Solving the Puzzle (Private with Nemesis)

The sun beat down on all of Pyrrhia’s inhabitants. Though it was high in the sky, it felt closer to the ground than ever. Dragons escaped the sweltering heat by fleeing into their homes and finding shady spots to lay and sleep until the cool embrace of night would return. Meanwhile, other dragons had important tasks that were made that much more difficult by the high temperatures.

To most FireWings, though, this weather was perfect. Young ones rallied together outside the village and flew excitedly away to embark on their own little adventures or play games that required a lot of physical activity. Infernoclaw was no exception to the energy that her tribe was feeling this day.

There was a need. Something very basic in the back of her mind that simply needed to activate for herself to feel like a true FireWing. To feel like she could conquer anything. Yet, like a riddle, the answer was hidden from her in the most obvious of ways. So obvious that it made her head hurt and her teeth grind anxiously. Unfortunately, she was at a loss of resources to properly expend this energy.

It was no mystery that Infernoclaw didn’t make much friends. How could she? She never stopped training, and never regarded anybody that wasn’t a soldier with any sort of respect. No, most of the time she found herself dismissing other dragons her age in the pursuit of something greater. A vague ‘bright future’ that she didn’t know how to achieve aside from ‘fighting harder’.

“Hey! Inferno!” The voice of a dragon her age came bursting with enthusiasm as he bounded toward her. A very excitable FireWing dragonet named Scorchclaw (and yes, he found every reason to point out how similar his and Inferno’s names were). “It looks like some of the chickens got out of old Burns’ coop. We were gonna go chase ‘em down! Wanna come?”

Inferno narrowed her eyes at him as though he were speaking another language. She then slowly shook her head. “Uh...I think I’ll be way too busy training to go chase around some stupid chickens. If I’m gonna be a sentinel one of these days, then I can’t waste time with such remedial tasks.” She stuck out her chest proudly, as though she were already a high-ranking member of the FireWing armada. “I’m going to leave the chicken chasing to the chicken chasers. Meanwhile, you and everyone else can-hey!”

Scorch was walking away from her before she could finish her speech. Her sudden shout stopped him in his tracks and made him turn to face her again. “Yeah? What is it?”

“I wasn’t done talking!” Inferno said, like an outraged, petulant hatchling. “It’s customary to let one finish talking before just leaving!”

“Well...you already said you didn’t want to go. And you said we would be wasting your time. So I figured it’d probably save you even MORE time if I just left so you could get back to your training.”

“Yeah but...but I…” Inferno huffed. She hated when he was right. “Fine! Get out of here and go chase chickens.”

“That’s what I was going to do,” Scorch murmured just loud enough for Inferno to hear before spreading his wings and taking flight, hurrying to catch up with the other dragonets ahead of him.

Letting out a breath, Inferno looked down. So much of her wanted to take off with them. To have any reason to spread her wings and fly about like they were doing. Yet, she couldn’t. She couldn’t allow herself to indulge in fun. As she always told herself ‘fun is a luxury that can lead to laziness.’

Instead, Inferno aimed to retire to her usual training spot. A small clearing just outside of the village with a tree that had seen quite a bit of abuse. It’d been beaten, burned, and chopped until it was barely standing. It was also the only real training dummy that the dragonet had to practice her unofficial attacks.

Inferno began her trek through the village. Her head down and eyes stoic as she contemplated. Trying to solve how she felt about friends, how she felt about her current energy, and, as always, what other attacks she could possibly come up with. That was, until, her front talon caught on something solid and caused her to stumble forward.

The dragonet inadvertently kicked away one of the supports of a stand holding various knick-knacks that a local had proudly made himself. A couple of the items wobbled, fell, and shattered onto the ground in a matter of seconds, before anyone even had the idea of trying to catch them.

“Hey! What in the blazes is wrong with you, kid?!” shouted an older dragon as he circled around his now lopsided shop and broken souvenirs. “You blind or somethin’?! I oughtta claw you somethin’ fierce for that!”

Inferno glowered at him. “Maybe you shouldn’t have moved your cart out so far, that way people wouldn’t trip on it.”

“You break my cart and now start pointin’ talons at me?!” He stepped toward her aggressively. “That’s it! You’re really gonna get it now!”

Oh no... It's hot... What if I have a heat stroke and die...

That was Nemesis' melancholy thought, although she quickly rebuked herself. She was fire-resistant. She couldn't even, well.... Die from simple hot weather! That was a stupid thing to think.

But then... What if I--

She couldn't stop worst-case scenarios flooding into her head, even if she did acknowledge that it was foolish of her. The female FireWing limped through a small village. When it came to towns and civilizations, size never mattered when it came to income. It was as busy as always, but it seemed even more busy today. A few people waved at Nemesis, but the shy dragon ducked her head and tried her best to limp faster. Eye-contact was awkward. She didn't even know half the dragons here, but she knew that the tale of her awkward paw had spread throughout the whole Tribe, and some were sympathetic. Nemesis appreciated it, but... She didn't like getting much attention.

