(This might be a little sad, I'm not too sure about it, but if it does feel that way, then I apologize)

Harsh huffs and pants, one set much more laboured than the other, filled the air as pawed hands and clawed feet drummed against the forest floor. The full moon above shined through a small gap in the thick cloud cover, casting it's soft pale light over the scales of two creatures that were galloping through the forest, shoving their way through thick vegetation and leaping over fallen trees and logs. They both looked like wingless dragons.

One of the figures, who was noticeably smaller, and more feminine looking than the other, was mostly a uniform black when it came to scale color. Thick, messy, dark grey colored fur, with bits of red splattered here and there, stuck out from the top of the dragon's head and followed along with the top of her spine, all the way down to the end of the her rather long tail, forming a large tuft of fur at the tip of the appendage. A somewhat thin strip of white colored scales followed along with the fur on both sides of it, starting on the creature's forehead as one strip before splitting.

The white strip of scales reconnected on the bottom towards the end of the smaller dragon's tail. The female's entire underside, her lower jaw, throat, chest, abdomen, underside of her tail, and halfway down the inside of her thighs. All of it was covered by light grey colored scales.

Her eyes, a bright cerulean blue, were narrowed around slightly slitted pupils. Her horns, which were situated just above her ears, started out black at the base and slowly shifted to a dark grey at the top. They were almost the length of her head, ridged, and took on a wavy up and down formation.

Small nubs that ended in sharp white points were dotted along the top of her horns. Her ears, one of which had two silver loop earrings while the other only had one, were basically shaped like a deer's, were twisted back so that they faced the area behind her. The whistling of arrows as they flew through the air let her know that her pursuers were still there, albeit very far back.

Beyond that, loud bangs that indicated explosions suggested that the attack was still happening, and while that meant no other warriors would be spared in chasing after her and her fellow dragon, it also meant that many innocent lives were still being destroyed. The female looked back only for a moment, but it was enough to be scolded by her companion who was galloping beside her.

"No Drift! Don't look back. Stay focused on the trail in front of you!" they said, voice a somewhat highish baritone which suggested a male voice.

He did not have the coloration or patterns that the smaller female, Drift, had. His main scale colors were a light grey, his underbelly a pale yellow, and his horns, which almost looked more like antlers, started out light grey and faded into a black color at each tip. He did not have fur, but rather large overlapping plate like black colored scales that pointed upwards and ended halfway down his tail.

Whereas Drift had white colored scales that formed stripes, he had orange and green scales that formed floral patterns and dots along both sides of his spine that faded into his main color halfway down his sides. His eyes, a piercing yellow, were narrowed around slitted pupils, which had a bit of dark red rimming the black. A messenger bag clung against his side, held in place by two leather straps that went over his shoulder and midsection.

He was the one whose huffs and pants were much more laboured. Then again, he was also the most injured out of the duo. Drift had been lucky enough to escape with some bite marks, scratches, and a couple of arrows that were lodged in her thigh and the base of her tail.

Only a couple of her wounds were concerningly deep, and all of them stung, adding to the overall ache in every part of her body. But him? His body was covered in gashes.

Scales were missing in patches, and there were clear bite wounds all over his neck, sides, and his tail. A small arrow had been fired, and found it's mark in one of his elbows. He did his best not to show it, but Drift's keen eyesight still picked up the slight limp in his gait.

"Uncle Falkor, you're injured. You have to stop and rest" she spoke, giving the older male a worried look.

"I can't. Not until I get you to safety" came Falkor's somewhat strained reply.

He couldn't stop a hiss of pain from escaping as he ducked under a fallen tree and took a branch straight into one of his wounds.

"Uncle, please. You're gonna kill yourself if you continue like this" Drift lightly begged, hopping over the tree branch and landing on her hind legs.

She held on to the fallen branch with one hand while extending the out to her uncle, who, after a few harsh pants, took hold of the limb.

"I'm sorry Drift. I know you're tired. I am too. But we can't stop until-..." he said, getting to his feet and brushing off his front as he spoke.

His words faded away as he looked back, and Drift's worry peaked when his pupils narrowed to slits.

"Those bastards" he softly hissed.

"Uncle? What's wrong?" his niece asked as she stood straight.

Unable to see over the fallen tree, she opted to hop up onto it, digging the claws in her hands and feet into the bark and peering her head over the edge. Light, forming a continuous line that was broken by the sillouettes of the trees in front of it, flickering and danced with an orange and yellow color.

Fire.

"He's setting the forest ablaze. The idiot! Doesn't he understand the consequences and hardship this will bring upon our people?!" Falkor hissed as Drift's ears came to rest directly against her skull.

"Why...? Why would he do this?" she breathed in horror, looking towards her uncle as she spoke.

"He's trying to smoke us out. But that won't work" Falkor replied with determination, his pupils dilating a bit as he turned and continued along the path.

