Rubrum Academy

<tabber>
|-|Introduction and Warning=
This story is an adaptation of the roleplay with the same name. It is a work in progress, and a collaboration story. It appeared on the popular pages from July 22, 2019 to July 31, 2019. 
Original roleplay was carried out by FangirlingSoHard, Laceyrocks7, Quickdragon, Droplet the seawing, Awesomegirl1298, and Lightangel2007.
All seems normal at Rubrum Academy, Queen Ruby of the SkyWing's elite school. Nine students attend every year. This year, the students are Reed, a SeaWing who likes to get her way, Citrus, a pessimistic RainWing, Perish, the queen's nephew, Crimson, a quiet SkyWing with a secret not even he knows about, Solona, a snide Night/Ice hybrid who is a locked and loaded professional assassin, Melt, an psychotic IceWing princess, Amelie, a quiet and anxious NightWing, White Wolf a silent lone wolf IceWing, and Aurora, a seemingly innocent Ice/Sand hybrid. One morning, they all wake up, and a dome of energy has encased the school, and every adult dragon that should have been inside it, are now gone. This is the story of what happened inside the school.
 DEFINITE MATURE CONTENT WARNING
In this story, there is lots of blood, gore, death, and murder. Do not read if any of these make you feel uncomfortable.
|-|Incorrect Quotes=
Created by Lacey!
Reed: Did you just say a knife was a "dragon-opener?"
Melt: Should I not have?
----
Reed: You know, you walk past about three murderers a month.
Citrus: Bold of you to assume you're not sitting next to one right now.
----
Crimson: You guys are-
Solona: Clever?
Reed: Just?
Citrus: Powerful?
Crimson: I was going to say diabolical.
----
Crimson: This can't get any worse.
Aurora: Is that a challenge?
Citrus: Do you never want me to talk to you again?!
Aurora:
Citrus: What?!
Aurora: Hold on, I’m considering it.
----
White Wolf: Can I tell you a secret?
Reed: I wouldn’t recommend it, no.
----
Citrus: I almost dropped my phone on the carpet, but thanks to my lightning fast reflexes I was able to slap it into the wall instead.
----
Reed: I have a plan!
Citrus: And I have the hospital on speed dial.
----
Citrus: Listen Reed,
Citrus: In this world, it’s yeet or be yeeted
Reed: I will literally kill you.
.
Created by Sby!
Reed: Okay, what do we do when someone talks back to us?
Solona: Kill them?
Reed: Yeah, but what else?
Citrus: Kill them painfully?
Reed: Okay, we'll go with that.
.
Created by Quick!
Reed: Okay, let's get this on the table. Aurora and Melt are dangerous. The other ones I don't know. And the NightWing is a puddle.
Amelie: *sound of a revving chainsaw*
.
Created by Droplet!
Citrus: Go die in a hole, Aurora!
Aurora: Sure, as long as you aren't there.
Citrus: Dang it, you weren't supposed to say that!
.
Created by Light!
Perish: I love you, Aurora.
Aurora: That's sweet, but I'm dead and you can't change that.
Perish: Do you believe in reincarnation?
Aurora: No.
Perish: I will reincarnate you.
|-|Characters=
===Main Nine===
Thanks for the characters, everyone!
Princess Melt belongs to Droplet
Solona belongs to Droplet
White Wolf belongs to Droplet
Citrus belongs to Lacey
Perish (rubrum academy) belongs to Lightangel
Amelie belongs to Quickdragon
Crimson belongs to Awesomegirl
Aurora belongs to Awesomegirl
Reed belongs to FSH
===Others===
Mistress Macaque belongs to FSH'''
|-|Chapter One=
== Chapter One--- The Night Before ==
The sun was beginning to set over the horizon, and crowds of students flocked to their dorm rooms.
A dragon flew down towards the large school, her pastel blue scales shimmering in the late evening light. She touched down gracefully and began to walk towards a dark blue SeaWing. Solona held her head high, not making eye contact.
.
Reed strode past Princess Melt. They weren’t supposed to call her that, though. They were supposed to treat her like she was normal.
A NightWing/IceWing hybrid descended out of the air, landing in front of Reed. “Hello, again.” She said.
“Solona,” Reed replied stiffly.
“Bye,” Solona said, already walking away.
Reed shrugged. That strange hybrid had always bothered her.
.
Citrus stood off the side, a scowl on her face. Small talk. Great.
Just as long as they don't interact with me, I won't have to kill anybody today. She thought darkly. Of course, they couldn't be doing something interesting. This stupid school was the worst thing she had ever experienced. At least it was almost over.
This was her third year here, and she only had three more weeks before she could leave Rubrum Academy behind. 
Citrus watched her clawmate, Reed head towards their cave. She sighed and followed her. At least Reed was somewhat tolerable, unlike many of her other schoolmates.
Citrus began to tap her talons loudly against the floor as she followed Reed. It was fun to see how far she could push her schoolmates before they snapped. 
Reed didn’t react.
Citrus smiled a bit and began to stomp her feet loudly, swishing her tail against the floor with amusement.
Reed entered the cave, still not reacting, which disappointed Citrus a bit.
Citrus lay down in her bed across from Reed, who was reading a scroll. She started tapping her talons against the stone floor, Reed couldn't ignore her for much longer.
Too late to back out now, Reed thought. She tapped her talons louder, but a scowl now rested on her face.
Citrus began to hum a tune, which sounded vaguely like The Dragonets Are Coming, but it was hard to distinguish over the tapping. To her surprise, Reed joined in, though she hummed it on key.
.
Perish, a SkyWing in the cave over, was starting to get irritated by the constant clack clack clacking coming from the cave next to him. He didn't really care what was going on, he just wanted it to stop.
He pulled out a pen and wrote, "Please stop, NOW." on it.
Using his animus powers, he enchanted the piece of paper to find whoever was making that horrible sound.
.
Melt walked into her cave, surprised to find Reed and Citrus already there.
Reed glanced up as the princess entered.
'Hi!" She said, reaching over to hug Reed.
Reed groaned while the IceWing squeezed her. Melt frowned.
Melt pulled back, plastering her usual smile on her face, "Aw, come on Reed! Don't be so negative!"
"Melt, it's almost lights out," Reed said, pushing the princess off of her.
Melt heard a snort from behind her, and Citrus, her clawmate, sidled up next to her. "Man, thanks, Melt. Reed's been really grumpy today."
Melt saw Reed glare at Citrus with a look of hatred, but ignored it. "No problem?"
Citrus grinned even more at the look on Reed’s face. “Seriously, she has been so annoying. She just wouldn’t stop frowning. You should hug her for a bit longer.”
"Melt, I think Citrus needs a hug," Reed told the IceWing. "She must if she keeps bringing it up."
“Why would I? Just look at this happy face.” Citrus motioned to her huge grin. “I told you Reed was grumpy.”
Melt sighed. "I know you guys think I'm a bratty idiot, but I'm not." Melt knew they wouldn't believe her, but she would prove it to them. Later.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you think that," Reed feigned sincerity. Melt was starting to get irritated.
