A Coyote Out Of Place

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== Chapter 1 ==
Coyote rolled over and yawned wide. The soft sand was warm on her scales and begged her to stay. But she couldn’t, she was heading to Possibility. The sun was already low on the horizon and she had spent most of the night flying, the NightWing tendency that drove her crazy. She blinked open her eyes to see pitch black ones staring down at her. She scrambled up, spraying sand in every direction. 
A tan SandWing was sitting before her, the poison barb was set on his front talons. He wore a obsidian arm band and a matching horn ring. 
“She’s up!” He said and stood. The IceWing behind him barely glanced up from the cactus thorns she was pulling out of her talon. 
Coyote’s only instinct was to flee. As fast as she could, across the desert to some far off oasis. She dug her talons into the loose sand, spread her ebony wings, and launched into the air as fast as she could. She didn’t bother to grab her water skin, she was too panicked. Were they sent by her mother? Or the OutClaws? It was better safe then sorry. 
She could hear the wingbeats of pursuers and a voice calling for her to stop. She only pressed herself harder. If I were any other tribe, I could escape, well, maybe not. NightWings were the most useless tribe ever, what could they do? Breathe fire? That wasn’t going to help her right now.
The dunes beneath her rushed by like a river. She headed south, away from her original destination. Panic blocked her from thinking clearly. 
She didn’t dare glance over her shoulder, the whoosh of wings behind her told her the SandWing and IceWing were behind her. It sounded like more.
Something rammed her right side and she roared at a decibel she didn’t know she could produce. She tried to flail her wings but something pinned them to her sides. She collided with the hot dunes and then everything went black.
“Owww,” Coyote yelped, but kept her eyes closed. She could feel heat on her scales, either from a nearby fire or whatever rammed her out of the sky. She blinked open her eyes to confirm which. 
She was lying in the shadow of a tall saguaro cactus, though the setting sun made the shadow much longer then her. A thick wire tied her front talons together, while another tied her left wing to her side. Her tail blade was gone. Her scales felt weird and light with out the leather straps tying the blade to her tail.
The IceWing and SandWing sat beside the fire, across from each other. The IceWing picking the last bits of meat off a bone, while the SandWing watched the flames dance. Her water skin lay in the sand, tossed carelessly to the side. They must’ve grabbed it before they gave chase. The blade and leather straps lay next to it.
“Hey, your up!” The SandWing turned from the fire and shook out his wings.
“Took you long enough.” Muttered the ice dragon.
She carefully pushed herself into a sitting position, quite a feat considering her talons were tied and her head was throbbing painfully. A sharp pain in her side forced her back down.
She hissed in pain and lifted her right wing. The ribs underneath wasn’t bleeding or misshapen, but it sure hurt. The SandWing looked over at her and she turned her hiss on him. He turned back to the fire.
The IceWing wore a wolf claw around her neck that gleamed in the firelight. Her scales were white as snow and freckled with ice-blue on her snout. After a few moments, she had completely stripped the bone of meat and edged away for the fire to curl up with her tail under her chin. Soon her breathing slowed and her wings relaxed. The spikes behind her horns rattled quietly.
The empty space between the IceWing and SandWing shimmered and a RainWing appeared, her scales shifting from sandy tan to a mellow blue. The sun was completely gone now and the cool desert winds picked up. 
“Let me see your side.” She stepped lightly around the ice dragon and approached her. Coyote snarled.
“I can care for myself.” She growled and shook her talons, the wire held her claws to close to twist and cut it. She turned her glare on the SandWing. “I wouldn’t need to if you didn’t knock me out of the sky.” She was almost sure it was him. The RainWing didn't seem strong enough and the IceWing didn’t seem like she wanted anything to do with Coyote. Or anyone else for that matter.
The RainWing stood for a moment, glancing at the sand dragon, then turned back to where she’d been sitting. She curled up with her tail and wings close and her head under her right wing.
None of the three moons where full, but one was more than halfway. Coyote stared at the fire. So her mother didn’t send them, she didn’t want anything to do with RainWings, and she didn’t like IceWings much more. They might have been sent by the OutClaws. 
A coyote howled in the distance and the RainWing shivered violently while the IceWing stirred in her sleep. Coyote’s ears pricked forward. The SandWing was also distracted. In a moment’s decision, she used her hind claws in a attempt to cut the wire. It was made of the metal from the SkyWing arena and she barely dented it. Her side smarted and she stopped with a hiss. Maybe a rib had cracked? Probably not, dragon bones are as hard as diamonds.
“Don’t hurt yourself,” the IceWing growled, not bothering to look at her, “Queen Tourmaline wanted you in one piece.”
