Chapter 5

Lightseer felt his anxiety spike as his eye caught a Skywing's, then an Icewing's, then another Nightwing's as they chattered away to their fellow classmates although noticeably a number were manoeuvring to be with their fellow tribe members. Now he was motivated to head to his sleeping area, keeping along the outskirts of the crowd that was filing in the opposite direction, he slowly paced through to the more narrow walkway which evidently lead to various classrooms and sleeping quarters. He got a number of glares but other than that it was complete uninterest that was shown to the new Nightwing much to his relief. He finally squeezed himself passed the rest of the students, the majority were younger and smaller than him, only maybe one, maybe two could match his height but it was difficult to tell as they bundled forth.

He froze as he entered the room, there, standing in front of an expertly excavated indent in the wall of the room giving two somewhat distinct bulges for two dragons to sleep in next to each other, was a young Icewing who seemed unaware of his presence as he placed his bag down on the right hand side of the two inverse bulges in the wall, the left seemingly untouched. How do I play this? Icewings – care greatly about class and honour. Dislike disrespect and weakness even in their own tribes. Scornful, grumpy, ill adapted to most other climates but can still survive in them. Vicious natural weapons and very good fighters. All in all, generally not a tribe you want to upset.

Suddenly the Icewing turned around and it was then Lightseer was struck by the size of the dragon, or should he say dragonet. He was barely larger than Starcatcher, adorned in light blue and silver scales across is body his eyes without sign of malice or confrontation. For a second both dragons stared at one another before Lightseer finally broke the silence.

"Kittiwake?" He asked dubiously, the little Icewing staring up anxiously at the large Nightwing.

"Yeah… Are you my clawmate?" His expression seemed unchanged and still nervous which oddly relieved the Nightwing, slowly his muscles relaxing throughout his body.

"I'm Lightseer, nice to meet you." He stretched his talon out in front of his new clawmate and grasped his, dwarfing him. That's why she asked about my younger brother, sly Sandwing…

His anxious look abated, replaced with a subdued smile and a weak handshake. All the images of formidable, dangerous Icewings were replaced with this small, almost defenceless, around three years old Icewing standing directly before him with the pride and air of a scavenger.

"So, how long have you been here?"

"Not long."

"Do you like it?"

"Yeah, it's ok. My mum and dad tell me I was lucky to go." His reply wasn't totally convincing to the Nightwing but he let it go. There was an uncomfortable silence between the two dragons as the Icewing was unable to meet the Nightwing's eyes and Lightseer observed his new clawmate not paying much attention to the atmosphere he was creating.

"I… I was going to the food hall. If you're hungry?" Kittiwake asked shyly. Lightseer declined the invitation graciously, saying something along the lines that he just wanted to settle in for a bit. The Icewing slunk out of the small room without turning back and Lightseer finally felt his lungs and mind relax a little allowing him to process his next move. I'd like to work out what that fire was all about, something wasn't right about it and given what happened regarding the Dragonflame cactus it's certainly worth investigating… Maybe once everyone is back in class. He whiled away the time by going through the booklet he received carefully, memorising the different classes.

"Hmm… Moonwatcher..." He was especially interested in the few Nightwings that remained at the school. Not a Nightwing I know personally, but one I will have to meet. Time passed and the sound of stampeding signalled the returning of the dragons to their classes, encouraging Lightseer to peer out of his dorm. The coast now clear he ventured out a couple of steps to engage his vision for a few seconds to acquire the location of the fiery aura. It wasn't too far away, located in a room down a couple of hallways. He disengaged and followed the traced route in his mind, he noted the rooms he passed, his own soon-to-be classroom, a couple others, the library with it's blind guardian and his guide – a Nightwing he did know – Fatespeaker, the disappointment. He engaged his vision again and noticed that now he was closer it had moved but still as intense, it burned intensely letting off flares here and there, on closer inspection it glowed white in the very heart of the object. He stood round the corner to the room the object was located and disengaged his vision, the lens lifting with his next subsequent blink, revealing a darker avenue of the school with no-one around but he could hear shuffling coming from the designated room.

"Strange..." He re-engaged his vision and saw no dragon in the room, but he could definitely hear shuffling, no prey, no scavengers, what was it. It certainly wasn't the crackling of wood or black rocks he was expecting to hear. He gulped unconsciously, re-engaged his normal vision and stepped into the doorway and abruptly stopped mid step as he came within a scales width of a Skywing exiting the room.

