Tsunami cheerfully ushered him through the hallways and antechambers of the mountain. The sudden change from sitting in the warm sun to entering the cool, shaded tunnels sent a brief chill along Umber's scales. Or maybe that was just his nerves.
"This way!" the SeaWing spoke without looking back, her scales instinctively glowing in the dim environment. "I'm pretty sure the Jade Winglet has a free period right now, so I'd bet my best scale that they're in the library."
Umber politely nodded, although the gesture was lost on Tsunami who wasn't even looking at him. As they passed through the archway and the scent of parchment filled his lungs, vivid memories flashed in Umber's mind of entering this place for the first time with his sister. His heart ached at how bitter-sweet those moments had been.
Not far from the entrance Umber could see the librarian's desk nestled among piles of returned scrolls and at its helm was the familiar NightWing librarian. While his eyes were unfocused and glassy, his brow was furrowed in concentration as his talons danced nimbly over a stone tablet etched with thick lettering.
"Starflight!" Tsunami called and walked over to the desk. Starflight perked to attention and gently set down the item in his talons.
"Hey!" he greeted before his face skewed in confusion. "What are you doing here? Didn't you and Sunny have some secret 'official' business to take care this afternoon that apparently was so top secret that you couldn't even tell me?"
Umber raised a brow. Hmm, I guess they decided to keep Flame's visit a secret from the others. Probably for the best.
"Sunny's dealing with that now," Tsunami clarified with a wave of her talon. "As for me, I'm taking Umber here to visit his old Winglet!"
"Hey, Starflight," Umber softly made his presence known.
Starflight's whole face lifted into a smile. "I knew I heard another set of talons! Umber, it's such a relief to hear your voice!" The NightWing reached a talon out and Umber took it in his own. "Is Sora here as well?"
"Um, no. She stayed back at the Healing Center."
Starflight retracted his talons, his expression pensive. "Healing Center? Is that the one in the Sky Kingdom?"
Umber nodded before remembering the librarian couldn't see him. "Erm, yeah! How'd you know about it? Almost everyone I talk to outside the Sky Kingdom has no idea what it is."
Starflight beamed in that way that indicated he was going to go on some educational spiel. "Fatespeaker read an article about it to me from the weekly news-parchment that I get delivered from the Sky Kingdom. I'm trying to get news-parchments from all the tribes if possible and keep them here in the library in an archive. That way everyone can stay up-to-date with what's happening in their tribes but also future students can –"
"Not that this isn't fascinating," Tsunami interrupted, her chin resting on the lip of the desk in boredom, "but I'd like for Umber to meet with his friends BEFORE the sun goes down, thanks."
Starflight scowled in her general direction but obliged. "Fine. Moon came in earlier today to book one of the study rooms for this afternoon. If my memory is correct then they should be in there now. They specifically asked for the stone room, so that's where you'll find them."
"Thanks, Starflight!" The SeaWing bounced up and bounded towards the far end of the library.
"Bye!" Umber called, feeling the need to indicate they were leaving. The NightWing gave a little wave farewell before returning to whatever he had been doing before they arrived.
Umber trailed after the SeaWing princess as she expertly navigated the maze of shelves and cushioned seats until they reached a series of miniature archways carved into the rock at the edge of the library. Each lead to a carved out alcove set up for group studying, although only one was in use right now.
With a wave of her wing, Tsunami urged Umber forward to take a look. He swallowed and inched forward, timidly peeking his head past the door frame to peer inside.
It was a simple room with no wooden furnishings. Just pillows and a small window at the back that allowed the fresh, alpine-blue sky to pour in, filling the room with crisp light. Sitting at a stone table was a row of familiar dragons that brought a gleeful smile to the MudWing's face.
His eyes went first to the hefty shape of Turtle. The SeaWing Prince was leaning over the table, his brows drawn together in rapt concentration while his ink-soaked talons scribbled away on a sheet of parchment. To his right Moonwatcher lazily scanned a scroll, stopping every so often to jot something into a notebook. On the other side of Moon Kinkajou sat constructing a castle with pencils and erasers, nudging the NightWing triumphantly every time she was able to fit another pencil in without everything collapsing. And at the very end of the table was an empty pillow before a pile of scattered notes. Was there someone missing or was that just Kinkajou's stuff?
He smothered his disappointment that Qibli wasn't there.
