Queen of Thieves

Ok, so remember in the DoD, Thorn said something about a SandWing who grew up in a city much like the Scorpion Den, who became queen basically by accident. This is her story.)
== Prologue ==
Seven years ago . . . 
The moons shone brightly in the sky, illuminating the lone egg sitting on the sand. Partially hidden by the dunes, the grayish-yellow egg was mostly camouflaged. To any other dragon, the egg would have been invisible. To any other dragon, the egg would have sat there for all eternity. 
But Sunset wasn't just any dragon. As she walked along the sand dune, breathing in the warm desert air, her tail dragged behind her, the black barb creating a trail in her wake. Her wings were folded back neatly, her NightWing spikes practically glowing in the moonlight. She looked around with her dark gray eyes, a smile on her face. 
The desert was just so beautiful at night. She quickly turned in a circle, digging a small hole in the sand dune, then laid down, curling her tail in. After a moment of shivering, she stood up again. Sunset looked at the sand with a frown. Much too cold. She thought, her talons clicking. Instantly, she opened her mouth and a jet of flame shot out of it, flickering in the sand for a moment before dispersing. Sunset laid down on the sand, an involuntary sigh escaping her lips as the warmth filled her body. 
She propped her face up onto her talons, looking at the two full moons reverently. They will never allow me back. They no longer trust us hybrids. Well, I can't really blame them. Where should I go to? She sighed, glancing up at the moon. Oh Mother, tell me what to do . . . 
She sighed again, flicking her barbed tail angrily. I can't return to the Night Kingdom, not that anyone would be there. I can't go to the Sand Palace, after what I did, they would never trust me. And the NightWing's didn't tell me where their new home was going to be. She traced her claw through the sand. Sunset looked up at the sky, but as her gaze trailed upward, it caught on something. 
An egg. Sunset tilted her head. What was an egg doing out alone in the middle of the night. She got up from her little sand nest, trodding over to it nervously. 
Was it a trick? Could Queen Scorpion be setting a trap for any NightWing's or IceWings who still wanted to fight, even though the cease-fire had just been issued officially. When she took another step towards it, and she didn't explode, Sunset took another step, then another, until she was right next to the little egg. Sunset looked at it curiously. 
The egg was a dark gray color, with little spots of yellow and black on it. She leaned closer. It also looked very close to hatching. Who would leave some poor, nearly hatched egg alone on the sand. She looked nervously around, one talon on the egg. There was no sign of civilization anywhere, not even a glimmer of light. 
Every bone, scale and muscle in Sunset's body was telling her to leave the egg. Surely it was a trick. Surely the parents would come looking for it. Surely Sunset would get nothing but trouble if she took the egg. 
But looking around at the empty desert sands beyond, Sunset knew this wasn't the case. Whoever left the egg here, they were never coming back. This dragonet, if Sunset left it here, would grow up alone. They would never know the loving touch of a mother, or the fierce protectiveness of a father. 
But if Sunset had any power over her talons right now, she would make sure that this dragonet would never have to be alone. Instantly, she scooped up the egg, hiding it under layers of black cloak she was wearing. Sunset glanced furtively around, ready to run if it really was a trick. But nothing happened. A wave of sand blew over the dune where she was standing, but the desert was silent. 
Taking a deep breath, Sunset began to walk. She had no idea what direction she was going, or where she would end up. All she knew is that she needed to get to civilization. She had a dragonet now. She couldn't be the lone hermit, the wanderer of Pyrrhia. 
After hours of walking, when Sunset's talons were just starting to go numb, she spotted it. Lights. Flickering, golden, fiery lights. Sunset had never been so happy to see dragons in her life. She began to run, her talons taking her at lightning speed towards where the lights were. But just as she was about to come over a dune to enter the city, her talons halted. Dragons, about twenty SandWings were patrolling the outer walls. Even in the faint light, she could see their black armor glinting like onyx as they marched back and forth. 
Warriors. She thought with a shudder. The queen's personal army. She gulped, looking nervously around. Queen Scorpion had decreed that all NightWing's found in the Sand Kingdom would be taken into custody. Sunset looked down at her black claws. Could she get past the Warriors without being noticed? 
Sunset backed up slowly. Maybe she didn't need to go to that city. Maybe there was another one around. As she backed up, the smooth eggshell hit her underbelly, reminding her of why she was risking this. No! She thought angrily. I need to take this risk. For her. Her! Instantly, Sunset knew it was a girl. She smiled. She had always wanted a dragonet, but never found the right mate. Sunset straightened her shoulder, folding the cloak around her head, and marched over the dune. 
The guards at the wall only gave her a suspicious look, but thankfully didn't stop her. She sighed a breath of relief the moment she was out of earshot from the guards. And so begins my new life. She smiled, watching the dragons milling around, though it was still the middle of the night. I'm ready for it. 
