Second chapter... my, this took a lot of my brain cells to write...

Rune felt Moon's concerned gaze on her as they sat quietly beside each other in the Great Hall. It was nearly midnight, but she couldn't bring herself to sleep. "Rune, you have to tell them."

"How? 'Hey, guys, I can hear everything that's going on in your head. Don't freak out, okay?' Because then they would definitely freak out."

"Not exactly like that." Moon put her wing around the younger dragon. "I'm saying you should do it as soon as possible, because the more you delay, the worse the outcome will be. I should have told my own winglet sooner."

"I want to." She stared out into the open sky just as she felt a gentle breeze under her wings. "But I don't want to find out how they're going to react."

"They probably will be less mad at you if you don't keep it from them," Moon reasoned. "You don't have to go do it now. Just make sure they know soon, alright? Because those dragons just might be the ones who are going to help you save Pyrrhia. You never know."

Rune laughed. "Pyrrhia doesn't need saving anymore. You guys took care of it all."

"Hmm."

"How's Peacemaker doing?"

"Pretty good. Except, I can't bring myself to just forget Darkstalker." Moon shivered. "I know he's a completely different dragon now, but every time I approach him I keep expecting to hear him in my head. I'm always scared that the animus magic's going to wear off." She shook her head. "I'm just being paranoid, aren't I?"

"You are," Rune reassured. "Anyway. How's school for you so far?"

"Just fine. Everything's normal now - Kinkajou's just as she's always been and Peril's replaced Carnelian, although she has to have a separate sleeping cave." She had a wistful expression on her face. "This might be my last year here."

"Weren't you going to stay as long as Kinkajou does?"

"I was... but it just feels weird. Kinkajou and Turtle are my friends, but it doesn't feel right without Qibli and Winter. And Qibli asked me if I wanted to stay with him in Possibility after I finished school, so I didn't want to delay that either."

"You're not going back to the rainforest?" Rune asked, slightly disappointed.

"I'll visit, of course." Moon laughed. "If I don't, Kinkajou's going to hunt me down. And I'll come visit you here often. Possibility isn't far from Jade Mountain, is it?"

"No. But I'll miss you," she said petulantly. "I wish you didn't have to go. You're the only one who really understands what's like." Rune pointed to her head.

"You'll be fine," Moon said softly. "You know how to quiet them down. And I don't think you're going to spewing out prophecies or having nightmarish visions anytime soon."

The vision of the library that she'd had earlier that day flashed through Rune's head again, as vivid as it had been the first time. A shiver ran down Rune's spine, because it certainly had been quite nightmarish.

"I will be," she said, not wanting to worry her friend. The moon - the real one, way up in the dark sky - shone brightly, as if to provide a sort of reassurance that everything was going to be okay. "I'll try."

History. Rune tried - oh, she really tried to stay interested - but what with Starflight being her father, she'd been lectured on the Scorching thousands of times, and she didn't think she could bear it again. The SeaWing sitting beside her was as indifferent as she was, not really caring about the lesson either.

Webs is so boring. I can't wait to leave this cave and go sleep. That sounds like a lovely idea, except my clawmates would probably keep talking to me and I wouldn't be able to fall asleep. Three moons, especially Tanager. He doesn't shut up. I can appreciate the fact that Aster has common sense, but that SkyWing? He talks all the time during the day and he yammers on in his sleep! And Aster - he tries to be friendly even though I clearly don't like speaking to anyone else. This entire school is pointless. I don't even understand why Mother made such a big deal about it.

"Aster is really nice," she blurted out before she could stop herself. Realizing what she'd said, she quickly turned away. The SeaWing glanced up at her, and she remembered him from the countless other times she'd seen him around her winglet. Gale.

"What?"

"Huh?"

"Did you say something?"

"No," she said quietly, eyes glued to the front of the cave. "I didn't say anything."

"Well, you said something, so-"

"Perhaps you're hearing things."

Gale bristled. "I know exactly what I heard."

"Gale! Rune!" Webs frowned at them. "Is there any problem?"

"No," they answered simultaneously. He narrowed his eyes at her. Hm. There's something strange about her, I know it.

Rune mentally kicked herself. She really needed to stop responding to things she heard other dragons think. It was fine when she did it with her parents, but if she couldn't keep herself in check with her winglet, they'd probably figure out on their own soon enough. Moon had been right - she really did to let them know soon. Perhaps she'd ask Turtle to use the bowl he'd made to duplicate several skyfire rocks so she could give those to them, because it wasn't like she wanted to intrude on their privacy or anything like that.

Delta nudged her wing from her left side. "He's always like that, don't worry about it. Gale's just grouchy most of the time."

"Oh. Alright." She didn't really know what to say other than that. Besides, she was a little more hopeful now - perhaps she'd start making new friends. Kinkajou would certainly be proud of her.

"Want to go to the art cave later?" the MudWing asked. "I'm headed there myself and Floe said she wasn't feeling too well." And I kind of want to get to know her. Maybe she'll bring Firefy along, too? Ooh, our entire winglet should go together. That would be fun. But maybe it would be more fun if Gale wasn't there, like not to be rude, but he sort of wrecks the happy mood because he doesn't know how to smile.

"Sure. We should get our entire winglet to come, too," she said, voicing the other dragon's thoughts.

"I was thinking the same thing!" Delta allowed herself a small smile, and it was rather contagious, because Rune found her mouth spreading into a grin as well.

History - Rune tried so hard to pay attention, but maybe it was better that she let her mind drift this time.

Five dragons sat in the art cave together.

