As the sun set, Gretel tensed with discomfort. I need to find a safe place to sleep for the night. If adult revealers are keeping watch, they'd probably chase me off too, even though I'm not a fire type. Either that–or they'll use me as bait for prey. She shuddered, then scoured the ocean until finding the silhouette of another island in the south. The wind-type hatchling summoned a new tailwind and glided there, despite her extended use of her wind summons beginning to drain her. She shook her head, powering through her exhaustion until she finally came within two miles of it, by which time the sky was almost dark.
To her dismay, it was mostly desolate and mountainous; even from this distance, she could feel the heat emanating from a volcano which was oozing lava down ancient crevices in the earth, their glow visible from underground as night fell. The white-and-purple hatchling did spy trees far from the site, closer to the shore, but they were very tall and their only branches were at the top with very few leaves. They won't make very good shelter like the ones on Efron’s island…
Gretel briefly debated staying with her friend overnight instead, but instinct deterred her; if she spent longer than five hours in a single place, she would be a target for larger predators–which included revealers and fire types. She planned on going to see Efron in the morning, so if she also stayed there during the night before it, that would be too long. Besides, I'm getting tired… I don't know if I have the energy to fly all the way back there, even if I were willing to stay there for the night.
There were some springs in the mountains around it, and the tiny wyvern realized just how thirsty she was, especially as the dry, hot air of the island contrasted sharply with the humidity over the ocean she had crossed to reach it.
Gretel carefully dove to land at the nearest body of water midway up the outer side of a mountain, then flinched when a geyser erupted from it, nearly scorching her with its steam alone. Geez! No wonder there aren't proper trees here; this place is unlivable! Her hot pink eyes looked toward the summits. The air higher up is usually cooler. Maybe there's a spring I can drink from toward the peaks?
She gave a single, forceful flap of her wings to create a downward gust that bounced back up from the ground and elevated her without the need for physical exertion. Unfortunately, in the place of physical energy loss, the wind type was becoming lightheaded and even more tired, both from overusing her abilities. I can't travel for much longer; I really need rest before I pass out…!
Gretel didn't see water at this height, so she took advantage of her summoned gust to keep ascending until it petered out. As soon as she neared the summit, though, a sudden light in the darkness of night caught her attention. It was small, but condensing into a sphere that was growing larger. What is that? she wondered, and like a moth to an ember, the hatchling was drawn to it.
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Suddenly the light became a beam that shot directly at her. With a terrified yet baffled squeal, the baby wind dragoness barely managed to dodge by reflexively using her ability to shift the direction of the existing air so she'd be blown out of its path, learning the hard way that it was a light dragon’s heat ray. What the heck?! Why would a light dragon attack me?! I didn't even know it was there!
That lightheadedness increased from the strain of overusing her abilities, leaving her to rely solely on her physical strength–which was already waning due to how far she'd traveled–to stay airborne. Gretel took a deep breath to steady her pounding heart after the near-death from the heat ray, then eased into a glide, circling the midpoint of the mountain. To her relief, there was another spring, and she finally landed to quench her thirst.
Without a moment’s hesitation, the wind type crouched by the water and lowered her head to its surface–which was hot in spite of the altitude, but not enough to burn–and closed her eyes as she lapped up her fill of it, allowing her tired body a much-needed rest in the meantime. She finished drinking and opened her eyes, then recoiled with a startled cry when she saw three other pairs staring up at her from the depths; her legitimate fear instinctively made her boost its volume enough to echo out against the moonlit sky as she was still reeling from both the heat ray and this new potential threat. Too drained for self-defense or fleeing, the only other option was to watch and brace herself.
An older, vibrant-red water dragon poked his head out of the spring, the protective veil over his cobalt eyes receding toward their tear ducts as he stared warily at her. “What was that for?!” he demanded.
What is he talking about? I didn't do anything bad! Is he mad at me for drinking from his home? “I'm sorry… I didn't mean to trespass,” Gretel apologized, fearing that the opportunistic predator before her would prey on a baby wyvern, especially one as currently helpless as she before given a chance to recover. “Just… make it quick…”
A second–a swampy-green dragoness the same age–followed him out, but unlike her presumed mate’s eyes, her violet ones were more worried than upset. “Calm down… We have a daughter your age. You're obviously in no shape to survive on your own right now; if you can keep quiet, we’ll let you rest here,” she offered.
First light dragons, and now water types? Maybe this island isn't as unlivable as I thought… for anyone but me, that is, she thought, calming down.
He gaped at the other adult, dumbstruck. “Not after that alert! The last thing we need is a flock o’ wyverns comin’ after us for scaring one of their kind!”
Alert…? Gretel shook her head in denial. “No, please…! I didn't mean to–”
“Go on!” he snarled at the wind type. “Off with you!”
“But I’m too tired to–” Her sentence ended with another cry as a bullet of water whizzed past her head from his mouth in a warning shot.
“Scram!” he demanded again, even more nervous after her second vocalization.
Adrenaline from fear loaned her the temporary strength to take flight once more, this time toward a tree between the mountain and the shore. She landed on the top and curled up, hoping that any flighted dragons passing by wouldn't spot her through the thin layer of leaves as she reluctantly let sleep overcome her.