I'm ready for anything. 
== Chapter One ==
Thistle walked through the crowded streets of the city, looking calm. Any dragon who passed her would just see her as a dragonet looking to shop. If they noticed her at all. The streets were so crowded with dragons selling, dragons buying, dragons eyeing other dragons with suspicious looks that it was likely no one would even see the young dragonet weaving her way through the market. 
Thistle delicately stepped over a mountain of rugs, nodding politely at the dragon selling them. Thistle passed under a canopy of bright colored silk, stopping for a moment to rest from the blazing sun. She stirred the sand under her claws, feeling the bright burn of the blazing light on her back, but she tried to shrug it off. 
Right now, she had more important things to worry about. Thistle reached down to her right wrist, tugging one of the silver bracelets on it to a more comfortable position, wishing she could do the same to the other six. She shook her head. Come on Thistle. She thought with an internal growl. Roadrunner is counting on you. You're the only one who can do this. She took a deep breath, and then stepped back into the sunlight, listening to the sounds of dragons calling out to her. There were many Warriors around here at this time. 
It seemed that their numbers had practically doubled since the end of the war seven years earlier. Was it safe to come back here anymore? Did Roadrunner really want to risk it? 
Who am I kidding? She laughed at herself. Roadrunner would run straight into a compound of Warriors to feed his sisters. She spotted the glint of his blackish eyes watching her from the shadows, and then his dark orange tail flicked out of the darkness to point to a small shop, in a crowded part of the market. From the looks of it, the shop sold jewelry. Thistle casually meet Roadrunner's eyes, then gave a tiny nod, beginning to weave her way through the crowd.
Thistle stepped up to the shop-owner, smiling disarmingly. The owner narrowed her heavily make-upped eyes, tapping her black claws impatiently. 
"Yes?" She oozed in a voice that immediately made Thistle think of scorpion's slithering along her spine. Thistle smiled wider, trying to look like she did this every day. Which . . . wasn't entirely a lie.
"Um . . ." Her voice sounded high. Thistle tried to command her voice to sound natural. "How much for the imitation Lapis Lazuli. The shop-owner twitched, and she casually glanced over at Thistle's talons. Feeling like she was about to blow it, Thistle casually reached over with her left talon, covering up the silver bracelets that marked her as a criminal. One for each trial. Thistle had seven. The shop-owner's face barely moved as she finally slithered,
"For a little street urchin like you, far too much." Thistle twitched as she saw a flicker of movement at the back of the shop. A light, sandy orange talon slowly pushed its way through the curtain, groping around. 
"Well, you haven't-" Thistle winced as the talon collided with a small pot, sending the top clattering. Thistle raised her voice slightly louder to cover it up. "You haven't seen how much I have." 
"Well, let me see it then." Finally, the talon found what it was looking for, a dark purple and black jeweled headdress. Thistle decided that Roadrunner was probably going to take that, so she needed to go. 
"Oh dear." Thistle said, reaching into her bag with a fake horrified look. "I forgot my coins at home, silly me." Thistle realized her mistake too late. The headdress had gotten caught on a rock as Roadrunner had tried to pull it out, and now it was stuck. And the shop-owner would turn around and see him at any moment. 
"Well, good day." The shop-owner said, twitching her black jeweled cloak around herself. 
"But-" Thistle said desperately, trying to think of something to say fast. Roadrunner was now yanking on it hard, but it wouldn't budge.
"I said good day." The shop owner snarled. She turned around just as Roadrunner's talon and the headdress disappeared. Thistle slipped away just as the shop-owner yelled. "STOP THIEF!" The nearest Warrior's head snapped up, looking towards the shop-owner. Just as they were grabbing their spears, Roadrunner darted out from behind the shop. Roadrunner automatically zoomed past Thistle, dropping the headdress at her feet. With a quick glance around, Thistle quickly grabbed the headdress with her back feet, maneuvering it to her gray camel hair bag. She quickly opened the flap and placed it in, watching the Warrior's chase after Roadrunner. 
It was the same every week. He would run. But there was a reason he called himself Roadrunner. That wasn't his given name. Most dragons knew that, but he was so fast, they just ended up calling him Roadrunner. He liked it so much, that became his name. No-one could catch him unless he let them.
Thistle quickly walked through the crowded market, intending to put as much space as she could between her and the Warriors. Slowly, ever so slowly, the amount of dragons began to disperse, until they were few and far between. Thistle let out a breath she hadn't known she was holding. 
Suddenly, a dragon dropped down from the top of a sandstone house right in front of her. 
"What are you doing?" He snarled. Thistle jumped back, raising her tail threatening, before the dragon's stern face broke and she recognized him. 
"Hey!" She shoved Roadrunner's shoulder. "Don't do that!" 
