Thanks to Someone Haiku for the idea!

My attempt at a Cleril one-shot. Takes place slightly before the events of Moon Rising.

(And let me tell you, this isn't the typical 'I love you but you don't know' Cleril. But it's not OOC Clay either ;) )

Enjoy!

Peril sighed loudly as she flapped to Jade Mountain. I hope I don't mess everything up by coming... But at least Clay will be there to help me. He always helps me. I'm so happy he let me come, come to the academy and be close to him.

She brightened a little as she thought that. I'll be next to Clay soon. Peril put on a burst of speed, wanting to reach Jade Mountain willingly now. Being a SkyWing, it wasn't too hard.

Soon, the fire-scaled dragoness had the mountain in her sight line. She had to admit, it was rather breath-taking. The jagged peaks spiked into the sky, and the steep ravines and valleys dipped down below. It sort of reminds me of home... but I'm not welcome there anymore.

Peril huffed as an image of Queen Ruby flashed through her mind. But she shook it off and continued. No sense in whining about things I can't change. Besides, I'm almost there. She looked sadly at her heated scales before the comforting picture of Clay seeped through her head. Almost to Clay.

Touching down on a cliff side, Peril looked about for an entrance of some sort. As she paced around, she didn't notice the big, brown, and adorkably handsome Clay pad up behind her.

"Peril! You made it!" he exclaimed, and Peril nearly jumped out of her scales. Clay smiled warmly, however, and she relaxed, looking into those soft eyes that always regarded her with kindness.

"I suppose I did," she replied, a small smile playing her snout. It felt good to be with Clay again. Clay gestured to the mountain.

"C'mon, I've got a special tour all ready for you!"

Clay beamed happily, and the bulky MudWing and the sizzling SkyWing made their way inside. Peril was careful not to touch anything in fear of burning it to a pile of ash and smoke. However, her intense blue eyes took in everything about the mountain, remembering that this was near the very mountain that Clay had grown up in, and that meant it was near where her mother had been for years in end, all the while neglecting her only surviving offspring.

This put a damper on her brightening mood, so she tried to shake it off. Come on, Peril. Don't dwell on the past! You're here, with Clay now. Be grateful. She smiled a little as she gave herself a confidence boost. Be happy.

Peril had been so wrapped up in her own inner conflicts that she didn't notice Clay had come to a stop. She walked right into him, luckily refocusing before they both fell, though Peril stumbled around a little. Clay put out a wing to steady her, and Peril smiled, big this time. Yes. I will be happy here, with a dragon who cares. "Sorry," she apologized after they'd both recovered. "Didn't mean to—"

She was cut off by Clay's chuckle. "Peril! It's fine, besides, I want to show you something!" He waved off her slip-up of clumsiness. Peril just nodded and followed him into a giant cavern.

It was like a mini, very diverse forest. All kinds of fruit and trees grew everywhere, and there were lots of goats and chickens and—

"So, this is the prey centre, where all the students will come to eat. Uh, speaking of which, we can get a snack... If you like." He sheepishly lowered his head, though his stomach growled loudly.

Peril laughed. "Uh, sure we can! I'm a little hungry too, after flying."

She watched Clay brighten a little. "Okay! You, um, just stay here, okay?" Peril nodded, and sat on top of a boulder, again not wanting to ruin anything. Clay has probably worked so hard on this...

Soon the MudWing came back with a cow for the both of them. "I'll come sit with you," he decided.

Hopping up onto the boulder, he slid the cow over to Peril. "I didn't know if you liked it cooked o—" he stopped mid-sentence as the SkyWing placed her talons on the cow and watched as it blackened and cooked. He nodded mutely, eyes widening.

Peril looked up at him out of the corner of her eye as she bent down to eat. "I know what you're thinking," she muttered. "You shouldn't have let a dangerous monster like me come to the academy, where I can kill all the innocent youth, right?" She sneered bitterly down at the charred cow.

Clay shook his head vigorously. "Why would you think that? Of course I'm a little concerned for the students," he winced as Peril tensed, "but I want you to be happy, too! I want you to be with me, by my side like my other friends!" He put a talon on her clenched one, watching her relax as his fire-proof scales didn't go up in flames.

"Peril," he started. "Please try, for me?"

Her snout tilted upwards, a glint of hope in her eyes, but she stayed silent. I'm not even sure what to do anymore Clay...

