The golden orb of the sun ducked beneath the Claws of the Clouds, colors forming on the horizon. The air was cold and dry, but that wasn't any problem for Polar. Unlike most other dragons, IceWings could easily stand cold weather. It was why Polar had chosen to fly through the mountains instead of along the border of the Sand Kingdom or the Mud Kingdom. There'd be less dragons around, and less risk of him being attacked and losing his precious cargo.
The young IceWing casually walked through the pine forests on the mountain. As he swayed from side to side, the single silver circle hanging from his neck swung back and forth. It was late, and after a long day of flying, he was ready to get some sleep. At the moment, he was looking for a couple things — a good place to rest his head where he wouldn't be seen from above, and any source of water. He hadn't brought much with him, expecting that there'd be plenty of small, clean streams along the mountains. Unfortunately, that didn't turn out to be the case.
Polar groaned as he saw the dry stream-bed. Another one. Like the last few he had come across, there was almost nothing to drink there. He dipped a claw into a small trickle of water, blocking the entire stream. Maybe he'd just have to stay parched tonight. Hopefully things would be better when he got further south. Probably weird weather from the Sand Kingdom.
The light was quickly running out, and Polar quickly remembered that he still had his orders from Queen Glacier. She'd wanted him to write her a log of everything that had happened. A diary. It wasn't Polar's favorite duty, but it was a duty nonetheless, and he was sure that Her Majesty wouldn't have assigned it to him if it wasn't critically important to the kingdom. As the sun started to fade, Polar spilled out a few items from his sack. A good amount of caribou and scavenger jerky, a small diamond, three moon globes, a scroll, an inkstone, and an inkstick.
The IceWing picked up a piece of caribou jerky with his left forepaw. A silver bracelet wrapped tight around his arm, with a haunting dark-purple stone glittering in the center. As Polar tossed the jerky into his dry mouth, grinding the tough meet to small pieces, he rubbed the bracelet and winced. An aching pain spread up and down his forearm from it. Polar grabbed the diamond, rolling it around in his talons, then opened up his scroll. There were rough inkmarks on it, and in a couple places he'd accidentally tore through the scroll. Oh well.
Polar pulled out the inkstone, and frowned. It was dry, and he didn't have any water. Polar ground a bit of the inkstick onto the stone, then finished chewing up the caribou jerky, trying to swallow any leftover pieces. He spat a glob of phlegm onto the inkstone, bits of meat still in it. Gross and unfitting of an IceWing of his importance, but sometimes a dragon had to put aside his pride for stuff like this. He wouldn't have gotten to the First Circle if he couldn't handle a little spit.
Polar took his claw and rubbed the phlegm around the surface of the inkstone, the ground inkstick turning into a dark liquid. It wasn't ideal, with little particles of meat still in the ink and the consistency varied, but it would do. He dipped a talon in, then turned to the scroll.
Today was another usual day of flight. I flew south from where I left off yesterday, through the Claws of the Clouds. I do not know exactly where I am, but if I am on schedule, there are only a few days until I reach Jade Mountain. I saw no dragons today — this entire area seems empty of dragon life. There was a small colony of scavengers I passed midday, but I did not approach them. Interestingly enough, the pattern of drought I mentioned the last few days seems to be getting worse as I go south. It's been difficult to find water, and today, all of the streams in the area I found were barren.
Polar glanced to his forepaw again, the small ache in his arm building. That might be notable. He dipped his claw in the ink again, about to write more, when he suddenly heard a large cracking sound not too far from him. Polar froze up. Another dragon. There was very little on Pyrrhia that was large enough to make such a sound.
Polar quietly moved his claw from the scroll, and placed the diamond back in his pouch. He carefully shifted his weight up, the spikes on his tail stretching out into an attack position. More branches snapped. Whoever this dragon was, they sure weren't trying to be quiet. Polar would be able to take them by surprise.
Polar crouched down, getting in a pouncing position. The dragon kept coming closer. It was dark now, but it wouldn't be difficult for Polar to see the intruder. As soon as the winged figure of a dragon stepped through the trees along the riverbed, Polar jumped, leaping at the dragon.
The dragon gave out a yelp of a surprise as the figure of an IceWing leaped towards him claws outstretched, as any normal dragon would. Polar's talons made contact with the dragon, shoving him to the ground. The dragon scrambled, trying to stretch his wings and get away from Polar, but Polar was too fast. The IceWing shoved his claw onto the dragon's fragile wing membrane, not hard enough to tear it, but enough to keep it in place. With his other forepaw, he grabbed ahold of one of the dragon's arms, turning his adversary on his back and holding him in place. Polar held his snout down against his foe's underbelly, making sure that the dragon didn't attempt to use any sort of breath weapon on him. He quickly realized from the dragon's midnight-blue scales and the webbing along the dragon's paws that wouldn't be a problem — this dragon must be a SeaWing, roughly Polar's age by the look of it, though he couldn't see fully in the dim light.
