A/N: Hi guys! Just wanted to tell you, this is rated T for a reason. It does contain abuse. If you are sensitive to that topic, PLEASE DON'T READ THIS. Otherwise, enjoy!

-NovaSpiritWolf and fantasytwin0930

Chapter 1

~Keiko~

I awake in my bed and yawn. As I stretch my wings and legs next to my bed, I glance out the window.

The sun is just beginning to rise over the hills of the island me and my family live on. Some dragons would call my parents reclusive yet friendly. I call them reclusive and grumpy.

I know, I know, you're supposed to respect your parents, but they don't really give me much reason to respect. Well, respect isn't really the right word. I do respect them. A lot.

Even thinking my mom and dad makes me swim with guilt. The slap from Starfish, my mother, and the cut from Wave, my father, hurt like fire from yesterday. It's not out of the ordinary, getting hurt like that from them. In fact, I'm used to it.

The thing that makes me feel is guilty is that my brother, Storm, is coming home from school today, and I promised him that I would stand up to Mom and Dad. But I haven't, because obviously, that would just give me a bigger beating.

I walk out of my bedroom and quickly into the bathroom. Maybe I can hide the bruises and the cut… I grab some random things from the shelves and put some on the gash on my arm. It's worse then I thought it would be, very red and there's a lot of swelling.

When I put the medicine on, that swelling goes down and I smile. Maybe it will be gone before Storm gets here!

Storm is one of the sweetest dragons I have ever met. He always looked out for me before he applied for Jade Mountain Academy. He was the best big brother anyone could have.

My parents loved like him like crazy. He won awards, he was athletic, and basically perfect. Unlike me. And, of course, I can never forget it.

"What are you doing?" I turn to the harsh voice of my mother. "Why are you still in my house?"

I opened my mouth them close it and then finally mumble, "Sorry,"

"Out. Now." Starfish almost screams at me. "And don't give me any excuses."

I nod, then walk past her quickly. I have no doubts that if I had stayed there a minute more, I would have had an extra cut to cover up.

I dart down the stairs and grab a piece of bread and a coconut. I might get in trouble for it later, but chances are Wave will be too drunk and Starfish too busy to notice.

Right when I exit the house, the cool air hits me. The birds are chirping, and the the dew sparkles on the grass. I walk to a large rock quite far away from my house and nibble on the bread.

I stare out at the sun rising, wondering when Storm will get here. I've missed him so much while he was away. My family doesn't live near anyone, the closest dragons are more then a days flight away, so I don't really know anyone.

Or, at least, until I went to a SeaWing school. But it wasn't so great there, either. If life wasn't hard enough already for me, a group of bullies decided that I would be their next victim. A lot of the dragons at my school avoid me now, worried that if they hang out with me, the bullies would hurt them.

I just need to get away from it all. I put the nibbled bread and untouched coconut in a leather bag I always carry around with me, and then leap into the sky.

I know Storm will be here any minute now, but I don't care. I'll probably only get to talk to him when my parents stop gushing over him, and saying how much they missed him. That could take HOURS.

I'm now flying over a lot of other islands, some of them barren, others full of life.

After about half an hour of flying, another island comes into view. I wouldn't have paid any attention to it, except for one little thing. There was smoke rising up from the treeline.

I could tell by the way the smoke was rising that it was dragon-made. It was too big for a scavenger, but too small and controlled for a wildfire.

I quickly fly down and land on the grassy area, my talons digging into the wet soil. I don't know who could be responsible for making that fire, not a lot of dragons live on islands like I do.

I walk through the brush, brushing ferns and branches out of the way.

I then enter a small clearing. I glance around. It's a pretty average clearing, except for one thing.

In the center of the clearing, there is a SeaWing dragonet. And she's staring right at me.

~Minnow~

It's an ordinary day. I wake up early in the morning, when the moons haven't yet faded from the sky. That's the best time of day to fish. The little silver creatures are practically leaping out of the water.

I sit by the seashore, watching the waves crash against each other, I realize that the sun is rising. You have to go back to your safe place before the sun is up or they'll find you, my mother's voice rings in my head.

I look back at the ferns enclosing my safe place, way back from the seashore. But I don't want to go back to the seashore, a rebellious part of my brain says. Why do I have to listen to Mother? She left me here. She has no control over me anymore.

I rub my wrists, remembering the feel of Mother's firm grip, pulling me back to my safe place. "I don't want to go back," I remember crying. "I want to stay and watch the sunrise."

"You may not stay," my mother said, her voice dripping with malice. "Do you want a lashing?"

