Webs paced around the main chamber, picking up left over bones and food from the dragonets' most recent meal. They were a year old now, and while Kestrel and Dune always berated them for not cleaning up themselves, Webs actually enjoyed dealing with their messes; they reminded him of Riptide. Presently, Glory had fallen asleep next to a stalagmite, Starflight and Sunny were playing pretend near the hall of the guardians' cave, and Clay was scavenging for any bits of food Webs had missed. He did not know where Dune was, but Kestrel and Tsunami were in the next chamber training; occasionally a smack and a yelp would echo from there, making Webs cringe.
Every time the dragonets were training, he hoped Kestrel and Dune wouldn't hurt them too much, but something always happened that led to them coming back with bruises and scars. He still remembered poor Glory limping in, a nasty sting on her shoulder from Dune's tail when he became frustrated with her "lack of focus." Webs felt especially guilty about the RainWing: she wasn't even a part of the prophecy, but he dragged her in because he was desperate for a substitute SkyWing. So many mistakes had been made because of his cowardice and desperation. He hoped this would redeem him, that if he helped raise the ones who were destined to save Pyrrhia then he could stand to look at his own reflection. Some days, however, he wasn't certain all the dragonets would make it to their eighth year.
For several minutes he and Clay continued shoving scraps into a pile (where the MudWing dragonet promptly began digging for more food), when a cry echoed from the other chamber. Webs whipped his head towards the commotion, which was soon followed by what sounded like an argument and another smack. Webs's heart split every time this happened, and there was that little part of him that suggested he try to stop it. He shook his head, telling himself he could never do anything against Kestrel, but then he noticed the razor edge of the SkyWing's voice.
"When I tell you to jump, you JUMP!" She screamed.
"You just said enemy will trick you!" Came little Tsunami's retort.
Kestrel snarled. "Why you – smack – little – smack – insolent – thump – dragonet!"
Webs could imagine the blows the SkyWing was laying on Tsunami, and the noises that confirmed each strike were tearing at his resolve. Finally, when he heard Tsunami try to retaliate and then receive another bout, something cracked inside Webs and he rushed down the hall. When he rounded the last corner, he found Kestrel towering over the little dragonet, who glared pure defiance at her elder while clutching her left talon; she looked to be holding back tears.
Kestrel sucked in a breath, and Webs's eyes popped as he envisioned her spouting a fireball that would be the dragonet's end. "Kestrel stop!"
The SkyWing blinked and ended her inhale just as it was beginning to hiss, then scowled at her compatriot. "What?"
Her eyes withered some of his bravery, but Webs donned a calm expression (at least he hoped it looked calm) and said. "I said stop. You're too hard on her – you're too hard on all of them. They are just dragonets, they will make mistakes and -."
"Don't tell me how to do my job!" Kestrel yelled. "We only have seven more years before they're supposed to be fit to end this war, we can't afford to be soft on them."
Webs clenched his claws, desperately hanging on to what was left of this newfound courage. "Yes, we have to prepare them for what's to come, but we shouldn't be abusing them! There's a line between training them and using them to take out your frustrations on, and you know it. You go too far, and you need to stop."
The SkyWing raised an eyebrow. "Or what? You'll be the one to stop me?"
Webs paused for a moment, not realizing that he would indeed have to back up his words with action. The last of his courage went into his tone, which he made as tough as possible when he replied. "Yes."
The chamber was silent for several seconds, then Kestrel began laughing so hard she stamped the ground with her foot. "You are a fool, SeaWing! You can't even look at me without shivering in your scales. It's been a year and you've never lifted a talon to stop me from "abusing" these runts, and we both know you never will lift a talon to stop me. Look, I'll prove it to you."
Then she took a small step from Tsunami and swept her tail at the dragonet's legs, knocking them out from under the little SeaWing and sending her hard to the stone floor. Just as Tsunami was trying to get up, however, Kestrel swept her tail back and shoved the dragonet bodily into a stalagmite, where she let out a little yelp and crumpled to the floor.
Webs didn't know what happened, but for a brief moment he saw Tsunami as having sky blue scales, and watching that dragonet being slammed into the stone ignited something inside him. For the first time it wasn't pity that bled from his heart, but instead a storm of anger burst inside him, guilt-fueled anger that had been unacknowledged for years and was now coursing through his limbs and setting fire to his eyes. He did not hear the roar blasting from his throat, he did not feel the air rush passed him as he charged, and he did not see anything but Kestrel in the cave.
The SkyWing's eyes widened, the only indication that she was surprised, and jumped to the side just as Webs pounced the ground where she had been. Without pausing, Webs spun his tail at Kestrel's face, but she ducked under the blow and jumped at her former compatriot, catching him by the neck and shoulders and taking them both to the ground. She stood on top of him and clawed at his chest and throat, and in turn he batted away her claws and tried rebuking her in the same fashion. Webs's courage and rage was being invaded by terror now, for he realized he was fighting for his life now: Kestrel was a trained killer, after all, and had little patience or mercy for anyone.
