Peril didn't know what was coming for her.
She was walking through the forest, trying her best not to make the trees around her die by becoming as small as possible even though the sticks and grass and flowers she was stepping on died in a heartbeat inevitably as she stepped on them and the smoke from them filled her snout, making her sneeze. She hated her firescales and sort of loved them at the same time. She tried her best not to kill anyone with them for a long time but if there was a dragon who wanted to kill her and about to kill her, she would most certainly kill them with her firescales and it was great because if they wanted to kill her, they couldn't since she'd always win. She shook off the feeling across her spine as she said that. Queen Scarlet was gone. Queen Scarlet wouldn't make her kill any more dragons because she was dead. She hated the idea of working for Queen Scarlet now and she hated that she even thought that killing was her purpose in life when it wasn't, she didn't like killing dragons. Queen Scarlet was the worst by making her kill those dragons, making her think she was a monster. Now, she still thought she was though. Dragons still regarded her as a monster and that would never change unless she didn't have her firescales or she didn't kill anyone. She wished that Queen Scarlet never made her kill thousands of dragons then she wouldn't have been thought of as a monster all the time. If only she was born without firescales and she didn't grow up with Queen Scarlet. She sighed and when she stepped on a twig again, a spear flew past her almost piercing through her foot and when she saw where the spear came from, there was a brown shape that disappeared into the forest. 'Did someone just... try to kill me?'
She didn't know but it didn't seem good that it almost hit her.
She flew back to the academy hastily with her large wings and rushed into her cave and wondered if she should run.
Sky POV:
Sky really hoped they would get to the mud kingdom. It was hard but Sky was hopeful. Wren kept saying that Sky was too optimistic but Sky shrugged it off. Today was gonna be a good day for both of them, he knew it, he could sense it in his bones. It was morning and the sun was low in the sky. Sky was walking with Wren in the mudwing kingdom where mudwings were swarming around and Sky felt relieved there was dragons to talk to here and then a brown shape flashed in his view out of the corner of his eye and he turned around to see a brown dragon close to him, staring at him expectantly. "You look really odd," the mudwing pointed out, walking around Sky. He felt a sense of sadness as he looked at his talons. He did look odd. That was true. He was smaller than other dragons, didn't have fire and was a weird orange colour. He hated how he looked, he wished he looked like a regular skywing but Wren would love him no matter how he looked. He felt the sadness drift into gratitude. He was so lucky to have Wren but he still felt a bit saddened that the mudwing had to say that he looked odd. No, he should be proud of what he looks like, Wren would want that, she would want him to love himself as much as she loved him. He didn't love himself though and he was insecure of being this way. He sighed. He wished that he was a better dragon. Maybe he could prove it somehow to Wren, that would make Wren proud of him. Not a single word came out of Sky's mouth. The mudwing turned to look at him directly in the eyes. "i like that you look odd," he said happily. Who would like what he looked like? It felt surreal to hear that someone liked how he looked like. He shook it off. He shouldn't doubt them but it felt weird for someone to like him. No, it was absolutely weird for someone to like him, no one should like how he looks. "Thanks," said Sky quietly, his wings twitching. He didn't know why but a sense of dread filled him as he stayed near this mudwing and he didn't feel this way near other dragons. Maybe it was because Wren was gripping his neck tightly. "What's your name?" the mudwing asked. "It's Sky," he replied and the mudwing looked like he was shocked by a hundred electric eels. "Uhm, i'll be right back," said the mudwing who turned and ran away. 'That was weird," said Wren on his back. She was right. Why was he so flustered to hear his name? "I think we should follow him. He seems suspicious," said Wren. "If you don't want to, we don't have to."
"No, no, it's okay," He responded. "Let's go follow him." He was scared but Wren always knew the best. Sky flew over to where the mudwing was running to and they were hiding behind a tree. The mudwing disappeared into a hut and was writing on a piece of paper. "We should go closer," whispered Wren. "I want to know what he's writing." Sky didn't know why Wren wanted to go closer because he was just writing on a piece of paper? What did she see with that mudwing? He went further to the hut and saw it. There was a knife pointing to Sky's name and a name, Peril and Queen Ruby's name. 'He wants to kill the skywing queen and someone else? Oh no, we have to do something about this,' he thought. "Wren, we have to go warn Peril first. Let's go," Sky whispered sternly. "Yeah, let's go, Sky," she replied and Sky morphed into the trees, going to warn the dragon who was about to be killed. Along the way, they added on to who they thought Peril was. Wren kept saying that Peril would be a great name for a rainwing because they're dangerous with their camouflage and venom while Sky thought Peril was a good name for a skywing because skywings have fire that is dangerous. The name seemed familiar but he couldn't recall the memories that stemmed out of the name. Fortunately, the location was dotted on a map on the paper so they knew where Peril was. Sky was so grateful for Wren realizing that the mudwing was planning to kill Sky. If she didn't then he'd probably be dead by now. They reached Jade Mountain where Peril was supposed to be and there were dragons coming in and out from the entrance. According to Wren, this must be the entrance. Sky flew down and was greeted with a bulky mudwing and he felt a shiver through his spine. This wasn't the same mudwing from earlier but it still made Sky feel scared. The mudwing greeted them with a hello and Sky asked, "Is there a dragon named Peril here?" The mudwing nodded tentatively and as the mudwing leaded them, Sky felt the burning gazes of the other dragons watching. It was uncomfortable and he felt like he was drowning in water. He couldn't do anything and there was nothing that was able to help him. As he tried swimming he couldn't swim and there was no end to the drowning. He felt like he was about to die right now until he saw her. The memories flooded back in his brain. "Is that... Peril?" said Sky, taking a step forward. Peril looked at him with wide eyes and her jaw dropped. "Sky!" Peril exclaimed, coming forward to Sky. He found it odd that her wings were unusually far away from him. "C-can we hug?" asked Sky, yearning to hug her. She made herself as small as possible and whispered, "I can't hug you. I'm a firescales." Firescales? He rummaged through the memories and found that he couldn't hug her because of them burning him. 'Huh, i can't make her insecure about her firescales,' he thought. "Oh. I can't believe you're here! I thought you were dead!" said Sky, changing the topic. "I thought you were dead too," replied Peril, her talons fidgeting. "I love you, Peril," Sky got more closer to Peril and she flinched. Why did he say that? It was so awkward. He couldn't imagine how weird it was for Peril. "I-i love you too, Sky," Peril stammered. Sky glanced at Wren and she had a genuine smile. "Why are you here though, Sky?" Sky glanced at Wren again and she motioned for him to go on.
"I've come to tell you that a mudwing wants to kill me and you."
