Every Rose Has It's Thorns: A WOF Fanfic

## Chapter 1

About 100 dragons were gathered in a large cave under a mountain in the Sky Kingdom.

Red wings and orange tails gleamed in the dim firelight as SkyWings took their seats. An old dragon with glasses on his nose stood in front of the crowd with a haughty look on his face. That was Ridge. The *most* annoying adult dragon in Pyrrhia.

To be fair, Rose hadn't met many adult dragons, let alone dragonets. She had been living in this system of caverns for as long as she could remember.

As Ridge cleared his throat, the voices died down. His pale orange wing gestured for three dragonets not too much older than Rose up beside him.

"As you all know," he started in his 'I'm so superior' voice. He pushed his gold-rimmed spectacles further up his snout. "3 dragonets will begin their Loyalty Trials tomorrow. Today is the day to say your goodbyes... just in case they don't make it. You all are dismissed."

*Really?* Rose groaned internally. *All that time spent gathering us, and all you say is four sentences? Dramatic much?*

A few other dragons felt the same way, as they stomped off with frustration painted across their faces.

As Rose herself was heading back to the dragonet dormitories, she felt a light tap on her shoulder. She whirled around, ready to defend herself, only to see the familiar face of Gust.

"Easy there," Gust said, raising his talons as if to say 'Okay, chill out!'. His pale orange snout was wrinkled with amusement.

"Oh, it's just you," Rose sighed, lowering her claws. "I thought you were Ridge, coming to bother me again."

As if he were summoned by her words, the old dragon appeared out of nowhere, resting a talon on Gust's wing.

"Speak of the devil," She murmured to her friend. Gust looked up at him and gave some sort of half-grimace, half-smile to Rose. "Hey Grandpa,"

"I have talked to you about this," He hissed.

"Right, sorry." Gust sighed. "Hello, grand*father*."

"No, I'm not talking about manners, you little worm, although yours *are* atrocious," Ridge growled. "You are not supposed to spend time with this scumbag of a dragon. Our prestigious family does not associate with *orphans*." He spat the last word out as though it were a rotting piece of meat.

Oh how much Rose wanted to wipe that smug little grin off his face. But she couldn't, not if she wanted to stay trouble-free. Gust's family was well-respected in the caves, and she had none at all. If she started problems with Ridge, then he would probably make her trials more difficult, or assign her a terrible job.

Gust sighed and managed a small smile at her as Ridge swept him away down the hall.

Rose slunk into her room and blew a small bit of fire on the torch near the door. The dim glow made the room appear as though the walls were made of amber.

She headed toward the small training dummy in the corner of the room. She had convinced the battle instructor to let her have one of the less-used ones years ago, and now it was where she spent most of her alone time. Well, that is, if she wasn't hanging out with Gust.

Rose sliced her claws across the dummy's face. If it were a real dragon, blood would have spurted from the wound. But as this was not one, it instead ripped the fabric open. She would have Magpie fix that for her in the morning.

She sighed and jumped up onto the ledge where she slept. A few blankets hung off the edge, but they didn't do much good, as they were thin and ripped.

As Rose closed her eyes, ready for sleep, a shout came from out in the hall.