Burn and the Bird

Category:Fanfictions
Category:Fanfictions (Semi-Canon)
Category:Fanfictions (Incomplete)
Everyone thinks they know who Burn is. The bloodthirsty, violent daughter of Queen Oasis, ally to Queen Scarlet and Queen Ruby. Obsessed with weird things. But before the series, when she was just a young dragonet, a small present for the queen at that time, Burn's mother, Oasis, turns into a deadly weapon...
== Prologue ==
The pale egg was hatching.
Black plumage was emerging, with dark green and pale green mixed in, pale white dewy eyes added on with a razor-sharp beak and killing toes on the huge talons.
And the feathers brushed a small cactus.
== Chapter 1 ==
King Char and Queen Oasis of the SandWings were fighting, again. 
Burn knew this, even before she swooped down by the gates. The two guards standing there gave her a quick nod of greeting before opening the gates, and Burn shoved her way through, aware of the two whispering about her battle scars. She had just been combat training with one of her brothers, Scald. 
Anyway, the king and queen were screeching at each other, and from the sound of it, might require some brightsting catcus after. Burn shoved her way into the palace, and here the words became distinguishable.
"WELL, IF YOU CARE SO MUCH ABOUT SOLDIERS, WHY DON'T YOU JUST GO LIVE IN THE BARRACKS THEN!?" came the voice of Oasis. The sound was coming from their room, so Burn decided to ignore that area and instead whirled around, toward the library. No doubt Blister would be there, reading up about past royal SandWing challenges and the Eye of Onyx. And Blaze was outside in the courtyards, probably decorating herself in treasure she had stolen from Mother's treasury. But Burn would take Blister over Blaze any day. And the library was good for reading up on battle skills.
The SandWing Palace library was decorated with large tapestries of lazy lizards, fat camels, and dragons soaring across the desert sky. Large shelves made of shiny wood took up most of the space, with scrolls stacked on and in them. Palm trees and small nests made of palm leaves created small reading corners with shade. However, Blister was instead wrapped in a ball, her barbed tail to her side, as she read a large, ancient scroll with yellowed pages, platters of dried lizards and dried camel meat and a large goblets of agave juice and cinnamon milk.
"Go away, Burn," snapped Blister, glaring at her older sister with narrowed, obsidian-black eyes. Burn ignored her and stomped over, snapping the scroll out of her talons and reading the title.
"The Eye of Onyx and Past Queens," snorted Burn, dropping the scroll on the ground. But Blister didn't get a chance to retort anything, because they were interrupted by the voice of Char.
"OASIS, YOU NEED TO START PAYING THEM PROPERLY! THE GUARDS ARE IMPORTANT!" roared Char, and Blister seemed to shrink back against the wooden shelf. 
"GO! JUST...JUST...GO!" Oasis hissed. The sound of pounding talonsteps on rought carpets and a tail dragging came nearer, past them, and the sound of a shutting door echoed throughout the palace. Then the door slammed open, and the huge shape of Queen Oasis appeared in the doorway. Blister hissed at her, her black forked tongue slipping in and out of her mouth. Burn turned away and pretended to be innterested in a dusty old scroll hanging off one of the shelves, waiting until the shadow of the queen disappeared. Then, Burn quickly soared out of the nearest window, and dove toward the nearest courtyard. A large oasis was here, palm trees and ferns dotting the edges of it. Thankfully, Blaze wasn't here, and Burn instead began to wash a fresh scratch on her tail.
I bet Mother and Father were arguing about the soldiers again. She thought as she massaged the scales on her tail, avoiding the venomous barb. But as she glanced up at the cloudless sky, she spotted something. Mother and Father's room was high up in the palace, with a vast window and white curtains. But even though the breeze was still today, they still moved, and then, a loud squawk!
Burn almost stabbed herself in the eye with her tail in shock, and let out a hiss. She'd have to find something to kill later. She dropped her tail and flapped over to the large double doors, sweeping inside. She wandered around the winding halls, and had to cross a wide ledge between two platforms, before gently pushing open the creaking door of her parents bedroom.
A crimpson-coloured carpet lay on the floor, with five huge windows and curtains that ruffled when windy. A huge bed for both her parents lay in one corner, and a miniature palm tree had the band of onyx with an embedded diamond in that Mother usually wore, along with the keys to the SandWing treasury. But something new was also in there. It was a huge black wire cage, shaped like an egg. A white carpet, much like the ones on the windows, was draped over it. Burn cocked her head at it curiously and started toward it.
