"By Beetle's tongue, what have I done to deserve this!?" Camel demanded, more to herself than either dragon in the room. With a furious roar, the queen lashed out at a nearby table holding a vase painted in intricate designs. The table slammed to the ground with a BANG as it splintered, the vase shattering.

"Camel-" Pearl was silenced by another shatter.

"What have I done for my dragonets to be killed?" Camel spat, "Murdered?"

Ringtail stood by Pearl's side, the smaller SandWing's head hanging. It hurt, it hurt all of them, but Pearl tried to keep a level head for all of them. Sundance was gone, one of the princess Pearl had watched grow like her own dragonets. The SeaWing brushed her wing against her friends, but he didn't respond, lost in his own thoughts as Camel continued.

"I thought I took care of it all," the SandWing sounded so angry, grief ridden, yet also...so defeated. Pearl hasn't seen her this way since...since Cheetah and Thistle's deaths. "I thought I stopped it, I thought I stopped it all back then."

Pearl's scales flashed dimly, 'not your fault' she flashed, though she doubted Camel remembered the aquatic she taught her all those decades ago when they were dragonets. The blue SeaWing stepped over towards her friend, standing in the middle of the torn and destroyed room. Camel's jaw was tense, her ears pinned back and her eyes narrowed in a harsh squint, holding back tears.

"None of this was your fault," Pearl started, choosing her words carefully, speaking softly to the other Queen whose wings tensed at her words. "You did everything you could to protect your dragonets, but sometimes...things happen. Things we never think could ever happen."

Pearl knew what loss felt like, what it felt like to lose a dragonet. And I almost lost a second, her mind flashed back to Sapphire, her little princess too small for this world, her little jewel.

"But it did happen," Camel seemed to break, "and now one of my daughters is gone, Pearl, she's gone!" A sob forcing itself through her teeth, her wings collapsing to the floor. Pearl rushed forwards.

The SeaWing could only hold her friend close, wrapping her wings around them tightly as Camel cried. It was just like when Pearl lost her first dragonet, a stillborn prince who never hatched, who was meant to grow and run around the palace with Sapphire and her other dragonets. She had cried for hours, Camel holding her while Ringtail looked after the dragonets. The king looked like he was prepared to plunge into snow with all the wrapping he wore, cradling four newly hatched dragonets.

Now it was Pearl's turn to help them through the loss of a dragonet.

Looking over her shoulder, she beckoned Ringtail over with a flick of her tail, the King hardly even noticing until her tail flashed softly. The warm yellow SandWing made his way over, slowly as if he hardly had the energy to move before Pearl enveloped him in the hug with his wife. The two SandWing's warm scales made her feel like she was swimming close to a hydrothermal vent on the ocean floor, but she only held them tighter.

If Iceberg knows what's good for her, she'll get back to Camel soon.

Pearl could still hear the vengeful curse Camel had muttered under her breath: "A good IceWing is a dead IceWing." She knew her friend well enough to know what she meant, the second she started locking away the seemingly innocent snow dragons within her desert.

Everything will be fine, she stared out at the sunset that started to dip beyond the horizon, holding Camel and Ringtail tighter as they cried, "everything will be okay."

-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

Shadowsplitter quickly sped past a pair of SandWing soldiers who glared in his direction, one letting out a cold hiss as he slipped by. I wasn't fast enough, he scolded himself, eyeing the ghostly market once bustling with life, now empty with only a small talonful of dragons sulking about. He knew better to think they weren't paying attention though, keen black eyes like gleaming shards of obsidian keeping a watchful eye of the market around them.

And a dragon with black scales stuck out like a sore talon in a town of sand and dust.

The sun beat down on the NightWings back as he ducked under one of the still set up tarps draped across a section of the market, the wooden stalls around him bare and untouched.

I should've gone through the outer streets, he grit his teeth, stepping between two stalls, I knew it would've been stupid of them to just sneak into the palace at night, or even the arena. Shadowsplitter had kept close to the stronghold the night of the celebration, watching servants and soldiers flying around in the sparingly lit arena, decorating it as much as they could in the moonlight that managed to push through the flowy tarps that covered the area like a large wing.

It was easy enough to hide in the shadows cast in the top of the arena by its pillars, it had been a good spot to watch for any out of place shimmering white scales, but it was all for naught. The two IceWings had still got two of their targets, even though the prince-consort wasn't originally marked, he just got in the way.

They've got two choices now, Shadowsplitter walked along the back of the market cast in a cooling, yet still stuffy, shade. They'll either get desperate, or take their time and wait for things to calm down.

The NightWing shook his head, his pouch tucked under his wing feeling heavy, I don't think their hirer will be patient.

The buzz of voices filled his mind, the thoughts of dragons around him creating a muffled, white noise that kept his thoughts sharp as he tried to hear anything, anything at all that would point him in the right direction.