"How do you know that? You and I both know that us Dragobians can't stand the smell of smoke"

Falkor paused for a moment, before he turned and looked over his shoulder, a slight smirk etched into his lips.

"I know it won't work, because we are heading for Breakneck Drop"

...

Breakneck Drop was a mostly straight edged rocky cliff that simple fell away into the ocean forty five feet down. But it's height, despite being the tallest cliff on the island, isn't what gave the place it's name. Just a couple feet under the surface of the water were dozens of sharp rock ledges and spikes that expanded from the cliff into the water.

These structures fell away, becoming more and more steeper the further you went out into the ocean. You only had to move twenty feet away from the cliff in order to be in what was regarded as the safe zone.

If you weren't careful, well, it wasn't called Breakneck Drop for nothing.

At one point in time, it was a place that was once a popular spot for unruly and wild teens to hang out at. Now it was off limits to the commoner. Guards came here once or twice every couple of weeks to check if there was anybody there.

Not even the royals themselves were allowed to visit this place.

And now, here Drift was, standing against a harsh blowing wind and a light rainy drizzle on all fours beside her uncle as the two peered down at the rough waves below. Here and there, the water pulled back just enough to allow a fleeting glimpse of the jagged stone below it before it rushed back against the cliff side, sending out sprays of salt-ridden water that rose almost fifteen feet into the air. The female dragon was, confused, to say the least.

She was also scared, and worried, but mostly confused. It didn't help her at all when she noticed the crestfallen look on her uncle's face.

"Uncle Falkor? What are we doing here? Something tells me we didn't come here just to escape the smoke" Drift stated softly, slowly turning her head towards the older male, who simply let out a sigh as he stood up on his back legs and turned away from the cliff, taking a couple steps towards the edge of the forest that was a little ways away.

"...I brought you here, because not only is it the last place my brother would ever think to look, but because it's also, ironically, the safest place for me to be able to send you away from here" he said, his ears beginning to droop to the sides.

It was like time itself stood still as Drift processed what had just been said to her.

"S...Send me... away?" she asked, standing up at full height as she properly faced her uncle.

"Drift, I don't want to, alright? I really, really, don't want to. But as long as my brother is in a position of power, and as long as you're around him when he is... I'm sorry Drift, but you won't be safe here. Not until he's dethroned" Falkor stated, looking rather heartbroken.

"What? Uncle Falkor, he's my father! He's never hurt me, and he never will! He wouldn't do anything to me!" Drift cried, though she was quick to fall silent as her mind began racing.

Then again, Falkor's brother, her father, had ordered the forest to be burnt down, and organized an attack on the village, and all of that was after he usurped the throne and tried to take down both the king and the queen, who were both last seen fleeing to the far north of the island.

"He's my father.... He wouldn't hurt me.... Right?" she asked softly.

Her uncle wouldn't meet her eyes, and gave the ground a scrutinizing look.

"...Right?" Drift asked again, her voice shaking and almost coming out as a whimper as her ears beginning to pin themselves against her skull.

"...I'm sorry Drift, but knowing my brother, he would. Especially when considering the fact that.... you're not... actually his... child" Falkor said.

"What? N-no, that-" Drift tried to say, but for the first time in her life, her uncle interrupted her.

"The story that my brother told me and the rest of our family was this. You were found when you were just an egg. An egg that seemed to have simply been knocked out of it's nest"

"I don't-"

"My brother and his wife did their best to return you to whoever had lost you, but no one came forward to claim you. After multiple failed attempts, they decided to give up, and took you into their family"

"This, this can't be-"

"Granted, neither of them were all that prepared for parenthood, but they still kept you. Some people ridiculed them for it, and looked down on my brother for bringing someone who wasn't blood into his family, but that didn't stop him. It was around that time when reports started spreading that one of the queen's eggs was missing, but nobody suspected anything. Not even for a second"

"You're making this up-"

"Once those reports began to circulate, it was hard to not notice how my brother acted. He wanted to keep you hidden, and begged all of us, the village included, to not say anything about you to anybody. So many people chalked it up to him being an over-protective first time parent. But anybody with half a brain thought he was being ridiculous"

"I can't - this isn't-"

"When you hatched, people started to get suspicious. Because you looked nothing like us commoners when it came to colors and patterns. To see a black and white dragobian with stripes and fur hatched into a family of blues, reds, floral patterns and armored plates, well, people became suspicious of your origins. The arguments between my brother and his wife over the spreading rumors got so bad, it caused them to split up. After that, it was like something inside of him snapped"

"Please stop"

"You weren't allowed to go anywhere unless he came along. He never let you out of his sight. And every time you did, especially when you got to the age where all you wanted to do was go out and explore, he would call out for a search party, and never stopped until you were back in his arms. It took all of us, his ex-wife included, almost a whole year to convince him that you weren't going to suddenly disappear. Our efforts went down the drain when some of the queen's and king's personal guards showed up, knocking on doors and asking to see all of the younger children"

"Stop it"

