As soon as Sahara stepped claw in the prey center, she wanted to go back. Conch was already inside, chasing around a cow with a bunch of other brown, orange, red, and black dragons.

Sahara shimmied along the side of the cave towards the fruit piles. She stabbed a juicy-looking orange fruit with her claw and plopped it in her mouth. Juice spattered everywhere. She went over to the river to dip her claws in it and wash them off.

She didn't know much about hunting, but one doesn't really need to know when a chicken just runs right into them. She closed her talons around the squawking feathery thing and pressed hard. Her talons were covered in blood when she lifted them.

A big red dragon came over to her.

"Hey! Give me my chicken!" he said.

"Um...but I caught it." Sahara said back.

"Well, I was chasing it therefore I deserve it. So hand it over." Two other dragons, one red and one orange joined the first.

"Yeah, give it back! We were chasing it!" They both said. Sahara narrowed her eyes and her tail subconsciously raised like a scorpion's, poisonous barb dangling overhead. She hissed at them.

"It's mine." She growled.

The two dragons in the back started backing away.

"Hey, girl, we're not trying to start any trouble here, just give us our chicken."

Sahara sighed. This was not a good start. She was attracting way too much attention. She rubbed her temple.

"How about this. Since you chased it and lead it right into my claws for the kill, I'll give you two-thirds. But since I caught and killed it, I get the other third of MY CHOOSING. Is that okay with you?" She asked them.

The first dragon looked at the other two and they nodded. He looked back and said, "Deal."

----------

While Sahara was finishing up her chicken bits, Conch had gotten two fish from the net and brought them over.

"Hey, I had an idea while I was hunting. Since SandWings have fire, I was thinking that you could roast this fish and I try it, but you try the raw fish. Um, is that okay?"

Sahara looked up at Conch. Is she actually nervous inside? Could it be the disapproval of her mother that made her like this?

"Yeah, sure!" Sahara said. She opened her mouth and summoned a small bowl of flame that seared one of the fish a charred black. Conch poked it and made a weird face at the char that came off.

"Eugh, I don't know if I want to do this anymore. Well, here goes."

Conch picked up the fish and crunched it in her mouth, making a disgusted face.

"Ew! How do you eat like this? Okay, now you try it." Conch said.

Sahara speared the fish on her talons. She dropped it in her mouth and cringed as the bones crunched. She spat out the fish and gagged.

"Ew! I'm never eating that again!" She giggled. Conch laughed.

A gong rang out throughout the prey center. Sahara grabbed Conch's arm.

"That's the gong! We have to go back to our sleeping caves." She told her.

Rainbow color dragons filtered through the cave entrance. Sahara opened her wings and launched herself into the air. She flapped over the mass of dragons and touched down by the entrance.

Conch caught up with her.

"Don't leave like that! Being royalty only takes you so far." She panted.

"We gotta get back before the gong rings three times!" Sahara pulled her through the entrance and down the hall.

----------

They got back in the cave right as the third gong rang. Conch panickedly jumped in her pool, showering the entire cave with water. Sahara sighed and sank into her pit of sand. Warmth engulfed her, and she sank into sleep.

The last thing she heard that day was Starmind mumble-screaming in her sleep.