three years ago...

It was past nightfall when the three dragons took to the sky. The rain was pouring down hard in thick sheets, and they were flying as quickly as possible avoiding detection. Two mothers and a dragonet. The oldest dragon was Papaya, a respectable Rainwing of thirty-five. The next was Flutterwing, eighteen years old, a SilkWing-RainWing hybrid. She was holding an egg. The youngest, was Dawn, a three-year-old Rainwing dragonet. 

Papaya was thinking hard. The rain falls so loudly, and we can't hear the sound of a big dragon flying toward us. Oh, I wish Aardvark was here.

"Quick, get into the tunnel. A big dragon could be watching!" She said nervously.

Papaya could already make out the outline of the tunnel. It was camouflaged with vines and other plants, but Papaya had grown up in a tunnel and therefore had a keen eye for this. Papaya made her scales a little brighter, so the dragonets could see her.

The tunnel was dark, the walls covered with the same vines and mosses as the entrance. The youngest dragonet, Dawn looked at the walls, her brown eyes wide. "Don't linger, we should get moving." Papaya wanted to get to the council meeting in two days. 

The RainWing tribe no longer had a queen but had a twelve-dragon council.  And no, she didn't want her dragonets listening to a load of malarky. The council meetings were often ridiculous and always tedious, but they gave any RainWing listening a sense of hope, and that was what the Rainwings needed right now. 

And Papaya wanted her dragonets to feel that, too. The hope. 

Now, Flutterwing wasn't really her dragonet, she was a RainWing, through and through. A SilkWing named Cyan had fled Pantala and had met Aardvark, staying with him long enough to have an egg. Then, she left him, going back to the Pantalan War because she felt like she owed her tribe her service. 

Aardvark had spent fifteen years with this dragonet before he met Papaya, who was running away from her tunnel. Yes, Papaya had grown up in a tunnel. Oh had she hated it, dark, cramped spaces. Old, musty food. Dragons crouching, huddled in fear. Damp, stuffy, moldy air, Papaya had spent thirty years in the dark, wanting the sun.

Papaya had loved Aardvark, she had loved him with all her heart; and when he disappeared, he broke her heart and left her with a one-month-old dragonet. Now Flutterwing was eighteen, and Dawn was three. She thought it was time to introduce them to the rest of the tribe. Unfortunately, she had to pass through a tunnel, and that brought back memories, of cold spaces, cold looks, sadness, and fear. These feelings came flooding back.

Soon, other tunnels branched off the sides, some led to living spaces, others connected to an underground tunnel system known as the burrows. Standing in some entrances dragons stood, they looked weary and thin, ears drooping and scales gray. Her dragonets' eyes peeled them out of the darkness. "Come on, hurry, it's rude to stare." Papaya's scales rippled, changing to a muted green.

She hated how just being in the tunnel for a few moments could bring back years of bad memories.

There, Papaya could see the outline of the entrance, vines like ropes in the darkness. The rain poured outside. It was the Rainforest, after all. 

And there, standing in the last doorway, were two dragonets. One six, one two, Papaya knew the sisters' names, Mango and Chamomile. Papaya knew what was going to happen, who would come with these dragonets, but it still startled her to see her sister's face sneering out at her from the darkness.

"Hello, sister," Snappea smirked at Papaya like she was something funny. She was wearing some sort of metal necklace, and she walked up, putting a firm hand on both of her dragonets' shoulders. Both seemed to shrink in on themselves, trying to avoid her touch. 

Papayas scales shot out of the darkness, bright red. "What do you want!" Papaya hissed. She hadn't seen her sister since she had run away from the tunnels and had no intention of ever again. Her sister had been a firm believer that the RainWings belonged in the tunnels and that the above-ground was a waste of time; just like their parents. 

Their other sister, who had been younger than Papaya by a year, had always been small, thin, and tired. She never seemed to be able to put on weight and was always sleepy. To Papaya, this just seemed to prove that RainWings needed the sun and couldn't stay holed up underground forever. She wondered where that sister was now...

 "Just to see my sister," Snappea said deviously, snapping Papaya from her thoughts. 

Papaya bit back a sharp retort, not wanting to cause trouble. Not now, when her dragonets were getting tired and needed rest for the night. 

"Come on, dragonets, let's go. We have a long flight tomorrow," Papaya said, sweeping her tail and hurrying out of the tunnel, ignoring her sister. How had Snappea gotten to that tunnel? How long had she been there? The whole burrows were connected, but it did seem to be a coincidence that she would be here now.

Now that they were out of the tunnel, they needed to find shelter for the night. Tree hollows would always work, but they were usually occupied, and no one liked hybrids in these times. Then, there, was a dry cave down below. 

"Over there!" Papaya whispered, pointing a talon towards the cave. 

The three dragons curved through the downpour, landing in front of the cave. The cave was perfect, with a narrow entrance to block the rain and wind and keep the Big Dragons out.

There were even side caves, it was perfect. Papaya crept into the cave and slid into a nook in the back. The others slid next to her, with Dawn curling up in front of her and under her wing, so that she could hear the rain sounds. Flutterwing curled up in the very back around her egg.

Papaya nestled down and closed her eyes. That was the last thing she ever did.

*           *         *

Dawn woke to the silence. The noise of rain was strangely muffled. She glanced around the cave. Flutterwing lay next to her, clutching the egg, fast asleep. But Papaya... Dawn's eyes fell on a horrible sight, a big shadow in the doorway, and Papaya, standing, body splayed and sightless eyes staring wide. Her scales and eyes were fading into an almost translucent gray. 

"Run!" Dawn's eyes filled with tears. 

Flutterwing's eyes opened wide as she woke up with a start. 

"Run?!" Fluttering yelped. Her eyes fell on the big dragon and her eyes filled with tears.  She got up with a start, spreading her wings and diving under the Big Dragon's broad chest. Dawn followed. The Big Dragon let out a bellow and twisted its body as it darted after them.

Flutterwing twisted around, and a strand of glowing silk billowed out. The big dragon let out a roar and doubled back as the burning hot silk sank into its face. That diversion was what they needed. Dawn and Flutterwing darted through the trees, the big dragon bellowing after them. The tunnel was harder to see than Dawn expected, but soon they were crouched in the darkness. The tunnel was slick and cold, the darkness foreboding. 

If only they could have seen Snappea, in the darkness. 

Smirking.

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Edit: is edited.