Chap 1

Sparrow's sib unit was undoubtedly strange.

It was small, with only four members, but especially now with the war, small units weren't unheard of. But generally at around two or three, groups decided to band with someone else.

But that wasn't what got looks from seemingly every other dragon in Pyrrhia. It was Sparrow's red scales and massive wings that made her different and strange and untrustworthy in the eyes of the MudWing tribe. She couldn't imagine why, as he MudWings and SkyWings were allied in the war. Sparrow observed another such example, as a lone MudWing that wasn't very good at concealing it's stare flew overhead. Sparrow stuck out her tongue and adjusted her position. Most of the time that was a bad idea, but Sparrow figured that dragon had better things to do. It looked away and kept flying. He better, she though.

Her eyes wandered to Sinkhole, who was asleep in the mudbank next to the stream. His hand was curled protectively around his leather pouch. When Sinkhole had first told everyone about his rock-collecting hobby, Sparrow had laughed it off. They were just rocks, and a rocks only use was to make them into mediocre spears. Sparrow thought the rocks were interesting now though, and one had to appreciate that he had spent hours looking for each and every one of them. He had five total, each representing one of Sparrow's sibs. Sort of.

Lotus, the bigwings' rock was a smooth, pale, tear-drop shaped river stone. It was rippled with obsidian throughout. The rock was unblemished by nature, perfectly silky and surprisingly sharp despite being in a world of dragons.

Frog's rock was smaller, but it made up for it in beauty. It was flat, round and brown, with a brilliant rivulet of clear, green, stone cutting through the middle. Frog could throw it and it would skip, skip, skip over the water before sinking.

Sinkhole's rock seems boring at first sight. His rock was a monotonous brown, and the largest of them all. At a glance, it would seem like it was a dried lump of forgotten mud, but should it be flipped over, from a bowl like cavity, a dazzling display of deep blue crystals grew in layers. A geode, Sinkhole had specified.

And Sparrow's rock? It was a sharp red piece of sandstone, from near the SkyWing mountains. And embedded in it the fragile skeleton of a bird. A fossil. Lotus found it creepy, but Sparrow thought it was the coolest thing ever.

The fifth rock was a tiny, plain stone with a jagged crack though the middle. Now Sparrow had only been told about this, but apparently there were four eggs in the clutch. When Lotus had cracked the last egg, she only found a body. A dragon that could have been. Sparrow didn't know why Sinkhole gave that one a rock. I should really stop thinking about this.

She gently stirred her tail in the stream, letting the current's tug of liquid cold climb up her tail and under her scales, chilling her. She tucked her tail under her front talons, trying to find the sun's warmth again. Suddenly, a dragon exploded out of the river, a brown-green blur with an unusually short tail.

"How long?" Frog wheezed, dragging himself onto the riverbank.

Sinkhole, on a nearby rock, didn't even open his eyes. "One hour, two minutes, and forty-five seconds, Frog. New record?" Sparrow had assumed that Sinkhole was asleep.

"Hah! Just as I thought."Frog pumped his claw in the air "That's twelve seconds longer than my high score AND proves my theory that we're all part SeaWing."

Sparrow snorted "I bet I have more SeaWing in me than all of you amphibians combined." That was a joke, of course. Sparrow could swim just fine, but she hated the way the water pressed in everywhere and slithered between her scales. It made her feel colder than anywhere else. But sadly, it was necessary living in a MudWing sib unit. She had to swim. She didn't enjoy it, not like flying. There was freedom in flying, no water and currents dragging you down. In the air it's just you and your wings.

Sinkhole's ear turned towards the woods. "Lotus is back." A few seconds later, Lotus emerged from the forest, with the graceful confidence she always wore.

"Bigwings!" Frog flapped into the air, then flung himself into a hug.

Lotus smiled and gently put him down. "Relax, Frog. I've only been gone for two hours."

"How did the bigwings meeting go?" Sparrow asked, peering over the edge of the boulder.

"More exciting than usual. Scarlet will be arriving tomorrow." Sparrow responded.

Sinkhole frowned at that. "Didn't the queens meet for planning yesterday?"

Lotus shrugged. "I don't get it either. Apparently Moorhen didn't know why either, but she said it seems important to Burn and Scarlet both. Everyone's required to come."

Sparrow flinched "Everyone?" Sparrow didn't usually come to those...too many stares. And what if the SkyWings took her back?

"MudWings and SkyWings, Sparrow. Nothing to worry about." Lotus said, twisting her tail around itself. She always did that when she was worried. "We don't need to concerned about that yet." Sinkhole reasoned. He had noticed Lotus' distress as well. "It's not like there's any reason Scarlet would separate us."