Wings of Fire: Dusk

DUSK 
=== Prologue  ===
Shoal paced along the beach. The queen had requested her. Why? It seemed so odd that she would. Neither of her parents had any important jobs, working in the kitchens. Shoal hadn't even thought the queen knew she existed. After all, the only mentions that they might be given around the queen would be if she asked who had made the food. 
The sun beat down on Shoal's scales uncomfortably and she wished she could leave then. But if it was actually the queen, and not some of her school friends playing a prank on her, Shoal thought it was a good idea to stay put.
Shoal dug her talons onto the sand of the Island Palace's beach, where she had been told to go. She was alone for the moment. Her parents had exchanged looks when they heard her summons, so they seemed to know what was going on. But that had refused to tell her and just said she'd be back soon. 
There were a few splashes on the shore behind her and Shoal whirled around. A few other SeaWing dragonets were pulling themselves out of the water, age ranging from two to five. 
A green SeaWing dragonet walked over to her. Shoal recognized him as Algae from her class. 
"Shoal, right?" he said. 
"You know perfectly well what my name is," she snapped. She was fairly sure that he had a crush on her. But it seemed a rather mean comment for an assumption. Shoal felt consented to apologize. "Sorry," she said, blowing deeply out her snout, digging her talons into the sand again, as though trying to bury her nervousness. "I'm just a little nervous, that's all." 
Algae nodded. "I am too," he said. "Were you summoned here also?" 
Shoal nodded, glancing around at all the dragonets. Now she recognized a few more from her class. But there were steadily more gathering on the beach. 
There were larger splashes and Shoal turned and saw Queen Coral, and Princess Anemone, flanked by servants who were holding, strangely enough, coconuts. The dragonets closest to the water yelped in fear and scrambled away down the beach. 
Queen Coral seemed as majestic as always, though Shoal wasn't a very good judge. She had only seen her once or twice. 
Queen Coral's tail swept through the sand, leaving deep furrows. 
"Everyone get in a line," Anemone ordered uninterestedly. 
Shoal ran and joined the line that had been made, accidentally stepping on Algae's talon. 
"Sorry!" she whispered hurriedly, jumping away from him. But if he answered, she didn't hear. She darted away to an open spot in the line.
Then she sat down and curled her tail around her talons, struggling not to look at everyone else to see what they were doing, but judging from the silence, everyone was doing exactly what she was.
"Good," Anemone said. She turned to the servants. "Give them each a coconut."
After a few murmured "Yes, Your Majesty,"s, they went out and handed a coconut to each dragonet, much to each dragonets' curiosity. 
"Pick up your coconut," Anemone said lazily. 
Shoal reached out hesitantly, staring at the coconut before her quizzically. What was this for?
"For those of you who haven't guessed by now," Anemone said. "We are going to be conducting the Talons of Power test."
Shoal gasped and was glad to hear that she was not the only one. It wouldn't be very nice to be singled out before the queen herself. 
Anemone smirked slightly. "Yes. And if any of you do turn out to be an animus," she gave a resigned sigh and sent a slight glare to Queen Coral, "I will be your mentor." She turned her attention back to the dragonets. "Now, enchant your coconut to float into the air and then land back in your talons."
There was a silence. 
Finally someone spoke. It was Algae. 
Of course it was Algae, Shoal thought bitterly. He was always the first to say anything. He hardly had any manners. But then she realized that he wasn't talking to anyone. He was talking to his coconut, which seemed rather odd. 
"Coconut," he said boldly. "I enchant you to fly up into the air and then land back in my talons." 
Nothing happened. When Shoal glanced around, she saw that everyone else was watching intently. 
Turning her attention back to Algae, she saw that he looked slightly put out. Shoal didn't know why. She didn't want a power that took a bit of your soul whenever you used it. It even sounded creepy. Animus magic. 
Anemone smirked and sent a look to Queen Coral that looked an awful lot like an "I told you so." 
Queen Coral sent a look back that Shoal couldn't quite decipher, and made a gesture with her wing that she thought portrayed "Wait." 
Shoal sighed, turning back to her coconut and deciding to get it over with. Some of the other dragonets had already gone in the few moments after Algae had. And so far, nothing had happened. What were the chances that anything would?
"Coconut," she said, staring at it and just feeling all in all rather stupid. "I enchant you to fly up into the air and then land back in my talons."
To her horror and everyone else's amazement, her coconut slowly lifted out of her talons. It hovered in the air for a moment, then slowly landed back in her talons. 
It seemed as though everything had frozen. Nobody on the beach moved. The only sound Shoal could hear was the pounding of her heart, the small waves lapping at the sandy shore, and the thud of her coconut on the sand as she dropped it in horror. 
Finally everyone rushed over and Shoal flinched away. Although, it wasn't actually everyone. Only all the dragonets from her class, which was only about half a dozen dragonets. But it seemed like so much more.
"Why didn't you tell me?" she heard Algae exclaimed, though she couldn't tell him apart in the crowd of blue and green dragonets. 
Shoal opened her mouth to reply, blinking furiously. But she couldn't make herself say anything. She was just staring at her coconut in horror. 
"Give the dragonet some space, sheesh." 
Shoal looked up to see Anemone working her way through the crowd of dragonets who all parted before the princess. 
If Shoal looked past Anemone, she could see Queen Coral surveying everything, looking as calm as ever, as though an animus hadn't just appeared out of nowhere and been dropped at her talons. 
Anemone lowered herself to be eye level with Shoal. "Are you okay?" she asked softly.
Shoal went to answer but she didn't trust herself to speak. Instead she just shook her head, looking down at her talons and the sand.
Anemone turned to Queen Coral. "Mother, could I talk to the dragonet?" she asked. "Alone," she added, giving the dragons around them furious stares as they still gaped at Shoal. She might not have been able to see them, but she could feel their gazes, her scales prickling.
Queen Coral nodded and swept off the beach, beckoning with her wings to the servants. 
Shoal looked up and watched everyone leave though she noticed Algae did so rather reluctantly. He gave her one last glance before he dove into the water, disappearing without another ripple.
Shoal looked up at Anemone, but she was still staring firmly at the water. 
"Um, Princess Anemone?" she said quietly, touching her talon lightly. 
But Anemone stubbornly kept her eyes on the water. 
Shoal turned her eyes to her coconut, picking it up and staring at it. She didn't think she'd ever be able to eat coconut again. Shoal threw it away from her, where it rolled to a slow stop on the sand a bit away. 
"Do they still teach about the massacre?" Anemone asked suddenly, making Shoal jump. 
She blinked at Anemone, trying to interpret what she had said. "Yes," she said slowly.
Anemone gave a nod of approval. "I hadn't heard the story when I got my magic and I was terrified when I heard for the first time. It's probably better that you heard it in advance."
Shoal almost wanted to disagree. "Why me?" she asked softly instead. 
Anemone hesitated, looking lost. 
"Why did the magic choose me, over all the others who wanted it so badly?"
Anemone gave a small smile. "Animus magic is not something that is gifted. It's genetic."
Shoal blinked, startled. "So my parents could be animuses?" she asked. "A – animi?"
Anemone shook her head, her smile getting the smallest bit bigger. "They had animus blood in them but they were tested for it when they were probably about your age. And speaking of your parents, where do they work?" she asked randomly.
"K – kitchens," Shoal answered, startled into telling her, though she would've either way. 
Anemone nodded. "So you're used to blending into the background?" 
"I – I guess so," Shoal said. 
"Listen, that will change from this moment forward." Anemone grabbed Shoal's shoulders. "You will be the center of attention. But they won't like you for who you actually are. They'll be super nice and ask for magic favors later. Believe me, I know." 
Shoal stopped herself from taking a step back in fear. But even if she had wanted to, she couldn't have; not with the sharp grip Anemone had on her. 
"And before you do any sort of spell, think through possible outcomes. I did something I can never forgive myself for. Please don't make the same mistake I did." 
Shoal was scared. Anemone always looked so regal on her throne. Now she looked haunted. 
Anemone tore her eyes away and pulled her gray pink talons back, setting them down in the sand in front of her. "I'm going to give you an option that I never had. Leave." 
Shoal took a step back. "L – leave?" she stuttered. 
Anemone nodded. "Go somewhere else and start over where no one knows you. I can tell my mother that you ran away. And you could go to the Ice Kingdom or something." Then she paused. "No, not the Ice Kingdom. Too cold," she mused. After thinking for a moment, she snapped her head back up. "You could go to Jade Mountain Academy!" she said. "I went there when I was a dragonet and I loved it!"
"B – but what about my family?" Shoal asked, her voice shaking. "I can just leave them!" 
"They'll be scared of you. And even they won't see you for who you really are." Anemone shook her head sadly. "So what about it? Do you want to go to Jade Mountain?" Her eyes were glimmering. 
Shoal's mind was whirling. She couldn't just leave. But Anemone was a princess. She couldn't say no to the princess. Her parents could be put in prison. She didn't want to get them put in prison on her account. 
"I – I – I don't know!" Shoal cried, and she dove into the water with Anemone calling her name.
== PART ONE  ==
:
=== Chapter 1  ===
Everything was silent. Yet the dragonet inside the egg wanted out. She didn't know why yet but something called her.
The dragonet reached out and her talons hit a surface. She pushed slightly and there was a small but satisfying cracking noise.
Then the dragonet began pushing with her back talons. Something gave out beneath them and she peeked out the hole. She could see a bit but she wanted to know more.
The small dragonet pushed as hard as she could and the egg shattered around her. She stumbled out onto the sand and looked out. At the horizon there were two full moons.
The small dragonet tried to reach out and grab them but fell on her face and got sand up her snout. She pushed herself onto her talons and sneezed, knocking herself over again. Then she giggled.
Suddenly there was a loud crashing sound and the dragonet spun around, tripping on her own talons. A wave of water was pulling back. The dragonet got up and approached it cautiously.
It crashed again and rushed towards the dragonet. She yelped and jumped back, the water barely brushing her claws.
Then she followed the wave as it pulled out. And as it crashed in again, she leapt back. But before the wave went out fully, the dragonet pounced on the water. She looked into her talons but there was nothing in them. She frowned, peering into her talons closely.
There was another crash and the dragonet didn't have enough time to move before the wave doused her in water. She yelped and was pushed farther up onto the beach.
The wave pulled out and the dragonet giggled, sand splattered across her scales.
Suddenly there was a dull thump on the sand behind her. She turned around to see a pale yellow dragon running towards her. There was a basket lying on the sand behind her that she had obviously dropped.
When the dragon reached her, the dragonet was scooped up into warm arms.
Everything about that moment felt right. The way she was positioned in the dragon's arms and the infinite gentleness of her claws as she held her.
What the dragonet caught from her mind was worry. There were words but she didn't understand them yet.
The dragon looked out to the horizon where it was brighter and suddenly there was a word in her mind. Just one. The dragonet didn't know what it meant, but she liked how it sounded. "Dusk," the older dragon said. "I think I'll name you Dusk."
The dragonet snuggled close to the dragon's warm scales and grabbed their snout lightly.
The dragon smiled, a tear slipping down her snout. She laughed softly, wiping the tear tracks off her snout and nuzzled the dragonet. "Come on, Dusk," she said, her voice shaking slightly. "Let me take you to my home."
The dragonet caught so much sadness from the older dragon's mind. She nuzzled up into the crook of the older dragon's neck and chirped softly.
In response to the dragonet's action, the older dragon pulled her even closer to her scales and cried softly. In her mind, the dragonet kept seeing flashes of a dragon that looked like the older dragon, though much younger. He had a mischievous grin on his face and the dragonet wondered who he was and why the dragon was so sad about him.
The dragon started walking along the sand toward a hut that was visible nearby. The walk was long and awkward for the dragon, as she was being infinitely gentle for the dragonet in her claws.
The dragonet's eyelids were drooping but as they walked into the hut, they shot open again, taking in every bit of the hut.
There were pictures hung on every wall, but the dragonet didn't understand most of them. But her eyes caught on one of them, a portrait of the dragon she had seen in the older dragon's mind. He had his head tilted curiously, but he was grinning.
The dragonet chirped slightly and wriggled slightly against the older dragons claws.
She gave a soft laugh and set her on the floor. "This is your new home for now, Dusk," the older dragon said. She smiled at the dragonet. "Until I find someone better suited to take care of you."
The dragonet scrambled over the carpeted sand back over to the yellow dragon and climbed slightly up her leg.
The dragon laughed and picked her up, taking her to another room. "I think it's best we go to bed, Dusk."
The dragonet looked around curiously as they entered the new room. It was set up mostly the same, though there was a large space set apart with two blankets set on top of each other.
The dragon headed toward them and pulled the first layer of blankets back before lying down.
She made sure the dragonet was comfortable, then tented one of her wings over her.
The dragonet walked over to the dragon's side and snuggled close to the warmth. All her curiosity faded as her eyelids drooped and she fell asleep.
=== Chapter 2  ===
Dusk pulled herself out of the water and onto the sand with two fish in her mouth and started to make her way back to the hut. As she was walking along the hot sand, she saw a lizard sitting on a rock, eating a desert grasshopper. It stopped, tensed to run away, so she stopped.
Dusk slowly pulled the fish out of her mouth and hid them under her wing, camouflaging to the colors around her. She crept closer to it.
The lizard turned its head from side to side, but it didn't see anything out of the ordinary, so it turned back to its half eaten insect.
Dusk barely kept from snorting. It was really stupid. It wasn't even worried that a dragon that had been there seconds before wasn't anymore.
So she pounced. She had killed it before it knew what was happening.
Dusk pulled out the fish from where she'd had them tucked under her wing and put them back in her mouth, continuing back to the hut with a lizard now too.
Once she made it, she took the fish back out of her mouth. "Mother," Dusk called once inside. "I'm back!" She set down her fish on the sandstone table that sat in the middle of the hut, glancing at the paintings hung on the walls, the only decorations in the small hut other than the carpets that sat on the sand.
Dusk walked over to one of the ocean that was quite bad compared to the rest, touching the paint strokes lightly. She was hoping to get better. Maybe even better than her mother.
The amount of times she had got into trouble with the paint. It was too many to count. There was one time Dusk had accidentally tipped a jar of blue paint onto her. It had taken a lot of scrubbing to get it all off.
Dusk's adopted mother, Silica the SandWing, came out from her room, holding a paintbrush that was covered in a light blue paint. "From where?" she asked curiously.
Dusk held up the lizard that she still had impaled on her claw. "Hunting," she said.
Silica gave her a smile, her tail skittering along the carpets behind her. "Dusk, you didn't have to."
She shrugged. "I was getting a few fish for myself and found a lizard on the way back." Dusk shook the lizard off her talon and onto the table.
Silica frowned slightly, setting the paintbrush down on the table next to Dusk's fish. "I thought I told you not to go in the ocean without me," she said.
Dusk avoided her mother's eyes. "Well, you were busy and I didn't want to bother you," she muttered quietly.
"Come here, Dusk."
Dusk stepped forwards to her mother but instead of punishment, Silica pulled her into a hug, like always. "You know I have these rules to keep you safe, right?" she whispered softly in Dusk's ear.
Dusk nodded into her mother's embrace. "I know," she whispered.
Dusk knew this was true but she could also see that Silica wanted to make amends for what had happened to her dragonet. She had seen in Silica's mind that she had had a dragonet quite a few years ago and he had drowned. Silica had no idea how. She had a portrait of him hanging in her room that she had painted soon after he had died. Dusk always liked how he looked. Kind, mischievous, caring. Dusk always wondered what it'd have been like if she could've met him.
Silica pulled away from Dusk. "Do you want me to cook your fish for you?" she asked.
Dusk nodded. "Please," she said, standing back so Silica could reach the table. They had discovered that even though Dusk was part NightWing, she had no fire.
Silica took her paintbrush back and breathed a plume of fire onto the two fish and left them warm and charred, just how Dusk usually liked them.
"Thank you," Dusk said. She reached out to grab them but Silica stopped her. "You have to wait five seconds, remember? So you don't get burned?"
Dusk looked down and nodded embarrassedly.
Silica pulled her into another hug and Dusk leaned into it gratefully.
When Dusk snuggled closer, she caught a mix of emotions from her mother's mind. Happiness and guilt.
Silica felt so happy that she could give Dusk a home and a mother, but also guilt that she hadn't held her dragonet, Sandstone, Dusk caught for the first time, as much as she should've. And some more guilt that Dusk wouldn't be held like that by her actual parents.
Dusk didn't know why she hadn't told Silica about her mind reading, but to make her feel better, she said, "I would rather be with you than even my actual parents."
Silica started but didn't pull away. "Oh, Dusk. You wouldn't say that if you had been with your parents from the beginning," she said softly.
"I would," Dusk said, pulling back to look at Silica. "I promise I would." She nuzzled Silica softly but she turned away from her.
I wish I believed her, she thought quietly.
"When can Aunt Brush come again?" Dusk asked, changing the subject.
Brush was Silica's sister but Dusk thought she was the best dragon in the world other than Silica herself. So that was a pretty high honor. Granted Dusk hadn't met many dragons. Silica and Dusk had everything they needed there. Living by the ocean, Dusk could catch fish whenever she wanted. And Silica had no trouble finding a lizard or two. And there was even a fresh water stream nearby. They had no need to leave.
Silica turned around and faced Dusk. "She said to tell you sorry and that she couldn't come for a while," she said with a smile.
Dusk's wings drooped a fraction of an inch.
"Aw, cheer up, Dusk. You just saw her a few weeks ago. And you saw her on your second hatching day," Silica reminded her.
"My second hatching day was three million months ago," Dusk pouted.
Silica wrinkled her snout at her playfully. "It was only eleven months ago, silly."
"Well it felt like three millions months ago," she said.
Silica laughed. "We'll see her again soon, Dusk. I'm sure of it."
When she still didn't cheer up, Silica picked Dusk's fish up off the table and held them out for her. "Come on. Let's eat and then go rinse off in the river."
Dusk smiled slightly and took the fish from her mother, silently wondering about her second power. She hadn't had any visions lately and yet there seemed to be an alarm bell tinkling in her head. Dusk wondered if it was just anxiety or if something bad truly would happen.
=== Chapter 3  ===
Dusk woke up with a start. She'd had a terribly vivid dream that Silica had died.
Dusk lay on the carpet for a few minutes, staring at the sandstone ceiling. Finally she decided to get up. She wanted her her mother to put her warm wings around her and tell her it would be okay.
Dusk pushed the wool blankets off and climbed up off of the carpets beneath her.
"Mother?" she whispered softly once she was out of her room, shivering at the cold desert night air.
It felt too quiet. But Dusk didn't know why. She could hear the same noises she heard every night. She could hear the waves on the beach and the chirps of the desert crickets, even the caws of a few seagulls that were up in the middle of the night.
That was when she realized that it was her internal world that had gone silent. Dusk couldn't hear a single mind in the hut.
"Mother!" Dusk cried.
Nothing stirred anywhere nearby.
Dusk ran into her mother's room in the hut, which just confirmed what she already knew. No one else was there.
Silica's bed was tousled, the carpet that she usually slept under thrown to the other side of the room.
Dusk ran outside and glanced around, ignoring the bright moons shining overhead, startling a seagull into the air. She didn't see anything, though Silica could blend in easily with her sand pale scales.
Dusk paused and tried to look into the future. Finally it told her which direction she had to go. But it didn't show her anything. Whenever she tried to see what was going to happen, it was black.
Dusk dove into the water and swam south, finding a current that sped her along.
Dusk's heart pounded in her ears. She wanted to know but she didn't. She knew fully what had happened and yet not in the slightest. She hated when her powers did that.
Dusk swam for what felt like hours when she saw a hut. At first Dusk thought that she had maybe turned around somehow. But she had followed the coast the entire way, so that wasn't possible.
Then she realized that the landscape was different and the hut was set up differently.
She was at Brush's hut.
Dusk started to pull herself ashore, lugging her water logged wings, to ask if Brush had seen Silica when she saw it.
A body floating in the water, it's head face down, being pushed up onto shore by the small waves that lapped the beach. Her scales were a pale yellow.
Dusk took a few tentative steps toward the body. There was no activity in their mind. Nothing at all. So either they were shielding her or. . . No. She refused to think about that.
When she finally reached it, she cautiously flipped the dragon over.
It was Silica.
And she had obviously drowned.
Dusk screamed and stepped back in horror, mind whirling and tears suddenly dripping down her snout. How had it happened? Why hadn't Silica swam out of the water? Why was she even up at the middle of the night anyway? Why did Sandstone and Silica both have to die by water?
That was when she decided that she would never get in water again. Water brought death close in its wake.
"This has to be a dream," she whispered quietly, staring in horror at the body of Silica. "It has to be!"
"Dusk!"
Dusk whirled around to see Brush run out of her hut and down to where Dusk was crying.
She quickly surveyed the scene with disbelief etched into every feature of her face. Even through all the thoughts racing through Dusk's head, she caught a crystal clear one from Brush. Did Dusk do this?
"Why on all of Pyrrhia would I do this?" she cried without thinking, then fell into sobs.
I knew it, Brush thought quietly, but what she knew, Dusk had no idea.
"Bring her back!" Dusk cried. She had figured out about Brush's animus magic one night, hearing Brush and Silica talking about it.
There was a flare of surprise from Brush but she put a yellow wing around Dusk's shaking shoulders all the same. "I'm so sorry, Dusk, but that's one of the only things animus magic can't do. I wish I could. I promise. There's nothing more in the world I want right now." A single tear slipped down Brush's snout and Dusk knew it was true. I'm sorry, Dusk, but I don't see why you should have to endure this again.
Before Dusk could say anything, before she could do anything, Brush started talking. "I enchant Dusk to forget everything up until now, except for anything that will help her later. And while I'm at it, I also take away her power to read minds and see the future."
Suddenly Brush's mind was as blank as the sand next to her.
Dusk took a step back in horror. "No," she whispered. She tried to look ahead to see what would happen but it was all blank.
"You'll be fine," Brush said soothingly, watching as she stumbled in the sand.
"No!" Dusk cried. "How could it ever be fine?"
Her memories were the last to go. Everything. All of it. No matter the moment, they were steadily fading until they were gone entirely.
Dusk tried to keep something, but the moment she thought of the memories, they were gone.
Dusk looked over at Silica and tried to keep the picture in her mind. Even if it was her dead body, Dusk had to remember something about her. The color of her scales, what type of dragon she was.
Dusk cast a look of despair into Brush's face. This is what my powers saw, she thought, black. And then everything was gone and she crumpled onto the sand.
=== Chapter 4  ===
Dusk's eyes opened slowly. She blinked as she got a drop of water in them. Then she realized that she was being pelted all over by water. Dusk looked up and saw rain falling from a gray sky. There was even some thunder booming in the distance.
She rolled over onto her talons, sand sticking to her scales, and looked around. There was nothing but sand and the ocean in sight.
Dusk touched her head lightly. She knew who she was and that she was two, but she couldn't remember where she had learned it.
She looked around again and her gaze fixed in the ocean.
Water brings death close in its wake, a small unbidden thought whispered.
Dusk frowned, watching the waves pound the beach. She watched how each wave disrupted the water behind it and shivered. She could certainly believe that water brought death with the waves that looked like they could obliterate anything.
Dusk shook, trying to get some sand and water off her scales, thinking about what to do. She certainly couldn't stay there.
She looked around again, looking for her parents. Surely if she was here, then they should be close by.
Then she looked out to the ocean. It couldn't be. . . Was that why she thought that water brought death? Had someone in her life been taken by the water?
She scanned the surface. There was no telling how long she had been out. And if someone had drowned, they would have sank beneath the surface by then, especially with the waves breaking off shore.
Finally Dusk couldn't stand it anymore and she turned away, blinking what she convinced herself was rain out of her eyes.
Somehow she knew she was along Pyrrhia's west coast, parallel to Queen Thorn's palace. How she knew, Dusk had no clue, but it was certainly helpful.
Dusk wondered where she could go. She didn't remember anyone. Where was a place she could stay?
Suddenly her head snapped up. Jade Mountain Academy. But for now the only problem would be getting a place. But she'd have to try. She had to go somewhere.
Dusk tensed to fly, but hesitated. She glanced back at the ocean. "I will come back," she whispered. She wasn't sure who she was talking to though. Or was she just promising herself that she would figure out everything that had been stolen from her?
Then she launched into the air towards Jade Mountain.
/ / / / / / / / / /
The weather cleared when she was about halfway across the desert. But almost immediately after it did, she was hot. She felt as though the sun was cooking her alive.
Dusk decided to take a break. Her wings were hurting quite a bit.
She dove down to the sand and yelped as her scales connected to the burning sand. She leapt back into the air and the beating of her wings swept the sand away in a small crater beneath her.
Dusk hesitantly stepped back down but this layer of sand was cooler than the first. Dusk guessed that the top layer had contained all the warmth and she had knocked all that sand away with the wind from her wings.
She settled on the cooler sand, letting her aching wings sag and brush the ground softly.
After sitting there for a few minutes, she launched back into the air, wincing as she beat her wings.
But before she was up very high, she saw a dark shape struggling up a dune.
Dusk went to dive toward the shape, when she saw something glittering in the north. It didn't appear to be that far away.
She hesitated for a moment before continuing to the dark shape.
She landed on the hot sand and hissed at the heat of it. But the hiss died in her throat as she looked over the dragon.
His scales were a midnight black, which made her think he was a NightWing. But a closer look told her that he was nowhere near a NightWing.
His horns and underbelly were a golden yellow, and his tail curled into a venomous barb, like a scorpion.
He was a hybrid.
Dusk looked him over with wide eyes. He appeared to have passed out.
She brushed her wing lightly against him. There was heat radiating off his scales that felt so familiar.
Dusk closed her eyes spread out her wings, determined to catch as much as that warmth as she could, despite the heat around her. The feeling was comforting. It felt like home.
Someone cleared their throat and Dusk's eyes flew open.
There was a glittering IceWing standing before her. The sun glinted off his scales painfully bright. His scales were a white, but they didn't shine like Dusk felt like they should. As if they were dull and needed to be dunked in water until they glimmered like ice.
He eyed her suspiciously. "What are you doing all the way out here?" he asked her.
"I should ask you the same thing," Dusk said boldly. "And him," she added, flicking her tail at the NightWing SandWing lying unconscious beside them.
His forked tongue flicked in and out of his mouth and he regarded her for a moment.
"I came out because his scales stood out like obsidian in diamond,” he finally said.
Dusk looked to the dragon again. His looked probably about a year older than her.
"Yes, that he does," she agreed. "Were you going to take him with you?"
The IceWing nodded. "So you best be on your way, little dragonet."
Dusk felt a flare of irritation, her ear flicking. He looked barely a few years older than her. And he was calling her a dragonet.
Dusk glanced hesitantly to the hybrid on the ground next to them. "Make sure he gets help," she said.
She thought she heard a growl in the back of the IceWing's throat. But he just nodded. "I will," he promised, but she caught him roll his eyes slightly.
Dusk nodded and looked guiltily to the hybrid before launching herself into the air. She felt bad for leaving him with the IceWing but what was she about too do? Lug him to Jade Mountain hoping they could help? No, he was better off with the IceWing.
She flew for a few more hours, stopping once. And after only an hour since her last stop, her wings were starting to tire out again.
Dusk frustratedly alighted on a mountain ledge. If she looked out past the mountains, she could see the twin peeks of Jade Mountain, towering over the other mountain peaks. The sun was right in between the two spires, as though it was its newest prey.
And she thought that possibly the dark specks that surrounded Jade Mountain could possibly be dragonets.
She wasn't sure why that terrified her. She was just a dragonet, after all.
But then Dusk remembered that she was a hybrid. A SeaWing. . . Dusk strained her mind, but couldn't remember. She glanced down at her scales and saw that they were black. So she had to be part NightWing.
She frowned. She felt like there had to be more.
The black of her scales made her think back to the hybrid she had left with the IceWing.
Dusk shook off the guilt again. But there was still a part of her that felt he would have been better off with a hybrid at his side.
Dusk settled on the ledge just as the sun disappeared behind Jade Mountain.
She spread out her wings beside her and rested her head on her front talons.
Even though it was still as bright as day, her eyes were drooping.
She wasn't made for long flights. She was still a dragonet. It was probably incredible that she had made it that far.
The wind buffeted her and it felt nice after the heat of the desert that day.
I'll make it tomorrow, Dusk thought tiredly, then she fell asleep.
/ / / / / / / / / /
When she woke up the next morning, the sun was just rising over in the east.
Dusk stretched and shook out her wings. They were sore from her long flight yesterday but she was too close to Jade Mountain to give up.
She launched herself up into the sky, the clouds softly brushing her dark wings, updrafts pushing her up higher into the sky.
After she had flown for a little, she glanced down. There was a river running between two mountain peaks.
She stared at it, thinking of her parched throat and then glancing back to Jade Mountain. She was close and the sun had already risen above the horizon quite a bit but Dusk didn't think it would hurt to make another short stop.
She angled her wings downward and sliced through the air.
Then Dusk threw out her wings and slowed her descent as she got nearer to the ground, though she kept hitting updrafts, which would be helpful for getting back up, but they weren't too helpful for getting down.
Finally Dusk made it down and she alighted on the grass near the river.
She took a few steps closer to the water but then stopped, watching the fast moving waters. If she fell in. . .
Dusk took a deep breath and stepped out onto the shore, leaning down to drink.
She got three large gulps of water before she stood back up.
Dusk went to get back up but the rocks beneath her talons slid into the river.
She yelped as she fell, hitting her wing on a rock on shore, half of her body in the river.
She struggled against the strong current as it tried to tug her in, her tail already drifting down the river. She tried to grab some rocks on shore but everything just slid in with her. Finally she found a large rock that was embedded into the shore and tugged herself out of the water.
Dusk took a few calming breaths and stood up, shaking a bit of water off her wings.
She glanced back at the river and shivered. She never wanted to do anything like that again. Never ever.
Then she flew up into the air, riding the warm updrafts she had felt on her way down, the fast moving air drying the water on her. Her dark scales also absorbed the warmth, drying her even faster. In a matter of no time, she was completely dry.
Dusk made it to Jade Mountain faster than she had expected she would after she had left the river, though it was nearly midday.
She circled around it once or twice, trying to decide of she was doing the right thing. Shouldn't she just to look for her parents? Wouldn't that be the right thing to do? But she would have to have somewhere to stay, a home base should she ever need it.
But what if she couldn't get in? What if they had no more space? What would she do then? Would she have a higher chance of getting in if she told them she had nowhere else to go? But that didn't feel right. Saying that if they didn't give her spot, she'd have no home. Guilt tripping other dragons wasn't right.
Finally Dusk couldn't stand it any longer and she dove down into the largest entrance she had seen.
Dusk threw out her wings when she neared the entrance and landed with a louder thump than she would've liked.
She gave a glance around and saw that there really wasn't that many dragonets out and about and the only ones that were were hurrying down corridors.
The cave was one of the biggest Dusk had ever been in. It could probably fit three hundred fully grown dragons comfortably. And it was even high enough that you could fly around in it.
Dusk stood awkwardly at the entrance, not knowing where to go. There were four passages, two on each side. In the middle of the cave, there was a large bronze gong with three dragons engraved on it.
That was when Dusk noticed a piece of paper next to each passage, no doubt a map showing where each went. She went over to the first passage on the left and looked at the map.
As she was skimming over it, a voice behind her spoke. "Excuse me, can I help you?"
Dusk jumped and turned around to see a NightWing that looked a few years older than full grown, smiling at her kindly.
Dusk gave a soft smile back. "Um, yes. I was wondering who I would go to to talk about joining."
The NightWing thought for a moment. "Sunny would be your best bet. Do you want me to take you to her?" he said, looking slightly hesitant.
Dusk nodded, her ear flicking irritatedly. She thought she would fare pretty well on her own but she didn't want to get lost on her first day.
The NightWing nodded. "It's this way." He took her to the first passage on the right.
As he walked down the stone passage, Dusk saw him glance into each room. Then she realized why he had been hesitant. He needed to get to a class.
Dusk felt slightly guilty. It'd be her fault if he got into trouble.
"I can find it by myself," she insisted.
He hesitated, then shook his head. "It's no trouble. Really."
Dusk shook her head. "No, really. I insist. I don't want you to be really late to your class."
He smiled. "Thanks. I'm Cometcaller by the way."
Dusk gave a soft smile back. "Dusk."
He gave a nod of approval and swept back down the passage they had come from.
But as he turned around a bend, Dusk realized something interesting. His underbelly was a shade of light brown.
She frowned. Could he have possibly been a hybrid? A NightWing MudWing?
Even though she wasn't sure, she still felt a little better. At least there was possibly another hybrid at the school.
And her mind once again went back to the SandWing NightWing. He was a hybrid. And if she had brought him with her, than there'd be another hybrid at Jade Mountain.
She shook him out of her mind. She had to concentrate on what she was doing.
Dusk looked down the corridor ahead of her. She'd just continue straight and see where that got her.
As she walked, she peeked into rooms. She saw one group of dragonets learning about medicinal herbs and another learning how to read and write. She watched them write them names with large lopsided letters. Dusk looked down at her own claws and wondered if she knew how to write. She could read just fine, but she had no way to know. Would she get stuck in that class with all the tiny, less than one year old, dragonets? She sincerely hoped not.
Dusk continued down the hall, glancing up suddenly. She thought she had heard something. But now that she looked up, she stared at the light globes that she hadn't realized existed. They were all different colors. And Dusk suspected they were there to make dragonets feel more comfortable living under a mountain. Dusk had hardly realized that she was.
Finally Dusk made it to the end of the hall. She glanced around and only saw one cave.
Dusk glanced inside and saw a golden yellow dragon talking to a light blue SeaWing dragonet.
"I'm sorry, Coast," said the golden yellow dragon that Dusk assumed was Sunny. "But the winglets have been set. There's no changing them."
"But –" the light blue SeaWing began to protest.
"No buts," Sunny said. Then she looked to the entrance of the cave and saw Dusk, giving her a kind smile. "Come in," she said.
Dusk jumped. "I – I don't want to interrupt," she stammered.
"You're not," Sunny said. "This conversation was over," she said, giving the SeaWing a firm look.
He sighed and trudged to the cave entrance. He looked up when he reached her, giving her a soft smile. Then he left.
Dusk blinked at him. He didn't seem to mind that she was a hybrid. Did that mean everyone else would be like that too?
"What's your name?" Sunny asked from her desk.
She turned to her. "Dusk."
Sunny smiled. "Welcome to Jade Mountain Academy, Dusk. How can I help you?"
She looked down. "I wondered if it was possible for me to join."
"Of course," Sunny said.
Dusk looked back up in surprise.
"I would never deny a dragonet a place here." Sunny went to a niche in the wall and pulled out two scrolls. "One is a map and another is your schedule. Oh, and you'll be in the Obsidian Winglet. It's set aside for hybrids. Some dragonets aren't to friendly to hybrids," she said at Dusk's questioning look.
Dusk couldn't hold back her worry. “Should I be worried?
Sunny shook her head. "No. The worst they can do is insult you. Just ignore them and you'll be alright. But if it does get worse, please come to me and I'll talk to them."
Dusk smiled. "Thanks, Sunny." Then she took a deep breath. "I just wanted to say that I'm so glad that I could join. If I couldn't," she took another deep breath, "I wouldn't have a place to stay right now."
Dusk thought Sunny's expression was already as kind as if could be but her face softened. "I'm so sorry, Dusk. Do you not know your family?"
Dusk nodded, avoiding her eyes.
Sunny smiled sympathetically. "I remember when I didn't know who my parents were. I was always wondering if they loved me or if they sold me to the Talons of Peace. If my family still searched or gave up and continued their lives."
Dusk swallowed the lump the formed in her throat. She felt almost exactly like that. She was sure the ocean had something to do with it though. That was her only hint, and she had no idea how it fit in.
"If you ever need to talk to someone," Sunny said, "I'll be here. Don't hesitate to tell me anything you need to."
Dusk nodded and forced herself to smile. "Thank you," she said, hoping Sunny couldn't hear her voice shaking.
Sunny smiled back. "Of course. Anytime, Dusk."
Dusk turned and left Sunny's office. She paused outside the doorway and listened. She could hear her rummaging through scrolls but nothing else.
Dusk frowned, wondering what she had been hoping to hear. But Dusk didn't think it mattered.
She unrolled the scroll with the map and studied it for a minute. She found the cave labeled Sunny's Office and traced the hallway that it connected to. Dusk guessed that she had flown in the north facing entrance, which was connected to the Great Hall.
She scanned through the caves, looking for the word “obsidian.” Dusk finally found it after looking for probably two minutes. A cave labeled Obsidian Winglet Sleeping Cave.
She studied the map for a few more minutes, finding a route, then set off down the hall. She made sure to check it every intersection though.
She was walking down a hallway when suddenly a group of dragonets filed out of a cave to her right. She pressed against the wall.
"Sorry," she murmured to the SkyWing dragonet as he walked past her.
He sneered at her. "You better stay it of my way, hybrid." He said the word “hybrid” as though it was the grossest word ever created.
Dusk squeezed her eyes shut. "I'm sorry," she whispered.
She heard the SkyWing stalk off but she kept herself against the wall and her eyes shut.
"You okay?"
Dusk's eyes flew open. She was looking at a SandWing now. He was a pale yellow, almost white, like most SandWings, but he had a scattering of light brown freckles along his snout, forelegs, wings, and tail. He looked like he was probably a few years away from being full grown.
He smiled at her.
"Um, yeah, thanks," she said softly.
"I'm Sandstorm. Oh, and this is Frost," he said, gesturing to a pale blue IceWing standing behind him. She was bluer along her horns and spikes and down her legs. She smiled at Dusk.
"Sorry about Vapor. He's like that with everyone," Sandstorm said, rolling his eyes.
"Well, I kinda feel like he was meaner to her," Frost spoke up.
"Frost, please. Not right now." Sandstorm turned back to Dusk, cocking his head at her. "You really are unique. What hybrid are you?"
"SeaWing NightWing. . ." Dusk trailed off, with the feeling of incompleteness again. She knew she was missing something but she didn't know what.
Sandstorm nodded. "Cool. Sometimes I wish I was a hybrid. They always look so cool."
Dusk blinked, smiling slightly. "Thanks."
He shrugged. "Just telling the truth. So I never caught your name."
"Oh, it's Dusk. Sorry," she said.
He waved a wing dismissively. "You're good." He glanced over Dusk's shoulder. "We should probably get going. See you later, Dusk."
Dusk smiled. "Got it."
Then he and Frost disappeared around a corner.
Dusk smiled. She liked Jade Mountain. Yes, she was sure there were other dragons like Vapor, but she thought she'd be fine with dragons like Sandstorm.
=== Chapter 5  ===
Dusk set off down the hall, consulting her map and turning down a hallway. She was only a few corridors away from the Obsidian Winglet Sleeping Cave.
She passed a NightWing in the hall and she thought she heard him mutter something under his breath.
She paused and turned around, frowning at him, but the NightWing just continued down the hall.
Dusk shrugged, assuming she hadn't heard anything. That she had just been making it up. That was possible.
Finally she made it to the cave. Dusk took a deep breath and stepped inside.
There were only two sleeping spots set up in it. One was a reed mat with blankets folded neatly on top and the other was a small hammock. And there were also two dragonets. A RainWing that looked about her age and a MudWing that looked probably a year older than full-grown.
They blinked at her curiously, the RainWing's scales a sky blue, dappled with a bright orange.
"I – I'm sorry, I'm looking for the Obsidian Winglet sleeping cave. Do you – do you know where that is?" Dusk stammered, blushing.
The MudWing smiled at her sweetly. "You were almost there. Next cave down."
Dusk glanced down at her map and saw that she was right. This one belonged to the Pearl Winglet.
"S – sorry for bothering you." She went to step out.
"Quite all right," the MudWing said. "Easy mistake to make, if you just arrived." She gave a knowing smile.
Dusk ducked her head embarrassedly. "Thanks for your help," she said, and she left the cave.
Dusk went to the next cave over and didn't hesitate before stepping inside.
It was set up like the Pearl Winglet's, but this one had three sleeping spots, one along each wall. One was just a stone ledge and Dusk could see the remains of ice on it and the other was a reed mat just like in the Pearl Winglet's cave. And the last one was a plain rock slab, not even a mat or anything on it. Dusk suspected that only two dragons used this cave.
There were two globes that were lit above her head and two more sitting on stone pedestals at the entrance. Scroll racks were scattered around the room, though only one or two were filled up.
The two dragons that occupied it were hybrids. Dusk recalled that the Obsidian Winglet was for hybrids.
They stopped talking when she had stepped in, staring at her. One Dusk assumed was a NightWing IceWing. She looked a lot like a NightWing, though she was mostly white. Her scales changed to black at her wings and down her tail. She had the IceWing spikes all down her body though.
The other hybrid was not as quite as noticeable as the first. He looked like a SandWing but instead of a pale yellow, he was shades of brown and amber.
Dusk gave a shy smile to both of them. "H – hi, I'm Dusk and I just joined –"
The SandWing turned back to the NightWing and continued his conversation. Something about all the work they had to do.
The NightWing gave him a firm look.
He gave an exasperated sigh and turned around to face Dusk again. "Listen, I don't have time to talk to every little tiny dragonet who comes to me." Then he turned back around. The IceWing gave him a look. One that very clearly said, "That didn't make anything better."
Dusk opened her mouth to give a haughty reply to the SandWing MudWing but she couldn't think of anything.
Her eyes filled with tears and she fled from the cave, turning corners randomly.
She tried not to look, but she watched every dragonet who gave her looks of disgust, saw everyone who stepped away from her as if she was some monster. She saw every dragonet lean over and whisper to their winglet. And though she hadn't seen that day, there were dragonets who wore expressions of curiosity and pity. There were expressions that she had misread, ones of awe and wonder. But Dusk was running too fast to see those.
Then she reached a dead end. Dusk didn't see anyone. She glanced around and saw one cave at the end of it. Dusk approached it curiously, poking her head in. She saw racks of dragonets' paintings the were drying, and another rack of drying clay sculptures.
It was obvious, even at first glance, that the dragonets who had made everything were from different tribes. There was a painting of a desert with the sun glimmering on the horizon and another of rain dripping through the rainforest canopy, hints of stars peeking through the trees and clouds.
Dusk walked over, wiping the tear tracks off her snout and admired the paintings, tracing the paint strokes but never actually touching the canvases. Some were of other dragons while others were simply landscapes. If Dusk looked closely at most of the landscapes, she felt as though she could see a similarity in them. As though the same brushes had been used, the same strokes.
Dusk turned around and realized that there was a blue dragonet working at an easel in the middle of the room. She realized that it was the SeaWing that she had met in Sunny's office.
"Coast, right?" she said hesitantly.
He looked over and gave a slight smile, nodding. "Yeah. What's your name?"
Dusk gave a warm smile. "Dusk. So, what are you painting?" she asked curiously.
Coast glanced at his painting self-consciously. "Well," he began. "What I paint depends on how I feel. But today I just wanted to paint the ocean. You know, to feel more at home." He ducked his head and Dusk leaned over.
It was a scene from a sandy shore. The sun glinted over a calm ocean and small breaking waves on a beach. Dusk could see a pod of dolphins in the distance and wondered how he had included such a small detail like that.
As she studied it, she realized that it looked like the others that were still up drying.
"Did you – did you paint all those over there?" she asked, waving a wing at the other paintings.
Coast hesitated. "Some of them," he admitted. "But still not all of them. The best ones over there aren't mine."
Dusk smiled. "I'm sure they turned out exactly how you wanted them to," she said.
Coast shrugged. "I wouldn't say exactly but they're close enough to what I imagined."
"What?" Dusk said with a feigned gasp of horror. "You don't have perfect painting skills? Oh, the horror!" She wasn't sure why she was playing around with Coast, but she felt as though he would be okay it.
Coast grinned. "Why, do you have perfect painting skills or something?" he joked.
"I'll have you know," Dusk said jokingly, "that I am greatly offended that you would question my painting skills. The ignorance!"
Coast burst out laughing and Dusk followed his lead. "Sorry," she apologized breathlessly.
Coast waved it off, tears of laughter leaking out his eyes.
Dusk glanced at Coast's painting again, looking at the beautiful strokes. "I think I'll try my luck at painting," she decided.
"Go ahead," Coast said, waving his wing to the stack of canvases stacked in a corner. "Canvases are over there, and over there on that shelf are the paints. Ask me if you can't find a color. I more than likely have it," he said, grinning.
"I will," she promised him, going over and grabbing a canvas.
As Dusk set it up on the easel, she pondered what to paint. She could try to do landscapes, but she didn't want to take that from Coast. Finally she decided on a SandWing.
Dusk grabbed a range of pale yellows and even a few dark browns from the shelf of paints. It had taken her a minute to find them though. The amount of colors they had was astounding to Dusk.
She fingered through the brushes and decided on a fairly small one. The feeling of one of her talons felt familiar. She started painting and wondered if she used to paint.
She wasn't sure how long she had been working and if she was being honest, she couldn't really even remember what she was doing until she was done and Coast came over and gave a gasp of awe.
"What?" Dusk asked, turning around to look at him.
"Your painting," he breathed.
She turned back to it and she stopped herself from breathing in sharply in surprise.
Dusk had painted a SandWing staring out at the moons that hung over the ocean. They were staring at the SandWing's scaled back. As Dusk scanned the painting, she saw that the SandWing's barbed tail was curled patiently around her talons. Dusk had a vague memory of painting it. There were long shadows across the canvas and the light of the moons shone on the SandWing's scales.
"I like it," Dusk said, though she thought it might be a little weird for Coast.
"Who wouldn't like it?" Coast exclaimed, and Dusk was surprised by how much severity was in his voice.
She looked at him sheepishly. "Thanks, Coast," she said.
He ducked his head embarrassedly gave her a small smile back. "You're welcome."
Dusk looked out of the windows and saw that the sun was almost fully set and the sky was darkening. Her stomach grumbled, reminding her that she didn't know when she had last eaten.
Dusk avoided Coast's eyes embarrassedly. "Sorry," she mumbled.
"It's alright," he said. "I'm a little hungry myself. Want to join me in the prey center?" He looked out the window. "The hunting party I'm in will probably leave in a bit. It leaves a little while after sunset."
Dusk hesitated. "I don't know. Maybe. Would it be possible to go hunting on my own, though?"
Coast shook his head. "You have to go out on a hunting party with a teacher. You're not allowed otherwise."
Dusk frowned. "Well then I don't know what I'm going to do. I really don't want to go on a hunting party just yet." She was worried about what other dragons would think about her. She couldn't remember how to hunt, so that certainly wouldn't help. But it would give other dragons the opportunity to tease her, and that wasn’t something Dusk wanted to happen.
Coast shrugged. "You don't have to, but there's only a few dragons in it. Let's see, there's me, Raccoon and Cometcaller."
Dusk started. "Cometcaller?" she echoed.
Coast nodded. "You know him?"
She nodded as well. "I met him when I got here this morning."
"I know I probably should've said this earlier, but welcome to Jade Mountain. I hope you'll like it here." Coast smiled.
Dusk brushed her wing with his. "I'm sure I will. Thank you, Coast."
"So." Coast hesitated. "Will you come with me to the prey center?"
Dusk paused, then nodded. "I'll see if I'll join you on your hunting party."
Coast smiled. "I hope you decide to come," he said.
She couldn't help but smile. "I'll think about it," she promised him.
He grinned. "Come on, let's go." He tugged her talon toward the exit.
"Wait, shouldn't we move our paintings?" Dusk asked.
Coast paused, looking at them, indecision in his eyes. "They can dry there," he finally said.
"Okay, you know best," Dusk said with a shrug.
He tugged her out of the art cave and let go of her talon.
"This way to the prey center," Coast said, flicking his tail down a corridor.
"You seem overly excited about this," Dusk observed.
He shuffled his wings embarrassedly. "Sorry," he apologized.
"It's okay," Dusk said, dismissing it with a wave of her wing. "But it's just prey."
Coast nodded. "Yeah, I know. But if you join the hunting party," he grinned, "then at least there'll be one interesting dragon in the group. Well, other than me, of course,," he joked, tossing his head back.
Dusk laughed. "Alright, I already told you I'd think about it."
He smiled. "Now come on. You'll still have to put your name on the list when you sign up today."
Coast danced off down the hallway with a grin before Dusk could say anything.
"Coast!" she called after him. "I thought I said I'd think. . ." She trailed off as he ducked behind a corner.
Dusk stalked over to the corridor and peeked her head around. As she had expected, Coast was nowhere to be seen.
She crept down the hallway, peeking into each cave she saw. But she didn't see anything in any cave she looked in. She was also getting some suspicious looks from the dragons in the caves she glanced in. Dusk frowned, giving up on sneaking around.
Then something pounced on her tail and she yelped, whirling around and tugging her tail out of the dragon's grasp.
And sitting there, grinning mischievously, was Coast. She went to whack him with her tail but he avoided it.
"You didn't have to scare me like that!" Dusk exclaimed.
He grinned. "Of course I didn't. Now come on! The prey center's this way!" he said, dashing down the hall.
Dusk couldn't help but smile. He was different from everyone else. He hadn't even questioned that she was a hybrid. He seemed to just want to be her friend.
Maybe, Dusk though wistfully, just maybe ... "Coast!" she called.
He stopped and looked back.
"Can you please come here?" she called.
Coast nodded and came back over. "What's up?" he asked.
"Coast," she said softly. "Will you ... do you think you'd be my friend?"
Coast smiled."Of course," he said, lighting up his scales in an odd pattern.
"Even though," she whispered. "Even though I'm a hybrid?"
She expected Coast to hesitate and think for a moment, but he answered immediately. "Hybrid or not, I'd love to be your friend. If I'm being honest, you being a hybrid is an added bonus. Yes, it's great to have a kind, worried, friend to play with, but you having awesome powers is ... well, awesome!"
Dusk beamed. "Thanks, Coast. I knew I could count on you."
Coast brushed wings with Dusk. "I'll stand by you through anything that you might encounter. Obviously," he added. "Oh, and if you can, avoid the SkyWing named Vapor. I have a feeling he might not like you. To tell the truth, he doesn't like anyone. But just promise me you'll try to avoid him."
"I've already met him," Dusk said.
"Did he say anything mean to you?" Coast asked. "Anything at all?"
"Um." Dusk thought for a moment. "I don't think it was that mean. I think he just said something along the lines of me getting out of his way. His tone was superior, though."
Coast waved it away, though his eyes looked anything but forgiving. "He talks like that to everyone," he said. "He's convinced that he's related to the royal line, so therefore a Prince. He's convinced that Prince Vapor sounds great, but I think it sounds stupid. But it does fit him. Prince Vapor the Stupid."
"Very fitting," Dusk agreed with a nod. "Because I totally know everything about him."
"Totally," Coast grinned. "Now promise me you'll try to avoid him."
Dusk nodded. "I want to stay away from him anyway."
Coast breathed a sigh of relief. "Now come on, we'd better get to the prey center. Our hunting party'll leave soon."
Dusk gave him a curious look. "Our?" she echoed.
"My," he corrected quickly. "My hunting party. I meant to say my."
Dusk shook away a slight twinge of sadness that she didn't know what it was there for. "Alright," she said. "Which way do we go?"
"This way," Coast said, walking down the passage.
Dusk followed him with a smile. It might be fun to go on the hunting party with him, she thought. Just as long as he'll help me. And Dusk was sure that he would.
=== Chapter 6  ===
Dusk heard the sounds of the prey center long before she saw it. The sounds of dragonets talking loudly, echoing through the tunnel. What they were saying wasn't discernible with the way it was echoing off the walls.
Coast paused and turned back to her. "It get's a little loud," he warned her.
Dusk nodded. "I can tell," she said, using her wing to gesture around them, as if they could see the sound waves bouncing off the walls.
He nodded. "It might be louder in the tunnels leading up to it though," he said, "so you might want to cover your ears."
Dusk nodded. "I'll cover them if it gets to be too much."
Coast nodded then continued down the hallway.
As they walked, Dusk realized that Coast was right. It was just getting louder.
Dusk covered her ears with her wings but kept walking. Coast glanced back at her and smiled. But he didn't cover his own ears.
It made her feel awkward, having her wings held up. So she pulled them down and endured the sound.
She was wondering whether she should've kept them covered when they reached the prey center. It was swarming with dragonets and Dusk felt their eyes turn to her.
The prey center was a large cave with an entire side open to the air, looking out at a wooded valley. There was a large lake at the outskirts of the forest and past that, the mountain ranges continued. Opposite the exit, there was a fast moving river sweeping along one wall.
Dusk glanced around and followed Coast self-consciously through the cave. She felt as though every movement she made was being tracked, though she knew no one was paying much attention to her.
Dusk followed Coast as he went over to a wall covered in papers.
"If you want to sign up," he tapped a sheet with his wingtip, "this is the one you'd put your name on."
Dusk glanced at it. "The Twilight Hunting Party," she read. She glanced around, listening to the cacophony of sound around them. "I guess I'll try," she finally said.
Coast bounced up and down. "Yes! You won't regret this."
Dusk laughed. "I'm just trying it out."
"And I hope you'll stay," Coast grinned.
Dusk smiled softly. "I hope so too."
She turned back to the paper. There was an inkwell sitting nearby. Dusk dipped a claw in the ink, then she scrawled her name on the paper without a second thought.
Then, realizing what she had just done, she stared at her signature. It looked perfect. It didn't seem like she would need any writing lessons.
Dusk looked to the ink dripping off her claw and held it over the inkwell for the time being, hoping to not waste much ink.
"Um, should I go rinse it off in the river?" Dusk asked Coast.
He nodded. "I'll walk with you if it would make you feel better," he said softly.
Dusk gave a soft nod. "Please," she said, glancing around the cave.
Dusk walked over to the river and she somehow kept flicking Coast with the tip of her tail. She kept having to lean over and say sorry. By the fourth time, Coast laughed. "It's okay," he said. "No matter how many more times you hit me, it's fine. Don't bother saying sorry."
Dusk accidentally hit him again as they reached the river and she resisted the urge to say sorry again and turned her attention to the river, taking a deep breath. The waters were moving as fast as the river that she had fallen into that morning. She didn't know what would happen if she fell into this one though. It went through a wall though Dusk wasn't sure if it opened up on the other side of the wall or if it was a solid tunnel. So it was possible for her to drown.
Dusk swallowed and dipped her claw in the water and watched the water pull the ink off her talon, sweeping it downriver.
Then Dusk pulled it out of the water and set it down on dry stone, releasing the breath she had been holding.
"You okay?" Coast asked curiously, and Dusk caught a hint of worry in his tone.
She nodded. "I'm – I'll tell you later," she decided at last minute.
Coast frowned but didn't question her anymore, which she was grateful for. He looked over to the entrance and Dusk, following his gaze, saw a full grown blue dragon walk in.
"Tsunami," Coast told her. "She leads the Twilight Hunting Party because she has night vision, helpful because it gets pretty dark."
"She was a dragonet of destiny, right?" Dusk asked. "Or am I just making that up?"
Coast nodded. "She's a dragonet of destiny, though I wouldn't really call her a dragonet anymore. But she's also the Head of School. I'd say avoid her if possible."
Dusk followed Coast as he lead her over to Tsunami.
"Hey, Tsunami," he said.
She nodded at him. Then her eyes narrowed at Dusk, who was sitting at Coast's shoulder.
Dusk lifted her snout proudly, trying to hide her uncomfortableness. Tsunami made her jumpy. More than usual. A lot more than usual, actually.
Tsunami studied her for another moment before turning back to Coast. "Where are Raccoon and Cometcaller?" she demanded.
Coast moved his head an infinitesimal amount to look behind him. "It looks like Cometcaller just got here, and Raccoon is making his way over here now," he said lazily, though he was barely looking. Dusk was surprised, wondering if he had looked before then.
Dusk looked over and sure enough Cometcaller was walking in. He glanced around and saw them, then made his way over.
Dusk took her gaze off Cometcaller, looking around rest of the cave. There was a NightWing making his way over to them who she assumed was Raccoon.
Then she realized that she recognized the NightWing. It was the one she had passed in the hallway, when she thought he said something.
Dusk looked outside, and saw that the sky was darkening. A dragon went around and started lighting the torches in their brackets, lighting up the prey center.
Dusk was wondering if the middle of the cave would be lit up when the dragon flew up and lit torches hanging from the ceiling. Cometcaller settled at Dusk's left, while Raccoon sat on Coast's right, seeming to want to be as far away from Dusk as possible.
"Right, we have everyone?" Tsunami said.
Coast nodded. "Oh, this is Dusk. She just joined." He gestured to her with one wing and gave her an encouraging smile. She gave a shy smile to Tsunami and everyone else. Cometcaller winked at her and Raccoon turned away with a small snort.
Tsunami turned to the others. "Say hi to Dusk," she told them.
"I met her this morning," Cometcaller said. He smiled at her.
"I passed her in the hallway," Raccoon growled softly. "But hi anyway." He muttered something under his breath but Dusk couldn't understand it. Coast's face went from horror to anger in a millisecond. He growled at Raccoon but Raccoon just rolled his eyes. "Calm down, fish face," he muttered.
Dusk frowned at him but Raccoon turned his attention back to Tsunami and was ignoring Coast's anger and Dusk's confusion.
"Now that everyone has been introduced, let's get going." Tsunami launched out Jade Mountain and quickly disappeared into the ever darkening sky.
Dusk watched as Cometcaller and Raccoon both followed, disappearing even faster than Tsunami with their black scales.
Dusk was about to go too when she realized that Coast was still sitting next to her. She turned to look at him and saw him frowning now.
"Did you –" he began, then he shook his head. "Never mind."
"Did I what?" Dusk asked curiously.
Coast shook his head. "It's not important."
"I want to know!" she insisted.
"Alright," he said, finally caving. "I was going to ask you if you heard what Raccoon said."
She nodded and he looked horrified.
"How would I have not heard him," she said, confused by the look on Coast's face. "He wasn't lying. I did pass him in the hallway earlier."
Relief flooded through his face. "I was asking if you heard what he muttered under his breath after he said hi."
"Oh, no," Dusk said. "I didn't. Was I supposed to? But I did hear him call you fish face. That's not very nice."
Coast waved his wing dismissively. "I don't care about that. I'm just glad you didn't hear what he said. It wasn't that nice," he informed her. "I didn't think he'd be mean to you, but just try to stay away from him if possible."
Dusk nodded. "I'll try," she promised him, silently wondering what Raccoon had said.
"Now follow me," Coast said. "I can show you where prey is the best, not unless you want to join me and Tsunami in the lake."
Dusk hesitated. "Prey in the forest for now," she decided. She wanted fish but she didn't want to deal with water right then.
Coast was studying her closely. She wondered why. Finally he seemed satisfied, then turned and flew off.
Dusk flew after him, wondering if he was mad at her. He had flown off without a word.
She beat her wings harder until she was at Coast's side.
"Are you mad at me?" she asked softly.
Coast started and looked at her confusedly. "No! Why did you think that?"
Dusk shrugged. "Well, you just didn't say anything before you left. I kinda just assumed. . ."
Coast smiled. "I just didn't have anything else to say. I'm sorry you took that the wrong way," he said.
"It's okay," Dusk said dismissively.
Coast sped up suddenly and grinned back at her.
She beat her wings in attempts to catch up to him.
"Come on!" he called playfully. "You can fly faster than that!"
Dusk tried to beat her wings harder, but she didn't speed up. "I'm sorry," she called up to him, "but I really can't."
Coast must have caught the sadness in her tone because he slowed to fly wing to wing with her.
"I was only playing around," he said softly. He brushed his wing against hers and she winced slightly. It was bruised from when she had hit it earlier that day. She hoped Coast wouldn't notice but of course he did.
"You okay?" he asked worriedly.
Dusk nodded. "Just bruised," she assured him.
"How'd you bruise it?" he asked curiously.
"Um." Dusk hesitated, wondering if she should tell the truth. Not yet, she thought. "I hit it on a rock earlier today."
Coast's expression was inquiring, but he didn't ask anything else, which Dusk was grateful for. She liked that about him. He'd hold back his questions if the other dragon didn't want to answer them.
He turned away from her and looked down at the forest. "Here," Coast said suddenly. He tucked in his wings and veered to the ground.
Dusk started, but quickly followed him down to the grassy ground.
Coast landed on the forest outskirts and waited for her to land beside him.
"You'll find the best prey here," he informed her, gesturing to the forest with his wing. "Cows, hares, deer, moose, ox, maybe a few wolves and possibly even a bear."
Dusk blinked. "Lots of options," she said, slightly surprised.
Coast nodded. "I told you that this was the best place."
Dusk took a deep breath. "Thank you, Coast. You can go get whatever you want. I think I'll be fine."
Coast hesitated. "Thank you, Dusk," he said. Then he flew off. Dusk watched his phosphorescent scales disappear into the night.
Then she turned to look at forest before her, it's thick branches preventing the light of the moons from reaching the forest floor.
Dusk took a deep breath. She knew that there was nothing in the forest large enough to hurt her. At least, not badly. But that thought didn't help her.
Dusk stepped into the forest and her night vision immediately kicked in.
She blinked, glancing around. She hadn't even known that she had night vision.
Dusk looked up at the forest canopy and saw bits of the moons peeking through.
She caught herself trying to see where they all were and what they looked like. She frowned slightly. Why was she tracking the moons' movements?
But she shrugged it off. It couldn't be that important, right?
Dusk scanned through the dark, ears pricked for any sound. Then she heard the lowing of a cow off in the distance.
Dusk crept towards it slowly. She heard a branches crack off to her right but she ignored it, intent on getting to the cow.
Dusk peered around a tree and saw a cow.
She was about to go kill it when it froze. Dusk paused with one talon raised.
The cow gave a soft moo and two small shapes ran towards it. Dusk started as she saw that they were calves. She couldn't kill it now. The calves would surely die without a mother. Then the cow ran off, ushering its calves forwards.
Someone barked a laugh. "You can't even hunt!"
Dusk whirled around to see Raccoon sliding out of a shadow nearby.
"What are you doing here?" she growled.
Raccoon feigned surprise. "I was just hunting here. You were the one who intruded, freak."
Dusk started at the name. "I am not," she growled softly.
"Of course you are," Raccoon sneered. "Any NightWing hybrid is a freak. For mixing our pure blood with their filthy one."
Dusk took a threatening step forwards. She blinked back tears, hoping he wouldn't notice.
"What?" Raccoon said, of course noticing. "You going to go crying to your momma, wittle baby dwagonet?" he teased. "I am not afraid of some old creaky dragon who smells of dead fish."
Dusk lunged and had bit his tail before he had realized she had moved.
He yowled with pain and whirled to face her. Dusk spat out a midnight black scale onto the ground.
"You'll pay for that, freak," he growled.
He lunged towards her but she dodged his talons, running her claws down his side, causing a few minor cuts.
He gave a yelp and Dusk laughed. "Aw, did I hurt you?" It felt good to be the one teasing him.
He gritted his teeth and lunged again. Dusk ducked under his talon and rolled out of the way, smacking his underbelly with her claws.
Now that she looked, she saw that Raccoon was bleeding from the minor wounds she had made.
Raccoon staggered slightly, then fell over and didn't move.
Dusk blinked in surprise and took a few cautious steps over. She didn't think he had lost enough blood to have passed out already.
But then as she was only a few feet away, Raccoon lunged at her.
Dusk yelped but couldn't dodge. He swiped at her underbelly and she felt his sharp claws connect, ripping open her side.
Dusk cried out and pressed a talon to her side, stemming the blood flow.
Raccoon gave a laugh. "I had no idea anyone could be that gullible! That's the oldest trick in the scroll!"
Dusk growled softly and took a deep breath. "I just didn't want to be accused of murder," she said calmly.
Raccoon's features twisted with rage. "I hate you," he growled. "I hate you so much. And I, on the other talon, would not care if I am accused of murder and thrown out of Jade Mountain Academy. This school that accepts any hybrid that comes their way."
Dusk growled softly but stayed put. "You may insult me," she informed him. "But I am less tolerant when you insult others behind their backs. I'm the one you're mad at. Why don't you leave them out of this?"
Raccoon sneered at her. "But it's not just you. It's the other freaks as well that upset me. That they're are allowed to just walk around and flaunt their hybrid scales wherever they please."
Dusk lunged forward and bit the vulnerable spot near his tail.
He roared with pain and tugged his tail out of her teeth. Then he smirked, but there was a hint of pain in it. "I knew that you hybrids would turn to violence."
"You started it," Dusk growled.
He feigned innocence. "I just said that you didn't know how to hunt. I was about to give you tips."
"Liar!" Dusk roared, lunging forward, claws outstretched.
But he dodged quickly and smacked her underbelly again, tearing deeper into the wounds that had already been made.
Dusk yelped and jumped away, breathing hard.
Raccoon laughed. "You're getting sloppy, freak."
He lunged forwards and bit her tail firmly. Dusk cried out in pain and tried to pull out of his teeth but he stayed firmly latched on.
She wasn't sure if she was being crazy, but it seemed as though Raccoon's breath on her tail was heating up.
"What are you doing?" she exclaimed, hoping that he would answer, taking his sharp teeth out of her tail, relieving the digging pain.
But he didn't.
As it heated up even more where Raccoon was biting her, a thought occurred to Dusk.
Surely he wouldn't. . . No, he would never.
But then the heat turned blisteringly hot on her scales and flames licked the edge of Raccoon's mouth.
He would, Dusk thought, screaming.
She tried to pull her tail out of his grasp, but he remained firmly planted on her tail.
Dusk kicked frantically and hit him on the face.
His grip loosened and she kicked again, knocking him off fully.
Dusk pulled away, gasping, tears stinging her eyes.
Raccoon started talking but Dusk didn't understand what he was saying. She saw him wince as he moved his mouth, then she noticed small burns on the scales around his mouth.
She stumbled towards Raccoon and fell. She tried to get up, but her legs didn't listen to her. They thought it'd be much better to stay put and  a part of her thought that sounded wonderful. Dusk's head felt like it was filled with cotton and her eyelids felt like lead.
She forced her eyes open and looked up at Raccoon. He was laughing. Black lurked in the corners of Dusk’s vision and she felt a flare of panic.
Raccoon would never get anyone. He'd lie and blame it on an animal when they found her. Raccoon would happily let her bleed to death.
It would be so much easier to just give up. To let herself fall unconscious and then slowly die without knowing. If she fell unconscious, then the pain would disappear.The blistering sting on her tail and the throbbing, bleeding wound on her side.
She would never be insulted, never be taunted. She would never have to deal with anything again.
And if she had no memories, what did she have to live for anyway? She didn't know if her parent were alive or not. They could have left her at the ocean to die for all she knew. Maybe she really was a freak, so much so that her own parents didn't even want her.
Nobody would miss a freak.
Dusk closed her eyes slowly and took a deep shuddering breath. Then she willingly let herself slide into unconsciousness, letting her pain and worries disappear in the darkness.
=== Chapter 7  ===
Dusk's eyes flickered open. She squinted at the bright light until her eyes adjusted.
She was lying on something soft and squishy.
Dusk turned her head slowly and looked around.
She was in a wide open room with stone ledges covered in furs.
Dusk's tail stung like crazy and her side was throbbing like mad. Then she remembered her fight with Raccoon and everything she had thought then.
She frowned slightly. She should have been dead. There was no way Raccoon had gone and got anyone.
That was when Dusk realized there was someone else in the room.
His scales were a midnight black and at first she thought it was Raccoon. But his underscales were a light amber.
"Cometcaller?" she asked hoarsely.
He looked up from what he was doing, which appeared to be writing, and gave her a soft smile, walking over to her.
"That was a pretty bad fight you got in," he said gently.
"Where's Raccoon?" she asked.
Cometcaller blinked. "Why?"
Dusk looked at her tail and side. There were bandages wrapping around them. She sat up and winced. "I'd like to go talk to him," she growled softly.
Cometcaller pushed her down gently. "You can't go anywhere yet."
Dusk laid back down softly but the growl did not dissipate from her throat.
"At least tell me he was punished," she said.
Cometcaller frowned at her. "Why would he be punished?"
Dusk gaped at Cometcaller. "Is insulting others allowed at Jade Mountain or something?"
He shook his head. "I don't know what you're talking about. And you probably don't either. Just go back to sleep. You're being delusional."
"I am not!" Dusk exclaimed, sitting up again, wincing.
"You don't know what you're saying," Cometcaller said gently. "Raccoon came to me during the hunting party and told me to come quickly. As we flew to where you were, Raccoon told me that he was hunting when he heard a scream. He told me that he went over as fast as he could and found you unconscious, bleeding on the ground. He also said that he could hear a bear nearby."
"That is a lie!" Dusk roared. "It was not a bear! It was him! And how do you think I got the burn on my tail?"
Cometcaller pushed her down lightly. "He said you must've burned it when you were trying to kill the bear."
"I already told you!" Dusk snapped. "It was not a bear!" She tried to get back up, but Cometcaller held her down.
"Could I get a tranquilizing dart please?" he called behind him.
Dusk struggled against his talons but she knew it would do nothing. She was still weaker than normal due to loss of blood and Cometcaller was full grown.
A MudWing rushed out of a back room and Dusk recognized her as the one from the Pearl Winglet.
She handed Cometcaller a small dart and he took it. The MudWing gave Dusk a pitying look as Cometcaller brandished the dart.
"What are you going to do with that?" Dusk asked, panicking.
"Relax," Cometcaller said soothingly. "You'll be alright." Then he stuck it into the soft scales of her underbelly.
She yelped with surprise and slight pain but then her eyelids drooped. Her wings relaxed and she fell into a forced sleep.
•       •       •       •       •
When Dusk opened her eyes again, it was dark. She raised herself up and looked around.
A small globe above her bed was lit, giving a slight glow to the room. If she pricked her ears, she could hear rain pattering softly on the large leaves that covered the windows.
Dusk heard talons scrape on stone and she turned around.
Cometcaller stood in the doorway. He smiled at her. "How are you feeling?"
Dusk looked at her wounds. "They still hurt a lot," she told him.
Cometcaller nodded. "That's expected. They were pretty bad. That bear must've had some sharp claws," he said, eying her worriedly.
Dusk wanted to deny that it was a bear, but she bit her tongue. She knew that was what Cometcaller was waiting for, but the sooner she agreed to Raccoon's story, the sooner she could go call him out.
"In my defense," Dusk said, playing along to a story that she didn't know, "it was a big bear. Almost as big as me."
Cometcaller blinked in surprise. "That's a big bear," he agreed.
Dusk's tail twitched from lying and she winced.
"I can give you a smokeberry from the rainforest if you want. They help with pain," Cometcaller said.
Dusk focused on her tail, moving it slightly from side to side and wincing as the pain spiked. "Maybe."
Cometcaller hesitated. "I'll tell you this before you decide. They do cause hallucinations."
Dusk looked up. "Preferably, no," she said in a split second decision. "I don't want anything messing with my mind." She was a little cautious about things that changed the way she thought. Dusk thought this had something to do with her waking up with no memories. She thought that was a rational reason.
Cometcaller nodded. "Just come tell me if you need anything." He went to leave, then turned back to her. "You should probably get some rest, if you can. I can't give you another tranquilizer dart."
"Why not?" Dusk asked curiously, cocking her head to the side.
Cometcaller shrugged. "Well, I can, but the RainWings don't usually like to risk it. They've done it before, when the wounds are bad enough. So do you want another? You can have it if you want to."
Dusk shook her head. "No. Thank you though." She hadn't liked the feel of the forced sleep the tranquilizer had put her into.
"Alright," Cometcaller said. "Just call if you need me."
Dusk nodded. "I will."
Then he left the room.
Dusk looked back to the leaf covered window. Lightning flashed outside it and a few seconds later, thunder boomed.
Dusk looked out the passage the Cometcaller had gone into. There appeared to be a small hallway, lined with doorways that Dusk assumed were the doctors' rooms.
Dusk got up and drew in a sharp breath of pain. It hurt, but she didn't want to be cooped up there forever. That may be one of the only times she could get out.
Dusk went out into the hall, keeping her tail from scraping on the floor and holding her wings to her side to try to help ease the pain. It didn't do much but it made her feel better.
Dusk went to the Great Hall and looked around. There was no one else around.
Dusk went outside and stood on the rock ledge.
Rain pattered on her midnight black scales and pounded the mountain, scattering small drops everywhere. She closed her eyes and felt the water rinsing the dried blood off her talons, washing it out from beneath her scales.
Dusk saw a flash of light through her closed eyelids and heard thunder boom somewhere nearby.
"Mind if I join you?"
Dusk whirled around, wincing from the pain in her side. Coast was standing out in the rain close by.
He glanced to the bandages, guilt written on his face. "I'm sorry you got hurt," he said softly.
"It wasn't your fault," Dusk answered.
He looked her in the eyes. "It was me. I got you to go on the hunting party, and I left you alone. You have every right on Pyrrhia to blame me for everything that happened to you." Coast looked down and blinked hard.
Dusk walked over to him and brushed her wing against his.
He looked up at her disbelievingly.
"I would never blame you," she said softly. "I was the one who decided to go on the hunting party. I have no one to blame but myself."
Coast smiled slightly. "So what's the story? I heard some of it, but I want to hear it from you."
Dusk hesitated. "Do you want the truth?" she finally asked him.
Coast nodded. "I would never want anything but the truth."
Dusk took a deep breath. "It was Raccoon."
Coast's face darkened. "Oh really?" he growled in a dangerously low voice.
Dusk nodded. "While I was hunting, he insulted me. Then he insulted my mom. I don't know why I did it, but I attacked him. Then he attacked me. And it just went back and forth. Finally he burned my tail and I passed out soon after that."
Coast said nothing. He just frowned into space.
"Don't tell me I'm delusional," Dusk pleaded. "Please?"
Coast turned his frown to her. "I wasn't going to. Why do you say that?"
"Well," she began uncomfortably. "Cometcaller told me that I was being delusional when I told him that."
"Cometcaller just doesn't trust you. I know that you'd never lie, or at least you never want to."
Dusk ducked her head and gave him a sheepish smile.
"You're welcome," he said, grinning, before she could say anything.
There was a silence. Dusk looked back out at the mountains and saw lightning strike the tip of one.
"Want some free advice?"
Dusk turned to Coast.
"If you ever get caught in a lightning storm, do not fly. Stay low to the ground, make sure that there is something higher than you. And then try to find shelter."
Dusk gave him a smile. "Thanks, but how do you know so much about lightning?"
Coast winced.
"I'm sorry," Dusk said immediately. "You don't have to talk about it."
He sighed. "No, it's alright." Then he took a deep breath. "My younger sister was killed by lightning."
Dusk clapped a talon to her snout in horror. "Coast, I'm so sorry. I didn't know."
Coast shook his head. "It's alright. I never told anyone, so there was no way for you to know. Do you want to hear how it happened?"
Dusk hesitated. "Only if you want to say anything," she told him.
Coast nodded. "It would be good to get it off my chest." Then he took a deep breath and launched into the story.
"It was only a year ago. Me and Shore were out swimming when the storm came. The wind was stronger than any I had encountered. The waves on the ocean surface were larger than me. The currents pushed this way and that, making it nearly impossible to swim."
Dusk thought she could see where this story was going and she wasn't sure that she wanted to hear the rest, but there was no stopping him now.
"I didn't want to leave the water. I was scared of the lightning. But Shore wasn't. She said that it was fine and the chances of us getting struck were incredibly low."
Dusk wasn't sure if the water that dripped off his snout was from the rain or not. His voice was shaking like a leaf in a storm, ready to fall off the tree when the wind gusted.
"She flew up into the sky and called to me, telling me not to be afraid. That was when the sky lit up, brighter and closer than any others. The thunder that followed immediately made my eardrums feel like they'd burst. When my eyes adjusted again, she wasn't in the sky. I swam over to the spot where I had last seen her and found her on the water's surface.
"She had still been breathing for the moment, and I took her to the ocean floor, because the currents were weaker there. I had panicked and didn't know what to do. Even though she was dying, she kept assuring me that it would be okay.
"Finally I stopped panicking and took her back to the palace. But by the time I got back she was already –" His voice broke. Then so softly she could barely hear him, he said, "She was already dead."
Dusk twined her tail gently with his. "I sort of know how you feel," she whispered.
He looked over at her in surprise. "Really?" he asked.
Dusk nodded. "I – I woke up on Pyrrhia's west coast a few days ago." She hesitated, wondering if she should really go through with it. Finally she took a deep breath. "I woke up on Pyrrhia's west coast a few days ago with no memories."
Coast started.
"But I didn't have amnesia because I could easily remember who I was and how old I was. I knew what Jade Mountain was, and that the Dragonets of Destiny ran it. But," Dusk took another deep breath. "I couldn't remember anything about my life. I didn't know if I had parents or siblings or any family at all."
Coast looked at her with shock and Dusk turned away.
"Also, I don't know where it came from, but there was a thought that came in my head as I looked at the water."
Dusk glanced hesitantly up at Coast, but quickly turned away again.
"It was that water brought death."
There was a silence and Dusk hesitated before looking up to Coast. She winced as she saw the disbelieving look on his face.
Being a SeaWing, Dusk guessed that it was unfathomable for him to think that water brought death. She also guessed that he was thinking that she was a SeaWing hybrid, and it didn't make sense.
Then he looked above him suddenly. "The rain," he said.
Dusk looked up as well and saw the water pelting the mountain and her. "What about it?" she asked.
Coast turned back to her. "It's water."
Dusk blinked. "I don't know. This doesn't bother me. I think it's bodies of water that scare me."
There was a small silence.
"So you're afraid of that?"
Dusk followed where he was pointing and saw a puddle. "N – no, why would I –" She cut herself off at the grin on Coast's face.
She shoved him affectionately. "Let me correct myself. I'm afraid of large bodies of water."
"So that?" he asked, pointing to a larger puddle, still grinning.
Dusk laughed. "Why must you make this so impossible?"
Coast grinned.
"So," Dusk said, giving him a firm look. "Let me make myself clear. The ocean, lakes, and rivers scare me."
Coast frowned. "I wonder why," he murmured quietly. Then he looked up. "Could you have lost someone to the water? Maybe your mom or dad?"
Dusk nodded. "That's what I thought too."
He looked out in the direction of the ocean which they couldn't see because of the rain.
"I'm really sorry, Dusk," he said, without looking back to her.
Dusk shrugged. "It's alright. Yes, I miss them, but I certainly don't miss them as much as you miss your sister. I mean, I don't remember them so I can't miss specific things about them. But you remember every quality of your sister and that makes the pain so much worse."
