Bobtail flew briskly over the desert sands, the harsh sun beating hard on his dark scales. He clutched the draft notice in his talon, and thought to himself.

'The last time I was out here like this, I was with Mother...'

But this was much different. The War had called him, just as he thought was to happen at some point. He was to be a soldier in Blaze's army. Fighting for the dolty princess and her army of prickly ice-biters... and most of the SandWing tribe.

Bobtail didn't care which queen was to win, not one bit. He could just leave the kingdom with his dad, and Splinter...

But they were all by themselves now. In that little starch white tent in the middle of the wasteland.

Bobtail gritted his teeth and flew faster. He could reach the camp by nightfall, if he was quick. he'd been flying since dawn, after all. The sooner he got there, the sooner he could leave. The sooner the war could end and he could go back home.

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The sun had nearly set in when the bulky Sand-brid touched his talons to the chilled tundra dirt. This was camp. A scattering of hundreds of tents in the snow. IceWings and SandWings walked about as if they wanted to be here just as much as Bobtail.

He immediately recognized Blaze's tent, and made his way inside. The soldiers were too cold to care, despite even the fact that Bobtail looked a lot like a MudWing, even a NightWing. But still, they let him pass with a dismissive nod.

A few minutes later, and Bobtail was back outside again. His talon no longer clutched the draft notice from before, but now a slip of parchment telling him where he was to bunk. Dogtags with his name, rank, bloodtype, and even next-of-kin on them hung around his neck.

This was going to be his life, he thought, looking around at the bleak little tents and the SandWings huddling for warmth.

"Hey there!" A voice snapped the new soldier from his thoughts. An IceWing, tall and slender. He looked as if he could break at any moment, until he smiled. That wasn't a normal IceWing thing, he thought... but no, when this dragon smiled, he looked stronger, with his pale-grey scales seemingly sturdier.

"H-hey." Bobtail said, finding his voice catching on the cold air. He cleared his throat gruffly, and broke into a small cough.

"You must be Bobtail." The IceWing said, striding up to him. Despite bobtail being quite a large dragon, this guy was still much taller than him. "I'm Frostbite, your bunkmate." He said. Frostbite extended a talon, and Bobtail shook it. "I could tell it was you by the stumpy tail. You're somewhat of big talk around here."

"No shit?" Bobtail asked. He didn't mean to swear, his father said such language was rude. But somehow he felt as if it made him tougher. It felt, almost right.

"No shit indeed, guy." Frostbite said, nudging his shoulder as they walked. "Not every day we get a hybrid in the army, and such a huge guy too! You are massive, 'Tail." He laughed.

Bobtail laughed too. "You're pretty laid back, for an IceWing. Like, all I've heard about you guys is that you're uptight, snooty, and really strict when it comes to form and talking, and.. everything."

"Well, that's not me." The IceWing said modestly. "Not how I roll. I'm a fifth-circle IceWing. Not a lot of chance of me going too much higher in the rankings. So, I do my job, and the rest of the time, i do what I want, when I want. Nobody pays too much mind o me. 'Cept for those asshole high-ranks you see patrolling the place. They like to shoot me dirty looks, and I like to shoot 'em one of these."

Forstbite demonstrated by flicking up one middle claw to Bobtail, another gesture his father had told him not to brandish. But, Bobtail could see that Frostbite didn't mind.

"After all, what're they gonna do, demote me? No way, pal. I'm too valuable of a fighter." Forstbite said, coming up on what looked to be their tent.

"Y'know, Bite?" Bobtail said, with a slight smile. "Out of all these frosty snowdragons, you just might be the chillest soldier out here."

At that, the IceWing howled in laughter, earning a few dirty looks from other passing soldiers.

"Oh moons!" He yelled. "You make jokes too? Man, you and I are gonna get along perfect, Tail."