"The reports on the queen's missing egg had been updated, and everyone found out that the egg had been stolen. I had never seen my brother so angry, and I thought he was ticked off at the fact that someone had dared to steal one of the queen's eggs, but watching him get violent and unreasonable with the guards as he tried to convince them they the queen's egg wasn't in his house made me realize that it wasn't so"

"I won't accept-"

"For these past few years, my brother's behavior grew to suspicious for me to ignore any longer, so I began my own research in secret. I already had my suspicions of who you really belonged to, but I didn't want to assume until I had the evidence laid out before me. The queen had laid her eggs during the full moon. My brother had come home on the night of a full moon with you in his arms, claiming to have found you. The queen's babies had hatched a month under the full moon after they were laid. As did you"

"I don't believe-"

"The more digging I did, the more similarities I found between you and the royal family. It wasn't until I saw a picture of them and compared it to you that the dots finally connected. I confronted him a couple weeks ago, and presented to him the evidence I had found, and demanded that he tell me the truth about where he had found you. At first, he tried to stick with his original story about simply finding you, but this time he tried to write things off as you being abandoned. Which was crap, because the royal family is fiercely protective of any newly laid eggs. When I told him that I had more then enough evidence to present to the king and queen themselves, he finally snapped, and the real story came out"

"This can't-"

"He and his ex wife had gone through a rough patch when it came to conceiving a child of their own, and they couldn't afford any other means that would help them, and after hearing about the queen having laid eggs of her own, he acted out. He, using his uncanny knack for stealth, managed to sneak into the queen's chambers while she was still being checked over to ensure she was in good health. He picked the egg that had been closest to him, and snuck away"

"I won't-"

"After he finally admitted what he did, he cut me off and forbade me from ever seeing you again. Which, as we both know, didn't work out too great for him. And this past week, as I was preparing for my trip to the queen and king to tell them about what I had discovered, I-"

"I don't believe you!" Drift finally shouted, moving Falkor to silence.

Her pupils had narrowed to slits, her eyebrows were furrowed, her teeth were slightly, and her tail was lashing from side to side in a severely ticked off and agitated manner. Hell, her very breathing had become harsh as she glared at the male before her.

"I-I don't believe you. You're telling me that my father isn't my father, but rather some guy who decided to risk everything and kidnap me from the king and queen?! Not even he would do something so stupid! He loves me! There is no way that I'm related to the royal family. Because then that would mean that everything I knew is a lie, and that you aren't actually my uncle. There's just, there's just no way! Please, just, just tell me you were making everything up, and maybe I'll forgive you" The female cried, her tone slowly shifting from anger to heartbreak.

Falkor looked... distressed, as he peered at the smooth stone under his feet.

"I can't tell you that, because then I would be lying. Drift, you know I would never lie to you, and especially not about something like this" he said, raising his head to meet the female's gaze.

The younger dragon slowly shook her head before looking away as tears began to prick at the corners of her eyes.

"So... you... we were never family?" she asked, her voice shaking as she struggled to not let the tears fall.

Falkor looked as though she had just smacked him as hard as she could.

"Hey, hey. Just because we weren't related, never meant that we weren't family" he stated, taking a couple steps forward towards her as he reached out his hands.

"But... he... your brother..." Words failed as a lump grew within Drift's throat, preventing her from getting any other words out.

Falkor managed to put himself within reach of her, and gently pulled the female into a hug, gently pressing her head against his chest as though trying to hide her from the horrors she was just presented with.

"My brother did things that will never be considered okay. But that doesn't mean I didn't love you Drift. Blood or not, you are my niece. That will never change. It doesn't matter to me if we were worlds apart. We may not be related, but you are my family, just as I am yours. Do you understand me?" he said, his voice soft, but also stern, like he was determined to drive his point home.

He didn't get a verbal reply, but the feeling of Drift raising her arms to hug him back, and her trying to hide her face away against his body as she sniffled a bit was all the answer he needed. The two stayed like that for a little bit, and Drift managed to steady herself, using one hand to wipe away her tears as she gave a few steadying breaths, her ears no longer pinned against her skull.

And that's when she smelt it.

It was faint, but it reminded her very strongly of burnt wood.

Smoke.

"U-Uncle... Falkor? I thought you said the smoke wouldn't get all the way over here?" she said, her voice a bit on the shaky side.

She felt the older male freeze, then looked up as he began sniffing the air. He let out a soft growl as he furrowed his eyebrows and and narrowed his eyes, staring intently at the line of trees that made up part of the forest. His alert expression shifted to one of tenderness and sorrow as he looked back down at Drift and took a step or two back, his hands reaching for the clips that held the messenger bag against his body.

The female dragon watched his actions with cautious curiosity.

"What are you doing?" she asked him as the first clip was undone.

