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Fennec briskly walked down to the history cave with the rest of her winglet. Cuttlefish stayed by her side the whole time, looking a bit more cheerful than usual, while Fennec tried to keep the barrier around her mind. Her thoughts remained on Moongazer and Permafrost as she tried to figure out what to make of them.

It was clear that Moongazer was afraid of Permafrost. But Fennec could also see that he was the meek, timid type that was afraid of most dragons. He also had slight black stains on his front claws, so Fennec was pretty sure that he was one of those scrolly dragons. The NightWing also had the trademark teardrop scales behind his eyes, marking him as a dragon with powers.

I wonder who else here has NightWing powers, Fennec thought. She shook her head, clearing it. I'll worry about that later.

She moved on to the next issue at hand: Permafrost. The IceWing - in her opinion, anyways - had nothing wrong with him besides the fact that she didn't know him. His mention of being a jeweler and a sculptor had intrigued her. Not to mention that he must be a lethal fighter. And - she couldn't deny herself this fact - he was good-looking.

I need to find out his secrets. But how?

Until then, she could assess the rest of the winglet.

Hibiscus was too…childish to be anything worth mentioning. She was innocent, besides being guilty of being a little too obnoxious. And too brightly colored. Fennec much prefered the glittery ice-blue of Permafrost or the soft aquamarine of Cuttlefish.

Fennec didn't know much about Quicksand, except that they slept in the same cave and her siblings were here.

But there must be something special about her. She was named 'Quicksand' for a reason.

Fennec paused for minute, glancing down at Cuttlefish. He was looking ahead, admiring all the glass globes that lighted the tunnel.

"Cuttlefish," she said quietly. "I need your help with something. Let's slow down so we can be in the back."

He looked puzzled, but just shrugged before slowing his steps as Fennec did. They fell back, letting Moongazer and Egret pass in front of them. Once they were a tail-length behind the rest of the winglet, Fennec continued.

"What do you make of Quicksand? I'm sure she was named that for a reason. Quicksand - you know, the mud, not the dragonet - kills hundreds of animals every year, and even a few unfortunate dragons. Do you think that she could be dangerous?"

Cuttlefish looked startled that she had even thought of or suggested this, as if every dragon in the whole world could be a cuddly teddy bear with nothing wrong with them.

"Um, I don't know. Maybe for the yellow scales and the speckles. That's what I thought. They're kinda cool looking, you know? Almost like yours, but a little more brown." He suggested, looking her scales up and down while comparing them with Quicksand's.

"Oh. I guess. I never thought about that before," Fennec replied, and little disappointed. She was looking forward to more mysteries to uncover and solve. Well, I still have Moongazer and Permafrost, I guess. But she still didn't really find anything wrong with the IceWing, even though it was obvious that Moongazer was terrified of him.

Maybe they're clawmates, and Permafrost threatened to do something to Moongazer. That could be it. Like, 'If you read my mind one more time, I'll rip your face off.' That totally could be it. I'm a little tempted to do that myself, really. Hopefully this cactus barrier has been working, otherwise that NightWing will know exactly what is going on, and he could hide secrets and information that I need to figure this whole thing out. Hmmm, suddenly an idea popped into her head.

If I could get close to both of them, that could help me claw some things out of them.

Before, however, she could tell Cuttlefish about her plans, they had reached the history cave. Has it really only been a few minutes? It feels like hours, or even days, Fennec thought to herself as they walked inside.

A huge map was hanging on one of the walls, the most detailed map of Pyrrhia that Fennec had seen. In the center of the cave, sitting on a rocky ledge that jutted out from the far wall, sat a large, green-blue SeaWing. He looked tired and bored, and like he would rather be napping or eating. He had a long scar running down his tail that caught Fennec's attention.

I wonder where he got that, she thought while the dragon introduced himself.

"I am Webs," he said a monotone, I-don't-want-to-be-here, and I'm-full-of-boring-information-that-no-one-cares-about voice. "I am your history instructor, and today we will start all the way back to the Scorching. By the end of this week, I would like to be at the birth of Queen Diamond, the mother of the infamous Prince Arctic. At the end of each class, I will allow time for questions. Now, let's begin."

He began droning on and on, and Fennec found it hard to pay attention.

When she glanced over, she saw that Cuttlefish was half-asleep, his eyes green slits and a slight snoring sound emitting from his snout.

"Psst," she whispered out of the corner of her mouth. The sudden sound made Cuttlefish jolt awake and look around widly.

"Wa-huh? I wasn't asleep!" He exclaimed loudly, looking suddenly alert. Webs paused in his lecture and glared down at the SeaWing dragonet. Everyone else in the room turned their heads to look at Cuttlefish, and he smiled weakly and shrank slightly under all the eyes trained on him.

Webs sniffed before continuing, and Fennec turned back to face Cuttlefish.

"So," she started, whispering quietly. "Can I really call you Cuttle?" She asked, referring to their previous class.

"What? Oh, yeah, sure, if you want. That's what my mom calls me. I'm an only hatchling, so I get a lot of attention." His plump figure swelled a little as he filled with pride at the thought of his family.

Fennec felt a slight hole open in her heart as she thought of her family. She had never known her father, her mother was dead, and her only brother was part of a mysterious group and was hardly ever home. And she was now in a strange new place, with only a leather bag and a rock to remind her of home.

Rocks.

Speaking of which, she badly needed to get one of those skyfire rocks from Starflight. Maybe after class she could get Hibiscus to show her where the library was. It would be annoying to have to have the talkative RainWing take her, but it would be worth it if she could keep her thoughts to herself.