"Did you get it?" He asked with a smile, his dark blackish blue eyes twinkling. 
"Yes." Thistle pulled out the headdress from her bag, giving it to Roadrunner's outstretched talons. "I still think you should have gone for the necklace." The pair started to walk towards the edge of the city. The farther and father they got away from the city center, the Bazaar, the less Warriors there were, so their voices grew from hushed whispers to normal talking. Roadrunner rolled his eyes, shaking his head with a grin. 
"You just stick to your job, ok?" Thistle shot him an annoyed look. 
"Why can't I be the thief for once. I don't like talking to the shop owners. Plus, you have less . . . er . . . bracelets then me." Thistle glanced nervously around at the few SandWings still crowding the streets. She looked down at Roadrunner's talons, where only two silver bracelets glittered. 
"Yes, but you are smoother with your words." Roadrunner pointed out. "How do you think you got out of going to prison during those . . . is it now seven trials?" 
"Camel fur." Thistle waved his words off. "I got out of going to prison because I didn't do anything wrong." Roadrunner raised a single eyebrow. 
"Uh huh. And I'm Princess Hatiora." His face can't stand being serious though, and soon he is smiling again. The two thieves passed a pair of shady-looking SandWings, and he poked Thistle's shoulder. 
"Plus!" He yelped. "I'm really fast in case something went wrong like it did today. If they caught you . . . there wouldn't be a eighth trial." Thistle sighed.
"All right all right, I get the picture." Roadrunner must have seen something on her face, because he quickly added.
"Besides, your job is very important. Without the distraction, the shopkeeper would see me a lot more often." Thistle sighed, kicking a rock into the nearby shadows.
"I just wish I could do more." 
"Look I-" Thistle put her talon around his snout, yanking him suddenly into the shadows of an old tavern. And not a moment too soon. Three Warriors stalked past, their wings buzzing alertly, their spears readied. After they had passed, Thistle released her claws from Roadrunner's snout. 
"Can't we leave the city in a more . . . legal way?" She asked with a frown. 
"Well we could always go out the front way, but this way is less likely to get us . . . arrested. The front gate is always swarming with Warriors." Roadrunner tilted his head, suddenly smiling slyly. "Plus, it's more fun!!" Thistle rolled her eyes. 
"Ok, let's just go." She stuck her head out of the darkness, looking around, but the street seemed to be deserted. She slipped silently out of the shadow, and began to fly over the wall, watching the cracked sandstone move silently below her. Finally, Thistle's head popped above the tall wall. She let out a small sigh, grateful to be back in the fresh air. 
"Halt!" A voice suddenly said commandingly.
== Chapter Two ==
Thistle nearly shrieked and fell off the wall, before the noticed the dragon who had given the order standing above her, tail hanging down, his face on his talons casually. 
"ROADRUNNER." She shouted, then lowered her voice nervously. "What in the moon's is wrong with you!" Roadrunner let out a little chuckle, his grin so wide it looked like his face would split right in half. 
"That is a long story." He tapped her skull. "Come on, let's move before the night patrols start." Thistle rolled her eyes, but folded her wings in close, trying to make herself as small and flat along the wall as she could. Her scales were a brighter yellow than the darkness of the wall, so if she stayed like this too long, someone was bound to spot her. Thistle took a deep breath, sneaking a look to her left. She spotted the guardhouse on the wall, one or two guards constantly flying back and forth from the tower, hopping lightly over the overflowing lamp shop. Once the guards had turned away to yell at each other, Thistle quickly vaulted the wall, plummeting over the side. 
Instantly, she dug her talons into the sand, trying to bury her dark gray wings, waiting for any kind of sign that she had been spotted. Nothing. Only the sound of Roadrunner landing beside her sliced through the still evening air. Half buried in sand, Thistle began moving towards where she knew the Oasis was, Roadrunner standing up and skipping in front of her. Thistle‘s tail whipped around and smacked Roadrunner’s legs out from under him, and she pulled him to the sand. 
”Be more careful.” She hissed at him as they went around a small brightsting cactus. Roadrunner sighed and stood back up, shaking the sand off his wings and hopped into the air, beginning to recklessly do flips and turns in the air. 
”Why?” He said in an amused voice, floating back to the ground, balancing on a single talon as he grinned at her, his teeth flashing. 
“SO YOU- so you don’t get us caught.” She snapped, continuing to slither towards the Oasis, which was now visible on the horizon. Roadrunner followed after her, balancing on his front talons, his tail dangling danfeiidly close to his face. Roadrunner and his five sisters had been part of a traveling circus before it folded up and he was forced onto the streets, three years prior. 
”Oh please.“ Roadrunner snorted, poking her gently with his tail. Category:Fanfictions
Category:Fanfictions (Incomplete)
Category:Content (DeltaTheSeaWing)
Category:Fanfictions (Canon)