That got her attention. A queen? And Tourmaline at that, the queen of the SkyWings, who lived as a entirely different dragon for almost her entire life? What did she want with a rogue Sand-, err, NightWing? Was she a prisoner? The wire certainly made that a valid option. 
“Tourmaline?” Coyote moved a little closer to the fire, although her side screamed in protest. So the OutClaws didn’t send them, and she wasn’t about to backtrack the way she came. If it was a lie, they hid it well. 
“Yeah, she heard you were a general, and that you fought on Blister’s side in the war. She wanted to talk business.” She said with a small hint of disgust, as if she were a much better candidate.
The coyote in the distance howled again. The RainWing shivered and tucked her head further under her wing.
She said nothing, and laid her head on her talons in front of her .The moons begged her to fly and hunt but the training of her mother told her to lie down and sleep. She was more terrified of her mother, even if she wasn’t there. 
“The irritated IceWing is Wolf, the RainWing is Tiger and I’m Dingo.” He said as he dragged her water skin over. She laughed internally at their uncanny names. All animals.
“Name’s Coyote.” She said. Wolf scoffed.
“Huh, most NightWing names have two parts.” The RainWing said, pulling her head out from under her wing, “or they have something to do with knowledge or something like that.” Blue clouds gathered at her shoulders and wing tips. That meant curiosity, if her sources were correct. That was a 50-50 chance, probably less.
“Not mine.” She said. The coyote had fallen silent, and the sound of its paws on the sand was gone. It must’ve decided to bed down too. 
“What makes you so incredibly interesting that Queen Tourmaline sent us across Pyrrha?” Wolf growled, probably because she had been expecting something more imperial when Tourmaline had sent them.
“I don’t know, why don’t you ask her?” She asked, sitting back up (with some difficulty) and spitting out some sand.
Wolf hissed and Coyote snarled. She had seen many IceWings in battle and knew a few secrets. Hopefully they worked even if her claws were tied. And without her tail blade.
“Stop,” Tiger leapt over the fire and stepped in between them, “Queen Tourmaline said don’t hurt her unless you have too, and you don’t have too.” Wolf grumbled and lay back down but Coyote merely stared at her coldly. The RainWing bared her long fangs and she turned to the fire, balancing on her claws precariously. 
After a moment, Tiger nodded and returned to her spot by the fire. Dingo had stayed silent and curled up with his tail by his nose. Soon the whole group was sleeping, except Coyote.
She watched the flames dance and flicker, sending shadows scurrying. She struggled against the wire without success. They just cut into her scales. She lifted her tail forward before realizing the blade wasn’t there. 
“Guess I’m stuck here.”
== Chapter 2 ==
“IceWings, from the northeast.” 
Coyote looked over the SeaWing captain. Blister glared him down. Blood coated his green scales and part of his wing wasn’t folded properly, like a bone had been broken.
They were far behind enemy lines, in a small tree-surrounded clearing, near the border of the Mud Kingdom and the Sky Kingdom. The sun had set an hour ago and camp fires sprouted up where the few SandWing soldiers had decided to sleep. A cliff on the south side offered a vantage point for Blister and Coyote. 
“Send the top five battalions, one defending camp and the others flank the attackers.” Coyote said calmly. “Then go to the healers tent.” He seemed to have gotten worse in the moments standing there. He nodded tiredly and launched into the air, flapping lopsided to the huge barrack tents.
“Another amazing vision of the future, I suppose?” Blister purred. She flicked her venomous tail barb. “One where I’m queen and this war has ended? Is this battle important enough to risk five battalions?” A rare glint of curiosity in her eyes proposed she thought that might be true.
Coyote hated that. Blister thought any sort of battle strategy was a vision. And she didn’t even care about the soldiers themselves, just the power of her army. 
“Not a vision, just strategy.” She said, and Blister’s barbed tail flicked a tiny bit closer to her dark scales. Coyote snarled and leapt at her, quickly pinning her barbed tail to the ground with the sharpen edge of the blade. 
“If you ever even think of killing me, I will strike first.” She hissed. She pressed her claws harder on Blister’s neck, drawing blood. “One will survive and it won’t be you.”
Blister glared her down, but didn’t fight back. Her eyes had a slight fear to them.    
Suddenly a idea popped into Coyote’s head. She touched her head and pretended to wince, backing off of the princess and sitting down. She still pinned the SandWings tail. 
“Three heirs turned a fight to a war, three princesses made it last a score, one will survive...” She narrowed her eyes at Blister, “from the desert to the sea, which will it be?”
Blister smiled maliciously, and stood up. 