Suddenly she heard yelling. Not specific words, but yelling. She turned, seeing an older FireWing and a younger one... Nemesis assumed they might be father and daughter, though she didn't know for sure. The 'father' seemed to be angry... Uh oh! He looked like he was about to launch himself right at his child!

Harsh punishment, wasn't it? Nemesis didn't like dragons arguing in the middle of the street anyway. It was kind of a buzz kill for everyone else. So, the FW did something foolish. She intercepted.

"N... No." She limped between the male and the female. "Don't fight... Or... If you want to... Don't. I mean! Not here. Anyway... No pressure... But... Everyone is staring."

Inferno’s rage towards this angry FireWing had immediately been distracted by another that was much more timid. She placed herself between the two of them before asking that they stop fighting in public. That they were making a scene.

Infernoclaw didn’t much care whether or not she made a scene. If the shopkeeper wanted a fight, she’d give it to him anytime anyplace. He, on the other talon, looked infinitely more self-conscious than earlier. His eyes darted around at some of the other dragons that had stopped to watch the two. With a huff, he growled “fine...but if you cross me again, little dragonet, so help me I’m gonna teach you the definition of agony. Regardless whether or not your mommy is here to protect you.” He motioned toward Nemesis.

“I’m pretty sure the definition of agony has something to do with staring at your ugly face,” Inferno retorted. The shopkeeper scowled at her before turning and retreating inside his hut. Likely fetching tools to fix his broken stand.

With the angry villager out of sight, Inferno turned her gaze to Nemesis. Her face, which was once contorted in anger, grew more lax upon looking at the older female dragon.

“Thanks for having my back...sorta” Inferno said, unsure whether telling them to ‘fight somewhere else’ was really helping. Regardless, it did chase the shopkeeper away. “I mean, I could probably have taken him myself, since he’s kind of a loser, but you know, I suppose tricking him into thinking you’re my mom worked too.”

The young dragonet extended her talon, “I’m Infernoclaw. Daughter of Dirgeflame and Passionfire, both of whom proudly served as soldiers for the FireWing tribe. Nice to meet you.” She peered at Nemesis almost suspiciously. “What might your name be?”

Nemesis watched the shopkeeper's reaction to her interaction with the both of them. One ear swivelled back in an almost offended manner at the harsh threat given to the young dragon, and at him calling Nemesis her 'mommy'. She even blushed a bit, not knowing what to think. As she watched the villager stomp off (trying to look majestic at the same time, Nem was sure), she displayed the tiniest smile at the younger FireWing's comment. It wasn't like her to grin, but she had to admit that she was amused by the clever comeback of the other dragon. She looked to be of Trainee age, actually.

After hearing her words, Nemesis blushed. "O- Oh... Gee. Gl- Glad I could help. E- Even though... I did kind of think he was your ded." She grinned shyly. She took the dragonet's-- Infernoclaw --talon. "N- Nice to meet you too... I'm... Nemesis. C- Call me whatever you want though." Her voice was soft and barely audible, but that wasn't unusual to Nem.

Inferno shook the older dragon’s talon firmly before releasing and looking at her quizzically. For a dragon that was brave enough to get between her and the shopkeeper, and also had a fierce name like 'Nemesis’, she sure did stammer a lot. The dragonet excused it as a possible facade, a front for the fearsome dragon that was hiding underneath those bashful scales.

Instead of complaining, Inferno simply tweaked her ears so she could hear the shy female a bit better.

“Well thanks anyway, Nemesis. Trust me, though, that dragon’s nothing like my dad. My dad is a bit...well...softer. He’s more silly than aggressive. I honestly don’t know what my mom was thinking when she chose him, especially since she was one of the strongest fighters in the tribe.” Inferno looked as though talking about her mother had boosted her confidence even more. As if her mother were a badge of honor that warranted great respect from her peers.  “One day, I hope to be as strong as she was, and die just as gracefully on the battlefield!”

The dragonet looked back to Nemesis, not realizing that she’d been looking away in an almost trance-like state. “Anyway, what are you doing today, Nem? It’s pretty hot out, so you’re probably off to do some kind of battle training, huh? Can I join you? I mean, I was gonna go to my own spot and train, but it might be better to show you what I can do. Oooh! Maybe we can spar! That is, if you think you can beat me. Do you think you can beat me?”

Inferno paused for a moment, running out of breath and realizing that she was rambling. Instead of apologizing, she simply waited for a response.

Nemesis listened to Infernoclaw listen with interest, and allowed a sincere smile to creep onto her snout, although it was small. It warmed her heart (figuratively and literally!) to hear the younger FireWing speak of her mother with such respect and pride. Not a lot of dragons are like "my mom/dad was so cool!" so it was refreshing to hear Inferno talk of her parent with the utmost respect. Nemesis gave her a tiny nod to show she was listening. Her parents weren't anything as awesome as Infernoclaw described hers to be-- Nemesis' mother was a citizen, and her father was a Guardian. They've both retired, now as Wise Ones. Let us hope that they reach a peaceful and painless death.

