A stunned silence grew in the air, with Phoenix not ushering a whisper as her brain whizzed around for some excuse to save her—though nothing brought it's way to the surface. Instead, she was left to awkwardly swallow down some courage, laughing a poor attempt at a smile as she stepped back.
"G-good morning, Peril," Phoenix greeted with a subject change. "How are you-"
"WHY AREN'T YOU ON FIRE?" Peril demanded with a vicious stare. "THAT'S NOT WHAT SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN! Not that I want you to be on fire BUT you touched my FIRESCALES!"
Phoenix nodded silently to herself. Yes she did. "Just- lucky? I guess."
Peril squinted her eyes in doubt. "No- that's not true," She stated. "Even Clay gets a little burnt from a touch of my scales. YOU'RE perfectly fine!"
"I- I don't know, alright!" Phoenix growled in response, a shocked looking Peril falling a step back in surprise. A thread of guilt wrapped itself around Phoenix's mind, but she buried it. She'd already distanced herself from her winglet, doing it again wasn't the end of the world. "I've got somewhere to be. Goodbye."
Phoenix quickly gathered herself, before quickly walking away – her head only high enough to not step into another dragons. Coming here was a mistake.
"Phoenix?" she froze as Peril called out, following behind her. "Are… you alright?"
The words sounded foreign in the dragons mouth, but nevertheless, sincere. Sincere enough to invoke a tear from her eyes, which she quickly swept away before turning to Peril.
She bit her tongue, her eyes still fixed to the ground. Letting loose a deep sigh, she shook her head. "Not particularly, Peril," Phoenix groaned.
"Oh," she looked away, tapping her talons against the stone. She looked to be unsure what to say. Phoenix certainly knew that feeling. Or, Peril was trying to find something to say that wouldn't annoy her further. That was something Phoenix wasn't good at. "I didn't hurt you, did I?"
Phoenix shook her head. "I'm fine, I…" Phoenix trailed off. "Yeah, I'm fine. And sorry. Not great when it comes to talking."
"Sorry. As well that is," Peril gave a short grin. "WELL, I won't bother you anymore, you can go off and do whatever it was you were doing."
"I… don't really have anything to do. I've just kinda been… walking about, sulking," Phoenix admitted. "Where are you off to then?"
"Weeelll, I was actually looking for you," she coughed. Phoenix raised an eye. Peril must have been truly bored out her mind if she wanted to speak to her.
"Any particular reason?" Phoenix asked.
She shook her head. "Clay's been busy for the last hour talking to some parents of the dragonets here and Turtle left with Tsunami yesterday night. In fact, basically my entire Winglet has ABANDONED me. Though I never really talk with them much."
"Abandoned you? They 'not here?" She raised an eye. "The entire winglet on a holiday or something?"
"Ha!" She laughed. "It feels like it. No idea where they are. Though, I think Kinkajou may still be here. Turtle didn't say where he was going either."
Phoenix nodded. "Well… I'm not really doing anything, so what does a Peril do when it's bored?" She asked. Guessing they weren't going to figure out anything to do, she began to continue her walk, Peril following at her side.
"Well, there's the work we're given. But it's pretty difficult to do when you set all the papers on fire. Though, I can write on these stone tablets I sometimes have," Peril thought for a second. "I guess there's also hunting. Though APPARENTLY I can only burn so much prey. Something to do with overhunting- I'm pretty sure Tsunami just hates me. OH- I also like drinking! That's fun."
"Like- alcohol?" Phoenix chuckled. For some reason, the idea of a tall and wobbling firescale dragon made her laugh.
"Yes!" Peril nodded. "Do you like drinking?"
Phoenix shook her head. "Well, ah, can't really say I've ever tried it. Not really a fan of things that effect your thinking. I struggle enough with that as is!" Phoenix joked
Peril laughed along with Phoenix. "So, what do YOU do for fun then?"
"Well, I have a habit of playing with fire-" Phoenix said.
"That would explain a lot," the firescale smirked.
Laughing awkwardly, Phoenix continued. "Well, y'know. Not literately. My sister would describe it as poking a hornets nest. Sorta the whole reason I've ended up here. I interfered with something a while ago, and the dragons running it really didn't like that."