The two grappled and clawed for a good five or ten seconds (decades by Webs's estimate), until the SkyWing began laying some real marks on the SeaWing, which spurred the latter towards a desperate maneuver. In a split second he let go of her talons and wound his right talon to his left shoulder; as Kestrel's talons reached for the ground and his throat, he stroked her talons to the side and put her off balance. As Kestrel's limbs were overextended to his right and she was falling forward, he quickly reached around her neck with his left talon and arm and wrenched to the correlating side, pulling her off him and allowing him to switch positions with her.
He was shocked that his strategy worked, and he began swiping and snapping at her neck and face, pinning her wings to the ground with his own as she tried smiting his head with them. For a few seconds it looked as if he had a chance, until she kneed him in the groin; he let out an undignified yelp as his ferocity was almost completely extinguished, and Kestrel braced her back legs on his belly and heaved. He soared to the other side of the cave and landed with a heavy crash that stunned him. Through the stars in his vision, he saw the SkyWing approaching him with yellow eyes dripping with rage, and his brain screamed at the rest of his body to get up. Kestrel, however, was having none of it. She sucked in a breath, the telltale hiss in her throat heralding Webs's flaming death, and in the brief moment he froze he resolved that at least he was going to die standing up for the Dragonets of Destiny.
Then, just before he closed his eyes to accept his fate, Kestrel's eyes bulged and she roared up at the ceiling, her flame striking several stalactites. Clamped firm on her tail was a growling Tsunami, who looked to be working as hard as she could to chew it off. Kestrel roared again and swung her tail hard towards the exit of the chamber, where Tsunami soared and crashed into the other dragonets who had come to witness the battle. Just as the enraged dragon turned to regard Webs again, she saw a green-blue blur spinning towards her, then saw nothing but stars as his tail knocked her to the ground. Webs was breathing hard, his tail whipped back and forth, and he gazed at the SkyWing with eyes almost as wrathful as Kestrel's were only moments prior.
As Kestrel tried steadying herself, Webs marched over, grabbed her shoulder and pulled her to an upright position, then punched her with a left hook, then a right, then a left again. She was really dazed now, and when she crumpled to the ground with a moan, Webs bit down at the base of her skull and dragged her over to the river. As soon as the water touched her scales Kestrel began to flounder and panic, doing her best to land a good strike on Webs, but she was too disoriented to do anything effective. He batted several of her limbs away and held her head underwater, staring coldly down as she continued to fight back.
Just then Webs heard shuffling to his left where the exit was, and he turned to find Dune limping forward with his tail raised and teeth bared. "What is going on?!"
Webs thought this an incredibly frustrating time for the SandWing to arrive, and he shoved Kestral's head further into the water as if hoping she would drown faster the deeper they went. When she continued to gurgle and swing her tail, he grasped her snout with his right talon then whipped the left one out to point at Dune with a steely claw, the SeaWing's expression wild as he bellowed. "OLD DRAGON! YOU BETTER STAY OUT OF THIS OR YOU'RE NEXT!"
This made Dune falter in his pace and stop. He considered charging Webs when he turned his back again, but then observed the scene more closely: Webs was killing Kestrel, the murderous one of the group that trained the dragonets to kill. Dune remembered he was missing a talon and was unable to fly away, and decided that since he didn't know what was actually going on he should probably wait to hear an explanation before risking his life right now.
About ten more seconds went by before Kestrel went limp, and with that Webs pulled her out of the river and put her head on dry land. He then lifted her onto his shoulder (an awkward and lengthy endeavor), and positioned her head and upper body to lean over him. Water gushed out Kestrel's mouth, and when it was down to a drip he put the SkyWing on her back and began stomping on her chest, to which she soon began choking and sputtering. Her snout and head were beginning to swell, and one eye was refusing to open; she tried lifting her head but was quickly deterred by vertigo and pain, so she laid it back down and got back into the habit of breathing.
Webs left her there and approached the exit to the cave, but as he passed an incredulous Dune, he stopped and laid a fierce glare on the old dragon. "If you lay a talon on any of those dragonets, I won't bother resuscitating you."
Letting the threat sink in, Webs limped up the stairs, the dragonets crowding around him. Starflight and Clay looked worried and confused, Sunny was crying and unsure of which adult she wanted to comfort, Glory watched Dune tend to Kestrel with bright eyes, and Tsunami trotted next to Webs with a huge grin on her snout. He was covered in bruises and lacerations from his arms and neck to his back and undersides, but despite the pain he felt different and fresh. Today, he actually felt like a guardian, and he smiled down at his charges with warm eyes.
"It's going to be okay, little ones, it's going to be okay."
Writer's notes: Alright, so I know that being a coward was a key characteristic of Webs, but that and his incompetence still got on my nerves throughout the series. Then, a couple days ago I found myself in a mood and thought. "What would a universe with Webs having a spine look like?" Honestly, when I thought up this story I couldn't stop laughing at some of the scenes (specifically Webs staring down Dune while murdering Kestrel), and decided I just had to write it up. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed and I look forward to hearing any reviews/critique.