The Wingless

Ahhh, hopefully no one steals/edits this page. (I'm talking to you, satan.) In all seriousness, please no editing unless I give you permission. Bastet will have to turn you in to Queen Kalahari if you do edit without permission. 
= Information =
Hello! This timeline is completely different from the original wof series created by Tui T. Sutherland, so here's some info.
==== Queens ====
cause we all love those, right?
Skywings- Queen Goldstone
Seawings- Queen Luminescent
Sandwings- Queen Kalahari
Rainwings- Queen Elapid
Nightwings- Queen Aries
Icewings- Queen Chalcedony 
Mudwings- No queen
Seawings- nothing much has changed about the seawings, besides their location and appearance. Seawings have lost their wings like all other tribes. Seawings can be blue, though it is less common for a seawing to have royal-light blue coloring as they have taken on more of the purple and green colors to camouflage them with the dark and gloomy abyss that is their home. They have brighter bioluminescence so they can see, and they use this to their advantage in combat by temporarily blinding their opponents. Seawings live in what is called 'The Peaks of the Sea'.
Skywings- Skywings now take on a duller appearance, and brown and peach are colors that the average skywing could have. Despite this, some still carry the reds, oranges, and yellows from their ancestors (Mainly royals have this coloring). Skywings are currently the most technologically advanced tribe, and have invented machines that are considered miracles by all dragon tribes. They are the third largest of the tribes, right after the mudwings. They still reside in the mountains, using pathways, elevators, and ramps to make their way around. 
Nightwings- The nightwings live in the large cave system that is the 'Underground Circuit'. No one really knows where the Underground is, but there are plenty of theories, as well as impromptu search parties eager to find the nightwing home. The tribe looks the same, and nothing has changed besides size and location. Nightwings are the largest tribe, and average to be at least two heads taller than most dragons. They have the ability to read minds and tell the future, the chance of animus has been lowered down even more than before. 
Mudwings- Mudwings still live in the swamp, and instead of having a Queen or king, the mudwings have a leader who leads a group of three-four mudmates (most leaders are chosen when they battle their assigned mudmates, whoever wins the most challenges with mudmates becomes the leader) . The leader will make all the decisions, and anyone who questions them is likely be banned from the group. Outcasts normally never have another group to join, and are normally solitary and aggressive. Mudmates are chosen, and are rarely siblings. This is due to the attachment that siblings have, and the attachment felt when a mudmate dies (If they're a sibling) will cause much more grief than when someone you are not related to in blood ties dies. Mudwings have their same abilities, as well as the same appearance. Mudwings are the second largest of the tribes, right behind nightwings. Mudwings are the least organized of the tribes. 
Rainwings- The rainwing tribe has evolved their venom, as well as their knowledge of herbs. The rainwings have a library devoted solely to herbs, as well as a venom training center. The rainwings have become a very organized and efficient tribe, and were the last to lose their wings because of their rainforest location. They have lost the ability to change colors with emotion, and it has become a rare ability to be able to change scale colors. Those who can are normally generals or spies, if not they are still very high in the rainwing society. Rainwings specialize in venom and poisons, and have the honor to house many well trained assassins. Rainwings who have the ability to change colors have no need for suntime to keep vibrant scales. Rainwings use bamboo or wooden lifting systems to make their way into the trees, where the majority of their schools, homes, and other buildings are located. The cure for rainwing venom remains the same. 
Icewings- Icewings still live in the cold temperatures of the ice kingdom, and regularly trade with the sandwings to obtain whatever skywing technology they can. The tribe was said to have cut themselves off from every tribe except the sandwings, and many think that the two queens of both tribes are planning to make an alliance, if they haven't already. Icewings remain relatively the same, as they still have frostbreath and serrated claws. Their claws have gotten much sharper, to the point of which with one scratch, an icewing could have ripped your muscle. It has become a tradition to collect the claws of dead icewings and turn them into spears or knives, sometimes these weapons are traded to sandwings. 
Sandwings- Sandwings have developed venom in their claws, as well as their tail. Unfortunately (For the sandwings, fortunately for anyone who fights them), this venom in the claws only leaves an unpleasant sting in the wound, and it is easy to cure with little to no effort. Sometimes, the venom in a sandwing's tail barb will be completely depleted, and instead the venom will be transferred into their claws. Even when the tailbarb has no venom, it can still give someone minor injuries with it's sharp tip. It is very rare to have venomous claws, but those who have venom in their claws are recruited into an elite force that very few know of. Sandwings still live in the desert, but their housing have changed completely. Instead of small huts near the occasional oasis, the tribe has created a grand center near the palace by trading with the skywings. Sandwing homes are made out of a cold stone given to them from the icewing tribe . Even though the stone is chilling to the touch, it helps a sandwing cool down on especially hot days in the desert. Sandwings are known as traders and merchants. The queen has destroyed the scorpion den to create another town for sandwings called Invincibility. The cure for sandwing venom remains the same, but the cactus has many different variations, and it is taught in sandwing schools how to find the right one that cures their venomous scratches. 
= Prologue =
Twelve. Twelve years and then no one had wings. Twelve years of constant work, constant development. That was the only way they could advance. But their advance led to a global catastrophe. No one had wings anymore. The last dragon with wings was lost to history, and it seemed everything about wings had been quickly depleted. The last dragons with wings were gone. At least that's what everyone wanted to think. No one wanted to know if someone else had wings, no one wanted to know that there was a new age of wings. Now, everything was about moving territories and developing things to help with travel. Not with the SkyWings, though.
Queen Goldstone lounged on her throne, tail elegantly curling around her legs. She had developed this new society, and brought SkyWings to the peak of the wonderous age of machines. She had figured out a way for her tribe to fly again! She had done everything right, while the other queens did nothing but sulk and complain about the loss of wings. The queen basked in her glory and stretched her mechanical wings. After a few months of testing, the wings had worked. It had been a miracle! 
The SkyWing tribe was finally recognized for their superiority and intellect. Even the NightWings feared them, at least to some extent. Of course, wings were only distributed to the royal family; she couldn't have minor dragons getting their nasty talons on wings. Wings could take a dragon and change them. They wouldn't have to walk to get what they wanted. All they had to do was learn how to fly and use the mechanical wings. Goldstone had to admit, having the wings surgically drilled into her scales hurt a lot. But it was all worth it to be able to touch the clouds, to bring her tribe to the glory that had always existed, but was too small for anyone to ever notice it. Queen Goldstone had nurtured the skywing tribe's superiority and intelligence, and look how it had turned out!
A large grin spread across her ruby scaled face. Everything was perfect, and nothing could ruin her plans. The queen got up from her throne and called the nearest servant over. "Halcyon, come here," she yawned, and the peach colored SkyWing nervously shuffled over to her, and looking down at his wingless back made Goldstone's smile much wider. Her wings proved her superior, mechanical or not. "How is Rose doing on my new project? She's taking awfully long and I'd hate to find her slacking. She is head of her department, after all," Queen Goldstone said smoothly, notifying the SkyWing of her annoyance with a flick of her perfect ruby colored tail.
"Rose is having trouble figuring out how to uh- put your project together, as she is working on several projects at once, and…" He trailed off, knowing that his time to speak was over. Everyone who wasn't close to the queen (such as a servant or visitor) only had about ten seconds exactly to make their point before the queen would silence them. This resulted in the habit of speaking fast for many of her servants and guards.
"Are you questioning Rose's abilities? As well as my ability to instruct someone?" the queen questioned, and Halcyon shook his head frantically. "No—no, Queen Goldstone, I would never question your ruling," he stuttered, still shaking his head.
"Good. Now tell me how the project is going, no more sidetracking," she hissed, once again flicking her ruby red tail.
"Erm, well—" he seemed to be shaking now, and Goldstone could see his talons quaking with nerves.
"Now, now don't waste my time, I want to know how far her progress is going," she hissed again.
"She has built the base of the weapon, but not the rest. She is caught up with other the other projects you assigned her, your highness." the SkyWing blurted, trying to speak fast enough to inform the queen in under ten seconds. He succeeded, but only by one second did he make it.
"I suppose that's not the worst outcome. You are dismissed, Halcyon, go to your department." She waved the peach scaled dragon way. Some SkyWings had to be cowards; dragons like Halcyon were needed in society. Everyone played their part in the SkyWing palace. Each had their own department to work in. If dragons weren't like Halcyon, who would be scared enough to entertain Goldstone? She chuckled, Halcyon would probably be lost without her. Just like many other dragons. Once again basking in her glorious intellect, the queen decided that the production of her new project was top priority. Production over feelings. That's what she had said so many times, and she had never disobeyed her own rules. Ever. 
= Chapter One =
Bastet took a deep breath, her heart pounding and her claws shaking a little. It was her first performance since the great plague that wiped wings off the face of the planet. To Bastet the great plague had really put a kink in her plans of a grand and long tour around Pyrrhia. Bastet had wanted to take her shows on the road, visiting all the kingdoms and showing the world her talent at the circus. When the plague hit all those plans went out the window and into the now even more vast desert. She had to start from scratch with all her performances since most of them included flying. And the wingless plague had also stopped a lot of trade for Bastet. Suddenly merchants were harder to find and it would take days for them to arrive at trading checkpoints. Bastet’s performances were now so difficult to find and get to, and her audiences were scarce and not very large. Even with all the setbacks and sidetracks, money problems, food shortages and the lack of dragons who truly appreciated the art of the circus, Bastet had made it through. She was now standing behind the curtain, readying her animals for the big day. She could hear the hundreds of voices chatting to one another, all the dragonets excited for the show, the strong scent of buttered cactus corn floating in the air. It all seemed peaceful and happy but her nerves were on edge.
“It’ll be fine,” she scolded herself. “And if it’s not i’ll just have to make the long trip to the grand and cooling trading center,” she tried to calm down, the performance was nothing she hadn’t done a million times before. But this time I can’t fly, no flying at all. Her terrified mind whispered. Stop it brain, we’ll be fine. She took one last deep breath, put on her usual cheery smile and pushed through the curtains.
