ChocolateMilk

Two eyes peered out from under a hood, flickering back and forth as they scanned the area. The sun was getting lower int he sky- if the dragon those eyes belong to wanted to make a move, she would have to act fast.

She kept low to the ground, crawling behind a thick swathe of grass, eyeing her target. He was armed, she noticed to her displeasure. Her contractor hadn't told her about this when he sent her on the mission. Just that some rich dragons from the Carrion Canyon wanted a clan leader dead. It sounded like an easy job, just sneak in under the cover of night, but she was beginning to think differently.

That scheming, dirty Bogsneak probably wants me dead, she thought.

The Coatl made her way closer now, and under the cover of shade, darted from one log to hide behind another. She was thankful now for the rush of the water nearby, as it covered any noise she made in her progress.

But her new problem, now, was how to dispatch of the Mirror. The trident on his back sat in a way that she knew he likely was capable of using it, and his claws had the faintest of glow that caused her concern. She knew it was from an aspect of brewing, of course, but being raised by a clan of assassins left her lacking in alchemical knowledge.
She scraped together what information she had. An armed adult dragon alone on the outskirts of his clan. That, at least, she could work with.

A ranged attack will work best, she recalled, if he's armed. So long as I can aim under that outfit... She settled onto her hind legs and tugged the bow neatly from her back, taking an arrow between her fingers.
Breath in... She drew the arrow back, squinting down the shaft.

Hold... She steadied her aim as the Mirror watched the water, leaving his front left leg exposed. She tilted the arrow downwards and made a quick mental calculation to consider the wind.

Fire, she thought calmly, releasing the arrow. Her heart jumped, adrenaline beginning to fill her as it always did.

It was a good thing, really, because the Mirror looked Furious. She ducked down behind a log, her feathers dampening with sweat.
Mirrors, she thought back to her training. Agressive, fast, fierce... Her fear grew and her guts felt like they were sinking as she remembered the facts. Then, with a flash of terror, she knew what she should have remembered from the start.
Heat vision.
She had no chance of running, no chance of hiding... She could fly, though.

Leaping from the log, she clambered on top of it and vaulted off, flapping wildly, as the Mirror closed in behind her, gaining speed despite the arrow in his leg.
It sounded like he was shouting, but his words were lost on the wind behind her. She clutched her bow and headed for the water. If she could cross back to the Tangled Wood and recover in the safety of her clan, she could formulate a plan and return on a later day.

As if they would take me back after I failed this bad, she thought miserably. I guess I ought to go freelance, then.

She noticed, pulling from her thoughts, that the water was startlingly close.
And it was getting higher.
And her wings...

Water clogged, she thought in a panic. She tried to turn back but found herself unable to orient herself in the air.

And, her wings bending behind her, she fell from the sky.

---

"A Coatl, here, is this the one?"
"Appears so. Is this a quiver? Let me see. One arrow left, and it matches. What do you want us to do with her?"
"Bring her to the center of the clan, I will handle her from there."

The Coatl opened her eyes and jolted up as she felt herself being dragged. Someone had a grip on her tail and another hand was on her wing. She trashed back and forth, sand grating into her wings and digging under her feathers. "Let go of me!"

"Can't do, hun." A Mirror with blue goggled shrugged, tugging her along. "Although..." He made a humming noise around his breath. "If I do, will you try to fly away again?'

"No," she spat, bitter at the way she had been handled. There was a lightness on her shoulder that told her she was weaponless, and she wasn't yet dry enough to fly. Don't tell me there are only Mirrors in this clan... She began walking alongside the Mirrors, who had let go of her, letting her shake sand from her wings.

She was brought to a circle of dragons who watched eagerly. She saw the array of fins and crests and groaned internally. Also to her interest, however, was the abundance of Coatl dragons like her, and a few tundras standing to the side as if too nervous to approach.

"What's your name?" The dragon she had been sent to kill took a step forward.

Do not show aggression to a Mirror, she told herself, not wishing any more harm to come to her.

She looked up at him, trying not to look him directly in the eyes but a touch above them. She couldn't help but swallow nervously when she spotted the snake curling around his neck. "I don't have one."

"You don't..." He eyed her up and down. "Chocolate." Then, reaching out and batting away her head as she flinched backward, he regarded the stark color of it against her plumage. "Chocolate milk."

The Coatl, now known as ChocolateMilk, seethed quietly. Dark and muted colors were looked down on by the Coatl species, and this Mirror gave her a name mocking hers?

"Why are you here? You tried to kill me last night."
Getting right to business, then. I suppose they are a 'straight to the point' sort of dragon. She sighed and spoke, deciding right then and there to tell him the truth. Can't go back to my clan, and I definitely can't freelance if I'm dead. I may die anyway, of course, so that's hardly the point.

"I was sent to kill you. I am an assassin from a small clan in the Tangled Woods, working for a contractor who told me that I would be paid well for finishing off the leader of a small clan. I received directions to your clan and tried to do my job." Her eyes narrowed, "I obviously failed."

The Mirror shocked her by laughing at her statement. "It's a good thing for you that you did." He walked closer, unafraid of her. "My name is Jack. I'm the leader of this clan, the dragon you tried to kill, and I hope to be your future employer."

ChocolateMilk was in shock, her feathers puffing up immediately as if the emotion were a threat.
"You want to... Hire me? I tried to kill you!"

"Right. And unless you have any other reason not to, you'll keep trying to. There have been some lone Mirrors around here causing problems and I could use a dragon who can handle that. Also, I believe you may have a family here."

"I don't have family," she argued, immediately defensive. She grew a touch angry that he even suggested it, but stopped down her Coatl temper. She was trained better than that.

"Really? The two excited Coatls who saw you after you washed up on the shore seem to say otherwise."

ChocolateMilk found herself being welcomed by two dragons. The first was orange, with a sparkling gray underbelly, and a bird perched on his shoulder. His eyes sparkled kindly, a bright yellow. The second dragon was one of the most breathtaking she had seen. Crystal patterns danced over her wings, glimmering in the sun like they had been encrusted, yet her feathers each ruffled on their own.
"There's no way you could be my parents," she argued. "My egg-"

"Was a water egg found in the Tangled Wood, abandoned?" The dragon claiming to be her mother spoke in the chirps and whistles of the Coatl language, and ChocolateMilk frowned.

"I don't... I can't understand that language well, I was raised with other breeds. And... How did you know about my egg?"

She received her next surprise when a bundle of feathers pressed into her, wings wrapping around her in a hug. Her fight or flight response kicked in, but strangely enough, she found herself ignoring it entirely, going slack in the arms of her mother. Orange wings joined as well, and it was several long moments until she was free.

"We thought we had lost you forever when the egg went missing." Her father couldn't stop looking at her. "We... We guessed that it had rolled into the water somehow..." His voice nearly broke, and he whistled something she couldn't understand. She gave him a confused look, already overwhelmed by emotion.

"We will teach you our language," her mother reassured, "we can teach you everything, love, don't worry."

"What did you say?" She asked her dad, and he smiled.

"I love you."

ChocolateMilk looked at the Mirror named Jack and looked back to her parents.

"Still offering me that job? I think I have enough reason to accept."
Special thanks to Treva