A dark night (private with Twilight)

Shadowis silently snaked into the forest. It was night and the sky was cloudy, obscuring the moon. The place was almost covered by darkness, quiet and silent. All the animals were in a deep sleep, expect for the owls that were occasionally hooting here and there. Shadowis, thanks to his scales, merged himself with the night. His step was silent and careful, so he could not be heard by other dragons. Shadowis was a small dragon, so he could not be noticed. The wind was almost calm, so his smell could not be sensed. There was only one discernible sign that might betray Shadowis presence: his red eyes. They were glowing in the night, giving him the appearance of a ferocious and dangerous monster ready to kill harmless creatures. The NightWing quickened his pace a little, entering the deepest zone of the thicket. Shadowis licked his lips, a grin painted on his snout, showing white and sharp fangs. He would not come back until he has accomplised his task.

Twilight let out a frustrated growl as she flew over the forest in NightWing territory. The moon was being covered by the clouds- not helpful. She couldn't spot a single animal, not even with her x-ray vision. In some ways being powered by the moon was helpful- in some it was so frustrating. Suddenly she spotted a pair of glowing red eyes. It would have been easy to miss, but Twilight had the eagle eyes of a Tracker, plus x-ray vision. Swooping down to the forest floor, she looked in surprise at the black dragon with the strange red eyes. "Oh, hello," she said curiously. "Who are you? I don't think I've seen you before."

Shadowis stopped after sensing the smell of several nearby preys. His task was to just hunt something for the tribe and be useful. The night was the perfect moment to catch a prey. Shadowis was naturally predisposed to hunt in the darkness, being a NightWing. He succeded to identify the source of the smell. Some deers were sleeping in the bushes. It was a entire pack. Shadowis knew he must act quickly now. The deers would notice the presence of a predator soon. Shadowis crouched in the grass. He was sufficiently small to hide himself a little, though the upper part of his body was still visibile. He was ready to launch an attack, but he was distracted by the arrival of someone. He turned his snout towards Twilight. "Hello." He replied with a friendly smile, giving her a careful and curious look. She was a silver dragon. "I'm Shadowis, a new NightWing tracker."

A strange event happened while Shadowis was speaking. His own shadow transformed into a physical form. It had the same shape of Shadowis and also the red eyes. The shadow repeteadly tapped Shadowis on his back to take his attention. The message was clear at Twilight's eyes. The shadow wanted to warn Shadowis to focus on the hunt. Then the shadow disappeared, coming back to its original form.

Shadowis felt someone touching his back. He growled and looked behind him, immediately assuming a defending position. He was afraid of an attack. However there were no enemies in sight. "Watch out, we aren't alone!" He informed Twilight while sniffing the air. He couldn't perceive the presence of other creatures, besides the sleeping deers.

"A new Tracker? Cool, we can hunt together," Twilight said cheerfully. "I-" she froze and stared at the shadow that was now... well... alive. "Umm... yeah. I agree. We aren't alone," she said, feeling very curious now. "Have you had any experience with keeping your shadow in place? I think it's a little bit jumpy," she told Shadowis. "Maybe it needs some exercise."

Shadowis shrugged at Twilight words. "I need first to convince myself to have a living shadow." He explained at her. "However I never get a chance to see it." He remembered he was hunting. He noticed the deers have woken up. "Oh no, they're escaping!" He growled, focusing on the hunt again. With a swift jump he came out from his hiding place. He started to chase one of the preys. As happened before, the shadow took a physical form again, closely following Shadowis in the run.

Twilight was still intrugued by this odd phenomenon when she suddenly noticed the herd of deer nearby. "Oh, right!" she leapt after Shadowis and started tracking the deer. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed that the other dragon's shadow was up and at it again, but she kept chasing the deer and eventually pounced on one, but she was too small to kill it from her weight. "Oof!" she grunted annoyed and still trying to hold on as it attempted to escape. "Make sure you don't kill any of the baby deer, okay Shadowis?"

Shadowis nodded at Twilight's words. He won't catch harmless babies. Also, he was aware that cubs will become adult preys one day. Shadowis luckily knew the basics of hunting. However he still didn't know his special power, his mysterious shadow friend he could never see.

Shadowis felt the adrenaline raising. He realized how much fun was hunting. He was so happy that he shared his thoughts with Twilight. "Don't you believe hunting is so funny?" He told her while running alongside the deer. Shadowis forgot he was hunting again. So he didn't attack the deer, when he could easily slash it with his claws or snap at it. Shadowis was all focused on talking with Twilight.

The shadow was instead all focused on the prey, waiting for the right moment to strike. With an accurate and fast movement of its dark claws, the shadow wounded one of the deer's legs. The prey consequently lost speed and it was easy to finish it off now.

"Hunting is so fun when the moon is out," Twilight moaned, still trying to wrestle her deer to the ground. "I can't even tackle a deer when it's blocked." Finally she managed to get a grip with three paws and slice the deer's neck; the deer died instantly. "Finally." There was no way she could finish the deer- it was nearly as big as her." She nodded at Shadowis's deer. "We can share one deer and put the other in the food pile, if you want."

