Part 1: The Past
Blaze stood at the opened doors of her fortress, her teeth gritted against the cold. The arctic wind cracked and roared, tossing wave after wave of diamond cut ice around like an ocean surge. Blaze could barely see two feet ahead of her; it was as if the air itself had been made dense with grey, shimmering flecks.
Icy snow scratched the soft scales along Blaze's eyes; she wrapped her cloak tightly around her wings and chest. She had been here for years now, but the ferocity of the Ice Kingdom never failed to shake her. Just the other day it had been endless clear skies; blue like the waters of the deepest oasis. The snow had been particularly sparkly that day. Blaze had given herself a head-ache staring at it. Now, though, Blaze feared the sky was collapsing inward like the crown of an egg being hammered in.
It would have been so much better if Glacier were there with her. The Queen of the IceWings was always infuriatingly unimpressed when it came to whether calamities, which somehow made Blaze feel better about it all. The IceWing would toss her head back, the gesture like a mountain shrugging off a gale, and say, 'Honestly Blaze, it's only 40 inches of snow. That's nothing to fret over.' or 'It sounds worse than it is. If you'd just come flying with me I could teach you how an IceWing handles themselves. There's no reason to be afraid.'
To that offer, Blaze had shaken off Glacier's comforting wings and said, "The day I go flying in a blizzard will be the day the Kingdom of Sand freezes over."
Blaze now regretted never taking Glacier up on the offer. If she had, she wouldn't be stranded here in this dismally lit and hollow fortress. Sure, she had her loyal SandWings around her, but more often than not she felt like her presence was a weight on their wings. Smiles that were either too tight or too wide often greeted her when she entered a room; warm chatter dripped away before her talons.
Glacier had said the silence meant they respected Blaze, but when Blaze turned those moments around in her head, as one would inspect the cut of a gem, she didn't see respect. She saw disappointment.
"Why in all the claws of the Great Ice Dragon are you leaving the door open? Aren't you cold?" A high-pitched and clipped voice cracked Blaze's nerves like a whip. She nearly jumped out into the snowbank that was accumulating at the door.
Blaze stumbled backwards, trying frantically to shake off the snow that had slipped past the opening of her cloak. She already recognized the voice, and was therefore unsurprised to find Crystal, Glacier's daughter, standing behind her. Her shimmering, evenly white face contorted in a frown that was equal parts petulant and dour.
"Crystal!" Blaze gasped and placed a talon over her thundering heart, "By all the moons you nearly scared my horns off!" Crystal didn't apologize or bow her head in acknowledgement. She didn't even blink. Blaze held back a sigh.
It wasn't that Blaze disliked dragonets, in fact most of the time she liked them. Crystal, however, was not like most dragonets – granted Blaze didn't really know what most dragonets were like. She could barely even remember being that young, and she certainly couldn't remember the last time she had needed to interact with a dragonet as young as Crystal.
Nonetheless, Blaze softened her tone in what she hoped was soothing and kind. "Crystal, remember how I said you aren't supposed to sneak up on dragons like that? It's creepy."
This had not been the first time today that Crystal had pulled this stunt. And like all the other times, the young IceWing merely titled her head, which did NOT improve the creepy factor. Blaze swallowed another sigh and looked into the dragonet's face in hopes of seeing some sort of understanding. Or any emotion at all, really.
Where Glacier's face had been shaped and cut to diamond perfection by the screeching storms that ploughed through her kingdom, Crystal's was soft and unchipped. Her eyes were wide and round, like the wells they used to dig in the Kingdom of Sand when the droughts made dragons desperate. Her gaze was devouring, too. Blaze usually loved being watched, especially when she wore her glittering tiara and bracelets that chimed together like music. But right now she felt like hiding. She felt swallowed by those eyes.
At that moment, a stream of frigid air slapped Blaze across the snout. The blizzard was picking up, which by all accounts should have been impossible. There was already a snow bank as tall as her fortress climbing up the north-facing wall, and it was growing by the minute. The howling wind rattled Blaze's bones.
She withdrew herself from the door frame and pushed the heavy door shut with a loud clang.
Then she was alone with Crystal. The air near the entrance was so still and so cold that Blaze's breath came out in puffs of white vapor. Blaze counted one, two, three of her breaths and still neither of them spoke.
For a sliver of a moment, Blaze contemplated running out into the blizzard just to avoid being locked up in this fortress with Glacier's strange daughter. She shook the thought off along with the snowflakes that had gathered in the folds of her cloak. No, she was not going to run away screaming. This isn't some dangerous enemy trying to assassinate me, she mentally chided herself, by all the moons, it's only Glacier's daughter. The thought was meant to be comforting, but it fell miserably short. The royal in her understood the need for Glacier to have an heir. In fact, she had been (mostly) overjoyed when Glacier had told her about the egg. Deeper in her heart, however, there was a grinding ache that Blaze refused to acknowledge when she thought about the implications of it all.
And now here she was face to face with that grinding ache.
It also didn't help that Glacier had just dropped Crystal off this morning without as much as a hello. It worried Blaze. Was Glacier mad at her? Was this some sort of test? Glacier had never been one to give out surprise tests before. Blaze took a breath and forced her racing fears aside. She would just have to trust that Glacier had a reason for leaving this weird little dragonet with her.
And who knows, she thought, maybe it won't be so bad. There isn't a dragon on this continent I can't charm, after all. How hard can it be to look after a dragonet for a bit?
She crouched down to bring her eyes level to Crystal's. "OK, so, um… Oh, I know! Would you like to go get a snack, hm? How about a nice yummy fried lizard? Yum yum!"
Crystal's elegant features puckered. She rubbed her wings together. "Mother isn't coming back today, is she?"
Blaze buried her irritation under a glittering smile. This was another infuriatingly habit of the small IceWing; answering questions with a different question that belonged to a different conversation.
"Um, no. I don't think so. Sorry." Silence reclaimed the space in the corridor. For the life of her, she couldn't think of what to say to this dragonet. Silver and golden words always came easy to her, but Crystal sucked her brain dry of all things lovely and sweet.
For most of the afternoon Crystal had kept to herself and Blaze hadn't needed to keep a conversation going. Now the dragonet seemed to be getting restless and was obviously disappointed that Glacier wasn't coming. Honestly so was Blaze.
Blaze tried again. "I'm sure she'll be here as soon as the storm lets up. Try not to worry, sweetie." Blaze started to reach for the smaller dragon, she had no idea why. It was hardly surprising when Crystal flinched away from her warm talons.
