How, of everywhere on the continent, Frostbite ended up trapped in a sandy, blisteringly hot courtyard he couldn't really remember. A few missteps here and there and now he was slumped on the ground glaring at the SandWings that strutted around them; piercing blue eyes hoping to maybe kill them with a look. The heat seared against his dark scales, not made any better by his IceWing heritage that made him that much more susceptible to the sun. The chains that bound him to the ground didn't help either. The weight pulled and tore at the spines that ran down his back. He bit back a growl as one of the SandWings kicked him "accidentally" across the face as she walked by; sending him a smug smirk as she did so.

He had learned his lesson though. Fight back, growl, show any sign that there was any will left within and they would beat it out. He had the gashes and scars to know that much. He was the product of a forbidden union between his father, a NightWing scientist to his understanding, and his mother, the next in line for the IceWing throne, and that made him an abomination. An affront to everything that was pure, good for nothing other than sport.

The sport that currently sent the cheers rising in the arena that was echoing around them. Where Queen Caracal had her fun watching hybrids tear each other apart for her entertainment. He watched the weaker ones get taken away. They would be the starters. The ones that were chased around the arena by the lucky SandWings who won the draw to be killed like little more than animals.

The stronger ones were pitted against each other, bet upon to see who would come out on top. He had only been dragged out once so far to fight, luckily pitted against a scrawnier SkyWing hybrid that he'd hit in the face with his freezing breath. The SkyWing hadn't lived long after that. Frostbite tried not to think about the fear in the hybrid's eyes or the screams as his skin had shriveled and died while he was still alive. He told himself that it was so he could live to see another day, but it didn't stop his stomach from turning at the memory.

He couldn't let anyone know how much he was impacted by the half dead dragons he saw slung back into the courtyard. Instead he kept his face in a permanent scowl and narrowed his eyes at any of the other hybrids who looked his way. There was another SkyWing hybrid, the large wings told him that much, who had the fin of a SandWing and a mix of red and brown scales. Another looked mostly SeaWing, but the daintier head and swirling colors on their scales told him RainWing was somewhere in there. His eyes shifted to a small looking SandWing as she stared at him, and narrowed with slightly bared teeth.

As one of the guards called out to them he noted the change in the scales. RainWing too then. He didn't make eye contact with the SandWing, as much as he postured he didn't want to go to fight. The thought of having to kill another hybrid scared him more than he would ever admit. He also didn't want to die. The plan he'd been working on to get himself, and maybe some of the others if they could keep up, out of the pit was almost there. He just needed a bit more time.

Frostbite's whole body was tense, as was everyone else's, as they waited to see who the SandWing would pick to die. At least one of the chosen wouldn't be coming back, or if they did they likely wouldn't survive very long after. He shrunk back slightly as he heard the SandWing speak before looking to see which poor soul had caught her attention. The SandWing looking hybrid that had been staring at him earlier. A pity really. She had been able to avoid their gaze for a long time.

There was no way that she would survive a fight with most of the hybrids here. They were bigger than she was and many of them were desperate to survive. They would slash clean through a terrified opponent's throat without much of a thought. He could hear the chains rattling even from across the pit. Pathetic.

He watched absently as she was dragged away by the guards and kept his eyes averted from the dark scaled SandWing. They tended to pick those who showed some bit of fight to them, or in the SandWing's case looked like easy prey. When he heard the SandWing speak again his body went rigid, but he then looked up to meet the black eyes and narrowed his own with a growl. He didn't want to kill anyone else, but he also didn't want to die. That was the option for them, fight or die. Either your opponent would kill you, or if neither would fight then the SandWings would make an example.

The chains pulled uncomfortably as the guards dragged him to his feet and over to where the others stood. His eyes flicked emotionlessly to the smaller hybrid next to him. She sounded like a collection of swords with how hard her chains were rattling as the shivers of fear racked her body. He stood as tall as he could next to the SandWings. He wouldn't let them know how broken they'd made him. It wouldn't give them the satisfaction.

He watched as the light from the hole they were kept in faded and the light from the Pit at the head of the tunnel illuminated the space instead. His mind raced as he tried to figure out how he would get out of this. He didn't want to kill the little hybrid, but he wasn't sold on his plan to get them out of here either. Where they were kept was too well guarded and they were chained up, the Pit itself was far too well watched to attempt to escape, and even at his best he couldn't take on the number of guards that flanked them on all sides. He would have to improvise then.