She snorted. "I'll leave you two alone, then."
"Goodbye, then," Reed said, as Melt exited the cave.
.
Citrus sat on her bed and began to tear up bits if the fabric. Now, just wait until lights off so I can wallow in my own self-hatred for the next eight hours. Suppressing a sigh, she flipped over, facing the ceiling. Normally, she would talk with Reed, but she was reading some dumb scroll about scavengers or something.
Reed rolled up her scroll, and rested her snout on her talons, staring off into space.
Citrus flipped back over at the sound of Reed rolling up her scroll. Feeling slightly grateful, she began to talk to her. “So...what are you going to do after school is out?”
Reed glanced at the RainWing out of the corner of her eye, "I'm not sure."
Citrus let a small wave of grey roll across her scales. “Me neither.”
"Great," Reed replied.
Well that was, awful, Citrus thought to herself.
.
Melt marched back in with two buckets of water. She put them down. "I'mmmmmmm backkkkkkk!" She singsonged, her scales prickling with irritation.
Neither of her clawmates looked at her, fueling her anger.
Melt marched up to Citrus with a bucket of water. She dumped it on the RainWing, then stuck out her blue tongue. "Awwww, did that feel like an idiot?" She hissed.
Citrus hissed as the water crashed over her scales. Her scales turned a violent red, and she glared at Melt. “Look, the princess knows how to say more than three words! We need to get everybody to celebrate. Call over the headmaster! Summon every student!” She said with contempt and rage in every syllable. She shook the water off, spraying it all over the cave.
Melt laughed coldly. "Do you realize that being rude to me doesn't work? My mother is incredibly worthless, but she did teach me some very useful things. Like if you have a violent clawmate, pack a serrated knife." She walked over to Reed with the other bucket and drenched her. "That's for trying to get me to hug Citrus."
"Oh, dear, I'm wet," Reed sneered, water dripped off her scales, filling Melt with satisfaction. "Guess who's a SeaWing?"
Melt noticed Citrus' eyes flickering around the room, searching for her dagger, no doubt.
Melt watched Citrus through narrowed eyes. There is no way that Rainforest slug is getting my grandfather's dagger. She walked to her bed and drew her dagger. It was encrusted with sapphires. "I won't use this. But stop playing games, and don't even think of stealing it. It's animus-enchanted."
Citrus rolled her eyes. Looking at the gleaming dagger she said, "Really? The IceWings haven't had an animus in thousands of years. Who would've enchanted it? And why would they give it to a ditzy princess?" Her tone of voice was very calm, as though she wasn't talking to an angry dragon holding a knife.
"I am the heiress," Melt hissed.
.
A SkyWing stuck his head into the cave. "Can you guys not be so annoying?"
He seemed oblivious to the three dragonesses hissing at each other, one of which, was wielding a dagger.
Citrus whipped around, hissing. "You can mind your own business. If we're too annoying, make us shut up."
Reed just glared at the SkyWing with slitted eyes.
"Do you want me to make you shut up?" Perish asked, contempt in his voice.
"Please do," Reed told him.
Perish snapped his talons and a rope wrapped around Citrus's snout making it so she couldn't speak or get the rope off, "Happy now?" He asked watching Reed.
Reed snorted, "Very."
Citrus watched Perish enchant the rope, waves of bloody red washing across her scales. Glaring at Reed and Perish, she dashed out the door before they could stop her.
She had played her cards right, and if a teacher saw what Perish had done, that was one less annoyance in her life. She forced her scales to turn the color of the stone wall, although her rope was still visible. The teacher's rooms were somewhere nearby from what she could remember.
Citrus dashed through the halls as quietly as she could, looking for a teacher. So far there was no sign of any of them.
Citrus slowed down, seeing a sign that read Teacher's Lounge. She calmed her scales down and made them a bright orange color. She walked in, searching for a piece of parchment to write on.
"Can I help you?" A voice asked from the corner of the room. Mistress Macaque materialized.
Citrus motioned towards her snout, still rummaging for parchment. Once she found a blank piece and some ink she wrote, Perish enchanted the rope. It's stuck.
Mistress Macaque rippled a shade of yellow, "Ah, more trouble with our animus?" She reached up and began sawing away at the rope with her talons.
Citrus feigned exasperation and nodded. She opened and closed her mouth a couple of times. Once she saw Perish again, there would definitely be some venom involved.
"I know what you're thinking," Mistress Macaque told her. "Venom doesn't solve problems. Let the teachers solve this." She looked outside. "Head back to your dorm, lights out is soon."
Citrus bit back a retort, now wasn't the time to argue.
"Sure. But can somebody make sure he doesn't do anything else? Don't animus dragons lose their soul the more spells they use?" She said, making her tone of voice concerned as if she cared about Perish's soul.
"They do," Mistress Macaque said. "But he must not mind. He will be reprimanded in the morning, now go to your cave."
Citrus, seeing that her gig was up, returned to her cave. She had a slight grin on her face, and her tone of voice was very self-satisfied when she spoke to Reed. "No thanks to you, Perish is in huge trouble. I knew he couldn't resist using another spell."
"Oh, congratulations," Reed purred. 
Citrus rolled her eyes, she hadn't expected anything else from her bossy clawmate. "I just hope they make him stop using his stupid powers."
Out of the shadows walked a dusty blue hybrid, Aurora. She walked into the room, staring at the angry dragonets.
"Not to be rude, but they are his powers, he should be able to use them...unless they get to out of hand and start destroying his soul," Aurora said truthfully.
Reed flicked her tail irritably and walked back inside her cave.
Citrus flared her ruff and turned to Aurora.
"He just lost a part of his soul to shut me up. He doesn't care. Honestly, dragons who use it for stuff like that don't deserve powers. If only we had another animus who could stop him." She finished angrily.
"He did what?" Aurora asked, sounding genuinely curious.
Citrus laughed bitterly. "Oh, you didn't hear? He enchanted a rope so I couldn't speak and I couldn't take it off. This is why I hate animuses."
"That's horrible! I understand your hate, if someone did something like that to me I would hate them too." Aurora looked genuinely understanding, her eyes shining.
Citrus resisted the urge to hiss. This dragon was so... malleable. She had gone from defending Perish to pretending to understand Citrus' hate. Citrus hated dragons like this, always trying to see the best in dragons and constantly agreeing with others. Of course, that always meant it was easy to manipulate them. Still, Citrus didn't show any of this on her face, instead, she made a look of gratefulness appear. "I've had to deal with stuff like that for years. It's been a nightmare."
"I see, but I was abused by my family, so I think I've had it worse." A dark shadow passes across her face, making her look much less friendly.
Citrus flattened her ruff, a look of empathy forcing its way through her disguise. Her scales turned a muted blue, and she forced another frown on her face.
"Oh really? I guess we have something in common then." She said, giving a small, bitter laugh
"Oh, I feel so bad!" Aurora said.
