(ORIGINAL STORY) Wings of Fire ~ The Crossbreeds

Chapter 3 - Terracotta

 Terracotta stared at the tree, it's limbs were made of thick, strong wood, but not strong enough for her punch. She took a deep breath, then threw her talon into the tree, making a huge dent in the now splintered wood as her full body weight was transferred into her punch. Feeling a surge of satisfaction, she leaned against the tree, taking in a huge breath of air as she relaxed. No one had told her to train. No one had said, "you need to work those sad muscles, weakling." Because Terracotta wasn't a weakling. She was strong, and sometimes almost feared. She was the only female bigwings that had ever existed in the MudWing kingdom, but all of her sibs were very proud of her. They were actually looking for her now.

 "Terracotta!" Bog yelled, he was probably the dumbest out of the troop, even though he was one of the oldest. In fact, the youngest to oldest in Terracotta's troop was: Toad, Crocodile, Amber, Bog, Swamp, then of course, Terracotta.

 "I see her! Oh no... She's training again isn't she?" Toad sighed, pointing to the sweating Terracotta. The five dragons flew down to Terracotta, who peered up at them as they landed.

 "Terracotta!" Swamp grumbled as he landed, "you know that you have trained enough! The war ending ceremony's contest thing won't be that difficult! Plus, you need to rest!" As the rest of the troop nodded in agreement, Terracotta opened her mouth to protest, but something interrupted her.

 Grumble.

 "Oh no," Amber muttered as the sound from Terracotta's tummy came out.

 Grummmmbllllllllle."I think I know what time it is!" Terracotta exclaimed as she jumped up, sending a nearby frog leaping about.

 "Me too!" Crocodile said excitedly.

 "Me three!" Toad and Bog said together. Then stared at each other for a split second before saying, "jinks! Double jinks! Trip-"

 "FOOD!!!!" Terracotta interrupted. The dragonets all took off into the air at once, scanning the brown swamp below them.

 "Look! A heron!" Amber pointed out on the murky waters below.

 "I got it!" claimed Bog.

 "No!" shouted Terracotta, knowing that Bog would just scare it away and they would be left with no food, but Bog was already diving.

 "I'm going after him!" Amber shouted against the high altitude wind.

 "Wait!" Terracotta exclaimed, but she was again too late, for Amber was already rushing fast towards the ground. That's when Toad, Crocodile, and Swamp all dived together after the other two. Terracotta's expression dropped as she watched them all, knowing what came next. Bog's head whipped around just before he hit the ground hard, then Amber got ready to scream as she landed on top of him. Then the other three just spread their wings a moment too late as they all crashed in a heap of groans and pain. Terracotta sighed, her eyes drooping. Would she always have to fix their problems? Yes, because she loved them. All of them. She dived down careful to spread her wings sooner than the others did, and she landed next to the brown and amber pile of scales. A few feet away, the heron was still sleeping. Terracotta just felt surprise when she saw it undisturbed, but couldn't help tasting it's juiciness in her mouth. She prepared her claws, then lunged at it, giving it a death blow with her talon. Feeling the need to eat, she stuffed it's head into her mouth and bit down hard. The skull crunched under her razor-sharp teeth. Then she turned to the pile of dragons next to her.

 "Are you guys ok?" she asked worriedly.

 No response.

 "Guys!?" she said again, then noticed a movement from Crocodile.

 "Ugh... My head..." Crocodile muttered dizzily. Terracotta examined the situation, then, very unwillingly, she put down the heron and got to work. First she tried to take Amber out, but she was pinned down by Toad. So then Terracotta started on Toad, but was stopped by an oncoming shadow that was cast upon her from above. As she stared up, she only saw the talons that grabbed her horns and thrust her to the side.