Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Wings of Fire or the story of Dinosaur, only how the story goes. The characters from Wings of Fire belongs to Tui T. Sutherland and the story of Dinosaur belongs to Disney. The only thing that I do own are the OC's of the story. I apologize for any errors in grammar and/or if I was not accurate in reference to something.

A/N: TheWriterForGod42 and I'm here to give you the forecast for the next few days. It's going to sunny over the desert region and it's going to be brutal with a zero percent chance for rain or any other kind of water. I do apologize of how dark this is, I just didn't have anything better for you.

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Chapter Six: The Dragon Herd's Journey

The sun was starting to set over the herd as they gathered around to sleep. While most of the herd stayed within close proximity to each other, Clay and his family stuck hung around Meatlug, Toothless and Baylene. The hydra laid her long neck across a few rocks while Meatlug and Toothless found refuge near the bass of her neck. Clay, Plio, Yar, Suri and Zini pressed up against the hydra's side. Yar and Plio looked to see that the major part of the herd had set up a few sentries to stand guard. Yar then said, "Maybe we should do that too."

"It wouldn't hurt." Plio agreed. Clay then offered, "I can help take the first watch."

"No." Plio disagreed. Clay and Yar looked to her and she said, "I think you need to rest after today…" She looked to her father and said, "Don't you think?"

Yar wanted to argue with her, but the look in her eye was enough to convince him. The old Scavenger nodded and said, "Yeah, you're probably right, Plio."

"I'll help take the first watch." Plio then said. Looking to Clay she said, "You help to keep Suri warm. The rest of us will sleep when we get the next person."

"Okay." Clay nodded. Then lifting his wing he said, "Come on, Suri."

"Okay." Suri said and yawned before settling down next to her brother. Clay then covered her with his wing to keep her warm. Zini and Yar laid down next to Baylene's leg so they could wait for their turn. Baylene glanced one eye to Clay and asked him, "Tell me, Clay. What was your old home like?"

Clay took a moment to think before saying, "Well, it was beautiful. Our island was maybe a mile off shore, but it was really peaceful for the ten years I lived there. I do wish that we could go back, but…"

He stopped as he remembered that the island had been destroyed. The Mudwing then shook his head to clear the sad thoughts. Looking to the hydra, Clay then said, "I just want to find a place that's safe for my family."

"Do you know how you came about your family?" Baylene asked, curious to know. Clay shrugged and said, "They told me that my egg fell from the sky and though I was pretty much an outsider to them, they still welcomed me into their lives."

"Oh, that's nice, dear." Baylene said before falling asleep. Clay smiled before he laid his head down and took a minute to look for Plio. He saw his adopted mother sitting on top of a rock that could see both the smaller group and the herd. His eyes slowly drooped before fully closing. Clay then started to dream.

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In his dream, Clay found himself back on the island. He looked about to see that it wasn't destroyed as he had seen in from the mainland. It was still lush and green and he could hear the sounds of life flourishing. Walking through the lush forests of the island, he soon came upon the village where he and the Clan stayed. Clay smiled when he could see everyone safe and happy. He looked to his left to see Plio walking up to him with Yar, Suri and Zini right behind her. His adopted mother then said, "Clay, you know we all love you."

"And I love you guys too." Clay said with a smile. But then suddenly, thunder boomed overhead and they all looked up with a gasp. The sky burned as flaming rocks fell onto the island. Clay and the Scavengers all ran for their lives. They flaming rocks impacted the ground and caused giant explosions all around them. Clay looked back just as a flash of white blinded them.

When he woke up inside the dream, Clay was now standing on the ruined shore of the island. Looking around, he could see that most of the Scavengers were using fallen logs to get them off the island. Clay felt someone touch his left foreleg. Looking down, he saw Suri looking up to him. His adopted sister then said, "We need to go. It's not safe anymore."

Clay nodded and let her climb aboard. She and the other three of their family climbed onto his back. When they were all secure, Clay stood up and started to walk towards the ocean. But before he took a step into the sea water, Clay looked back and could see two shapes standing where the courtship tree once stood. Two dragons were looking back down at him. Clay didn't say a word or try to see who they were. All he did was look away and started to swim to the mainland.

