Pyrrhian Hunger Games (Fan Fiction)

Please Read: This is based off a role-play I'm in. Basically, I've been copying and pasting the replies, so none of this belongs to me. There's also another one that's being done, in more detail, reworded a bit differently. I suggest you check that out here.
== Prologue/Explanation ==
Pyrrhia was taken over by the EnderWings. Each kingdom was separated by huge walls resistant to fire as hot as firescales, with transportation manned by the EnderWing. Large, impenetrable fences at the top of the walls prevented any dragons from flying over.
EnderWings lived on an island the size of the Night Kingdom off the coast of the Sky Kingdom, dubbed "the Capitol."
The Ice Kingdom is now District One.
The Sky Kingdom is District Two.
The Mud Kingdom is District Three.
The Sea Kingdom is now a large expanse of ocean walled off- and named District Four.
The Sand Kingdom is District Five.
The Night Kingdom is District Six.
The Rain Kingdom is District Seven.
After an attempted rebellion, the EnderWings started "The Hunger Games"- a brutal trial that killed dragonets as punishment.
Landscapes were harsh and hard to live in- rumored to be like the land the EnderWings came from, but most likely false- and the dragonets are forced to kill and survive against each other. 
The setup was simple- every time you put your dragonets name on a scrap of scroll and entered it into the drawing bowl, your family got a large amount of supplies.
The youngest accepted dragonet age was 6.
The oldest was 10.
The rations were delivered once a month. For every time a name was entered is how many months the rations would be delivered.
If your name is drawn, you enter the hunger games- one male and one female from each District.
If you win, you are rewarded with fame and money for you and your Tribe- but at a near fatal cost.
If you lose... you're dead. (source, by BrisingrWolf the SkyWing)
== 1: Seawings ==
It was dawn, and User:Queen Lapis, a beautiful Seawing/Rainwing, made her way to a gathering crowd of dragonets. A red and silver Enderwing stood impatiently on the stage, scowling at them. Teal yawned, wishing she was back in bed. This was her first year in the drawing. Chances were, she wouldn't be drawn. What was there to worry about, really?
Meanwhile, the early morning sunlight glittered in through Ferret's window. He flared his wings, then stretched and yawned. His sea-green eyes were fogged with sleep. He rubbed his eyes, then remembered what today was. His heart sank. Reaping Day... He shook himself. What are the chances of being picked, out of hundreds of other SeaWings? He opened the curtain to his room and trotted down the hallway, entering into the kitchen, where his mother, Dolphin, had trout prepared. He sliced off the mid-section neatly with one of his claws, then shoved it into his mouth, grinning at his mother. 
She looked at him, exasperated. "You can't eat all of it!" she exclaimed, poking him away from the rest of the fish. She peered down the hall, then shouted, "Coast, Lily! Breakfast is waiting!" 
Ferret's sister, Sea Lily, peeked out of her room, her deep blue scales shining in the early morning sun. She yawned, displaying her sharp, white teeth, and walked down the hallway, soon followed by her father, Coast. Ferret's step-father. His real father, Burrow, was a RainWing. Lily, on the other talon, was full SeaWing, and a year younger than Ferret. 
Lily was grumbling something under her breath, then accepted the piece of trout Dolphin offered and nibbled on it. "I could've slept in. The Reapings won't be for another who knows when?" (source)
Teal swam to the island where the reapings were being held, puffing out her chest and tucking in her ruff to appear more Seawing-like. She approached the crowd and was surrounded by a sea of blue and green. Her stomach did a flip as she realized that at least one, if not two, of the dragonets in that enclosure were slated for death. She looked around and spotted odd black and white scales of a Seawing who had just arrived. He made his way closer and she gave him a questioning look.
"Who are you?" She said
He blinked at the other SeaWing. "I'm Ferret," he said in his sarcastic voice, flaring his wings. "If you couldn't already tell." His sister was right behind him, blinking around at all of the dragons surrounding her. This is her first time in the Reapings, Ferret thought dizzily. Hopefully she would be safe.
== 2: Rainwings ==
There was a crowd at District Seven as Rainwings stood nervously. It was an array of rapidly shifting colors, most in nervous shades. The Enderwing flapped his wings loudly, making his way to the glass bowl holding all of the names. He reached his talon in, pulled it out, and without looking at it, did the same with the next bowl, his talons scrabbling around for a moment before seizing one. He took a deep breath. "This year's contestants are... Tarsier and Jaguar!"
Tarsier was the first to come up, his scales shifting quickly, never staying on one particular color. Jaguar was shoved up. Her eyes were wide and frightened. Two of the fourteen tributes had been chosen.
== 3: Nightwings ==
A cruel Enderwing peered out at the awaiting Nightwings, then sauntered over to the obsidian bowls that awaited him. He reached in, clawed out a name, then announced loudly, "The female tribute for the Nightwings... is Arenova!"
Nova couldn't contain her gasp of shock. No! No, no, no, no! Dragons were pushing her forward, murmuring their condolences, and, she knew, celebrating, for they hadn't been called. They wouldn't be forced to battle to survive. And she would. Numbly, she went to stand up beside the Enderwing, doing her best to stay far away. All she could think about was past tributes, killed in painful ways. This was all about survival of the fittest, and Nova didn't think that included her. 
Dragons murmured to one another, but before Nova could come completely forward, the Enderwing was calling for the male tribute. "Nightslasher! Nightslasher is the male tribute." The Enderwing nodded approvingly as they both came forward and shoved the Nightwing dragonets towards the train that would transport them to the Arena. The two Rainwings were already on, exploring the train. The doors made a final whooping sound, then was off to the Sandwing District, already holding four dragonets prisoner.
== 4: Sandwings ==
The silver train, almost like a snake, whooped along, arriving at the next district, then screeching to a halt at the platform. The red Enderwing waited for the Sandwings to fill in the clearing of sand so he could draw two names. Citrine milled about with the other contestants. Her older sister was near the front, as she was more likely to get picked. After all, her name was in there about fifty times. Hers was only in there thrice.
The Enderwing stood at the sound of the train and slowly walked over to the bowl that held the names of the dragon tributes. A hush had fallen over the clearing. The Enderwing shifted his talon through every piece of paper, then slowly held up two papers to the glaring sun. He peered out into the crowd, then announced, "Rebutia. The female Tribute for your Tribe." He spread his wing. "And Striker, your male Tribute."
Rebutia walked up on the stage, searching for her younger sister. Citrine looked at her with wide eyes. She mouthed, I will volunteer as a tribute. Rebutia shook her head no, but her sister was already speaking, trying to make herself heard above the crowd.
"I volunteer as a tribute, " Citrine shouted, flying onto the stage.
Rebutia shook her head, blood draining from her face. "No," she whispered.
"I can do this," Citrine said, rushing forward to hug her sister before guards pried them apart.
"Well, well!" The Enderwing boomed. " A volunteer! How exciting. Anyone want to volunteer for this scrap as well?" He pointed to Striker, a dragon with pure black eyes, a Sandwing body, and black ridges and purple diamonds on his neck, but not expecting a response, asked Citrine, "What's your name?"
"Citrine," she said, thinking quickly. She had really done this.
"Now, to the Seawings!"
== 5: Seawings ==
Ferret ducked to whisper in his sister's ear, "You'll be fine. There's no chance that either one of us will be chosen. Some poor, miserable SeaWing is going to be chosen instead of us, and we'll go home and eat some bread and shark-soup."
He smiled at her, and Sea Lily smiled back, and Farret slung his wing around her. He sat, keeping a patient expression, still holding his sister in one wing. Lily was beginning to look nervous, he could feel her heart racing, and sweat dripping down onto her talons. He clutched her tighter, reassuring, then settled back, waiting for the arrival of the train to signal when the names would be drawn.
Teal shivered and figeted more and more. She glanced over at Lily enviously. “Hey, Ferret, I know this is a weird question but… Are you by any chance a hybrid?  I mean, nothing against that...I myself am a Rainwing-Seawing".  She untucked her ruff and relaxed her body to let it take its' normal shape.
Ferret shook his head. "I'm full SeaWing, like my sis here," he responded to Teal, showing his webbed talons and pointing to a nervous Sea Lily. "My parents named me after my scales, which have a birth defect. I just deal with it." I deal with it everyday, knowing I'm a hybrid, his mind whispered, but he ignored it.
"Really?" Teal inclined her head, slightly sarcastic. "A Seawing can’t have that kind of so called ‘birth defect coloring’ without being a hybrid."
Ferret shrugged. "I know for a fact that I have no RainWing blood in me." He bared his teeth, which were normal SeaWing teeth, then pointed to her ruff and long body, which he also didn't have. "I also, get this, can't change my scales!" He threw up his front talons. "Amazing, right?" He dropped onto his four talons and glanced at the stage where the EnderWing was waiting, before turning his charming smile to Teal. "Full SeaWing, at your service."
Teal blinked.  “Well, you're the only dragon I’ve seen in the district that has those markings.  Can I meet your mother and father after the reapings, if we’re not chosen?"
He did not answer, and Teal changed the subject. "So, are you and your sister nervous for the reapings?  My name is only in there once.  What about you two?"
Ferret grinned and looked at his sister. "Mine was entered twice, because of my age. Lily has just one." His ears perked at the sound of a train. "Time to test our luck."
The EnderWing on the stage stood as the train pulled next to the stage. He dipped his claws into the male bowl first, then called, "Ferret! The male Tribute for the SeaWings." 
Ferret froze. Time slowed down. His brain couldn't process what the EnderWing had just said.This... what? HOW? His sister was looking at him in horror. No, how? I only had my name in twice!
"No," Lily whispered.
Ferret put on a blank mask, flicking his tail at his sister reassuringly, then trotted up to the stage. He climbed the stairs slowly, almost like he was in a trance. He took a deep breath, then stood by the EnderWing as he waved the paper announcing the female Tribute. When he heard the female name, he froze.
"The female from your district is Sea Lily!" 
NO. Lily was crying. I can't fight my sister. She stumbled across the clearing towards the stage, barely standing. Ferret considered collapsing onto his sister and burying her in hugs and reassuring words, but he just looked ahead, blinking back tears. This isn't happening. Just let me be in the Games with anyone else. Please leave my sister out of this!
Teal muffled a loud shriek of surprise.  The dragons were begining to diperse, shoving the siblings to the front.
“WAIT! WAIT!”  Teal screeched at the top of her voice.  “I VOLUNTEER!! I VOLUNTEER AS TRIBUTE!!!”
A pair of Enderwings were already  dragging them to the train.  She flapped and rammed head-first into one, knocking Sea Lily from the guards' grasp.  They landed in a bundle of black, white, and blue.  Teal raised her wings to cover Lily.  “I volunteer as the Female Seawing tribute! “  She shot Lily a glance over her shoulder.  “I just can’t watch two siblings fight to the death.  I can’t!”  
The guards were surprised, but then shrugged, and Ferret and Teal clambered onto the train. As soon as the doors closed, Ferret lunged at Teal and gave her a swift hug.
"Thank you," he whispered, then released her and trotted away to sit on a seat that looked comfy. He let out a shaky breath that he didn't know he was holding. Teal saved my sister. Risking her own life. He clenched his talons. He had killed only once, and he loved the feeling of power that it gave him, but could he kill the dragon that saved his sister? I couldn't. I'm not that type of dragon. I feel it comes to it, I hope that either she or I wins. He sighed, letting out all of his feelings, then sat up with his normal patient and sarcastic expression. This can't change me. I'm still Ferret, hilalrious, salty, good old me.
Teal sighed, no problem.  She sighed as they pulled away.  The ivory cover of the train flickered as she walked past.  Some tears were sliding off her ruff, and she tucked it behind her ears.  She sighed.  My primary goal is to make sure that Ferret is reunited with his siblings… Even-even if it means killing myself.  She sighed and wound her tail around a pole as the train gave a heavy lurch and started.  Once they were moving at a steady speed, she let go and begun to move freely around the train. Red, fluffy seats lay around, ready for any dragon to lounge on it.  The floor was ebony embedded with silver flecks.  A similar pattern encased the interior. She put two talons on a window’s ledge and gazed past.  A whoosh passed and she was suddenly out of the walled enclosure she had spent her life in.
== 6: Mudwings ==
User:Queen Lapis was milling around the district.  Every single one of her siblings were dead. All because of the reapings.
She sighed.  She had been adopted as an un-sib into her mother's troop, but every dragon there was about 20 years older than her.  She waved to the bigwings, Swamp, who rolled his eyes.  She pointed towards the hill were the Mudwing dragonets were gathering and he rolled his eyes, waving her away.  Mire bounded up the hill and was shoved in by an Enderwing guard.  
The train pulled into the Mud District, and an Enderwing, upon seeing the train, stood, waiting for silence before pulling out a name, written in tiny letters on a slip of paper. The EnderWing peered at the name, then said, "Mire."
Mire grumbled, and walked sullenly up to the stage. Her fate was obvious:  all her siblings had been chosen before. There was a conspiracy theory going around the tribe that Enderwings were purposely choosing only her troop to punish their bigwings for mocking Snow when she was younger.
She was the bigwings. And now, she had to pay the price.  
What did she have to live for, anyways?
The Enderwing spoke again. "And as for the male... Marsh!" 
Marsh froze as his name was called, then walked up the steps and joined the female MudWing. He was then promptly shoved towards the train, and reluctantly, he entered, taking one last look at his home.
== 7: The Train ==
The train whooshed along, headed towards the Skywing District. Most of the tributes were silent, worrying, but Ferret seemed to have his emotions under control.  He wandered around the car. After a while, Striker stood as well, entering a separate car, seeking food.
