Disclaimer: I do not own either the characters from the movie Balto or the novel series The Wings of Fire, only the story. Balto and the characters of the franchise belongs to Universal Studios and The Wings of Fire belongs to Tui T. Sutherland.. I apologize for any errors in grammar and/or if I was not accurate in reference to something.

A/N: Hope you all enjoy.

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Clay vs Vaxsaurian

The sun was in it's noon position as Clay, Webs, Starflight and Deathbringer made their way through a snow covered forest. They were currently on a mission to find a missing group who had gone out to search for the cure to the sickness that plagued Sanctuary. Clay could hear a squirrel nearby when it chittered and moved up to a tree to leave a mark on the trunk. But before he could even touch it, he heard something and ducked right as a snowball flew right past him and hit the tree trunk. With a smile, Clay looked back to see both Starflight and Deathbringer throwing snowballs at each other. He chuckled from their antics before shaking his head and moving on. Webs followed after the Mudwing and looked back. He gasped when he jumped out of the one before ducking under another. Both Nightwings were laughing from all the fun they were having. Webs looked back to the two and placed a talons over his lips, "Shh!"

It was met with a pretty big snowball to the face. Webs grunted when the snowball hit him and he fell back in the snow, leaving an impression of himself in the white powder. Both Starflight and Deathbringer cheered when the former said with a wide grin, "Ha, yeah! Right in the snout! What a bulls-eye!"

The two of them started slapping their claws together while laughing. But it quickly stopped when Webs questioned, "All right! Who did that?"

They both look to see Webs sitting in the impression and tapped his claws against the snow. Starflight ducked behind Deathbringer and pointed to the bigger Nightwing, "It was him!"

"Excuse me?" Deathbringer questioned before pushing Starflight forward. The four of them were completely unaware that they weren't alone in the woods. Clay looked back to them with a smile when he suddenly heard something. He used his ears to listen for the sound, but could only hear the faint growls as they continued. Getting a bad feeling, Clay looked back to the others and said, "Hey, guys, I think-"

He gasped when he saw something out of the corner of his eye and looked. He saw a large shape moving behind a few trees and caused some snow to fall from them. While keeping his eyes on the shape he said, "I think we should keep moving now."

"Is that your answer to all your problems?" Webs questioned when he climbed out of the snow, "More motion?"

He shook himself of any snow that lingered on his body and followed after the Mudwing. Back with the Nightwing duo, Starflight and Deathbringer were gathering some more snow in their talons. Clay looked back and shouted, "Starflight, Deatbrhinger, come on! Let's get going."

"Come on, fella. Let's go, fellas. Faster, fellas." Webs mimicked the younger dragon's words. He slightly glared at the Mudwing and shouted, "Easy for you to say!"

Suddenly, he was hit in the back of the head and knocked forward. He lifted his head and spat out what snow he had in his mouth and then shook his head. He looked back and growled, "Okay, that's it. It's time for this Seawing to kick a little Nightwing tail!"

But the two Nightwings were no longer in a mischievous mood as they were now shaking in fear and the snow in their claws fell to the ground. Thinking that he had gotten through to them, Webs adopted a bit of a smug look and shouted, "Aha! Finally!"

Starflight shakily raised one of his claws and pointed to something behind Webs. But Webs was a little preoccupied by saying to the two Nightwings, "Now you're both done, 'cause the big bad Seawing is making an impression!"

But when he turned to start walking again, he ran into something big. Becoming confused the older dragon asked, "Now what?"

He then got a feeling that something was very wrong. He gently placed his talons on a wall of scales and gently pressed down to get a feel. It wasn't until the sound of a deep growl that made him stop with wide eyes. Slowly looking up with a gulp, Webs found himself pressed up against the leg of a hungry looking Vaxsaurian that was looking down at him. Webs' jaws dropped with a scared gasp. The Vaxsaurian raised its right hand to strike the Seawing. Clay looked back and gasped when he saw that his friends were in danger. The Vaxsaurian swiped its hand at the screaming Webs as they tried to run away, but it knocked him into the air. The Seawing landed headfirst into a hollow tree stump. The Vaxsaurian once again swatted at them, but it only made the tree stump fly towards the two Nightwings. They both screamed in terror and tried to run away before smacking into each other and became trapped under the stump.

Clay quickly raced back to help the three and jumped at the bigger creature with a growl. The Vaxsaurian looked back and back handed the Mudwing with its hand. Clay grunted as he rolled across the ground. He shook his head as he got up from the snow and glared at the Vaxsaurian. The larger beast turned it attention back to the terrified trio while Clay raced back to help them. All three dragons screamed in fear when it came closer.