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The sun started to rise in the East and its rays caused most of the dragons to start waking up. They let out chitters, bellowing yawns and stretched to get started on the day. While they were starting to get up, Zini, who had been the last to watch over them, leapt down from the rock and quickly made his way to his family and friends. Zini ran up to Clay who was still sleeping soundly with the others. Zini stopped and then jumped into the air. He landed on Clay's head, making the Mudwing scrunch up his face. Zini looked down and said, "Hey, wake up, you guys!"

But the group just continued to sleep. Zini tried it again and tapped Clay's forehead, "Come on. Get up!"

Clay opened his eye for a brief moment, but closed it again. He groaned while Zini said, "Enough with the beauty sleep. You're ravishing enough already."

Zini pulled up Clay's eye lids while saying, "Hey! Hello! Anybody home in there?"

Clay gasped when Zini let his lids go and sat up. Zini cried out as he was nearly flung off his adopted nephew's head. He was able to grab onto Clay's snout and hung on while Clay asked him, "Uh, Uncle Zini, what are you doing?"

"I believe you left a wake-up call for the dawn of time." Zini said as he carefully dropped back down to the ground. Clay just looked at him with a shake of his head as he was still sleepy. Zini sighed before grabbing onto the Mudwing's lip and climbed up. He then shouted, "Come on! Move it, man!"

"What's the hurry?" Clay asked as he carefully uncovered the others who were still sleeping. The noise started to wake them up as well. Zini then told him, "Something's about to happen. The herd's starting to gather around without us." He made a suggestion, "We might want to check it out."

"Okay." Clay said before letting loose a yawn. But they stopped when they heard Dune shout, "Rise and shine! Sky says that everybody goes." They looked to the Sandwing as he tried to force an Icewing onto its feet while shouting, "Come on. Get up, you." He used his talons, head and wings to try and push the Icewing onto his feet, "On your feet. Quit dawdling!"

Clay and Zini cringed at the old dragon's harshness. Zini then muttered to Clay, "Huh. The charm never stops around here does it?"

Dune growled when he heard some of what the Scavenger said. He looked to the two and questioned with a glare, "One of you say something?"

"Uh, no-" Clay said as he glanced to Zini who was hiding behind Clay's head. The Mudwing shook his head and then said, "No, sir. We didn't say anything."

Dune then walked up to them with a grim frown. Then he said, "Unless you got yourself a death wish, kid," He got up in Clay's face as he said, "you and that little parasite had better get moving!"

He snarled and Clay quickly walked away from him. Dune smiled as Clay kept walking before continuing to wake the others of the herd. When they had walked a good deal from him, Zini then said, "Sheesh, is that guy really ugly or what?"

"Well,, let's try and not to antagonize him anymore." Clay suggested. Zini nodded as Clay had a pretty good point. But when he turned to his left, the Scavenger saw a familiar face and grabbed his adopted nephew's horn while saying, "Hey, hey, hey, there's your girlfriend over there."

Clay looked to where he was pointing and Zini moved up on Clay's head a little. They saw Peril walking amongst some Gronkles, and was followed by a couple of smaller dragons. Clay smirked and asked, "What are you talking about, Zini?"

"You know what I'm talking about…" Zini said as they looked to the Skywing. He patted his adopted nephew's head as he said, "Peril." He then listed, "Scaley skin. Blue eyes. Cute horn on her nose."

"Yeah, I made a real impression on her yesterday." Clay sarcastically said before snorting in annoyance. Thinking he could help the Mudwing, Zini then said with a little pride, "What you need here is a little help from the love monkey."

"Uh, 'The love monkey?' What's that?" Clay asked as he glanced back to his adopted uncle. Zini then shouted, "Ow, baby!"

