Inferno slowly moved through the dragons in the cave hallway in her attempt to get through. Though 'moving through' wasn't exactly the right phrase, it was more of a 'everyone else moved to the side of the hallway as quickly as they could to let her through.' Which was both polite and smart of them, because it wasn't like she could just shove her way through the crowd, like how Coyote always seemed to do. If she attempted to do that, it would go down in history as 'the Talons of Peace Massacre,' or some other awful name like that.
Of course, Inferno would never let something like that happen, she was very very careful around other dragons. She had only ever burnt one other dragon, Coyote (on accident, of course, hurting a dragon intentionally would be an awful thing to do). Frustratingly, Coyote was the least forgiving SandWing Inferno knew. It had been six years ago, when Inferno was just a teensy tiny dragonet (who had remarkably good spatial awareness, even for her age).
Inferno didn't really deserve to be forgiven though, she had burnt Coyote (albeit not too badly, he had little more than an ugly scar on his tail to prove it, which wasn't nearly as bad compared to his other scars) and so had to suffer the consequences. Which was mostly just Coyote glaring at her everytime she walked past him, like he did now. Inferno gave a friendly smile in response, and waved, but he only growled in reply. Oh well, she thought, maybe next time. She knew of course that he'd act the same way next time they passed by each other, but she could always hope. Ash had told her that he wasn't much of a threat, no matter how much he hated her.
More dragons stared as she continued down the cavern tunnels. She kept her side so close to wall of the cavern that rocks scraped against her scales, scratching. At least she wouldn't burn anyone, this way. A pair of SandWings murmured something that she couldn't pick up on, quieting down as Inferno passed just so they could safely get away from her. Something about Queen Glory visiting the Sky Kingdom to talk to Queen Scarlet? Politics. Inferno wasn't really supposed to know about that.
Inferno was almost to Goat's cave when a claw tapped her on the shoulder, and a small sizzling sound was heard. Inferno jumped in surprise, and turned around to see who she had burnt, but no screaming sound was heard. Oh no oh no I burnt someone I burnt someone.
"I'M SO SORRY ARE YOU ALRIGHT?" she yelled, but quickly calmed down after seeing which MudWing had tapped her. Inferno wouldn't be able to hurt this one, and that no one's claws would be burnt off today. A few of the other Talons looked around at the two of them, hearing the commotion, but quickly went back to their work. The MudWing grinned a prideful grin and smiled, seemingly attempting to impress Inferno with his inability to be burnt.
"I'm fine, my beautiful SkyWing princess. I have magical fire-proof scales that stem from my glorious blood-red egg, remember?" vainly replied Ochre. A dribble of slobber dripped down his chin, and it started to form a small puddle on the ground. Since he had discovered that his scales were fireproof two years ago, he had taken a liking to Inferno which wasn't reciprocated at all by her. His gross eating habits weren't the worst part about him, he was always rude and snobby to everyone. Ash didn't like Ochre either, which pretty much settled it between them. Yet Ochre seemed to think that they had some sort of destiny together.
"Inferno, my darling princess, with my fire-proof scales, and your burning ones, it is clear that we are meant to be together. They will write great scrolls about my love for you, my love. We are like fire and — um — just a minute." He took out a scroll and attempting to scan through it. It was apparently some notes.
Inferno sighed. She didn't want to deal with this right now, but couldn't just demand Ochre to leave. That would sound too much like a threat, and Goat told her she couldn't ever threaten or scare other dragons, or they'd start to worry she might hurt someone, which she would never do, but they'd kick her out of the Talons and would stone her to death anyways. She averted her eyes from the MudWing. "Er — Ochre, I'm sorry, but I'm not sure — "
Ochre had growled in frustration, and yelled back even before she had finished her sentence. "Well, you'll realize soon enough that I'm the only that can be your mate! You'll burn anyone else who comes near!" The MudWing glared at Inferno and his snout turned into a pout. "Why are you always so mean?"
Inferno turned her head away, trying to find a way to walk around Ochre, but she couldn't right now; with so many other dragons in the small hallway she might accidentally bump into one of them. Ochre moved closer to Inferno, causing her to instinctively move back so not to touch him. He moved a talon to her neck, brushing the tip of it against it. Inferno's scales lit up in discomfort, a hint of flame on their surface.