"Oh, that's… not awesome. You should of DEFINITELY set them on fire! Wait, no. Yes? Well, maybe if they were SUPER evil and stuff. I think clay would be alright with that.
Phoenix nodded silently. She could trust Peril, right? It was kinda weird, despite the firescale being portrayed as one of the deadliest and least trust worthy dragons to fly across the surface of Pyrrhia: she seemed entirely trust worthy to her. "Can you keep a secret?" she asked.
"Oh? Yep, you bet!" she nodded and smiled.
Phoenix huffed a laugh. "I actually gave it my best try, twice. With the fire, that is." Peril raised an eye. "I wasn't exactly looking for Clay's approval when I did it, but I'd say they seemed pretty evil. Or at the very least, they wanted me dead or captured."
"Yep, I totally would of burnt them," Peril agreed. "SUPER evil."
"Well, it was probably the single worst experience of my life. Despite how many fights I find myself in, I'm not good at fighting, I can't really stomach killing someone. It was to save a good friend though, so… yeah. I don't regret it." Phoenix sighed. "Not really sure why I told you that."
"My lips are sealed," Peril mimed the action. "Plus, I'm hardly one to judge that."
Phoenix hummed her acknowledgement, turning the corner in the fire-lit caves. It reminded her of the caves she found herself in yesterday. Perhaps it was best she found peril, she had no idea where she was.
Despite how deep she thought she was in the mountain, a sky-lit pool came into sight as she wandered further down the hardly trodden path. But considering how high the walls where, she was certainly deep, long dark shadows being cast over the water. There was a ledge, however, that as lit by sunlight.
There were a few other dragons, but the tiny group seemed to part as soon as they walked in. "I'm surprised there aren't more dragons here, quite a nice place."
"It's mostly too far away for most dragonets. Turtle used to come here a lot though." Peril responded. "Do you know who the Jade Winglet are? I just realised I keep mentioning them." She asked.
Phoenix shrugged her wings. "Well, I know the whole thing that happened not so long ago. Didn't know their names; I would take an educated guess that Turtle was the SeaWing in your group, though. He your friend?"
She nodded. "I'd like to think I'm friends with the entire winglet. Though, I doubt our IceWing would like me all that much. But, I'd consider that fair. Even if it was totality his fault."
"You set him on fire?" Phoenix guessed.
"His fault, but he… fully recovered. He left Jade Mountain though. Not sure if he told anyone where he went." Peril said. "But Turtle is a close friend. You're a little like him in one way."
Phoenix raised an eye. "How so?"
"You're not scared of me," she answered. She went to say something else, but cut herself short.
"No idea about 'Turtle', but for me it helps being fireproof," Phoenix smiled. It wasn't like Peril hadn't figured out that, so there wasn't much point in trying to hide it anymore. "And once I got to know you a little bit, you're fine. You are rather infamous though."
Peril nodded, but seemed focused on something else. "Not even Clay is fireproof like you are… his scales still fizzle and burn, they're exception resistant to burning. But you are straight up- fire PROOF- how?
Yeah, that was always going to be asked. Wasn't it? She sighed internally. "I was just born like it, I guess." She wasn't lying, exactly. But it still felt… wrong.
"Okay," Peril rolled her eyes with a chuckle. "Keep your secrets. Fireproof RainWing that breathes fire."
"What- skies above. I actually said- I'm such a bloody idiot!" Phoenix eyes went wide as the sky, barely able to stop herself from hyperventilating. She laughed to herself with a cry. "This is what I mean about lacking in the brain department. That was so stupid of me."
"SO, you ARE half SkyWing then?" Peril asked as Phoenix turned away shamefully.
She nodded, avoiding eye contact. "Yeah," she groaned. "Don't go sayin' it out loud," she hissed.
"Woah!" Peril's wings dropped to her side. "I mean no offense, and there's no one here! I'm like, also part RainWing here. Remember?"
Phoenix huffed. "At least you don't actually look like a hybrid. Unfortunately," Phoenix let her bright amber scales shine through their RainWing camouflage. "I look like one clear as day and it's brought me nothing but pain. Atleast I had plausible deniability until like a week ago. Then all this rubbish went down and apparently I can suddenly change my colours after five years of not begin able too."