Hoping that maybe the SandWing was just hiding in the corner or something, Umber poked his head in further. He didn't find Qibli, but he did find out why, out of all the cozy nooks in the library to choose from, his old Winglet had chosen to study in a stone room. With her sizzling neck stretch forward towards a scroll placed at a safe, un-burnable distance was the scorn of the Sky Kingdom: Peril. The stone beneath her glowed red and her presence was enough to heat the small room like a furnace. With a pang Umber realized she must be the replacement SkyWing for Carnelian and he felt a little bad for being so scared of her.
He had been assured by Clay numerous times that she was harmless...so long as you didn't touch her. Still, it jarred him to see her there so casually among his friends, but she appeared to be fitting in just fine. None of them spoke because there was no need. The silence between them was comforting, like the feeling of a familiar bed that has been worn down to fit your shape. They were simply enjoying each other's company.
For a moment Umber's mind was jolted back in time to the day he had first met them all. He cringed slightly at how hard he had tried to impress them, acting like Clay thinking it would make him seem funny and likable. Then again, they had all been pretty awkward. A bunch of misfit dragonets, timid and afraid of each other. But now they seemed – well, the best word Umber could think of was aged.
At a first glance they looked the same, but there was a shadow behind their eyes that had replaced that wide-eyed openness he had seen on that first day. Having fought in the war himself, Umber was no stranger to seeing the bright faces of young dragons turn cold as icy steel hardened behind their gazes, but this wasn't the case for his friends. They simply seemed... matured.
Umber backed away from the entrance, feeling like an intruder. In a way it was like he was meeting them for the first time all over again. Nervous butterflies somersaulted in his stomach.
"M-maybe I should come back later. When they're not so busy."
"Too late! This is happening!" Tsunami chirped. Umber's head was whipped back as the SeaWing forcefully pushed him through the entrance. "Everybody stop what you're doing and look who it is! IT'S UMBER!"
Tsunami's booming voice made the whole Winglet jump a foot off their seats, but once they saw the small brown shape beside her their faces lit up. Umber waved timidly.
Instantly the room became chaos. Papers and pencils went flying as his friends raced to greet him all while Tsunami smugly slipped away.
Turtle was the first to reach him and encased the MudWing in glowing wings that smelled of the sea. "I can't believe you're here! I missed you so much!" In that moment all of Umber's anxieties melted away and he returned Turtle's hug tightly.
Before he knew it he was toppled over as his friends tackled him to the ground in a pile of wings, limbs, and tails.
"OH MY GOSH, UMBER!" Kinkajou shouted in his ear and a shimmer of pink scales appeared before his face.
"Hey, Kinkajou. Good to see you!" he grunted out. The weight of all the bodies on top of him was making breathing a little hard.
Soon the dog-pile dissipated and he was hauled to his feet by Moon and Turtle.
"We were so worried about you and Sora! What happened after you left? Where did you go?" Moon exclaimed. Her brows were knitted with concern, an expression she had worn frequently in the past as if she had been in a state of constant worry. Now that didn't seem to be the case. Maybe it was how she held herself. How she didn't keep flicking her eyes away every time they met another's. She was less skittish now and more confident.
Almost as if she had heard the compliment Moon turned away, blushing slightly. Before Umber could dwell on it Kinkajou was shaking him by the shoulders. "You have to tell us everything that happened! Leave NO detail out!"
Umber rubbed the back of his neck and grimaced. "Fine, but it's probably going to be really boring compared to what you guys did. I mean, you guys defeated Darkstalker. How cool is that!"
His friends groaned and rolled their eyes like it was some sort of embarrassing tale.
"Oh come on," Umber chided. "If I tell you my story will you tell me how you took down Darkstalker? Pretty please?"
"It's not that great of a story," Turtle leaned back and shrugged. "Besides, Kinkajou was the one who landed the final blow."
The RainWing's scales shifted to rose-pink with shots of yellow. She flicked her talon nonchalantly. "You can read about it once I publish my memoirs."
"Uh, excuse me, am I missing something here?" Peril, still sitting in the corner, spoke up. "Who are you supposed to be?" She inspected Umber with a mixture of mild displeasure and annoyance.
"Oop. Sorry, Peril. This is Umber. He was in our Winglet before the...uh, before you were," Turtle answered. It didn't pass Umber's notice that his friend had tactfully avoided saying 'before the explosion'.
Peril still didn't look impressed.
"He's also Clay's brother."