Nem kept grinning as Inferno began to ramble, but about something else... Something that Nemesis herself can never do again. And, coincidentally, because of helping a Trainee with battle training. The younger dragon didn't intend to hurt her.. It was his first day to wield a hammer, in fact, and... Well...

Nemesis' smile didn't fall, but the sides of her mouth twitched a bit in the beginnings of a frown. She hoped it wasn't all that noticeable. "I... I wish I could train with you, but..." She raised her permanently injured paw. It was the left front one, dropping pathetically off of her limb. It would probably be better if it was just amputated, but it wouldn't change a thing. Nemesis still couldn't walk without difficulty. "Um... I... Used to be a good fighter though... For a Vulcan... I would like to watch you..!" She put some excitement at that last sentence, hoping not to dampen Inferno's thrill, which was admittedly contagious.

Nemesis had shown her injury to Inferno, and suddenly the pieces clicked together. The dragonet hadn’t thought twice about why she was walking around with a limp, and even if she did she’d just assume that it was a pulled muscle, not a crippling ailment. Regardless, the fact that this dragon was injured had no real bearing on Inferno’s opinion of her. For all she knew it was due to some intense battle.

“Oh,” Inferno said, her eyes drawn to the limp paw. “well...I suppose that’d put you at even more of a disadvantage if we sparred together, then.” She looked up at Nemesis with a cocky grin. “That’s okay, you probably wouldn’t have been able to take me anyway. I’m too hot to handle!”

The dragonet blew a puff of smoke out of her nostrils as emphasis.

Suddenly, her expression shifted to something a bit more serious. “You fought for a Vulcan? That must’ve been great! I bet he gave you all the good weapons! Maybe you could see if he’d make one for me? I’d love to get my talons on a sword to slice my enemies into little pieces! Or maybe a hammer to bash their heads in! Ooooh...that’d be so much fun!”

Inferno dug her front talons into the ground a little, getting very wound up about the prospect of fighting and glory. She kept her eyes locked onto the older dragon and smiled a little. “But yeah, I like that plan! Come watch me train, then maybe you can see about getting me a really cool weapon! My dad said I’m still not old enough to own one, but honestly, I don’t think he was ever fit to own one. Plus, I’m seventeen. How much older do I need to be?”

The dragonet’s claws grew lax, releasing the tight clutch she had on the soil below. Without waiting for a response, she exclaimed, “come on! I’ll show you the spot!” Her wings unfurled and she took off into the air, flying toward the outskirts of the village.

((Nemesis meant that she herself was a Vulcan, but that's okay! That gave me an idea for this topic! Nemesis lends Infernoclaw a few weapons she had made in her time as a blacksmith, and it's like, "surprise!"))

Nemesis' tracings of a frown disappeared and turned into a smile as Inferno made no nosy comment on her paw. Better yet, she didn't make any statement like "ohh you poor thing I'm so sorry"-- but after seeing Infernoclaw's spunky attitude, Nemesis would definitely be surprised if she did that. She tilted her head as Inferno mentioned her fighting for a Vulcan... Nemesis fought for a Vulcan? Who was the--- oh.

Well! At least now she knew what to do with the weapons she had leftover from the years of her previous career. Nemesis watched as the Trainee flew swiftly over the village after offering excitedly to show her the training spot. Nemesis frowned. What would Inferno say if Nemesis told her she was afraid of heights? As if having a crippled paw wasn't enough, this FireWing also refused to fly... But that didn't mean she was slow on foot. After a long time of walking with a broken foot, Nemesis had grown fast on her paws. She took a deep breath. "C- Coming!!" The dragoness picked up the pace, running underneath Inferno's shadow. Inferno was still faster than her, but Nemesis managed to keep up at an impressive speed.

After a few seconds of flying, Inferno began to hear something strange. It wasn’t so much a noise, as it was an absence one. She’d expected to hear wing beats behind her, or feel any sort of indication that the dragoness was following her. Yet everything was silent. As though she were flying alone. After looking over her shoulder, she was surprised to see that, in fact, she was.

Nemesis was...running? Why was she running when she had an injured paw? As if to add another layer of confusion, her wings had looked to be in very good shape. In fact, they were in better shape than some of the other dragon wings she’d seen back at home, and even those ones managed to at least get them off the ground.

Maybe there was something else wrong with her, something that Inferno couldn’t see.

The thought of this dragon being a bit more complex than face value irritated the dragonet. She hated when things were any more complicated than what was presented, as it meant she actually had to read into others. Inferno despised reading, both literally and figuratively.

Saving those thoughts for when she landed, the young dragoness continued flying until she saw the small patch of black earth that was her training area. It was burned from the amount of times she’d unleashed uncontrolled flames from her maw, while some of the trees surrounding it were torn and beaten from when she’d hit them with her tail and claws.

After landing harshly in the clearing, she sat and waited for Nemesis to catch up, tapping claw to the ground impatiently.

