"Keep looking, he can't have gotten far." An ape called out to his fellow soldier.
"Yeah, yeah…" another responded.
Colreus heard the yells sound from behind him. Unbeknownst to them, the dragon they were seeking was already bolting further and further away from them.
It was an ordinary day for Colreus, really. Or at least, what he assumed the new ordinary to be for his life.
He had stolen from an ape convoy's food cache. His method of the ambush was diving bombing the cart out of nowhere, grabbing what he could with his maw, and flying away. Of course, the dreadwings were sent on pursuit, so he had to take shelter in the tall grass of the plains he was in. He weaved through the tall grass, heading in the direction of a thick forest he had seen a bit ago. His plan was working at well; hit and run, and hide in the trees. The stupid apes would be none the wiser than where he was.
They did not seem to have any of those deathhounds in them, so he doubted they would follow his scent. And he knew by the time the dreadwings were sent out, he would be long gone. Or at least hidden.
With that in mind, he made his way deeper into the forest.
After a little bit of a walk, he found himself a clearing to set down in. Satisfied with himself, he dropped the bag of fruit from his mouth, and set it out in front of him. Fighting to survive as he had been as of late, moments of peace like this were a welcome respite.
He quickly began gorging himself on his meal, barely even conscious of how long it had been since he had last eaten, in what must have been a few days.
He stayed hidden in the forest clearing well after finishing his meal. A few fruits were all he had gotten from that 'raid'.
It was a funny feeling, turning to raid apes just to survive. As it was, for all the loot and supplies they raided, it made stealing from them all the more 'profitable.'
In the wake of their trail of death and destruction, they made sure to loot everything that was not nailed down.
Colreus could not help but think back to what life was like just a few weeks ago. It was funny to think of what he was doing back then compared to now: living in a town, amongst his friends and family; training to hone his element. A normal life, really.
The scariest thing about what happened was how quickly it all could be taken...
He shuddered as the memories came flooding back to him; flashes of death and vicious fighting, from both dragons and apes. He shoved the memories aside once more. He could not take it.
He was alone now. That's all he knew. He had to survive, to live on. He frankly had no idea what he was going to do now.
Apes were everywhere and he had almost nowhere to go. Maybe if he could get to Warfang, he could figure out something…
The ice dragon grumbled. He felt like he was treading water. He had nothing now, almost like the base instinct of survival was the only thing keeping him going.
He sighed as he heard a nearby howling, breaking him from his thoughts.
Predators would no doubt be prowling soon. Though he was growing a bit, being near five feet in height and a decent width, there were still things bigger and meaner than him.
Not interested in becoming a meal, he opted to exit the forest, out whatever path he could find.
For the rest of the day, he wandered, a bit aimlessly, really. Exiting the forest, he had been greeted by a patrol of dreadwings flying overhead.
So much for just flying off.
He sunk into the shadows, hidden in the tall grass of the area. No doubt those damned beasts were looking for him. He barely had to guess why.
Apes often skinned dragons of their scales and horns, for sale on the black market.
Dragons were becoming rarer by the day, thanks to the ape's purges. As it was, the price for their scales and ivory was jumping among the apes and anyone who did trade with them.
As the light blue ice dragon kept crawling his way through the tall grass, the sound of footsteps passing by perked his ears.
He stopped dead in his tracks, terrified. Through the grass, he could vaguely see the shapes of two apes, both much bigger than he was, but wearing dark-colored tunics. They both had grey fur and white facial markings, likely paint.
Both seemed to be walking about as if coming back from something.
"Still no sign of the ice dragon from earlier…" one of the apes said.
"apologies sir. I can have the dreadwings resume the search in the morning if you want." The other apes stated.
The lead ape shook his head. "He is probably long gone by now…" he growled.
The soldier looked nervous but seemed to have something else to say.
"Well, the day was not a total loss. I spoke to the dreadwing riders a bit ago. While we were out on patrol, they a pair of hatchlings wandering about earlier. They thought they could give us the slip. But the dreadwings caught 'em." He laughed.
The commander smiled. "Good. Take their horns and claws. The ivory pays a lot to the scavengers." He noted. " At least it's something." He noted.
Colreus narrowed his gaze as the apes talked more.
"Of course sir. We will see to it at once." He stated.
The lead ape shook his head. "Save it for the morning. It's been a long day. I want something to look forward to; it's so fun prying their horns out, and hearing the screams." The lead ape laughed.
As the words hit Colrus' ears, he grew livid. Skinning live prisoners for their scales and ivory!? And children at that…
This was all they saw the dragons as, from what Colreus could see. Something to kill, and harvest for parts… His anger boiled.
But he calmed himself. He could not give himself away,
He listened intently to what they said next.
"Where are they now?" The commander asked.
"Runts are in the camp, chained and muzzled. Al waiting for your assessment, sir" the soldier said.
The commander smiled. "Good. Now, let's finish off our rounds." He affirmed.
Both apes continued on their route soon after, while the ice dragon stood back in the grass and let the words sink in.
Colrus' heart sank. Of course, they were in the nearby camp. Which meant it was heavily guarded and protected. If he went there he was dead.
