When they got back into the safety of the stronghold's corridors and away from any windows, Scorpion heard the rush of talonsteps before her parents skidden around the corner.

"Scorpion!" Her father was first to reach her, practically slamming into her with a hug, his wings wrapping around her, as he skidded to a halt, his talons scratching the floor as Camel raced up by his side. "Are you okay? Where are you hurt!? You're bleeding!" The king fretted as the guard moved out of their way.

"What happened!?" Camel demanded, snapping at Rattlesnake

The young guard flinched back, but held her ground as the rest of the royal families sprinted down the hall. "Assassination attempt, got there just-"

"ASSASINATION ATTEMPT!?" Pearl cried, pulling her youngest daughter close as Sapphire stared at Scorpion, the small SeaWing shivering with unshed tears. "ON OUR DAUGHTERS!?"

"Where did they go?" Camel roared, "how many were there!?"

"Two-"

"By all the serpents in Pyrrhia," Camel cut Rattlesnake off, "how did two assassins sneak into the palace! Was no one doing their duties currently!?" The queen snarled at the soldiers who followed the rest of the family. "Go out there and find them, NOW!" Dragons scrambled to get moving, SandWings barking orders at one another as any nearby soldier was sent out to hunt down the assassins. "FIND THEM AND BRING THEM TO ME, DEAD OR ALIVE!"

Cactus began to head out with the other armed guards, but was stopped by Camel, "not you, you're staying in the palace, everyone is, no one is leaving my sight!"

"But what about Sundance and Tarantula?" Fennec asked, the wirey SandWing princess pushing herself between Sandstorm and Jackal, Quicksand and Dusk standing off to the side with Maelstrom.

Looking around, the love struck pair was nowhere to be seen. They weren't at the celebration either, she realized with a frown.

"They weren't at the arena," Fennec continued.

Camel cursed, letting go of Scorpion. "Smoking vipers, everyone to the throne room! Have at least two dozen guards, and no dragon is to enter or leave until I say so, do I make myself clear!?" Scorpion has never seen Camel so angry, steam nearly coming out in puffs from her queen's nose and ears as she roared out orders. "Someone go find Imbali and Tamba! They better get here before my daughter bleeds out!"

"She's not bleeding out-" Ringtail tried.

"SHE IS!" Camel roared with a snarl, "Our daughter, our youngest, is BLEEDING, Ringtail! She practically has a veil!" The SandWing motioned towards Scorpion's head, the blood from her forehead running down in thicker strands, wrapping around her snout before dripping down from her chin. The princess' whole body ached.

"I'll take everyone to the throne room," Pearl stepped up, gathering the royal heirs around her with a swish of her tail, "you focus on finding your daughter and those over confident mongers."

Camel gave the other queen a grateful look before taking off down the hall, Ringtail trailing after his partner, but not without giving his dragonets one last look over his shoulder, giving a poor attempt at a reassuring smile, before disappearing after Camel.

"Alright everyone," Pearl called.

"Are we going to be okay?" Squid asked, the SeaWing prince's scales glowing with unease.

"What if there are more assassins around!?" Quicksand fretted, Dusk holding her talons, rubbing his claws comfortingly along her forearm.

Pearl raised her voice, hushing the worried royals, before turning to one of the last soldiers who stood with them: Rattlesnake "Go and start closing the windows, and start gathering more guards." She repeated Camel's orders as the grey SandWing took off. "Let's get moving. Narwhal, Maelstrom, help Scorpion!"

The SeaWing prince and princess came up on either side of her, helping to support her weight as she hobbled. Vulture and Cactus rushed past them, taking the lead as the two royal families made their way deeper into the palace, heading for the throne room.

-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

The whole kingdom had seemingly gone on lockdown, the hatching day celebration canceled as dragons were kept within the arena while Camel's army scoured the palace, city, and dunes that stretched out beyond the horizon in search of Scorpion's attackers. All fourteen royals along with Dusk, minus Sundance and their parents, were all tucked away in the throne room. The once airy and open windows that would fill the room with the sun's blazing warmth were now bored and shut, the only light coming from torches hung sparingly, dotting the walls.

