Wings of Fire: Nighthawk

Chapter 6: All Ghillied Up

                ~ Three Weeks Later ~
         
          It had been long, cold and lonely without her. He had traveled from the desert to the sea kingdom, wanting to get as far away from her and Viper as he possibly could. It was a dark, stormy night, heavy rain in the jungle of a large island. He wasn't lost, he kept telling himself. He knew this was a hot area for the war, so he had made some sort of makeshift ghillie suit out of leaves and grass. He only had a crossbow and a small dagger. One he bought when he was with Aloe.
          He snuck through the jungle, hearing some birds but mostly the sound of the rain. Eventually he came across some voices. He got as low to the ground as he could, hiding himself in the brush. He stayed silent, seeing several seawing soldiers traverse down a path. The name for himself had grown. He was either a hero, or a nightmare, it varied depending on the dragon and what side they were on. He knew Burn's side was fearful and angry at him. Blister's was more wary and cautious. Blaze and her army were terrified, mostly the Icewings. He didn't understand why, since he hadn't done any ideas to them. Once they passed, he rushed back into the jungle.
         He had to get to his hiding spot. Then he heard shouting. He glanced back, sneakily rushing towards them. He saw fire. It was an ambush from skywings. "Bloody hell.." he cussed under his breath. He walked towards them, seeing the seawings were outnumbered and completely taken by surprise. They had night vision, but he knew bright light hurt the eyes when using it. From the shadows, he pointed the crossbow at a skywing, took a few seconds to line it up. Then he fired it. The bolt whistled through the air and impacted a skywing right in the throat, sending it down. He pulled back the string and loaded it again before firing at another. This startled both the skywings and the seawings.
          "Assassin!" One yelled.
          "It's him!" Another roared.
          "FIND THE NIGHTWING!" The skywing commander yelled.
          'Time to go.' he thought as he snuck back into the jungle. He couldn't risk being seen but he had certainly led the skywings into a panic. A target they couldn't see, but could perfectly see them and shoot them was an incredibly dangerous threat. The seawings took advantage of this and pushed forward towards them. Roaring with spears pointed and claws extended, the blue and green collided with the red and orange. He watched skywings and seawings fall on both sides from his hiding spot.
          However, he noticed a peculiar seawing. He was red. At least from what he could see. Surprisingly, they weren't getting him confused with the others. This red seawing was fighting his way through the skywings, confusing and disorienting them. He could see how useful such an oddity would be now. After a minute or so, the red seawing crashed into the water, two skywings chasing him. When he resurfaced, he was by the sand, crawling towards the beach. The skywings chased him.
          "Oh dear." Nighthawk whispered. He saw the two dragons pin the seawing and he rushed over without a second thought. He shot one of the skywings in the eye with the crossbow, killing it and knocking it off Lobster. Then he rolled and pounded on the other before stabbing the dagger into its chest. He twisted it before looking at the seawing. It was removed and he went over, checking his wounds. A bad set of claw marks on his gut and a burn on his chest. He dragged him into the jungle. He had to help, and he knew how thanks to Aloe.
          "Sulu..I'm so sorry.." The seawing groaned. He had a unique accent, and he sounded scared. It was an northeastern coast sounding accent. He dragged the seawing to his small hiding hut he dug out for a temporary shelter. He set the seawing on the floor, starting to clean and stitch the way Aloe did with her patients.
          "You're gonna be alright lad.. calm down..stay quiet." He whispered. Soon the dragon was stable and quiet, asleep. "Whew." He cleaned his talons off and removed the ghillie suit. He was soaked in water and blood, but he saved a life. Through the next half hour, the raging battle had stopped and he sat in silence, all cleaned up and sipping some tea. He started to hear some thumping sounds.
          "Lobster! I know you're alive!" A female voice yelled, loud and booming. From the sound of it, he knew who it was. He has two options, run and hide or come clean. He didn't know how hostile or friendly this dragon was. Especially if he had a seawing in his custody. As the stomping got closer, he searched for a spot to hide. He dove into a hole he dug out for such a purpose. It wasn't exactly clean, a lot of dirt in the spot but it got the job done. A large head poked in, sure enough it was her. The infamous seawing commander. Tempest. He had heard of an attempted assassination by the mudwing's, which failed. It still led to a brutal conflict and hatred between the two tribes.
          "Lobster! There you are! What the hell?" She sniffed around, seeing he was alive and breathing. "Alright, get out here before I drag you out. You won't escape. Even if I gave you a head start! Ha!" Her laugh was loud and booming. "I can smell you, Nightwing."
          Nighthawk wasn't sure what to do. He had thought for sure this would hide him. He took a deep breath, slowly poking his head out. He held no weapons, just his talons in the air. "Let's not get feisty here.."
          "Ah, you." She said, giving a small grin. "I heard about you. Who else could have been taking out skywings so brutally and efficiently. Other than me of course!"
          "It was only a matter of time before I was discovered. Not completely fool proof. Your seawing is fine, take him and leave me alone."
          "That's not going to happen, see we have been searching for you for a decent amount of time. We can do this the easy way, or the Tempest way." She scooped up Lobster, inspecting the wounds. "You did a good job fixing Lobster up."
          Nighthawk ended up laughing. "Moons- his parents must have known that is the worst possibile name for him.."
          "Actually he is proud of it. Let's go." She said, giving an unimpressed look. So they went. He followed her, not fighting it because this was the best option he had. He took account of her stature, and he was surprised at it. Not quite as big as Basilisk, but definitely bigger than normal. Once they arrived, he saw her take Lobster over to the healers and setting him down. He was directed to a spot with a trio of guards. He got his talons tied behind his back with a muzzle over his snout.
          "Mmfh-" He grumbled in protest. He clearly didn't need to be detained but it was a safe measure.
          "Rest, you will not be harmed. We will question you tomorrow." Tempest said with a small grin before heading back to her sleeping spot. The seawings kept watch while Nighthawk was forced to lie in wait for whatever came next.