"Whoa! Do you have a death-wish or something!" Cried the Skywing jumping back indignantly. Lightwing's mind whirred uncontrollably and all he could manage was a startled look.

"Sorry…?" He managed to utter to the small Skywing. Upon observation he noticed her scales were slightly altered, and now he recollected the sudden burst of heat he felt when face to face with the dragonet.

"Yes, you would have been..." She retorted arrogantly. Former Queen Scarlet's weapon: Peril. Lightseer's mind finally concluded on the identity but couldn't compute what he saw.

"Peril?" He managed to utter monosyllabically.

"Who's asking?" Her demeanour changed from affronted to curious with the interrogative.

"Sorry I'm new here, I'm… Curious as to your… reputation. Is it true? Can you fatally burn a dragon at a simple touch?" If there was something Nightwing's were attracted to in a singular term, it would be power, whether it be their own made up powers or those possessed by others. She answered in the affirmative and it finally struck him how close he was to his demise which made him back out of the room, allowing the bad tempered Skywing her passage. She didn't enquire as to his name, or anything about him, he concluded maybe she always got these kind of questions and that maybe he should have been a little more friendly, you never know when powerful friends can come in handy – spoken like a true warrior.

He decided to continue his tour, finding out along the way he was to start class tomorrow with a dragon named Clay with his classmates Kittiwake, Tamarin (the blind Rainwing), Shasta (A Sandwing), and Andesine (a new Skywing sent by Queen Ruby), there were a Mudwing and Seawing missing from their winglet so it was going to be necessary to merge a couple of classes on occasion to Lightseer's great displeasure.

The day drew to a close, he had explored the mountain as much as he intended to, even peering into the famous Nightwing Animus that was stored in the loft (!) but decided not to spend any real time there, it was unimportant. He was, after all, for all intents and purposes on a mission and he planned to learn as much as he could about everyone and everything. But why the pieces of wood and the darts? He planned on going back to his hide and doing a bit of fiddling to see if he was missing something but it seemed the Icewing had beaten him there and was settling into his nested area. Evidently he was startled by his return, due to being alone for a while Lightseer guessed, but neither said anything, and, upon reflection, Lightseer decided maybe taking his curiosities outside, somewhere more private, would be advantageous.

He took his leave as silently as he arrived and circled down the mountain near to the area he had spotted the Sandwing previously who was no longer around. He landed cautiously and took cover by some trees before removing and opening up his satchel to reveal the two pale birch sticks. He lifted them to his face and noticed one exhibited a carved corkscrew pattern and the other a larger bore than the former. He spun them around and studied them carefully before trying to fit the two together via screwing one into the other. It was a blowgun, a stealthy one at that, in pieces it looked harmless enough but joined together it formed a short blowgun, evidently to be complemented with the darts he had received. So there was a target… But who? Surely none of the teachers? Something about Nighthunter's mannerisms seemed to indicate that he was at his target site yet, all he said is "this could work".

"Ugh." Lightseer grumbled at his lack of knowledge and, as the sun began to set behind the mountain, he emerged in his dorm once again.

"So, what can you tell me about our winglet then?" Lightseer finally ended the silence that had ensued by his arrival.

"Um, well we are supposed to have a replacement Mudwing soon… Pike got removed by Queen Coral for not looking after Anemone well enough so we're down a Seawing too..." The Icewing stuttered into a normal conversational tone. "Tamarin is nice although I feel sorry for her because she can't see. We have a new Sandwing called Shasta who is Tamarin's clawmate and I think she helps her out where Tamarin will let her..." Lightseer rested his head on his talons, curled into his normal resting position listening to the little Icewing with increasing interested, impressing the Nightwing with his knowledge. "Andesine is… ok. Kinda grumpy though, Apparently tomorrow we're going to be mixing with the Jade Winglet for art class and hunting I think… In the afternoon."

"Do you know much about that winglet, you seem to be a wealth of knowledge." The Icewing shuddered uncomfortably but carried on.