Aster and Rune sat quietly, watching Firefly and Delta in the middle of a competition, and Tanager had made himself comfortable a little ways away from them, mixing colors together with his talon.

"I bet I can paint Jade Mountain farbetter than you can," Firefly challenged.

"I bet you haven't picked up a paintbrush before today," Delta shot back, her talons working furiously against the canvas. Aster snorted, amused.

"I can't paint, ever," he told Rune."Qibli asked me if I'd be able to do a portrait of Queen Thorn and it ended up looking like a sand dune." Was that lame? Would that make her laugh? Or now does she think I'm incapable of doing something simple like art? I'd rather not lose a friend right after I've made one.

Rune laughed, not just because he'd wanted her to - but it had genuinely struck her as funny to picture the SandWing queen as a pile of desert sand.

"I can't paint either," Peril offered, standing at the entrance and poking her head into the cave. "But not because I'm bad at it. The canvas would literally burn to ashes if I touched it. You'd probably die if I touched you, too."

Rune almost giggled again, because the exact same thing was going through all six dragons' heads at the same time. Um... weird much?

"Hey, Peril," she greeted. "No schoolwork?"

"No," she replied cheerfully. "I can't write anyway, so all I had to do was tell Turtle what I wanted to write down and he does it for me. Starflight and Tamarin are working on scrolls they can read right now, but after that's done maybe I'll ask if making scrolls fireproof is possible." Peril snorted. "If the schools burns down somehow, at least the scrolls will be safe."

Pain flashed through Rune's head again, the burning library before her once more. She leaned forward with her head in her talons, wincing. It felt as if the world was shaking violently around her, and her vision blurred until all she could see was splotches of color. She shut her eyes, balance slipping.

"Rune?" Aster stared at her, confused and worried simultaneously. "Are you okay?"

"This happened yesterday, too," Firefly said. "Are headaches usually this bad?"

"Rune." Aster's voice was gentle and soothing, and amidst the heat of the scorching library and burning scrolls, it was like a calming drizzle. "Open your eyes. Slowly."

Slowly. Her eyes opened, and the library vanished, the shaking finally ceased. She saw Aster beside her, talons resting gently on her arm, and Peril's confused stare.

"What was that?" Delta asked. That definitely wasn't just a regular headache. Something is definitely wrong. Rune avoided the other dragons' eyes, because she could hear them; she could hear what they were thinking and knew that they kept denying what was obviously true. "Rune?"

She didn't answer.

"Rune," Firefly said quietly. "Are you - are you like Moonwatcher? Can you-"

"I can." No, don't cry, don't cry don't cry don't cry, not in front of them. "I'm sorry. I can read your minds."

"The scales," Peril whispered. "The big silver ones. Like Moon's."

She looked at Aster, his mouth open in shock. Wait, seriously? Am I supposed to comfort her now? Should I trust her again? Qibli trusted Moon, but how much has Rune seen? I thought I'd be her friend. "Ah, stop," he muttered out loud. "You heard that, too, right?" Then was that just a vision? Was Queen Thorn right when she warned us not to trust anyone but our own? But then... who are my own? "Stop," he told himself forcefully. "Oh, this is useless." He didn't look back at her before slipping past Peril and out of the cave.

"Firefly," she tried. The RainWing held out her wings.

"Just - don't hear anything," she said, rushed. "I'm not thinking anything right now." Father said the NightWings didn't have their powers anymore. He said Moon was the only one.

By the time Rune looked up, Tanager and Delta had left behind Firefly, and Peril was the only other dragon in the cave. Sighing, the SkyWing sat down near her, the heat radiating off of her scales and enveloping her in a sort of comforting warmth. "Don't worry," she said when Rune opened her mouth to warn her. "I have skyfire. Besides, it's pretty hard to get into my head." She tapped her skull. "Moon said it was all fiery and ablaze in there, so I guess I'm safe."

"I wanted them to find out," Rune said, staring at the wall. "Differently. I would have started with giving them skyfire, and then told them. But I guess I've lost their friendship, haven't I?"

"That didn't happen with Moon," Peril countered. "It took us a few days to get used to it, but by then we all had skyfire rocks from Turtle, so we weren't too aware of it anymore."

"That's the problem," she said, turning to the SkyWing. "I'm not Moon. I'm not like her. I'm not brave, or compassionate, or selfless, or-"

"You don't have to be." Peril looked down. "I'm not, either. I was practically raised to be the most evil dragon in all of Pyrrhia. I was meant to be a selfish murderer." She paused. "But you know what helped me become a different dragon? My friends. Obviously they didn't like me in the beginning, but they made me realize I wasn't who Scarlet made me think I was. They reminded me that I wasn't just a tool for someone else to us. Thanks to them, I became my own dragon. And even though I still sometimes feel like burning something down, I think differently than I used to."

"But I couldn't do what Moon did," Rune whispered. "Ever. And my winglet wouldn't ever trust me."

"They don't trust you now," Peril corrected. "That's the thing about the dragons who are close to you and care about you. They forgive you." She reached out to place her talon on Rune's shoulder, but drew back quickly. "You should ask Turtle for a few skyfire rocks to give to them so they know that you can't hear them. They'll come around soon enough."

"Will they?" she mused. "Gale and Floe still don't know. Although I can't hear Floe for some reason, and I'm rather not hear Gale."

She felt Peril's sympathetic gaze on her, and wondered if sympathy was a feeling the fiery SkyWing often felt. She wondered how heavy the guilt must have been, the consequences of burning all those dragons just with a mere touch.

"They will," Peril said. "Trust me."

And despite the horrible, sinking feeling in Rune's heart, she really, really wanted to.