Dusk watched as a tear slipped down his snout, clearly separated from the rain drops. "I miss her so much," he said softly. "I always tell myself that if I had been brave, if I had flown up into the sky instead of her, she'd still be alive. And she could be here." Another tear slipped down his snout but he turned to Dusk and gave a sad smile. "I think you would have been good friends."
Dusk gave a soft smile back. "I'm sure she was the best."
"She was," Coast said with a nod. "She was the best sister anyone could ever ask for."
Dusk jumped as lightning flashed nearer, almost immediately followed by thunder.
Coast glanced up at the sky. "We should probably get inside. Just to be safe."
Dusk nodded. "Yeah, I don't particularly want to get struck by lightning," she joked.
Dusk was thankful to see that Coast smiled. She had been afraid that he'd get upset, with her talking about lightning.
"What?" Coast exclaimed disbelievingly, winking at her. "Who wouldn't want to get struck by lightning? I like to get struck every time possible. Very good for your health."
Dusk wrinkled her snout at him. "I wouldn't have thought so, but I'll try it out sometime."
Coast laughed. "Don't, just to be clear."
Dusk grinned. "I didn't plan on it."
She stepped inside out of the rain and her tail immediately felt hot. She hadn't realized how good the rain had felt on it. Dusk twitched it slightly and held back a wince as the pain flared.
Coast glanced at her tail as he stepped inside. "We should probably get some rest," he said. "It would give you wounds some time to heal."
Dusk nodded. "Thanks, Coast."
Coast went to leave but turned back to her. "Do you want me to walk you back?"
Dusk ducked her head and nodded. "If it doesn't bother you," she said quickly.
Coast shook his head. "I don't mind at all."
He turned down the corridor Dusk had come from and gestured for her to follow.
She followed close behind him, watching the wet trail he was leaving. When Dusk glanced back, she saw that she was leaving one too. Their trails were almost identical.
Dusk hurried so that she could walk at Coast's side. "Thank you," she said softly.
He glanced over and nodded to her. "Of course. It's the least I could do after what happened to you."
Dusk glanced down at the blood-soaked bandages. She hadn't noticed their sting for a bit. "They're alright," she promised him.
Coast looked at her skeptically. "Somehow I don't believe that. You haven't been letting your tail touch the ground the entire time."
Dusk blinked. She had been trying to keep it as low to the ground as possible so that he wouldn't notice.
"Alright, it does hurt," she admitted. "But not as bad as it did earlier."
Coast nodded. "Good. I hope you'll feel better tomorrow. Tomorrow is one of the two free days we get in a week. If you feel good enough, do you want to go to the art cave with me?"
Dusk grinned. "I would never miss it," she promised him.
He grinned back. "Great. I'll come get you sometime late tomorrow morning. That way you can sleep in," he added to her questioning look.
Dusk relaxed slightly. "Thanks, Coast."
He nodded. "Anytime."
Then he stopped and gestured in front of him, his tail flicking back and forth. "We're here."
Dusk looked into the room and saw the infirmary. And the globe above the bed she had slept on was still lit.
Dusk nodded. She brushed her wings lightly against his and smiled. "Goodnight," she whispered.
"Goodnight," Coast whispered back. "I'll see you tomorrow."
Then Dusk went into the cave and headed for her ledge.
Just before she got on it though, she glanced back. But Coast had already left.
Dusk waved off the pang of sadness and laid down on the bed.
She almost immediately started falling asleep. The furs were so warm and soft. Dusk rested her tail lightly against them and adjusted her wings around her, snuggling up against the warmth. And despite the pain coming from her wounds, she fell into a deep, warm sleep.
=== Chapter 8  ===
Dusk woke up with light streaming through the leaf covered windows. She yawned and sat up slowly, wincing from the pain in her side.
"Good morning."
Dusk looked over to see the MudWing from the Pearl Winglet. She smiled at her kindly.
"Cometcaller kept checking on you all night, so he's getting some rest," she said.
Dusk frowned. "But I hadn't even asked yet," she said confusedly.
The MudWing shrugged. "I just wanted to save you the pain of talking. I'm Creek, by the way." She smiled.
Dusk gave a soft smile back.
Suddenly Dusk heard talons in the doorway. She turned and saw Coast.
He grinned. "You're awake. I was worried that I was coming too early."
Dusk shook her head. "I just woke up." She went to get up off the bed.
"Wait," Creek said.
Dusk paused. "Why?"
"Something Cometcaller forgot to give you." She came over with a small ceramic jar in her talon. "But you can't blame him. He was feeling really overwhelmed." Creek opened the small jar and inside was a paste of some sort.
"What does it do?" Dusk asked, sniffing it curiously. It smelled faintly like mint, though Dusk didn't know how she knew what mint smelled like.
Creek put some on her claws and spread it on the burn wound on Dusk's tail.
Dusk bit back a hiss as it stung, but then the pain faded and then it only felt cooly numb.
"It numbs the pain," Creek answered.
"I can tell," Dusk said, peering at her tail as Creek undid the bandages on Dusk's chest and spread it on the wounds there too.
Again it stung, but she quickly couldn't feel it either.
"Wow," Dusk said, blinking. "That stuff is great."
Creek nodded. "We got it from the RainWings."
Coast made a surprised "Hmm!" sound and Dusk turned to look at him.
Coast shuffled his wings embarrassedly. "Sorry," he apologized, "but I just noticed that you have a lot of things from the rainforest here."
Creek nodded. "We do. The RainWings have a lot of weird things in the forest and they're helpful for a lot of things." Then she got new bandages and wrapped them around Dusk's chest and tail.
"Interesting," Coast said. "You ready, Dusk?" he asked.
Dusk nodded. "I was waiting for you to be ready," she said, practically leaping off the bed.
"Take it easy, Dusk," Coast said, laughing softly. "Just because it doesn't hurt now doesn't mean it won't hurt later."
Dusk grinned at him. "Can't help it."
He smiled. "Now come on. Let's go."
Coast set off down the tunnel and Dusk followed close behind him.
He turned down corridors multiple times and Dusk wasn't sure how he remembered where he was going. But finally she recognized that art cave up ahead of them.
She gave Coast an impressed look.
"What?" he asked.
"I was beginning to think that you were lost," Dusk replied.
"Lost," Coast scoffed. "I could never get lost in Jade Mountain. Kingdom of the Sea, on the other talon? Yes, all the time."
"Hmm," Dusk said. "That's kind of interesting. Do you spend more time here than there?" she asked.
Coast looked at his talons and nodded slightly.
"Why?" she asked curiously.
Coast took a deep breath. "I haven't been there much since Shore."
"Oh." Dusk looked down guiltily. "Sorry," she apologized. She had forgotten about their conversation the previous night.
Coast shook out his wings. "It's fine. Now did we come here to paint or what?"
Dusk grinned. "I want to paint. I don't know about you."
They stepped inside the art cave and Dusk saw that there were a few other dragonets in there, practically all of them doing something different.
Dusk saw a NightWing messing with clay, a SandWing carving with wood, and a SkyWing painting on an easel.
Dusk went over to where the paintings were drying and she found the one she had painted a few days before.
She traced the lines and looked over to see Coast's picture of the ocean. She had an idea suddenly. "Coast?" she called.
He came over from where he had been setting up two easels and canvases.
Dusk picked up his picture. "You said you could never really draw dragons, and I think that I'm okay at drawing dragons, so I was thinking, maybe I could use your background to draw you and Shore flying over the ocean," Dusk said hesitantly, mostly all in one breath.
Coast looked at his painting.
"Never mind," Dusk said quickly. "I wouldn't want someone painting over my picture either."
She went to put it back but Coast grabbed her talons. "No, I love that idea," he said. "I'll just have to tell you what she looked like."
Dusk nodded hesitantly. "If it brings back too many memories, than you don't have to."
Coast shook his head. "I'd be glad to tell you about her." He stared at his painting but his eyes were misty, evidentially not seeing it. "She looked kind of like me," he began, "but not blue. She was green instead. And her underscales were a light green. And her glow in the dark scales were the same color as mine. Her eyes were a dark blue and her claws and horns were a deep gray green."
Dusk nodded, trying to remember it all. "Thank you for letting me use your painting. I'll try my best."
Coast smiled at her and nodded. "Of course, Dusk. I'm sure it'll turn out perfect."
She ducked her head embarrassedly and gave a sheepish smile. "Thanks."
He gave a quick smile back at her. Then he went back to the easels he was setting up and finished them.
Meanwhile, Dusk went over to the colors and began choosing them, glancing over at Coast to match the paint to his scales.
But she chose the ones for Shore's scales hesitantly. He may have described Shore for her, but she wanted to get it right. And she didn't want to ask him again.
"Need some help?"
Dusk turned to see Coast coming up to her. She nodded slightly.
"I thought so." He reached through the greens and grabbed a greenish teal, and a few variants, though they all looked mostly the same in Dusk's opinion. "I think you can find ones for shading and highlighting on your own, right?"
Dusk nodded. "Thank you."
He smiled, then chose his own colors. Dusk noticed that he grabbed gray, green, and blue.
"What are you going to paint?" she asked him.
Coast glanced to the colors he was holding. "I was going to paint Jade Mountain with the forest and lake in the background," he said.
Dusk nodded. "Sounds great. I can't wait to see it."
He grinned. "Thanks. I can't wait to see your as well."
Dusk glanced over to the painting that Coast had set up for her with the ocean. "I just hope you don't mind that I'm using your painting though."
Coast shook his head. "Of course not. You can use any of my paintings as a base for yours."
Dusk smiled. "Thank you, Coast."
He nodded. "Any time, Dusk."
Dusk went over to the painting and pondered it for a moment, wondering where to put Coast and Shore.
Finally she decided to have Shore swooping low along the ocean surface with Coast flying above her.
She grabbed all the tealish greens and a fairly small brush and started painting.
This time, unlike with the SandWing she drew, she took careful note of everything she was doing. How the wings were positioned, the length of the tails, trying to make the smile on Shore's face look natural.
Finally after a few hours, Dusk stepped back, finished. She looked proudly over her painting, though her eyes snagged on every little mistake she made. How the wings would never quite bend that much, the glow-in-the-dark markings not quite matching what they should've been.
She hesitated before calling Coast over. "Coast."
Coast looked up from his painting.
Dusk waved him over with her wing. "I want you to see it," she said.
"Alright," he said, walking over. "I bet it looks great. . ." He trailed off as he saw the painting.
Coast walked over and traced the swooping form of Shore without actually touching it. Dusk knew he was thinking about how much he missed her. "It looks just like her," he said softly, his voice shaking nearly as much as his talon.
Dusk looked down guiltily. "I'm sorry, Coast. I didn't mean to –" She started as Coast put his wings around her in a hug.
"Thank you," he whispered. "I'll keep it forever."
Dusk smiled. "You're welcome," she whispered back. "I enjoyed painting it."
Coast pulled back and sniffled slightly, wiping a few tears off his snout, smiling at her.
Suddenly Dusk winced, the pain in her side spiking randomly.
She glanced at it and saw some blood soaking through the bandages.
"I think I'll go back to the infirmary," Dusk said. "I'm guessing the stuff Creek used has worn off."
Coast nodded, looking guiltily at his talons.
"Hey," Dusk said, twining her tail with his carefully, giving a slight wince as her tail touched his. "It wasn't your fault."
Coast looked up. "I know you've said that before, but I can't help but feel like it is."
Dusk smiled slightly. "It's not, Coast. I promise you. And I'll heal. It's not like there was any lasting damage." At least I hope there isn’t, she thought quietly, but she didn't need to bother Coast about the worries she had been having. He was thinking about enough things.
Coast gave a soft smile. "Just tell me you'll be okay," he said.
Dusk nodded. "I'll be fine. It'll just be a bit before I heal," she assured him.
Coast smiled. "Thanks. And I'm sure that you will be fine."
"Of course I will," Dusk said. "Can you imagine me not being okay?" She scoffed jokingly. "The idea."
Dusk turned to leave, but hesitated, turning back to Coast. "I'll see you tomorrow, right?"
He nodded. "Of course. I'll even visit you again today before I see you tomorrow."
Dusk smiled. "Thanks, Coast. I don't know what I'd do without you."
Coast grinned. "I don't know what I'd do without me either," he joked.
Dusk laughed. "See you later!" she called as she left.
"For sure!" she heard Coast call back.
Dusk knew something was wrong before she reached the Infirmary. She could hear raised voices from several corridors away. She recognized Cometcaller and Creek.
The words weren't discernible yet so Dusk hurried on down the hallway.
"Why did you let her go?" she heard Cometcaller roar.
"I had to, Cometcaller! She's a dragonet! I can't keep her cooped up in here until she's healed! She has to get out and walk around a bit! We can't make her feel like a prisoner here!" she heard Creek cry back.
Dusk had finally reached the cave and she poked her head around the corner hesitantly.
Cometcaller and Creek were standing in the middle of the cave and Cometcaller's crest was flared.
"You shouldn't get to decide what she gets to do!" Cometcaller exclaimed. "I took care of her! I should get to!"
"At least I remembered to numb her wounds!" Creek shot back. "Didn't remember that, did you?"
Cometcaller growled, then stomped off back to his room, obviously not having a response.
Creek glanced over and saw Dusk. She gave her a worried look and walked over.
"Hey, how are you doing?" Creek asked gently.
"Okay," Dusk said softly. "I just wanted to come back."
Creek nodded. "Do you want me to get more of the numbing stuff I used earlier?"
Dusk gave a slight nod.
"I'll be back," she promised, then she ducked away into another room.
Dusk walked over to her sleeping spot and settled on the furs hesitantly, waiting for Creek to come back.
She came back holding the ceramic jar from earlier that day.
Dusk adjusted so Creek could reach her wounds, which were hurting worse than they had been.
"Creek?" Dusk asked softly as she gently unwound the bandages on her tail.
"Yes, Dusk?" she asked, not looking up, intent on her task.
Dusk hissed softly as she put the paste on her wounds but the pain faded.
"Is Cometcaller mad at me?" Dusk said in barely a whisper, forcing the tears out of her eyes. It was a stupid thing to cry over. Another dragon being mad at her.
Creek paused wrapping her tail back up. "No," she said finally. "He's just worried and tired. He was yelling at me because he was worried about what would happen to you." She sighed. "I still just wish he hadn't yelled in the first place."
Dusk blinked furiously but a tear slipped out of her eye and slid along her snout.
"Oh, Dusk," Creek said, smiling softly, wiping off the tear before it slipped onto the ground. "He's not mad at you. He was never mad at you," she assured her.
Dusk swiped at her eyes and sniffled slightly. "I know," she said shakily. "But I feel bad for worrying Cometcaller so much. If I hadn't lashed out, than everything would have been fine."
Creek frowned. "Lashed out?" she asked. "What do you mean?"
Dusk looked at her confusedly. "After Raccoon said all those things."
Creek blinked. "What things did Raccoon say and when did this happen?"
"How I got these wounds," she said, gesturing to herself. "When he attacked – oh. Yeah. You think I'm lying. I forgot," Dusk said bitterly.
"Wait, hold up, Dusk. I was told a story by Raccoon that you got into a fight with a bear. You said that Raccoon said something. What was it?" Creek asked.
"Well, first he insulted me," Dusk began, not fully sure why she was telling Creek. What made her different than Cometcaller? Why would she believe her if Cometcaller hadn't? "Then he insulted my mother and then he insulted the other hybrids."
Creek blinked. "Really? But how did you get hurt?"
"I lashed out," Dusk answered bluntly. "I bit him and then cut him slightly, then he made these," she said, pointing to her side. "And then he bit my tail and burned it."
Creek opened and closed her mouth, seemingly unable to say anything. Then she stopped and cocked her head curiously. "Surely if both of you got into a fight, then he would have cuts on him too, right?"
Dusk nodded. "Not unless he has the power to heal his cuts, then yes."
"Well, to prove that Raccoon is guilty, we can find his cuts."
Dusk blinked. "You believe me?" she asked. She hadn't expected that to happen. She had expected Creek to accuse her of lying, or being delusional, or something. But instead, she had believed her.
Creek nodded. "Of course, Dusk. I never trusted Raccoon anyway."
Dusk smiled. "Thank you."
Creek nodded again. "I'm more than happy to help," she said. "I'll go talk to him later today."
Dusk looked at Creek curiously.
"What?" she asked.
"I just thought I would do it," Dusk said.
Creek shook her head. "I don't want you to get hurt again. And if he gave you the wounds in the first place, there's no telling if he'd do it again."
Dusk nodded understandingly. "But just try to watch him at first. I have a feeling that he wouldn't want to talk about it."
Creek nodded. "Got it. I'll be careful," she promised. "Let me finish this and then I'll go watch him for a bit."
Dusk nodded and let Creek take the bandages off her chest.
She bit her tongue as Creek spread it along the lacerations in her side but the pain dulled and then it was blissfully numb.
"Thank you," Dusk breathed.
Creek nodded as she redid the bandages. "Of course. Now you can rest and I'll come back in a bit."
Dusk nodded and settled on the furs, her eyes drooping. But she forced her eyes back open. It seemed lazy just to sleep in the middle of the day. But in the end, she couldn't stop her eyes from closing. Then she fell into a deep sleep.
=== Chapter 9  ===
When Dusk woke up, it was dark, though the leaf window pane was lit up from the outside by the silvery light of the moons.
She sat up and her stomach growled vigorously. That made her wonder when the last time she had eaten was. She couldn't remember eating anything on her flight to Jade Mountain and she hadn't caught anything on the hunting party.
Dusk slipped off the sleeping spot and walked to the doorway.
She hesitated at the door, glancing to the two light globes that were sitting there. Neither were lit.
But then Dusk remembered that she had night vision. And she didn't know for sure, but she felt as though she didn't have fire.
There was nothing she could build up in her chest. Nothing she could hold inside her until she needed to use it. She knew she would never feel that heat building up inside her.
So she didn't try. Instead she passed the globes by and walked out into the hallway.
But as it turned out, she didn't need a globe. There were a few that were lit above her head, but not all of them that were lit during the day were lit then. There was more of a space between each one that was lit, casting long shadows, illuminating all the dips and edges of the stone walls.
Dusk walked slowly down the passages, wincing whenever her tail hit the ground, the scales scraping softly against the stone.
She walked into the Great Hall and took a deep breath. Then she found one of the largest stalagmites and carefully climbed up to the top.
Dusk spread her wings for balance at the top and surveyed the large cave.
No one was around. A shaft of moonlight fell through the entrance and lit up the floor. The sharp wind whistled in the peaks of the mountains around them and the air that was blowing in smelled faintly of salt.
Dusk shook out her wings and inhaled deeply. The salty scent in the air calmed her. It gave her the feeling of home.
Which made her wonder where her home had been. If the salty scent in the air felt like home, she must've lived near water.
And why did she feel so terrified of that thought, and yet somehow relieved? It certainly narrowed down the possibilities for where she could have lived.
Dusk then wondered about what Creek had seen that day with Raccoon. Was she okay?
Then Dusk wondered briefly if the SandWing NightWing was okay.
Dusk shook out her wings, shaking the thought away. He wasn't important to her life and she wasn't important to his life. She was wasting time wondering about him.
And yet she still couldn't help but wonder what his life had been like. If he knew his parents.
Dusk took a deep breath. She could wonder about him briefly, but she wouldn't spend a lot of time thinking about it.
Dusk wondered what to do. She was wide awake now and didn't want to continue being lazy in the infirmary. She wanted to do something instead of just sitting around.
She wondered if it would be a good idea to go spy on Raccoon while he was sleeping.
But she could also go to the prey center and have some of the fruit that was always there.
And there was yet another option. She could also go to the library and find an interesting scroll. That'd give her something to do.
And she could also go to the art cave and paint for a bit. She'd never seen anything that had said she wasn't allowed to be up at night.
Her stomach growled, putting in its vote for where it wanted to go and Dusk thought that it would be a pretty good idea to eat food. She couldn't heal very well if she had nothing to sustain her.
She carefully climbed down from her perch on the stalagmite and went to the map by the first tunnel on the left. She had been fairly sure she had seen the prey center marked on it the first day when she had glanced at it.
There it was. prey center, about halfway down. Now that Dusk looked, she realized that her sleeping cave was only a bit farther down.
So after making a mental note on where it was, she set off down the hallway.
For the first part of her trip, snores were echoing through the hallways. Every once in a while, Dusk saw a few dragonets that were still awake, usually reading a scroll by the light of a globe but none of them glanced up at her.
Soon the amount of sleeping caves dwindled until there weren't any more.
A branch off to the left was lined with scrolls that were hung up on the walls, all of them with some sort of saying on them. But Dusk passed it by. She might go back there after she ate something. She assumed that it had been the library. So that meant the prey center was not far away.
Dusk couldn't stop herself from hurrying up. She was hungry and it felt like she was getting hungrier the closer she got.
Just as Dusk stepped into the large cave, her stomach grumbled so loudly that she felt as though even the dragons sleeping could have heard it.
Dusk glanced around the large cave. The only sound in it was the wind whistling and the muttering and gurgling of the river that swept through the cave.
Her eyes snagged on large woven baskets sitting on one side. They were stuffed full of all kinds of fruits. She only recognized one or two of them.
Dusk glanced around before going hesitantly to the fruit.
She picked up a banana and glanced around again, as though expecting someone to burst into the cave and kick her out from Jade Mountain for stealing, blah blah blah.
But nothing happened.
Dusk turned back to her banana and peeled it back, devouring it in a few seconds.
Her stomach continued to grumble unhappily, as though thinking that the banana was the smallest banana in the world of small bananas.
"I'm going to give you more," she whispered impatiently.
Then she felt worried for her sanity. She was talking to her stomach, for moons sake. That couldn't be right.
Dusk chose another fruit from the pile. It was various shades of yellow orange and red, with a small patch of green here and there.
She sniffed it curiously. Finally she ate it.
She loved it instantly. She felt as though she could eat it for the rest of her life and never get tired of its taste. Dusk found another and quickly ate that too.
Then after poking around the baskets for a bit, she found another that looked interesting. It was large and yellow, slightly spiky.
Dusk poked it once or twice and sniffed it before she took a bite.
After she chewed for a bit, she decided that she didn't really like it. It was okay, but Dusk just wasn't a huge fan of the overall flavor.
After Dusk sat there for a bit, eating all sorts of fruits, she got up. She went over to the river and hesitated.
The water looked so deep and it was moving so fast. She wasn't sure if she'd ever be able to get out of it.
Dusk took a deep breath and dipped her talons in the water, rinsing off all the sticky, pulpiness that she had gotten on them. In a few moments, the fast moving current had pulled everything off.
Dusk pulled her talons out of the water and shook them, flinging water onto herself. She gave a soft laugh and wiped off the water.
Then she glanced outside quickly. Judging from the moons, she had been there for about a quarter of an hour.
So she still had time to go to the library. She still wasn't tired, her wounds weren't hurting, and now she wasn't hungry. And to be honest, she wanted to check out the library.
Dusk left the prey center and went back down the hall she had come from, to the corridor she had seen lined with scrolls.
She went inside it and started to read one of the sayings on the scroll hanging up, but she started as she thought she heard talons on stone.
Dusk peeked around the corner, looking both ways, but she didn't see anything. Just shadows.
Dusk didn't stop to read any of the sayings as she continued down the hallway, feeling unnerved. She kept glancing behind her but she never saw anything.
Finally she made it out of the hallway and into the library.
There were hundreds of scrolls scattered around the cave, but not in a messy sort of way. There were cubbyholes in the walls with scrolls in them, racks like the ones in their sleeping caves, but bigger.
There were comfortable looking spots to read. There was a pile of reeds, a stone ledge, an arrangement of carpets, and a pile of moss.
There were skylights and windows, both letting in filters of moonlight, though it was tinted faintly green. Dusk walked over to them curiously.
It was leaves, like in the infirmary. Dusk traced a vein in it, thinking. The leaves had to be pretty strong to have held up to the winds. She wondered how strong the wind would have to get for them to break.
Dusk went over and pulled out the nearest scroll. A Detailed Guide to the Dragons of Pyrrhia, it read.
Dusk, curious, brought it over to the carpets and settled onto them gently. She unrolled the scroll.
It gave an introduction, talking about where the author got their information. Dusk skimmed past that part.
MudWings were first, but Dusk skipped over them. Next it was SandWings, and Dusk stopped to peer at the picture of a typical SandWing. She couldn't help but look at it closely and see what similarities the NightWing SandWing hybrid had to it.
It seemed as though he was mostly SandWing, just NightWing coloring.
Dusk glanced up and around for a second. She thought that she had heard talons on stone again. But she still didn't see anything. Dusk glanced around confusedly, but then turned back to her scroll, though hesitantly, and her ears were pricked for any noise.
SkyWings were after SandWings, but Dusk skipped them to get to SeaWings.
Dusk traced the lines of the SeaWing figure and looked at herself. In her opinion, she looked mostly like a SeaWing. But one difference she found was that her tail didn't look quite as thick as a SeaWing. But she ignored that and started reading.
'Description: SeaWings can have blue, green, aquamarine, light blue gray, and even purple scales.
Queen Coral is rumored to have a forked tongue, though this cannot be right. SeaWings do not have forked tongues.
Though there is another rumor that SeaWings are very distantly related to IceWings, and that is therefore how they got their animus magic that runs within the royal family's blood. This would explain Queen Coral having a forked tongue.
Their gills on their necks allow them breath underwater and the glow-in-the-dark stripes along their body are used for talking underwater, while the webs on their claws help them swim faster.
All in all, a SeaWing is very clearly made to be underwater.'
Dusk squirmed slightly. She seemed to have everything a SeaWing had, yet she didn't like water. If that was where she was supposed to be, then why didn't she like it?
She turned back to the scroll, rubbing her eyes tiredly.
'Abilities: they can breath underwater, as said above, see in the dark, create huge waves by smacking their powerful tails onto the water surface and are very excellent swimmers.
Queen: Queen Coral.'
Then Dusk very clearly heard claws on stone. She jumped up from her spot on the carpets, her scroll falling to the floor with a clatter.
There was a NightWing dragonet standing in the doorway to the library.
"Three moons," he said. "Who are you?"
Dusk didn't know what to do, if she had done something wrong.
The NightWing shook his head. "You didn't do anything wrong. The library is open at all times."
Dusk opened and closed her mouth, not knowing what to say. "Did you just – did you really just –"
"Read your mind?" he asked. "Yes, mostly."
Dusk's mind whirled. What had he heard? Had he heard everything she had thought about, thinking that she was a SeaWing but was afraid of water and wondering why she was weird?
The NightWing blinked. "That was some mixed emotions just then. And a tip for other mind-readers? Maybe don't think about every little thing that you don’t want them to hear."
Dusk clutched her head and folded her wings over herself, trying desperately to not think about everything thing she didn't want him to hear.
A wing brushed against hers and she jerked away.
"Don't worry," the NightWing said. "I'm not a full mind-reader. Being born on a cloudy night does that. I can just read emotions."
Dusk looked up at him. He smiled at her.
He tilted his head at her curiously and something glinted in the moonlight in the corners of his eyes. They were scales, one at the corner of each eye, glimmering a bright silver in the moonlight, looking like teardrops.  Dusk looked at them curiously.
"I'm guessing that you're wondering why I have these," the NightWing said, brushing the scales by his eyes.
Dusk looked at him suspiciously.
"I felt curiosity from you and you were looking at my face," he explained. "So I just assumed. Not unless you were wondering at how I was so handsome," he joked, tossing his head back.
Dusk gave a soft laugh. "No, I was wondering about the scales."
He watched her face for a moment. "So you really don't know?" he said finally.
Dusk looked at him confusedly. "How would I?"
"Because these," he said, gesturing to the scales, "are a way to tell if someone is a mind-reader. And you," he reached out to her face but pulled back his talons. "You have them too."
Dusk blinked at him. "There is no way that I have any powers," she said.
He cocked his head. "Really? You never feel anyone's emotions, nothing?"
Dusk shook her head. "Never," she said, though she wondered if that was actually true. She couldn't remember her first two years of life. Was it possible that she had had powers once? Could they have been taken, like her memory?
"Confused curiosity!" the NightWing cried.
Dusk glared at him. But she had been curious but also confused. "I don't like it when you do that," she hissed.
The NightWing shuffled his wings. "Sorry," he muttered. "But I can't turn it off."
Dusk blew out her snout frustratedly. "Then at least don't go around voicing my emotions. It's alright if you hear them as long as you don't share them with everyone."
The NightWing nodded. "Okay." Then he cocked his head. "I can't believe I didn't ask you before, but what's your name?"
"Technically you did," Dusk pointed out, "but it's Dusk."
The NightWing looked confused. "No it's not," he said. "It's almost midnight and what does this have to do with our conversation on your name?"
Dusk stifled a laugh. "No... my name is Dusk."
Understanding dawned on his face. "Oh," he said.
"I never got your name either," Dusk said.
He gave a joking bow. "Stargazer," he said, "at your service."
"Hm," Dusk said. "What do you do, gaze at stars all night?"
Stargazer wrinkled his snout. "Actually, to be honest, I don't very often. Our names don't always end up suiting us." He winked.
"Why not? Don't you have seers in the NightWing tribe?" Dusk asked spitefully, flicking her tail.
He looked at her interestedly. "Why don't you like seers?"
Dusk hesitated. She wasn't sure. Maybe she thought it was a useless power. I mean, it hardly ever showed you important stuff, and it never showed anything very far in advance.
Dusk startled herself with how much she knew. Did that mean she did have powers? "I don't know," she finally said.
Stargazer nodded slowly and suspiciously, as if knowing that wasn't true. And he probably did, figuring it out from all the emotions that had ran through Dusk's head.
"So what are you doing here?" Stargazer asked.
"I couldn't sleep," Dusk said, shrugging. "And I wanted something to do so I came here."
"I couldn't sleep either," he offered. "I came to grab something to read."
"Something to read?" Dusk said gasping. "In a library? That's preposterous."
He held back a grin. "I know, right? I didn't expect it either. I expected to find something to read in the art cave." He nodded. "That would make much more sense then having scrolls in a library." He tsked. "Well, it is how it is."
Dusk laughed. "Well, what were you planning on reading?"
Stargazer shrugged. "I particularly like all the one's written by Queen Coral but any fiction are great."
"What's your favorite one?" she asked him.
He hesitated. "I really like this one about a dragon named Indigo. She saves the entire tribe from a mass murderer. It gets a bit violent though," he warned.
Dusk shrugged. "I think I'd be fine. But I could probably find something else, if you think that'd be better."
"I'd feel better if I knew I wasn't the cause of your nightmares," he said cheerfully.
"So what would you suggest for me?" Dusk asked. "It's not like I can just grab one and be done. In case you haven't noticed, there's more than a few scrolls in here."
Stargazer squinted around them with a deadly serious face. "Really? I hadn't noticed."
Dusk smiled. "Yes. There are probably hundreds of scroll in this room."
"Ah," Stargazer said, nodding. "That makes sense. Scrolls in a library. Of course. Why hadn't I thought of that?"
Dusk wrinkled her snout to hold back from laughing. "Right. I'm going to go look for a scroll, uh, over there." She went over to a scroll rack and rummaged through the scrolls, looking at the titles every now and then.
Her scales prickled uncomfortably, as though Stargazer was still watching her. Then the feeling disappeared and she heard talons scrape on stone, going over to a rack nearby.
Dusk paused on a scroll. "Scavengers," she murmured. She unrolled it and found a description.
As she read, she snorted with amusement. She saw Stargazer glance over at her.
"What's so funny?" he asked.
"Do these scavenger things," Dusk said, gesturing to the scroll in her talons, "really walk on two legs?"
Stargazer nodded. "I saw one not that long ago. It was really weird."
Dusk gave a soft laugh. "That sounds crazy."
She read for a bit longer. "Seriously?"
Stargazer looked up again, evidently annoyed. "What?"
"A scavenger killed Queen Oasis?" she asked incredulously.
Stargazer nodded. "Yep. Kinda hard to believe, right?"
Dusk nodded. "Very," she agreed. Then she yawned, glancing to the scroll in her talons. "So can I just take this with me?"
Stargazer hesitated. "Usually there's this whole system for checking out scrolls, but no one's here to do it. Also," he glanced behind a desk to a wall of scrolls, all with names on them, "I don't think they've made a scroll for you yet."
Dusk rolled up the scroll. "So I can take it?" she asked without glancing up.
Stargazer nodded. "I'll just tell Starflight tomorrow morning."
Dusk smiled. "Thank you, Stargazer."
He shrugged. "I didn't do much."
"I know," she said. "But just you being nice to me makes all the difference in Pyrrhia to me."
Stargazer blinked. "Wow, you really meant that."
Dusk nodded. "Of course."
He tilted his head, the moonslight catching on the scales beside each eye. "You really aren't like anyone else," he decided.
"I don't know whether that's a good thing or a bad thing," Dusk said.
"Neither do I," he said.
"You sure now how to make a dragon feel better," Dusk said dryly. "Well, I'd better get back to the infirmary. Good night, Stargazer." She waved a wing as she turned away.
"I'll see you again soon," he said.
Dusk tucked the scroll under her wing, her scales seeming to change color as the globes above her head changed.
She hesitated when she reached the end of the library's tunnel, wondering if she should go check on her winglet.
They don't care about you, whispered a small part of her. So why should you care about them?
Dusk hesitated, then turned away from the sleeping caves and toward the infirmary.
A part of her felt guilty that she had turned away from her Winglet, the only other hybrids she knew. But they hadn't come to check on her. They obviously didn't care. So why was she wasting time caring about them? Did she want them to like her?
Dusk turned into the infirmary corridor, wondering when she'd see Stargazer again.
She stepped into the infirmary and walked over to the sleeping spot set aside for her.
Dusk climbed up onto it and settled, pulling out the scroll and scanning through it, though she couldn't focus on the words. She kept wondering what it would be like to read minds. Would you know everyone's secrets? How much worse was Raccoon's mind than what he actually said? Could you find anything you wanted in a dragon's mind? Or did you have to wait until they thought about it?
Dusk's eyes closed, her scroll slipping out of her talons and falling to the floor with a loud clatter. But she didn't hear. She was asleep before it hit the floor.
=== Chapter 10  ===
Dusk felt great when she woke up the next morning. She wasn't hungry which made a huge difference somehow.
Her scroll was sitting on the ledge next to her sleeping spot and she picked it up, quickly finding the place she had been the previous night. It said that a lot of the scroll's references had been gotten from a dragon-made scavenger den in a city called Sanctuary.
Dusk heard something and looked up. Cometcaller was watching her from the doorway, looking tired as though he had just woken up.
"Cometcaller," she said. "I want to ask you something."
He nodded and came over, yawning slightly. "What is it?" he asked.
"What is Sanctuary?"
"It's a town," he said. "There are lots of dragon tribes that live there and the largest dragon-made scavenger den is there too. There was a student here a long time ago who's in charge of all the scavengers." Cometcaller paused for a second, thinking. "Actually, I think we're having a field trip there soon. Anyone who wants to come is welcome."
Dusk sat up straight. "Really?" she said. "Where is it?"
"It's not too far from Jade Mountain, but still quite a ways," he explained. "Probably take about, hmm, three day, with a lot of stops for younger dragonets like you."
Dusk's ear flicked. "Will I be able to come?"
Cometcaller hesitated. "I don't think it'd be the best idea, with you still being hurt."
Dusk's wings drooped.
"But, uh, it's entirely up to you," he added quickly.
Dusk's face lit up. "Do you think I'd be allowed to go?" she asked.
Cometcaller nodded. "If you feel up for it."
Dusk grinned. "I've wanted to see a scavenger since I started reading about them last night." She wrinkled her snout. "They sound so weird. I mean, standing on two legs? Who does that?"
"Scavengers," he said promptly. "They can also draw, weave, and do some other crazy stuff."
"Weave?" Dusk echoed with wide eyes. "They can weave?"
Cometcaller nodded. "Yep, but they mostly make these weird little coverings for themselves."
"Hm," Dusk said surprisedly. "Why would they do that?"
Cometcaller shrugged. "For awhile,  dragons suspected that they got very cold, but now some dragons think that they're just for show, like how some dragons like to wear capes, that sort of thing."
Dusk gave him a skeptical look. "I don't believe that."
Cometcaller shrugged. "Just wait till you see them, then."
"Oh, I will." Dusk grabbed her scroll and stood up. "I think I'll go to the library and read this there."
"Don't you want anything before you go?" Cometcaller asked. "Like the stuff that numbs your wounds?"
She looked down at herself. "I feel fine," she told him. "After I ate a bit, I felt perfectly fine. And I still do."
Cometcaller hesitated. "I'll be back in a bit," he decided, then he left the cave.
Dusk stood there, shifting the scroll from talon to talon, antsy to do something.
Cometcaller finally came back with a small ceramic jar that could easily fit in one talon.
"It's full of the numbing stuff," he explained, handing the jar to her. "I just thought if you weren't going to be here all day, then I might as well give you some of your own."
"Thanks," Dusk said. "Do you, um, have something I could keep it in?"
He thought for a minute.
"It's fine if you don't," she said hurriedly.
"No, you're good. You can get a black leather pouch from Starflight when he gives you your library stamp."
Dusk smiled. "That works out. Thank you, Cometcaller."
He nodded. "Of course. Why would I have become a doctor if I didn't want to help dragons?"
Dusk shrugged. "I'll probably be back later today," she told him, "if not before."
Cometcaller nodded. "Come back anytime you feel like it."
She nodded back. "I will."
Then she left and set off down the hall. Dusk made it to the Great Hall and went over to the tunnel opposite her and made her way through the crowd of dragonets trying to get to classes.
Suddenly a gong sounded three times, making Dusk jump. She glanced around but no one seemed unnerved.
Dusk frowned but continued down the hall to the library. It was a relief to finally turn into the empty library corridor.
This time she stopped to look at a few of the quotes.
"The claws of war are no match for the wings of wisdom," read one.
She went to read another but someone ran into her.
"Sorry! Sorry!" she yelped, jumping away from her. She looked probably about the same age as Dusk. Her scales were a black and the torches glinted on them, making them shine a light gray.
Dusk cocked her head. This dragon was almost identical to Stargazer, but she didn't have the silver scales beside her eyes. "You look like Stargazer," she said.
The dragon rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I get that a lot. We're twins."
Dusk blinked. "I've never met twins before," she said.
The NightWing spread her wings. "Well now you have. We're not that special."
"What's your name?" Dusk asked.
"Starseer," she answered with a smile. "You?"
"Dusk," she answered.
The gong rang again, twice this time.
"Ack!" Starseer cried. "Sorry, I have to go!" She dashed down the tunnel and turned towards the Great Hall.
Dusk watched her go. "Twins," she murmured. "How interesting." Then she continued down the tunnel and into the library.
There was an older NightWing sitting at the desk. He lifted his head up when she entered and Dusk realized that he had bandages over his eyes.
"Who is it?" he asked.
"You wouldn't know me," Dusk said. "I'm new."
The NightWing gave a smile. "Try me," he said.
"I'm Dusk," she confided. "A Sea –"
"SeaWing NightWing hybrid?" the NightWing interrupted. "Obsidian Winglet, recently injured?"
Dusk blinked. "How did you –?"
The NightWing shrugged. "I can only do so much, being blind, so I always ask Fatespeaker about anything interesting. She told me there was a new hybrid and you were injured by a bear on your hunting party."
Dusk's face burned with embarrassment. Even when someone didn't know her, they knew she had been mauled by a bear. And it made her feel like she couldn't handle herself on her own. And it was all Raccoon's fault.
Dusk's talons clenched involuntarily. "Um," she said. "I took a scroll last night without checking it out," she said uncomfortably. "Could we do that now?"
The NightWing nodded. "Of course. My name is Starflight, by the way."
Dusk nodded. "I assumed so." She handed him the scroll.
Starflight felt the end of the scroll where the name was engraved and nodded. "Scavengers are interesting creatures," he said.
Dusk nodded, forgetting he couldn't see her. "Yes," she said quickly.
"One of our old students here helped write this scroll," he said holding it up. "He really liked scavengers."
"What was his name?" she asked.
"Winter," Starflight said. "He was one of the dragons who helped defeat Darkstalker." "Darkstalker?" she asked, the name sending shivers down her spine. "Who was that?"
Starflight looked at her with a faintly amused look on his face. "You don't know?"
"No," Dusk said.
Starflight tapped his claws on his desk. "I'm sure you'll learn eventually. It's not that important anyway. He's gone. That's what matters." He reached behind him to the scrolls all in separate niches in the wall and pulled out one labeled simply Other.
He set it on his desk and unrolled it. Dusk saw names that had been written and stamps below them.
Starflight reached down and pulled out an inkwell, dipping his claw into it. Then he unrolled the scroll until there was no more writing and wrote her name confidently.
Then, grabbing her scroll about scavengers, he dipped the end in the ink and stamped it below her name.
Both sides of the scroll appeared to show the name of the scroll, though one was normal so it could be read, but the other was backwards. Dusk guessed this was so once it was stamped, you could read the title.
"Now when you return it," Starflight explained, "I'll stamp the Other stamp onto the name, showing that you returned it. We're working on making your own though. This is just until we have it ready."
Dusk nodded. "So is that all?" she asked.
Starflight nodded. "Yep. You're free to stay in here and read your scroll, or you can take it anywhere else."
Dusk smiled at him. "Thank you," she said.
Starflight nodded. "It wasn't a problem," he said.
Dusk started to go over to the arrangement of carpets but turned back, remembering the small ceramic jar she was carrying. "Could I get a pouch?" she asked hesitantly. "I have something I want to put in it."
Starflight nodded. "Let me grab it." He reached down into his desk and came out with a black leather pouch on a silver chain. "Here you go," he said, holding it out to her."
Dusk took it. "Thank you again." She slipped it over her head and it hung around her neck, the leather soft against her scales. She checked the ceramic jar, making sure the lid was tightly on before she slipped it into her pouch.
Then she went over to the carpets and settled onto them, unrolling the scroll to the part she had been at.
After she read for a bit, she heard someone come in.
Dusk looked up from her scroll and saw a NightWing with silver scales by her eyes, a circle of them on one of her forelegs, and a small scattering of them along her tail like freckles.
"Hey, Starflight," she said. "I'm back."
"I could tell, Fatespeaker," he said wryly from his desk. His tail flicked. "Dusk? Are you still here?"
"Yes," she said.
The NightWing finally noticed her. "Whoa!" she yelped, sounding like a dragonet as old as Dusk. "You look so cool!"
Dusk ducked her head embarrassedly. "T – thanks," she stammered.
Fatespeaker dashed over and picked up her tail, peering at it. "Like a SeaWing's," she mused, "but not quite as thick." Then she grabbed her wing and extended it, glancing at the shiny teal scales on the top and bottom of it. "Kinda like a NightWing," she said, "but on the top and bottom of the wing." Then she reached to the ruff behind her ear. "Like a RainWing," Fatespeaker murmured.
"Fatespeaker!" Starflight called exasperatedly. "Dusk is a student, not a specimen."
Fatespeaker backed away. "Sorry," she said to Dusk.
Dusk waved a wing dismissively. "It's fine. Wait," she said, realization of what Fatespeaker had said hitting her like a boulder. "RainWing?"
Fatespeaker nodded. "The ruff behind your ear is unique to RainWings, right Starflight?"
He hesitated before nodding. "If she does have the ruff behind her ear, then she must be part RainWing."
Dusk was glad she was sitting down, otherwise she probably would've fallen. "RainWing," she murmured. That explained it. How she always felt as though there was more to her than what she knew. And she had been right. She was part RainWing.
"You look as though you just saw a dragon start speaking scavenger," Fatespeaker observed.
Dusk was startled into laughing. "No," she said. "I just never knew I was part RainWing."
"Wow," Fatespeaker said. "That must come as a shock."
Dusk nodded. "That's why I looked like I just saw a dragon start speaking scavenger."
Fatespeaker wrinkled her snout. "It looked hilarious, right, Starflight?"
"You're talking about looks," he observed. "How am I supposed to know what it looked like?"
Fatespeaker looked down at her claws. "Sorry, Starflight," she said softly. "I forgot."
Starflight walked over to her and put a wing around her. "It's okay," he said, smiling at her.
Dusk wondered how he walked so confidently when he couldn't see. If she couldn't see, each step she took would be incredibly tentative. Dusk wasn't sure if she'd ever let herself walk again. She'd be too afraid to fall and hurt herself.
"I'm going to continue reading," she said, turning back to her scroll.
"Sorry for bothering you," Fatespeaker said.
Dusk waved her wing dismissively, keeping her eyes on her scroll.
"Hey, Dusk."
She looked up to Starflight. "Yeah?"
"Since you're the only one in here, would you mind if I read to Fatespeaker?"
"I don't mind," she said. She turned back to her scroll before fully registering what he had said. "You read to her?" she asked.
Starflight gave a soft laugh. "Yep. We found a way to let blind dragons, like me, read. It's just a stone tablet with the words sticking out from it, rather than being carved into it. I like to work on it though," he said with a shrug.
"Of course you can work on it," Dusk said. "I don't mind at all."
Starflight nodded in her direction. "Thank you." Then he and Fatespeaker went over to his desk.
Dusk continued reading, glancing up at Starflight and Fatespeaker.
Starflight was puzzling over a word, tracing it's lines.
"It's 'wholeheartedly'," Fatespeaker said softly.
Starflight traced the word again and nodded. He leaned over to Fatespeaker and gave her a light lick on her snout. She leaned onto his shoulder as he continued to read, helping him a few other words.
Dusk sat there for another few hours, reading the scroll until she finished it.
She rolled it up, stood up, and went over to Starflight's desk.
"Starflight?" she said softly.
He looked up at her. "Is anything wrong, Dusk?"
"No, nothing's wrong," she said. "I know I just officially checked out this scroll, but I just finished it, so I wondering if I could check it back in.”
Starflight nodded, smiling. "Of course." He reached out and grabbed the Other scroll and grabbed a stamp from under his desk. He unrolled the Other scroll to where she had checked out the scroll, dipped the stamp into ink and stamped over the name of the scroll. "There," he said. "You can just leave your scroll at my desk and I can put it back."
"I'll do it," Fatespeaker said, jumping up. She took the scroll from Dusk, looked at the title, then set off to a corner of the room, muttering to herself.
"Well, it was nice to meet you," Dusk said. "Both of you," she added.
Starflight smiled at her kindly. "It was nice to meet you too, Dusk."
"Yeah," Fatespeaker said, coming back from putting the scroll away. "I haven't met too many hybrids in my life, though more keep popping up as the tribes get friendlier to each other."
Dusk nodded. "I guess so. I think I'll come back tomorrow," she said.
"We'll enjoy it if you do," Starflight told her.
"As will I," Dusk said. She set off down the hallway and whispered, "At least there's some dragons in the world who don't hate me."
She turned out into the main corridor and turned back to the Great Hall. She was going to go back to the infirmary when she heard music coming from another corridor. It sounded like drums, a light steel sounding music, and maybe a didgeridoo or two.
Dusk followed the sounds to a large cave filled with all kinds of instruments.
As she was looking around the cave, her eyes snagged on two hybrids. It was her winglet.
The NightWing IceWing was playing a harp-like thing and the SandWing MudWing was playing the drums.
And suddenly she saw Coast's light blue scales. He was playing a long silver instrument and appeared to be making the high pitched steel noise.
Dusk's tail twitched to the rhythm. It was rather hypnotic, just asking to be danced to. And if her winglet was there, why wouldn't she be allowed?
So she stepped in and let the music envelope her. She noticed a few of them looked startled to see her, but Dusk ignored them.
The music was wonderful. Dusk started out slowly at first, dancing in a small circle, throwing out her wings in time with the music.
But as the music progressed, she felt as though she couldn't hold back anymore.
Dusk spun and twisted, never feeling better. Every once in a while, she flapped her wings, making her feel light on her talons and she did little twists and turns.
Once Dusk jumped and did a graceful somersault, rolling out onto her talons.
And after feeling like no time at all had passed, everyone stopped playing.
She stopped dancing, breathing hard and glancing around. Most everyone was looking at her. The only dragons she saw not looking at her were Quicksand and Vapor.
Dusk hesitated, wondering if she had done something wrong.
"Dusk, that was wonderful!" Coast said, setting down his instrument and going over to her.
She ducked her head. "Thanks, Coast."
"It was amazing," Frost agreed.
Dusk blinked. She realized she knew most of the dragons in the cave. Stargazer was smiling at her and Sandstorm was looking at her as though she had turned out to be an entirely different dragon.
Dusk gave a joking bow. "It was my pleasure."
"Yeah, I bet," Coast said. "I was almost tempted to join you but I couldn't get around to it."
"I'm glad you didn't," Dusk said.
Coast looked incredibly hurt. He looked down at his talons. "Oh."
"No, Coast, I didn't mean that." Dusk grabbed his talons in hers. "The instrument you were playing was one of the best. Without it, there would've practically been nothing to dance to. That was all I meant when I said that."
He looked at her as though he wanted to believe her. "Really?"
Dusk nodded. "Of course. I would've loved to dance with you had your instrument been played by someone else, though they probably could not play it nearly as well as you."
He grinned at her. "Yeah, I'm a master with a flute," he joked. "There's probably no one in Pyrrhia better than me."
Stargazer gave a violent snort. "I highly doubt that," he said.
Coast sent him a slight glare. "No one asked you, Stargazer."
Stargazer shrugged. "No one told me not to interfere though," he pointed out.
A growl built in the back of Coast's throat and he lit up his glow-in-the-dark scales in an odd pattern.
Stargazer stiffened and glanced at Dusk, then back to Coast. "You think I don't know what that meant?" he said in a dangerously low voice.
Coast tilted his snout upwards. "No," he said. "I expected that you'd know exactly what it meant."
Stargazer lunged to Coast but Dusk stepped in between them. "Stop, you two," she said firmly. "I don't know what just happened, but I do know that you shouldn't be doing this."
Coast reluctantly sat back, but Dusk could tell he was still tensed.
Stargazer growled, his eyes flicking to Coast.
Coast's scales flashed again and Stargazer looked at them, then sat back.
Dusk glanced between the two of them. "Alright," she said finally. "Glad that's over."
Coast and Stargazer exchanged glares, as though saying it'd never be over but they both stayed in place for the moment.
Dusk went to leave. "I'm going to go back –" She drew in a sharp breath of pain, stumbling slightly. She glanced down at the bandages and saw blood seeping through. "Must've been a bad idea to dance," she muttered, wincing.
She set off down the hallway again, though she tripped on her talon and stumbled again.
"Dusk," Coast said, rushing to her side. "Are you alright?" he asked softly.
Dusk nodded. "Just a bad idea to –" She winced as her side throbbed unbearably. ”Dance," she finished. Dusk gritted her teeth. "I'll be fine though, so you can go back to your winglet."
Coast hesitated, glancing behind him. "Are you sure?"
Dusk nodded. "I can make it on my own," she said determinedly.
He paused again. "Alright," he said. Then, reluctantly, he left.
Dusk started to go to the infirmary, but hesitated. She wasn't quite sure she wanted to go back there just yet. She didn't know why.
So instead she went over to her sleeping cave. She passed by the library and prey center on her way but didn't stop at either of them.
But, for a reason Dusk wasn't sure about, she paused and peeked into Creek's sleeping cave.
The RainWing she had seen the first day was resting in a hammock, reading a scroll.
But before Dusk could slip away, the RainWing saw her.
"It's you!" she said. "The triple hybrid!"
Dusk smiled wryly. "News travels fast here, I take it?"
She shrugged. "Starflight told me when I got this scroll. But yes, news does travel pretty fast. What's your name?"
"Dusk," she said. "Yours?"
"Frond," she said, climbing out of her hammock, her scales a whirl of golden yellow and blue. "Like either a fern frond or a palm frond. That sort of stuff," she said.
"Are all RainWing names like that?" Dusk asked.
A pink appeared on the edges of Frond's wings. "Um," she said, glancing at the floor.
"I'm sorry," Dusk said hurriedly. "It was only supposed to be a joke."
"It's okay," Frond said. "It's just a stupid reason that my parents named me Frond. Care to guess why?"
Dusk scrunched up her snout. "Um, did you hatch next to a fern?" she joked.
To her surprise, Frond actually nodded. "Yep," she said. "RainWings aren't the most creative dragons."
Dusk blinked at her. "You're not at all offended by that?"
Frond shrugged. "Not really, because I hope to be different. I want to be like Queen Glory someday."
"Queen Glory?" Dusk said. "Why do you want to be like her?"
Frond looked at her incredulously. "Why wouldn’t you want to be like Queen Glory?"
"Well, you tell me about her," Dusk said, settling down on her talons.
"Alright," Frond said, giving her a slight curious look. "She's brave, strong, fair, more than capable of ruling two tribes, loves to read, and has the handsomest bodyguard ever."
Dusk held back a smile. "So you want to be like her because she has a handsome bodyguard?" she asked.
"No!" Frond objected. "Well, no, not fully, but yes."
"Can I tease you about this yet or do I have to become better friends with you first?" Dusk joked, never really planning on actually doing it.
Frond shrugged. "Feel free. You can't change what I want."
Dusk blinked. "It was just a joke, Frond. But if you want to be teased so badly, than I guess I could try." Dusk paused, thinking. "To be honest, I don't know how to tease someone," she admitted.
Frond smiled. "Then I'll teach you." She thought for a moment. "This is something you will be able to use for the rest of your life," she said. Frond took a deep breath and started singing. "Coast and Dusk, flying through the sky, getting all K-I-S-S-Y."
Dusk ducked her head embarrassedly and avoided Frond's eyes, thinking. Yes, she spent a lot of time with Coast but she didn’t feel the way the song said. Coast was just her friend.
"That's exactly why you sing that song," Frond said.
Dusk looked up, not quite sure what she meant.
"If a dragon looks away, that usually means that they're embarrassed, and therefore probably like the dragon you paired with them," Frond explained.
"But I don't like Coast!" Dusk said. "I mean, I like him, but as a friend. I never once thought – it never even crossed my mind."
Frond looked skeptical but she didn't say anything. "So now try it on me," she said, waving her wings at herself.
"Who do I pair you with?" Dusk asked.
"Why don't you pair me with Howler," she said.
Dusk held back a snort of laughter. "I'm sorry, I must've misheard. Did you say Howler? Is that seriously someone's name?"
Frond nodded. "His full name is Howler Monkey, but he tells everyone to call him Howler."
Dusk went to start singing, but stopped. "And you're not at all worried that you just revealed who you like to me?" she asked.
Frond shook her head. "Just another fleeting crush of mine. I'll have a new one before you can tease me about Howler. Other than this once, though. But this is only because I'm letting you, because you obviously missed out on the joys of teasing your friends."
Dusk smiled. "Alright, let's try this." She cleared her throat and took a deep breath. "Howler and Frond, flying through the sky, getting all K-I-S-S-Y."
Frond flared her wings, her scales whirls of rose pink. "Perfect!" she exclaimed. "You're great at this! See my scales? That means I'm embarrassed!"
Dusk couldn't help but grin. "Thanks, though you don't act like you're embarrassed."
"You'd be surprised at how good I am at hiding my emotions," Frond said.
"I am surprised," Dusk admitted. The pain in her side throbbed and she winced. "Well, I'd better go," she said. "I'm a little tired."
"Why don't you come with me?" Frond said. "I was just about to go out for suntime. And since you're part RainWing, it might be nice for you."
Dusk cocked her head. "Suntime?" she echoed. "What's that?"
"It's something that RainWings do," Frond explained. "We all find the sunniest spot we can, in the middle of the day usually, and we sleep for one or two hours. It recharges our scales and fills us up."
"Recharges your scales?" Dusk echoed again, knowing she sounded like an idiot. But she was curious.
"It makes our colors more vibrant, our camouflage harder to see," Frond said, sounding slightly annoyed. "Maybe it could help yours."
Dusk decided not to be offended by that. As far as she knew, she had never slept out in the sun in the middle of the day. So if that would allow her to change her scales, then she'd love to do it.
"Let's try this," she said.
Frond smiled. "Great. Now follow me."
=== Chapter 11  ===
Dusk did follow Frond. She followed her through what felt like the whole mountain before they finally made it outside.
The sun was shining brightly overhead and the wind blew strongly, practically asking to be flown on. Dusk spread her wings, the wind lifting them up.
"Nope," Frond said, grabbing her talon. "No you don't. You came here with me so you'll stay with me."
Dusk sighed and closed her wings, looking around.
They were on a wide rock ledge with space for probably hundreds of dragons to sleep. There were a few trees here and there, and occasionally a rock ledge above or beneath them.
There were a few RainWings sprawled out in the sun, each ones' scales constantly shifting their color. It was quite beautiful.
"That's Howler," Frond whispered softly to Dusk, pointing out a RainWing sleeping nearby.
He looked kind, but in forceful sort of way. He had strong looking shoulders and wings, and a tail that looked like it could hold his weight and more.
"He looks nice," Dusk whispered to Frond.
"He is," Frond whispered back. "I can assure you on that. Extremely loyal to his friends, which he makes, by the way, about three more every day."
"Why don't you go lay next to him?" Dusk teased.
A tinge of embarrassed pink crept along the edges of Frond's wings. "I was wrong about you," she said.
"About what?" Dusk asked, her head cocked.
"This is the second time you teased me about Howler," she said with a wry smile.
Dusk gave a soft laugh. "It'll probably be the last," she said.
"I hope so," Frond said, "because you sure are good at it. However, I think I'll sleep over here." She gestured to a spot with her wing that was far away from Howler. "You can go anywhere," she told her. "And sleep until out next classes start."
Dusk nodded. "Thanks, Frond."
Frond smiled at her. "Of course." Her eyes flicked the slightest bit to the bandages wrapped around Dusk's body. Dusk realized that Frond hadn't questioned them. It seemed like she had already known.
Dusk spread her wings and took off into the sky, looking for a place to sleep. There were RainWings spread across the mountain, but Dusk could see one or two black shapes. NightWings? she wondered. Dusk wondered why they would be up there with all the RainWings doing suntime.
Finally she found a nice sunny place with no dragons around. She landed on the rock and padded around the ledge. It looked safe enough. There was nothing sharp that she could hurt herself on and it was big enough that she wasn't likely to roll over and fall off.
Dusk laid down and spread out her wings to catch as much sun a possible. The warmth was intoxicating. She felt as though she was already falling asleep, and that was highly possible.
Dusk let the tension fall out of her wings, allowed herself to fully relax. Raccoon wouldn't go looking for her. Why couldn't she just sleep for a few hours?
A small part of her was still worrying about Raccoon but before she could push the thoughts away, she fell asleep.
/ / / / / / / / / /
Raccoon was standing over Dusk, a wicked grin on his face. "Farewell," he said. Then with a sensation like she was falling, she tipped into darkness, only to appear in a completely different part of the mountain.
Coast was sitting nearby on a rock. Dusk was about to go over when another SeaWing appeared out of nowhere and wrapped a wing around him. Coast looked up at the SeaWing and smiled, while the other SeaWing looked over at Dusk and smirked.
Dusk felt a burning hatred but before she could go over to Coast and say something, she tipped into the dark again. But a second later, she reappeared in Sunny's office.
"I've changed my mind," Sunny said. "You will have no spot at Jade Mountain. I don't want any hybrids among my students," she spat.
Raccoon came up from behind Sunny and sneered at her. "Goodbye," he whispered.
Then it tipped into the dark once more and she reappeared in a forest that was unfamiliar. The trees were looming over her. Dusk looked around in fear.
"Coast?" she called. "Anyone? Hello?"
A dark shape emerged from the trees. Dusk breathed a sigh of relief when she saw it was Coast.
"Where am I?" she asked him.
"Banished," he answered. "Like you should be."
Dusk frowned at him. "You're acting weird."
He cocked his head, his eyes wide, an unhinged smile on his face. "Really?" His scales started melting off. "What if you're the one acting weird?" His scales slid off entirely, revealing it to be Raccoon.
He grinned and lunged at her, slicing his claws along her side.
Dusk gasped. The pain was unbearably strong. But then she shut her eyes tightly. "This is a dream," she said firmly, finally realizing. "I'll wake up in a second. None of this is real." Even though she knew that was true, she swore she could still feel Raccoon's claws slicing into her.
"Well if this is a dream," Raccoon whispered, and Dusk started as the voice was whispering in her ear, "then I hope this is one you'll remember."
Then the dream abruptly disappeared and Dusk woke up with a gasp, sitting up straight.
She looked around and started, jumping to her feet and growling. Raccoon was grinning at her from across the ledge. Dusk ran at him and went to slice him to pieces but her claws slid right through him.
Dusk gaped at him and looked at her claws. "But –" she stammered. "But I just – and you – and then . . ." But even as she watched, Raccoon faded from view. She went back over as he was barely discernible and tried to touch him, but again her claws slid straight through. "A remnant of my dream," she guessed, breathing a sigh of relief and sitting down heavily.
Dusk shook her head to clear the fog that was currently inside it. The sun had slid behind a cloud, but Dusk guessed she still had a few hours before sunset.
"Hey, Dusk!"
Dusk turned to look at the sound of her name. Frond was flying towards her, her scales a bubbling gold with streaks of lavender. They seemed brighter than they had before suntime. Dusk didn’t know that was possible.
"How did you like suntime?" Frond asked, landing on the rock ledge.
"It was ..." Dusk paused, trying to think of the right word.
"Amazing?" Frond supplied. "Best thing you've ever done in your life?"
"Interesting," Dusk concluded. "It was very interesting."
Frond's face fell.
"Don't get me wrong," Dusk said quickly. "I liked it. I just had a bad dream."
Frond cocked her head. "Bad dream?" she echoed. "About what?"
"Just something I was worried about," she said dismissively. "It wasn't real." She almost felt as though she was saying that to convince herself.
Frond nodded slowly. "Alright," she said, and there was a note of suspicion in her voice.
"I'm telling the truth!" Dusk insisted. "It's just ..." She sighed. "I don't think you you'll believe me."
A streak of dark purple shot through Frond's scales. "I'm sorry for sounding skeptical. I just can't help it."
Dusk smiled. "It's fine."
Frond glanced up at the sun, which had just come out from behind the large cloud. "Alright, we have to get to our classes now. What do you have?"
Dusk ducked her head embarrassedly. "I've been pardoned from classes, actually. Due to ..." She gestured to her bandages which had red stains. "Obvious reasons."
Frond nodded. "That's understandable. Also, maybe you should get those bandages changed."
"Yeah," Dusk agreed. "I probably should've done that earlier. I was kind of putting it off."
Frond's scales turned a shade of orange. "Why were you putting it off?"
Dusk hesitated. "I'm not actually sure. I just don't want to go back to the infirmary. I feel like I've been in there forever."
Frond nodded. "I could understand why you wouldn't want to go back."
Dusk blinked at her. "Really?"
Frond nodded. "The infirmary in the Rainforest Kingdom, for instance? I can't stand it."
Dusk cocked her head. "Why?"
"I was stuck there for awhile." She lifted up her wing and showed Dusk a spot on her underbelly that looked like an inkblot. It covered a section about the size of Dusk's talon. And despite Frond's changing colors, it remained black.
"What happened?" Dusk asked.
Frond hesitated for a long moment. "It was a mad RainWing. He thought I was going to kill him, so he resorted to self-defense. Finally they caught him. He's in prison right now. Queen Glory is hoping they can help him. He was a helpful dragon."
There was a shadow in Frond's eyes and her scales had shifted to a muted blue gray.
Dusk walked over and brushed her wing against Frond's.
"Frond, did you know this dragon?" she asked softly. She didn't want to pry, but sometimes it was best for a dragon say what was on their mind.
Frond hesitated for an incredibly long time, staring out at the rainforest in the distance.
"Don't tell me," Dusk said. "Keep it to yourself until you're ready to share it."
Frond turned to smile at Dusk, her scales turning a rose pink. "Thanks. And maybe eventually." She turned away again. "Maybe I'll tell you everything eventually." Frond shook her head. "Sorry, I have to go."
Dusk nodded. "I understand. See you again?"
Frond grinned at her. "Definitely." Then she opened her wings and flew down to the entrance to Jade Mountain.
Dusk watched as she did, and, out of the corner of her eye, she saw Howler watching her with rose pink scales.
Dusk smiled softly and flew down from the ledge, alighting next to Howler. "Hi," she said. "I'm Dusk."
Howler turned to look at her. "Wow, you're a hybrid," he said, his scales shifting to a light orange.
Dusk nodded. "Yep. SeaWing NightWing RainWing. I heard about you from Frond. I just met her today."
Howler started. "You heard about me from Frond?"
Dusk nodded and watched as his scales shifted over from a the light orange to a pink. He sighed softly.
"Well," Dusk said. "It was nice to meet you, Howler."
Howler nodded absentmindedly. "You too, Dusk."
As Dusk stepped away and towards the entrance to Jade Mountain, she felt a surge of glee. He had remembered her name! Dusk honestly hadn't been expecting him to. Although, she wouldn't be surprised or offended if he forgot it in the next hour.
Dusk stepped into the brightly lit corridors of Jade Mountain and headed towards the infirmary. She needed to get her bandages changed. But then, if she was allowed to, maybe she would sleep in her own sleeping cave for the first time.
The prospect seemed appealing, yet not at the same time. It'd be her own bed, even though she hadn't slept on it yet, but she'd have to put up with her winglet. Well, the MudWing SandWing. Dusk was fairly sure she would be okay with the NightWing IceWing.
Dusk headed straight to the infirmary, heading there nearly as fast as the dragonets heading to their classes.
Just as Dusk was nearing to the infirmary, the gong rang three times and the overall speed of the dragonets around her increased.
But Dusk decided just to ignore them. What else was she supposed to do?
Finally she made it to the infirmary, though there was a high pitched wailing coming from it.
Dusk cocked her head and stuck it in the infirmary.
The sight that met her eyes was not the one she expected. Creek was sitting in there, looking around desperately, while a tiny, brown, dragonet cried at the top of its lungs. It didn't appear to be hurt, as far as Dusk could see. Though Dusk wasn't a doctor, so she was hardly an adequate judge.
Dusk stepped in. "Creek," she yelled over the shrieking. "Is everything alright?"
Creek nodded and rolled her eyes, pointing at the small MudWing dragonet. "My sister," she yelled over the noise.
Dusk gave Creek a curious look and walked over to the wailing dragonet. Creek's sister immediately stopped crying.
"Ooo," she said in a small voice. "Look how shiny you are."
Dusk gave a soft laugh. "What's your name?"
"Lark," she said, puffing up her chest. "You?"
"I'm Dusk."
"What was that look for, Dusk?" Creek asked, coming over, rubbing her ears.
"I was just thinking about how unalike you two are," Dusk answered. "I saw no similarity between both of you."
Creek laughed. "Well, you are right about that. Me and Lark have almost nothing alike."
"Yeah," Lark whined. "Creek is a doctor, and is in love with Cometcaller. Blech. I want to be a soldier in the MudWing army."
Creek gave a nervous laugh. "Now, now. No need to tell lies, Lark."
"That's not a lie!" Lark protested. "You talk about Cometcaller all the time. Cometcaller this, and Cometcaller that. It's so annoying!"
Dusk decided just to ignore the fact that Creek blushed severely.
"Why is Lark here?" she asked.
Creek sighed, though her face remained red. "My mother had to go somewhere, so she had to leave Lark here."
"Hm," Dusk said. "How annoying."
"You have absolutely no idea," Creek said exasperatedly. "I can't even imagine what it'll be like when she comes here for school."
"Maybe she'll be quieter by then?" Dusk suggested hopefully.
"I'm still here!" Lark said outrageously.
"I highly doubt that," Creek said, ignoring Lark. "I'm just hoping that my mother might hold her back for another year or two."
Dusk shrugged. "Hey, do you think you could change my bandages?"
"No problem." Creek peered at them. "They probably should've been changed earlier."
Dusk ducked her head. "Yeah, that'd be my fault. I went to try out suntime. Sorry."
"Don't apologize," Creek said. "Suntime will probably help you heal faster, being part RainWing and all."
Dusk blinked. "You heard?"
Creek nodded. "Starflight came and told me earlier today."
"Why does it matter?" Dusk asked.
"Different tribes of dragons react differently to different medicines," Creek explained. "While this one plant may do nothing to a SeaWing, it could incredibly speed up the healing process of a RainWing. That information could be helpful."
Dusk nodded. "That makes sense." Then she hesitated. "Creek, um, if it's not too much to ask, I was wondering if I could sleep in my sleeping cave tonight."
Creek nodded. "Of course. Cometcaller told me that he gave you some of the numbing stuff this morning, so you should be good to sleep with your winglet tonight."
Dusk blinked. "If I'm being honest, I expected you to say no."
Creek shrugged. "There's no reason to keep you here."
Dusk nodded. "Alright."
Creek glanced to Lark. "Watch her for a second, please. Just while I go grab the bandages?"
Dusk nodded.
"Thanks." Then she disappeared down the hall.
"Are you a SeaWing?" Lark asked.
Dusk turned to her. "Part SeaWing, yes."
Confusion flickered onto her face. "Part?" she asked.
Dusk nodded. "So one of my parents was a SeaWing, while the other was a different tribe."
"But I thought we weren't supposed to mix tribes," Lark said. "That's what I've been told."
Dusk turned away from Lark. What had made her parents decide to be together? Why hadn't they stayed with their own tribe?
"What were you told?" Lark asked.
Dusk turned back to her. "What?"
"I was told that we shouldn't interbreed," Lark said. "What were you told?"
Dusk shook her head. "Nothing. I was told nothing."
"Oh." Lark cocked her head. "Why?"
"I'm back, Dusk." Creek stepped into the room and Dusk was more than happy for the intrusion. "Sorry it took a bit longer," she said. "I couldn't find more bandages."
"It's alright," Dusk said.
"I hope Lark didn't bother you," Creek said.
"Not very much," Dusk lied. That one statement of hers had made Dusk start to question why she existed. Why had her parents decided to be together when they knew that their dragonet would never fit in anywhere?
"Here," Creek said. "Let me change your bandages."
Dusk lifted up her wing so that Creek could undo them.
"Ew!" Lark exclaimed when they were off. "That looks SO GROSS!"
Dusk winced slightly. She knew how bad they looked, and knew that it probably looked really gross to other dragons, but it still was insulting to hear other dragons say it like that.
"If you don't like how it looks, then don't look at it," Creek said severely. Then she turned back to Dusk. "Sorry about her," she said. "She just doesn't know when or how to stop talking."
"It's alright," Dusk said. "I mean, it does kind of look gross."
Creek gave Dusk a curious look and looked at Dusk's side. "All I see is a wound that needs tending," she said. "I guess that's just the way I was taught to look at it."
"That's a good thing," Dusk said. "You'd be a horrible doctor if you thought every wound was gross."
"I suppose," Creek said, redoing the bandages on Dusk's underbelly. As she went to Dusk's tail, Dusk absentmindedly lifted it so Creek could reach it easier.
Dusk stared into space for a few moments until Creek's voice brought her back.
"That's it," she said. "You should be good. Come back tomorrow morning. I'll check you and maybe change your bandages, just so they'd be clean."
Dusk nodded. "Alright, thank you, Creek."
Creek nodded. "Of course. Just be careful."
Then Dusk remembered something, most likely because of the word "careful."
"Oh, Creek, I totally forgot! Did you see Raccoon?"
Creek glanced at Lark and took a step closer so she could whisper in Dusk's ear. "I saw him, but I could hardly get close. Even when I confronted him, he managed to slip out of my grasp. I'm sorry."
"Don't be," Dusk said. Then she took a deep breath. "Creek, listen, I don't want you to go out looking for Raccoon tomorrow."
Creek gave her a curious look. "Are you going to go after him yourself?"
Dusk shook her head. "No. Just drop the matter. Nothing would even happen if we did prove him guilty."
"What?" Creek exclaimed. "You're forgiving him?"
"No!" Dusk said sharply. "I never said anything about forgiving him!" She took a deep breath. "I'm sorry, Creek, but I just don't think it will help if we get Raccoon kicked out. I think it'd make it worse. So just drop it. Please?"
Creek nodded slowly. "But don't you want justice?" she asked.
"Believe me, I do! I want more than anything for him to get everything he deserves!" Dusk shut her eyes and took another deep breath. Raccoon was the source of all her pain and misery, but she had to do this. It was the right thing to do. "But everyone should get another chance. No matter who they are or what they've done, they deserve a chance to redeem themselves. Dragons can change, Creek! For all we know, Raccoon could be regretting everything he did, as much as I doubt that. So the best thing to do right now is to forget that it happened." Dusk winced, knowing that she wouldn't forget what Raccoon had done for a long time. But on the other talon, Raccoon wouldn't forget either.
Creek opened her mouth but nothing came out. Then she closed it, staring at Dusk in shock.
"Sorry, I should go," Dusk said. She turned and quickly left the infirmary, heading straight to her sleeping cave.
When she made it there, it was empty. Dusk went to the empty, plain stone ledge and sat down on it. It was nearing sunset, so it wouldn't be outrageous if she fell asleep then. But all the same, she wanted to stay awake. Talk to her winglet. At least figure out their names, for moons' sake.
And finally, after about half an hour, she heard talonsteps. Dusk assumed that everyone's classes had finished.
The SandWing MudWing stepped into the cave, talking to the other hybrid when his black eyes fell on her. "Oh," he growled. "You're here. And here I thought that that NightWing had managed to get rid of you permanently."
Dusk burned with anger, but she was more wary about lashing out now.
"Quicksand," the IceWing NightWing hissed at him. "Be a little nicer." She turned to smile at Dusk. "Try not to mind him. I know we haven't gotten a proper introduction, so I'm Clearglow."
Dusk cocked her head and opened her mouth.
"I know what you're going to ask," Clearglow said, cutting Dusk off before she had said a word, "but I have no idea about the name. The 'clear' part of it is apparently some old family name, but I've never asked."
Dusk smiled softly. "And what about you?" she asked the other hybrid softly.
He gave a soft growl, grabbed a scroll off a scroll rack, then threw himself onto the reed mat.
"That's Quicksand," Clearglow answered for him. "Don't mind him."
Dusk frowned softly at him. She didn't know if he was just a mean dragon, but he felt as though no dragon could be truly mean just because. They had to have a reason. And Dusk, curious about that reason, decided she'd figure out, even if Quicksand didn't want her too.
== PART TWO  ==
:
=== Chapter 12  ===
Despite Dusk's many attempts, she couldn't figure out about Quicksand's backstory. He refused to talk to her, and Clearglow, even though Dusk was sure she knew, wouldn't say a word.
So while she hadn't fully given up, she had sort of stopped trying. She still wanted to know why Quicksand was the way he was, but not as badly. He had stopped bothering her, so it wasn't as important.
And despite the fact that Dusk had more or less forgiven Raccoon, every time she saw him, a growl built in the back of her throat. And no matter what she did, she could never make it go away until he was out of her sight.
Day by day, Dusk began to heal. It meant that she was starting to feel better, but that also meant that Raccoon was healing too. And so, every day that Dusk was healing, she had less and less proof of her story as his wounds disappeared.
Dusk, still being pardoned from classes, wandered the halls of Jade Mountain, always looking for halls that she had not yet encountered.
So, two weeks later, she awoke on a morning just like any other. Her clawmates, Clearglow and Quicksand, were still asleep, as always. Dusk yawned and stretched before climbing up off the palm frond mat of hers.
She stepped out from the sleeping cave and saw a new notice put up on the wall.
Attention, all students! We are having a trip to Sanctuary today. We will meet in the Great Hall, then leave at midday, so be ready! It will be three days of flight and anyone is welcome to attend. Classes will continue normally.
Dusk grinned. She had completely forgotten about Sanctuary in all her days of wandering the mountain. But now the day had finally come. And Dusk felt fine. She had actually taken to not wearing her bandages. Pretty much all that was left of the cuts on her side were scars. They were still new and visible, but Creek said they would fade over time. As for her tail, the scales seemed a little worn and maybe slightly washed out, but other than that, it was fine. It spiked with pain every once in a while, but Dusk didn't really care.
Dusk hurried to the infirmary to find Creek or Cometcaller, just to verify that she was allowed to go.
She walked through the halls, passing only one or two dragonets, who gave her awed looks. It still made her squirm whenever someone gaped at her like that.
She hurried to the infirmary, expecting to see no one when she stepped in. But that didn't happen. Stargazer was standing in there, talking to Cometcaller. Dusk frowned, walking up to the two of them.
"Stargazer," she said. "What are you doing here?"
He turned to look at her. "I just came to verify you could go to Sanctuary. I saw the notice and remembered of how interested you were in scavengers."
"I was coming here just to do that," Dusk said, a note of spitefulness edging her voice. "You didn't have to do anything." What, did he think she couldn't do it herself?
Stargazer winced. "I just thought I would," he said. "I was only trying to be helpful."
"Well you're help is not needed," Dusk said coldly. She felt bad, but she could do everything by herself. She didn't need any help. She turned to Cometcaller. "So may I go?"
Cometcaller nodded. "Of course. It all depends on if you want to or not."
Dusk grinned. "Of course I want to!" she exclaimed. "Do you know how many dragons are going?"
Cometcaller shrugged. "Sometimes we have a lot, sometimes only a few. There's no way to tell."
"I hope Coast comes," she said, slightly wistfully. She saw him almost every day and always enjoyed painting with him. She had also tried carving, but she wasn't nearly as good at that as she was at painting.
"I'm planning on going," Stargazer piped up from behind her.
Dusk turned around. "Oh. You are?"
He nodded. "Yep. I think Starseer might come too."
Dusk nodded. "You share a sleeping cave with Coast, right? So do you know if he's planning on coming?"
For a reason Dusk didn't know, Stargazer's face fell. "No, I don't know," he said in a soft voice. "Well, see you later." Then he trudged out of the cave.
Dusk looked at Cometcaller confusedly. "Is he okay?"
Cometcaller hesitated, looking out past Dusk. "Well," he began, "I think he's just a little disappointed."
"Disappointed?" She cocked her head. "About what?"
"I think he feels as though you don't appreciate him. He came here to do you a favor and you didn't thank him. Then you asked whether Coast was going or not. He said he was and you immediately turned the conversation back to Coast. I think he's just upset that you care more about Coast than you do of him."
Dusk felt a stab of guilt and looked in the direction Stargazer had gone. "I didn't mean it like that," she said softly. "I never did. I just wanted to see Coast."