She took two steps and promptly tripped over her tail, the audience going perfectly still, only a few small dragonets whispering to themselves. For my first act, I shall fall on my face. Bastet thought with a sigh. Never had she tripped on stage before, but here she was, flat on her snout in public. She pushed herself up, plastering a large smile. “Welcome! One and all!” She twirled herself around, signaling the animals  to await her command. “Are you ready to see what you have never seen before?” Some dragonets cheered, adults in the back simply grunted a few ‘hooray’s. Bastet felt sweat trickling down her neck and the tip of her tail; where she had gotten her most secret tattoo itched like crazy. Why had she tripped? What was making her so nervous? She knew the answer. Because I can’t fly, I never will again. She almost kicked herself. She was in front of an audience! She had to do something, these dragons were paying her to see her do amazing things! Not trip on her snout and sulk. “For my first trick I will show you the great heights a creature can reach with only a simple jump!” she flicked her tail and four cat-like creatures stepped out from behind the curtain. Two caracals, FlyCatcher and TigersEye, along with Claireece and Bolt her highest jumping servals. Bastet’s assistant Tiger rolled a large cart into the middle of the tent. He pulled out the six rings of varying heights and stuck them in the ground. Bastet flourished her hands towards the rings, drawing the crowd's attention to them also signuling the animals. The four creatures lined up in front of the rings, tensing their leg muscles to jump. They’ll be fine, they’ve done it a thousand times already, Bastet tried to reassure herself. Was Bolt's ear twitching, was that a bad thing? Was Claireece looking at the other animals instead of focusing? Was her grin getting a little manic or weird? Calm the heck down Bastet, you can do this. She told herself. “Watch these wonderful creatures jump higher than even us dragons!” she said. That didn’t get a great reaction. The dragonets’ shoulders slumped and the adults glanced sadly at the spots where their wings should be. One dragon even muttered that they weren't even dragons anymore. Bastet gave the animals a brisk nod and Bolt, TigersEye, Claireece, and FlyCatcher jumped. Claireece’s hoop was the highest but she cleared it with no trouble. Like a pro. Bastet thought wistfully. The crowd applauded and Bastet let out a breath she hadn’t even known she was holding. She bowed. “Thank you, thank you,” she called, this time grinning for real. Maybe she wouldn’t mess up after all.
“What’s next, come on it’s got to be better than this!” one dragon booed. Bastet averted her eyes from the crowd, not wanting to see everyone's faces.
“Yes, yes of course!” she cried. She waved and the four pets exited the same way they had come. Her next trick was, well, tricky. It had taken her a full year to train her next three, all of them were wonderful but they were big cats, and the cats Bastet had chosen were kind of hard to train. “Feather, Theo, Snowball come on out!” she yelled. These particular three did respond to their names so it was a bit easier to command them. Three albino animals came out. Feather the cheetah, Theo and SnowBall the albino lion and lioness. Theo’s bright reflective fur was glistening and flattened like he had just given himself a bath. Bastet winced, that hadn’t been part of the plan but she couldn’t change it now so she might as well go with it. “Has anyone in this crowd ever said that only dragons could play music?” she asked rhetorically. “Well why don’t you hear some good old fashioned lion music,” the crowd blinked in unison. Except for one dragon in the back, or was it only a shadow? Tiger took away the rings and replaced them with two sets of drums, grisly painted and very precious. Those drums had been passed down from generation to generation, the drums were usually used in a right of passage but since the wingless plague and the death of her parents she had put them to a different use. But still, looking at the hand painted beautiful drums made her sad and a bit lonely. I’m not alone any more though, I have my pets and Tiger. She tried to reassure herself. She blinked and realized she had been spacing out and there was a crowd of dragons waiting for music. She shook her head focussing back on the task at hand. “Theo, SnowBall begin,” the two lions started circling the drums then began to play, using their tails and paws to play an upbeat tune. Feather started dancing around the tent lifting and lowering her paws to the beat of the drums. As she swayed side to side Tiger handed Bastet her duck shaped ocarina and she began to play with the lions. When the song was done Bastet was tired and she didn’t think she would make it through the final act. “There you go everyone!” she called, a little winded. She waved away the pet and Tiger and she marched into the center of the tent.
“For my last act..” She tapped her back leg twice on the sand flooring, to signal her most famous pet to enter. A loud hiss echoed through the tent. Right on cue, that got everyone's attention. “I will command this rare serpent, with my mind,” Gasps from the children arose, and they clambered over each other to get closest to the large snake behind Bastet. Even though she couldn’t see him, (it’s a bad idea to lose eye contact with the audience) she could picture Ebony’s dark midnight black scales and his red ish underbelly. He was her pride and jewel, her first pet. “Just watch,” Bastet closed her eyes, as this trick took a lot of concentration. The serpent was the most experienced but he still paid close attention to Bastet’s movements for directions. He knew exactly what her signals meant, he listened to every command and he knew when to stop. Ebony, Bastet’s dragon bite viper, sent out a blood curdling hiss to the crowd. Ebony’s performances always went well, (accepted for the times the audience tried to kill him) and she didn’t usually worry about it as much as she was now. Let’s just hope one of these dragons like this. Bastet opened her eyes, bowing to the small crowd of awestruck dragonets, and a few frightened adults. Without Bastet even looking, Ebony slithered up her tail to perch atop Bastet’s head. As the crowd gasped and shrieked one onlooker caught her eye, the one she had thought was a shadow. Bastet squinted, but it was no use. This strange dragon was wearing something that made them hard to see. What’s so interesting about a weird dragon who’s come to watch my acts anyways, I’ve definitely seen weirder. But she couldn’t help sneaking glances up at the stands, just to make out the stranger’s face. She cleared her throat preparing for the next trick. She slowly straightened her neck and spine, standing up on her hind legs. Ebony stayed perfectly still. “Now everyone, see this final trick!” She yelled. As fast as lightning, Ebony slipped down Bastet’s neck and wound his body around her’s, like a rope tying a prisoner. The crowd went wild, scrambling away like all the dragon tribes had in the great war. Watching this usually cheered her up, but it didn’t this time. Bastet’s other two snakes slipped out through the curtains to entangle her as well. She could barely see through the shifting mass of constricting scales but she thought she saw interest in a few dragons eyes, but one dragon she didn't see in the crowd was the strange shadowy dragon and another dragon was missing too, Crimson. Crimson was a friendly skywing, which wasn’t too common in his tribe but he wasn’t the most clean kinda guy. He had killed a few dragons in the past and had gotten on the wrong talon with the Queen one too many times. Finally he was banished and he had been traveling the world, seeing the other tribes. Bastet had been on a trading trip to the first ring when she bumped into him. They had become friends fast and he had promised to see all of Bastet’s performances from then on. He did have one thing in common with Bastet that made him tend to leave in the middle of a performance. He was claustrophobic. It made perfect sense that he would be gone but the shadowy dragon gone too that kind of worried Bastet. She had to go check on him, but first she had to finish her act. Wrap it up quick, Crimson needs his but rescued. She thought. “Oh no the snakes!” she fake yelled, raising her voice to sound scared. She could hear the crowd yelling.
“Should we help her?!”
“What’s going to happen to her?”
“It’s a dragon bite viper, run!”
“I’M GOING TO DIE!”
All the voices sounded panicked but Bastet wasn’t. She lifted her shoulders and all the snakes fell off her like an invisible force had pushed them. The three snakes coiled around each other to make a braid in front of her. The crowd sighed in relief, all the dragonets’ eyes wide in surprise and fascination. Bastet held the snakey bread in her hand and gave the audience a bow. “Thank you for coming. That ends my epic performance, please come see more. A schedule of my upcoming shows outside, goodbye!” she waved and barreled behind the curtain, her smile melting immediately. She needed to find Crimson, and fast.
“What’s wrong?” Tiger questioned, watching Bastet pack a small bag of medical supplies. She was almost having a mental breakdown. What if Crimson was dead? Was he being brought to jail? Would Bastet ever see him again? All her thoughts swirled in her head like a whirlpool spinning faster and faster. “I have to save–” She paused, thinking it best to keep Tiger out of this “Someone that doesn’t concern you.” She immediately regretted her wording; would Tiger think that was rude? Would he quit the circus because of her rudeness? “Alright, I’ll be feeding the animals then,” he yawned, stretching his back legs. Bastet nodded, dashing out of the circus tent and out into the exterior of the fifth ring. It was a place of lights and carnivals, a young dragonet’s dream; the sun was going down behind a silhouetted sand dune the color of smoldering coals. Unfortunately, everything was bound to be pricey. As carnival workers and circus performers were only the most desperate for money. At least that was the case for other performers but not herself. Plus, it was hard to afford everything you have in a carnival, or all the props and animals in a circus, and the guards coming around every few days asking for tax money. It was chaotic. So, Bastet usually stayed inside her tent, instead of talking to the other performers. She had never even dared peek outside unless necessary. Now though as she darted around, low to the ground she noticed most of the day stalls were closing up for the night, heading home to a nice sleep. But as the day shoppers went to bed the night stands were just popping up, dotted around the ring were mask shops, jewelry, cloaks and even more night wear. She tried to focus, she had a goal, saving Crimson from whatever that dragon shadow was. Was it even a dragon? Would it be a beast? STOP asking questions, me. Her voice boomed, towering over all the other thoughts in her head. Maybe she should have tried that before, illuminating questions. It would have been useful before. Bastet hissed under her breath, bounding across long pathways and checking every alleyway and nook she could find. Come on Crimson, where are you.. She paused to take a long breath in, her chest heaving. Is this a joke? Is he trying to prank me? No, he wouldn’t.. He’s not that stupid, he would never go out into the ring so far from the tent. Then she reminded herself, no more questions, Bastet. Just go find Crimson. she took a last breath in, getting herself together. She set up two rules of guidance for herself. One: This definitely wasn’t a prank, and two: Save Crimson and stop whoever had dragon-napped him. The second one was more of a goal than a rule, but Bastet was too determined to notice. She got up, running with the little energy she had gathered. Crimson couldn’t have been taken away too far, as the fifth ring was very large. Bastet quickened her fast-jogging pace. She couldn’t save Crimson with a barley-run. She had to run, possibly sprint if her body allowed it. Her breaths quick and steady, she continued to run, the determination she had for saving a friend, admittedly a stupid stupid and not very close friend was greater than her body’s need to stop running, he was her only friend not counting Tiger. Just as she thought she faintly could hear voices. She tripped and skittered to a halt. Flat on my snout again, she lifted herself up, realizing the thing she had tripped on was a jagged rock, which stuck out of the path like a sharp thorn. Another thing she realized was that her leg had a bad gash in it. She winced, stinging pain clouding up her brain, but she could handle it, for a little while anyway; after all she had endured this kind of pain when she got her tattoos. It’s going to leave a scar though.. She thought, biting her lip and looking down at her gashed leg. Bastet tried to get up, but her legs were shot from running so far and so fast. Was she even in the fifth ring anymore? She hoped so. She sighed in defeat, lying down on the hard stone of the pathway, she could rest for a little. She was lucky it wasn’t a break day. If it were she would be laughed at by the passing performers. She would be humiliated in ways she had never been humiliated before. Stop it with the negativity, Bastet! Suddenly, the voices she had heard before grew louder. One of which she had recognized, Crimson. She tried to get up, but pain shot through her leg. “Come on-” she grunted, shuffling forward with her front talons, she stood up in a very odd position, her legs spread wide like a wild dog. If falling on my snout wasn’t that embarrassing, why not crawl over to your dying friend. She shuffled with determination. “Leave me alone you creep, I’m very dashing if you get to know me!” Crimson’s voice called, and Bastet almost sobbed with relief. He was alive! She still would be able to save him! She continued shuffling forward, her legs getting stronger. She got close enough to see what was happening. The sight surprised her, and not pleasantly. The dragon shadow had a shining silver dagger to Crimson’s red throat. “I said leave me alone. Why attack a claustrophobic dragon when he’s just getting air. Let’s talk about this!” He shrieked, watching the dagger come closer and closer to his neck. His eyes flickered to Bastet on the ground, limping towards him and he flickered her a sign. Run, and don’t look back. He turned his gaze back on the cloaked assassin. “Go on, kill me, I’m not going down without a fight!” A small plume of fire was released from his mouth, but the shadow twirled around, barely avoiding the bright flames. 
