Vulture

She might have been a Wildclaw, but she certainly didn't act like one. The female had never been good at fighting, nor even at hunting. That quickly lowered her status in the eyes of her peers until she was barely regarded as ranking above even the hatchlings. She even gave up speaking, fearing that any word from her mouth would be met with challenge and a subsequent fight. She kept her eyes down, averted her gaze from anyone who even so much as glanced in her direction.

One would think that, in a Wildclaw clan, this would mean she would train herself to become an artist unlike anything the world had ever seen. One would be wrong. She hated art, didn't like painting or sculpting, had no use for any of it. It can, one supposes, be difficult to care about such things when you are starving. Being so lowly, she only got to eat after everyone else and never received more than a few bones. She realized that if she was going to survive, she would not be able to depend on her clanmates. She would sneak out at night to scavenge food, filling her belly with things at which other dragons would turn up their snouts. This unusual and "shameful" behavior earned her a name among her peers that they felt was befitting of the scavenger: Vulture. As time passed, she left her clan behind, realizing that there was nothing for her there. Even though she could barely hunt she knew it wouldn't be the end for her to be alone, that there would be plenty to eat as long as she remained clever.

---

She found herself in the Tangled Wood, and fell in love with the land easily. There was plenty to scavenge here; one barely had to be able to hunt properly to find food. In here it wasn't about how strong you were, but how cunning you were. And she certainly was that. She began following a clan of warriors, watching them from the shadows. She saw that they left death in their wake constantly, always providing an easy meal for her wherever they fought. Yes, she found herself devouring the corpses of fallen enemies the warriors left behind. Other dragons might find such eager cannibalism disgusting and unnatural, but survival was more important to her than decorum. She was tempted to reveal herself to them, perhaps joining them so that she might have more consistent meals, but she resisted. As a warring clan, why whould they be any different from the Wildclaws she had left behind? They certainly wouldn't want a weakling who could neither fight nor hunt draining their larder. She sighed and resigned herself to linger at their border, coming out only when they had left more bodies in the dirt.

---

After watching a particularly successful hunting session, she found herself following the dragons back to their lair. She could not say what compelled her to follow them. It might have been boldness, it might have been curiosity, but it was probably hunger; the clan had not fought anyone in several weeks, and she was growing thin again. She had fallen into relying on their bloodlust to sate her own hunger, and in doing so had become accustomed to full meals. Now, scraping up a few bugs or animal carcasses no longer filled her belly like it used to. As she sneaked quietly behind them, she heard voices in the distance. Cries of greeting and excitement rose out of the darkness, and she nearly gasped in surprise! There had to be at least 50 dragons here! All different species, and most of whom she had never seen out in the woods before. She couldn't believe that the dragons she had been following were only the hunting and warring parties, never had imagined that they had any clan memebers who engaged in other activities.

She watched in fascination as a meal was prepared, the many dragons uniting around an enormous bonfire, seeming to be engaging in a celebration of sorts. As the food was passed around and the dragons began feasting, her mouth watered and her stomach growled. She would be patient, she would sit here and wait for them to eat their fill and then fall asleep, and then she would-

"Aren't you going to join us, dear?" A soft, clear voice asked in her ear. Her heart nearly stopped as she spun around to see the dark Skydancer standing right behind her! She knew from her spying that this was Deathstryke, the leader of the warriors and the most vicious dragon she had ever watched. Deathstryke, she knew, reveled in violence and would kill a dragon with more joy on her face than a new parent watching their first egg hatch. How had Deathstryke known she was here? And how had she not heard her approach? So many questions raced through her mind simultaneously, doing nothing to calm her. She wanted to look away, to drop her eyes to the ground so as to not appear as anything other than humble and defeated as she had done so often in her old clan, but she was frozen in terror. Her wide, trembling eyes met with Deathstrykes' steady, blood-red ones and she tried to open her mouth.

"I...I...", she stammered, as Deathstryke gave her a warm smile.

"We know you've been following us," Deathstryke continued, the smile widening. Vulture felt her knees weaken. "You aren't the only dragon to be able to move through these woods unseen,"

An enormous black Imperial female suddenly materialized out of the darkness, melting seamlessly from the shadows. Vulture started, shocked by her appearance. How could such a large dragon move so stealthily? She must have been following Vulture while Vulture was following the others!

"Ankaa here is what you might call our night watchman," Deathstryke went on, grinning. "Now, come along dear, do sit with us. We haven't had need to kill anyone in quite some time, so I'm sure you must be famished", she finished with a wink, putting a gentle hand on Vulture's shoulder. Would the surprises never end tonight? So they knew what she did, then. And they would not condemn or drive her out? No indeed, it seemed Deathstryke had a keen glint in her eye as she looked Vulture over and remarked on this rather gruesome behavior. She walked side by side with Deathstryke and Ankaa, joining the other dragons around the bonfire. No introductions were made, she was simply given a seat and a heaping plate, which she accepted gratefully but still uncertainly.

The dragons around her seemed to take little notice as their leader brought the stranger into their midst. Either they were too drunk to care, or perhaps as warriors they trusted their Mistress's instincts and knew that no one she would bring into their fold would pose a threat. Vulture cleaned her plate quickly, and received more food promptly. Plateful after plateful disappeared down her gullet. She was so hungry! She wanted to stop, was afraid they would think her greedy, but she just needed more. To her continuing surprise, she was given as much as she could stomach. The friendly cooks never let her plate become empty until at last she finally had the courage to speak up.

"I...I think I'm full now," she announced shyly, noticing with some embarrassment that none of the other dragons had plates in front of them anymore, and were all looking at her.

There was a very distinct pause before all the dragons erupted into raucous, drunken laughter at her statement, cheering and whooping as though told a tremendous joke. She was suddenly swarmed by the clan members as they clamored over to greet her officially. She was pounded on the back by the aggressive fighters, had her feathers rustled by the more playful members, and shook hands warmly with the few refined dragons that almost seemed out of place compared to their many rambunctious and unpolished fellows. Goblets of wine were pressed into her claws and toasts were drunk: to her, to others, to the Shadowbinder, to their Lord and Lady, to their Mistress, to strong hatchlings, to successful hunts and fights, to fellow clanmembers long past...

The toasts went on and on, with the clan getting progressively more and more inebriated and happy with every passing sip. Vulture felt warm and comfortable at last, watching with amusement as a game seemed to be made of it, with the dragons now going around in a circle to see who could make the funniest toast. At last the turn was hers, and as the dragons looked eagerly to her to see what the newcomer might say. She looked into all of their faces, no longer afraid to meet their eyes, finally feeling like she was somewhere she belonged. She raised her own goblet and said loudly and clearly,

"To family"