I woke up with a shudder, listening to my surroundings. Silence. Dead silence. I slowly opened my eyes and sighed. I was back in prison.

"H-Hello?" I croaked. My body hurt all over and my some of my scales were charred.

"Topaz!" a familiar voice exclaimed quietly.

"Commander Hawk!" I whispered excitedly.

"Thank the moons your alive! I was really worried that Peril burned you to a crisp!" he said.

I smiled as he stepped in front of the bars. His smile was so calming and made me feel like I belonged some where. I was so glad he wasn't dead.

"I'm here to get you out. A group of rebel SkyWings want to promote you as their leader against Scarlet." he explained as he quietly picked the lock. A moment and the lock fell to the ground and the cell door swung open.

Large and comforting wings wrapped around me and picked me up onto my talons. I looked deep into Hawk's eyes and smiled. I knew he would help me escape.

"Let's get out of here!" I whispered. We darted for the exit and ran down the tunnel. When suddenly out of nowhere I was dragged backwards back into the tunnel.

"ALL GUARDS COM-" the guard screamed before he was cut off by Hawk smashing his head onto the stone. His body went limp and his eyes rolled back into his head, he was unconscious.

"RUN!" Hawk hissed. He took my talon and we ran into the arena. I spread my wings ready to fly away from this awful place. Right before I could lift off I felt strong talons rake across my back. 

I screamed in agony and tried to fend off the guard. Hawk leaped onto him and pinned him down. I flew up into the air hoping that Hawk was following me but when I turned around I saw a horrible scene. One of the powerful guards grabbed Hawk by his neck and sliced his neck open. Blood poured out onto the sand and I gasped in horror.

"Topaz....Run" Hawk said before he went limp. I quickly flew into the darkness of the trees and I turned back to see the guards drag Hawk's broken body into the tunnel.

✧･ﾟ:* *:･ﾟ✧

After flying for about an hour I spotted a lit up cave and I landed next to it. I slowly peeked inside and to my surprise I saw a group of SkyWings.

"Princess Topaz! Where is Commander Hawk?" a red SkyWing asked. I paused and let out a sigh.

"I believe that Commander Hawk is..." I started. "Dead."

"My son is dead!" one of the elderly SkyWings exclaimed pushing her way through the other SkyWings. "You must be Topaz. He would talk a lot about you."

"Yes that's me." I replied.

"I am Agate, Hawk's mother." she said. "Please come in."

I slowly entered the cave and saw an empty bed and so I laid down on it. I looked around at each of the SkyWings, admiring each of their scale colors. I laid my head down and closed my eyes. And slowly I drifted off into a deep sleep.

{WC: 508}