In The Scorpion Den- An RP Fic

The sun's bright rays were just beginning to glow above the horizon where the Scorpion Den came to life. Dragons walking from stall to stall- mostly SandWings, one could note, but there were occasional flashes of colorful scales that contrasted with the desert sand.
"Here. If you find something interesting, bring it to me, you got it?" Treasurefinder instructed, pressing a talonful of gold disks into Bluster's claws. The young IceWing nodded, and obediently dashed off, searching for anything that could possibly be animus-touched or valuable.
Suddenly, there was a huge commotion. Dragons gave yelps of shock, crowding tightly around whatever had captured their attention.
Bluster started and turned, the gold slipping from his talons. Cursing himself under his breath, he dusted the sand off of them and scooped them up before looking to see what the trouble was.
A violently bright purple-pink RainWing had apparently crashed into a stand selling bowls of stew. The bowls had flown everywhere, spattering their contents over every dragon in a twenty-foot radius. Seemingly oblivious to what she had just caused, the RainWing sat, drenched in stew, radiating pure joy from her glossy scales.
Bluster rushed over to peer at the RainWing, having never seen one before. She was pretty, and he had never seen scales that color before. Gazing around at the affronted dragons circling her, he suppressed a laugh. Not knowing what to say, he looked at the RainWing and muttered, "Hi."
She looked positively elated. "Oh my moons, HI! I LOVE your scales! You're so PRETTY! D'you think I could do that? Maybe? Okay, I'll try it!" Her scales shimmered into a very pale blue, tinted silver. "Close enough, d'you think? Maybe?"
He laughed. "Quite close. What are you doing here, anyway? Isn't the rainforest, like, on the other side of the continent? That's what I've heard. I've never actually been. What's it like there?"
"I FELL through a TUNNEL!" exclaimed the RainWing joyously. "And it's SO AWESOME there! SUPER-DUPER AWESOME! It's so SHINY! I LOVE shiny things! I also LOVE COLORS! What's your favorite color? OH! I'm GLAMOUR, by the way! SUPER-DUPER GREAT to meet you!" Her scales shimmered back to pale pink.
Bluster tried to keep up with her train of thought. "My new favorite color is probably the color that your scales were. I've never seen anything like that." He hesitated, then continued. "I'm Bluster. I'd like to see the rainforest. Could you show me the tunnel?"
"HI, BLUSTER! And I TOTALLY LOVE THAT COLOR, TOO!" She then tilted her head. "I have no idea where the tunnel it..." Purplish-orange splashed across her neon scales. "It got all covered in sand. I've never SEEN sand before! It's very...very SANDY!"
"Bluster?" growled Treasurefinder, stepping into view, at the same time an outraged voice squawked, "You lost the tunnel, Glamour? Then how are we going to get out?" Aracari glared at Glamour. "I was relying on you to get us back. I followed you here, after all." The rainbow colors in her scales were streaked with orange and emerald green.
Glamour beamed at the sigh of Aracari. "Hi, friend! I've talked to you a few times, right? Yeah, I asked you for a mango once! We're TOTALLY friends," she added to Bluster. Noticing Treasurefinder, she smiled, if possible, even wider. "HI! I'm GLAMOUR! I'm BEST FRIENDS with Bluster!"
Suddenly, the dragons in the crowd quickly parted. A small, pale shape winged into the Scorpion Den, alighting on the sand. His eyes were stretched wide with panic. "Cliffrose-" he gasped. "Planning- invasion. Everyone- run. SkyWings- SkyWings are helping. R-run! RUN!" His voice grew shrill, and he collapsed onto the sand.
Bluster's head shot up. "Aren't you Cliffrose's son?" he snarled. "It could be a trick, to get us all to leave our stuff!"
"Come on, Bluster! We have to go! I've seen this runt around here before, and he's on our side. Anyway, we don't even have a stall set up. We came here to buy, not to sell, remember?"
Aracari ran back to the spot she thought the tunnel was and started digging. Nothing. She gave up and let her scales match the sand around her.
Glamour's scale flashed pale green. "What's going on?" she shrieked, diving behind Bluster. Dragons were leaping into the air, winging away, leaving everything behind. But barely half of the dragons had left when the first SkyWing soldier landed, shooting fire from between his jaws.
