~ CHAPTER 18 ~
It's been two weeks, Cactus thought to herself, her large SandWing form barreling through the late afternoon sky as fast as her wings would allow. Two long weeks since Snowball left for Jade Mountain Academy.
Was it the right decision? Is he miserable? Was he able to make friends? Did he run into bullies? she frantically thought. He's such a sweet and timid boy. What was I thinking, dropping him off in a mountain full of strangers? I'm a terrible guardian.
The warm breeze passing over her scales as she flew through the open-air felt like a gratification she didn't deserve. The orange in the sky slowly overtaking the blue was far too nice a sight for someone who'd abandon her poor little brother.
Aargh, stop second-guessing yourself Cactus! she shouted internally. This was the best decision for him. Obviously I would've loved to keep having an adorable brother waiting for me every time I got home, but his future is more important.
She couldn't feel guilty about her choice to forcibly enlist Snow into the academy. He had to learn to socialize and interact with other dragons before it became too late.
She could, however, feel guilty about taking so long to visit. Cactus thought back to the promise she'd made to Snow right before he left for Jade Mountain. I'd told him that if he still didn't like being at the academy by the time I came to visit, I'd take him home with me.
Truth be told, she only threw out that idea at the time because he looked so pitiful and afraid. But looking back at it now, she realized that she had fallen back into her bad habit of coddling him at every turn.
He's definitely going to be begging me to take him back home, Cactus thought. I bet he's been counting the days 'till I finally visited, fully packed and ready to go as soon as I arrive.
She felt another lurch of guilt as she imagined the poor dragonet sitting alone every day, waiting and hoping that she'd come to visit and take him away from the horrible place.
Should I take him with me? Or would forcing him to power through and stay be the right thing to do?
Jade Mountain finally appeared within her view, saving Cactus from the endless battle in her mind. She spotted the golden figure of Sunny waiting at the entrance, and she flew down to greet her.
"Hello Cactus," Sunny said, looking as chipper as ever.
"Hi there Sunny," Cactus replied as she landed on the mountain ledge. She unclipped the two large sacks of materials that she'd been carrying with her, both of them dropping to the floor with a clattering sound as all the various school supplies shook within. Almost forgot I was here to deliver supplies.
"Geez, how are you able to carry all this stuff," asked Sunny, circling around one of the bags.
"A good diet and lots of exercise," answered Cactus with pride. "…And also being very big helps."
Sunny opened one of the sacks and stuck her head inside, inspecting the goods. "Looks like it's all here," she said, sounding a bit muffled before pulling her head out. "You're a lifesaver Cactus; we were running dangerously low on ink and parchments."
"Just doing my job," Cactus said.
Sunny closed the sack back up and attempted to drag it into the mountain… unsuccessfully. It barely budged. "Er, want me to help?" offered Cactus.
The golden dragon sighed and let go of the sack. "No, don't worry about it. I'll get Clay or someone to come take this stuff in later… but I'm guessing that you want to see a certain someone as soon as possible."
"Is he okay? Has he been getting along with the others? Does he seem depressed?"
"Wow," Sunny said with a giggle. "I never would've taken you the doting mother type."
"Doting sister," Cactus corrected.
"Well lucky for you, classes are over for the day. So why don't you take this, and go find out for yourself how Snowball is doing." Sunny passed her a small map. "I've marked his room, but the tunnels can be confusing so try not to get lost."
"Thanks dear, but following maps is half my job. I think I'll be fine."
Cactus dashed into the mountain, half focused on the map and half focused on not accidentally colliding with some poor unsuspecting student.
"No running in the hallways!" Sunny called after her.
"Er, right, sorry," Cactus called back, internally rolling her eyes. She switched from a dash to a quick gait as she continued to follow the map.
She expertly navigated through the tunnels, her heart beating faster and faster the deeper she went.
Just a little further up ahead, Cactus thought to herself as she approached Snow's sleeping cave.
"Snow!" she shouted as she skid into the entrance of his cave.
There he was. Her little treasure, sitting on the floor with a parchment and some ink in front of him. He looked up to her with his silver, moon-like eyes that Cactus loved so dearly. His face shifted from bewilderment to unconcealed joy in an instant.
"Cactus!" he beamed, running up to meet her halfway as they both embraced each other tightly.
She spun him around happily, unfazed by the sudden chilliness that always came along with a hug from Snow (she had long since gotten used to it).
"I missed you soooo much," she said, squeezing him even more tightly.
"Me too," Snow said with a chuckle.
She felt a light tap on her leg and looked down to find Snow's pet scavenger, Green, smiling up at her.
"Yibble ribble," he said with a wave of his paw.
She scooped him up into the hug as well. "Daww, I missed you too you little rascal."
Cactus had no idea what he said, but she and the scavenger had developed a vague sense of understanding after having spent so much time together. It probably helped that Snow was there to mediate, even though she didn't entirely buy the whole idea that scavengers were as smart as dragons.