That earned a reaction. The SkyWing stood up on long legs looking flustered. "Oh! Of course, yes. I definitely knew that. I guess that makes you my brother now too or something, so, uh, hooray?"
Umber looked to his friends for clarification but they wore the exact same expressions of confusion. He turned to Peril, choosing his words carefully to avoid offending the living inferno. "Um, that's nice but... how are we related?"
"Through Clay," she stated as if it were obvious before her eyebrows drew together in thought. "Wait, no. I'm not related to Clay, I'm just dating him. Ha, that would be super gross if we were related and dating. Anyway, I think that makes us in-laws or something...or does that only happen after marriage?"
"Uh..." Umber blinked twice.
"Huh...maybe I should have mentioned the dating thing first. OK, let me try this again!"
Peril turned her back to them, took a breath, and turned around. "Hi, I'm Peril. I'm dating your brother and have deadly fire-scales that incinerate everything I touch." She gave him a terrifying smile. "And I'm your new sister!"
"Oh...nice to meet you. Welcome to the family!" Reflexively Umber extended his talons for a shake but quickly retracted it. No touching.
So Clay has a girlfriend now! Umber tucked that information away in his brain just as an amusing thought crossed his mind. I guess we both have a thing for crazy SkyWings.
"Don't worry," Turtle whispered. "She's not as dangerous as everybody says."
"Easy for YOU to say Mr. Indestructible-scales!" Kinkajou gave Turtle a playful shove, forcing him to splay his wings out for balance. Umber furrowed his brow.
"Indestructible scales? What's that all about?"
Awkward glances went around the room.
"I guess you weren't around for the big reveal." Turtle rubbed his gills. "I'm kinda sorta an...animus."
Umber's whole face expanded in surprise. "NO WAY! ARE YOU SERIOUS? THAT'S INCREDIBLE!" Amazement pumped through his muscles making him bounce. "So you really have indestructible scales? Did you use them to fight Darkstalker? OH! Does that mean nothing can hurt you? Ever?"
"Oh yeah, he's completely damage proof," Peril commented, sauntering over while giving a wide berth to all the flammable objects on the table. "Watch this."
Umber assumed she was about to use her fire-scales to illustrate the indestructibleness of Turtle's scales, however, it came as a surprise to everyone when instead she picked up a fist-sized rock and chucked it right at the SeaWing's head.
It hit with a loud thunk that sent Turtle staggering.
"Peril!" he shouted, more in shock than anger, rubbing his temple.
"What? It didn't hurt, did it?"
"Well, no...but at least WARN me next time!"
Moon and Umber covered their mouths to hide their laughs while Kinkajou let out an unrestrained cackle. The RainWing clutched her side and leaned against Umber.
"It's so great to have you back. Qibli's going to lose his mind when he sees you!" Kinkajou said.
Umber's heart did a triple flip. He couldn't hide the excitement from his voice. "He's here?" He looked around despite already knowing the SandWing wasn't in the room.
"He spends a lot of time with Queen Thorn now, but he still comes back every once in a while," Moon answered.
"Like a part-time student sort of thing," Turtle added on. The idea intrigued Umber. Maybe they'd let him go to school part-time too! Then he'd be able to see his friends more without completely leaving Sora and Flame behind at the Healing Center. He'd maybe talk to Clay about it later.
"So is Qibli here today?"
"Yep!" Moon confirmed. "He just went to grab a scroll but he'll be back soon."
"What about Winter? Is he here too?"
Moon's smile dropped and she shook her head sadly. "No, the whole issue with Darkstalker was hard on him. I think he needed a break."
Peril snorted out a cloud of black smoke. "As whiney and grouchy as he is, you can't really blame him. First Darkstalker nearly wiped out his tribe with a plague and THEN his tribe almost went to war with an army of magically enhanced NightWings."
Umber made a choked, gasping sound. "WHAT!?" he managed to spit out. How had he not heard about this? Two tribes going to war? A plague?! Sure, he had had his own problems to deal with, but these were the sorts of global events you at least heard about by word of mouth. He clutched his head in disbelief. "I feel like I've had my head in the mud for the past month! Is Winter OK?"
His NightWing friend patted his back in soothing circles. "He's fine, Umber. In fact, he's started a Scavenger research project with the Talons of Peace." She tilted her head towards her RainWing companion. "Kinkajou even visits him sometimes to help."
The bright yellow dragon nodded. "Yeah! He really loves those little things. Personally I think I'll stick with sloths but, hey, I don't judge."