He subconsciously began backing away. He would have to flee again, as he always did. He stood no chance of getting past so many guards. He did not want to do this but there was nothing he could do for these dragons. Why throw his own life away trying to help a few strangers in vain…
He slowly began to back off. He glanced overhead to see that the Dreadwings were gone. He only had to turn back a bit, then he could fly off to safety…
"No." He thought. "I can't do it. I can't just leave them here." He thought to himself, stopping dead.
Already he felt sick that he had nearly caved to such cowardly thoughts. He has not even tried to save them yet. And already he was running with his tail between his legs. His parents raised him better than that.
Sure it would be well guarded, but if there is a will, there is a way. He just had to be smart.
Mentally berating himself again, he turned back. He would keep his body low to the ground. Concealed in the shadow of the night and within the thicket, he glanced up. Though it was growing darker, he could see the vague outline of smoke from some ways away, illuminated by the remains of the sun as it went down.
He made his choice. He snuck around, circumventing the apes. He would crawl through the field all the way to the camp.
Sure enough, the camp was not far off. How stupid he had been in retrospect, sneaking in the direction of an ape Warcamp…
From his perch up on a nearby ledge, overlooking the camp, he saw what it was like.
It was set up with basic accommodations for a war camp. Tan tents were set up, along with basic mats for sleeping under them. Some weapon racks were set up, holding things like swords and spears. The camp itself was situated in a large, open dirt mound. Some mats were laid out under the tents to sleep in, and logs were pulled near the fire in the center.
All around the camps, apes were busy doing different things. Some were asleep, some were attending weapons or their grounded dreadwings. Others sat by the fire, talking or sharpening weapons.
To the sides of some were the discarded horns of a few dragons…
Colreus growled slightly. He was scanning the camp like crazy for one thing.
And sure enough, he found it. Over at the edge of the camp, two small dragons were chained to the ground and muzzled. The chain was attached to a bolt in the ground. They were not in a very well-lit area, so he could not see them very well.
He had to move fast if he was going to get them out.
But he needed a distraction. He glanced down at the ground and noted a rock.
He breathed heavily.
"Here goes nothing."
With precision, he hit the rock across the camp, toward an ape asleep on the far edge, opposite of the captive dragons.
Sure enough, it hit him on the head. It did not even kill him, but it did sound like it hurt.
"Argh!" He yelled. Gaining the attention of everyone in the camp. The large ape got up, and nearly roared.
"Who threw that!?"
The apes around the camp all shook their heads.
"I assure you, you will pay!" He shouted.
Colreus barely carried. He was practically sprinting down the side of the incline he was on.
He made down to the side and towards the edge of the camp, while the apes were distracted.
As he came closer, however, he saw a small ape looking over a dragon horn, standing directly in his path.
"Bet this will fetch a pretty price…" he mused.
Colreus was sickened that he would sell the remains of one of his kin like that, for a bit of gold.
He would have ignored the ape if he were not directly in the ice dragon's way.
He mentally braced himself for this. Thinking fast, he formed and shot an ice spike from his mouth, hitting the ape in the skull.
He fell over, dead. No one had noticed yet, as the ape had been out of sight of the main camp.
A feeling of sickness washed up the ice dragon as he made for the dragonlings.
He hated killing. The thought of taking another sentient being's life made him sick. Hunting was out of necessity, and on unthinking beings. But the killing of a sentient being? It feeling felt sick.
Yet, it was one he had gotten used to over the past several weeks, unfortunately.
Even though he knew these apes were cruel and vile, and was well aware of the atrocities they had done to his kind and countless others, he still disliked killing them all the same. But there was no choice; he had to get these dragonlings out and it was a war they were in. At times, it was a necessary evil.
He shoved his thoughts aside. He had to focus. The apes in the camp had been arguing, but it sounded like they were starting to get wise to something. As he got closer, he heard a large ape growl.
"Argh, well, we best take a look around. Could be someone's lurking about…" he stated.
Other apes started getting up, their arguing done for the moment.
The ice dragon paled. He had to move fast.
Getting the dragons, he saw that they were female. Both were lithe, and small, befitting their young ages. They seemed to be different colors.
The youngest was a shade of light grey, with cyan horns, cyan underbelly, and wing membranes. She had markings cyan marking across her body. She seemed to be of the wind element.
The older one was… different. She was yellow but had streaks of grey on her scales, as well as darker grey membranes and underbelly, as well as horns that curved up. An electric dragon
Both seemed asleep, huddled near one another. He could see a few bruises on their bodies.
Colreus growled at that. He looked over their confines. Colreus could see the chains they had were rusted and old.
He breathed ice on them and smashed them with his tail, shattering the weak chains.
The girls barely seemed to notice. They both looked so exhausted.
He could not break their muzzles off yet. He likely did not have more than a few moments at most before the apes got wise.
He picked up the smaller one by the scruff and did his best to fit the older one on his back.
Colreus was s but if s large dragon. He was over three times the size of the younger girl but only twice the size of the older one. She fit into his back but he would have to be careful not to shake her off by accident. After retrieving the pair he made to turn and sneak off-
"Hey, you!" An ape called.
