My mom accidentally sold my wings of fire graphic novels thinking they were my little sister's books. ;o; either way here's Maroon, her talons were fun to draw, the overall style was fun but I feel like I could of made it all smaller and slimmer, her head just seems so... big xD 

-

It was cold, colder than usual. Sure it was always cold, but this was the kind of cold that came with being isolated for many days, when your firewood supply and long since run out and you instead burnt those old scrolls you actually liked and whatever else was flammable. When the only sound you heard was your own sighs and fists against ice walls because you just couldn't take the silence. The white dragon laid against the side of the cave that wasn't made ice, she was white but she was no icewing. This frozen waste of space wasn't some soothing get away place, and worst of all, she was pretty certain her stomach had begun the process of consuming itself. Slowly she ran her talons over her scaly stomach, as if fruitlessly she was attempting to sooth the beast known as hunger. It didn't work, and she felt a strong pang a moment later.

As Maroon often did she found herself gazing halfheartedly at her talons, big talons, two claws too many on both. Too clumsy, too large, an unnatural and grotesque sight. So said Taiga until she had shown him that seven claws drew more blood than five. He had let it drop for awhile after that, though still muttered about it from time to time under his chilly breath. It wasn't her fault! She hadn't asked to have seven claws on each of her front talons, she hadn't asked for her freaky white albino scales, she hadn't asked to be stolen from her skywing home and skywing parents and taken away to this horrible freezing place!

Another sharp pang, with a huff of smoke she stood up. Sitting and grumbling wouldn't make the hunger go away, training wouldn't either but maybe it could distract her until Taiga returned. He had never been gone so long before, her sad excuse for a parent. What parent only brought her enough food to stay alive? What parent trapped their dragonet under the layers of snow and ice? She had only been outside once, and now she knew it had been merely another one of his stupid lessons. A lesson that even if she did leave, all that was around was more snow and more ice and so much more coldness.

The dragon marched over to the training dummy that the icewing had set up, made of polar bear bones. It used to have some fur on it, but she had burnt that awhile ago in her futile attempt to stop herself from becoming a dragon popsicle. All that was left of the fire was a few embers, calling desperately for more fuel with small crackles. Their cry would go unanswered just like her stomachs cries, she had searched this entire place over twice now and there was nothing left that the flames would take.

With little effort she swatted at the bones, her claws ranking down the yellowing surface. Taiga had trained her from the moment she could walk, trained her to fight any foe, Seawing ot Mudwing, how to track, how to read and write, shown her all of Pyrrhia though a tiny map that too had been cast into the fire. He spent time on her yet hated her, and Maroon never understood that. Another weak swipe, her arms felt heavy and sleepy, but she knew sleeping would only make things worse. Frustration began to bubble, and growling she raised her talon and swiped as hard as she could, channeling all her anger into her blow. Angry because she was cold, angry because she was hungry, angry because she was beginning to accept that her kidnapper wasn't even coming back, it had been days now and he had finally done it, he finally stuck to his words and was leaving her here to die. With a roar of outrage she struck again and again until the bones crunched under claw and shattered everywhere, until the ice holding it together was melted in her fiery breath and the slate of stone it sat upon was in pieces. Maroon hit it again and again until her fists hurt and the outburst began to lose its steam, and with one last sudden burst of her wings and a scream she set all the debris flying to the other side of the training room. Huff was all she did for a few minutes after that, huff and stare at the mess she had made, knowing that if Taiga returned he would be absolutely furious. Something about that no longer scared her, but gave her a harsh stab of satisfaction, and than she noticed the skid marks on the floor. Weird, she didn't think the training dummy moved, it had always been in the same spot. Was it there to cover up the marks? The skywing reached forth with her large talon and swept away some of the dust that now coated where the slate once sat, and the tile moved when pressure was applied. 

A secret passage? A way out perhaps? For a moment she allowed herself to have hope and excitement, the tile tossed aside in almost glee before she was crushed with reality. Just a crawl space big enough to hide a dragon, though it's only occupant was a wooden chest. Great, she had another thing to burn but she was still stuck in here, though heavily disappointed and once again seething with anger and frustration, Maroon decided to see what was so important to Taiga that he'd stuff it in a box and hide it away down here. The chest wasn't anything too fancy, the wood carrying the stale scent of old pine wood and seal blubber, all held in shape by tarnished scratch laced brass. A layer of dust greeted her when she opened it, and a smoky sneeze followed before she rapidly waved the dust away with her wing. She wasn't sure what she had been expecting but it certainly wasn't some stupid necklace, compared to the box it was in a much better condition, spare the dust the silver chain seemed new and the blue jewel polished to perfection. Maroon snatched it and slid it over her horns, the treasure hoarding instincts of a dragon no different for her as she stalked back out. The necklace felt right on her, even sent an unusual tingle across her scales, but it was cast aside and buried by what currently held Maroon's attention. 

So now she looked decent but was still trapped, still cold and still hungry. So Maroon decided that Taiga wasn't coming back, so she would melt this place, the only home she knew, and she'd brace that cold openness that had scared her as a dragonet. Now she wasn't flightless, now she could kill a polar bear if one tried to eat her, and if she died out there, at least she could say in whatever afterlife awaited her that she had gone out trying and in style.