"Watcha doing?"

"Hey! Mind your own business!"

"Ha. But that's what friends do."

Xerious, in the process of reading a note, promptly hid it. A dusty brown dragon stood next to him, peering over Xerious's shoulder. The most noticeable thing about the dragon was his barbed tail, curled up to keep the poisonous point away from any living creatures. The other obvious giveaway for his tribe origin was his scales. They were a dark sandy color, like where the ocean meets the beach. His back had small quills that trailed down to the tip of his tail. Other than that he looked distinctly Sandwing. He had emerald green eyes, two horns that curved slightly at the end, and a black forked tongue. And a scar the ran down from his right eyecrest to the bottom of his snout.

"Snake. Seriously. I'd much rather read this to myself."

"Aww. Ok."

The pair were walking down a hallway. At the other side of the hall were a set of double doors. It was the end of school. Xerious had decided to stay a little late to finish stuff, and his best friend couldn't help but stay with him. They finally completed their work, and they were excited for the coming days. It wasn't often they got a whole week off. The cause of this was the celebration of the end of the Twenty Year War. It was a mouthful to say, so most dragons simply called it Remembrance Day. But most schools give their students the whole week off, to keep students from dropping school entirely during the week.

There was more to their excitement, however. It just so happened that both of their hatch-days fell into the seven days of free time. To keep it simple, and probably to save coin, the families celebrated their hatch-days simultaneously, with one big party. With school off for the week, Xerious and Snake felt ecstatic.

"Soo… Who's the new girlfriend?" Snake teased.

"Shut up!" Xerious gave Snake a push. "I've already told you, there's no girl here I could really see in romantic light. It's seems like it's just some sort of prankster. They keep on writing cryptic messages. Whatever." Xerious tossed the parchment into a trash can. On the paper was a bunch of jagged writing. 'To Bluebird' was written at the top in red. Only two people at the school knew his father's name. He was one of them, and the Sandwing beside him was the other. He put the thought to the side. I'm worrying too much. I don't want to be that paranoid kid who acts as cautious as a spy in enemy territory.

They reached the doors, which Xerious pushed open. Sudden beams of light shone in his eyes, the rays of the sun flowing down. Some birds chirped, and past the empty plane of the courtyard, trees swayed in the mild breeze. To the left was hills, topped with trees. Straight ahead of them was a dense forest, the Rainforest. To the right, jagged cliffs that fell into the sea. The sun was starting to set, the blue sky being toke over by the orange and purple dusk. The air had a nip to it, a sign of the coming winter. The leaves were an assortment of reds and oranges. As beautiful as the scenery was, he wasn't going to miss the school in the week he had off.

"How about you, Snake? Are you going to miss school? I was just thinking about it now."

"Me? Pfft. As if. Well… I guess I'll miss biology a bit." He admitted. "Mr. Hayds is pretty fun."

"I still don't understand how you can like biology." Xerious said with another playful nudge. "It's so boring. I've legitimately fallen asleep in that class."

"How can you be bored? Biology is amazing. Life is amazing. There's so many wonders in the world. I mean, look around! Isn't it beautiful? That's because of biology. Because of life."

Xerious giggled. "You get excited too easily." He took a deep breath, closing his eyes. Out of the darkness, Snake appeared, the outline of him appearing clearly. As always, a golden light appeared in his chest, a small circle of it slightly darker than the rest, almost black. He opened his eyes. Snake was saying something, but Xerious's mind had already wandered to different places. Souls…

He was almost four when he figured out exactly how different he was from the rest. He noticed how his scales were different from others. He noticed the inquisitive glances when he mentioned the lights he saw. But he never put two and two together until then. He got a bit more than four. After he discovered he was a Soul-seer, he didn't tell anyone. Most thought he was crazy already, so he kept the secret to himself and his parents. Snake didn't know. His teachers didn't know. The world didn't know. They didn't know he could feel every emotion, and see every soul. He never gathered the courage to say anything, but he was starting to wonder if maybe he should. Snake deserved to know. But he was afraid. What would he think about it? Would Snake still trust him?

"Xerious!"

"Oh, what?"

"Geez man. You were completely out of it. Did you hear a word I said?"

"No." Xerious admitted. "Sorry."

Snake grumbled. "Whatever. Doesn't matter. What were you thinking about?"

"Err…" He hesitated. "Nothing. I just… I don't know. I got lost in thought…" He hoped his twisted truth was good enough.

It was, to a degree. Snake eyed him suspiciously, but let it slide. "Ok then…"

Xerious sighed. He could feel the disbelief and mild anger coming from his best friend. I wonder if normal dragons have as much trouble as I do. Feeling the emotions makes it worse, I'm sure it does. His secret bore into him. Each time he lied it drilled a bit deeper. Maybe it wasn't just nothing. He closed his eyes again, then looked down at his own chest. Golden. The common golden light was there, as usual. But a very small part was grey. He opened his eyes in shock. He knew that most dragons harboured a hint of darkness within them, and he knew that he would eventually gain some darkness over the years, but it was still unsettling to see it in himself. He shook his head, trying to shake off the sense of unease. It was normal, no one was always perfect all the time. But seeing the fact solidified by his own light was a whole new different feeling.