They'll attack again soon, his talons dug into the warm sand, they have too. Queen Camel won't give them the time they need.

Shadowsplitter watched from the shadows as a group of soldiers dragged a kicking and snarling IceWing across the sand, pulling them by their wings and their horns with chains, their snout tied shut, heading for the palace. He frowned, watching as the young IceWing kicked out the legs from under one SandWing, making them harshly drag them to the ground in a cloud of sand.

Most were just IceWings traveling through the desert, mostly along the coast of Pyrrhia, but each one was dragged back to the palace, no matter what. He felt at least a little relieved to have not seen any dragonets among the arrested.

Fire flashed through his mind as he watched, making his eyes narrow, a sharp pang shooting through his mind. The town burning, again, flashed through his thoughts. If I don't do something, this whole place will be burned to the ground.

Sucking in a deep breath through his nose, the young NightWing turned to slink deeper into the lonely market, his eyes lingering on the stronghold that towered over the streets.

-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

"Would you have wanted more family around the palace?"

She blinked, turning to the older royal, "what?"

"Well, with the family we have now, would you want to have cousins, aunts, uncles...," he paused with a frown, "grandparents?

Scorpion thought, turning to stare out at the sunrise from atop the palace.

"I don't know," she admitted.

Cactus chuckled, "well, I know that the palace feels both empty and full at the same time."

Scorpion looked down at her talons, the princess sitting at her bedside table, frowning. Her ears felt lighter as they flicked, listening to the sound of several sets of talons walking past her room with a quiet shifting of armour. She hadn't been in there long, but it felt like an eternity as all she did was stare down at her talons before glazing up at her cloak and earrings, still in the same spot as the night before. Three moons, even the week before. After the attack.

When she tried putting them on, her heart stuttered in her chest, a gut-wrenching feeling practically scooping out her insides. Every time she reached for them, she felt like she was back in the courtyard again, the clothes dragging her down as they filled with sand. It just brought her back to that moment where she stared down at her reflection, hearing the crunch and whipping around. The long earrings flying across her vision, revealing the snarling IceWings as he lunged at her.

So she stopped, just leaving them be.

Maybe I could have a servant put them away somewhere, she mused, staring at the jewelry.

"Your majesty?"

Scorpion's head practically snapped towards the doorway, Rattlesnake's eyes widening, her neck flinching back, yet her talons stayed rooted to the floor. The dolly coloured SandWing stood in the doorway, using her wings to hold open the door and stand, her one arm holding a tray with a dish on it. It was her dinner that she'd left behind in the dining hall.

"May I come in?"

"What is your reasoning?"

Rattlesnake paused, her eyes meeting Scorpion's. "To talk."

Now it was Scorpion's turn to pause and stare at the other SandWing. Rattlesnake didn't move, not even shuffling her wings or shifting her stance under the larger SandWings gaze. The dull sand dragon didn't move, holding her gaze.

Scorpion let out a sigh through her nose, "alright, but you're supposed to knock first."

Once Rattlesnake was in, the guard made her way over, sliding the tray of food onto the table. It was still warm, steam wafting up from the sizzling camel legs coated in so much seasoning, they looked like they were governed in scales rather than skin. "You left this in the dining hall."

She stared down at the dish with a scowl, "I wasn't hungry." She'd just come from the dining hall where the majority of her family stayed to eat, or at least attempt to as they all stared down at their plates, their appetites gone.

"I know," Rattlesnake pulled her talons back, "but you should still eat."

The thought of eating made her stomach squirm.

"I'll be fine missing one meal-"

"It'll be one of many if you let it happen."

Rattlesnake's scolding look was met with a sharp glare from Scorpion. "Why are you here, scolding me like a dragonet, when I could have you thrown in the dungeons for talking back to me."

"Because you don't look like the princess to do that," Rattlesnake shrugged, "you're normal, not stuck up or prissy. You're the kind of dragon to listen to others, the one to get their claws dirty rather than sending other dragons to do the dirty work for you."

"Well, clearly I'm having other dragons do the dirty work for me in finding those assassins," she spat.

But it's not my fault I can't go looking myself, Camel wouldn't let me, or anyone for that matter, out of the palace now. It angered her, to be stuck here like some helpless vulture chick stranded in a nest, alone, at the mercy of the blazing sun.

"But do you want them to?"

"No," she looked at Rattlesnake, "I want to be out there myself."

She could practically see it: hunting down the two IceWings, ambushing them just as they had done to her. Scorpion would either dragon them back to the palace to be dealt with, or she'd deal with them herself. The SandWing was large enough, she could easily overpower one of them, she just had o word about the other while not protecting another dragon. Her claws dug into the dry wood of her table as she gripped it's edge.

Scorpion sat there for a moment, pivoting her head, moving to see Rattlesnake out of the corner of her eye, "Why are you saying this?"