A SkyWing with coppery red scales landed in front of them. Smoke seemed to be rising from him, and his eyes were a startling blue color. He snarled at the small SandWing. "Perfect," he hissed. "An invasion. Just what I need to get revenge on the SandWings."
Aracari watched him, trying to keep her scales the color of the sand. Hardly believing herself, she crept over to Glamour and tugged her arm. "Glamour, hide!"
But Glamour's scales had gone acid green, and as a sandy color started to spread over her, the color of fear swallowed it. Prickle still lay splayed on the sand, his eyes fixed helplessly on the SkyWing.
"No!" he panted, stumbling to his talons and slipping once more. "These are innocent dragons!" He hurled himself at the SkyWing, his tail barb striking at the SkyWing's eye.
The SkyWing ducked, fear flashing in his blue eyes. He swallowed and tried to compose himself. "You can't hurt me. No dragon can." His talons automatically reached up to brush a scar on his snout, as if trying to cover it. "These dragons aren't innocent. They deserve to die."
Hissing, Bluster shot a stream of frostbreath at the SkyWing. It hit his scales, but melted away harmlessly. "Bluster, move!" yelled Treasurefinder, launching himself into the air.
"They haven't done anything!" cried Prickle. "Nothing that happened to them is their fault! Killing them is like- like throwing a dragonet of a mountain because he's different!"
Glamour shrank back, her scales radiating pure terror. She felt her tail brush dragon scales and turned to see a red SkyWing facing her, hissing.
"Glamour!" Pulling away from Treasurefinder, Bluster opened his jaws and shot his frostbreath on the SkyWing. The glittering smoke formed ice crystals on the SkyWing's chest, and she snarled, catching him with a blow on the snout. Her sharp claws left deep gashes in the pale blue scales. "Glamour, disguise yourself! Run!" he told the RainWing.
The copper-red SkyWing roared with fury. "How dare you? It isn't anything like that!" His voice faltered, and for the second time he appeared uncertain.
Prickle shook his head. "They didn't choose this life!" he insisted. "Not all of them. Lots of them were hatched here, lots of their parents were outlaws who are already dead, so killing them isn't going to make a difference, because they haven't done anything!"
Behind him, Glamour gave a wail of fear. "Bluster! Somebody help him! He needs help! Bluster, you're bleeding!" She pulled him away from the SkyWing. "Don't hurt him!"
The coppery SkyWing paused. "Just this once, then." He spread his massive wings and took off, casting one last glance at Prickle.
"I'm fine," Bluster assured her. "Really, I am. Glamour, you need to hide!" He shoved the SkyWing away.
"Bluster, we're leaving. Right now." Treasurefinder flapped above them, tempted to fly away and never look back. "If you want to live, follow me."
Glamour gave a small squeak and fluttered into he air. "I want to live! This is the SCARIEST thing EVER!"
Prickle sprang forward as well. "I'll go with you," he decided. "I could be useful. And I don't want to run back to the palace without knowing what will become of you."
"Come on, then. We all have to go, and I guess we're going together." Treasurefinder winged away from the Scorpion as Bluster brushed his wing against Glamour's.
"Let's go." He took off and paused, waiting for Glamour. He refused to look at the smoldering stalls around him.
Glamour followed, the green in her scales fading slightly. "Thanks, Bluster," she gasped. "Thank you SO SUPER-DUPER much!"
Prickle looked from Bluster to Glamour before turning back to Treasurefinder. "Where do you wish to go?"
"Um, away from here? I don't know, kid. Looks like the Mud Kingdom, unless we'd like to stop by the Sky Kingdom." He left out the Ice Kingdom, not wanting Bluster to know. He had kept the knowledge that the Ice Kingdom was nearby away from the young IceWing, not wanting him to leave.
"The Mud Kingdom may not be safe," sighed Prickle. But he glanced back at the Scorpion Den, which was beginning to go up in flames. Tears shone in his black eyes. "But we need to...go away from here..."
As if to prove his point, there came a furious bellow from far away.
"PRICKLE!"
Treasurefinder sped off, beating his wings rapidly. Bluster followed more slowly, glancing back to make sure Glamour was with him. "Hey, SandWing!" Bluster called. "You'd better take off!"
Prickle nodded, diving upwards into the air. He trailed after Treasurefinder, occasionally glancing behind him.
