms, prepared to run after it. It was useless to stalk it now, as it had already been startled by her friend. But before she could make her move, Prickle darted beside her towards the hare. He was very fast, with his eyes fixed on the tiny mammal and his eyes full of determination. But a terrified remark pierced Catamount like an arrow; he was running straight to the ridge! Like all dragons he could fly, but he was so concentrated on proving Savanna and Catamount that he was the best hunter that he might fall off and break his neck or wing before realizing what was happening. Last time he had catched prey he had used his fire to kill it, making the meat burnt and untastefully crispy. Since then, all he wanted to do was prove them he wasn't a useless hunter. Savanna must have seen the narrow cliff too; she stood up from her fern bed and yelled a terrified warning at Prickle.

- "Stop!" She yelled at the top of her lungs. 

But as Prickle raised his head at the sound of his name, he tripped and fell on his side, his scales and his wing scraping the bare stone as he lost slid toward the cliff. As soon as he saw the ridge, he scraped the stone helplessly with his claws trying to slow down, but it was too late. He fell off the side, and Savanna let out a terrified wail. Catamount bounded up to the side of the cliff, looking down and expecting to find the broken body of her brother. But what she found was not way more reassuring; Prickle had his claws hooked on a little rock that was coming out of the cliffside, desperately calling for help and thrashing his back talons for a grip. He beat one of his wings as hard as he could, but the other lay limply on the side of his hanging body. Catamount guessed he had broken it or ripped it when tripping on the solid mountain floor. He tried to get his other talon a grip on the rock, but it just slid and sent little rocks cascading down in the valley of broken rocks. The fall wasn't that far down, but with a broken wing he would have nothing to slow the fall and probably break his neck. He called for help again, this time weaker and quickly losing energy. His claws were bleeding now, and his only holding talon fell. But Catamount had responded to his calls for help, and she bit down hard on his wrist. He let out a loud roar of pain, but that seemed to trigger his last bits of energy into working again. Catamount's claws almost fell over the edge, but she opened her large wings and flapped as hard as she could in synchronized beats to pull her own and Prickle's weight to the solid ground.  I can do this, she told herself. With one last effort, she pulled him back to the right side of the cliff. Savanna bounded over and helped drag Prickle away from the dangerous ledge. Then they both collapsed on the ground, exhausted and gasping for air. Savanna pressed her snout on Prickle's neck and started calming him from his near-death fall. 

After regaining their energy, they decided to have a look at his wing.  Catamount was sure it was broken, but she wasn't good at being gentle, so she let Savanna look at it. Prickle tried to open it but winced at the pain and shut his eyes closed tightly. 

- "Don't..." He said trough gritted teeth. 

But Savanna somehow managed to unfold it without getting bitten by the prickly sandwing, revealing a scratched up wing. It looked unattractive and painful, but hadn't torn his wing, to everyone's relief. She touched around his wing bud and Catamount guessed she found out what was wrong.

- "It's dislocated," She remarked.

Catamount and Savanna looked at each other full of concern; not for him, but for what Prickle might do to them after her next move.

- "Why are you two looking at each other like that?" He said, raising his eyebrow.

The she-dragons didn't respond.

- "Just get on with-"

His sentence was cut by a huge roar, and Catamount jumped beside his head and held his jaw shut to be sure not to get bitten as Savanna shoved his wing back into its socket. But before he could do anything else, his body went limp as his eyes closed. He had passed out.