"I'm not worried," Crystal insisted dismissively, "and I don't need her here. I'm fine on my own. Besides," she pressed her wings back and raised her chin regally, "I'm here to watch over the fortress while my mother is unavailable. She told me so herself. As heir to the throne, I need to learn leadership and responsibility."
Crystal spoke in that urgent way that dragonets do when they feel the need to say everything as fast as possible before an adult interrupts them. At times, Blaze felt as if she were still fighting to be heard, even as an adult and rightful Queen to the Sand Kingdom. In that moment, Blaze couldn't help but reflect on just how young Crystal was. Maybe a year and a half? She was hardly the size of those arctic foxes who's fur Blaze loved to drape over her shoulders. The meaner part of Blaze suspected that Glacier had really just wanted to get Crystal out from under her talons. She had half the mind to say as much to Crystal, to blow away the haughty air that followed the dragonet around like a rain cloud, but decided against it. Crystal's young, owlish face made it hard to gather any spite.
"How cute –um," Blaze faltered when Crystal hissed incredulously, "I mean kind! How kind of you to watch over me like that."
Yeesh, these IceWings were touchy; especially the young ones. Or maybe all dragonets were like this.
Blister and Burn had used to be touchy like that, or at least that is what her dim memories said. Older, grainer memories suggested otherwise; barely held together moments of calm interactions…maybe even of kindness. Then again, the images were so mangled by time there was no telling if they had been real or a long held daydream.
No, her memories of dragonethood we as clouded as sandy water, all except for those few sparse patches of light that held her happy moments. Unsurprisingly these areas of sunny flashes had been when she had been allowed to play by herself in Oasis' treasury.
These memories came to her again and she felt the tenseness in her wings relax.
In the past, Blaze had tried to explain why she had adored jewels and glittery things, but she could never straighten out the feelings in her head into words. No one really listened anyway. There was just something calming about them. Blaze would twirl the diamonds in her claws, mesmerized as the light was pulled into the gem and split apart like dew drops.
She also liked the appreciative glances dragons would give her, admiring the play of glittering golds and beads she draped herself in. Much better than those wilting scowls that were normally thrown at her claws. At a young age Blaze had learned that if you looked good, you were treated good.
A thought came to her, then. It struck her like a tail bard to the head, but in a good way. She stood straighter, her earrings bouncing with the motion. "Oh! I just had the best idea. You're going to love it! Would you like to guess? Go on and guess."
Crystal stared up at her, her face a frigid sheet of ice. "Shouldn't you go sit by a fire or something? Your talons look as white as mine. That's probably not good."
"I – oh, I do suppose I'm a little chilly, actually, but my plan will solve all our problems! Would you like to try guessing? How about I give you a little hint…there will be lots and lots of sparkly things."
Blaze considered her hint to be very good, but instead of lighting up with joy, Crystal's face became creased with even more consternated wrinkles.
"Are we going to see your treasure?" she asked flatly.
"Even better," Blaze could barely hold back her elation. "What if we went to see my treasure aaaaaaand I gave you amakeover."
Again, Blaze waited for joy to overtake the small IceWing.
Instead, the rigid line of Crystal's back slumped. She didn't say anything for a moment, but her gaze did drift towards the closed fortress door where the wind wailed and pounded against the metal hinges. She looked back at Blaze with the expression of someone running out of options.
"Fine," she said.
Blaze clapped, her fluttering wings stirring up a miniature blizzard in the corridor. She wasn't bothered by Crystal's attitude. This little dragon just needed to be shown how to have fun! Blaze had noticed long ago that an inability to have fun was a chronic IceWing condition.
The two shuffled down the corridor, Blaze urging a moping Crystal ahead of her.
"This is going to be so great!" Blaze chatted on, "I've already figured out what you should wear. Now, don't take this the wrong way but the jewelry you have on right now is rather, hm, jejune, if you don't mind my saying so."
"Je-huh?" Crystal's utter befuddlement broke her indifferent mask.
"You IceWings love your silver. Silver horn rings, silver claw rings, silver tail-bands. Boring boring boring. Like I always tell Glacier, some colour would really bring out those deeper tones in your scales."
Every scale on Blaze tingled with excitement for this new project, or maybe it was just the feeling returning to her body after sitting in the freezing wind for so long. It didn't matter. The joy that came with the idea of spending time with her treasure was almost enough to make her forget the numbness of her talons and the eye-rolls from the other SandWings as she passed them by. Almost.
When they reached the doors to her chambers, she flung them opened with a dramatic flair that was only slightly ruined when arms got tangled in her cloak.
"Welcome to my boudoir," she sang. The immediate sensation of warm air wrapping their tendrils around her every limb made her audibly sigh. A roaring fire was thriving in the massive fire place installed in her chambers. It soaked the room in warmth and added a familiar, comforting smell of smoke to the air. Blaze could practically feel the layer of ice around her body popping and cracking as the heat melted it away.
Crystal looked rather displease. Her snout was wrinkled and her lips pulled back over her sharp teeth. "What is that smell?"
"Oh that's just the smoke. Isn't it lovely?" Blaze took in a deep breath. "Or maybe it's my sandalwood perfume. I just adore the smell of it. I put it on all my fabrics."
The room was awash in the orange glow of the fire and Blaze stepped into it like an embrace. The heat was enough so that she no longer needed her cloak. She tossed it onto a nearby chair, and then turned back to Crystal. "Well come on! Don't you want see my treasure?"
The IceWing stood on the barrier of the room, but slowly, and with the look of a dragon stepping into the mouth of a bear, she followed.
"It's hot in here," Crystal complained.
The SandWing directed the dragonet to a frenzied pile of floor cushions in the corner. They had been imported from the Sand Kingdom and were made with the finest silks, embroidered with skittering lizards and blooming cacti. They were stuffed with the softest camel fur, and on bad days Blaze would bury herself in that heap and press the pillows to her face and breathe in deeply.
For now, she let Crystal make herself comfortable, which was similar to watching a startled gull trying to find a place to land in a storm.
"You know," Blaze started, itching to make conversation, "I think this will be good for us. We've both been so stressed. Us ladies need to have some fun every once in a while." She moved to the center of her room and pulled back the rug to reveal a hidden door.
"Stressed?" Crystal echoed. Her attention was focused on the pillows surrounding her. She kept pressing her talons into them, apparently amazed at their plumpness. "IceWing's have no reason to feel stressed. We can handle anything."