He started barking like a dog and it caused everyone to look to him and the Mudwing. Then chittering like a monkey, he started to hide behind Clay's head. Even Peril and the two smaller dragons looked back when Zini started meowing like a cat. Clay gave an awkward smile as he reached behind him and covered his uncle with his talons. He chuckled even though he could see that she was slightly offended by it. Looking down to the smaller dragons, Peril then sarcastically told them, "That, little ones, is what is known as a dra-jerk."

Peril started to walk off while the two smaller dragons gave one final glance to the Mudwing. Clay sighed in embarrassment and watched as all three walked away. Moving to where he could see, Zini thought that he had done a good job when he said, "And with that, the ice has been broken."

Clay glanced up to his adopted uncle with a slight glare and said, "Please don't help me anymore, Zini."

"No promises there, kiddo." Zini shrugged with a smile. But before more could be said, the sound of roaring came from the front of the group. They looked to see Dune roaring again and the entire herd started to gather around him. Glancing back, Clay and Zini saw the others coming up from behind. They all moved to stand with the herd. When they stood amongst the herd, they all saw Sky join Dune at the head.

"We've got a lot of first-timers here, Dune." Sky said as he walked up next to the Sandwing. He was firm when he said, "Make sure they get it." He glanced at everyone as he said, "We stop for nothing…" His gaze set on a particular Mudwing when he added, "and for no one."

"Right." Dune nodded as he understood. Clay raised a brow when he saw Sky looking right at him. Sky took a step back as Dune addressed the herd, "If this here is your first crossing, then listen up." Clay and the others glanced about to see everyone murmuring or chittering. Dune then continued, "There is no water until we reach the other side." Then he warned, "And you had better keep up, because if a predator dragon catches you with its teeth, then you're on your own." Then he ordered, "Now move out!"

Both he and Sky let loose roars to get everyone moving and everyone started to follow them. Everyone moved in a tight formation as Sky led them into the desert. Clay let the rest of his family climb on while the three walked up next to them. The Skywing glanced about before shaking his head with a snort. Baylene looked out into the desert and the rising sun while saying, "Oh, my goodness. It looks like it's going to be a very long walk for us."

"And hot." Meatlug added as they started walking. Meatlug then warned, "If you smell something starting to sizzle, then it might be me."

Clay looked out into the desert before taking a deep breath and started walking as well. Dragons chittered, bellowed, snorted as they walked through the scorching desert.

The herd walked by large rock formations of all shapes and sizes as they went by. But no one stopped to take a look for fear of being left behind. Meatlug panted from the heat after walking for so long. Clay lifted his wings to keep the hot sun off of his family to keep them from getting sunburned. When he too was starting to feel exhausted, Clay looked up to the sun to see that it was almost midday. Taking a deep breath, Clay kept going.

Watching over the herd as they went by, Sky too was looking up at the sun. He thought about how they weren't going to cover much distance at the pace everyone was walking. With a huff, Sky turned to Dune and said, "We're moving too slow. We need to go faster if we're going to cover much ground."

"I'll pick up the pace." Dune gruffly said before turning to the herd and letting loose a roar. The herd knew what the roar meant and started to walk a little bit faster. But while some were able to keep moving, exhaustion was starting to overcome the old and the younger dragons. Noticing how tired they were, Peril said, "Hop on, you two. I can carry you for a while."

The two little dragons cooed at this before climbing onto the Skywing's back. They both hung on tight and squealed to let her know they were ready. With a grin she started to walk with the herd again.

The herd continued to walk through the night too thanks to their leader. They had come across a more sandy section of the desert during their travels. One of those in the back was starting to fall behind. Meatlug was really exhausted from all the walking and panted as she started going down the dune instead of staying with the others. Luckily, she had someone looking out for her as Yar came walking down the dune. Gently placing a hand on her cheek he said, "Hey, old girl. You're wandering off a bit there."

"Just what I need." Meatlug said as she turned to walk up the dune. She and Yar walked side by side and she said, "A chittering monkey telling me what to do."