"What are you doing?" came a sharp voice, and Burn spun around. Queen Oasis was standing behind her, her black eyes narrowed and her barbed tail flicking back and forth.
"Nothing. Just...looking," and she flapped away before Oasis could say more.
== Chapter 2 ==
The royal SandWing family was eating dinner, and servants came in and out of the kitchens, carrying silver platters of food and drinks. Large plates of roasted lizards, camel meat, camel shish kebabs and dates were piled high on the long wooden table, and the cooks were preparing date cookies and date soufflé for afterwards. Goblets of cactus cider, camel milk and cinammon milk were by all the plates. 
Blaze was busy telling everyone about the new necklace she'd bought. They were hardly listening. Only Char was. He'd only been banned for a few hours, and had returned for dinner. Singe, Scald, and Smolder were also there, eating away. Blister was reading a scroll about past queens.
"I mean, rubies are nice and everything, but opals look good on me best," chattered Blaze, not even noticing as she knocked over her goblet of cinnamon milk. Blister scowled at her dates.
"Mother, what's in that large cage in your room?" Burn asked suddenly. Blister glanced up at her, curiousity edging each line of her face as she sipped her goblet of camel milk. Blaze didn't even notice and kept talking about jewels, but Char, Scald, Singe, and Smolder all looked curious. Oasis, however, knocked over her plate of roasted lizards and kebabs. It clattered to the floor and servants scurried to clean them up. She fixed her face and turned to her oldest daughter.
"Honestly, I don't know. Someone in the Scorpion Den sold it to one of the servants who gave it to me as a present," Oasis confessed, sipping her goblet of cider. 
"If it's something weird, can I have it?" Burn asked hopefully. Once, in attempts to form an alliance, a rare scavenger with three paws instead of one had been offered to Oasis by Queen Moorhen, but she'd given it to Burn instead. She'd kept it in a small glass box, where she studied it. Once she was done with it, she ate it. Oasis smiled and reached over to stroke her head while Blister mimed gagging into her bowl of dates. 
"Of course, sweetheart," she smiled lovingly. Blaze looked injured.
"Buttttttttttttttttt, if it's something pretty, pleaseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee can IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII have it Motherrrrrrrrrrr?" squeaked Blaze, pouting at her parents. Blister sighed and scowled at Scald and Singe, who had hidden under the table so no one would hear them laughing. Burn didn't even acknowledge the servants as they came in, taking away the platters and setting date cookies and date soufflé down instead. Blaze didn't hesitate to grab the largest slices and began stuffing into her mouth, still talking about gems. But no one was paying attention.
"I'm going to the library," Blister announced, wiping her jaws of cider and meat. She swept out of the dining room, slamming the door behind her. Blaze yawned loudly and sat back in her chair.
Thankfully, the family would find out exactly what was in the cage the very next day.
***
The princesses had an entire wing to themselves. The palace was consisted of platforms between tall spires, and three large rooms were lined across one of these platforms, which was open to the sky. The rooms themseleves had twirling stone, like pavilions as roofs, though. As for the princes of the family, they simply had a small wing to themselves, with three tiny rooms for them. 
The biggest room belonged to Burn, as the oldest sister. It had lots of weird looking animal heads and bodies on the walls: A camel with six humps, a moose with three antlers. A large tapestry took up one wall, with rusted spots that was actually old blood. There was a huge bed, made up of a huge slab of rock and a camel skin rug with a fennec fox skin pillow. A huge window, with rustling dust-coloured curtains, with patterns of beetles and cacti and palm trees, rested at the other end of the room. The roof arched on four different sides, twisting into a circle at the very top, making it so sunlight could filter through. 
Burn was busy, studying a scroll on the easiest way to decapitate a gecko. A knock came on her door, and a servant entered. "Princess Burn?"
"What?" She demanded, glowering at the servant. 
"Her Majesty asks that you join her in the throne room, Your Highness," explained the servant, bowing low. Burn raised her eyebrows curiously, and nodded. She shoved past the servant and glided toward the next platform.
The throne room of the SandWing queen was her favourite room. Tapestries were stretched across the entire room. Pictures of crowns and queens on thrones. The grandest was one of the Eye of Onyx, which sat just above the throne. The throne was made of smooth wood, with a night-black velvet cushion on the seat of it. The king had no throne, so Char had to stand next to his wife. 
To her surprise, when she entered, she spotted the large wire cage next to the throne. The cloth still covered it. Every dragon, as it seemed to be all the minor nobles and princes and princesses and royalty in the Kingdom of Sand, was staring at it, except Blister and Blaze. Blaze looked tired, as though she'd been napping before being awoken, while Blister looked bored. Scald, Smolder, and Singe were also there, glancing around and fidgeting. 