After a little while (not long enough in Cactus's opinion), Snow pulled out of the hug.
"I had no idea you were coming!" he said. "Oh, um, I should introduce you."
He turned back around to face the other two dragonets, who were sitting beside the parchment on the floor and looking up at them with curious eyes. In her excitement to see Snow, she somehow failed to register their presence in the room.
The dragonet on the left was a deep red SkyWing, with peculiar golden eyes. He looked somehow familiar to Cactus. The other dragonet was a dark scaled… NightWing? He looked mostly NightWing, but some of his features were a little different than the usual NightWing she'd come across.
"This is Cliff and Peacemaker," Snow said, pointing at the SkyWing and the NightWing respectively. "They're my clawmates and my friends."
Friends! Cactus celebrated in her mind. He did it! I always knew he had it in him.
The SkyWing rose to his feet and approached Cactus with a practiced smile. "You must be Snow's sister. I've heard so much about you. It's an honor to make your acquaintance," he said, raising one of his talons up for a talonshake.
"Likewise," Cactus responded, raising her own (much larger) talon to shake his. Unexpectedly formal, she thought to herself. And the name Cliff sounds so familiar…
Snow whispered into Cliff's ear. "Why are you acting so… proper?"
"Shh!" Cliff whispered back. "I really want to make a good first impression with your sister okay?"
Cactus almost chuckled, but managed to hold herself. It seemed that the two dragonets failed to realize their whispers couldn't escape her sharp SandWing hearing.
"Oh!" Cactus exclaimed, as recognition finally struck her. "You're Queen Ruby's son, aren't you?"
A brief wave of weariness crossed his face, before he brought his smile back up. "Yes, I'm prince of the SkyWings. But I assure you that my status is irrelevant here at the academy."
"I'm sure that's true," Cactus said. "But how exciting! My little brother is friends with a prince!"
"He's more than just a prince, Cactus," Snow said. "I would've been happy to be his friend even if he wasn't royalty."
The two of them smiled at each other, and Cactus felt her heart melt. Snow's making friends and talking to them and he actually looks happy doing it. This is more than I could've hoped for.
"Wow," said the other dragonet – Peacemaker, if Cactus recalled correctly. He'd been gawking up at Cactus during the entire exchange. "You two look nothing alike."
"Peacemaker… you do know we're not actually related right?" Snow asked.
"I know that! I was just imagining… something different," he said, examining Cactus's form. "Whenever you said 'sister', I always pictured someone way younger."
"Peacemaker!" Cliff whispered loudly to the dragonet. "That's really rude!"
"Oh," he replied, as realization dawned on him. "Oh gosh, I'm so sorry." He lowered his head apologetically.
"Ha ha, no it's fine. I can understand the confusion," Cactus said, trying not to appear offended. I don't look that old! she huffed internally. I'm only fifteen years young. Kids these days.
"Don't feel bad about it Peacemaker," Snow said to his friend. "She's definitely old enough to have adopted me as my mother instead of my sister, but she thinks that having a kid call her mom would make her feel old."
"Hey! That is not true," Cactus defended. …When did he figure that out?
Snow snickered mischievously, but Cactus was having a hard time being angry. Her mind was bubbling with joy and delight.
"Oh I'm so happy you've made friends," she said, pulling him in suddenly for another smothering hug. "You would not believe how nervous he was about not being able to make any friends."
The other two dragonets shared a knowing look. "That definitely sounds like Snow," Cliff said.
"Cactus!" Snow cried, his face blushing bright blue. "Stop it! You're embarrassing me."
"Sorry, dear. I just can't help it."
Snow grumbled in defeat.
"I was really worried, you know?" Cactus said.
Shame filled Snow's expression as he looked down sullenly. "Sorry for making you worry."
"It's not your fault Snow. I would've been worried no matter what," she said, stroking his back gently.
"But I'm working on it!" Snow said, suddenly perking up. "I'm gonna be a dragon that's confident and capable."
"Oh my, that sounds like a lofty goal. I'll be cheering you on." He looks more confident already, she thought with pride. "You haven't been getting bullied, have you? Any nasty dragons you want me to have a word with?"
Snow looked to be in thought for a moment, before turning back to Cactus and shaking his head. "Not really, no."
"Don't worry ma'am!" Cliff chimed in. "I'll protect Snow from any danger or harm, so there's no need for you to worry."
"Well look at that," she said with a smile. "How fortunate that you'd have your very own knight in shining armor, Snow."
Cliff looked very pleased to hear Cactus say that. What a curious little dragon.
"Hey, uh, Miss Cactus," Peacemaker began. "Do you have any embarrassing stories about Snow from when he was younger?" he asked with an impish glint in his eyes.
"Oh, I've got plenty," she replied. "Like that one time when Snow –"
"Stop! I don't want to hear it. You've embarrassed me enough," Snow cried out, already looking flustered.
"Oh, all right dear," said Cactus, before turning back to Peacemaker. "How about I tell you a cool story about him instead?"
