Happy Friday everyone! Here's a chapter starring Fang as the designated campfire and Specter playing high-stakes fetch.

58. Hornets' Nest

Fang woke up that morning feeling like he was carrying the whole world on his back.

The whole world turned out to be just Pit and Storm, but they were plenty heavy enough. He grumbled and flicked them with his tail until they got off. Sometimes it was hard being the team fire dragon when there was no campfire and his siblings were being such wimps. It wasn't even that cold!

He reached under his wing to nudge his rider awake. She groaned and rolled over. Fang huffed smoke into her face. Coughing, Yang sat up. "Okay, okay! Jeez."

They walked. Only Goodwitch seemed to have any idea where they were or which way they should go—though Port kept squinting at the sun and muttering things like, "Yes, west, very good! Very good—ah, hang on a moment, perhaps we ought to be moving north by northwest..." Fang had lost all sense of direction somewhere between Crucible's chase and the giant ring of fire.

There was an uneasy feeling in the air. Blake kept twitching and looking over her shoulder, until Weiss grabbed her hand and whispered something in her ear. Even Fang caught himself tensing up at distant animal noises. The only bright spot was that there weren't any pit dragons flying overhead.

Fang stepped gingerly over a brook. Yang had to hop from stone to stone, and once almost lost her balance. He let her hang on to one of his horns. She grinned sheepishly at him as she landed on the far side. "Thanks. I really don't want to deal with wet—"

Snap.

His ears went back. Next to him, Storm picked up her head and whined nervously. That was closer than before, somewhere a little ahead of them and off to the right. And, now that it was practically on top of them... it didn't sound like an animal.

"What is it?" Ruby whispered.

Pit's eyes stayed fixed on the woods. Fang followed his gaze, squinting at the thick foliage in the hopes of catching a glimpse of black fur or bright scales. He hoped it was a Grimm.

It wasn't. The wind changed, and Pepper reared in alarm. "Rrrun!"

They bolted after her, only to skid to a stop when Inkwell leaped out of the brush in front of them. Fang whirled around. Kite clung to the upper branches of an oak tree, while Granite circled around behind them.

He roared, and barreled towards Inkwell at top speed. Pepper got there first, bowling her over onto her side and wrestling in the dirt while Granite leaped at Nimbus and Zircon in the back. Kite hopped from branch to branch, watching.

Fang grabbed Inkwell's tail in his teeth and tried to drag her off Pepper. Between the two of them they managed to push her out of the way so that the others could flee. Granite came tearing after them, toppling full-grown trees in her wake.

Kite dove. Her back claws raked over their heads, almost tearing Ruby right off Storm's back. Penny protected them. Armor unfolded over Storm's good wing, which she raised to cover her rider as claws sparked off metal.

Nimbus launched himself into the air. He had to scrabble at several trees before he managed to get his wings going, but before long he was overhead too, giving Storm and all the others that couldn't take off yet a reprieve from Kite's dive-bombing. Then he swerved too close to a tree and bashed into it shoulder-first, and had to climb above the canopy to keep from hurting himself.

"Cliff!" Scarlet shouted. "Bear left!" Fang roared again and poured on the speed. They could take off once they reached the cliff—and it would probably be up to him and Pit to make sure that Storm landed safely.

When they got back to civilization, he was going to make Yang buy him his weight in spicy food and chew toys.

Specter didn't see the cliff. In his defense, he was busy—Inkwell was almost neck and neck with him, and he had turned his head towards her. The horrible metal plate on her temple glinted, sending a shudder down his spine.

The ground disappeared. Specter squawked and flared his wings, wobbling a little in the air before he steadied himself. Open air was a little better... but that wouldn't last. Pit and Fang had to put Storm down as soon as they could, and there were already more pit dragons bearing down on them. A lot more. He squinted, trying to count, and lost track at eight.

Pyrrha had to jump off Twiggy when they reached the edge, so that she would be able to take off. Nimbus landed long enough for Scarlet to grab her arm. He struggled with the weight, but managed to get into the air.

Pepper swept low over Inkwell's back. At first Specter thought she might be trying to drive her down into the trees. Instead, Professor Goodwitch slid from the saddle and dropped onto the pit dragon's back. She caught her balance, barely, by wrapping both arms around the dragon's neck. The metal plate was just out of reach. Her fingers snatched at it once, twice...

No good. She leaped free, and landed in a crouch behind Port.

"Go!" Yang's voice. Specter scanned the trees and found Fang fighting his way through the canopy. Storm was nowhere to be seen—he'd probably just dropped her off on the ground. Yang stood in his saddle, wielding a long stick almost as thick around as her arm. She must have grabbed it from one of the trees Granite toppled, or maybe it was a branch that had snapped as Fang broke through the canopy.