"Ah, Burn," grinned Oasis, beckoning for Burn to join her sisters. Burn sidestepped so she was between Blaze and Blister. One scowling sister on one side, a ditzy sister on the other. From the way Oasis kept smiling slyly, Burn could guess she already knew what was in the cage. Instead of gawking at the cage like a jerboa-head, she decided to stare at the Eye of Onyx tapestry that hung above the throne. It was against a pale yellow background, with the ball of cabochon against the magnificent golden wings with, little links creating a necklace. It was her favourite tapestry, and the only one she actually liked.
"Minor and important nobles, princes and princesses, a merchant in the Scorpion Den gave me this generous gift, and also a deadly weapon," she grinned wickedly. She then set her talons on the cloth and whisked it off.
Inside the cage was the weirdest looking bird you ever did see.
It was huge, and its head seemed to just brush the top of the cage. The wings were shaped like teardrops, and the feathers were so dark green they were black. The eyes was a pale white, so white, whiter than a cloud-filled sky, whiter than snow. The feathers were so hypnotizing, and it looked softer than soft. It was seated on a bedding of hay. 
The bird let out a mournful sound, like rain, and spun its eyes to Burn. Blaze let out a yelp and leaped back, standing on Blister's talons. The princess let out a hiss and raised her barbed tail. "Ughhhhh, what IS that!?" moaned Blaze, ignoring Blister. Oasis turned her gaze to her youngest daughter, grinning. 
"It is the best weapon ever. Watch," Oasis purred. She clapped her talons, and a servant rushed forward with a bowl of live lizards. Oasis plucked one. The lizard twisted and squirmed in her grasp, but she dropped it into the cage. The lizard tried to scramble away, but accidentally hit one of the wings of the bird. All of a sudden, the lizard stopped and fell. Then, it shriveled up, and turned into a blackened mess. 
Everyone was silent. Blister looked shocked. Even Burn was mildly impressed. A bird who could kill anything with just a touch of its body. That was certainly a great weapon. But she wondered if the merchant in the Scorpion Den had been hoping Oasis would blindly touch the bird. And then she glanced at Blister. Did she look disappointed, like a plan had failed? But no, the princess just looked thoughtful.
"We will have a celebration tonight. The SandWings are invincible!" Oasis roared. She flared her wings and stood up on her throne, looking even bigger than she usually was. All the generals and nobles and council members began to cheer, but Char looked uneasy. Even Scald, Singe, and Smolder looked proud, while Blaze looked bored. As soon as all the nobles dispersed, she rushed up to the sloping dais.
"Mother, what if that awful bird gets into my room? It will ruin my scales..." complained Blaze. Oasis looked irritated, but she jumped down and caressed Blaze's face.
"Darling, that bird shall be in her cage at all times, locked in. You have nothing to worry about. Now, go get ready for the banquet tonight. You do want to look your best, don't you?"
"Oh, yes, Mother. I was thinking of wearing my emerald bracelet, or maybe my kyanite necklace..." she sailed away, still talking about gold and jewels. Char was leading her away to her room, while Burn and Blister lingered.
"I'm going to the library," declared Blister a moment later, and she spun towards the huge mahogany doors. After a moment, it was just Burn and Oasis, alone in the throne room. Burn avoided her gaze, instead gazing at the throne. It was the same mahogany wood as the doors, and very large. Pale blue diamonds trailed up the sides, along the velvet cushion. 
"Burn, you should get ready too."
***
The SandWing palace glittered with life and light, constellations of yellow and orange and indigo exploding from every door and window. Down in the Great Hall, SandWing servants glided around the room, holding platters of dried lizards, date cookies, and cinnamon and camel milk overflowed every goblet. Flasks of cactus cider were being passed around by drunks, and food was being gobbled up. The golden platters were filled with smoked ham, clusters of coconuts, dried fish with lemons on the side, along with camel shish kebabs, and trickles of plates filled with date soufflé kept being produced from the kitchen. The brothers were flirting with the female cooks, while the sisters had less of a good time. Blaze was having the most fun. She was wearing armbands with amethysts and moonstones embedded into them, with fancy topaz and ruby necklaces draped around her neck, along with sapphire and emerald earrings. The young SandWing princess was chattering beside her mother, talking about her favourites gemstones and complaining about the crystal chandeliers for being too plain and not sparkly enough. In reality, they sparkled more than an IceWings scales.
