Wings of Fire: New Frontiers

800 years have passed since the time of the dragonets. 800 years have passed since the time of the feared Darkstalker’s reawakening and subsequent “death.” 800 years have passed since the defeat of the othermind and subsequent peace. Or so thought. No, those 800 years were far from peaceful: natural disasters, war, crime, poverty, coups; it never went away.
But time sure has changed, at least for humans in regard to society. On their new, new inventions, or not so new inventions by this time such as the firearm, steam engine, electricity, the telegraph, telephone, railroad and the Industrial Revolution have helped propel them great new lengths; settling the continent, roaming the land just like they did before the age of fire.
Much to the displeasure of dragons however, who want to remain the dominant force and don’t want to see an old spiritual enemy take back everything they’d lost. But it wouldn’t be like the old scorching. No, for humans have new technologies that will have turned the tides of battle. New things that would make a second attempt at the old only a potential devastation to those who try.
Kalahari and Rattle are two best friends. Dragon and human, human and dragon, side by side. Inspired by the actions of the legendary Wren and Sky, they set out across the dessert, fighting bandits, stopping criminals and saving those in need all throughout the frontier. But for these two, a new trouble will come, one that can potentially cause the fall of both races, and it’s up to them to prevent this from happening.
A new take on the classic dragon rider/riding trope, this time set in the age of the new frontier. Heavily inspired by The Magnificent Seven.
== Characters ==
*Kalahari - A 6 year old SandWing dragonet who lives in the Scorpion Den with is family. 
*Rattle - A 15 year old human teenager who also lives in the Scorpion with Kalahari and his family, having been adopted by them.
== Prologue ==
5,799 A.T.S, Bronzefield was dandy little scavenger town, located on the edge of the dessert and the Claws of Clouds mountains. Dragons were a regular sight for these folks, especially with Jade Mountain being located miles north, but they didn’t care. Dragons were usually hostile, and even if they were, they could defense themselves well. Well, against dragon that is.
Stephany Sofield was a seamstress who worked in a small shop located in the center part of town, located not too far from the saloon and the cantina. She was busy working at the sowing machine a the bank bell rang, signaling high noon. She was busy, working on a dress left to her by a customer earlier during in day.
She was spinning the wheel until she heard the bell ring and the door as man wearing a wide brown hat and a shirt with overcoat came in.
The man took out his pocket watch and opened it, taking a glimpse of the time before putting it back in his pocket. “Howdy there, I heard you did sowing, is that right?”
”Good afternoon sir, and yes you are right, I sow. It’s what I’m doing right now.”
“Alrighty then. You fix coats?” The man took out a cigar and lit it, popping it in his mouth has he breathed.
”Yes I do. What kind of coat?”
“Aye just a thick winter coat, made of wool and leather.”
”Alright, I can take care of that. Might take some time though. As you can see, I have some other things I’m working on.”
”That’s all right, it’s not like it’s cold right or well it won’t get cold here but I do travel and I do plan on heading north. I’m staying here however for a bit and I’d like to get my coat repaired before I go.”
”I see. I can take care of it.”
”Thanks, how much do you charge?”
”Pricing is variable. Mind if I take a look right now?”
”Yeah sure.” He took out a thick coat from a bag he had on him and handed it over to the lady, who set it on the desk and began examining it.
”HMT…” She took a look at the inside, “I’ll charge around 5 ambers and 67 sparks for this. That sound good?”
”Thats fantastic. Better price and some other shops charge. All right, let me give you the money real quick.” The man took out a leather wallet and pulled out a red bill with the image of a SkyWing on it and handed it over to the lady. He then took out some coins and handed them over to the man as well.
She grabbed the note and put it into the big bulky steel cash register sitting on top of a desk next to the wall, the register making a loud “claching!” Sound as she opened and closed it.
”Well, have a today mis. Do you think I can come by and pick up tomorrow?”
”Yes. I should have it ready by then.”
“Alright thanks again. See you tomorrow.” The man walked out of the building, opening and closing the door, the bell ringing on his way out.
Sofield stopped as she thought she heard crying coming from the second floor. Oh my, he’s probably up. She quickly paced up the stairs into her apartment. It was a two room affair: living room and bend room. Within the living room, which was dark but bright was a rocking crib, located towards where to walls met at a corner.
”Hey Anfield, you finally awake? It’s ok, you don’t have to cry.” She whispered softly. She took out a glass feeding bottle, holding it firmly and out it in front of the one year old infant’s mouth.
