Into The Wild ~ Book 2 ~ Wings of Fire Fanfiction

Chapter 4 ~Separated

A/N

Alright, I know I haven't updated in ages, and I'm sorry. But hopefully the next few chapters will make up for that absence (or at least assuage the annoyance), so please prepare to continue the tale of Shades and Flares!

~~~Frozenshadow~~~

Some things in life were confusing.

Her life.

Her emotions.

Her future.

The rain forest.

Seriously, she hadn't even been walking back for five minutes, and she was already lost. Frozenshadow would have called out and tried to locate the rest that way, but was worried of any RainWings overhearing and reporting back to Chameleon (she refused to think of him as king).

By now the sun had set completely, and shadows lurked everywhere, tricking her mind into seeing monsters and enemies around every tree trunk. Add that to the strange cries that echoed from the canopy and the small creatures rustled in the underbrush and...well, Frozenshadow was understandably spooked.

Is it just me or does that boulder look familiar? she wondered, eyeing a large rock at the edge of a stream. A beat passed, then she slumped and studied the dirt near her talons. No, she'd never seen the stone before in her life. The hybrid was very, very lost. And at a time like this, nothing good would come of it.

What would happen if she was spotted by RainWings, or even captured? What if she ate or touched something poisonous, and debilitated herself? What if? What if? What if? There were so many things to worry about, Frozenshadow didn't know where to start. Why oh why hadn't she stayed with Polar and Lapwing, even if she'd been uncomfortable with the seriousness of their conversation?

Stupid, she thought to herself as she dipped her talons into the gently trickling stream. You never learn, do you? 

Eventually she stopped silently berating herself and moved on, bolstered by the strange feeling of unnaturalness the area exuded. It felt a bit like certain areas of the tunnels back home had felt....

Immediately her train of thought swung away from her surroundings even as she kept going, and wound back to the place she and the other Flares had called home for so long. Frozenshadow had avoided thinking about it for the past few days, mostly because she wasn't sure what to think. Papaya and the other mentors had betrayed them, lied to them, kept them captive. But they'd also protected them and acted like parents, or at least that was what she assumed, seeing as she had no memories of her true parents to compare them with. And according to them, the rebel heroes had entrusted their dragonets to the mentors willingly. Or at least, that's what they'd said.

Frozenshadow had no idea what was true and what was false anymore.

Were the heroes of Phyrrhia and Pantala still alive? Some said yes, some no. Did they have plans to stop the Shades and their parents? Hopefully. Would the Flares even be able to find them? She really, really hoped so.

~+~+~+~+~+~

The night had passed without incident, but Frozenshadow was more worried than ever. What was happening right now with the others? Would she ever find them again? All the questions were making her head hurt, especially since she was trying her best to ignore them - and failing.

The hybrid had never been the most inquisitive dragonet, but something about all the uncertainty around her and brought it out. She preferred a certain stability to her life, and being on the run with unknown goals was the exact opposite of that.

She had walked half the night, before curling up under the fronds of a large bush and hoping they'd conceal her long enough for her to get some rest. Now it was morning, and long fingers of sunlight filtered through the openings between the leaves and touched down on her scales, sending them into cascades of glittering greens and yellows and blacks.

Yawning, Frozenshadow started to crawl out from under the bush, stretching her talons one by one as she did. Sleeping on the ground hadn't help her aching muscles from the constant flying they'd kept up the past few days, but she was used to it by now and didn't complain.

Although...I do miss the beds we used to have...

She instantly slammed a mental wall down before the wishful thinking started to make her sad again. Moping around would not help her get back to the others, or past that, help her find the heroes of Panzia and defeat the imposter rulers. Frozenshadow needed to focus. Success would take everything they could give, and potentially more.

One step at a time.

She pulled the last bit of her tail from the grasping fingers of the bush, then shook herself and listened as her spines rattled together. It would be best if she took advantage of the morning and the light of day to locate the other Flares, so they could get on with finding the revolution they hoped was here.

Frozenshadow yawned one last time, then turned and prepared to start walking.

She froze.

A dragon was watching her.