Once they made it to the head of the tunnel they could hear the pounding of claws and the cheers and hollers that came from the crowd. "Don't try anything funny," one of the guards snarled at them as he went around and started unlocking the various chains and shackles that would prevent them from putting on a good show. Frostbite resisted a sigh of relief as the weight fell of, but he did stretch out his jaw and wings slightly; sending a glare towards the little SandWing. Better to put on a show.

Once the guards had freed them and started to move out of the way so they could be pushed into the pit he leaned his head down towards his 'opponent', "Fight back, give them a good show and you might live. I won't kill you, and I have a plan to maybe get some of us out so don't kill me. His eyes flickered to the guards to make sure they couldn't overhear. "It's your only shot," he told her as the guards started to shove them forward into the Pit.

It was difficult to tell if what Frostbite had said actually landed with the smaller hybrid, but that was the best he could give. He didn't want the others to die, contrary to the way he acted most of the time, but he also wasn't going to risk his own life. Especially not for some scrawny SandWing who looked like a stiff breeze would probably knock her over, let alone a claw swipe.

His eyes flickered around the arena, set up the same way as before when he'd fought against the SkyWing. The screams and jeers, the mass of sand colored scales, and perched amongst it all the smug gaze of Queen Caracal. His vision briefly snapped back to the previous time he had been shoved into the Pit. The similarly scrawny SkyWing, scales painted with blue and a wide tail that showed heavily the SeaWing in him. The fear in both their eyes as they were pushed forward, the realization that one of them would die, and the conviction when he decided it would not be him. Instead he had killed someone and regretted it ever since.

The shouts pulled him back to the present as his eyes narrowed up at Caracal. She would be much more beautiful if she didn't always have that smug smirk across her muzzle and an obvious disregard for the lives of other dragons. He glanced curiously at the SandWing guard who had brought them out. Trophies? She must mean the SandWing then because he certainly wasn't that.

Interesting. So the other hybrid wasn't meant to be sent into the Pit, she was meant to be sold, or something similar. As Queen Caracal said it would be on their guard's head should something happen he fought down the more vicious side of himself. The side that told him that he should damage the smaller hybrid just to prove the guard wrong. Take back some control in his life and send the guard to an early grave. Would serve her right for what she did to them. But, he had said he wouldn't hurt Vivid and he wasn't going to go back on his word. That would make him no better than the hoard that watched them.

He stretched out his own wings as they were freed and shook slightly to free the spines on his neck that had clumped together. If there was one benefit to being in the Pit before he knew what these monsters liked. They wanted aggression and violence. A show. That was all this was to them and that much he could do. He just had to be careful not to actually hurt her with his serrated claws. He looked across the Pit and took in a deep breath.

As the call to begin echoed through the area he raised his head and let out a bellowing roar to the delight of the crowd. Idiots. He used his wings, star white scales on the undersides glinting in the light of the desert, to give himself a push towards Vivid. He made it across the Pit faster than one would expect of a dragon his size; taking a somewhat curved route so that he could slam his full weight into the smaller hybrid from the side. He cuffed her hard on the side of the head, making sure not to use his claws, as they tumbled to the ground. He knew how to make a fight look good even if he didn't actually hurt her. She just had to trust him.

Frostbite was somewhat surprised by the sudden vigor shown by the little hybrid, but he supposed when you were fighting for your life it gave a bit more of a push. He snarled back at her as she charged him, trying to rear up to bat at her as she leapt at him. It gave her the opening to grab onto his shoulder, and he roared in over exaggerated pain as she sunk her teeth into his neck.

He could feel her claws scraping on his scales and knew that they would protect him well enough. The shallow scrapes weren’t enough to do more than sting, but blood leaking onto the sand sold the act more.

A growl rumbled in his throat as he swung himself to the side into a roll, crushing Vivid underneath the majority of his weight to get her to let go. As he rolled back onto his feet he swung his spiked tail downwards. He could kill her easily but he aimed for her side rather than anything vital. He left a deep enough gash to make it bleed, but no more as she had done for him.