Shadowis noticed his deer has slowed down. Strange. It was wounded on the leg. Perhaps the deer has hurt itself during the run. Shadowis could launch a deadly attack now. He snapped at its throat, instantly killing the deer. "This hunt was easy." Shadowis commented, unaware the shadow has helped him. He trotted towards Twilight, carrying the prey. "Sounds good." He nodded in approval at her idea to share the deer and stock the other one. "The moon? Can it improve your performances?" He curiously asked.

"Yes, most of the time it is out in this part of Pyyria," Twilight replied, "So mostly I do well with hunting. But when the moon isn't shining on me, I do poorly, so I prefer to hunt at night most of the time." She shrugged and carefully cut the deer and bit into its flesh. "Mmph," the silver dragon muttered through a mouth full of deer. "I prefer buffalo, but it's too big for me to hunt."

Shadowis listened her story. So her powers were related to the moon. It was a shame the sky was cloudy. He was curious to see Twilight under the light's moon. He started to eat his part of deer. "Mmff... Buffalo?" He asked with a sudden interest, his mouth was filled with food like her. A piece of flesh fell from his jaws. He swallowed the morsel he was chewing. "Are you talking about those giant pigs with horns?" Shadowis didn't notice they have ended up in the deepest part of the forest after the hunt. The trees were thick and close to each other. The branches were obstructing any path to the sky. It was impossible to take flight. This part of the forest also looked to be particulary dead. There weren't other creatures around. No rumour or sound could be heard. A mysterious black fog was forming around the two dragons.

"No, no. Buffalo. As in the big, fat, ugly animals of the order Artiodactyla- you know, even-toed ungulates. Also called a bison," Twilight told Shadowis as-a-matter-of-factly. "Did you know, they aren't ancestors of the modern cow? It's true! Even though they look somewhat alike, they're only distantly related." She took another bite out of her deer. "And, of course, cows are a lot smaller and weaker. Easier for me to handle." She took a look around and gulped. "Oh, jeez... I hate this death mist. Sorry, gotta get..." She indicated to the sky and flew up. The mist always made her feel so weird, even though she was immune to it.

Shadowis tried to learn Twilight's lesson about buffalo, but he wasn't able to be concentrated more than a second and his mind was already diverting towards other thoughts. So he actually understood nothing of her speech. "Hmmmm... I understand." He distractedly nodded, trying in vain to assimilate the new concepts. He noticed the black fog. It was deeper than before. "It's better to go. I think this forest doesn't like us." He commented grabbing the prey with his claws. He was ready to take flight, but he realized there were too many branches around obstructing the way to the sky. Shadowis wasn't so small like Twilight. "Do you have a shrink potion?" He asked to the other NightWing.

Twilight scratched her head. "No, I don't think so. Normally I don't keep potions with me. Maybe I should ask Phantom for some. Sorry. But I do have this-" She landed back on the ground and pulled out a long knife from her shadow. "Cuts through anything weaker then dragon scale. You can cut of the branches." She lifted back up, feeling slightly sick from the mist. She didn't know why, it always did that to her.

Shadowis gleefully smiled. "Awesome! You're brilliant!" He exclaimed, looking at the knife with enchanted eyes. "Why should we ruin our claws when we can use knives to cut stuff?" Shadowis asked, completely forgetting about the fog around. He didn't notice that something was moving into the darkness. A strange black creature was stealthily approaching the two dragons, using the fog at its advantage to cover its movements.

The shadow was aware of the incoming danger and it took form behind Shadowis. The shadow looked around with its red eyes to locate the manace, growling deeply. It defensively stepped back, taking care to shield the unaware Shadowis from a possible enemy attack.

Twilight was about to answer Shadowis, but suddenly she froze. Diving back down to the bottom of the forest, she called out cautiously, "Who's there? Show yourself."

~Short post

Shadowis perceived the new presence after hearing Twilight's words. He looked behind him, happily smiling. "Uuuhh! We have company!" Shadowis exclaimed, hopefully to meet another dragon. He could feel the new creature was purposely hiding in the dark fog. "Come out! I want to be your friend!" He called in addition to Twilight's words. He looked around, waiting for a reply. However he received no answer.

The shadow was all focused on the enemy. Its face looked to be worried and was growling all the time, completely unnoticed by its owner. It was also constantly moving to cover Shadowis shoulders. The shadow predicted the first attack from the strange creature. It slashed the enemy with its dark claws, causing the monster to step back. The mysterious creature disappeared in the dark fog, probably to prepare another attack. The shadow remained on high alert. It was very serious and concentrated compared to the more absent-minded and naive Shadowis.

Shadowis looked towards Twilight and sadly shrugged. "I think our new friend is shy." He told her, unaware about the fight that was happening between his shadow and the monster. The oddiest fact was that he really looked to not be able to see his shadow battling against the monster. The shadow also seemed to be very brave and well-trained, though Shadowis had apparenly no control over it.

