"Scorching Desert," Hell's Fire trotted on all fours through the burnt ashes and rubble. "Momma!"
A head lifted beneath the debris. "Hell's Fire..."
Hell's Fire scrambled to her mother's side and scraped the rubble off her mother. "Scorching Desert, are you okay?"
Scorching Desert sat uncomfortably on her side. "Just bruised."
The younger Flame-Tail lifted her head to the destroyed Flame-Tail city. "What happened?"
"The volcano erupted while Ancient-Kings were raiding the city. I'm glad you weren't captured or killed."
Rage burned in Hell's Fire's eyes. "Those stupid Ancient-Kings! Thinking they can just raid one of our cities!"
Scorching Desert placed a talon on her daughter's foreleg. "It's okay, hatchling. We just need to find a new home."
Hell's Fire lifted her eyes. "Can you fly?"
The gold Flame-Tail shuffled to her feet and extended her wings. Her left wing was twisted in an awkward way.
"Your wing's broken!" Hell's Fire roared right as Scorching Desert readied to fly. The older Flame-Tail stopped before she damaged her wing even more. "Here, Momma, let me get that." Hell's Fire pulled off her satchel and dressed her mother's wound carefully. "Looks like we won't be able to fly... You can still walk right, yes?"
Scorching Desert followed her daughter out of the destroyed city. "Yes, I'm fine, let's go find a place to stay for the night."
Hell's Fire led her mother out of the city, turning back to the once-beautiful island she once called home.
"Fellow Flame-Tails!" King Volcano's Rage roared over the crowd, his handsome golden face furrowed in an enraged expression. Hell's Fire had never seen a Flame-Tail so handsome. The king's wife, Queen Mountain Ash, stood beside her husband, rubies and onyx laced in her pitch-black scales and hung from her horns on strings. The two were the most beautifully-decorated dragons Hell's Fire had ever seen. Their sons and daughter stood behind them, each holding precious objects recovered from the rubble.
The king went on. "Our species has suffered much today. We've all lost friends and loved ones. Spouses, hatchlings, parents, nestmates, and friends. Those blasted Ancient-Kings have raided our beloved city and destroyed it, killing many of our species."
Hell's Fire noticed a wingless Flame-Tail hatchling in his father's arms, crying into his chest. The hatchling's older brother, one with blazing red scales, placed a talon on his younger brother's back, shivering from crying so hard. She remembered seeing the two dragonets playing with their mother outside their adobe hut. Hell's Fire looked around for their mother, but reality hit her as soon as she realized their mother was still in the rubble, dead.
The king had paused for a long time and continued his speech. "We need to find a new home. We will send out able-bodied Flame-Tails to go seek out a new home. My eldest son, Falling Lava will organize these parties. We've sent out our raptors to the Grass-Crests, the Ax-Jaws, and the Sky-Wings to ask for their assistance. So far, King Treeclimber of the Grass-Crests and Queen Eucalyptus of the Ax-Jaws have responded and will send out more members to help us through these troubled times.
"When Queen Eucalyptus comes, I will thank her for letting us take refuge on her territory. As of now, let us continue searching through the rubble to find more treasures and Flame-Tails who may have survived the attack." The king nodded to his queen and the two crawled back into their cave, their hatchlings following them in one by one.
Hell's Fire hurried to the healer's den, where Scorching Desert was placed with the other injured Flame-Tails. "How are you doing, Momma?" She asked her when she reached her nest.
The golden-scaled dragon lifted her head and smiled. "Fine, just fine."
The two sat in silence.
"Prince Falling Lava will be organizing patrols to help us find a new home." Hell's Fire said, plucking the uncomfortable grass from the ground beneath her. "I think I'll be in one of those patrols." She piled the grass up in a dry, grassless spot and puffed out a spark of fire, burning the grass. "The Grass-Crests and the Ax-Jaws will be helping too."
"What about the Sky-Wings?"
"They haven't replied yet. King Thunder and the Sky-Wings live far away, we shouldn't hear from him until tonight or tomorrow."
Scorching Desert settled into her nest and fluffed up the leaves the wingless Flame-Tails scavenged. "Good to know." She rested her head on the leaves. "Update me if you hear anything new. I need to rest. Blazing Ashes says the bones won't heal until five or six months."
Hell's Fire nodded and slowly walked out of the sheltered den. "Love you, Momma."
"Love you more, Fire." Scorching Desert said, smiling.
Hell's Fire smiled at her mother, then walked out. A young adult Flame-Tail trotted up to her, tapping on her shoulder with her wing. "Hey, freak! Prince Falling Lava wants you to be in one of the patrols! And he wants me to come with you!"
The amber Flame-Tail lowered her ears. The odd protrusions on her back and tail drew a lot of attention when she hatched. Even the strange, star-shaped mark on her forehead was claimed to be odd. Daimond-shaped marks were common, but never before had a Flame-Tail been born with a star-shaped mark. This made Hell's Fire a bit of an outcast.
Hell's Fire slowly nodded. "Oh, okay, Flash Fire, I'll be seeing you then."
Flash Fire smirked. "He wants to meet now. At the waterfall!"
"Oh, all right."
"I'll see you there!" the red Flame-Tail ran in the direction of the waterfall.
Hell's Fire opened her wings and casually glided to the waterfall. As she observed the ground from the sky, something was off.
It's too... green.
There were no black volcanoes or rivers of lava, instead, there were green and brown mountains with whitish-blue streams that strung through the landscape like spiderwebs. Clouds were a bright white instead of deep black, making Hell's Fire squint in the sunlight. The sky was unnaturally cold for her, no heat radiating from the fiery mountain they once called home.
When she landed in the clearing, Hell's Fire sat in the back, where only the princes could see her and not another Flame-Tail. Falling Lava shifted his weight on the boulder and started to explain the patrols.
"King Volcano's Rage has ordered that we should search for a new homeland, one that the Ancient-Kings will not find. We need you to search out and find a suitable place to relocate. We have Grass-Crests and Ax-Jaws and possibly Sky-Wings coming to help us. We will have you teaming up with the other dragons in the same patrols." The prince gave a hard glare. "But under no circumstances are you allowed to form any romantic relationships with the other dragons. Is that understood?"
Most dragons said, "Yes, sir," while others only nodded.
Falling Lava strode off the boulder. He whispered into one of his brother's ears, eyeing Hell's Fire while at it.
Hell's Fire looked away from the princes and strode off, ready to begin her travels.
I'm going to have a glossary here at the bottom so you can tell what the heck I'm talking about.
Flame-Tail: the Charizard line
Ancient-King: the Tyrantrum line
Grass-Crest: the Serperior line
Ax-Jaw: the Haxorus line
Sky-Wing: the Salamence line
There seriously needs to be more of these type of poke fics out there. Ones that don't take place in the MD world, but focuses on the pokemon. And no one else.
Review if you think I should continue on with this so I can get some motivation to do this because I'm a lazy bum.
Thank you and you're welcome.
Merry early Christmas and Happy Holidays. *informal salute-wave*