Nova glanced around. Since the Nightwing reaping she had been numb, unbelieving. They were approaching the Skywings now. Would she see Victory? Probably not, her friend tended to try and blend in. Maybe she could meet some of the others? Nova glanced at one of them, a dragon that looked like a hybrid of a Nightwing and Sandwing.
"Hello?" She said, too quietly to be heard. She took a deep breath. "Hi, I'm Nova."
"Hey, I'm Striker," he said, smiling.
Nova smiled, relieved someone could be kind to her. Striker. She liked that name.
== 8: Skywings ==
Victory took a deep breath. The train was almost here, she needed to compose herself. Of course she wouldn't be chosen, but, she thought, sharpening her claws on a rock, if she was, she would be ready.
The train pulled into the Sky District. The impatient red EnderWing flared his wings with a malicious smile, then easily pulled two names out. "Victory and Crossbill," he roared, then flared a wing towards the train. "Let's go."
Victory heard her name, heard how little the Enderwing cared. He wanted to hurry up and get going. She wouldn't let him. She ducked her head, moving with the other Skywings. They were leaving, going back home. Someone grabbed her and she looked up into the eyes of a guard.
He must have seen Victory's fright, somehow recognized her. Victory threw her wings up, beating him viciously as she rose into the air. In her head she recited the different tactics. Fly straight up, dodge, twist, back down to get lost in the crowd, return to the sky, outrace them, skimming the other Skywings as she streaked by. They were chasing her, soon she would be caught.
She stopped suddenly, tried to spin around- Victory was caught. She only permitted herself to struggle for a few moments before giving up. What had this been, after all, anyway? Not an escape attempt. A demonstration. She bared her teeth, but inside, she was laughing.
The Skywing tributes were escorted in and the train roared to life, then began to move to the last place, the Ice District.
== 9: The Train ==
Ferret peered out of the train window, then approached a NightWing, Nightslasher, if he remembered. He gave him a cheeky grin, then flared his wings, but Nightslasher didn't notice.
The dragon toyed with his hidden blades; extending them, inspecting them, and then retracting them. He listened to the hum of the traim as they reached the ice district. Icewings. Never really had anything against them, despite our tribe... differences.
Ferret sat down and watched as Nightslasher played with hidden blades. "They'll confiscate them, you know," he said to the NightWing.
"Unfortunately, yes. But I'd rather spend my last days with 'em."
"Ah," Ferret said, nodding. "I'm assuming you can stab somebody decently, if you have a whole arsenal of em. You see, I am just fine with these," he added, wiggling his webbed talons. "And before you ask, because I know I am very fascinating, I am a full SeaWing, not a RainWing hybrid."
"Cool, I guess. I don't really have anything against other tribes. What I wanted to do was unite them all someday. Unfortunately, it seems like that won't happen." He inspected his hidden blades before retracting them. He looked to the Seawing. "What's your name?"
"Name's Ferret, although I've been called a mongoose before. And you're Nightslasher, correct?"
"Yes, you're correct. Hope ya don't mind me pointing this out, but Ferret doesn't really sound like a seawing name."
Ferret didn't answer, looking out at the other tributes. That Skywing, the one who had run from the Enderwings, sat straight and tall. Nova was beside her, trying to initiate a conversation. She gave up and sat, thinking. Victory was completely ignoring her. Victory wouldn't speak to her. She held her head high, let a scratch on her wing bleed without tending to it. Nova wondered why she was bleeding. What had Victory done? Something foolish? No, she was never foolish. Victory couldn't be foolish, could she? She would emerge, victorious, wouldn't she? But then, what would happen to Nova? She looked down, lost in her thoughts.
Crossbill sat, looking out the window, trying to decide if he would decide if he ran away, and how exactly he could run away. He stretched, raking his claws down the expensive seat.
Striker returned, carrying fish. I wonder if I could make allies here, her thought, his tail swishing.
Ferret looked away and peeked out the window, his breath creating clouds in the frigid air. They had arrived.
== 10: Icewings ==
Blizzard the Icewing (Paradise the Rain/Sandwing) stood nervously in the crowd. What was the chance that she out of hundreds would be chosen? Her name was only in 6 times. It was more than some dragons, but less than others.
Before the train even stopped, the EnderWing had drawn two names and was shouting, "BLIZZARD AND MOLT. CONGRATULATIONS. YOU'RE TRIBUTES. NOW LET'S GO! I HAVE HAD ENOUGH OF YOUR STUPID FREEZING DISTRICT. " He shot green flames out of his mouth, then stormed off, lashing his tail to wait for the two IceWing Tributes.
Blizzard was shocked when she heard her name. She had kind of expected to be chosen but it was still a shock. She decided it would be best not to keep the Enderwing waiting and hurried up to the stage. She knew there could be anything in the hunger games, so if there was a freezing area she figured she could stay there until the contestants narrowed down. She didn't want to fight her own tribe, but otherwise the option was death. She walked up to the platform and stopped in front of the train. Blizzard took a deep breath, and stepped in knowing this might be the last time she ever saw her home again.
Molt tensed.
Oh holy FOURTH MOONS AND FIVE SUNS WHAT?!?
He felt himself being shoved forwards stumbling and nearly falling on his face. Numbly, he walked onto the platform, watching as the other tribute (Blizzard, was it? He might have to kill her) entered the train. He glanced over his shoulder one last time, them ran for the doors.
== 11: The Ride to the Capitol ==
Ferret watched as the IceWings entered the train, and then they were off to the Capitol for training.
He began to wander around the train car, watching the other dragons. He approached the male IceWing, Molt, and extended a talon. "I'm Ferret," he introduced, flaring his wings.
"Molt," he answered, though he sounded unenthusiastic. He shook his talon.
Ferret nodded, and stepped back. "You sound super excited for going to an arena of certain death," he responded, grinning cheekily.
Molt didn't get a chance to respond as Teal bumped into Ferret as he turned around.  They fell into a tangle of dragonet.
"Great tails and talons! Sorry, I didn't see you there. " she exclaimed, extending her talons for him.  "Can I speak to you quickly?" She then stayed softly in her breath as the other dragons turned curious eyes on them.  "In a separate compartment, possibly?"
She began to make her way to another car as Tarsier, who had been staring out the window, began to speak.
"Oh man. Don't mention it. 'BLIZZARD AND MOLT. CONGRATS, YOU'RE TRIBUTES AND WERE SENDING YOU TO YOUR MOST LIKELY DEATH. HAVE FUN.'" He did an uncannily shrill imitation of the EnderWing.
She paused slightly and let out a small chuckle, waiting for Ferret before hopping after him across an open train cart.  She shut the door firmly behind.
" Listen, I.. " She begun, before looking up into Ferrets eyes.  "Can we team up in the arena? I need you to meet your sister again, even if it means I need to die for it.  My venom and camouflage can guard you in the arena.  I..." Her sentence trailed off and she paused, eyeing Ferret, waiting for a response
Ferret blinked, surprise. He went serious. "I-I... yes, we can team. Are you sure? Sacrificing your life, for me, some SeaWing you met before you saved my sister from the arena. " He blinked back more tears, then bowed his head. "Thank you," he whispered.
Ferret felt something move in his chest. He swallowed, then said, "I've never told anyone this before. Although, it is obvious. I am actually a SeaWing RanWing hybrid, like you. I can change my scales, but I never do, because I don't like accepting that I am a hybrid. Just to let you know, I will use my scales in the arena if I need to, so we can survive. " He let out a shaky sigh.
A small, sad smile crept onto Teals face, and she pushed the thought that she was slated for death deep down.  “I actually thought you were a Seawing-Icewing hybrid.  So, should we go back to the other cart?”
"You don't have to do this, you know," he said, coming forward to give her a hug.
Teal hugged him back with her wings and twined his tail.  “No, you need to see your sister, and I’m not backing out.”
Ferret gave her a small smile and walked out of the car, feeling bad for accepting her help. What made his life more valuable than hers? He hid his emotions under a patient mask and nodded to dragons as we walked by them.
Other conversations had begun. Mire was walking, exploring the train. She sighed. Taking the train... finally she would be joining her sibs.
Tarsier quietly poked Striker on the back. "Hey."
Striker turned around and looked at Tarsier. "Hello, what's your name?" he asked, keeping his startledness concealed.
"Tarsier. You?"
"I'm Striker," he said, then paused. "Are you a Rainwing?"
"Yes. Aaand... I'm assuming you're a SandWing?"
"SandWing NightWing", Striker said, smiling, revealing the stars under his wings.
"Oh." There was a slight edge to his tone. He's only half... it's fine. I hope. But he's still a NightWing.
Striker tilted his head. Did he have a problem with NIghtWings? "What's wrong?" He asked, keeping his voice light.
"Nothing" Tarsier answered, immediately cutting out the edge. "So... how do you feel about being picked as a tribute?"
"My parents put my name in several times, and I've been practicing for a little while, so I was kind of expecting it," he said, smiling.
"I only put my name in to support my sister," he said, opening his wings as they gradually shifted to a green-blue hue. "She needs all the support she can get."
"Can multiple dragons win or just one?" he asked, changing the subject. "I would like to team with someone, preferably a RainWing."
"I think it's only one." I might end up being the one who kills this queer dragon.
At the same time, Citrine walked up to Blizzard. "I haven't seen what you can do, but I know you have freezing death breath, so maybe we can form a sort of treaty? I won't attack you if you don't attack me. Then we'll each have one less enemy."
Blizzard looked up at Citrine. "Oh, um, sure, I suppose we can do that. Yes."
Phew. "Thanks," she said, and left, moving over to Molt. "I haven't seen what you can do, but I know you have freezing death breath, so maybe we can form a sort of treaty? I won't attack you if you don't attack me. Then we'll each have one less enemy."
Molt looked at her, surprised. "Of course." Then he shuddered a little. "But we might end up having to do so anyways at the end, if we survive."
== 12: What's wrong with hybrids? ==
Victory sat straight and tall in the car, looking out the window. Occasionally she would hide a smile, unbelieving of the feat she had pulled earlier.
She glanced at the others in the train. Regular dragons she would be fighting. It would be best not to meet them, not to let herself get attached. She could tell that there were hybrids here. They needed to die first, she decided. Hybrids were unpredictable... and dangerous.
"Victory?"
She glanced over, startled. It was Nova. "Nova. I didn't think you would be chosen."
"I- do you want to team up? You know, help each other out?"
No, not Nova! Victory couldn't team with her, not with how weak Nova made her. "And if we survive?" Could Victory kill this sweet, careless Nightwing?
"I can't think about that. Please?"
Victory thought, then nodded. "I will ally with you in the beginning, at least."
She was silent for a few moments. "What about Striker?"
"Who?"
"He's a Sandwing Nightwing, I think. I met him. Can we ally with him?"
"You may do what you wish," Victory said coldly, "but I do not ally with hybrids."
Ferret approached them curiously. "Hello," he said, flashing a smile and extending a talon. "I'm Ferret."
"Nova!" The Nightwing said.
"Victory," Victory replied, ignoring his outstretched talon.
Striker walked up. "What's wrong with hybrids?" His tone was light and curious.
"Striker!" Nova said, interrupting. "This is Victory."
Victory ducked her head, cursing inwardly, then met his stare with her own. "I disagree with the mere idea of hybrids. To mate with a dragon that is not from your tribe is wrong," she said forcefully.
Striker backed away, bumping into Ferret. "That's your opinion," he said cautiously, "but it's wrong, and I'll show you that hybrids are important."
With Ferret, Nova, and Striker gone, Citrine approached. She had not heard the previous conversation. "I haven't seen what you can do, but I know SkyWings are fast fliers and great fighters, so maybe we can do a sort of treaty? I won't attack you if you don't attack me. Then we'll both have one less enemy."
Victory weighed the pros and cons. It might be useful to have more than one ally... "Deal." She thought for a few seconds. Best to appear friendly. "It's Citrine, right?"
"Yes!" Citrine began backing away. "I'll see you later."
== 13: Thinking of revolution ==
Nightslasher bumped into Ferret as he exited the now-empty car. "Oh, hey, Seawing," Nightslasher said, "How are ya?"
"Considering I'm going to an arena full of death? Glorious. You?"
"Can't say I disagree with you there. I've already had my training, so really I'm just reflecting on my life here, in case I actually do die." He looked out the window. "What a beautiful world we live in, no?"
"Oh, yes," Ferret said, nodding in a sarcastically satisfied way. "What a majestic world. I love the idea of sacrificing dragons to the DemonWings- I mean, EnderWings. " He scratched his gills thoughtfully. "Or was it EggWings? Ooh! Egg Brains!" He gave another satisfactory nod. "Yes. Of course. That was it."
"Scrambled eggs," Molt yelled from the other end of the train. Tarsier buried his face in his talons, smothering a giggle.
"Heh, you even have sarcasm, just like me." Nightslasher said, ignoring Molt. "But look beyond the EnderWings, Ferret. Do we not live in such an amazing world? It would be even more amazing without these games. That's what I long for, Ferret. For everyone to see the true beauty of this world."
Teal thumped her tail loudly as she entered the car, followed by Victory.
“You know, I know everyone feels guilty about killing someone else," Teal said, "but ask yourself one question: WHY IN THE BLAZES ARE WE KILLING EACH OTHER? Is it because we’re all just expected to do that? Excuse me!! Since when did the Enderwings decide what the tribes do?  Haven’t we been punished enough?  Why do we need to break apart our families as we imagine them watching their screens at home, crying, dying on the inside? NEWS FLASH! Only one of us is going to walk out alive! Only ONE!  So, how about we all rally up?  If we all refuse to kill or fight, what choice would we have? They might torture us! They might torture our families.. But they can’t kill us! Can they?”