The thrones stretched along the back of the room, with a long carpet like a tongue stretched out across the floor and to the guarded doors with armed soldiers on either side. A dozen more were inside the room with the two royal families, whispering quietly to one another while they strained their ears to hear anything that could be out of place, on high alert, their heads snapping in the direction of any sudden noise before investigating it thoroughly.

Cactus was pacing back and forth, Vulture and Narwhal watching the SandWing prince pace around with unease. Quicksand shifted uncomfortably with Dusk by her side, his wing wrapped around her shoulders. Sandstorm stood with Fennec, her sister's wings twitching as she jumped at every little sound. Squid and Maelstrom sat by Sapphire and Jackal near the thrones, whispering quietly as Sapphire told them what happened in the courtyard with the two large iron soldiers looming behind them, dimly lit from the torches.

Scorpion grit her teeth as one of Tamba's talons brushed against the punctures in her leg.

"Sorry your highness," he whispered as he worked.

Imbali sat in front of her, her talons pressing a piece of cloth against the princess forehead, keeping pressure on the bleeding scratches that stretched across her face. Thankfully they weren't deep, just skin-deep scratches. For assassins' they weren't all that good at their job, she snorted to herself, swallowing a hiss as another sting of pain shot up her leg.

Was their only plan to take me by surprise? She remembered it vividly: staring into the oasis, looking at her reflection as she thought before hearing the dreadful crunch of sand behind her. But they should've still been able to finish it, even with her turning around. There were two of them, they should've been able to do it.

Scorpion frowned. Was Sapphire too much of a surprise to them? But wouldn't they have seen her? Were they hoping to kill me before she resurfaced?

The more she thought about it, the more her mind clung to how reflective the oasis' surface was. It had practically been a beam of blinding light, but the gentle ripples created pockets of windows for one to peer through. Scorpion had been able to look through her own reflection that casted a shadow that sliced through the surface to see Sapphire smiling up at her from the oasis bed. They didn't see her until she came out, blinking out of her train of thought as Tamba finished with her leg.

"There's only so much we can do here," Tamba sighed, "most of our supplies are back in the medical wing."

"How's she looking?" Looking up, Scorpion saw Thorn and Ray, her brothers standing over her nervously, Thorn looked...guilty, refusing to meet her gaze.

Does he think it's his fault I was attacked? Thorn had left her and Sapphire in the courtyard, going back to the party.

"Better than before," she huffed to her brothers, trying her best at a reassuring smile, but it must not have been convincing as Thorn's look of guilt deepend along with the worries creased in Ray's forehead.

She scowled, "I'm fine."

Ray opened his mouth to protest, but she shushed him with a flick of her tail. "I said I'm fine, you don't need to worry."

Before the Thorn could retort, pounding knocks rasped against the tall doors, making everyone freeze and the guards within the dimly lit room startle in alarm, spears raised. The clicks of the doors filled the room as two familiar figures walked in: Camel and Ringtail. The King had a grim and worrisome look on his face, while the Queen's was a seething scowl that nearly made Scorpion's heart stop.

"Mom?" Fennec was the first to speak up, "Dad?"

Neither responded as their daughter continued, taking a worried step towards either parent. "Is everything okay? Did you find who did it? Did you find Sundance?"

"Nothing," Camel ground out, "there's nothing-"

Ringtail cut in, wrapping his wing around his partner's shoulders as the larger SandWings talons dug into the floor. "We haven't found them yet, dear, but the whole soldiery is searching."

"How long are we going to be locked in here?" Ray asked.

"Just until we're certain those assassins are either gone, or caught. Which," their father looked to Scorpion, "we need you to tell us exactly what they looked like. We're rounding up every dragon in the arena, but we need to know specifically what to look for, little stinger."

"We need to get her to our healing supplies," Tamba said, "it would take longer to bring everything here, and it might risk an infection in some areas."

Both SandWings hesitated.

"It's fine," Scorpion said. Moons, I've been saying that too much today, but it felt like the only thing she could say...but...was she really fine? Scorpion didn't know herself, yet it just kept coming out. "I'll be fine."

Camel sighed.

"Scorpion," the queen started, "what did the dragons look like that attacked you and Sapphire in the courtyard?"