Wherever it had come from, she'd obviously seen the perfect example of how to use it. "Screw this!" she bellowed, and dropped onto Granite. She landed a little better—her left hand wrapped around one of the earth dragon's ears, and with her right she swung the makeshift club at the metal plate. It didn't budge, not even when she got a knee up against the dragon's cheek and used it as leverage to try and pry the two apart. Granite tossed her head, veering violently to one side as she did, and Yang went flying.

"Specter—" Weiss called out, but he was already diving. His forepaws snagged Yang out of the air, several of his claws curling securely under her arms. His wings burned, and he groaned—carrying two humans at once hurt—but his ears stood tall with pride. It was the first time in a while he'd felt like a good dragon. The affectionate pat on his shoulder was just a bonus.

Specter's good mood lasted just long enough for him to realize that Paprika had arrived. He dodged a swipe of her claws, wincing at the pull in his wings, and swung Yang out of the way of a blast of wind from Kite.

"What do we do?" demanded Huo. "We can't outrun them!"

"No shit!" Fang snapped. "We're running, they're flying!"

Pit ducked Inkwell's tail. "We need to lead them away from Storm!"

Specter's ears pricked up. He dove towards the trees, dipping one wing to circle around Storm. She was galloping as fast as she could... but Fang was right. They wouldn't be able to get away like this. He took a deep breath. He wasn't used to doing this, but... he'd been able to, when that thing was on his head.

Another shiver. Cold spread through his chest and stomach, and when he breathed out, pearly mist filled the air. Specter knew instinctively that this was the killing mist. Not what he wanted, but if he eased up on his powers a bit...

Soon he was exhaling cool clouds instead. He flew in haphazard patterns through the trees, blurring away the forest below and shouting, "Hide!" as he passed over Storm.

"But—"

He couldn't stay to talk. Kite came streaking towards the fog he'd worked so hard to create, and he doubted it would stand up to a strong wind. Specter met her in midair, biting and snapping and taking care to keep Yang out of her reach.

Nymph arrived seconds later, grabbing the wind dragon by the neck and dragging her higher into the air. She thrashed and struggled in ways no dragon should. Nymph had to let her go or risk seriously hurting her, but by then the fog was already dissipating on its own. Storm was nowhere to be seen.

"One down," Nymph called. "Who's next?"

Several minutes later, Ao Guang skimmed over the surface of a small lake, his webbed feet sending up plumes of spray when they touched the water. Pearl snapped at the tip of his tail as she followed right behind him.

He wasn't sure how far they'd traveled since hiding Storm. They weren't exactly moving in a straight line, but his wings were already feeling a little strained from flying at top speed. Only Freya and Zircon, so far, had managed to peel off from the main group with their riders. It took a lot of work to distract the pit dragons enough for someone to get away without any of them noticing. Specter's trick had only worked once—now Kite followed him and blew away his mist as soon as he produced it. Since then they'd had to rely on attacking the pit dragons in a group, and that got harder as more of them got away.

Guang didn't even like Nymph's plan. He wanted to stay with his sisters—but he didn't have any better ideas. So when Pepper roared, "Again!" he whirled in midair and latched onto Pearl. Her head whipped back and forth, but he clung to her so that she couldn't see. They skimmed the lake again, and both separated to gain a little more altitude so that they wouldn't end up in the water and fall behind.

He and Pearl kept swiping at each other, Guang mostly with open paws and her with claws outstretched. A scratch on his leg made him wince. A pained bellow above him almost made him fall out of the sky. He wheeled around.

Dusk and Crucible circled around Specter as he struggled with both his extra burden and Kite. He dropped almost twenty feet, straight down, to avoid a blast of fire. Fang intervened, sweeping over Dusk's head with his claws outstretched. She lunged—her teeth sank into the tip of his tail. He struggled, but she wouldn't let go. Fang flapped madly, buffeting Dusk with his wings. Crucible circled around his other side.

Pepper finally reached them. She collided head-on with Crucible, knocking him away from Fang. His wings flared as he turned to face her.

Crucible wasn't a fast flier. He was too big and heavy, and had never flown long distances before they met him. Only his fire breath made him dangerous in the air—but the instant the fight turned close-quarters, years of vicious brawls in the cages came into play. He gripped her with all four paws, his tail winding around her back leg. Pepper twisted and bit his shoulder. He dug in and turned her in his hold until her saddle came into view. His mouth opened.

In desperation Pepper kicked him away—but his claws left horrible gouges as they ripped free. Her wings flared instinctively, but she was upside-down, and the wind forced them shut. She hit the lake on her back and disappeared in a massive splash.

"Guang!"

He snapped out of his horrified trance. Pearl streaked towards the lake, only for Nymph to crash into her and grapple her. "Come on!" she shouted. Ao Guang took a deep breath, and dove. Nymph let go of Pearl in time to follow him. The last thing he heard before he hit the water was her final cry, "Specter, now!"