They cringed when it stomped up to their makeshift prison. The Vaxsaurian raised its left hand to strike at them, but suddenly it roared in pain when Clay bit down hard on the creature's leg with a growl. Clay snarled as he pulled on the Vaxsaurian's leg in an effort to trip it. But it worked a little too well as the not only the Vaxsaurian fell backwards, but ended up sending Clay flying through the air with a yell. He landed with his face touching the Vaxsaurian's and the larger beast glared at him before using its large arm to force the Mudwing off of it. The Vaxsaurian held Clay against the ground and pinned him with its hand. Clay struggled to try and escape from the monster's grip, but the Vaxsaurian pushed him down in the snow. Clay grunted as he was pushed deeper into the snow and began to feel lightheaded from the lack of air. The Vaxsaurian growled before raising its free hand to end the Mudwing. But a roaring Peril came running up and bit onto the larger beast's hand. The Vaxsaurian roared in pain from the sudden attack and tried to shake her off. The Skywing responded by kicking the Vaxsaurian in the face. As she held on for dear life, Clay slowly opened his eyes and wondered, "Peril?"

The Vaxsaurian was able to swing its hand and send Peril flying away. She grunted when she hit the ground and tumbled a little too. She stopped on her side with a groan and slowly picked herself up again. The Vaxsaurian was about to attack the downed Clay again when Peril came running back and jumped at it. The Vaxsaurian roared again as she bit the back of its neck this time. This caused the beast to release Clay as it tried to deal with Peril. Clay lay dazed in the snow for a moment and tried to regain his breath. Webs, Starflight and Deathbringer all became scared again as the Vaxsaurian when it stomped backwards towards them. They screamed and the two Nightwings threw themselves on the ground when it came really close. But the Vaxsaurian's foot landed a few inches from the cage.

Peril continued to growl as she kept her grip on the bear's snout and used her claws to scratch at it. But with one push of its paw, the Vaxsaurian ripped Peril off. She screamed when she flew off the predator and grunted in pain when she hit the stump. Webs ended up falling on the two and Deathbringer gagged when he had to remove Webs' tail from their faces. Though it had freed the three dragons, they weren't out of danger just yet.

The Vaxsaurian then returned its attention to Humphrey who was still on his back and trying to back away. The Vaxsaurian dropped down on all fours and menacingly crawled towards Clay. Clay continued to move away when suddenly he found his back against a thicket. The monster came closer as an idea came to Clay as he leaned back against one of the longer branches. He even stretched it a bit further with his wings. The Vaxsaurian growled as it came closer and Clay prepared himself. And at the right moment, the Mudwing moved out of the way.

A long branch from the thicket came forward and smacked against the Vaxsaurian's face. It growled in pain from the smack and the brmables while Clay found himself sliding down a slope and screamed all the way down. When he reached the bottom, he tumbled onto a frozen lake and slid to where he faced the hill. He laid there a moment to regain his breath. Clay then pushed himself up and gasped when the Vaxsaurian came stomping down the hill. It roared while plowing through a tree with its large arms. Clay backed up as he tried to get away from the monster, but he gasped when his back left foot broke through a weak spot in the ice. When he pulled his paw out the terrified Mudwing then continued to back away. The Vaxsaurian lumbered onto the ice with a look of anger in its eyes. From on the hill, Peril, Webs, Starflight and Deathbringer ran to the edge and cried out, "Clay!"

They looked on with fear as the Vaxsaurian then reared up on its hind legs again and walked to Clay again. It stomped its foot against the ice and Clay jumped a little before looking down at the cracked ice. Many cracks spread out while he gasped when the bigger creature came closer. He tried to run along the frozen lake, but the Vaxsaurian kept its attention on him as it turned its head to follow his movements. Clay came sliding to a stop and turned to face the Vaxsaurian as it came for him. Clay continued running from the bear before sliding to a stop again. He looked down as a crack went underneath him. He looked up with a gasp as the grizzly came at him. But the Vaxsaurian's next step was a mistake as its weight caused the ice underneath it to break. The monster roared as it fell through and tried to keep a grip on the ice. The Vaxsaurian roared as it tried to pull itself out, but all it did was make the ice under its paw break and it sank into the freezing water.

Clay watched as the cracks the bear's hole in the ice came on both sides of him. His ears fell flat against his head as the cracks formed a circle around him and the patch of ice he was on started to tilt upward. Clay jumped forward and grabbed onto the edge of the ice to hang on. He tried to climb on top of the ice piece, but his back feet scrapped against it as it was futile. Peril and the other dragons rushed down the hill to come to his aid just as he lost his grip on the ice and fell into the water. They all cried out, "Clay!"

"Clay!" Peril cried out as the Mudwing started to sink underneath the water and the ice piece covered him up. The four dragons all cried out, "No!"

