The Other Side of the Battlefield

The Other Side of the Battlefield
A WoF fanfic by Fennecthesandwing21.
This fanfic follows three Mudwing troops through a Mudwing civil war. I hope you enjoy it, and if you have any tips or anything else to say about it, please leave a comment!
==Info==
A civil war is being fought between the Mudwings, with two sides: one fighting for Queen Swan, and the other for Princess Lily, her younger sister who is attempting to take the throne. Lily is an usual MudWing, who was often jealous of her sisters big wings abilities. More information on her will be revealed soon!
Mudwing sibling groups are called troops, like in the Sandwing Succession War, and each troop is named after the leader, or bigwings.
Additional character info at this link.
==The 'protagonist' troops==
Otter Troop:
Bigwings: Otter-f-fireproof
Second eldest: Cormorant-f 
Third eldest: Beaver-m 
Fourth eldest: Grebe-m 
Fifth eldest: Coot-m 
Youngest: Egret-f
(Allied to neither side)
Rush Troop:
Bigwings: Rush-m 
Second eldest: Bank-f
Third eldest: Heath-m 
Fourth eldest: Warbler-f 
Youngest: Pippet-f
(Allied to Queen Swan)
Mushroom Troop:
Bigwings: Mushroom-f 
Second eldest: Squelch-m 
Third eldest: Tadpole-m 
Fourth eldest: Sienna-f
Fifth eldest: Frog-m
Youngest: Moss-f-animus
(Allied to Princess Lily)
Additional character info at this link.
==Prologue==
A pale tan Mudwing crept through the shady halls of the palace, her bright green eyes flicking from side to side warily. Her muscles were tensed and her heart was racing, despite telling herself over and over again that this was rightfully her palace, and that she was only making right a great wrong that had been done.
Footsteps echoed down a corridor nearby, and her breath stopped as a light coco dragon made his way towards her. At last he came into full view and she breathed a sigh of relief.
"Taupe..." She began to greet him quietly. His solemn gaze silenced her and his dark golden eyes met hers. 
Her relief faded as she recognised the weary sadness creasing his face.
" They're gone. " he murmured slowly, bowing his head in sadness.
"No.... They.... They can't be gone. No! Taupe!" Her voice rose to a quiet wail, and the other Mudwing reached out a wing to comfort her, but she pushed it away in distress.
" What happened to them? " she whispered, wide green eyes staring desperately up at him.
"I don't know... Brunette was guarding them, but... I went to check up on them and..." His voice shook and tears formed in his eyes. " she was unconscious, knocked out cold on the floor. And they were gone. "
The tan female lowered her head to the ground in sorrow. "I should have known.... She has spies everywhere.... Of course she knew what I was planning! And she sent someone to destroy them...." She hissed in a grief filled voice.
" No, Lily, no. There was no eggshell, no blood, no dead dragonets. I.... I think they're still alive. At least, they weren't destroyed in the hatchery. And I guess we just have to hold onto that hope... " Taupe's voice faltered slightly, but the female looked up with hope.
"Then I might find them some day? There was a blood egg... A fireproof dragonet. I can find them, when all of this is over. I suppose at least they won't get hurt by it all... They will be safe." Lily took a deep breath and a tiny smile crept across her face. 
Taupe nodded.
"Please, assure Brunette that everything is ok... Make sure she is treated for any injuries. Now I must fulfill my task..."
He stared at her, wide eyed for a moment. "You're going to do it, aren't you? I was a fool thinking I could stop you. Just.... Be careful." He murmured, then turned quickly with his head bowed low and made his way back down the silent corridors.
Lily stood in silence for a minute, listening to her breathing and the gentle swish of the reeds outside the palace. This was her home, her kingdom. But it had been stolen, and it was time to fix that.
==Chapter 1==
Otter gazed out at the peaceful mud flats, fiery orange in the light of dawn. A bird cooed softly somewhere within the bundles of reeds and a fish flicked its tail out of the stream running past.
The air felt fresh and comforting, the mist soothing her scales and the sound of her sleeping siblings' breathing reassuring her that everything was alright.
A frog croaked nearby and Otter slipped out of the reed-bed she and her siblings had slept in for the night. 
She sensed the gaze of one of her sibs on her back, and she turned her head to see Coot watching her.
"Where are you going? Can I come?" He asked curiously in his eager , slightly high pitched voice. 
"Hunting. Fancy a salmon today? " Otter stretched out a wing and wrapped it gently around him, leading him out of the clump of reeds and onto the marsh.
"Salmon!" He cried in delight, bouncing up and down slightly.
Otter laughed and smiled at him warmly.
She relished his soft, warm scales against her smooth, damp ones, pulling him closer and giving him a little hug before they set off across the plain.
Coot soon spotted a lithe, pale pink fish slithering through the water, and raised a wing quietly to signal to Otter.
She hovered above the shape for a moment, pinpointing it, then pounced on it, grasping it in her front talons and gliding back up into the sky gracefully. A second fish bolted from her, and swam straight into the talons of Coot. He grinned at Otter, and she grinned back, gazing down at him as though he were the most perfect thing in the world.
"The others will be hungry. We should take these back, and maybe catch some more after that, so we can have a whole feast of fish!" Otter said happily, swooping down to Coot and gliding back to the reeds as he took off and followed.