"I just....," she paused, thinking.

Scorpion turned to fully look at her, the other SandWing trying to find the right words.

"You're mentally beating yourself up over something," Rattlesnake started slowly, "something that wasn't your fault, something you had no control over. It tears you apart, breaks you down to your lowest point until you snap under it all. You lash out, do something in the heat of the moment that you might end up regretting."

Scorpion frowned, her eyes looking away, her ears pinned back as Rattlesnake continued.

"I've seen it before, seen what happens. It's...." Rattlesnake moved her armless shoulder, the stump of scales and scar tissue moving, and Scorpion could imagine an arm attached, motioning to itself in a wave. "It's how I ended up with this."

"What happened?" Scorpion found herself asking.

Rattlesnake paused, staring down at the missing limb.

"You don't have to, if you don't want to."

"I think it's been long enough since it happened, that I'm alright to talk about it," Rattlesnake smiled softly. "It happened when I was a dragonet, I was in one of the markets outside the stronghold. I think I was trying to steal a chicken, but I remember stepping on something and it ripped. The dragon I bumped into was one of a higher class, and I ripped her newly made cloak. She was furious. I...I don't remember all of the details after that, I remember there was fire though, and it hurt. Next thing I knew, I was in a healer's hut with my arm amputated."

Scorpion felt horrified as she stared at the other dragon. Someone got so angry at her accidently breaking something, they mutilated her arm and it needed to be amputated? The princesses face must've expressed her feelings as Rattlesnake blinked at her in surprise before smiling softly once more.

"Like I said," Rattlesnake's wing rested back down onto the floor, taking the place of her limb, "it was a long time ago."

"How....how does it relate to what you were talking about before?"

"I wasn't the only one who got in trouble, and the guilt ate away at me until I snapped."

"Do you regret it? Snapping?"

Rattlesnake didn't even hesitate, "no, I don't. Some bits I do, but not all of it. But I know dragons who do regret it, either by doing something or doing nothing."

Before Scorpion could respond, a swift yet hesitant knock rasped against her door, making both SandWing's perk up. Rattlesnake was the first to stand, saying a swift "I'll get it, your majesty," as she made her way towards the round, circular shaped door. The thumb of one of her wings hooked around the golden hoop and pulled, opening it with a click as she stared out at the dragon in the doorway.

"Oh," the tall orange dragon blinked at Rattlesnake as Scorpion stood, her golden yellow gaze flicking back and forth between the two SandWing's, her wings twistching nervously. "I'm sorry if I'm interrupting anything, princess."

Funnel, Scorpion stood as the SkyWing messenger continued, reaching for one of the many pouches strapped around the lower half of her neck, resting against her collar and chest.

"The Queen sent me to fetch you," Funnel pulled a rolled out scroll from one of her many pouches, "she's requesting your appearance in the dungeon hall."

"The dungeon hall?" She asked as Rattlesnake took the scroll, passing it to her, "Do you know what for?"

Funnel blinked, the SkyWing looking put on the spot, "um- I heard a fair bit of shouting before I was called in myself, I believe she wants you to go through the IceWings in the...in the dungeons."

Scorpion sighed through her nose as she stared down at the scroll. "Alright," maybe they will be there, both locked in a cell, but something inside of her prickled with doubt.

-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

Scorpion left with fewer hopes than she'd gone down into the dungeons with as she slipped out of the winding staircase that led down into the dark and stuffy cellars below the palace. Her scales felt hot in anger and disappointment, her barbed tail lashing dangerously behind her, barely coiled like it should've been. None of the cold snow dragons that'd been locked behind bars had been the ones who'd attacked her, none of them!

She's so busy trying to lock away every IceWing she sees, she's not listening to what I told her! Scorpion's talons dug into the ground with each step.

She could still feel the cold, gritty sandstone beneath her claws, cooled from the lack of sun. The stuffy air that made her chest constrict as specks of dust floated around in the air, hovering around the sparingly hung torches. The way the study walls around her felt as though they were closing in on her, making her already stuttering heart hammer with heightened unease.

All of the snowy dragons locked away behind bars, some with their snouts sealed shut with chains that were now coated in shimmering frost as cold mist steamed from their flared snouts, staring out at her and her mother with looks of confusion, anger. None of them had been the two IceWings who'd attacked her. Not the one with the missing eye and bite scar on his shoulder, or the younger IceWing with shimmering blue scales with his dagger strapped to his leg.

There were female IceWings down there too, dragons younger than me, Scorpion sneered as she passed a patrol of guards. She just felt so-! -Scorpion sucked in a sharp breath through her nose- angry. None of them fit what I told her! It was like Camel had disregarded everything she told her except for IceWing.