"Feeling bad doesn't help anything." Citrus' voice was bitter, and she stared at the ground.
"I never said it did, I just want to let you know that I care!" Aurora said.
Citrus growled.
“And why does it matter if you care? I mean, man, this conversation went off of the rails quickly.” She tried to change the subject, not wanting to talk about her past any more then she had to.
"It doesn't matter that I care, I'm just saying that I know where you are coming from." By now Aurora's face no longer looked soft and caring, it seemed to have hardened, her expression dark.
Citrus let out a small hiss.
“Sure. I’m sure the worst your parents did was yell at you.” She said in her normal angry tone. Of course, she was sure it was worse than that. But, the more Aurora shared, the better.
Aurora felt like this was going nowhere, " I'd prefer not to talk about my dark past," she said, returning to her innocent voice.
"Oh really?” Citrus said, contempt in every syllable. “I prefer not to talk about my dark past. Sureee...”
"Oh, well, would you like to go ahead and tell me every detail of your life?" Aurora retorted, still sounding innocent, but sounding angry at the same time.
Before Citrus could retort, a soft chiming sounded through the halls. Lights out.
Turning back to Aurora, Citrus said, "I believe we can be perfectly honest and say that that's not happening. Obviously, this conversation is going nowhere. So, I believe we can end it right here." Making her scales turn back to purple, she walked over to her bed.
"Fine!" Aurora said.
Citrus watched her leave, feeling her anger ebb away. Apparently, Aurora had grown a spine now. Not a huge loss, she was still an idiot.
Ending the conversation was the best move she could've made. Telling her entire history wouldn't help her at all, and it was obvious that Aurora wasn't planning on telling her anything.
Letting out a small sigh, she lay down on her bed, the darkness enveloping her.
.
During the argument...
Crimson got up to get a snack when he saw Amelie, a NightWing, pacing the halls. "Hi," Crimson mumbled.
"Hello," Amelie said quietly.
"What are you doing?" Crimson asked.
"Just walking," Amelie replied, spreading her talons as if to imply a general feeling.
"I'm going to get a snack," Crimson said. Shyly, he said, "Do you want to come with me?"
"Why not?"
|-|Chapter Two=
==Chapter Two---The Disappearance==
'Reed woke up. She stretched arching her back. She stepped out of the cave and stretched out her wings. She was ready for breakfast. She looked outside.'
'She had woken up early. '
'Another hour till breakfast, Reed thought, and went back into her cave and unrolled her scavengers scroll.'
'“WAKE UP! ALL THE ADULTS ARE GONE!” Reed scrambled to her talons at the sound of the shout. '
'She flew out of her cave, seeing White Wolf standing in the hallway looking panicked.'
'“What?” Reed asked. “What do you mean ‘there are no adults’?”'
'White Wolf didn’t respond, he just stood there stock still.'
'A NightWing descended out of the rafters, where she had been sleeping for some reason. ‘What?!” Amelie asked, sounding frightened. '
'"They can't be gone!" Reed flew out of the school. Maybe they had all left the school. '
'As she flew she crashed into a barrier. "Ouch!" It sung like it had burned her, but when she looked there was no physical damage.'
'"What is the moons...?" Reed started at the almost-transparent barrier.'
'Reed flew back in the school, hearing Citrus as she landed, “Sure, the adults are gone. You just wake up and you know that?”'
'“I had an early morning tutoring session with Mister Xerocole,” White Wolf shifted his talons. “And no one was there, I looked around for him, and there were no teachers. '
'"Adults would have come to yell at us, we've been crashing around the school, I literally flew out of the school," Reed pointed out. She sat down. "Oh, and we can't leave.”'
'Citrus sighed. “Well then, I guess it’s time for some anarchy, she grinned evilly.'
'“Three moons we’re all going to die here,” Reed muttered.'
'.'
Reed smiled, "I can control the food. I'll make sure to pass it out fairly." She surveyed the dragons. "And if you really don't trust me, someone else can help me, so we know I'm not taking it all." 
Citrus quickly scanned the room. The kitchen was off to the left. As she walked in, she positioned herself the closest to it. If the decision was against her, she could just take control of the food.
"Okay." Amelie mumbled, looking away from the dragons' gazes, her talons shaking as she curled them close to her chest. 
White Wolf watched Amelie curiously while Melt fidgeted with her dagger. 
Solona smiled, an evil hint to her grin. She raised her talon. "I can."
"Great, Solona and I will," Reed smiled. 
She must have noticed Citrus edging towards the kitchen, "Citrus, it's already been decided." Her voice rang around the room. 
"Solona, come with," Reed glided towards the kitchen, glaring at Citrus as she passed. "Let's pass out breakfast."
Citrus pushed past Solana. “You know me. I’m not going to let anything slide. I volunteer.” Citrus knew what Reed was trying to do.
Solona picked up a tomato and squashed it in her talons. "You know, I've always wanted to do that to an actual dragon, and you seem like the perfect volunteer."
Citrus scoffed. “If you tried them on anybody, the favor of everybody would turn against you. Now that there are no adults to stop us, we can do whatever we want.” This dragon couldn’t intimidate her.
Solona cocked her head. "It seems you don't get it. I am a trained and deadly assassin." She held Citrus's chin. "And you're just a little faker."
Citrus resisted the urge to hiss. This dragon couldn’t do anything to her.
“I’m more dangerous than you could ever be. If I wanted, I could melt your entire face off right now. But, I have work to do.” She turned and walked off beside Reed.
Solona scoffed and followed. "This is my job, too."
Reed led Salona and Citrus into the kitchen, who were still glaring at each other. "Stop." She told them. "No killing on the job." Reed glanced at them. "Let's pass out breakfast." She smiled. "We eat first."
Citrus fell into step alongside Reed. So, Solona was going to be a bit of a disturbance. It still didn’t matter. Her scales turned orange and yellow as she walked towards the kitchen. Nobody was going to stop her from ruling this stupid school.
Reed sliced an apple into pieces with her claws.
Citrus grabbed some oranges from a shelf and began to chop them up, spraying Solona with juice. So, if she could gain the favor of the dragonets, she could be the leader. Of course, if she was the sole leader, they would probably revolt at some time. She needed a council. Obviously, Reed would be second-in-command. As much as she disliked her clawmate, she was a good ally. And she isn’t as brainless as most of the dragons here. She thought with sadistic satisfaction.
Citrus played with the knife in her hand. It was small, just longer than her finger. Small is good. Easier to hide. She flipped it around a stabbed it into the cutting board with a small “thunk.”
She continued to chop up vegetables and fruits, making enough to feed all of the dragonets. Looking at Reed she asked, “So, how much are we giving to everybody? And how much do we eat?”
"Eat what you usually eat for breakfast," Reed told her. "They can have what's left."
A hybrid walked up to them.
“Why are you here?” Reed glared at Aurora.
“I’m hungry,” Aurora responded sweetly. 
Citrus turned to the hybrid, the knife in her hand."I'm afraid you're going to have to wait. We're still making breakfast."