Blaze made a hrmph sound, both in response to Crystal, but also because she was lifting the super heavy door to the storage area under the floor. She was only a little out of breath by the time it swung opened. "Well, I just don't think that's true at all," Blaze said as she brushed off her talons. "Your mother has told me all about your classes and tutors and training. It all sounds so exhausting. I get tired just listening to it."
In all honesty, she really just got bored of listening to Glacier go on and on about Crystal's training, and test scores, and rankings, and blah blah blah. It's not that she didn't care, but it all seemed a bit fanatical really. Since when do princesses need all that extra stuff? She certainly hadn't.
Crystal straightened in her seat as if she'd just sat on a coal. "Mother has spoken about me?"
"Mhm," Blaze mumbled back. She was busy trying to figure out how to pull the gold and jewel laden trunk out from hole in the ground. Any other day she would have just asked one of the other, stronger, SandWings to help her. Right now, though, she didn't want anyone to bother them.
"Has she – what did she say? Specifically?" Crystal took a step forward. The black cornea of the IceWing absorbed the light from the fire and reflected none of it. Only a ring of near-white blue glowed in the center of that darkness. Blaze shivered.
"All good things!" Blaze assured, which was true, but she would have said anything to keep those huge eyes from eating her whole. "Glacier said – uh – she said you were doing excellent in your whether-interpretation studies and were the best fighter of your cohort."
Perhaps Blaze was getting better at reading IceWing emotions, as Crystal managed to sit even straighter than before, her eyes lidded ever so slightly in what might be considered a hint of a whisper of contented pride. The emotion was gone quickly; that mask of IceWing boredom re-settling on her face like a well-loved blanket.
Crystal was quiet then for a bit, which both unnerved and relieved Blaze. The IceWing watched indifferently as Blaze continued to struggle with the chest of treasure. The SandWing bit back a comment on how frowning so much would give her wrinkles.
"Did your mother make you study a lot too?"
The sudden question made Blaze lose her already slipping grip on the trunk. A heartbeat of silence stilled the air before a gentle laugh floated from Blaze's chest. Her laugh, like everything about her, was beautiful, whimsical, and enchanting. Once, a handsome SandWing guard had compared it to the high notes of a harp. When she paused to look at Crystal, the dragonet did not look enchanted. The laughter stopped.
"Oh, you were serious."
It was a relief when the logs of the fire collapse in an explosion of embers and noise, anything to break the awkward silence. Crystal looked at Blaze as though she were a worrisome weather pattern that needed interpreting.
Prickly spider legs seemed to run along her scales. Blaze adjusted the tiara on her head and cleared her throat. "No, I wasn't trained to be a princess. That's not how things are done in the Sand Kingdom. We have a more relaxed way of doing things. Now, would you please help me with this trunk?"
For a tense moment Crystal stayed where she was. She was looking intently at the chest. Then, without a word, Crystal jumped down into the storage hole. "I'll push from the bottom, you pull from the top," she directed, and between the two of them they were able to heave it to surface level.
"So you didn't have any private tutors? At all?" Crystal asked as she leapt out of the hole. Blaze's jaw clenched but the smile on her face didn't falter for a moment.
"No," Blaze started, "but Oasis used to have these half-yearly test thingys. I guess she wanted to make sure we were doing good enough. Oh yes, I remember now… she used to make such a big deal out of it! She'd get us up in front of the court and fire questions at us and…and…"
Blaze let the sentence fell away as memories began to stir in the back of her mind. It was so visceral that she had to fight the urge to look behind her, as if a memory could stalk one from the shadows.
Blaze hadn't thought of those tests in years. It felt as if she were trying to reach for something behind a sheet of ice. She could see blurry images, but couldn't grasp them in her talons. She remembered being in Oasis' throne room and looking up at the mountain of scales that was her mother. Blaze had forgotten how large Queen Oasis had been… or maybe Blaze had just been super tiny. One of her teachers had been there, of course, to give the test. The courtiers had been seated in rows behind her.
Something, not an image, managed to push its way forward. It was a heavy, sour emotion that churned in the base of her stomach.
"But…but…" Crystal flapped her wings in distress, shattering the memory, "If you didn't have tutors then what did you do for your education?"
"Oh my goodness, you make it sound like I was left to rot in a prison," Blaze tried to sound nonchalant, but it was a little hard to do as she dragged the trunk closer to the fire. Blaze ignored the weird, heavy feeling growing in her head and turned her full attention to her treasure. She felt absolutely giddy with the anticipation of opening it, despite having done so many many times. "They didn't leave me to run around the palace like some barbarian. I was taught by the scholars that lived in the palace. All the dragonets from the palace went to those schools. It was fine."
Crystal's eyes went even wider than before, and Blaze was dismayed to realize she hadn't even seen them at maximum capacity until this moment. "You mean to say that you went to… to… public school?" She rubbed her wings together, her gaze becoming unfocused. "A princess in public school…"
The sour thing inside her gut kicked. A sudden pulse of bitterness ran through her veins like viper poison.
Why is she asking me all these questions? Blaze couldn't stop the rush of thoughts that tumbled into her head like a quicksand. She probably thinks I'm stupid. She'll run off and tell Glacier about how stupid and uneducated I am and they'll laugh at me and talk about how much better IceWings are at teaching their princesses and then Glacier won't like me anymore.
The flash of panicked anger quickly receded to wherever it had come from, but it left sadness in the space it had filled. She didn't want to sit here talking about her awful years in school. She just wanted to play with her sparkly jewelry and be happy. Was that too much to ask?
"Can we please stop talking about this?" Blaze said drearily. She began to rub her temples in soothing motions, the bracelets on her wrists jingling. All this thinking… all of these remembered emotions were stabbing away in her head. "I know it doesn't meet your IceWing standards, but it's not like I can change it now."
Crystal blinked in surprise. "Oh, I didn't mean it like that. I just think it…" her voice turned soft as she looked at the floor, "It sounds nice, that's all."
Her words brought Blaze's thoughts to a grinding halt.
"Wha – Really?" she asked, her delighted smile returning as if it had never been anywhere else. Oh, she wasn't making fun of me after all. The thunderous clouds that had begun to gather at the base of her chest eased up.
Crystal seemed unsure of her words, then. A sharp contrast to the snappy IceWing that had been in her scales a moment ago. "Well it's just that, for some IceWing dragonets, not me by the way, it can be stressful to have so many tutors and classes and training. It's a good thing, though! Especially if you're a princess, for example. You need to know special things that other dragons don't get to know. But – " her face became a little dreamy then, and it was such a strange expression to see on an IceWing. "But it would be nice to just be sometimes."