"See?" Ochre stated. "You can touch me, and I won't burn."
Suddenly, Ochre gave a yelp of pain, and turned around him. The webbed paw of a SeaWing had crushed the sensitive spot on Ochre's tail beneath it, causing the MudWing to cringe in pain. "Stop bothering Inferno," the SeaWing owning the paw growled, baring his sharp white teeth at Ochre as he towered over him.
Ochre meekly nodded, and slouched his head as he crawled down the hallway. The older SeaWing turned to Inferno. Inferno gulped slightly as his eyes stared straight into her. This was Seahorse, one of the newest additions to the Talons of Peace, having arrived around two years ago, after the war had ended. He was the most intimidating dragon Inferno had ever seen, each of his aquamarine scales vivid, matching the thin silver locket around his neck. His body radiated strength, and Inferno was certain he could have crushed Ochre like a bug had he so desired to. Which Inferno really wouldn't have wanted to happen, as wishing harm on dragons was a very bad thing.
"Thank you, Seahorse," Inferno stammered. Seahorse frowned, examining Inferno up and down, a hint of wistful loss in his eyes. Inferno averted eye contact. Seahorse always seemed a bit uncomfortable when he was around Inferno, and that in turn made Inferno uncomfortable. Inferno wasn't quite sure what Seahorse's deal was, but Ash didn't trust him, and had told Inferno to be wary. At least Seahorse didn't seem frightened of her, although Inferno doubted Seahorse could be frightened of anything.
Seahorse nodded quietly, and walked away from the SkyWing, his tail curling back and forth as he moved. Finally, Inferno could get back to her and Goat's cave. She stepped through the small doorway of the cave, looking both ways to make sure that she knew where her mother was so that she didn't get too close to her and accidentally hurt her.
Goat was on the floor of her side of the room, reading through a scroll. If she saw her daughter come in, Goat didn't acknowledge it. Inferno peered over her mother's wings to see large scribbles of ink on the parchment, with simple drawings of various objects Inferno hadn't seen next to them.
"I hate this," Goat growled under her breath. She lifted her left wing up, blocking some of the heat radiating from Inferno's scales and preventing Inferno from seeing more of the scroll. "What's the point in forcing me to learn how to read if I'm just going to be stuck in this cavern for the rest of my miserable life?"
Inferno didn't answer the question, knowing by now that no answer would satisfy her mother. She thought there were plenty of good reasons to learn how to read, like being able to know what was going on in the huge world outside the Talons of Peace, but if she told Goat, she'd just get angry and bitter. It was Inferno's fault that Goat had to stay down here anyways. If Goat had just thrown Inferno off a cliff like she should have, Goat would be living a happy, fulfilled life back in the village she'd come from. Personally, Inferno would have loved to learn how to read, but for obvious reasons the Talons wouldn't even let her near the scrolls.
A couple minutes of silence passed between Inferno and her mother. Inferno crawled onto the rocky ledge that was her bed. She had few belongings on her side of the room; she'd just burn most of them. The most she had were a few small rocks and treasures that a few of the friendlier Talons had gifted her. There was one beautiful agate that was her favorite; she kept it on a ledge not far from her 'bed' so she could look at it as she went to sleep.
"Apparently Trustbreaker is visiting tomorrow," Goat suddenly commented.
"Trustbreaker?" Inferno asked, surprised. She hadn't expected him to visit for a while longer.
Goat nodded. "Better him than Morrowseer," she grumbled.
Inferno remembered Morrowseer. Apparently, he'd died about three years ago, around the time that Clarity had put Riptide in charge. Morrowseer had visited the Talons of Peace every so often. Most notably, Inferno remembered when he'd asked Goat why Inferno wasn't put to better use, as some sort of weapon. Inferno shivered at the prospect. Goat had refused him, fortunately. Inferno would never become like Peril. When she heard that Morrowseer wouldn't be coming back, she got a hint a relief, even though she felt very guilty for being happy that a dragon died.