The child drank and drank, as if having not eaten in weeks.
”Such a hungry little one, are you?”
”THEY’RE COMING!” Yelled a man riding a horse down the Main Street. “THEY’RE COMING! THEY’RE COMING! THEY’RE COMING!”
“What, who’s coming!?” The town mayor asked he rode down the street. People were already gathering outside, watching the commotion. Sofield just stood there, watching form the window.”
”Einfield and his men! Their coming to ravage the town!”
”What? Impossible! Why won’t that bastard leave us alone?” He stoped and turned. “Where is the sheriff?”
”Right here sir!” He called out as he got off his horse.
”We won’t be able to take on Einfield. His army is too powerful.”
”Why do you think he returned so suddenly?”
”I heard he was heaving problems with rebels down south, but he’s dealt with them. He’s here for us now.”
”Oh goddamn. What do we do?”
”We have to evacuate the town. Get all horses and wagons and load up as much as possible. Take the Clawed Mountains and hopefully you’ll be safe from them.”
”All right. Mayor, what do we do to stall them?”
”Organize Bronze’s militia. We can’t beat them, but we can at least give the civilians enough time to escape. Ring the bells!”
The bank and church bells rang out in distress as citizen began running to and fro, going to deliver warnings to friends, family and loved ones going to get valuables or necessities, just trying to escape. Several men and women got onto their steeds, others pulled stagecoaches and wagons.
”Can’t the army do anything?”
”They can’t. They’re tied up in a war against the Antoñoleze.”
Militia member Salk gathered in the city square, revolvers, rifles, carbines all in hand.
”Don’t we got any Gatling guns?”
“We do, but those are for defense against dragons, remember?”
“But that doesn’t mean we can’t use them!”
They all stopped as sounds of destruction could be heard. Sounds of cannons firing and the sounds of shattering glass splintering wood and the whistling of canon shells raining down above.
”Get out of the way!”
Sounds of screaming and the crying of pain could be heard as the criminals marched their way in, gunshots ringing all around as the townspeople attempted to resist. Large blazes suddenly lit up as buildings, stock and anything and everything was set on fire all around the little town, destroying everything and killing everyone in its wake.
Sofield was there, she ran she ran until she realized she forgot something in the midsts of her escape: he child. She turned around to go back, but she tripped. In front of her, a flaming building, moaning and cracking as the fire burned its supports away released, coming down upon her, extinguishing her cries of yelps for eternity.
…
 A couple of hours later, three SandWings flew overhead the burnt remains of the once buzzling little town, now nothing more than an anguished wasteland, a grave of eternal memory, for all of those who see.
”That’s another scavenger den gone.” Called out one of them.
”Well, not like we can do anything about it. Scavengers are so brutal amongst themselves.”
”Your right about that.” The third SandWing spoke, this one being female. “You wanna go take a look down there and see what we can scavenge?”
”Sure.”
The three flew closer and closer until they hovered over the blacked recharge, smoke still coming out from the still burning ashes. 
“Good moons, this one’s been hard it.”
”Smells awful.”
All round buildings were burnt, corpses lined the streets, flies buzzing over neath and around them as they enjoyed a newfound meal. The smell was indeed horrid.
One of the male SandWing’s who’s name was Copper thought he heard something not to far from where he stood.”
Is that squeaking? He turned his head, trying to locate the source of the sound. Where is it coming from Then he saw, a building that was still intact, but heavily damaged. He flew over, and peeked inside. Can’t see anything.
He flew higher and using all of his strength, tore open the roof and threw it across the site before looking inside. There he saw it. Or he thought it did. Several moving rags within a small wooden box. “What in the dessert?”
He got closer, and uncovered the rags. Inside was a scavenger child. Oh my… he frantically turned his head, not knowing what to do.
”Copper, you coming?” Asked one of his companions.
”Um, just a minute!” He called back. The thing was so small and tender. All lone. He felt bad. He never thought of scavengers much, but now, but now he thought. He breathed in and scooped the child up.
Not sure why I’m doing this. Don’t know why, but I know that I am… He scooped up the child and put it inside a cloth sack he had, the child having gotten quiet. Don’t know what will happen, but whatever happens, happens… He flew off.
== Part I ==
=== Chapter I ===
“I’m home from school!” Kalahari, or Kala for short called out. He flew in through the doorway of the family house, landing steadily, making a thumping sound as he did so. “Things were intense today!”