Blister and Burn were having less of a good time. Blister was coiled on a nest made of camel hair and tangerine-orange pillows, reading a long scroll, with servants coming up to her with bowls of dried lizards and a couple flasks of camel milk, along with dried fruit which she nibbled on dismissively. Burn, however, was sat by the edge of the hall, not talking to anyone and angrily tearing up slices of apricots and coconuts. 
A low, sad sound coiled around the Hall, louder than the music, and everyone glanced up at the huge wire cage hanging just above the queen's throne. The wires were made of a night-black material, but even then had blood-red rubies embedded into the sides, marching up the hanger. Inside, the magnificent, moonlight-spun bird was singing her sad song as she perched on her newly made perch, made of palm wood. Queen Oasis glanced up at her new decoration and smiled slightly, before then clapping her talons as the music resumed.
Burn looked away just as Blister flew up to the cage and let out a roar. She flared her pale sand-coloured wings, her black diamond patterns sparkling on the light. 
"Blister! What are you doing?" demanded Oasis, snarling as she tossed a piece of cranberry pie right into Blaze's face. 
"Shut up! Loyal subjects, I have proof that Princess Burn is cursed with dark animus magic! Read this scroll!" And with that, she held up a long, trailing scroll that was more like a thick tapestry. Burn recognised it as one of the scrolls used in SandWing schools. Her tutor had made her write an essay on it once.
She narrowed her eyes, as that way she could read it out loud:
A STUDY OF ANCIENT ANIMUS MAGIC: VOLUME 3
Animus magic is one of the most powerful things in all of Pyrrhia. It is also featured in many stories and legends, such as one that details a SkyWing, who, without anyone in their tribe knowing - due to the fact that SkyWing animi are banned, as discussed in Volume 2 - enchanted an eagle egg to hatch into a new kind of bird. Legend has it that whoever it looks at, will die a death so horrible you couldn't even dream of it, and live a life so awful it would give you nightmares. 
"That bird has been staring at Burn since it got here! She is destined to be an awful queen, so obviously I should be queen instead!" Blister snapped. Every head looked at either the bird or Burn. Char snorted, and tried to grab his daughter's tail to yank her back down, carefully avoiding the barb.
"Blister! Stop this nonsense! That is just a dragonet's tale, now come down!" snarled Oasis. Blister rolled her onyx-black eyes, glaring at everyone. 
The bird looked at Burn, even after she looked away. She could still feel the bird's dewdrop gaze prick her neck.
==Chapter 3==
The royal family was standing outside the Palanquin Gate. They had a selection of beautiful palanquins. They were mainly made of precious materials, like marble and silver. There was even one that was solid gold. It had rubies, topaz and emeralds marching up the side, brightly covered drapes hanging over the side, and beautiful pillows to sit on.
"Blaze! Hurry up!" called Oasis. Oasis and her daughters were going to some SandWing village to get payment for something. Burn didn't care much, but she almost choked on the lizard tail she was chewing on when Blaze floundered through the courtyard toward them.
She was wearing a white cloak with a hood, and a bright pink bow was wrapped around her neck, with a massive bow shape at the front. Golden buttons clipped it together at the front. She was wearing a shiny pearl necklace with emerald earrings clipped into her ears, and was also clutching a long-handled pink mirror, with pink pearls on the handle and around the glass. 
"Sorry I'm late, Mother! It's just the seamstresses made this beautiful cloak and I simply had to add some jewels to it!" Blaze smiled happily.
"Let's go!" snapped Oasis, stomping onto the palanquin. Four burly SandWing guards stood there, to carry the palanquin through the cloudless blue sky. Blaze bounced after her, rolling in the mess of blankets and pillows as she admired herself in the mirror and took a dried lizard from the bronze platter that was resting on the very edge. Blister stomped on, but instead she rested against the curtains and stared out at the landscape, dotted with dunes and thick stems of cacti. Burn, instead, stood on the very edge with her wings spread.
Soon, they were lifted into the air, and the wind darted around them, whistling in their ears. Blaze was clutching the mirror as the guards panted, flasks tied around their necks and lapping at them. Gold was heavy, especially long bars of it while carrying a palanquin. Burn sighed and stared out at the cloudless sky. She didn't get what the point of palanquins were; dragons had wings to fly. She then stuck her head out, squinting at the horizon. There was a massive, dark yellow tower in the distance, along with a few huts dotted around it and a sloping rock formation. Oasis was fanning herself, but she sat up suddenly. "Guards, land by that village!" 
