Qibli
When Qibli was four years old, his brother and sister had turned his favorite stuffed bear into food for their neighbor's dog.
When he was eight, his mother had used a switchblade to slice open his nose, giving him a scar he still had today.
When he turned ten, instead of getting a birthday cake he had been thrown in jail for a week for stealing a necklace from a jewelry store.
When he was twelve, his mother had sold him like an item at the market to a woman he didn't even know.
So going to college had never exactly crossed his mind.
To be honest, he hadn't actually believed he was that original until he left the Scorpion Den, where immediately he felt he stuck out like a sore thumb. In the Scorpion Den, stories like this were common; the town wasn't exactly made up of prodigies and scholars. At least everyone there had been to jail at least once, it was impossible to walk anywhere without spotting some sort of injury, and so far Qibli had heard of a few other cases where children were sold like slaves.
Honestly, he always thought that he got off lucky. He ended up with Queen Thorn, the woman who changed his life forever, and the Outclaws had given him the family he never had. For once, he belonged somewhere, and he didn't want to leave. He was perfectly happy with spending the rest of his days serving Queen Thorn, helping her with whatever queenly-business she had to attain to, and basically just being a regular Outclaw.
Regular Outclaws didn't meet NightWing-SandWing hybrid dragonets of destiny. Regular Outclaws didn't get scholarships to universities miles away. Regular Outclaws basically just didn't leave the Sand Kingdom. Even on the bus ride to the school, even as he walked through the set of big glass doors, whether or not this was actually a good idea was still tossing itself around in Qibli's mind, bouncing around like it just couldn't settle. If he had to, he was ready to bolt back out those doors and sprint all the way back to the Sand Kingdom if he had to.
Right away, as Qibli stepped into the building labeled the Jade Dormitory, he knew that he wouldn't exactly be a 'regular student' no matter how much he tried. His simple clothes and lack of belongings didn't exactly match up with the privileged lives of everyone who basically hadn't lived in poverty their whole lives. It was then that Qibli was actually grateful for those diplomatic meetings that he had gone on with Queen Thorn; if he hadn't, he probably would have been humiliated by all the stares he got.
But by this point, he had learned something simple: if something was different, people didn't like it. And Qibli was perfectly okay with being different in that kind of way. While he would prefer to be a regular Outclaw serving Queen Thorn, when it came to the rest of the world he preferred to stand out.
Which is probably why he got so much amusement from that Ice he had seen in the elevator.
It wasn't as if he didn't like him; that Ice—Winter, was it? Yeah, it wasn't like he didn't like him. It was just the Ice's attitude, from the way he turned up his nose like he had a stick up his ass, and the way he lofted around on the cloud of him being a prince that just stuck out to Qibli as the kind of dragon that was so different from the dragons he had seen in the Scorpion Den.
The fact that he was able to be annoyed so easily though—that was what really got Qibli. It was just like by simply existing the Ice seemed irritated, which, for some unexplainable reason, seemed hilarious to Qibli.
Which was probably why he practically fell out trying to coax him out of the boys' room.
"Come on Winter—it wasn't that bad," Qibli said to the door, though the thought of an Ice prince being skewered like a shish kabob for being a pervert was enough to bring tears to his eyes from holding back laughter.
"I know you're laughing!" A muffled voice called, and Qibli allowed a small snicker to escape before managing to choke out. "What, laughing, who's laughing? Certainly not me, I'm not laughing! I don't even know what laughter is," he pronounced, adjusting an invisible neck tie like the one Winter wore. Even if Winter couldn't see it, Qibli could still sense the Ice's annoyance from behind the door, as he heard what sounded like a few curse words.
Raising his eyebrows, Qibli placed a hand over his mouth in mock shock. "By jove, Winter! You're not cursing are you? And Ice prince would never curse, as all they are allowed to talk about is politics and ice!" He said, adjusting an imaginary monocle.
From behind him on the couch, Qibli heard a small giggle, and glanced over, recognizing the same dark skin and jet black hair he had seen walking in. It was that Night girl again, wasn't it? She was kind of cute, but for the most part she hadn't said anything to Qibli all day, keeping her nose in that book. He wasn't sure if she had even unpacked, but he wasn't about to go check, remembering what happened to Winter.