The shadow wasn’t finished, though, and it slammed into Crimson, knocking him onto his back. Crimson readied another flame, but the shadow banged his head to the side, clearly, whoever it was, was skilled and wouldn’t be merciful. I have to go in and help! Bastet pushed herself up, her bloody gash stinging painfully. I have to- She looked at Crimson, the terror in his eyes was mutual between them. Bastet watched as the shadow’s talons slipped onto Crimson’s neck and.. Crack. The assassin snapped his neck then sliced an arch across Crimson’s throat with the gleaming silver blade. Suddenly, he was on his feet, a look of fear permanently plastered on his face. Blood ran down Crimson’s neck, pouring down onto the stone. Bastet’s eyes widened, watching as the shadow took a yellow eye from Crimson’s bloody face. Why an eye?! This murder is already brutal enough! But the shadow hadn’t been done. It dragged the body to the back of the alleyway, leaving him to decompose in the shaded corner. Bastet couldn’t believe such cruelty, why would anyone do that? How could anyone do that? Her breaths became heavy, and her palms were drenched in sweat. Would she be able to live knowing that she had seen Crimson die? Would she be able to survive, or would this strange shadow add to their collection of dead bodies. Bastet looked up at the darkening sky, wishing this was only a dream. A horrible dream, one she didn’t want to have ever again. But no matter how many times she pinched herself, nothing changed. She was still at the scene of the crime, still here. Still wingless. Bastet pushed that thought away, trying to recollect herself. She knew she had to get out of there, assassins never let witnesses live, she had to run, Crimson had told her to flee but she couldn’t move. She shook her head, wiping her sweaty palms on the stone. Bastet winced. She immediately regretted that, looking down at her now scratched palms. She looked up, taking a risky glance into the alleyway. The shadow became something, forming out of nothing. 
Bastet yelped, then cursed, clamped a talon over her mouth and jumped back. The shadow swiveled around to face the noise, dagger in hand. But Bastet wasn’t there, she had begun to run, only to have her gashed leg sag to the ground. Bastet hissed, frantically running. The cut must have gotten infected, no large cut could bleed so much. The fear and adrenaline coursing through Bastet’s veins gave her a burst of speed. She Bounded past dragons, leaving them in dust. She craned her neck to see if the shadow had followed her, but instantly regretted the choice. What she saw was not what she had expected. It couldn’t be. No no no! She thought desperately trying to wake up from her nightmare world. The assassin was a rainwing; the most leathley trained killers on Pyrrhia. Something that could kill her with one spray of deadly venom, or possibly poisonous plants. Bastet had never seen a rainwing before. But she didn’t want one to be the last thing she saw. Running faster than she ever had before, Bastet felt her gash sting painfully, she was losing blood and unless she stopped to rest the cut wouldn’t close. She squinted through the pain, she should've used the wraps and pain-medicine she had in her bag when she could have. Stop being so dumb, Bastet, you idiot. That was something you needed to do!  She scolded herself. Why hadn’t she used the medical supplies? Bastet felt dumb. She felt as if the negative anxious thoughts she had spent years controlling were all coming back. Suddenly, Bastet stumbled, landing in an awkward twist of stomach and back. She couldn't get up, her tired body refused to. She tried one last time to push herself up out of the strange tangle, but inevitably fell over from exhaustion. There you go, now you’re going to be killed by a rainwing. Such a fulfilling life you lived. Realizing that it was hopeless, she silently prayed for a quick death. The cloaked dragon approached in an eerie manor, slowly creeping towards Bastet. Bastet closed her eyes, awaited her imminent death and fell into darkness.
= Chapter Two =
Lemur stared down at the unconscious sandwing, annoyed. She was sent to kill one dragon, now she might have to kill two. It was an infuriating thing. Had other sandwing seen her kill the skywing? No. They couldn’t have. She had made sure to watch the schedules of the sandwings, every last detail. They wouldn’t come back from their jobs until midnight, and it was just turning dark. But why was this useless sandwing doing out? Had she known that Lemur was going to kill someone, or was she just taking a stroll. This situation was annoying, just like sandwings made everything. And unless this dung-for-brains sandidiot gave her something useful, she would probably have to kill two dragons. Of course, two dragons wasn't a lot. She had once killed an entire room of dragons, in one day, and that wasn’t even her personal best. She took a long, angry breath in, trying to clear her mind. This dragon in front of her would be no use, no way that she could help Lemur. She was probably just as useless as her entire tribe was. Unless I take her with me. A small voice whispered from somewhere deep in Lemur’s mind. Lemur almost stabbed the dragon in front of her, but refrained. No! That would be dumb. Simply taking a dragon to the kingdom would be..Stupid! Lemur hissed, lashing her tail. This idiotic dung beetle was the only flaw in her mission. The small thorn in a blooming rose’s stem. The reason it was going to go downhill. But there was literally nothing else logical Lemur could do.Tapping her talon on stone pathways, she looked over the sandwing. Nothing too important about her, she didn’t look too different from any other sandwings she had seen except for a large black slithering viper tattoo on the side of her neck. Though, she did have a nasty gash on her back leg. That probably would leave a mark. Why do I care about some rando’s leg? It's just hiding the unconscious dragon’s body that I have to worry about. Scolding her interest in a random dragon, she nodded, this was her only goal. Hiding the body. She had done this plenty of times before! All she had to do was find a convenient way to disguise the unconsciousness of a dragon. But as her eyes fell upon the sandwing, she found a thing strapped around her neck. A brown satchel, Lemur gently removed it, looking at the contents inside. Nothing but a handful of medical supplies. It’s not like I have too much of this stuff. She scoffed, dumping the contents into her own satchel. Now.. Where to put this idiot.. She looked around, hoping for another alleyway. Putting her in the same place as the skywing murderer would be too suspicious. That was what she had learned after a narrow escape in the Mudwing Kingdom. Maybe this dragon could be Lemur’s prisoner. Her ticket through the place until she didn’t need her anymore. Plus, there were a few more days she could stay here before her next mission. Maybe she could scout out a place to stay, temporarily, of course. Another thought occurred to Lemur. Staying near the scene of the crime is dumb, why am I thinking this way? All I need to do is take this dragon prisoner, bring her to Queen Elapid, and leave her to rot in a prison cell. Simple. Lemur considered that, it seemed logical enough. Better than being caught by sandwing guards. This plan could work, it just needed a small bit of tweaking to work. Maybe I could tie her tail into a knot. That would work. Lemur eyed the deadly tip of the sandwing’s tail. Possibly she had venomous claws too, better put bags on those. Lemur set to work, making this prisoner as harmless as possible. When she was done, she dropped the unconscious body onto the ground. There, I tied her mouth shut, bagged her claws, and.. Compromised her tail. She nodded, happy with her work. This would keep this sandwing  harmless and predictable. Now all she had to do was wake up, and they would leave.
