Chapter 2

Just how do I get myself into these things?

That very question rolled about Summermoon's mind as she and two other dragonets roamed the jungle in search for the Nightwing princess favorite sloth.

"Ugh…" one of the dragonets cried out in disgust. "I think I just stepped in something."

"Maybe Razor is up his old habits again," the other one replied, "that cranky old Nightwing keeps saying how much better it is to eat day old food."

"Yuck," he said shaking his forepaw then turned to face Summer. "We've been out here all night; can't you just use your special ability to find that blasted fur ball?"

Summermoon—Summer to her friends—released a deep sigh. Ever since it was revealed that Moonwatcher held the power to read minds and foresee the future, Nightwing mothers sought approval to lay their eggs in direct moon light, though at the time their queen, Glory had refused the notion, going on about the possible threat of another Darkstalker being born, but after years of discussion—more like pleading—from her mate, Deathbringer, Glory felt it might be worth it as the gains clearly outweighed the risk. Though there was a lasting peace between the seven tribes, thanks in great dealing with the Jade Academy there were still dangers lurking about, and a dragon who could pluck them from a crowd with a simple glance or prevent life threatening conflict before it could even take place was almost too good to pass up.

There were rules and guidelines the Nightwings had to follow. Out of all the Nightwing eggs laid, only ten were selected to hatch under the light of the full moon and out of those, only four were born with both the power to read mind foresee the future.

Surprisingly she had been one of the few to be blessed with the ancient Nightwing powers to read mind, however unlike the others, she was not a full Nightwing. Her mother Shadowclaw loved her fellow kin and struggled tirelessly in her pursuit to rebuild the old Nightwing city stating how wrong it was to allow ancient and petty fears sway them, and yet throughout all that she allowed her heart to be taken by a Rainwing, and so when it came time for her abilities to be tested, Summermoon realized she could not hear the thoughts of anyone, only their emotion, and even then only as faint whispers.

Regardless of her failure, Shadowclaw had proclaimed her love for Summermoon without question, yet Summer could feel the shame and disappoint flowing through her mother which only caused a rift to form between them making it all but impossible to express her feeling for her. She never knew her father and most likely never would seeing how Rainwings were nearly just the same as any other. Like all other Rainwings she held the ability to alter the colors of her scales, though only in hues of blue, black and green. This proved to be a problem with the endless taunts the other dragonets proclaimed every time they saw her.

Hey there Summermoon, you must be awfully sad a lot seeing how you're always so blue.

You're looking rather green there Summermoon. Did you eat some rotten fruit?

Best not go out at night, no one will be able to find you.

How she would have given anything to have been born with acid fangs. That would shut them up.

"Summer!"

Summer jerked her head toward the Nightwing, his eyes were narrow, wings held close, back arched as if ready to strike. She didn't need her gift to tell he was angry.

"Are you even listening?"

"Yes Blackberry," she said with a pause as the sensation of amusement watched off from the other Nightwing.

Blackberry was the oldest of the recent new hatchlings and at the time his mother had become rather fond of the tasty fruits so when it came time to name him, she thought what better to expression her love then to name him what she treasured most out of life. Blackberry though found the name insulting making him appear weak and cowardly and more often than not started fights with anyone who mocked him about it.

"And to answer your first question, no I can't."

"But I thought you could read minds," the other Nightwing whispered.

Summer turned to her other friend, Ravenclaw or just plain Raven, who though despite her name or appearance might suggest was a very sweet and rather timid dragon, sometimes jumping at the slightest noise, and in a jungle where almost everything—even the air—made a noise she was pretty jumpy.

"Sorry Raven but I can only sense emotions and right now with three dragonets stomping through the trees," she paused to turn her head to the side, "and a thunderstorm on the way, every living thing here is flowing with fear."

"Wait a minute," Blackberry said jerking his head Summer's way, "how do you know there's a storm coming. I thought you only—" his words were drowned out by a sudden loud thunderclap and the first signs of droplets slapping his muzzle.

"If you must know," Summer said, a grin forming as the sensation of surprise and embarrassment rolled off Blackberry, "I have very good hearing and the elders have been going on about it for days now. It was only a matter of time before they got it right."

Raven laughed while Blackberry causally flicked his tail through the tall grass. "Yeah well any who let's get this over with," he said with a low growl, "I don't know why we're doing this to begin with. I mean can't Queen Hookshadow get her daughter a new pet sloth?"