Ferret nodded, serious. "Yes, I've thought of that as well. We are all dragons. We all want to live without war, well most of us do, anyway. We were just fine until the EnderWings came and took over. I remember the endless ocean," he added wistfully, touching the glass window with a claw. "Not walled off, making me feel like an animal on display, or in prison. We're forced to kill each other, and if we don't, they'll kill us. I remember watching a Game where a dragon convinced all of the other Tributes to revolt. To ally with each other. They all met horrible deaths."
Teal sighed. “Maybe we can find a weak spot to escape?  I mean, they need to get the aircrafts and parachutes in from somewhere… If we can all just find it.. Maybe we can escape."
"Doubtful," Tarsier answered. "Those Eggfaces are literally scrambled everywhere. That was a pun."
Ferret put on a thoughtful face. "Maybe... The Lost Continent?" He sighed. "There's no way that we can get out the arena in time to escape." He put his snout to the glass. If only there was animus dragons. They killed all of them. Maybe some are still out there. Ferret shook his wings out. This discussion got deep. It makes me have regrets and thoughts that I can't have. Not now. 
Teal let out a hmph, her scales shading slightly greener than her normal cyan.  The dark blues on her torso were deeping into black and some red was making it’s way up from her talons.  “Maybe we can try spitting our venom, fire, ice, whatever and over-charge the shield?"
"No, I want Pyrrhia to be free as well," Nightslasher said. "I'm talking about a revolution."
Ferret turned to the two. "It might be possible. But, we've already attempted this, 125 years ago, and look at where we are now." He waved a talon at the train. "How will we tell the other Tribes, though? If we do manage to free ourselves?"
Teal thought for a moment. Wait! She gasped. “We can do that right now! We can just take over the train.”  She slapped her two talons together, turning a green-yellow.  “The enderwings expect us to be emotionally crushed. That.. we’re judging each other, plotting against each other...I doubt they left the captain-cabin of the train unlocked.  We can barge right in,  do whatever to the driver- freeze him, burn him, tie him up, poison him, whatever, and drive this train back home. Hasta la vista Arena!" She yelled.
Ferret felt his wings rising with hope, although it was a silly hope. Fourteen Tributes, starting a revolution, when I thought I was going to meet a certain death. I still probably will, though, if we get caught. He called the attention of the rest of the car, making sure all the tributes were present. He explained their plan quietly, then waited for a reaction.
Citrine raised her eye ridges but said nothing.
"I don't want ot fight either!" Blizzard said. "This is an outrage! What right do they have, sending us to kill each other?"
Teal put her talons out. "Thank you! Blizzard, right?"
"Yes. We could just not fight, or we could attack the Enderwings. I think not fighting would be safer, though."
"I don't know." Molt said, looking out the window. "I don't really like it."
"What's to lose? We'll die anyways." Tarsier growled. "I'm in."
"We need to take the train and get to the ruins of the old district," Nightslasher said.
"I'm in," said Crossbill.
Victory had listened to the conversation in amazement. These dragons didn't want to fight each other! Nova, sitting beside her, looked hopeful. This was what Victory wanted, to show the Enderwings they didn't control them. This was why she had pulled her stunt at the reaping. "Look, we can't just bust in there without a plan. But we also can't go to the arena. They've engineered it so well never get out. It's now or never."
She made eye contact with all the dragons in the room. "Generally there's a few dragons in the front and several in the back. I think we need to split up, half take the front and half in the back. We all need to do this, and work together." She paused. "One last thing. What do we do afterwards, assuming we can actually do this?"
"Well, let's go!"  Teal said, flashing a large smile at the rest of the group.  "Because that is where we get some Ender wing's last meal!"
Striker put his knife away. "What if we acted like we were going to kill eachother, then in the arena we wait for a door to open, then we escape?" he said, thinking.
"Like... pretend to die?" Nova asked, wrinkling her nose. She looked around. "We need to decide, right now, or we're dead by default."
"I meant we all go hide or stay with the alliances until they get confused and try to draw us out," he said.
"Who's up for a vote?" Victory asked. With escape so close, she began warming up to these dragonets, now that she wouldn't have to kill them. "Either we highjack the train or try to survive in the arena."
"I say we highjack the train. Its a lot safer." Blizzard said cooling her breath. "We have to do it now. We're getting close to the Capitol."
"They check for pulses in the arena," Ferret said, shaking his head. "We can't fake our death. The train is the safest option for now."
Marsh stood, shaking his wings. "I agree with the Ferret."
Ferret looked amused for a moment, then it disappeared, to be replaced with a look of concentration and determination. He looked around. "Just remember, if we fail, they'll just take us into the Hunger Games like normal, but the consequences will be worse."
"Ok, I'm fine with that," Striker replied, watching the others.
"I'll jump the guards, somebody get the conductor. It's now or never, we're a few miles away from the capital." Nightslasher said and extended his hidden blades.
== 14: Thoughts turn to Action ==
Ferret flexed his claws and moved slowly towards the back of the train, where he knew EnderWings stood watch. He crouched, then lunged at the nearest one, shoving him and off-balancing him. With a screech, the red dragon tipped over the railing and under the tires of the next train. The other EnderWing snarled and slashed at him, then blew a breath of green flames.
Ferret ducked and rolled, then clamped his mouth shut and sank his teeth into his neck. The taste of blood and flesh filled his mouth, but he continued biting and tearing until the tremors in the body below him stopped. He stepped back, blood dripping from his fangs. Suddenly, a force from behind knocked him to the ground. 
"You've made a fatal mistake, hybrid," the EnderWing snarled, pressing Ferret's snout into the floor of the train. His weight was too much. Ferret writhed, and snapped, "Don't ever call me a hybrid. I'm a SeaWing, snake guts."
Nightslasher barreled into the guard, knocking him over. He finished him of with a hidden blade to the neck and helped Ferret to his feet. "Now, for the rest..."
Ferret nodded. Suddenly, another guard attacked, taking Ferret and Nightslasher unawares. Teal appeared swiftly behind them. The guard stared at her with wide eyes. Fatal mistake. She spat her venom into his brown eyes, and he screeched, letting go of the other Seawing tribute.  Teal slammed his jaws together, locking them and winding her tail to keep them locked.  In a few moments, he would be dead.
"Ferret... are you ok?" She asked.  "I have a plan. " Her scales begun to shift and she took on the look of the Enderwing attacker.
Ferret blinked, then nodded, but he couldn't pull off an EnderWing, with his webbed talons.
Striker glanced out the window. To his horror, they were close enough he could see the Capitol! "Uh, guys, we might want to get back to where we were," he said, pointing.
"The Capitol!" Nightslasher gasped. "We don't have much time!"
Ferret bolted into the cabin right before the engine. There was one confused EnderWing in there. "HEY!" he snapped. "You're not allowed her- RAROW!" His angry howl turned into one of pain as Ferret slashed at his throat.
He shoved the dying EnderWing aside and barged into the engine room. He pushed past the startled dragons and pulled on the emergency stop lever. The train screeched to a halt, throwing many dragons to the floor. "YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO BE IN HERE!" a dark red EnderWing screeched, lunging at Ferret.  
He ducked and ran straight into another EnderWing, who attempted to pin him down, but ran into a dragon behind him. Ferret guarded the start lever, hissing and spitting. 
The other EnderWing lashed out, and caught Ferret's neck in his claws. He pinned him against the wall, hissing in his face.
Crossbill, who had been several steps behind Ferret, caught up and threw the Enderwing to the side before quickly killing him.
As the train abruptly stopped, all of the dragons still in the passenger car fell to the floor.
Victory lunged up, pushing past the other dragons, heading for the door. Someone grabbed her. Nova. "Victory, where are you going?"
"Let go Nova!" Victory had to escape, before something went wrong. She would fly up and away, before reinforcements could arrive.
"No." Nova's state was firm. "You have to help us."
Victory scowled. "Fine. Let go." She glanced at the tributes surrounding her and started to lead them to the engine.
A battle was raging within. Striker, Ferret, Nightslasher, and Crossbill were fighting the best they knew how. The Enderwings dead, they managed to get them out of the now-stopped train.
"What do we do now?" Ferret asked. "We have control of the train!"
"I don't know," Striker said, panting, "this was your idea."
"Wasn't mine," he replied, pointing back to Nightslasher. "It was his. I'm just a casual follower."
Ferret turned back to the controls, his claws hovering over each one. Let's see... We have to go the opposite way of the Capitol. We're still in danger of reinforcements coming. We have to turn this train around. He frowned, then peered ahead. A switch, that presumably changed the train's direction, lay there.
Ferret immediately opened the engine door and flew toward the switch, then crashed into it, but it didn't make a dent. He tugged and pulled desperately, knowing that the EnderWings were suspecting something was wrong.
Meanwhile, in the engine cockpit, a harsh voice could be heard. "Justice! What is the holdup with the Tributes?! President Snowfall is expecting them immediately!! JUSTICE! Are you there?! Do you copy, and if you don't, you are dead!" 
The dragons were crammed in the engine room and the cockpit, whispering quietly.
Victory looked around wildly. "We need to get out!" Opening the door, she gestured to the others. "Come on!"
Blizzard burst in. "I got the last guards," She said, frostbreath leaking out of her mouth. "We need to go!" She looked at Striker and Ferret. "Just go!" She grabbed Striker and pulled him toward the door.
Striker pried himself free, "We won't be able to get anywhere, we are already stopped at the Capitol and there are guards coming here!" he yelled.
Teal looked around and grasped what she thought was a steering wheel.  She pulled the wheel and the train gave a lurch to the left.  It settled back on the wheels with a bump. The golden gate of the Capitol  was standing, welcoming their deaths. A ridge in the tracks lead to a second one that went the opposite direction. She grasped what she thought was a steering wheel.  She pulled the wheel and the train gave a lurch to the left.  It settled back on the wheels with a bump.
"Ferret! Striker! Grab the wheel and on my count, we all spin it left!!" She yelled.  The two large dragons grasped the wheel.  They spun, and with a lurch, the train was going the other way, leaving the golden Capitol behind, and freedom lay ahead.
Striker, along with a few others, fell down and looked around, "We've got a little problem, though," he said as he stood up, pointing at another train with multiple EnderWings on it, coming straight for them.
No one, including Crossbill, was sure what to do until Ferret snarled, then pushed harder on the lever. The tracks lurched, and now the train could back up and go the opposite way. "GO!" He roared, flapping his wings and lunging into the air. He flew into the engine and pushed the start button, then gripped a wheel and turned left as hard as he could. The train screeched, then promptly turned and began to chug away.
Ferret cheered, but they still had the other train behind them. "We have to stop at each district!" He cried, his voice filling the train. "We can't stop them on our own."
"Stand back!" Blizzard commanded, standing by the door and cooling her breath, preparing to fight the guards.
Victory growled, slamming the door shut as the train gained momentum. They were going to catch them, and she would die. She should have jumped when she had the chance! But it was too late now. She dashed to the engine, pushing past others, adding her strength to the team pushing the wheel. The train was speeding down the track, but they were hotly pursued. Any moment now dragons would... No. They just needed to go faster. She seized an idea. "What if we unhook the other cars?" She shouted over the sound of the engine. "The other train won't be able to get past them and we can go faster!"
Blizzard gave an audible gasp and put her head out the door, frost breath trailing out of her mouth, lightly freezing the side of the train car behind her. She aimed for the links connecting the head car to the others.         "Is everyone in? Here I go!" She blasted the links and the other cars broke away.
Nova cheered and rushed forward to grab Blizzard, keeping her from falling out as the train bursted forward, unhampered by other cars.
However, Enderwings were still coming, flying closer. Citrine positioned herself by the door, ready to stab anyone who got closer. Striker grinned and extended his weapons. Blizzard, seized with a sudden idea, climbed onto the top of the train, her claws keeping her steady, and shot her frost breath into the air behind the train, the air becoming deathly cold. The frost breath lingered in the air behind the train. Hopefully the Enderwings couldn't see it, and if they flew through the frostbreath it might still be cold enough to freeze their wings.
"Blizzard! Keep blowing! They might be too afraid to get any closer!" Citrine, followed by Striker, climbed up. "Striker! If they get any closer, us and our tails will be ready for them."
And my dagger," Striker replied, pulling out his dagger and holding it by the blade, like a throwing knife.
Victory grinned. "And I'm your back-up." She was excited to wreak revenge on the Enderwings.
"I'll help anyway I can," Crossbill contributed.
Their enemies approached. One of the EnderWings came up the side and tackled Striker. Striker kicked him off, threw his knife into his leg and hit him across the chest with his tail. As the dragon struggled, Striker pulled his knife out and kicked the dragon off the train. Blizzard tackled another Enderwing, quickly freezing him. He met the same fate as the previous, tossed off the train, dead.
Striker shouted something intelligible to the train below. With that second lapse of concentration, an Enderwing dove and clocked him across the head, leaving him sprawled on the roof.
Blizzard roared and leaped on the Enderwing, tackling him to the ground. She blasted the back of his head with Frostbreath. That taken care of, she got up and scanned the sky. "If any Enderwings try to attack us....They'll be sorry."
In the car, Ferret growled. "Where are we even going??" he demanded of Teal, looking around.
"To the ruins of the Old District!" Teal said, all of her concentration on steering the train.
"Would train tracks go that far?" Nova asked. "And we can't go to any other districts, Enderwings are there!"
"There's an army there," Nightslasher said wryly.
Ferret nodded. "Do we abandon this train, sneak out the back ? Run into the forest and make it there on foot?"
"Yes, let's abandon it," Crossbill said, coming down to the car. "There's too much attention on the train."
"It's hundreds of miles away. It could take us days to get there. But then again, they could track down the train..." Nightslasher paused, thinking. "On foot it is."
The dragons had returned to the car as it became harder to hold on to the roof, and as Enderwings found it difficult to catch up.
"We should get a little closer. Then we leave the train and they'll follow the train so we can escape," Blizzard said.