"They were IceWings, a pair. Two males," Scorpion could feel her mothers anger start to boil over, wafting across the room in suffocating waves as Scorpion continued, looking down at her talons "One was younger, my age, with a dagger on his hip. The other was older, half blind with a bite scar on his shoulder and a missing eye."

-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

By the next morning, the desert was still being searched and the palace on lockdown. Only soldiers, guards, members of the council, advisors, and a small talonful of servants were allowed inside. Meets with the Queen were canceled, and patrols around the palace were doubled. The two royal families had been able to head back to their rooms after a few hours with no sign of the assassins being found. Scorpion had been kept in the medical wing with Tamba and Imbali. The large, round shaped room was lined in shelves with scrolls on one half, and all kinds of jars and pots of varying sizes filled with plants, pulps, odd looking liquid, and powders. It gave the room a sharp smell, a mixed scent that smelt both fowl, tangy, and refreshing.

At times the princess had to plug her snout or ask to pace around in the hallway to give herself a break for when it all got too much, making her head pound with a dull throb that was slow, wrapping around her head lazily like a waft of smoke slowly snaking across the floor and climbing up the walls at a sluggish pace.

"Don't rub at your head too much," Tamba gently scolded the princess from where he sat at a desk, grinding up some kind of powder before wrapping it up tightly in thin sticks with some kind of dried leaves laced in a thick pulp that helped to keep it all together once he tied them off with a thin string no thicker than a hair.

Scorpion snorted, lightening the pressure she put on her head. "This room just smells too much, it's giving me a headache."

"It can give one quite the headache, but you get used to it."

Tamba and Imbali were the royal healers, practically living to serve the Queen and her family. There used to be a third, the SandWing who trained the two of them, but he was killed during Beetle's reign.

"I'll never get used to it," she sneered, folding her arms before stuffing her snout underneath them in an attempt to block out the smell.

"Well, then it's a good thing you're a princess and not a healer's apprentice."

The two dragons grew silent, one focused on his work while the other stared at the wooden door across from her, eyeing the bundles of herbs hanging upside down to dry out. I should've gone after them, Scorpion's claws began to prick her scales in frustration as she glared at the drying herbs, I shouldn't have let them get away.

In the back of her mind, she tried to soothe herself, telling herself that it wasn't her fault they got away and that her being safe was more important, but she refused to listen, her ears pinning back as her scowl deepened.

I could've at least grabbed one of them, the scratches on her belly seethed at the thought of trying to pin the IceWing down any longer while the other bit down on her tail. Could he have ripped off her barb completely if his friend hadn't managed to slip out? If I had just held on a little longer, then Rattlesnake would've gotten there in time to help-

Knock Knock Knock Knock!

Tamba paused, stepping towards the door, "Who is it?"

The door opened, Imbali poking her head in. "Me, lizard brain," the healer snorted, "and a guard."

Standing on the other side was Imbali, and by her side like she said was a guard, a guard that made Scorpion pause as their eyes met.

Rattlesnake?

"I don't think we're in need of any personal guards, Tamba snorted with a scowl, "there's enough patrolling this wing of the palace that we're always in earshot of at least four-"

"This isn't for us," Imbali cut in, "it's for the princess. We've been called down to the dungeon because a soldier had a scuffle with an uncooperative IceWing." She explained.

Tamba rolled his eyes, "It was bound to happen eventually."

Once the two healers took their leave, with satchels packed tucked under their wings, it was just Scorpion and Rattlesnake. The two SandWings left in the silent, herb scented room. Rattlesnake sat upright by the closed door, spear held in her talon. Scorpion watched as Rattlesnake's snout scrunched, her ear flicking in irritation at the potent smells that assaulted her nose.

"Stinks, doesn't it?"

"It could be worse."

"Could be better," Scorpion shot back.

The scales on Rattlesnake's face scrunched, but she didn't say more.

"Has Camel found them yet?" Scorpion asked.

"No."

"No?" Scorpion lifted her head up.

Rattlesnake continued, "more so locking up every IceWing within the kingdom."

"Every IceWing?"

She nodded. "Your mother's holding them all in the dungeons."

