(Starflight)

Starflight's glasses were broken.

He could barely see even with them on, but now the cracked lenses nearly rendered him sightless. He was huddled at the center of his pillar, and every so often the wind would whorl past him, tugging at his wings and tail. He had curled up tightly now, pulling his wings in close and his tail over his snout. He stayed like that for hours, before he heard the thud of something landing on his tower, and his nose filled with the scent of something burning. He looked up.

Hovering in front of him was a SkyWing. Her scales were bright coppers and oranges and reds, with gold veins running along her wings and a ruff behind her ears. She was weaving around the web of wires easily, her wings casting bright reflections along the platform. She had thrown a hunk of meat onto the platform in front of him, and parts of it were charred with black talonprints. She flew in a careful loop around him, her bright blue eyes never leaving him.

"So... what's fighting you like?" Her voice was... oddly chipper, Starflight thought. "I mean, since NightWings aren't part of the war and everything? The queen says you're all too busy keeping your noses poked into scrolls. But you guys came from the east, which... doesn't make much sense, cause I always thought you were on the other side of the continent."

"Who are you?" This was a question Starflight hadn't really needed to ask, but when she talked it seemed to ease the burning singe of her thoughts.

She wrinkled her snout at him as a new cloud of smoke seemed to roll off her scales, before being broken up by the steady beat of her wings. "I'm Peril." She carefully dove between the wires again, before flying back up above them. "You didn't answer any of my questions."

"Right... I'm sorry." Starflight kept his eyes focused on her as best as he could. "I don't fight, actually. Most NightWing's don't." He kept his answers vague, not wanting to tell her more than she asked. Peril narrowed her eyes at him.

"Then why-" She whipped her head around and down to the arena. "Oh. Time for me to go, I guess. Well, nice talking to you! Even if you don't talk much!" She flew up higher before rolling back and sending another flash of copper and gold over the tower. She spiraled down into the arena and Starflight sat back on his hind legs, flicking his tail over his talons.

He guessed she was a firescale, due to the strange rippling heat that had come from her and the charred talonprints on the rabbit in front of him. He crept to the edge of the tower and peered down, trying to see into the arena. He could make out distant shapes on the sand and stone below, mostly reds and oranges, with occasional sand-yellow blobs. As he watched, three of the shapes flew up to one of the towers near him, and once he got close he could see that they were SkyWing guards. They gathered around one of the SandWings, one of them holding her barb away as the other two unchained her. They brought the SandWing down to the arena and dropped her on the sand, and Starflight watched as the copper-colored blob that was Peril flew onto the sand as well. The realization of what was about to happen hit him.

He turned away and pressed his talons over his ears as a horrid smell rose from the arena.

(Tsunami)

Tsunami couldn't tear her eyes away from the burning dragon.

She was absolutely mortified as most of the poor SandWing crumbled away to ash, leaving the strange copper-colored dragon on the sand. A pale orange SkyWing flew down to the sand from the largest cave and went over to the copper one. Her ears flicked back at the thought that she might see another dragon be burned to ash, but was surprised when the two hugged and he, somehow, didn't die.

Tsunami watched the two for a moment before scanning the arena seats below. She could see two dragons sitting in the large cave, both draped in gold and jewels. One was a bright orange, while the other was a dark red. She squinted and realized that the darker one had gold clips holding her wings closed, unlike the dull metal ones that the prisoners had. Her eyes widened.

"Blackbird!" Several heads looked up at her, but she didn't care. Blackbird's head had snapped up as well, her rose-colored eyes flicking from tower-to-tower before the orange dragon next to her said something. The dragonet returned to staring at her talons and Tsunami roared again. The orange dragon flicked her tail and a trio of guards flew up to her. Tsunami growled and thrashed as they untied her from the strange metal wires. Between the tangle of wings and talons she could see guards grabbing Starflight as well.

"It'd be a shame if we dropped you." Tsunami growled at the guard who had snarled on her ear, lashing out and raking her claws across his snout. He growled and grabbed her talon, making her lash out and bite his arm. He roared and another guard flew up with a long chain, binding her front talons together and grabbing her snout. Tsunami's eyes flicked between the guards as they finally landed on the sand. She whirled around on her bound talons, hitting one of the guards with her tail and trying to hit another with her wings.

The guards quickly restrained her again and hauled her off into the tunnel.