Victory nodded. "Sounds good. So when do we leave? How do we know when we get close?"
"When we get to the Sea District. That's at least halfway." Ferret peered out the window. The Ice District was past them, so they were coming up on the SkyWing Distrct.
Striker woke after having been carefully brought down to the car. "The engine room is making an odd noise and I suggest bailing before more Enders come," he said, rubbing his head.
"Agreed," said Nightslasher. "Abandon ship, everyone! We'll self destruct the train, that'll throw em off for a while."
Ferret paused. "Get everyone to the farthest exit door," he said, pointing to the front of the train. "This is our stop."
Carefully the dragons opened the door, but hesitated, looking back.
Ferret looked back at Nightslasher. "We can't destroy the train. We let it run until it dies or something. It will give us time while the EnderWings search it."
"We can fake our deaths," he suggested.
"Keep the train going, there's always an end to the road, and they'll be chasing the train, not us", he said.  "We jump into the forest and fight for our lives," Striker suggested.
"I have a plan!" Yelled Teal from the wheel.
Ferret sighed and joined Teal in the cockpit, along with several other dragons. The space was cramped.
“Did y’all forget about your parents and siblings?” Teal yelled, faceing them through the corridor.  Her tail was on the wheel, keeping it firmly in place.  “The Enderwings will just kill them to punish us! And abandoning the train is a death sentence because we’ll be trapping ourselves in a district, with the firescale walls and force-fields.  Only the train can get through the forcefield!” She said forcefully.
Ferret blinked. "If we stop, the EnderWings will catch up to us."
"We should stop in the Sea district, then find a way to swim under the wall or something. There has to be some kind of cave for the fish to get through or the SeaWings would run out," Citrine said.
Ferret gave a cry. "Of course! I know where we can swim out!"
"Where?" Crossbill asked, excited.
"There's a weak-spot on the wall," he explained excitedly. "We always put a net there to keep sharks out. If we hammer at it..."
Teal’s eyes went wide.  Two dark figures were approaching the top of the train.  Two Enderwing silhouettes were flapping against the sun
“Dang it! Guys! We’ve got some company!” She announced.
Ferret snarled. The train was just entering the Mud District. "We have one more district before we reach the Sea District. We can abandon the train there."
== 15: Victory is Taken ==
Suddenly, a thud sounded from above the train. Ferret froze, and lashed his tail. Nothing moved for a tense moment. Then, the smallest creak. There was a roar of terror, and Ferret turned around to see four talons reach in, grasping Victory, and disappearing out of the exit door with the struggling Skywing.
"Victory!" Teal shrieked. "Someone, save her!"
"Victory!" Nova screamed. What were they doing?
Citrine was back on the top of the train in a moment. "You want a fight? I'll give you a fight, bozos."
She jumped and kicked the first in the face, then grabbed him by the horns. She threw him at the second and they both fell, but more were close. Her claws were unsheathed and her tail ready. She was just getting started.
Striker joined her and after a few more moments Citrine jumped into the air, fighting Enderwings from there while searching for Victory.
Teal slammed on the brakes and flew from the cockpit.  She promptly grasped Striker and Citrine and shoved them in the direction of the train. “Get.. in. Arm yourselves with whatever you have.  But don’t let a single Enderwing get their talons on that train! And don’t start it back up until Victory and I are safely back on board. “  She unhinged her jaw and flew in large circles, descending into the forest in a steep spiral.
Meanwhile, Victory struggled, trying to fight back. Four strong talons gripped her tightly. "Where are you taking me?" She called. There was no reply. She was doomed, she would die, they would torture her and then she would die. At least she didn't have to fight in an arena, but was this better? Or was it a worse fate?
No! She twisted around, scratching an Enderwing. The dragon dropped her, roaring in pain, and she opened her wings, trying to manage to fly away. However, she wasn't fast enough, and the remaining Enderwings tackled her. They fell to the ground.
Teal landed in the forest.  She camouflaged herself and followed the sounds of scuffling and yelling through the forest.  She saw an enderwing pinning down Victory.
Stupid parrot-mouth, she thought.  
The Enderwing suddenly grasped at his throat and fell to the side of Victory. Teal promptly shimmered into view, her thick tail wound around the Enderwing throat.  She growled, sinking her claws into his face and ending him off with a sharp blow to the head.
Striker jumped from the train, following Teal. He knew he could help.
Victory shook her head, dazed. Had Teal really killed an Enderwing just to save her? The dragon was trying to get her to move, to fly away, and she awkwardly stood, flapping her wings. There was a shout in the distance and Victory whipped around, her senses coming back to her. Wingbeats suddenly filled the clearing where Teal and Victory were. Five glowering, red EnderWings arrived, roaring. She slashed at the enemy, but it wsa too late. Two of them tackled Teal, while the remaining four heaved Victory into the air and darted away swiftly back to the train.
So close to escape, to freedom, but not fast enough. Victory couldn't fight them off, not alone.
Ferret roared as loud as he could, "TEAL! STRIKER! COME BACK! It's NOW OR NEVER!" He watched as the train behind them zoomed closer.
He watched in horror as four shapes darted out of the tree line, carrying a writhing red shape between them. Victory.... He hissed. We'll get her back. "WE REALLY NEED TO GO!" he cried, then ran to the engine room, talons wavering over the controls. I have to wait for Teal and Striker...
"No!" He wasn't giving up. Striker grabbed his dagger, threw it at one of the dragons carrying Victory, and hit another two with his tail. They fell out of the sky, paralyzed. He tackled the other one to the ground. Victory was quicker this time, taking her own dragon, and Teal was busy fighting off her two.
The EnderWing roared, and threw Striker off of her, then pinned him to the ground, stomping on his tail. More reinforcements were coming.
Ferret snarled angrily, lunging out of the engine and throwing the EnderWing away from Striker. He hoisted Victory to her feet, shoved Striker away towards the train, and hollered, "SERIOUSLY LETS GO."
Striker grabbed his dagger out of one of the dead dragons, and threw it at a dragon fighting Teal, hitting right between the EnderWing's eyes. He ran over to her, pulled it out and began to fly towards the train.
Victory lunged to the sky, ignoring the fact that more Enderwings were coming. "Striker," she shouted, "Get back to the train! I'm fast, I'll distract them!" She could tell Striker wasn't going to listen. "I need you to trust me! They're targeting me,I don't know why, but they might let you go! Fly, fly!"
Striker hesitated and went. Victory raced through the sky. They were in her element. She bared her fangs, joyful, as adrenaline coursed through her body. In the corner of her eyes she could see the train, disappearing into he distance. She circled the group of Enderwings, taunting them. One lunged and she twisted, beating him with her wings. However, in doing so, she knocked into a dragon she hadn't seen. They fell to the ground, flapping wildly as she tried to release the dragon's grip.
The next thing she knew Victory crashed into the ground. She winced and feebly tried to move, but nothing happened, and despite her best efforts, her eyelids fluttered closed.
== 16: To the Sea District ==
Striker was already in the engine room, looking around, "Uh..I think we might have a problem!" he yelled to the others, looking at a pressure gauge that seemed to be in a red area.
"I can cool it down," Blizzard said, moving closer.
"Slow down the train!" Nightslasher suggested. "That'll give us more time with the engine! Fend off the Enderwings! We must make it to the Seawing district!"
Ferret swore under his breath. He saw Teal winging back to the train, and cried, "Ok, everyone, into the forest! Have the RainWings lay on top of any dragons that stick out in the undergrowth. We'll have to go to the Sea District on foot." He shoved Citrine out of the car, along with Molt and Jaguar. "GO! We need to hurry our sorry scales out of here!"
Blizzard pulled Striker out of the train and toward the forest. She pushed the Nightwing into the dark trees where he would easily blend in.  "I need a Rainwing please?" She asked.. White scales would definnetly stand out against the dark forest floor.
Nightslasher also swore, except out loud. "Abandon the train!"
Ferret counted as each dragon fled. 9, 10, 11.... He looked around, seeing only Nightslasher, and pushed him out, too. "Let's go," he said, more quietly. His scales shifted colors, which he had promised himself he would never, ever do. He threw an invisible wing around Nightslasher, then blocked him from view. "Let's not talk about my scales at the moment." 
"So you are a hybrid!" He gasped.
Ferret groaned. "Just shush up. I'm saving your sorry tail. Feel special."
"Hey, I don't care if you're a hybrid!"
Ferret stuck his invisible tongue at Nightslasher, then hurriedly walked him into the trees. The other Tributes were huddled on the forest floor. He flared his wings, hoping to cover a space of noticeable scales from above.
"Enemy patrol incoming. Try not to breathe," Nightslasher whispered. The patrol passed right in front of them and kept going without glancing at them. "Thanks."
"Don't mention it," Ferret responded, watching warily as the guards passed by.
"Well, let's get moving!"
Ferret flared a wing. "Wait," he whispered, crawling out into open sight. He saw the EnderWings regroup and spread out, going away from the districts, although one stopped to give it a dubious look. The wingbeats slowly faded away. "Guys, let's go," he whispered, crawling back to the group of dragons. He watched as they all bolted across the tracks, towards the Sea District. 
"Hmm... Really wanted to take them out, practice my skills. Oh, well. To the Sea District."
Ferret looked at the train thoughtfully. "Should we hijack their train?" he said, lashing his tail slowly. "We'll get to the Sea District faster, and they won't have that transportation anymore."
"You mean the one we just got off?" Striker asked sarcastically.
"If we highjack the train there's going to be even more Enderwings," Blizzard said anxiously.
Nightslasher spoke next. "We've put em on high alert. If another train goes rogue, they'll be on it faster than they were on us earlier. We go on foot."
"I agree with that," Striker said, looking around warily.
Ferret nodded, and became visible again. "We don't have much time. Let's get moving."
They began to travel, keeping quiet and under the trees.
Nova looked around in awe. She hadn't left her home in so long! It was refreshing, leaving the Night District. She had actually made friends! But she was so worthless. Nova hadn't helped fight or work on the train. She was tagging along on this great adventure- but there was nowhere else for her to go. She would stay quiet while they journeyed, listening to plans. No one noticed her. But that was fine. Nova was alright with that. As long as she could escape to freedom, she would be as small and quiet as a scavenger.
== 17: The Sea District ==
Soon, Ferret saw the Sea District. My home.... He flared his wings. "Let's go!"
Teal followed him.  Her heart thumped rapidly. Her skin was instantly soothed as her talons touched warm sand, and she dipped her tail into a tidepool.  The ocean was nearby now, and she could see the wall… right outside it was freedom.  
Citrine looked at the water. "Oh. Right. We have to swim. I forgot about that part."
"The ocean!" Nova cried, rushing forward, only to instantly jump back. "It's cold." She blushed as the others laughed and slowly waded in. Ferret and Teal looked right at home, leaping in and out of the water. Nova smiled, watching Crossbill slowly follow the others into the ocean.
“Oh, come on” Teal said, thwacking Citrine on the head with her tail playfully.  “It’s not that bad...and besides, theirs some sand around here, and it’s warm...Don’t sandwings like that?”
She looked suddenly at the enderwing guards posted near the wall. Oh, right.
“Hey, um..” She glanced at the guards again.”I think those guards are going to notice if fourteen dragonets, twelve of whom aren’t seawing… Ok here’s the plan. Me, Tarsier, and Jaguar will disguise ourselves as enderwings, tell the guards their relived, and then wait for them to get out of site. When they are, we’ll wave our wings and you guys come out in pairs, and get to the wall.”  She began to shift her scales into those of the Redwing.  “By the way, If they ask, my name is Inevitable, Tarsier your...er, You two make up some Enderwing names and camo, then follow me."  She extended her head towards Ferret. “Go get your family.” She whispered through gritted teeth.
Citrine looked the water again. Maybe she's right. Maybe it isn't that bad. She stuck a talon in. It wasn't that horrible. It wasn't the end of the world. But it felt a little unnatural to her. She stuck her whole claw in. I could get used to this. After a while. But I don't think we have a while.
Citrine gritted her teeth. I'll just have to deal with it. She jumped in.
Teal clapped her wings together and notced the Enderwing guard glancing curiously at the splashing.  Teal quickly jumped over Citrine, making it appear like only a Seawing was in the water instead of a Sandwing.  The Enderwing frowned and looked away.  Teal let herself float above Citrine as she came up sputtering.
Citrine said something undetectable as she resurfaced, spitting part of an unlucky fish out of her mouth.
"Wha-oh. Dur. I'm an idiot." She jumped back underwater.
Teal glanced at Ferret, and then flashed the stripes on her neck quickly three times and interlocked her talons, telling him something in Aquatic.  Get your family.  “Lets swim to the wal,l” She told Citrine.  “I’ll cover you until we get to that island.”  She pointed as a small, moss-covered wharf with a sandy coast, out of view from the guards, but near the wall.
Citrine nodded to signal that she heard, and kept swimming underwater.
Teal half flapped and half swam under the water, trying to give Citrine room to breath but sometimes unexpectedly plunging her underwater and sputtering echoed from under her.  Finally, Citrine came blubbering up onto the coast.  
“Camoflague in the sand or hide in the moss,” Teal whispered to Citrine.  She swam easily and quickly back to shore and clambered up besides the rest of the group.  “We should go one or two at a time.. Who’s next?"
"I'll go next," said Crossbill, cautiously wading in.
Teal nodded and waited for him to lay down in the shallows.  She then proceeded to float above him and they begun to swim to the moss island, with Teal taking awkward, large strokes and struggling to hide his large body under hers.  She spread her wings as the Skywing got out and darted under the dock to the cover of the moss.  She swam back.  “Whose next?” she said.  “Can Jaguar and Tarsier help me get everyone else to the other side?”
Ferret looked at the ocean, then sprang away. He scurried away towards his home, running swiftly over the  pathway. He stopped in front of his home, heart racing. I can do this. He opened the door, and saw all of the familiar faces he though he would never see.
