~ CHAPTER 24 ~

Life has changed so much, Snow thought to himself, absentmindedly pressing his pestle into the mortar filled with various herbs. After less than three weeks at Jade Mountain Academy, more stuff has happened than in basically the entire first four and a half years of my life.

I wonder what life has in store for me next, Snow thought, surprised to find himself excited by the prospect.

"I must say, you are quite good at this Snowball," Tide's voice said, bringing him back to reality.

Snow was sitting beside some of the members of the Diamond Winglet, around a small table filled with herbs and equipment – as was appropriate for a class called Herbs and Healing. It was one of the more aesthetically pleasing caves, with flowers hanging off the wall like banners, and various potted plants near the windows.

Peregrine – their SkyWing teacher for this class – had split the winglet up into three groups. As such, Snow found himself in the company of Tide and Amber, the resident SeaWing and MudWing of the winglet.

"I'm having some trouble utilizing the equipment as effectively as you appear to be," Tide continued.

"Huh? Oh, yeah. It's pretty easy," Snow said, shaking out of his stupor. "You just need to find a rhythm. Let me show you."

Snow reached over and positioned her webbed talons into the right place, demonstrating the proper motion for optimal pressing.

"Thank you Snowball. I am quite lucky to have been put in the same group as you in this class. You seem to have a knack for it."

It was true. Herbs and Healing was definitely Snow's best subject, though that might be because he put the most effort into it. I have to make sure I know this stuff in case any of my friends get hurt… again. His mind briefly flashed to Cliff's bleeding gashes, and then to Peacemaker's wound, and he shook the unpleasant images out of his head.

"Yeah, I'm pretty lucky too," Amber said, leaning her flat MudWing snout on one of her talons. She was sitting around the same small table as Snow and Tide, idly rolling around some of the equipment with her claws. "I got put into the group with the two keenest dragons in the winglet. I don't even gotta do anything."

"Amber," Tide said sternly with a frown.

Amber sighed. "Fiiine." She grabbed her own mortar and pestle and began pressing. "But don't expect any good results."

"That's okay," Snow assured with a smile. "As long as you try your best."

"Geez, you're so… mushy," Amber said.

"Better than the alternative," said Tide, looking over to Barb with a not-so-subtle glare. The large SandWing was sitting on a different table a short ways away, going through similar motions with her own mortar and pestle. Cliff was sitting across from her, grouchily working with his involuntary teammate. "I'm glad to have her out of my scales for a change. She can be a real pain in the rear, if you'll excuse my vulgar language."

"…That counts as vulgar language for you?" Amber muttered.

"Hey now, Barb's not that bad you know," Snow defended, thinking back to his experience with her in the forest. But his offhand comment had earned a very surprised look out of his two teammates.

"…Did she threaten you to make you say that?" Tide asked seriously.

Amber shook her head. "No no, I think she's blackmailing him. Maybe mind control."

"She didn't do any of that stuff," Snow said. "I'm not saying she's perfect or anything, but she's not a terrible dragon."

A clattering noise interrupted their conversation, as the three dragonets turned around to see that Barb had 'accidentally' tipped over Cliff's mortar, scattering its contents across the table.

"Whoops," Barb said, looking entirely unapologetic.

Cliff growled and begrudgingly picked up his mortar.

"Are you sure she's not that bad?" Tide asked, turning back to Snow.

"…She's nicer on the inside." Poor Cliff, Snow thought. He just had to be the one that got paired up with Barb…

"You're mad to think that there's any good inside of her," Tide said. "I've been her clawmate for almost three weeks, and she's not shown even a shred of friendliness."

"Well she's shown some friendliness to me!" Snow said, a little bothered by Tide's claim. "I don't think it's fair to assume she's all bad just because you haven't found any kindness in her. Have you even been looking?"

"…Well I suppose I haven't exactly been making any… significant effort."

"Then you should try to actually make friends with her," Snow said. "She might surprise you."

Tide sighed. "I suppose you're right. I'll have to give it another try." She had a grimace on her face at the thought of it. "You're lucky you got two very pleasant dragons as your clawmates. Just my luck to be saddled with the grouchiest dragon in our winglet. Even Amber has a satisfactory clawmate."

"Yeah, Pear is pretty great, but…" Amber drifted off as she looked over towards her RainWing clawmate across the class.

Pear was sitting on another table with a cheery Peacemaker. He was happily blabbing on about whatever exciting new thing he had to tell her, make exaggerated motions with his arms, and seemingly forgetting about the entire class task he was supposed to be doing. Pear listened idly. She was wearing her usual green-colored scales, with streaks of purple running through.

"But what?" Snow asked Amber.

"She's been acting real strange lately," the MudWing said. "Like, more strange than before. Nervous."

Snow looked back to the RainWing. Amber was right; Pear was fidgeting with her claws restlessly, and her scales looked a bit pale. Snow knew all too well the telltale signs of nervousness.

"Well…" Snow began, lowering his voice to a whisper. "If you ask me, I think she has a crush on Peacemaker."