"I only know Chilblain… She's from the royal palace and isn't very friendly… to anyone really, especially since I'm in a much lower circle, but my dad says that doesn't matter here but Chilblain… She's..." He struggled with the words which possibly gave Lightseer enough information, more than anything he could give audibly. Chilblain – avoid. By his recollection as well that was the winglet of one of the two other Nightwings, so he decided to look on tomorrow as quite favourable as far as knowledge was concerned. He missed the natural warmth he had grown accustomed to nestling into the curvature of his body but bore the deprivation as he willed himself asleep, so that he was able to take on whatever tomorrow would throw at him.

"Good morning winglet, and a special welcome to our new Nightwing, Lightseer, would you like to say a little a bit about yourself?" The cheerful Mudwing looked up at the stood Nightwing with promise and friendliness radiating from his being (evident without lightvision). He had been prepared for this question by his Icewing clawmate and simply described his personal interest in education and the collaboration of tribes. He noted no real reaction to his statement except for the Skywing who visibly rolled her eyes. The morning's first designated task was one, as the class was thusly informed, requested by the Rainwing, a herbalism class. Something Lightseer knew little about, nor had a huge inclination to learn more on the subject.

"Lightseer..." The Mudwing whispered in his direction. He turned to meet his expression. "Would you be comfortable with me pairing you up with Tamarin?" He pointed indelicately to the Rainwing of which Lightseer had heard many good things about and he felt a mix of emotion run through him for a couple of moments. Protectiveness, anxiousness, Queen Glory's words ran through his mind along with the knowledge of her struggles, not only in the Rainforest – made evident by the various scars along her belly and chest – but also her survival of the dargonflame cactus incident impressed the Nightwing greatly.

"I'd be honoured." A smile emanated from the Mudwing before he turned away.

"Ok winglet, I'm going to put you into groups. Lightseer, could I get you to work with Tamarin? Kittiwake can I get you to work with Shasta? And Andesine, if we work together I think that would be fun." The various and different reactions were fascinating. Tamarin pulled an uneasy face and her scales fluttered in hearing a name she knew little to nothing about. Shasta looked kindly upon the nervous but pleased Icewing and Andesine looked as un-enthused as ever. Tamarin was already staged behind an iron vessel held up by a tripod that hovered it above three black rocks and Lightseer joined her readily with nervousness brewing in his mind, unsure as to how to help his young partner. He found himself wishing to be working with the dragonet he thought initially he would like to work with the least based off his tribe.

"Hi." He raised his talon and then quickly dropped it again out of embarrassment. She smiled, warmth returning through her wings and body.

"Hey, I'm Tamarin, you're a Nightwing aren't you? I don't think I've heard your name before."

"Well I've heard yours on numerous occasions I have to admit." Evidently this news put her on edge and before she could reply the Mudwing continued on what he wanted the class to accomplish for the morning after getting the various fire breathers to light the Black rocks in front of them; something medicinal, specifically helpful for inflammation, yet pleasing to the senses, if possible.

"Sorry I didn't mean for it to sound quite like that..."

"Turmeric."

"Oh ok..." He staggered back and turned to the shelf behind him which contained a number of glass vials filled with powders with names underneath them, he quickly picked one up and, after pausing, nudged the Rainwing's talon with the glass. She turned her head to face the Nightwing, almost as if she could make out his features whilst retrieving the vial.

"What I meant was that Queen Glory has told me a lot about you, and that… you've endured a lot for someone your age..." She opened the vial and, after smelling it took a pinch of its contents and placed it in the stirring warming water. It began to take on a bubbly orange texture. She smiled half heartedly and shrugged her shoulders humbly.
"I guess…" She handed back the vial, curiosity getting the better of the Nightwing, he took a sniff of the open bottle and instantly wrinkled up his nose before replacing the vial. He turned back to watch the Rainwing stirring the bubbling orange liquid, allowing several minutes of simple small talk to pass by.

"So, what do you like to do in your off time?"

"Well I kinda like reading, not that Fatespeaker and Starflight have been able to produce much in the way of scrolls blind dragons can read. Oh Clay got a section of one of the outermost caves to be turned into a botanic Garden and I enjoy tending to the flowers there, Glory sent some from the Royal gardens to populate the raised beds." She smiled gratefully and she noticeably began to relax, as if she had forgotten the large Nightwing standing over her.