"Why is she wasting her time with that? I told her what to look for! Locking away every IceWIng in the desert is just wasting time!" Dose she not care-! Scorpion paused, no, of course she does, she's just...angry. Camel never liked IceWings, and she was probably taking her anger out on all of them within her reach. She's just angry, she'll find them eventually.

Scorpion took a breath. "Any word about Sundance?"

"No, nothing yet."

Still missing, Scorpion's claws gripped her arms. She just felt...guilty, with how she felt about Sundance yesterday. Scoffing at her sister having the nerve to not even show up to her hatching day, with how entitled and spoiled she was, it wasn't a surprise to her that she would, it just ticked her off. But now knowing that Sundance was missing, no word from her sister since the night before when she and Quicksand went out into the town for the night with Dusk and Tarantula, she just felt...wrong. Like it was wrong of her to be upset at her sister, no matter how much she hated or disliked her.

What if....Scorpion felt a chill run along her spine, remembering what the one-eyed IceWing had said before they ran.

"We've already taken care of one, let's go!"

What if they got her first?

"Your highness?" Rattlesnake stood as Scorpion shot out of her cot of furs and woven dried wicker, "You should sit back down-"

"I need to see my mother."

Rattlesnake blocked her with her wing, "She's busy with the IceWings, princess-"

"I think I know what happened to Sundance, so I need to get to her." Scorpion demanded, looming over Rattlesnake, "One of the assassins said something before they left, something about already having 'taken care of' one before going after me. That one could've been her."

Rattlesnake still looked hesitant, but she tucked her wing back to her side. "Alright, let's hurry though."

"I still would've gone, with or without you." She remarked.

The slashes along her belly burned in protest as they ran down the halls, charing past patrolling soldiers who roared in alarm as they passed. But their shouts fell on deaf ears, Scorpion's heart pumping wildly, ringing in her ears as she skidded around the corner. She felt lighter without all of her garments from the party. It was one of the rare occasions where she wasn't wearing her twin-tailed cloak either. Just her necklace, earrings, and horn rings.

The palace was dark, darker than Scorpion was used to seeing during the day. Several of the large windows were boarded up with their large wooden shutters pulled closed, locked with boards wedged on their backs. It wasn't every window or archway that was sealed up, several spaced in between them remained open, allowing for warm sunbeams to stream into the halls.

It's like they're half ready for a sandstorm, Scorpion pried her gaze away from the windows.

Rattlesnake kept up with Scorpion, the three-legged SandWing being faster than her. Her strides were long and swift, while Scorpion's were heavy and trampling. It didn't take them long to make it to the throne room, the thundering, angered roads of her mother practically shaking the ground as the muffled shouts made the air tense.

"Princess!" A guard outside the closed doors exclaimed, the three others beside him having pinched expressions, flinching at the queen's furious roars. "What are you doing here? You should still be in the medical wing!"

"I need to speak with my mother," Scorpion slowed down, her ribs felt like they were pricking her sides, digging into her ribs as her belly ached. "It's urgent."

The armoured SandWing looked back towards the doors, ears pinning back from another furious shout, before turning back to the taller princess. "If you can get through to her, just be careful, your mother hasn't been well since your hatching celebration."

I can imagine, as she stepped towards the large wooden doors that towered over her, twice her own height, framed in gold wrappings that glistened in the sunlight, making the gold strips shimmer. A guard on either side took a golden knocker in their talons, pulling on the large golden hoops, and opening the doors with a familiar, air rattling click that was overtaken by another ear-splitting roar.

"THERE'S STILL BEEN NOTHING? NOTHING ABOUT WHERE ONE OF MY OWN DAUGHTERS IS, OR THE DRAGONS THAT TRIED TO KILL MY YOUNGEST!?"

The throne room was in ruins, the carpet ruffled, curtains haphazardly tied, looking as if they'd been ripped open with furious talons. Scrolls were scattered, several of her family's advisors stood by, their heads hung in shame or refusal to meet their enraged queen's eye.

"Your majesty," one brave advisor pipped up, hesitantly raising a talon. Mojave. "Everyone is trying their best to-"

Camel snapped, "Well try HARDER!" she roared, "I'll keep every dragon locked inside of the palace if I have to in order to find her!"

"Mother!" Scorpion raised her voice, her claws digging into the carpet as Camel's ears shot up, whipping around to look at her.