Lemur tapped her talon impatiently on the ground, waiting for this sandidiot to wake up. She had waited for about an hour now, and this dragon refused to open her eyes. If she makes me haul her stupid body, I am going to spit in her hideous face. Lemur was pacing now, watching as the stranger’s chest rose and fell in a rhythm. “Ugh! I might as well stab you now,” Lemur hissed, lashing out at an imaginary opponent. Suddenly, she heard something, like a groan. “Mmph?” The prisoner said through the gag in a weak voice. The prisoner lifted her head groggily, blinking rapidly in confusion. Then she saw Lemur, a very inpatient Lemur, and her eyes went wide. “Good morning, how was your nap?” Lemur hissed. The prisoner let out a muffled scream, “MmMpHh!!!” the sandwing started to squirm, thrashing and straining against the binds, her black tattoo rippling across her neck. “Don’t be so polite,” Lemur said sarcastically. The sandwing’s eyes glimmered with fear and hatred as she glared up at Lemur. She began to hyperventilate, her chest rising and falling faster and faster, her eyes flicking from Lemur’s sharp venom filled fangs to her menacing talons. Lemur watched the prisoner riggle slowly away, inching, not very concerned but slightly amused. “Walk it off, I’m not killing you.. Yet.” Lemur chuckled at the look of terror in the dragon’s eyes. The sandwing’s nostrils flared, her breathing speeding up. The pale golden dragon squeezed her eyes shut, her muscles going limp. “Great, I have drag you all the way out of this miserable desert,” “Mmph, hermph!” the prisoner growled. Lemur sighed in exasperation and hauled the prisoner to her feet, dragging her down flights after flights of stairs down to the sixth ring. This idiot. Lemur grumbled to herself. Making me drag her down, this mongrel. Lemur fumed, passing by several dragons on her way to the desert tunnel. Each one of these dragons were idiots, just scavenging for money. They could all just get jobs. It would be simple. No one here in this horrible kingdom was capable of realizing that work was an option. Maybe if they got off their lazy butts they would realize that scavenging was of small minded creatures, not for dragons. Passing by groups of horrible sandwing thieves. All these dragons could ever do was sulk in their own misery. Much like me. Lemur was surprised by her own admission, so much so she stopped in her tracks. No, stop, we are not doing this. Did she really sulk that much? No. She wouldn’t be allowed to. Even Topaz, the idiot mudwing didn’t sulk that much. Lemur continued walking, pushing the subject out of her brain. I don’t sulk.. I won’t sulk. Lemur huffed, dragging her prisoner down a hopefully uncomfortable flight of stairs. Everything is going to be better when I get this idiot in jail, where she belongs. It would be better if Lemur decided to leave this dragon all alone in the desert, but she wasn’t that rude. The worst she would do was kill her. I mean, the queen might do it for me if she’s in a bad mood. Lemur wouldn’t care if this dragon died. Right? Yes. I wouldn’t care. It’s just a dumb sand brained idiot I don’t know. Lemur blinked hard, the final flight of stairs in front of her. Finally, one step closer to home. Lemur dragged the limp dragon down, making sure to move towards the jagged parts when possible, enjoying when her prisoner yelped from a sudden jagged rock. When Lemur reached the edge of the deserted stretch of land that was the thieving, scavenging, pickpocketing sixth ring she dropped the prisoner and sat down for a small rest. She gritted her teeth, ignoring her sore muscles. This stupid weight, dragging me down. Lemur thought, glaring down at the sandwing, eyes still scrunched shut. I wonder what she’s thinking? Lemur pondered. No I'm not! I don’t care about this dragon at all! I shouldn’t. She’s just collateral damage. She scolded herself. Was Kapok collateral damage? A small part of her brain whispered. No you stupid mind, we are not thinking about HIM! She shook her head, clearing her thoughts. “You have a mission, do your job,” she growled to herself. “Mmph?” the prisoner grunted questioningly, opening one dark black eye to stare hopefully at Lemur. Lemur rolled her eyes and looked away, avoiding the gaze of the prisoner. “Myph mame mish, Bashmush,” The prisoner tried to say, her voice distorted by cloth. Lemur shoved the gag a little deeper into her gulet, making sure she wouldn’t speak again. “Mm gumpha skiphm mph?” the prisoner said in a gagging coughing way. “Shut up,” Lemur snapped. “We’re going under the ground soon anyway, don’t draw any attention to me!” the sandwing went silent as if pondering the thought, then began to hum a simple melody, louder and louder. “SHUT UP!” Lemur swiveled, holding a dagger at ‘Bashmush’s’ throat. The sandwing stopped, closing her eyes, a tear running down her cheek. “If you sing that horrible melody again I will stab you. If you think I’m lying, go ahead, try me.” The sandwing gulped, suddenly shuffling out of Lemur’s tight grip. The prisoner took a deep breath then nodded. At least I don’t have to carry her anymore. Lemur smiled, leading her prisoner in the hot sand of the desert. After a few minutes of walking the air began to feel uncomfortably warm. But in the distance she could see a small dark hole in the sand, the tunnel that took her to this horrible kingdom. “Come on. Hurry up you snail tail hugger. You're slowing me down,” Lemur growled, pushing Bashmush forward. “Go into the hole,” she demanded, pointing to the tunnel ahead. The sandwing eyed the hole suspiciously, looking it up and down like it was assaulting her. She reluctantly stepped forward. “I said, GO IN!” Lemur yelled, pushing Bashmush forward with an aggressive shove. The prisoner stumbled and fell on her snout, grunting as she tried to get up. Lemur growled, lashing her tail in annoyance. Why can't this idiotic swine just walk into a hole? It’s not like it’s going to eat her. Lemur put her talon into the hole, as if to show the hole wasn’t dangerous. “You can walk into it, without dying. The only thing that's going to kill you in this situation is me,” Lemur yawned, grabbing Bashmush’s talon and dragging her in. darkness swallowed them, cool, damp air pressing against their scales and rushing into their faces. The tunnels were the only place in the whole sucky desert that Lemur could actually stand. The entire desert was the worst. Everything from the blazing sun to the grains of sweltering sand, Lemur hated it all. At least the rainforest had trees which generated shade. But the desert had nothing but brown, scraggly, leafless bushes. Everything will be so much better when I get home. Lemur thought, I’ll have my room and my own space and I won’t have to drag sand idiots all day. That thought gave her the energy to make it all the way.
*Time Skip*
Lemur stretched, trees in view. It had been the most insufferable hours of Lemurs life, traveling with the sand snorting Bashmush. “Come on, we’re almost there.” Lemur hissed to Bashmush, dragging her further, climbing out of the hole. Lemur sighed almost happily, seeing beautiful trees. Finally! Home, now I can dump this sandy dung beetle. Lemur took a long breath of the sweet tropical air. Amazing sweet air smelling of fruits and flowers.. Air she hadn’t smelled in weeks. The sun was setting, cooling the land, making Lemur even happier. She could finally see someone that wasn’t a sandwing. Someone who was like her. Someone who actually wasn’t an idiot. Lemur thought for a moment, there were a few idiots in the rainwing kingdom, but those were exceptions. Those were dragons who disgraced the wonderful name of the Rainwing Kingdom. Lemur blinked, allowing the shade of nearing trees to consume her gray scales. Time to go home. She thought, picking up the sandwing and entering the rainforest.
= Chapter Three =
Bastet stared up at the bright blue sky, filled with a deep dread and delicate green leaves. She couldn’t believe she was in the rainforest under these circumstances. Crimson was dead, and Bastet was now a prisoner of a heartless killer. Maybe not heartless. She thought, remembering the strange expression that the assassin had made right before they excited the sixth ring. The shadow has looked so torn and confused. Maybe she took pity on Bastet. The rainforest was behind, in front and to the sides of Bastet, it was everywhere. It was big and green and planty. She had never left the desert before and everything seemed so crowded, she could barely see where she was going through all the foliage. She had wanted to travel, but not as a prisoner. She wanted her own free will, the ability to travel with her own mind and spirit. But no, she wasn’t allowed these rights, not until she got back to the desert. And how will I get back, exactly, who will be my friend now that Crimson is gone? She knew there were several flaws in her, including being wingless like the rest of the dragons, she wasn’t a great fighter nor did she know basic directions. She would be hopeless even if she escaped, not that she would, she would probably be in the rainwing dungeon by the end of the day; a sigh above her cell that said: Bashmush, prisoner of shadow lady. She knew she was dead, but she couldn’t think what to do about it.
“Come on slowpoke,” The assassin hissed, pounding from tree to tree gracefully above Bastet. How is she so fast? She wondered, tripping on a rock and almost falling flat again. She glanced up for a moment to see where the rainwing was and smacked into a tree branch, stumbling back. Suddenly the assassin was behind Bastet, catching her as she slipped and fell. “Rude,” the rainwing snared. “We are almost there, pick up the pace dingbat,” the dragon let go, disappearing into the trees again, Bastet hesitated. Should she try and run now? No the rainwing would definitely be watching, Bastet couldn’t get away. Not yet. Not ever. Her brain said quietly. All her bad thoughts were coming back, and she couldn’t stop them; suddenly thoughts and memories surfaced that she had tried to bury. Her worst nightmares, her heart aches, and the worst of all; the death of her mother. She couldn’t help it, her brain reeled her in like she had just bit down on the hook, and she was reliving the most terrible day of her life.
“I’m sorry, you can’t go in,” the nurse said. 
Bastet was young again, two years old standing in the waiting room of a doctor's hut, begging the nurse to let her see her mother, Cobra. Bastet’s father, Heatstroke, walked over from the front desk, trying to smile for Bastet’s sake.
“Honey, your mother is recovering, ok,” He said, crouching down to place a talon on Bastet’s shoulder. As a small dragonet Bastet didn’t really know what was going on, but she was scared. The grim faced dragons in the waiting room were all either crying or trying not to cry. Sadness and depression hung in the air like an unbearable weight placed on a weak dragon’s back.
“Dada, I want to see her!” she yelled, making the mudwing nurse flinch. Her warm brown scales were shaking with exhaustion. Bastet had been pleading with her for at least half an hour, the same response every time.
“Sir, can you please take your daughter?” The nurse asked, choking up, her lip quivering. Heatstroke nodded, gathering Bastet in his wings. Back then the plague had just begun, and the sandwings hadn’t realized it was happening yet. “NO!” Bastet cried, pounding her little fists on her fathers strong scales. “She has to be ok! I WANT to see HER!” Heatstroke carried her through the door and it closed shut with a loud clattering noise. A few hours later a doctor came out and told the two waiting sandwings that Cobra was dead. Bastet had run away that day and she never went back.
“Wake up,” Someone said, slapping Bastet’s face. It was the rainwing assassin, her dark frowning face loomed over Bastet, just like her father had done when he carried her away. Bastet’s face felt wet and her eyesight was bleary. The rainwing spoke again, “Get up, sand brain. You have a meeting with Queen Elapid,” Bastet’s eyes widened, the queen of rainwings! No, no, no, is hse going to kill me? Bastet sat up quickly and peered around in panic, they were in a rainwing healer hut, I must’ve passed out while we were walking here. Her painful memorie still hung in the air, like a knife in her chest. The rainwing grumpily beckoned for Bastet to follow, Bastet now untied and ungagged, besides her tail.
“You, I-” Bastet croaked, but the assassin shushed her, holding up one talon. Bastet’s throat was sour like she had been sobbing and her gulet didn’t feel any better. Bastet clumsily jumped off what seemed to be a leaf bed and followed, not wanting the rainwing to kill her. It was blindingly bright when Bastet exited the hut, she lifted her talons to cover her eyes while she adjusted to the light. The rainwing village was vibrant and beautiful, the bright colors of rainwings reminded Bastet of colorful paint splattered onto a green canvas. Bastet heard the rainwing assassin groan and stomp over to her, Bastet looked over at the black and white rainwing for two seconds before she felt the rainwing grab onto Bastet’s horn and began dragging her onto a bamboo lift.
On the lift, Bastet saw pathways leading up to treehouses and platforms, shops and wooden structures. She was tempted to lean over the side and risk falling. The rainwing kingdom looked so natural. As if everything was nature’s intent. Bastet blinked, she had been so caught up in the scenery, she hadn’t even felt the harsh tugging of the assassin,
“Come- on!” the rainwing yelled, pulling Bastets horn so hard that they both fell backwards off the lift. Bastet felt herself being lifted up off the ground by a hand gripping her forearm, the assassin glared at her and tossed her forward, “We’re here doofus,” Bastet looked up at the vine wrapped wooden doors, Bastet looked back at the rainwing.
“It’s Baste-” snapped her fingers for silence, rolling her eyes and walking up to the doors, opening the one on the right side, nodding towards the inside. Bastet thought for a moment, not the best idea to run still, she sighed and walked inside. Bastet glanced around what looked like a throne room, flowers and vines decorating the walls, there was no roof though just foliage. There was a golden yellow carpet under Bastet’s talons leading her eyes up to a carved birch throne with a poised greeny-white rainwing speaking with what looked like one of her generals, based on his armor. Her eyes drifted onto Bastet and the rainwing assassin, she then sent the general away, Bastet was then dragged forward by the rainwing that she still didn’t know the name of. Am I going to die in this very room? She thought in a panic. Should I bow even now I’m a prisoner? Yes, it’s expected. They stopped right in front of the sculpture-like throne, with Queen Elapid looking down at them, the rainwing assasin did a quick bow before Queen Elapid began to speak and Bastet did the same, even though taking her eye of the dragon who was most likely going to kill her made her uneasy.
“Welcome home Lemur,” Elapid said in a queenly tone, Lemur? Bastet thought. Is that her name? Makes sense now that I think about it.
“Thank you Queen Elapid.” Lemur replied shortly.