"More than you wanted to see him," Cometcaller pointed out. "And I think that's what upset him."
"I should go apologize," she said, starting off down the hall. She left the infirmary and hurried in the direction she had seen Stargazer go.
She quickly found him and brushed his wing. He started and turned to look at her. "What is it?" he asked.
"I'm sorry about what I said," Dusk said softly. "Everything about Coast. Thank you for going to ask for me."
Stargazer smiled softly. "It's alright."
"I hope you still plan on going." She gave him a hopeful smile.
He grinned. "You bet. I'm going to go ask if Starseer wants to go. And I'll ask Coast if I see him, for you. See you later." He darted down the hall towards the sleeping caves.
Dusk smiled, then headed towards the prey center for breakfast. So far, she hadn't tried her luck with another hunting party. She had been doing fine with a bit of fruit and suntime. Although sometimes, the taste of fruit was a little too sweet for her. It really made her want some meat, especially fish.
And, speaking of fish, Dusk had not gotten over her fear of water. She was more comfortable about the river in the prey center, but she never wanted to get in it.
Dusk stepped into the prey center which was not nearly as loud in those early morning hours as it was in midday. The only dragons in it were the ones getting back from the early morning hunting party and ones that were getting ready for a hunting party. But there were also the dragons who preferred fruit and just sat there for a bit. Those dragons were mainly RainWings.
Over by a basket of fruit in the mammoth cave, sat a group of three RainWings. Dusk smiled as she saw Frond in their midst.
"Frond!" she called across the cave. Frond turned to look and Dusk waved.
Frond smiled and beckoned her over. Dusk hurriedly went. She smiled at the other RainWings. One of them was Howler, but the other she didn't know.
"Hey, Dusk," Howler said, nodding to her.
Dusk nodded to him, hiding her glee that he had remembered her. She had seen him off and on since the day she had spoken to him, but never talked to him again. She couldn't believe he had remembered. But then again, she supposed she was fairly memorable, being a triple hybrid.
"Dusk, I was going to introduce you to Howler, but it appears you already know each other," Frond said with an amused look.
Dusk shrugged. "We met a few weeks ago," she said.
"Well, then I suppose I should introduce you to Melon." She sighed. "My cousin. Melon, this is Dusk."
The other RainWing beamed at her. "Nice to meet you. I'm Melon, but you can call me Melon."
Dusk scrunched up her snout. "Um, nice to meet you Melon, who I can call Melon."
"See?" Frond said, gesturing to him. "This is why I'm embarrassed to be related to him."
Melon rolled his eyes. "She just doesn't understand my humor," he said. "Actually, no one ever does."
"See?" Frond said. "That just proves that nothing you ever do is funny." She turned to Dusk. "Here," she said, spontaneously handing her a mango.
Dusk blinked. "What?"
"You came here to eat, didn't you?" Frond said.
Dusk nodded. "Well, yeah. It is the prey center after all."
"Really?" Melon said, in what Dusk supposed was sarcasm. "I thought this was the history cave."
"Then what is the fruit doing here?" Frond demanded.
"Snacks," he said promptly.
"Are you sure you're related to Frond?" Dusk asked.
He nodded. "Why?"
"Because your sense of humor is exactly like someone else I know."
"Let me guess," he said. "Stargazer."
Dusk gaped at him. "How did you know?"
Melon shrugged. "We're in the same winglet; the Sapphire Winglet. Some of Stargazer's sarcasm rubbed off onto me, so I have the same twisted sense of what's funny."
Dusk blinked. "Okay then." She looked at them all. "Are all of you planning on going to Sanctuary?"
Frond and Howler nodded, but Melon shook his head. "Nah," he said. "I'd prefer to stay here. And besides, I've been before. It's pretty much only interesting if you like scavengers."
Dusk shrugged. "I mostly just want to go somewhere, instead of just staying here."
"Suit yourself," he said. "I like it here."
Dusk ate the mango Frond had given her, talking to them in between bites. After she finished it, she grabbed another from the basket and quickly ate that too. "Alright," she said once she was finished. "I should go." She nodded to them, then headed across the cave towards the river.
She dipped her talons into it and pulled them out a moment later. Then she hurried off to her sleeping cave.
Quicksand was awake and reading when she got there, but Clearglow was still asleep. Dusk ignored him, like always and went to her mat, looking into the stone cubbyhole at all her belongings. She hardly had anything. Just a lot of paintings, and her one failed attempt at carving. If you didn't know what it was, you'd have absolutely no idea. It was supposed to be a fish, or at least something like it. But it turned out far too blobby and odd looking. So Dusk had decided that carving wasn't for her, as much as she wanted it to be. Some of the creations she'd seen in the art cave were awesome and she had really wished she could do stuff like that. But she had tried and it hadn't really worked out.
Dusk scanned through the paintings, but saw nothing that would be helpful if she took it with her.
Dusk brushed the pouch that she had hanging on her neck. It still had the ceramic jar in it, even though she had hardly ever used its contents, and her library stamp that had been made recently. Even then, she wouldn't have to take it. She didn't want to lose her stamp, and her cuts hardly ever hurt.
Dusk slipped the pouch off her neck and put it in her cubbyhole.
"Where are you planning on going?"
Dusk started and looked over to Quicksand. He had set down his scroll.
"Sanctuary," she said. "We're having the trip today and I've wanted to go for awhile."
"Hm." Then he turned back to his scroll.
Dusk frowned slightly. What was that about?
Instead, she shook out her wings and walked along the halls back towards the Great Hall. There weren't many dragonets out and about when she got there, so she headed down the tunnel that led to the art cave. She had a lot of time on her talons before midday, so she had to find something to do. And what was better than going to paint for a bit?
When she stepped in, she eyes landed on light blue scales.
"Coast!" she exclaimed, beaming.
Coast looked up from his painting and grinned at her. "Hey," he greeted her.
Dusk bounded over and peered at his painting. This time it was one of a mountain range with the rainforest in the distance. "It looks great!" she said.
Coast gave a sheepish smile. "Thanks."
"Hey, are you going to Sanctuary?" Dusk asked, suddenly back to being serious.
Coast nodded. "I thought I'd keep you company while you go."
"How'd you know I was going?" Dusk asked.
Coast shrugged. "Stargazer came by and told me. He said he was asking if I was going for you." He cocked his head. "I would've thought that he went to find you after that."
Dusk shook her head. "I haven't seen him since this morning," she said.
"Hmm." Coast looked back to his painting. "Dusk, do you ... want me to go to Sanctuary?" he asked in a soft voice.
"Wha – Coast, of course!" Dusk exclaimed. "Why would you even ask that?"
"Are you sure?" Coast looked down at the ground. "Wouldn't you rather have Stargazer with you?"
Dusk brushed her wing lightly against his. "Of course not, Coast. I'd love you to be at my side."
Coast gave a soft smile. "That means a lot to me, thank you."
"Now, what do you think I should paint?" Dusk asked, bounding over to grab a canvas and set it up on an easel.
"I don't know, but feel free to use any of my paintings as a base for yours," Coast said, turning back to his painting.
Dusk smiled. "Thanks." She went over to the rack of drying paintings and peered at them all. She could now identify Coast's way of painting in an instant.
In the end, she went back to her blank canvas. "I didn't really see any that I wanted to use. Thanks for offering though."
Coast looked over. "Oh. Sorry."
Dusk shrugged. "It's alright. I can manage by myself." Then she looked over her canvas, contemplating what to paint. She could paint Stargazer, or Melon, or Frond, but it seemed awkward to paint someone she knew. She wasn't quite sure why. Suddenly the SandWing NightWing hybrid popped into her head. She frowned. She hadn't thought about him for a moment since she had talked to Coast about her having lost her memories. It seemed odd that she still even remembered him. Dusk shrugged, then went over and grabbed a deep gray and a golden yellow, as well as a black.
She brought them over to her canvas and started to paint. She decided just to do a headshot of him from what she remembered, which was not very much. She knew he was mostly black with golden underscales. But there were quite a few details she didn't remember.
But Dusk still painted. She painted for awhile before she finally decided it was done. She looked it over, frowning slightly. There wasn't really anything wrong with it, it just didn't seem right somehow.
"Dusk, Coast, come on!"
Dusk turned to see Stargazer in the entrance.
"It's nearly midday! We have to get going!" He flicked his tail apprehensively.
Dusk abandoned her painting, putting down her paint brush. She didn't bother to wipe off the paint on her talons.
She went to join Stargazer at the entrance and glanced back to Coast. "Come on, we have to go!"
"Just a sec." He frowned at his painting, then set down his brush and hurried over. "Alright, let's go."
They all started down the hall when the gong rang three times.
"That's the first warning," Stargazer said, now skipping along the hall as fast as he could. "I can't believe you two weren't there already! When I didn't see you at signup, I thought you'd both be here."
"We didn't notice," Dusk said apologetically. "Thanks for getting us."
Stargazer grinned. "I knew you wanted to go. It'd be a shame if you missed it."
"Sorry I didn't notice how late it was getting," Coast said to Dusk.
She shrugged. "I'm just glad that Stargazer came to get us." She turned to grin at Stargazer, but not before she heard a soft growl in Coast's throat. She went to look at Coast when they suddenly reached the Great Hall.
There was a large group of dragonets over in one end of it. Dusk saw Frond on the outside edges, watching Howler.
"This way," Stargazer said, flicking his tail over to the group. "Come on, you have to signup before we leave." He led them over to a NightWing with a scroll and Dusk recognized Fatespeaker.
"Hi, Fatespeaker," Dusk said, grinning.
Fatespeaker looked up and smiled. "Nice to see you again, Dusk. You here to go to Sanctuary?"
Dusk nodded, bouncing on her talons. "I can't wait!"
Fatespeaker grinned. "Great. Now, you just have to sign your name and put the name of your winglet next to it."
Dusk nodded and dipped her claw in the inkwell Fatespeaker held out. Then she wrote her name in the next free space on the scroll, and put down that she was in the Obsidian Winglet. Then she backed up so Coast could write his name.
She watched as he wrote down Sapphire Winglet and said, "You know, I rather like sapphires."
Coast looked up and stepped away from Fatespeaker. "Really?" he asked.
Dusk nodded. "The name of your winglet reminded me," she explained.
"But," he frowned, "I thought you couldn't remember anything. And I didn't think you could've seen a sapphire since then. The school is not one for having very many gems."
Dusk's frown matched Coast's. "I – I don't know. I guess it's just something I know." She knew exactly what color a sapphire was, but she couldn't remember where she had seen it.
"Well, I don't suppose it matters. I have no idea how I'm going to do this, but Dusk, I promise I will help you, in any way I can, get back your memories."
Dusk smiled. "I don't know if that's possible. But thank you." She turned away. "I hope it's possible," she whispered. She wanted to know what had happened to her. What had happened to her parents. Why she was afraid of water. But most of all, she wanted to know who she was.
=== Chapter 13  ===
The large group of dragonets flew for three days. Dusk never felt tired and was constantly with at least one of her friends. Frond and Howler hardly ever were apart though Coast and Stargazer didn't want the other to be with Dusk. Whenever Coast was flying with her, Stargazer always butted up and tried to make Coast fly elsewhere, or vice versa. Dusk could not understand it.
As they flew each day, Dusk looked at all the dragonets. She saw Frost, Sandstorm, Starseer, and Creek. But she didn't see either of her winglet. She wondered why they hadn't wanted to go, or if they had just forgotten. She knew Quicksand hadn't, but Clearglow might've.
"Alright everyone!" someone called, clapping their talons. It was Sunny. She looked out at everyone. "We'll be taking a break for a bit! There's a river below us. Feel free to get a bit of water. Please tell me or Creek if you want to go hunting."
Dragonets started to murmur to each other, probably just talking about whether or not they'd go hunting.
Dusk turned to Coast. "Are you going to hunt?" she asked.
Coast shook his head. "I mean, not unless you wanted to go. Then I'd be glad to keep you company," he said quickly.
Dusk stifled a laugh. "I was just about to ask you that. But I wasn't going to. I'm still full from breakfast. It's only been a few hours since then." Her breakfast had consisted of fruits and berries that she had found with Frond. She still hadn’t wanted to hunt.
Coast nodded. "Same."
They went and landed next to the river, following the other dragonets that were chatting with each other.
Dusk glanced around at all the dragonets. "Where's Starseer and Frond?" Dusk had been enjoying their company during those few days. She had discovered that Starseer was like her brother, just not nearly as sarcastic as him.
"I don't know," Coast said, peering around. "Is that them over there?" He pointed over to two dragonets. One looked like Frond, but the other, though it was black, didn't quite look like her.
"I'll go check." Dusk brushed her wings against Coast's and smiled. "Thanks." Then she walked off, pushing through the throngs of dragonets to get to them.
But as she was going, something seemed to happen with Frond. Her scales flickered with a deep crimson and she growled loudly enough that Dusk could hear from where she was.
"Stargazer, I would never do that."
Dusk started. Why was Stargazer talking to Frond? They weren't friends. And what had he asked her to do?
Dusk made a split second decision to stay hidden for the moment and try to see if she could hear anything else. She wasn't quite sure why and she knew it was the wrong thing to do, but she was curious.
Dusk ducked behind a group of dragonets talking and pricked her ears to listen.
"But Frond, please? Just as a favor?" she heard Stargazer plead.
"No!" Dusk was startled by the vehemence in Frond's voice. "Stargazer, Dusk adores Coast's presence. I can't just rip her away from him!"
Dusk started as she realized the conversation was about her. She tried to think about what she had said.
"Frond, I'm not asking you to rip her away. I'm just asking you to keep her away from Coast, or Coast away from her."
"And that's nearly as bad!" Frond snarled. "I'll have no part in this plan of yours! And all because you want her to love you when she doesn't."
Dusk looked out from behind a broad MudWing's tail just in time to see Frond stalk away.
"Um, do you mind if I ask what you're doing hiding behind my tail?"
Dusk looked up to see the owner of the tail giving her an amused look. "Um, well," she stammered. "Well, you see, uh."
The MudWing laughed. "I'm just teasing, little hybrid."
Dusk smiled slightly. "Sorry about that," she said. "I just wanted to hear a conversation."
"One that you weren't supposed to hear?" he asked with a knowing look.
Dusk shifted. "Technically not. They never said I couldn't listen."
The MudWing laughed. "Fair enough," he said. "I'm Jasper, by the way."
Dusk smiled. "I'm Dusk." She cocked her head. "Do you work at Jade Mountain?" He looked too old to be a student, but Dusk had never seen him.
"No," he said. "My sister does though." He glanced over and pointed. "That's her, Creek."
Dusk looked at him. "Creek is your sister?" she asked.
Jasper nodded. "Do you know her?"
Dusk nodded. "Yeah, she – never mind," Dusk said, cutting herself off. "She's a good doctor."
Jasper looked curious but nodded. "She is. I wish I could do something half as well."
Dusk nodded. "Well, sorry that I hid behind you," she said, her mind turning back to the events she had just witnessed.
"It's alright," Jasper said dismissively. "If you hadn't, I wouldn't have met such a cool hybrid like you."
Dusk ducked her head, trying to hide her smile. "Well, I should go." She flashed him a smile before she ducked away, looking around for Frond.
Eventually, she saw her staring into a pond, looking unhappy about something.
Dusk walked over to her and brushed her wing against hers, sitting down next to her. "Are you okay?" she asked softly.
Frond looked up and nodded. "Yeah." She sighed. "Yeah, fine."
Dusk frowned. "Does it have something to do with your talk with Stargazer?" she asked.
Frond looked up. "Did you hear?" she asked,
Dusk hesitated. "Part," she admitted. "I'm sorry," she added quickly.
Frond sighed. "I'm sorry you had to hear that. Stargazer really seems to like you."
Dusk suddenly remembered what Frond had said during the conversation with Stargazer. "Does he really love me?" she asked.
Frond nodded. "I really think so. I just don't know why he's thinking about you so much. We're still young."
"Wow," Dusk breathed. "I can't believe it. Someone really loves me."
Frond gave Dusk an incredulous look. "Someone? There are a whole lot of someone's who have a crush on you."
"Really?" Dusk asked.
Frond nodded. "The most obvious one being Coast."
Coast? Dusk's mind couldn't seem to comprehend it. She had always thought he was just a friend. Someone who liked her for who she was. But apparently he wanted to be more than just friends.
"Judging from your face, I assume you didn't know," Frond said.
Dusk shook her head. "Of course not."
"Wow," Frond said. "You are oblivious to the most obvious things ever."
"How was I supposed to know?" Dusk snapped. "He's never said anything to me. Am I supposed to know things that are just subtly implied?"
Frond backed away a bit. "Sorry," she murmured.
Dusk relented slightly at the hurt look on Frond's face. "No, I'm sorry," she said guiltily. Then suddenly something dawned on her. "Oh, that’s why Stargazer and Coast don't like each other!"
Frond nodded, opening her mouth. Then she seemed to think better of what she had been about to say and closed it back. "Well, they're both dying to know, so which one do you like better?" she asked with shining eyes. "It's Coast, isn't it?"
Dusk frowned. She enjoyed Coast's company much more than she did Stargazer's but she didn't want to let him down. "If I had to choose," Dusk said, taking a deep breath, making her decision, "then I choose neither."
=== Chapter 14  ===
"Neither?" Frond exploded. "But I was positive you liked Coast!"
Dusk held her head high. "I've never thought of either of them as anything more than friends," she said. And she would keep herself from thinking of either of them as anything more, so as to not disappoint them.
"They're not going to be happy about that," Frond observed.
"Well, as unexcited as they may be about that prospect, it's certainly better than the alternative." Dusk wasn't quite sure if she had thought through her plan very well. She had never felt even a bit of love towards either of them. Maybe a bit of brotherly love to Coast, but not anything like how Stargazer felt about her. Or Coast, for that matter, but she didn't know how he felt about her.
Dusk wondered if one day, she might get feelings for Coast. But if she did, she would stuff them away if they ever appeared.
Frond gave an appreciative nod. "I'm impressed," she said. "Just so you wouldn't hurt one of their feelings you're choosing neither of them."
Dusk nodded.
"Alright everyone, we'll be getting to Sanctuary in about one hour. Everyone ready to go?" Sunny asked.
There were a few nods and some other dragons shrugged, but Sunny flew up into the air all the same. "Alright, come on."
Dusk, mostly glad for the abrupt end to her conversation, opened her wings and flew up into the air. There the group of dragonets steadily grew around her.
Coast flew up to her side and Dusk smiled. Then she quickly pushed it away, hoping that she was just glad of his company and didn't have any sort of feelings for him.
"Dusk, you okay?" Coast asked, looking at her with a frown.
Dusk nodded. "Yeah, fine." She hesitated, wondering whether or not she should tell him that she didn't love him. But she didn't want to. Not then. She didn't want to ruin their trip.
"Right, over that way?"
Dusk looked over at Sunny and saw that she was pointing one way.
"Sanctuary is right over there. We should get there just past midday."
Dusk looked in the direction Sunny was pointing and saw a few settlements along a glistening lake. But the rest was hidden behind mountain ridges.
"I think I see it," Coast said, peering out from behind Dusk. "Yep, right over there. Do you see it, Dusk?"
Dusk nodded. "It's right there in the foothills of the mountains. Right by that lake there."
Coast nodded. "We should probably go," he said, glancing forward as Sunny started to wing away, followed by most of the dragonets.
Dusk nodded. "Right, of course." She started to fly and was relieved to hear Coast's wingbeats beside her.
They were flying for a bit in silence when Coast cleared his throat, making Dusk look over at him. He looked on the verge of saying something.
"Just say it," Dusk said softly. "Whatever it is, I want to know."
They both caught an updraft and Dusk was relieved to not have to beat her wings for a moment.
"Dusk, are you mad at me?" Coast asked quietly.
Dusk shook her head. She didn't think she was mad at anyone, except maybe Stargazer. After all, if he hadn't liked her, then Dusk would still be able to act freely around Coast.
"Then what's wrong?" he asked. "Please, tell me."
"I know you like me, Coast," Dusk blurted. "And I know Stargazer does too. And I want to say I don't love either of you. And I never will, I know."
Coast looked heartbroken. "What?" he cried. "But how did you figure out? I tried so hard to not let you know, just so you'd act normally. I don't want you to act like anyone but yourself."
"It was Stargazer," Dusk said truthfully. "He was how I figured out." She was quite touched by everything Coast had said. But she refused to like him any more than she did.
Coast's eyes narrowed. "Stargazer," he growled. "Of course it was him. He always ruins everything." Suddenly Coast threw his wings forward, stopping himself in a moment, turning to scan through the crowd of dragonets.
"Wait." Dusk turned to fly to Coast's side. "Coast, please. It's not his fault."
Coast turned to Dusk. "I only wanted to be friends," he said, a tear slipping out of his eyes. "That would have sufficed for the time being. Then, once we were older, I'd allow myself to actually love you. To actually be more than friends, or at least try. But now that won't happen, all because of Stargazer." He gave a shuddering sigh.
Dusk reached up and wiped the tear off of his snout. "Coast, you are my best friend. No one will ever take that from you. And I promise you, I will never love Stargazer. But maybe, eventually, I will love you. If that's what it comes to be, then I'll let that happen. But I won't decide that right now. A few more years and I will."
Coast reached up and wiped another one of his tears away. "Do you really mean it?" he asked softly.
Dusk smiled. "Of course, Coast. Let's just try to stay away from Stargazer for the moment, okay?"
Coast nodded. "But that might be a little hard," he said, his voice still shaking. "He always comes up to you. We'd have to avoid him if we want him to stay away."
Dusk smiled. "Then we might just have to do that. Sounds rather fun, actually. Want to join my in my avoidings?"
Coast grinned. "I wouldn't miss it for anything."
/ / / / / / / / / /
As Dusk had thought, Stargazer had tried to fly over to her. But the moment she had seen him, she had quickly flown into the thickest part of the crowd of dragonets, with Coast right behind her. Then she had watched as Stargazer looked around confusedly.
And so that was what they did until they got to Sanctuary. Avoiding Stargazer was actually rather fun. Dusk wondered if it was a bad thing that she enjoyed fooling him.
In what felt like no time, the group of dragonets turned and flew towards the ground, Sunny at the lead.
Dusk turned, beckoned to Coast, then followed their lead.
They landed on the grassy ground next to a large hut. It was made out of stones and had quite a few windows and skylights.
"Smolder!" Sunny called.
A pale yellow head poked out of the hut. "You're here," he said. "Welcome back to Sanctuary." He stepped out of the hut, showing Dusk black diamond patterns on his scales and wings. "And to all of you," he said, smiling at the dragonets, "welcome. I'm guessing you all want to see the scavengers?"
Dusk gave a wholehearted nod, but a few dragonets shrugged, including Frond, Frost, and Stargazer.
"Well, I'll show you to the den." He reached up and brushed a small bell that hung around his neck before gesturing for them all to follow him.
Dusk grinned at Coast, who was smiling beside her, and started to bound to the front of the group.
"Thorn said she wishes she could be here," Smolder said, talking to Sunny. "But it's a little crazy in the Kingdom of the Sand at the moment. What with our egg and everything."
"Yes, speaking of that egg," Sunny said, "when is it supposed to hatch?"
"Well, probably in about two months." Smolder smiled. "Thorn said that if it's a girl, then we'll name her Beetle. She told me that was what she used to call you when you were still in your egg."
"If it's a girl, you'll finally have an heir to the throne," Sunny said.
Smolder shrugged. "And Sunny, you do realize that you're an heir, right?"
Sunny nodded. "But I'd never want to kill my mother. And besides, I'm content at Jade Mountain. I don't want to be queen."
"I would greatly appreciated you not killing my mate," Smolder said.
"How have things been here?" Sunny asked, waving a wing around them.
"Good," Smolder said. "We've figured out that scavengers don't have as long a lifespan as dragons. But only by about twenty years."
"Twenty years is a fairly long time," Sunny remarked.
Smolder shrugged. "It doesn't matter much." He stopped on a large stone outcropping. Dusk hadn't even noticed that they had been going uphill.
"This is the best viewing point," he said to the dragonets. "Right over there. We built their homes into the cliff face. But they added additions by themselves, as well as windows."
"Really?" Dusk said in an awed voice.
Smolder turned to look at her. "Well, I haven't seen a hybrid like you," he said, sounding surprised.
Dusk shuffled her wings embarrassedly as every eye turned to her. "Well, um, yes." Then she cocked her head. "But you have seen other hybrids?"
Smolder nodded. "Quite a few. There's one that lives here. He's quite young. His parents left their tribes and came to live here."
A loud chittering noise drew her attention to the scavengers below.
One of the scavengers was standing beside another, chittering angrily at it, gesturing to a basket that lay at their feet. It appeared to be filled with white eggs that were cracked.
"What happened?" Dusk asked.
Smolder looked. "Oh, the other scavenger probably ran into the one with the eggs in the basket, making her drop it and the eggs crack." He shrugged. "It happens sometimes. They'll get over it."
"Where do they get the eggs from?" Dusk asked. "Do scavengers lay eggs?"
Smolder chuckled. "No, they don't. They take them from chickens and then eat them. Why they do it is a mystery to me."
Dusk looked back down at the scavengers. The one that had been chittering angrily at first had stopped, and the other was making some odd noises, using hand gestures as well. He held out his hands in a sort of "Wait here" motion, then ran off in the other directions towards one of the little huts.
"I don't understand," Dusk said. "What is it doing?"
"He," Smolder said. "And he's going to get something to make up for his mistake, I'm guessing. They always do."
Then the little scavenger ran back out of the hut with a basket of his own and Dusk glimpsed more white eggs.
He went back to the other scavenger and handed the basket over to her.
The other scavenger looked in and took it. It nodded, then turned away and continued down a small beaten down path.
The other scavenger looked down and picked up the basket that had been left behind, then turned and went back to his hut, the basket in his paws.
"Is it always like this?" Dusk asked as she gazed on all the scavengers. "The gifts and everything?"
Smolder gave a half nod. "It's different every day," he said. "Just like how one of our days are never exactly the same, theirs are different too."
"Oh." Dusk turned back to the scavengers and watched as a few of them, as they were walking around, walked over to one that was sitting outside a hut underneath a tarp. Sitting in front of her was a basket full of apples.
And as Dusk watched, the scavenger that had gotten the basket full of eggs walked up to the one with the apples and held an egg out. The one under the tarp grabbed one of the apples and gave it to the other scavenger, taking the egg from it.
Dusk gasped. "They traded!" she said in awe.
Smolder nodded. "They do that. They trade away resources that they have a lot of and get things that they don't have very much of."
"Wow." Dusk sat down and continued to watch the scavengers.
After a bit, Sunny clapped her talons together to get the dragonets' attention. "Right, we need to go get settled. We can come back tomorrow, as we'll be staying for three nights."
Dusk turned to Coast with a pleading look in her eyes. "Can I just have a few more minutes?" she said.
Coast shrugged. "I don't know. Go ask Sunny."
Dusk got up from where she was and hurried over to Sunny, tapping her wing lightly.
Sunny turned. "Dusk! I'm glad to see you're enjoying this trip."
Dusk nodded earnestly. "Yes, I am. I was wondering if I could watch the scavengers a bit longer."
Sunny hesitated.
"Only for a few minutes," Dusk said quickly. "Please?"
Sunny nodded. "Alright. You should be able to see our camp from here. Just a few minutes though," she said firmly.
Dusk grinned. "Thanks." She turned and went back to watch the scavengers.
Coast was still sitting there. "What did she say?" he asked.
"She told me I could stay and watch for a few minutes," Dusk said. "But you should go with them. I know you don't find this interesting." She had seen him shift out of the corner of her eye while she was watching the scavengers.
Coast gave a tentative nod. "I don't really," he said slowly.
"So go." Dusk ushered him away with her wings.
"But what about you?" he asked.
"I'll be over in a few minutes. I just want to watch them as long as possible."
Coast gave a reluctant nod. "Alright. But only a few minutes."
Dusk laughed. "You sound like Sunny. And I promise I'll be back."
"Alright." Coast turned and hurried to the group of dragonets, casting a glance back at Dusk.
Dusk smiled, then turned back to the scavengers below.
She watched with delight at everything they did for a few minutes when someone cleared their throat behind her.
Dusk turned and saw that it was an IceWing. He had extremely light blue scales and icy blue eyes and horns.
"A hybrid," he commented, his eyes looking her over.
Dusk gave a hesitant nod. While he didn't appear to radiate any particular menace, he wasn't the sort of dragon she wanted to cross frequently.
The IceWing nodded. "I haven't met very many NightWing hybrids. They're probably worried about mixing their blood with the other tribes or something."
Dusk swallowed. "I'm, uh, I'm Dusk. SeaWing NightWing RainWing hybrid."
The IceWing smiled slightly. "Nice to meet you, Dusk. Here, I noticed your attention focused on the scavengers, so I'd like to introduce you to someone." The IceWing let out a shrill whistle, reminding Dusk of wind blowing through the mountain peaks.
A moment or so after the whistle, something caught Dusk's eye. It was a scavenger, running away from one of the huts, heading up the hill towards them. It had a mop of short black fur on it's head and a fearless look on its face.
Dusk gasped. "Is that yours?" she breathed in awe.
The little scavenger ran straight up to the IceWing and climbed onto his outstretched talon. The IceWing pulled his talon up and let the scavenger climb onto his shoulder. It settled there, something resembling a smile on its face.
"I'd like to introduce you to Bandit," the IceWing said. "He's probably the only reason there's still scavengers in the village."
Dusk cocked her head. "Why?"
The IceWing chuckled. "Well, when we first brought the scavengers here, none of them wanted to stay. They kept running away and we had to keep bringing them back. But Bandit had been my pet for a bit and had started to like me, or at least I think so. So I think Bandit started to tell the other scavengers that we didn't want to hurt them. And steadily they began to stay. But that was after we had built a wall to try to keep them in, and they kept finding ways to get out." The IceWing turned to look down at the village. "We got rid of the wall slowly, taking down a layer at a time. Then by the time the wall was fully gone, the scavengers seemed content. Occasionally one would leave, and we followed them to see what they'd do."
"What did they do?" Dusk asked. Were scavengers actually capable of thinking for themselves? They seemed to know that the dragons wouldn't hurt them.
"Well, they went out and devised clever traps. We watched as they caught cows, chickens and goats, then brought them back to the village. They cut down trees and made pens to keep the animals in. Then they began to harvest milk from the cows and eggs from the chickens."
"What about the goats?" Dusk asked.
"Well, they bred them like all of the animals. When they had enough, they killed some and ate its meat, taking its skin and making them into coverings."
"Why do they need coverings?" Dusk asked. "A friend told me that it might be to show off to other scavengers."
The IceWing nodded. "In a way. But they also have thicker coverings during winter." The IceWing gave a slight chuckle. "Would you like to hold Bandit?" he asked.
"I'm allowed to?" Dusk asked in an awed voice.
The IceWing nodded. "Just be careful with him." He put his talon out to Bandit and the small scavenger climbed onto it.
Dusk put out her talons, creating a platform for Bandit to step on. Bandit hesitated, glancing back at the IceWing.
"Go on," he urged Bandit. "It'll be alright."
The scavenger took a tentative step onto Dusk's talons, then looked up at her.
Dusk grinned. "I like him," she said.
The IceWing smiled. "I like him, too. Let him get on your shoulder."
"Are you sure that'd be safe?" Dusk asked. Bandit felt so fragile in her talons.
The IceWing nodded. "He knows his way around dragons."
Dusk consented and held her talons up to her shoulder as she had seen the IceWing do. She felt Bandit leave her talons and climb onto her shoulder.
Dusk giggled. "It feels odd to have something on my shoulder," she explained.
The IceWing nodded. "I understand. It was like that for me at first." He looked down the hill. "You should probably go. It looks like someone is waiting on you."
Dusk turned to look and saw a light blue shape sitting on the edge of the camp of dragonets. "I probably should get going. I said I'd be down there in a few minutes a bit ago."
The IceWing nodded and reached out, taking Bandit off of Dusk's shoulder. "Well, it was nice to meet a dragonet that actually is interested in scavengers."
"Thank you for telling me about them," Dusk said. After making sure that the IceWing had Bandit, she turned and started down the hill when she turned back around. "I never caught your name," she called back up to the IceWing.
He smiled. "Call me Winter."
=== Chapter 15  ===
"Winter?" Dusk said. "I think I heard about you from Starflight. Yeah, he said you helped defeat Darkstalker."
Winter gave a slight wince. "No, I didn't do much. The real hero is a NightWing called Moonwatcher. She did most everything."
"Well, I think you're still remembered as a hero. At least at Jade Mountain."
Winter looked slightly pleased. "That's nice."
Dusk looked back down the hill. "I really should go though. Thank you, Winter."
Winter nodded. "It was my pleasure."
Dusk smiled, then turned and ran down the hill. It was steep and Dusk nearly tripped. She only didn't fall because she started to glide on her wings that she had stretched out for balance.
Dusk decided that it'd just be much easier to glide down, so she did. She landed right next to Coast and he frowned slightly.
"That was longer than a few minutes," he said.
"It wasn't much longer," Dusk said. "And besides, it'd seem rude to leave in the middle of a conversation."
"Who was he anyway?" Coast asked, jerking his head to the top of the hill where Winter was standing.
"Winter," Dusk said, smiling. "He helped defeat Darkstalker."
"Darkstalker?" Coast gaped. "He was part of the Jade Winglet?"
Dusk frowned. "I'm not sure. What's so special about the Jade Winglet?"
"They've become sort of a legend at Jade Mountain," Coast explained. "The group of dragonets that played the largest role in defeating Darkstalker were in the Jade Winglet. Moonwatcher, Qibli, Kinkajou, Winter, and Turtle. Two of their winglet didn't do much. Umber and Carnelian. Umber helped his sister and Carnelian died."
"That seems to be a lot of information," Dusk said.
Coast gave an embarrassed laugh. "There's been a whole lot of scrolls of everything that happened leading up to the events of Darkstalker. And yet every single scroll has a different ending."
Dusk frowned. "Why?"
Coast shrugged. "No one knows how Darkstalker was defeated. Everyone has ideas, but no one has evidence."
"How strange. I wonder what really happened."
Coast nodded. "Everyone does. Now come on. We best go find a place to settle."
"Settle?" Dusk asked as they began to walk.
"We choose a place to sleep. We'll just be out in the open. Sunny says it shouldn't get too cold. And if it does, we can make fires."
Dusk nodded, glancing around. "How far are we allowed to go to find a place to sleep?" she asked. There was a grove of trees a little ways off that looked nice.
Coast cocked his head and followed her gaze. "I'm not sure. I'll go ask."
"I'll go scout it out in the meantime," Dusk said. She smiled at Coast. "I hope we can. It looks nice over there."
Coast nodded. "Right. I'll come find you when I have an answer." He smiled, then hurried off through the crowd of dragonets.
Dusk turned and headed to the grove of trees, glancing around as she went. She eventually found a nice clearing with soft grass, the trees stretching out their branches to cover the clearing from rain and sun.
Suddenly Dusk heard a branch crack off to her right. She whirled around, her eyes scanning the undergrowth. "Who's there?" she called shakily, pushing away the thoughts of murderers and assassins stalking the woods.
Dusk walked cautiously to the edge of the clearing, peering out from behind a tree.
The sight that met her eyes was not what she had expected.
There was a dragonet leaning over a bush with a basket in his arms that was full of leaves. Dusk's first reaction was that he was a SeaWing, but a closer look told her that he was more than just a SeaWing.
While he did have blue scales and a SeaWing figure, his wings were far too big for a SeaWing. And his underscales, with a slight outline of red, were a deep crimson. He had light blue scales along his spine and his glow-in-the-dark scales pulsed seemingly absentmindedly.
"Wow," Dusk breathed.
The dragonet whirled around and Dusk noticed that his eyes were a yellow, reminding her of a hawk's sharp gaze. "Oh," the dragonet stammered. "Um, sorry, I didn't see you come over. I was just gathering leaves," he said shyly. "For tea," he added to her questioning look.
Then the dragonet cocked his head, padding in a soft circle around Dusk.
"Sorry," he said, ducking his head embarrassedly. "It's just... I've never met another hybrid before."
"Oh." Dusk gave a shy smile. "Um, you're only the third one I've met," she said.
The hybrid smiled. "That's still more than I've met."
"What hybrid are you?" Dusk asked.
The hybrid ducked his head. "Agh, I forgot again!"
Dusk blinked. "Forgot your hybrid?"
The hybrid looked up and laughed slightly. "No, I'm a SeaWing SkyWing. It's just that I always forget to introduce myself. My parents are always drilling it into me, yet I keep forgetting."
Dusk laughed, feeling a bit of longing for someone like that in her life. "Well, I'm Dusk."
The hybrid grinned at her. "Seagull. Though to be honest I don't know why they named me that."
Dusk shrugged. "Maybe because it's an ocean based bird. Something that flies, like what SkyWings are known for, and something that lives near the ocean, where the SeaWings live."
Seagull laughed. "You're smarter than me, Dusk." He glanced out of the trees. "I should probably get back home. My mom wanted me back an hour after midday with the tea leaves."
Dusk gave a soft sigh. "Well, it was nice to meet you, Seagull."
Seagull nodded. "But, Dusk, I don't think my mom would mind if you tagged along. I think she'd like to meet another hybrid, especially one as cool as you!"
Dusk couldn't help but grin.  "You're really cool too," she said.
Seagull smiled. "Thanks. Now come on, my hut's this way." He flicked his tail forwards.
Dusk hesitated. "I'm not supposed to go very far," she said. "I'm with the group from Jade Mountain," she added.
Seagull nodded. "Yeah, I assumed. But it's not that far. My hut is just next to the lake."
Dusk hesitated. "Well, I suppose it couldn't hurt," she said.
"Great!" Seagull grinned. "Now come on." He started to walk through the forest and Dusk walked at his side.
"So, Seagull. Do you have fire?" Dusk asked. "SkyWings have fire."
Seagull shook his head. "Nope, no fire. Breathing underwater and breathing fire don't really work together."
Dusk nodded. "I suppose that makes sense. As for me, I have no fire, despite that I'm part NightWing."
Seagull nodded. "So pretty much I'm a weird colored SeaWing with large wings." He gave a harsh laugh. "Well, it is how it is."
Dusk frowned. "Anyone can sound boring when they're described like that. I'd just be a SeaWing with odd coloring and sparkles under my wings."
Seagull looked at her. "I suppose," he said, looking back to the ground in front of them.
"Sorry," Dusk said, worried that she'd hurt his feelings.
"For what?" Seagull asked, looking up.
"I thought that I might've hurt your feelings," Dusk said.
Seagull shook his head. "No, I was just thinking."
They came out of the forest and Dusk blinked at the bright light as her eyes adjusted.
She looked around and saw the dragonets from Jade Mountain encamped nearby.
"Come on, Dusk. It's just over this way."
Dusk turned back to Seagull as he opened his wings.
"The best view is from above," he said, grinning.
Then, with blast of wind that rippled the grass, he shot off the ground and soared up into the sky.
Dusk found herself wishing that she could have SkyWing wings. Oh, how high she'd be able to fly. But she didn't have SkyWing wings and had to stick with her own.
Dusk opened her wings and tried to shoot off the ground like Seagull had done, but she didn't go up as quickly or as high.
Eventually she reached Seagull's side, where he had his wings stretched out to their fullest extent and was soaring easily, barely having to wave his wings to keep him up.
"The lake looks best at sunset," he said apologetically. "I hope this is still good."
Dusk looked out at the lake and almost had her breath taken away.
The lake was glassy, reflecting the blue sky with perfect clarity, the sun shining on its surface. The water itself was clear and it was easy to see the bottom of the lake, as well as the animals that swam in it.
"This is beautiful," Dusk said. "Well worth the detour, thank you."
Seagull smiled. "I'd hoped you'd like it." Then he turned. "That's my hut right there." He pointed to a modest looking hut on the lake's banks. It looked like it probably had about three rooms with a nice living area in the middle.
At that moment, a blue SeaWing stepped out of the hut and looked up.
"And that's my mom, Dolphin. Come on, I'll introduce you." Seagull closed his wings and fell into a steep dive.
Dusk gave a soft laugh and followed his lead, liking the feel of the wind as it whistled around her.
Seagull threw out his wings as they reached the ground and landed on the grass next to the hut. Dusk, following his lead, landed next to him.
"Hey, Mom," Seagull said, grinning at the SeaWing. "This is Dusk. A, um, a ... hybrid."
"Seagull," Dolphin scolded softly. "Did you already forget?"
"Don't get onto Seagull," Dusk said quickly. "I never actually told him what hybrid I was." She smiled at Dolphin. "I'm a SeaWing NightWing RainWing."
Seagull cocked his head. "RainWing?" he echoed. "I didn't realize you were part RainWing."
Dusk nodded and brushed the ruff behind her ear. "This is the only RainWing part about me, but I hope that I'm going to be able to change my scale color soon."
Dolphin smiled at Dusk. "Well, I'm Dolphin, though I hope Seagull already told you that. It's very nice to meet you, Dusk."
Dusk nodded. "It's nice to meet you too. I came from Jade Mountain."
Dolphin nodded. "We get groups from Jade Mountain every once in a while. But never once have I met a hybrid. To be honest, they usually just stay away from us."
"Oh." Dusk cocked her head. "Well, you seem nice enough." She looked around. "Do you have a lot of neighbors?" Dusk asked.
Dolphin nodded. "Only a few nearby though. Sanctuary is a largely spread out town, so you have to fly around to see dragons. But that hut right there?" Dolphin pointed to the hut nearest them. "The doctor and her mate live in that hut. SandWings."
Dusk nodded. "Cool. I hope you don't need the doctor to come over very often though."
"Well," Dolphin said, "there was one time. . ."
"Mom," Seagull groaned. "Please? Not right now?"
Dolphin nodded. "Alright, Seagull."
Seagull looked around. "Where's Dad?" he asked.
"He's out hunting," Dolphin said dismissively. "He'll probably be back a little before sundown."
Seagull nodded. "His name is Falcon," he said, looking at Dusk. "He's a SkyWing."
Dusk nodded. "Well, it was nice to meet both of you. It's probably about time for me to get back."
Seagull turned to his mother. "Um, Mom, I was wondering if Dusk could stay with us for tonight. We have that extra room she could stay in. And besides," he said, glancing at Dusk, "I'd like to know more about her."
"I certainly wouldn't mind," Dolphin said.
Seagull turned to grin at Dusk. "Well? Will you?"
"I'd have to ask," Dusk said, touched that Dolphin had just agreed to let her spend the night in their hut.
"I'll come with you," Seagull said.
Dusk nodded. "Alright." She smiled at Dolphin. "Thank you." Then she opened her wings and flew up off the ground, catching an updraft that brought her up.
"Hey, Seagull?" Dusk said when she saw him next to her. He appeared to have left his basket of tea leaves with his mother.
"Yeah?" he answered.
"I just want to warn you about something." Dusk hesitated. She hadn't noticed it recently, but she remembered the looks she had gotten when she first arrived at Jade Mountain.
"What?" Seagull asked, gliding through the sky while Dusk had to beat her wings.
"Well, I think I've just learned to ignore them, but being hybrids, we get some looks. Occasionally someone will say something, but it's the looks that sometimes hurt the most."
Seagull gave a curt nod. "I know. I get some looks here, but I've learned to ignore them too."
Dusk smiled. Then she looked away and scanned the group of dragonets. After a moment, her eyes caught on Sunny's golden yellow scales.
"This way," she said. Dusk dipped her wings and flew down to Sunny's side. She landed with a thump on the ground next to her and Sunny turned. Dusk felt the ground shake behind her as Seagull landed next to her.
"Oh, Dusk. I see you found a hybrid." Sunny smiled at Seagull. "Hello."
Seagull gave a shy smile. "Hi."
"Sunny, I want to ask you something," Dusk said.
Sunny nodded. "Alright."
"Well, this is Seagull. He invited me to stay at his hut for tonight. I was wondering if I could."
Sunny hesitated. "Well, how far is it?"
"Just on the other end of the lake," Dusk said, pointing to Seagull's hut.
Sunny looked. "Well, I see no harm. We'll be spending three nights here, so you can come back whenever you want. Just be back in three days."
"I'll be back tomorrow," Dusk said. "I probably won't stay for more than one night. Thank you."
Sunny nodded. "And it was nice to meet you, Seagull."
Seagull smiled. "You too."
Dusk turned and started to walk away and Seagull followed her. Dusk was aware of the stares they were getting, but Seagull didn't seem to.
"She seemed nice," he said.
"Yeah, that's Sunny."
Seagull gaped. "Sunny? The Sunny? The dragonet of destiny?"
Dusk nodded. "I don't think she goes by that anymore, but yes."
"Wow. I've heard that she's a hybrid."
"She is," Dusk said. "A SandWing NightWing."
"But she looks ... odd. Not like a hybrid, like us. She's just a weird colored SandWing without a barb."
"Seagull," Dusk scolded. "All hybrids are different. Sometimes they're a mix of practically everything, like us, or they turn out to be something entirely different."
Seagull had the shame to look embarrassed. "Um, sorry. Just forget I said anything."
Dusk shrugged. "Everyone says things they wish they didn't. There was an instance about a month ago. I got angry and said some things that I wish I hadn't."
"Like what?" Seagull asked.
Dusk hesitated. She couldn't actually remember any instance where she had said something that she regretted. She couldn't really even remember  if she had insulted or taunted or even really said anything to Raccoon. "Well, never mind that."
Dusk saw light blue scales and her face lit up. "Coast! Seagull, come meet Coast!" Dusk bounded over to Coast and he turned to smile at her.
"Hey, I went looking for you, but I couldn't find you. I just got back over here."
Dusk gave an embarrassed laugh. "Yeah, sorry. I went with Seagull." She turned around and pulled Seagull over. "Coast, this is Seagull. He's a SeaWing SkyWing hybrid."
Coast cocked his head. "Oh, another hybrid." He smiled at Seagull. "Nice to meet you."
Seagull smiled. "Yeah."
"So, Coast," Dusk said. "I thought I'd tell you that Seagull invited me to stay with him for the night."
"Oh." Coast's face hardened slightly. "Well, have fun." Then he turned away.
Dusk frowned slightly but turned to Seagull. "You ready?" she asked.
Seagull hesitated. "Dusk," he said softly. "I don't want to – if it messes something up, then you don't have to come."
Dusk shook her head. "No, I want to come. And besides, I'll be back tomorrow."
Seagull nodded. "We should go." He glanced over at Coast and threw out his wings, flying up into the sky.
Dusk looked at Coast. "Why'd you act like that?" she asked.
Coast flicked his tail. "Well, we were supposed to enjoy this together. Now you're going off with the first dragon you meet."
Dusk frowned. "He's a hybrid and he wanted to talk. And I'd like to talk to him too. I promise, Coast. And didn't I say just a bit ago that you'd always be my best friend?"
Coast nodded reluctantly.
"Well, it's true. I just though it'd be nice to actually be friends with a hybrid," Dusk said coldly. Then she turned and flew up to where Seagull was waiting.
"What happened there?" Seagull asked, jerking his head below them.
"Just sorting something out," Dusk said. "Now, are we ready?"
Seagull nodded. Then he turned and flew over towards his hut at the end of the lake.
When they both landed outside, Dolphin peeked her head out. "I take it it was a yes?" she said.
Dusk nodded. "Thank you for inviting me in the first place."
"Of course," Dolphin said. "Seagull has never gotten to talk to another hybrid. I thought it might be nice for him."
Seagull grinned sheepishly. "Thanks, Mom. But you really didn't have to."
Dolphin shrugged. "I really didn't have to do much anyway."
"Hey, Mom. I know I said that Dusk could sleep in that extra room, but I was thinking that we could sleep outside. It doesn't get too cold and it'd be cool to sleep under the stars."
Dolphin nodded. "Just don't forget a blanket tonight."
Seagull grinned. "Thanks." Then he turned to Dusk. "Not unless you'd rather sleep inside."
Dusk shook her head. "I'd love to sleep outside. Especially with the moons and the stars."
Seagull smiled. "Two of the moons are going to be full at the same time two nights from now. One of the four times in a year."
"Really?"
Seagull nodded. "I like to track the moons. Three of the moons are full at the same time only once every one hundred years. That's called a brightest night. The dragonets of destiny hatched on the brightest night. There should be another in about fifty-five years."
"I'd love to see it," Dusk said. "But this'll do for now. After all, how much brighter could it be with one more full moon?"
Seagull shrugged. "I'm not sure, but I bet you'd be surprised."
Dusk smiled. "There's a lot of things that could surprise me."
Seagull glanced around. "What do you want to do until tonight?" he asked. "There's something I always like to do, but I'd rather you choose."
Dusk shook her head. "I don't know what there is to do around here, so you should choose."
Seagull thought for a moment. "Well, I could introduce you to the doctor and her mate. They're nice."
Dusk shrugged. "Why not?"
Seagull started to walk over to the hut. "They should be home," he told her. "But sometimes they're not. They always go to their patients together."
Dusk nodded.
They reached the hut and Dusk saw that it had a garden around the back. In there was an assortment of plants and even a few cactuses.
"Aloe!" Seagull called. "You here?"
A yellow head poked out of the hut. She looked probably about a year or two older than Dusk.
"Hey, Seagull," she said. "Need help with anything?"
Seagull shook his head at the SandWing. "I just wanted to introduce Dusk to your family. Dusk, this is Aloe. She's the daughter of the doctor."
Dusk smiled. "It's nice to meet you."
Aloe smiled. "And you. Mom, Dad!" she called into the hut. "Someone wants to meet you!"
"Coming, Aloe," came a call from inside the hut.
Suddenly another SandWing came out of the hut. She was a yellow slightly darker than sand. "Good afternoon, Seagull," she said, smiling. "I see you brought a friend."
"Sahara, this is Dusk. She's a SeaWing NightWing RainWing," Seagull said.
Sahara smiled. "It's very nice to meet you. I'm Sahara. And this is my mate, Brightsting." She looked inside and another SandWing stepped out.
He was a pale yellow and looked rather shy and nervous, his tail twitching, drawing Dusk's attention to it. It ended in a stump rather than a barb, like most SandWings.
"What happened to your tail?" Dusk gasped. Then she clapped a talon over her mouth. "Sorry," she muttered.
Brightsting winced slightly. "It's alright. It happened a long time ago. It's actually how I met Sahara." He smiled. "And we've been together ever since."
"That's nice," Dusk said.
"I'm showing Dusk around," Seagull said. "Where do you think I should go?"
"Go to the market," Brightsting said. "There's always cool stuff there. She might find it interesting."
Seagull nodded. "Right. I'll take her there. Dusk, you ready?"
Dusk nodded. "It was nice to meet you guys too."
Sahara nodded. "And you."
Seagull opened his wings and gestured for Dusk to follow him before he flew up.
Dusk flew up next to him and Seagull pointed. "That's the market," he said. "You have to try some of the foods they have there."
"I don't have any treasure," Dusk said. "And nothing to trade."
Seagull shrugged. "I have some gold coins in this pouch," he said, brushing the pouch on his neck. "I could use some."
"Seagull, I wouldn't want you to spend it for me," Dusk said.
Seagull shrugged. "I only get to spend it when some merchant restocks and I can buy another scroll. And what I have is more than enough to buy something. And besides, I can maybe get a good deal. I know almost all the merchants."
"Impressive," Dusk said. "I guess I'll let you try. Just don't buy something really expensive."
"I won't," Seagull promised. He swooped down at the edge of the marketplace that was lined with booths.
Dusk landed on the cobbled stone streets and looked around. There were so many different scents coming from each of the booths. There was a RainWing selling an assortment of fruits and an IceWing selling some sort of silvery branch. Then there was a SkyWing that had a booth of all sorts of gems and a NightWing selling scrolls. And then there was a SeaWing selling roasted fish and a SandWing selling cactuses that looked like the ones Sahara had had in her garden. Dusk wondered briefly how the SeaWing had started the fire that he was roasting the fish on.
"This is cool!" Dusk said. There were a lot of booths just selling some sort of food, their smells strong enough to make her mouth water.
Seagull grinned. "I thought you'd like it. Here, this over here." He tugged her to a booth run by a kind looking RainWing. Laid out in front of him were rows of apples covered in a thick amber looking substance. Each one had a thin stick of wood sticking out of them.
"Ah, Seagull," the RainWing said. "Come to buy another one of my honeyed apples?"
Seagull shook his head. "Not me today," he said. "I've brought my friend, Dusk. I'm going to buy her one."
"Ah." The RainWing smiled at her. "A pleasure to meet a friend of Seagull's. And, as my best customer, I'll treat you to an apple. Both of you."
Seagull grinned. "Thanks so much!"
The RainWing grabbed two of the apples and handed one to each of them.
Dusk sniffed it curiously. "This smells delicious," she said to the RainWing. "Thank you so much."
The RainWing nodded. "It was my pleasure."
Seagull pulled Dusk away and down to a quieter part of the market with a little lake and a circle of grass around it.
"Let's sit here while we eat," Seagull said. He sat down on the grass and curled his tail around his talons.
Dusk sat down and bit into the apple. It was the sweetest thing she had ever tasted. It was like an apple, but so much sweeter. "This is delicious!" Dusk exclaimed.
Seagull grinned. "That's why I'm his best customer. I can never get enough."
"I can tell why," Dusk said, taking another bite of her apple.
They ate for a bit in silence. When Dusk finished hers, she took the stick and stabbed it into the ground, making it stick up like a tower.
"So, where do we go now?" Dusk asked.
"Well, let's go to Scrollwriter's shop. I want to see if she's got any new scrolls for me."
Dusk nodded, then got up.
Seagull quickly finished his apple and stuck his stick in the ground next to hers. "You know, if I could, I would set it on fire. Just because. But I can't."
Dusk shrugged. "There's a lot of things we can't do."
Seagull nodded. "Right. Scrollwriter's shop is over here. It's inside so none of her scrolls get damaged by rain or the sun."
Dusk nodded. "That makes sense."
Seagull led her down a road and stopped in front of a shop. It had a small sign outside that said, Scrollwriter's Scroll-shop. It had a few windows on the outside through which Dusk could see scroll racks like the ones at Jade Mountain, but bigger.
Seagull opened the door and a small little steel bell at the top tinkled lightly. "Scrollwriter," he called.
And NightWing appeared from another room. She looked probably about middle aged, with deepish black-purple scales and light gray underscales. "Ah, Seagull," she said. "Wonderful day to read, isn't it?"
Seagull nodded. "Yeah, but it's a better day to read something new. Do you have anything?"
Scrollwriter shook her head. "No, I'm afraid not. Not since last time you came. I have a new order coming in a few days, if you want to come by then."
Seagull nodded. "Alright. I'll be back in a few days."
Scrollwriter looked at Dusk. "Aren't you going to introduce me, Seagull?" she asked.
Seagull nodded. "I was just about to. Scrollwriter, this is Dusk, SeaWing NightWing RainWing hybrid. And Dusk, this is Scrollwriter, an author as well as a friend of mine."
Dusk smiled. "It's nice to meet you."
Scrollwriter nodded. "And you."
"What sort of scrolls do you write?" Dusk asked.
"Historical-fiction," Scrollwriter asked. "I like to go around from tribe to tribe and find out about their legends. Sometimes I ask about important times in their history and make a story based on that."
"That sounds nice," Dusk said. "I'd love to read some of them."
"I have some I could lend you," Seagull said. "Actually, practically all of the ones she's written." He grinned at Scrollwriter and she nodded.
"It's true," she said. "He's my biggest fan, or so he says."
"I love all your scrolls," Seagull said. "And, speaking of which, when's your next one going to be finished?"
"It should be soon," she answered. "I just have a few more points to go over in it, then it'll be done."
Seagull smiled. "Well, make sure to sell me the first one!" He turned and opened the door. "After you," he said to Dusk.
Dusk smiled and stepped outside.
Seagull followed and let the door close with a latch and a small tinkle. "Where to now?" he asked.
"Um, well," Dusk said embarrassedly. "Where we went first, there was a SkyWing selling jewels. I was wondering if we could go look. Just look though."
Seagull grinned. "I like to do that from time to time. Sometimes they get some new, really cool gems. Like this one time, they got a sapphire shaped into a star, like a dreamvisitor. But someone bought it, so I didn't get to see it very long."
"Dreamvisitor?" Dusk asked as they started to walk.
"They're these star-shaped animus touched sapphires. They allow the dragon to visit any other dragon's dreams, no matter how far away they are. I think it'd be a cool bit of magic to have, but some dragons just think they're pretty."
"They sound pretty," Dusk said. "I wish I could see one."
Seagull thought for a moment. "Let's see, as far as I know, Queen Glory has one, Jade Mountain has another, and the other is unknown."
"There's one at Jade Mountain? Really?"
Seagull nodded. "I believe Sunny has it, though she probably left it at Jade Mountain for the trip."
"I'd have to ask her to show me when we get back."
Seagull nodded. "That'd be cool."
They walked for a bit longer, a few merchants calling out to them to buy their goods.
"Right, here we are. Hi, Granite." Seagull stopped in front of the booth with all the gems laid out.
The merchant, a deep red SkyWing, smiled at Seagull. "Good afternoon, Seagull. Come to look at my gems again?"
Seagull grinned. "You know it. Have anything new?"
"Not much," Granite said. "Just this diamond." He gestured to the magnificent crystal in front of him. Its sharp surface glinted with fragments of light.
"Wow," Dusk said. "That's really pretty."
Granite smiled at her. "And you are?"
"Dusk." She smiled. "Nice to meet you."
Granite nodded. "Would you like some sapphires for those scales of yours? They seem nearly as precious as the jewels."
Dusk blushed and looked down. "Um, well, uh, thank you."
Granite laughed. "Well, they look like a deepest blue. I do wish I did have a gem that color."
Dusk gave an embarrassed smile. She looked over the gems below them and her eyes snagged on a bright purple diamond-shaped stone. "What's that?" she asked, pointing to it.
"That? Oh, that's an amethyst. A rather rare gem, if I do say so myself. Took me a long time to acquire it. But, sadly, as I had to put the prices above what it cost to get it, no one has bought it."
"Oh." Dusk nodded. "It's a beautiful stone though."
Granite nodded. "That it is. Well, both of you? See anything that catches your eye?"
Dusk hesitated, looking at a deep blue sapphire. She loved its color and the way the sun shone through it. "No," she finally said. "Thank you though."
"Ah, well. Seagull, you see anything?"
Seagull shook his head. "As beautiful as they all are, nothing really stands out to me." He looked up. "Well, we best finish up our tour. See you later, Granite."
Granite nodded. "Be sure to come back soon."
"Will do." He turned to Dusk. "Anything else you wanted to look at?"
Dusk thought for a moment. "Well, I'm not sure. There was something. . ."
"What?" Seagull cocked his head.
"There was an IceWing," Dusk said. "He was selling something. I couldn't really tell what it was."
Seagull frowned. "I'm not sure what you're talking about."
"It's around here somewhere." Dusk looked at the booths and eventually saw him, sitting under the shade of the fabric above him. "This way." She dragged Seagull over.
The booth only had one item on display. It was a small icy sapling in a steel pot. It had leaves that seemed to be made out of ice and all of its branches seemed slightly see-through. Small glowing buds hung on its branches.
"What is it?" Dusk asked.
The nervous-looking IceWing smiled. "I'm glad it's caught the attention of someone. This is part of a moonglobe tree."
"A moonglobe tree?" Dusk echoed, peering at the small branches.
"It's a tree that, instead of producing fruit, it produces moonglobes because it was animus touched. They're these globes that glow all the time. They glow for about three days before they stop and disappear."
"Seems kind of a waste when you put it like that," Dusk said.
"But it's not," the IceWing said quickly. "The buds regrow extremely quickly. About a day after you pick one, another one is in its place. All year round, moonglobes will grow. All it needs is a little water and soon it'll grow to be a full sized tree. I'm only asking for fifty gold coins."
"Fifty gold coins?" Seagull exclaimed from behind her. "No way."
"I have to agree with Seagull," Dusk said.
"But is it a waste if it provides light for the rest of your life?" the IceWing asked.
"I don't need light," Dusk said, casting one last look at the icy sapling. While it was beautiful, it was far too expensive, even if she didn't have any treasure to compare it to. "So good day to you." Dusk turned and opened her wings, flying up out of the market.
Seagull followed quickly and flew up to her side. "Fifty gold coins?" he said. "I think that IceWing was trying to make us pay more than we had to."
"Yeah," Dusk said. "Though it was still really cool. If I lived here, I'd save up everything I had to buy it. I wonder how big it would get to be though."
Seagull shrugged. "Did he mean big like a normal tree big, or like, rainforest tree big?"
Dusk shrugged. "I have no idea. And if the tree gets bigger, would those moonglobes get bigger?"
Seagull shook his head. "I have no clue. I've never owned a moonglobe tree."
"Neither have I. And neither will I, with the price he was trying to charge."
Seagull nodded. "I mean, I could save up everything and buy it one day. But it'd probably be like two years."
Dusk laughed. "Probably. But don't do that. As cool as that tree was, it'd be a waste. And what if the ice melts?"
Seagull frowned. "I think the animus who made that tree would've thought about it melting."
"Animus?" Dusk asked. "I know he said something about it being animus touched, but I don't know what it means." The term sounded familiar but she didn't know why. "You also mentioned it with the dreamvisitors, but I didn't question it then."
Seagull sighed. "Sometimes I wish so much that I was an animus. The simplest way to put it is that they have magic in their claws. They can enchant practically anything to do almost anything they want it to. So far, the only thing animus magic has been shown not to be able to do is to bring a dragon back from the dead."
Dusk winced. She knew all about that. Then she frowned. How did she know? Had something happened? Had she been in contact with an animus dragon when someone had died? Had she asked them to bring someone back?
"Like, for instance, I could say, 'Hey, lake, I want all your water to evaporate in an instance,' and then it'd be gone."
Dusk gaped at him. "Really? Easy as that, the entire lake would be dry?"
Seagull nodded. "But as much as I wish to be an animus, I don't really want to be right now. I like the lake. It's nice to swim in at the end of the day. Speaking of which. . ." He looked down as they reached the lake. "Care to join me?"
Dusk looked down at the water. It was beautiful, but what if something happened? What if her thought that water was death came true and she drowned in its depths?
Dusk shook her head quickly. "Thanks, but not right now, Seagull."
Seagull looked slightly disappointed. "Alright. Maybe later then." He went and landed next to his hut that they had just reached.
"Seagull!" A SkyWing stepped out of the hut. His scales were a burnished copper and he had amber eyes.
"Dad!" Seagull ran over and the SkyWing put his wings around him.
"I heard you wanted to introduce me to someone?" the SkyWing said.
Seagull pulled back. "Yeah, this is Dusk." He turned to grin at her. "She's a three tribe hybrid."
The SkyWing looked over to smile at Dusk. "It's nice to meet you, Dusk. I'm Falcon, Seagull's father."
Dusk smiled. "It's nice to meet you too. And thanks for letting me stay here for tonight." She wondered briefly if Falcon knew that she was, but he just continued smiling.
"Of course. It's our pleasure." Falcon turned around, glancing into the hut. "Well, I have to go help Dolphin make dinner. That cow I caught today was especially big."
Seagull grinned. "Great! There'll be enough for all of us!"
Falcon smiled. "That's what I'm hoping." He stepped inside, but then turned back around. "Oh, and Seagull? Show her the flight field. I think she'd enjoy that."
Seagull's face lit up. "You're right! I totally forgot! You up for some more flying, Dusk?" he asked, turning back to her.
Dusk rolled her wings slightly. They were a little sore from the past few days of flying, but she didn't want to miss out on anything. She grinned. "Always."
"Great." Seagull spread his wings and prepared to take off. "Think you can keep up?"
Dusk gave a smile. "I can certainly try."
Then Seagull lifted off into the air in the next moment and Dusk flew after him, laughing.
=== Chapter 16  ===
They flew up the mountain Sanctuary was nestled in the foothills of and Seagull eventually paused, waiting for Dusk to catch up.
"That's the flight field over there," he said, pointing to a large hole in the ground a little ways ahead of them.
"What is it?" Dusk asked. The hole looked deep from where they were hovering. 
"It's where the dragonets that live here learn how to fly," Seagull said. "You'll see why."
He started to wing his way over and Dusk followed, curious of the hole. 
"Here, we'll land beside it." Seagull dipped his wings and landed on the rocky cliff next to it. 
"What is it?" Dusk asked again. She went to peer over the edge when Seagull pulled her back. 
"I want it to be a surprise," Seagull said.
"Alright." Dusk sat down. "Well, what's the surprise?" 
Seagull grinned. "This." He fell backwards off the cliff.
Dusk gasped and rushed over, just in time to see Seagull shoot up, doing a few small flips as he did.
"Come join me!" he called from above her, not beating a wing, yet still rising higher. 
Dusk gaped at him. "How are you doing that?" 
Seagull grinned. "Just walk out over the edge and spread your wings and you'll find out!" 
Dusk gave an incredulous laugh, then peeked out over the edge. To her surprise, warm wind began to blow onto her. "Updrafts!" she exclaimed. "They're updrafts!" 
She walked out over the edge and spread her wings. Then she stepped off. 
For one brief moment, she began to fall. But then her wings caught the wind and she lifted up to Seagull's height. 
Seagull grinned. "I thought you'd like it," he said. 
Dusk grinned. "This is amazing!" she said. "I love it!"
Seagull nodded. "I've heard that these are the strongest updrafts in all of Pyrrhia." 
"I can certainly believe that," Dusk said, laughing and doing a small spin. "What makes them so strong though?" 
Seagull looked down. "Volcanic activity, I believe. There's some lava down there that makes the warm air. And so far, that lava hasn't cooled. At least, as far as we can tell. We'd either need a firescales SkyWing or a MudWing hatched from a blood-red egg to go down there. But Sanctuary doesn't have either of those. And it's not important enough to have someone send someone over." 
"What's a MudWing from a blood-red egg do?" Dusk asked. "I can guess about firescales."
Seagull gave her a curious look. "The amount of stuff you've asked me about. Like animus magic. That's something every dragonet is told legends about and every dragonet usually wishes to have it in their claws. Yet you knew nothing of it."
Dusk ducked her head. "Well, that's something I'll have to explain at length." 
Seagull gave her a curious look. "Why?"
Dusk shook her head. "I just said I'd have to explain that at length. Maybe tonight." Dusk wasn't sure why she was trusting him with her secret about her memories, but she felt as though he would understand. Well, maybe understand wouldn't be the right word. Maybe he was trustworthy enough for her to tell him. 
"Until tonight then," Seagull said. He looked down. "I usually come here just after sunset to dry off after swimming in the lake."
Dusk nodded. "I can understand that. It'd certainly be a fast way to dry." 
"I know I asked you this a bit ago, but would you want to swim with me tonight?"
Dusk thought of the deep water and shook her head. "Maybe tomorrow," she said, but she knew she most likely wouldn't. After all, it's not like she'd change her mind in one night. Certainly not after one of the only things she remembered told her that it wasn't good.
"Alright." Seagull grinned. "It's my favorite thing to do at the end of the day. I hope you will join me tomorrow. I'm sure you'd enjoy it."
"I'm not quite so sure," Dusk said under her breath. "What do you usually do here?" she asked him. 
Seagull shrugged. "My favorite thing to do is just dive, then open my wings after I've fallen for a bit."
"Hm," Dusk said. "Sounds fun. I'll try it." Then she took a deep breath and folded in her wings. 
The wind rushing past her made her feel like she was moving much faster than she actually was.
Dusk gave a laugh of exhilaration before throwing her wings out. The jerk was more than she had expected, but it was well worth it as she shot back up to where Seagull was.
"You're right," Dusk said with a laugh. "That was fun."
Seagull grinned. "After you get more comfortable with that, you can do tricks as you fall. But don't worry, you don't have to do it quickly. You have a long way to fall before you hit the ground." 
Dusk gave a slight nod. "I suppose that's comforting."
Seagull shrugged. "I thought so," he said. 
"What sort of tricks do you mean though?" Dusk asked. 
"Something like this." Seagull pulled in his wings and plummeted, curling himself into a ball and spinning. Then after a moment, he opened his wings back up and shot up to Dusk. "That's just something I've been working on," he said. 
"It looked good," Dusk said. 
"You can try," Seagull said, gesturing in front of them. 
Dusk shook her head. "It was fun, but hurt my wings a bit." 
Seagull gave a nod of understanding. "Yeah, it took me a bit to get used to it. Here, let's go back. Dinner is probably ready by now. You have to try my mom's cooking."
"Isn't your mom a SeaWing?" Dusk asked as they veered out of the air current towards Seagull's hut. "How would she cook?"
"My dad lights the fire," Seagull explained. "My mom takes care of all the spices and herbs. It's delicious."
Dusk grinned. "I can't wait." It had been awhile since she had had meat. Ever since the hunting party with Raccoon, she'd only had fruit. And while she wanted meat, she wasn't going to go on another hunting party. Not after what had happened on the first. 
As if summoned by her thought, her side throbbed slightly, just reminding her of everything that had happened. Dusk held back her wince. She didn't want more questions to be asked. No one else needed to know what had happened that night. 
They dropped out of the air currents and Dusk missed them nearly immediately. It had been nice to not have to flap her wings for a change. 
Seagull sighed, stretching out his wings. "While I like the updrafts, I like to be in control more." 
"I don't mind it," Dusk said. "I think I can count on the wind to be consistent. You just have to trust that it'll always blow."
Seagull gave her a curious look. "Do you often trust dragons?"
Dusk hesitated. She honestly wasn't sure. She had thought that after everything with Raccoon, she'd be a bit more wary. But she had just decided to trust Seagull with the secret of her memories, and she had only known him for a day. "I like to give dragons a chance," Dusk finally said. "If they blow that, then I don't trust them."
Seagull looked out ahead of them. "I wish I was that trusting." He sighed. "I always think dragons are laughing at me for being a hybrid. They have to earn my trust." He turned to grin at Dusk. "I guess you're an exception, being a hybrid and all."
Dusk smiled. "I promise, I will try to be worthy of your trust and friendship."
Seagull smiled at her. "You already have." Then he dipped his wings and shot down the mountain towards the lake and his hut, leaving Dusk, startled, at the top. 
What had she done to be worthy of it? She didn't think there was anything she could do to be worthy of Seagull's trust and friendship. After all, she was only herself, and what was special about her?
Maybe you're more than you think you are, a small voice whispered. Maybe you're more special than you believed you could be.
Dusk smiled, then tilted her wings to shoot after Seagull, feeling a bit more confident in herself.
/ / / / / / / / / /
    
"Seagull's word has proved to be true, Dolphin," Dusk said. "You cooking truly is delicious."
Dolphin smiled. "Thank you. But I couldn't have done anything without Falcon." She turned to smile lovingly at him.
Falcon grinned sheepishly. "I hardly did anything. I just lit the fire."
"Hey, Dad. Do you think I could go outside and swim?" Seagull stood up from the table where the remains of the cow were and gestured towards the door, where the lake was shining outside.
Falcon nodded. "Of course. But make sure you include Dusk."
"I will," Seagull promised. He turned to Dusk and grabbed her talon, dragging her out the door.
"Um, Seagull, I'm not going to swim," Dusk reminded him. 
Seagull let go of her talon and they stopped at the edge of the lake. "I know," he said. "But my dad didn't. I just thought I'd make it easier and not point it out. And also," he laughed, "I thought I might try one last time. I really think you'd enjoy swimming."
Dusk shook her head. "I'm sorry, but no."
Seagull shrugged. "Oh well. Maybe tomorrow then." He hesitated. "Well, I don't want you to feel left out, so maybe I won't swim today."
"Oh." Dusk looked away. "I don't want to make you change your schedule. Feel free to swim without me."
Seagull shook his head. "No, I'd rather spend my time with you." He grinned. "Well, let me go run inside and grab a few blankets in case we get cold. I'll be back in a second." Seagull turned and ran into his hut. Dusk heard him give an explanation to his parents, then he was back outside a few moments later, carrying three blankets in his talons. One looked bigger than the other two. 
"One for us to sleep on," Seagull explained. "Then one for each of us if it gets cold." 
Dusk smiled. "Thanks."
"Here, help me spread this one out." Seagull set down the two smaller blankets and kept the bigger one. "You grab two corners and spread it out. I'll do the same." 
Dusk grabbed the corners he was referring to and did as he said. In a moment, the blanket was spread out over a large expanse of grass.
"There," Seagull said, sitting down on it. "Much better than just sleeping on the grass."
"It's really pretty," Dusk said, picking up and edge and peering at the blue and green threads expertly woven together. "It looks like the ocean."
"Thanks," Seagull said, grinning.
"Thanks?" Dusk echoed. 
"You see, I made this." Seagull looked at it with a smile. "Certainly took me forever, but it's definitely my favorite."
Dusk gaped at him. "I didn't know you liked to weave!" she exclaimed. 
Seagull nodded. "Yep. Just sort of a hobby I took up." He shrugged. "I made these other blankets too. But mostly I'm just glad it looks like the ocean. That was what I was trying to do, but I wasn't sure how it turned out. I don't see the ocean very much."
"Why not?" Dusk asked, cocking her head. 
Seagull shrugged. "I don't know. I only went once or twice when I was younger. But I don't care whether it's the ocean or not. I think I just need water to swim in. Whether fresh or salt water. And besides, fresh water doesn't have sharks or jellyfish." 
Dusk laughed. "I suppose that's right. But I'm not an expert on this topic. Actually, I'm nowhere near an expert." 
"Neither am I." Seagull laughed. "Hey, you know how I said earlier that the lake looks best at sunset?"
Dusk glanced up at the sun that had just disappeared behind the mountain. "Yeah."
"Well that time is now." Seagull grinned. "Come on. You don't want to miss it." 
Dusk smiled. "Alright." Then she opened her wings and shot off the ground before Seagull did. She heard Seagull laugh, then he was at her side a few wingbeats later. 
"You know, it's not often that someone beats me off the ground." He looked at his wings. "But even though you did, I know you're not faster than me."
Dusk laughed. "I believe that. That's like asking a SeaWing to outfly a SkyWing. As everyone knows, SkyWings are the masters of the sky."
Seagull nodded. "So I guess in a way, I'm a master of the water and sky." He grinned. "I like that sound of that. Seagull, master of the water and sky." He laughed. "I'm just joking."
"No, it would sound pretty cool." Dusk cocked her head. "So I think earlier you told me you had no fire. Can you only breathe underwater?"
Seagull hesitated. "Well, I can do something else. I have to drink a lot of water, but I can take some of it it and boil it in my mouth. I'm not exactly sure how or why, but I just can." 
"Wow, that's really cool, Seagull!"
Seagull grinned sheepishly. "Thanks. But it's not really helpful unless I want tea or something."
"I think it's wonderful," Dusk said. "And I'd love to have some tea later today, or maybe tomorrow morning."
Seagull brightened. "Really? What kind?"
"What's the best kind you have?" Dusk asked. 
"I just gathered some really nice green tea leaves today in the forest where you met me. I think you'd really enjoy that."
Dusk smiled. "Alright. How about we do that tomorrow morning?"
Seagull nodded. "Although, sometimes a warm drink at night is nice. It can help you fall asleep."
"I don't think I will have any trouble falling asleep tonight. It's been a long three days to get here." 
"I can imagine." Seagull laughed. "I'm saying this and I have SkyWing wings."
Dusk laughed. "I'm sure you wouldn't have as hard a time as some of us did." 
Dusk turned to the lake and had her breath taken away for the second time that day. It was bright and the sun was reflecting on its surface. The clouds high above them made it shimmer and the slight wind that was blowing distorted the pictures. 
They just hovered there for a few minutes, watching the lake, but slowly the sun slowly got dimmer and dimmer in the reflections of the lake and Dusk turned around. The sky behind her, though the clouds were still lit up a bright orange-pink, was already darkening. 
"We better get down there, before we can't see where it is," Dusk said. 
Seagull shrugged. "It wouldn't be a problem for me. I have night-vision." He tapped the scales near his eye. 
"Oh. I guess so. I have night-vision, too," she added.
"I guess that’s something we both got then. Rather useful, if I do say so myself."
"I have to agree with you," Dusk said. “It’s come in handy quite a few times.” 
"We should probably still get down there. Better to do it in partial daylight than in complete darkness."
Dusk nodded. "Yeah."
Seagull flew down towards the ground but a flare of light caught Dusk’s attention before she did. They were lighting fires over at the Jade Mountain Academy camp. And at the very outskirts of that, sat a light blue shape. And he was watching her, Dusk knew. 
Dusk frowned at Coast’s form. Was he still jealous that Dusk was spending time with Seagull? It was stupid if he was. After all, Dusk had just promised him that he’d be her best friend, no matter what. 
Dusk turned away from Coast and turned to fly down to Seagull.
"What were you doing up there?" Seagull asked when she landed on the grass next to him. 
"Just looking for a minute longer," Dusk said. "It was pretty up there." 
Seagull nodded. "I have to agree with you there. I like to look at the lake for awhile, but I prefer the view from below." 
"Like in the lake?" Dusk asked.
Seagull nodded. "Yep. I love it down there. But we'll probably do that tomorrow, right?"
Dusk nodded, knowing that she wouldn't.
"Well, let's wait for the moonrise. It's really pretty to see it in the reflections of the lake.
Dusk nodded, sitting down on the blanket and watching as the sky got darker and darker. She didn't even notice how uncomfortable Seagull was in the silence. Dusk laid down and propped her head on her front talons. 
Her eyes drooped and she was nearly asleep when Seagull cleared his throat. 
"So, um, I know you're almost asleep and everything, but you said you'd tell me why you kept asking about stuff. And, if you're not totally asleep right now, do you think you could?"
Dusk sat up and stifled a yawn, stretching out her wings. 
"We can do it tomorrow," Seagull said quickly. "I don't care."
"No," Dusk said. "I told you I'd tell you tonight, so I will." She took a deep breath. "I woke up on Pyrrhia's west coast about a month ago with no memories," she said, choosing her words carefully. "I knew it wasn't amnesia because I knew who I was, how old I was, and where I was. But nothing else."
"Nothing?" Seagull gaped at her. "Nothing about your parents, or anything."
Dusk shook her head grimly. "Especially about that." 
Seagull frowned. "Why would you have forgotten? How would you have forgotten? An enchantment, possibly?" Seagull started pacing. 
"And there's something else," Dusk said hesitantly.
Seagull turned to look at her. "Yeah?"
"Earlier today, you were saying that animus magic can't bring a dragon back to life, right?"