Umber shook his head, letting the news sink in. "Wow, there's so much stuff that happened while I was gone."
Turtle sidled up next to him and extended a friendly wing. The SeaWing's presence sent calming waves ebbing into his tight chest. "Hey, no worries. We'll fill you in."
"Including how you defeated Darkstalker?" Umber asked with a sidelong glance.
Next to him Kinkajou released a pretend, reluctant sigh. "Fiiiine. If you insist then I GUESS we'll tell you about all hour heroic deeds."
"More like your heroic deeds," Turtle said to the RainWing. "All I did was get hit by a few boulders and enchant a stick."
"And incredibly useful stick!" Kinkajou stomped her foot. "And those boulders weren't anything to sneeze at either!"
The brown dragon released a small laugh and nudged his SeaWing friend. "Well I think you're a hero."
Turtle blushed and bashfully kicked a nearby stone. Probably the same Peril had thrown. "Aww, you're just being nice." He gently punched Umber's arm.
The MudWing grinned ear to ear. It was great to be with his friends again. "I can't wait to hear this story! Honestly, I bet it would make for a great graphicoll series!"
The casual chattering that had filled the room dropped like a stone. His friends looked at him with confusion.
"What's a graphicoll?" Peril lips curled back as she pronounced the strange word.
"Aren't they those illustrated scroll things?" a new voice, smooth as silk and as playful as a summer's breeze, answered from the entrance. "Also why are we all standing in a circle now? Did I miss something or – wait, is that who I think it is?"
Umber's spine tingled as he felt the warmth of familiar scales radiating into his skin.
"Umber?" the voice cautiously asked as if afraid to be disappointed.
The MudWing spun around to see a familiar scarred muzzle speckled with freckles. Qibli stared in astonishment before grinning as wide as the sky. "UMBER!"
Suddenly Umber was lifted off the ground as warm arms wrapped around him, but the SandWing had underestimated Umber's weight and the two fell backwards onto the floor. It didn't stop either of them from laughing, their hoots echoing all over the library, earning them more than a few disapproving glares.
"Qibli!" Kinkajou scolded and helped the giggling males up. "Could you NOT suplex Umber on sight? I know you've always wanted to be a pro-wrestler but it's just not polite!"
"Oh no, my secret dreams of becoming a wrestler have been revealed. How embarrassing," he lamented, sending Umber a wink. Mischief blazed in his black eyes like wild-fire. "Let's try again."
The SandWing leaned down and gave Umber a more civilized hug, pulling the smaller dragon tight to his chest. Umber's heart thundered beneath his ribs and he wrapped his arms around Qibli's neck in return. Qibli's scent was turning his brain to honey, but just before he was lost to the sensation, an image of Flame flashed in his mind. In the image the SkyWing was smiling warmly down at Umber. The MudWing couldn't remember where it had been or when, but the vision was so vivid it instantly jarred him out of his rose-tinted stupor.
Croc-spit, he cursed himself. What was he doing?! Acting like a love-struck idiot, that's what!
OK, so maybe he still had some feelings for Qibli. It had been easy to toss those notions aside before, but now that he was face to face with the SandWing they had returned with a vengeance.
Shame and guilt collided with the longing inside of him, making for a bitter taste. Some boyfriend he was!
"I'm so glad you're here!" Qibli released Umber, holding him at arm's length. "When did you get here? Did you fly right from the Mud Kingdom? How have you been? How's Sora? Ah, sorry. You've probably been asked these questions a hundred times already."
Under the SandWing's gaze Umber felt like his mouth was full of mud and his tongue a tangle of knots. Snap out of it, Umber! You have a boyfriend! Whatever feelings you had for Qibli was just a silly crush. Flame is so much more than that.
His thoughts went back to the lithe SkyWing: the way his red scales glowed in candlelight, the shy smile he gave Umber when their eyes met, how perfectly their mouths fit together when they kissed...
And how he always tasted a little bit like cookies or some other dessert.
Slowly Umber's fluttering heart stilled and his tongue straightened out, but he had been a beat too late in his answer. Kinkajou had already stepped in to fill the gap.
"Yeah, but he never actually got around to answering them. In fact, we were just going to fill him in on all our most recent adventures."
Qibli smiled. "Do you mean the time we defeated Darkstalker or that time yesterday when we thought Turtle had disappeared and spent an hour looking for him just to find out he had fallen asleep in the underground pool again."
