A Brighter Future Ahead

AN: Not much to say up here except for the usual stuff.

Reminder: There's a poll on my profile for which Dragons Change universe story you want next. If you have a spare twenty seconds to vote, it would be much appreciated.

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

Trench:

The Commander watched the reunion between the two siblings with a frown. It was bad enough when it was just the one, but now there was two of them. And no doubt Pearl would throw the second one on him as well.

The patrol's Captain approached him and saluted. "Report," he ordered.

The Captain nodded. "He says he has a message for the Queen from Indigo," he replied.

Trench suddenly became a bit more interested in this whole affair. "And what did it say?" At his shrug, the Commander just grunted a dismissal, and the Captain gathered his troops and left to finish their patrol.

He walked up to the two Rainwings, about to order the new one to give him the message when he saw Cobra's face light up in a mischievous smile. "Oh, Copper, this is my friend, Commander Trench." He glared at her for her snarky comment, so she leaned down and said in a loud whisper, "He's not so bad once you get used to the death glares."

The younger Rainwing actually had the audacity to chuckle at Cobra's quip. "Enough!" he growled. "The message for the Queen: give it to me," he commanded the new Rainwing.

However, to his unpleasant surprise, he shook his head. "Indigo said to only give it to the Queen."

Trench snarled once again before grabbing the impetuous dragon by the throat and dragging him towards his snarling visage. Without breaking eye contact, he dug into the satchel around his neck and grabbed the scroll before tossing him back without a second glance. Cobra wasn't too happy, but he ignored her as he opened the scroll and read its contents.

He smiled maliciously. "Throw them both in a cell," he ordered the guards. "I have no need of them anymore." Then, he turned to leave with a victorious grin.

As the Seawing guards grabbed them both, Cobra struggled viciously. "No! You can't do this! What about the Queen's orders!?" He just ignored her pleas and kept walking. "Trench, don't do this! Commander, please!"

He actually paused for a brief moment when Cobra used his title instead of his name. She always called him by his name—disrespectful as she was—so he was slightly surprised she had actually addressed him properly. "Perhaps you're learning, after all," he spoke, glancing back at her. Then he turned to the guards who had stopped when he spoke. "Place them in separate quarters under guard."

He began walking away again, but not before he heard Cobra give off a soft, "Thank you." He merely grunted in response as he turned the corner and headed towards the throne room.

The guards opened the doors on his approach, and the two Queens inside looked to him as he entered. "What is the meaning of this intrusion!?" Diamond snarled at him.

He rolled his eyes, not really caring of her view of him now that Pearl was taking care of the Icewing Queen herself. "Apologies, Your Majesty," he said with as much sarcasm as he could muster. She simply growled at him in response. Then, he turned to Pearl, who looked as if she disapproved of the way he addressed the Icewing Queen but otherwise looked as if she didn't mind the interruption. "I thought you might want to see this," he told her, showing the scroll Indigo had written.

She took the scroll and read it, her eyes widening in surprise at reading the contents. Then, she passed it to Diamond, who looked a bit more thoughtful before nodding in approval. "Yes, I do believe that could work. I shall take care of this immediately." With that, the Icewing Queen left to do what needed to be done, leaving him and Pearl alone in the throne room.

"Where did you get this letter?" she asked him. "Did Indigo deliver this personally?"

He shook his head. "Unfortunately, no. She sent it by way of Anaconda's son. I've ordered them both to be confined to quarters and under guard."

She nodded. "I think that's best for now, but make sure they're treated well," she told him. "Anaconda's dragonets seem to be abandoning her, and I'd rather they become an asset for us rather than a mere nuisance."

"You mean as double agents?" he asked, not expecting Pearl to suggest something like this. Usually, these kinds of things were his ideas.

"Maybe. Or maybe as something else," she shrugged. "My point is that I would rather them be loyal to us than to remain loyal to Anaconda simply because we treated them poorly."

Trench nodded. "I understand. I'll have Captain Abyss take care of it."

He turned to leave, thinking that was it, but he stopped when Pearl shook her head. "I want you to take care of this, Commander." At his slightly outraged expression, she explained. "I know you don't particularly like her, but Cobra seems to like you for some reason. Use that to your advantage to win her loyalty. And please…at least try to be nice."

He nodded stiffly, not exactly thrilled with his new orders, but he wasn't going to argue with Pearl on this. Logically, her argument made sense, but he had never been the most social dragon out there. Deciding that now was as good a time as any to smooth things over, he made his way to the guest wing and homed in on the two rooms with guards outside. "Which one is which?" he asked the guard.

"Cobra is in here. Copperhead is in the room across the hall," the young female reported.

He nodded and opened the door. Cobra looked up, and when she saw him, she instantly straightened up. "It seems I was wrong," he told her. "It appears I still do need you."

He expected her to smirk victoriously at her, but instead she kept the same posture. "I'm sorry to hear that, sir," she said, her voice almost monotonous.

He blinked in both confusion and surprise at her tone of voice and what she said. She had never called him 'sir' before, and now that he thought of it, she almost seemed to be at attention. With a mental start, he realized she was trying to act like one of his soldiers. It should have made him happy that she was finally starting to respect him, but it somehow felt…wrong. "You're not a soldier, so don't call me 'sir'," he said gruffly. "What's gotten into you?"

She looked a bit uncomfortable, but she ultimately answered. "I know I push your buttons a lot, Commander, but that was because I didn't care what happened to me." She shook her head, and in a quieter voice continued. "But now Copper's here, and I don't want you to take your anger with me out on him."

He actually recoiled in shock at that. He knew he could be grumpy at times—to say the very least—but he wasn't sadistic. Intimidation was one of his favorite tactics to earn respect and loyalty, but the punishments he gave to those who acted out weren't cruel. He wouldn't kill a soldier just because they questioned his orders—especially if they had a good reason.

Perhaps he had gone a little too far if that's what kind of dragon Cobra thought he was. "I'm not going to hurt your brother," he said, his voice a bit gentler. She looked up in surprise. "And I'm not going to hurt you, either. But don't push me. I can still have the both of you thrown in a cell if you annoy me too much."

"I won't, I promise," she swore. "But can I see Copper, please?"

He sighed but held open the door for her. "You've got an hour."

AN: So we see that Trench isn't a complete a**. And what exactly is on that letter Indigo sent? What's Queen Diamond about to do? We'll check back with Darkstalker for a chapter, then you'll see the answer in the next one after that.

Until Next Time

AdmiralCole22