"Scorpion?" The queen's wings drooped, relaxing for a moment before tensing once more. "What are you doing here? You should be resting." Camel looked to Rattlesnake with a sharp glare, "why isn't she resting-"

She cut off her mother. "I think I know what might've happened to Sundance."

The silence that followed felt suffocating, like the desert itself was about to swallow her whole. But she pressed on.

"One of the assassins said something about already having dealt with another dragon, maybe he was walking about Sun-"

"Your majesty!" A young soldier came barreling past Scorpion, nearly knocking into her side as she flew past, skidding across the floor as she came to a stop, their sides heaving under their armour. "There's news! We found them, we've found Princess Sundance and Tarantula."

They found them? Scorpion almost felt relieved, Was he lying after all? Did they have another target then, aside from me? But Scorpion's relief was short-lived as the soldier continued.

"You found them?!" Camel rushed forwards, "where are they? Where's my daughter?!"

The young soldier flinched back under the Queen's gaze, shifting on their talons uneasily. "Uh- I mean....we...we found them." She seemed hesitant to say what they meant, but after a few moments, Camel's eyes widened in retaliation as Scorpion watched.

"No," Camel practically whispered, leaning back, "no, no, no no No NO NO NO!"

Everything after that was like a blur: Camel charging out of the throne room, Scorpion hot on her mothers tail with soldiers chasing after them as the acting messenger led the way, giving directions to the queen. Huts raced by below them, dragons wearily walking the streets, the market empty and deprived of life, abandoned. It wasn't until Scorpion spotted a crowd of dragons up ahead, that dread began to pool in her chest as they dove, a hot pool of lead worming its way into her gut as they got closer.

"Move!"

"Out of the way!"

"Back up!"

The horrified and anxious murmurs were nearly as loud as the orders from the guards inside the ring of the crowd, pushing dragons away. As they landed, Camel charged forwards, pushing through the swarm of SandWings that looked to swallow her whole, leaving Scorpion to follow after her blindly. The Princess heard it before she saw it, her mothers wailing scream slicing through the air like a sharp blade.

"NOOO!" Camel roared.

Scorpion pushed her way through the crowd, shoving dragons out of the way, charging her way to the front where guards blocked most of her view with her wings. "You don't want to see this!" One shouted at her, flaring their wings up on either side of her head, their voice drowned out by her mothers wails.

"What is the princess doing here! She shouldn't see this!"

"What about the Queen?!"

"Stand back!"

"Get these dragons out of here! Move!"

"Out of the way!"

"Is that the princess?"

"What happened?"

Over the shouts and roars of the guards and the panicked crowd, Scorpion could only stare. The sand was stained red, clumping as the moisture made it stick together. Bloodied jewelry, familiar jewelry, lay near the blood splatters.

Those are Sundance's earrings, dread continued to pool in her gut. Through flapping and flared wings, laying sprawled across the sand were two limp bodies, one a dusty brown with freckles scattered across his back along his sail, and the other a shimmering gold with a ginger coloured sail.  Their eyes were lifeless, foggy, staring aimlessly at nothing as their sprawled bodies laid across the sand side by side, not even a wing-length apart. Blood ran down from their noses, leaking from their jaws, but the main source of the blood came from their necks.

Slashes. Ragged open wounds that stretched up to their scales.

Camel's ear-splitting wails pierced her ears, making them ring as she stared.

"MY BABY!" Camel screamed, "MY BABY! MY DRAGONET! WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU?!"

The Queen collapsed on the sand, her large talons cradling Sundance's limp upper half, holding her daughter close as she wailed, screamed, and roared.

"We've already taken care of one, let's go!"

It was Sundance, she realized, her wings falling like dead weight to the sand, they got Sundance and Tarantula.

-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

A few days had passed since Sundance and Tarantula's bodies were found, but the guilt inside of her only continued to bloom, its thorns prodding her heart. The palace was quiet, no more loud chatter or laughter, no siblings racing down the halls in playful races, no light banter. Just whispers and murmurs, the light clicking of patrolling guards that roamed the halls in wings of four. Scorpion stared down at her tail barb, lost in thought. The bite had healed, no longer wrapped in soft bandages that helped to keep out any sand or debris, keeping the bite clean as it slowly knit itself back together.