"You're secrets safe with me, remember?" Peril offered. "I'm totality cool with you being half SkyWing. I think it's really cool. Don't you?"
"Half RainWing, is how I prefer to see it," Phoenix stated. "Hybrid or not, I'm not a RainWing in my head and I never plan to be. That's probably why I just entirely forgot that I'm not supposed to be able to breath fire."
Phoenix decided to walk off to sit by the water, rubbing a few tears away from her eye. Peril didn't follow her, but didn't leave either.
In her heart, it felt like she'd just messed up everything. She trusted Peril to her word, but she was going to do it again wasn't she? They should of both just gone to Possibility. Ember and her would be much safer there, surely. Even without much money.
"Phoenix?" Peril slowly walked up to her side. "You know, a lot of the dragons and dragonets here HATE me. I but know almost NONE of them would have any problems at all with Hybrids. Why don't you want anyone to know?"
"I've had a lot of bad experience, Peril," Phoenix answered. "Half of the opinions against me existing I don't even disagree with."
"What do you mean?" Peril looked confused.
Phoenix just laughed. "Come on, just look at me. I have dodgy RainWing scales which hardly work, my fangs are nothing but a hindrance and my fire… is well yeah," Phoenix coughed on that last point. She wasn't giving away everything about her.
"You're just being hard on yourself," she tried to comfort her. When Phoenix just huffed, Peril stepped a little closer as Phoenix stared into the sky.
Peril rested a wing on Phoenix, which sent a jolt of surprise down her spine. Phoenix immediately brought her attention to the firescale, who just smiled lightly at her. She had no doubt this sort of interaction was rare for Peril, which made it sort of heart warming, even to her. She giggled to herself abit. Literately, heart warming.
"Yeah, I guessed," Phoenix shrugged off the copper wings. "My sister doesn't mind it one bit, despite everything that's happened."
"No-problem-o," Peril chimed back. "Glad I could help. So… why are you fireproof?"
Phoenix remained in silent as she thought up an answer. She… almost felt life telling Peril she was a Firescale, but it wasn't like she could even prove it. She'd love her scales a lot more if she could actually control when they lit up. "I have no idea. I've always assumed it's because I'm a hybrid, which is why I don't go 'round telling people about it."
"Huh, it's pretty cool though," Peril said.
Phoenix nodded slowly, deciding to looking around the cavern she found herself in. It really was a strangely nice place. As she looked around, taking in the environment and trying to remember how she'd found it, her eyes caught a glint in the ground.
It was only a few steps away from her, so she lent over to pick it up. Rolling it around in her talons and holding it up to the light. "Is this a dart?" Phoenix held it out to Peril. "Haven't seen one with my own eyes before."
"It looks like one of the tranquilliser ones they use in the healing centre," Peril hummed. "No idea what it's doing here."
Phoenix shook it, but there certainly wasn't anything hidden inside it. "Well, if there ever was any tranquilliser, it's been drained out. Say, you didn't catch who else was in here before did you? They were sitting here."
"Some SeaWing, think he was that new one in your winglet. Didn't recognise him," Peril answered, inspecting the weapon over Phoenix's shoulder. "You think he was doing something with it?"
Phoenix smirked. "Well, if he'd used it for 'recreation', I don't think he would of walked out of here. I… don't want to assume anything, but I bet we could find out what he was doing. He went out… that way, right?" She pointed a wing to the far exit.
"Er, I'm pretty sure," Peril nodded. "That leads outside, though. He could of gone anywhere."
Phoenix hummed. "We might as well leave through that way. Not gonna have much luck anywhere else," she said, stepping down from her rock.
Pretty quickly, she found herself back outside at the other side of the mountain, a hundred wingspans lower then the entrance. Somehow, it was even more shaded here then it was inside. As far as she could see, the SeaWing was long since gone.
The only thing notable that Phoenix could see: a strange hole in the wall, shielded by a hurried metal cover and locked with a key. She wouldn't of questioned it, had it looked less bodged together.
"This way," Peril called too her, heading off back to the entrance.
