Chapter 1 – The One Which Jumps in Muddy Puddles

A/N: So excited to write this story. I love Crial (Gharystal?) and have always wanted to write a story about Pyyrhia in the War of SandWing succession. Although, I don't really like this chapter... and the formatting's a little weird.

Mud and blood- that was what Gharial saw every day. At this point, it was normal to trip over a carcass in the hot sun as his sib group fought tooth and nail for a war that would never affect them. Gharial might call it poetic – if he ever read poetry.

The blood crept onto his talons once more. "Katniss!" Terra, his sister cried hopelessly. She was trying to envelope the larger MudWing into her wings, but it was useless.

This was Gharial's nightmare; his Bigwings, the healer of their troop, unable to heal herself. Blister's forces had been pushing them back into the Mud Kingdom for the past month and this was their first major toll as a group of siblings.

"Please stay. Please, please stay." murmured Quokka, the sweet runt of their troop. He tilted his soft brown head toward Katniss and buried himself in her scales; blending together if only for a second. Gharial took their talons in his, hoping for a moment of strength. We need a Bigwings. Katniss... stay strong.

"Who will be our next bi-" Terra began, but before she had time to ask the dreaded question, the hard sting of a gong rang out. What's going on?

Gharial knew the rules. If a gong rang in any MudWing village (which used to be rare as cake but had now become far more common thanks to the war), every fighting dragon was summoned to the village center. No exceptions – unless the dragon was on the verge of death. "We have to go," he muttered. Quokka and Terra straightened up. They know the rules too.

Their incomplete group slipped into the stream of MudWings headed to the village square. Gharial wondered what the matter was. Last meeting, they had announced Queen Moorhen was looking for recruits in a spy mission related to the war. Gharial's group had made the decision to stay in the regular war. They were good fighters- certainly, but not secret agents.

Gharial pushed the crowd again to find a good spot. There was Colonel Curlew, the burly, frightening MudWing who commanded the Brigade in this region, and – an IceWing? "Listen up!" Curlew yelled. His voice was even more full of rage than it had been last time. It commanded the attention of every dragon in the crowd, and the crowd instantly silenced.

"We've been at a stalemate with Blister's forces for over a month now. Blaze's battalions are also fighting Blister around here, and the only way we're going to push her out of OUR HOMELAND is with IceWing assistance. SHATTER!"

Gharial quickly realized the last word wasn't a war cry as the IceWing who had been standing beside Curlew arched her neck a little higher and stepped forward.

"MudWings," she greeted, with a slight kick to it, as though she viewed herself above talking to their tribe (which she probably did). "As the Colonel said, Blister's forces have been encroaching on MudWing territory. Your forces have been trying to push them back into SeaWing land. Unsuccessfully. This is not your fault; this is due to the pure mass of the forces. Your other troops are fighting a war on the other side of the continent. For the time being, Blaze's forces will assist you in driving out and killing the SeaWings."

Gharial heard the murmur of voices rise and surround him, not like mud but like more uncomfortable river rapids. An alliance. How will that play out? He wondered.

"High-earning or skilled MudWing platoons will be paired with another IceWing platoon. Other MudWing groups will stay in their usual listings. These are the 50 MudWing platoons that have been nominated for IceWing assistance so LISTEN UP!" bellowed Curlew once more.

Gharial listened as he called out the names of the BigWings of the most high-performing groups in the platoons, and wondered if Marabou, their lieutenant, would be called.

"Mallard!" came a shout. They've reached M. Here's where we find out if we're in it. "Marabou!" We are with the IceWings then. I wonder where Marabou is.

Gharial quickly turned to envelope Quokka and Terra. "Let's find Marabou."

The sibling group quickly made their way across the marsh towards where large Marabou was standing with his own sibs. The dusky brown MudWing smiled at his platoon and raised a wing toward Gharial and his siblings. "Gharial, glad you could join us. Our instructions are to greet the IceWings and start planning our battles together. Oh, and – where's Katniss?"

Gharial felt a bit rooted to the spot. "Um- Katniss has a ton of injuries from the battle yesterday. We're resting her in the mud, but we don't know if she'll be able to be our BigWings. Right now, it's just me, Quokka, and Terra."