"It wouldn't matter," Summer said, "I felt how sad Rosethorn was when she discovered her pet missing. She won't accept a new one so easily."

"Then we should split up," Raven offered, "we could search more ground that way."

Blackberry rolled his eyes. "Fine, just so long as I can still meet up with the squad for battle training. You never know when those Desert Crocs might strike next."

The Desert Crocs Blackberry spoke of were a band of rogues made up of Sandwing and surprisingly Mudwings who were not completely happy with the current state of affairs. There had been several account of infighting among the tribes and even an attempt on the Mudwing queen. With all the turmoil still swirling in the background of Pyrrhia the need for the return of the ancient Nightwing powers became all the more clear.

With that settled Blackberry made his way east and Raven taking a western route, Summer carried on ahead, toward the Rainwing side of the jungle. It made sense that a sloth would wish to be around more familiar dragons. The storm opened up shortly afterward, water falling in massive surges leaving her drenched to her bone. With the others gone, the swell of emotions began to ease and she could pick out several small wooden creatures scurrying about to avoid the down pour, but still no trace of the sloth. Stretching out her senses, she was surprise when she picked up something else, the sensation of fear was still present but mixed with was a feeling of awe and wonder which felt a little out of place in a jungle full of dragons. Drawing on the sensation, Summer made her way toward it and was even more surprised to see it was a scavenger. What's a scavenger doing this deep in the jungle? She thought. There's no way it could have gotten past the boarder guards. Not unless it can read minds. She had never seen one before, but heard several stories about them and how most royal and high class dragons kept them as pets. There was also talk of a city full of them built along the edge of the Sandwing boarder.

Drawing closer to the scavenger, Summer shifted her scales to a dark gray to help her blend into the darkness. Though she could not disappear completely she could still make it hard for this creature to see her. A flash of light rippled through the air and not want to be seen she stood as still as possible hoping that her gray scales would not give her away, at the same time, a surges of emotions watched over her from the scavenger and it jumped back, falling into a pile of dung.

Oh for crying out loud, she thought scrunching up her nose, and here I thought that thing smelled bad enough already.

Standing there as still as possible she watched the scavenger picked itself back up, flicking loose flacks of dung from its body and laughed a little when some of it landed on her.

Oh if you weren't protected by royal law you'd be so…

Her train of thought was broken as she shot her glance beyond the scavenger and spotted another creature hidden among the trees. Focusing on the clump of tall grass she nearly gasped as she spotted Rosethorn's pet sloth. Normally those lazy lumps of fur looked just like every other one, but Rose had personally fitted her pet with a necklace made of red gemstones she could attach a leach to for whenever she decided to take it with her during one of her usual flights over the jungle. Looking back to the scavenger, Summer saw that its back was facing her and quickly slipped back into the shadows of the jungle, making her way toward the sloth. It must have spotted her for it sat rigid as though waiting to be picked up, but before she could even lay her paws on it, a loud cry rung out from behind, shifting her gaze to the side, she was shocked to see the scavenger waving its arms about and flinging stones about, sadly its actions scared the sloth away to where it disappeared into the jungle.

Damn scavenger, I almost had it.

Summer came to stand behind him, narrowing her eyes and growled a bit. Her actions caused the scavenger to take notice of her and slowly turned around, the sensation of fear forming in the air. It dropped the small knife it held and stumbled about falling into the pile of dung again.

"Okay, scavengers are completely revolting things," she said. "Now come on and let's get you cleaned up."

Summer then reached out for the thing, its fear rolling off it like a river. "Don't be afraid," she said though suppressing an annoyed sigh, "as though you even know what I'm saying."

Of course it didn't listen, if anything her actions only served to terrify the poor creature that much more as it attempted to crawl away like a snake.

"You're a very funny little thing," Summer whispered licking the rim of her mouth, she had been told that there were rules against eating scavengers and though the idea of eating meat repulsed her—most likely due to her Rainwing father—she was tempted to try a little bit. Maybe it wouldn't mind losing an arm.

Her thoughts were broken as she something smack the front of her muzzle. A strange sensation flowed across her body causing her toes to curl and the tip of her tail to rattle like one of those Sandwings. She brought a forepaw up to her face only to pull back as she felt the painful sting across her nose and startled to see blood smeared along her paw.

"That's it!" she snapped eyeing the scavenger, "law or no law, you're dead."