"Citrus, put the knife down," Reed advised.
Aurora stared at the knife, looking terrified, before slowly backing away, her talons in the air.
"Three moons, that dragoness is insensible," Reed muttered.
Reluctantly, Citrus laid the knife down. Although it was still within reach.
Citrus noticed Aurora sitting at the table closest to the kitchen. “Aurora, leave. I know you’re still there.” Citrus called out loudly.
Aurora flew away, Citrus paid no attention to where she had gone.
Citrus grabbed a couple of orange slices and peeled off the skin. She chewed on them contentedly, and her scales turned the color of the peel.
"We have to save some for the others," Reed reminded her. She leaned over and whispered in her ear, "If they're all dead, who will we control?"
Citrus turned her scales navy blue and put down the peels. She nodded silently and began to put the remaining food on a plate.
After making the plate look some-what presentable, Citrus motioned for Reed to follow her out. As she walked out, she said out loud, “We have food. But there isn’t much left. We’re going to watch over everybody to make sure nobody takes too much food.”
Crimson turned around and began to speak to White Wolf, "Hello!" he said in a cheery voice. 
If they aren’t getting food, more for me, Citrus thought.
“I won’t take that much,” Aurora said sweetly, reaching for the plate.
Solona stepped out of the kitchen, looking at Aurora had grown a second head. “What is she doing?”
"She's getting food," Reed said, not looking and tossing an orange in Aurora's direction. "That's all you get."
A SkyWing wandered into the hall, he’d slept in Citrus thought. “Good morning,” said Perish. He looked around, “What’s going on here?” 
Reed spun towards the animus. "Haven't you noticed?" She hissed. "We're all trapped here, and the adults are gone." She calmed down. "Come get breakfast."
“Someone said there was a barrier,” Crimson added.
"Yes, there is a barrier," Reed said. "We can't leave. We're stuck here." Her face hardened. "So get some breakfast, or die."
"I don't mean to be rude, but if we are rationing, shouldn't we skip breakfast?" Crimson reasoned.
“Well…” White Wolf looked like he was thinking about it.
He doesn’t have much of a brain though, does he? Citrus thought.
Melt walked towards Crimson, her knife still in her talons, “Nah, I like breakfast.”
Citrus turned towards Crimson, “You can skip if you want to. I won’t stop you.” 
"Eat what you want, or don't eat. Do whatever," Reed corrected herself. "Actually, you'll eat what we tell you to eat, or not at all." 
Crimson turned to Reed, "Oh, okay." he said, in a timid voice.
“So do you want anything?” Reed asked impatiently. 
“I’ll take a banana,” Crimson replied as Reed tossed him one.
.
“I have some seal,” White Wolf offered, passing it to Crimson.
Crimson wanted to hug White Wolf, but then realized that would seem too eager. He took a bite of the meat, and his jaw dropped, It tasted so good! 
Reed snapped her head around, "You, Wolfie, come here."
White Wolf turned, a calm smile on his face, “Why?”
Reed narrowed her eyes, “Come here.”
White Wolf stood still, and as far as Crimson could see, he was very confused.
“Wolfie, come here. Now.” Reed repeated, starting to sound irritated.
White Wolf walked over, “What is it?”
“Are you hoarding food?” Reed hissed.
“No! I brought the seal from home!” White Wolf defended himself.
Crimson was ready for an epic verbal beat down, so when he heard the calm-ish words come out of Reed's mouth, he was surprised.
"We need to divide up the food evenly," Reed said evenly. "Can you please, pass over the seal?”
White Wolf sighed, “Fine.”
Reed held out her talon, “Bag, please.”
White Wolf didn't hand over the bag. He withdrew all of the seal and gave it to Reed. "No," he said firmly. "The rest of this is personal items."
Reed rolled her eyes, “Fine.”
|-|Chapter Three=
==Chapter Three---Conspiring Against Her==
Citrus tapped Reed on the shoulder, she silently motioned towards the corner. 
Reed leaned over, "What?" she whispered, sensing this was something the other dragons didn't need to hear.
Citrus leaned down as well, glancing around to make sure nobody could overhear them. “I see the looks you’re giving me. Obviously what I’m doing doesn’t align with your plan. So, let’s get on the same page.” 
"You need to stop getting on the wrong sides of these dragons," Reed hissed under her breath. "Dragons who trust and depend on you are the easiest to control." 
Citrus nodded, although a slight frown creased her face. “Sure. Obviously, we need some sort of stunt to get these idiots to trust us. So far they only know me as the scheming RainWing and you as the bossy SeaWing.” Her voice was a low hiss, and she kept glancing around to check for others.
"Well, I like that title," Reed said quietly. "But what I would prefer to put you on the 'throne'. I'd rather be behind the scenes, but that means you have to listen to me."
Citrus flared her ruff. The sound almost indiscernible between her hissing, Citrus replied, “Fine.” She spat out the word like it was deadly venom.
"You're so predictable it's like I can read your mind!" Reed hissed. "I'll be your adviser, your vizir if you wish, we both know you have no patience for those below you." She looked around. "And all these dragoons are below us."
Citrus’ scales were washed with blood-red with hints of silver now. Turning back to Reed, she said, “Sure, they’re all below us. But obviously, you think you’re above everybody. Try to play me, and you’ll see just how ‘predictable’ I am.” She bared her fangs, the ivory slivers gleaming in the early light.
Reed rolled her eyes, "I'm not trying to play you, Citrus. I'm trying to help you. As stated before you're impatient, and will lash out, I'm trying to help you, so we can assume control."
Taking a deep breath, Citrus held out her talons. “I propose a deal then. I will rule upfront, you’ll rule from the shadows, but we have equal power. All decisions must be passed by the other. A checks and balances system if you may.”
Reed nodded, satisfied, "I accept," she shook Citrus' talons. 
She cast a glance towards a corner, where she had spotted Aurora, "And I do believe someone has been listening to us."
.
Citrus stiffened. She saw a shadow moving in the dark corner next to them. She put her talons down, and her jaw unhinged, ready to attack.
Citrus walked slowly towards Aurora, her jaw open like a snake. “So, I guess you aren’t a total idiot after all. Unfortunately, you didn’t hear anything I care about. But, you really should get your snout out of others’ business, unless you want to lose it.”
"L-lo-lose my snout?" Aurora stuttered, but this time, it was clearly fake.
"Oh shut up already. You were hiding in the shadows listening to us. Drop the act.” Citrus hissed.
"What act? I was sitting in the corner, eating my orange!" Aurora showed the half-eaten orange.
Citrus hissed more, venom dripping from her fangs now.
“Moons! How idiotic do you think I am? Drop. The. Act. Or you’re going to have worse problems than losing your snout.”
"Oh fine, you want me to drop the act?" Aurora grabbed a knife, and pinned Citrus onto the wall, she held up the knife to Citrus’ throat, "Well, do you like this better?" 
