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They're gone? Dragonfly felt overwhelmed. Her little brother was gone? She felt her breathing faster than ever.
"Are you okay? How are you feeling?" Newt's mother asked. No. No, she was not okay. Not okay at all. Dragonfly shock her head. "Where are they? Who took them?" She asked anxiously. "We don't know. " One of the stranger mudwings said. She looked at the big mudwing with tearful eyes. "You don't know?" Dragonfly said. "You don't know?" She repeated.
"We never saw who it was!" Newt's mother cried out. "And we regret it so much! So much! That we didn't check on them sooner-" Her voice broke out in sobs. Newt's father lay a wing around Newt's mother. "All we saw was a big black silhouette flying out of our home!" Newt's mother said. Her voice was unstable and was at the edge of breaking.
"I can't stay here. I have to go." Dragonfly said. She spread her wings wide and took flight.
The sky had gone dark by now. Stars were shining bright. But Dragonfly couldn't admire them. She had to get home. Home, to tell her family what had happened. Dragonfly flied as fast as her wings would carry her.
She found herself wondering how fast a skywing could fly.
Finally, she could see the little hut. She landed with a crash and rolled into the outside wall of the hut. The door was opened by her mother looking confused.
"Dragonfly!" Her mother barked. "What are you doing!?"
"Mother! Mother! Marron was taken! Marron is gone!" Dragonfly panted.
"Gone? What do you mean by gone?" Her mother asked still angry.
"At Newt's. Someone took them. A big black silhouette." Dragonfly said.
"What are you saying- they were taken by somebody? Just now?"
"Yes!"
Dragonfly's mother said no more. She ran back into the house. She came back seconds later with a big fish in her talons.
"Mother you can't go all by your own!" Dragonfly protested.
"Well do I have a choice, Dragonfly?" Her mother spat. "You have to take care of Lucky and Shiny while I'm gone."
"But-"
"No 'but'. I'll see you soon." And she took of.
~~~
Dragonfly woke Lucky and Shiny early the next morning.
"Get up. We are going to hunt." Shiny moaned.
"Hunt? In the morning? I don't think so." Shiny said.
"Yes you are! Now get up!" Dragonfly said. "Mother, father, Gloria and Marron are all gone!" Dragonfly blurted out.
"What? Gone? What do you mean?" Lucky asked.
"Father is in the SkyWing Kingdom, Gloria's whereabouts are unknown, Marron is literally gone, and mother is out looking for him."
"What! Really?" Shiny said. "So it's just us?"
"Yes really, now get UP!" Dragonfly barked.
Their mother had left them five big fishes and one pig to eat.
"Why are we going hunting? See, we have lot's of food left!" Shiny pointed out.
"Because we are going to need more than that." Dragonfly replied.
"Yes, but not for now! We can hunt that later, much later!" Shiny said.
"No we need to hunt that now because we're going after them! Yes, that's right after mother!" Dragonfly said.
"Hey Dragonfly, I know you are the oldest now and our guardian for now, but is going after mother really the best idea?" Lucky asked.
"Yeah, Lucky is right. We should stay home and wait for them to come back." Shiny agreed.
"Maybe, but I can't stand the feeling of sitting down and doing nothing! Our little brother is out there somewhere, alone and scared! Maybe he's gone forever! And I don't want to be the one that did absolutely nothing to try and save him. At least, I want to try to save him, even if it's to late I want to try. " Dragonfly cried. She could feel tears burning behind her eyelids. Lucky and Shiny sat quiet. "So I'm going after him. You come or you don't. Its your choice. " Dragonfly said.
And she went out the door.
The morning was cold in the MudWing Kingdom. She went for Hunter's Forest. The best preys were always to find there.
"Dragonfly wait!" Lucky and Shiny stood outside of there little hut. "We'll come with you." Dragonfly gave them a smile.
~~~
After hours spent in Hunter's Forest they had managed to caught eleven bunnies, two pigs, five fish and one massive moose. How Lucky managed to kill a moose Dragonfly didn't know. But she was happy for their encouragement.
"But what about school?" Shiny asked.
"Well, we'll have to skip it." Dragonfly answered.
"Huh. That's good, no Duchess then." Lucky said. Shiny gave her a glance.
"When are we leaving?" Shiny asked.
"As soon as possible." Dragonfly answered.
"Wouldn't it be smart if we just stopped by the school to get some useful scrolls?" Lucky asked. Shiny rolled her eyes. "I mean scrolls like maps and facts and such."
"Sounds smart." Dragonfly said. "Let's leave the food at the hut."
~~~
School had already started. Lucky, Shiny and Dragonfly stood outside the school building.
"Okay sisters, let's make up a plan. "Dragonfly said. "Let's go to our normal lessons at first. And then let's meet up in the library to look for scrolls. Easy plan. We'll meet up before lunch. " Dragonfly explained.
"Got it." Shiny said. Lucky nodded.
"Good. And remember to act normal!" Dragonfly said. And they walked into the school.
Dragonfly's lesson was with Professor Moss. When Dragonfly entered the classroom Professor Moss was standing beside a large map of the mudwings's muscles. Professor Moss was just explaining something to class.
"Oh, Dragonfly, I see you have decided to jump in." Professor Moss said looking rather dull.
Rusty gave her a confusing look.
"Well, what are you waiting for? Take a seat." Professor Moss said. Dragonfly sat down.
The following lesson was long and boring. Professor Moss didn't do anything but talk. On and on and on.
When the lesson finally was over, Dragonfly hurried out the classroom.
"Hey! Wait up!" Rusty called. "Hey!" A little angrier this time.
Dragonfly turned.
"Why are you in such a hurry?" Rusty asked.
