Let The Chaos Continue

Confrontation

Raven was oddly quiet as he and Wren walked through the forest, the sunlight slowly starting to fade as the afternoon went on.

"Is something wrong?" Wren finally asked, glancing worriedly at the hybrid beside him. Raven shook his head.

"No, nothing's wrong." He insisted. "It's just...." He stopped, scanning the trees and then quickly turned to face Wren, his eyes growing glassy with brewing tears.

"Raven?" Wren asked, confused as Raven grabbed him by the shoulders.

"Wren, you have to know- I'm so so sorry, and I never wanted this to happen, but they left me no choice and-"

"That's quite enough, Raven." A new voice snarled. Wren turned, only to spot three sickeningly green Rainwings standing before them.

"What is this?" Wren demanded, narrowing his eyes.

"This," the middle Rainwing insisted. "Is me teaching my son a lesson." 

"This is what you get for being all flirty with the princes, Raven." The other rainwing sang. Wren's blood rang cold as he recognized the group. Crow, Raven's brother. Which meant that the ringleader was....

"Macaw." A familiar voice growled. Wren breathed a sigh of relief as Joy stepped into the area, eyeing the group cautiously. "What's this delightful group of dragons up to?" She asked. Her eyes scanned Wren quickly for injuries, noted the tears in Raven's eyes, then focused her attention solely on the putrid green dragon before her.

"Lovely Joy," Macaw commented. "So nice to see you again."

"I wish I could say the same, but it's never nice to see you." The queen shot back. "Care to explain why you're ganging up on my grandson?" Macaw scoffed. 

"We're not ganging up on him!" He insisted. "We're just going to use him to teach my pathetic disappointment of a son a lesson."

"I'm afraid I'll have to object to that."

"I'm afraid you really don't have a say in the matter." Macaw glanced at his companions. "I'd say it's time for Plan B."

Plan B apparently resulted in the oldest Rainwing, who Wren couldn't identify, attacking Joy, as Crow launched himself at Wren.

"No!" Raven screamed, attempting to tackle his brother out of the way. But Macaw got to him first, and held the dragonet back as Crow wrapped his talons around Wren's neck.

An enraged cry shot through the air, and the other Rainwing hit the floor, and then Joy was there, throwing Crow away, and pulling Wren to his feet.

"Fly!" She yelled at him. "Go back to the village, and stay there. Don't stop until you're with someone you can trust." 

"But-" Wren started, glancing a worried look at Raven, still trapped by Macaw's talons.

"GO!" Joy repeated, just as the older Rainwing got up, and launched for her again. This time, Wren listened to orders, flying towards the Rainwing village as fast as he could.

A scream echoed behind him, but he kept going, ignoring the pain that ripped at his heart.

Joy had saved him, he realized. She had defended him, and he had left her outnumbered three to one. 

But it's Joy, he told himself. She can handle herself. 

With that worried train of thought taken care of, Wren's mind switched to the thing that was stabbing and twisting a dagger in his heart.

Raven had betrayed him.