Phoenix shook her head, "One second, Peril. Probably a stupid question, but is that locked thing there," she pointed to it, "just part of the school?"
Peril hummed her confusion. "No idea, never seen it before. Probably just a… letter box or something? Right?"
"Not any space to put in much of a letter, not to mention, with the holes in the side of this thing? Better hope it doesn't rain. I think I can see something inside it," Phoenix said, trying to peer inside.
Despite her best effort, she couldn't see more then a flint of metal. "Hey Peril, wouldn't be able to see in there would you? Can't see a thing without any light."
"OH, sure!" she beamed. She swiftly moved forward to peer inside, instinctively pausing to let Phoenix move out the way. Though, it only took her a moment to move by her side anyway. Holding up a claw to the metal lock, but not touching it, she squinted her eyes. "WELL," Peril shrugged her shoulders. "No idea what's inside. Because there's another box."
Phoenix hummed in thought. Well, if they broke open the little letterbox thingy, then she could get in trouble. There was probably a good chance it was part of the academy. But… on the other hand, there was a slight chance that this was actually related to whatever that SeaWing was doing. She just had a feeling.
"You think we could… cut it open?" Phoenix asked. "I'm also certain that there's something else inside."
"Sure!" Peril answered, cutting the lock without second thought. Phoenix then grabbed the little box from inside, brushing off a few beads of molten metal. It was fairly light, and rattled when she carefully shook it- and it felt… odd. Almost… almost like the gemstone in her room.
Phoenix looked into the sky, stashing the lockbox into a satchel at her side. "We should probably open this somewhere else," she recommend. "Doubt the SeaWing would be happy seeing us."
"…and what could HE do about that? Hm?" Peril smiled.
Phoenix rolled her eyes. "Write a formal letter of complaint to clay?"
"Eek," Peril drew back her smile with joking worry. Well, she thought it was joking anyway. "Let's not let him do that!"
A short flight later, she landed down under the shade of another mountain, a tall ridge covering them from sight of Jade Mountain. It was probably over the top to go to this extent to hide, but it never hurt.
Holding the lockbox in one talon, Phoenix took a claw to the keyhole. Surprisingly, a quick rake of the pins was all it took; with the clink of metal, the mechanism rolled out and popped open.
"Y'know, that's not the first time I've opened a lock without a key, but it was certainly the easiest," Phoenix hummed. It probably meant it wasn't important. "Eh, either way. Let's see what's inside."
With that, Phoenix raised the lid with a claw. Inside, there were two things: a vial, filled with a cloudy liquid and a red crystal. A crystal, not much unlike the one she had…
"What is it?" Peril said, her head standing confused just over her shoulder.
Phoenix shook her head. "Honestly, I have no idea… but it's not the first one I've seen. But, it doesn't exactly look friendly now, does it?"
Peril nodded in agreement. "SO, you think this is the SeaWings'?"
She shrugged. There was hardly any evidence linking it too him. Though, there was a strange coincidence. "I guess that fact remains to be proven."
Peril hummed in thought. "So we have to go find him!"
Phoenix nodded, though quickly paused. "I wanna go check on something first, come with me," Phoenix beckoned, raising her wings. "That gemstone in that box, it looks really familiar."
She shot off, Peril behind her, as she flew in through the front entrance and landed down on the rock. A few minutes later, surprisingly without a wrong turn, she walked into her room.
"Oh! Phoenix," the friendly voice of Torrid called from beside her. "So sorry about earlier- we didn't mean to-"
"Don't worry about it," Phoenix cut her off, giving her a friendly smile. "I tend to overreact with that sort of thing," she let of a half nervous laugh. She looked away for a second, then went into her room to look for her red crystal.
There was a pause for a long second. "You're sister and Eventide went to the library to try and find you- oh hello-!" her voice suddenly turned into an awkward cough. "Can I help you?"
Whoops, probably should of said she was walking with Peril. Phoenix stuck her head back out of her room. "Sorry, mind if Peril comes in? She was helping me with something."
"I guess not," she gave peril a kind-hearted smile, though Phoenix could tell there was a little panic behind it. Mainly because she shuffled a few scrolls closer to her.
Phoenix turned back to what she was doing, pulling open the draw she'd kept the gemstone in. Though, it'd vanished from it's hiding spot. "It's gone."