His breath was starting to come in heavy pants from the lack of food and water as well as the exertion of the fight. The sun beat down on his dark scales as gave Vivid the opportunity to get back to get back onto her feet. They would only need to draw it out for a bit longer before he felt like he could end it and get his plan under way. He had no idea how well it would work, he just hoped that it would.

Every blow that Frostbite landed onto Vivid was carefully controlled. As easy as it would be to kill her and let them drag him back into the pit in chains he wasn't about to let that happen. He had spent too long biding his time for anything to go wrong now. He had kept his gaze away from the guards, made himself seem cowed and weak until the moment when he knew they were too stupid to realize he'd played them for this long. This was the first time he'd been back in the Pit since killing the SKyWing and it would be the last.

His head swiveled slightly to the stands as the SandWings started yelling. If they wanted a fight they wouldn't get it. They would get a facsimile of one. He could see the guards watching and based on what Caracal had told them if it really looked like Vivid would be killed the guards would jump in to stop her from losing her "trophy."

They were both getting tired, that much was obvious. Under the beating sun of the hot desert it almost felt like his scales were burning even though he knew they weren't. He needed to get out though, he couldn't be tired and get away at the same time. That meant he had to end this now, and quickly. He made eye contact with Vivid, ice blue eyes gleaming in the sun, and gave her an almost imperceptible nod. She was a RainWing hybrid which meant she would be useful in getting out and she was small which meant he could carry her. This could work.

He returned her screech with a roar of his own but twisted his head to the side at the sudden mix of colors hitting his eyes. He reared back as she wrapped around his neck, tossing his head and attempting to snap at any limbs that might be close enough to grab in his teeth. As she reached around to his eyes he could tell she was purposefully being clumsy about it, but he still shrieked in pain as she clawed at his face.

Two can play at that game. He ducked his head sharply towards the ground, pulling her more onto the spines along his head and neck. Not enough to really hurt her, but enough to certainly cause pain. With her distracted by that he tossed his head and shook his body hard, flaring his wings in order to dislodge her. Once she was on the ground he lunged towards her again, using his size to barrel into her and knock her to the ground again. One clawed paw pinning her rear legs to the ground with another pressed to her throat.

His eyes flicked up to where Caracal sat in her box, Three moons this better work. If Caracal really didn't care about losing her prize they were both screwed. With Vivid pinned to the ground he raised another serrated set of claws into the air, ready to bring his claws down onto her neck. At least that's how he hoped it looked to the Queen.

If this didn't work then either one or both of them were dead. Maybe they would get lucky and get sent back to the chains and live to fight another day, but Frostbite was counting on Queen Caracal not going back on her word despite the obvious bloodlust she held in her black eyes. This was the end of the fight one way or another. Vivid could barely stand at this point from exhaustion and lack of any kind of nutrition and he didn't think his body could stand the heat any more.

As his claw raised into the air he fully planned on bringing it down, just not exactly on Vivid's neck. His head snapped up though as he heard Boa shout and his jaws split into a slightly bloody grin from where his lips had split from the dry heat. This is exactly what he was hoping for. The group of SandWing guards wouldn't be any real match for him. Boa had made the mistake of having them fight tooth and claw which meant he hadn't used his frost breath at all. Not since he fought the SkyWing all that time ago.

He made eye contact with Vivid for a moment before he let her go and in an instant leapt over her prone form to the side where the guards were rushing. He sucked in a deep breath as one of the guards opened their mouth to tell him to stand down. There was a moment of panic on the guards faces but it didn't last long as he exhaled a stream of freezing air and ice onto their bodies, sweeping his head to the side to catch all of them in the blast.

The screams were instant as any of the guards unlucky enough to get caught by the breath felt their scales beginning to shrivel and die. The SandWings in the crowd screamed and roared with a mix of delight and panic at the sudden turn of the tide. Frostbite fully intended to ride on that chaos to get away. With the fog of ice still in the air he flapped his wings, kicking up dust and sand to further obscure them before lifting off and grabbing Vivid underneath her stomach, mindful of where his talons landed on her body.

"Stop them!" The voice was shrill and angry though it was somewhat difficult to tell who it came from. Caracal? Or maybe Boa who was watching her life fly away in front of her eyes.