The dreaminess fell from her face like a stone, replaced by a dissatisfied scowl. Crystal seemed disappointed by her own words; as if she had chosen each one with careful precision only to find it made no sense once spoken.
But Blaze found she understood what Crystal meant. She was also gratified to hear that IceWings did indeed feel stress. They weren't super dragons, even if they all acted like they were.
It also served as a reminder for why they were in her room.
"I say we both need a good distraction to cheer us up," Blaze said. The frustration that had been growing towards the dragonet vanished as Blaze came to an understanding: Crystal needed a friend. Someone who didn't care about the circles or squares or whatever it was that IceWings obsessed about. Someone the little dragonet could talk to about anything. Someone just like Blaze! And, as every dragon knows, the first rule to cementing a new friendship is to have a makeover party.
Blaze gripped the sides of the trunk. "OK, Crystal, are you ready? I'm ready. I'm so so ready."
Unable to stop herself she flung open the lid and a blissful sigh escaped her. There it all was, just as she had left it. The dizzying variety of sizes, shapes, and cuts of stone were more beautiful to her than all the stars in the sky.
It didn't matter how many times she looked at her treasure. Each and every time it filled her with unrestrained joy and calm. She was rather proud of the collection she had amassed as well, and was excited to show Crystal. Some of the treasure she had taken with her when she escaped from her sisters at the start of the war. Other items Glacier had gifted her (how sweet). However, most of it was from other SandWings. Some had been gifted to her in an attempt to earn her favour, but much of it had come from SandWings that had fled the armies of her sisters and had hoped that, by offering Blaze a glittery present, she would welcome them to her side.
It was silly, really. Of course she would welcome any SandWing escaping her awful sisters. She would never turn away a fleeing SandWing…but the presents didn't hurt either.
Blaze was immensely pleased Crystal gasped in appreciation.
"Gorgeous, aren't they?" She clapped her talons together, quickly become serious. "Now, let's get you some proper attire."
An affronted expression overwhelmed the short-lived softness on the IceWing's face. "What's wrong with what I have on? It's all court approved and rank appropriate."
Yes, thought Blaze, that's exactly the problem. Blaze studied Crystal from horn to tail-tip. She wore a simple silver-chained necklace with two silver rings hanging from it, another silver ring, polished to a dazzling shine, was on the smallest claw of her left talon and studded with a small, light blue sapphire. She also had on a simple head ornament that wrapped around her horns and dipped into a V-shape on her forehead. Practical, simple, and just soooo dull.
"It's not that there's anything wrong," Blaze said as she began pulling out the jeweled items she had already mentally picked out, "but it's just that is could be even better."
While Blaze had never been much of a fighter, she could out-accessorize anyone. She let Crystal keep the jewelry she already had on, mostly because she suspected Crystal would bite her if she tried to remove anything.
She went from top to bottom. She added a few horn-rings to the small dragoness. They were studded with a pear-shaped amethyst stone surrounded by a burst of diamonds that brought out the subtle purple undertones of Crystal's completion. Blaze was glad to find Crystal had her ears pierced and put a dangling chain of white-fire opals on her right ear (asymmetry was so in vogue). She found a lovely pair of white-gold bracelets studded with swirls of light blue sapphires that nearly matched Crystal's eyes.
Despite a few growls and mean looks, the dragonet stayed mostly still while Blaze mauled her. After a while, she became distracted by all items Blaze discarded on the floor. While Blaze loved every piece of her treasure, there were just some things that she could never find a use for. Blaze supposed that was the risk that came with accepting gifts from every SandWing that comes through the door. Maybe they had been family heirlooms, but Blaze suspected many of the gifts had been stolen from an enemy, because they honestly made no aesthetic sense from a SandWing perspective. There was an amber ring that had a preserved beetle in the center. A pair of chunky bangles made of green glass balls that would NEVER work with her scales. There was also this big gaudy dangly necklace that appeared to be a series of small iron platelets interconnected. It almost could be mistaken for armor, except it had no protective properties and made Blaze feel like she was covered in gongs.
She was grateful for them right now, though, since they were amusing Crystal to no end. With a distracted dragonet Blaze was able to add a few last touches without much fuss. A simple tail band studded with starbursts of amethyst to match the ones on her horns. It was actually just a regular sized bracelet but with such a small model she had to improvise.
For the final piece, Blaze went for the dramatic. She pulled out a net made of the thinnest, most delicate silver chain she had ever handled, and in the intersection of each crisscrossed chain there was an onyx gemstone barely larger than the tip of a claw. Blaze draped it over Crystal's wings and the effect was like looking at a reversal of the night sky.
Blaze squealed in delight and clapped her talons. "Oh, you look so good! Do you like it? Do you love it? Oh wait, silly me. Let me get you a mirror. No no you stay where you are; I doubt you'll be able to move anyways."
With great effort and little dignity, Blaze dragged her large standing mirror over to the gem-encumbered dragonet. Blaze hurried to stand behind Crystal as the IceWing studied her reflection.
"Wow," Crystal whispered, which was exactly what Blaze had been going for. She tilted her head from side to side, letting the firelight play with every possible angle. Slowly she spread her wings and gently ruffled them so that the shimmering silver chain sparkled and the black flecks of onyx drank in the light. She closed her wings, paused, and then repeated the movement.
Blaze could barely contain herself. "OK be honest…. Do you love it or do you super love it?"
"How come I look so…different?"
"It's the color of the stones! They complement you so well; I would never be able to pull of this palette." The compliment seemed to unravel something in Crystal. The deep edged lines of her frown melted away. She didn't smile, exactly, but a sense of ease opened onto her face.
She looked so very young at that moment, or rather, she looked her age.
A sudden fondness warmed Blaze's chest. When she had been younger, it had been her greatest secret wish to have a little sister or brother to play with. Burn and Blister were too serious and stern and a little on the violent manipulative side. Even though they argued all the time, whenever there was a need to make teams, Burn and Blister always seemed to be on the same side. This wouldn't have been so awful except their side was somehow always the opposite of whatever side Blaze was on. During those moments she would fantasize about having a younger sibling that she could dot on and who would adore her right back. She had wanted someone that would be on her side, and in this moment she got a taste of what that could have been like.
Without thinking Blaze gently lifted Crystal's chin with a talon so that the line of the dragonet's body held the same dignified poise that Blaze saw in Glacier. They met eyes through the reflection in the mirror. "There, now you look like a real queen," Blaze said. "Never forget Crystal, if you want to be taken seriously, you need to look as beautiful as you are dangerous," she lowered her talon and smiled with all her heart, "And you look so beautiful."