Marabou looked at them sorrowfully. Gharial felt the pain and anger churn around inside of him. Just a week ago, she was okay...

"Sorry about that. It's sad when siblings go. But it's just war. It tears us apart." Marabou replied, touching his temple. She's not dead yet, is she? But Marabou seems to think she is... and Marabou is generally correct...

The older MudWing moved to greet the other sibling groups of their platoon. Gharial watched the IceWings on the other side of the marsh. Foe or friend, he couldn't yet tell. Whatever Shatter was telling them seemed to make them even more grumpy than they already were, and Gharial caught one glaring at him with ferocity in their eyes.

"IceWings are scary," Terra said nervously. She'd clearly seen that dragon too.

"They might be scary, but that's a good thing, because now they're on our side! The SeaWings'll be gone in a month," added another MudWing, one of Marabou's younger brothers who Gharial could never remember the name of. Terra nodded but still pressed closer to Gharial. Should we even stay in our Platoon? We were already a small troop before this, but now – only three dragons for a sib group is laughable. We don't belong here.

"Pretty shiny, aren't they?" Gharial asked, as the rays of dusk sparkled and twinkled on an IceWing's glittering scales. It looked like most of the IceWings shined their scales weekly, if not every other day.

"While this is a correct observation, we all need to focus. Curlew says he wants us to teach the IceWings some of our battle styles. The SeaWings will strike as soon as they're ready, so probably the day after next. This battle might not be as long as our last now that we have the IceWings on our side." Marabou added.

"Day after next? Not even a rest-day if we teach the ruddy IceWings." growled Lewinia, another BigWings in the Platoon. "They're an insufferable tribe and if the SandWings or SkyWings cared about us at all they would help us fight the SeaWings back. This 'alliance' is tedious and ruthless." This was accompanied by murmurs of agreement from her siblings.

Gharial wasn't sure if he wanted to agree with sazxi8Marabou's brother or Lewinia. The IceWings would help drive the SeaWings right back into the sea, but it would be horrible to have to work with dragons you didn't know you could trust.

"Oh look, they're coming this way," said Quokka. Sure enough, over his shoulder, Gharial saw a sea of white heading toward the 50 platoons. The other MudWings were already dispersing. Gharial straightened up and moved into a formation with his platoon, trying to ignore the gap between him and Lewinia where Katniss should be. Be calm. Be strong. Don't cry or anything else stupid. Watch the IceWings and see who they truly are. It was a hell of a mantra, but it was one Gharial had learnt over what was now years since he'd joined the army and been downtrodden by nastier SandWings and SkyWings. Other tribes were frightening to Gharial now.

"Hello." greeted an IceWing. "We are the Arrowhead Platoon, named after the Arrowhead Twin snowflake. Is this Marabou's Platoon?"

"Yes. I'm Marabou, Lieutenant of this platoon. Are you the Lieutenant of your platoon?"

The IceWing nodded. "My name is Peary. I assume you also received instruction about us learning some 'MudWing tactics' from your platoon before the battle in two days."

Marabou nodded. "That will be necessary. I hope we can educate you on battle styles and trench-building. Other than that, it's getting quite dark. Our platoon will disperse in just a few minutes, so we can't teach you anything right now."

Peary seemed satisfied with the answer. He turned to his platoon, and they began to talk rapidly and quietly amongst themselves. IceWings, thought Gharial, rolling his eyes. They were all probably preparing to kill his platoon in their sleep. None looked even slightly friendly, excluding one pretty IceWing who was – smiling at him?

Her presence seemed to be an IceWing magnet. They crowded around her. Something is special about her, at least in their eyes. But what is it? Why would IceWings like- an actually nice-seeming dragoness?

"Gharial. Snap out of it. Marabou said that we can go home. We can take care of Katniss now." Terra chided him. Gharial jutted his chin in approval and turned to go. I guess I'll find out who she is tomorrow.

"Hey!" the IceWing suddenly burst out, looking straight at Gharial. "W-what's your name?"

She's curious about me too.

"Gharial. Yours?"

"Crystal."