"Jade, wake up!"
Jade was opening her eyes slowly. Someone was shaking her body, trying to make her hurry.
It was, of course, Filde, her sister.
"Alright, I am waking up," Jade said while she was still rolling around on her comfortable hay-bed. It was too warm and comfy despite it being a bunch of dry grass. The morning sunbeams were already reaching into the barn they were living in. Jade wondered at the flying dust coming from the walls, ceiling and her bed, sparkling like a million stars in the light.
The barn was abandoned by dragon farmers, who tried to keep prey in them. For unknown reasons the barn was abandoned and the dragon farmers left the area, letting the barn be rot by the natural elements. Once it was a very eye-striking building among the grasslands and lush forests in the area, but after many years of abandonment, the barn was fully covered by vegetation. From above, it was completely covered with leaves, making it impossible to be scouted by flying dragons.
It was also the perfect place for the dragon sisters Jade and Filde. A small safe spot in the middle of the forest.
"So, what is it? Why did I have to wake up early?" Jade asked her sister.
Filde was doing little jumps around her while she spoke:
"The dragons of the woods say that there are rich visitors coming to the Great Oak City, to the Council! Kings and queens! They might even bring treasures!"
The young dragon was somewhat smaller than Jade and also one or two years yourger. She did not know for sure.
They were both abandoned in the woods when they were still in their eggs, though they only met after they already hatched.
"You know what that means!" Filde continued. The sunlight beams danced on her orange scales as she spoke. In a way, they were the complete opposite of Jade's scale colors, which had a deep, leaf-green color palette covering her, as opposed to the vibrant yellowish of Filde. "We could snatch a few things from the inexperienced dragons."
"You plan to steal from royals of the other Realms? From kings and queens? They will roast you for dinner and serve you with an apple in your mouth!" Jade opposed.
"Come on, Jade! Those dragons have so much treasure they would not even notice if we grabbed a few from them!"
Her sister was probably right. After all, stealing was one of those things their life depended on. Not all dragons saw it as an ethical thing, but nothing in Draonia was even about good morals.
Dragons were cruel beings. Jade knew that for sure.
When they found each other with Filde in the woods as abandoned, newly hatched little dragons, they had no other option. They never stayed with the same adult dragon parents, as in the end, they were always sent away.
The only dragon they fully trusted was themselves. That is how became sisters. Not in the traditional term, but in a way that was deeper and more sincere than any well-off dragon siblings could know. Their love was beyond simple blood relation.
They found out that stealing from others and trading it for food was the only way to survive. Stealing treasures and gold from royal and rich dragons was their primary business, if it could be called that. Stealing from those who always had too much prey on their table, who instead of giving them to the starving, let it rot in a forest.
Jade was also the older sister. She felt responsible for Filde's well-being. She had a bit of worry in the back of her mind about what would happen if they were caught.
However, the two were also skilled at being thieves. Their bodies were relatively small compared to adult dragons, letting them escape through routes that other dragons cannot follow them to.
Since the death of the Woodland Realm's king and queen, the chaos was even bigger in Great Oak City. Stealing and thieves thrived there.
And a bunch of lazy, wealthy ruler dragons arriving here only meant more food for the two sisters.
"Fine. We will visit the city and see if there is anything we can grab. But no dangerous actions, you understand?" she warned her sister. Filde nodded quickly.
"I actually got you a rabbit for breakfast!" the orange dragon said and from the back of the barn brought a dead rabbit in her mouth to Jade.
"Thank you Filde. Did you also eat one?"
"Only a squirrel, but I am full and ready to go!"
Jade snugged her sister's head with hers, and then went on to devour the rabbit. Filde could not contain her power and excitement and went out of the barn.
While Jade was eating the slim rabbit, she felt it again.
Pain.
"Ouch!"
A surge of pain in her right talon, at the center of her paw. There was a strange-looking beauty mark there since she could remember it, and it resembled a four-pointed star. The skin on the mark was much paler than on the rest of her scales, not as green or vibrant.
Recently it has been hurting her a lot. When she was younger, it almost never did, but it was getting a lot more frequent in the past year. Herbs could not help making it more bearable.
When she finished the rabbit, it finally stopped. She hoped it would not start again during their adventure at the Great Oak City.
She went on following her sister outside to the forest.