WARNING: CONTAINS COURSE LANGUAGE, GORE, THREATS, DEATH (THREE RABBITS), AND MENTIONS OF NOOSES.

"Oh rain, you make this too easy. Your drops contain the sadness that fills my heart and masks my tears of sorrow. Ha, as if that was true, emotion cause weakness," the shadow stated as he twirled a cracked bracelet around his gleaming claws. "I should have rebelled a long time ago, but still the queens live, and that is good, either way I am free and can do anything I want." The shadow spread his wings and glided down to the drenched forest, with a gleam of determination in his hazel eyes when he started his project.

*Ten years later*

The War was finally over, the three sisters were no longer going to be a queen, one ash, one poisoned, and one subjugated. "What a stupid war, but it did make me make my home building harder, don't need to have any Sandwings or Mudwings or possibly Skywings sneaking around."

The Forest surrounding him was soothing, it hid him, it made him feel calm and free, it provided the glorious scents of prey and nature. However, loneliness is the greatest foe for him, if only he had a companion, or he would go insane. A pet wouldn't be good as it wasn't emotional and caring enough, he needed something intelligent. Of course, his weird quirk that occurred when he ate would make it difficult to have any companions, but he would fight the obstacle.

That venture however would have to wait until tomorrow, what mattered now was food and sleep. After slowly stalking around he spotted a pig just laying on its side, its torso was bulging but no sounds came from the pig. Must be dead but it is also fresh, he thought, however he was shocked as a scavenger poked its little head out from the carcass. He had just enough time to camouflage, thankfully he wasn't seen. The scavenger was an odd one for sure, it had both of its forearms covered in the blood from the pig and also had a curved stick with some string on its back.

It would be one of the perfect companions, he thought joyfully as he approached it, slowly of course. The next part was the hardest as he had to convince the tiny beast that he in fact didn't want to eat it. A frontal approach would be more welcoming as if he came from behind it would appear as prowling. "Uh, hi?" he stated awkwardly as he gently waved a talon as he slowly curved his way toward the beast.

The little creature was still and didn't run immediately, however as soon as the dragon's scales came a few metres away from it. The creature quickly turned and bolted into the brush, "Damned thing, I almost had it," the dragon stated as it began its pursuit. It was hard to see in the bushes as there were just so many, and the other scents didn't help. Tang, suddenly a sharp blur came from behind him. A sharp and piercing pain was assaulting him as the dragon gazed down at the small stick that had borrowed under his scales.

A small stream of crimson emerged from the wound, another sound came followed by the same pain in the membrane of his wing. "Thanks you so much for making it almost impossible for me to fly," the angry dragon snarled. Tendrils of blackened anger spread over his scales, scowling spreading over his snout as he opened his mouth. The white fangs gleamed evilly as the moonlight seeped through the canopy. The black nectar of death emerged from its lair to destroy the nearby bushes, the audible sizzle and squeal informed him of where the little creature was and the location it was attacking him from.

"There you are, you little fucker," he stated as he slithered closer, trying to hide his fury. The scavenger looked mortified at the titanic entity (compared to its size) slithering towards it. "Not getting away this time," he stated as he grabbed the scavenger firmly. The urge to kill or eat the scavenger was strong for sure, but he managed to keep his temper and refused to kill it. The creature was screaming and yelling, as anything that was grabbed by an angry dragon would.

Christopher was terrified, not only was he being held by a rather angry dragon, it melted almost all of the area around him. The scales that touched and held his form were surprisingly smooth and gentle. The sides of the dragon's mouth twitched between frowns, scowls and forced smiles. The scales that coated the dragon were more relaxing than he would have expected from such a lumbering beast. The whirls and twirls of the light blues and purples on the black backdrop splattered by dots of captured stars.

After being held for hours as it seemed the dragon reached what appeared to be a house, I was more of a wooden cave in a tree. It was high-up and rather concealed if anything didn't look up, almost as though the dragon were trying to stay hidden and alone. The inside wasn't much to look at, there were a few nick-knacks and baubles, but what caught Christopher's eye was a large flat ruby that seemed to radiate a certain aura of power. The dragon grabbed the ruby, it was small in the dragon's palm but was still too large for Christopher to carry easily. After grabbing it the dragon quickly nodded it head from the human in its grasp to the ruby.

"Do, you want me to… touch it?" Christopher softly spoke as he reached a skinny arm out to the ruby. A hum of something slipped through his arm and into his skull, the frail form of the archer felt invigorated by the power but was quickly quenched after he heard a word come from the dragon.

"Can you understand me?" it stated with a male tone, the voice was rather gentle and full of curiosity.

"I… guess?" Christopher stated, a look of accomplishment and bewilderment spread over the dragon's snout. This was a lot of change, the ruby was valuable, that was for sure, but most of the valuable came from that magic.

"Ok, great… so what is your name?" it spoke trying to hold in what Christopher could call excitement.

"Uh, Christopher, and what is your n-name dragon?" Christopher stuttered mostly through fear and worry of the towering dragon.