Guang didn't see what happened after that—he only felt a chill spread through the water, reaching him almost twenty feet down. It vanished as he approached the lake bed, or maybe he just stopped noticing since the water was already cold.

Pepper lay on her side, half-buried in the mud. Professor Goodwitch was the only one moving, tugging loose the last strap on Port's legs. She looked up as they approached, then jerked her head towards the unconscious fire dragon. Ao Guang grabbed her saddle in his teeth, using it as a handhold as he swam upwards.

Nymph joined him. He resisted at first when she tugged them forwards instead of up, but when she insisted he let her lead the way. Pepper wasn't unconscious, like he'd been afraid of—as they swam, her eyes opened and fixed on him. She held her breath, but didn't try to swim. He was glad. He could smell blood in the water, he didn't want her injury to get any worse.

Guang grew anxious after Ren tapped his shoulder once—the signal that they would need to surface soon. He knew his rider could hold on a while longer, but what about Pepper, or the other humans? He wasn't sure he'd be able to hold his breath this long after getting scratched like that and falling into the water without expecting it.

Just when he was about to aim for the surface and risk the pit dragons, the bottom of the lake sloped upwards. The water brightened—then dimmed as they passed into the shade of the woods. He and Nymph pulled Pepper the rest of the way up. They helped her up onto the shore and under the thickest trees they could find. Guang slipped back into the water to find Pepper's riders. He was startled to discover that they were already most of the way across. Professor Goodwitch had an arm under Port's and was dragging him through the water much more quickly than he though humans could swim. He supposed it made sense—she was a water rider.

Guang carried the two of them the rest of the way to shore. As soon as they broke the surface, Port started coughing uncontrollably, though he tried to do it quietly in case there were more pit dragons nearby. They returned to where Nymph stood guard over Pepper. Their teacher lay on her side, her chest bleeding sluggishly as it rose and fell. As they approached, she cracked one eye open and mumbled, "'Eet."

He knelt by her head and, once he had enough breath back, murmured reassurances in her ear. "It's alright, my dear."

"Ssstoo-dents."

Goodwitch grimaced and glanced up. "I suspect the chase has passed us by."

"We'll find them," Port promised. He patted her forehead and mustered a smile. "For now, rest."

With evening setting in and Pepper injured, they had no choice but to stop where they were. Neptune and Ren had two tents between them. One went to bandaging Pepper, while they laid the other flat on the ground under one of her wings.

Neptune tried to stay positive. When they risked sending Ren up a tree to check on the situation above them and he reported that Pearl and Glory had both stayed in the area, he told himself that at least they'd managed to draw two of the pit dragons away from the others. When the sun started thinking about setting and the temperature dropped, leaving them all shivering in wet clothes, he tried to be grateful that they were stranded with a fire dragon. And, when they all snuggled up to Pepper's broad stomach—even Nymph and Guang—he tried not to dwell on the fact that it was Ren sitting next to him instead of Sun.

He also tried not to think about their last conversation. Because Sun was his best friend first and it was stupid to be frustrated with the way things had been left hanging when they were all being hunted by pit dragons. Very stupid. Which was why he was going to stop doing it any minute now.

"Mister Lie, Mister Vasilias?"

Old instincts made Neptune jerk to attention the instant Professor Goodwitch spoke. "Huh?"

"We appreciate your assistance."

"Indeed!" agreed Port. "And of course, Pepper thanks you as well." She rumbled agreement. He gave her another affectionate pat. He'd been quiet and sober at first, but had cheered up to his usual self once the wound was bandaged and it became obvious that his dragon would recover. The cuts were deep, but they hadn't hit any vital organs.

"Oh. Um." Neptune rubbed the back of his neck. "You're welcome, Professor."

Professor Port chuckled. "Really, m'boy, call me Peter. After this many adventures... and near-death experiences..." He cleared his throat. "Well! I'd say we're on a first name basis, wouldn't you?"

A beat.

"That goes for you too, Glynda. It's weird to keep calling him Mister Vasilias."

Neptune imagined calling their strictest professor Glynda and swallowed nervously. "Uh... do we have to?"

Port clapped him on the shoulder. "I insist!"

Professor Goodwitch noticed the panicked look on his face, rolled her eyes, and said, "It is rather unprofessional, Peter. Students should address their teachers as such."

"Nonsense. You never called me Professor when you were in my class!"

"Peter—"

"Or Peter, for that matter. I believe the usual term was Mustache."

Goodwitch pinched the bridge of her nose. "That example is... perhaps not ideal."

Port looked over at them and beamed genially. "Boys, if it makes you more comfortable... you are free to call me Mustache instead."

Neptune glanced at Ren, whose only reaction to all this was a single raised eyebrow. He sighed and wrapped his hands around his knees. He wished Sun was here—there was no way he was going to believe this.