Mallow woke up the next morning before anyone else did. She could understand Caldera, and Jackal had been working hard to keep them safe. She stood up to try to find some food, hoping to make it back to a safer place by noon, even if that was the Mud Kingdom.
She managed to catch five birds, small but enough. When she walked back, Jackal had woken up. She wondered what kind of look would be in his eyes if he didn't have the fabric over it. Determination? Fear? Joy? She sat beside him and gave him two birds.
"Did you mean what you said last night?" Jackal asked. "About revenge, and how it's a waste of time."
Mallow sighed, and gently nudged Caldera to wake her up. "When Frute died, at first I had thought that it was Vervain. But a day or two after, I noticed that he missed him too. Assuming that a murderer wouldn't miss whoever they murdered, I tried to remember who killed him. I wasn't allowed anywhere near the battlefield. It was mainly against SandWings on Blaze's side. So I went to the desert…and one year later, I realized that I didn't really need to avenge his death. I just missed him. That's how I met your parents and started watching over you." Mallow said. She poked at her bird. She didn't like explaining herself, nor was she used to doing so. Vervain would just assume.
Jackal flicked his tail and started eating. "Well, better late than never, I guess." He replied. "On the bright side, if you never decided that you needed to avenge your brother's death, then I'd most likely be stuck in my house all day and you'd most likely be more miserable than what you are."
Mallow nodded, somewhat agreeing. She nudged Caldera again. "Come on, sleepy scavenger head. Wake up and eat; I want to get back to my mound today." She said.
Caldera muttered something, then slowly opened her eyes and sat upright. She looked around. "Did Spectrum leave?" She asked.
Mallow explained what happened the previous night to Caldera, while plucking off the feathers of her bird. When she finished, Caldera nodded, and Mallow gave her two birds.
"Shouldn't you take the extra bird?" Caldera said. "You're bigger than me; you need more than just one bird to keep you full."
Mallow hated it whenever someone did that. The worst part was that she could never properly explain why. She just shook her head and started eating her own bird. It was silent for a little bit, until they all finished. Mallow took it upon herself to look at Spectrum's dead sister's grave before leaving. Reading what was written seemed so much better then what Vervain had put on Frute's grave.
Here lies Frute, the most obvious of us all and the one who should've never lived in the first place. May the world of dead dragons greet you with hatred and disrespect for the rest of eternity. Mallow was briefly brought back to when Vervain wrote that, and how Flora seemed hurt by it but didn't protest. How immediately Vervain shot venom at it, melting half of the grave. Since then, the grave has been knocked down and broken even further. It's been nearly four years, and yet Mallow still remembered it like it was yesterday. She looked back at Jackal and Caldera, which were checking and gathering the supplies.
I won't let you die like Frute did, Mallow thought. By now, they were like her troop. The dragons that she fought, loved, and cared for. A real troop. Not like Vervain and Flora where everything is built on lies and threats. She wasn't going to let anyone die.