"Damn it." Colreus thought. He jerked his head to see apes heading their way.
In a flash, he bolted away, building momentum and taking flight. He had to be careful; it was near pitch black out but he had a good idea of the layout of the area he was in from seeing it earlier.
There were few rock formations to run into, unless he flew low. Though he was not planning to risk that.
"Hmm?" The heard a voice mutter as he began taking flight. It sounded young and feminine. No doubt one of the girls had awoken.
"Kid, hang on, it's about to get bumpy." He mouthed through the hatchling's scruff. To his relief, he felt the girl tighten her grip on his neck.
He could hear yelling from the camp, and the sound of more wings flapping. No doubt they were mobilizing the dreadwings.
Colreus doubled his speed, now that the girl was hanging on. He flew forward, not, caring where he was going. Anywhere but here worked for him.
He increased his speed and flew like mad, almost mindlessly. By this point, he was becoming practically driven by an instinct to fly.
They had to fly. They had to escape. He could not let the apes catch them, knowing what they would do.
The further he flew, the darker it got. He did not care though, he just wanted to get out there, and to safety. Hearing the girls both whimper in fear further drove his drive to escape. He doubled his speed, as he flew off into the darkness.
After what must have been a solid hour of flying, he had found a cliff face with a cave on it to crash down on. No doubt the apes had long since lost sight of Colreus and called back any riders they had dispatched.
He could not be more grateful for that fact.
Landing as gently as he could, he sat the two girl's down on the ground next to him, and nearly collapsed from exhaustion. Uses all of his strength to drag the girls into the caves. Luckily, nothing seemed to be living there. If a predator has been present, it likely would have found itself a three-course meal. Colreus was in no position to defend the children right now.
He immediately got to work on the muzzles. Colreus managed to freeze off and break the muzzles on the two girls. He discarded them quickly.
He finally gave out, his fatigue setting in. He could barely even summon the mental strength to wrap his mind around what had happened.
"A-re… we.. safe..?" The older dragonling asked.
Colreus muttered a yes.
"Thank… you…" The electric dragoness tried to say.
Colreus shushed her. "Thank me… in the… morning… little one.." he muttered. It was taking all the energy he had right now just to stay awake.
"Are you.., ok?" He asked her.
"…we… will… be…" she replied.
Colreus took a moment to catch his breath. He looked over the pair. The wind dragon was awake too. She looked up at him meekly.
They both must have been still wrecked from being captured. And whatever events preceded that.
"What are you names? Mine is Colreus." The ice dragon said.
The eldest spoke up.
"Joltiera." The electric dragon said. The little wind hatchling attempted to speak, but coughed a bit.
"Ss…sorry…I-I am…Aurora…" she said weakly.
"She's my sister," Joltiera said.
Colreus raised a brow but was in no mood to question it. Either their parents were of different elements or they were adopted. He frankly did not have the energy to ask. Neither did these girls, it seemed. They could barely even summon the strength to talk.
Colreus nodded. "It's good to meet both of you. " he said, a bit awkwardly. "I am sorry it's not under the most ideal conditions." He said, with a sigh. "Look, you both look exhausted. As am I. Let's just… get some sleep, we all need it. I can look into healing you in morning… there is nothing I can do now." He reasoned.
Jolteira nodded. She and her sister both moved closer to him.
Instinctively, the two girls huddled closer to him for warmth.
Colreus was a bit surprised. He was a stranger to them, yet both seemed to trust him enough already to do this. Maybe he should not have been surprised, he did just save their lives.
Well that, and it was warmer than sleeping alone. Colreus did not mind though. He draped a wing over each of them. He knew the morning would bring all kinds of new challenges, like the basics of surviving or looking after two children on his own, but for now, he could not care. He would deal with all that later.
Too exhausted to say anything more, he fell asleep soon after.
As he fell asleep, he could not help but notice something was different.
The feeling of loneliness he had grown used to had already vanished. In its place, he felt…
A sense of protectiveness. And, to his surprise, something he thought he was starting to forget.
Hope
Hello everyone. Welcome to Crosswind.
This is a reboot of my Frozen Flame story. Instead of being a rewrite of ANB but just with OCs and a few minor differences, I instead decided on a different route to take. You will see what I mean.
I will note this story is inspired by MissRiverStyxx's Firelight series. (Go read that. It was actually amazing and she is a fantastic writer)
No, I do not intend to copy her characters or storyline at all. Yes, I am aware of a few similarities, but that's mainly because of the tropes I am using in this. I refuse to rip off other people's stories.
I wanted to try something a bit different on here. The idea of "OCs running around in the background of the games" is not the most popular idea, but I do think it has potential. I haven't actually been accused of plagiarism anywhere, but I feel it never hurts to leave this note here. I know Riverstyxx did this idea long before me. Though it's not like the basic premise hasn't been done before in other fandoms, I suppose.
I hope you all enjoyed this. I look forward to working on this story, alongside Kindness of Strangers. I find it fun to have at least a few projects to work on at my leisure. Well, until next time.