The day finally came for Silverside to go to school. Needless to say, she was both excited and apprehensive. This was going to be such a new experience for her, and of course she didn't want it to turn out bad in any way.

From what she understood, the first day of school was about making a statement for yourself. You needed to tell everyone what you're like and try to leave a good impression. Silverside would've brought along a few wooden statues that she made just to show the class, but she still hadn't received any wood carving supplies from Assiduity. She assumed that he was too busy to really get her any, which she could understand. She just wished that she would be able to get back to carving wooden statues.

"Hopefully you have a good first day," said Darkthought when the three dragonets were all gathered in front of the door. "I'll wish you luck."

"Yeah, you're going to need it," Cometchaser snorted. Darkthought whacked her with his wing and Cometchaser shouted, "Hey, I was only joking!"

Darkthought rolled his eyes. "Anyway, Silverside, I hope that school doesn't turn out badly for you," he said.

Silverside nodded. "Thanks—thanks—thanks," she said. She smiled at Darkthought and he smiled back at her.

"I'm sure school would be enjoyable for you," Assiduity said as he came up to them. He looked at Silverside with a slight smile. "But if it doesn't, then you can come back here, okay?" he asked. "If you don't feel comfortable or anything, then feel free to return here."

"O-Okay," Silverside mumbled. She liked how gentle Assiduity was toward her. It was different from the treatment that she was used to from Diligence. But at the same time, it didn't feel quite right for Silverside. The way that Assiduity treated her was just so unfamiliar to her.

"Are we going to leave or what?" asked Cometchaser irritably. Her tail lashed along the floor.

"Yes, we were just about to leave," Darkthought replied. "It would probably be best if you kept that mouth of yours quiet the entire way. I don't think Silverside would like it if you were running your mouth off the entire way through."

"Okay, I do not run my mouth off!" Cometchaser said indignantly. She raised her chin and continued speaking, but her words became lost to Silverside. They melted right into background noise that barely felt significant to Silverside. Right now, they didn't matter that much.


The trip to school felt amazing to Silverside. She still couldn't believe that the outdoors looked this beautiful. The sky was a pale blue this morning with white clouds floating peacefully against it. Amber and brown leaves coated the ground and as the houses of other dragons went past them as they continued on the dirt path to school.

Silverside listened as Darkthought and Cometchaser bickered with each other. Their words passed through her head, barely important compared to the refreshing sight of leaves being blown away by the wind or the feeling of rough dirt beneath her claws. She knew that to Cometchaser and Darkthought, this hardly meant anything to them. But to Silverside, this meant the entire world to her.

Well, really, it was part of the entire world. She knew that there was still so much out there that she could explore. There were still towering mountains and lush jungles that she could explore, along with smooth expanses of sand and ice. She wondered if there would ever be a day where she gets to see such vast lands. From what she's seen in the time that she took to explore the outdoors yesterday, she saw that there was a single mountain that laid outside of the town.

She was especially interested in the ocean. Silverside didn't know if she was able to survive underwater, but she was almost sure that she could 'breathe' underwater. From what she read about the ocean, it was an endless watery land full of mystery and adventure.

Of course, Silverside recalled that part of her appearance was based off of that of a SeaWing's. Diligence never really explained to her why, but the way he spoke about it with such sharp bitterness in his voice told her that it was something that he didn't like to talk about. She was still interested in the story, but she didn't want to make her father feel uncomfortable.

Thoughts of regret crossed her mind as she realized that now she might not ever get to hear that story. But did it matter? Was it really important? It probably wasn't, but it still left an aching sense of curiosity in Silverside that might now never be satisfied.

But there wasn't anything that she could do about that now. The best she could do right now was try to move past that. She had a new opportunity here at school.

She was ready.


But not as ready as she thought she would be, apparently.

It wasn't that the school looked bad. It was actually rather nice. Smooth stone walls made up the hallways and the ceilings were raised high above the ground. It was lit up by torches lined along the wall and a couple of papers that promoted clubs and school events were posted on a bulletin board. It wasn't the school's appearance that made her feel nervous.

But if she thought that Cometchaser was loud, then the school was even louder.

Students shouted and screamed at each other and the sound of it made Silverside's ears hurt. The students were a large mass of black and before Silverside knew it, she was separated from Darkthought and Cometchaser in the sea of dragonets.

Silverside tried to push past the students and make her way to where she was supposed to go. But wait, where was she supposed to go anyway? She lost both of her guides within the few minutes that she arrived.

She started to feel queasy and nauseous. What was going on in the school? What were these students doing? What was she supposed to do? Where was she supposed to go? Dragons surrounded her everywhere she went and it was nearly impossible for her to try and find her way around the school.

And now the other students were staring at her.

"Whoa, is she new?"

"She looks weird."

"Oh my gosh, is she a hybrid?"

A hybrid. That was what Diligence intended for her to look like. At first she felt proud to know that her appearance was unique compared to other dragons, but now she wished that she looked just like a normal NightWing. She stuck out in this crowd, and because of that so many eyes were looking at her and it was awful.

Silverside opened her mouth to try and say anything to these dragonets, but nothing came out. Not that it mattered anyway, as the other dragonets started bombarding her with questions about who her parents were and where she came from.

Her head started to hurt, and she quickly turned the other direction to get away from the group of dragons.


Silverside was ashamed to know that she lasted less than even two hours.

She managed to find her way to the school office and insisted that she should go back home. It took a while for her to convince them to let her go, but in the end, Silverside won and she was heading back to Assiduity's house. She was coming back with a little letter from the school that explained her early dismissal, and she grimaced as she looked at it.

When Assiduity opened the door, Silverside was looking down at her talons. She didn't look up to see his reaction to her sudden appearance and instead handed him the letter before going off to her room. There, she flopped down onto the bed and stared blankly at the ceiling.

She had noticed that there was a new box in her room but she tried not to pay too much attention to it. Maybe it was just something that Assiduity needed to store away in her room for a while.

She heard her door open and Assiduity walked to the side of her bed. Silverside raised her head to look at him. "Hi—hi—hi," she said.

"I'm sorry that your first day of school didn't turn out very well for you," Assiduity said. His gentle voice was thick with sympathy and Silverside felt a pang of regret. She wished that she didn't have to hear that kind of tone in his voice.

But after that, not a single word came out of either of them. It felt like a long, quiet eternity.

Finally, Assiduity said, "If you noticed the new box, then I suggest that you should go check it out. It's a gift for you." Then he turned and left, closing the door behind him. Silverside thought that it was nice of him to close the door.

But now she was curious about the box. She didn't think that it might be anything for her, but she remembered asking Assiduity for wood carving supplies.

Silverside got off of the bed and headed over to the box. There was a note pasted on the top of it and she took it into her talons and read what the note said.

To Silverside,

I'm sorry that I'm late in getting these materials for you. I got a little bit caught up with other business, so I didn't have much time to go out and look for these. I hope you like them.

Assiduity

Almost at once, Silverside tore open the box and took a look at what was inside. It was the wood carving supplies that she had asked for!

Light bubbles started to form in her chest and her scales felt warm with delight. He really got this for her? He really did. He remembered that she asked for these and he did get these for her.

From there, Silverside forgot about anything else that existed in the world. Her mind was now settled in some kind of peaceful area where nothing existed except for her and her new supplies. What happened at school never occurred, and as she started to go to work on a new piece, all felt right with the world.

She could just disappear into her work like that.