"Duh," said Amber, rolling her eyes. "Literally everyone can see that. Pretty sure Peacemaker is the only one oblivious enough not to notice it."

"Oh," Snow said, feeling a little deflated.

"But a crush isn't supposed to make you that nervous. She looks outright anxious around him. And it's only been getting worse as the weeks go by…"

"Wow," Tide said. "I didn't think you had it in you to be worried about someone else, Amber. I had the impression that you despised putting effort into anything."

"I had the impression that you were a huge snob," Amber shot back. "Oh, look. I was right."

The two dragonets continued their quarrel, but Snow tuned them out. He focused on Pear, and the oblivious Peacemaker sitting beside her.

Is there something I can do to help her? Snow wondered. Being anxious all the time is… stressful. Maybe I'll talk to her after class.

Eventually, the Herbs and Healing class came to an end, and the dragonets all funneled out of the cave entrance.

Snow trotted quickly to catch up to Cliff. He looked… grumpy.

"Everything all right?" Snow asked.

"Huh?" He turned around to see Snow walking alongside him. "Oh, hey Snow. I'm fine. Just irritated about having to sit with Barb for a whole class," he grumbled. "You look like you got something on your mind though."

"I do." Snow looked down towards the ground pensively as they walked. "Have you noticed that Pear acts strange around Peacemaker?"

"Well yeah. She does have a huge crush on him, after all," Cliff said.

I guess everyone really did already know, Snow thought to himself, feeling a little thwarted about his discovery being common knowledge.

"Don't you think she's acting a little too nervous about it though?" Snow asked.

"Well don't you think it's a little rude to talk about someone when they're not around?" said a source-less female voice. Snow froze in place, while Cliff looked around with confusion. They were definitely the only two dragons within talking range.

Suddenly, the slender form of Pear appeared right in front of them, as she disabled her camouflaged scales to become visible to the two dragonets. Her brow was furrowed.

"Hello Pear," Cliff said with an amicable smile.

"…How much of that did you hear?" Snow asked.

"Enough to know you were gossiping about me!" she said. "Not cool guys."

"It's not as bad as eavesdropping," Cliff said.

She looked to him with squinted eyes. "…Touché."

"We weren't gossiping, I swear!" Snow said frantically. "I was just worried about you."

"Oh," Pear said, cocking her head curiously. "But you barely know me."

"I don't see why that matters," Snow said.

"Huh. Well I'm sorry for getting mad at you," Pear said. "The truth is, I'm kind of on edge lately, as you've apparently noticed. And I actually came here to ask you two for your help."

"Us?" Cliff said, sharing a look with Snow.

"What do you want us to help you with?" asked Snow.

The color on her scales wavered as she looked between the two dragonets with a mixture of worry, dread, and embarrassment. "I… I need you to help make Peacemaker fall in love with me."

Snow and Cliff found themselves in Pear's sleeping cave, after she insisted that they move somewhere more private so that no one could accidentally listen in. She looked so nervous that they had no choice but to oblige.

The room was a little smaller than Snow's sleeping cave, but only had two sleeping spots instead of three; Pear's hammock, and a large woven mat where Amber presumably slept. Fortunately, the MudWing was out for the time being.

Pear paced around in front of the two confused dragonets, seemingly unable to keep herself still. The green on her scales was steadily overtaking the purple.

"So you need our help to make Peacemaker love you?" Cliff asked. "Love is a strong word… It's just a crush, right?"

"It's not just a crush!" Pear said with a stomp of her talon. "You think I'd be going this crazy over a crush?"

Snow and Cliff shared a concerned glance. "So… do you love him then?" Snow asked cautiously.

"No! I-I mean… I like him. I think? I used to anyway… A-and I still do!" Pear said frantically. "Three moons this is all so confusing. I really do sound like I'm crazy."

"Is there something you're not telling us, Pear?" Cliff asked.

The RainWing sighed, and settled down in front of the other two dragons. "Yes. I guess I should tell you the whole story before you start thinking I'm mad."

Snow gave her a serious nod, and Cliff did the same (though Snow noticed his tail twitching with excitement at the prospect of learning a secret).

"On the first day I got here at Jade Mountain Academy," Pear began, "I met Moonwatcher. She looked super excited to meet me, which was pretty confusing since I'd never even talked to her before. In her excitement, she accidentally let it slip that she had a vision of the future once – about me and Peacemaker."

"Whoa whoa whoa," Cliff said. "Moon can see the future?"

Snow had heard NightWings used to be able to read minds and tell prophecies, but then it turned out that was all a ruse to manipulate the other tribes. And now it's true? Snow thought nervously, thinking back to all his interactions with NightWings.

"Yes, I know. Very surprising. Life-changing revelation," Pear said, waving her talon flippantly. "It's only her though. No other NightWing has any powers."

"Wow…" Cliff said. "That's amazing… Did you know Peril was in her winglet? I can't believe she never told me."

"…Are we allowed to know?" Snow asked Pear.