Peacemaker's eyes sparkled with curiosity, and he nodded his head.
"I'll tell you about the night he hatched from his egg," she said mysteriously, easily enthralling the interest of the dragonets. Even Snow looked curious to hear it.
"It hadn't been long since I'd found his egg," she began. "I'd flown up to the highest peak in the Claws of the Clouds Mountains. Figured it'd be a good place for a dragonet to hatch… which was a little irresponsible looking back on it now. Especially since the wind was so strong, though that might have been because of the comet passing overhead.
"You might have heard of the comet that passed through the sky four and a half years ago, but the scrolls don't do it justice. It was big, like a fourth moon. And it glowed!"
"It glowed?" Peacemaker echoed in awe, thoroughly captivated by her tale.
"Yes. Very brightly. But here's the cool part, Snow's egg started glowing too, just as bright. And then the comet started flashing, and Snow's egg started flashing in unison. It was like a cosmic dance, increasing in speed and intensity, faster and faster. Until finally… they both stopped flashing. The comet had a weaker glow to it, but Snow's egg was shining brightly, like it had just taken some of the comet's light. Moments later, the egg began to crack, and out came the most adorable baby dragon I've ever laid eyes on."
"Whoa…" Peacemaker said quietly, eyes wide with wonder. Even Cliff had an enchanted expression across his face, his mouth slightly agape as he processed the story. Maybe I should be a professional storyteller, Cactus thought to herself.
Snow, however, looked utterly shocked, as his jaw hung completely open.
"Is that all true?" he managed to ask after composing himself a little.
"Why do you look so stunned, dear? I've told you this story before."
"I thought it was just one of those fantastical made-up stories!" he stammered. "Like the chubby IceWing who goes around delivering presents to good dragonets on the Winter Solstice."
"Wait, he's not real?" asked Peacemaker with alarm.
"Cactus, this would've helped explain a lot of things," Snow continued. "Like, you know, my weird ability that lets me understand scavengers. Ever thought that those two mysterious things might be connected?"
"…Well, yes, I suppose they could be. I never really thought about it before," Cactus said.
For the longest time, she thought Snow just had an overactive imagination and couldn't actually understand scavengers. But as the months passed by, Snow never stopped insisting that it was true. And it was hard to deny that he and Green really did seem to share an understanding.
"I'm gonna have to do some research about this later," Snow muttered to himself.
Peacemaker bounced to Snow's side. "We'll help!"
"Yeah, three heads are better than one," Cliff added. "I want to get to the bottom of this mystery."
Snow smiled sheepishly at the two dragonets. "Thanks guys."
He told them about his peculiar ability, Cactus realized. He must really trust them. To think that Snow would be able to connect with others…
"Hey Snow, can I speak to you alone for a moment?" asked Cactus.
"Sure," Snow nodded. The two of them moved to a secluded corner of the sleeping cave.
"What is it? Am I in trouble?" he said. "It's my friends isn't it? You don't approve of me hanging around with such badly behaved delinquents. I'll go let them down easy."
"No, Snow," Cactus replied with an eye roll. "I'm trying to be serious here. Do you remember on the day you left for Jade Mountain Academy, we made an agreement–"
"I don't want to go home," Snow said, cutting her off. "You were right Cactus. There's a whole world outside of my old cave that I would've never gotten to see if I had just stayed where it was safe and comfortable."
"Are you sure?" Cactus asked. "I don't want you to regret this decision somewhere down the line."
"I'm sure," he said with a resolute nod. "I like it here. Sure, it's scary sometimes… or a lot of the time, but I want to grow. I want to be better, better than I was yesterday. And I won't change if I stay in my comfort zone."
Cactus was taken aback by the little dragonet's words. This sounded nothing like the Snow that was begging her to let him stay cooped up in his home.
"I have a goal," Snow continued. "I want to help the scavengers. I don't know how I'm going to do it yet, but I do know that I can't do it alone. I want to be the kind of dragon who can ask for help, and be convincing enough to actually get it. I need to improve."
There was a fire in his silver eyes that Cactus had never seen back when he was idling around in their mountain home. He had a newfound resolve, and the determination to see it through.
And for the first time, Cactus was finally sure she had made the right choice.
She scooped him up for yet another unsolicited embrace. "I'm so proud of you, my little Snowball," she bubbled. "I owe you an apology. I had expected you to have your things packed up and ready to go at the first sign of my visit."
"Well, that does sound like something I'd do," Snow admitted, weakly attempting to push himself out of the hug.
"You're stronger than I gave you credit for. I guess I don't have to worry about you anymore."
Those words seemed like music to Snow's ears, as he gave in to the embrace and returned the gesture. "No, you don't."
"Well, maybe I'll worry a little," she added. "You are still my darling little brother."
Snow closed his eyes and pressed closer into the hug, trying to soak up as much warmth from his sister as possible, as he often did in the past.
He let out a content sigh. "A little is fine. I can live with a little."