Mother never once hit me, but the threat of the whip she placed by her hammock each night was enough to get me to do her bidding. The whip was made of reeds, with sharp rocks embedded in it like spikes. No matter how much I wanted to stay by the seashore, I always followed after her.

But she's not here anymore, my mind whispers. She can't hurt me now.

So I stay and watched the sunrise. Colorful bursts of pale orange and pink explode across the sky. It's beautiful to watch. Still, my talons tremble. Mother would be so disappointed.

I look up. It's been dangerous enough to stay out for the sunrise. I have to go back to my safe place.

I push aside ferns and walk towards my fireplace. Since I can't breathe fire myself, I've learned how to start one myself. I rub two stones together. At first I only get a few glowing orange sparks, but in a few minutes, I have a fire.

I grab a stick and skewer a speckled green fish. I hold it over a fire as it slowly roasts. My mother never let me cook my fish. She made me eat them raw. "That's what normal SeaWings do," she said in her cutting voice.

"But what if I don't want to be normal?" I asked.

"Don't say that," Mother snarled. "You should always want to be normal."

"If you wanted me to be normal, why'd you bring me here?" I shot back.

But now there was nobody to stop me from roasting my fish. Sometimes I felt guilty for disobeying her orders- my mother had meant well, hiding me, I thought sometimes. Other times, I wished she had never trapped me here.

Wait. Was that the rustle of talonsteps?

All of the sudden, a bright sapphire dragonet is standing in front of me.

My first response is to scream. "HHHHHHHHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLLLLLLP!" I stop when I realize there's nobody to come help me. I cower.

"Who- who are you?" The dragonet is about my age, with bright blue scales and sky blue underscales. She sounds as scared as I am. "Why are you here? This is- this is miles away from the Kingdom of Sea."

I ignore her. "If you're here to take me away, you can't have me."

"I don't want to take you away," she says confusedly. "I didn't even know you were here." That's followed by a lot of muttering that I can barely make out. She says the word "storm" several times. I'm confused. It's not going to storm. There isn't a cloud in the sky.

"Who are you?" she asks, looking up.

I blink. "I'm nobody. Just forget you saw me, okay?"

"Well, I'm a nobody too," she says with a sigh. "So we have that in common." She squints at me. "You can tell me who you are. It's not like I'm going to tell anyone, and even if I did, there's no way they'd believe a scrawny nobody dragonet like me."

"How old are you?"

"Four."

"We have that in common too," I say. "I'm Minnow." I figure it can't hurt to tell her my name. It's not going to let her know anything new. Even without my name, she could still give away my hiding spot.

She tilts her head. "I'm Keiko."

"Keiko." The word sounds strange on my tongue. "Why are you here?"

She tilts her head again. I'm starting to wonder if that's a thing she does a lot. "My mom kicked me out of the house," she replies. Her voice is casual, but she doesn't meet my eyes. Instead she's fiddling with a bracelet around her wrist.

"Better you leaving than her," I said.

"By the whales, Minnow," she says. I love the way she says it as if I'd known her for years. "I completely disagree. I'd love for my mom to just disappear."

"No, you don't," I say quietly.

"Oh, I'm sorry," she says, looking regretful. "Did your mom leave you on the island?"

"Yeah," I say, my voice forcefully calm. "It's no big deal."

"My mom would love to dump me on an island," Keiko says, plopping down on the sand beside me. She's not looking at her bracelet anymore. "She hates me."

"Really?"

"Yeah," she says softly. "She only likes my brother. 'Storm didn't misbehave in school!'" She lifts her voice to a cranky snarl. "Storm was so gifted in science! Storm got the best grades! Storm was the best hunter! How in the world can you be related to Storm?'"

I sigh. I always wished for a brother or sister to keep me company, but now... I can see it now. Your brother doesn't linger and try to watch the sunrise! Your brother doesn't want to cook his fish! Your brother is actually good at weaving! "Sounds awful."

"Yeah." She pauses. "Well, my mom is. Storm is great."

I'm confused. So she's happy at her brother... and mad at her mom? I've never been good at this 'feelings' stuff.

"I..." she pauses, "I should probably get going."

I want to call out, "Don't go! Please stay!" but I don't want to seem desperate, so I'm silent. "You will come back, right?" I ask. "You're... you're the first dragon I've seen in a long time."

"Awww." She looks down. "Of course I'll come back. I've never met a dragon like you before."

Like me? Is that a good thing or a bad thing? "What does that mean?"

"Friends?" She holds out a talon.

I smile and shake.