Most of her injuries had been on a steady flight to recovery, no longer open and sore, but freshly sealed in a layer of new skin that was sensitive to touch.

"Just be careful when touching anything," Tamba had warned her, "they may be closed, but they can still open just as easily. So try not to get into any fights with your brothers for a few days. After that, feel free to rough house as much as you like."

"Until you can though, you can always take nice long walks through the stronghold to wear yourself out," Imbali added, "but no sparring in the arena either!"

"We'll come check on you daily, but if you ever feel sore at all, we'll come right away."

A sharp prick in her palms pulled Scorpion out of her mind, blinking back into the present. The SandWing's talons were curled into tight fists, her claws sharp points digging into the skin of her palms. Prying them open, there were tiny indents in her skin that lightly stung.

Scorpion was back in her room, seated at her bedside table. her cloak neatly folded with its chain clasps resting overtop of it. Her horn cuffs and dangling earrings laid beside it, polished and cleaned of any blood splatter that splashed up during the fight in the courtyard. What would've happened if I didn't hear them in time? She wondered, staring at the jewelry that caught a beam of sun, its surface glimmering almost blindingly.

Flashes of herself laying limply on the sandy floor, blood streaming from her throat similarly to Sundance and Tarantula, turning the oasis' water a sickening red, Sapphire watching from below the surface. Would they have noticed her? She wondered, her talons beginning to curl once more, her barb stiffening angrily. They would've killed her too.

Who would've been their next target? After they dealt with her -and Sapphire- who would they have gone after next? If they had managed to kill her swiftly, would they have gone after Thorn? He wouldn't have been back at the party yet, he still would've been alone in the hallways making his way back.

How many were they planning to kill? Unless they were assassins sent by Queen Iceberg herself, Scorpion doubted, someone had hired them. IceWings too, she sneered, the perfect tribe to get under Camel's skin.

The assassin's description alone had led her mother to accuse the IceWing Queen of murdering her daughter, and attempting to murder another along with Queen Pearl's dragonet. Queen Iceberg had yet to write back to Camel, but Scorpion could imagine how the other queen would struggle to read the SandWings furious writing. Ringtail should've been the one to write it, but Scorpion hasn't seen her father since they came back with the horrible news of Sundance and Tarantula's deaths.

Tarantula's parents had been devastated at losing their only dragonet, whaling in the throne room they'd been summoned to by one of the advisors. Other dragons in the SandWing nobility had started to keep their own dragonets close, whispering to one another, and keeping close to their quarters outside the palace's outer walls. They haven't been allowed in the stronghold since the attack, but Tarantula's parents were called in any way to be told of their son's death.

Thinking back to her sister, Scorpion's chest tightened.

When did they kill her and Tarantula? Scorpion thought they'd have still been in the palace, but their bodies said otherwise. They looked untouched, not having been moved since being dealt their killing blows. Why would they have been outside the stronghold? So far into town too-

She blinked, realization dawning upon her as she stared at her claws that had retaken their place, slipping into the pinching indents in her palms.

The night before my hatching day, she felt cold, the day me and Sapphire watched Hop, Dash, and Jumpy...But Quicksand came back that night, I just assumed Sundance did too. If she was killed that night, she would've been dead for two days. Everyone was at the celebration, then held within the palace as the army searched. But then how had no one spotted their bodies laying in the streets?

Scorpion held her head in her talons, letting out a forced, shaky breath.

The guilt kept eating away at her as she glared at the wall in front of her. It wasn't her fault. It wasn't her fault Sundance and Tarantula died, but no matter how much she hated the snobby and stuck up pair of love ridden dragons, it still felt like they were dead because of her.

There was nothing I could've done, she sucked in a breath, I managed to save myself, Sapphire...and Thorn, and let it out. Scorpion's world felt overturned, everything rapidly changing around her. She would've normally made some witty remark by now, Ray joining along with her....but she couldn't, and she was alone.

Sundance and Tarantula were alone too, her mind reminded her.

I did all that I could, and I saved two dragons because of it, her eyes narrowed as she watched the setting sun, I saved myself.

————————————————————

- MindlessTyper