After waiting for what seemed like weeks for the class to be over, Webs finally stopped talking and ended with a few questions. The only dragon who asked any was Moongazer, who had looked engrossed the whole time the lesson was taking place.

Finally, the three gongs rang through the tunnels, and Fennec stood up.

"Hey, I'm going to the library to pick something up. Wanna come?" She asked Cuttlefish - or Cuttle now, for short - , who was blinking his bleary eyes and yawning.

"Oh, yeah, sure, why not. I also kind of want to get one of those fancy rocks that Sunny was talking abo-"

Fennec cut his sentence off as she clamped his snout shut with her talons.

"Shhh. I don't want Moongazer to know what we're doing. Or anyone, really. Just pretend that you're going to get a book about shellfish or something."

"How about squid? Those are much better than shellfish. Those things are much too tough and muscle-y," he replied, wrinkling his snout.

Fennec rolled her dark eyes. "Sure, whatever you want. Come on, let's go get Hibiscus before disappears into Dreamland or Wonderland or whatever, in her crazy fantasies that she has." She started over to where the RainWing was chattering happily with Quicksand, who looked almost as happy as she did as when she was with her siblings. Cuttle followed behind her, though a bit more slowly.

Fennec stopped as she reached the pair.

"Hey, Hibiscus. Would you mind showing me where the library is? Cuttle and I want to go check some things out," she said to the RainWing, trying to sound as innocent and cheerful as possible.

"YEAH! Of course! C'mon, Quicksand, you can come, too!"

Fennec felt a little stab of disappointment and frustration at this, but she kept the bright smile on her face. "Great! Well, let's go before the next class starts."

"Oh, didn't you hear? Webs said that there's a free period next, so we can tour around and get to know where things are," Hibiscus told her.

"Oh, no, I didn't hear that. Thanks for the information," Fennec said. How did I miss something a RainWing caught?

Oh, right sorry. Three moons, I've got to be nicer to this tribe.

"Well, what are we waiting for! Let's go, let's go, let's go!" Hibiscus bounded off, and Quicksand smiled and followed after the other dragonet. Fennec glanced at Cuttlefish, who returned her skeptical, I-hope-this-a-good-idea look before they set off, trailing after the other two.

Fennec sped up a little and caught up to Quicksand.

"So…why do you like Hibiscus so much?" She asked the MudWing. "I mean, it's not like I have anything against her or anything," she added quickly as Quicksand turned her gaze to look at her. "It's just…draining to be around her. You know?"

Quicksand smiled a small, shy, and sweet smile. "Oh. I don't know. I guess…" She trailed off and looked ahead at the small RainWing, who was doing some kind of dance, jig, skip and walk thing. "I guess she just makes me happy. Makes me smile. She's really nice, and she helps me…well, as Caiman would say, pull me out of my scales."

"Who's Caiman? Are they your sibling?" Fennec asked. This was a good opportunity to get information.

"Yeah, she's my sister. My bigwings. Our bigwings. She's the bravest dragon I know, ans would do anything for us."

"What are you other siblings' names?" Fennec questioned.

"There's Anhinga - he's the second oldest, and the second biggest. Caiman helped him hatch first. He's kind of quiet, like me. But he's really competitive, and he loves doing stuff with Gravel, my other brother. Those two are always goofing around and playing together. And Anhinga is one of the most talented dragons I know - he can do almost anything you can imagine. Then there's Gravel - he's like Anhinga. He's the skinniest one of us all. He's thin and wiry, so he's super fast, especially in midair. And even on the ground, too. Caiman jokes that she should have named him Burrowing Owl, since he's such a fast runner, and he likes to dig. It's really funny."

"Wait," Fennec quickly interrupted before Quicksand could continue. "Caiman named him? I thought that after the war, Clay and the others changed it so that MudWings would raise their hatchlings like all the other tribes."

"Our father and mother were killed by scavengers before we had hatched."

"Really? Then how do you know they were killed? It if happened before your hatching?" That had to be a lie - maybe they were alive and planning something evil, and Quicksand didn't want anyone to know about it.

"Oh, Caiman asked some other dragons about it and they told us. They said they found their bodies near a scavenger den, both impaled with giant spears in their hearts."

Now that sounded genuine. "Three moons, Quicksand, I'm sorry," Fennec said sympathetically. "My mom was killed by a wing of SeaWings during the war. But anyways, continue with your sibling stories."

Quicksand smiled, then continued. "After Gravel is Sediment. She's the youngest of us all, and the funniest. She tells jokes all the time - she can make anyone laugh, even a NightWing or an IceWing. She's really sweet, and empathetic, and she does her best to help anyone she can. She's always full of hope for the better, and you can never shake her faith."

Fennec looked at Quicksand, with a content, faraway look on her face, as if she was imagining all the times she had spent with her siblings.

I think this is the most I've ever heard Quicksand talk before at one time, Fennec thought. But I guess now I know she hasn't done anything. If Caiman had named them all, then she had most likely just done it based on appearances. She wouldn't name her little sister something sinister so that she would grow up to be like that someday.

Or maybe she has. I'll have to look into the bigwings. Maybe Quicksand isn't evil, but Caiman could be.

Suddenly, Fennec wondered why she was so intent on finding out the darkness in all the dragons at the Academy. She didn't know why - she just knew that a feeling in her gut told her to solve a mystery, even though she didn't know what that mystery was yet.

But she felt something sinister and menacing was lurking just beyond her grasp.