The entire herd was walking along the top of a sand dune and traveled in a straight line. When they started stepping off the dune, one dragon dropped dead from exhaustion and Clay stopped before it. He felt bad for the dragon since how it had been forced to keep going. Clay and his family looked to their new friends, Meatlug and Baylene mostly since they too had been walking without rest for a while. With a sigh, Clay was about to say something when a familiar chittering came from behind. He glanced back to see that the Speed Stingers were following the herd's trail. They trilled when they saw the moving herd, but even more so at the meal that was presented to them. When those at the back crossed over the dune is when the Speed Stingers made their move. They walked up to the dead dragon and started to feast.

The herd continued to walk as the sun rose again the next day. And like the day before, the sun was unmerciful as it shined down on them. They climbed over another dune while a few of the herd kept watch for signs of danger. By the point of midday, Meatlug started to give out from exhaustion and groaned as she collapsed on the sand. Clay walked up to her and started to help push her back on her feet as he said, "Come on. On your feet, Meatlug." He strained as he pushed and said, "We can't let those things back there…" He pushed with all his might when he said, "eat you.

"They're out there waiting." Clay added as she rose to her feet again. When Meatlug started moving again, Clay looked about for any signs of the Speed Stingers.

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The herd had come across a shelter of rocks not like the one they had left two days ago. Sky, Dune and Peril had stopped to think for a moment. Peril then suggested, "Maybe we can take a short break. That way we can regain a little strength."

"She might have a point, Dune." Dune nodded as they all knew that a weary herd wouldn't stand much of a chance against predators. Sky took a moment to think about it. He was about to decide against it, but a look from his sister made him sigh in defeat. He gave in and said, "Very well. We shall rest here for a few hours." He then warned, "But when we get started again, we don't stop until we reach the lake."

"That sounds fair." Peril nodded and looked to Dune. The Sandwing only nodded in agreement. Sky then ordered, "Go ahead and give the word."

Dune nodded again before turning to the herd and gave the signal. The entire herd all looked grateful for a brief rest. Clay, Meatlug, Toothless and Baylene once again stuck to the outskirts of the herd while the main group laid down to rest. Meatlug then commented, "Best decision Sky has had the entire trip."

"I can agree to that." Baylene said with a nod. Clay chuckled as he said, "I think we all can."

He, his family and their friends all chuckled to this. Toothless gave a gummy smile and it caused Suri to squeal in laughter. Clay then asked, "How long do you think we'll get to rest?"

"Probably only a few hours." Meatlug said with a shrug. Baylene then said, "I just hope that the rest of the journey isn't so hard on us."

"Hopefully it won't." Clay assured. But they had no idea just how bad their troubles were starting.

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Back at the Speed Stingers meal, they had nearly picked clean all the meat from the dead dragon's bones. But suddenly the scent of something puts them all on alert. When two of them sees what's coming they quickly made a run for it with a shriek. Confused, the third Speed Stinger takes a look before it's eyes widened and it too ran after its friends with a shrill cry.

A couple of low growls came from the bottom of the sand dune as two wyverns made their way up the side. They looked down at the dead dragon's bones and saw how there was barely any meat left on them. The two wyverns were about to eat the remains of the dead dragon when they looked down at the sand surrounding the bones. The sight intrigued them as the smaller one said, "Looks like a feast has passed us by wouldn't you say, brother?"

"Indeed." The larger wyvern said with a grin. The thought of filling their bellies made them growl with hunger. The smaller one then suggested, "How about a snack for the road?"

"There's hardly anything left." The larger wyvern pointed out. The smaller wyvern shrugged with a nod, "True, but any meal…"

"Is worth having." The larger one finished. The two wyverns then lowered their heads before devouring what they could of the dead dragon. When there were only bone fragments lying on the ground, only then did the brothers continue on their way after the herd.

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Author's Note: Two times and larger sized trouble is coming the herd's way. And I bet you can guess who I modeled the two wyverns after. I might make the lake scene a little more neater than the movie, we'll just have to wait and see. I look forward to reading your reviews. Be sure to leave a comment either about if I've done something wrong or if you want something specifically to happen. See you next time.