A deep shade of blue dusted Crystal's snout. She looked down at her talons, but Blaze could see the delicate curve of a smile peek out from the sides of her mouth. "Thank you," she said at the ground.
Blaze beamed back and asked, "So do you think you'll wear this around the palace?"
Blaze kind of wished she had had some pearls to put around Crystal's neck so that the IceWing could have clutched them in horror. The face she made was pretty priceless, though.
"The court would never approve. They would think it's frivolous." Crystal intoned the final word with exaggerated care that only comes from deliberate practice.
Blaze shrugged. "Nothing wrong with being frivolous. Maybe you'll start a trend! That happened to me when I was your age, you know. Mother had gifted me this beautiful tiara with little pink diamonds and quarts; oh it was my absolute favourite thing! But it was too big for my head. I was devastated, that is, until I realized I could wear it on my neck. It was a bit of a pinch, but once it was on it looked rather nice. And guess what happened?"
"Uh…"
"Everyone else started doing the same! And why wouldn't they? No one could deny my stylistic genius." Pride sang through Blaze's words. She loved telling that story, and based on the amazed look on Crystal's face, it had had the desired effect.
"Really? No one laughed at you or anything?"
"Nope!"
Crystal considered this very deeply. Her wings twitched, and she made a movement to rub them together, but seemed to remember the bejeweled net draped along her wings and stopped herself. "You're pretty though, and everyone likes you and you know a lot about this kind of stuff." Crystal absently began to play with the small ring on her talon, twisting it back and forth. "If I did that, the court would just think I'm being silly and I'd just make mother even more upset."
It was like a chord had been struck inside Blaze. It ran the length of her body and vibrated in her bones. How many times had she been told some version of Crystal's words? If she had a diamond for every time a dragon and thought her silly or frivolous or stupid or vain, well, she'd have more diamonds than grains of sand in all the Sand Kingdom. It didn't hurt as much as it used to, to be thought of like that, but she hadn't yet become numb to it.
But there was something else in what Crystal had said that bothered Blaze. The words pried open something raw and wet inside her chest, like a tendon being split.
Blaze shook her head so hard her tiara nearly went flying into the fire. She blinked a few times and honed in on the last words the dragonet had said.
"What do you mean by that? Why would Glacier be upset with you?"
Crystal's wings had drooped so low they looked like melting puddles on the floor. All sense of regality was replaced with a dripping air of forlorn misery. She looked at Blaze then, really observing her.
"Can you keep a secret?"
Blaze paused. Whatever Crystal had to say was serious indeed. She hated seeing the little thing so upset. She'd prefer that haughty complaining dragonet any day over this.
"Yes, of course! I am excellent at keeping secrets. Sure, I may gossip sometimes but I've never let anything important slip…. at least not recently." This didn't seem to reassure Crystal. Blaze changed tactics. "OK, how about this: let's make it a pinky-promise!"
"A what?" Crystal asked, a little more of her normal indignant tone retuning.
"It's a fun little thing my sister Burn taught me when we were little. She told me that when you make a pinky promise you have to keep that promise or the other dragon gets to break your pinky - not that we'll be doing that part!" Blaze quickly assured when Crystal's eyes went horrified. "It's just a special type of promise. Here."
Blaze extended her pinky claw. With great apprehension Crystal raised her own ringed pinky-claw and Blaze twined them together for a moment. "There," she said and the two dragons lowered their talons. "I swear on my pinky that whatever is said in this room stays in this room."
Crystal had the face of a dragon that had just realized they'd been conned into buying a fake gold ring. Nonetheless, she took a deep breath and began.
"OK so…a few days ago my mother hosted the Winter Solstice celebration at our palace. All the first and second circle dragons were expected to attend and so were all the high ranked dragonets, so I was there and so was Pine and Wolverine."
"Are those your friends?" Blaze blurted before she could stop herself. Crystal sneered and for one shocked moment Blaze wondered if this was directed at her.
"No," she snapped, then more sadly, "I guess not anymore. They're the only other dragonets in the palace close to my rank so mother approves of them." Blaze nodded at this though she didn't fully understand. She remembered her brother Smolder had been good friends with plenty of the peasant class. Many royals did since they shared a classroom with them. Still, Blaze decided now was the time for listening and not talking about herself. She was being so brave about it.
"They also never shut up about how much older and smarter and stronger they are than me, and how much better they are at all the tests. They're only a year and a half older than me! And definitely not smarter." The small IceWing literally jingled with rage as all the dangling sparkly things on her scales moved in concert with her lashing tail. She sniffed indignantly and settled herself. "On the night of the Solstice feast, Pine came up to me and told me there was a surprise test for all the first circle dragonets. He said that we were ordered to go and catch ten seals and the first dragonet to present them to mother and Prince Narwhal would get to sit beside them during the feast."
Blaze nodded to indicate she was following along. In the back of her mind she wondered if she should be mad at Glacier for not inviting her to this feast. Then she remembered it had been held in Glacier's palace, in the center of the Ice Kingdom, and that she would have frozen to death. She was then grateful to not have been invited.
"I left the palace right away," Crystal continued. "It took me hours to catch all those stupid seals. I missed the whole first part of the feast…and then I dragged them all to the palace just as the polar bear entrée was finishing up." Crystal paused, her small wings were bunched up tensely. "But…there hadn't been any test. It had been a trick."
Blaze gasped, jolted from her thoughts of feasts. "You mean he lied to you? Why would someone do that? And to a princess!"
Crystal shrugged, but her movements were dreary. "I guess he wanted to make me look like a fool in front of mother and the court, and then that would make him look better."
Along with the pity she felt on Crystal's behalf, Blaze felt a deeper pang as well. The familiarity of the story was like re-cutting a scabbed over wound. Hadn't Blister done something just like this before?
The pieces were clicking into place now like links on a golden chain; the memory solidifying. Yes, Blister had set her up like this once. In fact… it had been the day of her test. The whole picture was appearing in Blaze's mind, and she didn't like it one bit.
She remembered Blister had spoken to before the test; had told her that she knew what questions were going to be asked and that she wanted to help Blaze, but during the test her sisters had been laughing at her. And the court had been laughing at her and mother was glaring at her and she remember being so embarrassed she wished she were dead.
Still, she looked at the wilted dragonet at her feet and felt herself wilting as well.
"Oh, honey. I'm so sorry that happened, but just try to forget about it, OK?" She waved her talon airily. "I'm sure Glacier understood that it had been one big accident. Oh! What kind of jewelry did the court members have on?"