Seagull nodded. "I did."
"Well, I don't know where it came from, but my first thought was that I knew all about that. I don't know why I remembered it then, and why I didn't forget it completely."
Seagull gasped. "Why would you? Did you know an animus? Did something happen?" Seagull resumed his pacing and continued to mutter under his breath. "Maybe someone died that Dusk loved. And there was an animus that tried to bring them back but it didn't work. But that wouldn't explain about her memories. Not unless. . .  Aha!" He whirled on Dusk. "I have a theory. Someone you loved, or multiple someones, died, and you tried to bring them back with animus magic. But, it didn't work, so you enchanted yourself to forget everything, just so you wouldn't be so sad." 
Dusk hesitated. "It's not ringing any bells..." she said slowly. 
"It wouldn't," Seagull said patiently. "You would of course make yourself forget what you did." 
"Well. . ." Dusk trailed off. She didn't know. Was it possible Seagull was correct? Could she herself be an animus? "It has to have something to do with the ocean, I'm sure," she muttered. 
"The ocean?" Seagull echoed. "What about it?"
"When I woke up about a month ago, a thought came to me and said that water brought death in its wake." Dusk took up Seagull's pacing. "So did someone I loved drown? Then I tried to bring them back and I enchanted myself to forget almost everything?"
"Water brings death?" Seagull said slowly, looking out at the lake where the moons were reflecting on its calm surface. "But. . ." 
"I'm sorry," Dusk said quickly. "I don't mean to offend you. It's just what I thought."
"No, it's okay." Seagull kept his gaze on the lake. "That's why you didn't want to swim. And I kept asking and asking and asking. I'm so sorry."
"It's alright, Seagull. You didn't know. But that's why I'm afraid of the water." 
"But why?" Seagull turned to look at her. "You have gills. You have nothing to be afraid of."
"I have gills?" Dusk asked, startled. 
Seagull nodded. "Didn't you know? Wait, sorry, I forgot that you couldn't remember." 
"And I never got into the water to figure out," Dusk pointed out. "Not with that going through my mind."
"I want to tell you everything would be alright if you swam but. . ." He sighed. "I don't want to go against one of the only things you can remember. And why would you listen to me? After all, I'm only myself."
Dusk twined her tail with Seagull's. "Sometimes being yourself is all that you can be, and that's more than enough."
Seagull smiled. "Thanks." He hesitated. "There's something else I want to tell you." Then he shook his head. "Actually, on second thought, maybe tomorrow. I'm a little tired right now."
Dusk nodded. "Same," she lied. There was no way she could sleep with all the thoughts running through her head. 
Seagull's eyes drooped and he settled on the blanket, resting his head on his front talons. Then, in an instant, his eyes were closed and he was breathing deeply.
Dusk laughed softly at his ability to fall asleep so quickly, then continued pacing. Was she an animus? Was it even possible? Dusk knew of one sure way to figure out. And, if she was, then she could enchant herself to recover her memories. She could do that, right? Seagull had said that it only couldn't bring dragons back to life. And, if she could take her memories away, why couldn't she get them back? 
Dusk messed with a flower by her talons. There had to be a safe way for her to figure out. A spell that hopefully wouldn't explode Pyrrhia if it went wrong.
Dusk looked down at the flower. It was a bright pink. Dusk wondered if she could change its color. She didn't see how that could be dangerous in any way. 
"Flower," Dusk said boldly. "I enchant you to –"
"Wait."
Dusk jumped and turned around. Seagull was sitting up. Dusk assumed that he had never actually been asleep. "I – I'm sorry," Dusk stammered. "It's just – well, I was curious."
"I know." Seagull walked over to brush the flower. "And you have every right to be. But I have to tell you something." He gave her a pitying look. "This is what makes dragons say that animus magic is a curse."
Dusk shook her head. "I don't understand. How could it be a curse?"
Seagull looked down, avoiding her eyes. Using animus magic takes a bit of your soul every time you use it, turning you into a worse and worse dragon."
Dusk gasped and looked down at her talons. How many times had she used her magic? Was she a bad dragon? Dusk had never thought so, but what if that in itself was why?
"Wait." Seagull reached down and took her talons in his. "Stop thinking whatever you're thinking. You're a good dragon, Dusk. I know that. It takes a lot of spells to get that way."
Dusk smiled softly. "Are you sure?"
Seagull nodded. "I'm positive." Then he hesitated again. "There's something else," he said.
"Go ahead," Dusk said. "I'm ready."
Seagull shook his head. "I don't think anyone could be ready to hear this for the first time, but if you say you are, then I'll go ahead." He took a deep breath. "A long time ago, there was a SeaWing animus, brother to the queen. This was before everyone knew the dangers of animus magic, so the queen had him use his magic a lot. Too much." Seagull shook his head sadly. "No one knows exactly what happened, mostly because everyone who witnessed it couldn't bear to relay it to their descendants. But we got the gist of it."
"And what was that?" Dusk asked warily.
"Albatross, the animus I was talking about, went mad. They were having a party, a celebration, and he killed nearly every dragon there, including the queen, king, and several other royals that were present. Finally, someone who had survived managed to stop him with a spear."
Dusk gasped. "Does anyone know how it happened?" she asked in a quiet voice. "How many spells it took for him to get there?"
Seagull shook his head. "No one knows the specifics, but everyone has the same guess, because everyone knows about this enchantment. Well, most everyone," he added to the light glare Dusk sent him. "He enchanted a palace to grow from practically nothing. Everyone suspects that's what tipped him into madness."
Dusk looked down at her talons. How close was she to losing her soul?
"You're not close to that," Seagull said, as though reading her mind. "I know you're not. You're a good dragon."
Dusk smiled. "Thank you."
Seagull looked back at the flower. "So you can still enchant it if you want to. I just thought I'd warn you first. So if you want to know, go ahead. But if you'd rather stay in the dark and not enchant it, then don't. It's what I would do."
Dusk hesitated. She wanted to know, more than anything at the moment, but she didn't want to go crazy. What if she attacked Seagull, or Coast, or anyone? Dusk shivered lightly. 
"Not tonight," she finally said, sitting down on the blanket. "Maybe tomorrow, but not tonight."
Seagull smiled. "Good choice." He sat down next to her so his SkyWing wings were brushing Dusk's. "So what do you want to talk about? I'm assuming you won't be able to fall asleep any time soon."
"No," Dusk agreed. "No matter how hard I might try, it's probably not going to happen for a few hours." 
Seagull flipped onto his back to look at the star-filled sky. "So what should we talk about?"
Dusk flipped over to look at the sky with him. "Um, how old are you?"
"Me?" Seagull turned to look at her. "I turned two a few months back. What about you?"
"Two," Dusk answered. 
"When's your hatching day though?" Seagull asked. "Did you just turn two, or are you about to turn three?"
Dusk shook her head. "I don't –" Then the stars in front of her eyes seemed to grow dimmer, as well as the moons. Dusk frowned, then opened her mouth to say something when it suddenly all went dark. Dusk hesitantly put her wing out and it brushed Seagull's. So he was still there. So now for the next question. WHAT IN THREE MOONS WAS HAPPENING? 
Then, slowly, a picture pieced itself together before Dusk's eyes, like shattered glass.
Dusk was staring out at the moons, but from a sitting position. Two of them were hanging on the horizon next to each other and Dusk couldn't see the other. Then Dusk realized there was a dragon sitting next to her. 
"Happy hatching day, Dusk," the dragon said, and Dusk turned to look at her. 
It was a SandWing. She was smiling kindly at her and Dusk wondered who she was.
Then, all too soon, the scene started to disappear.
No, please, Dusk wanted to say. Just stay a little longer, please. Dusk had so many questions. Who was she? How did Dusk know her? Why was she the one wishing Dusk a happy hatching day? Where were her parents?
Dusk squeezed her eyes shut, willing the scene to come back. But Dusk knew it was gone. She slowly opened her eyes back and saw Seagull, sitting up now, waving a talon in front of her face.
"Hey, you're back." Seagull frowned. "What happened?"
"I remembered," Dusk said in awe. "I can't believe it. I actually remembered."
"What?" Seagull exclaimed. "What was it?"
"I only saw the moons and a dragon," Dusk explained. "Nothing else."
"Who?" Seagull asked eagerly. "Your mother? Father?"
Dusk shook her head, puzzled. "No, it was – it was a SandWing."
Seagull sat back, frowning. "A SandWing," he mused. "Why a SandWing?"
"I know vaguely when my hatching day is though," Dusk said. "I know that's not as important now."
"Really?" Seagull asked. 
Dusk nodded. "So you said that two moons are full only four times a year, right?" 
Seagull nodded. 
"Well, in that memory, I saw that two of the moons were full and the dragon, the SandWing, told me happy hatching day."
Seagull got to his talons and began pacing. "So that limits it to four times a year," he muttered. "But we don't know which time that is. If only I knew where they were. . ."
"They were next to each other," Dusk said, thinking back. "And I think the other moon was new. I couldn't see it."
"Two moons hanging in the sky together, both full," Seagull mused. "The other moon either new, or not in the same relative area. That only happens. . ." He paused his pacing and looked at Dusk with wide eyes. "Two days from now."
=== Chapter 17  ===
"Two days from now?" Dusk exclaimed. "No, that can't be right. That is literally not possible."
Seagull grinned. "No, it's more than possible. And it just happened." He clapped his talons. "I can't believe it! I'll get to celebrate your hatching day with you!"
"There has to be some mistake," Dusk said, though she wasn't sure why she was trying to say that it wasn't possible. "It's possible I just wasn't facing the right way to see the other moon."
"That doesn't matter. The moons only sit together in the sky one time a year. The other moon doesn't really matter to that." Seagull froze. "I have to get you a gift." 
"No," Dusk said quickly. "No, no, no. Please, I don't want anything."
Seagull shook his head. "No, I insist. I have to get you something, as your first birthday that you'll remember." He beamed at her. 
Dusk smiled, feeling touched that he would do that for her. 
"We should probably get to bed though," Seagull said, touching his snout thoughtfully. "And then, as much as I hate to say this, you might have to go back to the Jade Mountain camp. I don't want you to ruin your hatching day surprise. I hope you wouldn't mind."
Dusk shook her head, slightly disappointed.
"You'd be able to come back that night," Seagull said quickly. "Please. Then you could be here in the morning and we could give you your presents."
Dusk smiled. "Thanks, but you don't have to. You realize that, right?"
Seagull nodded. "But I want to, so I'm going to."
Dusk thought for a moment, "If my hatching day is two days from now, does that mean that we'll leave the day after? To go back to Jade Mountain?"
Seagull's face fell. "Oh, yeah. You're right."
"I'm sorry," Dusk said quickly. "I wish we could stay longer, but I don't get to choose."
"I know," Seagull said, sighing. "I just forgot that you'd have to leave." 
"I almost wish I didn't," Dusk said softly. "Then I could stay here with you." Dusk knew that Coast wouldn't like that, but she wanted to make Seagull feel better.
Seagull smiled. "Thanks. But I know how great Jade Mountain Academy is. I've heard all about it."
"You know you could come, right?" Dusk asked softly. "You don't have to stay here." 
Seagull hesitated. "I know," he said slowly. "But that's something I'd have to think about."
Dusk stifled a yawn. "Sorry," she apologized. "I guess I am a little tired." 
"Yeah, we should go to bed." Seagull laid down on his back, looking up at the sky. "Night, Dusk." 
Dusk nodded, then laid down and curled her tail around her talons. She glanced over at Seagull to see him staring at the stars, their light reflected in his eyes. 
Dusk felt slightly bad, putting that on his mind, but she wanted to have a hybrid at school that was actually her age and was friends with her. Clearglow could be considered her friend, but more she was nice to her. It wasn't friendship.
Then Dusk felt bad. It seemed she was always wanting more than she had. She wanted hybrids at Jade Mountain, but then it wasn't enough for her. Then she wanted a hybrid that would be her friend. What, did she want a hybrid that would love her next? It was just one thing after another. Dusk wished she could just be content with what she had. But she wasn't and she wanted Seagull to come. Dusk hoped it wasn't too much to ask him. 
Dusk closed her eyes and, despite everything that had happened that night, was asleep a moment later. 
/ / / / / / / / / /
     
Dusk woke up when the sun was rising over the horizon. She blinked at the brightness, then yawned. She looked around, but Seagull wasn't anywhere in sight.
"Seagull?" Dusk called quietly, worried about waking up Dolphin and Falcon.
There was no answer.
Dusk frowned, but yawned and stretched her wings. They were sore, but that wasn't new. They had been the night before.
Dusk suddenly remembered everything that had happened the night before. She looked down at her talons. The same question resurfaced. Was she an animus? 
Dusk shook the thought away. It wouldn't help if she thought about it. Maybe she could later.
She opened her wings and shot off the ground, her eyes scanning the ground below her for Seagull's blue scales. She didn't see anything, but there were so many places he could be hiding. 
"Seagull!" Dusk called. Her voice echoing back to her was the only response. Could he be at the flight field? she wondered. It was certainly far enough away that he wouldn't be able to hear her.
Dusk hesitated. She wanted to think Seagull wouldn't leave without telling her, but she could've been asleep when he left and he expected to be back by the time she was awake.
That was when something drew her attention to the lake. It was something a blue too bright to be the water. Dusk swooped out over the lake and peered down. And lying at the bottom, Seagull was lying peacefully, asleep.
Dusk gave an incredulous laugh. How did he feel safe with so much water above his head?
Dusk looked down at her claws. They were webbed, as a normal SeaWing's would be. Dusk knew they helped with swimming.
Where was the harm in going for a short swim? After all, she had gills. It wasn't as though she could drown. And if she began to panic, then she could always fly out of the water. And if Seagull was there, then she had no reason to be worried.
Dusk took a deep breath, then closed her wings and shot towards the lake's surface.
Her panic began to grow the closer she came to the water. Dusk shut her eyes and threw her wings out at the last moment. It was a large jerk, but she swooped close to the surface of the lake instead of being in it. She tilted her wings to fly to the edge of the lake and her wingtip brushed the cool water. It felt nice. Dusk wished she could just face her fears and swim. Seagull wanted her to, and if Dusk was being honest, so did she. There was a part of her that knew everything would be fine, strengthened by Seagull saying so, but another part of her knew she never could. 
Dusk went and landed on the shore over by Seagull's hut and looked out at the lake. Its surface was unbroken except for a few ripples caused by the wind. 
Dusk sat down, her heart pounding. She had been so close. So close to swimming in the water that she feared. She wanted to get over her fear, but she couldn't. She'd need some convincing if she ever did. Maybe Coast or Seagull would, one day. Dusk hoped so. 
Dusk sighed. She hoped Seagull would wake up soon. It was boring without him.
As Dusk sat, she began to hear wingbeats. She looked up and saw Coast's light blue scales in the sky above her. Dusk opened her wings and shot up to where he was flying.
"How was your night with the hybrid?" he asked spitefully.
Dusk glowered at him. "Quit being so jealous, Coast. And, if you must know, I quite enjoyed it. I'm sure you'll be happy to know that I have to come back for today though."
"I noticed your friend down there in the lake," Coast said, flicking his tail to Seagull's form below them. "It seems inconsiderate, to get in the water when you won't."
"It's alright," Dusk said. "He enjoys the water and I don't." Dusk sighed. "I want to though," she added softly. 
Coast blinked at her. "You do? But ... you told me you didn't ever want to."
Dusk hesitated. "After what Seagull said, it makes me want to try." She gave him a hesitant smile. "I hoped that you'd help me."
Coast's face brightened. "I will, Dusk, I promise." 
Dusk gave a true smile. "I knew you would. I'm glad I can count on you, Coast." 
Coast grinned. "You always can." He glanced over to the Jade Mountain camp. Dragonets were starting to get active around the dying embers of the fires from the night before. "Do you want to wait for your new friend, or do you want to come back now?" He held out his talon.
Dusk hesitated. He looked so hopeful. She looked down at Seagull's form in the lake below them. She didn't want him to think that she had left without telling him, but she had to leave eventually. And if she was gone before he woke up, then he'd have more time to get a present. 
Dusk turned to smile at Coast, grabbing his outstretched talon. "Of course I'll come with you." Then, just for fun, she closed her wings so that they started to fall. 
Coast yelped in surprise as he fell with her. "What are you doing?" 
Dusk grinned, but then opened her wings. "I just wanted to see what you'd do," she said. She giggled. "I didn't expect you to scream."
Coast blushed, then glanced over to the rest of the dragonets. No one was looking at them.
"Hey, we have all day," Dusk said. "What do you want to do?"
Coast shrugged. "You know more about Sanctuary right now. I saw you exploring it yesterday."
Dusk smiled. He didn't sound jealous that time. "I don't know. Let me think. But first, do you think we could go find some breakfast?"
Coast grinned. "I like that plan. Come on." He tilted his wings to fly towards the camp and Dusk followed, thinking through all the things she had seen the day before.
She could take him to meet the doctor, but that seemed a little awkward. After all, she hardly knew Sahara and Brightsting. Then she thought about the market. That was nice, but Dusk didn't have any treasure to pay for absolutely anything. Then she remembered the flight field.
Dusk smiled. That would work. That was something that pretty much anyone would enjoy.
Dusk closed her wings and shot down towards the ground past Coast. "See if you can keep up!" she called teasingly. 
"You're on!" she heard him call back. 
Then, vaguely through the wind whistling in her ears, she heard him near her side. To try to keep ahead of him, she pulled her wings closer around her body.
The ground was nearing Dusk at an alarming speed but she was going to keep her wings in as long as possible. But finally, as she was only a few feet away, she threw out her wings, touching the ground a moment later, wincing from the strain on her wings. She turned around only to see Coast standing next to her. 
"I won," he said, grinning.
"There's no way," Dusk said breathlessly. "I had to have won." 
"I don't know about that. Whale, what did you see?" Coast asked, addressing a teal SeaWing nearby. 
"It was hard to tell," he said, scratching his snout, flashing his glow-in-the-dark scales unconsciously. "I think you won, Coast, but barely by a millisecond."
"Aw, oh well." Dusk turned to Coast, smiling. "Good job in beating me. I thought I was going to win for sure." She assumed that Whale was a friend of Coast's.
"You almost did," Coast admitted. "And, wow, that hurt my wings." He rolled them, wincing. "I'm really impressed."
"It's nothing," Dusk said. "I hope you didn't hurt them too badly though. I thought of a place we can go later, and it involves flying."
"They could never be too hurt for flying," Coast said. "But what is it?"
Dusk smirked. "I'm not telling. It's a surprise!" 
Coast frowned. "Aw, that's not fair." 
"It's more than fair. But now you have to wait until after we eat."
Coast flipped his tail. "Alright, fine. Whale, have you seen any fish in the lake?"
Whale nodded, glancing over to the lake. "Yeah, lots. Want me to go out?"
Coast shook his head. "No, I will." He looked at Dusk. "Want me to get you a fish or two?"
Dusk nodded. "Just one, though, if it's not too much trouble."
Coast nodded. "Right. One fish for you. Whale, would you keep Dusk company if I get you a fish?"
Whale nodded. "Just be quick. I'm hungry."
"I'll be as quick as I see fit," Coast retorted. He opened his wings, smiling at Dusk. "I'll be back." Then he launched himself off the ground.
"Coast likes you," Whale said.
Dusk blinked and turned to look at him. 
He smiled sheepishly. "Well, I just thought I'd let you know if you didn't already. He talks about you all the time." 
Dusk smiled softly. "Yes, I know." She looked out at Coast as he dove into the lake. "I just wish I felt the same way."
"It's alright that you don't," Whale said. "Just because someone likes you doesn't mean you have to like them."
"I know." Dusk looked down and shuffled her wings. "It's just so awkward now. I like to talk with him and everything, but now that I know how he feels, it's different." 
"Don't let it be," Whale said. "If you enjoy it, don't let that stop you. If Coast can hide his feelings, then it won't be as if anything changed." 
Dusk turned to smile at him. "I wish I had met you sooner, Whale. You have wonderful advice."
Whale smiled sheepishly. "Not really, but thanks." 
Dusk looked back out towards the lake, shaking out her wings. She may not have been able to spend the day with Seagull, but Coast was with her, and she wasn't going to let that go to waste.
/ / / / / / / / / /
   
Coast was back soon after with three fish. He gave one to Dusk, another to Whale, then kept one for himself. They all ate, Dusk more quickly than the other two, so she was waiting when Coast finally finished. 
"Are you ready?" she asked. 
Coast nodded. "At least, I think so. Do you think I am? Do I need something for this thing we're going to do?"
Dusk shook her head. "Nothing but your wings, if you still have those."
Coast laughed. "No, I left them at Jade Mountain. Couldn't you tell?"
Dusk laughed and flicked him with her tail. "Alright, enough messing around, let's go." She launched herself off the ground and headed in the direction of the flight field, knowing that Coast was following her. 
As she flew over the lake, her eyes caught onto Seagull. He walked out of his hut and shot off the ground in the direction of the market. Dusk wondered why he was but quickly pushed him out of her mind. She was going to spend her day with Coast. She could be with Seagull the next day.
Dusk remembered that she had never told Coast that the next day was her hatching day. I won't, she thought. I don't want him to worry about that. And why would he have to know?
Dusk shook out her wings. He didn't have to know. She could tell him next year if he wanted to know. She didn't want to worry him about it being so soon. And if she told him, he'd go find a present and Dusk would have no one to be with.
Dusk flew towards the flight field in the only way she knew. She wasn't quite positive where it was, but she knew its basic direction. She hoped that was enough. 
A few minutes later, Dusk almost gave up hope that she'd ever find it when suddenly a strong warm wind caught her wings and shot her up. 
Dusk sighed with pleasure, then turned to Coast just in time to see him shoot up.
Coast wobbled slightly, looking below him to the dark hole beneath their talons with wide eyes. "What is this?" he exclaimed. 
Dusk laughed. "Updrafts! Seagull showed them to me yesterday. I thought you might like them." Dusk tucked in her wings slightly so she'd start to fall, and then opening them back and using the lift from that, she did a loop in the air. 
That was when Dusk realized something. It was just like dancing in the air. The updrafts just made it so much easier. 
Dusk gave a laugh of exhilaration, then started to twist in the air, using her wings to stabilize herself, as well as keep her in the air.
Coast laughed from above her. "You seem to be enjoying this!" he called over the rush of the wind.
Dusk paused and opened her wings to shoot back up to him. But she miscalculated and hit his wing with her own. They both started to fall for a second, but Dusk quickly righted herself and Coast followed soon after. 
"I'm sorry," Dusk laughed. "I didn't mean to."
Coast waved his wing dismissively. "It's fine. That was actually fun. And I just noticed that you looked the same as you did that day when you danced: carefree."
Dusk smiled sheepishly. "I enjoy it. It makes me feel better." 
Coast smiled back at her. "I know. Do you mind if I join you?" 
Dusk hesitated, remembering how Coast felt about her. 
"Just as friends?" Coast added softly. "Nothing more for the moment?"
Dusk smiled at him. "Of course." 
/ / / / / / / / / /
     
Coast and Dusk spent nearly the entire day at the flight field. When their wings started to get tired, they went and rested on the cliff nearby, talking through new tricks to do once they were done. By the end of the day, Dusk was as comfortable with the updrafts as she was with Coast. She knew they'd always catch her. But soon the sun began to disappear behind the mountain range and she knew they had to get back before it set. 
Dusk dropped out of the updrafts, sighing. "We have to go back," she called to Coast. "It's getting late."
Coast hesitated, looking over to the sun, but then followed her. "I don't know," he said when he reached her side. "I think it'd be pretty fun to do in the dark."
Dusk smiled. "I'd enjoy it, but maybe tomorrow night."
Coast grinned. "Well, thanks for bringing me out, but our wings are going to be sore tomorrow."
Dusk shrugged. "I guess so, but it wouldn't stop me from coming back. I like this too much."
"Agreed," Coast said. 
Dusk continued down the mountain, seeing the lake glimmering at the bottom. Dusk wished once again that she would swim. She paused to hover in the air, staring at it.
Coast passed her, but turned around. "Dusk, you alright?" 
"Coast," she said softly. "Do you think you could help me?"
"Help you?" Coast flew closer. "With what?"
Dusk flicked her tail to the lake. "Swim. I want to, so much at the moment, but I'm scared."
Coast took Dusk's talons in his. "I'll be with you every second, no matter what you choose. You have no reason to worry."
Dusk gave a nervous smile. "Alright, I'll try to."
Coast smiled. "Just tell me the moment you don't want to. We'll go back to camp." 
Dusk gave a light smile. "I'm glad I have a friend like you," she said softly. 
"Now come on." Coast let go of her talon, smiling at her encouragingly. "You can do it. I believe you can." 
As they continued flying down the mountain, Dusk's heart began to beat against her chest, thundering in her ears. Could she do it? Was it possible? Would the results change with Coast being at her side? 
Coast paused as they reached the edge of the lake. "Do you want to get in slowly?" he asked. "From shore? Or do you want to do it quickly? We'd head out to the middle of the lake, then dive in." 
Dusk hesitated, glancing at both of the places. She didn't know. "Let's just do it quickly," she finally said. "Before I can stop myself." 
Coast nodded. "I'll be with you every wingbeat of the way," he promised. 
They both flew out to the middle of the lake, Coast flying at her wingtip. 
"It's just like flying," he assured her. "It's hardly different. We'll dive in together. I'll keep my wing touching yours, to let you know I'm still there."
Dusk nodded, taking a deep breath. 
"You can do this," Coast said. "I know you can. It might just take a few tries. I'll wait until you're ready though."
Dusk tried to shake away the feeling of dread they settled on her. She had to do it. Nothing would go wrong.
Dusk swallowed and nodded. "I'm ready," she said in a small voice. 
Coast nodded. "Right. Here we go. I’ll follow your lead." 
Dusk held her breath, then closed her wings and shot down towards the lake. She could immediately feel Coast at her side. 
The water drew ever nearer. Dusk could hardly breathe with the horror that seemed to be tightening in her chest. 
Dusk shut her eyes and threw her wings out at the last moment. "I can't!" she cried. 
She heard a splash behind her which told her that Coast hadn't had enough time to pull out of his dive. She skimmed across the surface of the water and wheeled around to go to Coast. 
She circled the spot of bubbles until Coast's head popped up. "I'm sorry," she said. "I couldn't do it." 
Coast opened his wings and pushed himself out of the water, smacking it with his tail to get him out. "It's alright," he said. "We can try again." He shivered. "I just wasn't expecting it to be so cold."
Dusk gave a soft laugh. "I'm sorry though."
Coast waved a dripping wing dismissively. "No harm done. We can keep trying till you get it, if that's what you want to do."
Dusk hesitated, then nodded. "Until I get it, that's what I want. Could we try again?"
Coast nodded. "Just not quite as high though. That was a little too far from the lake."
Dusk nodded, swallowing. She wanted to do it, but her body didn't seem to. And she could hardly make it listen to her at the moment. 
They flew back up, not as high, as Coast had said, and Dusk began to steel herself for the task. But what would change? If she hadn't been able to do it the first time, why would that change?
"You can do it!"
Dusk's head jerked up and her eyes searched for the new voice. Then she saw Seagull, sitting on the shore. He was grinning. "I know you can do it, Dusk! I believe you can!"
Dusk smiled, and she felt a little braver than before. She turned to Coast. "Let's try this again."
Coast nodded. "On three."
Dusk took a deep breath. 
"One, two, three!"
Dusk closed her wings and they shot down towards the lake's surface. She knew she could do it. She had two dragons backing her up. 
And before Dusk could even think to stop, the surface was just in front of her. Dusk squeezed her eyes shut and then with a large splash, she was enveloped by the cold water. 
=== Chapter 18  ===
Dusk blinked the bubbles out of her eyes and looked around, holding her breath. She didn't trust that she actually had gills. 
The water didn't seem so bad now that she was in it. It was just cold like Coast had said. 
The bubbles cleared and Dusk saw Coast looking at her worriedly. He nodded at her with a questioning look. Dusk assumed he was asking if she was okay.
Dusk went to propel herself to the surface but Coast grabbed her talon. 
"Breathe," he mouthed to her. He took a deep breath and gestured to Dusk.
Dusk's chest was screaming for air by now. Dusk swallowed, then took a deep breath. She expected to get an unpleasant mouthful of water, but instead, it passed through her gills and she could breathe easily.
Dusk turned delightedly to Coast and took another deep breath. It was cool and refreshing. Her gills seemed like they needed the circulation.
Coast grinned at her. Then he blew a few bubbles out of his mouth and into Dusk's face. 
Dusk giggled, a few bubbles rising to the surface. Suddenly there was a loud splash above them. Dusk looked up and saw Seagull swimming down to them. He was grinning from ear to ear. 
Dusk smiled at him as he swam in a few circles around her. 
Then Seagull flicked his tail to the surface and started to swim up. Dusk followed him, curious about what he had to say. 
Seagull broke the surface of the lake first, then Dusk went up next to him.
"I can't believe you did it!" Seagull exclaimed, beaming. 
"Neither can I!" Dusk said excitedly. "I never thought I'd actually do it!" She paused for a moment. "I still wonder where that thought came from," she said.
"That's in the past," Seagull said. "It doesn't matter now." 
Dusk flicked her wings underwater. "You're right." She splashed Seagull. "And I love the water."
Seagull laughed. He ducked under the water for a second, then came back up and squirted water onto Dusk.
Dusk laughed and paddled away a few feet. "Gross!" She went to wipe her face when she noticed that the water was warmer. Not much, but still noticeable. "Did you use your power?"
Seagull nodded. "I thought that maybe because the water was colder than you were used to, I could help warm it up a bit."
Dusk beamed at him. "Thanks."
"Hey, remember that I told you I preferred sunset underwater?"
Dusk thought back. She remembered him mentioning it. "Yeah, I do."
"Well, it's a little bit past sunset, but it's still really pretty. Want to follow me down?"
Dusk shrugged. "Why not?" 
Coast popped up beside Dusk. "How is it so far?" he asked.
"Wonderful." Dusk pulled her wings up and smacked them on the water, hitting Coast with the spray.
Coast laughed and wiped his face, though his talons were wet, so it didn't help very much. 
"We were just about to go to the bottom to look at what remains of the sunset." Dusk waved her wing at the darkening sky. "Care to join us?" 
Coast grinned. "Good idea, Seagull," he said, looking over at him.
Seagull ducked his head embarrassedly. "Um, thanks?"
Dusk ducked underneath the cold water and swam down towards the bottom of the lake. It was darker down there, but her night-vision did its job. She tapped the sand and silt at the bottom, then flipped around to look up. Coast and Seagull swam down to her, then started to light up their glow-in-the-dark scales. Coast did it first, then after a moment, Seagull lit his up in a pattern. 
Dusk cocked her head at the two of them. "What?" she tried to say, but her words were engulfed in bubbles. She shook her head. That wouldn't work. 
Coast looked at Seagull and made a sort of circling motion with his talon. Seagull nodded, then turned to Dusk and pointed up.
Dusk followed where he was pointing and saw light shining on the surface high above her, the windblown surface shattering the beams, making it land on the bottom like pieces of glass. 
Dusk let out a small gasp and a stream of bubbles began to float to the surface. But, just because she felt like it, she flicked her tail out, straight through the bubbles. It made them break into smaller bubbles, and they still continued to the surface. 
Seagull raised a talon suddenly, as though he remembered something. He went and laid on his back on the lake bottom, then blew a bubble. But instead of just a bubble, it began to float up in a ring. 
Dusk gaped at it as it rose to the surface, then looked back to Seagull.
He grinned, then blew another ring bubble, which rose to the surface as well. 
Coast paddled to Seagull and flashed his glow-in-the-dark scales in an odd pattern.
Seagull looked at them, then nodded, getting up.
Dusk cocked her head and looked at the two of them confusedly.
Coast caught her gaze and gestured to Seagull and the bubbles, then pointed to himself.
Oh. Dusk assumed he was saying that he was asking Seagull to teach him how to do it, using what she had to guess was the SeaWing language. She paddled back, then gestured in front of her. Go on, she thought, hoping he would get her meaning. 
Coast looked at her, with a slightly embarrassed look. 
Seagull beckoned for Coast to come over. He lit up his scales in another odd pattern, then flipped onto his back again, floating over the ground. Coast mirrored his actions, but kept his eyes on Seagull, probably to see what he might say next, using the SeaWing language that Dusk didn't know. It was kind of annoying to be pretty much completely deaf underwater. 
Seagull lit up his scales in another sort of order, then blew out another ring bubble. 
Coast took a deep breath, then blew out a bubble. It had a sort of ring-ish shape, but not as much as Seagull's did.
Dusk swam over and patted Coast, smiling at him, trying to tell him that he had done a good job for his first try. 
Coast smiled sheepishly. He lit up his scales, then smacked his head. He gave her an apologizing look. 
Dusk shrugged it off. He had probably accidentally talked in the SeaWing language. But at least he knew she didn't know it. She'd have to ask Coast to teach it to her someday.
Dusk watched as Coast tried again and again, getting better each time. She didn't even notice how dark it was getting. Finally he made a ring as good as Seagull's, nearly better. 
Dusk clapped her talons, a very odd action underwater, and beamed at Coast.
Coast gave a sheepish grin, then pointed to the surface. Dusk nodded. She wanted to get back up. She wanted the feel of air in her throat again. 
Dusk burst up at the surface a few moments later, taking in gasps or air. Dusk never thought she'd feel so happy to breathe air. 
Coast popped up beside her, then Seagull. 
"Great job, Coast," Seagull said. "Although, I do suppose I'm an excellent teacher." He gave a laugh and Dusk knew he was joking. 
"You really are," Coast said. "Thanks." Then Seagull turned to Dusk. "Don't you know Aquatic?" he asked suddenly.
Coast turned and glared at him. 
"What?" Seagull asked innocently. 
"I don't," Dusk said, assuming that that was how they had been talking. "I'm sorry."
Coast paddled over. "Don't be," he said. "Just because you don't know something doesn't mean you have apologize for it."
Dusk gave a smile, though there was a hint of sadness to it. "I wish I knew," she said. "Maybe you could teach me eventually?"
Coast shrugged. "I don't see why I should teach you. The teacher at Jade Mountain is much better than I'd be."
"Oh," Dusk said, blinking in surprise. "I didn't realize they taught Aquatic at Jade Mountain."
Coast nodded. "It's an optional class," he said. "Because not everyone wants to learn it. No one but SeaWings can talk through it. Only a few other dragon tribes take it, just so they can understand."
Dusk thought back to a day a few months back from then. "Does Stargazer take them?" she asked slowly.
Coast looked startled. "Um, yeah, he did. He stopped though. He said he knew enough to mainly understand what a dragon was saying. He did it for about a year though, so he knows a lot."
"So what exactly did you say to him that day?" she asked. "In the music cave?" It hadn't occurred to Dusk that Coast might've insulted him until then. But she hadn't known what Aquatic was until that day. 
Coast looked down. "It wasn't much," he mumbled, trailing his talon over the surface of the water. 
Dusk shook her head exasperatedly. "Well, fine. That's in the past. Just apologize to him next time you see him, alright?"
Coast frowned unhappily, but nodded all the same.
Dusk smiled. "Thank you." Then she looked around. "Now what? The sun has set, so there's not much more to see." 
Seagull sighed. "Well, the only thing left to do is to go to bed. Do you want to be with me for tonight? You can stay with Coast if you want to though."
Dusk hesitated. "Well," she said slowly. "Um, maybe I could spend the night with both of you?"
Coast looked at Seagull and Seagull looked at Coast.
"I'd be fine with that," Coast said. Seagull nodded. "But now where is the question."
"Um, we could sleep underwater?" Dusk suggested shyly. 
Coast blinked at her, and Seagull grinned. "I love that!" he said. 
"I thought you wouldn't want to," Coast said. 
Dusk shrugged. "I kind of want to get a bit more used to the water," she said. "Also, it's been a long time since I've used my gills. I think they need it."
"Alright," Coast said. "I suppose I'd be alright with that. But if you need anything tonight, don't hesitate to wake me up."
Dusk nodded. "I will," she promised. She looked at both of them. "Do either of you need to do anything else before we go back down?" 
Seagull shrugged. "I should go tell my parents where I'll be tonight."
"And I should tell Sunny and my winglet," Coast said. 
"Oh, could you tell Sunny that I'll be with you for tonight?" Dusk asked. "Just to let her know?"
Coast nodded. "I'll be back in a bit," he promised. 
Dusk nodded. "I know you will be. You always are." 
Coast smiled, then got up and flew out of the water. 
"I'll go tell my parents now, if you don't mind," Seagull said. "Not unless you want someone to stay with you until Coast gets back. Because I don't mind either way."
"No, you can go. I'll be fine here." Dusk shooed him away. "Now go. Come back soon though."
Seagull nodded. "I will," he said. Then he opened his wings and flew to his hut that was lit up in the night.
Dusk ducked under the surface of the water and swam down to the bottom. Then she turned and shot back up to the surface, launching herself out of the water and spinning, water falling from her wings, glimmering in the moonslight like diamonds.
I don't need gems, Dusk thought. There is beauty all around me. I hope Seagull knows that. I don't want him to have spent a lot on me. She wondered what he got for her hatching day. 
I'll figure out tomorrow, she thought. It's better not to wonder about it now.
Dusk fell back into the lake with a splash and sank under the surface. Then, through the shimmering water, Dusk saw Seagull fly over, then he closed his wings. 
Dusk yelped, then quickly moved out of the way. Seagull fell through the surface in the place Dusk had been a few moments before. 
When the bubbles cleared, Dusk saw Seagull grinning at her. He blinked a few out of his eyes, then swam up to the surface. Dusk followed, then turned to him when she was above water. 
"What were you thinking?" she cried, laughing. "What if I hadn't moved?" 
Seagull shrugged. "I knew you would though."
Dusk gave an incredulous laugh. "Alright, fine. I'll let you off this time. Just don't do it again."
"If you don't want me to, then I won't." Seagull looked up. "We should wait here for Coast. In case he needs to say something before we go down."
Dusk nodded. "Good idea."
Seagull grinned. "Thank you. I knew it was." Then he cupped his talons and splashed some water onto Dusk.
Dusk laughed, then splashed him back.
Seagull pulled out his wings and created large waves with them that splashed her in the face, getting water up her snout. 
Dusk snorted the water out, then continued laughed. 
They continued to splash each other for a few minutes until they heard a voice above them.
"Look out below!" Coast's voice said. 
Dusk laughed and hurriedly moved out of the way. 
He started arrowing down to the lake. Dusk didn't think it'd make much of a splash when suddenly he flipped himself at the last moment so he smacked his tail on the surface.
The waves were huge and went over Dusk's head. She came back up to the surface, laughing. "That was really impressive," she told Coast. 
Coast winced, rubbing his tail. "It hurt, but I think it was worth it."
Dusk laughed. "I'd say so. I don't think I could make a bigger wave, even if I did what you did."
"Did you notice that that was one of my moves from the flight field?" he asked her. "I decided I'd try it on the water."
Dusk thought back. She did remember, now that she thought about it. She had seen Coast do it once, but she hadn't remembered at first because it was weird to not see him complete the action.
"You took him to the flight field?" Seagull asked suddenly from behind Dusk, making her jump.
Dusk turned to face him. "Yeah, I did. Is that okay? I needed something to do, and I thought Coast would enjoy it."
Seagull shook his head. "No, that's fine. I like to show them to dragons as well. But is that where you were all day?"
Dusk nodded. "How did you know we were there all day though?"
Seagull shrugged. "As I was flying back from the market, I didn't see you." Then he clapped his talons over his snout, looking horrified.
"What?" Dusk asked, glancing behind her at Coast to see if he had done anything, but he looked just as confused.
"Oh, I wasn't really supposed to tell you that I went to the market," he said. "I suppose you know now though."
"I already knew," Dusk said truthfully. "I saw you flying towards it this morning." 
"Why shouldn't Dusk know about that?" Coast asked from behind her.
Dusk met Seagull's eyes and shook her head imperceptibly. She didn't want Coast to know. Not yet.
"Oh, well, you see, I wanted to give Dusk a scroll from one of my favorite authors in the market. I didn't want her to know."
Dusk blinked at Seagull, wondering how he had thought of a lie so quickly. Or maybe it wasn't a lie. Maybe he had gotten her one of Scrollwriter's scrolls for her hatching day.
"Oh." Coast looked a little bit confused, but didn't say anything. Dusk gave a fake yawn. "Well, I'm tired. I'm going to go down there."
Coast nodded. "Yeah, good idea. It's getting late. I'm really tired from all the flying we did earlier today."
Dusk nodded. "Agreed," she said, rolling her wings slightly with a wince. She dove underneath the surface then swam down to the bottom. She found a soft spot of sand and laid down on it, letting her tail float slightly. She curled in her wings as Coast and Seagull swam down to her. Coast laid down at her left, still giving her a few feet of room, then Seagull laid down next to him.
Dusk flipped onto her back, looking up at the sky. She could see fragments of light from the moons. They were near each other, though not quite as close as she had seen in her memory. And the one on the right was just barely not full.
So Dusk fell asleep, staring at the night sky that was broken by the ripples of the lake.
/ / / / / / / / / /
 
Dusk woke up the next morning as the sky was just lighting up, a few stars still visible in the purplish-blue sky. She lay on the bottom, thinking about what day it was. Her hatching day. 
It can't be, right? Could Seagull have been wrong? She chanced a glance at him as he slept, his chest rising and falling peacefully. No, he believed fully and truly that it was her hatching day. And it had to happen at some point. Why was she trying to delay it?
So I'm three now, she thought. That seems so odd. Dusk watched the surface of the lake above her, thinking. She blew out a bubble, watching as it rose, thinking that it seemed so weird that she had been afraid of the water. She was glad that she wasn't anymore though, no matter what the case had been before then.
Dusk got up from the bottom and glanced at Coast and Seagull. Both of them were still asleep. She hoped they wouldn't mind if she went swimming without them. She wouldn't go far.
Dusk turned and shot through the water, swimming as fast as she could just because she had the space to. Then she did a loop underwater, slowing to a stop at the bottom of it. 
Dusk glanced around, then took a deep breath. She thought about her scales and how she had tried to change them a month or two back. She hadn't really tried that day. So what if she tried again? Dusk felt as though she could do it. Maybe it was just because she had been able to get in the water. 
Dusk closed her eyes and concentrated on the color of the water around her. Change, she thought, taking the picture of the water and imagining her scales changing to that color. 
Dusk didn't feel anything different so she opened her eyes with a frown. But that was when she noticed that she couldn't see her talons. 
Dusk yelped in surprise then her scales shimmered back into view, black with light blue underscales. 
Dusk inspected her talons. Then, concentrating as hard as she could while still keeping her eyes on it, she tried to change her talon to a blue. A blue as bright as the sky and the depths of the ocean. And then, to her surprise, the color slowly shifted to the one she had in her mind.
Dusk gasped, then, slowly taking the color out of her mind, her talon slowly shifted back to its normal color.
Do I just have to keep the color in my mind? she thought. If so, that's not as hard as I thought.
Dusk turned and started to swim back to Seagull and Coast. When she got back, neither of them were awake. Dusk grinned, then focused on the color of the water around her and held that in her mind. Then her scales shimmered out of view and she swam over to Coast, poking him with her tail.
Coast shifted, then opened his eyes. He was staring at a spot behind Dusk, but almost through her scales. Dusk, just to see if he'd notice, focused and added a bit more shimmer to her scales, matching the water around her. 
Indeed, Coast cocked his head and stared confusedly at the patch of water that Dusk was pretending to be. 
Then she couldn't contain herself anymore. Dusk burst out laughing and her scales came into view.
Coast looked confused, then delighted. "Dusk!" he yelled, though it was garbled from the bubbles.
Dusk grinned at him, then pointed to the surface. 
Coast nodded, then shot towards it, Dusk following behind him.  He broke the surface and Dusk came up next to him.
"I didn't know you could change your scales!" Coast said breathlessly. "When did you learn how to do that?"
"Just now," Dusk said dismissively. "I honestly didn't know that you knew I was part RainWing."
Coast grinned. "I didn't know that you didn't know that I knew you were part RainWing."
Dusk thought, trying to think of another way she could put "know" in a sentence.
"Oh, did you know that I didn't know that I was part RainWing?" Dusk said. She gave him a challenging look, wondering if he could actually formulate a sentence.
"Oh, really? Well, I didn't know that you didn't know that you were part RainWing, but now I know, even though you didn't know that I knew you were part RainWing and you didn't know how to change your scales, but now you know how and I know that you can."
Dusk gave an incredulous laugh. "Okay, that was just ridiculous."
Coast laughed. "What? Why? That was a perfectly logical sentence," he said teasingly.
"Oh, yes," Dusk said with a straight face. "It most certainly was." She paused for a moment. "Hey, uh, Coast. I want to tell you something."
"Alright," Coast said, looking at her curiously. 
"Um, I kind of promised Seagull I'd spend the day with him." Dusk looked away. "I hope you don't mind. I mean, I don't think I have to spend the whole day with him, but you know."
"Oh." Coast looked disappointed. "Okay, I guess that's fine. I mean, I want to spend the day with you, but I spent it with you all of yesterday. And we're leaving tomorrow, so I suppose I could spend time with you then." He smiled at her. "I'll see you tomorrow then?"
Dusk smiled at him. "For sure. Hopefully some time before then."  She poked him with her tail. "But we still have until Seagull wakes up though."
Coast grinned. "You're right." He leaned over and tapped her talon. "Tag," he said casually. "You're it." Then he jumped out of the water and into the air, getting Dusk wet from the spray of his wings.
Dusk shook a few droplets of her head and wings. "No fair, Coast!" she exclaimed. "I wasn't ready!"
"You weren't supposed to be!" he called from the sky above her. "Now come and get me!" 
Dusk laughed. "You're on!" Then she shot out of the water and reached out to touch Coast. But he flew out of her way, then wheeled around.
"Can't you do better than that?" he called to her teasingly. "I saw that coming from a mile away!" 
Dusk frowned, then flew towards him, steadily angling upwards. Coast looked confused and kept a good ways away from her. But then Dusk closed her wings and began arrowing down towards Coast with alarming speed. She nearly overshot Coast, but she threw out a talon and tapped Coast's wing. 
"Hah!" she exclaimed, flying away and glancing back. "Now you're it!" 
Coast looked over at her and sly look spread across his face. "You're going to regret that," he said. "I say you have, hm, about thirty seconds until I get you." Then he started to fly towards her. 
Dusk swerved up as he nearly tapped her tail, then closed her wings and began to fall. She turned to Coast with a sly grin, then focused on the color of the air around her. In a moment, she was nearly invisible. He might still be able to see her, but it might help throw him off her trail.
"Okay, now that is unfair," Coast said, frowning as he paused in the air. "You have to at least give me some way to see you."
Dusk thought for a moment, then looked up at the clouds. She concentrated on their puffiness, then added them to the blue of her scales. "How about that?" she said. She knew he knew where she was because he was now staring in her direction. "So whenever I'm flying, you'll see moving clouds. Or at least, the closest resemblance I could get to a cloud."
Coast frowned. "Alright, fine. And those aren't bad clouds. I think they're actually quite good. It was a little weird to see clouds appear out of thin air. You're pretty good at that camouflage stuff."
Dusk gave a sheepish smile even though she knew Coast couldn't see her. "Thanks," she said. "Now, come and get me."
Coast flew in her direction and Dusk dodged easily. He didn't seem to be going as fast, probably worrying that he might miss her. 
Dusk made her tail change back to its normal color. "Here," she said. "A bit more help for you."
Coast smiled in her direction. "I don't need it. So turn your tail back invisible and then we can continue. I want this to be hard."
"Alright," Dusk said. "Whatever you say."  She changed her tail back to the colors around her. Then she flew off in a circle above Coast, watching him. 
Coast sat in midair for a moment, cocking his head to the side. Dusk started to glide where she was, watching Coast and wondering what he'd do to find her. Dusk turned and wheeled around, flapping her wings as she fell a bit.
Then Coast launched himself from where he was hovering and in a moment he smacked her talon. 
"Sorry!" Coast exclaimed. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hit you so hard."
Dusk laughed. "No, good job." She changed her scales so Coast could see her. "How did you find me?"
"I listened for your wingbeats," he said. "I lost them for a bit, but then I heard them again, so I headed towards the sound. I kind of misjudged the distance," he said embarrassedly. 
"You're fine," Dusk said. "Good job. Now, I'm it, right?"
Coast nodded. 
Dusk lunged at him and Coast narrowly dodged. "I wasn't ready!" he exclaimed. 
"You were ready enough," Dusk countered. "You managed to avoid me, so nothing changed whether you were ready or not."
Suddenly there was a splash below them. Dusk looked down and saw Seagull coming up to them.
"What are you two doing?" he asked. 
"Just playing tag," Dusk said, casually flying a bit closer. 
"Oh." Seagull looked at both of them. "Who's it?"
Dusk gave Coast a sly look, then tapped Seagull's wing. "Me," she said. Then she flew off towards Coast. 
"Aw, come on! That's not fair!"
"Dusk doesn't know the meaning of fair!" Coast called back. 
"Okay, now that's unfair," Dusk said frowning at him. 
Coast grinned. "I know. But you don't seem to know the meaning of fair when it comes to tag." 
Dusk grinned slyly. "I just think everyone needs to be ready for anything," she said. "Is that so bad?"
Suddenly Seagull arrowed up towards them and Dusk ducked out of the way, pulling in her wings and falling through the surface of the water. 
Startled fish swam away and Dusk continued swimming, glancing behind her to see if Seagull was following her. It didn't seem like he was. 
Dusk allowed herself a small smile. But then as she glanced up, there was a large splash in the water right in front of her. Dusk yelped and stopped. Then a blue talon shot out of the bubbles and tapped Dusk's snout.
She blinked in surprise, then Seagull's form flew up out of the water, leaving Dusk in the bubbles. 
Alright, fine, Dusk thought, grinning. It's on, you two. She took the color of the sky in advance and held it in her mind, ready to put it on her scales. 
Dusk launched herself out of the water, then flew up to where Seagull and Coast were flying. 
"You'll never catch us!" Seagull called. 
"Oh, I won't?" Dusk gave them both a sly smile, then took the color of the sky and changed her scales, purposefully not adding clouds that time. She wouldn't give them anything to track her by.
"See?" she heard Coast say to Seagull. "This is what I mean when I say she's not being fair. Right, now we fly." They both flew in separate directions and Dusk specifically started to follow Coast. It'd seem unfair if she went and got Seagull when he had just been it.
Coast paused in midair, his eyes scanning the sky. Dusk flew over his head. "Hi," she said pleasantly. She went to go tag him. 
"Um, Dusk, I want to talk to you for a second," Coast said softly.
Dusk paused, then brushed her wingtip against his to let him know she was there. "I'm listening," she said.
"Well, I thought you said that you were going to spend the day with Seagull," he said. "But Seagull doesn't seem to be in a hurry."
Dusk thought for a moment, glancing at Seagull. He was looking excited, glancing around. "I think he doesn't mind," Dusk said. "But I'll go ask him."
"Thank you," Coast said. 
"Oh, and technically you're it," Dusk said, grinning. "I brushed you. But wait until I'm done talking to Seagull."
Coast frowned. "Alright. But just because I'm agreeing doesn't mean I like it."
"I know," Dusk said. Then she wheeled around and flew towards Seagull. When she got closer, Dusk paused. "Hey, Seagull, can I talk to you for a second?"
Seagull jumped and looked over in the direction Dusk was. "And you promise not to tag me?" he asked. 
"Promise," Dusk said. 
"Alright. What is it?"
"I was wondering what we planned to do for my hatching day," Dusk said softly, not wanting Coast to overhear.
"Well, we can do presents whenever you want, but other than that, we just try to have fun. And I'm enjoying this."
Dusk smiled. "I am too," she said. "So let's do this for now."
Seagull grinned at her. "Great! Now, your only option is to go tag Coast, because you promised not to tag me."
"Right," Dusk said. "But Coast will come after you when I tag him."
"I can outfly Coast," Seagull said. "I have SkyWing wings, after all."
"Yeah," Dusk agreed. "I feel as though that gives you a bit too much of an advantage over us."
"Maybe, maybe not. Now go."
Dusk flew up to Coast and tapped him again, making him jump. "Now you're officially it," she said. "So have fun." Then she flew away, purposely making her scales shimmer back into view.
"Hey, nice to see you again!" Coast called.
"Yeah, make that two!" Seagull called. "I like it better when you're not invisible!"
Dusk laughed. "Fine, I won't camouflage again."
They kept playing tag for several hours, resting in the lake when they were tired or hot, but then went straight back at it. Then, when it was nearly midday, a voice called out. 
"Come down here, you three!"
Dusk looked over to see Dolphin on the grass in front of the hut. She had a few things in her talons.
Seagull came rushing down and tapped Dusk on his way. "Now you'll be it later!" he called to her. Then he went a landed next to his mom.
Dusk glanced over and saw Coast looking hesitant. She flew over to him. "What's wrong?"
"Does she mean me too?" Coast asked. "I don't even know her."
"That's Dolphin," Dusk explained. "She's Seagull's mom. And I'm sure she wanted you to come too. So come on."
"I guess she did say the three of us," Coast said after a moment. 
"She did," Dusk said. "So let's go and see what she wants." She turned and flew towards the ground, landing next to Seagull. 
Dolphin was holding three crimson apples covered in a thick honey-like substance. "Honeyed apples!" Dusk exclaimed. 
Dolphin nodded, then handed one to Dusk, and another to Seagull. And then she had one leftover. Dolphin turned to Coast. "I'm afraid I don't know you," she said. "So what's your name?"
"Um, Coast," he said uncomfortably. 
"Here, Coast," Dolphin said, handing him the last apple. "I hope you three enjoy." She smiled at them, then turned and walked back into the hut. 
"I hadn't realized she had left the hut," Seagull said, beaming. "But I'm glad she did." He held up the apple. "You've got to try yours, Coast. They're delicious."
"They really are," Dusk agreed. She sat down and took a bite of hers and sighed with pleasure. "I don't think I've ever had anything sweeter in my life." 
Coast took a bite of his and groaned with pleasure. "You're right," he said after he had finished chewing. "It's really good, especially for a fruit. No offense," he added quickly. "I just prefer meat to fruit."
Seagull laughed. "None taken. I prefer meat as well, especially fish."
"Same here," Coast said. 
They ate in silence, and Dusk ended up finishing first. She stabbed the small wooden stick into the ground, then got to her talons.
"Once you two are done, care to go to the flight field?" she asked. 
Seagull frowned slightly. "But what about what we were going to do?"
"We can do that later, can't we?" Dusk asked. "I just wanted to play around with you two."
Seagull nodded. "Okay, later then."
Dusk turned to Coast. "Are you good with that?" she asked. 
Coast nodded, beaming. "I'm great with that."
Dusk couldn't hold back a smile. "Now, let's get going." Dusk launched herself into the air. "Try to keep up, slowpokes!"
Dusk heard laughing behind her and then wingbeats, but she kept her gaze fixed ahead of her, allowing herself a smile. Maybe it wasn't such a bad thing that it was her hatching day. After all, it was turning out to be really good so far. 
Seagull shot past her and Dusk gave him an amused look, the started to flap her wings harder, reaching his side, nearly leaving Coast behind. But soon he caught up to both of them and they all headed to the flight field together.
/ / / / / / / / / /
  
It was nearly sunset when they decided to head back to Seagull's hut. 
"I'd like to swim in the lake for a bit," Dusk said. "A bit of cold water would feel really nice."
"I agree," Coast said.
"Yeah," Seagull said slowly. "But. . . Well, we need to have time to do that thing."
"We can do that after sunset," Dusk said, knowing he was talking about the presents he wanted to give her. "At least, I hope so?"
Seagull nodded after a moment. "Actually, now that I think about it, it would be better after the sun has set."
Coast cocked his head. "You know, I'm still curious what you two are talking about."
"I know," Dusk said. "But could I tell you after we get back to Jade Mountain?"
Coast frowned. "Alright. Just promise you will."
Dusk nodded. "I promise. I just don't want to tell you now. Not here."
Coast looked confused but nodded. 
Dusk turned and saw the lake shimmering in the last light of day. "Last one to the lake is a rotten oyster!" she called. "Seagull, you have an unfair advantage!" she added as he closed his wings and headed down towards it. 
Coast stayed put and Dusk paused, flying back to his side. "You alright?" she asked. 
Coast nodded. "I just don't like it that you're keeping secrets from me," he said after a moment. "Seagull obviously knows, so why can't I?"
"I didn't want you to worry about it being so soon," Dusk said softly. 
Coast cocked his head. "What being so soon?" he asked confusedly.
Dusk hesitated. "Well, um, me and Seagull figured something out last night." She turned her gaze to the lake. "We figured out that today is my hatching day."
Coast gasped. "Why didn't you tell me?" he exclaimed.
Dusk winced. "I didn't want you to freak out, like you're doing right now. I just thought I wouldn't tell you until some time a few months later."
"But why? I want to give you something!"
"I knew you would," Dusk said. "But I had decided that I wouldn't tell you until we get back to Jade Mountain, so you'd have options. I don't want anything that you can buy or trade for. I just want something from you."
Coast thought for a moment. "Alright, I can see why you didn't want to tell me. But, thank you for trusting me enough to tell me now."
Dusk looked away guiltily. "I just didn't like it when you said I was keeping secrets from you. I had never really thought about it like that."
"Oh. Sorry." Coast looked away. 
"No, it's alright. It was actually kind of hard to keep it from you," Dusk said. "Having to choose my words carefully and make sure I didn't say anything that might give it away."
"So let's not keep secrets from each other," Coast said. "I'd agree to that."
"I see no problem with that," Dusk said. "So why not?"
Coast grinned. "Great. I think I'll like this deal."
Dusk shrugged. "I just don't see a downside to it. Now come on." She bumped him with her wings. "Do you particularly want to be a rotten oyster?"
Coast grinned and shook his head. "Nope." Then he closed his wings and flew towards the lake. 
Dusk laughed, then quickly followed him. She definitely wasn't going to be last there. But, as Seagull was already there, she wasn't going to be first.
Dusk ended up landing next to the lake a few seconds after Coast. "Good job in beating me," she told Coast.
"I beat both of you," Seagull pointed out. "By quite a lot."
"You don't count," Dusk said dismissively. "But I guess I'm the rotten oyster, going by what I said at least."
"Ah, not on your hatching day," Coast said, grinning. 
Seagull exchanged a look with Dusk. 
"Yeah," she said. "He knows. I told him." 
"Oh." Seagull glanced at him. "I kind of wanted tonight to be just us."
"Coast'll agree to that," Dusk said. She glanced at him. "I know he will."
Coast nodded. "For tonight," he said. "I'll be waiting for you two in the lake, or will we sleep on land tonight?"
Seagull looked to Dusk and she hesitated. "Maybe land tonight?" she said. "I mean, if you two don't mind."
Seagull shook his head and Coast shrugged. 
"I guess I'll go back to the Jade Mountain Academy camp then," Coast said. "I'll see you tomorrow," he said, smiling at Dusk. 
Dusk nodded. "I know I will. I'll be back at sunrise tomorrow to make sure I'll be there early enough."
Coast nodded. "Good idea," he said. "I definitely don't want you to be left behind. I'd probably wait if you weren't there by then though."
"I wonder if Stargazer would," Dusk said. "But I'd much rather you be there instead of him. Yes, he's funny, but in a sort of ... weird way." She glanced guiltily over to the camp, as if Stargazer might hear her.
Coast smiled. "Thanks, that means a lot to me. But don't let Stargazer hear you say that."
Dusk gave a slight nervous laugh. "I didn't intend to."
Coast went over and brushed his wing against hers. "I'll see you tomorrow," he said. Then he opened his wings and flew away. 
Dusk watched him go, then turned to Seagull. "You ready?" she asked. 
"Are you ready?" Seagull countered. "You're the one who's getting the presents. I've been ready since last night. Let me just go grab them."
"Them?" Dusk echoed. "You got me more than one thing?" 
Seagull nodded. "Just wait here and you'll see what they are. Just wait for me where we were the other night."
Dusk nodded, then watched as Seagull went into his hut. She walked over to the blankets from two nights ago and sat down on the larger one, taking both the smaller ones and folding them up to get them out of the way.
She looked up at the sky and saw the moons rising. Two of them, both full, nearly next to each other in the sky. They'd get closer as the night progressed, then they'd pass right by each other, nearly touching. But that would happen sometime after midnight, so they wouldn't be awake to see it.
"I'm back," Seagull said, holding a large bag. "This is just to keep them secret," he told her. He sat down next to her, then rummaged through the bag. "Here it is. I'm going to give this to you first," Seagull said. "Because if I followed up with this, it'd seem really insignificant, compared to what I'm giving you next."
"I'm sure they're both wonderful," Dusk assured him.
Seagull pulled something small out of the bag and held it out. 
It was a bracelet. Three cords of different colors woven together in a braid. One was a black, like her scales, another a light blue, like her underbelly, and the last one a bright sky blue, like the webs between her talons and wings.
"Oh, Seagull," Dusk breathed. "It's beautiful." She took it from him and held it up to the sky. That was when she noticed something a bright blue in between the cords. Dusk pulled it closer and peered at it. That was when she realized that they were small diamond-shaped sapphires. Extremely tiny, but incredibly beautiful.
"Where did you get the sapphires?" Dusk asked Seagull incredulously. 
"Granite gave them to me," Seagull admitted. "They were too small for him to sell and they were mainly just pieces that came off when he was cutting a larger sapphire. Um, I hope you don't mind that I didn't spend any treasure to get it."
"I don't care whether or not you spent anything," Dusk said. "I think it's better that you didn't. Thank you. It's beautiful. The most beautiful thing I've ever had."
"How do you know?" Seagull asked. "We don't know what you had before you lost your memory."
Dusk smiled at him. "I'm sure I haven't had anything more beautiful than this," she said confidently. "Here, help me put it on."
She held out her talon and Seagull tied it around it. "Is that good?" he asked. "Not too tight? Not too loose that it'll fall off?"
"It's perfect," Dusk said, admiring it. "Thank you."
"Now, for your other present," Seagull said. He hesitated as he reached into his bag. "Just tell me if you don't want it," he said. "I can go take it back."
Dusk laughed. "Quit worrying. I know I'll like it."
Seagull took a deep breath, then drew out the moonglobe tree sapling.
Dusk gasped. It was even more beautiful at night. Like a piece of the moons had come down to Pyrrhia. "Seagull, how did you afford this?" she said breathlessly, gingerly taking the sapling from him and admiring its branches and leaves and the small little buds that were glowing brightly.
"I got the IceWing to lower his price," Seagull said. "I, um, I hope you don't mind that I did."
"Not at all," Dusk said, leaning down and touching one of the buds. "Thank you so much. It's beautiful."
Seagull beamed. "That's why I said it'd be better to do it at night. I saw it last night when I went to tell my mom and dad that I was going to be sleeping in the lake. It took my breath away."
"I can tell why." Dusk messed with one of the buds when she knocked it off. But instead of just falling, like she expected it to, it quietly floated up her talon then settled at her shoulder, casting its light around her. 
"Oh, now that's adorable." Seagull went and poked the little bud. "How does it know how to do that?" 
"The enchantment, I'm guessing." Dusk looked at the small little tree and saw that there was another smaller little bud that was growing in the place of the one she had just picked.
"Wow," she breathed. "That's incredible."
"I had no idea it'd do that," Seagull said. "I'm guessing you'll have to find a place to plant that when you get back to Jade Mountain. You can't just have it grow in the pot."
"No, I suppose I can't. Did the IceWing tell you what we have to do for it?"
Seagull nodded. "He only said that it needed space, time, and a bit of water every once in awhile."
"Hm. Sounds easy enough." Dusk cocked her head at the sapling. "I feel like it'd need more, don't you think?"
Seagull nodded. "I asked the IceWing about it but he promised that was all it needed." Seagull hesitated. "And there's one more thing I want to tell you," he said. 
"Alright," Dusk said, cocking her head. "What is it?"
Seagull took a deep breath. "I've decided that I'll come to Jade Mountain Academy," he said. 
Dusk gaped at him. "You can't be serious," she said. 
"I am," Seagull said tentatively. "Not unless you don't want me to come."
"No, it's not that," Dusk said quickly. "I don't want you to leave your home and your family."
"But I want to go," Seagull said. "I could be with you and Coast every day, and meet the other hybrids you were talking about. I want to learn the things you're learning."
Dusk was happy, but she was still worried. "Are you sure? You'd be leaving your parents and everything."
Seagull nodded. "I know. I'll miss them but I can send them letters and they can send me letters. They'll tell me everything that goes on here and pick up the first copy of Scrollwriter's new scroll and send it to me." He beamed at her. 
"But what about all your stuff?" Dusk asked him. "I don't want you to leave that behind."
"I'm taking a bag with my stuff for weaving," he said. "I'll take my favorite threads too, but I know they have stuff at Jade Mountain."
Dusk nodded slowly. She couldn't think of anything else to say. "Well, I'm glad you're coming," she said, giving him a smile. "That's another dragon for the Obsidian Winglet. It's for hybrids. I wonder if we can get seven dragons in it one day."
"I know it will happen eventually," Seagull said confidently. "It's only a matter of time before it does."
Dusk smiled. "I think you're right. But will your parents allow you to go to Jade Mountain?"
"I already asked them," Seagull said. "They said that if I wanted to, I could." He paused for a second. "So, I know there's an open spot in the winglet, but does it complicate anything?"
"Not that I can think of," Dusk said. "I think it's fine if you come." She smiled at him. "But you're the nicest hybrid. Clearglow is okay, but Quicksand isn't very friendly. I'm not sure why."
"Oh." Seagull shrugged. "He can't be any worse than some of the dragons that hate hybrids. I think I'll be fine with him."
"You might end up being his clawmate," Dusk said after a moment. "Usually they set sleeping caves up by gender, but I'm not sure what they'll do. They didn't change the setup when I got there, but they still had space in the cave. But four dragons will put it over its limit."
"Oh." Seagull looked away. "I don't have to go if it does make it complicated."
"I'm sure it doesn't," Dusk said. "They probably have things to do when this happens. So please, I want you to come if you want to."
Seagull grinned. "Of course I want to! What do you think I've been saying?"
Dusk shrugged. "I don't know. I just wanted to make sure."
"Well I'm going," Seagull said. "End of conversation."
"I'll tell Sunny tomorrow morning, while you're getting everything you need," Dusk said gleefully. "Thank you for coming."
Seagull nodded. "Of course. I wasn't really doing it for you though."
"I know," Dusk said. "But it means a lot to me that you're coming."
"Well, I'm glad." Seagull grinned. "Now, we should probably go to sleep. We have a long flight ahead of us tomorrow."
"Not really," Dusk said, laying down on the blanket. "It'll probably feel pretty short for you. They make sure to take a lot of breaks. A few too many, in my opinion, but all the youngest dragonets need them." Dusk took the small moonglobe off her shoulder and set it down by the icy sapling. It began to float quietly there.
Dusk smiled at the tree, then held her bracelet up to the light of it, watching the pieces of sapphire glimmering in the light. "Thank you, Seagull," she said. "They're both so beautiful."
Seagull grinned, laying down next to her. "I thought you'd like them. I'm glad you do."
Dusk looked up at the two moons and remembered the SandWing from her memory. She wondered who she could be and if she was important. She had to be.
Dusk glanced at the light coming from the moonglobe tree, then up at the moons. It seemed to be the same. She wondered if, when it grew big enough, she could climb into it and sit with the moonglobes. It must feel like you were sitting on a moon.
Dusk smiled. She was glad that Seagull was so considerate and that he had remembered that she liked the sapphires from Granite and how much she had liked the moonglobe tree. 
Dusk turned over onto her side and closed her eyes, falling asleep nearly immediately. 
=== Chapter 19  ===
By midday the next day, everything was sorted out and Seagull was flying wing to wing with Dusk as they flew back towards Jade Mountain. He had said goodbye to his parents and had everything packed. Dusk had gone to Sunny and asked if he could come. Sunny had accepted, and Dusk hurriedly went to tell Seagull. 
Seagull had given her a bag that she could sling around herself and carry the moonglobe tree in, so now she had that bumping along at her side.
"Hey, Dusk, Seagull," Coast said, flying up to both of them. "How was everything last night?"
"Seagull gave me this." Dusk held up her talon that the bracelet was on and Coast took it to peer at it closely. 
"Whoa," he said. "Are those sapphires in there?"
Dusk nodded. "Pieces that couldn't be sold, but still. I think they're beautiful."
Coast smiled at her and let go of her talon. "I remember you saying that sapphires were your favorite gem. I had debated about giving you one myself, but one, I had nothing to get it with, and two, I had nowhere to get it. I'm glad you got some yourself."
"I didn't realize that sapphires were your favorite gem," Seagull interjected. 
"They are," Dusk said, nodding. 
"Wow." Seagull grinned. "I guess that works out well for me! I just noticed you looking at one the other day."
"And Seagull got me something else," Dusk said to Coast, "but I can't exactly show you here. Wait until we stop again." 
Coast nodded. "Is it in your bag?" he asked. 
Dusk nodded. "I think it's really cool. I can't wait for you to see it."
So the next time they stopped, Dusk pulled out the moonglobe tree and set it on the ground. 
Coast gasped. "Is that what I think it is?" he asked. "A moonglobe tree?"
Dusk nodded. 
"I've read about those," Coast said, peering at the buds closely, looking confused. "But they're only in the Ice Kingdom." He turned to Seagull. "Where did you get it?"
"It was an IceWing," Dusk answered for him. "He was selling it in the market in Sanctuary." She glanced at Seagull. "He did say that it was only part of it." She tapped her snout. "I wonder if he was allowed to take it," she said. 
"Probably not," Seagull said. "The IceWing seemed really nervous. Maybe that was why he lowered his price so quickly. He just wanted to get rid of it so he couldn't be caught."
"You'd better be careful with that," Coast told Dusk. "I'm guessing some of the IceWings at Jade Mountain won't be too happy that someone stole one of their gifts."
"I don't know many of the IceWings at Jade Mountain," Dusk said. "So they don't know me. So I should be fine."
"Just be careful," Coast said. "I know some IceWings who are perfectly nice, like Frost, but I also know of an IceWing who might hate you forever if he figures out that you have that tree."
"Who?" Dusk asked, cocking her head. Now that she thought about it, she only knew one IceWing at Jade Mountain, not unless Clearglow counted. 
"His name is Blizzard. He's always talking about how high up in the rankings he is, whatever that means. His best friend is Vapor, if that tells you anything. I believe he's in the Amber Winglet."
"Oh." Dusk waved a wing dismissively. "I'll avoid him. Or just any IceWing I don't know."
Coast nodded. "I think that's a safe option. The safest, most likely." 
"Oh, Coast, did you know that when you pick the moonglobes, they come and float at your shoulder?" Dusk asked. "I would show you, but we can't really see them right now, and I don't want to use all the moonglobes."
"They'll grow back," Coast said. "But I see what you're saying. You can show me tonight, after we stop, alright?"
Dusk nodded. "I'd love to. And then, once we get back to Jade Mountain, you two will have to help me find a spot to plant this. After all, it can't live in a pot its whole life, especially if we want it to get bigger." 
"Yeah, the moonglobes would certainly give more light if they were bigger," Coast said. "I wonder how long it takes to grow." 
"At the rate a normal tree does?" Dusk suggested. "I don't know. I assume the animus who enchanted it made it act like a normal tree, but I'm not that animus."
"You could still be an animus," Seagull said softly. "We don't know." 
Dusk started. She had forgotten that she might be an animus. "Well, it doesn't matter," Dusk said. "If I'm an animus or not, I don't care if I don't know."
Coast cocked his head. "Why do you think you might be an animus?" 
Dusk looked at Seagull. "Um, Seagull had a long explanation. Care to tell him?" 
"Gladly," Seagull said. He turned and started to talk to Coast, but Dusk wasn't paying attention. 
She stared at the moonglobe tree. Had the animus that had created the beautiful ice sculpture known about the dangers of animus magic? Had they used it and lost their soul?
Have I? Dusk thought quietly. If I am what Seagull thinks I am, how far am I really from losing my soul completely?
/ / / / / / / / / /
They flew for three days without issue, resting at intervals throughout the day and then stopping at night. Soon, Jade Mountain's twin peaks were well in sight. They took a break nearby, but Dusk didn't want to stop. If they were so close, couldn't they just go?
She could tell that Coast agreed with her. His talons were twitching, as though ready to paint something. Now that she thought about it, the trip had been the longest she had ever seen him without painting something. Nine days, if she had counted correctly. 
Dusk found Sunny in the crowd of dragonets, talking excitedly to each other about what they'd tell their winglets and stuff like that. 
"Sunny," Dusk said, tapping her golden yellow tail. 
Sunny turned. "Oh, Dusk! What is it?"
"Me, Seagull, and Coast are all ready to go back now," she said, not actually positive if Seagull was. "I was wondering if we could go together."
"Oh." Sunny thought for a moment. "Well, we are fairly close, but I would feel better if you waited. Just to make sure we have everyone when we get back."
Dusk nodded. "Thank you. I just thought I'd ask."
"Thank you for asking," Sunny said. "I know some dragonets that might not."
Dusk nodded, then turned and headed back to Coast. "She said no for me, you, and Seagull going to Jade Mountain together," she said.
"Oh well," Coast said. His talons twitched. "I just want to paint, really badly," he explained. "I know exactly what I want to do and what colors of paint I want to use, but I'm worried that I'll forget."
"I don't think you will," Dusk said. "And besides, even when you wing a painting, it turns out great."
Coast hesitated. "Well. . ."
"I've seen you do it," Dusk said. "That one you did with the rainforest?"
"Some of the proportions in that one weren't right," Coast protested. "Like that one tree on the far right?"
"I saw nothing wrong with it," Dusk said dismissively. 
"But I have to get everything on this one right," Coast said. "If it's going to be for you," he added quietly. 
"Oh." Dusk went over and brushed her wing against his. "Well, I don't care. You can even give me one of your old ones. Just as long as it's something from you."
Coast smiled. "But this one is special. I want it to be."
"Alright. But you'll just have to wait," she reminded him. 
"I know," Coast said. "But the moment we land, I'm going to the art cave."
"I'll go to my sleeping cave and put the moonglobe tree there. At least for the moment," Dusk said. "I don't know what I'll do after that, but I won't go to the art cave. I promise."
Coast smiled. "Thank you. I want it to be a surprise."
"And I want it to stay a surprise until you're ready to show it," Dusk said, grinning.
Coast thought for a moment. "I'll have to let it dry overnight," he said, tapping his snout thoughtfully. "So maybe tomorrow morning?"
Dusk nodded. "That's fine with me."
Seagull walked over to the two of them. Dusk had no idea where he'd come from. "To be honest," he said, "Jade Mountain looks kind of imposing."
Dusk glanced over and looked at the two rock spires that made up the twin peaks of Jade Mountain. "I suppose it does," Dusk said. "But all I can think of when I see it now is that it's my home."
"I see it that way too," Coast said, smiling. "The Kingdom of the Sea has felt hostile to me for a year now."
"For a year?" Dusk began. "Why – oh. I'm sorry. Forget I asked." Now she remembered that Shore had died about a year ago. 
"Don't worry about it," Coast said dismissively. "I was the one who brought it up, so it's my fault."
"Am I supposed to know what you two are talking about?" Seagull asked after a moment. 
Dusk shook her head. "Coast told me last time we were at Jade Mountain, so you wouldn't know." She glanced at Coast. "And it's not exactly something he likes to share with everyone."
"Oh." Seagull cocked his head but stayed quiet.
Then it was a little bit too quiet. Dusk awkwardly pulled out the moonglobe tree and checked its branches, making sure everything was okay. In the past few days, it had been fine with the heat of the day as they flew. Dusk had been worried that it might melt. But it didn't, so she assumed that whoever had enchanted it had thought through the enchantment quite well.
Finally, it was time to go. Sunny flew up and got everyone's attention, then said that they had to be on their way. 
Dusk gently put the moonglobe tree back into her bag, then took off, soon followed by Coast and Seagull. 
They flew in the front of the group, Dusk and Coast eager to get back to Jade Mountain, Seagull eager to get there in the first place. But as they were in the shadow of Jade Mountain, a NightWing flew up in front of Dusk, making her pause in midair.
Dusk looked at him. He was rather handsome and had slate gray eyes. His scales were the deepest black, with no hints of any of color. Just a pure black as black as the midnight sky on a night without the moons. His bone structure was rather sharp and well defined, making Dusk think that he wasn't over fed. At the moment, he just looked startled. 
"Are you Dusk?" he asked.
Dusk wrinkled her snout at him. "Should I be honored that you know me or suspicious?" she asked. 
The NightWing hesitated. "Whichever you prefer?" he said after a moment. 
"Oh, well, then I'll be honored." Dusk smiled. The NightWing looked rather shy. She wanted to show him that he was fine and he had no need to be worried.
"Um, I know this is awkward, but can I talk to you?" The NightWing looked away.
"Yes," Dusk said. She turned to Coast who was waiting nearby and took off her bag, handing it to him. "Take that to my room. I'll be along soon."
Coast nodded. He gave the NightWing a suspicious look. "I'll come looking for you if you're not back by sunset."
Dusk nodded. "I'll be back by then." Then she turned to the NightWing. "So what did you want to talk to me about?" she asked. 
The NightWing hesitated. "Not here," he said finally. "Follow me."
Dusk nodded. She didn't like the idea of following someone she didn't know to wherever he chose, but she wanted him to trust her, so first she had to trust him.
Dusk followed as the NightWing began to fly around Jade Mountain, leading her up to the peaks. She wondered what he wanted to tell her. He kept glancing back, as if to make sure she was still following him. And she was honestly too curious to fly away, even if he was a little bit odd. But all dragons were when you first met them. You just had to figure them out.
Suddenly the NightWing veered up and flew straight up to the top of one of the spires of Jade Mountain. Dusk frowned in confusion but followed him. 
The NightWing landed at the top of one of the spires where they could see the sun as it started to get lower in the sky.
The NightWing hesitated, not meeting Dusk's eyes. "Um, I'm sorry for dragging you up here," he said softly enough that she could hardly hear him over the wind that was whistling around them. 
"It's alright," Dusk said, cocking her head. "So what is it?"
The NightWing started messing with a small pouch on his neck that Dusk hadn't noticed. "Beware what you do not know," he said softly. "Beware the things that may not show."
