Fang

The sky above snowsquall tundra was dark with storm clouds as Swiftfang trudged trough the snow. His pace was deliberate, though considerably slow. His muscles ached with every step and the throbbing pain on the left side of his face had only grown worse. He needed to rest and he needed to eat, but he pushed that to the back of his mind, instead focusing on this moment, where he had to fight his way trough the snowy banks of the tundra to even have a chance of surviving. He knew from experience that the easiest way to find shelter from a brewing blizzard was to dig a simple burrow on the root of a tree, then let the branches and the surrounding snow protect you. Too bad that trees weren't exactly common around these parts.

He cursed his rotten luck and the entirety of the Southern Icefield, when the air started to thicken with snowfall. He picked up his pace and headed towards a small patch of bushes already covered in snow. They wouldn't give as much of a shelter as a tree, but they could keep him from completely freezing to death. He stopped and started to evaluate the best spot for a den, when the sound of a snapping twig alerted him. He instinctively crouched down below the dense bushes. He held his breath as he tried to see the heat signature of what had caused the sound and slid carefully trough the branches. His heat vision was blurry and the burning in his other eye made it difficult to see at all, but he made out the approximate size of two figures. They both were a little smaller than him, winged and smelled of fresh bird blood. When he heard the other one tearing into some kind of prey, he figured that they were a pair of hainu that had strayed from their natural habitat for some reason, Fang didn't really care what.

He was wary at first, not sure he could beat them both in combat in his condition. Soon hunger won out and he figured a surprise attack would startle them and he could snatch a bird or two in the confusion. He gathered the last of his strength, tensed his muscles and leaped out with his claws ready and teeth revealed in a vicious snarl. Almost immediately when his opponents came into view, he realized his horrible miscalculation. He didn't even have time to regret it, before he felt magic-fused talons smack into the wounded side of his face. His momentum alone took him past his assailant and face first into the ground. The hit wasn't hard, but it was still too much for him in his weakened state. He was out cold as soon as he hit the snow.

---

All Fang could sense was blackness and his own inner heat. A stark contrast to the white of the snow and chill of the cold wind he had left behind. For a moment that seemed to last forever, he was at peace. Then, suddenly, he remembered everything. Who he was, where he had come from and where he was. He wasn't safe here. The burning on his face was the first thing he felt through the darkness. Then, the ground against his side. He concentrated and tried to return to reality, but his body wouldn't move. Fang could now feel the aching of his muscles, as every fiber of his being screamed to be left there to rest forever, but he was only encouraged by his returning senses. Finally he regained enough control to draw in a beep breath. The air was cold, but it didn't sting his lungs as he had thought it would. The air was too warm, he was sure of it.

It felt like trying to move a boulder without touching it, but he dragged his hand forward, only to realize that he wasn't laying on snow, but conifer branches, in a makeshift bed. The next thing to return were the hunger pains. He pulled his head up from the branches, trying to ignore it's weight and forced his eyes open. The burning grew immediately worse and made him loose focus and drop his head on to the bed. He cursed silently in his mind, but didn't stay down, instead re-opening his eyes, this time more carefully. The burning wasn't as bad and soon his eyes were focused on the little room he had been brought into.

The walls were snow and looked like they had been dug by claw. The room was just barely big enough for him to fit into and the entire floor was covered in the branches that formed the bed. Fang couldn't see where the tunnel that left the room led, but he could hear voices, no, a voice, coming from it's other end. He was determined to find out where he was, so he pried himself up on to his forelegs. The effort made him feel lightheaded, but he pressed on regardless. He leaned against the wall of the narrow tunnel for support and slowly made his way to the other end.

The tunnel opened to a larger room, this one big enough for four mirror dragons to fit into comfortably. There was a kindling fireplace in the center, with two chickens roasting on a stick. Fang wouldn't have hesitated to immediately wolf them both down, but he was stopped by a pair of eyes in the corner of the room. A large hainu stared at him, but oddly didn't seem hostile. It only sat there and watched. Fang was just about to try taking the chickens again, when a figure emerged from the doorway that most likely led outside. When it entered the circle of light emanating from the fireplace, it shook it's white fur and blue wings to get rid of the excess snow and revealed itself as a female tundra dragon.

She greeted Fang with a great smile that showed her long, pure white canines.
"You're finally awake! That's wonderful."
Fang gave her a cold look. "You where the one who knocked me out in the first place."
The smile immediately melted from her face and was replaced by guilt. "I - I'm so sorry. I didn't think it could hurt you so badly. I didn't mean to..." Her gaze fell to the floor. "I didn't mean to claw your... eye out."
Fang felt confused for a second, lifting his hand to the left side of his face. The burning had subsided a little, but was still there. "My...?" Then he remembered the fight. The pain and the humiliation. The exile. The memories where still fresh and made him pull his face into a snarl. He was returned from his memories by the tundra, who had now taken the two chickens down from the roast and was offering them to him on a wooden plate. She still wore the apologetic look on her face. When Fang looked at her he finally realized what she had said and for some reason, be it his hunger or lack of rest, he couldn't help but find her distress humorous. He cackled to himself, further confusing the poor tundra.

"Are you alright?" She asked warily, convinced that her guest was having a nervous breakdown.
"I'm (he he) fine." Fang managed to tell her, before remembering the food he had been offered. With one last glance at the tundra, he laid down on the floor and dug in. She walked over to fetch a few plants from a bag in the corner and returned to sit opposite of him. They both ate for a while, Fang gulping down entire mouthfuls of meat while the tundra picked carefully at a cactus branch. Finally, having finished the birds, Fang spoke. "You weren't the one who took my eye. It happened a few days ago in a fight."
The tundra looked up at him, at first with disbelief in her eyes, then relief surging to replace it. "Oh, so it wasn't my fault! That's great! I don't mean it's great that you lost your eye, but..." She paused as if remembering something and then faced him once more. "My name is Silver. I hail from the Clan of Gull Cliffs." she said nodding her head in a small bow.
"I'm Swiftfang." he replied. "I belong to... no clan." Fang couldn't quite put his claw on it, but something about her presence made him feel at ease. They talked for the rest of the evening, before huddling together to sleep for the night. Drifting at the edge of consciousness, he thought that maybe his exile wasn't all that bad after all.