"Drift, listen to me, alright? This bag contains food, water, and seeds for different fruits and vegetables. It's also waterproof, so you can dive down, and nothing will get in or out. Now, I need you to swim as fast as you can, and get as far away from here as possible. I promise you this, I will come and find you when it's safe again, okay?" Falkor told her, undoing the second clip and slipping the bag off of his body.

"W-Wait, aren't you coming with me?" Drift asked him, her ears lowering a bit as her uncle clipped the first strap over her shoulder and chest and adjusted it so that it wouldn't slip off.

"I'm sorry Drift, but I can't. Someone has to stay behind and make sure no one tries to follow you" came the reply as the second strap was clipped around her waist and adjusted.

"How does that feel? Any movement restriction?" Falkor asked, setting his hands on the female's shoulders.

"No, but, my fa-... your brother, if he finds out that you helped me escape-" she said, her hands finding her uncle's wrists.

She was cut off, and her ears back even farther when Falkor gently cupped her face.

"He would have suspected me anyway Drift. Every time you disappeared, I was always his first choice for interrogations. This doesn't make much of a difference" he told her with a small smile.

After a moment, Drift returned the action, before jumping forwards and wrapping her arms around her uncle's neck. He responded by setting his hands against her shoulder and waist and holding her as tightly as he could without restricted her ability to breathe.

"Oh my dear, I'm going to miss you. So... so much" he breathed, closing his eyes as he did his best to savour this moment.

"I'll miss you too Uncle Falkor" Drift quietly replied, trying her hardest to not start crying again as she lightly tightened her hold for a couple seconds before loosening her grip.

Falkor moved his hands so that he was gently holding the younger female's smaller ones, and the two shared a soft smile.

But of course, since when did time ever allow a bittersweet moment to continue without some kind of interruption?

"Well, well, well, this really tugs on my heart strings. That is, it would if I had any" a deep male's voice drawled with mock sympathy from somewhere near the forest tree line.

Drift and Falkor both whipped their heads around towards the voice, and the female gulped a bit as her ears lowered at the sight of who was there. His scales, all of which were covered by a thin layer of fur, were white with hints of blue to their edges. The scales on his underside were a pale blue.

The front of his muzzle started out black, but had faded to white by the time it hit his eyes, which were heterochromatic. One eye was an icy blue, and the other was a pale purple. The overlapping plate along his spine continued down to the end of his tail, and were dark purple in color.

Geometric floral patterns along his spine and underbelly faded from dark purple and pale blue to white as they got closer to the middle of his sides. His horns, which like Falkor's, also looked more like antlers, started out white at the base, then slowly faded to a black color at each horn tip.

The male's dragon's eyes had a devilish glint in them as he leered at Drift and Falkor, his clawed hands coming to grasp each other behind his back.

"I must say, I'm very disappointed in the two of you. Trying to escape my island? Just when I was making it better? Feels like your being rather ungrateful of my efforts, doesn't it?" he said with a smile as a few more dragonbians, all of them wearing armour over their bodies, came up on either side of him, spears at the ready and arrows pulled back on their drawstrings.

"Cadmus. Is this really what you want to do? You will be the death of our people!" Falkor snapped as he put a protective arm in front of Drift and took a step forward.

"Death? Oh quite the contrary my dear brother. I will be our people's savior. Royalty had far too much power to begin with, but now that that power is mine, I can begin to distribute it to those willing to follow me. Of course, I'll need some help doing that. So why don't you hand over my daughter, then we can discuss the terms of your death" Cadmus replied rather cooly.

Drift's pupils narrowed, and her ears pinned themselves even tighter against her skull, though those actions undid themselves as she looked up at her uncle, who had given a scoff of contempt.

"My death? Really? What have I done to you that makes my neck deserving of a blade?" Falkor asked, a soft hiss in his voice as he spoke.

"Oh Falkor, come now. You've been against me from the start of all of this. And now that I'm ruler, your actions are considered treason. And that is punishable by death. Now hand over my daughter. Now. Preferably before I have to get violent" came the response.

Cadmus still kept his rather disturbing smile up, but his tail was starting to lightly lash from side to side behind him, giving away his growing irritation. Drift's fear, which was starting to brew, turned to surprise as Falkor gently pushed her behind him, sheltering her with his own body.

"We both know she isn't really yours" he said softly as the female peeked out from behind him.

Cadmus's smile, which was looking quite forced at this point, suddenly dropped. His pupils narrowed to thick slits, and his ears went down, coming to rest against the sides of his head.

"Drift. Come here. Now!" he snapped, pointing at the group beside him with a sharp jab of his hand.

He looked quite furious when Drift remained right where she was.

"What did you tell her?! What lies have you filled her head with now?!" he snarled, practically yelling the words out as he glared at Falkor, who only maintained the look with a steady calm gaze and raised his head in defiance.

"I only told her the truth, as I have been doing her entire life. I told her where she really came from, and exactly what kind of person you are" he stated, looking unfazed as Cadmus quickly dropped his calm demeanor.

