For the next few weeks, Small One fell into a rather comfortable routine in the crater. She would wake at sunrise, slake her thirst in the lake, and then either hunt with Bold One or play with Fearless One and Clever One, before returning to sleep with Fearless One each evening. The crater was akin to a paradise for her, with small, easy-to-catch prey and thick vegetation to hide from predators. The pack hunters were something of an annoyance, but all it usually took to drive them off was a sharp glare and bared fangs. The binding on her injured wing gave up and fell off after a while, but to Small One's delight, she could fold and open her wing with minimal pain. Attempting to flap it was still out of the question, however.
Bold One's gash healed up quite nicely, leaving only a thick line of discoloured scales behind. Unfortunately, it seemed her eye could not be saved. She didn't seem to be too concerned by her impeded sight, hunting and playing with as much fervour as Small One. As the days wore on, Small One started noticing subtle changes in her own stature. Rubbing dead scales from the tips of her horns left them sharper and just a little bit longer. The two tiny tusks on her lower jaw were ever so slightly thicker and longer, and she noticed that Furious One looked a little less gigantic each time she saw him.
Furious One landed in the crater every now and then, often with a new dragon in tow. Occasionally he returned sporting fresh scars, but he never seemed to sustain any truly permanent damage. The other dragons that Furious One had sent out returned too, and gradually the crater grew more and more crowded. Small One hadn't ever realised there were so many different dragons besides her own kind and the hardskins, firemanes, and clearskins. More of the sky-swimmers were gathering in the air each day, annoying Small One with all the sky water they brought with them. The fast silverscales often made loud booming noises when they arrived, leading Fearless One to glare at them whenever she saw them. Small, wingless dragons with a mystical aura and one spiral horn had taken to wandering around in the long grass, and a horrifying floating monstrosity with many tentacles loomed above the crater ominously, though it never moved to attack.
According to Furious One, there were many other dragons who simply couldn't congregate at the crater because of where they lived, like the great beasts that dwelled in the water, and the rocky, legless dragons that swam in the ground. Still, Furious One seemed confident that they too had pledged to battle against the death-prey. Despite the best efforts of the dragons assigned to the task, it seemed the wyverns had no intention of joining the battle. Attempts to communicate with them resulted in blank stares or outright dismissal, even hostility in some cases. Furious One didn't seem too concerned by their refusal, given the growing number of dragons taking up residence in the crater. Their presence made prey a bit scarce for Small One, but at the very least there was something of a truce between species and she didn't need to worry about one of them trying to eat her.
One day, while Small One played by the lakeshore with Clever One, Fearless One's mighty roar shook the crater. Last time, Small One remembered, that had been a message for all the dragons to gather to her. Glancing at Clever One, she rushed back over to Fearless One, flattening her ears against the boom of an approaching silverscale. The area around Fearless One's legs was much more crowded than it had been last time, and the mountain dragon was staring intently at the ground as though she was trying to figure out how to return to all fours while squishing as few dragons as possible. Fortunately, a sharp shriek from Furious One got the crowd to back away and make room for Fearless One.
With all eyes now on Furious One, he began addressing the crowd, with the aid of various translators. He believed there were sufficient dragons to stage their very first assault on the death-prey, to announce to their adversaries that they would no longer tolerate being imprisoned and used as mere beasts of burden. He claimed to have picked out a simple target to start with: a metal flying beast had been spotted near the rim of the crater. The dragons would lead a coordinated assault on it, something which would definitely get the death-prey's attention. Small One felt a spike of disappointment as she realised that bringing down a metal flying beast would naturally require her to be able to fly. Seemed she'd be sitting this one out. Clever One seemed to sense her feelings, letting his tongue dangle in what Small One had learned was a gesture of sympathy.
Furious One began explaining the specifics of the plan and asking for volunteers, but Small One's mind was elsewhere. Would she be able to watch the attack? She'd have to find a way to the rim of the crater for that, and she'd have to press herself against the howling winds and sky water that the hardskins and sky-swimmers liked to summon. Perhaps Fearless One could lift her to the edge of the crater? Or would Fearless One be needed for the attack? She couldn't fly, but she was tall enough when she stood up that she probably could be of some use. Unlike Small One, who couldn't fly and was also too small to be of any real use.
All of a sudden Small One was snapped from her thoughts by raucous roaring all around her, realising that Furious One and his translators had finished explaining the details of the attack. The crater was a whirlwind of activity, with Furious One and some particularly lithe-looking hardskins taking off, a silverscale and sky-swimmer following them. Were they heading out to begin the assault already? Small One wove through the dissipating crowd, following Furious One and his entourage from the ground. When she reached the slope of the crater wall, she hesitated, before scrambling her way up the steep incline. It seemed she wasn't the only one who wanted to watch the show. A few adult dragons were soaring up to the rim with ease, and some younger dragons were following Small One up the trail she was unintentionally blazing.
When she reached the narrow ridge that lined the crater, Small One immediately had to tighten her talons against the rushing winds. A large red firemane kindly stretched a wing out to shield her as best he could, for which Small One was grateful. Bold One bounded up next to her, followed by Clever One. Furious One and his volunteers were quite far away already. In the distance, Small One could see what they were aiming for, looming above the jungle. Clouds were gathering, likely summoned by the hardskins and sky-swimmers. Small One watched the players fall into place, and waited for the battle to begin.
How much has Small One's wing recovered? (/45%)
Small One rolls a 33 + 55 = 88% recovery.
Really sorry this one is so short. I was decidedly not in the mood for it tonight, but hey, that's part of the challenge. Also, we had our first timeskip this chapter. It won't be the last, and it certainly won't be the longest. It was about three weeks of time in all.