Dusk started as she noticed the rhyming. She knew that prophecies had rhyming lines. Was it possible that this NightWing had futuresight and this was a prophecy?
"Something hidden is coming for you," the NightWing said. "The day you cross it will be a day you rue."
"Wait," Dusk said, stepping towards him. "What are you saying?"
The NightWing flinched away from her but continued. "Something is lurking inside the walls. Something is stalking Jade Mountain's halls. Something is coming that you may never see. Just stay wary; that is my plea." Then the NightWing turned and opened his wings, flying off the top of Jade Mountain, leaving Dusk more confused than she'd ever been. 
What could be stalking the halls? Dusk warily glanced below her, as if she could see into the mountain. She ran over the prophecy in her head, trying to remember every bit of it. She couldn't forget it. 
Dusk glanced over to the NightWing's form as he flew away. He was fast. She probably wouldn't be able to catch him, even if she tried. So she decided not to.
Dusk went and flew off one of the tips of Jade Mountain, heading straight to the highest entrance. She landed at the entrance and started to head straight to her cave, ignoring everyone she passed in the halls, muttering the prophecy under her breath. 
Dusk almost went to head to the art cave but then she remembered that Coast was painting there, so she couldn't do that. Not without breaking her promise to him. She just had to hope that Clearglow would have an extra scroll for homework that she could write on.
Dusk finally made it back to her cave and saw, to her dismay, that Quicksand was the only dragon in it. He appeared to be studying, as he had a scroll and an inkwell in front of him. He didn't even look up when she came in. 
"Quicksand," Dusk said sharply, running over a line that didn't quite sound right. "I need to use a scroll and ink." She closed her eyes, reciting the whole thing in her head. 
"Why should I let you?" Quicksand snapped. 
"Please?" Dusk said impatiently. "I don't want to forget this."
"No." Quicksand turned back to his scroll. 
"I need to write this down!" Dusk exclaimed. "Can't you just be nice to me for once?" 
Quicksand regarded her for a moment. "Alright, fine." He took an empty scroll and slammed it down at her talons. "Don't use a lot of it," he said. "It is still mine." 
Dusk pressed her talon to her temple. "Beware what you do not know," she recited quietly. "Beware the things that may not show. Something hidden is coming for you. The day you cross it will be a day you rue." Dusk went and wrote down the first paragraph. She didn't notice as Quicksand leaned over her shoulder and wings to see what she had written. 
"Something is lurking inside the walls," she whispered, frowning slightly, trying to figure out what it could mean. "Something is stalking Jade Mountain's halls. Something is coming that you may never see. Just stay wary; that is my plea." Dusk wrote it all down, then stood back, as though seeing the whole thing would suddenly make its meaning clear. 
"Three moons," Quicksand whispered behind her. When Dusk turned to face him, he looked angry and confused. "Where did you get this?" he demanded. 
"Um, a NightWing told it to me," Dusk said uncomfortably. 
"Who?" Quicksand began to pace. "None of the NightWings here have strong enough futuresight to have had a prophecy."
"I don't know who he was," Dusk said quickly. "I've never seen him before. I don't think he was from Jade Mountain." She smiled. "He was quite handsome."
Quicksand turned to look at her. 
Dusk blushed, realizing what she had said, and looked away. "I mean, some dragons might think like that. Not that I noticed or anything."
"What did he look like?" Quicksand asked, completely ignoring everything she had said. 
"Well, his scales were just a plain black," Dusk said, thinking back, "with light gray underscales. His eyes were a slate gray and he had a small pouch around his neck. He seemed rather shy and didn't really want to talk to me. He insisted we had to be alone first. Then he said that prophecy and flew off." 
Quicksand paced, frowning. "That doesn't sound like any of them," he muttered. 
"Do you not like prophecies?" Dusk asked hesitantly. 
Quicksand turned to her. "I think they're stupid," he snapped, "and that Pyrrhia would do much better without them. Stupid NightWings and all their cryptic ways."
Dusk blinked. "They're not all stupid," she objected. "There's Starseer and Stargazer. But I will admit, Raccoon is stupid. And I think prophecies are cool." Then she turned to the scroll and frowned at it. "Except when you have no idea what they mean. That's kind of infuriating. I mean, why can't prophecies be a bit more clear? Like, 'Hey, you better watch out for this specific thing,' instead of saying all these lines I can hardly make sense of and then saying, 'Just be wary.' Like, be wary of what exactly?"
"I think you agree with me then," Quicksand said. "Prophecies are stupid."
"I guess they are in a way," Dusk said after a moment.
"Oh, and one of your friends came by. The SeaWing. You just missed him. If you had been here sooner, then he wouldn't have had to bother me." Quicksand pointed to Dusk's bag. "He left that and told me to tell you when you got here." 
Dusk looked over at her bag that was now sitting on her sleeping spot. "That must've been Coast," she said. "I would go tell him thank you, but. . ." She knew that he didn't want to be interrupted and for her to ruin the surprise.
Dusk turned and frowned back at the scroll. "I suppose in the meantime, I can try to figure out what this means." Then she cocked her head. "Do I know anyone who has futuresight?"
"No, I wouldn't think so. Now, if I could have my scroll back, then I'd like to continue studying." Quicksand held out his talon.
"Oh, right." Dusk went and tore off the edge of the scroll that she had written on. "Here," she said, handing back the rest of it. I hope I didn't use too much."
Quicksand snorted, took the scroll, then turned away. 
Dusk rolled up her small piece of paper that she had written the prophecy on, then grabbed her map of Jade Mountain Academy. She looked for a Sapphire Winglet sleeping cave. She'd go find the only other NightWing she knew. Stargazer. She didn't know what winglet Starseer was in, so she'd have to ask her brother.
Dusk found the cave and mentally marked it, going off a place she knew. Now that she looked, it was only a few halls away.
Dusk got up and headed over to the sleeping cave, relieved to see that Stargazer was in it, reading a scroll. She didn't know where to look for him if he hadn't been there. 
"Hey, Stargazer," Dusk said, walking in. "I wanted to ask you about something."
Stargazer jumped and looked up. "Oh, Dusk. It's you. I haven't seen you for days." He stood up. "I'll try to answer your question."
"I was wondering about NightWings with futuresight," she said. "I don't really know anyone else who has powers."
Stargazer's face fell. "Starseer would be better equipped to answer your question," he said with a nonchalant shrug, though Dusk knew he was upset. "She does have a form of futuresight after all."
"She does?" Dusk asked, cocking her head. "I didn't know that."
"She has a form of it, not full on futuresight, just like how I don't have full mind-reading."
"Oh. What winglet is she in?" Dusk asked.
"The Ruby Winglet if I remember correctly," Stargazer said. "She's only a few caves away. She was there last I saw, which was only a few minutes ago, when I got back." Stargazer pointed down the hallway to the left.
"Thank you," Dusk said, nodding respectfully. Then she left the cave and headed in the direction Stargazer had pointed. She looked into every cave as she went until she saw black scales. She stopped at the doorway and tapped her claws softly on the stone.
Starseer turned around from what she was doing. "Oh, you again. Dusk, right?"
Dusk nodded. "I just went to your brother with a question, but he said you might be able to answer the question better than he could."
"Alright. I don't see what would make him say that, but I'll try to answer it. Come on in."
Dusk walked inside Starseer's cave and looked around. There were only two sleeping spots in her cave, and both were reed mats. There were cubbyholes next to each mat. One was full of clays sculptures and scrolls from the library, but the other was full of small bits of jewelry made from wires and metal, like earrings with small rocks in them, colored to look like a gem.
"Oh, those were made by Polyp," Starseer said, noticing her gaze. "She's my clawmate. A SeaWing. She made me this." She tapped an earring made from a string of silver wire and a deep crimson rock. "She said she'd love to work with actual gems, but that she can't do that, so she paints rocks. She has an earring like this for herself, showing that we're in the Ruby Winglet. She's really good at it."
"That looks beautiful," Dusk said. "She's very talented." 
"You could ask her to make one for you," Starseer suggested. "She's always ready to make something new."
"I'll remember to ask her," Dusk promised, "but that's not why I came. I came to ask if there's a way to tell if a NightWing has futuresight or not."
Starseer cocked her head. "You mean like how mind-readers have the silver scales at the corners of their eyes?" she said. 
"I suppose," Dusk said.
"Well, the answer is no. The only way to tell is if the dragon starts randomly speaking in riddles or something like that."
"So is there a way to know if it's real, or if they just made it up?" Dusk asked, pulling out the piece of paper to stare at the prophecy.
"No. But the more cryptic it is, the more likely it is to be real."
Dusk gave a harsh laugh. "Then this one is most definitely real." She handed Starseer the piece of paper. "A NightWing flew up to me and told me that," she explained. "I was wondering if it was real or not."
Starseer scanned the piece. "It sounds real," she said after a moment. "But what does it mean?"
Dusk shook her head. "I have no idea. And I don't know how to find out." She frowned at the prophecy as Starseer handed it back to her. "Except by puzzling over it for years."
"Sorry I couldn't be more help," Starseer said. "I think that's really cool that the NightWing delivered it to you though. Maybe it's meant for you."
Dusk looked over some of the words. "If it is, then I don't think that's a good thing." 
"True," Starseer said. "But how many dragons can say that they've had a prophecy made about them?"
Dusk hesitated. "A few?" she said tentatively. 
"None that I can think of," Starseer said. "I think that's a pretty big thing."
"Maybe I didn't want one," Dusk said. "I certainly think that might be a better alternative. After all, I never asked for anything like this." 
"No one ever does," Starseer said, "but everyone always enjoys the adventure." 
Dusk thought about it for a moment. "Well, it was nice talking to you," she said. "I'll see you sometime later." 
Starseer nodded. "It was nice talking to you too, tribrid." 
Dusk frowned slightly but continued down the hall, not wanting Starseer to feel bad about the name.
Dusk didn't know where else to go, so she began to head to Sunny's office. She thought that maybe Seagull might be there with Sunny, sorting out sleeping caves and everything.
As she reached the Great Hall, she glanced outside. The sky was clear and bright. She didn't see black scales anywhere. So that NightWing she had met earlier was gone.
Dusk took a step closer to the entrance to take a better look and collided with midnight black scales that were descending. They both fell to the ground, Dusk momentarily startled. 
"Ack, I'm so so sorry." The NightWing stood up and held out his talon to help her up. "I should've seen you. Are you alright?"
Dusk stared at the NightWing. It seemed crazy, but it was the one who had told her the prophecy. Dusk took his talon and got onto hers. "I'm fine," she said after a moment. 
The NightWing gave her a shy smile and Dusk's heart fluttered in her chest. 
"I'm afraid I left rather suddenly," the NightWing said embarrassedly. "I never even told you my name. It's Raven, in case you were curious."
Dusk smiled. "Well, it's nice to meet you, Raven."
A small piece of paper fluttered in the wind and nearly blew away, but Raven lunged out and grabbed it. 
"Oh, that's mine," Dusk said, suddenly realizing that she had dropped the prophecy. She looked away in embarrassment as he began to read it. 
"Oh." Raven smiled. "Did I worry you with this?" He held out the piece of paper. "Well, I made it up. Just for fun. I had heard about you before, and I was curious what you might do. I'm sorry."
Dusk stared at him. "You made it up?" she said, awestruck. "But it was so good!" On the inside, she was embarrassed that she had taken it seriously when apparently it was just something Raven had done for fun.
Raven nodded. "You can get rid of it if you want to." 
Dusk took the piece of paper back from Raven. "I think I'll keep it. That way I can't forget it." She smiled. 
"Oh." Raven looked pleased, which made Dusk's heart flutter again. "I'm glad someone does." 
"It was wonderful," she said. "Now, what did you come back here for?"
"I can leave," Raven said. "I mean, if I'm not wanted."
"No," Dusk said quickly. "No, no. I'm just curious what you're doing."
"I came to see if I could learn here," Raven said hesitantly, watching her. "I thought I'd try my luck and see if I could get a spot."
"I think you could," Dusk said. 'I hope you do,' a small part of her whispered. "Sunny's office is this way. I was headed there myself." 
"Great." Raven smiled. "Thank you."
"It's no problem," Dusk said, leading the way down the hall. They walked in silence, Dusk trying to figure out what she was feeling and Raven staring at the floor as they walked. 
Dusk glanced over at Raven. Is this how Coast feels about me? she thought. Could it be. . .
Raven seemed to feel Dusk's gaze on him, then turned to smile at her. 
Dusk's heart fluttered again and she quickly looked away, blushing. Oh no you don't, she thought furiously. There is no way I'm going to get a crush on a dragon I don't even know. There's no way.
Dusk glanced at him again and noticed that he looked worried; troubled by something. He can't be bad, Dusk thought. He's just shy. There's nothing wrong with that.
They passed a dragon in the hallway and Dusk noticed that he shied away from them, just like she normally did. 
But why? she wondered. I only avoid dragons because I know how they'll see me. I know they'll only see me as the forbidden offspring of one of their tribe. But he's not a hybrid. Why would he not like dragons? Eventually she decided that he was just shy and didn't like other dragons.
Finally they reached Sunny's cave, though Sunny was not in it. It was a MudWing with a broad snout and a kind face, though not quite as kind as Sunny's. 
"Hello," he said, smiling at them both. "I know you may be looking for Sunny. She just got back. She took the dragonets on a field trip to Sanctuary. I hope I can help for the time being."
"I think you could," Dusk said. "You see, Raven wanted a spot here at Jade Mountain Academy." She gestured to him with one wing and he looked embarrassed. 
"Right, a NightWing." The MudWing went and pulled a scroll out from a cubbyhole in the wall. "Let's see, we have no letters from NightWings asking to join and there's an empty spot in the Amber Winglet. I think I could put you there," the MudWing said, smiling at both of them kindly. 
Raven blinked. "Is it that easy?" he said after moment. 
The MudWing nodded. "No need for it to be complicated. Let's see, your clawmate will be Blizzard, an IceWing." The MudWing went and took two scrolls down from a scroll rack. "One's your schedule and the other is your map."
Dusk started as she remembered the things that had been said about Blizzard. "Is there another option for a sleeping cave?" she asked. 
The MudWing shook his head and Raven gave her a confused look. 
"Oh." Dusk frowned, feeling like she should try harder, but she didn't see what else she could do. "Thank you." Then she turned and began to walk away. 
She heard Raven take the two scrolls from the MudWing, then he hurried back to her side. "Why'd you ask about that?" he asked her, tucking the two scrolls under his wings. 
Dusk frowned. "I've heard a few things about Blizzard that I didn't like," she admitted. "I didn't want you to be stuck with him."
"Thank you," Raven said, "but I've been stuck with an infuriating IceWing before. I think I can handle another one."
"This one is stuck up and only cares about ranks," Dusk said. 
Raven thought for a moment. "Okay, I'll admit, that'll be different. But I'll ignore him. And I probably won't be here most of the time."
Dusk started and stopped. "Why?" she asked him confusedly. "Where do you have to go?" 
"I have to be with someone most of the time," Raven said after a moment. "I'll be here whenever I can, but I don't know when that'll be. It'll depend."
"Why do you have to be with them?" Dusk asked. 
Raven hesitated. "I made a promise," he finally said. "I don't want to break that."
"Oh." Dusk frowned. "I don't you want you to break your promise, but I wish you would stay."
"I wish I could too," Raven said. "But," he shrugged, "I can't. Come on." He continued down the hall and Dusk followed him, staring at the ground as they walked. 
She didn't like that she was feeling so upset that Raven would be leaving. After all, she still hardly knew him. But she wanted the time to get to know him. Then she wouldn't have an excuse for liking him. 
Maybe he should stay away then, Dusk thought ruefully. 
Soon they were back in the Great Hall and Raven walked over to the entrance. Dusk followed along behind him and stopped at his side, avoiding his eyes. 
Raven turned to smile at her and brushed his wings against hers. "You don't know how much of an honor it was to meet you," he said softly. Then he opened his wings and shot off the ledge, disappearing behind a jut out in the mountain, leaving Dusk behind him, watching for any sign that he might come back. 
=== Chapter 20  ===
Dusk spent the rest of the day staying away from Coast and looking at the prophecy, thinking about Raven. She wondered who he had made the promise to.
Eventually she headed back to her cave, ignoring Quicksand and Quicksand ignoring her. She frowned at the prophecy, then started to look through her paintings so far. 
At one point, Sunny came by, Seagull trailing behind her, looking guilty.
"Quicksand," she said. "I have come to tell you that you'll have to move to the cave next to this one."
Quicksand frowned slightly and stood up. "Why exactly?"
"You'll be with Seagull. Originally, you and Clearglow were the only dragons in this winglet, so we weren't going to give you each your own cave. But now there are four dragons in this winglet, so you and Seagull can share a cave and Dusk and Clearglow can share one too."
Quicksand frowned and shot a small glare at Seagull. Then he grabbed a bag and started to put his stuff into it. 
"I'm sorry, Quicksand," Dusk said hesitantly. 
Quicksand completely ignored her and soon had everything in his small bag, save a few bigger things that were still in his cubbyhole. He went and brushed past Sunny, then paused to look at her. "This cave?" he said, flicking his tail down the hall.
Sunny nodded. "I'm sorry for the inconvenience, Quicksand," she said. 
Quicksand didn't answer, but just went down the hall. He came back a bit later and grabbed his few larger things. Dusk was curious what they were but didn't want to be nosy, so she specifically didn't look.
And after that, he came back one more time and took his scrolls off a scroll rack, took them to his new cave, then didn't come back.
"So what are we going to do with Quicksand's sleeping spot?" Dusk asked, turning to Sunny.
"Well, I'll take him his mat, but we'll leave his spot for the next hybrid that comes." Sunny smiled. "I'm sure they'll be another." Then she stepped inside, grabbed his mat, and left.
Seagull lingered in the doorway, glancing at Dusk. "Quicksand didn't look happy," he said after a moment.
"He probably isn't," Dusk said. "Don't feel bad about it though." She hesitated. "I want to say it's not your fault, but it technically is. I'm still glad you're here though."
Seagull smiled. "I am too." Then his eyes went wide. "Have you seen the art cave?" he said in an awestruck voice. "I haven't seen that much stuff for making things in all my life."
"Yeah," Dusk said. "And you'd be surprised at how much variety there is in the things dragons make. So Starseer, a NightWing I know, makes things out of clay. Coast paints, as I think you know, and then just learned about Polyp. She's a SeaWing too. I haven't met her yet. She makes jewelry." 
"Oh." Seagull cocked his head. "I wonder if anyone weaves, like I do."
"You're still probably the best at it," Dusk said. "I mean, I don't really know." 
Seagull smiled. "Thanks. Now I should probably go. Get all my stuff in my cubbyhole and everything." 
Dusk nodded. 
Then Seagull left, leaving her alone in the cave. 
Dusk glanced around, making sure she was truly alone, then went and got an empty scroll from Clearglow's scroll rack. Then grabbing her own inkwell, she dipped her claw into it and began to sketch on the paper. It wasn't quite as hard as painting, as she didn't have to be as accurate, but she redrew a few parts several times. 
After she had been drawing for a bit, talons on stone startled her, making her jump and knock the scroll to the floor. Her half-finished picture of Raven rolled over to Quicksand's talons.
He leaned down and picked it up, Dusk looking away in embarrassment. But surprisingly, he handed it back without comment. He just took out an empty scroll from underneath his wing and set it down on his old ledge, unrolling it a bit and, dipping his talon into his inkwell, he wrote a small note.
Dusk cocked her head as Quicksand went and set it down on Clearglow's ledge.
He went to leave but turned back and growled at Dusk. "That is for Clearglow," he snapped. "Not for your little talons, only Clearglow's." 
Dusk nodded. "I understand. I'll make sure she gets it."
Quicksand glared at her, looking suspicious, but he finally left, his venomous tail skittering along the stone behind him.
Dusk looked at the note that he had left. It was probably just telling Clearglow where he had gone.
Dusk took her half-finished drawing and stared at it, frowning. Nothing she did seemed to make his eyes look right. They didn't have the depth that they actually did. And she didn't know how she'd capture that. Dusk took the scroll and rolled it up tightly, setting it in her cubbyhole. 
Then Dusk got up and went out of her cave, heading down in the direction of where she had gone to do suntime. She just wanted to watch the sunset. She knew that was happening soon.
Dusk passed everyone by, ignoring all the looks she was getting, as she normally did. Soon, she was outside. Dusk took a deep breath of the fresh wind that was blowing and opened her wings, jumping off the ground and soaring up on an updraft.
She flew up high enough that her dark wings brushed the clouds, then looked west. Over the desert and the heat waves that resided over it, Dusk could see the sun sinking below the horizon.
Dusk closed her eyes and just started to glide, feeling as it got colder.
"Mind if I join you?" 
Dusk started and turned around. She almost couldn't see Raven with his black scales as the sky got darker. "Oh, um, yes," she said, giving him a bit more room though she knew there was more than enough in the sky.
"I like sunset," Raven said after a moment, "but I like twilight more." He turned to grin at Dusk. "And another name for twilight is dusk."
Dusk smiled, then turned to look at the horizon. The sky behind them was nearly black, but ahead of them, it was a deep blue, and a few of the clouds closest to the horizon were a bright orange-pink.
"So, it turns out I can be at Jade Mountain for a bit," Raven said. "It's kind of complicated, but I can probably be here for about a moon cycle."
"A moon cycle," Dusk said. "A full one?"
Raven nodded, then pointed at one of the moons that was up. "Once that one becomes new, I'll have to go back to him."
Dusk felt a little better now that she knew it was a he. If it was a she that he had to go back to, the one he had made a promise to, then she'd get a little bit jealous.
"Well, I'm glad you can." Dusk consulted her map of Jade Mountain in her head that had taken her months to memorize. Well, mostly. She wasn't really sure about sleeping caves, but she had looked earlier to see where the Amber Winglet sleeping cave was, just to know where Raven would be. "I could take you to your sleeping cave, if you want. It's getting a bit late."
Raven hesitated. "I like night," he said after a moment. "And I like the stars. I want to see a few before we go inside the mountain."
"I like them too," Dusk said. "So I suppose we can wait. After all, I don't think we have to go back any time soon."
"Here, let's go up to the tip of the mountain. Just so we don't have to fly the entire time. You're probably tired from your flight from Sanctuary."
Dusk frowned at him. "How did you know that?"
"I figured out about it," Raven said. "I hope you don't mind."
Dusk shook her head. "But we only just got back. I didn't think you'd be able to find out about it so quickly."
Raven shrugged and began to fly up to the top of Jade Mountain, Dusk following along and flying at his wingtip.
They both landed at a ledge near the top, though not a very large one. Dusk was a little closer to Raven then she felt comfortable with, though, at the same time, she was more than comfortable.
Raven looked up at the sky and his wings relaxed slightly. Dusk hadn't realized he'd been nervous in the first place.
Dusk turned and looked up at the night sky as well. It was a cloudless night. One of the moons was new, another was about half, and the last one was about a quarter.
Stars began to speckle the sky as it got darker. Soon, the sky was filled with stars and it was completely dark, save the moons that shone onto the mountain and their scales.
Dusk glanced at Raven and the way the moonlight shone on his midnight black scales. He looked like a piece of the night sky that had landed on the mountain next to Dusk.
Dusk brushed her wing against Raven's and he turned to look at her. "We should probably go," she said, jerking her head down to one of the entrances of Jade Mountain where the glow of firelight was shining out into the night. "It's late."
Raven nodded. "I know." He opened his wings, the silver star-like scales under them glowing, nearly making him camouflage into the night.
"Whoa," Dusk said. "That's really cool." She closed her eyes, took the color of Raven's scales and pulled it into her mind, specifically making her underbelly a lighter gray. But then she added a slight blue hint to her scales and added silver scales under her wings. Then she opened her eyes, only to see Raven staring at her.
"Three moons," he said in awe. "How did you do that?"
"I'm part RainWing," Dusk said, pleased that he thought it was good. "I've been working on my camouflage."
"It's really good," Raven said. "But, if you don't mind, can I tell you some things that I think would make it better?"
"Certainly," Dusk said. "You're welcome to."
"Well, the ruff behind your ear makes you stand out as not fully NightWing, so maybe if you flatten that against your scales and camouflage it to those colors, I think that'd be better."
Dusk nodded, then concentrated on doing what he had said.
"There, that looks better. But your eyes are far too blue for any NightWing. A blue like the ocean," he said. Then he blushed slightly and looked away. 
Dusk looked down. "I wasn't even sure I could change my eyes," she said. 
"Well, you have to be able to," Raven said. "After all, if you couldn't, camouflage wouldn't work. You'd always be able to see a dragon's eyes."
"Oh," Dusk said, cocking her head thoughtfully. "I never thought about that." She closed her eyes and added a deep gray to the many colors that were now in it. She concentrated on changing just her eyes, then opened them and looked at Raven. "How is it now?"
"Wow," Raven said as he began to walk in a small circle around her, peering at her scales. "You look just like a NightWing. Though," he smiled, "I don't think any NightWing would smile like you do."
Dusk lost her concentration and her own scale color flickered back into view. "Ack, I'm sorry," she said. "I'm still learning," she said embarrassedly.
"It's alright," Raven said. "You did the colors perfectly. Now you just need to find a way you can keep them on your scales without having to keep them in your mind."
Dusk sighed. "I think that'd be awesome, but I'll never get that good." 
"You might." Raven thought for a moment. "I think there might be a class for scale changing at Jade Mountain, though I'm not sure."
"Really?" Dusk said. "Well, I suppose I could figure out tomorrow. But for tonight, I think we should get inside."
"Yeah, I suppose you're right." Raven opened his wings again and smiled at her. "You ready?" 
Dusk nodded, then jumped off the ledge ahead of Raven, taking the NightWing disguise again and putting it to use.
Raven laughed from behind her and flew to her side. They both went and landed at an entrance to Jade Mountain. Dusk pulled off her NightWing disguise and saved the whole color scheme in her mind for a later use.
"You said you could show me to my sleeping cave?" Raven said as they walked down the hall. "Does that offer still stand?" 
Dusk nodded. "Of course." She turned down a hallway that led towards the sleeping caves. If her map was correct, then she'd have to pass by her sleeping cave. As they neared it, Dusk turned to Raven. "Do you think we could stop by my cave first? I need to verify where it is."
Raven nodded. "I see no problem with that."
Dusk continued down the hall, very aware that Raven was following along at her tail tip.
Finally they made it to her cave and she stepped inside. Clearglow wasn't in it, though the scroll from Quicksand had been moved into her cubbyhole. Dusk went over to her scroll rack and pulled off her map, unrolling it and finding the sleeping caves on it. She traced her talons from her cave and found the Amber Winglet sleeping caves. There were a few, though they were all right next to each other. 
Dusk quickly rolled her scroll back up. "I found it," she told Raven. "So we can go." She hesitated, glancing at her bag. "Can I ... show you something first?"
"Sure," Raven said, stepping into her cave.
Dusk stood up on her back talons and blew out the two light globes above their heads. The cave went dark, except for the lights in the hallway.
"Do you think you could block some of the light from the doorway?" she asked Raven. "I want it to be dark."
Raven spread out his wings, blocking most of the light, making it even darker in the cave. 
"Thank you," Dusk said. She went over to her bag, then pulled the moonglobe tree out of it, showing it to Raven.
He gave a gasp. "What is it?" he asked.
"It's a moonglobe tree," Dusk said, picking one of the moonglobes and pushing it towards Raven. It floated up his talon and to his shoulder.
"Oh," he said, recognition lighting up his slate-gray eyes. "I know about moonglobe trees! I just never thought I'd actually see one." He tapped the small little globe. "These are small though."
"They are," Dusk admitted. "I only got this sapling. I'm hoping it'll grow larger someday."
"I think it will." Raven took the small moonglobe off his shoulder and held it in his talons. Then he took the moonglobe and turned it about a quarter of a way around. The light got dimmer and Dusk turned to gape at Raven.
"What?" he asked, catching the look on her face. "Didn't you know that they could do that?"
Dusk shook her head. "The IceWing we bought this from didn't tell us much about it." She looked at the moonglobe in his talon. "Can you just rotate it once and it makes it darker?"
"I've never tried," Raven said. "I've never had a moonglobe or a moonglobe tree. I just heard about it from N– from a friend." He turned down to the moonglobe, as if deflecting her interest. He turned it again and it faded out till it was barely glowing at all. 
"Wow," Dusk said. "I had absolutely no idea it could do that. Thank you for showing me and making it darkish."
Raven nodded, then pulled his wings back. He set the moonglobe onto his shoulder, it casting its weak glow around the room. He stood up on his hind legs and breathed a plume of fire onto the two globes that Dusk had put out, lighting up the cave again.
"Thanks," she said. "I didn't want to ask you to do it, but I couldn't do it myself."
"Really?" Raven said, dropping back onto all fours. "I assumed that since you were part NightWing that you'd have fire."
Dusk shook her head. "Not as far as I know. I mean, I don't know for sure, but it's just a feeling that I have."
"Huh," Raven said, looking up at the globes and watching the fire flickering in them. "I suppose the SeaWing and RainWing parts of you overpowered the one NightWing part." 
"I suppose," Dusk said. She took the moonglobe tree and put it in her cubbyhole. Then she went to the entrance of the cave and went to leave but turned around. Raven was peering into her cubbyhole. "You ready to go?" she asked him. 
Raven turned to face her. "Did you paint these?" he asked, gesturing to the stacks of canvases.  
Dusk nodded, blushing. She stepped back inside and saw that on top of the stack was her painting of the SandWing NightWing from before she had left. Someone must've taken it to her cave sometime when they were at Sanctuary. 
"I'm sorry for being so nosy, but who's this?" Raven asked, flicking his tail at the painting. 
"Oh." Dusk looked at it. "Someone I met once. I don't know who he was, and I didn't see him for long, but I didn't have anything to paint. It's not very good though."
"He's a hybrid?" 
Dusk nodded. "SandWing NightWing from what I saw, but you can't exactly tell that I'm part RainWing from looking at me, so he could be something else too."
Raven nodded. "You're good at painting," he said after a moment.
Dusk smiled. "Thank you. Now, I should probably go to bed. I have classes tomorrow and you do too." She walked to the exit. "Want me to show you where you'll be staying?"
Raven smiled. "Yes, please do." He reached up and grabbed the moonglobe, holding it out to Dusk. "Here," he said. "This is yours."
Dusk shook her head. "No, you keep it. I have an unlimited supply or something like that." She grinned at him.
Raven smiled. "Thank you." He put the moonglobe back onto his shoulder. Then one of his talons curled, almost as though it was holding something small, but Dusk didn't notice.
•       •       •       •       •       
Dusk woke up the next morning thinking about Raven, though she immediately pushed him out of her mind. She had to make a good impression on the other students. That day would actually be the first time she had taken classes. Though she expected she'd have time to find Coast first so he could give her the painting.
Dusk got off her palm frond mat with a quiet yawn and stretched out her wings so that they brushed the ceiling. Then she closed them and walked quietly out into the hall.
No one seemed to be up yet, which was odd, considering that the sun had risen about half an hour before, according to her internal clock, at least.
Dusk headed over to the Sapphire Winglet sleeping caves and peeked into them. In the first one she looked in, she saw three forms on sleeping spots. One had coppery red scales, another had some that were constantly shifting, and the last one was just a plain light blue. 
He seemed to be awake, though he was just staring at the ceiling of his cave. Dusk assumed it was Vapor, Melon, and of course, Coast.
"Coast," Dusk whispered.
Coast turned and looked at her. His eyes flickered with surprise but he got up and went over to Dusk. 
"Why is no one up?" she asked him.
"One of the two free days we have in a week," Coast explained. "Most classes don't start as early as they do every other day, if they have classes at all. The only ones today are ones that you choose to take, so most dragons sleep in."
"Oh." Dusk expected she had never encountered this before because she was always exploring the mountain in the morning. "Well, I suppose I am up a bit early, but I didn't want to go back to sleep."
"Well, if you want, I can go get the painting I did for you," Coast said shyly. 
Dusk smiled. "That is sort of why I came to get you. I'd love to see it."
Coast nodded. "Come on," he said. "Quietly." He glanced back at Vapor. "I can think of some dragons that might be mad if we wake them up."
Dusk nodded, then followed Coast's lead as he crept down the hall. They passed through the Great Hall, passing only one or two dragonets, none of which Dusk knew. Finally, they were at the art cave.
"Just stay here for a moment," Coast said. "I want to make sure it's dry before you see it."
Dusk nodded. "Thank you for doing this for me," she said. "It's really nice of you."
Coast smiled. "I just wanted to give you something from me." Then he disappeared behind one of the racks of drying paintings.
Dusk looked around the art cave. There was only a small SeaWing in it. Her scales were a lighter blue than Coast's and she had bright purple eyes. Her underbelly was a light purple and her top scales were a light pink. The colors reminded Dusk of coral on an ocean shelf.
The SeaWing had silver wires and a rock in her talons and she expertly twisted them around the rock so that it couldn't move.
"Oh," Dusk said, "are you Polyp?"
The SeaWing jumped and looked over. "Oh, um yeah," she said in a timid voice "How did you know?"
"I heard about you," Dusk said. "From Starseer. And then the way you were making that," she gestured to the bracelet that she held in her talons, "reminded me of Starseer's earring."
"Oh." Polyp looked away, smiling. 
"I'm Dusk, by the way," she said, giving her a smile. "And, by the way, you're really good at that."
"Thank you," Polyp said shyly. "The dragon that made your bracelet must've been talented as well."
Dusk looked down at the cords woven together with sapphires. She had already forgotten about it. "He is," she said, stepping closer to show Polyp the bracelet closer up. 
"Whoa," she said in a soft voice. "Are those sapphires?" She reached out to inspect the bracelet on Dusk's talon but stopped herself. "Um, may I?"
Dusk nodded and Polyp took Dusk's talon, peering at the bracelet. 
"That's really impressive," she said. "Just a braid, but dyed cord is harder to work with, because the dye makes it stiff. Though, over time, it gets softer. And how did he get the sapphires in there?"
Dusk shook her head. "I don't know. It was a hatching day present."
"Oh," Polyp said. "Well, tell whoever made it that I think it's beautiful."
Dusk nodded. "I will," she said. 
Coast cleared his throat behind them and Dusk turned around. He had something hidden behind his wings. "Polyp," Coast said, giving her a nod of acknowledgment. "Nice to see you."
Polyp nodded. "Nice to see you too, Coast."
"Now, Dusk, this is what I painted for you." Coast pulled out a deeply colored canvas and Dusk gasped. 
It was a scene a little bit after sunset. The sky was dark in various shades of blue, black, and purple. Two moons were shining overhead, both full. Another moon was floating in the back corner, just a crescent. The ocean was beneath this all, its surface calm and reflecting the light of the moon and stars perfectly. And, though an infinitesimal detail, there was a pod of dolphins jumping, the water around them shining silver from the moons.
"Coast," Dusk breathed. "It's beautiful." She turned and smiled at him. "It's dusk."
Coast nodded, smiling at her. "Thank you. And I thought that maybe you'd like it."
Dusk twined her tail around his. "I do like it. I love it." She turned and looked at the colors again. Then, taking the colors in her mind, she shifted her scales over.
"Oh, wow, I had no idea you could do that," Coast said. 
Dusk nodded. "I've started to do small details. Let's see." She added a few star-like scales under her wings from her NightWing disguise. Then she changed her eyes color to be white, like the moons. 
"You know, that is really weird," Coast said, cocking her head. "Your eyes make me think you're blind, but I know you're not."
Dusk laughed and let her scales shimmer back to their normal color. "Well, I want to take this to my room and hang it up," she said, gesturing to the painting. "I'll carry it."
"No, I can." Coast smiled. "Happy hatching day."
Dusk looked away and smiled. "Thank you."
"It's the least I can do for you," Coast said. 
"See you, Polyp," Dusk said, turning to leave.
"It was nice to meet you, Dusk," Polyp said softly. 
Dusk and Coast left the cave and she led the way back to her cave. She held up one talon as they were a few steps away, stopping Coast. She didn't want to wake up Clearglow if she wasn't already.
Dusk peeked her head into her cave and saw Clearglow sitting on her ledge, reading a scroll. And Clearglow's eyes landed on Dusk so she uncomfortably stepped into the cave. "Um, good morning," she said awkwardly. 
"Good morning," Clearglow said, turning back to her scroll. 
"Do you mind if I bring a friend in?" Dusk asked after a moment.
"No," Clearglow said without looking up. "Just as long as they don't bother me."
She seemed to be a bit more ill-tempered since Quicksand had left. She was probably just mad. Quicksand was her best friend, as far as Dusk could tell.
"Right." Dusk flicked her tail that was still in the hallway. She looked back. "You can come in, Coast," she said. 
"I heard," he said, appearing in the doorway. He turned to Clearglow and dipped his head. "Thank you."
Clearglow completely ignored him and just unrolled her scroll a bit farther.
"Right." Coast stepped into the cave with Dusk's painting and walked over to her ledge and cubbyhole. He frowned as he looked over her spot and set down her painting on her mat. "What's that?" he asked, pointing to the scroll that Dusk had half drawn Raven on. It had unrolled partway, revealing a few lines that very clearly looked like a dragon.
"Oh, nothing," Dusk said quickly, hurrying over and rolling it back up. "Just a sketch."
Coast cocked his head. "Of who?"
"No one in particular. Now, where do you think I should put it?" Dusk asked, deflecting his attention. 
Coast looked around her room. "Well, the best thing to do is put it in your area of the cave, so that limits it to this wall." He gestured to it with both wings. He thought for a moment. "You know, you could always hang it over your cubbyhole. It would hide your stuff from dragons. Especially if you don't want dragons to see something," he added, glancing to the scroll that Dusk had sat back down.
Dusk contemplated the wall. "I think that'd work. Thank you." She thought for a moment. "But how exactly do we hang paintings?"
Coast frowned. "There are a few ways," he said. "The easiest way is getting something and gluing it to the wall, then hanging the painting on that."
"And how do we glue whatever we need?" Dusk asked hesitantly.
"Well, there's some sap in the art cave, but the problem is figuring out what to glue up." Coast flicked his tail in thought. "Wood is always the best option," he said after a bit. "It's light but sturdy."
"Let me go get some," Dusk said. 
Coast shook his head. "I think I can find some by myself when I go to the art cave. You can admire the painting while I'm gone." He winked, then left.
"That was sudden," Clearglow remarked. 
"He's being very helpful," Dusk said, though she didn't really like that he had left her without much of a goodbye. She went and sat down on her mat, her gaze drawn to the moonglobe tree as it glowed quietly in the corner.
The bud where she had picked a moonglobe was already bigger than it had been the night before. 
Dusk frowned at a branch and cocked her head. It looked like there was a small branch coming out of another one, and small frosty leaf already on it. She assumed that it had just been so small that she hadn't noticed it before then.
Dusk grabbed her scroll that was sitting next to the tree and unrolled it slightly, staring at the unfinished picture of Raven. He nearly had the same smile, but it wasn't quite right. It didn't seem quite as shy as the one he usually wore.
"So who is that?" Clearglow asked suddenly.
Dusk jumped and looked at her. "Um, no one," she muttered, looking away and blushing.
"It is not no one and I'll find out eventually," Clearglow said.
"Fine!" Dusk said. "His name is Raven. He's a NightWing that just joined. He's also really good at making up prophecies."
"Hm," Clearglow said. "What winglet?" 
"Amber," Dusk answered immediately. 
"Clawmate?"
"Blizzard."
"His schedule?"
"Why would I know his schedule when I don't even know mine?"
"True," Clearglow said. "But just give yourself some time. Soon you'll know nearly everything about him."
Dusk frowned. "Why?"
"That's what you do when you have a crush on someone. I begged to know Quicksand's backstory until he told me."
Dusk gaped at her. "You like Quicksand?"
Clearglow nodded. "I kind of thought you had known that," she said after a moment. "I'm not that great at hiding things."
"You hid it well enough," Dusk said. "But you said something about Quicksand's backstory?" She edged closer.
"Why would I tell you?" Clearglow said, tilting her head.
Dusk frowned. "You don't have a reason to. So I guess you won't."
"I never said that," Clearglow said, "but you're right. It's Quicksand's story to tell. You have to wait until he's ready to share it with you."
"He doesn't like me," Dusk pouted. "He'll never tell me."
"Then that's his choice," Clearglow said, "and you have to live with it."
"I'm back," Coast said, suddenly appearing in the doorway, all the things Dusk had been about to say dying in her throat.
Clearglow grabbed her scroll and turned back to that, looking just as busy as she had when they had first got there. 
"What, did you run all the way here?" Dusk asked Coast. He seemed out of breath. 
"Kind of," Coast admitted. "So, I got the sap," he pulled out a jar from under one of his wings, "and I got a piece of wood." He pulled out a small circle of wood, almost reminding Dusk of a stamp, just with nothing on it.
"Right, we have to be careful with this sap," Coast said. "It's incredibly sticky. It comes off with water, don't worry, so if either of us get some on us, we can just go to one of the underground lakes." Coast took the lid off the jar and gave it to Dusk. "Hold that while I dip this end of the wood into it." 
Dusk nodded and held it gingerly as Coast lowered the piece of wood into the jar. Then he pulled it back out and one end was covered in a whiteish sap that looked very thick. 
"Now," Coast said, "where is the middle over your cubbyhole?" He tapped his talon to a spot. "There?"
Dusk tilted her head. "Maybe a bit more to the left," she suggested. 
Coast moved it and she nodded. "Good," she said. 
Coast took the piece of wood and pressed it onto the stone where he had indicated. 
"There," he said, leaving his talon on it. "Now, we let it dry. And once we're sure it is completely dry, you can hang your painting." He tilted his head. "My painting? Is it technically yours or mine?"
"Both?" Dusk said tentatively. "I mean, you painted it, so you have that right over it, but it was also a gift for me, so it belongs to me in that sense."
"I think that's reasonable," Coast said. He pulled his talon back. "I think that's all I can do. I would say leave it there without the painting on it for about an hour. Just to be sure it'll stay."
Dusk nodded. "Thank you for the painting. I think it's the most beautiful one you've made so far."
Coast smiled sheepishly. "Thanks. I wanted it to be really good for you." He thought for a moment. "Want to come and paint with me? I have about six hours until my first class. It's Aquatic," he added. "If you want to join me."
"I think I will," Dusk said. "That is, if I'm allowed."
Coast nodded. "I think you will be."
"Okay, then let's go to the art cave," Dusk said. "And do you think I could invite Seagull to come too? I think he might want to weave for a bit."
Coast shrugged. "I don't see a problem with that."
Dusk nodded. "Bye, Clearglow," she said.
Clearglow flicked her tail and continued reading her scroll, the icicle-like spikes clattering against each other.
Dusk went out of the cave and headed down the hall to the next one, going by the direction that Seagull had gone the night before. 
She peeked her head into it and saw Seagull rummaging through his bag. Quicksand was reading a scroll, like Clearglow had been, and was ignoring Seagull completely, just like he always did with Dusk.
Seagull glanced up suddenly and looked at Dusk, his face lighting up. He glanced at Quicksand, then got up and went over to Dusk. 
"It's been so quiet all morning," he whispered to her. "I was kind of waiting for Quicksand to say something, but he never did, so I finally said good morning to him, and he completely ignored me."
"He does that," Dusk whispered back. "Me and Coast were going to the art cave," she added, jerking her head down the hall. "I thought you might want to join us." 
Seagull grinned. "I've been waiting to hear those words since yesterday," he said happily, getting louder. Then he winced slightly as Quicksand snorted. "Sorry, Quicksand," he said. 
"It's fine," Quicksand growled. 
Dusk gestured for him to follow her and she walked out into the hall. When they were far enough away, she whirled on Seagull. "That sentence to you was more than he's ever said to me!" she exclaimed. "How did you do it?" 
"Do ... what?" Seagull asked slowly. "And more than he's ever said to you?" 
"Okay, that was an exaggeration," Dusk said. "But still. He hardly ever talks to me."
"I think he doesn't mind me," Seagull said after a moment. "I introduced myself to him last night and told him about my life. He didn't say anything about his, but he didn't seem to entirely hate me now, so that's good."
"Huh," Dusk said, frowning. "I never had the option to do that because I had nothing to tell. Nothing had happened yet." 
"Yeah, I do suppose that's a bit unfair," Seagull said. "I'll explain it to him later."
"Actually," Dusk said, "do you think I could?"
Seagull gave her a look. "Yeah, if you want."
They continued to walk down the hall when Dusk remembered what Polyp had said. 
"Oh," she said. "Seagull, someone complimented your work. They told me to tell you that my bracelet was beautiful."
Seagull smiled. "Well, if you see them again, then tell them that I said thank you."
"You could tell them yourself," Dusk said. "Her name is Polyp. She was in the art cave when me and Coast were there."
Coast joined them both as they walked down the hall, appearing from Dusk's sleeping cave. "What about me?"
"I was just saying that me and you had gone to the art cave earlier today. Speaking of which, was Polyp still there when you went?" 
Coast nodded. "I didn't talk to her though. I was busy and she seemed a bit preoccupied. She was making a complicated-looking necklace."
"A necklace is a big thing," Dusk remarked. "It'd probably take awhile." She nudged Seagull. "So she'll probably still be there. You two could teach each other your trades."
Seagull looked away. "Do you think that she would even want to learn how to weave?" he said after a moment.
"I'm sure she would," Dusk said. "She seems like that type of dragon." 
Seagull smiled. "It sounds nice to teach someone to weave. She makes jewelry, right?"
Dusk nodded.
"Well, maybe I could teach her how to incorporate that into her jewelry. I can think of one weaving technique that would be easy enough to do with metal wires."
"Alright. You do that. This way." Dusk led the way to the art cave. They passed a few dragonets in the halls that were getting up, though Dusk didn't know where they were going.
Finally, they made it back to the art cave. Polyp was puzzling over a long metal wire and there was now a SandWing in there as well, painting at a canvas, his venomous tail coiled tightly and resting on the stone ground beside him.
"Oh, hey, Gold," Coast said. 
The SandWing looked up. "Oh, Coast. I haven't seen you in awhile." His eyes landed on Dusk and Seagull and they hardened, reminding Dusk of obsidian. Hard and cold. He turned to Coast. "Who are they?"
Coast winced. "Gold, this is Dusk, and this is Seagull," he said, pointing to them in turn. "They're my friends."
"How could you be friends with hybrids?" Gold hissed.
Seagull didn't flinch but Dusk winced. She didn't like that she was a dragon that caused problems. She could tell that Coast and Gold were friends, and she wasn't sure if that would change because of her. 
Dusk took a deep breath and brushed past Gold. "Over here, Seagull," she said. She went over to where Polyp was working, though she was no longer. She was watching what had happened with wide eyes.
"I'm sorry about that," she said softly. "I just don't know why some of my winglet doesn't like hybrids."
"He's part of your winglet?" Dusk asked. 
Polyp nodded, glancing over Dusk's shoulder.
Dusk looked over too and saw Coast talking to Gold in a quiet voice, looking upset. Then she turned back to Polyp. "Well, the main reason I came here was to introduce you. Polyp, this is Seagull." She looked over and saw that Seagull was staring at the necklace Polyp was still holding.
"Seagull?" Dusk cleared her throat and he jumped. 
"What?" he said. "Oh. Sorry. Just lost in thought." He turned and smiled at Polyp. "Nice to meet you. I was just admiring the necklace." Seagull hesitated. "And your earring."
Polyp smiled and reached up to an earring that was in her right ear. It was made with golden strips with a pearl in the center. "I can't take credit for this one," she said, brushing it. "My mother made it. She's the one who got me started with making jewelry."
Seagull smiled. "Well, it's really pretty. I've made jewelry, like, once. I think it was pretty good, for a first try at least."
"He was the one who made this," Dusk interjected, holding up her talon to show the bracelet.
"Oh." Polyp met Seagull's eyes. "You were the one who made it?" She smiled shyly. "It's nice to meet you. I've never really thought of braiding my wires."
Seagull smiled sheepishly. "I only did it because I weave usually. That was my first attempt at making a bracelet, so that's why I used thread."
"Thread can actually make good bracelets," Polyp said. "I was thinking about that this morning after Dusk showed me the bracelet. I was thinking that I might try it, but I hadn't done it yet. I also wasn't really sure where I'd find the threads."
"I know where they are," Seagull volunteered. "I spent a lot of time yesterday looking for them. Here, let me show you." He went over to a large wooden desk type thing. Half of it was made up drawers and Seagull pulled one open. "I was amazed at how many colors there were," he said.
Dusk lingered as Polyp went over to Seagull. She wished she could act even half as casual with Raven. But she seemed to be self-conscious of everything whenever he was around.
Dusk went over to Coast and he stopped talking to Gold as she got close. She brushed her wing against his. "Can I invite Raven to come join us?"
Coast frowned. "Raven? Who's that?"
"Oh." Dusk had forgotten that Coast didn't know him yet. "He's the NightWing that I met yesterday. He just joined. Also, he's in the Amber Winglet."
"Oh. I guess he can come. There's enough stuff in here for all of us. And I didn't realize that he had joined."
Dusk smiled and nodded. "He did. I'll be back in a bit." Then she headed out of the cave.
The moment she was out of view, she heard Coast start talking to Gold again sternly. Something about how hybrids weren't different than any other dragon on Pyrrhia.
"Yeah, they are," she heard Gold scoff. "They're living infractions of the rules of our tribes."
"Well, she's not part of your tribe, and I'm glad."
Dusk decided that she didn't need to hear the rest of the conversation. She had heard enough to know what Gold thought. 
She walked down the hall back towards the sleeping caves. It was still quiet, but now she heard the voices of dragonets as they whispered to each other, probably worried about waking up their clawmates.
Dusk went down past her sleeping cave and continued down, following the tunnel as it twisted, ignoring the flickering light from the colored globes above her head.
Just as she was right outside Raven's cave, a glossy white IceWing stepped out, with razor-sharp claws and a whip-thin tail that had icicle-like spikes along it.
He turned and his icy blue eyes landed on her. "Ah," he said, sounding coldly pleased. "If it isn't the tribrid who stole the most precious gift to the IceWings from a traitor to our tribe."
"Wait, what?" Dusk said, taking an automatic step away from the IceWing and his cold scales. "What do you mean?"
"You know what I mean, defect," the IceWing hissed, stalking closer.
"Blizzard," Raven growled, stepping out of the cave with his head held high. "Leave Dusk alone." His shoulder was bleeding from a cut that didn't look too bad, but didn't look good. Dusk wondered how he had gotten it.
Blizzard turned and flicked his tail in annoyance. "I thought I taught you your lesson," he hissed, a hint of frost appearing in the air. "You're not part of this fight." Blizzard turned back to Dusk. "This is between me and the tribrid."
"You mean the moonglobes?" Dusk said. "And the moonglobe tree?"
"'You mean the moonglobes and the moonglobe tree?'" Blizzard mocked, his voice high and clear. "Of course I mean the Gift of Light. Have you stolen any other IceWing gifts?"
"Wha – of course not!" Dusk cried, outraged. "And the moonglobe tree was sold, not stolen!"
"It was stolen, by the dragon that sold it to you in the first place," Blizzard countered. 
"So why are you mad at me?" Dusk exclaimed. "Get mad at him!" 
Blizzard opened his talon and showed a small moonglobe. It was the one she had given Raven the night before. Dusk wondered how he had gotten it from him. 
Then two things clicked together. Raven's shoulder was cut in the place the moonglobe had been sitting. Blizzard had the moonglobe given specifically to Raven. 
"This," he hissed, "does not belong to you. It belongs to the IceWings." 
"No, it belongs to me." Dusk lifted her snout challengingly, slightly upset that Raven had gotten hurt because of her. "It was bought for me and then given." 
"Why you –" Blizzard started. 
"Blizzard, just stop." Raven pushed in front of Blizzard, standing between him and Dusk. 
Blizzard exhaled a cloud of ice particles. "Don't interfere, NightWing. You're not part of this fight, though you are part of another. The one about how you stole our last animus."
"Um, as far as I understand," Raven retorted, "is that your precious Queen Diamond was an animus, so therefore, she could've enchanted one of her heirs to have animus magic. And then, surprise, you would've had more animi. So you can blame your queen for your lack of them."
Blizzard lashed his tail. "Blame the last animus that we ever had?" he growled. 
"Yep," Raven said. "It is her fault, after all."
Dusk pulled Raven back as Blizzard shot out a jet of frostbreath, the ice covering the stone in front of it. 
"What are you doing?" she hissed incredulously. 
Raven didn't answer. He just kept his eyes on Blizzard, moving in a way that Dusk was protected from him. 
Blizzard crouched down and bared his teeth. "Bring it, NightWing," he growled, giving a sly grin. 
"Whoa, whoa, what's happening?" Tsunami appeared at the end of the corridor and she stalked down, her tail slithering along the stone behind her. 
Blizzard stood up and brushed off his wings. "This hybrid stole our Gift of Light," he said, giving Dusk a disgusted look. 
"I have a name," Dusk snapped, walking out in front of Raven, careful of the ice at her talons. "But I don't think I'll tell you." 
"That can't be right, Blizzard," Tsunami said, looking between the three of them, her gaze landing on the frostbreath on the ground and her frown increasing. 
"That's because it's not," Dusk said before Blizzard could give any more false information. "While I was in Sanctuary, a moonglobe tree was bought from an IceWing vendor and given to me. And he," Dusk shot a razor-sharp glare at Blizzard, "still claims that I stole it."
"It must've just been a misunderstanding," Tsunami said. "Right, Blizzard?" 
Blizzard lifted his chin. "No." 
Tsunami narrowed her eyes at him. "Blizzard. We'll talk about this later. Midday. My office." 
"And he –" Dusk began, going to tell her that he had hurt Raven, as well as tried to freeze him, but Raven grabbed her talon. She met his eyes and he shook his head slightly. 
Dusk frowned. But he hurt you, she wanted to say. I can't let him get away with that. But eventually she sat back, holding back her words. 
"What was that, Dusk?" Tsunami said. 
"Nothing," Dusk said, biting her tongue to keep from saying everything she wanted to. 
Raven gave her a grateful look as Tsunami turned away and started to walk off down the hall. 
Blizzard hissed in anger and turned to the two of them. "We're not done," he said in a low voice. "You hear me?" His eyes fell onto Raven. "Especially you." Then he turned away and went back into his cave. 
They were both silent for a few moments, Dusk avoiding Raven's eyes. 
"Well, I guess I'm not getting in there today," Raven said casually. 
"I'm sorry," Dusk said, staring at the ground and picking at the ice that covered some of the stone. "It's all my fault. And all because I gave you that moonglobe last night."
"No, I wasn't blaming you," Raven said. "And besides, it's all Blizzard's fault for being such a stuck up brainless camel-headed lizard." 
Dusk was startled into laughing, though a small part of her wondered why he used what sounded like a SandWing curse. "Well, I came to get you to ask if you wanted to go to the art cave," Dusk said when she was done laughing. "I don't know what sort of stuff you like to do, but I like to paint."
"I don't really have a hobby," Raven admitted. "I've never really had the time to pick one up."
"You could look around the art cave," Dusk suggested. "There's a whole lot of stuff in there that could give you inspiration."
"Alright, I suppose I could try." He smiled. "For you."
They started to walk down the hall when Dusk noticed something swinging at Raven's neck. She paused and realized that it was a deep black scale on a leather cord.
"What's that?" she asked, though she knew what it was.
"Oh." Raven looked down and held the scale in his talons. "This? I know this may sound gross, but it's from my mother. She died a few years ago."
"Oh." Dusk looked away. "I'm sorry."
"Don't be." Raven took a deep breath. "It was no one's fault. No one but. . . Never mind. Let's just go."
"Are you sure you want to go to the art cave first?" Dusk glanced at his shoulder that didn't appear to be bleeding for a moment. "IceWing claws are sharp." She reached out to look at his cut but Raven flinched away.
"No, I'm alright. I've felt the claws of an IceWing before."
"Really?" Dusk frowned. "Where?" She hadn't seen any scars on him though she assumed that it would scar. IceWing claws dug deep.
Raven looked startled for a moment, then turned away. "They didn't scar," he said after a moment. 
"Well, this one might." Dusk looked at it. "I'd feel better if you got it bandaged."
"Alright, I will," Raven said. "But only because you want me to."
Dusk smiled. "Thank you. Now follow me. I know my way to the infirmary."
"Wait, why?" Raven asked, walking at her side.
Dusk thought for a moment. "Well, there was an incident with another NightWing a few months ago. I won't go into any of the details, as it's not something I like to talk about, but I'll just say it got nasty." She lifted up her wing, showing the faint scars on her underbelly. "That's all that's left of it though."
"Oh." Raven's face darkened. "Yet another NightWing that hates hybrids. Why do there have to be so many?"
"You're a NightWing," Dusk said. "How come you don't mind me? Everyone else says that me being a NightWing hybrid is horrible. They keep saying something like how my parents mixed their pure NightWing blood with the lowly SeaWing and RainWing blood."
"What do your parents think about that?" Raven asked.
Dusk turned and met his eyes. "I don't know."
"Oh," Raven looked down. "You don't know your parents or are they dead?"
"I don't know," Dusk answered again. "And in order to answer why I don't know, I have to tell you something else. But I prefer to do that somewhere more private." She hesitated. "We could go to one of the underground lakes once you get your shoulder bandaged."
"I didn't know my father," Raven volunteered. "And my mother would only say that he had to go. I figured out that he left soon after he figured out that my mother was with-egg."
"Oh, that's horrible," Dusk said. "What dragon would abandon their dragonet?"
"I could ask you the same thing," Raven said. "Do you know what your parents did?"
Dusk shook her head. "I guess I don't. I just don't think that they would leave me, but I have no idea."
"Never mind. I'm sorry I said that."
Dusk looked down at the stone beneath her talons. "Um, what happened to your mother?"
Raven winced. 
"I'm sorry. It's a sore subject, isn't it? I should've guessed."
"No, it's alright." Raven looked down and sighed.
"Don't tell me," Dusk said before he could say anything else. "I know you don't want to."
Raven gave her a grateful look. "Thank you," he said. "I would've told you, but. . ."
"It's alright," Dusk said. "I know it's not that you don't trust me. Some things a dragon has to keep to themselves. It's not a matter of trust." She tried to think of anything she didn't want to tell someone, but nothing came to mind.
"Thank you," Raven said. "I'm glad you understand."
Dusk nodded. Then she smiled. "I try to," she joked.
Raven smiled. "You're quite good at it," he said.
Dusk turned down a hallway, then walked along it. They were getting close to the infirmary. She thought about putting on her NightWing disguise, just to work on it, but eventually she decided against it. Creek and Cometcaller might not recognize her with it on, though she couldn't be sure. They could surprise her. But Dusk finally just decided not to. It'd make it easier.
They finally reached the infirmary. Dusk looked inside and saw that there was only one other dragon in there. It was a small lightly colored SandWing who appeared to have cut on one of her talons. Creek was binding it with bandages and looked like she was almost done. Then she finished and patted the SandWing's head. "There. All done, Hyrax. That wasn't so bad, was it?"
The SandWing sniffled slightly and shook her head.
"Just be sure to tell Cotton to be more careful next time, alright?"
"She already said sorry," Hyrax said in a wavering voice. "It was an accident. I'm sure." 
"Well, tell her you forgive her. You don't want her feeling bad all the time. Alright?"
Hyrax gave a small nod, then got up and went to the door, limping slightly on her bandaged talon.
Dusk took a few steps back to make way for Hyrax and smiled at her kindly when she saw her. 
Hyrax jumped and gaped at Dusk's scales for a moment. But Dusk ignored it. She was sort of used to it by then.
"Hi," Dusk said. 
"You're a hybrid," Hyrax said in a small voice. 
Dusk nodded. "I am."
Hyrax cocked her head. "I didn't know they allowed hybrids at Jade Mountain," she said after a moment. 
Raven winced at Dusk's side. 
"Yeah, they do," Dusk said, slightly offended. "There's not very many of us, though there's still a few." Then she turned her back on Hyrax and walked into the infirmary.
Cometcaller had appeared in the doorway to the doctors' rooms and was watching Creek, looking uncertain and fiddling with something in his talons. 
"Creek," Dusk said. "Do you have a few minutes?"
Creek looked up. "Oh, hey, Dusk. Haven't seen you in a bit. I hope you're not here for yourself."
Dusk shook her head. "I'm doing fine. I came here for Raven." She gestured for him to come in and she noticed that he did so rather reluctantly. "There was a fight," she added after a moment. 
Creek walked over and inspected Raven's shoulder. "IceWing?" she asked, meeting his eyes. 
"Yeah," Raven said. "How did you know?"
"I can tell," she answered. "Wait here for a second. I'm going to go find some more bandages." Creek went and passed Cometcaller by, coming back a few moments later with a roll of bandages. 
Creek looked at Raven's shoulder again. "I would say we could clean it, but IceWings' claws leave clean wounds. Their scales are practically always clean, as well as their claws, so I think you're good."
"Good to know?" Raven said tentatively. 
"Yes, but you should also know that they leave deep cuts. So IceWings' claws are the most dangerous. It's best to bind the wound as soon as possible." Creek unrolled the bandages and wrapped it around Raven's shoulder, avoiding his wing membrane. 
"There," Creek said after a moment, tying it off. "You should be good." She smiled at him. "I've never seen you here before. Are you usually careful?"
Raven shrugged. "I mean, sometimes. It depends. I just got here the other day though. Amber Winglet. Blizzard is my clawmate, and I must say he's a little bit hard to work with."
Creek gave an understanding nod. "I've heard of fights with Blizzard, though they've never escalated to actual wounds. What did you do to make him that mad?"
Raven hesitated. "I think it's just that he usually had a cave to himself," he finally said. "So he was frustrated that he had to share with someone, so he took that out on me. I'm fine though, really. It hardly even hurt."
Creek looked skeptical. "Well, it should heal. Come back if you ever need more help."
Raven nodded. "I will." He looked at Dusk. "You ready to go to the art cave?"
Dusk nodded, then started to walk away. They walked a few paces and went around a corner when Raven paused. 
"Or ... do you want to tell me why exactly you don't know what happened to your parents? You said you might."
Dusk hesitated. "Maybe I could. . ." She trailed off as she heard Cometcaller talking in the infirmary.
"Creek? I need to talk to you for a second."
"Hold on for a bit," Dusk said. She smiled at Raven. "I'm going to work on my camouflage."
"Are you sure that's the best idea?" Raven said. "If he didn't want to say anything until we left, that probably means that he didn't want anyone else to overhear."
"Shh," Dusk said, taking the gray of the stone beneath her talons and projecting it onto her scales. "Just stay here for a moment. Please?" she added as he went to object.
Raven sighed. "Just don't do anything reckless."
Dusk gave a small incredulous laugh. "I don't even see anything that I could do that would be reckless." Then she darted away back to the entrance of the infirmary.
Dusk peeked her head out from behind the stone wall, making sure she was camouflaged.
"Creek, we've known each other for a long time," Cometcaller was saying, stepping a bit closer to Creek.
Creek smiled. "Yes. Six years now, right? I was eight and you were ten the day we first met."
The tension fell out of Cometcaller's wings and he smiled. "Yes." He fidgeted with something small in his talons. "Well, so going off that, I just wanted to say something. You know I love you."
Creek nodded. "And? I love you too. That's not going to change, no matter what you say."
Cometcaller nodded. "I know, and I'm glad for that. But promise me, you'll give me your honest answer no matter what the question is."
"Of course," Creek said, looking offended. She stepped closer and brushed her brown wings against Cometcaller's black ones. "Why would I ever lie to you?"
"I'm not saying you would," Cometcaller said. "Not at all. But I need to know that you actually would." 
"I already said yes," Creek said. "So what is your question? You're making me curious with all this making sure of things that are quite obvious."
Cometcaller took a deep breath and held out a golden armband set with an amber. "Creek, will you take my talon in partnership?"
== Chapter 21 ==
Dusk gave a small gasp, but it was masked by Creek's much louder one. She clapped her brown talons over her snout and her eyes filled with tears.
"I know this isn't much," Cometcaller said quickly, avoiding Creek's eyes. He was still holding out the golden armband. "But it's all I could get."
"I don't care about that," Creek said in a choked voice. She grinned. "I only care about you!" She threw her wings around him. "Yes, yes, yes, a thousand times yes! Do you know how long I've been waiting for this day?"
Cometcaller looked relieved. "I hope I haven't kept you waiting too long," he said. "Thank you for being so patient with me."
"Cometcaller," Creek said. "I love you. Just because I had to wait a bit doesn't mean becoming your partner is any less pleasurable. If anything, it's more so."
Cometcaller laughed. "I love you, Creek. You don't know how much of an honor it is to be your mate. May I?" He held out the bracelet. 
Creek nodded, blinking a few more tears out of her eyes. She held out her talon and Cometcaller put the golden armband on it.
Creek smiled. "You know I would've become your partner even if you had nothing. You didn't have to get this, though it's beautiful."
Cometcaller grinned. "I had to get you something to compare to your beauty. And if I'm being honest, I had heard of a jeweler in Sanctuary. Since you were going, I had to stay here as the healer, but I asked Jasper if he could do a favor for me and pick up an amber that would fit in the armband." 
Dusk thought for a moment and realized that Cometcaller had gotten the amber from Granite.
"Really?" Creek gasped. "Jasper? He could never keep a secret."
"Well, I'm glad that he could keep it that time." Cometcaller smiled. "It was important."
Creek laughed, then leaned against Cometcaller's side. He nuzzled her with his snout and she batted at him playfully. 
Dusk stepped away from the door. She was tempted to go in and say that she was happy for them, but she hadn't been supposed to overhear. She smiled. She truly was happy for both of them, more than she could say. She had never realized that they had already been in a relationship, but now she was surprised that she had never seen it before. 
Dusk smiled, then stepped away from the infirmary. She went back down the hallway and found Raven waiting for her.
"What happened?" he asked her as she took off her camouflage. 
Dusk just smiled in return. "It's nothing that you would care about." She went down the hall and began to head to the art cave. "Oh," she said, turning to Raven. "I was wondering if I could tell you about what you asked in a bit. Maybe tonight. Would you be okay with that?"
Raven nodded. "But I'll just be more curious with all the suspense," he told her.
"I think I can deal with that," Dusk said. 
Raven laughed. "I might not, if I keep thinking about it."
"Well then don't," Dusk said. "It's not really that important anyway." 
"Maybe not to you," Raven said. "But it might be to me."
"I think I'd disagree with that," Dusk said. "It means a lot to me." She always wanted to know what had happened to her memories and why she no longer had them. She wanted to know that more than anything else she could think of.
Dusk continued down the hall in silence and Raven couldn't seem to be able to think of anything else to say either. Soon, they were at the art cave. Gold was gone and Coast was, as expected, standing at an easel with a paintbrush. Seagull and Polyp were sitting in a corner of the cave, each holding a few strands of dyed thread. Polyp looked immensely concentrated on what she was doing and didn't notice Dusk as she walked in. But Seagull did and he looked up, smiling at her.
Dusk went over to Coast. "Coast, this is Raven," she said, gesturing to him as he walked over to Dusk's side.
Raven gave a shy smile. "Nice to meet you."
Coast looked up from his painting, smiling at Raven kindly. "Nice to meet you too." He gestured around them. "Feel free to use anything in here. Everyone is welcome to."
Raven smiled. "Thanks. It's just a matter of looking through and finding what I want to do." He looked around. "This is bigger than I expected."
Coast laughed. "I think it passes everyone's expectations. That means the teachers did a good job."
"So what do you want to do, Raven?" Dusk asked, turning to him.
Raven hesitated. "Well, is there anything in here to carve?"
Dusk nodded. "I tried once. It didn't work out very well. Here, this way." She led him over to a spot in the cave where there were oddly shaped pieces of wood. Each one was different, so you could choose which one you wanted depending on what you wanted to carve.
"Here," Dusk said, waving one wing at them. "And there are these really small pieces that I have absolutely no idea how you would carve them."
Raven picked up a small piece of wood like the ones she had talked about. "Well, you could make it into a stamp. Like what you use to make a seal for a letter. Just carve an outdented image and then you'd press that image into the wax." He looked at it. "I think I'll do that for now."
"Sounds cool," Dusk said. "As for me, I'll stick to painting. I can't wait to see it when you're finished. Be sure to show me."
Raven smiled and nodded. "I will."
Dusk went over to an easel and grabbed a canvas, setting it up next to Coast.
"He seems nice," Coast said. "I wasn't really sure about him yesterday, when he led you off to another part of the mountain without anyone with you, but he seems genuine. By the way, what did he want to see you about?"
Dusk had completely forgotten about the prophecy. "Well, he told me a prophecy. He told me later that he had made it up. He said he told me it to see what I would do." Dusk looked over at Raven. He was diligently working on the small piece of wood. "It doesn't really make sense to me, but he's nice."
Raven suddenly looked up, as though realizing that Dusk was looking at him, and she turned back to her canvas.
"Earlier, you said he was in the Amber Winglet, right?"
Dusk nodded, going over to the paints, looking them over and trying to figure out what to paint. She kept running out of dragons to paint.
Coast walked over. "So does he have to share a cave with Blizzard?" he asked in a low voice.
Dusk looked at Coast and nodded. "He cut him a bit ago." She nodded to Raven's shoulder. "Raven wouldn't really tell me what had happened, but I figured out on my own."
Coast looked startled. "I was about to say that we're stuck in the same cave, but Vapor's never hurt me. Physically, that is."
"I tried to stop it yesterday, by asking if Raven could be in a different cave," Dusk said. "Sunny didn't listen. Tsunami is going to talk to Blizzard later today though. There was a fight," she added.
"A fight? About what?"
Dusk glanced at Seagull and Polyp. Neither of them looked like they were listening. "About the moonglobe tree," she said in a low voice. "Blizzard said that I stole it, all because it was an IceWing gift to the tribe."
Coast looked alarmed. "Is everything okay?"
Dusk nodded. "Just a bit of frostbreath that didn't hit anyone."
"Well, I did warn you about IceWings," Coast said after a moment.
Dusk laughed. "You did indeed. And I planned to avoid them, but I went to go see Raven, and then it all happened. I think Blizzard would've found me eventually. After he saw that moonglobe, I think he had his mind set on finding me." 
"How did he see a moonglobe?" Coast asked.
"I gave one to Raven the night before. But, Coast, can you do me a favor?"
Coast nodded, his eyes curious.
"Don't tell Seagull about this, okay? I don't want him feeling bad about this too. He already feels bad because Quicksand had to move caves."
Coast nodded. "I won't."
Dusk smiled. "Thanks. Now," she said, returning to her normal voice, "what should I paint?"
"What tribe do you like to paint the most?" Coast asked. 
Dusk thought for a moment. "I think to say SeaWing is kind of weird, as I'm mostly SeaWing. But as for today, do you think I should paint a RainWing in the rainforest?"
"No, paint a RainWing in the desert," said a new voice.
Dusk looked over to the cave entrance and saw Frond walking in. "Oh, hey," Dusk said.
"Of course paint a RainWing in the rainforest," she said, walking over. "Where else? But not right now. You'll have to do it later."
"Wait, why?" Dusk asked, startled as Frond grabbed her talon and began pulling her towards the entrance.
Frond stopped. "Well, I assume you want to go to the scale-changing class. They have one here. I thought you might want to work on your camouflage."
"Wait, they have one?" Dusk yelped in delight. "They have everything at Jade Mountain! When is it?"
"Ten minutes from now," Frond answered. "That's why I came to get you."
Dusk looked back at Raven, hesitating. He looked absorbed in his work. "Hey, Coast. If Raven asks, tell him I had to go to class."
Coast nodded. "I will. See you at Aquatic later? Or before then?"
Dusk smiled. "Whichever. Bye!" She followed Frond out of the cave and back to the Great Hall. Then, from there, they headed down the passage that led to where Frond had taken her for suntime. But just before they went outside, Frond turned into a cave. 
It was really quite spacious and bright from a skylight in the ceiling. Ivy was draped over the walls and there were colored globes all around them. 
"Wow," Dusk whispered.
There were only three other dragons in the cave. The RainWing that was presumably the teacher, Howler, and a small timid looking RainWing who couldn't be much older than one.
"Hello, Beryl," Frond said, nodding to the teacher. "This is Dusk. She's part RainWing and she's been trying to work on her camouflage."
"I'm still not good at it," Dusk interjected quickly. "I mean, not nearly as good as a RainWing would be. Up until now, I've been self-taught, going by what I thought was best."
"Well, everyone is self-taught until they're taught," Beryl said, smiling at Dusk. "I've needed another dragon in the class for awhile. There are some things that are better with more than three dragons."
Dusk smiled. "I would assume so."
Beryl looked at them all. "Well, you are all a bit early today, so I'll start a bit early. I know no one else is coming." She turned to the small RainWing. "Cotten, would you like to show me what improvement you've made on your disguise today?"
Cotten gave a shy nod, glancing at Dusk, then turned back to Beryl. Then, her scales shimmered, and standing in her place was a crimson red and gold SkyWing, about the same stature and build as Cotton.
"Wonderful job, Cotton. I believe you could pass off as a SkyWing in the Sky Kingdom. I would say you've nearly mastered it."
Cotton beamed, though she hardly looked like Cotton at all.
"Now, just to work on it and make sure you can keep it on, disguise yourself as that SkyWing whenever you can."
Cotton nodded, then her scales lost their red hue, changing to a purple-blue with swirls of pink.
"Now, Howler, how has yours been going?"
Howler looked away. "I believe it's been going well, but I don't think I'm that good of a judge." Then his scales shimmered, like Cotton's had, and took on a mahogany hue. His snout seemed to broaden, though it was just made to look like that, and soon, standing in his place was a MudWing.
"Excellent job, Howler. I would say that you just need to remember to flatten down your ruff a bit more and maybe change your eye color to a brown as well. Just a few more classes and you'll remember, don't worry." Beryl turned to Frond. "What about you, Frond?"
Dusk took a few shy steps away from Frond, not really wanting to be in the center of attention.
"It's going well, I think," Frond said. "I keep trying to add a bit more details to it though." Her scales rippled over to a bright snow-white. Her horns appeared to become sharp and looked like icicles. Her tail looked like it became whip-thin. Then her eyes changed to a bright piercing blue. And in a small shift, spots of a light icy blue showed up along her spine.
"Impressive, Frond, I must admit. You look like a true IceWing. Just hold yourself a bit firmer and tilt your chin up."
Frond did so and hardly looked like herself anymore. 
"There. You still look a bit too kind for an IceWing, but that can't be helped." Beryl turned to Dusk. "Now, it would seem rude to skim over you. I know you haven't been here before, so you wouldn't have worked on disguises with us, but do you have anything you want to show us?"
Dusk hesitated, trying to ignore the feeling of everyone's eyes on her. "Well, I won't be able to keep it on very long, as I'm a bit nervous, but I can try." She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, then pulled her NightWing disguise out of the back of her mind and put it onto her scales. When she opened her eyes back, her scales were a midnight black with hints of blue glinting in them. She also made sure that she had the dark gray for her eyes.
"I worked on it with a NightWing friend of mine," Dusk said, shrugging.
"Well, I have to admit, I was not expecting you to have such a good disguise while only having taught yourself. You seem to have been given a rundown on what to do. It was a nice touch, changing your eye color. But something hard that you have to do is somehow get rid of the webs between your talons. You could camouflage them to the color of the ground beneath you. How about you try it out?"
Dusk nodded, then moving her NightWing disguise that was somewhere out of the way, but still in use, she added the deep gray of the stone below her talons, though she knew if she wanted to use it again, she'd have to take into account what the color of the ground beneath her talons was.
"Good job, Dusk," Beryl said, and Dusk beamed. 
Dusk felt someone's gaze on her and she turned around, seeing Frond staring at her with a disbelieving look. She was about to ask what was wrong when Beryl continued.
"Now, onto our lesson for today. We'll be playing a game of hide-and-seek."
"Hide-and-seek?" Dusk said. "How is that a lesson?"
"Everyone but one dragon will camouflage their scales. That one dragon will be me to start out with. Then I have to go around the cave and find you. Remember to use your surroundings to your advantage."
Dusk nodded, then took a blank color and added it to her NightWing disguise for her webs between her talons. She would probably be able to take that blank color and turn it into her background color wherever she was.
"Right. Any questions?"
Dusk shook her head, looking around the cave. She didn't see anywhere that seemed convenient to hide, but maybe as she explored, she'd get a better view of it.
"Okay. I will count to one hundred, but that's all the time you get. Everyone ready?"
One hundred seconds seemed a bit long to Dusk but everyone else was nodding.
"Go." Beryl closed her eyes. "One, two, three. . ."
Dusk flew to a corner of the cave and looked around. She didn't see anything helpful. Frond went over to a group of stalagmites and sat down next to them. Then a moment later, there was another stalagmite in their group that had not been there a moment before.
Dusk watched as Howler disappeared before her eyes as well, being replaced by a boulder that sat inconspicuously in a corner of the cave. 
"Come on, come on," Dusk murmured to herself, glancing around again. She couldn't hide with any of the others. She didn't want to give them away, since her camouflage was probably so much worse.
"Forty, forty-one, forty-two. . ."
Dusk's eyes grew wide. She hardly had fifty seconds left. How was that even possible?
Dusk looked around the cave, trying to find a spot to hide, while also scanning it unconsciously for Cotton, though she was nowhere in sight. Well, maybe she was, just hidden so well that she couldn't tell where she was.
"There has to be somewhere," Dusk murmured. She knew that no matter where she hid, she'd be found first. Frond, Cotten, and Howler's camouflage were so much better than hers. Probably better than hers ever could be. After all, how could her scales be as good as a RainWing's if they weren't even the scales of a RainWing? They were only partly RainWing. A mix. Something that never should've been mixed together but had been. Dusk was awed that they even worked properly. After all, how could she be a hybrid without a few deformities?
Dusk darted to a corner of the cave. She hardly had thirty seconds left now. She just had to find somewhere and stick to it. If she didn't, she'd be out of time before she knew it without a place to hide.
Dusk suddenly looked up. There were stalactites hanging from the ceiling. Dusk wondered if she could keep hold of one and hide up there.
Dusk opened her wings and flew up to the ceiling with careful, quiet wingbeats. She didn't want Beryl to hear her.
She flew up to a large stalactite and gripped it with her talons and wrapping her tail around it. Then, she stopped flapping her wings. 