"Whirlstar, and also let me show you this mask I found," he said as he lifted a talon toward the ceiling. A wooden mask was just dangling from there, markings traced over its polished surface. "Let me tell you of this mask, to anyone they don't know its task," Whirlstar rhymed as he continued, "it allows me to change my size, now that is truly a prize, anything else about this is lies."

"Ok, so this thing can change your size?" Christopher questioned,

"INDEED, my small fellow," Whirlstar stated in a parody of a British accent.

Light was starting to fade from the windows as night crawled over, the hut was rather spacious for the dragon and as such had it so that Christopher could walk quite a distance between the objects.

"So, are you gonna stay the night?" Whirlstar stated as he placed the wooden mask over his snout, it fit his face perfectly and after it was done he began to become smaller. After a few minutes the dragon was only twice Christopher's height. "That should make you more comfortable," he stated as he approached the human.

"Um… sure?" Christopher replied unsurely as Whirlstar slither over and gently scooped Christopher up and onto a large pile of leaves and other soft objects. The nest was rather large and looked extremely uncomfortable.

"So, lay down and rest, I will be back soon though," Whirlstar claimed as he walked toward the exit,

"WAIT," Christopher yelled, "when are you coming back? And what are you hunting? I thought your species of dragon ate plants."

"Firstly, I am hunting pig, secondly I prefer meat over those plants, and thirdly don't you dare touch anything of mine if you favour keeping your arm." Worry crossed over Christopher's face, he wanted to snap back but decided to stay still and just look around. The dragon returned to a normal size if anything a little bit larger and flew away.

Whirlstar had just left his hut and was now hungrily looking for anything to eat. He had still left the wooden mask over his face, so he had to make sure not to stain it. The mask surely was useful, as if someone else got it, they would be too powerful. Whirlstar had to admit, he had made himself a little bit larger, just to make hunting a bit easier. Of course he was very unlikely to follow through on that threat he made to Christopher, but he needed to not have Christopher causing a mess in his home.

The scents of the forest were becoming more apparent with the passing minutes as many other animals emerged from their burrows to greet the night. There were a few rabbits that were easy enough prey and so Whirlstar decided to hunt them. There were only three of them, and so meaning two for him and one for Christopher. Only one problem, how do I cook this?, Whirlstar thought as he made his way back.

The trek back made it a bit easier to think of this problem, maybe he could cause a fire with sticks, but that isn't possible is it?, Whirlstar thought as he started to ascend the tree. "Ah, your back, um… what are you holding in your talons?" Christopher asked with a hint of fear in the blend of curiosity.

"Three rabbits, two for me and one for you, however, do you know how to start a fire?" Whirlstar replied sheepishly. He knew that he was changing emotions rather quickly and jest kept hopping from angry, to peaceful, to curious, to hungry, and now to sheepishly. The rabbits were dead but there were remarkably clean for them being killed.

"Yeah, do you have any string, a curved stick, a straight stick and a plank of wood?" Christopher responded as he got up and started stretching.

"Um, I have two sticks," Whirlstar said as he snapped to sticks or branches from a nearby tree, "are these good?"

"Perfect, now where are we doing this, best to do this outside," Christopher stated as he walked toward the exit, "this plan is good, so… why can't you cook this with fire?"

"WOW, you know what the main diet of almost any Rainwing is, but you don't know we don't breathe fire, we spit venom."

"Oh, is that the thing you did in the clearing? When you caught me."

"Yes, anyway how do you make fire from two sticks, rubbing them together really fast seems logical, but then again anything is possible."

"Well… yes, but anyway, do you think you could please gather some twigs or leaves? I need them for the fire."

"Fine, but you have to be telling the truth," Whirlstar stated as he reached up and picked some twigs and leaves from the ground.

"Thanks," Christopher said after Whirlstar dropped the pile of twigs and leaves together and laid down. After a few minutes of intense scraping of sticks together the fires started quickly startling Christopher and he dropped it on the pile. The flames ravenously devoured the pile and started to sit there spewing out smoke.

"Here's your rabbit," Whirlstar pointed out as he handed the rabbit toward the small creature on the opposite side of the fire. Christopher had a nervous glance on his face as he lifted his arm over and grabbed the rabbit from the dragon's claw.

Christopher grabbed another branch and impaled the rabbit on it, a slight gout of blood oozed down the branch. The crackling fire greeted the carcass of the rabbit and began to cook it. After a few minutes of silence and the rabbit was cooked, the two beings began to eat. Of course, Whirlstar finished his meal first, after he swallowed one if the dead rabbits whole. Christopher was disgusted, but it was better than Whirlstar spraying blood and intestines everywhere. "Just a bit of warning," Whirlstar said as he got ready to eat the other rabbit, "I may get a bit crazy after I have this rabbit, I may go… how do you people put it? Ah, feral."

Christopher couldn't really fathom what the dragon said, but then it clicked, "So, you go berserk and start what?" Christopher questioned after a took a chunk from the rabbit and started to eat at it ravenously.

"So… you know bears, and other large and feral beasts, well if I taste a bit of blood too much, say the amount of blood in a rabbit, I will go seeking the nearest meat supply. So, if you see me prowling… run, just run."