Turtle blushed again as his friends razzed him with nudges and giggles. Umber laughed as well. The heavy feeling in his chest from being near Qibli was receding into nothing. Every time it came back he thought of Flame and the sensation evaporated. Finally, confident he wouldn't trip over his own words, Umber spoke up. "Both stories sound great, but I was hoping to hear the Darkstalker one first please."
"Of course!" Qibli said, wrapping a wing around the MudWing. Umber stiffened. Think of Flame think of Flame think of Flame!
The panicked thinking worked and his body relaxed...although Moon was giving him some strange looks. Maybe she had seen him tense up?
"Uh, before we do that," Moon's quiet voice drew everyone's attention, "I think we have some explaining to do. Turtle, would you give Umber one of your skyfire stones please?"
"Yeah, sure!" The SeaWing went to his armband (which already had several bald spots that Umber assumed had once housed gems) and removed a tiny black stone. He dropped it into Umber's waiting talons.
"Oh, uh, thanks I guess." Umber inspected the stone with care. It had been polished to a shine despite being uneven and jagged. "Does this mean I'm part of your club now?" he half-joked.
"It means we trust you," the NightWing spoke. Something in her voice made Umber pause.
"And what exactly are you trusting me with?" Suddenly the stone seemed a lot heavier in his palm.
"With the truth," she responded solemnly.
"Moon, are you sure about this?" Qibli asked. He gave a meek smile to the MudWing beneath his wing. "Not that we don't trust you. Of course we do – it's just that there are certain things about us, er, or rather, about specific individuals," his eyes flickered to Moon, "that can be a little hard to swallow, so to speak."
Umber masked the sting of Qibli's distrust with a concerned frown. "Oh, well I don't want to make anyone uncomfortable."
"It's fine, Umber. I trust you and I want you to know the truth," Moon assured before sighing deeply and looking around the room at each of the faces that filled the space. "You'd better sit down. We have a lot of stuff to cover."
Over the course of the afternoon Umber was brought up to speed with everything that had happened since he had fled with Sora, and they didn't leave anything out. He leaned about Moon's prophecy that had started the whole event, Winter's journey to save his brother, Peril's trickster father that had betrayed her, Turtle's battle with Anemone and finally it ended with Kinkajou's clever ruse that defeated the great NightWing animus. Everyone took turns telling their part of the story while others piped in every once in a while if they had something to add.
By the time they finished the pastel blue sky had become the rusty gold of late afternoon. Umber sat with his talons clasped together around the skyfire. It felt like he had been thrown into an ocean of information with weights tied around his ankles. All he could do was keep nodding his head to at least make it look like his mind hadn't exploded as they continued to pile more on.
When finally everything was said and done the group of dragons fixed their eyes on Umber, waiting for his reaction. The MudWing blink and took a breath. "Wow."
The utterly flabbergasted tone by which he spoke made everyone chuckled.
"I know. It's a lot to take in." Turtle patted his arm. "I was even there for most of it and half the time I wonder if I just dreamed it all up. Some sort of stress induced illusion."
Qibli nudged him in the side and winked. "Well you wanted the whole story, right? So what was your favourite part? Was it how my quick thinking stopped the war between two tribes? Because that's my favourite part."
Peril crossed her arms, unimpressed. "And then immediately afterwards you got your tailed kicked by Darkstalker and had to be saved by Kinkajou."
"Shhhh, that's not important," the SandWing insisted.
Umber weakly shook his head. "It was all fantastic! You guys are so amazing, I can't believe you did all that stuff!" This earned him a pleased look from everyone, although Qibli pretended to be offended to make Moon laugh.
The MudWing propped his chin atop his knuckles to face the NightWing. "So can you really read minds and predict the future? Just like the legends say?"
Moon shrugged timidly. "I guess so."
Umber nodded in wide-eyed excitement before a sudden thought dropped on his head like a stone. "Wait...does that mean you were listening to my thoughts when I got here."
Her head sunk. "I was trying not to, but some things did slip through."
He gulped. "Like what kinds of things?"
Moon blushed and looked away. Umber's stomach danced nervously. "Oh...nothing important."
"OK, OK, enough with all this boring stuff about saving the world," Kinkajou butt in. "I want to hear what's new with you," she pointed a talon at his snout before booping it.
A chorus of agreements rang around, well, except from Peril who had quietly gone back to her corner to read her scroll. Umber couldn't blame her, they hardly knew each other.
In a way he was grateful to have one less person bombarding him with questions.
