What Lurks In The Shadows (WoF)

❄️ Chapter 28 - Mink ❄️

Mink's memory never truely failed her, and as she sat in the quiet darkness, the IceWing fought to remember how she ended up here.

"It's useless, thinking of how you got here." A NightWing called out to her. He had just almost appeared there overnight, and Mink wasn't sure where he had come from.

The teardrop scale near his eyes glinted in the dim light that illuminated the cave.

"How- oh." Mink was ready to defend herself to the petty NightWing before noticing the scales around his eyes.

"That's not helping, Sharpclaws. Stop flaunting your powers at us." Jackal rose from a cliff's edge farther away and began to glide down towards the two.

Mink sighed and dropped her head onto the ground.

I just want to go home.

"You and the rest of us." Sharpclaws hissed, his tail twitching irritably.

A LeafWing, which Mink recognized as Holly from the Silver Winglet, coiled backwards in the corner.

"We are going home, right? Willow and Sundew will be so mad if I'm not..." She mumbled.

"We are." Mink stood proudly, shaking her spikes to get the other dragons' attention.

Jackal looked up at her, and so did Sharpclaws.

"We'll find a way out, and it doesn't matter how many dragons we have to fight." Mink called.

Sharpclaws rolled his eyes, but Jackal flapped his wings loudly. "Yeah!"

"And what will we not do?" Mink asked the others, sharply gazing at the NightWing.

Sharpclaws mumbled, "Stay here and pout."

"Yeah!" Jackal looked around. "Let's start looking for a way out right now!"

"No, no." Holly began, looking scared as ever when the others turned to look at her. Mink waited for her to continue.

"If we want to escape, we need to go at night."

"How will we even know if it's daylight or nighttime outside?" Sharpclaws sneered at the LeafWing.

"We'll be able to tell.. I'm sure. I just know we shouldn't do it in the middle of the day, for the three moons' sake."

"Holly has a point. That is your name, right?" Jackal mumbled the last part to her, and Holly nodded.

"I guess we should get comfy." Mink stated, curling on the ground again with her talons tucked beneath her.

"Let's get to know each other!" Jackal suggested. "I'll go first!"

"Fun.." Sharpclaws buried his head in his wings for a minute.

"I'm Jackal, and I was an Outclaw before my mom brought me here. Then, we all know, I was kidnapped."

"I remember a dragonet, her name was...I don't remember, but she was really, really worried." Mink pointed out.

Jackal gasped lightly. "Fog." His eyes were pained and Jackal stared into space before shaking his head. "Um, who's next?"

"I can go." Mink offered. She cleared her throat. "My name is Mink, and I practically begged Snowfall to let me come here. She's my sister, but you guys don't have to bend over backwards for me.

"Princess Mink? Really? I thought you just had the same name as her." Sharpclaws perked up, suddenly interested.

"Yeah." Mink giggled lightly.

"What's it like living in the palace?" Jackal asked.

"It's...nice. I guess. It's better here, I don't like the quiet there." Mink told them all. "Sharpclaws, what about you?"

"If only I could focus enough to talk." The NightWing mumbled. "All your thoughts are drowning me right now. I'm Sharpclaws, and I grew up in the Rainforest. Happy?"

"Is there a way to dim my own thoughts?" Holly asked, seemingly concentrating hard on something.

"No." Sharpclaws hissed.

"Holly, your turn." Mink began, breaking the LeafWing's concentration.

"Oh, I'm Holly. Duh. I grew up in the Poison Jungle, alone mostly, and after the LeafSilk Kingdom was made official, Sundew and Willow, my moms, adopted me from being without a parent. Their like my idols."

"Cool!" Jackal exclaimed.

Holly dipped her head a little low. "But that's enough about us. We need an escape plan."