Soldier

A short story for the Short Story Contest hosted by PinkRose06. Soldier won an honourable mention in the contest.
==Characters==
Needletail (Protagonist 1)
Honeyguide (Protagonist 2)
Random SkyWing and MudWing soldiers
Crocodile (Canon Character)
==Story==
"Are you excited, Needle?"
A pale pink, orange, and coral red SkyWing asked her friend, her grey eyes sparkling in happiness. She was training alongside many other SkyWings and MudWings, and they were all preparing to storm the SeaWing's secret Summer Palace. One of those SkyWings was practicing with her, and their name was Needletail.
"I'm not sure. I mean, it's good to get your legs stretching, and"—Needletail threw a sharp knife at a leather dragon dummy—"it's fun to train." The knife went straight through the dummy's head, and the knife dropped on the smooth stone floor with a clatter, not even loud enough to be heard in the chorus of voices. "Nice throw." A tawny MudWing commented, looking at Needletail with a smile.
Needletail nodded, before picking the knife up and handing it to Honeyguide. "Your turn." Needletail said calmly. Honeyguide took the knife like a prize, happily accepting it. Aiming at the dummy's head, she threw it with lightning speed. The knife sliced the horn smoothly, before landing. Honeyguide looked bewildered and disappointed. "I aimed for the face!" She sighed, retrieving the knife. Without any hesitation, she dropped it into Needletail's talons quickly. Needletail cleared her throat. "This is boring. I'd like to do sparring."
"Against me? You'd obviously win!" Honeyguide smirked. Needletail giggled for a few seconds. "Yeah, you're right. Although, someone your size might be waiting to fight." With that information, Honeyguide darted off to the sparring rooms like an arrow. "Wait up!" Needletail called. She set the knife against the dummy's wood base, and raced in Honeyguide's direction.
Needletail could see all the soldiers. MudWings punching cloth dragons in the face with their fists, or twisting their necks with only one smack of a tail. Who could forget the SkyWings, either? The SkyWings were coughing up hot fire that burned through fake leaves, and some were practicing how to use Dragonflame Cactuses. I'd like to do that after sparring, Needletail thought. Then, she stopped, seeing the sparring room right in front of her.
Honeyguide was there, reading the rules for sparring. Needletail, very new to sparring, decided to read them as well.
RULES FOR SPARRING
1: Never try to kill your opponent.
2: When either dragon surrenders, the sparring has ended. Do not continue fighting after your opponent surrenders.
3: It is advised that each dragon spars with a dragon their age or size.
4. When your opponent gets injured severely, stop fighting.
5. Spar with your own tribe. No MudWings vs. SkyWings.
6. Remove all accessories.
7. If you are severely injured, go to the Healers Hut after sparring.
Needletail grunted. So many rules. But it's for safety, she reminded herself. Hesitantly, she took off her amber teardrop necklace and her pouch of dragonflame cactuses and hung them on a rack. Taking off her necklace felt like she just took her eyes out of her own head. Her necklace was important to her, and she would never take it off. Quickly, she reminded herself again, It's for safety. Then, Needletail watched as Honeyguide vanished into a sparring room with a scarred, peach SkyWing, which looked way smaller than her.
Needletail then sat down on one of the benches, waiting silently. Then, a large tangerine SkyWing, who was a little bigger than her, sat down with her. "Hello. Ready?" They asked. Needletail nodded quickly. She didn't even hesitate one bit. "Ah, alright." They said calmly. The other SkyWing walked to a large door, and Needletail followed, unsure what to do. They opened the door, and Needletail's jaw dropped.
The room was lit up with lanterns, and banners with orange fire patterns hung down from the walls. A black line of sand crossed between the middle, and a huge stone statue loomed above; a dragon roaring with eyes in slits. A stone was rolled over what seemed to be an opening to another sparring cave. A few plants hung down from the walls, although they looked parched and lifeless. The sparring rooms were beautiful. However, the only thing that ruined it all, was the blood. It stained the sand and seemed to be painted on the walls like a decoration. Who would ever want to decorate a room with blood? Blood is sickening, Needletail thought, shivering.
"Hello? Ready to fight?" The other SkyWing said. Needletail woke up from spacing out. "Oh, uh, yeah," She studdered, walking to the left side of the room, spreading her wings. She was ready to fight. "Go!" The SkyWing yelled.