Citrus let out a small “oomph” sound as she hit the wall. Recovering fast, she used her back legs to claw at Aurora’s underbelly, making thin scratches. Not enough to really hurt her, just to get her to loosen her grip. After all, if she murdered Aurora, it couldn’t exactly be considered “self-defense.”
Aurora raised her tail barb and put it on the other side of Citrus's face, where her knife wasn't. 
Citrus let out a small, high pitched sound. It was quiet enough not to be heard by anybody but Aurora. The tail barb missed her by a talon-length. She scratched harder, not wanting to use her venom yet.
Just as she had intended, Aurora loosened her grip. Citrus sprang back into battle position. Suddenly, a stream of icy-cold frostbreath came shooting down at her tail. Before she could react, or even shout out, the frostbreath hit her tail, turning the flesh a rotten, blue-grey color. She didn’t scream. She didn’t yell. Instead, she turned to Aurora, determination shining in her orange eyes. With terrible accuracy, she sprayed a stream of venom at Aurora.
The pain from her tail was beginning to emerge, but Citrus kept a straight face. Her tail barb lashed at her back leg, knocking her to the ground. Then, she stabbed her tail just above her thigh. She let a very faint cry of pain at this, and her face contorted in pain. Aurora brought her close, and her cold scales pressed on Citrus’ pale grey and blue ones.
Softly Aurora whispered, so only Citrus could hear it "I won't move my tail until you agree: Almost equal rule, Reed comes second to us, but I have a bit more power than you."
As she whispered the deal, Citrus felt another wave of outrage. She was not going to serve under this stupid hybrid. Staring her straight in the face, she said, “Well then. I guess you’re going to have to kill me. I refuse your deal.” Her tone was emotionless, and she braced for the pain, still staring into Aurora’s eyes.
"Equal rule? But still with Reed as a lesser?" Aurora reasoned.
Citrus considered the deal for a second, still ignoring the pain. Aurora did have her at her mercy, but there was no way to keep it hidden from Reed. She had to strike a harder bargain. She shook her head, not able to speak due to the pain.
Aurora tried to strike one more bargain, "Equals, and we give Reed control over something of your choice; as long as it isn't rules, we could give her any benefit, if you want."
Citrus, almost fainting with the pain, nodded weakly. Before she passed out she said one more thing,"Just... don't tell-" But before she could finish, she slumped, unconscious on the floor.
.
Aurora rushed away to the nurse’s cave, returning with that cactus Reed couldn’t remember the name of, the one that healed SandWing poison. 
Reed watched them carefully. What is this? She thought. She tries to kill her, then heals her? Reed took a step forward. "What is going on?" She asked.
Reed took a step forward, "How do you feel, Citrus?"
Citrus let out a faint groan and stared Reed dead in the eyes.
Reed shrugged, "Didn't think you'd want me to interfere." She looked away. "I also thought you'd win."
Turning slowly to Reed, Citrus let out a bark of a laugh. “Well, I couldn’t exactly kill her, could I? As you said, I can’t keep blowing up at these dragons. Now though, I have a motive for revenge.”
Solona came up behind her and tapped her on the shoulder, “Come with me,” she motioned towards the empty kitchen.
Reed nodded slightly to Citrus as she fell unconscious again, then followed Solona into the kitchen.
Solona slammed the door shut. She looked at Reed grimly."We need to dispose of Aurora."
"Of course we do," Reed said airly. "That's been the plan from the beginning." She glanced pointedly at Aurora. "She and Citrus are going against my plans." She looked back to Solona, and hissed, "And those who go against my plans die."
Solona growled. "Citrus is valuable. Once Aurora is dead, Citrus will come around."
"Perhaps," Reed mused. "And if she doesn't 'come around'?"
Reed heard footsteps and turned to watch Citrus limp towards them. “Ah, I see you’re awake.”
Citrus grunted and went up to Reed’s side. Staring at Reed meaningfully she said, “We should probably go to the dorm and see how many supplies we have left.”
Reed nodded and beckoned to Solona, who followed them as they headed towards their dorm.
"What is it?" Reed asked when they got there.
Solona was silent.
Citrus gave one last glance behind her before speaking. "Aurora made a deal with me as she held me at her mercy." She said with bitterness in her voice. "I obviously had no choice, so I agreed. In her exact words, 'All three of us are equals, but she rules from the shadows.' But, we both know that we can't have her ruling. She told me to meet her in the music classroom at sunset. We have to create a plan before that."
"Kill her," Reed said simply.
“So now I’m the sane one? I can’t just go in and kill her. Once again, public favor. We can’t just murder her. But, what if we injure her so she dies anyway?” Citrus suggested.
Reed shook her head, "We have to kill her out of sight, then stage somehow, so it looks like she killed herself." It seemed like a good plan to her, maybe not the kindest, definitely not the cruelest. The cruelest being injuring her, then leaving her to die. 
"We ambush her," Reed said. "Solona and I. We hide in the music room, she comes in, we ambush her. Three against one, we can kill her easily." 
"But then again," Reed mused. "She could be expecting that. Which means we don't ambush her, we just walk in, and kill her." She spoke very calmly, but her thoughts were racing. She could have the rest of them behind her! Reed panicked. No, no, they'd never follow her. Psycho might, but not Wolfie, Crimson or Amelie. They're too weak.
Citrus lifted her head up to respond. “Whatever we do, we just need to destroy the evidence. Then we can say she tried to escape she the barrier killed her.”
“Yeah,” Solona agreed.
Reed nodded. My plan just might work out. 
|-|Chapter Four=
==Chapter Four---Down With the Threat==
Citrus walked down the halls, her mind was almost blank. She had been thinking about what she was about to do for the past couple of hours. The plan was simple, Reed and others were hiding the music room. Citrus would go into the music room and lock the door. Then they would ambush Aurora. As she thought the name, an unwanted flood of memories broke the silence in her head. Different school memories, arguments, schemes, and fights. It was mostly bad, although there were a few memories which Citrus looked back on fondly. Before she could wallow in the past any longer, Citrus forced herself back to the present.
None of that mattered now. Now she needed to protect her rule over this school. Now, she needed revenge. Her tail made a slithering sound behind her as it hung, useless. The skin was greyish black and looked rotten. There were still flakes of frost on it as well. The pain had almost totally gone away by this point. But, no matter how much she didn’t want to admit it, her tail would never be the same again. A frown creased her blood-red scales. Aurora was about to pay her debt.
She made her way to the music classroom, which had an odd, empty feeling to it. It used to be filled with cheery dragonets and loud banging sounds which didn't sound remotely like music. Citrus had always hated it. Aurora was standing near the center, looking at one of the instruments. Citrus took the opportunity to lock the door behind her. The sound of the lock clicking alerted Aurora and she whipped her head around. Citrus turned her scales orange peel yellow. “So, you wanted to talk?” Her voice was emotionless. So far, she felt absolutely nothing.
Aurora looked calm enough, “For starters, what are we going to do about Reed and Solona’s plan to kill me?"