“It will be me. Isn’t nice to have a seer on my side?” She spread her wings, probably imagining gems set between her scales and the Eye Of Onyx around her neck. No, that sounded more like Blaze, Blister was probably going to overthrow the other queens and rule all of Pyrrha. 
Coyote laughed before saying, “what makes you think you’ll win?”
“You just said so,” Her dark eyes glittered, “From desert to sea, obviously means me, my allies are the SeaWings, and I came from the desert.” She looked down her nose at Coyote.
A SandWing solider appeared, covered in blue and red blood.
“The second and fifth battalions have fallen, and the rest are about to follow.” He said, “Requesting orders to retreat.” 
“Orders granted.” Coyote said, and spread her wings to take off. Blister snatched her tail and snarled.
“I give the orders around here, and I say fight.” She glared at the SandWing, who looked distraught. Retreat to fight again, or fight a losing battle. Blister raised her tail barb and he nodded, flying off to the battle roaring in the distance. 
“That’s a bad idea.” Coyote said and pulled her tail away. 
“And why is that? Am I about to hear two prophecies in one night?” She growled sarcastically.
“No.” Coyote said tiredly. “Any dragon in-charge of an army should know when to retreat. If two entire battalions have fallen in just a few minutes, the whole IceWing army must be here. And if the SkyWings hear this battle, the war might end tonight.”
Blister just snorted, took a running leap off the cliff and and began rounding up the soldiers that where still in the camp. At least she wasn’t entirely deaf to reason. Coyote followed her and in a few moments, the camp was empty. They were headed back to Blisters base, a island in the Bay of a Thousand Scales. 
And they left the battle behind.
Coyote woke with a jolt. Bright sunlight glinted off her scales and a even brighter RainWing bounced around the ashes of the fire. Wolf was gliding on a breeze high above them, a white speck in the cloudless sky. Dingo was struggling with the water skin, blade, and camel leather straps. It looked like he was trying to carry them, but was failing.
She glanced down at the wires, wondering how she was going to fly, before realizing they were gone. She stretched her talons out in front of her and yawned luxuriously, her white teeth gleaming in the rising sun. Her wing was free, and the ache in her side was gone too. She checked for her earring; it was still there. 
“Wolf!” Tiger called. The white speck grew closer until Wolf was hovering above them. 
“We gotta go, Queen Tourmaline will be happy we got her so soon.” Her scales were hurricanes of indigo and gold. She seemed happy, and it rubbed off on the others. Coyote was slightly offended at her wording.
“Well, let’s get going, or she won’t be happy.” Wolf said, and a flash of dark green spread over Tiger’s ruff. 
“Here,” Dingo handed her her blade, and gave the leather straps to Tiger. ‘Does he think I won’t hurt them?’ She thought. ‘Maybe he thinks it’s only effective tied to my tail... he’s wrong.”
He took the water skin then leapt in the air and circled until Tiger and Coyote followed. Coyote hesitated and in a split second, swung the metal blade at Tiger, who screeched, and her scales instantly became storms of white and dark green. She dropped the leather straps and screeched again as blood began to flow from a thin cut across her throat. Coyote grabbed the leather before she launched high above them.
== Chapter 3 ==
Coyote decided to head to Sanctuary instead of Possibility. If they followed her, it could jeopardize her plan. She could head there at a later date. 
Her stomach grumbled and she thought of hundreds of scents of food, live prey that smelled of dust and cactus, roasted lizards that smelled salty and tasted different depending on where she got them, and fruit (like prickly pear and cactus flesh) that were always sweet and could quench her thirst.
She suspected she wasn’t being tailed because of the wound she inflicted on Tiger. She had grazed a vital artery but just enough for it to bleed worryingly. She could get at least a day’s head start. And they didn’t have a SkyWing, despite being sent by Tourmaline. But SandWings are the second fastest tribe, with IceWings not far behind.
A oasis below here caught her attention and she circled it three times before landing for a drink. Tall date trees offered a snack and two lizards added something substantial.   She hadn’t had anything to drink since the Scorpion Den and the cool water quenched her parched throat. In her unplanned escape, she didn’t think to grab the water skin. 
Coyote heard a rustle in the tall grass surrounded the pool of water. She froze, tense. Did they follow her? Did she miscalculate how far she’d traveled? Or did they leave Tiger behind? She’d only been flying a few hours, and someone else might be following her.
A scavenger appeared out of the grass, scooping up some water in what looked like a small wooden bowl. She relaxed and laughed at herself. A scavenger couldn’t hurt her. It jumped at the sound and looked up at her. Coyote stared at it. 
It was small like all scavengers were, crouching on the bank. It had a brown leather sack slung over one shoulder, a brown thatch of fur on its head and had a white cloth wrapped and draped around itself. A gold chain around its neck glinted in the high noon sun.