His mother froze, looking at Ferret. Sea Lily shrieked with surprise. Coast just sat there, looking bewildered. "FERRET!" Lily cried, rushing over to her brother, weeping. Dolphin sprang onto her son, crying as well. Ferret cried, burying his face into his mother's shoulder. The stood there for a few more moments, then Ferret broke away. "We have to go," he said, wiping away tears. 
"How are you back????" Lily demanded, still crying. "I-I thought you were g-gone."
Ferret sniffed. "I'll tell you later. We have to go. Right now." They followed quietly. Ferret raced back to the rest of his group, who were waiting for him. Sea Lily stuck to Ferret's side nervously. "Those are the other Tributes," she whispered, eyes widened.
Lily saw Teal and swam out to her, then proceeding to give her a big hug. "You saved me!" she cried, tears still in her eyes over Ferret.
Ferret sighed, turning to his parents. "We need to break the fishing net in the wall," he said, lashing his tail. Not waiting for a response, he dove into the water, swimming away swiftly towards the corner of the District, where he could see the large crack. He growled, then swung around and beat his large tail against it. It didn't budge. He used a sharp claw to tear the fishing net, and tiny fish swam through. He clawed at the crack, then whipped around and beat his tail against it again, which caught on a sharp piece of stone. He gave a muffled cry, clutching his tail, then growled and whipped his tail harder. A chunk of wall came off, big enough for a small dragon to fit through.
With a triumphant snarl, he clawed and shoved, trying to move loose stones away. He whipped around again, scratching his tail. Blood soon began to stain the water around him. He whirled around one last time, and with a satisfying crunch, a large piece of the wall broke away, leaving a large hole, big enough for a dragon to squeeze through. 
Ferret reached through it, squirming, and popped out onto the other side. He saw land ahead, and poked his head out to see an island. He roared triumphantly, then swam all the way back to the dragonets. 
"I broke the wall!" he purred, gesturing to the far wall behind them. "We can swim through into freedom."
Teal returned Lily’s hug and then swam over to inspect the hole made by Ferret.
“I have an idea… do you think we can dismantle the force fields from the outside? Maybe there’s a switch there. Me or Lily can go check outside.  We’re the smallest ones here."
Citrine protested, saying she was smaller than Teal. Then, taking a deep breath and plugging her nose, she swam through triumphantly.
Ferret nodded. He turned to his parents, who were watching them, uncertain. "We are taking back what's rightfully ours," he said, grinning. He began to coax dragons into the water, shoving them and giving them extra support if they needed it. Soon, the twelve other Tributes were on a small island, dripping water everywhere.
Lily swam after Teal, tail beating in the water furiously. She saw the hole her brother made, and squeezed through, followed by Teal. She squirmed into the open, and swam up onto the island on the other side, and gave a gasp. The ocean went on forever! She looked up at Teal. "Um.. what are we doing? "
Ferret pointed to the distant wall. "We can fly over there," he said, lashing his tail. "But, to get through the wall, we have to swim."
Teal swam back quickly as she noticed the group visible, esspecially the Icewing, Blizzard.
“Hey, Bliz, can you help me?  I need you to come over there really quick.”  She looked at the Enderwing guards.  “Can you freeze the two guards up there?  Your scales could let you pass for a seawing dragonet, but if you want, I can cover you while you're flying."
Blizzard nodded, twined her tail with Nova's for a moment as they had helped each other swim over, and followed Teal up to the wall.
== 18: On the other side of the wall ==
Lily was blinking at the large wall that stretched up into the sky. It seemed to go on forever. She looked down at the ocean, and felt a flash of rage. We were free. We had all of this. Now, we are trapped in a wall, with a basically a puddle, compared to all of this.
Sea Lily watched as a SandWing swam through the hole in the wall, and blinked. "What's your name?" she asked as the SandWing came, dripping, up onto shore.
"That's classified," the dragon replied. "Just kidding. I'm Citrine."
"Lily," the SeaWing responded, cocking her head. "What are you guys even doing here? How did you escape? My brother wouldn't tell me anything."
"If he won't tell you anything, I shouldn't either. But let's just say... We didn't even take a step into the arena."
Lily gaped. "He probably didn't tell me anything 'cuz he was crying and everything, but WHAT how did you not get to the arena? And I didn't see two SkyWings. Where's she at?"
"Victory... She isn't with us anymore. The EnderWings managed to capture her."
Lily crouched, her eyes wide. "Thats awful," she whispered, lashing her tail. She stood, looking around. "Teal said there was something out here that could shut off the forciefields around the district. I think I know where it is, but it isn't out here. It's in the EnderWing section in our District. There has to be one of those in every district. " She was excited. "Are we revolting against the EnderWings?"
Teal held a wing between them. “That story can wait for later...look!”  She gestured with her wing at the Enderwing staring down at them. The Enderwing said something into a walkie talkie and turned around, walking across the wall.
“Ok! That can’t be good.  Nova-Crossbill-Blizzard- all of you across the wall now!”  She shoved them under the water and onto the other side of the ocean.  “We have to get the others!”
Citrine, who was on the other side of the wall, ignored Teal. "We are just trying to escape. At least, I think we are... Can you show me where the thing that can shut off the force fields is? It would really help."
Lily nodded, flicking her tail and her luminescent scales flashed for a moment, then the jumped into the water and squeezed back through the hole. She flew out of the water, almost crashing into an IceWing, and landing on the ground below. She saw her brother urging dragons into the air, pointing them towards the wall. She smiled, then waited for Citrine and darted away towards the corner.
Mean while, Ferret hissed, looking up at the EnderWing. Now or never... He launched into the air, flapping and then lunged at the EnderWing. He quickly slashed her throat, and her communication device dropped, her eyes went blank, and he felt the body go limp, he stepped away, then slunk away quietly.
He flew back down to the small island, shoving the other dragons into the air.
At the same time, Lily dove back under the wall, reached the EnderWings and froze. They were everywhere. She gulped, then straightened and lashed her tail.
Citrine took one last glance at Lily. She started to stealthily follow her directions. The lever was soon in sight. I can do this. I can do this.
She swam all the way over to it and pulled as hard as she could.
An alarm went off. Wait, I pulled the alarm lever! The force field turn-off was actually a button. She quickly pressed it, trying to dodge the screaming dragons. She dove under the wall again.
“HOLY HALF-HEAD HERRING!! EVERYONE GET TO THE HOLE! DON'T STOP” Yelled Teal.  A stampede of seven dragonets rushed into the water, a wild burst of color.  And Enderwing guard fired what appeared to be a phaser-like gun at the dragonets
BANG-POP!
The shot hit right at Teal’s neck.  Her eyes began to glaze over, and crimson drops begun to mix with crystal-clear waters.  She gave a lurching breath as she sank beneath the water.  As she went under, she saw the last tails rushing through the hole.
The tributes were safe.  
Except for her.
== 19: Battle ==
Lily blinked and looked behind her, seeing no one. Citrine? Suddenly, a voice barked, "Hey! Isn't that SeaWing the one who was Reaped, with her brother?"
"It is!" Lily turned and saw at least five EnderWings watching her. "The one that escaped. She got lucky that other SeaWing stepped up and volunteered. Her luck's run out. Grab her!" Lily yelped and began to scramble away, but her claws were snagged on a loose piece of rock, and she tumbled to the ground. Talons grabbed her shoulders, wings, snout, and tail. She writhed desperately.
"Take her to the Capitol. She can be used as bait."
By the hole, Ferret roared and grabbed Teal's limp body. He shoved her through the hole, then placed her up on the island. He inspected the wound, which luckily had missed a severe artery in her neck. He sighed, relieved. "Die on me, I'm killing you myself," he whispered to her, with a growl. He looked around and froze. Where's Lily?! He sprang up, flapping into the air. He didn't see the familiar dark blue of her scales. "LILY!" he roared, diving into the water.
Ferret lunged out of the water, and slashed his claws at a dark red EnderWing. He sank his teeth into his neck, then released him and whacked another one out of the sky with his tail. Suddenly, SeaWings were flapping into the air, joining the battle. The EnderWings were dead within moments.
Teal woke up suddenly, winced, and looked at Ferret through the hole.
“SIXTY MOONS,  NO,”  She dove through the hole, crimson blood spilling from her shoulder.  She changed her scales to look like part of the sandy bottom below.
She suddenly burst from under an Enderwing, toppling him backwards.  “FIGHT MOI!” She yelled, spraying some venom in his direction.
== 20: At the Capitol ==
Victory stared at the ground, refusing to make eye contact with her interrogator. He barked something and a guard raked claws down her wings. Victory snarled and strained against her chains before looking up. She was furious. Her eyes were coals, her mouth set. She was resolute. Victory would not betray the other rebels.
"Where are the tributes going?" The Enderwing, the one with the twisted wing, shouted. Victory shook her head. "I don't know! You'll have to find someone else to torture!" Another dragon came into the room to nervously whisper into the others' ear.
He roared and Victory was hit with fresh waves of pain, her bands digging into her legs as she writhed. She sank to the floor, unreactive as her chains were loosened and they hauled her out of the cell.
She glanced up. She was outside. She could smell the air, feel the cool wind. The Enderwings released her. Could she, wounded as she was, still manage to fly away? She was a Skywing! She could do anything! She stretched her wings, ready to launch into the sky, when a voice made her stop. A familiar voice.
"Victory?"
She twisted around in horror. Lark the Skywing, encumbered by chains, was held back by guards. "Lark!" Her little sister, beautiful, peaceful, chained up! She wasn't even a warrior, she was a healer!
"Fly away and your sister, as well as your mother and Finch (male), that architect, dies," the Enderwing said. Victory bowed her head in submission, completely defeated.
The EnderWings had a knife on Lark's neck, then paused at the sound of wingbeats. A group of EnderWings, carrying a writhing shape of a dark blue SeaWing, landed next to them, watching Victory warily, then one muttered, "We got the SeaWing's sister here. She was snooping around our quarters when we caught her." He paused, glaring at Victory.
"Take her to the SeaWing torture room," the largest EnderWing replied, tightening his grip on Lark. "You know what to do if she doesn't talk." Lily gave a terrified whine and began to thrash around. The large EnderWing gave a smirk. "You did tell us to find someone else to torture."
Lily had tears running down her blue snout. Although Victory had never met the Seawing, she knew enough about her and from what she had heard to know that this was Ferret's little sister. Sympathy hit Victory in waves. They were doomed.
== 21: Planning ==
"Do we know where the others are?" Striker asked.
Ferret looked at Striker. "What others?"
"Like Victory, the ones that were taken," he replied calmly.
Ferret winced."Im assuming to the Capitol. We'll get them back," he added fervently. "And make the EnderWings pay." He looked around, heart racing. He had a horrible suspicion..... He flapped into the air, and roared, "Has anyone seen Lily?"  Please, let her be alright. He thought of Citrine, and dove down into the water, squeezing through the hole, and pinned Citrine with his gaze. "What happened to Lily? Wasn't she with you?" 
"Hey, don't assign blame here." Blizzard paused, then changed the subject. "We should help some other dragons escape. They could take our families." She thought of her parents, what could happen to them. "Frostbreath won't work on the Ice Kingdom walls but it might on the others, to weaken them." 
"We have to get them back," Nova said. She was shivering, trying to warm herself up with her wings. "They could do anything to them! Victory, Lily, who's next?" She paused to breathe fire into the air, thinking. "We'll have to split up," she realized. "Someone has to draw the Enderwings away from their fortress."
"I don't have a family," Crossbill said. He was safe from that agony of losing someone, but was that better?
"I'm so sorry," Nova put a wing around Crossbill. "We need you to understand that we need to rescue ours." She paused awkwardly. "What happened to yours, if you don't mind me asking?"
"My two siblings were chosen as tribute. My parents tried to stop them from taking them, and they killed them. Both of my siblings died in the arena, and I was too young to help my parents," said Crossbill, just managing to keep his voice straight.
Teal winced as she pressured her shoulder, spilling crimson.  “I’m all for making those Enderwings pay..” She picked up a piece of drifting seaweed, pretending it was Presisent Snowfall’s heart, and crushed it, before letting it drift back into the sea. “You know, we can probably rally up the districts…. We can get some trains and travel through them.”
Ferret, who had been lost in thought, let out an agonized roar. "She can't be taken!" he cried, swooping low to the ground. He landed and looked around desperately. "LILY!"  He turned to the other Tributes, radiating fury. "We can end this, once and for all," he said, raising his voice so the other SeaWings heard. "We gather all of the Tribes and take back Pyhrria. We only failed before because we didn't know what they could do." His eyes were like green flames, filled with agony and fury and hope. "Now we do."
Teal looked at the black and white zipping body of Ferret as he panicked about his sister. Her heart thumped as she flapped up to look inside the Seawing enclosure.  She went into a dive to meet the rest of the tributes.  
“We’re safe..but Victory and Lily are not- Our families are not-our tribes- ARE NOT! We’re going to rally up the districts, and we’re going start with the Seawings- most of them live above-land.  Everyone go spread the word- go door to door if you need to.  Me, Ferret, and the Mudwings will tell the Seawings living underwater to come up here.  Have them gather any weapons they have, kitchen knives, needles, anything… Have everyone meet at the Center island- and massacre any Enderwings you see.”
Crossbill nodded and went, spreading the word. Occasionally he saw Enderwings before they mysteriously disappeared. He knew no one would ever see them again.
Teal nodded as the tributes dispersed to spread the word.  She dove in with Mire and the two split off at separate ways.  Teal looked around, her gills fluttering as she twisted and turned her head.  With a few flaps of her wings and flicks of her tail, she was swimming among a coral-reef village.  Fish darted around the sharp corners of the Coral and soon she came to a deep abyss.  Lights illuminated from caves throughout the walls.  Teal waved towards Mire and Marsh.  The three of them begun entering the caves and soon, there was soon a gathering of sixty or so Seawing families huddled around the pavilion int the center island.