But it was too late as the ice piece set back into place. Peril and Webs stopped at the edge of the shore, but they looked when they heard Starflight yell, "Geronimo!"

He and Deathbringer leapt out onto the ice and broke through the ice. They surfaced for a moment before diving back down. Peril ran over to them and cried out, "Starflight! Deathbringer!"

"They cannot swim!" Webs screamed in fear, now worried about all three of them. He jumped when the ice cracked under his talons. This completely shocked Peril as she questioned, "What? Nightwings who can't swim?"

Underneath the ice, both Nightwing tumbled through the water. One of the two was able to swim with the current and soon saw something. Starflight had managed to catch Deathbringer, but accidentally had him at the wrong end. Starflight looked to his fellow Nightwing when he seemed to be shocked that he was looking at the other Nightwing's rear. Starflight righted him with a kick to the butt and when he was right side up, and then bonked him on the head before they both pointed to Clay. They saw that the Mudwing tried to keep a grip on the ice while using what breath he could to try and draw air from the ice.

Peril ran over to where she could hear the sounds and pushed the snow away with her paws. She could see the Mudwing under the ice and said in distress, "He's drowning!" He was pulled away from the current and she cried, "No!"

She looked back to Webs as the Seawing had his head down in the water, looking for any signs of them. Peril ran over to him and asked, "Well?"

He brought his head back up, though now covered in ice spikes. He both let out a big sneeze that shot the ice spikes away, making Peril cringe a little. With a shake of his head, Webs then said, "I don't see them."

The two dragons looked about the frozen lake for any signs of them. But when they couldn't, the two of them began to worry.

"Oh, where are they?" Peril asked, really wanting all four to be all right. Webs nervously placed a talon into his teeth. Both of them looked very worried when a sound came from behind them. It sounded somewhat like the ice was cracking. They looked behind them to see the ice breaking with both Deathbringer and Starflight carefully holding Clay with their talons. They moved the unconscious away from the water while Peril Webs both cried in relief, "Boys! Clay!"

Both the Skywing and the Seawing ran to meet up with the three dragons. While Starflight was shaking himself off, Deathbringer was currently using his talons on the unconscious Clay back trying to dispel the water from within him. When he was finished shaking himself, Starflight shivered when he said, "Ooh, cold!"

As the two ran, Webs cried out when he tripped on a crack in the ice. The Seawing landed on his face and slid across the frozen lake really fast. He zoomed passed by Peril who was much more happy to see the three alive. The Seawing saw where he was heading before screaming as he flew off a raised piece of ice. He ended up colliding with Starflight who was sent flying as well. Starflight ended up smacking into Deathbringer who ended up falling onto the unconscious Clay. His great weight was enough to force all the water Clay had swallowed out. His eyes went wide before vomiting up the water. Webs then ran up the Mudwing and frantically shouted, "Come to life, come to life. Breathe!" He started lightly hitting the Mudwing's face with his wings as he said, "Come on, breathe."

They all watched to see if Clay would wake up and Webs started to shake Clay's face. When the Mudwing finally did start to open his eyes, Webs breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Oh, Clay, poor boy, I was scared." He held a surprised Clay's face close as he said while he ruffled his wings, "I got scavengers bumps."

Clay sat up and coughed out what water was still in his system. Starflight walked up and asked, "Are you all right, Clay?"

"Yeah." Clay said as he shivered from the cold water. Sitting up he said, "Webs, guys…" He got off the log and laid on the ground before continuing, "I know that this trip has been crazy, but…" Clay gave a smile though he shivered, "I'm really glad you came."

"Well, someone has to watch out for you, my young friend." Webs said with a laugh. Clay noticed Peril walking around the log and he asked, "Are you okay?"

"Are you okay?" She asked when he asked. Clay then finished, "Pe-"

They laughed before Peril then said, "I'm fine, Clay."

Peril noticed how cold Clay was and placed a foreleg over his shoulders and gently forced him to lay down. Clay didn't fight it as he laid on the ground and her on top of him to share her body warmth. Then Peril told him, "We just got word from a scout. We've got to take the mountain trail."

"But if we take the pass through the Mud Kingdom," Clay said through a fit of shivers, "it'll save us half a day."

"It's blocked." Peril regretfully informed him. Then she said, "The mountain trail is gonna be dangerous, but we can do it."

"I've already seen there isn't anything you can't do." Clay complimented when he glanced up to her. Peril smiled in appreciation to this.

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Author's Note: Yes, I reused some of this from the story that I did, but I believe it to be necessary. I look forward to reading your reviews. Be sure to leave a comment either about if I've done something wrong or if you want something specifically to happen. See all of you next time.