"What is?" Peril asked.
Torrid raised an ear. "The stone you had?"
"Yeah," Phoenix nodded. "And me and Peril just found an identical one hidden on the other side of the academy. In a lockbox."
That really got her attention. "Someone tried to steal it? Do you know who?"
Phoenix shook her head with uncertainly. "I can't say. Me and Peril have a suspicion. But we can't really prove it. Plus, it wouldn't even make sense. There's no way he'd of know I had it, let alone known where it was kept."
An idea clearly popped into Torrid's head. "Those brigands could of figured it out," she suggested. "Do you suspect any SkyWings?"
Phoenix shook her head. "The SeaWing in our winglet. He's sort of the reason I found the stone again, but we don't have any evidence to say he's the one who hid it."
"These SkyWings?" Peril asked.
"The sort of kind I wouldn't mind seeing burnt," Phoenix huffed a laugh. "It's a long story, but essentially we ended up nicking the original stone we had from them. Well, Torrid's younger sibling did. From what we know, it's kinda special. It'd make sense they wouldn't want to loose it."
"Hmm," Peril hummed. "What about the other item in the box?"
Phoenix pulled the lockbox back out, holding the vial in her hand. "Almost forgot about that. Does it look like tranquilliser?"
"Well, it's marked 'morphine'" Torrid pointed out. True to her word, in tiny letters were the words, etched into the glass, followed by a few other characters she couldn't identify. Phoenix could barely see them anyhow.
Peril shook her head, "then that's not what the Sea Wing took! RainWing's don't use morphine, their tranquilliser comes from something else and the healing centre use that"
"We don't know it was tranquilliser he was using before," Phoenix thought aloud. In fact. They didn't even know he was stealing it. "Peril… rather then taking it, you don't think he could have been trying to fill that dart with something."
"Pretty certain that was a normal dart," Peril doubted.
Phoenix let her wings dropped, but the answer quickly came to her. "he was changing the fluid in it." Which meant that couldn't of been normal morphine in that vial. Perhaps the writing was the key to finding out. "Do you know what these symbols are?"
"Erm," she squinted to get a better look. "I don't think so. Looks like it could be science related though," she laughed. "Pretty vague but that's my best bet."
"Then my sister would probably know," Phoenix smiled. "Too the library then."
Torrid and Peril agreed, but then Torrid paused. "Shouldn't we report this to someone? I mean, I know the evidence is very slim but you can likely prove he stole something from you- or someone stole something."
"I… don't think it'd achieve anything," Phoenix shrugged her shoulders. "No criticism intended for the dragonets of destiny 'an all, because they can't really do anything with our information."
"I think we should still tell them the fact that there's potentially someone running around with a blow dart," Torrid said. "Unless you've got a reason?" she asked.
Phoenix sure why, but she really didn't want to hand this over to the teachers of the academy. There was just… something in the back of her mind telling her not too. It lingered like anxiety, though she had no idea what it was. "I'm just worried whoever it is might find out. I mean, if it is that SeaWing, he's already seen us. No need to let him know he may of found his things."
Torrid nodded her head, seemingly accepting that answer. "If you think that's best, I'm alright that that."
"Well, you can rest easy knowing the school won't have to go into full swing panic mode," Phoenix chuckled. "I'm sure they've had there full of incidents for the year."
She was just about to lead the way back out into the hallway, when she was blocked by the dull and familiar scales of her sister. She stepped back and gave her sister a smile. "Ember! We were just going to look for you."
"Same thing here," Eventide said, following her sister inside. "Sorry about earlier-"
Phoenix rolled her eyes. "Please, don't worry about it. I'm sorry," she shrugged off his apology. Peril raised her eyes in curiosity. Phoenix guessed she'd explain later, preferably away from her winglet. "Anyway, short things short:"
She explained what'd she'd been up to, also giving Torrid a better picture of the situation; Ember gave her a 'really? Again?' sort of look, though it went away when she explained that this wasn't her fault.
"Pass it here then," Ember asked. Phoenix did just that, handing it too her sister, so spent a few long moments staring at it. "Well, this isn't really science related,"
Torrid raised an eye. "but you know what it is?"