The SeaWing tried to struggle once, but quickly gave up. This was the skill of a First Circle IceWing. The opponent was utterly defeated and immobilized, while Polar didn't even have a scratch on his scales, not a drop of blue blood spilled. Polar lay on top of the SeaWing, and raised his head slightly. He could just kill the dragon here and now, but that might cause more trouble. Did he have friends nearby? What was a SeaWing doing in the Claws of the Clouds? Polar bared his teeth, revealing sharp fangs. The dragon looked up, and Polar noticed that he had a leather band covering his left eye. He should have noticed that earlier; realizing that the dragon had a blind side could have been helpful if this SeaWing wasn't such a puny fighter. Had he been injured in the war? He seemed a little young to have fought, and his fighting skills certainly weren't up to par.
The SeaWing looked up at Polar with a goofy grin. "Oh, hello," he greeted Polar happily. "How are you today?"
Polar blinked. Had this dragon just . . . greeted him? He looked back down at the odd SeaWing, staring back up at Polar like he was somehow enjoying this. Polar shivered. A dragon who didn't show fear, even in this position? A formidable enemy. Polar even felt slightly jealous, though he'd never have admitted it.
Polar's snout contorted into a growl. "State your name and purpose, or I'll tear out your jugular."
"Oh, okay," the SeaWing said, remaining completely calm. "My name is Ink, and my middle name is Adventure! Which is coincidentally my purpose too. Do you mind getting off me? You seem like a very kind dragon, but I don't think we know each other well enough yet for this sort of intimacy."
Polar let out a low growl. He didn't like this dragon's attitude, but the SeaWing seemed completely harmless. Too harmless. Was it a disguise? Maybe Ink was attempting to trick Polar into lowering down his guard. Had news of Polar's precious cargo somehow left the Ice Kingdom?
"Please?" Ink asked, sighing, his permanent smile unchanged. "It's a little uncomfortable. Don't worry! I don't bite, unless you're a fish! You're not a fish, are you?"
Polar sighed, and glared straight into Ink's eyes, baring his teeth back again. "One wrong move and I'll kill you."
Ink nodded vigorously, and Polar carefully took a few steps from Ink, careful not to turn his back from the dragon. Ink eagerly leapt to his paws, causing Polar to tense up, but the SeaWing didn't move. Polar frowned as he looked at the SeaWing a little closer. Something about him seemed a little strange, although it was difficult to tell what it was in the darkness.
Ink tilted his head back and forth as he looked at Polar, examining the IceWing. "You thirsty?" Ink finally asked.
"What?" Polar snorted. He didn't want to show weakness to this dragon. "No," he replied. Showing weakness was a good way to get pushed down in the rankings in the Ice Kingdom.
Ink nodded, clearly not falling for Polar's lie. "Mhmm. Alright. I've got some bags of water I've been carrying if you want any, but otherwise I'll just have to drink it all myself."
Ink turned around, and walked down the dry streambed a short distance, to where Polar noticed a few watertight sacks. Had Ink dropped them during the short fight? Flicking his tail, Ink clamped his teeth around the handle of one, and dragged it over towards Polar. Why was he coming back? Polar wondered.
The SeaWing opened the bag up and lapped up the water, as Polar stood still, watching Ink drink. "You sure you don't want any?" Ink asked. "I've got plenty to share."
Polar frowned. This was a bad idea. The SeaWing might be trying to poison him. Although, he was clearly drinking from the bag himself, so it would be a pretty poor choice to put poison it. Still, if Queen Glacier found out that Polar accepted help from a SeaWing, he'd drop in the rankings quicker than a dragonet through thin ice. Yet, Polar was very thirsty, and if he succeeded in his mission, Queen Glacier would easily overlook something like this. He'd be at the top of the rankings, permanently. Everyone who had ever called him a traitor would be staring up at his name, ashamed they'd ever doubted him. So, he'd accept the SeaWing's kindness, just this once.
"Fine," Polar growled, "but don't try anything funny. If I see you reach for poison, I'll rip off your claws."
Ink held back a chuckle, but offered Polar the water. The IceWing eagerly lapped up water. It had been days since he'd had a really good drink. The taste of salted caribou finally got out of his mouth. The dry pain in his throat finally subsided, and for just a moment, Polar let down his guard. Ink shook his head, like he was amused with something.
Eventually, Polar finished his drink, and lifted his head up.
"You're welcome," Ink grinned. "I've got plenty more if you want it!"
Polar frowned. He still didn't know what Ink was doing here. "So, what are you actually doing here? It's pretty far from the ocean." he asked, slightly less threateningly now. "And don't say 'adventure.' That's a stupid answer."