Citrus looked Aurora dead in the eyes. "I think it'd be pretty simple.” A small smile played at the corners of her mouth. “You sneak into the dorm room and night and strangle them in their sleep. Then we get rid of the evidence, make up some story, and boom. We’re now the undisputed rulers.” She said this in such a way that sounded like she could be talking about what she had eaten for lunch that afternoon.
Citrus watched a closet door open out of the corner of her eye, but she still watched Aurora. Reed slowly closed the door behind her, and slithered towards Aurora.
Reed locked eyes with Citrus, then leaped onto Aurora’s back, hissing and clawing at her scales.
Aurora threw Reed off her back, she turned to Citrus hissing, “You lied!”
Solona leaped out from behind a drum, she blasted Aurora’s face with frostbreath. Solona dove underneath the hybrid and scratched at her underbelly, blood began to pour down onto her face.
Citrus watched as Aurora shrieked in pain. 
Solona cried out as Aurora dug her barb into Solona’s foreleg. Hissing through gritted teeth, Solona whirled around and bit into Aurora’s tail. 
Citrus could tell the pain of the frostbreath was getting to Aurora, and it wasn’t helped much when Reed started clawing at Aurora’s wings.
Reed and Solona managed to in Aurora down, despite her struggling.
As Reed and Solona pinned Aurora down, Citrus strolled over, her face dark. She put one talon on Aurora’s underbelly, digging her claws in. She motioned for the others to get off of Aurora. She was going to finish this herself.
Citrus stared at Aurora, her orange eyes devoid of pity. She dug her claws in harder, leaning in towards the hybrid’s face. She bared her teeth, her fangs dripping with venom. A cruel grin spread wickedly on her face. She began to drag her claws up towards her face, putting one talon over her mouth so she couldn’t scream. The wicked grin still on her face, she dragged her talon down Aurora’s face. She tilted her head slightly to stare at Aurora again, their snouts almost touching. In a voice so cold, it could’ve made an IceWing shiver she said, “You know what? It’s really unfortunate. I almost respected you. We could’ve been allies.” She raked her talons down Aurora’s face again. “Too bad you got in my way.” With one last, fleeting glimpse into the hybrid’s eyes, Citrus snapped her neck.
The sound reverberated around the room. Citrus let Aurora’s head fall, lifeless. She spat one last splatter of venom, melting Aurora’s already disfigured face.
Reed sat up, and in a calm voice as if the dragon sitting across from her wasn't a murderer, said, "Now we dispose of her."
Citrus nodded, looking slightly disgusted at the dead body on the ground. “Let’s burn it quickly. Before anybody can see the body.”
Reed plucked a torch off the wall, "Citrus, would you like to do the honors?"
Citrus took the torch wordlessly. She placed the flaming orange tip on Aurora’s tail. The color was already fading from her pale scales. Now, it became charred and black, unrecognizable.
Citrus watched Solona out of the corner of her eye, who was smiling evilly, looking almost pleased.
Citrus watched as the body continue to catch flame. By now the blazing fire was up to Aurora’s chest. She wished it could go faster. There felt like there was a small weight in her stomach, as though she had just eaten a rock. It couldn’t be guilt, could it? No. She couldn’t afford to feel guilty. She shook her head, turning away from the body.
Solona plucked the torch from Citrus’ talons and lit Aurora’s head on fire to speed up the process. 
Reed scratched at the dirt of the music cave's floor. She dug a big enough hole, then swept the ashes in with her powerful tail. She made sure to make it look like that spot had never been dug up.
"Well," Reed said. "I guess we can go to sleep now." She turned and unlocked the door to the music cave, and started heading back to her cave.
Citrus stared at the place where Reed has buried Aurora’s ashes. Solona strode past her, heading back to her own dorm. Turning away from them, she walked out of the door and followed Reed to their dorm. It felt oddly chilly, as though a winter’s breeze had snuck into the school. The lump in her chest seemed to be growing bigger by the minute, but she continued to ignore it.
Citrus walked in, sitting down of her bed silently. She lay down, and not having anything else to do, turned to Reed. Her expression blank, her voice monotone, and her eyes duller than their usual burning orange. “So...” She said simply, leaving many words and feelings unsaid.
"There's nothing left to say," Reed murmured, closing her eyes.
Melt sauntered in. "Nothing to say about what?"
Citrus growled. She obviously had to lie. But, she didn’t know what was appropriate. Should she start lying about Aurora already? She glanced at Reed, unsure what she should say.
"There's nothing left to say about anything," Reed muttered, eyes still closed. "Because I'm going to sleep."
Citrus nodded sleepily, although she felt wide awake.
“So. I can’t believe it’s only been a day.” She glanced mournfully at her useless tail, reminiscing.
"I'm asleep," Reed reminded her, eyes tightly shut.
“You murdered Aurora, didn’t you?” Melt asked, cocking her head to the side.
“Aurora?” Reed murmured, sounding calm. “Haven’t seen her since earlier.”
Melt nodded, “Yeah, ‘cause she’s dead. Someone must have killed her,” she looked pointedly at Citrus, “Probably with Reedeater and Solona the Gnome’s help.” 
Citrus looked confused, although her eyes were still closed. "Ha, I don't get a nickname?" She said, with a hollow laugh. "Anyway, how could we have killed her? Wouldn't that be loud and, ya know, messy?"
"Oh, I'm sure it was. But probably in a secluded area, like the music room or something." Melt replied nonchalantly.
"No one's been in the music cave since they held band rehearsals last week," Reed pointed out eyes still closed. "And Reedeater? Really?"
Melt grinned. "Yes, really. But if you deny the truth, then I kill you, so..."
Reed snorted, "There's no truth to deny." She finally opened her eyes. "And I doubt you could kill me."
Citrus opened one eye lazily, looking at the grinning IceWing. If they were going to fight, Reed could take a hit this time.
Melt sighed dreamily."Yes, I'll kill you."
Reed glanced up at the princess, “Great,” she sarcastically.
Melt giggled, then fell down twitching. She was dead.
.
Reed leaped to her talons. Dead? How is she dead? They'll think we've killed her! She prodded the dead princess. Reed was fine with being accused of a murder she actually committed but being falsely accused? That was just wrong. 
"Citrus!" She cried, poking the sleeping RainWing's side with her claws.
Solona walked in, seconds after. "What was that thud?" She asked, nearly tripping over the body.
“Did you kill her?” Perish asked, stepping into the dorm just moments after.
Solona was speechless, then her face contorted into fury. “Did you?!” She looked angry, but the look in her eyes showed that this was all for show.
"She just dropped dead!" Reed defended herself. She swung towards Perish, "I know you were listening to us talk. Did you hear me kill her?"
Citrus rolled over, groaning at all the noise. She opened one eye, “What is going on?” She saw Psycho’s lifeless body on the floor. 
Citrus shot up into the air, her scales warping from bright orange, banana yellow, pomegranate red, and then to stormy gray again in a matter of seconds.
“What. The. RainWing happened?!” Citrus demanded.
