Chapter 21

Trust Issues

"You actually did it! You really qualified!" Parmen gave a congratulatory whoop from his end of the comm.

"What happened to Twi?" Rayne asked, looking back at the empty track.

"She's... coming." His voice fell at the mention of her fellow racer. Rayne looked up at the scoreboard. After a moment, she managed to translate her own name by the number two, signifying that she had taken second place. There was no way Twilight would qualify. Even if she managed to get third, her points would never compete with Caine. At long last, Caine and Coershun burst through the tunnels, but there was still no sign of Twilight or Spike.

A loud buzzer sounded throughout the stadium, and Twilight's name finally appeared on the board, but with a giant red X through it. Sentrus used the speakers to contact Twilight, still on the track.

"I'm sorry, Twilight, but you have been disqualified. There is no need for you to continue." The panting form of Twilight and her dragon appeared on the big screen, just exiting the maze of maces. She looked like she was about to cry, if she didn't topple out of her saddle first. In the end she did neither, and stroked her dragon instead. The stadium was quiet, disappointed at this turn of events. Sentrus now turned her attention to their other applicant. "As for you, Rayne, I am happy to be the first to welcome you to our Academy." The crowd roared with applause. Rayne soon forgot all else, soaking in all the attention. She was so preoccupied with her new fans- and fellow classmates- that she didn't notice Moordryd glaring at her.

Rayne's new crew swooped in to claim her before she could be mobbed by her fans, and led her to their crew's racing tent. Once she'd been delivered, Parmen returned to the track to retrieve Twilight.

"I still can't believe you did it," Kitt shook her head. "You've never raced before, yet you managed to get second against two Academy racers!"

"We would have gotten first, if that stupid dragon would have let me go for the bonus points," she grumbled. "He doesn't listen to me!" The Penn Crew exchanged worried glances.

"You know, Rayne, it's really important to trust your dragon. If he knew you couldn't make that jump, he was just protecting you by disobeying."

"He's just protecting himself," she retorted.

"Either way, you need to learn how to work with your dragon instead of against him. Trust his instincts."

"What about him? Shouldn't he learn to trust me?"

"Well, sure, but you're missing the point."

"No, you're missing the point. We could've made that jump, but he wouldn't listen. We ended up in second instead of first. Now everyone's going to think of us as second-class racers."

"Second isn't so bad! Especially not for Academy level!"

"Well, it's not good enough for me."

"Hey, Rayne, why don't you go check on your dragon? It's Variant, right? Go ahead and take him to the stables. We'll meet you there."

"Whatever." Artha cast one last worried glance at his fuming crewmate before she disappeared out the tent.

"What's up with her? Second place against Moordryd and Caine is nothing to be ashamed of."

"I think she's just miffed that her dragon wouldn't try that crazy stunt," Kitt sighed. "But who could blame him?"

"Don't you think it's strange though, that her dragon became so headstrong all of a sudden? I'd expect that from a black draconium dragon, but blue dragons are the most disciplined of all. I've never heard of one disobeying orders."

"I don't know, Artha," Kitt sighed. "Maybe things are different in their world."

"We're back," Parmen called, holding the tent flap open for Twilight, eyes red and head bowed.

"You did your best," Kitt tried to console.

"Our best wasn't good enough," she sniffed. "I failed. I'll never get home!"

"That's not necessarily true. We can still lend you books we check out at the library. And Rayne got in. She can take notes for you."

"You don't know Rainbow. She doesn't do well in the classroom."

"Well, then you can borrow mine. It's going to be alright."

"Hey, where is she?"

"She went to the stables for Variant. We've just got to pack up here and we'll be ready to go."

"Why don't you go meet her there? We'll just be a minute."

"Alright," she glumly agreed.

"Come on. I'll walk you there," Kitt volunteered.

"Lance, could you start gathering the gear? The mag pits are around back."

"Okay," he nodded, taking a stray piece of green ramming gear from the desk. Parmen held Artha back before he could do the same.

"Artha, I've been doing some calculations," Parm spoke up, punching in the last few figures into his calculator. "I don't quite believe it myself..."

"What is it, Parm?"

"That stunt Rayne tried to pull of on the track. If my calculations are correct, they could have made it."

"What? Are you serious?"

"She found the way up. It would have been risky, especially for an amateur racer like her, but in theory, they could have made it to the second level."

"So why did her dragon pull away?"

"Maybe it spooked him. She did say that they've never been ridden before. Maybe Variant just didn't know exactly what he's capable of."

"Let's hope that's all. They need to work together if she's going to become the Energy Booster."