Broken Hopes

== -Broken Hopes- ==
Broken Hopes is a fanfiction made by Expired Hotdogs from the Future. Major WIP, so please don't edit this page without their permission unless spelling/grammar mistakes are present. Thanks!
Also thank you to ScrollreaderTheTribrid for some of the page format :)
=== Summary~ ===
Jojoba always had wanted to become an Outclaw. Always, always, always. And suddenly, her chances of becoming one take charge. Tasked with certain challenges, she and a few others climb their way to the top. But someone else has other plans, and Jojoba ends up being the only one who can stop them. 
=== Timezone~ ===
Broken Hopes takes place at the present time in Pyrrhia (More specifically, 5,012 AS).
=== Casting Call~ ===
All characters belong to Expired Hotdogs. Please don't steal them. Thanks!
* Jojoba ~ Major Character, POV
* Mamba ~ Major Character
* Cigarette ~ Minor Character
* Mut ~ Minor Character
* Luminosity ~ Minor Character
* Emu ~ Minor Character
* text
== Prolouge- ==
text
= Part 1 - Trial and Error =
=== Chapter 1 - Sleep ===
"Honey! Honey! Today is the day! Wake up!"
Jojoba's eyes slowly opened, squinting at the bright light of morning. Her brunette brown wings lay half outstretched on her dried moss bed, and her wheat-brown tail lay in a knot. Her mother, Mut, stood above her, shaking Jojoba's forearm.
"Just give me... five...hold up there, why do you eat vipers? Dagger- no, no, no. I say... eat the toucan with sand on it's fur..." Jojoba mumbled randomly, turning over and burying her snout into the dried leaves. But her mother had other plans.
"UP!" her mother exclaimed, yanking Jojoba on her hind legs. Jojoba, tired and cranky, wanted to drop a pit full of vipers on Mut. "C'mon! Today's the day!". Jojoba rolled her eyes and sighed sleepily.
"Mom, I'm registering for the test today..." Jojoba protested. She yawned, groaning. Her wheat-brown scales ached from the other day's practice runs. She stumbled over to a mesquite-wood table and grabbed a camel-hide sack full of water. Jojoba drank some and proceeded to grab her pouch, stuffing the sack inside it. "I'll go fill this up, now that you've woken me.". Her mother smiled and nodded.
Jojoba walked out of the small building, yelping at the bright sun. When her eyes adjusted, the first thing she saw was various other buildings and SandWings like her walking out of them too. She paced forward, shuffling past larger SandWings and oddly burly dragonets with various scars. Then, she entered the main road.
SandWings, Some MudWings and Skywings, and very few IceWings and RainWings filled the streets of the Scorpion Den, yelling things like 'Watch it!' and 'Hey! Keep your talons off my tail' to others. Sand was constantly kicked in other dragon's faces and some walked by. To top it off, various over-enthusiastic shouts about products rambled on along with the latest gossip of the morning about Thorn. Jojoba rolled her eyes. The Scorpion Den leader had left to take care of things at the Stronghold and placed a few trusted Outclaws in charge. While Jojoba didn't know these SandWings, she trusted them almost naturally.
She made her way through the crowded streets, waving to some and shouting remarks back at others as she tried to find a well. A headache pounded in her head from the loud shouts and noises, and she winced, touching her temples for a moment before carrying on. Eventually finding a well, Jojoba lowered a bucket and waited for a moment before beginning to raise it again. Her ear suddenly twitched. She turned around to find a SandWing with odd dusty brown scales and darker wings walking toward her. Their underbelly faded to white, and a good chunk of their snout was gone, leaving a odd garnet and black bit instead. One of their horns was chipped, and they walked with a sort of stumble in their step, tripping over things like twigs and tails.
"Hi- Jojoba, is it?" they asked. Jojoba cautiously nodded, reeling up the bucket of the well, full of water. "Good, good. I'm Cigarette, by the way. You mentioned that you wanted to register yesterday?".
"Uhm- yes. But, um, please don't eavesdrop on private conversations." Jojoba replied, remembering a odd brown dragon looking at she and her mother while they were talking about the tests to become an Outclaw. 
"Aha, I wasn't eavesdropping, dear. I was simply... listening to your conversation!" Cigarette exclaimed, putting on a weak smile. Jojoba gave him a look that said 'like your fooling anyone'. Cigarette laughed weakly.
"Aaaaaaaaanyway, I just wanted to say, um, come by noon to the pool. There you'll meet Mamba and the current other Outclaws in the Scorpion Den." He finished. Jojoba paused for a moment, and then nodded, dumping the water in the bucket into her sack. "Toodleoo, then!" he called, pacing away with a slight skip in his step. Jojoba tilted her head. What a weird dragon... He seemed sort of panicked, like he didn't have a lot of time or he had to go somewhere. maybe someone's pressuring him? Huh. Guess I'll see him again at noon, if what he's saying is true. She sighed and sleepily trudged back to her home. 
"Good. You have the water." Mut said as Jojoba entered again. She placed the sack down on a table and yawned.
"Yeah. Also, I need to go and register at noon, by the pool dragonets drink from." Jojoba replied, stretching her wings.