"It wasn't me," Reed said. "I'm pretty sure you would have noticed." She looked back at the body. "She was doing that creepy laugh she alway does---did, and then she fell over dead."
She nodded slightly at Reed, showing that she believed her. Citrus crouched down towards Melt, her scales shifting to a darker shade than the dead dragon’s scales. Silently, she prodded Melt with one of her talons.
Nothing happened.
She did it again, this time poking her eye. Still nothing. Tentatively, she back up, her expression slightly worried. “She’s dead.” Her voice was hollow, like it was coming from inside a tree trunk. A slight frown creased her face.
Reed didn't know what to feel. She was still slightly shaken from Aurora's death, and now she felt... she couldn't think of the right word, then it came to her. Numb. She didn't feel anything. There was no pain, no sorrow, just... nothing. Emptiness. 
Citrus growled at the other dragons in the room. “What are you idiots looking at? Melt is dead.” Her voice rose just a smidgen higher at the last word, though she regained control quickly. “You can get out now.” Her voice still had that odd hollowness, and it was very faint.
She turned her back to the group and walked back to her bed. She flopped down and faced the wall, staring blankly at it.
Reed laughed coldly as the others trudged out, but it sounded empty, "Who do you think will be next?"
A small grunt came from Citrus, although it was unintelligible. 
Reed couldn't stare at the dead body of the princess. Princess Melt. Princess Psycho. The good news was, if the dome ever went down, they'd all be dead. There'd be no one to blame.
She grabbed the princess by the tail and dragged her out of the cave. She laid her in the corner of the hallway, curling her tail up, and placing her wings around her so that it almost looked like she was sleeping. 
"Goodbye, Psycho," Reed whispered, then trotted back to her cave. She curled up like a cat, resting her wide tail over her snout. Then at some point, she fell asleep.
.
Aurora wasn’t gone, oh no. Was she dead? Certainly. But some part of her remained, her soul was still tied to the physical realm. She was a ghost, a spirit. 
And she had a plan. A plan to get back at her killers. 
Once everyone was officially back asleep, Aurora set her plan in motion. Aurora wandered around the halls, looking for the kitchen. Once she got there, she took out three knives and parchment. Slowly, on every paper, she wrote, 'You will die for what you did.' She didn't sign it since she wanted to create drama and tension.
She grabbed the parchment and the knives and flew towards Citrus and Reed's room. She walked into the room, not needing to open the door, she made sure not to male any noise. She walked over to Reed, then carefully stuck the note, into the wall next to her bed, using a knife to hold up the message. She went on to do the same thing for Citrus, then Solona.
Aurora let out a laugh. A cold, hard, malicious laugh. Though as loud as it was, no one heard it. She laughed long and hard, thinking about exactly what she would do.
|-|Chapter Five=
==Chapter Five--- Deeper Down==
As Amelie’s claws flew over the chunks of wood in her room, she pondered.
They're killing now, I'm sure. I might be next, targeted as a weakling. 
'Her talon went to the cheater-holster of knives. 
I think it's time I stopped acting and started carrying a weapon. 
She got up from her bed. Amelie dug around in the trunk and came up with a set of throwing knives for hunting and a hatchet she had packed for splitting firewood. She clasped a belt around her middle and attached the hatchet to it. She added the knives to the holster at her hip. 
.
Citrus slept late into the morning, not wanting to get up. Her eyes stayed shut, and she concentrated on what she had to do today instead of what had happened yesterday. Wake up. Prepare breakfast-She droned in her head, still trying to keep the dark thoughts at bay. But eventually unbidden thoughts made their way into her head. Clouded memories of yesterday’s fight, plotting with Reed and Solona, Killing Aurora, Melt, dropping dead for no reason at all.
She snapped her eyes open, facing the open dorm. She resolved to figure who killed Melt, and how. Yawning, she turned to the wall, and let out a yelp. Pinned on the wall with a knife was a scroll with messy, ragged handwriting on it. It read; You will die for what you did.
With a groan, Perish walked in, “What are you screaming ab---” he was cut off as he saw the note.
Citrus shook the note for emphasis. “WHO DID THIS?!” She roared, her scales pale white.
“A ghost?” Perish suggested uneasily. 
Reed yawned, stretching, “What in the moons is going on?” she grumbled.
“A ghost?!” Citrus screamed, she looked like she was going to bite one of Perish’s legs off.
“Yeah…?” 
"What are you talking about?" Reed asked, then finally noticed the note. "Oh. OH."
Amelie walked into their room, her posture no longer slumped or shy, the hatchet on her belt. "What's going on?" 
"Are you blind?" Reed asked. 
Citrus rolled her eyes. On the inside, there was a creeping, crawling feeling. You will die for what you did. Of course, she hadn’t done anything particularly bad. Aside from yesterday. But she was still trying to suppress those memories.
She forced her scales to turn dark red with small hints of silver. Anger and purpose.
“Whoever wrote this note, we are going to find you. With Melt just dropping dead,” And Aurora murdered. Whispered her head. “We don’t have time for stupid practical jokes. If we find whoever did it, they will be punished with lower rations.
Solona stepped into the room dramatically, as if she had been waiting for the perfect moment. "I don't think we can use that as a punishment." She studied her claws, “And by the way, there was one of those above my head too. Didn’t think much of it.”
Citrus slowly turned her head towards Solona. “Oh, we can’t? Somebody used kitchen knives to stab threatening messages next to our heads. Have you noticed that it’s all the people in the kitchen?”
"What if it's Melt’s ghost or something? I heard a breeze in the hall outside my room last night."
“You heard a breeze. Why in the moons does that mean there’s a vengeful ghost? Anyway, if it was, why would she go after us? She just dropped dead.”
"First, why would there be a breeze in a cave? And second, she is a sociopath, so why wouldn't she?"
“It’s not like we’re trapped underground. There are multiple openings to the outside. And seriously? ‘Why wouldn’t she’ is your best argument?”
"What if," Reed said sarcastically. "Someone was pranking us? Isn't that a crazy idea?"
Citrus hissed. “What do you think I’ve been saying? Ghosts don’t exist. Obviously it’s somebody trying to scare us.”
"I was mostly angling that at Solona." Reed clarified.
Solona snorted and Reed shot a death glare at her.
"Well, this is worthless. It's a prank," Reed’s tail swished across the cave floor, "Now, if you'll excuse me," she walked out of the cave, saying the last bit over her shoulder, "I'm going to get breakfast."
Reed rolled her shoulders, stretched out her wings, and flew out into the sky, remembering to steer clear of the dome. 
It had been two days since Psycho's death, and she was surprised no one else had died yet. A few fights had broken out, but there were no serious injuries. Amelie had begun to carve multiple daggers and other weapons out of wood, Perish was becoming even more paranoid, White Wolf was... still pretty quiet, Solona was, Solona, Citrus' tail was starting to get a little better, but not much had changed.
Reed was prepared for death.
Reed perched on the tip of the mountain. She looked out at the dome. Nothing. She couldn’t see through it, it was reflective like a mirror.