As a young dragonet, Inferno had believed Morrowseer was the leader of the Talons, but as she grew older, she realized that the leadership structure of the Talons of Peace was such a complete mess, it was a wonder they could get anything done at all. It was simpler now that Morrowseer was gone and Riptide was the official leader, but before that, there seemed to be some weird competition between Morrowseer, Avalanche, Clarity, and her mysterious mate that apparently no one but Avalanche and Trustbreaker knew. Avalanche was the only one who was around most of the time, so until Riptide came along she was the de facto leader of the Talons. Still, she occasionally got orders from Clarity, who had started distancing herself from the Talons when Inferno was young. Inferno still wasn't sure what Morrowseer did. Apparently he was the NightWing who discovered the Dragonet Prophecy, and he certainly acted like he was in charge of the place whenever stopped by to visit. She'd asked Trustbreaker about this once when he'd come by, and he'd told her that Clarity's mate originally planned to put a SeaWing named Nautilus in charge of the Talons, but that he'd been unexpectedly killed by SkyWings before Inferno was born.
Inferno liked Trustbreaker, another one of the few dragons in the Talons who wasn't afraid of her. He was basically the closest thing she'd had to a father, even if he was never around as much as she would've liked. As far as she knew, he was the only NightWing in the Talons of Peace (not counting Morrowseer). Like Clarity and Morrowseer, he only visited every so often with his cat, but never seemed to give orders to Avalanche like the other two had, so she thought he was lower in the pecking order than them. Still, he was one of the few dragons Avalanche could stand, even more than her son Flame. At first, Inferno wondered if Flame was Avalanche and Trustbreaker's son, but he didn't look at all like a NightWing, so she doubted it. Whenever Morrowseer came by, Trustbreaker always disappeared, so Inferno assumed the two had some sort of weird past together.
Ash had freaked out a ton after Inferno first met Trustbreaker, and convinced Inferno to hide from the NightWing in a small crevasse, although she was eventually found. Trustbreaker was one of the dragons who was the nicest to Inferno, but for whatever reason, Ash still didn't like him, and asked Inferno to keep a close eye on whatever he was doing when he came by. Inferno thought it was silly, but her brother insisted the importance of her making sure he didn't get up to anything strange.
"That's good," Inferno yawned. Personally, she liked Trustbreaker. His pet cat, Sapphire, was very cute, although Inferno knew it would be a very very bad idea to try and pet him. Ash had once suggested that she try, to which Inferno just gave him a look of confusion. She normally followed Ash's suggestions, as he was very smart and seemed to know practically everything, but that was one of the times she just had no clue what he was thinking. "I like his cat."
Goat snorted. "I wouldn't touch it unless you want to get us thrown out of here too. It has fur, so it'll go up in flames quicker than your brother did."
Inferno winced. It felt like Goat reminded her of that at every chance she got. Inferno didn't like it, but she understood how important it was. If she didn't always stay conscious of her emotions, she'd kill even more dragons. She'd turn into a monster, like Peril. That's why she needed to remember what she'd done. Maybe what had happened to Ash was a good thing; knowing the fate she'd condemned him to by killing him in their egg would keep her sane. Calm, kind, and careful.
Goat turned back to her scroll, grumbling. Inferno let out another yawn, the smell of sulfur emanating from her mouth. Her scales cooled a few degrees as she rested her snout down and gently closed her eyes. The fireborn SkyWing started to sink into her sleep.
When she next opened her eyes, and felt cool air brush against her scales. The smell of dew on grass permeated the air, without the smell of burning plants accompanying it. Inferno glanced down. Her talons rested in dirt, moist grass and flowers weaving between them. She brushed her claws through the dirt, the cool air causing her to feel a nip of cold as the blades of grass tickled her scales. Was that really what it felt like? There was a small golden flower in the dirt, and Inferno reached her talons down to pick it up. As she held it between her talons, examining the flower intently, she heard a voice speak firmly to her.
"Inferno."
She raised her eyes. The two of them were on a large, grassy slope, the peaks of mountains rising above. Further down the slope, she could see a river running through a small valley.
"This is really good, Ash," Inferno complimented him. Is this what the Sky Kingdom looked like? She had hatched there, but couldn't remember what it looked like at all.