Nova wove between other dragons, trying to blend in as she whispered the news. Some looked at her with confusion, some fright, some disbelief, but as other tributes came forward to back her up, they were convinced. She wondered whether such quick action was a good idea, but it was too late to go back now.
Several minutes later, Teal counted the assembling tributes.  
"Where is the male sandwing?” She asked Mire.
“I’ll go check outside,” She replied.  Mire swam easily through the water, poking her head through the hole and squeezing through.  She shook Striker, who was asleep, when she saw him.
“Hey, squirt, come on.  Your going to miss out on all the action.”  Her words painfully reminded her of when she had been waking up her younger brother, Moor.
Ever so long ago.
"I was kind of asleep," Striker protested as he took to the sky, keeping Mire from dwelling too long on memories.
“Eh.  Don’t be too hard on yourself.”  She said as they flew back through the hole to hear teal.
“Fellow Seawings and tributes! I know you have all heard the news.”  Teal said, letting the words sink in.  “The Sea kingdom is no longer under Enderwing control. Consider yourselves independent!”  This was met by cheers from the Seawings.  “The Force Fields are off.  The Walls will are no longer hot.  And we will crumble them, just as the Enderwing control crumbles over us!” She looked at the happy faces.  “But this isn’t the end of the fight! We must free our fellow tribes, and above all, we must restore order to every tribe.  But nevertheless, this is the beginning of a revolution!”
With that the Seawings begun to disperse.  But a separate division of Seawings were hitting the wall with their tails.  After many blows, the walls crumbled down in a wave that doused the seawings, and cheering broke out as they saw the open ocean for the first time.
Citrine gasped as the wave splashed over her, but it was a happy gasp. She was getting used to being wet.
Ferret was sitting back a ways, watching as the SeaWings finally found the ocean. What was rightfully theirs. He stood and lashed his tail. I have another mission. I can't let Lily and Victory stay under EnderWing forces and be tortured. Ferret flared his wings, and swooped out of his district, then went invisible and began the long flight to the capitol. Maybe I can stop by the Districts on the way there...
"Where are we going?" Crossbill asked Ferret, following him.
Ferret stopped, turing around to face Crossbill. "We can't just leave my sister and Victory in the Capitol. If i can rally the Tribes along the way, we can do it."
The rest of the tributes had joined them, hovering in the air.
Nightslasher nudged Ferret, who had begun to fade as his scales changed.
Ferret blinked at Nightslasher. "This was supposed to be an 'invisible assassin saves the day' kind of thing," he sighed, materializing again.
"I rendezvoused with a rebellion patrol, announcing our arrival will be soon. They've cut us a path to get to the abandoned district," Nightslasher announced.
Ferret blinked at Nightslasher. "I have to rescue my sister and Victory," he whispered, looking behind him. "You guys go on ahead. I'll rally up the Mud, Sky, and Ice Districts on the way to the Capitol."
"Shall I accompany you?" Nightslasher asked.
Ferret looked at Nightslasher. "You sure? You seem pretty set on going to the abandoned district." He paused, then added, "Fine, yes, you can come along, but if we see President Snowfall, I'm the one who's going to dig my claws into his throat."
"Alright," he nodded. "Well, you mentioned rallying districts, and I can be a very good motivational speaker sometimes."
"Oh can you now?" he purred, flicking his tail and turning invisible again. "You totally seem like that kind of dragon. " Ferret nodded sarcastically, stuck his invisible toungue out at Nightslasher, then flapped his wings and into the air.
"Whatever you say, buddy," he said, flying after him.
"Frostbreath could come in handy," Blizzard said, and began to follow.
"Can I come?" Teal asked, catching up.
Ferret let out the biggest sigh. "FINE. Let's go like a bunch of MudWings and take over the Capitol. You can come if you want. If you die, it's not my fault." He materialized again, grinning, then dissappeared again. "Like I told Nightslasher here, I'm killing President Snowfall. I'd like to seee his face as a Ferret strangles him to death."
"I'm not even going to ask," said Nova. "I'm coming." She needed to be there, needed to see Victory again. Not knowing was tearing her apart.
== 22: Sea Lily and Victory ==
Meanwhile, Lily was unconscious, sitting in a pool of water up to her underbelly. Her body shuddered and twitched, feeling as if electric eels were swimming through her blood. Just moments before, she was interrogated unsuccessfully, and found out the hard way about not cooperating. The water, which was quite pleasant to stand in before, was painful as electric currents were sent through the water.
In another room, much nicer, with windows looking out and furniture and decorations, an Enderwing was speaking with Victory.
"The former tributes freed the Seawing District," the Enderwing informed her. "That leaves six, still under our control, and Enderwings are being sent to each, on high alert. Nothing else will happen, and this rebellion will end."
Victory bit back the seething remark she wanted to make. "What am I supposed to do about it?"
"We're releasing you," he said, "But your family and the little Seawing stays here. Do anything we don't like and they die. Understand?"
Releasing her? Victory blinked quickly several times. "How will you know if I'm disobeying?"
"We will," he said mysteriously.
== 23: The Tunnel ==
"...we're not going to the Capitol," NIghtslasher informed them. "Not yet, at least."
"So where are we going, then?" Nova asked. "To rally the other districts?"
"We could do that, but first you guys have to get to the old district. That's where the rebellion is."
Ferret heaved a sigh. "We don't need the rebellion, " he argued. "We need the Tribes. All seven of them. "
"I agree with you," Nightslasher said, "we do need the tribes. The rebellion needs the tribes. That's why we need to rally them."
Ferret threw up his wings in exasperation. "We are the rebellion. We are the ones who are going to rally the Tribes. If we split up and tell each Tribe that we can fight for freedom, they will accept."
"...There has been a rebellion. When the old district fell, some dragons came together to create an underground base out of it's ruins. A city, hidden underneath ruins, hiding from the Capitol to protect their Dragonets from the Games. My father was one of those founders. We believe that we have grown strong enough to face the might of the Capitol. That's why we need to get to it, Ferret," Nightslasher explained.
Nova, shocked by this new information, managed to nod. "Are we each going to our own District, then?"
Was she ready to return to the Night District? To see her friends and family? Nova didn't particularly miss them, and they hadn't been heartbroken when she was chosen. It was with the other tributes that she felt she belonged.
"Are you convincing? Are you able to rally your tribe? If so, then we'll go to the Nightwing District first."
Nova? Convincing? Quiet yet careless Nova? Jumping into things without thinking? Convincing? She doubted it. But still... The thought tempted her. Going to the Night District with the tributes. Explaining everything they went through. Hearing cheers, breaking the wall, seeing gazes of admiration. Arenova. The tribute that saved the Nightwings. She shook her head. That would never happen.
"Maybe we should all go together?  It'll be more convincing if we have all 14.. I mean, thirteen tributes with us along with some freed seawings.."  Teal piped up.
"Perhaps. We're gonna need each other if we're gonna pull this off. Now, about the force fields... don't worry about 'em. We have secret tunnels that we always take between districts," Nightslasher grinned.
"Do you think I'm convincing?" Nova asked at last.
"Sure.  If we're all together."  Teal said, circling around the circle of dicussing dragonets.  "One or two alone won't cut it. All will."
Ferret nodded. "Yes, I believe you can be convincing," he said.
Nova smiled and spread her wings. "Well then, what are we waiting for? Where are the tunnels, Nightslasher?"
"The Night District it is! Follow me, I know where the tunnels are," he said, spreading his wings and beginning to fly.
Quickly the others began to follow, soaring through the sky quietly. Finally they landed, and began to walk. Nightslasher looked around, studying their surroundings.
Ferret peered around. All he could see was trees. "Where's your secret tunnel, anyway?"
"You see Ferret, the thing about rebels..." he knocked on a particularly large tree to reveal a hole, heading underground, "is that they love hiding things." Carefully Nightslasher crawled in.
"Well, assuming they're rebels and need to hide their sorry scales, of course they have secret hidden things like tunnels and such," Ferret said sarcastically, lashing his tail and following Nightslasher.
"Aw, hush you. I'm trying to set the mood." He grinned as he reached the underground tunnel. "We don't normally keep it this big, mostly just enough room for one dragon can fit through, to keep the Capitol from finding it."
Quickly the rest of the dragons clambered in, walking down the tunnel, single-file.
Ferret sighed. "What are we doing in these tunnels again? Being squirrels, I'm assuming, because we entered through a tree." He gave Nightslasher a grin. "Got any nuts stored for winter? I could kill for a cashew."
"Nah, we don't store nuts down here. These are mainly used by messengers. We'll take a right up on this divide. That'll take us straight to the Nightwing District."
Ferret rolled his eyes. "What kind of respectable messenger tunnel doesn't have any snacks?"
"I'm with Ferret," Crossbill added, "Where are they, Nightslasher?"
"Come on, Nightslasher!"
Nightslasher rolled his eyes. "You crack me up sometimes, ya big nutcase."
Ferret face-taloned, webs smacking against his snout.
"Let's just get through this tunnel," Nightslasher said, trying to change the subject. "I never really liked these things in the first place. Ah ha! We're almost there! Just around the corner!"
"I swear, if we stay down here too long, I'm going to go nuts," Teal yelled from behind them, her scales shifting color.
"ALRIGHT, ALRIGHT, NO MORE NUT PUNS!" Ferret cried softly, not too loud in case the EnderWings could hear them. "I get it, I'm being punished for making one joke about snacks. Let us move in, fair dragons."
"We're here!" Nightslasher announced proudly, stopping at a hatch labeled 'Night Kingdom' in black paint. He opened it and crawled out, motioning to the others. One by one they left the dark tunnel, stretching their wings. When everyone was above ground, Nightslasher carefully closed the tunnel entrance. "Welcome to the Night District.
"It's so smokey," Teal commented, fanning the air with her wings.
Ferret snorted, looking around. So many of them had never left their own district. Blizzard stared openly. It was so much more different than her home, and so much more... hotter. However, for one, this was where she had grown up.
Home! It was so familiar to Nova, breathing in the scents and seeing all of the other Nightwings. She grinned. "What next? I haven't seen any Enderwings yet, but they're bound to be here, in more numbers than at the Sea."
"We have to move quick. Get to the main village, it's directly east. I have a few things that I need to get from my old house."
Nova nodded, and the two Nightwings led the way, followed closely by the others.
"Here we are," NIghtslasher said at last, creeping through dark streets. He slipped into a house, and was back out a moment later, wearing a robe. "Much better," he sighed.
Ferret rolled his eyes, resisting the urge to smack Nightslasher on the snout. He looked at the surrounding NightWings, who were looking at the Tributes dubiously and warily. He looked around and saw an EnderWing not far from them. Quickly, he pushed the other Tributes out of view. He began to pace in a circle nervously, and the other dragons prepared unconsciously: Blizzard cooling her breath, Teal fading out to invisibility, Nova pressing against the wall.
== 24: Ambush Them! ==
"Hmmmmmm..." Nightslasher studied their surroundings. "Doesn't look good. We'll have to either sneak around them or take em out. What do you think, Ferret?"
Ferret shook his head. "We can't sneak around, with so many not-NightWings." He gestured to the obvious IceWings. "We'll have to take them out strategically."
"I say take them out," Citrine added.
Nightslasher grinned. "Alright. Let's do a bit of math and count the Enderwings. How many?"
Without waiting, Ferret shifted his scales and became invisible, and then flapped into the air. He did a swift count of all of the red dragons, then swooped back down and reported. "About 20 to 30. Looks like this District hasn't been reinforced yet."
"Geez. Alright, we'll separate as many as we can and pick em off. We'll need a distraction. Then, we'll ambush the rest."
“I know what to do,” Teal said, with a mysterious glint in her eye.  Her scales began to shift to crimson reds, with a light pink underside.  “When I’m in the guard’s vision, Someone pretend to attack me.  They’ll think I’m an Enderwing dragonet being attacked, so after that, everyone circle them from behind, and trap them.  After that, we can take them out.”
Nightslasher shook his head. "Good plan, but how will a small group of dragonets take out 20 to 30 fully armed Enderwings at once? We need to separate the group and pick them off one by one."
“Well, true. There are about thirteen of us… Maybe if we pair off, and each pair drags off one dragon, kills them, and returns for another...could that work?  But we need to be really stealthy.  Enderwings might notice their shrinking numbers.  I guess the Skywings can pass as Enderwings...And Me and the Rainwings can shift our scales...Sound good? But if anything goes wrong, we do a head-on attack of circling.”
Ferret materialized, frowning. "There was a group of them in the corner of the District, around seven. What are we going to do about them?"
"Ambush them!" Nightslasher suggested, grinning.
The dragons nodded. "Sounds good to me," Crossbill said.
"Move quickly and stealthily," Nightslasher warned them.
Nova nodded, and slunk into the crowd. She kept her head down, but no one noticed another Nightwing dragonet. She glanced at Ferret, trying to blend in, and nodded to a guard heading into an empty, blocked in street. She hurried into the street and looked casually around. The Enderwing looked at her curiously, keeping his weapon in front of him. He blinked and suddenly twisted around, scrabbling at the dragon on his back. Nova pounced, knocking the spear away as Ferret killed the Enderwing. "One down, many to go."
At the same time, Teal unhinged her jaw and dissappeared.  Seconds later, an Enderwing was suffocating on empty air, and a third fell to the ground, rubbing his eyes as a black, acidy liquid ate away at his eyes and brow.
Crossbill followed her, sneaking up behind guards and dragging them away, quickly killing them.