"Scorpion?" A soft voice pulled the princess from her fiery thoughts as she blinked out of her trance. Standing around the corner was Sapphire, the small SeaWing staring at Scorpion with a mixed look of concern in her pale blue eyes. "Did something happen?"

Her eyes looked away, her ears pinned back.

"My moms just not listening to me right now," she sighed, walking slower this time, no longer angrily stomping up the palace, "it's just got me...frustrated."

Sapphire followed after her, the blue SeaWing trotting by her side. She opened her mouth to say something, but couldn't find the words as her teeth clicked shut quietly, her frilly ears drooping. The two walked in silence for a while, just roaming the palace, guards would pass them every now and then in large groups, looking the two princesses over before leaving them be. It wasn't until they reached a brightly lit hallway that Sapphire spoke.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" She asked.

The two came to a stop at the entrance of the hall lined in paintings. The memorial hall.

"Camel's just locking away any IceWing she sees," Scorpion huffed, stepping out into the hallway with Sapphire following in her shadow, the small SeaWing practically tucked away under her wing from how closely she walked alongside her. "She had me look at them all, to point out which ones did it. But none of them were those two who attacked us. None of them did."

Sapphire was silent for a moment.

Scorpion continued.

"There couldn't have been more than two dozen down there, and none of them looked like either of them. IceWings all look the same-" for the most part, Scorpion had to admit that looking at several at once helped her see tiny differences in the chilly dragons, "-but none of them even looked remotely similar."

The slowly spiraling hallway of paintings, lit by shimmering sunlight, slowly began to line itself in faces familiar to her. Portraits of different sizes decorating each towering wall on either side of them, they were walking in the opposite direction from the last time they'd come through here, the maze-like chamber having let them out into Scorpion's generation line with her brothers and sisters. Scorpion slowed as they passed her own painting.

She remembered how stiffly she had to hold herself as the painter worked, trying to get as many rough details as they could before the three triplets took their break. Scorpion sat in the center, Thorn and Ray on either side of her. Ray was smiling, lips pulled back as his dimples showed. Thorn's was softer, less teeth as his eyes wrinkled in a smile, his freckles mushed. Scorpion had a determined grin on her face, staring ahead at the painter. Thorn's shimmering green eyes popped in the piece of artwork, Scorpion and Ray's matching with their warm browns.

Prince Thorn 4990 AS, Princess Scorpion 4990 AS, Prince Ray 4990 AS, read the golden plaque underneath the large frame.

Scorpion's eyes wandered to the next painting, -passing the cold, burning stare of the nameless SandWing- Sundance's.

Her sister's lifeless body alongside Tarantula's flashed before her eyes as she sucked in a breath, before her vision cleared, the painting coming into view.

Princess Sundance 4983 - 4998 AS and Prince consort Tarantula 4983 - 4998 AS.

The two lovers in the painting looked happy, overjoyed grins plastered across their faces to the point it must've hurt, but their eyes glowed in love and admiration for one another as they held each other's talons. Sundance and Tarantula had been painted a few days after the golden SandWings hatching day, marking them both 17 years old. The princesses' eyes didn't linger long on painting, instead flicking down to the plaque below with their names and dates engraved in the polished gold. She could see her own reflection in its shine, making her frown.

She could've had a final date added to her plaque, her's could've been changed to Scorpion 4990 - 4999 AS, killed on her own hatching day.

But they're not, Scorpion frown turned into a scowl, staring at Sundance's dates, I made sure they're not. She may not have been able to save Sundance, but she saved herself, she saved Sapphire.

"Come on," Scorpion said, nudging Sapphire with her wing, "let's get out of here."

The two continued their trek down the memorial hall, passing the paintings of her sisters, parents, aunts and uncles, and beyond. The dates beside each name going farther and farther back in time. It was silent between the two, only the tapping of their talons against the polished floor clicked throughout the air, echoing in the open, seemingly endless, hallway.

Sapphire cleared her throat.

"We'll be leaving tonight."

"What?-" Scorpion turned towards her- "What do you mean?" she asked.

"My family will be heading back to the Sea Kingdom. We'll be traveling at night, to be safer."

"Your mothers okay with leaving at this time? Camel isn't trying to stop her?"

Sapphire winced, "It's actually Camel who wants us to leave, before anything bad happens. Pearl didn't want to, she wanted to stay, all of us do! But Camel doesn't want us all to be in danger as well."

"So Camel thinks the palace as a whole is dangerous?"

Sapphire nodded, "Narwhale said he overheard them talking about it all when he was with Vulture and Cactus. Pearl wanted to stay and help, but Camel apparently wouldn't hear it. Said it's safer if we went home."

"But wouldn't it be safer for you to stay? You were nearly assassinated, Sapphire, and they're still out there!" Scorpion exclaimed, "what if they try attacking you while you're leaving?"