”Aren’t things always intense?” Asked a dragoness who walked up, form behind a wall that delegated the entrance (and living room) and the kitchen (and another entrance). “I mean, you can never be too safe here, even with all the dragons roaming the streets, anything could happen.”
Silica was Kala’s mother. She was the most sentimental out of everyone in the family, and always worried for the safety of others. “I mean, what can be as intense as the pair of dragons who tried to steal from you the other day, at knife point?” She was relatively slim and slender, with lighter scales. She kept her scales polished and her sail meat and trimmed.
”Come on, I’ve experienced more dangerous scenarios than that and I’ve come out alive! Just look at me now, standing here, unscathed!” He sat down on the ground.
The house itself was not the biggest. It was one the smaller side actually. You had the living room which faced one of the Scorpion Den’s many streets, and you had the kitchen, which faced one of the rump’s many alleys. On the left wall of the living room, (main entrance left), there was a staircase that lead to the second floor and the basement).
”Right…” Silica paused for a brief moment as she thought about her words, “Not fully unscathed.” She was right, Kala had many scars and dents from the various situations he faced. “What is it that went down actually?”
”Well, we had a fight in our classroom. Stinger and Meerkat fought over a set of utensils. Good ones actually. Then suddenly, someone else, can’t remember their name, bought in a live cacti bomb, and it exploded!”
”What!? Live cacti bombs in class!?”
“Yeah! You don’t see that everyday!” He grinned.
”Why are you happy about it!? Your lucky you’re not hurt, or dead even.”
”Your right, but you known I like action and danger! I hate sitting down or waiting for long periods. You know that!”
”You’re right too I supposed. You know I just want you to be safe right? If I had the option, I would move from this place and find a nicer more peaceful spot.”
”Blah, that would be boring! What fun would there be to experience?”
”You think danger is fun?” Silica asked flabbergasted.
”Yeah. What, you would spend your entire life in a tower, locked away just for safety?”
”Um no, but…” She stopped, not nosing how to continue her sentence. She then began speaking again, this time, in a more concerted tone “I’ve lost many family members over the course of my life, I don’t want to loose you too.”
Kala’s breathing slowed as he got quieter. He stood up and made his way over to his mother, “I understand.” He started. “If I were you, being honest, I wouldn’t want to loose anyone.” He spoke softly.
Both of them stopped with their chatter as another SandWing made their way through the kitchen entrance, shutting the door behind them as they came in. 
“I’m back from work.” Spoke the dragon, male. “And you can cut it with all the ‘sweet talk,’ can you?”
”Ah, good to see you returning from another hard day at work, I assume?”
“Hard as ever.” He said sarcastically. Oryx was his name. Kala’s dad, he was generally grumpy, and had a deep rough voice, along with a scar on the face from a bar fight several years ago. He was a dark and bitter one who had bleak views of life. “Where are your sisters Kala?” He was big and muscular, and had darker scales.
”Their upstairs in their rooms. Why?”
”Their friends are here. Some event or something?”
”Event?” Silica asked.
”That’s what they’ve told me. Some party or something. Their waiting outside.”
”In the alley?”
”Its the Scorpion Den, what do you expect?”
”Alright, I’ll call them. Iguana! Gila! Your buddies are here!”
”Oh my gosh, finally!” Iguana came down. She was the younger of the two, and more much more cheerful. She was in the middle in regards to physical stature. She had beautiful cream scales.
”Oh their here.” Gila came. She was the older of the two, and much more quieter. She had an even mix of dark and light scales. “Thought they would take longer.
”Well, I’m going to get something from the kitchen and go to my room. See you later guys.” Kala called out.
Kala walked steadily to the kitchen, which was, as stated, separated by a wall and doorway. It was smaller and square in shape, with a basin for washing dishes and claws, several chest, a flame pit for grilling and roasting, and an animus enchanted ice box for storing cold items. Some wooden shelves hanged on the walls.
”All right now. What is it that I want?” He asked himself. “I know.” He looked into the ice box and pulled out a large kettle containing cinnamon milk. He then looked into a chest containing vanilla wafer cookies. “Great!”
”He proceeded to serve himself a few cookies onto a plate and some milk into a cup. “Alright, now to my room.” Plate and cup in hand, he walked off towards his sleeping quarters.
=== Chapter II ===
Kalahari walked down the stairs into the basement, which was his room. The house, being on the smaller side obviously didn’t have enough room for everyone to have a room. Mostly. His sisters each had their own full room and their parents slept in the same room.
