Tarragon

Tarragon sat anxiously. Was it a good move for the Alpha of the Water Tribe, Rosepool, to be allies with the Fire Tribe, under Flamescale's rule? Tarragon knew that it was risky. Flamescale believed that the weak (all the other Tribes, as far as she was concerned) should die and be eliminated. Why would Water ally with them? She looked at the other dragons who were sitting down in the circle. Flamescale, with dried blood on her claws, itching to fight under the truce. Jewelfeather, no doubt partially meditating. Gemstone, not taking her eyes off Flamescale for less than a minute in case she actually attacks. Adan and Fallenleaf, having fun with a game of 'Sprout and Wilt' (Noughts and Crosses), as if oblivious to the fact that the Gladekeeper and the Plaguebringer were enemies. Frozenclaw, who looked at Ripplesplash and Ashblaze, who were having a very loud conversation, disapprovingly. All the Betas, apart from Ashblaze, who Flamescale didn't allow, and Ripplesplash, who said he wouldn't do it if Ashblaze didn't, were busy reinforcing the trees near the Water Tribe after the storm. The Gammas were in conversations of their own. Duskfall, Ensemble and Shadowflame were discussing about places they have been and would probably visit again. The other Gammas were discussing about the damage of the storm. Inching closer to Ensemble, Tarragon started eavesdropping on them.

"I've been to other places other than here. I've been to every element's original place- apart from the Dragonhome," Shadowflame told Duskfall and Ensemble. "I have heard that he Dragonhome isn't bad," Ensemble said. "I don't really like how it looks from afar. Too... dry, and something about it just seems not right. I would rather go to the Scarred Wasteland," Shadowflame said as he shuddered. "You should go there. Trust me, it is really nice there. The other... what do they call them again? Clans? Something like that, are really kind and will accept anyone regardless of who they are," Duskfall advised. "Really? I might consider it then..." Shadowflame said. "Definitely! They have water there, of course, and have you heard of how dragon-kind came to be? They all originated from the Earthshaker, the ultimate deity of them all! Legend says that he was the first, and loved the other deities dearly, and did you know how they repaid him for that? They left him. Forever," Ensemble told Shadowflame. "Sounds a lot better than the Fire Tribe..." Shadowflame sighed. "It used to be a lot better there, until the tragic accident where the Alpha, Beta and Gamma died of an elemental attack."

Tarragon reeled back in horror. She had never heard of what had happened to the Fire Tribe. Since Flamescale had kept it all a secret, she could only hear from Fire Tribe members, how the Fire Tribe agreed that they needed a strong leader to lead them out of this unfortunate event. They had a competition- who was the best fighter. That competition determined the Alpha, then the Beta, and lastly, the Gamma. Flamescale had fought fairly for the first (and last) time in her life. She may not know the mythical 'eliminate' move, but she was still a formidable opponent. Scarheart was next, with him defeating Ashblaze and almost killing her in the fight, though, the fight made her gain his respect, as she willingly fought him even though she saw what happened to some of the other members who challenged him. One dead. Another wounded badly. These acts made the other dragons, apart from Ashblaze, refuse to fight him. Scarheart still made Tarragon shiver when she looked at him, full of scars from his countless amount of fights. The fight for Gamma was a close one, with Shadowflame and Dustfur. They were good friends, with many similarities between them. Shadowflame is naturally a Shadow dragon, though, was brought up in fire, hence the name, 'Shadowflame'. Dustfur was naturally a Fire dragon, from an egg that found itself in the Dragonhome. He was then brought up there, but moved to the Fire Tribe. They had always joked how Shadowflame was destined to go to the Dragonhome or the Tangled Wood. The fight was even, with a Gaoler fighting a Banescale. Shadowflame only just won when using a Shadow attack for the first time. Being super effective against fire, Dustfur lost to Shadowflame.