Blaze's attempts to direct the conversation to a cheerier topic failed. Crystal glanced up, and her scales seemed to have lost their sparkle. "You don't understand; you weren't there." She huffed loudly and her whole body sagged. "The court was outraged that I had missed such an important royal event and that I had brought in a big gross pile of peasant food. I tried to explain myself, I really tried, but uncle Narwhal said I should have been more vigilant and suspicious. He said I should have anticipated it…" Crystal's mouth tightened into a thin line. She began twisting the pinky-ring on her talon, her brows furrowed and eyes on the floor. "He said that this disgraceful display should serve as a lesson. I went from the top ranked dragonet to the lowest in the second circle."
Blaze blinked in confusion and dismay. All that fuss over some prank that wasn't even Crystal's fault? It was absurd! I was awful and frustrating and just so mean. Who did this Narwhal person think he was anyway? The name nudged some deep part of Blaze's brain. Glacier had spoken of him a few times, he was Glacier's brother, and while the IceWing queen had never said anything outright bad about him, Blaze could read the subtext. She had never spoke very warmly of him either, and Blaze could now see why.
"Well I think Narwhal should keep his mean thoughts to himself," Blaze said with heat. Generally Blaze tried to avoid leaning into her anger. Just like how some dragons were ugly criers, Blaze was an ugly rager. It rarely happened, but when it did her face would become flushed and blotchy. Sometimes she would cry and not in the pretty way. Right now she could feel the pinpricks of heat beneath her eyes and along her throat. She wasn't anywhere near to having a tantrum or crying, but the thought of that awful Narwhal singling out Crystal in a crowded room like that just to humiliate her… well it set a fire beneath her scales. "And what did Glacier have to say about this? I can't believe she would just sit there and let him talk like that!"
The little dragonet shook her head emphatically. "No, it's…it's not that simple. If she had spoken up against him it would have looked like favoritism. The court wouldn't have liked that."
In a very un-lady like manner, Blaze snorted out a puff a smoke. In her surprise she choked on it, coughing fitfully while trying to look like she wasn't coughing fitfully. The fit ceased after a few moments and she took a calming breath and fixed her tiara. Grinding frustration seethed in her veins, and it was with dismay that she couldn't really fault Glacier entirely for her actions.
"Alright, I see your point. But it's still not fair!" Blaze didn't like it, not at all, but the royal in her was well aware that even a queen had dragons she needed to keep appeased. Even if those dragons were stupid and mean. At times like this, Blaze would trade all her beauty for an ounce of Blister's cunning. Her sister would know a way to fix this. She would do something sneaky and the problem would be solved before the court even got wind of it. "What about – are you sure there isn't a way to go around the court?" she asked. "Maybe Glacier and I can put our heads together and – "
"No!" Crystal yelped. She looked at Blaze as if the SandWing had just offered to break both her pinkies. "You can't!"
"I – why not?" Blaze pouted. "I'm sure we could figure something out. Don't you want this fixed?"
The IceWing turned away from the mirror and stared directly and Blaze with those enormous blue eyes. For some reason Blaze didn't find them as unnerving as before, but they had a frantic glaze over them. "Please Blaze. You promised you wouldn't tell. You pinky promised."
Blaze opened her mouth, and then closed it. "But…but…why?"
"I just – I don't want to cause more problems for her. Please, Blaze. You promised you wouldn't tell. Please please don't talk to her about it!" Crystal continued to stare up at her with vast desperation studding each of her scales. The resolve in Blaze melted into an oozing puddle in her throat.
"Argh – fine. Alright. I promised I wouldn't speak of anything we talked about and I'll keep that promise…even if I totally could have solved everything but whatever."
Crystal practically swayed in relief, and Blaze was amazed at how much anxious tension this child could hold in her little body.
"But I must admit," Blaze went on, "nothing you've told me really sounds like a secret. Seems like most dragons already know about it, to be quite honest."
The dragonet dug her bedazzled talons into the camel hair rug. She couldn't seem to meet Blaze's eyes. "That story wasn't the secret I was talking about. The secret is… I lied. About why mother brought me here. She didn't tell me to watch over the fortress for her, she brought me here to stay for a few days until things calm down at the palace." She shrugged gloomily. "I don't know what she told the court to explain my absence. She didn't tell me that part."
Her eyes flicked up for a moment only to sink back to the floor. "I'm sorry."
For the second time today Blaze was stunned to silence. Of all the emotions pushing and pulling for her attention, anger was not one of them. Blaze remembered earlier in the day when Crystal had skulked around the fortress quietly. Blaze had took it for just general IceWing unfriendliness, but knowing what she knew now…it just made it sad.
"Oh," Blaze said into the silence, and cringed at how much of a useless thing it was to say. Crystal looked so miserable and alone. The jewelry Blaze had put on her now seemed huge and gaudy, like theatre jewelry. She didn't look queenly…she looked tiny. Blaze's heart felt like it was getting shredded apart in a sandstorm.
Blaze twisted her necklace around a claw. She should say something, but what? Blaze had always been good at lightening the mood in a room. She would tell a funny story or say something silly (sometimes on purpose) and the room would brighten like a newly lit torch. But right now she sensed that a funny story was not what Crystal wanted. No, Crystal had been open and honest with her. The least Blaze could do was return the favour.
She took a shaky breath and said, "I'm sorry that happened to you, dear. Those other dragonets really were rotten to you. And so what your awful uncle. But you know, something similar happened to me when I was younger."
Crystal glanced up, intrigued but obviously skeptical that anyone in Pyrrhia could have lived through something as horrible as what she had.
"You remember those tests I told you about? The ones my mother set up? They always made me shake with anxiety. I was never the top student in my class, let's just say that. I used to annoy the tail off my teachers asking for help, but they just kept getting more frustrated with me so I just stopped asking."
"So you can imagine that when Blister came up to me before the tests and told me that she wanted to help me, that she knew what was going to be on the test and that she would tell me the answers, I didn't even hesitate. I wanted so badly to do well that I was absolutely fine with cheating. Well…I suppose I learned my lesson."
Blaze's heart began to pump more forcefully as she remembered what came next.
"So…did she help you? Did you do OK on the test?" Crystal carefully asked.
"No," Blaze chuckled hollowly. She felt her throat get tight but tried not to let her voice shake. "She lied. Or maybe she was telling half the truth. Either way, she gave me the wrong answers."