When the older dragon had made it to her, Inferno glared at her. “You know, it would’ve been way easier, and faster, if you flew with me. Why didn’t you? I would’ve thought hurting your paw would’ve made you want to fly twice as much as any normal dragon. Are your wings hurt or something? They look fine to me.”

((sorry for short post, I'm at school ))

Nemesis was frightened and guilty as she saw Infernoclaw's frustration written all over her snout. Dang it, Nemesis, don't cry... You're such a wimp! were Nem's thoughts. But the skittish, shy dragon couldn't help it. She didn't want it to seem she was trying to get attention or for Inferno to feel sorry for her, but... Dang it. As if being crippled wasn't enough, why would Nemesis be afraid of heights?!

She turned her head so the Trainee wouldn't see her tears. "I... I'm sorry." Her voice cracked. "I... I'm scared of heights." She wondered how she would react. Would Inferno like her anymore?

((No worries! I love it I just wanna hug Nemesis, she’s so cute x3))

Inferno’s head cocked to the side when Nemesis’ eyes started to well with tears. Was this dragon, one that used to be a Vulcan, truly so sensitive? It left the dragonet more than a little flabbergasted that she’d feel sad at a mere question.

Then the answer came. At this point, a lot of the dots were being connected in the brash dragonet’s mind. This isn’t some fierce warrior in disguise, she thought, this dragoness is just a rabbit-petter! A wimp! Maybe that’s more common among vulcans, though, since they smith more than they fight.

Inferno couldn’t hold back the look of disgust on her face, as though she were looking at some sort of abomination. Even though this dragon wasn’t exactly filled with valor, it went beyond comprehension that any creature that was born to fly would be afraid of heights. It was even more strange that such a creature had managed to survive this long without flying. How did she hunt? How did she do anything?

Taking a step forward, the trainee dipped her head low and squinted, as if to observe Nemesis more closely.

“I can’t believe it...what kind of dragon are you? Are you sure you’re a FireWing?” Inferno didn’t intend for her words to sound as harsh as they came out. She tried to lighten her remark by chuckling a little bit, but that just made it worse, like she was making fun of the dragon. “I mean, I never knew a dragon could be afraid of heights. That’s so weird.”

In truth, a dragon like Inferno wasn’t exactly armed with the knowledge of how to handle a crying dragoness. The most experience she had was when she was younger, where a dragon her age had cried because she bumped into him and caused him to fall down, to which she responded by telling him to ‘get over it’ and flew away before she got into any trouble. Other than that, there were the times that she cried. Her father had handled this by putting his wing around her and holding her close until she either calmed down or fell asleep.

Since Inferno was fairly sure she wasn’t supposed to tell Nemesis to simply ‘get over’ her fear of heights, the young dragon opted for the latter option and sidled up next to her. She brushed their wings together and tried to talk in a comforting voice, but instead it just came out as awkward. “Uh...it’s okay, Nem. I mean hey, it can’t be all bad, right? You probably have some pretty strong legs from not flying...well, at least three strong legs…”

Inferno sighed, trying to think of something better to say.

“You’re pretty too! Like, super pretty. Other dragons must always be asking you to breed with them, which would be good! It’d be good to pass on some of your genetics to your hatchlings, like your beauty and stuff.”

The dragonet groaned and placed a talon over her face. She could barely understand the words leaving her own mouth. It sounded so strained and awkward that a twinge of embarrassment could be felt in the back of her mind. Had this been any other dragon she might have behaved a bit more gruff. For some reason, however, she felt obligated to try and comfort Nemesis. Perhaps it was because the ex-vulcan reminded Inferno of her own father.

((Awh my goodnezz tanks ;ω; I like Infernoclaw! She reminds me of Glory from Wings of Fire, prolly mixed with a tad of Peril <3 )

Hearing Infernoclaw's first response only made Nemesis' eyes become more puffy. A single hot tear slid down her crimson cheek. She expected this response from a feisty dragonet like Inferno. She just... Well... It was confusing. Nemesis was used to dragons questioning if she was even right, I suppose could be said. But it was somehow more painful to hear it from a dragon who admired her about five minutes ago.

Nemesis perked up her ears and looked to the younger female with misty eyes as their wings comfortably brushed. At first she was afraid of being rebuked even further, but... There was something confusing in Infernoclaw's eyes. Something that seemed to be oddly misplaced in this strong, spunky dragoness. Was it... Uncertainty? Inferno had seemed confident in all her abilities until now. And though her next two replies were awkward and sounding forced, Nem smiled feebly. It didn't matter what those statements sounded like. She could tell that Inferno, despite her tough and determined exterior, had a trace of a soft spot inside. And this dragon cared about her. That was... Comforting.

"Th.. thank you... I..." Nemesis' smile grew. "You're... C- Cool. Thanks for.. being nice to me..." She swiped away a tear, sniffing.