"I will have your head for this" the male hissed, flexing the claws on his hands and looking about ready to pounce on Falkor.

"Get them. Kill my brother and bring the girl to me. Alive" he snapped to the armed dragobians at his sides.

After a moment, the guards slowly began to advance on the duo, and the sounds of metal clinking together made their way to Drift's pinned back ears.

"Uncle Falkor, what do we do?" she quickly whispered in a soft voice, her eyes darting between each of the guards as they inched closer.

She began backing up with the male as they were forced to move backwards towards the edge of the cliff. She could hear the waves crashing against the rock below. The sound of it seemed much more violent, then again, the wind had picked up, and the first fat droplets of water began to fall, the amount of them slowly increasing by the minute.

The feeling of the rock dropping away under Drift's foot sent a feeling a fear as she whipped her head around, and she realized with a dawning feeling of horror that she and Falkor had been backed up all the way to the edge of the cliff.

"Uncle!" she hissed, alerting the male to the danger.

A low growl from deep within his chest rumbled through the air as he came to the same realisation as she did, and he glared at Cadmus, who's ticked off attitude had turned to one of smug victory.

"Just surrender Falkor. There's no need to make this harder than it has to be" he stated with a wide grin that showed off the points of his sharp teeth.

"I will never submit to you. And you will never be anybody's true king. You may have the throne, but you will never have the support of the people" Falkor replied, his eyes narrowed.

His expression softened as he looked at Drift, who returned and held his gaze.

"You asked me earlier what we're going to do, right?" he said to her.

The female Dragobian hesitantly nodded as her eyes searched his, trying to figure what was going on in his head.

"Well, I am going to hold these guys off and give you an escape. And you are going to live, understand?" he said.

"What are you blabbering about Falkor? Neither of you are going to escape me" Cadmus stated, though his words were ignored.

"Drift, do you trust me? Right here, right now?" Falkor asked, his ears raising a bit.

Drift slightly furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, but she still nodded a bit.

"Yes" she answered softly, flicking her eyes from her uncle to a spear that was getting a little too close for comfort.

Her uncle gave a soft smile as her eyes returned to him.

"Good. Remember this Drift. I love you. And I promise I will find you when it's safe here again" he vowed.

Before Drift had a chance to question his odd words, he suddenly picked her up, and after spinning a couple of times, he flung her as far as he could off the cliff, shocking almost everybody.

"No!" Cadmus screamed out in rage, his voice echoing through the air.

The rain by now was falling at such a rate that nobody could see anything that was ten feet in front them. Drift was in too much shock to say anything, but the last thing she was able to make out was her uncle giving her a reassuring smile before drawing a knife he had and turning on the guards, who now flung themselves at him. Gravity decided to take over, something the female dragobian realized when her gut began to feel like it was dropping out of her body.

Twisting her entire body around a bit, Drift managed to position herself into a dive and after a moment, she thrust out her hands, and landed on a solid platform of green colored magic. She began leaping through the air, conjuring a few more platforms with her magic until her body was parallel with the ocean below her, and once she was certain she was far enough from the cliff, she stopped her magic, took as deep a breath as she could, and allowed herself to dive down into the water.

It. Stung. So bad.

Drift thought her wounds hurt before, but this? This was a whole new level of of pain that seemed to rack her entire body and almost cause the air in her lungs to escape in the form of a pain filled screech. The Dragobian wanted nothing more than to leap out of the water and just start flying, but chances were that would hurt worse, so she stayed under.

Besides, guards would be looking for her. She couldn't afford taking a breath and risk being spotted. She had to get out of these waters and move past the island's boundaries.

The guards wouldn't go past them.

Heeding her uncle's orders, Drift flattened the muscles in her tail, and after a couple flicks of the appendage, she began gliding through the water, though not without some trouble. Not only did the sting get worse, she was also leaving behind a blood trail that water predators would undoubtedly be attracted to, not to mention the storm had made the waves rather rough, and Drift found herself having a bit of a difficult time staying below the surface.

She had to go deeper. She couldn't risk being brought to the surface. Not until she was beyond the island boundaries.

Forcing herself through the pain, she flicked her tail and dived deeper. She didn't stop until her ears began to hurt from the pressure, where she flattened out her path of travel and continued moving.

Not once did she didn't bother with trying to look back. She knew she wouldn't be able to see anything this far out, especially with how thick and misty the rain was. Didn't stop the urge to go back though.

Drift was terrified.

Worried for her uncle, and worried for herself. Sure, the pack she had contained food and water, which if rationed right, might last her a week. But what if she didn't find a safe enough island within that week?

I mean, the ocean was quite large, and for all she knew, the next form of land could be a few hundred miles away. She might've been a fast swimmer, but not even she could cross that kind of distance in just a matter of days. And that wasn't even accounting for the rest breaks and sleep.

Well, maybe she could cut a couple hours from her sleep, and use the stars as a guide...

Oh who the hell was she kidding?

She wasn't going to get any sleep for the next couple of days.