Blizzard had to be careful and she stayed in the shadows. An Icewing would stick out anywhere here. She saw some Enderwings walking down an alleyway, and did her best to sneak up on them. When she was done, the only thing left was a pile of frozen corpses. She grinned.
Ferret stumbled on an a random piece of cobblestone, and he rolled into a NightWing, who jumped away, startled since he couldn't see anything there. Ferret hissed, then pushed himself to his talons and continued to follow Nova, who had found another set of enemies. She was about to attack when Nightslasher jumped down from a building and onto the two Enderwings, quickly plunging his blades into their necks. "How many left?"
"Around ten. Over there." Ferret pointed to a cluster of them, lashing their tails and having no idea what was happening.
"Attack at once?" Nightslasher asked, speaking now to the dragons who were gathering around.
"Good idea," Citrine said, lashing her tail impatiently. She was ready.
They glanced at each other, and as one the tributes attacked.
Blizzard didn't care about how much she stood out as she ran in, taking care to keep her frostbreath to the enemies.
Ferret and Nightslasher fought back to back, helping each other out. Ferret tripped an EnderWing, slashed at another, then sank his teeth deep into the third ones throat. Blood and flesh filled his mouth, and he leaped backward, spitting and hissing.
Striker put on a burst of speed and knocked an Enderwing off his feet, snapping his neck with one quick movement. Another dragon attacked, and Striker found he was having a little trouble with his talons, so he dropped down and slit his leg with his tail. The dragon fell back, seizing up.
Nova chose an Enderwing and leaped on his back, trying to sink her teeth into the life-giving vein in the neck. All around her, dragons were fighting. The Enderwing knocked her off and roared, turning swiftly to pin her to the ground. Nova struggled and, to her surprise, another Nightwing knocked the dragon off. Soon it was over and he extended a talon. "You're all the tributes."
"Yes."
He grinned. "Good luck."
== 25: Sea Lily ==
Sea Lily was convulsing on the stone floor, tears sliding down her snout. The pain was too much to bear, but she wouldn't break. If she had to die for her brother' plan, so be it. Suddenly, a low rumble echoed through her cell, and she looked up-
-straight into bright, snake-like eyes. She scrambled backwards, hissing with pain. The large EnderWing peered down at her, no emotion coming across his face. Unlike every other EnderWing, he was a pale red color, almost white. President Snowfall, she thought, heart racing. A grim smile spread across his snout. 
"You must be Sea Lily," he said. His voice was smooth, deep and rich and calming. He flicked his long tail. "Your brother and the other pre-Tributes... are causing some havoc among the districts." He flicked his wings now in a twitchy way. "Do you know why?"
"We want freedom," she spat back, wincing at the pain in her tail. "We're not going to be your puppets anymore." I hope that's what they're doing...
President Snowfall leaned back, eyes narrowed. "So, you want freedom." He turned around to face the hall. "Like we wanted peace. We wanted freedom as well. But you dragons proved difficult to control, so we needed to fix that problem." A darker colored EnderWing appeared, something in his talons. Lily was crouched, her back against the far wall, eyes round with fear. President Snowfall slid aside, and the EnderWing approached Lily. 
"Indeed, we fixed the problem, but now, it seems as if we need to fix it again." 
The EnderWing produced a golden seashell necklace that resembled the one that Lily wore often back at home. He clipped it around her neck, and blackness rushed up to greet her. President Snowfall's voice fillled her ears. "You will fix the problem."
== 26: Speaking to the Nightwings ==
Blizzards head snapped up. She had a feeling. Her hunches were usually right but hopefully this one wasn't.. They needed to hurry.
Nightslasher tackled an Enderwing, quickly killing him.
"That's... all of them," he panted. He looked up, and realized that they had an audience. Pretty much the whole village had come to see what the commotion was about. This was his chance.
He spoke up to get their attention. "Fellow Nightwings, for how long have we toiled among the brutality of these monsters?" He pointed to a dead Enderwing guard. "These invaders who took our land and our freedoms from us, who look upon us as if we are nothing? I say too long." He looked to face the entire crowd, and drew a sword. "It's time we take a stand against these tyrants. Join us. Join the revolution!"
"For too long have we knelt in fear! Rise, and stand with us!" Nova shouted, standing next to Nightslasher. "Already many of the Enderwings in this Night Kingdom are dead. If you join us, we can break the walls separating the dragons and reunite Pyrrhia! No one can stop us if we fight claw-in-claw, watching each other's backs instead of stabbing them, like we have been forced to do!" She stretched out her talons at the crowd. It was dead-silent, and all ears were pricked, eyes watchful. "We are the former tributes. But now we are the rebellion leaders, and you can join us."
Nightslasher looked at Nova proudly. She had changed. Then he turned to the crowd. "Who will fight with us?"
One Nightwing stepped forward. "I'll go," he said. Several Nightwings stepped forward along with him. Sooner or later, the whole crowd stepped forward.
Nightslasher looked at all of them and nodded. "Today, we give President Snowfall a piece of our minds."
== 27: In The Capitol ==
Teal clapped her wings, joining the Nightwing applause shortly before trotting off to find something to heal her scratched tail.
"That's the one, right?" she heard a voice say as soon as she was out of earshot from the rest of the crowd. The dragonet froze, turning to see two crimson, unfazed Enderwings .
"Take her," said the larger one. Teal began to shift her scales to match the blast canyon walls before one Enderwing lunged at her, closing her mouth with a silver band. She struggled, then fell unconscious.The EnderWings took Teal to the Capitol, putting her in the same prison that Lily was in. Presidents Snowfall congratulated the EnderWings, then waited outside of Teal's cell, his pale red scales glowing in the torchlight.
...
Lily woke up, blinking. She didn't feel pain. Which was very mega suspicious . She stood up and circle down herself, feeling perfectly fine. Not perfectly fine... She shook herself . Of course she was fine. The cell door was open. Confused, she stepped out and peered down the hallway. It was empty. Slowly, she crept down towards the exit. It can't be this easy. She looked around the corner and saw a large door that opened into the outside world. I'm dreaming. She flared her wings, rushed out the door, and launched into into the air, laughing. She couldn't tell why she was laughing, but it felt good. Little did the free SeaWing know that her "escape" was being watched by bright, unnatural green eyes.
By the beach, something else was happening.
"You must stop the rebellion." The Enderwing spoke quietly, calmly.
"How will I do that?" And what if I don't want to? "What if I can't?" Victory was seated outside, by the sea, but she did not fly away. She was healed and full of energy, but she did not fight.
"You will. There are others who will help you."
"And why should I do this? If I decided I'd rather be dead, you wouldn't be able to stop me."
The dragon considered. At last she spoke. "You desire freedom, but you want freedom for those you love as well. If the rebellion is destroyed by your actions, you and anyone you choose will be given the option to live in the Capitol or to return to the Sky District, just as you would if you were the victor."
That's not freedom. But it was better than death, no matter what she said. 
"We would prefer for you to keep the leaders alive, but as for the others... kill them."
...
Teal screeched and flapped around her cell, jolting up and painfully being snagged down as chains encompassed her wrists. Water splashed on her wings as she moved the full length of the chains, swishing her tail.
"You stupid, slimy snakes!" She screeched, slamming against the walls, jolting the prison.  "If you lay one talon on my friends, you are shark meat." She had woken a few minutes ago, but was fighting, nearly unfazed.
President Snowfall blinked his bright green eyes. "Friends? You're fellow pre-Tributes? You consider you're enemies friends?" He flicked his tail. "Interesting."
Teal paused. "Hmm.. well, The enemy of my enemy is my friend.. so you're my enemy, and the tributes are your enemy, so that makes me and the other tributes friends, yes."
President Snowfall peered at her. "Interesting," he repeated, flicking his tail again. He sat down. "I cannot promise that we will not harm your friends. You've been killing my soldiers efficient enough that I've sent almost all of my army amongst the Districts." He leaned towards her bars. "But, now we have three eyes amongst your friends." A grim smile spread across his face. "You shall be one of the vermin."
Another, darker red EnderWing appeared, something in his talons. The EnderWing approached, entering her cell calmly.
Teal sighed, flashing all her stripes at once, blinding the Enderwings.  Snowfall winced away, covering his snout.  As the flash subsided, Teal was ready. As the soldier catiously approached, she slammed onto him, pinning down his wings.  Her tail begun to suffocate him as she held him under the water.
Striker appeared in one of the windows of the Capitol and began looking in windows for the lost tributes. He had flown from the Night District, leaving the others in order to go faster, and still hadn't been noticed and hoped it stayed that way until he left. He came across the prison and saw Teal, but he stood there aloft, beating his wings softly to see what they were doing.
Thus occupied, an EnderWing came up behind Striker and pinned him to the ground. He dragged the dragonet into the prisons and showed him to President Snowfall. "Another Tribute, sir."
President Snowfall smirked, looking over at Teal. "Another one of your friends?" He scoffed, flicking his tail at the cell next to Teal's. "Stick him in there. Prepare another spy." He pointed to Teal. "Get a muzzle on her. Then bug her." He stood and watched as a metal clamp came down and snapped around Teal's snout.
Teal had been prepared to fight, but she went limp when she saw Striker. Resistance is futile, she thought.
In another cell, a Sandwing/Rainwing heard the commotion. She wondered what was happening, and did her best to pick the lock with her tail. In a moment she was free, and she camoflouged herself, grinning.
President Snowfall opened Teal's cell, and the dark red EnderWing approached Teal, unclasping his talons and revealing a small  diamond. He leaned closer to Teal and painfully put the diamond between her scales on her neck in an unnoticeable spot. He stepped back, nodding. "She's ticked now, sir."
Teal could feel the hate for the Enderwings fading...fading… She felt memories and some of her traits even going.  What are they doing to me? She thought. Her last string of conciousnes slipped away, and her eyes slipped open.
She was Teal. But not the Teal that would fight tooth and talon to rid Pyhrria of the Enderwings, not the one that would volunteer to save two siblings from a horrible choice.  
This dragonet was loyal to the Enderwings from horns to tail tip.  The band circling her mouth was released and the Enderwing guard exited the cell.  She saw President Snowfall and immediately fell into an elegant bow.
President Snowfall nodded, then turned and walked slowly and stopped in from of Striker's cell. He was looking at Teal, confused. "What did you do to her?" 
Snow ignored the dragon and turned back to look at the dragon. "You know what to do, Teal." 
She nodded and exited the cell. Striker had only a moment while he wasn't being watched, but too soon clamps sprang out of the ground, hooking around his legs, tail, and one appeared around his snout as well. 
No! Striker writhed, managing to slip free, just in time. He threw a knife at the nearest Enderwing and leaped out of the cell. A dragon joined him, becoming visible.  
"I'm Cobra," the dragon said, preparing to fight.  
EnderWings flowed in the hallway, hissing. President Snowfall grinned and pounced onto Cobra, holding her down. He was immune to any poison. The other EnderWings pinned down Striker, knocking his knife away and dragging him back into his cell. President Snowfall personally threw Cobra into the next cell, locking it. He smirked. Shackles rose from the floor, this time one extra added for the tails. He made a face at Cobra. "Nice try. We are more advanced than you." He flared his pale red wings.
Striker tried escaping once again, but although he managed to free himself from the chains, he couldn't leave the cell. 
"You are very persistent," President Snowfall growled. "Tarp him." 
Water began to fill the cell. 
Cobra struggled. "We will never give in! No matter what!" 
Snowfall flicked his tail. "Activate the tarp." Suddenly, electric waves were sent through the water, directed to Striker. 
Striker had a split-second decision to make. He jumped, jabbing his knife into the walls, trying to keep himself above the electrified water.  
"More water!" Snowfall called, unworried.  
"No!" Cobra screamed. She desperately banged against the wall, her tail managing to tear the chains free, but not without pain to herself. She breathed fire at the forcefield door, causing it to flicker.  
President Snowfall blasted blue fire into Cobra's face, then shoved forward. "Tarp her as well!" he spat, standing back as the forcefield regenerated. Water began to swamp both of their cells, rising and rising and rising. An EnderWing stood outside each cell, ready to knock the dragons back. 
President Snowfall turned to an EnderWing, just as Citrine was brought in.
"Citrine?" Striker gasped.
"Gather forces and prepare them. Leave five for each cell for now until we get them ticked." He gestured to the cells. He stalked over, his face a mask of no emotion. Citrine was chained to the cell floor, and a clamp had been placed on her snout as well.
Snowfall frowned just a tiny bit. "Give all of them a tarp," he ordered to the walls, which held one EnderWing that controlled the cells. Water flooded more quickly into Striker's and Cobra's cells, and he watched as Cobra spat fire onto the iron bars of her cage. He chuckled softly. "You should know that these forcefields cannot be broken in any way. Otherwise, the Tributes could easily break out of the Games, and we wouldn't want any that, now would we?" 
== 28: Something is Wrong... ==
Back at the Night District, Ferret looked around, brow furrowed. "Teal?" He flapped into the air, seeing NightWings and the other Tributes. Two red EnderWings were flapping away, seemingly carrying something, but Ferret couldn't see what. He frowned, concerned. "Teal?" he cried.
The dragons looked around. Where was Citrine? Teal? And was that Striker, winging away?
Nightslasher tapped Ferret and pointed to two dragons in the distance. "Enderwings. We're being picked off one by one!"
Ferret began to pace, worried.
...
Lily was nearing the NightWing district. She smirked, and her brain filled with thoughts on how to destroy the rebelling Tributes. She knew that she would have Teal and more as backup. She blinked, her wings flapping harder as she thought of President Snowfall. He is our king. He will not be overthrown by measly rebels. I will stop them. For President Snowfall. For the EnderWings. 
...