((Tbh I got misty eyed as I read your post and wrote this ;ω; This is a beautimus friendship)

((Ah! I’m so glad to now know another fan of the series ;w; Wings of Fire is a huge inspiration of mine, and definitely my most recent addiction. I finished Escaping Peril and started Darkstalker, but have been taking my time with that one. Also, I’m glad this RP could spur up such emotion :3))

“Yeah, yeah...just don’t go telling anybody that,” Inferno said with a snicker.

When her eyes met with Nemesis’ again, there was a sudden emotion. It was strange, like she was diving toward the ground. Her stomach felt excited and her mind sparked in such a way that seemed to shock her back to life. As if she’d been sleeping for the longest time and only now had been awoken.

What was it?

Inferno didn’t quite know, but she knew it started to build soon after Nem had thanked her for being kind, for at least attempting to make her feel better. Nemesis’ gratitude pierced the young dragon’s chest and made her feel warm, or at least warmer than the hot sun had already made her feel. The smile, no matter how feeble it was, sung a pleasant melody to her.

Three moon’s, Inferno thought, I thought the sun was supposed to fuel my fiery passion! Instead, it’s melting me like snow. I gotta toughen back up before I start knitting and reciting poetry.

“Anyway,” Inferno cleared her throat and moved away from Nemesis, “I wanted to show you some of my awesome moves! Maybe you can show me some of yours. Or, at least, you could show me your fire breath.” The young dragoness tilted her head slightly. She spoke in a half-serious, half-teasing manner. “You’re...not afraid of fire, are you?”

All of Nemesis' sorrow was vanquished as soon as she heard Inferno's chuckle. She was somewhat glad that the attention was off of herself. She didn't like to get drama often... And even more, she could see that Infernoclaw was beginning to look uncomfortable. Nemesis could see that the 'making dragons feel better' career wasn't a special skill of hers-- but apparently combat was. Or was going to be. Nem would like to see this Trainee's level of skill thus far.

The ex-vulcan was a bit disappointed as Inferno moved away from her. But that disappointment was outweighed by the vast amount of understanding. Nem knew that affection wasn't in Inferno's dictionary, but the FireWing admired cuddles.

Nemesis nodded slightly at Inferno. Though her nod was small, it was sincere. "Yeah... I'd like, uh. To see how you are.. in fighting..." Nem smiled. "Ha.. ha... No. Not scared... Fire is. N- nice.."

Finally! Inferno thought, something we really have in common!

Though Inferno may have been reading a bit too much into it, Nemesis saying that ‘fire is nice’ brought out joy in the young dragon’s expression. She reacted this way because, likewise, fire was one of her favorite methods of killing her prey.

“Great! I love fire too! It’s such an effective way of killing things.” Inferno wrapped her tail around her own talons, “one time, I flew way high up and torched a bird while it was mid-flight. I managed to catch it before it hit the ground. Isn’t that so cool? No one was around to see it, of course, but I swear it happened.”

Inferno cleared her throat before sitting upright. “I guess since we’re on the topic, I should go ahead and show you my fire breath first. I’ve been really itching to use it since I woke up this morning.”

The young dragonet moved away from Nemesis a little more, then turned her back toward her. She proceeded to dig her claws in the ground, planting herself. After drawing in a long breath, her jaws nearly unhinged and a surprisingly large gust of fire shot out of her maw. So much so that it surprised Inferno herself. Her head lashed left and right as if she were having trouble controlling the fiery current, igniting anything unlucky enough to be in front of her, which was fortunately not very much.  

When she was finally able to close her mouth, the young dragonet placed her talon on her throat and began coughing. Her coughing turned into weezing, as small fiery embers seemed to be leaving her mouth and nostrils. She stumbled forward before turning and looking at Nemesis. There was a hint of fear in the young dragonet’s eyes, but that soon disapated as a smile graced her lips.

“Whoa...that was pretty cool. Haven’t been able to…” Her sentence was interrupted with another fit of coughing, as the reverberation of her voice tickled her throat. “...to get my flames that big before. I guess it’s either the weather, or maybe I’m actually getting older. Either way, that was super cool! Between that and whatever weapon you give me, I’ll be a force to be reckoned with!”

Nemesis' eyes widened as the giant gust of flame swept majestically from Inferno's maw, like a hurricane of fire. As it seemed like the fellow FireWing was struggling to control them, the older female began to stammer. What to do..? Of course, control over the fire came with age, so Nemesis couldn't really throw advice at the Trainee. Would it help if Nemesis got a huge bucket of water and just dumped it on Infernoclaw's head? No, no, that's a dumb idea. Or, what if--!

Nemesis let a sigh of relief escape her maw as her new friend finally controlled her power. She smiled feebly at the Trainee as she expressed her pride of the might she just unleashed. Despite Nem freaking out, she was, admittedly, impressed. "Yeah, uh... About that weapon.... What kind.. W- Would you like?" Nemesis owed Inferno one! "I- I have spears, hammers, swords, javelins..."

The offer of a weapon made Inferno’s eyes light up with excitement. She practically bounded toward the dragon with all the enthusiasm of a hatchling. It was clear that she felt far too excited to keep up her tough facade.

