Chapter One

[Note: *_* indicates a direct thought]

I crept through the brush, focused only on my prey. My grey scales blended with the rocky forest floor, so as long as I didn't-

CRACK! A twig snapped beneath my paw, and the deer bolted. I half-heartedly went after it, but knew it would outrun me. After a bit, I stopped chasing it.

"Damn, that was dinner..." I began to walk back home.

"Hey Selik!" Whump, whump, WHUMP, WHUMP, WHUMP, THUD! *Shit...* "Why didn't you just FLY after it! Heh, heh, heh!" He sauntered after me, showing off his new armor.

"Go away Veskr." I continued her walk. *Ignore him...* Veskr was the only one. The only one I couldn't ignore. Perhaps it was because his perfection made me worse in comparison. Or maybe it was because he had gotten a Rider on his first day, or that HE could actually fly.

He continued to taunt me as I walked on. "Selik, WHY are you so useless! Ha! That rhymes! There's Toothless, then there's USELESS! Siblings, but complete opposites!" He screeched as they walked into the Night-Scales training camp. All of the other juveniles looked up, shocked. It had been stressed by the adults not to mention Toothless or my father.

My father... This was all his fault. I was his first-hatched. Out of five eggs, I had to be the first. When I hatched, and he realized I was female, he ripped open my wing and left me outside to freeze. Aside from Kaleer, (now Toothless) the rest had gone rotten. Shade-Scales are born with most of our consciousness already active, so no one was really surprised when Kaleer immediately began to take care of me. My father had ignored me, but he had treated Kaleer like he known what his future had in store.

I stopped for only a moment, then continued. Everyone watched me as I walked to the sheltered cave at the bottom of the cliff. It wasn't large, but it didn't need to be. I'd lived here since Kaleer had grown old enough to live solitarily. I blasted the floor and curled up. Looking outside, I saw Veskr being punished for what he'd said. It didn't help. I lay my head down and decided to sleep.