"Thank you," Ash answered. "I'm glad you like it. Does it feel real?" The salmon-pink SkyWing started to walk down the slope, towards his sister. Each of his scales shone brightly in the orange sunlight that fell upon the two. Four small moons were barely visible on the other side of the horizon.
Inferno nodded. "It really does."
This was Ash, her dead brother. As Goat loved to remind her, Inferno had killed him before they had hatched. She'd stolen his fire and crisped his scales to a black char. Inferno didn't remember it, of course, but the vision of Ash's mutilated body after Inferno had hatched still haunted their mother.
Yet, when Inferno was around two years old, she started to have dreams of him. At first, she thought that it was just some sort of nightmare stemming from her guilt, but she quickly started to realize that it was more than that. Ash could talk to her, give her suggestions she never would have thought of on her own, and even knew things Inferno didn't. She didn't know how it happened. Ash suggested that Inferno accidentally absorbed his life force when she killed him, although she had know idea how she could've done that. She'd asked their mother once, if absorbing another dragon's soul by killing them was possible, but didn't get an answer. Instead Goat had been freaked out by Inferno for a week, and kept trying to convince Avalanche that Inferno was going to become a murder-machine like Peril. After that, Ash had asked Inferno not to mention him again to others, and she'd obeyed him ever since.
"I wanted to ask you about something," Ash opened.
Inferno cocked her head to the side. Ash usually knew everything. He rarely asked her about information. Chances were, this was more of a request. Did he need her to do something? "Go ahead," Inferno smiled.
"I don't think you're safe in the Talons of Peace anymore. I want you to leave."
Inferno's snout curled in surprise. "Leave?" she asked breathless. She'd considered the possibility a few times, but hadn't ever taken it seriously. "I don't think Goat would allow me to."
"You don't need her anymore," Ash scoffed. "You're eight. She'll be fine without you. You can't just live your whole life with the Talons, can you?"
"Er, no." In truth, she thought she had to live her entire life with the Talons of Peace. That's what Riptide and Goat wanted. If she stayed with them, she'd be safe from the outside world. And Pyrrhia would be safe from her. "But it's dangerous outside the Talons. I'm a monster. Dragons will try and kill me."
"I'd like to see them try," Ash snorted. "One touch and they'd go up in flame."
"That's even worse!" Inferno exclaimed. "I don't want anyone to get hurt just because they're scared of me."
Ash rolled his eyes. "I doubt you're going to have dragons flinging themselves at you. Not every dragon in Pyrrhia would immediately try and kill you. There are places you could be safe."
"Yeah, like here," Inferno whined. "No one really likes me, but at least they aren't trying to hurt me. Where else could I find that?"
"Well . . . ," Ash answered, his voice trailing off, considering a few options. "How about Jade Mountain?"
Inferno's expression grew two shades darker, and she opened her jaws slightly, hunching her wings in. "I can't go there."
"Just hear me out," Ash pleaded. "The Talons have said she's changed, right? Avalanche and a few others saw her a couple of years ago, and said she's put her past ways behind her. Apparently she hasn't killed anyone since then either."
"'Not killing anyone' is a low bar," Inferno grumbled.
"She might not even be there," Ash continued. "From what I've heard, the Jade Winglet has a pretty poor attendance record."
Inferno thought for a moment to ask who Ash heard this from, but didn't bother. "I can't go there," Inferno repeated. "I have to keep an eye on Trustbreaker, remember? He's coming tomorrow."
"I changed my mind on that," Ash commented. "I don't think he's that important or dangerous. He's not particularly ambitious. He knows about me, but doesn't seem to care."
"He knows about you?" Inferno frowned.
Ash nodded. "Yeah. I can feel it. It's why he always makes sure to talk to you when he comes by. He's curious."
"Oh," Inferno answered, deflated. She had thought Trustbreaker liked her, not just that he found her weird and interesting. "Well, how dangerous can a peace-loving dragon with a pet cat be?"
Ash smiled. "So. Have you changed your mind about Jade Mountain?"
Inferno squirmed uncomfortably, her tail dragging across the dirt. "I guess," she muttered. Ash was right, like usual. She didn't want to spend her entire life in the Talons of Peace. She wanted to do something with it. And Jade Mountain could be the perfect place. She just hoped that Peril wouldn't be there.