NonexistentBeing: Yaaayyyy! I'm so happy you're reading this! Thank you for reading and reviewing!

Thepicduck: Hmm, maybe twenty minutes or so, to come up with the names. Valley, Sandstorm, and Coyote I already had thought of before I started writing, but for the others, I looked up 'desert terms' for SandWing names. Was it really 21 names? Wow. I did not know that. HARAMBE. Thank you for reading and reviewing!

MystycDragon: Yes, it is true. Many, many siblings, and Amber can tell you that. She doesn't like it either. Yes, Amber definitely needs that song to get her through her life. Too bad she doesn't have an iPod. Of course I will take your advice. You give great advice! And I also really appreciate all your feedback. I will ask you if I need anything else. Yes, you do help like a dragon do. And this is a longer chapter, like you wanted! Thank you for reading and reviewing!

dragonwritergirl112: Haha, yeah. Amber's always been a big dreamer. Yes, someday she maybe internet famous. *Is clueless* Oh wait, yeah, you're right. Amber, you need to thank all the amazing people out there who - Amber, are you listening? Well then. Thank you for reading and reviewing!

Redwut: So glad you still love this! I really appreciate that. And I'm so glad you found the chapter title amusing! I'm trying to make funny chapter names for each one, so glad I succeeded. Here's an update! And thank you for reading and reviewing!

Pancake Unicorn: Thanks! Glad you find it funny and like the writing style! This is kind of the dry, sardonic tone of voice that I use sometimes. Here is the sooner rather than later update! Thank you for reading and reviewing!

Chapter Three

Amber

Three years later we return to Amber, who is going to be four years old. Yes, I know I said nothing really happens to our characters until they really turn five, but see, I got ahead of myself, much like quite often do I. It is these crucial moments that really change their lives...for the better...and for the worse (maybe not necessarily but I like the unnecessary drama).

On the day that Amber was hatched, our SandWing heroine woke up with a large smile on her soon-to-be-four-year-old face. She was very excited, because today, it was her hatching days. In case nobody figured that out yet. But yes, she shouldn't have been excited about it, because normally, hatching days in her village were celebrated by going about usual daily business. So basically, they weren't celebrated, because either nobody cared, or everybody forgot.

Amber was hoping everyone forgot. It would be too cruel to forget your own family's hatching days, wouldn't it?

To be fair, Amber didn't really remember any of her other family members' hatching days, but that was quite obviously because they quite obviously were not nearly fascinating or fabulous enough to have a hatching day worth remembering, quite obviously. It's quite obvious, isn't it, by this point? And also, Amber's hatching day may have additionally been even more forgotten than everyone else's because she'd been the only one to hatch on that day…she'd been the only egg.

But, no, if everyone had truly forgotten, then there was absolutely no way they'd forget this hatching day! Because Amber had taken the kind liberty of putting subtle reminders around her village, such as writing "TOMORROW IS AMBER'S H-DAY" on multiple walls of multiple dwelling in mud, loudly commenting about her hatching day whenever the opportunity presented itself and even when it really didn't, pretending to invite everyone to her hatching day party before canceling because there were just too many people coming, and the like.

Yes, even though Amber's family wasn't very good on picking up on low-key subtlety – something Amber was both very good at picking up on and also demonstrating – she was absolutely positive that there was no way her family would forget this hatching day, because all her hints, while very, very small and definitely not too noticeable if one was looking too hard for them, they were right in everyone's snouts. No way in all the moons would anyone forget this year.

So that was why Amber woke up on the fine morning made even finer by the fact that it was her hatching day with a bright smile across her snout, filled with so many expectations for what the day held – finally, a break in her boring routinely life.

She climbed from her cot, tossed the thin cotton sheets into a semi-made formation, and then, with a huge gasping breath that turned into a yawn, she threw open the curtains of the window, letting in a beam of light. Perhaps, there was also a beautiful bird song that wafted in along with the light to beautify the moment even more, but Amber may or may not have imagined that.

If her life were a musical, which she liked to pretend it was, she would've started to sing at this point. And knowing Amber, she did.

"Oh, the sun is up, and so am I!" she began, her voice a soft soprano, like many female leads in many musicals. "Today's a new day, with a bright blue sky! But it's not just any old morning, because today I'll stop mourning, because today something will change! Why do I feel so strange? But it's a good strange – like when you meet the dragon you're going to marry for the very first time – not that I've met that dragon yet, I'm open to all possibilities, but I imagine that's the strangeness that I feeeeeeeeeeeeeeelllllll – " At this, Amber held out a long and gorgeously high note that caused some glass to shatter and some clay to break. And then, as she began to finish up the note, her voice let out a horrendous voice crack the shattered the musical moment.

