The smell of the boreal forests filled Cascade's nose and she walked calmly through the boreal forests near the border of the Icewing and Skywing territories. The massive pine trees towering above her, and the soft snow crunching underneath her talons gave a serene vibe to the designated meeting place.

She shivered, it was not as cold as the heart of the Icewing kingdom, but it was still quite chilly, even for a Seawing/Icewing hybrid. She looked around the area, the paused once she spotted an odd bent looking tree standing out from the others. It was not far from there were she swept her thick tail around in a circle to clear some snow before sitting down to wait for her companion. Her sky blue scales nearly blended into the color scheme of the forest, with her dark blue lights and sea-green eyes being the only colors to really stand out among the green, whites and light blues of the forest.

It didn't take long before wingbeats could be heard above her as a dark red figure spiraled quickly to the ground. He landed with a thud and snow went whirling from the breeze trailing him. He tucked his dark red, particularly massive wings close to his sides and shivered "We couldn't you have picked somewhere warmer? Like one of the Thousand Islands? Or do you just love to see me suffer?"

Cascade giggled "Oh you're fine! Don't be such a dragonet. Besides, it's really pretty here, plus, there are Seawings everywhere around the Thousand Islands, so we are safer here"

The Skywing rolled his fire-red eyes but ruined the effect by stomping on the ground to try and warm up "You will get me maimed one of these days, you know that? Or chase me into an early grave, take your pick!" He wrapped his wings around his dark orange underbelly, hoping to stave off the cold.

Cascade got up from her spot and draped a wing over him with a smile "Well obviously! It is what little siblings are for! Besides, you should really live up to your namesake Fulmar, it IS an arctic bird after all"

He just glared at her "Yea, a name that was given to a SKYWING/Icewing hybrid, if I was pure Icewing it would be fine, but no, I have the sensibilities of a Skywing, so I pick the place next time"

Cascade shrugged "Whatever you say, bro"

Fulmar stopped his futile efforts to warm up in the sub-zero temperatures when he heard an odd sound accompanied by a bright light. He raised his head up high, his Icewing like crest standing on edge as he scoured the forest surrounding them, "Did you hear that?"

Cascade too, was looking around curiously "I did, what was that? Do you recognize it?"

Fulmar kept quiet, his tail starting to curl around Cascade ever so slightly "No. Whatever it is, we should get going anyways, it's too cold to be-"

"OOH look over there! I see it!" Cascade pointed to the distance where an odd light could just be seen poking through the thick brush. Without a second thought, she started running over to it to investigate.

Fulmar snarled before running after her with long strides "Wait! You chimp on rotten banana's GET BACK HERE"

Cascade stopped a few meters away from the exciting glowing thingy. It was curious, it looked like a little star, swirling around in little circles, like a miniature whirlpool.

Fulmar stopped beside her and cuffed her around the horns "You idiot! You don't just run off to an unknown object!" After having his glares and scolding thoroughly ignored, he cast a glance to the light.

"But just look! It looks so funny! I wonder what would happen if I touched it?"

Fulmar's eyes narrowed "Don't even think about it"

Cascade replied cheekily "I'm thinking about it"

After a moment's pause, she grinned and said "I doing it"

Fulmar reached out to do something, slap her talon away, tackle her, shove her in the opposite direction, SOMETHING, but before he could, her claw brushed against the light.

He watched in horror as in a second, her entire talon was dragged into the light. He could feel his heart-stopping as she cried out "Something is pulling me in! I can't get out! I regret this decision!"

He roared as he lunged for her and tried to pull her back, but whatever it was had a grip on her, and with his hind talons slipping in the snow, it was all he could do to not let go as they both were somehow sucked into the blinding light.

He could hear the frightened screams of his little sister as it felt as if they were being dragged through a hole deep into the ground.

In one instant it was blinding light and in the next, there is daylight warming his cold scales, sea air in his nose, and the wind whistling in his ears as he free falls from the sky.

He managed to right himself in the air and snapped his wings open, catching the sea breeze. Sea breeze? But they were nowhere near anywhere warm?

He heard a loud splash as Cascade chose to dive into the ocean below them instead of fly. Again, the ocean? But they should be right in the middle of the continent!

Cascade was feeling similar confusion to her brothers, she didn't recognize the taste of this ocean water, the few fish she could see were all very weird looking. She surfaced the water and looked up at her floundering brother, his abnormally large wings were never good for sea flights, they always caught too many drafts which caused his normally superb flying to go all wonky.

As he struggled in the air, he managed to spot a large island not far from where they were, he pointed with a talon and steadily as he could "There! There is an island not far from here, can you recognize it?"

