Wings Of Fire: Closing Eyes (Prequel To The Last Day Series)

Beige - 17

    Beige's talons were grimy and black by noon.

    So was his snout and tail; he was dirty head to tail with ash and charcoal from scavenging in the Poison Jungle.

     The rest of the group was walking through the gray tree trunks, calling out for Splinter. There were times that everyone's heart jumped when a rogue bush grew in the gloomy landscape that was the same rich green and browns of Splinter's scales.

     Beige wiped his brow and stared up at the sun. He unearthed a small potato, skewered it on the cleanest stick he found and blasted it with flames. Unfortunately for Beige, who was a hungry SandWing, the thing wouldn't extinguish, and when Beige shook it, the burnt potato smacked against a tree and bounced onto the forest floor.

     Beige growled. Stupid potato.

     He picked up and brushed off its exterior and ate the hot potato inside. He hissed and tried to breathe out the heat.

    "Ah, hot, hot," he cursed, panted as he hastily swallowed. This sort of felt like swallowing a flame, kind of hurting, but it felt oddly nice. He sighed and looked around. He would admit that it made him a little nervous being alone so soon after one of the group members disappeared.

     As if to further worsen his worry, he had lost sight of the group.

    "Fuck," he whispered. He whipped his head around, looking for his team members. He couldn't even see the foreign colors in the gray landscape like Crab's sea blue and fire orange scales.

     "Hello?" he called, his heart beginning to race. He wasn't sure why, but he felt like it had something to do with the fact that Splinter had disappeared similarly- nobody being able to see him.

      Maybe it's something weird- like now I'm in a parallel universe or something? Like really they're right here, near me, but I can't see them, and they can't see me. By the dunes, I kind of sound like Epiphyte. I'm probably wrong.

       He walked towards where he last saw them, his scalded mouth hurting from the root vegetable. He squinted at the gray pillars and the ashy clouds with rouge plants shooting up here and there. He had no idea how this place had remained so dead and empty of living plants for two hundred years, but the massive dead trunks around him told a tale he couldn't understand. Maybe Splinter could if he were here.

      Beige's eye caught movement out of the corner of his eye. He turned towards the area where he saw it, and his tail raised menacingly.

     "Who's there?" He growled, wishing his voice wasn't as shaky as it sounded. His tail curled over his head, and he could feel the venom pumping through his barb.

     "Oh my gosh, CHILL," Bloom said, the gray ash colors melting off her scales.

     "Bloom," Beige hissed, feeling a little embarrassed. "What are you doing?"

     "What are you doing?" she responded in a sassy tone. "We're all waiting for you to stop snacking! Crevasse thinks she can smell Splinter."

     "Oh, really?" Beige said, his heart leaping. "Let's go then!"

      Bloom led the way back to the group. "I was trying to scare you if you really did want to know what I was doing. Practicing my camouflage and spying skills!"

     "Why do you need to practice your 'spying' skills?" Beige asked.

     "Well, you never know," Bloom said, looking a little scandalized. "Danger around every corner! Like that spooky dragon we saw yesterday. Bad guys."