...

Day 1.

Nothing but ocean for miles around. My island is very far away, but it's still there on the horizon. Which means I'm still too close to it. Luckily, no predators have decided to follow me, and my wounds have stopped bleeding. Didn't get any sleep last night. Only stopped for a quick snack and some water once the sun started coming up. I don't think I've ever been this tired...

Day 3.

Last night was a cloudless one, so I travelled by the stars. I am absolutely exhausted. Could barely even tread water today in order to eat and drink. I'm worried for what tomorrow might bring. My wounds don't hurt anymore, but they're quite sore. As is the rest of my body. I'm not sure I'll be able to continue this for much longer.

Day 6.

I would like to think that someone or something was watching over me. I managed to land on an island after sunset today. Unfortunately, it was much too small for me to take up permanent residence. It had some rather delicious coconuts though, which provided me with food and well, coconut milk. The island itself had some good places to sleep. I think I'll have enough strength by morning to continue on for a couple more days.

Day 7.

I messed up. I miscalculated. My body is more sore than it's ever been. Surfacing to breathe has gotten harder. I could barely hold my head up over the water. I'm starting to run low on the food and water that my pack has. I think the seeds it holds are still good. That might be the only bit of good news though.

Day 11.

I ran out of rations today. Needless to say, that wasn't good. At all. I barely have any good water left. Maybe a couple sips at best from the water skins, but that's it. I can feel my strength ebbing away. I am so exhausted, I could barely get my muzzle over the water's surface to take a breath. I honestly don't know how much longer I can keep going.

Day 13.

I don't think I can keep going. There's no land in sight, I'm starving, and haven't had any drinkable water for a couple days now. I don't think I'll be able to survive for much longer.

...

I'm sorry, Uncle Falkor, but I think I've failed...

...

Her lungs were beginning to burn yet again, signalling the need for air, though Drift contemplated on whether or not to abide by her body's current. She had gotten used to her head feeling like something was trying to hammer it's way out, and it wasn't too hard to ignore the cramps and pains of her stomach. Perhaps the lack of oxygen would kill her off faster.

Would probably be more merciful too when compared to starving or thirsting to death.

But what about Falkor? a small part of her mind asked.

You saw what he went up against. Skilled as he is, there's no way he survived going up against a whole group of highly trained guards, another part argued.

But he told you to live. That means staying alive.

What good are his orders if he's dead?

He's not dead, stop thinking that!

...

...

You don't know that for sure.

With the pressure in her chest was growing, and the need for air now getting desperate, Drift decided to let her decreasing will to live win the battle, and began making her way towards the surface of the ocean. The first thing she noticed as her head just barely broke the surface was the sky. Dark clouds blocked away any of the sun's rays, and the smell of rain was in the air.

A storm was rolling in, and unless she found some semblance of shelter soon, chances were she wasn't going to make it. She could practically feel her body beginning to fail her. Every day left her weaker than the last, and trying to surface in order to breathe, like right now, was battle in itself.

Giving a few quick pushes with her arms and legs, Drift managed to get her nose out of the water just enough to guarantee a breath of fresh air without the risk of salt water going up her nose. Just before she submerged, she spotted something out of the corner of her eye. It was way out in the distance, so far in fact that she was sure she had to have been seeing things.

But curiosity had always been one of her weak points, and that had been enough to encourage her to get her head out of the water again. What she saw practically made her freeze in shock, which made her start fighting to stay above the surface.

Out in the distance was an island.

Not the one she had come from, thank goodness, but a different one. Even from this far out, she could make out white topped mountains surrounded by luscious green around their bases that held promises of fruits and fresh water. Oh she could almost taste it now.

It was strange really, how hope seemed to rejuvenate someone, and give them strength they didn't even know they had within them.

At least, that's how Drift felt at first, but it was after moving a few feet as fast as she could before her body reminded her of the state it was in. She was in no condition to even try and race towards what might be her only chance at surviving. And then there was the distance too.

The island was so far away that it just wasn't possible to make it there before the rain started falling. Just as that thought ran through her head, it was almost as if something wanted merely to spite her. The first fat droplets began to land, creating small splashes every time one hit the ocean's surface.

Drift looked towards the sky, squinting her eyes a bit as she let out a large heave of a sigh.

Sucking in a deep breath, the Dragobian dived back down into the water, and began the difficult journey towards the island. With any luck, the storm wouldn't be too bad.

...

Lightning flashed across the sky, momentarily lighting up everything with a blinding white light before it flashed away. A loud thundering boom was quick to roll through the air barely even a second later, and the sound alone was enough to make the Dragobian wince as she gave the sky a worried look before focusing back on her destination. At least, she hoped she was still travelling towards her destination.

She couldn't even see the island anymore thanks to the thick curtain of rain that was lashing out at anything and everything. And the harsh wind, which seemed to be blowing faster than the rain was falling, certainly didn't help at all as it kept the surface of the ocean in constant turmoil. Drift had stopped trying to fight against the waves a long time ago, and was now simply working her tired limbs to keep herself stabilized and not get tossed head over heels.