"No. She told me not to tell anyone under any circumstances."

The two dragons stared at her in disbelief.

"What? Don't look at me like that," Pear said. "It's not like I'm going around blabbing to everyone about it. You two are the first dragons I've told, and it's only because I'm desperate for your help!"

"Pear…" Snow began with a gentle voice. "You shouldn't be sharing another dragon's deep secrets if they're not okay with it."

"I…" She looked down at her talons, her scales flaring with a deep violet. "You're right. That was pretty rotten of me."

"Well, what's done is done," said Cliff. "But try not to tell anyone else."

"I won't. But you kinda needed to know that she has visions for the next part to make sense," Pear explained. "She told me saw a prophecy of me and Peacemaker happily married in the future with two funny little dragonets. So of course, I freaked out a little. Then Moon tried to calm me down by telling me that visions don't always come true, especially when their participants know about them which just made me freak out even more because now I'm terrified that I'm gonna screw it up and I'm really blowing it so far because every time I'm around him I'm super nervous because I'm so worried that I'm gonna ruin EVERYTHING–"

"Pear!" Cliff said, cutting off her rambling. "Take a deep breath."

The RainWing was breathing quick and fast, and had to make a few attempts before she could successfully take a deep breath. Snow felt a flood of sympathy as he watched Pear trying to control her breathing, before she promptly changed her scale colors to fade into the background.

"Pear?" Snow called out. "You still here?"

"…Yes," her bodiless voice responded.

"That's… a lot to take in," said Cliff, who had that look he always had when there was a particularly difficult equation in math class.

"Yeah," Pear responded, slowly reappearing as color filled her scales. "Sorry for dropping it all on you like that."

"No, I mean that's a lot for you to take in," Cliff clarified. "What was Moon thinking by telling you all that."

"Well, to be fair, she was very apologetic about it afterward," Pear said. "But now you see why I need your help. As Peacemaker's clawmates and closest friends, you have to help make Peacemaker fall in love with me. Our unborn dragonets are at stake! If I screw this up, they'll never even get to exist." She paused for a moment. "Three moons, I can't believe I already have to be so concerned about my dragonets at the ripe age of four years old," she muttered.

"What did Moonwatcher say exactly?" Snow asked.

"She said that I looked familiar," Pear recalled. "And then she asked me if I was the daughter of the tribe's blacksmith, to which I told her I am. That's when she got all giddy and revealed that I was destined to marry Peacemaker."

"RainWings have blacksmiths?" Cliff asked curiously.

"Yes we have blacksmiths!" she scowled. "How backward do you think RainWings are?"

"Sorry," said Cliff, rubbing his neck awkwardly. "I figured that since they don't have weapons, they probably don't have blacksmiths…"

Pear exhaled deeply, closing her eyes and letting the little orange streaks that had appeared recede. "No, I'm sorry. I'm just on edge, like, all the time now. You're right that we don't make many weapons, but we still make tools and gates and all that kind of stuff."

"I thought RainWings didn't even know their parents," Snow said, remembering a scroll he'd read a long time ago.

"That's how it used to be. But ever since Queen Glory became queen, she's given dragons the option of knowing who their dragonets are and raising them in a more traditional way," Pear explained. "I was born right around then, and my dad thought it would be fun to try it out."

"I heard about that too," Cliff confirmed.

"The point is," continued Pear, "I'm destined to be with Peacemaker. And of course I ended up in the same winglet as him. Which is great because I get to see Peacemaker every day, but also terrible because I get so many more chances to screw it up."

She had all this on her mind for the past two weeks? Snow mused. That must've been rough… But there's one thing that still concerns me.

"Do you actually like him though?" Snow asked. "Or are you just doing this because you feel like you have to?"

Snow watched as Pear's face slowly began to blush a bright pink, which then spread across her entire body, coloring all of her scales.

"I think that's RainWing for yes," Cliff whispered to Snow.

Pear let out a wistful sigh. "I really do like him. I liked him way before Moon told me about our future. I like how bubbly and cheerful he is, and how he makes me feel that way when I'm around him. I like how he's clumsy and a little dim, but he never lets that get him down. I like his beautiful scales, especially the colored stars under his wings surrounded by the pitch black darkness."

Her pink scales only grew brighter as she went on, but then green scales started to creep onto her as she buried her head in her talons. "It seemed like such an insignificant crush back then, but now there's so much pressure. Our whole future is in my talons. Depending on what I do, it could change the trajectory of our destiny and–"

"We'll help," Cliff said suddenly.

"Wha– you will?" Pear asked.

"Of course! Anything for true love, right Snow?"

"Right," Snow smiled at Pear. She seems very genuine, Snow thought. "We'll try our best."

Her face lit up at their words (and so did her scales). "Thank you! I don't know what I would've done if you had said no."

"Well I'd never turn away a dragon in distress," Cliff said with a heroic look. "I think it's pretty obvious what we have to do."

"It is?" asked Snow.

"Yeah," Cliff said, looking oddly excited. "We have to set them up on a date!"