Gramps can't make it out for tonight's training session, but Haley doesn't mind. She has fun training with Fu by herself, even though she appreciates the older dragon's guidance. Fu doesn't reprimand her few mistakes quite so quickly, and he promises to teach her how to play poker (even though she knows he's not the best player) and speak various dialects of Dog (though she's not sure she can trust his memory with that) and things like that when she gets it right.
He usually promises to reward lessons learned well with more teaching, even if it's not the sort of things Gramps would approve of her learning, and she loves it.
Gramps does the same thing, of course, with things he does want her to learn, but it isn't as much fun, mostly because much of the training involves chores that don't seem like proper dragon training until much later.
Tonight was simply running through various aerodynamics exercises and seeing how accurately she could flame under pressure. Despite running on fumes at the end, Haley is happy. She's tired but not too exhausted to practice tricks—evasive manoeuvres—while they head back. It's dark enough that they'd hear (or smell) someone coming long before anyone would see her, so she'd have plenty of time to change back before anyone spotted them, and then she'd just be a sweet little girl walking her dog.
Some people might question the fact that she is a sweet little girl walking her dog so late at night, but she's found that many people forget logical things like that when she acts as cute as she can, and she can act very cute.
And then she hears something.
Wing beats.
Large wing beats.
"Is that—?" She doesn't finish her sentence. She doesn't need to. She knows Fu can see it as well as she can: another dragon, momentarily silhouetted against the background of lights.
She doesn't recognize the shadow. It's not Gramps—he would never be so careless; she doesn't need the fact that this dragon has wings to rule out her grandfather—and she hadn't been aware that she had any cousins visiting, but….
The dragon comes closer, gliding and beating, but it's not quite…right.
Even she knows they're wasting a lot of energy. She isn't flying very high, but she can still feel the wind. She can feel the air currents, the updrafts. The updrafts they aren't using to carry them, instead flapping more often than they'd need to, if they were doing it properly.
A young dragon, then.
Probably a boy.
Boys don't mature as quickly as girls.
And they don't learn as quickly, either, at least in her (admittedly limited) experience.
Whoever this dragon is, he's close enough that she can just make out a dull hide of red and green scales. He looks a bit sickly, like he's not taking care of himself, but he must have a lot of brute strength because he's closing the distance between them quickly.
She can't tell if he's spotted her or not.
She wouldn't be hard to spot if he looked, but she isn't sure he's looked.
"Do I have some family I don't know about or something, Fu?" jokes Haley, but she doesn't do more than spare him a glance. She doesn't have time to wait for an answer from Fu if she wants some real answers from this dragon. She shoots past her magical guardian in pursuit of the dragon as he streaks across the sky above them.
Dragons aren't exactly commonplace in the NYC, but the Huntsclan has a lively operation here, and it is her duty as the American Dragon to warn this newcomer what trouble awaits him if he isn't careful.
And, well, she doesn't really think he's family—she's pretty sure none of her cousins would drop by without saying something, and she doesn't recognize him from the last family reunion—which makes it even more important that she catch up to him.
He might not know the area, might be lost and not just careless, and she can't afford anyone else—even they aren't part of the Huntsclan—finding out that the magical world exists.
The dragon vanishes around a blind corner, and she banks sharply to follow—only to fly straight into a net manned by two members of the Huntsclan (one the infamous Huntsgirl herself!). She lets out a shriek even as the net—sphinx hair—begins to sap her strength, to stop her from fighting back. If she fights too much, she won't have the strength to stay as a dragon, and then they'll find out who she is.
She can't let them do that.
She can't bring herself to stop struggling altogether, not with sharpened spears pointed in her direction, but she tries.
It's easier once she realizes there's no sign of the other dragon at all.
She doesn't understand that.
He should still be here. She knew he'd taken this turn, and unless he'd managed to avoid the net and other members of the Huntsclan are still pursuing him and these two were simply left behind….
But that doesn't make sense. The Huntsclan couldn't have known to set a trap for dragons here. They wouldn't have known they'd find any dragons tonight.
Or, at least, they shouldn't have known.
She knows Fu is too far away to hear her. If she calls out now, they might not wait to kill her. She'd be easy enough to slay in a net. She's not even entirely sure why they're waiting. Some prize, no doubt. For glory or ceremony or whatever the Huntsclan values.
So, instead, she sits there, shivering, straining to hear what the two Huntsclan members talk about in low voices.
She's so rattled that she can't make out what they're saying.
She can't shake the scent of the other dragon, either.
Or the horrifying feeling that that dragon might be their dragon. That he might be working with them, against his own kind.
She doesn't want to think it. She can't fathom why any dragon would do that. But she doesn't understand the existence of the Huntsclan, either. Dragons aren't really like the stories. They don't hoard gold or kidnap and eat people. Aside from their magic, aside from their responsibilities, they aren't terribly different from ordinary humans.
She supposes the bad dragons are worse, but hardly more so than the Huntsclan elders themselves.
Or Huntsgirl and her new protégé.
Huntsgirl doesn't say anything as she walks over to Haley and hefts the net over her shoulder. Haley tries not to cry out as the sphinx hair cuts into her, burning into her scales, but she can't stop the whimpers from escaping.
She sees the other Huntsclan member packing away the rest of the traps, his spear always within reach.
She knows Fu will come.
She knows he will try to use it against Fu.
She hopes Fu can win.
She hopes this isn't the last she'll see of him. Of any of her family. Of anyone besides the Huntsclan.
Her tears sting the wounds left in her hide by the high concentration of the sphinx hair, but she can't stop crying.