[Art by: Me, Degal_Heartfang]

Hare

Last year, all Hare could do was make more and more plans; but now, she felt as though it was stupid.

Since they got.... her

Caracal

Hare's new, adopted, older sister.

She had nearly everything wrapped around her pinky claw. Looks, brains, height, her parents, her classmates.

Colors.

Caracal was absolutely beautiful. She had light tan scales that seemed to shimmer in the golden rays of sunshine. Black scales traced the tips of her ears, her neck, and the ridges of her long, elegant wings.

But the most beautiful feature of the SandWing, was her deep amber eyes, black scales traced around them. They looked as though they were deep colored sunsets, shining and glimmering when she would give a glance to Hare when the albinic did something wrong.

The two different sides of her head made Hare want to scream at times. One side of her told her Caracal was just always happy and has a shine in her eye, while the other told her, that if she didn't get rid of her, she would get rid of her.

'She's trying to throw me out. Trying to make me forgotten, I know she is...'

"Hare! Caracal! Dinner time!" called Bandicoot at the end of the stairs. Hare's family had enough money to where they could all live comfortable, as her father was an assassin as she said previously; and her mother recently got a job as a nurse in the hospital in the next town over.

Centipede was almost made to be an assassin. He was quiet most of the time, and could sneak into anywhere. Picking locks were a breeze, and fighting was natural for him.

Bandicoot was a kind and nurturing soul, who appreciated the little things in life at times. She originally went to med school, being a bartenderess as her afternoon job.

Both were masters at their jobs, and with her mother's recent premonition, they were well taken care of.

The rattle of beads and talonsteps told Hare that Caracal was prancing out of her room again.

'Those insufferable beads will be the death of me,' growled Hare mentally.

Caracal also had this fascination about things that make rattle noises, beads mostly. When Caracal accidently spilt her collection of beaded jewelry she made on the floor, Hare was forced to clean it up after she told their mother that Hare had done it.

It took her all day trying to find all of those blasted things! They scattered, everywhere. Under the table, under the chairs, into the ice pool, and even under the stairs.

'I hate those stupid things.' The dragonet thought with vemon. She put up her scroll she was working on, one with her new plan.

'It wouldn't work anyways, they won't listen to me...'

When Hare opened her door, she saw the taller dragonet, and just as she had suspected, there was more then one beaded necklaces on her. Caracal looked to her, a shine seemed to swirl in her amber eyes.

"Hey, Hare," greeted the tan SandWing, her voice honey smooth and a beautiful octave. Oh how much envy Hare had in her for that voice, that respect she use to have. Those colors.

She hated the way she looked now, seeing such a beautiful dragon with colors she was never born with.

'What would I look like if I had colors? Maybe I would have dad's dusty brown scales and mom's brown eyes.' She thought, a small smile on her face as she thought more about it.

'Mom and dad wouldn't fight anymore. We might have been a normal family,'

Caracal waved a talon in front of her face.

"Hare?" She asked. Hare blinked her eyes, before realizing she didn't answer her back. "Oh, er- hello, Caracal." She greeted, before walking down the stairs.

The small of fired lizards and freshly baked vanilla cake was in the air.

'Mom cooked my favorite food! Maybe I still do have a spotlight in their life!" She thought happily.

She made her way to their kitchen, seeing her father at the table, busy writing on his 'business' scroll.

Hare took her spot next to her father, Caracal sitting in front of her, her wings held tightly to her. Bandicoot gently held the pan with the lizards in one talon, coming over and placing one in each of the plates.

Hare noticed she got one of the bigger ones, making her smile a tiny bit. Normally, her and Caracal would get smaller ones; but it always filled their bellies no matter what. Centipede looked up from his scroll, eyeing the lizard on his plate before returning back to his work.

Bandicoot took a sit in her normal spot, in front of her husband, and in the middle of her daughters.

"Now, Centi, do you have something to say to Hare?" Bandicoot asked, cutting her lizard with sharp claws. The assassin looked up, glaring at his wife for another moment, before looking to his birth daughter, a soft smile on his face.

"Hare, I've got some great news. Tomorrow night you get to go out with me while I go to handle a client." He explained. Hare's eyes lit up. "Really?" She gasped in awe.

Caracal's ears went down.

"Wait, but, Mr. Centipede, I thought you said you were going to help me find a few jewels for the upcoming Cresent Night party." She said worriedly.

The assassin looked to her, a sudden change of his demeanor. "That's right... you want to be the SandWing Queen of the Moons." He said before thinking for a moment.

"I'll help you sometime tonight-"

"Centipede, I wasn't talking about that!" Bandicoot growled. Centipede looked to his mate, a sudden growl coming from his own throat.

"Don't you snap at me." He growled. Hare looked at them, her deep red eyes shined with sadness.

"I am just a burden to them...".

Caracal clapped her hands.

"Hello? Ms. Bandicoot, Mr. Centipede, don't we have something else to do?" She asked, her amber eyes having a happy glow to them.

Bandicoot suddenly smiled, and got up, walking to the vanilla cake. She picked it up into her talons, as Hare saw Caracal run to the various lamps, turning them down.

"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you~" The three started to sing, making Hare look at them with slight shocked.

Bandicoot let out a small flame from her mouth, setting the candles on fire. She set the cake onto the table as they continued to sing. Hare smiled widely, tears in her eyes as the family wrapped their singing up.

Caracal turn the lamps back on, lighting the room. She smiled and rushed over.

"Go on! Make a wish!" she cheered. Hare looked down, a sudden swirl of thoughts in her head.

'My wish? I don't even think today is my hatchingday. But... I don't want to hurt their feelings. Time for me to think,'

She thought for another moment, before smiling, blowing out the candles.

The other three clapped, smiling at her.