“Seems you have brought a guest, how.. odd,” Queen Elapid put a talon to her chin, looking Bastet up and down.
“Yes… I have finished my mission, Crimson is dead.” Bastet winced at his name, remembering the crack of his neck and the brutal slice of his throat. Lemur pulled out his sad brown eye and Bastet looked away. Why, why why. So gross. Queen Elapid smiled and beckoned another rainwing over. 
“You know what to do,” she said, the rainwing grabbed the eyeball out of Lemurs hand and walked off. 
“What about the prisoner?” Lemur asked, Queen Elapid glanced back at Lemur and Bastet. Yeah, what about me! She thought, not daring to speak. 
“Whatever do you mean?” The Queen asked, slightly confused. “Oh your guest? Well whatever you want, you brought her here.” 
“But she was a witness,” Lemur said, almost like she was pleading, but she sounded too dull to be pleading. “Then why didn’t you kill her?” Queen Elapid asked, oh please don’t kill me! I have entertainment value! “I thought that she should rot in a prison cell instead,” Lemur replied. 
“I’ll think about it, either she’ll leave tomorrow and never speak of Crimson’s death or she’ll go straight to the dungeon,” Queen Elapid sighed. “For now she can stay in one of the guest huts, Topaz!” Bastet saw Lemur harden at the sound of Topaz’s name. Bastet glanced to the left and saw a mudwing with brown scales wander out of a hallway beside the throne's perch. The mudwing looked at the Queen intently with warm eyes. Her chest was badly scarred with claw marks and she had two teeth on the one side of her face that stuck out of her mouth like a wild boar. “Can you find…” Queen Elapid waited for Bastet to state her name, 
“Umm, Bastet, your highness.” Queen Elapid smiled, liking Bastets politeness. She wouldn’t smile if she knew what I had just said. Bastet thought with a little glee. Highness is a word only used for the heir and siblings of the heir, majesty is for the queen, how could she not know that? 
“Can you show Bastet to her room please and make sure she doesn’t try to run away,” Lemur rolled her eyes, what’s her problem? Bastet thought, confused. “Please follow Topaz, Bastet,” Queen Elapid said kindly, “She’ll show you to your room.” Topaz nodded to the hallway she emerged out of and Bastet nervously followed, she could hear Lemur sigh and walk out of the throne room as well. There was an uncomfortable silence as Bastet and Topaz walked through the hallway. 
“Why does Queen Elapid have a mudwing working for her?” Bastet asked, trying to break the silence. Topaz stopped walking and reached into a pouch hanging around her neck, pulling out what looked like a sketchpad and charcoal pencil, scribbling down something. Topaz smiled and showed Bastet the sketchpad. She saved me, it read. Bastet felt a little bad for being mean to the queen after reading that but she still frowned, was the mudwing shy or something, why did she speak on the sketchpad? “Cool, that was kind of her… may I ask why you're using that to speak?” Bastet asked as politely as possible, she didn’t want to sound mean, Topaz seemed to be a nice kind of dragon. Am I just clinging to the first dragon who could become my friend? She asked herself. Bastet saw her mistake as Topaz’s smile faded a bit, scribbling more words onto the pad. She couldn’t save my voice, my vocal cords are damaged. Topaz pointed to the scars on her chest, should I ask why.. no that’s just insensitive. “I’m sorry about that. But I do think it’s kind of cool, you know?” Bastet apologized, but Topaz just kept smiling and continued to lead Bastet to her room. 
Bastet’s room was less than comfortable, but it was better than nothing. It had clearly been prepared in a hurry, as leaves and small scrolls had been scattered around. Bastet sighed, collapsing onto her leaf bed. Why did this have to happen? Why didn’t you stay in the tent? She turned over to see Topaz was in the doorway, her gaze calm. “Could you go? I'm kinda-” Bastet stopped, realizing what she was saying. “Sorry! I didn’t mean to be rude, please forgive me,” now she felt like she had pleaded too much, but Topaz nodded, still smiling and exiting the small hut. You’re lucky everyone here’s so polite, or your execution would be the talk of the rainwing kingdom. Idiot Sandwing enters the kingdom, only to be killed by the queen! That headline sounded suspiciously like the newspapers Tiger read about the Queen Kalahari’s trials. Bastet shuddered. She had gone to one once, and she regretted it. Both because of the gruesome end to the defendant, and how there was little evidence they were guilty. That won’t happen to me… right? She nodded. It won’t, I’m.. Sure.  Bastet sighed, getting up. She might as well read one of the discarded scrolls in the meantime. Going from one side of the room to the other, Bastet found four dusty scrolls.Three of these scrolls she found were clearly outdated, but the fourth seemed interesting to read. It’s title was shown in gold lettering, reading: The Amateur's Guide to Animus Magic. She blinked. How long ago was the last animus born? She thought, maybe there wasn’t even any animi left. Maybe they all died off, and the magic just evaporated? That’s not likely.. Bastet read for a bit, only half listening, her mind was too jumbled to really pay attention to what she was reading. There was a knock on the door frame of the hut, Bastet lumped, looking up from her surprisingly entertaining but hard to concentrate on scroll to see Topaz holding what looked like a fruit bowl in one talon and her drawing pad in the other. Topaz entered the hut and placed the bowl on the leaf beds side table, showing Bastet her pad after. you should eat. Topaz began to leave, “Wait please,” Bastet asked, Topaz turned to face Bastet, tilting her head in confusion. “I like the company. I know I asked you to leave the first time but it’s nice to have someone like you around. I like dragons who are quiet but still speak their mind,” Bastet looked down at her talons, thinking of Tiger and his kind and thoughtful manner. Should I have given him a chance? She wondered. Should I have at least tried to be friends with him, after all he’s a hybrid with nowhere to go. Bastet shook her head, a small smile spreading across her face. “I’m sorry, it’s just been a really tiring, terrifying few days. Will you please stay?” she glanced back up and saw Topaz tapping her sketch pad thoughtfully. She touched the coal pencil to the pad and begane to write, then she turned it around for Bastet to see. I will be back, don’t worry. Then she turned around and disappeared around a corner. Topaz was right though, only a few minutes later she was back in the doorway, a small pink rainwing standing beside her. “Who’s this?” Bastet asked. Topaz reached for her sketch pad but the new dragon gently put her talon on Topaz’s shoulder. The pink dragonet took a deep breath and started to sign. “I know sign language too!” Bastet cried. She had learned the skill so she could tell Tiger when to come out and when to release the animals but she had found it was easier to teach the animals themselves the commands. She still hadn’t forgotten the signs though, since she had practiced them many times. The raining pauses didn’t stop her signing as Bastet interrupted her though, and the dragonet wasn’t even looking at her. “My name is Hibiscus, what is your name?” Bastet asked, trying to follow the talon motions. Topaz nodded, scribbling something onto her sketch pad. She flipped it around. Hibiscus is deaf. It read. The next scribble took a lot longer to write. Hibiscus’s mother was killed not too long after her hatching and her father left her in the rainforest all by herself in the healer's hut. It was an explosion that killed her mother and Hibiscus lost her hearing at the same time. The sketchpad read. Wow Bastet thought. She was left alone, as a tiny dragonet? She must be strong. “That’s some story,” Bastet said with respect. She turned to Hibiscus, crouching down to be eye level with her. “You must be the strongest dragon I know,” Bastet said and signed at the same time. Hibiscus nodded but pointed at Topaz. She is the strongest. Hibiscus signed. She is my family.
Bastet, Hibiscus, and Topaz sat for a while, listening to the rainforest sounds and reading scrolls about animi. For those hours Bastet almost forgot all her worries, her pain, her imminent life in a dungeon, crimson, and the tribe of assassins surrounding her, she just enjoyed the company of two very interesting dragons. Bastet almost leaned on Topaz’s brown shoulder, but thought better of it. Now you’re just pushing it. You barely know these dragons and now you’re.. Leaning on shoulders! The next thing you know, you’ll be trying to hug them! Bastet blinked, watching as a gray dragon barged in. “Bashmush or whatever your name is, come with me,” Bastet began to complain, but Lemur shushed her, “No buts, come with me, NOW.” Lemur hissed. Hibiscus, who apparently could read lips, signed, Get out, you are not welcome here. But Hibiscus couldn’t stop Lemur from grabbing Bastet by her pale tail, and dragging her off into her imminent doom.
“Wait, stop! Can’t we talk about this?” Bastet yelped, reaching out to Topaz and Hibiscus, trying to look innocent and helpless. Hibiscus looked away and Topaz just stared. “No we can’t, I’m taking you to the dungeon whether you like it or not. Hopefully you don’t like it.” Lemur hissed, continuing her powerful stride to one of the bamboo lifts. Bastet thrashed, squirming to escape the assassin’s grip. But it was no use. Why am I even trying now? I couldn’t do it before, I’m not going to do it now. She thought sadly, She stopped thrashing, reminded of the first time she had been dragged by the rainwing. And now you’re going to rot in prison for who knows how long. She sighed, feeling her tail droop with disappointment. What had her life become? Nothing but failure. A stupid, sand snorting, sand brain, and all the other things Lemur had called her failure. She should be better than this, she should have been able to fight the assassin and win! But no, she only had weak sandwing-noodle arms that could hardly hold up a stone when they needed to. “Stop looking depressed, it’s making me want to throw you off this thing more than I already do,” Lemur growled, kicking her with a sharp claw. “Too late, I already feel depressed,” Bastet replied, not even making an effort to annoy her kidnapper. Well, you’ll just live in a prison cell, good job me! I can’t wait to see myself whither in jail. Bastet wanted to turn over on her snout, but Lemur’s tight grip on her tail forbade it. Great, now you can’t even move with your free will. Some sandwing I am. She closed her eyes and wondered if Topaz or Hibiscus would come to visit from time to time, or if Bastet was just imagining that the two much cooler dragons even liked her. She grunted as Lemur took her up a bumpy flight of wooden stairs, not caring for any splinters Bastet’s scales would gather. I guess I deserve this, I mean, it’s my fault I’m here anyways. It’s my fault Crimson is dead, if I had intervened or not tripped on a stupid rock, or if I had really ran as fast as I could I might have saved him. The thoughts buried her under a wave of gloom, like she was falling into an endless pit of sadness. Haven’t I been here before? A small part of her mind whispered. Haven’t I dealt with this pain when mother died? But she couldn’t have, wasn’t death something you couldn’t change or deal with? I’ll come through this and I WON’T die. More of a promise than anything else, but she held tight to that promise, not letting go. Lemur suddenly jerked her out of her mind, taking her to a place much worse. All around her were cells made of a black stone, dark and foreboding. Cells with wailing prisoners, insane laughing echoed through the halls too. Lemur grinned at her.