"I'm going to Jade Mountain," Ink beamed. "Do you know they have an academy there?"
Polar tensed his wings up uncomfortably. That was where he was going. Was it just coincidence that this dragon was also going there at the same time? They were getting somewhat close, and there wasn't much else south of here, so he supposed it was reasonable, but still, Polar didn't trust it. What was this odd dragon up to? "Yeah. I know someone who goes there."
"Are you going to Jade Mountain too?" Ink asked. "Are you a student?"
Polar gritted his teeth. He didn't want to reveal where he was going to the SeaWing, but still, Ink seemed harmless enough. "I'm not a student at Jade Mountain," he answered carefully.
"But are you going there?" Ink pressed, noticing that Polar hadn't actually answered his first question. "I'm excited. Did you know that's where the Dragonets of Destiny are? They're pretty cool, right? I want to meet them! Find out how they did it!"
Polar averted his eyes. "Yes. I'm going to Jade Mountain," he finally answered. "But it's none of your business."
"Ooh, is it a secret?" Ink asked, stretching his neck towards Polar. Polar gently pushed the dragon's snout away as he got too far into Polar's personal space. "I love secrets! You can tell me, I'm good at keeping secrets!"
Polar sincerely doubted that. "No," he firmly replied. "And I'm tired, so please leave." He didn't want to sleep while a potential enemy was nearby, although he very much doubted this whimsical dragon could harm him. Polar doubted a one-year old IceWing could put up a poorer fight than Ink had.
"Oh, okay," Ink nodded. "So it's a mystery! I like mysteries too. Do you want to fly the rest of the way to Jade Mountain with me?"
Polar was about to open his mouth to answer with a resounding 'no' when Ink interrupted him.
"It would be very helpful for me, you see," Ink continued. "I'm being slightly selfish. I've got all this water I'm carrying, and it's really hard to fly, so it would be great if we could split the load and get there much faster!"
Polar groaned. The SeaWing made a good point. And Polar didn't have water. If he went with Ink, he'd get water, and if they didn't run out, he wouldn't have to search for more dry riverbeds along the way. "Maybe," Polar hesitantly answered, regretting the reply after he said it.
"Great!" Ink responded. "We can be flying buddies! Do you mind if I sleep over here, right next to you?"
'Yes, I mind very much,' Polar wanted to say, but he didn't. The closer the SeaWing was, the better Polar could watch him. "Where did you get all this water?" he asked. If he knew where Ink got it, maybe he could ditch Ink after the SeaWing fell asleep. "All the streambeds appear to be dried up."
"Oh, I stored it!" Ink responded. "Just in case something like this happened."
"Something like where all the water just . . . disappears?" Polar snorted, trying to suppress a laugh.
"Yep!" Ink answered. He tapped a few scales on the side of his head with a claw. Polar frowned. That seemed suspicious. Polar looked around Ink, trying to see what he had on him. In addition to the two sacks of water, Ink also had a small satchel. Was there a weapon in there?
Ink noticed Polar's intense stare at his satchel. "Oh, do you want to know what's in here?" Ink asked. He quickly opened it up, and pulled out a scroll and a few pieces of parchment paper, along with some inkstones and inksticks. "Tada! This is where I store all my drawings!"
Polar cringed. He was regretting this immensely.
Ink walked over to Polar and rolled open a parchment paper. "So, you see, this one is of a SandWing I met in Possibility. She had this really cool sail, and I just had to draw it . . .
Various sketches were made on the paper, and Polar had to admit they were pretty good, although a bit difficult to make out in the low light. Simple of course, compared to IceWing tapestries and art, and trash compared to some of the greatest masterpieces in Queen Glacier's palace, but the sketches weren't awful. Some were of dragons, but not all. Polar noticed a few drawings of scenery in the Claws of the Clouds. There were also drawings of scavengers, a rabbit, and even what Polar thought looked like some sort of bird with legs.
" . . . and she was a bit angry afterwards, although her brother seemed to like it a lot. Do you want me to read you a story? I write stories, that's what's in this scroll."
"Please don't," Polar begged. "It's late, and I don't want to have to tear out my eardrums."
Ink shrugged his wings, and collected his stuff, putting it back in his pouch. "Well, if you want to sleep instead of reading amazing stories, it's your loss." He walked over towards the pouches of water and layed down, turning his head away from Polar.
Polar sighed. This dragon was clearly harmless. Polar could easily sneak up to him and snap his neck in his sleep. It couldn't be that much further to Jade Mountain. He could stand this weirdly friendly SeaWing's company if it would get him water.
Polar laid himself down, glancing over at Ink every so often to make sure he wasn't trying anything sketchy. The IceWing reached over to his satchel and grabbed the diamond, holding it close to him as he shut his eyes, moonlight reaching down into the pine forest.