Frute woke up in his room, which was bright and sunny. Sometimes that annoyed him, but today it made him sit up faster. Today Mye would be done her Metamorphosis. He would be able to see her again after school. Frute stood up and started preparing what little needed to be done, waving to Mye's parents as he walked to school.
Like normal, the main village of Freedom Island was full of activity. The school wasn't far from Mye's home. The same path that helped him four years ago led towards to the leader's decision tent, every home the town could fit, the school, the battle center, and the small tent for SilkWings going through their Metamorphosis. Frute, despite wanting to make sure Mye was all right, continued following the path to the school.
He was the third to arrive, the other two being Snow—a gray, white, and black IceWing-NightWing hybrid—and Savannah—a pale yellow SandWing, with sunspots scattered on her scales.
Frute smiled and waved to them. "Hey girls."
"Hello, Frute!" Snow replied. "Have you checked on Mylitta today?"
"I plan on going after school." Frute said.
"I'm honestly a little surprised you didn't skip school just to watch her break out of her cocoon." Savannah said. "It's obvious you have a crush on her."
Frute decided to ignore the second statement, despite blushing a little. "I've already missed a whole year's worth of schooling. The leaders would kick me off the island if I skipped another day." He tried to reply casually, while in truth he had debated skipping school the night before.
"I'm sure Mye's wings would be so pretty!" Snow said, probably trying to fill the silence that had fallen.
"I've read stories where SilkWings who went through Metamorphosis are even prettier than when they were before." Frute said. He smiled and started heading to his normal spot, in the middle of the front row. It was closest to where the teacher stood, and right beside Mye's normal spot. "Of course, to me, I'm pretty sure Mye couldn't get ay better."
"See? You just admitted to having a crush on her, and yet you deny it." Savannah said, earning a giggle from Snow. "I don't know what's wrong with you two, but everyone can just hope it'll be better after she gets her wings."
Frute just nodded. More students—mostly hybrids, but some were full-blooded—started to arrive, and Savannah and Snow took their seats. The teacher came in not long after the rest of the students, smiling in the way that Frute had grown to associate with most dragons on Freedom.
The teacher—a tall, burly LeafWing-SkyWing hybrid with scales that mimicked autumn's hues of red, yellow, orange, and green—walked to the front of the class. "Okay, everyone. Let's start with the role-call." He said. Everyone began stating their name, one-by-one, and the teacher nodded when the only few missing were the SilkWings, all of which were in cocoons. "Now, let's begin class, shall we?"
…
Class was dismissed hours later, and Frute immediately went to the Metamorphosis tent. One or two relatively rude classmates mocked him, but he ignored them.
No one was in the tent, besides the four cocooned dragonets. Frute paused at the entryway, mentally counting. There were supposed to be five. He wondered, briefly, if a dragonet had emerged or a cocoon was moved.
Frute got his answer when he walked farther into the tent, and saw the similar brown and red scales of his closest friend. Mye, Frute thought. He took a few moments to look at her wings. They were beautiful. He remembered looking at old drawings of her namesake, the mylitta crescent butterfly. Her wings mimicked that of what she was named after, adding some bright colors to her otherwise muted scales. Frute walked closer to her.
Mye looked up at him, and smiled. She slowly sat up, and looked back at her wings. Then, as if she remembered something, she looked back at Frute with her head tilted to the side. "Did you skip school just to see me?" She asked.
Frute couldn't help but laugh, something he did only when talking to Mye. "No, I sat through it. It's funny; Savannah and Snow were teasing me for the same reason." He replied. He slowly sat down, and let his talons gently trace over the patterns on Mye's wing left wing.
"Did you miss me?" Mye said.
"Of course I did."
"Do I need to punch anyone?"
"No, I'm fine."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, I'm sure. You probably shouldn't be too reckless anyway."
Mye looked at him suspiciously. "I'm not reckless!" She protested. "I'm just trying to be a good friend."
"I know." Frute said. He looked at her, picturing her standing on a mountain somewhere, with her wings spread wide. He was able to picture himself beside her, and before he could stop it, his fantasy spiraled into a picture of Vervain ready to snap Mallow's neck just to be the bigwing. Frute flinched, and unconsciously pulled away from Mye.
This caused Mye to look a bit concerned. "Are you okay?" She asked quietly.
"Y-yeah." Frute replied, without looking at her. "I'm fine. Let's go home—lunch should be ready."
Mye nodded and stood up. Frute reluctantly followed, trying to focus on the present rather than his past. He took two deep breaths, and focused on Mye's beautiful new wings.