Yet this did not throw off the little SandWing. She opened her mouth, intent on singing the next verse of her song, but Juniper's grumpy growl interrupted her before she could speak –

"Would you shut up?" the elder dragonet hissed, blinking blurrily from underneath her thin covers. "And close the window? It's so bright, and I know you don't understand the concept of sleep or anything, but DRAGONS LIKE SLEEPING IN THE DARK."

Amber frowned, but shut the curtains hastily, feeling a bit mortified. Well, not mortified, exactly, because she would never admit to feeling that way. Instead, she beamed.

"Good morning, Juniper!"

"It is absolutely not a good morning," came her sister's grumpy reply. "I'm tired, and it's hot, and I have to go walk for ages under the hot sun just to get a bucket of water."

"Well, if you're going to be grumpy about it…" Amber trailed off. "It's a great morning for me, though! It's my hatching day."

"Desert winds, I KNOW!" Juniper roared, thoroughly infuriated. "It's not like you posted this information around the whole village for days on end. THE WHOLE VILLAGE KNOWS."

"Oh good," Amber replied, feeling a thrill of delight light up her insides, before realizing that she should probably get herself checked out, just to make sure she wasn't burning up. "You guys picked up on my subtle hints. Cool. Well, time to go! There's a whole new world of awesomeness out there!"

"There are dragons dying out there," Juniper grumbled. "We're in the middle of a war."

"We aren't," Amber replied. "We're so far out and remote that the SandWing war doesn't involve us. And besides, I thought the dragonets of destiny we're going to save everyone."

The youngest sister exited the room with a flourish of her tail, hearing Juniper's annoyed huff just as she turned the corner… "And there was nothing subtle about those hints…"

Amber proceeded to "good morning" everyone she saw on the way outside. She was amazed at the responses of, "good morning, and happy hatching day to you," that she received in return – so it had worked! Today was going to be a bit different, then, after all!

Amber threw open the front door of her family's small sand abode, ignoring a squeak of indignation as she accidentally hit somebody in the process.

"Mother!" she cried eagerly when she saw Equinox, looking a bit tired but proud nonetheless, holding a fluffy cake that Amber could only assume was for her hatching day. "Good morning!"

"Is it?" came Equinox's response, deflating Amber's elation a bit. "I must say, we got the latest reports regarding the war – some remote SkyWing outpost has been attacked, several dozens killed – and additionally, your uncle Fossil came down with a sickness again, and I swear he's going to spread it to everyone in the village – certainly not a good morning if you ask me."

"Oh," Amber's response came, feeling very small and also a bit annoyed all of a sudden. This was not supposed to happen on her birthday – both her mother being all worried and not happy for her daughter, and also everybody dying and being sick. This was supposed to be a happy day. Couldn't the world just take a moment and freeze and appreciate the small joy that was Amber's hatching day?

"I'll be back, if you're father looks for me – tell him I'm off at Fossil and Haboob's house, taking care of them AGAIN," said Equinox over her shoulder, and she turned right at the next street, leaving Amber to feel a bit crushed.

The day proceeded in a very similar fashion; dragons approaching Amber, holding what looked to be like gifts and treats, only to veer away with some very terrible news, often regarding the war or other maladies various family members were having, and also an excuse as to why they needed to leave immediately.

Amber would not say she was disappointed. Not at all.

"Why don't you go play with your cousins," Valley suggested, but it was more of an order. "You can tell them all your wild fantasies that you have all the time."

"Those aren't fantasies," Amber told her sister promptly. "Those are my dreams. And they're going to happen."

Valley and Sandstorm, who was standing beside her sisters, exchanged amused glances. "Right. I'm sure." Then they too vanished, leaving Amber with her cousins.

"Let's play hide-and-seek," Veld suggested, and all the little dragonets scattered, yelling, "Amber's IIIIIITTTTT!" at the top of their annoying lungs.

"I am not it," Amber decided, and she decided she had enough of her life in the village.

Yes. This was the pivotal moment in Amber's career; in a way, it was good her family was acting in this way. Although it is extremely unlikely, it is possible that if they'd all rushed to say happy hatching day and thrown gifts at her talons like Amber had wished for, then Amber may never have left, ergo she never would've met Forkedblade.

And my, what a sad future that would've been, for the both of them, and for everyone else.

Amber headed home, noting as she travelled back the lack of dragons she encountered on the way, and went up to her room. She took the thin, threadbare sheet from her cot, and used it as a sort of knapsack to place her few treasured belongings in; a necklace, made of some kind of rare gemstone that she and Dusk had found when she was two and Dusk seven, and that Fossil had fashioned into the necklace that Amber treasured to much. She also placed one of her favorite scrolls, titled '101 Ways To Be Come Super Famous,' a handmade stone dagger, and several other items she felt would be necessary on the journey.

