Under The Full Moon

Instigation

It had been a few days since she had last seen Broin, but Gale expected it. He had family in the village that needed him and she didn't expect him to be with her all the time. Part of her thought it would be nice to have someone around all the time that she could trust, but she didn't expect it. Thinking about her friend returning, she couldn't stop the smile that formed on her muzzle. It was nice to have someone that she could consider as such. She took the couple of days to inspect her boundaries, testing the collar to see how far she could go. She would start in the center of the territory where she had been left, though try as she might, she couldn't find where they had taken her to make her what she had become. The surrounding area as she went out from the center was large, taking her several hours on foot to reach where the collar began to send an electrical tingle down her neck and shoulders that caused her fur to bristle in distaste. Snorting, she backed up and started toward the center again. 

Gale did this several times before she found herself growing tired, her muzzle opening wide in a yawn. Making her way back toward the lake where Gale had set up as her place to relax, she thought about what she would do for the rest of the evening. She still had to hunt, having been a bit preoccupied with her boundaries than she had been with trying to find food. She was about halfway between the lake and the center when she heard something behind her. Turning, she was met with a blow from above, a loud screech of a roar making her ears ring. Trying to scramble away, Gale felt a grab on her tail, the other seeming to target the injury to her tail. She was pulled back toward the dragon that had grabbed her, the hiss of breath against her ear as the bigger beast stood over her. Rolling onto her back, Gale's ears pinned back against her head and her eyes widened.

"You may think you have it easy... But this is MY territory..." The growled words rumbling in her head, making her feel as though her brain was being rattled. "He is mine... but you... YOU are all he talks about. You and your feathers... your perfect colors," the dragon hissed. It was then that Gale understood, her brain piecing the dragon's words together, why the voice sounded so familiar. This wasn't just some dragon trying to fight for her territory, to drive her away from what they would perceive as the perfect spot for expansion of their own.

"Gremora..." She whined, trying to worm away, though she was stopped by the grip tightening on her injury. "I... I can't control what he says or does... I never asked for this..." She tried to reason with the dragon standing over her. Gremora bared her teeth at her with a snarl, the sound startling Gale into silence. She had fought the creature that followed the Wizard, but she hadn't face another dragon before. She had hoped she would never have to. She tried again to get away, pushing her paws against Gremora's chest as she worked to try to get out from beneath her. This served to enrage the dragon, who let go of her tail but grabbed her about her throat and pinned her down against the dirt, her free claw finding purchase on one of Gale's wings. She roared in pain as she felt Gremora's claws bury into her flesh, the weight of the other pulling feathers from their place in her wing.

"This is all your fault... You showed up while he still aspired to find others... had you just stayed away then he would have been satisfied with having me alone... he and I could have taken on the world together and made our presence something to be feared!" Gale felt tears burning at her eyes, her wing feeling as though Gremora had just breathed fire onto the feathers, her claws digging further into her skin between her feathers. She was about to speak again when something made her stop. There was a bright light welling between the two dragons, a blue hue exploding like lightning. Gremora looked down toward the light, roaring in surprise and shaking her head as a blinding light erupted. She stepped back away from Gale, who took it as the chance to get away. Shoving the other away, Gale made a break for it, taking to the trees. 

She hadn't gotten very far when her limbs began to feel sluggish, her wings tensing as she reached the trees. Tripping up, she nearly fell forward, huffing a growl as she righted herself. Behind her, she heard Gremora growling in frustration at having lost her, the sound of her wings carrying her into the air reaching Gale's ears. She was glad that Gremora was larger, it gave her more of an advantage when it came to hiding from the larger beast. Gale pulled her stiffening wings into herself before she wormed into a tight spot in the underbrush, huffing as she felt her chest tightening. She didn't understand what was happening, and it frightened her. The sensations that ran through her, on top of the interactions between herself and Grimora left her feeling as though the world were closing in on her. 

Squeezing her eyes closed, Gale tried her best to stay quiet, the pain coursing through her making it harder by the second. She could hear Gremora overhead, her angry roars and snorts as she tried to pick her out in the forest below reaching her, making her shiver. Slowly, and carefully, she looked up as best she could, but she couldn't see Gremora from where she had tucked herself away though she could still hear her above her. Whining softly, she shimmied herself backward a little further. She could feel the underbrush prickling into her fur and feathers, the sharp sticks and twigs nowhere near as painful as what Gremora was doing and what her body was already going through.

When all finally fell silent, Gale tried to wiggle silently from her hiding spot, though she couldn't avoid making a sound here and there as she stepped over the twigs. She held her breath, listening so hard that it made her ears hurt and her mind spin, though she heard nothing. Once in the clearing, Gale forced herself to run toward the lake. With the stiffening in her muscles, she found it harder and harder to accomplish. Feeling like a rabbit running from a wolf, her chest beginning to tense once more. Once at the lake, Gale didn't stop running, allowing her body to hit the water in hopes of cooling herself off, of chasing away the stiffness in her body. Closing off her sinuses as she had done the day that she fell into the lake from the sky, Gale allowed herself to sink. Her eyes closed, she focused on the sounds of the water around her.