Glamour turned to Bluster, eyes still very wide. "What was that?" she finally asked. "Why can't we all just be NICE? I LOVE being nice. YOU'RE nice! That's why we're totally BEST FRIENDS, huh?"
"Thanks, Glamour. You're very nice. And we're totally best friends!" Bluster responded. Ahead of him, Treasurefinder shot him a quizzical look, but he chose to ignore him.
"OH, SURE. LEAVE ME BEHIND, WILL YOU?" roared an irritated voice not far behind them. Aracari hissed and flapped her wings harder, catching up with Bluster. "YOU WOULD HAVE JUST LEFT ME!"
Prickle furrowed his brow. "Let's hold up," he decided. "We can't leave whoever it is back there."
"It's another RainWing. She's invisible," Bluster replied. He hovered for a moment to let Aracari catch up, but just then a SandWing soldier lunged up at them.
Prickle dove in between Bluster and the soldier. "I, Prince Prickle-" he began, wincing slightly. "-order you to leave this dragons alone. I'm, uh- taking them to the queen's far-out prisons."
The SandWing hesitated, then saluted. "Yes, sir. Taking them to Realgar's prisons, eh? Your mother- Her Majesty- must have promised Realgar arena prisoners in exchange for help."
"Something like that, yes," Prickle told him. "Now be gone, Chuckwalla. I can manage these- these filthy outlaws myself."
Glamour smiled and winked obviously to Prickle, but thankfully, Chuckwalla didn't seem to notice. He simply gave a small bow before winging away.
The party soared over the Scorpion Den and over the rolling dunes of the Kingdom of Sand. "When can we stop to hunt?" asked Bluster.
"Once we're farther," Treasurefinder grunted in reply.
"But I'm hungry!" wailed Aracari. "Is there any fruit in this place?" Spotting a fig tree, she alighted beside it at once. Treasurefinder hissed in frustration as she began cramming dates into her mouth.
"We have to go!"
Glamour glided down after her. "FRUIT! AWESOME! YAY!" She plucked one from a branch and began to gnaw on it.
Prickle sighed. "A few minutes, no more, wouldn't hurt, I suppose. I'll see if I can find any lizards. But we'll have to move on as soon as we can."
Bluster nodded in agreement, panting. He wasn't meant to live in the desert. He had adapted during his lifetime in the Scorpion Den, but still tired. Aracari was bolting down as many dates as she could. "Why can't we just stay here for the night?" she demanded. "I'm exhausted."
Prickle shook his head. "Cliffrose is looking for us. Most likely, Sizzle is as well. However odd this may be, I cannot always distinguish my sister from enemy or ally."
"Well, at least you have a sister," Aracari replied, tossing her head. "I have nothing but a brother. I think. I might have a sister, but who cares, you know?"
"You don't care?" Bluster queried. "I've wonder if I have siblings. Or parents. I mean, I don't know where I came from. I was stolen as an egg and put up for sale at the Scorpion Den."
"Wow, that's sad!" exclaimed Glamour. "I THINK I might have brothers or sisters. I don't know! I do have LOTS of friends, though! BEST friends! Like YOU!"
Prickle shrugged. "It doesn't really matter to me. See, Sizzle's always studying these gruesome things- she's been doing it since she was two. By now she probably knows a hundred ways to kill a dragon. She's got her sights set on being queen, and I'd be scared to see what came next. Because ruling the SandWings wouldn't be enough for her. After all, if a RainWing is queen of two tribes, why couldn't a SandWing be?"
"Sizzle?" drawled a new voice. "Oh, yes, she is quite annoying. And she has no sense of fun." A SandWing the same color as the dunes shook grains off of her wings. Her black eyes, glittering mischievously, studied the group. "Well, what do we have here? Two RainWings, a NightWing, an IceWing, and . . . Prince Prickle? What an interesting party."
"Don't call me that," snapped Prickle, his spines raising. "This isn't any of your business."
"HI! What's your na-" began Glamour, cutting of as Promise whipped his tail over her snout.
"Surprised you don't recognize me. I am royalty, after all." She spoke pompously, but her eyes were sparkling with laughter. "None of my business, huh, little cousin? What do you think your mother would think if I told her that I found you in the desert with such odd company?"
"Go hug a cactus, Rebutia," snapped Prickle. His tail lashed furiously, but he clenched his talons with fear.