It made a clicking sound and held out its front paw. 
“Yibble, don.” It made the clicking sound again and stepped closer. ‘No wonder there so few of them, they must be dumber then sheep to not realize a predator in front of them.’ She thought. She reared up on her hind legs and flared her wings to the fullest extent. She brandished her claws and then roared a blast of fire. It stung her throat since she’d had the bare minimum of water she could drink in that time, but the scavenger’s reaction was worth it.
It scrambled backward and fell into the reeds, squeaking the whole time. She laughed and landed heavily on the sand. The scavenger seemed to know she wasn’t serious and a humorous sound came from the reeds and ripples stretched across the water. 
It reappeared, head sticking out of the tall grasses, the sack and bowl gone. It began to trot toward her, sticking to the bank. Coyote crouched and growled harshly at it, ready to pounce. It held one paw to its mouth and kept moving. She rolled her eyes just in time to see a shadow flicker behind her.
A small rock rebounded off the scales behind her horn and ear, hitting the pressure point and freezing her nerves. She collapsed with a roar, landing heavily on the sand. Every scale, muscle, and bone screamed at her to fly, to escape, but her nerves and brain were dead, processing the shadows and light slower then a RainWing’s sloth.
She could feel ropes sliding across her scales, rough and dry. Something pressed the point behind her ear and didn’t move. A shadow crossed her eyes and the little scavenger appeared, a dragon-like frown in it brown eyes. She tried to move, just enough to cut the rope that now held her claws and wings. The thing behind her head pressed the point harder and her ears rang. A strange mammalian smell clogged her nose.
‘Scavengers’ was her last thought.
== Chapter 4 ==
Black, black, and more black.
That was all she could see. She couldn’t move, probably an aftereffect of the pressure point, but she could feel something rough around her ankles and snout. Her tail was unusually light; her blade was gone. Again. She could feel cold stone against shoulder and side, freezing her down to the bone. ‘The desert is never this cold,’ She thought with a involuntary shiver.
“Don-vey, co re,” somewhere nearby, a scavenger squeaked and another answered. She must be in a den; and it must be early morning, there were only a few sounds.
Coyote struggled against the restraints, finding another around her snout. It seemed to be a rough fabric stretched over her mouth and tied with something. She managed to get a small flame out. The fabric caught and smoke filled her nose. ‘Didn’t think that through,’ she thought as she wheezed for breath. The scavengers didn’t seem to notice for a moment. The material crackled and the heat drew uncomfortably close to her scales. The scavengers must have noticed because the squeaks grew loud and seemed to get closer. The den must’ve been pretty big, because it took awhile before anything stopped the fire. 
Water splashed her in the face and she gasped, the fabric now ashes in her mouth and nose. She flung her wings up and out, as far as the bindings allowed. Something shrieked and something else stabbed the spot behind her ear.
And she was out.
Cool metal bit into her snout as the smell of roasting meat made her stomach grumble. She opened her eyes, and found nothing was over her head. A metal band around her mouth replaced the now burned rope restraint. She could now see her surroundings, though not very clearly. 
Stone walls, maybe twice her height, surrounded on three sides and a natural stone cliff made the fourth side. The sun was high above, but the cliff blocked it from her. She suddenly wanted to move out of the shadow, and sit in the sun. Small rectangular boxes of wood with thatch roofs where scattered around what looked like a statue in the center of the den. It held a long blade, like a dagger or sword. And a shape curled around it’s feet, a closer look proved it was a dragon, a SkyWing crouching in fear. Like that would ever happen, SkyWings summit to no one. Scavengers were everywhere, guarding on top of the wall, sitting around cooking fires, or emerging from the huts. 
The fire closest to her had four scavengers around it, and a small black dog. One of them looked like the scavenger who’d distracted her at the oasis. It was holding something that was holding a piece of meat over the fire. 
“Yobble joe bedon.” It picked the meat and walked over, much to the dismay of the others around it. They squeaked and seemed to be warning her. 
She slowly touched the metal band, not deterred by the loud growls. Coyote did her best to snarl, but the band restricted her. 
“Con. Con.” She hushed her, then cautiously undid a latch on the band. ‘They must be smarter then we think.’ Coyote stayed still. The scavenger gently pushed the meat to her and backed away, just a few tail lengths. 
Coyote immediately snatched up the meat and swallowed in a few gulps, filling her empty stomach. The scavenger attempted to snap the band back on her mouth, and she let her, an escape plan already forming in her head
Category:Fanfictions
Category:Fanfictions (Fanon)
Category:Genre (Adventure)
Category:Fanfictions (Incomplete)