Pyre

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Though his eyes glow a soft pale yellow, indictating his home flight was in Light, he had not even lived there long before he left it.
One day, he had strayed too far from his home lair, finding himself on the edge of Shadow flight’s territory. Curious, he continued to wander into the pine trees.
After a while, he grew tired. Looking around, he quickly realized he was lost. His paws dusty and his ears growing cold from the shadows, he shivered. Needles crunched under his claws as he walked around, searching for a place to rest.
Finding a small hollow under a large oak, he finally lay down, his chin resting on his front paws and his long tail curled around him.
Too tired to think, he slowly drifted into sleep.

Blinking his eyes open, he lifted his head, expecting gentle sunlight to fall across his snout and warm his scales like a blanket. Instead, all he felt was cold, chilling him to the bone.
Confused, he looked around, bleary-eyed. Slowly, he realized his surroundings and began to remember where he was.
Wings heavy, he stood up, looking around. Pines stretched as far as he could see, and sunlight struggled to shine through the thick, dark branches. The ground was painted with shadows, turning the dirt a shade of purple instead of brown.
Suddenly, he spotted movement among the trees. Cautiously, he took a few steps forward, wanting to investigate.
Then, he saw what—or, rather, who— had been watching him. It was a Wildclaw, a pair of goggles and a dark purple mask covering his eyes and snout. His fur was brown, his feathers dust-colored.
“Who are you?”, the small Imperial squeaked bravely, standing on his hind legs and spreading his flame-colored wings to make himself appear larger.
The Wildclaw chuckled in response, slithering out from behind a tree. He tilted his head, looking at the small orange dragon curiously.
He bared his teeth and tried to look fierce, wanting to scare the Wildclaw off. Instead, all his effort just made his stomach growl.
The Wildclaw stared at him for a moment, then ran off.
Ha, I scared him away! I must be so tough-looking!, the little Imperial thought, puffing out his chest in pride.

His stomach growled again. Ignoring it, he sniffed the air, trying to make sense of where he was. The thick, dense smell of pine filled his nostrils, and his whiskers twitched in annoyance. I can’t smell anything with all these dumb trees around!

Scanning the area again, he looked for a sign or hint at where his home could be. Nothing.
With a hopeless sigh, he sat down again.
After a little while, the Wildclaw he’d seen earlier came back, a rabbit dangling from his jaws. He placed it carefully on the ground and nudged it towards him.
He was hesitant at first, but the warm smell of fresh prey was inviting, and he hadn’t eaten all day.
While he was eating, he noticed the Wildclaw turning to leave.
With his energy beginning to return, he no longer felt the need to return home— He wanted to explore!
“Hey, wait!”, he called to the Wildclaw, chasing after him. “I wanna come with you!”

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P y r e
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