Rebutia smiled. "No need to be testy now," she responded silkily, clearly enjoying herself. She tapped her lower aw with a talon. "I think I shall tell Cliffrose. It is her kingdom, after all." She spread her wings, prepared to take off.
Prickle pounced on her tail. "No!" he howled. "Treasurefinder, knock her out!" His claws scrabbled for a hold on Rebutia's scales.
Rebutia yelped, shocked, but her tail was trapped beneath Prickle's talons. Treasurefinder lunged forward and slammed a talon against her head. She went limp beneath his palm. "We have to go before she wakes up," Treasurefinder grunted.
Prickle gave his cousin a concerned look. "Uh, yeah, but is it wise to just leave her? Anybody could find her. She's royalty, too, and a lot of dragons have a score to settle with her mother or mine- she's a great bargaining chip."
"Fine. You carry her," Treasurefinder replied, black gaze flickering from Rebutia's long, barbed tail to the heavy diamonds set between her scales.
"I can help." Bluster offered, lifting Rebutia onto his back. "I've carried heavier on some of the trips I've been on."
"Thanks." Prickle sighed. "I wish she hadn't caught us. This will make things more difficult. But we need to keep moving. Although I wish I knew where to go..."
"Through the Mud Kingdom, to the rainforest, perhaps. The dragons their know me, or at least they know my friend Promisemaker. We'll be safe there," Treasurefinder assured him. "Let's get moving."
He took off in the direction of the Mud Kingdom, Bluster following and Aracari stuffing one last date into her mouth with a regretful sigh. The sun was setting, and the aggressively blue sky faded to pink, shot through with gold.
An hour passed, then two. The five did not cease flying, Prickle and Bluster taking turns with Rebutia, Glamour chattering incessantly. Finally, when the moon reached its peak, Prickle called to Treasurefinder.
"We'll- we'll need to sleep," he panted.
Treasurefinder peered into the distance. "We could make it to the Mud Kingdom if we continued all night," he muttered. "But all right." He lifted Rebutia off of Prickle's back and set her down, none too gently, into the sand.
Her eyes fluttered open. "What . . . am . . ." She shook her head slowly. Her gaze landed on Prickle, and her eyes sharpened. "You!" she hissed. "What did you do?" Her talons brushed the place where Treasurefinder had struck her, and she winced.
Prickle groaned. "Great, the moment we want to sleep, she wakes up." He stepped forward, his limp, askew wings leaving marks in the sand as they dragged behind him. "Go back to sleep, Rebutia. Think of something comforting- a load of treasure or something." He sighed. "Now someone will need to take on guard duty. We can't have her flying off while we're snoozing away."
"I'll do it," Bluster offered. He stood in front of Rebutia, snout directed towards her face in case he needed to use his teeth. Aracari collapsed on top of the sand, and Treasurefinder found a spot slightly apart from the group.
As the night wore on, Aracari's eyes flickered open in time to see Rebutia body slamming Bluster against a cactus. The IceWing hissed in pain as the sharp spines found gaps between his scales and stuck there.
Glamour bolted awake. At the sight of the scene, she leaped to her talons. "No! Stop!" she yelled, awakening Prickle. The young SandWing leaped at Rebutia.
Rebutia looked up, unprepared, as Prickle jumped. She dodged back, but fell on top of the cactus. With a snarl, she ripped free, several of the cladodes clinging to her scales. Bluster pounced, gripping her shoulders with his serrated claws. "Help me over here! Prickle! Treasurefinder! Someone!"
Prickle darted forward once more, fast as a striking snake. The flat side of his tail barb struck at Rebutia's face. Glamour watched in fear, her scales splashed green and orange.
Rebutia hissed as she was struck. Glaring at Prickle, she realized what a bad idea it would be to continue fighting. She would have to battle her way past Prickle, the IceWing, the NightWing, and the two RainWings- no, not the two RainWings. Even so, she was outnumbered. "I won't forget this," she growled at Prickle, backing away in an undignified fashion. Grumbling, she spread her wings and took off back towards Queen Cliffrose's Palace.
"Well," remarked Treasurefinder briskly. "Let's keep moving."
Category:Collaborations
Category:Collaborations
Category:Fanfictions
Category:Fanfictions (Fanon)
Category:Fanfictions (Incomplete)