"We'll have our guards, and Camel's sparing a few to escort us to the Great Five-Tail River. Plus, they weren't after me, they were after you, Scorpion. They didn't try to attack me until they saw me."

"Still," Scorpion didn't like the idea, but...what Sapphire said might be true. They didn't see her under the water until she charged out. They were just after me.

"Come on," Sapphire said, gently tugging on her wing with her own, "let's go find Thorn 'n Ray."

-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

"I'm guessing it didn't go well?"

Scorpion sighed, turning to Rattlesnake.

"No, it didn't."

The pair of SandWings walked down the hall, the sunlight a warm orange as the sun was slowly beginning to dip beyond the horizon. Scorpion had been with Sapphire, Ray, and Torn in the royal library for the rest of the day, until a small wing of SeaWing guards came to collect the small princess. Rattlesnake was escorting her back to her room, having just said goodbye to her friend before she and her family would leave under the blanket of night.

"Camel's just locking away any IceWing her soldiers see, she's not even listening to what I told her."

Rattlesnake frowned.

"At this rate, they'll be long gone before they're caught." Scorpion continued, "They might even be brave enough to strike again since they've gotten away with it so far."

"You think they'll go after more of your sisters or brothers?"

"Well they killed Sundance and Tarantula, they tried to kill me and Sapphire! That's four dragons, even though Sapphire might not have been their original target, one who just got roped in because they got caught in the act and needed to get rid of the witness."

It still made her uneasy. The thought of Sapphire and her family away from the stronghold. They could try ambushing them on their way out, Scorpion shook her head, no, they wouldn't be dumb enough to try that. There's too many soldiers to take on with just the two of them. Besides, once they reach the water, they'll be safe.

"How've your wounds been?"

She looked back at Rattlesnake, the other SandWing peering at her curiously.

"Better, but sore. They're taking a long time to heal." She could feel the unease in her skin as she walked, the slashes on her stomach sore from the movement, freshly healing skin sensitive to the touch. The wound had closed, but was still wrapped to keep dust and debris from dirtying it.

"It'll be tender for a while yet, especially there. Just try not to stretch too much until the tissue's back to its normal colour." Rattlesnake said, almost like she was repeating the same thing said to her.

"Is that what the healer told you with your arm when you were a dragonet?"

"Hm?" Rattlesnake blinked, " I guess so. Doesn't mean I listened."

She snorted, "is that why your arm didn't grow back? You stretched it too much?" Scorpion internally froze, almost forgetting that she wasn't talking to either of her brothers. Yet, Rattlesnake laughed.

"Sorry," she apologized, "you don't need to laugh at that."

Rattlesnake blinked, giving Scorpion an odd look.

"I don't think I've ever heard a princess apologize before."

"Talk to them often?"

Rattlesnake snorted, but didn't press further.

"Also, it wasn't offensive. Not to me anyways."

The two continued to walk in silence, the setting sun making to sky a splotchy array of bright oranges and pinks, the faintest traces of purple starting to creep in along the top of the windows arches. As they walked, Rattlesnake escorting her back to her room, Scorpion's mind began to wonder back to what Rattlesnake had said that morning.

"Because you don't look like the princess to do that. You're normal, not stuck up or prissy. You're the kind of dragon to listen to others, the one to get their claws dirty rather than sending other dragons to do the dirty work for you."

"Well, clearly I'm having other dragons do the dirty work for me in finding those assassins," she spat.

"But do you want them to?"

"No," she looked at Rattlesnake, "I want to be out there myself."

Scorpion looked out the passing windows, staring at the sunset, a question burning into her mind.

"How long does it take someone to reach the end of the desert if they were flying nonstop, for as long as they could?"

Rattlesnake thought for a moment. "A few days if they knew where they were going-" with water or know where oasis' are- "most don't, so I'd say a week or two before dehydration takes hold of them. Why?"

The other SandWing peered at her closely, their walking slowed to a steady pace.

"Is this about the assassins?"

"Yes," Scorpion frowned as they passed another window, the reddening sunlight warming her face, "just wondering how far they'd be if they took off right after the attack."

"And do you think they did?"

She paused,

"I don't know."

Even in the palace, I still feel watched, it could've been from the increased guard activity, but it just felt off, it could just be my paranoia. She shot that one down as quickly as it came. I wouldn't just feel antsy, like there was an ants nest underneath my scales.

"Are you wanting to go after them yourself, princess?"

Silence.

Scorpion and Rattlesnake had stopped now, in one of the other halls of the palace, heading for one of the spiraling staircases that led up into the wing of royal bedrooms. She stared out of the window ahead of her, the dunes painted a stained pink that slowly tinted to an unsettling red. Huts and stalls were casting long shadows across the sand, painting the streets in veils that waved with each passing dragon that slipped out or into its shade, rippling like water.

"I want to see if they have the nerve to still be in the city."

