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Cometa hugged her knees to her chest. Of all the things that could have resulted from the choice she made, she never expected this to happen. She was no longer welcome here. The beautiful performer's outfit that her friends had worked so hard to make for her was torn beyond repair. It was her punishment, that they would be forced to rip away at the outfit, to destroy the thing they put so much work into. Tear it right off her skin.
The whole experience had left Cometa feeling broken. Now, she could only wait for her exile. It would be soon, right after the humiliation passes. The joke was on them. Cometa wasn't ashamed of her decision. She wouldn't let them take her pride away.
A young looking dragon approached her. His human form, unlike the fiery look of her own family, looked quite icy and cold. He seemed to be the only one who looked at her with any kind of respect. Her friends' punishment was done, and now they only looked at her with pity, for she was paying a steeper price. Cometa was sure her own family was ashamed of her. But the pale blue man in front of her seemed to understand.
Cometa shivered as he got closer, her own body temperature, which normally was as hot as the brightest star, was not used to the contrast he brought. He held out his hand for her to take. Cometa accepted it. The banishing ritual was already under way then. Cometa followed custom and did not speak a word. She simply did what the man instructed her to do with a neutral face.
He lead her onto a balcony, which had been removed of all railings. It was a launch pad, to describe it in the best of terms. Cometa let him position her on the ground, letting him properly show how to arrange into the form of a coiled ball. Against her better judgement, she let out a sigh of dejection. The man looked at her and offered a sad smile. Now came the hard part.
He went through his own transformation, an ice dragon, white as the purest snow. He came to lay flat on the ground, staring straight at the huddled fire dragon on the floor. Then he opened his gaping mouth, and a white mist drifted out, enveloping her. Cometa felt her body freeze stiff, her skin naturally reacting to the drop in temperature by creating a shield of molten rock around her. This was natural, expected, and dealt with. That shield hardened into a rock, the freezing blast continuing until Cometa felt numb, as the rock shell was ice cold and seeping into her. A few minutes later, the numb feeling had transformed into drowsiness.
Unable to stop herself, Cometa fell asleep, her body frozen stiff. When she wakes up, she will be far away from her home, wherever her people send her. Things will never be the same.
Cometa woke up with a jolt. The memory still fresh in her mind. Noticing the clock on the wall, she quickly left the couch. She would get ready now, and leave for school early, the dragon decided. She was bound to get lost after all. Having smoothed out her uniform, Cometa left the building, combing out her hair as she walked around the dark streets. The dream was just that, a dream. She would never let herself regret, or feel sad, about that past.
"Hey, Cometa! Are you late, too?" Cometa perked up at the voice. Good, her friend was safe. She looked over at the green haired boy, who had a newcomer next to him. Closing the distance, she walked up to Makoto, offering a small smile.
"I got lost," the dragon said. She had been wandering around in the dark for what was probably hours. When the sun came up, her situation had hardly improved. She glanced out of the corner of her eyes to notice Makoto's companion rolling his eyes a bit.
"This is my friend, Haruka Nanase," Makoto introduced. Cometa nodded and bowed slightly, trying to appear casual.
"It is nice to meet you, Haruka Nanase. As I said yesterday, you shall have my loyalty. A friend of Makoto's shall be my friend as well," Cometa decided it would be best to pledge loyalty right away. Haru remained unreadable, a trait the dragon found herself jealous of.
"Well then, we'll be late together than," Makoto said casually. Cometa smiled and fell into step beside the two boys, glad to not have to rely on her own sense of direction.
As it had yesterday, lunch came quickly. She had gone through all previous classes in a trance, hardly paying attention. Cometa did her best to keep an unreadable expression on her face, no matter how hungry she was. A mere mortal would not best her here. Once class ended, she quickly found her two friends and followed them to their prefered location, the rooftop.
"You like squid?" Makoto asked. Cometa had been about to leave the two to find Haruka something to eat, when the obvious smell of meat entered the air. The dragon froze, feeling conflicted, knowing she probably looked like a begging puppy as she glanced back at her friends.
"Haruka, Makoto!" a new voice shouted. Cometa immediately ran back up the stairs, immediately on guard of the stranger.
"It's been forever! It's been a long time, huh? Guess who finally made it," The voice belonged to a golden-haired-child-looking person. Cometa sent a subtle glare his way, determined to make sure he didn't pull anything funny.
"Wait, Nagisa?" The two boys' realization entered Cometa's ears, making her immediately back off. They knew him, so she would come to know him as well. Stepping to the side, she let the three boys have their small reunion.
Cometa stood off to the side on the rooftop, the other three conversing about things she couldn't understand. Still, she couldn't help but admire all three. Makoto had been her first official friend, and the first person to have shown her kindness in a while. Haruka's standoffish attitude was something to be admired and sought after, to a dragon like herself. And last but not least, Nagisa's childish attitude was something the girl could appreciate, her hoarding dragon side kicking in.
She had already pledged her loyalty to Nagisa a few minutes ago, and the memory of his reply brought a smile to her bored face. "Cool, that's so generous of you. Though it makes you sound a bit weird."
Glancing at the three boys, she noticed Makoto looking at a girl across from the group. Deciding now would be a good time to tune back into the conversation, Cometa walked back up to the three.
Soon enough, lunch was over, and the group began walking back down the stairs. The three boys talked about their old swim club. Cometa tensed when they said they were going to go there. The only one who didn't seem very enthusiastic about visiting it was Haruka,
"May I accompany you guys? I would like to make sure nothing goes wrong," Cometa was already showing signs of a dragon's natural hoarding instincts, though instead of the traditional treasure, it seemed more aimed at human beings. Protecting what she considered her own was to be expected. Still, even though she would have followed them anyway, she was glad when Makoto gave her permission.
So the plan was set, Haruka had been lured over with the promise of access to a pool. Come to think of it, Cometa looked forward to swimming for the first time. Then she could participate more in their conversations.
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