"I can't even remember what I said," Blaze went on. She continued to rub the gold chain at her neck, twisting and untwisting it. "But the court certainly found it hilarious. Not mother, though. She just looked at me silently, which was awful, but then she said 'At least you're pretty, even if you have the brain of a cactus pod' which was worse."
Crystal was watching her with rapt attention. Some of the self-pity had lifted from her wings as she soaked in Blaze's words.
"Anyway, I didn't stick around after that. I ran out, very dramatic I know. It's a bit fuzzy after that but I probably cried somewhere."
Blaze had cried. She had went into her mother's treasure room and cried with rage and humiliation and swore vengeance, even if it was just to make herself feel better. She could never hold a grudge no matter how hard she tried.
Crystal was suddenly on her feet. Her wings were flared, the motion making the flames in the fireplace shiver. "But that's not fair! That – that's so – " Crystal seemed to be fighting to speak. Her face had taken on a blue flush with purple splotches, and it took Blaze a moment to realize that Crystal was angry. Despite the leaded feeling in her head, Blaze had to hold back a small smile. It was oddly reassuring to know she wasn't the only one in Phyrria that got blotchy when mad. "So… what did you do after?" Crystal finally asked, or rather, demanded. "How did you fix everything?"
Blaze opened her mouth, then closed it. How had she fixed it? Oh wait, she hadn't.
"I… I think I just gave up. I stopped trying to be smart. I left that to Blister. Mother told me I was pretty so I stuck with that." Blaze smiled, but her heart wasn't in the gesture. "At least I'm good at that, right?"
She tried to make it sound fun, but a withering ache of sadness was beating through her body. Had she really given up that easy? She was not ashamed or embarrassed about who she was, there was nothing wrong with being kind and an expert accessorizer, but there had once been other parts to her as well. She had made herself smaller, and for what?
Blaze looked down at Crystal, from her huge eyes to the little nubs of horns sprouting from her head to the little ring on her little talon. She was so small already, Blaze couldn't imagine Crystal maker herself even smaller. Blaze was overpowered by an urge to wrap her wings around Crystal in a hug. But she didn't. IceWings didn't like that sort of thing. Instead she touched her wing to Crystal's and it seemed to Blaze that Crystal leaned into the gesture ever so slightly.
"Sweetheart, I know more than anyone that what you went through wasn't fair. I know it feels so so bad and that nothing in the world will ever make it better. But it will get better, and you have to promise me that you won't let something like this hold you back, OK?" Then she smiled a little wickedly. "And do whatever it takes to prove them wrong."
Blaze was rewarded with a smile that could have filled the desert sky. Blaze was so captivated by the smile that it took her several beats to notice that Crystal had, shyly, offered her pinky claw to Blaze. She was making it a pinky-promise!
Blaze's eyes became misty as she once again latched their claws together to seal the deal. In that moment, the resemblance between Glacier and Crystal was astounding. How had she not seen it before? The shapes of their eyes were nearly identical, and Crystal had the same little overbite in her smile that Glacier had.
A new dizzying sort of emotion took root in Blaze. To see this little dragonet that reminded her so much of Glacier, and also of herself…it made her throat feel gummy and tears gather on the rims of her eyes.
"Are you crying?" Crystal asked in a voice that was less concerned and more wary.
"Nope!" Blaze sniffled and fanned herself. "Just the smoke getting in my eyes. Whew. Anyway, let's get you out of those jewels. You're starting to look like a palm tree bent over with too many coconuts."
The process of removing the items was a little harder than putting them on, but it was done without too many pinched scales. As Blaze was carefully putting them back in the chest, Crystal picked up the ugly set of green bangles that had been lying on the floor.
"These are… interesting."
"Hm? Oh those." The SandWing waved her talon dismissively. "Yes, interesting is certainly a word for them. I think they must have been made by a SeaWing since I can't imagine a SandWing designing something that colour. We don't have the completion for that sort of thing."
"Can I try them on?"
Blaze paused, assuming she had misheard. "You want to put…those on?"
The IceWing hadn't bothered to wait for an answer. They were already on her tiny wrists and Blaze had to press her lips together tightly to keep from gasping in dismay. Sure, some IceWings had green undertones but Crystal certainly did not. It was all wrong for her.
Crystal did not seem to realize this, or perhaps just didn't care. She continued to reach for the pile of odd-ball jewelry Blaze had tossed to the side when she had been picking out the right items.
"Oh, honey I don't think those bangles are for you. I have some other ones here that you might like more…" the sentence crumbled in her mouth when she saw the disappointed look on Crystal's face. It pinched at Blaze's heart and she found herself putting on an eager smile. "Or put whatever you want on! You look great, sweetie."
Crystal perked up and began to look over the jewelry again. Blaze forced her commentaries down as Crystal put on the amber-beetle ring and the weird dangly coin necklace. She had also found some clip-on earrings that were mostly filled with cut glass that still sparkled wonderfully, but were also colored in weird hues of green and yellow.
Once Crystal was finished, she looked like the living embodiment of the discount bargain bin at a cheap retail jeweler. Blaze held her breath as Crystal ambled up to the mirror, waiting for the dreaded moment where Crystal would see herself and all that new happiness in her would crumple away.
But when Crystal looked into the mirror she didn't frown or scowl. She beamed like the sun, that luminous smile stretching across her face. She looked back to Blaze, still grinning, and said in a triumphant voice, "I look awful!"
The completely unexpected reaction made Blaze snort loudly. She immediately clapped a talon over her mouth in horror, but then she started to giggle again. Blaze never liked the sound of her giggles. It sounded like a bad case of hiccups which sometimes did lead to actual hiccups. But for whatever reason, that familiar sense of embarrassment didn't find her, and when she met eyes with Crystal and, this time, the dragonet looked a little bit enchanted.
Blaze helped Crystal remove the jewelry again. The necklace kept getting tangled in Crystal's multiple horns, but neither dragoness seemed bothered. It felt as if a spell had been placed over the room; the stiffness between them had melted. Crystal was still smiling.
Blaze chatted absently about which cut of diamond was the best as she placed each of her treasured items back in their case, ensuring that they were organized and arranged by color. When the final pieces – the green bangles – were laid down, Blaze felt a deep dreadful ache in her stomach. She carefully closed the lit of the chest so that it barely made a sound, yet it overpowered all the words in her mouth and she fell silent.
She didn't want this moment to end.
She couldn't remember the last time she had felt so at ease and…happy. Just purely happy.
Blaze certainly wasn't a miserable dragon, but every emotion was always tempered by the fact that she was far from home and in the center of a war that was tearing the continent apart. It was rather risqué to look too overjoyed nowadays, especially in front of the IceWings.