Speaking of Winter, there was a sudden silence as the sound of a lock clicking sounded in the door, followed by a door opening to reveal a very angry-looking Ice, his face flushed blue. "Yeah, yeah, big hoo-ha! I almost got skewered, are you happy, Sand?" Winter asked, shoving a finger in Qibli's chest. At this moment, Qibli figured it was a time when he should have been phased, but judging from Winter's rumpled clothes and blue flushed face, it was hard to take him seriously.
"Well, that part was kind of funny, but I wouldn't want you to die or anything, because then what would I do without my best roommate?" He asked, purposely drawling out the words as he wrapped an arm around Winter's shoulders, which instantly caused the Ice to stiff up as his face turned an even deeper shade of blue. "I—well I—you just—" Winter stuttered, struggling for words, which made Qibli smirk.
Adjusting Winter into a headlock, Qibli bent down and started ruffling Winter's hair. "C'mon, admit it, you love me!" He cried over Winter's yelps of surprise."UNHAND ME YOU RUFFIAN!" He protested, which only made Qibli laugh harder.
Between Winter's cries, Qibli's laughter, and the delight he got from watching that Night girl peek up from her book to watch them, he didn't catch the creaking of the door. He didn't notice the soft footsteps that echoed in the kitchen, or the click of the lock as the door closed.
In fact, Qibli didn't notice the Mud that was entering the room until he as standing, frozen in the walkway between the kitchen and the living room, staring at Qibli as he tormented Winter. "Um...did I come at a bad time?"
Startled, Qibli looked up for a second, giving Winter just enough time to escape his hold, panting and brushing off his wrinkled shirt. "Damn it...thanks a lot, SandWing," he grumbled, inspecting his shirt like it was made of the finest fabric, which it probably was. Smirking, Qibli leaned against the wall, looking at the Mud. Hadn't that Night girl said that there would be at least one tribe in each dorm? That would explain the Mud, who had entered as if he had walked in on a gunfight.
Leaning against a wall, Qibli smirked at the Mud, cocking his head toward Winter. "Ignore him. He's being a pussy," he said, not as an insult, but more like it was a common fact, like he was saying "the sky is blue." Somehow, that managed to irritate Winter even more.
Smiling with that weird crooked smile he always hated, Qibli reached out a single hand toward the Mud. "I'm Qibli. The Ice over there is Winter, my best friend—"
"OBJECTION!"
"He adores me. Anyways, you are?"
For some reason, as Qibli spoke to the Mud, he noticed something...off. As he spoke, he noticed the Mud's cocoa-colored face flush red, as if he had just swallowed a jalapeno pepper (which Qibli had learned never to do again). Beads of sweat popped up on his forehead, and he suddenly looked up at Qibli as if he couldn't speak. "I...I..." he muttered, stuttering like Winter had done when he was gasping for breath.
Biting the inside of his cheek, Qibli arched an eyebrow. "Um, are you—" he began, but before he could finish, there was a loud creak of a door, followed by an excited squeal. "OOOH—IS THAT OUR NEW ROOMMATE?" Kinkajou cried from the doorway of the girl's room, clapping her hands together, and at first Qibli almost at the instinct to cover his eyes after remembering what happened to Winter.
Standing right before him, was Kinkajou, dripping wet and covered in nothing but a towel, one around her body and one wrapping up her hair. However, even tucked away, Qibli saw the towel glowing shades of bright lavender and gold from her hair, swirling around like a mini disco ball. "HI! I'm Kinkajou!" Kinkajou cried, rushing forward and leaving wet footprints on the carpet.
Beaming, Kinkajou held out her hand, waiting for the Mud to shake it, which apparently snapped him out of whatever trance he was in. "Oh...um, I'm Umber," he finally said, obviously taken aback by Knkajou's exuberance. Kinkajou either didn't notice or was just used to people's reactions, as she completely ignored Umber's hesitance and slung her arm over his shoulder, gesturing around the room.