-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

The crisp, night air nipped at her scales that steadily shed off layers of heat like lapping waves. Desert crickets sang away, filling the wispy wind with their chirps. The slowly cooling sand, still radiating a comforting warmth, crunched softly beneath her talons. Moonlight shone down from the slivering moons, no longer at their fullest. The smallest of the three moons had already begun to shield itself in shadows, the second looking more like an oval while the largest hung proudly in the air. It would be the last to disappear, until the moon cycle started again.

It'll be a long time until they're all full again, Scorpion pried her eyes away from the moons and back to the dark streets she walks, slipping between huts that had gone still, SandWings sleeping inside with the curtains drawn over their windows. Some towered over her like the pillars inside of the palace, others were closer to the ground and stretched out to cover more land.

The crunching of sand up ahead grabbed Scorpion's attention. Guards, she slid herself between two houses, their shadows feeling like a cold wave over her scales as she slipped behind them, crouching down behind a corner, her black eyes staring out at the street as two soldiers passed by. Their eyes hidden away under the shade of their helmets, scanning the buildings around them as they passed.

They're not carrying torches or lanterns, she noted, watching their tails slither out of sight.

A shuffle from above drew her gaze upwards, a figure balancing on the wall separating the huts from the main market, keeping their body low, their barbed tail hanging over the side. Rattlesnake.

The other SandWing lifted her head to peer over some of the roofs, before motioning for Scorpion to follow her as she jumped down to the other side. Scorpion took a glance over her shoulder out onto the street, her ears perked for any sign of the soldiers returning, before scaling up the wall and landing by Rattlesnake with a soft thud muffled by the sand. The market was dark, stalls standing eerily still.

It looks nothing like when we came here before, Scorpion's wings shifted at the memory, her two wing piercings rubbing against her sides. Scorpion sullenly looked around the empty clearing of the market, eyes scanning every shadow as Rattlesnake moved to her left, coming to a stop by her side.

"The markets have been practically abandoned since your hatching day," the grey SandWing whispered, taking the lead as they walked, moving further from the palace that towered into the night sky behind them like broad talons reaching for the moons.

Rattlesnake motioned towards scuffs in the sand with her tail, "it's been where Camel's soldiers have been dragging their captives to the palace." It was like looking at a snake's trail, only larger and with more thrashing.

"You can smell them-" Scorpion lowered her head, a heavy breath sent small specks of sand scattering- "it's almost like they make the air smell cold," she snorted.

"Their smell is a hard one to put to words," Rattlesnake walked past her, continuing down the sandy street as the two SandWings made their way through the market.

The pair made their way deeper, passing closed up stalls, some with tarps haphazardly taken down that blew gently in the wind like flags. As they made their way closer to the opposite end of the market, the wall surrounding it coming into view, there was a shuffle. Scorpion and Rattlesnake froze, their ears pricked.

They wouldn't be hiding in the market, Scorpion thought, it's too close to the palace.

She looked over towards Rattlesnake, the guard's neck twisted to look behind them as her narrowed eyes scanned the stalls behind them, her face pulled in a scowl. "Quickly," she whispered, slipping past Scorpion, "over the wall."

Scorpion was the first to make it to the base, scaling it like she had before, leaping from the ground with her claws hooking into the rough sandstone that pulsed warmth through her palms. Kicking off the bricks, she used the momentum to pull herself up, turning back to look out into the sandy streets. A moving silhouette made her heart spike

A trio of soldiers walked into a beam of moonlight, their armour glittering. As Rattlesnake followed Scorpion, clinging to the side of the wall, their heads perked up, snapping in their direction.

By the moons! Scorpion hissed under her breath, reaching down to snag the other SandWing's arm and pulled. Yanking her up on the ledge, the pair nearly toppling over onto the other side as they ducked, swinging onto the back of the wall, their talons keeping them in place like a pair of bats. Scorpion listened as the trio of soldiers skidded to a stop on the other side.

"I thought I heard something."

"Maybe you're just going deaf, you old snail."

"No, I swear I heard something too."

"The queen's been barkin' too many orders in your ears then-" there was a shuffle and a grunt- "Oi!" Snapped the guard.

"Stop jokin' around, you dung beetle" snarled one of the older soldiers, "get back to the patrol. Until every IceWing in the desert 's brought before her majesty, you keep your eyes peeled. Another royal's death could be on your shoulders if you don't."

That seemed to make the younger of the three pipe down, the sound of talonsteps fading away.

"Come on," Scorpion sighed, "let's go."

Letting go of the wall, Scorpion fell down to the sand with a small plume of dust sprinkling the air, Rattlesnake following in suit. "Regret coming along yet?"

"No," the guard huffed as Scorpion took the lead, "and I wouldn't have let you go off alone."