The idea of a soul was very controversial within his world. Each dragon had different views on supernatural things. In fact, Xerious called it a soul simply for lack of a better word. It was a light, and the darker the dragon's thoughts, the darker the soul. And he could see the outline of a dragon with his eyes closed, along with what they're feeling. It even worked through walls to a certain extent, but he was still exploring that ability. That's all Xerious knew about it. Other than that he knew nothing about his own powers. A fledgling learning to use his wings. A scientist studying an unknown field.

Maybe he should share his secret after all.

As they were walking through the open lawn of the school, Xerious turned to look at Snake. "Out of curiosity, what do you have planned for the rest of the day?"

"Who me? Nothing much. Hang out with the gang and maybe play some talonball at some point. Why?" Snake inquired.

"I err… do you think we can stop by the cliffs?"

Snake raised an eyecrest. "I have no objection. But why do you want us to go over there?"

Xerious looked at his talons. "I umm… I kinda maybe have something to tell you, that's better if heard away from others."

Snake giggled. "Ok then. But if it's about you coming out, I like you and all, but not that much. I know you're cute, but I don't think you're that cute."

The pure white hybrid felt his cheeks grow hot. "No no no no! It's nothing about that!" He furiously insisted.

"Are you suuuurrreee?" Snake teased. "You did say no girl caught your fancy. What about the dudes?"

"I'm not gay!" Xerious retorted hotly.

"If you insist." Snake said, still still smiling. He look away, taking in the scenery. The path to the cliffs was well worn, yet still felt as if they were trekking through undiscovered territory. The trees bore over them, tall and ancient, with light filtering through the overgrowth. The field where the school was in had quickly faded from sight.

Xerious looked over his hybrid friend, remembering all of the times he spent with the dusty dragon. Xerious was still four when he met Snake. Snake had moved in to the hut next to his family. All he knew was that his best friend had moved from Possibility with his mother, and has stayed here ever since. The scar Snake had was always there. Xerious could never remember a time when he didn't have it. He also knew that Snake's father had passed away, but he didn't know when or how, and Snake never seemed interested in parting that information.

Suddenly the trees disappeared, and a clearing took place. The blank land didn't last long, and gave way to jagged cliffs. Waves pounded at the bottom, creating a muffled roar. The sun could be seen clearly, starting to hide itself behind the horizon. Golden rays beaming down onto the land, casting long shadows. Under the multicoloured sky, with its numerous tints of yellows and blues, Xerious sat down. Snake set himself beside him.

"So, why did you drag me out here? Surely it wasn't because of the scenery. Although it does look rather nice." The sandy dragon asked.

Xerious took a deep breath. He looked around, to make sure no one was eavesdropping. "Ok. I don't mean to make this dramatic. I hate unnecessary drama. But I needed to tell someone this, anyone at all. And you're the one I trust the most."

"I'll take that as a complement." Snake said. "How serious is this?"

"It's influenced me for my whole life. No one can ever know about this, although I doubt they'd believe you if you told them anyways. You understand?"

Snake turned serious. "As I see this isn't just a small thing," He put his paw over his heart. "I promise that as long as I live, without your permission, I won't utter a word of this to a soul."

A shiver went through Xerious at the mention of a soul. He took another deep breath. "Do you ever wonder how I know what you're feeling? Why I always know where you were in a game of hide and seek back when we were younger?"

Snake looked at him curiously. "Well, your mother is a Nightwing, isn't she? Are you-"

Xerious cut him off. "Actually let me try again." He looked into Snake's green eyes. "Do you believe in souls?"

The question seemed to have caught him off guard. "Well… that's a bit of a complicated question. Do I believe a dragon is good or bad? Yes. Do I believe there is an afterlife, or that our souls can get taken away, or lost? No. Of course, we have no evidence for any of that, so it doesn't really matter anyways."

"We do, and it does."

Snake looked at him in shock and disbelief. "What do you mean? Are you saying you've seen a soul in your life or something?"

"Every day. Every day I see no less than one."

The hybrid stared at Xerious like he suddenly grew a second pair of wings. "What are you talking about? Are you just pulling my fucking leg or something?"

"Snake please. Please for the three moons listen to me. I'm not lying. I'm not joking around. I've been seeing souls since I hatched. I've seen mine. I've see yours."

Snake seemed to recoil slightly. More than anything though was the look of confusion and worry that was etched on his face. "Xerious, calm down. What the fuck are you saying?"

"Snake…. I can see souls… I'm a Soul-seer."

"Wha… but…" Snake was lost for words.

"Every soul. Every being. Every emotion. I've seen it all. I've felt it all. Every day I've felt the happiness, the sadness, the shame, the regret, the love, the hate, and every other emotions you may think of." Xerious poured out. "I've felt it all. I've seen it all."

Snake took a deep breath. "Xerious. Xerious, look at me. Look into my eyes." Deep blue eyes met emerald green eyes, their gaze interlocking. "Good. Now tell me, without a speck of doubt, you're not lying or hallucinating. Can I believe you?"

Xerious nodded. "I wish you couldn't. I wish there was doubt. I wish I was lying."

The hybrid sighed. "Okay… I'll believe you."

"My whole life…." Xerious trailed off. "I guess I should tell you what I mean exactly when I say I'm a Soul-seer…"

Snake nodded. "You were definitely vague during your outburst. How does it work? What does a soul look li-"

A rustling in the bushes behind them cut him off. They both turned around in shock. A lone Nightwing walked out of the bushes. She was a dragonet, around their age, with glowing green eyes and speckled wings. She was smiling. And under each of her eyes was a singular teardrop-shaped silver scale.