"Did you go right to the Mud Kingdom after you fled here?"
"What is Sora doing now?"
"Did you get in trouble?"
"Where are you guys living?"
Now it was time for Umber to shrink away bashfully.
"Everybody give him some space!" Qibli stood up and conducted the group. "One person at a time AND," his eyes pinned Kinkajou, "one question at a time."
The RainWing turned a miffed shade of orange and stuck her tongue out at him, but that was all the resistance she gave.
Hesitantly Turtle raised his talon in the air, obviously confused as to how they should be doing this. Qibli tipped his snout in the air and, in his best Webs voice, spoke, "Yes, you in the front. What's your question?"
"Me? Oh, OK. Well maybe Umber should just tell us the story start to finish, just like we did. That'd probably be easiest."
"Well, pupil Umber? Do you agree to these terms?" Qibli continued with his Web's impersonation.
"Sure, professor Qibli. That'd be fine." Umber swiped his talon at the cheeky SandWing but Qibli dodged out of the way last minute while laughing.
Luckily Umber's story took WAY less time to tell. His friends took the most interest when he mentioned the Healing Center so he went to great lengths to describe the place as best he could. He answered Turtle's questions about the cafeteria menu, Kinkajou's quires about the different activities, Qibli's concerns about infrastructure, and, finally, Moon's interest in the Soul Healers.
"Tell me more about the Healers!" she implored, her green eyes sparkling. "What kinds of therapies do they use? I once read a scroll on mental health but it had hardly anything in it." Her mouth dropped into a frustrated frown.
Umber scratched his cheek while thinking. "Um...I think it depends on the patient, but I know Sora does a lot of visualization and calming techniques buuuuut I'm not sure how it works exactly." He dipped his head apologetically. "Sorry, I'm not the best person to answer this stuff. Flame or Sora would probably give you a better answer."
An uncomfortable jolt passed along his friends. Shared expressions of unease were etched on their faces, but it wasn't until Peril spoke up did Umber realize what was wrong.
"You mean that angry scarred guy who tried to kill Stonemover?!" She curled her lips back to reveal fangs. "They actually let him stay at that healing place?"
"Better there than here!" Kinkajou voiced. "I remember one time in the prey-center he grabbed a grapefruit right out of my talon. When I yelled at him he nearly burned my tail off!"
"As much as I hate to say it, he was pretty terrible," Turtle rubbed the back of his neck regretfully.
Umber winced. He wasn't going to pretend his friends were wrong, but he did feel the need to defend Flame's development.
"He's made a lot of progress since he's been at the Healing Center!" Surprised eyes locked on Umber who wilted slightly. Still, he pressed on. "Once you get to know him he's actually really sweet."
Surprise turned to disbelief then to shock.
"Wait...are you actually friends with him?" Qibli stared him down.
Umber had certainly stirred the crocodile nest now. There was nothing to do now but give them the honest truth. "Yeah, I am his friend..." Umber looked at his feet, trying hard not to blush. It didn't work. "...and more."
Kinkajou, whose scales swirled with deep greens, oranges, and pale blues, spoke up. "More? What does that mean?"
No going back now. "It means we're, uh, sort of dating."
Everyone in the room hushed. Even Peril was gawking with interest now, her icy eyes pinning him.
"DATING!" Qibli bellowed. "Umber, you can't be serious! He's a murderer with serious anger issues!"
"The evidence is pretty much against his favour. I was there when Darkstalker locked him away for trying to kill Stonemover. I'm sorry," Turtle apologized as if regretting that those were the facts.
"You looked inside his head once," the freckled SandWing spoke to Moon, "Tell him how terrible it was. All the hate and rage and fury."
Moon fidgeted, skittering her eyes between Umber and Qibli. He had the growing suspicion that she had read his thoughts about Flame earlier. He tightened his grip around the skyfire.
"W-well, yes, I did look into his mind."
"Aaaaand?"
"It's like you said. There was so much hatred and anger –"
"See?" Qibli crossed his arms. "I don't know why he's leading you on like this but there's no way you can trust him."
"But that was in the past," Moon's spirited voice spoke firmly. "Maybe Umber's right. Maybe he has changed."
Across the room Peril snorted loud enough to startle the bird on the windowsill. "No way he's changed that quickly. Dragons don't just turn over new leaves overnight."
Umber huffed. "Actually he's been working with Healers for a month now –"
"He's probably just using you," Kinkajou interrupted. "Dump him before something bad happens."