She landed on the mud in front of the others, making a soft squelch as she put down the fish. Coot landed beside her and put the other on top.  The reeds rustled and a bulky copper Mudwing came out.
"Beaver, Beaver, I caught a fish!" Coot cried happily, showing his older brother the salmon.
" Well done! " Beaver grinned at Coot. He looked up at Otter and smiled more softly. "Should I wake the others?" He asked .
"Later. I think they should all have some rest for now. I'm planning to travel to the crocodile swamps today. A crocodile would make a great meal, and you all need feeding up. For now I think we should hunt a bit more, find enough food to give us energy. " Otter told Beaver. 
"Alright! I'll try to find something. Coot, wanna come?" Beaver flapped his wings and took off, with Coot close behind him.
Otter watched them to with a smile on her face. She turned back to her other siblings, who were still sleeping after sitting round a campfire snacking on toasted eel the night before. They all looked healthy and happy, despite being slightly on the thin side.
She breathed a sigh of contentment, and began to scoop mud onto her scales, covering her wings, back, legs, and head. 
"Need any help with that?" A sort voice came from behind her and Otter twisted her head around  to greet her sister. 
"Cormorant, you're awake. And yes, I would be grateful for some help..." Otter scooped up some more mud as Cormorant came over to her and began to gently rub mud into the scales Otter couldn't reach herself.
Otter had been hatched from a blood egg, meaning she had fireproof scales. Since they were tiny dragonets surviving on their own, she had used her power to protect her brothers and sisters from any other Mudwings that was them as a possible threat and tried to attack them. Rubbing mud into her scales strengthened her power, so it had become almost a ritual for Cormorant and the others to help cover Otter with mud every morning. 
"Where are Beaver and Coot?" Cormorant asked as she finished smoothing down the final lump of mud.
Otter stretched her muscles and let them soak up the calming moisture of the thick, oozing mud. "Hunting. I went out with Coot earlier and we caught some fish. Hopefully they'll be able to catch something else as well, then we can have a proper breakfast before travelling. I was thinking we could go to the crocodile swamps, and stay there for a few days. There are good meals to be found there. " 
"Making clever plans as usual, huh?" Cormorant laughed. Her dark blue-green eyes sparkled in the growing sunlight.
"All night." Otter laughed back.
Cormorant made a small disapproving noise. " You need sleep too, you know. You can't just let us lounge around till noon while you don't sleep at all! What use is a bigwings who's fainted from exhaustion? " Otter's sister raised an eyebrow knowingly.
"Alright, alright, I'll sleep tonight. If my head isn't too stuffed with ideas to shut down." Otter laughed.
Coot and Beaver splashed down next to them with some eels and a large toad. A tiny Mudwing with scales so pale they were almost white and dark chestnut eyes appeared from the rushes.
"Breakfast! Great! I'm starving!" Her eyes out up and she bounded over to them, brushing her wings against Otter's as she went.
" Egret, is Grebe awake? He won't want to miss this. " Beaver asked the pale mudwing.
"Oh, he's still asleep. When isn't he asleep?" Egret joked, then picked up an eel. " Can I eat this? Or did you want to wait for Grebe?" She asked the others as she lifted it to her mouth.
"Its ok, eat it. I'll go wake him up." Cormorant stroked Egret's back with her tail and made her way bac! to the clump of reeds in which her brother was sleeping. 
Egret bit off the eel's head and began to munch it happily. Beager and Coot took their share of the fish, and Otter ripped her wings in the stream running through the reeds, washing off any mud that wasn't properly rubbed into her scales before it dried.
She settled down beside Beaver and sliced a salmon in half as Cormorant remained them, with a weary looking Grebe trailing behind.
Grebe yawned and rubbed his eyes, looking up at them all blearily. "Food? Why didn't you wake me before?!" He cried, spearing the other half of Otter's salmon on his claw and taking a large bite out of it. 
"We would of, if you hadn't been so deep in sleep! And I'm pretty sure we wouldn't have woken that early if it weren't for your insufferable snoring!" Egret giggled and flicked Grebe lightly with her tail.
" I do not snore! " Grebe chuckled indignantly, then stuffed some more fish into his mouth.
Otter watched her siblings lovingly as she ate her own breakfast, much more neatly than some of the others. "Everyone eat up! I hope you're feeling energetic today, because I was planning to travel to the crocodile swamps!"
Grebe looked up at her with wide eyes. "You can catch and eat whole crocodiles there, can't you? " His face lit up with excitement.
"Yup!" Beaver has finished eating and was twitching his tail and stretching out his wing muscles as he waited. " We'll be eating like Queens when we get there! "
Soon, they had all finished eating, and they packed up their things - a few knives, a crocodile skin water pouch each, a rough blanket for winter, and a few scrolls - before taking off into the pale, cloudy sky.
==Chapter 2==
Rush stretched out and yawned, rolling over sleepily. A sharp pain in his side jolted him awake, and he winced as he looked down at a long scar reading across his scales. He carefully sat up and looked to the entrance of the tent, where the silhouette of a dragon was just visible in the faint light of dawn.
"Pippet..." Rheh sighed. He knew he couldn't do anything to help his sister.
Category:Literature
Category:Wings of Fire
Category:Fanfictions
Category:Fanfictions (Unfinished)
Category:Fanfictions (Semi-Canon)
Category:Fiction
Category:Semi-cannon
Category:Fennecthesandwing21‘s Things