“Oh! A sword! A sword would be great! Or maybe...a spear would be perfect for jabbing other dragons at a distance. Maybe a hammer. Agh! All of them sound good! Would it be possible to combine them all into one awesome weapon? I have two talons, so maybe I could have two awesome weapons!”

Inferno’s mouth hung open in a broad, goofy smile as she searched Nemesis’ eyes for an answer.

Before another word could be uttered, however, wing beats wafted air against the ground behind Inferno. Feeling the wind against her back, she turned around to see who could possibly be landing in such a secluded area. To her shock, she saw that another older dragon was landing a short distance away. His eyes were locked onto Inferno with piercing anger.

“Hey!” Inferno exclaimed, stepping toward the stranger aggressively. “This is my training grounds. That means friends-only.” She stopped and stared at him, her eyes trailing up and down his body. “Wait a minute...don’t I recognize you from somewhere?”

“I changed my mind, dragonet,” said the malicious FireWing stranger. “I don’t care if your mommy is here to protect you. Now that we’re away from any watchful eyes, I think I might as well teach both of you a lesson you’ll never forget!”

Inferno kept staring at him, then grimaced. “Nah, not ringing any bells. I’m afraid I don’t know who you are.”

“What?!” he roared, “I am Emberwood! I’m the dragon whose stand you broke back in the village!”

“I don’t really recall that,” Inferno said, a bit of humor laced into her intonation. “unless...oh! You’re that loser who was complaining about his broken stand!” She looked back at Nemesis and repeated in a hushed tone, “he’s that loser who complained about his broken stand.”

“That’s it! You’re just beggin’ for a beatin’!” Ember flared his wings then started to charge toward the young dragoness.  Inferno dug her talons into the ground and focused her eyes on him as he ran toward her. Before he could reach her, though, she released her grip on the ground and jumped to the side. She then quickly clambered onto his back. From there she started to bite the back of his neck as hard as she could, drawing a bit of blood. He let out a yowl of pain and shook until the dragonet was flung off of him.

“Get off me, you runt!” he exclaimed, his focus now solely on Inferno.

"Inferno!!" Nemesis called out, tears now flooding her yellow eyes. Did he just hurt her?! Perhaps for the first time in years, Nemesis felt anger. A burning, flaring fire sparking at the bottom of her soul, and as she watched Emberwood throw off Inferno, it roared into a wildfire. That's it. I may be a wimpy little dragon-- No, not a dragon. Whatever I am, I will NOT allow this innocent be bullied by this beast.

Nemesis took a deep breath. She could take Emberwood. She just... She just had to try. For Infernoclaw. Even if it meant crippling another limb. She kept her wings folded tight at her sides, but raised them up slightly at the tips to make her look bigger than she actually was. She flared out her ruff, and forced a snarl. Prowling up to Emberwood, she spat out a puff of burning fire.

"Eep!! I- I'm sorry, I.. I just!!" Nemesis began to stammer, but then she mentally facepalmed and faced him again. "G- Get away. N- Nobody l- likes y- you." yeah, that's right... I'll hurt his feelings. I guess. "H- Hey. I, uh... Man. I- I hate your guts. Y- Your snout l- looks like a.. a... A p- pinecone!! N- Now get o- out of here, or I- I won't be your fr- friend!"

After having been flung off of the bigger dragon, Inferno righted herself as best she could mid-air. Unfortunately, even though she landed on her talons, momentum made her stumble onto her back. She scrambled to right herself and immediately got back into her fighting stance.

After staring at her enemy for a moment, she turned and looked at Nemesis, who was approaching in a rage. Inferno felt giddy inside. She’d never imagined such a shy dragon could look so menacing. It looked like she was about to tear Ember’s head off!

Unfortunately, Inferno got no such show.

Almost immediately after the first plume of smoke left her, Nemesis began apologizing profusely. This caused Ember to allow himself a moment of distraction. He looked at her with a confused, wrinkled forehead. Then, the insults came flying his way.

The words were about as effective as straw against rubber, never even piercing the outer surface. In fact, her attempts at insulting him only made the confusion on his expression grow lax until it completely disappeared. A smile began to grow on his lips and he couldn’t quite stop himself from laughing.

“You’re joking, right? That’s your way of attacking? I didn’t know they made dragons without spines!” His laughing continued, and he pointed a claw at her injury. “If all you can do is insult me, where did that come from? You’re far too pathetic for anyone to fight seriously!”

“Ember!” Inferno exclaimed. With the smug smile still on his face, he turned to the dragonet. The amusement he was displaying drained almost instantaneously as he saw her suck in a breath.

“Pick on someone your own size.” With that, Inferno’s mouth snapped open like it did before and a strong whoosh of flames burst out and engulfed Ember, practically concealing him inside a cone of fire. The blast of fire only lasted for a few seconds before the dragonet closed her maw. Out of her peripheral, she made sure Nemesis wasn’t showing any signs that she’d been hit by the flames.

