Four Crescent Moons - Chapter Three

 

 ~ Chapter Three ~

'So this is where most scavengers live? '

        The little archers on the wall slowly lower their weapons, cautiously eyeing Crescent. Cocoa waves to them and they open the doors to let the other scavengers inside, and then a whistle sounds through the air as an arrow  strikes the dragonet in the shoulder. He yelps, stumbling back and hears a ton of shrieking from Cocoa, as if angry at them for attacking him. He looks at the brunette and then at the gates and sees a young male scavenger rubbing the back of his neck and seemingly being scolded. Crescent lays down, putting his head down and looking at Cocoa. He nudges her with his snout and  points to the mountains. She looks sad for a moment, buts seems to understand and hugs his neck. He gently rests his chin on her shoulder before pulling away and leaving something from his bag on the floor in front of her. She picks up a  piece of jewelry made of vines and bones, with a small piece of Obsidian with a Moonstone shaped like a crescent engraved in the middle. She smiles and puts it around her neck so it becomes a necklace. Crescent backs away and waves to her, jumping up and flying away toward the mountains. He glances back to see her waving back and smiles to himself, turning back to his destination ahead. After a few hours of flight, his wings start to get tired and he decides to take a break. He swoops down a touches down near the trees of the Rainforest Kingdom, ruled by Queen Glory. He lays down and closes his eyes, deciding to take a nap to regain his energy after flying for so long. 

Crack!

        He jerks awake after hearing a stick snap near him in the trees. Pretending to be asleep, he waits for whoever or whatever it was to come out, but nothing happens. 'It was probably just an animal.' he thinks to himself, relaxing and drifting off into sleep. But before he can once again slip into the dreamland, something nudges him. "Guys, I found someone!" They yell. Then, in a quieter voice, "Hey, are you okay?" Crescent looks up, blinking away the drowsiness. He sees a large Mudwing, head tilted and curious look on their face. He looks somewhat around Crescent's age. The dragonet speaks again, "Sorry to wake you up. It's just not very common to find someone sleeping in this forest. Least of all a Nightwing." Crescent nods, "I'm fine." He curls up his tail carefully, so he doesn't accidentally poke or stab anyone with his poison barb. The dragonet notices and suddenly looks both excited and slightly fearful. "Oh! So you're a hybrid?" Crescent mentally cringes and frowns, looking away toward the ground. 'I only look like a triwing, maybe I should lie. I've only just met him.' He sits up and winces, having moved his arm. The dragonet gasps, "What happened to your shoulder? Want me to help? I can help remove it if that's okay with you. Those scavengers that live near home aren't very friendly." Crescent considers for a moment and nods, "Please." The Mudwing gets a bit closer and grabs the shaft, making Crescent flinch and he mutters an apology.  He places his other paw on Crescent's shoulder blade. "It'll probably hurt less if you take a deep breath." he says. Crescent nods again and inhales deeply. He exhales and feels the arrow get yanked out of him, making him grunt and face plant onto the ground, as a way of holding back a very long and loud shout of pain. His claws on his head, he buries his face into the dirt and leaves. Despite wanting to scream and shout, he stayed silent. "Hey, you okay? Or at least awake?" he hears the Mudwing say. He nods, sitting up and wiping the dirt off of his face. "Not all the scavengers are hostile and mean." The dragonet now looks confused, "Huh?". Crescent looks up at him, "You said the scavengers that live at home aren't very friendly. Maybe you just haven't met the right ones." He looks at the ground and starts to doodle little drawings with his claw. "That's actually a good explanation. Say, I haven't asked you your name. I'm Mudskipper. You can call me Skip for short." The Mudwing smiles and sticks out a fist. Crescent looks up at him again and sees two other dragonets come out from the brush behind Skip.

        He shrinks back and backs away from Skip and the new dragonets. "Hey Skip. Who's this?" says a Rainwing. "I dunno. He hasn't said his name yet. It's okay, these are my friends." says Mudskipper. Crescent gives them an apologetic look, "Sorry. I-I'm just n-not used to friendliness, especially not from multiple dragons. I-I'm Crescent." Skip nods, "It's alright. I'm Mudskipper, as I've told you. This is Sycamore, a Rainwing. And this is Aqua, a Seawing." He points to each of them as he speaks. Crescent nods, "N-Nice to meet you." Aqua squeals, "I've never met a Nightwing hybrid before! And you're a cute one at that!" Crescent blushes a little, "I'm actually..uh, a t-triwing." Aqua's eyes light up, "Even better!" She bounds toward him and his eyes widen. She pounces on him and hugs him, "Your parents are mixed?" she asks. He shakes his head, which is a bit hard to do since her snout is so close. "I don't know my parents." She gets off and helps him up. 

With the wrong arm.

        Crescent winces and grabs his shoulder. "Oops, almost forgot. Try not to touch his left shoulder, I had to help him pull out an arrow." says Skip. Aqua apologizes and Crescent shakes his head, saying it's fine. "So, where're you headed?" asks Sycamore. Crescent looks up toward the mountains ahead, "Jade Mountain Academy." Skip's ears perk up, "So you're one of the already enrolled students?" The triwing shakes his head, "I've been planning to go there for a while, but I couldn't find a way to get there without getting lost. So I guess I'm a surprise." Aqua smiles, "I've met the teachers, they're really cool. Tsunami's the best though." "No, it's Clay and Sunny! They're the nicest!" "No, it's Glory and Starflight!" Crescent looks back and forth between the three arguing dragonets. "Guys!" They all look at him. "Don't you think we should be focusing our energy on actually getting there?" They look at each other and nod. "Yeah." They all agree and take off into the air.

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Chapter Four