A Brighter Future Ahead

AN: I don't feel like writing a long author's note, so let's just get into things.

Disclaimer: I do not own Wings of Fire. My OCs Cobra and Trench belong to me.

Cobra:

Cobra was annoyed. The reason for her annoyance: the basket sitting in front of her. More importantly, she was annoyed at its contents—or lack thereof. It was full, sure, but it was full of papayas. And therein lay the source of her annoyance.

She had asked for mangoes.

Instead of saying anything, though, she merely glared at the Seawing who had delivered it. Commander Trench just looked at her with an unimpressed expression. "I asked for mangoes," she finally stated.

Trench just rolled his eyes. "Well, this is what we got, so you're just going to have to deal with it," he said dismissively.

She scoffed. "Queen Pearl specifically told you to keep me happy so as to guarantee my continued cooperation, and I asked for mangoes. These," she gestured to the basket of papayas, "Are not mangoes."

Trench narrowed his eyes dangerously, and, for a moment, Cobra wondered if she had finally pushed him too far. She had been testing him ever since they granted her asylum a week ago. So far, the commander hadn't done anything to her yet…

Instead of attacking her, though, he merely grabbed the basket, secured the lid, and hoisted it onto his back. Before leaving, he left her with a few words to think on. "I can order your execution at any time, princess," he spat. "Push me all you want, but don't be surprised when I push back." With that, he stormed out of her room.

Cobra watched him leave with her own dangerous glare. He didn't intimidate her. There's no way he would go against his Queen's wishes…right? He didn't seem like that kind of dragon to her, at least.

She waited for a short span before he returned with another basket that he dropped before her. She watched him for a moment before opening it.

Dragonfruit.

This was a basket of dragonfruit.

"Are you doing this on purpose, or are you actually this daft?" Trench growled at her but still didn't make a move against her. Unfortunately, she didn't stop there. "It's remarkable that the Queen trusts you with anything," she taunted. "She must be desperate to allow—OOF!"

She grunted at the impact of hitting the back wall of her room. Then, powerful talons hoisted her into the air. Trench was well and truly furious for the first time since the two had been forced to 'work together'.

"I don't know why I put up with you," he growled. "You haven't given us anything that we didn't already know. As far as I'm concerned, you've reached the limit of your use. I—"

"Stand down, Commander!" a young, female voice commanded from behind him. Trench turned his head enough to see the Queen standing there with an unamused expression.

He dropped Cobra unceremoniously to the ground where she coughed at the sudden rush of air into her lungs. The large Seawing towered over the young Queen, but she showed no fear. "My strongest recommendation is to simply kill her," he stated as casually as if he were discussing the weather. "Or at the very least, have someone else deal with her." He glanced at her briefly. "I have reached my limit of tolerance with this one."

"Your opinions are noted, but you have your orders," she said with finality. Trench just grunted as the Seawing Queen made her way over to the slowly recovering Rainwing. "I would appreciate if you start cooperating. Trench is not a patient dragon. In fact, I'm surprised he's lasted this long before lashing out."

"Is that what you call it?" Cobra replied bitterly.

Pearl, however, wasn't as amused. "Your stay here can be as pleasant or miserable as you want it to be. If you don't want to spend the rest of your life in the dungeons, I would recommend that you stop being so rebellious." Pearl made her way back into the halls before turning to Trench. "If she continues being uncooperative, do what you will, just don't kill her…" She turned and looked directly at Cobra when she finished. "…Yet."

When Pearl was out of earshot, the commander turned to her. "If you don't want to spend the next week locked in the dungeons without food, I would suggest you start talking. You said to draw Anaconda out, we had to openly declare war on the Skywings. Well, we just did, so what would you recommend next?"

Cobra stood up with slight effort before sighing. "The Skywings and Rainwings are the two strongest militaries on Pyrrhia, as you probably know, but even they can't stand up to the rest of the tribes at once. The Mudwings are already your allies so call for their aid. Make a deal with the Sandwings to secure their help. I'm sure the Icewings would be willing to help if you told them about Darkstalker's survival. The only unknown variable would be the Nightwings, but they would probably help for the same reason if we could find them."

"I doubt the Nightwings and Icewings would put aside their animosity towards each other even to kill Darkstalker," he said.

"Who said they had to know about the other's involvement? Have the Icewings attack the Skywings and the Nightwings attack the Rainwings. Nobody would ever know," she smirked at his thoughtful expression.

He nodded to himself a few times before looking to her. "Alright, you won't be spending the week in the dungeons, but that doesn't mean I won't change my mind if you decide to test me," he warned her, to which she nodded in understanding. "Good. Now, be on your best behavior and maybe I'll get you your mangoes."

"Until then…could I have those papayas back?" she grinned.

AN: Hope you enjoyed.

Until Next Time

AdmiralCole22