Naturally for FireWings, Ember’s scales were resistant to heat. The fire didn’t do any real damage. His eyes, however, were wide open when the flames hit. This caused him to recoil in pain, stepping backwards and placing a talon over his eyes. “Ah! You little-”

As the older dragon stepped backwards, his tail touched a tree and he immediately turned and began swiping furiously at it. He couldn’t see a thing at the moment, so everything around him could very well have been an enemy. The base of the tree had gotten scratched quite a bit, making it teeter on the brink of falling down.

“Just you wait!” he exclaimed, looking quite frantic and borderline terrified that he was at a disadvantage now. “My son and I are gonna hunt you two down! We’ll kill both of you!”

Just then, Ember ‘s back talon hit a rock, causing him to trip and fall to the ground with a harsh thud. From the shear vibration of his fall, the tree creaked and snapped as it toppled over.

Inferno inhaled sharply and held her breath while her eyes widened. She didn’t realize until that very moment what it was she was going to experience for the first time.

As the heavy tree fell, it landed directly onto Ember’s neck with a sickening crack. Any yells of pain and any angry insults were cut off. His neck had been broken and all that was left was his body beneath the tree.

Inferno swallowed hard at the sight, then looked to Nemesis with one of concern. “...are you alright, Nem?”

Nemesis froze, her blood running cold as she witnessed the sickening death of a dragon. She... Didn't know what to think. Sure, he was mean, but... Did he really deserve that? He had a son... But, heck. That was just Nemesis' heart that was way too big for her chest. Emberwood was rude. She had a feeling that she and Infernoclaw weren't the only dragons he had threatened to kill... If he hadn't killed others already. The thought made Nemesis shudder. Her eyes looked glassy.

"I... I..." she blinked, her eyes returning to its vibrant gold. "F- Fine... That was... sc- sc- scary..." She looked to Infernoclaw. For once, Nemesis didn't frown. Nor did she smile. Her face was expressionless. That death she just experienced was traumatizing. "Are... Y- You 'kay?"

“I’m fine, maybe a couple of bruises but…” Inferno looked spooked. Borderline terrified by what they’d just witnessed. Sure, this was a scuffle that was bound to happen, but death? That was the last thing on the dragonet’s mind.

Ever since she was old enough to comprehend the concept of war, she dreamed of her first battle. The thought of crossing swords or talons with another dragon excited her, even more so was the prospect of actually killing them in some violent way. Although, in all of these fantasies, she’d always imagined her first kill being a dragon from a warring tribe. Maybe an EarthWing. Never had she even thought of killing another FireWing.

Yet that’s what had happened. Accident or not, Ember was dead and it was because of them.

No, Inferno thought, it was because of me. I’m the one who used my new fire breath to attack him. I can’t let Nemesis be held responsible for any of this.

The dragonet let out a shaky breath. “...Nem, what’s going to happen now? I mean, it’s one thing for a dragon to die in an accident but,” she paused and sighed, “this is bad. This looks really bad. I think maybe we should get out of here before anyone finds us. I don’t want to find out what the guards would do if they caught us like this.”

Nemesis nodded. "Y- Yeah.." She looked down at the corpse of Emberwood. She began to feel sick, seeing the limp and snapped appearance of his spine. She felt as if she were about to retch, but swallowed for no reason. She didn't want to puke. She put her crippled paw on the ground, forgetting the injury, and stumbled for a few seconds-- then she corrected herself and limped out of there as quickly as she could, which wasn't very fast. Nemesis could feel sweat on her forehead... And she wasn't even warm. After seeing that death, she was like an ice sculpture. She was nervous. The female glanced over her shoulder to check if Infernoclaw was following.

"What... Wh- What if s- someone finds the b- body..." Nemesis blinked back tears, her yellow eyes glistening with moisture. "His son..?" If Nemesis ever had hatchlings, she would be traumatized if she found one of them dead, neck snapped and head lolling limply to the side... Wouldn't a child feel the same way upon seeing their parent in the same state? Flames...

Inferno took one last glance at Ember, staring at his corpse for a moment before finally turning and walking away with Nemesis. As freaked out by the event as the dragonet was, the older dragoness seemed to be twice as bothered. She stammered out questions that Inferno didn’t know the answer to, which was beyond irritating to the brash girl.

“I don’t know, alright? Stop with the questions,” Inferno responded angrily. Her head felt like it was spinning enough as it was. Like she was already asking herself those same questions over and over again.

After a brief moment, she looked up at Nemesis with a bit of remorse, as if to apologize for her rude tone. “I mean, I don’t know. Unless he told anyone where he was going, I don’t think his body would be found fast enough to really incriminate us.”

Once the two of them were a distance away from the gruesome scene, Inferno stopped and turned toward Nemesis. “We need to go somewhere to clear our heads for the time being and formulate a plan. Do you live nearby? If not, I’m sure my dad wouldn’t mind us using our cave.”