Kala’s “room,” wasn’t a room, but it was something. The basement had seen not so many uses, mainly being used for storage. Unlike the rest of the house, it was not in the best shape (which is saying something, considering the who house itself is run down, more so than other buildings in the Scorpion den).
Being in such a rough shape, the are had fairly worn down walls with cracks visible throughout. The floor itself was somewhat uneven and ceiling dipped a little.
The basement was on the medium side, but it had numerous boxes and barrels full of old family items, such as clothes and tools. The place itself was dim, with only three candles for light. The house was above ground level, and as a result, there were windows located on the upper walls, but curtains and carpet covered them, as Kala liked the dimness. 
He had a desk and covered where he kept his items. He also had several old, worn and dusty rugs on the floor, which served as his bed. On the left corner, entering, there was a large cage.
“Rattle, I’m back!”
”Good to see ya buddy. How was class today?”
”Dangerous. I can tell you that.”
”How dangerous?”
”Live cacti bomb went off.”
”Really?”
”Yeah!” Kala set down the plate and cup on the rug and went to shut the makeshift door, made from the sides of an old crate, then going back and laying down on his belly facing Rattle.
”That must’ve been something. I can only imagine what the others felt.”
”Truly. The teacher was scared out of his shell.”
”Heh.” Rattle chuckled. Rattle was a teenage scavenger. He lived with Kalahari and his family. He had brown air and eyes and fair skin. He spoke with a thick western scavenger accent. When rattle was young, a friend of theirs (the family) found him in ruins of a scavenger den. Feeling bad, the friend bough the guy back with him.
Why the cage? It was for Rattle’s safety; you could never be to sure. Even with peaceful relations, there was always that one dragon who was willing to eat that unfortunate scavenger.
”Your sisters were acting hella rowdy.”
”First of all, their your sisters too. And second of all, what do you mean?”
”Spiritually yes, but not biologically. And for the rowdiness, they were making an awful amount of noise. Mother had to tell them to stop multiple times. I just buried my head in blankets.
”Damn. Wonder why they were acting like that.”
”Me too. Me too.”
Kala began to eat and drink as he layed down. “So…” he began speaking, still chewing, “What should we do?”
”Don’t know. Say, don’t-cha got any homework to work on? Education is important. At least for you.”
”Nah. Due to the ‘incident’” he spoke raising his talons, “Our teacher didn’t assign us anything. Plus, school is a bunch of boring stuff. Nothing useful. Well, other than basics I guess. But that’s it.”
”You are correct I suppose. In that case, not sure.” Rattle sat down on the carpet in front of Kala.
”Maybe just a flight across the den. Maybe there’s something we can find?”
”Maybe…” Rattle went into his cage and pulled out a book with leather cover, feather and a small tub of ink. He began to sketch in it.
One thing that Kala and rattle defiantly shared was a love for art.
:You wanna draw each other?”
”Sure.” Rattle shrugged.
“All righty!” Rattle went and came, returning with a canvas, brush and set of paints. He laid down on the ground once more. “Ready.”
”Ok then.”
For about an hour, both of them were there, making each other in art. The minutes passed, the sounds of brush and ink dipped feather stroking canvas and paper echoing through the otherwise silent room. That, and the munching and sipping of the cookies and milk by Kala, which he did so loudly, Rattle not minding.
Of couple of hours has passed. “Done!” Both exclaimed. They stood and showed each other their works.
”Your’s looks nice, if not a little messy.”
”Yours too. Actually, I like the darker colors and flat style you used.”
”Thanks! You did decent using only black ink. You have some nice intricate details in both scenery and shading. 
Both set their things down. The sun was high in the sky, and there were still a substantial amount of daylight left.”
”You wanT to go out on a flight?”
“Sure, why not? I’ll get the things ready and set.”
”I’ll be waiting if you could say that.”
Rattle had a saddle, harness and pouches that he would, with Kala’s help, put on Kala for riding him. Made reading the SandWing easier, and more items could be stored on him. Items that could be used by both Kala and Rattle.
It was one look. A look that other dragons sometimes made fun of Kala of. Making fun of him for allowing himself to be treated like a lower being. But Kala defended himself and his companion with deep dignity, and shrugged off other’s comments.
Category:Content (AderitetheOrewing)
Category:Fanfictions (Fanon)
Category:Fanfictions (Incomplete)
Category:Mature Content