Dusk was so startled by the sudden weight on her front talons that she nearly lost her grip. One of her back talons slipped off, knocking down a few loose pebbles that clattered on the stone floor. She quickly latched it back into a small hole on the rock, hoping that it would hold. 
Dusk took a deep breath, pulling in her wings closely and taking the color of the stony stalactite in her mind. It took her a moment, but finally she projected it onto her scales, adding in fake shadows to make it look like she had the jagged edges of the stone she was hanging onto.
"Ninety, ninety-one, ninety-two. . ."
Dusk took another deep breath, her talons already hurting from hanging on. She hoped she could keep up her camouflage as well as hang on. She hoped that maybe, if she had to drop her camouflage, then it might be dark enough up there that Beryl wouldn't see her.
"Ninety-nine, one hundred! I hope you're all hidden by now!" 
Dusk didn't risk turning around to see where Beryl was looking. She didn't want to give herself away.
"Hm, I see you have all found good hiding spots. I haven't seen a trace of any of you. Good job."
Dusk smiled slightly with pride, though she knew Beryl was probably talking to the rest of her students, who were much more skilled than her.
"Hmm, let's see." There was a moment of silence. Dusk held her breath, though she knew that Beryl wouldn't be able to hear her shallow breaths from all the way down there.
Dusk heard talons on stone and knew that Beryl was now walking around.
"Found you –" Dusk held her breath, hoping it wasn't her "– Howler. Good job being that boulder. If I hadn't known that there was no boulder here, I wouldn't have found you."
"I wish I had had a better place to hide," she heard Howler say. "But I know this cave top to bottom, and there's no better place for me."
"I'm sure you could find somewhere else if you really looked. Now, let me find the others. Remember, you cannot help me."
Howler nodded. "I know the drill." 
Dusk held her breath as she heard talons beneath her.
"Nice spot, Dusk," came Beryl's voice beneath her.
Dusk's wings drooped and she dropped her camouflage. She let go of the stalactite and glided down to where Beryl was staring up at her.
"I kind of panicked," Dusk explained as she landed on the ground. "I don't think that was a very good spot."
"I don't think so. You don't know the cave, so you can't have known it like everyone else does. And the only reason I actually thought to look up was because I heard the pebbles you knocked down. So good job, thinking outside the box."
Dusk smiled slightly. "Thank you. I'm bound to do better next time though." She searched the cave for Cotton, though she could see nothing. She couldn't even tell where Frond was, despite the fact that she had known where she had been when she hid. And even then, she specifically kept her eyes from straying to the patch of stalagmites where Frond was hiding. She didn't want to give her away.
"Hmm, wonderful spot, Frond," Beryl said a moment later, her eyes landing on a stalagmite.
Frond appeared. "And I thought I'd actually win this round," she said, a small flash of annoyance in her eyes, her scales shimmering with an emerald green. 
"Well, everyone has their round," she said. 
"It seems to be Cotton's round every time," Frond muttered under her breath.
Beryl spun in a slow circle. "Now, where is Cotton?" Her eyes latched on a small pool in the corner of the cave, its surface disrupted every time a drop of water fell from a stalactite above it. She tilted her head at it, as though contemplating it. Then she went over to the pool with a calculating stare.
"Dusk," Frond said, walking over to her side.
"Yeah?" Dusk answered, keeping her eyes on Beryl, wondering what she thought she saw.
"Since when could you change your scales?"
Dusk met Frond's eyes, startled. "Oh. I forgot you didn't know. I learned how to one day at Sanctuary, but I never realized that you didn't know. I'm sorry I didn't tell you."
"It's alright," Frond said.
"Aha! Cotton, good job." 
Dusk looked over to see where Beryl had found Cotton when she saw her climbing up out of the small pool, her scales now pink with hints of blue-purple. Water was dripping off them and onto the stone below her talons. Dusk's jaw dropped. She bounded over to Cotton. "Were you underwater?" she said in awe.
Cotton smiled and nodded, shivering slightly at a wind the blew in from the skylight above their heads. "I came up every once in awhile to breathe and see what was happening."
Dusk grinned. "You take your hide-and-seek lessons seriously."
Cotton ducked her head embarrassedly. "I suppose. I just see no reason not to try my best. I see no reason not to try my best with everything I do."
Dusk smiled. "Well, congratulations."
Cotton smiled. "Thank you. Your camouflage was really good."
"Not as good as yours," Dusk said. "If I had walked in when you were disguised, I probably would've thought that a SkyWing was taking this class."
Cotton glowed with pride, the blue-purple of her scales becoming more dominant. Dusk assumed that the color probably meant pride, though she wasn't sure if that was all it meant.
"Now, Howler will be it next, but I'll give you each a bit of help before we move on."
Dusk smiled. She thought that maybe the rest of that day might be a full one, but she was sure she'd thoroughly enjoy every second of it.
•       •       •       •       •        
Coast had been waiting outside by the time Dusk had been done with the scale-changing class. He had taken her to another cave and Dusk had rather enjoyed the Aquatic lesson, learning the basics of it all. She hoped she could learn more. The teacher, Mussel, was kind and understanding and didn't even mention that Dusk was a hybrid. Some of the SeaWings there stared at her though, making her wish she had a normal SeaWing disguise ready, so she could be no one important and just a student, eager to learn. She appeared to know the least of all of them. One of the SeaWings exchanged a look with a friend and said something entirely in Aquatic. Mussel had gotten onto them a moment later. "Mind your manners," he had scolded. "Dusk is just a student, here to learn about Aquatic like all the rest of us. She just doesn't know it because she hasn't had to spend a majority of her life underwater, so therefore it was not an essential skill."
Then none of the SeaWings had said anything else. Not as far as Dusk saw, but she suspected that they were now being careful about what they said and when they said it. 
Finally, by the time Dusk was done with the two classes, she was rather tired and hungry. She headed back to her cave to rest for a bit, but found a scroll lying on her ledge when she got there. She went to open it when she found that it was sealed with black wax. And indented into the wax was the picture of a large bird. A raven. It had to be from Raven.
Dusk sat down on her ledge and tore the seal. Inside was a short note; one that looked, if you can tell by the way someone writes, a little bit self-conscious.
Dear Dusk,
Coast told me that you had to go to class. I just wanted to let you know that I finished the seal, as you could probably tell from the scroll. You asked me to tell you when I did.
I'll be in my cave if you ever need me. 
Sincerely,
Raven
His signature had a modest look, as though he was trying to make it look less noticeable. Dusk just smiled and rolled the scroll back up. She turned around and pushed back Coast's picture to get to her cubbyhole. Then she set down the note from Raven next to her half-finished picture of him. 
She wanted an excuse to go talk with Raven, but she didn't have one. He had invited her over though, so she didn't technically have to have a reason.
Dusk got up from her ledge and walked down the hall to Raven's cave. Well, Raven and Blizzard's cave.
She glanced in. The cave was thick with tension and frostbreath covered half of the cave. Blizzard was just sitting on his ledge, glaring at Raven, looking extremely unhappy. Dusk realized that he would've talked to Tsunami by then. He was probably mad about that.
Raven was sitting on his ledge, looking nervous. He didn't meet Blizzard's eyes, but occasionally his eyes flicked to Blizzard's tail as he shifted it, the spikes clattering against each other.
Dusk tapped the stone at the doorframe. "Raven?" she said.
Blizzard and Raven both turned. Blizzard narrowed his eyes at her. "What are you doing here?" he hissed.
"I came for Raven," Dusk snapped. "So you can mind your own business." She turned to Raven. "Want to ... go hunting with me?" she asked, making up a reason for her visit on the spot.
Raven got up and nodded. "Anything to get out of here," he said after a moment, looking as though he wondered if he should've said anything at all.
"Well, the feeling is mutual, NightWing," Blizzard said coldly. "I hope you don't come back."
Raven went to cave entrance without a word and stepped into the hallway.
"Come on, Raven. Follow me," she said. Dusk led the way down the hall until they were far enough away, then she turned to face Raven. "Listen, I didn't actually want to hunt. I got your note, and I kind of just wanted to find you. You can go back if you had anything better to do."
Raven snorted. "Are you kidding? Go back to Blizzard when I could do literally anything else with you? I don't care what we do, as long as I can stay away from Blizzard for the rest of today."
Dusk smiled. "Well, we could explore the mountain. This place is huge. Seriously. I spent my first few months exploring from sunrise to sunset and I still haven't explored the whole thing."
"Wow." Raven smiled. "Do you think you could show me all the cool stuff?"
Dusk nodded. "If you want me to, I'd be glad to." She smiled. 
"Great! What do you think is the most interesting spot?"
"One of the underground lakes," Dusk answered after a moment. "The ones that are open to the sky are pretty cool, but I like the dark ones best. I mean, we can skip those if you want to see something else though," she added quickly.
Raven shook his head. "Lead away to the underground lake," he said, smiling.
Dusk nodded, grinning at him. She looked at her mental map. She remembered she had marked her favorite. It hadn't been a big one. Just a small pool at the dead-end of a cave. She hadn't liked it for the pool, rather for something else. 
"This way," Dusk said. "There might be a better entrance somewhere outside the mountain – one that doesn't take as long to get to, that is – but I only know the way from the inside of the mountain."
"I don't care." Raven looked around. "I'd like to get to know the mountain a bit better. Especially if I'll be staying here for a bit, even if it is split up." He caught the confused look Dusk sent him. "Remember, I have to leave at the end of this moon cycle."
Dusk's face fell. She had forgotten, somehow.
"I'll come back, I promise you, Dusk. I just don't know how long I have to leave for. I can't make any guarantees."
Dusk nodded and continued down the hall, staring at the stone. She didn't even think it was possible that she had forgotten. And yet she had. She guessed that she was enjoying her time with Raven more than she had expected, and it just slipped out of her mind.
"Isn't ... isn't the Great Hall the other way?" Raven said tentatively. "I didn't think there was anything but sleeping caves down this hall."
"There's not," Dusk said, looking up and smiling. "Not until the very end. Then there's this tunnel that leads deeper into the mountain. Nobody goes by this way, so I think we can trust that no one will be at this underground lake." Dusk paused. "I say lake, though it's really not. It's just a pool. If you want to go somewhere bigger, than we can. This one is just my favorite."
"If it's your favorite, then I'd like to see it." Raven smiled. "Now come on. Stop second-guessing yourself. I'm sure it's beautiful."
Dusk thought about the cave and the pool. "Yes, it is."
They walked down the long corridor lined with sleeping caves. Dusk knew that at the moment, they were heading out of the mountain, but the sleeping caves ended a few corridors away from where the mountain ended, and then they'd turn and head back deeper into the mountain by another tunnel.
Dusk ducked past a MudWing that was walking down the hall and continued down. As she walked, she felt a breath of wind and knew they were getting close to the edge of the mountain. 
Suddenly, the sleeping caves ended. The globes above their heads were slightly more spaced apart, interspersed by torches.
"This is pretty far," Raven remarked.
"I said it was," Dusk said. "It's a bit of a walk, yes, but I think it's well worth it."
"Alright, now I have my hopes up." Raven winked and Dusk knew that he was kidding.
At the end of the hall, there was a large window. Well, more like a shaft. As the teachers couldn't dig to the very end of the mountain and have it completely stable, they had to dig the last few feet in order to have airflow. And of course, they had to have some airflow.
"This way," Dusk said, flicking her tail down a small hallway to their right, leading back into the mountain in a different direction from the way they just came. 
There were no other caves back here. Just an exit a little ways off. The tunnel that Dusk and Raven were now walking down had a few small branch offs, though Dusk didn't know where they went. She had only explored this way once and she had kept to the largest tunnel, not wanting to risk it with the smaller ones that were most likely dead ends with nothing at the end of them. And at the end of this passage, they would reach one of Dusk's favorite places in Jade Mountain.
Dusk could now hear water as it dripped down into a pool ahead of them, echoing down the passage. It was a small noise, but one Dusk had grown accustomed to, constantly finding caves with water dripping from stalactites in the secluded areas of Jade Mountain.
If Dusk looked down and to the walls, she could see small glowworms on them. She didn't give them more than a passing glance though. There were more, and she didn't want to draw attention to them quite yet. 
Finally, the tunnel twisted, nearly ninety degrees, and it opened up into a rather spacious cave. Glowworms were spaced out on the ceiling, looking like a sky full of stars. There was a pool in the corner of the cave that looked like about five dragons could fit in it comfortably, and that wasn't counting its depth. Dusk could see a crack, probably large enough for a dragonet about Dusk's age to squeeze through into a larger pool beneath it. The rest of the cave was rather empty. It was flat until a little outcropping that overlooked the cave. Dusk peered into one of the corners, noticing that maybe it wasn't a dead end.
Dusk gestured one wing grandly to the cave, ignoring the large crack in the back wall that might be another passage. "Well, this is it. It's not as much as I made it out to be, but I hope it's enough."
Raven was gazing around the cave. He didn't say anything for a moment. "Wow, this is beautiful," he breathed. "The glowworms make it look like it's always night here." He turned to Dusk. "I love it."
"I know it's not much," Dusk said quickly. "I like it though." She jumped into the pool before Raven could answer, coming up a few seconds later.
Raven looked annoyed and amused. "I was just about to say that it's beautiful, like I had said just a bit ago." Raven sighed exasperatedly. "You kept doubting yourself."
"I do not!" Dusk protested, flapping her wings and making the water slosh out over the edges of the pool. "I just wanted to –" She cut herself off.
"You wanted to what?" Raven asked, casually hopping over, avoiding the puddles of water by stepping on stalagmites. 
"Um." Dusk looked down. "I wanted to impress you." She ducked underwater, hoping to cool down her burning face. She didn't come back up until she was sure most of her blush was gone.
"Well, I'm impressed," Raven said. "And, can you please not do that again? I don't know why you seem so afraid of my answer."
Dusk went to object that she wasn't afraid of his answer, just embarrassed, but then decided that she'd better not, as she'd have to tell him that she was embarrassed.
"Well," Dusk began awkwardly as a silence fell over the cave, "want to get in the water with me?" She paddled back to give him room, just in case he wanted to get in.
Raven hesitated.
"You don't have to," Dusk said quickly.
Raven glanced down to the bottom of the pool. "Do you know what's at the bottom of this?" he asked, sounding worried. His eyes were shimmering with indecision.
Dusk glanced down at the crack in the bottom of the pool, now aware of how close her tail was to slipping into it. "No," Dusk admitted. "I can go check if you want me to." She went to go dive down but Raven quickly reached out and grabbed her talon. 
"Don't" he said quickly. "Please. I don't want anything to happen to you." 
His talons suddenly slipped off the stalagmite that he had jumped to to reach her talon and he fell into the water with a splash and a yelp.
Dusk held out her talon instinctively in case he didn't know how to swim, though those exact thoughts didn't go through her mind. She was treading water when he broke the surface, grasping her talon.
"Are you alright?" she asked, holding back a laugh, knowing that it could be serious. Maybe he was afraid of water, like Dusk had been.
Raven nodded, then sneezed some water out his snout.
Dusk laughed. "Can you swim?" she asked gently. It seemed as though he could. He was still holding onto her talon rather tightly, but it seemed he could hold his own weight.
Raven nodded slowly. He glanced down at his talon that was still holding Dusk's and released it with a blush. "Um, sorry," he said in a soft voice, treading water. "I was a bit startled."
"It's fine." Dusk hesitated. "You know, if you ever get tired, you can hold onto me. I'm not the best swimmer, but I can breathe underwater."
Raven smiled. "Thank you, but I should be fine. I'm sorry that I grabbed you in the first place."
"It's alright," Dusk said. "You didn't hurt me."
"I'm glad," Raven said.
Dusk smiled. "So, I saw a tunnel in the corner that I didn't see before. Do you want to go explore it?"
Raven went still – well, as still as you can while still treading water. 
"Or let's not," Dusk said quickly, trying to get rid of the fear in Raven's eyes. She cocked her head and couldn't resist a question. "Are you ... claustrophobic?"
Raven quickly shook his head. "No. We can explore it if you want."
Dusk hesitated. She didn't want to take Raven into a situation he didn't like, but she was curious what was at the end of the tunnel, if it even led anywhere but a dead end. 
Dusk sank down in the water up to her jawbone. "No, we'll stay here until we're ready to go. This cave is more than adequate for the time being." Then she opened her wings and began to float on the surface of the pool, letting the tension fall out of her wings. Classes had stressed her out more than she realized but she felt better now.
Dusk heard water dripping onto stone and glanced up. Raven was climbing out of the pool, twitching his wings back, sending water running his wings in rivulets. Then he began walking to a corner of the cave, peeking around stalagmites and rocks.
"Wait, what are you doing?" Dusk yelped. She scrambled out of the water over to Raven just as he found the crack in the wall, peering into it. Dusk grabbed his talon. "I thought you didn't want to go."
Raven looked down at Dusk's talon that was holding his. "I never said that. And I know you want to. Besides, what's the worst that could happen?"
Dusk thought for a moment, but couldn't think of anything. "Alright, we'll go, but only if you want you." Dusk looked him in the eye. "Do you want to go?"
Raven looked away and nodded. He was lying. Dusk didn't know what made her think that, but he wasn't meeting her eyes. That was probably it. But it seemed she wasn't going to change his mind. 
Dusk took a deep breath. "Alright. In we go." She paused. "Raven, do you have night-vision? If you don't, I can light up my scales." She lit up the ones on her tail one by one, the light progressively working their way up her body.
"I have night-vision," Raven verified. "Otherwise I wouldn't have found my way here. It was dark in the tunnel leading over here. Also," he gestured around them, "the only light in here is your scales and the glowworms."
"Oh." Dusk flushed in embarrassment. "I didn't realize I was using my night-vision."
"It's alright. Do you want me to go before you? Or do you want to go first?"
"Thank you for offering," Dusk said, "but I'm dragging you into this, so I'll go first." She pulled her wings close against her body and slipped through the crack in the wall.
On this inside, it smelled musty and the air was stale. She immediately had second thoughts. What if they ran out of air? That seemed incredibly unlikely, but it was still possible. After all, how did she know what could happen?
Dusk glanced back and saw that Raven had gone in right behind her. She didn't want to back out now that Raven was already there with her, and she knew he didn't want to do it more than she did.
Dusk took a deep breath, breathing in the musty scent. "On we go," she said, then began to creep down the tunnel, making sure to watch her talons and where she stepped, in case there was a drop-off.
As they walked, the tunnel seemed to lead nowhere. It just kept going and going. A small stone clattered down the wall and bumped into Dusk's tail, but she paid no attention to it. She walked about ten more steps when she heard something. Dusk frowned, confused, and turned around in the small tunnel with some difficulty, having to maneuver her wings in an odd way. She saw that Raven had stopped too, turning back to look down the hall, seeming confused. 
That was when Dusk realized that the sound was coming from the ceiling. She looked up just in time to see large boulders plummeting down towards them.
== Chapter 22 ==
"Raven!" Dusk screamed, though it was drowned out by the clattering of boulders above their heads. Dusk could tell that she would only be hit by the smaller rocks of the cave-in, but Raven. . . If he was hit by the brunt of those boulders, he would die. There was no denying it.
The world seemed to slow down for Dusk. Her eyes rushed from one boulder to the next as they fell, looking for an opening that might save Raven. But there was only one way. She had to get him out of there.
Dusk dashed towards Raven and grabbed his tail, digging her talons into it. Raven yelped but it was cut short with a sickening thud. A rock about the size of Dusk's talon hit him on the head and he fell limp.
Fear squeezed Dusk's heart like talons. Dusk didn't know if they would make it. If they even could make it. The boulders were coming too fast. They couldn't make it.
Dusk squeezed her eyes shut. They'd both die. All because she had dragged Raven into something he didn't want to do.
No, Dusk suddenly thought stubbornly. I can't die. This can't be how I die. And even if it is, how do I know I couldn't make it out if I didn't even try?
With a sudden surge of strength, Dusk gripped Raven's tail and flung him out of danger. She knew that it probably hurt, but she thought better hurt than dead.
A rock larger than her talons smacked into her neck and Dusk yelped, but she dashed over to where Raven was lying, motionless, leaping out of the way of the rockfall.
The largest rocks fell to the passage floor, shaking the whole tunnel, making Dusk think that maybe the floor would collapse from the weight, but thankfully it held up.
Dust rose up and blinded Dusk's eyes momentarily. She coughed as some went up her snout and into her mouth. Dusk blinked rapidly to clear it of its fogginess, drops of water dripping down the sides of her snout as her eyes tried to get rid of all the dust in them.
Before Dusk could even see clearly again, she dashed over to Raven's side, feeling his head, ignoring the throbbing pain in her neck and gills. It wasn't until she felt something dripping down her neck that she realized that it was bleeding.
Dusk gingerly held up a talon to her neck, wincing as it came away with blood staining her claws.
Dusk turned away from her own wound and brushed her clean – well, not necessarily clean, but unbloodied at least – talon over Raven's head. It felt smooth, like it should be. She could see no cut either. So the rock had just knocked him out. It hadn't broken his skull or cut him.
Dusk breathed a small sigh of relief, coughing as dust coated her throat. Then she sat down heavily next to Raven, waiting for him to wake up, trying not to think of what came next. What if the tunnel only led to a dead-end? What if she'd saved them, only to let them suffocate?
•       •       •       •       •       
It was several hours later when Raven finally woke up. And Dusk wasn't sure if she was making it up, but it seemed to be getting harder to breathe. She'd been trying to rest, making herself take shallower breaths, but the pain in her neck made that impossible. Any sort of movement made Dusk grimace with pain.
The tunnel was silent. A few pebbles tumbled down from the top of the cave-in, clattering as they went.
Dusk had her eyes closed when she heard scales rubbing against stone and her eyes flew open, searching the darkness, though she knew exactly where Raven was. He had shifted on the stone and opened his eyes blearily.
"Raven," Dusk gasped, getting up with a wince and sitting down at his side. "How do you feel?" she asked gently, trying to keep her voice from shaking in fear and worry.
Raven groaned and went to get to his talons but Dusk placed her talons on his chest. "No, stay down."
Raven squinted his slate-gray eyes. "Dusk, you're bleeding!" he said, sounding alarmed.
"It's nothing," Dusk said quickly, hiding her wince. Her wounds from Raccoon had felt worse. She could deal with this. Especially if it meant Raven would feel better.
Raven looked around. "What happened?"
"There was a cave-in," Dusk explained, not liking how wide Raven's eyes went at the word. "You got hit on the head with a rock, but we both survived, somehow."
Raven scrambled to his talons, pushing Dusk away, and began to pace. His breathing was fast-paced. "No. No no no no no. Please, this can't happen again," he murmured. He looked at the boulders that blocked the way they had just came with frantic eyes. But after a moment, he sat down heavily on the ground and folded his wings over himself. He was shaking. 
"Hey, hey, Raven, it'll be alright," Dusk said, going over, twining her tail with his. "We're going to be alright."
"We're going to die," he whimpered, staring at the ground.
"Don't talk like that," Dusk said gently, though she wondered if what he said was true. "We'll get out of here, I promise."
"How do you know?" Raven said, meeting her eyes. His were desperate and frantic. "How do you know we'll ever make it out of here?" He wrapped his wings tighter around himself and began muttering under his breath, taking shaky breaths. 
"Raven," Dusk said sharply. "Look at me."
Raven looked startled as he met her eyes again. 
"We will make it out of here," she said firmly. "I know we will. And how do we know we couldn't if we never tried?"
Raven continued staring into her eyes, but his breathing was still fast. He was hyperventilating. Dusk couldn't let that happen.
"Raven," Dusk whispered. "Please. We have to do this. Do you think you can? For me?" Dusk hesitated for a brief second, but then leaned forward and rested her head against Raven's, feeling his pulse throbbing in his temples. She shut her eyes tightly. "Please. . . I have to make it out of here." She felt a tear slip out of one of her closed eyes.
Raven pulled away and Dusk thought for a moment that he'd just curl back into a ball, refusing to move. But instead, he reached up and brushed away the tear as it slowly slid down her snout.
He slowed his breathing, taking a deep shaking breath. "I'll try," he whispered in her ear. Then he pulled back away. "Only one way to go, so I suggest we get going."
Dusk could tell he was trying to be brave, but his voice betrayed him: it was shaking and Dusk could hear the fear in it. He wanted to get out, but he didn't know if it was possible.
Dusk stepped back and winced as the pain in her neck spiked.
"Are you alright?" Raven asked. "I'm sorry, I – I forgot. Is there anything I can do to help you?"
Dusk feigned a nonchalant shrug, gritting her teeth against the pain. "I've had worse. It's stopped bleeding, so there's nothing to worry about."
"Are you sure?" Raven looked worried.
"Yes." Dusk looked down the hall that at least looked like it kept going. "Let's go."
They walked in silence for the first bit. Dusk couldn't get rid of the pounding fear in her heart that, at some point, they'd round a corner and only find a dead end. But so far it seemed to continue. Then the tunnel began sloping down. 
Raven paused when it did. "Down?" he said hesitantly. "Wouldn't that just take us farther into the mountain? Farther away from an exit?"
Dusk gave a tentative nod. "But it's our only option."
Raven took a deep breath. "Alright," he said under his breath. "Our only chance of getting out of this mountain is going farther into it."
They walked a bit longer in silence, Dusk doing all she could to ignore the throbbing of her neck and gills. She almost didn't hear Raven when he talked again.
"Dusk?" he said softly. "Do you want to rest?"
Dusk paused and looked back at Raven, shaking her head. "I think we should keep going."
"Are you sure?" Raven said. "I mean, the sun set about an hour ago."
"Oh." Dusk tried to check her mental sky, but the sun was still above the horizon in hers. Something obviously wasn't right about that. Raven must've spent a long time outside to know how much time had passed, even when he was unconscious. Dusk, meanwhile, while she knew how long the sun was up each day, obviously she didn't know it well enough. After all, she had spent most of the life she could remember in Jade Mountain.
"I guess we could rest for a bit," Dusk said. "I just. . ." She hesitated, not wanting to worry Raven.
"It's alright," he said. "You can't have thought of something that I haven't already." There was a hint of lightheartedness in his voice that made Dusk smile
"Alright," she said. "I'm worried we won't have enough air."
"Yeah, I thought about that." He looked around at the high ceilings of the tunnel. "Well, these caves look like they haven't really been explored all the way, so most likely it's mostly oxygen in here. Also, if we sleep, we won't only get rest, but we'll consume less oxygen. So, I don't think it's likely we'll run out of air."
"Oh." Dusk looked around. "I think you're right." She looked around for a clear spot in the tunnel. The area they were on looked clear enough. It occurred to Dusk that Raven might've suggested that they rest at that moment on purpose.
Dusk used her tail to sweep away some loose stones, making the stone that they'd lie on a bit more comfortable. Well, maybe not comfortable, but at least they wouldn't be stabbed by sharp stones in the middle of the night.
Dusk sat down heavily, wincing as the pain in her neck spiked.
"You're not alright, are you?" Raven went and sat down next to her. His black talons hovered over her cut, like he wanted to do something, but didn't know if he should. 
Dusk gave an involuntary wince as Raven's talons brushed her scales next to the cut and he quickly jerked them back, breathing in sharply, like he had felt her pain.
"I – I'm sorry," Raven stammered. "I wish I could do something for you."
"It's alright," Dusk said, pulling away from him. "It's not like it was your fault." She gave a pained laugh. "I should be wishing I could do something for you. I was the one who dragged you into this. So quit acting as though it was your fault."
"I'm fine though," Raven said. "Just have a small headache. Nothing that you need to apologize for. Besides, it'll be gone in a few hours."
"I know," Dusk looked down and ran her claws along the stone. "Do ... you think anyone would come looking for us?"
"Us? No." Raven rested his head on his front talons, staring at the opposite wall with an oddly blank expression. "You, on the other talon?" Raven adjusted to meet her eyes. "Yes, I believe someone will come looking for you." He sighed. "But not me. I have no friends here and the only other dragon who wanted to be my friend isn't expecting me until the end of this moon cycle. So he'll only get suspicious once that time has passed."
Dusk smiled slightly. "You know, Raven, you do have one friend at Jade Mountain."
Raven looked genuinely startled. "Who?"
Dusk moved her tail to twine it with his. He tensed slightly. "Me." She gave him a smile. "At least ... I hope you consider me your friend."
Raven looked away, fidgeting with his talons. "I don't think that I deserve to be your friend. I've done things that – that –"
Dusk cut him off with a small laugh. "Raven, we've all done things that we wish we hadn't. But as long as we see that they're wrong and we know not to do them again, then you don't have to worry about it."
Raven didn't smile. "Trust me, I won't do it again." Then he shifted and looked away from her, looking down the tunnel in the opposite direction, pulling his tail away from hers.
Dusk decided to try to get some rest, so she laid her head down onto her front talons. She didn't realize it, but she pricked her ears, trying to find some sort of sound in the silence.
But after about a quarter of an hour of silence, Dusk was still wide awake. She knew that Raven wasn't asleep either. He kept shifting, as though he couldn't get comfortable, not that you could get very comfortable on stone.
"Raven?" Dusk whispered.
Raven rolled over and met Dusk's eyes. "You know, you don't have to whisper. We're the only ones here." His voice seemed loud after the silence of the cave, echoing off the walls.
"Oh, yeah, I guess so," Dusk said, feeling like she was too loud. "Well, um, earlier, when I first told you about the cave-in, you said something like 'not again.'" Dusk hesitated. "Have you gotten stuck before?"
Raven took a deep breath and released it before answering. "Yes, I have."
Dusk felt a stab of guilt. "I'm so sorry I dragged you into this," she said. "If I had just known –"
"Well you didn't," Raven snapped. He let out a breath. "Look, Dusk, I'm sorry. You've been so kind to me. It just won't help talking about it, especially since I've been trying to keep it out of my mind. I had a bad experience the first time and I don't like to talk about it."
Dusk looked away. "I'm sorry. I just thought I'd apologize, since this is all my fault." She felt tears stinging her eyes and quickly closed them. If they died in there, Dusk knew that it'd be her fault. She hated that feeling. Knowing that it'd be all her fault. 
"It's not your fault," Raven said softly.
"But it is," Dusk whispered. "I took us to that pool. I pointed out this tunnel. I said I wanted to go. You only went up there because you knew that I wanted to go."
"Dusk, look at me."
Dusk lifted her head and met Raven's eyes, hers sparkling with unshed tears as she held them back.
"Do you think that cave-in was your fault?" Raven demanded. "It wasn't. Unless you have animus magic and deliberately sabotaged us, then it was nowhere near your fault. Even if we had gone some other time, it would've happened. And besides, if it didn't happen to us, it would've happened to some other dragonet. And they could've been alone." 
Dusk couldn't fathom being alone in the dark, knowing there was no one there who had your back to help you through it. Dusk dropped her gaze and sniffled slightly. "You're right," she whispered. When she glanced back up, she saw that Raven was giving her a gentle smile. 
"I'm glad," Raven said. "Now, we have to at least try to get some rest. I know it might not be easy. And if you ever need to talk, then just wake me up. It's worse to be alone in the dark with your thoughts. Trust me, I know. Alright?"
Dusk nodded. "Thank you," she said, resting her snout onto her front talons, forcing her eyes closed. She was still listening closely for any sort of noise.
Dusk wasn't sure how long she tried to make herself sleep before she finally fell asleep. But she woke up suddenly only a few hours later, fear clawing at her throat. She didn't know why, but she frantically looked around for Raven, finding him in the same place he had been when she fell asleep.
"Raven?" Dusk croaked.
Raven started and looked over at Dusk, the fear in his eyes mirroring her own. "What?" he asked, hardly even sounding like he had been asleep. Maybe he hadn't. Maybe he hadn't been able to fall asleep, like Dusk had.
"I – I –" Dusk stammered, trying to find the reason she had been so scared. "I – I don't know. I was scared. I'm sorry."
Raven breathed a small sigh of relief. "Don't worry. I couldn't sleep." 
Dusk looked around and shivered. The cave around them was cold and damp. Dusk suspected that she had always been near the center of the mountain with all the tribes of dragons that breathed fire, keeping the mountain warm. But now she was so far away from them all. "It's cold," she said softly.
Raven looked around. "I don't have anything to light on fire," he said. "I'm sorry." He opened his mouth, then shut it quickly. Even though Dusk was using her night-vision, she saw that he was blushing.
"What?" she asked, confused. 
"Well," Raven began, "since the fire's inside of me, I was thinking that I generated some heat as well. Not as much as normal fire, or a SandWing's scales, but I thought maybe you could sleep next to me." He looked away embarrassedly.
Dusk tried to hold back her own blush but found her face getting hot. "Well," she said, trying to act nonchalant, "if you're fine with it, then I am too." A part of her wanted him to say yes, but another part of her desperately wanted him to say no. Make up your stupid mind, Dusk thought bitterly, knowing she was insulting herself.
"I mean, I'm a bit cold too, so I wouldn't mind it if – if you want to." Raven met her eyes briefly before he looked away again.
"Alright," Dusk said. She hesitantly walked over to him and he rolled over, giving her some room.
Dusk laid down with her back his. His scales were warm against hers and she felt her partial shivering disappear.
"Raven?" Dusk said softly.
She felt him shift, his spines hitting her scales. "Yeah?"
"Thank you." She closed her eyes, wrapping her wings around herself.
Dusk somehow knew that Raven was smiling. "You're welcome, Dusk."
As Dusk began to fall asleep, she realized that a sensation was missing. The pain. The throbbing in her neck. But before she could even question why, she fell asleep.
•       •       •       •       •       
Dusk was carefully listening to every sound she heard, even when she was asleep. The clatter of a few pebbles here. The squeak of a bat there. The dripping of water from a stalactite. Water rushing towards – towards –
Dusk's eyes popped open and she was wide awake. Water flowing towards an exit.
 "Raven," Dusk whispered, keeping the sound of rushing water in her ears. "Wake up."
Raven mumbled a small, sleepy protest before he opened his eyes. "What is it?" he mumbled groggily. 
"I hear a – a river, of sorts," Dusk said. She leaned over to his ear. "I think it could lead us out."
"Wait, really? Where?" Raven was now wide awake, just like Dusk. He got up and pulled his tail away from Dusk's. Dusk hadn't even realized they'd be twined. She supposed it must've happened sometime while they were asleep.
Raven tilted his head to one side and held his breath. Dusk knew he was listening, so she held her breath too and stood stock-still. She wanted him to hear it. A part of her now worried that she had made the sound up. That it had been part of a hopeful dream and not reality.
Raven's slate gray eyes lit up. "I hear it," he whispered, sounding excited. 
Dusk released her breath. "Good," she said. Then she brushed her wing against his. "Well? Care to go?"
Raven nodded frantically. "Yes please." He hesitated. "How's your neck?" he asked after a moment.
Dusk reached up to touch it and found that it was just a scab, already seeming to heal. And it didn't hurt at all. "Fine, thank you. How's your head?"
"My headache disappeared last night," Raven said, "so I'm completely fine."
Dusk smiled. "I'm glad. Now let's get going. I'd prefer not to stick around here to have more rocks fall on my head."
Raven laughed, though it was laced with nervousness. "Yeah, no."
It took Dusk a moment to determine which direction the sound of water was coming from, but then she headed down the tunnel in that direction. She heard the scrape of Raven's talons on the stone behind her, and she knew that he was following her.
The sound began getting louder as they walked and Dusk couldn't help but get excited. Her walk turned into a brisk trot down the tunnel. She was hardly being careful anymore. She nearly started running. They were so close now. So close to getting out.
Dusk rounded a corner and her talons slipped off of solid ground, beginning to fall off a drop-off. She had enough time for her eyes to widen with fear, then sharp claws dug into her tail and her momentum was stopped. Her jaw hit stone and she winced, trying to scramble back up to level ground, her claws sliding on loose stones. But finally Raven hauled her back up to level ground.
"Ow," Dusk remarked, "But thank you."
Raven breathed a sigh of relief, then let out a small laugh. "And I was just about to say that you should be more careful."
Dusk gave an embarrassed laugh. "Yeah, sorry about that. Thanks again."
"No problem," Raven said. "Also, now we're even." He flicked his tail forwards, showing dried claw marks on his tail. Dusk winced as she remembered grabbing his tail and dragging him out of the way of the cave in. "I expect you saved my life, and I just saved yours. I'm only a bit sorry about cutting your tail." He smiled. "A bit." Then he looked out at the drop-off. "Well, Dusk, we found the river."
Dusk looked out for the first time, realizing that the sound of water was louder. And that was when she realized that the small tunnel they had been confined to had suddenly opened up into a cave almost as large as the Great Hall.
Raven and Dusk were standing on an outcropping that overlooked the whole cave. Below them, there was a huge pool, and along one of the walls, there ran a river that fed into the pool. Along the opposite wall, another river began flowing. 
There were several columns of stalagmites and stalactites that formed together. And just like the cave and pool that had started the whole ordeal, there were glowworms, but they looked so much more like stars, because they were so much higher.
"Wow," Dusk breathed. "This is beautiful. I almost feel bad that we won't ever be able to find it again."
Raven gave an incredulous laugh. "Well, I'm having a hard time admiring its beauty. I just want to get out of here."
"Well, we'll have to go by that river." Dusk pointed to the one that flowed out of the pool. "I hope you can swim well." She opened her wings and flew out over the large pool. Then she closed them and dropped into the water with a large splash.
Dusk took a deep breath through her gills, then popped back up. "Come on," she called up to him. "The water's nice." She was surprised at how little current there was. The water seemed still and calm.
Raven flew off of the outcropping and landed in the shallows over by the river. "Come on. Please?"
Dusk nodded and swam over to him, her claws brushing the bottom of the pool. It was slippery and covered in algae.
The river that continued down wasn't very deep. Dusk could see, even from where she was, that the water would come up to just her shoulders.
Dusk took a deep breath. "You ready to try our luck, Raven?"
Raven nodded. "Ready as I'll ever be, I mean."
"You want to go first?" Dusk asked. She already knew he was going to answer yes.
"Ye–" Raven began, but Dusk cut him off. 
"You know, I'll just go first, to simplify things." Dusk smiled. "Wish me luck." She went to the mouth of the river and felt the current tugging her. Dusk tried to dig her claws into the stone beneath her, to at least get herself started slow, but the algae provided no traction at all. Dusk gave a small yelp as she was suddenly pulled down the subterranean river, startled.
"Dusk!" Raven yelped from somewhere behind her. "Hang on, I'm coming."
Dusk desperately tried to stop herself on the walls of the tunnel but it was slick beneath her talons and she just kept sliding. She didn't even want to think of how fast she was going as the river declined. Of how one low jut out of rock could kill her.
Dusk winced. Too late, she thought.
Dusk could feel the water rush around her, moving faster than her, despite how fast she was already moving.
Suddenly, something slammed into Dusk, pushing her in the river.
Dusk yelped with surprise and alarm. "Raven?" 
"Dusk?" Raven yelped.
She looked back and met Raven's eyes. They were still being pushed along by the river, but she didn't feel as scared now that Raven was with her. 
Dusk opened her mouth to say something when there was a small jut out in riverbed. She yelped as she stubbed a talon and was sent spinning. Raven helped steady her after a moment, holding her talons. 
"You were about to say. . ." he prompted her, as though they were having a completely ordinary conversation and were not hurtling down a river that could potentially lead to their death.
The river had gotten deeper, which gave Dusk an idea. "You know, I don't really know, but I know what I'm going to say now. Keep low to the water and pull your talons off the bottom," she said. "I don't want yo– either of us to get hurt before we get out."
"If we get out," Raven corrected, ignoring what she had been about to say. "But alright."
Dusk lifted her own talons off the stone riverbed, where they had been skimming along it, searching for some sort of traction. Then she also lowered her head so she was up to her jawbone in water, giving less of a chance that she'd be smacked in the head by some rock. Beside her, she felt Raven do the same.
With no more resistance, Dusk and Raven began to go down the underground river faster than they had before.
Dusk tightened her grip on Raven's talon that he hadn't pulled away, holding back a whimper. She didn't like how fast they were getting. 
"It'll be alright," Raven whispered in her ear. "We'll be fine."
Suddenly, the tunnel curved to the left. The fast-moving water flowed partially up the wall before it crashed back into a majority of the river.
"Hold on," Raven said, and Dusk was surprised at how calm his voice was. "Whatever you do, don't let go of me, alright?"
Dusk gave a hesitant nod. She knew that the waters could get treacherous around this curve. She knew she couldn't let go of Raven. For both of their safety.
They reached the curve and Dusk was closer to the wall. She was too heavy to go up the wall herself, but the water pounded on her head, knocking her underwater. The currents swirled around her and she felt herself being spun, twisting her arm painfully. Her talon slipped out of Raven's and she felt a surge of panic. She would die down there. Alone and trapped underwater. She knew she couldn't suffocate, but there were so many other ways she could die. 
No! she thought stubbornly. I have to get out. I won't die here. What if something happened to Raven? I have to get out, for him. She felt for the stone floor and pushed off when she found it, breaking the rough surface of the river. "Raven!" she yelped, spinning in a circle.
It was hard to find him with his black scales, but she spotted him a moment later. He swam through the turbulent water until he reached her side. 
"Are you alright?" he asked, inspecting her shoulders, then her wings, then her head, even as they were pulled downriver.
"I'm fine," Dusk said, spitting out a mouthful of water as it sloshed into her mouth. "What about you? I – I couldn't see what happened to you. I was worried that – that –"
Underwater, Dusk felt Raven twine his tail with hers. "I know," he said. He exhaled. "I didn't know what to think when your talon slipped out of mine. I thought that it was my fault. That I didn't have a tight enough hold on you."
Dusk shook her head. "It wasn't your fault. It was mine. The currents started to spin me, so I was forced to let go, though I immediately knew how bad of an idea that was."
Raven opened his mouth to say something else but paused. Confusion flickered onto his face and his tail was pulled away from hers. "Are we ... well, are we slowing down? I don't want to get my hopes up, but I think we are."
Dusk reached out her talons to touch the stone riverbed, trying to figure out how fast they were moving when she realized that she couldn't reach it anymore. So instead she reached out with her tail. Its tip hit the stone and Dusk realized that he was right. They were slowing down.
Dusk's spirits began to rise before they fell like a rock. "But. . ." she said. "I don't see any light."
Raven's face was hard. "I know," he said.
Dusk stared down the tunnel and saw an area where the stone rose up. It wasn't fully out of the water, but it would only be halfway up their talons.
"Here," she said, paddling over and pulling herself up onto it. Water dripped off of her neck and ran in streams down her talons. Behind her, she heard Raven hauling himself out as well.
The river suddenly ended in a cave that was a bit larger than the tunnel.
Dusk turned around. "You alright?" she asked.
Raven nodded. "What about you? Your neck? Anything?"
Dusk reached up and felt her neck. The scab already seemed smaller than it had at first. "I'm fine. Just a little shaken." She gave a tentative smile. "Literally."
Raven gave a small laugh, making Dusk's spirits rise. But his laugh faded soon after. "So," he said after a moment. "What do we do now? Are we stuck?"
Dusk hesitated and looked around. The cave just seemed to end, the water pooling where the walls came down, blocking off any chance of an exit. "Yes," she whispered. "I think we are."
Raven's face fell and he slowly lowered himself until he was lying down. "Dusk?" he murmured. 
Dusk watched Raven. "Yes?
"There's something I have to tell you," he said.
"Alright," Dusk said, frowning slightly. "What is it?"
Raven opened his mouth, then closed it, looking indecisive.
"You know, you don't have to say whatever it is," Dusk said gently. "If you don't want to say it, then you don't have to."
Raven shook his head. "This is important."
"Wait." Dusk scanned the cave again, fast the first time to see if it was obvious, then slow, taking in every inch of the dark cave.
"What is it?" Raven asked, standing up and walking to her side.
Dusk cocked her head, scanning the cave again, as though changing the tilt of her head might reveal something new. "If this was a dead-end," she said slowly, "the water would've filled up this cave long before now. So the only reason it's not is. . ."
Raven's eyes lit up with understanding. "Because there's a way the water can get out," he finished. "So there's still a chance?"
Dusk nodded. "I see no opening, so I have to assume it's underwater. But it could only let a trickle out."
"I doubt it. Otherwise, the cave would still be full of water."
"True," Dusk said. "But it still might not be big enough for us to get through."
Raven nodded grimly. "But I think that's a chance we have to take. I can go if you don't want to." He went to step into the deeper water but Dusk put her talons on his chest. 
"No," she said. "I'm going to do this. I can breathe underwater. If I get stuck, I won't suffocate."
Raven looked like he wanted to object, but he just stepped back and nodded. "Just be careful," he said. 
Dusk nodded. "I will be. And I promise, even if I find a way out, I'll come back to you."
Raven attempted a smile. "I thought that went without saying."
Dusk smiled. "It should, but I thought I'd make sure you knew." She brushed her talons against his. "Stay here."
Raven gave a chuckle, though it sounded strained. "Like I had anywhere else to go."
Dusk smiled. "Well, I thought you might just wander off through a wall or something." Then she dove into the water. 
The pool was surprisingly deep. It was probably two tail-lengths deep, and dark. It was dark enough that even her night-vision had trouble seeing through it. Dusk paused in the water for a moment, trying to feel for a current. But the only current she could feel was one that was swirling around the small pool from where the river flowed into it. 
Dusk let out an exasperated breath that rose to the surface, but refused to give up. There had to be somewhere. And for once it wasn't just wishful thinking, saying that there had to be a way out. There literally had to be a way out.
Dusk took a deep breath in through her gills. She had to make sure she didn't miss anything. Even if it took her hours to search that small pool, she had to make sure she found the exit.
Dusk dove down to the very bottom of the pool, running her talons along the slick stones, going on feel as well as sight. She didn't feel anything. So, going from where she started on the bottom of the pool, she followed the stone as it began to curve upwards, stopping at every crag and jut out, feeling carefully and staring intently. Soon, she broke the surface.
"Dusk!" Raven yelped, his voice echoing off the walls of the cave. "Anything?"
"Not yet," Dusk answered. "I'm searching section by section. So I'll be back up in a bit."
Just before she dove back underwater, she heard Raven murmur, "Be careful."
Dusk smiled, then went all the way back to the bottom, following the course she had gone on her way up to make sure she wouldn't check the same place twice, or think she had checked somewhere and hadn't actually.
When Dusk reached the bottom, she moved slightly to the left and started to move up, doing what she had done last time. Thus it became a pattern. When she reached the top, she'd shake her head at Raven and say, "Nothing." With every sweep of the underwater cave, Dusk's spirits began to drop. She knew that there was a way out, but what if it was just multiple small holes, letting out enough water that it didn't flood the cave?
Dusk had almost circled around the whole cave without finding anything. Now she was looking at the area of the cave beneath Raven.
She dove under the surface of the water, then, starting at the bottom of the pool, she began to make her way up, like she had for the rest of the cave. But suddenly her talons dropped off an edge of the stone and she drew in a sharp breath. There. Barely noticeable, there was a large crack in the wall. Dusk didn't know how she hadn't seen it before. But now that she thought about it, her night-vision sometimes threw off her depth perception. Not having shadows to base off where they were, she easily could've never seen the crack.
Dusk swam a bit to the side and looked at the crack, cocking her head. It looked big enough for her to squeeze through, and now she could feel a current, but she wasn't sure if it went anywhere. She wondered if she should check to see if it led anywhere, or tell Raven. She didn't want to get his hopes up if it truly didn't lead anywhere, but then she remembered what she had said: she wouldn't leave him. And even if she only left for a bit to make sure it led somewhere, she would be going back on what she said. And she couldn't do that.
Dusk, using her tail to propel herself, shot upwards. "Raven!" she blurted when she broke the surface. "Raven, I found something!"
Raven's face lit up. "Really? Where?" He stepped towards her but hesitated. 
"It's a crack in the wall. I think we can fit through." Her face fell slightly. "But I'm worried that there might not be any air for you. I can go check."
"No, wait. Dusk, don't." Raven grabbed her talon. "I imagine the current is pretty strong."
Dusk nodded after a moment. "It is."
"Well, what if you went down to check for me, but then can't get back up because of the current?" He shook his head. "I'm not letting that happen. Being with you with the chance of drowning is better than being here with the chance of suffocating."
Dusk wanted to object, though she knew he was right. Not about the suffocating and drowning part, but the part about the current might be too strong for her to get back up to him.
"Are – are you sure?" Dusk asked. "I don't want you to drown or suffocate."
"Well, it's either suffocate by sitting in here, or possibly drowning down there, but also possibly finding a way out. I'd like to take the second option."
"Alright, I suppose you're right. Now come on." Dusk paddled backward to give Raven space to slip into the water, which he did so nearly immediately.
"Down here," Dusk said. "Just hold onto my tail. I'll lead you there."
Raven grabbed onto her tail, his talons gentle but firm. Dusk knew that he wasn't going to lose his grip, no matter how rough the water might get.
"Take a deep breath," Dusk said. "Then we'll go down. But I'll just show you where the crack is before we go into it. That way you know what you're getting into."
Raven nodded, then took a deep breath. 
Once Dusk was sure he was ready while not waiting for awhile that he lost some of his breath, she dove under straight to the crack. It did take her a minute to find though. She was nearly worried that she had hallucinated the whole thing when she finally found it. She led Raven over and pointed it out. He nodded, then looked the crack up and down, peering into the other side. Dusk didn't know what he saw, but he looked hopeful. Then he swam up towards the surface and Dusk followed him.
"Okay," he said when Dusk reached the surface. "I know what I'm looking at, and I think there's a pretty high chance that there's an air pocket coming up, probably just out of view. The roof of the cave was sloping up. Just give me a minute." He closed his eyes and began taking deep breaths, as though he was calming himself down. He did this several times before he opened one eye to look at Dusk. "I didn't think that this would be all that interesting to you, but I suppose it is?"
"Oh, um, sorry." Dusk looked away, flustered. 
Raven laughed. "That's alright. I'm ready now."
"Okay. Make sure you take a deep breath. Nod once you have." Dusk took a deep breath herself, but let it out. They couldn't turn back now. There was nowhere else to go.
Raven took a deep breath, then nodded. Dusk dove down to where she knew the crack was, then pushed Raven forward. She knew he should go first. That way he wouldn't be sitting there, running out of air, while Dusk got through.
Raven blinked at her, but wasted no time in starting to go through the crack. He hesitated, meeting Dusk's eyes, then let go of her tail, holding out his own as he maneuvered his way into the crack.
Holding his wings close to his body, Dusk watched as Raven squeezed through the crack. But he wrapped his claws around the rim so that he wouldn't get swept from the current and held out his open talon to Dusk. She could tell that he was losing air. He was now looking desperate.
Dusk quickly took his talon and went over to the crack. Pulling her wings close to her sides, she took a deep breath to make herself smaller and began to slide through.
The jagged edges of the rock scraped against her scales and her wings were pressed uncomfortably against her body. But a second later, she popped through the crack, tumbling into Raven and knocking his claws off the stone that kept them in place. And, once again, they were rushing down an underground river, though this time, they were underwater.
Raven steadied Dusk, then gave her a smile. But his smile began to fade, his eyes flickering shut. He rested his snout on hers, stared into her eyes for a second, then his closed and he went limp.
Dusk felt frozen. All she could think was, No, no, no, not Raven, please not Raven.
She swung her head around frantically. But there was nothing. No air for Raven to breathe. 
Suddenly, the stone at the top of the tunnel gave way and there was air. Dusk grabbed Raven and hauled him up to the surface. She couldn't be too late. She couldn't let Raven down.
Dusk hauled Raven onto her back and spread out her wings so he couldn't fall off. She'd just swim above the surface and let Raven breathe. No matter where the river turned, she would stay above the surface.
The river wasn't flowing nearly as fast as the other one had been, but even so, Dusk was paddling backward the entire time to be going slow enough.
With every second that passed, Dusk began to worry even more. What if she was supposed to do something, but she hadn't? What if Raven would die if she didn't do it?
Thankfully, it was only a few minutes later that Raven suddenly coughed from on top of her back. He coughed several times and Dusk craned her neck to look at him. 
"Are you alright?" Dusk asked. "Please tell me you're alright."
"Dusk?" Raven said softly. "You – you saved me." He still hadn't moved from where he was lying.
Dusk gave a relieved smile. "You would've done the same thing. And I'm just glad you're alright."
"Thank you," Raven said. "Let me get off your back. Thanks for that too." 
Dusk hesitated, then drew in her wing and Raven rolled off her back and into the water beside her.
"So do you see anything promising?" Raven asked after a moment, matching her slow speed. 
"I didn't really look," Dusk admitted. "I was kind of worried about you."
"I admire that," Raven said. "Do you think we should speed up a bit? Get out of here as quickly as possible?"
Dusk nodded. "I just didn't want to go too fast and lose you when you were unconscious."
"Thanks. I'm sorry that I couldn't hold my breath longer."
Dusk gaped at Raven. "You shouldn't have to apologize for something that wasn't your fault. Honestly, it's impressive that you were able to hold your breath as long as you did."
Raven turned away. "Thanks, I suppose."
Dusk stopped paddling backward and sped up a bit, Raven doing the same. But this river was much slower than the last one, so they still weren't moving very fast.
Dusk and Raven looked at each other. "Do you want to go a bit faster?" Dusk asked him. "We can actually swim instead of just floating along."
"I was just about to ask you about that," Raven said. "So are you fine with it? Because I don't think I've ever wanted to get out of somewhere more than I do now."
Dusk laughed. "You can say that again. Come on." She began to swim, but made sure she wasn't swimming too fast for Raven. After all, swimming as fast as she could, she'd be considerably faster, with her webbed talons and thick tail. It wasn't as thick as a normal SeaWing's would be, but she'd certainly be faster than a tribe that had nothing for underwater environments.
As they swam, Raven got strangely quiet. Dusk twisted her head to look at him. He looked like focusing on something. "Is something wrong?"
"No, nothing wrong," Raven said. "But do you hear that?"
Dusk cocked her head. "Hear what?"
"It sounds like water," Raven said.
"Well, that makes sense," Dusk said, feeling like she was missing something. "We are in a river, after all."
"No, it sounds like – wait, Dusk, look!" Raven pointed ahead of them.
Dusk looked and saw light shining on the water slicked walls. It was faint and didn't quite look like sunlight. It more looked like – "Moonlight!" Dusk yelped. "It's moonlight!" Suddenly, she became aware that the water around them was becoming more turbulent. "Um, Raven, do you feel that?"
"Yes. Yes, I do." Understanding dawned on his face. "Fourth moons and desert skies, this is not good," he cursed.
Dusk felt panic clawing up her throat, threatening to choke her. "What is it? What's not good?"
"The sound that I heard earlier." Raven was talking quickly, as though they didn't have much time. Maybe they didn't. "It was the sound of water, but not of a stream of it. Of rough, chaotic water. Water that's falling."
Dusk's eyes widened. 
"Dusk, we're heading straight for a waterfall."
Then, with a sickening lurch in her stomach, Dusk began to fall.
== Chapter 23 ==
Dusk didn't know what to do. She couldn't open her wings. The tunnel wasn't wide enough for her to do that. Did she just have to hope that the waterfall went straight down and didn't have any jut outs that might hurt quite a bit? But no, she couldn't leave it all to hope.
Suddenly, even though they were falling, Dusk realized that the moonlight was getting brighter. She opened her mouth to call up to Raven and tell him what she thought, but coughed as water went down her throat and into her lungs. She knew that it was nearly hopeless to yell over the pounding of the water on the stone around them, the sound bouncing off the stone, amplifying it.
Dusk twisted her neck around and spotted Raven despite the water splashing into her eyes. He seemed to be handling their predicament pretty calmly without a hint of panic in his eyes. He didn't look thrilled to be in that situation, but still, it was pretty impressive.
Dusk somehow caught his eye and flicked her wings open for a second, trying to convey the idea that a way out might be coming soon and that they should be ready to fly at a moment's notice.
And amazingly, Raven nodded, like he had understood what she had been trying to tell him. Maybe he had. Maybe he had noticed the change in the light before Dusk had and had been about to tell her about it.
Dusk looked down and suddenly saw moonslight shining on the slick stone below them, coming up fast. She barely had time to register what was happening and plan her movement when the stone dropped away on all sides but behind her. And in an instinct that she couldn't suppress, nor did she need to, she snapped her wings open. They caught the air, jerking them painfully, but then she was gliding on open air, for the first time in days.
Dusk gave a laugh of exhilaration and stretched out her wings as far as they would go. It felt nice to have the room to do it. She took a deep breath of the fresh air, trying to rid her lungs of the stale cave air. The wind was blowing gently on her face, lifting up her wings, though it felt a bit cold, though that was only because she was wet. 
"Raven, can you believe it?" Dusk called, laughing. She turned around and panicked for a moment, her eyes scanning the sky for Raven. But she finally spotted him, blending into the night sky, though his scales had an extra bright sheen from the water that was on him.
She breathed a small sigh of relief. "You scared me," she called, laughing slightly. "I don't like how well you blend into the sky."
Raven flew over to her, grinning. When he got close, he did a roll in the sky, opening his wings again a moment later. He gave a sigh of pleasure. "I don't know if I'm ever going to be able to go in Jade Mountain again."
Dusk smiled. "I think I have to agree with you there. But hey," she nudged him with her wing, "we made it out, just like I said."
Raven smiled and nodded. "Yes. We wouldn't have made it without you. I'm glad you were at my side."
"I'm glad you were at mine," Dusk replied. She paused in midair and looked back at where they had come from. She could see a waterfall glistening in the moonlight, seeming to appear straight from the side of the mountain. Then, turning her attention higher, she saw the towering twin peaks. 
"Alright," she said. "So we're still at Jade Mountain, but much lower than I'm familiar with." She looked around. "Maybe we should enjoy our first night outside, instead of sitting under a mountain. Again, I might add."
Raven nodded. "I think I'd sleep a lot better without stone over my head."
"Agreed." Dusk scanned the ground. She flicked her tail over to a clearing in a forest. "There looks good. The grass looks soft, though there's a whole lot of things that would be more comfortable than stone, so I'm not picky."
Raven smiled. "Neither am I, so there seems good." He went to fly down towards the ground, then hesitated, glancing back at the mountain.
"What is it?" Dusk asked, glancing back too. She could see the glow of firelight higher up in the mountain, probably at the school.
"What if someone was looking for you?" Raven said hesitantly. "Like that SeaWing? Coast, I think his name was? I met him in the art cave?"
"Oh yeah, Coast," Dusk said, staring at the spots of light in the mountain. Was Coast somewhere in there, frantically searching for her? He hadn't seen her since the day before and was probably worried. He had probably asked around, seeing if anyone had seen Dusk in the past day, but his search would turn up empty. Dusk couldn't imagine how he must feel. It must've been as if she had disappeared into thin air, leaving no trace of where she had been.
Dusk suddenly wondered something. Would Blizzard wonder where Raven had gone or just be glad that he had the cave to himself again?
Dusk sighed. "As much as I hate it, I can't just leave Coast to have no idea where I am. He must be out of his mind with worry. So I'm going to go back tonight and let him know what happened. You can go down and sleep here for the night if it'd make you feel better."
Raven seemed to debate about it for a second but shook his head. "If you have to go back to the mountain, then I'm going with you."
Dusk gave a small smile. "Thank you. It makes me feel better to know that you'll be with me." She hadn't wanted to say so, but the idea of going back to Jade Mountain alone had been quite terrifying.
"Well, we best go if we want to catch Coast while he's still awake," Raven said. "If he's been able to sleep at all."
"Speaking of which," Dusk said, "what time is it? You have a better knowledge of that than I do."
Raven thought for a moment. "About an hour until midnight, so we were missing for about ... thirty hours or so." He frowned, cocking his head. "If you think about it, we weren't actually gone for that long."
"It seemed like a lifetime in those caves," Dusk said. "And I think I'm done with caves, by the way."
Raven gave a small laugh. "I have to agree with you there. I mean, I might be able to get used to Jade Mountain's halls again, but no caves with no light."
Dusk shuddered in midair. "You know, I think that if I have to use my night-vision in a dark tunnel again, I'll be staying above ground the rest of my life."
Raven laughed. "Now come on." He brushed his wing against hers. "We should get going."
Dusk nodded, then wheeled towards Jade Mountain, gaining altitude with every wingbeat, getting closer every second.
It seemed that the entrances to Jade Mountain were much higher than Dusk had originally determined, and she was getting rather tired. But now they didn't have much farther to go, so she wasn't going to quit now. But the thing was, Raven didn't seem tired at all. Maybe he flew around a lot. Dusk didn't know what he did when he was with the friend of his. It was possible that he'd been to the farthest reaches of Pyrrhia.
Once Dusk had her talons firmly on the stone ledge that was outside the entrance, she decided to try to figure out what entrance they were at.
Dusk took the landscape around her and the inside of the tunnel, then came up with a conclusion, though it took her a minute. It then occurred to her that, as Dusk had been exploring the mountain when she had been wounded, she had always thought of the tunnels that led outside as exits, never entrances. 
"I think we're at one of the exits by the library," Dusk told Raven. "So, if I'm right, I'll know the way back to the sleeping caves." Then she hesitated. "But are you going to want to sleep with Blizzard? I can't imagine how annoying he must be."
Raven sighed. "It'll be unpleasant, but he'll have to get used to it. And so will I," he added. "I mean, I'll be going back and forth for awhile. Well, probably."
"Maybe we could find somewhere outside to sleep for tonight?" Dusk suggested. "I know of some large ledges that I went to for suntime once."
"Oh yeah, I guess you would do suntime," Raven said absentmindedly. "You being part RainWing and all." 
Dusk nodded. "But first, we better go find Coast. Come on, this way." She turned and stepped into the mountain, trying to keep herself calm. But she didn't have nearly as much trouble as she thought she would. The colored glass globes above her head made it seem more like a forest than a cave, which was a very good thing at the moment.
When they reached the first intersection, Dusk hesitated. "You know," she began, "I'm really not sure whether or not this is the correct way. . ."
"I'm sure that if you aren't correct, which I doubt, then you'll figure out where we are eventually," Raven said with unwavering confidence.
Dusk smiled slightly. "Thank you." She looked down both tunnels. She saw no dragons, but that was to be expected. After all, it was nearly midnight. Why would anyone be up? 
Dusk flicked her tail left. "This way should lead us to the library, then we can go to the sleeping caves from there."
Raven nodded. "Alright. Lead the way."
Dusk turned back around and took the tunnel that led left. As they walked, she kept looking around for some kind of clue as to where they were. For some reason, she kept feeling like she was wrong and leading them in the wrong direction.
But finally, they turned a corner and there was a small branch off that was lined with scrolls, all of which had sayings that were very familiar. She could even hear someone at the end of the tunnel.
Dusk breathed a small sigh of relief. "Okay, we're at the library. Now I know which way to go." She turned and headed down the tunnel that would lead to their sleeping caves. 
After walking for about a minute, hearing Raven's talons on the stone behind her, they turned a corner and found a corridor lined with caves. Most of them were dark, but some of them had light shining from inside them. The corridor itself was fairly dark, two globes being unlit between each lit one. Someone must've gone through and put them out. It was a small detail that Dusk had never noticed before, but certainly helped dragons sleep.
"Right," Dusk said, her voice dropping to a whisper. "I think we should check Coast's sleeping cave first, but it's possible he's at mine, looking for me or waiting for me to come back."
Raven nodded, but he didn't make a move to say anything, though she supposed there was nothing really to say.
Dusk walked down the hall, then turned right at the intersection, heading towards the Sapphire Winglet's sleeping caves. She had only been to them once or twice, but she had made sure she marked where it was in case she wanted to go back. Which now she did, so now she was glad that she had done so.
Dusk crept along the tunnel, trying not to make a lot of noise. Even though she didn't really know anyone in the caves she passed, she still took the care to try to not wake them up. She knew she'd be incredibly annoyed if she was woken up that night, because it was probably going to take several hours to fall asleep as it was.
When they reached Coast, Vapor, and Melon's cave, Dusk peeked in. Surprisingly, Coast was in there, and he appeared to be asleep.
"Coast?" Dusk whispered tentatively.
Coast reacted instantly, whipping his head around to face her. "Dusk!" he exclaimed, his voice echoing loudly in the cave.
"Shut up!" Vapor growled. Well, it was between a growl and an unhappy groan. "Coast, if you need to have a reunion with your stupid hybrid friend, then do it somewhere else."
Coast whipped around to face Vapor, glaring. "Well, I don't have to listen to you, Vapor, but I'm going to go somewhere else out of respect for Melon. If you were in any other cave, I would go to it and talk there just to annoy you."
"Coast," Dusk hissed warningly. "Unnecessary."
Coast looked at Vapor, then turned and walked out. "Where have you been?" he asked in a condescending whisper. "You've been missing for the past two days!"
Dusk glanced at Raven. "Um, it's a long story." A memory of the cave-in flashed in her mind and she looked uncomfortably at the ceiling. "Let's talk about it away from the sleeping caves," she whispered. "I don't want to wake anyone up."
Coast looked suspiciously at Raven. "Why is he with you?" he asked.
Dusk narrowed her eyes at Coast. "Because he's my friend. Why shouldn't he be with me?"
"Oh, I don't know, but I think it's a little suspicious that he just shows up out of nowhere and then you both go missing at the same time."
Dusk flicked Coast's snout with the tip of her tail. "Um, you do realize that he's standing right next to me, right? And I don't appreciate what you said."
Coast let out a long breath. "Alright, fine, I was just worried. I'm sorry. But you can't just leave for nearly two days and not tell me!"
"Let's just go somewhere else," Dusk said, lowering her voice again, realizing that she had started to talk louder.
Coast flicked his tail irritatedly. "Just promise me that you'll tell me what happened, alright?"
Dusk nodded. "Of course." She started walking away from the sleeping caves, then paused and looked back. Raven was lingering over by Coast's sleeping cave, watching them go. "Raven, aren't you coming?"
He hesitated. "I don't think I should," he said after a moment. "I mean, I don't want to bother you two. I'll be fine." His gaze flicked to the ceiling for half a second and Dusk knew he was just as uncomfortable as she was, if not more than her. She now knew that, depending on the situation, his claustrophobia could be paralyzing. She didn't want to leave him alone if that could happen again.
"No, you're coming with us," Dusk said. "And besides, you're part of the story too. If I get something wrong, you can correct me." She gave a soft smile.
Raven started to step forwards but paused. 
"Raven," Dusk said softly. "Please? I want you with me."
Raven hesitated for a moment, then nodded. He walked over to her side and she smiled at him. 
"Thank you," she whispered.
Raven nodded. "Of course."
Dusk turned back to Coast. "Here, let's go to the Great Hall. We can talk there."
Coast nodded. "Please."
Dusk began to lead the way to the Great Hall, comforted by Raven's wings as they brushed hers. Every time she saw his black scales out of the corner of her eye helped her relax a bit more. She began to wonder why. Why was it only Raven? Why didn't it help when she saw Coast? Was it because Raven was now the only dragon who knew what she'd been through?
Dusk briefly wondered about the feelings she had been starting to have for Raven. The entire time she'd been trapped with him, she hadn't thought about it. Raven had just been a friend. Maybe if that was her automatic reaction when she wasn't thinking about it, then maybe ... she didn't actually have feelings for him. Maybe she had just been trying to find an excuse to not be with Coast. A reason to say that she liked Coast, but she couldn't be with him because she was in love with someone else.
Dusk glanced at Raven, staring at his handsome features. Ones that were normally marred by nervousness and worry. Right now he looked hesitant, as though not sure if he should really be there. 
Dusk began to wonder if her feelings for Raven were real. But even if they weren't, she decided to stay with him and just be a good friend. Because that's what they both needed at the moment.
She looked at Raven and gave him a small, encouraging smile. He glanced at her and his face softened into a smile as well, though it was tinged with a bit of anxiety.
"It'll be alright," she whispered to him. "Jade Mountain is sturdy. It's stood for nearly half a century." She felt as though she was talking to Raven as much as she was herself, trying to convince herself that they'd be alright. 
Dusk suddenly felt a breath of wind on her face and she looked down the tunnel. They'd reached the Great Hall, and a light breeze was blowing in the large entrance. That in itself made her feel better. She had not liked the feel of the still air in the cave after being cut off from the rest of the mountain. Another thing about the Great Hall that made her feel better was how big it was. It hardly seemed that she was in a cave at all. But nonetheless, she walked over to the cave rim, right into the patch of moonlight. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath of the fresh air.
"Dusk?" Coast asked. "Now, do you think you could tell me where you've been?"
Dusk turned around and met Raven's eyes. "The other day, after Aquatic," she began, "I decided to show Raven around the mountain. I took him to an underground pool. I got intrigued by a large crack in the wall and – and wanted to go explore. I . . ." She pulled her eyes away from Raven's slate-gray ones. "I made Raven come with me because I didn't want to go alone. But we walked along the passage for a bit when there was a cave-in." Dusk angled her neck in a way that the scab on it was basked in moonslight and visible to Coast. 
"I got hit with a rock as it fell, but it wasn't that bad and thankfully that was the worst wound either of us got."
Coast's eyes had widened during her story and his jaw had dropped. He looked completely astonished. "I –" he began, but his voice was a bit high pitched. He cleared his throat. "I didn't know that there was any part of Jade Mountain that was unstable," he tried again. 
Dusk shook her head. "Neither did I."
"So how did you get out?" Coast asked.
"Um. . ." Dusk looked at Raven, though he didn't look like he wanted to explain. "Well, long story short, we found a river and followed it to a waterfall. After, well, a few complications."
"Dusk's being modest," Raven interjected. "She saved me from the cave-in. She heard the river first. She was the one who found the exit. She was far braver than me."
Dusk blushed and turned away, looking out at the distant horizon. "I didn't do much," she said embarrassedly, running her claw on the stone beneath her talon. She found a crack in the stone and ran her claw through it.
"You were the one who kept me going," Raven reminded her. Then he turned to Coast, who was frowning, looking confused. "Um, well, I'm kind of claustrophobic. When I learned about the cave-in and that we were stuck, I was terrified. Dusk helped me keep going."
Coast smiled softly. "That seems like her."
"Um, well, sorry for worrying you, Coast," Dusk said, desperate to turn the subject away from her.
He looked back at her. "That's alright, Dusk. I'm just glad nothing happened to you." He paused and cocked his head. "I mean, think about it: one boulder a few inches closer and – and –" He met Dusk's eyes with his teal green ones. "And you would be dead," he said in an awestruck whisper.
Dusk swallowed and nodded. "We should be thankful that we're alive," she said, glancing at Raven. He gave a slight nod.
Dusk looked back to the horizon and it got silent. She stared out at the mountain peaks lit by the moonslight, giving them a silvery look, as though they were made out of the moons themselves.
Then, before she could stifle it, she yawned. She hadn't really realized how tired she was until then. 
"Right, we should probably get to bed," Coast said. "It's probably been a long two days for you, hasn't it?"
Dusk gave a tired nod. "It's just. . ." She hesitated. "Never mind," she said, shaking her head. "It's not important."
Coast gave her a curious look. "You sure?" 
Dusk nodded. "Raven? You ready to go to sleep?"
Raven hesitated. "I could use some rest," he finally said. 
"I think we all could," Coast said. "I didn't sleep well the first night you were gone, so I'm a bit tired myself."
"Alright, then let's all go get some rest," Dusk said. "Raven?"
He looked up and met her eyes. "Would you walk with me?" she asked. "Your sleeping cave is on the way to mine."
Raven's mouth lifted into a small smile and he nodded. 
"Well, um, goodnight, Dusk," Coast said, a bit awkwardly.
Dusk nodded and gave her friend a smile. "It was nice to see you after all that time in the cave."
Coast grinned, a few of his glow-in-the-dark scales lighting up. "I'll see you tomorrow." As far as Dusk could tell, he had said something like, I can't wait till then.
Dusk nodded. "Tomorrow." Then she headed down one of the passages while Coast went down another. She knew Raven was following behind her because she could hear his claws on the stone.
Dusk slowed down a bit and walked wing-to-wing with Raven. "Hey, um, Raven?" she said softly, looking down embarrassedly. 
"What is it?" he asked.
She twitched out her wing, brushing his. "I was, uh, I was wondering if I could sleep with you tonight?" When he didn't immediately answer, she pulled her wing back. "I mean, I was just a bit nervous," she said quickly. "I thought I might be able to fall asleep faster if you were with me, but now I see that that's super selfish and –"
"Dusk," Raven said softly, cutting her off, "of course you can. I wanted to ask you about the very same thing, but I didn't want to bother you with my fear if you weren't afraid anymore."
Dusk gave a soft, nervous laugh. "No, I'm definitely still afraid. And I might be for a long time after this."
Raven winced. "Yeah, being trapped in a cave-in and almost losing your life can be kind of traumatic. Believe me, I know."
"It's not your fault," Dusk said quietly. "It's mine, you know that."
Raven shook his head stubbornly. "It's definitely not yours. It's most certainly mi–"
"How about we just say that it was no one's fault," Dusk interjected. "I don't want you to take the blame, and you won't let me take it, so if we don't resolve this, we'll keep fighting about it."
Raven smiled. "Alright." But then he stopped walking and frowned. "I just thought of something. Where are we supposed to sleep? I don't have an extra sleeping spot in my cave, and I know that Blizzard would not be happy if I brought you in. I don't want you to get hurt."
"Well, I have an extra sleeping spot in my cave, but. . ." She hesitated, tentatively looking at Raven before pulling her eyes away. "Well, I'd hate to bother Clearglow. She already had to have her best friend move to the next cave over. I'd hate to impose or anything."
Raven nodded. "I understand." He thought for a moment. "Wait a second, who said that we had to sleep inside the mountain?"
Dusk brightened. "No one." Her smile faded. "But it might get cold outside."
"I could get some wood and light it on fire," Raven said. "That is, if you still want to."
Dusk nodded. "It would certainly make me feel better, even if it's only for tonight." 
Raven gave her a small smile. "I would like that. But now where should we go?"
Dusk thought for a moment. "Well, where the RainWings like to do their suntime is really big and flat, and it's mostly protected from the wind. I think that would work."
Raven nodded. "That sounds good. Thank you."
Dusk smiled. "I should be the one thanking you. You're going to be helping me out and doing the most. All I'm doing is sitting up there with you."
Raven grinned. "Now come on. We better get going before the sun rises. As it is, we don't have much time to sleep. Only about six hours."
"That's still probably enough," Dusk said. "I mean, I'll probably sleep past sunrise, just because I'll be able to. That is. . ." She hesitated. 
"Yes?" Raven said.
"Well, I was going to say if I could ever fall asleep in the first place," Dusk admitted. "I don't know if I'll be able to, even if we're out in the open. Just. . ." She sighed. "Too many things going through my mind."
"I can understand that," Raven said. 
"But I'll try," Dusk said. "When we get out there. If I can't, well, I suppose I could talk to you instead." She grinned at him.
"Well, I suppose you know the way?" Raven said. "If not, we may be in a bit of trouble."
"I know the way," Dusk said. "I was led the first time, but I think I know the way well enough." Then she paused. "But we don't necessarily have to get there from inside the mountain." She looked at Raven. "Care to take another flight?"
Raven smiled. "I'd love to stretch my wings again," he admitted. 
Dusk returned the smile. "Then follow me."
•       •       •       •       •       
Even though they had just been flying, Dusk was glad to stretch her wings again. It was probably just because she now had the space to do so. A way of proving to herself that she wasn't trapped anymore.
Dusk dipped her wings and flew right next to Raven, brushing her wings against his. "You okay?" 
He nodded, smiling. In fact, she hadn't seen him stop smiling since they had left the mountain. "I feel much better outside," he said. He closed his eyes, gliding, taking a deep breath.
Dusk's eyes scanned the mountain, letting her eyes stop on each flicker of firelight. She knew that the suntime shelf had an entrance from the mountain, so she just had to look at the areas around spots of firelight, though there were surprisingly more than she had thought. 
Dusk shifted her course to continue to circle the mountain and she felt Raven shift as well, making her smile. It was nice to have him at her side. To know he felt the same way. To know that he had endured what she had and wasn't going to try to make her talk about it. Just thinking about it scared her.
Finally, Dusk spotted the wide open slab of rock. As though a part of the mountain had cracked along a perfectly horizontal layer, then slid off.
She flicked her wing, nudging Raven. "Over there," she said softly, pointing with her talon.
Raven nodded. "I see it." He angled his wings to swoop down towards it and Dusk followed his movements. Raven landed on the stone without so much as a sound, making Dusk feel loud in comparison, and she had always been proud of how quietly she could fly.
Raven looked around. "This looks okay," he said. He padded quietly over to a larger tree, then sat down next to it. "I think this would be good for tonight," he said. "Mostly shielded from the wind, and with the leaves above us, it'll contain our warmth, at least slightly."
"Alright, if you say so," Dusk said, walking over.
"Why?" Raven asked, slightly nervously. "Is there somewhere else you think we should sleep?"
Dusk shook her head. "I just have no experience with living out in the wilderness. Or at least, if I did, I don't remember anymore." She gave a soft sigh, then sat down next to Raven.
"Yeah," he said slowly. "About that. . ."
She looked at him. "What about it?"
"You mentioned the other day that you simply didn't know about your parents," Raven said shyly. "You were going to tell me about it, but then ... that happened, and you never had the time. I was wondering if maybe, now, you could tell me about that?"
Dusk nodded, knowing that this would probably not be the last time she'd have to explain it. She was starting to get tired of all the pity, so maybe she wouldn't talk about it anymore after this unless she felt that she really had to.
Dusk took a deep breath and let it out. "Well, I woke up about. . ." Dusk frowned. "Has it only been a month?" she said, mostly to herself. "I think it really has." She turned back to Raven. "Sorry," she apologized. "It's just felt so much longer. So much has happened since then. In fact, all my memories have been made in the last month." She let out an amazed breath. "That just seems crazy."
"But aren't you three years old?" Raven asked. "How come all your memories are only from the past month. . .?"
"Right, sorry, got sidetracked. The thing is, I woke up approximately a month ago on the eastern shore of Pyrrhia without any memories. There was no one around and no settlements that I could see. I wasn't hurt, so it couldn't have been an injury that caused it. I knew a number of things, just not how I had learned them." She sighed. "It still confuses me."
Then she thought back to Sanctuary and Seagull's ideas. She had forgotten all about them with all the drama going on.
"Seagull thinks –" Dusk hesitated. "Well, Seagull thinks my memories are gone because I myself erased them. With ... with magic."
Raven's face lit up with shock. "Are you ... are you an animus?" he asked softly.
