Misted Deceit

Never-Ending Problems

Forrest awoke the next day much refreshed, though he still felt bruised and sore. He shook himself, head to tail, enjoying the sensation, when a realization struck him. He had no idea how he had missed it yesterday, but there was absolutely no feeling whatsoever in his left rear leg.

Shrugging off the matter, he stepped outside, inhaling deeply, breathing in the sharp morning air. The camp was already humming with activity. Walking around, he passed several of the sentries, most of whom gave him cold stares. Further in camp, however, dragons called out greetings, some colored with respect, which baffled him. Remembering his mission, though, Forrest didn't stay too long to converse with any one of them. Using his ears and nose, he navigated to the galley tent, where he knew he would find Solar Night having breakfast with his friend. Entering, he glanced around, and looked for the brilliant wings. It took him no more than a minute to spot Solar, who was seated in the far corner talking to a dragon whose back was to Forrest. Making his way towards them, he sat down in the empty space.

"Hey," Solar said quietly, "This is Myle Hygh. We've known each other for moons. I trust him with my life," he glared at Forrest, daring him to oppose.

"I'm Forrest. And, uh, sorry for dragging you into this mess I've created," was all he said. The sky blue-and-white dragon just nodded, clearly not a talker. "And I'm guessing that Solar filled you in on our plan?"

"Yeah, he did. But I also agreed to be your inside dragon. You know, camp updates and the like. You know, gives me something to do," he replied, standing up before exiting the tent.

"Is he always like that?" Forrest asked, staring where the dragon had disappeared.

"No, only when he meets new dragons. But get to know him, and he's pretty cool."

"I should probably go check on the others," Forrest said, nodding absently.

Forrest exited the galley, feeling slightly more troubled than when he first walked in. Myle Hygh seemed exactly like Solar Night, and he didn't really want to deal with Zanzi tormenting someone else.    He started heading towards the armory, where he hoped to find some supplies along with Orchid and Zaganzerinah. They were supposed to be collecting the necessary materials for the trip. Deep in thought, he almost ran into them as they headed back to his tent, their designated base.

"We were just going to find you," Orchid said, "There has been a ... complication."

"Paganblood issued the order that when any supplies are taken, you need to state the purpose why you need them! He must have an inkling of what we're going to attempt," Zanzi huffed in exasperation, "We were barely able to make it out of there!"

"The soldiers at the armory are aware of our position, making it impossible for us to gather what we need," Orchid went on as Forrest listened in growing despair.

"What are we going to do?" Forrest questioned, desperate.

"We were hoping you'd know," said Orchid quietly, "Wait, where is Solar?"

"In the galley, probably eating. Oh, and his friend, Myle Hygh, agreed to help ... us...." Forrest's eyes widened as an idea began to take shape. "Be right back!" he called as he ran back to where he came from.

Bursting into the tent, he nearly barreled into Solar, who yelped in surprise. Regaining his balance, he stared cooly at Forrest, "What is it now?"

Breathless, Forrest explained their predicament and then his idea. "No one knows he's in with us. I doubt they would not question him if he got a bunch of supplies, especially if they were taken a little at a time."

Solar's expression didn't change as he said, "But when he remained at camp and the supplies were gone, don't you think it would be logical to assume he helped us since we wouldn't be here anymore? And to be honest, I doubt he would do it. It took me too long to convince him assist us in the first place. And I don't want to do that again. That is, unless you had someone else in mind to help persuade him?"

"Zanzi?" he replied in more of a question.

Laughing, Solar looked at him in disbelief, "Really? That's who you'd send? She'd scare him out of his wits before she even said a word. That dragon is terrified of her. No, send Orchid," Forrest started to protest, but Solar went on, "She's got a much more diplomatic way of explaining things and I think she has a much better chance of getting through to him than the rest of us would."

"Fine, but where can she find him?"

"Probably at the aerobatics course or the fighting strip."

"Thanks," Forrest left, and headed back to where he left the others.

It was nearly dark when Orchid returned to Forrest's tent where everyone was gathered. Four heavy packs rested on her back, covered in a thick blanket. She dropped them on the ground and collapsed, exhausted.

"Myle is the most annoying, self-centered, little brat! I don't understand how you can even stand being around him, Solar," she ranted.

"You did get everything we needed, though," Zanzi pointed out optimistically, "Now we can get out of here!"

"Hold on to your wings, we still have tomorrow," Forrest said, hating to put her down, "It's only going to be worse. I have a feeling we won't escape form here entirely unscathed. Or, at least some of us won't."

Solar suddenly spoke up, "Orchid, how did you manage to convince Myle to help you?"

"It actually wasn't that hard, once I threatened to have Zanzi come and do the explaining instead. He became quite cooperative after that. Not every situation can be handled kindly. Anyways, he decided to create an alibi, telling the soldiers that he was helping his sick friend, me, get ready to travel home to one of the northern caverns; hence the extensive amount of supplies. Amazingly, they believed him, and let us go. Honestly, though, I think that is one of the worst stories ever. No one lives up there anymore save for a few lunatics."

"Yeah, that story is pretty transparent. If we're lucky, those soldiers will be stupid enough to be blind. Let's just hope that the soldiers don't report to Paganblood," Solar said.

"Do you think we should go over the plan, just to make sure?" Forrest mentioned, still apprehensive about their escape.

"No. Wait until tomorrow, when we're nervous and have nothing to do. It'll keep us occupied," Zanzi piped up, "There'll be hours before anything is even going to happen. Why waste our time now?"

"You know, that is probably the smartest thing you've ever said," Solar Night replied in mock surprise.

"Well, I sure didn't see you doing much today to help us," she snipped, "You just sat around, doing nothing."

Growling, Solar started to reply, but Orchid butted in. "Come on you two. Stop. We don't need fighting within when we've got Paganblood nipping at us wherever we go."

Forrest just stared at this group of very different individuals as they bickered and fought. He had no idea how they were to make it outside of the camp, with each of them trying to make their mark on the journey, Zanzi and Solar especially. He needed to find out what was going on between them and end it. There was no way they would be able to remain as a whole if they kept at their fighting. However, he sensed their hatred for each other had roots somewhere that he could not reach; not without the assistance of one of them. But getting them to cooperate presented a complicated problem with no solution that Forrest could see and he doubted that they had the same point of view on whatever had transpired in their past.

And with these thoughts burning in his mind, Forrest drifted into a deep slumber.