Cascade swirled her head around and caught sight of the island, she narrowed her eyes in thought before responding "I don't, but I don't know all the Islands in the bay anyways"

Fulmar thoughts for a couple of seconds before wincing as a rogue draft threatened to flip him over "I have to land, these winds are too wild at the moment"

Cascade nodded before diving back underwater and swimming for the land with Fulmar following from above.

After only a couple of minutes, the reached the Island where Fulmar immediately landed and tucked his wings in close to his body to keep the winds from tugging at them. However, in the water things were not quite as smooth as Cascade was having a lovely game of chase with a giant eel-like looking creature.

It jumped out of the water, trying to escape her sharp teeth, getting Fulmar's attention. After seeing her jump after it he growled at her "Stop playing with the fish and get over here! We need to figure out where we are"

With a small sigh, she let the eel go and heaved herself out of the water onto the soft white sand of the beach beside her brother.

"Spoilsport"

"Featherbrain"

"Party Pooper!"

"Immature little brat"

"You love me, don't deny it"

"You frustrate me… and make my scales fade early"

Cascade was about to reply to his nonchalant reply when she noticed a little scavenger staring up at them in awe. She poked her brother, then pointed to the Scavenger "Look! A little scavenger! I thought they were all gone"

Fulmar cast his still annoyed gaze over to the quivering Scavenger "Looks pathetic, not the issue right now"

Under his gaze, the Scavenger screamed and ran away. Fulmar snorted "See? Cowardly little creatures. Trust me, not even a decent snack. Too stringy, and you will be picking them out of your teeth for hours"

Cascade sent her brother a withering look "Really? The poor things are endangered yet you still eat one?"

Fulmar shrugged "Little beasts are dying out anyway, so why not? They have no real use except for entertainment"

She just sighed and shook her head, her brother was one of the few who unashamedly enjoyed Queen Scarlets Arena, it was brutal and bloody, but as long as it wasn't anyone he knew or cared about in the Arena he couldn't care less. He especially liked the parts where Queen Scarlet set armed Scavengers upon dragons. He hated Queen Scarlet, the violent psychopath, but he didn't mind the arena.

The beach was long and thin, with pure white sand and lush greens just beyond the shore. There seemed to be a medium-sized forest with leafy trees. A far cry from the cold boreal forest.

She was about to point out that none of the Islands had any scavengers on them when a large group of bigger scavengers covered in green cloths approached them. She poked her brother again, earning her a snarl, and pointed towards the scavengers "Oh look! More little scavengers! I haven't ever seen so many!"

The little scavengers gasped when the heard Cascade talk aloud, and to the Pyhrrians surprise, began talking in a similar language. It wasn't quite draconian, it was smoother and less expressive, but it was very close to actual words.

Fulmar frowned flared his wings slightly "This is odd. Scavengers are not nearly smart enough to speak"

Cascade smacked him with her tail as she leaned down to get a closer look at the scavengers. They were much larger than normal Scavengers who usually only reached her ankles, these ones reached her forearms and wore paints on their faces. "Fulmar, you are the expert, Are Scavengers faces normally so pale with red above their eyes?"

Fulmar, still put off by her smacking him with her tail, sat down and curled his tail around his talons "No, they are usually brownish. But this is not our priority"

The lead Scavenger stepped closer to Cascade, keeping these weird, tiny, metallic fans by her sides. Cascade carefully moved her snout closer to the lead Scavenger to show she wasn't a threat. Fulmar snarled slightly as he grew annoyed with Cascades antics "If you are going to ignore me, then just eat them and get it over with!"

Cascade flipped her tail at him, almost smacking him again, causing him to bat her tail away and hiss at her. The lead Scavenger, still wary, mimed towards herself and said with surprising clarity "Suki"

Fulmar stiffened "Scavengers don't talk. They don't"

Cascade raised her head a little before pointing towards herself and mimicking "Cascade" She then pointed towards the Skywing in shock "Fulmar"

The Scavenger started chattering quickly with each other. The language was almost recognizable if she was able to learn just a few words and what vowels in the language meant what, she could very easily be able to learn it. And so could Fulmar if he applied himself.

And as if he could read her thoughts "I am not lowering myself to learn some Scavenger language" He words were arrogant, but his voice was shaky and there was something in his tone the Cascade had only rarely heard, not fear, but something very close.

Cascade got back up to her full height and looked at her shaken, yet still somehow regal, brother with worry and confusion in her eyes, "Where are we?"

Thanks for reading! I just love trolling people with Cliffhangers. Hope you stick around for the nex chapter.