She looked at her reflection, she wasn’t as pretty as she had once been, nor as muscular. She was a lot skinnier, and her scales were dull and scratched. Her left ear was torn where one of her three golden hoops earrings had caught on something. 
She couldn’t look at it anymore though, so she flew back to her dorm.
Reed waltzed into her cave, spotting Citrus tapping her talons against the stone. "So," she sat down across from Citrus. "Isn't it funny how much we've changed?" She laughed dryly.
Citrus laughed with her. Her laugh was mirthless and hollow.“I guess so.”
She glanced at where Psycho had slept. "I wonder who will be down next."
The small smirk on Citrus’ face dropped immediately. "It won't be long. You saw how much food we have left." Her face darkened as she remembered the dwindling food supplies left in the pantry.
"Amelie had some ideas," Reed commented. "She thought about trying to go deeper into the mountain."
Citrus tapped her talons again.
“That might work... Has she actually tried it yet?”
Reed's wings twitched, "I'm not sure." She stood up, "Shall we ask her?"
Citrus nodded and stood up.
.
Aurora watched Perish throw a knife at the wall. "Can't break the barrier, so the only thing animus magic is useful for is killing dragons and nothing?" Perish asked himself, then groaned, “Great, now I’m talking to myself."
She flew over to him, placing a talon on his shoulder.
“Is someone there?” Perish asked, he shivered at Aurora’s touch.
Aurora tossed a rock into the air to show that she was there.
“Aurora, is that you?” Perish looked around the room as if he could spot the ghost.
Aurora nodded, then realized that he couldn't see her. She picked up a stick and silently wrote: Yes into the dirt on the floor.
Perish somewhat relaxed, "So who killed you?" He watched the floating stick held by Aurora, though he couldn’t see her. "I'm guessing Citrus?"
And Solona, and Reed.
Aurora put down the stick for a second. Then wrote down this: 1. You shouldn't tell them that you know, then they will think of you as an enemy or someone who needs to be exterminated. 2. Could you perhaps put a spell where you can see/ hear me, and maybe talk to me through thoughts? My talons are getting tired.
Perish nodded and took out a small gold bracelet with an emerald in the middle "I enchant this bracelet so I can talk to Aurora," he said, the bracelet shimmered. "I'm actually kinda surprised that Reed helped kill you, she seemed more like a 'hey you kill her' kind of dragon.”
Aurora was glad that she could speak now, "Well technically she just left me merciless and crumpled in a ball, Citrus was the one who officially killed me."
"Not surprising." Perish mused. “How hard do you think it will be to start a revolt against Reed and her regime?”
“Well, Reed and Citrus are going to meet Amelie and Solona,” Aurora told him. She had been watching them before she came to Perish’s cave. “That leaves just White Wolf and Crimson.”
“White Wolf and Crimson,” Perish murmured. He picked up two scrolls and wrote ‘Meet me in the history cave tomorrow’ on them, then rolled them up, “I enchant these scrolls to find White Wolf and Crimson.” The scrolls leaped from his talons and rocketed out of the cave, no doubt to find the two other dragons.
Aurora nodded along with what Perish said, "And one more thing, Don't tell anyone about me, I want to remain unknown."
.
Amelie was once again carving. Her claws hurt, but the work was, she thought, helping her hold on.
Hold on to what? She thought. The darkest part of her mind whispered, Your sanity.
Amelie hurled the axe at the wall. It smacked into the wall with a dull ring and clattered to the floor. She picked it up again and hooked it back in her belt, liking the weight of it next to the folding spear on the other side; so sharp the edge had no shine. 
"Amelie," the NightWing heard the cold, clear voice of Reed as she turned around.
Citrus only gave Amelie a slight nod.
“Yes?" Amelie said coolly. 
"You wanted to venture deeper into the school, yes?" Reed asked.
"I believe that there could be sources of water or food. I believe that our supplies are running...low, yes? Funny. I hadn't expected such a lot to run out in a couple of days. Perhaps some dragons have been taking...a little extra?" She smiled cruelly. Amelie knew she was going to push the dragons’ tempers, but she felt they deserved it. "Maybe the dragon in charge hasn't been keeping a close eye?"
Solona snorted from her bed.
Reed ignored her, "Oh Solona, I forgot you were clawmates with Amelie."
She turned back to Amelie, "So, are you up for it? Venturing deeper into the school?"
Citrus scowled from behind Reed.
"It would provide valuable sources of food and perhaps water. It will be dark though, so we'll need to fashion torches. Dangers like larger animals, rockslides, etc. also threaten. But weighing this against our need for resources, it seems like an acceptable decision." Amelie smirked. "Although generally, I'd want to bring intelligent dragons. Brain over brawn, dragons who are logical and not reckless." She looked pointedly at Citrus. 
Reed didn't look away, "She's smart enough to handle herself."
"If you say so." Amelie said, not looking at all respectful, twirling a dagger between her claws. 
Citrus growled. “You guys are talking about me like I’m not here. I believe I can take care of myself, thank you.”
Reed flicked her tail.
|-|Polls=
<poll>
Which character is your favorite?
Citrus
Reed
White Wolf
Amelie
Aurora
Crimson
Princess Melt
Perish
Solona
</poll>
<poll>
How is this book so far?
Great!
Really good!
It's ok.
Meh.
Bad.
Oh wow, this sucks.
</poll>
<poll>
Which nickname is your favorite?
Princess Psycho
Reedeater
Wolfie
Solona the Gnome
Apricot
</poll>
<poll>
Whose death are you saddest about?
Aurora
Princess Melt
Amelie
White Wolf
</poll>
|-|Gallery=
Feel free to draw some fanart!
55a7d511-e175-400f-8826-9e5e21b516c0.png|Not actually fanart specifically for this, but I felt it fit. Drawn by the amazing KiwiFluff2008!
CF70F9A3-E9F3-4748-84D2-9395F45E03CF.jpeg|Sketch of Aurora smiling evilly down at our feisty little RainWing. Draw by Laceyrocks7. :DDD
A1443B0C-A03D-4F33-AAE5-661E280A935C.jpeg|Pessimistic RainWing. Drawn by Laceyrocks7.
C91bbf33-1a49-481b-8a77-88e16e2f0ed3.png|Fantastic back cover by KiwiFluff2008! Left: Melt, , Perish. Right: Crimson, Aurora, Amelie. ISN"T IT SO GOOD???
D447C0DD-D20B-401F-ACC5-1FB2B2E86141.png|Probably-Evil-RainWing by Laceyrocks7
Screenshot 2019-08-13 at 11.15.37 AM.png|what even is this
</tabber>
Category:Fanfictions
Category:Fanfictions (Incomplete)
Category:Fanfictions (Semi-Canon)
Category:Collaborations
Category:Genre (Horror)
Category:Genre (Adventure)
Category:Mature Content
Category:Content (FangirlingSoHard)
Category:Content (Lightangel2007)
Category:Content (Droplet the seawing)
Category:Content (Laceyrocks7)