Then, with a long and dramatic sigh that was completely needed, Amber began to sing a song of her departure, because of course, that's what always happened in musicals.

(And don't tell me that this isn't a musical).

"The village has grown to small for me," Amber sang out, gazing from the window at the distant horizon, where a cactus probably suddenly felt very uncomfortable at the intensity of her stare. "And I wonder if this is all for me, this simple life in the sand, without setting out as I'd planned, to go explore this land, oh, why is my life so bland?"

And she turned from the window, looking right into the place that a camera would've been if dragons had cameras. "But now I see, I'm supposed to leave. This is what I know I'll always believe. For how else am I supposed to explore, the places I was meant to always explore? And I'll always want more...than this simple life in the sand, without setting out aside planned, and I leave but my heart is heavy with grief, that my time in this village was anything but brief, and though I'm excited, I'll always miss, the family I've held dearly in my heart...this is what brings us apart!"

She took a big breath, making to sing a high note. "And - "

"Would you shut up!"

"What are you still doing here?" Amber asked her sister, Juniper, immensely annoyed. "You were supposed to be up hours ago, doing chores with the rest of us!"

"You weren't doing any kind of chores," Juniper snapped.

Amber shrugged. "Well, at least I GOT UP. Unlike you."

"I need my sleep," Juniper sniffed. "Seeing as you're constantly singing all the time."

"I do not!" Amber flared up. She squared her shoulders, intent on leaving before she and her sister escalated to the point of a major fight. This was a happy day, tinged with the sadness of leaving her family behind. She was not supposed to have petty fights with her sister.

"You just were," Juniper shot back.

"This is a momentous moment of my life, Juniper," Amber replied, swelling with indignation. "Not that you would understand, because you have no momentous moments! Your life is just one blah minute after another! I am leaving, Juniper. Leaving forever! I'm going to find my fortune in this world. It will be hard! I'll face many perilous journeys on the way, many obstacles, many dragons telling me I can't do what I'm destined to do - "

"You're delusional," Juniper deadpanned, rolling over on her cot.

"AT LEAST I HAVE DREAMS," Amber yelled. "UNLIKE CERTAIN DRAGONETS I COULD MENTION WHO CAN'T EVEN BOTHER GETTING OUT OF BED."

"I'M SLEEPING!" Juniper roared back, fiery.

"SURE DOESN'T LOOK LIKE IT TO ME," Amber shouted, with equal amount of fire in her voice. Seriously. She was so mad, she actually huffed fire into the air, and had to stop fighting to double over coughing, because she wasn't quite used to breathing fire without preparation. But that didn't actually happen, because that coughing completely ruined the anger building in the building as Juniper began laughing.

"What a future you'll make of yourself, Amber," Juniper snorted. "Amber, the dragon who can't even breathe fire properly."

"Juniper, the dragon who can't even get out of bed to do her chores properly," Amber managed to shoot back, wheezing still. I mean, no, not wheezing, choking back laughter of her own at her sister's hypocriticalness. She was choking back laughter because she, unlike her sister, was actually civilized and completely respected other dragon's feelings.

"We didn't have chores because it was your hatching day!" Juniper sniffed. "So if it's anyone's fault for my not getting out of bed, IT'S YOURS. SO THERE."

"Don't be silly," Amber protested, deflating slightly at the reminder of her failed hatching day celebrations that her family hadn't delivered on. "Nobody did anything for my hatching day."

"Oh?" Juniper asked, and if dragons had brows to raise, that's probably what she would've been doing. "That must be why you're leaving. Go ahead, then. Nobody will miss you."

Amber huffed. "Don't be silly. That's not why I'm leaving. Only partially why. I'm leaving because there's nothing for me here. And everyone's going to miss me! I was just heading out to initiate a tearful goodbye scene where everyone begs me to stay and cries and wonders whether they should be boring any more."

Juniper rolled her eyes. "Well, I'm not in that everyone. Goodbye then, Amber. Make yourself famous. If you ever bring me proof of your fame, then I'll probably actually start taking you seriously."

Amber's sister didn't even wince when she received a hard thwack to the side from Amber herself. Then, with a whirl of sand-colored scales, Amber disappeared outside, to where her family was waiting.

"SURPRISE!" a chorus of dragon voices yelled in unison as soon as they saw the hatching day dragonet.

Amber did a double take. She fully had not been expecting this at all. She'd ben resigned to her family's boring fates.

As it turned out, her mother had been making a cake for Amber - that was what she'd been carrying earlier. And the various excuses her family members had made regarding sick dragons was all a lie so that they could make preparations for the party. Aunt Haboob was actually sick though.

"Sweetie," Equinox said, handing Amber the cake. She proceeded to hug her daughter and knock that cake from Amber's talons, sending it into the sand. She stepped back. "Oops. I'm so sorry. Oh well."