"Right, that's Winter, Qibli, Moonwatcher, and in there is Carnelian," she was saying, pointing at the girl's room, which was now wide open, and Qibli realized it was the first time he had actually seen the Sky. She was tall, with an athletic build and bright red hair, hanging off her head in a messy ponytail. Her skin was tanned, as if she had spent a long time working outside, and looking closely Qibli realized she had a long scar lacing around her arm.
Lounging on a large armchair, Carnelian sat, using a rock to sharpen something that looked like a small knife. Her black leather jacket and ripped pants kind of gave off a "don't touch me or I will literally f*** you over" vibe, something that Qibli had encountered quite a lot back home. If someone told me that Carnelian was from the Scorpion Den, he realized, I would believe it in a heartbeat without a second thought.
For some reason, Carnelian reminded Qibli somewhat of his mother, which instantly made him uncomfortable. The only difference, he thought, was that while Cobra would mix a poison and kill you without even getting her hands dirty, Carnelian would probably get up close and kill you in weapon-to-weapon combat without a single thought. This girl could kill someone as easily as I could open a soda can, he realized.
Glancing up as Kinkajou called her name, Carnelian glared and did nothing except use a finger that Qibli knew was a favorite in the Scorpion Den. Glancing over, he saw Winter glare back, and Umber shifted uncomfortably. Kinkajou, however, appeared to be particularly unphased, beaming and contining. "Over there is Moonwatcher, but I call her Moon," she continued, gesturing to the Night girl on the couch, and Qibli snapped his fingers. That's what her name was!
At the sound of her name, Moonwatcher, or Moon, looked up from her book, startled. "What? Did you say something?" She asked, obviously not having expected anyone to speak to her, and Qibli realized that that was actually the first time he had heard her voice. It was kind of...nice.
Is my face red? Shit, my face is red, Qibli thought, almost internally ordering his face to go back to it's original color.
Kinkajou smiled, patting Umber's shoulder. "Yep! Moon, meet our new roommate, Umber! He's gonna be out Mud," she was saying, and Umber gave a smalll smile and waved weakly at Moon.
Suddenly, Kinkajou froze, as if something had suddenly dawned on her. "Wait a second..." she said, counting on her fingers to seven, then beamed. "Hey! Now that Umber's here, we have all the member's of our dorm now!" She exclaimed, now the gold in her hair threatening to overcome the lavender. Clapping her hands together, she looked around, then paused, gazing around the room, as if she had just noticed something.
"Wait a minute," she said, pressing her finger to her chin inquisitively as her hair shifted to a shade of pleasing blue, which Qibli figured probably meant curiosity. "Where's Turtle?" She asked, and for the first time, Qibli noticed that Turtle was mysteriously missing too. Wasn't he that Sea prince? Though Qibli would never say it out loud, he didn't seem particularly prince-like; for some reason he had always imagined a prince as someone gallant and handsome and looking slightly tortured, kind of like Winter, he thought.
Turtle had seemed...almost the opposite of that. In fact, Qibli thought that the Sea was actually going to have a seizure right there in the middle of the room with the way he was acting when everyone had been giving him all that attention. As far as he remembered, Turtle had slipped off to the bathroom right after. Was he still in there?
Walking over, Kinkajou experimentally rapped on the door three times. "Turtle? Are you still in there?" She asked, her blue hair swirling. For a moment, Kinkajou was met with silence, before there was a low sigh. "Yeah. I'm here," a small voice said, before there was the click of a lock, and Turtle stepped out of the bathroom, laptop under his arm, looking sheepish.
"Um...hi," he said, his face turning red underneath the lights on his face as he realized that everyone was just standing in the middle of the living room, all just looking at him.
"Turtle; this is Umber! He's our new Mud roommate!" Kinkajou cried, waving her arms in manner like she was an auctioneer auctioning off a painting. "With Umber, that means our dorm is finished! YAY! Kinkajou cried, bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet, clapping her hands together as gold and yellow again spiked through her hair, along with hints of pink.