Frostbite heard the shriek over the sound of roars in the crowd as he gained altitude. His head turned back to see a number of the other guards starting to take flight after them. "You're part RainWing right?" his voice was already strained from the exhaustion, "Can you keep them off us?" He could use his tail, but carrying Vivid meant that he had less maneuverability, but he knew there would be little chance of her keeping up with him if she'd tried to fly on her own, and he did make a deal.

It was enough of a strain on Frostbite's body to carry the other hybrid, especially after fighting for as long as they had. Even if it had been fake it still required the same amount of energy. Just less blood loss. He was prepared to use his tail if he had to, should one of the SandWings get too close to them, but he had no idea how much it would throw off his balance in the air. The last thing they needed was for them to go spiraling towards the ground with little to no way to break their fall. Some escape that would be and there would be no chance of another one. He couldn't imagine how much Caracal was going to crack down on the other hybrids since they got away, but he chose not to think about that.

He let out a grunt of affirmative, talking was too much work at this point, and let his trust rest in Vivid for a moment. He didn't do it often, but it was either that or die at this point so he chose to trust her. He just focused on keeping himself steady so that she could aim at the guards that were tailing them.

As the screams started he swiveled his head around and smirked at the chaos. Served them right for treating them like animals. Now they could die in agony like so many of them did. He hoped Boa would be tormented under the claws of the Queen for her failure. He didn't think that Caracal took kindly to any missteps.

He was only slightly phased by the sight of their scales practically melting off their bones, mostly because his frost breath did something similar. It was more of a shriveling on his end, but still looked grizzly. He turned his attention back to where they were going, using the screams and clashing armor behind them as a cue that Vivid was doing her part. "Good," he huffed out in a quick breath since he could already feel his lungs and wings starting to strain from the exertion and lack of use. There was no way he could keep up this pace for much longer so he hoped that the SandWings had given up at the sight of their mutilated comrades.

There wasn't exactly a plan of where to go, all Frostbite knew was that they needed to get away. Far away from the Sand Kingdom and Caracal if they wanted any chance of staying free. He could only vaguely remember the maps that his father had shown him, but if he remembered right then the Ice and Sky Kingdoms would be closest. He didn't want to go home, that seemed like a bad idea, so the Sky Kingdom it would have to be. For now.

What felt like hours but was likely only minutes passed before he could feel the strain becoming too much for him to bear anymore. It felt like the muscles in his wings were going to tear if he dared flap them again. He looked behind them once more, not seeing any pursuing SandWings and instead scanned the barren surface of the desert for anything that might be of use to them. It was flat and barren with the sun reflecting off the grains in blinding rays made it hard to see, but through it he was able to see the faintest glint of water. Some kind of oasis he hoped. Either way it was their best bet. He let them start to coast towards the ground. Once they were close enough he dropped Vivid into the sand and had to take a few running steps onto the hot ground before sinking down, sides heaving with exhaustion.

The oasis was small, but it would have to do as he dragged himself to his feet and stepped carefully to lap at the water. It was slightly grainy, but no worse than the water they were given in the pit. He glanced over towards the other hybrid, "Good aim on the SandWings. Hopefully they won't think we're worth enough to follow."

As Vivid slipped into the water Frostbite instead chose to slump down on the sand. He wasn’t the biggest fan of getting wet if he was honest. He was used to the frigid mountains of the Ice Kingdom or the one time when he’d been a young dragonet that he went to the NightWing’s island. He didn’t remember much of it, but he did remember that it was hot and humid. He was used to the sand anyway. He’d spent long enough laying on it that it honestly would feel weird to him to not be dealing with the shifting grains.

He let his head rest on his claws and closed his eyes briefly, finally feeling like he could rest without something looming over him. His eyes quickly snapped back open as the smaller hybrid spoke. He grunted in affirmation as she got his name right. Where she’d heard it he had no idea. “Nice to meet you too I guess,” he muttered, trying to ignore the stinging pain the sand caused. Both from the heat and from getting into the shallow scrapes on his flank and face.

Three moons, how could this dragon be so chipper after they’d just escaped from the Scorpion Den? She has just likely killed several dragons and yet her voice was chirpy and excited. He let his eyes slip shut again at the question. “Long enough to rest for a bit then I’m going in the direction of the Sky Kingdom,” a single ice blue eye opened to stare at Vivid, “You’re free. What you do is up to you.” So long as it wasn't following him around.