"No – I don't know," Dusk said. "I don't want to be one. I don't want to have that power, but I might. Seagull said it's possible. that I am, but. . ." She sighed. "I haven't had the courage to test."
Raven was silent. The only sound was the light wind rustling the leaves of the tree above their heads.
"Well, yeah, that's why I didn't know about my parents," Dusk said awkwardly.
"Wow," Raven said in a soft voice. "I can't believe all that happened ... to you. So why would – never mind," he said quickly.
Dusk wondered what he had been about to say, but she expected he didn't want her to ask, so she decided not to. She didn't want to pry.
"Well, yeah, as much as I want to know, I've been making new memories. With Coast, Seagull, and ..." she twined her tail with Raven's, "... and you." She smiled. "Some good, and some bad. But I know that I won't forget them this time."
Raven smiled, then looked up at the sky. "Well, we better get some rest," he said, lying down. 
Dusk nodded. "You're right." She laid down next to Raven, but not to close. Even from that distance, she could feel the heat coming off his scales.
Dusk tried closing her eyes, but her mind kept going back to the cave, making her open her eyes and make sure they really were outside. After that happened several times in a matter of two minutes, Dusk adjusted to face Raven. 
"Yep," she said. "I can't do it."
Raven gave her a sad smile. "Well, I suppose you'll give me company for tonight," he said. "Also," he hesitated, "I don't mind if you want to try to sleep closer to me. It might help to have someone at your side."
Dusk smiled. "Thank you. I'll try." She stood up and padded closer, then settled down at his side, leaning into his warm scales. After a moment of silence, she frowned. "You know," she said, not moving, "I've never realized how much heat having fire generates. Not until I've slept by someone who can breathe fire." She closed her eyes. "Thank you," she said.
She began to doze off when suddenly she felt like she was falling and she jerked awake.
"Are you alright?" Raven asked worriedly, eying her. "What happened?"
Dusk let out a breath and settled back down. "I'm fine," she said. "Just a dream or something like that." She laid her head down on her front talons.
She tried to fall asleep for the next five minutes, but had trouble. She opened her eyes and met Raven's. "I don't think it's going to happen," she said, giving a small laugh.
Raven thought for a moment. "Well, um." He gave an embarrassed cough. "Well, um, I was just thinking of what my mother did to help me fall asleep, and sometimes she would, uh, she would. . ." He pulled his eyes away. "Never mind."
"No, it's alright," Dusk said. "I'd like to know."
Raven flushed. "Well, she would sometimes sing me a lullaby," he said softly. "I was just thinking, well, I can make up rhymes, and I'm not the worst at singing, so I was thinking that maybe I could sing you a lullaby." He sighed. "It's a stupid idea, I know."
"No." Dusk reached out and touched one of his talons. "If you don't mind trying, I'd love you to. It might help."
"Alright." Raven took a deep breath. "Well, let's see." He adjusted so he could see the stars through the leaves of the tree, starting to hum to himself. He murmured a few words under his breath, then seemed to decide that he was ready, turning back to face Dusk.
"I'm sorry if this is really bad," he said. "I've never, you know, sung in front of someone before."
"That's alright," Dusk said, lying her head down near Raven's front talons. "I'm not picky."
"Um, alright." Raven took a deep breath, then started to hum a slow tune. One that Dusk immediately thought would sound even more beautiful on the flute. 
"In the land of Pyrrhia, where the dragons all roam," Raven sang softly in a much more beautiful voice than Dusk had expected. "There are dragons of water who live in the sea foam," he continued. "And west of that is the dragons of mud.
"And north from there will bring you to the dragons the color of blood."
He paused to take a breath, glancing at Dusk worriedly. She gave him an encouraging smile and gestured for him to go on.
"Go farther up north and you will find snow.
"Snow and ice and globes that always glow." His eyes grew distant, as though he was remembering a distant memory.
"But just below that come the dragons of sand.
"Who live in that ever thirsting land."
He gave another small pause, but Dusk hardly noticed, her eyes drooping. Raven's voice was much more soothing than she could've ever imagined.
"Then on the southernmost end,
"Live the dragons that blend.
"That blend into sunbeams and leaves and trees;
"Those that cannot be told apart from a breeze."
He went quiet for a moment, softly humming, then added, almost as an afterthought: "But in that forest other dragons do live,
"And willingly, their services they give.
"Though future telling and mind-reading are only two.
"They have many more skills than just those few."
Raven looked down at smiled softly at Dusk, who was nearly asleep. She was actually trying to keep herself awake so she wouldn't miss any lines of his song that he had made just for her.
Raven smiled and switched to a gentle whisper.
"Now listen to this song, this lullaby;
"I hope you soar in your dreams, with large windy skies.
"And I hope your memories you do keep, 
"In your dreams ... fast asleep." Raven whispered the last line, settling down at Dusk's side without a sound.
Dusk smiled slightly, her eyes closed, at the feeling of Raven's scales against hers, then fell asleep.
== Chapter 24 ==
Dusk slept soundly that night. She had woken up in the morning well after sunrise and went with Raven back into the mountain. Then they separated and each went to their own classes, meeting up with each other during breaks. And while she was still nervous from the cave-in, she felt better with Raven at her side. During one of Dusk's breaks, Seagull demanded to know where Dusk had disappeared to, and Dusk had told him. Then she assumed that Seagull must've told either Clearglow or Quicksand, because at one point, Clearglow mentioned the cave-in. Dusk had thought to question it, but decided not to. Just as long as she didn't have to explain the whole thing again.
Dusk, after convincing herself that it would help Raven, ended up convincing Raven to join her on the night hunting party. The only dragons who were in that group were a few SeaWings from her Aquatic class a few days before, including Polyp. A dragon that did surprise her though was Clearglow. She seemed surprised too. When Dusk had asked her about Quicksand, Clearglow had told her that he never came on those hunting parties because he didn't have great night-vision.
After hunting, Dusk remembered how much she had missed meat. Even Raven seemed to feel better after hunting a bit. 
After the whole hunting party ended without incident, Dusk decided that she'd stay. She'd gotten to know the two other SeaWings, Seal and Brine, and they weren't half bad. Seal even apologized for talking behind her back the day before in their Aquatic lesson. Dusk had forgiven him, knowing that he really was sorry.
So time began to pass. Dusk got better at ignoring the dragons who didn't like her, attracting less attention as even her scars began to heal, but still ended up making new friends. She finally ended up meeting the MudWing of the Sapphire winglet, a nice dragon named Fen. She shared a cave with Frost and they were practically best friends. Dusk had never noticed how strong the bonds could be between the dragons of a winglet, if the dragons tried. But then she always thought about Blizzard and Raven, as well as herself and Quicksand.
A few days after Dusk got back into her normal schedule, she was approached by Creek and Cometcaller. Creek's new bracelet glimmered on her foreleg. Cometcaller told Dusk that they were going to become partners and Dusk gave a yell of excitement. Even though she had already known, she no less happy for them. She ended up giving each of them a hug, telling them she was so happy for them.
Not a day went past that she didn't think about the possibility of having animus magic, but she kept putting off the day to see if it was true. She knew that it was highly possible that she didn't have magic and it'd be better just to get it over with, just to get it off her mind. But still, the possibility that she did have magic, however slim, loomed over her. She convinced herself that she was waiting for the right time, but in reality, she was stalling, and she knew it.
Then, at the end of the moon cycle, Raven left, as he had told her he would. Her days felt empty without him, even though she was always so busy with classes. She got lonely, even though Coast and Seagull were nearly always with her when Raven was gone. Even though she tried to hide it, she knew she wasn't doing anything as energetically as normal. She could definitely tell that anyone who knew her noticed. She suspected that only Coast and Seagull knew why though. They knew how much time Dusk spent with Raven when he was there, and they knew what had happened in the cave, though Dusk suspected that the whole school probably knew by then. She didn't expect things like that to stay in the dark for awhile, especially at a place like that. 
With Raven gone, Dusk put animus magic out of her mind. She definitely didn't want to test if she had magic without Raven with her. So she put it out of her mind, forgetting most days.
Then, after she deduced that the moonglobe tree was indeed growing and needed more space than the small pot it was in, Dusk asked Seagull and Coast for help and they all debated about where to plant it. Seagull suggested in the Great Hall so everyone could use it, but Coast shook his head, saying that if it was easily accessible, then one of the other IceWings could destroy it. So in the end, they had decided to plant it somewhere on the side of the mountain, or near the top, making sure it was visible.
After flying around together, they decided to plant it on a wide ledge near the top of the mountain where they were able to find some dirt to put it in. And as they flew away, Dusk had looked back and seen the icy sapling shining in the sunlight. She didn't like to have had to leave it there, but she knew it'd be best for the tree and that the moonglobes would continue getting bigger and brighter, making the moonglobe tree a beacon on Jade Mountain.
And then, surprisingly, Raven had shown back up a moon cycle after he had left. He'd told her that he had arranged a routine with his friend. He would stay at Jade Mountain for a moon cycle, then go to his friend for a moon cycle. Dusk was glad to have him back, but as time progressed, she got used to his absences. They were never easy, but she never let him being gone affect her attitude majorly anymore. Animus magic fell from the forefront of her mind, never surfacing unless animus magic was directly mentioned. Before Dusk knew it, a year passed with no other incidents. Her hatching day came and she was given gifts by Seagull, Polyp, Coast, Melon, Frond, and Raven, who was at Jade Mountain on her hatching day, something that was a gift to her in itself. He gave her a carving he had made of a star, embedded with a shiny white stone that he said was quartz. Seagull had given her a woven blanket that looked like a sunset or sunrise over the ocean. Now, if she was cold, she slept under it. If she was hot, she slept on top of it. It just made her sleeping cave so much cozier, and the feeling on a rug underneath her gave her a feeling of home.
At the end of the day, she had been deeply touched by all their thoughtfulness of her. They all seemed to know exactly what she wanted, even though she didn't even know that she had wanted it.
Then, soon after her hatching day, and one time when Raven was gone, the Obsidian Winglet's class was interrupted. 
Dusk and her winglet were in the history cave with an old SeaWing named Webs when Sunny peeked her head in. "Excuse me, Webs," she said. "Sorry to bother you during your lesson, but I thought it'd be best to do introductions now."
Dusk exchanged a look with Seagull. Introductions? she wondered.
As if he had read her thoughts, though he had probably just read her expression, he shrugged, then turned his attention back to Sunny. She had turned around.
"It's alright," Dusk heard her say. "This'll be your winglet. You'll be living with them for now."
And from behind Sunny, Dusk saw a glint of bright white, one that reminded her of the ice of her moonglobe tree, which had since grown even larger. It was about half the size of a normal tree by now and was still growing. Dusk checked on it every few days, picking a moonglobe for herself, as well as one for Raven if he was to be arriving within the next couple of days. She always left it sitting outside his sleeping cave. When Blizzard had complained to her about the light, she had told him to deal with it, though she did end up moving it so that the light wouldn't shine in his eyes at night, which earned her a little less hostility from the IceWing, though only slightly. Dusk hadn't even noticed for the first bit.
There was another flicker of movement behind Sunny and then a dragon stepped forward.
"Everyone, this is Slush," Sunny said. "She'll be joining your winglet."
The hybrid was stunning. Her mainly white scales glimmered in the torchlight. Her head looked like an IceWing's, though the curves weren't as sharp. The hybrid also had the glow-in-the-dark scales of a SeaWing lining her gray-blue eyes. She had the crest of a SeaWing, though the edges weren't as rounded. Dusk couldn't tell for sure, but instead of IceWing scales, this hybrid looked to have gills. Her underbelly was a light teal, though her icicle-horns were an icy blue. Her top scales were a deep blue, though they had an icy hint. Then, all along her body even to her whip-thin tail tipped with icicle-like spikes, she had the glow-in-the-dark markings of a SeaWing. So Dusk decided that she had to be an IceWing SeaWing hybrid. She then realized that her name was quite fitting.
Slush, who looked about Dusk's age, was eying them all nervously. Her eyes glimmered with fear and possibly tears. Dusk gave her a smile, trying to encourage her and tell her it'd be alright.
Slush met Dusk's eyes, held her gaze for a second, then pulled them away, looking down at the stone floor.
"Slush said she flew down here from the borders of the Ice Kingdom," Sunny told them. "We're glad she's come such a long way just to be here." Sunny looked at everyone. "Why don't you all introduce yourselves? Tell Slush who you are and what you like to do. Something like that."
Dusk nodded. She opened her mouth to go first, but Seagull beat her to it.
He smiled at Slush. "My name is Seagull, though some dragons call me Scald. I'm a SeaWing SkyWing hybrid. I turned three about three months ago, and I've been at Jade Mountain for about a year. I love to weave and I've been learning how to make jewelry. Oh, and my nickname comes from my ability to make scalding water."
Dusk looked at Seagull. She hadn't heard the nickname "Scald" yet. But then again, it did sound familiar. . . 
Then something clicked. About a month or two ago, before Dusk's hatching day, she had gone into the art cave to paint for a bit. Polyp and Seagull had been talking together. She hadn't meant to overhear, but she heard Polyp call him Scald. She hadn't thought much of it then, but now she realized that it was a pretty good nickname. She liked the sound of it.
Slush looked slightly less nervous. "I – It's nice to meet you, Scald," she said with a quavering voice.
"Alright, I'll go next," Dusk jumped in. She smiled at Slush. "My name is Dusk, and sadly, I don't have a super cool nickname." She shot Seagull a grin. "Let's see. I'm a SeaWing NightWing RainWing hybrid. I've been at Jade Mountain for the past year, which is, by the way, one of the most awesome places on Pyrrhia."
Slush gave a small smile. 
"Let's see, I turned four years old about a month back, and I love to paint, fly, and work on my camouflage." Granted, Beryl said that her camouflage was nearly spotless and she had set color schemes so she could shift into any dragon tribe, but she knew she still had a lot of work to do. "Oh, and my favorite color is indigo. Just thought I'd add that."
"My favorite color is green," Slush said softly.
Dusk looked around the room. Quicksand did not look like he wanted to go next, staring intently, as well as disinterestedly, at one of the old maps on the wall.
Clearglow watched him for a moment, then turned to Slush. "Well, my name is Clearglow. I'm an IceWing NightWing hybrid, as you could probably tell. I like to read, and sometimes write, though I'm not that good at it. I'm five years old, and I've been at Jade Mountain for three years."
Slush seemed to relax a bit more, probably because Clearglow was an IceWing hybrid as well. It was probably nice to meet a hybrid like yourself, though Dusk had just been happy to meet other hybrids in the first place.
Now that Clearglow was done, they all looked at Quicksand, who studiously ignored them all.
"Quicksand," Clearglow said in a low voice. When he turned to look at her, she flicked her tail toward Slush and gave him a pointed look.
"Fine," Quicksand growled. "My name is Quicksand, I'm a SandWing MudWing hybrid, I'm six years old, I've been at Jade Mountain for six years, and this is stupid." Then he turned back to the map.
Slush shrank back, looking down at her talons.
Dusk glared at Quicksand, though her head was cocked in curiosity. Quicksand had come to Jade Mountain before he had even turned one year old?
"It's alright, Slush." Clearglow came to the rescue. "Quicksand's like that with everyone. It's not reflecting you."
Slush didn't respond, just kept her eyes down.
"Right," Sunny said. "I'll go show Slush around the mountain while you all finish up your lesson. Oh, and Dusk, Clearglow? Slush will be sharing a cave with you."
Dusk nodded, smiling at Slush again. "I expected so. It'll be fun."
"Now, come this way, Slush," Sunny said, putting her golden-colored wing around her. "I'll show you to your sleeping cave."
Sunny's voice faded off down the hall as they both walked away. Then Webs cleared his throat and continued his lesson with a slight annoyed look on his face.
A flash in the corner of Dusk's eye caught her attention. Seagull had flashed his glow-in-the-dark scales at her. She met his eyes and nodded, telling him he could go ahead.
I want to make Slush a bracelet, Seagull flashed. He had ended up taking Aquatic with Dusk and Coast, and now they were both doing well.
I think you should, Dusk flashed back. Just a small gift might make her feel better. She looked down at her foreleg, going to smile at the bracelet Seagull had made for her a year before, panicking for a split second when she saw only her scales, but then remembering what had happened to it. 
After wearing the bracelet constantly for the past year, it had gotten rather beat up. About a week ago, she had noticed that the braid was fraying rather badly and she had sadly decided that it was better to take it off before it broke fully. She kept forgetting that she had taken it off though, and kept panicking when it wasn't there.
Hey, do you think, Dusk flashed sheepishly, that you could make me another bracelet while you're at it?
Seagull went to nod when he was interrupted. "Dusk, Seagull," Webs spoke up, "no talking during class." He gave them a sharp look.
"Sorry, Webs," Dusk apologized quickly. "Just excited that there's going to be a new student."
"Yeah, sorry," Seagull jumped in.
"I'll forgive it this once," Webs said. "It's not every day you get a new clawmate." 
Dusk smiled and nodded. "Thank you."
Webs' face softened, and he nodded back. "You're welcome. Now, back to the lesson."
The class dragged on for another half hour before he let them go for their two hours of free time.
"I think I'll get working on a bracelet for Slush immediately," Seagull said on their way out the classroom.
"Yeah," Dusk said. "I think I'll go find Slush. Show her around the mountain. Just be with her. She looked like she could use a friend."
Seagull nodded in agreement. "Just don't lead her into a dark, abandoned cave, prone to cave-ins," he joked.
Dusk laughed. "I won't," she promised.
A year after the cave-in, Dusk had gotten over it. She still didn't like going through cramped hallways, or dark ones for that matter, but it never bothered her very much. In fact, it had become a joke between some of Dusk's friends. They liked to tease her about it all the time. Sometimes it was annoying, but Dusk accepted it right now.
Dusk and Seagull were walking down the same hallway for the moment, so she sidled close to him with a sly grin. "So," she said. "Polyp gave you the name Scald?"
Seagull laughed it off. "Yeah. She said Seagull was a mouthful to say all the time, and she didn't just want to call me Sea, or Gull, so she made up something else." He shrugged. "I don't know, I kind of like it, so I thought I'd add that in my introduction." His smile flickered. "You don't – you don't think I was too upfront with it, do you?"
Dusk grinned at him and shook her head. "Definitely not. I think it was good. You saw that she relaxed."
"Yeah," Seagull said, looking down at his talons as he walked. "I just thought I might be imagining it, trying to make myself feel better."
"No, I think you did well. It's Quicksand who should be worried." Dusk shot a look behind her at Quicksand as he walked.
"Hey, don't get onto Quicksand," Seagull said, jumping to his defense. "He's been through a lot. I can understand why he did what he did." He sighed. "Though he could've at least tried."
Dusk looked at him. "Wait, you know Quicksand's backstory, too?"
Seagull gave her a sheepish look and nodded.
"Seriously?" Dusk said, her ear flicking irritatedly, an action that she hadn't had happen in nearly a year. "So everyone in this winglet but me knows Quicksand's backstory?"
"Well, not everyone," Seagull tried. "Slush doesn't know. She can't have known."
Dusk glared at him. "She doesn't count," she snapped. Then she realized what she had said, her eyes going wide.
"Dusk," Seagull hissed, his eyes narrowing. "That's not nice."
Dusk sighed. "I know, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it. I didn't even realize what I was saying until I said it." She looked up at Seagull with pleading eyes. "I didn't mean it."
He nodded. "I know. Just be more careful of what you say."
Dusk nodded. "I'm really sorry." She looked down at the ground. "I feel bad that something like that ever came out of my mouth. About someone I don't hate, that is."
Seagull gave a small laugh. "Yeah, I've heard you say a lot worse about Raccoon. Speaking of him, has anything else happened with him?"
Dusk shook her head. "I haven't seen, much less talked, to him in forever. Probably since it happened." She had explained the whole hunting-party-incident after a bit. He asked why she seemed to hate NightWings so much, and she answered with a brief explanation.
"Well, that's good. You haven't given him another chance to do ... anything."
Dusk smiled. "I never wanted to give him a chance. Did you know that, for awhile, I was kind of scared of him?"
Seagull scoffed. "He's nothing to be scared of. He keeps his claws sharp because he doesn't have any brains."
Dusk gave a startled laugh. "That's the worst I've ever heard you say," she commented.
"He deserves it," Seagull said, though he did sound a bit embarrassed.
"Well, I'm going to go find Slush," Dusk said. "See if she wants a tour of the unexplored areas of the mountain." She winked.
Seagull laughed. "Well, I'm going to the art cave. You're always welcome to come find me once you're done being stuck in caves."
Dusk smiled. "I will." 
Seagull and Dusk emerged in the Great Hall, which was where they would part ways.
"Well, I'll see you later, Seagull," Dusk said, turning toward the hall that would lead to the sleeping caves.
"Yep, later," Seagull agreed as he headed down the hall that would lead to the art cave.
As Dusk headed down the hall, they got more crowded. After all, now everyone had free time for two hours. Most of the RainWings would be headed up for suntime, but the other tribes would take breaks, reading scrolls or painting in the art cave, or even just resting for a bit with only their thoughts to accompany them. Everyone had their preferences. 
Dusk avoided the dragons in the halls, exchanging some brief hello's with other dragons, though being ignored by most of them. She'd gotten used to it. Actually, most dragons ignored each other when they were in the school's halls. Even Vapor, Blizzard, Gold, and Raccoon ignored her in the halls. It was so weird to see some of the dragons she hated pass by a few feet away without a word. Just this time, she saw both Blizzard and Vapor, though she never saw Raccoon. She wondered what he was doing, but she wasn't worried. She believed she knew well enough how to defend herself should he ever try something.
When Dusk made it to the hall with her sleeping cave, most dragons were still milling about. Some disappeared into their sleeping caves as she watched, probably to read some scrolls they had checked out from the library, or to rest. Dusk didn't know which.
Dusk reached her sleeping cave but paused outside it. She could hear a faint sound coming from inside. She knew what it sounded like, but that didn't make sense.
Dusk peeked her head around the corner and was surprised by what she saw. Slush was sitting on the open sleeping spot, something cradled in her talons, crying. 
Dusk pulled her head back, biting her lip. She hesitated for a moment, then walked into the doorway, tapping her claws on it.
Slush stopped crying and looked up, tears glistening on her scales. She saw Dusk and looked away, reaching up to brush the tears away.
"Hey," Dusk said softly. "Mind if I come in?"
"No," Slush said in a quavering voice, sniffling. "It's your cave. I shouldn't be able to keep you out."
"It's your cave now, too," Dusk said, trying to make up for what she'd said to Seagull a few minutes earlier. "You have some claim to it."
Dusk climbed onto her sleeping spot, settling on the sunset blanket that Seagull had given her. They were both quiet for a moment, then Dusk spoke up. "Do you want to talk about it?" she asked quietly.
Slush sniffled and Dusk noticed that she was still holding something in her talons. "I'm really sorry," she blurted.
Dusk cocked her head. "For what?"
"I knew it wasn't mine," Slush continued. "I knew I shouldn't take it, but ... but it reminded me of home." Then she opened her talons, revealing a small moonglobe settled in them. Dusk was about to ask where she got it when she realized that her moonglobe that she was left in her small cubbyhole was missing.
Slush held the moonglobe out, averting her eyes. "I'm sorry," she said. "I shouldn't have taken it."
"No, don't worry," Dusk said. She reached out, but instead of taking the moonglobe back, she closed Slush's talons around it.
Slush turned awestruck eyes up to Dusk, then looked at the moonglobe in her talons.
"Keep it," Dusk suggested. "I have an overabundance of them."
Slush smiled. "Thank you, Dusk. I won't forget it."
"Nah, you can if you want to," Dusk said. "I probably will. But I'll let you know, whenever I go out to get myself a moonglobe, you'll be getting one, too."
"Go out to get a moonglobe?" Slush questioned, cocking her head.
"Oh, yeah. So, I was given a moonglobe sapling about a year ago, as a hatching day present. But then it got too big for its pot, so I took it and planted it on Jade Mountain. So, every few days, after my moonglobe wears out, I fly up and grab two, one for me and one for one of my friends. Now I just have to grab three." Dusk shrugged. "It's not hard. Now, it'd be slightly hard if I had to carry them, but they float, so it's not bad."
Slush smiled, holding the moonglobe tightly in her talons. "Thank you again, Dusk."
Dusk smiled. "You're welcome. Now, do you want to explore Jade Mountain?"
Slush hesitated before nodding. "Yes. Sunny showed me around a bit, but I'd like to see more."
"Alright then," Dusk said. "If you'll follow me, I'll show you where I know."
Dusk stepped out of the sleeping cave and waited for Slush before continuing down the hall, farther into the mountain, not farther out, where she had found the cave with Raven a year before.
"Behind us is just more sleeping caves," Dusk said, looking at Slush. "Nothing interesting back there. But ahead of us," she nodded forward, "there's the library, the prey center, the art cave, and some other things."
"I didn't see any of those," Slush said. "Just the things on the way to the sleeping cave."
"Well, then I have more to show you," Dusk said, grinning at Slush.
Slush smiled softly. "All of you are so nice," she said quietly, looking down at the ground. "Thank you."
Dusk laughed quietly. "There's no need to thank me," she said, slightly incredulously. "I just want to make sure you enjoy your time at Jade Mountain, like I have."
Slush nodded. Then she turned her head to the side. "Where do we go first?" she asked curiously.
Dusk paused for a moment. "Well, if we head to the library, then we can go to the prey center from there, but we'll have to turn around to get to the art cave."
"Oh, I don't mind," Slush said. "Maybe it'll help me get a feel for the mountain."
Dusk grinned. "It took me a long time and a lot of exploring to get a feel for the mountain," she said. "It's huge. But hey," Dusk bumped Slush lightly with one of her wings, "I can always help you with that. And you can borrow my map anytime. I don't use it anymore."
Slush gave a full smile. "Thank you, that's very kind."
Dusk waved it away with a small flap of her wing. "It's the least I can do," she said, though she smiled back.
Dusk turned right at an intersection, then turned back to Slush to make sure she was following. "So, Slush, how old are you?"
"I'm four," Slush answered. "Four and seven months."
Dusk regarded her again. "Huh. So you're older than me. Only by a few months, but still."
Slush gave a small laugh but quickly stifled it. 
"No, it's alright," Dusk said, laughing slightly herself. "If you think it's funny, then laugh. I don't care."
Slush laughed again. "You should've seen your face," she said, grinning. "I can see why that came as a surprise though. I'm kind of small for my age."
"I wouldn't say so," Dusk said. "You're about my size and you're a few months older, so it's not that much of a difference."
Slush paused before nodding. "Yes, I suppose that makes sense."
They were quiet for a bit as they walked, Dusk thinking of what to ask Slush that might not be too intrusive.
"Well, Slush," Dusk said, "if this isn't too personal of a question, who were your parents?"
"No, it's alright," Slush said. "My father was a SeaWing. His name was Gyre. Then my mother was an IceWing. Her name was Firn."
"Fern?" Dusk cocked her head. "That seems like an odd name for an IceWing. I know a RainWing named Fern."
"No, not Fern," Slush said, shaking her head and looking amused. "Firn. F-I-R–N. You know, like the snow at the top of a glacier that hasn't been compressed into ice yet."
"Well, I didn't know that was a word, so I'll take your word for it," Dusk said, her mouth twitching up in a smile as she watched Slush. It was nice to see her happy, especially when she knew she had been crying only a few minutes before. It was nice to know that she had some part in making her happy.
They reached another intersection, and Dusk turned left to head toward the library, which they were only a few hallways away from.
Dusk turned to Slush at her side. "The library is one of my favorite places in the mountain. My four favorite places are actually the library, the art cave, our sleeping cave, and. . ." Dusk trailed off, thinking that Slush didn't need to know her fourth. "You know what, that last one isn't important. But I hope you'll like the library."
Slush nodded. "In the Ice Kingdom, I didn't have much chance to read a lot, so I can't read well." She glanced around nervously. "Is that bad? That I can't read?"
Dusk shook her head. "Half the dragonets here don't know how to read when they come, so I think you're good. I just –" Dusk's throat closed up suddenly as she thought about the SandWing who had wished her a happy hatching day. She was sure they had something to do with her life. She just didn't know what. 
Dusk cleared her throat. "I just had a good teacher," she finished.
Slush was regarding her, frowning, and Dusk knew she was confused. Dusk was, too. Why did she have such a reaction to the thought of that SandWing? There was so much she didn't know, and she had no clue how she could ever figure it out.
Dusk pushed the mysteries of her past life out of her mind. She couldn't focus on that right now. Right now, she was showing a new friend around the mountain, and she didn't need to be distracted.
They reached the branch off tunnel lined with scrolls. Dusk smiled at Slush, then jerked her head down the hall. "This way," she said.
She turned down the tunnel, pausing whenever Slush stopped to read the sayings on the scroll.
Then, after Slush read the last scroll, they stepped into the library and she gasped. Dusk smiled at her reaction, remembering her own first time in there. It had been awe-inspiring.
Starflight was sitting at his desk with the blindfold over his eyes. Resting one black talon on the desk, he turned his head in Dusk and Slush's direction.
"It's me, Starflight," Dusk said before he could ask who it was. "And my new clawmate, Slush."
Slush had pulled her attention away from the rest of the library and cocked her head at Starflight. "Are you blind?" she asked timidly.
Starflight adjusted his head so that he'd be facing Slush. "I am," he said, nodding. "It happened quite a few years ago."
"How do you manage?" Slush asked.
Starflight smiled. "I've had a lot of help along the way," he said. "It took awhile, but I finally accepted the way I was and decided I might as well try to do something with my life as opposed to doing nothing."
"Do you know your way around the mountain?" Slush asked.
Starflight nodded. "After all my time being here, yes, I know the mountain perfectly. As well as the library, so if you're looking for something in particular, I can help with that."
"Oh, no, I'm not looking for a scroll today," Slush said, sounding embarrassed. "Dusk was just showing me around Jade Mountain."
"Well, whenever you are looking for a scroll, don't hesitate to ask me." Starflight smiled kindly.
Slush nodded even though Starflight couldn't see her. "Thank you," she said. "I'll remember it."
"We do have time to look around the library for a few minutes," Dusk said to Slush. "But if you want to come back later when you have more time, that's alright."
Slush shifted self-consciously. "Well, I kind of just want to see more of the mountain," she said quietly.
Dusk nodded. "Okay. Then we'll head to the prey center. Possibly sign you up for a hunting party, if you want to."
Slush nodded and they started to walk down the hallway.
"I hope that the two of you will come back," Starflight called after them.
"You know I'll be back," Dusk called over her shoulder, grinning. When Dusk turned back, she saw that Slush was smiling slightly, though not really paying attention to her. "What is it?" Dusk asked her.
"Everyone here is so nice," Slush said after a few moments. "I just – I'm not really used to it."
Dusk cocked her head as they continued walking. "Would it be intrusive if I asked why?" 
They reached the end of the library tunnel and turned left to head to the prey center.
Slush shook her head. "I've been thinking about it and decided that you'd find out eventually."
"You sure?" Dusk said quickly before Slush could say anything. "I've been at this place for a year and have no idea what one of my clawmate's life was before he came here."
Slush shrugged. "I don't think I really care. My family and I lived on the border of the Ice Kingdom. By the ocean for my father, and close enough that it was cold and snowy on occasions for my mother. But anyway, sometimes, IceWings flew by and they – um – they don't take too kindly to IceWing hybrids."
"Kind of like NightWings," Dusk muttered under her breath.
"So, I was sent to a school in the Ice Kingdom, by my mother, of course, since the Kingdom of the Sea was so far away."
"Sounds miserable," Dusk said.
Slush smiled slightly. "It was. No one liked me, not even the other dragonets. No one would even dare to try to make friends with me, probably because they were worried their parents would hear."
"Hmm," Dusk said noncommittally. She thought about that SandWing that she'd had the brief memory of. Were they like a parent to her? Or were they just a friend of her parents? Dusk had no way to know.
"Well, most IceWings are really strict, and I could understand them not wanting to make friends with me, but it still hurt me."
"I can understand why," Dusk said absentmindedly, thinking of Vapor and Raccoon. But she shook them out of her thoughts. "You don't have to worry about that here," Dusk said to Slush, smiling. "There're a few dragons who don't like hybrids, but they're easy enough to ignore. And all the teachers are in favor of the tribes being friendly to each other, so they like hybrids like us."
Slush smiled. "I'm glad. And after all my time with IceWings, I think I can ignore them."
"The main dragons you should avoid though," Dusk said warningly, "are Raccoon and Vapor. Only Raccoon has actually ... done something about his opinions, but Vapor isn't close behind. There's another dragon, an IceWing named Blizzard, but he's not so bad."
"So, dragons to avoid." Slush counted off on her claws. "Raccoon, a NightWing, I'm guessing, Vapor, a SkyWing, I'm also guessing, and then Blizzard, an IceWing. Sound right?"
Dusk nodded and they continued walking toward the prey center. "You know," Dusk said, breaking the silence. "I should probably warn you. The prey center is very overwhelming. Although you have to go hunting parties to get any sort of prey, most dragons come back after they've caught something, and they eat it there. Since we just got our free time, a hunting party would've just left, so it'll be less chaotic, but sometimes dragons just go there to talk to each other."
Slush nodded. "I'll remember that," she said.
"I take the night hunting party," Dusk added. "The prey center is a lot emptier by then. And also, I like night."
Slush smiled down at the ground, as though remembering something. "I do, too," she said softly. "The stars are so beautiful in the Ice Kingdom. With the snow underneath your talons, glittering in the moonslight, it's almost like you're on a star yourself."
Dusk smiled. "It does sound beautiful," she agreed. "If you'd like to, maybe after I do my hunting party tonight, I could take you up to the moonglobe tree. It's especially pretty in the dark. I think you'd like it."
"I always was fascinated by the moonglobes that some of the IceWings had on their shoulders when they came to school," Slush said. "And, very rarely, my mother sometimes came back with one, if she visited the place recently. But by that time, the moonglobe had started to fade. It took awhile to get from the palace to where I stayed."
"Hmm," Dusk said noncommittally. "Well, the moonglobes I have are mostly normal, just a bit small, as you know."
Slush shrugged. "I think they're adorable at that size." 
"They were smaller when I first got them," Dusk said, slowly raising her voice as they got closer to the prey center and the sounds got louder. "They were about this small," she continued, pinching her front claws close together. "Honestly, that was one of the best presents I ever got. Granted, it was one of the first ones I ever got."
"Really?" Slush said, sounding surprised. "Who was it from?"
"Seagull," Dusk said. "Or Scald, whichever you prefer."
"You've known him that long?" Slush said.
"No," Dusk said plainly. "It's a long story," she added. "Just forget I said anything about that. It's complicated."
"Why wouldn't your parents have given you any hatching day presents?" Slush asked, cocking her head.
Dusk didn't answer, trying to think of a response that wasn't snippy. "Look," she said after a few moments. "You were ready to talk about your parents, but I'm not. Alright?"
Slush looked away. "S–sorry," she stammered quietly.
"No, it's alright," Dusk said. "You couldn't have known. I just thought I'd let you know. It's not that I don't want to tell you, it's just that –" Dusk struggled to find the right thing to say. "Well, I just can't. It's not your fault."
Slush didn't answer, just looked down at the stone.
Dusk sighed. "I'm sorry," she said. 
"No, it's alright," Slush said. "I shouldn't have asked."
Dusk was going to circle back to how she couldn't have known, so it couldn't be her fault when they reached the prey center.
It was crowded, with dragons of all tribes in all corners. A few RainWings sat over by the baskets of fruit, but there wasn't a whole lot of them. Dusk guessed that most of them were doing suntime. And while that used to be something that every RainWing did, some of them now neglected it. Most RainWings did it every other day, but some only did it once a week, and some others even went as far as saying that it wasn't necessary at all, pointing out that they got enough sunlight when they were out flying and that there were other things they'd rather be doing. Dusk could understand that, as she continued to neglect suntime in place of other activities, but she knew it wasn't quite the same for her as for a RainWing. She was just part RainWing, not fully. She didn't need to have suntime, but she supposed that it might be different for a RainWing.
Dusk stepped a bit closer to Slush, calming herself down. Even after all that time, she still hated going into the prey center in the middle of the day. That was one of her reasons to go on one later in the day.
Dusk decided not to try talking, she just looked at Slush, jerking her head over to the wall to sign up for hunting parties. Then she set off in that direction, hoping Slush would follow.
She did. Dusk glanced back once or twice as they walked over to make sure she was still there, and she always was, looking uncomfortable but also intrigued.
Dusk stopped by the wall, flicking her wingtip up to it. "You can sign up for a hunting party here if you want to," she said in a slightly louder voice than she might usually use. "Let's see ..." she said, turning to look at the wall of pieces of paper, all scrawled with the handwriting of dragonets. Dusk scanned through them all, trying to piece them together in order. "There's a hunting party before dawn," she read, "one at dawn, and one after dawn." She looked through them all again. "Then we skip a few hours, and we have a hunting party in the afternoon – wait, no, it's midday first, then afternoon." She scanned through them all one last time, seeing her name crossed out on one of the remaining and another, pristine, on the next, above Raven's name. "Then, last but not least, we have one before sunset, one at sunset, one at twilight, and then the last just at night." She turned back to Slush. "Those last two would be kind of hard for you unless you inherited night-vision from your father," she said embarrassedly, though not quite sure why.
"I do have a bit of night-vision," Slush said. "Not as good as a pure SeaWing might, but I can see well enough in the dark. But still." She turned to look at the wall of papers, frowning in thought. "The twilight one doesn't sound ba–"
"Not the twilight," Dusk interjected quickly.
Slush turned to look at her, looking confused. "Why?" she asked tentatively.
Dusk hesitated, then reached up to point at Raccoon's name. "I told you about him earlier. It's just best to avoid him. So, sorry, that rules out that hunting party."
"No, it's alright," Slush said, turning back to the wall, flicking her tail thoughtfully, the icicle-like spikes clattering against each other. After a few moments, she turned back to Dusk. "Do you think it's better to do one in the morning, day, or evening?"
Dusk shrugged. "I go at night." She pointed to her name on the list. "If I get hungry during the day, I just eat some fruit, and it's perfectly fine. I wouldn't recommend doing one in the day, though. As you can see, those are pretty crowded." Dusk gestured around them with a flick of her tail. "So, I don't know. It's up to you. And you can switch whenever you want. You can do one in the morning, then one at night."
Slush cocked her head at the wall. "I think I'll go on the sunset?"
Dusk nodded. "Alright then, you just have to sign your name." She pointed to the inkpot. "Then, later, you can go out, if you want. But if you want to wait until tomorrow, just to get more used to things, then I completely understand." Dusk looked up to the night hunting party list, her eyes drawn to the graceful curve of the R in Raven's name. "If you want," she added, "I can go with you your first time. Show you around the forest. Oh, and can you breathe underwater?"
Slush nodded. "Yes. Why?"
"Well, there's a lake near the mountain, so I was wondering if you'd want to fish. I have gills, by the way, so I can show you." Dusk frowned suddenly. "Do you speak Aquatic?" she added after a moment.
"Only the basics," Slush admitted embarrassedly. "My father didn't teach me much before. . . Never mind. But yeah, I know a bit. If you tried to talk to me, I'd probably get the gist of what you're saying, but not the specifics."
"Alright," Dusk said. "So do you want to go on the hunting party today, or sometime else?"
Slush shrugged. "Whenever it's better for you."
Dusk hesitated. She wasn't quite in the mood to go hunting that night, but if Slush wanted to, then she would. "Well," she said nonchalantly, "I didn't plan to go hunting today, but if you're hungry, feel free to say so, and I'll join you. I don't care."
Slush glanced around. "I think I'm not that hungry right now. And I've never actually tried fruit, so that'll be new. We didn't have much fruit in the Ice Kingdom," she added.
Dusk gave a soft laugh, lowering her head ever so slightly. "Oh, I would guess so," she said. She gestured with the tip of her snout up to the sunset hunting party list. "If you're sure, you can write your name on that one. But if you want to think about it a bit longer, you don't have to choose now."
Slush paused, glancing up at the scraps of paper. "I think I'll wait until tomorrow, maybe."
Dusk smiled, then motioned with one wing for her to follow. "Well, if you're not going to choose today, I might as well show you the fruit now." She started to walk along the edge of the prey center, avoiding most everyone there as best she could.
Slush trotted up behind Dusk, glancing around nervously.
Dusk glanced over her shoulder back at Slush, frowning slightly. She knew that she had acted the same way the first time she'd been in there, but everything had been fine. Dusk wished she had a way of encouraging Slush about it.
As they walked over to the baskets of fruit, Dusk's eyes skimmed over all of the dragons gathered around them. It appeared that it wasn't only RainWings eating fruit while chatting with each other, but appearances, especially when it came to RainWings, could be deceiving.
Finally, Dusk spotted a group of three RainWings, two of which looked rather similar, with the same shaped eyes, though one had a mischievous twinkle in his.
Dusk sped up a bit, making sure that Slush was behind her before bounding up to the three RainWings. Frond's scales were an orange-yellow, signaling amusement, with patches of bright pink that matched the smile on her face. Something kind of confused Dusk though, making her rethink what she knew of RainWing scale emotions. Every few seconds, one or two scales would shimmer with a lime green, but it was wiped out by the other colors a moment later. If Dusk wasn't imagining it, Frond was trying rather hard to keep it unnoticeable. 
Melon was sitting across from Frond, grinning, all pink and bright golden yellow, with some flickers of blue that might have been curiosity, though about what, Dusk couldn't be sure.
Then there was Howler, sitting next to Frond. He looked content, with lavender delight shifting across his pink scales.
"Hey, guys," Dusk greeted, coming to a stop next to them. She jerked her head back at Slush. "I want you all to meet someone."
Frond, Howler, and Melon all looked over, and as they glimpsed Slush behind Dusk, blue curiosity appeared in their scales, or became more prominent, in Melon's case.
Dusk looked back at Slush with a smile, flicking her tail to gesture for her to walk forward. Slush hesitantly walked up to Dusk's side, giving a shy smile.
"Everyone," Dusk said with a smile, "this is Slush. She's a new hybrid in the Obsidian Winglet."
Slush sat down, curling her spiked tail around her front talons, looking embarrassed, as well as tentative. "Hi," she said softly.
Frond looked Slush over, pale orange surprise flickering over her scales, mirroring the mild surprise on her face. "Well," she said, "you certainly are unique."
Slush blushed, something quite odd. Her cheeks flushed a light purple instead of the red/pink she had been expecting. Dusk supposed it made sense. She had learned in biology that every dragon tribe excepting IceWings had red blood, and when you mixed a dragon with red blood with one that had blue, it would only make sense if you came out with purple. It made her wonder briefly if Clearglow would blush purple.
"Slush," Dusk said, "meet Frond," she pointed one claw to Frond, who nodded courteously, "Howler Monkey, though called Howler by everyone who knows him," Howler raised a hesitant talon in greeting as Dusk pointed to him, "and Melon." Melon grinned at Slush and winked, which only seemed to fluster Slush even more, and she looked down at the ground.
"T–thank you," Slush stammered.
"IceWing SeaWing?" Frond asked suddenly.
"Y–yes," Slush managed.
Frond nodded understandingly. "Well, you're certainly cool."
"Pun intended," Melon interjected, grinning.
There was a flicker of a smile on Slush's face. "Well, my scales are actually cool. I couldn't call them 'cold' though. I just don't radiate heat like any other tribe." Slush flicked her tail forward. "You're welcome to feel."
Dusk cocked her head at Slush, realizing that she really didn't generate heat. Normally, with someone sitting as close to Dusk as Slush was, she could feel the heat that someone's body just normally generated, but Dusk couldn't feel anything. 
"Huh," she said mildly. "So you don't. I hadn't noticed yet."
Slush looked down embarrassedly, shuffling her front talons. "Yeah, sorry, it just hadn't come up."
"No, I never expected it would," Dusk said quickly. "I just thought that was kind of odd." She grinned. "It's weird when two things that don't usually mix interact."
Frond was watching, looking slightly interested. She cleared her throat to get Slush's attention.
"I just didn't want to startle you," Frond explained as Slush looked over. "I was hoping that I might be able to feel your scales. As long as you're alright with that," she added quickly.
Slush nodded. "Of course. Thank you for asking, though." She moved her tail a little closer to Frond. 
Frond reached out and placed a gentle talon on the white and light blue scales of Slush's tail, just above where the spikes started.
"Wow," she said, her face and scales flickering into surprise. "That's weird. It's not cold, like an IceWing's would be, but kind of just, I don't know, like stone that's been in the shade for awhile. Not freezing cold, but just, cool."
Slush nodded, drawing her tail back. "Yeah, it's odd." She shrugged. 
Dusk nudged Slush playfully with one of her wings. "So, Slush here somehow hasn't ever had fruit, so I thought we'd need to change that." She looked between the three RainWings. "What do you think she should try first?"
"Ooo, watermelon!" Melon offered enthusiastically. "It's my namesake, so therefore the best," he added smugly.
"Uh-uh," Frond jumped in. "No way. Pineapple is the best." 
Howler looked hesitant, but he joined in as well. "Well, I don't have a favorite, but I think kiwi is pretty good." He gave a half shrug.
"Just my opinion," Dusk decided to say, "but I think mangos are pretty good."
Slush looked a bit overwhelmed, so Dusk decided to defuse it.
"But those are just opinions," she added. "Just what we think. You're welcome to try anything you want."
The tension in Slush's wings disappeared ever so slightly, and she regarded the basket, cocking her head. "Um, well, what exactly is there?"
"All kinds of stuff," Frond said. She turned to the basket, pulling it closer to her to rummage through it. "You can never know what you'll find. All of the fruits are fresh from the Rainforest every day, and it'll always depend." She drew out a round red fruit that Dusk immediately recognized as an apple. A fruit that was found in abundance, but still rather good. Dusk enjoyed it, but she always preferred a mango if she could find one.
"An apple," Frond announced, setting down the fruit before turning back to the basket to delve through it again. "Mango," she added, pulling out the yellow-orange-green fruit. 
"If you find another mango," Dusk quickly interrupted, "I'd like to take it."
"No," Slush said quickly, "Dusk, you can have it. I don't need it."
"No, you have it," Dusk said. "Or at least have it on your options until you find one you want to try. Alright?"
Slush nodded. "Alright. Thank you," she added.
Dusk gave an acknowledging nod. "No problem."
Frond drew out something that looked a bit look a hairy brown rock. At first Dusk had no idea what it was, but then her brain identified it as a coconut, which she had no idea where she'd learned that from, and whether by past experience that she had forgotten, or from a lesson.
Frond looked puzzled, holding it for a moment. "Not sure why that's in there," she said, tossing it carelessly over her shoulder. 
Dusk winced a moment later as the coconut bounced off of another dragon's back and they yelped.
The SeaWing it had hit, who had been rummaging through another one of the fruit baskets, looked up. Dusk recognized Brine. He looked mad at first, but then he spotted the coconut and his face lit up.
"Sorry, Brine!" Dusk yelped to him.
Brine found her in the crowd and he beamed at her. "I was looking for one of these," he yelled back over the sound of the prey center. He opened his mouth to yell again, but then stopped himself and flashed in Aquatic, Thanks.
Dusk smiled slightly. Don't thank me, she flashed back. Thank – She paused, frowning, realizing that she didn't know how to say "Frond" in Aquatic. – her, Dusk finished, pointing discreetly to Frond.
Brine laughed to himself, shaking his head ever so slightly in disbelief, then sat down and picked up the coconut.
Dusk looked back to Frond, seeing that she'd pulled out several other fruits while she'd been occupied, like a pineapple, a banana, and an orange.
"What's that?" Slush suddenly asked, pointing to one of the things of fruit on top of the basket.
It was a short cutting of a vine with small purple berry-like fruits on them about the same size as a claw.
"Oh, those?" Frond abandoned her other attempts and pulled out the vine. "Those are grapes. Here." She held it out to Slush. When Slush hesitated, Frond jerked it a little closer. "It's alright. They're good. Just pick one."
Slush still looked hesitant, but she reached out and gently picked a grape with elegantly curved gray-blue claws, while carefully avoiding touching the grape with the lethal serrated edge of it.
"So," Slush said tentatively. "Do I just eat it?"
"Yep," Frond said plainly. 
"Just like that?"
"Just like that," Frond confirmed. "Here." She picked her own grape off the vine, then popped it onto her mouth, chewing for a moment before swallowing. She shrugged. "They're not my favorite, but they're not bad."
Slush regarded the grape with a puzzled expression that might've been mixed with something like disgust, but she reached up and put it into her mouth.
She chewed for a moment, looking puzzled, then swallowed. "Odd," she said. "I never expected it to be so sweet, though."
Frond grinned. "If you thought those were sweet, then you'll enjoy literally everything else."
"Really?" Slush looked astonished. 
Frond grinned. "You bet."
"DUSK!" came a sudden, urgent yell behind her, loud enough to attract everyone's attention.
Dusk whirled around in horror to see who had yelled. "What?" she yelped. "What's wrong, what happened?"
That was when she saw Seagull, beaming from ear to ear, standing in the entryway to the prey center. He bounded over, attracting a few curious and puzzled stares. "Nothing bad," he promised, his voice quivering with excitement, "but you'll never guess." His yellow, hawkish eyes were alight in a way she'd never seen them before, grinning beyond what she'd thought was possible.
"Well, the fact that it was bad severely limits my options," Dusk tried, but she knew that Seagull never intended to have her guess. "But why don't you tell me?"
"It's my mother!" Seagull yelped excitedly. "She's with-egg. Dusk, I'm going to be a brother!"
Dusk's jaw dropped and she gaped at him. "Wait – seriously?"
Seagull nodded vigorously. "I just got her letter." He untucked a scroll from his wing, holding it out to show her. "It'll still be awhile till the egg actually hatches, but I can't wait!" He spun excitedly on the spot, nearly tripping Dusk with his tail.
Dusk grinned. "I'm so happy for you!" She reached out and twined her tail with his. "Well?" she asked expectantly. "Do you plan to go now, or wait until the egg is closer to hatching?"
"Why not both?" Seagull asked with a shrug. "I really want to go now." He bounced on the balls of his talons. "Do you think that'd be alright? Do you think I could get permission?"
He started to frown, but Dusk didn't want to see his smile disappear so quickly. "I'm sure it'll be fine," she interjected hurriedly. "I'm sure Sunny'll let you go and see your family."
"Yeah," Seagull agreed happily, grinning again. "I'm sure she will." He turned to Slush, slightly breathless. "Sorry to interrupt, Slush," he said apologetically, still smiling.
"No, it's completely fine," Slush said, smiling back. "I don't mind at all. Congratulations, by the way."
Seagull looked abashed as he looked away. "Thank you," he said. He looked up and met Dusk's eyes. "I'm going to go back and pack right away," he said excitedly. 
Dusk nodded. "The Obsidian Winglet will miss you while you're gone," she said, trying to imagine Jade Mountain without him, even if it was only briefly. Then she grinned slyly. "And," she said, leaning close and lowering her voice, "I think Polyp will, too."
Seagull flared his wings ever so slightly. "Really? I mean, you think so?" He looked so hopeful for a moment.
"Of course," Dusk said. "We'll all be waiting for you to get back."
Seagull beamed at her, then tucked the scroll back under his wing and started to turn away.
"Oh, yeah, no, 'Hi, Melon, nice to see you and your friends,'" Melon said sarcastically, his face feigning nonchalance.
Seagull turned back, looking slightly ashamed, but he quickly resumed his grin. "Hi, Melon, nice to see you and your friends. Sorry for interrupting you, by the way."
Melon looked up and grinned at Seagull. "Now that's more like it. And no worries. You go see your family. We'll all be here. Enjoy yourself."
"I will," Seagull said, beaming. He raised a talon to wave at Frond and Howler. "See you," he said, turning away.
"Bye, Scald," Frond called as he walked away. It seemed the nickname was catching on.
"Yeah, come back soon ... Scald," Slush said tentatively.
Seagull looked back and swept a wing underneath him in a mock bow as he walked away. Then he turned and bounded out of the prey center and down the hallway that led back to the sleeping caves.
"Now," Dusk said, looking back to the others. "Where were we?"
"We were going to have Slush try all these fruits," Frond said, gesturing grandly toward the line of different fruit that she'd accumulated.
"Really?" Slush said, feigning ignorance. "All of them?"
"Yep," Frond said adamantly. "Besides, how do you know you don't like them if you've never tried them?" 
Slush sighed in resignation. "I always hated that argument," she said.
Frond grinned. "I think you're going to fit in just fine."
      •       •       •       •       •       
Slush did fit in just fine, just as Frond had predicted. She fell into the Obsidian Winglet's routines just as easily as if she'd been doing it her whole life. And as she became more familiar with them, she also became bolder. She wasn't nearly as shy as she had been the first day. Dusk wondered if it had just been a matter of giving that personality a chance to surface. Even after just a week, it was like Slush had always been there.
Seagull left Jade Mountain for a month to go visit his family, and Dusk couldn't help but feel upset. Thankfully, it was only briefly that she had to live without Seagull or Raven. About a week into Seagull's trip, Raven came back. He questioned briefly where Seagull was, and Dusk told him. She couldn't say they were very good friends, but they were acquainted with each other. And anyway, once you knew Seagull, you couldn't exactly not like him. Raven asked that if he wasn't there when Seagull made it back, if Dusk could deliver his congratulations to him. For some reason Dusk couldn't understand, he looked slightly upset, as though thinking about something painful. She wondered if he had any siblings that he was being reminded of.
After two more weeks, Seagull returned, delighted. He told the rest of the Obsidian Winglet that just being able to go home briefly and see his parents was super nice. Dusk was happy for him, but something inside her started aching as he talked about his home. A small part of her began to wonder what it would feel like to have an actual home, but the logical part of her cut herself off. Her home was Jade Mountain. She had brothers and sisters in every dragon who'd become her friend. And while she might never have parents to look out for her, as long as she had her winglet, she saw no reason to need them.
Raven ended up leaving a week later, apologizing for the first time about how short the time seemed. Dusk couldn't help but silently agree, but she brushed it off. He then said that he hoped the month he was gone would pass as quickly as the month he was there. Dusk verbally agreed to that, saying that she'd be looking forward to his next visit, whenever he could make the time for it. Raven just smiled sadly and flew off into the distance. Every time, he flew north. Dusk knew that didn't mean much, as there wasn't much of anywhere to go south of Jade Mountain, but if he headed north when he left, he'd most likely come from the north when he came back.
The day after Raven left, Dusk woke up a little later than usual, which wasn't quite normal. Sure, she'd gone to bed a little later, as Raven had left that evening, but that had never affected her sleep before. She wondered if she'd had a dream or something that she just didn't remember.
Dusk rolled over onto her talons on her stone ledge, now covered with two rugs that Seagull had weaved for her, just because he wanted to, and yawned, stretching out her wings as much as she could in the limited space, arching her back as she did so.
As she looked around blearily, she noticed that Clearglow was awake and reading, but Slush was still asleep. So maybe she hadn't woken up that much later, but the lightglobes outside were already lit. Usually, Dusk woke up before they were lit, so that was a bit odd for her.
"Good morning," Clearglow said softly, sounding rather cheerful.
"Yeah, yeah," Dusk muttered, rolling over. She wondered what she'd end up doing that day. She always had this problem the day after Raven left, and though she tried not to, she was always a little bit sullen.
Dusk rolled her wings at the shoulder, just stretching out the muscles, then got up. She decided she'd at least go for a walk, if anything. But as she got up and stepped out of the sleeping cave, her gaze was drawn to one of the notice boards outside the cave. Scrawled in white chalk, there was a different message than the normal notices on it.
Attention, all students! In a week from now, we will be having a Family Day for Jade Mountain Academy! Send a message to your family, telling them they're free to come and tour the school. If you require more time to get a message to your family, talk to one of the Heads of School. Messengers will be dispatched to each province at the end of today. Have a great day!
Dusk felt a sinking feeling inside her. Family Day. Well, what did you do when you didn't have a family? She wished someone had thought of that.
Dusk gave a small snort of frustration, blowing smoke out of her snout. She'd learned that, while she didn't have fire, if she was frustrated, or if she concentrated enough, she could blow out smoke, but that was as close to fire as she could get.
The smoke from her snout hit the notice board and spread out, quickly dissipating. But the noise of her frustration was enough to provoke movement from within the sleeping cave. Slush adjusted in her sleep, and for a moment, Dusk thought that she might not have woken her up, but then she yawned and opened her eyes blearily. "Dusk," she said thickly, "what is it?"
"Oh, nothing," Dusk said sarcastically. "Nothing at all."
Clearglow looked up from her scroll with a scowl. "Dusk," she said warningly. 
"What do you expect me to do about this?" Dusk demanded. She flicked her wing at the board, tapping it with the claw at its tip, making it rattle against the wall.
From Clearglow's face, she knew what the notice board said, and her face was almost pitying. But then it disappeared. "Dusk, I know it must be hard, but you don't have to take it out on us," she said firmly.
Dusk had to keep herself from scoffing, biting her tongue. She looked sideways, mentally arguing with herself. Usually, on just a normal day, she could hide it from most everyone well enough, but Family Day? That was just over the top.
Slush was looking at Dusk in confusion, then something must've caught her eye and she looked down to Dusk's talons and stared, transfixed. Dusk was confused by that reaction, and she looked down at herself. Surprisingly, the scales at the bottoms of her talons, usually a deep black, had changed to a roiling red. Dusk had never known herself to have emotions strong enough to show on her scales, like a RainWing, and she didn't actually think she was that mad, but something about it had just really set her off, and she really didn't know why.
Dusk glared at her talons and forced her scales back to their normal color. "I'm going to go," she decided, then turned and stalked off down the hallway. She knew she should've been happy for every dragon who did have families that could come and see the school and their relatives, but a part of her just didn't want to be.
Without realizing it, Dusk had her ears pricked to listen behind her. That was when she heard Slush's tentative voice say Clearglow's name softly. 
Dusk paused, then curiosity overpowered her anger. She was able to put her emotions under control and shift to a camouflaged gray as she crept closer. Not daring to get closer, she paused and huddled outside the door to listen.
"Um, should I know what Dusk was so upset about?" Slush asked.
Clearglow was silent and Dusk held as still as possible. She wasn't sure why she was eavesdropping, but she wanted to know, even if she knew that it might infuriate her more.
"Family Day," Clearglow finally said. "Every dragonet's family is free to come to Jade Mountain and tour it, just to see the whole thing and see their dragonets again."
"And why would that make Dusk upset?" Slush asked.
Clearglow was quiet. "I'm guessing that, like most hybrids, she doesn't have anyone to call family," she finally said.
Well, it was good to know that Seagull hadn't betrayed her trust and told Clearglow what had happened to Dusk.
"Oh. Oh." Slush's two words expressed more emotion than most anything else. "That's awful. And here I thought I was bad off because my mother and father don't live together anymore," she muttered embarrassedly.
"No, it's alright," Clearglow said. "Usually, she's not like this, I promise. It's just, today, of all days, for this to come up, I don't think she wanted to deal with it."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Slush asked. After a moment, she added, "Does it have something to do with that NightWing she likes spending her time with? I feel like I heard them talk about him leaving soon."
"Possibly," Clearglow said, and Dusk felt embarrassed that it was so obvious. "Raven comes and goes every month. He's Dusk's best friend, or they're at least friends for the moment." Clearglow was leaving something unsaid, but Dusk couldn't quite guess what. And why did she think that she and Raven would be growing apart?
"Well, if I can go find her, I think I might tell her sorry," Slush said.
Dusk nearly snorted. She didn't want pity. She just wanted to be left alone. She wondered how she'd avoid Slush all day, especially with classes and everything, but she didn't have to.
"I don't think that's a good idea," Clearglow said. "Most dragons who don't have a family don't want pity; they've had enough of it. So, I think if you just leave her alone, she'll be fine."
Yeah, right, Dusk thought bitterly, but maybe Clearglow was right. Dusk just had to come to terms with Raven's absence once again. Usually, that was all it took, but usually, she didn't have a day coming up to rub her snout in the fact that she had no parents or anyone to call family.
Dusk stood up suddenly. She had no reason to hang around anymore. There was nothing else she wanted to hear. She just needed to be alone. To think. To come up with a way for her to endure Family Day.
Dusk walked off down the hallway, dropping her camouflage when she was far enough away, startling a small MudWing dragonet just starting to come out of their cave. She paused for a moment to mutter sorry, but then continued on her way. Just because she was upset, that didn't mean she had to be tactless. And besides, it was such a young MudWing. She didn't want to discourage them.
Dusk continued down the hall, hardly even realizing where she was going. She headed down, farther into the base of the mountain, following hardly used hallways. She turned left to take a passage that led deeper, this only lit by flickering torches on the walls. This was the point she usually got nervous and claustrophobic, but she knew her destination was just up ahead.
Following the maze of tunnels was difficult, but doable. Dusk had studied the map for hours, just to find this place. It actually wasn't even on the map. It was off the map; a natural cave with large enough natural tunnels leading to it. Small enough and dark enough tunnels to make Dusk nervous, but she knew what was coming.
Finally, the small, dark tunnel she was in opened up into a large, brightly lit cave. Its ceiling was four times her height, and there was enough space for at least half a dozen dragons. But the most dragons this cave ever saw was two.
Dusk turned to the far wall that wasn't actually a wall at all. It was a waterfall. A smooth, thin, sheet of water that fell over the cave opening. 
The cave and waterfall were nestled in a crook in the mountain. It wasn't visible except from one direction, and even then, it'd be hard to tell the cave was there, what with the water covering the entrance. As far as Dusk knew, she and one other dragon were the only ones who knew about it. The tunnels leading up to it weren't dragon-made. They were natural. And most dragons who had the time to explore that far into the mountain didn't have night-vision, so therefore wouldn't be able to see without the torches that hung on the walls.
Dusk stepped toward the waterfall and shoved her head into it, relishing the feel of the water splashing over her. Then she drew her head out, opening her eyes after shaking the excess water off. She looked out through the waterfall, the light from the now-risen sun shining through, refracting the light and throwing it around the cave. At the edge of the cave, where the water sometimes splashed, there was a thick layer of bright green moss. Dusk didn't mind it. She thought it was pretty.
This spot, this one little cave, was Dusk's favorite spot at Jade Mountain, or quite possibly of anywhere she'd ever been. This was where she'd almost mentioned to Slush when she'd been talking about her favorite places. But she'd thought better of it partially because she didn't want anyone else to know about it, but also because it was the dragon she met there that made it her favorite.
Dusk sighed, looking down at the ground and her talons. Raven, she thought, I wish you didn't have to leave. She didn't quite know why, and she knew it was necessary for him to go to his friend again, but she just wished that he could stay all the time. Despite all her time knowing him, she knew nothing of his past except the small fact that his mother had died. She'd never brought up the subject, of course – it was for him to decide if he wanted to tell her – but he'd never said anything himself, and no one else knew him to tell her for him.
Dusk decided to try to come to terms with everything she was feeling as she stared through the sheet of water. Anger, yep. That was quite obviously there. Then there was resentment, but resentment at what? Other dragons for having alive parents? No, she'd never seemed to have that problem before. Seagull talked about his parents sometimes, and it never bothered her. Maybe it was resentment at the Heads of School, for creating a day in which some dragonets would be excluded? Maybe that was it. Maybe it was the feeling of being excluded from something that irked Dusk. The entirety of Jade Mountain Academy was set up so you could do what you wanted, and you'd never feel left out because you'd never not be doing something you wanted to. So maybe it was the bluntness of the day that showed no respect to those that had lost their family that really annoyed Dusk.
Dusk took a deep breath and tried to quell the feeling. It simply wasn't right to feel that way. Why should she resent others for enjoying the chance to spend a day with their family? She just had to ignore it. She'd live, even if she hated every second of it.
Dusk let out the breath, then looked around, as though looking for some sign of Raven, but she came to the obvious conclusion immediately that there was nothing else in there. Raven had no belongings except his carved stamp of a raven. Then he had homework, of course, as well as a library stamp, but the only thing he truly called his own was his stamp, and a few other mismatched carvings he had made, which he kept in his cubbyhole in his sleeping cave.
Dusk barely stopped herself from pacing. Family Day was in a week. She had nothing to worry about that day. Well, nothing but watching other dragonets as they wrote letters, telling their family to come if they could, telling them that they missed them, and letting them know that they loved them. Maybe Dusk would just disappear when everyone was given time to write letters to their family. Maybe she'd just head back down to the cave and wait it out, so that way she wouldn't have to watch everyone as they wrote and sent their letters, delighted to see their families again.
Dusk took a deep breath, then started to turn away, to leave the cave and get ready for class, but she paused. She turned back and stepped forward, shoving her head into the rushing water one last time.
As she let the water cascade over her, she had a sudden revelation. A year back, she wouldn't have touched, even looked at, water, if she could avoid it. Now it was a stress-defuser, and one of her favorites.
Dusk pulled back out of the water, shook her head to knock most of the water off, then realized she didn't want to walk back through the dark, damp, cramped tunnels. It wasn't the dampness that bothered her. In fact, she actually enjoyed the dampness, and she always loved cloudy days, rain, and even fog. And she was also fine with the darkness, what with having night-vision and everything. It was cramped feeling, along with, actually, the silent coolness of the air. The fact that there was no one walking alongside her, or the fact that there was no promise she'd find someone at the end of the tunnel, awaiting her arrival.
So instead, Dusk turned to the waterfall and spread her wings halfway on either side of her, ready to fly. She took a few careful steps back, then ran forward, jumping when she ran out of stone, bursting through the waterfall, onto the other side.
Dusk didn't have time to brush the water out of her eyes. She veered to the right, folded her wings a bit closer to her sides and began to plummet into a dive. The wind was enough to blow the water out of her eyes, so then she could see clearly.
When she looked around, she saw exactly what she'd expected. Stone on her left, stone and the waterfall on her right, crashing down far below her, and, finally, clear sky ahead of her, to the north-west.
Dusk spread her wings slowly, catching the wind gently, slowly leveling out, gliding on air currents. To her right, the mountain still loomed, but to her left, it was clear skies and open desert plains, shining distantly in the early morning light. Then, up ahead of her, the connecting mountain range to Jade Mountain ran, part of the Claws of the Clouds mountains.
As of right then, Dusk was still in the shadow of the mountain, and it was slightly cold when she was wet, so she adjusted her flight path and started to fly up and forward to escape the shadow and let the sun dry her scales.
As the mountain started to fall out from her right side, Dusk started to veer to continue following it. She'd have to go back eventually, so she was saving herself some time on the way back.
Finally, she made it out of the shadow, and she was suddenly bathed in sunlight. Dusk spread her wings as far as they would go, then closed her eyes and basked in the warmth.
She glided as long as she felt comfortable, then opened her eyes, flapping her wings and veering back to the right to follow the mountain ridge. She knew that the gong would probably go off soon, so it'd be better to get there sooner rather than later. Well, granted she didn't know just how soon it would be going off, but she would prefer to get there earlier than anyone else.
Dusk went through her schedule in her head. If she was right, the first thing she had was swimming. It wasn't exactly a class. At the beginning of each day, the Heads of School always had something that required the students to be active, probably to wake everyone up. The Obsidian Winglet switched between swimming and flying, and for that day, they had swimming. Tsunami usually taught that one.
Dusk gave a soft sigh. Great. Another chance to snap and yell at someone before the day was over.
      •       •       •       •       •       
Dusk had gone down to the large underground lake where they'd have swimming and had waited, thankfully not that long, for the gong to resonate around the school, which Tsunami had only made it a few minutes before.
Then, after swimming, when they were all sufficiently awake, and Quicksand grumpy, as always, they trudged up to the history cave, drying quickly on their way back, though Quicksand dried the fastest, probably because of his warm SandWing scales. It was after history, and Dusk was actually doing well at that point, that it all went downhill.
"Alright, everyone," Webs said. "As you all should know, Family Day is coming up, and as I'm sure all of you do know, you now have two hours of free time before your next class, and therefore, it is recommended that you write the letters to your family now. If you do not finish them now, that's fine. You'll have an hour after your Small Group Discussion to finish them and get them to one of the Heads of School."
Dusk didn't flinch, but out of the corner of her eye, she saw Slush give a visible wince and then glance at her. Dusk wished she hadn't. As far as everyone else knew, she was fine. But now they knew something was probably up.
As Dusk tilted her head to survey the emotions of the dragons in the room, she realized something. Seagull looked delighted, Slush was obviously looking at her, Clearglow was looking at Quicksand, and Quicksand's face was ... blank. Just like Dusk's was. He didn't even have his usual displeasure on his face. That was ... different. Dusk wondered if he was just as upset with Family Day as she was. She was about to wonder why that might be when she remembered what Clearglow had said to her about Quicksand's backstory, then Seagull's mention recently about the same thing. It occurred to her for the first time that it might actually have something to do with his family.
Dusk regarded Quicksand, who was sitting ahead of her, but then he looked back and she quickly turned away, even though she knew it couldn't have been more obvious that she'd been looking at him.
"Alright now, go on," Webs said. "You're free to go."
Dusk immediately stood up and turned away, starting to head back to the Great Hall. She didn't know where she planned to go to hide from the swarms of dragonets going to write to their families. Her first thought was the art cave, as painting usually helped her calm down, but then as she thought about it, she realized that the art cave would literally be the worst place to go. Every dragonet who needed ink, or even just paper, would immediately head there to get it. 
As she thought, and just about decided to go to the library, which would at least have to be quiet, Seagull trotted up to her side.
"Hey," he said, almost tentatively.
"Hey," Dusk responded, trying to keep any bitterness out of her voice.
Seagull looked down at his talons. "Um, this must be a bit hard for you," he said softly. "All this." He gestured around them with his wings, and while there was nothing obvious pointing to Family Day, it was easy to know what he was referring to.
"You think?" Dusk snapped, not looking at him.
Seagull seemed kind of taken aback, but he pressed on. "I just wanted to say, I may not know how exactly you're feeling –"
Dusk whirled on him, cutting him off. "You know nothing of how I'm feeling!" she snarled. "Because you've always had your family with you, as you've never failed to mention!"
Seagull stopped and stared at her. His eyes started glimmering and Dusk turned away with a surge of guilt, continuing down the tunnel.
"You know, Dusk," Seagull said quietly, his voice quivering, a sure sign that he was close to tears, "I was going to say that everyone here is your family, but you obviously don't care!" His voice broke and then she heard the sound of talons running in the opposite direction, turning down one of the side tunnels.
Dusk hung her head as she continued to walk along the tunnel. She knew she shouldn't have taken it out on Seagull, and she hadn't wanted to, but he was sticking his snout too deeply into her personal matters. It was fine that he knew them, but it was the pity and attempt at understanding that had made her snap.
Dusk blinked back sudden tears. What Seagull had been going to say truly did mean a lot to her, and now she was worried that she had lost one of her best friends. If Seagull ever forgave her, she'd make sure to hold her tongue in the future.
Dusk hurried to the library, doing her best to ignore every dragonet she passed, chatting to one another about what exactly they planned to put in their letters, or where their family lived and how far away it was, and things like that. One or two of the dragonets she passed paused what they were saying to whisper something to their friend and they would give her slight pitying looks that she also did her best to ignore. But at one point, she passed a small group of SkyWings as she was walking through a larger cave, the group led by a crimson female SkyWing at the head who looked about Dusk's age and held her head pompously. When she saw Dusk, she started giggling.
"Look guys," she said, and Dusk could tell just from her voice that she was just as stuck-up as Vapor was, "we're lucky we're not her. If we were, we'd have to deal with knowing we didn't have family because they abandoned us, because we were an ugly hybrid. Poor poor dragonet. I don't know how she stands it."
That was the last straw. Getting pity from her friends was hard enough, but being mocked by a stranger was too much.
Dusk stepped forward, baring her teeth as she brought her face directly in front of the SkyWing. "Sssay that again to my face," she hissed, her tail lashing.
The SkyWing drew her head back, looking disgusted, as though standing too closer to Dusk would taint her.
A few of the SkyWing's friends started to step closer, but Dusk growled at them. "I have no fight with any of you," she said in a dangerously low voice. "Just her." She looked back to the SkyWing. "Or perhaps not, if you take back what you said."
"Why should I?" the SkyWing said boldly, lifting her chin. "It was all true."
Dusk stared at the SkyWing with a rather blank face. "Are you sure you want to do this?" she asked.
The SkyWing tossed her head. "Are we at a point where speaking the truth can get you into a fight?"
Dusk stepped back, falling into a ready stance, spreading her wings on either side of her. "You know NOTHING of the truth," she snarled.
"Oh really?" the SkyWing said. Dusk had to give her points for courage. "Did your parents not abandon you? Because I find that highly unlikely, if they still wished to be decent members of their tribe."
"You know NOTHING!" Dusk yelled, launching herself across the cave. She wasn't even thinking reasonably anymore. It was tactical now. And as time seemed to slow down as Dusk lunged across the cave, Dusk picked out her target. The SkyWing had her tail draped across her front talons, and as everyone knew, a dragon's weak was on their tail, no matter the tribe. Dusk didn't know how she knew it, but that wasn't important.
Dusk bit down onto the SkyWing's tail once she was close enough, digging her teeth in as she skid along the ground, dragging the SkyWing with her, who yelled in pain.
Dusk dropped the SkyWing's tail, spiting out a brilliant crimson scale, where it clattered to the stone floor.
By that point, they had quite an audience, but Dusk didn't notice or care. Her sky-blue eyes were fixed on the SkyWing and she didn't care about anything else.
"Well?" Dusk demanded. "Do you take it back now?"
The SkyWing took a step back, fear now flickering into her yellow eyes that were uncomfortably similar to Seagull's. "You're insane," she snarled quietly, her voice hitching with pain.
"You only need to apologize," Dusk snapped. 
"Never," the SkyWing said, falling into a ready stance. "Come at me."
Dusk rolled her wings, and for a brief moment, she remembered what had happened the last time she'd gotten into a fight: she'd ended up in the infirmary for about a week, with wounds pertaining for the next month.
Well, Dusk thought stubbornly, I won't be the dragon sent to the infirmary this time.
Dusk feinted forward, and when the SkyWing leaped back, Dusk spun, tripping the SkyWing with her tail just as her talons landed back on the ground.
Dusk jumped forward, stepping onto one of the SkyWing's wings and placing a talon onto the SkyWing's chest, where she was lying on the ground.
"APOLOGIZE," she snarled.
"I already said no!" the SkyWing exclaimed. She took her free wing and threw it into Dusk's face, making her step back in surprise. As she closed her eyes on the instinct to protect them, she felt a singular claw scratch her cheek. And as she still felt the wing between her and the SkyWing, she realized it must've been the claw at the wingtip.
Dusk stepped back, daring to open her eyes in a squint. In front of her, it was a flare of red scales and orange wing-webbing. But as she stepped back, something swept under her talons, making her fall forward onto her jaw with enough force to make tears of pain prick her eyes.
Before Dusk could get back to her talons, there was weight on her back. And it wasn't just a talon, like Dusk had with her. The SkyWing had gotten onto her entirely.
"Now YOU'RE the one who should apologize, HYBRID," the SkyWing hissed into Dusk's ear.
"For what?" Dusk snarled, twisting her neck uncomfortably to look up at the SkyWing's face, which was still quite close to hers. "And it's tribrid." She squeezed her eyes shut, then flared her Aquatic scales at full brightness, which she could see even through her closed eyelids. It wouldn't have worked if the SkyWing hadn't been so close, but she had been, so it worked quite well.
The SkyWing gave an agonized roar, and the weight on Dusk's back faltered. She must've accidentally stepped off with one of her talons, but Dusk didn't really care. It was just enough to allow her to roll, knocking the rest of the SkyWing off of her, then she stood up. If she'd been aware of her surroundings, she would've realized that the dragonets watching around her had formed a circle and were chanting "Fight!" as they watched with delight.
Dusk was breathing heavily as she stepped over to the SkyWing and placed a talon onto her neck to keep her down. "Stay down," she panted. "For your own sake."
The SkyWing looked up out of the corner of her eye to see Dusk, looking disgusted. "Would you even do it, hybrid?" she spat. "I want to say you don't have the guts, but I think you hybrids are unstable and would do anything to dragons who get in your way."
"No," Dusk snapped. "That's you. I'll step around the dragons who get in my way, so long as they apologize for what they said about my family."
Even with a talon on her neck, the SkyWing had the boldness to roll her eyes. "Fine," she said with a resigned sigh. "I'm sorry for what I assumed about your family."
Dusk let out a breath and got off the SkyWing's neck. "Alright. I accept your apology. That wasn't so hard, was it?"
As the adrenaline ebbed, Dusk noticed the chants of "Fight!" just as they petered off. She glanced around, refusing to feel ashamed. It was the SkyWing's fault.
As Dusk started to walk away, she heard the sudden sound of claws on stone behind her. The sound of claws attempting to go fast.
Dusk turned just in time to see the SkyWing lunge forward and tackle her to the ground, where they rolled, wings tangling. 
"WHAT was that for?" Dusk snarled as the SkyWing rolled her so she was on the bottom and the SkyWing on top, grinning maliciously down at her. "I was prepared to leave it at that!"
"Well, I wasn't!" the SkyWing snarled. "There's no way your parents didn't just leave you for dead meat the moment you hatched!"
"Take it back!" Dusk snarled, flipping the SkyWing onto the ground in a sudden surge of strength.
The SkyWing gave a low laugh. "Never!" she whispered.
Dusk snarled something incoherent and adjusted her grip to place it on the soft underscales of the SkyWing's neck. She was about to start putting her weight on her windpipe when the was a sharp yell of "DUSK!"
Dusk whipped her head around to look toward the voice. There, standing in the doorway to one of the tunnels, standing several heads higher than anyone else in the cave, was Tsunami, blue tail lashing and nostrils flaring.
Tsunami stepped forward and the dragonets in front of her parted immediately.
"Dusk," Tsunami snarled quietly, taking menacing steps forward, "get off. The SkyWing."
Dusk looked down at the SkyWing with one final glare, then got up off her. The SkyWing gave a gagging cough, then got up shakily to her talons, dashing back to her group of friends.
"Oh no you don't," Tsunami growled. "Sparrow, come back here this instant. Neither of you get to go anywhere until I get the whole story."
"But Head of School," the SkyWing, Sparrow, whined, "isn't it obvious? That – thing," she gave Dusk a disgusted look, to which she bared her fangs, "attacked me for no reason."