Keeping a swift pace, they mapped their way through the remainder of the city, huts became sparse, more spaced out with larger gaps between each one, some having cactus' planted to fill in the sand.

"These almost look like MudWing adobes," Rattlesnake commented quietly.

"They do?"

"Mhm," she nodded. I haven't really seen a MudWing adobe up close, but I've seen them from afar. I traveled the edges of the desert around Pyrrhia for a while, nothing past the mountains, that's out of my depth, but there are MudWings who live in the lower mountain region, by the south, a little ways from Jade Mountain."

Silence fell once more on the pair of SandWings as they walked, Scorpion's mind buzzing as she searched, Rattlesnake not far behind her. If they're still here, they wouldn't be close to the palace, so they should be around here. But the longer they searched, the more Scorpion began to wonder if they truly had left the kingdom after nearly being caught.

But why would they only be after me, Sundance, and Tarantula?

She couldn't think of anything to connect the three other than their family relations, their blood relations. Two sisters and a concort....two of the youngest princesses of Queen Camel. Does that mean if they managed to kill me, would they have gone after Fennec or-

A shimmer of white off in the horizon caught her attention, Scorpion's head snapping in its direction, out in the open desert. At first she thought it was a star twinkling lowly in the sky, her eyes playing tricks on her in her search, but she couldn't pry her eyes away from that spot out in the open dunes that surrounded the city like a wall of sandy waves that touched the sky.

"Rattlesnake," she hissed quietly.

The other SandWing turned to her, the princess nodding towards the dunes with her snout. In the horizon there was another shimmer, but as quickly as it came it was gone. The two SandWing's shared a look.

"Those aren't stars," Scorpion grinned.

The larger SandWing took a running start, her wings shooting out to catch the wind with a powerful flap as she leaped into the air, Rattlesnake on her heels. They soared over spaced out tents and huts scattered along the outskirts of the palace, some sparingly lit with lanterns or torches, making them glow a warm, dim ember. Soon replaced by hills of sand, Scorpion lowered herself closer to the ground, feeling the remnants of the day's heat warming her underside. She kept herself an arms length above ground, in case she needed a quick lift up, she wouldn't be stuck only using her wings to flap tightly to not collide with the ground.

"You never want to fly too close to the ground," Vulture had taught her as a dragonet, watching her spar with Cactus as the older siblings tussled in the arena's sand, "you could nick the ground and be yanked out of the air."

"It's not a fun fall," Cactus would huff, lifting his wing that had once been sprained for weeks, "or you'll be bound to the ground for a while."

Vulture rolled her eyes, "depending on how you land, but most aren't able to predict their fall before it already happens."

Scorpion narrowed her eyes in concentration as she and Rattlesnake scaled up one of the larger dunes. Reaching out with her talons, Scorpion flapped her wings to slow her descent, her claws digging into the sand as she landed, Rattlesnake doing the same behind her lightly. The sand beneath them tumbled down the side of the large dune, each step shaking the top grains loose.

There's a small oasis not far from here, she realized as they stalked closer to the top of the dune, her ears pricked at the faint sound of hissing voices that sliced through the buzzing air filled with cricket chirps that were beginning to quiet, as if sensing the dragons were stalking. The voices ahead were harsh whispers, snappy and strained.

"We need to leave!"

"We're not goin' anywhere! We just need to lay low for a while, and we'll be back on the job."

'There's no point in staying if we're going to get caught!" Snapped the first, "even you should see that! You've been doing this longer than I have!"

"And I've never once been caught, and I won't be now."

Crouched low to the sand, Scorpion crept forwards, peering over the top, her snout level with the sand as her black eyes zeroed in on the two white figures arguing up ahead, an endless sea of dunes with a small oasis speckling the scenery. Her iris' dilated, staring at the two familiar faces who argued over a half eaten pygmy owl.

There you are, her mind sneered, her heart pumping loudly, blood rushing to her ears.

Scorpion's body was tense, practically twitching as she lowered herself, shifting her stance. She could hear Rattlesnake doing the same beside her, one of her wings reaching back to a dagger strap on her thigh.

"How are we expected to go back with all these soldiers-!"

Scorpion sprang, charging the two IceWings with long strides. The younger of the two hardly had any time to react as she twisted, her talons digging into the sand as she whipped her tail like a club, slamming into the side of his skull with a SLAM! The tip of her barb scratching just above his snout, missing his eyes. The momentum made Scorpion collide with him, spending the young IceWing sprawling across the sand.

"Shudder!" The older IceWing howled, whipping back towards Scorpion as she lunged.

The two dragons tumbled in the sand, but this time Scorpion didn't have any robes weighing her down. Her weight outmatched the IceWing beneath her as she slammed him to the ground. With a sneer, her lips pulled back in a snarl like grin.