Needletail leapt forward, scoring a blow to the other SkyWing's head. Her opponent was able to nip at her leg. Needletail flinched, tumbling backward. She was dazed for a moment. Her opponent threw themselves at her, but Needletail quickly got out of the way. They got a snout full of sand and grunted. Needletail threw herself at them, scoring a blow across his face, before crawling back to where she was. The other SkyWing got up slowly, and without warning, leapt at Needletail, pinning her to the floor. "Gotcha," they said. Needletail kicked them off using her back legs, and was able to bite their ankle as they were thrown to the other side of the cave. They flew after Needletail, and snapped at her neck like a wild animal. Needletail cried in pain and grabbed their snout, and pushed them away.
The other SkyWing raced after her, but Needletail got out of the way quickly. She smacked their wing with her tail, and ran to the corner of the cave. They leapt after her, and knocked her down with extreme strength. Needletail fell limp for a moment, before coming back with a bang. She grabbed their neck and pushed them off, stepping on their tailtip. "Ow!" They yelled, grabbing their tail. Their facial expression clearly yelled, I give up, and Needletail raced to the door. Busting it open, she saw Honeyguide waiting outside of the caves, with a bored expression. The tangerine SkyWing she fought walked out, smiling at her. "Good battle." Their yellow eyes were calm, however, he had to race off to the Healers.
"Honeyguide," Needletail yelled, racing to Honeyguide and giving her a huge hug. "How was it?" Honeyguide sighed in defeat and said, "Well, I lost." Needletail hugged her tighter. "Don't worry, you'll be perfect in the battle. Now, I need to get my necklace." Needletail grabbed her pouch and necklace from the rack of various accessories. Bracelets, glasses, even a hat. Needletail put them on quickly, but Honeyguide was gone. Needletail did see her tail dragging into the Healers Hut at the last second. Needletail sighed in relief and watched the various SkyWings and MudWings train.
They were surely ready to fight. Maybe I'll train with the dragonflame cactus, Needletail thought. There was a map somewhere, but Needletail didn't bother to read it, since it was right next to the sparring room. Walking near it, she felt a tap on her wing. She turned around, and it was Honeyguide. "Sorry, my wing had a small scratch on it that was bleeding badly." Honeyguide quickly explained. Needletail grinned. "It's fine! Anyways, want to keep traini-" A roar interrupted Needletail. "EVERYBODY, PLEASE COME TO THE FRONT!"
Needletail and Honeyguide both knew that something was up. The voice clearly belonged to Crocodile, the whole mastermind behind this plan. Needletail could see the other dragons run over to the front of the training room, and nearly step on some others. Needletail grabbed Honeyguide quickly, trying to avoid the crowd. They both ran to the front before anyone else, and looked up at Crocodile. She was massive, and shades of brown splashed all over her body, and a scar on her jaw made her look scary. As the other dragons crowded by, Crocodile sighed.
"We are ready to fly to the SeaWing's Palace. I know you were all waiting for this moment, and it has come. Everyone ready?" Crocodile asked. "WOOHOO!", "YEAH!", "KILL THOSE FISH HEADS!", "READY!", "I'M SO EXCITED!", and "YES!" floated through the air. Clearly, everyone was ready. A few light brown MudWings made a tower in the back, and the one on top of all the MudWings shouted, "WOOHOO! TIME FOR BATTLE!" Honeyguide yelled, "WOOHOO!" Needletail joined in the chorus of "hooray"s and yelled, "WHO'S READY?!" Many dragons yelled back, "ME!"
"We're off, then," Crocodile announced. She darted out of the training rooms. "Remember your lines." Needletail joined the others, and she got in her position, which was next to Honeyguide, and right in the middle. Needletail's eyes gleamed in happiness. Honeyguide was at her side, she was fighting, and everyone was happy. It was amazing. Everyone zoomed off after Crocodile, which would be leading everyone to the palace. As other dragons started to talk, Needletail tapped Honeyguide, and Honeyguide nodded back. She knew what Needletail wanted to do. "Three, two, one," Needletail counted down. Then, Honeyguide and Needletail exclaimed in unison, loudly,
"Time to be a soldier!"
Category:Genre (Short Story)
Category:Content (SkyFireStone)
Category:Fanfictions
Category:Fanfictions (Canon)
Category:Fanfictions (Completed)