"That was the shortest palanquin ride ever. Useless," mumbled Burn. Oasis shot her a look of vipers, but rearranged her amethyst bracelet snapped on her arm. Blaze didn't even twitch her wings, instead just rearranging the sash bow around her neck with her claws. The pearls clinked against her talons. 
Soon the palanquin got lower and lower...until they were fully on the ground. One of the gurds opened the curtains. "Your Majesty and Highnesses, Äpothǽ."
"What?" asked Blister suddenly, hopping out and sniffing the air suspiciously. Oasis flicked her tail.
"Blister, I thought I told you to wear treasure! No wonder you had your wings around you, I've only just noticed, and Äpothæ is the name of this village!"
"Okay, okay. No need to make me deaf, I was just asking a question. And I'm wearing the chain mail Father gave me!" she pointed out, proudly presenting a silver breastplate with emeralds studded on, with rubies clustered around them like stars. Oasis rolled her eyes, her obsidian-black eyes shining with annoyance as an old, pale dragon rushed forward. 
"Welcome, Your Majesty! And the princesses, of course," he said, bowing low to Oasis and quickly to Burn, Blaze and Blister. 
"Enough. You know why I'm here. Daughters, you may explore. I've given you three pouches with enough treasure to buy some fancy stuff," she said, flicking at three black velvet pouches at the edge of the palanquin. Blaze pounced on hers, and immediately began digging around in it. Blister ignored hers, and instead spread her wings and soared over to the small oasis by the edge of the village.
There was one thing that caught Burn's eye.
It was a large hut, every inch covered in greenery. Vines dropped down from the roof, with ivy covering the doors as furry dock leaves stuck out the windows. An odd smell was portruding from it, like bile. Burn padded toward it, and suddenly spotted a massive purple beetle crouched on one smelly leaf. She had her pouch tied around her neck, and rapped sharply on the wooden door.
"Come in, come in!" called a voice from deep inside the labryinth. Jars of bugs and odd smelling things were on shelves and windows, and the thatched floor was covered in shrubbery. An old sign read: 
APOTHECARY: MEDICINES AND HERBS FOR A SMALL FEE!
Then a bright orange head stuck out from a clutch of indigo holly. It was a SkyWing. She was wearing glasses that clipped onto her horns, vines drooping on her face, a jar of green ladybugs in her talons. 
"SkyWing!" hissed Burn, jumping back and knocking over a potted plant, which smashed on the ground as an alarmingly silver caterpillar crawled out of a poppy seed. The SkyWing sighed and went to scoop it up.
"Queen Scarlet sent me here to the desert to perfect the art of medicine. Cacti blossoms are useful especially, and there are no cacti in the mountains. The others think I'm a SandWing, so I never go out."
But Burn wasn't paying attention. There was a bell jar on a wooden block. Under it was a surprisingly familiar black-and-pale-green feather.
== Chapter 4 ==
On the way home, Burn discovered the feather wasn't toxic anymore. She kept it hidden in her pouch. Oasis would steal it from her if she knew. But she was too distracted by Blaze, who was showing her a new cloak she'd brought: an extremely unattractive shade of bright minty green that she could clip around her using an emerald brooch. "Lovely, dear," their mother said dismissively. Blister, on the other talon, had bought some new scrolls, and was hunrgily devouring the knowledge as she crouched down on the wine-red pillows.
Soon, the palace came into view, and the sound of sadness echoed throughout the halls. Burn went straight to her room, found the glass case, and locked the feather in. She then blocked up the breathing holes. Then she went to see the bird.
She was still hanging in the massive banquet hall, where servants were trying to ignore her as they took down decorations and cleaned up crumbs of food and splashes of camel milk. "Hello," she murmured softly, staring at the bird. It was still looking at her, and then Burn realised there was a rope of blue pearls curled around her wings. Oasis must have decorated her with them to make her look more attractive, but from the way the bird kept shifting on the straw, Burn knew it must be uncomfortable.
Tentatively, Burn reached out, wrapped a claw around one of the loops of the necklace, and pulled. The necklace snapped and blue pearls flew everywhere. The bird squawked and suddenly lurched toward her, but Burn let out a spurt of flames and it recoiled again, against the wires. A couple servants glanced up, and a few went to sweep up the pearls. 
"Stupid creature," snarled Burn, flicking her scorpion barb dangerously. The bird let out another low humming sound. "You are just a crazy animal!" 
With that, she flew away out of the hall. The one nice thing she'd ever done for someone, and it was a bird. 
More coming soon...