Teal soared through the sky. She glanced around, and saw the approaching shape of Jade Mountain. She grinned and flew down, pausing for a moment to eat a bit of food she had been given. She thought about Sea Lily, how Teal had saved her from the inevitable... she thought it was out of pity. Teal shook her head. She was loyal to President Snowfall. She began to climb into the sky, heading toward the Nightwing District.
...
Striker was free. He didn't know how, or why. He had been dangerously close to the water when he spotted a cracked brick in the wall. He had torn it out, and done his best to wriggle through. He was flying over the desert as fast as he could, coming up on the mountains. He needed to stop Teal and Sea Lily. It might already be too late.
...
It was many hours later. Nova glanced at Ferret, who was pacing, looking more and more nervous. Where was Teal and Striker? And Citrine? She looked around. The Nightwings were quickly preparing. Soon they would begin to knockdown the wall and- She squinted. What was that? A shape, winging towards them. Wait a moment- "Lily?" Ferret called. He jumped into the sky, followed by Nova. They soared towards the little dragonet.
Ferret roared, almost tackling Lily to the ground. He wrapped her in a fierce hug, crying. "You're okay," he sighed, then blinked and took a step back. "You are okay, right?" He began to inspect his sister worriedly.
Lily shed some tears, but they weren't real. She felt nothing for her brother. He was a danger to President Snowfall. "I'm okay," she replied, adding a shake to her voice. "I escaped from the EnderWings that grabbed me." 
Nightslasher gave Lily a suspicious look, but didn't consult the matter further. Later... he thought to himself. He motioned to Ferret, who gave him a glance, and continued talking with his sister. "Ferret," Nightslasher called.  
Ferret gave his sister another hug and then sighed, trotting over.  
"Sea Lily... does she seem a bit odd to you? Like she's not herself?" 
Ferret turned to look at his sister, who was always looking behind her back. "Maybe it's because she  was taken. She's only six." He frowned, concerned. "You don't even know her... But I trust you. I'll keep an eye on her."   
"Wait!" Striker landed quickly, panting. "Ferret, Sea Lily-"  
Hidden, Teal spiraled down fom the sky. Part of her was loyal to see them. Who am I loyal to? Teal thought, shaking her head, and suddenly Enderwings crushed her thoughts. She blinked. There was Sea Lily. Teal crept up behind Ferret.  
"Miss me?" She asked, a hint of hate in her voice as she shimmered into view.   
Ferret jumped, looking at the two. "Where have you all been?" he demanded, backing away to stand closer to Nightslasher. Something isn't right here.  
"Where's Citrine?" Nova asked, warily watching them. And Victory? She had so many questions to ask, but... Something was wrong. This wasn't making sense.  
Lily stepped closer to her brother as Teal began to speak. "They couldn't make it out in time. I escaped a little after Lily did, actually. We need to go back to the Capitol and save them. The Sand District can wait."  
"They have Citrine!" Lily cried. "She could be tortured, like I was!"  
Ferret looked at his sister in horror.   
Striker watched them warily. How can I save everyone from them? "Lily, do you remember how they tortured you?"  
Teal evaded the question, speaking quickly as Lily ignored Striker. "Well Lily, let's go slow. We want to get revenge on the Enderwings, of course, but we need to start small." She paused. "We should each split into groups of two, and go free our tribes! We can cover more ground like that," she reasoned.   
Nova shrugged. "Two dragons won't be able to fight off hordes of Enderwings."  
Teal shifted. That was exactly what she wanted. "They will go unnoticed, though. And they could rally the tribes on the way."  
Nightslasher glanced at Striker, who nodded. "Lily, what do you remember of the chamber? How they tortured you?" He asked again, more forcefully. "Do you still want to kill all the Enderwings?"  
Lily shuddered. "The EnderWings are horrible," she said, shivering. Not at all. "They electrocuted me and they have Citrine, and I would gladly, will gladly, kill all of them with you." I wouldn't touch a scale on President Snowfall's soldiers, she thought, trying not to smirk.
Nightslasher frowned, and Blizzard stepped closer to the dragons. "Do you believe her?" She whispered, taking care to not let Lily or Teal hear. "Honestly, I don't."  
"What really happened?" Striker asked slowly.   
Lily blinked. "Well, they tortured me," she replied. "They placed me in water and electrocuted me. I wouldn't tell them anything." She shuddered. "They... they had me unshackled. To take me to the interrogation room. Thats when I escaped. I wounded the guards that had me and fled. " 
It was obvious to everyone that she was lying, everyone except Ferret, who had faith in his sister. He wrapped her in his wings. "You're okay, now." He just hoped that was true.  
== 29: Citrine is Released ==
President Snowfall watched Citrine struggle. An Enderwing cautiously approached, but he ticked her effortlessly. The chains were released from the Sandwing, and Citrine regarded her captors with a blank stare. Snowfall stepped back to allow her to walk past. "Join the others," he commanded.
"No!" Cobra shouted, attempting to melt the chains. She whacked the wall, hard enough to bruise... And to release herself. She looked around, trying not to panic, and noticed a crack in the ceiling, just barely noticeable. She pushed against the wall again, slamming it with her tail, trying desperately to widen the crack.
"Tarp her," President Snowfall hissed, and electric shock waves were sent through the water, electricuting Cobra. She howled in pain. Slowly, ever so slowly, the water began to drain out of the cell, and guards entered to completely chain her down, clamping her snout, wings, tail, and talons together. They slammed her against the wall, and she suffered in mute agony.
Citrine watched without feeling and bowed to President Snowfall. "As you wish, President," she said, and flapped off, to Cobra's horror.
== 30: Flying ==
Citrine flew quickly, beating her wings despite the pain, and neared the group of dragons soon. She could see them arguing, and landed behind them.
"Citrine!" Lily jumped, surprised. "You're okay! How did you escape?"
Ferret blinked, suddenly suspicious. Teal, and Ferret, and Citrine, and Striker, all free? Surely the Enderwings weren't that stupid!
"Same way you did, I imagine," Citrine said nervously.
Striker rolled his eyes. "You must see it now, Ferret! So what are we going to do?"
"Rally the other districts," Ferret said, lashing his tail. He didn't know what was wrong, but he was going to stick to the original plan. "We need them. And we need to stick together."
Nightslasher listened intently, and pulled his suspicions back from the front of his mind, although still holding onto them. This was more important. "We need to fortify the village. Whip these Nightwings into shape, so when an Enderwing invasion comes, we'll be ready."
"Sounds good to me," Striker said, spreading his wings.
"Agreed," Citrine said.
"Let's get to it," Crossbill replied, eyeing the escaped dragons warily.
Lily gave Teal and Citrine a meaningful look before preparing to follow the others. We'll find a way to split these dragons up. They all have weaknesses...
Nightslasher worked to get up into the sky. We have traitors in our group, I can feel it. only problem is, who? Lily seems likely.
How can I convince these dragons without hurting the others? Striker asked himself, immersed in his own thoughts and plans.
Do I try to get the others alone? Or would that be too obvious? And what is this pain in my neck? Citrine was having a very hard time deciding.
Ferret turned to look at his friends, who seemed to be focusing on their thoughts. He sighed, flapping higher into the sky. He swooped over to Nightslasher and said, "Where do we go next?"
"I'd like to get to rebellion headquarters, but somehow I feel like bringing everyone would be a mistake. Perhaps just you and I should go."
Ferret nodded. "I think that would be wise, if it was just us."
The dragons labored to fly, and Blizzard peered at Teal, Lily, and Citrine. Was it weird they all escaped at the same time? And they were acting different. Then she noticed a small diamond in their necks. That wasn't there before, she thought, but didn't dwell on it as her breath began to come in gasps.
Teal, Sea Lily, and Citrine were flying in a group. Teal turned and whispered into Citrine’s ear.  “Congrats on being ticked.. Where should we send this sorry band now? Sand District? The Mudwings? We can issue a request for Snow to move the concentration of Enderwing guards to a certain district, and then lure them in.”  She quickly repeated the message to Lily as Citrine thought.
Lily didn't answer, and flapped to catch up to Ferret, looking over her shoulder in fake wariness.
Teal watched for a moment, before heading to join them. "Where to next? I think the Nightwings can handle themselves."
Ferret nodded. "We rallied them. I think we need to split up. Me and Nightslasher are going to the RainWings, while you guys go to the other Districts leading to the Capitol."
“Me too!” Offered Teal.  “I actually lived there.  I know how to get to rainwings, and plus they would most likely listen to me than three non-rainwings.“
"No," Nightslasher interrupted, "I think it will just be Ferret and I."
Teal frowned. "Okay, I guess that could work." She looked back at the others and began to fly in the other direction. "Let's go everyone!"
Lily gave the two a concerned look. "Should we be splitting up?"
Ferret nudged her with his snout. "Just be careful," he whispered, giving her a swift hug and winging away after Nightslasher.
Sea Lily clenched her claws, then followed Teal.
"We're not going to the Rainwing District," Nightslasher said as soon as they were out of earshot.
"No, of course not," Ferret replied, and dove down to the trees.
Striker watched them go, flying behind the group. He quickly made a split-second decision, and turned to follow them. By the time Lily turned around again, he was gone.
Teal turned to Lily.  “You take care of the group. Lure them straight to Enderwing talons.” After a short nod from the dragonet, Teal turned invisible and followed the suspected direction she thought Ferret and Nightslasher went.
Lily growled under her breath. President Snowfall, hopefully, had sent an army to the Sand District. She winged away after the group, twisting and spreading her wings in the sky, feeling free. She caught up to Blizzard and said, "Where's our next stop?" She looked around warily. "I'm afraid that the EnderWings are going to come for us." Coming for you, rebels, she thought dangerously.
== 31: In the Forest ==
Teal flew a few neck-lengths above the two dragons, hung onto a canyon rock and turned her head to see Nightslasher and Ferret coming from under an arch.
Ferret nodded, looking behind his shoulder. Something was making his scales crawl. "I feel like we're being watched," he whispered uneasily, tempted to go invisible. "Should we actually go to the RainWings?"
"No. We already decided." Teal smiled, unsurprised.
Striker raced behind them, trying to keep silent. He wondered what Lily would think when he noticed she was gone.
Teal accidentally nudged a loose rock, and it went tumbling down to clatter against a tree.
Ferret spun in a circle in the air, almost whacking Nightslasher in the face with his tail. He narrowed his eyes, heart racing. Did someone follow us?
"There's a ravine up ahead," Nightslasher whispered. "Dive into it. Trust me, just dive and do not stop."
Ferret hesitated, then tilted his wings and followed Nightslasher, wind whooshing around him. Next thing he knew, he was in a tunnel just behind Nightslasher. Striker, unnoticed, watched them go, but decided to stay where he was for the time being.
"Forest brush covers our entrance," Nightslasher said. "Nobody can tell where we went."
Teal nearly panicked when she lost track of them, and flew around anxiously, poking her snout into every hole. They were nowhere. Angrily, she spat venom at a plant. It began to wilt, revealing... Revealing a secret tunnel.
Invisible, she followed as the tunnel twisted and turned, before coming up above ground.
Suddenly, Ferret found himself knocked over. Beside him, Nightslasher was thrashing around. Teal shimmered into view, fangs aimed at the hybrid. "One move, he's dead in three minutes," she warned.
Ferret stiffened, glaring up at Teal. "You snake," he spat, tense. "They brainwashed you. You don't have to do this, Teal." He looked over at Nightslahser, lashing his tail slightly. In the corner of his eye, he spotted white. Blizzard! He quickly changed his scales to a bright color, hoping that Teal wouldn't discover Blizzard, flying in the sky. Hopefully she could see him, would know that they needed help.
She did. I'm coming! Don't die, please don't die! We can't do this without you, Ferret!
Teal hissed and let go of Nightslasher, slamming her talons into Ferret's jaws. "An Enderwing troop is coming for you. They'll teach you some proper respect!"
Suddenly, she twisted around to see Striker on her back, fighting angrily. Her eyes widened. How had he found them- No matter. She twisted her neck, sinking fangs into his chest. One move and you're dead!
Striker froze. He had one chance to do this. Moving quickly, hopefully too quickly for her, he gripped Teal's snout and pushed her away, clamping it shut.
Angrily, she began to twine her tail around his neck.
"No!" Ferret gasped. Nightslasher lay on the forest floor, and Ferret wasn't close enough. He watched in horror as Striker, left with no choice, stabbed Teal's side with his tail barb. She went limp as the venom began to course through her veins. "Striker!"
"Don't worry," he said. "It won't kill her. I hope. I'm half Nightwing, so the venom should only paralyze."
Teal narrowed her eyes at the four. Nightslasher had risen, and was looking at her with contempt.
Striker rolled her over. The poison would wear off soon. His own wounds would have to wait. Quickly, he found a small diamond embedded between two scales. Teal probably wouldn't feel any pain, but even if she did, she deserved it. He pincered his claws around the small object and slowly pulled it out. Then, with a quick tug, it was free.
Wait- Teal could feel herself returning. Who am I loyal to? The Ender- No! I'm loyal to the Seawings! To my friends! And we're going to free Pyrrhia from the tyrants!
She felt the poison wearing off, and jerked up. "You have to go!" She yelled at the four. "Lily and Citrine are ticked, like I was! Don't trust them. "  She sighed, so little to say in so little time.  "Don't belive me when I come back...dont believe me after now! I'll face the Enderwings, and they might kill me.  But the three of you need to go! Save Lily and Citrine, and Victory too! Hurry!" She could hear wingbeats in the distance.
Striker looked down at the blood streaming from his chest. How could he patch these up in time?
Too late to help, Blizzard dove to the ground. "Teal!" She studied the dragons. Striker was bleeding, and NIghtslasher looked dizzy. "Are you all okay?"
Category:Fanfictions (Incomplete)
Category:Collaborations
Category:Fanfictions
Category:Fanfictions (Fanon)