"Lies!" Dusk snarled, attempting to lunge forward, but Tsunami held out a cobalt wing and stopped her, giving her a sharp look. Dusk took a deep breath, then, with difficultly, she took her eyes off of Sparrow and looked Tsunami in the eyes. "She started it," she snapped. 
"Did not!" Sparrow interjected, looking quite believably astonished, though Dusk knew she was faking every second of it. "Look, Head of School, I promise, I never did anything."
A growl Dusk couldn't hold back built in the back of her throat and she was tempted to lunge again, but Tsunami had never put her wing back down. 
Tsunami stared at Sparrow down the end of her snout, regarding her coldly. "You know, Sparrow, I never did trust you."
This time when Sparrow looked taken aback, Dusk knew it was real and she couldn't help but giving a slight grin. It felt good to know that Sparrow was getting chastened by someone she couldn't talk back to.
Tsunami whipped her head around to glare at the remaining dragonets watching the proceedings. "There's nothing left to see here," she snapped, "so get going."
The remaining dragonets, including Sparrow's group of SkyWing "friends", scurried off, casting nervous glances back as they left.
"Now, you two," Tsunami growled, turning to them. "You two are going to come with me to Sunny's office and explain to both of us what exactly happened here."
"I've told you!" Sparrow whined. "Why should I have to go with her?" She cast a glare at Dusk.
"Dusk won't do anything to you," Tsunami told her firmly. "Not while I'm here." She gave a small glare to Dusk, and Dusk snorted out some smoke and tossed her head, turning away from Sparrow.
"Alright you two," Tsunami said, giving them each a firm look, "behave on the way there."
"I won't do anything unless Sparrow starts it," Dusk snapped.
Sparrow feigned looking wounded. "How dare you? I would never," she said solemnly.
Dusk nearly snapped again. Something about dragons lying, and when she knew they were lying, really set her off.
Tsunami must've seen it on her face because she put her wing back in between the two of them. "Dusk," she said warningly.
Dusk bit her tongue, turning away from Sparrow. "I'm alright," she said, letting out an annoyed breath. "Let's just get on with this."
Tsunami nodded, then withdrew her wing. "Follow me," she said, then turned away and started heading down a hallway, a different one than the one Dusk had come from. 
As they started to walk, Dusk began to recognize the hallway. Somehow, she remembered it from her very first day at Jade Mountain, when Cometcaller had led her to Sunny's office.
Memory was a wonderful thing. Somehow, Dusk couldn't believe that she'd ever willingly erase everything. But then again, that was just how the dragon she was now thought about it. She could've been entirely different back before she'd lost her memory, no matter how she'd lost it.
As Dusk and Sparrow trailed along behind Tsunami, Sparrow glanced over at Dusk, grinning maliciously. She sidled up close to Dusk's side, earning her a dubious look. After all that time trying to stay away from her, why was she now walking so close?
"No way they'll trust what you say as opposed to me," she hissed in Dusk's ear.
Dusk whipped her head around and growled at her before walking faster to catch up to Tsunami and walk at her side. That way, anything Sparrow might try to say would be obvious to Tsunami and therefore Sparrow couldn't get away with it.
All the same, Dusk's ear flicked in irritation, something she couldn't remember the last time it had happened. Sparrow was asking for it, but Dusk wasn't the one to punish her, as much as she wanted to be.
Tsunami looked down briefly, regarding Dusk before turning away and continuing as though nothing had happened. She obviously knew that something had, she just probably hadn't heard what Sparrow had said. After all, if she had, she would've snapped at Sparrow, but she had just continued silently along.
After a rather short walk that seemed to take hours, they finally reached Sunny's office.
Tsunami looked back to them. "You two stay here while I get Sunny." She gave them both a firm look. "Don't talk to, or even look, at each other unless you plan to apologize."
Dusk sat down and nodded, staring only at Tsunami, pretending Sparrow didn't exist. She didn't know what Sparrow's response to Tsunami was, as she didn't look over. All she knew was that Sparrow said nothing.
Tsunami lingered for a moment, then turned and swept into Sunny's office, her deep blue tail the last thing to disappear through the door.
Almost the moment Tsunami was gone, Dusk heard talons on stone behind her, then a light breath against her ear. "You're done for, hybrid," she hissed softly. "After they hear my story, you'll be kicked out of Jade Mountain for sure."
Just the thought of having to leave Jade Mountain made Dusk's heart beat faster, but she pretended to have not heard Sparrow, though her ear flicking was a telltale sign of her annoyance.
Tsunami had already stated that she didn't trust Sparrow, or didn't like, whatever it was, so she at least would hear Dusk out, and Dusk doubted it was even possible to get thrown out of Jade Mountain.
Dusk heard Sunny's cheerful voice say, "Oh, Tsunami!" before she trailed off, and in that silence, Dusk was able to hear Tsunami speaking in a low voice, possibly even whispering, which would explain why Dusk couldn't understand what she said.
After a few more moments of whispered conversation inside the cave, in which Sparrow seemed to have backed off after gaining no response from Dusk, there was the sound of talons on stone. Tsunami reappeared, standing off to the side of the doorway, surveying them both. Then Sunny appeared, looking unusually grave, which nearly made Dusk wince with guilt. She knew it hadn't been right to fight Sparrow, but she'd seriously been asking for it. Dusk couldn't have let a comment like that go unpaid for.
"Well, you two, come in," Sunny said, sounding let down, as though she couldn't believe that two of her students had started fighting.
Sparrow stalked inside the cave, head held high, but as Dusk trudged in behind her, she couldn't stop her wings from drooping in shame.
Sunny sat down in front of the two of them, and Dusk sat down across and off to one side, as did Sparrow.
"Well?" Sunny said expectantly, looking between the two of them. "Would either of you like to explain why you started fighting?"
"Of course!" Sparrow burst out, with a believable-enough quiver to her voice that made it sound as though she was a terrified victim. "I was just walking along with my friends, and we happened to be talking about writing our letters to home when we passed her," she shot a dirty look at Dusk, "and she tried to attack me and my friends."
The growl that was starting to build in the back of her throat wouldn't go away, and as much as Dusk wanted to lash out and tear Sparrow and her lying tongue to pieces, she knew that would not help her situation at all. Instead, she kept her gaze fixed on the wall above Sunny's wing. It helped to not see Sparrow as she completely LIED about EVERYTHING.
"I was able to stop her from attacking my friends," Sparrow said in a trembling voice, "but then she attacked me. She was going to choke me when Tsunami got there and made her back off."
"Lies!" Dusk barked sharply, though she refused to even look over. Somehow, it seemed so much easier when she didn't see the looks.
"Dusk," Tsunami said warningly, "let Sparrow finish."
"Yeah, if she doesn't lie about the rest," Dusk snarled.
"Dusk, you'll have your turn to tell the story after Sparrow is finished," Sunny said gently.
"Is that even necessary?" Sparrow whined. "I've told you what happened!"
"Well, it's necessary to get all sides of the story," Sunny said patiently. "Now, do you have anything else to say regarding the story, or can we move onto Dusk's versions of events?"
Dusk almost wished she could see the look on Sparrow's face at being completely brushed past.
"No?" Sunny questioned, and out of the corner of Dusk's eyes, she could see that Sunny looked ever so slightly amused. "Very well then, Dusk. Would you like to relay the story?"
Dusk finally took her gaze off of the stone wall to look Sunny in her moss-green eyes. She gave a sharp nod, then took a deep breath in through her snout, trying to place exactly what had happened after the sudden surge of adrenaline had blurred it all together.
As Dusk collected her thoughts, she realized she'd have to voice that she was mad with Family Day.
"Well," she began awkwardly, "when I discovered that Jade Mountain was having a Family Day, I – well, I –" she shifted uncomfortably, "I got upset," she finally blurted. "I felt it was unfair to anyone who didn't have a family, but I think that may only be me," she muttered, looking down at her talons. She didn't want to see Sunny's face. "So, I don't know, everyone mentioning it strung me out, and then when Sparrow came along and mocked me, I – I lashed out." She blinked sudden ashamed tears back. "I know it wasn't right," she said quickly, "but I couldn't let her get away with what she said! You have to understand that."
Dusk didn't have to look up to see the pitying look she knew Sunny was giving her. "Dusk," Sunny said gently, "could you tell us what exactly Sparrow said that made you lash out?"
"I didn't say anything!" Sparrow protested. Sunny shushed her by raising one golden talon.
"I'm not saying you did, but Dusk let you tell your version of the story, so now you should, too," Sunny said firmly.
Dusk took a deep breath, though it shook. "She said ... she said that – she told her friends that – that they should be glad that they weren't me. Because she didn't know how she'd be able to stand with knowing that her parents had – had abandoned her the moment she hatched, for being a hybrid."
The small, sharp intake of air from Sunny's direction at least proved that, even if Dusk had made it up, as Sparrow continually suggested, that she knew what that would've meant to Dusk.
"And then," Dusk said, just to finish up, taking a deep breath, "I snapped. And that's all there is to it."
"Did you give her the chance to apologize?" Sunny asked after a moment.
"No!" Sparrow yelled just as Dusk indignantly said, "Yes!"
Dusk finally whipped her head around to glare at Sparrow, who stuck out her tongue at her as she glared back. 
Dusk took a deep calming breath. "Please, just, listen to me, I gave her every chance to apologize, and she never did! That was her own stuck-up choice!"
"If she had given me a chance to apologize – for something I never said, mind you! – I would've!" Sparrow said.
"Yeah," Dusk snarled, baring her teeth at Sparrow, "and there are about a dozen other dragonets who can testify the exact opposite!"
Sparrow glared at her, and Dusk held it. Neither of them looked away until Sunny cleared her throat to get their attention.
"Well, you two, I'll need to bring in other witnesses in order to decide who is telling the truth. But for the moment, you may return to your caves and do as you please, though you will both have detention for fighting." Sunny looked at Sparrow first. "Sparrow, if this ever happens again, call for help." She shifted her gaze. "And Dusk, I'm sorry, but I think you'll just have to learn to ignore comments like that. You should never hear anything like what you said in this school, but it still may happen, and I'm sorry that it has to be that way."
Dusk lifted her chin. "I can ignore it if it's about me, but if someone ever brings my family into it, I don't think I can let that slide," she said boldly.
Sunny gave her a firm look, but when Dusk didn't back down, she relented. "Dusk," she said with a sigh, "if someone says something about your family, report it. Any one of the Heads of School will be able to deal with the problem better than you will be able to. Okay?"
Dusk hesitated, then gave a nod. "Alright," she finally said. "Next time, I won't take it upon myself to deal with the problem."
Sunny gave a gentle smile. "Alright, very good. Tsunami, would you escort Sparrow to wherever she needs to be? I will escort Dusk. Just as a precaution," she added to Dusk's bewildered look.
Dusk looked down at her talons, upset that she was now being treated as an unstable dragon who might lash out if someone said the wrong thing.
"Alright, Dusk," Sunny said, "follow me."
Dusk followed Sunny miserably out of the cave, trudging along after her golden tail.
"Dusk?" Sunny said softly after they turned down a hallway, slowing to walk at Dusk's side. "Are you alright?" 
Dusk let out a deep breath, then looked up and met Sunny's eyes. "Physically, or mentally?" she asked after a moment.
"Either, really," Sunny said with a small shrug. She looked concerned.
"Physically," Dusk said with a sigh, "I'm fine. I've never been better, actually. But ... mentally?" She trailed off, not giving an answer. No answer would do the emotions running through her head justice. 
They walked a few more paces in silence, then Sunny spoke. "Dusk," she said, "I am so so sorry about all of this. I didn't even stop to think how it might be to a dragonet without a family."
"No, it's alright," Dusk said immediately. She sighed. "I shouldn't even feel this way," she admitted. "But somehow, I just ... do."
Sunny took a step closer and put a wing over Dusk's back as they walked. The warmth was comforting, and Dusk closed her eyes for a brief moment, trying to grasp a memory that seemed to surface just on the edges of her mind, but it was as though it kept slipping out of her talons. The only thing Dusk could perceive from it was ... happiness. A feeling that she belonged.
Dusk opened her eyes as they continued walking. That emotion could not have been more at odds with how she was feeling then.
"So," Sunny finally asked softly, breaking the silence, "where do you want to go? The library? That's bound to be quiet."
"I think ..." Dusk hesitated, thinking, "... I think I just want to go back to my sleeping cave. I'll be alone there, and I think I need that at the moment, considering what's happened."
Sunny gave a soft smile. "Alright. To your sleeping cave. Would you care to lead the way? As much as it may surprise you, I don't know where everyone's sleeping cave is."
Dusk couldn't help but give a small smile in return. "I don't mind," she said. "And I didn't expect you to have every cave memorized. I don't think anyone could do that."
Sunny gave a soft smile as Dusk started leading them in the direction to the sleeping caves, removing her wing and the pleasant warmth from Dusk's scales, making her seem colder than before. "Actually, I think Starflight has the whole mountain memorized. Every time there are new additions, he asks to be led through them."
Dusk blinked. "Well, I suppose it would be an important thing to have to learn if you were blind. I mean, it only makes sense. In case of an emergency, you'd have to know your way around."
Sunny nodded. "I think that's how Starflight thinks of it. Thankfully, Fatespeaker is always with him if he ever needs help."
Dusk thought back to her first meeting with Fatespeaker. "Fatespeaker is Starflight's mate, right? Or did I totally misjudge their relationship?" Dusk turned down a hallway, Sunny at her side.
Sunny gave a soft laugh. "You're right, they're mates," she said. "They have been for a long time. Probably about thirty-five years."
"Well, that's nice," Dusk said, smiling slightly. 
Sunny nodded, and it seemed that it might've been tinged with a slight sadness.
Soon, after several more sparse conversations, they made it to Dusk's sleeping cave.
"Well, this is where I stop," Dusk said awkwardly, stepping into the doorway. Thankfully, no one was inside. If someone had been there to see that Dusk was being chaperoned by one of the Heads of School.
Sunny nodded. "Just be careful who you talk to next time," she warned gently. "Alright?"
Dusk nodded. "Right," she agreed, hoping she would be able to avoid it. But trouble always seemed to find her. She never went looking for it herself.
Sunny gave a smile and started to turn away, then paused and looked back. "Oh," she said, leaning close and lowering her voice, "if it makes you feel any better, I believe you as opposed to Sparrow." 
Dusk gave a small smile. "Thank you," she said. "It does actually make me feel better."
Sunny smiled, then nodded courteously before walking off down the hallway, her barbless tail slithering along behind her. For a moment, Dusk had forgotten that Sunny, too, was a hybrid.
Dusk stepped farther inside her cave with a small sigh, sitting down on top of the two blankets Seagull had weaved for her.
Considering everything that had happened, that had actually gone a whole lot better than she'd have expected. Dusk winced as she thought back to the fight. It scared her, how close she'd been to actually hurting Sparrow. Dusk wondered when she would've stopped, if she even would have, if Tsunami hadn't interrupted. Would she have ... killed Sparrow? Maybe she wasn't as good of a dragon as Seagull had once convinced her. Maybe she DID have magic and had used it far too much before she'd lost her memories. Maybe she really was a bad dragon.
Dusk reached over behind her and grabbed the moonglobe sitting at the head of her ledge. She twisted it back and forth as she thought, watching vaguely as it got dimmer, then brighter, then dimmer again. 
Thinking about it, Dusk started to get upset again. What really had happened in her life? In the life she couldn't remember except for that one SandWing?
Dusk suddenly remembered something. On one of her very first days at Jade Mountain – quite possibly her actual first, she couldn't quite remember – she'd painted without really thinking. And the picture she'd come out with was. . .
Dusk pushed aside Coast's painting that he'd done for her third birthday, then flipped through the several canvases stacked inside her cubbyhole.
There, at the very bottom, was her first painting. The one of a SandWing on the shore, staring up at the moons.
As Dusk stared, she wondered if somehow, unknowing, she'd painted the one dragon that she knew was a part of her life. It made her wonder once again what had happened to her and what had lead up to the moment Dusk had woken up on the shore with nothing in sight and with no memories telling her what had happened.
Suddenly, Dusk had a terrifying thought: what if ... what if she wasn't with that SandWing anymore because of something she did?
Dusk couldn't bear the thought, so she tried to steer her thoughts in a different direction, even picked up a scroll she'd checked out from the library to attempt to read, but her heart was beating against her chest and she couldn't focus on anything.
Suddenly, there was the scrape of talons on stone outside and it was just enough of a distraction, so Dusk looked up.
Quicksand had paused outside the doorway, looking inside. "Well," he said, "I wouldn't have thought to find anyone here."
Dusk shrugged, casually leaning over and slipping the portrait of the SandWing back into her cubbyhole. She didn't care for what Quicksand had to say, as she was already testy, and she'd already yelled at one of her best friends today, so it was a lot more likely that she might yell at someone who didn't like her.
"Have you already written your letter that you're back here?" Quicksand continued with bitterness in his voice.
Dusk didn't offer an answer. She just got off her stone ledge, turning her back to Quicksand. She felt if he said one more thing, she might snap again and yell at him.
"Why don't you answer me?" Quicksand sneered. "Why don't you just go and write to your family, like every other spoiled dragonet in this school?"
Dusk felt something snap inside her once again and she whirled around, this time with eyes glistening. "I don't have a family!" she cried. "I don't have anything!"
Tears dripped down her snout and her breath shook, but she refused to take her eyes off of Quicksand. For a few moments, everything was still. Dusk's tail, instead of lashing in anger, was still, and she stood with her talons spread apart, as though ready for a fight, and though her frill and the spines on her back were flared, she didn't move except for her chest rising and falling in a mismatched rhythm as her breath hitched.
Quicksand looked startled, which was more emotion than she'd ever seen on his face and it steadily fell into confusion. "You don't ..." he said slowly, as though realization was dawning on him, "... have a family?"
Dusk couldn't find the strength in herself to be angry – she'd felt the consuming rage too many times that day – so instead she just looked at the ground and her talons, letting her frill and spines drop, giving a small shake of her head, feeling her tears as they ran down her face and dripped off the end of her snout.
Quicksand let out a small breath, but without looking up, Dusk couldn't tell whether it was exasperation or something else. "And to think I thought ..." he muttered under his breath before trailing off.
Dusk sat down miserably and reached up to swipe her tears away. She was mad at herself that she'd broken in front of Quicksand, but it wasn't as though it was on purpose.
There was the sharp scratch of talons on stone, and Quicksand stepped inside the cave. As he stepped closer, Dusk nearly flinched back. But then he crouched down low in front of Dusk and she was startled away from her tears to see the look on his face.
He actually looked kind. He gave a sad smile at Dusk that crinkled the edges of his deep-black-brown eyes. "So this week must be just as hard for you," he said softly.
Dusk sniffled and sat back, looking at him directly, tilting her head to the side in confusion. "What?" she asked in a shaky voice. 
Quicksand sat down with a small sigh, fixing his gaze on a point on the stone wall over Dusk's shoulder. "Well," he finally said, "I suppose I can't keep it from you forever, much as I might try."
"Keep what?" Dusk asked, forgetting about almost everything that had happened that day, just for a brief moment.
"Well," Quicksand said, actually sounding uncomfortable for once, "I was keeping my past from you, but I think it might be time to tell you."
A few years ago, Dusk's face might've lit up with the prospect of knowing what exactly had happened in Quicksand's past, but now, she only felt nervous.
Dusk looked down at her talons. "If you don't want to tell me," she said quietly, "then you don't have to."
Quicksand took a deep breath. "No, I think you deserve to know. Most everyone else in my – our – winglet already knows."
Dusk was touched to realize that Quicksand had reworded his sentence, just to say that she was actually a part of the winglet. It made her feel a bit better, considering everything.
Quicksand took a small breath, as though steeling himself, then started talking. 
"I was ... the youngest dragonet of three," Quicksand began, almost hesitantly. "My father had mated with a SandWing a few years before I hatched and had two plain SandWing dragonets. So, I had two older SandWing brothers. After leaving my SandWing mother, he mated with a MudWing and she had only one egg. Me."
Quicksand chanced a small glance at Dusk, and she gave a slight nod to let him know that she was listening and he could go on.
"But almost immediately after having my egg, my mother left my father and went back to the Mud Kingdom. I'm not sure why, but I've never tried to figure out." He almost looked like he regretted it for a moment, but then he continued and his face turned bitter. "Soon after my hatching, my father got sick and died within a week. So, I was raised by brothers who hated me."
"That's terrible," Dusk whispered, looking down. 
Quicksand gave a shrug. "It was," he admitted softly. "That's why I ran away two months later."
Dusk's jaw dropped and she gaped at him. "Two months?" she said disbelievingly. "You were two months old when you ran away?"
Quicksand hesitated before nodding. "Yes," he said, "and I immediately came here." He dropped his head, almost as though reliving something bad. "My first two years here were kind of miserable. There were no other hybrids except Cometcaller, and he wasn't part of the winglet. I was grouped to a winglet, and they never really accepted me. It was horrible, but I reminded myself that it was better than being with my brothers."
Quicksand's face softened for a moment as he appeared to get lost in thought. "Then, after two years, Clearglow came, and we were grouped in a winglet together. And that was the origin of the Obsidian Winglet." He glanced down at Dusk. "But you know what happens from there. It was normal classes, then you came and you've been present for the rest."
"Wow," Dusk said softly. She looked down and traced a small crack in the floor. "And here I thought you were cold and distant from me just because you wanted to."
Quicksand gave a small laugh, already more genial than he had been in years. "Well, I suppose that wouldn't be wrong."
Dusk hesitated, following the same groove in the stone with one talon. "Since you explained your past," she said hesitantly, "I feel like I should tell you mine. But. . ." She sighed. "It's hard to explain, and I'm still working on how to."
"Then don't," Quicksand offered helpfully. "You have no reason to. If you ever want to, I'll be here, but it was just about time I stepped past my bitterness. So now for the important question." Quicksand actually looked nervous. "Dusk, will you forgive me for everything I ever said to you and possibly think about becoming my friend?"
Dusk stared up at him and every time that he'd been coldly indifferent, or rude, or mean to her flashed into her head. But he hadn't known what had happened to her, and she hadn't known what had happened to him. She probably had something that she needed to be forgiven for, so if Quicksand was willing to look past it, then so was she.
Dusk beamed up at him. "Absolutely," she said.
Quicksand let out a nervous breath, then gave Dusk a small smile. "I'm glad," he said. 
After a year of indifference from Quicksand, this new attitude was astonishing to Dusk. Astonishing, but wonderful. After all that time, the fact that she'd finally become his friend was wonderful.
Waiting out Family Day might be painful, but she would be fine now that she knew she had Quicksand as a friend.
== Chapter 25 ==
Much contrary to Dusk's original assessment, Family Day wasn't nearly as bad as she had expected it to be. Actually, if it was anything, it was pleasant. Dusk spent the day with several dragons. At first, she had been with Quicksand, and they wandered around the edges of the mountain, going for a flight in the morning to escape most of the crowds. Then, after several hours spent with Quicksand, a bit of had which included Clearglow, who it turned out hadn't invited her family, as they'd been to the mountain before and they lived rather far away. Then, as afternoon had neared, she went to the art cave, where she found Seagull. She had already apologized to him for snapping at him, and while he'd accepted her apology immediately, she still felt bad for what she'd said, and had said another quick sorry to him when she got there, which he had brushed away, saying that he'd forgiven her awhile ago. So, Dusk had set up her canvas, facing away from the cave entrance and prying eyes, trying to decide how to best paint what she wanted to while Seagull sat quietly, weaving who knew what. He'd recently started making pillow covers, which he stuffed with an abundance of cattail fluff. He hadn't given one to her yet. His very first pillow actually went to Polyp, and Dusk had decided not to be offended by that. He'd actually done it in the colors of Polyp's scales, which was actually rather beautiful. Pastel blue, pink, and purple threads all woven together in spirals. Dusk thought it was gorgeous, and Polyp seemed to think so, too. 
As curious as Dusk had been to what Seagull was making, she decided to leave him be to do what he wanted and had instead turned to her painting. She had barely finished the background when Coast had bounded into the cave, insisting that Dusk come and meet his parents. Dusk had obliged, of course. She couldn't exactly say no to one of her best friends, especially not with how excited he was.
Coast's scales seemed much like his mother's, who was only a shade of blue darker than ice, but Coast didn't seem to have gotten anything from his father except a slight teal sheen to his scales whenever he stood in the sun. Coast's father was a deep seaweed green and had an incredibly light-green underbelly. Coast introduced his mother as Oyster, and his father as Algae. When Dusk had smiled up at Algae, his face had flickered with pain and confusion. Dusk's smile had faltered, but as Coast frowned nervously up at his father, Algae quickly brought the smile back. "I'm sorry, my dear," he had said kindly to Dusk, "but you reminded me of a friend of mine for a moment." The pain had appeared again in Algae's eyes and he'd stared into the distance for a moment before seeming to shake himself out of his reverie. The pain hadn't reappeared during the rest of their visit, and eventually, Dusk had excused herself to go back to the art cave, where Seagull still was, now chatting eagerly with two SeaWings who appeared to be Polyp's parents. Seagull's parents hadn't come to Jade Mountain this time around, as he'd just seen both of them, and his mother was still with-egg and they didn't want her flying all the way to Jade Mountain and back. Dusk decided not to interrupt them and just went back to her painting, continuing in peace. Conveniently, the background she had painted had dried while she was gone, which she needed it to be in order to paint the dragons on top of it.
She'd planned it out in the few free moments she'd had while wandering the mountain with Quicksand and had been eager to paint it. Right now, the background was simply a below view staring straight up at a twilight sky, with one crescent moon hanging in the top right corner of the canvas.
Surprisingly, Dusk had only needed a few colors. Several gray, ranging from a nearly black one to one that was barely darker than white, an incredibly light blue, then a deep blue the color of the daylight sky. 
Before entirely painting the two dragons on the canvas, Dusk had kind of sketched it out, with a thin line of pure black. But it turned out it wasn't needed. The first sketch of the two flying dragons went just as she wanted it to. Then, it had just been a simple matter of filling it all in with the corresponding colors. When she had finished, she hadn't quite been satisfied, but she took it and moved it over to the rack to dry. As she did, she had quickly scanned the paintings on the rack. Even after just a year, she had started seeing lots of repeats. They were always done by different dragonets, but there were only so many things to paint. Dusk had already seen at least half a dozen of the desert, and several more of the rainforest. She'd also seen several others of an underwater view, though those were less common. One of the few that came to mind was one of Coast's, depicting the vague but magnificent form of the Deep Palace. She could still remember the day he had painted it.
Soon, almost too soon for how nervous she'd been for it, Family Day was over. Most of the families had lingered till sunset, saying long, drawn-out goodbyes to their dragonets, multiple in the case of several MudWing families. As she had watched Coast's parents envelop him in loving wings, she didn't feel mad. She had just given a sad smile. It must've been so nice to have a family, and she simply wished she could've known, or at least remembered, her own. Then, every dragonet went to bed, though most everyone talked long into the night. It had been rather silent in Dusk's sleeping cave, but she could hear the whispers as they wound their way through the darkened halls of Jade Mountain until most of them faded out.
Then, everyone went back to normal. Classes continued, and even everyone talking about it died out only several days after the fact. 
About a week and a half after Family Day, Dusk woke up early, like normal, and stretched. The lights outside her sleeping cave hadn't been lit yet, and none of her clawmates were awake yet, so Dusk grabbed her moonglobe that she had dimmed the night before and twisted it up the slightest bit, giving her just enough light to read without using her night-vision, so as to not strain her eyes. Grabbing the scroll that she'd checked out from the library from her scroll rack, she unrolled it to the last line she remembered reading the night before. Even though the light probably wasn't enough to wake up either of her clawmates, Dusk held out her wing, blocking the light emanating from the moonglobe so she didn't disturb them while she read.
After reading her scroll for several minutes, she heard someone walking down the hallway. Actually, walking and pausing for several moments at a time. Dusk had heard it often enough to know what was happening. So she turned back to her scroll, as it was a rather new release from Queen Coral and had taken her so long to get her talons on, so she was eager to keep reading it.
A few moments later, Dusk heard the brief crackle of fire outside her cave and lights flared up. Dusk turned away from her scroll to see Fatespeaker drop back to her front talons after lighting the light globes just outside Dusk's sleeping cave. Fatespeaker had several message boards slung over one shoulder, and she hung one up on the wall outside Dusk's cave, giving Dusk a smile and a wink before continuing down the hallway.
Dusk knew it wasn't like that all over the mountain, but Fatespeaker was in charge of distributing the few message boards spread out in Dusk's area, as well as lighting the light globes every morning. It had taken her a little while to discover who actually lit them all, but now it was just routine. 
Dusk mentally marked where she was in her scroll, then rolled it up. She set it down on her scroll rack gently, careful not to let it make any sound that might wake up her clawmates. Then she got up from her ledge, padding quietly to the outside of her cave. While it was routine for Fatespeaker to come through and light the light globes, she didn't usually have notice boards to distribute. Usually, the ones that stayed up were just wishing everyone a good day, and there were only new ones when there was some special event coming up, like Family Day, or the field trip to Sanctuary a little over a year ago, and so Dusk was curious as to what exactly the Heads of School wanted to notify everyone of.
'Attention, All Students!
Today, we are having a field trip to the Rainforest Kingdom. We will meet in the Great Hall shortly before midday for signups.
It is two days of moderately challenging flight, and we will spend three days in the forest, spending time in both the RainWing and NightWing villages. Anyone and everyone are allowed to attend.
Classes will continue normally.'
Dusk scanned over the notice board twice, her grin growing. 
"The Rainforest Kingdom," she whispered excitedly. "I can't wait!"
She turned back to her room with half a mind to go back to her scroll until she was needed to get up, but then she realized that she didn't want to read anymore. Every minute of the day would now be spent in anticipation of the rainforest, even though she knew that they wouldn't get there for another two days, at least.
Dusk went to walk down the hallway, to head somewhere else, possibly the art cave, to wait for the first classes of the day, then hesitated. Raven was supposed to be getting there any day now. Maybe he'd made it back during the night?
A part of Dusk doubted it, but it was never exactly a full moon cycle. Sometimes he got back a day early, or sometimes a day late, so she could at least hope that he might be back.
Well, she decided, it wouldn't be THAT much of a detour just to check on his cave.
She'd left a freshly picked moonglobe sitting outside of Raven's cave the night before, dimmed down to one of its lowest settings, so if that was still there, then he probably wasn't back.
Dusk trotted silently down the hallway, and when she reached the point where Raven's cave was visible, her heart sank to see that the moonglobe, only a few inches smaller than her talon now, was still sitting outside his cave. All the same, she crept closer, careful not to disturb anyone. Then, camouflaging her scales for a brief moment, she popped her head in through the doorway to Raven's cave. 
Inside, the temperature was drastically colder, and Dusk could feel the cold air seeping out over her talons. And, of course, the only dragon inside was Blizzard, his back and wings facing the door, his chilly blue-white scales rising and falling slowly in his sleep.
Beneath him, his ledge – and quite a bit of the walls and floor around him, it must be said – was covered in a thick layer of shimmering blue ice. Blizzard probably would've been told off for using his frostbreath in the mountain, but ice didn't have any lasting damage, and he didn't have a clawmate half the time, so at that point, Dusk guessed that the Heads of School decided that they couldn't do anything else, so Blizzard was fine with what he did.
Dusk stared at the ledge where Raven normally slept, listening to Blizzard breathe for a few moments, then pulled back. Well, Raven wasn't there, and that was all that needed to be said. It was a shame that he'd miss the field trip, but Dusk would live. She hoped he wouldn't be disappointed when he made it there and discovered that Dusk had left.
He's not here YET, Dusk quickly corrected herself. That doesn't necessarily mean that he won't make it before midday. Perhaps he'll make it just in time.
It was unlikely, but Dusk could hold out hope that he'd make it. It was all she would be able to do.
      •       •       •       •       •       
Dusk could hardly focus on any of her classes that morning. Her brain blocked out Web's droning voice as he taught history, and finally, it was midday. Dusk knew she had to go signup for the field trip, but surely, she'd have time to swing by her cave. She needed to drop off her library stamp that she'd taken to wearing in the pouch around her neck again. And, also, if Raven had made it back while they were in classes, he'd either be in his own cave, or left a note in Dusk's. So she just wanted to check and make sure he knew about the field trip, if he was there.
"I'll be in the Great Hall in a few minutes," she promised Seagull hurriedly before running off down the hall. 
"Wait, what are you –" Seagull tried to call back to her, but he cut himself off, no doubt deciding that it wasn't worth it to try to ask.
As Dusk hurried down the halls back to her sleeping cave, she skirted out of other dragon's ways, though she kept an eye out for black scales. She had a false alarm when she saw Stargazer, and she had very nearly called out Raven's name in delight before she realized that it was just Stargazer. So she continued on.
Dusk reached her sleeping cave within a few minutes, and a quick scan told her exactly what she'd expected: there was no note from Raven.
Dusk very nearly gave a sigh, but she quelled it, telling herself that it was quite possible that Raven just hadn't had the time yet and was in the middle of writing a note to Dusk that he was about to drop off.
To test the theory, she headed off to Raven's cave, just to make sure. She already knew what she was most likely going to find, but she could hope.
When she made it to Raven's cave, his moonglobe that she'd left outside was still there, but all the same, she walked up to the doorway to look inside.
Blizzard was the only one in there, and he looked like he was about to leave, the black pouch around his neck stark against his white scales. He stopped when he saw her standing in the doorway, his icy-blue eyes narrowing hostilely. As he exhaled slowly, a puff of ice crystals appeared around his snout, but he didn't say anything.
"Hi, Blizzard," Dusk said, slightly uncomfortably. "Sorry to bother you, but I wanted to ask if you'd seen Raven. He's supposed to be getting back soon and. . ." She trailed off at the cold annoyance on Blizzard's face.
"No," he snapped briskly. "I'm afraid not."
Dusk gave a small nod. "Alright. Thank you. I suppose I'll let you go now." She stepped away, letting Blizzard pass, but as he started to walk away, she made a decision and walked up to his side.
"But, um, Blizzard," she said quickly, earning her a dubious look from the IceWing. She cleared her throat and plunged forward. "I was just coming by to make sure that, if Raven had been here, he knew about the field trip to the rainforest, but since he's not here, I thought that, maybe, I might ask you?"
Blizzard snorted, continuing down the tunnel with Dusk following at his side. "Uh, yeah," he said sharply. "I CAN read, you know."
"That – that's not what I meant," Dusk said, shaking her head. Why did Blizzard have to make this so hard? She just wanted to be nice. "What I mean to ask is if you're coming."
Blizzard regarded Dusk out of the corner of his eye. "Why would you care?" he asked after a moment. But before he gave her a chance to answer, he plowed on ahead. "But no. I'm not. The rainforest is far too hot and wet for my liking, as well as colorful."
"Oh," Dusk said blankly. "Well, I just thought I'd offer. It'd just – it'd be rude not to."
Blizzard gave a curt nod, which seemed to be the most thanks she'd be getting from him.
"Well, enjoy your day," Dusk finally said. "Oh, and if Raven gets here while I'm gone, could you let him know where I am?"
Blizzard gave an annoyed sigh. "I suppose," he said exasperatedly.
Dusk beamed up at him. "Thank you, Blizzard. That's a big help." She turned and trotted off down the hall, glancing back and raising one wing in farewell. "Thanks again!" she called back before turning down a connecting tunnel.
The last thing she saw before turning away was Blizzard's almost bewildered face, then she headed as fast as she could back to the Great Hall.
If she was being honest, she wasn't fully sure why she'd asked Blizzard if he planned to come. It wasn't as though they were friends. Sure, they weren't mortal enemies anymore, but the warmest Blizzard ever was to her was coldly indifferent, answering her questions or giving a small nod of acknowledgement when she said hello.
Deep down, Dusk thought she maybe knew the answer. If she'd just gone over there to ask if Raven was there, and then when Blizzard told her that he wasn't, to just leave seemed incredibly rude. That, and the fact that she knew how much it could hurt someone's feelings. She doubted Blizzard would've cared, but she still remembered when she'd shunned Stargazer's help and simply asked about Coast. She doubted Stargazer had forgotten that, and she didn't need Blizzard to have another reason to hate her.
And besides, when Blizzard wasn't arguing with her, he actually wasn't that bad. So maybe he wouldn't have been the best companion on the field trip, but it was simply nice to offer.
Dusk hurried back to the Great Hall, where a large group of dragonets was starting to gather. As before, Fatespeaker was dealing with the signups.
As Dusk ran up, Fatespeaker turned to beam at her. "I thought I'd see you here," she said.
Dusk grinned sheepishly. "You know me," she said. "Same as last time?" she added, jerking her head toward the scroll held in Fatespeaker's talons. 
Fatespeaker nodded. "Yep. Just your name and the name of your winglet."
Dusk dipped her talon into the inkwell that Fatespeaker held out to her, then quickly wrote her name on the list, her eyes absentmindedly scanning the rest of the scroll. The list was short enough at the moment, but Dusk had no doubt that it'd grow. But even at the moment, she recognized several of the names. She saw Coast's name, accompanied by Frond, Cotton, Howler (who had actually marked down his full name, Howler Monkey), then, of course, Seagull, closely followed by Polyp's own elegant talonwriting.
Dusk didn't see several signatures she'd been expecting, but she was one of the first to mark down her name, so she couldn't expect everyone to already be there.
Dusk dropped her talon back to the ground after finishing, smiling up at Fatespeaker. "Thanks," she said.
Fatespeaker gave an eager nod. "Yep. Of course."
Dusk started to step away, then paused and turned back. "Is Starflight going to come? Since the NightWing village is there too?"
Fatespeaker simply shook her head. "No. Neither Starflight nor I have any attachment to the NightWing village. After all, Starflight grew up separate from the NightWings, and I grew up with the Talons of Peace. And besides, the NightWing village wasn't even created until Starflight was six."
"Oh, right," Dusk said. "I forgot that it was only fairly recently that the NightWings moved to the rainforest. Sorry."
"No, don't be," Fatespeaker said dismissively. "Glad I could teach you something." She winked, then turned back to the scroll and another dragonet that had come to signup.
Dusk walked over to the edge of the cave, where all the dragons whose names she'd recognized were waiting, chatting with each other in small groups. Frond, Howler, and Cotton were talking, and Seagull, Coast, and Polyp were in another group. Dusk decided to talk to the RainWings first. She'd talk to the others in a minute.
Dusk walked up to the RainWings. "Hey," she greeted them.
Cotton yelped and whirled to face Dusk, her scales flaring with a lime-green fear before spotting Dusk. When she did, her frill dropped as she relaxed. "Oh, it's you," she said softly. "S–sorry, Dusk."
Dusk waved a wing dismissively. "That's fine. Sorry for scaring you."
"That's okay," Cotton said in a small voice.
Dusk turned to Frond. "Is Melon coming?" she asked conversationally. 
Frond shook her golden-yellow head that was speckled with pink, almost like flowers. "No, he said he'd rather stay here. He says he likes the mountain when it's empty. Plus, a field trip to his home wouldn't be that interesting." She rolled her deep-green eyes. "I'm really only going because I want to go back home for a little while."
Dusk felt a sharp pang inside her, wishing to have a home of her own, but she pushed it away. She was trying to get over feelings like that. It wouldn't be easy, but she had to try.
"Cotton, Howler?" Dusk asked, turning to both of them. "Why are you going back?"
Howler shrugged. "I just like to get out of the mountain every once in a while. I take every field trip opportunity I get."
"I just wanted to go back home for a little while," Cotton said softly, fidgeting with her talons. "I know I just saw my family on Family Day, but some of my siblings didn't get to come, so I wanted to see them, too."
Dusk could've imagined the flare of anger and pain that flashed into Frond's eyes, but even Dusk couldn't have imagined the splash of red that painted itself across Frond's front talon.
Dusk's eyes were drawn to it, but a moment later, it was gone, and she was staring at gold and pink scales once again, as though it'd never been there.
Dusk drew her gaze to Frond's face, and she looked as happy and excited as ever, but once, long before, Frond had demonstrated that she could hide her emotions. And though they sometimes got through her scales, she could wipe them away at will, as she appeared to have just done.
Dusk gave Frond a small smile, resolving to figure out what Frond was upset over later. Frond returned the smile a bit too enthusiastically to be real.
"Well, I hope you guys enjoy it," Dusk said. "Also, I don't know if any of you would know this, but are Stargazer and Starseer coming? They were born in the rainforest, right?"
Frond nodded. "I think Starseer told me that she planned on coming, so I assume Stargazer's coming, too."
"Alright," Dusk said. "Well, I'll keep an eye out for them. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'd better go talk to the others." She flicked her tail toward Coast, Polyp, and Seagull. She gave the group of RainWings a gracious nod, then turned away and walked back to the mostly-SeaWing group, quickly scanning through the groups of growing dragonets to see if anyone else she knew had come to sign in while she'd been talking, granted it had only been for a few minutes.
Dusk sidled up alongside Coast, who accepted her presence with a glance in her direction and a smile. As Dusk returned the smile happily, she took note that the black pouch that was usually around his neck was absent. He'd most likely left it back in his cave, like Dusk had. After making those few observations, she then tried to catch the thread of the conversation going on in the group.
Seagull and Polyp, standing side by side, were talking to each other about something to do with different weaving techniques, which Polyp had begun to join Seagull in the pursuit of. They were both extremely talented at it, and Dusk could hardly ever figure out what they were talking about when they began to dispute the different merits of each different kind of weave.
Dusk nudged Coast when Seagull and Polyp didn't even notice her. "You know anyone who's going?" she asked softly, so as to not bother the two of them, though she doubted they'd even notice if she had talked normally. The Great Hall was filling up with dragonets quickly, and so was quickly growing louder.
Coast glanced down at her. He was now about half a head taller than her, which was incredibly unnerving to Dusk, but he always seemed abashed that he was now taller than her, so she didn't bring it up very often.
"Anyone I know? Well, yeah, you're here." He bumped her with his wings, which she accepted with a grin. 
"I meant besides me," she said, rolling her eyes playfully.
"Well, Vapor's not going, if you were wondering about him," Coast told her. "And I'm pretty sure you already know that Melon's staying here, too."
"What about Stargazer?" she asked directly, knowing that he was the most likely to know his answer.
Coast nodded. "He told me that he'd be coming." He glanced around the quickly filling cave. "Come to think of it though, I haven't seen him yet."
"They hadn't either, but I thought I'd ask you," Dusk admitted, jerking her head to the group of RainWings.
Coast glanced back to the group, surveying them. Dusk watched his expression as he skimmed over the group. She noticed that his gaze lingered over Cotton, who had donned the guise of a SeaWing for practice. Her scales in that form were an indigo that glimmered blue in the light. Cotton had mastered several other dragon tribes at this point, and now she was working on her SeaWing, but she wanted to put a flair of her own on this one. So far, on her other forms, she went as the most unnoticeable unremarkable dragon, becoming the generic dragon from each tribe, but for her SeaWing, she said she didn't want to just be in the background. With more vibrant colors, but not what would give her away as not a SeaWing, she said she'd get more attention, and if she had more attention, she could practice more. Cotton's one flaw was that, if she knew someone was watching her, she would get nervous and lose her grip on her disguise, so if she was always being watched, she reasoned, being watched would soon fade into the background, and then she wouldn't care who was watching her. Dusk had to admire her persistence.
Coast cocked his head at Cotton, watching as her scales rippled, leaving a small SkyWing in Cotton's place, and then with another ripple, there stood a SandWing, who looked rather like Sunny in her build, and then with another ripple, Cotton was back to normal, with blue-purple pride blooming across her scales.
"That's Cotton," Dusk told Coast as he watched her for another moment. "She's in my scale-changing class. I think she's the best there."
"I can see why," Coast said with a hint of astonishment in his voice. He turned to Dusk. "How many dragons can she change into?" he asked wonderingly.
"Just SkyWing, SandWing, and she's working on SeaWing now. But still," she glanced over at Cotton, "she's way better than any of us. I've only perfected my NightWing and SeaWing disguises so far, but I'm already a hybrid of both of those, so that's not nearly as impressive." She shrugged. "But Cotton, on the other talon, if she changes, and I pass by her in the hall, I can hardly ever tell that it's her. It's honestly super impressive."
Coast nodded wonderingly. "Wow," he said softly, "I had no idea that RainWing scales could be used in such a way."
Dusk gave him a hard stare with narrowed eyes, and when he noticed, he quickly jumped to fix his mistake. "I mean, uh, I knew you could do it, Dusk, but, well, I don't know, but it feels different that a normal RainWing could do it, too." He ducked his head embarrassedly, which lowered his head to a little below her height. "In my mind, your disguises were just another awesome power my amazing hybrid friend had." He grinned abashedly at her, and Dusk felt herself flush lightly, though she grinned back. She didn't often like taking praise. It made her feel all flushed and hot, but she did admit, even if only to herself, that it did feel nice that someone appreciated her talents. Just because she wasn't the best at the skill didn't mean she couldn't still take pride in it.
Dusk glanced up, and her eyes somehow decided to latch onto the barest flicker of movement over by Fatespeaker. It was just the flick of a black tail, belonging to a NightWing writing down his name on the list. Dusk's eyes narrowed on his face.
"Raccoon," she growled in the barest of voices under her breath.
"Oh, hey, Dusk," Seagull suddenly said, jerking Dusk's attention to him and off of Raccoon.
"What?" she said blankly.
Seagull shrugged his shoulders, looking unconcerned. "I just didn't realize you'd come up, so I was saying hey."
"Oh," Dusk said lamely. "Hey."
At her shoulder, she felt Coast adjust and she could feel the concerned look he was giving her. If he asked, she'd tell him, but if he never did ask, oh well. Seagull had just startled her, was all. But Coast was the type of dragon to not leave something like that unanswered. Whereas, Raven was the kind who would leave it be unless she wanted to tell him. He and Coast were vastly different in those respects, but each of them had their merits. 
The thought of Raven made Dusk ache, which she convinced herself was because he would miss out on such an amazing opportunity. And before Dusk could banish the thought of Raven, she wondered if he had ever been to the rainforest, maybe with the dragon he had to constantly go back to. It occurred to her for the first time that he might've hatched in the rainforest. For some reason, the thought unnerved Dusk. Both the fact that he could've hatched there, and also if he'd been there before. The fact that, even if he'd been there that day and was coming on the field trip, he wouldn't be going there first with Dusk. 
But why did she even care? She scolded herself for caring so fervently about such a little matter as that. It shouldn't matter to her what Raven did in the time he was away, but it did. It really did.
Dusk quickly banished Raven from her thoughts. She didn't ever allow herself to think too deeply about where he went on his trips. She thought it was best if she didn't actually know, and as Raven never offered that information, it was usually pretty easy.
Coast nudged her shoulder with his as Polyp brought up a new project she'd started and a dilemma that came with it to Seagull, and he got dragged back down into that level of conversation.
"You okay?" Coast asked her softly, catching her eye.
Dusk nodded and jerked her head over toward Raccoon, who she was keeping watch of out of the corner of her eye. "Just Raccoon. I guess he's coming along with us."
Coast followed the direction indicated, and his eyes narrowed on Raccoon, who was lurking on the edge of the cave, looking like he was annoyed by everything in Pyrrhia.
"Don't worry," he told her quietly, his gaze latched hostilely on Raccoon, "I won't let him do anything to you."
Dusk's ear flicked in irritation, but she tore her gaze from Raccoon. "No, it's alright," she told him. "I doubt he'd be a problem on a school trip."
Coast gave a small dubious snort. "Yeah, well, I doubt anyone expected him to do anything so close to Jade Mountain, but he still did," he muttered darkly.
Dusk nudged him with her wings. "Look, Coast, your worry for me is touching, but I'll be fine. And besides, I probably won't ever be alone, now that I have so many friends to keep me company." She gave him a grin, which Coast seemed only slightly begrudging to return.
"Well, I won't leave you alone at all, if Raccoon's joining the trip," Coast told her softly.
Dusk nodded, though she rolled her eyes playfully. "Between you and Seagull, I probably won't have the slightest moment alone."
Coast grinned playfully at her. "That is the objective," he told her.
Dusk returned the grin with slight exasperation before attempting to return to Seagull and Polyp's conversation. Even if she had no clue what they were talking about, she knew Coast was watching her carefully to make sure she actually wasn't worried about Raccoon coming along on the trip. And while, for some reason, she was slightly unnerved that he would be attending, she wasn't worried. Not when she knew she had friends like Coast and Seagull by her side nearly every second of every day. Although, now that she thought about it, she might not have Seagull the whole time. He'd most likely be spending most of his time with Polyp, as he had progressively been doing throughout their time at Jade Mountain. Seagull was still one of Dusk's closest friends, but he just didn't spend nearly all his time with her anymore, which Dusk was fine with. After all, they would still be friends. Always.
Coast nudged her gently, startling her out of her thoughts. "Hey," he said quietly, but not so quiet that it would be hard to hear him over the growing crowd. When she looked over, he jerked his head over to the line of dragonets waiting to sign in. "Would you be alright if I went over to talk to Seal and Brine for a few moments?" he asked her.
Dusk nodded immediately. "Of course," she answered. She glanced around the cave, her gaze landing on two dragons standing side by side who had just walked into the cave. "And besides, I wanted to go talk to someone, too."
Coast glanced at Seagull, who was still immersed in a conversation with Polyp. "Do you think he'd even notice we left?" he asked.
Dusk waved a wing dismissively. "Probably not," she admitted. "Especially not if we get back soon enough." She winked slyly, and Coast smiled back.
"Especially not then," he agreed.
She gave a parting smile, then stood up and walked over to the two dragons standing in line. She had to navigate slightly through all the dragonets, and she noticed thankfully that the amount of dragonets coming into the Great Hall had steadied to a slow stream of them, no longer a rushing torrent.
Dusk sidestepped around several dragons, pressing her wings close to her sides, stepping over a few tails here and there, and then she finally made it to them: Sandstorm and Frost.
Sandstorm, who was nearly seven now, grinned down at her. "Hey Dusk," he said genially. "You coming, too?"
Dusk grinned back. "You bet," she told him. She looked to Frost. "Are both of you going?" 
Frost nodded. "Yep. We've both been before, but the rainforest is pretty cool. Not in a temperature sense though."
Dusk nodded in understanding. "I just wasn't sure how much an IceWing would like the rainforest. One of the ones I know wasn't going to go because it was too hot and bright."
Frost nodded. "Well, I know where they're coming from, but for me, the rainforest is too awesome a place to miss out on."
Dusk grinned. "That just makes me want to go even more."
Sandstorm nodded. "You'll enjoy it, I'm sure. You seem like that kind of dragon." He winked at her.
Dusk decided to take it as a compliment. "Thank you," she said pleasantly. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I should probably head back over there." She jerked her head vaguely in the direction the rest of her friends were in.
Sandstorm and Frost both gave a nod of acknowledgment, and Dusk gave each of them a smile before turning away and going back to Seagull and Polyp, who were still engaged in conversation. She sat down about where she'd been before, noticing that Coast hadn't come back yet, but that wasn't that surprising. Dusk hadn't spent really any time talking to Sandstorm and Frost. She'd just wanted to greet them, and she didn't really know what to say either. They never talked much, but mostly because they didn't end up seeing each other very often. Only on occasion did their winglets ever do anything together, one of which was music. Dusk had, over the year of partially forced participation, taken up playing the harp, and was having Coast teach her how to play the flute.
Getting distracted by her thoughts, her attention began to wander, and her gaze traveled slowly around the large cave, looking at everything leisurely, taking note of odd little things, like which dragons were talking to who, or the expressions on some of their faces, or the way their tails would twitch, either from something that was said, or to move it out of the way of some dragon walking up behind them. The hubbub of voices was loud and discordant, but in a few of the conversations closest to Dusk, she was able to listen in and tune out the rest of the noise for a few moments. Most of the conversations weren't that interesting; they were mostly regarding schoolwork, or where they wanted to go in the rainforest, but every once in a while, something was interesting. She caught a mention about the Queen's daughter, Firefly, who was set to inherit the throne from her mother in a few years, which Dusk hadn't known about. 
Every once in a while, the word 'hybrid' from someone's conversation caught her attention, and she would always prick her ears to listen carefully, though she didn't quite know why, but it always ended up relating to the larger number of NightWing RainWing hybrids that they might meet up with in the rainforest, which, Dusk had to be honest, she was slightly looking forward to. It might be to know that there were more hybrids out there, and that they were generally accepted, so she might not be so out of place, but there was another reason that she was hardly letting herself think about, let alone hope for.
Dusk was part NightWing RainWing, and while there was still SeaWing in the mix, Dusk had theorized that it was more possible for one of her parents to have been a NightWing RainWing, and the other pure SeaWing, instead of having a SeaWing NightWing hybrid and a pure RainWing mate or something like that. And besides, she didn't seem to look enough like a RainWing to have a majority amount of RainWing blood in her. So, a part of her, despite her best attempts to quell it, was desperately hoping that she might happen to find her parents in the rainforest. But she didn't know what she was hoping for after that. Did she hope that they had just lost her egg somehow in the middle of the desert? Somehow misplace it and never thought to look for it?
But the small part of her that ventured out so far into the future, if she did happen to find her parents, wondered what she would do if Sparrow had, in fact, been right. That they'd abandoned her egg because she was a hybrid. What then? To find her parents and then to be immediately shunned and pushed away by them would be worse than living without ever knowing them.
Dusk shoved the thought of possibly finding her parents from her thoughts. The last thing she needed now was to get her hopes up and ruin a perfectly good trip to the rainforest.
She instead began to focus on anything else to keep her mind away from the subject. While at first she'd surveyed the cave lazily, now she forcefully did so.
Someone stepped up beside her, and she at first thought it was Coast, so when she turned to glance beside her, she blinked and jerked her head back slightly in surprise. It was Stargazer, grinning at her sideways.
"Hey," he said while she blinked at him.
Her eyes traveled up and down him, as though trying to gauge how much he'd changed since the last time she'd seen him. For some reason, he seemed different. But everything was the same, all the way from the relaxed curl of his tail to the curious tilt of his head, allowing the light to catch and reflect on the bright teardrop scales by his deep gray eyes.
"Hey," she finally answered with a small nod.
Stargazer's eyes crinkled in confusion. "What?" he asked her.
"What what?" she returned, brushing away the feelings.
"Your reaction when I walked up," Stargazer said. "You seemed ... confused." He blinked, the glimmer of silver by his eyes reminding her that he could feel her emotions.
She shrugged, deciding to voice the emotions. He'd know them anyway. "You just seem ..." she regarded him, as though trying to decide what word would work best, "... different," she ended anticlimactically.
He put up an easy smile. "In a good way or a bad way?"
She gave a small smile in return. "I don't know yet. You just seem to be less ... energetic than usual. I don't know."
Starseer, who was stepping around behind Stargazer, interjected. "He's maturing," she told Dusk. "Believe me, I never thought I'd see the day that he did, but it's happening."
Stargazer looked embarrassed, ducking his head and looking away. "Starseer!" he hissed softly to his sister, as though trying not to let Dusk overhear.
Dusk simply smiled at Starseer. "Yeah, I suppose that's it." She cocked her head at Stargazer, who had returned his attention back to Dusk, though he looked unnerved by the scrutiny. "Your voice has also gotten deeper," she noted.
Stargazer flushed, looking away to avoid her eyes. "I mean, yeah, maybe," he muttered sheepishly.
She smiled at him. "I guess it just seems so sudden to me because we don't end up talking very much anymore." She shrugged. 
Stargazer looked up hesitantly as Starseer stepped away to go talk to one of her clawmates that had signed up. "Well, I think that maybe we should change that," he said, trying to sound bold, but she heard the quiver of hesitance in his voice.
She bumped his wing with her own. "You can drop that act around me."
Stargazer almost seemed astonished. "What act?" he asked with a touch of annoyance, almost sounding hurt.
"This tough and brave act," Dusk told him. "It's just not you. You're the silly fun one, not the cool and collected one."
Stargazer tried to act offended, but the edges of his mouth started to twitch up in a small smile. "You sure?" he asked with a slight snobbish hint to his voice. "What if that's part of my maturing? I'm becoming the tall and serious one." He lifted his snout high into the air and pasted a regal look across his face.
Dusk gave a soft laugh and shook her head in exasperation. "Nope. You're still the exact same. Your sense of humor is still hopeless."
Stargazer now genuinely looked offended. "I thought you liked my jokes," he said, sounding hurt.
Dusk grinned up at him. "I do. But sometimes it can be annoying. You just can't overdo it."
"Uh, overdoing it is like, the entire point," Stargazer said, rolling his eyes as though it should've been the most obvious thing ever.
Dusk laughed. "It's good to have you back."
Stargazer grinned back. "It's good to be welcomed back. So how about hanging out more often?"
Dusk nodded. "Definitely."
Stargazer paused for a moment. "What about Raven?" He glanced down at Dusk with a weird glimmer in his eyes.
Dusk cocked her head. "What about him? Do you guys know each other?"
Stargazer shrugged. "We've had passing meetings. We've introduced ourselves to each other, but I don't really know him."
"Well, then maybe we could all hang out sometime," Dusk offered. "That way you two can sort of get to know each other." For a moment, her wings drooped. "But we can't. He's not here right now."
"Well, when's he getting back?" Stargazer asked.
Dusk shrugged helplessly. "Not positive. There's never a definite date set for when he comes and goes. But soon. Any day now."
Stargazer cocked his head. "But if he doesn't come today, won't he miss the field trip?"
Dusk nodded. "Yeah," she said. "It's disappointing that he wouldn't be able to come, but there's nothing we could do about it." She spoke almost as though convincing herself, not just talking to Stargazer.
Stargazer nodded. "I suppose so." He glanced over Dusk's shoulder and his eyes landed on something, or someone. "Coast," he greeted genially.
Dusk glanced over to see Coast sidling back over into the group.
Coast gave Stargazer a gracious nod. "Stargazer."
Dusk was relieved to see the two of them acting well toward each other. She still remembered clearly when they'd been so hostile toward each other, just because of Dusk. She was glad to see that they'd both appeared to have gotten over her.
"So you're coming, too?" Coast asked.
Stargazer nodded. "Yep. Starseer and I have been wanting to go back to the rainforest for awhile now, so this seemed like the opportune time to do so."
"Cool," Coast said, nodding. "I think I'd want to go back to the Kingdom of the Sea sometime soon, so I might suggest that to one of the Heads, and see if we could go for the next field trip."
Dusk's face lit up at the prospect. "Do you really think we could?" she asked excitedly.
Coast grinned in amusement at her excitement. "I can certainly try."
"Are you eager to go back, too?" Stargazer asked Dusk with a small grin.
Dusk shook her head. "Not back. I've never been," she told him.
Stargazer cocked his head, his smile replaced by a look of confusion. "Huh. Sorry. I would've thought you would've at least been with one of your parents, considering you're a SeaWing hybrid."
The innocent way Stargazer said it sent a pang through her heart, but she was able to keep it off her face. She managed to shrug. "I just didn't grow up in the Kingdom of the Sea," she said nonchalantly, but saying that made her wonder, if only for a brief moment, where she had grown up. She wondered if it had been somewhere nearby to where she'd woken up what felt like an eternity ago.
There was a slight weight on Dusk's tail, and she flinched away from the touch a moment before realizing that Coast had twined his tail encouragingly with hers, because, of course, he knew exactly what she was thinking.
"Ah, well, sorry for assuming," Stargazer said apologetically.
Dusk waved it away with a flick of her wing. "It's alright," she said dismissively.
"So what are you guys planning on doing while we're there?" Stargazer asked, changing the subject, as though sensing the underlying tension with the previous topic.
Dusk shrugged. "I'm just curious to go anywhere there's anything interesting to see."
Stargazer grinned. "Well then, if you don't mind my saying so, I could perhaps be your guide to all the interesting places in the forest."
"Would that be the best idea?" Coast interjected. "It's nothing personal against you, Stargazer," he added quickly. "It's just, I've heard from your sister that you might not quite be the most competent in the rainforest?"
Stargazer looked deeply offended. "I can't believe she would say something like that, to my friends of all dragons."
Coast gave a hesitant shrug. "She said she thought we deserved fair warning."
Stargazer's face darkened. "If you'll excuse me for a moment," he growled, "I'd like to go talk with my sister."
Dusk couldn't help smiling as Stargazer stalked away to go find Starseer, but then, realizing something for the first time, she looked back to Coast, whose tail had remained entwined with hers.
"Coast," she said slowly, "you said that you'd want to go to the Kingdom of the Sea." She stopped for several moments, trying to put what she was attempting to say in the gentlest way possible, in case she was wrong. "You – you haven't been back since ... since . . ." Dusk trailed off, but Coast finished her sentence.
"Since Shore," he said in the breath of a whisper. He looked at her and gave a pained smile. "I know. But I'm willing to try now. Especially if you would be there."
Dusk gave a small smile back, but the way he'd said the last part made Dusk wonder if he really had gotten over her.
As though hearing her thoughts, Coast shook his head. "No, not like that," he said softly. "Dusk, you are the best friend I've ever had, and I would never try to change that if that's not what you want. As your best friend, I will always respect you and your wishes."
Dusk ducked her head, embarrassed by Coast's sincerity. "Thank you," she said softly. "That really does mean a lot to me."
Coast gave a slight grin. "I know."
"Did you two go somewhere?" Seagull asked suddenly, looking over at the two of them, taking his eyes off of Polyp for a little while at least.
Dusk and Coast shared a knowing grin, but neither of them offered Seagull an answer, who sat there expectantly. When neither of them spoke for several long slightly awkward moments, Seagull gave a nod. "Right," he said. "I'll take that as a yes, and that I missed something funny that you guys said."
Although Seagull played it off calmly, Dusk could tell that he was slightly hurt, so she stepped forward. "It's nothing much, Seagull, I promise," she told him. "We just felt slightly left out, and we both had dragons we wanted to say hi to, so we joked that you might not even notice if we left and then came back. So, you just kind of added to that."
Seagull broke into a small grin. "So you both really did leave?" he said incredulously. 
Dusk and Coast nodded. 
"And then you came back, and I didn't even notice," he said, sounding almost awed at his own blindness. "Wow. Either you two are better at slipping away unnoticed than I thought, or I got very invested in my conversation with Polyp."
"Both?" Coast offered. "We weren't really trying to be sneaky, but in this chaos," he gestured around them lightly with his wings, "I suppose it would be fairly easy to slip away unnoticed."
Dusk laughed. "Agreed," she said wholeheartedly, glancing around the cave. Apparently a trip to the Rainforest was far more popular than a trip to Sanctuary was.
A bright shine of snowy white scales by the entrance of the cave caught Dusk's attention, and for a moment, her heart leapt, as she thought that maybe, just maybe Blizzard might actually be coming along, but then she realized that it was Slush, and she didn't know why that made her feel let down.
Dusk craned her neck above the crowd to catch Slush's eye, who gave a simple nod, jerking her head to the line in front of her, to sign in.
"Slush's going to come over in a second," Dusk told the others. "If that's alright."
Seagull nodded. "Of course," he said. "I don't even know why you'd have to ask."
Dusk shrugged. "I don't know either. I guess it's just habit."
Coast was quiet for a moment, then he spoke up. "So how many dragons from your Winglet are going?"
"Quicksand's not," Seagull piped up first. "He said he didn't want to. Thought it was boring last time he went."
"So that more than likely means that Clearglow won't either," Dusk added. "So I guess it's just me, Seagull, and Slush."
Coast just nodded. In the silence that followed, Dusk glanced outside. "What time is it?" she wondered aloud.
"Probably midday at this point," Polyp spoke up. "Why?"
"We were supposed to leave at midday," Dusk said. "Or at least, I thought so."
Polyp nodded. "We were, but with how many dragons are still signing up, they probably decided to wait a bit longer."
Dusk gave a nod of understanding, her eyes sweeping the cave for the Heads of School. "Who's even taking us? Like, which of the Dragonets of Destiny?"
"Clay, I think," Coast said. "And maybe Tsunami, too. But Sunny, and obviously Starflight, are staying here. But," he gave an amused smile, "I don't think they like being called the Dragonets of Destiny anymore."
"Well, what should I call them?" Dusk said defensively. "Tsunami's the only Head of School, and I can't just say teacher, because there are a lot of other teachers besides them."
Coast shrugged. "I think we'd all know who you're talking about, but I do see your point." He glanced up toward the entrance again, as though to check to see how everything was going, and then his gaze darkened, and Dusk could hear a low rumbling growl building in the back of his throat.
Dusk turned around to look and see what dragon would've elicited such a reaction from such a cool-tempered dragon like Coast, and what greeted her eyes were two dragonets with bright-red and copper-orange scales, standing side by side. Dusk found a growl building in her own throat.
Vapor and Sparrow. Walking together. Looking like they ruled everything, and looking down their snouts disdainfully at the other dragonets around them. 
"Devilish duo?" Dusk whispered to Coast spitefully, although she managed to add a hint of a smile to her tone.
Coast glanced at her with a small smile. "Most definitely." He glanced back to the two of them, his lip lifting in disgust. "Why'd they have to be coming?"
"No clue," Dusk said bluntly. "I wish they wouldn't, but we can't do anything for that except avoid them."
Seagull was frowning. "Was Sparrow the one who you. . .?"
Dusk gave a curt nod. She hadn't personally relayed the story to anyone in her winglet, but there had been enough dragonets present at the ordeal that the story had spread through the mountain fast as lightning. And, of course, Dusk was the only possible dragon to fit the description of a tribrid. "I'm just going to avoid talking to her completely. Possibly even looking at her," she said firmly.
Seagull just nodded. "Probably a good idea," he admitted.
They all fell silent, and Dusk felt the urge to fill it. She didn't like sitting in an awkward quiet. But she was saved the necessity when the gong sounded loudly, attracting everyone's attention.
Standing beside it was a middle-aged MudWing, with a kind face and a muscular build, as well as an old-looking scar on one of his back talons. Dusk knew, from a few meetings off and on, and of course mentions, that it was Clay.
"Attention, everyone," he said, his voice carrying over the cave. He cleared his throat, and then continued. "We are going to finish sign-ins, and then we will leave. Is everyone ready to go?"
There was a small scattering of enthusiastic yes's, and Clay just grinned. "Come on," he said teasingly, "I know you guys can do better than that. Is everyone ready to go?"
Dusk grinned as she shouted, "Yes!" along with what seemed to be the entire rest of the cave. The sound was deafening. 
Clay's grin grew wider. "Now that's more like it. Before we go, some water canteens will be passed around. We don't have enough for everyone to have one, so choose two other dragonets, and you'll be sharing a water canteen between the three of you. Everyone understand?"
Everyone in the cave nodded, and some dragonets, once again, shouted excited "Yeah!"s. 
"Alright then," said Clay. "Before I leave you all to continue talking, you should know the teachers that are coming with you. Tsunami and I will be the main leaders on this trip, and Cometcaller, who I'm sure many of you know, will be coming for safety purposes. For those of you who don't know, Cometcaller, would you please raise your wing so they can see you?"
Dusk searched the room for the outstretched wing and spotted it at the opposite end. She grinned at Cometcaller, who, in his survey of all the faces turned towards him, somehow spotted hers and gave her an encouraging wink.
Clay listed several other names, having each of the teachers identify themselves by raising their wings, and Dusk knew almost all of them, and then, Clay stopped talking and let them continue talking to their groups.
"So who's going to share water with who?" Coast asked immediately. 
Dusk shrugged. "I really don't care."
"Should we do a girls-boys thing?" Polyp asked hesitantly.
"I think so," Seagull said immediately, almost as though to back up Polyp.
Dusk and Coast shared a look, and Dusk discreetly rolled her eyes. Coast gave a slight smile in return.
"So, who with who?" Dusk asked.
"Well, Seagull, you and I could share, along with someone else," Coast offered. He glanced around the cave. "Maybe Stargazer?"
Seagull nodded. "I think that'd work."
"And then you and I, Polyp?" Dusk asked. "And Slush, if that's alright?"
"If what's alright?" Slush asked, walking up.
"Sharing canteens," Dusk told her simply. "It'd be me, you, and Polyp, if you're both okay with that."
Slush nodded. "Yeah, that's fine by me."
"And me," Polyp said quietly, sidling a step away from Slush. Dusk had never noticed before, but it seemed that Polyp was uncomfortable around Slush. She wondered for what reason. It couldn't be the fact that she was a hybrid, considering she was perfectly fine around Dusk, who was pretty much the embodiment of hybridity, so it must've been something else.
Dusk didn't have much chance to think about it then, as her attention was drawn elsewhere, particularly Coast calling Stargazer over to ask if he'd share canteens with them. When he agreed wholeheartedly, they were all set to go, and Dusk could hardly wait. She began to shift apprehensively on her talons. Slush noticed.
"Well, someone's excited," she observed dully.
"Yeah, well I've been waiting longer than you have," Dusk retorted. "And besides, aren't you interested to see the rainforest as soon as possible?"
"I mean, if I wasn't interested, do you think I'd be coming along?" Slush returned. 
Dusk huffed in annoyance at Slush, but dropped the topic, instead focusing her attention elsewhere, like the dragons going around the cave and handing out canteens. Soon, that dragon made it to their group, and they were given two. It was as they were debating about who should carry each one that Tsunami rang the gong.
"Alright everyone," she said briskly. "We've gotta get going now, so no one dilly dally. If there's someone you know who wanted to come who isn't here yet, well, too bad. It's their fault for not making it on time. Understood?"
A few dragonets, intimidated by Tsunami's presence, just gave obedient nods, but a few others, either undaunted by her, or just used to her attitude, gave a few "Sure"s, or "Yeah"s. Dusk was one of the ones who just nodded. Even after all her time at Jade Mountain, Tsunami still intimidated her. She didn't quite know why, but she just felt twitchy and nervous whenever Tsunami was around. 
Collectively, the group of dragonets began to move toward the exit, and Dusk felt bundled along helplessly for a moment, but then she just walked with the flow, and it didn't feel nearly as chaotic.
The moment Dusk could, she leapt off the stone ledge and veered off to the side, away from the other dragonets, accidentally smacking Coast with her tail as she did so. She would've turned around and said sorry the moment it had happened, but decided it would be better to wait until they were away from the crowds.
Sure enough, Coast was by her side a moment later. "Sorry," she said quickly. "It's just, there were so many dragons, and I couldn't –"
Coast cut her off with a small laugh. "It's alright," he chuckled lightheartedly. "It was just a bit startling."
Soon, the two groups they had created in the Great Hall all gathered up in the same area. The water that they hadn't decided who would carry was then quickly given to Dusk and Coast, who volunteered simultaneously.
Dusk slipped it over her head, making sure the strap rested comfortably between her wings, before following the large group of dragonets that slowly began to move in a collective direction.
Dusk tried to keep her distance from the bulk of the group, so that their small group could hear each other, over the loud leathery sound of a hundred different wingbeats, and the hubbub of loud dragonets' voices, each trying to speak loud enough for someone else to hear, but someone always swooped out into Dusk's path, close enough to make her balk once or twice, and the voices seemed incredibly loud.
Dusk glanced back to Jade Mountain as they flew, but she could barely see it behind the lagging end of the group of dragonets.
Coast flew up to her wingtip. "Hey," he said, grinning. "Excited?"
Dusk beamed at him. "Definitely." Her gaze caught for a moment on black scales, and for a moment, her heart soared, but it was just another NightWing, so it quickly plummeted back down and her smile faltered.
Coast saw it. He always did. "But . . . ?" he prompted.
Dusk attempted a nonchalant shrug. "Well, I just wish Raven could've come."
Coast gave a small understanding nod. "Hmm. Yeah. He was supposed to be getting back soon, wasn't he?"
Dusk nodded. "He was. I was hoping he might make it in time for the field trip, but I guess not." She gave another shrug, as though trying to show that she didn't care.
Coast sighed. "Yeah, it is a shame that he's not here. But," he brushed his wing against Dusk's and gave an encouraging smile, "that's not to say he won't come. If he goes back to the mountain, and you're not there, he'll be able to figure out where we went, and then he'll be sure to come."
Dusk gave a small nod, touched that Coast would try to console her. "Yeah, I suppose. But that'd be a lot of flying. I don't know if he'd want to do that much."
"He would," Coast said confidently. "For you, he would."
Dusk felt herself flushing, and she looked away uncomfortably, though she couldn't help but feel he was right. After all, if she knew where Raven was right now, she didn't doubt that she'd fly to him, no matter how far it was. 
But that just made her wonder: would Raven do the same for her?
      •       •       •       •       •       
The first day of flight consisted of two stops, before they stopped for the night. Dusk was grateful to rest her wings all three times, and was glad they had canteens of water that they could drink from and refill in rivers and lakes they passed.
That night, Dusk slept as far away from the group as they were allowed, along with Slush, Polyp, Seagull, Stargazer, Frond, Howler, and of course Coast. The eight of them became an almost inseparable group the next day. They were almost always together as they flew, and Dusk didn't wish to be anywhere else but right there. After all, everyone she wanted to be with was right there alongside her. But, even despite the amount of dragons she was constantly surrounded by, she still felt Raven's absence, keen as any wound. She would watch late into each of the three nights, straining her ears for the flap of wings, or the glimmer of moving stars above her that would be the only sign of Raven's approach. But, same as each day of their flight, there would be nothing.
They set out on the third day of flying with Dusk trying hard to pretend she wasn't upset. They all knew, or at least those most familiar with Dusk did, but she still had to make an effort to not let it affect her.
Now, on the third day, the rainforest was clearly visible ahead of them. Dusk could see the luscious green canopy stretching as far as she could see in almost all directions, except for the small wooded areas spanning between them at their current location and the marshy swamp area that they would reach if they took a hard left.
They took a break around midday to lunch, for those that were hungry, but for those who weren't, it was just a way to sit around and waste time, considering they were so close to the forest. Or at least, that was how Dusk felt. She wasn't sure about the others.
Dusk bounced on the balls of her talon, ready to get going and unable to rest, though she knew that they wouldn't be leaving for probably another hour.
"Why do we have to take a break?" Dusk whined softly to Coast, stepping over to his side.
Coast shrugged. "I guess they just want to make sure no one's flying too much."
Dusk scoffed. "I can handle way more than this."
"I know," he said placatingly. "But they have to take into account that they have younger dragonets coming. After all, if they planned these flights as if we were all SkyWing dragonets, would you like to try to keep up?"
Dusk grumbled slightly. "No, I suppose not," she said grumpily. "But we're so close. I just wish we could go."
She was suddenly distracted from her annoyance by Stargazer swooping down from above and landing with a little bounce in front of them.
"Alright," he announced. "Who wants to go on a little adventure?"
"Yes," Dusk said immediately. "Please."
Stargazer grinned, then looked around at the six other dragons of their group. "Well? Anyone else?"
"I'll come," Coast said, "even if only to offer my help to remedy whatever you have planned."
Stargazer sent him a small glare.
"I mean, sure, I'll go," Seagull offered, standing up from where he was sitting beside Polyp. "It's not like I have anything better to do." He glanced down to Polyp. "Want to come?"
"No, I'm okay," she said softly. "Thank you, Scald."
He nodded. "Of course."
Stargazer scanned the group. "Well? Anyone else? Or is it just these brave three?"
"Nah, I'm good," Howler said, raising his head from where he was curled in a spot of sunshine.
"Nope," was all Frond's answer. 
Slush just waved a wing dismissively.
"Okay then," Stargazer said, sounding mildly let down. "Then let's get going. And we are going to have the time of our lives," he said pointedly to the dragons remaining behind as they walked away.
"So where are we going?" Dusk asked Stargazer as they walked closer to the main group of dragonets. 
Stargazer looked back to grin at her. "Just wait and see." Then he took to the air and started to fly away.
Dusk and Coast exchanged a look, and Seagull just shrugged before following him up.
Soon, the four of them were winging their way above the main camp, and they even began to continue beyond it. Dusk glanced back hesitantly as they began to leave it behind.
"Stargazer?" she asked. "Are you sure we should be going so far from camp?"
"They won't notice," he said dismissively, undeterred. "And besides, we'll be back long before we have to go, don't worry." He pointed ahead of them. "See, we're just heading over here."
Dusk followed the direction his claw was pointing to see long rows of orderly hedges, stretching for probably a good half a square mile. The straight rows had to be intentional, so it was probably a farm of some sort. Dusk could only wonder what it was a farm for.
Stargazer glanced back at the three dragons trailing along behind him. "Follow me," he told them, then swooped low to the ground, almost as though trying not to be seen. It made Dusk hesitate once again, but she followed him after only a moment's pause.
Soon, they reached the edges of the orderly rows that just dropped off suddenly, and Stargazer landed in the dirt there, motioning for them to do the same.
Dusk landed beside him, then stepped forward to investigate the hedges. They were, at most, shoulder height, and they had little red fruits covered in seeds growing on the branches.
Dusk glanced at Stargazer. "Strawberries?" she questioned.
"Not just any strawberries," he objected quickly. "These are the best strawberries in all of Pyrrhia. Queen's request orders of these strawberries, they're so good."
Coast looked at Stargazer dubiously. "Really. You brought us out here to show us strawberries?"
"Not just to show," he said slyly. "After all, that would be pointless."
"Wouldn't that be stealing?" Seagull interjected hesitantly. "We shouldn't just take them without asking."
"They won't miss a few," Stargazer said dismissively. He plucked one from the nearest hedge and popped it in his mouth, humming with pleasure as he chewed. "Come on, guys. Just one."
Dusk glanced at the nearest bush, feeling herself caving. "Well, I suppose one couldn't hurt. . ."
She reached out to pick one, as did Coast and Seagull. And it was then, as they all had their backs turned, that they felt a gust of wind and a large shadow loomed over their backs. 
"What are you doing?" a deep voice demanded.
(Authors note)
Hello everyone! It’s been a very very long time. I doubt anyone is still here to read this new chapter, but I thought I should keep it up anyway, just in case one of my devoted readers happens to check back in a few years. 
But yeah. It’s been awhile. I’ve missed doing this, and I’m glad to be back. We have the minor problem that I can’t make comments, but I can still edit pages, so it doesn’t affect anything major. I’ll just need to do these little Authors Notes at the end, which isn’t hard. 
So, I’m glad to be back! I just hope there’s someone here to eventually see it. And if you do see this, good job! This chapter took way longer than it should have, but it’s finally done, and maybe I’ll eventually get Chapter 26 done. 
I hope you’re all doing well! 
-Dusk
Category:Literature
Category:Fanfictions
Category:Fanfictions (Unfinished)
Category:Original Stories
Category:Wings of Fire