It's happened before, and she would much rather not go through that kind of panic again.

A particularly rough wave sent water up Drift's nose and flooded into her mouth when she opened her jaws to try and forcefully sneeze the salty liquid out. That left her coughing and gasping, and panic began to settle in when another wave shoved her under the surface, not allowing her the time to take even a small breath. No, nononono, she couldn't drown now!

Not when she was (hopefully) so close to safety!

Forcing her already aching body to move, the dragobian managed to get her head above water, and she grasped the fleeting chance to take a quick gasping breath of some much needed oxygen. A couple more flashes of lightning illuminated the top of something that was slowly looming on the female, but she didn't have the time to try and guess what it might of been as her body was forcefully submerged again while crackling booms rolled through the air again. Surprisingly, she didn't have to fight as hard this time to get to the surface, which should have been her first blatant warning flag.

Her next warning that something was about to happen was the slightly jagged silhouette of something that was sticking out of the water. And Drift realized a little too late that the waves were shoving her straight at it. She barely had any strength left to try and swim out of the way, but it wouldn't have served her any use.

Her body was lifted up by the rough water, and seconds later, she found herself being slammed, hard, against the thing, which judging from it's hard and jagged surface, was a rock. Pain, sharp and searing, ripped through a spot on her head and throughout her body as she made contact with the rock, and she was promptly flipped over as she splashed back down into the water. Drift was hardly aware of the waters slowly being stained red, she had a hard enough time trying to figure out through her muddled mind which way was up and which way was down.

She was given a guess as her back and part of her shoulder was smacked across rough and gritty sand, causing her body to force out whatever air was left in her lungs before the waves decided to toss her back up. Not really caring about what might happen next, and wanting nothing more than to be done with this absolute nightmare, Drift began kicking out her legs and lashing her tail, hoping that her sporadic movements would propel her to somewhere, anywhere, that provided some kind of relief from this hell. Her thrashing about managed to get her a couple feet of distance in before the back of her head smacked against something hard, and her vision quickly faded to black as her head was pushed beneath the waves.

...

Warmth. A stark contrast that what she had been feeling for the past couple of weeks, but it was there. And it was comforting, in a way.

The warmth was offset by a coolness that was constantly lapping against her body, keeping her tail in a constant state of back and forth movement. A gentle breeze, both warm and somehow cool, swept over her body and ruffled the dried out salt ridden fur on her forehead and along her spine. The ground below her body felt grainy, but it wasn't all that uncomfortable, surprisingly.

Everything around her sounded muffled as she started coming around, but things slowly cleared up, allowing her to hear the crashing of small waves and the chirps and tweets of birds from somewhere around her. The air itself smelt fresh, perfumed with the scent of flowers sprouting and opening from some place that was nearby. The light that was shining against her eyelids prompted her to open them, though she quickly squeezed her eyes shut as pain sliced through the organs, adding on to her already pounding head.

Drift slowly moved her head so that she was resting on her jaw, and not her ear, before deciding to try and open her eyes again. It still stung, though perhaps not as bad as before, but she still kept her eyes squinted a bit for the time being, blinking a couple of times to help out with the adjustment process. Through her blurry vision, she managed to make out what she was laying on, which was pale yellow sand.

Off to her left was the beginning of a rather thick jungle, and to her right was the ocean. The water that led up to the sand was one of the prettiest shades and hues of teal and turquoise that she had ever seen, and it faded into a dark blue the farther away it got from land. The storm from before had passed, and left in its wake a beautiful cloudless blue sky.

Drift's vision cleared up a bit as she blinked and opened her eyes a little more, and she raised her head, ignoring the feeling of sand falling away as she slowly twisted her head and neck around. Now that she was mostly aware of everything, she was unable to ignore the dull throb of every single muscle in her body. Everything ached, and flat out hurt anytime she tried to move anything, but, unfortunately, she couldn't stay laying on this comfortable beach forever, not unless she wanted to be spotted.

It took a couple of tries, and all throughout the whole thing every ounce in her entire bruised and battered body was practically screaming out it's protests. She ignored that, forcing herself through the pain as she's been doing for the past couple of weeks, and finally managed to get herself standing on all fours, not without some falling and stumbling of course. Every step she took was a shaky one, and it took everything in her to not flat out collapse every time she set her foot down.

She could finally give in to that once she's had some water, some food, and found an appropriate form of shelter.

Taking a look around, Drift noted the way the beach curved around, almost like a hairpin. Out in the water, a few rocks, all verying in size, shape, and distance from the shore, stuck out of the water. The most memorable one was a large rock that had faceted sides and sharp jagged edges that was the farthest away.

Drift could vaguely recall that rock. She remembered being slammed up against it, and after that, things were a bit of a blur. Shaking her head a bit to get rid of the images of red clouded water out of her mind, the Dragobian began walking towards the jungle, and the shade it provided.

