Peril's Choice (Wings of Fire AU)

Chapter 3

Peril laid down on the cold stone floor. "Maybe I should get some rest", she thought. She did ask to stop for that reason. Peril closed her eyes, stomach longing for food. This was the 1st time she registered that she was actually hungry since she left the palace. She usually blocked out the feeling for as long as she could because, to be honest, she almost ate nothing else but she knew from what little other food she did eat that black rocks tasted disgusting. "But I don't have to eat those anymore," Peril thought. "Cause i don't live with Scarlet anymore. Now I can eat stuff like squirrels. Or maybe one of those cows Clay liked mumbling about in his sleep." that was the last thought she had before she fell into a light sleep. She opened her eyes. The first thing she noticed was the blinding ray of light entering her eyes. She could hear mud squelching. Her mind immediately went to Clay. "He's the only one who ever truly cared about me. Why can't I be with him?" Peril mumbled to herself. She looked around her. And there he was. Jumping. Rolling. Laughing. There he was. Clay the MudWing.

"Clay! Where are we?" Peril yells out to him, grinning so much, she appeared possessed. Clay looks over to her, worry starting to spread across his face. "Peril, we have to talk about your past actions. Was killing so many dragons really worth it? Was betraying my friends and I the right move? Did you ever feel any sort of guilt knowing families might be mourning the loss of family members to you?"

Peril's eyes glistened. "Clay", she thought, "why must you point out all the wrongs I ever did?" She was about to tell him that. Well, maybe after she finished telling him about the past few hours. And asked about what he did these past few hours. And after they got dinner. Ok so maybe that would take a while. But who cared! She was with Clay now! Or at least, that's what she hoped. Before she could speak another word Clay seemingly disintegrated into the mud. "Oh no," Peril thought, panickedly, "I didn't do anything wrong did I? Clay is still ok, right? Please let him be ok." She could handle being a murderer. She could handle a mother unhappy to be with her. She could handle years of abuse by Scarlet she didn't even know was abuse. She could not handle losing Clay. She dug around in the mud for a few seconds before hearing a familiar voice.

"You know damn well he was not Clay. It's simply your self-conscience." the new voice slipped into her mind. A raspy voice, old with age. Peril listened intently. Then, she finally put her talon on it. Osprey. She turned around, expecting to see the old SkyWing. She let out a small gasp. Instead of the Osprey Peril knew too well, a SkyWing with vibrant red scales stood tall and proud. He looked more like Vermilion than anything.

"Are you Vermillion?" she asked. "Cause if you are you aren't getting those rings back. I kinda melted them."

"No no Peril, it's Osprey, your teacher." the SkyWing, Osprey replied, now, in a loud and clear voice. "I understand the confusion. You never saw me in my prime, did you? And sorry for the bluntness. I had some deep, fancy speech about it but I forgot the words. Come." he gestured to a rock. "Sit for a moment." Peril obliged. She took in the view. Things were soft around the edges, like the watercolour paintings around the castle. She had to squint to see some things but she noticed she was in a small clearing in the woods, a brook washing by in a loud and busy fashion. Osprey spoke again. "I hope you know that this whole thing isn't all your fault. Stop thinking about it for it will drag you down. If you want my advice you should try and reconcile with Kestrel, even if she is being awful. She still cares for you, you kn-" Osprey continued, but was cut off abruptly by a new, particularly loud and slurred voice.

"WAKE UP YA LAZY SLOB!" Kestrel bellowed at Peril, waking her up. Peril blinked her eyes which refocused themselves. She could smell the scent of cow and.. what was that? "Mom? You're back?" Peril asked, yawning loudly. Snorting, Kestrel rolled her eyes and threw a cow in front of Peril's snout. "What does it look like, ya... ya lazy RainWin-like SkyWing? Has flyin so mush made ya a bloodah idiot?" Kestrel roared at Peril as loud as she could trying not to be heard by others. Her words were slurred and certain syllables were drawn-out. She had a smell Peril recognized well enough: alcohol. She never really saw many drunk dragons, likely because they were too unsturdy to be within a thousand meters from her. From what little she did see she saw 2 kinds of drunks: the happy and dopey kind and the grumpy and loud ones. Kestrel was obviously the latter. She knew that Kestrel didn't fully mean what she said and probably wouldn't even remember much of tonight. But nevertheless, Peril's heart stung. She shook her head, unwilling to show weakness in front of her mother since that would likely aggravate her. "Thank you for the food, mother. What is that you're holding?" she asked, gesturing to the bottle in her hand, despite knowing already what it was.