"I need to get to the library." Dragonfly said. Rusty chuckled quietly.
"Okay why didn't you just tell me? If you're in such a hurry let's just go!" Rusty said.
The library was big, dusty and empty. Dragonfly began the long journey through the labyrinth of scrolls.
"Hey why are you walking so fast!" "Dragonfly! Dragonfly answer me!" Rusty cried as she dragged Dragonfly behind a shelf.
"What is up with you today? You are acting strange like crazy! If something is wrong you got to tell me. Is it me? Have I done something? Don't you wanna be my friend anymore? Or WHAT?" Rusty said.
"No no NO! You are getting it all wrong! You are my best friend Rusty! It's just... something has happened." Rusty looked worried. Dragonfly wondered whenever she should tell Rusty or not. And where was Shiny and Lucky?
And she told Rusty about Newt, Gloria, their mother and their plan.
"Seriously? Dragonfly, why didn't you tell me!? This is HUGE!" Rusty said. "And you can't be serious about doing this all alone! I'm so coming with you!" Rusty said.
"No! No you're not! Rusty it's too dangerous!" Dragonfly said.
"Oh don't you bring that "it's to dangerous" upon me. We both know that is scavenger shit." Rusty said.
Okay she is right.
"You're...you're...you're so right! I know I know... but it's still dangerous!"
"Yes! And I'm STILL going!" Rusty said.
"But what about school Rusty! You've got to go to school!" Dragonfly argued.
"And so does you!" Rusty said. "And I don't care what you think. I'm going anyways."
Dragonfly could do nothing to stop her. Dragonfly signed silently. Now, where is Shiny and Lucky?
Right at that thought, Dragonfly turned behind a shelf to see Shiny and Lucky there, both looking anxious, by the entrance to the library.
They caught Dragonfly's eyes and looked even more anxious. Shiny hurried forward.
"Where have you been!" Dragonfly whispered, uneasy. "It's gone too long!"
Lucky caught up beside Shiny. "We're so sorry!" Shiny cried.
"Duchess got in the way." Lucky said.
"Shiny, why didn't you do anything?" Dragonfly asked.
"I tried. Believe me, I tried." Shiny sighed.
"Well, let's get to work then!" Dragonfly said.
They searched through shelf after shelf, barely finding anything.
Dragonfly finally decided to take the risk to ask Grotcha the librarian.
Grotcha was a big dark brown coloured MudWing. She had a pair of dirty old golden spectacles. She was old and wise, and remembered every story she'd ever read. Her memory was outstanding.
"Er... Grotcha?" Dragonfly tried. Grotcha looked up from A History Of MudWings with her small eyes.
"Yes my child, what can I do for you?" Grotcha asked. Dragonfly walked up to her desk.
"Do you have any scrolls about...er... survival?" Dragonfly said. Grotcha looked surprised.
" That was the most surprising request. Yes of course my child, but tell me what do you need scrolls about survival for?" Grotcha asked curiously.
"Just interested. If something happened- I want to be prepared. Extra prepared." Dragonfly added "extra prepared" after Grotcha's suspicious face. Every dragon had survival instincts in their blood.
Grotcha rose from her seat leaving A History Of MudWings behind.
"Follow me." Grotcha mumbled. After searching a few shelf's Grotcha found the right one.
"Here you are. All the scrolls about survival and such." Grotcha muttered. Grotcha left Dragonfly lonely with the dust and scrolls surrounding her. Instantly, she began her search for good useful scrolls.
The thick layer of dust made Dragonfly choke, but she didn't stop looking. She had to continue. She must continue.
Dragonfly's eyes moved from shelf to shelf, desperately looking for something useful.
And there it was. A old looking scroll, but it was useful. Dragonfly fast-read the scroll. A wave of belief and maybe even hope flowed through her body.
"Yes!" She exclaimed quietly to herself. She half-ran back to Grotcha the librarian because well, it was a library after all. Grotcha's tiny eyes looked up suspiciously at Dragonfly.
"Here. I would like to borrow this. Please. " Dragonfly said. Grotcha muttered a short answer as she began to write down Dragonfly's name and which scroll she wanted to borrow. "There you go. And no running in the library." Grotcha said eyeing Dragonfly. She nodded and almost ran into Shiny on her way back.
"There you are!" Shiny said. "Oh, she is here!" Shiny turned her head as she said that. Then back at Dragonfly.
"Follow me. Found anything useful?"
~~~
Rusty and Lucky were waiting outside the school building. Rusty carried one scroll. It looked short and old. Lucky standing next to her, looked anxious, carried...it looked like, maybe twelve scrolls?
As soon as Lucky's eyes found hers her face softened.
"Okey, so did you guys find anything useful?" Dragonfly asked.
"What does it look like? Of course we did! But we don't have time for chatting now! We need to go, fly before it gets dark!" Lucky burst out. "And before another teacher gets here." Rusty added quietly.
No one said a word. At first, Dragonfly was surprised and maybe even a little irritated. But then she looked at Lucky with big eyes and she understood, Lucky took this as seriously as she did.
"So? What are we waiting for? Let's go!" Lucky blurted.
And so they ran after Lucky, who was slowed down by the weight of her twelve scrolls, towards the hut.
The hut smelled heavily of dead animals. Of course it did, it always did, but it was still a surprise every time you walked in there. The four of them stood tucked in the doorway looking at the pile of smelling dead animals.
"Well, we got no time so stand here and stare." Dragonfly said walking towards the pile. It seemed to wake the others up. She walked in took a firm bite in a pig and carried it outside. The others see and to follow her example.
When the pile was outside instead of inside they divided the weight equally.
Finally. Finally the were ready to take flight. And so they spread their wings wide and took flight into their greatest journey.