"Sounds nice, you'll have to show me it some time." Lightseer said absent-mindedly. She stopped stirring for a second and looked up towards the Nightwing.

"Really?"

"Sure, the rainforest's scenery is stunning, would be interesting to see how you've brought a little bit of that into this dank grey miserable cavern." His sincerity wavered a little, surprised that the Rainwing was so unused to this answer. She smiled again, but this time endeavouring to stifle it, looking away for a second before looking back.

"Can you pass the lavender?" The lesson went on, Lightseer occasionally leaving the desk in search of various ingredients Tamarin requested and while passing other's concoctions compared them to the sulphur fumes of the Volcano, which made his partner giggle, recreating that warm sensation he got from helping one of his students understand a new concept.

The lesson finished and with little ventilation the air was filled with various aroma's. Clay ended the lesson with the tasting of two of the cauldrons, the third, Kittiwake and Shasta's, he was only brave enough to smell before kindly commending them on their exemplary effort and dismissed the class. Art class didn't start until lunch was finished, and lunch wasn't designated for a while yet so as soon as Lightseer exited the room he found himself stood only a few feet away looking around half-anxiously. On spotting the Rainwing exiting the room last he enquired as to her plans, there was an underlying comfort in her company, the stress of knowing if he engaged his vision out of instinct someone would instantly know his secret didn't apply to a Rainwing who would be unaware of the physical difference.

"I'm going down to the Botanic Garden, the ground lavender we used earlier came from there and I just want to make sure it hasn't upset it too much…" She lingered for a second.

"Would it be too presumptuous of me to ask to join you?" Her face and scales lit up happily and she agreed to his company very willingly. After the Rainwing was asked to lead on (irony in there somewhere) Lightseer found himself increasingly impressed at the Rainwing's ability to navigate the halls, one, without the need to touch the walls continuously and two, be able to side step other students who were traveling in the other direction.

The Botanary was just beyond the food hall which already had a Seawing and Mudwing munching down greedily on a carcass they evidently caught recently - Tamarin visibly wrinkled her snout. They stared for a few seconds at the large Nightwing following the smaller female Rainwing with either accusatory or curious looks - Lightseer couldn't work out which, but either way it made him feel uneasy and conspicuous.

"Here it is!" She stretched her talons out at the humbly arranged wooden boxes that stood at half the height of the little Rainwing, filled with rich brown soil with sporadic flowers planted neatly in rows. There was only eight all together and they seemed to be split into four groups based on the pairings of flora and herbaceous plants. Lavender was paired with Rosemary, mint and wild garlic. Cabbage was grouped with Carrot, Broccoli and Aubergine. The other four boxes contained only a couple of plants that Lightseer recognised from the Rainforest and looked somewhat unwell, possibly due to the colder environment.

"Aw poor Orchid…" The Rainwing carefully felt the bare stalk with her talons. Looking up you could see four carefully crafted circular windows omitting the leaves restricting the light from entering most rooms on the outskirts of the cave complex

"Doesn't look too well…" Lightseer commented still standing by the doorway, undecided as to whether he should enter or not.

"Mmmm." She grumbled audibly. "I think it's just too cold… Maybe it needs the humidity of the Rainforest to survive…" She continued with little conviction.

"Could you… Make it humid in here?" She followed the direction of the sound and looked towards Lightseer quizzically. "Like a hotspring?" he continued.

"What's a hotspring?" Visions of a pitch-black stormy background, a young Nightwing flying to an outlying cobble-y island, barely large enough to house the dragonet, who stared at the rumbling volcano. With his light-vision engaged he could map the bright red, orange and yellow geothermal vents, the circulating energy within the centre of the volcano, always rising and falling for miles and miles downwards. Water collected at the base, just above sea-level and drew heat from the vents, acting as hotsprings for the Nightwing Kingdom then. He used to lie there for hours, watching the pulsating energy plumes giving their energy to the crust and outside walls of the volcano and then fall again. It was mesmorising.

"Oh, it's a pool of water that's been heated up by like, a nearby volcano, or something similar. It's really quite relaxing to lie in. The point is that it makes the surrounding air very humid… Maybe we could boil a load of cauldrons of water or…" He looked back at the Rainwing and upon realising her expression hadn't changed abandoned his thought process.