Twilight narrowed her eyes. "That's not a dragon. It doesn't smell like a dragon." Her eyes widened. "I... I think I've smelled that scent before... what is that thing?" She tucked her wings in and walked forward, scenting the air. "It's gone..." Noticing Shadowis's shadow again, she asked it, "Hi, do you know what that is?"

Shadowis sniffed the air, realizing that Twilight was right. The new mysterious presence wasn't a dragon. He could smell its scent, disgusting and unusual. It was certainly a enemy, though it was hard to identify the monster. The dark fog was still deep, so the creature wasn't gone. It was probably hiding inside the fog, waiting for the right moment to strike.

The shadow was always on high alert. It didn't directly answer at Twilight's question, but it temporarily changed form to assume the appearance of the monster. The shadow transformed into a bipedal monstrous creature, with two wings on the back. It resembled the aspect of a demon, one the most dangerous creatures you would find around the NightWings territories.

Shadowis noticed that Twilight was speaking with someone. "Who are you talking with?" He asked, unaware (as usual) there was also the shadow with them. He turned towards Twilight and the shadow immediately disappeared, like it didn't want to be seen by its owner.

Twilight stared at the shadow, shocked. "Are you sure?" But the shadow had disappeared. Turning to Shadowis, she explained, "Your unique ability. Most dragons have one. Your shadow has a mind of it's own. It can move and fight. But you can't see it in action, no matter how much you try. That's what caused the... the demon... to flee." She stared at the ground, thinking about her father. Did he send it? she wondered, careful to keep her mind blocked so that Shadowis couldn't read her mind. If so... why? He's never liked me. He's always favored his demon children and completely ignored Gemini and I.

Shadowis was surprised to listen the word demon. He didn't know much about those creatures and he has never seen one. They were mysterious and dangerous, very rare to encounter. He cautiously looked around, but there was apparently no trace of the monster. The dark fog was still around. He had no idea which kind of reason would have lead the monster to attack them. He noticed that Twilight was pensive. He was curious to read her mind, though he would never abuse this ability. Anyway he wasn't able to read minds. "A demon? Why should a demon attack us? Perhaps it just doesn't like our faces." He pondered. The demon was silently appearing from the dark fog to strie again. The monster charged the black dragon from the behind, attempting to launch another surprise attack.

The shadow took form another time to protect Shadowis. However the demon was smart. Dark tentacles blocked the shadow on the ground. The shadow struggled to free itself from the grip, but with no success. The demon has already understood Shadowis weakness.

Hissing with anger, Twilight ran over to the demon, and with a small flap of her wings, leapt onto the demon. She pulled a dagger out of her shadow and tried to stab the demon in its heart, but the demon was quick. It shifted slightly as soon as Twilight stabbed, so that the knife blade peirced its shoulder instead. Thick silver blood oozed out of the would, and with a quick shake, the demon forced Twilight off of its back. Furious, Twilight attacked again. "You'll be sorry once you learn who I am!"

Shadowis looked wide eyes at the scene. Twilight and the demon were in close combat. He immediately took action to help his new friend. He scratched one of the enemy's legs. The demon snarled in pain and opened its jaws to breath a powerful dark beam. Shadowis didn't have any chance to dodge that attack. He closed his eyes. The impact was inevitable.

The shadow finally succeeded to break the dark tentacles. It immediately jumped in front of Shadowis. The shadow took the beam in the face. The impact was devastating and the shadow was thrown away, smashing into a tree.

Shadowis opened his eyes. He was surprised to have not received any damage. "What?! Have I survived?" He commented completely confused. The demon growled frustrated to have missed the attack and jumped back to take a safe distance. Its mission was to attack Twilight, but not to kill her. Orders of her father. Shadowis was just a unexpected obstacle. The demon was busy thinking about the next attack, so its mind wasn't shielded against mind-reading.

Twilight reached out her mind to the demon, trying to perceive its next move. Its mind was not blocked, luckily, and she ducked and rolled right before it swiped at Twilight with deadly poisonous claws. Trying to read its next battle moves and the rest of its mind at the same time, she discovered that it was sent by her father, before the creature blocked out its mind and whipped its spiky tail at her. Angered further by her discovery, Twilight shot up towards the sky, and with a sudden burst of energy, curled up and slammed into the demon like a spiky bowling ball.

The demon was quick to react and jumped away to avoid the incoming blow. However Shadowis snapped at the demon's tail, preventing the monster from moving. "I don't know who are you, who has sent you, what do you want and what is your favourite colour." He aggressively growled, his red eyes glittered fiercely. "I don't care. You have attacked us and you'll pay with your blood for this." Shadowis didn't hesitate to sink his fangs inside the flesh, attempting to inflict as much damage possible. The demon growled in pain and it wasn't consequently able to dodge Twilight's attack. The monster was knocked out and fell on the ground, apparently dead. "Uh, have we won?" Shadowis questioned enthusiastically with a happy face, looking at the demon's body. Was it that easy to defeat a demon?

The shadow was all dizzy for the devastating impact against the tree and it took some time to recover. Every other dragon would have died from the collision, but a shadow couldn't be killed. The shadow stood up and turned towards the demon, growling suspiciously. It could feel the demon wasn't dead.