Ember nodded. "Yes, actually, but for a really obscure reason. Remember that scroll, back when we were younger, living with mum and dad? The one about the potions and the alchemy, all that childish stuff?"
"I think so?" Phoenix thought. "But it was probably above my reading level at the time. Skies above, probably still is. Why?"
"This symbol," she held out the vial. "Was the first thing on that scroll, along with a bunch of others characters. I- can't for the life of me remember what they meant, I wasn't that into magic. I preferred real and useful knowledge. Not sure how that really helps, but I guess you know whoever you're looking for like old stories about magic?"
"Highly doubt it had anything to do with animus magic either," Eventide added. "Stories about potions and mixing all kinds of exotic things were quite common a few thousand years ago though. Alot of them based on real occurrences."
Phoenix blinked in confusion. "So… he made the morphine magic or something?"
Her sister shook her head. "I highly doubt that, but eventide could be onto something. The red gemstone, maybe he used it to do something with the morphine… 'mixing' the two."
Ember took the vial over to a light, an idea clearly forming in her mind. Squinting her eyes, she tried to look closer at what she was doing. Very faintly, Phoenix caught it glint like red glitter.
"Well I think that might be true," she said. "We should put this someplace safe," Ember moved around the room to her desk, before stopping to think, quickly darting back to hand it over to Eventide.
"You sure that's a good idea?" Eventide questioned, a question Phoenix also agreed with. "I mean, he does sleep in there as well!"
Ember nodded, but Phoenix got the idea behind it before her sister could explain. "Oh! The last place he'd look would be in his room, right? Especially if he suspects it was me who took it!"
"Exactly," Ember smiled. "It'd be a good idea too hide it in your bag before you head to sleep. If he's in there, he might spot it."
Eventide agreed to the plan, stashing the vial in his pouch. "So what do we need to hide it for then?"
"That symbol means something. Probably something along the lines of transmutation or life extension." she said, almost rolling her eyes. "But without the scroll there's no way to tell which mixture this one is supposed to be, if it's linked at all-which considering it felt like a kids scroll, it's probably not."
"So, it tells us nothing?" Phoenix raised an eye. But it had to mean something to someone. "What if we figured out what the red crystal does normally? We know what morphine does."
"That could be a good place to start," Ember said, though she was quick to continue. "But the effects won't necessarily just add together. If there's any sort of reaction, the product inside that vial might not be morphine at all."
"Overall then, I guess knowing that doesn't actually help us much?" Phoenix frowned.
"Well, maybe not," Ember said. "But that's only if there's a reaction. It'd still be a great start to figure out what it does. Even if it doesn't help, it might still tell us a lot about what this dragon is working with. Or maybe who they're working with." Ember said that last part quieter."
Who they were working with? Was Ember suggesting… she'd have to bring it up later, when they were alone.
"Oh! Have you experimented with the crystal?" Eventide asked. "Figuring out what type of stone it is, or what's it's made of, could tell us what it is!"
Phoenix shook her head, pulling out the crystal. "Not yet, I don't want to damage it- any further."
"Oh, well, fair enough," Eventide thought. "Well, there are a few things we can tell but by looking at it. For one, it's not reactive with air, or we'd be able to tell- oh, does holding it do anything? Just checking it's not animus, you're supposed to be able to tell! It was in that scroll after all."
She was supposed to be able to tell? Well… it did feel kinda weird. But so did being able to change her scale colours, so it probably meant nothing. "Not that I can tell," Phoenix answered.
"Ack," Eventide frowned. "That's a dead end then."
"I should probably get going," Peril suddenly spoke up. "I've… got places to be."
Phoenix looked over to Peril, who'd been sitting quite quietly, sitting as small as she could get a decent wingspan away from everybody. Phoenix felt bad for her. "We should continue this later." she said. "Meet me back in the library, I just wanna talk to Peril real quick."
"The Library? Why there?" Eventide groaned, in a way that was less 'I have books' and definitely more 'we just walked all the way there and back again, do we have to go again?'
"Well- erm," Phoenix choked on finding an excuse.
"She's got a point, we've got to do do that assignment, might as well get it done before worrying ourselves with this." Ember answered for her. Phoenix gave her a thankful smile.