An elemental attack though... this is a different matter altogether. Depending on luck, and luck only, (though, if you get caught up in an elemental attack in the first place, luck already isn't on your side) an elemental attack could obliterate a whole tribe! Tarragon shivered. Thankfully, this natural disaster is really rare and can only happen during very special circumstances. During an elemental attack, the wind would blow gently at first, then harder. It would start to rain, and the skies would get darker and darker and the rain, heavier and heavier. It wold suddenly escalate, thunder would come down from the skies and cause fire, the rain would stop, but the rivers would flood. Trees would come down from the wind, if they weren't already struck by thunder. It would get really dark, until you couldn't even see your own claws, until thunder would illuminate the place. Under all this, the Earth itself would seem to tremble. The hail would come straight after, large enough to knock a dragon out. The skies would get lighter again, until you could see, but then the meteors would come, killing some of the still-surviving dragons. As sudden as it would come, it would be over, though, when you're experiencing it, it would seem like years. Everything would be back to normal, except from the damage caused, and the sky... the sky would be stained blood-red.

---

After the meeting, Tarragon was responsible for taking care of the hatchlings and teaching them. She had always loved hatchlings and wanted to have some herself, it weren't for the infertility problems she has. Rather than complain about this, she had decided to make the most out of this and regard it as a blessing. She had made a silent promise to herself ages ago that she would, instead of have hatchlings herself, she would take care of other hatchlings for her tribemates. This dedication made her Gamma.

"Swiftflight, Cloudleap, Reedwind, it's time for your training!" She called. Two hatchlings were tussling and bumped into her leg. The third walked over calmly. Swiftflight was a female Tundra who was very energetic and won't sit still. Cloudleap was a male Wildclaw who would never back down from a challenge, be it far-fetched or dangerous. Reedwing, however, was the one with the most common sense. She was a female Snapper, who was always getting her friends out of trouble. Being mocked for her being a specific type of dragon breed, she would always ignore them and prove them wrong. That time when an adult Skydancer pretended that she was a rock? He soon found out that the 'rock' was attacking him with magic, and he had to retreat for the sake of his 'pretty' feathers. The incident where she found out that another cruel hatchling had dared Cloudleap to eat some poisonous berries that wouldn't be enough to kill a hatchling, but would make them unwell for the rest of the day? The cruel hatchling somehow mysteriously started to get ill for the rest of the day. Secretly, Tarragon had always admired Reedwing.

"What are we going to do this time?" Swiftflight asked curiously. "We are going to practice flying long distances, like we did yesterday, and also visiting the boarders of our territory," Tarragon replied back. "So, kind of like a patrol?" Reedwing asked. "Exactly like a partial, this time, flying, and don't forget to work on our stealth. You may not think much of it now, but it really helps when you catch another tribe secretly invading. The... 'element' of surprise helps!" Tarragon educated them. "A 'surprise' element? I thought you said there were only eleven elements?" Cloudleap said, surprised. Tarragon sighed. Cloudleap could be quite slow sometimes. She left Reedwing to educate her friend. Turning to Swiftflight, she pointed at a slightly smoking point in the distance. "We are going to go over there. Any guesses?" Tarragon asked the hatchlings, who were eagerly taking in her words, as always. "That's where the Fire Tribe's territory borders ours," Reedflight answered instantly. "Correct," Tarragon said. Suddenly, Swiftflight took off towards the smoking lands. "Race you there, Cloudleap!" He said as he looked over his shoulder. Cloudleap then took off, trying to catch up to Swiftflight. "Not again!" Reedflight muttered to herself before taking off after them. Tarragon sighed. She would have to go after them too. She had forgotten that when Swiftflight's patience snapped, he would do almost anything to entertain himself. Even if it meant flying over hostile lands... "Oh no!" Tarragon shouted. She quickly took off and started flying. A light-hearted challenge had turned into a life-threatening race between the hatchlings, Tarragon and Flamescale's patrols that were ordered to kill any hatchlings on sight, and to blame it on natural causes. (Not grown dragons, but possible if the Fire patrol outnumbered the grown dragon significantly.)

Landing on the lands that were charred by fire, Tarragon looked around, and to her dismay, she saw that Fire patrol had already seen the hatchlings and were heading their way.

Awkwardly crouching down and trying to stealthily get closer to the hatchlings without being seen, she wasn't exactly camouflaged. Moving behind a large obsidian rock, she positioned herself so that she was ready to fight if anything bad happened.

(More coming soon!)