Belladonna

Clan Member: First Generation

~***~

"Plaguebringer curse you, you winged rat!" came a shout from the midst of a distant outcropping of rocks, just outside the immediate vicinity of the lair.

SirFuzzyboots jumped, nearly dislodging Titania from where she'd been nestled in his mane. Morgana startled and took to the air, and Creamcake pushed his pearl behind himself and lowered his horn for a charge. Prettyboy turned and lifted his head to listen, tail lashing side to side, and Morgause jumped reflexively into a fighting stance.

There was a shriek of fright and alarm, and from the top of the outcropping flew Morgaine, winging it away from the collection of rocks as though they were on fire. She rose twice as high as he trees in Starwood Strand before she managed to get her bearings and change direction, diving for the entrance to the lair where the rest of the clan was watching in alarm.

"What happened?" demanded Titania, coming forward to place herself at the head of the congregation.

"I . . . I . . . I . . ." Morgaine stuttered, badly flustered and wide-eyed in fright.

"Did someone hurt you?" pressed Morgana, settling just behind her mother in deference to her authority.

"I'll go check!" Morgause volunteered immediately. She would never admit it, but she'd come to care for her gentler younger sister, and would not abide her being harmed.

"Stay here!" snapped Titania, but too late. Quick as a wink Morgause took off, speeding toward the source of the noise. Immediately Morgana shot after her sister, and Prettyboy and Creamcake weren't far behind her.

Titania growled in exasperation, then doubled back to pluck at SirFuzzyboots' mane to make him follow her.

By the time they reached the rocks, everyone else was already there.

"It's a Mirror!" Morgana exclaimed, as soon as Titania had caught up to them.

She was right. A mirror dragon, with dark iridescent hide and shimmering Obsidian wings, covered in white linen bandages wet with her own blood. She was badly hurt, with wounds on every limb except her face, struggling and scrabbling at the hard ground but unable to go anywhere, or even stand on her own four legs.

"I was trying to help her," Morgaine explained from her position atop the tallest rock, where Morgana was cuddling sympathetically to her side.

"You should have told me," Titania tutted, examining the Mirror with a critical eye. "Mirrors will let you help them if they're injured, but they won't thank you for it. She'll be gone to join a hunting pack in The Scarred Wasteland as soon as she's healed."

"No I won't!" howled the Mirror, hysterical in her fury. "My leg's been bent wrong for days, and I can't feel my tail, even the pain! I won't hunt with a pack again, in this state! I'm a cripple, a useless, dead-weight cripple! You should have just left me to die where you found me on the border, you slack-jawed idiot! Plaguebringer curse you! Plaguebringer curse you all!"

"That's quite enough of that," Titania pronounced, "and you won't die."

"I will so!" The Mirror snapped obstinately.

"No you won't," Morgana contradicted, fluttering down to settle beside her mother. "You'll stay here."

"I'm not a softy clan-dragon," spat the Mirror bitterly.

"We're not soft!" Morgause growled, and Prettyboy rumbled threateningly along with her.

"But we're not so cruel as to let you waste away outside our lair either," Titania finished. "My daughter found you and cared for you, so you'll stay with us. You may not be able to hunt in a pack again, but you'll fish, catch insects and gather just fine, and help with watching and training hatchlings."

"I'll keep your hatchlings in line," laughed the Mirror. "I'll give 'em tough hides though, maybe tougher than you can handle."

"Good," said Morgause decisively. "It'll be nice to have someone to help me make more fighters."

The Mirror eyed her suspiciously for a moment, then grinned. "I like you," she cackled, "you're the smart one, ain't you?"

"No," Creamcake interrupted, speaking for the first time. "That's me, actually, and I'll be keeping a sharp eye on you for the foreseeable future."

The Mirror bared her teeth at him, but said nothing.

"If you're going to join our clan though," Morgana piped up, "you'll need a good name. Eloquent. Majestic. Beautiful. Like mine, basically. "

"Name's Poison," the Mirror told her. "Sorry if it's not pretty enough for you, your Highness, but it's the only one I've got."

"What about Belladonna?" Morgaine suggested. "That's a kind of poison."

"Belladonna," hissed the Mirror. Her tongue slithered out of her mouth, as though tasting how the word slipped between her teeth. "Yes, I think Belladonna will do nicely."