Littleclaw

Nova and Nebula always were in a love/hate relationship. Nebula forced the shy female Nova to become mates with him. Nebula was mean to Nova in some ways. Nebula and Nova had eggs together, and one of the three eggs in the nest was small, and quite pale. Nebula wanted to kill the egg, saying that only the strongest blood should be allowed to continue in his lineage. Nova, of course, being the sweet and caring dragon she is, rejected the idea. She told Nebula that there was a living dragonet in the egg, and it would be cruel to dispose of it. Nebula turned his nose up at the idea, but was dragged into it anyways. He left the hatchery with Nova, sneering, "That egg better be male or i'll snap it's neck." The look of pure rage and hatred on his face was one Nova would forget. This angered the ancient spirits. What kind of father would do such a thing?

The spirits held a meeting that night, gathering in the stars above Water Clan. They made a circle with their bodies and sat down. "So." and old Guardian spirit siad. "What must be done to that self-centered, snob headed, Wildclaw?" he seemed to spit his words. "Father..." A younger guardian rolled her eyes. The young guardian stepped into the center of the circle. "In other words-" she shot a look at the guardian spirit. "Nebula needs a punishment." The spirits murmured amongst each other. A small fae, one who looked around twelve, shot her hand into the air. "Perfect." The guardian said, pointing to the fae. "Come on!" The female guardian retreated to beside her father. The fae spirit walked into the moonlit center of the circle. "Thanks, Pyro!" she called. This spirit was one that Water Clan treasured. Peyton, the daughter of the first child of Riptide and Stardust. Peyton looked at her fellow spirits with a look of pure determination. "I know what we do." She gave a mischievous look to Pyro.

A month later, the eggs were trembling. Nova sprinted to the nest inside of the warm hatchery. She swam at her full speed to the island in the middle of the pool of water where her eggs were. Nebula took it at a walk like he didn't care. He rolled his eyes and headed for the hatchery. By the time Nova got there, the first egg had started to hatch. The walls of the egg caved in, and a small little baby wildclaw emerged from the mess. Nebula looked at it with pride. The firstborn hatchling was male. The other egg repeated the same process, only hatching into a smaller wildclaw with different colors, but still male. Nebula took his two sons, happy, onto the floor. "Nebula!" Nova gasped, leaning over the nest walls. The smallest egg-the runt of the hatching, had hatched. In the pile of eggshell was the most beautiful dragonet Nova could have wished for. Nebula eyed it with hatred. The dragonet was female.

Peyton's spirit hovered over the nest. She, too was astonished by the hatchling's beauty. Now all she had to do was wait. Nebula said something in a huff to Nova, then took the two male hatchlings outside to play. The rest of the clan gathered around the two males, whom were perfect in every way. All of the dragons, except Autumn. He glanced at the hatcher and saw Nebula, still in the hatchery. He hopped over to look at the last egg. He smiled at it. "Hi, Autumn." Nova looked at the floor. "Hi, Nova. Nebula told me he came up with names for your other two dragonets. The first one Immortal, and the second one Duelist. He said to let him name that one." he ended, pointing at the female dragonet. Peyton was enraged at this. She flew down to the nest, and touched the hatchling on the snout. Nova looked at Peyton and wrapped her arms around the young fae. Peyton was Nova's best friend in her time in water clan. Peyton heard footsteps and looked towards the entrance. She flew upwards like a rocket, turning invisible. This was what she was assigned to do. Nebula inspected the dragonet. "Her claws are too small." noticing the dragonet had very small front talons. "She'll never become a warrior like that. In fact, those will be good for nothing at all, except pruning rabbit fur for trophies!" "Nebula, why must every one of our dragonets become so much like you! All you care about is them being warriors! Does it occur to you that they have more than one parent?" Nova exploded. Peyton began toying with magic in her claws. It was the right thing to do. The magic glowed orange. I really do hate this bit.. Peyton thought, blowing on the magic.

Nebula was horrorstruck. He yelled at Nova, "That one will be Littleclaw, a reminder of her imperfection." before sprinting out of the hatchery. Nova sank to the ground. Autumn followed behind her. "Hey, come on, let's go to my den. We can make sure-" Autumn winced before saying, "that Littleclaw is okay." Nova nodded, picking up Littleclaw by the scruff. She walked behind Autumn, trailing her tail in the dirt. Nova hung her head low as she brushed past the tendrils that covered the entrance to the medicine den. "She really is a perfect dragonet, you know." Autumn said, picking a violet from the strand that covered the roof and tucking it beside an ear. "Not in his mind." Nova mumbled, kicking up some dirt. "What do you care what he thinks of Littleclaw?" Nova shuddered as Autumn spoke her name. Autumn sat down beside her. His pink wing tucked around his friend. "Are you going to keep her name?" He asked. Nova nodded, a tear rolling down he cheek. "I can't change it..." Nova whispered. Littleclaw started walking around the medicine den. A butterfly flew in and Littleclaw kept trying to catch it. "Look, Nova, come on." Autumn told Nova. "It's not that bad! You have a healthy dragonet, that's all that matters." Nova nodded. "Let's go outside, I think the clan wants to meet it's newest member."

At twilight, everyone began to prepare for dinner. Immortal and Duelist were picking on Littleclaw, circling the dragonet. They attacked from both sides, but the smart little wildclaw jumped up and flapped her wings, avoiding their every move. Littleclaw's wingspan was twice her body length, and immediately caught air. She looked at her brothers with a smug look on her face. They, too, tried to catch her, but their wings were smaller and their bodies broader. Littleclaw angled her wings towards the apprintice's den, and glided over to the top. She sat there, dangling her tail like a dragon taunting it's familiar with a toy out of reach. Something rustled behind the three dragonets. Firework burst into camp, scraming, "IT'S A SPINY WHALE! COME ON!" Dragons all over the cam started to pack into the dens. Riptide grabbed Stardust and their children and helped them all into his den. Autumn was leading Rainforest and Tigger into his own den, along with Sparkle. Firework was indeed right. A giant whale flew into the camp. Nebula screamed, reaching for his male dragonets. But he was too late. The whale had scooped them both up and flew away. "No!" He screamed, flying after the whale. The spiny whale was faster than him, gone in an instant. Nebula let his wings go limp, falling towards the ground. "No..." he whispered, falling to the ground. He splashed down in a river, returning the next morning. Littleclaw, however, had survived the attack. Nebula eventually began to treasure his daughter, spending as much time with her as possible.

Six years later, Littleclaw was out digging with her mother and three other dragons from her clan. She popped her head out of the hole she was digging and plopped a sone on the ground. There was something at the top, however, that made Littleclaw scream and jump back. A curious dodo was staring at her, hopping around her small hole. Nova looked over and smiled. Littleclaw began petting the bird and becoming friends with it. The bird followed her home, and Littleclaw eventually got up the courage to ask Riptide if she could keep it as a familiar. "Why, of course!" Riptide responded. Littleclaw stayed up late, picking a perfect name for her dodo. "Hrm... How about..." Littleclaw thought long and hard. "What about... Draco?" The Dodo squaked, prancing around in proud circles. "Draco!" Littleclaw called, full of excitement. The dodo called, it's voice ringing around
the
camp
sending
sounds
into
the
heavens.