He didn’t want to end up carting some naïve young dragon around with him. That meant he had a greater chance of being caught, it would be harder to get places with two of them, and she was far too…uppity. He just wanted to rest at this point and then go somewhere that was much less hot. “I’m good thanks,” he mumbled out, shifting, trying to get comfortable on the hot sand without having to get wet.

Eventually he stood and breathed out a thin layer of ice onto the sand. That was something he could do now that his jaw wasn’t clamped shut. He was careful to make sure that it wasn't cold enough to actually hurt him, just keep him cool. He patted the sand down and laid back down with a sigh as the coolness helped soothe the aches. “I’d recommend some rest. It’s a long way to anywhere.”

With the coolness of his ice breath on the sand, Frostbite finally felt that he could, just maybe, take a moment to close his eyes and rest. He figured, and hoped, that they were far enough away from the Scorpion Den that they wouldn't be easily followed. Unfortunately the desert was all gold and he was gray. That made it somewhat difficult for him to blend in to say the least.

It didn't seem like rest would be the case though. He had hoped telling Vivid to get some rest would be the end of any conversation, but that didn't seem to be the case for the chatty hybrid. His eyes flicked back open again to stare at her as she asked him if she could join him. He heaved out a heavy breath, this was why he didn't really want to bring anyone else along. Unfortunately he had needed her cooperation for the plan to work, and now he was stuck with her it seemed. Joy.

"If you can keep up," he grumbled out. He didn't even know if they would be treated any better in the Sky Kingdom. He had been treated ok in the Ice Kingdom, but he imagined that was mostly because his mother was a princess. If he had been anyone else he probably would've been killed the moment he was born. He just had to hope that he would at least go mostly unseen. He could try to pass as a darkly colored IceWing, he'd done it before since he had seen those that were more on the gray side rather than white, but he'd have to keep his wings down.

He let his eyes drift shut again, now very much hoping that was the end of the conversation so that he could try to get some sleep before having to fly across the rest of the desert. He wanted to travel at night if at all possible, mostly because he would blend in better. There would also be less dragons out overall. Less chance of getting seen, and therefore less chance of getting sent back into the Pit.

His eyes snapped open as Vivid spoke again and he lifted his head fully up to stare at her, baffled. "We just got out of there and you want to go back?" He felt, maybe, a tiny bit bad about leaving the other hybrids there, but in that situation it was every dragon for themselves. "Are you insane? Do you want to get thrown back in the Pit again?" If they got caught there would be no mercy from Caracal. If she wanted to go back and risk her neck fine, but he wasn't doing it.

As Vivid climbed up next to him he stared briefly at the shifting color of her scales. He hadn't known many RainWings, or RainWing hybrids for that matter, so it was a slightly fascinating. As she spoke though he blew out a bit of frost in a huff. "And what if we get killed going back?" It didn't make any sense for them to risk their own lives to go save a bunch of other hybrids they didn't know. Vivid had the luck of being the one he was paired with when he wanted to enact his plan, but he would've done it with any of the others just the same.

"We won't be any help to anyone dead, including ourselves." Three moons, could she not hear herself and how ridiculous this all sounded. They had gotten away, they had killed or maimed a number of the SandWings that had come after them, and now she wanted to go waltzing back in like there wasn't a care. "I don't see how their lives are more important than my own," he held up a single talon above the sand, "That's rule one of surviving." Sure it was harsh, but that was the way it was. He couldn't go rushing back in there, risking his own death, to maybe save some other dragons. It wasn't worth it.

He shuffled his wings, pressing them close to his sides, as he set his head back down in the sand once she shut up. Maybe what he said finally got through that clearly thick skull of hers. He didn't know which heritage that came from, she didn't look like she had any MudWing in her.

His head shifted as he heard her moving again and he recoiled slightly at the wide stare. He was about to ask her what she wanted when she piped up again. He barked out a humorless laugh, "You really think any of the stuck up SkyWings are going to risk their own slender necks to help some hybrids?" She was insane, that was the only explanation. "No one cares about us, or the others trapped in the pit. You should get that through your head now before you're disappointed."