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The grass was cool and dry under the wind, crinkling like paper as it folded and folded and it was just begging to be burned into little bits.
Peril growled. She was just on the brink of escaping, one step away from freedom, and stupid Queen Ruby had to crush her hopes under her feet.
She had nowhere to go, honestly. She thought of Scarlet, her heart throbbing with longing, before tossing her feelings away. She's the one who got me into this in the first place, Peril reminded herself. As she flew, a thought of escaping briefly crossed her mind, but when she tried to swerve, guards from all direction, including Clay- Clay!- stiffened a little, their eyes piercing into her body like they were going to tear her apart piece by piece.
Finally, the clouds before them parted, and Peril could see that she was at the center of the city, where different dragons mingled together in streets and skies.
"Alright. Clay, is it okay if you get back home by yourself? I can get a guard to escort you, if you want."
Clay shook his head, turning to fly. "Thanks. Uh, I better get home quick. My friends should be pretty worried about me, I think."
Ruby nodded in understanding, and then hardened her gaze as it landed on Peril. Peril personally felt like ripping her wings out and watching it burn between her claws, but decided against that, since she was already so huge of a threat to them.
"You," Ruby seethed. "Would you care about what you did to my sister all these years ago? How you scorched her scales and melted her into a puddle of ash?"
"What?" Peril exclaimed, casting an disbelieving glance at the dragons around her, who were gleaming ominously in orange and red, as if to say: You're here, monster. And you're never coming back.
"You can't possibly believe this." Peril began, but Ruby glared at her, her wings shaking.
"Oh, I heard all about it!" Ruby flared her wings so she seemed three times bigger than she was before, a cool and collected commanding leader morphing into an angry, fire-breathing menace. "I heard NightWings talking about you. How you conspired with Scarlet. Tourmaline was gone the very same day Scarlet left my palace- want to explain all that?"
Peril stuttered, looking at her with utter shock. She didn't know who this Tourmaline was, much less consipred with Scarlet.
"I don't know what you're talking about...uh. I think?" Peril tried to carve out any dragon from her memory named Tourmaline, but nothing came to her mind.
Ruby let loose a frustrated growl, her tail curling up, almost like it was trying to stop itself from slapping Peril across the snout. Peril shrunk a little, folding up her wings. They were on the ground now, just two of them, and the guards beside her seemed like they were going to stab her in the throat if she would move just a muscle.
Peril scoffed. She'd like to see them try.
"You know what? Nevermind," Ruby threw her attention towards the sky, glaring at the clouds, even though her anger was clearly directed at her alone. "I don't want to see you here. I don't want to see you at all. Get out, fly away. I don't care where you go. If you even set a claw in the Sky Kingdom, rest assured that the entire SkyWing army will come flying after you." She stopped, and added, "Believe me, this is the most mercy you'll ever get from me."
Peril felt her heart burst into little shards, like that little flame of hope that she kept inside of herself was suddenly snuffed out. "What? But I don't know what happened to her! I didn't even- you can't-"
"-yes, I can." Ruby said firmly, sternly, so full of power that Peril felt as if the world just dropped from beneath her feet.
Peril didn't say a word. She shrank further away, and then flapped up, up, up, to wherever her tired wings would take her.
-
Kinkajou felt something bristle in her. She didn't know what to do! All her life, she'd been thought not to spray her venom with the intend to hurt, but-
Morrowseer screaming in pain.
-she did anyway. Kinakjou felt a brick of failure weighing on her shoulders, trying to rip that scream of agony out of her mind and burn in all down forever. But she couldn't. She couldn't.
And- oh, moons, what would Glory think of her? She bit her lower lip nervously, anxiously, her insides boiling with guilt. She shouldn't have done that. Morrowseer was scarred and there was nothing she could do about it anymore.
Kinkajou came to a stop at Glory's house, her breaths faint.
Wait. What?
Clay was at the front porch.
"Clay?" Kinkajou asked, tentatively, looking at his expression for any signs of anger. He seemed pretty furious when he stormed out of the place.
"Kinkajou!" Clay yelped, although slightly happy to see her. "You're here! Wait...you went out?"
"...yeah." Kinkajou mumbled. "I, uh. Just wanted some fresh air."
A twinge of guilt started in her chest when Clay nodded, reassured. She didn't have to lie like this.
Clay pushed the door open, peeking inside. "Glory!" He exclaimed, his face alight. "You're awake! You're alive!"
"Glory's awake?!" Kinkajou said, her guilt lost in the moment.
"Oh boy," Tsunami's voice tumbled in from the living room.
-
Peril caught a fish.
Well, it was a fish. Now it just sat in her talons, charred and wrinkled up. She threw it into her mouth with distaste, crunching away.
She was a the edge of Possibility. It had a river stream that brought along a strong supply of fish with it, so she set up camp here. She tried not to talk to anyone here, because just the sight of Peril made everybody run off like mad. She sighed.
Tourmaline. Tourmaline. She didn't hear that name before, and it rolled off her tongue easily, yet unfamiliar. What did she have to do with anything? And Scarlet as well- conspiring with her? Peril knew that as soon as she was hatched, Scarlet began scolding and beating her with years to come. Conspiring with Scarlet sounded like the last thing she'd have on her bucket list.
Rustling.
Peril's ears pricked a little at the sound. It was faint, but noticeable. It didn't sound like it was from the wind- the temperature was as hot as a sunny day.
Rustling again.
The sky dimmed its blue lights, settling for a much more softer shade of purple and pink. It was evening, and Peril knew, would soon lead to night. Who would be out so late at night? Even there were little to none dragons in the sky now- who was that near her?
Peril turned, staring hard. A silhouette flapped their wings out and about, their eyes glinting towards the setting sun.
Something hitched in her throat. It was a NightWing.
She scrambled into hiding in the shadows, on a stony surface so she wouldn't catch anything on fire. The silhouette flicked their tongue in an out, stretching their neck ever so slightly.
"I don't thinks she's here," They said, but Peril could hear that their voice belonged to a he. Who was "she"?
The NightWing held out something in their talons for a moment, and Peril realised with a start that it was a mirror. What for? To look at himself? Was that how most NightWings were? Vain?
Then he puffed a wisp of smoke, and the mirror somehow captured that small bit of smoke, swirling it across its reflective surface. "Tsunami," He said.
The smoke twisted and twisted and twisted until it took on a shape of a dragon- not any dragon, it was Tsunami. Peril couldn't hear anything, but it was clear that the NightWing could. He nodded, and turned back.
"Yeah. Let's try another place." And then mumbles and words jumbling together as he talked with another.
Peril shifted to hear the conversation better, but then- curse her scales- she set a nearby twig on fire, and it roared to life as fire engulfed it as it came in contact with her scales.
"Someone's near!" Said the NightWing with a hushed whisper. "Go, go, go!"
Another rustle, then the sound of flapping. Peril gazed at the NightWing- no, NightWings quizzically, and their mirror especially. What was that about?
Peril let a small hiss escape under her breath, and as curiosity took over her, she flapped her wings and followed them into the sky.