"No, no go on… So you can make the air warmer and at the same time more sticky and watery…" She ran her talons over the damp cold soil once again. "It might work…" Suddenly a gong went off interrupting Tamarin's train of speech.

"Lunchtime…" Lightseer said to himself aloud.
"I'm going to stay behind for a bit, water some of the plants - I'll mention to Starflight your idea and see what he comes up with, maybe we could make our own hotspring?" She smiled with new vigour.

"I better… I better head to lunch. I have a bad habit of… Forgetting to eat…" The lilt in his voice made the Rainwing chuckle and she bid him farewell until art class, where they'd be meeting the other group of students.

After departing, Lightseer found the food hall packed tighter than to his liking and determinedly picked up as much as his talons could carry, a few oranges, a couple apples and a single pineapple and departed as quickly as he had entered, flying out into the open air. The sun instantly hit his back and wings giving him a sudden short-lived buzz as he flew to the stream's edge, a little way away, promising little to no company.

The silence was blissful in comparison to the bustle of the academy, just the constant gentle rushing could be heard as he munched on the fruit in his talons. His mind, however, was abuzz with constant questions surfacing regarding his own winglet and the Jade winglet of which will be joining them next session. He already concluded he liked Kittiwake, Tamarin and Shasta - Shasta simply from observing her consideration of Kittiwake. Andesine is probably more of an "I'll leave you alone if you leave me alone" kind of dragon, he could work with that. Now, Jade Winglet: Moonwatcher. The name now rang a bell with Lightseer, her mother was a little bit of an outcast for hiding her child in the Rainforest, she lived on the outskirts of the village, kept mostly to herself, presumably Moonwatcher will be similar. But it would be advantageous to get to know her better. Kinkajou. Unlikely to forget her any time soon, her almost lifeless body stuck in his mind, how she recovered so perfectly… Must have been that Darkstalker. He concluded. He continued his thinking without realising not only was he mumbling aloud his thoughts but he had also attracted an audience.

Chilblain, not friendly, higher circle, not royalty based on Kittiwake's emission, probably demands respect and condescending simply based on profile Icewings. Qibli, Sandwing, apparently was part of the Scorpion Den's Outclaws, surprising that he made it to Jade Academy, all I know is that they are thieves, disliked Nightwings (from past encounters) conniving and close-knit. Expect someone who keeps to himself and keep satchels close by. The Seawing Prince Turtle is apparently away as well, received a letter about building a new palace or something from the Queen. Shame, he would have been interesting to meet. There is no Mudwing since the dragon-flame cactus incident. Oh, and Peril, great!"

"What's wrong with Peril?" Dropping several pieces of fruit the Nightwing jumped a couple of metres off the ground, spinning around as he did revealing a small Icewing peering around a bush which had a tree to it's left, covering it well.
"Kittiwake! You scared the complete… What on Pyrrhia are you doing? Were… were you spying on me?" The Nightwing stopped hovering and landed with new intrigue, walking up to the smaller Icewing.
"What? No, I was just..." He stumbled over his words unconvincingly.
"Just what…?" He stopped only a hair-breadth away from the quivering Icewing who was looking upwards in horror.
"I-I just thought maybe I could hang out.. around… with you, just if you wanted, I'm sorry for eavesdropping." The genuine terror in the dragonet's voice was rather distressing, who would ask a dragonet of his age to do such a thing anyway, he wouldn't be capable of spying on a buffalo. Still, caution was in order, he was on a mission after all and he had to stay in that mind frame, especially if there were shifting sands in the background, he felt lucky, just knowing that something was going to happen is an advantage over those that don't.

"No, don't be sorry, it's ok. Of course, I welcome some company." A warm smile replaced the stern accusatory look he initially wore. The Icewing stopped backing away a relaxed a little, only a little. "Have you met Peril?" Lightseer continued.
"Kinda, she's kinda grumpy, I mean I've never actually talked to her but when she came into Clay's class the other day she was kinda nice..." He continued as he picked up some of the fruit that sporadically dotted the floor, walking over to the stream to wash it off with Lightseer.

"Ah well…" Lightseer sighed while finishing off his watery fruit, "I suppose it's probably time for the mix and match. I have to say I am absolutely no good at art… Waste of time if you ask me." Lightseer grumbled, making the little Icewing smirk as they both launched themselves into the still beautifully clear sky above.