Surprisingly, Cascabel makes it back to the relative safety of the cave with two boars in her talons. Shadowtalon was honestly expecting something to go wrong with how her luck is, but it seems her worries were unfounded.
Cascabel lands on the floor of the cave with a smug grin "Told ya I could do it! Don't they look tasty? They are kinda small for boars, but hey! Food is food is food! My momma says that a lot, especially when dad brings home fish and momma has to cook it so it isn't all gross and slimy" Cascabel pushed one of the boars over to Shadowtalon before digging into her own tasty morsel
Shadowtalons nods absently, only half paying attention as she tries to figure how much food they will need each week. Since these boars are pretty well the equivalent of Pyrrhian Rabbit, Shadowtalon alone would need at least 7 boars a week if she wanted to remain highly active, and since Cascabel is high energy, but still growing dragonet, she would need at least the same amount.
Shadowtalon mused about the possibility of supplementing their diet with fish as she slid her boar over to Cascabel "Eat mine as well, you need it more than I do. I will catch some more tomorrow"
Cascabel lifts her bloodied snout from the carcass and gives Shadowtalon a searching look before hesitantly grasping the boar in her claws and bringing it close to her.
Shadowtalon moves over to the pile of moss, rearranging it before settling down for the night. The view of the setting sun is blocked by the thick trees surrounding the cave entrance, but it is clear night is falling by the way the sky slowly begins to darken.
After a couple more minutes of quiet crunching, Cascabel finishes her dinner and crawls into her sandpit. Shadowtalon stares at the rising stars she can only just see past the ceiling of the cave until she hears the quiet snores of the young dragonet.
Shadowtalon wakes up with a quiet groan as her ears are assaulted by the joyful giggles of Cascabel who unfortunately seems to be an early riser.
Shadowtalon stretches languidly by getting up to investigate the giggles outside. Cascabel seems to have made friends with a small fox, and by friends, I mean Cascabel is terrifying a fox who is desperately trying to escape but failing as Cascabel thinks it is playing a game.
Shadowtalon sighs "Let the fox go, Cascabel. We have some things to do today"
Cascabel lets the fox go with a little wave and smile before turning to Shadowtalon eagerly "Really?! Like what?"
Shadowtalon answers while warming up her wings "There isn't enough meat on the island to support both of us while still respecting Queen Mala's territory. I was going to go down to the beach and see what kinds of fish we can catch"
Cascabel, taking a cue from Shadowtalon, starts warming up her wings as well "OH! I know how to catch fish! Daddy taught me how to catch ALL the bestest fish! I can help! Please please please please ple-"
Shadowtalon cuts off the excited begging before it starts to grate on her nerves "Yes! You can help. I am assuming by your gills that you can breathe underwater, so I was going to ask if you could help out anyways"
Cascabel nods happily "I can help! But I can get really chilly if I spend too much time in deep water"
Shadowtalon nods and flaps her wings a couple of times to lift into the air, Cascabel right behind her.
Rising above the treeline, Shadowtalon makes a beeline for the coast with Cascabel chattering away about how her dad taught her to fish and which fish obviously taste the best.
It doesn't take long for them to arrive at the ocean and Cascabel dives right into the ocean hunting for deepwater fish while Shadowtalons flies along the surface, looking for fish she can scoop out.
Over the course of a couple of hours, Cascabel pops up to the surface with large fish in her jaws and deposits them on the shore. Each time Cascabel walks onto the beach to store her catch, Shadowtalon flies down to make sure that the dragonet isn't shivering too badly before letting her go back down.
When Shadowtalon calls for the end of their fishing spree, they have a large pile of different sized fish and aquatic life. The biggest fish Cascabel caught are around the size of a boar while the smallest are barely even morsels.
Wasting no time, the two dig into their feast of fish, with Shadowtalon cooking the fish with her flame and Cascabel just eating them raw.
Loud horns sound out across the water, faint screams and explosions ringing in the air. Shadowtalon shoots her head up from the meal to stare at the direction of the noises, her eyes scanning the horizon for any sign of movement.
Cascabel looks up, gnawing on a fish with a concerned look on her face.
Shadowtalon stands up, her tail swishing across the sand "Take your fish and head back to the cave, I will fly out to see if Queen Mala requires my assistance"
Cascabel drops her fish as she shoots to her feet "I can fight too! I can help!"
Shadowtalon snarls at her "It is not your place! Head to the back to the cave and wait for my return!"
Not waiting for a response, Shadowtalon jumps into the air, her wings pumping as she races towards the direction of the noise.
It doesn't take long before Shadowtalon is met with a fleet of ships bearing the flag of the so-called 'dragon hunters' and Cripple with his little posse riding their lizards to fight them.
Astrid is the first one to spot Shadowtalon as she rides atop Stormfly "Shadowtalon! Help us!"
Cripple hears Astrid and his eyes widen as he spots her rapidly approaching the battle "Astrid! Don't!"
Shadowtalon ignores any cries from the scavengers as fire builds in her throat. With a snarl, she lets the fire pour from her mouth, setting several ships in the surrounding area ablaze. Temporarily cutting off her fire to move to her next target, Shadowtalon lets out a pleased grin at the dying screams of her prey.
Just as she is about to let the fire in her chest erupt once more, a large being bursts from the water and onto the ship deck. Shadowtalon panics as she sees flashes of sandy scales.
Cascabel is a whirling mess of death, spinning around to slash many scavengers with her tail, causing near-instant death from either the sheer force from her tail or the lethal venom stored in her barb. Her teeth snapping at scavengers who get too close to her. A scavenger tries to shoot her with an arrow, but her hard scales cause it to simply bounce away, but it clearly stung a little due to Cascabel's yelp.
Cascabel whirls around to snap at the offending scavenger, her teeth clamping around his neck and easily severing his head from his body.
Delicious screams in horror as Cascabel seems to ponder the taste for a few seconds before spitting out the decapitated head. Shadowtalon lands heavily on the deck of the ship, the wood groaning underneath her weight "What did I say!?"
Cascabel drops her head a little, but still looks up at her with a defiant look in her eyes "I wanted to help! And I did! Did you see all the scavengers I hunted?!"
Shadowtalon growls "I don't have time for this, if you're going to be here then stay out of our way. Do NOT get caught in my crossfire, understood?!"
Cascabel nods hesitantly "Fine"
A lone scavenger that had dodged Cascabel's attack runs up to the two dragons, roaring and holding an axe above his head.
Shadowtalon, already completely done with the situation, clamps her teeth around the scavenger and snaps her head back, swallowing the scavenger whole.
One of the dragon riders above Shadowtalon gags, the acrid stench of vomit filling the air. Weakling! Too witless to stomach the destruction and death you sought?! Pathetic!
Only waiting for Cascabel to sulkily jump back into the water, Shadowtalon jumps off the boat, which promptly causes said boat to sink.
Circling around the now desperately retreating fleet, Shadowtalon pools her fire in her throat and lets the fire explode from her mouth, swallowing an entire ship in its inferno and catching surrounding ships ablaze.
The dragon riders and their flying lizards (And Stormfly) are stunned midair, hardly able to respond to the pure destruction in front of them.
Shadowtalon smiles as the scent of burning flesh reaches her nose. A good day!