“I made sure you got the best cell in the place. Don’t worry, you’ll blend right in.” Bastet didn’t know what Lemur meant until she read a sign hanging right above one of the cell doors. Mentally Unstable Section. She almost jumped up in shock. Did this rainwing actually think she was insane? Was she going to listen to screams and shouts and– Whatever else lay behind these doors? Would she really fit in with these criminals?
“But I’m not crazy, I'm not!” Bastet cried, her voice rising an octave. 
“Oh hush,” Lemur yawned, pushing the metal doors open with a grunt.
“Please, Lemur. I swear I’m not crazy, I just want to go home!” Bastet said pleadingly, she started to cry, lashing her tail and holding her front talons in a fist to her heart. But nothing stopped Lemur from throwing her into a stone cell and slamming the bars down. “Bye, sandwing.” she said with no remorse and with that, she left. No proper hug and goodbye. No nothing. Just a simple two words. What did I expect? A nice sad ‘goodbye, my favorite prisoner of all time’? Bastet sobbed quietly to herself, watching Lemur slip away into the darkness, most likely never to return. And as shrieks and screams seeped into her ears, she thought for a moment. Maybe I do belong here.
= Chapter Four =
The poor sandwing, Topaz thought to herself as she paced in the hut that Bastet was staying in, while Hibiscus was playing with her fingers silently. Maybe if I release her- no, Queen Elapid would kill me, correction, Lemur would kill me. Topaz sighed, grabbing one of the fruits she had brought for Bastet, she bit into the delicious fruit which turned out to be a mango and chewed angrily. Of course after getting your stomach clawed at, you can’t really breathe well enough to angrily chew food, Topaz began to cough, choking on the mango. Hibiscus didn’t notice this, thank the three moons for that, Topaz thought as she finally stopped choking and tossed the mango out of the window. Hibiscus suddenly shot up, a huge smile on her face, she didn’t see me toss the mango… right? Hibiscus looked at Topaz and signed something, maybe we can convince Queen Elapid to let her go, Topaz shook her head. Hibiscus signed again, why? Topaz signed back, Lemur will kill us. Hibiscus rolled her eyes, maybe we should talk to her then, she signed, grabbing Topaz’s arm. Topaz tried to protest by stopping her but Hibiscus started to drag Topaz. Wait, she was joking, she wouldn’t actually think about- how is she so strong- before Topaz could finish her thought, they were in front of Lemurs hut and Hibiscus was banging on the door like there was no tomorrow, there’s definitely not going to be a tomorrow after this. Topaz heard quiet talon steps inside the door, a few seconds later it swung open and Lemur’s curved silver blade was pressed dangerously to Hibiscus’s throat. Hibiscus raced an eyebrow, pushing the blade away. She signed, Oh please Lemur. Lemur growled at Topaz standing a few steps behind Hibiscus.
“What do you want?” She hissed, sheathing her dagger. “I’m sharpening my weapons, I don’t want to be interrupted,” Topaz pulled out her sketch pad but again Hibiscus stopped her by placing a talon on Topaz’s forearm. Hibiscus faced Lemur, signing, You must let Bastet free, she isn’t someone who deserves to be in there. For free Hibiscus held up two talons in a sign that looked kind of like saying someone's food is really good, and she brandished the sign at Lemur. “No,” Lemur said, starting to close the door but Topaz put her foot in it to stop it from closing. We're not dead yet so let’s at least try. Topaz thought to herself, remembering Hibiscus giggling as Bastet read and signed the scroll, and then remembering the anguished look on Bastet’s face one Lemur dragged her away, if it will make Hibiscus happy might as well. This time Topaz did pull out her sketch pad, and Hibiscus smiled, nodding encouragingly to her. She wrote on her pad, Lemur, I know you despise me, but I know some things about you. You won’t hurt a dragon you care about, you’ll let Bastet go. She flipped over the sketch pad and Lemur frowned as she read. “I DON’T CARE!” Lemur yelled, a few of the neighboring rainwings peeking their heads out to see what all the noise was. “Bashmush or whatever is nothing more than a dung brained, sand snorting, prisoner of mine, no different from the others!” Lemur’s breath quickened, Topaz bet that if Lemur was a skywing there would be a lot of smoke right about then. “Get out of my sight now, or I’ll slit your throats!” Topaz’s eyes widened, looking over at Hibiscus. The one thing that really made Hibiscus mad was threats, liars, and betrayal, and Lemur had just hit one of those ticks. Hibiscus lunged forward at Lemur, grabbed the sheathed dagger and latched on to Lemur’s leg, trying to climb up it.
“NO!” Lemur screamed, shaking her leg awkwardly. All the neighbors’ heads disappear inside and behind curtains, windows, doors, and trees. Shoot, Topaz thought. If her voice could work she would be yelling in outrage. No one hurts Hibiscus while I’m here and Hibiscus isn’t supposed to attack anyone! She leaped back as Lemur’s tail swung around, lashing and banging the ground. Hibiscus managed to wrap her legs around Lemurs neck and hold the knife to her artery. Lemur stopped struggling, one talon creeping up towards the knife blade. Topaz waved her hands, shaking her head, looking panicked. But Hibiscus just shook her head, still clutching the blade.
“I am going to KILL this dragonet if it’s the last thing I do,” Lemur’s talon was inches away from the blade and Hibiscus couldn’t see. She nodded to the pad in Topaz’s claws. Does she want me to ask while she’s holding a knife to Lemur’s throat? Topaz hesitated, but clutched her pad and began scribbling. Hibiscus wants you to let Bastet go, she will get off once you agree to help, she showed Lemur the pad and smiled worriedly. “There is no need,” Lemur growled. Lemur grabbed the hilt of the blade out of Hibiscus’s talons and flipped her off. She slammed into the door frame and slid down, groaning in pain. NO! Topaz thought in panic once again. She rushed to Hibiscus’s side as Lemur took off running straight towards the Queen’s throne room. She’s going to tell the queen. She’s going to get me kicked out of the kingdom or worse, killed. What about Hibiscus, the queen isn’t heartless, she won’t kill a dragonet. A dungeon is not a place for her either. Topaz glanced at Hibiscus, there’s no point sitting by her side helplessly, Topaz thought as she stood up and began running to catch up with Lemur. Luckily, Topaz was just as athletic as Lemur so it wasn’t long before she caught up with her, tackling her from behind. “Let me go, you stupid mudwing!” Lemur yelled, lashing around, clawing at Topaz. Unfortunately, Lemur wasn’t an assassin for nothing. Within seconds she was out of Topaz’s grip and had her flat on her back on the ground, snarling. “I am willing to kill you, I just won’t. Mudwing, if you attempt to annoy me again I will have your head on a pike, and it will be displayed in front of my den.” Lemur spat, pushing Topaz away. For a moment she thought she was going to fall off the pathway, but she didn’t. Topaz gulped, looking down at the leafy ground far below the trees. “If you attempt to step one claw out of line, I will murder the dragonet. Right. In. Front. Of. You.” She spat out the last words individually, not even looking back to see the mix of pain and anger on Topaz’s face. The queen might not be heartless, but Lemur is. Topaz felt slightly guilty at the thought, but she didn’t care. This dragon was a menace. This dragon was rude and mean and– Topaz got up, watching as Lemur ascended the floors, making her way up to the palace. She's going to tell the queen. She’s going to have me killed. Topaz fell to her knees, tears welling in her amber eyes. She didn’t care if rainwings looked at her funny. She didn’t care at all. I might as well roll off this bridge, Topaz thought to herself, knowing that there’s no point to try and continue to stop Lemur, especially after threatening Hibiscus’ life, I’m helpless. Just as helpless as before. Topaz thought about her former mudmates Alligator, Mahogany, and Newt. She thought about the day Alligator ripped her chest up because she saved two rainwing soldiers, unable to save herself from him. And lastly, Topaz thought about the day she woke up in the rainwing healer hut, unable to speak. Topaz could feel herself being taken over by her guilt and doubt, she didn’t really care though, she failed to save Bastet, she failed to stop Lemur. What seemed like hours passed, but Topaz remained in the same state of misery. At this point she didn’t care how many rainwings had nudged her and laughed at the dumb mudwing on the floor. She didn’t care at this point, just like Lemur didn’t care about anyone. All Lemur cared for was herself and her stupid missions. Topaz remembered the first time she had met Lemur, about “Topaz. Topaz... Topaz!” Lemur yelled, shaking Topaz out of her pit of misery. She looked up at Lemur looming over her, tears dripping down Topaz’s face. She’s come back to end me herself, heh. Topaz thought, accepting her sad horrible fate. “Are you going to help me free that dung-brained sandwing, or are you gonna just cry here?” Lemur grimaced, looking away from Topaz, embarrassed. Topaz thought that this was a joke, a final laugh before Lemur slits her throat. Lemur rolled her eyes and grabbed Topazes upper forearm, beginning to drag her to the dungeons, is she telling the truth or taking me to my demise. Topaz slowly dragged her gaze to Lemur, her eyes filled with what looked like determination and.. guilt, like me. Topaz tapped Lemur's shoulder to make her stop, letting Topaz get her footing. Lemur blankly looked at Topaz, making her get uncomfortable. She pulled out her pad and wrote something, showing Lemur, why? Lemur looked almost uncomfortable too, “I- you were guilt tripping me with your crying, that’s why! Not like I care,” Topaz smiled her soft, kind smile, sure you don’t Lemur, Topaz thought as she nodded towards the dungeon. Wiping her left over tears, continuing to walk to the dungeon, but this time, to get someone out. 
= Chapter Five =
Bastet paced around in her cell, tapping her claws on the cold stone floor, their cells aren’t even natural. Bastet glanced out of the depressing metal bars, looking for a rainwing soldier to ask for help, maybe it would work. Bastets eyes landed on the cell across from hers, a pair of pure blue eyes staring at her with fascination, Bastet looked nervously at him and waved, “Hi?” The prisoner smiled manically,
“Hello,” Maybe if I make friends here I can figure a way out? She wondered. But you're a failure, a disgrace. Her mind hissed, dragging up the memory of her mother again. She tried to push it down, to ignore the pain. She focused on the dragon across from her. The dragon stepped out of the shade of his cell, his pale blue scales shining in the faded light, he must be an Icewing? Bastet thought but on his head sprouted a pale horn like a unicorn and his under belly was a light shade of yellow, like a sandwing or a hiveing.
“Umm, I’m Bastet. I’m new here, when do we get fed?” She asked shyly. Her stomach was growling and she realized she hadn’t eaten since she left her circus tent. About five days ago, Lemur hadn’t fed her a single thing while they traveled through the desert tunnel. the icewing hivewing dragon began to laugh. “Fed!? Hahahaha! It really depends, I haven’t eaten in like three weeks.” Bastet heard her stomach rumble in protest to the strange dragon's words. WEEKS!? Her brain cried. Weeks without food? How could she survive?