The sun might've felt nice at first, but it was starting to get a little too warm for her tastes. The shade under the leaves and palm fronds was refreshingly cool, and the ground below her hands and feet felt soft and springy. Rays of sunlight broke through the canopy here and there, the chirping of birds seemed louder here, but not in an annoying manner, and the air was tainted by delicious smelling fragrances from fruits and flowers.

What really caught Drift's attention was the sound of running water, and she wasted no time in trying to detect where it was coming from, her ears raised and on the swivel. Moving towards the sound, she eventually came across a small stream that was full of crystal clear water. When Drift stuck part of her tongue in it, she was delighted to find that it was fresh, non salty water, and practically plunged her muzzle into the stream, nose and all.

The liquid was deliciously cool, faintly sweet even, and soothed her parched mouth. She could practically feel the stuff as it slid down her throat every time she took a gulp. The only time she ever paused was to take a breath between gulps.

It took a little bit before her thirst was quenched, and even then, Drift found herself having a bit of a hard time pulling herself away to give the muscles in her throat and neck a break. Sitting back on her haunches, the Dragobian unclipped the pack that was sitting against her side and opened it up, pulling out the bone dry water skins from it. Pulling off the caps, she held each one under the surface of water, and waited until they had stopped bloating up to pull them out.

Once the skins were capped and placed back in the pack, and after taking a quick bath in the water to try and wash away the dried salt from her body, Drift clipped the pack back on and set on her way, feeling more refreshed than ever. Heading away from the stream, the Dragobian decided to try and follow the sweet scent of fruit that lingered in the air. She had just been about to cross what appeared to be a trail when she took note of a new sound that had her freezing and her pupils narrowing.

Voices.

Along with the sounds of footsteps and vegetation being disturbed.

Judging by the footsteps alone, it seemed to be a relatively small group, maybe five or six people in total. And based off the voices, the majority of the group seemed to be male, with a couple of females in the mix.

Didn't matter to Drift.

All she wanted right now was to run and hide until these people pass by. Gathering herself together, she quickly darted across the path and continued running as fast as her body would allow her, ignoring the cries and words of surprise that were quick to fade away the farther she managed to get. After a little bit she stopped, her breath coming out as harsh pants, her ears strained for any kind of noise, and her head on the swivel for any sign of movement that might indicate she had been followed.

There was, thankfully, nothing of the sort, so she allowed herself to relax a bit before taking a look at her surroundings. Peering through a gap in the canopy, she discovered that she was quite close to the base of the mountain. In fact, through the trees ahead, she could spy the ground beginning to slope upwards.

Peering through the canopy gap again, she noticed a rather dark alcove in the mountain. It was positioned over the treetops, and didn't look to be very noticeable when compared to the rest of the black areas on the mountain. Looks like an exploratory mission was in line for Drift.

...

Letting out a harsh breath as she stepped off her final platform and onto the ledge before her, Drift concluded that she wasn't in much shape to be using her magic at the moment. That required energy. Something she couldn't really afford to spare for now.

Shaking herself off a bit, Drift looked up the see the alcove from before, but now that she was standing there, she realized it wasn't just an alcove. It was a cave, one that stretched deep into the mountain itself. Inside the cave, small stalactites hung from the ceiling, and stalagmites lined the ground that was leading up to the walls, except for the areas where some of the rock that made up the walls fell away, revealing tunnels and pathways that led to smaller interlinking caves.

As if that wasn't enough of a sight to behold, colored crystals were embedded in and stuck out of the walls farther back in the main cave that drift was standing in. And judging from the light that came from the smaller caves, these crystals had the ability to glow. Drift was overcome with amazement and wonder as she stepped through the cave system.

From what she was able to explore, there were around fifteen caves, but she was certain there were more, considering she hadn't gone through all of the tunnels. Finding her way back to the entrance, Drift took another look around the place as she unclipped her pack, and gently set it against the ground before deciding she had the strength to move around on two legs. Turning back to the mouth of the cave, her eyes lit up at what she saw.

This cave didn't just overlook the trees. It overlooked the entire island. Plus some.

Beyond the rather massive island was a second, much smaller one that was quite a ways away, and held the glint of metal, strangely enough. Not that that mattered. Probably.

Out in the distance, close to the beach, was a fairly large village, and if she looked hard enough, she could even see people moving around over there. There were a couple more gaps in the jungle, which probably meant either clearings and forest tribes, and over on one side of the island, the jungle slowly transformed from an oasis into a deserted canyon. It almost looked exactly like her old home, Drift realized with a start as she approached the ledge that was just outside of the mouth of the cave.

The Dragobian let out a soft breath as she laid down, crossing her pawed hands and curling her tail around her body as she surveyed the land below her.

She might not have been able to go home now, but...

Perhaps this place would serve as a good substitute for the time being.