Darkness and Light - A Wings of Fire Fanfiction

Chapter 3 - Bluebottle

By the time those stupid dragonets left his peaceful cavern, Bluebottle had already half calmed down.

I cannot believe that frickin' queen's still alive. I could've killed her when she gave me that good - for nothing smirk. Huh. I expected her old wrinkled body to be carelessly buried underneath the scorching sands already.

Just to make himself a teeny more satisfied, he whipped around and grabbed a poor, terrified trout from outside his cavern. He snarled at the struggling creature and stuffed it in his mouth.

Eurgh!

Bluebottle spat out the sharp fish bones and huffed violently, earning bubbles that tickled his snout.

He turned and dived towards the hole that was carved into the coral walls. The tunnel was big enough to fit about two dragons, and it sloped downwards, until there was a point at the back that went up. The tunnel was lit up dimly by jellyfish, trapped in glass jars. The problem with having live lighting was that you had to feed them.

He skillfully sped along the purple walls, and when the tunnel sloped down into the sandy floor, the walls became cracking cobblestone.

It was about Midnight by the time Bluebottle reached his intended destination. He smiled as he read the moulded wooden sign: "Riverabyss: Home to the Seawings of the Moon Bay Shore"

The waterlogged tunnel opened up into a giant, damp cavern that seemed to have no ceiling or sky, as fog clouded the top. The sounds of home were peaceful; waterfalls, Seawings chatting, dragonets playing and squealing. 

Bluebottle gazed around at the wonderful sights, remembering the last time he entered his secret home. The walls were made of mossy stone, with large crevices in the walls as residence. The whole cavern was filled with a blue eerie mist, and long stalagtites hung from the ceiling like a mouth filled with teeth, waiting just for the right moment to bite. Glow worms were barely visible, scattered across the walls of the abyss. A colossal round wall was set in the middle. You had to go through that to get through to the sky above.

Echoes travelled all throughout the cavernous hole in the ground, and he could see the dragons now. Flashing scales under the water: a sign of communication that Seawings used. Dragons flying through the haze, mostly towards the caves in the wall. 

Ah yes. I remember. Five up, fourteen left.

Bluebottle took off from the stone ledge that had been observing from, counting five caves up, fourteen to the left wall from the side entrance, where he'd come from. His grey - green eyes landed on a cave slightly larger than the other ones he could see. He soared towards it, enjoying the cool, musty air on his azure wings. He landed with a splash on the small pool of water that surrounded the entrance.

He splished his way into the cool space inside his home. The smells, the colours . . .

Wait. There was something wrong. Something was missing.

Oh. Frick.

Bluebottle filled up with anxiety when he realised his mother was missing. She wasn't in her sand nest against the far wall, and the glow worm wall was now replaced with a cobweb wall. Had it really been that long since Bluebottle last came home? He paced anxiously around the cave. His eyes hurt. Well, I guess that's my night vision going wonky. I can't live at home with no light source in my room!

He hopped onto the small hedge where he slept when he was a dragonet, and he tried to sleep. Images from his memory started flooding into his eyes as his eyelids drooped. Of him and his brother, Octopus, playing catch the fish. He felt that sad, empty hole in his stomach again. His brother was killed by the Sandwing queen, years ago. That's how he got the long scar on his neck. Bluebottle subconsiously brushed the scab with his claw. Bluebottle tried not to think too much of the new mystery of his mother, then, his mind slowly faded into darkness as he fell into a dreamless sleep.

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The sounds of waterfalls came back. Bluebottle opened his eyes, forgetting that he spent the night at his old home. Now, what was I so worried about last night? Oh yeah. Mother.

Bluebottle stood up and looked out the window, a teal glass pane that was melted into the stone. He woke up too early - or, at least, that was his normal wake up time. Everyone else was still in their caves, some with their lights on, some with them off. But never mind that. He had a mother to find.

Bluebottle stretched his sore muscles and flew out his grotto, not knowing where to start. Suddenly, Bluebottle's wings missed a beat at the loud commotion that rambled out from a neighbouring home. A scream followed.

"NOOOOO!"

He couldn't really see past the morning haze, but he could see a blurred image of a familiar verdigris green dragon tumbling out of their home. They were bleeding, very badly, and Bluebottle saw with a disappointed 'tch" that it was the horrifying slash on their neck. The Seawing's wings stopped flapping and it dropped. Bluebottle saw all the scared faces on the other watching Seawings, and when he looked back at the corpse of the dead dragon, he realised.

I never knew Mum would die like this. Too bad for me. Looks like all my family is gonna die a gruesome death. I hope mine will be the least gruesome, though. Eh. Unlikely.

He looked on with wet eyes as his 42 year old mother fell into the grey water below. The splash was tiny, but after the ripples settled, he couldn't see her anymore.

Who killed Mum? Wait, I'm 26 already. Let's fix that real quick. Who killed Mother?

He glided through the petrified eyes of his tribemates, ready to confront the beast that killed his mother. His eyes widened as he spotted his friend, Cerulean, holding his own talon, in which was covered in pure Seawing blood.