This afternoon though… she hadn't been caught up in appearances or war schematics. It had just been her and Crystal having fun. The young IceWing was staring vacantly at the closed chest, and Blaze wondered if she was feeling the same way.
The SandWing worried at her necklace. She didn't know where to go from here. What to do with this little princess and the IceWing queen and the war that was eating away at their futures. It was all too much to think about. Too much worry to place on her overburdened heart. Another gold coin in the treasury of her anxieties.
Over the roaring fire she heard the shrill whistle of the blizzard wind as it broke against the fortress wall. It was still ragging, that hadn't changed. The force of it shook the stone walls as if the building itself was shivering. Blaze knew she wouldn't be able to keep the outside world at bay forever. They were both princess with duties, and Crystal would be expected to accomplish great things as she got older. More than had ever been expected of Blaze… but today was not over yet. Maybe she could keep moment breathing for just a while longer.
Another idea came to her then, or rather, a compulsion. She wanted to give something to Crystal. She couldn't really articulate where this urge had come from, other than she simply desired the dragonet to have something of Blaze's. Something that would keep them connected.
Slowly Blaze removed the delicate gold chain around her neck. It wasn't the flashiest of her pieces, but Blaze had always been fond of it. The small chain links had been hammered flat so that they reflected as much of the light as possible while being weightless as a feather. It had been a gift from Oasis, or rather, Oasis had given it to her after Blaze had asked several thousand times. She had always admired the craftsmanship and quality of it; delicate yet refined. She had rarely removed it since she had left the Sand Kingdom, but in this moment she took it off with ease.
She curled the chain into her palm were it sat like a golden puddle, or a sleeping serpent. It felt heavier in her talon. Blaze wondered at that, but only for a moment.
"I want you to have this," Blaze blurted out before she could change her mind. She held the dangling necklace out to an astonished Crystal. "I know it's probably not court approved and doesn't match your scales…you don't have to wear it if you don't want to. I'd just like you to have it. As a promise."
Crystal took the chain in her small talons, inspecting it with a wrinkled brow. "A promise?"
"Well dear, I know we don't cross paths very often but – ," Blaze paused, feeling suddenly shy, " – if you ever need a friend to talk to, or just want to spend time together, then I promise that my doors are always opened to you." Blaze tried to keep the wobble from her voice.
Crystal's expression was heavy and serious – the same face Glacier wore when she listened to updates about the war from her generals. The IceWing studied the necklace for a good solid minute before draping it around her throat. It hung way too low, obviously meant for a larger dragon, but Blaze helped to double loop the chain around the smaller dragon's neck so that it fit snuggly just above her chest.
The dragonet's gently brushed her talon along her new ornament, a soft glow on her face as she admired it. She looked back up at Blaze, and there was a fierce glint in her eyes that hadn't been there before.
"I want to give you something, too," Crystal announced and began pulling something off her talon.
"Oh sweetheart," Blaze began, a little startled, "I'm touched, but you don't need to do that. I have plenty of treasure."
Crystal didn't even waste her breath with a reply. She merely glanced at Blaze with a look so resolute that it could almost be mistaken as a challenge, and Blaze knew in her marrow that Crystal had already decided on how this would play out.
Glacier would have been proud.
Blaze sighed in resignation as Crystal took the small silver ring from her pinky-claw and presented it to Blaze. "Mother gave this to me for my first hatching day but… I want you to have it."
Crystal put the small ring into Blaze's palm with great reverence, as if placing a crown on the head of a new queen. It was cool to the touch and heavier than it looked. The silver had been polished to a mirror-like gleam, and up close, Blaze could see minute snowflakes had been etched into the metal.
Guilt prickled along her wings. It was one thing for her, an adult, to give a gift to a dragonet, but it felt weird to be receiving one. Blaze went to return the ring, but stopped short.
Crystal's expression was as neutral as ever, but her eyes were as forceful as the winds buffeting the fortress. She barely seemed to be breathing as she watched Blaze with a brutal hunger that made the SandWing feel that her scales had gone see-through.
The weight of the ring seemed to double. It was small and plain, but Blaze could sense just how much this ring meant to Crystal…and how important it was for Blaze to accept it. And in that second, Blaze finally understood something.
Years ago, the treasurers of the Sand Kingdom had tried to turn her love of shiny things into a love of economics, but it had failed miserably. Blaze never understood or cared about how many rubies a diamond was worth or how much gold you could trade for six emeralds. To her, the worth of something was based on how pretty it was, but right now she understood a different sort of worth.
Something could be made worthy simply because you loved it. Because it was given to you by someone you loved, or reminded you of something happy. And this simple, boring silver ring, carefully polished to perfection by the tiny talons of an IceWing princess, was greatly loved.
And now it was her responsibility to care for it.
That was easier said than done, though. The dragonet ring wasn't going to fit on any of her claws, that was for sure. She would have to find a safe place to put it for now. Blaze carefully unfastened one of her earrings, a small gold loop, and slid the ring onto it so that it was now a dangly double-looped earring. She placed it back on and inspected her reflection. The silver ring hung beside her temple looking like a sliver of ice resting in the desert sand; a paradox if ever there was one. It clashed with every piece of jewelry she had on, but for once in her life Blaze didn't even care.
The blizzard outside continued to tear apart the sky, but Blaze felt smothered in warmth and happiness. It would be a while yet before the storm died down and Glacier could come to collect her daughter. Maybe Crystal would even sleep over! Blaze clasped her talons together and gasped, a new idea overwhelming her.
"Ooh, you know what would be so much fun!? What if you gave me a makeover?"
Crystal immediately got to her feet. "Really? You'd let me?"
"Of course!" Blaze assured and they opened the chest together. Crystal had to stand on her hind legs to reach inside and they began taking everything out all over again.
"Don't forget to take out those green bracelet things," Crystal insisted with devious glee, "We're going to need them."
Blaze sighed dramatically. "Oh, if I must," she bemoaned and slid Crystal a sideways wink. She took the ugly green bangals out and put them on her dainty wrists. Yep, still ugly. As Crystal continued to pull out the pieces in her collection, Blaze knew she was in for a long night, and she didn't mind one bit.
A.N.
Dear lord it's finished. Finally. Now I just need to… write the other two parts (withers and dies).
Anyway, I am trying something new here. Not on a technical level but more like character-relationship dynamics. We'll see how it all works out haha. Comments and suggestions are welcomed :3
Also it's my birthday today 3