"I think it's time for a round two," she hissed, tail raised,

The one-eyed IceWing below her stared up in shock, but with a blink it morphed into a snarl of his own. He snapped at her snout, as she pulled back, his hind talons hooked into her underbelly, sending sparks of pain through her gut from her sensitive cuts still healing from before. She felt the pressure ease up for a split second, and she took her chance to leap off of him before he could kick her off himself, the IceWings hind legs kicking at open air as his upper half twisted in an attempt to snag her as she ran past.

Behind her, Rattlesnake tackled the other IceWing in the flurry of wings and kicked up sand as Scorpion's attacker launched up to his feet, lunged at her. She ducked, raising her talon back, claws curled as she slammed them down, slashing the side of his face, blue blood splattering across the sand. Her other talon began to rise up over her head, her frame casting a looming shadow over him, as he struck out with his serrated claws that raked in her direction.

This time I'm not protecting someone else, she leaned out of his swipe, striking him again before snapping at him with her teeth with a SNAP, the older dragon flinching away with a roar.

Scorpion charged him, the one-eyed IceWing being slammed to the ground, her nose horn piercing his chest and painting her horn blue. His claws gripped her horns as she whipped her head back, rearing with the motion, pulling him with her before she slammed him down again and again, forcing the air from his lungs as he gasped.

Once I bring them back to the palace, she heaved, slamming his head down with one of her palms, her claws digging into his skull, pushing him into the sand, I'll find out who's behind all of this-

A shout from behind forced her eyes off of him. Looking back, she saw Rattlesnake collapse onto the floor, her arm clutching her shoulder that was encased in ice that spiked up like mountaintops, growing along her scales as a bitter chill frosted the air like steam. The younger IceWing shot to his feet, turning towards Scorpion.

"Rattlesna-ACK!" Her fiery shout was cut short with a gasp, a heavy kick to her gut forcing her mind back to her own IceWing who's talons were reaching up at her, twisting abnormally as he writhed like a trapped snake.

NO! His own jaws were glowing a bright blue, scales growing colder under her talons.

A flash of silver shot through the air before shimmering blue spurted from the IceWing below her, his eyes widening as he coughed, blue slipped out between his teeth as he stared up at her. The IceWings' own blood soaked his chest, seeping down and outwards like a web, streaming down the sides of his neck and onto the sand below that soaked it up, staining it blue.

A blade struck the ground not even a wing length away, its blade buried in the sand where it landed, its shimmering edge coated in blue.

"Scorpion! Behind you!"

Rattlesnake shouted with a growl.

Scorpion twisted around as the other IceWing charged her, face contorted in a snarl as he lunged. The tackle made her tip back, his body slamming into hers as they sprawled across the sand, snarls and roars silencing the desert crickets that had long since gone quiet, fleeing the area. The two tumbled in the sand, kicking and wings flapping, dust swirling like a storm in the flurry. Eventually Scorpion elbowed him sharply in his ribs, making him gasp.

He lashed out wildly with his serrated claws, striking for her face, the tumble leaving him on top as she leaned back as far as she could, avoiding his talons. I had it! She snarled, I had them! She wasn't going to die after coming this close. Scorpion struck up with her own talons, exchanging blows as Rattlesnake staggered to her talons behind them.

A flash of silver glinted in the corner of her eyes as she shoved the IceWing, pushing herself on top with a roar. A WHOOSH from behind made her freeze, out of the corner of her eye she saw something small and silver, shoot up into the air, her blood running cold. The younger IceWing beneath her seemed to be frozen by shock as well as they both stared at the dagger that pointed threateningly at the pair.

The dagger was floating.

Rattlesnake's dagger was floating.

"W-What....-" The IceWing beneath her whispered under his breath.

"-in the three moons is that," she finished for him, the two staring at the hovering blade that almost seemed to be eyeing them up.

They were still frozen in place, mid fight with their talons having gone slack on one another. Suddenly, the dagger shot forwards. Scorpion's heart spiked, aiming straight at her, it's sharp blade glinting in the moonlight like gleaming eyes.

"NO! STOP!"

Scorpion held her breath as the dagger stopped mere inches from her snout, it's sharpened tip almost touching her nose ring as it froze in place. As she pried her eyes away from the blade before her, Scorpion's eyes landed on the heaving figure who watched in fear, breathing deeply, Rattlesnake's gaze flickering so fast between them her eyes looked to be shaking.

The grey SandWing let out a shuddering breath. "Come back," she ordered quietly.

And the blade listened, pulling back from Scorpion and slithering back through the air towards Rattlesnake who reached up, her talons slipping over its handle.

Scorpion could only stare back at Rattlesnake, the other SandWing refusing to meet her gaze, her eyes downcast at the knife held in her talons. Scorpion followed the guards gaze, eyeing the dagger as she let out the breath she'd been holding.

It's enchanted, she realized.

Rattlesnake was an Animus.

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- MindlessTyper