Qibli's anxious voice rose above the din. "And what if he hurts you? He doesn't exactly have the best record for managing his aggression."
As his friends continued their criticism Umber felt the stirrings of an emotion he rarely experienced: anger.
How dare they just bash Flame without even trying to keep an open mind about him.
Coupled with a burning protectiveness that exploded in his chest, Umber refused to sit here and listen to this for a moment longer. He stood and slammed his talons on the table. "He's trying his best, OK?! Leave him alone!"
The air became silent as their voices where whisked away in shock.
Umber took a breath as sat back down, his anger smoothly ebbing away with the same speed by which it arrived. "Guys, I know he's done bad things in the past but he is putting in the effort to change. He wants to be a better dragon. Can't you give him a chance?"
Kinkajou and Peril remained steadfast in their distrust, their hackles still raised. Turtle and Moon offered soft expressions of sympathy, and Umber felt hopeful that at least a few of his friends were listening to him, but his anticipation still hinged on Qibli's opinion.
The SandWing's eyes were fixed to the ground and Umber could practically feel the hum of his brain as it flashed through all the factors and outcomes. Finally the sandy dragon heaved a sigh.
"I still think we should be cautious about him but you're right, Umber. We should at least give him a chance."
Relief relaxed the MudWing's rigid form and he smiled. Next to him Kinkajou huffed.
"Speak for yourself. He might have changed, but what he did to Stonemover was still pretty messed up." Her scales were bright orange with splotches of reds around the feet.
Again, Umber couldn't deny what they said, although he could at least try to change how they felt.
"I agree, and so does Flame actually. He really regrets what he did to Stonemover. In fact, that's why he came here today. To apologize and make amends."
Kinkajou shot up. "He's here? Right now? At the Academy? With Stonemover!?"
"Uh, yeah. I think Sunny took him off somewhere but the plan was for him to talk to Stonemover. Why?" Umber cocked his head to the side, not understanding her alarm.
"Why!? I'll tell you why! Because he's probably returned to finish the job!" The RainWing's scales were a slew of so many colours and none of them were probably good.
Umber raised his talons defensively. "Wait, calm down. Really, I promise Flame would never –"
But she wasn't listening. On nimble talons she jumped towards the room's exit. "Come on! We need to make sure he's OK!"
Just as Umber thought he had control of the situation, everything was quickly swirling into chaos all over again. "Wait! Kinkajou! Flame isn't going to hurt Stonemover!" His please fell on deaf ears. She was already out of the library.
Umber looked to his SandWing friend. "Qibli, if we caught up to her you'd be able to convince her to listen to me, right?"
Qibli rubbed his neck begrudgingly and stood up as well "Sorry Umber, but Kink has a point. It's not that I don't believe you, but I'd at least like to check to make sure Stonemover is safe."
"But –"
"Sorry, Umber. Better to be safe than sorry." Before Umber could protest Qibli was gone too. Moon followed swiftly behind him, although she cast an apologetic look his way.
Last to leave was Peril who wore a frightening grin. "I don't know what's going to happen but I'm betting five silver that someone's getting punched!"
With only Umber and Turtle left the room felt hallowed out. Umber knew he should go chase after them, but instead he slammed his head on the table. "Croc spit."
A friendly talon patted his shoulder and Umber turned his head to look up at his SeaWing friend. "Why didn't you run off with the others?" Umber asked.
The Prince shrugged. "Running isn't really my thing. Besides, if you say Flame wouldn't hurt Stonemover then I believe you." Turtle's warm smile kindled in Umber's chest. He smiled back.
"Thanks."
He lifted his sore face off the table and stood. "I guess I should go after them, although I doubt I'll make it there before they do." Just as Umber went to leave he felt Turtle tug at his wing.
"Hold up. You know, a lot of dragons think being lazy means it'll take you forever to get something done when in reality, you just learn to do it more efficiently so it's less work."
"And how does that help us right now?"
"Follow me. I know a shortcut."
Author's Note:
Wow. So many characters! I tried my best to write them correctly, although their personalities probably come off as pretty shallow here since there was so much going on.
And, as you probably noticed, poor Winter wasn't part of this reunion. As much as I love Winter (he's one of my favourite characters) at the end of Darkness of Dragons he seemed pretty steadfast in his decision to not return to JMA, so I didn't really see a logical reason for him to be there. Sorry, Winter. You were greatly missed.