“What about water then?” Bastet asked. They have to give us water. “Also, what’s your name? I like speaking to dragons who have names, you have one right?” The dragon held a sharp talon to his chin, why is he thinking about this? Does he not remember his own name? What if I forget my name here. She frantically etched her name on the wooden floor so she wouldn’t forget it. 
“A name,” The hybrid said, pondering. “A name, oh yes. My name is Moth, heh. My father said it was ‘accurate’, ha!” Moth laughed, showing his shining white teeth. “Of course the guards would give you water more often than food, unless you're in trouble.” Moth answered. Bastet looked a bit panicked but then remembered she was a sandwing, she might be able to last longer than the other prisoners.
“What about if you’re a sandwing?” she asked, sitting down; the pacing was getting a bit tiresome and she needed to rest, her talons were sour and her claws missed the soft grainy sand. She curled her barbed tail around her front legs and studied the hybrid’s face. “Because we can survive a little longer without water than normal dragons. They wouldn’t intentionally put us at the brink of death all the time. Right?” 
“I’ve been here for at least a year I have seen dragons die a lot,
hehehe, they always need more room here and by the way, what’s your name, little dragon?” Moth grinned at Bastets pale face as he brought up the mention of death, Bastet shook her head, trying to keep her mind clear. It wasn’t very effective.
“Bastet and umm, what are you in for?” Bastet questioned, realizing she could be facing someone who actually belonged in a dungeon. You belong in this dungeon. A small voice said in her head. Moth laughed.
“Ahem, me, the great Moth is here for two very.. funny reasons. One, you’ve probably noticed I’m not the most sane dragon, hehe.” Bastet smiled nervously. She had kinda picked up on that from his manic grin, and his carelessness.
“Yeah… but if you know you're not sane then maybe you are partly sane?” Moth didn’t reply, I don’t know if that’s good or bad.
“The second reason is I like to ummm.. Twist some heads and stab some hearts every once and awhile, hehehe.” Bastet turned even paler than a sandwing should be, making Moth even more amused. A serial killer as my cell mate, wonderfull. “Are you saying that in a figurative way or a literal way?” Bastet asked, guessing the pretty obvious answer.
“Do you want to know?” Moth asked, his smile becoming toothier. Bastet thought for a moment before sticking her thumb down out thought the bars for Moth to see better, she definitely didn’t want to know. “So.. Has everyone here twisted some necks and stabbed some hearts?” Bastet asked, her stomach twisting into a sickening. “ Ehh- Yea. I don’t know about the one next to me though. She’s just in here.” Moth replied, picking something out of his teeth. Bastet remained silent, looking at her talons. Moth seemed to take this as a sign for him to start talking. “Good, now why are you here sandwing?” He asked. Bastet thought for a moment before replying. 
“Two reasons, like you,” she said, trying to be funny. Scratch that, she was more trying to keep herself sane by keeping up a conversation, she didn’t know if it was working. “One, I- I was kind of a witness in a- a twisting of heads and a slicing of necks.” Moth held a talon to his chin again. “Ahhhh, let me guess, Lemur was doing the twisting and slicing.”
“Yes,” Bastet replied, suddenly she wasn’t hungry anymore. “The second reason I’m in here is- well I think I kind of ticked her off by- making friends with a mudwing named Topaz. Or at least I thought we might be friends.” her tone sounded wistful and pathetic even to Bastet. They were never friends, she had only known them for like ten seconds, did they even like her? Moth paused for a second. 
“Topaz… Ah! The silent mudwing that sneaks food in for some of the prisoners, she’s nice, her sweets are delicious (besides the taste of blood, heh).” Bastet jumped up, hope flickering inside her chest.
“She sneaks food!? That means I might see her!” 
“Yes, you might.” Moth sighed, Bastet thought, maybe he also knows Hibiscus. “Have you met Hibiscus? She’s a small pink and white rainwing, friends with Topaz.”
“Ahhh, no. I’ve seen her walk around on the bridges and pathways near here, I named her Dragonfruit,” He named her? Bastet thought with a creeped out vibe from Moth. The dragon was unsettling but could be her only friend.
“Yeah, I guess she does look like one, well… it was nice chatting with you, Moth,” Bastet said, slowly turning back into the darkness of her cell, wondering how long she would be in the prison before she turned into Moth, or died.
“Wait a moment,” Moth called, making Bastet turn back to look at Moth.
“Yes?” She asked half heartedly, blinking sadly at him. Her mind was partly in the past, reliving her worst moments.
“If you get out of here,” Moth started. “Can you let me out, please. I’m tired of being stuck here,” Bastet thought she could detect a tone of loneliness in his tone. Moth’s brain had been shattered by insanity like a broken glass but he still seemed like he deserved a second chance. Bastet stayed quiet for a long minute, thinking about his almost crazy question before speaking. “What makes you think that I’ll get out? I’m kinda useless.” she said, dodging the question. Moth smiled, showing his teeth even more.
“Because if you're friends with Topaz, she’ll want to get you out; it has something to do with a deep insecurity of hers, I don’t know.” Bastet thought nervously. If she let him out he might kill many more dragons, but if she left him in she would never forget it. She wasn’t the kind of dragon to leave someone behind. I shouldn’t have learned his name. She thought with a little laugh.
“You promise not to kill me, or my friends?” She asked, a half smile spreading across her face. She could hear Moth mock her words quietly but she didn’t care. Maybe it was the stupid creepy place worming its way into her brain but she felt- the easiest way to put it was blank. She had seen her only friend killed, she had been ripped away from her maybe new friends and Lemur had been merciless. She couldn’t break any more. At least that’s what she thought. She looked up into Moth’s eyes as he spoke.
“Of course not, what do you think I am, insane?” Moth did what sounded like a trademark evil laugh, not helping his case at all. Maybe a murderer and sociopath. But instead of saying that she replied.
“Ok, i’ll let you out but you better not tell anyone I freed you… if i get out,” Bastet replied, thinking that it might be a bad idea but not caring enough to stop herself. Moth stood up straight like a soldier and crossed his heart.
“Cross my heart and hope to die,” he said as seriously as he could. Bastet began to sing, her brain remembering the song, getting a few of the lyrics wrong.
“Cross your heart and hope to die, one step at a time, I got your back and you got mine! One foot in front of the other ooh ooh OOH!” Moth suddenly burst out laughing.
“Pfft, hahahahahahaha! Hey everyone, we got a musician over here! Hahahaha! That's freakin’ hilarious!” Bastet blushed and replied shyly,
“Actually I’m a circus performer with a dragon bite viper but yeah, musician is slightly accurate .” Moth shrugged, still grinning. “Same same,” he said, his shoulders still shaking, he didn’t even look surprised at the mention of dragon bite vipers. Bastet suddenly heard the tapping of claws creeping down the hall, who’s that? Bastet thought as she tried to look out of the bars, but her head failed to fit through. Moth slinked back into the shadows, chuckling.
“Come on Topaz!” A dragon hissed, Topaz?! Bastet thought, her heart racing. Who’s the other drago- Bastet fell backwards as she locked eyes with Lemur, her face grim and determined. “Eep!” Bastet yelped as she hit the floor.
“Geez, be quiet!” Lemur hissed again, unlocking the cell door with a bamboo key. Bastet couldn’t believe it, Lemur had come to free her? Moth was right after all, Topaz must have convinced Lemur. As she thought that Topaz appeared behind Lemur, waving.
“Hi Topaz,” Bastet said shyly, smiling happily. Maybe they did like her after all. The cell door creaked open.
“Come on, we need to get out of here,” Lemur sighed, looking away from Bastet, slightly embarrassed. Why is she doing this? Bastet wondered and before she knew it she was asking. “Why are you freeing me, Lemur?” Bastet asked, making Lemur scoff.
“I’m only helping you because your mudwing friend over here guilt tripped me.” Lemur nodded over at Topaz, rolling her eyes. Topaz beamed at Bastet, as if she could speak. Bastet slowly exited the cell, looking around for guards, none.
“Ahem,” Bastet heard Moth cough in the darkness, hinting at something she promised.
“Oh right, we need to do one more thing before we go,” Bastet snatched the key out of Lemur's hand and walked over to Moths cell, beginning to unlock his cell door before Lemur batted her talons away.
“What do you think you're doing?! Are you crazy?” Lemur glared into the shadows of Moth's cell and back at Bastet.
“I promised him I’d let him out, he said he won’t kill anyone.”
“Moth is highly unstable, you can’t trust him!” Lemur growled, almost like she was scared. “Ouch,” Moth said, stepping out of the shadows, frowning. Topaz kindly waved to Moth, making him wave back. “Aww Lemur, have some faith, I’m a changed dragon.” He said smoothly, slipping his talon towards the key, twisting it slowly so Lemur wouldn’t notice over her anger, “You killed a lot of dragons, you deserve to rot in here!” 
“Oh come on! You and I both know you’ve killed more, I just do it for fun,” Moth laughed maniacally, swinging the cell door open and tackling Lemur to the ground.
“MOTH!” Bastet yelled pulling Moth off Lemur while Topaz held back Lemur from killing him as well. Bastet heard the yelling of rainwing soldiers, “We got to go,” Bastet sighed, still holding Moth back. Lemur tugged her arm out of Topaz’s grasp, growling. Moth took a deep breath and nodded.
“Moth,” Bastet hissed, “No more trying to kill Lemur,” Moth grinned and nodded. “Fine,” The group began running out of the dungeon, yelling rainwing soldiers close behind. Bastet felt the scene in the sandwing kingdom replay in her head. Bastet running from Lemur, running, running, running, until she fell. Bastet gulped, what if she fell now? Would she be killed? Would everyone else be killed?
“Where’s Hibiscus?” Bastet asked Topaz, her voice light as she tried to breathe, run, and talk at the same time. Trees and pathways tangling and overlapping, the rainwing village was like a maze of bridges with no idea where they would lead. Hopefully Lemur knew where she was going since she was at the front, flicking her tail angrily. Topaz glanced at Bastet and pointed at Lemur. “WHAT?!” Bastet yelped, a terrible thought racing through her mind faster than she could hold them. “What did Lemur do!?” she half yelled and half asked. Topaz panicked and began to shake her head furiously, signing, she’s just in your hut… passed out.
“Passed out?” she gasped. The scenery around her suddenly blurred and smudged with green and brown. The four dragons reached the edge of the village, three ways down to the forest. One: falls to your death, two: a small ramp only wide enough for one dragon, three: swing through the trees and hope you don’t hit a branch and die. “Sooooooo, what now?” Moth said, looking at Lemur with a smirk. Bastet could see the rainwing guards closing fast behind them, if they didn’t lose them in the trees they’d never make it out.