But you'll help me. You always do.

"I will try for you," she settled on saying. "I will try for you and you alone." She gave Clay a half-smile, which he returned.

"Thank you Peril." He put a wing over Peril's shoulder slowly, and she tensed, but at the same time felt comfortable. She sort of wanted to stay there for a long while, but the silence was seeping into everything.

Deciding to change the subject, Peril spoke again. "Hey Clay, where is everyone else?" She hadn't seen scale nor tail of anyone else; other than Clay. Where'd they all go?

This time, it was Clay who felt uncomfortable. "Well, I don't really know... I think they're getting their classes organized," he replied. He continued before Peril felt bad again—even he knew that most of his friends turned their nose up at the SkyWing.

"Speaking of which, we can talk about that now," he said, getting up off of the rock. "I'll explain how everything works on our way through the mountain."

The two dragons left the prey centre, and Clay proceeded to show Peril the rest of the mountain, all the while smiling and explaining to her how classes and winglets worked.

Peril had chosen to be her own winglet, since she didn't want to be in a cave with the students. It seems that I'm usually better off alone.

So Clay had taken her to a private cave, which Peril gladly accepted. "Thanks Clay," she murmured.

"For what?" Clay cocked his head.

"For... everything you do for me."

The big MudWing smiled. "Oh, don't thank me," he said, trying to wave off the compliment. He could feel his scales flush. "I'm just being a friend."

Peril's blue eyes darkened a bit. But what if I want more than a friend?

There was a sudden screech that echoed through the halls, breaking the second long silence. Clay jumped to his feet. "Oh no, I think the shelving fell on Starflight again..." He turned back to Peril. "Y-you don't mind if I go help, right?"

Peril shook her head, knowing that Starflight could be hurt and Clay was the only medically trained dragon. Besides, it's not like I could go with Clay and help anyone.

Clay smiled quickly and raced off. Peril sighed and went to organize her sparsely decorated, yet fire-proof cave.

Later, Clay came back to Peril's cave, exhausted from calming Starflight, and in turn Fatespeaker, and helping Tsunami and Sunny with fixing the scroll shelves.

He stepped into the cave, only to find that Peril had fallen asleep on her stone slab of a bed. Clay smiled softly at her peacefully slumbering form. He glanced at a special torch outside in the hall that he and his friends had marked for each part of the day, and it had burned down to the last third. Nighttime.

He turned to go, back to his own cave, but a rather loud and heavy step shook his SkyWing companion from her sleep. "Clay?" Peril murmured groggily.

Clay stepped back into the cave. "Yeah, it's me," he whispered. Peril smiled sleepily, yet it was a hopeful smile. The mixed brown dragon shifted on his talons, an idea striking him. It would be good to make her feel comfortable here, especially on her first night.

"Hey, Peril... I could keep you company for your first night," he offered, pointing to a spot near her half-asleep self.

Peril seemed to brighten. "R-really?"

Clay nodded, "Sure!"

"Thank you, Clay," Peril accepted, the happiest she'd been all day, though it was hard to tell in the low light.

So Clay settled down on the ground near Peril, who had fallen back asleep quickly. He couldn't seem to sleep, however, as his heart was fluttering and his gut was turning. What is going on with me? He looked up to where Peril lay, and felt his pulse quicken. Something about her made him feel so... content. I guess that's how friends like Peril make you feel?

Clay really had no clue about what he was feeling. But he kind of liked it, though he was sure what he was feeling was just a passing thing that happened with friends sometimes. Right?

As sleep slowly began to steal him away, Clay absentmindedly—maybe even unknowingly—slipped his tail around hers, since it was hanging off of the stone. Her warm scales against his hard ones.

Whether they were friends or something else, it felt sort of... right.

"Good night," he whispered into the darkness.

I acutally really like how this turned out, what about you? Tell me your thoughts. ;)

Cleril ftw, y'all. (Also, let's not have the comments blow up with shipping wars)

Also, if you're one of my readers, listen up! The reason new chapters on Rainy Night, Midst of Battle and any other of my full-time fics see taking so long is becuase I'm editing the chapters that were already written. Some of the chapters were poorly written and I want everything to be better than it was. I hope you can bear with me! If anyone wants to help or something, feel free to shoot me a PM!

Satisfyingly, Clearly