((I had an idea that could be used for our roleplay:: I've had a character idea that will be Nemesis' brother :3 Probably younger or in the same batch, but probably younger since I was planning him to have odd scales for a FireWing. Purple. So probably a NW/FW hybrid? Meh x3 Well, until I get to hop on a laptop to create him, we could use him as an NPC. I think I've already got his personality figured out, and it's doubtful that Inferno would like him, which I thought would be fun for roleplay XD I already figured out how they could meet. "Hey, you! With the totally uncool scales!" Idk if you may get who this character may be based off of, since the game isn't as popular, so yeah ⊙ω⊙)

Nemesis flinched upon getting snapped at, stopping to look at the younger female in a rather melancholy manner. Knowing Inferno, she knew that the Trainee didn't mean it. Nemesis nodded sulkily at her much more softer response, then rose her front paw to rub her eyes pathetically. Her feelings weren't hurt, but it was just like the FireWing to get spooked by harsh tones. She glanced back in the direction they ran from. Dangit, Nemesis... Get that image out of your head. But she knew that she would see that scene in her conscience for, well.... A long time. And no remedy could cast it away.

"Y- Yeah..." Nem nodded. She glanced around without moving her head. "Lead... Th- The way...."

Inferno walked ahead, leading Nemesis in the direction of the cave that she and her father lived in. Naturally, as a FireWing, her cave was located close to a volcano. This made for an easy landmark to follow should she need to find her way home.

Every so often the young dragon had to stop herself from walking too fast, lest her new friend get inadvertently left behind.

Friend, she thought, are we still friends? I mean, I DID just kill another FireWing right in front of her...maybe she’s scared of me now.

Normally, the thought of other dragons fearing her was quite pleasing. In this instance, however, she felt the complete opposite. Even if Nemesis was soft, the dragonet cared about her opinion. The thought of caring about what someone thought of her was all too confusing to Inferno, so she didn’t spend too much time thinking about it.

After a long, silent walk, the two dragons came upon a cave, Inferno stopped before entering. Hesitating. Then, with as much gawl as she could muster, she entered.

“Dad?” she called out, “dad, I’m home.”

“Who’s there?” What looked to be a pile of rocks bundled in the corner, in fact, turned out to be a large dragon instead. His head lifted and he turned enough to reveal a nasty looking scratch across his left eye. A scar that’d rendered his eyelid permanently shut. “Do I hear the queen?”

Oh boy...not this again, Inferno thought as her head ducked a little. “No, dad, it’s me. Inferno.”

“I don’t know,” he responded, amusement abundant in his voice. “I think you might be the queen of the FireWings herself! Oh but if only I could see you, my dear, I’m afraid I’ve recently gone blind.”

“You’re not blind, dad, you’re just looking with the wrong eye.” The was a hint of childish joy in Inferno’s voice. However, she tried to contain herself since she was with company.

“Oh really now? Well isn’t that silly of me.” The large dragon stood up and approached his daughter. “How could a dragon of my age and intellect have not figured this out by now. Are you sure I’m not blind?”

“You’re not blind, dad. Just look at me with your good eye!”

“Oh yes, but of course. I will-”

The dragon’s sentence was cut short as he opened his undamaged eye and looked toward Nemesis. His pupil dilated a little bit and he inhaled sharply.

“Huh...you’ve grown since this morning, Fighter.”

Inferno chuckled a little, “dad, this is Nemesis. She’s my…” the dragonet caught and corrected herself, still unsure about her current standings with the ex-vulcan. “...we just met earlier today. I invited her over to our place because...”

Once again, she paused. It was at that point that the young dragon realized she was unsure whether or not to tell her father the truth about what had happened. Though she’d always longed to be honest with him, she decided that perhaps now wasn’t the time to do so. There was no telling what his reaction would be.

“...I wanted to show her our cave. Do you mind if we have it to ourselves for a little bit? We wanted to talk with each other and do friend things.”

Friend things? Inferno thought, putting a talon over her face, I sound like a loser!

Inferno’s father tilted his head at the suggestion, looking back and forth between Inferno and Nemesis. After a moment of silence he smiled and nodded his head. “Of course! I’ve always looked forward to the day that you finally brought a friend home. Even if she’s a bit older than you.”

He approached Nemesis, bowed his head, then spread his wings wide. “I am Dirgeflame, by the way, former soldier in the FireWing army. It’s a pleasure to meet you. Might I add that I find you attractive.” The smile melted into a grin. “And don’t let my age fool you, I’ll have you know that I’m quite spry for an old dragon.”

“That’s enough. It’s time for you to go stretch your wings.” Inferno walked up behind her father and began pushing him toward the cave entrance. Letting himself get rushed away, he let out a small laugh before spreading his wings and flying off into the distance.

Once he’d taken off, Inferno turned to Nemesis and ducked her head shamefully once more. “Sorry about that. He tends to do that around female dragons...which probably explains why he doesn’t get a lot of attention from them.” She let out a gentle laugh, as if hoping that the joke would tell her a little bit more about what Nemesis thought of her.