"So what did you wish?" asked Bandicoot, putting a wing on her daughter.

Hare smiled. "I can't tell you, or else it wouldn't come true," teased the albino, before her features softened.

"I wished that one day, we can all get along and be a one happy family." She mumbled.

Centipede and Bandicoot froze for a moment, and looked to each other. Centipede's hazel eyes locked with Bandicoot's brown ones. A look of realization on their faces. Caracal smiled.

"That's a great wish! Don't you guys think so too?" She asked them. Her parents gave a small nod, before smiling to each other.

Hare saw the look on their faces, making a feeling burst in her chest. She was sure if she could read minds like NightWings, she wouldn't need it at that moment.

'Dad must have realized he never gave mom the time to speak. Momma must be realizing acting so defensive around him was the wrong move all along. They must be finally realizing their mistakes,'

The thought alone made her start to tear up.

'Our family is finally healing!'

~~~

That night, while in the early hours of the morning, something woke Hare up from her deep slumber. The smell in the air seemed off, something that was hard to breath in, and left a horrible taste in her mouth.

She got up from her bed, the ground beneath her slightly warm. She came to her door, grabbing the handle. She suddenly let do, a slightly hiss of pain from the door knob.

"The knob is boiling hot!" She said out loud, before realizing what the smell was.

Smoke.

She froze for a moment, before looking around. Her room had a small window, but she wasn't sure if she could fit though it. She looked around, trying to find another way. Finding none, she hurried to the window, looking at it. It looked like it would be one heck of a squeeze, even with her wings as close to her as possible. Nervously, she looked back, seeing black smoke beginning to coming into the room.

Hare's mind began to rattle with different thoughts, fear settling deep with in her. She pressed her talons against the glass, forcing it to move from where it was, slightly.

She looked back to the door, seeing flames beginning to lick wildly at the wood. Hare stood on her back legs, before forcing all of her strength into breaking the glass. She began to slam her talons against the glass, cracks forming from doing so.

She did it again, and again, before the crash could be heard. Hurrying, she began to squeeze herself through the window. Her wings and sides getting cut from the glass fragments.

Behind her, she felt the heat from the fire trying to nip at her tail barb. As soon as her wings came out, she shot them opened, blood scattering from the sudden movements. She jumped out, catching a warm strip of air, lifting her up.

She looked back, seeing what she had feared from the moment she realized what was happening.

The house was on fire, giant flames reaching up towards the sky, busily devouring the walls, crawling up as though it were coming up to eat her next.

"Mom, dad!" Hare screamed, before flying around to their room window. She looked in, not seeing her mother in bed, just her father who was trying to get out. He was much to big to fit through the small windows in their bedroom, but fear made him try to escape.

Hare tried to break the glass, clawing at it with all her might, wanting to save her father. "Don't worry, dad, I'll get you out!" She screamed, before slamming her talons onto the glass, over and over, tears beginning to stream down her face.

Tears came to her eyes as her father tried to help her break the glass. Blinking her sensitive eyes, she realized she was only making things more blurry from doing so.

She was so caught up in trying to save her father, she didn't hear the sound of wingbeats of neighbors trying to put the fire out. Some flew with buckets of water, while some carried buckets away to get more.

Centipede looked to the flames, before looking to Hare, a sad shine in them. Hare froze in place it seemed, blurringly seeing her father being to mouth something.

"I love you, Hare,"

Hare's eyes widen as she began to shake, trying to slam herself into the glass. "Dad, no, please!" She begged, tears soaking her scales.

The flames got higher and highter, until Hare was forced to back away from the window. Petrified, she watched as her father began to get swallowed by the hungry flames. Horror strucked, she watched her father begin to roar and scream in pain, trying to get away. She kept watching, before the flames obscured her view.

Slowly, she hovered down, landing on shaky legs before collapsing.

She let out loud, heartbreaking sobs, even larger tears going down her cheeks. She didn't even notice the other SandWings and neighbors had eventually put out the flames until talons was put on her shoulder.

With bloodshot eyes, she looked up. There stood a pale white gold SandWing, around his neck was a crest.

"Miss, what happened?" He asked with a soft and calm voice.

Hare was too shaken to speak, the look of her father's face, flashing into her mind. After a moment, she spoke out in a weak voice. "I... I... I don't know... I don't know!" She sobbed, covering her face with her talons.

The SandWing, an officer, gave her a moment to try and calm down; but knew it must have shaken her up from her bones.

"What is your name?" He asked, putting a wing onto her to shelter her. It took her a moment, before mumbling, "Hare. M-my name is Hare."

The officer nodded.

"I'm Officer Joshua, don't worry, we'll take care of you." He told her. Hare didn't care though, she was too heartbroken to care. The image of her father kept flashing in her mind, the sounds of his screams playing over and over. She covered her face again, claws digging into her snout.

Another officer came to them.

"We only found one body, Joshua." She reported before looking down to Hare.

"Honey, how many people lived with you?" She asked. Hare stopped and looked to her, noting her golden yellow colored scales.

"I... I live with my mother, father, and sister." She explained. The female officer nodded, and looked to Joshua.

"They might have escaped the fire. We didn't find any other bodies besides that one," muttered the other.

A small spark of hope flickered in her. Were they alive? Joshua got up, and looked to Hare.

"Until we find the other two, you'll be giving to a family member. Do you have any other family memebers? Aunts, uncles, grandparents?" He asked.

Hare shook her head 'no', making the officers look to one another.

"Well... we have to hand you to an orphanage for now then, seeing as this is the tenth fire these past three months, meaning we're full. You'll be transported there tomorrow, until then, you'll rest up at the station." He told her.

Hare weakly nodded, before getting to her legs, standing wobbily. Joshua and his partner began to walk to the station, Hare following behind them.

"Please be okay...."