She didn't look too sorry about the cake's fate, or the extremely mournful expression not only on Amber's face, but also on a lot of other dragons' faces.

"Happy hatching day, Amber," Whirlwind stepped up next. He handed her a wooden flute. "You're, what, seven years old now? How time does fly."

Amber raised her tail, looking very much like a scorpion, as she found herself growing very annoyed. She liked the flute, yes. But couldn't her father actually remember how old she was? "I'm four, actually," she corrected. "But thank you."

"Oh," Whirlwind said. He was already walking away, barely sparing his daughter a second glance. "Happy fifth hatching day, then."

Before Amber could correct him again, Valley and Sandstorm were stepping up. They held what might've been a piñata, except it was very badly constructed.

"Happy hatching day, little sister," Valley said. "This is a piñata. Except there's no candy in it. You're just supposed to appreciate it."

Taking the not-really-piñata into her talons, Amber was feeling more and more crushed. She knew she should appreciate her family. It was the thought that counted, after all, and she should be proud that they'd even caught on to her subtle hints. And besides, nobody every bothered to celebrate a dragon's hatching day before; this was the first time in her lifetime, so she should've been flattered. But it was like nobody cared enough about her...really, I seemed nobody cared enough about anybody, around here...to actually try.

And that was something that Amber realized she hated. She wanted to be somewhere where everyone cared about everybody.

Her cousins proceeded to start a game of tag, and her party erupted into loudness and bored expressions from the grown-up dragons. Some of Amber's siblings hadn't even bothered to show up; Dusk, Sandstorm, and Valley were there, and so was Turquoise, but she was busy admiring herself in a mirror and probably thought the party was for her and not Amber. Her other sisters and all of her brothers hadn't even shown up. Probably thought it was beneath them, or not worth it.

Amber had had enough.

"Guys, I really appreciate all your work," she said, her voice rather quiet. Nobody looked her way, so she tried again, louder. "GUYS, I REALLY APPRECIATE ALL YOUR WORK."

Dragons turned her way, listening to her for once. Being listened to was a rather strange experience. It really didn't happen often.

"But...I've made up my mind," Amber continued. "I'm leaving."

She wasn't sure what she expected when she said these words. Surely, there would be something. Maybe some tears, a few sniffles. In extreme cases, some epic singing as her family came to appreciate musicals, and in majorly extreme cases, she almost expected her mother to say, "Here's the cake for the actual celebration - we're finally free of Amber's presence in this village!" and she'd fly off to cheers at her departure.

She had not expected silence and dragons blinking at her like they didn't speak her language.

"What," Sandstorm asked, but it wasn't really a question so much as just something to say.

"I said I'm leaving," Amber said, making sure to enunciate. "There's nothing for me here. You are my family, but...I want more than this. I want to see the continent, not just see the same place over and over. Maybe I'll come back one day, but for now..." she paused, both because she was feeling emotional and that was not okay, but also for some dramatic effect, "for now, this is goodbye."

Again, her words were met with silence. She swallowed, thinking she'd have to turn around in the awkward pause, each step piercingly loud, and take off into the sky while her family just watched. Maybe when she came back, they'd still be like that, blinking and quiet and unmoving.

"Okay." Someone spoke at last. Amber turned to look at whoever it was in relief. It was Dusk who'd spoken, the sister Amber had been closest to.

"Goodbye then," Equinox added from her place next to her sisters, Amber's aunts.

Then everyone was chiming in to say goodbye, farewell, auf wiedersehen, and good night. Even though it wasn't night, so that didn't make sense.

And Amber was utterly appalled.

"What, that's it?" she spoke over the clamor. "You're just going to let me go?"

"If that's what you want," Equinox said, turning around and pulling the fallen cake from the ground. "It's up to you. Live your life how you want."

"What she said," Whirlwind said agreeably, taking a large talonful of sandy cake and sticking it in his mouth. "Mmph mmmh mph mmfph mm mph."

He probably said something along the lines of, "You're seven years old already."

"Chew with your mouth closed," Equinox scolded.

Amber turned, holding tightly to her knapsack, a strange empty feeling opening up inside her. It was something she'd never felt before. She'd been treated this way before; carelessly, taken for granted, overlooked. But before, she'd been able to brush it off, look down her nose at those who she felt had slighted her and tell herself that everyone was unable to appreciate her fabulousness.

But this...this was something different.

She didn't like this feeling. Not one bit.

But even as she set off, taking into the sky in a flurry of sandy brown wings, a few last goodbyes lifting into the air with her, the feeling didn't leave.

At that moment, Amber never wanted to see her family again.

Author's Note: Briefly. Yes. This is all I actually have to say. Goodbye now. Thank you for reading, and any feedback is much appreciated!