"Not a terrible idea, I've been thinking about what I could write," Torrid answered with a stretch. "See you in a minute, Phoenix!"
"Sea ya'" Phoenix smiled as the rest of her winglet left the room. her sister gave her and Peril a smile before she left, before vanishing as well.
Peril raised a talon and covered her maw, masking a quiet cough.
"Sorry about making you sit here with my Winglet," Phoenix laughed. "Wasn't exactly the plan when I walked in!"
Peril shook her head. "No worries, they were all nice! Well, not scared off me- well, okay, maybe the NightWing. He kept looking at my like I was gonna burn his face off. But- still- I don't get along with-"
"Crowds?" Phoenix finished. "Yeah, I know how you feel. More or less. Just having three people sleeping in here feels really weird to me. It's been just me and my sister for the last year."
"Your sister, is she also fireproof?" Peril asked.
She shook her head. "Quite the opposite: she's fireless. Though, don't tell the others, or anyone. We're… trying to keep that secret as much of one as mine."
"Quite a strange two you are," Peril huffed a laugh. "Though not the craziest thing I've ever seen. Have you had to deal with a giant evil dragon yet, or maybe a magic scroll?"
Phoenix shook her head, laughing back. "Thankfully no."
Peril got up and flared her wings, stretching the bright scales across them. "Not even a vision or prophecy? Hmm?"
"Well actually, I had a pretty strange dream the other night," She chuckled. "I was a SkyWing, looking pretty unwell. Think I remember the name zephyr. Mostly, I just remember being trapped under a very weird red sky."
"Red sky? Perhaps it has something to do with the red crystal!" Peril joked. "Anyway, I really should get going. I haven't eaten yet and I'm starving!" She gave a bright smile, turning to the door.
"Yeah, see ya," Phoenix said quietly, having caught what her copper-scaled friend's words. What had Peril said? Her dream could be linked to the crystal? She quietly hummed to herself, the roots of an idea being to grow.
Peril gave her an odd look as she trailed off, but nevertheless continued. "Well, have fun writing!" she said, before leaving through the door and into the hallway, Phoenix watching as the fiery scales of her tail slithered about around the corner.
The moment she was gone, her head turned to the red gemstone glistening in her talons, the weird-wrong feeling seemingly growing as she concentrated on it. She was on to something, wasn't she? Maybe Eventide was right, maybe this feeling was something animus. The idea began to sprout in her mind like a blooming flower, well, more like an exploding cactus!
That nightmare: she could almost remember every unsettling breath of air, the dull creek of the trees and the blood-red scarlet sky; her bones that'd ached and a crying silent hunger that seemingly never ended. It sent a shiver down her spines, a feeling that extra creepy to her. All of this started when she went to sleep for that first night, curling up a few talon lengths away from the stone.
There was no way that was a coincidence. She'd never had a nightmare like that! Especially not one so unrelated to the world around her. Perhaps, just maybe, if she held it whilst she slept: she'd find out if she was right. Maybe, she'd go back into that 'nightmare'
That'd tell them what the gemstone was all about.
It sounded pretty stupid, like all her idea's. But the was a small tingling feeling in the back of her mind that told her she was totally right-a feeling quite the opposite of what she was used to.
Plus, Phoenix was pretty sure she may have inhaled just a tiny bit too much of morphine vapour in the cavern, because she felt like her muscles were about to collapse. So really, there was nothing to loose by trying.
She slinked over to her bed, clutching the precious stone to her chest, thinking about the dreamstones Ember has told her about years ago. With one tired yawn, Phoenix curled herself into a bundle of amber scales on her bed, closing her ears.
As her mind began to dull, a slow lethargy crawled over her body as lay; the strange feeling of wrongness flooding over her body, like she was clutching something unnatural. Swiftly, her thoughts clouded, an uncomfortable sleep overcoming her.
The last imagine her closed eyes caught was a flash of red, swirling like an ocean on fire. Then, she was asleep.
Hmm, this took a little longer to write then expected, didn't it? Sorry about that! Probably a bit of a boring chapter as well, though I hope to spice up my writing style next chapter- whenever that is.