Wilt

Rose sat quetly in her parent's den as she drew colorful figures on the small papers in front of her. Light pink blossoms decorated her shining pelt. She smiled down at the small painted dragons that played on her paper, proud of what she had created. "Oh, Rose! I thought I had told you to go outside every once in a while?" she heard her father's voice call from the entrance of the leafy den. "I know, but-" Rose tried to protest, but stopped as she saw the stern look on her father's face. She knew her parents wanted her to make friends and eventually find a clan shed stay with, but drawing was way too fun and outside was boring to her. There was nothing to do, just walking and waiting until she was allowed back in.

The small Gaoler frowned as she left her stack of paper behind and trotted into the forest. Birds sung around her and she stopped several times to smell flowers that grew around the clearing in front of the den. She turned back to see if her father had left the den again so she could sneak back inside, but he was standing at the entrance, watching her to make sure she'd stay out in the forest. Rose knew that it was good for her to make friends and be outside for a few hours, even if it bored her. She sighed as she trotted further into the forest, breathing in the fresh air and listening to the humming of insects and the singing of the birds around her.

The young dragoness was unaware of the demonic eyes watching her from the shadows as she wandered deeper into the large forest. As she stopped to drink from a small river a twig snapped behind her, making her jump and turn to see a large light blue Gaoler with glowing orange eyes staring at her. "So you're Amber and Angel's little daughter... Oh how proud they must be of your beautiful colors." The strange dragoness laughed and Rose looked up at her in fear, her fur standing up. Her legs shivered and she frantically searched for an escape. "Oh don't you try to run, I won't do anything too bad!" the Gaoler smiled wickedly before chanting in ancient words Rose could not understand. The small dragon's eyes grew heavy and before she knew it Rose passed out, the last thing she saw were the demonic, glowing eyes of the dragoness in front of her.

As she awoke her head hurt and she carefully stood up, looking around confused until the memories came flooding back to her and she shot glances around her, searching for the dragoness that had caused her to faint. Rose sighed as she noticed that she was alone again and turned to take another drink from the small river, shaking off the strange feeling she had gotten from that weird dragon. Rose's eyes widened as she saw her reflection in the clear water. Her once rose colored blossoms had wilted and her eyes had turned almost as demonic as the strange Gaoler's. She jumped away from the water and looked at her paws in a panic, gasping as she saw the black flowers that grew from her golden fur. Tears escaped and rolled down her cheeks as she curled into a ball, trying to understand what was happening. Had the dragon cursed her? What was going to happen to her? Surely she couldn't go back home like this... Was there a cure?

The sun disappeared behind the horizon and the world around her turned dark as night fell and Rose finally stood up, taking a last look into the direction her parent's den had been before shaking her head and walking in the opposite direction. Her parents shouldn't see her like this... She wasn't going home. Rose was unsure of what to do, but her paws carried her towards an unknown destination. She could hear crickets and an owl and enjoyed the quiet sounds of the night as she began thinking. Her name would not fit her anymore as her rose colored blossoms were gone, her parents would be afraid of her now because of the demonic eyes and all of it was because of that Gaoler. She looked down at her paws that were whirling up bright green leaves that swirled around her wilted blossoms. Wilt. She liked that name, it sounded dangerous. Wilt stopped and stared at the sky with a determined look. She was going to make that dragon pay and she wasn't going to stop until she had gotten revenge.

The young Gaoler had been walking and searching for the icy colored dragoness for several months and yet she didn't seem to have aged one bit. Her body was still like a hatchling's and she slowly became annoyed with it. After all, how was she supposed to fight with a body this small? Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of paws trotting closer to her and she hid behind a small berry bush, staring at whoever stepped into the small clearing. Four young dragons chattered as they looked around. "How about we stay here for a while?" a small Tundra hatchling asked, his fur reminded Wilt of the night sky and his eyes looked like her own, but instead of yellow they were a deep purple. A tall, dark Skydancer, glued to the side of a sickly looking Pearlcatcher seemed to agree to the question the hatchling asked. A second Skydancer looked around, her eyes stopped as they fell upon Wilt's own. The small Gaoler froze and stared back at the strange looking Skydancer. The grass where her paws touched the ground wilted and the many eyes that decorated her body seemed to stare right into the young dragon's soul.

"Erwinia, what's wrong?" the hatchling asked as he walked over to the weird looking Skydancer. "There's someone in that bush over there. I think it's a Gaoler, Thistle!" Erwinia explained to the Tundra. Wilt stepped out of the bush, her teeth bared, ready to fight if the four dragons turned out to be dangerous. "She's a hatchling! Hey, are you alright? Do you need help?" the Pearlcatcher asked, stepping next to the Tundra, leaving the dark Skydancer to stare at Wilt. "She isn't a hatchling..." Thistle said, slowly walking towards Wilt, whose eyes widened at what the other dragon had just said. "How did you...?" Wilt trailed off as Thistle stood in front of her. "You are cursed, like us. I don't age either, Erwinia, the nature spirit over there, kills all nature she touches and Malum and Cinis here kill whoever they touch. I'm guessing your flowers weren't always that color?" Thistle asked the young Gaoler. Wilt, in turn, stared at the four with her jaw dropped, nodding slightly and wondering how this dragon knew so much. "Can you help me get revenge on the dragon who cursed me?" Wilt asked once she regained her posture.

"That sounds like a bad ide-" Malum started but Thistle interrupted her. "That sounds like a great idea! Maybe whoever cursed you knows about our curses as well!" he smiled.