"Ok, I will start running now," Christopher replied as he ran away a few metres still holding his rabbit. After being a safe distance away which would give him enough time to run he yelled for Whirlstar to actually eat his second catch.

"Ok, starting now!" Whirlstar yelled back and started to messily devour the rabbit, the scene was carnage, Christopher was pretty sure that an intestine flew away but Whirlstar caught it before it could embrace the ground. After the amazingly gory scene was finished, the human's eyes fell upon the now hunched over dragon which started to growl at him.

"OH, CRAP!" Christopher screamed as he ran through the forest looking for anything to hide himself in. A loud blood-curdling roar cut through the forest silencing everything around. To be really honest, Christopher saw this coming from a kilometre away. The fear was still rolling off him in tsunamis, a few thumps on the ground came from far away. He swivelled quickly around and saw nothing, a growl came from behind, he repeated his previous action and twirled around still nothing. The same thing happened yet again, and this time it was louder, and waiting a few seconds Christopher quickly twirled his head around and saw Whirlstar staring down at him with his teeth bared.

How do I get out of this, Christopher thought panicking as he glanced around while the angry and feral Rainwing drew closer. A rock was within arm's reach, now nothing that was sentient would fall for such a cheap ploy but Whirlstar was feral and relying purely on instincts. After grabbing the rock and tossing behind the feral dragon, with a satisfying clunk, Whirlstar glanced behind him giving Christopher enough time to hide. Grasping the few moments he had, he dived into a nearby tree, which was absolutely dripping with fruit.

Whirlstar had cornered the little beast, after all prey meant food, and food meant meat. The only thing stopping him was the repulsive stench of fruit. The smell was so bad it even caused him to gag if he got too close. This quirk of his where he went feral after having fresh blood in his mouth was probably caused by him being alone but that didn't matter. A cunning thought came into the blood-lusting mindset of the Rainwing as he started to unhinge his jaw. The bearing of his fangs seemed to urge a scared whimper of the prey.

The black substance oozed out of his long blood-stained fangs, it hungered for life to kill. The satisfying sizzle overwhelmed Whirlstar as he waited simply for his meal to emerge. After what felt like an eternity, the beast emerged suddenly and started sprinting away. It took Whirlstar a few seconds to rouse from his waiting form, but he did give chase quickly catching up. Reaching a clumsy talon forward he grasped the leg of the scavenger, seizing the chance he pulled it closer. Right when his jaws were about to clamp around its scared form, a sudden thought came, isn't this wrong?, followed by another, isn't he your friend?. The instincts began to fade, along with his grip, Christopher began to crawl away, fear edged across his small face.

"Christopher! Are you hurt? Are you okay?" Whirlstar questioned panicked as he walked over with his talons up, where he was walking on his hind legs.

"STAY AWAY FROM ME!" Christopher shrieked as he kept crawling away from the dragon waddling towards him. Christopher being shaken was understandable, after all he was almost eaten, but it still hurt Whirlstar slightly. Whirlstar placed down his fore-legs and just simply turned away and began walking back to his hut. On his way there a few silent tears were shed, but that wasn't important.

"Why do I care what he thinks, I only knew him for the better half of an afternoon and evening. Maybe its because I was alone for so long? No, it can't be that, unless some of my soul still remains. No! IT'S BECAUSE I AM WEAK DRAGON! I SHOULDN'T HAVE ANY FEELINGS! MY SOUL IS GONE!" Whirlstar roared as he began to stamp his talons in frustration, the last sentence however ended with a slight tremor in his anger laced voice. The wooden mask held heavily now over his hidden snout, it hid his emotions, which is what he needed. After all he was a Rainwing that ate meat, to most he was odd, to Rainwings he was cruel. Either way, he thought with his anger poisoned mind, I'm as good as gone.

After returning he simply laid himself down on his nest and let sleep cover his emotions. After tossing and turning in the night, he decided to go for a quick fly, since he spent most of his time on the ground his flying needed a lot of work. He wasn't the worst, he knew how to dive, pull up, and not tire out quickly but he couldn't pull any fancy moves. The moons were hanging high by the noose of night, the stars mourned above, surrounding the floating giants.

"Christopher deserved better," Whirlstar stated as he landed to have a stroll, "after all I should have at least hidden him in my hut, then I wouldn't have come so close to biting him in two! But still, scavengers are tricky little buggers, and some of them deserve no mercy." Whirlstar couldn't have fathomed this earlier but since his thoughts were clouded by sadness and anger, the thought popped into his masked head. Now this thought of possible genocide was tantalising, however how would he know which scavengers deserved to die and which didn't.

"It's a conundrum to be sure, but still I'm sure the brave will fight and as such die in glory, while the ones that hide don't deserve death, they need mercy, gifts even for the pain." And so, Whirlstar's plan fell into action, he would use the wooden mask, and his lack of a soul to truly show his rage and despair.

TO BE CONTINUED…

Hey there, I know this story is getting kind of dark and controversial but still, I need you… yes you to send me any ideas for the next couple of chapters. But please, I need some ideas, and I need to try and not make this dark enough where it's like a black hole. But, farewell, good luck, and see you next time.