"Honey, you're a dragonet too. Your only 14. And I still don't know why I'm letting you do this," Mut laughed. Jojoba could only blush and quickly leave the room. She didn't need her mom telling her that she was most likely too young for the job. Panicked thoughts began sprouting up in her mind, giving her a headache. Ugh... don't worry. Everything will be alright, she thought to herself. They probably do accept 14 year old dragons... if they know what they're doing. 
Looking up at the sun, she sighed. It was only mid-morning. She still had plenty of time. She exited the den and turned right, away from the main road and into a more private area. She entered a sort of clearing from buildings, and glanced around. Here, she and her mother had built a sort of obstacle course for Jojoba to train on. She smiled, and got to work.
=== Chapter 2 - Meet Up ===
The sun was up in the middle of the sky.
Jojoba had trained for at least two hours before heading over to the pool, and by that time she discovered a line of at least 11 SandWings, most older than her but some seeming as if they were only twelve. It was horribly hot, the sun beating down on her scales with no shade around whatsoever. Cigarette, the odd SandWing she had talked to earlier, was nervously fidgeting with his claws at the start of the line. Beside him stood a table with various scrolls stacked neatly on top of one another. jojoba's lion brown tail barb swayed back and forth, lashing a couple times in excitement. Each scale on Jojoba felt like throwing a party with bright fancy lights and lizards for dinner as she waited. Finally, she heard talonsteps from behind her, and turned to see who it was.
A HUGE dragon, bigger than Jojoba had ever seen, stomped over to Cigarette. They had light grey scales that were either tattooed or naturally faded to black around his spine. He had almond brown freckles scattered across his talons and tail barb, and odd, light grey eyes.
"Welcome!" he rumbled, a comforting, though slightly raspy voice coming out of his mouth. "11 contestants, yes yes, this will do oh so fine!". Jojoba shivered a little, unsettled by his oddly kind and humble tone. She felt deep down as if he was hiding something... something that he didn't want other dragons to know. She shook it off and continued on listening.
"The contests will be starting bright and early tomorrow at dawn. There will be 5 contests in total, and only six of you will be heading to the SandWing Stronghold to Queen Thorn, our former leader." he explained, "Oh! Very sorry, you're all probably wondering who I am. I am Mamba, the current temporary leader of the Scorpion Den.". More than half of the line mad an 'ohhhhhh' noise, including Jojoba. He did rather look like a black mamba snake; apart from the freckles and odd colored eyes. 
"My fellow assistant, Cigarette, will be explaining these activities later." Mamba finished, giving Cigarette a look that made Jojoba think that Cigarette was actually being pressured, but half of her mind wanted to believe not. The dragons in the crowd nodded.
"Now, why not take a few moments and meet each other! Me and Cigarette will be back in a few minutes." Mamba said, putting a claw on Cigarettes shoulder and guiding him to a tent nearby. For a moment, everyone was quiet. Then, almost instantly, everyone began talking.
"Hi!" someone cried from behind Jojoba. She whirled around to see a cotton white SandWing with lighter underscales and fire yellow wing membranes and sail. Their eyes were a dijon yellow, and beside them was a oyster yellow SandWing with a fawn yellow tail fade and a dark hazelnut sail. Their eyes were completely black. 
"Ohmigosh, it's so cool to meet you! I've seen you training in that old and broken down site a couple times in the back of the Scorpion Den! I'm Luminosity, and this is my partner Emu!" the first SandWIng shouted brightly. Jojoba got a headache just form looking at them, their scales were so bright. Emu though had a more sedate coloration, with a more gruff expression. 
"Partner?" Jojoba asked. Luminosity seemed like she was only 13 or 14, and Emu seemed like she was 19 or 20. Luminosity nodded quickly, and Emu gave a small nod. Oh. "Uhm- cool! I'm Jojoba." she replied, "Are you registering too?". 
"Yes." Emu grunted with a bold, rough voice. Luminosity nudged her lightly with a slightly annoyed expression before turning back to Jojoba. 
"We're so excited!" Luminosity exclaimed. Emu only made an awkward and quick smile. Emu seems introverted and bold, not wanting to socialize very much and would rather stay with Luminosity, alone. Luminosity on the other talon seems extraverted and light-hearted, wanting Emu to get used to being with others and open her bubble, Jojoba noticed. The two just stared at her for a moment before Jojoba heard Mamba's voice.
"We are back! I hope you've all had time to meet each other. Now, onward with the the scrolls! Each scroll has a specific name that should be yours. When you find your scroll, sign it with your signature using this ink. " Mamba explained, holding up a bottle of ink. One by one, each SandWing signed the paper. Eventually, when everyone had signed it, Mamba spoke again.
"Alright. Now, go and train, get a good night's sleep, and be ready for tomorrow!" Mamba commanded. Cigarette weakly smiled and waved as dragons scurried back to their homes. Jojoba saw Luminosity and Emu head over to a tavern, their tails intertwined. She smiled and headed home. 
=== Chapter 3 - The First Challenge ===
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Category:Fanfictions
Category:Fanfictions (Incomplete)
Category:Genre (Adventure)
Category:Fanfictions (Semi-Canon)