As she bounced though, Qibli noticed that the towel around her waist was starting to slip. Umber, however, seemed to noticed first, for as soon as she started bouncing, his eyes widened as he quickly turned his head and covered his vision. "GAH! Kinkajou!" Moon suddenly shouted, quickly hiding her face in her book as the towel around her body loosened and Qibli and Winter averted their eyes. Curiously enough, Although Turtle covered his eyes, he peeked just a little bit through his fingers.
"Oh! Sorry," Kinkajou said, hoisting up her towel again and racing back into the girl's room. Fifteen minutes later, Kinkajou emerged wearing a flowery pink and yellow tank top with tulle on the ends and small shorts, and small pink sandals. A single gold headband with a flowery clip pushed back her short, curly hair, and a wide bean split her face as if she hadn't almost stripped in front of all of them.
Really, the towel hadn't come off enough to expose anything, but it was still enough for everyone to avert their eyes just in case. Well, except maybe Turtle, Qibli thought, glancing over at the Sea, who was now sitting behind the couch typing something on his laptop, his face bright red as if he were now embarrassed about it.
Gazing around the room, Kinkajou looked at her roommates, then frowned. During the time it had taken her to get dressed after her...ah, incident, everyone had kind of gone off and done their own thing. While Moon was obviously still reading and Turtle was still writing at one thing, Winter was sitting in the boys' room with the door wide open, trying to feed Bandit what looked like a bit of hamburger, Carnelian was off in the girls' room just being Carnelian, Umber sat on the couch, looking like he was trying to text someone, and Qibli sat in the kitchen, chewing on an apple, digging through his bag, trying to find the headphones he had brought.
"Come on, guys!" Kinkajou said, stamping her foot as if there was something wrong with the scene before her that only she could see. "We've got our whole dorm together now; we should do something!" Kinkajou cried, as if the situation was obvious. From the girls' room, Carnelian scoffed. "Yeah, no thanks," she said in a voice that seemed sarcastic and cruel. Huffing, Kinkajou whirled around. "C'mon Carnelian; please?" She begged.
Glaring, the Sky flashed another finger, then stood up and slammed the door in Kinkajou's face, only inches from her nose.
Curiously, Qibli looked up from his bag, arching an eyebrow. "Well. what would we do?" He asked, mildly curious as he leaned against the counter, his words muffled as he spoke through his apple.
Kinkajou crossed her arms, her finger against her chin, which Qibli was starting to notice she always did when she thought. "Um...oh I don't know! Qibli, do you know any places?"
Qibli shook his head; he had only been out of the Sand Kingdom for about a day. He didn't know where the nearest grocery store was, let alone a good place it would be to quote "do something."
"What about you guys? Don't you wanna do something?" Kinkajou cried, placing her hands on her hips, and Moon and Turtle glanced up, but each of them remained silent. From his room, Qibli saw Winter emerge, his blue white hair brushed out of his eyes, hamburger still uneaten. Umber looked up from his phone, and for a moment, all six of them just sat there, just looking at each other, before finally Umber spoke up. "Um...I think I might know a place."
. . .
Twenty minutes later, Qibli emerged into one of the most interesting setups he had ever encountered. For the most part, Qibli thought, he figured roofs were just supposed to be, well, just the top of buildings. He never thought that someone would actually take the time to move all this stuff up there. In the center of the roof, two simple couches, a rug, a table, and a few beanbags sat, looking surprisingly out of place in the sea of concrete. Interestingly enough, Qibli thought, most of the furniture has scorch markings on it.
But the most interesting thing of all was the girl sitting up there. She sat with her legs dangling off the side of the roof, as if she didn't care whether she fell or not. Flaming locks of auburn hair tumbled down her shoulders, the ends died to look like a raging fire. But the most interesting thing was her eyes. Unlike other Skys like Carnelian whose eyes were warm shades of orange or yellow, this girl's eyes were electric blue, like they could devour anything in her path.
Her legs swinging as she sat on the side of the building, the girl took a long drag from a cigarette, her eyes looking down sat the scene before her as if she didn't even notice they were there, until Umber's voice finally broke the silence, and the girl spun around, eyes wide.
"Guys," Umber said. "I want you to meet Peril."