“Ramp,” Bastet said at the same time Lemur said,
“The trees,” they looked at each other. “Bashmush the trees are faster and it’ll be easier to escape the guards in the leaves,” Bastet hesitated, she wasn’t a skilled climber, she would most likely fall and slow down the escape.
“I’m not a climber, Lemur, we wouldn’t make it!” Bastet cried and Lemur growled.
“Aren’t rainwings like amazing climbers anyways? They could easily catch us.” Moth chimed in, Bastet could tell he was trying to make Lemur even more upset, most likely not really caring about the escape, he probably wanted to kill them.
“There is one rainwing and three other dragons,” Bastet said, frantically glancing from option to option. “We’ll never make it!” Lemur's eyes darted angrily from Moth to Bastet and groaned, “Fine, since you want the ramp.” Lemur walked behind Bastet and pushed her in front, “You lead the way, then,” Lemur grimaced and nodded to the ramp. The ramp that would save them, or bring everyone into an imminent demise in the prisons Bastet had lived through. Thinking about the horrid stench of the prison made her shudder. “Well? Let’s go!” Lemur spat, looking behind to see the guards coming closer. Bastet’s mind was rushing. Thoughts overlapping each other in a constant blizzard. Am I even going to make it? Of course I won’t, I’m just a stupid sandwing! No, I will make it! She shook her head, and Lemur looked at her with confusion. Look what you’ve done now! Bastet pushed the thoughts out, running forward towards the ramp, the others following her, guards not too far behind.
“GET HER!”
“She’s right there go, go, go!”
“Come on you sloth, get off us, we’re doing our jobs!”
Bastet heard the yells and shouts of the guards, she was surprised they hadn’t caught them yet, but then she turned her head around to see and she knew why they hadn’t reached them. Pulling the tails guards tails, tripping them, and generally making the guards’ jobs really hard was Hibiscus. She signed a brief sign to Bastet, Go, run. Tell Topaz I love her. Bastet was taken aback by her kindness, Dragons she had known in the fifth ring would never help her like this, but here was Hibiscus, a rainwing she barely knew, helping her escape a life in prison. Bastet didn’t think twice, running and jumping from tree to tree, she ran so much and so hard she almost tripped on a tree root, several tree roots in fact. Bastet looked back at the wild cluttered trees ahead and blunged right in. The small and multi-colored group lost the guards pretty quickly, the vines and drooping branches of the forest made it hard to see.
An hour later the group huddled together in a small cave not too far from the  edge of the jungle. Rain poured down relentlessly outside, forcing the group of dragons to find shelter. Puttles spread across the forest floor and trickled down into the cave, making everyone both cold and wet. Lemur was the first to speak, her voice cold and annoyed.
“If YOU hadn’t just.. CRAWLED over to me, we all would be home,” Lemur growled, flaring her nostrils. “Which I would prefer over being stuck in a cave with all of you.” Lemur was clearly referring to Bastet, who was sitting in the farthest corner of the cave. 
“I’m sorry, it’s not my fault you murdered one of my friends!” Bastet countered, anger bubbling up. Your only friend Bastet. She thought sadly. “Plus I had come to peace with my fate. Your the one who captured me just to make the rest of my life torture instead of putting me out of my misery!”
“It was a mission, sand snorter, and a mission YOU ruined,” Lemur lashed out, now only a few paces away from Bastet. “I ruined? You were the one who decided to come to MY show, and make ME suspicious of you!” Her angry outburst died almost immediately. What was she even doing? She didn’t even feel like fighting with Lemur, it would only get her killed, but then again maybe that was for the best. Bastet watched fearfully as Lemur approached, to the point of which she was right in Bastet’s face. “Oh, and if you still want..” Lemur hissed, sharp, cold dagger suddenly pressed to Bastet’s throat. “I can always end your suffering right now.” Bastet stared straight into Lemur’s fierce eyes, staring with violent rage. Bastet let Lemur see all her fear, her pain, her emptiness and calmly said,
“Do it,” she tried to sound brave, strong, even, but it came out more resigned than she had hoped. She closed her eyes waiting for her death.
“OoOoO,” Moth piped up, rubbing his talons together. Lemur hissed in Bastet’s ear, then Bastet felt a cold, sharp pain in her neck, to the left of her artery. Was Lemur sloppy? Had she actually tried to kill Bastet or did she intentionally miss? Either way he cut hurt and Bastet gasped with pain, her talons flying up to cover the wound. Looking down, Bastet saw a deep cut, but not deep enough. She sat down hard on the stone floor, bleeding out at an alarming rate.
“This is what happens when you cross me.” Lemur spat, inspecting the bleeding wound in Bastet’s neck. “You’re just lucky I’m merciful.” 
Merciful, merciful!? What part of her is merciful, and why didn’t she kill me? Bastet thought, clutching her painful wound. Would she survive it? Or would this be the last pain she felt before death? Bastet began breathing heavily, eyes widening.
Topaz rushed to her side, growling low at Lemur, out of her satchel Topaz grabbed some bandages, quickly wrapping the wound. Topaz stood up and glared at Lemur, snarling furiously. Clearly, Lemur’s violent side had been put away for now. But her eyes still brimmed with pent up rage, her teeth clenched. Bastet knew why Lemur was an assassin now. Because she always succeeded, no matter the cost. Bastet grabbed Topaz’s arm, stopping her from fighting with Lemur.
“Wait,” Bastet croaked weakly. It hurt her throat to speak but she didn’t care, if she died, well she died. “Two things. One, thank you Topaz, for everything you’ve done, it really means a lot,” she half laughed and half sobbed. “I actually have never had a friend as kind as you before so, thanks for even treating me with so much respect.”
“Stop it with the boring sappy stuff,” Moth whined, “It’s ruining everything for me.” Topaz shot the most intense glare at Moth but turned back to face Bastet.
“Second,” Bastet said, ignoring Moth’s interjection. “Hibiscus told me to tell you she loves you. She was there, you know, stalling the guards. She’s lucky to have you,” Topaz’s eyes widened, raising her talons to her mouth, tears running down her face. Bastet felt as if she had only made the situation worse. She stopped talking about the rainwing they had left behind. “Umm, sorry. I’m going to shut up now,” Bastet grunted, her pathetic final words. Then her eyes closed shut and she fell into a dark and dreamless sleep.
= Chapter Six =
Lemur huffed angrily, avoiding the cold stare of Topaz. The sandwing had reserved it. The sandwing deserved nothing but a knife to the throat. Lemur paced in her own corner ignoring all of Topaz’s attempts to shame Lemur. Bastet was nothing but a cactus brained-lump of sloth spit. Bastet was nothing but an annoying sandwing who got into the way of everything. Topaz suddenly prodded Lemur with a sharp talon, pointing to her sketchbook. Why?! Topaz glared at her, eyes bloodshot from crying. Lemur took a second to speak, as her throat was sore and dry from lack of water.
“To prove a point.” She spat, managing to speak. Topaz scoffed, her eyes filled with guilt and anger, but Lemur stared at her blood-stained dagger to avoid it.
A point! There was no point! She scribbled, and Lemur knew if she could speak, she would be yelling at her. If she could speak, Topaz would have yelled at her a lot.
“Look, you mud-eating-salamander, I don’t care! Bashmush is not my problem, nor is she my greatest concern. So STOP pouting about it!” Lemur roared, and Topaz took a step back, her gaze had rage but also hurt. Lemur’s scales were engulfed in a scarlet red, similar to a skywing’s. Lemur hissed quietly, and her scales resumed their usual grays. “I. Don’t. Care.” She spat again, pushing Topaz away.
“OoOh! More drama.” Moth said, but shut up when Lemur and Topaz both glared at him at once. “Just trying to lighten the mood.” He sighed, turning away from the two fighting dragons. “I’m going hunting,” Lemur growled, and Topaz readied to follow, “I don't want or need the company of a pathetic lizard,  I want to hunt alone.” Lemur spat, and Topaz frowned, turning back to Bastet’s unconscious body. 
So what if I hurt her? So what? It’s not like I care. Lemur nodded, as if she decided something. I don’t care. Lemur turned back one last time, just to see the others. Topaz stared up at her from Bastet’s side, wrapping bandages around her neck wound. I don’t care. I won’t ever care. Lemur reassured herself. 
Exiting the cave, Lemur sighed in relief. No one else, just her and silence. Alone, like she liked it. Solitude was all Lemur needed. She stalked and prowled through the trees for a while, not really looking for anything. The mud and dead leaves that covered the ground clung to her scales like a fly in a venus fly trap, the air was still humid from the recent rain. SNAP. Lemur stopped, immediately in a fighting stance. It could just be a wild boar. Lemur thought. But hadn’t the noise come from the trees above? CRACK. She looked up at the trees, the branches were moving, like something or someone had just been there. It’s heading towards the village. Lemur noted. She crept slow and quiet to the nearest climbable tree and slithered up it, using her tail for balance. SNAP. This time lemur locked on to the sound, only a few trees in front of her. A shadow navy blue shape jumped again, to the next tree. It was a dragon. Lemur followed the figure soundlessly. She was only one tree away when the dragon stopped, sniffing the air and slapping its own snout.
“These stupid bugs,” the dragon growled, biting the air. “Why did I have to get a job in the gross, muddy, disgusting, outrageously hot, rainy, uncomfortable jung-” Lemur pounced, tackling the dragon off of his tree. The two dragons fell, grappling with each other. The strange dragon roared in outrage as they hit the ground. “You Sloth! Get off!” he yelled, kicking her back. Lemur dodged a slice from the dragon's talons. Lemur darted in for a strike but she was blinded by a bright flash which left spots in her eyes. Instinctively she rolled to the side, anticipating a strike but heard none. When her eyes adjusted she glanced around and the dragon was gone. “Over here, Lemur,” the dragon called. Lemur looked up and he was back in the trees. His scales were a deep black-ish blue, his underbelly a pale gray. Teal blue phosphorescent scales decorated his legs, sides, back, and tail, and one of his horns was broken at the end.
“How do you know my name, dung beetle?” Lemur sneered, flicking her tail dangerously. The seawing looking dragon rolled his eyes, settling comfortably on his branch.
“I was hired by your Queen, idiot. She told me about you, you're the one who stole my kill,” Lemur almost smiled. She had beaten some fly brain to a kill, though, that definitely wasn’t the first time she had ever done that. She was a skilled assassin, after all. “So? I can still kill you, hybrid.” Lemur hissed, bloodied dagger within her talon. “So can I,” the stranger yawned, looking down upon her. Lemur snorted. “You, kill me? And we have wings.” She said, her tail still flicking. 
Category:Fanfictions
Category:Fanfictions (Incomplete)
Category:Fanfictions (Fanon)