Wings Of fire: Shadowstalker

Chapter 31: Sandstorm

Shadowstalker and Starshifter stared at each other for a few quiet seconds. It hadn't even been a week since Mindwatcher ended things between them, so he was surprised he did this. Carefully he leaned his head back and covered the front of his snout while she went and buried herself in the sand.

"I should go-" Shadow mumbled, his voice filled with worry and nervousness. "I'm- I'm sorry-" All he got for a response was a slight wiggle from the dragon in the sand. Unfortunately, it was only her burrowing further into the sand.

"Starshifter..?" Shadow said calmly before reaching a talon to her, but he jerked it back and sighed. "Okay-" He let out a sad sigh before walking towards the compound. His wings drooped and tucked close to his sides while the hot sun beat down on his back. It caused a burning sensation that he'd still not gotten used to yet. "Hm.."

As he walked, the wind began to pick up. He glanced off into the horizon and saw an enormous cloud of sand. His eyes went wide when he saw how rapidly it was approaching him. He was unaware if Starshifter had gone back or not, but he could only assume she hadn't. Because of this, he started to run back towards where she was. It was a race of reaching the oasis before the sand cloud did, so he ran as fast as his large talons would let him.

By the time he arrived, he was panting from the amount of running. Never before had he gone so fast, but he had to save her. "Starshifter!" He boomed, just hoping she would hear him. No response. He huffed. "Starshifter! There's a sandstorm coming our way, we need to find shelter!" He yelled louder, hoping she'd head him this time. Soon enough her head poked up and turned to him, then towards the sandstorm.

"Moons- quickly!" She called and walked up to him and jumped onto his back. He then felt her grip onto his neck and shoulders tightly. "Alright, fly up! Now, as high and as quickly as you can go!" The prince nodded and spread his wings wide before launching into the sky. Tiny specks of sand flicked onto his scales as the storm grew closer. Thanks to his vast wings he was able to fly much faster than any ordinary dragon, but just barely faster than the storm however.

"Where should I go?" Shadow yelled back to her as he beat his wings rapidly to build up speed. His friend's claws dug into his scales as she held on. Despite how much it stung, he didn't throw her off.

"Head towards that plateau! There should be somewhere we can hide for the time being!" She yelled back. The giant beat his wings faster to build speed. Once he was going fast enough he started to glide at a downward angle to maintain his speed. All around him the wind blew and howled, threatening to knock him off balance and send him tumbling to the ground. As they approached the rocks, he shot down towards them. The air rushed by him while he swooped into a large canyon with a river running down the middle of it.

"Land there, by the river!" Starshifter demanded, and he did so. The sand was more reddish orange here than the rest of the desert. The river water was sparkly and clear, which meant it was clean. He turned his head down and started drinking, taking large gulps of water. The sandstorm had blown a different direction, which meant they were safe. "Whew- that was.. wow- you are fast. Holy-"

"Mm.." Shadow glanced at her a little before continuing to drink. He then slumped in the sand and huffed.

"Are you okay?" She walked up to his head and sat beside him before patting his shoulder.

"I guess so." He rumbled and lifted his head before turning to her. "What was that by the oasis..?" This question caught her off guard, and he watched her huddle back with her arms crossed.

"I was just thanking you." She snorted.

"That's an interesting way to thank someone.." Shadow huffed before flopping his head on top of her, pinning her to the sand below.

"Hey-!" A small laugh erupted from the hybrid as she tried to lift his head. "Move it!"

"Nope." He laughed before looking around at the valley. Other than just red sand and rocks, there were also shrubs, trees he'd never seen before and several new types of cacti. A sharp pain shot through his talon, and when he glanced at it he remembered Aloe had stung him. "Ah.."

"What's wrong?"

"My talon- your mother..hm.." Shadow stood up and hissed. He tried to stand on it, but due to the swelling and pain it was incredibly uncomfortable and painful to do so. "Is there an antivenom..?" He asked nervously before putting his talon over the wound.

"If there's any brigjtsting cacti around. Let me go find some. Just sit here, so I don't lose you. Not that it would be easy.." She teased, he snorted.

"Oh, go find that cactus." Shadow nudged her with his tail and she went off while giggling. The decided to check his stone tablet to check on Nighthawk, so he took it out and looked for any new messages. Several had been written and sent. The majority of messages were all asking if he and Starshifter were okay.

'Yes, we are fine. There was a sandstorm but we made it to safety.' He wrote back, sitting up. It was only a matter of waiting until he got a response. Eventually Nighthawk wrote back.

'Great. I'm worried about my daughter, keep her safe please.'

With a nod, Shadow sent a quick confirmation before putting the tablet away. By then Starshifter has come back with a large round cactus.

"Hold your wounded talon to me." She said calmly. He did so and watched as she squeezed it hard. It was impressive to see her carefully yet firmly squeeze the milk from the cactus without impaling herself on the spikes. The fluid dripped onto the wound. Instead of a soothing feeling, it stung. With a hiss he pulled his talon back and glared at her.

"Ow.."

"Quit whining and hold still. I don't want to have to grab another one." Starshifter grunted. Shadow rolled his eyes and forced himself to relax while she fixed his talon. After the cactus was squeezed she wrapped several long flat palm leaves around his talon with some sort of plant based adhesive. "There, done. Was that so hard?"

"Maybe.." Shadow snorted. "But thank you.. where did you learn that?"

"My mother. She's a doctor, taught me a few things about medicine." Starshifter said with a heap of confidence and a smile. "So, yeah. I can fix just about anything, even on you big boy."

"Hah.. if you say so.." Shadow said with a sigh as he led down. "Hm." He rumbled a bit. Then he felt her cuddle up against his side, which he didn't mind. "Let's head back after that storm.. everyone is worried."

"Agreed. Shadow.. thank you. For saving me, and for comforting me. You're really sweet.."

"You're welcome. I always protect my friends.." Shadow smiled at her, and she smiled back. The two then relaxed and just waited for the sandstorm to blow by. He was feeling happy again, and it was all because of Starshifter. It seemed as though everything was finally turning around.